DharmaCatLamp
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I have been thinking about the nature of truth and religion for a bit today so I decided I would type out my thoughts and share them. Some folks won't agree with the stuff I want to say and that is of course fine.
There is a subtle difference between the idea that all religions have some truth to them vs all religions being true. The difference lies largely in what we are talking about when we say the truth as well as what both sentences actually imply.
When I say I think all religions have some truth to them I am actually saying that some religions are incorrect about at least some things. If you believe that Christ is the only way to heaven(enlightenment, peace) and I say you can worship pretty much any kind of divine or not even believe in any and still have a good chance at achieving inner peace then we have just disagreed on something fundamental. Christ can't be the only way to peace or God or whatever we want to call it but also people can not have Christ and still get to the same goal.
This happens with almost any religion if you examine their doctrines. Many Buddhists deny the idea of the atman while the idea of the atman is essential to many parts of Hinduism. If Muhammad was the seal of the prophets then you can't say someone like Baha'u'llah is also a prophet.
On the surface level without any further qualifications, it actually sounds like saying all religions are true is closer to saying all religions are wrong than all religions are true. The qualification I would make here that is rather important is that any path can lead to God/Peace but that doesn't mean everything within that path is correct.
As an example, I think Sufism and mystical Christianity are both wonderful. I think they both understand the unity of being (Wahdat al-wujud) and point to something rather similar to what mystics in the Hindu ( Sanata Dharma) tradition have said. Buddhist ideas about emptiness can sound rather similar to these ideas from a certain perspective as well. Does this mean Islam, as taught by Muhammad, or Christianity, taught by the majority of churches is "The Truth"? No.
I think the mystical experience points to some deeper truths. If you look at the experiences of these different groups they often line up quite a bit. The path the Sufi took and the path the Sadhu took are going to look rather different though. Often Sufis walk on the edge of what is considered orthodox in Islam. Even some of the greatest Sufis often found themselves called heretics. Meister Eckhart was accused of heresy as well even though these days many people within the church want his full rehabilitation.
This tells us two things. There is a similarity to mystical experience across various religious traditions that may well point to a deeper meaning. These mystics are often subject to condemnations from the more "orthodox" members of their religion. Keep in mind that many Sufis would still consider themselves orthodox even if their fellows would not.
You also have the fact that even inside of traditions you will often have vastly different beliefs. Many folks who would call themselves Hindu don't eat meat and think you should never offer meat to deities. At the same time in places like Bengal you sometimes have meat sacrificed and offered during the Kali Puja.
This is part of the reason I think rules are largely for us and not for the deities. Rules can help guide us and traditions can give us rules which help us. On the flip side of this, they can also give us rules which damage us. Culture gets mixed into a religion over time and you might never truly be able to distinguish the two.
This is because religion is a tool and a short-hand method to reach the truth. Just like words are shorthand we use them to communicate ideas from within ourselves to those around us. Every word is a lie because it cannot communicate the fullness of what we mean and always relies on interpretation from the other individual. I can read the Bhagavad Gita and see it as a deep text with a lot of good ideas/truth but others can view it as a rag. Neither viewpoint is the be-all-end-all.
You will never be able, to sum up, all the truth of reality in its complexity. You might read a text and think you understand the nature of reality but the depth of each and every molecule within the entirety of the universe will always be beyond you, beyond me, beyond everyone.
If you want to follow the rules of a tradition if you think it brings you closer to god you might just be right. Those rules might help you but that doesn't mean they will help everyone. Humans have their own complexities and experiences which will always make it so no one path is ever going to be right for everyone.
The truth is beyond us and we can do little more than point to it. We can do our best to live our lives according to what we have come to believe and what we think is better for us. Everyone falls down sometimes and doesn't live up to their standards or the standards of the doctrines around us. God is infinite and can be approached in infinite ways. The truth is infinite and doesn't require any specific beliefs from us to get peace.
I quote this line a lot but I think it often fits. " The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao, the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the boundary of Heaven and Earth. The name is the mother of creation." and " The great way is not difficult, just avoid picking and choosing." Which is a common zen saying.
Just know that you are choosing a path for yourself and not the whole world. Just know that truth is open, just know that you don't know.
I just figured I would share that and see what folks thought.
I have been thinking about the nature of truth and religion for a bit today so I decided I would type out my thoughts and share them. Some folks won't agree with the stuff I want to say and that is of course fine.
There is a subtle difference between the idea that all religions have some truth to them vs all religions being true. The difference lies largely in what we are talking about when we say the truth as well as what both sentences actually imply.
When I say I think all religions have some truth to them I am actually saying that some religions are incorrect about at least some things. If you believe that Christ is the only way to heaven(enlightenment, peace) and I say you can worship pretty much any kind of divine or not even believe in any and still have a good chance at achieving inner peace then we have just disagreed on something fundamental. Christ can't be the only way to peace or God or whatever we want to call it but also people can not have Christ and still get to the same goal.
This happens with almost any religion if you examine their doctrines. Many Buddhists deny the idea of the atman while the idea of the atman is essential to many parts of Hinduism. If Muhammad was the seal of the prophets then you can't say someone like Baha'u'llah is also a prophet.
On the surface level without any further qualifications, it actually sounds like saying all religions are true is closer to saying all religions are wrong than all religions are true. The qualification I would make here that is rather important is that any path can lead to God/Peace but that doesn't mean everything within that path is correct.
As an example, I think Sufism and mystical Christianity are both wonderful. I think they both understand the unity of being (Wahdat al-wujud) and point to something rather similar to what mystics in the Hindu ( Sanata Dharma) tradition have said. Buddhist ideas about emptiness can sound rather similar to these ideas from a certain perspective as well. Does this mean Islam, as taught by Muhammad, or Christianity, taught by the majority of churches is "The Truth"? No.
I think the mystical experience points to some deeper truths. If you look at the experiences of these different groups they often line up quite a bit. The path the Sufi took and the path the Sadhu took are going to look rather different though. Often Sufis walk on the edge of what is considered orthodox in Islam. Even some of the greatest Sufis often found themselves called heretics. Meister Eckhart was accused of heresy as well even though these days many people within the church want his full rehabilitation.
This tells us two things. There is a similarity to mystical experience across various religious traditions that may well point to a deeper meaning. These mystics are often subject to condemnations from the more "orthodox" members of their religion. Keep in mind that many Sufis would still consider themselves orthodox even if their fellows would not.
You also have the fact that even inside of traditions you will often have vastly different beliefs. Many folks who would call themselves Hindu don't eat meat and think you should never offer meat to deities. At the same time in places like Bengal you sometimes have meat sacrificed and offered during the Kali Puja.
This is part of the reason I think rules are largely for us and not for the deities. Rules can help guide us and traditions can give us rules which help us. On the flip side of this, they can also give us rules which damage us. Culture gets mixed into a religion over time and you might never truly be able to distinguish the two.
This is because religion is a tool and a short-hand method to reach the truth. Just like words are shorthand we use them to communicate ideas from within ourselves to those around us. Every word is a lie because it cannot communicate the fullness of what we mean and always relies on interpretation from the other individual. I can read the Bhagavad Gita and see it as a deep text with a lot of good ideas/truth but others can view it as a rag. Neither viewpoint is the be-all-end-all.
You will never be able, to sum up, all the truth of reality in its complexity. You might read a text and think you understand the nature of reality but the depth of each and every molecule within the entirety of the universe will always be beyond you, beyond me, beyond everyone.
If you want to follow the rules of a tradition if you think it brings you closer to god you might just be right. Those rules might help you but that doesn't mean they will help everyone. Humans have their own complexities and experiences which will always make it so no one path is ever going to be right for everyone.
The truth is beyond us and we can do little more than point to it. We can do our best to live our lives according to what we have come to believe and what we think is better for us. Everyone falls down sometimes and doesn't live up to their standards or the standards of the doctrines around us. God is infinite and can be approached in infinite ways. The truth is infinite and doesn't require any specific beliefs from us to get peace.
I quote this line a lot but I think it often fits. " The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao, the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the boundary of Heaven and Earth. The name is the mother of creation." and " The great way is not difficult, just avoid picking and choosing." Which is a common zen saying.
Just know that you are choosing a path for yourself and not the whole world. Just know that truth is open, just know that you don't know.
I just figured I would share that and see what folks thought.
