Readers' comments as on the 10 September 2007

Some wonderful people have commented on my posts:

Meena has written...

The word Christ comes from the Greek Christos (phonetically described as a dorsal fricative sound)which is more like an H, rather than hard C/K.

BobGriffin, bless him, said...

KRSNa, as far as I can tell, comes from a term meaning 'dark' or 'black'.

'Christos' is a translation into Greek of the Hebrew "Meshiakh' or the Aramaic 'Meshikha', meaning 'annointed'.
Be Well
Bob Griffin
PS By the way, "Maitreya" is also unrelated to 'Messiah', and means something like 'Compassionate', as far as I've found out.

Kenny said...

That's true. Lepchas folklores have have many similarities with Biblical events. There is even a mythical story similar to the Tower of Babel, the only difference being the materials used by Lepchas to reach heaven. Lepchas attempted to reach heaven by constructing a tower of potteries.

Meena said...

The Confucian ying/yang concept, many "new age" (for want of a better description) advocates believe in the notion of a twin soul.

John Daniel, my sweet and idealistic friend from Shillong, told me about previous efforts at ecumenicism. He said...

The name of the religion i was speaking about is "Mithraism"
For more details please visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraism
Cheers,
John Daniel

Woodsmoke said...

And you are saying that this sort of naming is deliberate? Explain some more please.

BobGriffin said...

In Hebrew and Aramaic, 'Ram' means 'to be high'. In Modern Assyrian Aramaic, 'Roomta' means 'hill'.

As far as I can tell, 'rwm' and 'rym' are basic Semitic roots meaning 'to be high'. The Modern Assyrian name 'Ramsin' is most likely derived from the ancient king RimSin (Sin--the moon god-- was high) rather than Ram Singh (Rama was a lion).

Be Well,
Bob Griffin

BobGriffin said...

Christianity passed through Ladakh, Kashmir, and Pakistan as early as the early Middle Ages. Sogdian Christian graffiti has been found near Tankse and in Pakistan, mostly from Sogdian merchants travelling south from Central Asia.
Mar Timotheus I (780-820) is said to have expressed concern about the need for a bishop for Lhasa (reference currently unknown)

During the Tang Dynasty, Christianity reached China, as is recorded on a stela from Sian/Sian-Fu. There was apparently a fair degree of interaction between the Buddhist and Christian (Nestorian) communities in Tang China.

The name 'Yuz Asaf' appears to derive from the Arabic work 'Balauhar and Yuzasaf' (also 'Balauhar and Yudhasaf' and 'Balauhar and Budhasaf'), which is apparently a translation of a lost Sanskrit work, which I am guessing deals with the life of Amitabha Buddha.

Be Well,
Bob Griffin

BobGriffin said...

'Eloah' is not feminine, as can be seen be it's usage at Ugarit, where the feminine is shown by a final 't' rather than a final 'h', as well as by the Aramaic/Syriac word 'Alaha', meaning 'god' or 'God'.

Be Well,
Bob Griffin

My response:

Thank you all so much for all your comments, which have enriched my knowledge.

Look at the fascinating things visitors to this blog have said, which add to my own argument:

i) God is called 'Alaha' even in Aramaic/Syriac.

ii) If Maitreya means 'Compassionate' then without doubt this is the same as the various Names of Allah that mean ‘the Compassionate One.’ Ar Rehmân is of course the most obvious of these Names. This is yet another proof that the various religions are really translations of each other—and so are the Names that we call God by in the various religions.

iii) Kenny’s mention of the Lepchas’ Tower of Babel is so exciting. There is a huge Lepcha community in Delhi. I would love to work with Lepcha students on tracing similarities in their traditions with Christianity, Judaism and any other religion.

iv) Does 'Ram' mean 'to be high'? Wow! This proves my point that the word Ram is the same as Allah. Ram is thus a translation of the six Names of Allah that mean ‘God, the high[est]’: Al Azîz, Al Qahhâr, Al Alî, Al Muta'âl, Al Âlâ and Al Âlî (pron.: aalee, not alee). Thank you, Bob.

Dear Woodsmoke,

No, I am not saying that this sort of naming (similar Names of God in different religions) is deliberate. There are two possibilities: i) These Names travelled from one region to another. This is the scientific explanation, and in many cases this can be proven. ii) God’s truth is identical even in cultures that have never been in touch with each other. The Lepchas and the Old Testament people, for instance. Over the next few years I plan to show more such instances. If the Hindu ‘Om’ is turned on its side, to the right, and the bar on top is delinked from the rest of the Om, it becomes Allah. (And what about the chañdr-biñdu [literally: the moon-dot] above Om’s bar? Why, of course, it becomes the crescent moon and star of Islam!)

KRSNa has indeed come to mean ‘the dark one.’ However, I will check if it was always so. Who knows? Perhaps it once meant ‘the anointed one,' because the Hindus too believe that all deities are anointed beings. (Abhishek is one of the Hindu-Buddhist words for ‘anointment.’)

I hope I have not left out any reader's comments. It would be against the spirit of my mission to do so, because that would be a suppression of debate and dissent.