The Yoga of Jesus -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Описание: The Yoga of Jesus, by Paramahansa Yogananda, is a spiritual commentary on the teachings of Jesus that aims to recover what Yogananda believed was Christianity’s original mystical core. The book is not historical scholarship, nor is it an attempt to rewrite Christian doctrine. Instead, it presents the Gospels as a symbolic and experiential guide to inner God-realization, comparable to the yogic path preserved in Eastern traditions.

Yogananda’s central claim is that Jesus was a fully God-realized master who taught an inner science of divine union, not merely a moral code or belief system. In this view, Jesus’ sayings—such as “The kingdom of God is within you” or “I and my Father are one”—are read as direct instructions for contemplative realization. Salvation, therefore, is not primarily juridical or external, but experiential: the awakening of divine consciousness within the individual.

A key feature of the book is Yogananda’s symbolic interpretation of Gospel language. Concepts like the “single eye,” the “light of the body,” resurrection, and Christ himself are treated as descriptions of inner states of awareness rather than exclusively historical events. “Christ,” in this framework, refers to a universal divine consciousness that Jesus perfectly embodied, rather than a status unique to one historical figure alone. This interpretation allows Yogananda to honor Jesus as supreme while simultaneously presenting Christ-consciousness as a potential realization for all humanity.

Importantly, the “yoga” of The Yoga of Jesus does not mean physical postures or exotic ritual. Yogananda uses the term in its classical sense: union with God achieved through disciplined meditation, breath control, interior stillness, and ethical refinement. The practice he emphasizes—Kriya Yoga—is inward, subtle, and contemplative, closely resembling what Western Christianity once called the mystical or contemplative life.

The book resonated especially with Western readers who felt drawn to Jesus but alienated by dogma or institutional religion. It offered a way to reconcile Christian devotion with Eastern meditation without abandoning either. At the same time, the work has drawn criticism for reading yogic metaphysics into the Gospels and for downplaying traditional Christian emphases on sin, grace, and historical redemption. Yogananda does not deny these critiques; rather, he positions his work as spiritual interpretation, not theological or historical analysis.

Ultimately, The Yoga of Jesus presents Jesus not as a figure of power, control, or intellectual mastery, but as one of complete inner realization, humility, and surrender. In contrast to modern fantasies of enlightenment through cognitive enhancement or technological transcendence, Yogananda’s Jesus embodies a transformation rooted in stillness, love, and direct communion with the divine. The book’s enduring appeal lies in its insistence that true awakening is not achieved by optimizing the mind, but by transcending the ego through lived spiritual experience.