The Parallel Sayings - Sanctuary Publications

CONTENTS
Introduction
Wisdom And Knowledge
1
103
The Great Way
Love and Compassion
27
113
God, Tao and Universal Mind
43
Being One
Mind Meditation and Yoga
55
The Self
69
The Sacred Syllable
Hypocrisy
123
Suffering
133
Karma and Reincarnation
141
Death and Immortality
151
In the Presence of the Avatar
Enlightenment and Liberation
79
163
Cutting the Ties that Bind
Final words and Sources
The Path of Renunciation
Including: Did Jesus Travel to Tibet?
87
171
T h e P arall e l S ayin g s
Jesus
n
T h e Gr e at way
Krishna
The Kingdom is spread out over the whole world,
and people do not see it.
What use is a reservoir where there is a flood everywhere?
- The Upanishads
- The Gospel of Thomas
Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find.
Knock, and the door will be opened.
Hear now of that Way that the wise men of the
Vedas called eternal.
- The Gospel of Matthew
- The Upanishads
Judas asked, “How does one begin to walk the Way?” Jesus
answered, “By developing love and compassion.”
The one who has good will for all, who is friendly and
has compassion…and forgiveness…comes to Me.
- The Dialogue of the Savior
- Bagavad Gita
The Kingdom is not coming with signs to be observed.
The Kingdom of God is within you.
Those who seek oneness ceaselessly find the Lord
dwelling in their own hearts.
- The Gospel of Luke
- The Bagavad Gita
This Way you have found, even the angels do not know it.
It comes from the unity of the Father and the Son, for
they are One. Travel this path you have found.
I have revealed to you the most secret doctrine…
He who has seen it has seen Light, and his
work in this life is finished.
- The Dialogue of the Savior
- The Bagavad Gita
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Buddha
Jesus
n
T h e Gr e at way
Krishna
Lao Tzu
The Way is complete in itself. Like the vastness of space,
it lacks nothing, and has nothing in excess.
The Great Way is abundant on all sides. Everything comes
from it, and no sentient being is denied its blessings. Calling
none its own, it feeds and clothes everyone.
- The Third Chinese Patriarch of Zen
- The Tao Te Ching
Listen avidly to and cherish the Way which is called mighty.
In ancient times, how was Tao honored by men of wisdom?
Did they not declare that it might be found by seekers?
- The Sutra of Forty-Two Sections
- The Tao Te Ching
Only those with a pure heart, and with a single purpose, will be
able to understand the most supreme Way.
The man of virtue discovers the Way. Those with faults are
forgiven. This is why Tao is such a treasure.
- The Kevaddha Sutta
- The Tao Te Ching
To begin the journey in the Way…first, set yourself straight.
You are your only master.
The Way is empty, yet contains all. Words cannot describe it.
Better that one should look for it within.
- The Dhammapada
- The Tao Te Ching
The Way cannot be found in words. Nothing on earth
can define it. If one loses sight of it, even for an
instant, it may be lost forever.
The secret waits for those who have no desire.
- The Tao Te Ching
- The Buddha
33
“Where is God?
Your body is His
moving temple.
The Sanctum
Sanctorum is
the chamber of
your own heart.”
- Swami Sivananda
T h e P arall e l S ayin g s
n
Go d , Tao an d U niv e rsal M in d
B
GOD, T AO A N D
U N I V E R S AL M I N D
uddhism, many have said, is not so much a
religion as it is a psychology. It is concerned with
the workings of the human mind. Its business
is helping people to “wake up,” to provide the
tools that allow one to expand their perception of
reality. Buddhism may have all the trappings of
a religion—robes, altars, incense, ritual—but even though
it sometimes speaks of “Universal Mind,” Buddhism does
not posit the existence of God. Consequently, Buddhism has
no theology—no “words about God.” Does God exist? The
Buddhist is likely to answer, “It really doesn’t matter one
way or another since the human predicament remains
the same in either case. Our job is to dispel illusion and
alleviate suffering.”
“Vedanta says there is nothing that is
not God…the living God is within
you…the only God to worship is the
human soul in the human body.”
- Swami Vivekananda
Hindus would agree with Buddhists on this point—and
it’s useful to remember that Buddhism began as a Hindu
sect—but when Hindus describe the process of enlightenment
or “waking up,” they are more likely to describe their
experience of “Samadhi,” or bliss consciousness, as being
in the presence of God. Christians of all stripes—even
mystics—also consider “God consciousness” as the goal
of their inner quest.
Taoism represents yet another point of view. Tao is the force
which permeates heaven and earth. Its ways can be known,
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T h e P arall e l S ayin g s
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Go d , Tao an d U niv e rsal M in d
but not Tao itself. An ancient Taoist would probably tell us
that further speculation about the “divine” nature of Tao
would prove to be a waste of time.
Tao is an impersonal force in the Universe, just like Universal
Mind. But, then, so is “God” in most, if not all, mystical
traditions, including Hinduism and Gnostic-Christianity.
Whatever word a mystic uses to describe Ultimate Reality,
he or she is rarely speaking of a transcendent Being who
created the Universe and micro-manages it.
Hinduism and Gnostic-Christianity (and perhaps mystical
Christianity in general) use the word “God” to describe a
Reality that, when examined closely, is far closer to the
Universal Mind of Buddhism and the Tao of Taoism than it is
to the personal God of Judaeo-Christianity and Islam.
Hindus, however, have no trouble at all personalizing the
impersonal God. Their religion abounds with gods and
goddesses. But this pantheon of deities—at least among the
mystics of India—represents God’s attributes, not individual
deities. Those who developed Hinduism’s pantheon of gods
and goddesses many thousands of years ago were probably
true polytheists. Over time, however, Hinduism evolved until
it reached its greatest expression in the monastic philosophy
of Vedanta, as expressed in its greatest scriptures, The
Upanishads and The Bagavad Gita.
Being all things to all people, Hinduism never found the
need to renounce its gods and goddesses. Even today many
Hindus continue to worship their deities as they have for
thousands of years. Even mystics do not find a dichotomy
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Go d , Tao an d U niv e rsal M in d
here, since Hinduism has always been tolerant of all
expressions of religious faith. God can be one and many
simultaneously.
in adopting a cosmos full of demons and demi-gods. What
set it apart from those religions, however, was the insistence
that the various “powers” in the Universe conspired to keep
humanity ignorant of its true divine origins.
Buddhism developed in the opposite direction. It began as
a movement without deities of any kind, and only later took
on all the trappings of religion. Originally, Buddhism was
quite simple and straight forward, but the Mahayana—the
“Great Vehicle”—school of Buddhism eventually evolved
to accommodate, not just monks who were committed to
renouncing the world, but also common people who carried
on the usual affairs of daily life. With this change came a
cosmos of deities over time. Had Buddhism not evolved in
this manner, it may well have remained just one more Hindu
sect or, perhaps, perished altogether.
Early “orthodox” Christians were abhorred by the Gnostic
expression of Christian faith, especially its cosmos of evil forces
which included the Hebrew creator-God, Yahweh. Yahweh, a
demi-god unworthy of worship, played the part of a dungeon
master by enslaving the divine soul in a prison of flesh.
Still, one has to wonder to what degree Gnostic-Christians
literalized such powers, and to what degree they understood
them as metaphors. Orthodox Christianity has always
criticized Gnosticism in all of its forms as extreme “dualism,”
because it spoke of the true God as an “alien” force that
exists far beyond the world of matter, and the human soul as
a reality apart from the physical body.
Today, many Buddhists worship the historical Buddha much
as Christians worship Christ: as a world savior (but not as
God.) In addition, they give devotion to many other quasidivine figures as well. Buddhism adopted and adapted as it
moved out from India into the wider Asian world. In China,
it absorbed philosophical Taoism, and reinvented itself as
Zen Buddhism. When Buddhism came to Tibet in the seventh
century C.E., it absorbed the indigenous religion of Bon,
including its pantheon of deities and demons—which exist,
but only in the world of appearance.
Yet the concept of the soul in Gnosticism is little different
from the concept of the immortal soul in Greek philosophy.
Furthermore, for Gnostics, the world of matter didn’t really
exist apart from the All, the Godhead. Its separateness was
merely “apparent.” Ultimately, all things resolved themselves
back into the All, and the Gnostic goal of joining the Self
with the Godhead was, practically speaking, little different
from the Hindu concept of Atman / Brahman. Ultimately,
Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Gnostic Christianity all
teach that there is only one single Reality in the Universe,
and nothing exists apart from It. In the end, the name we
give this Reality—God, Brahman, Universal Mind, Tao or the
All—is unimportant.
Gnosticism was such a diverse and complex religion that it is
almost impossible to generalize about its theology. GnosticChristianity, as a religion in itself, adopted many Gnostic
ideas, and rejected others, while giving it a unique Christian
identity. In this, it was similar to Hinduism and Buddhism
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Jesus
L ov e A N D compassion
Buddha
When someone wants to take your shirt, let him have
your coat as well. If someone forces you to go a mile
with him, go with him an extra mile.
The greatest reward in the world is to provide for others.
And there is no greater loss in the world than to accept
from others without an attitude of gratefulness.
- The Gospels of Matthew, Luke and Thomas
- The Buddha
Give to the one who begs from you, and do not turn your
back on one who wants to borrow from you.
A disciple who seeks well-minded disciples should act
without thinking when he performs acts of charity.
- The Gospels of Matthew and Luke
- The Dhammapada
Judas asked, “How should one begin to follow the Way?”
Jesus answered, “Love and kindness.”
Let one cultivate boundless good will
towards the entire world.
- The Gospel of the Hebrews
- Doctrinal formulas
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L ov e A N D compassion
Jesus
Buddha
Where love does not flow with abundance,
all actions are flawed.
One who clings to the Void and neglects compassion,
does not reach the highest stage.
- The Manichean Psalter
- Saraha
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages,
teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of
the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them,
because they were harassed and helpless, like
sheep without a shepherd.
Develop a state of mind of friendliness, for as you do so,
ill-will will grow less; and of compassion, for thus vexation
will grow less; and of joy, for thus aversion will grow less;
and of equanimity, for thus repugnance will grow less.
- Majjhima Niyaka
- The Gospel of Matthew
I give you a new commandment: Love one
another as I have loved you.
Just as a mother would risk her life to protect her
child, so should one cultivate a limitless heart
of compassion for all beings.
- The Gospel of John
- The Buddha
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T h e P arall e l S ayin g s
n
K arma an d R e incarnation
Jesus
Krishna
Be merciful that you may obtain mercy; forgive that you may be
forgiven. What you do is what will be done to you. As you give,
so it will be given to you; as you judge, so you will be judged;
as you serve, so will service be done to you; with what you
measure out, it will be measured out to you in return.
Everyone is the creator of their own fate, and
even their fetal life is affected by the dynamics of
the works of their prior existence.
- The Garuda Purana
- Agrapha, and the Gospels of Matthew and Luke
Judge not, that you not be judged. For with the judgment
you pronounce, you will be judged.
What one does in life determines who he is. Those
who practice evil become evil. Those who perform acts that are
pure, themselves become pure. We are what we do in life.
It is our will that determines our fate.
- The Gospels of Matthew and Luke
- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way
with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, and the
judge deliver you to his officer, and you be cast into prison.
Amen, I say unto you, you will not come forth from
there until you have paid the last farthing.
One who is deluded life after life obtains the wombs
of those who are also deluded. Failing to know Me,
they fall into ever lower realms of existence.
- The Bagavad Gita
- The Gospels of Matthew and Luke
The soul will be punished…according to transgressions
of which it is guilty…then the Virgin of light will bind that soul
and hand it over to one of her judges to have it cast into a
body which is appropriate for its crimes.
Malicious and cruel evildoers, most degraded of
humanity, I hurl perpetually into the wombs of most
cruel beings in these worlds.
- The Bagavad Gita
- The Pistis Sophia
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T h e P arall e l S ayin g s
n
K arma an d R e incarnation
Buddha
Lao Tzu
As the echo belongs to the sound, and the shadow to the
substance, so misery will overtake the evil-doer without fail.
- Three Sermons
If you harm one who is innocent, the harm comes back to
you like dust thrown into the wind.
- The Dhammapada
If an evil person criticizes someone who is virtuous, it is
like spitting at the sky. The spit doesn’t dirty the sky, but
returns to pollute the person who spits.
- Three Sermons
Misfortune will be the end of those who practice little virtue.
They will be tormented in the six worlds.
- The Lotus of the True Law
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app e n d i x