Mainstream Religion a Unifying Thread: Part VI Zoroastrianism

In the last part of the series we discussed Hinduism. Although, the beautiful representations of the universe must be respected, the futility of asceticism cannot be ignored. Today, we will be moving the lens forward in time again—towards Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism must be regarded as an important world religion, despite its small numbers and isolated influence. The reason: Zoroastrianism had a huge impact on Abrahamic tradition most notably Christianity.
The concept of a moral and a metaphysical dualism are imports from Zoroastrianism. Yes, the concepts of ‘Good’, ‘ Evil’, ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’ manifest themselves in Christianity through Zoroastrian ontology. In Zoroastrianism the dualism between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, the evil force, are taught. Zoroaster created this dichotomy to better edify his people, but as time progressed, the metaphorical distinction became confusing. When Christianity appeared, these concepts were eventually taken to mean that there exists an anthropomorphic ‘God’ and an anthropomorphic ‘Satan’ who rule over separate and distinct worlds, apart from Earth and our universe. This dualism became deleterious for the religious minded psychology.
Evidence of Zoroastrian influence on Christianity is clear. Scholars point out that the three Magi of the Nativity in Christianity are possibly Zoroastrian. The reason being is that Magi are not of Jewish origin, nor of Greek or Roman—they only appear in Persian and Zoroastrian culture. Furthermore, take a look at the gifts they brought. Frankincense and Myrrh are distinctively Persian. Frankincense comes from a tree that would have only been available on the Arabian peninsula and Persia at the time. In addition, the moral and metaphysical dualism of Christianity are highly evident in both the Canonical and Apocryphal scriptures—even the Gnostic and Essene scriptures. Thus, the connection between the two religions is clear.
The problem: Zoroastrianism and the moral and metaphysical dualism it initiated are very old. Zoroaster is said to have lived in the first century B.C.E. This makes this artistic rendition of the universe and its dark and light qualities nearly three thousand years old! How can the modern religious minded theist, who most likely does not even understand the roots of their tradition, understand the moral and metaphysical dualistic ontology that has been re-done, and re-created over the course of 3000 years?

Mainstream Religion a Unifying Thread: Part V Hinduism

Existing at least two or three thousand years (if not much more) before the existence of Buddha, approximately 2500 years ago, Hinduism is really old. In the last segments of the series one problem that came up in regards to Abrahamic religion, was the notion of a mystical tradition being lost in translation and understanding today. Hinduism, if I may be permitted to call it that does not suffer from this problem.
Hinduism is not a monolithic entity as is the case for many mainstream religions. Hinduism is not one codified set of practices and beliefs. It is a name given to common threads in Indian religion. One of these threads is the division in scripture from what is heard and what is read. Much like the oral and written versions of the Torah, a tenet of Hinduism is the primordial Aum existing before the creation of the universe like the primordial Torah. With that said, Hinduism is overtly mystical and does not share the same problems as Judaism and Christianity as far as theology is concerned. The mystical tradition in most of Hinduism is strong. Astrology is permissible and a distinctively Indian system of Astrology exists, which bears similarities to Western Astrology. Whether it’s the six or seven chakras and their many meanings, or the 100,000,000 gods, or the energies of the universe depicted in the Trimurti—Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Hinduism retains its mystical autonomy. Thus, despite not being a codified and monolithic thing, Hinduism preserves what is truly spiritual in the tradition.
The problem with Hinduism still has to do with its age. In this case it is a slight reluctance to change. The ascetic path can bring some spiritual experiences so-to-speak. Yet, these experiences pale in comparison to the middle paths offered in Buddhism and even Confucian and Daoist renditions of similar mystical tenets as Hinduism. I will not discuss the ontological differences between Atman (Self) and Anatman (No-self) here, but I will qualify my point with the following: When the Buddha appeared and died, he was later adopted by Hinduism as the ninth avatar of Vishnu. He was said to have come to deceive the people into believing that there was no immortal atman, or self, or soul. In this way, the religion displayed a reluctance to change and adapt its ontological understandings to some key advancements in philosophy such as those of the Buddha. This is not to say that all of Hinduism thinks this way. Hinduism is not a static and unified set of beliefs. Personally, the Hindu system of Astrology and pantheon of Gods provides me with everything mainstream Buddhism seems to lack. Yet, Hinduism is still old—really old. And with that, comes the problem of application. Asceticism for one, is difficult for Westerners to choose as a lifestyle, and even more difficult to understand.

Mainstream Religion a Unifying Thread: Part IV Islam

In the last part of the series, we discussed Judaism and how its mystical tenets are often completely lost in the mainstream manifestations of religion. Islam shares the same problem. Not only is it old, approx 1400 years old, it is a successor to the Abrahamic tradition of Christianity and Judaism. With that said, it shares similar problems as the rest of the mainstream Abrahamic tradition.
Islam does honor the fact that Jesus most likely escaped crucifixion. The Maulana Muhammad translation of the Quran indicates:And for their saying: We have killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of Allah, and they killed him not, nor did they cause his death on the cross, but he was made to appear to them as such. And certainly those who differ therein are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge about it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for certain. ....
This sheds some light on Islamic-Christian theological disagreement. ....Despite this amazing quality of the Quran’s revelation, Islam has I believed deteriorated from the Messenger’s intent, at least in the mainstream form. In the Quran the mystical tenets are very clear, and the metaphoric “Chastisement by Fire” should not be interpreted to be a brutal terrorist assault, but rather a description of the non-believer’s psychological state. It is partially understandable why the mainstream deterioration has been known to be so violent. Muhammad himself led an example of war, although his was just war, just cause, his followers could not live up to his example. Strife broke out immediately after the Messenger’s death, with who the successor should be. The modern Sunni and Shi’a sects were based on division between whether Abu Bakr Muhammad’s companion, or Ali ibn Abi Talib Muhammad son in law, should be the successor—civil war broke out.

Mainstream Religion a Unifying Thread: Part III Judaism

In Judaism much of worship is mystical in nature. In Christianity, only Christ could perform miracles and in the literal reading of the bible Christ alone, redeemed mankind from sin through his death. Although, the true mystical roots of Christianity, and true Christianity for that matter are really derivations of the mystical Essene Judaism, the Christianity that survives today is a different sort of beast. Christians of today are following the Pharisee form of the religion created by Paul/Saul. In contrast, Jews preserve the mystical tradition of the Torah. The problem with the Torah is the same as with other religious texts擁t is old. Like the primordial aum of the Rg Veda, the Torah in its spiritual form is said to have existed prior to the creation of the world. What this means for our science minded day and age, is that the truth of these words, is consistent with the nature of the universe, it is a voice piece for the universe. Nevertheless, the Torah is old and many do not understand the mystical roots underlying everything. Regardless of how old the Pentateuch is, or how many authors other than Moses it truly had, the epic tales it depicts are hiding the mystical tradition therein. The mysticism becomes clearer in the books of the Prophets, where books like Ezekiel depict astrological constellations and ritual incantations. Yet, because of the gross misunderstanding by the majority (Christians) the true conception of Judaism is lost, by many save for Jews themselves, who do not have nearly the numbers as Christian followers. Jewish organizations which teach the mystical tradition in addition to the rituals and worship that is associated with Judaism, are often secretive, and do not publically disseminate the mystical message.

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Mainstream Religion a Unifying Thread: Part II Christianity

n our last installment, I concluded that all religions are essentially old in nature. Buddhism was our first case study. The findings indicated that Buddhist scripture have arrived to us today in more textual accuracy due to their large numbers. However, some of the higher level tenets, such as the reincarnation of Dalai Lamas were deemed misleading. Furthermore, due to the vast nature of Buddhism and Buddhisms I concluded that, although Buddhism bears a warm place in my heart, it is simply quite difficult to become a true Buddhist. In much the same manner, it is difficult to be a trueChristian.
Christianity suffers the opposite in problems as Buddhism when regarding scripture. There is simply a lack of authoritative text with Christianity. As opposed to the vast and well-preserved immensity of Buddhist scripture, most Christian scripture is spurious and limited to just the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible is not only over 1600 years old, and thus old and out-dated to begin with, it is not a true product of Christ and the Essene Judaism in which Jesus taught. As many of my readers know, I have found the Bible to be a hodgepodge of Roman and Pharisaical beliefs constructed to manipulate the people of Rome via the Council of Nicaea. Setting that aside, even the Gnostic and Arian conclusions of the deceptive nature of Christ only survive in small pockets of secret societies and fraternal organizations. These Gnostic and Arian sources indicate that Christ escaped crucifixion and appeared later as Lithargoel, according to the Second Treatise of the Great Seth and the Acts of Peter. Ask any mainstream Christian who Jesus was and they will surely have a different story. As Nietzsche righteously indicates, it was St. Paul who began the process of perverting Christianity (or at least Essene Judaism). St. Paul promulgated the resurrection myth and subsequent perversions of ontology. St. Paul Created the fictional afterlife, and the notion that Christ died for our sins. Well, Christ did not die, he escaped crucifixion. Even the synoptic Gospels admit that Simon of Cyrene bore the cross from Jesus for awhile. Christ was a magician who faked his own death—it is that simple. This Pauline/Gnostic dichotomy has caused an infinite mess of psychological problems, and logical contradictions. It is obvious that only one view is compatible with physics. In any event, because of deliberate perversions of Christ’s teaching and life, Christianity in its true form is only truly enjoyed by “non-religious” organizations such as the Freemasons.
Accepting the above claims, Christianity, even if is in a pure Gnostic form, is still old and outdated. The message is completely lost and only given to a select few. With this exclusive nature of true wisdom, how can humanity rectify its inner nature?

Mainstream Religion a Unifying Thread: Part I Buddhism

All mainstream religions are in some way old. Even the newest religions, such as the Baha’I and the Church of Satan, are tied to older and larger traditions. In today’s day and age, and occasional fanatical cult leader, or science fiction author will create a cult and call it religion. This type of thing is not really religion. Scientology for example, is too spurious of a doctrine to be considered a true religion and if readers demand this I will write a separate article for charlatans and cults. But for now Scientology aside, the vast majority of all religions are old or bear their roots in old traditions. This edition will focus on Buddhism.
I shall give Buddhism this credit, although it has been approximately 2400-2500 since the Buddha’s death, his teachings survive today in a very plentiful form. The Buddhist “Canon” would stretch from wall to every wall in a mid-sized house. Where, the Bible is simply the Bible (though there are many different types of Bibles and translations), the Buddhist literature vastly out numbers the Western tradition in terms of authoritative text. With that said, Buddhism still has a huge defect—it is old.
In the Buddha’s day, the suffering of men, women and the civilization of mankind in general was much smaller. Buddha only had access to one hemisphere of the world, and it was so greatly smaller than it is today. India and Asia today, make up most of the world’s population. In the Buddha’s day, even if myths that he traveled to China are true, there were simply far less people. Buddha designed the eightfold path as a means to correct the individual and merge them with the ultimate truths. However, his system is unrealistic for today’s society. Suffering is simply too wide spread. Unless, one goes into a monastery it is nearly impossible for the follower of Buddhism to adequately take upon themselves the many duties and rules of the Vinaya, the canonical scripture regarding monkhood.
The higher level meditational descriptions and detailed associations like the Abhidharma, are hard to decipher without learning Pali, Sanskrit or Chinese (For the various canonical translations of such material). Much of Buddhism is ingrained in Indian culture and much of the Mahayana and Vajrayana sects of Buddhism are ingrained in their respective cultures. It seems that many practitioners and students of Buddhism have to understand these cultures in order to understand much but not all of Buddhism.
In the case of Buddhist metaphysics, much of these have been ruled out by contemporary science and philosophy. In Consciousness at the Crossroads, contemporary neuroscientists, and philosophers of mind were given the opportunity to critique the Dalai Lama’s view of the mind. The results indicated that the Buddhist view that their exists some type of “subtle body” separate from contemporary ontology that can be reincarnated is discordant with science. The neuro-philosophers and neuroscientists of the book, tended to side with a monism that ruled out realms external to the physical world.
In defense of Buddhism, I do recognize the gifts it provides the religious world. There have been neuroscientists who, sympathetic with Buddhism, have found that brain scans on the brains of monks displayed a completely different pattern of brain activity. In my personal life, Buddhist meditation makes up the majority of my personal meditation regime. Yet, I stick to my claim—it’s too old. It does not make it easy enough for the people of today to follow.

http://www.beelzebul.net/antinihilistM.pdf -MY E-BOOK

Pratyeka Buddhas

Throughout time great messianic leaders have appeared to help and heal the suffering multitude. Zoroaster, Jesus and Mohammad are but a few of the most powerful of these figures. This article will attempt to show how all these figures are actually Buddhas, but not completely successful ones.
A Prayeka Buddha is an enlightened being who due to uncontrollable circumstances, failed to enlighten society as a whole in a permanent fashion. When Gautama Buddha arrived in India in approximately 2400-2500 b.c.e. the time and place of his arrival was ideal for the awakening of an extremely large number of people. The Buddha's retinue was an overall success as the Buddha managed to teach the Dharma and spread it successfully. Although elsewhere I have argued that the Buddha's world was so much different than our own that it makes it nearly impossible for the run-of-the mill wisdom seeker of today find enlightenment, Buddha's work was a success for a while.
Jesus Christ was of course a master of disguise and magician. Why is this so? Well this is most likely due to the political turmoil of multiple early governments and many different religious sects all competing for power. Because of this Jesus was not able to accurately spread his dharma without resorting to guile and crafty magick. While he was probably successful in awakening a large amount of people, he did not reach a critical mass large enough to make his dharma semi-permanent in the least. Saul the persecutor of Christians was able to manipulate more people and capitalize on Jesus' rules of Ahimsa and peace making Christianity today a wisdom-less mess of myths and superstitions. Hence, Jesus failed to enlighten enough to be called a true Buddha.
Mohammad had a similar problem only the defilers of his tradition were much closer to him. Failing to produce a male offspring, or proper successor, war broke out amongst his impassioned followers over who was this proper heir to the throne so-to-speak. This was a fatal and uncontrollable error which causes Islam to suffer to the present day.
A Prayeka Buddha is still a fully enlightened being with all the required powers and prowess needed to show a proper example to the earth. In the Lotus Sutra Prayeka beings are said to gather along with Maitreya (The future buddha) for Gautama Buddha's sermons. The Prayeka Buddhas tried with their maximum strength of will to fight for the demonstration of proper example, yet they were stopped by uncontrollable circumstances. It would be no surprise to me if the clever tricks of Jesus and the physical dexterity of Mohammad were in some way more advanced than Gautama's. Yet, this does not matter. Gautama accomplished his goal.

My E-BOOKs available here...