The Ascension of Man--Lifting up the Serpent in the Wilderness--Part 3

[Guest guest]

The Ascension of Man--Lifting up the Serpent in the Wilderness--Part 3

(Dialogue With Nicodemus, Part II)

 

(p.259) " And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from

heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the

serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that

whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. " (John

3:13-15)

 

Highest ecstasy: being

united with God while

simultaneously active

in the world

 

(p.260) Jesus spoke of an extraordinary truth when he mentioned " the Son of man

which is in heaven. " Ordinary souls behold their bodies ( " Son of man " ) roaming

only on the earth, but free souls such as Jesus dwell simultaneously in the

physical and in the astral and causal heavenly kingdoms.

 

A motion picture can portray human beings, animals, trees, mountains, oceans, on

the screen; all of which have descended from the projection booth, projected

through a beam of light. Similarly, every figure in this world has emerged from

the booth of eternity. The physical body or " Son of man " is a projection of the

cosmic beam of God's light. So Jesus' words are very simple and very wonderful:

Even while dwelling in a body in the physical world, he was beholding himself as

a ray of God descending from heaven. (p.261) He demonstrated this conclusively

after his death, re-creating his physical body from rays of cosmic creative

light, and later dematerializing it in the presence of his disciples when he

ascended back to heaven. [1]

 

Some masters in their oneness with God may preserve the projection of their

bodily form indefinitely. Other masters in their God-union dissolve the bodily

image in Spirit when they depart from the earth; but they can reappear at will

in response to the earnest soul-entreaty of a yearning devotee--either in vision

or actually rematerializing their physical form, as Jesus did for Saint Francis

and as my own Master, after his passing, did for me. Or, at the behest of the

Divine Father, they may voluntarily return to earth in a new incarnation to

usher souls from the realm of delusion into the kingdom of God.

 

The potential to remain in

heavenly consciousness

regardless of outer

circumstances

 

While Jesus, in his God-ordained incarnation, was effectually engaged in his

Heavenly Father's work in the world, he could in truth proclaim: " I am in

heaven. " This is the highest ecstasy of God-consciousness, defined by yogis as

'nirvikalpa samadhi', an ecstatic state " without difference " between external

consciousness and interior God-union. In 'savikalpa samadhi', " with difference, "

a less exalted state, one is not conscious of the outer world; the body enters

an inert trance while the awareness is immersed in interior conscious oneness

with God. The most advanced masters can be fully conscious of God and not show

any signs of the body being transfixed; the devotee drinks God and

simultaneously is conscious and fully active in his external environment--if he

so chooses.

 

This declaration of Jesus offers great encouragement to every soul: Although man

is beset with the perplexities that accompany residence in a physical body, God

has provided him with the potential to remain in heavenly consciousness

regardless of outer circumstances. An inebriate takes his drunkenness with him

no matter where he goes. One who is sick is all the time preoccupied with his

sickness. (p.262) One who is happy is ever bubbling with good cheer. And the one

who is conscious of God enjoys that supreme Bliss whether he is active in the

outer world or absorbed in inner communion.

 

When one is engrossed in watching a convincingly played scene of tragedy in a

motion picture, it may so impinge itself on the consciousness and emotions that

it begins to feel real. But when one is troubled by a particular scene of

cruelty, such as the catastrophic destruction of human life in a burning city,

if the viewer looks up from the picture to the beam of light from the projector

and analyzes its relation to the figures and events on the screen, the seemingly

real material nature of everything being shown--buildings, landscapes, the

misery of human beings--is seen as nothing but light.

 

Likewise, the materially engrossed individual beholds his ever-changing

surroundings, birth, death, marriage, acquisition and loss, as material facts.

But the individual who awakens into the consciousness of God through constant

ecstasy, or union with God, begins to see a light trembling in all creation. He

perceives that the different forms of matter--solids, liquids, gaseous

substances--as well as human life and thought, are nothing but the diverse

vibrations of that all-pervading, quivering light of God. By further development

one can actually perceive God as the Almighty Creator dreaming this Cosmic

Dream.

 

While watching a movie, one person might concentrate on the pictures, while

another might keep his attention on the projection beam that causes their

" materialization " on the screen. The moviegoing experience of these two

individuals would be quite different--one becoming immersed in the story,

forgetful of the beam; and the other seeing only rays of light without any

pictures. But there is a third possibility: a person sitting in the

motion-picture house enjoying the pictures on the screen, while remembering

their source by keeping a part of his attention on the pictureless beam.

 

A person concentrating on matter will see only material objects, and a person

absorbed in God's light in the initial state of ecstasy ('savikalpa samadhi')

beholds only God. But one who has advanced to the highest state of

consciousness, 'nirvikalpa samadhi', sees the great pictureless light of Cosmic

Energy coming down from God, and simultaneously beholds on the vast screen of

space the motion picture of the universe produced by God's Creative Light.

 

(p.263) Jesus' words in this passage make clear that all souls who are promoted

back to heaven had originally descended from heaven and become entrapped in

earthbound desires by the spurious realism of the cosmic drama, but were able to

reascend by conquering every delusive attachment to material allurements. Again

and again in the Gospels, Jesus emphasizes that what he attained, all may

attain. His next remark to Nicodemus shows how.

 

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

You) Volume 1, Discourse 14, pg. 259; 260-263

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] By the same power, a master who realizes that the body is a manipulatable

mass of light and energy can replicate his material form in order to appear

simultaneously in two or more places in identical bodies. This phenomenon, known

as bilocation, has been demonstrated by numerous Christian saints down the ages.

In 'The Story of Therese Neumann' (Bruce Pub. Co.), A.P. Schimberg describes

several occasions on which this Christian saint has appeared before, and

conversed with, distant persons needing her help. In 'Autobiography of a Yogi' I

have recounted several instances in the lives of Hindu masters I have known.