In every exact science there is a basis which is common to all humanity, so that we can at once see the truth or the fallacy of the conclusions drawn therefrom.
Now, the question is: Has religion any such basis or not? I shall have to answer the question both in the affirmative and in the negative.
Religion, as it is generally taught all over the world, is said to be based upon faith and belief, and, in most cases, consists only of different sets of theories,
and that is the reason why we find all religions quarrelling with one another. …
… Nevertheless, there is a basis of universal belief in religion, governing all the different theories and all the varying ideas of different sects in different countries.
Going to their basis we find that they also are based upon universal experiences.
… ...
Thus it is clear that all the religions of the world have been built upon that one universal and adamantine foundation of all our knowledge – direct experience.
The teachers all saw God; they all saw their own souls, they saw their future, they saw their eternity, and what they saw they preached.
- Swami Vivekananda,
Raja-Yoga (Classes in New York)
No comments:
Post a Comment