kernel of truth

So if we head then head back to when each religion was in its infancy, you find a common thread they all share, that of compassion, wisdom and being. Interestingly, if you dig deeper, you’ll also discover the same common thread in philosophy—Plato in my opinion was not all that revolutionary, he was just the first recorded person to tap into this primordial need, thereby giving an alternative to the faith based religions and arguing the same fundamental truth but through logical rationale. Anyway, this common thread I speak of, although eternal, expresses itself in the time it was written and through the mind of man; therefore every scripture must necessarily contain two elements, one temporary, perishable, belonging to the ideas of the period and country in which it was produced, with the other eternal and imperishable and applicable in all ages and countries. Each also has undergone 2000 years of humanity and therefore added 2000 years of self serving dogma to this ‘common thread’. So to find fulfillment now, we need to peel back the layers, right back to the kernel of the message and remember what kindled this belief process in the first place.

My personal opinion is that a shortcut lies in the Buddhist faith which has no hierarchy and therefore no power struggles which results in fewer layers to wade through.

But my emphasis here however, will be through the Christian coloured pane of that multi-coloured lantern, as it is from within this Christian tradition on which I was raised.

So with my next entry, I'll use broad brush strokes for my take on the ancient faith of Christianity which broke upon the scene in Judea in the first century and then moved on to conquer the Roman empire in the fourth century, dominate Western civilisation in the thirteenth century, endure the face-lifting reformation of the sixteenth century, follow the flag of European colonial expansion in the nineteenth century, and shrink dramatically in the twentieth century.

I consider myself a Hindu, Christian, Moslem, Jew, Buddhist, and Confucian.
-  Mahatma Gandhi