Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 14

Unity in diversity

Diversities in attitudes and practices are natural and should be welcomed; there is no need for an ironclad, hard faith. There is no place for one overall Faith. Rivalry among those following different paths cannot bring peace and prosperity to any country. Without the freedom to adopt faith, the world cannot progress.

India taught that a small group can never command the inexhaustible resources of the world, that for the effective functioning of the community it is necessary to divide the work of the community among sections of the people and allot the task of contributing its share of the common good to each section. This gave facilities for diversity and for mutuality. 

Diversities were approved for the sake of the practical application of spiritual powers and potentialities, so there is no need for factionalism and fights. The diversities are also only superficial; they are not really real. 

There is an entrancing sense of mystery that can explore these diversities and discover the key to visualize the ONE that underlies the many. This is what the ancient texts proclaim as the most precious revelation: The One alone exists; wise people describe it in manifold ways (Ekam sath, vipraah bahudha vadanthi).

 

Vedas: bedrock of universal spirituality

 Therefore, it can be asserted that the faith of the Indians is the one faith that accepts and reveres all faiths. When we shelter factionalism and fanaticism in our hearts in relation to our own specific faith or the faith of others, we, as descendants of those fathers, bring disgrace on ourselves. 

Whether we are adhering to the classical Vedantic faiths or are adopting recent trends in Vedantic thought, we have to bear in mind certain basic universally accepted truths. All those who bear the name Hindu have to believe in them and shape their lives accordingly. May they have the will to do so.

1. Indians (Bharathiyas) do not insist that everyone has to be bound to one attitude, or that everyone must abide by only one interpretation or commentary to the exclusion of other possible explanations or points of view, or that the way of life with all its implications has to be the one approved by some one individual or group. The Indian culture lays down that it is a heinous sin to exercise force upon anyone in matters of the spirit.

2. The Eternal Universal Dharma or Religion is taught by the Vedas. The sacred body of teachings, referred to as Vedic, is coeval with creation, without ascertainable beginning or end. With it, all inquiry into the spirit and the ramifications of faith have to find fulfilment and close. If one studies and practises the Vedas, one cannot escape this conclusion.

For all problems involving differences in spiritual attitudes and aspirations, we can get convincing solutions from the Vedic texts themselves. The viewpoints differ about what portions of the Vedas are authoritative for each; persons affiliated with one sect might regard some portions of the Vedas as holier as and more sacrosanct than others. 

In spite of this, all are brothers and co-sharers of the teachings and lessons imparted by the Vedas. All that is elevating and beneficial for us today, all which is holy and sacred to us, and all that is pure and ennobling has been made available to us from and through these wondrous texts of old. As long as we hold to this latter belief and proclaim it aloud, what can little differences of opinion over matters of minor importance do to cause rifts? For this reason, we have to announce these lessons and principles so that they spread beyond all horizons.

3. The Vedas are concerned with and expound upon the Supreme Person (Iswara) who created this universe, who fosters it, in whom It merges in accordance with the process of time, and in whom this amazing universe is again manifest as His Form.

We might have diverse beliefs concerning the nature and characteristics of this Lord. One person might picture Him as having human nature and characteristics. Another might believe that He is the embodiment of nonhuman attributes, formless, Lord (Iswara). 

Every one of these can find declarations supporting their viewpoints in the Vedas. Although they hold diverse views, they all have faith in the Godhead. That is to say, they believe that there is undoubtedly One transcendent eternal Power, that all this has originated from It, and that all this has to merge in It again. This belief is the hallmark of an Indian (Bharathiya). One who has not acquired this belief is not entitled to the name Indian and doesn’t deserve to be called a Hindu.

 

No gradation for divine names or forms

Of what nature, with what characteristics, is the Lord (Iswara) you teach about? This question is irrelevant to us. It is not so important. Let us not dispute the various points of view that divide people. It is enough for us if the Lord is accepted and emphasized. For even though one description and delineation might be better and clearer than another, no delineation and description can be “bad“. One declaration would be “good”; the second, “better”; the third, “best”. But in the stream of Indian spiritual adventure, no description or picturization can be pronounced “bad and unacceptable”. That is why the Lord confers grace on all those who teach as sacred and valid any Name and any Form that can attract and inspire mankind. May this faith grow more and more, for the more it is acted upon, the more spiritual progress it brings. But the aspiration must be related to God (Iswara).

4. For spiritual exploration and discovery, there can be no qualification like wealth or disqualification like poverty. This truth has to be handed down to the children by Indian (Bharathiya) parents. Children have to grow up with this broad feeling.

5. Indians (Bharathiyas) do not accept the belief, held by people belonging to other countries, that the universe was manifested a few thousand years ago and that it will be destroyed finally and forever, at some future date. Indians will not accept the theory that the universe arose out of nothing. They believe that the universe or this objective creation is beginningless and endless. Further, according to the laws of evolution in time, it will recede from the gross into the subtle stage and, after being in that stage for some period, will again recede into the causal stage from which it emerged. From the One into which it merges, it will gradually manifest itself as Many, through the subtle and the gross stages of expression.

 

Love.