Inter- Faiths Dialogue

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T o study the way of the Buddha is to study your own self. To study your own self is to forget yourself. To forget yourself is to have the objective world prevail in you. To have the objective world prevail in you, is to let go of your 'own' body and mind as well as the body and mind of 'others.' The enlightenment thus attained may seem to come to an end, but though it appears to have stopped this momentary enlightenment should be prolonged and prolonged.

quote 3967 | The Shobo Genzo
From Hashida, Shobo genzo shakui, 1, 142-64, selections translated in De Bary (ed.), Sources of Japanese Tradition, Op. Cit., Pp. 251-2

T his proves that in their enthusiasm [i.e., their state of inspiration] they are not aware of what they are doing and are not living a human or bodily existence as far as sensation and volition are concerned, but live instead another and diviner kind, which fills them and takes complete possession of them.

quote 3966 | Iamblichus
On the Mysteries, III, 4-6, Translation and introduction by Frederick C. Grant, in his Hellenistic Religions (New York, 1953), PP. 173-5

T o every one of you We have appointed a right way and an open road.

quote 3965 | The Quran
V, 50-3

I entered on, and abode in, the First Ecstasy.-Yet, such pleasant feelings as then arose in me did not take possession of my mind; nor did they as I successively entered on, and abode in, the Second, Third, and Fourth Ecstasies

quote 3964 | Buddha Sakyamuni
Majjhima-nikaya, XXXVI [Maha-saccaka-sutra], Translation by Lord ChaImers, Further Dialogues of the, Buddha, I (London, 1926), pp. 17.4-7

L et him reflect on the transmigrations of men, caused by their sinful deeds, on their falling into hell, and on the torments in the world of Yama,

On the separation from their dear ones, on their union with hated men, on their being overpowered by age and being tormented with diseases,

On the departure of the individual soul from this body and its new birth in (another) womb, and on its wanderings through ten thousand millions of existences,

quote 3961 | The Law of Manu
VI, 61-63, Translation by G. Buhler in Sacred Books of the East, xxv (Oxford, 1886), pp. 204-10

M ENO: What was it, and who were they?

SOCRATES: Those who tell it are priests and priestesses of the sort who make it their business to be able to account for the functions which they perform. Pindar speaks of it too, and many another of the poets who are divinely inspired. What they say is this-see whether you think they are speaking the truth. They say that the soul of man is immortal. At one time it comes to an end-that which is called death-and at another is born again, but is never finally exterminated. On these grounds a man must live all his days as righteously as possible. […]

Thus the soul, since it is immortal and has been born many times, and has seen all things both here and in the other world, has learned everything that is.

quote 3956 | Plato
Meno, 81, b, Translated by W. K. C. Guthrie, in Hamilton and Caims (ed.), Plato.- The Collected Dialogues (New York: Bollingen Series LXXI, 1961), P. 364

P ut not your trust in life, for at the last death must overtake you;
and dog and bird will rend your corpse and your bones will be tumbled on the earth.
For three days and nights the soul sits beside the pillow of the body.
And on the fourth day at dawn (the soul) accompanied by the blessed Srosh, the good Vay, and the mighty Vahram, and opposed by Astvihat (the demon of death), the evil Vay, the demon Frehzisht and the demon Vizisht, and pursued by the active ill-will of Wrath, the evil-doer who bears a bloody spear, (will reach) the lofty and awful Bridge of the Requiter to which every man whose soul is saved and every man whose soul is damned must come. Here does many an enemy lie in wait.
Here (the soul will suffer) from the ill-will of Wrath who wields a bloody spear and from Astvihat who swallows all creation yet knows no sating,
and it will (benefit by) the mediation of Hihr, Srosh, and Rashn, and will (needs submit) to the weighing (of his deeds) by the righteous Rashn who lets the scales of the spiritual gods incline to neither side, neither for the saved nor yet for the damned, nor yet for kings and princes:
not so much as a hair's breadth does he allow (the scales) to tip, and he is no respecter (of persons),
for he deals out impartial justice both to kings and princes and to the humblest of men. […]
And when the soul departs from thence, then is a fragrant breeze wafted towards him, (a breeze) more fragrant than any perfume.
Then does the soul of the saved ask Srosh saying, 'What breeze is this, the like of which in fragrance I never smelt on earth?'
Then does the blessed Srosh make answer to the soul of the saved, saying, 'This is a wind (wafted) from Heaven; hence is it so fragrant.'

quote 3953 | The Menok i Khrat
I, 71-78 & 91-93, edited by Anklesaria. Translation by R. C. Zaehner, in his The Teachings of the Magi (London, 1956), pp. 133-8

A man who is averse from harming even the wind knows the sorrow of all things living. . . . He who knows what is bad for himself knows what is bad for others, and he who knows what is bad for others knows what is bad for himself. This reciprocity should always be borne in mind. Those whose minds are at peace and who are free from passions do not desire to live [at the expense of others]. . . . He who understands the nature of sin against wind is called a true sage who understands karma.

In short be who understands the nature of sin in respect of all the six types of living beings is called a true sage who understands karma.

quote 3944 | The Panchadasi
Acharanga Sutra, I, 1, Translation by A. L. Basham; from abridged version in Theodore de Bary, Sources of Indian Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1958), pp. 62-3

T o the Aborigine, life is a cycle, though whether it is continuous or not, he does not always dare to say. Found by his parent in a spiritual experience, he is incarnated through his mother and so enters profane life. But a few years later, through the gate of initiation, he partially re-enters the sacred dream-time or sky-world which he has left for a season. After passing farther and farther into it, so far as the necessities of profane life allow, he dies, and through another gate, the transition rite of burial, he returns completely to his sacred spirit state in the sky, the spirit-home or totemic centre, perhaps to repeat the cycle later, perhaps to cease to be.

quote 3939 | Australian Aborigene
A.P. Elkin, The Australian Aborigines 3rd ed. (Carden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Co., 1964), PP, 336-7

O ld 0ne or Chief came down from the upper world on a cloud to the surface of the great lake or watery waste which was all that existed. The cloud rested on the lake. Old One pulled five hairs from his head and threw them down: they became five Perfectly formed young women. He asked each in turn what she wished to be.

The first replied, 'A woman to bear children. I shall be bad and foolish, and seek after my own pleasure. My descendants will fight, steal, kill, and commit adultery.' The Chief answered that he was sorry, for because of her choice death and trouble would come into the world.

The second replied, 'A woman to bear children. I shall be good and virtuous. My descendants will be wise, peaceful, honest, truthful, and chaste.' The Chief commended her, and said that her way would triumph in the end.

The third chose to become Earth. From her, Old One said, everything would grow, and to her would return at death.

The fourth chose to be Fire, in grass, trees, and all wood, for the good of man. The fifth became Water, to 'cleanse and make wise' the people. 'I will assist all things on earth to maintain life.'

Then the Chief transformed them: first Earth, then Water, then Fire. He placed the two women (good and bad) upon the earth, and impregnated them. He told them they would be the parents of all the people. The evil would be more numerous at first, but the good would prevail eventually, he promised. Then the end will come: all the dead and living will be gathered together, Earth, Fire, and Water will resume their original forms, and all will be transformed and made new.

quote 3937 | Native American Culture
Condensed and paraphrased from James A. Teit, Mythology of the Thompson Indians (Publications of the Jessup North Pacific Expedition, vol. 8, Pt. 2 322-4 d New York: Brill and Stechert.)

T hen (1) even nothingness was not, nor existence. (2)
There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it.
What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping?
Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?

Then there were neither death nor immortality,
nor was there then the torch of night and day.
The One (3) breathed mindlessly and self-sustaining. (4)
There was that One then, and there was no other.

At first there was only darkness wrapped in darkness.
All this was only unillumined water. (5)
That One which came to bc, enclosed in nothing,
arose at last, born of the power of heat. (6)

In the beginning desire descended on it-
that was the primal seed, born of the mind.
The sages who have searched their hearts with wisdom
know that which is, is kin (7) to that which is not.

And they have stretched their cord across the void,
and know what was above, and what below.
Seminal powers made fertile mighty forces.
Below was strength, and over it was impulse. (8)

But, after all, who knows, and who can say
whence it all came, and how creation happened?
The gods themselves are later than creation,
so who knows truly whence it has arisen?

Whence all creation had its origin,
he, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not,
he, who surveys it all from highest heaven,
he knows or maybe even he does not know.

quote 3931 | The Rig Veda
X, 129, Translation by A. L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India (London, 1954), pp. 247-8

1 In the beginning. 2 Asat nor sat. 3 Tad ekam, 'That One,' who 'breathes without air.' 4 Svadha, energy, intrinsic power which makes self-generation possible. 5 Fluid (salila) and indistinguishable (apraketa) 6 Tapas, an archaic word which also defines those human austerities br techniques which, like this cosmic heat, generate power. 7 From 'bond' (bandhu). 8 This stanza is obscure. A. A. Macdonell suggests that the 'cord' (rashmi) implies the bond of the preceding stanza; thought measures out the distance between the non-existent and the existent and separates the male and female cosmogonic principles: impulse (prayati) above and energy (svadha) below. (A Vedic Reader for Students, London: Oxford University. 1917, P. 210.)

T he Lord of All, after having come into being, says: I am he who came into being as Khepri (i.e., the Becoming One). When I came into being, the beings came into being, all the beings came into being after I became. Numerous are those who became, who came out of my mouth, before heaven ever existed, nor earth came into being, nor the worms, nor snakes were created in this place. 1, being in weariness, was bound to them in the Watery Abyss. I found no place to stand. I thought in my heart, I planned in myself, I made all forms being alone, before I ejected Shu, before I spat out Tefnut (1) before any other who was in me had become. Then I planned in my own heart, and many forms of beings came into being as forms of children, as forms of their children. I conceived by my hand, I united myself with my hand, I poured out of my own mouth. I ejected Shu, I spat out Tefnut. It was my father the Watery Abyss who brought them up, and my eye followed them (?) while they became far from me. After having become one god, there were (now) three gods in me. When I came into being in this land, Shu and Tefnut jubilated in the Watery Abyss in which they were. Then they brought with them my eye. After I had joined together my members, I wept over them, and men came into being out of the tears which came out of my eyes. (2) Then she (the eye) became enraged (3) after she came back and had found that I had placed another in her place, that she had been replaced by the Brilliant One. Then I found a higher place for her on my brow (4) and when she began to rule over the whole land her fury fell down on the flowering (?) and I replaced what she had ravished. I came out of the flowering (?), I created all snakes, and all that came into being with them. Shu and Tefnut produced Geb and Nut; Geb and Nut produced out of a single body Osiris, Horus the Eyeless one (5) Seth, Isis, and Nephthys, one after the other among them. Their children are numerous in this land.

quote 3930 | Egyptology
The Book of Overthrowing Apophis, Translation and notes by Alexandre Piankoff, in his The Shrines of Tut-ankh-amon (New York, 1955), P. 24. Cf. the translation by John A. Wilson, in ANET, pp. 6-7

1 Shu the air, Tefnut the moist. 2 Same myth in the Book of Gates, division 4 (The Tomb of Ramesses VI, P. 169). 3 An allusion to the myth of the Eye of the sun god which departs into a foreign land and is brought back by Shu and Tefnut. Another aspect. of this myth is to be found in the Book of the Divine Cow. 4 The fire-spitting snake, the uraeus on the head of the god. 5 The Elder Horus of Letopolis.

S eek to glorify him for us with hymns of devotion.

quote 3920 | The Avesta
Yasna'45, 10, Translation and introductory note by Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin, in his The Hymns of Zarathustra (London 1952), pp. 90-7

F or the Tath-a gata has seen the triple world as it really is: It is not born, it dies not there is no decease or rebirth, no Samsara- or Nirvana; it is not real or unreal, not existent, or non-existent, not such, or otherwise, no false or not-false.

quote 3915 | Buddha Sakyamuni
Saddharmapundarika, XV, 268-72, Translation by Edwin Conze, in Conze, et al., Buddhist Texts through the Ages (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer. 1954)

A nd why should they not pay homage to Thee, Exalted One?
Thou art greater even than Brahman; Thou art the First Creator;
infinite Lord of Gods, in whom the world dwells,
Thou the imperishable, existent, non-existent, and beyond both! (37)

Thou art the Primal God, the Ancient Spirit,
Thou art the supreme resting-place of this universe;
Thou art the knower, the object of knowledge, and the highest station,
By Thee the universe is pervaded, Thou of infinite form! . . . (38)

Thou art the father of the world of things that move and move not,
And thou art its revered, most venerable Guru;
There is no other like Thee, how then a greater?
Even in the three worlds, 0 Thou of matchless greatness! (43)

quote 3914 | The Bhagavat Gita
XI, Selection, Translation by Franklin Edgerton, in Edgerton Bhagavad-Gita, Vol I. Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. 38 (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1944)

T hus it is, as Thou declarest
Thyself, 0 Supreme Lord.
I desire to see Thy form.
As God, 0 Supreme Spirit! (3)

If Thou thinkest that it can
Be seen by me, 0 Lord,
Prince of mystic power, then do Thou to me
Reveal Thine immortal Self. (4)

The Blessed One said:
Behold My forms, son of Prtha,
By hundreds and by thousands,
Of various sorts, marvelous,
Of various colours and shapes. . . .(5)

But thou canst not see Me
With this same eye of thine own;
I give thee a supernatural eye:
Behold My mystic power as God! (8)

quote 3913 | The Bhagavat Gita
XI, Selection, Translation by Franklin Edgerton, in Edgerton Bhagavad-Gita, Vol I. Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. 38 (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1944)

T he sum and substance of the whole matter is that a man must love God, must be restless for Him. It doesn't matter whether you believe in God with form or God without form. You may or may not believe that God incarnates Himself as man. But you will realize Him if you have that yearning. Then He himself will let you know what He is like. If you must be mad, why should you be mad for the things of the world? If you must be mad, be mad for God alone.

quote 3902 | Ramakrishna
Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 449

Y ou will feel restless for God when your heart becomes pure and your mind free from attachment to the things of the world. Then alone will your prayer reach God. A telegraph wire cannot carry messages if it has a break or some other defect.

quote 3900 | Ramakrishna
Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 375

T he path of knowledge leads to Truth, as does the path that combines knowledge and love [bhakti]. The path of love too leads to this goal. The way of love is as true as the way of knowledge. All paths ultimately lead to the same Truth. But as long as God keeps the feeling of ego in us, it is easier to follow the path of love.

quote 3898 | Ramakrishna
Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 104

O ne cannot see God without purity of heart. Through attachment to "woman and gold" the mind has become stained -covered with dirt, as it were. A magnet cannot attract a needle if the needle is covered with mud. Wash away the mud and the magnet will draw it. Likewise, the dirt of the mind can be washed away with the tears of our eyes. This stain is removed if one sheds tears of repentence and says, "0 God, I shall never again do such a thing." Thereupon God, who is like the, magnet, draws to Himself the mind, which is like the needle. Then the devotee goes into samadhi and obtains the vision of God.

You may try thousands of times, but nothing can be achieved without God's grace. One cannot see God without His grace. Is it an easy thing to receive the grace of God? One must altogether renounce egotism; one cannot see God as long as one feels "I am the doer ... ... God doesn't easily appear in the heart of a man who feels himself to be his own master. But God can be seen the moment His grace descends. He is the Sun of Knowledge. One single ray of His has illumined the world with the light of knowledge. This is how we are able to see one another and acquire varied knowledge. One can see God only if He turns His light toward His own Face.

quote 3896 | Ramakrishna
Nikhilananda, 1942; p. 173-174

T he Divine Mother revealed to me in the Kali temple that was She who had become everything. She showed me everything was full of Consciousness. The image was Consciousness, the altar was Consciousness, the water-vessels Consciousness, the door-sill was Consciousness, the marble floor was Consciousness -- all was Consciousness. I found everything inside the room soaked, as It were, in Bliss,

Bliss of God. I saw a wicked man in front of the Kali temple; but in him also I saw the power of the Divine Mother vibrating. That was why I fed a cat with the food that was to be offered to the Divine Mother. I clearly perceived that all this was the Divine Mother-even the cat.

quote 3875 | Ramakrishna
Nikhilananda, 1942; pp. 15-16

D adu says: I am nothing and can do nothing
Truly even a fool may reach Thee by Thy grace.

quote 3873 | Dadu
Jiwat Mritak; Orr, 1947, p. 142

T he Creator has many and diverse names:
Choose the name that comes to mind; thus do all the saints practice remembrance.
The Lord who endowed us with soul and body-worship Him in your heart ;
Worship Him by that name which best suits the moment.

quote 3865 | Dadu
Psalm 181; Orr, 1947, p. 140

S o many bodies, so many opinions! But my Beloved, though invisible, is in all these bodies.
There is no life at all without the Beloved; the Self lives as each and every one.
What, then, 0 friend, are you searching for like a fool?
The object of your quest is within you, as the oil is in the sesame seed.
As the pupil is in the eye, so is the Lord in the body;
The deluded do not know Him, and search for Him without.
The lock of error shuts the gate; open it with the key of Love.
By opening the door, you shall wake the Beloved.
Kabir says: 0 brother, do not pass by such good fortune as this!

quote 3850 | Kabir
Bijak, Shastri, 1941;pp.52-53,41

W hat , more do you want, 0 soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfactions, fullness, and kingdom -your Beloved whom you desire and seek? Be joyful and gladdened in your interior recollection with Him, for you have Him so close to you. Desire Him there, adore Him there. Do not go in pursuit of Him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and wearied thereby, and you shall not find Him, nor enjoy Him more securely, nor sooner, nor more intimately than by seeking Him within you.

quote 3848 | Saint John of the Cross
Spiritual Canticle, I.8; Kavanaugh & Rodriguez, 1973; p. 419

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