Why do Your photographs on Your website show You mostly as a Hindu?

Shri Hrushikesh asked: Why do Your photographs on Your website show You mostly as a Hindu even though You preach about Universal Spirituality?

Swami replied: Universal Spirituality or Universal Religion is like the central government of India and the specific religion followed by any person, is like the state government of any one state in India. The citizen belongs to both the central and state governments simultaneously. This means that you can be a follower of Universal Religion while still being a follower of your own religion. Universal Religion pervades all religions in the world. It means that you can continue to follow your own religion. There is no need to convert to any other religion. The important point you have to learn from Universal Religion is that you should never criticize other religions. The same God appeared in different forms at different places, in different times. Each time the form taken up by Him was according to the specific culture of each place. He preached the same spiritual knowledge in different languages. All religions have some merits and some defects. The merits are due to the original preaching of God whereas the defects are due to wrong ideas introduced by the followers later on. You have to be selective and pick only the merits of all religions.

Each religion has its own special merits that are seen prominently in that religion. It does not mean other religions do not have those merits but it is just that they are more prominently seen in a certain religion. Spiritual knowledge is the merit of Hinduism. Knowledge is the intellectual part of the spiritual effort which is called jnana yoga. Devotion to God, which is known as bhakti yoga, is the merit of Islam. It is the emotional part of the spiritual effort. The practical part of the spiritual effort is service and donation. Donation of one’s hard-earned money is said to be the sacrifice of the fruit of one’s work. Service and donation together are called karma yoga and it is the merit of Christianity. Purifying one’s devotion to God by making it free of any worldly aspiration or desire is the merit of Buddhism. Practicing non-violence towards all souls is the merit of Jainism. Apart from the various religions, science too has its merit and it has a place in Universal Spirituality. The sharp analysis of any concept without blind belief is the merit of science.

Thus, on your spiritual journey towards God, you must pick the merits of all religions. Universal Religion or Universal Spirituality is not a specific religion to be listed along with the religions of the world. It is meant for the establishment of peace and harmony in this world. Since I am born as Hindu, I follow My religion. But I realize that all other religions are the equally-correct paths starting from different directions but all leading to the same God at the center. The six religions or philosophies mentioned above are like six bottles containing the same medicine of spiritual knowledge. Secularism means consuming the medicine-like spiritual knowledge from any one of the six bottles, realizing that the same medicine is present in all the six bottles. But the so-called secularism of today is false secularism. It rejects all religions. It is like saying that since all the bottles contain the same medicine, there is no need to consume the medicines from any of them!

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