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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Jesus & Kalki

In my Christ & Culture class we are currently learning about Hinduism. It is SO fascinating, and so radically different from the Christian viewpoint. I totally love learning about it. One thing in-particular really stuck out at me. We were learning about the deities that the Hindu's worship. They have one god called Brahman, who is unknowable, but ultimately, you want to realize that you are him. It's really confusing, but I get it. Anyway, since you can't know Brahman, you have deities that you worship. They're kind of like lesser gods. There are literally thousands of deities, all with different roles. When you see a four-armed blue person sitting cross-legged in pictures, like the picture above, that's a deity. This particular one is called Shiva.
The most popular deity is called Vishnu. He has ten Maha Avatars (manifestations), and 9 out of ten of them have come. The tenth and final Maha Avatar is called Kalki, and his arrival sort of means the end of the world. When he comes, no matter how many times you've been reincarnated, you have to start all over again. In a nutshell, they believe that Kalki is coming very soon, and that you need to get your act together and release yourself from reincarnation (This release is called Moksha).
Kalki:
This picture immediately reminded me of Jesus' second coming in Revelation. Jesus rides on a white horse, with a sword coming from His mouth. Jesus' second coming also signifies the end of the world. It especially emphasizes that we need to get to work leading others to Christ so that they can be with Him in heaven! Wow, what a contrast! Hinduism is truly all about the individual. "I need to get my act together so that I don't have to redo all my reincarnation."
Christianity emphasizes everyone BUT yourself. "I love Jesus, and I want others to experience what amazing love I've found in Him. The end is near, and I need to go out into the world and lead others to Him so that they can be with Him in heaven."
Doesn't this just scream truth?

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