RELIGION IS ONENESS

A Universal Declaration

INDIA'S MESSAGE TO HERSELF AND TO THE WORLD

India's spiritual contribution provides 'the only way of salvation for mankind'

Throughout the centuries of world history India has made a rich contribution to the development of world civilization. Today the world finds itself in urgent need of the very insights which are the basic characteristics of Indian thought. India's insight of the spiritual nature of man and the oneness of human existence and her insight of the underlying unity of the different systems of thought provide the world today with that firm foundation on which alone a stable commonwealth of nations may be built.

Arnold Toynbee made a very firm assertion of the world's need to recognize and accept India's spiritual ideals if it is to survive. In his Foreword to the third edition of Swami Ghanananda's book Sri Ramakrishna and His Unique Message (1970) he said:

'He [Sri Ramakrishna] was born into a world that, in his life-time, was, for the first time, being united on a literally world-wide scale. Today we are still living in this transitional chapter of the world's history, but it is already becoming dear that a chapter which had a Western beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in the self-destruction of the human race. In the present age, the world has been united on the material plane by Western technology. But this Western skill has not only "annihilated distance"; it has armed the peoples of the world with weapons of devastating power at a time when they have been brought to point-blank range of each other without yet having learnt to know and love each other. At this supremely dangerous moment in human history, the only way of salvation for mankind is an Indian way. The Emperor Ashoka's and the Mahatma Gandhi's principle of non-violence and Sri Ramakrishna's testimony to the harmony of religions: here we have the attitude and the spirit that can make it possible for the human race to grow together into a single family‹and, in the Atomic Age, this is the only alternative to destroying ourselves. 'In the Atomic Age the whole human race has a utilitarian motive for following this Indian way. No utilitarian motive could be stronger or more respectable in itself. The survival of the human race is at stake. Yet even the strongest and most respectable utilitarian motive is only a secondary reason for taking Ramakrishna's and Gandhi's and Ashoka's teaching to heart and acting on it. The primary reason is that this teaching is right‹and is right because it flows from a true vision of spiritual reality.'

India's national diseases spring from unconsciousness of her spiritual ideal

It is now India's responsibility to give her spiritual insights to the world. Yet India is apparently unconscious of her obligation and of the true role she can and should be playing among the nations of the world. India's unconsciousness of her role is mainly due to the fact that her spiritual ideals have long been completely submerged and thus unused, causing a severe state of disease in her body politic. It is therefore absolutely imperative that India's spiritual ideals be now revived, restored, and demonstrated by giving them practical expression in her political, economic, social, and cultural life. It is India's spiritual ideals which can effect her true integration, save her from her national diseases, from disintegration, fissiparous tendencies, and drifting, and resuscitate every aspect of her life on her own national basis. To achieve this has now become all the more necessary in view of the drifting taking place in so many spheres.

Unconsciousness of the spiritual unity of humankind breeds communalism

One of the bitterest results of India's unconsciousness of her spiritual ideals is communalism. Communalism and all ideologies which separate man from man, class from class, race from race, creed from creed, and religion from religion are born of ignorance of the spiritual unity and solidarity of humankind. They are aberrations which express themselves through chaos, violence, conflict, tension, fissiparous and divisive tendencies, and even through secessionism, as has been repeatedly demonstrated, and is today being demonstrated, in India's national life. These aberrations and their expressions are symptoms of the national disease caused by the deadly virus of ignorance of India's spiritual ideals. Communalism, which has entered into the depths of the body politic and is eating into its vitals, is a mere symptom of India's national disease. As has been shown, awareness, recognition, and acceptance of the eternal truth of spiritual unity constitute her panacea for all the ills she may be heir to. All aberrations and their expressions will be eliminated from her national body only when her life-force, which is spirituality, is awakened and brought to bear on all aspects of her life by proper education and by a new order established in culture, society, and economic life on her own national basis. The first thing necessary therefore is to awaken the consciousness of India's own distinctive life-force, which is spirituality, otherwise called religion.

What is religion?

Religion is, in the true sense, the science of the knowledge of man's real nature. It is the perception, realization, and manifestation of man's real nature. Man's real nature is pure consciousness, pure existence, pure bliss. It is divinity itself. It is universal. The soul of every being is thus the same universal spirit, self-effulgent, a sun covered over with clouds of ignorance. The difference between one and another is due to the difference in density of these layers of clouds; the difference is in stages of growth and manifestation, in degree not in kind. This eternal truth is the conscious or unconscious basis of all religions, and is the explanation of the whole history of human progress, either on the material, or on the intellectual, or on the spiritual plane‹the same universal spirit is manifesting itself through different planes. Religion is thus the consciousness of the eternal truth of the spiritual unity and solidarity of humankind and of civilization.

Religion is one; forms are many

Religion, as has been said, is the perception, realization, and manifestation of man's real nature, which is divinity itself, the universal spirit in man. The universal spirit expresses itself through infinite aspects, in infinite forms, modes, and media. Religion, essentially, is thus one in substance, but many in relation to forms and media of expression. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines or dogmas or rituals or books or temples or other such concomitants are but non-essential secondary details. Religion becomes many, called by various names, only in relation to particular forms and media of expression. These forms are not universal or fundamental; they vary from person to person, group to group, community to community. Yet, as the husk is necessary to the development of the grain, they are inescapable and inevitable, for they spring from individual constitutional differences in mental make-up. That people, according to different tendencies, tastes, and temperaments, follow different forms, modes, and media to express their common goal of divinity is an eternal truth declared by India throughout the ages. Religion, in the sense of the many in relation to forms of expression, is a constitutional necessity. It will fulfill itself and reach perfection only when there are as many religions in the world as there are individuals. The universal spiritual principle of unity in diversity will then become fulfilled not only in spirit but also in form. The diversity of infinite forms enabling every individual to express his potential divinity through his own distinctive medium is the greatest discovery of spiritual science to lead mankind out of chaos to absolute freedom‹the ultimate goal of humanity and of human civilization.

Every religion is everybody's religion

The greatest discovery of spiritual science, as we have seen, is that Religion is one but religions are many, in the sense that they are but the varied expressions of the Religion which is oneness. Each religion, called by a particular name, expresses a particular aspect of the universal spirit. To this particular aspect a group of people of similarly constituted mental make-up pay allegiance. Since the one universal spirit and its many aspects are the same reality, conceived by the mind at different times in different attitudes, to reach oneness each individual may choose the path that suits him best.

As each religion has its own basic idea which represents a particular aspect of the universal spirit and is expressed through a particular form or medium, it is to that extent one-sided. Its realization is limited to a particular aspect of the universal spirit, whereas the universal spirit has infinite aspects expressing themselves through infinite forms, modes, and media. In spiritual science the different religions are not only not contradictory to each other, but are complementary; for each is a particular expression of the underlying spiritual unity. Therefore it is absolutely necessary for the various religions to complement each other with their distinctive realizations, and by doing so develop themselves. A religion reaches perfection and fulfills itself when it embodies the realizations of the infinite aspects of the universal spirit.

Give and take constitutes the key to progress. Science and technology are making rapid progress through this principle of co-operation. This principle is equally valid in the realm of spiritual science. There should be continuous give and take between religions for their mutual enrichment; this will take them towards achievement of the final goal of spiritual unity. It will also establish harmony between religion and religion, and it will provide a solid basis for true understanding and co-operation among the different sections of the people.

The different religions are essential to each other for each one's development and ultimate fulfillment in spiritual unity. The distinctive particular realization of one religion is needed by every other religion for its perfection and fulfillment. All the spiritual truths realized by the different religions together constitute the world of religion. The manifold spiritual truth of the world of religion is the common heritage of mankind, the common asset of every religion, a common fund from which each may draw.

Each religion is a beneficiary of this manifold spiritual truth. Therefore each religion is also a beneficiary of every other religion, for it may draw upon any or all of the others. Every religion is indeed everybody's religion. No spirit-ual truth is the exclusive property of any individual or group of individuals. All truths, physical or spiritual, are universal and ever-existent. Scientists, physical or spiritual, merely discover them.

Every religion is unitive in character. It fulfills itself in unity. It betrays itself when separated from unity. All religions are but the varied expressions of the Religion, which is oneness, the fulfillment, the summum bonum, of human life.

Conflict between religions is the greatest perversion of religion

It is now apparent that every religion is everybody's religion. There is no conflict between one religion and another. Conflict is born of perversion and is, indeed, itself the greatest perversion of religion. The time has come to penetrate, expose, and end the perverted practices pursued by vested interests which discriminate between religion and religion and create conflict. They invariably set one religion against another and divide man from man. In this way they kill the soul of religion which is unity, the soul of humanity. To say that there is only one God is to affirm that there is only one humanity. Religion has been sacrificed and, even now, is being sacrificed at the altar of humanity; but in reality it is humanity that is sacrificed in the name of religion.

No religion is a minority religion

Religion is concerned with the science of the knowledge of man's real nature and with development of the consciousness of the eternal truth of the spiritual unity and solidarity of humankind and of civilization. Religion has no social or political status, and there cannot be any such thing as a 'minority religion' or a 'majority religion', and, ipsofacto, there can be no 'religious minority' or 'religious majority'. By virtue of constitutional temperamental differences, every individual may have the religion that suits him best. Therefore there may be as many religions as there are individuals. The question of 'minority' or 'majority' in relation to religion is a contradiction in terms. These terms, and the thought and attitude they represent, are a gross misuse of the term 'religion'. Every religion expresses the identity, the unity, of every human being. It is preposterous to attempt to divide man from man on the basis of the very systems, and the only systems, which are organized to give man a means of experiencing and expressing the unity of humankind.

No religion can claim any special privilege

From what has been said it follows that no religion can claim any special privilege, for privilege presupposes separation. A special privilege for one religion is a contradiction in terms, and is repugnant to the very concept of the unity of religions. To demand a privilege for a particular religion is to limit that religion to the manifestation of only one aspect of the universal self. But this is a suicidal demand for any religion. Religion makes for life, for expansion; life is the expansion provided by religion. Contraction in religion is death, both to life and the religion itself. It is the duty of every religion to grow from more to more in diverse aspects, and to fulfill itself in unity. But what we find today is the reverse of this.

A special privilege for one religion drags it down from the spiritual to the secular, from the grain to the husk, from the substance to the form, and kills the very soul of the religion itself. The only true privilege for any religion is its fundamental right to complement itself by drawing upon the distinctive contributions of other religions and thus develop, perfect, and fulfill itself.

Consciously or unconsciously, every religion moves towards unity. Unity is thus the measure of perfection for all religions. That is the perfect religion which has reached unity in its varied expressions, and that therefore is the ideal to follow.

The Religion' provides the basis of true conversion' and of progress and well-being

The discoveries of spiritual science make it incumbent on every religion to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Veda nor the Bible nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonizing the Veda, the Bible, and the Koran. Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied expressions of the Religion, which is oneness, so that each may choose the path that suits him best. It is therefore the Religion that provides the true basis of 'conversion' and of progress in well-being. No one need be converted from one religion to another, but all must be converted from a religion to the Religion. This alone will lead mankind to infinite freedom. This alone will lead mankind to that One 'in whom is the universe, who is in the universe, who is the universe; in whom is the soul, who is in the soul, who is the soul of man; knowing him‹and therefore the universe‹as our self, alone extinguishes all fear, brings an end to misery, and leads to infinite freedom. Wherever there has been expansion in love or progress in well-being, of individuals or numbers, it has been through the perception, realization, and the practicalization of the eternal truth‹the oneness of all beings.

Consciousness of spiritual unity removes distinction between 'sacred' and 'secular' and establishes unity in life and thought.

Consciousness of spiritual unity removes all sense of distinction and establishes unity in life and thought. As the one universal spirit and its many aspects are the same reality, perceived by the mind at different times and in different attitudes, it is not all modes of worship alone, but equally all modes of work, all modes of struggle, all modes of creation, which are paths to self realization. There can be no distinction between 'sacred' and 'secular', nor any difference between service to man and worship of God. To labor is to pray. To conquer is to renounce. To have and to hold is as stern a trust as to quit and to avoid. Life is itself religion. The farmyard and the field, the workshop, the study, and the studio are as true and fit scenes for the meeting of God with man as the cell of the monk or the door of the temple. Art, science, and religion are but three different ways of expressing a single truth.

Religion as India's life-force will transform national life

It is only on the basis of the consciousness of spiritual unity, which is India's genius, her life-force, that in every development in every sphere India will move to her desired goal. Consciousness of spiritual unity will extinguish all sense of distinction and privilege and transform thoughts, emotions, and actions into channels of sacrifice and service. It will bring about a complete change in India's mentality and liberate her from the limitations of the ideologies which dominate social, political, economic, cultural, and religious life. It will raise her people from the depths of inertia which is born of ignorance of their common heritage and common life. It will move them to a feeling of common citizenship and common destiny, and elevate them to the recognition and acceptance of their common responsibility. It will create in them the bond of united purpose and concerted action, with an expansive vision projected infinitely forward. It will release in them boundless energy, unlimited aspiration, and indomitable confidence in their ability to recreate conditions conducive to common development and common welfare. It will establish unity, solidarity, and harmony between man and man, class and class, creed and creed, and religion and religion. Consciousness of spiritual unity will thus provide a solid basis for true understanding and co-operation among the different sections of the people of the country and enable them to live peacefully together as a really Indian community.

The fundamental right to freedom of religion establishes spiritual unity and the harmony of religions as the basis of universal peace and development

The fundamental right to freedom of religion enshrined in India's Constitution guarantees that 'all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice, and propagate religion'. This fundamental right is in perfect accord with the universal spiritual principle of unity and the harmony of religions. As has been pointed out, Religion is one, but many in relation to forms, modes, and media of expression. That people, according to different tendencies, tastes, and temperaments, follow different forms, modes, and media to express their common goal of divinity is an eternal truth declared by India throughout the ages. ŒHere we have the attitude and the spirit', as Arnold Toynbee says, 'that can make it possible for the human race to grow together into a single family.

The fundamental right to freedom of religion entitles every individual to freedom of conscience and entitles him to follow a distinctive path of religion suited to his own distinctive tendencies for the realization of his own divine nature. The unfoldment of man's potential divinity, the universal spirit in man, is the conscious or unconscious basis of all religions, and is also the explanation of the whole history of human progress on the material, intellectual, and spiritual planes‹for it is the same universal spirit which manifests itself through different planes. This universal basis of all religions is the rationale and, ipso facto, the precondition of the fundamental right to freedom of religion and gives it its essential character and uniqueness. The fundamental right to freedom of religion thus assumes universal significance and justifies universal acceptance. It establishes spiritual unity and the harmony of religions as the basis of universal peace and development.

The Constitutional ban on religious instruction is contradictory

The enactment of the fundamental right to freedom of religion inevitably devolves upon India the obligation to bring into being education which fulfills the Constitutional national ideal of the harmony of religions. The importance of awakening the consciousness of India's own distinctive life-force, which is spirituality, appears to have been completely ignored in the Constitutional ban on religious instruction in educational institutions. This Constitutional ban contradicts the accepted universal basis of all religions. It cannot refer to religion in the true sense. It refers to the husk, not to the grain; it refers to the form, not to the spirit. True religion, which is spiritual unity, leads to the spiritual unity, integrity, and solidarity of the nation. The ban on religious instruction concerns only the non-essential secondary aspects of religion which masquerade as religion itself, and thus create conflict and chaos in society, disrupting the unity and integrity of national life. The universal truth of the unity and harmony of religions cannot be eliminated from education, except at the nation's own peril, as has been proved, and is still being proved, in India's history.

Spiritualization of the human race is India's lifelong mission

It is now evident and imperative that education, which is the prerequisite to real progress, must be based at all levels on India's own spiritual ideals if India is to survive and develop herself. She will thus be able to establish unity, equality, and harmony at home and rise again to a very great height. It is only then that she will be in a position to make, as she has done throughout the ages, her own spiritual contribution to the progress and civilization of the world. This contribution, in the words of Arnold Toynbee, is 'the only way of salvation for mankind'. This is India's lifelong mission, and to fulfill this ideal at home and give it to the world is the raison d'etre of her continuing existence. As Swami Vivekananda says in his clarion voice: 'This is the theme of India's life-work, the burden of her eternal songs, the backbone of her existence, the foundation of her being, the raison d'etre of her very existence‹the spiritualization of the human race. In this her life course she has never deviated, whether the Tartar ruled or the Turk, whether the Mogul ruled or the English.

Establishment of the World Civilization Center is now India's responsibility and will enable her to fulfill her mission

India should now establish the World Civilization Center as envisaged in the publications entitled Human Unity and Education for World Civilization and The World Civilization Center.

The India Department of the World Civilization Center will necessarily play two roles‹the international and the domestic.

The international role will be concerned with the Center's integrated, international, educational program..

The domestic role will be concerned with an additional, comprehensive, integral, educational program., completely devoted to the development of a new order in India's culture, society, and economic life on her own distinctive national basis.

The establishment of the World Civilization Center on India's soil is her national obligation and responsibility. She owes it to herself and to the world. It will give her a unique opportunity to make her own distinctive contribution to the world and, in doing so, realize her own mission. It is in this way that other countries will be made conscious of the vital significance of India's gift to them. This consciousness will help both India and other countries to realize their interdependence, and will establish the balance of their mutual relationship, leading to mutual respect and mutual enrichment.



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