Knock me down with a feather!

(credit: idioms.thefreedictionary.com)

I recently came across two pillow sized volumes entitled

The second coming of Christ

authored by a Hindu yogi.

I owe it to my classmate and philosophical thinker Krishna Kumar who opened my eyes to their existence and indeed was so kind as to loan me the books to peruse. You cannot miss the fact that the subtitle also belongs squarely to evangelical  Christian domain:

The resurrection of Christ within you

I found it something of a surprise that this consummate exponent of India’s ancient spiritual heritage would also give emphasis to the life and message of Jesus in the New Testament.

Inevitably I will be including extensive quotations from the book in order to capture the flavour and sense the writer intended to transmit. Alongside you will find my understanding of the subject gleaned through study of the Bible and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Whoops! Such dyed in the wool Christian terms! But curiously the author Paramahansa Yogananda (let’s shorten it to PY) (1893-1952) seems completely comfortable with their usage and indeed gives them his own interpretations.

Right at the beginning – in the preface – there is a bolt from the blue!

” Imparted to PY through direct personal communion with Jesus of Nazareth” 

This is by  Sri Daya Mata – successor to PY. Phew!

Now these volumes were written in the 1950s and as we all know Jesus lived till the age of 33, or about 29 AD . So how on earth could PY have had “direct personal communion with Jesus of Nazareth” ?. Since PY’s journey on earth is firmly circumscribed by the events of birth and death, this would make sense only if Jesus was alive at the time when the books were written !

Now let us see: what does the Bible say?

John 8:48 (English Standard Version) Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Revelation 1:18 (New Living Translation) I am the living one. I died, but look–I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

John 1:4 (English Standard Version) In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Matthew 28:20 (New International Version) And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Amen!)

So, it is indeed possible for PY to have had communion with Jesus of Nazareth….through meditation.

We are taking on something huge here. It is better that we  take it in small doses, okay?

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