Chapter II, Hinduism, Many Paths to the Same Summit, Summary and Analysis

Hinduism has shared land with Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Parsees, and Sikhs with an attitude that other religions are alternate paths toward the same goal. Hindus do not advocate conversion from one religion to another. Sri Ramakrishna set about to experience all the great world religions and concluded that the ultimate realization in all of them was the same as in Hinduism. He likens his experience to getting on top of a roof by rope, ladder, bamboo pole or some other device. The end result is the same—arrival on the rooftop. Sri Ramakrishna related a story of Vishnu's displeasure with a devotee who loved him but hated all other religions. To demonstrate his point, Vishnu assumed half of the body of Shiva and...