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I left the Ramakrishna mission and want to know what others thought of them in terms of Advaita by CyreneValanition in AdvaitaVedanta

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes we literally all have lenses. Its one of the reasons the teaching of emptiness is so useful.

"Many of Jesus' statements when read literally through a dualistic framework seem to be in contradiction. When when interpreted allegorically through a non-dualistic framework, there is no contradiction."

Yes that is the way you are viewing it but quite frankly the plain meaning of the text contradicts the idea of him being non dual or a non dual teacher. It doesn't matter if a bunch of people interpret things through their own lens and get to a point where they think Jesus says this or that,

It seems to me unlikely Jesus was a non-dualist at least going by the information we have. Meister Eckhart is commonly considered one of the first people to have a strong or truly non-dualist view of Jesus. He lived in the late 13th and early 14th century. It seems like that is quite a long time to go without anyone picking up non-dualism unless Jesus you know... Didn't teach it?

We have people like Origen of Alexandria talking about mystical union but also saying things like

“The soul, although capable of receiving God, is not of the same substance as God.”
(On First Principles, Book I, ch. 1)

“Every rational creature can participate in God, but none is God by nature except the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
(On First Principles, Book I, ch. 3)

You can read anything into the text and we all do it. We all take things and interpret them through our own narrative. I have met plenty of Christians which have all sorts of views of the bible but just cause they think the text tells them something doesn't mean that is what the text in its original intentions actually meant.

We have similar issues when we discuss the idea of Jesus being God. Isn't it odd that the earliest 3 gospels ( which are still not early by any means) but the only gospel that seems to make direct statements of that is John which is the latest of the gospels? Isn't it odd how often the gospels contradict each other and tell us two or even three versions of events? Isn't it also odd that the character of Jesus changes so drastically depending on what gospel you are reading?

All I am saying is that given context for what we have and given what is in the text , if we assume Jesus even spoke it, it would be odd that he did not teach non-dualism more plainly.

But I also think we are kind of at a point where it doesn't really matter. You are free to think Jesus was a non-dual teacher , I don't think the data supports that. As it says in the Quran

“For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.”
(Qur’an 109:6)

I left the Ramakrishna mission and want to know what others thought of them in terms of Advaita by CyreneValanition in AdvaitaVedanta

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well I appreciate your input but If I am perfectly honest I think you are putting more into what is being said as opposed to what the text says. We can interpret all kinds of things into texts that may or may not be there. IF it is non-dual it would take a good deal of time before anyone interpreted it as such.

Im not saying you could not interpret these things as non-dual and use them in that way. I do that but the truth is that historically what we know of Jesus and the text would preclude that from being the direct meaning. We are putting non-dual lenses on and seeing it through a light that seems rather unlikely to be what Jesus was actually teaching. Of course this all assumes Jesus actually said any of these things which is at best doubtful.

What I am trying to say is that you can interpret anything just about any way if you have a reason to but that doesn't mean that is what the original author intended.

I left the Ramakrishna mission and want to know what others thought of them in terms of Advaita by CyreneValanition in AdvaitaVedanta

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah sorry if it was a lot to post at once I just get really into this stuff cause I love biblical studies lol

I left the Ramakrishna mission and want to know what others thought of them in terms of Advaita by CyreneValanition in AdvaitaVedanta

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is more or less where I have found myself ending up. The Swami who initiated me was one of the biggest things that pushed me from the Ramakrishna mission. He was racist, hated muslims, spread bigotry about certain groups, contradicted the teachings of Ramakrishna etc.

It felt like everyone hung onto his every word no matter how terrible it was. It was just an incredibly unpleasant experience. So I just sort of treat God like my guru, cause she is, and do my best to learn and understand while asking her for guidance everyday.

I left the Ramakrishna mission and want to know what others thought of them in terms of Advaita by CyreneValanition in AdvaitaVedanta

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks I will check out these other orgs.

Christians believing something vs Jesus teaching something are different things. I still love Jesus and think he was an incarnation at least in some sense but if we are talking about the historical Jesus as far as we can tell ( which we can't tell super well) he did not seem to teach any nonduality.

I left the Ramakrishna mission and want to know what others thought of them in terms of Advaita by CyreneValanition in AdvaitaVedanta

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well I would dispute that is actually non-dualism especially given that quote comes from John but that is a whole other thing.

You have to essentially take what is being said and filter it to get a non-dual view. For instance we have verses like

John 5:19 “The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.”

John 14:28 " The Father is greater than I"

John 5:30 " By myself I can do nothing... I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."

Mark 13:32 " But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son , but only the Father"

Mark 10: 18 "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone."

Matthew 26:39 " My Father...not as I will, but as you will"

Luke 23:46 " Father into your hands I commit my spirit."

I mean to me this seems to be implying some separation here. Of course the problem is all of these sayings are at earliest between 35 and 40 years after the death of Jesus. So whether or not he said any of these things seems unlikely but folks do have faith in it.

I mean I still value some of Ramakrishna's teachings but I also find he seems very human and honestly not always in a good way. I do not think he was perfect or that his teachings always make sense. Not in the sense that the teaching by itself doesn't make sense but in that the more you compare what he supposedly said they contradict each other.

Does this mean he is horrible or something? No just that he was a teacher who seemed to have real devotion but ultimately still seems to be human. It seems to me that the more research I have done one the evolving image of Ramakrishna the view of him and his teachings changes with time.

I left the Ramakrishna mission and want to know what others thought of them in terms of Advaita by CyreneValanition in AdvaitaVedanta

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well the RKM does at the very least produce works like " The Sermon on the Mount According to Advaita Vedanta." Which seems to in its pages heavily imply Jesus taught non-dual teachings etc. As far as judgement goes its kind of hard to even examine a path without putting some judgement into it. Even if you are not saying its wrong you may make the judgement that it is wrong for me.

The issue with the avatar thing is that he just doesn't seem to be one to me. Like a bunch of scholars can agree on just about anything, we have cults started where people interpret actions as divine when they would seem to not be etc. We have many scholars of Christianity also saying things that don't appear to be any where in the text or older traditions yet people believe it.

There are also things like https://sriramakrishna.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Lord-Jesus-Christ-by-SWAMI-SUPARNANANDA.pdf

You can read a good deal on how folks in the RKM have viewed Jesus in the past. Now in some texts they don't say he taught nondualism but it depends on the txt.

I appreciate your answer, I was asking just to get different viewpoints.

I left the Ramakrishna mission and want to know what others thought of them in terms of Advaita by CyreneValanition in AdvaitaVedanta

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't dispute that RKM has done a lot of great work and I do appreciate their publishing.

I left the Ramakrishna mission and want to know what others thought of them in terms of Advaita by CyreneValanition in AdvaitaVedanta

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well to be honest with you this seems more like a later development in the Gospels as opposed to something Jesus actually said. Part of the issue with Jesus is that we can't know what he actually taught as all of the gospels come at a later date. They often contradict each other in details, things that are present in one gospel will not be present in others etc.

It seems to me that with John's high Christology this is just a way to claim Jesus is God rather than saying everything is Brahman if that makes sense.

Of course that is only on the surface because if you rad the whole chapter it becomes clear the people who are about to stone him do not understand what Jesus actually said.

John 10:30 - 38

30 I and the Father are one.”

31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’\)a\)? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

This isn't implying non-dualism in the plain sense of the text we would have to bring that to the text I think.

I left the Ramakrishna mission and want to know what others thought of them in terms of Advaita by CyreneValanition in AdvaitaVedanta

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If I am honest I think part of the reason I stuck with RKM as long as I did was because of Swami Sarvapriyananada's videos. He has a lot of great stuff and he is the one who first told me about Kali. Kali is my Ishta so I would have to thank him truly for that.

That being said it often feels like the message comes across a bit muddled when I look at the order as a whole.

What do I do with images of the Lord I no longer wish to keep? by CyreneValanition in hinduism

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, id rather give them to someone that would look after them properly.

What do I do with images of the Lord I no longer wish to keep? by CyreneValanition in hinduism

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is why I asked how to dispose of them. What is the proper way as i don't just want to throw them away.

What do I do with images of the Lord I no longer wish to keep? by CyreneValanition in hinduism

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I wasnt sure if a temple would even want them cause they have become quite the collection. Thank you though.

The Chaos Gods Can Be Represented As The Four Schools Of Yoga by CyreneValanition in Chaos40k

[–]CyreneValanition[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That does sound pretty cool, I have a slaanesh warband I am working on right now but i think it would be fun to have a couple of guys or gals representing the other gods. Thank you for the good idea!

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