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8
CONCEPTUAL EVIDENCES
Now we will take up basic
symbolisms and concepts that are typically Christian as found in
Hinduism and we will see that these evolved only after the advent of
Christian Era. Even though we do not have any detailed description
of the background of Thomas the disciple, we can be sure that he was
not a Gnostic. The very fact he wanted to verify the truthfulness
of resurrection by actually requiring to touch indicates that for
him resurrection meant bodily resurrection. His response on the
evidence again is striking. He bursts out with the first open
declaration of the deitihood of Jesus. “My Lord and My God.” When
we come to think of the theology of Thomas, we should remember that
he was a Jew and if what we see in India has any relation to the
Theology of Thomas, he was deeply embedded in the Jewish mysticism
commonly known as Kabala – the great oral traditions regarding the
nature of God. In Hinduism today we can see the effect of this. He
most probably extensively used symbols as a means of communication.
At a time when written communications were not commonplace, the
symbolic use of poetry, word and abstract objective symbolism were
the only alternative. In our study of the symbolism and teaching of
Hinduism we will see direct parallelism to Kabalistic and Jewish
mysticism.
1. The Concept of AUM:
If you look at the Hindu symbolism
today, the one that is associated uniquely is the sound of Om and
the symbol of Om. You may not find this symbolism of AUM as common
as the Devanagari Script AUM which came into existence much later
in history.
 Yet
the oldest AUM was in Tamil as given on the top left side.
But the surprising thing about it
is that AUM is not found in any of the Vedas.
Even the early Upanishads
written in Sanskrit, there are references to udgîtha
(“up sound”) and as pranava (“pronouncing”). This may
be thought of as referring to the Sound Om. But it is a stretching
the imagination. The first direct reference to AUM is found in
Prashna-Upanishad, where the threefold constituents of AUM
is mentioned and explained. It is also found in Mândűkya-Upanishad.
Brihad-Âranyaka, Chândogya, and Taittirîya, Aum is mentioned many
times both as Aum and as Om-kâr. In the Yoga-Sűtra (1.27), it is
called the Word (vâcaka) of God (îshvara).
AUM
is not found in the ancient
Rig-Veda.
Or
in any of the Vedas
The concept of AUM is identical
with the Greco-Roman concept of Logos.
The official explanation in the
Upanishad for AUM is that it consists of three sounds representing
the three persons within the Godhead, but forming one united sound
that creates It also introduces the fullness or the substance of
God as represented by the silence that follows or the totality of
the syllable. The Word was the first expression of God through which
the whole cosmos – living and the nonliving – visible and the
invisible – were created. If one looks even deeper, the whole of
Kabala and the threefold tree reaching into the unknown darkness
encased in the ineffable name of YHVH can be seen in the Upanishadic
teachings. It goes far deeper than the simple logos of the Greek.
The later Hindu trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Maheswara of today) with
its intricate mythologies are based on the dialectics of good and
evil and their interaction, ( a feature borrowed from the Gnosticism
after the coming of Manicaen the Persian Gnostic. Mani is an
important person in the Indian religious scenario and we will have
occasion deal with this person’s history and mission later in the
book) This was the basic conflict on which Manicheans were
declared heretics by the early churches everywhere in the world.
The AUM on the other hand represents the Trinity based on Love and
not on conflict.
 The
symbol and mantra AUM emerged in Indian scene soon after the mission
of St.Thomas the Apostle and were seen only after that time. All
early churches in Kerala had used this as the Christian symbol and
they appear at the entrance of the seven original churches
established by Thomas.
You can see them even today over
the main entrance of many of the churches.
AUM was clearly part of the
Malankara (Malabar – Kerala) Christian tradition from the first
century. They however associate it with the Christian Trinity and
to Christ – the word who became flesh. An objective conclusion would
be that Aum was indeed the original Christian concept as introduced
by Thomas.
2. The Concept of God: Jagnath:
Lord of the Universe
This
figure of Jagnath, which is celebrated as the Lord of the Universe,
is really an epitome of the theology, which is essentially the
theology of Eastern Churches and that of the Hebrew Kabala. It
developed in India soon after the advent of Thomas. The description
of the figure can be summarized as follows:
The Jagnath symbol is an excellent
representation of the Eastern Theology
Jagnath
In the beginning, God alone
existed. We cannot attribute any quality to God, because qualities
are relative. Without the existence of another, we cannot define
qualities. This God – the beginning - is referred to as Nirguna
Brahman (God without Qualities). This is represented as the
darkness. God who resides in darkness symbolized the God who cannot
be known. “Jehovah hath said that he would dwell in the thick
darkness” (1 King 8:12) “Jehovah spake unto all your assembly in
the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the
thick darkness, with a great
voice” (Deu. 5:22)
Then the fact remains that we have
a creation and movement. Therefore, this Nirguna Brahman put on a
variation within himself. It is as though he differentiated himself
to parts thus creating a God with Properties and Qualities. This
God is known as Saguna Brahman (God with Properties). God is a
person not a force. This is because creation needs a purposeful
act. The two open eyes represent this waking up process. This God
has expressed himself and hence can be known through creation and in
intimacy.
 Out
of the mouth of this Jagnath proceeds the AUM – the Word.
  The
Aum is a person as its vibrations takes the form of a man - a person
and rises to create. It is this person Om that created the universe
with all its variations – material and immaterial. The whole
creation is in a way Word becoming flesh. The whole cosmos forms
the body of God. “For in him we live, and move, and have our
being”. This concept explains the immanence and transcendence of
God. Church as the body of Christ is just an extension of this
Jagnath concept.
 It
is evident that this sophisticated concept of God which did not
exist prior to Christian era appeared in crystallized form in
powerful concrete expression could not have occurred except through
Thomas. This connection of Hebrew mysticism to Indian theology goes
much deeper in all aspects of Hindu worship and daily living.
3. Lingam: The Form of the
Formless – Rup-arupa
The Lingam is the representation of
the Form of the Formless God.
The Word became Flesh
The basic symbol of Saivism is the
Siva Lingam. Though during the intense mud slinging and persecution
between Saivite and Vaishnavites in the medieval period, Siva lingam
was given derogatory interpretations; its actual implications are
still held by the Saivites.
Lingam means form. How can a
formless god be represented? Since God does not have a form we
cannot represent Him with a form other than formlessness. Siva
Lingam is just that. A form without a form. Siva lingam is the
ruparupa aspect because it is not any manifested form of Siva, nor
is it formless, because the lingam is a concrete piece of stone,
which is an emblem of God. Thus, it is intermediate between the
formless Absolute, Parasiva, which is beyond the sensory perception
of man and manifest forms of Siva and the incarnate God. \
Notice again the usual three lines
representing the Trinity with the middle line marked with a red
spot. Father, Son and the Holy Spirit with the Son with as the
sacrifice before the creation of the world.
4. Parameshwara - Shiva
Parameswara
is the literal translation of
El Elyon.
The Most High God
of Melchizedek
The concept of Parameshwara
originally comes from the concept of El Elyon which is translated as
The Most High God as in Gen
14:18
where Melchiz’edek king of Salem was called the priest of God Most
High, maker of heaven and earth. He blessed Abraham in the name of
the God Most High and then onwards Abraham himself swore in that
name in Gen 14:22.
It is therefore
reasonable to assume that the Dravidians who can at least partially
claim to be the children of Abraham through Keturah received the
teachings of Thomas and assimilated it easily. Thus the roots of
the Saivism are deeply rooted in the Thomas traditions.
5. The Name of
God: Ishwara, Shiva as Jesus
Isa and Iswara are derived from the
Hebrew name of Jesus Yeshua.
The Hebrew name of
the person whom we refer as Jesus was
 Yehoshua
which
is rendered in English as Joshua . A shortened form of the name is
Yeshua
from which we get the
Dravidian translation through St. Thomas as
Yesu, Easow, Isa, Iswara
The name given in
Greco-Roman culture is derived from their context as follows:
When the good news of
the gospel was translated into to the Greco- Roman culture by Paul
and his group it was rendered in Greek as
Iesous
Pronounced
as Yesous.
Y in some languages is pronounced as J (ya as ja)
rendering it as
JESUS
Fish was the early
Christian symbol. Jesus said, “I shall make you fishers of men”
The Greek word for
fish is ichthus, spelled: Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma.
This is used as an
acronym for
Iesous
(Jesus) CHristos (Christ) THeou (God) Uiou
(Son) Soter (Savior).
Jesus Christ, God,
Son, Savior.
We will see that
similar acronyms and symbolism are found in Saivism. While we have
no hesitation to accept the name Jesus, even though it is only a
Greco-Roman version of the real name, we should have no problem in
seeing the name Maheswara or Shiva as equivalent to Jesus.
6. Pillayar Concept - The Son of
God
The concept of Father, Son and the
Holy Spirit translates into Tamil as Appan (Father), Makan (Son);
Amma (Mother) also called Sakthi (Energy, Power). This is depicted
in the family of Maheswara. The strange thing about this picture is
that Makan – the Son – is represented with a face of an elephant.
Ganapathy which means Lord of Hosts has the face of an elephant.
Ganapathy is the most important deity in the life of every Hindu.
This is because no one can enter the presence of Shiva unless it is
through the Son. He is the reconciler, who removes the obstacles to
enter the divine presence. Hence Ganesha or Ganapathi (Lord of
Host) or is also known as Vinayakar (One who destroys sin), and
Vigneswara (One who removes obstacles). Hence all worship starts
with the worship of Ganesha. Ganesha Chathurthi (Festival of God of
Hosts) is the biggest festival all over India.
The elephant faced Ganapathy (The
Lord of Host), the son of Siva came out of the symbolism of Word
becoming Flesh – the Incarnation.
Son
God
How the Elephant faced God came to
be.
In Karaikkudi lingam, two hands
were also added to show that the formless took the form of a man.
In
Valampuri and Karpaka idols an Om was placed over the Lingam
which culminated in the elephant head. This explanation fits well
with the picture because Ganapathi has only one tusk corresponding
to one tusk in Om
7. Vishnu – The Lord of the
Heavens.
Having discussed Saivism, we will
take up Vaishnavism, where the Godhead is considered from a
different aspect, as Vishnu. Vish means Heavens and Vishnu is the
God of the Heavens. It can also be interpreted as Omnipresent or
All-Pervading. This denomination takes its parallel to Calvinism,
where God is considered the Glorious one who controls everything.
The Vehicle of Yhvh is Cherub, and the corresponding vehicle of
Vishnu is the Garuda.
The LORD of Hosts is enthroned
on the cherubim. One of the four faces
of the Cherubim was Eagle. Just as the Cherubim theme was
woven in the temple art and furniture and is considered one of the
guardians of the gates of Eden, Garuda is a recurring theme in the
temples of South India, both within the sanctuary as well as at the
gates.
It is interesting to note that the
Vehicle of Siva is the Ox – another face of the four faces of the
Cherubim.
Vishnu means Lord of the Heaven, The
Omnipresent.
Vishnu is seated on the Cherubims
Thus it is not difficult to note that various Hindu sects were the
offshoots of Thomas Christianity and the present forms are the
results of external influences. We will deal with two of those
heretic factors later which transformed the Thomites into Hindus.
Today Vishnu is
identified with Krishna. Early Hinduism did not know of Krishna and
the name Krishna is not found before 300 AD in any documents or
archeology. Some attempts are made to equate Krishna with Christ.
“Christ and Krishna - the Name is the Same “ was a series by the
Iskon (Hare Krishna) guru Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada It is
evident that Krishna was a local King who wanted to be god. This
King evidently was a promiscuous adulterer. Iskon justifies this as
follows: “Of all of Krishna's pastimes, the Rasa Lila dance is the
one that draws the most controversy. Many mundane moralists accuse
Krishna of adultery - dancing with other men's wives late at night
in the forest. Such people do not understand that Krishna is not a
human being. Therefore, He is not obligated to abide by human
morality”!! (Premananda Das, 2001)
8. The Concept of Trinity.
The Early Trinity
When the unknowable God came to be
knowable, they appeared as Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Early Thomas Christian trinity
in contrast to the later competing trinity can be seen represented
in the above figure of “The Early Trinity” in Hinduism. The serpent
Anantha Naga represents the timelessness. Anantha means without
end. The coiled serpent represents the infinities. Once movement
and change occur, time comes into existence because time is simply a
measure of change. It started as in Gen 1: “I n the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was waste and
void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of
God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said”
What is interesting is the
representation of Trinity. The bottom base is the dark face – a God
who cannot be seen - Father. On the top the white face – a God who
can be seen – Son – the incarnate God. And the female figure
commonly called in Hinduism as Sakthi – the Power – the Life giving
spirit. Energy is represented as Red. In order to show the aspect
of life giving, the Holy Spirit is represented as a female. In
Aramaic, in the language Jesus spoke, the Holy Spirit was indeed
Feminine Gender. It is a true Hebrew concept. Thus in the book of
Proverbs, we have wisdom - represented as a female - who cooperated
in the creation with God from the beginning. The second birth also
comes from the Mother Spirit as we had the first birth from our
Earthly Mother.
More iconographic representations
of this Trinity (in contrast to later Hindu Trinity) can be found
all over India.
These are the same representation
with the white face – visible incarnate God as the remover of sin as
represented by the human figure
9. Siva Sakthi -
Ardha Nareeswara – God half male and half female
In some cases the Father (Siva) and
Holy Spirit (Sakthi) are considered united together. . This concept
is depicted in the united half man half woman icons as given below.
Sakthi actually means Power, a
direct reference to the Power that is the Holy Spirit. This
representation in Saivism is known as the Ardha Nareeswara. (Ardha =
half; Naree = Woman ; Iswara = God. Thus Ardha Nareeshwara would
mean God who is half woman) You can not differentiate God, they are
one in substance. There is no Siva without Sakthi. Even the ideal
of human marriage is based on this oneness of Godhead, that they may
be one
Ardha Nareeswara –
God who is half male and half female
God of creation is both
Male and Female.
“ in the image of God he created him; male and female he created
them.“
10. Mummoorthy – Vaishnavite
Trinity
We should expect that such female
representations brought with it objections in male dominated
society. This probably was the cause of development of Vaishnavism,
where all three in the trinity are male . The modern Hindu Trinity
is Siva, Vishnu and Brahma. While Siva is till the father figure and
Brahma the creator the emanated son figure, Vishnu the Energy and
Power is now a male. Incidently Vishnu often played the female to
achieve things in the Purana stories. We should expect this to be
a much later development. The Thomas tradition was Hebrew Kabalistic
tradition, where Wisdom and Power was female.
Hindu Trinity: Brahma, Vishnu, and
Maheswara.-
called mummoorthy (the form of Three)
The creator is given here with four
heads. These developments must have come under Gnostic influence,
where creation of cosmos was done by a fallen god. – Brahma. Brahma
is seldom worshipped in any of the temples even though He is one of
the Trinity in the Vaishnavite tradition.. | 
