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Appreciating all religions
June 3, 2013  |  radhanath-swami

Richard (now Radhanath Swami) was surprised that Narayan Prasad had close friendship with a Muslim, Mohammad. Richard too met him and they spoke for many hours daily on the parallels of Gita, Bible and Koran. Richard asked how come Narayana Prasad had such close friendship with a Muslim, in a country where there is so much conflict between the two religions, Hinduism and Islam.  Narayana Prasad gave a wonderful reply that Radhanath Swami hasn’t forgotten till now.  Narayana Prasad said, “A dog will recognize his master in whatever way he dresses. The master may dress in robes, suit and tie, or stand naked, but the dog will always recognize his master. If we cannot recognize God, our beloved master, when he comes in a different dress from another religion, then we are less than that dog.”

Radhanath Swami implores all seekers of Truth to not get bogged down by the superficial externals of religion; rather he begs all to see the underlying principles uniting all religions. Some common principles of all religions that Radhanath Swami emphasizes are ‘Love thy neighbor’ and ‘live for Truth’. Radhanath Swami says that there may be differences in religions but they are superficial. On the other hand similarities between religions are deeper. When we only focus on the rituals, institutions and mindsets of religions that differ according to the time, place and circumstances we are breeding fanaticism. The fallible human mistakes, misinterpretations and misconceptions have over the centuries obscured the meaning of real religions and caused many to go astray from the fundamental  that is to unconditionally love God and all His children. Radhanath Swami has tirelessly sought to remove these misconceptions and help people seek unity on the basis of our eternal relationship with God.

Growing up with devout Christian friends, while I was myself from a Hindu family, I observed some common principles in both these religions. I observed Christians baptizing infants as well as elders either by total immersion in water or by sprinkling some water on head and chanting some prayers. Even amongst Hindus, sprinkling of sacred water and immersion in water body is a sacred ritual. Most Hindu temples have a pond of water attached and traditionally devout pilgrims would take a bath in the pond before going in to see the deity. Also rivers like Ganga and Yamuna are sacred to the Hindus and all caste distinctions and external differences are said to be dissolved when we dip in these holy bodies of water.  Besides it is interesting to note that all bonafide religions consider their sacred texts to be word of God. Also materialistic lives have been condemned and I found the phrase ‘blind leading the blind’ in both Christian gospels as well as Hindu literatures. Both religions talk of repentance for sin, a past war in heaven between good and bad angel, and the need to have faith in the savior or guru. Rebirth is also mentioned in both these religions.

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30 Comments


  1. HH Radhanath Maharaj sees the essence and good in every religion and teaches us to do the same.

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  2. thank you for sharing :).

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  3. Thank you Radhanath swami for your blog that is a must read for those people who think religion is reason for conflicts between several nations.

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  4. Kalpana Kulkarni

    It is great souls like Radhanath Swami who can see people from all religions, caste, country and nationalities equally without prejudice.

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  5. Very nice article by Radhanath Swami. Bhagvad Gita mentions that a real saint does not differentiate between people based on caste, creed, culture.

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  6. sri vallabhi dd

    Essence of all religion is love for God.No differentiation of people between caste creed or culture.Very nice article by Maharaj

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  7. Radhanath Swami Ki Jai !!

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  8. Radhanath swami shared a very nice essence of religion. Radhanath swami also talks about what is the religion of salt is sour, it never changes it’s religion. So being hindu, muslim, Christian is not a true religion which can be changed anytime, true religion is our connection with supreme lord.

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  9. As HH Radhanath Swami nicely meditates in this article the purpose of all religions is to get reconnected to God.

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  10. essence of religion is to unconditionally love God and his children, so well explained.

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  11. Very nice article by Radhanath Swami !

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  12. Y. Raja Shekar

    This is one of the most interesting article I had come across. The realisations and efforts of HH Radhanath Swami to unite all religions is very amazing.

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  13. Superb explantion

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  14. Superb explanation

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  15. As HH Radhanath Swami says in this meditation, the purpose of all religions is one if we really try to understand them deeply.

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  16. materialistic lives have been condemned in both religions

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  17. Tallam Sita Ramaiah

    This aspect is one thing due to which, I read the book three times. H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj is never critical of any spiritual seekers. Several common principles are discussed. These are indeed eye openers to me.

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  18. This article gives us great hope where we find harmony amongst all religions & love amongst each other…..

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  19. Thanks for sharing

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  20. Many thanks for sharing this wonderful article.Radhanath Swami has tirelessly sought to remove these misconceptions and help people seek unity on the basis of our eternal relationship with God.

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  21. Swapnil Gaonkar

    This is a sign of pure devotee, who see only love to God as a teaching in every religion

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  22. Thank you for sharing this wonderful article 🙂

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  23. Religion is meant for reuniting with our Supreme Father,The God.The scriptures are the words of God and therefore the teaching of all religion,the purpose of all religion is to attain Love of God,which is Supreme goal of human form of life. Narayan Prasad’s statement quoted by Radhanath Maharaj is very logical and good to understand our responsibility in human form of life.

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  24. Tallam Sita Ramaiah

    “There may be differences in religions but they are superficial. On the other hand similarities between religions are deeper. When we only focus on the rituals, institutions and mindsets of religions that differ according to the time, place and circumstances we are breeding fanaticism. The fallible human mistakes, misinterpretations and misconceptions have over the centuries obscured the meaning of real religions and caused many to go astray from the fundamental that is to unconditionally love God and all His children.” This answers for the cause of conflicts and fights in the name of religion.

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  25. Tallam Sita Ramaiah

    This is very interesting and helps in proper understanding to promote mutual appreciation.

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  26. HH Radhanath Maharaj sees the essence and good in every religion and teaches us to do the same.

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  27. Thank you Radhanath Swami for this wonderful article

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  28. Wonderful statement ..- The scriptures are the words of God and therefore the teaching of all religion,the purpose of all religion is to attain Love of God,which is Supreme goal of human form of life. All glories to HH Radhanath swami maharaj

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  29. “…there may be differences in religions but they are superficial. On the other hand similarities between religions are deeper.” – HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj ki jai!
    Religion means that which advocates and teaches us ‘love for God’…

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  30. Kalpana Kulkarni

    The hallmark of all great souls is to appreciate all religions and realize that the essence of all religions is the same.

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