RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

Tertullian, an author of the early centuries of Christianity, has stated that the human spirit is Christlike by its very nature, which bears within itself the divine spark that gave rise to mystical experiences in man which began in the distant past and according to the spiritual evolution in man, may or may not perpetuate ... to eternal life or eternal death.

In every human grouping of ancient times, on every continent, diverse beliefs have arisen of a god revealed in the form of idols, animals, imaginary supernatural beings, in the messages of the ancient seers and prophets, who eventually revealed themselves in pages and pages of books, thus the sacred scriptures appearing in all beliefs, and all of them based on this mystical experience in the imaginary of the human unconscious materialized in the sacred books of humanity.

Despite the mass experience that all peoples have faced, it is but a unique, irreplaceable individual experience that ended up being social giving rise to the churches.

According to Huberto Rohden and the spiritual masters, the mystical experience is strictly individual, which when socially organized ceases to exist. The inner essence is individual, but this does not prevent this individual verticality from unfolding into social horizontality in religious congregations; but this unfolding or overflowing only happens when the vertical experience reaches the zenith of its plenitude.

Religious beliefs have sprung up all over the world, in every human grouping; in the East, the best known and most followed, some more or less linked to the Creator on dualism, monotheism and monism and being revered in different ways, including divisions; in the West, after the many gods and idols, it eventually crystallizes into Christianity, which has also been divided over the centuries.

Paul Brunton - a British author of spiritualist books, best known as one of the earliest popularizers of neo-Indian spiritualism in Western esotericism, mainly through his best-known book, “A search in SECRET INDIA” (1934), which was translated into over 20 languages. After having gone through his own experiences, and not being a follower of any religiosity, awakening in himself the inner divinity, he formulated the concept below:

“Religion, which in ancient times instructed men in truth and gave them vital spiritual sustenance, broke down before developing intellect of man and could not meet his reasonable criticisms. If the doctrines which in their mixture pass as religion today had been one hundred per cent true, religious leaders would have had nothing to fear from the progress of science.

I am not a member of any religious faith, in the conventional sense, not a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu. And I will frankly confess here that I was born with no leaning towards religiosity - while the splitting of theological hairs aroused my amusement. But I am a believer in most of the great faiths according to the interpretation which, I hold, their own founders gave to them.

I am a Christian to the extent that I concur with Saint Paul in saying: "And if I have the gift of prophecy, and known all mysteries and all knowledge, and have not love, I am nothing."

I am a Buddhist to the extent that I realize, with Gautama, that only when a man forsakes all his desires is he really free.

I am a Jew to the extent that I believe profoundly in the saying: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one."

I am a Hindu to the extent of believing and practicing the kingly science of yoga, the science of union with the spiritual Self.

I am a Muhammedan to the extent that I rely on Allah above all else.

And finally, I am a follower of Lao-Tzu to the extent that I accept his perception of the strange paradox of life.

But I will go no further into these faiths than the points indicated; they are the boundary-posts at which I turn back.

I will not walk with Christians into an exaltation of Jesus - whom I love more deeply than many of them - over the other messengers of God.

I will not walk with Buddhist into a denial of the beauty and pleasure which existence holds for me.

I will not walk with Jews into a narrow shackling of the mind to superficial observances.

I will not walk with the Hindu into a supine fatalism which denies the innate divine strength in man.

I will not walk with the Muhammedans into the prison house of a single book, no matter how sacred it be.

And finally, I will not walk with the Chinese Taoists into a system of superstitious mummery which mocks the great man it is supposed to honour.

I do not believe that God has given a monopoly of Truth to any of us; the sun is for all alike. No land or race can claim a monopoly of Truth, and the divine inspiration may descend on man everywhere.

No creed has the power to copyright Truth. Therefore, I can take a detached and impartial view of them all. I can perceive why they rose to greatness, and why they are, in some case, in their decline or fall.”