Sri Sathya Sai on Jesus Christ – Part 2 (The Spiritual Evolution from Jesus to Christ)

… Continued from Part 1

Every human being is potentially a messenger of God. But, today, men have become messengers of the Lord of Death. They are traitors to their true human state. Humanness demands that everyone should manifest the Divinity within him. Everyone should be a real messenger of God and strive to promote-peace and security in the world. There is no other path to be followed. God’s message is sacred and totally free from self-interest.

(Here Swami narrated the story of the three kings visiting new born Jesus in the manger) A lover of God is a messenger of God. The one whom God loves is a ‘Son of God’. When one experiences both of these, he becomes one with God- ‘Father and Son is one’.

Therefore, at the outset you must prepare yourselves to be messengers of God. This means that you should live up to the message of God. The message calls for service to all. Compassion, morality and integrity are essential elements in the message. In propagating this message faith in God should be promoted. Love should be the watchword. The absence of love gives rise to hatred.

“Realise God through Pure Love”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 28, December 25, 1995, Prasanthi Nilayam 

Jesus was Karana-Janma, a Master born with a purpose, the mission of restoring love, charity and compassion in the heart of man. He had no attachment to the self, nor paid any heed to joy or sorrow, loss or gain. He had a heart that responded to the call of anguish, and He went about the land preaching the lesson of love. His life was a libation for the upliftment of humanity. Like most seekers, He first searched for the Divine in the objective world. But He soon realised that the world is a kaleidoscopic picture created by one’s own imagination, and sought to find God within Himself. His stay in the Himalayan monasteries in Kashmir and in other centres of eastern asceticism and philosophical inquiry, gave Him greater awareness. From the attitude of being a Messenger of God, He could now call himself the Son of God. The bond of relationship increased, the ‘I’ was no more some distant light or entity; the light became a part of the “I.” With the body-consciousness predominant, He was a messenger. With the heart-consciousness in the ascendant, He felt a greater nearness and dearness, and so the son-father bond seems natural at this stage.

Later as the Atman-consciousness was established, Jesus could declare, “I and My Father are One”. The three stages may be described as, ‘I was in the Light’, ‘the Light was in Me’, and ‘I am the light’, and may be compared to the Dvaita (dualism), Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) and Advaita (non-dualism) stages as described in Vedic philosophy. The final stage is the one when all duality has been shed. This is the essence of all religious disciplines and teachings.

Jesus was honoured by the populace as Christ, for they found in His thoughts, words and deeds, no trace of ego. He had no envy or hatred, and was full of love and charity, humility and sympathy. Jesus’ original name was Isa which, when repeated, is Sai. Isa and Sai, both mean Ishwara (God), the Eternal Absolute, the Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being-Awareness-Bliss). In the Tibetan manuscript; at the monastery where Isa spent some years, His name is written as Isha, which means the Lord of all living beings. When Jesus proclaimed that He was the Messenger of God, He wanted to emphasise that everyone is a Messenger of God and has to speak, act and think like one. This is the true Karma-Kanda (branch dealing with action and its reaction) of the Vedas; Sadhana (discipline) of Karma (work), Japa (prayer), Seva (service) and Dhyana (meditation). When progress is furthered, Jesus asserted, each one can recognise all as Sons of God, Children of God, brothers and sisters of oneself, and so, deserving of worship. The Upasana Kanda (branch of Vedas dealing with contemplation) is the scripture in Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Universal Religion) for this stage. Finally, knowledge ripens into wisdom and the goal of Jnana Kanda (branch of Vedas dealing with spiritual wisdom) is reached, when each one realises, “I and my Father are One.” 

 “Isa”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 14,

 December 25, 1978, Prasanthi Nilayam 

The moving water of a river has the Moon in its depths; the still water of a lake has also the Moon underneath; the sky has the Moon up above. The Moon in the flowing river is broken and fragmentary; it flows fast, apparently, with the floods. The Moon in the lake is calm, unmoved, undistracted. These two are but reflections of the real Moon in the sky. The Moon reflected in the flood is the Individual Soul, engaged in activity, embroiled in Maya, cause and effect. The Moon reflected in the placid face of the lake is the Yogi, the Saint, who has attained balance, equipoise, peace, dwelling in the One. The real Moon in the sky is the Eternal Witness, the Absolute, and the Primal Principle. 

Christ spoke of these three, when He made, one after the other, three statements. Referring to the active individual soul, the flickering Moon, He said, “I am the Messenger of God”, referring to Himself as the Yogi, who has risen beyond dualities, and attained balance; He said, “I am the Son of God.” Realizing that these two are but reflections, and that the real Moon is the Witness in the sky, that He too is the Formless, Nameless Absolute; He declared, towards the end of His life, “I and My Father are one.” 

“Why Organize?” Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 13,

 March 29, 1976, Hyderabad 

The scriptures also say that the Atman, the Real Core of the individual, is Ananda Swarupa (the very embodiment of bliss). But man being blind to this truth, invites sorrow and anxiety to hold mastery over him and discards the joy that awaits him. Every man is a messenger to fellowmen, entrusted with the task of spreading knowledge of the joy that is being missed. If he misuses this mission and fritters away his years in gratifying his senses, he only loses the chance and reduces himself to the level of beasts. He who announced Himself as the Messenger of God, developed, through the blossoming of Divinity and the expansion of compassion and service in Him, to a stage when He declared Himself as the Son of God. And then, finally, He rose to the status of ‘I and my Father are One.’ 

When Jesus declares that He is the Son of God, He becomes entitled to the paternal Majesty and Power. These He can claim only when He grows in the qualities that His Father has. As a result He attains Sayujya (mergence), which leads Him to assert, ‘I and my Father are one.’ The scriptures say, Brahmavit Brahmaiva Bhavati (He who knows Brahman, becomes Brahman).

These three stages are referred to as Dvaita, Visishtadvaita and Advaita in Vedic thought. Messenger and master, the two are basically separate, and so this stage is one of Dvaita (dualism). The son and father, though two separate entities, are bound by affection and kindred feelings and attitudes. They are like the whole and the part, the body and the limb. This stage is called Visishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism). And when the Son and the Father are one, the stage is of Advaita (non-dualism).  

Even a child would be eager to pass from one class to the next higher one; he would hate being in the same class, vegetating for years. Then what can we say of persons with intelligence and discrimination, satisfied with the attainment of the lower steps? Jesus passed through the entire process and inspired all mankind by His example and teachings, to be generous and kind, detached and discriminating, and to bring Light and Love to all. He attracted people by His miracles and transformed them into apostles and exemplary servants of man. Sadhana is the name for the mental discipline and intellectual effort to realise this Unity.  

“Jesus”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 13,

December 25, 1976, Brindavan 

Jesus declared at first that He was “a Messenger of God.” Who are these messengers? They are of two kinds, Yamaduta and Avadhuta. Yamadutas are messengers who inflict harm on people. Avadhutas are messengers who protect. Jesus belonged to the second category. In due course, He recognised His own inner Divinity. Then He declared, “I am the Son of God”. Thereby He proclaimed His right to a share in all the qualities of God. When He acquired all the qualities of the Divine, He announced, “I and my Father are one”.  

“Ways of the Divine: Advent of Shankara”, 
Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 29, September 7, 1996 

Continued in Part 3

Source: Sai Vani: Avatar on Mahapurushas