Letter # 49: “Compassion Is The Mother Of Religion.”

While spiritual leaders are born continually, their teachings are either promoted or demoted by worldly kings.
Ashoka (273-232 BC), the greatest king of India, had an empire ranging from parts of Persia in the west to Assam in the east. After the battle of Kalinga, in which 100,000 died, Ashoka, on looking at the devastation of the battle, felt sick and lamented, “What have I done?” Haunted by the brutal scenes of war, he lost sleep. His overwhelming despair brought him to the sages of the then new pacifist philosophy of the Buddha. Ashoka got solace in Buddhism. He then ordered the spread of Buddhist teachings, which ended up as far as Rome and Egypt.
Although Christ taught pacifism, Christianity itself spread via Rome, through the battle victory of an emperor. In 312 CE, Constantine 1, worshipped the Titan god Helios, the sun. On the night before a battle, he had a dream in which he was told to inscribe the letters XP on his soldiers' shields (XP are the first two Greek letters for Christ). In the battle, he saw the words "with this sign you shalt conquer" - he saw a cross in the sun. After he won the battle, he became Christian. He chose December 25th to celebrate Christmas. It was a date around which were also celebrated the birth of Mithras, the Persian god of light, and Saturn, the chief god of the Roman pantheon. Presents were exchanged in these celebrations.
For Constantine 1, the point of Christmas was to celebrate victory in battle. For Ashoka, the point of Buddhism was to celebrate delight in pacifism. Ashoka realized that delight is not to be had in battle or empire. The Dhammapada teaches “In a hamlet or in a forest, on sea or on dry land, wherever venerable persons (Arahanta) dwell, that place is delightful.” [7:98]. Christ taught, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Matthew 22:21.
In our passion to lord it over, not only kings but also ordinary folks like us forget the essential point of life, which is compassion. If switching religions gives you peace, that’s fine, but remember this even finer concept that a reader gifted me: “Compassion is the mother of religion.”


God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.
I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.
Jas Bhopal
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“Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."
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References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" (As translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" by Srila Prabhupada (ISBN 0-89213-268-X); "I Am That" Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.