9 Epilogue
During the 90’s a popular mantra was from a book Hillary Clinton used as a model of her political aspirations. The book was called It Takes a Village which received as much comedic attention as one would expect.
To make a book like this, though, it does take a village. The village is populated with web authors, authors of antique books and tomes, and the efforts of countless people who make an effort to preserve the context in which these works exist.
One of the modern problems we face concerns copyright. At the heart of that debate is “When is something collectively owned?”. This question is only pressed when the financial incentive is large. Nobody cares if someone uses something that only earned them fifty cents.
The issue then is when do you credit “The Village?” and how do you do it, and where do you leave off? Meditation teaches us if nothing else that everything is connected.
In this book the only images used were ones that said outright “We give away all rights to the public domain” and anything else was something that was made by the author, or his wife.
In developing these meditation techniques for this edition of the book, I found something interesting that had not shown up in my research before and so I will quote it here:
Jesus is at the center of our altar because he appeared to the yoga master Babaji and asked him to send someone to the West to spread the teachings of original Christianity. Jesus told Babaji that his followers needed to learn how to receive him through deep meditation, as beautifully described in the verse, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God” (John 1:12). He said that although his followers still do good works, they have lost the ability to commune inwardly with God. Because of Jesus’s request, Paramhansa Yogananda came to the West. Thus, Jesus Christ is honored with a place on our altars and in our daily prayers.
Yogananda shares further in Chapter 33 of Autobiography of a Yogi, “The Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption, and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The work of these two fully-illumined masters—one with the body, and one without it—is to inspire the nations to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang-evils of materialism.” A purpose of Ananda’s worldwide work is to carry out Babaji and Christ’s plan to aid the evolution of consciousness in this ascending age.1
This is from a connected website concerning Yuktewswar, Babaji, and Yogananda. Yukteswar, Babaji in tandem with Lahiri Mahasaya Yoganada maintained were reincarnated wise men present at the birth of YHSVH.2
Yogananda described in his book The Second Coming of Christ his interaction with Jesus thusly:
His face was divine. His appearance was of a young man in his twenties, with sparse beard and moustache; his long black hair, parted in the middle, had a golden light about it. His feet were not touching the floor. His eyes were the most beautiful, the most loving eyes I have ever seen. The whole universe I saw glistening in those eyes. They were infinitely changing, and with each transition of expression I intuitively understood the wisdom conveyed. In his glorious eyes I felt the power that upholds and commands the myriad worlds.
As he gazed down at me, a HOLY GRAIL appeared at his mouth. It descended to my lips and touched them; then went up again to Jesus. After a few moments of rapt silent communion, he said to me: “THOU DOST DRINK OF THE SAME CUP OF WHICH I DRINK.”
At that I bowed down. I was joyous beyond dreams to receive the testimony of his blessings, of his presence…His words meant that I was drinking of his wisdom through the Holy Grail of his perceptions which he has dropped in my consciousness, and he was pleased. He approved very dearly and blessed me for writing these interpretations. This I can say without pride, because the interpretation of Christ’s words herein is not mine. It has been given to me. I am happy this book is coming through me: but I am not the author. It is Christ. I am only the vehicle through which it is explained.3
It would seem then that what motivated these swamis was a need for “communion” with Jesus. Does that mean then that the only copyright here belongs to Jesus Christ?
It seems like a flippant question, but becomes very important. I have taken extra care to be sure to credit those who inspired my work or helped shape it. On the other hand, much of my work has been stolen or adapted. When I have approached people who have done this, they simply deny having done so. Is the copyright that Jesus holds the same as the one YHSVH holds? Were these above swamis reincarnated wise men?
All of these questions seem a trifle ridiculous, because they are. We live in a clown society that still does not know how to commune with the Messiah. Who cares if the above three saw Jesus, or were wise men? What ultimately matters is the fruit that is produced in the course of their experiences.
Yukteswar speaks rather bleakly in a quote attributed to him:
Forget the past. The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Human conduct is ever unreliable until anchored in the Divine. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now.
No, Yukteswar. That is the “wrong way” and possibly a ticket to Alzheimer’s. You cannot anchor into “The Divine” and also forget the past unless you happen to be a permanent resident in heaven, and if you are, would you mind renting a house out to me in the meantime? It is true the lives of men are often pock-marked with shame. Eventually, though, shame has to transform into something else, unless the only thing we wish to say about our village is “What a shame it is!”
We really do not know how to be in a village–let alone a global one. We still do not well understand how to commune with YHSVH but the way was all ready established. He chose his disciples, and so, if Thomas went to India, that is the disciple one needs to understand. It took a village–of disciples.
I cannot say that this work I here offer remedies the original mission of these Yogis or Swamis. All I can say is that I took my best shot, and found some rewarding material within the pages of the material that discuss their studies, regardless of whatever foibles they might have personally suffered. I can safely say, however, that I understand what YHSVH was asking Babaji. The problem is as present today as it was then. The ego offers a thousand traps.
In 2020, there was another stellar configuration that many described as the “Star of Bethlehem” which overlaps the birth of the Messiah at least in name. The US was busy being engaged in election turmoil riding on the heels of a movement that proclaimed “Where we go one, we go all”. Tell me a civilization has trouble being a village, without telling me it has trouble being a village? Maybe everyone would have done better to meditate. Maybe everyone would have done better to “Do Nothing Well.” Maybe the problem is the resistance to such a process. Maybe that’s why they felt like they were reincarnated wise men.
Everything else I quoted here falls under what is termed “Fair use” in the sense that I offer commentary on the quoted sections. Indeed, it would be an odd world to try to have Bible commentary while also having the Bible under copyright. “But this is my translation of the Word of God,” might sound like something you can copyright, but really, does it not simply belong to God? Even your perceived translation is His, is it not? I would hate to think the royalties everyone would have to pay if God decided to sue.
We all borrow stuff that belongs to the Creator of all, for a time. While we should not steal and take credit for someone else’s work, the reality is that everyone does on a daily basis to the extent they do not return the credit to the Creator. If this book does anything, I hope to say it returns that which belongs to the Creator back to Him.