In Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says to Arjuna, his disciple,
“O Bharata (Arjuna)! whenever virtue (dharma) declines,
and vice (adharma) is in the ascendant, I incarnate Myself on earth (as an
avatar). Appearing from age to age in visible form, I come to destroy evil and
to re-establish virtue.
Who knows the truth touching my births on earth and my
divine work, falls no more down to earthly birth. To Me he comes, dear Prince!”
The descent of a world savior-teacher (an avatar) into
human form is a rare event in human history. As it is, saints are rare enough
but the birth of one such as Jesus Christ, Krishna, Buddha and in this modern
era, Paramhansa Yogananda and the lineage that sent him to the West, heralds a new
covenant, a new dispensation for those “with ears to hear and eyes to see.”
No avatar comes for everyone in the world though some have a
larger family to serve than others. It is not quantity but quality that the
great Ones come to bring. That “quality” is spiritual power, the grace to rise
given to those who “receive Him.”[1]
The spiritual family of a world teacher contains the broad
range of human beings from sinners to saints yet, like the calm at the center
of the storm (of delusion), the avatar offers a powerful vortex of grace. The
avatar typically has at least two kinds of people to uplift: the inner circle
of disciples who are ready to be liberated and enlightened (and to do so give
their all to serve the work), and the larger family of souls to be blessed and
inspired most likely for the benefit of future lifetimes. A third “circle”
would be the avatar’s general influence upon society at large.
As time goes on after the appearance of the avatar, the
family grows and branches out. The power of the ray of grace will tend to
diminish, perhaps be diluted and even go in opposite directions from its
source. Sub-groups split off into individual sects, each emphasizing different
aspects of the avatar’s mission and teachings. Hence the need from age to age
of a repeat of the avatara (descent of Spirit into human form).
What is an avatar? An avatar is a soul, like you and me, who
in past lives has achieved God-realization. Such a one returns to human birth
voluntarily, as an act of love and as a son of God, to do God’s work on earth
according to the unique expression of that soul’s nature and the needs of those
who are “his own.”[2]
Some devotees emphasize the divine nature of the avatar and equate
the avatar with the descent of God Himself. And, why not, for when the soul
becomes God-realized the soul IS God though no single expression can limit
Infinity. (It is not right for such a one to say I AM GOD, but, instead, “God is
manifest in me.”) Other devotees emphasize the human or historical nature of
the avatar and his impact on world history or upon the lives of individuals. It
is not either-or, but both-and, depending on what eyes and ears are able to perceive.
I would like to contrast the mission and expression of Jesus
Christ with that of Paramhansa Yogananda. The times in which each lived were very
different. Jesus was born in a far-flung, dusty province of the Roman Empire as
inconsequential as any though, importantly, among the “Chosen people” who had chosen
love and obedience to God according to the covenant of Abraham and Moses.
Jesus was more like a wandering Hindu sadhu than a pope in
his royal robes and palatial surroundings. Jesus decried the potential for a
“rich man” to enter the kingdom of heaven saying that to follow him to eternal
life one must leave all possessions and the worldly life behind. While honored
in the breach by Christians at large down through the centuries this is the
example Jesus set for his direct disciples.
Yogananda’s param-guru, Lahiri Mahasaya was commissioned by
Mahavatar Babaji to eschew the attraction of a monk’s life to return to the
householder life to begin sharing the liberating teachings of kriya yoga to any
who were sincere, regardless of caste, class or the absence of outer
renunciation.
This, then, is the new covenant, the new dispensation for
our age: that regardless of social status or class, anyone who strives for
soul-emancipation can receive the heretofore esoteric but liberating techniques
of advanced yoga life-force control that can accelerate their spiritual
advancement beyond the normal pace bestowed by good works, prayers and rituals
alone.
Additionally, Paramhansa Yogananda taught that Jesus’
promise of his “second coming” is fulfilled in Yogananda’s mission by the
awakening of Christ consciousness (soul-consciousness) through advanced meditation
techniques, devotion and the spiritual life. Yogananda’s purpose was to
resurrect the deeper and universal teachings of Jesus which are aligned with
those of Krishna in ancient India and which apply to all people of every nation
and generation.
“The time to know God” (through meditation) “has come!”
Yogananda announced. No longer shall East and West “never ‘twain [to] meet” for
the needs of humanity in this global era is to transcend sectarian differences
and, while, if one chooses, to retain one’s treasured faith tradition, to accept
all true spiritual paths as sincere channels for those who love and serve God
in this world.
May the Light of Christ-consciousness shine upon you!
Swami Hrimananda
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