Tuesday, December 24, 2013

HAPPY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS-2013 - CHOICEST CHRIST QUOTES ANALYZED - CHRIST & KRISHNA COMPARISON



HAPPY & MERRY

CHRISTMAS -2013





GREAT AND POPULAR QUOTES
FROM

JESUS CHRIST


AN INTRO

This Blog had earlier reproduced some of the best Quotes of Jesus Christ at the  following URL :


There were other occasions also in which a few more quotes of Jesus were re-produced. Jesus was among the rarest of men who exercised, and continues to exercise, extraordinary influence on Human life, centuries after their departure from earthly life.

Krishna, Buddha, Christ and Muhammad were all in the same Genre – though followers of one may not agree for inclusion of the others in the list. 

There are also other ALL-TIME  greats like Guru Nanak, Vardhamana Mahavira, Confucius etc whose followers are enthralled by the wisdom given to them by their Gurus.

The context for this Blog Post is however the 25th, December of this year, which is celebrated as CHRISTMAS, the day of Birth of the Christ.  Christians view him as the Messiah, foretold in the Old Testament and as the Son of God, who provided salvation and reconciliation with God to the humankind by dying for their sins and then rising from the dead.

It is immaterial that the exact date of Birth of Jesus Christ is somewhat uncertain. By the 4th century, the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December, 25th. From then on, Christians all over the world are celebrating the birth of Christ on December,25th.

The celebratory customs associated with Christmas include gift giving, Christmas music,caroling, exchange of Christmas cards, church celebrations, a special meal, display of various Christmas decorations, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths, and so on. In addition, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and Christkind, are figures associated with bringing gifts to children during Christmas. The economic impact of Christmas has also grown steadily year after year in all regions of the world.

As we all know, Christ was born into a family of very humble origins. He was born when ignorance, superstition, greed, hatred and hypocrisy were prevailing at his birth place. His birth and the surrounding events were themselves magical and divine. It is significant that Lord Krishna  (in India) born over 5000 years ago in a jail, was also brought up similarly, in a very humble, cowherd’s family. Krishna loved to be a cowherd. And, Christ loved to be a shepherd. The then King was afraid of the birth of  Krishna and killed a number of children at that time to prevent the birth of Krishna. 

Compare this with the following incident as stated in Wikipedia web site, “King Herod hears of Jesus' birth from the Wise Men and tries to kill him by massacring all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two (the "massacre of the innocents").[78][Mt 2:16-17] The family flees to Egypt and remains there until Herod's death, whereupon they settle in Nazareth to avoid living under the authority of Herod's son and successor Archelaus.[Mt 2:19–23]”

Krishna and Christ both chose a life and death according to their own wishes. There are many similarities in what they taught to the world. Both signified the dawn of a new era in the world.


Mahatma Gandhi says of Christ, “A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world..”. Gandhi followed Krishna, as much as he followed Christ. So do many in India and other countries. As in the case of Buddha, most Indians do believe that Christ was born just as the saying of Krishna goes, “ I will take birth,  from time to time, to  bring back righteous living and end unrighteousness”.

I will now present some of the most popular quotes of Jesus Christ below :. ~

GREAT QUOTES FROM JESUS CHRIST

1.    Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
MY COMMENTS : (i) Jesus himself has shown, how to ask, what to ask and when. (ii) Likewise, his life is example enough of what we must seek. (iii) Whose door shall we knock?? Is it not of the one, who says, I am the way.

2.    What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul.
MY COMMENTS: Buddha also says in a similar vein: All of our life, we are gathering all forms of dust of the earth – until we become the dust our self.
And, Jesus says – do not lose the soul in your search for profit in the world.

3.     Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
MY COMMENTS: All law, all Justice, all Dharma is summarized in this one, short sentence. Any law, rule or proclamation which violates this cardinal principle violates God’s own Law for mankind. You do want others to like you, love you, help you..therefore, do the same to others...love begets love..

4.    It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
MY COMMENTS: A rich man can’t leave his earthly possessions so easily. He earns them with great attachment and the attachment does not leave him even on his death. How does he then enter the Kingdom of heaven. In a similar vein Lord Krishna advocates Non-attachment as the principal requirement for salvation. Buddha too advocates the same.

5.    For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
MY COMMENTS: If you, in your opinion, exalt yourself, your pride will be humbled by the lord. But, if you remain humble, you will be exalted by the lord and placed nearer to himself. It is in a way, similar to the previous (4th) quote.
If you are attached to your earthly possessions, power and knowledge and take pride in them, the lord smiles and says – none of these are yours. Your only wealth is my love. Did you earn that?? The humbler you are as a human being, the more of his love will you earn.

6.    Yes I am with you always, until the very end of time.
MY COMMENTS: HE is with us and within us – always. Do we experience his presence right now, within us?
How long will he be with us? Until the very end of time – which means, forever.

7.    Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
MY COMMENTS: Of the many quotes, this one takes the cake – for our every day conduct. You can’t criticize another – until you wipe out all of your sins. Perhaps, Not even then. You must be totally sinless. And, who can be like that? Only the Almighty himself. Therefore, Do not criticize. You have all the right to love – but not to criticize.

8.    No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.
MY COMMENTS: Unless you light a lamp, you will be in darkness. And, when you light a lamp, not only you, but others also will benefit. You be the lamp that brightens the whole world and spread your bright smile everywhere.

9.    Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. Love others as well as you love yourself
MY COMMENTS: Love the God with all passion, prayer and intelligence. Your thought, emotion, word and deed must all converge in your love of God. Your Love for others must be as deep as your love for yourself. It is almost a continuation of quote.3 - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you..

10.           Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
MY COMMENTS : Jesus says - Live in me; let me live in you. Let us remember, God is LOVE. Love is GOD. If we keep the love of all in our hearts, we live in him and he lives in us too.

11.             If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.
MY COMMENTS : What must be within us is already clear. Love of all must fill our hearts; but, that is not enough. You must bring forth and spread all around you, the love that is within you. The love you spread around, the kindness you display will save you too.
What does not come out into the open, disappears within too. If your love does not find expression – it will slowly die out within you too. Where LOVE is not, GOD is not. Where God is not, there, the opposite of LOVE creeps in and destroys you.

12.               Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for "of such is the kingdom of heaven.";  Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for "of such is the kingdom of heaven.
MY COMMENTS : Heaven is of children.  Be child-like; as smiling,  loving and playful as Children. Heaven is Heaven of only those who are child-like; If you are so, You have earned the right to enter heaven.

13.               Love thy enemies
MY COMMENTS : ‘Love thy neighbor’ is a great precept. But, if your neighbor is a good, soft, lovable man, there is no great challenge in loving him.
It is normal. It is ordinary. It is nothing exceptional. But, ‘Love thy enemies’ – is the tough precept. This one really exalts you in the eyes of the Lord.

14.                There are many, many adorable quotes of Jesus Christ, like the one saying, Split a piece of wood and I am there; It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

Many of these can be found many millennia before Christ - in India. For example - only when the Daemon “Hiranya kasipa” splits the wooden Pillar, challenging his son Prahlad to show him the God in it – God appears from the midst of the split wood and destroys the Daemon! This was several millennia before Christ. When Jesus says - Split a piece of wood and I am there – he clearly means this – that he is everywhere.

Jesus says, he did not come to call on the righteous and convert them to his path; for they are already God’s children; His call was to the sinners; they need to be brought back to God’s path;

These are all beautiful quotes for a beautiful, righteous living. All these quotes are the hall mark of the great savior that Jesus Christ is.

This Blog wishes all readers a Happy and Merry Christmas on this great occasion of Christmas - 2013.

May Christ shower all of his Choicest Blessings on all of us – and keep us on the right path of living.

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