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T R U E R E L I G I O N :
L I V I N G T H E O N E L I F E
A Universal Religion is not one that could be followed by all men:
Universal Religion is the one that embraces all living beings.
All living beings are God's children and their life is God's Life:
My Womb is the vast ocean of My Energy: in that I place the germ;
thence comes the birth of all beings ...
In whatsoever wombs mortal beings are produced,
the vast Ocean of My Energy is their Womb, and I am their generating Father.
Bhagavadgîtâ XIV, 3-4.
An eternal portion of Mine own Self,
become a living Spirit in the world of Life,
draws around itself the senses,
of which the mind is the sixth, dwelling in Nature.
Bhagavadgîtâ XV, 7.
I am the Self seated in the Heart of all beings (X, 20).
Bhagavadgîtâ X, 20.
True Religion is universal Love:
His Self in Communion with Me in true Religion,
he sees his Self abiding in all beings,
and all beings abiding in his Self:
everywhere he sees the same.
He who sees Me everywhere, and sees everything in Me,
he will never be lost to Me, nor will I ever be lost to him.
He who, established in unity, worships Me as abiding in all beings,
that man of true Religion lives in Me, whatever his mode of living.
Bhagavadgîtâ VI, 29-31.
Sages look equally on a brâhmana adorned with learning and humility, on a cow, an elephant, a dog, a pariah (V, 18).
Bhagavadgîtâ V, 18.
He who reacts to joys and sufferings eveywhere in the same way as he would react to his own, is a perfect man of true Religion.
Bhagavadgîtâ VI, 32.
One should zealously cultivate the equality of the other and of the self. All joys and sorrows are equal, and I am to guard them like my own.
Shântideva, Bodhicaryâvatâra, VIII, 90.
"True Religion" is our translation of the "Yoga" of the Original.
Now "Yoga" means "Communion with God" in the Bhagavadgîtâ, and what is true Religion if not Communion with God?
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From Quaker sources :
I ... was early convinced in my mind that true Religion consisted in an inward life, wherein the Heart doth love and reverence God the Creator, and learn to exercise true Justice and Goodness, not only toward all men, but also toward the Brute Creatures. That as the mind was moved by an inward Principle to love God as an invisible, incomprehensible Being, by the same principle it was moved to love Him in all His manifestations in the visible world. That as by His breath the flame of life was kindled in all Animal and Sensible Creatures, to say we love God as unseen, and at the same time exercise cruelty toward the least creature moving by His life, or by life derived from Him, was a contradiction in itself.
(John Woolman -- No. 47 of Christian faith and practice in the experience of the Society of Friends, The London Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, 1972).
Animals ... are still menaced by fear and pain much of which might be alleviated by soccour and comfort. The greater welfare of these creatures, so dependent on us, is based upon the fact that they are part of our earthly life. Is not all life one? In his thirst for knowledge, in his want of thought and want of heart, man is not always kind to animals.
(No. 479 of Christian faith and practice in the experience of the Society of Friends, 1972).
Kindness to animals should be explicitly proclaimed as a Christian duty. Suffering can be caused through callousness and carelessness based often upon ignorance, and we must testify against such cruelty wherever we find it. Kindness therefore requires knowledge and understanding as well as good will; the most recent knowledge should continually be sought to help us to comprehend the needs of animals and what circumstances are likely to cause them pain. And our dealings with them should be guided by a sensitive, intelligent understanding of their nature and needs. In recognising the wonder and mystery of God's animal kingdom we increase our reverence for Him. We need to show a humble acknowledgement of the responsibility for animals with which God has entrusted us.
(No. 480 of Christian faith and practice in the experience of the Society of Friends, 1972).
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We have never heard of any explicit declaration of Christian Church officials, high or low, condemning cruelty towards animals. But probably we have still to wait a lot for any such condemnation, because animals have not been created -- so they say -- "in the image of God", which apparently makes their sufferings irrelevant. Please then go sometimes to some circus show, and admire all those "images of God" laughing and applauding at the sight of those poor creatures behaving unnaturally as a result of lifelong mistreatment and torture. Or think of how many vivisection labs, or of how many slaughter-houses, there are in the world, and ask yourselves which is the real prototype of all those "images of God".
Life is One: injuring one living being means to injure oneself.
If one causes suffering, one is bound to suffer in return. Mankind's suffering would be much reduced if human beings were kind to animals.
If one is cruel to animals, one is just cruel: cruelty does not depend on the object; cruelty is a vice of the subject.
Be opposed to hunting, vivisection, and any other form of cruel behaviour towards animals!
Become a vegetarian!
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