Christ, Tao, Logos, Buddha-nature etc etc

[The Cobbler's Apprentice]

T.S.Eliot, who knew his Christian mystics as well as being well read on the various eastern faiths, felt no compunction in alluding to the Bhagavad Gita in one section of his poems and Dante's Paradiso in the next. He was not interested in judging various doctrines/beliefs or even in contrasting them with each other, nor in reconciling them. Instead, he claims that prior to the differentiation of various religious paths, there is a universal substratum called Word (logos) of which religions are concretions. This logos is an object both of belief and disbelief. It is an object of belief in that, without prior belief in the logos, any subsequent religious belief is incoherent. It is an object of disbelief in that belief in it is empty, the positive content of actual belief is fully invested in religious doctrine.

The above is basically my rewording of what is to me an interesting viewpoint. I usually quote the original but being quite long, wish to avoid being smacked by Miss Hepburn (even though that might well be a delightful experience)

But seriously, the observation of Eliot seems to have great potential in healing obvious rifts between the various religions, putting to bed once and for all the "Only Ways" so beloved by some.

"They do Him wrong who love and worship God in just one way - they end with the way rather than God." ( Meister Eckhart )