King of a Fallen Dynasty: Jesus

Great titles at times stand on shaky legs, and some have titles thrust on them.

The first king of Jews was found among the baggage and later went insane. The king that succeeded him, had a soldier killed by stealth to have his wife. The third king of Jews was told his dynasty would fall asunder, which it did. The king of Jews would be a bad guy, like an enemy, on top of the others in the society, was the greatly ignored warning of a judge Samuel. [1 Samuel 8 etc.]

There are words to be trusted, and words not to be trusted. Many such words are found in the Bible. In passing, who killed Goliath? The Bible says it was David, and the Bible says it was another, Elhanan. (1 Samuel 17:50; 2 Sam. 21:19) Sources differ (See also 1 Chronicles 20:5). Some ancient editing was attempted to solve this, but -

As for ourselves, we may try to rely more on ourselves than great-sounding titles with goof support, and get more trustworthy than frauds.

The Liked Term 'Christ'

First, the word "Christ" means basically "anointed", and is derived from khristos, which is a Greek translation of the Aramaic meshiha (mshikha) and Hebrew mashiah (messiah). Hebrew Messiah means literally, "oil-anointed". [1 Samuel 8]. The Jewish tradition understands Messiah to be a human being without any overtone of divinity.

Christian theology focuses on the nature of Jesus as "the christ" - after filling the term with glorified content, as Dr Bard D. Ehrman shows in How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee (2014) [Some details], whereas esoteric Christian traditions and gnosticism discern between the person Jesus and a christ state that suffuses some.

Several Hindu yogis use "christ" to denote a state of mind that can eventually be reached in transcendental realms, but anchor it more or less to other concepts. Paramahansa Yogananda often writes about a "Christ Consciousness" interchangeably with "Krishna Consciousness".

The title "Christ" is also found in India - it was perhaps given to Jesus there - [Bah.] in the word "Krishna ' which sometimes I purposely spell "Christna" to show the [fictitious] correlation. "Christ" and "Krishna" are titles signifying divinity . . . To understand what Christ Consciousness means, consider the contrast between your consciousness and that of a little ant. [SRF editor's note: Blue is also the color of the Christ Consciousness when epitomized in the spiritual eye as a circle of dark blue light surrounding the star] . . .

Christ Consciousness [is] the Intelligence of God omnipresent in creation . . . The wonders of God's creation cannot be discovered by a cow." (Yogananda 1982:286-87, passim)

'Christna' is a Yogananda-screw-up - unbecoming.

❋ Different churches and traditions and religions put their own spins on "christ". The kings of Jews (Messiah) as descendants of David ended long before Jesus, as a result of Solomon ruining that dynasty, says the Old Testament. There should be no real need to put hope in such a term, accordingly.

Too much of a good thing . . .

After five years in the United States, Yogananda started to tell that Jesus is one of the gurus behind him. Hijacking is different, it is not done with the tongue only - if it matters. Yogananda also proclaimed - and the claims are maintained by the church he started - his line of gurus are christs, and that he knew many christs and christlike souls back in India. [See who] Hedid not include a pussycat.

A year before Yukteswar wrote a slim book called The Science of Religion in English, he maintained, "I am not a man of erudition in the shastras [scriptures]." Yukteswar was not a swami at the time either. There is critique on that book on-site.

Today Self-Realization Fellowship, SRF, in the footsteps of Yukteswar's disciple Yogananda, propagates profess that Yukteswar is a Christ and a Jnanavatar, ie. 'divine wisdom incarnated', "a master in every way", "one whose words oblige the cosmos, someone of "unerring spiritual insight" (Yogananda 1971:499-501; 1982:99, 1971, ch. 17 etc.; Yukteswar 1972:v].

"Too much praise is ill praise (Proverb)."

Yukteswar advised his departing disciple Yogananda that Yukteswar's book The Holy Science should be the basis of Yogananda's mission. Yogananda often managed to avoid that, it may be added. [More]

Messiah, "Oil-Anointed One" Meant Just an Earthly King

The kings of Israel and Judea are told of in 1 and 2 Kings. There were two warring royal houses, one stemming from David, and another from Jeroboam. David's grandson, Rehoboam, king over just two tribes, warred against Jeroboam, king over ten tribes.

The Maccabees from the Tribe of Levi established a monarchy of their own in Judea. It was not connected to the Davidic line.

The Jewish view, however, is that the line of David was preserved even though no kings such as David and his immediate descendants were alive. It was from such a supposed Davidic line the gospel writers tried to claim descent on behalf of Jesus. The future Jewish Messiah was (and is) expected to be from the "Davidic line".

The term 'Messiah' in the sense of "king of God's people" is from 1 Samuel, where Samuel pours oil over the head of a Saul, who is then "the oil-anointed one", that is, the king that the people wanted, but who would not be good for them, on God's word. They would have to stick with him for long anyway. "You will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day." [1 Sam 8:18].

After some decades the Lord discarded King Saul as useless or worse - soft -, and shepherding, Bathsheba-whoring and husband-killing David took over. His son, Solomon with a thousand wives and concubines, took to idolatry and ruined the kingship, the Old Testament tells.

Jesus (Mshikha Jeshua) implies he himself was greater in wisdom even though the Lord had said to Solomon there would be none wiser - [Luke 11:31]

"Why cannot these guys agree among themselves?" is the proper question to ask.

Much partiality, little consideration or wisdom

You may discover nuances to these abstracts. For example, the Hebrew custom of pouring oil over the heads of some people, was instituted as early as in Exodus 29:7-9, where it is told, "Take the anointing oil and anoint him [Aaron] by pouring it on his head. Bring his sons and dress them in tunics and put headbands on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance. [Exod 29:9]". However, this "waste of good oil" was part of a ritual for priests, not kings. The first Hebrew king was Saul, who got oil poured over him in 1 Samuel 10, and not earlier.

Interestingly, the "lasting ordinance" of Aaron and his sons fell dead, just as the ritual practice that included "the goat of removal". That innocent animal was one of two that were to be selected yearly to atone for all the yearly sins of Israel. Yes, we are facing one more "lasting ordinance" that Jesus and followers fully ignored, and his Father too. [Lev 16:8-10]

Aaron and his sons were replaced by Levites. Have you wondered why or when the Levites got that great honour among Hebrews? Each Levite started killing his brother and friend and neighbour. About three thousand of them. Then Moses said, "The Lord . . he has blessed you this day." [Exod 32:27-29] They became priests after ruthless killing.

Solomon's Proverbs Relied Heavily on Loans

Back to Solomon, the so-called wise guy: He said, "King Solomon will be blessed, and David's throne will remain secure before the Lord forever." [1 Kgs 2:45]. Well, it went to pieces anyhow. But before that, God said to Solomon (in a dream): "I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. [1 Kgs 3:12] - Compare the "someone-greater-than-Solomon-is here" sayings of Jesus against his Father's previous word.

Mind the unreasonable Hebrew boasts of their own king: "God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. [Bah!] He spoke three thousand proverbs . . . He described plant life [But did he do it well?] Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom. [All nations? There is no record of people from New Guinea or America visiting him.] [1 Kgs 4:29-33, passim]"

They typically overdo it.

The House

Here is more about the house of David and their God: Solomon got built a temple and said, "The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever." [1 Kgs 8:12-3]

And the temple was demolished. Back to the dark cloud, then?

The Lamp in the Goatskin Tent

Also, in previous bible passages God instituted a ceremony with lamps burning near the opening of a specially made tent of goatskin. It was to be another "lasting ordinance" that came to nothing. Poof. [Exod 27:21; Cf. 28:42; 29:9 etc, etc.]

Much failed, and much fear remains

Solomon went on: "Now Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, "You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done." [1 Kgs 8:25]

There was much that failed in Judaism. Compare:

"Dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you." [1 Kgs 8:27] "Hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does . . . (you alone know the hearts of all men), so that they will fear you all the time . . . [1 Kgs 8:39-40]

Final Words

"It is safest sailing within reach of shore [Ap 522]." Adding, "There are many sorts of rogues." "Blind belief takes its toll; it is different with proficiency."

It makes sense to stick to the most rewarding concepts if there is much truth in them. Yogananda teaches you can become a Christ by advanced yoga methods, whereas Catholic Christianity at least is against it and the word "heresy" has been let out: [Father Matheo]

The Bhagavad Gita allows for having true and good wealth, artha, but Jesus does not. He dictates to his Jewish followers to get poor and non-assertive against bullies and robbers. It is so true that "Poor followers make for a poor king."

If he understands the teaching at this time, the mother and son dharmatas meet, and he is no longer dominated by karma. - The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Rinpoche 2007:52)

"Dharmata means the essence of things as they are, the is-ness quality." (Op.cit., p. 15)