I AM THE WAY Concept

Naked Truth behind "I AM THE WAY" concept

Jesus Christ said:

“ I am the way, the truth, and life: No man cometh unto the father, but by me” [John 14:6].

What did he mean by that most revolutionary and historical statement?????

Jesus was repeating what was said by Lord Krishna many many times long before Jesus was born.

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I have heard and seen evangelists all over the world, using this statement of Jesus Christ to profess monopoly of Christianity over all other religions and put down other faiths.

That is the reason why we have to discuss this particular statement of Jesus Christ at length. I always wondered what actually Jesus Christ meant by that statement. I studied 66 books of the Holy Bible with respect and devotion and came to the following conclusions.

My conclusions are:

1 Jesus Christ was saying that to masses and his pagan apostles who had no religious education, misunderstood the true meaning of what Jesus said. So too the Jews who believe there is ONE AND ONLY GOD and that God is Jehovah. Jews thought Jesus statement is blasphemy since Jehovah said in the Bible, “I am a jealous God.”

It was indeed statements like this made Jews to plead Roman governor Pilate to punish Jesus Christ. Jews do not see Jesus Christ as GOD or as SON OF GOD. Jews are still waiting for the promised messiah by St. Isaiah to come and save them from all miseries.

2 Jesus Christ's main mission on earth was to save the Jews from the misery and fulfill the Law of the Prophets [Judaism] and not to abolish Judaism [Matthew 5:17] It was not his intention to start a separate religion from Judaism. It was his apostles, specially St. Paul and later Roman emperor Constantine who made Christianity what it is today.

3 What Jesus said was exactly the same, what Lord Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita.

4 Lord Krishna said: “I am the source of all spiritual & material worlds. Everything emanates from me. ” [GITA 10:8]

“ Everything is born of me. I am the original source of all. No one is above me .” [GITA 12:6, 7]

5 Lord Krishna also said

“Those who worship other gods and those who worship them with faith, are actually worshipping me. I am the receiver of all devotion ” GITA 9:23]

“Even a man with worst Karmas will not perish if he becomes my devotee [GITA 9:30,31]

6 Why Jesus Christ, Lord Krishna and Buddha etc talked similarly???

Since both of them are embodiments of the Absolute known as Jehovah in Judaism and Brahman in Hinduism.

7 In the Bhagavad Gita, when Krishna said WORSHIP ME and ADORE ME, he did not mean that people should worship the Gopi-idol Lord Krishna, but the ONE AND ONLY GOD BRAHMAN, which has no form and no name.

That is the reason why, Lord Krishna showed to Arjuna “Viswaroopam” [ formless form comprising of the past, present and future. Krishna showed “Viswaroopam” since warrior prince Arjuna repeatedly asked the question WHO ARE YOU??

8 As per the Bhagavad Gita, God will come in human form or non-human form, when ever the world is in trouble ( Gita Chapter 4-7) and when God takes a body Hindus call that AVATAR. Lord Buddha came to eradicate evils in Hindu society. Jesus Christ came to help Jews to eradicate their misery.

9 Avatars are not limited to Hindus or India. It happens all over the world. Jesus Christ was indeed an Avatar came to take care of the problems of the Jews.

Christ was the answer to all the cries of Jews for centuries. Of course Christ still is the answer to all those who cries to Almighty in the form of Jesus Christ. God is Spirit according to JOHN-4 and PSALM 139 and that SPIRIT came in the form of FLESH in Jesus Christ.

10 In the Holy Bible, there are several verses in which Jesus indirectly claiming to be God. There are also several indications in the synoptic gospels that Jesus did not claim to be God.

For example, at the end on the cross he cried: “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me ?” [MARK 15:34] All through the book of Acts, for instance, Christ was regarded as the instrument of God, but not God himself.

11 In the Epistle of Colossians call Christ: The image of the invisible God. Some verses in the Corinthians say: Christ was the mind of God. On one side, Christ is described as the God and still on other side; he is described as the “son of God” My answer: That shows on the difficulty of explaining subtle nature of the Godhead. .

12 Christ was stating I AM GOD as well as I AM THE SON OF GOD etc to show to the world that he is indeed an avatar like Lord Krishna and Lord Buddha. My point is that, the statement of Jesus Christ I AM THE WAY, one can see in all religious scriptures of the world. So, whatever you see in the Bible is not unique to the Holy Bible.

13 Someone once wrote to me: "All other religions state works [human efforts] as the way to reach God; But only in Christianity you see God coming and taking care of men."

MY ANSWER: The principle of “grace” you describe one can also see in Hinduism especially in the devotion part of Hinduism. Lord Krishna states "he himself takes the burden of karmic debt of a devotee who surrenders himself to the will of God. " So once again, I do not see any uniqueness in the Bible.

14 Someone stated: Jesus Christ gave up his life for the sins of men and Christianity will crumble if he was not who he said he was as per St. Paul."

MY ANSWER: Words of Christ are very difficult to interpret . As a converted Christian from Judaism, St. Paul indeed wrote many things as he saw and understood them. St. Paul is referring to the ORIGINAL SIN but Jesus Christ has not dealt much with ORGINAL SIN in the four gospels.

I do not think, Christ ever wanted himself to be worshiped in any manner. Time and again he said that “It is the father in heaven who is good.” .

15 The worship of Jesus Christ is actually started as a cult of Judaism, propagated by St. Paul and later by Roman Emperor Constantine by “Trinity” worship.

By the way, there is no word “Trinity” in the entire 66 books of the Holy Bible. There is nothing wrong in worshiping Jesus Christ, like Buddhists worshiping Buddha and Hindus worshiping Krishna etc.

16 Some one wrote to me: [ If you go to Krishna's grave, you will find Krishna's bones; If you go to Buddha's grave, you'll find Buddha's bones: If you go to Mohammed's grave, you'll find Mohammed's bones. If you go to Christ's grave, you'll find an empty tomb!]

ANSWER: With all due respect to the deity of Jesus Christ, I can write volumes on resurrection.
A. Hindus believe that Lord Krishna never died and he rose to heaven with his body. You will not find the grave of Lord Krishna anywhere in the world. Krishna never died, instead left for his heavenly palace called Vaikunta as per Srimad Mahabhagavata.

B. Lord Buddha also left the body and you will never see a burial ground with Lord Buddha’s name on it..

C. Similarly, “resurrection of Christ” is a part and parcel of Christian belief system. No secular historian has admitted that to be a fact. In fact, world historian H. G. Wells wrote, "It is rumored....."

If one studies Holy Bible along with other Holy scriptures of other religions, one will have a better understanding of the immortal words of the Jesus Christ.

17 When Jesus Christ said I AM THE WAY, he did not mean that "I AM" is limited to his body but the "I AM" he was referring to is the one and only God BRAHMAN or JEHOVAH. The inner soul or ATMAN is the mirror image of the GOD. In Hindu salvation, one is trying to realize that “he is the immortal soul within and not the perishable body.”

That is the reason why I am very much interested in the thought provoking statement of Christ I AM THE WAY.

Truth is universal and no religion or culture has monopoly on truth.

Rig Veda states: Ekam Sat, Viprah Bahudha Vadanti ...meaning Truth or God is one, but learned men describe it differently.

So Jesus was repeating what Lord Krishna said many times years ago, since Jesus cannot say anything different from what Lord Krishna said, since both are embodiments of truth.

If all over the world, we study only one Chemistry or one Physics, then how can we have different spiritual truths for different religions and nations???

That is a million dollar question?