Friday 12 September 2014

Reflection 104 (focus on differences or similarities)

Focus on similarities

I think this is an important one, my friends.
Please read it until the end

Why religious persons get so often absorbed with the differences between their religion and the other religions? I am often flabbergasted at how many articles have been written about the veil in Islamic literature. Do you realize this is only once mentioned in the Quran and there even the word hair of women is not mentioned. But the veil,covering the hair, is what seems among the very MOST important things to many of our religious brothers and sisters.

At the same time there is one phrase that appears 114 times in the Quran. One hundred and fourteen times. One should wonder why does not the bulk of our religious teachings focus on that giant truth? Do we see more articles about the goodness and forgiving nature of our Creator than about the veil? I am afraid not. Do we see signboards along the road about the goodness and the forgiving nature of our Creator? Do we hear preachers preach more about the anger and revengeful nature of our Creator or about the goodness and forgiving nature of our Creator? I am afraid it is the former rather than the latter. Anger is a state of temporary insanity experienced by an emotional disturbance in humans. Is it fair to project this insanity on our Creator???

But why? Why do our preachers and teachers not get close to totally absorbed by and focused on the 114X most important message that was sent to us in this holy book. Is it because it is too similar to the message of other religions? Are we afraid to search for similarities instead of differences between our religions?Are we so afraid, even if that message is repeated 114 times in our Quran?

Why? Why focus so much on God's anger and revenge? Is it so much easier to impose your own interpretation of the scriptures on followers if you can create a fear? Is it too hard to depict the true loving nature of our Creator? Why would it be hard? Do we think if we stress too much the forgiving nature of our Creator that the people will sin more? If you do not speak in one breath with what they have to do, also a threat to hell, do you think your  message will be not reaching. How low do you esteem the understanding of your followers, my brothers and sisters, religious leaders?

It is time, high time, I would say, that we focus on the similarities between religions. The veil is not the most the most important message of the Quran. If it was, it would be repeated many times, perhaps more than 100 times. If religious leaders do not manage to awaken the sense of awe in all followers for the creation and for the goodness and forgiving nature of our Creator resulting in a continuous sense of gratefulness for everything we have and can do, they have not managed to bring the most important message across. If they spend more time on one-liners than on 114 liners, one could clearly ask what is their ultimate aim and purpose. Is their purpose to bring the true message or to dominate a community through creation of fear and through focus on less important messages. 

I envision the future as bright. the next revolution is not the nano technology revolution, not the brain science revolution; the next revolution is the wisdom revolution. The wisdom revolution will bring us wisdom. It will allow us to listen to our soul, to allow our soul to detect the most important messages, the true essentials in our own religion. And we will all see that we all have sooo similar essentials. Our cultural differences and ritual differences will be an enrichment rather than a stumble block for peace. Wisdom is increasing rapidly in our community. We do not see it. Media focus on the well selling violence and negativity but a silent wisdom and kindnes revolution is on its march. It is in the slow limb of the exponential curve (see figure below) but once it makes the sharp corner (blue arrow in figure below), the world will change visibly for the better every single second. I think we are amazingly close to the corner in the exponential wisdom and kindnes revolution.

Let us all focus on kindnes and wisdom, on essentials and goodness and be part of the huge, unstoppable next revolution the wisdom and kindnes revolution.


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