Jesus and Advaita:- HERE IS A COPY OF A MAIL RECEIVED FROM A FRIEND AND COMMENTS ARE WELCOME
Bible and christian quotes in the light of Advaita:- Here an attempt is being made to interpret the parables of Jesus, in the light of the knowledge contained in the innumerable scriptures of our ancient land of Bharat. When interpreted thus, all sectarian ideas imposed on the teachings of Christ, such as rejecting all alternative paths, other than Christianity as false, will disappear. The illogical tenets imposed by the Church such as making it mandatory for the whole world to accept the person Jesus as their saviour, in order to be saved from the eternal suffering in hell, finds no place in the real teachings of Christ. Christ’s teachings are primarily concerned about the ultimate reality of the universe being one’s real Self or consciousness. He necessitates the withdrawal of one’s senses from the sense objects and relations of the world, so as to come into the eternal blissful state of being one with the Self, which he calls “Entering the Kingdom of Heaven”. Hindu Rishis have declared, “Ekam Sat, Viprah Bahuta Vadanti” which means “Truth is ONE; the learned people call it by different names”. This is a statement made by the Rishis who have attained self realisation. The Rishi declares without an iota of doubt that Truth is one. They say this because they have fully realised it themselves. There is no scope for doubt. They say it with absolute conviction. They have seen the Truth themselves. Therefore they say, wherever the learned men are, they speak about this same Truth. Because there is no second Truth about which anyone can speak. Therefore the Rishi say, even though the learned men may use different names, they all speak about the same Truth. So whether you call it the ‘Kingdom of God’, or you call it JeevanMukthi they all refer to the liberated state of the soul. The teachings of Jesus are very much in accordance with the Advaita Vedanta philosophy contained in Vedic texts. Jesus does not speak about a Kingdom of God, which shall be established in a future time. In fact the Kingdom of God transcends time itself and one shall enter it by living in the present moment, by connecting to one’s inner Self. Jesus says that in order to realise the Father one must detach oneself from this objective manifested world which is impermanent, and meditate on the Self. Jesus is a spiritual master who has to be seen as a Self realised soul, a person who has attained the ultimate Goal prescribed in our scriptures. The Text of the Gospel of Thomas These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke. This opening words of this text, gives a very important clue. It says that the sayings are secret. If we study the teachings of Jesus, he himself says that Truth cannot be hidden and that it will reveal itself. There is nothing secret about the teachings of Christ, in the sense that it shouldn’t be imparted to other people. If someone wants to experience sweetness merely hearing the word sweet is not enough. He must eat sugar himself so as to experience sweetness. And he said, “Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.” Jesus said, “Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. 2When they find, they will be disturbed. 3When they are disturbed, they will marvel, 4and will rule over all.” This verse throws light on the knowledge of Jesus Christ about the ultimate reality behind the universe. These are the words of a real master, who has discovered the Truth himself. The words come from a man of absolute conviction, who does not have to think twice about what He is saying. Jesus instructs his followers that they should not stop seeking the Truth, until they find it. He says this because the path to self realisation is narrow and full of thorns. The Isavasya Upanishad says that Truth is hidden by a golden vessel. The golden vessel is this objective world, which is a powerful distraction for the seeker. The seeker is likely to be distracted by this golden vessel that he fails to see the Truth covered by it. Jesus knows this fact very well. Man is being misguided by his senses towards the sense objects, which are just the imagination of the mind. The world is not real. It is the creation of your mind. If you have to know the ultimate reality, you must seek within yourself; because there lays the source of this manifested universe. It is from your consciousness that the world emerges. But your mind is conditioned to think of this world as real. It is so much attached to this world, which is its own creation that it finds it very difficult to withdraw itself from the world and take refuge in your self. Therefore Jesus says, you should not stop seeking until you find your Self, because it is very likely that u get distracted in the middle. Withdraw the senses, still your mind, and then you will find it. When the mental noise stops your inner Being reveals itself. You find the ultimate reality behind the universe. You will not find the Truth or God, if you seek it in this manifested world. Science may attempt to find an ultimate answer about the origin of the universe. It may do the most expensive of all researches. But so long as it searches outside they will never find it; because the source lies within. It is our own consciousness. Jesus goes on to say that ‘When they find they will be disturbed’. When we realise that the world which we were so much attached to was nothing more than our own imagination, we will be shaken. When we come into contact with reality for the first time we will get a shock. The Truth which becomes revealed to us on enquiry is the most magnificent one. This marvellous blissful state is nearer to us than anything else, because it is our own self. We shall be marvelled by this realisation. This state of being whole, complete, perfect is what all the Beings aspire to become. Yet they don’t know the means of attaining this. Every being on earth wants to become complete. For that they run after materials objects, with the hope that it makes them complete. On attainment of it they experience peace. But they don’t realise that this peace did not come from outside. It is inherent in their Being. On fulfilling the desire, by the possession of external objects, the mind retires to its source, where it experiences joy and happiness. We are unnecessarily projecting our happiness into external objects and then we run after those objects. On fulfilling a desire the mind settles down, thereby our inherent peace will again become revealed. Jesus says, ‘When they are disturbed, they will marvel and will rule over all’. When the seeker discovers the inner peace, he shall marvel, because he now has the most precious possession in life. Everything else will fade in front of its glory. When the inner Self is discovered everything else ceases to exist for him, just as how the mirage in a desert ceases to exist as a reality in one’s mind, on realising that it is an illusion. For the ignorant the mirage is real, but for the wise, it is just an illusion. Similarly when one realises the truth, that the world is just a movement in our own consciousness and that it does not have an existence of its own, one shall rule over all, because he is no more a slave to the world. He knows that he is the creator, sustainer and destroyer of the universe. read more... http://paritrana.blog.co.in/category/religion/jesus/ “I [Jesus] am in God, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” John 14:12 For me it's a dualistic way to explain the unexplainable non-dual state which is the nature of God. It's the most available way of description of reality that Jesus could give to the Jewish people which were in a totally dual state of consciousness. Bible and christian quotes in the light of Advaita I AM THAT I AM The Kingdom of God is within you. Bible and christian quotes in the light of Advaita Quote “If you had known Me (Jesus), you also would have known My Father, and from this hour you do know Him and you have seen Him.” John 14:7 Jesus confirms that which Advaita teaches. Guru (Jesus) is the full manifestation of God (Brahman) as Atman in Him. Re: Bible and christian quotes in the light of Advaita These are of the most profound expressions in Bible and at all. Some people argue that the correct translation of "within" is "among" or "in the midst of" but oldest Bible sources tanslate it as "within". I am that I am is the Name of the Lord that He Himself gave to the world. Quote God said to Moses, “I AM WHO (THAT) I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you'.” Exodus 3:14 Quote Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is withinb you.” Luke 17:20,21 -- Thanks and best regards J.Suresh New No.3, Old No.7, Chamiers road - 1st Lane, Alwarpet, Chennai - 600018 Ph: 044 42030947 Mobile: 91 9884071738 ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! 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