Dear Alexander:
Do you remember when we talked in the TV room about different religions and God? The conversation was pretty short because you were busy with the TV and I remember thinking: I should write you a letter that might explain better about religions that might help you understand them better.
Religions are sort of like cars! Everyone drives a different kind. Some have Fords, some Chevys, some have BMWs and some have Toyotas. Some are slow and some are fast. Some are smaller and some are larger, and they may have different colors. It would be pointless to argue about whose car is better. Each person would like his own and would praise it over another choice. But can you imagine what would happen if each person felt so strongly about his own car that he would argue with, fight and even kill someone who disagreed with him? This would be ignorant and harmful because, basically, all cars are really the same: all have the same internal combustion engine, a metal body, four wheels and all serve the same purpose of taking the owner to his destination. It is the same with religions. Each one might look a little different than the next but they serve the same purpose: ideally, to get someone to God.
It is said that God sent different men of wisdom to earth. They were called prophets and came to help people at different times in history: Abraham, Jesus, Muhammad -- each brought truth at a certain time in history to help human beings to search for peace by finding God.
These men of God came only to bring truth to man. They did not come to establish religions. That was man's work, not God's. Over time, the understanding of the truth of each prophet was interpreted, formed, written down as a religion and presented to man.
In the Middle East we see what has happened over the past years. The original truth of unity and compassion -- that we are all the same and should treat each other as family -- has been destroyed. The Prophet Abraham was the patriarch from whom the three Middle Eastern religions descended -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Each religion carved out its own territory in the Middle East and had a different way of praising God. Instead of acting as one family, these descendants of Abraham are now killing one another in the name of God.
Alexander, I was born into a Christian family and went to Sunday School and Church. Later in life, I became interested in Buddhism and entered a monastery in Japan to study for a year to learn how to meditate in the Buddhist tradition. After that I became interested in Islam, read the Quran and studied the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad. At this time I was very fortunate to meet a true sage who was Bawa.
Bawa, himself, had practiced all the religions and had come to a deep understanding of them. As a Sufi, he had that special gift of finding and revealing the essential truth that is contained within all religions, namely the purity and oneness of God. Thus, whenever he spoke, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews and Christians would sit together for hours listening to his wisdom.
This is what Bawa asked us to do to live a meaningful life:
Alexander, I hope this is of value to you. If you like, we can talk more about these things at Christmas time.
I look forward to seeing you,
Much love, Lockie
Brad Hirschfield: Did Religion Cause 9/11?
History of religions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Timelines of Religious History
Religion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
What is Religion? Defining Religion: The Problem of Definition
2. Respect your parents and help them. (Learn from your parents, but constantly question them.)
3. Respect your teachers and treat them as your second parents. (Question everything that you are taught, never believe anything without evidence.)
4. Change your life by having good thoughts, good intentions and good behavior. (...Toward as many people as possible.)
5. Always tell the truth and what is right. (And, the truth is that there are no gods or prophets.)
6. Show compassion, love and unity equally to all. (...who reciprocate.)
7. Do not hurt others with your thoughts or your actions. The pain you cause another will come back to you. (Feel free to criticize others; but, be responsible lest innocents, including yourself, come to harm.)
8. If you do not hate others, they will not hate you. (Prejudice is irrational.)
9. God exists in any heart where there is truth, conscience and justice. (God doesn't exist, the heart is a pump; educate yourself of the evidence and laws based on the same.)
10. So light the lamp of wisdom in your heart. Then, you will find heaven here in this world. (There is no heaven or hell, try to make life better for everyone on Earth.)
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Except if one finds a model with parts of it blowing up all the time; and previous models have been known to cause havoc--causing enormous losses in life and property; and the user-manual cannot be understood by anyone.
See you soon, Lockie
The world is full of religious people who all believe things to a greater degree of certainty than the evidence supports. Many of them also believe things to be true which are in direct contradiction to the available evidence. Believe to be true only those things for which you can find support in real observable and repeatable evidence and you will see the world and yourself as close to it really is as you are able. This will lead you to be a happy and contented person with intact intellect and curiosity. Do not worry that most people don't agree with you and remember that in the past most people believed that the world was flat and that the four humours controlled your health. Most people have been mostly wrong throughout history and it will likely remain so. Don't be one of them. Learn to embrace and recognize when something is unknown and say "I don't know" with clarity and pride.
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." -Benjamin Franklin
'These men of God came only to bring truth to man. They did not come to establish religions. That was man's work, not God's.' - this rings particularly true to me. The truths Mohammed taught could not be the exact same truths Jesus (or Abraham, Buddha, Moses, Zoroaster, Baha'ullah) taught as they were teaching at different times, in different climes where different understandings and practices also put limitations on scope.
May your conversations with your grandson bear the fruits of understanding, compassion and love.
It is also not true that if you do not hate others will not hate you. Proselytizing Religions teach and cause hatred if others do not conform to their beliefs and standards. Those are human beliefs and standards. Even naming The Deity, using prophets and their NAMES, tries to make the Deity conform to human standards. If we are listening, hearing, learning and actively searching for the lessons and applying those lessons we will improve. That is why lessons from Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity can be compatible if they go to the core issues, which always come down to the LAW. And, if we do not respect The Law, or The Deity's Creation, be it animals, nature, your parents, your siblings or your neighbors, we will have no PEACE.
You are quite right about Jesus. The Apostle Paul created what we know as Christianity. Jesus was Jewish and practiced that religion. Paul was Jewish, too, but he ran from it as hard as he could and dragged many others with him. Paul was clever and first changed Judaism. Then he gradually made it unrecognizable.
The three things which define ANY Buddhist Teaching are called the Three Marks of Conditioned Phenomena.
They are
(1) Impermanence (nothing is permanent, not even yourself)
(2) Non-self, No Self (no independent self or soul)
(3) Unsatisfactoriness (there is nothing in life which can bring permanent happiness or satisfaction)
These can NOT be reconciled with the Abrahamic Traditions.
No..according to the sources god talked to people and gave them instructions. It's not like the "prophets" claimed to be giving their philosophical opinions.
"Abraham, Jesus, Muhammad -- each brought truth at a certain time in history to help human beings to search for peace by finding God."
So how come they all contradict each other, if they are all true? Do you for example, believe that muhammed was repeating verbatim instructions from angles?
"These men of God came only to bring truth to man. They did not come to establish religions."
Talk about clap trap. Actually think about this statement, and ponder why it makes no sense
After a particular terrorist event, I can remember the men agreeing that reilgion was the scurge of the earth. All of them believed in their God, all of them believed that religion was corrupted by certain people for misguided intentions. I would say "these men of God came to bring peace to man." Reality of the destruction caused by greed and indifference, is simply, truth. If following laws or codes formed around truths, brings peace, Amen to that, however man arived aot truth or truth arrived to man. They were not "of"the religions that were later formed on their words.
This only makes sense if you are completely ignorant of what those words were