All existence is one.

All existence is one, is of one essence and that essence is LIFE, is God. As long as man separates God from himself, he would continue to be restless. But when man unites with God in the understanding that he is part of God, then he, being part of God, becomes God - just as the waves, being part of the ocean, becomes the ocean.

Locating Allah.

Allah exists. This is a belief. We exist. This is a fact. Facts can be located. Beliefs can only be imagined. Locating Allah is the purpose of human life. Those who have located Him say that He is our very soul - the soul of existence.

The last survivors.

Visionaries of all ages have seen the oneness of existence and have celebrated it in various ways and inspired innumerable followers. They would be the last survivors in a world satiated with power, violence and authority. Call them Yogis, Sufis or Mystics. They are the heart of love in an otherwise ruthless world.

Swami endorses lavish marriages.

Why is Swamiji spending Rs.60,000 on a marriage when what is needed to be taught is to get married without spending anything? The Indian state is willing to solemnize anyone's marriage for a mere Rs.50 fees at its temples called Marriage Register Office. Instead of recognizing this facility and encouraging all couples to opt for this economical marriage solemnizing, we have even Swamijis of the calibre of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar opting for a 'grand' marriage. If the Rs.60,000 is intended to be security for the future of the couple, a cheque for that amount could be donated to them. But to link marriage with lavishness is the bane of society. Clearly, Swamiji needs a guru on this, and also his practise of charging fat fees for his courses. He ought to know vidya as money spinner is corruption.

Replacing Lakshmi with money.

The saying "veruthe koduthal veruthe aavum" (giving free makes the thing given free worthless) reflects the ultimate level to which we have corrupted ourselves. All of us recognise that terrorism poses the greatest threat to India today. But I would say, even beyond terrorism, it is corruption that poses the greatest threat to India. We have come to worship money to the extent that we would do anything for money as well as convince ourselves that nothing is worth it without money being associated with it. Money we say is Lakshmi. But in saying so, we have replaced Lakshmi with money. When Rama went to the jungle, Bhartha followed him and asked for his sandals to be put on the throne for Bhartha to rule Ayodhya symbolically. Now imagine what would have happened if he went on to believe that the sandals is the actual ruler? This is our position today. We have lost the integrity of Bhartha.

True Love

We often mix possessiveness with love. Love is all encompassing. True love is not when you love someone or something exclusively. It is when you are filled with love. A person filled with love doesn't place any condition on love. Then how can he or she ever be hurt? To reach such a stage of love is what spirituality is all about. We discover our true nature is love.

Self-discovery

According to me, man becomes free (from his sense of limitation and hence suffering) when he discovers the truth about himself. This discovery is effected by many techniques, most of which throughout history have been taught in disciplic succession. Whatever the technique, the way is meditative. Upon success in mediation and self-discovery, many express their knowledge. Mohammad too undertook meditation in Mount Herat and other places at other times and discovered the truth and had it dictated to his disciples and that expression has come to be known as Quran. This is the origin of all scriptures - expressions of self-realized individuals to teach mankind the path to its divinity. Therefore, it is fair to say that Mohammad is the authour of the Quran. To ascribe its authorship to Allah is also not erroneous; because it is Him whom we discover in meditation and our expression is but a reflection of His truth. Since every individual has the potential of discovering the truth about himself and many would seek to express it in various ways, scriptures have been innumerable and would continue to pour forth in future also. There can be no full stops to expressions, especially the expressions of divinity.

Mohammad's Quran?

Of course Mohammad would have said that the Quran is not his creation but Allah's. Enlightened men do not ascribe anything to themselves but to the eternal power of which they have drunk deep. You see, enlightened men drop off their ego - they would no longer have a sense of doership or ownership. Though there is much criticism of Mohammad, questioning his morals etc. - I am thoroughly in love with his personality. His rambunctiousness appeals to me - quite like Krishna. However, I think he had lapses in his spiritual quest - which alone can explain many verses in the Quran that seem rather narrow in application.

Bertolucci on Buddhism.

It is interesting that the famous Italian film director Bernardo Bertolucci said, "We in the West are all like children when it comes to our understanding of Buddhism. The difference between Buddhism and Christianity is that Christ says 'Love thy neighbour like thyself' but Buddhism teaches 'Love thy neighbour because he is yourself'.

Meeting the Quranic challange

I would offer the following verse by William Blake in response to the challange in the Quran to produce a verse as great as those in the Quran.

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour

Why did Abraham destroy the idol his father worshipped?

Abraham, it is worth noting, started off his religion by destroying the idol his father worshipped. Did he have to destroy the idol his father worshipped in order to create his one stone for worship? He did not do anything his father did not do, except replace one idol with another. Why did he need an idol to worship Allah? Why do Muslims need it now to worship Allah?

Love can never be hurtful.

Love can never be hurtful, for love is all-encompassing. If our love is not all-encompassing, ours is not love but possessiveness.

Only Allah?

If the statement that Allah is the only God is a fact, then even idol worshippers worship only Allah for the simple reason that there is no other God to worship. Then why do Muslims say that idol-worshippers are worshiping other Gods? Because Islam has not been able to prove that Allah is the only God. Islam is just a belief. While one fact cannot be as good as another, because a thing is either a fact or not - one belief can be as good as another because incontrovertible facts need not be involved therein.