Most
religions claim exclusive possession of Spiritual
Truth, some doing so covertly, while others
openly and shamelessly, obviously unaware of
the preposterous nature of their claims. Imagining
that Truth can be possessed is rather like a
person standing on a river-bank thinking he
might catch the river in a fishing-net!
Truth
flows. We cannot catch or possess it; nor can
it be transmitted from one to another, but must
be experienced by the individual, each for himself.
At most, it can be intimated, hinted at, referred
to obliquely by analogy. And, since no religion
has the monopoly of Truth, there is no good
reason why we should confine our inquiries to
one specific religion, for by doing so, we narrow
ourselves and become prisoners of our own prejudice.
If there is Truth, it must be something omnipresent
and in everything; as such, it is ordinary,
and not ‘special’ or ‘holy’.
The Way
is long and the search is hard; we need all
the help we can get. If, as we fare along, we
stumble upon a crumb of Truth, it would be foolish
to disregard it merely because it might not
be of our favorite color or labeled in our own
language. A diamond is a diamond no matter where
it is found. |