One Ultimate Truth

November 24, 2008 India has been an incredibly interesting place. I have learned so much and experienced more than I could have ever imagined before coming here. One of the things that I found to be constant in India is the constant presence of the Hindu religion. Today we had a lecture on Hinduism and I feel like I finally have a decent understanding of the basics of this religion. We have been surrounded by this religion ever since we arrived here and I finally feel like I know something about it. Our focus during this course is religion with an emphasis on healing. We met with a man today named Swami Yogi Prakarsh. He told us that the Hindu tradition is the oldest in the world because it has no beginning and no end. I suppose that could be true. One of the most interesting things that he talked about is how there are many paths to God, and Hinduism is one of those paths. I was very interested in this concept. He said, “There are many ways to get to the Ganges, but there is only one Ganges.” I have ever really thought about this concept before. There are many paths to God. I have always thought that either your religion was the right religion or it was one of the wrong religions. People believe that their personal religion is the right religion. Some have believed this so deeply that they have been willing to fight and kill in the name of their God. Religion can make people do some terrible things. I have thought about this all day. What if all religions believed that each religion is valid? What would our world be like? What would history look like? I wonder if there would finally be peace in the world. I guess that I can only imagine. I really like this concept.