________________
gerous than former. Because excitement is only momentary, but blind superstition eats up the very root of a community. Swamiji calls such religions shop-keeping religions. Here God instead of becoming the goal of man's life, becomes means of man's selfishness.
There are various grades of mind. A philosopher for instance may feel shallowness in external rituals and may like only such things as appealing to his intellect. A man with aesthetic bent of mind may need a great deal of art in his worship viz colours, flowers, forms, lights etc. A Mohammeden may be against all sorts of idolatries. However each one has a place in religion. An ideal or universal religion must be capable of supplying intellectual strength to a philosopher, marvelous symbolism to a ritualist and imagination to a poet. Swamiji's watchword is acceptance and not exclusion. By acceptance he means heartful worshipping of all religions. He does not even relish the word "religious toleration". For, the latter implies accepting wrongness of a religion with great reluctance. It signifies, "you are wrong, yet I am allowing you to live". Such a cold acceptance of a religion for the sake of courtesy and rejecting it in mind is according to Swamiji, blasphemy. For no religion in its true spirit can be wrong. All religions represent varied perspectives of approaching the same reality. We look at the reality in accordance with our environment and dispositions, but the reality is same. There is difference in perspective, but not in the thing in itself. The paper can thus be concluded with a great saying of Swamiji.
"We take in all that has been in the past, enjoy the light of the present and open every window of the heart for the future. Salutation to all the prophets of the past, all the great ones of the present and to all that are to come in the future".
391
