Whose Buddha? An Easter message from Bhakti Ananda Goswami

[Guest guest]

vediculture, <dchakrav@c...> wrote:

> Jai Ramji Ki!

>

> Dear Friends:

>

> It is truly a fascinating article. Will look for updates.

>

> Regards,

>

> Dhruba.

 

CHRIST HAS RISEN HALLELUJAH !

 

DEAREST FRIENDS AND FAMILY,

 

BEHOLD ! HE MAKES ALL THINGS NEW!

 

PEACE AND LOVE TO YOU AND YOUR DEAR ONES THIS BLESSED EASTER!

 

ALL GLORIES TO JESUS YUPA DHVAJA!

 

BHAKTI ANANDA GOSWAMI / BROTHER DAVID

 

 

AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS

 

A SERIES OF CONTEMPLATIONS BY A BUDDHIST, A SHAIVITE AND A VAISHNAVA

AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS

 

PART ONE: BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE

WORLD...A Pure Land Buddhist meditation at the foot of the Cross, by

Bhakti Ananda Goswami

 

Humankind had entered a dark age of confusion and corruption.

Everywhere, in the name of God's revealed knowledge (Sanskrit Veda,

Hebrew Yeda, Greek Oida), God's once-and-all-sufficient Cosmic Self

Sacrifice as Purusha Yupa Dhavaja (Rig Vedic Purusha Sukta) was being

horrifically mocked by the bloody ritualistic slaughter of innocent

cattle, goats, lambs and other sacrificial victims, even sometimes by

the tamasic sacrifice of humans. God's priesthood had become

corrupted and His temple had become a den of thieves transacting the

life and death of slaves and sacrificial victims for blood-money.

Into this culture of sin and death the Adi Purusha Lord Lokeshvara

(Vishnu) descended Himself to diagnose the condition of humanity and

provide a cure.

 

 

Everyone knows the basic story of the Prince Gautama Buddha, but

there is an oral tradition about Him that can only properly end with

the words

"Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world."

 

Here is my retelling of that legend, from the versions that I heard

while traveling in the East.

 

As the run-away Prince Gautama, the Second Person of the Godhead

(Amitayus-Lokeshvara Vishnu) had performed great austerities and had

lived under the rigid discipline of various masters, only to find

that their goals and methods of 'self realization' or 'enlightenment'

seemed either undesirable and / or unattainable. After submitting to

various disciplines and masters, He had become discouraged, thinking

that the relief for suffering, which He was seeking for all beings,

was unattainable. The world was pervaded with sin and its

consequential suffering, and there seemed to be no remedy for it.

Vedic religion was corrupt and what passed for 'spirituality' was a

cold impersonal flight from the reality of the personal suffering of

the beings in the saha world of birth, death, disease and old age.

 

Frustrated with His directed religious and 'spiritual' experiences,

the Lord set off on His own as a wandering mendicant. As a solitary

monk He headed up into the mountains, where He sat deep in meditation

alone for many days at a time. Contemplating the suffering of the

beings of the saha world, His desire to save them all increased day-

by-day, until one day He was startled out of His deep meditation by a

cry so pitiful, that it reached into the very bodhi heart of His

compassion, and stirred Him once again to external consciousness.

 

A shepard was bringing his flock down from the high pastures, and the

pitiful bleating that startled the Lord had come from a desperate

mother sheep, who had twin lambs, one of which was quite crippled and

slow, lagging behind the flock, while the other was quite healthy and

frolicking up ahead of the flock. In an instant the Mendicant Lord

realized that the poor mother was emaciated and full of worry as she

rushed back and forth between her sickly and her healthy lamb. She

was just skin and bones due to her constant efforts to both help

along her crippled baby and chase after her vigorous lamb, who had to

be brought back, so that she could near his feebler twin. Her voice

was strained from her constant calling to her frightened lame lamb "i

am coming my darling babe, mother is coming...i will not abandon you"

and calling to her adventurous lamb "come back my darling babe !

Please do not make me chase you ! Please do not go so far ! There are

wolves! You can get lost! "

 

In this way she was unwilling to abandon either of her precious

babies, and was straining every fiber of her being to guide and

protect them. Between their struggling and gamboling, she hardly had

time to eat, and she ran-off so much of what she did eat, that she

was starving. Yet despite her obviously impending starvation, she

lovingly gave her sore almost milkless teats to her beloved babies at

every opportunity that she could find.

 

With many sheep, the shepard tending the flock seemed unaware of her

plight, and if he had noticed, he probably would have sacrificed and

eaten the crippled lamb, rather than to allow it to be the death of

its valuable mother.

 

The Lord Teaches His Doctrine of Compassion

 

"It is better to ease the suffering of one dumb beast, than it is to

sit in perfect impersonal meditation for an eternity" Thus the Lord

declared His doctrine of compassion, as leaping to His feet, at once

He approached the crippled lamb, and in spite of the worried mother's

frightened protests, He lifted the little creature to His own

emaciated shoulders, and began to carry it.

 

'Worry no more my Woolly Mother, I am your servant now. I will

protect and carry your precious baby"

 

And so it was, that with the crippled lamb on His shoulders, the Lord

became the servant of a sheep. (Think my dear friends of the

traditional early icon of Jesus as the Good Shepard, with the lamb

draped over His shoulders !)

 

....but the story does not end here...

 

Soon Woolly Mother trusted her new servant, and was confident to

leave her darling lamb with Him. Relieved of her worries, she would

soon regain her health. Carrying the lamb, and striding down hill

with the flock, the Lord reached the flock's shepard, who seemed

unusually preoccupied by something.

 

The Lord inquired as to why the man was so distracted:

 

"Why are you bringing your flock down the mountain at this time of

the year" asked the Lord. "The upper meadows are lush and green. It

is not yet the season to descend to the valley floor. Why are you

headed for the valley?"

 

"Haven't you heard?" replied the shepard. "The King has instructed

the Brahmins to perform a great Vedic Sacrifice for the sins of the

nation.Thousands of sacrificial animals will be needed to atone

for the sins of the people, the King and the Brahmins". "Preparations

are underway for the greatest state sacrifice ever performed in our

kingdom".

 

"Hundreds of sacrificial Brahmin priests, Mantrins to chant the Vedic

Hymns, and other experts to assist in the sacrificial rites are

coming from near and far. Thousands of crafts people, food-stuff

peddlers and laborers are flooding into the city and the Great Temple

is being readied for the biggest event in its history. We herdsmen

and shepards have been ordered to bring our herds and flocks, to

provide the sacrificial victims. The altars, temple and city will be

flowing with rivers of their blood, and the debt for the sins of the

nation will be paid-in-full by the blood of these many victims!"

 

Both men grew silent as they walked side-by-side down towards the

valley, and then in speechless grief, the Lord purposed in His heart:

 

"Ah, for all my lost sheep, who have no Shepard to protect them, and

who are blindly heading towards the knife...IF I COULD GIVE MY LIFE

FOR THEM I WOULD!"

 

There is more to the story, but I cannot tell it now.

 

Suffice it to say that the Lord condemned the great sacrifice and

stopped it. Throughout the rest of His Earthly quest for the end of

sin and suffering, and the relief of all beings in the saha world,

the Lord Purusha Himself, as Prince Gautama, practiced self-

sacrificing compassion.

Then in the end, He assured His followers that although His present

dispensation would one day end, at that time the Buddha of Infinite

Compassion would appear, and His order would have no end. In Pure

Land Buddhism, this is the prophecy of the Adi Purusha's (Buddha's)

return as Maitreya Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Compassion.

 

Ever since Gautama Buddha disappeared, leaving this promise,

Buddhists have been awaiting the coming of Maitreya, the Buddha of

Infinite Compassion.

 

Upon the Yupa Cross of all creation, BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES

AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD. BEHOLD THE GOOD SHEPARD WHO HAS GIVEN HIS

LIFE FOR HIS SHEEP. BEHOLD THE ADI PURUSHA WHO ALONE CAN ATONE FOR

THE SINS OF HIS CREATION. BEHOLD THE SAVIOR WHO IS THE SERVANT OF HIS

SERVANTS. BEHOLD THE BUDDHA OF INFINITE COMPASSION WHO HAS TAKEN UPON

HIMSELF ALL OF THE SIN AND SUFFERING OF THE SAHA WORLDS, WHO HAS

ENDED ALL OF EARTH'S BLOODY SACRIFICES, AND WHOSE KINGDOM OF LOVE

WILL HAVE NO END.

 

IN JESUS CHRIST THE GOOD SHEPARD, PURUSHA-BUDDHA'S DESIRE TO GIVE

HIMSELF FOR THE SALVATION OF ALL BEINGS HAS BEEN SATISFIED. AS A

BUDDHIST AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS, I SEE MY LORD ADI PURUSHA VISHNAU-

LOKESHVARA AS THE GOOD SHEPARD WHO HAS GIVEN HIMSELF FOR HIS SHEEP.

 

ALL GLORIES TO THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD !

ALL GLORIES TO THE GOOD SHEPARD WHO HAS GIVEN HIS LIFE FOR HIS SHEEP!

ALL GLORIES TO JESUS CHRIST PURUSHA YUPA DHVAJA, WHO IS THE BUDDHA OF

INFINITE COMPASSION !

 

JESUS CHRIST THE GOOD SHEPARD HAS DIED

(FOR OUR SINS)

 

JESUS CHRIST THE GOOD SHEPARD HAS RISEN !

(BEHOLD HE MAKES ALL THINGS NEW !)

 

JESUS CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN

AND HIS KINGDOM WILL HAVE NO END!

 

HALLELUJAH !

 

 

A JOYOUS EASTER TO YOU ALL !

 

BHAKTI ANANDA GOSWAMI

 

(There is a voidist Buddhist interpretation of one version of this

Buddhist legend in Sir Edwin Arnold's "The Light of Asia". )

[Guest guest]

Jaya Bhakti Ananda Goswami. Happy Easter to you too.I am sure all is

well. great to hear from you.

quick question. what is the history of Goddess Ishtar and any

supposed connection to Easter?

Ys Vrn

 

 

 

vediculture, "Bhakti Ananda Goswami"

<bhakti.eohn@v...> wrote:

> vediculture, <dchakrav@c...> wrote:

> > Jai Ramji Ki!

> >

> > Dear Friends:

> >

> > It is truly a fascinating article. Will look for updates.

> >

> > Regards,

> >

> > Dhruba.

>

> CHRIST HAS RISEN HALLELUJAH !

>

> DEAREST FRIENDS AND FAMILY,

>

> BEHOLD ! HE MAKES ALL THINGS NEW!

>

> PEACE AND LOVE TO YOU AND YOUR DEAR ONES THIS BLESSED EASTER!

>

> ALL GLORIES TO JESUS YUPA DHVAJA!

>

> BHAKTI ANANDA GOSWAMI / BROTHER DAVID

>

>

> AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS

>

> A SERIES OF CONTEMPLATIONS BY A BUDDHIST, A SHAIVITE AND A

VAISHNAVA

> AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS

>

> PART ONE: BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE

> WORLD...A Pure Land Buddhist meditation at the foot of the Cross,

by

> Bhakti Ananda Goswami

>

> Humankind had entered a dark age of confusion and corruption.

> Everywhere, in the name of God's revealed knowledge (Sanskrit

Veda,

> Hebrew Yeda, Greek Oida), God's once-and-all-sufficient Cosmic

Self

> Sacrifice as Purusha Yupa Dhavaja (Rig Vedic Purusha Sukta) was

being

> horrifically mocked by the bloody ritualistic slaughter of

innocent

> cattle, goats, lambs and other sacrificial victims, even sometimes

by

> the tamasic sacrifice of humans. God's priesthood had become

> corrupted and His temple had become a den of thieves transacting

the

> life and death of slaves and sacrificial victims for blood-money.

> Into this culture of sin and death the Adi Purusha Lord Lokeshvara

> (Vishnu) descended Himself to diagnose the condition of humanity

and

> provide a cure.

>

>

> Everyone knows the basic story of the Prince Gautama Buddha, but

> there is an oral tradition about Him that can only properly end

with

> the words

> "Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world."

>

> Here is my retelling of that legend, from the versions that I

heard

> while traveling in the East.

>

> As the run-away Prince Gautama, the Second Person of the Godhead

> (Amitayus-Lokeshvara Vishnu) had performed great austerities and

had

> lived under the rigid discipline of various masters, only to find

> that their goals and methods of 'self realization'

or 'enlightenment'

> seemed either undesirable and / or unattainable. After submitting

to

> various disciplines and masters, He had become discouraged,

thinking

> that the relief for suffering, which He was seeking for all

beings,

> was unattainable. The world was pervaded with sin and its

> consequential suffering, and there seemed to be no remedy for it.

> Vedic religion was corrupt and what passed for 'spirituality' was

a

> cold impersonal flight from the reality of the personal suffering

of

> the beings in the saha world of birth, death, disease and old age.

>

> Frustrated with His directed religious and 'spiritual'

experiences,

> the Lord set off on His own as a wandering mendicant. As a

solitary

> monk He headed up into the mountains, where He sat deep in

meditation

> alone for many days at a time. Contemplating the suffering of the

> beings of the saha world, His desire to save them all increased

day-

> by-day, until one day He was startled out of His deep meditation

by a

> cry so pitiful, that it reached into the very bodhi heart of His

> compassion, and stirred Him once again to external consciousness.

>

> A shepard was bringing his flock down from the high pastures, and

the

> pitiful bleating that startled the Lord had come from a desperate

> mother sheep, who had twin lambs, one of which was quite crippled

and

> slow, lagging behind the flock, while the other was quite healthy

and

> frolicking up ahead of the flock. In an instant the Mendicant Lord

> realized that the poor mother was emaciated and full of worry as

she

> rushed back and forth between her sickly and her healthy lamb. She

> was just skin and bones due to her constant efforts to both help

> along her crippled baby and chase after her vigorous lamb, who had

to

> be brought back, so that she could near his feebler twin. Her

voice

> was strained from her constant calling to her frightened lame

lamb "i

> am coming my darling babe, mother is coming...i will not abandon

you"

> and calling to her adventurous lamb "come back my darling babe !

> Please do not make me chase you ! Please do not go so far ! There

are

> wolves! You can get lost! "

>

> In this way she was unwilling to abandon either of her precious

> babies, and was straining every fiber of her being to guide and

> protect them. Between their struggling and gamboling, she hardly

had

> time to eat, and she ran-off so much of what she did eat, that she

> was starving. Yet despite her obviously impending starvation, she

> lovingly gave her sore almost milkless teats to her beloved babies

at

> every opportunity that she could find.

>

> With many sheep, the shepard tending the flock seemed unaware of

her

> plight, and if he had noticed, he probably would have sacrificed

and

> eaten the crippled lamb, rather than to allow it to be the death

of

> its valuable mother.

>

> The Lord Teaches His Doctrine of Compassion

>

> "It is better to ease the suffering of one dumb beast, than it is

to

> sit in perfect impersonal meditation for an eternity" Thus the

Lord

> declared His doctrine of compassion, as leaping to His feet, at

once

> He approached the crippled lamb, and in spite of the worried

mother's

> frightened protests, He lifted the little creature to His own

> emaciated shoulders, and began to carry it.

>

> 'Worry no more my Woolly Mother, I am your servant now. I will

> protect and carry your precious baby"

>

> And so it was, that with the crippled lamb on His shoulders, the

Lord

> became the servant of a sheep. (Think my dear friends of the

> traditional early icon of Jesus as the Good Shepard, with the lamb

> draped over His shoulders !)

>

> ...but the story does not end here...

>

> Soon Woolly Mother trusted her new servant, and was confident to

> leave her darling lamb with Him. Relieved of her worries, she

would

> soon regain her health. Carrying the lamb, and striding down hill

> with the flock, the Lord reached the flock's shepard, who seemed

> unusually preoccupied by something.

>

> The Lord inquired as to why the man was so distracted:

>

> "Why are you bringing your flock down the mountain at this time of

> the year" asked the Lord. "The upper meadows are lush and green.

It

> is not yet the season to descend to the valley floor. Why are you

> headed for the valley?"

>

> "Haven't you heard?" replied the shepard. "The King has instructed

> the Brahmins to perform a great Vedic Sacrifice for the sins of

the

> nation.Thousands of sacrificial animals will be needed to atone

> for the sins of the people, the King and the

Brahmins". "Preparations

> are underway for the greatest state sacrifice ever performed in

our

> kingdom".

>

> "Hundreds of sacrificial Brahmin priests, Mantrins to chant the

Vedic

> Hymns, and other experts to assist in the sacrificial rites are

> coming from near and far. Thousands of crafts people, food-stuff

> peddlers and laborers are flooding into the city and the Great

Temple

> is being readied for the biggest event in its history. We herdsmen

> and shepards have been ordered to bring our herds and flocks, to

> provide the sacrificial victims. The altars, temple and city will

be

> flowing with rivers of their blood, and the debt for the sins of

the

> nation will be paid-in-full by the blood of these many victims!"

>

> Both men grew silent as they walked side-by-side down towards the

> valley, and then in speechless grief, the Lord purposed in His

heart:

>

> "Ah, for all my lost sheep, who have no Shepard to protect them,

and

> who are blindly heading towards the knife...IF I COULD GIVE MY

LIFE

> FOR THEM I WOULD!"

>

> There is more to the story, but I cannot tell it now.

>

> Suffice it to say that the Lord condemned the great sacrifice and

> stopped it. Throughout the rest of His Earthly quest for the end

of

> sin and suffering, and the relief of all beings in the saha world,

> the Lord Purusha Himself, as Prince Gautama, practiced self-

> sacrificing compassion.

> Then in the end, He assured His followers that although His

present

> dispensation would one day end, at that time the Buddha of

Infinite

> Compassion would appear, and His order would have no end. In Pure

> Land Buddhism, this is the prophecy of the Adi Purusha's

(Buddha's)

> return as Maitreya Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Compassion.

>

> Ever since Gautama Buddha disappeared, leaving this promise,

> Buddhists have been awaiting the coming of Maitreya, the Buddha of

> Infinite Compassion.

>

> Upon the Yupa Cross of all creation, BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHO

TAKES

> AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD. BEHOLD THE GOOD SHEPARD WHO HAS GIVEN

HIS

> LIFE FOR HIS SHEEP. BEHOLD THE ADI PURUSHA WHO ALONE CAN ATONE FOR

> THE SINS OF HIS CREATION. BEHOLD THE SAVIOR WHO IS THE SERVANT OF

HIS

> SERVANTS. BEHOLD THE BUDDHA OF INFINITE COMPASSION WHO HAS TAKEN

UPON

> HIMSELF ALL OF THE SIN AND SUFFERING OF THE SAHA WORLDS, WHO HAS

> ENDED ALL OF EARTH'S BLOODY SACRIFICES, AND WHOSE KINGDOM OF LOVE

> WILL HAVE NO END.

>

> IN JESUS CHRIST THE GOOD SHEPARD, PURUSHA-BUDDHA'S DESIRE TO GIVE

> HIMSELF FOR THE SALVATION OF ALL BEINGS HAS BEEN SATISFIED. AS A

> BUDDHIST AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS, I SEE MY LORD ADI PURUSHA

VISHNAU-

> LOKESHVARA AS THE GOOD SHEPARD WHO HAS GIVEN HIMSELF FOR HIS

SHEEP.

>

> ALL GLORIES TO THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE

WORLD !

> ALL GLORIES TO THE GOOD SHEPARD WHO HAS GIVEN HIS LIFE FOR HIS

SHEEP!

> ALL GLORIES TO JESUS CHRIST PURUSHA YUPA DHVAJA, WHO IS THE BUDDHA

OF

> INFINITE COMPASSION !

>

> JESUS CHRIST THE GOOD SHEPARD HAS DIED

> (FOR OUR SINS)

>

> JESUS CHRIST THE GOOD SHEPARD HAS RISEN !

> (BEHOLD HE MAKES ALL THINGS NEW !)

>

> JESUS CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN

> AND HIS KINGDOM WILL HAVE NO END!

>

> HALLELUJAH !

>

>

> A JOYOUS EASTER TO YOU ALL !

>

> BHAKTI ANANDA GOSWAMI

>

> (There is a voidist Buddhist interpretation of one version of this

> Buddhist legend in Sir Edwin Arnold's "The Light of Asia". )