The Self, indeed, is below. It is above. It is behind. It is before.
It is to the south. It is to the north. The Self, indeed, is all this.
Verily, he who sees this, reflects on this, and understands this delights
in the Self, sports with the Self, rejoices in the Self, revels in the
Self. Even while living in the body he becomes a self-ruler. He wields
unlimited freedom in all the worlds. But those who think differently from
this have others for their rulers; they live in perishable worlds. They
have no freedom at all in the worlds.
Hinduism. Chandogya Upanishad 7.25.2
The five elements that to me constitute true religion and is found in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism are teachings of: Love, Compassion, Oneness, UnSelfishness, Transformation.
This means that these teachings are found by their major prophets, gurus, monks, or such and found in their major scriptures. This does mean that all who claim to be of the faith or religion practice these teachings and often people will misuse, misinterpret for their benefit, and manipulate scripture for their own purposes.
To me, this is the core of true religion and is at the very heart of true religion. All the extra fluff like the clothing, the diet, the geography, the language, the superstitions, the magic, the rituals, the gods can all be points of separation and add to keeping people into boxes of division, but in fact we are not divided except by illusion.
We are all one. It is when we are living in the illusion of division, separateness where we find hate, arrogance, manipulation, and selfishness. Because when we realize we are one with everything else, when we try to take something down we than realize we are only taking down ourselves, and when we try to lift something up only then are we lifting up ourselves.
(We also find quantum physics is leading us to the understanding that everything is not just as I would say spiritually one, but literally one. Physicists have a hard time understanding how everything appears separate yet acts as one. The whole is in all the parts.)
As Christ said, "Whoever is last is first and whoever is first is last."
We also find Christ said "Be as one with the Father as I am one with the father." In Hinduism and Buddhism there are also teachings of becoming one. They teach about the experience of Brahmin and the oneness with God which would be a perfect state of being. While Hindus call it Moksha and Buddhist call it Nirvana, the idea is similar. It is a state that ends all suffering. It is a state where all is one. Hindus believe all is one and everything is spiritually connected. All reality outside of Brahmin is considered an illusion. This makes sense when you look through the eyes of spiritualism or even through the eyes of quantum physics.
In Kabbalah we learn that God, the spirit, closed and this formed a vacuum from which everything came, starting as the size of a grain of sand. Yes, this is what they said 500 years ago. In some Eastern beliefs we learn everything is inside of God. The spirit is both inside of all things, including us and outside of everything, in my view. All pervading and everywhere -yet nowhere because a where implies a thing and God, the spirit, is not a thing. The spirit was all there was, until it closed. When everything birthed from the vacuum of nothingness, the spirit then breathed, opened and encompassed everything.
Christ speaks of denying the self. He also says, if anyone should come after me, let him deny himself and pick up his cross daily and follow me. This means to say no to yourself. This is because of our nature. Our nature and our spirit our in conflict. Because the father is spirit, or true reality is spirit than we have to see things in spiritual form and context, not in our illusionary physical and natural world. In Judaism the Torah states, The Torah abides only with him who regards himself as nothing.
Judaism. Talmud, Sota 21b
The link below shows more similarity in denial of self with Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity.
"All states are without self." -Buddhism Dhammapada 277-79
To me, this reminds me of looking at everything through the eyes of evolution. We
think this is a cat or frog, but in fact we were all something else before and will become something new in the future. Lines we draw to define this or that are fleeting and not very real, for the real is that we are all connected and not divided,
not this or that but always in-between. To understand in the definition of a self, whatever form that takes, we are limiting our own understanding is grand.
Our goal should not be to enhance the self, but as Christ said to deny the self and become one with the Father. Through this, we understand our oneness with everything, with God -the all pervading spirit that is everything. We then unite with this God and with our true form. Divisions then disappear. The illusion of the physical crumples.
Self-denial is necessary to overcome the hindrances of egoism,
pride, and selfish desires which obscure the true nature within. The
person who is always concerned with himself or herself, is trapped in "the ego-cage of 'I', 'me' and 'mine.'" Consequently, he can neither realize his own true self nor relate to Ultimate Reality. From a Hindu perspective, denying "I," "me," and "mine" is in fact a way to find the true "I" that is transcendent and one with Reality. In the Western per- spective it is a way to recover the true self, which is loving and comp- assionate, having been created in the image of God. Both perspectives affirm the paradox that "he who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life will keep it." For more on this paradox, see Reversal and Restoration, pp. 544-50. Buddhism also teaches that the path to the religious goal requires one to deny the self and all egoistic grasping. But it goes further, grounding the practice of self-denial on the ontological statement that any form of a self is unreal. Buddhism is most sensitive to the insight that self-denial, when done for the purpose of seeking unity with an Abso- lute Self or God, can become subtly perverted into a form of pride and self-affirmation. Total self-denial should therefore dispense even with the goal of a transcendent Self. There is no self, either on earth or in heaven; all forms are transient, subject to birth and death. A number of texts explaining this doctrine of No-self (anatta) are collected here: more may be found under Formless, Emptiness, Mystery, pp. 85-92 and Orig- inal Mind, No-mind, pp. 217-23. He who has no thought of "I" and "mine" whatever towards his mind and body, he who grieves not for that which he has not, he is, indeed, called a bhikkhu. Buddhism. Dhammapada 367 They are forever free who renounce all selfish desires and break away from the ego-cage of "I," "me," and "mine" to be united with the Lord. Attain to this, and pass from death to immortality. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 2.71
Dhammapada 367: Cf. Madhyamakavatara 3, p. 412; Diamond Sutra 14, p. 888. Bhagavad Gita 2.71: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 5.10-12, p 774; Maitri Upanishad 3.2, p. 412; Srimad Bhagavatam 11.4, p. 412; Katha Upanishad 3.13, p. 840.
If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. Christianity. Mark 8.34-36 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Christianity. John 12.24-25 O Son of Man! If you love Me, turn away from yourself; and if you seek My pleasure, regard not your own; that you may die in Me and I may eternally live in you. Baha'i Faith. Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah, Arabic 7 The Man of the Way wins no fame, The highest virtue wins no gain, The Great Man has no self. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 17 Torah abides only with him who regards himself as nothing. Judaism. Talmud, Sota 21b Where egoism exists, Thou art not experienced, Where Thou art, is not egoism. You who are learned, expound in your mind this inexpressible proposition. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Maru-ki-Var, M.1, p. 1092 Yen Yan asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "To subdue one's self and return to propriety is perfect virtue. If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under heaven will ascribe per- fect virtue to him." Confucianism. Analects 12.1.1
Mark 8.34-36: To bear the cross and sacrifice oneself for others, one must first deny the self and its desires. Cf. Matthew 10.24-25, p. 821; 23.12, p. 545; Luke 14.26, p. 959; Philippians 2.6-11, p. 616; Romans 8.9-17, p. 576; Acts 6.8-7.60, pp. 887f. John 12.24-25: Cf. Matthew 16.24-25, p. 875. Sota 21b: Cf. Abot 2.4, p. 771. Maru-ki-Var, M.1: Cf. Diamond Sutra 9, p. 933.
The pursuit of learning is to increase day after day. The pursuit of Tao is to decrease day after day. It is to decrease and further decrease until one reaches the point of taking no action. No action is undertaken, and yet nothing is left undone. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 48 If you do not deny yourself completely, restoration through indemnity is impossible. Indemnity conditions can be realized only by completely deny- ing yourself. The standard of absolute denial should be established tow- ard the individual, the family, the race, the world, the cosmos, and God. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 4-3-83 Would one die while living, thus crossing the ocean of existence. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Suhi Chhant, M.5, p. 777 In the evening do not expect [to live till] morning, and in the morning do not expect evening. Prepare as long as you are in good health for sick- ness, and so long as you are alive for death. Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 40 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Christianity. Bible, Galatians 2.20
Tao Te Ching 48: Cf. Tao Te Ching 16, p. 840; 19, p. 294; 22, p. 549; Chuang Tzu 6, p. 584. Sun Myung Moon, 4-3-83: Indemnity and Self-denial are necessary because of the Fall; see Divine Principle I.3.2.1, p. 547n. Cf. Luke 14.26, p. 959. Galatians 2.20: Cf. Romans 8.9-17, p. 576; 12.1, p. 754; Ephesians 2.8-10, p. 756. Mumonkan 46: The issue is grasping and dependence upon the body and sense experience, and fear of going beyond its limits. See Seng Ts'an, p. 223.
Remember, those who fear death shall not escape it, and those who aspire to immortality shall not achieve it. Islam (Shiite). Nahjul Balagha, Khutba 43 Seek not for life on earth or in heaven. Thirst for life is delusion. Knowing life to be transitory, wake up from this dream of ignorance and strive to attain knowledge and freedom. Hinduism. Srimad Bhagavatam 11.13 You, who sit on the top of a hundred-foot pole, although you have entered the Way you are not yet genuine. Proceed on from the top of the pole, and you will show your whole body in the ten directions. Mumon's Comment: If you go on further and turn your body about, no place is left where you are not the master. But even so, tell me, how will you go on further from the top of a hundred-foot pole? Eh? Buddhism. Mumonkan 46 A monk asked Baso, "What is the Buddha?" Baso answered, "No mind, no Buddha." Buddhism. Mumonkan 33 "All states are without self." When one sees this in wisdom, then he be- comes dispassionate towards the painful. This is the path to purity. Buddhism. Dhammapada 277-79 "The body, brethren, is not the self. If body were the self, this body would not be subject to sickness, and one could say of body, 'Let my body be thus; let my body not be thus.' But inasmuch as body is not the self, that is why body is subject to sickness, and one cannot say of body, 'Let my body be thus; let my body not be thus.' "Feeling is not the self. If feeling were the self, then feeling would not be subject to sickness, and one could say of feeling, 'Let my feeling be thus; let my feeling not be thus.' "Likewise perception... the [volitional] activities... and consc- iousness are not the self. If consciousness were the self, then con- sciousness would not be subject to sickness, and one could say of consciousness, 'Let my consciousness be thus; let my consciousness not be thus'; but inasmuch as consciousness is not the self, that is why consciousness is subject to sickness, and that is why one cannot say of consciousness, 'Let my consciousness be thus; let my consciousness not be thus.' "Now what do you think, brethren, is body permanent or impermanent?" "Impermanent, Lord." "And is the impermanent painful or pleasant?" "Painful, Lord." "Then what is impermanent, painful, and unstable by nature, is it fitting to consider as, 'this is mine, this am I, this is my self'?" "Surely not, Lord." "So also is it with feeling, perception, the activities, and consc- iousness. Therefore, brethren, every body whatever, be it past, future, or present, be it inward or outward, gross or subtle, lowly or eminent, far or near--every body should be thus regarded, as it really is, by right insight--'this is not mine; this am not I; this is not my self.' "Every feeling whatever, every perception whatever, all activities whatsoever, every consciousness whatever [must likewise be so regarded]. "Thus perceiving, brethren, the well-taught noble disciple feels disgust for body, feels disgust for feeling, for perception, for the acti- vities, for consciousness. Feeling disgust he is repelled; being repell- ed, he is freed; knowledge arises that in the freed is emancipation; so he knows, 'destroyed is rebirth; lived is the religious life; done is my task; for life in these conditions there is no hereafter.'" Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya iii.68
Mumonkan 33: Implicit in this koan is the instruction to deny not only the self but also any object of attainment--even the Buddha himself; see Sutta Nipata 1072-76, p. 532; 919-920, p. 553; Sutra of Hui Neng 2, p. 90. The third of the Four Noble Truths speaks of the eradication of desire or striving, even striving after enlightenment. Compare Mumonkan 30, p. 116, which asserts the seeming opposite. Dhammapada 277-79: The self is right- ly denied because it truly does not exist; this is the Buddhist teaching on no-self (anatta). See Sutta Nipata 1072-76, p. 532; 919-920, p. 553. Samyutta Nikaya iii.68: Matter (the body), sensation (feelings), cognition (perception), volition (the activities), and the consciousness which de- pends upon them are called the five aggregates (skandhas). The Buddha taught that these aggregates, which are commonly thought to constitute the self, are not the self. They are impermanent and unreal, and so is the self which is thought to consist of them. Cf. Majjhima Nikaya i.142-45, p. 929; Diamond Sutra 14, p. 888; Sutta Nipata 1072-76, p. 532.
Transformational concepts are also found in these religions. In Christianity we are told to renew our minds daily. Transform your minds from the things of this world unto the things of heaven. A transformation is very important. In my view, I would call this spiritual evolution.
We find this concept in Hinduism and Buddhism as well as Judaism. It is a fundamental goal. To free oneself from suffering in Buddhism, one must transform. In Hinduism likewise. At this link you find Judaism and thoughts of self-transformation
I encourage all my readers to research those five areas mentioned above to learn more about how the four major religions mentioned are very similar at their core.
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