The Transcendent Unity of all Religions

It is the contention of Theosophy that all the major religions of the world stem from one Universal source, and that periodically there appears among humanity a Divine teacher to establish a faith, which is suited to the needs of that age.

To the ardent believer in one faith, be he Christian, Jew, Moslem, Buddhist or Hindu, such a suggestion may at first be unacceptable. Let us hasten, therefore, to explain that Theosophy does not expect adherence and in fact can count among its members, people of all faiths. Their bond of union is a search for Truth.

By investigating the Ancient Wisdom with an open mind we will find that much of it is expressed in only slightly different ways in other religions.

The Christian Trinity of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost, for instance, is exactly paralleled in other faiths. In the Jewish Kabbala the Deity is expressed as a Triumvirate known as Chesed, Tiphareth and Geburah, whereas in Hinduism it is Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. Even the ancient Egyptians knew their Deity as the trinity, Osiris, Horus and Isis.

More than One Immaculate Conception

When we look to the stories of the founders of these faiths, we find the Biblical report on the immaculate conception of our Lord Jesus by the Virgin Mary is exactly paralleled in Buddhism by the immaculate concep­tion of the Lord Buddha by his mother Maya. It is more than coincidence that in Hinduism, Sri Krishna, the Christ of the Hindu faith, is miraculously conceived by his mother Devaki. This is surely most remarkable, as both Hinduism and Buddhism long predate Christianity.

More than One Massacre of the Innocents

The Biblical story of the Massacre of the Innocents by King Herod is paralleled in the Hindu faith where Kansa, the tyrant believing his throne was threatened by Krishna, ordered all children to be killed. In Zoroastrian faith Durasroba, the chief wizard, tried repeatedly to kill the infant Zarathustra (the Christ of that religion).

Earlier Foundations

These similarities indicate that Christianity has been built on the forms and teachings of earlier faiths. In the next section we shall see that the theosophical concept of death was clearly stated in several earlier religions.