Transreligious Spirituality as Basis For Inter-Religious Collaboration English

All of us believers Belong to one Religion or other. In each religion we find not only teachings or beliefs about God or gods (except in Buddhism ), but also ways and forms ( rituals ) for worshipping and life-styles. These differences make up the religions as different from each other.

 In a multireligious situation we see the need for Inter-religions dialogue and collaboration to avoid unpleasant feelings and to promote good and peaceful living and working together.
It is for this reason I took interest in inter-religious dialogue and collaboration within Sri Lanka and during my Exile in Germany. I t was with this Intention of an inter-religious collaboration for the welfare of man and his Society, that I founded my Centre for Better Society in Jaffna (115, 4th Cross Street, Jaffna) and editrd the quarterly New World in Tamil (1986-96)

I am rooted into my Christian discipleship. As a recipient of the Christian Revelation to which I gave my Response of faith, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.. For concretising this discipleship of Jesus, the catholic church has taught me many ways of experiencing God through prayer, liturgy, morality, style of life as a Person and in Society, Services to the neighbour etc. My practice of this discipleship is the best assurance that I am linked to God through Jesus Christ, the messiah.

Similarly others have experience of revelations, discipleship, styles of life and Service etc.

Religions as religions,can only help in designing and guiding us according to their received revelations and the traditional teachings of the religions,  teachings of holy People, the spiritual or religious life for their members.

My thirst goes beyond the borders of Religions towards the source of all religions. While accepting and strengthening my rootedness in my discipleship of Jesus Christ, while accepting the celebration of the Eucharist as a unique moment of experiencing God's Word through the biblical scriptures and nourishing myself with the Body and blood of Christ, I continue to live beyond those limited moments, to experience God in other ways too. Limiting my God-experience or contact with God only to the holy mass is not reaping the benefits of other revelations in creation, in nature, in the Beauty and mightiness of creations.

I feel sorry when my brethren Limit their living of discipleship and experiencing of God only within the church and its liturgy. The liturgy in a church or a temple is a community worship in praise and thanksgiving to the Divine. This act must bind us together in life when we go out into the world.
Our experience of God in his macro-creations of the Universes, planets and stars,and in the micro-creations in the beautiful nature - these must move us to wonder towards ecstacy.  

I will encourage People to wander into the nature and wonder about God's creation and respond to all These in faith becomes a true prayer to God.

GOD, FAITH, REASON / BEYOND HUMAN FACULTIES ( see, hear,touch,taste,smell ........) English

God?????

Wonder????Ecstacy!!!

Faith?????

Reason?????

Reality????

In my journey with Jesus Christ,

who revealed Himself as Son of God,

through the Biblical Revelation which I accepted in faith,

I am with Jesus journeying with Him
as my Saviour, Teacher, Pilot and Guru of my life.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ, and as a servant in His Name and image of God's People,

I have journeyed for over 80 years.

I am thankful for the firm faith

which strengthened me and guided me through various phases and ways through this world.

From the Unknown and Nameless God

Source and Power of all Creations to the down to earth Reality of my life,

There are my human faculties or power at play.

With eyes to see, ears to hear, hand to touch and intellect to reason and question,

I am lead to wonder of God & His Actions

Faith in God, meant for me holding on to one end of the link which is fixed at the other end 

to the unknown God,

who, in my case,
had revealed Himself/ Itself to me through Jesus Christ.

To know and to be connected to God,

Through Jesus Christ, 

I live in the community of the disciples of Jesus Christ,

As founded by his immediate disciples called the Apostles,

After the Pentecost and called the church!!!

I became a member of this Catholic Church

Through baptism, nourished by its sacraments
and grown up to be a mature disciple 

and finally through priesthood, 

a servant of the people in the image of Christ.

Today after completing over 80 years of Christian life

and 50 years of priestly service,

What/ How is my link to God?

 

Unlike an Atheist,

I know where I had come from,

where I am now,

and where I am going.

So what is faith?

Is Faith reasonable or unreasonable?

Is it, contradictory to or against reason?

or above or Ultra-reason?

or super-human?

Man has the tendency to think of himself as Al-mighty?

Because of the power of reason, 

he tends to think that everything that exists is knowable

And even attainable.

And anything beyond reason,

or superseding reason is unacceptable to him.

So far humanity has achieved immeasurable discoveries

With the power of reason and intelligence.

Progress in the sciences are admirably advancing
and will keep on  advancing.
Let us hope against hope

that these advances are not turned into destructive forces
against Himself and his home the earth!!!

But make life of man on this planet
peaceful and progressive.

In spite of the power of reason achieving and attaining so much,

And will continue to do so,

Accepting the existence of a supreme and superior Being 

As pre-existent and the Cause / Creator of all that exists

 Is Reasonable!!!

A French philosopher Des Cartes, said:
Cogito, ergo sum!
I think. therefore I am.

Yes, by good use of the human faculties,
especially intellect and the power of thinking
we hman beings have  achieved
and will achieve more and more.

At the Moment I am thinking further and writing
and you are reading and thinking about it, far far away!
But even this power of thinking is limited
and cannot comprehend God!

I stand in the midst of life, in the midst of nature,
in midst of a changing world of Beauty, excitement etc.
I look up. I see a clear blue sky and a sun !

With respect to the Sun,
that is 92 Million miles away from our earth
and radiating continuously light and heat,
man knows something and he can learn more.

But is blue the colour of the Thing called sky?
Neither there is a Thing called sky, nor is it blue!
The empty space beyond our sight appears so.

Hence when I look up and turn around,
I experience a Face of God!
I can only look around nd Keep on wondering
at the wonders of creation and how they move on!
 

இதை ஆளமாக புரிந்து கொள்ள முழு முயற்சியும் எடுக்கப்பட வேண்டும். எமது திரு  முழுக்கு அருட்சாதனம் குழந்தைப் பருவத்தில் நடாத்தப்படுவதால் அதன் பொருளையும் பொறுப்புகள் கடமைகள், ஓரளவிற்கு பெற்றோர் ஞானப்பெற்றோருக்கு விளக்கப்பட்டாலும், அக் குழந்தைக்கு ஒன்றுமே தெரியாது. மேலும் அங்கே கேட்கப்படும் வினாக்கள் பதில்களும்

பொருத்தமற்றவை. ஆகையினால் வளர்ந்த பின்பு பொறுப்புணர்ச்சி உருவாகும் பொழுது முதிர்ச்சி அடைந்தோருக்கான மறைக்கல்வி கொடுக்கப்பட வேண்டும். 

The greatest scientist of the century, Albert Einstein,

accepted a super-human power behind the whole of creation.

As Einstein put it:

"My religion
consists of a humble admiration 

of the illimitable superior spirit
who reveals himself in the slight details

we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds.

That deeply emotional conviction of the presence
of a superior reasoning power,

which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe,

forms my idea  of God"

(quoted in The Quotable Einstein, p. 161).

Philosophy, meaning the love of wisdom- Philo + Sophia,

deals with the boundary-questions of science,

time, space, being etc.

So reason is the greatest power in man

but it has its Limits.

It is reasonable to accept in a power beyond.

when that power beyond reveals himself/itself to man,

it is reasonable to accept that Revelation of God.

God reveals Himself/itself in many ways at all times.

man cannot Limit what one has received as the only one

and exclude or deny other revelations.

one cannot manipulate or determine only one as true

and all others as false.

One has the Obligation 

to live by that Revelation he has received.

In my case, I have received the biblical Revelation in Christianity.

During this last Phase of life,

I ask Jesus - Show me the Father - yours and mine!

Jesus revealed himself as the Son,

and revealed God as a Father.

He prayed often to His Father

and he said that he was going to His father and our Father.

The Prayer he taught sums up his whole Revelation and Mission in the first part.

God is Our father, who should be praised.

His Kingdom of values like Truth, Justice, Love, Mercy, Forgiveness...

is to come into the world of sinful humanity.

His will, his plan and his values must spread and takehold of humanity on this earth.

In the second part of that prayer he taught,

we place our Needs of life - Food, clothing, shelter...

mutual forgiveness and love for one another

and protection from evil.

Jesus was on this earth as a man

revealed God as our Father and His Plan as Kingdom of God.

He taught us how to journey on this earth
towards the coming of the Kingdom. 

we know God is our Father,

but we have not yet seen Him yet as He is!

Our belief is that when we die with Christ,

we rise to new life - eternal life

and meet God!

 Hence Human Helplessness to think or speak about God

But today, on this earth, with the limitations
of our human language, symbols and concepts

can we say something about Him/Her/It ???

God is not a Thing, God is Un-thing

we humans cannot  apply the word Existence, or for that any word, with respect to God

and pose the question, whether God exists or not, whether God is one or many.
These are a human attempt to seek Response within our Limits.

By affirming God exists, or God IS,
we are classifying People as believers or theists

and atheists or non-believers.

Most of the world religions believe in God/Gods,
except the Buddhists.

To think or speak or write about God
is not possible for us human beings.

with the limited faculties given by God to see to hear to feel to think to reason to understand.

All These are impotent before God!
Prose, poetry, Music - These higher grades of human Expression
are very useful to capture the immensity of God.
The language of Symbols is also an important media.
To each one it gives an endless meaning and message.

In Silence we can journey
with our reasoning, with help of telecopes
into the Macro Universe and beyond,
or we can peep with the help of microscopes into micro universe.
we have learnt through mathemeatical astronomy, space travel etc.

we can also journey into the micro universe of sub-atomic particles

with the help of microscope.
Little science like physics which I have learnt, helps a little 
to peep into His Mystery.

From These we can only marvel in silence

and acknowledge our helplessness or powerlessness to know God.

A German writer says " Do not pass bye your life,
but live it and in living, you will discover God!"

I have learnt and learnt many aspects of human sciences

including natural sciencs, philosophy and theology.

But the silence I have had
especially during the last 20 years in self-Exile

and the silence filled only with meditational Music MP3

have helped me to get closer to what we call God!

In a Tamil Music I hear the words often

அமைதியில் உறவாடும் இறைவா!!!

God relates to you in Silence!

I am grateful to God for bringing me into this self-exile,

as on a mountain, to have more insights into life
and into the Beyond!

This is the stage I marvel at creation and the creator,
experience a certain Astonischment, 
wonder in spell-bound silence
before all what I see in nature and beyond.

Human Attempts to Name and visualise this God

For us Christians, believing in one God - Monotheism -
is after many stages of development for thousands of years
going from poytheism to the God of Abrham and Jacob and Moses to calling God as Jahweh as in Judaism.
After Jesus this understanding of God is further enriched as a Father.

Compared to Christian names for God,
as Almighty, All powerful, Lord, ....

In Hinduism as practiced by the majority of my people,
I find a rich variety of names for God.
Deus, in Latin and Devan in Tamil, mean the Necessary/Being.
the one who is always needed!

Param Porul = All-Being,
Para-Sakthy = all-powerful,
Parama Easwaran = the All-Giver, 
Thevan- One who is needed

Accordingly even the statues and drawings about the Deity
Shows the above aspects.
For example, the almighty or powerful can see everything and do everything,as with 6 faces or with 6 Hands