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We are a Christian Fellowship meeting in North London with a strong interest in teaching the Bible and understanding our time in
the light of Bible prophecy
Kumbh Mela - a channel
'This is an energy power point, a huge healing vortex. At 3am when the water
is cold we put our negative energy into a coconut and throw it in the
Ganges. The river absorbs it and changes it to love and light.' 'If you ask
something from mother Ganges she will give it to you. When you bathe, the
sins of seven generations are washed away.' Some comments from devotees at
the Kumbh Mela, the largest gathering of human beings in history, as
broadcast on Channel 4 TV. Channel 4 put out a website describing the
origins of Kumbh Mela:
'The festival of the Kumbh Mela is based on the ancient Hindu teachings that
describe the earliest days of the universe. Exact versions differ but one
common theme holds throughout:
'There was a time when the Devas, the demi-gods, were under the influence of
a curse that made them cowardly and weak. Brahman, the Creator God, advised
them to churn the cosmic ocean (Samundra Manthan) in search of Amrit, nectar
that makes those who consume it immortal. The gods sought help from the
demons in order to succeed in their mission. And in return for their help,
the gods made an agreement to share the nectar equally.
'The cosmic ocean was churned using Vasuki, the King of the Serpents, as a
rope around the churning rod Mount Mandara, with gods on one side and demons
on the other. Eventually Dhanwantari, the divine healer, arose from the
ocean with the vessel (Kumbh) containing nectar in his hands.
'On seeing the nectar, the demi-gods became anxious over what would happen
if the demons drank their share; so they fled with the vessel. A great chase
ensued and for twelve days and nights (equivalent to twelve human years)
they battled in the sky. The gods finally overpowered the demons in this
primeval tug of war, but before they succeeded, some drops of the nectar
fell to four places on Earth: the Indian cities of Allahabad, Haridwar,
Ujjain, and Nasik.
'The Maha Kumbh Mela (literally translating to big pot fair) is a time when
Sadhus, pilgrims and devotees converge to commemorate this event. Hindus
believe that within the period of the Kumbh Mela the water of the Ganges
turns into nectar in the place where it fell. By bathing in the Holy River
they will be able to cleanse their souls and - if immortality takes effect -
be able to escape the cycle of rebirth and reach enlightenment.'
The holy men (Sadhus) follow a variety of ways to 'enlightenment'. Most lead
solitary lives, renouncing society and leading a monk like existence. The
website describes their activities:
'Most Sadhus lead a life of austerity (tapasya) and a number wear heavy
wooden and metal chastity belts to highlight their chastity. Some will go to
extremes in self-inflicted suffering to speed up their way to enlightenment.
The most unbelievable to watch are those who remain standing for 24 hours a
day for years on end or who hold one arm aloft until all feeling is lost and
the muscles atrophy, leaving the Sadhu permanently disabled.
'Others believe in easier routes to enlightenment; viewing Shiva as the Lord
of Hash, some strive to be permanently intoxicated. This results in a number
of rather red-eyed Sadhus spending their days smoking marijuana, which is
admittedly a little easier than standing for twelve years, and would explain
why smoking Sadhus are in abundance.
'Sadhus are at the heart of the Kumbh Mela. Apart from taking a holy dip in
the Ganges, the aim of the Hindu pilgrims is to have the Darshan ("vision")
of a Sadhu in order to receive their spiritual energy. Believers regard them
as holy because of their radical commitment, and the most devout Sadhus are
worshipped as Gods on Earth. Followers and disciples hope to gain spiritual
merit or perhaps even enlightenment by touching the Sadhus' feet or
listening to them - the ones not under vows of silence that is. Sadhus are
also thought to transmit spiritual energy through Prasad. Pilgrims offer
items such as food and flowers to Sadhus, and the ones not kept or
sacrificed are distributed as Prasad, which literally means food from the
gods.' (Interestingly the website goes on to describe how in the past these
'gods' have fought each other over who should go into the Ganges first!)
Since Hinduism has no absolute beliefs set down in scriptures devotees have
radically different ways of expressing their faith. One sect of Sadhus, the
Aghoris, is devoted to Shiva, the god of destruction. They express a morbid
fascination with death, and many spend their time surrounded by corpses, and
drinking from human skulls. It is said that some take their devotion to the
even greater extremities of eating excrement and having sex with
prostitutes. There are also Sakhis, religious transvestites who express
their devotion to a god by acting as his lover. One such man on Channel 4
told how he takes part in public performances playing the parts of gods and
goddesses. He dresses up like a woman and feels like a woman. 'This is my
way of serving god and my profession. When I sing and dance I feel like Lord
Krishna is dancing with me. He is dark and beautiful and wears earrings.'
It is interesting that on the Kumbh Mela programmes that I saw there was no
critical comment about what was going on. To do this of course would not be
'politically correct'. On the other hand it is OK for Channel 4 to ridicule
the origins of Christianity as it did in the 'Real Jesus' programme shown
before Christmas in 1998 and then to refuse to give Christians any
opportunity to answer the allegations made, as I requested them to do. All
of this is part of the brainwashing programme going on in our society to
undermine our Christian heritage and to impose inter faith paganism on us as
our official religion. Most people, including many professing Christians,
appear quite happy for this to happen.
The appeal of Hinduism to western society is very great. Since The Beatles
went to India and were influenced by Maharishi Yogi, Hindu ideas have been
drip fed into our thinking via the popular media. For example The Beatles
song, 'I am the Walrus' with its line 'I am you and you are he and we are
one together, I am the Walrus' is pure Hindu thought (all things are
interconnected and we are all part of one another and part of god).
So-called New Age thought is for the most part a recycling of Hinduism plus
magic and occult ideas and practices in a way that is acceptable in the
West. The use of drugs, especially so called harmless drugs like marijuana,
is a way into the altered state of consciousness which opens the mind up to
the Hindu way of looking at life. Yoga and Hindu meditation have now become
mainstream, often offered in church halls, with no understanding that 'there
is no yoga without Hinduism and no Hinduism without yoga' (Hindu saying).
So what is the appeal of Hinduism?
Hinduism is basically pantheistic. It has one formless all pervading god,
the Brahman, and millions of gods and goddesses. Since everything is
believed to be a part of god it follows that all created things including
humans are potentially divine. The basic problem of humanity in Hinduism is
that we do not know that we are divine and need to be enlightened. The
Sadhus are thought to be enlightened and are worshipped as gods. Swami
Muktananda said, 'Kneel to yourself. Honour and worship your own being. God
dwells within you as you.' New Age writer Marilyn Ferguson put it this way:
'The myth of the saviour 'out there' is being replaced by the myth of the
hero 'in here'. Its ultimate expression is the discovery of the divinity
within us. In a very real sense we are each other.'
Hinduism is also a non-dogmatic religion. You can express your spirituality
by extreme asceticism (raising one arm above the head for years) or by
extreme indulgence (getting permanently high on hash). You can be a
religious transvestite, have sex with prostitutes or take a vow of chastity.
You can use astrology and fortune telling to find out your future. It is
also apparently very tolerant allowing you to find god whichever way you
choose. The Hindu proverb says, 'Many rivers lead to the same ocean, many
paths go to the top of the same mountain.'
All of this fits in very well with the mind set of post Christian life style
and thought in the west. Abandoning the worship of God as Creator who is
separate from his creation, human thinking inevitably falls into pantheism,
the idea of god in everything. This in turn leads to idolatry, because
people look for certain 'power points' where they can make the connection to
the divine. These can be supposedly sacred mountains, rivers, rocks, man
made temples, idols, crystals etc. The Ganges is one of the supreme examples
of such thinking.
The next stage of the deception is as old as the Garden of Eden - 'You shall
be as God'. This appeal to the pride of human beings comes from the serpent
(Satan) and nothing has changed in his strategy to work for human
destruction. No doubt those who give in to this temptation do have
counterfeit spiritual experiences of love and light, but these do not last
and give way to tormenting spirits of destruction and degrading behaviour
(obsession with death and corpses, sexual perversions, drug abuse, painful
torment of the body, fear and superstition).
The supposed tolerance of Hinduism fits in well with the modern mind set.
People do not like to be told that something is right or wrong, so the idea
of a religion where basically you can make up the rules yourself is very
appealing. Biblical Christianity, which condemns such practices described
above (astrology, drug taking and transvestites), is seen as being narrow
minded and bigoted. In practice however Hinduism is not at all tolerant and
there has been much persecution of Christian groups by Hindus in India.
Hinduism also offers many opportunities to find salvation through the cycle
of death and reincarnation (samsara) and many ways to find god. This is
considered much more enlightened and tolerant than the Christian concept of
one way to God through Jesus the Messiah and only one life in which to find
Him.
The biblical world view is in conflict with Hinduism at almost every point.
It teaches that there is one God who is holy, separate from his creation and
who can only be approached through the way he has provided. He is opposed by
Satan, a fallen angel (i.e. a created being) who will ultimately be
condemned to the lake of fire along with all who are not redeemed through
the blood of Jesus. When we look within ourselves we do not find a 'god
within' but the reality of our sin nature from which we need to be set free.
This deliverance is available to everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
in repentance and faith in the one final sacrifice for sins - the death and
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the blood He shed for us which
cleanses us from sin and gives us eternal life, not any washing in the river
Ganges. The Bible clearly teaches that we only have one life on earth - 'It
is appointed unto man to die once and after death the judgment' (Hebrews
9.27). The spread of Hindu and New Age ideas worldwide lines up with Jesus'
warning that 'Many false prophets will arise and deceive many' (Matthew
24.11) in the last days of this age. We have a Bible study available giving
the answer to the Hindu / New Age view which is available on request.
Concluding thoughts
As the Kumbh Mela was coming to an end the state of Gujarat was shaken by an
earthquake, the worst to hit India since 1950. 1000 miles to the east the
worshippers at the Kumbh Mela felt the ground sway under them. I do not wish
to say that the catastrophe, which fell on the poor people in Gujarat, was a
judgement on them because of what their fellow Hindus were doing on the
banks of the Ganges. But the shaking ground is a graphic picture of the
reality that this kind of religious activity is a 'house on the sand', which
cannot give security with God to those who engage in it.
Two participants in the Kumbh Mela were the Hinduja brothers, joining the
millions bathing in the Ganges. At the same time thousands of miles away a
political earthquake hit the British government with the forced resignation
of Peter Mandelson. The issue was whether Mandelson had lied over the
connection between these wealthy Hindu businessmen's passport application
and the gift of £1 million they made to the 'faith zone' of the ill fated
Millennium Dome.
Is it a coincidence that Mandelson fell from grace over money donated by
Hindus to the faith zone? This was a very public expression of the power of
the Hindu spirit in the west and of the religious forces at work in Britain
today which are pushing the big lie - that Christianity is just one of many
ways to God and that our Christian heritage has to be replaced by the multi
religious fog of confusion that was the faith zone in the Dome. As is
written in the prophet Jeremiah 2.13, 'My people have committed two evils;
they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters and hewed out cisterns,
broken cisterns, that can hold no water.'
