Customer Reviews

Oneness: Great Principles Shared by All Religions

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This book is a blessing. One Saturday, exactly two years to the day after my daughter died, I walked into a bookstore looking for something. I had and have been on a spiritual journey since her death and I was in sad shape when I entered the store with my other two children. A number of years ago I had read a quote about the Golden Rule and how different religions all expressed it in slightly different ways but didn't realize and didn't really care that it was from a book. Lately though I had been thinking about it over and over and about how all religions are really from the same root. These thoughts had consumed me, especially since for the past two years I have been reading a lot of literature of the different religions. At any rate, that Saturday, almost exactly two years to the hour after she died, I walked into that bookstore. At once I knew there was a book in there I was supposed to have and that I would be led to it. I searched for probably ten minutes in different sections but when I picked up this book I knew immediately that it was the book I was supposed to buy. The quote that I had remembered and lately had constantly thought about was in there. It let me know that I was watched over and was being led to answers on religions that I was on a search for. This book showed me that my belief was correct, that all religions in their major teachings are essentially alike. If you read this book you can't help but come to the conclusion that differences in religion are minor compared to the major teachings they share. I highly recommend this book to anyone of any religion.

This tiny little pocket book seems a bit overpriced at first -- but it isn't something you read and then put away. This is a book to carry with you, and to read again and again. (Note: we made a small cloth book cover for this book to make sure it will last longer!)

This book is more of an inspiration than documentation (in the back there is a list of the sources used), but then if every quote had a reference number attached to it, this would no longer be a truly "pocket-sized" book.

As the introduction, by the Dalai Lama, says: "Every major religion of the world has similar ideals of love, the same goal of benefitting humanity through spiritual practice, and the same effect of making their followers into better human beings. As this book shows, the religious teachers wanted to lead people away from paths of misdeeds caused by ignorance and introduce them to paths of goodness."

And even beyond that, this book shows that beneath the surface differences between religions, there is a unifying message. If we all could accept this connection, and not argue about the really insignificant external differences, individuals might attain enlightenment, and the world might find peace.

Under each category "Blessed are the Peacemakers," for example, there are first some thoughts on that topic, followed by short quotes from major world religions: Christianity (Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God); Islam (Shall I tell you what acts are better than fasting, charity and prayer? Making peace between enemies are such acts; for enmity and malice tear up the heavenly rewards by the roots); Hinduism (The nobleminded dedicate themselves to the promotion of peace and the happiness of others--even those who injure them); Buddhism (When righteousness is practiced to win peace, he who so walks shall gain the victory and all fetters utterly destroy) ; Judaism (How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace).

Until that happens (before we blow each other up or destroy the planet) this little book will offer much peace and joy to those who read it.

In the Old Testament, in the Book of Joshua, it is written that the Lord spoke to many prophets of many lands in many ways. In this succinct volume, Jeffery Moses demonstrates the fundamental truth, that God is one, by demonstrating the oneness of His wisdom as it is expressed in the many religious traditions of the world. The book reverberates the precious truths which all religions propound, and the faithful of all paths will imbibe within its simple expressions the endless sources of revival.

A great premise brought low by laziness. Or something like. I was quite looking forward to this book, but found, to my dismay, that it didn't cite any sources for any of the great principles shared. While I could discern the biblical background of the Christian principles (but no book, chapter and verse offered), I had no way to tell where the stated principles of the other religions originated -- a huge disservice to the reader, who's left with simplistic statements by the author as to what the religions believe on a given topic, but not direct quotes (or even paraphrases with sources listed) to accurately give their beliefs. Not for anyone seriously wanting to find unity of thought, as the thought all seems to come from the author.

This small book, written simply yet powerfully, distills the pragmatic essence of the world's great spiritual traditions. I read it over and over, awestruck by the unity of insight among the diverse contributors to the spritual literature. This uplifting book fills the reader with peace, direction, and "oneness". The value far exceeds the price.

What if you could get a quick reference to quotes from the world's religions on an array of issues, from murder to Creation?And what if the similarities were striking? Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, even Native American religions are represented in this volume. The reader can't help but be hopeful and inspired by the inherent message: On many things, we're not so far apart.

Moses expanded this book in 2002, after the evnts of Sept. 11, and the event looms large as one reads it. Perhaps "Oneness" won't settle the debate over whether Islam is, at its core, a religion of tolerance or hate, but it offers helpful glimpses of a faith now at the heart of America's consciousness.

Many people say that the world's major religions are similar in many of their teachings and this book shows how so. With quotes from the religious books of the major religions of the world, side by side, on each individual subject you can see how similar many of the teachings are.

However, I wish the book had been a bit longer. It's small size and short length make the 109 pages go by very quickly. The amount of printing in the book is small but the thought that it provokes is great. The book can easily be read in less than an afternoon but it will be thought on for a much longer time.

If you are curious about the world's largest religions and how they are similar, buy this book. You will be surprised.

this book has travelled with me in my purse throughout the world on both business and personal trips, and is with me always when i am home. it's a great centering reminder to pull out and read at any time. i am ordering another copy here because mine is so worn and dog-eared. highly recommended.

Oneness has to rank among the most inspiring books I have read. It includes a wide range of central spiritual principles and shows how they are shared by all of the world's great religions. The Golden Rule, Love Thy Neighbor, More Blessed to Give Than to Receive, and As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap, among many others, are expressed almost word for word in the various religions. This is instructive and uplifting. I recommend Oneness highly, and encourage readers not only to buy the book for themselves, but to send it to every person they know who, in the author's own words, "believes that all religions are branches of the same tree of life."

My daughter gave me one of the first copies of Oneness by Jeffrey Moses, many years ago, for my birthday. It was one of the most profound books I had ever read, showing me that all the great religions have similar views about the really IMPORTANT issues in life. I have since gone into ministry and consider these "golden strands" that run through all major religions to be the major guides for living. Since that first edition, Jeffrey Moses has added many more similarities among the major religions in his subsequent editions. Recently, I decided to buy a copy of his newest edition for each one of my children and several of my closest friends. I have also recommended it to many more, feeling this book could bring great healing to these troubled, vastly divided times that we live in today, by emphasizing the "oneness" of all people.