Krishna, Christ, and the Doctrine of Devotion By Dominick Montalto

The striking similarities between the major religions of the world has become increasingly apparent to me in that what seems to be vast differences in perception in Eastern philosophy and religion from Western perspectives does not really exist past the surface. It is cliché that “all paths lead to God”, and in fact, this is true no matter what religion one adheres to and which particular incarnation of God that one worships. For years now, I have given much time to comparative literature, philosophy, and religion, and have asserted elsewhere my positions on each of these subjects. However, only recently I discovered a striking similarity, if not direct relationship between Krishna (the human incarnation of the Sustainer of Creation in Hinduism, Vishnu) and Christ who is the Redeemer of humankind in Christianity. Yet, I am not pointing to this similarity. This relationship is on the surface and finds its expression in both Krishna and Christ’s placement as the middle incarnation of God in their respective trinities. As I have explained elsewhere,[1] Christ’s role in destroying the world in the Apocalypse is similar to Shiva’s role as the Destroyer god in the Hindu trinity, whom, when the world is ripe for destruction, will come down from his meditative trance in the Himalayas and burn up Creation. Another striking point of interest is that Christ is the Logos in the Gospel of John and in this form is the Creator god, and in the Hindu trinity, this role belongs to Brahma. Although I digress, it is interesting that in Christian theology Christ subsumes the role of both Creator and Destroyer while maintaining his most vital role as Savior of the human race. It is in this way that Christianity subverts the “polytheistic” experience of more ancient religions, although Hinduism is itself actually a monotheistic religion as well.

Here, however, I want to illustrate the deeper resemblance between Krishna and Christ I mentioned earlier. The resemblance between these two human incarnations of God is in the doctrine of devotion that they impart to their followers. Although I did not see it before, because I scorn the Christian mortification of the flesh, it was not until I recently read Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Christ that I became aware of the similar relationship between Krishna and Christ. A fundamental belief of Hindu doctrine espoused by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita and later in the Uddhava Gita is that what we know of as “the self” is an illusion, a projection of the ego that seems real and permanent. Krishna teaches that we must give up this seeming reality of a self and become devoted to him; that through this devotion we will be liberated from the m?y? (the illusion) and mistaken appearance of all created things as real in terms of their “permanence”. This is called bhakti yoga and is exemplified in the tenth Book called, “Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God” of the ?r?mad Bh?gavata Pur?na which is the story of Krishna’s childhood and adolescence. As Edwin Bryant, translator of this tenth book states in his Introduction, “Bhakti yoga . . . involves saturating the senses with objects connected with Krishna’s l?l?, [his sporting/pastimes] and constantly filling the mind with thoughts of him. It is a process that transforms the focus of the mind and senses . . . .”[2]

This is the same experience that Christ desires from his own disciples and followers—to repress and abandon the desires of the self, very much a real ego in Christian dogma, and be devoted to him. In Krishna, as in Christ, as Bryant succinctly remarks, “The highest meditation and goal of life is total absorption in God.”[3] This is the fundamental objective of both Krishna and Christ’s religious beliefs: give up the self, whether we see it as real or an illusion, and become devoted to no one and nothing but me. They both conclude in their respective scriptures that they are the fulfillment of all ceaseless desire and the peaceful joy that the restless human soul desires. In the introduction to Kempis’ Imitation, translator Leo Sherley-Price states that in Christian teaching, “the way of purgation . . . is the first stage of the soul’s progress towards its divinely appointed destiny of union with God.”[4] In the Christian manner, we have a self that leads us to sin and corruption, away from the presence of God. Thus, Kempis writes his mystical text imparting to his readers the wisdom of denying the sinful desires of the self that tear us from the presence of and fulfillment we are destined for in God. In Hindu terms, the self has no coherent realness and cannot experience any fulfillment of desire because all things suffer change and all less real than God who is the true fulfillment of the soul given a physical form in the flesh.

In The Imitation Kempis states, “Who has a fiercer struggle than he who strives to conquer himself? Yet this must be our chief concern—to conquer self, and by daily growing stronger than self, to advance in holiness.”[5] Thus, the self, a love and desire for worldly things in the self is the barrier between God and us. In The Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna, “Restraining all the senses, one should sit, yogically disciplined, focused on me . . . When a man meditates on the objects of sense he becomes attached to them; from attachment desire is born, from desire anger.”[6] Here, Krishna emphasizes two major beliefs, restraint of the senses and by implication, the self, towards objects of desire and the devotion to him that results from this. If we discipline ourselves towards the experience of him as the only fulfillment of desire, then we will see that desire has no satisfaction in attachment to sense objects that endure change and so are not permanent and thus not real. Christ’s Crucifixion is the greatest example of the sacrifice of self that he taught his disciples and that those raised in the Christian faith also learn to abide in through the memory of this act. Mystically speaking, Christ’s transformation of the bread and wine into his flesh and blood in the Last Supper is a more mysterious and microcosmic experience of his surrendering of self in contrast to his Crucifixion.

Krishna descended into the natural world in human form and imparted his knowledge concerning the self, restraint, and detachment towards the material world, while Christ himself descended in human form and enacted this experience of loss of self in his Crucifixion. Although each of these incarnations of God took different paths towards showing humankind the way to become devoted to him through knowledge of and renunciation of the self, each of them had two fundamental principles to teach their followers. First, the self is not what is real; the only thing that is real is God. Second, for us to find redemption from this painful experience of self and return to God, we must remain detached to objects in the sensual world for attachment to worldly desires moves us further away from the presence and salvation of God towards sin and corruption in mind and body. Lastly, having purged our minds of the notion of a self, we can then devote ourselves fully and completely to God, the only object in which all desire can be sated.

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[1] See my essay “Shiva as Christ in the Hindu Trimurti”.
[2] Introduction to the Penguin Classics translation of Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God. xxix.
[3] Ibid. xxx.
[4] Introduction to the Penguin Classics translation of The Imitation of Christ. 14-15.
[5] Book One: Counsels on the Spiritual Life, Chapter 3: On the Teaching of Truth: 30-32. 31.
[6] The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2: 7-13. 12.

–Dominick Montalto

Lost Souls By Lisa Jackson

Normally, I opt against reading anything romance related. Romantic suspense, perhaps. Mix in secret cults along with the twisted mind of a serial killer, I just might grab a copy. Page turning suspense is what you will find in the New York Times best selling novel, Lost Souls, by Lisa Jackson. It is a fictional account of twenty-seven-year-old Kristi Bentz. She’s a New Orleans native who survived a horrible experience with a serial killer before embarking on a quest to explore the evilness of their minds. The tempting synopsis alone would convince even the most skeptical of readers to purchase this book:

“…To find the truth, Kristi will need to become part of the cult’s inner circle, to learn their secrets, and play the part of the lost soul without losing herself in the process. It’s a dangerous path, and Kristi is skating on it’s knife-thin edge. The deeper she goes, the more Kristi begins to wonder if she is the hunter or the prey. She’s certain she’s being watched and followed–studied, even–as yet another girl disappears, and another. And when the bodies finally begin to surface–in ways that bring fear to the campus and terror to the hearts of even hardened cops like Detective Bentz and his partner Reuben Montoya–Kristi realizes with chilling clarity that she has underestimated her foe. She is playing a game with a killer more cunning and blood-thirsty than anyone can imagine, one who has personally selected her for membership in a cult of death from which there will be no escape.”

When three young college girls go missing, the authorities dismiss them as misfits who simply ran away. But Kristi senses the truth. These girls were not simply runaways, but victims of a serial killer. Her instincts take her to All Saints College to solve the mystery and stop a murderer. So if you’re one of the millions of faithful true crime fans out there, get ready. You will not be disappointed with Ms. Jackson’s latest work.

Shiva as Christ in the Hindu Trimurti by Dominick Montalto

It has gone down in Church history that between His Resurrection and Ascension, Christ allotted to each of His disciples a foreign land to which each would go and preach the Gospel. Thomas, claims suggest, was the Apostle whom Christ told to preach the Word in India. Taking these suppositions as truth, I wish to expound on the similarities I perceive between Christ and the Hindu god Shiva.

Alternately called the Son of God and the Son of Man, Christ is the second Being in the Trinity of the Catholic Church. In the Hindu religion, one learns in passing that there are over 333,000 gods, and that there is a Trimurti (trinity); not unlike the Christian one in which Shiva is the third Being. Christ is the man who gave up his life as the ransom for the evil of humankind to wipe out their sins and defeat Death, whereas Shiva is the god appointed the task of burning up the world at the end of time. After he destroys the Creation, he will bring out of the conflagration and ashes a new Heaven and a new Earth, does this sound familiar? Though they occupy different positions in their respective trinities, the Book of Revelation states that Christ will return in the Second Coming in which he will destroy Satan and all evil, raze this world and from its ashes resuscitate life in a new Heaven and a new Earth. As a digression, I believe it would only be right for the Holy Spirit to be the force behind the Apocalypse and Eternal Peace seeing that its tertiary parallel Shiva is the god who will do the same in the Hindu tradition.

I wish to draw my readers’ attention to the idol of Shiva and the icon of Christ in the following manner. In the bronze cast idol of Shiva as “Lord of the Dance, or Nataraj”, a ring of fire surrounds him unto which he raises his four flaming hands while one of his legs is raised in motion to denote the “dance” of death and destruction. As serpents flame from his hair and he is burning up the world, he has his other foot on the head of the Demon of Ignorance. Aside from the belief that in both Christian and Hindu doctrine that fire will destroy Creation and that as I have stated above, Christ and Shiva will be the impetuses behind this act, I want to discuss the Demon of Ignorance and his role in this process. I think it is safe to assume that the correlation of the Demon of Ignorance in Christianity is Satan. Is it not so that Satan’s ignorance of God in His Power and Glory cost him his angelic station and dragged him into the world of sin and evil? Does not the Book of Revelation state that in His Second Coming, Christ will defeat Satan and lock him away in Hell? Will not Christ, like Shiva, in the Apocalyptic War of Good and Evil, crush the head and metaphorically the ego of this demon of ignorance, Satan? Here I hope to have delineated a parallel between Christ and Shiva, not only as destroyers of Creation at the end of Time, but also as destroyers of all vice and evil in the embodiment of Satan, or the Demon of Ignorance.

I also want to make a brief point in a further similarity between Christ and Shiva before I end my discussion, once again using the figure of Satan. I recall the image, whether it is literary or iconic, of Christ crushing the head of the basilisk, a type of serpent representative of Satan in his evil as I have pointed to elsewhere. Undoubtedly, whether or not the Hindu Demon of Ignorance has the form of a serpent anywhere in Hindu myth, I believe once can see a terribly forceful and true parallel between Shiva’s foot on the head of this demon and Christ crushing the head of the basilisk. Whether or not the parallels between Shiva and Christ asserted here are viable, I think they are viable not necessarily in themselves but to where they lead. They lead to the validity of the saying “all paths lead to God” and moreover, that from God all these paths are born no matter how heretical and distorted they may seem in the eyes of another or to their own religion or particular belief system.

Dominick Montalto is currently pursuing a career in publishing as a copy editor and writer. His interests vary from art history to literature to philosophy and religion to music. He has degrees in literature, with minors in art history and philosophy. His literary interests include the long 19th Century in Britain and France, from the French Revolution through the early Modern novel, with particular emphasis on British Romanticism, the Gothic, and British and French Decadence. His philosophical and religious interests join with his Romantic background; he is specifically interested in Catholicism and Eastern philosophy, particularly Hinduism, and to a lesser degree, Buddhism and Taoism. His written work, both poetry and critical prose, examines and explores his interest in these religions and literary worlds. His critical prose focuses mainly on mysticism–the roots of religion; the relationship between art and religion; the relationship between literature and religion; and the similarities, hidden to many, of not only all religions to each other, but in particular the similarities of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs to those present in Christianity, especially in the figure of Christ. He has had several publication credits to his name since January 2006 in print and online, in both poetry and critical prose.

What Is An American?

What does it mean to be an American? Does it imply belonging to a specific race, culture, or religion? Should it imply those things? I would say no to two of the above. To be an American cannot refer to a specific race since our nation was multiracial from its conception. We all know that the Indians were the first Americans followed by African slaves and European settlers. It matters little how any group arrived nor how they were treated once on American soil. All three groups are equally a part of the fabric of America.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali makes the case that to be an American is a concept rather than an ethnicity. She refers to the contrast between American immigration and Europe. Ali points out that to claim the title of English, Danish, or Dutch is to be a member of a specific racial group. I will take it a bit further and say that one cannot be a true Englishman unless they are white and native to the country. The immigrant to England can adopt the culture or religion, but they are not indigenous. This is similar to whites living in Africa. Some may live on the continent but they are not truly African. None of this means that immigrants on the European continent should be treated as second class citizens. It is to show that one cannot become Dutch like he/she can become an American.

On the other hand, becoming an American should include adopting a culture. There is a type of food, dialect, and diction that is unique to the United States. English is also the most widely spoken language here, although not official. Therefore, American culture includes language, food, clothing style, and worldviews along with shared practices.

So what does it mean to be an American? It is both a concept and a culture.

A Night of Glamour and Philanthropy At The Gift Bags For Good Charity Auction

Everyone loves a good gift bag. Just imagine how much more exciting a gift bag would be if it were autographed by a celebrity. That is exactly what I found when I attended the Gift Bags For Good, charity Auction at the W Hotel in New York City. It was an event brought to us by the charitable foundation, Clothes Off Our Back. The organization was established by Jane Kaczmarek of Malcolm In The Middle and Bradley Whitford, of The West Wing. What can we expect from a foundation that furnishes the public with the opportunity to own the former possessions of celebrities? We can certainly expect a night of fun and elegance all for a good cause. My fascinating celebrity sightings included DJ Josh Madden, 30 Rock’s Lonny Ross and Katrina Bowden, Shamika Cotton of HBO’s The Wire, and health/fitness guru, Susan Powter.

Katrina Bowden and Lonny Ross of NBC’s 30 Rock

The gift bags on display were simply to die for. A favorite of mine was the Fergie for Kipling handbag autographed by the singer. The domino design only added to the wow effect produced by the bag. The good news is, bidding for the Kipling and other gift bags have been extended to May 29, 2008. If you are a Coach Bag aficionado like I am, you just might fall in love with this Ergo pebbled large leather tote in bamboo. If you fancy something a bit smaller, you may opt to bid on the dark brown Hugo Boss Callista or chic Tous handbag.

DJ Josh Madden and 30 Rock’s Lonnie Ross

Of course we cannot leave out the sports fans. Shaquille O’Neal generously donated a cool red autographed NBA All-Star Jersey complete with his official game tickets autographed as well. For those of you who long for baseball heaven, there is the Jorge Posada gift bag containing all the goodies you could ever ask for. How about an autographed baseball bat, baseball cards, R.S.V.P Kenneth Cole NY perfume, and Johnnie Walker Green label whiskey neatly tucked inside?

Unisex Salon, a rock band with a truly unique sound, provided the event’s entertainment.

The excitement doesn’t stop there. When you purchase one or more of these fabulous gift bags, you will be supporting worthy causes. One such organization is Water Partners International which addresses both water supply and sanitation in developing countries. Some of the countries benefiting from the organization include Ethiopia, India, El Salvador, and the Philippines. Just imagine how rewarding it must be to provide clean drinking water to those who are otherwise unable to get it. The proceeds will also benefit America’s Second Harvest, World Education, The Art of Elysium, and autism research. Be sure to visit Clothes Off Our Back to bid on a sought after gift bag. You will not only recieve collectors items, you may just improve the quality of someone’s life.

Images curtesy of Think PR

Wanted: A Good White Anglo-Saxon Male…

…to be Senator Barack Obama’s VP running mate. Personally, I believe that a person of either sex or any race can be an effective president and vice president. I also believe that people in this country are ready for change, including having a black man in the white house. But I am also a realist. I’m not sure that Senator Obama can reach the White House without a “traditional white man” on the ticket. Why? I believe that certain members of American society would feel that an all minority or black man/woman (of any race) ticket would be too much change. It pains me to admit it, but why deny that fact? Who might be the best white man for the job? Well, he would certainly have to be a white man of significance. Perhaps Senator Edwards or John Kerry. Edwards would likely be the more fitting choice because his run for the presidency is still fresh on our minds. On the other hand, I’m not sure that Senator Clinton could win without having Obama on the ticket, but that’s another post.

Photos by jurvetson’s photostream

 

Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out

It is often said that the penalty for leaving Islam is death. That doesn’t deter many people from escaping what they believe is the bondage of Islam. Jewish and Islamic theology expert Joel Richardson co-authored the book, Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out, which brings such stories to light. The former Muslims included in this compelling work do not testify of a religion of peace, but one of hate and brutality. According to a witness, Islam influenced a man to beat his wife to such a point that she had to have her womb removed. What horrible crime did she commit? She bore three daughters instead of at least one son. It is also declared that the Koran is not a holy book but one filled with verses that call for the deaths of unbelievers and their eventual torture, by Allah, after death. Below is an excerpt from Chapter One:

MY SISTER

ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, the world saw the seventh century mentality of fundamentalist Islam gain possession of twenty-first century technology. The results were catastrophic. The violent nature of Islam arrived on American soil unforgettably and irrevocably. Many Americans, along with other Westerners, hadn’t thought much about Islam before then. September 11 changed all that, bringing Islam home to the twenty-first century Western world. Suddenly, Iran and Iraq didn’t seem so far away after all, and Westerners, especially we Americans, wanted to learn more about this faceless enemy who’d declared war on us in the most barbaric way imaginable. We found ourselves confronted with a deadly force that we’d thought lay half a world away and fourteen centuries in the past. Those terrorist bombings we’d heard of only on television had moved from a faraway Middle East to our own backyard. On September 11, what Islam represents became one of the most important questions facing the Western world, and our first experience with it left a bitter taste in many American mouths.
Parvin Darabi doesn’t just talk about the barbarity of radical Islam that Americans experienced that day, she’d lived it long before the Twin Towers fell. In this poignant and painful letter, she writes of her sister, Homa, who struggled mightily against the heavy hand of the Islamic government in Iran. Living as a woman carries a heavy price in Iran. Homa was willing to pay it. Now Parvin carries on, and she urges us all to ignore the peaceful rhetoric of Islam and focus instead on the violent reality of Islamic rule. What Homa Darabi experienced in Iran could one day come to the West if Islamofascist terrorism is not defeated. Homa’s story is a specific example of how an Islamic government works and why it would never work in the West.

My Sister

My sister, Dr. Homa Darabi, was born in Tehran, Iran, in January 1940, two months premature, to Eshrat Dastyar, a child bride who at age thirteen had married Esmaeil Darabi. Homa was my older sister, my protector, and my role model. Homa had a life full of hope and promise that a tyrannical and fundamentalist Islamic system destroyed…

During her professional life my sister was under pressure from some parents of her younger patients to give the label of mentally incapacitated to many perfectly intelligent young girls so that they could be saved from the tortures of the zealots (150 strokes of a whip for things such as wearing makeup or lipstick). Having to label these young women truly broke my sister’s heart.

When a sixteen-year- old girl was shot to death in northern Tehran for wearing lipstick, my sister could no longer handle the guilt she felt about her former involvement in the Iranian Revolution. My sister felt Iran had been hijacked by the religious factions, and the way women were treated in Iran was unforgivable. She wanted the world to know what was happening. She finally decided to protest the oppression of women by setting herself on fire in a crowded square in northern Tehran on February 21, 1994. Her last cries were:

Death to tyranny!
Long live liberty!
Long live Iran!

Personal accounts such as these are often ignored by the mainstream media out of fear of violating political correctness. However, the first step to tolerance is allowing all voices to be heard without a regard for appeasement. This book is part of the step in the right direction.