Universality of God

[dattaswami]

Universality of God

In the scriptures of every religion, we find the prophets giving statements which declare their uniqueness and their identity with God. E.g Lord Jesus says 'I am the light, I am the path', 'I and My father are One', 'One can reach My father only through Me' etc. Every fanatic misunderstands these statements to be statements of exclusivity. He thinks that his religion alone is the path. Its prophet alone is identical with God and all the religions are false.

Suppose there is a person who is neutral and wishes to join some religion. Which religion he should join? Follower of each religion says that theirs is the best religion and the only true religion.

The above concept of One Impartial God, who created this one world, clearly demands the unity in all the human incarnations and in all the religious scriptures. Proper interpretation of the statements of scriptures can achieve this unity. For example, Lord Jesus declares His oneness with God, His Father. The word 'I', used by Lord Jesus in the Bible, means the human incarnation in general. It is called Emmanuel (Heb. 'with us is God'). It means that God comes to live with human beings. The Bhagavad Gita also says that God enters the human body. God pervades all over the human body like electricity pervades all over the wire. The electricity and the wire become one and the same. This is the interpretation of oneness of Father and the Son.

One can experience God only through the medium in which He is present. In His Cosmic form, He is beyond our reach. Thus the human beings can experience God through human incarnation only. This is the interpretation of the statement that one can reach the Father only through the Son. Every human incarnation clearly preaches the special knowledge which clearly throws light on every minute detail. Such interpretations reveal the real universal meaning of scriptures.


When a mother says to her children 'all children must serve me', she does not mean that all children in the world should serve that mother alone. The children residing in faraway lands cannot possibly serve her. The correct interpretation of her statement is that all of her children should serve her. When you generalize her as any mother, then it means that every child should serve his or her own mother. Thus conservatism leads to ignorance while generalization based on the essential truth leads to universal knowledge.

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At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil Antony

www.universal-spirituality.org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace