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Jesus:
The Teacher of Renunciation
Swami
Yogatmananda
Dec.
27, 2009
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Summary of this Lecture:
Incarnations of God like Jesus come to teach mankind the goal of life
and the way to attain it. Jesus' life reflects true renunciation,
the real courage to stand up against worldly temptations for the sake
of God. The Gospel of Mathew mentions how devil appeared to distract
him from the spiritual path, but Jesus did not yield. 'Sermon on the
Mount' is full of his teachings of renunciation. There he says that
one cannot serve God and mammon together. Money (name, fame etc.),
a big attraction takes our mind away from God and hence should be
shunned if one wants to progress in spiritual life. His advice - 'love
thy enemy', 'do not judge others', etc. means renounce long-standing
habits and misconceptions so that one can transcend the limits of
human life to become divine. He tells the secret of renunciation -
'The Kingdom of Heaven/God is within you', which is very much like
the teachings of Upanisad - 'One who wants immortality, diverts the
search inside.' He asks us to renounce fear because God takes care
of everything. He says: 'Do not think that I have come to bring peace
to the earth.' The goal of life is not to bring betterment to the
world but to seek God and one should serve the world as manifestation
of God. Jesus advocates celibacy so that all energy can be used to
uplift oneself to higher level of awareness. He transcends the biological
relations and makes the universal connection when he says: 'Whoever
does the will of my Heavenly Father is my mother, brother, sister…'
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