Above all,
there is only One Truth that all spiritual aspiration is moving toward. But this does not
mean that all religions have understood this Truth in the same manner or to the same
degree, or that their founders must have done so. While
it may be better to emphasize the similarities between religions than the differences,
when we overly exaggerate their similarities, we create a misunderstanding of another
order that also does not serve the purpose of discovering the Truth. We may give everyone
the impression that their religion, whatever it is, is sufficient, when for the full
flowering of the spiritual life it may be necessary for them to go beyond it.
The point of this article is that some of the religions
of the world and their founders-and one in particular, Islam and Mohammed, which is
perhaps the most evident example-do not follow the model of yogic spirituality, if we
really look at what they have to say about themselves. They reflect a very different view
of religion.
To try to turn all religions, and all forms of mysticism,
into versions of yogic spirituality is not intellectually accurate, nor is it sensitive to
what these religions themselves say, nor is it based on a real study of them.
On the country, it usually represents the view of those who
have not really looked into what non-yogic religions are all about. Those trained in the
unity tradition are inclined to read a yogic type spirituality between the lines of all
religious teachings, even though the great majority of those who follow these
religions-including their leaders and mystics who have arisen within them-may not accept
important yogic principles and practices as valid. |