Symposium on Unity Of Faiths gets under way
Monday, July 2nd, 2012
The one-day symposium on Unity Of Faith, being conducted on the sidelines of Guru Purnima 2012, got underway this morning here in Prasanthi Nilayam.
In the morning session, two erudite speakers, towering personalities representing Islam and Hinduism spoke to the large gathering of devotees assembled in Sai Kulwant Hall. Sri Srirangarajan, Controller of Examinations, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning introduced the two speakers for the session. They were Prof. Akhtarul Wasey, Head of Department, Islamic Studies, Jamia Milla Islamia, New Delhi and His Holiness Swami Dayananda Saraswati.
Sri Srirangarajan began with placing his reverential salutations at the Lotus Feet of Bhagawan. A notable feature of his talk was he interspersed with clips from Bhagawan’s Discourses. Before the talk of Prof. Wasey, a poem of Bhagawan on the subject “Unity of Faiths” was played in the Public Address system:
He who is worshipped as Allah by Muslims,
As Jehovah by Christian aspirants,
As the Lotus-eyed Lord by the worshippers of Vishnu,
As Sambhu by those who revere Siva,
In whatever way He is worshipped, He gladly responds,
Grants the grace of fame and fortune,
And showers happiness and joy.
He is the One,
The Supreme Self. Know Him as Paramatma. (Telugu Poem)
On account of distorted interpretation, people of many religions are misguided. The outcome is violence and bloodshed. If you know who you are, you will understand what religion is.” Continuing further, he said, “True spirituality means the spirit in you is present in everyone. Realisation is religion.
Prof. Akhtarul Wasey said that it was his privilege and pleasure to be at Prasanthi Nilayam as a pilgrim. A true Muslim will respect all religions. Echoing a lofty statement, the learned speaker said, “Whoever is born is born for doing service.” Giving the true meaning of Jihad, the speaker said, Jihad does not mean ‘holy war’ but supreme struggle against evil desires and other evil tendencies.
After the talk of Prof. Wasey, H.H. Dayananda Saraswasti, a traditional teacher of Vedanta said that he was happy to be here because he is at the Abode of the Person Who has inspired not only people of this country but people of all cultures and religions. The speaker expressed that what goes under the name Hinduism is one Sanathana Dharma, never founded by anybody; a Dharma which produced in every generation great people. When a philosopher was asked about Hinduism, he said, it is the view and way of life. H.H. Dayananda Saraswati concluded his talk by saying that Baba validated all forms of prayer and worship. God understands all languages, any form of prayer.
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