I was introduced to the Teaching of Paramahansa Yogananda over two
decades ago. His "Religious" teachings are of "The Science
of the Soul" not Sectarian Dogma. Of utmost importance to me is
confirmation of Reincarnation as pointed out by Swami Yogananda in His
Masterful Work "Autobiography of a Yogi" in Chapter 35 below.
I know I don't want to come back for another reincarnation so
I will commit to gaining control of the Life Force by practicing the Kriya Yoga
techniques of Swami Yogananda as taught in his lessons. Next week i will
discuss how and why Reincarnation was "take out of the Bible".
Chapter 35 The Christlike Life of Lahiri Mahasaya
"Thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness." In these words to John the Baptist, and in asking
John to baptize him, Jesus was acknowledging the divine rights of his guru.
From a reverent study of the Bible from an
Oriental viewpoint, and from intuitional perception, I am convinced that John
the Baptist was, in past lives, the guru of Christ. There are numerous
passages in the Bible which infer that John and Jesus in their last
incarnations were, respectively, Elijah and his disciple Elisha. (These
are the spellings in the Old Testament. The Greek translators
spelled the names as Elias and Eliseus; they reappear in the New Testament in
these changed forms.
The very end of the Old Testament is a
prediction of the reincarnation of Elijah and Elisha: "Behold, I will send
you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
Lord." Thus John (Elijah), sent "before the coming . . . of the
Lord." was born slightly earlier to serve as a herald for Christ. An
angel appeared to Zacharias the father to testify that his coming son John
would be no other than Elijah (Elias).
"But the angel
said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias; for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife
Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and though shalt call his name John. . . . And
many of the children if Isreal shall he turn to the Lord their God. And
he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people
prepared for the Lord."
Jesus twice
unequivocally identified Elijah (Elias) as John; "Elias is come already,
and they knew him not. . . . Then the disciples understood that he spake unto
them of John the Baptist." Again, Christ says: "For all the
prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it,
this is Elias, which was for to come."
When John denied that
he was Elias (Elijah), he meant that in the humble garb of John he came no
longer in the outward elevation of Elijah the great guru. In his former
incarnation he had given the "mantle" of his glory and his spiritual
wealth to his disciple Elisha. "And Elisha said, I pray they, let a
double portion of they spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a
hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be
so unto thee. . . . And he took the mantle of
Elijah that dell from him."
The roles became
reversed, because Elijah-John was no longer needed to be the ostensible guru of
Elisha-Jesus, now perfected in divine realization.
When Christ was
transfigured on the mountain it was his guru Elias, with Moses, whom he saw.
Again, in his hour of extremity on the cross, Jesus cried out the divine
name: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there,
when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. . . . Let us see
whether Elias will come to save him."
