The Miracle of Christ - Talk by Swami Paramatmananda - Part 1

December 25, 2008

Greetings to everyone, to all of Amma's children on Christmas Eve.

Here in the western world, we're all familiar with Christmas Eve. It

is a time for everybody to get together and be happy, to exchange

presents, put up a Christmas tree and lights, and hopefully play in

the snow. But actually, the purpose of Christmas, like any religious

festival, is to provide us with an occasion to remember God, or in

this case, an Avatar of God -- Jesus.

Religious traditions survive for thousands of years, not only because

of the teachings of the truths that they declare, but also because of

the spiritual energy of the founder and the testimony of the

experiences of the devotees or followers, and of course because of

God's grace. Vyasa, Shankara, Buddha, Moses, Mohammed, Jesus, all of

these souls were inspired and were inspiring, and were all born with a

divine mission. They came to the earth for a particular purpose.

All of us who are sitting here have not come to the earth for any

particular mission. We have come here by the force of our past karma.

We are here to reap the fruits of our past karma. We haven't come here

intentionally; we've come here helplessly. Of course, you could say

we've made a choice and that's why we're here, but Avatars have a

particular mission. They come to this world to pursue a mission that

is in harmony with the Divine Will, which is always for the good of

humanity and all beings. Such Mahatmas will be equipped to achieve

that mission, and won't leave the earthly plane until he or she has

achieved it.

Usually such great souls come to reveal a new way of approaching the

Supreme Being, or to revive or purity and give new meaning to an

existing way. In the case of India, the Mahatmas that are born there

don't come to show any new way, but to revive the Sanatana Dharma. But

Avatars come for more than just that; they also come to inspire people

with faith and devotion towards themselves. It is not that they have

ego. They're not egomaniacs, but they are fully aware of their oneness

with God. They are the embodied forms of God, and so it is easy to

relate to them.

By seeking refuge in such incarnations as Krishna or Rama, we develop

a bond with them, a connection. They themselves have said, " If you

seek refuge in Me, I will save you from the terrible ocean of samsara,

of birth and death. " It is like a big bonus when God comes to this

world. He gives the chance to many, many souls to attain liberation

from samsara. This is one of His main intentions of coming to this

world. He is much more than just a Mahatma that comes to the world.

Mahatmas don't have that kind of power to take as many souls to come

to them across.

We come to Amma with so many worries. " Should I do this? Should I do

that? " And what does she say? " Don't worry! You've taken refuge in

Amma, you have devotion to Amma, you have faith in Amma. Why do you

worry about all these things? Do sadhana, practice devotion, and Amma

will look after the rest. " Who else can say that? No person can say

that and really mean it; no one has the power to do that. Avatars

stress upon this aspect of seeking refuge in them as the means to

attain liberation. It is there experience; they know that they are one

with the Supreme Being.

Veda Vyasa was born to codify the Vedas, which he felt were about to

be lost due to the passage of time. Shankaracharya clarified and

resuscitated the Vedanta philosophy, which also was getting lost in

the ritualism of Hinduism. Buddha did the same thing. He stressed upon

the Jnana marga, or path of knowledge and renunciation. He was a Hindu

prince, who renounced everything and went on to teach the path of

Self-knowledge, the essence of Hinduism. Moses came to reveal the

scriptures to the Jews, and Mohammed similarly revealed the Koran.

Jesus said, " Don't think that I came to destroy the law, or the

prophets. (In other words, what Moses revealed.) I did not come to

destroy, but to fulfill. "

Five thousand years ago in India, many people were praying to God for

relief from the oppressive rule of Maharaja Kamsa, who was living in

Mathura in North India. There were also many other evil kings alive at

that time. Even Mother Earth, Bhudevi, started praying to the Lord,

" Please come and relieve me of this burden of all these wicked people

on my surface. " Many people believe that the earth is not just a lump

of clay and stone, but rather the physical body of a divine soul. In

India we call her Bhudevi. Since things were really bad, the Lord

decided that He would come. He told the other celestial beings that

lived in His world, " You also go down there, and we will all have a

grand time. " In other words, it was going to be the Krishna leela, the

Krishna avatar.

He descended and lived for a hundred and twenty-five years on the

earth, destroying the bulk of the evildoers through the terrific

Mahabharata war. He revived the Sanatana Dharma and liberated many

beings, even wicked beings, from samsara, and inspired countless

devotees with faith in Him. That was five thousand years ago. He's as

fresh in the minds of His devotees today as He was when alive. There

are millions of people who are devoted to Bhagavan Sri Krishna, who

sing His bhajans and repeat His name. Such was His effect and His power.

Two thousand years ago in what is now known as Israel, the Romans were

ruling the roost. It was an extremely oppressive rule. Things were not

so good for Judaism either. The Pharisees or priests had a grip on the

people, on the power, but there were no Mahatmas. And if there is no

one who lives in God, who experiences God, then what is religion? It

is just like a body without a soul. The Jews were praying to God to

liberate them from Roman rule. Their scriptures said that God would be

coming someday. He would be called the Messiah, the Savior or Avatar

-- the incarnation of God. When Christ says that he did not come to

destroy but to fulfill, he was speaking of the Messiah.

We are blessed because we live at the same time as a divine being is

here on the earth. We are close to her; we are her devotees. Amma says

do japa, bhajans, follow the customs, meditate, observe the rules, but

that is only part of it. She also stresses upon love, kindness,

patience, getting rid of anger and ego. Nobody else tells us these

things. The saints have to tell us, and demonstrate it in their own

lives. In Amma's live we see selflessness, absence of base passions,

and the passion for Divine Love. Similarly, Christ did not tell

anybody to give up the rules of Judaism, but stressed kindness, love,

compassion, renunciation and faith through his short life.

(to be continued)

December 25, 2008

You want to separate and distance yourself from the attrocities and crimes

commited by Pope, Evagelicals and other denominations of Christianity?

Don't you think Vatican and other denominations using money and political power

commit unthinkable crimes even today?

I appreciate your " Unity' message thanks to Amma's teachings.

Why then Vatican and others call religions of Indian origin as Pagan culutre?

Being Indian, I grew up with a lot of respect for Christianity, and no doubt

they are very receiptivity to Hindu Saints from Swami Vivekananda, Srila

Prabhupada and now to Amma in the Western World, especially in USA.

But after seeing and reading daily the unpardonable ways of Church to take over

Temples lands illegally, immorally, spreading severely punishable hatred and

poison against Hinduism and a lot etc. I started hating Christianity.

Their strategy, planning, corrupting Indian polotical leaders to destroy temples

in India, etc.

is disturbing the social fabric in india.

There is a world of difference between a Western Christian and an Indian

Christian.

Indian Christian is made with tremendous poison against Hinduism.

I am not against Christianity but their plans in India.

Oum Namah Shivaayah!

--- On Thu, 12/25/08, daughterpranada <daughterpranada wrote:

daughterpranada <daughterpranada

The Miracle of Christ - Talk by Swami Paramatmananda - Part 1

Ammachi

Thursday, December 25, 2008, 9:46 AM