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One True Religion Part 2
Part I of this article focused on the definition of the One True Religion, and in summary it is all about having a relationship with God. See: One True Religion Part 1.
This second part shows that Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity all contain portions of the "One True Religion" while at the same time all of these religions have also had grafted onto them beliefs, rituals and traditions that obscure the "One True Religion." Taoism, Sikhism and Islam will be dealt with separately at a later time, because they are also different aspects of the "One True Religion" but are different in that they all are religions used to correct errors that had crept into the religions preceding them.
Buddhism is to Hinduism what Christianity is to Judaism. I've made this statement before but I wanted to clarify what I mean by this. Bare with me I promise to get to this concept later, but let me show you the progression first.
Christ fulfilled the prophecies and also fulfilled the law of Judaism and his life and teaching took the original religion that God gave Moses and took it to its supreme spiritual level.
Please notice this important scripture.
John 17:20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
Please notice the theme of Oneness.
Paul also teaches this.
Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Maybe this will help you understand why Christ said.
Luke 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Christ came to reveal the Father and to show us how to become one with the Father. This is the central theme of the One True Religion, becoming One with God! Now let's notice the following important concept, which is introduced in the Gospel of John.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
And later in verse 14 we see.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
So by these we learn that Christ was God made flesh. Christians love to say that you can only be saved by Christ. They also love to quote the following verse.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Notice that there is no difference between truly knowing Christ and truly knowing God the Father.
Now follow the logic with me. If Christ, before he became human, was the Word, which was also God, then anyone before the birth of Christ that worshiped the One True God was in effect worshipping Christ.
I want to point out something that is very important as it applies to Hinduism. Part of the sacred scripture in Hinduism is called the Vedas. Please notice this ancient scripture from the Vedas.
These are the very words of Veda. Prajapatir vai idam asit: In the beginning was Brahman. Tasya vag dvitya asit; with whom was the Vak or the Word... Vag vai paramam Brahma; and the word is Brahman."
Vak or Word was understood by the ancient Hindus to be the Sound which brought all things into existence - the Sound or Word - the primordial emanation of God expressing and clothing the creative Thought. Astonishingly, we see a marked similarity between John's opening verses and that of the Vedas.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Between 500 to 100 B. C., the doctrines of Hinduism were given their most exalted form in the Upanishads, which gave rise to the Brahmanic religion. We find the oldest doctrine of the Trinity embedded in ancient Brahmanism - the triad of Brahma (Father), Vishnu (Word) and Shiva (Power). These correspond to the later Western Christian concept of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as taught by the Church Fathers.
In the Bhagavad Gita, circa 500 B. C. to 250 B. C., we find perhaps the earliest doctrine of the divine incarnation. In this text the figure of Krishna is considered to be an incarnation of Vishnu, the Son of God, the second Person of the Supreme Trinity. Krishna was the eighth incarnation of Vishnu and it was understood that the Word of God, Vishnu, would incarnate on earth a number of times in every age and epoch for the salvation of humanity. See also: Is Krishna also Christ?
According to the Tibetan text published by Nicholas Notovitch, Jesus was believed to be yet another incarnation of Vishnu by the Hindus. The similarities between the Vedic doctrine of the incarnation and John's doctrine are unmistakable. Vishnu is the Universal Logos, the pre-cosmic Word or Vak. The earliest formulation of the doctrine of the Incarnation is thus proclaimed by Krishna, the avatar of the Son of God, Vishnu, who states that he is an embodiment of God: See also: The Lost Years of Jesus.
One of the oldest sects of Hinduism is Vedanta. The teaching of the Atman and Brahman is the most key tenet. Brahman is the substratum on which all phenomena are experienced, and also the One Lord who dwells in all beings. Remember Ephesians?
Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
The innermost Atman is the real Self, and is the same as Brahman. Liberation consists in realizing this identity, not just as a matter of literal or intellectual understanding, but as something that is to be grasped by the individual as part of their own personal experience.
Vedanta is based on a non-dual teaching. From the point of view of the individual, the perception of separateness is attributed to ignorance in which the oneness with Brahman is not known. What we perceive as a world of separateness is an illusion. When ignorance is removed, or one sees past the illusion, the individual knows his own self (Atman) to be Brahman, so that there is no more world and paradoxically, no more individual. Removal of ignorance is synonymous with God-realization or becoming one with Brahma (God the Father)! Also paradoxically, nothing is lost but all is gained!
Please notice what Buddha taught.
"Thus," replied the Buddha, "the Tathagata knows the straight path that leads to a union with Brahma. He knows it as one who has entered the world of Brahma and has been born in it. There can be no doubt in the Tathagata." Gospel of Buddha Chapter 49 verse 30
See: Gospel of Buddha Chapter 49
Remember Jesus said, "If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well." Remember the Vedic verse:
Prajapatir vai idam asit: In the beginning was Brahman. Tasya vag dvitya asit; with whom was the Vak or the Word... Vag vai paramam Brahma; and the word is Brahman."
So if Brahman and the Word are equal, (Christ is one with the Father,) then when Buddha became one with Brahma (God the Father) he also became one with Christ!
In Mathematics it is known as the principal of equality. If A = B and if B = C then A = C. This is why I say, Buddha is to Hinduism what Christ is to Judaism.
We have seen that Vedanta, the ancient sect of Hinduism taught that fundamentally our innermost reality is Atman, the real Self, which is the same as Brahman. Buddha taught that he discovered "the straight path that leads to a union with Brahma."
A superb explanation of Buddha's teachings can be found at this webpage: The Gospel of Buddha: Identity and Non Identity
You might have to read it several times since it is mysticism as its deepest truth.
Buddha taught that as long as we clung to the concept of a separate identity that we were subject to the suffering of being separate from Brahma and stuck in the cycle of life and death. Merging with Brahma is what is known as achieving Nirvana.
By the time Buddha was on the earth, the Vedic knowledge of how one achieved oneness with Brahma had been lost. He reintroduced this lost knowledge, this is also why I say Buddha is to Hinduism as Christ is to Judaism, for both fulfilled the intent and purpose of the religions that preceded them.
Notice the similarity in these two teachings.
Said the Buddha: "Greater than the immolation of bullocks is the sacrifice of self. He who offers to the gods his evil desires will see the uselessness of slaughtering animals at the altar. Blood has no cleansing power, but the eradication of lust will make the heart pure. Better than worshipping gods is obedience to the laws of righteousness." From The Gospel of Buddha Chapter 53 verse 6
And see:
Psalm 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness...
The One True Religion is about our relationship with God and our Journey to join with God (Brahman). In Hinduism it's called Yoga, (Union with Brahma), In Buddhism it is called achieving Buddhahood or Nirvana (merging with the Infinite Bliss), and in Christianity it is called becoming One with the Father through Christ, (Being saved.)
If you want to know how being saved by Christ makes it possible to continue your journey to being one with God see: Saving Humanity: God's Plan
Time has separated us from the original purity of the teachings of these religions that taught us to have an intimate relationship with the Supreme Creator. In all of these religions, teachings have crept in that focus not on our relationship with God but on other things.
The One True Religion Part III
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