Originally Posted by
Sahasranama
Yes, confusion is the problem.
*The vedas say, ekam sad, truth is one.
*The bible says, there is one god and one way to reach him.
Universalist will interpret both sayings as having the same meaning. But this neglects the fact that the Christian who wrote down his statement in the bible and all the subsequent Christians who followed those words, had a completely different idea in mind then what the rishis had realised through the vedic mantras.
Through the study of the bible and Christianity it's easy to conclude that it doesn't teach the same concepts and principles as the vedas. We do not have the right to tell the Christians what you are teaching is not really Christianity, you are misinterpretating the bible. The same thing holds true for Christians or Universalist who try to impose Christian values on the words of the vedas and upanishads.
What the Hindu scriptures teach is that yes, we are all worshipping the same truth, but the other religions are doing it by the wrong method. They will not reach the ultimate, but they will reach whatever they are worshipping. This means that they might reach the world of ghosts or be born again as a Christian, because Christianity was on their mind. Whatever is on your mind at the moment of your last breath will determine your next birth. These are the teachings off the Bhagavad Gita. Some might say, they will be born again as Hindus. No, not if they do not have the merits to be born as Hindu nor if they remembered Jesus before they died.
It is possible that Christianity, with all its flaws, inspires someone to become a better person. We should not deny that. Atheism, humanism, socialism, feminism are all philosophies that can inspire someone to become a better person, to perform better karmas. That doesn't make those philosophies part of Hinduism.
Someone might say, what is the harm in letting Christian doctrines and Christian saints and mesiah enter Hinduism? There is one reason when this wouldn't cause any confliction, that is if you believe the Hindu gods are all fictional characters, adding more fictional characters to the pantheon is no big deal. This is not the vedanta of Hinduism or the vedanta of Shankara or Ramanuja and other acharyas. Universalist will say that Hinduism is a syncretic religion that has added god upon god, concept upon concept from culture upon culture to result in what is now known as Hinduism. This view is unacceptable for anyone who takes Hindu Dharma seriously. Yes, if you already believe that the Hindu Gods are man made lullabies to put us to sleep at night, then you can add Jesus to the pantheon. Otherwise, there's a incongruency.
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