Just imagine that earth were created with only one species in each of the category of animal kingdom. Then, we will have only one human race in any part of the world, one kind of fish swimming in the ocean of east and west, one kind of insect crawling on the rock face of the earth. There were no seasonal change, and the natural scenery is pretty much the same everywhere.
One day you felt like to explore the world and travel to Indonesia. When you got there you found out that they looked very much like you in terms of color of the skin, the facial structure and other body features normally used to identify different race, they performed cultural rituals that were not too peculiar than your own, they even spoke the same language as you did. After several explorations to other continents you found out that things are pretty much the same every where you go. Just imagine how boring this world would be!
Luckily our creator was a trillion times more creative than that. We are presented with an assortment of delightful sense gratifying experiences for our enjoyment. The world travel is now a thriving industry. For an armchair traveler like me, discovery channel, history channel and numerous others bring the world literally to my living room. We have the ways and means to know anything there is to know. Internet is a virtual classroom of the world. Whether you are in China or in Afghanistan, information is now readily available to all. This truly is an age of enlightenment.
I have long held the belief that different religion and faith all over the world is a natural extension of this creative manifestation of diversity. Each religion serves its people and helps to give meaning and purpose to the people of that particular region. As diverse as they seem to be, there is a common thread running through the core of all the religious teachings in the world.
I am reading a book called" Muhammad- A Prophet for our Time" by Karen Armstrong. In this book, there is a section illustrating Mohammad's night travel experience. In that personal journey, he discovered that all the prophets before him like Abraham, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses and Jesus were essentially "brothers" in the fellowship of God's kingdom. From the teaching of "World Religion" of "University of Metaphysical Sciences", I have learned many different religions in various part of the world. I found out that they are basically teaching similar virtues and values with only difference being rituals that were unique in their own culture. None is better than the other, and each, a Jewel in the kingdom of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment