From darkness to Light.

It was in the late sixties, when I was in the upper secondary school. On Fridays, at about 11.00am, my Christian friends of that school would go to Bible studies in a nearby church, while our Muslim friends would go to Quran studies. But we Hindus would be left wondering at the school corridor or the play-ground without doing anything. While the Muslim and Christian friends acquire knowledge from reading their respective scriptures, the Hindu students become ignorant of their own religion. This state of ignorant among the Hindus prevail everywhere even till today.

What is the reason for this condition of ignorance among the Hindus. The most significant reason is that we do not have the habit of refering to any religious text despite the fact that we have plenty of books. We are fortunate that we live in a Muslim country, where there are seminars and workshops conducted in institutions for Muslims. Somehow or rather, our Hindu children were influenced by this sharing of knowledge. Five times a day we hear prayers blaring through loud speakers from the nearby mosques that reminds us the need for prayers. When I was a government servant, I attended several courses, where there would be one subject on Islamic values. I used to wonder why there was no such sharing of knowledge on Hinduism among us.

There is only one God.

Several years ago, a Muslim friend asked me, "What is the name of the God you pray to?" After thinking for a while, I gave him an answer that he never expected. I told him that I pray to Allah. He became stunt and annoyed. He told me that since I am not a Muslim, I should not have answered that way. Even a Hindu would have felt the same way. I should not have answered that way either.

I further went ahead to clarify my stand to my Muslim friend. Lets say that a couple of friends visited me; a Malay, an Indian, a Chinese and an English man. To each one of them, I asked what drinks they want in their own languages. They all wanted to drink water. The language they used were different. But the object they all meant was the same; that is water. It is the same with us. We all have religion and we all pray to the same God; one and the only one. Some call Him Narayana, some call Him Jesus, some call Him Buddha, and some call Him Allah and so on. This we must understand to foster brotherhood of man and Fatherhood of God. Only then can we foster peace and happiness. Only then can we claim peace and happiness in the world.

There cannot be many Gods. There is only one God for all mankind and He is Omnipresent and Omniscient. He has many forms and many names. But we have to struggle to renounce the illusion of the 'many' in order to accept the Reality, the 'One'.