Can you mingle Hinduism with Christianity?

[Sirona]

Can you mingle Hinduism with Christianity? Is the result palatable?

I recently bought God Talks with Arjuna, the Bhagavad Gita commentary by Paramahansa Yogananda. Somebody had “warned” me it might contain references to Christianity, and he was right. He told me it was written in an era where Hindus had to adopt Christian concepts to gain readers from the western hemisphere. As a matter of fact I don’t know what to think of it, although I got from Christianity to Hinduism via theosophy.

 

[LuisDantas]

A sufficiently bold practicioner probably may, but I don't think it should be a goal.

 

[Vinayaka]

Can you mingle Hinduism with Christianity? Is the result palatable?

I recently bought God Talks with Arjuna, the Bhagavad Gita commentary by Paramahansa Yogananda. Somebody had “warned” me it might contain references to Christianity, and he was right. He told me it was written in an era where Hindus had to adopt Christian concepts to gain readers from the western hemisphere. As a matter of fact I don’t know what to think of it, although I got from Christianity to Hinduism via theosophy.

It is indeed palatable to many, or else the organisation that was an outcome of Yogananda's work would not exist.

But what 'somebody' warned you about is true. Doesn't mean you can't accept it or reject it. Maybe read 3 or 4 translated versions of the Gita and decide for yourself.

 

[Desert Snake]

Can you mingle Hinduism with Christianity? Is the result palatable?

I recently bought God Talks with Arjuna, the Bhagavad Gita commentary by Paramahansa Yogananda. Somebody had “warned” me it might contain references to Christianity, and he was right. He told me it was written in an era where Hindus had to adopt Christian concepts to gain readers from the western hemisphere. As a matter of fact I don’t know what to think of it, although I got from Christianity to Hinduism via theosophy.

Yes you can.

 

[Jainarayan]

I think about the only thing you can merge into Hinduism from Christianity is the Sermon on the Mount, and other of Jesus's teachings about compassion, love for man and God, and striving to know God. All of that does exist in Hinduism; Jesus is just using different wording. You might be interested in The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta by Swami Prabhavananda. He examines the Sermon on the Mount through the lens of Hinduism, going deeper than any Christian writing I've seen.

However, I do not believe you can take Hindu concepts and merge them into Christianity without great difficulty. I sort of did it when I was Christian. I always believed in the Hindu deities and that they were manifestations of God. That is a decidedly Hindu concept not found in Christianity. At the time Jesus was my 'ishta-devata', if you will. Of course I was an unorthodox Orthodox Christian. I no longer believe he is/was God.

 

[Sirona]

Vinayaka wrote: Maybe read 3 or 4 translated versions of the Gita and decide for yourself.

I read what I could get into my reach, Yogananda’s Bhagavad Gita commentary as well as Prabhupada’s. I even read Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s commentary. I feel like every commentator wants to promote their technique / organization, respectively. The only commentary that IMHO was unbiased was the commenary of Shankara, and Prabhupada calls Shankara’s followers “mayavadis”. BTW, even Prabhupada made references to Christ.

 

[Poeticus]

Can you mingle Hinduism with Christianity?

Is the result palatable?

As per Mimamsa, no and no.​

 

[Agnimitra]

I would humbly request that such a volatile attempt not be made, because already you can see people trying to do it.....with ulterior motives. And the result is a sad vilification of the Vedic culture by a disastrous and mindless missionary zeal.

Villagers threatened to destroy this statue of Virgin Mary wearing a saree built by missionaries eyeing gullible tribals in Jharkhand

 

[Jainarayan]

The only commentary that IMHO was unbiased was the commenary of Shankara

Because Shankara came centuries before Hinduism was brought to the west. He wrote (and died) over 600 years before the west was even discovered.

 

[Vinayaka]

I read what I could get into my reach, Yogananda’s Bhagavad Gita commentary as well as Prabhupada’s. I even read Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s commentary. I feel like every commentator wants to promote their technique / organization, respectively. The only commentary that IMHO was unbiased was the commenary of Shankara, and Prabhupada calls Shankara’s followers “mayavadis”. BTW, even Prabhupada made references to Christ.

Well then my advice was kind of useless, wasn't it? Seeing you had already done that.

Indeed every translation will have it's personal take. I'm not a Gita kind of guy so I can't help you there, but maybe someone else will be able to.

But back to the original question ... for some, it may cause confusion, the mixing, because there are some obvious contradictions. Do you have a sense of what you're looking for, I mean outside of scripture?

 

[Desert Snake]

I think about the only thing you can merge into Hinduism from Christianity is the Sermon on the Mount, and other of Jesus's teachings about compassion, love for man and God, and striving to know God. All of that does exist in Hinduism; Jesus is just using different wording. You might be interested in The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta by Swami Prabhavananda. He examines the Sermon on the Mount through the lens of Hinduism, going deeper than any Christian writing I've seen.

However, I do not believe you can take Hindu concepts and merge them into Christianity without great difficulty. I sort of did it when I was Christian. I always believed in the Hindu deities and that they were manifestations of God. That is a decidedly Hindu concept not found in Christianity. At the time Jesus was my 'ishta-devata', if you will. Of course I was an unorthodox Orthodox Christian. I no longer believe he is/was God.

Didn't you state that Xianity never made sense to you, or something to that effect? How would you know if Xianity is possible for 'Hinduism' merger without a clear understanding of Xianity?

 

[Aupmanyav]

Can you mingle Hinduism with Christianity? Is the result palatable?

.. although I got from Christianity to Hinduism via theosophy.[/B]

IMHO, both should be kept separate. Immiscibles. Theosophy is just as good or bad as Yogananda.

 

[Poeticus]

I would humbly request that such a volatile attempt not be made, because already you can see people trying to do it.....with ulterior motives. And the result is a sad vilification of the Vedic culture by a disastrous and mindless missionary zeal.

Agnimitra,

It's objectionable when radical missionaries
falsely correlate ishavasya / isha as being a
reference to Jesus, when linguistically it is
quite incorrect. Furthermore, sanity would
clearly dictate that aggressive proselytizing
is definitely unprogressive and backwards.
It is unfortunate, therefore, that many fail
to realize such and fail to desist.​

 

[Jainarayan]

Didn't you state that Xianity never made sense to you, or something to that effect? How would you know if Xianity is possible for 'Hinduism' merger without a clear understanding of Xianity?

I don't think I ever said that, since I was a Christian from birth, completed all the sacraments, and was a regular church-goer. This was all up to about 32-33 years old. From about 13-14 years old I had an overlap of Hinduism. It's not that Christianity never made sense to me, it's that it doesn't suit me. I began drifting away from it in my early 30s. I still like reading parts of the Bible, but pretty much only Matthew and Mark, and the poetic books of the Old Testament (Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes). I have a copy of the Jefferson Bible which Thomas Jefferson created and published. He cut and pasted from the four canonical gospels (the "red letter" portions... only the words of Jesus), put them into as chronological order as he could, and removed all references to miracles and the resurrection. That's about as far as I take Christianity; the Jefferson Bible is not all that dissimilar from the Bhagavad Gita and the Dhammapada in what it says.

 

[Desert Snake]

It's not that Christianity never made sense to me, it's that it doesn't suit me.

Oh, I see. Yes that makes sense. That was my misinterpretation of what you'd stated.

 

[Jainarayan]

No worries.

 

[Desert Snake]

If those Swamis all said it was possible, I'm betting on that.

 

[Sirona]

But back to the original question ... for some, it may cause confusion, the mixing, because there are some obvious contradictions. Do you have a sense of what you're looking for, I mean outside of scripture?

I feel I have a taste for what Christians call "name prayer" (japa) although if you literally stick to the Bible then the New Testament forbids repetitive prayer. Nevertheless Christian traditions developed "name prayer" on their own. I'm happy with the Hare Krishna mantra, but I’m curious whether Christian “name prayer” provides the same result as Christians are “required” to invoke sin and guilt when doing “name prayer”.

 

[Jainarayan]

Actually, I don't think it's that repetitive prayer is forbidden, as in saying the rosary or repeating the Jesus Prayer. After all, the rosary is said to have been given to St. Dominic by the Blessed Virgin herself. Jesus said not to keep blabbering on thinking you will be heard better by God. If the Hare Krishna mantra is bringing you results, stick with it. There are many nāma (name) japa mantras you can use for whatever deity you are drawn to. The Mahāmantra (Hare Krishna) is one that invokes the names of Hari (Vishnu), Krishna, Rāma, and Rādhā because of Sanskrit inflection.

 

[Vinayaka]

I feel I have a taste for what Christians call "name prayer" (japa) although if you literally stick to the Bible then the New Testament forbids repetitive prayer. Nevertheless Christian traditions developed "name prayer" on their own. I'm happy with the Hare Krishna mantra, but I’m curious whether Christian “name prayer” provides the same result as Christians are “required” to invoke sin and guilt when doing “name prayer”.

I have absolutely no idea. You see, I wasn't born Christian this lifetime, but into an atheist/agnostic family. So I know very little other than what I've seen by observing others who've tried to mix the two.

As far as versions of Hinduism go, ISKCON or Gaudiya Vaishnavism branches are often the choices people coming from Christianity make, partly because of the dualism found in those and other schools, and also because they are more common.

But this Hinduism thing is vast, not just in philosophy but in practices and approaches. Generally my first suggestion to most newcoming seekers is to get to a Hindu temple, rather than delving into scripture at all. You may well get an intuitive sense of 'I'm at home' or it's opposite 'this ain't for me!' there.

But each soul has a unique path to tread. Best wishes.