I know I'm getting a bit of flak for my belief that all Gods are the same God.
(Again, to clarify just a bit, I do think that many world religions have lost sight of the true teachings of their own Gods and the religions as practiced today might not lead to the same truth. Most of the passages from the Bible used to justify conversion were said by Paul, not Jesus and I have no trust at all in Paul).
But anyway, I am an Advaitist and as such I believe the following with all my heart:
All Gods are the same God because there is only God. All of everything is the one God. All of everything is one. The trees are God, the pigs are God, the computers are God, the stars are God, the humans are God, the streets are God, the rocks are God, the Tupperware containers are God. It is all the same God. There is only One entity in all of creation.
Our minds are limited by our birth and our death and so we cannot easily see this bigger picture. From our smaller vantage point, we see division, but if we could step back and see all creation together we would know that there is no division. All is One.
Well, I for one am in complete agreement with you.
ReplyDeleteAnd I respect that you're sticking firm to your beliefs. Keep on with being awesome.
You're not receiving flak, non that I have seen, and certainly not from me. It was a nice topic to cover so I decided to expand upon it with my beliefs. And I stated it was not an attack upon your beliefs, I just wanted to share my view based upon yours in which I expanded that view beyond your original topic.
ReplyDeleteAll I was trying to state is you can not qualify the Abrahamic god as the same as ours, and thus as they are not equal, so they can not lead to the same end. I also expressed that Hindus need to stop trying to reconcile everything by putting a big wet blanket over everything as the universal mentality give the illusion that all things are equal, where in fact it is not.
In the end, yes, while the abrahamic god may be an aspect of Brahma, he is not equal to and thus the path is not equal to. And by stating all paths lead to the same place it leads one to believe they are equal. Next thing you know you have Catholic sermons to Krishna and Puja to Christ and it makes the whole unbalanced.
In closing, yes, all things are God, within the qualified whole, but this does not make the individual aspects equal... I hope you understand what I am trying to say.
Oh no, I didn't mean you. I don't feel attacked by your post at all. I have just been surprised the last few months at resistance to this idea that I've always rather taken for granted!
ReplyDeleteI can't totally agree with you. I do think all aspects are equal and I see no problem with pujas to Christ and Catholic sermons about Krishna. I think that would be a wonderful and beautiful thing.
It seems like there is a fear that making things equal means making them the lowest common denominator or making them boring, dull, bland. Perfection, for example, is not a dull middle ground, it is the highest bliss. All things are equal, all things are One, in reality you cannot even see the lines between things and that is the highest joy.
But I'm glad that you have your own views on it and are able to express them so well. It's a great thing that we have the Internet and blogs so that both of our ideas can be shared safely with the world!
Thanks, Laura :D
ReplyDeleteWell, my stance is against universalism, not Advaita. Sometimes the two become blurred, especially when a western mind is trying to reconcile the eastern mind.
ReplyDeleteI agree 99% with you, just remember that I look at things from a Visistadvaita POV. So for me, while all is God, it retains its uniqueness. If compared to proven scientific terms, our consciousness is energy and since energy can not be destroyed, our consciousness will still retain uniqueness even if our energy is reabsorbed into the absolute.
As far as pujas to christ, and vice versa, that is universalism and a step backwards as the means toward the end is diverted and the path lost. The teaching of Christ will lead you to his aspect of God consciousness and not to the absolute (does that make sense? I need to figure a better way of articulating my thoughts into words).
Our consciousness is energy and is not destroyed, but that is unrelated to our consciousness being unique. I don't think that it is. I think all energy in the entire universe is the same energy.
ReplyDeleteI very seriously disagree that universalism is a step backwards. The more unified we can be as human beings, as a human family, the better and more peaceful the world will be.
I also don't think that this is a case of a western mind confusing universalism with Advaita. I was raised an Advaitist, my mind has always been shaped by it.
I think what we have here is the fundamental difference between Smarthism and Vaishnavism. And thank goodness for Hinduism, that it allows for both views!
amba,
ReplyDeleteall religions are not same
all gods are not same Brahman
all religions may not lead to salvation.
I agree with Kodanda on this. Look, advaita is not an accepted doctrine of even buddhism, leave alone the abrahamic faiths.The latter are dwaitists.
Your tolerant perception of other faiths is clearly appreciated and encouraged. Tolerance is our strength not weakness.
Who are we to tell christians and muslims that they can attain salvation? ONLY THEY will reach paradise, they knew!!! These faiths also knew that we hindus end up in eternal hell. Dont you read the sign 'no solicitation' from them? Do as what we say (convert), not what we do (conversion). Surya
in other words the abrahamists think you are overenthusiatically rubbing your shoulders with them. Nay, you cannot consider equal to abrahamists, they are superior and real, whereas you are a demonic and a false religionist.They scream, 'get off your high horse you pagan infidel kafir, just let us harvest your soul and save it fom eternal damnation'.And then, 'Conversion is the only way for you', they nod in agreement. surya
ReplyDeleteI guess what I mean is that I think Christianity can be advaitist and true, but Christians themselves almost never are. Maybe in all of the history of Christianity 1% ever followed it in the way that I think it is meant to be followed!
ReplyDeleteI have indeed been told I'm going to hell, that I worship demons, etc. I think the people who believe that are the biggest idiots in the world and their own hatred and ignorance will keep them in the dirt until they can learn to see the truth.