"The mystic and the physicist arrive at the same conclusion; one starting from the inner realm, the other from the outer world. The harmony between their views confirms ancient wisdom..."
Approach
The Platform: Where Diversity Meets Religion
The different spiritual traditions practiced in the world today are alive and empowering. Nevertheless, the world of religions is too broad, too complex and too subjective to be apprehended in an exhaustive manner.
In view of the sheer number of religions practiced in the world today, the World Religions Platform has selected, as a first step, seven major contemporary value systems, according to the following criteria: number of adherents, universality of the message and cultural relevance.
As an alternative to approaches which compare religions or confront their values, this project presents each religion at its optimum, highlighting expression of the central values of each spiritual tradition.
Therefore, the pedagogical formulation of the project adheres to the following criteria:
- As far as possible, and in order to respect the spiritual wealth and diversity of every value system, the “ism” formulation is used as little as possible to define religions. Moreover, rather than referring to an historical event as having taken place before or after Christ, it is given as BCE (Before the Common Era) and, when necessary, CE (Common Era).
- In order to remain as objective as possible, each religion is treated fairly but the material is not precisely balanced. Furthermore, although men have had, in general, a major visibility throughout history, the Platform is committed to recognising the extensive contribution of women.
- Priority has been given to the meaning, the practice, as well as the human interpretation of each area of spirituality, rather than to quantitative, historical or strictly scientific data.
- In the interest of simplicity and clarity, the subdivisions or branches of different religions are kept to a minimum.
