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Be a Son of God
by Paramhansa Yogananda,
East West Magazine 1929
“As many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become
the sons of God.” — St. John 1:12
All those who know the methods of enlarging the capacity of their consciousness by right meditation will be able to receive or comprehend the vast Spirit and, being identified with spirit, would become reflected spirits or Sons of God.
The above passage in the Bible is a message bearer of the impartiality of God. It declares an undeniable Truth. God is Infinite Omnipresence. He is present in everything equally. His light shines equally in wisdom-sparkling-diamond-souls as well as in charcoal mentalities dark with ignorance. Because God has given us independence to choose between error or Truth, we can keep our minds transparent with purity of knowledge and love, or dark with dogma and inharmony.
Though the light shines equally on everything, diamond souls, by their own creative quality, appreciate or receive the light that flows through them, whereas the sooty souls do not allow the rays to pass through them. Though God made us in His image, still it is up to us whether we veil that image with ignorance or let it shine freely through us.
The great point is that though God made us all, the yellow, the white, black, and olive-colored in His image; still some receive and reflect His rays more than others. God has so endowed man with His own power of liberty that man can shut God out or receive Him through his logic and right struggle of life. That some know less than others is not due to God’s limiting the flow of His power through man, but to man’s not allowing His Light to pass through.
This view alone can make man and not God responsible for all the apparent injustices of the world. At the same time this view holds out the eternal hand of mighty certainty that everybody is a Son of God, even though he does not know it. God is equally present in every man, and those who receive His Light through their self-created transparent purity can surely be a Son of God. Jesus the man, by discipline, made himself pure and became God-like, a Son of God. Such a self-made Christ can be the ideal example of ordinary beings. Ignorance-stricken people may be healed of delusion’s diseases by contacting the Christ Consciousness of meditation and faith. A Jesus redeeming his lost consciousness as a Son of God can alone be the example of other spiritual aspirants who are trying to actually remember their forgotten images as Sons of God.
There were Sons of God before Jesus, and there will be Sons of God after him. Jesus was one of the greatest ideals who knew how to receive the impartial Light of God within him and thus show others how to receive God’s Light through them and become Sons of God.
The Hindu Scriptures say of each soul “Thou art That.” This idea of identifying one’s self with God is not blasphemy, as some suppose. On the other hand, it is wrong to say we are mortals, whereas we are essentially made of immortal stuff. It is the Truth that we are Gods, and it is wrong to call ourselves weaklings.
The dream of error has become a reality with man. The dream of a soul of being a mortal being must be broken. The thought of one’s being an immortal soul if properly cultivated can make one realize his vastness instead of smallness.
It is only be realizing our oneness with God that we can completely break our self-created imaginary limitations of accidents, failure, lack, disease, and death. God has everything — health, efficiency, and wisdom, and to be one with Him is to have claim over everything which He has, as His own Son.
For information and reservations:
info@ananda.it Tel: +39 0742-81.36.20 Fax: +39 0742-81.35.36
Ananda is located in the tranquil hills of Umbria, Italy on “Strada Statale 444” between Assisi and Gualdo Tadino. It is the largest retreat center in Europe for Yogananda’s teachings.
Ananda Associazione • Via Montecchio, 61 • I-06025 Nocera Umbra (PG) • ITALY