Q. 1. Where may inter-faith conversation begin?
A. 1. In totalitarian religions accepting that their exclusive approach is not the way forward and it is time to lend their ears to more rational discourse going on elsewhere.
Q. 2. How may harmony of faiths be arrived at, if at all?
A. 2. By becoming aware that different religions are merely different paths to the same goal, that of Self-realization, and that spirituality and not doctrine is the core of religion. God must be experienced and the life of renunciation lived. The violence of conversion must be given up and so must all exclusiveness of doctrine be disregarded. But that is a far cry.
Q. 3. Are the present-day inter-faith meets of any merit?
A. 3. Mostly they are hypocritical exercises of make-believe fraternal feelings between liberals and fanatics but, nonetheless, a beginning has been made in the right direction, although, fundamentally flawed in terms of hiding the hard facts of the constitutional characteristics of fanatical religions.
Q. 4. Do all religions truly lead to the same goal, that of Self-realization?
A. 4. That depends on the aspirant's sincerity and purity entirely. Religion is a path and the path leads to a destination which is Self-realization. However, only the religions of Indian origin have the end of the spiritual quest in Self-realization. The Abrahamic religions do not accept this spiritual end-point and stop short at the dualistic, or at best, at the qualified monistic level. So, the aspirant there does not have a charted path beyond the dualistic level and has to rely on intuition or knowledge of the Indian yogic traditions to further proceed.
Q. 5. Must we believe in authority or ought we to judge the veracity of scriptural pronouncements on the basis of scientific reasoning and sound evidence?
A. 5. We must reject all authority in a civilized way and accept whatever passes our enlightened reason. We must test, scrutinize and seek for solid evidence before we accept any teaching or doctrine of religion. We must be thoroughly scientific in our approach.
Q. 6. Are we born free of religion and are then indoctrinated into it?
A. 6. Yes, so it is. We are born free of any badge of religion, although we are not born free of past religious or karmic influences. Then, religion is thrust upon us as children by the home environment and, more nefariously, by society, in states where totalitarianism of religion prevails. This is very damaging to the growth of the individual and is one of the root causes why we are held down as a species to archaic absolutism masquerading as righteous religion.
Q. 7. What is bondage?
A. 7. Bondage is the apparent subservience of the soul to matter, of the mind to sensate pleasures and pain thereafter, and of the body-mind complex, which we call the organic system, to the transmigratory cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Bondage is of the infinite, immutable Reality apparently trapped into the consciousness that it is the finite, ever-changing phenomena. In reality, though, there is no bondage for the Self; it is ever-free, luminous, whole.
Q. 8. Is rebirth possible?
A. 8. Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism have theorized on rebirth and it is intrinsic to their philosophy of 'karma'. Sages and saints and many ordinary people have also testified to this theory. However, carry out your own investigation and accept or reject as per your findings. If, however, the Vedantic theory of the unreality of the universe is comprehended and realized, then the entire cycle of birth and rebirth vanishes into thin air altogether along with the universe of phenomenal dreams. Even the dualistic God dissolves with the universe and lives on sublimated and transmuted in the Self, the Brahman.
Q. 9. What is meditation?
A. 9. It is the focussing of the mind on progressively smaller zones till point-focus is reached and transcended when the observer, the observed and the act of observation all dissolve into an integrated whole.
Q. 10. Why is purity stressed on in religion?
A. 10. Because purity conserves power, discards distraction and depletion of energy, and clarifies the mind of all dross that clouds the vision of the Self.
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