Drishtikone
The current vicious religious atmosphere has made some commenters say that it is time that sane people from all faiths came together to “bridge the gap” between different religious denominations. How can this strife be eliminated. There are no clear-cut and easy answers! But this is my attempt to understand the problem in a way that I feel most comfortable with!
The common denominator to salvation – whether you sincerely and seriously listen to Jesus, Hafiz, Sultan Bahu (sufis), Vasishtha, or Guru Nanak Dev – is elimination of EGO.. the “I” that created the artificial “veil” between the ONE, Universal whole!
Bulle Shah – a renowned Sufi – had once said in Punjabi (which I believe is a great and succinct summary of Vedanta):
“Anhad di had disdi nahin;
Had lagdi taan je main howaan”
(I cannot see the boundary to the Infinity;
The walls appear the moment I step in!)
As Krishnamurthi also said it:
“.. And in that distance, the division between the seer and the thing seen, in that division the whole conflict of man exists”.
These two verses pretty much sums up MY belief of that Universal whole.
And if that be it.. then codified faith brings in an element of EGO.. which has led to different “versions of truth”.. by making it relative!
The attempt has to be to go ABOVE religion – towards spirituality – which is the essence of what Jesus kept talking about if someone cared to listen.. as was the case with Sufis and other Saints.
At that level where codes, rituals, books, Gods, Gurus, Masters, Prophets are not used to articulate the truth.. RIGHT THERE is the confluence of us and the abode for Peace! It takes a lot for us to get there… because the opium and the support of these props is thoroughly intoxicating and weakening in spiritual sense.
Therefore, there can be no “bridging” of gap.. no reformer.. no saint.. no prophet has EVER accomplished that. In fact, I would argue that, if anything, they helped create more gaps that had to be bridged while trying to bridge the existing ones unsuccessfully.
To really understand the import of what I am saying – just imagine yourself going to a deep forest in Amazon where no one from civilization has entered as yet.. and you meet some people.
Pretty obviously they have a belief about the “supernatural” as have you. How do you approach the subject? You say “I am X, who are you?” RIGHT at THAT moment when you “identified” YOURSELF.. you created an X and a Y!
Of course, in your ABUNDANT compassion you may then declare that you “love” all the Y’s and feel virtuous and secular! But the fact is THAT the misery of the fight between X and Y was born not due to the “lack of that compassion” but the very Identification of X and THUS creation of Y!
That is why, in my humble opinion – bridging of the Gap is an impossibility! The VERY ACT of identification of your presence accentuates the GAP.. so how can you ever bridge it??
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