The Second Birth of Man--In Spirit - Part 4

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The Second Birth of Man--In Spirit - Part 4

(Dialogue with Nicodemus, Part I)

 

Jesus answered and said unto him, " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man

be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. "

 

Nicodemus saith unto him, " How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter

the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? " (John 3:3-4)

 

 

To " see the kingdom of God "

 

(p.243) This choice of words by Jesus is an allusion to his familiarity with the

Eastern spiritual doctrine of reincarnation. One meaning to be drawn from this

precept is that the soul has to be born repeatedly in various bodies until it

reawakens to realization of its native perfection. It is a false hope to believe

that at bodily death the soul automatically enters into an everlasting angelic

existence in heaven. (p.244) Unless and until one attains perfection by removing

the debris of karma (effects of one's actions) from the individualized God-image

of his soul, he cannot enter God's kingdom. [1] The ordinary person, constantly

creating new karmic bondage by his wrong actions and material desires, adding to

the accumulated effects of numerous previous incarnations, cannot free his soul

in one lifetime. It takes many lifetimes of physical, mental, and spiritual

evolution to work out all karmic entanglements that block soul intuition, the

pure knowing without which one cannot " see the kingdom of God. "

 

The principal import of Jesus' words to Nicodemus goes beyond an implied

reference to reincarnation. This is clear from Nicodemus' request for further

explanation of how an 'adult' could reach God's kingdom: Must he reenter his

mother's womb and be reborn? [2] Jesus elaborates in the succeeding verses as to

how a person can be " born again " in his present incarnation--how a soul

identified with the flesh and sense limitations can acquire by meditation a new

birth in Cosmic Consciousness.

 

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

You) Volume 1, Discourse 13, pg. 243-244

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] " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect " (Matthew

5:48; see Discourse 27).

 

[2] Nicodemus, as mentioned in the Bible verses above, was a Pharisee. The

first-century Jewish historian Josephus records the following about the

Pharisees' beliefs: " They say that all souls are incorruptible, but that the

souls of good men only are removed into other bodies, but that the souls of bad

men are subject to eternal punishment " ('Wars of the Jews', II, 8, 14). Some

religious scholars hold that this is a reference to reincarnation; others claim

it is merely a statement of the Pharisees' doctrine of the ultimate resurrection

of the virtuous. Regardless, there is ample evidence that many Jews believed in

reincarnation.

 

The German encyclopedia 'Meyers Konversationslexikon' states: " At the time of

Christ most of the Jews believed in the transmigration of the soul. Talmudists

thought that God had created a limited number of Jewish souls that would come

back as long as there were Jews....However, on the day of resurrection they

would all be purified and rise in the bodies of the righteous in the Promised

Land. "

 

" The fact that reincarnation is part of Jewish tradition comes as a surprise to

many people, " writes Yaakov Astor in 'Soul Searching: Seeking Scientific

Foundation for the Jewish Tradition of an Afterlife' (Southfield, Michigan:

Targum Press, 2003). " Nevertheless, it's mentioned in numerous places throughout

the classical texts of Jewish mysticism....The 'Zohar' and related literature

are filled with references to reincarnation....The 'Bahir', attributed to the

first-century sage, Nechuniah ben Hakanah, used reincarnation to address the

classic question of theodicy--why bad things happen to good people and vice

versa:....'This is because the [latter] righteous person did bad in a previous

[life], and is now experiencing the consequences.' "

 

That the concept of reincarnation was known to the Jews is evidenced in several

New Testament passages, as when the " priests and Levites " ask John the Baptist,

" Art thou Elijah? " (John 1:21, Discourse 6); and when Jesus' disciples tell him,

" Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or

one of the prophets " (Matthew 16:14; see Discourse 45). ('Publisher's Note')