The main thing that struck me was that the books of the new testament were written 40-80 years AD. I immediately voiced my concern to my Christian friends and was directed to
http://www.christianity.net.au/you/ and http://www.carm.org/questions_bible.htm which did help to clear up a lot of things, I'll outline the main points.
Jesus did exist
Jesus probably had some mystical powers
Jesus was crucified
Fair enough, I don't have too much trouble accepting these points. I suppose the main reason people put so much faith in Jesus are his supernatural powers, he is not unique in possessing such powers. These powers have been known for centuries by Indian yogis as siddhis, they can be attained by performing certain yogic practices after several months effort. People are born with these powers manifesting to a greater or lesser extent, Jesus obviously had been gifted with them to a greater extent. This is straight from the Wikipedia entry on Siddhi.
- Parkaya Pravesha: Parkaya Pravesh means one’s soul entering into the body of some other person. Through this knowledge even a dead body can be brought to life.
- Haadi Vidya: This Vidya or knowledge has been mentioned in several ancient texts. On acquiring this Vidya, a person feels neither hunger nor thirst, and can remain without eating food or drinking water for several days at a stretch.
- Kaadi Vidya: Just as one does not feel hungry or thirsty in Haadi Vidya, similarly in Kaadi Vidya a person is not affected by change of seasons, i.e. by summer, winter, rain, etc. After accomplishing this Vidya, a person shall not feel cold even if he sits in the snow-laden mountains, and shall not feel hot even if he sits in the fire.
- Vayu Gaman Siddhi: Through this Siddhi a person can become capable of flying in the skies and traveling from one place to another in just a few seconds.
- Madalasa Vidya: On accomplishing this Vidya, a person becomes capable of increasing or decreasing the size of his body according to his wish. Lord Hanuman had miniaturized his body through this Vidya while entering the city of Lanka.
- Kanakdhara Siddhi: One can acquire immense and unlimited wealth through this Siddhi.
- Prakya Sadhana: Through this Sadhana a Yogi can direct his disciple to take birth from the womb of a woman who is childless or cannot bear children.
- Surya Vigyan: This solar science is one of the most significant sciences of ancient India. This science has been known only to the Indian Yogis; using it, one substance can be transformed into another through the medium of sun rays.
- Mrit Sanjeevani Vidya: This Vidya was created by Guru Shukracharya. Through it, even a dead person can be brought back to life.
- Laghima: becoming almost weightless
Laghima: Became weightless when he walked across water Matthew 32:58
Mrit Sanjeevani Vidya: Used this to bring Lazarus back to life, John 11:32
Surya Vigyan: Used this to convert the seven loaves and fish into enough food to feed four thousand Matthew 16:32
I have met men who have some of these powers including Swami Vikasananda of Nagpur who passed away recently (90s) and had the ability to change the size of his body and appear in multiple places at once(or possibly teleport). I have not personally witnessed this but my grandfather has on several different occasions and told me about it at great length. I met another man by the name of Rahul Rohith who had the power to heal bestowed on him by a Muslim holy man. He would use this power to cure serious illnesses such as cancer as well as less serious ones such as chronic aches and pains.
Then there are cases such as the meditating Buddha boy http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4479240.stm who went without food or water for 10 months.
Common things you will find with enlightened spiritual men are
Some people who fall into this category, there have been many more but these are the ones I know of off the top of my head:
Unfortunately it is difficult to place Jesus in this group because he fails on all of the key measurements. He actively recruited disciples, encouraged people to follow only him, demonstrated powers without restraint and spoke of himself as the only son of god.
So it seems that either Jesus was misquoted or he was misguided. Still having hope that he was simply misquoted which is highly likely given the large gap between his death and the time the gospels were written I began to read the gospels of Matthew and John in the new testament. The rational here is that they are both eye witnesses with independent accounts of Jesus' life and teachings, if they agree on Jesus' teachings then it is more likely that his words have been accurately captured. Unfortunately it seems that the gospels do agree with each other suggesting that Jesus does not meet the criteria all other enlightened people throughout history have met. I will continue to hold on to the belief that Jesus was indeed a truly enlightened holy man but that his teachings have been diluted by the inadequacies of human memory during the 40 years between his death and the writing of the gospels. The teachings would have been further mangled by passing through a filter of the authors own interpretation and understanding of the words.
The words that have been placed in Jesus' mouth have caused countless deaths in wars and bloodshed over the centuries. This is unfortunate because it seems we will now never know what it was that Jesus truly taught. This is my 2c, please don't assassinate me!
7 comments:
Nice article, I would be interested in hearing more about your grandfathers experience with that yogi
Very Nice Article......
i have personally known swami Vikasanand ji or bawa sahib as we call him. I am the third generation visiting his ashram. I was very little when he took samadhi but I have vivid memories of him and also lots of personal accounts recalled by my aunt and mum. He truly was a great man.
Yes Right, many of the Indians have supernatural powers like Jesus. he was not the only miraculous person
Your last sentence is a killer line. And that speaks for the hypocrisy of today's world where everyone carries his crucifix while hating someone but fail to see the hater inside inside. A world made of hypocrite people.
Im inclined to think that Jesus comments need to be taken in the light of the Jewish idea that theirs was the one true God. IE Jesus was the one true way to the God, a way that was far more satisfactory than blood sacrifice.
However there are other Gods and other forms of Awakening that do not even reference the "God idea".
The Buddha said, " All the Buddhas but point the way. There are as many ways as there are human lives."
In that setting- embracing Jesus may be very similar to taking up the Buddhist practice of Amitabha- with the expectation of rebirth in his Pure Land.
As for Siddhis- they are widely accepted in the East, and one school of thought suggests that Jesus lost years were spent in India/Pakistan, mastering them under skilled teachers.
The Buddha taught that Siddhis are not necessary for awakening, but they can be beneficial if they can be used to help others awaken- as has been shown by some Bodhisattvas. He warned against getting too hooked up in their pursuit though- believing that it could be a hindrance to spiritual maturation.
It is my own understanding that we all have these capacities to some extent- but they become suppressed as we become more and more convinced by the apparent solidity of the world we live in.
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