Shiva Bala Yogi Virtual^* Darshan
* (Virtual: non physical, but being such in essence or in having the power or practical effect)

Shivabalayogi: JESUS & BUDDHA

Jesus a Yogi

Was Jesus a yogi, an avatar, or both?

“Yogi.”

Did Jesus study in India?

“Yes, he studied in India. He went to the Himalayas in India and he did tapas there for twelve years.”

Did Jesus get shaktipat (spiritual initiation) from John the Baptist?

“He was the one who made him sit in meditation. That took place in the Himalayas.”

Not the River Jordan in Israel, then? The Gospels say St. John taught in Israel.

“Even Swamiji could write something else.”

Is Christ the atma [soul]?

“Christ is a yogi and a yogi has a number of souls, not just one. He has a number of atmas.”

Jesus' Mission

Did Jesus teach meditation?

“He taught meditation for everyone. People from all religions used to come to Christ. He taught meditation to all of them. After Christ the spiritual leaders did not allow that to happen. They stamped that out. Astral bodies, bhajans and meditation, all these same things happened even during the time of Christ. Christ started spreading this same type of meditation. He also started bhava samadhi and trance through astral bodies and bhajans. Not everyone liked what he was doing. Some people and the religious leaders did not like it and they were jealous of him. So they complained to the king about Jesus.”

“Whatever Christ had taught and preached, that’s exactly what Swamiji teaches and preaches. So automatically people will start believing more in Christ and they will follow the path of Christ.”

Jesus' Crucifixion

Christianity teaches that Jesus intentionally came to be crucified. Is that not correct?

“It was a very wrong thing that happened to him.”

Christianity now teaches that it was all planned that way.

“What the people in power did at that time was wrong. When the public complained about Jesus to the rulers, even that was wrong. Jesus came to serve the country and the people. The religious leaders were trying to create the impression that he was trying to harm the country. Despite whatever justification you may argue to me, what has happened is wrong. You could explain it a hundred different ways. It still would not make what happened right.”

“What happened to Jesus was a plan. The religious leaders who were in power at that time did not like Jesus. So they devised a plan to catch him in some way and get him punished.”

“The crucifixion was not the natural death for Jesus. It was before his time. Because Christ was a yogi he could still attain his goal despite losing his body. He could still serve the people. After Christ died and lost his body, he still fulfilled his mission and got the people onto the right path. He achieved his goal after he lost his body through his atma [soul or spirit]. Christ put the people on the right path. The religious leaders tried to lead the people away from the right path.”

Was Jesus’ death a part of destiny then?

“When you say destiny you mean what God willed, right? God would never will like that. If God really wanted Christ to be crucified then how could Christ have been so successful? Christianity has survived for two thousand years. It has spread all over the world. Why do you think Christ has been so successful even though he was crucified? It is because his spirit worked to complete his mission. How could his spirit work if God willed that Christ should die?”

“Christ became a yogi and the people killed him. He became an avatar after he lost his body and finished his mission to teach you a lesson. Christ was a yogi but after he left his body he became an avatar.”

Did Jesus or the other yogis know beforehand that they would be killed?

“Whether they knew or did not know, it did not matter to them. They could still finish their work whether they had their bodies or not. The death of the body is not a really big thing for them. They did not care about it.”

Swamiji, would you comment on the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Did it take place in history and what happened at the resurrection?

“Christ came as an avatar after he lost his body. He is a yogi. He came in his astral body and did service for the people.”

Buddha

I’ve heard that in the time of Buddha, he taught vipasana meditation. Supposedly he taught it to people who came to him.

“Whatever Swamiji is teaching right now, Buddha was teaching the same thing. Buddha talked about samadhi.”

“Swamiji teaches the same meditation as the Buddha taught.”

“Buddha had to suffer a lot while doing tapas. In the same way people made Swamiji suffer, in the same way Buddha was made to suffer during his tapas. Swamiji was from a poor family and he was used to work. He used to work all day even as a child. He used to do business and earn money to support his family. So being a hard-working man, he didn’t feel the hardship that much. But for Buddha who was the son of an emperor and had lived in a palace, for him, the suffering was very hard. Before Buddha started tapas, he really didn’t know what suffering was. Then he had to suffer really hard.”