Message from the Gospel – 17. God Is One

Message 16 concluded with the words, ‘The mystery about God will remain forever’ as it is impossible to comprehend the infinite. Our each attempt may let us get a glimpse of the infinite but nobody can claim that he/she has understood God 100%. This is the reason for the differences found among different religions. Even among the Hindu religious seers, Sankaracharya’s perception of God was different from that of Ramanujacharya and Madhwacharya. Accordingly, the followers of each of them hold different views about God. The worshippers of Shakthi or Kali, the Divine Mother, differed from all of them. There is no similarity between Krishna and Kali or between Ram and Shiva. If this is the situation among Hindus, what can be said about the worshipers of Jesus and Allah? Even among Christians, Protestants and Catholics hold different beliefs. Among Muslims also there are many subsects. 

    

Sri Ramakrishna says, “Don't harbour malice toward anybody. Don't turn up your nose in hatred and say: 'Oh, this man believes in God with form and not in the formless God. That man believes in the formless God and not in God with form. This man is a Christian. This man is a Hindu. And this man is a Musslman.' It is God alone who makes people see things in different ways. Know that people have different natures. Realize this and mix with them as much as you can. And love all. But enter your own inner chamber to enjoy peace and bliss.

Lighting the lamp of Knowledge in the chamber of your heart, 
Behold the face of the Mother, Brahman's Embodiment.

You can see your true Self only within your own chamber.  The cowherds take the cows to graze in the pasture. There the cattle mix. They all form one herd. But on returning to their sheds in the evening they are separated. Then each stays by itself in its own stall. Therefore I say, dwell by yourself in your own chamber."

    

Sri Ramakrishna condemns religious quarrels. He says, "It is not good to harbour malice.  The Saktas, the Vaishnavas, and the Vedantists quarrel among themselves.  That is not wise.  Padmalochan was court pundit of the Maharaja of Burdwan.  Once at a meeting the pundits were discussing whether Shiva was superior to Brahma, or Brahma to Shiva.  Padmalochan gave an appropriate reply.  'I don't know anything about it', said he.  'I haven't talked either to Shiva or to Brahma.'"

    

Let there be as many religions as there are humans. It is still possible to live peacefully if only we understand that each one’s belief is the perception of one of the infinite attributes of God and that nobody’s view is wrong. More on this in the next blog…