Hinduism, TM, and Hare Krishna (Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements) by J. Isamu Yamamoto

Author:J. Isamu Yamamoto [Yamamoto, J. Isamu]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ZONDERVAN
Published: 2016-09-05T16:00:00+00:00

IV. Jesus Christ

A. The Hindu Position on Jesus Christ Briefly Stated

1. Christ did not suffer.

2. Jesus was not perfect.

3. Jesus Christ was one of many great holy men.

4. Highest reverence should be offered to Brahman, who is the greatest among all the gods.

B. Arguments Used by Hindus to Support Their Position on Jesus Christ

1. Christ did not suffer.

a. It is absurd to view Christ as a sufferer, because he was a spiritually enlightened man beyond physical pain.

b. Although Hindu scriptures do not comment on Jesus Christ, contemporary Hindu leaders have much to say about him.

(1) One view is that Christ did not actually suffer.

(2) Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who boasts of a great following, stated, “I don’t think Christ ever suffered or Christ could suffer. . . . It’s a pity that Christ is talked of in terms of suffering.”68

2. Jesus was not perfect.

a. Like all humans, Jesus had moral imperfections.

b. Most Hindu swamis and gurus have high praise for the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, but they do not acknowledge that he was sinless and morally perfect.

c. Radhakrishnan points to unbridled anger as a major flaw in Jesus’ character:

“No man on earth has ever maintained spiritual poise all through his life. The Jesus who declared that men must not resist evil if they are to become the sons of the Father who makes his sun shine upon good men and bad, and his rain to fall upon the just and the unjust, was the same Jesus who cursed the fig-tree and drove the tradesmen from the temple.”69

3. Jesus Christ was one of many great holy men.

a. All religions have given spiritual masters to the world, and Jesus Christ was only one of them.

b. Although many Hindu leaders often express their admiration for Jesus as a spiritual teacher and an enlightened man, they recognize him neither as the one and only Savior of humankind nor as the unique Son of God.

c. They assign Christ to an elite group of holy people who are all as spiritually remarkable as he was.

d. Yogananda says, “The great masters of India mold their lives by the same godly ideals that animated Jesus. Freemen all, lords of themselves, the Yogi-Christs of India are part of the immortal fraternity.”70

e. Some Hindus go so far as to say that there were greater holy men than Jesus. For example, Bali Mardan Maharaj, president of the New York ISKCON center, once stated, “Prabhupada [founder of the Hare Krishna movement, whom followers believe to be the incarnation of Krisna] was a world-genius, greater than Jesus.”71

4. Highest reverence should be offered to Brahman, who is the greatest among all the gods.

a. Although some Hindu teachers will acknowledge that Jesus might have been an avatar (a human incarnation of one of the gods), they assign Jesus a status lower than Brahman’s in their pantheon of deities.

b. Their exalted, and for many of them singular, reverence toward Brahman is consistent with the teachings of Hindu holy texts. For instance, the ancient Vedas teach, “Whoso in Man knows Brahman, knows the highest Lord.

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