<snip> "I think Yogananda wrote some long translations and commentary of the Gita from a Christian perspective, explaining the similarities between Hinduism/Gita and Christianity, what the terms in the Bible really mean in Hindu terms etc. Yogananda claimed to see Jesus and talk with him. He was devoted to Jesus and saw him as a realized Master."
This is completely consistent with my premise that there are many prophets, but only one ultimate "God/Energy/Universe." Tee Hee. ________________________________ From: Susan <waybac...@yahoo.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 5:46 PM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Is Jesus = to God --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Emily Reyn <emilymae.reyn@...> wrote: > > I found this paragraph interesting, if not creative. > > "I am not sure about this. For one thing, don't Christians take their Jesus > to be equal to God, part of the trinity? What do you think they take him as? One of 3 different manifestations of the Divine: God (unmanifest), the earthy/human manifestation is the Son, or Jesus, and the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost, which is not manifest like Jesus but is the active agent of God in the universe and on earth. All are equal aspects of the Divine, with God as the more Unbounded/Unmanifest version. Jesus had to go thru an evolution process to realize his true nature as the Son, though. That's the criticism of Islam, which is precisely that the Christians see him more than a prophet, but equal to God. If you think of God more in the Eastern way, which means not a personal God, then it is easier to see how a man can express that he is equal to God, that is, if he now locates his identity with the principle of consciousness itself. If someone has defeated the ego, one's limited imperfections, and is now completely clear and open to the transcendent, can he not say he IS God, in essence? " Most mainstream Christians would agree with this understanding, that Jesus, even while representing God on earth, was also human and had to go thru typical human suffering and growth until he became pure enough to realize his divinity. Still, they think of Jesus as a special human since he is God's Son and his personal mission was to send a message about God to humanity. And somehow (can't get this straight) his death wiped out humanity's sins, or wiped out that bad karma for all believers in Jesus. > I was taught about the "divine right of Kings" in the US education system." > ~Avram3 > > Of course evangelicals take their Jesus to be equal to God. I think most evangelicals feel that if you don't accept Jesus as your savior and as the Son of God, then you won't be "saved" from all your sins by Jesus and cannot go to Heaven in the afterlife. This is in contrast to more mainstream Christianity, where many churches believe that there are many paths to God, but theirs is Jesus. They tend to think that good people of many faiths will be with God after death, whether thru Jesus or their own faith. One of the main ideas in Christianity is that good works do not earn you admission to Heaven. It is the Belief that counts, even if that belief in God/Jesus/Holy Ghost happens in the last minutes of a nasty life. So, if you "accept" Jesus then, and really believe, you are "saved." As opposed to Judaism, where faith is not an issue, but observances are important. Why do you think people pray to Jesus? They pray to Jesus for assistance or comfort. And Catholics also pray to the mother of Jesus (Mary) and a whole host of saints (formerly alive people who have been granted sainthood due to performing miracles). They believe that Jesus or Mary or saints or God can intervene in our affairs. Similar to Hindus doing yagyas and making offerings to get some assistance and to change earthly circumstances. The son of God...I have never thought he was God. Never. I refuse. Read from Sentence 3 through the end. Pretty much sums it up don't ya think? Or? What else? Duality/Reality? Do we ever defeat the ego? Whaddya think? Sounds as if Jesus had some good spiritual experiences and was charismatic and had some followers who got some real benefits from his very powerful darshan. People probably misunderstood much of what he talked about. Didn't Jim used to address this kind of stuff? I think Yogananda wrote some long translations and commentary of the Gita from a Christian perspective, explaining the similarities between Hinduism/Gita and Christianity, what the terms in the Bible really mean in Hindu terms etc. Yogananda claimed to see Jesus and talk with him. He was devoted to Jesus and saw him as a realized Master. >
