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PHILOSOPHY OF SOUL
dresses. One is clad in Gujrati style, the other chooses deccan style, the third one likes Punjabi style and the fourth one enjoys Bengali styled dress. On a marriage or some such festival day a woman changes her clothes six to seven times and delights in such changes. How can you expect unity of religions, when the world chooses variety so excessively.
Castles which have no bearing on reality are the castles in the air. A person sitting under the shade of a Banyan tree beside a lake thought, "If the lake turns into the lake of clarified butter and the leaves of this trees turn into loaves ....... I would dip them in butter and eat ....... and eat on ......" But these are all absurd mental figments based on no reality.
Some hold, let not all the religions be unified into unity but we should respect all the religions and should accept from them what is true, but this is also not the proper trend of thought. We would not abuse or degrade any religion but we would certainly scrutinize its merits and would only declare a particular religion as true and proper. Equalising all religions and respecting them without weighing and balancing them and without testing their propriety is analogous to equalising gold and iron. The religion which ordains to protect minutest living creature is certainly better tha one which ordains to sacrifice or to slaughter an animal in the name of religion. The religion which ordains to refrain completely from meat and liquor is certainly better than one which allows meat and liquor consumption.
We do not mind to accept what is good from anywhere but how to judge that goodness? The revered authors of the scriptures have laid down the standards of such judgement. That is good which respects non-violence, self-restraint and penances. That is bad or evil which is deprived of these ideals or which respects them with reluctance. With this rod of judgement we would certainly accept what is true and good.
Gentlemen, we have to discuss about varieties of religion and this was just the casual discussion which was indeed essential. Today the young men and women being educated at colleges, bring and practise such thoughts as ideals. They bring them from different gatherings or conferences. It was necessary to wipe out their wrong notions.
