PART II: CONFESSIONS

CHAPTER 2
MY STUDY OF RELIGIONS
'Wisdom which is the worker of all things taught me, for in her is an
understanding spirit.' - Solomon.
I first studied comparative religions with an open mind; not in a critical spirit but as
an admirer and a lover of truth in all its guises. I read the lives of the founders,
prophets, and seers with as much reverence as their most devout adherents. This
brought me the bliss of realization of one truth, which all religions contain, as
different vessels may yet hold the same wine. It was the conception of truth in all its
manifold forms and expressions, ever borne by different messengers, who most
wondrously, by their very diversity of garb, civilization, nationality, and age,
revealed the one Source of the inspiration. To me their sole difference was caused by
the laws of space and time.
It was therefore natural for the messengers of truth to convey their message in the
language of the land wherein they were born, and in the style suited to the life of
their period. For each one was needed in his place and adapted to his era, and the
difference between them existed only in those principles and rituals which were
given to the people of that time and harmonized with their standard of intelligence
and evolution: even as a physician has to change his prescriptions according to the
patient's state of improvement before he can bring about the cure; or as in school, at
each term and in every year, a new course of study is taught through different
grades.
Man, not generally understanding this fact and its motive, and owing to the blind
dogmatic faith which obsesses him, has always clung to the originator and ignored
the new prophet. Such was the common lot of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, and of
all the Masters and Shining Ones who have revealed in the sorrows they had to bear
during their own lives the struggle between the cross and the truth, which is
expressed by the symbol of the cross. The hurt from which the prophets have ever
suffered lay in the rebellion of the ignorant, who were unable to realize the truth
hidden in their teachings, and thus mocked and scoffed at them. But all the true
messengers justly asserted the truth in a way to suit the period wherein they
brought their message.
'Whosoever in Love's city enters finds but room for One, and but in Oneness
union.' - Jami
The masters of the Hindus, such as Shiva, Vishnu, Rama, and Krishna, claimed each
in his turn to be a reincarnation of one another, or in other words an incarnation of
Brahma, the supreme God, because the people would not have listened to them
without this proclamation. In this way the materialists who never move an inch
without definite reason and logic were trained by the Buddha Gautama, who
explained the great truth to them in the simple words of their own language.
Zoroaster imparted the law of action and nature-worship, the mystical import of
burnt offerings and fire, the symbol of love, light, and purity, and adapted these to

the intellectual standard of his followers. King Solomon revealed the truth from his
throne when his simple subjects adored him as God, and Abraham preached when
devotion was idolized, and was willing even to sacrifice his own son to the divine
Will.
When the world was awakened to the loveliness of music, David sang forth the same
truth in his most melodious voice, and when beauty reigned in her fair dominance,
Joseph appeared in all his youth and charm. Moses came when men where athirst
for miracles. And in the age of hereditary power, Christ, as the Son of God, stayed
the world from ignorance and error, and sowed the seed of spiritual freedom; this in
time grew and brought forth the epoch of democracy, wherein Muhammad carried
the last message of the religious republic, Islam, and claimed to be Abda, the
servant, and the Rasul of God.
This implies that each one of these, though still the bearer of the mission, the herald
of God's decree, was also a new step in human evolution, at those times when the
world was ripe enough and ready to receive the message, not from a superior
claimant but from one among the Shining Hosts.
Muhammad's saying, 'None but God exists', explained the essence of all previous
messages most clearly. The lesson of Muhammad, once learned, left no need for
continuance of prophetic teaching, because it proved that each being bears the
divine source thereof within himself, and that the evolution of man has now
prepared him for the Kingdom which is within.
Indeed, all the prophets from Adam to Muhammad, who was the fulfillment of
God's tidings, have revealed to us the numerous aspects which the same truth can
bear, or, in other words, truth has manifested itself in various names and different
forms to attain its glorious end. But the manifold aspects of truth have not been
recognized in man's ignorance, and thus all the racial and religious prejudices
among creeds and castes, as well as the wars and differences between nations, have
arisen from his narrowness and slowness of perception. Each one called the other
heathen or pagan, Kafir or Mlench, upholding his Master as the only true initiate, as
though the Master were his own personal property. Yet the Masters were born not
for one family or one nation or race, but verily for all mankind. Truly only followers
and zealots of different religions fall away from the truth, for they are blinded by
patriotism and have raised pedantic prejudices against the teachings and spirits of
those pure Masters, who had neither any concern for their religion nor their own
name and personal appearance but lived only in the cause of truth.
This error is due entirely to those disciples who swear by the mortal names of the
Masters and recognize their personalities alone, instead of accepting them all as one
boundless embodiment of truth. The Masters have never desired their human bodies
to be adored as saviors; this is merely an exaggeration and the mistaken conception
of their followers. Their bodies were but as the vessels of truth and the truth they
brought to us is the only savior, then, now, and forever. As the Bible declares, 'Ye
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' Truth, the real savior and
messiah, is untouched by death and disease; it is everlasting, omnipresent, and
omnipotent. Truth, indeed, was Adam, Moses, and Christ, and the very truth was
Muhammad.

Yet, although every religion comprises a large number of followers, each person has
his own religion peculiar to himself. He is sometimes unaware of this fact and
attaches himself most enthusiastically to the religion of his race and nation.
If he only knew the true religion, which God has intended for him, all his struggles
would be at an end. Those who judge a religion by its principles are mistaken, for
good or bad as well as right and wrong depend on one's own point of view, and are
therefore sometimes liable to mental inversion. Those who fight for their religion on
the authority of history are fanatics, for they must know that history is man-and not
God-made, and that many truths are lost in the lapse of time, while many
exaggerations attain favor or disfavor through the biased personal opinions of the
historians. He who adheres to his beliefs and disbeliefs without reason is blinded
with bigotry.
Still, were a Buddhist to come to me saying, 'Our Lord Buddha was the only true
teacher', I would answer, 'Verily!' And if a Hindu cried to me that Krishna is the
ideal master, I would say, 'You speak rightly.' And if a Christian should declare that
Christ is the highest of all, I would reply, 'Undoubtedly.' For it is the nature of man
to consider as best that which he can idealize best. But if anyone came to me saying,
'I cannot believe in all this talk for I can only recognize the same truth within each
one of these', I would say, 'You, my friend, are the one who really knows, for you
have understood and unveiled the real secret of God's nature.'
Rumi says, 'The Sufis take the meat, leaving the bones for others to fight over.'