Oneness: Rise Above Dogma, Realise The Truth

By SUREKHA MOHAN

Oneness: Rise Above Dogma, Realise The Truth

When I pass by the neighbourhood mosque, I bow my head in respect just as I do when I pass by the temple. The mullah's call to the faithful turns me towards prayer and God. I go through the same upsurge of emotions when I visit a church or gurdwara. When I bow my head in humility to Christ and the Guru Granth Sahib, I see in them my beloved Lord Krishna. Similarly, when I hear the Buddhist chant: ''Buddham Sharanam Gachchhami'', it continues to reverberate within me for long after, giving me the same sense of peace I experience when I say my usual prayers.

This feeling of affinity helps me bond with people of all faiths. Who knows? Maybe I was a Christian in my previous birth - I could be born as a Muslim in my next birth. The baby-swapping case which rocked Hyderabad earlier this year only vindicates the fact that religion is a creation of the human species - just as time exists as a man-made concept. A Muslim woman's baby girl was swapped for a Hindu woman's baby boy. Both the babies would have been brought up to follow their adopted faiths had the exchange gone undetected. Ironically, religion, which is meant to symbolise our love and yearning for God and which exhorts compassion towards all, has been reduced to becoming a tool in the hands of manipulators and terrorists to achieve their personal agendas.

The rise of fundamentalist groups, the strife among various ethnic and religious groups, the 9/11 strikes in the US and closer home the Ayodhya controversy and the Gujarat riots indicate that religion-related conflict has become a part of our lives. Communications technology has played a major role in bringing together diverse peoples from across the globe, even if they are geographically and ideologically miles apart. The worldwide web, though, is merely a tool - and it brings with it both advantages and disadvantages, depending on how it is used. While it has the power to create greater understanding through knowledge dispersal, it has also facilitated networking of fundamentalists and terrorist groups.

All these new developments and misuse of technology in propagating religion-based hate and terror raises some disturbing questions: If all religions advocate universal brotherhood, love, compassion and peace, how can any religion be used to generate terror and hatred? S Radhakrishnan often said that a truly religious person will be free from fear and hatred as it implies the complete transformation of an individual's nature. While the formal or scriptural aspects of religion - which are vulnerable to misinterpretations -may divide the world, the deeper, spiritual side can only have a unifying effect.

So there is an urgent need to focus on spiritual realisation as opposed to acquiring of mere textbook knowledge and upholding of religious symbolism. Anyone who has even an elementary understanding of the true spiritual import of any religion would never doubt the importance of universal brotherhood. They would never quarrel about the many names of God or try to establish the superiority of one religion over another.

Swami Vivekananda put it succinctly: ''I do not simply say I tolerate all religions. That is an insult to God. I accept all religions and worship all gods. Every religion which helps us reach God and realise his nature is something which is very dear to me... Do I wish that a Christian should become a Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that a Hindu or a Buddhist should become a Christian? God forbid. But each must assimilate the spirit of the other and yet preserve his own individuality and growth.''