Beliefs of All the World’s Religions
F RELIGIONS HAVE EVER CONFUSED and confounded you, take heart! This next chapter, drawn from Dancing with Śiva, was written just for you. It is our humble attempt to gather from hundreds of sources a simple, in-a-nutshell summary of the world’s major spiritual paths. The strength of this undertaking, brevity, is also its flaw. Complex and subtle distinctions, not to mention important exceptions, are consciously set aside for the sake of simplicity. There are hundreds of books addressing deeper matters, but none that we know of which have attempted a straightforward comparative summary. There is a need for no-nonsense reviews of religions, and this may hopefully begin to meet that need.§
By juxtaposing a few of their major beliefs, we hope to highlight how other major world religions and important modern secular philosophies are similar to and differ from Hinduism. A leisurely hour with this section under a favorite tree will endow you with a good grasp of the essential truths of every major religion practiced today on the planet. It may also dispel the myth that all religions are one, that they all seek to lead adherents by the same means to the same Ultimate Reality. They don’t, as a conscientious review will show.§
As you read through the 171 beliefs in this study, put a check by the ones you believe. Why, you might find that you are a Buddhist-Christian-Existentialist or a Taoist-New Age-Materialist. Place yourself in the cosmology of the beliefs of the world. Many have found this self-inquiry satisfying, others awesomely revealing. §
Pilgrim, pilgrimage and road—it was but myself toward my Self, and your arrival was but myself at my own door.§
SUFI MYSTIC, JALAL AL-DIN RUMI (1207–73)§
Once we have chosen and accepted our faith, it is then our spiritual duty to learn it well and live by it as a wholehearted, contributing member of a faith community so that we pass it on in a vibrant way to those who come after us, the next generation. This is carrying the traditions of the past forward, setting the patterns for our descendants, just as they were set for us by our elders. It is of the utmost importance that man’s religious traditions be protected and preserved. It is our prayer that you come to know and live your religion and be fulfilled by it. The spiritual path lies before you. Study well the religions that follow. Having studied, you will be more confident in your choice of faiths from among the many that lead to the one truth within you.§
It is most useful at this time that you become acquainted with religion from a broad perspective. Among these religions and the many faiths, which are potential new religions yet to be tried and proven through time, you will find your path. All of these religions and faiths are valid and serviceable to those on the spiritual path. It is not uncommon to change from one to another faith as you progress in your unfoldment. It is also not uncommon to change formally from one religion to another, even if you have been confirmed in that religion.§
Religion is the foundation for all spiritual unfoldment, the basis for the practice of yoga, meditation, contemplation and inner transcendental states—itself the stable fortress for the mind to rest within when consciousness returns from ecstasy to its normal state. Once one’s religion is carefully chosen, then understood and lived, that inner stability, that foundation, which seals off the lower abysses of the mind, is permanently there. The higher doors are open for the seeker. From our perspective, all religions are but God’s Divine Law at work, and all worship the same God whom we, as Śaivites, call Śiva. Nevertheless, as stated earlier, religions are not all the same. Significant differences exist. It is up to each of us to evaluate those differences and determine the direction of our quest.§
You will note that throughout this chapter, you are invited to write down your philosophical stance on each belief. Nine beliefs are listed for each of the world religions and faiths, and after each belief is a line for your evaluation. There are four choices. “Do believe” means that you now believe the statement given. “Do not believe” means that you have never believed the statement. “Once believed” means that you once held the belief but now do not. “Unfamiliar” means that you have never heard of or do not understand the statement. In making your evaluation, it is good to read through the all nine beliefs first before marking or checking any. When you are ready to mark your responses, check only those you are sure of first, then go back over the remaining beliefs a few times to make a final choice.§
There are no right and wrong answers, for the purpose of the exercise is not to test your knowledge but to help you understand your beliefs. Therefore, be fully honest with yourself in marking your answers. When you are done with the entire section, you will know, perhaps for the first time, what you truly believe and what religion’s beliefs are closest to your own. §
“Why,” you might ask, “is this important?” The reason is that it is from our beliefs that we form our attitudes. Here is an illustration. When you observe that people of one faith behave differently from those of another faith with different attitudes, you are really seeing a different set of beliefs at work. The person of a faith that denies reincarnation will look upon a child prodigy as “lucky,” whereas the person of a faith that believes in the process of reincarnation will wonder how many lives that soul worked to achieve such mastery and who he was in his last life.§
We are concerned with all of the great religions of the world. Though we are of the Saivite Hindu religion, we know no barriers or boundaries, and see only that the success of any person on the path is reliant upon the depth and strength of his roots, his religious roots. A great tree with roots well wrapped around boulders and sunk deep into the earth can withstand any storm. High winds are nothing more to it than the cleansing of its branches. The individual on the path must be as firm in his religious foundation as this tree that I use as an example, in order to withstand raging emotions, depression and elation, confusion and despair. To him, they will be nothing more than a cleansing of false concepts as he dives deeper into his religion and philosophy. We can clearly see that religion and tradition are interlocked in the annals of time back many thousands of years, and we can easily ascertain how tradition moves forward from one generation to the next, setting the patterns for humanity. Every time-honored tradition loyally serves mankind, and following it through the context of one of the great religions of the world, one cannot go astray.§
Religion is the bringing together of the three worlds. This means that the ascended masters, angels, devas, Deities, saints, sages of the world’s major religions, living without physical bodies in the inner worlds, still guide and govern, help and protect, shower forth blessings and inspiration to the members of their religious family, such as Taoism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and so forth. This is why it is important to have a family name that proclaims your faith constantly in daily life. One cannot be all the religions of the world unless he truly adheres to the doctrines, to the dogma and philosophy of one of them. The tree will never grow strong enough to withstand high winds if it is planted in a bucket and carried here and there.§