Once there were four travellers, a Greek, an Arab, a Persian and a Turk. Upon reaching a small town, they decided to get something to eat. As they had limited money they had only one choice to make. Each said he had the best food in the world in mind. When asked what that was, the Persian answered “angoor”, the Greek said “staphlion”, the Arab asked for “aneb” and Turk demanded “Uzum”. Unable to understand one another’s language, they began to argue.
They kept quarreling among themselves, feeling more resentful and bitter with each passing minute, until a Sufi who happened to pass by interrupted them. With the money collected the Sufi bought a bunch of grapes. He then put the grapes in a container and pressed hard. He made the travelers drink the juice and threw away the skin, because what mattered was the essence of the fruit, not its outer form” – a short story from ‘ The Forty Rules of Love’ by Elif Shafak…
Similarly, all human beings in this world identifying with their religions are like these travelers. They quarrel about the outer form but forget that the ‘essence’ of each religion is the same.
With the information age, we are more aware of a lot of knowledge which was difficult to get earlier. Many religious texts and spiritual information needed the receiver to have certain level of purity or equanimity to be imparted.
In recent times, we see that all of us have become knowledgeable about various religions and philosophies of thought, but certainly not wise.
Our need today is assimilating the essence of the religion that we follow or believe in. The outer form should not be of consequence at all. Neither the zeal to prove ourselves and our religion better than the other. As all paths lead to the same truth. There is now more than ever a crisis of belief and at the same time over zealous followers who are ready for any sacrifice. This brings pain, violence and suffering to humanity at large.
What can we do to bring this equanimity back into our society and our communities? How can we have harmonious relationships with people of different faiths? Why is there so much of doubt and distrust among us regarding our fellow human beings? These are some questions to ponder upon.