World Religions Conference November 1957

Author(s): Sushil Muni
Publisher: Achal Singh Seth

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Background
lowest ebb never known before; deception and fraud are, in the fair name of religion, rampant everywhere; and even in its purity, religion has assumed myriads of names and forms.
Religion, it is said, has, as many forms and names as 2200. There are no less than 700 definitions of the term 'Religion' with Innumerable commentaries on each one of them, and these run into 1200. In these bewildering conditions, it is necessary to try some cut and dry simple scheme of religion for the common good of the common man. It is with this aim that the World Religions Conference has been convened.
Asia-The Cradle of Religions
Asia is the cradle land of all religions and religious cultures. India is the hub and the very soul of Asia. India has always played an important part in the birth, growth, reformation and regeneration of religions. All the Rishis, Munis, Saints and Sadhus, Tirthankaras and other enlightened souls have ever been engaged in this noble mission. They spent all their time in the laboratory of Man, in search and research of true religion, as Mahatma Gandhi did, in the present age in his quest of truth and piety.
Truth and plety, the two essential ingredients of religion, existed even long before Mahatma Gandhi, but Man had forgotten the correct lead they gave and the practical utility thereof. Mahatma Gandhi once more placed before the world, a living example of them both. In political field, he by a successful experimentation with Truth and Ahimsa (Non-violence) won freedom for his country and placed a unique ideal before the peoples of the world, torn by national prides and and prejudices, with unshakable faith in the blind might and power that tramples on the equal rights of others. The pages of Indian history abound with the accounts of such great souls. Acting on the principle-Truth is churned out of discussions-religious conferences were called and religious polemics were held in this quest. The aphorismTruth is that which comes as a natural inference-goes to show that it was always tested on the touchstone of mutual discussions. This is how the search and research in religion was carried on. But such beneficial discussions were never allowed to degenerate into a babble or an idle talk just for the sake of talk and nothing more. The Indian literature is replete with such noble discussions and dissertations that were carried on for the sole purpose of finding out truth. In Mahabharat, we have not only a discourse on Dharma by Lord Krishna-in the form of song celestial or Bhagwat Gita-on the field of Kurukhehstra but we have in Bhisham Purva and Shanti Purva, discourses on Dharma, from Bhisham Pitama who was the illustrious progenitor of the Kurvas and the Pandvas.
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