Quote (TiStuff @ 18 Oct 2024 14:04)
Golden Rule can be found in the Bible verses Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31:“ So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
and whats that?
Since most the other people are just trolling Christianity I decided to share some of the Bhagavad Gita to draw some comparisons amongst my fellow Christians.
In the Gita it is a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna who are first cousins. They are about to fight in a war over a land dispute in India. Both are contradicted by the fact that they have family and friends on BOTH sides of the conflict.
Krishna(who is actually the 7th incarnation of Vishnu(One of the 3 gods of their trinity) is essentially doing the following:
Reminding him of his duty as a warrior, advice on work, and instructions on how to live:
Duty as a warrior:
"If you will not fight this righteous war, then you will fail in your duty, lose your reputation, and incur sin". Work:
"You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work". Selflessness:
"Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself - without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat". Action:
"Nobody can remain without action, even for a moment". Self-control:
"Do everything you have to do, but not with greed, not with ego, not with lust, not with envy but with love, compassion, humility and devotion". Self-knowledge:
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. We are made of our thoughts; we are molded by our thoughts". Self-destructive impulses:
"There are three gates leading to the hell of self-destruction for the soul—lust, anger, and greed". This reminds me a lot of the moral questions you see in the story of "Cain and Abel" in Genesis as well as the "guidelines" you find in the 10 commandments.
I liken the relationship of Krishna to Arjuna as Jesus was to his disciples. Sharing with them the word that IS God. Jesus being God's one and only son and Arjuna being the "ONE" who is given direction by Krishna(one of Vishnu's incarnations(god)).
To show how easy it is to confuse sculpture sometimes in any religion it clouds the "true path". One of the more known quotes that was specifically quoted by J. Robert Oppenheimer(scientist who created the first nuclear bomb) quoted the Gita after witnessing the first "nuclear bomb test" saying just as Krishna said, "Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds". The thing about the quote is people thought/think that when he said "Death" he was talking about "physical death", he was actually talking about the "MIND" because it is the "MIND" that inevitably leads to destruction and chaos. It's why Oppenheimer quoted it because through his mind(intellect/ego) he created something that would inevitably cause people great harm and physical death.
I know this is a tldr but I wanted to show the comparisons because the "Gita" is the Hindus "Bible". The Gita is also written around 400 BCE which is the "closest" to the time frame that the Abrahamic faiths became the focal point of religion.
The Vedas are the oldest scriptural texts and date back to 1200 BCE and some of the most profound philosophical texts are found there(Upanishads). The Vedas are so far advanced for their time that they "changed my life". They forced me as a Catholic to ACCEPT that "peoples" who lived 1200 years before Christ were able to articulate things that we didn't discover or come purvey too until much later(1600's onward). If you look at a lot of "modern inventions" you will find an ancient Sanskrit text talking about it or explaining it in full detail 2,500 years before people like Sir Isacc Newton, Galileo, and other staple names "discovered it".
That is why I will say that the Bible and the Vedas are the closest to being the word of God because of how much depth and intelligence it took to form these scriptures. I will always say the Bible is closer to the word of God not because I'm a Catholic but because people really do "believe it with every fiber in their soul". Myself included. I just have a profound respect and admiration for the Vedas because from a philosophical perspective they allowed me to better understand "Christ" becaue of the sheer logic/intellect present there.
I apologize for quoting any Biblical scripture out of context it's just that for the last several years I've only been studying/reading Eastern texts/scripture and a few weeks ago I realized I had to re-read the Bible again because every time I read it I discover deeper meaning. I appreciate you guys for telling me to read the Gospel again just needed that extra push. God Bless and Namaste!