The Lost Truths of Jesus' Path to God The Inner and Outer Teachings Brought by Christ Did Jesus, like the ancient sages and masters of the East, teach meditation as the way to enter "the kingdom of heaven"? Were there "hidden teachings" given to his immediate disciples, which have been lost or suppressed through the centuries? Did he really teach that all non-Christians are excluded from God's kingdom? And does a literal reading of the Gospel truly probe the depths of his epoch-making message for humanity? Yes, yes, and two resounding no's, says Paramahansa Yogananda in The Second Coming of Christ, a monumental work on the "original teachings of Jesus." And his conclusions tally remarkably with religious scholars' ongoing explorations of the profound esoteric and experiential dimensions of early Christianity, as revealed in the "Gnostic gospels" and other recently discovered manuscripts lost since the second and third centuries. Following are some excerpts from the book: Hidden Truth in Jesus' Parables And the disciples came, and said unto him, "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?" He answered and said unto them, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given....Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." When Jesus was asked by his disciples why he taught the people in the subtle illustrations of parables, he answered, "Because it is so ordained that you who are my real disciples, living a spiritualized life and disciplining your actions according to my teachings, deserve by virtue of your inner awakening in your meditations to understand the truth of the arcane mysteries of heaven and how to attain the kingdom of God, Cosmic Consciousness hidden behind the vibratory creation of cosmic delusion. But ordinary people, unprepared in their receptivity, are not able either to comprehend or to practice the deeper wisdom-truths. From parables, they glean according to their understanding simpler truths from the wisdom I send out to them. By practical application of what they are able to receive, they make some progress toward redemption."... How do the receptive perceive truth, whereas the unreceptive "seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand"? The ultimate truths of heaven and the kingdom of God, the reality that lies behind sensory perception and beyond the cogitations of the rationalizing mind, can only be grasped by intuition  —  awakening the intuitive knowing, the pure comprehension, of the soul. All bona fide revealed religions of the world are based on intuitive knowledge. Each has an exoteric or outer particularity, and an esoteric or inner core. The exoteric aspect is the public image, and includes moral precepts and a body of doctrines, dogmas, dissertations, rules, and customs to guide the general populace of its followers. The esoteric aspect includes methods that focus on actual communion of the soul with God. The exoteric aspect is for the many; the esoteric is for the ardent few. Jesus the Oriental Christ  —  A Supreme Yogi Christ has been much misinterpreted by the world. Even the most elementary principles of his teachings have been desecrated, and their esoteric depths have been forgotten. They have been crucified at the hands of dogma, prejudice, and cramped understanding. Genocidal wars have been fought, people have been burned as witches and heretics, on the presumed authority of man-made doctrines of Christianity. How to salvage the immortal teachings from the hands of ignorance? We must know Jesus as an Oriental Christ, a supreme yogi who manifested full mastery of the universal science of God-union, and thus could speak and act as a savior with the voice and authority of God. He has been Westernized too much. Esoteric Truth Reveals the Universal Religion of God-Communion Exoteric reading of scripture engulfs in dogma the universality of religion. A panorama of unity unfolds in an understanding of esoteric truth....Divine incarnations do not come to bring a new or exclusive religion, but to restore the One Religion of God-realization. Many are the churches and temples founded in his name, often prosperous and powerful, but where is the communion that he stressed  —  actual contact with God? Jesus wants temples to be established in human souls, first and foremost; then established outwardly in physical places of worship. Instead, there are countless huge edifices with vast congregations being indoctrinated in churchianity, but few souls who are really in touch with Christ through deep prayer and meditation. Rediscovering the Heart of Jesus' Message The lack of individual prayer and communion with God has divorced modern Christians and Christian sects from Jesus' teaching of the real perception of God, as is true also of all religious paths inaugurated by God-sent prophets whose followers drift into byways of dogma and ritual rather than actual God-communion. Those paths that have no esoteric soul-lifting training busy themselves with dogma and building walls to exclude people with different ideas. Divine persons who really perceive God include everybody within the path of their love, not in the concept of an eclectic congregation but in respectful divine friendship toward all true lovers of God and the saints of all religions. The heart of the great dispensation of Jesus has survived not necessarily in any temporal power of an outer institution, but in those great devotees and saints whose protracted devotions and meditations established within them temples of Christ Consciousness and God-communion..... It is such saints and masters who have actually communed with God  —  those known to history as well as countless anonymous true souls devoted to Christ, hidden in monasteries and convents in wholehearted consecration  —  who have verily been the "rock" on which Jesus' inner church of Christ communion has endured these two thousand years. Universal Christ Consciousness appeared in the vehicle of Jesus; and now, through the Self-Realization Kriya Yoga teachings of meditation and these intuitionally received scriptural interpretations, the Christ Consciousness is coming a second time to manifest in the consciousness of true seekers of God. As you read the pages of The Second Coming, you will see the mist of difficulty, misunderstanding, and mystery about the words of Jesus lifted forever after the lapse of twenty centuries.

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