Hinduism and Satan’s Lie

I’ve had a bemused few hours this evening wandering through the agitated blogs of various Christians who consider this or that religion “demonic,” “Satanic,” and so on.

Far be it from me to dismiss the existence of demonic entities or energies.

They exist, however one chooses to call them – “psychological compulsions,” “obsessions,” “demons.”

But it truly puzzles me how people who claim to be devotees of  Jesus can so quickly denounce billions of their own fellow human beings as demonic, without the slightest acquaintance with the real beliefs, practices, and culture of the people they denounce.

One example.

Hundreds of Christian blogs claim that Hinduism is demonic because it teaches “self-deification,” and that this is “Satan’s original lie” from Eden – “Ye shall be as gods.”

Well, one thing I do know about Satan is that he can quote scripture as well as the next fellow.

And he usually does it out of context, so he can twist things to mean the opposite of what they really do.

“Ye shall be as gods” is the lie told by the Adversary to get the first couple of Eden to disobey God.

Underline that.

Traditional Hindu practice and devotion, like that of any traditional religion, is obedience to God and God’s embodiment to the devotee – his guru.

Obedience to God and Guru is in fact a far higher value in the East than it ever was in any Western culture outside the monastic civilization of the Middle Ages.

Westerners deify rebellion. Milton made Satan his hero, with the famous line, “Better to rule in hell than serve in Heaven.”

That’s the first mistake made by these Christian bloggers.

The second mistake is mistaking the absence of a strong Satan-type of figure in Hinduism for the absence of any apprehension of evil.

Not so.

This is a different civilization, a different people, a different psychology.

Satan has his equivalent in Hinduism, quite apart from the demonic figures of Ketu and Rahu.

There is the notion of samskaras (innate attractions or tendencies), which drive us to rebirth.

This is much the same thing as the notion of the “natural” or “carnal” man in Christianity.

Then there is maya – the deceptive nature of appearances in the world, which also plays part of the role that Satan plays in Christianity.

There is also ahamkara – ego identification, which is considered demonic in inclination.

Hinduism teaches the overcoming of these inclinations. It is thus a true religion.

Now for the third and most important reason why traditional Hindu teaching is not Satan’s lie in Eden.

The “self” that is posited in Hinduism as equivalent to the divine is not the “ego” self, as these Christians erroneously believe.

Hinduism is a profound religion, not a silly New Age concoction.

The “self” that is equated with the divine is the “spirit of god in you,” not your ego or your personality.

Thus, when  a Hindu says Atman (the soul) is the same as Brahman (God), he is not saying that the individual in his ego identity is the omnipotent God.

Radhika and Sunil are not Gods in their personal selves.

But Radhika’s transcendent self (her highest being) is the same as the immanent form of God.

This is not too far from Christianity, believe it or not.

When the Rabbis attacked Jesus as a blasphemer for claiming to be the son of God, he replied tartly that even those to whom God only sent his messengers were called sons of God, so why would it be too much for Him, the only begotten son, to claim as much.

Why indeed.

“Atman” and “son of God” are differences of language, psychology, emphasis, and temperament, not of good and evil in some Manichean sense.

In fact, in calling billions of people satanic, without regard to whether they lead good or bad lives, these Christians are committing  sin –  the terrible perversity of calling good evil.

That is the “sin against the Holy Spirit,” which Jesus warned was the one sin that might not be forgiven in this life or the next.

 

 

 

 

2 thoughts on “Hinduism and Satan’s Lie

  1. What is the state of western civilization today?
    India unfortunately is following in the same footsteps, with the same game that ruined the west, now in full swing in the east.
    It will continue to get worse. This degradation is not sparing even the so called elites. Just look at their personal lives.True happiness cannot be achieved by power and money alone. Elites can’t live in a spiritual bubble. They and their families get influenced big time by the very culture they foist on the masses. The monster they let loose ultimately devours them as well. Problem is megalomaniacs are in charge, believing that they have everything figured out.
    Some good reads below:
    http://indrasnetbook.com/
    http://www.invadingthesacred.com/
    http://rajivmalhotra.com/store/

    R.

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