I Have Learned So Much?

Text visual on the video wall of Depeche Mode’s Tour of the Universe concert in Barcelona during the song ‘Precious’:

I Have Learned So Much

I
Have
Learned
So much from God
That I can no longer
Call
Myself

A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim
A Buddhist, a Jew.

The Truth has shared so much of itself
With me

That I can no longer call myself
A man, a woman, an angel
Or even pure
Soul

Love has
Befriended Hafiz so completely
It has turned to ash
And freed
Me

Of every concept and image
My mind has ever known.

Written by Hafiz (Sufi Master)
(Translated by Daniel Ladinsky)

Comments:

This is one of those poems that suggests that there is a God beyond labels that segregate, who has love so strong that it melts all concepts. But the problem is that there is a concept of God clung on still. So who or what is God, if there is one, and if he is an all-loving (and wise) and almighty creator and sustainer of all, why was his love not strong enough to not create segregation in the first place, to not sustain segregation now? Unless… he is not all-loving (and wise), almighty and/or a creator. But if he was not so, he wouldn’t be God as defined conventionally.

If Hafiz was referring to ‘God’ as the personal realisation of pure selfless universal Compassion (and Loving-kindness) itself based on the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajna Paramita), that does not cling to any conceptual thinking, Buddhists would be agreeable with his message. But then again, he did hint that Buddhists fall short, which means he wouldn’t be exactly agreeable with the Buddhist definition of Compassion and Wisdom as above? Meanwhile, Buddhist wouldn’t be agreeable with the conventional God concept, that he kind of stuck to. If the God he meant is not as conventionally defined, shouldn’t he use another more appropriate or wholly unique term?

Can the different religions be pieces of the pie of God? If they are, their fundamental teachings would taste similar, but there are distinct differences that are impossible to reconcile. Just the definition of God alone, as above is irreconcilable for Buddhists. (Note that the other religions listed all have a God concept.) Some might argue that it is not that there are fundamental differences, but that these differences are really superficial, while the real fundamentals are the same. This simply adds on to the problem of having more different ‘fundamentalists’ insisting their way with possible conflict. Rather than using existing labels and concepts for negating and redefining them, it is so much more respectful to just use new terms for new definitions.