DO ALL RELIGIONS HAVE THE SAME CENTRAL MESSAGE? DO THEY LEAD TO THE SAME GOAL? ... 1

If all religions have the same central message and if all of them lead to the same goal as so many naively claim, it is not on account of the truth enshrined in them but because of the truth inlaid in the human system. The religions of the world all differ in their apprehension of the ultimate truth and, hence, cannot be accorded the credit for realisation coming along the path that began with any one of them. Rather, it must be reasonably admitted that the seeds of truth lie potentially in the nervous system as such and they gain final fruition in the transcendence of the psycho-physical self. No wonder the Vedas do not formulate any specific religion for the people but merely enunciate spiritual principles which were the discoveries of the seers of yore.

The word 'religion' is alien to India and must not be confused with 'dharma' which may be translated as 'righteousness' in a somewhat narrowed down sense, for the scope of 'dharma' is far wider than the mere practice of righteousness. 'Dharma' is quite universal in its scope and includes righteousness as one of its component elements. 'Dharma' also means one's fundamental nature or life-tendency, or, in the case of inanimate objects, it means the elemental characteristic and attributes and the universal interactions that hold them in their phenomenal existence as extensions of their real existence beyond phenomena. So, the scope of 'dharma' is universal, far transcending the limitations of doctrinaire monotheistic religions of the Abrahamic tradition or of any other tradition across the wide world. India has, thus, historically never had a religion. Religion first came to India in the form of Christianity when St.Thomas brought early Christianity to Southern India. Seven centuries later Md.Bin Qasim and his marauders brought Islam to Sindh. The Islamic conquest of India and later the advent of the European colonising nations made religion entrenched in the sub-continent that had once only known 'dharma' and was ignorant of what 'religion' was.