123
See also: The ultimate reality 102–105 ■ Class systems and faith 302–303
■ Cao Ðài aims to unify all faiths 316 ■ A faith open to all beliefs 321
HINDUISM
that ultimately there is only one
“Holy Power” (Brahman). To
Ramakrishna, this suggested that
it might be possible to experience
all religions in just this same,
internal or personal way, and
therefore all spiritual paths might
eventually lead to the same goal.
An inner transformation
What Ramakrishna understood
by this is illustrated by his claim
that he became a Muslim for a
short period. He immersed himself
in the teachings of Islam and
described the manner in which
he performed Islamic prayers, so
that, for a time, he felt he really
possessed the Muslim faith, and
did not even experience any desire
to look at Hindu temple images.
The majority of Muslims would
not consider this to be a valid
experience of Islam, given that
he did not engage with its cultural
and social practices. However, for
Ramakrishna, this entirely internal
experience led him to conclude that
any inner journey of self discovery
will enable a person to identify
with what Ramakrishna’s disciple
Vivekananda would later describe
as the “eternal ideal of the spiritual
oneness of the whole universe.”
For Ramakrishna, if religion means
a process of internal transformation,
and if God represents the ultimate
reality, it follows that, using
whatever set of religious ideas
are available, an individual can
follow a path that is bound to
converge with all others who are
on a similar quest. Ramakrishna
believed that an individual could
encounter “the God within” through
any religious tradition, and that this
transcended any external, cultural,
or doctrinal differences between
religions. He therefore concluded
that a truly religious person should
think of all other religions as paths
that all lead to the same truth.
Rather than attempting to convert
people from one religion to another,
each person should be encouraged
to follow his or her own religion,
allowing a natural spiritual
convergence to take place. ■An imam performs the Muslim call
to prayer within the National Cathedral
in Washington D.C. during an interfaith
service attended by a joint Christian,
Jewish, and Muslim congregation.Sri Ramakrishna
Born Gadadhar Chatterjee
into a poor brahmin family in
Bengal in 1836, Ramakrishna
became a priest in a temple
dedicated to Kali just outside
Calcutta, where he became
well known as a charismatic
figure. From an early age, he
experienced religious trances,
and saw the goddess Kali
everywhere, as mother of the
universe, even dancing before
her image in an ecstatic state.
In 1866 a Hindu Sufi
initiated Ramakrishna into
Islam. He is said to have
followed that faith for a few
days, as well as possessing
an image of Christ upon
which he meditated.
His ideas were spread
and given more systematic
form by his disciple, Swami
Vivekenanda (1836–1902), who
emphasized that the Hindu
religion was not a matter
of trying to believe certain
doctrines or philosophical
propositions, but instead one
of entering into an experience.
Vivekananda presented these
ideas to the World Parliament
of Religions in 1893. He also
established the Ramakrishna
Movement to promote
Sri Ramakrishna’s work.We believe not only in
universal toleration, but we
accept all religions as true.
Swami Vivekananda