unity

Unity.
One God, One Religion. Oneness. Wholeness. Advaita. Ecumenism.

Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Deuteronomy 6:4.

There is only one God, one faith. Let the people believe firmly and do not fear anything. Our Lady of Medjugorie, June 29, 1981. Words from Heaven, P.91.

(...) And say, "I believe in all the scriptures revealed by God, and I am commanded to treat you amicably, God is our Lord and your Lord; we have our deeds and you have your deeds. There is no argument between us and you. God will gather us together; to Him is the ultimate destiny." Quran 42:15

O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. Truly the most honored of you in God's sight is the greatest of you in piety. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. Quran 49:13

May they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, (...) John 17:21

O let us come, the living God adore; He is, He was, He will be ever more. His oneness is a thing of mystery, no man can fathom His true unity. He is without a body's form or frame, no mortal lips His essence can proclaim. He reigned before this teeming world was wrought, He was when all the world as yet was naught. Our God created every living thing, all creatures owe their love to Him, their King. Yigdal, a Jewish mystic of fourteenth-century Rome. Quoted after: Miriam Bokser Caravella, The Holy Name. P.72.

There is only one human community and it consists of all peoples. They have only one origin, since God inhabited the entire earth with the whole human race. And they have one ultimate destiny, God, (...) John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, P.78

Such is your religion: one religion, and I am your Lord, so worship Me. Quran 21:92

God says, "Do not set up two gods, there is only one God; you shall reverence Me!" Quran 16:51

O Lord! Unite and bind together the hearts, join in accord all the souls, and exhilarate the spirits through the signs of Thy sanctity and oneness. O Lord! Make these faces radiant through the light of Thy oneness. Strengthen the loins of Thy servants in the service of Thy kingdom. O Lord, Thou possessor of infinite mercy! O Lord of forgiveness and pardon! Forgive our sins, pardon our shortcomings, and cause us to turn to the kingdom of Thy clemency, invoking the kingdom of might and power, humble at Thy shrine and submissive before the glory of Thine evidences. O Lord God! Make us as waves of the sea, as flowers of the garden, united, agreed through the bounties of Thy love. O Lord! Dilate the breasts through the signs of Thy oneness, and make all mankind as stars shining from the same height of glory, as perfect fruits growing upon Thy tree of life. Verily, Thou art the Almighty, the Self-Subsistent, the Giver, the Forgiving, the Pardoner, the Omniscient, the One Creator. Abdu'l-Baha

Until all things become one for you, traced to One source and seen in One act of vision, you cannot find anchorage for the heart, or rest calmly in God. Thomas A Kempis, Imitation of Christ, I.3.2 (OGN#559)

For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me. Gita 6:30

He is the one who harmonized their hearts (...) Quran 8:

Since the creation of the earth, God has always come to see and protect His garden of the universe. So He appears from time to time to weed out the tares and guide the devotees and all good people in the proper line. Teachings of Babaji, P.12.

This is the real acknowledgment of God: whenever He comes, He unites all religions of the world into one religion. Teachings of Babaji, P.13.

Those whose minds are established in sameness and equanimity have already conquered the conditions of birth and death. Gita 5:19

Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then we are faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors? Malachi 2:10

However, they divided themselves into different religions; all are returning to us. Quran 21:93

Give up all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall protect you from all sinful reactions. Therefore you have nothing to fear. Gita 18:66

And call no one your father on earth, for you have One Father - the one in heaven. Matthew 23: 9

This is true light, and it is one; and all are one who behold it and love it. St. Augustine, Confessions, X.34

God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in man-made temples. Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone. From one man he created all races of mankind and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live. He did this so they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt around for him. Yet God is actually not far from anyone of us; as someone has said, 'In him we live and move and exist.' (...). Acts of Apostles, 17:24-28

My friendship is with the One God and I love only Him. God alone is my friend and He is my only companion. I converse with God alone. He never has a frown on His face. He knows all that worries me and never turns His back on me. God alone, with the power to create as well as destroy, is my adviser. He, who has His hand on the heads of all the givers in the world, is my only Giver. The One God, who has power over all, is my support. The Guru has placed his hand on my head and united me with God, the source of peace, the One who is saviour of the whole world. O Nanak, one's heart's desires are fulfilled and one finds the True Name if the union is ordained (by God) to start with. Shri Guru Granth Sahib

There is but one God. He is all that is. He is the Creator of all things and He is all-pervasive. He is without fear and without enmity. He is timeless, unborn and self-existent. He is the Enlightener and He can be realized by grace of Himself alone. He was in the beginning; He was in all ages. The True One is, was, O Nanak, and shall forever be. Japji, part of the morning prayer first recited by Guru Nanak. Harbans Singh, Guru Nanak, PP.96-7.

He is one, He is the first. He is all that is. Eternal Truth is His Name. He is the creator of all. Fearing naught, striking fear in naught; timeless is His image. Not begotten, He is self-existent. He was in the beginning; He is through all ages; He shall be the One who lives forever. Beyond thought, no thinking can conceive Him. Attributed to Guru Nanak. Quoted after: Miriam Bokser Caravella, The Holy Name. P.72.

Peter began: "I now understand how true it is that God has no favorites, but that in every nation those who are God fearing and do what is right are acceptable for him." Acts of Apostles, 10:34-35

O people! Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship... Baha'ullah.

Imagine a circle with its centre and radii or rays going out from this centre. The further these radii are from the centre the more widely are they dispersed and separated from one another; and conversely, the closer they come to the centre, the closer they are to one another. Suppose now that this circle is the world, the very centre of the circle, God, and the lines (radii) (…) are the paths of men's lives. (…) Insofar as the saints move inwards within the circle toward the centre, wishing to come near to God, then, in the degree of their penetrations, they come closer both to God and to one another (…). Abba Dorotheus, 7^th Century.

Whatever may be the form in which each devotee seeks to worship Me with faith, I make their faith steadfast in that form above. Gita 7:21

Don't say the Vedas and the Books (Torah, Bible, Quran) are false. False is the one who does not study them. Shri Guru Granth Sahib

Recognize all humankind as one. The Creator and the Merciful, the Provider and the Gracious are the same God. Do not, in error or doubt, accept any other. All serve the One. He is the One Divine Teacher of all, there is but One Form, let us understand Him to be the same Light. Dasam Granth Sahib.

The One God is the Father of all, we are all his Children. The One God is the cause of all causes; knowledge, wisdom, discrimination are His gifts to us. He is not far, He is not near, He is with us all. Saith Nanak: Praise the Lord with abiding love. Adi Granth.

Love is the essence of all religions, righteousness and piety. Forgetting all burdens and tangles, ever absorb yourself in the Divine Love. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 1128.

Whatever dharma (religion) have been blest to us by the Lord at birth, our welfare lies in following its principles diligently. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 1447.

There is but one instruction to give. There should be humanity in you. People of all countries should unite with each other as brothers. All of you must be happy and healthy and appreciate the joy of life. (...) Teachings of Babaji, P.41.

Where there is jealousy and hatred, there is no religion. Teachings of Babaji, P.41.

(...) All great saints and spiritual leaders who have appeared in the world have come to establish world peace and unity for humanity as a whole. Jealousy and hatred are the two causes by which humanity is ruined. In your lives these two vices should have no place. Teachings of Babaji, P.55.

Shri Babaji shows us the practical side of the teachings of great saints like Guru Nanak, who did not preach a particular religion or cult. He gave teachings of spiritual perfection, valid for all mankind. To follow these teachings is to realize good for all humanity and the unity of all humanity and the unity of the individual soul with the universal Soul. (...) Teachings of Babaji, P.58.

(...) we must annihilate the feelings of "I - ness" and "my - ness" from our minds. You must march forward like a soldier, dutifully and bravely. The thing which brings man down is "attachment" to his own kith and kin. When all belong to this whole universe, where is the place for "I" and "mine"? We must unite as one universal family and march forward in unity. By this means only will the world be benefited. This is not the concern of one individual but the whole universe. The only true man is one who practices "humanism". Every man must cultivate the qualities of "humanity" - this is the only way to success in life. Teachings of Babaji, P.99.

I urge you to live in manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:12-13.

Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 1 Corinthians 10:17

(...) For in the one Spirit we were all baptized in one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:12

Like the spear pierces the shield in a moment, I passed through nights and days. This is why all believes and religions are for me One and hundred thousands of years just a moment... Mevlana (1207-1273), Turkish sage, mystic and poet. http://www.mevlana.net

Get united ... I came here not to divide but to unify. Mevlana.

Come, come over, more over, how long this brigandage? As you are me and I am you. How long this discrimination of you and I? We are light of God! Why this separation among us? Why light escapes from light? We are all from the same yeast, our brains and heads too. But under this bowed sky we see double... Mevlana.

From this five senses, six directions carry all what you possesses to the country of Unity. Til when you will continue only to speak of Unity. Mevlana.

Come on, deny your Ego. Get united with everybody. So long as you remain in yourself, you are a particle. But if you get united with everybody, you are mine, an ocean. Believe that all the spirits are One! And all bodies are One! Just like almonds in quantity hundred thousands; but there is the same oil in all of them. Mevlana.

There are many languages in the world, in meaning all are the same. If you break the cup water will be unified and will flow together... Mevlana.

If I can unite in myself, in my own spiritual life, the thought of the East and the West, of the Greek and Latin Fathers, I will create in myself a reunion of the divided Church, and from that unity in myself can come the exterior and visible unity of the Church. For, if we want to bring together East and West, we cannot do it by imposing one upon the other. We must contain both in ourselves and transcend them both in Christ. Thomas Merton, A Search for Solitude, Vol 3, P.87. Quoted after Jonathan Montaldo - "The Witness of Thomas Merton's Inner Work.", address to the Parliament of the World Religions, Cape Town, South Africa, December 1999.

Our religious traditions at their most authentic should free us to find traces of God in all things. Gos loves all manner of our being in the world and has made all things in harmony. (...) As in our inner work, so our communal work for justice and peace is futile if we insist on the primacy of one form of being human over another, of one religion over others, or by choosing a mono-cultural path toward Joy for all beings that share this planet. God loves our infinite diversity and has choreographed an ordered dance of different stars. Jonathan Montaldo - "The Witness of Thomas Merton's Inner Work.", address to the Parliament of the World Religions, Cape Town, South Africa, December 1999.

Theologies and symbols and creeds, though inevitable, are transient and become obsolescent, while the Life of God sweeps on through the souls of men in continued revelation and creative newness. To that divine Life we must cling. In that Current we must bathe. In that abiding yet energizing Center we are all made one, behind and despite the surface differences of our forms and cultures. For the heart of the religious life is in commitment and worship, not in reflection and theory. Kelly, Thomas R. A Testament of Devotion. P. 38. Submitted to L-Center Discussion Group by Gary Horn <ghorn@uswest.com>

There is only one God, one faith. Let the people believe firmly and do not fear anything. Our Lady of Medjugorie, June 29, 1981. Words from Heaven, P.91.

God's help manifests itself everywhere. Our Lady of Medjugorie, August 29, 1981. Words from Heaven, P.99.

Members of all faiths are equal before God. God rules over each faith just like a sovereign over his kingdom. In the world, all religions are not the same because all people have not complied with the commandments of God. They reject and disparage them. Our Lady of Medjugorie, October 1, 1981. Words from Heaven, P. 105.

Ecumenism of Medjugorie

All prayers are good, if they are said with faith. Our Lady of Medjugorie, 1983. Words from Heaven, P.152.

(…) The true meditation is a meeting with Jesus. When you discover joy, interior peace, you must know there is only one God, and only one Mediator, Jesus Christ. Our Lady of Medjugorie,1984. Words from Heaven, P.160.

Every prayer, which comes from the heart, is agreeable to God. Our Lady of Medjugorie,1985. Words from Heaven, P.173.

I maintain that every major religion of the world - Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism - has similar ideas of love, the same goal of benefiting humanity through spiritual practice, and the same effects of making their followers into better human beings... Diffrences of dogma may be ascribed to differences of time and circumstance as well as cultural influences. Dalai Lama, A Human Approach to World Peace, P.13

No one faith is perfect. All faiths are equally dear to their respective votaries. What is wanted, therefore, is a living friendly contact among the followers of the great religions of the world and not a clash among them in the fruitless attempt on the part of each community to show superiority of its faith over the rest.... Hindus, Mussalmans, Christians, Parsis, Jews are convenient labels. But when I tear them down, I do not know which is which. We are all children of the same God. Ghandi, What Jesus Means to Me, PP. 23, 31.

Do not attach yourself to any particular creed exclusively, so that you disbelieve all the rest ... God, the omnipresent and omnipotent, is not limited to one creed, for He says, 'Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah' (Qu'ran, 2:115). Ibn al-Arabi. Quoted in: R.A. Nicholson, ed., Eastern Poetry and Prose, P.148.

The humble, meek, merciful, just, pious and devout souls are everywhere of one religion; and when death has taken off the mask they will know one another, though the divers liveries they wear here makes them strangers. William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude. PP. 99-100.

"I honor in you that place in you where the Lord resides
And when you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me
Then there is only one of us."

Ancient Indian prayer: 'Namaste' as interpreted in: The Fire of Silence and Stillness: An Anthology of Quotations for the
Spiritual Journey. P. 20

Then there were neither death nor immortality, nor was there then the torch of night and day. The One breathed windlessly and self-sustaining. There was that One then, and there was no other. Vedas. Quoted after: Novak Philip, The World Wisdom, PP. 6-7.

Who sees the many and not the One, wanders from death to death. Katha Upanishad, quoted after: Novak Philip, The World Wisdom, P.13.

I go for refuge to God who is One in the silence of Eternity, pure radiance of beauty and perfection, in whom we find our peace. He is the bridge supreme which leads to immortality, and the Spirit of fire which burns the dross of lower life. (...) He is God, the God of love (...). Svetesvatara Upanishad, quoted after: Novak Philip, The World Wisdom, P.19.

The entire world is being driven insane by this single phrase: "My religion alone is true." O Mother, you have shown me that no clock is entirely accurate. Only the transcendent sun of knowledge remains on time. Who can make a system from Divine Mystery? But if any sincere practitioner, within whatever culture or religion, prays and meditates with great devotion and commitment to Truth alone, Your Grace will flood his mind and heart, O Mother. His particular sacred tradition will be opened and illuminated. He will reach the one goal of spiritual evolution. (...) How I long to pray with sincere Christians in their churches and to bow and prostrate with devoted Muslims in their mosques! All religions are glorious! Ramakrishna, quoted after: Novak Philip, The World's Wisdom, P.42.

Place your devotion whole-heartedly at the service of the ideal most natural to your being, but know with unwavering certainty that all spiritual ideals are expressions of the same supreme Presence. Do not allow the slightest trace of malice to enter your mind toward any manifestation of God or toward any practitioner who attempts to live in harmony with that Divine Manifestation. Ramakrishna, quoted after: Novak Philip, The World's Wisdom, P.43.

(...) You will not have to renounce the formalities of religion. Formalities of any kind will simply disappear from your being ... . Even the Divine Names most intimate to you will eventually disapppear, and you will commune directly with the One Reality, which precedes and which emanates all names and forms. (...) Ramakrishna, quoted after: Novak Philip, The World's Wisdom, P.43.

God has made different religions to suit different aspirants, times, and countries. All doctrines are only so many paths; but a path is by no means God Himself. Indeed, one can reach God if one follows any of the paths with whole hearted devotion (...). One may eat a cake with icing either straight or sidewise. It will taste sweet either way. The Gospel of Ramakrishna, P.559.

I have practised all religions, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and I have also followed the paths of the different Hindu sects (...). I have found that it is the same God towards whom all are directing their steps, though along different paths. You must try all beliefs and traverse all the different ways once. (...) The Gospel of Ramakrishna, II, 17, quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.79.

How can the divine Oneness be seen? (...) If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere, even in the most ordinary things. Hua Hu Ching 22, quoted after: Novak Philip, The World's Wisdom. P.170.

Jesus said to her, "I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was given from the things of my father." (...) "For this reason I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness." Gospel of Thomas, 61.

For thirty years God was my mirror, now I am my own mirror. What I was I no longer am, for "I" and "God" are a denial of God's unity. Since I no longer am, God is his own mirror. He speaks with my tongue, and I have vanished. Abu-Yazid Al-Bastami, a Sufi mystic, quoted after: Novak Philip, The World's Wisdom, P.323.

I have meditated on the different religions, endeavoring to understand them, and I have found that they stem from a single principle with numerous ramifications. Do not therefore ask a man to adopt a particular religion (rather than another), for this would separate him from the fundamental principle. (...) Al-Hallaj, a Sufi mystic, quoted after: Novak Philip, The World's Wisdom, P.323.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn't make sense. Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-1273), a Sufi, quoted after: Novak Philip, The World's Wisdom, P.327.

Unity among various religions may be brought about only when the individuals who practice those religions become actually aware of God within. Then we shall have a true brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.13.

When men perceive the universal truths underlying various religions, there will be no more difficulties over dogma. To me there is neither Jew, nor Christian, nor Hindu; all are my brothers. I worship in all temples, for each of them has been erected to honor my Father. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.13-14.

Attaining Self-realization through Yoga, men will come to know that they are all children of the one Father. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.14.

He who finds God within will be able to feel His presence in every church or temple he enters. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.16.

A federation of all religions and all nations is necessary. But such a union will come only when every individual engages in that meditation which leads to direct contact with God. Communion with Him is the solution. When one has realized God, he no longer feels that others are different from himself. Unless wisdom comes, not to just a few, but to all men, there will be no freedom on earth. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.25.

Yoga means union of soul and God, through step-be-step methods with specific and known results. It raises the practice of religion about the differences of dogma. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.48.

My place is nowhere, my trace traceless. It is neither body nor soul, for I belong to the soul of the Beloved. I have put duality aside, I have found the two worlds to be One. One I seek, One I know, One I see, One I invoke. Rumi.

Now the religions are ways; that is, ways of life. The way is not a means. The way is not like a ladder which one kicks away after climbing in through the window. It is not dualistically separated from the goal. The way is contained in the final mystical experience. That is why [Bede] Griffiths can say so well that we never cease to relate to the signs, even when we transcend them. If our way is Christian, the whole gospel is contained supraconceptually in the highest enlightenment. And the same holds true for the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Buddhist Sutras: the enlightened person does not discard the scriptures but grasps them in a supraconceptual way. In short, "the way is the enlightenment." As we seek unity in diversity, so we realize that our ways are the same and different and that our enlightenments are also the same and different (...) William Johnston, Mysticism for a New Era. PP.128, 129.

When you experience the true meaning of religion, which is to know God, you will realize that He is your Self, and that He exists equally and impartially in all beings. Then you will be able to love others as your own Self. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.117.

Though the unity of God is reflected in everything, it appears diversified in cosmic nature. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.150.

When you practice truth - whether you call yourself a Christian, a Hindu, a Buddhist, or a devotee of any other religion - Christ will claim you, and so will Krishna, Buddha, and all other divine incarnations of Truth. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.166.

God loves all His children alike - they are all His divine family and His love is impersonal. His children should give the same kind of love to one another. This is the divine plan. To forget it is to suffer. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.169.

I have no caste, no country - I feel that all are mine. Love all men as your brothers, love all women as your sisters, and all older people as your parents. Love all human beings as your friends. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.170.

Make up your mind that in this New Year you are going to be more Christlike in your behavior. (...) We teach that true fellowship with man can come only after one has gained experience of God. If you contact God within yourself, you will know that He is in everyone, that He has become the children of all races. Then you cannot be an enemy to anyone. (...) By our own Christlike example we must bring unity among all religions, all nations, all races. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.190.

The inner experience of all who travel the spiritual path is the same. The outer form of the Master will vary with the body which the Master takes on in each age and country, but, ultimately, the real form of the Master is God's holy Name, the Shabd, which manifests as divine sound and light. As the Shabd is one, so the path within is one; and our goal, the Supreme Lord, is one. Miriam Bokser Caravella, The Holy Name. P.195.

Religion should not separate us from other people through the inevitable differences in outer practice and behavior. Our religion should stand on spirituality, not on external rituals and ceremonies. Miriam Bokser Caravella, The Holy Name. P.211.

If a person who has risen to the holiness of silence should lower himself to a particularized form of divine service, in prayer, [or] Torah study, to the limited problems of morality, he will suffer and feel oppressed. He will feel as though his soul, which embraces all existence, is being pressed as though with prongs, to surrender her to the lowland where everything exists within a prescribed measure, to the narrowness of a particular path, when all paths are open to him, all abounding in light, all abounding in life's treasures. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the twentieth-century Jewish mystic, quoted after Miriam Bokser Caravella, The Holy Name. P.212.

Eknath Easwaran, a Hindu, derived his "Eight-Point Program" from the common elements of many rules from many religions and traditions. (The Sanskrit word for rule could be Sadhana.) The rule contains at least eight principal elements:

1. Meditation (Contemplative Prayer)
2. Mantra (Repetitive prayer - in my case, The Jesus Prayer)
3. Slowing Down
4. One-Pointed Attention
5. Training the Senses (overcoming attraction & aversion)
6. Putting Others First (or, if you like, Karma yoga)
7. Spiritual Companionship (Fellowship, Koinonia)
8. Reading the Mystics

Submitted to Merton-L Discussion Group by Frank E. Sargent.

When once one understands that in oneself the Self has become all beings, when once one has seen the unity, what room is there for sorrow, what room for perplexity? Isa Upanishad, 7.

(...) experience of one's own inner and timeless unity separates you from your fellowmen, for you have realized that at the core of your being you are sufficient unto yourself. R.C. Zaehner, Evolution in Religion, P.95.

(...) in the sight of God all man is one man (Adam) and one man is all man. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, Ch.51. Quoted in R.C. Zaehner, Evolution in Religion, P.95.

The more I become identified with God, the more will I be identified with all the others who are identified with Him. His Love will live in all of us. His Spirit will be our One Life, the Life of all of us and Life of God. And we shall love one another and God with the same Love with which He loves us and Himself. This Love is God Himself. Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, Chapter 9.

If the believer understood the meaning of the saying 'the color of the water is the color of the receptacle', he would admit the validity of all beliefs and he would recognise God in every form and every object of faith. Muhyiddyn Ibn Arabi, (1165-1240), in Fusûs al-Hikam.

Our wants are the same; we are inhabitants of the same Earth; and the same God is the object of worship by us all. Mahendra Baba (1908-1969), Blessings and Precepts, quoted in: Radhe Shyam, I Am Harmony, P.84.

May I be born and reborn and suffer a thousand miseries, if I only may worship the only God in whom I believe, the sum total of all souls, and above all, my God the wicked, my God the afflicted, my God the poor of all races. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.51.

The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor is a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet persevere his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth. If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world, it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity, and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart (...). Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.63.

The other great idea that the world wants from us today (...) is that eternal, grand idea of the spiritual oneness of the whole universe, the only Infinite Reality, that exists in you and in me and in all, in the self, in the soul. The infinite oneness of the soul - that you and I are not only brothers, but are really one - is the eternal sanction of all morality. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.119.

We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas nor the Bible nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonizing the Vedas, the Bible, and the Koran. Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied expressions of the Religion which is Oneness, so that each may choose the path that suits him best. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.132.

In Whom is the Universe, Who is in the Universe, Who is the Universe; in Whom is the Soul, Who is in the Soul, Who is the Soul of man; to know Him, and therefore the Universe, as our Self, alone extinguishes all fear, brings an end to misery, and leads to infinite freedom. Whereever there has been expansion of love or progress in well-being of individuals or numbers, it has been through the perception, realization, and the practicalization of the Eternal Truth - the Oneness of All Beings. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.147.

Without the foundation of the non-dualistic Absolute, dualism breeds fanaticism, exclusiveness, and dangerous emotionalism. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.165.

Suppose we all go with vessels in our hands to fetch water from a lake. One has a cup, another a jar, another a bucket, and so forth, and we all fill our vessels. The water in each case naturally takes the form of the vessel carried by each of us. So it is with religion. Our minds are like those vessels. God is like the water filling the different vessels. And in each vessel the vision of God comes in the form of the vessel. Yet He is One; He is God in every case.Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.185.

He indeed is a yogi who sees himself in the whole universe and the whole universe in himself. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.197.

Not one can be happy until all are happy. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.197.

That soul is strong which has become one with the Lord; none else is strong. What do you think was the cause of the strength of Jesus of Nazareth, that immense, infinite strength which laughed at traitors and blessed those that were willing to murder him? It was his knowledge that "I and my Father are one." (...) Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.203.

Ram Mohun Roy (1774-1833) was: "A conscientious and steadfast believer in the Unity of Godhead: he consecrated his life with entire devotion to the worship of the Divine Spirit alone" or to use the language of Europe, its meaning being the same, "of Human Unity." From his epitaph, quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.100.

Devendranath Tagore (1817-1905) "laid down the four articles of faith of the Brahmo Samaj:
1.In the beginning was nothing. The One Supreme Being alone existed. He created the universe.
2. He alone is the God of Truth, Infinite Wisdom, Goodness, and Power, Eternal and Omnipresent, the One without second.
3. Our salvation depends on belief in Him and in His worship in this world and the next.
4. Belief consists in loving Him and doing His will."
Quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.103.

The Infinite Spirit, whom no eye hath seen, and no ear hath heard, is your God, and you should have none other God. (...) Do not adore either dead matter, or dead men, or dead abstractions (...). Adore the living Spirit, who sees without eyes (...). Your heaven is not far away; it is within you. You must honor and love all the ancients of the human family - prophets, saints, martyrs, sages, apostles, missionaries, philanthropists of all ages and all countries (...). Keshab Chunder Sen (1838-1884), quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.120.

Do not speak of love for your brother! Realize it! Do not argue about doctrine and religions. There is only one. All rivers flow to the Ocean. Flow and let others flow too! The great stream carves out for itself according to the slope of its journey - according to race, time, and temperament - its own distinct bed. But it is all the same water ... Go ... Flow on towards the Ocean! Ramakrishna, quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.257.

Truth is one; only It is called by different names. All people are seeking the same Truth; the variance is due to climate, temperament, and name. A lake has many ghats. From one ghat the Hindus take water in jars and call it jal. from another ghat the Mussulmans take water in leather bags and call it pani. From a third the Christians take the same thing and call it "water." Suppose someone says that the thing is not jal but pani, or that it is not pani but water, or that it is not water but jal. It would indeed be ridiculous. But this very thing is at the root of the friction among sects, their misunderstandings and quarrels. This is why people injure and kill one another, and shed blood, in the name of religion. But this is not good. Everyone is going toward God. They will all realize Him if they have sincerity and longing of heart. Ramakrishna, quoted in: Harvey, Andrew (Ed). (2001). Teachings of the Hindu Mystics, P.96-7.

(...) one who constantly thinks of God can know His real nature; he alone knows that God reveals Himself to seekers in various forms and aspects. God has attributes; then again he has none. (...) Kabir used to say, "The formless Absolute is my Father. and God with form is my Mother." God reveals Himself in the form which His devotee loves most. His love for the devotee knows no bounds. Ramakrishna, quoted in: Harvey, Andrew (Ed). (2001). Teachings of the Hindu Mystics, P.99.

Cows may be different in breeds or color or size, but the milk they yield is the same all over the world. So, too, all religions, whatever their origin, are all means to the same God. Sai Baba, quoted in: Ray, Sondra, Interludes with the Gods, P.32.

There are three hundreds religions in the world - this is such an absurdity! If truth is one, how can there be three hundreds religions? Osho, Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic, P.172.

For only to the lonely revelation comes
and many lonely of a similar type
will fathom more than one.
For God appears to each a different way,
until they start to realize, near tears,
that through their mile-long musing
through their rejecting and concluding
that's nuanced only in their meanings
one God meanders under them.

Rilke, "The Book of Hours" PP.39 & 43

The Entire Universe is One Narrow Bridge which we are all learning to cross without fear. Rabbi Nachman (1772-1810).

There is no reason why our thoughts about Scripture or dogma or Christian tradition should issue from our heads in the form of scientific analysis. Our aim should be to have the mind of Christ. Paul prayed for his readers that Christ be formed in them, that they should put on Christ, that they should walk in Christ, that they should die and rise again in Christ. That is simple, not a complicated program. Yet here we are, followers of Christ, forever speculating, questioning, splitting up, analyzing, codifying, labeling and card-indexing. If our prayer life were operating properly, we would be inclined to unity. Hubert Van Zeller, The Current of Spirituality, P.168.

Life is the light of God, the expression of Divinity. It is divine. It is the stream of eternal Being, a flow of existence, of intelligence, of creativity, of purity, and of bliss. Life is unity. (...) Life is unity in God consciousness. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. (1963). Transcendental Meditation. London: New American Library.

You are One - by Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 11th Century
You are alive - by Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 11th Century
The Bee - by Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 11th Century
All the Creatures of Earth and Heaven - by Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 11th Century
He Dwells Forever - by Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 11th Century
You are the God of gods - by Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 11th Century

All in awe and trembling,
bow and kneel before you, saying:
We offer up thanks to you,
our Lord, who is God,
that we are able to serve you;
that you are the sole Creator
and we alone bear witness;
that you it was
who gave us form-
not we on our own-
that we are the work of your hand.

Quoted after: Cole, Peter (Trans.) (2001). Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol. Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press. P.168.

Our Mathnawi is the shop for Unity:
anything you see there other than the One God
is but an idol.

Rumi, Mathnawi VI, 1525-1528, quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi Collection. P.XVIII.

(...)
The real Beloved is that One who is unique,
who is your beginning and your end.
When you find that One,
you'll no longer want anything else:
that One is both the manifest and the mystery.
(...)

Rumi, Mathnawi III, 1417-1421, quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi Collection. P.58.

The lamps are different,
But the Light is the same.
(...)
Concentrate on essence, concentrate on Light.
(...)
One matter, one energy, one Light, one Light-mind,
Endlessly emanating all things.
One turning and burning diamond,
One, one, one.
Ground yourself, strip yourself down,
To blind loving silence.
Stay there, until you see
You are gazing at the Light
With its own ageless eyes.

Rumi, One, One, One, quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi Collection. P.112.

Listen, O drop, give yourself up without regret,
and in exchange gain the Ocean. (...)
In God's name, in God's name, sell and buy at once!
Give a drop, and take this Sea full of pearls.

Rumi, Mathnawi IV, 2619 ..., quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi Collection. P.179.

When a man is completely reconciled to God he is united with Him through unceasing prayer and contemplation. Such was Elijah's state when he closed the heavens, causing a drought (cf. 1 Kgs. 17:1), and burnt the sacrifice with fire from heaven (cf. 1 Kgs. 18:36-38). In such a state Moses divided the sea (cf. Exod. 14:21) and defeated Amalek by stretching out his arms (cf. Exod. 17:11-13). In such a state Jonah was saved from the whale and from the deep (cf. Jonah 2:1-10). For the person found worthy of this mystery compels our most compassionate God to do whatever he wants. Even when still in the flesh, he has passed beyond the limits of corruption and mortality, and he awaits death as if it were an everyday sleep that pleasurably brings him to the fulfillment of his hopes. St. Theognostos (VIII Century of the C.E. ?), quoted in: (1981). The Philokalia. Vol. II., P.375.

In the sureness of his faith, the catholic can share the goods enjoyed by others and not fear being deluded, because he has the faith as a sure guide. He need not necessarily use these things from other traditions. he has more than enough in his own tradition. But he may. He is free. And he cannot forget that his own tradition was formed with borrowings 'baptized" from Jewish, Greek, Roman, and other traditions. In the end, though, the call seems to be to use less and less and abide in an evergreater simplicity before the hidden Face of God, begging with all one's being: "Show us your Face, O Lord, and we shall be saved." Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.120.

(...). He asked me what ecumenism meant for me. I told him that I saw it as an outreach of love to all fellow Christians, as affirming all that we have so mercifully received from the Lord and share in common, and as trying to be one as much as we can in response to Christ's prayer, and above all as trying to stand together before the Lord in complete openness so he can lead us all into oneness in the possession of the one faith. Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.126.

This should be one of the fruits of ecumenical sharing - to see better what we really are and have. Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.133.

(They)… are in fact very devoted Christians, oftentimes very kind, and, I trust, very pleasing to the Lord. Yet they certainly have a perception of things that is very different from mine. For them it is impossible to please the Lord outside of the True Faith. Therefore most who are called “Christians” are not in fact Christians; their Sacraments are not true Sacraments, they have no grace, they cannot be saved or in any way please God. Before ecumenism can make any real progress, there has to grow a widespread good will and desire for unity at the cost of the sacrifice of separate identity. Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.149-150.

We must not come to the prayer for Church unity with our own preconceived ideas of how the Father is going to bring it about. But we must come with a true, sincere longing and desire for the fulfillment of the Lord’s prayer: that we be one, even as he is with the Father. Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.150

We tend to interpret what other says in our own way and then attack or respond to that – sometimes pretty much straw men. We need to really listen and let other interpret himself until we finally clearly hear him. (…) More basic yet, though, is the need to really have that mind and heart of Christ for wanting union, to emphasize likeness and accept all diversity we legitimately can within union, to foster basic good will and love for each other, rejoicing in each other’s joy and richness. (…) Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.154.

Return to a common path does not mean betrayal of our history and tradition, but demands confidence and repentance: confidence in the other Christian, in his faith, in his good will, in the holiness and spirit which lives in him because of his Baptism; repentance for onesidedness, for the pride which hurt the other. It means obedience to the Word of God, prayer that both sides remain faithful, and become united. Johann Meijer, A Successful Council of Union, quoted in: Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.158.

The ecumenical path is surely, by human vision, a long, difficult one, stretching far into the future. But with God, all things are possible. (…) And the most important thing is prayer, with fasting and humbling ourselves before God and men. God will only hear prayer from a sincere heart, one that really shares the concern of Christ’s heart for all his flock. Without this concern our prayer for union is only words. (…). Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.185.

Yes, we all have our different perspectives, even those of us who have faith in Christ, the Son of God, love him, and are dedicated to being his followers and disciples. He sure leads a mottled flock. (…) I wonder if we do not put awful human limitations on our loving and all-powerful God’s universal and salvific will. Christ did die for all! (…) Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.189.

As he well expressed it, these months we have been together not as members of different Churches in ecumenical dialogue but as brothers together before the Lord, both called to be abundantly fruitful in bearing sons to mystical life. (…) Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.256-7.

When a tree first shoots forth from the seed, it comes up as a stem with two incipient leaves. But, later, when it grows, many branches spring forth from the trunk. Each branch may be thick enough to be called a trunk; but, one should not forget that it is through that trunk that the roots feed life-giving sap to the branches. Similarly, it is the one God who feeds the spiritual hunger of all nations and all faiths through the sustenance of truth, virtue, humility and sacrifice.
Sathya Sai Baba, April 18, 2008. Submitted by Josh Bhai.

In my soul there is a temple, a shrine, a mosque, a church where I kneel. Prayer should bring us to an altar where no walls or names exist. Is there not a region of love where the sovereignty is illumined nothing, where ecstasy gets poured into itself and becomes lost, where the wing is fully alive but has no mind or body? In my soul there is a temple, a shrine, a mosque, a church that dissolve, that dissolve in God. Rabia (c.717-801), quoted in: Ladinsky Daniel (2002). Love Poems from God. Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West. P.11.

So precious is a person’s faith in God, so precious; never should we harm that. Because he gave birth to all religions. St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), quoted in: Ladinsky Daniel (2002). Love Poems from God. Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West. P.31.

God is not running the world. (…) All happens by itself. You are asking the question and you are supplying the answer. And you know the answer when you ask the question. All is play in consciousness. All divisions are illusory. You can know the false only. The true you must yourself be. Sri Maharaj Nisargadatta. (2005). I am That. P.36.

Last modified: 2013/05/20

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