Are all religions essentially the same?

I used to believe that underneath all the obvious differences between religions, there was a difficult-to-discern common core. Mysticism was what united Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, and other faiths.

God is One. Humans have, or rather are, a soul. It is possible for this soul-drop to merge into the One god-ocean.

There. Three simple sentences. Forget all the complex divisive theologies. That's the oft-forgotten genuine essence of every religion: realizing that our true Self is, basically, the same as God. 

It was a nice belief. Warm and fuzzy.

The Indian spiritual organization, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, that I was an active member of for over thirty years promulgated this creed in books that purported to show how Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism really were the same once the common mystical essence of each religion was recognized.

And who was the recognizer of this amazing truth? As the old saying goes, you only get three guesses, and the first two don't count. 

Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB).

That common mystical essence just happened to be exactly what the RSSB gurus and high-ranking devotees taught. If you were a Christian and thought you knew what Christianity is all about, you were mistaken. You needed to buy the RSSB books which explained what Jesus really meant in the New Testament.

Ditto for Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism. To my knowledge Radha Soami Satsang Beas never has gotten around to showing how Buddhism and Taoism are akin to the RSSB teachings, probably because this would be such a stretch.

In a fascinating piece, "Preventing holy wars, by consensus," David Chapman convincingly argues that this all religions are one notion is a load of crap. He focuses on how Consensus Buddhism gets this wrong, but his analysis pertains equally to anyone, including RSSB, who claims to know the common essence of all religions.

If all religions are essentially the same, what is it that is the same about them?

This is a question advocates of the “brotherhood of all religions” would rather skate over. When pressed, they usually produce one of two answers:

• All religions say everyone should be nice to everyone else.
• The essence of all religions is the mystical insight that your True Self is the same as God.

Both of these are factually false.

...Almost no one agrees that your True Self is God

The only major religion that says your True Self is God is Hinduism—and only some Hindu sects.

Nevertheless, the idea that this is the essence of all religions—which are therefore all really the same—is increasingly popular in the West. This is called “Perennialism” by religious scholars.

Perennialism is rejected by most prominent spokespeople for most religions. Perennialists need to argue that all these authorities are deluded about the nature of their own religions. A Perennialist knows The Truth about Islam, that it is really one path among many to becoming God. Most imams consider that the worst idea imaginable, but they don’t really know anything about Islam. Since the essence of Islam is the mystical experience of becoming God, which the imams have lost, they are idiots and should be ignored.

...The third problem with “all religions are essentially the same” is that it has been, from its invention, a tool for totalitarian domination. Whoever gets to say what the “essence” is holds all religious power.

This has been the strategy of American Consensus Buddhism: to define all alternatives out of existence by insisting on sameness.

Read Chapman's entire essay. The comments on his piece also are interesting, including Chapman's responses to some criticisms.

I'm a big fan of his open-minded, intelligent take on both Buddhism and religiosity in general. Check out my previous Chapman-related blog posts here, here, here, and here.

Comments

[Willie R.]

I am in sympathetic resonance with David Chapman's basic assertion that neither nihilism nor eternalism are true as (so to speak) "things" in themselves. As stances, they cannot account for the immediacy of Reality as it presents to humans. But, his "meaningness" stance is rather droll, and ultimately to be burned in the same pyre with all intellectual pursuits.

Saying that all is "one" and that this same "one" is "God" is no different than saying that Reality is immediate and all occurrence is simultaneous. Life is very good for some people, and very bad for some people. No one will ever be able to explain it, because there is no such thing as an explanation for the stark inevitability of experience.

[Brian Hines]

Whoa, I stand corrected: Radha Soami Satsang Beas does indeed have a book about Buddhism. I got an email today from someone who let me know about RSSB's "Buddhism" title. See:
https://ssl.perfora.net/s112005287.oneandoneshop.com/sess/utn154f184d844b18b/shopdata/?main_url=product_overview.shopscript

He was curious to know what I thought of it, so I ordered a copy. My prediction: it will strike me as slanted and not in accord with general Buddhist principles. But, hey, I could be wrong. Here's the book description on the RSSB web site:
-------------------------
"Buddhism: Path to Nirvana is an account of the Buddha’s life, philosophy and thought. In the book we discover the Buddha’s wise, pragmatic, and compassionate approach to be reminiscent of that of all great spiritual teachers. Buddhism: Path to Nirvana suggests that as living examples of spirituality, speaking from direct and personal experience, the enlightened alone can help others travel the inner way to liberation and bliss. The book shows the essential unity of the teachings of the Buddha and other spiritual teachings of the time. Here we find in the Buddha's message the perennial invitation to abandon outer ritual and travel instead within ourselves, to transform and free ourselves through meditation."

[tucson]

The RSSB description... "Buddhism: Path to Nirvana suggests that as living examples of spirituality, speaking from direct and personal experience, the enlightened alone can help others travel the inner way to liberation and bliss."

Here they go again with the bait "liberation and bliss". Sort of like a car advertisement...buy car X and experience a blissfull ride and liberation from the limitations of your old clunker. It's just marketing. The guru business is going strong. And how do we know the guru is enlightened? At least with the car I can take a test drive and experience the ride to see if it is all it is cranked up to be. I don't have to warm up the engine for 53 years or four lifetimes to find out.

And then there is the concept of traveling within ourselves TO freedom. If it is within ourselves we are already there.

I heard Brad Pitt, the actor, respond to an interviewer's question, "Are you happy?"

He said something like: Happiness is overrated. Who can be happy all the time? Life is full of ups and downs and challenges. Sometimes you just don't feel so good. I think the best we can hope for is the satisfaction we derive from a life well lived and good relationships.

[Betty]

Book suggestion -- God is Not One --by Prothero. Been on my Amazon Wish List for some time.

It has mixed reviews, but still sounds worth the read.

http://www.amazon.com/God-Not-One-World-Differences/dp/006157127X

[Brian Hines]

Betty, thanks for the recommendation. I've read "God is Not One" and enjoyed it. Wrote three blog posts about the book:

http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2010/06/god-is-not-one-shows-how-different-religions-are.html

http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2010/06/why-were-all-muslims-a-teeny-tiny-bit.html

http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2010/07/whats-churchlessly-cool-about-judaism-and-not.html

[Betty]

Thanks Brian.

I ought to stop by more often. You've probably read/reviewed (kind of) other books on my Amazon list..