Could Jesus have been just another enlightened man?

Discussion in 'Religion, Beliefs and Spirituality' started by DDV, Jul 9, 2012.

  1. #41 DDV, Feb 22, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 22, 2013
    Jesus said, "None can enter the kingdom of heaven except through me."

    So this means he is God, only through him I will be saved? Really? What a fraud.

    But I have always interpreted it differently. If you read the Bhagavad Gita, krishnu also said things such as "thus keeping his mind always in communion with Me (God), he shall obtain that peace which is mine and shall lead him to liberation at last" - Notice the "me" is capitalized.

    "I am The Way", Jesus said.

    Instead of seeing it as two opposing Gods, see them as saying the same thing. Only through me, through what I am and embody, shall you be free. Only through ME.. but you must have already gone through a change in your perception in order to understand this part...

    "There is one God; and there is no other but He."
    - Mark 12:32

    In other words, there is only one. Just one, no more. Therefore, they are all right. Only through Me shall you attain liberation, salvation, freedom from suffering. Because there is nothing other than me. Me is all there is. Everything that is "outside" of me, is simply my extended body, but we are stuck in a worldview that brought you up to think otherwise.

    “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
    - Buddha

    Therefore, the way to peace.. the way to salvation.. is through ME. I am The Way. Realize this, and there is no need for religion.

    :smoking::wave:
     
  2. Jesus Christ claimed to be God in the flesh. Taking this into account, if He were merely human, and human ONLY, then He wouldnt be very enlightened, as He believed Himself to be God.

    You cant have a mere mortal claiming to be God, and still being "enlightened." He would be either looney, or a complete sham.
     
  3. but.. taking into account Hindu views, enlightenment (called moksha) is the realization that one is God (brahman), and if you read Christ's writings while mindful of eastern philosophies you can certainly see striking similarities. From the Buddhist perspective too, Christ is considered to be a Buddha, or one who has attained nirvana and is highly realized. So then, we see that being God isn't unique to Christ, but translating and teaching to the west (who are mostly ignorant of such eastern philosophies), you may interpret it differently. A great majority of eastern religion agrees that there is divinity within all individuals, we are most certainly not "merely human" but instead we are human with the seed of God planted deep within our being, it is only our duty to cultivate it. Christ recognized the divinity and said, I am God. It was even said: "Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you" but rather than looking into the teachings of Christ, Buddha, and Lord Krishna and seeing that they all teach the same fundamental concepts, westerners take a rather different approach.

    I have no hatred for Christianity or the western world, but historically.. westerners were never really wise people. Rather than see Christ's teachings and only his teachings, why not broaden your view and see the bigger picture? I think, because of a fear of betraying one's own faith, one is not open minded and willing. But alas, the bible is metaphorical and is up to interpretation, and in this situation I feel it is a good thing.
     
  4. Well, if youre going to practice TRUE Christianity, Christianity as Christ taught it, then it is Christ and Christ alone. Christ taught that He was the only way to God, and to deny this is to deny the core teachings of Jesus. Sure, you can mesh whatever religions you want together, create your own hidgepodge of what sounds nice and makes sense to your brain, but it wouldnt be true Christianity, and you wouldnt be living as Jesus instructed.

    That is what Christianity is all about. Everyone is free, though, to believe however they want....but there is only one truth, I believe.
     
  5. How Buddhism and Christianity define Christ are obviously not in sync with one another. Only one can be the truth
     
  6. I have not altered his teachings in any way, I have just shown you a different interpretation that is not the conventional interpretation. It does not go against the Christian doctrine, it does not deny Christ. It simply opens you up to the bigger picture outside of conventional interpretation, and shows that what Christ taught is very compatible, even nearly identical to all other teachings. Yes, they are very much in sync with one another. Is this a coincidence? After all, the bible must be interpreted, it is not literal - I think we all can agree on this.

    For whatever reason one may reject this interpretation, that is fine. Perhaps because of fear, like I said, or perhaps because of attachment. Either way it is fine, I am simply sharing an insight that not alot of modern day Christians take the time to consider.
     
  7. #47 DDV, Feb 26, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 26, 2013
    Didn't Jesus teach the soul does not die with the body, but moves onto the Kingdom of God or hell? Didn't the Buddha teach one can either be in nirvana, or samsara (suffering)?

    Didn't Christ teach compassion and love for others? Isn't this a principle in Buddhism, Hinduism, and even Islam?

    Didn't Christ say, "the Kingdom of God is within you"? Didn't Buddha say we all have the seed of Buddha hood within us? Don't Hindu teachings say we are all divine, brahman(god)?

    Didn't Christ say he lives in all - from the plants, to the air, to the ocean? Didn't he say he will always be with you? Isn't brahman all there is, isn't Buddha nature in everything?

    Don't Hindus believe the whole human race is one big family (vasudhaiv kutumbakam)? Don't Christians also believe that all humans are sons or daughters of the same god?


    You must truly ask yourself whether you feel these similarities are just coincidence. Truly, if you look deeply into this you will see there are virtually no conflicts between these religious traditions. But it's a matter of looking deeply to gain a broader spiritually viewpoint, it is not a matter of abandoning your beliefs for another. I can't stress this enough. I am not trying to convert you, I am not challenging your beliefs. Realize there is a difference between challenging beliefs and challenging interpretations. Even then, the beliefs stay intact, they are only strengthened by this newfound knowledge that the message remains the same, only the messenger changes.
     
  8. What if there is no enlightenment and everyone is just grasping at straws hoping for some imagined higher state?

    [​IMG]
     
  9. Jesus was a raptor. So he could've been an enlightened raptor
     
  10. That in itself would be enlightenment, to know there is no such things enlightenment, right?
     
  11. If you realize there is no such thing as enlightenment then you cannot be enlightened because there is no such thing as enlightenment lol.

    I don't see the value in calling a piece of knowledge enlightenment because you can always learn other info that changes how you view the knowledge. There is no ultimate knowledge or enlightenment or whatever you want to call it.

    But yes realizing your limits is important. Realizing that you have strengths and weaknesses is important as well.
     
  12. I don't know, how can you be so sure there is no such thing as enlightenment? Though it is important to note some realized beings have even said themselves: there is no such thing as enlightenment, there is no such thing as samsara (suffering), it is all in the mind.

    So that's why I feel maybe enlightenment itself is the realization that there is no enlightenment. That realization itself is called enlightenment, which is an important realization I think.
     
  13. Because no matter how much knowledge one accumulates you are always ignorant of some things and you will still fail in situations you've never encountered before.

    Thats why there is no such thing as enlightenment in my book. You can of course go on to redefine what enlightenment means but I don't see any value in redefining a word so you can keep on using it.

    How do you know they are realized beings?
     
  14. Yes that's true haha you can't prove it doesn't exist and you can't prove it does.

    I think one can definitely achieve enlightenment. Sure you don't see them on TV, in movies, etc. They are most likely tending the fields in some foreign land, remaining humble. Individuals like Buddha, Jesus, Mother Teresa, and countless others. They all have something in common that regular folks don't have - some level of realization. This thing, call it virtue or good will or compassion, I feel can be perfected with dedication and can blossom into enlightenment. Though in our culture today, we glorify the ego rather than the egolessness, so I think if enlightened beings exist we probably wouldn't know about it. They would have no need for recognition anyway.
     
  15. LOL dude you recognized them as such so I'm asking you why you think they are enlightened? Based on what?
     
  16. What do you mean..
     
  17. What makes you suppose they are enlightened?
     
  18. #58 DDV, Feb 26, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 26, 2013
    I don't know that they are enlightened, that is unimportant to me. What is important to me, is the change that I experience the more deeply I look into my own true nature. One does not need to believe in enlightenment to achieve lasting peace and boundless compassion, in the same way one does not need to believe the sun will rise for it to actually rise. I don't need to believe in the teacher's claims to achieve results.
     
  19. Enlightenment cannot be the result of something you need to know or acquire, like finding another piece of the puzzle. It would be something you ARE. You cannot seek it because the idea of what it is cannot exist other than in the mind as an idea. I'm not sure you'd even know you were, were you to realise it, because the idea of being it wouldn't be something the mind would recognise.
     
  20. So your striving for an unknown and unknowable state?

    I think this whole idea of enlightenment and striving for the thing it is not is a metaphor for life.

    Life is a constant work in progress. Nothing is ever finished
     

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