Mahatma Mangat Ram: An Advocate of Harmony among Religions

All great saints throughout the world have preached to us that all religions are the same.
We are told that the religions are but the different pathways to the same destination called God.
Kabir, Dadu, Nanak and many more preached harmony in the society, vindicated the glory of
God and the supreme power of Truth. These saints inspired faith in the higher values of life.
They teach us that spirituality is the outcome of living a life centred in Dharma. And Dharma
according to them is not a set of dogmas and beliefs but the working of a universal cosmic order
which keeps life together, leading man to ultimate freedom from all limitations. All saints
believe that freedom is that which every religion tries to aim at.
 However, ills like zealotry, fanaticism among others divide people based on religions,
castes and creeds, demolishing the harmony in the society. But every cloud has a silver lining.
History is testimony to the fact that several spiritual colossuses take birth frequently to iron out
the flaws of schism and chasm and unite the people, asserting that the soul in everyone is the
same and it is beyond the framework of any superiority and inferiority.
Mahatma Mangat Ram (1903-1954) is one of those great saints of India who devoted
their lives to teaching us the true definition of Dharma. Born in a humble family in a remote
village of District Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan) on 24th Nov.1903, Mangat Ram was an
exceptionally quiet and sober child. Even when he was less than five years old, he started
spending time in prayer and meditation. Compassion, sacrifice, simplicity and frankness were
evident from his everyday life. At school, boy Mangat was an outstanding student. He picked up
and remembered all that was taught. When he talked on any of the ethical or spiritual issues,
even teachers felt astonished. Many teachers and fellow students started calling him Lord
Bishop. With the passage of time boy, Mangat’s devotion to prayer and meditation went on
increasing. Playfulness, merriment, comfort, and sleep were all forgone for the love and glory of
the Almighty God.           
He lived a life of immaculate purity. Prayer and meditation were the reigning passion of
him right from the tender age of three or four. The quest of the Eternal Truth or the Supreme
Being went on increasing with years. No comfort and no pleasure of the world lured this young
seeker from the path of intense love of God. His remembrance, His worship, His devotion, His
Meditation, His glory, His grace, His service alone counted with Mangat Ram and nothing else.  

            At the age of thirteen, he attained self-realization which he calls Samta Anand. He did not
wish that his inner state of spiritual enlightenment be known widely. He wanted to avoid
publicity. He gave no place to worldly attachments. Almost from 1923, whatever grain, jaggery,
money etc. came in from time to time, was all used on the welfare of the poor and needy. It
became a tradition. Every year in the middle of October, a Yagya was organized in his native
village. People from all communities were invited to participate in it. At a time when caste
Hindus would not sit side by side of the untouchables and Muslims for taking food, this was an
ideal platform to establish harmony not only among the different religions but also in castes and
different strata of society.
He laid down five cardinal principles for the achievement of spiritual progress. These
are- Simplicity, Truth, Service, Right Association, and Right Concentration, Simplicity refers to
the simplicity of dress, food and thought. Adoption of Truth means that one should attempt to act
rightly, to speak rightly and behave rightly. All that is under the cycle of life and death, all that
changes shape and form over time, is untrue. Attachment to ever-changing, to the transient and
all that begins and ends, cannot give satisfaction, happiness or peace. Attachment to Truth
provides immense strength for self-control and freedom from fear and worry.  
He worked for humanity and unity in different religions. He always advocated reverence
towards prophets, gurus and saints of all religions. He says that it is the glory and light of the
Supreme Being which has manifested itself through the perfect souls and their teachings. The
revelation of God corresponded to the mode of love adopted by Men of God who achieved
freedom and became liberators for people. They laid down principles with due regards to their
environment of time and place. There is no difference in the substance of their teachings.
            Mahatma Mangat Ram ji left this mortal world on Feb.4th 1954. His teachings will keep
on enlightening humanity till eternity. Today, when the forces of reaction, exploitation, fascism
and obscurantism are becoming dominant in our society, the relevance and importance of
Mahatma Mangat Ram’s teachings and of the ideas he expounded have increased many folds.