Becoming a Christian

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/28/01 8:58:49 AM Pacific Standard Time,

Chandrika_Sharma writes:

 

<< I have begun to realize that to express a healthy anger is permissible

and doing so will not hinder our spiritual growth! >>

 

In truth I believe it furthers our growth as we cannot reach the goal if we

leave any part of ourselves behind. Dayamritaji was talking about this on

Sat. evening past. Someone asked him what he does if he feels angry. He

exclaimed, "I get angry!" He went on to clarify that he did not mean we

should take our anger out on others but that we should fully experience it

inside ourselves. He said we should dwell on it until we see where it's

coming from.

Chandrika, I value you sharing this. It is the first time I have heard a

first hand story of the negative effect of missionaries. One way to work

through these feelings might be to visualize Amma going with your little girl

self to the Convent school and helping you tell the nuns off, or say whatever

you need to say to them, or coming to get you and taking you out of there!

Hey, whatever happened with the interfaith group on your campus, with the

priest and the pagans? In Amma's Divine Love, Amalia

[Guest guest]

An old friend asked me recently if I would consider becoming a Christian.

The following was my response. Perhaps some of you would find it interesting

or useful, and I'd be interested in any feedback on what more (or less) I

should have said:

 

You have beautiful experiences. I should be working, but let me start

answering your question (re becoming a Christian). I usually start answering

that question by reviewing a little astronomy. Consider how vast the

universe is. 100 billion stars in our galaxy... 100 billion galaxies in the

KNOWN universe... Planets now routinely being found orbiting stars... Now

consider how determined life seems to be. It survives even in the most

inhospitable places: polar ice, boiling thermal springs, 7 miles deep in the

ocean. Why? Because God is omnipresent, and omnipotent: His/Her potency is

everywhere. And that potency is an invincible force that continues to create

and manifest. And even if biological life isn't possible, I would argue that

"lifeless" places like the inside of a rock or the surface of the sun are

alive. They are permeated with God and therefore permeated with intelligence

and consciousness. In fact, that intelligence is obvious if we look on

microscopic or atomic levels and observe the incredible energy and

organizing power governing everything.

 

Now, what's happening with all this life? It's evolving - ever growing in

its ability to more fully reflect the Divinity at it's core. A human being

is a pretty good reflector ("man is made in the image of God") and within

the human species there is a wide range of reflecting abilities, from the

mass murderer to the saint.

 

So in a universe teeming with intelligent life, the higher forms of it

needing Divine guidance in order to advance more quickly toward the ultimate

goal - union with God ("I and my Father are one"), we have to ask what is

meant by God's "only begotten son." Does each planet have its own savior or

is Jesus on tour? Some fundamentalists insist that the earth is the only

inhabited planet and most Christians would argue that Jesus is it's only

savior. Their worldview would be shattered if the existence of intelligent

extraterrestrial life were confirmed. Same mindset as those who threatened

to burn Galilleo for suggesting that the Earth revolved around the sun. A

great threat to Christianity as they understood it!

 

My perspective is that saviors (whom we might also refer to as saints,

gurus, masters, etc.) - those who have attained God realization or have even

been born in that state - are as common as the planets who need them. Even

more so, because they are needed on a regular basis. Only a new seed can

yield a new crop, and God continues to send saints and saviors according to

the needs of the time and the desires of His devotees. I'm not saying that

beings of the caliber of Jesus are a dime a dozen. They may incarnate only

every thousand years or so. But at any given time there are probably

millions of them throughout the universe. And considering that the earth is

4 billion years old, there have probably been thousands here. 2,000 years is

an eye blink in the span of 4 billion.

 

I know that many Christians are offended when Christ is referred to as a

"mere" saint. As with everything else, there are degrees of greatness among

saints. Most Hindus elevate Christ to the status of "avatar" - an

incarnation of God - which is greater than an "ordinary" human being who

attains God realization.

 

Anyway, if by "Christian" you mean someone who believes that Christ is the

only path to salvation and that people following other paths are doomed to

an eternity in hell, then no, I wouldn't consider becoming a Christian. If,

however, you mean someone who believes that God is a Reality into which

one's individuality is ultimately destined to merge and disappear as a

raindrop into the ocean, and that that's what's really required to fully do

God's Will, and who dedicates hours every day to hastening that merger, then

I guess I already am one.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Rick writes:

 

> An old friend asked me recently if I would consider becoming a Christian.

>

How can any one become a "Christian"?

 

You may practise Christanity, or Hinduism, or Anyism but how can you possibly

become one?

 

> Anyway, if by "Christian" you mean someone who believes that Christ is the

> only path to salvation and that people following other paths are doomed to

> an eternity in hell, then no, I wouldn't consider becoming a Christian. If,

> however, you mean someone who believes that God is a Reality into which

> one's individuality is ultimately destined to merge and disappear as a

> raindrop into the ocean, and that that's what's really required to fully do

> God's Will, and who dedicates hours every day to hastening that merger, then

> I guess I already am one.

>

 

If, by being a Christian, you are someone who "believes" something, then I'm

sure not one.

 

The problem here is "beliefs" not which beliefs.

 

Beliefs imply an unknowingness. Why believe in that? Why not learn and accept

what is known?

 

The Truth is known. The Truth is not unknowingness. "Beliefs" are not a path

to the Truth.

 

"Beliefs" can not possibly be a path to God. All beliefs are created in the

mind. The mind knows not God. The heart knows God, not the mind. The heart

has no use for beliefs.

 

Every "belief" is a blockage to knowing God.

 

The heart is the only path to God.

 

Om Amrtesvaryai Namah.

 

Peter