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One God, So Many Religions

arshdeep88

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Mar 13, 2013
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Why are there so many religions? Isn’t there only one God? Why didn’t God say the same thing to everyone?

why Christian ,Muslim ,Hindu and Sikhs says that there religion is the only best and sometimes end up having heated arguments

please Satsangat ji present your thoughts and views about it
 
Feb 23, 2012
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Re: One god,so Many religions

Why are there so many religions? Isn’t there only one God? Why didn’t God say the same thing to everyone?

why Christian ,Muslim ,Hindu and Sikhs says that there religion is the only best and sometimes end up having heated arguments

please Satsangat ji present your thoughts and views about it

The late Pope John Paul II was once asked the question, "Why are there so many religions?" Here is his response, which should prompt discussion for or against what he says, I think.

Here's the question and his answer. Its long so I've selected a few relevant sections:


"...Q: But if God who is in heaven-and who saved and continues to save the world-is One and only One and is He who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, why has He allowed so many religions to exist?
Why did He make the search for the truth so arduous, in the midst of a forest of rituals, of beliefs, of revelations, of faiths which have always thrived-and still do today-throughout the world?

Pope John Paul II: You speak of many religions. Instead I will attempt to show the common fundamental element and the common root of these religions.

The Council defined the relationship of the Church to non-Christian religions in a specific document that begins with the words "Nostra aetate" ("In our time"). It is a concise and yet very rich document that authentically hands on the Tradition, faithful to the thought of the earliest Fathers of the Church.

From the beginning, Christian Revelation has viewed the spiritual history of man as including, in some way, all religions, thereby demonstrating the unity of humankind with regard to the eternal and ultimate destiny of man. The Council document speaks of this unity and links it with the current trend to bring humanity closer together through the resources available to our civilization. The Church sees the promotion of this unity as one of its duties: "There is only one community and it consists of all peoples. They have only one origin, since God inhabited the entire earth with the whole human race. And they have one ultimate destiny, God, whose providence, goodness, and plan for salvation extend to all. . . . Men turn to various religions to solve mysteries of the human condition, which today, as in earlier times, burden people's hearts: the nature of man; the meaning and purpose of life; good and evil; the origin and purpose of suffering; the way to true happiness; death...and finally, the ultimate ineffable mystery which is the origin and destiny of our existence. From ancient times up to today all the various peoples have shared and continue to share an awareness of that enigmatic power that is present throughout the course of things and throughout the events of human life, and, in which, at times, even the Supreme Divinity or the Father is recognizable. This awareness and recognition imbue life with an intimate religious sense. Religions that are tied up with cultural progress strive to solve these issues with more refined concepts and a more precise language" (Nostra Aetate 1-2).

...We read: "In Hinduism men explore the divine mystery and express it through an endless bounty of myths and through penetrating philosophical insight. They seek freedom from the anguish of our human condition, either by way of the ascetic life, profound meditation, or by taking refuge in God with love and trust. The various schools of Buddhism recognize the radical inadequacy of this malleable world and teach a way by which men, with devout and trusting hearts, can become capable either of reaching a state of perfect liberation, or of attaining, by their own efforts or through higher help, supreme illumination" (Nostra Aetate 2).

Further along, the Council remarks that "The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. The Church has a high regard for their conduct and way of life, for those precepts and doctrines which, although differing on many points from that which the Church believes and propounds, often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men...
The words of the Council recall the conviction, long rooted in the Tradition, of the existence of the so-called semina Verbi (seeds of the Word), present in all religions. In the light of this conviction, the Church seeks to identify the semina Verbi present in the great traditions of the Far East, in order to trace a common path against the backdrop of the needs of the contemporary world. We can affirm that here the position of the Council is inspired by a truly universal concern...

In another passage the Council says that the Holy Spirit works effectively even outside the visible structure of the Church (cf. Lumen Gentium 13), making use of these very semina Verbi, that constitute a kind of common soteriological root present in all religions.

I have been convinced of this on numerous occasions, both while visiting the countries of the Far East and while meeting representatives of those religions, especially during the historic meeting at Assisi, where we found ourselves gathered together praying for peace.

Thus, instead of marveling at the fact that Providence allows such a great variety of religions, we should be amazed at the number of common elements found within them.

At this point it would be helpful to recall all the primitive religions, the animistic religions which stress ancestor worship. It seems that those who practice them are particularly close to Christianity...

As the Council also noted, these last religions possess the characteristics of a system. They are systems of worship and also ethical systems, with a strong emphasis on good and evil. Certainly among these belong Chinese Confucianism and Taoism: Tao means eternal truth-something similar to the "Word"-which is reflected in the action of man by means of truth and moral good. The religions of the Far East have contributed greatly to the history of morality and culture, forming a national identity in the Chinese, Indians, Japanese, and Tibetans, and also in the peoples of Southeast Asia and the archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean.

Some of these peoples come from age-old cultures. The indigenous peoples of Australia boast a history tens of thousands of years old, and their ethnic and religious tradition is older than that of Abraham and Moses.

Christ came into the world for all these peoples. He redeemed them all and has His own ways of reaching each of them in the present eschatological phase of salvation history...

Truth, in fact, cannot be confined. Truth is for one and for all. And if this truth comes about through love (cf. Eph 3:15), then it becomes even more universal..."

-from Crossing the Threshold of Hope, by Blessed Pope John Paul II (1994)


So the Pope recognises truth in all religions as stemming from a common source, while still upholding the uniqueness and distinctiveness of his religion and its unchangeable doctrines. He stays firmly within his own Christian tradition while also reaching out, without denying the uniqueness of his own faith.
 
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spnadmin

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One God?

lol I am still struggling with all these threads where there is no agreement whether there is a "god." Even Sikhs, Jains, Hindus and Buddhists in some quarters make a case that there is no god in their tradition. Some in other quarters say "yes." Yet, others say "it is complicated."

So on it goes to the questions of idol worship and incarnations.

Then we have seen descriptions of "god" in Christianity, Judaism and Islam that are the antithesis of "god" in dharmic paths. It seems to me that Islam has the least amount of internal debate on this question. Yet, there is debate there too.

Factor in the question of whether pantheism or panentheism fits into the discussion. Now we are looking at a very long thread.

Last but not least is the question of animism. You would be surprised how much of the Navajo traditions about connections with the divine sound like Sikhi. Leave out the Hero Twins, First Eagle, or Coyote and there are familiar strains about being in harmony with the universe.

Seems we must first get a grip on who this "god" is supposed to be, before we make sense with one another.

Some say that God created us in his image. Are you sure it is not the other way around?

Some say that if God did not exist, man would have created him? Does this sentence mean more than it says?
 
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Navdeep88

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Dec 22, 2009
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I think as many as there's "personalities" in us, why can't God, who's creation is very Varied, decide that He/she, wants, wanted to & possibly will dabble in different languages, at different times to different people?

For me, Personally, I think it's Really important to keep nearby that the initial Intent of a Religion or faith was Love, it was Goodness, so when it comes to Like killing other people, or like stoning them to death or something, a Lot of Precaution Must be taken, b/c God doesn't want to kill people (I don't think Primarily anyways), Im pretty sure he sent us here to be good & kind & truthful/
 

arshdeep88

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Mar 13, 2013
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lets think from this prospective all the differences in the religions might have came about due to difference in geographical situations ,cultures traditions and interpretation of one's wisdom
that's just my personal views ,what are views of you all on it?

yes spnadmin ji i know it happens as everyone has his /her own defination of GOD

yes navdeep ji basic teaching of love,compassion ,humbleness we should adhere to be it belonging to any religion

yes harry ji it too happens ,it happens among sikhs too,some might say their intepretation of GURU shabad is only right while others thin theirs only

do you all think HUMAN interpretation and understanding plays a key role?
 
Feb 23, 2012
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do you all think HUMAN interpretation and understanding plays a key role?

I think it plays a key role but not the only one.

Cardinal Cusa claimed that God sent a variety of prophets into the world in order to reveal Himself to humanity. To achieve this goal these prophets created a variety of faiths, the customs of which have, over time come to be regarded as immutable truths founded not by prophets, but by God. Since the human person has freewill, and because over time opinions, languages and interpretations undergo change, humanity needs a number of visitations to eliminate the religious errors which inevitably develop. In this manner Cusa gives such figures as Buddha and Muhammad a similar status to that of prophets of the God of Israel whose teachings over time have been distorted. In short there is but one religion, but a diversity of religious faiths. Because of this Cusa does not think that religious diversity need be a source of conflict. For Cusa since the diversity of faiths are merely different ways of articulating the same underlying truth, there is no real basis for mutual attacks over these differences." - Ethical implications of unity and the divine in Nicholas of Cusa By David John De Leonardis

"Cusa seeks to promote the idea that diverse religious customs (the accidents of religion, if you will) conceal a true or 'ideal' religion. This 'una religio' (one religion) is the unattainable truth about God - of which all existing belief systems are but shadowy reflections. The faithful of all nations and creeds should persevere in their particular expressions of piety in the firm belief that the one true 'religion' is the basis of them all"

- 'Religion' and the religions in the English Enlightenment By Peter Harrison



Nicholas of Cusa was a Catholic cardinal of the 15th century.
 

chazSingh

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Feb 20, 2012
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Why are there so many religions? Isn’t there only one God? Why didn’t God say the same thing to everyone?

why Christian ,Muslim ,Hindu and Sikhs says that there religion is the only best and sometimes end up having heated arguments

please Satsangat ji present your thoughts and views about it

The mind\ego creates the boundaries, assigns the names
the mind\ego see's the self and see's also the other...god see's all as one.
mind\anger wells up when others say something negative about their religion
mind\ego gets inflated when others agree on their religion

religious names and boundaries are a creation of the mind which see's differences. A creation of the mind which got attched to the physical beings that presented the 'truth' to us...rather than the truth that was presented.

beyond the mind there is 'One' Truth...it exists like butter in milk within all so called religions...it is that Truth that matters...all else is nonsense of the corrupt mind.
 
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Mar 27, 2013
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"Spirituality Unites Religion divides" this has become the sorry state of affairs today.

This is because Religions of today are not what they were when they started. Initially they all had roots in spiritualism. The older a religion more distorted and instutionalized it has become.


Hinduism was once representation of all the forces of nature (in our body and astronomical) but those representations are thought of today as some super natural beings who needs to be worshiped.

Catholic Christianity has become opposite of Original Naustic Christianity and teaches Anti Bible things. Jesus is the story of Krishna which is story of our internal Salvation in story form. Churches have become pedophile society thus degradation .

Sikhism today is engulfed in Castism,ritualism,focusing more on bana than bani loosing spirituality aspect.

If you focus on Spiritual aspect of any religion it won't lead to any disharmony.
 
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Harkiran Kaur

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After studying deeply in the 'mystical' traditions of all the major religions, I can offer a unique perspective... that the outward literal teachings of most religions are allegorical. And that's why many do not make sense with science etc. However with most major religions there also exists a 'mystical' side... people who understand the symbolisms hidden in the allegories, and it is these symbolisms the truths... that start to emerge as very (sometimes eerily) similar between major religions that outwardly looked so far apart that nobody would think they were teaching the same thing! And these teachings agree with science!

Some of these similarities just off the top of my head are:

ONE creator, which is formless, unknowable, pure consciousness without form. If we look deep into quantum physics, it is suggesting this Universe at the base, is one Universal field. That field is not matter, but consciousness. Quantum physics experiments are showing us that the building blocks of atoms, do not exist physically until 'observed' into existence. Without observance for example, an electron behaves as a wave and not a particle. Since even our brains are made from the same atoms and electons, then who observed them into existence? And since that consciousness is not us individually... it must be something more profound.

The idea of us being made in the image of the creator - This is not literal as in - we don't LOOK like the creator physically. The idea is, that since we were made from/of the creator, just as any smaller part of a fractal contains the information of the whole, so do we possess the knowledge / information of the creator, and also the same creative potential... but it's hidden within us. And as I tried to explain before, our dreams and creations also possess the same hidden even more deeply. The idea of the Universe being 'fractal' is scientific and can be seen from the largest cosmic events to the smallest of particles.

The idea that God is within us... not 'out there' on a cloud. Even Christianity says this. Even Islam says it! Judaism says it too! In fact, I don't even know where the whole invisible sky daddy sitting on a cloud idea came from. I think it was a story to teach children so they could 'picture' their creator in their minds.

We are here for spiritual evolution. If you think about it, a whole physical lifetime where the only real constant between any person is that you learn as you grow, would not make sense if that knowledge just disappeared upon physical death.

Take a look at some of the mystical esoteric traditions and the knowledge they teach and you will start to see the similarities: Kabalah/Qabalah, Sufism, Hermetics, Rosicrucian, Golden Dawn, Freemasonry, Ancient Egyptian Mysticism, etc.

And try to look beyond the literal words that are written on the pages of the world's religions. There is 'hidden' knowledge in there... in all of them!

Hmm this video sums up much of what these teachings are (and at the very least gives a different definition of what 'God' is (from a scientific point of view):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF61lhEeGng
 
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chazSingh

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Feb 20, 2012
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"Spirituality Unites Religion devides" this has become the story state of affairs today.

This is because Religions of today are not what they were when they started. Initially they all had roots in spiritualism. The older a religion more distorted and instutionalized it has become.


Hinduism was once representation of all the forces of nature (in our body and astronomical) but those representations are thought of today as some super natural beings who needs to be worshiped.

Catholic Christianity has become opposite of Original Naustic Christianity and teaches Anti Bible things. Jesus is the story of Krishna which is story of our internal Salvation in story form. Churches have become pedophile society thus degradation .

Sikhism today is engulfed in Castism,ritualism,focusing more on bana than bani loosing spirituality aspect.

If you focus on Spiritual aspect of any religion it won't lead to any disharmony.

Well said ji.

In my life i have come across many who have Bana and many who don't.
only a handful knew or cared of the spiritual aspect...and i am greatful to SGGS Ji and the lives of those that breathed it's spiritual aspect.

just being able to 'Be'... to just be as i am...to stop identifying myself with my past (it's all illusion now)... if you have the spiritual aspect ..everything we do on the outside...our interactions with people, the way we dress becomes aligned with the connection we gain inside to our true self.
 

chazSingh

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Quantum physics? or is it Quantum woooooo?

From what i'm hearing coming from the quantum physics arena, they are removing the stubborn boundaries of traditional science which is still taught in our schools...

quantum physics and spirituality will all arrive at the same truth...

only difference is...quantum science will 'tell' people what the truth is...but people will have no experience of the 'truth' which is similar to what we already have... SGGS ji telling us what the truth is...how to experience it...and the majority still being blind to it.

in the end, we still need to wash away the illusion and experience the truth for ourselves :)
 

chazSingh

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funny thing is...we cant even 'experience the truth'
we already are the 'truth'....who is the one having the experience...thats the existance one needs to get back to...

not the identification with... i am John Smith, 23 years of age...an engineer by trade..2 kids...i had a past that was difficult...and i long for a peaceful future etc etc etc...
this keeps us locked into our limited self...the illusory self...

We already are greater than this...bigger than this...but we've allowed ourselves to get caught up the the 'drama' of this limited creation.
 
Feb 23, 2012
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The Mystic, by Evelyn Underhill - YouTube

A selection of three short extracts from Evelyn Underhill's 1911 book 'Mysticism: The Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness', read by Alvin Langdon Coburn in a recording made in the 1960s.

Evelyn Underhill was an Anglo-Catholic mystic and author.

Touches on themes raised in this thread.

The transcript:

'The mystic is "in love with the Absolute" not in any idle or sentimental manner, but in that deep and vital sense which presses forward at all costs and through all dangers towards union with the object beloved.

Page after page of jewels of mystical literature glow with this intimate and impassioned love of the Absolute, which transcends the dogmatic language in which it is clothed and becomes applicable to mystics of every race and creed.

The language of human passion is tepid and insignificant beside the language in which the mystics try to tell the splendours of their love. They force upon the unprejudiced reader the conviction that they are dealing with an ardour far more burning for an Object far more real.'
 

spnadmin

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Not so long ago people said the same thing about the 'preposterous' idea that the world was round instead of flat!

I was saying: Quantum physics is about science. When it is misused, which it is continually here at SPN, then it is no longer science, but wooooo.

I do understand that internet forums invite opinion and often show disrespect for informed opinion by their very nature as forums. The more important thing is that someone, anyone, be forward so that informed readers don't think we are careless and irresponsible.
 

chazSingh

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I was saying: Quantum physics is about science. When it is misused, which it is continually here at SPN, then it is no longer science, but wooooo.

I do understand that internet forums invite opinion and often show disrespect for informed opinion by their very nature as forums. The more important thing is that someone, anyone, be forward so that informed readers don't think we are careless and irresponsible.

well said ji...for good debate we need to allow people to grow themselves...to seek the answers they seek...to contemplate...

contemplation cannot be done when one is drilled with a single idea or thought....gurbani asks us to contemplate to get out of the rigidness that our mind creates.
 

spnadmin

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chazSingh ji

Simply consider my comment as a red pen correction on a high school science paper. I am not deducting points from the final grade. Nothing has been deleted. However, it is my professional responsibility to comment. All sorts of claims in popular culture are made about quantum physics. Serious science treads carefully when making claims, Junk science does not. More later.
 

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