Showing posts with label wise men. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wise men. Show all posts

Sunday, December 18, 2022

Why Celebrate Christmas? What is the Avatara?

In the beloved Song of God, the Bhagavad Gita, God promises that "whenever virtue declines and vice predominates, I incarnate on earth. Taking visible form, I combat evil and uphold dharma (virtue)."

The story of the three Wise Men (or Magi) appears only in the gospel of Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector and when Jesus saw him and said to Matthew, "Come, follow me," Matthew immediately left his collection booth to follow Jesus. As a much-hated tax collector, Matthew was obviously unorthodox but he could read, write, and do accounts. Of the four evangelists, Matthew seems to have had a particular interest in showing his Jewish compatriots that Jesus' life was foretold in the scriptures of the Old Testament.

But where would Matthew have learned of this story? If from Jesus, then Jesus would have presumably been told the story by his father or mother. But how would his parents have known the details of the Magi's visit to King Herod in Jerusalem before coming to Bethlehem? How would they have known that the Magi were warned in a dream not to tell King Herod that they had found the Christ-child? Whatever the source, you can be sure that the visit by the Magic must have had a special significance, one presumably to those with Jewish ears to hear. Or, perhaps it is for our ears that Matthew recounted this story?

Matthew, being unorthodox, was not only attracted to the equally unorthodox Jesus but may have also been knowledgeable regarding and curious about other cultures and traditions. The significance of this story is hinted at by Paramhansa Yogananda in the twentieth century when Yogananda declared that the Magi were none other than his own lineage (in past lives): Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar. Regardless of the facts, the story points to a significant connection between the Orient and the birth, life and mission of Jesus Christ. The Magi, who themselves are viewed as kings, came a great distance to present precious gifts to yet another king, albeit newborn and lying in a manger. How can this event not be fraught with meaning? The obvious significance is the recognition of Jesus' birth as the birth of a spiritual being. But why from "the East?"

"Whenever virtue declines....I incarnate on earth." Though Christians quite understandably admit of no other divine incarnation than Jesus, that dogma is questionable in the light of our exposure and knowledge of other religions. There's no reason that God should have but one son, is there? Does not the Old Testament make repeated mention of the "sons of God?" Does not the first chapter of John the Evangelist state that "as many as received Him (Christ) to them gave He the power to become the sons of God"? Taking our cue from the quote above from the Bhagavad Gita, is not obvious that down through history there have been times where the need for a savior was great? Consider the brutality of Jesus' times; the flagging power of the classical, so-called "pagan," religions; the inflexibility of caste and the oppression of so many people under Roman occupation.

Is this time in human history not such a moment? Orthodox religions are losing their appeal and at odds with one another; economic, racial, cultural and gender inequalities are rampant; threats of both war and the use of nuclear weapons are on the rise; climate change threatens all species of life on the planet; cooperation among nations is on the wane; and legislatures are polarized. Perhaps the avatara has already happened in the form of Paramhansa Yogananda and the lineage that sent him to the West.

Christmas, however is the celebration of the divine descent, or avatara, of Jesus Christ. Paramhansa Yogananda described the avatara, whether Jesus or others such as Krishna, Buddha, as being souls who, in a past life, achieved their son-ship with the Father and were sent back by God to uplift and redeem souls from the snares of delusion.

We not only celebrate the avatara of Jesus Christ in the Christmas season but we also celebrate the redeemer role of Jesus and other avatars. What is this redeemer role? Did Jesus (and others) come to redeem our sins? Well, yes, in a sense. But not in the passively sentimental sense that is implied by orthodox Christians. Un-redeemed souls do indeed require the spiritual help of a divine being, a savior. In India, this is expressed in the teaching that to achieve enlightenment the soul needs a guru. Though freely offered by the avatar, it is not cheaply won. The pearl of great price takes great spiritual effort. But why can we not redeem ourselves through self-effort alone: through penance, virtue, and devotion?

Christian dogma speaks of original sin, the fall of Adam and Eve, as the reason we need a Christ to reconcile us back to God--to make the perfect sacrifice necessary to atone for our sins. But a yogi would say we are equally burdened by our karma. Either way, we need something more than our own effort because we are imprisoned in a cocoon and blinded by a hypnosis of our separation from God.

An outside spiritual force or magnetism is needed for the soul to break through. The savior, or guru, appears when the disciple is ready (as the saying goes). That readiness is echoed in the parable of the prodigal son, when, in the midst of his self-inflicted deprivation, the son remembers and longs to return to his father's home. It is the first step. The role of the guru is to awaken our soul's memory of its home in God-consciousness--the home from which we were created. But the guru does more than just jog our memory. The guru has the spiritual power to give to those who "receive Him" the ability to be come  sons of God. Nor is such power based upon a ritual, an incantation or priestly position.

Life on earth would be a paradise if everyone followed the Golden Rule to "do unto others we would want others to do to us." But it is not enough. More than mere reason is needed. The very fact of our inability to bootstrap our way to inner communion with God puts us on notice that we need a spiritual power outside of ourselves.

At the Last Supper, Jesus rendered aloud an accounting to God the Father for the souls that were sent to him to be taught and uplifted. Except for Judas Iscariot, they were all accounted for. This reflects the yogic teaching that at the dawn of creation, that Being who will be our soul's redeemer is already known. But it is we who must consciously call upon God to send to us our savior. Isn't that a beautiful teaching?

In celebrating Christmas we celebrate the birth of an avatar, a redeemer of souls, in the human form of the Son of Man whom we call Jesus (the) Christ. 

A blessed and joyful Christmas to all,

Swami Hrimananda


Sunday, January 2, 2022

Return of the Magi

Note to readers: The Christian Feast of Epiphany celebrates, in part, the visit of the Magi (Wise Men) to the Christ child. It takes place on January 6, twelve days after Christmas, and is sometimes called the Little Christmas. January 5 is known as Epiphany Eve and is the birthdate of Paramhansa Yogananda in 1893. Traditionally this marks, for many, the end of Christmas and the taking away of Christmas decorations! This becomes also for Ananda worldwide a natural endpoint to the sacred holiday season of Christmas.



Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the now famous and popular life story, “Autobiography of a Yogi,” lived and taught in America for most of his life beginning in 1920 at the age of twenty-seven. One of the many curious and interesting things he said was that the wise men of the gospel of Matthew were none other than the three Indian yogis (in a past life) who, in succession, were part of his personal lineage, training, and tradition.[1] While there’s no objective way to substantiate that, this idea certainly has implications for who he, Yogananda, was and why he came to live in America.

Those people in the world identifying themselves as Christians are said to be 2.5 billion, almost one out of every three people.[2] But the percentage of Americans identifying themselves as Christian is reported to be declining.[3]

It would seem that if Christianity is to grow and thrive in America (and the West generally) as a viable religious tradition some kind of rescue is needed. Could it be that the wise men of East have come again to acknowledge, honor, and worship the Christ? Can Jesus too be “born again?”

Paramhansa Yogananda described his work in America as “The Second Coming of Christ.” Like Jesus, one might have thought that he, Yogananda, too would be condemned for blasphemy. What did he mean by this description?

How can we bring these ideas together? When Yogananda was asked point-blank by a young monk, Swami Kriyananda, “Were you Jesus Christ (in a prior life)?” Yogananda replied, “What difference would it make?” What a curious statement to make.[4]

Where I am leading is to suggest that Paramhansa Yogananda came to resurrect the deeper meanings and teachings of Jesus Christ from their imprisonment in the confines of what he called “Churchianity.” It doesn’t matter who he was in a past life. I think that’s mostly the reason for his response. Part of what is making orthodox Christianity increasingly irrelevant and uninspired today is the narrowness of its claims and the rigidity of its rituals.

The very concept of reincarnation symbolizes the soul’s phoenix-like capacity to be “born again!” Again, it is not important whether one subscribes to reincarnation as a dogma.[5] We see rebirth all around us: civilization being reborn into a new era, a new age symbolized outwardly by science and technology and in consciousness by a new acceptance and interest of diversity of cultures, religions, and history beyond one’s own. There’s hardly a point in listing the number of cultural beliefs, taboos, lifestyles, and attitudes that have changed (for “better or worse” according to one’s point of view) in just a few years or decades. In the lives of individuals, stories of recovery and new life abound. So why can’t Christianity be born again?

In juxtaposition to scientific beliefs of the age of planet Earth, the age of the universe, and the existence of billions of galaxies, core Christian dogmas seem weak and difficult to believe: could one human being on this mudball of a planet in a distant galaxy on the edge of space be the ‘ONLY” son of God? And he lived a mere thirty-three years on the edge of an empire that has long ago faded into dust? What about those billions of other religionists? Are they condemned to eternity for being born on the “wrong side of the tracks” of centuries and continents? Can the crucifixion of this one individual that took perhaps three hours be sufficient to “save the sins” of all humankind? And what about heaven and hell, places where, after death, our souls (later perhaps to be somehow reunited with our long-disintegrated bodies) live happily ever after or are burned alive not-so-happily-ever-after for an eternity?

The fact is that Jesus and his disciples initiated their own world-changing version of a religious rebirth in the context of Judaism during their lives. And yet, Jesus said that he came not to “destroy but to fulfill the law and prophets.” In Chapter 5 of the gospel of Matthew alone, Jesus made significant changes to the interpretation of the Ten Commandments and other laws at that time. Later, his disciples set aside the circumcision (the primary symbol of God’s covenant with the Jews), the Sabbath and countless lesser dietary laws. Then they declared that Gentiles could become followers of Jesus without being Jews! A new religion was born. And the intention behind its birth was to “fulfill” the Old Covenant not destroy it. Do you see the pattern here?

Jesus gave at least one example of why changes in letter of the law can be made when he modified the rules surrounding divorce. Jesus stated that the rules given to them by Moses were “for the hardness of your hearts.”[6] By this, he meant that Moses knew that the Jews of his time were not ready for a more fair and refined view of the grounds for divorce.

Other examples in history include the birth of Buddhism. Buddha and his disciples were originally Hindus. They, like Jesus’ disciples, sowed the seeds for a new religion with a fresh understanding of basic, universal truths. Their core concepts are based on the teachings of India derived from the Vedas and other scriptures of ancient India. Like the Protestant revolt, however, Buddha urged seekers to abandon the abusive lock hold of the priestly class and take responsibility for their spiritual awakening.[7]

And yet, the impact of the life of Jesus Christ cannot be denied. His short life changed world history. His teachings have inspired saints and sinners alike; have produced great works of art, music, literature, architecture, civilization, and worship. And these are the positive aspects. There are negative ones as well where some humans corrupted those same teachings for their own, misguided, ignorant or sinful reasons.

The stage is surely set for the return of the Wise Men.[8] Is it no coincidence that the very first and most serious crisis in the history of the early Christian church was the Arian heresy which centered on the definition of the person or nature of Jesus Christ? This was then and remains today the crux of the question Jesus asked: “Whom do men say I AM?” The rebirth of Christianity will, I believe, center on a deeper understanding of what is meant by “Jesus being the only begotten son of God.”

Paramhansa Yogananda universalized the understanding and interpretation of the divinity of Jesus Christ.[9] He often quoted the first chapter of St. John’s gospel, “As many as received him to them gave He the power to become the sons of God.” Yogananda taught that the difference between Jesus and the rest of us is not a matter of kind, but of degree. We have not yet realized our birthright as souls made in the image of God. The soul of Jesus inhabiting the body called Jesus had long ago (in a prior life) realized its eternal nature as ever-pure, immortal, and “one with the Father.” We, too, are called to the realization of this birthright. It has been said that we are “as old as God” because God has manifested us (and all creation) from “His” own nature. How else can God—who is pure Consciousness—create anything except as part of Himself?

While this is not the place to continue with creation theology and the existence of evil it is the place to note that this very understanding—endorsed by great saints within Christianity and in many other traditions—has the potential to reinvigorate devotion and appreciation of the Christian Way. Orthodox religionists may initially fear that this dilutes the importance and uniqueness of Jesus. Yet Jesus’ life, teachings, and omnipresent spirit have been proven and attested to down through the centuries and in modern times through the Christian and even non-Christian saints.[10]

And why would such recognition of other Christs in history result in a dilution of the reverence one feels towards Jesus Christ? Does the sheer number of saints through the ages detract from their respective sanctity? Just as modern men and women accept and appreciate the diversity in races and cultures without denying or condemning their own, why should a Hindu devotee or Christian devotee feel slighted that another religion also claims that its founder has achieved Self-realization? Are we not all potential sons of God?

Humanity does not need, nor could possibly abide by, a “One World Religion.” History, culture and tradition, what to mention human nature, recoils from even the thought. Why can’t mature devotees recognize and validity of other faith traditions? Are we so insecure in our own faith that we are not able to abandon the slogan “My way or the highway?”

It is not that Christian teachings are wrong: Jesus did die for sins; we can experience heaven or hell; Jesus is a savior. But a new understanding—what Yogananda called a New Dispensation—is needed to revitalize and universalize the eternal teachings and spiritual power of Jesus Christ.

Once one considers that our planet alone has had a number of “saviors” or “Christs,” if you will, then other possibilities emerge. The man known as Jesus embodied the realization of God in his soul and in his human manifestation. So have others. “I am the Way, the Life, and Truth and no one comes to the Father except by Me” can now take on a powerful and universal new meaning.

The savior or living Christ is both an outer and human reality as a person and an inner reality as in the conscious presence of their divine nature. We too partake in this dual nature even at our level of awareness. We have a body and personality but we can also experience ourselves as the observer of our own thoughts and actions unaffected in our observation by the nature of the present tenor of our emotions and actions.

Jesus is the outer guru for innumerable souls just as Buddha (and other saviors) is for countless other souls. The statement, then, that “I am the Way…” applies to the guru, whether still in a human body or accessible because omnipresent in spirit. But the outer guru in human form comes to awaken the inner guru which is our invisible but omnipresent and eternal soul. Jesus as guru was the “first coming” of the son of God for his disciples while his “second coming” takes place in the awakening of the inner, soul-Christ in each disciple.[11] This is what Jesus’ promise concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit after his departure symbolizes. The Holy Spirit is grace manifested in the consciousness and acts of the disciples and descends upon the soul through the work of the guru.

Each savior has a family of souls given by God. In the poignant “accounting” that Jesus gave at the Last Supper, he makes it clear that his disciples were given to him by God.[12] The teaching in India is that from the beginning our soul’s creation, that savior who will forever stand ready to reach out to us (when we have made the choice to be helped) is already known.

Ditto for Buddha and others like Yogananda. Whether in the outer form of the embodied Christ as a guru or in the inner form as the Christ consciousness potential of the soul, the statement “I AM” applies progressively, that is, step-by-step in our spiritual evolution. Christian teachings thus, however unknowingly and limited to the person of Jesus, essentially reflect the teaching that to achieve God-realization the soul needs a God-realized guru.

Forgiving of sins means to dissolve or erase the karmic consequences of our sins. And what is sin? Ignorance: ignorance of our true Self. Our fall from grace takes place daily when we mistake the unreal for the real. Like the beautiful story of the Prodigal Son, we have the choice at any time and in every moment to turn away from the “foreign lands” of matter attachment and journey inward to our soul’s home in God.

It is the Christ—or the Christ or soul Consciousness—that baptizes and forgives us. First through the outer guru which awakens our souls (as described above), and then progressively as our soul ascends through effort and grace toward perfection. The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, awaits us in the silence within. But we need outer instruction in the precepts of right living and in the techniques of God-communion (prayer and meditation) to purify our body and mind.

It is a teaching in India that a guru—not merely an ordinary spiritual teacher but a true savior—can take on the karma of a disciple. A savior (known in India as an avatar) can free untold numbers of souls who “receive him.” But just as a wise father would not pay off the debts of an errant child unless that child was repentant, so too the guru’s grace to release karma is not given randomly or without just cause. Since our true nature is that of a Christ, it is always the Christ consciousness first awakened by the outer guru and then nurtured by the Holy Spirit in the inner, soul guru, that dissolves the knots of past deeds. Jesus’ crucifixion showed how we must surrender the ego to the will of God while the resurrection of his body shows us the immortal and victorious nature of our soul. His pain and suffering are examples and to a modest degree, related largely to his taking onto himself the karma of his direct disciples. When it is said that Jesus redeemed the sins of the world its deepest meaning is that the Christ Consciousness, truly the “only” begotten of the Father, is what redeems the soul.

Admittedly, without the concept of reincarnation, this New Dispensation is not “fulfilled.” But just as Christian teachings adapted themselves to a one-life incarnation so these concepts could stand on their own, just as lamely as the Christian teachings, without the benefit of reincarnation. Christian theologians and saints perceived what became known as Purgatory, Limbo, and mortal and venial sins to account for the wide variety of human experience and consciousness in just one human life. It’s not that such stages on the astral plane do not exist so much as their interpretation is incomplete.

But that leads us to heaven and hell. I’ve often said you don’t need to die to experience heaven and hell. It is right here on earth and within us. We can be rich and famous, yet at the same time, miserably depressed. We can be a wanderer, penniless but ever-cheerful. When we are in “heaven” we think we have arrived; when we are in pain, it seems forever.

It is also true, however, that other traditions, including that of India, teach that there is an after-death realm that contains “many mansions” of “my Father’s house.”[13] Here souls rest or reside awaiting their next incarnation. These more subtle realms range as far and wide as our minds are able and beyond. We go to “our own,” according to our soul’s misidentification and consciousness. But as the saying goes, “nothing is forever” (except God alone).

This is a short summary of the promise of the scriptures that is found in all true faith traditions. Increasingly in this new age, beliefs will wane in importance as personal experience grows. We have learned from science to test our hypotheses to see if they are real. Who we are in ourselves and how we behave is far more important than our “credo,” what we believe. Meditation is growing in popularity because it offers a tangible experience of consciousness without the burden of belief. What else is God than Pure Consciousness? What else is the soul but a reflection of God? “Be still and know that I AM God.”[14]

The only begotten son of God is that soul that is fully awake to its own nature. This nature is hidden by the sheath of all material creation and forms but has the potential to awaken to its-Self in humankind. This is the promise of the scriptures and is found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as in the lives of all awakened sons of God.[15]

Epilogue

As Moses could only give to the Israelites what they could accept, it is also true that Jesus could not directly teach the dogma of reincarnation (known otherwise as the “transmigration of souls”). In addition, given the controversy that Jesus aroused during his life, he could hardly have taught the existence of other Christs in other lands and times. To have taught each of these dogmas would have sidelined his mission to the point of irrelevancy. Why is this?

Reincarnation. That reincarnation was discussed in Jesus’ time is illustrated at several points of the New Testament. Modern scholars concur. One example from Jesus’ own words that the concept was known can be seen when the three disciples with Jesus descended Mt. Tabor after the Transfiguration at which both Moses and Elias appeared. Their reported conversation goes something like this: “Elias has come already and they knew him not….Then the disciples understood that he spake of them of John the Baptist.”[16] There are several other points in the Bible, New and Old, that can be cited.[17]

More important reasons for Jesus to sidestep the dogma of reincarnation include that reincarnation and, indeed, belief in an after-life itself, was hotly debated among the Jews and probably of no interest in the Roman and Greek cultures of that time. This lack of awareness extended throughout the two thousand years of Christian history until recent contact with Eastern teachings. Teaching it would have only invited an incentive to postpone one’s redemption! Now with our vastly broadened view of the material universe (macro and micro), the prospect of endless future lives is already showing itself to be an incentive to seek God now and not later!

As to Jesus being the only savior of humankind, it was enough of a shock for Jesus to announce “I and my Father are One” and that “Before Abraham was, I AM.”[18] In retrospect, Jesus was bringing to the Jews (and by extension, the West) the teaching that God incarnates in human form. This was already blasphemy and unheard of in the religions of his time. It was the immediate cause of his crucifixion! What good would it have done for Jesus to announce that there could be others like him? It would only have generated a frenzied search over the succeeding two thousand years! Confusion, heresy, and anti-Christs left and right would have been the result. It is only now, with the world becoming “one,” that this truth can be revealed. For, indeed, it is sorely needed “for the healing of the nations.”[19]

Devotion to Jesus as the son of God has been the right teaching for the disciples of Christ during these last two thousand years. Until recent times, the definition of Jesus as the only son of God mattered very little. Only in the beginning (as previously cited) during the Arian heresy, did the question arise. Now, however, faced with the reality day-to-day of coexisting with other religions, each of which claims its founder or rishis, as co-redemptors must we confront the deeper meaning of “Who do men say I am?”

Blessings to all for a (happier?) New Year!

Swami Hrimananda aka Hriman



[1] Those yogis were Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and his own guru, Swami Sri Yutkeswar (See “Autobiography of a Yogi” for chapters on their respective lives.)

[4] Swami Kriyananda in his own life story, “The New Path,” reported several instances of individuals who in the general public assumed Yogananda was Jesus Christ reincarnated. I, too, had this same unexamined perception when I first became acquainted with Yogananda’s autobiography.

[5] https://reincarnate.life/how-many-people-in-the-world-believe-in-reincarnation/ 25% of Americans believe in reincarnation and nearly that same percentage of Christians do so also! Origen, one of the early Church “fathers,” wrote that reincarnation had been “taught since apostolic times.” It was removed from church dogma in 532 AD at a conference of Bishops without the presence of the Pope who boycotted the event.

[6] Matthew 19:8

[7] Buddha was not an atheist and nor is Buddhism atheistical as some claim. Buddha declined to speak of God to emphasize the here and now, the present moment and what we can and must do to grow spiritually.

[8] The gospels do not say there were three Wise Men: only three gifts were offered. Tradition suggest there were three men.

[9] Yogananda was not the only one to do so. The greatest Christian mystics all pointed to a universal Christ consciousness standing behind, so to speak, the person of Jesus the man. Meister Eckert, Thomas Acquinas, Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis and others all experienced the eternal Christhood of Jesus.

[10] Consider the 20th century lives of Padre Pio and Theresa Neumann, as just two examples. Both had on their bodies the wounds (the stigmata) of Jesus.

[11] If you read the Acts of the Apostles carefully you find that during the lives of the apostles they were left with the thought that Jesus would return to earth soon. That had to be toned down when it didn’t happen so quickly.

[12] John 17

[13] John 14:2

[14] Psalm 46:10

[15] Reading references include AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI by Paramhansa Yogananda; “Revelations of Christ” by Swami Kriyananda; SECOND COMING OF CHRIST by Paramahansa Yogananda; YOGA OF JESUS by Yogananda.

[16] Matthew 17:12-13

[17] “Autobiography of a Yogi,” Chapter 35: The Christlike Life of Lahiri Mahasaya (opening paragraphs)

[18] John 10:30 and John 8:48-59

[19] Revelations 22:2

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Jesus the Yogi Christ : Why Celebrate the Birth of Jesus?

Christmas is for Everyone

Perhaps You-Too have discovered You-Tube? There you can learn that Jesus didn't really die on the cross but escaped to either India (Kashmir to be exact) or, to the south of France (with Mary Magdeline, of course). You might be surprised to know that an exact reckoning determined that Jesus was born on March 2, 4 B.C. (They forgot to calculate the time?) Like the Never Ending Story of science (which blows our minds every few years or decades), who knows: maybe they are right!

But what novelists, speculators, con men, scoffers or archaeologists will never change is the fact that Jesus Christ changed world history. His message and example conquered the Roman Empire (which crucified him), and in the process changed western history (and by extension, world history). More importantly, given that such “conquest” proved a mix bag to say the least, he “conquered” the hearts of countless souls down through the centuries. Witnesses to his life and thousands of others who only heard about him have given their lives willingly and joyfully to bear witness to their faith.  

Never mind that atrocities have been committed in his name or that countless followers are glued to their unyielding and untested beliefs, for ignorance and ego can be found everywhere, and not just in religion and spirituality. Never mind the “miracles” described in the life of Jesus, though, are not the discoveries of modern science every bit a miraculous to us even today? Just because we use technology doesn’t mean we have a clue about how it works! Imagine a time traveller from, say, just two hundred years ago coming to Seattle. Has not science so opened our imaginations that we can imagine “raising” the dead? Why just consider the testimony of near-death experiencers!

Truth is more vital than facts. Truth changes lives. Facts soon get lost. Eyewitness accounts demonstrate the unreliability of our five senses, our perception, and our memory! In contrast to mere facts, what about the miracle of forgiveness? The miracle of returning love for hatred? I think of Gandhi or Martin Luther King. What about helping a neighbor in need?

The spirit of Christmas is the simple, but life-changing, recognition of our shared humanity. That tiny babe in a manger so long ago is but a symbol, for what new-born is unlovable? No matter what your beliefs about that tiny babe, the reminder and the affirmation that love can be (re)born even in spite of those who would seek to destroy it, is a truth that we resonate with on a deeper level than ego. That both common “shepherds” (i.e. ordinary people) and “kings from afar” would both come to a humble manger to bow down to this truth is a symbol more powerful than any platitude eloquently expressed.

Who among us would fail to welcome society’s celebration and a reminder of our shared humanity? Especially now in these times where “getting mine first” is elevated to a philosophy, a veritable religion. Yes, like all things, Christmas can be materialistically milked for money or mere feasting.  But this “greatest story ever told” (why the greatest? Because it’s your story and mine, too), is a truth worthy of celebrating.

How should we celebrate Christmas? With gift giving, Christmas decorations, and feasting? All of those have their place for many. Who doesn’t enjoy an exuberant show of beautiful Christmas lights? By the way, did you know that the very first time a nativity scene (a live one, by the way) was created was by St. Francis in Italy in 1223?

All outward celebrations aside, followers of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the now famous book, “Autobiography of a Yogi participate in a tradition that he began which is to set aside a day of meditation on the “formless Christ”. By “formless Christ” he meant the universal divine consciousness, intelligent and wise, that resides in every person and, indeed, in every atom of creation. This divine Self, he taught, is the invisible intelligence and the pure and noble impulses that have their source in the Creator and Sustainer of all life. Yogananda taught that the “second coming of Christ” is an event that takes place in the human heart after first having been awakened by the “Christ” in human form (i.e., the guru) which can be designated as his “first” coming.

“Jesus” was the man’s name but “Christ” was the title bestowed upon him. “Christ” signifies that he had achieved realization of his innate divine nature. While we all possess this innate divine nature, few have sought it, and fewer have yet to “become One with the Father.” Whether this takes one lifetime or a thousand, it is for this purpose we were created. It is our destiny to achieve this oneness, but it is only by the free choice of our hearts that we begin the journey “home” to claim our royal birthright just as in the beautiful story of the Prodigal Son. (You might find it interesting to know that the title of “Christ” is etymologically connected with the word “Krishna” and carries the same significance.)

Let us, then, honor the tiny babe in a manger whose shining face is our face when we love all without condition. Let the purity of a newborn’s trust and openness be nurtured in our hearts during this holy season and in every day of our life. Love is the redeeming power of the universe and it never fails to resurface no matter how dark the days may get. 


Happy Christmas to all!

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Why Do We Celebrate Christmas at Ananda?

Paramhansa Yogananda, author of "Autobiography of a Yogi," is the source of inspiration and yoga teachings for the Ananda communities, centers and groups around the world. Why, then, is Christmas, and indeed the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, such an integral part of Ananda?

Generally (though more so in western countries than in India), you will find that at Ananda during the Christmas season there are nativity scenes, the Three Wise Men, gift giving, celebrations, and the adoration of the Christ child. Why did Yogananda himself make a special point of celebrating Christmas, not just spiritually, but socially? 

There are a number of reasons. They include:
·       
  •     A special relationship exists between Yogananda, Jesus and the three “wise men”
  •        A new dispensation of universal understanding has come to reconcile east and west
  •        A new understanding of the divinity of Christ is needed
  •        The time has come to affirm the Christ-potential of all people
  •        True communion is “inner” communion through meditation
  •        The “second coming of Christ” is personal and individual, not historical

Here are some thoughts and facts to share:

  1. Yogananda stated that the three wise men were none other than his guru-preceptors: Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar (in former incarnations). 
  2. He taught that the term "second coming of Christ" refers to the teaching and to the individual, personal realization (however slight or only intellectual, at first) that divinity is within each person, indeed, each atom of creation. (This is an extension of the Vedic teaching that in creating the world, God manifested it through "his" own consciousness, for there was no "thing" or no objects with which to "use" to create anything!")
  3.  "Christ" was not Jesus' name. It is a title. So, too, "Krishna." Indeed, the two words are linked etymologically. Each refers to the fact that these souls, and others, have fully realized their innate and eternal divinity and oneness with the "Father," the Infinite Spirit beyond and untouched by his consciousness manifesting the creation.
  4. Yogananda averred that Jesus himself, as a unique and individual soul, came to Babaji (the peerless master of the east) and asked him to anoint and send a "savior" to the West to re-ignite the teaching and how-to knowledge that divinity is "within you." This would be transmitted through the art and science of meditation: especially the advanced and nonsectarian technique of Kriya Yoga.
  5. Yogananda affirmed the Christian teaching of the Trinity: the three-fold manifestation of God and said it is the same teaching as expressed in India as "Tat...Sat....Aum." God, the Father, beyond and untouched by creation; God, the son, the "only begotten of the Father," reflected in each atom of creation and fully awakened in the greatest saints and avatars**; and the creation itself, in constant motion, or vibration, the primordial level of which is the "Holy Ghost" or Divine Mother in whose womb, hidden from casual view, resides the seed of intention and intelligence implanted by the "Father" to carry out the purpose of creation: Self-realization!

Christmas, then, is, for us at Ananda, an affirmation and celebration of our oneness as children of God. Our devotion to Jesus Christ rests upon our recognition of his realization of his soul’s innate divinity and of our own potential for Self-realization. It is with joy, then, and fellowship that we affirm and celebrate our own Christ-like potential: God’s promise to us of our immortality in Him.

As Swami Kriyananda, Ananda's founder taught us to say: "Happy Christmas"

Swami Hrimananda

** Yogananda uses the term "Christ consciousness" to express the "Tat" of the Vedas. Others might say "Krishna consciousness". It is universal and eternal and in every atom.

Monday, December 23, 2013

That Night When Christ was Born!

What a wonderful story the birth of Jesus is! Did you know, however, that the custom of erecting a nativity scene in honor of Jesus' birth did not begin for a thousand years and was started by St. Francis near Assisi, Italy?

Now, two thousand years later, how relevant is it to assert or deny the virgin birth? Or, the appearance of the heavenly hosts? Or, the presentation of the Three Wise Men from the East?

Joseph Campbell, the famous "mythologist," has helped modern Americans reconnect with the reality that a story can be meaningful and true with or without being a fact. The Bible stories, the Hindu Ramayana and Mahabharata, creation myths and on on show us that "truth is greater and more true than mere facts."

The power of the nativity lies in its hidden message. Like art, including music, it affirms a reality that our intellect is too dull (or distracted) to comprehend (or notice) but which our heart and soul knows, embraces and celebrates.

Orthodox Christians, viewing the nativity story from the point of view of theology and belief, limit their understanding to a literal interpretation of what they believe are the facts of Jesus' birth. I don't have a problem with that but it doesn't address the real issue: the power of this story to uplift generations for centuries in the embrace of its power, love, and light.

Really, after all: millions go to Christmas Eve Services and many don't normally go to church or have an orthodox religious life at all. Is their attendance merely a well worn habit? For some, yes. But for all? No, I don't think so. Millions, some not even Christians, surely feel a special grace or blessing of kinship with all during the Christmas season. There is a famous story from World War I when the close-by but opposing armies in the trenches came out to celebrate with one another one dark and cold Christmas Eve. Stories of spontaneous generosity are so omnipresent during Christmas that it makes no special point to remember any of them!

It is true that babies always attract a fair amount of ooohing and aaahing but Gee Whiz, two thousand years ago? We wax wistful and brotherly (sisterly) at the sight or thought of this child -- his birth, his life, his death, and resurrection. We know this child has for us a message that is true. It is a message of hope, of reassurance, of safety, of security, of love without condition and without end.

The hidden message is, at least in part, said plainly in Sanskrit, from India, from the Chandogya Upanishad: Tat Twam Asi. This "grand pronouncement" of the eternal teaching (Sanaatan Dharma) means, simply, "Thou art That." 

We recognize ourselves in that child for we, too, are eternal and "Before Abraham, I AM." (John 8:15) Further, Psalm 82:6 reminds us that "I have said, ye are gods, and all of you are children of the most high."

None of this denies the divinity of Jesus, the Christ (the annointed). The Star of Bethlehem, "His star," presages and symbolizes that this one is a true "son of God" and "one with the Father." So, too, the meaning of the virgin birth. But the difference between Jesus' spiritual realization and our own is matter of degree not kind. We have yet to awaken fully to our sonship in God. And that awakening was the purpose of his birth, and the incarnation of every such son of God whether it be Buddha, Krishna, or any number of world teachers, avatars, who come fully awakened in God. They come for but one purpose: to bring prodigal souls, souls thirsty and hungry for truth and God-realization, back to their home in God consciousness.

This is the hidden message of the nativity. It follows, though more by deduction, than intuition, that the birth of the hidden Christ within us requires action on our part. We must imitate His birth in the meaning of the symbols of his birth: the manger which was but a stable represents humility. Humility is the first condition of our spiritual awakening. Humility does not mean self-deprecation but realization of the wonder of creation, the smallness of our ego, and our need for and desire to love God, that Being of Love who is Infinite and the essence of all Life. To have this realization is the perspective of Infinity and it must needs be a form of humility for the ego.

The quietness of the animals in the stable means that our animal appetites must lie down and render service to this inner Christ. We have need of food, for example, but only in the context of nourishment not food greed, and to keep the body fit as a temple of our God!

The shepherds who watch over the flocks are our thoughts which herd (direct) our actions. These shepherds must come and worship this Christ and in so doing become protectors of our thoughts and actions directed toward selflessness, toward nobility, and toward devotion.

The Three Wise Men who come to worship the Christ child reveal to us that to our aid will come, if we seek and let them, wise teachers, both living and now gone, whose teachings can assist us to develop wisdom, devotion, and self-control.

King Herod, or King Ego, stands ready to massacre this child, and indeed, this child as it is born in others around us. We must flee to Egypt until he dies. Egypt here means we must seek the company of other truth seekers and avoid the soul-killing company of worldly people and circumstances. Until the ego has died (at least sufficiently to no longer challenge Christ the (inner) King), we must remain in the protection of the like-minded. Indeed, spiritually speaking, only highly advanced souls can afford to live apart from society or, in any case, without the ongoing support of other spiritually mind people.

As any newborn child, this inner Christ will need protection and nurturing until he can be "about my Father's business!" We must have daily prayer and meditation, and develop right attitudes of servicefulness, devotion, and right living: compassionate and kindly.

This is the good news of Jesus' birth. What it does mean to be good news because we are "saved?" The appearance of divinity in human form and in one who has achieved oneness with the Father through many incarnations is good news because it means we can do it too. It's also good news because (the bad news is) we can't do it by ourselves alone. It is the ego that awakens to the possibility of soul freedom but it is already trapped. A true savior, or guru-preceptor, has the spiritual power to "lift up the serpent in the wilderness" and thus to lift the serpent of delusion up in the wilderness of spiritual purification, prayer, meditation and self-offering, and, to transform the base metal of ego consciousness into the gold (brass) of the soul.

The good news of the birth of such a one is therefore two-fold: one, "we can do it, too," and two, " And, He is here to help us." Some are more attracted and in tune with other such avatars, like Buddha, Krishna, and in our times Paramhansa Yogananda, or others like Paramhansa Ramakrishna, and even great saints who, while not entirely free, serve to help others spiritually. The realization of others is not our concern. We must walk the path to freedom according to our heart's direction: to Jesus, or to others. Thousands were disciples of St. Francis but he was, in turn, a disciple of Jesus and one of the greatest (and the first to receive the stigmata, the wounds of Christ on his own body).

Let us both celebrate and get to work on achieving soul freedom. "The time for knowing God has come" Paramhansa Yogananda declared. Meditation, including Kriya Yoga, is for everyone and is the greatest single aid to soul freedom through self-effort.

A blessed and bliss-ed Christmas and New Year to all,

Swami Hrimananda aka Hriman


















Friday, December 24, 2010

Thoughts on a Christmas Eve

This year the sense of silence, of an inner peace — appropriate to the holy season of Christmas — resting and watching just behind meditation and outward activity has been very tangible for me. Oddly, or so it may seem, it enhances, not detracts from my engagement in activities and connection with others even as this Presence witnesses all.

It has been a wonderful gift and I wish it for all who seek it, especially through daily meditation. Perhaps years of meditation have yielded fruits too subtle for me to notice or too slow to ripen in the chill of my own restlessness, but I am grateful for the deepening peace and wisdom that seems to be arriving like Christmas presents in the mail!

I believe that millions of people feel some measure of stillness and reverence at Christmas. Years ago at Ananda Village I used to love to get up very early and meditate on Christmas morning before our two small children would be up to see what Santa brought them. I drank in that blessed comfort and joy that hovers, like the Star of Bethlehem, over us.


What matter to us, today, if the events described in the New Testament are factual or only allegorical? At this distance in time and space, there is no difference for us. Do we not have, or at least sense, a message for the ages in this simple, beloved tale?


A dark cold night under the starry skies is the symbol of meditation. For only in the darkness behind closed eyes and in the darkness of withdrawal from outward activity can our divine nature be born. Jesus, though heralded as a King and, later as an adult, offered world dominion by Satan, was born in a lowly manger, an empty stable. So, too, can our inner divine soul-child only be born and first made manifest in the humble, quiet heart.


Shepherds keep watch over their sheep. Shepherds, then, are our conscious thoughts and conscious mind. Good shepherds watch protectively over the sheep of the subconscious body-temple, habits, duties, and outward activities. Shepherds who guard their flocks at night are those souls who remain vigilant in the night of temptations and whenever subconscious habits, predispositions and other pre or post-natal tendencies threaten to overcome their good intentions. Good shepherds also remain awake to await the angelic, intuitive promptings of their soul, through prayer and meditation. Thus the angels of intuition urge the shepherds to seek the Christ child in the quiet “stable” of inner silence.


The holy family is a symbol for the Trinity. In the story of Jesus’ birth, Joseph is not the biological father of Jesus. This symbolizes and reflects the truth that God the Father remains untouched by and uninvolved in the daily housework of the creation that he initiated. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the sacred consort, the pure virgin, mother of creation, the Holy Ghost, out of whom all creation is manifested even as she, like the Father, is untouched or undefiled by creation's myriad manifestations, whether good or evil. In her womb, which is to say, at the heart of every living thing and every moving atom, is the silent Intelligence and Bliss which is the only reflection of the Son of the Father which is beyond creation.


Paramhansa Yogananda explained this complex concept of the Trinity in this simple analogy to the nuclear family. The son of God is "only begotten" because this indwelling Christ consciousness ("Kutastha Chaitanya" in Sanskrit) is the only reflection , or echo, within creation of the Infinite Spirit beyond all vibratory creation. "God so loved the world," the Bible says, "that he gave his only begotten Son." This means that God (the Father) implanted the seed of his Bliss-Intelligence in the heart of everything.


Indeed, yogis explain that God did not merely “make” the universe, He BECAME the universe through the agency of vibration first of thought, then energy, and finally form. All vibration moves from a center of rest in opposite directions. This illustrates how all things created only appear to be real, are always in motion, producing sound and light, always polarized (or neutral), and always in an infinity of oppositional states. This becoming is also the means by which God’s one nature becomes triune.


Manifested aspects of this seed of divinity, the only begotten son of God who is this Christ child, include intelligence, free will, reason, the power of procreation, creativity in all its forms, desire (the impulse to create for love, for joy), healing power, and all that we hold dear (and tend to misuse!). A tree expresses this intelligence by doing "tree" things. Cows don't write books but do cow-like activities. (smile) And so on!


Jesus — the Christ, or Anointed One — was one with the Father in that as a soul existing through countless incarnations he achieved final Oneness with the Father in some distant past life. Re-born as a perfected soul in a human body he, being incarnate, came as the universal Christ Intelligence in human form. No human form can circumscribe or limit this universal Intelligence but the soul of Jesus remained united with it. The difference between Jesus and you or I is one of degree, not kind. For most of us and creation, that only begotten son is yet to be born, or at least has not become fully realized.


The three Wise Men come from the east because the east of the body is in the center of the forehead, at the point between the eyebrows. It is here, in meditation, that the light of wisdom, of the spiritual (third) eye, appears and, in time, guides us to the promised land of the Father (Bliss), or put differently, to the humble stable of the cosmic heart wherein the Christ child is born.


Yogis teach that in meditation we can only reach the level of consciousness of the Christ Intelligence within us and then in all creation by FIRST communing with the Mother, the Holy Ghost, the primal or first vibratory manifestation of God. Thus we ascend back to Infinity through the Trinity by "reverse engineering" or by retracing the stages of creation: first we achieve Oneness WITH creation; then Oneness with the CONSCIOUSNESS (Christ Intelligence) of creation, and then finally with the Bliss of the Father beyond the creation.


Communion WITH the creation takes place by meditating upon the Sacred Word, or Aum (or Amen, Amin, or Ahunavar--all names for the same Vibratory experience of the Holy Ghost, or Divine Mother). This is experienced within ourselves in meditation and, in time and with depth, expanding outward into all creation.


Getting back to those three Wise men, then, we have another case of THREE. Three, in this instance, is not the Trinity of God, but our own, triune nature: a reflection of the Godhead Trinity. Our triune nature consists of our intelligence, our feelings, and our actions. Students of yoga know these as the paths of Gyana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Karma Yoga. Our souls, encased in the three bodies of causal (thought), astral (energy/feeling), and physical (action), are three primary modalities or ways of relating both to the world around us and to the divine, higher realities as we ascend toward the Infinite state which, when we achieve it, is One and transcendent of these three states. The three planes of existence are macro-cosmic reflections of our triune nature which, in both instances, encloses and obscures our soul nature which remains pure and untouched by its ego and bodily mis-identities.


Thus the meaning of the Wise Men is that our triple nature should be offered up to and into a higher wisdom. Our intelligence should seek and give the gold of silence ("speech is silver; silence is golden") and thus go beyond the endless ramifications of reason and the intellect. By direct, intuitive perception born of mental stillness we begin to have "eyes that see," and "ears that hear."


Our feeling nature brings the frankincense of pure devotion, converting the emotional roller coaster of material and ego-affirming desires into the fragrance of love for God. Our active nature utilizes the bitter herb of self-discipline and self-control to entomb, or cauterize, the destructive habits of over-indulgence and identification with sense pleasures and harmful actions born of bodily identification.

As more of an aside: In the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, he said that the three wise men were from India and were previous incarnations of his three direct teachers: Swami Sri Yukteswar, Lahiri Mahasaya, and the incomparable Babaji. The specific importance of this revelation is that Jesus was recognized as an avatar by fellow avatars and that there existed a special connection between east and west.


The star which the three wise men saw in the east and followed is, in its turn, a symbol of the spiritual eye seen at the point between the eyebrows. Its two concentric circles of gold and blue (visible in the construction of our physical eyes as the white, iris, and pupil) encircle a white, five-pointed star. The gold and blue circles represent, respectively, the astral and causal spheres as successive stages of creation through which we must ascend in reverse order. Meditation upon the spiritual eye is part of the process of ascension and becomes the yogis guide.


Evil King Herod is the ego, or the satanic force, which seeks to kill the child of our soul's first awakening. One place that the story seems to me to stumble in its symbolism is the flight to Egypt. To the Israelites, Egypt symbolized materialism and ego identity from which the great master Moses once freed them. In scriptural allegories such as India's Mahabharata, Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, Dante's Paradise Lost and many others, the journey to the foreign land symbolizes the soul's fall from grace. This comes often at the onset of adulthood.


In the birth of Jesus story, however, the flight to Egypt is an effort to preserve the newly born spiritual awakening. Two alternative explanations occur to me: one, it might be that Egypt symbolized retreat to the metaphysical mysteries for which it had once been a custodian in ancient times. Two, perhaps Egypt was to have symbolized the desert which is often used to indicate the wilderness of inner silence. Thus the new-born Christ Consciousness is nurtured and protected from delusion (Herod) in the inner silence.


We have here, then, in this beautiful story an ageless allegory for life. It is this truth, and not tradition or mere sentiment that empowers the nativity story with ever-new vitality from year to year and generation to generation. For such reasons Christmas may, and indeed ought to, be celebrated by all seekers of eternal truth and lovers of God. Christmas symbolizes a universal truth, a timeless story, and an eternal promise. The power inherent in the art of storytelling that is based on deep spiritual truths is that people of all ages and temperaments, educated or illiterate, can be uplifted by them and naturally experience and express a fellow feeling of universal love.

For more on this deep subject, I direct your attention to Swami Kriyananda’s inspired and potent exposition of these metaphysical truths taught by Paramhansa Yogananda in his book, “Revelations of Christ,” available at an East West Bookshop near you (www.eastwestbookshop.com or through the publisher www.crystalclarity.com.