Live Fully

Accepting Religious Diversity challenges many

The difference between religion and spirituality is this says Wayne Dyer - people who talk about religion always want to argue and those who speak of spirituality always want to share.

The purpose of religion is to unite, to harmonize and to spread love, whenever that's not the case, we have to ask ourselves, what's wrong with this picture.

Yesterday was is the birthday of the Prophet Zoroaster, He is said to be the first Prophet to speak about the oneness of religions and that truth is one.

Zoroaster was born in Persia but had to leave his homeland because of the opposition he faced from the established religions at the time who feared that this new teaching would reduce their power and influence over the masses.

Zoroaster

Now have I seen him with my own eyes, knowing him in truth to be the wise Lord of the good mind and of good deeds and words." Thus spoke the real Zarathustra, the prophet and founder of the ancient and modern religion of Zoroastrianism. It is said to be the world's first monotheistic creed and as long ago as 1200 BC Zarathustra also said, "I point out the way, it is the truth, it is for all living". Truth is a central tenet of the religion which holds that people must above all do good things, hear good things and see good things.

....Yes, there are two fundamental spirits, twins which are renowned to be in conflict. In thought and in word, in action, they are two: the good and the bad. And between these two, the beneficent have correctly chosen, not the maleficent.
 
4. Furthermore, when these two spirits first came together, they created life and death, and how, at the end, the worst existence shall be for the deceitful but the best thinking[3] for the truthful person.

God, Our Creator, The Source of our Being, The Universal spirit, call it what you may, but that invisible force that brought us to reality and that is keeping us going, has always sent Messengers, prophets or sages – people with phenomenal insight, to guide us along this journey and each has restated the spiritual laws while at the same time gave us new social laws that have brought us to the age of maturity. Mankind has access to knowledge that has never been before and new knowledge is being created  more rapidly as have not seen before because we receive a new Messenger in Bahaullah.

Is THERE A GOD? PROVE IT

It’s Sunday and many people will be headed for a place of worship to serve God. There are millions of people in the world; in fact I would say that the majority of the world’s population adhere to one or the other religious belief. That these adherents believe in a supernatural being who is responsible for life on this earth including our own lives.  However a small number of our planet’s population does not believe in any such Being and they subscribe to the scientific view of human development i.e. though evolution of man and his or her intellect.

   Why shouldn’t I believe in God when millions of some of the most brilliant minds among us believe in it?  Many of us, if truth were told live with one foot in the materialistic world (non-God) and the other in the spiritual world (belief in God) just to be sure in case there is a God we will not be locked out of heaven’s gate.

    Men have climbed to the top of mountains and traveled to the depth of the sea looking for our Source of Being, trying to unravel the mysteries of life and to this day we have not come closer to understanding God and Her infinite ways.  What can a poor, illiterate person do but to believe in something that would make his suffering in this world worthwhile?  A belief in a supernatural being gives hope that in the next life things will be better. Is there a next life?  We have been told by all the prophets of the past that there is something out there but no one has ever returned to confirm that and so we chase after God.   

   According to the Bible God is a spirit and does not have a body as we have. This spirit is everywhere and pervades everything. Most of the spiritual laws of all the recognized religions have the same teachings, they bear strong similarities to each other in these laws but each succeeding religious leader brings new social laws. For example Moses taught an eye for an eye and a check for a cheek, Jesus taught to turn the other cheek, Muhammad taught to stay away from Pork Baha’u’llah came said pork is good because of changes in technology – refrigeration and so on.  If you also trace the religious prophets there is a connection in their genealogy i.e. they are related. There is a prophetic line of people in the world. Is this accident or design?

   I believe in God not because I had some kind of epiphany but because of cultural roots. I was raised in a Christian home.  You do not question your parents as a child. You just go along. I’ve encountered other religions and have a passionate interest in human spirituality.

   Is there a God and if there is how do we recognize that Force in a personal way?

In the Bahá'í view, the purpose of this life on earth is for each individual to develop the spiritual and moral qualities that lie at the core of his or her nature. Bahá'u'lláh referred to the human being as a "mine rich in gems of inestimable value." These "gems" or qualities can be "mined" or developed only when a person turns to God. But while this awesome task must remain the responsibility of the individual, humanity has received continual guidance from a loving Creator on how to accomplish it.

    God is one, most religions agree on this concept.  We can only understand God through the reflection of the attributes of God which include love, kindness, compassion and so on.

According to Bahá'í teachings, God is so far beyond His creation that, throughout all eternity, human beings will never be able to formulate any clear image of Him or attain to anything but the most remote appreciation of His superior nature. Even if we say that God is the All-Powerful, the All-Loving, the Infinitely Just, such terms are derived from a very limited human experience of power, love, or justice. Indeed, our knowledge of anything is limited to our knowledge of those attributes or qualities perceptible to us:

  It would appear that there is no way we will truly be able to comprehend the Force that created us but maybe that’s why our journey is so interesting and that is why perhaps we should focus on the journey towards God rather than the destination of absolute knowledge of God.

I heard a joke once and it goes like this, a man was late for a meeting and he started praying asking God to find him a parking spot near to the location of his meeting. As he headed towards the place a car was pulling out making way for him.  He was so happy that a parking spot was available. He turned to God and said  “don’t worry God I already found a spot.”

I would love to hear from you. I welcome all views that may shed some light on this topic.