Advaitha is a school of Vedantic philosophy that teaches that Athman, meaning individual soul, and Brahman meaning God, are essentially one and the same. The word Advaita really means non-dual or non-dualistical reality. According to this philosophy, Brahman is the only truth everything else is unreal with respect to Brahman. The world is in a state of Maya and Maya is this complex illusionary power of Brahman. Maya prevents us from recognizing this ultimate reality that Athman and Brahman are one and the same.
There is a famous saying in a Sanskrit mantra that is recited often. It goes like this: “Aham Brahmasmi” meaning to say … I am Brahma or meaning … I am God. So human responsibility, in this case, is to overcome Maya and realize we are essentially Brahman. An individual that attains this state of understanding is called self-realized or enlightened. The path or marga, a person follows in order to attain this unity is called Jnana marga…the path of knowledge of true self. Yoga is one of the chief vehicles that are used to attempt the union between the individual soul (Athman) and the supreme reality (Brahma).
Yoga comes in it’s various forms ranging from physical exercises(Hatha yoga) to pure breathing exercises(Pranayama) or various types of meditation that come under Raja Marga. Several teachers, like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Chinmayananda, Ravi Shankar, Vethathiri Maharishi, Deepak Chopra, and others have built on the fundamental principles of Advaitha. In a spiritually hungry world, these spiritual giants have gained great following and popularity as they are providing solutions for the Athman, from the human viewpoint. If Athman is longing to meet Brahman so desperately, have we ever wondered if Brahman is longing to meet Athman. Let me repeat this if we are so keenly aware of the fact that we are trying to meet with God have we ever wondered if God is trying to connect with us? In fact, Brahman or God is referred to as Paramathma (supreme athman or supreme soul). So we should expect supreme effort from God to break this barrier.
After several years of dedicated effort in the pattern of Gyana marga in an effort to unite with Bhraman, just the thought of the supreme God trying to take steps to meet me, was refreshing. Just like when a newborn baby cries, the parents run to the crying baby, instead of trying to teach the baby to crawl and come to them, God tries to reach us because we are incapable of reaching Him in human effort.
If Human parents can do that much, how much more will God do! Paramathma is well aware of our hunger to connect with Him. He is also aware of human limitations, and He knows that even the very best advice on applying human ways is not sufficient. So God takes these steps to bridge the gap. God enters our domain as a human, the person Yeshu. He chooses to experience the sin (karma) barrier we experience every single day. He did this by becoming a pryaschit for us at the cross, where He died for our Karma. Then He came back to life after 3 days in the same body except this time on the other side of death.
After becoming the bridge Himself, God offers to us His Spirit as a gift that can unite us with God forever. By receiving His Spirit in us we allow Him to unite with us. By God’s Spirit enablement, we can pass through the barrier, just like Yeshu did. We are allowing God to reach us. Truly, the Paramatma’s way is so superior that it dwarfs the human way. So my friend, are you willing to choose the Yeshu marga provided by God. God’s way provides a simple solution, to the quest of the Advaitha, when we are united with Paramathama, we can focus on Yeshu realization, instead of self-realization. Would you be willing to consider allowing God to reach you? If you have any further questions about Advaitha or the Yeshu marga, please feel free to write to us at yeshusamaj.org.
