What
is religion? If the devil and the angel are both residing in one’s mind
– why is religion so necessary? The devil is strong and grows at an
immense pace. But the angel is initially weak and needs constant support
of the individual concerned. Religion is a set of rules which one
follows to tame the devil, and to nurture the angel.
- T.S. Elliot
Each
religion teaches the same. There could be a difference in methodology.
There could be a differences in some of the rituals. There could be
differences in the ways in which each religion is taught; but the
objective is the same. The common objective therefore, should be a
uniting force. So said the playwright, poet and thinker – T.S. Elliot.
“Religion must be a uniting force, but unfortunately some selfish,
self-styled religious leaders connive it to divide humanity.
- Swami Vivekanand
Swami
Vivekanand delineated the same idea in his famous speech at the world
Parliament of Religions in Chicago. The same is reproduced below:
It
fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and
cordial welcome which you have given us. l thank you in the name of the
most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of
the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name of the millions and
millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects. My thanks, also, to
some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates
from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may
well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of
toleration.I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world
both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in
universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to
belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees
of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you
that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites,
who came to the southern India and took refuge with us in the very year
in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I
am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still
fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to
you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated
from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of
human beings:
As the different streams having there sources in
different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the
different paths which men take through different tendencies, various
though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to thee.
The
present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever
held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world, of the
wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita:
Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me.
Sectarianism,
bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed
this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched
it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent
whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons,
human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time
is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in
honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of
all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable
feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.
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