At a time when threats to burn Qurans undermine interfaith relations, the Vedanta Society of St. Louis (USA) offers an alternative to religious conflict.
For the last 42 years, the scriptures of eight world religions have resided under glass in the society’s chapel on Skinker Boulevard, abutting the western end of Forest Park.
They are the sacred texts of the globe’s major faiths, each in its original language: the Christian texts in Greek; the Jewish in Hebrew; the Taoist and Confucian in Chinese; and the Buddhist in the language of Pali. Along with them are the scriptures of Hinduism in Sanskrit, and Zoroastrianism in Avestan and Islam in Arabic.
A plaque next to the scriptures bears the symbols of the eight religions, arranged in a circle with rays connecting them to a symbol in the middle representing Truth. And beneath is a quotation from the Vedas — the oldest religious texts in the world and Hinduism’s foundational scriptures.
“Truth is one,” it reads. “Sages call it by various names.”
Featured image for this post is courtesy freepik.com
