Where does "All religions are one" come from?

[Jim]

@Vinayaka I say what I say because I think it might mean something to someone, and I see sometimes that it does, because people (some people, sometimes, that's how it looks to me) tell me so, or they respond in ways that look to me like it meant something to them. I'm not asking anyone to believe anything I say, or even care what I say. I leave it to each person to decide for themselves, from their own experience and observation, how much truth or value there is in it. Not to say that I never deviate from that. I do sometimes, but I try to practice that as much as I can.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

Four quotes in one post and nothing else. Don't you think Bahais are over-doing it? Do you think anybody reads blah-blah and is impressed by that? And the Forum Rules say no proseliting.

As per the OP I was showing the poster that the quotes from a Baha'i Perspective do say that 'religion is one', but most importantly, they say it is only Divinely insprired religion that fits this criteria.

They also say to me, that man made religion and man made dogma from divinely inspired religion, are the cause of any division.

Thus I see that would be very worthy of contemplation, rather than accusation, of course, in my opinion.

It much like seeing we are one human race, the proof points towards it, but many would like to see they have a superiority, or by admiting it, they may have to give up a long cherished life style so all can have the same opportunity.

Regards Tony

 

[TransmutingSoul]

Here's how it looks to me now. The idea of saying "all religions are one" goes back at least as far as 1788, and wherever and however it may have started, it spread into all of society, including into all religious communities, some more than others. If it has been more popular in Baha'i communities than in other religious communities, it's easy to see why that would be.

That is all I could find as well. I also noted that quite a few commented that they base their thoughts on those works of Blake.

Regards Tony

 

[Vinayaka]

As per the OP I was showing the poster that the quotes from a Baha'i Perspective do say that 'religion is one', but most importantly, they say it is only Divinely insprired religion that fits this criteria.

That's just so divisive, Tony. By saying it's only 'divinely inspired religions' and then stating which religions are those, according to Baha'i (or whomever holds this POV) you're simply excluding a huge chunk of humanity from this 'religion is one' idea.

However, if we get rid of the religion part, and say mankind is one, then atheists, Hindus like me, Pagans, Druze, and so many more are included. Then there is only 'us', and it avoids this 'us versus them' mentality altogether.

 

[stvdv]

Sometimes I see people saying that Baha'is believe that all religions are one. I'm a Baha'i, and I don't agree with saying that.

My Master said:
"There is only one religion, the religion of Love"

The Bible says "Love is the highest Commandment". So that is similar I guess.

Maybe "all religions are one" comes from the above view

 

[TransmutingSoul]

That's just so divisive, Tony. By saying it's only 'divinely inspired religions' and then stating which religions are those, according to Baha'i (or whomever holds this POV) you're simply excluding a huge chunk of humanity from this 'religion is one' idea.

However, if we get rid of the religion part, and say mankind is one, then atheists, Hindus like me, Pagans, Druze, and so many more are included. Then there is only 'us', and it avoids this 'us versus them' mentality altogether.

I have also said all Good is from God and all else is from our own selves. I also said all faiths can have good within them.

Thus it can be seen this way. The source is one sun, that sun shines in perfect unblemished mirrors, thus they are reflecting only the one sun.

That is the Station of God and the Messengers, that is what is One.

Then there is Humanity who are also created with the potential to be unblemished mirrors. But they need to be turned to that light and remove any blemish to reflect that light.

Now it is up to us, how much do we turn toward the light and how clean do we make our mirror?

Regards Tony

 

[Vinayaka]

I have also said all Good is from God and all else is from our own selves. I also said all faiths can have good within them.

I still see all this as excluding. You've never met a good atheist? A good pagan?

 

[Vinayaka]

My Master said:
"There is only one religion, the religion of Love"

The Bible says "Love is the highest Commandment". So that is similar I guess.

Maybe "all religions are one" comes from the above view

And that religion doesn't need an Abrahamic god (or a 'prophet') as a pre-requisite.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

I still see all this as excluding. You've never met a good atheist? A good pagan?

I have also said personally I see all good is from God. I have no use for titles people put on each other and what they wish to call themselves. I have told you that many times before. Matter of fact most titles used on RF to name this group, or that group go right over my head, most of the time I have to look up what the heck they mean.

It has also been said that a person of no faith who lives by virtues, is preferable to a person that has faith that lives with few or no virtues. There is a wisdom in acknowledging the source of virtues, but that is another big topic as well.

I see we are to look for the good in all people, names and titles are distractions. To me that Good is from God, others can see it how they choose.

Regards Tony

 

[Aupmanyav]

Here's how it looks to me now. The idea of saying "all religions are one" goes back at least as far as 1788, and wherever and however it may have started, it spread into all of society, including into all religious communities, some more than others.

Do you think the idea originted only in 1788? In Hinduism we have the following which adorns the entrance hall of the Parliament of India:

"ayaṃ, nijaḥ, paro veti, gaṇanām laghucetasām l udāracaritānāṃ tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam ll
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - Wikipedia

(Mine, of mine, not mine, these are narrow views of people; for the large-hearted, the world itself is a family)

There is a wisdom in acknowledging the source of virtues, but that is another big topic as well.
I see we are to look for the good in all people, names and titles are distractions. To me that Good is from God, others can see it how they choose.

You are not correctly ascribing the source of virtues. It is not any God but human societies. The society decides what is good and what is bad. Like the UN did with "Universal Declaration of Human Rights".
Many people will have differences with your last line. You mean wars, murders, rapes, all are from God? Unfortunately, many religious people can never see things straight.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

You are not correctly ascribing the source of virtues. It is not any God but human societies. The society decides what is good and what is bad. Like the UN did with "Universal Declaration of Human Rights".
Many people will have differences with your last line. You mean wars, murders, rapes, all are from God? Unfortunately, many religious people can never see things straight.

The UN declaration on human rights was very Godly. I would say very in tune with the Message Baha'u'llah offered.

Regards Tony

 

[Aupmanyav]

You are side-stepping the question. Where does God enter this? People have been writing 'codes of law' since Urukagina (2,400 BCE), Ur-Nammu (2,100 BCE), Hammurabi (1,750 BCE). See details in Wikipedia. Hindus have had their Manusmṛiti, Yājñavalkya Smṛiti, etc. - and the latest by my grandfather in 1950, Vishweshwarasmriti . A verse from Manusmriti:

"Evam yah sarvabhuteshu pashyatyātmānamātmanā l sa sarvasamatāmetya brahmābhyeti param padam ll"
(He who thus recognizes in his individual soul (Self, Atman), the universal soul that exists in all beings;
becomes equal-minded towards all, enters the highest state of Brahman) Manusmriti 12.125

"Collective unconscious (German: kollektives Unbewusstes), a term coined by Carl Jung, refers to structures of the unconscious mind which are shared among beings of the same species. According to Jung, the human collective unconscious is populated by instincts and by archetypes: universal symbols such as The Great Mother, the Wise Old Man, the Shadow, the Tower, Water, the Tree of Life, and many more."
Collective unconscious - Wikipedia

"A meme (/miːm/ MEEM) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture—often with the aim of conveying a particular phenomenon, theme, or meaning represented by the meme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures."
Meme - Wikipedia

 

[stvdv]

And that religion doesn't need an Abrahamic god (or a 'prophet') as a pre-requisite.

Exactly, that's why I like "Love" much better than religion. Humanism seems more Loving than religion to me.

 

[Vinayaka]

Exactly, that's why I like "Love" much better than religion. Humanism seems more Loving than religion to me.

It's so ironic how you can totally admire the actions of someone, but then when the topic of religion comes up, you get divided. Two people can work side by side at a food bank sorting food, each admiring the other's charity, but then when they go for coffee, and start chatting, the r word enters the picture, and they go back to work each feeling uncomfortable working beside the other.

 

[stvdv]

It's so ironic how you can totally admire the actions of someone, but then when the topic of religion comes up, you get divided. Two people can work side by side at a food bank sorting food, each admiring the other's charity, but then when they go for coffee, and start chatting, the r word enters the picture, and they go back to work each feeling uncomfortable working beside the other.

I think mostly people who think their religion is better than the other's religion get divided (and are the ones dividing). I don't believe in dividing and judging the other's feeling or religion (or lack thereof). I believe that all humans can reach full human potential, also spiritual. No need for a specific religion. So I don't feel divided when someone has a different religion.

But you are right, when someone starts judging me (or my view) or even worse belittling, I don't feel like staying near that person. Once I went to a church, was my first time, and decided not to tell anything about my religion, then they can't start judging. Worked perfectly, of course they became very curious, so kept on asking and then I explained "most people judge other's views (especially when it comes to religion) and then problems start (see hundreds of different churches), so it's better for you not to know about me, then you are not tempted to judge (in case you have a different view)". That experience made me understand why the wise advise to speak less.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Some religions have the sacred duty to spread the word of their God or propounder - whether you like it or not. Teressa of Kolkata would convert a person fifteen minutes before his death. What a morbid obsession!

 

[TransmutingSoul]

You are side-stepping the question. Where does God enter this?

I did not side step, I offered where all good comes from. All divinely inspired faith will have as a practice the requirement for each person to examine ones own self, do away with what is not good and become a better person. This requirement will go back before we have records or memory.

When written records were started the source of all our good was noted;

Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

The issue may be people have chosen to forget the source and choose to think they are the source of the good. That could be the side step.

Regards Tony

 

[TransmutingSoul]

"Evam yah sarvabhuteshu pashyatyātmānamātmanā l sa sarvasamatāmetya brahmābhyeti param padam ll"
(He who thus recognizes in his individual soul (Self, Atman), the universal soul that exists in all beings;
becomes equal-minded towards all, enters the highest state, Brahman.) Manusmriti 12.125

Are you aware that passage is quoting what Baha'u'llah has offered is the purpose for this age?

It confirms what Baha'i have been offering on this forum and answers the OP.

Most wonderful, thank you and it answered what we were discussing.

The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.

Regards Tony

 

[Aupmanyav]

All divinely inspired faith will have as a practice the requirement for each person to examine ones own self, do away with what is not good and become a better person.

It has nothing to do with 'divinely inspired'. That is a requirement of all people in any society. That is what parents and elders tell the children, theists or atheists.

It confirms what Baha'i have been offering on this forum and answers the OP.
The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.

So, what is new? Bahaullah just repeated what was always being said in all ages. Are the Bahais offering something new? The only new thing which Bahais are offering is that "Bahaullah is a manifestation of God".

Sure, not just the mankind but all denizens of earth are the same, even non-living things. They all originated from the ball of 'physical energy' which perhaps started the universe 13.75 billion years ago. That is the ultimate truth. But there is a subjective truth also that there are many countries and many religions (and they keep on adding new ones, among the latest are LDS, Bahais and Ahmadiyyas). In 'Advaita' Hinduism we term the first as "Paramarthika Satya" (Absolute truth) and the second as "Vyavaharika Satya" (Pragmatic Truth). Both are truths, though at different levels; and none can be overlooked.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

It has nothing to do with 'divinely inspired'. That is a requirement of all people in any society. That is what parents and elders tell the children, theists or atheists.
So, what is new? Bahaullah just repeated what was always being said in all ages. Are the Bahais offering something new? The only new thing which Bahais are offering is that "Bahaullah is a manifestation of God".

Sure, not just the mankind but all denizens of earth are the same, even non-living things. They all originated from the ball of 'physical energy' which perhaps started the universe 13.75 billion years ago. That is the ultimate truth. But there is a subjective truth also that there are many countries and many religions (and they keep on adding new ones, among the latest are LDS, Bahais and Ahmadiyyas). In 'Advaita' Hinduism we term the first as "Paramarthika Satya" (Abosolute truth) and the second as "Vyavaharika Satya" (Pragmatic Truth). Both are truths, though at different levels and none can be overlooked.

Im happy for you to see it all how you wish to.

Regards Tony