Are we all the same?

"Those whose selves are extraordinary, who abide in the divine nature, offer love to me with their minds focused on none other, knowing me as the everpresent origin of beings...

"And there are also others who, sacrificing with the sacrifice of knowledge, worship me in my oneness, in my separateness, and in my many forms facing everywhere."

–Lord Krishna, The Bhagavad Gita 9:12-15

A lot of people think Interfaith Dialogue means you have to think that all religions are essentially the same, or drawing on the same divinity in different way. That it's one mountain, but there are many paths to the top, and that we will all reach the same place, that there's one god in many forms who people worship in many ways.

Seems like Lord Krishna does to. Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu, and if you've ever seen The Last Airbender, you probably . THIS avatar is a form the god Vishnu takes whenever he needs this particular form, and he has several others. It's not a chain of reincarnation, but more a manifestation of Vishnu. Here he's basically telling someone that those truly in touch with the divine worship him as Krishna, but others sacrifice to other incarnations of Krishna (other gods, for example, such as the Judeo-Christian god, the other gods of the Hindu tradition, or the gods of pagan religions, for example). The idea is that those people are really worshipping Krishna, and that they are simply heading up the same mountain by a different path.

However, not everyone thinks that way. Some do, but other people believe that their tradition is the most accurate, and that any others will suffer an eternal damnation for not following the True God. Others think that we are all headed down different paths, worshipping entirely different things, and the ends may be different for all of us. And some just think they can never know, that what will be will be, and no amount of guesswork can discern the truth.

A dear friend and mentor of mine, Jim Burklo (my guru as I refer to him) uses the analogy that there are many paths up many mountains, and we all travel up our own. When we get to the top, maybe we're on different mountains, but maybe we're all in the same mountain range. Maybe our gods are different, but maybe they're all connected. But we all make our own journeys, and arrive at different places.

But no matter what perspective people approach their understanding of other faiths from, they can all join the conversation. I've had beautiful discussions with people who think I'm burning in hell for my... unorthodox beliefs ;P and also with those who think they have no way of knowing, but we all come to the table together. A table where (ideally) everyone can be equal for the moment, and we can come to learn and love rather than to change each other.

That's the dream anyway, for people to talk regardless of how they feel about another person's beliefs. To be respectful and compassionate. But it doesn't always happen. It's hard to do. To use a less religious example, I personally find it painful to talk about vaccination with anti-vaxxers, because I so strongly oppose their ideas because I fear for not only their children, but for others. I struggle to respect and love, because I have such strong feelings. And maybe that's how others feel coming to the table of interfaith. How can they let be burn in damnation when they know what I need to hear to save my soul. It makes it hard to come and participate in a dialogue sometimes, and I understand as someone who feels similarly in a different context.

So how can we get this to happen? Bringing people together? How do we view other faiths? How can we cooperate with not only such fundamentally different views on the world, but different views on how to understand other traditions?

It's a conundrum... But it's one I think is important. Important to solve, but maybe even just important to ask the questions at all.