… we find that in almost every religion these are the three primary things which we have in the worship of God --
forms or symbols, names, God-men.
All religions have these, but you find that they want to fight with each other.
One says, "My name is the only name; my form is the only form; and my God-men are the only God-men in the world; yours are simply myths." … …
This idea is not limited to any religion, nation, or class of persons; people are always thinking that the only right thing to be done by others is what they themselves are doing.
And it is here that the study of different religions helps us.
It shows us that the same thoughts that we have been calling ours, and ours alone, were present hundreds of years ago in others, and sometimes even in a better form of expression than our own.
forms or symbols, names, God-men.
All religions have these, but you find that they want to fight with each other.
One says, "My name is the only name; my form is the only form; and my God-men are the only God-men in the world; yours are simply myths." … …
This idea is not limited to any religion, nation, or class of persons; people are always thinking that the only right thing to be done by others is what they themselves are doing.
And it is here that the study of different religions helps us.
It shows us that the same thoughts that we have been calling ours, and ours alone, were present hundreds of years ago in others, and sometimes even in a better form of expression than our own.
- Swami Vivekananda, Talk in New York
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