Week 14: Who is This Son of Man?
(Palm Sunday)
Rays of One Light: Weekly Commentaries on the
Bible and The Bhagavad Gita
by Swami Kriyananda
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! The Lord bless the king of Israel!”
(John 12:13)
O Infinite Light!
Thy radiance, spreading o’er the universe,
Shines into the very darkest abyss!
Thy voice o’erwhelms the roar of cosmic cataclysms!
Lo! the myriad stars are Thy diadem;
Thy scepter radiates power everywhere!
O Immortal Brahman, Lord of all:
Again and again at Thy feet of Infinity
I lie in prostration before Thee!
Excerpted from Week 14 Who is This son of Man?
Tune us, That we may Hear Thy Voice
By Paramhansa Yogananda
From the Book Whispers From Eternity
Volumes of Thy savior voice resound through the loudspeaker of every loving heart. The voice of Thy wisdom roams through the ether of space, seeking everywhere hearts that are tuned to ecstasy. Sadly, Thy warning sermons pass unheard by souls deafened with the static of sense pleasures. O Divine Broadcaster, tune our souls, long distracted by the static of our indifference. “Fine tune” us with the delicate touch of soul-perception. Grant us the privilege of hearing Thy magic melodies in the ecstasy of divine awakening!
What inspired me from this week’s reading from the Rays of One Light was…
Jesus Christ had told the people, “The son of man must be lifted up.”
How did Jesus Christ Uplift Others
Paramhansa Yogananda said from his book The Second Coming of Christ that…
Jesus knew that he was the pioneer of a great movement to uplift
mankind, so he chose twelve disciples to be apostles who could preach the truth by example and who could heal physical sickness due to disease of the body, mental sickness due to psychological errors of the mind, and soul
sickness due to inner ignorance; and to cast out devils or dislodge metaphysical ignorance lodged in the three bodies of man, and also free souls from the possession of evil agents.
The woman of Samaria told of the telepathic power of Jesus, which he demonstrated to her, not for the sake of satisfying her curiosity, but for the purpose of lifting her from the pitfalls of error.
A Spiritual teacher of high standing only demonstrates the power of the mind in order to glorify God, not himself.
He turns the attention of his students, not to the delusive desire of acquiring miracles, but to God alone.
In the course of planting the seed of God-Wisdom in a Soul, a Master Mind is entirely guided by God as to whether he shall draw the student to truth by the demonstration of miracle, or by the pure magnetic power of undiluted God-devotion.
Those teachers who demonstrate miracles without consulting God usually love to advertise their own little power, and thus fall away from concentrating upon the mightiest miracle of all miracles – God.
Most people are attracted to a teacher through the testimonial…
Jesus, actuated by Divine Will, tried to uplift the woman of Samaria by the demonstration of a miracle. Most people are attracted to a teacher through the testimonial of benefited students, but there are others who have the keen perception to recognize and believe in a teacher by tuning in with his emanating Spiritual vibrations.
There were others who believed in Jesus, not through the testimony of the woman of Samaria, but after they heard Him and felt His Spiritual vibrations within them. It is all right to believe in the testimony of a student about a teacher or a Truth, but it is better for real students to satisfy their own hearts by trying out the Truth, or by contacting the teacher, and thus place their convictions on the indestructible foundation of wisdom, and not on the shaky basis of doubt.
Palm Sunday
Swami Kriyananda was able to demonstrate this truth by following the guidance and the attunement of his Guru Paramhansa Yogananda.
By walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and creating uplifting music for others and the world so that we can also experience the teachings of Jesus Christ in a unique way.
Swami Kriyananda created the Oratorio – Christ Lives to help us all, to attune to the deeper meaning of Jesus Christ's life through his music. The Oratorio is performed every year in all the Ananda Centres worldwide and Ananda Village.
Here is a performance by the Ananda Worldbrotherhood Choir in Palo Alto, 2008.
Palm Sunday Lyrics
Sing out Hosanna to the son of David!
Bless’d he that cometh in the name of God.
Sing out Hosanna in the highest.
Sing Hosanna to the Lord!
Meditation & Uplifting Exercise with
Paramhansa Yogananda,
Jesus Christ & Swami Kriyayanada
Let prepare ourselves now for our uplifting exercise and Meditation…
Let’s think about all the teachers in our lives, this could be your children, friends, family, partner, school teachers, music, animals, people who you work with, a project, hobby, the saints, masters, God, nature, meditation, yoga, healing or even you.
And think about how they have helped you to feel uplifted in your life...
Now let's tune into the vibration of Paramhansa Yogananda by visualising that he is here with us and he is now guiding us into this meditation, visualise him saying these words to you
“Most people are attracted to a teacher through the testimonial of benefited students, but there are others who have the keep perception to recognize and believe in a teacher by tuning in with his emanating Spiritual vibrations”.
Let's spend a few minutes in silence digesting what he is communicating to us.
Can you identify this truth to be true in your life?
Now let's go back to all the teachers in our lives who have uplifted us and think about how was you attracted to them. Was it because of a testimonial, was it because of miracles, was it because of a recommendation, was it because you had seen changes in others, or was it because a person was popular, or how someone was dressed, or because they were beautiful or maybe what music somebody liked…
Now let's take this deeper and ask ourselves the question did we believe in our teacher by tuning into the spiritual vibrations, did we attune to our hearts?
Jesus Christ
Let's spend some time now with Jesus Christ by looking at his picture….
Take a deep breath and connect to your heart and ask him to be your friend, your companion and ask him to show you how we can attune ourselves to his spiritual vibrations…Trusting your intuition from what you feel within yourself…
I will now read the words from a song composed by Swami Kriyananda In The Spirit which was gifted to him by Jesus Christ.
So let's just spend a few moments visualising Swami Kriyananda and feeling the spiritual vibrations that he felt when he received the song In The Spirit from Jesus Christ.
In The Spirit
By Swami Kriyananda
Lyrics
I was caught up in ecstasy:
’Twas a day sanctified by God.
There He showed me the truths of heaven,
Truths which all, seeking Him, should know:
How the soul, made to live in freedom,
Can reclaim its eternal right;
How the night, born of our delusions,
Can be fired, blazing with His light.
Lets Meditate in Silence for a While…
Completion
When we give ourselves permission to stop and turn inwards and seek the truth, which is God, and go beyond the word God and our outer meaning of God. And we allow ourselves to connect to the truth the spiritual vibrations of God through the heart.
The Spiritual Vibrations of God will bring us Upliftment it will free our soul, it releases us from our bondage and our attachment from our doubts, our ego, and the outer things of the world. We then begin to build a foundation that opens us up to the truth, we have always been searching for that resides within and only for you…
Aum Peace Amen
Blessings and Love
Rev Dinah Pemberton