From: hartigan@ac.dal.ca
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Christian perspectives on Hinduism, etc. [was: Re: self-worship]
Date: 1 Sep 92 12:24:15 -0300
Followup-To: talk.religion.misc
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

In article <ksand-310892202736@wintermute.apple.com>, ksand@apple.com (Kent Sandvik) writes:
> In article <1992Aug31.103102.7231@ac.dal.ca>, hartigan@ac.dal.ca wrote:
>>  Re: self-worship
>> 
>> The Buddha taught "anatman," that there is no such thing as the self. It seems
>> likely to me that if questioned on whether or not his aim was to become God,
>> one with God, realize Nirvana, etc., a true Buddhist would smile mysteriously
>> and say "There is no self to become anything, there is no becoming, and
>> nothing to become, neither is there any realization to attain. So what 
>> possible aim could I have? <smirk>"   
> 
> I assume this confirms my statement that Christians believing religions
> not tied to Christianity worships self is totally false. Especially
> when there's no self to become anything anyway :-).
>

A fundamentalist friend of mine, knowing my interest in Eastern religions, once
gave me a book to read. It was called "Riders of the Cosmic Circuit," by
some fundie physicist who had been a follower of the Indian guru Sai Baba for
a couple of years before seeing the Light, as they say.  The book essentially
argued that the Hindu/Buddhist concept of "enlightenment" was equivalent to
demonic possession. The main line of reasoning seemed to be:

1. Certain streams of Hindu thought teach that the self (personal sense of
self) must be "lost." 

2. Fundie Christian doctrine states that demons are always waiting to possess
you if you let them in. 

3. SInce Hindus are trying to get rid of "self," there is a vacancy (!) into
which the demons can enter. 

4. The "whoopee" feeling of enlightenment is caused by the demons giving you a
thrill now that they have possessed you.

Evidence for this: Sai Baba, one of the many Jim Bakker/Oral Roberts figures of
the Hindu world, was capable of conjuring little handfuls of "mystic ash" out
of thin air!  This miracle, reasoned the physicist, could only be possible
with either Divine or Demonic aid. Since they weren't Christian, it must have
been demonic.  Good thing this guy never met James Randi or David Copperfield
or he'd be convinced they're demonic, too! Of course, as he remarked many
times in the course of his book, he is a Scientist. You can trust him. <laugh>

This little book demonstrated such a profound ignorance of Hindu mysticism
that I hardly knew where to begin to correct the friend who lent me the book. 
For starters, the author generalized from Sai Baba to make a sweeping
condemnation of the entire spectrum of Hindu/Buddhist/Taoist religious
practises. This is the equivalent of generalizing from Jimmy Swaggart or 
Sun Myung Moon to a condemnation of all 20,000 sects of Christianity and
every Christian from St. Paul (who was the first, as we all know :) to 
Billy Graham, not to mention then going on to Islam and Judaism. 

Yowza! Then, to be suckered by Sai Baba's little sleight of hand tricks
and conclude that they MUST be the work of Satan...<sigh>  Third,
to misunderstand the Hindu notion of self (illusory) and Self (real, 
identical with Brahman, the Vastness)  - did I say misunderstand? I mean
not even TRY to become informed about.  And then to dress it all up 
in respectabilty by claiming to be an "objective scientist" who then
saw the truth of Christianity (fundamentalist sub-sect)....

THIS is what those "Christian" bookstores are selling as "information" about
other world religions. It's just low-quality propaganda. My friend did not
believe me when I began to explain the multitude of errors in the book. 
He remains convinced to this day, I am sure, that it is a perhaps flawed,
but fundamentally accurate portrayal of Eastern religion.

Anyway, just thought y'all might be interested to hear my sad story. 
Christians: take heed!  THESE are the people who are the most vocal
advocates for your Saviour!  So stop wondering why people wrinkle up their
noses when they hear the word "Christian." In the modern age, it's becoming
a synonym for "weak-minded, hypocritical fanatic."  A shame, if you ask me.

> Cheers,
> Kent

Sean Hartigan
hartigan@ac.dal.ca

Xref: sparky talk.religion.misc:15525 alt.atheism:16448