Sat Nam. My life has benefited from the teachings of many great teachers, the old and the new. I’ve studied the way of Gautama, Shiva, Krishna, Guru Nanak and Lao-Tzu. I’ve studied the word of more recent teachers like Swami Rajneesh, Krishnamurti, Thay, Ajahn Chah, Paramahansa Yogananda, The Dalai Lama and even Mohandas K. Gandhi.

I’ve had an insatiable yearning for the knowledge and wisdom of the East. I don’t just believe anything I read, no matter how much it appeals to my logical mind. OSHO said, “Truth is within you, do not search for it elsewhere.” I take this to heart, but it happens to be that I find much of these words to be confirmed as truth by my own experience.

My bookshelf has cluttered with dozens of books from many of these teachers. So many have brought me light, and I had almost forgot to pay homage to my original spiritual teacher and that is Jesus Christ.

I was raised as a Christian. Actually, I was raised as a Mormon. The example of the life of Jesus was ingrained very much into my mind for all of my childhood.

I do not know if Jesus Christ was the true and only begotten son, as is stated in the Bible. It matter less to me. This man lived long before me and his stature as the only begotten has made little difference to me. What matters to me is the qualities that he embodies. This is what I can learn from Jesus.

Yes, even when his enemies nailed him on the cross, he said “Father, forgive them not, for they know now what they do.”

Jesus, who was prophesied to come as the “King of Men”, did not sit on a throne. He did not share company with the wealthy. Jesus made company with the “sinners”. He mingled with the poor and needy. This is the example that he set.

The more I study in the Hindu literature, the more I begin to believe that Jesus was a regular man who did extraordinary things. It seems to me that Jesus realized his oneness with the divine, and thus performed miracles among men. It was actually claimed by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh that Jesus Christ was a Tamil Hindu by birth. I have no idea about this, but it wouldn’t be so hard for me to believe. And after all, Jesus has been wrongly portrayed as a white man by Christianity in the West. I hope the faith of the Christians wouldn’t be shaken by knowing that Jesus was a Middle Eastern man.

It is my pure speculation that Jesus was also very much misunderstood by even his own disciples. I have read from the four canonical gospels. It seems that his stature was elevated by the prophets to a level which only Jesus himself could have achieved. But I think that we can all attain to the divinity of Jesus, if only we would have wanton desire to unite our self with the rest of creation. That may be understood by any way which you like, only as long as your heart, mind and soul is in union with the divine oneness.

Buddhism makes me a better Christian. Hinduism make be a better Buddhist. And Christianity has made me a better Hindu. I cannot discriminate the words of the prophets from any religious movement, only as long as I find their message to ring the bell of truth in my heart.

Sat Nam and Amen

Erik H.