Comparing the religions

 

When I read about a particular religion, I look for answers to two questions:

1) where did I come from?

2) where am I going?

The answer to the first question is far more important than the second as it reveals the depth and understanding of that belief.    When comparing religions on the answers to the first question, the current religion today falls into two groups:

A)  The belief that man is eternal in nature.

B)  The belief that man is mortal and limited by death.

Interestingly, the religions that fall into set A are:  Buddhism, Hinduism, Scientology.  The religions that fall into set B are: Christianity, Islam, Judaism.

Getting the answer from set B is easy, as all three religions are founded on the same text:  "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," but getting the answer to this simple question from set A is not easy because the answer is buried under tons of cultural and philosophical dialogue (a lot of which are psychobabble).  For example, when someone asks a straight question, "how do I attain eternal life?" in the Upanishads, you won't find the answer in the next paragraph, but you need to dissect the poetic parable that follows which sounds a lot like what you'd read in a fortune cookie... sounding deep and thought-provoking, but ultimately useless.  Compare this to set A, it's easy as pie:  follow these ten rules, and you'll attain eternal life.

But anyway, the answer to "where did I come from?" in the religions belonging to set A is:  nowhere.   A man's soul is eternal by nature, and that the goal of life is to attain immortality.  

In Hinduism, attaining immortality is done by "realizing the Self."   HUH?  WHAT? You ask?   It may make more sense to tell you that in Hinduism, every living thing is made from the same primordial substance -- I call it, THE STUFF.   This STUFF is what gave birth to Brahma, the Hindu god of creation.  Brahma, in turn, gave birth to other gods, although I'm not clear as to how Brahma pro-creates.    This STUFF is actually called Brahman in Hinduism.   "Realizing the Self" is another way of saying "finding the Brahman in you"-- i.e.   if you look deep enough into yourself, you'll find Brahman.  But you need to be extremely "enlightened" to do this, and all the text in Hinduism aims for this purpose -- enlightenment of the mind.    So, where did I come from?   the answer is nowhere... you're made from the same "stuff" as the gods... but unfortunately, you're not enlightened enough to realize this.  Get it?  No?  you're not enlightened enough!   (BTW, you might be interested to know that the STUFF, in Star Wars cosmology, is called The Force).

While we're on enlightenment, lets now turn to Buddhism.  The religion of buddhism has been polluted with Hindu gods, so even some Buddhists believe in the same "gods" as Hinduism.  But Buddhism in its true sense has no "gods" at all.   So, where did I come from?  again, nowhere.  We've always existed,  being born and re-born through a cosmic force called Karma.  Suffering in the world, according to Buddhism, exists because of our attachments to our thoughts and emotions-- and, in this way, we become selfish and cause harm to others.   The goal of Buddhism is to realize these harmful things that we do through our thoughts and actions, and become "empty of inherent existence" -- in fully achieving this emptiness, you're one step closer to reaching Nirvana -- i.e.  the ultimate state of enlightenment where you become free of suffering and individual existence.   Siddhartha Gautama was born a man and supposedly reached "Buddhahood" at the age of 35.    It's implied that once you reach the state of Nirvana, you're free from the cycle of rebirth.   Since the earth itself is not eternal in nature, presumably there's some point in the past where the cycle of birth began and human beings started out as unenlightened idiots, until the first Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) came along.  I can't find anything in Buddhist texts that tells me when this cycle of birth began and more importantly, why.

The last religion in this group is Scientology.  This religion was created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s.    In scientology, man was originally an eternal, spiritual being called a thetan.    Thetans created the world, but somehow, they become attached to their creations (man) and assumed their identifies, and live their lives as man.   The suffering in the world causes the creation of "engrams," mental images which is harmful to the reactive mind and causes thetan to drift further away from their true state of being.     In order for a person to move closer to their true state of being (the thethan), he (or she) goes through a set of training (called dianetics) so that these engrams can be purged from the mind.    Once this is done, the person is said to be in "Clear" state.   How do you get these trainings?  By paying money to the church, of course! --- what?  you expect to reach this state through "enlightenment" like the Buddhists and Hindus?

The story of how the thetans became living bodies is worthy of a science fiction movie.   75 million years ago, an alien called Xenu (a ruler of the "Galactic Confederacy"), brought people  together to Earth aboard a spaceship that looks a lot like the DC-8, stacked them around volcanoes and detonated hydrogen bombs in the volcanoes.   The thetans then clustered together and stuck themselves to these people.

The story about Xenu was supposedly not given to ordinary scientologists, but given only to high-ranking individuals (read: people who donated a LOT of money to the church) under the claim that this knowledge can be harmful for people at lower levels of clarity -- i.e. those farther away from their thetan self.    Personally, I think this information was kept secret because most people who heard it would probably think L. Ron Hubbard finally had a psychotic break, and I do still smile silently whenever I pass a scientology church.

Now, let's compare the religion of group A with group B, all of which are based on Judaism.   Where did I come from?   I was created.  Where am I going?  eternal life.  How do I get there?  Follow 10 rules.   No enlightenment or money needed (although some churches/mosques/synagogues would have you think that!).  Straight to the point.  I like it.

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Enoch the intercessor

 

This passage from the Book of Enoch is interesting in that it underscores a point that Christian churches almost never point out:   God doesn't forgive everyone who repents.    Christians say, "God loves you," as easy as drug dealers say, "this is the good stuff."... and well, that's not surprising since it's a lot harder to convince sinners to become Christians if you tell them, "you may not go to hell but let's give it a good try."

What's pernicious about the whole thing is that you end up with a bunch of people who think they're Christian and going to heaven, and when one already believes he's going to heaven, his pride and self-righteousness usually does the rest.   This is the same prideful road as those Muslims who believe killing a Jew will land them 72 virgins, and somehow, the word "sex orgy" will have a different meaning in heaven than on earth.   On a side note, C.S. Lewis, wrote a terrific chapter on pride in his book, "Mere Christianity."

What's even more horrible is that you also have a bunch of people who think that God can be easily fooled.   Want to end up in heaven? well.. just repent at anytime.   It worked for the thief who was hung next to Jesus, so why not you?    And you end up with people who expect to sin because, well, no one is perfect, right?  and if you do, just confess your sins on your deathbed, and away to heaven you go.    What a joke.

 

In this passage, the fallen angels calls on Enoch to be their intercessor and asked God for forgiveness on their behalf.   Enoch prayed for them so that they may be forgiven, but he was brought up to God's throne so he could speak in person and meet Him face to face.

 

Chapter XII

    Before these things Enoch was hidden, and no one of the children of men knew where he was hidden, and where he abode, and what had become of him. And his activities had to do with the Watchers, and his days were with the holy ones.

    And I, Enoch,was blessing the Lord of majesty and the King of the ages, and lo! the Watchers called me -- Enoch the scribe -- and said to me:  "Enoch, you scribe of righteousness, go, declare to the Watchers of the heaven who have left the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have done as the children of earth do, and have taken unto themselves wives: 'You have wrought great destruction on the earth, and you shall have no peace nor forgiveness of sin, and inasmuch as they delight themselves in their children, they shall see the murder of their beloved ones, and lament over the destruction of their children, and shall make supplication unto eternity, but you will not attain mercy and peace.'"

Chapter XIII

    And Enoch went and said:  "Azazel, you will have no peace: a severe sentence has gone forth against you to put you in bonds, and you shall not have toleration nor request granted because of all the works of godlessness and unrighteousness and sin which you have shown to men."  Then I went and spoke to them all together, and they were all afraid, and fear and trembling seized them.  

    And they besought me to draw up a petition for them that they might find forgiveness, and to read their petition in the presence of the Lord of heaven, for from thenceforward they could not speak with Him nor lift up their eyes to heaven for shame of their sins for which they had been condemned.  Then I wrote out their petition, and the prayer in regard to their spirits and their deeds individually and in regard to their requests that they should have forgiveness and length.  And I went off and sat down at the waters of Dan, in the land of Dan, to the south of the west of Hermon.  I read their petition until I fell asleep.  And behold a dream came to me, and visions fell down upon me, and I saw visions of chastisement, and a voice came bidding me to tell it to the sons of heaven and reprimand them.  And when I awaked, I came to them, and they were all sitting gathered together, weeping in 'Abelsjail, which is between Lebanon and Seneser, with their faces covered.  and I recounted before them all the vision which I had seen in sleep, and I began to speak the words of righteousness, and to reprimand the heavenly Watchers.

Chapter XIV

    The book of the words of righteousness, and of the reprimand of the eternal Watchers in accordance with the command of the Holy Great One in that vision.  I saw in my sleep what I will now say with a tongue of flesh and with the breath of my mouth, which the Great One has given to men to converse therewith and understand with the heart. As He has created and given to man the power of understanding the word of wisdom, so has He created me also and given me the power of reprimanding the Watchers, the children of heaven.  I wrote out your petition, and in my vision it appeared thus that your petition will not be granted unto you throughout all the days of eternity, and that judgement has been finally passed upon you. Yea, your petition will not be granted unto you, and from henceforth you shall not ascend unto heaven unto all eternity, and in bonds of the earth the decree has gone forth to bind you for all the days of the world.

    And that previously you shall have seen the destruction of your beloved sons and you shall have no pleasure in them, but they shall fall before you by the sword. And your petition on their behalf shall not be granted, nor yet on your own, even though you weep and pray and speak all the words contained in the writing which I have written.   

    And the vision was shown to me thus:  Behold, in the vision clouds invited me and a mist summoned me, and the course of the stars and the lightnings sped and hastened me, and the winds in the vision caused me to fly and lifted me upward, and bore me into heaven.  

    And I went in till I drew nigh to a wall which is build of crystals and surrounded by tongues of fire, and it began to affright me.  And I went into the tongues of fire and drew nigh to a  large house which was built of crystals, and the walls of the house were like a tesselated floor made of crystals, and its groundwork was of crystal.  Its ceiling was like the path of the stars and the lightnings, and between them were fiery cherubim, and their heaven was clear as water.

    A flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its portals blazed with fire.  And I entered into that house, and it was hot as fire and cold as ice, there were no delights of life therein.  Fear covered me, and trembling got hold upon me.  And as I quaked and trembled, I fell upon my face, and I beheld a vision, and lo! there was a second house, greater than the former, and the entire portal stood open before me, and it was built of flames of fire.  And in every respect it so excelled in splendor and magnificence and extent that I can not describe to you its splendor and its extent.  And its floor was of fire, and above it were lightnings and the path of the stars, and its ceiling was also flaming fire.  And I looked and saw therein a lofty throne:  it's appearance was as crystal, and the wheels thereof as the shining sun, and there was the vision of cherubim.  And from underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire so that I could not look thereon.   

    And the Great Glory sat thereon, and His raiment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any snow.  None of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason of the magnificence and glory, and no flesh could behold Him.  The flaming fire was round about Him, and a great fire stood before Him, and none could draw nigh Him:  ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him, yet He needed no counselor.   And the most holy ones who were nigh to Him did not leave by night nor depart from Him.  And until then I had been prostrate on my face, trembling:  and the Lord called me with His own mouth, and said to me:  "Come hither, Enoch, and hear My word."  And one of the holy ones came to me and waked me, and He made me rise up and approach the door, and I bowed my face downward.

Chapter XV

    And He answered and said to me, and I heard his voice:  "Fear not, Enoch, you righteous man and scribe of righteousness: approach hither and hear My voice.  And go, say to the Watchers of heaven, who have sent you to intercede for them:  'You should intercede for men, and not men for you.  Wherefore have you left the high, holy, and eternal heaven, and lain with women and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done like the children of earth, and begotten giants as your sons?   And though you were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women and have begotten children with the blood of flesh, and, like the children of men, have lusted after flesh and blood as those also do who die and perish.  

    Therefore I have given them wives also that they might impregnate them, and beget children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on earth.  But you were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world.  And therefore I have not appointed wives for you, for as for the spiritual ones of heaven, in heaven is their dwelling.  And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on earth shall be their dwelling.  Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies, because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called.

    As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on earth shall be their dwelling. And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble.  They take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offenses. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them."

Chapter XVI

    "''From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without incurring judgement -- thus they shall destroy until the day of the consummation, the great judgement in which the age shall be consummated, over the Watchers and the godless, yea shall be wholly consummated.'  

    And now as to the watchers who have sent you to intercede for them, who had been aforetime in heaven, say to them: 'You have been in heaven, but all the mysteries had not yet been revealed to you, and you knew worthless ones, and these in the hardness of your hearts you have made known to the women, and through these mysteries women and men work much evil on earth.'

    Say to them therefore, 'You have no peace.'"

 

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The fall of the angels

The fall of the angels is described in the Book of Enoch.   This book, for some reason, was excluded from the Bible... which is really too bad because it contains a wealth of information that answers questions to a lot of Bible readers.     Enoch was one of a very few select men whom God chose to reveal the mysteries of heaven-- he was brought across all seven levels of heaven and reached God's throne.   He was probably the only man, except for Jesus Christ, to skip death completely in that God raised him directly to heaven in his old age (leaving his wife and children behind).    Even Moses died and did not have this priviledge.

In this excerpt, we see the fallen angels make a secret agreement with each other to sleep with women of the earth, and have children with them.  These children turned to become giants, and they were also evil and corrupt.    When we say, "evil spirits," or "demons"  it's actually the spirits of these giants, not the spirit of dead grumpy old men who got pissed that they couldn't take their million dollar bank accounts with them..  It's also because of these giants that God decided to wipe out the earth with the flood.   

The fallen angels who slept with the women are called "Watchers," and it's they who introduced men to various crafts from making swords to astrology, to women's make-up.  

Pay particular attention that Sataniel (i.e. Satan) is not mentioned here.  :)      Another passage of interest is that the fallen angels later repented and asked for God's forgiveness, but God did not forgive their sins.   I lost that passage so I can't give any excerpts here.   

 

The Book of Enoch

Chapter VI.

    And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters.  And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: "come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children."  

    And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them, "I fear you will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin."  

    And they all answered him and said, "Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing."  

    Then they all swore together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it.  And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it.  And these are the names of their leaders:  Samiazaz, their leader, Arakiba, Rameel, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, Asael, Armaros, batarel, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel.  these are their chiefs of tens.

Chapter VII.

    And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants.   And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: who consumed all the acquisitions of men.  And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood.  Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.

Chapter VIII.

    And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breast-plates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all coloring tinctures.  And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.  

    Semjaza taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, 'Armaros the solving of enchantments, Baraqijal taught astrology, Kokabiel the constellations, Ezeqeel the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon.  And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven ...

Chapter IX.

    And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth.  And they said to one another: "The earth made without inhabitant cries the voice of their cryings up to the gates of heaven.  And now to you, the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men make their suit, saying, 'Bring our cause before the Most High.'"  

    And they said to the Lord of the ages:  "Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings, and God of the ages, the throne of Your glory stand unto all the generations of the ages, and Your name holy and glorious and blessed unto all the ages!  You have made all things and power over all things: and all things are naked and open in Your sight, and You see all things, and nothing can hide itself from You.  You see what Azazel has done, who has taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were preserved in heaven, which men were striving to learn:  And Semjaza, to whom  You have given authority to bear rule over his associates, and they have gone to the daughters of men upon the earth, and have slept with the women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins.  And the women have borne giants, and the whole earth has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness.  And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of heaven, and their lamentations have ascended, and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds which are wrought on the earth.  And You know all things before they come to pass, and You see these things and You suffer them, and You do not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these."

    Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spoke, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him:  "Go to Noah and tell him in my name, 'Hide yourself!' and reveal to him the end that is approaching:  that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it.   And now instruct him that he may escape and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world."   

    And again the Lord said to Raphael:  "Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein.  And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there forever, and cover his face that he may not see light.   And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire.   And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons.   And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin."   

    And Gabriel said to the Lord: "Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy the children of fornication and the children of the Watchers from amongst men, and cause them to go forth:  send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle, for length of days they shall not have.  And no request that they (i.e. their fathers) make of you shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and that each one of them will live five hundred years."

    And the Lord said unto Michael: "Go, bind Semjaza and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness. And when their sons have slain one another and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the  earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is forever and ever is consummated.  In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire, and to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined forever.  And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations.  And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind.  Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end, and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear, and it shall prove a blessing.  The works of righteousness and truth shall be planted in truth and joy forevermore.

 

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