Hi,
I find your lessons intrguing. I am considering converting to Christianity, but like Yogananda mentioned, am afraid I might be responding to churchianity. I feel that I shoud uncover divinty in life, in each moment. I also feel that Jesus and Buddha have been pivotal figures in modern spirituality. However, they are probably misunderstood.
Seeing as Yogananda has written about Jesus as a person's personal saviour, I would like to know what is his view on Tongues? Thanks,J
—J, Brisbane
Dear J,
It being so near to Christmas, this is an opportune time to consider the distinction between Jesus, the historical religious figure, and the Christ.
Yogananda explainsthat the “Christ Consciousness” is a state of inner realization that had been achieved by Jesus, by Buddha, and by spiritual masters of various traditions.
More relevantly, it is a state, he assures us, which we also can achieve when we follow the inner path to enlightenment, or what Yogananda called “Self-realization.” Yogananda explains that we are safe from the deceptions of Maya when we are anchored in the state of Christ of Consciousness. In this sense, Christ is our salvation, and this is as true for a Buddhist or a Muslim as it is for a Christian.
One of the stages along the inner path to enlightenment is the ability to perceive the cosmic sound of creation, known in the Hindu philosophy as the AUM, in Christianity as the AMEN, in the tradition of Islam as the AMIN.
St.John refers to this sound at the beginning of his Gospel when he says, “In the beginning was the Word.” This Word, or cosmic vibration, is the basic building block of all sounds, and of all languages. This is what Yogananda writes about the day on which the close disciples of Jesus Christ were given the grace to perceive this cosmic sound:
All material human beings are prodigal sons who have left the home of Omnipresent Holy Ghost and have identified themselves with the infinitely smaller territory of the human body. This Holy Ghost is the Great Comforter. Being guided by the universal, reflected God-consciousness, it contains the all-coveted bliss of God.
One filled with this Holy Ghost, or Holy Vibration, can talk with the diverse tongues of inspiration of men, animals, and atoms.
Since all languages are productions of the Holy Ghost, when man can hear, touch, and spread in Aum (or cosmic sound emanating from Holy Ghost), then he can understand or utter all languages, not only of men, but also of all animals and all atoms too.
Holy Ghost, Aum of the Hindus, the Mohammedan Amin, the Christian Amen, Voice of Many Waters, Word are the same thing. Aum is called the Word because the Word signifies cosmic intelligent vibratory sound which is the origin of all sounds and languages.
This intelligent cosmic vibration or Word is the first manifestation of God in creation.
On the day of Pentecost the disciples were filled with the new wine of joy coming from the touch of Aum, or the Comforting Holy Vibration, and they could talk “in divers tongues.”
If you would like to further explore the inner meaning of the teachings of Christ, you might enjoy reading these books by Swami Kriyananda: The Promise of Immortality, and The Revelations of Christ, which you can find through the website of Crystal Clarity Publishers.
I wish for you a joyful, meaningful Christmas, a time when you experience within your heart the birth of Christ Consciousness.
