Jesus' Immaculate Conception and Relationship with John - Part 1

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Jesus' Immaculate Conception and Relationship with John the Baptist - Part 1

 

(p.36) " Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the

great and dreadful day of the Lord. " [1] These words, at the very end of the Old

Testament, foretell the coming of Christ Jesus and the rebirth of Elijah as his

precursor. The prophecy was fulfilled by John the Baptist, divinely ordained to

" prepare the way of the Lord " and " go before him in the spirit and power of

Elijah. "

 

The Biblical telling of the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist

takes on a new sanctity when viewed in the light of the holy tradition of the

bond formed between guru and disciple--between one who knows God and one who is

seeking to know Him. The relationship between Jesus and John was of a continuing

journey together of two divine souls, begun in previous lifetimes.

 

The cosmic principle

of reincarnation:

souls' journey through

many lives

 

The cosmic principle of reincarnation, with its dynamism of the law of karma

(cause and effect, sowing and reaping), is a time-honored doctrine, embraced by

the Hindus, Buddhists, the ancient Druid priests, the Essenes and Gnostics and

many early Christian theologians; and also, eminent philosophers of the East and

West. (p.37) Though for centuries it has been divorced by church orthodoxy from

the common understanding of Jesus' life and teachings, reincarnation is in fact

evident in many passages in both the Old and New Testaments, including

unequivocal statements by Jesus himself. [2] For example, from the Book of

Revelation (3:12): " Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my

God, and he shall go no more out. " Here Jesus distinctly refers to the doctrine

of reincarnation, saying that when a soul overcomes by spiritual discipline his

mortal desires accrued through contact of matter, that soul becomes a pillar of

immortality in the everlasting mansion of Cosmic Consciousness; and, having

found fulfillment of all his desires in Spirit, that soul has no more to be

reborn on earth through the karmic reincarnating force of unsatisfied desires.

[3]

 

All souls come from God--individualized rays of pure Spirit--and evolve back to

their native perfection by exercise of their God-given free will. The ignorant

and the wise alike require equal opportunity from the hand of a just and loving

God in order to fulfill this quest. For instance, a baby who dies prematurely

cannot possibly have used its free will to be either virtuous enough to be

granted salvation or vicious enough to be damned. Nature must bring that soul

back to earth to give it a chance to use its free will to work out the past

actions (karma) that were the lawful cause of its untimely death, and to perform

sufficient good actions to attain liberation.

 

Ordinary souls are compelled to reincarnate by their earthbound desires and

effects of past actions. (p.38) Great souls, advanced in wisdom through learning

the lessons of many lifetimes, come on earth partially to finish their karma but

principally to act as noble sons of God whose example inspires His lost children

along their way to the Heavenly Father's all-blissful home. Masters and

prophets, having graduated from the school of mortal life into the immortality

of Cosmic Consciousness, incarnate voluntarily to serve, at God's behest, as

plenipotentiary agents of His millennial plan to shepherd all souls back to

their eternal abode in Spirit. [4]

 

The Second Coming of Christ (The Resurrection of the Christ Within You) Volume

I, Discourse 2, pg. 36-38

Paramahansa Yogananda

Printed in the United States of America 1434-J881

ISBN-13:978-0-87612-557-1

ISBN-10:0-87612-557-7

 

Notes:

 

[1] Malachi 4:5.

 

[2] Cited later in this Discourse and in subsequent ones. See 'reincarnation' in

index.

 

[3] " Understanding of the law of karma and of its corollary, reincarnation, is

displayed in numerous Biblical passages; e.g., 'Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by

man shall his blood be shed' (Genesis 9:6). If every murderer must himself be

killed 'by man', the reactive process obviously requires, in many cases, more

than one lifetime. The contemporary police are just not quick enough!

 

" The early Christian church accepted the doctrine of reincarnation, which was

expounded by the Gnostics and by numerous church fathers, including Clement of

Alexandria, the celebrated Origen (both 3rd century), and St. Jerome (5th

century). The doctrine was first declared a heresy in A.D. 553 by the Second

Council of Constantinople. At that time many Christians thought the doctrine of

reincarnation afforded man too ample a stage of time and space to encourage him

to strive for immediate salvation. But truths suppressed lead disconcertingly to

a host of errors. The millions have not utilized their 'one lifetime' to seek

God, but to enjoy this world--so uniquely won, and so shortly to be forever

lost! The truth is that man reincarnates on earth until he has consciously

regained his status as a son of God. " -- 'Autobiography of a Yogi'

 

[4] Reincarnation of liberated or nearly liberated saints for a divine mission

is implicit in God's declaration to Jeremiah: " Before I formed thee in the belly

I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and

I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations " (Jeremiah 1:5).