============ Yes on former part of Christian -Judaism mix question[Jews form the root & branches of the Christian tree, or Christian grapevine, to use Biblical examples] Actually its an amazing/accurate Bible illustration, when you think about it; branches & roots, while they are free to grow in most any direction, still they dont really pick the location{completely}....... And sure ,while Christians & Jews are free to move most anywhere, in USA; amazing how much that [tree and vine]illustartion is accurate. In other words branches are separate from roots[but not separate from tree generally speaking]; but the Master creator [Christ}put/formed them nearby each other ............ Given a whole new meaning to ''green/growth!''
I suspect Judaism was far different when there was a temple, God's presence in the temple and for some denominations and expectation of the coming messiah... perhaps to liberate them from Rome. Rabbinic Judiasm of today may have just been a branch of Judiasm back then... I wonder if the were the Pharisees in the New Testament "According to critical bible scholars Rabbinic Judaism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the sixth century CE, after the codification of the Talmud. Rabbinic Judaism became the predominant stream within the Jewish diaspora between the second to sixth centuries CE, with the redaction of the oral law and the Talmud as the authoritative interpretation of Jewish scripture and to encourage the practice of Judaism in the absence of Temple sacrifice and other practices no longer possible. Rabbinic Judaism is based on the belief that at Mount Sinai, Moses received directly from God the Torah (Pentateuch) as well as additional oral explanation of the revelation, the "oral law," that was transmitted by Moses to the people in oral form. Mainstream Rabbinic Judaism contrasts with Karaite Judaism, which doesn't recognize the oral law as a divine authority, and the Rabbinic procedures used to interpret Jewish scripture. Although there are now profound differences among Jewish denominations of Rabbinic Judaism with respect to the binding force of halakha and the willingness to challenge preceding interpretations, all identify themselves as coming from the tradition of the oral law and the Rabbinic method of analysis. It is this which distinguishes them as Rabbinic Jews, in comparison to Karaite Judaism." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbinic_Judaism
Yes, there is a theory which hypothesizes Jesus's lost years, that he went to India and was well learned in Hinduism before returning home. Another thing to note is the so called miracles in theistic religions are considered to be common in Hinduism which can be attained by anybody with sufficient practice in meditation and mental training, for them, powers like walking on water, these siddhis as they call them are not so miraculous. It is repeatedly warned in the sutras and ancient hindu texts that these siddhis could lead one astray from enlightenment and liberation as these practices may strengthens the ego, which is the object of delusion. Whatsoever more, Hinduism is just a term the brits used to classify the various, at times competing religious doctrines in South asia when they first arrived, some deny the existence of god, some do not, others do not care one iota. Some of the schools today are Samkhya, advaita vedanta(quite popular in the west),etc
To add: Although faith plays an important role in every religion For the Judeo-Christian religions as well as their variants, faith is much more of a factor than almost anything else. It is much more emotional For Hinduism and Buddhism, religions on the other side of the world are not as concerned with that. the search for reality is paramount. they are more like the modern physicists that we know, although of course worship and culture do play a part. it is surprising that you say your friends would be Christians if not for that Christ is the (supposed) messiah. These are totally 2 different religions, buddha is not god, the question of god in Buddhism is not very relevant at all. One of the central schools in Buddhism is the Madhyamika school, whose central tenet, the tetralemma was famously espoused by Nagarjuna as God exists, God does not exist God both exists and do not exist God neither exists nor not exists These 4 fold description encapsulates all of reality, to go beyond this, to go beyond all conceptualization, if you even call it "beyond" is a major part of buddhism. It is so different from the judeo-christian religions. God does
MohdSalleh makes some good points. So does UrbanMonk in This Thread at Theologyweb. Deepak Chopra also makes some good points in his recent book "The Third Jesus". Also, Paramahansa Yogananda and his guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri have weighed in on this. If you read their biographies, you will get a feel of what kinds of powers are available to advanced yogis. This would include the ability to shrug off scenarios (ie. crucifixion) that would normally induce pain, levitate, manipulate matter, bilocate, and materialize/dematerialize a body at will. Jesus understanding would have been more akin to an Eastern version of Advaita Vedanta (Oneness Teachings), better expressed by Adi Shankara. A better way to describe Jesus' philosophy would be pure non-dualism. Judaism, on the other hand, is a dualistic philosophy. Jesus brought a non-dual theology to a dualistic culture, adapting it's terms, as much as he dared, to the Jewish mind-set. Stated another way, Jesus brought light to darkness (to darkened minds). His students came from an extremely dark culture, theologically speaking. The god of Israel would have been equivalent to "the devil" in Jesus method of interpretation, which is closer to a gnostic viewpoint than a Jewish viewpoint. What you see with Christianity is the legacy of some of Jesus' students who mistook what he was saying, and imported some of their traditional understanding of "god" into Jesus' philosophy. The result is a mix of Judaism and non-dual versions of Hinduism. Jesus warned about this tendency (to mix incompatible worldviews). "You cannot serve two masters", and "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees". Christianity is also described in Jesus' parable of the Good Farmer, whose good seed was compromised by the "evil one" who came in the dark of night to sow evil seeds. Christianity is like sheep that have gone astray. Jesus' message is lost in translation. Indeed, it is crucified, dead and buried by centuries of ignorant preaching. His message is making a come-back, however, with such texts as "A Course In Miracles", "Holy Spirit's Interpretation of the New Testament" (Regina Dawn Akers), and "Disappearance of the Universe" (Gary Renard). Ramana Maharshi is perhaps the East's most examplar of Jesus-like and/or Buddha-like qualities. Of particular importance are Ramana's teachings on the reality of True Self, discovered through a process of self-enquiry. Nisargadatta Maharaj is also a great proponent of this method toward self-realization. See how and why they use the term "I am..." in this process. Once you see how this works, it's more understandable what Jesus meant when he said things like "Before Abraham was, I AM". This mantra, "I AM" is traditionally taught (in the East) to anyone and everyone with ears to hear. Not so in Judaism. Reality, True Self, I AM, and Christ are different terms describing the same Being. Christ is the One Self shared by all self-concepts (ie. humans). Christianity (Judeo-Christianity) is a Judaized (dualized, darkened, compromised) version of these generally Eastern ideas. To be fair, the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity has/had a better understanding of salvation and is best explained in their doctrine of Apotheosis. The idea of apotheosis is ratified by Ramana Maharshi. Here then is the bridge between the East and West, or what Jesus understood and what his message became through devolution.
If you mean men becoming Gods.... I do not think Eastern Orthodox or Eastern rite Catholics think that happens at all. Through Christ humans can enter into a life of eternity with God... but I do not think any Christians think we become God and the Eastern churches make that clear.
Let me reveal you a little secret. Whenever you see Hinduism read it as Casteism. Casteism is a covert mask for Racism. http://www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2007/02/13/india15303.htm
That depends on who you are quoting. Delve into the thinking of certain E.O. thinkers and you will find quotes like, "God became man so that man may become God". This is somewhat explained in the doctrine of apotheosis. Here is a brief quote from wikipedia: This concept, as stated here, begins to approach/address the issue of salvation...the path we all follow in due time. But it is best understood by those with direct experience of God through various practices of meditation. It is this practice, and the direct experience/knowledge that it revealed (about God), that caused a controversy between Eastern and Western branches of the devolving/evolving teachings of Jesus. It was called the hesycast contoversy. As a Western Catholic, you should be aware of the arguments of Gregory Palamas (from the East) during this controversy. Orthodox Trinitarian Christianity views Jesus Christ as a pre-existing deity who undertook mortal existence, not a mortal being who attained divinity. His was the experience of mortal existence, not an actual mortal existence in fact. In fact, each "mortal being" is a pre-existing deity who is undertaking an experience. It is the experience of being another being (ie. human being), besides Being Christ. The experience is not a truth, nor a fact, nor a reality. It is merely an experience. Likewise, each of us are called to overcome the relative falsehood of the experience (ie. of humanhood), and return to being a Being that shares the nature of God (Christ). Upon this return, humanhood is not anything to be taken with us. Rather, humanhood is something to be disowned, denied, let go, and left behind to disappear into the nothingness from which it came. It's quite simple really, but not readily believed by those who confuse an experience for the way things really are. Christ is the way things really are. Anything other than Christ-Being is a false experience, born of the freedom within the mind of Christ, within the Law of Freedom which governs the Kingdom of God. Christ!