Comment

Comment by Ron Krumpos on February 28, 2010 at 3:29pm

Maynard,
I think what Rajendra in referring to is also in the text of Rabbi Falcon's blog post:
"Here is the essence of what we have discovered. Each of our traditions has a central core teaching that transcends the particularity of each tradition. Thus, the Oneness awakening within Judaism, while evolving within a Jewish context, is an offering to the world. The Unconditional Love that is such a clear focus within Christianity is bigger than Christianity, and the Compassionate Surrender to God that imbues every sura of the Qur’an expands far beyond the Muslim community. The core teachings are meant for the world." The Hindu concept of the oneness of self and God (jiva-atman) and the Buddhist of universal Love (metta/maitreya) are other core teachings.

Comment by Maynard on February 28, 2010 at 2:39pm

Ah, Rajendra my friend,

It may be that "humanity needs a unified teaching that takes care of core teachings of all religions."

BUT, "we cannot develop a single teaching as though it is speaking for all the religions and beliefs in the world, homogenizing the entire humanity"

So, yes, it can be tricky, and I think that this article (link)addresses the paradox well, with explicit reference to "core teachings" even.

Comment by Rajendra Shelke on February 28, 2010 at 11:29am

Jai Ho! Humanity Jai Ho!!

I remember a story of my childhood. It is about “An Elephant and Five Blind Men”. In this story, five blind men try to describe a statue of an elephant, when one of them inquires: “Whose statue is this?” Holding the tail of the elephant in hand, the first blind man replies: “It’s a rope, nothing else”. The second blind shoots back while touching the leg: “No, it is not a rope; it is something like a pillar of a building”. Rubbing elephant’s trunk, the third blind person retorts: “Both of you are wrong. It’s a pipe”. Fourth one remarks calmly while plucking elephant’s ear: “No way. It’s a big sheet.” Listening to all of them, the fifth blind places his palm on elephant’s belly and shouts: “No, no. All of you are lying, it’s a big rock.”

The story ends here giving us a beautiful message. Each blind man was describing a separate body part of the elephant correctly. In a way, everyone was describing the elephant partially. But none of them could visualize elephant’s complete body, which they could have done easily by simply combining together all the diverse views expressed by their friends.

Usually, we behave like these five blind persons when we come across with a problem transcendental beyond a dull matter, senses, mind and intelligence. We generate diverse responses without bothering for the completeness and sustainability. Our difficulty is that we cannot develop a single teaching as though it is speaking for all the religions and beliefs in the world, homogenizing the entire humanity and ignoring internal conflicts.

Today humanity needs a unified teaching that takes care of core teachings of all religions. Perhaps this is the best possible way, as this will implant a sense of ownership in and among us and thereby will certainly unite us together.