Revelations of Christ
Excerpts from the Book

“The criterion of what it means to be a good Christian has been diluted by what Yogananda called ‘Churchianity.’ Nowadays, the usual criterion of a good Christian is someone who merely believes in Jesus Christ, and accepts him as his own ‘personal’ Savior. A person may go regularly to church, be a good neighbor to others, help the needy, and be kind to all, but who tells him that he must also be conscious of his inner need to know God? Spiritual half-heartedness is what Jesus Christ meant when he said, ‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.’ (Matt. 7:21) In the preceding verse he said also, ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’“

“ The danger of intellectual scholars to religion is not merely theoretical. Surveys of present-day Christians show that a high percentage of them feel shaken in their faith by scholarly claims that challenge the very authenticity of the Gospels. Not a few such claims have been aired, without proper authentication, in works of pure fiction. Others have been made by scholars who, though serious, demonstrate a lamentable absence of spiritual insight. In both cases, the claims to authenticity are based on the supposed antiquity of their sources, supported by a skillful misuse of reasoning.” (pages 27-28)

“ Declarations by the great masters in all religions, though not always exactly coinciding, have shown a remarkable unanimity with respect to the highest truths. Any differences, in other words, between the statements of a Self-realized saint in one religion and those of another saint in some other religion are due simply to differences of culture and environment and to people’s temporal needs.”

“ Jesus Christ was sent to earth to proclaim the Heavenly Father’s love for us all, and to awaken love in our hearts for Him. Science has shown us a universe, however, too vast to have been created by any man-like Father figure. Science’s view, however, is also limited. Whatever, or Whoever, brought everything into existence created also human beings with human feelings, and with individual appreciation for parental love, filial love, romantic and friendly love. If that Infinite One is omniscient, then He certainly knows our innermost feelings, no matter how often science with its dry, factual outlook on reality scoffs at the idea of a Being infinitely superior to the scientists themselves, far beyond their intellectual games, lambent with tenderest feelings of love for us all, unceasingly forgiving, and awaiting only our love in return to bring us back to Himself.”

“ This book is a humble offering to you, the reader, of explanations given by Paramhansa Yogananda, who opened the teachings of Jesus Christ to the world. I write in the conviction that, though it may always be possible to imagine new facts, one can never create new truth. Truth does, however, assume ever-new expressions, like the leaves of a tree which are generically the same, though every leaf is unique and different from all its fellows. Even so, differing expressions of the timeless truth are only outer sheaths for the one and only, changeless and eternal Truth, which pervades the whole universe.”

“ For as the electron (the ultimate ‘building block’ of material creation), is basically the same everywhere, so life, aspiration, love, and fulfillment are the same in all creatures, albeit more consciously so in human beings. The truths of consciousness everywhere must be universally the same, then, and – given all that we know of life – must also be eternal.”

“ The ultimate goal of all seeking is Bliss – Consciousness, which resides at the calm, unmoving center of all existence. This Reality is ever-conscious, omniscient, and self-aware. It is loving in both a personal and an impersonal, universal way: impersonal, because it seeks nothing for itself; personal, because it seeks supernal blessing, eventually, for every living creature.”

“ Paramhansa Yogananda stated that to ‘receive’ Christ means to receive Christ’s presence consciously and inwardly, on a soul level, which is to say, in a deep state of ecstasy. Anything else than that is superficial and should not be taken seriously, since it produces no real or lasting change in a person’s consciousness and no increase of spiritual power (such as one would expect of a ‘son of God’)”.

“… many Christians have found themselves standing not so firm. Their faith has been shaken, and their perception of reality, confused. The churches today are in a state of serious crises. For these reasons, there is an urgent need today to bring to the attention of Christians everywhere the thrilling and insightful commentaries of Paramhansa Yogananda. Because his deep insights have come from outside the normal orthodox enclosure, they carry a freshness and clarity which have been somewhat dimmed by centuries of theological debate, rendering it very hard to achieve understanding within the ‘fold’ of Christianity.”

“Thus Divine Consciousness was described by Paramhansa Yogananda as, ‘center everywhere, circumference nowhere.’ This, surely, is what Jesus meant also when he said, ‘Neither shall they say, lo here! Or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.’

“Many teachings in the Bible are either allegorical or metaphorical. This statement of Jesus, however, is more suggestive than allegorical. ‘Within what?’ one asks. Kingdoms cover large expanses of territory. What could Jesus have meant by this implication that God’s vast kingdom lacks any outward vastness at all?

“ Let us begin with the most literal explanation: God, resting at the center of everything, dwells at the heart of every atom. He knows us human beings from the ‘inside, out’, and perceives the least flicker of our thoughts and feelings. In a true sense, indeed, He is those thoughts and feelings.”

“ In truth, what it means to be saved is to be freed from ego-consciousness, in the realization that God is the One, only, and eternal Truth: the Sole reality behind every deed, every thought, every feeling of all beings, all inanimate-seeming objects in the universe. Our little, egoic selves will be with us until we break at last out of our walls of limited self-definition, and expand our consciousness to become one with our eternal, true Source which is God, the Supreme Spirit: Ever-existing, ever-conscious, Ever-new Bliss.” (page 162)

“ The following truths, then, must be clearly understood. Let me enumerate them:

1) All spiritual awakening depends on what we make of ourselves inwardly, and is minimally affected by outward material, social, or physical improvements.

2) The highway to God is the spine, and not some fancied outward ‘stairway to the stars.’

3) True spiritual awakening depends on intense aspiration, and also on serious effort expended to keep one’s consciousness uplifted toward God. The Lord has no favorites. ‘God,’ as Yogananda put it, ‘chooses those who choose Him.’ You will win the Lord’s favor not by superficial efforts, such as giving to charity (which is, for all that, a self-uplifting act, and will create good karma for you), but by sincere love for Him in your heart. Outward acts cannot ever, in themselves, bring inner spiritual freedom.”

“ Christians as a whole have failed fully to understand how very impersonal Jesus was in all his references to himself. When, by contrast, he seemed quite self-assertive, it was always when speaking of the divine Self – as, for instance, when he said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but my me.’ (John 14:6) His meaning, in such statements, was cosmic. His reference was to the omnipresent Christ consciousness, which alone was truly manifested through him. On the other hand, he never accepted personal praise. Rigidly, rather, he turned it away from himself toward God, as the sole reality.”