RE: Astrology, Omar Khayyam, and Yogananda
For books and products there is an online catalog at www.yogananda-srf.org.
Yogananda's interpretation of the Second Coming of Christ is not that the body will return, but that Christ CONSCIOUSNESS will. In my view, that is much more important.
My spiritual beliefs tend to be a blend of Self Realization teachings and What the Bleep Do We Know? (coming to London in May - a MUST SEE!) www.whatthebleep.com for more info.
RE: Astrology, Omar Khayyam, and Yogananda
Thanks, NoP.
For what it matters, that's also my view of the Second Coming, and the only kind of 'coming' that could possibly matter or have any positive effect. No individual (such as Jesus returning physically and publicly) can actually affect the consciousness of others (all of humanity!), or not much or many. We see that in the life of Jesus: he inspired some, but their change was also more importantly self-change; if they didn't want it, such as Judas, they didn't get it. And as soon as a Chist-figure is gone, the whole race reverts back anyway.
The idea that a physical 'Second Coming' of another person - Jesus - is required by us harks right back to the false Christology of the vicarious atonement or vicarious path of Christendom: Jesus will do it for us, and we need him as we cannot do it ourselves. It's also the repetitive message of Benjamen Creme, alas, whose message is that the Christ figure will appear (though he never does on the dates given ;)) to redistribute wealth as in communism. LOL, that would hardly bring peace, as freedom-lovers would withstand such oppression.
So the only real meaning of a coming of the 'Christ' is in fact the rising of that consciousness of all. So in this view, the 'first coming' was really but an example, Jesus as an example of what all men can be. Again, for what it matters, my view is that Jesus himself cannot 'come again' since he never went away.
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The thread has touched upon maya, and I just re-read Yogananda's wonderful experience in which he was given a vision in his youth of what it is like to dwell, if only temporarily at that time, outside of some (not all) of maya:-
"Mukunda!" Sri Yukteswar's voice sounded from a distant inner balcony.
I felt as rebellious as my thoughts. "Master always urges me to meditate," I muttered to myself. "He should not disturb me when he knows why I came to his room."
He summoned me again; I remained obstinately silent. The third time his tone held rebuke.
"Sir, I am meditating," I shouted protestingly.
"I know how you are meditating," my guru called out, "with your mind distributed like leaves in a storm! Come here to me."
Snubbed and exposed, I made my way sadly to his side.
"Poor boy, the mountains couldn't give what you wanted." Master spoke caressively, comfortingly. His calm gaze was unfathomable. "Your heart's desire shall be fulfilled."
Sri Yukteswar seldom indulged in riddles; I was bewildered. He struck gently on my chest above the heart.
My body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs as if by some huge magnet. Soul and mind instantly lost their physical bondage, and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every pore. The flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness I knew that never before had I been fully alive. My sense of identity was no longer narrowly confined to a body, but embraced the circumambient atoms. People on distant streets seemed to be moving gently over my own remote periphery. The roots of plants and trees appeared through a dim transparency of the soil; I discerned the inward flow of their sap.
The whole vicinity lay bare before me. My ordinary frontal vision was now changed to a vast spherical sight, simultaneously all-perceptive. Through the back of my head I saw men strolling far down Rai Ghat Road, and noticed also a white cow who was leisurely approaching. When she reached the space in front of the open ashram gate, I observed her with my two physical eyes. As she passed by, behind the brick wall, I saw her clearly still.
All objects within my panoramic gaze trembled and vibrated like quick motion pictures. My body, Master's, the pillared courtyard, the furniture and floor, the trees and sunshine, occasionally became violently agitated, until all melted into a luminescent sea; even as sugar crystals, thrown into a glass of water, dissolve after being shaken. The unifying light alternated with materializations of form, the metamorphoses revealing the
RE: Astrology, Omar Khayyam, and Yogananda
FYI: I just ordered The Second Coming of Christ from amazon.com. I got a new one for less than the cover price! Yippee! Can't wait!
I copied this from the review section, quoting Yogananda:
Yogananda said, "In titling this work The Second Coming of Christ, I am not referring to a literal return of Jesus to earth. He came two thousand years ago and, after imparting a universal path to Gods kingdom, was crucified and resurrected; his reappearance to the masses now is not necessary for the fulfillment of his teachings. What is necessary is for the cosmic wisdom and divine perception of Jesus to speak again through each ones own experience and understanding of the infinite Christ Consciousness that was incarnate in Jesus. That will be his true Second Coming."