"There is a very, very dire importance to understand what is the essence of religion," Radhanath Swami points out, in the attached lecture delivered at the Unitarian Church of Dallas Texas.
"In a very broad sense," says Radhanath, a teacher in the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, "(the essence of religion) is to transform our consciousness - from arrogance to humility, from vengeance to forgiveness, from greed to generosity, and, most of all it is meant to connect us to the love within us so that we can be instruments of compassion in everything we do."
"This is the universal principle of religion," Radhanath explains, "to absorb ourselves in the love of God and to be genuinely compassionate to all living beings."
"Wherever we find love of God that is broad and deep," he points out (quoting his own spiritual guru), "it induces us to be truly compassionate and make sacrifices for the welfare of others. That is where the truth is. That is real religion."
"It is not about being a Hindu or a Muslim," he notes, "or a Christian, or a Jew, or a Sikh, or a Jain, or a Zoroastrian or a Buddhist, it is about loving God. It is about connecting to that higher experience of love within our heart and being an instrument of compassion within this world. That is the essence (of the world's wisdom traditions), and that is the greatest need."
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