hat's the reason why I chose this title that may appear a bit strange. I am not going to repeat the 'often-told' story of the "different rivers all ending up in the same vast ocean." I want to introduce a twist to this story, a twist that I have learned from Tamil classics such as Thrirukkural, Thirumanthiram, Sivajnana Bothan and so forth. These texts articulate the notion of Metaphysica Universalis, an understanding of a profound sort that remains in the bosom of every man though under normal circumstances remains covered-up or concealed. Religious life is meant to destroy this concealment though many religions, particularly the Semitic religions such as Christianity do not seem to be sufficiently aware of it. Only when they become genuinely aware of it, they can see God not only in their own religion but also in every religion. 
 

his hidden religion in the depths of every religion is what I call Saivism. But never mind about the name. You can choose to call it the Religion of Christ and so forth. What must be understood however is that underneath all religions is this religion which only those who are brave enough to discard their present religion can see and own for themselves. You cannot be a committed Christian or for that matter a member of any of the traditional religions in order to get transported to this underlying truth. You must give up all, purify yourselves from all the prejudices, including the religious, and reach a ground of absolute purity in order to reach this universal metaphysics. 
 

he twist to the story about the rivers comes now. It is not that all rivers can reach the sea. Only some do - many may dry up on the way. And among those that continue flowing, along with being carried by the stream, we must also stand back and reflect upon the forces that in fact are doing the pulling. The waters do not on their own go to the sea. There are ground forces that urges it on. The religions to which we belong contain within themselves deeper undercurrents that shape the dogmas, creeds, rituals and so forth. We must pause, extricate oneself from these religious practices and ponder overt their meanings. We must raise ontological questions with respect to our own religious practices and face the fact that we are genuinely ignorant about their meanings. Only when we realize that there is tremendous ignorance in our bosom with respect to fundamental questions in life that we will be overcome with genuine humility, that will make us bow our head before the Supreme Might of Godhead. This is a Truth tat even a very humble Hindu would know for the great Acaryas have been teaching this for millenniums. More than two thousand years ago, a philosopher from the South of India proclaimed, "Yaathum uuree, yaaararung keelir" - "the whole world is my home and all are my kinsmen." Even earlier it was proclaimed in the Upasisads, "Satyam Eva Jayate" - "The Truth will finally triumph." 

As religious persons, our concern should be TRUTH and not greatness of the religion to which we belong quite often by accidents of birth more than anything else. This commitment to TRUTH, is not as easy as it sounds. Only the brave who is willing to give up what is dear to him, including the religion one practices, can see the truth. The Catholics and other Christians must reorganize themselves so that they do not cling to dogmas and argue endlessly about them. Instead they must train themselves to see truth and only truth in whatever they do. The genuinely religious is such a person and sooner or later he will meet the Metaphysica Universalis that is already in his soul, just waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. In this connection I would like to recommend a serious reading of  Metaphysica Universalis of Meykandar, a book which appears to me a major achievement in this direction, perhaps the best of its kind so far.