Religious Fundamentalism
The idea that somehow these religions grew up in isolation is kind of far-fetched. We can take this further and say that, on the Mesas in northern Arizona, among the ancient Hopi people, there are legends of red-headed people who came through. People with red hair who came through, who probably were Irish [laughter] or perhaps Scandinavian. These exceedingly hardy people wandered around, and they carried with them the stories of their religions, just as the native people here had the stories of their religions. So there was a lot of intermingling that went on. This idea of purity or the true teaching ‘as separate from’ is strained. In other words, it kind of puts a dent in the whole concept of fundamentalism.
Whether it’s Buddhist fundamentalism or Shivite fundamentalism or Christian fundamentalism or Hebrew fundamentalism or Muslim fundamentalism, the idea that none of this stuff existed and suddenly somebody appeared and said, “Okay, well this is the truth,”it really ignores our heritage, our Divine Heritage.
Especially since holy books are written over a large span of time, contributed to by different people, it’s just logically preposterous, too. And besides, what am I going to do with that? I can only go back to Divine Heritage; I can only go back to the living truth that’s true for me right now, this day.
So in a sense, what we’re working on right now is Talmudic. We are working on Upanishads. We’re working on commentaries of the teachings. You and I had a talk off-mike and I was saying that what I’m teaching here, what I’m describing and talking about here, isn’t my teachings, it isn’t the teachings of Ramananda. It is the teachings of a lineage that goes back thousands upon thousands of lifetimes. And I’m reaching into that lineage and bringing it forthjust as you are reaching into the lineages of your understanding and coming up with questions that allow me to go further.
