Christmas is a time to celebrate two things: one is the birth of Jesus and the other is the dawn of Christ consciousness. Jesus was a person and Christ consciousness was the spirit that descended. You are a person, you have a body, you are limited and restricted by the senses and the mind, but at the same time there is the life force, vitality and dynamism which physically or externally is recognized as spirit, and which in esoteric terminology is recognized as the Divine consciousness or Christ consciousness.
Just as there is a maturity or evolution of the physical body from birth to adulthood to old age to death, similarly there is an evolution of consciousness. This evolution of consciousness culminates as Christ consciousness. Christ consciousness is the consciousness that is in communion with the Divine nature, the consciousness that is united, not fractured. At present the consciousness is fractured, in the sense that we have no concept or awareness of what is happening on our unconscious level. We have a very basic understanding of the subconscious level and we have a partial understanding of the conscious level. So, our consciousness is fractured or broken.

 

 

Christ consciousness and the turiya state.

However, there is another consciousness that is unified, which yogis have recognized as the turiya state.Turiya is the unified consciousness. The Christ consciousness of Christianity and the turiya consciousness of yoga are the same. This consciousness is the actual form of the spirit.
What is spirit anyway? What is the difference between spirit and consciousness? They are manifestations of the same force and energy. When the water in a lake is turbulent it loses clarity, but when the water becomes quiet you can see every reflection in it. So, the fractured consciousness is the turbulent water, where you are simply groping around without seeing anything clearly. The still waters, in which everything is reflected, is the turiya state or the Christ state.
Today we are made aware of two important events: the birth of Jesus, who was recognized as the son of Mary and Joseph, and the dawning of Christ consciousness, or the state of turiya, which is recognized as the concept of the son of God –Ishwara ansh jiva avinashi. The understanding of the son of God is stated in the Ramayana, it is stated in the Bhagavad Gita, it is stated in all the literature dealing with spiritual life. We have to connect with this unified spirit. People do it in different ways and forms. It is like saying, ‘All roads lead to Rome’ – roads is plural, not singular. The road is decided for everybody from their point of evolution in life.

From YOGA MAGAZINE ,  March 2000, Ganga Darshan, December 24, 1999 , Sw. Niranjanananda Saraswati

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The spirit of Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate two things: one is the birth of Jesus and the other is the dawn of Christ consciousness. Jesus was a person and Christ consciousness was the spirit that descended. You are a person, you have a body, you are limited and restricted by the senses and the mind, but at the same time there is the life force, vitality and dynamism which physically or externally is recognized as spirit, and which in esoteric terminology is recognized as the Divine consciousness or Christ consciousness.
Just as there is a maturity or evolution of the physical body from birth to adulthood to old age to death, similarly there is an evolution of consciousness. This evolution of consciousness culminates as Christ consciousness. Christ consciousness is the consciousness that is in communion with the Divine nature, the consciousness that is united, not fractured. At present the consciousness is fractured, in the sense that we have no concept or awareness of what is happening on our unconscious level. We have a very basic understanding of the subconscious level and we have a partial understanding of the conscious level. So, our consciousness is fractured or broken.

 

 

Christ consciousness and the turiya state.

However, there is another consciousness that is unified, which yogis have recognized as the turiya state.Turiya is the unified consciousness. The Christ consciousness of Christianity and the turiya consciousness of yoga are the same. This consciousness is the actual form of the spirit.
What is spirit anyway? What is the difference between spirit and consciousness? They are manifestations of the same force and energy. When the water in a lake is turbulent it loses clarity, but when the water becomes quiet you can see every reflection in it. So, the fractured consciousness is the turbulent water, where you are simply groping around without seeing anything clearly. The still waters, in which everything is reflected, is the turiya state or the Christ state.
Today we are made aware of two important events: the birth of Jesus, who was recognized as the son of Mary and Joseph, and the dawning of Christ consciousness, or the state of turiya, which is recognized as the concept of the son of God –Ishwara ansh jiva avinashi. The understanding of the son of God is stated in the Ramayana, it is stated in the Bhagavad Gita, it is stated in all the literature dealing with spiritual life. We have to connect with this unified spirit. People do it in different ways and forms. It is like saying, 'All roads lead to Rome' – roads is plural, not singular. The road is decided for everybody from their point of evolution in life.

From YOGA MAGAZINE ,  March 2000, Ganga Darshan, December 24, 1999 , Sw. Niranjanananda Saraswati