Swami teaches... In Honour of Jesus Christ

[Guest guest]

Light and Love

 

Swami teaches... (24 December 2004)

 

In Honour of Jesus Christ

The great teachers belong to mankind. It is wrong to believe that Jesus

belongs only to the Christians and the Christmas is a holy festival for the

West only. To accept one of them as one's own and discard the rest as belonging

to others, is a sign of pettiness. Christ, Raama, Krishna - they are for all men

everywhere.

The various limbs and organs together form a body; various nations and

communities together form the world. The stream of love, endowed by divine

grace, has to circulate in every state and community to make the world live in

peace and joy. If this truth is realised, there will arise no idea of

difference.

The moving water of a river has the moon in its depths; the still water of a

lake has also the moon underneath; the sky has the moon up above. The moon in

the flowing river is broken and fragmentary, it flows fast, apparently, with

the floods. The moon in the lake is calm, unmoved, undistracted. These two are

but reflections of the real moon in the sky. The real moon in the sky is the

eternal witness, the absolute, the primal principle.

Christ spoke of these three, when He made, one after the other, three

statements. Referring to the active individual soul, the flickering moon, he

said, "I am the messenger of God;" referring to himself as the Yogi, who has

risen beyond dualities, and attained balance, he said, "I am the son of God".

Realising that these two are but reflections, and that the real moon is the

witness in the sky, that he too is the formless, nameless absolute, he

declared, towards the end of his life, "I and my father are one".

Jesus taught simple practical lessons in spiritual advancement for the good

of mankind; he manifested divine powers to instil faith in the validity of his

teachings; he marked out the path that can confer on men the sweet nectar of

Aanandha. He exhorted people by precept and example to cultivate the virtues of

charity, compassion, forbearance, love and faith. These are not separate and

distinct qualities, they are only the many facets of the divine in man, which

he has to recognise and develop.

Let us pay attention to the sacrifice that Jesus made while free, out of his

own volition. He sacrificed his happiness, prosperity, comfort, safety and

position; he braved the enmity of the powerful. He refused to yield or

compromise. He renounced the 'ego', which is the toughest thing to get rid of.

Honour him for these. He willingly sacrificed the desires with which the body

torments man; this is sacrifice greater than the sacrifice of the body under

duress. The celebration of his birthday has to be marked by your sacrificing at

least a desire or two, and conquering at least the mere disastrous urges of the

ego.

 

The lives of such personalities are lived out, in order to establish the

welfare of humanity, the prosperity and peace of the world, and individual

liberation from bondage to sensual desires and passions. This is illustrated by

the strange phenomenons that occur at the time of their advent. It is believed

that when Christ was born there were such manifestations.

Appearances of splendour, and other signs to herald the era that has dawned

are natural when incarnations happen on earth. Jesus was to shatter the

darkness that had enveloped the world and the aura of light was a sign that

announced the event. The masters arrive in answer to man's prayer. "Thamaso Maa

Jyothir Gamaya" (Lead us from darkness unto light!).

 

If each one does his duty, in the spirit of dedication, the light can

illumine all, but, if the doors of the heart are shut against the light, how

can darkness disappear? You cannot sit back, and expect the incarnation to

bring peace and joy into you. The incarnation comes to warn, to guide, to

awaken, to day down the path, and shed the light of love on it. But, man has to

listen, learn and obey with hope and faith.

At the moment when Jesus was merging in the supreme principle of divinity,

he communicated some news to his followers.

The statement itself has been manipulated and tangled into a conundrum. The

statement of Christ is simple: "He who sent me among you will come again!" (By

Christ's statement "He" is Swami "who will come again").

The great axioms of Bhaaratheeya culture found in the Vedhas - "God is the

inner motivator of all beings. All this is Vaasudheva, the divine" - are to be

in every one. This is the inner mystery of incarnation, God incarnating in all!

All are one; the one is all. (Compilation and extracts from: Bhagawan Sathya Sai

Baba Divine Discourses "He Whom Christ Announced," 24 December 1972. Bangalore).

 

 

Namaste - Reet