My understanding of the Abrahmic Religions and how they differ from the Sanathan Dharma

The true versions of the Abrahamic Religions are not those found in today’s land of Abraham but are those found in the Abrahamic Religions of Bharat.

All of the above true versions of Abrahamic Religions state the same truth as stated in the Brahmasutra:

ब्रह्मन्(Brahman) can only be reached by those who practice ध्यान(Dhyana).

The Prophet Mohammed

The first convert to Islam other than the Prophet Mohammed was his first wife Khadija.

Read her biography in the link above.

The Prophet Mohammed worked honestly and without any ego with her and did her business first and impressed her so much that she wanted to marry him.

She was older than him and she was a widow.

Still he married her and they lived happily.

Even today, leave alone Muslim men, almost all men of all religions at least in Bharat will not even think of working with a woman, or let their wife work, forget about working for their wife.

They will not even think of marrying a woman older than them, forget about marrying a widow.

There is also the other story of how the Prophet conquered Mecca.

He conquered it by peace.

He even forgave the people who chased him out, murdered his uncle Hamza in the most brutal manner, tried to kill the Prophet and committed murder against his soldiers.

And today the so called followers are even willing to murder a person who draws a cartoon of the Prophet.

Of course the Prophet also undertook wars and genocide against the Banu Qurayza and many others, but is the “civilised” Western countries history of colonisation and genocide, and their World Wars and their wars for “Freedom and Democracy” any less barbaric.

The Quran

I read the version of the Quran by Ahmed Ali .

It seems to be a very good interpretation.

In fact today’s modern Muslims are misusing some portions.

From what I read, a wife’s consent is needed for both divorce and taking and additional wife – as far as I have read there is no provision for sms and telephone and drunken state three times talaq like it happens in Arabia and even in Bharat.

Also polygamy is not encouraged since it says it is difficult to treat both wives equally.

Divorce should take a minimum of 3 months and there are repeated chances for reconciliation.

The Quran repeatedly says that one must give Zakat(charity) and one should not make a big show of giving charity.

There are some parts of the Quran that come down from the other texts of the Abrahamic religions.

The prophets Abraham, Moses, Adam, Noah, Mary and Jesus and some others I may have missed.

There is also the law against swine, gambling and usury and drinking that comes from the Torah.

The Quran says:

The true way with God is the way of peace.

However from what I have read, the Quran says to fear God many times.

There is no need to fear God, do you fear your parents and grandparents?

Then why should you fear God who created this world and your family.

You need to have love of God not fear him.

But you must fear God’s first son: Punishment.

Love is a more powerful force than fear.

When you truly love somebody, you will not do anything to hurt them.

Love cannot be overcome, fear can be overcome and once fear is overcome, the person who commands respect through fear can be overcome.

Look what happened to Saddam and Gaddafi – they ruled by fear and then died sorry deaths once people overcame their fear.

A person who commands obedience and respect through love can never be overcome.

The Quran also says that the idle who just pray and do nothing else have no hope of reaching God.

Only those who use their wealth and lives in service of God have a hope of reaching him.

The Quran also says that the share of the man in inheritance is equal that of two women

In those days women never earned a living so the male members used to maintain the woman’s property also.

In these days I believe that women and men should have equal rights in inheritance if women are earning a living and can maintain their share of the property.

Unlike the Torah, the Quran recognizes that man was created from a single cell and that woman is the equal counterpart of man.

The Quran also says that all good that happens to a person is because of God, and all bad that happens to a person is because of his ill (bad) actions. This is quite similar to the law of Karma.

The Quran also says one must not force a woman to sleep with you and you cannot marry a woman without her consent.

I wonder which version Quran the perverted ISIS and other vile fundamentalists follow?

The Quran does not believe in the concept of Trinity.

It says there is only one God.

The Quran also calls for war and killing of nonbelievers of Islam.

The Quran does say that those who fight in the name of God and die will enjoy a good after life.

This is being terribly twisted and misused today.

These so called jihadis forget that the Quran also says in 5:32 (The Feast):
Whosever kills a human being, except(as punishment) for murder, or for spreading corruption in the land, it shall be like killing all humanity, and who saves a life, saves the entire human race.

Also unlike the jihadis and fundamentalists who want everybody to convert to Islam the Quran also says:

There is no compulsion in religion.
Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path.

Whoever disbelieves in false Gods and believes in God (Allah in Arabic), then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And God is All-Hearer, All-Knower.

Most of the “religious” people I know, not just Muslims but also of other religions blindly follow what they have been told without verifying or understanding what it means.

The Quran itself says in 17:36:
Do not follow what you have no knowledge of(have not seen for yourself or verified yourself).

The hearing, the sight and the mind, will all be questioned for it.

That means one should first verify themselves what has been told to them by others who may also have half knowledge before blindly following it.

The Quran is also quite strict for theft and recommends cutting off the hand for theft regardless of man or woman.

But it also says to forgive those who reform.

That is the hardest part – how do you figure out if somebody has reformed?

I think the true custodians of Islam died with the death of Imam Husayn.

He was the grandson of the prophet and had his blood.

His mother Fatimah was the daughter of the Prophet and his first wife Khadija.

The Prophet personally loved Husyan and Hassan.

He has also mentioned this in his sayings and called them the Al Bayat.

The Quran places great importance on dressing modestly and covering your body not only for women but also for men.

In many cultures that were not colonized or influenced by the Abrahamic religions, even ancient Bharat, people roamed around naked.

In fact I have been to the palace near the Padmanaba Swamy temple in Kerala and if you see old photos or paintings in Kerala, the women in Kerala, before the wretched perverted British colonists took over, did not cover their breasts.

It was only the wretched perverted British colonists who made them ashamed of the way these women dressed.

Jesus

There are also many stories of Jesus.

There are more versions about Jesus than just the versions in the King James Bible .

There was an article about the King James Bible in I think the December 2012 edition of National Geographic.

It is worth reading.

The whole compilation was the work of a team put together by King James.

The King James Bible replaced the Geneva Bible.

There are also the Gnostic Gospels.

Both Jesus and Mohammed spent a lot of time in ध्यान Dhyana.

If you really want to know about God, you must practice ध्यान Dhyana, not pray and you must do it alone.

And they were always alone when they got their revelations.

If you really want to know God, you must practice ध्यान Dhyana alone, not in big groups.

Silent ध्यान Dhyana done alone is the best way to find Brahman.

Most ignorant Christians focus on the miracles of Jesus – turning water into wine, raising Lazarus from the dead, virgin Birth, walking on water and associated miracles.

We should focus on the actions of Jesus.

He himself said he was the son of Man.

He accepted a fallen women as his close disciple.

He chased the money changers (the Wall Street Pimps of those days) out of the temple.

And even when he was treated worse than a dog by his own people, and crucified and dying he said:

Father forgive them for they know not what they have done.

Judaism

I tried to read the Torah.

I did not get past first 3 chapters.

It it too complicated and full of inconsistencies – the world was not created in 6 days, women were not cursed by God to get pregnant, it was a fact of nature and evolution, and it has contempt of snakes as messengers of Satan.

In the Sanathan Dharma, snakes are vehicles, adornments and companions of the highest gods like Vishnu and Shiva.

There are so many rules in the Torah – 613 commandments , some good, many very obvious and self evident that I am surprised it has to be written down,  many laws are against idolatry, what to wear, what to eat, how to dress, and gems like:

132.The rapist must marry his victim if she is unwed.

There are so many stories, some of them quite alarming and filled with hatred and vengeance and murder and incest.

Some of these 613 commandments are  racist and bigoted.

A lot of the problems with the Abrahamic religions is because these 613 commandments are blindly followed.

The root cause of these 613 commandments is because of Maimonedes.

The Abrahamic Religions should go back to the original version of the Torah as understood by Hillel the elder.

Some of the greatest scholars are those who keep things so simple that even a two year old child can understand.

This is what Hillel the Elder said about the Torah:

That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.

That is the whole Torah;the rest is the explanation. Go and study it.

Hillel is also known for the famous saying:

If I am not for myself, who is for me? And when I am for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, then when?

As stated in the Quran, Hillel also taught:

Whosoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whosoever that saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.

The Similarities and Differences with the Sanathan Dharma

Similarities

Of all the Abrahamic religions, the teachings of Jesus are most appropriate and peaceful and his Sermon on the mount is one of the most sublime teachings and contains the same essence of the Dhammapada and the Prasthanatrayi of universality of spirit, renunciation, compassion and SEVA (selfless sacrifice).

Differences

The Abrahamic religions are extremely divisive and say that they are the chosen people and consistently say that their God will only favour them and not the nonbelievers.

They divide groups into believers and non-believers such as Jews and Gentiles, Christians and Pagans, Muslims and People of the Book and Kafirs and Idolators.

The ideal of the Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam which is one of the main underlying concepts of the Sanathan Dharma is vastly different and superior and unifying than the divisive idealogy of the Abrahamic Religions.

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam means:

The whole world is one family.

Unlike the Abrahamic Religions which only wish death, destruction and God’s anger and curses for non-believers, one of the great prayers of the Sanathan Dharma is:

लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनोभवन्तु
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

May all the Worlds become Happy.

Ramakrishna Parmahansa said:

There is God in all men, but all men are not God.

After all the Gita was explained, Lord Krishna said:

I have given you my wisdom, it is for you to do as you think fit.

Lord Krishna did not command Arjuna like the Prophets do in  the Abrahamic religions, he told him to do as he thought fit.

Arjuna acted out of  his own free will after hearing the wisdom of the Lord Krishna.

In the Abrahamic religions, the Prophets command their followers to do as they say and invoke fear of Gods anger and punishment if the followers do not obey the Prophets commands.

Also in the Abrahamic religions, for a long time it was thought that the Earth was the center of the universe and God made this earth for man and his enjoyment alone.

In most Abrahamic religions you need an intermediary to reach God.

In Christianity it is only through Jesus, in Islam is it only through Prophet Mohammed and in Judaism it is through the many prophets.

In the Sanathan Dharma, there is no intermediary to reach God, in fact  the Self ( Atman) is identical and a part of Brahman and the Grand Pronouncement:

तत् त्वम् असि Tat Tvam Asi – Brahman is the Truth, Brahman is the Self, Brahman is You.

from the Chandogya Upanishad

You will not find any fear of Brahman in the Vedanta and Gita.

It only talks about the love of Brahman and the wonder of Brahman’s greatness and that of Brahman’s creation.

In the Abrahamic religions, you are taught to fear God.

The Abrahamic religions prohibit idolatry.

But in fact the Sanathan Dharma also has a supreme god Brahman that can only be reached, not by prayer and rituals as outlined in the Abrahamic Religions, but only by ध्यान (Dhyana) .

Brahman  has two faces: 

Nirguna or without any attributes

Saguna or with attributes in the form of the matter in the Universe and the Personal god or Ishta Devata.

Most “Hindus” worship idols of their Personal god or Ishta Devata.

Even though the Abrahamic religions prohibit idolatry, in fact it is the Abrahamic religions who portray God as some all powerful man with a long beard sitting on a golden throne in heaven.

In the Prasthanatrayi (primary texts of the Sanathan Dharma),  Brahman is not even described as a man or woman, it claims that Brahman is beyond comprehension.

In fact the Kena Upanishad says:

Brahman is the unknown(beyond comprehension) to a person of true knowledge and understanding of Brahman,

it is known only to the ignorant

Kena Upanishad Section 2 Mantra 3

In all the primary texts of the Sanathan Dharma (Upanishads, Gita and Brahmasutra), not once is the word homosexual even mentioned, leave alone promoting hatred and discrimination of them.

The concept of धर्म Dharma is best and clearly defined in the Sanathan Dharma.

In the Abrahamic Religions the concept of धर्म Dharma gets lost in the myriad, complex and outdated rules of identity and morality.