UNITY IN RELIGION

Dear Readers,
Most classes today are made up of a bustling group of kids
coming from mixed cultures and religious backgrounds.
They sit and study together, learn and grow together, and
their nearness helps them see how diversity is an outer
vestige, that they are equals and the same.
By simply being together they broaden their outlook and
learn to understand and adjust to the differences of customs, traditions and faiths, an attitude that is winning as
it leaves no scope for prejudice or discrimination to take
root. They become friends.
What a wonderful terrain in which to raise awareness and
to sow the seeds of unity among religions as a way to build
peace and harmony in our world. Where better than in a
classroom could we stress how the values that all religions
profess are the threads that make the fabric of society
stable and strong? Where else than at home should we
learn to respect and revere the good morals and right living upheld by all religions? All religions preach that man
should love his fellow beings and all creation, and exhort
their followers to “be good, do good, see good”. All religions encourage values such as brotherhood and compassion, forbearance and forgiveness.
Religions and spiritual pathways support and sustain and
offer deeper meaning and sacredness to human existence.
To expose our children to their spiritual riches and wealth,
promotes the practice of human values in a spirit of unity
in diversity, and the development of a good character. 

“As a mother with her own life guards
the life of her own child, may you have
thoughts to guard all the living things in
the world”.
 Jain Religion

Unity of religions builds:
Brotherhood
Cooperation
Respect of diferences
Sharing
Understanding
Unity
 Focus 5
Lack of unity of religions
brings:
Confict
Disconnectedness
Divergence
Greed
Individualism
Prejudice
Tolerance

One Truth, One Love

It would be impossible to speak of human values without taking into account
the world religions that uphold and foster them in their precept and practice. 

Our aim, however, is not to ‘teach religion’’, but to point to the
process that religion – any religion – involves, emphasizing the
good morals and spiritual principles they all have in common.
All religions believe in and are devoted to a Supreme Being, or
higher Good, which has incarnated and been made manifest
throughout the ages by messengers, prophets, saints and divine masters. Their focused teachings and inspiring examples
of selfess living are ‘good company’ for our children who learn
that by being mindful thoughts and actions can be transformed
and purifed, and consciously directed towards noble ideals and
a more purposeful way of living.
Today, unless backed up by a family devout in its religious beliefs, children lack moral and spiritual guidance and, as a consequence, of essential ‘life skills’, such as a sense of virtue, the
faculty of discerning right from wrong, and, more simply, social
respect and responsibility. Futhermore, the allure of glamor and
of feeting pleasures teach our children to put their confdence
in self-indulgement and in the acquisition of material wealth,
rather than in themselves. The result? They quickly lose track
of their truer and more authentic aspect, spiritual in nature,
 Sathya Sai Education in Human Values
 includes Unity of faiths in its curriculum
by integrating Unity of Faith lessons into the value lessons. It
aims at developing an understanding of the underlying unity
of all major religions, at the same time instilling reverence
and respect for all people. The program proposes to enrich
the children’s hearts with deeper love for their own religious
roots as well, and through the acknowledgment of their own
faith to foster a profound understanding of the love others
hold for their own.
It would be impossible to speak of human values without taking into account
the world religions that uphold and foster them in their precept and practice.