The subject is hotting up!!
Not least for the reason that we are approaching the mine field of Jesus’ missing years. For all his sagacity and the clarity of the mission he is entrusted with, methinks Paramahansa Yogananda (PY) somewhat ties himself in knots as he tries to establish the equivalence of the teachings of the Bible as concerns the life and message of Jesus Christ and “India’s ancient science of religion” (as he puts in the Dedication of his book). Some may consider the juxtaposition of “science” and “religion” itself as oxymoronic, but that is a different subject!
So don’t go away anywhere! (as they say feverishly in media channels before commercial breaks)
“Teaching side-by-side original Christianity as taught by Jesus Christ and original yoga as taught by Bhagwan Krishna” itself is no mean task that only gets impossibly complicated when you are expected to” write a comparative study of the harmony between the Christian and Hindu Scriptures” – a burden that Mahavatar Babaji and guru Swami Shri Yukteswar placed on PY.
Another point that I find disconcerting (possibly) from the Hindu point of view is that by running close to the biblical teachings, PY might actually find himself on a course divergent from the current Hindu thinking and practice on many issues.
A few illustrations will lay bare these dichotomies:
- PY writes in Discourse 1 and I quote:”For mere mortals to cope with the life of unsolved and unsolvable mysteries in an inscrutable universe created by the omnipotence of God, of the omniscient essence of his omnipresence,would indeed be an overwhelming challenge were it not for divine emissaries who come on earth to speak with the voice and authority of God for the guidance of man.”Continuing the quote:”In ancient India, rishis enunciated the manifestation of divine beneficence. ……The eternal, omnipresent, unchanging spirit has neither a corporeal nor heavenly form called God. Nor as the Lord God creator does he fashion a form in which he then deigns to dwell among His creatures. Many are the voices that have intermediated between God and man khanda avatars or partial incarnations in God knowing souls or purna avatars liberated being who are fully one with God. The Lord in the sacred Hindu Bible, the Bhagwat Gita declares: “whenever virtually declines and vice predominates, I incarnate as an avatar.”””Because the periodic recurrence of divine incarnations is a part of God’s creative enterprise, signs of such birth are imprinted in the Grand Master Plan.”
Then PY goes on to cite Isaiah 7:14 in the Bible: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
There are several important points to be noted in the above quotation.
a) PY’s quote: “universe created by the omnipotence of God”
Comment (mine, with appropriate Bible references): this at once put paid to all other theories regarding the creation of universe.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1)
Notably this is at variance with the much bandied about “Big Bang” theory. Regrettably I do not know what the vedas say on the subject but I suspect they will not be echoing Gen.1:1!
b) PY’s quote: “The eternal, omnipresent, unchanging spirit has neither a corporeal nor heavenly form called God.
My comment: ” Whither then the myriad idols of god?
The third of the Ten commandments in Exodus 20 says quite categorically “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them”
Later in the Old Testament, prophet Isaiah comes down rather heavily on idolatry. I am quoting him below but I must caution that this is not for the weak-hearted or easily excitable individuals:
“All who make idols are nothing,
and the things they treasure are worthless.
Those who would speak up for them are blind;
they are ignorant, to their own shame.
10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol,
which can profit nothing?
11 People who do that will be put to shame;
such craftsmen are only human beings.
Let them all come together and take their stand;
they will be brought down to terror and shame.
12 The blacksmith takes a tool
and works with it in the coals;
he shapes an idol with hammers,
he forges it with the might of his arm.
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
he drinks no water and grows faint.
13 The carpenter measures with a line
and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,
human form in all its glory,
that it may dwell in a shrine.
14 He cut down cedars,
or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
15 It is used as fuel for burning;
some of it he takes and warms himself,
he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.
16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
over it he prepares his meal,
he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
“Save me! You are my god!”
18 They know nothing, they understand nothing;
their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
and their minds closed so they cannot understand. (Isaiah 44: 9-18)
c) PY’s quote:”Nor as the Lord God creator does he fashion a form in which he then deigns to dwell among His creatures”.
My comment: Right, with the notable exception as made clear below from Philippians 2:5-8 in the Bible:“Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
d) PY’s quote: “Many are the voices that have intermediated between God and man”
My comment: Read 1 Timothy 2:5 in the Bible: For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus
e) PY’s quote: “Because the periodic recurrence of divine incarnations is a part of God’s creative enterprise, signs of such birth are imprinted in the Grand Master Plan.”
My comment: After speaking in the plural about “divine incarnations” PY goes on to cite but one reference from Isaiah 7:14 in the Bible – a prophecy about the birth of Jesus Christ (the only mediator).
f) PY’s quote (paraphrased) : God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.
My comment: Fine, this rules out the possibility of there being multiple gods. Check out Deut. 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord“
In the ancient Tamil literature of திரு மந்திரம், we find a gem ” ஒன்றே குலம். ஒருவனே தேவன்” by திரு மூலர். At one stroke this decimates casteism and polytheism.
By the same token, it is also not possible for humans to be so many little godlets, whatever this new age pastor might say and howsoever charming he may appear in his demeanour:
2. PY writes in his Introduction (page xxix) and I quote:
“The promise of Jesus to send the Holy Ghost after he was gone few in the Christian world have understood. Holy Ghost is the sacred, invisible vibratory power of God that actively sustains the universe: the Word or Aum, Cosmic Vibration, the Great Comforter, the Saviour from all sorrows. Within the Holy Ghost Cosmic Vibration is the is the all pervading Christ, the Son or Consciousness of God immanent in creation. The method of contacting this Cosmic Vibration, the Holy Ghost is for the first time being spread worldwide by means of the definite meditation techniques of the Kriya Yoga science through the blessing of communion with the Holy Ghost the cup of human consciousness is expected to receive the ocean of Christ consciousness.”
PY’s quote: the Holy Ghost, a Cosmic Vibration
My comment: John 14:26 says “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”.
Note: the Holy Spirit, “whom“, not “it”
Romans 5:5 says “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us”.
Note: the Holy Spirit, “who“, not “which”
Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption“
Note: the Holy Spirit, “with whom“, not ” with which”
There are many other verses which testify to the fact that the Holy Ghost (Spirit) is a person – the third of the Trinity, and not a vibration, cosmic or otherwise!
Check out 2 Corinthians 13:14 which is used much in church circles as the benediction: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Here, Paul is not writing ” may the Cosmic Vibration be with you” – a variation of the phrase “May the Force be with you” with due apology to Star Wars! He is invoking the blessing of the Triune God!!
PY’s quote: Holy Ghost is ….. invisible
My comment:
Luke 3:21-22 says, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Also see Acts 2:3-4: “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them“.
Far from being invisible, the Holy Spirit can and does take different forms!
PY’s quote: few in the Christian world have understood the Holy Ghost.
My comment: There is an entire denomination of Christianity – the Pentecostals – who give preeminence to the Holy Spirit.
PY’s quote: The method of contacting this Cosmic Vibration, the Holy Ghost is for the first time being spread worldwide by means of the definite meditation techniques of the Kriya Yoga science.
My comment:
Check out John 19:6 “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them”
Also Luke 24:49. “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power (Holy Spirit) from on high.”
No Kriya Yoga!
We can go on in this fashion. But already with over 1800 words, surely you are running out of patience.
The point is made. Paramahansa Yogananda’s goal is increasingly beginning to look like:
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