As some of you know, I recently spent 10 days in India for work. It was an amazing experience that I am very thankful for. Some of my employees took me around to see Temples while I was there including ones dedicated to Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva, Chamundi, and Ganesh. Not only were the temples beautiful, but there was an energy to them that you just can't explain and it must be experienced.
For those of you who don't know, Vedic (or Hindu as we call it in the West) tradition is a group of religions practiced in India and surrounding countries. Their primary aspects of "God" are Brahma, Vishnu, & Shiva. Brahma is the creator; Vishnu is the sustainer; and Shiva is the destroyer. Each has a consort that is a female aspect of Deity. The Goddess Saraswati is the personification of knowledge - sounds a lot like the Gnostic Sophia.
Once you get past the cultural differences, the Vedic tradition has a lot in common with mystical Christianity. As we went from temple to temple, my friends and I discussed spirituality and found that we had way more in common than we had differences.
It seems that if people could discuss their "differences" they would find that they actually are much more alike than they think.
