The true child of universe insight looks for the living Spirit of Truth in every wise saying. The God-knowing individual is constantly elevating wisdom to the living-truth levels of divine attainment; the spiritually unprogressive soul is all the while dragging the living truth down to the dead levels of wisdom and to the domain of mere exalted knowledge.
The Urantia Papers. paper 180 section 5
Like the bee, gathering honey from different flowers, the wise man accepts
the essence of different scriptures and sees only the good in all
religions.
Hinduism. Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3
Truth has many aspects. Infinite truth has infinite expressions.
Though the sages speak in diverse ways, they express one and the same Truth.
Hinduism. Srimad Bhagavatam 11.15
The Buddha, "A man has a faith. If he says 'This is my faith,' so
far he maintains truth. But by that he cannot proceed to the absolute
conclusion: 'This alone is Truth, and everything else is false.'"
Buddhism. Majjhima Nikaya, Canki-sutta
All the doctrines are right in their own respective spheres--but if they
encroach upon the province of other doctrines and try to refute their
views, they are wrong. A man who holds the view of the cumulative
character of truth never says that a particular view is right or that a
particular view is wrong.
Jainism. Sanmatitarka of Siddhasena 1.28
True and genuine inward certainty does not in the least fear outward analysis, nor does truth resent honest criticism. You should never forget that intolerance is the mask covering up the entertainment of secret doubts as to the trueness of one's belief. No man is at any time disturbed by his neighbor's attitude when he has perfect confidence in the truth of that which he wholeheartedly believes. Courage is the confidence of thoroughgoing honesty about those things which one professes to believe. Sincere men are unafraid of the critical examination of their true convictions and noble ideals."
(Matthew 5:43-48) Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(Matthew 7:1-5) Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
(Matthew 7:7-8) Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
(Matthew 7:12 )
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
(John 14:1-2)
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
(John 14:6 )
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
(John 14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
(John 14:15-16)
If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
(John 15:9-12) As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
God is not the mere invention of man's idealism; he is the very source of all such superanimal insights and values. God is not a hypothesis formulated to unify the human concepts of truth, beauty, and goodness; he is the personality of love from whom all of these universe manifestations are derived. The truth, beauty, and goodness of man's world are unified by the increasing spirituality of the experience of mortals ascending toward Paradise realities. The unity of truth, beauty, and goodness can only be realized in the spiritual experience of the God-knowing personality. (The Urantia Papers - Paper-196 Section-3)
"Belief has attained the level of faith when it motivates life and shapes the mode of living. The acceptance of a teaching as true is not faith; that is mere belief. Neither is certainty nor conviction faith. A state of mind attains to faith levels only when it actually dominates the mode of living. Faith is a living attribute of genuine personal religious experience. One believes truth, admires beauty, and reverences goodness, but does not worship them; such an attitude of saving faith is centered on God alone, who is all of these personified and infinitely more." (The Urantia Papers paper-101 Section-8)
Religion is only an exalted humanism until it is made divine by the discovery of the reality of the presence of God in personal experience.
(The Urantia Papers - Paper-195 Section-10)
Judaism's Bible or Tanakh is made up of the Law (Torah), the Prophets
(Nebi'im), and the Writings (Ketuvim); its books were written over a
period of more than thirteen hundred years of Jewish history, from the
time of Moses until several centuries before the common era. The center
of this scripture is the Torah, the Five Books of Moses. The book of
Genesis contains stories of creation, the Fall of Man, and the lives of
the patriarchs Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy recount the Jews' liberation from
slavery in Egypt and the revealing of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. The
Prophets include the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings recounting
the history of Israel in the days when it was guided by its prophets, and
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Habakkuk, Jonah, Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi, etc., which record the words of individual prophets.
Among the Writings are the book of Psalms containing prayers and hymns;
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job containing wise sayings, discourses on
wisdom, and meditations on the human condition; Lamentations mourning the
destruction of the Temple; Song of Songs, where love poetry has long been
interpreted as describing the mystical relationship between God and Israel
or God and man; and Daniel with its stories of faith in the midst of
persecution.
In addition to the Tanakh, a tradition of Oral Torah, passed down to the
rabbis of the first several centuries of the common era and codified in
the Talmud, which is constituted by the Mishnah and the Gemara, is
authoritative for the observant Jew. One may regard the role of Talmud
and Midrash--early rabbinic interpretation of scripture--as providing the
interpretative perspective for a proper understanding of the Bible. While
much of the Talmud and Midrash is devoted to discussions and codifications
of law, they also contain passages of universal spiritual and ethical
wisdom. The best known collection of the latter is a small tractate of
the Mishnah called the Abot or Sayings of the Fathers.[3] Beyond the
Talmud and Midrash, Jewish tradition also hallows the books of statutory
prayers. The mystical treatise called the Zohar and several other works
together constitute the Kabbalah or mystical tradition which has canonical
status for many Jews. A number of theological works, notably The Guide
for the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) and Shulhan Arukh by
Joseph Caro (16th century) are also held in the highest regard.
The sage experiences without abstraction, And accomplishes without action; He accepts the ebb and flow of things, Nurtures them, but does not own them, And lives, but does not dwell.
The best of man is like water,
Which benefits all things, and does not contend with them,
Which flows in places that others disdain,
Where it is in harmony with the Way.
One of master Gasan's monks visited the university in Tokyo. When he returned, he asked the master if he had ever read the Christian Bible. "No," Gasan replied, "Please read some of it to me." The monk opened the Bible to the Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew, and began reading. After reading Christ's words about the "lilies" in the field, he paused. Master Gasan was silent for a long time. "Yes," he finally said, "Whoever uttered these words is an enlightened being. What you have read to me is the essence of everything I have been trying to teach you here!"
