World Religions Conference November 1957

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

Page 79

Inaugural Address by the president of India
Basically all faiths have one and the same object, namely, enabling the human soul to attain its full height of evolution so that man can achieve real peace or moksha or nirvana; in other words man may lose his Identity with that of the Supreme Being and get absorbed in him. This aspiration of man is so strong and so natural that no other urge can give him surer guidance in life. The moment we touch the level of true religion, mutual suspicions and bickerings disappear and man is face to face with a breadth of vision before which all human beings appear as equal. Spiritual view of life is another name for this feeling. It should be quite clear that genuine peace and hapiness of man are inextricably linked with this view of life. It does not mean that bodily comforts and material prosperity should be necessarily eschewed. What is meant by saying it is that this prosperity should not be mistaken for life's summum bonum. Material well-being may be looked upon as one of the means for achieving the highest good.
We find a number of faiths and religions prevalent in the world. On account of the differences in time and space, religious faith has taken different forms and we find people divided among various faiths. As a result of formal rituals and external symbolism these differences have gone so deep that we find in history man turning against man, tribe against tribe and country against country. On occasions, keen on destroying others in the name of religion, man has not resrained from shedding blood. The number of religious wars in human history is legion and the suffering caused by them is indescribable. While, on the one hand, we find man resorting to injustice, narrownes and cruel behaviour in the name of religion; on the other. we also see the spectacle of many a faithful person, Inspired by religion, passing through untold sufferings, even to the extent of giving away his life. Alas, it is not possible to say even today that man has outlived the animal instinct which impels him to believe that his views alone are right and to persuade others by force and repression to accept his beliefs.
The progress of science, has brought us face to face, with another difficult and complicated problem. In the wake of his mastery over Nature and its forces, man has begun to look upon himself as omniscient, and indeed it would not be surprising at all if mistaking material prosperity and comfort for the ultimate goal of life, he were to consider himself, as omnipotent also. The basis of religious belief is not material but spiritual in nature.
Although this idea is as old as the cosmos, yet unfortunately it appears to have remained dormant as a moving force. Perhaps it is due to the predominance of materialistic outlook among the people. With the help of science man has largely succeeded in analysing and controlling the force of Nature and this startling progress has laid before him the snare of delusion. Man has not been able to free himself from
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