At Mashed, a place of pilgrimage for Shiite Muslims, Richard (now Radhanath Swami) was pleasantly surprised to meet Ibraham, a refined gentleman and so different from the man who had forced Richard to scream the name of God in the teashop at Erzeram. This was a striking lesson for Richard on how every religion has many levels of practitioners and it would be shallow to generalize about an entire religion from a few of its followers.
Ibraham educated Richard on the teachings of Islam at the burial place of the saints Imam Reza and Harun al- Rashid.
Richard was indeed at the heart of a pilgrimage place; the Imam Reza shrine attracts 15 to 20 million pilgrims every year. In my readings of Islam I discovered Harun al-Rashid to be a eighth century saint of Iraq who ruled from 786 to 809. His time was marked by scientific, cultural and religious prosperity for Islam. Art and music also significantly flourished during his reign.
Since Richard was now exposed to the Shia sect of Islam, he dutifully learnt from Ibraham about the basic tenets of Islam. Richard was happy to discover that the basic teachings and essence of all religions were the same. It’s only the narrow minded who cause violence and terror in the name of religion. This holds true for all religions, and the Shiites are no exception. In Islam the Shia and Sunni are the two main sects formed due to a dispute over the right successor to Prophet Mohammed. The Sunni, or followers of the way, followed the caliphate and maintained the premise that any devout Muslim could potentially become the successor to the Prophet if accepted by his peers. The Shia however, maintain that only the person selected by God and announced by the Prophet could become his successor, and thus Imam Ali became the religious authority for the Shia people. Militarily established and holding control over the government, many Sunni rulers perceived the Shia as a threat – both to their political and religious authority.
The Sunni rulers sought to marginalize the Shia minority and later the Abbasid caliphate turned on their Shia allies and further imprisoned, persecuted, and killed Shias. The persecution of Shias throughout history by Sunni co-coreligionists has often been characterized by brutal and genocidal acts. Comprising only around 10-15% of the entire Muslim population, to this day, the Shia remain a marginalized community in many Sunni Arab dominant countries without the rights to practice their religion and organize.
In Saudi Arabia, Shiites constitute 15 to 20% of the population but have no equal rights as other Sunni Muslims. There have been no Shia cabinet ministers. They are kept out of critical jobs in the armed forces and the security services. There are no Shia mayors or police chiefs, and not one of the three hundred Shia schools in the country has a Shia principal. The government has also restricted the names that Shias can use for their children in an attempt to discourage them from showing their identity. Saudi textbooks, criticized for their anti-Semitism, are equally hostile to Shiism often characterizing the faith as a form of heresy worse than Christianity and Judaism. Teachers frequently tell classrooms full of young Shia schoolchildren that they are heretics.
I am inspired by Radhanath Swami’s refusal to subscribe to any of these extremist view-points. He is accommodating and loving to people of all religious sects, and seeks to see the sincerity of the practitioner in approaching God. The external designation is immaterial, says Radhanath Swami, “when the heart has love, God reciprocates, irrespective of the colour of your skin and the nature of your religion.”
Table of Contents
Founder-acharya of the International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
“Go to India” a sweet but commanding voice; spoke up in the heart of young Richard (later Radhanath Swami) who was immersed in meditation, his search for meaning in life has brought him to the Isle of Crete. Today he was ordered to go to India. Born and raised in the middle class suburbs of Chicago, Radhanath swami grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s era when popular musicians protested war, prejudice and social injustice. Radhanath swami would listen to these songs again and again, but their lyrics referring to God stirred his soul. Peter, Paul and Mary- the folk trio from Greenswich village sang in their debut album
“Early in the morning, about the break of day
I ask the Lord, to help me find my way”
This simple prayer was to guide Radhanath swami in the coming years of his life........
Maharaj’s non-sectarian approach in seeking the Love of God is the essence of spirituality.Maharaj has taught by his own example that spirituality is all about establishing our forgotten relationship with God and to serve Him according to His will as an instrument.It is not about practicing a particular faith and discriminating in the name of religion.Thanks for letting us know the essence.
View CommentThe fact that even the Muslims are so deeply divided and antagonist to each other in the name of different sects shows that shallow mindedness, hatred and intolerance is the root cause of all conflicts and not religion. If one picks up the pure pristine teachings of any religion like Radhanath swami without getting carried away by externals then one can see the common essence of all religions rather than finding faults and becoming hateful with other religions.
View CommentVery powerful statement from Radhanath Swami
View Comment“when the heart has love, God reciprocates, irrespective of the color of your skin and the nature of your religion.”
wonderful!!!
View Commentpeople require warmth and devotees are expert in giving it.
View Commentthank for sharing
View Commentvery nice blog
View CommentAmazing statement at the end of this article by Maharaj.
View CommentI found this article so educational, as I learnt about these different factions of muslims, and the gap in religion between them. But as HH Radhanath Swami mentions, these are externals. What matters is the internal love for the One God.
View CommentIt is so easy to get misguided by the outward details and to mistake a religious faith based on one or two practitioners. It is inspiring to learn from Radhanath Swami Maharaj’s own example on how to seek the essence in every situation.
View Comment“When the heart has love, God reciprocates, irrespective of the colour of your skin and the nature of your religion.” These are the golden words to be taken from H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj. He kept going from place to place meeting different leaders of various religions. He has never criticised any body or any religion. What a quality one can imbibe from this book?
View Commentlove for God is what makes us love everyone else automatically.
View Commentas He is the Supreme father & we His children.and when god reciprocates to us then the colour of the skin or the nature of ur religion are but externals !!! not only do we tolerate them but we begin to appreciate the variegatedness among Lords devotees….thank u Maharaj for making us understand that its LOVE FOR GOD that makes the world go round.
Radhanath Swami Maharaj is Saragrahi-seeker of the essence…
View CommentReally there are so many religions but the bottom line is as given at the bottom of the paragraph “If heart has love, then GOD will reciprocate”
View CommentGod never created any caste system. So who are we to do so?
View CommentWonderful! Really so sublime understanding.Thanks & all glories to Radhanath Swami Maharaj.
View CommentThis is a wonderful lesson on how a genuine devotee sees the essence in every one and of everything.
View CommentAmazing…experience with Ibraham. Truly Radhanath Swami, shows us to the deepest levels of practicality, that how to seek the essence or spiritual goodness in others.
View CommentIt is so amazing to see Radhanath Swami come across different people, culture, religions during his journey home.
View CommentI was just commenting earlier today on another blog about Saragrahi, or one who constantly seeks the essence. This paramount principle is vital for any spiritual aspirant of any spiritual tradition in the world.
View CommentIn Radhanath Swami’s book “The Journey Home”, he emphasises that a dog will recognise his master even though the master comes in a different dress every time. Similarly God is the one merciful Supreme Personality and is recognised differently by different religions according to their realisations.
View CommentRadhanath Swami Maharaj never lets the negative experiences cloud the positive ones!
View CommentRadhanath Swami Maharaj always sees the essence. He often tells the lesson of how a dog never fails to recognize its master regardless of what dress the master is wearing.
View CommentWe can never ever found Such Spirirtual Leader like H.H Holiness Radhanath Swami who have imense knowledge and realization of all religions and nector of it.
View CommentThe essence of all regiliongs is same “Love and serve the Supreme Lord”,and that is the perfection of our life. Saints like Radhanath Swami comes to teach us the same message. Thank you very maharaj…
View Commentvery powerful article and an experience of HHRNSM being illustrated in this article, haribol, bhakti
View CommentHHRNSM treats all as equal and as very rightly said in this article ” the external designation is immaterial’ and that we must not judge a person from the external appearance of a person but the internal character of a person, haribol, rajesh karia
View CommentI marvel at the deep understanding of Islam by the author…
View CommentVery educational article……
View CommentRadhanath Swami Maharaj seeks & finds love in all religious teachings!
View CommentOnly ill-motivated leaders incite communal violence.
View Commentnice!!
View CommentYes, god only seeks to see the sincerity of the practitioner in approaching him. Thank god there are at least a few great souls like Radhanath Swami are truly broad minded and respectful to all religions.
View CommentIts so sad the Supreme Lord loves all His children equally…however in the name of God, other children are pained beyond human considerations…
View Commentthe way Radhanath Swami has been practicing real secularism , in the midst of all chaotic situations, and teaching his students also the same is amazing thing!
View CommentOne of the most wonderful inspiring qualities of Radhanath Swami is that he has always been humble, open to hear other’s thoughts throughout his life and that’s what he tries to teach everyone of us.
View CommentVery nice and informative article by Radhanath Swami !
View CommentWonderful article.
View CommentNice article thanks for sharing
View CommentVery powerful statement – “when the heart has love, God reciprocates, irrespective of the colour of your skin and the nature of your religion.” All glories to HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj.
View CommentAs HH Radhanath Swami experienced, it is wrong to draw general conclusions about any organisation based on the actions of any individual member.
View CommentRadhanath Swami is sara-grahi, He seeks the essence – “when the heart has love, God reciprocates, irrespective of the color of your skin and the nature of your religion.”. Thanks a lot for sharing this beautiful article.
View Comment“When heart has love, Krishna reciprocates, irrespective of the colour, nation and the religion.” This is so true. All glories to Maharaj.
View Commentthank u for this…
View CommentThe essence of all religion is to love God. Radhanath Maharaj stresses on this principle in a non-sectarian way. That is why he is adored and loved by all.
View CommentThank you for sharing this.
View Commentradhanath swami is a light house for all the ships of ours sailing in the material ocean
View Commentvery nonsectarian clear idea about spirituality by H.H. radhanath Swamy
View CommentIt is very correct. Love of God is more important than any religion where there is no loving and serving God. All glories to Radhanath Swami.
View CommentThank you for sharing
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