The deeper, spiritual celebration of Christ is a luminous gift that Paramahansa Yogananda has given to the world – the tradition of an entire day set aside for meditation to honor Jesus’ birth. It is this observance that marks the real celebration of this holy day, and one that, as Paramahansaji predicted, is being practiced by more and more people around the world.
When you partake in the spiritual celebration of great ones such as Bhagavan Krishna, Lord Buddha, or Jesus Christ through the practice of deep meditation, you are opening your limited consciousness to the transforming vibrations of the Infinite consciousness manifest in these divine souls.
Paramahansaji said:
“To celebrate the birth of Jesus in solely materialistic ways is a desecration of the meaning of his holy life and of the immortal message of divine love and God-union that he preached. Seeing in the West the shallow, often irreverent, observance given to the birth anniversary of this great avatar, I inaugurated in Self-Realization Fellowship the spiritual celebration of Christmas, before Christmas Day festivities, by devoting a daylong meditation service to the worship of Christ.
“The ideal is to honor Christ in spirit in meditation from morning til evening, absorbed in feeling in one’s own consciousness the Infinite Christ that was born in Jesus.
“That experience is one of profound peace and joy, more than a human heart has ever known—expanding into an all-embracing consciousness.
“Often has the form of Jesus appeared before me during these services—such love in those eyes! It is my prayer—and my conviction that it will come to pass—that comparable observances of the real meaning of Christmas will become a tradition throughout the world.”
Despite the seeming darkness and turmoil that so much of the world is experiencing today, the collective effort of yogis around the world—meditating on the presence of Christ for hours at a time—can have a profound impact on the world. The love and joy that we feel through communion with Christ in long meditation – the union of soul with Spirit – is the true celebration of Christmas and marks an ever-deepening appreciation of what the life of Jesus Christ really means. Uplifts your consciousness and the consciousness of all.
Our hope for each of you this Christmas is that you set aside one day, or at least a part of the day, for the purpose of meditation— communing with Christ until you feel His love and peace, and that you spread that love to all who cross your path. This is the true gift of Christmas.
Wishing you all the peace, joy, and love of this holy season,
The Monks and Nuns of Self-Realization Fellowship
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It s not an easy job to keep the discipline to meditate regularly.
Only your incentives can help us not to give up pursuing the final goal while struggling to develop consciousness and achieve realization.
May you keep the noble effort to guide our path and may we be worth it.