ONE FAMILY PLAN
Many Paths
“As men approach Me, so I receive them. All paths, Arjuna, lead to Me.” (Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 4.11)
“They have called him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, and the divine fine-winged Garuda; They speak of Indra, Yama, Matrarisvan: the One Being sages call by many names.” (Hinduism. Rig Veda 1.164.46)
“Confucius said... ‘In the world there are many different roads but the destination is the same. There are a hundred deliberations but the result is one.’” (Confucianism. I Ching, Appended Remarks 2.5)
“At any time, in any form and accepted name, if one is shorn of all attachment, that one is you alone. My Lord! You are one although variously appearing.” (Jainism. Hemachandra, Dvatrimshika 29)
“The Hindus and the Muslims have but one and the same God, What can a mullah or a sheikh do?” (Sikhism. Adi Granth, Bhairo, p. 1158)
“Some call on the Lord, ‘Rama,’ some cry, ‘Khuda,’ Some bow to Him as Gosain, some as Allah;
He is called the Ground of Grounds and also the Bountiful, The Compassionate One and Gracious. Hindus bathe in holy waters for His sake; Muslims make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Hindus perform puja; others bow their heads in namaz. There are those who read the Vedas and others--Christians, Jews, Muslims--who read the Semitic scriptures. Some wear blue, some white robes, Some call themselves Muslims, others Hindus. Some aspire to bahishat (Muslim heaven), some to swarga (Hindu heaven). Says Nanak, Whoever realizes the will of the Lord,
He will find out the Lord's secrets!” (Sikhism. Adi Granth, Ramkali, M.5, p. 885)
“Sometimes I [the Buddha] spoke of myself, sometimes of others; sometimes I presented myself, sometimes others; sometimes I showed my own actions, sometimes those of others. All my doctrines are true and none are false.” (Buddhism. Lotus Sutra 16)
“The Buddha declared to the bodhisattva Aksayamati, ‘Good man, if there are beings in the land who can be conveyed to deliverance by the body of a Buddha, then the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara preaches the Truth by displaying the body of a Buddha.... To those who can be conveyed to deliverance by the body of Brahma [God the Creator] he preaches the Truth by displaying the body of Brahma. To those who can be conveyed to deliverance by the body of the god Shakra he preaches the Truth by displaying the body of the god Shakra. To those who can be conveyed to deliverance by the body of the god Ishvara [the personal God] he preaches the Truth by displaying the body of the god Ishvara.... To those who can be conveyed to deliverance by the body of an elder... a householder... an official... a woman... a boy or girl... a god, dragon, spirit, angel, demon, garuda-bird, centaur, serpent, human or non-human, he preaches Dharma by displaying the appropriate body.... The bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, by resort to a variety of forms, travels the world, conveying the beings to salvation.’” (Buddhism. Lotus Sutra 25)
“This is the land of the gods. The people should revere them. In my essence I [Amaterasu] am the Buddha Vairocana. Let my people understand this and take refuge in the Law of the Buddhas.” (Shinto. Revelation of the Sun Goddess to Emperor Shomu)
“Say, ‘We believe in God, and in what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what was given to Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to God do we submit.’” (Islam. Qur'an 3.84)
“Those who believe in the Qur'an, those who follow the Jewish scriptures, and the Sabeans and the Christians--any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness--on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Islam. Qur'an 5.69)
“There can be no doubt that whatever the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. All of them, except for a few which are the outcome of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose.” (Baha'i Faith. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 111)
“I look at all the major religions of the world as one big family.” (Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 1-1-87)
“There is not a single place in all the corners of the world where God is absent.” (Omoto Kyo. Michi-no-Shiori)
“For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.” (Judaism and Christianity, Malachi 1.11)
“And I [Jesus] have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.” (Christianity, John 10.16)
“So Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one every nation of men to live on the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us, for “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your poets have said, “For we are indeed his offspring.”’” (Christianity, Acts 17.22-28)
“Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai said, ‘Just as the sin-offering atones for Israel, so righteousness atones for the peoples of the world.’” (Judaism. Talmud, Baba Batra 10b)
“And Peter opened his mouth and said, ‘Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’” (Christianity, Acts 10.34-35)
“Let some worship the Truthful One [a Taoist deity], and revere the Northern Constellation, while others bow before the Buddha and recite sutras. P'an Ch'ung-Mou says, ‘What is to be avoided most in our life is vacillation and frivolity; what is most excellent is a reverential heart. Therefore, we Confucians endeavor to preserve sincerity of heart and consider reverence as most essential. It is needless to say that sincerity and reverence make us companions of heaven and earth, gods and spirits. There is, however, another class of people who adopt Buddhism as their guidance. They bow before the Buddha and recite his sutras, always bent on preserving reverence and awe. They will never relax the vigilant guard over the heart, which will by degrees become pure and bright, free from evil thoughts and ready to do good. This enlightenment is called their most happy land. What is necessary, then, for Buddhists as well as Confucians is to avoid vacillation and frivolity, which will render you unreliable. Keep the heart always restrained by reverence and awe. Otherwise what can be the use of the recitation of sutras or the discourses of Confucius?’” (Taoism. Tract of the Quiet Way)
