About the History of Religion

Throughout the history of mankind on the planet Earth, people capable of philosophical thinking have been undoubtedly raising questions about the meaning of their lives, about the possibility of living in the unembodied state, and about the existence of God.

Such thinkers have been inventing more or less adequate philosophical concepts, organizing philosophical and esoteric groups, schools, and even religious movements.

God — on His side — has been repeatedly giving them His Teachings through His Messengers (Messiahs, Avatars) and prophets. Each time the information was presented in the form that was adequate for a concrete group of people — according to the level of their philosophic and religious awareness and the conditions of life in that particular historical period (whether it was a period of war or peace, first stages of religion’s formation or existence of established religious tradition in the particular region).

But at each of those epicenters of religious knowledge established by God, people inevitably distorted His Teachings. For example:

— religious duties of people got reduced to mere participation in “saving” rituals; bodily movements and standard prayers gradually became the main religious occupation of believers, substituting for real efforts on the path of personal spiritual evolution;

— so-called religious fundamentalism appeared, where the religious life was considered not as accumulating knowledge about God and the meaning of our life, not as mastering of the methods of spiritual self-development and helping others in doing it, but was reduced to crude, violent forcing of people to keep certain “rules of behavior” that have no religious value;

— false concepts of “national religions” and of “national Gods” formed, whereas in reality God is One — not only for all people of the Earth but for the whole Universe;

— such degeneration very often resulted in hatred toward “heretics” and “infidels” becoming the main essence of the religious ideology, which led to terror and aggressive wars.*

For all rational people of our planet it should be clear that there is a necessity for studying, accepting, and instilling in the mentality of people of all countries a religious concept based on the modern scientific knowledge and on recapitulation of the religious experience accumulated throughout the history of mankind, as well as on what God is teaching us now.