As we enter the 21st century, the importance of the Interfaith A movement is becoming increasingly evident. If we are to establish a sane and harmonious global society on Planet Earth, we will have to get over the negative residue of fundamentalism and exclusivism that have been such a marked feature of the inter-religious scene for centuries. We have to accept the fact that the divine has not thought it necessary to have only a single religion for all humanity, and that the multiple religious traditions in the world only add to our civilisational richness and creativity. As the Rig Veda says, Ekam sad viprah bahudha vadanti - the Truth is one, the wise call it by many names.
This is the basic concept behind the Interfaith movement which has seen considerable activity around the world from the first Parliament of the World's Religions held in Chicago in 1893, the second a hundred years later, again, in Chicago in 1993, the third in Cape Town, South Africa, at the end of 1999, and the fourth in July 2004, Barcelona, Spain. In addition to these Parliaments, there have been a number of Interfaith conferences arranged by several Interfaith organisations in the 20th century. A significant event - The Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders was held under the auspices of the United Nations in August 2000 in the main hall of the United Nations itself. I had the privilege of presiding over the first Plenary Session of this historic meeting.
One of the major Interfaith organisations is the Temple of Understanding, founded four decades ago by a dynamic American woman, Juliet Hollister. Over these years it has developed into a major force towards furthering Interfaith harmony and understanding and has held a number of meetings in New York and around the world, bringing together people belonging to different faiths in a creative dialogue aimed at a deeper understanding of each other's traditions. These activities now cover the twelve major faiths of the world. As Chairman of the Temple of Understanding and President of the India Chapter, I have personally been involved in this movement for several years. The India Chapter of the Temple of Understanding has held many functions in Delhi and in other parts of India, including a significant seminar on Interfaith Education for the Global Society in January 2002 in New Delhi.
India is par excellence a land of different religions. Four of the world's great religions-Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism-were born here, and five came to us from West Asia and flourished in our land-Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Baha'i Faith. We are also opening up towards the three great religious traditions of East Asia - Confucianism, Taoism and Shintoism. There has been a widespread demand for a handy publication that would contain extracts from the great religions of the world upon various aspects of our inner and outer life. The late Shri O.P. Ghai, an outstanding publisher and author, had produced a small book entitled Unity in Diversity, which admirably fulfils this requirement. The Hari-Tara Charitable Trust, which my wife and I set up in memory of my parents, decided with co-operation from Shri S.K. Ghai, who manages Sterling Publishers after his father's death, to sponsor a new edition of this book.
Interfaith harmony is an essential prerequisite for the establishment of a peaceful and harmonious global society in the years and decades ahead, and it is my hope that this book will make a small but significant contribution in that direction.
This humble compilation is not only an attempt to glean T the best in living religious literatures but is also a guide to the understanding of the fundamental similarity underlying the religions. I am sure it will provide comfort, guidance and inspiration to those who go through the book.
I have been a student of comparative religion for the last fifty years, but I have felt the necessity of publishing this small volume at this particular time when religious intolerance is at its height all over the world. If this attempt can bring sanity even to one religious fanatic bent upon harming his fellow-beings simply because he believes in a different religion, I will feel amply rewarded.
This book has been thoroughly revised and enlarged by the addition of sayings from the Baha'i Faith with its emphasis on the spiritual unity of mankind. Now it contains the best of wisdom from the twelve living religions of the world.
Hindu (1765)
Philosophers (2327)
Aesthetics (317)
Comparative (66)
Dictionary (12)
Ethics (44)
Language (350)
Logic (80)
Mimamsa (58)
Nyaya (134)
Psychology (497)
Samkhya (60)
Shaivism (66)
Shankaracharya (233)
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