Christianity and Eastern philosophy/spirituality?

*puts on battle armor* Ok...Basically I was going through some very rough spiritual things that started over a year and a half ago now. I guess I messed with the devil and paid a dear price. Long story short I realised I was in a destructive cycle of harming myself and lashing out at my family and I had to do something about it-I prayed to Jesus, had an intense spiritual awakening and became a Christian (unfortunately since that awakening I actually havent felt much of God's presence, which could well be the reason I'm posting this now, any thoughts as to why that may be?)...Now, it's in my nature to question everything about the nature of existence and all that jazz, and I just cannot believe that the universe was created only a few thousand years ago by a big guy with a beard...it just makes no sense ya know? What I'm wondering is if anyone here has succesfully merged the practice of praying to and worshipping Jesus as the saviour of the world, whilst also practicing things like mantra meditation, or Tai Chi, and recognising the Eastern view of a much more organic creation of the universe? I hope this post is clear enough and I'm going to post this in a couple of forums for a wider range of opinions. Thanks heaps...

 

Jesus spent most of His mature years in Egypt, Persia and, most notably, India, where He studied the vedas.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but what are the vedas? Indian scriptures or something?

 

Huh?

 

google it

 

Yes, the Vedas are what classical and "bare bones" Hindu's will regard as holy texts. They outline the practicals of the religion basically. The Upanishads are commentaries upon the Vedas, with internalizing sacrifice as one of their main notions.



I guess to go back to your original post, what does "became a Christian mean"? Are you not feeling his presence because you are not really worshiping, but merely listening to a guy talk about things on a stage while throwing in a few "Praise the Lord"s?


To me it means going to Mass weekly, being baptised and Confirmed and partaking in Holy Eucharist which is literally the blood, body, and soul of Jesus Christ. I means examining my life continuously, aknowledgeing my faults and striving for holiness.

It does not mean that I must accept the ancient science from the Bible which is a rehashing of other ancient Creation stories (while still accepting God as the Creator and the theology found within the first few Chapters of Genesis). It does not mean that I view God as a coporeal being sitting on a throne high above Earth. I suggest, if you do believe in Christ, to read about what particular groups believe, and why, and then decide whether or not you need Indo-based religious/spiritual tactics for a enlightening experience.

 

Highly unlikely.

 

I am a yoga teacher if that helps. Yoga means joining, as in I and my father are one, or my yoke,(to join together), is easy and my burden light. There are strong parallels between christ teaching and eastern philosophy such as buddhism. It was not necessary for Jesus to study anywhere but where he was.
Whether he did or not is another question but here is a little history.

This is a story about Ashoka, 304–232 BC, popularly known as Ashoka the Great. He was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests.

As the legend goes, one day after the war was over, Ashoka ventured out to roam the city and all he could see were burnt houses and scattered corpses. This sight made him sick and he cried the famous monologue:

What have I done? If this is a victory, what's a defeat then? Is this a victory or a defeat? Is this justice or injustice? Is it gallantry or a rout? Is it valor to kill innocent children and women? Do I do it to widen the empire and for prosperity or to destroy the other's kingdom and splendor? One has lost her husband, someone else a father, someone a child, someone an unborn infant.... What's this debris of the corpses? Are these marks of victory or defeat? Are these vultures, crows, eagles the messengers of death or evil?

The brutality of the conquest led him to adopt Buddhism and he used his position to propagate the relatively new religion to new heights, as far as ancient Rome and Egypt. He made Buddhism his state religion around 260 BC, and propagated it and preached it within his domain and worldwide from about 250 BC. Emperor Ashoka undoubtedly has to be credited with the first serious attempt to develop a Buddhist policy.

So Ashoka had started a tradition of buddhist missionaries. Three wise men from the east.

 

Why do you think so?

 

By "became a Christian" I mean I got baptised (although I've been thinking about doing it again now that I have a better understanding of what it means) and started going to Church most Sundays, (trying) reading the bible and asking myself what Jesus would do in a certain situations etc. just trying to live a better life. On the night of the awakening I mentioned I felt such majestic, flowing spirit permeating through everything that I am, and I really want that back...REALLY want that back...it was the most beautiful experience of my life, infinitely better than any drug trip I've ever had. If i had that feeling all the time I doubt whether I would be looking into other spiritual systems at all as I would just be overwhelmed with the presence of God. Although, another argument I have in favour of researcing and practicing other systems is-If God is truly universal, he CREATED other spiritual systems and would not have a problem if I say, practiced mantra meditation for example, as long as the mantras were not dedicated to other God's. In other words, as long as I remain faithful to him, why would he have a problem if I chant "om" or other more complicated phrases. Does anyone see where Im coming from here?

Oh, and to the dude who said Jesus went to India and studied the Veda's-What evidence do you have to support that claim?

Peace.

 

An early proponent of the notion of His 'lost years' wandering Asia seems to have been the Russian war correspondent Nicholas Notovitch (1858 - 1916), who described his travels in British India in a book entitled 'The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ' published in 1894.

According to his book, Notovitch was told by the 'chief lama' of a monastery that their library contained records of a visit by Jesus in ancient times. The chief lama finally relented to Notovitch's requests to examine the records. From two large bound volumes written in Tibetan, Notovitch translated them through his interpreter as "The Life of Saint Issa: Best of the Sons of Men."

The text begins by summarizing the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, Israel's lapse into sin during the prophetic period, and the subsequent Roman occupation. But God has mercy on one poor couple (Mary and Joseph), whom he rewards by giving them a son, Issa (which is the Qu'anic name for Jesus). All is well until the boy turns thirteen and the parents arrange a marriage for him. Issa "... left the parental house in secret, departed from Jerusalem, and with the merchants set out towards Sind, with the object of perfecting himself in the divine word and of studying the laws of the great Buddhas. [IV. 12- 13]

At fourteen, he encountered the 'erring worshippers of Jaine' a reference to Jainism. Then he spent six years studying the Vedas and learned the art of exorcism and intercessory prayer. Issa rebuked Brahmin priests for upholding the caste system. Issa also would violate their customs by giving teachings to the lower castes. He is seen rejecting the authority of the Vedas and Puranas, denying the Trimurti and the incarnation of Brahma as Vishnu, Shiva, and other gods. It is written that Issa belittled idolatry and barely escaped India with his life. In Nepal, he grew proficient in Pali and spent six years studying Buddhist sutras. He condemned human and animal sacrifices, sun-worship, the dualism of good and evil, and the Zoroastrian priesthood. The Zoroastrian priests seized him and abandoned him to the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts. He, of course, survived. His return to Judea is where the New Testament picks up His story.

 

A better question is how would I treat Jesus, knowing that he is equal to the least.

Why indeed. Yes I do see where you are coming from. What you experienced was an ecstatic mystical state of consciousness, an out of time interval. It is referred to as a holy instant. That instant serves as a model of the eventual awakening of the self in time.

To "pray in secret" is to meditate and Jesus did it often.

 

thedope-So are you saying, with the correct work and time put in, I may be able to acheive such a state again at some point?

 

Notovitch's writings were immediately controversial. The German orientalist Max Mueller,professor of indian philosophy in Oxford who'd never been to India himself, published a letter he'd received from a British colonial officer J.Archibald Douglas, which stated that the presence of Notovich in Ladakh was "not documented.". The head of the Hemis community signed a document that denounced Notovitch as an outright liar.

The story of his visit to Hemis seems to be taken from H.P. Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled. In the original, the traveler with the broken leg was taken in at Mount Athos in Greece and found the text of Celsus' True Doctrine in the monastery library.

The idea that Jesus was in India was also inspired by a statement in Isis that he went to the foothills of the Himalayas.

 

Yes, to eventually go no more "in and out". But to achieve that state is to singularly focus the mind, as in love god with all your and mind,...

 

Any 'extra-biblical' information regarding Jesus is bound to be attacked by many. Whether true or not, some don't want to know it. Some prefer to think that there is simply nothing to know from childhood to the age of 33. That the Son of Man would've done nothing noteworthy for so many years.

 

I am not attacking the information but adding to the information that is known on the subject. There is strong similarity between christ teaching and eastern thought. That eastern thought predates the time of Jesus and was already present in the area that Jesus grew up. There is evidence in the bible for a tradition coming from the east in the form of three wise men.

Here we have two perspectives on the same phenomena. The one that you shared also contained the element of contravening evidence. Can you posit contravening evidence to the perspectives that I have put forward, those being buddhist missionaries, a historical fact, and three wise men bearing gifts from the east, to account for the similarities in premise and principle.

 

I wasn't referring to you, thedope. Rather to the controversy itself. Some feel that information that's not in the New Testament shouldn't be known. Consequently, any discovery of historical information regarding Jesus (or Issa) will be attacked.

I'm thankful for the additional information. You are a well-read individual I must say.

 

As long as the formula "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" was used, once is enough.

God is not universal, but omnipotent and omnipresent. Why would god create spiritualities and religions that are antithesis to his message (to rely on him and not the self. We can come to see ourselves as gods too if we are not careful).

Even the "aum" (three sounds) chant is a type of praise to the Vedic creation process which is built upon and sustained by sacrifice. To know aum is to unite oneself with Brahma (more or less).

Yes, using centering techniques can be helpful, say, prior to reading the Scriptures--but I do not think that merely centering ourselves should be a praise process in and of itself, but rather coming to stillness of mind and heart should then be directed to God and being in silent communion with him. Rather than fleeing from the self, we should flee to God.

Centering prayer is the method by which we come to silence and Lectio Divina is a process by which we read, reflect, respond, and rest in the words of Scripture (the whole 4 step process should take at least 20 minutes, 5 for each once you have come to be still).

Personally, I'd recommend this. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1784822/christian_meditation_techniques_lectio.html?cat=72

I was able to practise this in a course in University and it is amazing how the Spirit can teach you different things from the same passage two different days in a row.

 

The Gospels are not the story of Jesus' life, but of his teachings death and ressurection; these are the things on which salvation hinges.

I do know about the extrabiblical sources, believed them, studied them, and ultimately rejected them.

Even then, there seems to be, within the texts, a knowledge of Jesus as a common and familiar person to those in Galilee (cf. Matthew 13:55-56).