What was the Star of Bethlehem?

This morning in the pre-dawn night I was walking to the meditation room at the Ananda Community, Lynnwood and beheld the very bright morning star in the southeastern sky. I suppose it was Venus, but my ignorance on stars being unplumbed, I couldn't truly say. Like the Star of Bethlehem (as I imagine it), this star was so bright, hopeful, and comforting in the cold winter darkness.

I doubt any 21st century person would even bother to consider that some "star" grazed along the night sky guiding three very wise persons from the east (going west) to Palestine to a lowly stable in a nondescript village on the edge of a desert!

In 1976 I visited a planetarium in Calcutta and watched the feature show which asked "What was the Star of Bethlehem?" I guess they could roll back their star charts and program the sky to look like it might have on that starry, distant night long ago. Well, they didn't come up with much but it was a good show.

As I look around at the cars along the freeway, the shoppers at the mall, the families in the grocery store, and the faces from all nations and races which surround me in this bustling international community of Seattle, it's easy to imagine that the star of Bethlehem is not a pressing issue with anyone.

The point is that most people seem to have an instinctual sense of what's important. That's different than wisdom but it's good enough for survival. I doubt even churchgoers fuss much over whether they believe each and every dogma propounded to them by their respective churches.

Maybe the Star of Bethlehem, like the virgin birth, isn't all that important as to the facts. Maybe the specialness of Jesus Christ is accepted enough two thousand years later as to not make these stories as important to modern people as perhaps they were to the nations of the middle east and the Roman empire!

Owing to the inheritance of Christian dogma that so strongly asserts that Jesus is the son of God, there's little issue with his acceptance as a "super-saint" of some sort, or, ok, then, as the son of God, even. What's not digested, accepted, or even contemplated is the implications of Jesus' life and state of consciousness upon our own. Oh, I don't mean simply to say that Jesus' life and teachings should inspire us to be better and more saintly.

No, I mean something deeper, something profound, and life changing. Jesus himself spoke of his second coming. Many Christians teach or believe that Christ will appear on earth in much the same way the Jews of Jesus' time expected a Messiah to appear on the scene and drive away those pesky Romans!

But I suspect no Jesus Christ is about to appear in the clouds ready to scoop up the faithful in a rapture to heaven. Fortunately most Christians probably don't bet their life's retirement funds on that happening anytime soon. Indeed, no more than they grapple anxiously with whether the Star of Bethlehem really did prance around the Middle eastern sky like some traffic-directing dirigible.

No, the time has come for something else. Something to wake us up. And, no I don't mean the end of the world or Martians or anything so Hollywood-ish. What Paramhansa Yogananda taught is that the "second" coming of Christ takes place when a divine awakening is born in our own hearts and within our own consciousness. The seed which gives birth to this infant Christ-child is contained in our soul's memory of its divine nature and is "fertilized" or "watered" into new life by the teachings and living spirit of a Christ-like soul who can truly say "I and my Father are One."

Jesus declared that "Before Abraham was, I AM." Thus any claim to be the only begotten son of God must not be limited by any particular human form, including that of Jesus who, in his human, bodily form, called himself only the "son of man."

The implication for devout Christians of seeing that Jesus, son of man, was also a God-realized son of God who partook in a universal Christ consciousness which is part of the Godhead (Trinity) and which therefore has existed since the beginning of time, opens the doorway to acceptance of the appearance of Christ consciousness in many forms down through the ages. Buddha, Krishna, Rama and who knows how many countless others could also say (in fact DID say), with Jesus, "I and my Father are One."

The first chapter of St. John's gospel describes Jesus (without even naming him) as the Word ("which was [in the beginning] with God, and was God."). There can be no doubt directly from the New Testament that this consciousness far transcends any limitation the intellect might place upon its appearance in any single human being, just as God, Infinite, is in no way limited by any aspect of His creation or of his triune nature.

We have here something so profound, both personally life changing and culturally revolutionary, that though it may be many years before its implications become generally understood and visible, it is bound to change the course of history. And none too soon, either! Christianity is in desparate need of a revival. Christians desparately need a way to escape the confining limitations of dogma which separate their sympathies and acceptance of people of other faiths. Christian countries which once dominated the world are now in retreat as a rapidly growing tsunami of other faiths and cultures rises on the tide of a new world order.

Coming from the east to the west with the wisdom of the ancients, Paramhansa Yogananda is a wayshower to the healing of the nations and the survival of the planet. No mere intellectual affirmation of religious or cultural equality can supercede the barriers of deeply and long-held faith. Not until that faith (and other faiths) receives the redeeming grace to have eyes to see and ears to hear the Savior's voice in many forms and in many lands, can we of earth meet each other on equal grounds, true to our past but embracing our future, and our self as our very own Self.

More than this, even, is what it means to you and I. Through the living touch and spirit of any such son of God, we, too, can reawaken to the realization that we, though for incarnations prodigal children, are no less God's very own and heirs to His consciousness (of Bliss, of Christ-mas joy).

God is not dead. Jesus is not dead. The Christ dwells, however latently, however unknown to us, in each one of us. Through our conscious, willing, creative and whole-hearted giving of ourselves, ("Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, and strength.") we can give birth to an infant Christ in our hearts. This infant can grow as our attunement grows and as we dissolves the countless threads of attachment, desire, and self-identification that comprises what we call our ego.

This in fact was the good news which Jesus (and all God-realized masters) proclaim. As the Hindu scriptures teach, "Tat twam asi" (Thou art THAT!). The star of Bethlehem was described as HIS star. It is also OUR star: the five pointed, brightl beacon of light outlines the five points of the body (arms, legs, head) as we are indeed "made in the image of God" (Genesis). As Jesus was born of a virgin, so we too are born of the pure light of God. As Jesus ascended the ladder of Self-realization through countless lifetimes, we, too, can ascend by truth and grace.

Christmas blessings to all,


Hriman

Practicing the Presence of God

Practicing the presence of God means to be mindful of God’s presence moment to moment throughout your waking hours. There is no end to the ways this can be practiced and experienced — after all, is God not Infinite?



Swami Kriyananda, founder of Ananda and my spiritual teacher, notes that practicing the presence is not necessarily to be IN that Presence. We should keep in mind that the purpose of our practices is to go beyond practice into the actual experience. This is a distinction we should note from the beginning. All spiritual practices, all techniques, all sadhana, cease when God comes to us!


To winnow Infinity down to manageable proportions, however, we might divide this vital and transforming sadhana into the three components: each in relation to our basic nature of perception, feeling, and action. In the yogic tradition, these aspects find expression as three “paths” to God: gyana yoga, bhakti yoga, and karma yoga. It is common, though not as expansive as it could be, to view these as separate paths to God. But in fact and in truth, they are aspects of our very own nature and as such each should be refined. One cannot each God-realization solely through just one of these aspects for our “human” nature itself is One.


To perceive God’s presence moment-to-moment means to withdraw, even a little bit, into the watchful state in the midst of your activities. Watch yourself, first, and then perceive your higher Self (rather than your egoic self) as the Watcher. That Watcher, then, is the Godhead who IS your very Self and who watches You. As you enter more fully into the reality of this state you will be filled with joy and energy!


To feel God’s presence moment-to-moment means to awaken the heart’s natural feeling, bit by bit, in the midst of your activities. First, contact this calm feeling in your heart, and then transform that feeling into devotion to God, offering everything you say, think, and do at the feet of the Infinite Lord. (God, here, can take the name and form of any saint or deity or abstraction you hold dear or find inspiring.) As you enter into this practice more deeply you will begin to feel God’s presence everywhere: in everyone you interact with and at the heart of everything you do.


To express God’s presence moment-moment-moment in your actions is to feel God’s power flowing through you as you conduct your activities. First feel that power as you move, talk, feel, and think; then feel it as God’s power; next, feel that God is Doer and you are His instrument; and lastly, and in its most elevated state, God becomes both the Doer AND the Instrument!


Each of these practices merges into the same, but ever-new, ever-changing, ever-expanding state of Oneness. One can say it’s blissful, or joyful, or loving, or peaceful, calm, powerful and on and on for in God there is no end, only endlessness.


Each of these practices, moreover, depends on some aspect of the other. To be watchful takes will power and energy. These in turn depend on the heart’s desire and motivation. Devotion itself requires and IS energy. It takes concentration and perception to hold steady the image of the Lord one seeks to unit with. To become an instrument of God’s power requires positive intention and will power motivated by love for God.


Within this simple framework you will find for yourself an infinity of ways to explore God’s presence. The most famous and traditional technique of practicing the presence is known in Sanskrit as japa. It consists of silent, mental repetition of such words as God’s name (again, God has an Infinity of names and loves them all), a mantra, a prayer, an affirmation, or chant (which of course has melody in addition to words, or melody without words but with perceptive or devotional association). Prayer beads or rosary is one means of counting when counting, well, counts (is prescribed for the practice or mantra).


The drawback to any form of repetition is its becoming mechanical and merely subconscious. This in turn is somewhat held in check for the fact that it takes a great deal of concentration to maintain the practice of japa.

Swami Kriyananda has said that his japa is the mantra “Aum, Guru!” Some of things I find helpful include developing the habit of redirecting my (ceaseless) thought processes (“self-talk”) from a monologue into a dialogue: talking to God in the form of my guru, Paramhansa Yogananda. Another is the habit of withdrawing from thoughts into inner silence, feeling God’s presence devotionally, energetically, or as stillness.

You can assign yourself a different spiritual quality each day or week. Create or find an affirmation. I like to use Swami Kriyananda’s Affirmations for Self-Healing (a book with fifty-two affirmations and prayer qualities with brief commentary). Paramhansa Yogananda’s booklet, Scientific Healing Affirmations, is popular and full of inspiring and powerful affirmations. Yogananda’s book, Whispers from Eternity, is a collection of prayer-demands which are filled with vibrant, God-infused images and phrases. So, too, is the small book, Metaphysical Meditations.


Hopefully those reading this already have a daily meditation practice. This is the foundation for the self-awareness, concentration, and devotional attitude necessary to extend your meditation into the hours of the day by practicing the presence of God in every moment.


Blessings to you,


Hriman