My Footnote at Ch 9

While studying 'The Great Transformation' I have not found there till now (p.376), a hint that Karen Armstrong has seen a connective influence of this 'Bhagavad Gita teaching' on the mind of Jesus, and on the early thinking of Christianity, though no doubt she must have noticed it.

Still, I thought it worthwhile gathering some parallel notions of the Axial Age that are reflected in the sayings of Jesus and his Kingdom of God theme, and the consequent understanding or interpretation of it by the followers of Jesus. The next quoted phrases from The Great Transformation might make us reflect on possible connections.

(TGT p.376f)

- Those practicing bhakti, devotion/dedication , 'could begin by listening to talks about Vishnu/Krishna; then they could start to recite his names, while thinking about his great feats of love for humanity.

They could make a simple offering before his shrine and learn to consider him as a friend, until eventually they were able, without any excessive straining, to surrender to him entirely.'

'Self-surrender was the central act'

'At this point, the worshiper stopped resisting the Lord and learned to behave as lovingly toward others as he (the Lord) did himself'.

'By making the loving 'descent' into his avatara , Vishnu revealed himself to be the savior god par excellence, who laid aside the outward trappings of divinity to help suffering humanity.'

'The Lord himself was the exemplar of love. Central to the cult of Vishnu was the avatara , the 'manifestation' or 'descent' of the god into an earthly or human form. At times of historical crisis, Vishnu gave up the bliss of heaven to save the world.'

'Krishna was the most important of these avataras - manifestations.'

'The development of the avatara -idea is complex: it probably derived from the amalgamation (merger) of many different cults, some of which could have been extremely ancient.'

[could this avatara -idea have influenced the development from 'low' Christology to 'high' Christology? t.i. From the understanding of Jesus as a Jew, to the interpretation of Jesus as 'the Christ', the ;Son of God'?]

'Not only did he, Vishnu, participate in and pervade the world, but he was the axis mundi that tirelessly supported the earth upon his shoulders. He was also a creator god.'

'A benevolent god, he was the friend of human beings and the protector of the unborn child.' The Brahmanas identified him with the healing power of sacrifice; in Vedic traditional understanding, he was associated with the Purusha, the primordial person who had voluntarily laid down his life to enable the world to come into being, and thus 'enshrined the principle of self-emptying love.'

Reading further, I found on p. 383, that Armstrong added a note - after quoting Philippian text 2:6f 'but he emptied himself' - She says:

'But because of this humiliating 'descent', God had raised him high and given him the supreme title kyrios ('Lord'), to the glory of God the Father'.

This vision was not dissimilar to the ideal of the new Buddhist hero bodhis-attva, who voluntarily laid aside the blissful liberation of nibbana for the sake of suffering humanity. Christians would come to see Jesus as an avatara of God, who had made a painful 'descent' out of love in order to save the human race. But, Paul did not quote the hymn to expound the doctrine of the incarnation [KA surprisingly remarks].  As a former Pharisee, Paul knew that religious truth had to be translated into action. He therefore introduced the hymn with this instruction to the Christians of Philippi: 'In your minds, you must be the same as Christ Jesus'. They must also empty their hearts of egotism, selfishness, and pride. They must be united in love, 'with a common purpose and a common mind'. Phil 2:5

Further reflection:

The probability has sometimes been mentioned that Jesus had traveled to India at one time or another, and that he so could have been influenced by the Indian spiritual thinking. But of such a probable connection with the avatara notion, nothing is found in Jesus' sayings, but rather in John's mind. I see instead the possibility that the author of John's gospel (written at the end of the century) could have had contact with Indian thinking.

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GLOSSARY

Instead of using only the explanation of 'terms', I felt it wise to use the original ones as much as possible so we keep in contact with the ancient writings.

Ahimsa - harmlessness, non-violence

Am ha-aretz - foreigners in Israel and those Jews not returnees from Babylon

Annata - 'no self'

Apeiron - the 'infinite' original substance of the cosmos. (phil.)

Archetype - original pattern, paradigm

Atman - immortal, eternal self

Avatara - manifestation

Brahman - the "All"

Daimon - a lesser divine being

Dao - the Way; the correct path

Dharma - teaching, a way to salvation

Dukkha - suffering

Ekstasis - stepping out, going beyond the self

Hoplite - Greek citizen soldier

Hubris - pride, selfishness

Jian - concern for everybody; a principled impartiality

Junzi - gentleman; nobility; mature, fully developed human being

Karma - action; including fear, attachment, desire, hatred

Katharsis - cleansing, purification

Kenosis- emptying of self, of egotism

Kshatriya - the 'empowered ones', Indian warrior class, responsible for government and defense

Li - rite, ceremony, regulated life of junzi

Moksha - liberation, the constant awakening to one's true self

Nibanna - 'blowing out' - extinction of 'self'

Qi - raw material of life, basic energy, primal spirit

Ren - being fully human, 'human-heartedness' (Conf.)

Samsara - the restless human condition

Shen - deepest and most divine self, purest existence.

Yangist - follower of Yangzi, Master Yang

Wu wei - doing nothing