Volume
Vol. 6, The Alchemy of Happiness
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The Aspects of Religion
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Sub-Heading
3. Manner of Worship
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Vol. 6, The Alchemy of Happiness
The Aspects of Religion
3. Manner of Worship
The third aspect of religion is the manner of worship. There have been many in different ages who have worshipped the sun, but they have believed in God just the same. The sun was only a symbol. They thought, "This is a light which does not depend upon oil or anything else, something which remains." And then there were others who worshipped sacred trees and holy places, rocks and mountains of ancient traditions; and again others who worshipped heroes of great repute or teachers and masters of humanity. Nevertheless, all had a divine ideal, and the form in which they worshipped does not matter.
The Arabs in the desert, where there was no house, no building to go to, stood in the open air and bowed low in the open space at sunset and sunrise. It was all worship of God; it was given in that form. The Hindus made idols of different kinds in order to help man to focus his mind on particular objects. These were all different prescriptions given by the doctors of souls. They were not pagans or heathens; they were only taught differently by the wise; different thoughts, different ways were given to them just as a doctor would give different prescriptions to different patients in order to obtain the same cure. Therefore difference in worship does not make a different religion. Religion is one and the same in spite of a thousand different kinds of worship.
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