realized that he was the "son of God," it was still not the final realization. Of course, the son carries the qualities of the Father, but they still remain separate from each other.
The highest self-realization of Jesus Christ was that he understood God as his True Self. God is the True "I" of each person. This is the essence of the famous words of Jesus Christ: "I and My Father in Heaven are One."
Jesus Christ was a unique person, a world teacher, but it cannot be said that God is exclusively in the heart of Jesus. God dwells in the heart of all people as the true Creator and Father and as the original source of wisdom, love, and bliss. God is not only the higher self of Jesus Christ, but also every person.
When Jesus Christ proclaimed his oneness with his Heavenly Father, he spoke not only of himself; he proclaimed the divinity of every person. As a result of the practice of meditation, every spiritual seeker can reveal the greatest treasure of his spiritual heart and find God as his Heavenly Father, and at a higher level, reveal God as his Higher Self.
The philosophy of Christian Gnostics is that each person carries within himself the divine potential of the Christ Consciousness. Intense spiritual practice is necessary to unlock the potential of the Christ Consciousness in your heart.
Jesus, who was born with a special spiritual mission many centuries ago, awakened the Christ Consciousness in himself and became Jesus the Christ. The Christ Consciousness is universal. It is the foundation and essence of the soul of every person. Christ Consciousness is manifested in every sage and saint, and in every person who knows the truth.
At every moment, Christ Consciousness is waiting for its awakening in your Spiritual Heart. In the depths of your meditation there is a manifestation of the Christ within you.
Sathya Sai Baba spoke about Jesus Christ in a completely different way from what is preached in all of the variants of Christian churches. In this world there are a huge number of branches of Christianity and they differ from each other by having their own views and comments on the Gospels. Churches are diverse, and they each understand the essence of the Christian life differently; as such, they offer their own interpretation of the biography and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, many churches try to convince people that God is an external force. Some religions sometimes block people from having a direct experience with God. If God is somewhere out there, far in the sky, then the need for religious organizations as mediators between people and God is quite understandable. However, if you see God as the basis of the soul, as an internal source, then the need for intermediaries disappears.
Nevertheless, across all Christian churches, Jesus Christ is the originally perfect teacher, who from the very beginning of his earthly life was completely enlightened. The view of Sathya Sai Baba is very different from this point of view.
If Jesus was indeed born already enlightened, then why did he begin his preaching activity only at the age of thirty? He could have fulfilled his task from an early age and shown the way of salvation to his disciples and followers. Why did he have to wait for his thirtieth birthday?
Sathya Sai Baba said that Jesus Christ practiced various spiritual disciplines throughout his life, as a result of which he gained perfection and only after that he became a world teacher.
30. In the Christ Consciousness we are all one
Sathya Sai Baba perceived each person as the embodiment of Divine Consciousness. Each person for him was the embodiment of the Christ Consciousness. Christ is not only a historical person, but a symbol of the divinity dormant within each person.
In the comments to the Bhagavad Gita, Sathya Sai Baba said: “People should never forget God, for he is the true nature of the soul, one should not believe in the world, in fact, the manifested Universe is an illusion, never be afraid of death, for you are immortal.”
Speaking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Sathya Sai Baba pointed out that it was not only a historical fact, but also a symbol of the immortality of every person.
Enlightenment does not mean that a person receives "something;" on the contrary, there is a loss of false self-identification and the feeling of separateness of one's existence disappears. Enlightenment is the return home, the awakening of the original and true divine reality of one's soul – the Christ Consciousness.
I would like to warn against misunderstanding Sathya Sai Baba's teachings about Jesus Christ. Once again, I want to repeat that Sathya Sai Baba considered Jesus Christ to be one of the greatest spiritual teachers in the history of mankind.
Sathya Sai Baba said that Jesus Christ came into this world with a special mission. The essence of understanding his life and mission lies in the fact that one should not perceive Jesus Christ only as an object of worship, but as an example of the spiritual path that everyone has to pass through.
Those steps of the spiritual path that Jesus Christ ascended are the same steps that everyone has to go through. The divine potential inherent in Jesus Christ is absolutely in every person. As individual human beings we are all different, but in the Christ Consciousness we are all one.
31. God helps those who help themselves
A huge number of books about Sathya Sai Baba are being written now. As a rule, the books describe stories that tell about the manifestations of his fantastic supernatural power. Often these stories begin with a person coming to Sathya Sai Baba with some problems, of which Sathya Sai Baba blesses and liberates this person from, and then the “problems” are instantly solved.
Difficulties and sufferings are different. They can be associated with illness, family life, financial failures, the search for one’s destiny, spiritual crises, and deep religious issues.
In most of the stories about Sathya Sai Baba, there is an involuntary self-deception, which consists of the
