All are not same in the power and effect. If it were so then the Divine would not assume different names and forms simply to cater to the different needs of different individuals depending upon each one’s stage of evolution.
This is a common error of believing that all religions are same and it does not matter what name you take or what form or formless God one worships. All religions are not the same as the conception and experience of God and the nature of the relationship and the final goal are very different in each. The only truth behind this common error is that regardless of the name or form or the formless God one worships, the Divine is not deluded by these outer appearances and ritual practices. He knows what is going on in our heart. He knows what is our secret aspiration. He knows our inner sincerity and the fruit also depends accordingly on this inner state.
However this fruit comes through the angle of our approach. Thus, if we believe that God is formless and featureless, far away in some cloud 10 then so do we experience His being. If we believe He is very close and intimate and has this form then He relates with us through the mystery of the form. Each form represents some aspect of the One Divine and hence the response gets filtered through the aspect that we worship. For example it is known that there is a difference in the way Shiva or Vishnu or Krishna will respond to the same prayer. After all that is why forms have come into existence. Similarly there is a difference of response that one receives to the same prayer when one prays to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother or to Sri Krishna and Radha. They are all one in essence but different in their approach to the same issue. Each brings his own unique influence. Hence it is important to be conscious of the core aspiration, the seeking within oneself otherwise sometimes different influences may not always mix well.
Of course Sri Aurobindo and the Mother go well with Krishna and Radha, yet one should know the general principle that operates behind the different names and forms of the One Divine.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
