The Essential Unity of Religions By Vic Hao Chin in Theosophical Society in the Philippines (Files) Religions have been at war with one another for millennia, how can anyone say that there is unity among religions? Doctrines are so diverse and contradictory with each other that to affirm one is often to reject another. Christianity alone has been so splintered that as of 2001, a worldwide survey of the World Christian Encyclopedia showed that there were 33,800 Christian denominations all over the world. And that’s just Christianity. Evidently, there is no unity of religions when we listen to the various declared dogmas of different churches and sects. Fortunately, these religions themselves reveal that the surface teachings do not necessarily constitute the core of religious truths. Each religion has layers of understanding truth. In Christianity, the Gospels themselves state that Jesus declared that he had two sets of teachings: one for the masses (through parables), and the other for the disciples. Islam too has a mystical side, called Sufism. So does Judaism – Kabbalah. Hinduism and Buddhism similarly have their exoteric side and their mystical and esoteric sides. It is not on the outer side that we will find unity among religions. It is in the deeper levels. There are three such levels which form the bases for true religious unity: 1. Mystical Unity At the core of each religion is the quest to attain union with the highest: divinity, God, reality, Absolute, etc. This union is mysticism. This quest is universal. Christianity: union with God or the Absolute (see “Mysticism,” by Evelyn Underhill); “until Christ be formed in you,” (Gal. 4:19); “The Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27); “the Spirit of God dwell in you” (Rom 8:9) Buddhism: “Thou art Buddha.” Hinduism: Tat tvam asi (“That thou art”); Judaism (Kabbalah): devekut (cleaving to, or communion with, God) Islam (Sufism): Fanah fi Allah (Annihilation into Allah) This inherent unity is affirmed as the third of the three fundamental propositions of the Secret Doctrine: “The fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal Over-Soul, the latter being itself an aspect of the Unknown Root.” (SD I, 17) “For, all religions divested of their man-made theologies and superlatively human ecclesiasticism rest on one and the same foundation, converge towards one focus: an ineradicable, congenital belief in an inner Nature reflected in the inner man, its microcosm.” (CW V, 355) Mystical union is universally affirmed among all the great religions. Such mystical realization has been known since the ancient times up to the present time. It is the heart of religious experience, more enduring than the outer dogmas of the churches. Abraham Maslow, the pioneering transpersonal psychologist, wrote of this experience: “to the extent that all mystical or peak-experiences are the same in their essence and have always been the same, all religions are the same in their essence and always have been the same. They should, therefore, come to agree in principle on teaching that which is common to all of them, i.e., whatever it is that peak-experiences teach in common (whatever is different about these illuminations can fairly be taken to be localisms both in time and space, and are, therefore, peripheral, expendable, not essential). This something common, this something which is left over after we peel away all the localisms, all the accidents of particular languages or particular philosophies, all the ethnocentric phrasings, all those elements which are not common, we may call the ‘core-religious experience’ or the ‘transcendent experience.’ " (Religion, Values and Peak Experiences, Ch. 3) 2. Moral Unity A second basis for religious unity is in the moral dimension. H. P. Blavatsky wrote: “. . . The usually recognized standard of morality . . . is the common property of all religions, as of all the honest men, irrespective of their beliefs.” (CW IV, 497) Behind the forest of doctrines and dogmas of religions and scriptures, there is an underlying moral unity among the major religious traditions that arises from humanity’s intuitive moral sense. They are characterized by certain principles, such as: Do good; shun evil Transcend the ego; be selfless; do not be selfish Be loving and compassionate; avoid harming others Do not do unto others what you would not want others to do unto you Where scriptures and doctrines violate any of the above, such doctrines are treated with suspicion and will eventually be rejected. There is a moral intuition within us that recognizes what is right and what is not. It is different from social morality and personal morality. It is even superior to scriptural morality. Thus, for example, we find in the Old Testament that a person who picks up sticks for firewood should be stoned to death. Our inner intuition rebels against such cruelty, and we refuse to carry out such a scriptural edict because deep within us we know that it is unjust and not right. The Dalai Lama declares that his religion is compassion. The New Testament declares that the new commandment is to love one another. Recently, the well-known scholar, Karen Armstrong, launched the Charter of Compassion, which states: “Compassion is the principled determination to put ourselves in the shoes of the other, and lies at the heart of all religious and ethical systems.” In this aspect, religions will eventually find a true commonality in morals, even if, in the present era, such unanimity seems to be still very far in being realized. 3. Esoteric Unity Underneath the diversity of doctrines and dogmas, there are underlying truths and principles that are discoverable among the teachings and traditions of the various major religions. This is a unique contribution of theosophy to the quest for unity among religious. That there are esoteric teachings in all religions is something that people have slowly begun to realize. It is not a new idea. In Christianity, it is stated by St. Paul: “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.” (Col. 1:26) Theosophy points out the commonality of the esoteric teachings of religions. Below are examples: The highest spirit in a human being is identical with the highest divine principle in the cosmos There is a higher individuality and lower personality in human beings, which are often in conflict with one another; the spiritual quest consists of awakening this higher nature, and the subjugation and purification of the lower personality, and the integration of the latter to the former. Human life and destiny is governed by the law of cause and effect Human life is but an intermediate state from primitive states towards divine perfection, ascending through many lives There are intermediate divine intelligences of various grades above human level There have been many books written that demonstrate such underlying esoteric unity among religions. The vast literary work of Helena Blavatsky is devoted to the exposition of such underlying unity. Today such a view is neither popular nor mainstream. Eventually, in centuries or millennia to come, religions will begin to openly recognize this third basis of unity. These then are the three foundations for true religious unity: Mystical unity Moral unity Esoteric unity The more that these insights are disseminated, the nearer we are to true religious peace and harmony.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 06:55:12 +0000
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