The unity of all Religions

Sufi_Poetry_and_Wisdom:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sufi_Poetry_and_Wisdom
http://www.thesufi.com/

Shams of Tabriz quoted by Julian P. Johnson
in, With A Great Master In India

To me came the Sound incomparable,
which comes neither from within
nor from without;
Neither does it come from the left,
nor from the right,
Nor from the back,
nor from the front.
You will ask, then,
whence does it come?
It comes from the direction
you are seeking to go.
You will ask, then,
which way shall I face?
The side from which
the bridegroom cometh.
That direction from which
the parched fish comes to life
with the waters of immortality;
That direction whence the hand of Moses
became bright like the shining moon.
The direction whence ripeness
comes to fruit;
The direction from which stones
become diamonds.

Be silent and listen
to the Five Sounds from Heaven.
The Heaven which is beyond
all senses and directions.
Every moment of life this wondrous Sound
reaches down from the Courts of Heaven.
Fortunate above all the children of men
is he who hears its enchanting melodies.


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Come Sail Away

"Shabd surat jin ki mili"

Whose soul is attached to the Word, revels
ever in cosmic flight;
Revels ever in cosmic flight, and realizing the
Lord, plays with Him.
The mystery of the Inaccessible and the secret
of the scriptures he unravels:
He reaches his Home within and its Essence
he comes to know;
In the lotus feet of the Beloved he sees
his true destination.
The happily married woman rejoices with her
Spouse every moment, O Tulsi,
For her soul is attached to the Word, and
revels ever in cosmic flight.

-- Tulsi Sahib, Saint of Hathras, India

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Quotations from Kabir:

Whoever seeks, finds that God is known through His Name; when that
form of God (Name) is in the heart, no other hunger remains
He who carefully considers Reality and keeps it in his heart, will
enjoy eternal bliss, and gain freedom from all sorrows.
Thy soul will be drenched in the bliss of the Sound Current

Control the all powerful senses, the cause of all problems; the five
senses are unruly and cunningly fool the controlling mind
Kill the snake of desire which has bitten the whole world;
contentment is the curing antidote;

Every human encounter is a sacred occasion that can never be repeated!

See God in all beings; as one essence He is present in all forms;
its like sugarcane which produces refined and raw sugar and molasses

Listen to the good qualities of others, shunning their evils; do as
the fabled swan drinking nutritious milk, avoiding non-nutritious
water
The welfare of others is your greatest duty, the highest of all
virtues; have mercy for all beings even as taught in the vedas and
puranas



Meditation on God rewards you with bliss and a tranquil mind; see
yourself in all beings and in all beings see only God


Speak sweetly with everyone and happiness will spring up all around;
it is the charm which wins the hearts of others; give up harsh words

Speak to others sweetly recognizing their soul as your own


Always avoid quarrel as it produces evil consequences; it creates
suffering, consumes you with worries, and destroys your home
When you abandon pride your life becomes happy; no matter what
others say of you, you realize that God dwells in your heart

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Bulleh Shah

Bulleh Shah --18th Century Sufi mystic poet of Pakistan
Sufi Poet of Punjab (now Pakistan)


http://qawali.tripod.com/hybridaccents/id15.html
http://www.shairy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=F26
http://www.apnaorg.com/poetry/english/bullah/






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http://www.hafizonlove.com/index.htm
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The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

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"A careful study of the essential elements of various religious traditions reveals the underlying unity among them. The outward differences in the practices emerge due to various cultural differences as relates to their origins, languages, and time. As each religion comes to expression through different groups of people using different languages in different countries, diversity is bound to emerge in the outer structure of the religious systems. The different languages give rise to different terminology. However, it is, still, evident that the underlying essence (Truth) of each religion is the same. Although the particular Saints and sages of each religion teach within their respective religions, all of their essential teachings remain the same." (Sant Sevi Ji, "The Harmony of All Religions")

Santmat recognizes all the great teachers, sages, and saints of the different traditions who are accomplished in the spiritual goal of human life. The teachings of these teachers remain as the beacon of light for their followers. Santmat reveres the saints and prophets of all traditions: Buddha, Mahavir, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Guru Nanak, Kabir, Meister Eckhart, Ramkrishna Parmhansa, Baha'u'llah, Mira Bai, etc. Furthermore, Santmat believes in the uninterrupted continuation of the emergence of living sages on this earth.

The method of Santmat is always one and the same. People have, in the course of history, given it different names and thereby created confusion... All those who have reached the highest and merged into the Supreme Being give the same message.

"Those who have gone within... narrate the same truth. " (Tulsi Sahab)










Book Review: The Harmony of All Religions

By James Bean (agochar)

The Harmony of All Religions

Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj

Publisher:
TheWayOfSages.com

*JPG IMAGE of the Book Cover:
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k241/agochar/Harmony.jpg

Veena Howard translated the English edition of this book from India. In the Editor's Note at the beginning she writes: "From this day onward our whole world has changed. The "shock and awe" witnessed by the destruction of the towers has sent shock waves through all the established value systems. The feelings of fear and distrust have numbed the hearts of people worldwide and have paralyzed the sense of clear vision. But time of despair must be taken as an opportunity, an opening to search for new horizons, to re-assess our values, and to understand other cultures and religions. This is exactly what the great sant, Maharishi Shri Santsevi Ji, has sought to accomplish by his book, The Harmony of All Religions. Shri Santsevi Ji Maharaj has been teaching the path of mysticism for many decades and believes in the underlying principles of all prominent world religions."

One of the most impressive books I've ever read on comparative religion and comparative mysticism is, The Harmony of All Religions, taking this study to a whole new level. This newly translated book contains chapters on the Vedic Tradition (Krishna, Gita,Hinduism, bhakti, yoga), Jainism, Buddhism, Judaism/Essenes/Christianity, Islam/Sufism, Sikhism, and the Way of Sages, also known as The Path of the Masters. There is also a biography of the author, as well as an editor's note, which affirms the need for a greater, more in-depth understanding of the great world religions and mysticism in an age of increased global travel and communication.

'Depth' is a word I find myself often using to describe the writings of Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj, who resides at the Maharishi Mehi Ashram in Bhagalpur, Bihar District, India. His spiritual discourses on each of the world religions are very scholarly, accurately and eloquently communicating all these "gospels": beautiful and charming accounts of the childhood of Jesus, the enlightenment of Guru Nanak hearing the voice of the One God (Ek Ong Kaar Saat Naam) as he was bathing in the river Bein, Siddhartha leaving the palace, Muhammad's experiences with Allah in the cave of Ghar-e Hira, etc.... providing an in-depth analysis of the sacred texts of these above-mentioned faith-communities, brimming with quotes and footnotes, from not only the well-known world scriptures but lesser-known sacred texts and spiritual classics of the mystics and saints at the heart of these traditions. The chapter on Lord Mahavira and Jainism for instance breaks new ground in the study of a major world religion that has received very little attention in the West. The same can really be said for each of the chapters of this new book on inter-faith studies. The author displays an intimate knowledge of the history, terminology, esoteric writings, and meditation practices used by the various schools of mystics within each of the world religions, often pointing out the shared vision, the common goals and common threads along the way, such as similar ethical principals of ahimsa or non-violence in thought, word, and deed (like the Golden Rule), Dharma, the Eight Limbs of Yoga, Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, chakras, subtle bodies, meditation techniques including the use of mantras, mystical stages of transcendence, Sound-mysticism (Nada Yoga or Yoga of Sound), Light-mysticism (Dristi Yoga or Yoga of Light), the inward journey or ascension to other realms/heavens, jivan mukti or moksha (salvation, liberation of the soul), self (atma) and God (Paramatma) realisation.




The final paragraph of the book summarises the universalist spirit of peace and harmony (as in the harmony of all religions) in the following way: "In different times and different places Saints appear and their followers name their religion according to the Sage or Saint who propounded that tradition. The appearance of differences can be attributed to time, place, and language. This gives rise to various labels for the common views held by all religions. Likewise, due to excessively zealous followers, these seeming differences are often amplified. When all sectarianism and the temporal and linguistic aspects are removed, the basic principles of all the Saints are in accord and the voices of the Saints are in harmony."


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The Meditative Mind
by Daniel Goleman