“‘What is the best religion?’ queried a truth seeker.
‘Self-realization is, in fact, the only religion.’ Yogananda replied. ‘For it is the true purpose of religion, no matter how people define their beliefs.’
A person may be Christian or Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu, Moslem or Zoroastrian; he may proclaim that Jesus Christ is the only way, or Buddha, or Mohammed — as indeed, millions of believers do. He may insist that this ritual, or that place of worship, bestows salvation. But it all comes down to what he is, in himself.
A thousand Christs wouldn’t be able to give you God, if you didn’t first make love to Him yourself.
What does God care how you define Him? Could any dogma encompass Him, Who is everything and far more than everything. And don’t you suppose that a Moslem or a Hindu who loves God is as dear to Jesus Christ as any Christian — and much more acceptable to him than those among his own followers who believe in God with their minds, but have no love for Him in their hearts?
Jesus Christ didn’t come to earth, nor does any great master come, to draw people to himself. He came to draw them to the truth — that truth which, Jesus said, ‘shall make you free,’ (John 8:32) The divine message is ever impersonal as it relates to this truth.
At the same time, it is personal in its relation to the individual seeker. That is to say, the masters don’t tell people, ‘You will be saved by the religion you follow, outwardly.’ They tell them, ‘You will be saved by what you do, personally, to establish your kindship with God.’
Self-realization is the eternal message of religion. Whatever your beliefs and practices, the essential purpose of religion is to help you to fulfill your own highest potential, as a child of God.
Your religion is not the garb you wear outwardly, but the garment of light you weave around your heart. By outward garb, I don’t mean your physical raiment only, but rather the thoughts and beliefs in which you enclose yourself. They are not you.
Discover who you are, behind those outer trappings, and you will discover who Jesus was, and Buddha, and Krishna. For the masters come to earth for the purpose of holding up to every man a reflection of his deeper, eternal Self.“
The Essence of Self-Realization – The Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda, Recorded and compiled by his disciple, Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters), p. 117 – 119.
