The Baptism of Jesus - Part 2

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The Baptism of Jesus - Part 2

 

(p.101) The Hindu scriptures refer to creation as God's 'lila', a delusive

phantasmagoria for man's entertainment through interaction with the workings of

the Cosmic Creator. Without a perception of believability in each actor's part,

the drama would soon lose its charm and come to a close. Thus even those of high

spiritual estate accept the " reality " of their present position, dissociated

outwardly from identity with their previous roles lest their overlay unduly

influence and characterize their new dramatic portrayal. God-realized and

liberated souls can well remember previous enactments if they choose to do so;

but for the effectiveness of the earthly theatrics, they fully submit themselves

to God's direction for their part in an unfolding new scene. This is in evidence

in the following verses concerning the statement of John the Baptist about his

identity:

 

'And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from

Jerusalem to ask him, " Who art thou? "

 

And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, " I am not the Christ. "

 

And they asked him, " What then? Art thou Elijah? "

 

And he saith, " I am not. "

 

" Art thou that prophet? "

 

And he answered, " No. "

 

Then said they unto him, " Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that

sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? "

 

He said, " I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way

of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. "

 

And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said

unto him, " Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elijah,

neither that prophet? "

 

John answered them, saying, " I baptize with water: but there standeth one among

you, whom ye know not; he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me,

whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose " (John 1:19-27).

 

 

(p.102) The priests and Levites, with only ordinary perception, were naturally

unable to discern the qualities of a Christ. Wise men would not need to question

a Christlike person, but would at once recognize his spiritual aura. By asking

John if he were the expected Christ, the Pharisees revealed their spiritual

ignorance.

 

Why John denied that

he was Elijah

 

John disavowed them of any notion that he was the foreordained Christ they

sought. In spite of his greatness he did not see himself as one who had

expressed Christ Consciousness. Though he had attained that consciousness as

Elijah, yet owing to his acceptance of and delusive identification with his role

as a lesser figure, he spoke the truth relative to his present life that the

potential Christ in him was not manifest in his outward human consciousness.

That is why John affirmed: " I am not the Christ. "

 

John also denied that he was Elijah, because he chose not to remember his

previous exalted incarnation as that prophet. It was not part of John's role

that he extol himself, but rather in absolute subjugation of the ego to portray

a somewhat " fallen " spiritual state in which he could rightly declare, " I am not

Elijah. "

 

Therefore John gave an evasive answer when he was asked: " Who art thou, that we

may give an answer to them that sent us? " His reply meant: " I am the voice, or

Cosmic Sound, crying or vibrating in the wilderness of silence. " [1]

'Wilderness' signifies the consciousness of a saint wherein no verdure of fresh

material desires can grow. The saint makes himself a barren tract on which the

presence of God may flower without resistance from the burgeoning growth of

materialistic intrusions.

 

(p.103) The people sent to confront the Baptist, unable to understand the depth

of John's statement, asked further: " Why baptize thou then, if thou be not that

Christ, nor Elijah, neither that prophet? " John answered that he was giving the

physical baptism of water, clarifying the consciousness with repentance that

would bring a temporary spiritual influence. He went on to say that the exalted

one who was yet to come would show people the path of redemption through baptism

in Spirit--proclaiming that it was the role of Jesus, with his Christ-aura, to

baptize souls with the fiery wisdom and power of the sacred cosmic vibratory

emanations of the Holy Ghost. By his words John turned the minds of the

multitude from himself to the Christ Savior whose special dispensation he had

come to herald, and to witness and support.

 

The Second Coming of Christ (The Resurrection of the Christ Within

You) Volume 1, Discourse 6, pg. 101-103

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] Elaborated on pages 117 ff.