To continue the last posting - still entirely experimental: I don't think anybody's reading it but me - one of my favourite books is 'Lost Horizons', the original 'Shangri-la story. 4 assorted people find their aircraft hijacked and end up at the lamasary of Shangri-la in a remote part of Tibet. Miss Brinklow is an elderly and rather rigid missionary. Talking to their hos,t who goes simply by the name of 'Chang', she demands to know what the lamas believe ...
"I of course, believe in the true religion."
'Madam," Chang replied, in his correct and carefully flavoured English, "Must we believe that, because one religion is true, all others must be false."
It seems to me Chang was making the same point as Kahlil Gibran, quoted in the last posting. He goes on to remark when, later in the book he is showing them round another temple of a different order down in the valle ...
"The jewel has many facets."
The jewel of return to the divine source is precious and our own path must be special enough, but we must remember that "the jewel has facets" and we should avoid (as far as we can) being dismissive of any other path, even when we think it is entirely wrong for us.
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The Pearl of the Paradox
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How confusing it is, this pearl. It's depth cannot be fully appreciated if limited to single perspective, while even those few who have obtained a stereo view (as considered from two points of view at once) might thereby marvel a guess as to the depth, but still see only the half. The human eye cannot see through this gem and even the color eludes, full of such shifting trickery such that even what is seen with the eye may be testified to, but cannot be agreed upon. What great luck would be associated with the giving of it? Its true beauty and nature can only be appreciated by he who crafted it and will keep it near for the benefit it offers him alone.
A pearl might be considered to have infinite facets.