And nobody, no religion or church has a privilege to Truth. The reassertion by Pope Benedict XVI of the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church is a grave mistake. According to the BBC the Pope has approved a document saying that Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches. This is the gait of the crab; one step forwards, two backwards.
A horrendous mistake! It stems from the illusion of separateness. People believe they are separate from God. Then we are also separate from each other. And it is true, of course, that, apart form Siamese twins, we all have separate bodies. But in consciousness there is no separation, neither from God nor from other people. What the Pope is basically saying is that the Catholic Church is superior. It is not.
Humans can only understand a tiny part of truth. For the most part we are ignorant. Knowledge is limitation of ignorance. If allowed, we may from time to time discover an extra little piece of truth. But even the most learned person in material and spiritual science knows no more than a grain of sand on a beach. And in truth, there is no difference between two grains of sand. The Pope, assuming that the remark has not been taken out of context, has erred. It is a very common human error, namely lack of humility.
Truth and beauty can be found in all religions. In Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic mysticism, the same profound truths are taught as in Christian mysticism. We refer to mysticism, because it forms the essence of all religions and it has always maintained that in essence there is no difference: God cannot be different! Among mystics there is no separation, because they know that ultimately we are all one.
It is time for the world to wake up to this. This awakening began with 9/11. Twin towers of Babel were destroyed, one is called Ignorance, the other Superstition. It is interesting to note that the Rastafarians refer to themselves as ‘I and I’. These are different twin towers. These Rasta twin towers recognize that the ultimate essence of God can be found in every human being (and animal, as well as in the earth itself). There is no separation. So even Rasta’s have something we can learn from.
The US’ first reaction to 9/11 was bewildered self-righteousness and indignation. And, of course, how can anybody not feel sympathy for the suffering and loss of life? But the subsequent retaliation – causing maybe a million deaths – does not recognize that we have built a world system on wrong premises. Remember it was the World Trade Center that was hit! In comparison with the suffering masses, dying of hunger and disease, 9/11 was but a trifle. We spend 1.000 times more money on retaliation and war than on peace and relief. We could also say that the twin towers represent Superiority and Indifference.
Either way, 9/11 was a wake-up call. The world is one, people are one. As Christ said: ‘If you do this unto to least of my brethren, you do it unto me’. The US (and the world at large) has not woken up yet. We have lived for so long in such a profound stupor, that one wake-up call is probably not enough. We see it now in the US presidential race. There is one candidate who wants to set up an Official Department of Peace. The great majority of US-citizens are not listening to him. If you want war, you are sure to get it.