Synthesis Of All Religions
No…..in that state nothing existed. Neither darkness and light nor any stir of life-form. Such a state of vacuum before the dawn of creation is unimaginable and beyond description and obviously beyond the perception of the mind and the intellect (abangmanasgocharh). Only the realization of the Supreme can give a comprehensive idea about this state. It is not known whether a logical explanation exists in the religious scriptures which can remove all doubts regarding this subject. The light that has been shed by the revered Gurudev Sri Madhab on the subject of the intrigues of creation, if published through the compilation of his essays, called ‘Anantabani’, will reveal meaningful and valuable spiritual knowledge and information to the interested people of the entire world. Many mysteries will come to light. However, the theory of creation is not the subject of my current discussion. As without an idea of the creation of human beings, it is difficult to know about the true nature of mankind, and also it is not possible to understand how other natures or characteristics infiltrated into the principal nature of mankind, it seems that without a clear idea regarding these subjects it is not possible to pen down anything logical regarding synthesis of all religions. Hence, with my limited knowledge, I have made an effort to write a brief introduction on the chapter in the spiritual history of creation from the period far beyond Creation till the time when human beings were created.
Tranquil, motionless, absence of any intrinsic faculties, inactive….. Such a state that existed before the Creation is visualized as dense black, impenetrable darkness. This darkness is beyond description. As if darkness itself was wrapped again and again in innumerable overlapping layers of darkness. The logic is that anything that lies beyond the sphere of the mind and intellect is known to be ignorance and symbolized as darkness. Naturally the question arises that how was it possible for light to penetrate this mysterious, dense darkness? How could the infinite expanse of the universe be created out of nothingness? How could life sprout in earth out of an inert lifeless mass and how from the creation of life-form man finally evolved? What was the magic that transformed the undisclosed, unmanifested, inexpressible Absolute Being (avyakta Brahma) to express or manifest Himself as infinite universe and finally into man? Sri Madhab said that, ’If you think deeply you will understand that the Will or Inspiration to express or manifest (vyakta) lies within the expression avyakta – the undisclosed, unmanifested and inexpressible. What is the characteristic of this Will? This Will is the will to create. The Will to manifest from Unity to multitude – simply speaking, the Will or Urge to create this captivating world. But only the urge or eagerness is not sufficient for creation unless the Seed containing the ingredients for creation is present within Param Brahma. Hence, it is quite logical that all the ingredients for Creation and the Divine Power (Para Shakti) were present within Brahma in a dormant state. As an ordinary minuscule seed gives rise to a huge tree with its numerous leafy, flowering branches, likewise Brahma has spread Himself as a great tree spreading its infinite number of branches and branchlets. Now the question is how that great explosion took place which had broken that untouched, infinite stillness and radiated as hundreds and thousands of fiery balls by mighty and thunderous impact. The state of impenetrable darkness that was created when all the ingredients of creation of infinite universe lay dormant in Brahma in the subtlest form obviously had a density that was unimaginable. According to nature’s law, the intense pressure exerted due to such a high density results in a great explosion that makes an object burst into smithereens. From spiritual view point, the moment when Brahma entered the power that lay within itself, a vibration of unequal power like a great thunderous roar (Maha Hunkar) spread in all directions due to the great impact. Friction gave rise to great sound, sound to immense heat and gradually a mass of energy shot through the darkness as intense glow of light illuminating all things. The divine power found the suitable ground to be radiated through [A-U-M] Omkar splitting Itself in three parts as the three primordial attributes or qualities ( Sattwa, Rajas, Tamas or Tri-Guna). Within the great mass of energy that was formed during the Great Roar, light was combined with intense speed. The speed, under the influence of the power of perception (Chit) gave rise to innumerable constellations of stars and planets from this mass of illuminated energy which spread out into the limitless, infinite space. It is conceived or visualised as – Even after giving birth to innumerable stars in each instant from that moment onwards (i.e. emanating equivalent amount of mass and energy every instant since), the great Source of Energy exists undiminished or unchanged; it has no growth or decay. Hence it is figuratively called as the Sun of infinite Suns (Ananta Sabitar Sabita) – The Maha Shakti. Again, this Maha Shakti or Maha-Maya is visualised as a sixteen year old maiden. The radiant, evergreen, universal mother is solemnly seated. In each instant, with each batting of the eyelash, new suns are being created from Her toe nails. Again, heat, illumination, speed all these are present within these new suns that are created, The balls of light that shoot out from these suns become planets and satellites. Similarly, the planet we live in was also a ball of light that was detached from sun and in course of the revolution of the wheel of time (kalachakra) and under the influence of the power of Chit Shakti it has taken the form of the present earth. The other name for earth is Dharitri. That which can bear is called dharitri. This means that the main ingredients of creation coming down in subtle form from sun and other planets or starts from the cosmos are borne by the earth in its womb. All these ingredients, under the influence of the cycle of time and through stages of transformation manifested into various basic elements – at first into the element of water (Apa bhoot) and then gradually to the elements of air (Marut tatwa), heat (Tej tatwa), earth (kshiti tatwa) and space (Vyom tatwa) and also to the basic faculties of form, taste, sound, smell and touch (rup, ras, sabda, gandha, sparsha). Due to the action of the primordial attributes (triguna) and through the power of perception (chitshakti), the mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), the mind’s arena of activity (chitta), ego (ahankar) etc. as well as the five sensory mechanisms for perception (pancha gyanendriya) and the five sensory mechanisms for action (pancha karmendriya) are evolved. Down the ages through various transformations, the earth takes the present form. In course of time soil, hills and mountains took shape. Earlier it has been mentioned that at first the element of water (jaltatwa) is created. Creation of life form commences from this water which gives it the name – pran (life). At first the ingredients from the mountains which get washed down into water decays and forms a moss-like substance. This moss-like substance gradually evolves into different species of plants. Plants, on long submergence in water decayed and gave rise to a jelly like organism from which through various processes of evolution creatures appeared that were born from eggs. Next appeared on the evolutionary stage the creatures that were born from the womb. Finally, these creatures that were born from the mother’s womb evolved and appeared on this earth as human beings. In this human body all the 24 basic elements comprising of the five physical elements (pancha bhut), the five sensory elements (pancha tanmatra), five sensory mechanism of perception (pancha gyanendriya), five sensory mechanisms of action (pancha karmendriya) along with mind, intellect, the mind’s arena of activity and ego, grows finally into a fully matured state. As the mind commands the body as king, the human body is known as the ‘mental body’. Again as the mind enjoys the material through the senses (indriya), the body is also called the seat of sensory gratification (bhogamaya deha). As prior to being born a human it is necessary to pass through innumerable life forms, infinite nature from infinite life forms has an opportunity to enter the human body. As such, although the actual nature of man is to be humanity or human character, due to the illusive and detracting effect of the external world and under the influence of infinitely diverse natures, mankind gets involved into sensory gratification with the help of the mind and the senses. Thus the true nature of mankind becomes dormant. In this condition, when the faculties are in a state of imbalance, the mind utilizes the senses and all other basic elements of the body to carry out its commands in order to satisfy its desire. But in actual analysis, the nature of the mind is not the true nature of man. The nature of the Consciousness (dehi) who resides in the body is the eternal nature of mankind. As such, it is only possible for Him to reinstate the human body to its true nature and be one with Brahma. Now the natural question that arises is that who is the dehi of the human body (manav deha)? Neither any of the 24 basic elements that constitute the body nor the mind that rule the body as the king, is the true ‘Self’. So, ‘Who am I?’ This ‘Self’ is actually the dehi of the human body and seeking Him within us is the purpose of religion. The eternal truth is that whatever is created must perish and revert to the state it originally belonged. The river commences from the mountain and finally meets the ocean. The water of the ocean get vaporized due to the heat of the sun and forms cloud that gets driven by the wind to the mountain top where it once again comes down as rain and returns to its source. I have briefly discussed how we have come out of Brahma and finally manifested into the human form. The process by which man returns to the source or becomes one with Brahma is also known as Dharma. Again, dharma also means nature or characteristics. Our actions are the outcome of the effect of the nature or dharma that we possess at the time of the action. When we are influenced by beastly nature we act like beasts. Desire for self gratification makes us the victims of jealousy, hatred and greed. Under influence of ego we become selfish and become inspired to deviate from the right path in order to gratify our own, family or partisan interests. All these are due to ignorance and are born out of an attitude of discrimination. Therefore, syntheses of all those natures or faith (dharma) that drive us to do these work in our worldliness are a part of synthesis of all faiths. This means, that to be established in humanity or man’s true nature, surpassing all nature born out of the desire and lust due to mind’s constant shift between resolution and indecision, desire and doubt, is the basic significance of synthesis of all nature and faith.
In spite of being a single species, human beings exist in a wide variety of nature and form. At present the total number of human beings existing on this earth would be a few billions, yet it is amazing that each individual has a separate and distinct identity. A distinguishing feature can be observed in the physical appearance and nature of each person. Each individual seems like an island in the ocean of humanity in their manner, speech and bearing. It makes us wonder about that Great Artist whose deft stroke of the brush has given birth to such a Creation. Perhaps due to this that it is impossible to adorn God, the divine artist, with any appropriate adjectives. He is, therefore, beyond the realm of mental perception. Not only in the case of human beings, His great work of art is evident in the entire creation. The plant kingdom is replete with species of multitude hues and forms. In the animal world too, innumerable variety exists in colour, nature and physical appearance. It is simply amazing. In short, variety is the essence of Nature. As such, as per the rule of the nature it is but natural that each individual would have a different opinion. Of course, it is till such time man is limited by material knowledge that each individual has a different opinion. The person who only has the knowledge of the material world is under the influence of mind and intellect and thus it is necessary for such a person to gain control over nature in the mental plane and try to bring them in harmony. It is not possible for any one to attain his/her true nature without ardent spiritual endeavour. Only he/she who has succeeded in such an endeavour can synthesize all other natures and be reinstated in his/her true nature, i.e. The Character of Humanity. It is he/she who is perpetually in the state of mental serenity (Sthita-Pragna) that has crossed the boundaries of the mental plane. Such a person is able to guide others who are under the influence of the mental plane and teach them the process of spiritual endeavour or Atonement (Sadhana). It is the Messages left behind by the holy men who have attained that state of mental serenity like the sadhus, guru, vaishnav (i.e. Devotees with God Realization), muni, rishi and above all the Avatars or Avataris, act as the cleansing factor for those bound by materialistic knowledge. Therefore, the path shown by the holy men is the only means for those bound by the influence of mind and intellect to proceed along the path of true Dharma by following their instructions. If one can tread along this path in a correct manner, one can unify all nature and through the synthesis of all religions and can reinstate oneself to one’s own true religion – humanity.
Till now the discussion was about synthesis of religion or nature in a wider perspective. Now we shall try to discuss about synthesis of different sects and faiths in the world around us. Thakur Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said, ‘there are as many ways as number of faiths’. He had also said that whatever faith you may follow or whichever path you may like to tread, basically all leads to the same goal. The revered Gurudev Sri Madhab said although there are innumerable faiths and ways essentially there are three main paths for spiritual journey, namely, the path of Gnan or Wisdom (Enlightenment), the path of Devotion and the path of Yoga or divine union. In the path of enlightenment, the spiritual aspirant realizes Brahma, in the path of devotion he realizes God and in the path of yogic practice he realizes Atma or the divine Self. Brahma, God and the Divine self are basically the same. Due to the variety in these spiritual endeavours the practices have different names. Most of the faiths or the practices have emanated from these three basic paths. Generally, people consider religious faiths as religion. Confined within the bounds of material knowledge, where the outlook of people is tainted by rajah guna, perpetually spreading under the influence of tamah guna, where satwa guna has disappeared into oblivion, knowledge of true religion in such a situation is rather hard to find. Regretfully when such exponents of material knowledge become spokespersons of a community, they repeatedly strike against the universality of religion and being blind with selfish motives show tremendous enthusiasm in converting people belonging to other faiths into their community. They are driven by the false idea that the more persons they convert, more do they bring glory to their religious faith. Influenced by this illusion they do not even hesitate to take advantage of the poverty, illiteracy and innocence of people merely to increase the strength of their community. Instances of application of physical force in the past are also not rare. Definitely, combined with the selfish interests, the enthusiasm of such ignorant persons is also due to the inability to unearth the true meaning from the scriptures. As such, it is never right to blame any religion for these false ideas and confused activities. Sri Krishna had said in Srimad Bhagwat Gita that ‘discarding all religious beliefs bestow all your devotion to Me’. He had said that in whichever manner, in whatever name or form you may worship Me all finally leads to Me because all names, all images emanate from me. As such, Brahma, Bhagawan, Ishwar, Atman, Allah, God etc. whichever name one may call Him all leads to the Creator or Parameshwar. The person who can surrender oneself to the Divine through persistent practice can attain complete knowledge, serenity of mind and realize the Consciousness (Chaitanya) in his inner being. Jesus had identified himself as the son of God and said that if you follow me you can reach Him. Hazrat Mohammed said that I am His friend. If you follow me you can reach Allah. In a similar manner Budhhists say that unless one follows the path of Buddha, on cannot reach Nirvana or freedom. Jains say that in order to achieve Keval Gyan one must follow their path. Thakur Sri Ramkrishna said ‘there are as many ways as the number of faiths’. All the paths and beliefs are correct. It is possible to perceive divine knowledge any of these paths. He did not end here; he proved his words by reaching the same goal through different religious practices.
In order to do this He even became disciple of several gurus and established that it is not possible to proceed along any of the paths of religion without the guidance of a guru. Even today many people hesitate to accept the fact that Sri Ramakrishna had taken the discipleship of gurus time and again merely to educate the masses. I feel like telling these people whether they have ever seen any one else, who had reached divine realization each time in each way, by following so many paths of religious practices. Is there any sadhak who can, within an instant, transit from dualistic worship (dwaita bhajana) to the state of being one with the Divine (nirvikalpa Samadhi) – an incident which made even Totapuri, a great proponent of Advaita, become speechless with awe. Revered Gurudev Sri Madhab said that Avatar’s activity has many incidents that are not known to the public and remain behind a veil. How many persons know that all those who had given diksha to Sri Ramkrishna as guru had at the end paid homage to him realizing His true identity and considered themselves blessed? In this context Sri Madhab said that when Totapuri insisted that Sri Ramkrishna should go for nirvikalpa Samadhi and inspired to go into the state of deep meditation by scratching his forehead with a sharp glass piece, all of a sudden the room lit up with a dazzling light and Thakur appeared before him in his illumined form. Totapuri became transfixed with awe and stood looking at Thakur. Thakur told him “Look, this is between you me. Let no one else know of this”.
Now let us go back to our original topic of discussion. Thakur Sri Ramakrishna showed that Realization of the Divine can be achieved in all paths, beliefs and hence following any one of the religious faiths. Sri Krishna also said in the Gita that ‘I am Vasudev. It is only possible for me to synthesise and bring universality to religion. Era after era I appear on this earth to remove all religious strife, end all acts that is in contradiction to true religion and to unveil the true nature of religion. Sri Madhab said that if it was possible to educate mankind only through the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, then there would not be any place for communalism in religion.
I have mentioned earlier that the ignorance that arises out of egoistic knowledge gives rise to communalism in religion. Let us now discuss some of the main reasons that are the root of violence between religious communities due to differences of opinions or religious practices.
On the basis of the words that I have heard from Reverred Sri Gurudev I shall try my best to shed some light on the basic reasons that give rise to differences between various religious practices and the manner in which an unification or synthesis of all religions can be achieved. Sri Madhab said that no one can show any mention of any message that implicates religious discrimination in the scriptures or the practices of Sanatan Dharma. Therefore, as Sanatan is the source of all religious practices there is no mention of such discriminative messages in scriptures of any of them. The messages in the Gita or the Upanishad is not the creation of any one person whereas, in all other religious practices the name of some great holy man is attached. Further, it has been established that the scriptures of the Sanatan is the most ancient of all other religions that are in vogue in today’s world. In later years, holy men have extracted relevant portions of the Sanatan according to the need of the times and spread the message of religion. As such, there is nothing that exists in other scriptures but is absent in the scriptures of the Sanatan. On the other hand whatever has been said in other religions is present in the Sanatan. This is the reason why Sanatan is known to be complete and the most ancient. Passing through infinite forms or nature after being radiated out of Brahma a birth in the human form takes place. As such, although the power to distinguish between right and wrong, desire for consumption and abstinence, inward contemplative attitude and the attitude of outward materialism coexist, yet due to the illusion created out of the outward material world mankind became used to lead his life in a consumptive manner in the beginning. Getting human birth and leading their life like an animal under the repetitive cycles of life and death, birth and rebirth. But the Will of the Supreme and the rule that governs the activity for fulfilling this Will is inviolable. Being born as a human commencing the long journey from the Infinite or Brahma and returning back to Brahma completes the divine process. Sri Madhab said that mankind is the last stage of Creation. There is no other creation subsequent to this. It is said that man is the cream of divine Creation as the human form is the most suitable vessel for returning to Brahma. Although there are various divisions and categories of human beings according to work or social requirement all men are inseparable part of Truth and therefore, in the true sense all men belong to the same community. Again, although the human nature comprises of infinite nature or dharma, the true nature of men is humanity and, therefore, all of mankind have a single dharma. After attaining humanity, divine love awakens in the inner being of every person and leads to building the bond of sympathy and compassion between individuals. Feelings of the heart overcome the artificial barriers of languages and communication becomes freer from malice. Truly speaking the inner expression of all human is the same. From this aspect all human beings have the same language. Therefore, Sri Madhab said that all of mankind belong to a single community which has a common religion and a common language and they are citizens of one nation which is this world. As without dharma it is not possible to attain such a broad outlook and it is impossible to be established in dharma without spiritual endeavour (sadhana), the Ancient Sages have mentioned various processes for sadhana to awaken the awareness for dharma in the ignorant masses. They have informed us about various types of sadhana having complete knowledge of the differences in the outward materialistic nature of mankind.
At first let us discuss about name and form. Among the followers of Sanatan Dharma itself, there is mention of so many names and forms. Even in other prevalent religious practices in the world the subject of names and forms has been mentioned. Those who worship Vishnu meditate on the name and form of Sri Krishna. Worshippers of Shakti follow the path of sadhana in the form and name of Mahamaya. Shaivas take the name and form of Shiva.Budhhists install the image of Buddha in temples and sing his name. The followers of Islam seek liberation in the greatness of Allah. Those following the spiritual process through Christianity try to surrender at the feet of the crucified image of Jesus. This is healthy and natural because controlled by the mind men cannot progress along the spiritual path without the help of name and form. The Divine Being who is beyond the realms of all names and forms (nirakar) is not the subject of sadhana. As such, it is not possible to meditate upon nirakar Brahma; one can only meditate upon nirguna (absence of the primordial qualities of satwa, rajah and tamah) Brahma.
We have seen from the little that have been discussed about the theory of creation that how the Brahma who is inexpressible, unknown and indescribable (abyakta) has gradually expressed Himself in infinite forms and at the end as human being. From this it becomes clear that all forms are His form. Again chant of divine name is a sound or a group of words by means of which we try to reach out to God. The Omkar, as the sound or vibration holds firmly the infinite creation. Hence, Omkar is known as the Shabda(word) Brahma. Our speech and the words that we hear are only reflections that are produced due to impact. As such, whatever we speak is nothing but Shabda Brahma or Omkar. Sri Madhab says that you worship Him in whatever name or form that pleases you. ‘Liking’ or ‘pleasing’ is the keyword here. The name that is forcibly imposed has no effect in proceeding along the path of divine realization. Of course, the case of Sri Guru who has the knowledge of Brahma is different; he is omniscient. No one but He knows best which name can exorcise whom or the meditation of which form can bring realization of the Formless (arup) to which person. I am talking about those materialistic people in the garb of religious preachers or monks who lure people into singing the name of their deity in order to satisfy their own desire to increase the membership of their community. Sri Madhab says that it is better to proceed along a known route even if it takes longer as although an unknown route may seem easier to tread at a glance, once you get lost in it reaching your destination will become uncertain.
Now let us talk about sincerity, discipline and sense of purity etc. We often hear about desecration of the seat of deity, but we do not realize that the deity or god is above the purview of consecration and desecration or purity and impurity. Hence, the seat of the deity can never be desecrated. The thought of considering one’s deity in a special position or place is indicative of fragmented knowledge. However, since the purpose of spiritual pursuit is for those with fragmented knowledge, it is necessary for the sadhak to sanctify and maintain cleanliness of his place of sadhana so as to help him in his effort to purify his mind. It is in favour of mind and spirit. But that does not mean that the place of the deity will be desecrated if a person belonging to different religious faith enters it. These superstitions arising out of ignorance are obstacles in the way of synthesising religious faiths. Sri Madhab says that superstitions are greater obstacles to the path of religious pursuit than the primordial vices (shad-ripu and ashta-pash). As such, primarily all sadhak have to be free from the clutches of superstition.
There are many conflicts amongst religious faiths even in matters of eating habits or dresses. Although surprising, it is true that there is absolutely no relation between eating habits or dresses and religion. Sri Madhab says that if you can dress in a manner which is healthy and which you are not ashamed of wearing to any place, it is the correct dress for you. Regarding food he says that the food which nourishes and makes you vigorous is a suitable food for you. This means the food from which you gain strength and energy that transforms into spiritual glory is the food that meets the approval of all religions. It is obvious that due to natural reasons there would be different eating and dressing habits in different countries due to geographical or climatic differences. There are many religious sects who go to extremes regarding dresses or food. Almost all religious faiths impose some restriction on food. The objective is to make the sadhak self-restrained through simple food habits and by discarding foods that cause excitement. In view of this, is it possible that a person will lose his religion by taking some food that is not permitted by his religion but is considered to be fit for human consumption? Is Truth or True Religion so weak? A devotee once asked Sri Madhab that whether he has fallen off from his religious belief as he had consumed meat although eating meat is forbidden in his religion. If so what type of penance he has to undertake? Will he never be able to proceed along the religious path in this life? Perhaps he is no longer eligible for the divine love. Sri Madhab consoled him and said that if you want go ahead and have meat again. The ocean of Divine Love doesn’t get dried up upon consumption of meat.
However, that devotee gradually turned towards the divine path in association with Sri Madhab. Sri Madhab never asks anyone to renounce anything. He never imposes any restrictions on any devotee or disciple. He says what is the good of imposing restrictions? I shall ask my disciple to abstain but he will not be able to come out of his habit. On the contrary he will be guilty of disobeying Guru’s instruction. For this reason he is in favour of cleansing from inside. Once cleansed, the questions of renouncement do not arise; renouncement automatically takes place. Once renouncement takes place internally, the old habit does not even appear in one’s dream.
Regarding name and form, Sri Madhab says that proceed with the name, form or the process of sadhana that you like but you must remember always that the main aim of sadhana is to converge all name and form into the name and form of the Divine. Also the completion of sadhana is marked by transition to Keval Gnan on attaining the state of being beyond the realm of the mind. It has been mentioned earlier that religious conflicts and hatred arise out of materialistic knowledge (Jada Gnan). Those who are on the spiritual path, their sole objective should be to remain dedicated to the spiritual pursuit. For such a person there is no scope of accumulation of moss-like communalism (a rolling stone gathers no moss). On the other hand, those who try to derive material gains from external functions in the name of religion have moss-like growth of jealousy and hatred. These are the people who sometimes raise hue and cry of falling from religious faith when their self-interest gets affected or indulges in the politics of bloodshed in the name of protecting religion. The poisonous fumes emitted from these un-religious people transforms the environment into hell. Sri Madhab says that as a long as a person is bound by materialistic knowledge and perception, it becomes impossible for him to be free of jealousy, hatred and confusions arising out of discriminative knowledge. He, therefore, says that if a materialistic person becomes the leader of a religious community, it is nothing but trespassing and as long as the helm of religion is held by a trespasser the ship of religion will definitely toss around rudderless in the storm of communal strife. Why not? The strength of man’s material knowledge is no less powerful. Jokingly, Sri Madhab said that almost all men put God behind bars for twenty years on the strength of his material knowledge. When intelligence attains youth, men starts worshipping his deity by placing its image or symbol in worship room, temples, mosques or churches. According to religious faiths they place the image of the deity facing the north, south, west or east. Thereafter, they offer items like sun-baked rice, banana, sweets made of sugar or molasses etc. The persons themselves enjoy the freedom of movement in all direction and eat all kinds of delicacies and compel God to be bound like a prisoner. Sri Madhab says that the real purpose of religion is to be progressing continuously from temple to the temple of the body; from the temple of the body to the Greater Nature; from the Greater Nature- like expressed form to travel unto that which is not expressed. But in the absence of religious knowledge, the superstitious person goes about in circles under the influence of fragmented knowledge. Human being is the cream of God’s creation. Only human beings possess the analytic ability to differentiate between the good and the evil. It is only possible for a human to reverse the extrovert direction of mind inwards with the help of sattwa guna. The entire universe can be conceived to be contained within this body. There is scope of facing hurdles in the path of sadhana without the spiritual knowledge of the human body. The spiritual knowledge of the human body means to possess insight into the path of sadhana. Like a blind man who finds it difficult to walk along a path, it is not easy to progress along the path of sadhana without the knowledge of the body. As such, we find that most people get stuck in the primary stages of sadhana and religious superstitions gradually grow in them. Infected with communalism, they build barriers in the way of synthesis of religion. Hence, Sri Madhab has emphasised on the importance of the spiritual knowledge of the human body in his explanations on Gita and Chandi. In his teachings and discourses, Sri Madhab always speaks about searching for Self or Chaitanya within the body. In order to do this man has to be introspective and analytic. As such, prayers and worship should be carried out with the true knowledge of the human body in order to be introspective and association of holy men is imperative for gaining this knowledge. The sadhak who is introspective can never be the victim of communalism. On the contrary, being tolerant to all religions, they take an effective part in the synthesis of religion.
From the above discussion it is, therefore, clear that religious dissension is against the basic principles of religion. Unclear religious perception of the incompetent, selfishness, ignorance, communalism or religious superstitions are hurdles in the way of synthesis of religions for the individual as well as the community as a whole.
Being dispersed from Brahma in time immemorial and undergoing various evolutionary processes revolving in the Wheel of Time under the influence of chitshakti, a birth as a human being takes place. Discarding one by one, the earthly pleasures and enjoyments of the human body by the mantra of renouncement, conquering the nature of the physical body, reinstated in one’s own true religion of humanity finally to become reunited with Brahma, the Paramatma (the Supreme Self) is the sole purpose of religious pursuit. This is the Religion which remains unchanged irrespective of religious faiths, caste, creed, national boundaries and time. Hence, as it is not possible to be instated in one’s own religion without the synthesis of all religions, rising above all conflicts and dissensions becomes possible only when one progresses on the path of true religion.
In conclusion, it can be stated without any hesitation that without the progress of the mental attributes of mankind as a whole it is not possible to achieve a complete synthesis of religion. Only He whose will makes possible the impossible, He, who is the Avatar of all Avatars, it is possible for such an Avatari to enlighten the entire mankind in the light of his Pragna and making him free of all dissents elevate him to the summit of equality. Ordinary mortals like us can only pray in all earnest to that Supreme-kindness to bind together all of mankind in the great ideal of universal brotherhood in the pure glow of universality through a synthesis of religion and destroying all communalism.