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(9-20-2000)
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Fellowship,not Fusion(S. radhakrishnan, "Fragments of a Confession")
I am reading another terrific book on sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. ISBN 0-8126-9133-4 (Open Court, publishers)
"The Philosophy of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, 23 critical essays".
The first chapter "Fragments of a Confession" is by SR himself, and is a must read.
This post is a brief excerpt for discussion purposes:
(pg 75)
Fellowship, not Fusion:
The world is seeking not so much a fusion of religions as a fellowship of religions, based on the realization of the foundational character of man's religious experience.
William Blake says, "As all men are like (though infinitely various), so all Religions, as all similars, have one source." The different religions may retain their individualities, their distinctive doctrines and characteristic pieties, SO LONG AS THEY DO NOT IMPAIR THE SENSE OF SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP. The light of eternity would blind us if it came full in the face. It is broken into colors (like a rainbow!) so our eyes can make something of it. [Sitaram's comment: think how a rainbow was the sign of the first peace or covenant between noah and God after the flood. Also think about the 'rainbow' of languages imposed at the tower of Babel, to spare man the pride of "reaching heaven"]
The different religious traditions clothe the One Reality in various images and their visions could embrace and fertilize each other so as to give mankind a many-sided perfection [Sitaram interjects: ANEKANTAVADA, the wonderful Jain concept that any attempt at expressing the truth is but a partial manifestation of the Truth] , the spiritual radiance of Hinduism, the faithful obedience of Judaism, the life of beauty of Greek Paganism, the noble compassion of Buddhism, the vision of divine love of Christianity, and the spirit of resignation to the sovereign lord of Islam. All these represent different aspects of the inward spiritual life, projections on the intellectual plane of the ineffable experiences of the human spirit.
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