What Do
Hindus Believe About Jesus?
Good Friday illustrates the different
ways Hindus and Christians understand Jesus' life--and death.
Because Christians and Hindus have
different ideas about who Jesus was, the Friday before Easter doesn't have the same
meaning for them. Hindus say the teenage Jesus traveled across Southeast Asia, learning
yogic traditions and returning home to be a guru to the Jews. To Hindus, Jesus'
proclamation "The Father and I are one" confirmed the Hindu idea that everyone,
through rigorous spiritual practice, can realise his own universal
"god-consciousness." Christian teachings leave room for the Hindu version of Jesus'
life. The Gospels say nothing about Jesus between his boyhood visit to the temple in Jerusalem
and the beginning of his public ministry at age 30, leaving two decades unaccounted for.
For Christians, this Friday is
"good" because Jesus' death endowed the day with eternal hope and redemption. He
became God's right hand in heaven, and his death symbolised the eventual resurrection of
all humanity. But Christians don't believe--as Hindus do--that, upon his death, he became
enlightened and merged with the Godhead, which is the Hindu idea of the force from which
all creation springs.
You might enjoy discussing with your
Christian friends what Jesus means to each of you--and especially how each of you
interprets his death.
Recently, Deepak Chopra said,
"Christ-consciousness, God-consciousness, Krishna-consciousness,
Buddha-consciousness--it's all the same thing. Rather than 'Love thy neighbour,' this
consciousness says, 'You and I are the same beings.'"
There's little ground for reconciling
Hindu-Christian differences about Jesus, but as you talk with Christians about him,
remember what Chopra said. The oneness he alludes to--the oneness you might feel toward
your non-Hindu friends--might dissipate any tensions that arise during your interfaith
talk about what happened to Jesus after he was on the cross.
Disclaimer:..The views and opinions represented throughout this
site are not necessarily my own. They are facts gathered, from various sources as part of
my research into other faiths. No offence is meant to the followers of any religion, faith
or spirituality.