'All is One' and 'All paths/religions are the same' and ' the world is one family' are phrases commonly associated with the Hindu approach to life and to the Divine.
The essential Unity [non-dualism] is celebrated in the texts Hindu dharma, such as the Veda, Vedanta, Puranas and so on.
Alongside the recognition of Oneness, Dharmic texts highlight the need for 'viveka', the ability of discrimination, which includes knowing when something is appropriate or relevant, and what the consequences may be, according to 'situation, time, recepient'
So for example the statement 'all is Brahman', Absolute as it is, is not perhaps an appropriate response in some circumstances, such as in the parable of the novice who did not run away, when in the path of a charging elephant. His master reminded him that if the elephant that was charging down on him was Brahman, then the mahout shouting for him to get out of the way was also Brahman.
In other circumstances, the act of standing in the path of mad elephant Brahman, to meet death without flinching, might have been laudable heroism and not an act of folly.
The Bhagavad Gita distinguished three modes of responding to the world:
tamasic - ignorant, deliberately obtuse,
rajasic - aggressive, domineering
sattwic - harmonising, clear-sighted
So statements such 'All is One' , 'All paths/religions are the same', 'The world is one family' can be understood or misunderstood or misapplied, either obtusely, intelligently or belligerently.
All paths are not the same, although they are all in their own ways seeking an Ideal 'Truth'. A featureless Nirvana may be the object for Buddhists, for Christians it may be heaven with a God Father and angels.
Abrahamic/Judaeo-Christian religions are dualistic in that there is a separation between Creator and the Created.
Adwaita Vedanta affirms that there is nothing separate from Brahman, but within that differentiates levels of consciousness.
In everyday living, things are experienced as relative and not absolute, and there is perception of differentiation.
In fact it is only the Enlightened who can well and truly claim that All are One, and live their lives in that realisation; but it is also clear that they guide others to understand differences but also to realise that at a fundamental level, the unity underlying diversity, without losing sight of the relative and temporal.
Jnana Yoga, the path of such unconditional and unconditioned Oneness is easier to practice in the state of the recluse who has relinquished the complexity of living in the world.
It was therefore that the Bhagavad Gita gave importance to Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga as modelled by the best; as examples that the rest may be able to follow.
For example in the face of a threat such as Hitler posed, the ahimsa, non-violent approach would only give rise to greater violence. In fact an overemphasis on that Gandhian attitude did nothing to lessen the violence of the Partition nor did it foster greater unity.
At a great height and distance, such as in a space-ship, the physical human boundaries seem insignificant. But at ground level, the parameters change, and confusing one perceptual level with another could be disastrous.
An argument is raised that if everything is Divine, how can that include unspeakable evils?
How can a Divine Being be so immoral as to create suffering and evil? That arises because of humans limiting God to their relative ideas, which change according to time and place etc.
It is also not possible to predict all that may result from an evil. There maybe ultimately good, it might shake up a stagnation and regression.
The Hindu concepts do not shy away from seeing creation,destruction, preservation as part of Nature.
In practice this does not excuse a-morality or licence to kill or convert others nor is the use of violence when necessary shirked, when conditions apply.
To limit THAT which is beyond human comprehension to humanistic terms and conditions is like thinking that Man is the centre of the universe and everything should revolve around his perceptions.
