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:
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- 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:
- Yogananda stated that the three wise men were none other than his guru-preceptors: Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar (in former incarnations).
- 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!")
- "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.
- 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.
- 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.