The Miracle of Christ - Talk by Swami Paramatmananda - Part 9 - Conclusion

[Guest guest]

[continued from a talk given by Swami Paramatmananda while he was in

residence at MA Center between 1990 and 2001]

 

On the third day, some of his lady disciples came there and found that

the tomb was open. They looked in. The clothes were there, but he had

vanished. There were two men standing nearby who were blazing with a

spiritual glow. They said, " Why do you look for the living among the

dead? He's not here. He has risen. Remember what he said to you, that

the son of God must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be

crucified, and on the third day he will rise again? "

Then the ladies remembered his words and went to the disciples and

told them that Christ had risen. Nobody believed it. In another place,

two disciples were walking down the road about seven miles from

Jerusalem. They were talking about Christ's death and were very

depressed. They were miserable that their Guru had been killed by all

those sinners.

Suddenly a man came up behind them and started walking with them. He

said, " What are you talking about? "

They replied, " Are you the only person in this whole country that

doesn't know what happened? "

" What happened? "

They told him about Christ. Hearing that, he told them about the

teachings that were in the scriptures about the coming of the Messiah.

He said the Messiah would rise after three days and come back to life.

They were wonderstruck that this man knew all this even though he

wasn't even a disciple.

They finally reached an inn. They shared some food and broke the bread

and gave some to him. As they were looking at him, they realized that

he was the Christ. Before that, they did not recognize him. Why? He

did not allow that to happen. He clouded their minds, but as soon as

they recognized him, he disappeared.

Later, he reappeared before the main group of disciples who were

hiding out in Jerusalem. Their Guru had been killed. They thought that

perhaps now they were going to be killed, so they were very afraid and

were hiding in some house. He appeared before them and said, " Peace be

to all of you. " But they were terrified; they thought it was a ghost.

Christ said, " Why are you troubled? Why do you doubt? Look at my

hands, look at my feet. It is me! Touch me! Does a ghost have flesh

and blood and bones? " When he said this, he showed his hands and feet

and they couldn't believe it. He said, " Do you have any food here? "

still trying to make them understand.

When they gave him some fish, he took it and ate it, since ghosts

don't eat physical food. Then he said, " These are the words which I

said to you while I was still with you. All things must be fulfilled

which were written in the scriptures concerning me. " Then he opened

their minds, he made their understanding blossom that they may

understand the truth of the scriptures and of who he was.

He said, " It was thus written that it was necessary for me to suffer

and to rise again on the third day, and that repentance and

forgiveness should be preached in my name to all nations. You are the

witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of God with you.

But wait in Jerusalem until you are imbued with the power of God. " He

blessed them and disappeared.

They came back to Jerusalem. Seven weeks after he died, they were all

in a room when suddenly a roaring sound was heard. It was like a rush

of wind, and then there appeared fire in the room. One flame of fire

came out of this mass of fire and started touching all the disciples.

At that moment, they started speaking languages that none of them

knew, speaking in tongues.

There were many people in the city from many different countries, who

heard the uproar coming from this house. They wondered, " All these

people are from Galilee. How do they know all these languages? They

must be drunk. " One of the disciples said, " We're not drunk. Who gets

drunk at eight o'clock in the morning? It is God's grace that is

allowing us to do this. "

They became very bold and very eloquent, and talked about Christ, and

performed miracles. This fire was the power of God given to them. They

got the authority at that moment to talk about their Guru. The priests

kept saying, " If you don't stop this nonsense, we're going to kill

you. " But they replied, " You just try. We have to obey God. We're not

going to obey what man says. " Crowds started to gather around them.

Thousands of people were attracted by them.

Stephen was the first disciple to be murdered. He was a very powerful

speaker, full of Christ's presence. The Jews couldn't put up with him

anymore and so they framed him. They had some people claim that he did

something bad, so he was dragged into the court.

" You said that Christ was going to destroy the temple and throw out

all the laws. "

Stephen replied, " You stiff necked ones. You always resist God's grace

as your fathers did. Which of the prophets did your fathers not

persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of Christ, whom

you have murdered. "

When the priests heard these words, they were really angry and chased

him out of town, where they stoned him to death. As he was dying, he

said, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Don't charge them with this

sin. " Almost all of Christ's disciples died like this. They were all

either stoned to death or crucified -- just like him.

When Peter was about to be executed, he requested that he be crucified

upside down, topsy-turvy with his head pointed down towards the earth.

When asked why, he replied,

" This world is upside down. The way all of you people think and see

things is all topsy-turvy. It is perverted. I don't think I'm worthy

to die the same way that my Guru, my Master died. So let me die with

my head down instead of up. " And so it was.

The disciples started out as ordinary fishermen, and through this

great Mahatma's association -- through his words, through his power --

they became courageous fishers of men. They had intense faith in their

Guru, to the extent that they did not even care if they had to die

serving him or in faith to him. That gave them the courage to die with

surrender.

May we all be blessed with that kind of living faith in our Guru -- in

Amma. May we have no doubt that Amma's power can liberate us from the

ocean of samsara. And a Merry Christmas to everyone.

 

 

--

 

[From " Talks " , by Swami Paramatmananda, Volume 6, which comprises

tapes 34-40]