Originally published in 2013.
Around 2,000 years ago there was a great personality by the name of Yeshua, translated from the Greek to the English as Jesus. Across the world, the role of Jesus is different; some believe that he was the Son of God, the Messiah, and to others a man with a mission. It is hard to get a clear understanding of whom Jesus was when he came to this planet just by his teachings; therefore, many understand him from the writings of his disciples or better from the disciples of his disciples.
The Gospels were written more than 40-60 years after Jesus’s crucifixion. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John appointed men to present the information. The only gospel that proclaimed that Jesus was actually God incarnate was the youngest gospel of them all, John. Most of the New Testament is composed of letters from the Apostle Paul. What is interesting about Paul is that he never met Jesus and he also persecuted Christians. On the road to Damascus, he had an incredible vision of Jesus and from then on he preached Jesus Christ as God himself.
When Jesus left this earth, all of his disciples had no idea what to make of him. It was not till around 500 A.D, in the Nicean Creed, when the Catholic Empire under the rule of Justinian came to the conclusion about the quality of Jesus. Of course, some separated ways not agreeing that Jesus himself was God, like the Gnostics and other sects. But majority ruled that the Father and Jesus were one and the same.
If we take a look at the teachings of Jesus with the perspective of the ancient Vedic text, we can unravel the mystery behind the man. Jesus was a humble and simple person. He was a teacher, a spiritual master, in other words a guru. In the Bhagavad-Gita (4.34) Krishna states, “tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaḿ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ. Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service to him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.” Jesus revealed that he was the way, the truth and the life and the only way to the Father is through him. All of this is correct according to the father’s own words [Bhagavan].
Jesus had to speak in a way that his disciples could understand. If he went to them and said that he was a guru and the guru is suppose to impart knowledge so one can approach the Lord they would have no idea what he was talking about. This is exactly what a spiritual master does; he speaks to his disciples in a way that they may understand spiritual life.
Jesus never preached that he was God but most often spoke of the father and doing the father’s work. He taught his disciples to love God with all of their heart and love their neighbor as themselves. These were his commands and many times he stated that if you love him you would follow these instructions, nothing more.
He lived as an example to his followers and even showed them mystical qualities like healing the sick, casting out demoniac spirits, and walking on water. Many people would find these activities to be God-like and therefore come to the conclusion that Jesus must have been God to have done such miraculous things. Without knowledge of mystic yoga practices this seems like a reasonable assumption. To this day, there are yoga practitioners in India who can do the same things. They can create stones from their hands, stop their breathing and heart beat for several minutes, and they can even annihilate planets just by their will! Some even say that the “lost years” of Jesus, when there is no record of his doings, he was actually traveling around the Himalayas in India, Nepal and Tibet. This could be a theory of how he learned to control and manipulate the material energy.
No matter what you believe regarding Christ, one thing is for sure he was a special being. It is said that God descends or sends his bona fide representatives straight from the spiritual world when there is a decline in dharma or true spiritual practice. Jesus was a teacher that all can follow by simply having love of God and love for all living entities.
For further research:
The Yoga of Jesus: Understanding the Hidden Teachings of the Gospels Book by Paramahansa Yogananda
The Lost Years of Jesus: Documentary Evidence of Jesus' 17-Year Journey to the East
Book by: Elizabeth Clare Prophet