Just finished a quick reading of excerpts from Paramahansa Yogananda's The Yoga of Jesus, a commentary on New Testament quotes and Jesus' message of Christ Consciousness, which is, for Yogananda, part of his own lineage of Kriya Yoga, leading the conscientious practitioner to Self-realization. I recommend this little book and intend to follow up with the two volume set: The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of Christ Within You. According to Yogananda, each individual's task is to realize Christ Consciousness through meditation and the inner journey (a similar journey to that which St. Theresa of Avila writes of--as have mystics of all traditions).
In the paperback, excerpted from the two volumes, Yogananda says unequivocally that the three wise men who attended Christ's birth came from India and that Jesus, from age 14 to 29 was (so to speak) checking in with these spiritual gurus in India. Yogananda also deplores the misinterpretations in the doctrine promulgated by the Council of Nicea and other "power grabs" (my words) by Rome, most of whose exclusivity has led to horrific wars and other depredations in the name of Christianity. (One of my favorite Twain aphorisms: "If Christ were to return, he wouldn't be a Christian.) Of course, the effects of literalism and misinterpretation continue to plague America and her politics today.
The book, published by Self-Realization Fellowship, may be of interest if you haven't already encountered it. I've been blessed with at visit to the East West Bookstore in Mountain View--a place I always enjoy when in the Bay Area.
Give yourself a treat if you've never encountered this comparison between the Hindu path to Freedom and that advocated covertly in the New Testament, in particular Revelations and the gospels of Mark and John. Also mentioned is The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas. Such a synthesis seems to have been part of Yogananda's given task, and he performed it admirably in his parallel text and commentary on The Rubiyat of Omar Khayam. From Yogananda's commentary on the Bagavad Gita, I discovered information that explained some of the experiences of my work with a Lakota teacher over a number of years. The Native American and Hindu traditions, according to The Myths and Gods of India out of Princeton's Bollingen Press, share a similar mythology.
Another book I recently read is Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge. Saw the movie years ago with a young Bill Murray as Larry and found it unremarkable, but the book is something else, especially having taught American literature and enjoyed Henry James' "Daisy Miller," though Maugham's novel is thematically more complex. I've never encountered a book in which the author is a character as Maugham is in this one. The author's ironic tone entertains, and Larry's theme was a nice precursor to the Yogananda text.
Though I've not read it in years, Maugham's The Summing Up was one of my favorite little books of philosophy (my aunt's as well). Of course, she sent me Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, perhaps for graduation from high school. I guess I've always enjoyed the poet/philosopher's perspective.
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There certainly seems to be a correlation with the story of Jesus and the philosophy of the east.
ReplyDeleteAlthough satire, Christopher Moore's novel Lamb follows the adventures of Jesus and his lost sidekick/ apostle Biff as they travel through lands of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs on their route to enlightenment and messiah-hood.
Many have wondered and theorized about the time before the rabbi began his work and the influence of the Essenes and whether they were influenced by other philosophies.