‘The third spiritual law of peace is that ‘all religions, scriptures and saints are recipients and reservoirs of divine grace and hence, by sincerely adhering to the eternal values taught by them any one can come to a deeper experience and understanding of the grace of God. Religions are concrete social and historical expressions of humanity’s quest after Truth, the Ultimate Reality, the one true God. They can help us to understand the true purpose and meaning of life in this world and thereafter. Scriptures of religions are divinely inspired. But they are written in human languages by human beings and hence, are subject to human errors and limitations. They are also subject to linguistic and cultural limitations….
‘There are contextual and eternal elements and teachings embedded in all scriptures. The contextual are to be ignored after that particular context is no more prevalent. The eternal are to be preserved and cherished…….
‘The eternal unites, the contextual divides. Many of these eternal principles are common to religions. The common eternal principles of religions embody in them common moral and spiritual values like truth, righteousness, non-violence, justice, love, purity, patience, compassion and respect for parents. Living one’s life according to these eternal principles and values alone can lead one to ‘eternal life’….
‘Different religions use different terms to represent this state of ‘eternal life’. The Hindu friends may like to use the term ‘moksha’. The Christian friends may prefer ‘heaven’ whereas the Muslim friends may like the term ‘paradise’. Our Buddhist friends may like to refer to this state as ‘nirvana’…..
‘Teaching and promoting the eternal principles and values common to all religions constitute the most important spiritual task ahead of us in this millennium….
‘The eternal values constitute the common meeting ground of religions. Scriptures and sacraments, cults and rituals, codes and creeds… all are for uniting people and for helping them find peace and happiness. Words often tend to divide. Spirit alone can unite. Hence, more than the words written in scriptures, the spirit behind them is to be understood and cherished...
‘Let us not forget that much of the conflicts among religions today come from the fact that the followers of different religious traditions do not understand well their own scriptures and the eternal spiritual and moral values contained in them. As a result, they lack the very values of the religion which they try to impose on others. They also do not respect the scriptures of other religions’ the Baba paused to look at his disciple.
After few minutes of silence, the Baba continued: ‘Many think that theirs is the only true scripture and only they have received revelations from God. As a result, mutual hostility and mistrust grow among religions….
‘Competitions to promote the ‘only true religion’ arise among those religions which claim such monopoly over truth and divine grace. This is the result of ignorance, ‘avidya’…..
‘There is an interesting ancient story… the story of the old lady and her cockerel…
‘There was this old lady living in the village. This was before the clocks and watches were invented. People used to get up in the morning listening to the cock crowing…
‘There was only one cock in the whole village, and it belonged to that old lady who was a very nasty and jealous lady… a kind of witch.. you might say… She used to consume a great deal of opium and country liquor…. Spreading rumors about young housewives was her main occupation…..This used to lead to domestic quarrels, fights among women, fights among men…..even to murder…
‘The old lady used to collect a kind of ‘cock tax’ from people for the services rendered by her cock. …. that of crowing every day morning to wake them up…..
‘Occasionally she used to threaten the people by saying that she would go away, taking her cock with her….
‘The poor villagers could not allow such a thing to happen as it would mean disaster for them….
‘The ignorant villagers believed that the sun was also woken up by the cock. Hence, if the cock did not crow, the sun would not rise… that means total darkness… No agriculture…. No work… Life would be impossible…. Hence, they even agreed to double the cock tax ….
‘The nasty old lady continued to eat more opium, drink more country liquor… and spread more rumors, causing more conflicts and violence….
‘The ignorant villagers believed that all these were much better than total darkness engulfing the whole village..!….
‘But an educated young man came to the village once. He saw the way the ignorant villagers were being exploited by the nasty old lady…
‘One night he stole the cock and locked the bird up in a box. Next day there was no cock to crow. But the sun rose as usual. People were surprised….
‘The young man called the villagers together and told them what he did. That day the villagers came to understand that the sun would rise even if the cock did not crow…
‘They drove the old lady away…
‘There was peace and fellowship once again in the village….
‘Something similar is happening today with religions and their priests, pujaris, mullas and others who make a living from their religions.…. They teach the people that the keys to divine grace and heaven are with them and no one can enter heaven or reach God unless he or she does the prescribed ‘puja’ or ‘penance’….and of course for a payment…
‘And so, we have today all over the country many temples, mosques, churches and gurudwaras, and their pujaris, mullas, priests and grandhis………selling divine grace, salvation, eternal life… and such other heavenly commodities for a price...
‘Religion is by far the most flourishing business in India today, my son ….
‘This is also the only business that does not involve any risk as it does not need any ‘capital investment’.
Excerpts from Integral Revolution
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