Good Planets, the Heavenly Jerusalem and Paradise in Judeo-Catholic Tradition

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Good Planets, the Heavenly Jerusalem and Paradise in the Judeo-

Catholic Tradition

 

by Bhakti Ananda Goswami

 

Regarding our final destination, a devotee wrote:

 

"I believe that everyone goes to their awarded destination at

the time of death. If you are sincerely following Jesus, you will go

where Jesus is, if you are sincerely following Mohammed, you will go

to where Mohammed is, etc. If your mind is absorbed in your pet dog

or cat at the time of death, then you can also attain that

state and associate with them on a similar level.

 

When Mohammed ascended to the highest region of heaven

(Brahmaloka), he saw Jesus at one of the lower levels, I believe it

was Jana- or Maharloka. Anyway, followers of these prophets will go

to whatever heavenly planet the prophet is situated on, and they will

then be further instructed on spiritual truths and the glories of

Lord Narayana. Thus situated, they can make further spiritual

progress and attain Vaikuntha to worship the Lord in reverence and

majesty.

 

Sometimes the the denizens of the higher planetary systems are

able to witness Lord Krsna's pastimes when He appears on earth, and

they then become attracted to worship Him and attain Krsnaloka."

 

 

BHAKTI ANANDA GOSWAMI'S RESPONSE

 

 

 

Unfortunately many Vaishnavas have been influenced by the

confused speculations of modern esotericists, like those doctrines

regarding 'heaven' taught by Theosophists, and in the related New Age

Movement. Thus the related erroneous teachings of Gnosticism and the

equally erroneous pseudo-Jewish and pseudo-Christian teachings of

Mohammedanism have pervaded the thought of many devotees when

it comes to their misunderstanding of 'heaven' in the authentic Judeo-

Christian Tradition.

 

In authentic Judaism and Catholic Apostolic Christianity, there

is an absolute distinction between the

1. Planets of the material cosmos, 2. the self-effulgent Heaven

where the Heavenly Jerusalem (City of

God) is, 3. and the Garden of Paradise where the Hora / Chorus

or Circle Dance of Divine Love, the Rasa Dance of God the Choreagos

and Choruales is !

 

1. The Planetary Hosts as Agents of God, and Their Celestial or

Cosmic Planets

 

 

Mazal tov! Have you ever heard this common Jewish greeting? It

is Hebrew, and is usually (1) translated as 'good planetary

influences'. It reflects the ancient Jewish belief that God blesses

and regulates His creation through His intermediaries, the

planetary 'Hosts' or 'Angels'. After all, the Jewish Deity of the

Exodus is called the 'Lord of Hosts' and is associated with the

Semitic elohim 'gods' and sacred time keeping, including the planet-

related seven-day week. Most Christians are surprised to learn

that observant, or 'Orthodox' Jews believe in reincarnation and

astrology, two 'karma' related ideas which are usually associated in

the Christian mind with Hinduism or Buddhism. Needless to say, in

Jewish thought, reincarnation and astrology remain only as an

integral part of Jewish Monotheism, far removed from the gross

material polytheism, impersonalism and atheism which characterizes

some of modern Hindu and Buddhist thought. Since these 'karma'

related ideas have a very ancient history in both exoteric Biblical

and esoteric Mystical Judaism, it has long been my opinion that the

presence of such ideas in Judaism can give us an insight into ancient

proto Hindu and Buddhist Monotheistic and Henotheistic Bhakti

Traditions. Since the Bhakti (Personalistic Devotional 'Love')

Traditions of India and Asia are, and always have been, the dominant

religions of the East, a study of Bhakti-related doctrines and

practices in Judaism and early Catholicism is vitally important for

our present interfaith dialogue and understanding.

 

footnote1. Page 630, "THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF WORLD

RELIGIONS", 1997, the Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York

 

The Holy Name of the Jews' and Catholics' Deity Eli-Yahu

Tzbaoth as El Elyon "God most High" or "The Lord of Hosts" is

analogous to Sri Krishna's Name Deva Deva or the fact that He is the

supreme Sura of the Sura-gana. Sri Krishna is Hari of the Hari-jana,

or the aryans, just as the Jewish Deity is ELI of the elohima. In

fact HARI and ELI are the same Deity historically and theologically,

which is why Judeo-Catholic Angelogy and related astrology may be

studied comparatively with Vaishnava devic cosmo-genesis and

astrology . For more information on this and the Biblical doctrine of

God's Judgement as KRIMA in relationship to the doctrine of KARMA,

see http://jeffreyarmstrong.com/ Conservative Catholic Historian

FavorablyReviews a Book on...Astrology??? . These Judeo-Catholic

Traditions are also connected to Afro-Egyptian and European forms of

Heliopolitan Monotheism. So, for those unprejudiced persons who are

able to delve deeply into Judeo-Catholic and Platonic macro-cosmic

and micro-cosmic Traditions, there is a wealth of Vaishnava

connections to be studied with regard to the Planets and their

Regents, the Planetary Devas or 'Hosts' and lowest-level

Cosmic 'Angels'.

 

2. The Heavenly Jerusalem

 

However, there are many ranks of angels (agents or messengers

of GOD) in the Judeo-Catholic Tradition, and not just the celestial

region of the Planets and their Planetary Angels or Regents to be

considered. Beyond the celestial cosmos or star-studded dark sky of

the Planets, is the self-effulgent Heaven where God reigns as

Basileos basileos. This is the Greek Jewish Septuagint Era and

Christian New Testament Greek Name of God as the sacred "King of

Kings". Basileos basileos is cognate with Sri Krishna's

Name 'Vasudeva of the vasudevas'.

There are even Bactrian Era Indian Coins that show that

Vasudeva was translated as Bazodeo in Bactrian Greek (seethe Stater

of Vasudeva). The Heavenly Jerusalem of Basileos basileos is the

transcendent spiritual realm where God is primarily worshiped and

served eternally in the loving moods or awe, reverence and servitude.

There is also a tradition that When God descends to Earth in Glory,

He brings His glorious majestic Retinue and Abode with Him. Thus

there are stories in various Eastern and Western Bhakti traditions

about the descent of God as the King of Kings who restores the Earth

and brings a golden age of peace and prosperity with Him. 'The king

makes the age'. The Sacred Rex or Regent King of the Western

traditions is the same as the concept of

the Raja in the East. A king's reign is his rajya. Mary, the

Mother of Jesus, as the Queen of all the Heavens is called REGINA or

BASILEA, which are names cognate with RAJANI and VASUDEVI. Thus Ram

Rajya or the ideal of the deathless realm of perfect dharma, restored

by God's glorious or majestic descent, pervades both the traditions

of Eastern and Western Devotional Monotheism. The stories of God's

rule in "glory" on Earth reflect the doctrine of His eternal rule in

the transcendent self-effulgent Spiritual Sky, where nothing is lit

by the sun or lesser lights, because the Lord Himself is the Light

thereof (Bible New Testament Book of Revelations, Chapter 22)! See

the many references to God as the source of Light in both the Hebrew

Scriptures and the Jewish Greek Septuagint and the Greek New

Testament. In fact, the "light" of God in Greek is PHO, PHOS, which

is cognate with Sri Krishna's Sanskrit Light BHA or BHAS Names!

 

When Jews pray "Next year in Jerusalem", and hope for the

Lord's Messianic descent to redeem the Earth, and when Christians

pray for the return of Christ and His 'Christendom' descent of the

Heavenly Jerusalem, it is related to Vaishnavas praying for the

coming of Their Lord as Kalki Avatara, or the Reign of Rama (the

deathless Ram

Rajya) to the sin-weary Earth. As in Heaven, so below, the

desire of the repentant and pious is for the reign of God in every

heart and home. For more on the worship of Purusha (Polieus in Greek,

Pharoah in Egyptian) as the empowered Rex / Raja or Basileos /

Vasudeva anointed king, see my writings on the sacramental social

order of Purusha Sukta-based theocentric city-states on

saragrahi.org .

 

Purusha / Polieus as the Creative and Redemptive Cosmic

Sacrifice:

http://www.saragrahi.org/columns/one/why_the_cross_is_the_symbol_of_j.

htm

 

Some of the Varnashram Dharma aspects of Purusha-based

sacramental social bodies:

http://www.saragrahi.org/columns/one/one1/purusha.htm

 

A sacred Pura / Pol / Per / Ir / Uur / Bur etc. Cities chart

created from one of my long studies of Purusha Based Heliopolitan

Asyla Federations.

http://www.saragrahi.org/columns/one/one1/purusha_chart.htm

 

3. Beyond Beyond the Great Beyond, in the Heaven-of-heavens

Garden of Paradise, in Godhead's Dance of Divine Love

 

In Judaism and Catholicism, beyond the dark Celestial Cosmos of

the Planets and their Regents, and beyond God's Realm of Majesty in

the bright Heaven of the Spiritual Sky, is the "Heavenly of the

heavenlies" where God dwells among His consecrated virgins and those

devoted to Him in Bridal Mysticism and other intimate flavors of

Divine Love ! In this Supreme Abode is the Garden of Paradise,

where the sacred Jewish Hora or Catholic Chorus Dance is eternally

performed by God and His Beloved. There God is the ever new Youthful

Beauty and Divine Lover of Shekinah / Shakti, and the souls devoted

to Him in the mystical mood of Her PERFECT YES. There is every

evidence that this Bridal Mysticism Tradition in Judaism and

Catholicism is related to the 'Platonic' worship of Eli-Yahu as

Helios Meghistos Kouros on the Sacred Isle of Rhodes in the Eastern

Mediterranean. In the Judeo-Catholic Biblical Book the "Song of

Songs", God as the Supreme Lover and Shekinah as His Feminine Beloved

are even referred to with the Rhodian-related Hebrew reference words

derived from DODA. We can confirm the relationship between Kouros

Krishna) as Rodos and His Beloved Roda on Rhodes, with the Jewish

Doda of the "Song of Songs", by the fact that the Rodanim of Rhodes

are also called Dodanim in the Hebrew Bible. Jewish scholars have

long speculated on the possible relationship of their own "Bridal

Mysticism" to some other hierogamos divine love mystical tradition in

the ancient Mediterranean. I have now positively identified that

Tradition as the Hora / Chorus Dance centered worship of Rhoda-

Shekinah (Radha-Shakti) and Helios Meghistos Kouros (Krishna) on

Rhodes, the ancient regional locus of Afro-Egyptian, Semitic and

European Heliopolitan Devotional Monotheism.

Significantly, while Jesus Christ was being crucified, He told

the repentant devotee next to Him, "This day you will be with Me in

Paradise" ! He did not say "in the Good Planets" or in the "City of

God Heavenly Jerusalem". He declared unequivocally "in Paradise".

 

On Rhodes and throughout the region, Eli-Yahu / Heli-Us / Heru-

Asu was worshiped in two co-eternal Kouros Juvenalis (Yuvana /

Youthful) or 'Lover of the soul' Forms. His Second Person ( Asu

Theos / VASUDEVA, Bal or Dio Nysos / Deva Nyasa) was both the

initiating Master of His Mysteries, and His Alter-Form for His

variegated

Pastimes of Divine Love. It is this Second Person of the Eli-

Yahu Triune Godhead, Who Christ's Apostles taught that Jesus Christ

was / is. Only if Jesus was the Second Person of the Godhead, the

Hierophant and Lord of the Sacred Chorus Dance, could He directly

bless anyone to meet Him there in Paradise ! Thus we see that in

various schools of Vaishnavism, Lord Baladeva also has His Rasa

Lila ! The Third Person of this Trinity is Paramatma or the Holy

Spirit. It is now wrongly claimed by some that the ancient Jews had

no concept of this Trinity. However, the fact that they did can be

seen in the many Biblical references to God's "Spirit", as when King

David prays "take not your spirit from me". In fact there is a

related Bridal Mysticism tradition in Judaism of all finite spirit-

sparks being the children of God and His feminine Shekinah ! Thus we

can see that the Jews and other Proto-Catholic Heliopolitan

Monotheists of the region worshiped God as the Triune

Transcendent 'Father', Mediating descending Incarnating Messiah

and Immanent Holy Spirit. In this Tradition, the Feminine Shekinah

(Receiving Energy or Shakti of God) is both the Mother of all beings

and pervasive as the spiritual-sparks or finite 'souls' of all

beings. Thus She is the Origin of the 'HEVE or JIVA Shakti ! "Eve"

in Hebrew, and "Jiva" in Sanskrit both mean "living' or

to "live", and are used in the feminine mode to mean the

receiving 'self' in relationship to Purusha, the masculine giver

Godhead. It is the Second Person of this Tradition of the Triune

giving Adi Purusha, Who is the one eternal Savior. So when Catholic

consecrated virgins

meditate on entering the sacred Chorus Dance in the Garden of

Paradise in the highest Heaven of the Heavenlies, it is not to dance

as 'bridesmaids' with God the Father, but to dance with Jesus Christ,

the Initiating Hierophant and Savior, Who is the Second Person of the

Godhead, or 'God the Son' in His eternal youthful Form of Kouros Bal-

Asu / Bal-Yahu Baladeva.

 

One may argue that according to Gaudiya Vaishnava Siddantha,

Sri Baladeva's Rasa Dance with the Gopis is different from that of

Sri Krishna's. Yes, according to Gaudiya Tradition there is a

difference, but please remember that Sri Baladeva is also non-

different from Sri Krishna, and that He is the Master of all of the

Mysteries of Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Krishna's variegated

Purusha Forms for lila are all manifest through, with, in and by Lord

Baladeva, and when He dances with the Gopis, they are all completely

satisfied! Furthermore, there is no question of ever getting the

mercy of Sri Sri Radha Krishna without the mercy of Lord Baladeva,

Who is the sole Protector and Savior of all devotees, and the sole

Master and Initiator into the highest "Bridal Mysticism" Mysteries of

the Garden of Paradise. The Bucolic Boukolion site of the Hierogamos

Mysteries of God is called Paradise (English from the Biblical Greek)

and PARDES in Biblical Hebrew, and these words are

cognate with PARADESHA in Sanskrit. 'Bucolic' (English from

Greek), meaning a pastoral cow-paradise, clearly refers to the Lord's

pastoral home called GOKULA! Compare the highest paradise of the Adi

Buddha Amitabha (HRIH Amida) in Pure Land Buddhism, which is called

GOKURAKU !

 

To enter the Platonic Bucolic Paradise where Kouros and His

Hierophant Dionysos herd Their sacred white cows and lead Their

Chorus Circle KYKLOS / CHAKRA Dance with the Kouroi cow-herd boys and

Korae cow-herd girls, one must first accept the salvation offered by

Dionysos, the one initiating Hierophant, Who is in Judeo-Catholicism

Lord Bal-Yahu or Yahu-Shua (Jesus) Christ. As it is said in the

Gaudiya Tradition...one cannot get the mercy of Sri

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Sri Sri Radha-Krishna), without first

getting the saving mercy of Sri Nityananda Balarama ! The Jewish

parallel would be that one cannot enter into the highest Mysteries of

Father God and His Beloved Shekinah, without the redemption of the

Messiah. All Orthodox Jewish Rabbis are types of the One Divine

Messiah, Who redeems His people. Like Vaishnava Gurus, they also

intercede for the sins of their disciples / people and purify them

for intimate service to God. Like matchmakers, the traditional Rabbis

of Orthodox Judaism try to reunite God with the separated

spiritual "sparks" or children of the Shekinah, who have 'fallen'

into the material realm of birth, death, disease and old age. To even

see a picture of a saintly rabbi is considered purifying to an

Orthodox Jew, and can reunite the separated soul spark to God.

 

To Christians, Jesus Christ has been revealed as the Second

Person of the Trinity, and the One Master and Hierophant (High

Priest), Who is the Initiating Lord of the Dance of Divine Love in

the Transcendental

Garden of Paradise. In Catholicism His tradition has been

continued in various Rites of diksha / disciplic initiation by His

Apostles and Saints. For sincere Jewish devotees of the Lord, who

have not received the Christian Revelation of Jesus, their salvation

and entrance into the Mysteries is through their Rabbi (initiating

Guru), who is the One Transcendental Messiah-Savior's personal

revelation to them ! Thus In Vaishnavism, as in Judaism and

Catholicism, the ultimate and transcendent One Redeemer and supreme

Spiritual Master is revealed to each devotee through his proximate

Guru and Guru Varga tradition. In all three Traditions, Vaishnavism,

Judaism and Catholicism, there is no possibility of humans getting

the mercy of Father God or Mother Shakti / Shekinah, without first

getting Their Mercy through the Person of Their Incarnate Spiritual

Master and Redeemer. Lord Baladeva (Bal-Yahu) revealed as Jesus

Christ, or one's Rabbi or Guru, or Saving Saint, is thus the fount of

Godhead's and Shakti's mercy in this world. He Alone, the Second

Person of the Trinity, can deliver one from the miseries of the Saha

World, and grant one entrance into the eternal Dance of Divine Love,

which is beyond the dark starry cosmos and the self-effulgent

Heavenly City of God, in the Singularly Transcendent Garden of

Paradise !

 

For more on the History of Caroling and the Rasa Dance of

Paradise in World Bhakti Traditions, see:

http://www.saragrahi.org/columns/one/one1/rasalila.htm The

Rasa-Lila Dance: Caroling the Hora - Part 1 An Introduction to Radha-

Krishna's Dance of Divine Love in the Garden of Paradise in Biblical

Traditions

 

http://www.saragrahi.org/columns/one/one1/rasalila2.htm Part 2

Some Different Perspectives On This Important Subject

 

http://www.saragrahi.org/columns/one/one1/rasalila3.htm Part 3

The Catholic and Greek Labyrinth, and the Circle Dance of the

Japanese Tanabata Festival

 

http://www.saragrahi.org/columns/one/one1/rasalila4.htm

Conclusion The Sacred Dance in Islamic Mysticism

 

 

May we all surrender to The One Redeemer's merciful Love, and

honor all of His Saintly Agents in this world and beyond !