Since recorded human history (and perhaps even before), different religions have been the primary sources of knowledge in humanity’s quest to find meaning and purpose. Every religion also helps create a strong connection between people’s past, present and future. However, despite the strong similarity among religions, why is it that only the ‘dividing lines’ remain in focus?
Bridges across Humanity documents the amazing commonalities that are seen across all major religions. Even though many of these religions originated from ancient civilizations that had no knowledge of other civilizations, it is astounding that all of them explored common existential questions and emerged with a similar understanding, including the concept of God.
While the essential message from every religion is the same, the bloody divisions along religious lines continue to plague humanity. This book is a strong and urgent reminder to obliterate our ‘exclusive’ mindset and rid ourselves of the ignorance or misinformation that forces us to see religions as dividing lines. If history has taught us anything, we should view different religions as threads that bind us all in the pursuit of personal fulfilment and universal harmony.
Review
‘[T]his text creates a scaffold for meaning-making that helps us in our common quest for better, more peaceful lives as individuals, and as a global community.’
—Tiffany L. Steinwert Dean for Religious and Spiritual Life, Stanford University
‘Every page of this book comprises inspiring wisdom from our world’s diverse religions—and also the material to build bridges between them.’
—Eboo Patel Author of We Need to Build and Founder and President of Interfaith America
‘There isn’t a more potent driving force in human affairs than religion. As this book convincingly proves, there are more similarities than differences across seemingly diverse faiths….’
—Hamilton (Tony) James Former Executive Vice-Chairman, The Blackstone Group
‘A riveting journey across the world’s major religions, this book shows the commonalities that exist among us—and how those similarities must serve as the roadmap to a shared, prosperous future.’
—Jacqueline Novogratz Bestselling author of The Blue Sweater and Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World
About the Author
Akhil Gupta is the founder of Universal Enlightenment Forum (www.uef.org). He is currently an Impact Leader in residence at Harvard University’s Advance Leadership Initiative. His prior professional engagements have been as Chairman of Blackstone in India, as CEO-Corporate Development of Reliance Industries Limited. Akhil has an MBA from Stanford University and a B.Tech from IIT. Akhil serves on the Dean’s Leadership Council at Harvard Divinity School.