At every opportunity, I emphasize the fact that a single underlying principle is common to every major religion. If followers of each religion master the fundamental beliefs of their own faith, they will realize that, despite superficial differences of expression, the truth is that humankind is one. They will discover that religion teaches us that to live in harmony with others is to live in accordance with truth. In this way, all people on the planet can grasp, through their own religious beliefs, the fundamental truth of human existence. When they succeed at reversing any prejudices they may have held to a sense of unity, the world at last will witness the advent of true peace and happiness.

Each follower of a religion usually strongly believes that his or her own faith is supreme, and as a result, in the past they tended to insist that their own religion or sect or denomination was the correct one, and so slid into feelings of exclusivity and self-righteousness. Such attitudes have left behind a history of war and strife brought about by religion. This was against the wishes of God and the Buddha and the fault of followers of religions themselves. Religions and religious organizations do not exist for their own sake. Rather, they exist for humankind.

The Bible says that there is only One Truth, and Buddhism speaks of the One Buddha Vehicle that is the single path to enlightenment. I believe that, although the phrasing is different, these concepts express from the perspective of God and the Buddha the hope that religious truth would bring happiness equally to all humankind. If people of all religious beliefs throughout the world were able to open their eyes to the truth of all religions and seriously study their teachings, they could then not fail to realize that all share one fundamental principle. I believe that if they did so, they would be only too willing to join hands and advance together to enter the first gateway on the road toward world peace.

The major religions have always been inspired by the laws of the universe. The great founders of different faiths, through divine intuition or following their own deep contemplation, have realized the universal laws that underlie the phenomenal world. Religions are based on their founder's teaching of those laws so that ordinary people can understand them. In a dialogue recorded in a book called Toyo no kokoro (The heart of the East) between Hajime Nakamura, professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo, and Tetsuji Morohashi, the compiler of Dai kanwa jiten (Encyclopedic Chinese-Japanese dictionary), Professor Nakamura stated that religions are based on fundamental principles that cannot successfully be expressed in words. We have to use words to explain religions to people, however, so the teachings of each faith come into being, he said. I believe that at their base are the laws of the universe.

If we were to explain what these laws of the universe actually are, I believe they boil down to two ideas: interdependence and constant circulation. Earth, along with the other planets, circles the sun along a fixed orbit. The moon similarly orbits the earth. The reason these bodies maintain a fixed orbit is that their gravity attracts them to each other, which means that they are interdependent.

Our solar system is merely a fragment of a larger galaxy, and there are vast numbers of other groups of stars like our own system in the universe. These stars, unimaginable in number, are balanced against one another in a state of interdependence as they move through the universe. When we look away from the macrocosm of the universe to the microcosm of the atom, we find the same situation. Inside the nucleus of a single atom, protons and neutrons, protons and protons, and neutrons and neutrons are tightly bonded together, moving with great force while constantly dependent on one another.

Human society needs to be the same. The natural order of things, according to the laws of the universe, is for human beings to be in a state of balance, forming strong bonds with each other and thus living interdependently. Interdependence is essentially what Buddhism calls nonself, that is, all things are devoid of self. Human beings, however, are too attached to their own interests, and because of their greed they live with their backs turned to the great universal laws. As a result, they fall into pain and suffering. This is why the great religious leaders who understand the laws of the universe teach us to be without an ego, to discard the self, and to live in the service of others. The origin of all great religions lies in this.

The other law, constant circulation, is expressed in Buddhism as the fact that all things are impermanent. The heavenly bodies and the microscopic atoms are all constantly moving and always changing. The sun burns ever brighter. Earth, on which we stand, is not permanent either. It is continually changing form. Somewhere it explodes and somewhere magma flows. Water evaporates and rises into the sky; it turns to rain and falls back onto us. Plants absorb the carbon dioxide that sentient beings exhale. This in turn is converted by photosynthesis to create carbohydrates, which are then eaten by human beings and animals to survive. The waste matter excreted is decomposed by bacteria and becomes nutrients for plants. This cycle is constantly repeated. Even though it may look as if thousands of organisms are born and perish, they do not really live or die, since they are a part of a cycle, in constant circulation.

Thus great teachers who have come to understand the laws of the universe have taught us to be thankful for everything, never to forget our indebtedness to all around us, and to take care of all the people and things in the world so that the necessary circulation does not become clogged by human selfishness. All great religions agree on this point.

There is basically not the slightest difference between the Christian teachings of the love of God and love for our fellow beings and the Buddhist teachings of deep compassion and mercy. They are identical in their aim in showing us the right way to live and guiding us along the road that leads to lasting peace. It is truly as Shakyamuni said, "There is only one Buddha vehicle, not two or three."