Sunday, September 27, 2026

Sunday, September 27, 2026

Dear Readers,

My husband, Manoj and I are going away for about two weeks on a river cruise on Seine River, France. We are leaving on Sunday and will return on October 10. For the next two weeks please enjoy reading the “Reflections” below about the meaning of God, Allah, Yahweh, Dao, Buddhachitta, Atman or any other name we give to the Cosmic Intelligence or Divine Within.

Do you sometimes feel that something within you is wiser, kinder and more peaceful than you? Have there been moments when you’ve experienced this Self?

For the next two weeks, I’d like you to read and reread what different philosophical, spiritual and religious traditions say about this wiser and kinder jewel deep within each one of us that I call Authentic Self.  

The philosophical schools such as Agnostics affirm an inner source of meaning and morality. According to them, “What is divine, if anything, is in the conscience, in the ability to choose compassion over cruelty” and “Even if we can’t know the ultimate truth, we know that beauty, love, and meaning arise within us” and “If there is a divine mystery, it whispers through the depths of our own heart and conscience.”

The Atheists and Humanists believe: “Human dignity, creativity, and empathy come from our own minds and hearts, not from above.” Astronomer Carl Sagan wrote: “The universe is within us — we are made of star-stuff.” Existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre was of the view that “Life has no given meaning, but we create meaning from within ourselves” and “The power to create meaning, beauty, and goodness lies within us, not outside us.” Albert Camus wrote, “In the depth of winter I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

Judaism
Hebrew Bible and rabbinic tradition emphasize God’s closeness: “The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so you may obey it.” (Deuteronomy 30:14)
This expresses the same idea: God’s presence and law are within, not outside.

Christianity
Expresses a parallel idea. “The Kingdom of God is within you (and it is outside you)” (Gospel of Luke 17:21). meaning that the divine truth, or ultimate reality is not distant, but already present within the human being and the universe. 

Islam
Qur’an emphasizes God’s nearness thus: “We are closer to him than his jugular vein.” (Qur’an 50:16 )meaning that Allah’s knowledge, power, and awareness are always with us. He is not distant or detached, but intimately present in every aspect of human life.

Hinduism
Upanishads, the ancient Sanskrit texts say, Atman the Self shines in the cave of the heart, smaller than a grain of rice, yet greater than the heavens.”  (Ch?ndogya Upanishad 8.1.1)
“I am seated in the heart of all beings as Atman.” (The Bhagavad G?t? 15:15

Mahayana Buddhism
Speaks of tathagatagarbha (Buddha’s womb or Buddha-nature) “All sentient beings have the Buddha-nature, Buddhachitta.” (Mah?parinirv??a S?tra) Meaning that awakening is not outside us, but already within, waiting to be revealed or uncovered.

Daoism
Dao is the eternal Way of the Universe — the mysterious source, the natural order, the path of harmony, beyond description. It is intimately present within all life. Rooted in the Self, it is an inner presence that radiates outwards.
“Without going outside, you may know the whole world.
Without looking through the window, you may see the way of Heaven.
The farther you go, the less you know.” (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 47)

Confucianism
In Confucian Analects 7:22 we read: 
“The four seasons go on, the hundred things are born. What does Tian (Heaven) say? Heaven is not outside dictating commands — it is already expressed through life, through us.
“The great man is one who does not lose his child-heart,” that is virtue and truth. They are already within our own heart-mind. When we live authentically, we align with Heaven.

In summary all the philosophical schools, religious traditions and spiritual systems believe that Conscience, God, Allah, ?tman, Buddha-nature, Dao, Tian, Goodness, Beauty, Love, Meaning are not far away, but already within us. We express this Truth using different religious languages, rituals, symbols, festivals but experience it exactly the same way.

The parable of “The Mountain and the Many Paths” explains it beautifully:

A great mountain rises into the sky. At its base, seekers gather from all directions. Each one looks upward and feels the call to ascend, to reach the summit where the mystery of Truth, Being, and Joy awaits.
One says, “My path is the best — it is the way of prayer and devotion.”
Another says, “No, my path is the highest, it is the way of knowledge and study.”
A third declares, “The truest path is service to others.”
And yet another insists, “Meditation and Journaling and self-contemplation alone lead to the peak.”

So they set out, each climbing on their chosen way.
The paths are many and diverse — one winds through forests, other crosses rivers, another climbs steep cliffs, another moves gently along shaded slopes.
As they climb, each traveler is convinced that their way alone leads to the truth.

But something remarkable happens as they ascend: the higher they go, the closer the paths begin to draw together. At last, at the summit, the seekers arrive, weary but filled with wonder.
And there they see one another, not as rivals, but as companions who have all arrived at the same peak. In that moment, they realize though their ways were different, the Truth they seek is one and the same. The quarrels of the foothills fall silent. 

At the summit, there is only unity — the shining presence of the Eternal, the Self, the One and the peace and joy of being within. 
This “Being Within” is equally available to each and every one of us at all times and under all circumstances. We may express it differently but we experience it the same way.

In Sanskrit (Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti — “Truth is one, the wise call it by many names” (Rig Veda)

Prompt: Journal about  the thoughts and feelings that emerge while you read above reflections and after you read them.
Journaling: 20-30 minutes

Second Prompt: After a week reread the Reflections again then read your journal entry about it. Now write about whatever thoughts come to your mind about the “Divinity Within.”