[continued from previous message]   
      
   On the other hand, freedom of worship cannot reasonably be extended to the   
   point where it can work to the detriment of society. In other words, while we   
   must accept an individual's choice of a personal Deity, we are not equally   
   obliged to accept all the    
   social consequences of those teachings which may be attributed to or connected   
   with that chosen Deity. If someone's personalized God instructs her or him to   
   kill every man, woman and child in a particular city, surely we will not   
   happily accept that    
   divine commandment. Likewise, we cannot easily appreciate nor should we   
   appreciate any number of lesser and greater antisocial injunctions which are   
   found in the scriptures of the various religions prominent today. Many   
   high-minded intellectuals have    
   been saying of late that all religions are essentially the same in respect to   
   their teachings. From my studies, the only teaching I could find which was   
   common to all religions was the claim made by each to be the one and only true   
   religion, with all    
   other faiths relegated to a status of lesser and often satanic significance.   
   And it is exceedingly rare when any religion endeavors to substantiate its   
   claims on ground more solid than the holy nature of its scriptures. How often   
   do we hear lines like “   
   It's written in the Bible”, “The Bible tells me so”, “I swear on the Bible”,   
   “The Bible is my authority”, and so on.   
      
   Judaism boldly asserts, “We, the Jews are God's chosen people. Our God is the   
   only true God; everyone else's God is false. We are the blessed community; all   
   others have been cursed.” Christianity counters with the declaration, “Our   
   Jesus is the Way, the    
   Truth and the Life – the only begotten son of God. No one can know the Father   
   without first securing an introduction from His son. So we alone are saved,   
   and all others are doomed to perish in Hell.” Inherent in both stances is a   
   flagrant lack of    
   tolerance for any other point of view. Nowhere in Judaism or Christianity do   
   we find respect for the individual's right to choose her or his personal   
   Ideal. And ironically it is this lack of tolerance which first casts a shadow   
   of doubt over the validity    
   of these religions.   
      
   If one pauses for just a moment to think rationally about the idea of a God   
   Who shows out-and-out favoritism for one small select group of humans on   
   planet Earth, or a God Who shows an even greater favoritism for one particular   
   man within that    
   aforementioned group, then the mind and heart must reject the concept of this   
   so-called Divinity Who displays such a strange manner of parental love.   
   Furthermore, any normal human being must shudder to think of the incredible   
   excesses committed by Jews    
   and Christians alike in obedience to the narrow sentiments found in the Bible,   
   attributed directly or indirectly to God. If the essential teachings of all   
   religions are the same, why should the Jews have taken such pains to crush the   
   Christian beliefs,    
   and the Christians even greater pains to abrogate the Jewish creed? Or, for   
   that matter, why are both Christians and Jews at war with each other and with   
   the Moslems? Most religions maintain that God is one, but what they really   
   mean to say is “The God    
   in our scriptures is the one God – all other representations are false.”   
      
   Thus, while toleration of a person's choice of Preceptor is highly desirable,   
   toleration of the dogmas which have rightly or wrongly been associated with   
   that Preceptor cannot always be justified. Nor can one justify turning a blind   
   eye to all of the    
   myths which have been propagated concerning the different Preceptors. Once   
   there was a donkey; and, so long as it kept quiet, many people believed it to   
   be a horse. Only when it opened its mouth and brayed, could everyone know its   
   true identity. Now,    
   even if some of the people preferred to go on believing the animal to be a   
   horse, would it not be better that we try to correct their illusion so that   
   they, too, might better adjust to the practical realities of this objective   
   world. Thereafter, if we    
   fail and if they really want to continue believing the jackass to be a horse,   
   we must accept that this belief is their personal affair.   
      
   Moving On   
   Regarding Judaism and Christianity, the Bible documents much history and many   
   teachings which may be analyzed – that is, we are given ample scope for   
   weighing the pros and cons of these two religions on the scales of social   
   welfare. Whether or not the    
   Bible (Old and New Testaments) is in fact a substantially accurate   
   representation of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, the prophets and the apostles, no one   
   can say for sure. Perhaps this does not matter for, ultimately, religion is   
   more concerned with the    
   scriptures we know than with the somewhat obscure personalities glorified   
   therein.   
      
   One day a spiritual aspirant visited a Zen Master seeking to learn the secrets   
   of life. The Zen Master asked him first to sit for tea, and he started to fill   
   the student's teacup. After the cup was full, the Master kept on pouring tea,   
   though now it just    
   flowed over the cup and onto the table. Eventually the aspirant could not keep   
   from remarking, “Master, my cup is already full.” The teacher replied, “In the   
   same way as a full cup cannot receive more tea, so also a mind full of dogmas   
   cannot learn    
   something new.”   
      
   Ultimately, when we have eliminated all of the preposterous stories and clever   
   ploys created to instill those psychic complexes which pave the way for   
   politico-economic and psycho-economic exploitation, then little remains to   
   recommend the so-called holy    
   books of Judaism and Christianity. Even as historical documents, these books   
   function as a shameful reminder of a none-too-glorious past. But regrettably   
   they are not yet historical documents; rather they are the substance of the   
   living Bible.    
   Regrettably our cup is full but the content is neither fresh nor warm.   
   Pleasant or unpleasant though it is, today we must discard the unhealthy   
   dogmas contained in the Bible, for without first cleansing the mind, humanity   
   will be unable to unite behind a    
   more scientific and benevolent philosophy which alone can end the petty strife   
   that now threatens the very existence of our planet. Is it not time that   
   humanity be served another cup of tea?   
      
      
      
   Human society is one and indivisible. Keeping this supreme truth ever fixed in   
   one's vision, one will have to think of promoting human welfare, love for   
   humanity, human solidarity, and universal fraternity, and move accordingly.   
   Not for a single moment    
   one should forget it nor even ignore it. Due to paucity of intellect or mutual   
   conflicts in the past, a vast number of creatures have become totally extinct   
   today from the surface of the earth. Let the human beings not meet the same   
   dreadful consequence.   
      
   Shrii Shrii Anandamurti   
      
   Ananda Vanii 26 May 1983   
      
      
      
   3                       In the Beginning   
   Spread out the sermons of amity among mankind. Remind one and all that the   
   establishment of human excellence does not lie in hypocrisy but in simplicity   
   and sincerity. Make them all realize that every individual human problem   
   whether big or small is the    
   problem of the universal humanity. Make them also understand that the origin   
   as well as the finality of entire humankind is one and the same.   
      
   Shrii Shrii Anandamurti   
      
   1 January 1982   
      
      
      
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)