prayers Is it wrong for a born-Hindu to pray like a Muslim?

[dattaswami]

Is it wrong for a born-Hindu to pray like a Muslim?

Shri Hrushikesh asked: Dear Swami, One devotee asked the following question. Your servant, Hrushikesh.

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[I was born into a Hindu family. But I have been following Islamic mode of prayer. Everyone says I have left my dharma. Have I done something wrong? My husband says a woman should follow her husband’s dharma and that if she can't, she need not pray at all. All she has to do is serve him and he is her God and that she needs no other prayer. My husband insists that following Islamic mode of prayer is wrong when its not his dharma. Most of my Hindu friends have left me They say if i want them back i have to give up my Islamic mode of prayer. Some people are totally behaving with me as if I were a jihadi. One said I bear every sin of killing done by a terrorist. I am still the same person. I don't hate Hinduism. It is just that I like the simplicity of Islam. The philosophical part of me still follows Vedanta. Surely I am looking at Islam through my Vedantin mind. I don't call myself a Muslim. For me the term Muslim is not a religion. Its meaning just means one who surrenders. Guruji please answer the questions below eagerly waiting for your answer.

1. Guruji if in a personal journey do opinions of others matter?

2. Guruji am I wrong? Because my husband said a wife can’t leave dharma of husband so he said I can't pray Islamic way. Is my husband right in saying this? My calling is Islam.I follow my heart..is it wrong?

At your Lotus feet, Anonymous]

Swami replied: Certainly, you are not wrong and certainly, all others who say that you are wrong, are wrong. There is no trace of doubt in this declaration. You have not changed your religion by following certain modes of prayer belonging to another religion. Any mode of prayer belonging to any religion is correct and good. You are not criticizing the modes of worship of Hinduism. If you do so, you too can be said to be wrong. Not only can one adopt any mode of worship, but one can also pray to any form of God belonging to any religion, based on one’s personal liking. The different forms of God of various religions are not different since the one and only God exists in every one of them. When this is the truth of even the forms of God in different religions, then what to speak of the different modes of prayer in religions?

You can adopt any mode of prayer of any religion if you like it. This is the basic right of every person in the Universal Religion, which is based on Universal Spirituality. The Universal Spirituality is the basic universal knowledge or philosophy. The one God, who created this entire creation and who is the kind Father of all humanity, preached the same common universal knowledge to people in different places and times. The Universal Religion is the universal practical path of worshipping that one God and maintaining justice and peace in the world. The mode of worship is a part of culture and the variations in it are a matter of personal choice. The spirituality and religion are thus the theoretical and practical parts of the spiritual path and both are universal.

Universal Spirituality and Universal Religion have been established by God Datta now through this Datta Swami. Earlier, Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had experienced the unity of all religions by practicing every religion for some time. Shankara had similarly, established the unity of all the sub-religions within Hinduism. Shri Shirdi Sai Baba and Shri Satya Sai Baba too had established the unity of world religions. Every religion will lead a person to the same God. So, conversion to another religion is the biggest foolishness that any devotee can do. When all roads lead to the same center, is it not the height of foolishness to leave your road and laterally cross over to another road that leads to the same center? Good times for this entire world are very near. This Universal Spirituality and Religion will bring tremendous unity among all religions. You said that you are following the philosophy of Hinduism. In the spiritual knowledge or philosophy there is no name of any religion since knowledge is always universal.

Parents take complete care of their children during their childhood. The efforts taken by the parents for their children is service, which is also known as the sacrifice of work. Finally, the parents also transfer all their wealth to their children through their will. This transferring of the wealth is called the sacrifice of the fruit of their work since wealth is the fruit of work. So, the sacrifice of the parents for the sake of their children in terms of the sacrifice of work and the fruit of work is complete. Yet most parents save some wealth for their own old age believing that they will live until they become old. They feel there is a risk in sacrificing their entire wealth to their issues while they are still alive. There is a possibility that if their children are not good, they might not take care of the parents in the future when the parents become old. Sometimes, even if the children are good they could be incapable of serving their parents due to some unfortunate circumstances.

The case of God is different from one’s children. God is not bad; He is extremely good. He is also never incapable. In fact, He is omnipotent. Another important difference is that while one’s children are seen with one’s eyes, God is not seen. There is insecurity for those who depend on the children who are seen by their eyes. But there is complete security for those who depend on the unseen God. Ignorant souls only believe in perception. Giving more importance to their unreliable children who are seen, they shower their real love upon the children. The proof of real love is karma yoga. The sacrifice of work and the fruit of work together are called karma yoga. It is the proof of real love since we practically serve and sacrifice our money only for those whom we truly love. Ignorant people truly love only their children and so they do this karma yoga only for their children who are unreliable. They do not truly love God and they do not do karma yoga for Him even though He is supremely reliable, just because He is unseen. Real devotees are the ones who believe in God through inference. They believe in the unseen, unimaginable God by observing His miracles which are visible but unimaginable. Inference, of course, includes perception since the miracles are perceived. This mentality of the majority of human beings is the climax of blind ignorance. Such blind ignorance is actually not based on either perception or inference but is based only on solidified worldly fascination!