One Message: ONE GOD!
Cont’d from page 1
“Yes,” he said, and asked again: “How many gods are there really, O Yajnavalkya?”
“One,” he said.
“Yes,” he said, and asked, “Who are these three and three hundred, three and three thousand?”
Yajnavalkya replied: “They are only the various powers.”
Human beings have a need to personalize and explain all things. We see this need in the fairy tales and other folklore of all cultures, including our own. When we don’t understand something, we make up an explanation, and sometimes give that explanation such emotional power, that it becomes truth for us.
This need to understand makes us anthropomorphize One who is vastly more powerful than we can comprehend. Sometimes, we turn from that One to lesser and more comprehensible beings, like saints and prophets. Tragically we begin praying to them, instead of the only One who can ever help us. We lose sight of the wondrous glory of that being, and get sidetracked by mundane creatures. But as God tells us: “To those men who worship me alone, thinking of no other, to those ever harmonious, I bring full security.”
(Bhagavad Gita)
This is exactly what God taught us through Jesus:
“It is not for you to be in search of what you are to eat or drink. Stop worrying. The unbelievers of this world are always running after these things. Your Father knows that you need such things. Seek out instead his kingship over you, and the rest will follow in turn.” (Luke 12:29-31)
And how are we to seek God’s kingship over us?
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind;
|
and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)
Isn’t this exactly the same message as quoted above? The Torah, the Jewish scripture (which is also the Old Testament of the Christian Bible), contains the same:
For thus says the Lord, The creator of the heavens, who is God, The designer and maker of the earth who established it… I am the Lord, and there is no other… Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth, for I am God; there is no other! (Isaiah 45:18, 22)
Put not your trust in princes, in man, in whom there is no salvation… Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord, his God… (Psalm 146:3, 5)
Throughout the Torah and the Quran there is mention of prophets and messengers sent by God to renew this all important message of worshiping God alone:
He decreed for you the same religion He decreed for Noah, and what we inspired to you (Muhammad), and what we decreed for Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: “You shall uphold this one religion, and do not divide it.” (Quran 42:13)
Say, “I have been commanded to worship God, devoting the religion absolutely to Him alone.” (Quran 39:11)
The fact of One God, who is in control of all things, is clearly stated in the scriptures of these four major world religions. Why then are we divided? Why does Hindu fight Muslim and Muslim fight Jew and Christian fight Muslim? We have forgotten the teachings of the scripture and follow those of human beings instead. We have been hypnotized by the ‘truths’ of our cultures and forgotten the divine truths.
There is only one religion, that of worshiping God alone, no matter what name you call that religion. There is only One God, and the only religion is submission to the Divine will:
Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish,
|
the Christians, the converts; anyone who (1) believes in God, and (2) believes in the Hereafter, and (3) lead a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord; they have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve. (Quran 2:62 and 5:69)
Lisa
*****
The Night of Destiny
The Night of Destiny or Night of Power (Laylat al Qadr) is a very important night for Muslims. It is the night in which the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad.
God describes this night as better than a thousand months. During that night, the angels and the Spirit descend therein, by God’s leave, to carry out every command (97:1-5).
Because the Night of Destiny is such a special night, the Muslims (Submitters) who want to gain extra credit in righteousness spend the night by commemorating God the Almighty, either in their privacy or in a mosque with other Muslims. There are also some Muslims who retreat to a masjid or mosque in the last ten days of Ramadan to take advantage of God’s blessings further and increase their faith of submission.
Although the Night of Destiny falls on the 27th night of Ramadan, some “Muslims” are never sure about it because of confusion from the hadith. However, Submitters always trust their Lord, and when God Almighty informs them in the Quran (6:38) that “We did not leave anything out of this book” they know all that they need is found in His divine revelation.
Please refer to Submitters Perspective Jan 2000 issue or our web site for the mathematical confirmation that indeed the 27th night is the correct night at the link below:
Mathematical confirmation link
God willing, this Ramadan the Night of Destiny is on October 7, 2007. |