roAd maps to The kingdom within

The scriptures of the world are roadmaps that lead us to the hidden kingdom within. Read them closely, they are pathways to Self-realization.
           
                       - Paul Hourihan from the article Going Beyond the Surrogates for the Self

ThE Light thRough a prism

The Supreme is like the light that comes through the prism in a window. The prism is turned one way, and it is a yellow light; another way, and it is a blue light; a third way, and we find still another color. But chiefly we want to know—is there a light there to begin with? And the Upanishadic sages affirm that there is. But depending on the culture, the prophet, the age, and on many other things, the Light coming through will be described in various terms.  

- excerpt from Children of Immortal Bliss by Paul Hourihan

Each Religion a Path

One of the core principles of the Vedanta philosophy of India states that each religion is but a path to the hidden goal―not the goal itself. One takes the path that suits him or her, that is all.

Each religion differs in its doctrines, traditions, rituals, and so on―in other words, in the nonessentials of spiritual aspiration. With respect to the eternal reality that may be realized in this life in the depths of one's consciousness, they are in agreement. For example, they all stress the virtue of renunciation, service to others, relating to others as though to one's own self, as though we had in common the same life, the same destiny and the same self, which is a simple but adequate rendering of the prime truth of Vedanta.

Therefore the essentials of religions are the same in all faiths. The difficulty comes when we compare our essentials with others' nonessentials! The Supreme is like the light that comes through the prism in a window. The prism is turned one way, and it is a yellow light; another way, and it is a blue light; a third way, and we find still another color. But chiefly we want to know―is there a light there to begin with? And the Upanishadic sages affirm that there is. But depending on the culture, the prophet, the age, and on many other things, the Light coming through will be described in various terms.
 

                  Reality and the Intellect

According to the highest truth of Vedanta, there is only one Reality, which is indivisible. But it is divisible by the intellect, which must have its categories before intellectual knowledge, exploration, analysis, and formulation, can take place.

The tragedy is that the intellect is unable to transcend its own categories because it thinks they are real.

Exclusivism―A Universal Disease

Every religion, every sect, thinks it has found the truth―and it alone has found it.

A universal disease!

Throughout history it is the same....To this day. Not only Christians, Jews, and Moslems, but Hindus, Buddhists, Sufis, etc.

How to break the hold of this compulsion?

Vedanta shows the way. It teaches that Truth is universal, that it is continually revealed, that the prophets keep coming, that the Truth may be known via many paths ... if followed sincerely, faithfully, and spiritually.

One more golden virtue of the Vedanta philosophy: With the help of Vedanta we can practice our personal devotions, fervent in our faith and dedication, without feeling that we alone can reach the goal, and quite convinced that others, too, may succeed, though on another path.

Vedanta provides a strong intellectual basis for peace among all religions in our troubled world.

Vedanta is not a matter of belief―but realization. We are not asked to believe but to realize. If there is a God or Divine Reality, then we should be able to experience Him, Her or It.

Not faith alone, but function. Not belief, but behavior.

Vedanta gives freedom to individuals to advance along their own line of development.

No religion can be unique because of the universal nature of Truth. Truth can't be confined to a single channel. The same mystical strain, the same subterranean currents flow through the phenomena of all religions. 

Scientists from different cultures can meet in harmony because there is a common desire for the truth behind each of them. But different religious men meet and quarrel because of their divergent creedal concepts of religion.

Vedanta proclaims the Truth that is in every religion, underlying all religions.

Therefore, Vedanta doesn't belong to any one religion, not even to Hinduism. It belongs to all religions―to Religion itself.

One meaning of Vedanta is the "end of knowledge," and the purpose for living.

"Vedanta seeks to change the person himself rather than his religion."
        - Sister Devamata, a disciple of Swami Paramananda

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Note: All "Words of Wisdom" are quotations from Paul Hourihan, unless otherwise noted.