One Truth, Many Paths

Passages from diverse scriptures affirm that religions that do not share the faith of that scripture nevertheless contain elements of Truth. They affirm that all genuine religions worship the same God.

Thus, the Qur’an affirms that Jews and Christians are People of the Book who worship the same God as the God of Muhammad. The Sikh scriptures affirm that there is one God for Muslims and Hindus.

A Shinto text affirms that the chief Shinto deity is essentially the same as the Buddha. Further, scriptures affirm that each religion is a path to the same Supreme Goal.

Here we have the famous images of many rivers flowing into the same ocean or a mountain with many paths leading up to the same summit. The religions of the world begin by addressing the needs, customs and circumstances of diverse cultures, but as they elevate humanity, they draw closer together as their paths converge to the One.

In this regard, Father Moon affirms that God inspired each of the great religious founders with a message appropriate to the culture and times in which he lived. He honors them as humanity’s true guides, who sent to the earth within the providence of God to help humanity progress towards the ultimate goal.

Certainly, every religion considers it's way the best and highest path. The Bible says that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life,” and that “nobody comes to the Father but by me.”

The Qur’an states that it is the only accurate witness to the previous revelations—the Torah and the Gospel having suffered corruptions and interpolations.

Nevertheless, we are cautioned to be humble before the higher wisdom of God. As the Parable of the Blind Man and the Elephant teaches, each way may touch the truth without seeing its entirety.

Father Moon likewise sees religions at different levels, due to their appearance at different ages in the course of humanity’s spiritual development.

Yet, the differences among religions should not obscure the core truth they hold in common. Hence, religious people can overlook their differences and find common ground.

All Religions Worship the Same God and Serve His Great Will

The Hindus and the Muslims have but one and the same God; What can a mullah or a sheikh do? Adi Granth, Bhairo, p. 1158 (Sikhism)

For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 1.11

Those who worship other gods with faith and devotion also worship Me, Arjuna, even if they do not observe the usual forms. I am the object of all worship, its enjoyer and Lord. Bhagavad-Gita 9.23-24 (Hinduism)

Lo! We did reveal the Torah, wherein is guidance and a light, by which the prophets who submitted to God judged the Jews, as did the rabbis and the doctors of the law, because they were required to guard God’s Book, and to which they were witnesses.

So fear not, mankind, but fear Me. And barter not My revelations for a little gain. Whoso judges not by that which God has sent down—such are disbelievers…

And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming the Torah before him, and We bestowed on him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was revealed before it in the Torah—a guidance and an admonition for those who ward off evil.

Let the People of the Gospel judge by that which God has revealed therein. Whosoever judges not by that which God has revealed—such are those who live in evil.

And unto thee We revealed the Scripture with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture was before it, and a watcher over it. So judge between them by that which God has revealed, and follow not their desires apart from the truth which has come unto thee. For each We have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way. Had God so willed, He could have made you all one community.

But He willed it otherwise in order to test you by that which He has given you. So vie one with another in doing good works! Unto God you will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein you differ. Qur’an 5.44-48

This is the land of the gods. The people should revere them. In my essence I [Amaterasu] am the Buddha Vairocana. Let my people understand this and take refuge in the Law of the Buddhas.3 Revelation of Amaterasu to Emperor Shomu (Shinto)

There can be no doubt that whatever the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God.

The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed.

All of them, except for a few which are the outcomes of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 111 (Baha’i Faith)

As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their waters in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths that men take, through various tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee. Sanskrit hymn (Hinduism)

In whatever way and path humans worship Me, in that same path do I meet and fulfill their aspirations and grace them. It is always My Path that humans follow in all their different paths and journeys, on all sides. Bhagavad-Gita 4.11 (Hinduism)

Those who believe in the Qur’an, those who follow the Jewish scriptures, and the Sabeans and the Christians—any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness—on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. Qur’an 5.69

There are righteous men among the Gentiles who have a share in the world to come. Tosefta Sanhedrin 13.2 (Judaism)

And Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Acts 10.34-35

And nearest to them in love to the believers you will find those who say, “We are Christians,” because among them are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.

And when they listen to the revelation received by the Apostle, you will see their eyes overflowing with tears, for they recognize the truth. They pray, “Our Lord! We believe; write us down among the witnesses.” Qur’an 5.82-83

Other religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing “ways,” comprising teachings, rules of life and sacred rites.

The Catholic Church rejects nothing true and holy in these religions. She looks with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Vatican II, Nostra Aetate (Christianity)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Although different religions have different names for God and different ways of worshipping Him, the central Being worshipped by each religion is the one and only God. (140:11, February 1, 1986)

All people know Jesus, Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad as the founders of the world’s great religions. We revere them as the guides of humankind. There can be no objection to believing their teachings.

Why should people follow them? They came to this world as our guides. Each takes responsibility for one religion and guides his people to advance toward the summit.

When they reach the summit and find that they are only on a low peak among a great range of mountains, these founders will lead them to another trail, and then another, as they advance upward towards the highest summit. God does not choose only the path to the summit from the East.

If God did, people from the West who cannot come around to the East would have no path. Therefore, God established religions in every direction—East, West, South and North—and revealed the major routes to reach to the peak from each direction. On the way, they each absorbed numerous people, as God furthered their progress towards one unified world. (81:181-82, December 28, 1975)

All four great founders of religion were centered on God. They were not their own lords, for above each was God, their Lord. God is above Jesus; likewise, God is above Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad. These men knew God; that is why they could become the founders of religion.

That is why they taught a common message—that message was one of righteousness, peace and justice. They worked to spread that message and to establish a world of goodness. They all lived many centuries ago, yet their teachings guide people to the present day. (130:146-47, January 8, 1984)

There are numerous religions on the earth today. God needed to set up different religions in order to gather the people scattered all over the world. Each people has a religion suited to its distinct history, circumstance, cultural background and customs, yet these religions are all headed towards one goal.

They are like the streams of a single river. As you go downstream, the number of streams decreases as they merge into larger and larger tributaries, until finally they merge into a single great river. Likewise, all the religions are to unite as they flow towards the place where they can capture God’s love; there they will stay. (23:125, May 18, 1969)

Religion provides training as we seek for God’s love and ideals. The world’s religions were given different responsibilities to raise people, level by level, back to the original state. (87:177, June 2, 1976)

The world in which we live is not the world of goodness; it is a fallen world where evil holds sway. Hence, many barriers block our relationship with the God of goodness. To remove these barriers, God needs human beings to play a mediating role.

Therefore, throughout history and all over the world, God has been developing movements based on religion to transform this evil world to a world of goodness. Among every people of the world, God developed a religion suitable for their unique culture and customs. God expanded the scope of these religions according to their suitability, from local beliefs to worldwide faiths.

Today, these religious roots have spawned four great civilizations: Christian civilization, Islamic civilization, Indian [Hindu] civilization, and the Far Eastern civilization rooted in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

Looking at the world today, what would be God’s wish? He desires that these four religions not remain separate; He would unite them and present one religion on the world stage. That religion should represent God’s true Will to the world. (113:313, May 10, 1981)

There is not a single person whom Thou hast not touched, or country that Thou hast not guided in hope. Thou hast been leading all peoples, transcending national borders, to the present point on the path to the original world, Thine eternal ideal. (76:86-87, February 1, 1975)

Beneath the Differences Are Universal Elements

A number of disciples went to the Buddha and said, “Sir, there are living here in Savatthi many wandering hermits and scholars who indulge in constant dispute, some saying that the world is infinite and eternal and others that it is finite and not eternal, some saying that the soul dies with the body and others that it lives on forever, and so forth. What, Sir, would you say concerning them?” The Buddha answered, “Once upon a time there was a certain raja who called to his servant and said, ‘Come, good fellow, go and gather together in one place all the men of Savatthi who were born blind… and show them an elephant.’

‘Very good, sire,’ replied the servant, and he did as he was told. He said to the blind men assembled there, ‘Here is an elephant,’ and to one man he presented the head of the elephant, to another its ears, to another a tusk, to another the trunk, the foot, back, tail, and tuft of the tail, saying to each one that that was the elephant.

“When the blind men had felt the elephant, the raja went to each of them and said to each, ‘Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me, what sort of thing is an elephant?’ “Thereupon the men who were presented with the head answered, ‘Sire, an elephant is like a pot.’ And the men who had observed the ear replied, ‘An elephant is like a winnowing basket.’ Those who had been presented with a tusk said it was a ploughshare. Those who knew only the trunk said it was a plough; others said the body was a granary; the foot, a pillar; the back, a mortar; the tail, a pestle, the tuft of the tail, a brush.

“Then they began to quarrel, shouting, ‘Yes it is!’ ‘No, it is not!’ ‘An elephant is not that!’ ‘Yes, it’s like that!’ and so on, till they came to blows over the matter. The raja was delighted with the scene. “Just so are these preachers and scholars holding various views blind and unseeing… In their ignorance they are by nature quarrelsome, wrangling, and disputatious, each maintaining reality is thus and thus.” Then the Exalted One rendered this meaning by uttering this verse of uplift: O how they cling and wrangle, some who claim For preacher and monk the honored name! For, quarreling, each to his view they cling. Such folk see only one side of a thing.5 Udana 68-69: Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant (Buddhism)

Some Hindus had brought an elephant for exhibition and placed it in a dark house. Crowds of people were going into that dark place to see the beast. Finding that ocular inspection was impossible, each visitor felt it with his palm in the darkness.

The palm of one fell on the trunk. “This creature is like a water-spout,” he said. The hand of another lighted on the elephant’s ear. To him the beast was evidently like a fan. Another rubbed against its leg. “I found the elephant’s shape is like a pillar,” he said. Another laid his hand on its back. “Certainly this elephant is like a throne,” he said. The sensual eye is just like the palm of the hand. The palm has not the means of covering the whole of the beast. The eye of the Sea is one thing and the foam another. Let the foam go, and gaze with the eye of the Sea. Day and night, foam-flecks are flung from the sea: How amazing! You behold the foam but not the Sea. We are like boats dashing together; our eyes are darkened, yet we are in clear water. Jalalu’l-Din Rumi, Masnavi 3.1259-1272 (Islam)

A man among the Muslims and a man among the Jews reviled one another. The Muslim said, “By Him who chose Muhammad above the universe,” and the Jew said, “By Him who chose Moses above the universe.” Thereupon the Muslim raised his hand and struck the Jew on his face, and the Jew went to the Prophet and told him what had happened between him and the Muslim. The Prophet summoned the Muslim and asked him about that, and when he informed him the Prophet said, “Do not make me superior to Moses, for mankind will swoon on the day of resurrection and I shall swoon along with them. I shall be the first to recover and see Moses seizing the side of the Throne; and I shall not know whether he was among those who had swooned and had recovered before me, or whether he was among those of whom God had made an exception… Do not make distinctions between the Prophets.” Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim (Islam)

Some call on the Lord, “Rama,” some cry, “Khuda,” Some bow to Him as Gosain, some as Allah; He is called the Ground of Grounds and also the Bountiful, The Compassionate One and Gracious. Hindus bathe in holy waters for His sake; Muslims make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Hindus perform puja; others bow their heads in namaz.

There are those who read the Vedas and others—Christians, Jews, Muslims—who read the Semitic scriptures. Some wear blue, some white robes, Some call themselves Muslims, others Hindus. Some aspire to bahishat [Muslim heaven], some to swarga [Hindu heaven]. Says Nanak, Whoever realizes the will of the Lord, He will find out the Lord’s secrets! Adi Granth, Ramkali, M.5, p. 885 (Sikhism)

Of whatsoever teachings, Gotamid, you can assure yourself thus, “These doctrines conduce to passions, not to dispassion; to bondage, not to detachment; to increase of worldly gains, not to decrease of them; to covetousness, not to frugality; to discontent, not contentment; to company, not solitude; to sluggishness, not energy; to delight in evil, not delight in good”— of such teachings you may with certainty affirm, Gotamid, “This is not the Norm. This is not the Discipline. This is not the Master’s Message.” But of whatsoever teachings you can assure yourself thus, “These doctrines conduce to dispassion, not to passions… to delight in good, not delight in evil”—of such teachings you may with certainty affirm, “This is the Norm. This is the Discipline. This is the Master’s Message.” Vinaya Pitaka 2.10 (Buddhism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
In every culture, religion should be the core and standard of public righteousness.

Hence each religion holds pride in keeping its own traditions and thinks itself superior to any other. However, the universal elements in each of their teachings come from the one God. (234:222, August 20, 1992)

Lamentable it is that the very religions that were supposed to serve as the leading elements of the human spirit and as the leading mediators of conflict have themselves become sources of conflict, thereby diminishing religious dignity and authority even further. Judaism fights Islam; Catholicism conflicts with Protestantism; Christianity contradicts Buddhism.

Even within one religion, different denominations fight among themselves. The basic cause of religious conflict lies in the ambiguity of their doctrines about Ultimate Reality.

The Absolute Being is only one; there cannot be two absolute beings. However, when the leaders of each religion claim that only their absolute being is the true God, it leads to the contradiction that there is more than one absolute being.

We would then conclude that the god of each religion is only a relative god, and that there is no basis for believing that the Absolute Being exists.

Consequently, although God has been promoting through the various religions a universal teaching about God’s love and truth, their various perspectives remain only relative.

We can conclude that religions have been incapable of establishing the absolute value perspective that can bring the prevailing confusion under control. This is the inevitable result of the fact that no religion has been able to present the correct explanation about the Absolute Being. (122:300-01, November 25, 1982)

As most people live in two dimensions, all religions appear to them to be the same. However, if looking at their backgrounds, especially from the standpoint of God’s providence for the restoration of humankind, we recognize that religions are at different levels: the servant of servant-level religion, the servant-level religion, the adopted son-level religion, the half son-level religion, the son-level religion, the mother-level religion, the father-level religion, and finally the True Parent-level religion.

Throughout history, religions have developed from stage to stage. Yet all religions, regardless of their level, have something in common: Love God and serve Him as the absolute Lord.

Most of their basic teachings are the same. For this reason, it is hard to distinguish the difference between their levels. If so, are all religions really the same? No, they are not. (143:75-76, December 9, 1990)

Good and evil are not determined by your beliefs and thoughts. They are determined by your daily life. Whether you are destined for heaven or hell is not determined by your doctrines and perspectives on the world, but by your daily life. (40:294-95, February 7, 1971)