God is one; Truth is one; the world is one. Fundamentally we are all one. One consciousness pervades all beings. Each in his own way, everyone is aspiring to reach the one goal. That goal is Self-realization or God-realization.
You should realize this fundamental unity of consciousness in all faiths. Maya projects multiplicity. Multiplicity is the product of ignorance, of delusion. It is on account of the perception of multiplicity that people fight here. There can be no hatred, no wars, no riots, in That One Consciousness. Even if you meditate upon this great truth for a minute daily, your heart will be filled with a spirit of loving tolerance and understanding. Only ignorance of this fundamental principle gives rise to intolerance.
People merely talk of religion. They are not interested in practising it, in living it. If Christians lived by the Sermon on the Mount, if Buddhists followed the Noble Eightfold Path, if Muslims truly followed the teachings of the Prophet, and the Hindus shaped their life in accordance with the teachings of the Lord, of saints and sages, there will be peace everywhere.
This world is impermanent. Man’s life here is still more fleeting. Even a thousand years is nothing compared to eternity; what to say of even a full lifespan of hundred years. People are merely wasting their life in worthless pursuits of political and social reform. Days, months and years are quietly slipping away. Death will snatch them away unawares. Beware. Reform yourself. Society will reform itself. Get worldliness out of your heart. The world will take care of itself. Remove the world out of your mind, the world will be peaceful. That is the only solution. This is not pessimism. This is glorious optimism. This is not escapism. It is the only way to face the situation. If each man tries to work out his own salvation, there will be nobody to create the problems!
If each man strives heart and soul to practise religion, to do sadhana and to attain God-realization, he will have very little inclination and very little time to create quarrels. Automatically there will be peace on earth. People will try to vie with each other in the cultivation of virtues. Imagine what a divine society they will form! Each man will have his own method of approach to the problem of life, but he will be content to work his way up in the ladder of evolution. Each man will have his own idea of God, but he will be content to worship this God and attain Him. All boundaries will disappear as mysteriously as they appeared! All ‘isms’ will vanish into the minds of the people whence they originated.
29 October 1950, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai