Question: You talk about God. In Holland, people will say we are Christians, so we have a Christian God. There are people in other countries who have their own God.

Sri Chinmoy: There is only one God, but we use different terms. In Dutch you use one word. In Bengali, I use the word “Bhagavan”, in English, they say “God”, and in French “Dieu”. Each language has a word for God, but it is the same Person. An individual may be called Mr. So-and-So, his children call him Father or Daddy, and his friends will call him by his first name, but he remains the same person.

Question: Why do you think it is possible that we have wars between people and they all say they are fighting for their God? How is it that there is only one God and so many opposing sides?

Sri Chinmoy: It is our misconception of God. God is all love. Let us say God is the Father and we are two brothers. If we are quarrelling and fighting, will our Father be happy? No. The Father will be happy only if his two sons are happy and peaceful. So each religion starts with love of God. Is there any religion that will say it hates God or hates humanity? There is no such religion. It is only our misconception of God. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism — they will all say they love God. But if you really love someone, how can you make that person unhappy? If we say that we love God and we continue to quarrel and fight with one another, is it not absurd? We want to make our beloved God happy. We want to make our Father happy. Who wants to make his Father unhappy and miserable? Nobody wants. But in our actions, unfortunately, we are making God sad and miserable. No religion will advocate war, quarrels, fighting and an unhappy life.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Conversations with Sri Chinmoy, Agni Press, 2007
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/csc