Who is Jesus Christ?

 

Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the 20^th century spiritual classic, “Autobiography of a Yogi,” stated that “Jesus Christ was crucified once but his teachings have been crucified daily ever since.”

Consider how each person you know perceives you differently and so differently than how view yourself!

To your enemies you are a schmuck. To those who love you, you are ever theirs through thick and thin. But to most who only know you casually, you are a two-dimensional wraith passing through their lives in forms such as co-worker, neighbor, or fellow church goer. You are defined by others largely based on your appearance, age, gender, education, social status, and income.

Jesus Christ was ridiculed, feared, beloved, and ultimately crucified for his crimes. His crimes? Really? What crimes? If Jesus Christ could be so maligned both then and daily ever since, what chance does this give you and I to be understood and accepted?

The very words of Jesus were not contemporaneously recorded, not even in his own language. They were reported decades after his death and the accounts of his life contain many variations and even conflicting details. Other accounts of his life and teachings were discarded from the canon of scripture as false, inaccurate or heretical. In recent times some of these discarded works such as the Gospel of Thomas are being studied anew. Questions have arisen about the real reasons some of them were rejected.

Controversies of the nature of Jesus Christ plagued the first thousand or so years after his death. The so-called Arian heresy was among the most famous and it was settled at the insistence of Emperor Constantine who demanded unanimity across his empire for the newly installed religion.

Some say St. Paul created the foundations of Christianity. Among the apostles there is recorded disagreement on important questions. In the gospel of Mark, it is generally accepted that the story of the resurrection of Jesus was added later! Some doubt the ascribed authorship of the canonical gospels!

My point is not to declaim or deny the divine nature of Jesus Christ: according to the gospels Jesus himself proclaimed himself “son of God.” My point is that I don’t think we really know the true nature of Jesus’ soul or consciousness.

We don’t even know one another; more importantly, we don’t even know ourselves. Spiritual traditions East and West exhort us to “know thyself” as the great quest of humankind. No one who embarks on that journey says that “finding myself” is easy or obvious! We are many things, real, imagined, actual and potential. We play many roles in one lifetime.

The Old Testament of the Bible has five references to “sons of God.” The New Testament has three such references. Nor is it clear what those terms mean even in their own, specific context. What then IS a “son of God?”

Twice in Genesis (Old Testament) God says He has made us in His image. Whatever is the “image” of God if God is something more than an anthropomorphic projection of human perception? Jesus himself said “God is a Spirit.”[1]

The testimony of the greatest saints of Christianity is where we should turn. Yogananda taught that the “saints are the true custodians of religion.” They are, however, often viewed with suspicion by religious authorities—at least until they are safely buried.

The testimony of St. Therese of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Francis (just to name a few of the most famous) affirms the divinity of Jesus Christ not only in the past tense of his human life long ago but in the present, living sense of omnipresence. “Before Abraham, I AM” Jesus declared.[2]

And Jesus’ response to being challenged for this statement was to quote the scriptures themselves when he said, “Do not your scriptures say, ‘Ye are gods?’[3]

The beloved disciple of Jesus (St. John) wrote in the first chapter of his gospel that “as many as received Him to them gave He the power to become the sons of God”[4] Jesus is never quoted as saying “I am the ONLY son of God.” Other uses of this phrase in both the Old and New Testaments suggest a broader meaning of this term may be appropriate. Nor does the term, given the various contexts where it is used, require that all “sons” of God be the same.

Are we, too, perhaps as old as Abraham? Have we, too, come down from heaven?[5] And, if not, are those who “receive” Him at least given the power to become “the sons of God?” (The gospel says as much, doesn’t it?)

I am not averring the obviously blasphemous thought that any of us are on a spiritual par with Jesus Christ: only that we have that potential as children of God, made in the image of God. Only in our case we have “fallen” and forgotten our divine nature.

Nor am I suggesting that by our own efforts that we can become “sons of God.” From the words of Jesus as reported in the canonical gospels, Jesus came to redeem souls and sacrificed his bodily life to do so.

Instead, I am suggesting that the consciousness of the Christ lives in all persons, perhaps in every atom of creation and it appeared fully in human form in the man Jesus as a true and fully realized “son of God.” Yogananda taught that the only reflection of God (a Spirit beyond and untouched by creation) that exists within the creation is a spark of intelligence and calm joy that is centered at the still point of all motion. God manifests the creation through intelligence and vibration: intelligence is the “son” and vibration is the “Holy Spirit” and mother of creation. The son exists in the womb of the mother.

But once we open the door to this omnipresent Christ—a consciousness greater than any limited by a singular human life, we are confronted with the same question Jesus asked his disciples: “Who do men say I AM?

Is it perhaps that the omnipresent, ever-living and ever present Christ is the ultimate redeemer of all souls and that the Christ-consciousness is not limited to its appearance in human form in the body of the man called Jesus? If we, too, have that potential why should only one such human expression exists through all time and space (if its potential exists in each of us)?

Nor does this possibility limit the status, worthiness, and appreciation of the life of Jesus the Christ. That there may be other Christs seems far more likely in the context of the universe and the earth as we know it today: impossibly ancient and vast. That your mother is beloved to you does not diminish the love that others have for their respective mothers. Mothers share in their roles a universal quality not unlike that of living Christs in respect to their followers.

The redeeming Christ then might be a potential within us but one which requires the human Christ for its potential to be activated. Why would that be so? If there were no actual examples of a living, human Christ then why should we have the audacity to imagine we can aspire to be one also?

Given the depth of the hypnosis that we are but a sophisticated high-bred animal, it surely would take the power of grace of such a one to inspire us toward our own soul’s potential. Nor does the power of grace dismiss the herculean effort that it takes to “follow Me.”

We see in many areas of human life the process and acceptance of the transmission of knowledge, experience and authority. We accept that training by proper and competent authorities is the prerequisite for being commissioned to perform certain public functions, both sacred and profane—from an airplane pilot to a priest. In former times a father would train his son, and the skills and arts of the father would be transmitted down through generations.

As God ordains and commissions the prophets and as sincere souls look to such messengers for guidance, why would we not need a redeemer whose “touch,” whose grace even beyond his words and instructions, would be necessary for redemption? And would the power of that grace vanish when the human form that expressed it is gone from sight?

What, then is redemption? Redemption is the release from the hypnosis that we are anything less than the son of God! Here I speak not of an intellectual concept or affirmation but of transformation towards realization. We see this redemption in the lives of the saints.

Having rejected the precept of reincarnation early in Christian history, Christian dogma was forced to leave the final redemption to the afterlife since so few could achieve sanctity in a single lifetime.[6] The sacraments were energized to affirm our potential for sanctity even if only after death.[7]

Taking a step, indeed a giant leap of faith, from Jesus the ONLY Christ to the acceptance of Christ consciousness appearing in multiple forms, is to me the only “way, truth and life” by which Christians can enter the new world of the twenty-first and future centuries. Otherwise, their beloved dogmas silo themselves to the exclusion of billions of other sincere, faith-inspired peoples with religions equally infused with saints, miracles, and redemptive grace.

Just as we reserve a special love for our own mother without needing to reject other mothers, let those of the many faith traditions continue to remain loyal to their faith while yet also accepting that the Christ has incarnated in other forms to guide devotees of other faiths. Let the mantra of the Twenty-first century be “BOTH-AND” rather than “EITHER-OR.”

Blessings to all,

Swami Hrimananda

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[1] John 4:24

[2] John 8:58

[3] Psalm 82:6; see John 10:34

[4] John 1:12

[5]   John 3:13 (KJV): “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

 

[6] Second Council of Constantinople in 553 AD

[7] But reincarnation makes far greater sense in considering both the justice and the mercy of God, but that topic is another topic.

 

Cosmic Drama: the Final Chapter: My Redeemer Liveth!

The Cosmic Drama - Part Five (of Five)

"My Redeemer Liveth"

This is part one of a series of articles. It has its origins in a prior blog article entitled, "Who is Jesus Christ?" You may wish to read that first, though not absolutely necessary. This series attempts to describe the Trinity, or, how God can be omniscient, omnipresent, infinite, and immanent in creation at the same time. And, what significance this has for the reality we face as individuals. As the prior article on Jesus Christ noted, "Who Jesus is says a great deal about who we are." So, too, who God is addresses who we are.

Returning full circle now to the life of Jesus Christ, we see how “TAT” (the second of the Trinity: the “Son”) appears on earth in human form to awaken the “TAT” within those who are ready! Such awakened ones also sow seeds of awakening in many souls, perhaps for a future lifetime. Those many such “descents” (avatars) have a public mission of uplifting consciousness in a race, nation or civilization and a personal mission to individual disciples more spiritually advanced.

Because the “Son” (the memory of our divinity) has fallen asleep through many lives, it takes another Son to awaken that memory. A further “proof” of divinity in human form is the simple fact that without the possibility of becoming “One with the Father” in human form, there would be no evidence of our divinity (in human form). Giving a coin to a street person may be a nice thing to do but it doesn’t make you a saint and it doesn’t show the power of God over all creation, which, as his “sons,” is our potential! It is natural, therefore, that there have been demonstrations down through the ages of the power to even raise the dead. While this is not flaunted to the masses, it has been witnessed by individual disciples who were willing to give their lives for and to dedicate their lives to their testimony.

The fully-awakened “son of God” is not a God-made puppet, but a soul, like you and I, who has achieved that final Self-realization and returns in human form to enlighten his (her) fellows. While this is said to have taken place in a past life, the point remains that the incarnation of divinity in human form is the natural fulfillment (indeed the divine purpose) of the Christ Intelligence (TAT) in nature and in all creation taken to its penultimate manifestation. Indeed it is said that the drama of creation is that souls make the free choice to reunite with our Creator and become fully-realized “sons of God” as Jesus, and other world saviors in history, have done.

As Krishna teaches in the Bhagavad Gita (India’s revered scripture), this descent of divinity into human form (the “avatara”) takes place in every age and nation as divinely ordained by the call of human hearts. “God so loved the world that He sent his only-begotten Son.” The redemptive power of Jesus’ life and spirit lies in both the message and uplifting spiritual power of Self-realization which has its source and its manifestation in attunement with the will of the Father. The New Testament reveals that Jesus knew of his impending crucifixion and even briefly prayed that it pass, but that he accepted the will of his father. Thus must we all do in placing the ego (and body) on the cross that our soul might be resurrected in the Christ Consciousness of our soul’s eternal and immortal reality.

This is the means by which we, too, can ascend. “No man hath ascended to heaven, but he that hath descended.” The meaning of this odd sentence is simply that we are all children of God and have come from God. To God we must return, like the prodigal son, that we might be free. Jesus was not boasting.

But the deeper understanding of this precept is that the indwelling and universal Christ consciousness (son of God) is that which leads us upward or home to God. But first the child must be born in the manger of our humble heart, in the darkness of material delusion. Jesus, and all other great saviors of humankind, come into each culture and age to wake us up and remind us of our immortality and identity as souls (not mere bodies and personalities). “We are of old!”

But what is awakened is within us. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is with you.” Thus Jesus was the personification (human incarnation) of the Christ which resides, latently at least, in every atom of creation. Christ-in-human-form comes to awaken the Christ within. Whether incarnate in human form or at the still heart of every atom, this, and this alone, is the “only begotten son of God” in creation.

We, too, are potential Christs. When we have “ears to hear” and “eyes to see” this reality, then it is the Holy Spirit (“I will send to you the Holy Spirit, who will bring to your remembrance all these things.”) that leads us back to perfection, back to our home in God-consciousness. God is not in some faraway place but is a state of consciousness, bereft of name and form, and “behind” every atom of creation. This is why meditation is so important and effective as a means of perceiving the God presence within and in all creation.

When the infant child of divine memory is awakened, it is the Mother that nurtures the child to adulthood. The living Christ, or guru, comes only for a short time and fulfills his role by re-lighting the spark of that divine memory in in our consciousness. The Holy Spirit, or Virgin Mother, is that pure vibration (or feeling) of God to which we then attune ourselves that we might grow in Self-realization.

This vibration is the conscious and divine motor or engine of creation. The Bible refers many times to the “sound of many waters,” “thundering’s,” and “lightning.” We chant “Amen” (or “Aum”) with our prayers as a deeper-than-conscious recognition that the “word” of God is neither in English, nor Sanskrit, nor Latin, nor Hebrew, but is an actual sound heard deep in the inner silence. It “knoweth all things” because all things have been created by it (see the first sentences of the gospel of John). We mimic this holy sound with prayers, hymns and chants and various incantations and rituals. The sacredness one might feel at Mass, at prayer, upon a holy mountain, in nature and gazing upon a field is the living, vibratory presence of God AS creation: the Holy “ghost” unseen but felt.

It could be said that the “first coming” of Christ (the TAT, or “son” of God) is when God gives birth to the cosmos. The “second coming” would be the appearance of TAT (the Christ consciousness) in human form (as the guru). The “third coming” would be its awakening in the individual soul. The “fourth” would be the individual soul’s final redemption, or Self-realization: Oneness with the Father.

When Paramhansa Yogananda titled his life’s work, “The Second Coming of Christ,” he was using the phrase from the New Testament. It is a play on words in the sense that he, too, is an avatar, but that what he brought, through meditation (especially kriya yoga), was the “keys to the kingdom” that allows awakened souls to commune with the Holy Spirit (as Aum). Patanjali, author of the famous Yoga Sutras, and other great rishis, have declared that communing with God as Vibration, as Aum, is man’s highest duty for the entire purpose of creation is, as the Baltimore Catholic catechism declares, to “know, love, and serve God.” And, by deeper understanding of this phrase, to “become One with Father.”

Let us celebrate the coming of Christ as the awakening of this realization (of God’s presence) in our own hearts. And let us then share that presence by sharing the gifts of creation, and the greatest gift of all – God’s love – with all whom we meet.

Blessings to you this Christ-mas, and may the New Year bring us ever closer to Self-realization!

Nayaswami Hriman

The above is based upon and inspired by the teachings of the modern Yogi-Christ, Paramhansa Yogananda and the writings of Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple and founder of the worldwide work of the Ananda communities. For additional reading, see “Revelations of Christ,” by Swami Kriyananda, available from Crystal Clarity Publishers, Nevada City, or the East West Bookshop nearest you.