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Modified religion is a new religion. Before Hinduism, Buddhism, and the other faiths had been discovered, there was already one great religion of the world. Each of them touched on only a few aspects of that universal faith, adopting only segments which seemed to fit the conditions during that time. There were huge gaps in knowledge, mysteries developed, and the common man came only to know of half-truths.

Modified religion presents that great religion in its entirety. The approach is through an understandable, logical and sequential form.

In today's modern society comprised of different and widely varying peoples and culture, its members start questioning the diversity of several religions. All religions are based on one true faith. A modified religion is a presentation of several traditional religions in a modern form; they are not completely and irrevocably a mistake - they are just like an antique painting which needs to be restored as it already lacks lustre. And why do we restore an old, fading and crackling painting? It is to have it appreciated and the message it contains let known. This is the purpose of modified religion.

I. INTRODUCTION

The many creeds today are the different presentations, variations, and outlooks on only one religion. There is only one universal law covering all mankind but many religions came into being because of different interpretations and the needs of the times. To some people, religion holds the mysteries of life, while to others, they believe that science, politics, or commerce can point to the answers. Maybe they do - for a lot of us. I just hope that none of these has yet totally become their religion.

For one to be able to understand a modified religion, one has to keep an open mind. It is not easy to forget years of being a Christian, Hindu, Muslim or Buddhist and immediately absorb this new teaching. There are difficulties in bringing the great religion closer to the people, and like it as you may, it is perhaps Hinduism which is most encompassing in thought among the traditional religions today, though a bit disorganized in its presentation of ideas and primitive in its practices and rituals. If Hinduism, a very complicated and primitive religion, brought this great religion to the people through practices and rituals, Buddhism did it with a practical approach by laying out a code of conduct of living. Buddhism, too, needs some modification to bring it up to date with modern times. Christianity is very slow to adapt to change and Islam, as I see it, is very dogmatic. When it comes to monotheism, I believe Judaism is quite near the truth.

What then is a modified religion? It is a presentation of the universal truth or in today's different religions, it is Buddhism in divining the laws of life or karma and reincarnation, Hinduism in its approach to God, and Christianity in its practicality while tempered monotheism would be attributable to Judaism.

There are four considerations to be taken up to be able to understand what a modified religion is. These are:

• Belief in God
• Belief in a Personal God and the Spirit
• The Truth of Reincarnation
• The Law of Karma

It should be borne in mind that we can never have a perfect knowledge of any one of these but there is a point when we feel that our understanding of these is sufficient to guide us in life and make it meaningful. Each is related to one another; it is a puzzle to me how one religion can proselytize for example, about God, and, at the same time, denying the truth of reincarnation, karma, a Personal God, or the spirit. An open mind toward of all of these, as opposed to specialization on only one or two or three of them would give us a rounded comprehension and outlook of life.

Belief in God among the major religions is similar. It is the kind of God that is being venerated that is different. Belief in God is based on faith. In this respect, all religions should be the same, but differences occur when descriptions of who or what God is start. Religion is so many things to many people; but summarizing all the kinds of beliefs in God, we can say, in no order whatsoever, that

• 1. God is beyond our comprehension
• 2. There is a hierarchy of Gods
• 3. There is only one God
• 4. God is everything

God is Beyond Our Comprehension

According to Buddhism, we, as man, cannot comprehend who or what God is. It is like, as Buddha said, a sick man refusing treatment until he had understood the ailment. This is one reason why I was attracted to Buddhism; it admits that by itself it can never fully explain who God is and it never makes any attempts to. It does not personalize God with attributes common to man: jealousy (by worshipping other gods), forgiveness (can He be hurt by us?), kindness (what about all the oppression going on?), bribery, flattery and the like (offerings, adulations). Everybody is free to believe in Him or not, and in no certain terms am I saying to stop believing in Him; on the contrary, belief helps us keep our sanity in this troubled world.

How lucky it would be for mankind if God appeared or spoke to any of us but let us stop our wishful thinking for it will never be. It is so comforting to think that He is our loving father, but is He? Does He really care? What if I say no? that we are left in this world with our own devices? This thought should not make us knock-kneed; on the other hand it should make us feel responsible and mature that we control our own destiny.

If I say that God is not a kind loving father, neither am I saying that he is cruel, unjust and unkind. There is no general chaos, however, despite God's seemingly being detached from us because there is a universal law of cause and effect. Did God make this law and reincarnation for us to follow? The law is there, it exists and affects all of us. Upon accepting that God is beyond our comprehension and that He is detached from human affairs, we cannot blame, thank, credit or leave to His will our misfortunes or gifts in life.

This section should really be self-explanatory. Is there anybody who can say that he knows God? Show me a man, who is sane, who can claim that he is in contact with God or that he is taking instructions from Him or that he can feel His presence and I will show you a flying elephant. Without stepping on the toes of other religions, miracles, it seems, if we keep an open-mind, are dime-a-dozen. There are more fantastic miracles in Buddhism and Hinduism than in Christianity but belief is not a matter of which religion has the greatest miracles because for the learned and educated, these are, in modern parlance, promotional materials for the religion. It is a come-on, a way of getting converts, and keeping them once they start to believe. I have nothing against in propagating miracles in keeping the belief alive among the unlearned and unsophisticated populace during the early times, but to use these as arguments and justification until today as acts of God is begging for explanation.

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