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According to the Hindu belief system, OM (AUM), symbolizes
the eternal God and is the utterance that was, is and
will continue to exist eternally. This syllable is given
the highest importance. There is a great desire to experience
OM, yet very few can claim to have reached that state
of existence.
Various cultures in the human race have used similar
words to describe this eternal God. Some examples include
Tao (Chinese: the Great Way), Hu (Egyptian: Word that
created existence), Force or Odic (New Age: That which
pervades all nature) and Logos (Greek: Underlying order
of reality). We can fairly say that most cultures are
subconsciously aware of the presence of this entity
we call God.
For centuries we have tried to uncover the nature of
God. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes a moot point
when our finite mind tries to understand an infinite
God. Therefore, in our pursuit to experience God we
settle for simple fringe benefits such as "peace
of mind" or "centering" by daily repeating
mantras such as OM. Not to trivialize "peace of
mind," but an encounter with God must produce infinitely
more blessings than just that. Uncovering this mystery
could turn out to be the ultimate Christmas Gift. Let's
do some unwrapping!
What we have described so far is how it appears from
the human side. Are we willing to look at it from the
other side - the viewpoint of God? As the word Vedanta
(Veda - Knowledge, Anta - end) suggests, at the end
of this knowledge, we can take a step of faith. This
knowledge of the specific facts will be sufficient to
bridge the gap we have been experiencing. We will see
that God has taken huge strides to meet us.
The first piece of knowledge is that God is seeking
to be known. God desires to demystify Himself so that
humanity can know Him. As a result, God has come to
us as a human being.
In the beginning was the WORD, the WORD was with God
and the WORD was God. This is very similar to Logos,
OM, Tao, Hu or Force. However, the WORD became a human
to live amongst us. This is what Christmas is all about.
We celebrate that God became a person: Yeshu.
The second piece of knowledge is that God made provision
to remove the barrier that prevents us from uniting
with Him.
Depending on our belief system, we either believe that
our Karma or Maya (illusion or lack of self knowledge)
is the cause for our separation with God. Fortunately,
God's redemption plan librates us from both of these
inhibiting factors.
The Karma Factor: How many of us honestly believe that
we will receive Moksha in this life? Since none amongst
us are free from our Karmic debt, Yeshu became a human
to pay for it on our behalf. He did so by bearing our
punishment to the point of death. In other words, his
death frees us from our karmic debt. Therefore, we are
free to live lives in full surrender to God, obeying
God's instructions all the days of our lives.
The Maya Factor: God says we have to die to ourselves
and allow Truth (God) to live in us, to dispel Maya.
Sometimes we just go halfway; we just die to ourselves
(detachment), without inviting God to live in us. Please
allow me to explain. We say that God asks us to be detached
from ourselves, so that we can be free to be fully attached
to Him. So instead of self-realization, God is advocating
Yeshu Realization or God-Realization and God has gone
further and made a provision to make this a reality
in our lives.
Here is where it gets even better! After Yeshu died
and was resurrected, He gave us a gift. In fact, without
this gift we cannot unite with God. He gave us Himself
(as a Gift) in the form of Spirit. This gift revives
our spirit, and resides in us, so that we have the capacity
to connect with God without barriers. In fact, this
gift (God) becomes our internal guru, dispelling Maya
(darkness), leading and guiding us to become more like
Yeshu.
On this redemption path, God has become the Way, and
the Means for us to attain Mukti. Instead of human effort
to reach God, can we trust in God's effort to reach
us? Is this sufficient Veda for you to reach to Anta?
Are you able to believe this and take a step of faith
to connect with God?
This is not a call to join a religion or sect. If you
are ready to take the step, feel free to express this
to God, and unwrap the true Christmas gift. By taking
a step of faith, you get on the path God has made for
us. All who believe receive this Gift.
If you want to know more feel free to write to us at
YeshuSamaj (reach@yeshusamaj.org). This gift is for
all humanity; feel free to receive it with gratitude.
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