tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306315475219866487.post6399560182519228936..comments2023-10-18T09:49:40.560-04:00Comments on The King of Kings: Should You Believe in the Trinity? Is It Clearly a Bible Teaching?Toby Fuquahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07685768945576578707noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306315475219866487.post-47899053737686131992011-03-01T21:15:35.685-05:002011-03-01T21:15:35.685-05:00There are “trinities,” of sorts, in various faiths...There are “trinities,” of sorts, in various faiths. My ebook on comparative mysticism, <i>"the greatest achievement in life,"</i> summarizes five of them.<br /><br />Mahayana and Vajrayana vehicles of Buddhism speak of <i>Trikaya</i>, or three bodies: <i>Nirmanakaya</i> is the Buddha in human form, <i>Sambhogakaya</i> is celestial Buddha and <i>Dharmakaya</i> is the formless essence, or Buddha-nature. The Theravada primarily addresses the historic Buddha. The “Three Jewels” are the Buddha, the <i>dharma</i> (his teachings) and the <i>sangha</i> (the community of monks and nuns).<br /><br />Christianity has its Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit referring to God, Jesus Christ and their spiritual bond of unity (unlike the Nicene Creed). Interpretation of the essential nature of each, and their relationship, differed among the churches. In Christian mysticism, the three ways of the spiritual life are the <i>purgative</i> in being purified from sin, the <i>illuminative</i> in true understanding of created things, and the <i>unitive</i> in which the soul unites with God by love.<br /><br />Hinduism’s <i>trimurti</i> are the threefold activities of Brahman: in Brahma as creator, in Vishnu as sustainer and in Shiva as destroyer. <i>Saccidananda</i> are the triune attributes or essence of Brahman: <i>sat</i>, being, <i>cit</i>, consciousness and <i>ananda</i>, bliss. The three major schools of yoga are <i>bhakti</i>, devotion, and <i>jnana</i>, knowledge and <i>karma</i>, the way of selfless action. <i>Raja</i> yoga can apply to, and integrate, all three in mental and spiritual concentration.<br /><br />In Islam, <i>nafs</i> is the ego-soul, <i>qalb</i> is heart and <i>ruh</i> is spirit. Heart is the inner self [soul], hardened when it is turned toward ego and softened when it is polished by <i>dhikr</i>, remembrance of the spirit of Allah. This is a three-part foundation for Sufi psychology. Initiation guides them from <i>shari`a</i>, religious law, along <i>tariqa</i>, the spiritual path, to <i>haqiqa</i>, interior reality. It is a gradual unveiling of the Real.<br /><br />In the Kabbalah of Judaism, <i>sefirot</i> – sparks from the divine – have three fulcrums to balance the horizontal levels of the Tree of Life: <i>Da`at</i> (a pseudo-sefirot) is knowledge combining understanding and wisdom; <i>Tiferet</i> is beauty, the midpoint of judgment and loving kindness; <i>Yesod</i> is the foundation for empathy and endurance. They also vertically connect, through the supreme crown, the infinite and transcendent <i>Ein Sof</i> with its kingdom in the immanent <i>Shekhinah</i>.Ron Krumposhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05371279514024960026noreply@blogger.com