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ONE CREATOR GOD
BECOMES SO MANY FORMS, NAMES & RELIGIONS
FOR EACH OF THE TRIBES OF HUMANKIND
In the last known 5000 or so years of human history on this planet earth,
humans have believed in ONE CREATOR called
GOD....But somehow history shows that humans
have given this ONE CREATOR called
GOD many different forms together with
names....These forms and names to ONE CREATOR GOD
appears to have been given as per the time, place and purpose that served the
purpose of humans.....And then in the last 2000 years each of these forms and
names of ONE CREATOR GOD has been converted
into institutions called RELIGION....So how
is this evolution in human mind has taken place of creating so many forms of
ONE CREATOR GOD and then converting these
forms and names into RELIGIONS.....
In varaaH puraaAN, the root
cause of the creation of RELIGIONS is
conveyed by ruDRR or
shiv-Daev to
agst`y-muni for the sake of humans who would care to study
the SCIENCES OF CREATIONS AND LIFE called
veD....From this knowledge it appears
each RELIGION is a societal information and
knowledge system that enables a collective set of humans to live life with rules
and regulations that not only is supposed to give science knowledge of life
value, ethics, morality, codes of behaviour in life, sciences of politics,
governance, economy. All these sciences are meant for empowering humanity to
co-exist harmoniously with the fellow creations. And at the same time these
sciences are meant to keep the inherent knowledge of ONE CREATOR GOD alive in
humanity. At PVAF, the proof of the preceding knowledge from
SCIENCES OF CREATIONS AND LIFE called veD
will be presented in the next few days.....
In the meantime, PVAF honours Tom Harpur
who is a theologian and whose focus is on cosmic spirituality for his attempt to
enlighten all humanity of the following:
- Our life on earth has but one main aim and purpose. It's to identify
oneself with one's eternal Self and so come to "unitive knowledge of the
Divine Ground" or God.
- The thing that has struck me most in the study of world religions is
that the deeper down you go, the farther back, the closer they come together.
- They are like branches stemming from one trunk. There is but one
universal mythos (story) behind them all. One way of expressing this is what
is called the Perennial Philosophy.
- An example of one trunk: What Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita
anticipates many of Jesus' pronouncements by centuries — even
millennia.
Please click on the next line to listen to Tom
Harpur expand on the above thoughts from some very profound
quotations from BhgvD Giitaa and
Bible which talks about ONE CREATOR GOD to
about 2 billions different peoples in the current world and yet these two
different peoples appears to argue to eternity
WHOSE ONE CREATOR GOD IS SUPREME.....The
article by Tom Harpur published in Canadian Newspaper:
Toronto Star was
brought to attention of PVAF by SRii Jaswantbhai Mehta
of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada....
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World's major religions are like
branches growing from one trunk
BY TOM HARPUR
Canadian Newspaper:
Toronto Star: Mar. 7, 2004. 01:00 AM
The thing that has struck me most in the study of world religions is that the
deeper down you go, the farther back, the closer they come together.
They are like branches stemming from one trunk. There is but one universal
mythos (story) behind them all. One way of expressing this is what is called the
Perennial Philosophy. The English novelist and essayist, Aldous Huxley
(1894-1963) sums that up best in his introduction to a translation of The Song
Of God, also known as the Bhagavad-Gita.
He notes four common doctrines which denote the basic core or "Highest Common
Factor" I'm talking about. They are:
- The world about us, the world of matter and of individualized
consciousness, is the manifestation of a "Divine Ground" of being within which
all else has its existence. As the Bible says, quoting a Pagan source: "In him
we live and move and have our being."
- Humans are capable not just of knowing about this Ground (God) by
inference from creation, they can also realize its presence by direct
intuition — a form of knowing superior to ordinary discursive reasoning. This
immediate form of knowledge unites the knower and the known.
- We each possess a dual nature; an ordinary ego, and an eternal self,
which is the inner person, the spirit, the spark of divinity within the soul.
From a Christian perspective, I would say "the Christ within." It is possible
for each to identify with this inner spirit or Higher Self and thus with the
Divine Ground which is of "the same or like nature with the spirit."
- Our life on earth has but one main aim and purpose. It's to
identify oneself with one's eternal Self and so come to "unitive knowledge of
the Divine Ground" or God.
Once you are aware of this Perennial Philosophy you can find it in the mystical
writings and in all the sacred books of every faith. Many Christians today don't
like to encounter this kind of truth because it upsets their view that
Christianity was an entirely new and superior religion when it first came on the
scene. They believe strongly that things attributed to Jesus — both in word and
in deed, from a virgin birth to death on a cross followed by resurrection — were
highly original and definitive for the entire global community for all time.
But, continuous research and wide reading have shown not just to me but to most
honest scholars, including Huxley, that this is simply not the case. Reading the
New Testament — or watching supposedly accurate portrayals of it on film —
without any sense of this universal context, totally distorts the truth.
To see what I mean, look at the Bhagavad-Gita, for example. Krishna, the Hindu
Christ, is the major speaker. By the way, the Greek word Christos ( it occurs 40
times in the Greek version of the Old Testament, dating back to circa 280 BCE)
and the word Krishna both come from a Sanskrit root, "kri," meaning to anoint.
What Krishna says anticipates many of Jesus' pronouncements by centuries — even
millennia.
Some examples.
- Krishna: "Within this body, Life immortal that
shall not perish: I am the Truth and the Joy forever."
Jesus says in John: "I am the way, the truth and the life."
- Krishna: "I am the Atman (soul) that dwells in
the heart of every creature: I am the beginning, the life-span and the end of
all." Again he says: "In the alphabet, I am A ... I am time without end."
Jesus says he is the alpha and omega, the
beginning and the end.
- Krishna tells Arjuna: "Of this be certain: the
man that loves me, he shall not perish."
Jesus says: "If you keep my commandments,
ye shall abide in my love."
- Krishna speaks of himself as "the Lord, who is
the light-giver, the highest of the high."
Jesus says: "I am the light of world."
- Krishna: "Thus think the ignorant that I the
unmanifest am become man. They do not know my nature; That is one with Brahman
(God, the Father), changeless, superhuman. ... I am not shown to many. How
shall this world, bewildered by delusion, recognize me, who am not born and
change not?"
Jesus says: "I and the Father are one ... no man
can know me except it be shown him of my Father." It is also said of him: he
is the same "yesterday, today, and forever."
- Krishna: "I am the Word that is God ... the light
of the fire, Life of all lives ..."
John's Gospel says that Jesus is the Logos
or Word, the true light by which all was created.
- Krishna: "The world fails to recognize me as I
really am. I stand apart from them all, supreme and deathless."
Jesus says: "The world cannot hate you; but
me it hateth. ... "
We badly need this kind of context to media coverage of religion today.
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Tom Harpur is a theologian whose focus is on cosmic spirituality . His Web site
is: http://www.tomharpur.com
Below is a biography of Tom Harpur from his website:
Tom Harpur, Canada's best known spiritual author, journalist, and TV host.
Tom Harpur's books, videos, and columns have made him a compelling spiritual
leader for every generation and all faiths.
A former Anglican parish priest, Rhodes scholar and seminary professor, Tom
Harpur has been a journalist at the Toronto Star covering ethics, spirituality
and religion for the past 30 years. He was the Religion Editor for The Toronto
Star for twelve years and since 1984 has contributed regular columns to The Star
on ethical and religious topics.
Tom Harpur is listed in U.S. Who's Who in Religion, the Canadian Who's Who, and
Men of Achievement.
TOM HARPUR
Won Gold Medal in Classics at University of Toronto in 1951.
Attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship 1951-1954.
Won full colours in rugger at U of T and an ice hockey Blue at Oxford.
Began career as an Anglican priest at St. Margaret’s-in-the-Pines, West Hill,
Ontario (1957-1964); still a priest but not in active service.
Professor of New Testament at University of Toronto (Toronto School of Theology)
from 1964 to 1971.
Religion Editor of The Toronto Star from 1971 to 1983; travelled widely
throughout the world on assignments.
Since 1984, Tom has been a regular Sunday columnist on ethical and religious
affairs with The Toronto Star.
Author of the following books (eight of which were Canadian "best-sellers"):
Harpur’s Heaven and Hell (Oxford)
For Christ’s Sake (Oxford)
Always on Sunday (Oxford)
Communicating the Good News Today (Lancelot)
Life After Death (M&S)
God Help Us (M&S)
The Uncommon Touch (M&S)
The God Question (Lancelot)
The Divine Lover (Lancelot)
Harpur vs. Hancock (Lancelot)
Would You Believe (M&S) (published in the U.S. as The Thinking Person’s Guide to
God, Prima Press, 1996)
The Hidden Fire (Northstone Publishing)
Prayer Journal (Northstone Publishing)
The Still Point of The Turning World - A Spiritual Approach to Stress (Northstone
Publishing, September, 2002)
and two children’s books:
The Mouse that Couldn’t Squeak (Oxford)
The Terrible Finn MacCoul (Oxford)
Fellow of the Religious Public Relations Council (USA).
Awarded The Silver Medal for Outstanding Journalism by the State of Israel in
1976.
Listed in U.S. Who’s Who in Religion, Canadian Who’s Who, and the most recent
edition of Men of Achievement, (Cambridge, England) published by the
International Biographical Centre, (Cambridge, England).
Has appeared on major television and radio networks as one of Canada’s top
authorities on spiritual and ethical matters.
Was host of "Life After Death," a "hit" 10-part series on Vision TV, City TV and
The Learning Channel; regular commentator on Vision TV’s Skylight. Formerly host
of weekly hour-long interview programme, "Harpur’s Heaven and Hell" and several
others.
Was host of "The Uncommon Touch," a 12-part series on Vision TV.
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