Religion Relationships

Many people see religion as a bunch of strange beliefs that are always in conflict with each other. There have been so many wars and conflicts through history and today about religious differences, and it seems that it will never stop. However, is this view of religion the correct one?

There are a couple "family trees" of where our major religions came from. One of the "trees" started with Judaism of Israel, of which the base transferred into Christianity, which also later led to Islam. The other "tree" started from the traditions of Hinduism in India, which evolved into Buddhism, and was then spread to China and other countries to mesh with religions like Taoism and become Zen Buddhism.

With religions like Judaism and Hinduism, the leaders of the movements were many. Judaism had Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, etc., while Hinduism had Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva, etc. The more recent religions focus more on one person who caused the movement: Christianity had Jesus (Christ), Islam had Muhammad, Buddhism had Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), and Taoism had Lao Tzu. Nevertheless, all of these leaders have always referred to their former teachings, and they always serve as a fulfiller or a clarification of those teachings. Jesus never desired to abandon Judaism for his new religion, and Buddha never disrespected or disagreed with the teachings of the Hindus so much to suggest an intent to make a separate religion. They were merely there as a guide during a period in time of corrupt religion and belief systems.

Now, all of these conflicts between religions were not influenced by the leaders of the religions; it comes from the people who desire to be right, and thereby use their particular religion to prove others wrong. Jesus wouldn't attack or insult Buddha if they were standing next to each other, and neither would Abraham do so with Krishna! The people who desire war and conflict are falsely associating spirituality and religion with something else.

When someone experiences the ultimate truth and feels God "in every atom," they will be in utter bliss, joy, peace and unity; at that point, there is no more conflict and no opposing side. This is what our spiritual leaders experience, and where their belief system comes from. For them, it is not a made up idea - they are reporting back what they experience. Also, they are able to see the truth in all major religions, and the experience they have is no different than what the leader of another religion has experienced. Buddha and Jesus experienced the same exact thing. The seeming differences are only from culture, terminology, and past references to former leaders.


(From left to right): Jesus the Christ, Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi, Gautama the Buddha

None of these religions is wrong or worse or better than the other; they all have the same beginning and reach to the same goal. There are saints from every religion that have been capable of experiencing the ultimate truth. It makes no difference if they are from former religions or later religions, such as Judaism > Christianity > Islam or Hinduism > Buddhism. This is because religious corruption is corrected eventually by newer saints who still follow the older religion.

There's no reason to make a conflict! We should examine all religions and use the Middle Way, connecting the similarities and the harmonious message. Religions from different areas of the world have been joined, such as Taoism and Shintoism with Buddhism. Zen Buddhism was started in acknowledgement of the identical message and teachings of Buddhism and Taoism. So the goal is to experience Self-realization, or the Ultimate Truth; then the harmony of all religions will be seen and lived.