The Hindu Perspective& Interfaith Dialogue

World Religion Day

Dr R Neerunjun Gopee

The duty of critical intelligence, to be exercised alongside the right to belief…

Practically every day some World Day is celebrated, to highlight issues pertinent to the theme under consideration. It’s only several days after World Religion Day on January 15 that I became aware of it. In this connection I thought that it would be appropriate to present the Hindu perspective, starting with a brief overview of Hinduism.

Hinduism is a voyage of discovery of the Self through a process of self-control that leads to self-mastery, the outcome of which is a noble individual who ennobles society. This is achieved by following principles and practices based on the Vedanta, which is the essence of the Upanishads, themselves the ‘philosophical portions’ of the four sacred scriptures known as the Vedas. A little more elaborately:

1. Their inward search led our ancient sages, the rishis, to the discovery that there is a Universal Truth or Ultimate Reality (‘God’) underlying existence. This Truth is reflected by our minds which itself is expressed through our body, by means of our organs of sense and of action.
2. The purpose of life is to discover this Truth by our own efforts through approaches known  asyoga.
3. They are: devotion and worship (bhaktiyoga), selfless action (karmayoga) and mental  control (rajayoga) which culminate in the Higher Knowledge or jnanayoga that  frees us from our enslavement or bondage to material things.
4. During this quest, in harmonizing our thoughts, words and actions we gradually obtain mastery of the Self, resulting in peace within which allows us to live in harmony with all that is, from the living to the non-living.

Peace: state, process and outcome

Generally,peace is defined in negative terms as the absence of war – hence the well-known saying: ‘if you want peace, prepare for war.’ The Vedic equivalent of peace, Shanti, has a deeper meaning. It refers to a positive state of being in which one has transcended wants (not needs), fear and suffering. For a more pragmatic version of this idea, I would paraphrase the World Health Organisation’sdefinition of health, viz., peace is not only the absence of war, but it is a complete state of physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being.’ This, of course, implies providing and securing theexternal conditions for such well-being.

However, it must be clear that we must begin by desiringto be in such a state, what I would call the initial condition for peace. And since desires arise in the mind, it is there that we must first direct our efforts, conditioning it as one would for a commitment to peace.

This is in fact what the Vedas, which probably contain the earliest recorded spiritual yearnings of mankind, carry as a leitmotiv in the many hymns of the Rig-Veda in particular. Not only that, the Vedas insist that“Vaade Vaade Jayate Tattva Bodhah”– it is only through discussion and dialogue that the truth, i.e. the subtle essence ofexistence can emerge and be apprehended. So there is an invitation to thrash things out in the open, without any barriers whatsoever. A spirit of give and take is encouraged, and this idea is captured in this other kavyaor saying from the Rig-Veda, “Ā no bhadrāḥkratavoyantuviśvataḥ “– ‘Let noble thoughts come to us from everywhere.’

For the rishis, this was no mere lip-service; it was an acknowledgement of the Oneness of mankind for, they proclaimed, “Udāra-caritānāmtuvasudhaivakuṭumbakam“– ‘For right-minded people the world is one family.’

When put into practice, these three core ideas – Truth through discussion, the universality of noble thoughts and the world as One — can onlylead to Shanti, and thus Om Shanti is present constantly in all Vedic prayers. One never prays for oneself alone but for the welfare of one and all. The following prayer, which is chanted towards the end of every Hindu spiritual function, expresses this fundamental conviction very clearly:

Sarvebhavantusukhinah / sarvesantuniramayah

Sarvebhadranipasyantu / ma kascitdukhabhagbhavet

‘May all be happy. May all be free from disease. May all enjoy prosperity. May none experience sorrow.’

Interfaith dialogue

Faith implies belief or a system of belief without proof or evidence, according to the dictionary definition. But in Hinduism systematic enquiry that proceeds by observation and analysis of existence – starting with the visible world of changing phenomena – is a critical requirement so as to obtain evidence that must accord with human reason, knowledge and experience. And such evidence must be demonstrablehere, in this lifeand not in a hypothetical hereafter.

This must be clearly understood and appreciated if we are to have a genuine interfaith dialogue because, if we are to make amalgams such as stating that all religions proclaim the self-same eternal verities, then we shall be fooling ourselves and this may lead us to irreconcilable if not conflictual positionings.It was Swami Agehananda Bharati, an Austrian who was born into the Catholic faith and subsequently converted, who warned that a dangerous implication of such an approach was that, should inconsistencies be brought to light in the fundamentals of the world’s religions, then interfaith existence would crumble down.

It is well known that the findings of science are overturning many long-held religious beliefs. As their foundations get shaken, faiths tend to become even more radicalized into their belief systems, leading to a conflict between the proven, verifiable findings of science and the unverifiable beliefs of religion.

For Hinduism, though, scientific discoveries and knowledge do not pose a problem.That is why Hinduism is not so much a faith as a view or darshana of life, the end of which, liberation from the bondage of material life, is achievable by a self-validating process of progression to the Ultimate Reality based on facts and phenomena within the reach and control of the individualby the use ofboth rational and non-rational faculties.

It becomes important therefore to point out that, of the three possible categories of faith-based subjects namely doctrine, core beliefs and principles, and customs and practices derived from values for living, the first two are less open to dialogue than the last one, on which we should concentrate because the possibility of consensus is greater there.

This leads me to a set of propositions from a Vedic perspective,on which I think there can be general agreement, and which can be the foundation for the emergence of genuine peace:

1. We are all the children of One Divine Creator, who has wished us to be like the multiple and different flowers in a beautiful garden, the one he has created for us, planet Earth.
2. The same spark of divinity is reflected in each one of us and we ought to accept and respect each other as we are.
3. We must respect human life from the womb to the tomb.
4. We must show respect for and avoid cruelty to all living things.
5. We must respect and protect nature of which we too are a part, and respect Mother Earth who nourishes us.
6. We must try to understand and respect each other’s beliefs and practices without trying to impose or enforce any particular one– but at the same time make the necessary accommodation that will allow us to co-exist in peace.
7. We must promote dialogue and understanding at all times by keeping channels of communication at all levels open.

Om Shanti

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 31 January 2025