Quote:Sanghparivaar:
Quote:The Blue God of Judaism
November 20th, 2009
Source: HPI
USA, November 19, 2009: The God that Jews worship is as blue as the Hindu God Shiva, the supreme being in Shaivism, the oldest sect within Hinduism, says Rabbi Robert dos Santos Teixeira, LMSW.
In some ways, the ancient Hebrews were more similar to modern-day Hindus than Jews. They acknowledged the existence of deities other than YHWH (Yahweh) and, like their neighbors, looked to a pantheon of Gods and Goddesses to satisfy their individual and collective needs; their principal God, however, became and remained YHWH, the fierce warrior who freed them from slavery in Egypt. He once had an effable name, a masculine body, and a female companion.
Examination and discussion of biblical, talmudic, midrashic, and mystical texts reveal that the body of the Lord is blue. The fact that the Hebrew term used to describe the Lord�s blue body comes from Sanskrit, as do other Hebrew terms associated with him, is nothing short of amazing and invites further exploration of the many similarities between Judaism and Hinduism, particularly Shaivism.
Posted in Hindu Press International
[right][snapback]102700[/snapback][/right]
Absolute and utter nonsense.
First the easy stuff:
If Yahweh is supposed to be blue: What a great coincidence, join the club:
- There are many blue Gods in many religions in the world. (E.g. Japan, some Pacific Islands religions)
- There are a number of blue Gods in Hindu Dharma. Not the least Mahavishnu, but also IIRC among the Navagrahas, etcetera.
- Moreover Shiva comes in many colours. In some forms only his *neck* is blue (hence he is *Neelakanta* because the poison he selflessly swallowed to protect the world from it, was stopped there and so his body didn't turn blue beyond his neck), in other manifestations he is described as being other colours including fair. And colour is not all that varies, as he has several different forms like the 5 headed one (whereas Mahavishnu is described as the God with one thousand heads), and then there is his formless form as well, of course (the ShivaLingam is the focal point for and represents the formless Shiva).
- Shaivism is not the "oldest sect within Hinduism". That statement (its phrasing, the ideas it conveys, the very assumptions it makes) is wrong in multiple ways.
Next - trivial word games aside (such as how "the term to describe Yahweh as being blue seems a bit like Samskritam") - comes character:
- Yahweh is the God of the Jews: Jews alone are his chosen people. The covenant binding his followers to him is the mandatory circumcision (the covenant on the male binds their females). He is NOT the God of anyone else.
In contrast, Shiva is Pashupati, the Lord of all Creatures. All creatures are naturally bound to Shiva (and there is no way to become unbound) - since he, and my Mother, made them.
- The Judaic scriptures are the source for working out the character of the Judaic God. It is also there in the OT that christianism copied in large part: Yahweh disapproves in the extreme of polytheism and idolatry. (The rest of Yahweh's character can be read in the same scriptures.) He declares himself a Jealous God and will brook no competition in allegiance.
Yahweh's character has No Remote Resemblance to Shiva. Shiva is well-described in all our scriptures and the sacred stotras made about him by various Hindu sages and Gods.
Shiva is NOT a jealous God, an idea wholly alien to Shiva and illogical to his nature, just as it is alien to the nature of all Hindu Gods. (Jealousy is a notion that makes no sense: why would Hindu Gods be jealous, what would the Hindu Gods be jealous of, when all is contained in them?) Just as how Mahavishnu is not jealous: e.g. Krishna in the Gita says whatever God one may be devoted to, it is ultimately to him that the devotion goes. Likewise, Shiva is pleased with devotion rendered by creatures to all the eternal Gods. In fact, he encourages mankind to worship his wife, Mahavishnu/Rama, Lakshmi, Murugan, Ganapathi, etcetera with as much devotion as rendered him.
And Shiva is very much worshipped by what the anti-idolatry religions call "idolatry". One of Shiva's own forms, the naturally-manifesting ShivaLingam, is meant for worship by all his creatures. It is the way to Shiva.
If there is going to be a recognition of similarity between Shiva and other peoples' Gods (let alone an identification with other Gods) it will be with the Kamisama, the Gods of the Daoists and the Gods of the Hellenes, that of the Native Americans and similar. They are all described similarly to Shiva, Vishnu, Indra, Skanda, Ganapathi, Surya, etcetera. For instance:
Quote:[color="#0000FF"]Seneca:Any traditional Hindu can recognise the above God (Zeus) and understand the one describing him (the Hellene, Seneca). It is familiar.
"We recognize Zeus as the ruler and guardian of the universe, as the PSYCHE (soul) and the PNEUMA (breath) of the KOSMOS, principally responsible for its creation and to whom all names are fitting. If you wish to refer to Him as MOIRA, you are not wrong. It is He, from whom everything depends, the cause of causes. If you wish to call Him PRONOIA (Providence) you are equally correct. It is He whose SOPHIA (Wisdom) provides for our world. If you desire to call Him PHYSIS (Nature), again you are not mistaken. It is He from whom everything was born and from whose breath we have Life. If you want to call Him Universe, again you are not wrong, as He is all that you see around you, He who exists within everything of the mundane, He who defends Himself and all which is within Him."[/color]
No traditional Hindu understands Yahweh's character let alone identifies any of our Gods with him. Repeat: Yahweh is a tribal God - God of the Jews alone. He is their chosen God, they are his chosen people. He is a Jealous God (his own words in Judaic scriptures), who most severely punishes "idolatry" and "polytheism" (as mirrored in his actions and condemnation against them in Judaic scripture).
The "Sangh parivaar" (if that was indeed them) - and HinduismToday definitely - are not only hopelessly confused and misleading others with their confusion, but they don't know the Hindu God of whom they speak if they were ever capable of identifying the God described in the OT with any of the Gods of the Hindus (their statement: "invites further exploration of the many similarities between Judaism and Hinduism, particularly Shaivism").
It *is* possible ("benefit of the doubt" type conjecture) that the ancient Gods of the Canaanites - like the ancient Gods of the Arabians - are like our Gods (and the Greek and Japanese Gods) in character. One doesn't *know* that this is the case. But if so, at some point in history, the Judaic God diverged from the Canaanite ones just as the islamic allah has nothing but the name in common with the Arabian God of the same designation. This doesn't mean *Judaism* is similar to Hindu Dharma, because Judaism is not the Canaanite religion.
Finally, I always make it a point to never lend any iota of credence to people who have never seen the Hindu Gods - or even any Gods, for that matter - talking about the Hindu Gods. (They only make themselves look preposterously silly in their total ignorance. But they *are* a source of boundless entertainment for this reason.)
One would think that seeing the Gods (Hindu Gods are not invisible and unknowable - unlike some others) was the *first* requirement in being able to pronounce true or false statements regarding predicates concerning our Gods.