After all, Ananda’s primary focus is in the practice of yoga: Ananda Yoga for the body; Raja Yoga for the mind; Kriya Yoga for the soul! So, why, then, do we celebrate Christmas with nativity scenes, the Three Wise Men, gift giving, and the adoration of the Christ child?
There are a number of reasons. They include:
- A special relationship exists between Yogananda, Jesus and the three “wise men”
- A new dispensation of universal understanding has come to reconcile east and west
- A new understanding of the divinity of Christ is needed
- The time has come to affirm the Christ-potential of all people
- True communion is “inner” communion through meditation
- The “second coming of Christ” is personal and individual, not historical
Paramhansa Yogananda (whose teachings we share) encouraged and enjoyed both the social and the spiritual aspects of Christmas. There exists a special relationship between Yogananda’s lineage and Jesus Christ. During the hey day of Yogananda’s lectures and tours of American cities, Yogananda stated that the three wise men were none other than his guru-preceptors: Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar (in former incarnations). He also called his ministry the “Second Coming of Christ!” It’s surprising, looking back, that he wasn’t crucified by orthodox Christians!
What did he mean by “second coming?” Was it a personal boast? The basis for this claim relates both to Jesus’ own prediction and to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and who we are. Too much is made in religion in regard to the persona of great preceptors like Jesus or Krishna. Yogananda taught that Jesus is not some God-made puppet: a unique creation of God. Jesus achieved becoming “one with the Father” through many incarnations. He is different from us only to the degree of that Self-realization.
“Christ” is a title, as “Krishna” is a title. In each, and in other Christ-like sages throughout history, such souls have achieved the realization that their essence, like you and I, and, indeed every atom of creation, partake in the divine essence: the manifestation of God in creation and as creation! It is this “Christ consciousness” that is the “only-begotten” of the Father Spirit (the “Father”) who is beyond and untouched by His creation. (The Holy Spirit, or Divine Mother, is the vibratory nature and essence of all created things.)
Yogananda taught Jesus himself appeared to the great avatar of India, Babaji, asking Babaji to send someone to the West to bring meditation — the art & science of true (inner) communion — back to the West. Kriya Yoga is the essential technique that Yogananda brought for this purpose. “The time for knowing God has come!” Yogananda thundered during his public lectures!
The second coming of Christ, he said, occurs when this indwelling “Christ consciousness” is born within our own hearts: in the still, darkened, humble manger of our sincere devotion. Through direct, personal perception of divinity within us, we can perceive the Christ in all, and in all creation. Thus it is that meditation and especially kriya yoga (an advanced form of meditation) has come to unite East and West!
Christmas, then, is, for us at Ananda, an affirmation and celebration of our oneness as children of God. Our devotion to Jesus Christ rests upon our recognition of his realization of his soul’s innate divinity and of our own potential for Self-realization. It is with joy, then, and fellowship that we affirm and celebrate our own Christ-like potential: God’s promise to us of our immortality in Him.