Challenges Foretold

From my experiments and experiences, I have come to realise that every religion has its' unique insights into the nature of reality, into Truth. Based on these unique insights religions have developed their world views and the value systems. Hence, general statements like 'all religions are the same' or 'all religions are equal’ etc. do not fully reflect the truth. An orange is not the same as an apple or papaya. This truth holds good for religions too. Hinduism cannot be equal to or the same as Islam or Christianity. All three are great religions. Each is unique. Each has an important contribution to make towards human welfare and world peace. Each has its own unique insights into and experience of reality. But at the same time we must accept with all humility that each has only a limited and partial understanding of the Truth. This is sometimes difficult for many people to accept, especially for those who believe that they have the whole Truth with them. But true religion, as Swami Vivekananda said, has to lead us to 'realisation'. It is like the story of a group of blind men who went to see an elephant. This is the reason why a seeker of Truth needs to learn from all religions. Someone has very correctly said that a truly religious person of the 21st century has to be an inter-religious person. I am fully convinced of this statement. Religions are co-pilgrims on earth. Each has a place and a role. Exclusive claims lead to conflicts. Semitic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) have suffered much because of the exclusiveness they developed. In India the context was different. There was an understanding of the oneness of truth and the diversity of paths leading to it. Of course, today things are different; we have become a religiously intolerant country. This is a challenge seekers face today.