The Christ To The Spiritual Aspirant
Sri Swami Krishnananda
Jesus, the Christ, the Light of the world, the Supreme Logos
made visible to the human eye, stands as an unparalleled example and pattern of
sacrifice, love, knowledge and realisation of Truth. To the Sadhaka or the
spiritual aspirant the person of Jesus reflects the art of the inner life, life
in the spirit. Christ, the Son of Man, representing the life and voice of
humanity and forming as it were the sum and substance of the essence of man,
is
the Son of God, the incarnate effulgence of the Sovereign of the Universe. It is
the crystallisation of spirit that we call the Mystic Christ, the Light that is
born to save the world of darkness. As the darkness of the world is not an
outward phenomenon, so is the remover of this darkness not a mere physical
personality. Great men are not seen from their bodies. It is not the form or the
body that is the great man. The great man is the behaviour, the conduct, the
character, the speech, the thought and conscious expression of any kind. From
these special characteristics the presence of the great man is inferred and
directly perceived. He is great who has comprehended that stupendous ocean of
Spirit, the Great God that twinkles in all eyes, that resides in the hearts of
all beings.
We have in Christ the great man of the Spirit, and his life is
a picturesque drama of Adhyatmika Sadhana or spiritual living. From his
manifestation to his re-absorption he displayed the magnificence of God and
established His Glory on earth. When the spiritual child is about to be born the
Ruler of the empire of darkness shall try to slay it and the child has to be
protected with great difficulty. Once the child grows up it shall take care of
itself. The individual person is the parent of the new-born spiritual boy and
let him guard it against the onslaught of the Ego, the king of this city where
the baby is born. Just at the time when the spiritual consciousness tries to
emerge out by gradual steps a natural revolt of the unspiritual forces is quite
inevitable. It is true that ghee is burnt up when it is poured into fire, but if
a maund of ghee is poured over a spark of fire, the spark will be extinguished.
When the spark becomes a huge conflagration any amount of ghee can be consumed
by it. In like manner, the worldly tendencies would overpower the spiritual
spark when it is in the infant stage, but the conflagration of spiritual
consciousness shall burn up worldly tendencies and all evil. What is called the
“dark night of the soul,” in the terminology of the mystics, is a stage
where the consciousness is smothered and is smouldering amidst the darkness of
ignorance. The birth of Sri Krishna is involved in similar circumstances and is
indicative of similar facts, and the first Chapter of the Bhagavadgita depicting
the dejection of spirit of the aspiring soul marks identical situations. The
spiritual self is bound to succeed, and destroy nescience root and branch.
The work of the manifesting Spirit is not complete even when
it has begun to keep through the vesture of flesh, after managing to save itself
from the attacks of the outward nature. The greater trouble arises from the
higher planes of nature. Difficult enough it is, no doubt, to pass through the
forest of the gross physical nature, but more difficult and hazardous is the
attempt to overcome the subtler forces of the vibrant mental nature which is the
pivot of outward universal activity. When the soul sheds sufficient light,
enough to blind the eyes of the psychological nature, a revolt of the latter
becomes the result. This revolt is now in no way advantageous to the lower
nature; for it only means the revelation of the extraordinary power of spiritual
knowledge and experience and the crucifixion of the flesh, the very playground
of the lower nature. The individualistic vestment is cast off, the turbulent
passionate nature is punished and the son of Man re-enters the Kingdom of God
which is the birthright of the son of God.
In Christ one finds the ‘Jivanmukta’ of the Indians. As
one standing at noon in cool waters up to the waist experiences cold and heat
simultaneously, the illumined sage moving on earth, with a body, experiences
bliss and trouble simultaneously, with his head and heart in Heaven and feet on
earth. Jesus came to make people understand and know in experience that the aim
of life is not to do something else, but to be something else. It
is not wrong action that should attract our attention and demand rectification,
but the organic defect in us which is the source and the root of wrong action.
Unless one is reborn there is no hope. To become something completely
different, to change one’s nature, to be initiated into the unique spiritual
experience, means dying to the life of flesh and being alive to the superior
awareness. It is not the ceremonial act of the Jew, but the
consciousness-experience of the Christian that is the ultimate solace of the
individual, that is at present confined to the narrow tabernacle which is the
abode of all corruption and pain. It is not subjection to rule and rigidity of
ritual that is the law of spirit, but perfect freedom in the Glory of
God-consciousness. Man is the child of the Universe by birth, but he is the
child of God by re-birth. Self-control and asceticism are the roads to inner
peace. The pleasures of the world are vain, tantalising and deceitful; they are
not worth being resorted to, He who loves the world loves not the Father.
Christ was conscious of Adhikaribheda among students of
spiritual knowledge and was particular to impart the higher wisdom to the
initiates alone, to those who are capable of rousing the inner consciousness,
while to the outwardly busy he spoke in parables. “Unto you is given the
mystery of the Kingdom of God; but unto them that are without, all things are
done in parables.” “And which many such parables spake he the word unto
them, as they were able to hear it; and without a parable spake he not unto
them: but privately to his own disciples he expounded all things.” Jesus has
clearly told his disciples that he had many other things which he wanted to
speak to them but which they could not understand. Jesus comes close to Hindu
and Buddhistic ideals in many respects, and sounds practically an echo of the
ethical teaching of these older religions. The death or non-existence of the
immediate personal existence is, to all these religions, the condition of the
new richer life.
To merge in the satiating waters of immortality, one must
first drink of the cup of death. No man on earth, generally speaking, is
prepared for this order. This, too, is illustrated in the life of Jesus. He
wished that the cup be taken away from him,—look at the force with which the
lower nature presses the soul,—but he opened his eyes and his vision became
clear, and he said: “Thy will be done.” The stresses of physical life
entangle the higher and nobler reaches of the soul, and to keep one’s balance
in the face of manifest hostility is indeed a tremendous task. It is given to a
very few like Jesus to dive into the depths constantly and regain the solacing
consciousness which is immaterial and trans-empirical. The whole life of Jesus
is one tale of the march of the soul to its destination which is the complete
unfolding of consciousness.
A life of mere negativity is not what is preached by Christ.
It is not only the emptying of the soul, the selling away of whatever we have,
the parting with everything that we possess, but the supreme fulfilment of
Spirit through divine contemplation. But the rejection of the outward show is a
necessary pre-condition of this divine fulfilment. We cannot fill a vessel with
nectar when it already contains filth to the brim. Spiritual life is at once the
transcending of the mundane consciousness and the saturation of oneself in the
metempirical Self-consciousness or God-consciousness.
The student or aspirant who wishes to lead the life ideal
should receive inspiration from the conduct of Jesus, from his life and
teachings, live a life of holiness and piety, embrace humility and poverty,
become a friend of the poor, love the neighbour as himself, sacrifice his all to
Him, suffer and weep for His sake, cast off the flesh and its passions, and die
to be born for the life eternal. It means the withdrawal of faith in things that
seem and perish resting on the firm belief in the omnipotence of the Maker of
all things, and caring not for oneself and one’s needs, for God shall take
care of all, with His simultaneous knowledge of past, present and future. This
reborn soul is the sage, the Rishi, the Mukta, the redeemed one who is one with
God. The son and the Father are one. The universe produces a rare ripe fruit of
a saint from its fine flower of virtue and knowledge, makes him the cream of
mankind and sacrifices him to the Great Father. Here is the consummation of
existence. Christ’s ascension to Heaven is regaining the Consciousness of God.
Christ was the matchless spiritual teacher who pointed out
that the Kingdom of Heaven is within. All his other teachings are a commentary
on this text. His teaching is summed up by his statement: “I and my Father are
one.” The individual soul is one with the Supreme Being. Ayamatma Brahma.
Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma. Jivo Brahmaiva Naaparah.
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