Man, then, is the first and last in God’s creation. He is the greatest handiwork of God. Constitutionally, all men are constituted alike both in inner and outer formations; subject alike to disease, decay and death so far as the outer man of flesh and bones is concerned. Again, all of us, besides being human in appearance, are also human in feelings and emotions, because we are ensouled entities or embodied souls, and as such are one on this level as well. Last but not the least, we are one on the spiritual level as well, for spirit in all of us is one, and of the same essence as that of God.
This being the case, we are all worshippers of the same God, who is One without a second. There is no God but God, is what all the prophets have declared with one voice; and a path to Him can be gained through a life of rectitude and abstinence from indulgence, as prescribed by Sharia, or the code of social and moral conduct, which too, is essentially the same as given by all the law-givers of the world, from prehistoric times to this day. Ethical life, then, is a stepping-stone to spirituality, and it comprises in its fold divine attributes of purity, love, non-injury, truthfulness, continence, selfless-service and sacrifice. This constitutes the first step, and also includes within its fold all types of rituals like fasts and vigils, pilgrimages, charities and the like. But mark this — it is good as far as it goes, but surely not enough.
Next, we come to the core of the teachings as given by all the world teachers: Zoroaster, Vedic Rishis, Moses, Buddha, Mahavira, Shankara, Christ, Mohammed, Kabir and Nanak. All agree as to the nature of the Godhead. Absolute God is an abstraction, something imageless which no one has seen and no one can ever see. Then there is the God-in-expression power, and it has variously been described by the sages and seers as the Father of Lights, Nooranala, Noor, Swayam Jyoti, speaking in the midst of “thunder and lightning,” coming from above, as Akashvani or Bang-i-Asmani, Saut or Kalam-i-Qadeem, Sruti or Sraosha, Naam or Naad, Music of the Spheres and so on. These are not mere figurative words, as many may be prone to take them for, but essentially true in character.
The founders of all the religions gave a direct contact of the Light and Sound of God to their innermost circle of disciples, and enjoined them to develop the same, so as to become true mo’mins in the real sense of the word….
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All the religions agree that Life, Light and Love are the three phases of the Supreme Source of all that exists. These essential attributes of the divinity that is One, though designated differently by the prophets and peoples of the world, are also wrought in the very pattern of every sentient being. It is in this vast ocean of Love, Light and Life that we live, have our very being and move about; and yet, strange as it may seem, like the proverbial fish in water, we do not know this truth and much less practise it in our daily life; and hence the endless fear, helplessness, and misery that we see around us in the world; in spite of all our laudable efforts and sincere strivings to get rid of them. Love is the only touchstone wherewith we can measure of our understanding of the twin principles of Life and Light in us, and how far we have travelled on the path of self-knowledge and God knowledge. God is love, the soul in Man is a spark of that love, and again is the link between God and man on the one hand, and man and God’s creation on the other. It is, therefore, said, “He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.”
Sant Kirpal Singh, Speech World Fellowship of Religions, Delhi, 1965
