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Akbar the Great: Difference between revisions
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The emperor was born a Muslim but respected Hindu religion and culture and offered Hindus and Muslims alike the highest posts in his government. He assembled scholars of the Muslim and Hindu sects, Jains, Zoroastrians, and Jesuits in his capital, where in 1575 he built an ''ibadat khana'', a “house of worship,” where learned men of all religions could meet to discuss both theology and philosophy. In an attempt to resolve the discord among the many religious factions in his empire, and recognizing the limitations of each, he proposed that “we ought, therefore, to bring them all into one, but in such fashion that they should be both ‘one’ and ‘all’, with the great advantage of not losing what is good in any one religion, while gaining whatever is better in another.” The members of the council could not agree among themselves, however, and remained supportive only of their own religions. | The emperor was born a Muslim but respected Hindu religion and culture and offered Hindus and Muslims alike the highest posts in his government. He assembled scholars of the Muslim and Hindu sects, Jains, Zoroastrians, and Jesuits in his capital, where in 1575 he built an ''ibadat khana'', a “house of worship,” where learned men of all religions could meet to discuss both theology and philosophy. In an attempt to resolve the discord among the many religious factions in his empire, and recognizing the limitations of each, he proposed that “we ought, therefore, to bring them all into one, but in such fashion that they should be both ‘one’ and ‘all’, with the great advantage of not losing what is good in any one religion, while gaining whatever is better in another.” The members of the council could not agree among themselves, however, and remained supportive only of their own religions. | ||
In 1582 Akbar founded his own religion, Din-i-Ilahi, “divine faith,” or Tauhid-i-Ilahi, “divine monotheism,” with himself as its spiritual leader. As Abul Fazl comments, Akbar, in establishing the tenets of the new religion, “seized upon whatever was good in any religion.... He is truly a man who makes Justice his leader in the path of inquiry, and who culls from every sect whatever Reason approves of.” Akbar did not, however, demand that his countrymen espouse his beliefs, and Akbar’s new religion had few adherents outside his court. | In 1582 Akbar founded his own religion, Din-i-Ilahi, “divine faith,” or Tauhid-i-Ilahi, “divine monotheism,” with himself as its spiritual leader. As Abul Fazl comments, Akbar, in establishing the tenets of the new religion, “seized upon whatever was good in any religion.... He is truly a man who makes Justice his leader in the path of inquiry, and who culls from every sect whatever Reason approves of.” Akbar did not, however, demand that his countrymen espouse his beliefs, and Akbar’s new religion had few adherents outside his court. | ||
== Final years == | == Final years == | ||
At the end of his reign, the peace and prosperity which Akbar had brought to India was disturbed by the court intrigues and subversive activities of his son, Jahangir. When he inherited the throne, Jahangir rejected his father’s reforms, especially those of religious tolerance, and the empire rapidly crumbled. Jahangir’s son and heir, [[Shah Jahan]], inherited only a small and unruly kingdom but retained a great love for the cultural heritage of his grandfather. As the greatest of the Mogul builders, Shah Jahan gave to India its most cherished romance, the Taj Mahal. | At the end of his reign, the peace and prosperity which Akbar had brought to India was disturbed by the court intrigues and subversive activities of his son, Jahangir. When he inherited the throne, Jahangir rejected his father’s reforms, especially those of religious tolerance, and the empire rapidly crumbled. Jahangir’s son and heir, [[Shah Jahan]], inherited only a small and unruly kingdom but retained a great love for the cultural heritage of his grandfather. As the greatest of the Mogul builders, Shah Jahan gave to India its most cherished romance, the Taj Mahal. | ||
== The universal religion == | |||
In 1985 El Morya spoke of his embodiment as Akbar and his dream of a universal religion: | |||
<blockquote>I would speak to you of the long dream of the ages which I have held of the oneness of thought as pertains to the universal religion that must become the possession of all men.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>Blessed ones, how well I remember coming to the point of the birth of the Saviour.<ref>In the first century <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>., El Morya was embodied as Melchior, one of the [[Three Wise Men]] who paid homage to the Christ Child. He was accompanied by Balthazar (an embodiment of [[Kuthumi]]) and Caspar (an embodiment of [[Djwal Kul]]).</ref> That one incarnate in the Light was for me the foretelling of the universality of the Christ Mind in the Light of the invincible Godhead—the single-purposed will of that flame, the beauty of the countenance of the Child—and one would attend, therefore, the birth of that immaculate conception of the Divine Image in every soul born of God.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>My mind moved on to visualize just how such a Light would come to rest in the cradle of world movements, revolution, organization. And I must say that even then I knew how difficult it would be for the individual without Light to comprehend that Light....</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>Beloved ones, I went from the crèche carrying in my heart the great burnishment of the soul who was and is and shall be forevermore the One Sent as the Christ Light of the ages. Blessed hearts, so I bore it to the land whence I had come. And so I bore it in subsequent incarnations, some Christian and some not. But in each lifetime, though perceiving him as Moslem or Hindu or Buddhist or as Christian, I would yet have the veil bestowed upon me of those traditions, of the limitations to that Christhood, which would be attempted to be imposed upon me by the sovereigns and the priests and the orders of the day who would say, “This you may believe of him, this you may not believe. This is correct, this is incorrect.”...</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>Beloved sons and daughters, I remember well and I would remind you of my incarnation as Akbar. So Islam, the religion of my birth—Hinduism, the religion of my nation. So, juxtaposed midst all of this, I did perceive that all religions were found wanting. Therefore I assembled the representatives of all faiths and sects within the larger religions, that they might deliberate, that they might also convince me of their way. I had purposed in my heart to lead each group to the point of the realization of the quintessence of the Light of the Child whom I had seen at his birth hundreds of years before.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>Thus, the memory of the Christ Child impelled me to draw others to the divine resolution of the Light and to the dissolution of the barriers to the free expression of that Light. And so it came to pass that I did point out to each group the limitations that made each version of religion incomplete. And I did propose to take the best from all and leave the rest and arrive at that doctrine upon which all could agree as the basis of the new world religion. But they objected and objected vehemently. And therefore I was left with a band of disciples, a circle of followers of my own court, who recognized God as Light and saw me not only as their secular leader but as their spiritual head.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>Thus, you see, I came into the office of Guru through the acceptance and love of those who respected the power and the will of God they saw within me and my devotion to the integrity and the honor of that will. Thus, all religions were free to practice in the realm and any were free to be a part of my circle.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>I bring this to your attention because as you read the life of Akbar, you may find yourself in my family and circle of the court, certainly harking back to the court of [[Camelot]]<ref>El Morya was embodied as [[King Arthur]].</ref> and the chelas of the will of God who have been with me for so many centuries.<ref>El Morya, “The Universal Religion,” {{POWref|28|51|, December 22, 1985}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
[[El Morya]] | [[El Morya]] | ||
El Morya, “The Universal Religion,” {{POWref|28|51|, December 22, 1985}} | |||
== For more information == | == For more information == | ||
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{{LSR}}. | {{LSR}}. | ||
Lecture by Elizabeth Clare Prophet, “Akbar the Great: The Shadow of God on Earth,” August 8, 1993. Available from Ascended Master Library. | Lecture by Elizabeth Clare Prophet, “Akbar the Great: The Shadow of God on Earth,” August 8, 1993. Available from [https://www.ascendedmasterlibrary.org/ Ascended Master Library]. | ||
== Sources == | == Sources == | ||
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{{CAP}} | {{CAP}} | ||
{{POWref|28|51|, December 22, 1985}} | El Morya, “The Universal Religion,” {{POWref|28|51|, December 22, 1985}} | ||
El Morya’s Christmas Letter 1994 | El Morya’s Christmas Letter 1994 | ||
[[Category:Embodiments of ascended masters]] | [[Category:Embodiments of ascended masters]] | ||