(from Chicago calling e-zine/vol-7)
Is religion one or many? The answer would be
“Yes” and also “No”.
“Yes” when the word “religion” means goal.
“No” when the word “religion” means path.
Truth is one people call it by various names.
In the words of Swami Vivekananda, “Religion
is realization.” So, it is the goal. Again, he said that
religion is a process that makes a brute into a man
and a man into god. So, religion is also a path.
The relation between religion and humanity is
like water and the fish. The fish cannot survive
without water; similarly, humans cannot remain
human without religion.
But if the water becomes stagnant, it may kill
the fish. Similarly, if religion loses its real purpose
and becomes an institution of superstition and
dogmatism, it brings death to humanity.
Like the flow of fresh water, exchange and
dialogue among different religions is necessary.
Along with the growth of human society in
different parts of the world, different religions also
grew. Afterwards, they were categorized as
Eastern Religions and Western Religions.
For political and economic reasons, the West
reached the East, and, along with diplomats and
businessmen, religious missionaries also spread
throughout the East. In 1784 the first American
merchant ship, “United States”, reached the coast
of India. The first American missionaries were
dispatched to India in 1812. Eastern religious
practices eventually attracted much attention. The
missionary reports about the Asian religious
practices were more critical than the accounts of
the early merchants.
However, later missionary accounts embodied
a more sympathetic attitude—that each of the
world’s religions contained some good points.
While the West was trying to find good points
in other religions, Sri Ramakrishna, the God in
human form, declared, after practicing severe
spiritual austerities in various religions, that all
religions can lead to God if practiced with
sincerity. He declared, “As many faiths, so many
paths.”
The truth that was discovered by the Vedic
Rishis in ancient times and realized a new by Sri
Ramakrishna was put on the world stage for the
first time in Chicago in 1893.
In 1893 the city of Chicago hosted the World
Columbian Exposition. A number of congresses
were held, including Anthropology, Labor,
Medicine, Temperance, Commerce, Finance,
Literature, History, Art, Philosophy and Science.
One of these was the World’s Parliament of
Religions. Rev. John Henry Barrows was the
chairman of the Parliament. The Parliament ran
from Sept. 11 to 27, 1893 at the World’s Congress
Auxiliary Building, which is now known as the Art
Institute of Chicago.
This was the first formal gathering of
representatives of the Eastern and Western
spiritual traditions.