Universalism

Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different road, so long as we reach the same goal. Wherein is the cause for quarrelling? ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Universalism in its primary meaning refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability. Religion in this context is defined as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. Alliances, communities or churches that call themselves Universalist often emphasize the universal principles of most religions and accept many aspects of other religions in an eclectic and inclusive manner, believing in a universal reconciliation between humanity and the divine.

Quotes

• We are, the great spiritual writers insist, most fully ourselves when we give ourselves away, and it is egotism that holds us back from that transcendent experience that has been called God, Nirvana, Brahman, or the Tao.
  What I now realize, from my study of the different religious traditions, is that a disciplined attempt to go beyond the ego brings about a state of ecstasy. Indeed, it is in itself ekstasis. Theologians in all the great faiths have devised all kinds of myths to show that this type of kenosis, or self-emptying, is found in the life of God itself. They do not do this because it sounds edifying, but because this is the way that human nature seems to work. We are most creative and sense other possibilities that transcend our ordinary experience when we leave ourselves behind.
  • Karen Armstrong, in The Spiral Staircase : My Climb Out of Darkness (2004)

• Given that only the religion of pervasive kenosis can be truly universal, no single historical individual can exhaust its fullness by virtue of his redemptive acts, and no religious institution can grasp and articulate its meaning by means of dogmatic or doctrinal teachings. In the last resort, it is in the name of religious universalism that Simone Weil calls for a reversion of historical Christianity to its origins as a religion of kenosis.
  • J. Edgar Bauer, in "Simone Weil: Kenotic Thought and "Sainteté Nouvelle" in The 2002 CESNUR International Conference : Minority Religions, Social Change, and Freedom of Conscience (June 2002)

• In reality there are as many religions as there are individuals.
  • Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, in Hind Swaraj (1908)

• After long study and experience, I have come to the conclusion that [1] all religions are true; [2] all religions have some error in them; [3] all religions are almost as dear to me as my own Hinduism, in as much as all human beings should be as dear to one as one's own close relatives. My own veneration for other faiths is the same as that for my own faith; therefore no thought of conversion is possible.
  • Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, in All Men Are Brothers: Life and Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi as told in his own words (1958) edited by UNESCO, p 60.)

• Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different road, so long as we reach the same goal. Wherein is the cause for quarreling?
  • Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, speaking of the conflict between Muslims and Hindus, in Hind Swaraj, Or Indian Home Rule (1946), p. 36

• The mission of the Universalist church has been a double one, first to contravert the one-time prevalent idea of an endless hell. This part of the mission has practically been accomplished. … But the second and more important one awaits fulfillment … a fight which shall continue until the real, actual hells, before our very eyes, are destroyed.
  • Henry Clay Ledyard, as quoted in "Not Hell, But Hope: Writings from the Heritage of American Universalism" compiled by Karen E. Dau, New York State Convention of Universalists

• Those of us who are Gnostics believe that all people are ultimately saved and that God always loves us, no matter what we do. These beliefs are true, but they can very easily be simplified and misunderstood. God is never angry with us in the way in which a vengeful human would reject us, but God’s love for us has a dark side and one which we should rightfully fear. God loves us not in a sentimental way which aims at our ease and pleasure but, rather in a way which aims at our highest good and with an intensity which no one, even the highest angels, can understand.
  • Edward J. Parkinson, in "Divine Justice: Gnostic Reflections on Some Often Terrifying Realities" at CatholicGnostics.com.

• There are two alternatives, and only two, before us. First, which is unlikely, is that we unscramble our modern interdependent culture, returning to separate and isolationist lives … Such a world would not demand greatness. The other alternative is to so expand our spiritual powers that we vastly increase the range of our understanding and sympathy. There is no middle way. It is greatness — universalism — or perish.
  • Clarence Skinner, in The Universalist Leader, Vol. 125, Issue 24 (1943), p. 748