Fundamentalism has many shades and disguises.. ( Updated)

The world is shaken by " Religious Terrorism" as never before. Over the last few months it was either  the " Burning of a Captive hostage" before that ..more than 140  innocent children were slain by the inhuman Taliban in Peshawar Pakistan..Most of the hate today begins with Bigotry and Religious Fundamentalism..it starts in seemingly innocent ways..and just a few weeks back Charlie Hebdo magazine editor Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier was killed when hooded attackers carrying assault rifles burst in and shouted "Allahu akbar," Arabic for "God is great," as they opened fire, according to Paris prosecutor Francois Molins. The attackers said they "avenged the Prophet."( courtesy CNN news)in all 12 people mostly journalists were murdered by the fanatics.
.In History The Powerful words" I AM" have been declared in every age and every Nation by the rare and few Divine Men and women.who walked the earth in every age...yet followers of different faiths think that only " Their book" or Their Prophet saw the Truth and made that  declaration and everyone else was " following a False path"....

It is said in the Bible that when Moses went up the forbidden Mountain  and saw a burning bush..that spoke..he asked the Fiery Bush..who it was and a  Divine Voice said.." I AM..."

( In the recent Movie Exodus...God or the messenger is beautifully depicted as a child who speaks to Moses..Many faiths can relate to this because..in almost every scripture over the Earth is a Saying..That God has the Nature of a  Child)

Centuries later when the great God incarnation..the  Son of God himself.. Jesus Christ walked the Earth and identified himself with the Same words to his followers.." I AM''  and many times over said...I Am the Way..The Life, The Truth...I am the Alpha and the Omega....his enemies struck by fear and disbelief..hunted him to his death...but to the devotees..it was the proof..that the same God..who appeared to Moses ..the same God of Abraham and all mankind..had appeared in

the form of The Christ..

In another Time and another Place : Between 400 BCE and 200 CE. Ancient India:

The Divine Incarnation of Sri Krishna in the Bhagwad Gita repeatedly assures Arjuna his disciple that He is the one eternal being :This conversation takes place on the Battle Field of Kurukshetra..

Sri Krishna says "O Arjuna! I AM The Supreme Self, having no beginning and, (no ending,) Bhagwad Gita Chapter 13, verse 31 
Never was there a time when I did not exist

nor you nor these lords/ Kings of men.
Neither will there be a time when we shall not exist

 I know all past and all present and future existences, O Arjuna, but Me none yet knows

 As an eon ends, all creatures

fold into my nature, Arjuna;

and I create them again

as a new eon begins.

Gathering in my own nature,

again and again I freely create

this whole throng of creatures,

 Fools scorn me when I dwell in human form: my higher being they know not as Great Lord of beings...( Relevant in his advent as the Christ)

 Worlds of flesh and spirit both originate with Me.
Sages understand this well and serve me earnestly.
My devotees think of Me and serve Me all the time.
Speaking of Me makes their lives delightful and sublime.

This My form, which you have seen, is very difficult to see. Even the Higher Beings always desire to see this form.
It is not possible for any one to see Me, as you have seen Me, whether by Vedas, or by austerity, or by charity, or by Yajnās.( sacrifices)
O Arjuna! only by exclusive devotion, is it possible to thus acquire knowledge of Me, and O Parantapa! to enter Me essentially. 
AND... 

In the most ancient Rig Vedas..Vak who is the daughter of the great Rishi 
( Sage Ambrhin) composes the Devi Suktam. ( Hymns to the Mother Goddess Durga)..In this Hymn she identifies herself as the supreme Goddess and  realizes her oneness  with The Absolute God..she declares in Sanskrit again and again.." Aham"...I Am   ( Devi Suktam 10th mandala)

This is in the oldest of Vedas..the Rig Veda..from the World's oldest known Scriptures.

( This Reference of Vak is taken from The article: The Spiritual Legacy of Indian Women by Pravarajika Amolprana Mataji: The Book: Eternal Mother: Published by Sri Sarada Math Dakshineshwar Kolkatta India)

..And in another age...another Time..

When The great Prince Siddhartha Gautama renounced his throne in search of Truth and realized who he was and .his own divinity and.he declared " I AM THE TRUTH...and became known as the Buddha which means The Enlightened One.....

An Image of the Devi Durga in India

This raises a question?   In every age and every part of the world Saviors have risen and spoken the same truths and acted almost in the same manner..More Noble..more Enlightened, more Compassionate and Greater than any human being...yet in every Faith there is  a section of people who have preferred to ignore the similarities and the underlying message of their Prophets and Messiahs with those of other faiths and taken up a " War" against the beliefs and Books of other religions.

It is Fundamentalists in every faith  who insist that their Book and their Prophets are the only true ones and  everyone else is a Lier..." Our God is True " they say and " Satan has you guys wrapped up in his tail.."

More than a hundred years ago at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago  the legendary Swami Vivekananda spoke these words of power 
" Holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and  every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written in spite of resistance: "Help and not fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension."
Terrorists by their actions have strayed far far away from the message of Love and peace and compassion of the God. they claim to follow..if not weapons then with words and with propaganda  they insist that everyone else should follow only their way....and this is not happening just in the Middle East and among the people of one religion..but its happening  in every part of the world...

Swami Sarvagathanda Maharaj the late President fo the Vedanta Society of Boston wrote in one of his books that  when he grew up in India in the early 20th century in India ..many Hindus considered Christians and Foreigners to be unclean and impure..( the word used was 'Mleccha' to describe them. Xenophobia still exists in many old societies over the world including in India.Swami Sarvagathanandaji then recalls how he " De- Hypnotized himself and after he met many great Christians of N America he realized how wrong the view of the fundamentalists back home were. In the same way many Christians who met Swami Sarvagathananda were very touched by him and were drawn to the spiritual message of Vedanta which is oneness..( read on) The Death of a Swami, and His Bliss | America Magazine
Similarly in my own Life..my parents were greatly impressed and touched by their noble and life long family friends including the family of Mr J Rogers and Mr J Secords who were  Christians of St Catherine's ON Canada. I myself have learned and understood more about Christ from Brian and developed a lot of respect and love for Christ and what a true devotee if his would be like through Brian..

Mahatma Gandhi the Great Statesman spoke about Sri Ramakrishna.

In this day and age in many Fundamentalist Churches in N America including Toronto..The leaders openly scorn at people and prophets of other faiths and call the followers Pagans and unsaved Heathens and followers of False Gods .
Here is what the renowned Swami Vivekananda had to say to the bigots when he addressed the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago more than a 100 years ago
"I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee."
The Bigots have never tried to educate themselves on the greatness and historical truth behind the World' s oldest  and most tolerant Eastern religions that have given the world the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and hundreds of more Greats. Many fundamentalist views from the Bigots of all faiths are openly aired on the Religious TV channels here in N America many self styled " Prophets' regularly slam Hindus and other religions on their channels... and yet No one seems to take serious note of them  ..Fundamentalism- It all starts innocently and everyone is guilty of it.. In claiming to " serve their " One God" these false prophets inject the words of venom, disrespect  and hate in the minds of their followers towards the people of other Faiths. 

Different Rivers..all lead to the Ocean..

At the same time I will say that I have great  deal of respect for some of the Christian Evangelists such as Joel Osteen.  He does not waste his valuable time nor that of anyone in his audience in slamming the religious beliefs of the people of other faiths. I am a regular reader of  some of his books and consider him someone who truly represents The Christ he talks about.
Is it any wonder than more and more people are shunning " religion on the whole???
To me the Fundamentalists  preachers of any Faith have nothing to do with God ,but use his name to serve their purpose for their own personal Name, Fame, Money, Power and Political Ambitions and Agendas..in fact its as far away from God as one can get..

Every Individual is free to follow which ever path. Or Name or  Form of God they like In peace and non Violence. That is the most sacred of relations. The one between God and his devotee. The God who answers their inner most prayers and knows their deepest secrets and reaches them in their inner most hearts. A true devotee will actually enjoy the spiritual experience anywhere and everywhere because he can see the same Truth in every book and every path...( Life of Sri Ramakrishna)                                                              

Swami Kripamayanada Maharaj the Head of the Vedanta Society of  Toronto , Canada often says that the Incarnations of God are very True, Powerful and " Living" in the here and now... Each Incarnation is a " Living God" and devotees must follow their own " Ishta" Favorite Form and name and path to God with sincerity, devotion and Faith..and  One pointedness..We become just like our a" Ishtha".or the ideal we chose...so a true devotee of Christ will be Christ- Like..a man of Peace..of Truth, Courage, Light and Forgiveness and immense compassion..A Real Christian not a Bigot.

X Mas at the Vedanta Society Toronto



A follower of Krishna will imbibe the qualities of Krishna Consciousness which is Love, Right Action. non Violence, leadership and oneness with all.  Likewise followers of God as  the Universal Goddess..take on her special strengths and her unique qualities of divine Motherly Love..,..Swami K repeatedly speaks of Love..being the essence of God and that no one and no single cell in the universe can exist without Love .."Love is greater than Hate.." he reminds us..

Thousands of years ago Patanjali the Father of Yoga  had spoken about the Divine Understanding  in the  Raja Yoga Aphorism ..Swami Vivekananda later translated and explained these aphorisms to the English audience in his `Complete Works'..Here this phenomena of how the Pure souled and the Great ones who are from God and essentially God..understand that oneness. and who they really are..." I AM".it is seen in all scriptures from the most ancient of times and in every great Spiritual heritage...

Patanjali who explained the words and actions of the seers said in Raja Yoga:

21. The essence of knowledge (the Purusha) ( Divine Pure one) being unchangeable, when the mind takes its form, it becomes conscious.

Patanjali says this to make it more clear that knowledge is not a quality of the Purusha (Divine Pure one). When the mind comes near the Purusha ( Pure soul )it is reflected, as it were, upon the mind, and the mind, for the time being, becomes knowing and seems as if it were itself the Purusha.( Pure soul)

22. Colored by the seer and the seen the mind of the pure one is able to understand everything.

On one side of the mind the external world, the seen, is being reflected, and on the other, the seer  himself in all his truth and purity is being reflected. Thus comes the power of all knowledge to the mind. The Power which makes the pure ones proclaim " I AM"

Simply put :True Spiritual seekers understand that it is the same being who appeared again and again.His words are essentially the same and the message the same since God belongs to all people and all races..

In India More than a Hundred years ago..Ma Sarada Devi.a spiritual  woman who represents ..the spiritual essence of Motherhood for Millions..declared simply... " I Am -Your Mother"

A Shrine dedicated to Ma Sarada Devi in Pune India

This very simple but powerful declaration was played out in her simple but profound life. Though she did not have a single biological child...her compassion and non Judgmental Love for everyone and every creature that came to her has become  a legend and set a spiritual ideal for all women everywhere.

Forgiveness..Generosity, Simplicity,Spirituality, Kindness and leading others to Light and the Right marked her life.. 

She felt a sacred need to offer protection, compassion, Love, solace and shelter to ever creature that came to her..

Though  a spiritual Giant she shunned all

" Show " of Supernatural acts and phenomena to prove her spirituality..

As one of her great monk sons Swami Ranganathan Maharaj one of the late Presidents of Sri Ramakrishna Math once said..

The mark of a person's spirituality is the Love and Kindness, tolerance and respect they have towards all beings..The Peace they radiate within and around themselves...Their Goodwill and Kindness to all " Not only their own" ..and their concern for all Humankind and beyond.a love .that makes them extremely selfless..and giving...

The head of the Vedanta Society of Toronto Swami Kripamayananda Maharaj often says..

That a mark of a spiritual person is a happy , smiling, peaceful, friendly and serene one

Love, Peace,happiness, serenity and Light were the Characteristics of The Christ whose Birthday Christmas is celebrated in December ..
This spirituality is also the character of the world Incarnations and Messiahs in every Faith and every age....

 Sri Sarada devi..a humble woman of great spirituality born in the same month..and she is remembered by her devotees with the simple words .." Ma".  Christ was a Father with the Heart of a Mother...and Sri Sarada Ma..The Mother whose last message to the world was > 
" Learn to make the world your own..No One is a stranger...The whole world..is your own"..In short she said. The Term " My People" is not just the people of My Church, or My Temple or My Mosque or denomination or" Land" or Color  or `Book '..but the whole of humanity ....and beyond...

            

All My Flock says this Mamma Bird