THE HINDU-CHRISTIAN MEETING GROUND
Sruti, the highest canon of the Hindus, contains the following ideas among various other concepts of theology:-
There is only one Supreme Spirit, Who is both personal and impersonal. The Supreme created the universe through Prajapati. Man is Jeevatma, a living soul. In the cave of his heart dwells the Paramatma, the Spirit. God is the Father of mankind.
There is an overwhelming principle and nature of Sin in the samsara called Papa, Patak, etc.Sin constitutes an offence against God Himself, or against gods, or one's own self, or against fellow-men. The wages of Sin are extreme and awful. Sin leads the sinner into Naraka (many hells), then into countless Rebirths through millions of years; from this judicious operation there is no escape. Man cannot get out of it by his own karma, nor by mere recital of Veda, which is held to be the Revelation of Truth. The sin- burdened soul, therefore, repents before Varuna God and making due confessions, pleads for mercy and forgiveness saying:-
"In the midst of water, thirst distresseth me. Have mercy and forgive me". Rigveda 7.89.4
Only by Grace (kripa or prasad) of the Supreme Spirit, the sinner can be restored. Having gone astray, he seeks union with the Divine unto whom only he belongs.
The only way to acceptance with God is sacrifice. Prajapati , the Creator Himself is the mahayajna. At the creation of the universe, He offered to become a living sacrifice. Whenever the horse-sacrifice (ashva-medha) is performed, the head of the offered animal is none other than the Creator Himself. The sacrifice is the Truth, which dispels darkness.
Liberation from bondage of Sin is found in the Supreme Atma Himself and not in the smaller divines. Idols and images are diversions from quick realizations of Moksha.
In the presence of the ALMIGHTY are Peace and Joy. But nothing avails of spiritual life except a personal experience of the Lord in the mystery of union.
Such was the insight of the Indo-Aryan faith, which began somewhere in western
This being the case, it is tragic that during the last 200years, or more, things which are held in common between the Hindus and the Christian have not been taken advantage of. To the contrary, both have misunderstood and suspected each other. There has been a dead lock in human hearts for centuries. To one the other was a pagan, and to the other even the shadow of the former was a great sin, even to cast him into hell! Ironically, the Christian has discovered only the "neti, neti" doctrine in the Vedanta and ignored the fact that the Vedanta has also been the basis of the greatest bhakti movements of
The amount of prejudice prevailing between the two faiths can be observed in the saying of thee Christian saints:” The conversion of the Hindus would be as great as the resurrection of a corpse”! In contrast thereof stand the testimonies of learned converts from Hinduism:
“Gita to Christ was only a step from yesterday to today”.
- Swami John Dharmateerthan
“I cannot hold that God left my forefathers in darkness. But all the broken rays of truth and the divine suggestions and aspirations of men down the ages, in all countries, find their converging point and consummation in Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, the complete and final revelation of God, who is much mote than a mere sum total of all the good in the past”
- Acharya R.C.Das
“I became a Christian, not because I found Hinduism all weak, or false, or bad, but because I found its strength, its truth, and its goodness not as strong, true, and good enough as my soul in utter need demanded”
- Acharya R.C.Das
“I saw no inconsistency between living openly as a Christian but adhering to Brahminical ways in so far as they left my faith untouched”.
- Sri C.T. Venugopal
“ In my evangelical work I have discovered the Hindu finds in natural and easier to welcome our Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour in his heart, than any other non- Christian”.
- Sri Gurbux. G. Godson
I see no need on the other hand to enumerate here all the Hindu doubts and prejudices against the Christian faith, except to recall certain untrue allegations, that our religion is European, or that conversion means eating of forbidden food, marrying a foreigner, or financial persuasion etc. That is the result of lack of mutual communication!
I am confident that if the Christian would readjust his approach to the Hindu with the gospel, the earnest Hindu thinker will not lag behind in making the right response to Christ. His soul has been equally thirsty for the living waters of life. The historical and spiritual stature of Jesus Christ, His ideal character and siddha brahamcharya, His profound teachings, His unique vicarious suffering upon the cross for the Sins of the world, His resurrection from the grave. His shepherd search as for the lost sheep, and His role in the final consummation of the universe in the future- these are generally knocking at the heart of
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” is echoing in the minds of our beloved countrymen.
The Aryan faith has, in the providence of God prepared the way and produced the spiritual hunger and thirst in the soul. Christ comes along as the Bread and Water of life- the amritam – in order to satisfy the hunger and thirst of the seeker. The more I dive into the depths of Aryan thought, the more I find Jesus meaningful in the salvation of my soul!
Our approach therefore demands appreciation of the best, which is found in the other. We will communicate not from an attitude of superiority (as if we had any) nor by way of contrast, but in the spirit of humble sharing of what we ourselves as sinners have found in Jesus Christ. In this act of sharing, we will take from the Hindu some of the best insights, on topics like Shanti, Mauna, Dhyana, Yoga (spiritual union) sanyasa, etc. as we did long time ago from some of the best thoughts of Greek and jurisprudence of the Romans. In return, we will testify to the Hindu of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ- the answer to his highest aspiration and fulfillment of his deepest search for Peace and Bliss.[1]
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