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Crystal Clarity Publishers - Hriman McGilloway

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Once and Future Christ: When East Meets West

There is a great need in these times for a deeper and more universal understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ. No mere intellectual analysis possesses the spiritual power and grace to transform the divisive dogma that separates sincere Christians from other faiths. The yogis of India, both ancient and modern, have gifted to the world a revelation of universality for the healing of the nations.

Paramhansa Yogananda came to America in 1920 to focus the light of India’s timeless and timely wisdom upon the teachings of Jesus Christ. In Once and Future Christ, Nayaswami Hriman McGilloway expands upon that message with the inclusion of modern scientific discoveries and an exploration of the similarities and relationships between Christianity and Yoga.

This book describes the inevitable evolution of Christian dogma towards greater inclusivity. The pathway of this future evolution leads to an understanding that the individual soul’s relationship to God is the goal of the spiritual life. The beauty, harmony and sacredness of individual spiritual traditions need not be sacrificed but may someday be understood in a deeper and more personally meaningful light.

Excerpt from Once and Future Christ

Preface

The Need and the Source

We live in an age where the need for a fresh understanding of God’s presence in our lives is great because the darkness of ignorance, too, is great. The potential to destroy ourselves and planet earth is all too present.

Adding to our predicament is the simple fact that religion — which ought to unite us in peace and harmony — tends to divide us. Why should the fact that great spiritual teachers and saints have lived in all lands and in all times be a source of conflict? It is not as though they disagree among themselves on whether we should strive to love God and to express that love to all.

Yet neither do we need a “one world” religion. The different religions reflect the variations in cultures and history and differing points of view of the single “elephant” of truth. The diversity that exists in the various faiths, prayers and rituals are precious and sacred.

What is needed is a new understanding of what the various faith traditions point to: the potential for the elevation of our human nature into our divine nature, into the image of our Creator.

What, then, divides people of faith from a new understanding? The first is the prejudice that orthodox believers of each religion have against other religions. The second is the disillusionment and skepticism of non-religionists who are put off by religious bigotry. It doesn’t help that this latter group gleefully contrasts the usefulness of science with the unprovable assertions of religious dogma. That dogmatists and skeptics alike might find renewed inspiration and acceptance would be an incalculable benefit to humanity. Truly the result would be, to quote the Book of Revelations, “the healing of the nations.”

Paramhansa Yogananda is known throughout the world as the author of what has become a twentieth century classic of spiritual literature, Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda was born in 1893 in India and came to America in 1920. He traveled through the United States attracting thousands to his lectures and classes, becoming one of the nation’s most sought-after inspirational speakers of the 1930’s. In 1925 he established the headquarters for his work in Los Angeles.

Yogananda was sent to the West to show that the same, unchanging divine message illuminates all true faiths. He gave special emphasis to the teachings of Jesus Christ (New Testament) and the teachings of Lord Krishna (Bhagavad Gita). His is not a syncretic concoction nor a dilution of their respective teachings into a tasteless alphabet soup of “-isms.” It was his intent, and the intention of those who sent him, to reveal the underlying unity and universal applicability of both Jesus’ message and that of Krishna. This book is inspired to both explain and to explore the details and implications of his insights into the teachings of these two illumined world teachers. I believe millions of Christians know intuitively that Jesus’ life and teachings are for everyone but, burdened by the exclusive claims of Christian dogma, too many Christians and Christian leaders feel they must view as second-class anyone who does not believe as they do.

Paramhansa Yogananda stated that “Jesus was crucified once but his teachings have been crucified daily ever since.” Yogananda coined the term “Churchianity” to distinguish the true teachings of Jesus Christ from the institutional teachings of the churches. His intention was not so much to criticize but to elevate and inspire. No organization holds a monopoly on truth and among sincere seekers is not truth crucified daily by human attachments and general ignorance? As Pontius Pilate asked Jesus: “What is truth?” As we see in the investigations of science, finding the truth behind the appearance of matter and energy is no simple or easy task.

Scholars and historians who have studied the history of Christianity testify to its ever-evolving forms, challenges, successes, and betrayals. And yet, it has survived, I believe, by the spiritual power of its underlying truth. Whatever one might say about Christians, churches, or Christianity, the life of Jesus Christ changed the course of history; it has produced great saints, great art, music, literature, and has inspired true seekers down through the ages. We acknowledge that abuses and grave errors have also occurred. Yogananda pointed out that the “true custodians of religion” are the saints, not the prelates and theologians. It is the saints who live, and not merely speak, the “truth that shall make us free.”

This book is based on the insights, commentaries, and intuitive realization of Paramhansa Yogananda who was one of the twentieth century’s spiritual giants.

In the Hindu “Bible,” the Bhagavad Gita, it is taught that in every age God responds to the silent prayers of human hearts and sends to earth God-realized souls to bring afresh the eternal message of our soul’s immortality.

In this book, I hope to share insights inspired by Yogananda’s original writings and by the writings of one of Yogananda’s most prolific and publicly active direct disciples: Swami Kriyananda, founder of the worldwide work called “Ananda.”

One of the most precious gifts that Yogananda brought to modern culture is meditation and the advanced technique of meditation that is called Kriya Yoga. But meditation and Kriya Yoga are not the focus of this book.

It would be a fair question to ask, “For whom has this book been written?” It is my sincere hope that Christians who seek in their hearts to expand beyond the exclusive claims of Christian dogma will find hope, inspiration, and wisdom for their courageous journey. And that those who love India’s timeless wisdom will enjoy seeing that wisdom shining through the words of Jesus Christ and the prophets.

An explanation here may be helpful. Paramhansa Yogananda did not approach the Bible in the manner of scholars. He did not examine the original meanings of Greek or Aramaic words, or their evolution; nor did he speculate on the errors or interpretations of translators; nor did he imagine conniving plots by theologians, or church administrators down through the centuries. Yogananda isn’t attacking anything or anyone. He is using the ancient wisdom of India to pierce the veil of Christian dogma to show their similarity. Having taken up residence and citizenship in America in the twentieth century, Yogananda brings a contemporary perspective and language to this task. Yogananda’s teachings are rooted in a worldview and spiritual tradition that reaches far back into the history of India’s greatest saints and sages. One need not be a follower of Yogananda to appreciate these insights. But I hope that those who are attuned to Yogananda will appreciate my attempt to share those insights.

Chapter 1 In the Beginning

Chapter 2 Creation, Creativity, and Science

Chapter 3 The Trinity

Chapter 4 Fall from Grace

Chapter 5 Garden of Eden

Chapter 6 But Why?

Chapter 7 Is the World but a Dream?

Chapter 8 The Meaning of Duality

Chapter 9 The Word Was Made Flesh

Chapter 10 The Soul’s Need for a Guru

Chapter 11 How Does God View Suffering?

Chapter 12 Who Is the Doer of All Actions?