God is one, Names are many
A person went to a saint and asked him, " All religions have one god. Muslims have Allah, Christians have Christ, Buddhists have Buddha. But Hindus worship so many gods. Why is it so ?
The saint : " God is one but his names are many.
The man : " How is that possible ? How can God assume so many forms and names and yet be only one ?
The saint called his student who was wearing a turban ( a plain cloth rolled into a shape of a head band ).
The saint pointed to it and asked the man, " What is that ?"
The man replied, " It is a turban ( Indian term for headband or headwear ) ."
The saint asked his student to untie it , roll it and tie around his waist.
When he had done so, the saint asked the man, " what is that ?
The man : " a waistband."
Then the saint asked his student to unroll it as full cloth and tie it around his waist allowing the cloth to cover the legs till the knees and put a question to the man -" what is it now ?"
The man - " Lungi or long skirt."
The saint said to the man - " you have seen how the same cloth acquires different names when performing different functions. So also water can be a cloud when it is in the sky, it is rain when the same falls to the earth, it is a river when it flows and it is ice when it freezes. God, too, though One is called by different names in various forms by different people ."
" Whatever we may call God or whether we recognize Him or not, it does not change God's eternal nature and identity. It is man who gives God various forms according to his perception. If we understand this truth, we can make our life more meaningful, fruitful and sublime , rather than comparing religions and questioning oneness of God and fighting for it."
A person went to a saint and asked him, " All religions have one god. Muslims have Allah, Christians have Christ, Buddhists have Buddha. But Hindus worship so many gods. Why is it so ?
The saint : " God is one but his names are many.
The man : " How is that possible ? How can God assume so many forms and names and yet be only one ?
The saint called his student who was wearing a turban ( a plain cloth rolled into a shape of a head band ).
The saint pointed to it and asked the man, " What is that ?"
The man replied, " It is a turban ( Indian term for headband or headwear ) ."
The saint asked his student to untie it , roll it and tie around his waist.
When he had done so, the saint asked the man, " what is that ?
The man : " a waistband."
Then the saint asked his student to unroll it as full cloth and tie it around his waist allowing the cloth to cover the legs till the knees and put a question to the man -" what is it now ?"
The man - " Lungi or long skirt."
The saint said to the man - " you have seen how the same cloth acquires different names when performing different functions. So also water can be a cloud when it is in the sky, it is rain when the same falls to the earth, it is a river when it flows and it is ice when it freezes. God, too, though One is called by different names in various forms by different people ."
" Whatever we may call God or whether we recognize Him or not, it does not change God's eternal nature and identity. It is man who gives God various forms according to his perception. If we understand this truth, we can make our life more meaningful, fruitful and sublime , rather than comparing religions and questioning oneness of God and fighting for it."
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