The Atma Jyoti Blog

Q: Is the return of Christ–as spoken of in the Gospels of the Bible–a bodily return or is it the spiritual return of the Christ in man? We are entering a new age–the age of Aquarius, or the revealing age. I feel that the book of revelation is a picture of the true reality of the struggle within man himself and what every man must face and overcome.

TThe Greek word translated “coming” in the New Testament is parousia, which literally means “presence,” but it means both to be near (“at hand”) and a returning. As is usual in spiritual writings, having more than one meaning gives a latitude in interpretation. Yogananda said that all scriptures should be considered as having three levels: physical, mental, and spiritual, both literal and symbolic, both external and internal.

Each person should be seeking the advent of Christ in the sense of Divine Consciousness, yet there is a tradition in Jewish mysticism that says the Messiah will come twice: first as Son of Joseph and be rejected by the majority of Jews and later as Son of David and be accepted by nearly all Jews. Jesus was born at the beginning of the Piscean Age and we can certainly assume that he will be reborn at the beginning of the Aquarian Age–perhaps already has been.

Obviously Jesus can manage things for himself so we need not do anything about this, but should be intent on the birth, resurrection and ascension in us of the Christ Life (Consciousness). Ashe said: “My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready” (John 7:6). So it is wisdom to stay focused on our own personal Advent. Nevertheless there is nothing wrong in praying to be aware of his second physical appearance and to meet with him. Nor is it amiss to pray for the hastening of his birth and revelation to the world.

Yogananda wrote a thousand-page commentary on Revelation as a yoga scripture rather than an earthly prophecy, but it has not been printed after nearly sixty years. So a person will have to meditate deeply and use his intuition in figuring it out. Of course, the four Gospels are the same: a symbolic presentation of the path to Christhood. The early church not only interpreted them as symbols, it denied that some of them were literal history.

Chances are they are both literal and symbolic, with maybe a bit of alteration. (For example according to Anna Catharine Emmerich the stigmatist, Jesus was born in an Essene family that never worshipped at Jerusalem because of the animal sacrifice, but on Mount Carmel. So the story of Jesus being in the Jerusalem temple at the age of twelve is not accurate, but it took place on Mount Carmel.) Anyway, it all comes back to the need for us to learn truth for ourselves.

Further reading:

• More Questions and Answers
• Mystical Christianity
• Paramhansa Yogananda’s The Second Coming of Christ and more from Yogananda. We recommend you purchase your copy of The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You (2 Volume Set) for continuous study.