The Misunderstanding of Me

“I alone am Brahma” –Ribhu Gita

“No one comes to the Father but through Me” -Jesus, the Bible

“Controlling the mind and fixing it on Me, sit in meditation with Me as your only goal.” -Krishna, Bhagavad Gita

If you believe that the speakers of these sentences were speaking of “Me” as their own individual current embodiment then you’d become an exclusivist, believing that there’s only  image of God that will get you to your goal (heaven, moksha, etc.) But considering that different people throughout the ages have made these statements, it leads you to having to argue about which one is correct about himself. One person says, “Well, Jesus said he was the only way.” And the other person says, “Well, Krishna said he was the only way.” Which one is right? There’s no definitive proof either way.

But this is not the only way to see these statements.

It seems strange to me to assume that these wise men and incarnations of God were speaking of their own current and limited embodiments. Advaitans believe that the “Me” in those quotes  is referring to the true Self, the divinity that is within all of us. I don’t think any of these speakers meant that their own image was the only way to Truth. A body is not the real person, a face is not the real person, these things are changeable and God is not. God is not limited in form.

It helps, certainly, to have an image to focus one’s spiritual practice on. And any one of these faces will work. That is the way of the Advaita Hindu.