Q. Is Your teaching compatible with Islam?

M. Yes, why not? Islam teaches people to be good guests on Earth, and that it is necessary to find Heaven while we are alive. I also offer the same thing. I tell you to respect the Five Precepts, which give us nobility, wisdom, and peace on Earth. I also offer you the Path by which to find God immediately. Therefore, our Path is compatible with all the good religions.

Q. This question is about the Holy Scriptures: I very often have doubts about the Bible or Koran. It is said in the Bible, "I am a jealous God," and Christ said, "I did not come here for peace, but for war." It says in the Koran that we can engage in war and have many wives. Are these mistakes?

M. I tell you to follow the Five Precepts: you shall not kill, no sexual misconduct, vegetarian diet, no stealing, no gambling. And that's very simple for your life; just follow that, and meditate two and a half hours. Any other books you read, I am not responsible.

But if they are already Moslem, for example, of course, I will not tell them to change their life. For example, if they already have ten wives according to their tradition before they knew me, should I tell them to separate from their wives? They are in harmony with each other; the ten wives live together, and they do no harm to anyone.

We are not here to change the world, but to change ourselves. If the Moslems are like that, leave them alone. And now, they don't have to "faire la guerre" any more; they don't have to make war any more, so they can follow me. Should they want to stay in a warlike attitude then they can stay outside of our circle.

Not only do the Moslems make war, but also the Christians and Buddhists, also everyone else, because they misunderstand the doctrine of their origin. The Buddha never made war, but some of the Buddhists make war. Christ did not say that He came to make war. What He meant is that He did not come with peace, but with a sword. He said that He would set the son against the father, etc. What He meant is that the karmic bonds will be cut asunder; that He came with the sword of wisdom; and, that even all the attachments with family ties will be as if they did not exist. Therefore, even if the father believes in eating meat, the son will become a vegetarian. And before, for example, if the family was attached to each other and bound each other in a very limited love, after initiation, they just will love each other as they love any other initiates - all brothers and sisters. That's what He meant.

And, as you know, the same thing happens within our group, also. Even if the parents use their parent-power to force their children to eat meat, they will not eat it. So, that's a kind of "being against the parents." In that case, it is like that. But Christ never advocated war. That's why He said, "Give Caesar what belong to Caesar," and when people crucified Him, He did not fight back, even though He could have done so. He had the support of many disciples, and they wanted to make Him the king of the Jews, but He did not want that. He said, "My kingdom is not on this Earth." So you see, Christ was a man of peace. The war he talked about was the war in spirit that we, the disciples, fight against the illusion of Maya, the tricks and traps of Maya, the force of Maya, the illusion, the king of darkness that keeps us in bondage - we fight with that.

Normally, I don't like intellectual debate, but I understand that you are new, so I will try my best to come down and accompany you. Otherwise, I hate debate and intellectual wrestling. Now, according to the Koran, people can fight, not make war, but can defend themselves. You have to consider the time and the circumstances in which the Prophet Mohammad found himself as well as his own disciples. They were persecuted because, at that time, not many people understood what a living Master was. It is the same reason why they killed Jesus, and slandered and tried to assassinate the Buddha.

The same is happening nowadays, also. Some people also slander me and make a lot of trouble because of misunderstanding. They don't take time to learn what I try to teach. They just take one or two sentences, maybe misprinted or misinterpreted, or they have only heard what other people say, and then they try to make trouble. But this is only a very few compared to the good majority, like you, so it is no problem.

But when the Prophet Mohammad was alive, it was terrible. They were followed and persecuted everywhere, so they had to defend themselves. And the consequence that followed the war is that they married many wives. Because many men died in battle and left many widows and children unattended, the Prophet or the leader would say, "Take them in hand and take care of the weak and orphaned. Love them just like your own wife or your own children." Of course! But it must not always be physical.

For example, sometimes our initiate's husband dies or something, or the wife dies, and then the children are left, and we take them into another initiate's house and take care of them, also. But it must not be physical contact; it is just looking after them like brothers and sisters, like their own children, their own husband or wife. Therefore, the Prophet said, "If you take many wives into your house, you have to take care of them equally." Under that condition, you can take many into your house. For example, if you give your wife one set of jewelry, you have to be able to give the other the same. Then you can take them into your arms and take care of them.

That is just like the security system these days - very civilized. If you want to adopt a child, then you have to declare to the government whether you have enough money in the bank, how much property you have, to see if you can take care of the child. You see, it was very civilized, even though at that time there was no security law. Moslems are like that. So actually, if we want to study a religious scripture, we should study it to the end until there is absolutely no doubt. But if we just take one or two sentences and say: "It is no good; the Moslems are no good," then we will have prejudice.

Q. If a Moslem becomes a vegetarian, but in their religion, it is the understanding that they should give sacrifices every year......

M. The offering. Offering doesn't mean sacrifices. Actually, sometimes the translation is wrong. For example, some of them misunderstand the teaching of the Master. No Master wants any blood at all! What for? What kind of Master is that who serves for the blood of sentient beings? Can you believe it? Would you do it, even if you are not a Master?

What someone else has already killed, so maybe you eat it; but to ask you to kill the chicken or the goat yourself, you could not do it. How would a Master ever expect a disciple to do such a bloody thing? It is just a misunderstanding. I will tell you why. For example, every Master says you have to offer everything you own to him. In the Bhagavad-Gita, it says, "Give all things to me; remember me alone; love only me; surrender only to me and no one else besides me; give everything you have to me: your life, your family, your possessions, give everything to me." But did Krishna ever take one penny from Arjuna, whether he needed it or not? No, he never took it! So, it's just a saying from the Master. "Give me your ox, give me your car, give me your goats, give me your gold, give me your wife, your children; give everything to me. I will take care of them." But he never touched them.

It is just in the spirit that you offer everything at the feet of the Master as a sign of devotion and surrender, as a sign of belief and faith in the Master, as a sign of egolessness: "that I have nothing, including myself; everything is Master's." So now, centuries, thousands of years later, people have translated it differently: you have to make the first sacrifice of the first lamb, the first anything. Whoever wants this kind of bloody sacrifice? Can you believe a human being only, not to say the Master, of an average compassionate mind, would ever, himself, kill a goat and drink the blood or eat anything out of it, and feel happy? - Very seldom! Nowadays, people just pay for them in the market and don't see the killing and don't see the suffering. They buy them just like a piece of chocolate, and eat without feeling much about the suffering of the animal. But if a Master, a so-called Master who has love for all kinds of beings, demands sacrifices of blood, would you believe it? Anyone would not believe it!