Are all religions essentially the same? Do they all lead to the same goal? The YouTube channel Doug´s Dharma says "no", which is interesting, since Doug is a very modernist and secular Buddhist! On this point, however, he is something of an "exclusivist".
Doug traces the idea that all religions are really the same to 19th century American Transcendentalism, and regard it as an attempt to save religion from scientific criticism, by making its essence identical to ineffable mystical experiences, forever beyond the horizons of science or materialism. The main problem with this view is that religious practitioners themselves (including many mystics) disagree with it. They insist that their respective paths are indeed different. Also, the "universalist" or "perennialist" perspective isn´t really universal, but based on a hidden hierarchy, with Advaita Vedanta in top position. He and his source are not the only people to have noticed this!
As for Buddhism, the Buddha often polemicized with other teachers (often unnamed), whose paths in his opinion didn´t lead to the cessation of suffering. Despite all this, Doug believes that "universalism" can be a "skillful mean" to draw people closer to the truth, train your own compassion, avoid religious strife in society, and so on.
An interesting little piece.
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