Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, November 30, 2013
Abstract
Two of the major fallacies with believers lie in the ignorance of their own belief systems. Their first error is the arrogance of religious superiority without knowing the other faith, and they make the second error by deprecating the other’s faith. The fact remains that the truth of our own belief system itself must not allow many interpretations to be separated into many denominations or sects let alone interpreting the other’s belief(s). The real obstacle to understanding our religion is ignoring its very foundations – practice of the human values it teaches. This neglect alone is responsible for both, the intra-religious struggles and the inter-religious conflicts. It is only in the practice of the underlying moral values that affords opportunities to understand our faith. Correspondingly, the responsibility lies on the religious teachers as well as the adherents.
The true religious teachers and leaders must emphasize the importance of practicing moral values in understanding their faith. They must guide the followers to become the stewards of their faiths by purposefully employing ethics as the means to interact with people from intra- and inter-religious groups. The adherents, on the other hand, must practice moral values prescribed by their faiths to determine their efficacy and universality. In this manner, all religions can become the agents of change to help build classes of human society based on moral values under all social, economic and political conditions. This process will allow religions to do what they are supposed to do – create harmonious societies by providing tools to transform the evils of unbridled greed, arrogance of power and religious superiority that have corrupted the minds of the believers away from charity, justice and wisdom to understand their true nature.
What is Faith?
Let me bring your attention to the simplest understanding of one’s name. My name is Laj Utreja. The last two letters ja connote ‘born of’ just as ‘son’ in Johnson and Samson indicating family lineage to John or Sam. I’ve lived in the USA for the past 40 years and even today most Americans hesitate to pronounce my name. However, once I say it, invariably all of them would say it is pronounced just the way it is spelled. In England, invariably, no one has problem pronouncing my name. When I go to Germany, they pronounce Ut-re-ya and in Spain, most pronounce Ut-re-ha. Just as I remain the same irrespective of how people choose to pronounce my name differently; in the same manner, the object of faith remains the same irrespective of how it is known by different religions. In any interfaith dialog that’s what we need to understand. If we understand that alone, there is no need for further interfaith dialog, because we’ve agreed on the fundamental basis where we seem to have disagreement. This understanding in itself would take us toward a better society. Now let’s go to the basics:
What do religions teach us?
The Vedas teach us not only religious tolerance but the acceptance of all other religions and prophets as analogous to one’s own. The Vedas say: Let noble thoughts come to us from everywhere (RV 1.89.01). Different religious teachings are but different expressions of the Supreme Being. They must to be respected, and not regarded as instruments of division. Swami Harihar said, “The dignity and welfare of humanity lie in the unity of races and religion.” Gandhi said, “True knowledge of religion breaks down all barriers, including the barriers between faiths. Any religion that creates walls of conflict and hatred among people in the name of God is not a religion, but selfish politics in disguise.”
One must not find fault or criticize any scripture because a scripture is the foundation stone of righteousness (Dharma) and social order. One can find peace and salvation by just following the scripture. The study of scripture keeps the mind absorbed in high thoughts and is a spiritual discipline by itself. One is delivered by the practice of the truth of the scripture and not by mere lip service. Guru Nanak said, “One who preaches to others but does not practice the same, shall take birth again and again.”
Adherence to the high teachings of the scripture wards off all evil and brings about good. If a bridge is built, even an ant can easily cross the river, no matter how big a river is. Similarly, the scripture is the bridge to cross over the river of the illusory world. Therefore, one should always follow the guidance of a person who is well versed in the scripture, as stated by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita:
“Therefore, let the scripture be your guide in determining what should be done and what should not be done. You should perform your duty following the scriptural injunction.” (16.24).
Commandments of different faiths
The Ten Commandments of Hinduism according to sage Patanjali (PYS 2.30-2.32), are: (1) Nonviolence, (2) Truthfulness, (3) Non-stealing, (4) Celibacy or sense control, (5) Withdrawl of the senses from their objects (6) Purity of thought, word, and deed, (7) Contentment, (8) Austerity or renunciation, (9) Study of scriptures, and (10) Surrendering to God with faithful loving devotion.
The Ten Commandments of the Bible are: (1) Do not kill, (2) Do not lie, (3) Do not steal, (4) Do not commit adultery, (5) Do not covet, (6) Do not divorce your wife, (7) Do for others what you want them to do for you, (8) If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek, (9) Love your neighbor as yourself, and (10) Love the Lord with all thy heart.
The Eightfold Noble Paths of Buddhism are: Right view, right thought, right speech, right deeds, right livelihood, right effort, right resolve, and right meditation. Abstinence from all evil, performance of good acts, and purification of the mind is the doctrine of Buddha.
The five cardinal principles of Islam are: (1) Faith in God, His message, and His messengers; (2) Meditation and prayer on the glory, greatness, and the message of God for spiritual growth; (3) Helping others by giving charity; (4) Austerity for self-purification by fasting in the month of Ramadan; and (5) Pilgrimage to the holy places.
Major drawbacks of the faith adherents
Two of the major fallacies with believers lie in the ignorance of their own belief systems. Their first error is the arrogance of religious superiority without knowing the other faith; they make the second error by deprecating the other’s faith. The fact remains that the truth of our own belief system itself must not allow many interpretations to be separated into many denominations or sects let alone interpreting the other’s belief(s). The real obstacle to understanding our religion is ignoring its very foundations – practice of the human values it teaches. This neglect alone is responsible for both, the intra-religious struggles and the inter-religious conflicts. It is only in the practice of underlying moral values that affords opportunities to understand our faith. Correspondingly, responsibility lies on both, the religious teachers as well as the adherents.
The true religious teachers and leaders must emphasize the importance of practicing moral values in understanding their faith. They must guide the followers to become the stewards of their faiths by purposefully employing ethics as the means to interact with people from intra- and inter-religious groups. The adherents, on the other hand, must practice moral values prescribed by their faiths to determine their efficacy and universality. In this manner, all religions can become the agents of change to help build human societies based on moral values under all social, economic and political conditions. This process will allow religions to do what they are supposed to do – create harmonious societies by providing tools to transform the evils of unbridled greed, arrogance of power and religious superiority that have corrupted the minds of believers away from charity, justice, and wisdom to understand their true nature.
Differences in human interpretation of scriptures are mostly due to taking the literal meaningout of context, and prejudice, ignorance, as well as distortion, misinterpretation, and interpolation with personal selfish motives.
Benefits of practicing core values of individual faith
When each religion emphasizes and promotes moral values in human interaction, the believers would begin to understand their own faiths. As a result, the attitude of walking the talk by practicing ethics in their conduct would reduce intra- and inter-religious tensions, struggles and strife. Correspondingly, this practice would heal the earth.
The practice of the moral values in human conduct alone would transform the society by giving believers the satisfaction and contentment needed to awaken and deepen their spirituality.
The practice of human values would challenge the believers to express their faiths through their conduct. It would place responsibility on all: the religious leaders and the believers alike to understand their faiths more clearly. Satisfied by understanding their own faiths, they would develop a curiosity to learn about some unresolved questions from the other faiths and thus opening a dialog to know and understand the other.
Conclusion
The basis of every faith lies in the values and every faith teaches those values. This is the dialog we need to have with different faith groups. And then we would develop interfaith understanding.