What is this Trinity that both religions [Hinduism & Christianity] worship?

[Guest guest]

What is this Trinity that both religions [Hinduism and Christianity] worship?

 

Written: 24 Dec. 1994.

Revised: 24 Dec. 2006.

 

It is an article of faith with me that all religions worship the same God. I’d

like to look at two religions to test this assertion. The religions I choose to

look at are Hinduism and Christianity.

 

According to Christianity, the God we commonly worship has three facets and thus

is called “the Trinity.” Those three facets are the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Here is St. Matthew's reference to them:

 

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven

and in earth.

 

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the

Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. (1)

 

Hinduism also worships a Trinity. What in Hinduism is the equivalent of the

Christian Trinity?

 

Many might respond: " Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. " No, this Trimurthy is

equivalent to the creative, preservative and transformative potentiality of the

divine energy or Shakti. Brahma creates; Vishnu preserves; and Shiva transforms.

 

Although I have not carried out the research that might allow me to make this

statement with confidence, I believe some day that Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva

will be found to be other names for the cosmic powers called by Hindus and

Buddhists rajas, sattwa, and thamas, which also create, preserve, and transform.

The Trimurthy is not equivalent to the Christian Trinity.

 

Let us take a closer look at the Christian Trinity of Father, Son and Holy

Ghost. These words are just names, but what do they point to? The Father, King

of kings, or Lord God Almighty, is described in the Old Testament as a

stillness, a void, from which everything originated and into which everything

resolves itself. He (He is not a " He " ) is described in the New Testament as our

Home in which are many mansions. Do we recognize this void, this origin and home

of all? In Hinduism, it is called Brahman, Sat-Chit-Ananda.

 

And who in Hinduism is the Son? The Son in Christianity is the Pearl of Great

Price, the treasure buried in a field (the kshetra?), the mustard seed that

grows into a great tree, the measure of leaven that leavens the whole loaf.

 

The Son and the Father are one. The Son is in the Father and the Father is in

the Son. Yet all along the Father is greater. Moreover, no one can know the Son

but the Father and the Father but the Son. Do we recognize this Son? In

Hinduism, it is the Atman, the offspring of Brahman.

 

The Atman is in Brahman and yet Brahman is in us (in our heart-center or

hridayam). Yet all along Brahman is greater than the Atman. Moreover, no one can

know the Atman but Brahman and no one can know Brahman but the Atman.

 

Another way of saying this is that the Atman is the " individualized " Self and

Brahman is the " universal " Self. It is only by knowing the individualized Self

first that the universal Self can be found. This is the foundation of the

universal spiritual teachings like " Know thyself " and " The Kingdom of Heaven

[i.e, the Father] is within. "

 

As Jesus taught, when true disciples find the Pearl of Great Price, the

treasure, they sell all they have and purchase it. Translated into Hindu terms,

when true disciples see the Atman in the first experience of enlightenment,

often called " spiritual awakening, " they divest themselves of all their worldly

desires ( " sell what we have " ) and contemplate only the Atman, until the Atman

becomes Brahman in nirvikalpa samadhi. Having attained Brahman, they have

" purchased " the Pearl; they have made It their own.

 

Therefore, Hindus call these two Divine Entities Brahman and Atman; Christians

call them Father and Son. But they are the same Divine Persons no matter what

name we use for Them.

 

What about the third Divine Entity in the Christian Trinity -- the Holy Spirit

or Holy Ghost? Who is the Holy Spirit in Hinduism? If you did not know by now, I

suspect that you may be able to guess.

 

" Spiritus " in Latin means " breath. " The word is used to signify that which moves

across the waters of God's Being and calls all creation into existence. While

the Father is stillness, the Holy Spirit is motion.

 

Jesus referred to this relationship. He was asked what password would be used so

that disciples could recognize each other and he said to tell them " a movement

and a rest. " The Holy Spirit is movement; the Father is rest. (2)

 

The Holy Spirit was with the Father since the beginning of Time, before ever

there was an Earth. It is called by many names in the Bible: the Glory of God in

Exodus, Wisdom in Proverbs, the voice in the wilderness in Isaiah, the noise of

many waters in Ezekiel, the sound in the silence, the Word of God, the Amen, the

true and faithful witness of creation, the law (as in Jesus' phrase " the law and

the prophets " ), and so on. In all those names, the Holy Spirit is movement

(voice, noise, sound, word). God is a wilderness because He is prior to the

natural laws of this phenomenal world; no law can bind him. He is also stillness

and silence.

 

Looking now at Hinduism, what was with Brahman since before Time? What moved

like breath and creation came into being, where Brahman, who willed the

movement, is stillness and silence itself? What is the fabric of creation, of

phenomenal nature? Hindus will reply that Shakti is.

 

Shakti is the Divine Mother of creation, Prakrithi (Procreatrix in Latin),

nature, the phenomenal or relative world. Shakti is movement, sound, energy,

Aum, the Sabda Brahman, the Nada Brahman. Shakti is the natural law, dharma, the

true Guru. Sakthi is the name of the Holy Spirit in Hinduism.

 

The Hindu dharma is the Christian law. The Hindu Saabda Brahman is the Christian

Word of God. The Hindu Aum is the Christian Amen. Prakrithi is Procreatrix.

Shakti (energy) is the Holy Spirit (breath). The Divine Mother and the Spirit of

Truth are fundamentally one.

 

What are we left with? The Hindu Trinity of Brahman, Atman, and Shakti is no

different than the Christian Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And it is

on this basis that we can say that Hindus and Christians worship one and the

same God and that their religions are one.

 

Stripped of all the different rituals, these two great world religions are seen

to be two roads to the same destination.

 

What then is the secret of the Trinity as far as evolving human beings are

concerned? It is this. Enlightenment proceeds by levels. The first level we are

destined to know is the Light within our own hearts (the Son or Atman); the

second level is the Light within all of creation (the Holy Spirit, the Divine

Mother); and the third level is the Light beyond creation (the Father, Brahman).

This does not exhaust the levels of enlightenment, by any means. God’s Being is

Infinite. But it is the part of Reality that we are destined to know.

 

Whether one worships the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost or Brahman, Atman, and

Shakti, the One God knows it is He Himself (or She Herself, or It, as you wish)

that is being worshipped.

 

I am filled with awe and gratitude that I have been permitted to say these

words. I am aware that, had I uttered them in the sixteenth century, I might be

burned at the stake. I humbly bow before your freedom to worship as you please.

 

Footnotes

 

(1) Matthew 28: 18-19.

(2) Gospel According to Thomas, p.29.

 

http://www.angelfire.com/space2/light11/hinduism1.html

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

i have received a private email from wahiduddin, which i believe was meant for

the forum, so i am reposting it here. Wahidudin's desire is that:

 

" May we all learn to celebrate the glory of the Divine Flame that glows in the

heart of all beings. May we learn as one great nation of mankind to celebrate

the glory of our Beloved rather than quarrel over our petty differences. "

 

i say Amen (AUM) to that!

 

Wahiduddin's post begins with a post from Jagbir, followed by a quote from

Paramahansa Yogananda, and then he concludes with an article titled " My God

Versus Your God? " .

 

violet

 

 

 

To all devotees of the Divine Feminine,

 

Namaskar - i bow to His Ruh who resides in you.

 

When we have a database of such enlightening articles how can we ever fail

_after_ 2013? i have always believed deeply in what Shri Mataji has said time

and again over the decades - that God Almighty and His Spirit (Shakti/Ruh) is

One and the same in all religions.

 

Kash, Arwinder and Lalita have steadfastly maintained that all His messengers

are together in the Spirit World. Shri Radha, Krishna, Jesus, Prophet Muhammad,

Buddha, Moses, Ganesha, Shiva, Parvati, Laxshmi, Vishnu, Rama, Zarasthura,

Confucius, Lao Tze, Socrates, Muhammad, Raja Janaka, Guru Nanak, Shri Sai Baba

of Shirdi and Abraham.

 

This Truth has been witnessed hundreds of times and is beyond any shadow of

doubt.

 

" Sahaja Yoga is more concerned with the Mahalakshmi Power - evolutionary power-

which also integrates all the three powers at the point beyond the Brahmarandra

(top of the head). With this integration, the Sahaja Yoga discovery proves that

the human being is a perfected instrument, a computer built in various period

which, when put to the mains, starts giving information. It proves that all

religions are living flowers on the tree of life and they describe the Truth.

All Incarnations are true. All this can be proven at the time of Kundalini

awakening. It creates a human awareness, which can have a dialogue with the

Unconscious. "

 

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

London. October 12, 1976

 

" So the Time has come for all of us to understand that all religions are One.

They are part and parcel of One God and that all Incarnations are supporting

each other, nourishing each other and caring for each other. There is complete

concord between them. There is no way you will see they will oppose each other.

Never! "

 

Shri Bhavanagamya Devi

Delhi, India - February 3,1983

 

Bhavanagamya [113rd]: Realised by mental effort (called dhyana}

 

 

 

" All world religions form a unity, and only this unity provides the right

perspective on ultimate truth. " All the world's great religions are based on

common universal truths, which reinforce rather than conflict with one another.

I have often said that if Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, and other true emissaries of

God came together, they would not quarrel, but would drink from the same one cup

of God-communion. "

 

Paramahansa Yogananda

 

 

 

" My God Versus Your God?

 

" Religion has been at the forefront of controversy, hatred and wars throughout

all of recorded history. And there is no issue that has been more contentious

than the name of The Creator.

 

Each of the major religions has, at its very core, the fundamental concept of an

omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator that is beyond the understanding of

the limited minds of mankind.

 

Since these diverse cultures all agree that there is One Creator, a Creator whom

we all honor, and whose ways we all strive to learn to live in harmony with,

then isn't that a common bond that we should all share and celebrate?

 

Who can claim to know the " true " name of the That Which is beyond name and form?

Is it even meaningful to try to name That Which is beyond name and form?

 

God, Khoda, Allah, Alaha, El, Elohim, Elat, Om, Jehova, Jah, Yahweh, Brahman,

Ram, Krishna, Ahura Mazda, Tao... and many more, have all been used to refer to

That Which is beyond name and form.

 

Nonetheless, words and names are only metaphors that we use to refer to

something. The meaning is not inherent in the word, rather the meaning is

something that is agreed upon. For example, each language has its own words for

mother and father and for hot and cold... is it surprising then that each

culture should have its own words to refer to the One?

 

(For Christians who find it difficult to say the name Allah, it may be helpful

to note that in the Semitic language of Aramaic that Jesus probably spoke, the

Aramaic name that is translated as God in the European bible was actually Alaha.

Indeed, Allah of the Qur'an and Alaha of Jesus are the same One. The name God is

a relatively new, and perhaps unfortunate, European invention that has been the

source of much misunderstanding, fear and hatred.)

 

Throughout recorded history, the differences of mankind have been used as

excuses for crusades, wars and hatred. Must every generation fall prey to the

same old foolishness, or is it finally time for a new understanding, an

understanding based on That Which we all share in common?

 

May we all learn to celebrate the glory of the Divine Flame that glows in the

heart of all beings.

 

May we learn as one great nation of mankind to celebrate the glory of our

Beloved rather than quarrel over our petty differences. "

 

with love,

 

wahiduddin

 

 

 

, " Violet "

<violet.tubb wrote:

 

What is this Trinity that both religions [Hinduism and

Christianity] worship?

>

> Written: 24 Dec. 1994.

> Revised: 24 Dec. 2006.

>

> It is an article of faith with me that all religions worship the

same God. I'd like to look at two religions to test this assertion.

The religions I choose to look at are Hinduism and Christianity.

>

> According to Christianity, the God we commonly worship has three

facets and thus is called " the Trinity. " Those three facets are the

Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Here is St. Matthew's reference to them:

>

> And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto

me in heaven and in earth.

>

> Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name

of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. (1)

>

> Hinduism also worships a Trinity. What in Hinduism is the

equivalent of the Christian Trinity?

>

> Many might respond: " Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. " No, this Trimurthy

is equivalent to the creative, preservative and transformative

potentiality of the divine energy or Shakti. Brahma creates; Vishnu

preserves; and Shiva transforms.

>

> Although I have not carried out the research that might allow me to

make this statement with confidence, I believe some day that Brahma,

Vishnu, and Shiva will be found to be other names for the cosmic

powers called by Hindus and Buddhists rajas, sattwa, and thamas,

which also create, preserve, and transform. The Trimurthy is not

equivalent to the Christian Trinity.

>

> Let us take a closer look at the Christian Trinity of Father, Son

and Holy Ghost. These words are just names, but what do they point

to? The Father, King of kings, or Lord God Almighty, is described in

the Old Testament as a stillness, a void, from which everything

originated and into which everything resolves itself. He (He is not a

" He " ) is described in the New Testament as our Home in which are many

mansions. Do we recognize this void, this origin and home of all? In

Hinduism, it is called Brahman, Sat-Chit-Ananda.

>

> And who in Hinduism is the Son? The Son in Christianity is the

Pearl of Great Price, the treasure buried in a field (the kshetra?),

the mustard seed that grows into a great tree, the measure of leaven

that leavens the whole loaf.

>

> The Son and the Father are one. The Son is in the Father and the

Father is in the Son. Yet all along the Father is greater. Moreover,

no one can know the Son but the Father and the Father but the Son. Do

we recognize this Son? In Hinduism, it is the Atman, the offspring of

Brahman.

>

> The Atman is in Brahman and yet Brahman is in us (in our heart-

center or hridayam). Yet all along Brahman is greater than the Atman.

Moreover, no one can know the Atman but Brahman and no one can know

Brahman but the Atman.

>

> Another way of saying this is that the Atman is the

" individualized " Self and Brahman is the " universal " Self. It is only

by knowing the individualized Self first that the universal Self can

be found. This is the foundation of the universal spiritual teachings

like " Know thyself " and " The Kingdom of Heaven [i.e, the Father] is

within. "

>

> As Jesus taught, when true disciples find the Pearl of Great Price,

the treasure, they sell all they have and purchase it. Translated

into Hindu terms, when true disciples see the Atman in the first

experience of enlightenment, often called " spiritual awakening, " they

divest themselves of all their worldly desires ( " sell what we have " )

and contemplate only the Atman, until the Atman becomes Brahman in

nirvikalpa samadhi. Having attained Brahman, they have " purchased "

the Pearl; they have made It their own.

>

> Therefore, Hindus call these two Divine Entities Brahman and Atman;

Christians call them Father and Son. But they are the same Divine

Persons no matter what name we use for Them.

>

> What about the third Divine Entity in the Christian Trinity -- the

Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost? Who is the Holy Spirit in Hinduism? If you

did not know by now, I suspect that you may be able to guess.

>

> " Spiritus " in Latin means " breath. " The word is used to signify

that which moves across the waters of God's Being and calls all

creation into existence. While the Father is stillness, the Holy

Spirit is motion.

>

> Jesus referred to this relationship. He was asked what password

would be used so that disciples could recognize each other and he

said to tell them " a movement and a rest. " The Holy Spirit is

movement; the Father is rest. (2)

>

> The Holy Spirit was with the Father since the beginning of Time,

before ever there was an Earth. It is called by many names in the

Bible: the Glory of God in Exodus, Wisdom in Proverbs, the voice in

the wilderness in Isaiah, the noise of many waters in Ezekiel, the

sound in the silence, the Word of God, the Amen, the true and

faithful witness of creation, the law (as in Jesus' phrase " the law

and the prophets " ), and so on. In all those names, the Holy Spirit is

movement (voice, noise, sound, word). God is a wilderness because He

is prior to the natural laws of this phenomenal world; no law can

bind him. He is also stillness and silence.

>

> Looking now at Hinduism, what was with Brahman since before Time?

What moved like breath and creation came into being, where Brahman,

who willed the movement, is stillness and silence itself? What is the

fabric of creation, of phenomenal nature? Hindus will reply that

Shakti is.

>

> Shakti is the Divine Mother of creation, Prakrithi (Procreatrix in

Latin), nature, the phenomenal or relative world. Shakti is movement,

sound, energy, Aum, the Sabda Brahman, the Nada Brahman. Shakti is

the natural law, dharma, the true Guru. Sakthi is the name of the

Holy Spirit in Hinduism.

>

> The Hindu dharma is the Christian law. The Hindu Saabda Brahman is

the Christian Word of God. The Hindu Aum is the Christian Amen.

Prakrithi is Procreatrix. Shakti (energy) is the Holy Spirit

(breath). The Divine Mother and the Spirit of Truth are fundamentally

one.

>

> What are we left with? The Hindu Trinity of Brahman, Atman, and

Shakti is no different than the Christian Trinity of Father, Son, and

Holy Ghost. And it is on this basis that we can say that Hindus and

Christians worship one and the same God and that their religions are

one.

>

> Stripped of all the different rituals, these two great world

religions are seen to be two roads to the same destination.

>

> What then is the secret of the Trinity as far as evolving human

beings are concerned? It is this. Enlightenment proceeds by levels.

The first level we are destined to know is the Light within our own

hearts (the Son or Atman); the second level is the Light within all

of creation (the Holy Spirit, the Divine Mother); and the third level

is the Light beyond creation (the Father, Brahman). This does not

exhaust the levels of enlightenment, by any means. God's Being is

Infinite. But it is the part of Reality that we are destined to know.

>

> Whether one worships the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost or Brahman,

Atman, and Shakti, the One God knows it is He Himself (or She

Herself, or It, as you wish) that is being worshipped.

>

> I am filled with awe and gratitude that I have been permitted to

say these words. I am aware that, had I uttered them in the sixteenth

century, I might be burned at the stake. I humbly bow before your

freedom to worship as you please.

>

> Footnotes

>

> (1) Matthew 28: 18-19.

> (2) Gospel According to Thomas, p.29.

>

> http://www.angelfire.com/space2/light11/hinduism1.html

>