Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Jesus is the only way

Saw a brilliant Jewish preacher lecture untiringly for 5 hours today at an open courtyard about why Jesus is the only way. Students heckled him incessantly but the man was unrelenting. He fervently believed that the Bible was the only way and all those who were not Christians were not good human beings. He was jeered, abused, ridiculed and challenged incessantly by students for the whole time but he kept talking, he never yielded. This was a man who was ready to face anything for his faith and could not accept that there was any other way other than that of Jesus.

I asked him "I am not a Christian does that mean i am not a good human being?" He said, "No". I asked "Are only Christians good human beings? He said "Yes". I asked him "Why is that?" He said "Do you believe 2+2 is 4?" I said "No." He was at a loss. Then he said "I cannot explain to you why 2+2 is 4. It would take too much time." I said, "Then you are being illogical". I said "I have seen another Muslim leader who was 5 times as convinced as you are that his was the onlyway. He addressed an impressionable crowd like you today and He was also right." At which he started objecting "There is a reason why muslims are not right, do you want to know?". I said "You know people like you are the reason why there are suicide bombers in the world today." And he repeated "There is a reason why muslims are not right, do you want to know?" I said "No" and i walked away with the man speechless.

14 comments:

Sabariram said...

Hahaha...Very fitting reply you have given.After reading this,I am just reminded of a proverb, You can't wake a man who pretends to be sleeping!.

komal said...

yes abhishek i did also have one of these experiences in oz only the preacher wasn't jewish but a born again evangelical so no wonder the missionaries in india are also like this only what to do thank our stars that we have the enlightened minds of Guruji and Baba Ramdevji in our midst.well done . Reminds of what Swami Vivekananda saying "its time now for indians to have muscles of iron and nerves of steel to stand up and show the world what a proofound philosophy our forefathers developed. Hats off to you...

Random Reflections said...

Great Abhishek ! Yes it is this kind of fanatical thinking that is the root of evil in this world. Sadly some spiritual paths choose this approach without understanding the original intent of the teaching. I was once at an iskon gathering where the preacher put down Lord Buddha.

Blessed are we who have a Guru like Sri Sri whose vast vision and compassion encompasses and embraces all !

Jai Guru Dev,

Unknown said...

thanks a lot for the love and support guys...i was shaking when i took him on, but am glad that i did. like Guruji says, it is time for us to speak up!

suman said...

This is because of the way they have been taught. As Guruji says, the bible was written many years after Jesus left his mortal body. So i think that it could contain many other things which Jesus never mentioned!! People could have added texts for their personal and short term benefits!
Also above everything else I wish such people could use their brains a little :-)

Unknown said...

Hari Om!

I agree with the man that "Jesus is the only way". The reason is there is no difference between what Vedanta / Srimad Bhagwad Gita teaches and what Lord Jesus Christ preached. Truth can not be two. If one principle is true for you then it must be true for me also. There can not be two truths. Is it true that fire burns me in Israel / United States and does not burns me in India?

What is truth for christians are truth for Hindus and are truth for Muslims. If any principles differ between humans then it is not truth.

The difference of opinion arises when we start interpreting the truth wrongly. Different Books / different gospels /different sects are there in all religion. Interpretation may differ according to the understanding of head of the sect. It may also go wrong, but the basic truth remains the same.

Who does not want to remain happy ? Does the want for happiness differ? Who does not want to remain forever? Does the search for permanency differ?

Lord Jesus Christ declarations that “I am my father are one”, “Unconditional Love” does not differ from Lord Krishna declarations in Srimad Bhagwad Gita. The reason is there is no two when you are in Godly State of mind. You connect to him and you are him. When you are him what you spoke is of him and not of yours. Accordingly the statement will not differ. You will speak the truth.

Love and Om!

Unknown said...

@suman: agree totally

@vedanti: the problem arises when a person is not in a godly state of mind, in this case, the preacher. Even lord krishna has told arjuna that your dharma is to fight, so fight 100%, leave the consequences upon me. As hindus we have allowed a sense of passiveness to creep into our actions, we have allowed others to belittle our faith, and that is unacceptable

Unknown said...

Hari Om!

Those who follows vedas are real christians and those who follow Jesus are real Hindus. There is no difference in truth preached by the two.

Faith of both Hindus and Christians are same.If it differs then both are wrong.

If the Jewish Preacher says that Christians are those sect of people whose style of living by way of outer appearance are different from those of Hindu, then he is wrong and he himself is not at all Christian.

Christian are those sect of people who believes in teaching of Jesus. When Jesus said "Love thy Neighbour" he does not mean do not love if he is Hindu.

There are many preacher like the person you meet. Do not hear them.Our utlimate goal should be to evolve ourself.There always be such type of people in the world. The nature of world is such.Now we have to choose whether we have to convert the world into christians / Hindus or save our energy and evolve ourself.Realised person like Guruji was able to penetrate into war stricken Iraq and was able to teach them Sudarshan Kriya. Even the Mullas were considering them as their own Guruji.

Bhagwad Gita is to be read and quoted in totality and in context.Lord Krishna will also say to Arjuna to fight if an injustice will happen to devout Chrishtian.

The most important good thing we can do to this world is to evolve ourself.Even if we really want to save Hinduism then preach the people what Vedas says. Remove their ignorance and tell them that Christians or Hindus all are "Allah Ke Bande" and equally acceptable to Vedas.

Hinduism / Vedas speak of Truth.The highest service to Hinduism is to live the knowledge of Vedas and spread it to the world by example.

Love and Om!

Unknown said...

@vedanti: agree that these people should be avoided. but they need to be made aware of what they are doing as well. we need to be aware of passiveness

Anonymous said...

why is the Jewish preacher talking about Jesus? They used to have problems with Christians...Did they reconcile?

Unknown said...

the guy was nuts

Unknown said...

Hari Om!

Vedas are the right source of knowledge. Evolving is not passiveness.

If we are evolved people will hear us.

Follow the vedas, apply it in our life and then preach the preacher.

Till we have Rajas and Tamas, whatever we do will not be pure.

Everything requires a prequalifications.Why not saving Hinduism?.

Love and Om!

Unknown said...

well vedanti, the trigunas are there for a reason. nowhere does lord krishna mention that only sattva should remain. if there is no rahas, there would be no activity. if there is no tamas there would be no sleep. pure sattva is jsut as unnatural as any other guna.

The consciousness is beyond these three. rise beyond the gunas, and with innocence do your karma

Unknown said...

Hari Om!

Agree with you.Understood correctly.

Love and Om!

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