Almighty Lord, Father of Mankind, Blessed Lord! Grant us the grace of feeling Your presence at this moment here where you pervade as the invisible, the unmanifest Spirit Universal ever present within and without. Grant us also the grace of feeling our inner spiritual oneness in You, for though outwardly different in names and forms, in body and mind, yet in the Spirit we all find our oneness in You spiritually.May all Thy children therefore be filled with this feeling of spiritual oneness in You who are the One God. Let our hearts and minds be lifted to Thee, at this moment.
Thou art the One God, when no universe existed, when no humanity had been created, when no religion or religions existed. Thou art the One, the non-dual, the infinite, the eternal Reality, Ekameva ’dvitiyam Brahma .
Our obeisance to Thee who art One and non-dual but addressed in varying terms by Thy children.
Thou art indeed the Brahman or the Bhagavan of the Vedic religion.
Thou art the Ahura Mazda of the followers of Zoroaster.
Thou art that ineffable state of Nirvana of the followers of the Great Sakhya Muni Gautama Buddha.
Thou art the Supreme Tao of the Taoist and the Satori of the Zen followers of the Taoist philosophies.
Thou art the Siddha,the Aryanthana, the Aryana of the followers of the ancient Jain faith.
Thou art Ek Omkar Satnaam of the followers of the Sikh brothers.
Thou art Allah of those who follow Islam.
Thou art Yahave or Jehovah of the brothers of the Judaic faith and Thou art verily the Almighty Father in Heaven who art addressed and prayed to in all the Christian world.
Thou art the One Supreme Reality glorified and hymned in all the great scriptures of humanity. Thou art adored and worshipped alike, in Buddhist Vihara, in Hindu Mandir, in Parsee Fire Temple, in Synagogue, Church, Mosque, Gurudwara —Thou art One.
All worship Thee alone and it is this fact that makes the institution of human religion. It is this one fact, the oneness of the Universal Reality, that makes the institution of human religion the most likely and effective basis of unity.
Unity based upon any other factor cannot be really effective and lasting because the factors are themselves changeful and temporary. But this factor which we call Religion is the aspiration of the human individual soul to attain its Divine Origin, its Divine Source, in which it is ever rooted spiritually.
Religion is the hunger of man for God, yearning of the finite for the Infinite, the attempt of the individual to once again find its wholeness in the Universal of which it is an inseparable part . This phenomenon is a universal phenomenon. It is as old as creation and it is the heart-throb of every human being in human society.
This phenomenon of the human being’s aspiration to know the greater Reality which is the source nd origin not only of himself or herself but of the universe as well, pervades the entire globe. Going to any nation, any section of humanity, the phenomenon of religion is to be found to be one of the all pervasive facts of human society. The emphasis on external non-essentials of religion which vary is due to the systems of faith, worship, prayer, etc., which have had their origin in different historical time and geographical set up. Geographical conditions vary, human environment varies and therefore suited to each environmental situation the external modes and forms of worshipping that One Universal Reality naturally takes diverse forms.
from Bliss within by Swami Chidananda
Credit : Divine Life Society
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