Whether we are talking about the teachings of Jesus or Yogananda, it is clear that neither of them followed a typical marketing script. Both men exuded deep joy, profound love, and an expanded consciousness bordering on the Infinite. At the same time, the paths they extolled had nothing of the cheap grace so prevalent in today’s marketplace of religion and spirituality. Jesus and Yogananda challenged their followers (and us) to the core. Today’s Gospel from Mark 8:27-35 is a prime example:
“Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, ‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.’”
Let me be perfectly clear: neither mystical Christianity nor Kriya Yoga romanticize the reality of suffering, and they do not offer a masochistic spirituality. Both paths invite us to transition from operational frequencies that are energetically lifeless and fear-based to ones that are generative, expansive, and life-giving. This transition, however, does not unfold via flattering pronouncements or wish-fulfilling practices but through a deep process of letting go through the death of the ego. New life is always preceded by a death to the old life.
The world does not need our tired beliefs, and certainty not our self-righteous, self-centered perspectives. Rather, the world needs people who are big-hearted, creative, courageous, hope-filled, strong, and honest, who are in love with God and creation and willing to take risks. The world needs people who have died to the small self and risen in a divinized state. Indeed, Jesus and Yogananda are demanding avatars, but in return they offer us a conscious participation in the very life of the Divine.
Jesus, Divine Master,
Yogananda, Beloved Guruji,
I will take up my cross
And follow you.
Gospel Truth and Yogananda’s Wisdom
