The Unity That Underlies All Religions

THE UNITY THAT UNDERLIES ALL RELIGIONS

By

SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA

"All religions are one. They teach a divine life. I respect saints and prophets of all religions. I respect all religions, all cults, all faiths and all creeds. I serve all, love all, mix with all and see the Lord in all".

- Swami Sivananda

At the present moment all religions contain a mixture of truth, which is divine, and error which is human. The fundamentals or essentials of all religions are the same. There is difference only in the non-essentials. The apparent differences in religions are due to a misconception or misconstruction of the long-forgotten truth of the Vedas on which they are ultimately founded. All systems of religion are equally divine and true. The conflicting points are all due to misconception and misconstruction of truths on account of prejudice, bigotry, lack of purity of heart and subtlety and purity of intellect, and perverted condition of the intellect of people.

The great majority of religions had their origin in prehistoric times. Hence there are no genuine documents or trustworthy traditions concerning them.

All prophets are messengers of God. They are great Yogins and realized souls, who have had divine, intuitive perception of God. Their words are infallible and sacred. The Koran or the Zend-Avesta or the Bible is as much a sacred book as the Bhagavad-Gita. All contain the essence of divine wisdom. Ahuramazda, Isvara, Allah, Jehovah are different names for one God.

Truth is neither Hindu nor Muslim, nor Buddhist nor Christian! Truth is one, homogeneous, eternal substance. The follower of the religion of Truth walks on the path of light, peace, wisdom, power and bliss.

Man forgets all about his religion on account of ignorance, or lust for power and greed. He has become irreligious. So he has come down to the level of a brute. He has lost all sense of morality. He does havoc. He creates mischief. He stabs, loots, and burns houses. The law of the jungle prevails.

Many preach Buddhism, but no one gives up desires and Himsa (as opposed to Ahimsa). Many preach Christianity, but no one practices love and forgiveness. Many preach Islam, but no one recognizes the brotherhood of man. Many preach Hinduism, but no one realizes the Divinity in all. Preaching has become the livelihood of men, while practice has become their object of scorn.

Hence the world is wicked, not for want of truth, nor on account of religions; but, alas, it is wicked for the lack of true followers of these ideals and religions.

What is needed is proper education of the followers of all religions. Place the practical tenets of their own religion before the followers of that religion, and devise ways and means of enabling them to express these tenets in their daily life. Without practice, idealism creates fatalism in man. Unless knowledge alters one's life, it is useless. Selflessness and love are not creeds to be taught, but ideals to be exemplified, demonstrated and radiated. Therefore, let everyone practice his own religion and strive to attain the goal. Let religion create saints and Yogins, rather than Mandirs (Hindu temple), Masjids (Mosque) and Churches.

[source: The Unity That Underlies All Religions]

What is Religion?

WHAT IS RELIGION?

By

SRI SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

New Year is fast approaching and we will be in another year within a couple of hours. Years have come and years have gone; we have celebrated the ushering in of the New Year many a time. But we are no better than what we were many years back. Why so? Religion, which is supposed to help us in this respect, does not seem to be of much avail, because we have not understood what religion is. So let us now ponder over this very important subject, "What is religion?"

In a broad way, religion may be regarded as pure commonsense. It is not a compulsion or an imposition that is inflicted upon one by people from outside. It is something which we cannot avoid, due to the very set up of things. We know there are certain things in life which we cannot avoid because of the circumstances under which we are placed. Sometimes people start saying, "What can I do? I cannot avoid it the situation is such". We are placed under such circumstances sometimes that we have to do something, whether we like it or not, want it or not. Likewise, religion is something which we are obliged to accept as something unavoidable, which we can never entirely turn a deaf ear to, under the conditions in which we exist in this world. As long as we are in this world, there is religion. And we shall be always in some world, which is a name we give to the universal atmosphere in all its planes or levels of expression. Thus, the world is not going to vanish. Religion, then, is going to be eternal, it can never cease to be, if religion can be defined as the duty that we owe to the Universe.

The other question that arises as a sort of corollary from this position is, "what is meditation?" The same answer holds good to this question also in essence. If we know what religion is, we will also know what meditation is. Because, meditation is nothing but the contemplation of the fact of religion. So, when religion is known, meditation also is known. The duty that we owe to the Universe is our religion. Can there be, then, many religions in the world? This question also is automatically answered in this small aphoristic answer: "Religion is the duty of man to the Universe".

Can there be many kinds of duty towards the Universe? This query can only be answered by an analogy. There is a family consisting of many members-father, mother, brother, sister, children, and so on. Each member of the family owes a duty towards every other member of the family. Now, does this duty vary from member to member, or not? It varies, and it does not vary. Both answers hold good here. It varies in the sense that the capacity of each person is different from that of the other persons. It does not vary in the sense that the duty of each member of the family works towards the fulfilment of the common purpose of the family. One member may wash the vessels every day. Another member may wash the clothes. A third member may go for shopping. A fourth may receive visitors and guests, and a fifth may cook dinner. Now, these are all different functions which each member of the family performs. But, what is the purpose behind all these different activities or functions? It is to keep the solidarity of the family and to keep the family alive as a 'Whole', and not to keep each individual member alive separately, like unconnected bricks in a heap. The family is not merely the members, but it is something more than each individual member, just as a government is not any governmental official, merely. Every official is a part of the government. Yet no single official can be said to be the government, as such. The government is invisible to the eyes. You cannot see it anywhere. If you search for the government, you cannot see it. You will only see persons, and yet, all these persons put together do not make the government. Then what is the government? It is the 'principle' behind the operations of these people. The ‘principle’ is not seen, only the people are seen. You can see the President, you can see the Prime Minister, you can see the Ministers, and many others. All these people put together, as different individuals, also, do not constitute what you mean by government. The officials are the limbs of the organism or the body called the government. In a similar manner, we may conceive and understand religion. So is also any kind of organisational set up, a Society, for instance. An Organisation is not people and buildings. Rather, it is a "Principle" which everything else has to subserve. There is a principle operating behind all the things that you see. That principle is the law, the nation, the cultural cohesion of kindred aspirations. This is government. This is society. This is Organisation. This is family. This is religion', wherein the principle of organisational living reaches its cosmical climax.

There is also a principle operating behind the variegated duties that you owe to the Universe. This principle is to be the object of your meditation. I said, when you know what religion is, then you know what meditation is. Meditation is the contemplation on the foundational principle of religion. Religion is a principle. Please remember this. It is not a formality. It is not a cult or a creed, or an action or an activity of individuals. It is a cementing force in human society, even as the governmental system cements officials as well as the citizens. Hence, going to the temple, offering worship, reading the scripture, doing charity and rolling of beads-all these, while they look like religion,-do not make religion as such, because religion is more a state of consciousness, outlook, feeling and attitude than a mere form bereft of this inner significance. Without the members, there is no family, and yet, the members are not the family. This is an enigma behind the distinction between the principle and its manifestation. Religion as a principle is invisible. And without the principle there cannot be religion. Behind all activity there is a policy, as you call it. "What is your policy?" people ask. You have seen activities, but what is the policy behind the activities? That is very essential. If that is missing, the activities lose sense. Likewise, your religion and your religious activities will have no significance if there is no policy behind it. And what is this policy? Why do you do this and not the other way? The policy is to manifest your relationship to the Universe. The policy of the family is that each member of the family should manifest his or her relationship to the other members. Though the activity may vary in its shape and form, the relationship does not vary. The child does a little work, the mother does something else and the father does a different kind of work. There is no superiority or inferiority in the works or duties here. The significance behind these activities is identical, which is all a love for what they call the family, -though they cannot explain or define what family is. Patriotism, the spirit of love for the nation, is not love for any official of the government, or even for a set of persons. It is love for a principle behind what you call nationality or the national spirit. The 'national spirit' is different from the 'people of the country'. These are all difficult things to comprehend for an untrained mind. Likewise, an untrained mind cannot understand what religion is.

Now I come to the subject of religion, about which I said that your relationship to the Universe determines what your religion is. But what is your relationship to the Universe?

Can you tell me, what is your particular relationship to your family? You belong to the family in such a manner that you cannot be 'out' of it. Likewise, you belong to the Universe in such a manner that you cannot afford to be 'outside' it even for a single moment. The good of the Universe is your good, even as the good of the family is the good of every member of the family, the good of the nation is the good of every citizen, and the good of the whole is the good of the parts. The good of the body, or the health of the body is the good of every limb of the body. So, too, religion is not merely an activity of the limbs of the body or a group of people. It is not what you do with your hands and feet merely. It is an attitude that you develop in your consciousness. When you look at the world, what do you think of it? And that is your religion. When you gaze at the world, what is your opinion about it? That is your religion; not what you do in the temples and the churches. That is not sufficient religion, though it is a part of religion. It is just a manifestation of the spirit of religion. And the spirit of religion is your attitude. Thus, religion is an attitude of consciousness. It is not an activity or function that you perform, as an individual. It is a general attitude of affection for the Whole to which you belong in the atmosphere of the Universe.

This is a highly philosophical problem, if you push it to its logical limits. It is a very crucial matter, determining our very life itself. If you have a chaotic attitude towards the Universe, you will have a chaotic religion, you will lead a chaotic life, and confusion will be the consequence. If you do not know what exactly is your relation to your family, you know what will happen to the family. There will be no family. It will be disintegrated. You stand together as one force when you say, 'I am from this family'. Just as you have an integrated force called the family and another integrated force called the nation, you have an integrated force called humanity or mankind. When you speak of humanity, you speak of all mankind. Just as there is a force called mankind, a force called nation or family, there is a force called the Universe. This is essential to understand.

Now, to understand this, you need not go to the scriptures for reading. Pure commonsense alone is enough. You cannot say that you are outside the Universe. You are in it and you know what bounties you enjoy from it. You cannot live without the resources of Nature. You want water and air, you want light and heat, you want food; and all these come from the Universe. Do you not contribute your mite to the maintenance of the family because the family supports you by providing you with education, food, medical aid, love and care, and helps you in all ways? Does each member not owe an obligation to the family which supports him? Likewise the Universe sustains us with food, water, air; the very breath that we breathe and our very existence is determined by it. Thank God, the planets do not dash against one another, crushing our heads. Suppose there is a collision of the planets, you can imagine what would happen to us. No such thing happens, and everything is wonderfully maintained. There is a system in the cosmos which protects us. It gives us training and education and enables us to be alive here. Do we not owe an obligation towards it? That is our religion. Now, this obligation cannot vary in its spirit. That is what I am trying to point out. Though your functions may vary, the spirit behind them cannot vary. The child's attitude towards the family is the same as the attitude of the big father towards the family, though their functions are different. Likewise, you must look upon the Universe as a single family, where you owe an attitude of cooperation, collaboration and non-exploitation in respect of everyone. You cannot exploit the family, for you know that is not good; that is not becoming of a member of the family. You should try to sustain it. Similarly, we should not exploit the world, or Nature as a whole. We should not exploit even God. That is not proper. Exploitation is always bad, wherever it is. The law of life is cooperation and not competition and exploitation. "We should not take what we have not given", to put it in simple language. Religion, in its highest form, is this great principle or policy, as explained.

In actual practice, in day-to-day life, religion takes the form of "do not take what you have not given". Whenever you take something from the world, please consider whether you have given to the world something equally in any form. If you have given nothing, take nothing. If you have taken one thing, you have to give one thing. Otherwise, the Universe will set up a revolt against you. When the Universe revolts against you, you know what will happen to you. You will not be there, for you will be pounded. Unfortunately, the Universe has already set up a revolution against us. That is why there is birth and death. The series of births and deaths is nothing but the punishment meted out to us by the law of the cosmos for infringing its principles. We always regard the Universe as something outside us, as a foreigner, as-a stranger and we want to exploit it nay, conquer it. You always talk of conquering Nature as if it is an enemy. Do you talk of conquering the family to which you belong? Never, is the answer. Then why do you talk of conquering Nature? Poor Nature, it is your own. Why do you want to conquer it? You are a part of it. Know this and act accordingly. Then, like a loving mother, Nature will come and take you on her lap. The Universe will sustain you. There is no fear in this world. Fear is unknown to the one who cooperates with the world. But, for the one who exploits, there is fear everywhere, and such a man cannot exist without fear and anxiety for a moment. If you are a good man, you will not exploit any person or individual, any facility that is provided to you, not even Nature and God. Religion is your conscious attitude towards the Universe, philosophically, and in principle. And in practice, it is following the instruction 'do not take more than what you give', 'do not exploit but cooperate'. Feel that you belong to the Universe, which is your family. It is better to remember the analogy of the family, so that you may know what your position in this world is.

There is something more about which nothing need be specially said, because it is implied. Just as there is a head of the family, there is a Head of this Universal Family. You cannot see Him easily. But you can see Him when you cooperate in his laws. The law will take you to Him. The law has also ordained that we shall have actual, direct contact with the Head of this Universal Family who, is the creator of this cosmos. When this Universe takes care of you, it is implied that God Himself takes care of you. Religion is not yours, not mine, and it is not of the East or the West. There are not many religions. There is one religion only, in fact. It is a scientific principle that operates in the Universe. Religion is the greatest science. People ask, 'Is religion scientific?' This is a stupid question. Because religion is the only science ultimately going to be successful in the world. There is no such question as 'whether religion is scientific'; I say there is no other science. All other sciences are the children of this Supreme Science which goes by the name of religion, without which man cannot even exist in this world. Religion is metaphysical, philosophical, and psychological, ethical and practical, social, political, and everything. It permeates every fibre of our existence. It is the Supreme Law that operates everywhere, governing men and women, young and old, every person in all walks of life. It is an Eternal Law. It is the Law of God, the Law of Nature.

May this be your contemplation on the eve of the New Year, throughout the year and also throughout your life. May this understanding of the real religion lead you to the realisation of the true God, is my prayer at this auspicious moment when the New Year is about to ring in.

This article is a chapter from the book "Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals".

[source: What is Religion?]

Authentic Religion

Offered to the delegates of the 1993 Parliament of World Religions with respectful greetings and loving good wishes - Swami Chidananda

Esteemed Friend,

Just as the different or various paths of Yoga are but varied approaches to the Divine through one or another facet or aspect of your human nature, even so, the various religious systems that exist and prevail in this world today are ever so many ways of approaching the one Supreme Cosmic Reality, who is transcendental and cannot be encompassed within the confines of the limited experience of our finite senses or our finite inner cognising instrument of mind, intellect, etc. He is known as "Para", in the Sanskrit language meaning that which transcends, that which goes beyond, that which is beyond.

There are many effective, equally valid religions. They are, therefore, to be equally reverenced, equally recognized and equally loved and cherished - not merely tolerated. They speak of religious tolerance. The word tolerance smacks of a sense of condescending to allow something to be, condescending to recognize the authenticity or validity or bonafides of something else from a relative or comparative point of view. It is a term that should be gradually eased out. For it is not so much a question of tolerating another's point of view, but rather being able to understand that view from the other's viewpoint. If you are able to look through the eyes of the one with whom you are not able to agree, then you will understand why that person is seeing it in that particular manner.

"Ye yathaa mam prapadyante taamstathaiva bhajaamyaham" - In whatsoever way men approach Me, even so do I go to them. (Bhagavad-Gita Chp. 4-11) This is the motive or maxim par excellence for people of all religions to adopt in their approach to the so-called different religions of this world. Religions are apparently different, but they are essentially one. There is a non-difference in religions in that they all exist with one objective to fulfill, with one great process or one great spiritual purpose. And that great purpose is religare - once again to bind yourself back unto the supreme Cosmic Source of your being.

You were bound unto the Supreme in the beginning. But there now seems to have been a loosening of that bond, not bondage but a bond, which is a desirable thing, a necessary thing, an indispensable thing. That bond has been loosened, so a connection has been broken, as it were. There is never any loosening of the bond or breaking of the connection between you and that being. Ever you abide in him. It is because you have lost your spiritual awareness that you are regarding yourself as some other being, non-spiritual, material, physical, gross, phenomenal.

Due to this lesser consciousness, obscured consciousness, you are not able to experience and feel that essential spiritual connection between you and that supreme source of your being. But, again and again, the scriptures declare that there never has been a separation. It is impossible, for He abides within you as the innermost Self of your being. And you abide in Him. Why ? Because you cannot abide anywhere else. For, He is infinite and thus everywhere present, omnipresent.

It is not only that He brought you into existence, but also, there is an essential non-difference between the essence of your being and that Supreme Being. The sages and seers of yore who realized That Being within the deepest depth of their spiritual consciousness were given the supreme inner experience that That Supreme Being is one and non-dual. That Being alone exists. That Being alone is the one, sole, eternal Reality. They realized: "ekameva advitiyam brahma" (Brahman (God) is one only and non-dual), "nehananasati" (There is no diversity here).

Therefore, "sarvam khalvidam brahma" (All this is verily Brahman (God)) became a fact. It had to be recognized. It was truth. And because that Supreme Essence or Principle or Being is one and non-dual, then the many that we see must necessarily, in essence, be the outcome of that one Supreme Being.

In a home there are so many different items such as bedsheets, pillowcases, table cloths, shirts, towels, handkerchiefs, napkins, etc. But one who sees a little beyond says that they are all cotton only, no matter what shape, form or color they may be. A lady may wear a variety of ornaments such as a necklace, bracelets and rings. We see many things, each one different from the other, but the goldsmith sees only one thing - gold. In a pottery factory you can see innumerable different items of pottery in all shapes and sizes. We see the great variety, but the owner of the factory knows that they all consist of a single element-clay.

So, even as various kinds of cloth of different sizes and shapes and colors are constituted of but one material, namely cotton, even as different types of gold ornaments worn on various parts of the body are made only of gold, and even as different kinds of pottery are but one material, clay, even so, the entire universe of innumerable variegated names and forms are, in essence, but one Being in a glorious cosmic manifestation. Therefore, the appearance of the many does not invalidate the non-duality of the one Supreme Principle. IT alone prevails, non-dual, one without a second.

All religions have come into existence in global human society, in this phenomenon of man, in order to take man back to the eternal source of his being, and not only take him back, but bind him back, bring about a firm relationship. How ? Either by love of your heart, through devotion, prayer, adoration, glorification; or by the penetrating analysis of the intellect, constantly dwelling upon it, enquiring about it, analyzing it, trying to approach it, to grasp it through understanding it from all various facets; or by concentrating all the scattered rays of your mental powers into one powerful, single unified ray and focusing that unified mind upon the concept of that one supreme, non-dual Divine Reality to the exclusion of all other ideas through the inner, mystical process called meditation; or trying to approach it by feeling the presence of that Being pervading and prevailing everywhere, now and here, and directing your entire life, love and thoughts into a continuous stream of service unto that Supreme Reality in and through its various appearance as human beings, animals, insects, plants, all forms of life existing on earth, thus making yourself a servant of the immanent God indwelling all his creation.

Even within the context of the Vedic religion, all these different approaches, the different paths of Yoga - one through feeling, one through reasoning, one through concentration, one through active service, although being apparently different, are recognized as being one. All lead to that oneness. Even so, all the religious systems that prevail and exist in this world today are directed towards the adoration of one Supreme being who is non-dual, Who is the identical, same Being, call Him by a hundred different names.

All religious systems ultimately are ascending movements in the direction of the one, supreme, non-dual Cosmic Reality that is the source and origin of countless billions of universes, known and unknown. All religions move in that direction and have but one self same objective: to once again bring the individual, the human monad into direct contact and permanent relationship with the cosmic Universal Being. This objective is the same; the goal is the same. The means may be different, but the way is one - directed towards one ultimate destination, that is, God-experience. You may call it Allah-experience, Bhagavan-experience, Nirvana-experience, Brahman-experience, Yahweh-experience. Call it any name; it is the Supreme transcendental experience of the cosmic source and origin of your being, the cosmic source and origin of all existence.

This is what requires to be recognized. This is what requires to be lovingly preached. This is what requires, with firm faith and conviction, to be brought to the knowledge of the masses. And it is the great onus, the responsibilty, and the supreme duty to man as well as to God and one's own honesty, of all learned ones who are the custodians of the various religions, not to preach difference, that we are different from one another, but to rather proclaim this inner, essential spiritual oneness that is the one and only fact of the phenomenon of man upon this planet earth. Then alone humanity will gradually become one.

All the supreme heads of the religions should sit together. They must recognize that a new chapter is opening up for global mankind and that the part that religion has to play is not the part that it has played up till this moment. It has to undo the follies of the past religious history of the world. It has to make ammends for all these follies as well as sins. Religions have commited the greatest sins in the name of religion. They have to make ammends. We must go down on our knees, lift up our hearts and hands to God and weep and repent, and say that religion has been in error. Religion has misguided humanity. Religion has taught humanity to be irreligious in the name of religion.

Religion is love. Religion is recognizing the presence of God everywhere and in everything as a living truth, and real religion is to live a life emphasizing and manifesting this truth through the love of all that exists.

And until religion becomes what it is meant to be, the fate of humanity will always be clash and conflict, hatred and disunity, discord and disharmony. Only sorrow can come out of it, not joy, not peace, not prosperity. Religion must now assume a different role, its true authentic role. Until now it has lost its direction, it has gone off at a tangent, it has become derailed.

Whereas everything else seems to proclaim the differences in God's creation, religion is the one phenomenon which is supposed to proclaim the truth of our oneness. We are non-different. We are children of the One Being. Essentially, we are all one. But it is a matter of great regret that up till now religion has failed in its global mission of unifying man. It has emphasized the wrong factors, the changing factors. It has emphasized the non-essentials of religious forms. It is the Spirit that has to be emphasized, not the form. Form cannot affect the essential unity of the spirit within.

Therefore, religion now must recognize that till now in human history, religion has erred. It has not fulfilled its real mission on earth. It has brought about a great deal of pain and suffering. It must recognize this error, correct it and make up its mind that the time has now come that a new chapter is opening up, that its role is now different. We have to play the role of unifiers.

It's never too late to mend. There should be a resurgence of essential religion, real religion, which is one. There are not many religions. there is only one religion: man's path back to God, the individual's ascent to the Universal Reality, the cosmic phenomenon of the human being once again linking himself to his Divine source and abode. This is religion. And now, the unified religious policy of global humanity must seriously engage itself in undoing what it has done by losing its direction and take on this new role as proclaimers of oneness, proclaimers of harmony.

All religions, therefore, exist and prevail in order to raise up the human spirit towards its essential divine status, godly status, so that man's nature becomes filled with the godlike qualities of love, compassion, kindness, purity and with everything that is sublime, beautiful, holy and sanctifying. Man's heart is the right field for the play of these sublime, godly qualities such as harmony, understanding, unity, selflessness and a spirit of service. This is real religion. This is true practice of religion - to be a true child of God, to be a true witness to His all-perfection.

If we are representatives of that Cosmic Being, then through our lives, the whole world must see and recognize the perfection that That Being is. Then alone a new era can dawn for global humanity in the twenty-first century. Religion can and must become a great unifying force, a great force for unity and harmony. Then we can say indeed that God has spoken to man and that religion has now come to take its rightful place in human society and to fulfil its destined, great, sublime role of making man aware of his spiritual nature and his oneness with humanity. For within all, that same Light of God dwells as their own true eternal identity.

[source: Authentic Religion]

Yoga and Christianity

YOGA AND CHRISTIANITY

By

SRI SWAMI CHIDANANDA

I shall speak to you at some length upon the subject of 'Yoga and the Christian Religion' because most of you are from a Christian background, very pious and very religious. Some are only Christian because they are born Christian, but some are halfway going to the Church once in two months, but all are from a Christian background, may be some Roman Catholic, may be not, may be Protestant, may be Methodist, may be some other. Some of you are Jews. Whatever religion you belong to, when I speak about Yoga and the Christian religion, it could equally apply to Yoga and any other religion. So, what is the connection between Yoga and one's religion? One takes it for granted that Yoga is of the Hindu religion, and asks: 'What is the connection between, this Hindu thing and my religion?' Anyone belonging to another religion must wonder. So, it is worth-knowing how to relate Yoga to religion. Is it like other religions or are there sharp divergences between Yoga and other religions? If these things are not clear, may be some would feel a sense of guilt. 'O, I am a Christian, am I doing the right by coming and taking to Yoga? Perhaps, I am being a little irreligious in the particular area of my interest in Yoga.' Thus, a vague sort of uneasiness may be felt.

First and foremost, it has to be known that Yoga has arisen from a background or basis of the Hindu religion. It has its origin in India and it is part of the Hindu religion. But it is not Hindu. It is a universal science that has arisen out of the Hindu religious ground-a science that has risen above religion. It is a universal technique. Because in Yoga, as it is given in the Yoga-Darsana of Patanjali, one of the six systems of philosophy, no particular dogma is laid down and no particular God is pointed out for your worship. Yoga doesn't say that you must worship Rama or Siva or meditate upon Krishna, or you must worship Kaali or Durga, or Hanuman; Yoga has nothing to say upon all these things. Yoga doesn't say that you must repeat any particular Name of God. Yoga only says that repetition of one of the Divine Names is one of the ways of concentrating the mind. It says repetition of the Divine Name. You may repeat the Divine Name, you may say the prayer of Jesus, you may say Allah, you may say Rama, you may say the name of Siva, or you may say some other Name if you are in some other religion, but it does not specify that Name and also whom to worship. The All-perfect Divine Being, who is ever-free, ever-perfect, free from all the imperfections, ever-free beyond Maya, the Supreme Purusha, means the Supreme Being, Almighty Father in Heaven, Allah, Jehovah, you can call it by any name, it does not matter, the ever-free Being is not bound by Maya, and who is free from affliction, who is of the nature of Bliss-Absolute, Consciousness-Absolute; that is the object of meditation to be attained, that is the goal of Yoga. So, it does not give for you a goal other than the goal of Yoga; it does not give for you a goal other than the goal of your religion. It does not point out a God different from the one pointed by your own religion—Christianity, Islam, etc.—and it does not give a special name of that God so that you will have to change Gods. It does not give any special name to the one God. Emerging from the ground of Hinduism, it goes beyond religion.

Yoga is a Religious Science, which means that it goes beyond religion, and assumes a universal characteristic. Secondly, Yoga is a science for Man. It is not a science either for an Easterner or a Westerner, an Oriental or an Occidental. Yoga is for man on earth. It was given to mortal man on this earth of birth, pain and death. It was given to man on earth, no matter what he is or who he is; and it is given to man for all times. It was not given to an ancient man or medieval man or a modern man, or anyone who might come, wanting to go beyond all sorrow, pain and suffering, go beyond bondage and delusion. If he takes to this path, it brings him to the place of supreme experience. So it is the answer to the need of mortal man, on this earth plane. So it is something that is the property, the heritage of humanity—Yoga is the heritage of humanity. It does not interfere with religion. What does Yoga do? Yoga supplies to the life of man and makes up for certain lack brought about by religion failing man or man failing religion. There is a condition created by the failure of religion administering to man's highest needs, or the failure of man to take advantage of religion or properly utilise his religion which it is, we cannot say.

Some say religions have failed. I say, no. Man has failed to follow religion. It is not due to religion that man suffers. It is due to the neglect of religion, the ignoring of religion and its teachings and its wisdom. Mostly, this is the situation. But in some places where religion has become totally institutionalised, it has become a great impersonal structure, and lost living contact with the individuals. Under it, then, it becomes barren of real spirit. It becomes only a pattern for dogma and ritual, and ceremony and belief. You are a Christian; if you say 'I believe in salvation through the blood of Christ'. Yes, I believe, then you are a Christian. You are a very good Christian; so go your way. Do what you like, drink, smoke, break all the ten commandments, but you are a Christian. Religion has come to mean just accepting certain things which an institution has set to be the very heart of religion—a set of dogmas, and if you say you accept all this, then, you are a religious man. But, then, this is not religion. In each religion there is a certain spiritual content which has direct relevance to that part of you which is your innermost essential being, which is your innermost reality, a true, essential reality, and where religion fails to touch that part of your being, and loses its concern with that, and only concerns itself with the way in which you live, your social life and pattern of your social life, and your domestic life, whether you pay your tithe and whether you attend the Church regularly once in a week, or whether you go through all the various sacraments. You Baptise, and you are Christian. It is interested only in that but not in that highest part of you. It never asks you to question yourself or query 'What is the purpose of my life? Why have I come here? What have I to attain? What is the true meaning of my life? What is my goal?' In organised religions, the structure does not encourage you to ask these questions, does not insist that you raise these questions and seek an answer and make life a quest of that great goal which you ascertain through the answer. In such case, religion is not ministering to you in depth, while it is ministering to you on the surface. It fails to deal with you in that dimension of your being where you are the real being. Other dimensions are touched and affected, but that dimension is left untouched.

So, when the spiritual content in religion is no longer active, no longer progressive, then that religion has petrified. It is not alive in such cases. Yoga is a wonderful answer because the prime concern of Yoga is the spiritual reality within you, the attainment of the spiritual goal for which you have taken this human birth; that is the prime concern of Yoga. Yoga is the path to God-realisation. Yoga is the path of Divine Experience, and the Divine Experience is the heart of religion. Trying to attain God-realisation is the very heart, the very essence of religion. That is the inner spiritual core of religion, and where that spiritual core has been neglected and cast aside, and is forgotten, then religion is only there as a great forum; a great structure is there, but inside there is no one living. There are a hundred houses, only a built palace is there, no one is living. It is a deserted palace. Like that, religion becomes a huge imposing structure with no life; and if such has become the religious life of any person, be he a Christian, a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, a Parsi, or a Muslim; if such it has become, then Yoga comes as life-giving waters, the living waters to revive that withering, languishing inner spiritual core, that innermost spiritual path that has been neglected and dried away. Yoga comes as the life-giving force. Once again it makes spring into life the spiritual centre of your religion. It makes your religion alive for you. It can make religion alive for anyone, be he a Christian or a Muslim, and it gives back to you the life within your religion. It is the common experience of many people that after Yoga came to them they started being really religious. After Yoga came to them a Christian became a real devoted Christian, started going to Church, started reading the Bible and trying to find out more interest in the words of Jesus, began to understand the meaning of many things he is now doing in the name of Christianity, which he otherwise stopped doing because he found it to be meaningless,—'I find no meaning, it is mechanical'. It has no meaning, and once now he has found meaning, he begins to get interested in it. He begins to practise the teachings. Many things which were just meaningless once, become now meaningful. So one becomes a better Christian. In many cases Yoga has helped a person to find the inner meaning of his religion. He begins to see the reason behind the practice and then he begins to take more interest in his own religion, understand it better than he understood it before. Yoga restores to people whatever religion they may belong to. It restores to people the inner spiritual content of their religion. It restores to people the spiritual life which is the centre of any real religion, lacking which religion becomes merely an external facade. Yoga restores, makes it alive, makes it green, brings it forth into life. Yoga can be applied to Christianity and to any other religion.

In what way does it differ? That also we shall see. It differs in its refusing to accept the doctrine of 'original sin'. It does not call man a sinner. It may call man a fool but it doesn't call him a sinner. Man is God playing the fool, or, man is God who has lost his way home, wandered away, stumbling and running about in circles. It clears up the path, puts light and puts man on the path again and says, 'go ahead now, go straight to your home'. So it doesn't want you to consider yourself a sinner. And the other thing is this: Much of Christianity, unfortunately, in certain of its areas, becomes wholly a preoccupation with avoiding hell, trying to avoid hell, and somehow or other slip past the doors of heaven; somehow or other, even if you are not fully qualified for it. Yoga says: 'This is a little childish, you have got something more glorious. Why do you play this game of heaven and hell?' Yoga rejects hell, and Yoga rejects heaven also. Go to the Creator of heaven, the Master of heaven. Why heaven? Heaven is also a petty desire. You don't want it. 'I want God. I want to experience God, the Supreme Being, the Master of heaven'. Yoga concerns itself with God, not heaven or hell. You can say these are some of the differences, the way that Yoga differs from Christianity. It is where orthodox Christian doctrine differs from Yoga.

Yoga restores the most precious part of religion, which, unfortunately, by and large, is not present. In most of the major religions of the world, except in a microscopic section of people who enter into monastery for all life, the nuns and the monks, who somehow or other concentrate all their life upon this spiritual content, except for them, by and large, normally, the spiritual content is found to be lacking in religion. But since the impact of Yoga over the past fifty years, gradually, we see a very wonderful phenomenon, a revival is taking place in the Christian world, emphasising this inner spiritual aspect, your connection with this Godhead. There are many such examples. Some of them are working like the apostles. In the early days, some of them were really fired, like Pentecostal inspirations. They are all good signs. Yoga is presently doing that, restoring to religion the religious life of any being. It restores to him the spiritual quality, the spiritual factor and that is the greatest thing that it does. It doesn't disturb your religion. It doesn't contradict your religion. In no way does it contradict anything. It says: 'wherever you are, whatever you are, try to find God, try to live a noble life. Purify yourself of the lower nature. Shine with virtue. Create in yourself divine qualities and awaken the divine within you, and move towards God.' That is the central message of Yoga. It can be harmoniously incorporated into any religion and the religious life of any being, any faith to enrich that religion and make it alive and take you towards the true goal which is the goal of any religion.

This article is from the book "Guidelines To Illumination".

[source: Yoga and Christianity]