Most notably, he mentions his friendship with the late swAmI cinmayAnanda, who was a close neighbor to Dharmasala. swAmI was among the teachers who taught His Holiness about j~nAna, bhakti, karma, and rAja yoga.
Although the other chapters are also wonderful, His Holiness' chapter on Hinduism alone is worth the price of this book, as its joyfulness, simplicity and depth are a testament to the benefits of cultivating spiritual kinship.
The true kinship of faiths may be best found in their mystical traditions. Here is a brief quote from my e-book:
ReplyDeleteMysticism seeks to join, or unite, our inner self with the divine by spiritual disciplines of devotion, knowledge, selfless service, and/or meditation. What you do matters greatly to what you will become: that is divine justice. How you do it, through Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, or outside these faiths is important when it is the right way for you: that is divine law. One is Truth: true Reality transcends the boundaries of our beliefs. Thou art That: you are in the divine essence; you must be dedicated to fully realizing it.
Our religion may be right for us, nevertheless that does not mean billions of others are wrong. What of the 100 billion people who lived outside of our faith since the origin of our species? Religions do differ in approach, beliefs and practices, although the divine Reality they seek is the same. Their mystics used the words and concepts understood by followers of their faith, but these are just alternate ways of trying to express the One underlying Truth.
[Note: For mysticism in the Mahayana replace the divine with the Dharmakaya]
Hi Ron,
ReplyDeleteI agree that a "true kinship of faiths may be best found in their mystical traditions" as you say.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful excerpt from your e-book.
namaste,
Nathan