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Tag: religious distortion

  • Emily Dickinson’s “He preached upon ‘Breadth’ till it argued him narrow”

    Image: Emily Dickinson - Amherst College - Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 - likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet
    Image: Emily Dickinson – Amherst College – Daguerrotype of the poet at age 17, circa 1847 – likely the only authentic, extant likeness of the poet

    Emily Dickinson’s “He preached upon ‘Breadth’ till it argued him narrow”

    Emily Dickinson’s “He preached upon ‘Breadth’ till it argued him narrow” exposes religious hypocrisy and superficial preachment. The poem highlights how boasting of virtues often exposes an absence of genuine spiritual depth.

    Introduction and Text of “He preached upon ‘Breadth’ till it argued him narrow”

    This short poem focuses sharply on religious phoniness and intellectual pride. The speaker examines a preacher whose grand proclamations create a self-defeating display. Through structured lines and clever slant rime, a clear critique emerges against those who perform righteousness rather than live it.

    In my earlier essays on Dickinsonian poems, I have discussed issues that poetic craft can unmask artificiality within institutionalized frameworks. This specific work addresses the tragic irony of a minister whose expansive rhetoric shrinks his spiritual reality, showing how pride reduces immense truth to small, rigid dogmas.

    By looking past outer performance, the piece offers a deep invitation to inner authenticity. The speaker challenges religious pretense directly, setting a stage where false holiness fails to stand under close scrutiny.

    He preached upon ‘Breadth’ till it argued him narrow

    He preached upon ‘Breadth’ till it argued him narrow –
    The Broad are too broad to define
    And of ‘Truth’ until it proclaimed him a Liar –
    The Truth never flaunted a Sign –

    Simplicity fled from his counterfeit presence
    As Gold the Pyrites would shun –
    What confusion would cover the innocent Jesus
    To meet so enabled a Man!

    Commentary on “He preached upon ‘Breadth’ till it argued him narrow”

    The speaker analyzes religious pretense, showing that excessive rhetoric inevitably collapses into spiritual limitation. This critique highlights the superiority of quiet simplicity over loud, boastful hypocrisy.

    First Stanza: “He preached upon ‘Breadth’ till it argued him narrow”

    He preached upon ‘Breadth’ till it argued him narrow –
    The Broad are too broad to define
    And of ‘Truth’ until it proclaimed him a Liar –
    The Truth never flaunted a Sign –

    The opening lines illustrate a profound theological contradiction. The speaker notes that the preacher talks excessively about tolerance and openness. Yet, this endless talking achieves the opposite effect. 

    It reveals his internal limitations.  By continuously explaining a vast concept, the minister confines it within narrow human parameters. True spiritual vastness cannot be fully captured by mere words. The speaker exposes this vanity clearly.

    The second line emphasizes that immense divine concepts remain completely beyond simple human definitions. True breadth resists rigid categorization. When the preacher attempts to define it, he merely reveals his intellectual arrogance.  The speaker then addresses the concept of ultimate truth. The minister talks so much about it that his very demeanor screams deception. His elaborate speech patterns proclaim him a liar.

    Authentic truth does not require a loud, external declaration or vanity. It exists quietly and purely on its own. The speaker shows that a proud display is always a sign of falsehood.  Engaging in contemplative musing helps readers perceive this subtle dynamic. 

    We see that the divine essence requires no advertisement. It shines naturally through a quiet, humble heart.  Paramahansa Yogananda explains that real spiritual truth must be felt within the soul rather than argued externally. His divine insights remind us that God is realized through silence.

    The perfect rime scheme enhances this message of cosmic balance. The structured lines reflect how nature rejects pretension. The speaker uses these elements to dismantle the preacher’s hollow authority completely.  The preacher’s downfall is his reliance on public recognition. 

    He mistakes loud rhetoric for genuine faith. The speaker masterfully highlights that this outward focus creates an empty, unspiritual shell. This critique stays perfectly aligned with traditional themes of spiritual integrity. True faith remains invisible to a superficial eye. The speaker urges her listeners to seek internal clarity instead.

    Second Stanza: “Simplicity fled from his counterfeit presence”

    Simplicity fled from his counterfeit presence
    As Gold the Pyrites would shun –
    What confusion would cover the innocent Jesus
    To meet so enabled a Man!

    The second stanza opens with a striking visual image of immediate rejection. Simplicity actively runs away from the preacher. The speaker calls his entire character a counterfeit presence.  Purity cannot coexist with artificiality or pride. The contrast becomes sharper with the brilliant analogy of gold and pyrites. Real gold naturally separates itself from worthless fool’s gold.

    The preacher resembles pyrites because he shines superficially but possesses no actual value. The speaker uses this comparison to show that spiritual vanity can easily deceive an uncritical observer. True spiritual life requires an unadorned, transparent nature. Through simple observation, one becomes aware that the preacher’s complicated dogmas drive away the pure essence of divine grace.

    The speaker then introduces a powerful comparison involving Jesus the Christ. The text suggests that Christ would feel utter confusion upon meeting such an unnaturally enabled and self-important individual. Jesus represents ultimate humility and simple truth. The minister represents an over-engineered, institutional structure. This sharp juxtaposition highlights the deep chasm between modern religion and true spirituality.

    Paramahansa Yogananda explains that true religious understanding mirrors the childlike simplicity of Christ. His holy teachings emphasize that intellectual pride blocks real divine communion.

    In my earlier essays on Dickinsonian poems, I have discussed the frequent contrast between pure gospel ideals and corrupt religious leadership. This poem delivers that exact message brilliantly.  The masterfully placed rime underlines the absolute certainty of this spiritual law. Falsehood can never truly blend with truth. 

    The speaker leaves readers with a lasting warning against vanity. Ultimately, the work serves as a timeless guide for genuine seekers. It encourages its listeners to look past decorated pulpits. The speaker points her audience directly toward a quiet, inner temple.

  • Brief Sketches of the Five Major World Religions

    Image 1: Symbols for the Five Major World Religions

    Brief Sketches of the Five Major World Religions

    Roughly in order of origin, the five major world religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Each major religion has many branches or denominations that focus on certain aspects of the main religion.  This article features a brief overview of each of the five major religions.

    Introduction:  What Is the Purpose of Religion?

    “If God after making the world puts Himself outside it, He is no longer God.  If He separates Himself from the world or wants to separate Himself, He is not God.  The world is not the world when it is separated from God.  God must be in the world and the world in God.”  —D. T. Suzuki

    According to Paramahansa Yogananda [1], the purpose of all religions—as well as the purpose of life itself—is to reunite the individual soul with the Supreme Soul or God.  The differences that seem to split religions from one another result from the use of different metaphors that portray concepts.  

    Also use of different names for the Supreme Deity causes confusion; for example, Allah, Divine Mother, Ultimate Reality, Supreme Intelligence, Emptiness, Absolute, and Over-Soul represent some of the terms used to name the Unnameable or the Ineffable [2].

    A common misunderstanding of Hinduism emerges from the many Hindu names for God or the Supreme Soul.  But instead of actually signifying different “gods,” the names merely signify different aspects of of the one God.  Hinduism is monotheistic, just as Christianity and all other religions are.

    All of the five major world religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—have in common a basic faith, even though each religion describes the nature of their faith differently.  They each have a prophet, or prophets, who interpret God’s ways, and scripture in which the interpretation resides.

    Hinduism

    Hinduism’s scripture is the Bhagavad-Gita, and major prophet is Krishna.  However, Hinduism is probably the world’s oldest religion, [3] and, therefore, it also has other ancient scripture that was not written down for many centuries or perhaps millennia.  These are called the Vedas.

    In more recent history the important scripture that contains the explanation for existence and the guide back to God is the Bhagavad-Gita, whose central narrator is Bhagavan Krishna.

    Buddhism

    Buddhism’s scripture is the Dhammapada, and its major prophet is Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha [4].  Buddhism began around 500 B.C. in India, when the prince Gautama abandoned his young wife and child and took up the life of an ascetic.  It is said that he positioned himself under a banyan tree and determined to remain there until he had attained enlightenment.  

    Buddhism is very similar to Hinduism in that they both focus on meditation to achieve “enlightenment,” which is called “nirvana” in Buddhism and “samadhi” in Hinduism.  Also both religions describe the nature of God, or the Absolute, pantheistically.

    Judaism

    Judaism’s major prophets are the Old Testament prophets, especially Moses [5]; thus, its scripture is the Old Testament or Torah consisting of the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. 

    Because Judaism does not recognize the New Testament, it does not recognize the “old” testament as such, but simply as the Torah. The name “Judaism” originates from the fourth son of Jacob, who was the father of the tribe of “Judah.”  The name “Judah” means gratitude in Hebrew. 

    It was the tribe of Judah that resided in Jerusalem during the reign of both David and Solomon.  Later the Judaic kingdom included all of the southern tribes of Israel.

    Thus, the religion of the Jews is called “Judaism.

    Christianity

    Christianity’s major prophet is Jesus Christ, whose major scripture is the Sermon on the Mount [6] which is part of the New Testament.  Like most prophets, Christ appeared at a time of history when there was great turmoil and strife.   Human kind had lost its knowledge of its divinity within the soul,  and the Christ appeared to remind people that “the kingdom of God is with you.”

    Islam

    Islam’s prophet is Muhammad, and its scripture is the Quran (Koran).  In addition to the Quran, the devout Muslim studies the Sunnah, which is an account of the prophet’s life and the activities and traditions he approved.

    The prophet Muhammad was born April 20, 571, to a wealthy family of the tribe of Mecca.  His father had died a few days before his son was born, and his mother died when he was six-years-old.  

    His grandfather, who was caring for the boy, then died when Muhammad turned nine, at which time he was cared for by an uncle.  The world in which the young boy lived was a chaotic one, sometimes described a “barbaric.”  It is said that Muhammad was a gentle boy, sensitive and compassionate in his dealings with others.

    At the age of twenty-five he entered the caravan business owned by a wealthy widow, Khadija; their relationship grew from deep respect to admiration and love, and they married.  Their union proved successful.  Fifteen years later the man Muhammad transformed into the Prophet, but such a transformation did not happen overnight.  According to Huston Smith [7], 

    There was a huge, barren rock on the outskirts of Mecca known as Mount Hira, torn by cleft and ravine, erupting unshadowed and flowerless from the desert sands.  In this rock was a cave which Muhammad, in need of deep solitude, began to frequent.  Peering into the mysteries of good and evil, unable to accept the crudeness, superstition, and fratricide that were accepted as normal, “this great fiery heart, seething, simmering like a great furnace of thoughts,” was reaching out for God.

    Religious Distortion

    All of the great religions have suffered distortion at the hands ignorant interpreters.  In the name of Christianity large scale devastation was visited upon the world during in the Middle Ages during the Crusades [8], then later in the Spanish Inquisition [9] , and even in the colonial America during the Salem Witch Trials [10].  

    Hindu zealots have misappropriated and turned the Caste system into an oppressive ordering of society [11] that was not part of Hindu scripture.  Many adherents to Buddhism in the West are attracted to that religion based on the misunderstanding that Buddhism is an atheistic religion.  

    Again, the misunderstanding results from failure to grasp the basic metaphors used to make sensible the Ineffable.  And, of course, the extremist Islamists who distort the meaning of jihad [12] demonstrate the horror that can be fostered from erroneous understanding of the metaphor of scripture.

    Much fantasy has grown out of the facts of religions, and much mayhem and destruction has been and continues to be carried out in the name of religion.  But all of the great religions teach compassion and love, and even though certain misguided zealots try to conquer others immorally in so-called holy wars, they do not represent the vast majority of the devout who understand and practice their religions as they are meant to be practiced.

    Sources


    [1]  Paramahansa Yogananda. The Science of Religion. Self-Realization Fellowship. 1953. Print.
    [2] Linda Sue Grimes.  “Names for the Ineffable God.”  Linda’s Literary Home.  October 7, 2025.

    [3] Joshua J. Mark.  “Hinduism.”  World History Encyclopedia.  June 8, 2020.

    [4]  Barbara O’Brien.  “Basic Beliefs and Tenets of Buddhism.”  Learn Religions.  April 26, 2019.

    [5]  Curators.  “Judaism: Basic Beliefs.” United Religions Initiative.  Accessed November 25, 2023.

    [6]  Sonya Downing.  “What Is the Sermon on the Mount?”  Christianity.com.  January 06, 2022.

    [7]  Huston Smith  The Religions of Man. Harper & Row. 1958. Print.    

    [8] Editors.  “Crusades.”  Britannica. October 24, 2023.

    [9]  Editors. “Spanish Inquisition.” History.  March 27, 2023.

    [10]  Jess Blumberg.  “A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials.”  Smithsonian Magazine.  October 24, 2022.

    [11]  Albee Ning.  “The Caste System in India.”  Asia Highlights.  Aug. 23, 2023.

    [12]  Shmuel Bar.  “The Religious Sources of Islamic Terrorism.”  Hoover Institution.  June 1, 2004.

    An Afterthought: Tangible Evidence of God’s Love

    According the renowned spiritual leader, Paramahansa Yogananda, when an individual develops an intense yearning for God, then God sends that individual tangible evidence of His love:  “When you have convinced the Lord of your desire for Him, He will send someone — your guru — to teach you how to know Him.”

    Also Yogananda has explained that when evil seems to be overcoming good in the world,

    God sends a prophet (guru or spiritual leader) to help people turn back toward God.  Muhammad, being a gentle, compassionate soul, developed his latent soul qualities and by intense meditation in the cave at Mount Mira touched God’s heart and God spoke to him, not only to satisfy the individual soul of Muhammad, but God also used Muhammad to inform those crude, superstitious, fratricidal brothers of a better way of life.

    Unfortunately, just as Hindu zealots have misappropriated and turned the Caste system into an oppressive ordering of society, many Islamists have turned the teachings of Muhammad into the opposite of the prophet’s instructions for peace, and instead of leading to a “better way of life,” many ignorant followers of that faith have returned to “crude, superstitious, fratricidal” behavior.