Religious relativism is often, to be blunt, disguised self-centeredness, or even a kind of laziness that refuses to move past the immediacy of man, the biological creature, believing in this regard, there is nothing higher. Ironically, the one who falls into the category of religious relativism is one who may practice religion but has no sense of the divine—the actual divine that is free from suffering; that dwells within each of us.
Both meditation and prayer may serve to explain religious relativism by contrasting their spiritual forms with the relative forms.
In the case of Buddhism, meditation (dhyana) is the pathway that opens us up to the living reality behind sensory things. It leads to illumination (bodhicitta). By meditation, one directly experiences the animative power that, for all of their life, has moved them. Meditation thus leads to an awakening (bodhi). We awaken from the sleep of the biological creature to the light of the beyond upon which the creature has always depended.
As for prayer, prayer is remembering God's presence within us which has been sundered and almost lost by living as mere biological creatures. In other words, prayer is very much akin to meditation (dhyana). The words of the prayer are, first of all, a call to remembrance, that is, to recall the image of God within us. The prayer is almost a mantra which positions the mind (manas) to tune into God.
For the religious relativist, there is no radiant, animative power with which he can connect, or the image of God, in the sense of universal love that forsakes no created thing. In sharp contrast, the religious relativist uses meditation as a means to calm down their neurosis, or uses prayer as a request, asking for something in the name of God.
Furthermore, in the name of religious relativism it is perfectly okay to meditate or pray, either for the purpose of relaxation or to make a request of God for a better job. After all, all is absolutely relative.
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