Humans are religious beings
animated by a divine dynamism that is in-built in them and their world. They follow the path of religion, namely,
through the world of concerns to the universe of faith in order to discover
there a world of meaning (NA 1)Religious experience is derived from the
universe of faith and is expressed in pluriverse of beliefs. In an anthropo-theistic perspective it is a
response (faith) to the divine initiative (revelation) [Semitic traditions:
Jews, Christian, Islamic}. In a cosmo-theistic
tradition it is the awareness of the abiding but non-manipulable Presence in
all things [Hinduism]. In an a-theistic
world it is the outcome of the `silence of God' that prevents absolutization of
any being [Buddhism]. In a secular view
it is the sense of mystery that fascinates and inspires commitment but escapes
all attempts at objectification.
Introduction
The
thesis begins with a note from the document Nostra Aetate that mainly focuses on the relation of the axial
religions of the world in leading the faithful to God experience. Though in the Second Vatican council the
attempt was only to highlight the importance of the Jews in the salvation
history, eventually the document expanded itself to envisage the role of the
axial religions in the leading the people to God. It was developed under the principle - One people, One goal and One Creator.
The fact
of religion must be looked from the ontological dimension. There is a divine dimension at work in the
world. Religion is the response to this
divine dimension. Religion is that which
deals with way of life, speaks of beliefs, customs and morals, norms for right
living and believing.
1. Religious
experience is derived from the universe of faith and is expressed in pluriverse
of beliefs
Humans
being the children of the One Creator, have only one destiny. There is a divine dynamism at work in the
world. We are animated towards that
mystery by divine dynamism, that is salvation.
St.Augustine characterized the human existence by the restlessness of
the heart. Actually a kind of
restlessness is rooted in human finitude.
This finitude is manifested in every act of knowing and willing, more concretely in death.
Contemporary theologians like Karl Rahner argue that the very experience of
human finitude reveals human dependence upon the Infinite-God. In every act of knowing and loving I am
restless, striving beyond my present situation toward a horizon which I can
never reach but which inescapably present to me. Here I cannot be content with the limited
areas of knowledge, etc., but be open to that Mystery which God who can only
fulfill my restless longing.
Religious
Experience
Human
beings are a bundle of possibilities seeking "the Beyond"-God, though
no one has ever seen God (1 Tim 6:16 ). Meaning to say, no single person or group
possesses the totality of the mystery of God.
Yet, in search of meaning and fulfillment of life the human beings
generally base themselves on their encounter with the divine which leads them
to the path of religion. This encounter
with the divine, is what we call religious experience. In other words, it is the involvement of the
total self in openness to the realities of the world and communication of this
transcendental experience in a dynamic way to one's fellow beings. People have understood and articulated their
religious experience in different ways and forms conditioned by the place,
culture and circumstances. Thus we have
several religious traditions with specific identity of their own, built on the
religious experience as their common identity.
Religious
experience in connection with the universe of faith and the pluriverse of
beliefs
In the
ontological level we see a divine dynamism at work. We live in a world charged
with divine presence. This openness to divine dynamism refers to the fact of
religion built on the universe of faith.
Now, the
faith that is common to every human person is a tripolar reality constituted by
cosmic, human and divine dimensions. When the faith is expressed in dogmas,
doctrines, community, art, symbols, law, etc., we have the pluriverse of
beliefs. Hence, the articulation of faith that is historically conditioned
expresses itself in beliefs that have the capacity to evoke the core religious
experience.
In the
divine dynamism, there are both individual as well as communitarian
aspects. Both these individual and
community aspects of the divine begin to have dialogue with the concerns of life. The concerns are i.e., (i) The unsolved
riddles of life - beginning and end, (ii) Concerns of non-liberation, (iii)
Concerns of offering meaningful life to the people in the world. In this dialogue we are to deal with a
universe of faith, in order to discover meaning of the life. The way of looking at the world is the way of
faith. There are two ways of looking at
this universe of faith, i.e.,
a) The basic faith element in all
the human beings for we are animated by a divine dynamism. {The
universe of faith is already present in the world as we are motivated by the
divine dynamism. Basically human are
meaning seeking beings. There is an urge
in every human to search for the meaning of their life, the meaning of their
origin and end. Here, religion enables
them to find meaning in their lives. The
universe of faith involves a commitment to the transcendent. Actually this commitment to the transcendent
only, enables us to enter into the universe of faith. Since there is already a divine dynamism
working in me, by responding to it I commit myself and enter into the universe
of faith. When I commit myself to the
divine dynamism there are certain stronger beliefs on which I ground myself as
point of reference, that is the pluriverse of beliefs.}
b) the faith understanding of an
individual given by a particular religion he belongs. In a context of a particular religion, we
construct our World of meaning from
our own religious tradition as well as from the interaction between our
universe of faith and the other religions.
2. In a
an anthropo-theistic perspective it is a response (faith) to the divine
initiative (revelation) [Semitic traditions: Jews, Christian, Islamic]
Having
seen what religious experience is, and how it is being expressed, now let us
look into how it is being understood in various traditions. The semitic traditions understand the core
religious experience in an anthropo-theistic perspective: as human response to
the divine self-disclosure. God reveals Himself in history and humans respond
to the revelation in personal relationship.
Hence in the case of semitic traditions it is a mediated experience.
a) Christian Tradition: In
Christian tradition, the core religious experience is the self-disclosure of
God in Jesus Christ. Therefore God in whom the Christians believe is not an
abstract idea but a person revealed in the very life of Jesus. This experience is authenticated by the
believing community, the Church. The
Scripture testifies to this belief that the living God has been disclosed to us
in varied ways and various times and nowhere more fully than in Jesus Christ
(Heb 1:1ff).
{Human activity is the
prolongation or the continuity of the work of the creator. The ultimate goal of our work should be for
the Kingdom of God Kingdom
of God
OT: Israel
NT: The
climactic moment of history is the event of Jesus Christ. This is the supreme
creative act of God revealing himself fully to us and creating us anew. History
itself is bound for glory, this has been revealed definitively in the
incarnation and specially in the resurrection of Jesus (1 Pet 1:3-4 ; 2 Cor 4
:14; I Cor 15 : 35-58).
Hence,
as Christians we reflect on the significant acts of God in OT and NT and also
in other `signs of the times' which constitute our saving history. Christian
history is essentially the salvation history - God manifesting to us as
saviour, liberator, creator.
There
have been disputes whether there are two
histories - salvation history and history of mankind. Vat
II, in GS & DV, clearly emphasizes salvation history. History
whether salvation history or history of humankind, is the creative act of
God because God is knowable
through creation and through creative acts only. The whole history of the world
and the whole history of humankind contain God's revelation and our response.
For us Christians, we reflect on the principal saving acts of God, climaxed in
Jesus Christ and this historic revelation of God is important for Christian
life.}
b) Jewish Tradition: The Jews
believe in a personal God who establishes a covenantal relationship with the
human beings (Gen 9:9-11). The book of Exodus testifies to this fact
that at Mount Sinai Yhwh enters into a special covenantal relationship with the
entire people of Israel
c) Islamic Tradition: Like the
Jews, Muslims too experience Allah as the personal God. Total surrender to
Allah is what makes a Muslim, an authentic Muslim in the real sense of the
word. Muslims believe that the Koran,
the revelation to Prophet Mohammed is the final and complete revelation. The
book has 114 chapters believed to have been revealed over a period of 22 years,
The Muslim community (Ummah), considers Sharia as the actual blue-print for
Muslim life. The Sharia provides the guidelines for the individual and the
community both for private and public life.
3. In a
cosmo-theistic tradition it is the awareness of the abiding but non-manipulable
Presence in all things [Hinduism]
In sharp
contrast to the semitic traditions, the Hindu world view presents its religious
experience as the awareness of the
abiding presence of the Divine Mystery in the Cosmos. Hence it upholds
mystical experience, the experience of God within oneself leading to the
ultimate union with the Divine. The core experience finds its expression in
cosmic symbolism (sun, moon, tree, fire, water, etc).
The
characteristics of the early Hindu traditions show unity in diversity as we
gather example from the Puruscha-sukta which is a foundational hymn from the Rig veda (X 90). It speaks of the whole reality as a cosmic person. In the early Hindu traditions the idea of
`God' is not there; and when it is there it plays a very secondary role. Wholeness/ totality/ fullness/ sarvam/ purnam, that seems to be the
ultimate point of reference. To reach
this goal is liberation/salvation. When
the idea of God does enter the scene then it is not so much that of a
personalistic God as of a cosmotheistic Divine.
That means that such a Divine is spelt out primarily in cosmic
dimensions and cosmic parameters. Divine is transpersonal because it is
spoken of as `reality, consciousness and bliss'(Sat-cit-ananda), to avoid human connotations they have used
abstract nouns. The main characteristics
of this world view are unity-in-diversity, wholeness, transpersonal and
cosmic. Originally there was no idea of
personal God. Even though the idea of
personal God entered, it was very secondary. (Ref: F.X.D'Sa, "Sruti And Sraddha", p.2)
The idea
of revelation and faith response is also very much different from our Christian
understanding. Reality reveals itself
through `Sruti' the sacred utterance
or the eternal sabda (The other words
equivalent words are Veda, Pranava
and Om ). This sacred utterance is seen by `Rsis', the
seers. Both `Sruti' and `Rsis' are
primarily ontological expressions and they refer to hearing and seeing on the
level of being-and-understanding. They
are more than the sensory acts of hearing and seeing. This is an ongoing revelation. (Ref:
F.X.D'Sa, "Sruti And Sraddha", p.3). Reality being the
totality of all is interconnected and interdependent. Everything lives on everything. The whole cosmos functions with a certain
rhythm. This rhythm is maintained by the
self giving aspect which is present in every element of the reality, that is
known as `Yajna' the cosmic
sacrifice. Here salvation is the
liberation from the bondage that is attachment.
This is achieved through the practice of `Dharma' the right means of overcoming the bondage.
{The belief in the Absolute
reality, the supreme soul or self described as existence - consciousness - bliss (sat
cit ananda) is the founding principle of the Hindu concept of creation. The
Hindu scriptures identify God with the universe, the natural world of
multiplicity and differentiation, believing that Brahman transforms himself
into ever blossoming and developing forms of the external world. God is present
in the cosmos - animate and inanimate. Therefore, they acknowledge the immanent
and transcendent aspects of the Supreme Being.
According
to some humanistic and rationalistic systems of thought, universe is made up of
undifferentiated matter and individual souls which have coexisted eternally.
According to some others only Brahman is real and the world is an illusion.
Among the philosophers there are differences of opinion regarding the understanding
of cosmos. But most of them use the concept of Prakriti and Purusha. Prakriti is the ultimate cosmic energy -
primordial energy - which exists eternally. This primary cause of all that is
created, is made up of three gunas -
sattva, rajas and tamas, which
are held together in a state of equilibrium. (Sattva - harmony and balance of nature, wisdom, purity and
pleasure in its created form. Rajas
- result of the pain stimulating, restless and energetic in its created
form. Tamas - inertia having
the nature of indifference, laziness, and dullness found in its created form).
Prakriti, the primal
matter, coexists with Purusha, the
conscious principle of creation and both are beginningless. Creation occurs
through the union of prakriti and purusha. It is maya that brings this union.
World is considered to be the body of God and everything is viewed from
the point of view of the cosmos.
HUMANKIND: From the
philosophical point of view, human being cannot be regarded as standing apart
from the universe. He/she is one of the
many forms in which the Supreme Being is manifested in this universe. The Upanishads express that the essential
self and the vital essence in man is the same as that of the whole universe.
According to the theology of Upanishads :( `know thyself'), the essential self
or real self (atman) is different
from the empirical self (Jiva). The ultimate nature of the real self is saccitananda. Man realizes his essential self in the
ecstatic mystical state in which the only experience is pure bliss. In Hindu thought, body is understood to
denote all kinds of limitations that are pronounced by ignorance (avidya) of
the nature of the true self. Essentially man is God - Aham Brahmasmi.
HISTORY: Hindus do
not have the concept of salvation History and hence there are no privileged
moments in History. On the contrary, to
a certain extent, they transcend history. For them the Golden age in the
history of human being is the period in which all moral and spiritual values
are well established and universally accepted and acted upon. They
picturesquely described it as a time when the cow of righteousness (Dharma) walks on all its four legs. Thus
the concept of history is understood in terms of true progress in modern and
spiritual standards.
The
cosmo-theistic traditions believe in the cyclic view of history. Hence we have
the meaning systems like, theory of `karma',
`Punarjanma', etc. However, one must understand that the
explanation and therefore those belonging to the cosmo-theistic traditions do
experience history and time in a progressive and linear way.}
4. In an
a-theistic world it is the outcome of the `silence of God' that prevents
absolutization of any being [Buddhism]
Differing
from semitic and cosmo-theistic traditions, Buddhism speaks of an existentially
transformative experience based on the understanding of the nature of the
Reality. This experience is the enlightenment to Dhamma where tone sees things as they are rather than as they
appear to be. Hence, Buddhist view upholds that no single expression can
adequately express the mystery of God which we may refer to as `silence of
God'.
5. In a
secular view it is the sense of mystery that fascinates and inspires commitment
but escapes all attempts at objectification
Secularism
is the perspective from which human beings attempt to understand the time and
history. It relies on reason and
scientific knowledge to promote the material and cultural progress of man. It seeks to foster harmony among human groups
despite differences of faith. The Secularists
are fully committed to the quest of making sense of time and history. Secularists work for universal values, social
justice and promotion of material and cultural progress. They never consider `God', `eternity',
`heaven', `hell', etc. for they are postulates which do not belong to the stuff
of time and history. (Ibid., p.117).
(Francis D'Sa, "Religion and Secularism", Jnanadeepa,
Jan, 1998, pp.106-109).
Acknowledging
the sense of mystery and wonder in the universe, the secular view would deny any objectification of the core
religious experience. However, it
draws inspiration from the experience of mystery in order to work for universal
human values, social justice and promotion of material and cultural progress.
But,
being Human is neither limited to nor restricted by the perspective of time and
history which is only one of its "kairological" moments. (Ibid.,
p.117)
Merging of
Horizons
We are
called to a global religious vision. This is the awareness of the unity of
humankind before God. It also makes sense of the diversity of God's ways within
the various steams of human life. Therefore, the plurality in expression is no
way meant to divide the world and the humans. On the contrary it provides great
scope for dialogue, precisely because they are founded on the universe of
faith. However, we do see certain fundamentalistic elements making exclusive
claims to achieve their vested interests and thus widening the gap between
religious traditions. Hence, today we need a proper understanding of what religious
experience is and how it is being expressed in different religious traditions.
This will help us to be open to various traditions and recognize and appreciate
the richness and beauty in them. This will lead us to realize that various
traditions have much to complement to each other and hence a real merging of
horizon is the need of the hour.
Conclusion
Therefore,
from all that is said so far, it makes me conclude that so long as there is a
variety of human types, variety of cultures and circumstances, there will be a
variety of kinds of approaches to the Ultimate reality. There will always
be corresponding awareness of the Ultimate reality as non-personal and
personal. As a result, there will
always be more spontaneous, warm and spirit-filled forms of devotion and
also more liturgical, orderly and
rationally conditioned forms. Hence a mutual co-existence in genuine
dialogue is essential that people belonging to various traditions accept each
other as brothers and sisters and work towards greater peace, justice and
fellowship.
Extra on Religion.........
The fact
of religion must be looked from the ontological dimension. There is a divine dimension at work in the
world. Religion is the response to this
divine dimension. Religion is that which
deals with way of life, speaks of beliefs, customs and morals, norms for right
living and believing. The word
`religion' comes from the Latin word `religio'
which basically means relationship. Actually `relegare'
is root word for `religio' and it has three other divisions, i.e., `religare' which means `to tie a bond between God and Human', `re-eligare' which means `to take up again with care' and `relegere' which means to observe the
both the aforesaid. Religio has a
comprehensive meaning : either it refers to an outward expression of inner
attitude or to ceremonies that are being performed.
There are different approaches to religion.....
Anthropologists: Religion is
a pattern of behaviour. It unites people
in a shared experience and explanation of life. Molinowski says that religion
is the human response to the human desire for the survival.
Sociologists: It is a
unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things set apart and
forbidden (Marx Weber). It is a human
activity which speaks of events practices using words about God. Religious behaviours form the society (Emile
Durkein)
Historians: The
starting point of the religion in the history is the awareness of holy. Hierophany - the manifestation of the holy or
sacred. "The idea of holy is mysterium tremendum et fascinatum"
(Rudolf Otto).
Phenomenologists:
Psychologists: The power
of human mind is grounded in a kind of sexual energy (libido) and is ascribed
to a god-figure and this attitude is generated in a child's relationship with
his/her father (Freud).
Existentialists: Their focus
is on the priority of the practical over the theoretical. The starting point is personal and concrete.
Believers: A believer
is one who takes his/her religious experience as true. A theologian is the one who reflects upon the
religious experiences as a believer.
Theology is not merely a faith seeking understanding and also our way of
speaking about God. For a theologian,
religion is a response to what is experienced as ultimate reality.
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