a first attempt at an onto-ontological synthesis of the teachings of Jesus and the Bhagavad Gita

It has been argued that the teachings of Jesus are devoid of any reference to karma, and I for one agree to a degree. Karma is a philosophy of action, in which the actor is placed between the two poles of creation and destruction. Attempting to discover a balance between these two poles inside of the one’s self is the goal, so that the cyclical patterns of karmic interactions are nullified. The pole of creation is most often portrayed as being ruled by Brahma, and the pole of destruction by Shiva. Vishnu rules the space of maintenance.

What is conceived of is an energy loop between creation and destruction. This is the cycle of karma. In the sphere of maintenance, however, the loop becomes self-referential.

What we see in this triadic structure is a base of opposition between Shiva and Brahma. As in all oppositions there are elements of each one in the other. But in Vishnu, who is then the third point of the triangle, both of the other two are balanced. Thus Krishna, who is one of the manifestations of Vishnu in literature, describes himself as the creator and destroyer, the beginning and end (the same claim which Jesus makes). To enter into the realm of Vishnu is to have the forces of creation and destruction balanced within one’s self. This is the location of extra-karmic being.

What Jesus Christ teaches is also extra-karmic, or post-karmic. His teachings describe a different set of rules which must apply to the realm of Vishnu, because once the sense of karmic law is balanced within one’s self, there is no sense of higher authority to appeal to. This is why the Christian Church has degraded the teachings of Jesus. By creating a new law out of the teachings and myth of Jesus they have returned what is post-karmic back to the realm of karma. What Jesus argues is that in the post-karmic life, which has no authority toward which to appeal, the individual must rely upon a personal sense of truth and that personal sense of truth is made manifest through acts of faith in that truth—acts which are inspired by and justified by that truth. When Jesus said, “blessed is the man who does not fall away because of me” (Matt 11:6), he is giving the same advice as Krishna gave to Arjuna at the end of the Bhagavad Gita: "Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do (BG 18.63)."

The onto-ontological interpretation of the teachings of Jesus indicates the extremely relativistic nature of the message of Christ. It also indicates how that these scriptures-far from being distinct from or superior to the teachings of other wisdom traditions-are actually in agreement with and shed a new light upon the sphere of Vishnu and the karmic relations between Brahma and Shiva.