Must Read - The Sermon on the Mount (Book Review by Paul Rooke)

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Book Review

By Paul Rooke

 

The Sermon on the Mount according to Vedanta by Swami Prabhavananda,

Vedanta Press, Hollywood, CA, 1992; 110 pages, ISBN 08874810507,

paperback, $9.95.

 

Swami Prabhavananda lived in the United States from 1923 until his

death in 1976, and acquired a deep understanding of both the Bible

and the western approach to religion. He had the highest respect for

Jesus as a spiritual teacher and often used his words to elaborate

and exemplify the themes he was explaining. This short book,

originally published in 1964, is a thorough analysis of several

chapters from Matthew from a principally Hindu viewpoint, with

frequent references to Buddhism. Lucid and inspiring, it provides

many valuable insights for daily living and the spiritual quest, as

well as understanding of key issues in comparative religious studies.

 

Each of the book's seven chapters addresses an aspect of the personal

qualities and processes inherent in achieving spiritual realization.

It stresses ``the basic principle that religion is something we

ourselves have to do, and be, and live -- or else it is nothing'' (p.

109). In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks of the need to be

humble and to mourn for a return to the world of spirit. He

emphasizes the need for meekness, mercy, purity of heart, and

pacifism. Arguing that the Sermon was an esoteric rather than an

exoteric teaching, Prabhavananda points out the same distinctions in

Hinduism and Buddhism and gives examples from the Bhagavad-Gita which

stress the need for personal humility before embarking upon the

spiritual journey.

 

Matthew 5:13-37 speaks of the responsibility of spiritually aware

people to make their beliefs available to others. Christ called his

followers the " salt of the earth " and required them to go out and

minister his word to the world. The author suggests that a great

spiritual teacher should convey his beliefs intellectually, but more

importantly by the actual transmission of his spirituality to his

pupils. These two requirements are spelled out in the Vedanta, and

the author gives examples of Indian holy men who have experienced God

and returned to teach from actual experience. Considering the idea of

Spirit (the Father) incarnating as flesh (the Son) to spread the Word

amongst mankind, he quotes both John and a passage from the Vedas

directly analogous to John's remarks: " In the beginning there was the

Lord of Creatures; second to him was the Word''; ``The Word was

verily Brahman.'' A main difference between Christianity and

Hinduism, however, is that the former advocates Jesus as the only

missionary ever sent out by God, whereas the latter holds that God

has descended at many different times in many forms. Using Hinduism

and Buddhism to elaborate and extend Christian teachings,

Prabhavananda acknowledges Jesus' status as an avatar -- " Ye are from

beneath, I am from above " -- and describes why the cyclical

reappearance of the divine is necessary to the continued spiritual

awareness of those on earth.

 

The central theme of the Sermon on the Mount is that the whole

purpose of one's life is to seek perfection and realize God. But what

is perfection? Christ taught that it is union with the Father and

must be sought within. It can never be found in the external world of

things, for as Jesus proclaimed, " The Kingdom of God is within you. "

The author compares this idea with that of sat-chit-ananda (immortal

life-infinite knowledge-eternal love and bliss) as expressed in the

Vedas. Developing the theme of sin and maya (illusion) in

Christianity and the Vedas, Prabhavananda advises that an obsession

with worldly things masks the perception of our fundamental element,

the unifying essence within us all. All religions have as their

ultimate objective a union with the Absolute, however this may be

described. This goal has been called samadhi (Hinduism), nirvana

(Buddhism), and mystical union (Christianity), and all faiths

emphasize the need to be purposive about realizing it. The four main

paths in the Vedanta are karma yoga (selfless work); jnana yoga

(discrimination between the ephemeral and the eternal); bhakti yoga

(devotion to God, the path followed by the majority of religious

believers); and raja yoga (meditation on the supreme reality). This

last path may be said to include the other three, and ``a balanced

spiritual life demands a harmonious combination of all four yogas,

[although] one or another usually predominates, depending on the

temperament of the aspirant.'' Christ's teachings can easily be

assimilated into these four paths, with devotion emphasized most

strongly.

 

The use of the Lord's Prayer can help us approach God because it is

theocentric rather than egocentric. It is actually an invitation to

think of God, rather than a request to him to fulfill our needs. Each

part of the Prayer is considered, and Hindu and Buddhist analogies

discussed. The esoteric interpretation of God as within us, rather

than separate from and above us, is found in both Vedanta and

Christianity, as is the practice of hallowing God's name. The

phrase " give us this day our daily bread " relates to the revelation

of divine grace: we are asking the Lord to reveal himself to us, and

we must continue this request until he is ready to do so. But as the

Katha Upanishad puts it, we cannot simply call upon the Self to

reveal itself; it will only reveal itself to those who are worthy of

its choice. At face value the final phrase, " and lead us not into

temptation, but deliver us from evil, " may seem difficult. However,

equating temptation with the Hindu concept of maya makes clear that

this is a request not to allow us to become enmeshed in the

allurements of the material world, but to keep us on the path towards

spiritual realization.

 

Throughout the book the author draws upon the high religious ideals

of both Christianity and the Eastern religions to show how they help

us cope with everyday problems, emphasizing a God-centered viewpoint.

Commitment to theocentrism allows us to tolerate diversity of opinion

more easily and rise above worldly temptations and conflict, bringing

about a closer union with divinity. Such a view ultimately eliminates

the role of the ego and causes us to live for the fulfillment of

God's will. Prabhavananda stresses forgiveness as a precondition to

assimilating a theocentric value system into the demands of daily

life. The conflict between the worldly temptation to strike back and

the spiritual ideal to forgive and turn the other cheek appears in

Christianity, Vedanta, and Buddhism. He speaks of pacifism as the

highest expression of universal love; in Buddha's words, " To abide in

compassion and goodwill with no hate in your hearts. " Total

forgiveness is an ideal to which we aspire to the best of our

ability, and we must recognize that some people will achieve it more

readily than others.

 

Living for God rather than for the things of this earth brings

incalculable joy, despite apparent tribulations, and can be achieved

by correct discrimination between the eternal and the ephemeral.

Unless we fix our eyes on the divine and keep them there

unswervingly, we will not achieve spiritual realization, for we

cannot serve two masters. Spiritual life involves renunciation, which

means giving up selfishness rather than withdrawing entirely from the

world and its duties. Varying degrees of nonattachment and faith in

God apply to monks on the one hand, and householders on the other.

But ultimately, in order to live for God one must surrender oneself

to the divine presence.

 

The final chapter gives requirements for entering the Kingdom of

Heaven, and concerns judgment from two points of view. Firstly, there

is our temptation to judge others and, secondly, there is God's right

to judge us. To avoid hypocrisy, we must always try to see the good

in people, no matter how bad they may seem. At the same time we must

nurture an intense longing to discover God and seek to purify ourself

of all worldly lusts and passions. We must live according to two

commandments of the New Testament: that we love God with all our

heart and soul, and we do unto others as we would have them do unto

us. Similarly, the Mahabharata urges us to " treat others as thou

would'st be treated, " and the Buddhist eightfold path is also

relevant here. The " strait gate " Christ speaks of is the inner life

of spiritual awareness, as contrasted with the outer life of worldly

things. The spiritual path may be narrow and difficult to find and

follow, but it will ultimately lead to a conscious union with

Divinity.

 

The Sermon on the Mount (Book Review by Paul Rooke)