How are these Great Beings explained?

[loverofhumanity]

In my view, one cannot understand Hinduism unless he is a Hindu. I openly admit I will never understand Baha'i'. In fact I have a very difficult time understanding any non-Hindu faith at all. In my view, the Dharmic view, we're talking about two very different meanings of 'understanding'. Yours is on an intellectual level. and I'll admit a non-Hindu might understand Hinduism a bit on that level. But when I speak of understanding, I mean 'living it, experiencing it. This is very similar to understanding pain. A person can't understand pain very well without experiencing it. So too with religion. That's why I can't understand Baha'i'. Intellectually yes, but not on any experiential level. I'm not a Baha'i'.

So from that perspective, as much as you or any other Baha'i' may make claims about understanding Hinduism, it is impossible, because you aren't a Hindu.

Again ... very different paradigms. I know and admit when I don't understand something, but for some reason that's really hard to do in Abrahamic faiths. So we have the conundrum of non-Hindus claiming to know more about Hinduism than the Hindus themselves do, lol. Intellectually, maybe. But standing there inm front of Ganesha feeling all the warmth, the love, having Him remove obstacles, put a smile on your face where none existed, laugh with your odd insights like a friendly big brother. Nah, you can't get that. You're not a Hindu.

I definitely don't understand Hinduism as from person who, lives it.

 

[loverofhumanity]

@loverofhumanity

"So this spiritual life, monks, does not have gain, honor, and renown for its benefit, or the attainment of moral discipline for its benefit, or the attainment of concentration for its benefit, or knowledge and vision for its benefit. But it is the unshakable liberation of the mind that is the goal of spiritual life, its heartwood, and its end." ~MN 29 Mahasropama Sutta (I:192-197)​

Enlightenment and The Buddha's teachings has nothing to do with god. It has to do with The Mind and Understanding suffering.

"Nibbana, being himself subject to death, having understood the danger in what is subject to death, he seeks the deathless supreme security from bondage, nibbana being himself subject to sorrow, he seeks the sorrowless supreme security from bondage, nibbana being himself subject to defilement, having understood the danger in what is subject to defilement, he seeks the undefiled supreme security of dibana. This is the noble search." MN Ariyapariyesana Sutta; I 160-67​

In god of abraham religions, a person seeks answers from their gods and prophets. From Buddhism, a person seeks answers through practices and reflection.

In god of abraham religions, prophets hold the key to understanding god. In Buddhism, there is no god. The key to understand suffering is to practice and understand what it is and your place in the world and that you will die and the nature of death.

Bahaullah, in Buddhism, would be just like you and I and The Buddha who are all subject to suffering. There is no one special in these regards. In the suttas, devas, gods, and humans all experience suffering.

Bahaullah cannot have a place in The Buddha's teachings because the very nature of the foundation of his goals are not the same foundation as The Buddha. Yes, they both want peace and compassion.

But they are different faiths.

We are encouraged to have both oractuce and reflection along with belief and being guided by the Word of God.

 

[Vinayaka]

I definitely don't understand Hinduism as from person who, lives it.

Good to know. Perhaps you can tell your leaders, your House of Justice that they don't either.

Of course it would be harder to share with Baha'u'llah, his son, his great grandson, because they aren't here, and darn, you have that infallibilty conundrum. They knew everything perfectly, including Hinduism, obviously.

Very different paradigms.

 

[CG Didymus]

Yes I have a very personal relationship with all of them. I consider myself their servant in this world. They are the apple of my eye. I defend any One of them when people speak untruthfully or disaparigingly about them...

So when a Christian says things about their belief in Jesus, you set them straight? 'Cause if you are right, they are speaking untruthfully about Jesus.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Yet, there are false prophets who claim they are speaking for God. You always use the "by their fruits you shall know them " from the Bible. But how many people know they are following a false prophet until it's too late? I'm sure they all sounded good at the beginning.

One must be very vigilant but not to the point of rejecting the true Prophet. Going to the extreme of denouncing everyone who comes along as being false is sure to result in bypassing the True One which we believe unfortunately has been the case.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

We are encouraged to have both oractuce and reflection along with belief and being guided by the Word of God.

Please read my posts or at least understand the point. The (edit) written Dhamma isn't like the Quran, Bible, and Bahaullah's teachings. It means nothing.

Reflection in Buddhism isn't about being back with god and prayer. It's not about god at all. You can reflect in anyway you want, but do you understand the point and context of what I'm talking about?

 

[CG Didymus]

Same with Christianity. We believe the Cause of Christ arise from obscurity after 3 days not the physical body. We believe we reincarnate into a different spiritual body into anotyer world but not a physical body...

What happened 3 days after Jesus was killed? If you take the resurrection stories and make them symbolic, nothing happened. Jesus was dead somewhere. Where does Baha'u'llah say the body of Jesus is again?

 

[loverofhumanity]

So when a Christian says things about their belief in Jesus, you set them straight? 'Cause if you are right, they are speaking untruthfully about Jesus.

We believe in Jesus also. But there's nothing one can say or do when they told we are wrong and from Satan. I had a couple knock on my door just two days ago. I invited them in but they declined. Then I mentioned interfaith to them and they said that they don't do interfaith because they might get infected by other people's beliefs.

I will not invite them or open the door to them the next time as what gives them the right to knock on my door, disturb my privacy then tell me they don't want to mix with me because I am infected?

Christ said to love your enemies. This is nothing but fanatical condescension and not love for Christ ones fellow man.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

One must be very vigilant but not to the point of rejecting the true Prophet. Going to the extreme of denouncing everyone who comes along as being false is sure to result in bypassing the True One which we believe unfortunately has been the case.

Do you take into consideration that the Pagan gods of Israel are true or do you know by common sense that they are not because of your belief and worldview?

If you do not see them as true, that's not rejecting the Pagan gods. It just means they are not in your reality. Rejecting first means you have to acknowledge them.

Again, how do you reject something that does not exist?

 

[loverofhumanity]

What happened 3 days after Jesus was killed? If you take the resurrection stories and make them symbolic, nothing happened. Jesus was dead somewhere. Where does Baha'u'llah say the body of Jesus is again?

The abode of the Cause of Christ was resurrected. For 3 days the disviooes were doubting about Jesus as He seemed just like an ordinary man that was crucified. Why couldn't He conquer His enemies or remove Himself from the cross?

After 3 days it was Mary who brought to their attention tyat the sovereignty of Christ was heavenly not earthly, spiritual not bodily. When they began to realize that, on the third day, they arise to spread the tidings that Christ was not dead.

 

[CG Didymus]

One must be very vigilant but not to the point of rejecting the true Prophet. Going to the extreme of denouncing everyone who comes along as being false is sure to result in bypassing the True One which we believe unfortunately has been the case.

Unfortunately, Christians tell me that all the bad stuff happens, and then Jesus returns and puts an end to it.

 

[CG Didymus]

The abode of the Cause of Christ was resurrected. For 3 days the disviooes were doubting about Jesus as He seemed just like an ordinary man that was crucified. Why couldn't He conquer His enemies or remove Himself from the cross?

After 3 days it was Mary who brought to their attention tyat the sovereignty of Christ was heavenly not earthly, spiritual not bodily. When they began to realize that, on the third day, they arise to spread the tidings that Christ was not dead.

And the physical body of Jesus? Where do Baha'is say it is?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

His Essence is unknowable not His attributes. We know nothing else about God except His attributes which the Manifestations convey to us.

That does not make sense to me. His attributes are a part of his essence just as my expressions are a part of my being human. How can you separate the two? What does essence mean without the attributes you use to describe it?

How can you give it attributes if you don't know what it is?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Everybody else's prophet is a false prophet. It's so silly to me.

When I was confirmed into The Church, I started studying the bible and read it. Then, as I was reading I felt less comfortable with scripture but still felt comfortable with the practice. I told my best friend that I can't just forget about The Buddha's teachings and other beliefs because I'm part of the Church. I can't see one thing right and the other wrong.

She said "It will come in time."

I will never forget that statement. She was raised Catholic so she isn't a fundamentalist and mirrors a lot of the humbleness in temples and other houses of worship. However, "it comes in time" made me think in time I will start to see others as separate from myself. I will look down on others.

Then it made me feel uneasy when I went back to Church realizing what you said thousands of posts ago about undercover evangelization. It was well-intentioned and not pushy, but it's there.

I never got it either. Always wanted to get it but my gut feeling tells me I'll get frustrated again.

 

[CG Didymus]

People are free to believe what they wish. That's not in question. But Buddha did say, and you can look it up in Sutta Central that His Dhamma would decay over time and it's true meaning would be lost.

So when you say the original teachings have been preserved, Buddha has said the exact opposite. He says His true Dhamma will disappear and be replaced with a different Dhamma. Here's what Buddha says not me..

Just as, Kassapa, gold does not disappear so long as counterfeit gold has not arisen in the world, but when counterfeit gold arises then true gold disappears, so the true Dhamma does not disappear so long as a counterfeit of the true Dhamma has not arisen in the world, but when a counterfeit of the true Dhamma arises in the world, then the true Dhamma disappears.

So do you know what the true meaning was? And, like I've asked several times, do any of the other religions, as practiced and believe today, teach and have the truth?

 

[CG Didymus]

I definitely don't understand Hinduism as from person who, lives it.

But you do. Everything that is true Hinduism is found in the Baha'i teachings. What Hindus think is true is not the truth. So, it doesn't matter how a Hindu lives it. It is wrong. Right?

 

[Vinayaka]

I never got it either. Always wanted to get it but my gut feeling tells me I'll get frustrated again.

When I look at that stuff, and see all the pain and problems it causes people, I feel truly lucky.

 

[CG Didymus]

We believe in Jesus also. But there's nothing one can say or do when they told we are wrong and from Satan. I had a couple knock on my door just two days ago. I invited them in but they declined. Then I mentioned interfaith to them and they said that they don't do interfaith because they might get infected by other people's beliefs.

I will not invite them or open the door to them the next time as what gives them the right to knock on my door, disturb my privacy then tell me they don't want to mix with me because I am infected?

Christ said to love your enemies. This is nothing but fanatical condescension and not love for Christ ones fellow man.

But you believe you have the truth from God. You have to keep trying. By your fruits they will know you. It my take a long time. Actually, sometimes I ignore them too.

 

[loverofhumanity]

And the physical body of Jesus? Where do Baha'is say it is?

We don't know.. I have read a pilgrims note I will share with you but don't take it as Gospel truth.

This is the content of a Pilgrim's Note - the records of a Pilgrim and therefore carries no official authority but is interesting so I'm sharing it with you...

(the beloved Guardian paused for quite some minutes in his conversation; and then without any preface to his remarks, he made the following statement.)

People wonder what happened to the body of Christ after the crucifixion. It was buried by the disciples under the wall of Jerusalem to protect it from the Roman legions. It remained buried there for some 260 years. (The Guardian gave the exact number of years but afterwards none of the pilgrims could remember precisely the number.) It remained buried under the wall of Jerusalem until the mother of the Emperor Constantine, who had herself become a Christian, came to Jerusalem and had the Church of the Holy Sepulcher built – at which time the body of Christ was removed from under the wall of the city and was placed under the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. And that is where it is today. The Baha’is should be aware of this fact when they visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is the holiest place in Christendom.

House of Justice's comment on the above Pilgrim's notes..

Concerning the location of the burial site of Jesus' sacred remains, a letter dated 22 March 1982 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer states:

Pilgrims have recorded in their notes oral statements made by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi to the effect that the disciples hid the body of Christ by burying it under the wall of Jerusalem, and that it is now under the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The House of Justice knows of nothing in the Writings of the Faith, however, explicitly confirming these statements.

They haven't confirmed nor denied it which I found very interesting.

 

[loverofhumanity]

But you believe you have the truth from God. You have to keep trying. By your fruits they will know you. It my take a long time. Actually, sometimes I ignore them too.

I leave them alone. If they want fellowship and to be fiends I'm happy but they seem to only want conversion nothing else. And if I'm not a prospective convert then they don't want to mix with me.

I don't like that attitude. I'm more than happy to be friends with anyone of you here, invite you over for dinner and come to your church and be friends 'unconditionally'. You don't have to be 'a prospective Bahai' for me to be your friend. If I took these guys attitudes I would have discontinued talking to you all but I like you all and do learn lot and think you're all nice people. I want to be with nice people. Now Neither Vinayaka nor Carlita are ever going to be Baha'is but so what. I'm just enjoying the company and discussion and I'm learning too.