Indian Asks Religions To Work for Unity

Religion--which, with its "caustic character," brought division in the world--now must bring about unity and a "radical transformation of human nature," the vice-President of India declared yesterday in Sanders Theatre.

Sir Sarrepalli Radhakrishnan, a leading modern philosopher dedicated the University's new Center for the Study of World Religions with an hour-long address, "The Fellowship of the Spirit." Although not favoring an eclectic religious approach, Radhakrishnan supported knowledge of other religions, the ways in which man "seeks harmonious living."

He cited four former University professors, William James, Alfred North Whitehead, Josiah Royce, and William E. Hocking, who tried to reconcile Christianity with other religions, and urged a new effort to understand different faiths. "We must set aside differences caused by the accidents of geography and accept the universal ideas transmitted by a common heritage." Such ideas, he stated, are necessary to avoid "hollowness" in life.

All religions have certain common characteristics in their search for the "supreme reality," Radhakrishnan claimed, urging greater understanding of these characteristics, so that religion could unite the world instead of dividing it.