The pathway to the Supreme is beset with many difficulties and it is confused with conflicting declarations. Especially in this modern age, man is confused about religion. He does not know what the truth is, or the right religion, or the correct belief, for diverse religions abound. There are different scriptures declaring the Ultimate Reality in different terms, one contradicting the other. There is mutual conflict. There is no agreement and each religion insists that its conception of the Truth is the only Ultimate Reality. Sometimes they do not stop at this, but go one step further saying, “All other conceptions will lead you to hell-fire and you will have to continue in that state, in the furnace of hell-fire and brimstone, for centuries and centuries. You who do not believe thus are all pagans and heathens”.

The Mussalman will say, “He who believes in Allah, he is the only one who is saved. That is the only way in which the doors of heaven are open to you—the only way you can attain that land”. And what is that land? It is the land of perennial spring, with streams and gardens, beautiful fruits and flowers everywhere, and well-fed turkeys, parrots and other birds playing about. This is a conception of heaven where all pleasure is immediately available. Whereas, the devout Christian praying in a church will have a heart filled with the burden of the whole world, wondering in what way he can save souls—going out of his way to save souls for Christ. And, he thinks that all those believing in his particular conception of God are the only people for whom one can hope; and for all the rest, tears should be shed, for they are all heathens and pagans, requiring their souls to be saved, and if they are not saved by the Christians, they will be eternally damned. So many times a Christian thinks it his mission to save souls and the number of souls that he saves goes to guarantee his own supreme salvation.

In each of these two religions, Mohammedanism and Christianity, the followers think theirs is the only religion and other people are just blind. In the same way, for instance, the Buddhists will say that save those who follow the great path leading to Nirvana, all others are as children, groping about in the dark.

Thus it is found that tenets differ, scriptures differ, doctrines differ, conceptions of Divinity differ; and not only do they differ, they are mutually exclusive and clash with one another. In the same religion, different sects have different ways of declaring the Truth, and each sect is prepared to fight and say that all others are fools and that they alone have the highest Truth. And, they are all sincere. But they do not recognize the value of other religions; rather they feel that the followers of these other religions are blind with wrong thinking. Thus the followers of each separate religion declare the absolute ignorance of all the rest. An ordinary person who wants, somehow, to make good use of his life and obtain the Supreme Source, is confused and does not know what to believe. A knowledge of all religions is easily available in these days of jet travel, paperbacks and libraries; and the more one learns, the more confused one becomes. However, the path of contradiction, confusion and anxiety is not exactly peculiar to this age.

There is an old saying in India: “The ancient scriptures, like the Upanishads and the Vedas, differ in their declarations. And scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata also have divergent views on life and matters pertaining to the Ultimate Reality and the duty of man”. If you go to the writings of the various sages, Valmiki says one thing, Vasishtha says something different, as also does Buddha, and their opinions also differ.

One saint says: “Love of God is the only path that can lead to the realization of God. Without love of the Supreme and worship and prayer unto Him, all is useless. Knowledge can never give salvation. It is the lover of God who attains the supreme state of blessedness and liberation through the Grace of God”. And then comes Shankaracharya who says, “There is no dream of liberation, of emancipation, without knowledge of God. Knowledge is the ultimate fire that burns off all sin and all past Karma and gives you liberation. Even in a thousand births, with all worship, all the ringing of bells, pilgrimages, charities and chanting, there is no hope of liberation without the knowledge of God”. Others say: “By serving humanity, by feeling for others, by ceaseless service alone can you attain salvation. Seeking salvation for yourself is the height of selfishness. In that way you can never break the bondage of earth-life”.

The opinions of these sages and seers tend to differ. Therefore, the true essence of duty, the true essence of righteous living, is often hidden away in some inaccessible place. So we ask, “What is the way?”. That way is the one that has been trodden by the great ones.