datta
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Was Jesus God?
[Mr Antony said that one of his friends argued that since Jesus submitted His soul to God, He cannot be God.]
You are giving value to one statement of Jesus and you are not giving value to another statement of the same Jesus. Jesus also said that He and His Father are one and the same. This statement of Jesus is also equally valid. Every human incarnation is a two-in-one system. When you say God-in-flesh, the word flesh means a living human being and not the mere inert human body. Krishna said in the Gita that He enters the human body (Manusheem Tanum…). Here too the word human body means the living human being and not the mere inert human body. The word human body means the composite of the three human bodies and such a composite is called as a living human being. This means that the Lord enters the human being. The three bodies in the composite of the human being are:
The outermost gross body, which is alive due to the awareness that pervades all over it.
The inner subtle body which is a bundle of qualities or feelings, which are alive because these qualities are the vibrations in the pure awareness.
The innermost causal body which is the pure awareness itself.
The gross body is crucified. All the statements (speech) of Jesus were given by the subtle body only through the mouth of the gross body. This subtle body of Jesus stated that His ‘body’ was not prepared for crucifixion. Here the ‘body’ refers to the gross body which is different from the subtle body. In the end the subtle body stated that it was submitting its soul to God. The word soul refers to the causal body. This composite of three bodies stands as the meaning of the word Jesus. This composite is the meaning of the word ‘flesh’. This composite is called as the human being or jiva.
Strictly speaking, the word jiva means the subtle body only. The soul is called as Atman. God entered Jesus and therefore God is in flesh. God is the fourth item and is called as the Supersoul. It is this Supersoul or God, who said the statements such as “I and My Father are one and the same” or “I am the truth”. Therefore you should not confuse between the statements of subtle body and those of the Supersoul. An ordinary human being is just a composite of these three bodies without the Supersoul.
If this is not understood correctly, there will be a glaring contradiction between such statements. The purpose of the aspect of the human being in Jesus was to stand as a practical example for all human beings. The purpose of the aspect of God in Jesus was to practically explain the divine nature of God. Any human incarnation consists of these two aspects; a mixture of a human being (Nara) and God (Narayana). If you take any sweet, it is prepared by mixing sugar and flour. But the item is called as ‘sweet’ referring to the property of sugar only, since it is more important. Similarly any human incarnation is divine referring to the nature of God only, since He is more important. An electric wire consists of electricity and non-electric wire. But it is called as electric current referring only to the more important electricity. You call a lamp (oil-lamp) as light since it consists of a flame and other materials like iron, sand, glass, a cotton wick and oil. It is called as light referring to the more important flame, neglecting the other non-luminous materials. Therefore when you call Jesus as God, it really means that God is in Jesus. Similarly Hanuman was the incarnation of Lord Shiva. As a human being he acted as a servant of Lord Rama. As Lord Shiva, He jumped over the sea and killed several demons. Similarly Lord Rama learnt spiritual knowledge from Sage Vashishta. This is the aspect of His human body. But as Lord Narayana a stone was converted into the lady, Ahalya by the touch of His divine foot. Similarly Krishna was a driver of the chariot of Arjuna from the point of His human body. As Lord Narayana He preached the Gita to Arjuna and gave a divine vision to him. The purpose of the aspect of God is to teach human beings about God. The purpose of the aspect of the human being is to freely mix with human beings and stand as an example for them.
Even the Prophet Mohammed was a human incarnation of the Lord. He did not reveal His divine aspect because it was not required in those circumstances. Thus you have to realize the program of the human incarnation according to the requirement suitability to the surroundings. If Lord Krishna, had been born in the West instead of Jesus, people might have got more spoiled. The people there were very cruel because historically nowhere else in the world was a human incarnation of the Lord killed in such a brutal way. It shows the cruel nature of people in that time and place. For people of such nature only love and kindness can bring realization.
If Krishna had been born there, they could have very easily accepted the negative qualities shown by Krishna like stealing etc. but they would never understand their significance and the significance of the human incarnation. Therefore a suitable program was adopted by the Lord. You should not criticize Jesus about His incapability in protecting Himself because you would be joining the cruel people who criticized and condemned Him. Similarly you should not criticize Krishna, for stealing butter since it was done only to cut their bond with their hard earned wealth. Similarly Lord Krishna’s attracting the Gopikas by dance was only to cut their bonds with their husbands. The Gopikas were sages in their previous births and had prayed to the Lord for salvation from the bonds. Hindus in India believe in previous births (reincarnation) and therefore they can digest this background. If this had happened in the West, Christians do not believe in previous births and therefore would certainly misinterpret these concepts. Therefore the divine program can be understood in the context of the background of a particular region only.
Therefore we have to understand the statements in the light of God as well as in the light of flesh accordingly, since both aspects are required for the devotees. The human aspect shows the path and the divine aspect shows the nature of the goal. Similarly the nature of the program of the human incarnation depends on the level and the psychology of the people living in a particular region in a particular time. With the help of such parameters alone can you appreciate the total behavior of the personality of the human incarnation.
- By Shri Datta Swami
www.universal-spirituality[.]org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
[Mr Antony said that one of his friends argued that since Jesus submitted His soul to God, He cannot be God.]
You are giving value to one statement of Jesus and you are not giving value to another statement of the same Jesus. Jesus also said that He and His Father are one and the same. This statement of Jesus is also equally valid. Every human incarnation is a two-in-one system. When you say God-in-flesh, the word flesh means a living human being and not the mere inert human body. Krishna said in the Gita that He enters the human body (Manusheem Tanum…). Here too the word human body means the living human being and not the mere inert human body. The word human body means the composite of the three human bodies and such a composite is called as a living human being. This means that the Lord enters the human being. The three bodies in the composite of the human being are:
The outermost gross body, which is alive due to the awareness that pervades all over it.
The inner subtle body which is a bundle of qualities or feelings, which are alive because these qualities are the vibrations in the pure awareness.
The innermost causal body which is the pure awareness itself.
The gross body is crucified. All the statements (speech) of Jesus were given by the subtle body only through the mouth of the gross body. This subtle body of Jesus stated that His ‘body’ was not prepared for crucifixion. Here the ‘body’ refers to the gross body which is different from the subtle body. In the end the subtle body stated that it was submitting its soul to God. The word soul refers to the causal body. This composite of three bodies stands as the meaning of the word Jesus. This composite is the meaning of the word ‘flesh’. This composite is called as the human being or jiva.
Strictly speaking, the word jiva means the subtle body only. The soul is called as Atman. God entered Jesus and therefore God is in flesh. God is the fourth item and is called as the Supersoul. It is this Supersoul or God, who said the statements such as “I and My Father are one and the same” or “I am the truth”. Therefore you should not confuse between the statements of subtle body and those of the Supersoul. An ordinary human being is just a composite of these three bodies without the Supersoul.
If this is not understood correctly, there will be a glaring contradiction between such statements. The purpose of the aspect of the human being in Jesus was to stand as a practical example for all human beings. The purpose of the aspect of God in Jesus was to practically explain the divine nature of God. Any human incarnation consists of these two aspects; a mixture of a human being (Nara) and God (Narayana). If you take any sweet, it is prepared by mixing sugar and flour. But the item is called as ‘sweet’ referring to the property of sugar only, since it is more important. Similarly any human incarnation is divine referring to the nature of God only, since He is more important. An electric wire consists of electricity and non-electric wire. But it is called as electric current referring only to the more important electricity. You call a lamp (oil-lamp) as light since it consists of a flame and other materials like iron, sand, glass, a cotton wick and oil. It is called as light referring to the more important flame, neglecting the other non-luminous materials. Therefore when you call Jesus as God, it really means that God is in Jesus. Similarly Hanuman was the incarnation of Lord Shiva. As a human being he acted as a servant of Lord Rama. As Lord Shiva, He jumped over the sea and killed several demons. Similarly Lord Rama learnt spiritual knowledge from Sage Vashishta. This is the aspect of His human body. But as Lord Narayana a stone was converted into the lady, Ahalya by the touch of His divine foot. Similarly Krishna was a driver of the chariot of Arjuna from the point of His human body. As Lord Narayana He preached the Gita to Arjuna and gave a divine vision to him. The purpose of the aspect of God is to teach human beings about God. The purpose of the aspect of the human being is to freely mix with human beings and stand as an example for them.
Even the Prophet Mohammed was a human incarnation of the Lord. He did not reveal His divine aspect because it was not required in those circumstances. Thus you have to realize the program of the human incarnation according to the requirement suitability to the surroundings. If Lord Krishna, had been born in the West instead of Jesus, people might have got more spoiled. The people there were very cruel because historically nowhere else in the world was a human incarnation of the Lord killed in such a brutal way. It shows the cruel nature of people in that time and place. For people of such nature only love and kindness can bring realization.
If Krishna had been born there, they could have very easily accepted the negative qualities shown by Krishna like stealing etc. but they would never understand their significance and the significance of the human incarnation. Therefore a suitable program was adopted by the Lord. You should not criticize Jesus about His incapability in protecting Himself because you would be joining the cruel people who criticized and condemned Him. Similarly you should not criticize Krishna, for stealing butter since it was done only to cut their bond with their hard earned wealth. Similarly Lord Krishna’s attracting the Gopikas by dance was only to cut their bonds with their husbands. The Gopikas were sages in their previous births and had prayed to the Lord for salvation from the bonds. Hindus in India believe in previous births (reincarnation) and therefore they can digest this background. If this had happened in the West, Christians do not believe in previous births and therefore would certainly misinterpret these concepts. Therefore the divine program can be understood in the context of the background of a particular region only.
Therefore we have to understand the statements in the light of God as well as in the light of flesh accordingly, since both aspects are required for the devotees. The human aspect shows the path and the divine aspect shows the nature of the goal. Similarly the nature of the program of the human incarnation depends on the level and the psychology of the people living in a particular region in a particular time. With the help of such parameters alone can you appreciate the total behavior of the personality of the human incarnation.
- By Shri Datta Swami
www.universal-spirituality[.]org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
