ORIGIANAL CHRISTIANITY SERIES 1

[Guest guest]

Jai Gurudev,

 

Dear all,

 

Sunday was EASTER, Lord Jesus christ was resurrected on this day

after being Crucified on good Friday some 2000 years back. while back

in India i never learnt much abt Jesus, but being outside came to

know more abt jesus and his life, more i think of him more

love,veneration i get for

him.Its my dream that some day i personally want to meet him and

witness his WHOLE life, its so divine,sacrificing,pure. The conditions

in which he lived among were creul, peopel were harsh and he was very

soft.

 

 

THERE HAS BEEN LOT OF MASS CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY GOING ON I

DONT AGREE WITH THE MOTIVES OF THE CONVERSION

 

 

 

My expereinces with people who were involved with christinaity were

GOD fearing , and the biggest problem was thatBIBLE was being

misinterpreted by many people in the church , besides the Bible may

have been tampered by the society men who had no God realization.

 

i hope there would come a day where a saint who is GOD REALISED would

bring forth and interpret the teachings of JESUS in its own

orginality.

 

In this sphere of saints were 1) Yogananda he tried to give the

original Bible teachings and interpretations, but its sad that he

didnt write any book on the BIBLE interperations.

 

But he had a disciple called Kriyananda (Donald walters) who had

drunk his Master's (Yogananda Paramahansa) teachings and below iam

posting an article written by him that he learnt from Yoganada which

is very big, so i will be posting it in 3-4 series so that poeple can

go thru conveniantly. its a beautiful article which i have been

hunting for quite some time

 

iam also giving the link below.

 

IN BREIF THIS ARTICLE IS A WEAPON AGAINIST PEOPLE WHO MISINTREPT

ORIGINAL CHRISTIANITY.IF YOU COME ACROSS SOMEONE WHO IS DOING THAT

PLEASE GIVE HIM THIS ARTICLE TO READ.THAT WOULD BE A GREAT SERVICE TO

TRUTH AND HUMANITY.

 

The article starts...PART/SERIES 1

Books Online

 

The Path: One Man's Quest On the Only Path There Is

 

 

by J. Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda)

 

Chapter 33

 

"Original Christianity"

 

How does the concept of samadhi agree with Christian teachings? Most

church-goers, certainly, get no hint on Sunday mornings that the

Bible promises them anything like cosmic consciousness. The best they

are encouraged to hope for is eternity in heaven after death, in a

body much like the one they possess now.

No one, however, has a "corner" on Christ's teachings, or for that

matter on any religion. The revelation that God gave to the world

through Jesus Christ is the property of mankind, not of the churches

alone.

 

The mass of Christian worshipers are often referred to as "the body

of Christ." But in fact they are more like Christ's family. For a

body is responsive to the brain, whereas few Christians are conscious

enough of Christ's presence within them, or faithful enough to his

teachings in the Bible, to give much thought to being responsive to

him. A body, moreover, is coordinated by its brain, whereas

Christians–even those who want to obey Christ–respond to his

commandments by rushing off in hundreds of directions at once.

Family, then, is certainly the apter metaphor. Even if family members

revere their head, they respond to him variously according to their

different temperaments and levels of understanding. A certain lack of

coordination, which in a body might be a sign of functional disorder,

is both natural and, to some extent, right in a family. At any rate

it shows that its members have minds of their own.

 

The mass of Christians in the world are like the family of a great

man, some of whose luster reflects on them by their association with

him. But it is also notorious how many great men have been thoroughly

mis understood by their relatives. To be the disciple of a great

master gives one an incentive, certainly, to tune in to him, but it

in no way guarantees such attunement. Jesus accused the Jews of

misunderstanding Moses. He even chided his own close disciples for

misunderstanding him. We must conclude, then, from his own statements

that Christians have never had a proprietary claim on his full, or

even his true, meaning. A disciple's understanding of his master's

teachings depends on his own capacity for understanding, and not on

his outward status as a member, or even as a leader, of any church.

 

Many times progress in human understanding has occurred when one

civilization has been exposed to the different insights of another.

Religion, today, stands at the threshold of such an opportunity. The

energetic influx of teachings from the East has already had a strong

impact on Western churches, making them rethink their position on

several basic issues. Among other things, it has reminded them of

dormant traditions of their own. The practice of meditation, for

example, once a vital part of Christian observance–particularly

in

the Eastern Church–is being revived owing to the emphasis given

it by

teachers from India.

 

Nor has the influence of Oriental teachings on the churches been

limited to reminders of forgotten Christian traditions: It has also

shown many Biblical teachings in a wholly new light. For truth, like

a diamond, is many-faceted. The teachings of Moses and Jesus Christ

have been given certain emphases in the West, but other perfectly

legitimate emphases are possible, and would reflect truths that have

been cherished for centuries elsewhere in the world. Exposure to

those unfamiliar traditions might prove enormously beneficial to

Westerners who desire deeper insight into their own religious

teachings.

 

A visitor once asked Paramhansa Yogananda, "You call your

temples 'churches of all religions.' Why, then, do you place such

special emphasis on Christianity?"

 

"It was the wish of Babaji that I do so," the Master replied. "He

asked me to interpret the Christian Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, or

Hindu Bible, and to show that their teachings are basically one. It

was with this mission that I was sent to the West."

 

Many Westerners in this materialistic age doubt the truth of Christ's

teachings. Indeed, many even doubt that he ever lived. Paramhansa

Yogananda, by his example as much as by his teachings, turned

agnostics into believing Christians again. For his mission wasn't to

convert people to Hinduism, but to revitalize Christianity. What he

taught, he said, was "the original Christianity of Christ."

 

One day in Boston, Massachusetts, he received a letter criticizing

him for "sponsoring" Jesus in the West. "Don't you know that he never

lived?" the writer demanded. "He was a myth invented to deceive

people." The letter was left unsigned.

 

Yogananda prayed to be led to the writer. About a week later he

visited the Boston Public Library. There, seeing a stranger seated on

a bench under one of the windows, he went over and sat next to him.

 

"Why did you write me that letter?" he inquired.

 

The man started in amazement. "Wh-what do you mean? What letter?"

 

"The one in which you claimed that Jesus Christ was only a myth."

 

"But–how on earth did you know I wrote that?"

 

"I have ways," the Master replied. "And I wanted you to know that the

power by which I have found you enables me also to know for certain

that Jesus Christ did live, and that he was all that the Bible

claims. He was a true Christ."

 

Another time in Boston Yogananda received another remarkable

corroboration of his experiences of the reality of Jesus Christ. In

meditation he saw Krishna and Jesus walking together on a sea of

golden light. To convince himself (as he put it), though more

probably to convince skeptics, including sectarian believers who

couldn't imagine Jesus and Krishna sharing the same wave, Yogananda

asked for objective verification of his vision.

 

A divine voice replied, "The fragrance of a lotus will remain in the

room."

 

"All that day," Yogananda told us, "a lotus aroma, unknown in the

West, lingered on in the room. Many visited me that day. 'What is

that wonderful fragrance?' they asked. I knew then I had received

proof positive that what I had seen was true."

 

In St. Louis one day Master visited a Roman Catholic monastery. The

abbot had been shown to him in meditation to be a great saint. The

other monks were horrified to see this orange-robed "heathen" in

their midst. But when the abbot arrived on the scene, he hastened

over to Paramhansaji and embraced him lovingly. "Man of God," he

cried, "I am happy you have come!"

 

The saints alone are the true custodians of religion. For only they

draw their understanding from the direct experience of truth, and not

from superficial reason or book learning. The true saints of one

religion bow to the divinity manifest in the true saints of other

religions. When Paramhansa Yogananda visited Therese Neumann, the

great Catholic stigmatist in Bavaria, Germany, she sent word, "Though

the bishop has asked me to see no one without his permission, I will

receive the man of God from India."

 

Far from undermining the faith of Christians in their own Scriptures,

Yogananda gave many of them renewed faith. One day a Catholic monk,

inspired by an interview with him, begged in his prayers that he be

vouchsafed a vision of Jesus. The next day he hurried to Yogananda,

tears in his eyes. "Last night," he cried, "for the first time in my

life, I saw Him!"

 

.. end of part 1

2 more parts to come check in daily

HERE IS THE LINK

http://www.ananda.org/inspiration/books/path/33.html

 

Jai Gurudev