HUM 3306: Comparative Religion

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Sarah-Lina Ghannam

Hindu Religious Traditions Inspiring Religious Pluralists

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Dr. C. Jacques

October 11th, 2010

Introduction

Many violent conflicts- Kashmir, Bosnia, Darfur, Jihad, and Crusades- have been presented as inter-religious conflicts. “Nothing has made more for peace and love than religion; nothing has engendered fiercer hatred than religion” (Bhajanananda, p. 2). According to Dr. Jacques, a working definition of the word ‘religion’ in the context of the 21st century would be: “the experience and recognition by human beings of the sacred on which their lives depend and to which recognition and respect is due” (2010). One of the iconic figures of Hindu religious pluralism is Sri Ramakrishna, a Brahmin of the nineteenth century whose thoughts have travelled all around the world. The scope of this paper is to explain Sri Ramakrishna’s text under the title of “Insanity: ‘My Religion Alone is True’” (Novak, p.43, 25b).We will evaluate this statement from two perspectives: Ramakrishna’s spiritual experience and the Hindu religious texts.

I- Sri Ramakrishna: the Father of the Hindu Religious Pluralism

“One of the main problems about to religion is its plurality and diversity. Further, each claims to show the right way” (Bhajanananda, p.1). There are four interreligious attitudes: exclusivism, inclusivism, universalism and pluralism. Exclusivism is the view that one’s own religion alone is true and all other religions are false. Besides, inclusivism states that one’s religion is true, but other religions not false because they are all included in one’s own religion. Universalism is the view that there is a set of universal valid religious principles unifying all religions. Finally, the fourth type of interreligious attitudes is pluralism, the view that all world’s religions are true. In other words, religious pluralism is the