“Howsoever men approach Me, even so do I satisfy them; men tread My path in all ways” – Bhagavad Gita Chapter – 4 Verse – 11 

This is the fundamental tenet of Religion. Whatever the path, God approaches man through that path. Hence the followers of every faith must have respect for, and acceptance of, the faith and form of worship of others in spite of the differences that are sure to prevail in their ideologies and practices.

We shall study the synchronization of faiths in our meet and try to understand “aikam sad viprah bahudha vadanti ” – (Truth is one, the wise call it by many names) Rig-Veda.

The word Religion is derived from two Latin terms – ‘re’ meaning back, again and ‘ligare’ meaning to bind, to join. Religion means to unite one back to one’s origin, the Supreme Self. Religion, then, as distinguished from theology and also divested of its dogmatic excrescences, is essentially a mysterious process by which the mind or intellect reaches back and loses itself in the Inscrutable Source.  Therefore “the religion” not “a religion” which is the soul of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism or Christianity. Strictly speaking, that indescribable realization of the Unknowable, where all distinctions of dogmas and theories, caste, colour and creed, the body and mind, together with all that is contained therein, this world and all other imaginable worlds are washed clean off into where no words can reach. A man who gets even a glimpse of such realization stands above fear and anxiety. Unshakable strength of character is the necessary outcome of this Realisation or Religion.

Any systematic attempt leading to the goal above pointed out is religious. Emerson says, “Every man is God playing the fool”. Yes, everybody is God and All in himself. Yet, people suffer not because they do not possess the infinite joy in themselves; but because they do not know how to open the casket, which contains it. Just forgotten the password. As a result, people were not able to enter into their own self and realize the Truth. Religion is simply an attempt to unveil ourselves, introduce and explain our Self to our self.

Hinduism – I

The word ‘Hinduism’ itself is a geographical term based upon the river that runs across the northern boundaries of India, known as the Sindhu.  The vast spectrum of faiths that flourished here acquired the generic name Hinduism. Hinduism calls itself as “Sanatana Dharma”, the Eternal principles, because it is based not upon the teachings of a single preceptor but on the collective wisdom and inspiration of great seers and sages. It was on this that it based its claim of being the universal religion.

Hinduism presents certain key concepts that are particularly relevant in this nuclear age.  They have been chosen for the width of their outlook that transcends religious and denominations barriers, and give them universal relevance.

1. Hinduism has always held to the concept of mankind as a single family, vasudhaiva kutumbakam. The relevance of this to the present human predicament is obvious.
2. The second concept that Hinduism has developed through the ages is that of the harmony of religions. Tolerating another religion is at best a negative approach, but accepting all religions positively and gladly is peculiar Hindu contribution. 
3. The third aspect of the Hindu message, which reiterates the divinity and dignity of the Individual. The Hindu society appears to be so highly hierarchical and stratified and so much emphasis upon social duty and status that individual freedom seems to be at a discount. Hinduism proclaims that Divinity is your real self. You are essentially divine no matter what you appear to be – a sinner or a saint.
4. The Hindu ethos flows from its unusual synthesizing and synchronizing capacity.  Against the dichotomy between action in the world and renunciation, it places the great ideal of “Renunciation IN Action not Renunciation Of Action”. Against the dogmatic confrontation between science and religion, there is the vision of both these great disciplines as two different approaches towards essentially the same Goal of rising above our terrestrial limitations. Finally, to transcend the World itself is the message of Hinduism.