HARMONY OF RELIGIONS ... 3
A shallow cherry-picking of instances good and a like cherry-picking of instances evil by way of discussion of the problem of achieving harmony of religions in a world that has seen much of religious dissonance thus far does not advance the cause of civilisation. The issue has a world significance in terms of impact on civilisation and needs a comprehensive approach for it to bear reasonable future fruition that will conduce to the real welfare of the world. Arbitrary assertions of any sort this way or that cannot help the cause of harmony and what is seriously needed is the right meditation on the context and the text which affect relations between religious communities.
To say that Ramakrishna or Kabir or any such seminal historical character who could overcome surface differences of religions and arrive at the deeper spiritual union of all of sentience proves the fact that harmony has been the prevailing theme of the Indian life for the millenium past is but the attempt to cover the sun with one's palm held before the eye and affirm that the sun is not there any more, a veritable travesty of the truth that actually obtained. Such sectional quotes of instances and selective provision of spiritual message to the exclusion of the real content of the relevant scriptures that affect the lives of billions is but an attempted easy exit from the persistent problem of religious disharmony that disrupts civilised living across the globe even today. As such, honesty of approach ought to restrain individuals from assuming such a facile stance in their bid to improve inter-community religious relations.
A utopia of spiritual harmony may have always existed in the minds of liberal idealists across the world but such a heaven on earth is yet to be seen. It cannot be brought about by vain assertions or fractional quotation of historical instance but needs a committed approach to curing the evil obtaining from regional religions by working at their roots, that is, where the scriptural texts dominate the discourse.
Swami Vivekananda had talked of root and branch reform. No attempt can be made to amend the verses of the revealed scriptures even at the branch level for it is purportedly the word of God. What are the chances then that a root-level reform is going to take place in the near future?
What is happening now in the name of religious harmonic talk at inter-faith meets is the avoidance of discussion of the contentious points of fundamental doctrinaire difference that cause friction and violence and the showering of praises on each other for the day and the affirmation of the superficial points of unity that, nonetheless, because of their surface nature, fail to actually unify the religions in a harmonic bond of co-existence. Most important is the fact that insincerity and dishonesty sully these meets of noble objective and futile ends.
Written by Sugata Bose
A shallow cherry-picking of instances good and a like cherry-picking of instances evil by way of discussion of the problem of achieving harmony of religions in a world that has seen much of religious dissonance thus far does not advance the cause of civilisation. The issue has a world significance in terms of impact on civilisation and needs a comprehensive approach for it to bear reasonable future fruition that will conduce to the real welfare of the world. Arbitrary assertions of any sort this way or that cannot help the cause of harmony and what is seriously needed is the right meditation on the context and the text which affect relations between religious communities.
To say that Ramakrishna or Kabir or any such seminal historical character who could overcome surface differences of religions and arrive at the deeper spiritual union of all of sentience proves the fact that harmony has been the prevailing theme of the Indian life for the millenium past is but the attempt to cover the sun with one's palm held before the eye and affirm that the sun is not there any more, a veritable travesty of the truth that actually obtained. Such sectional quotes of instances and selective provision of spiritual message to the exclusion of the real content of the relevant scriptures that affect the lives of billions is but an attempted easy exit from the persistent problem of religious disharmony that disrupts civilised living across the globe even today. As such, honesty of approach ought to restrain individuals from assuming such a facile stance in their bid to improve inter-community religious relations.
A utopia of spiritual harmony may have always existed in the minds of liberal idealists across the world but such a heaven on earth is yet to be seen. It cannot be brought about by vain assertions or fractional quotation of historical instance but needs a committed approach to curing the evil obtaining from regional religions by working at their roots, that is, where the scriptural texts dominate the discourse.
Swami Vivekananda had talked of root and branch reform. No attempt can be made to amend the verses of the revealed scriptures even at the branch level for it is purportedly the word of God. What are the chances then that a root-level reform is going to take place in the near future?
What is happening now in the name of religious harmonic talk at inter-faith meets is the avoidance of discussion of the contentious points of fundamental doctrinaire difference that cause friction and violence and the showering of praises on each other for the day and the affirmation of the superficial points of unity that, nonetheless, because of their surface nature, fail to actually unify the religions in a harmonic bond of co-existence. Most important is the fact that insincerity and dishonesty sully these meets of noble objective and futile ends.
Written by Sugata Bose
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