Jesus: One With GOD

Jesus: a Spiritual Master Who is "One in Consciousness" With GOD

If Jesus isn't GOD, than what did he mean when he said:

"I and the Father are One."

- John 10:30 (NIV)

Likewise, what did he mean when he said:

"Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work."

- John 14:10 (NIV)

How come it has taken us so long to understand the real meaning of these all-important statements? And how and when did Jesus attain this Consciousness where he was "One with the Father"? To better understand this we first need to look at the Advaita "Non-Dual" Philosophy of India. (During the "18 Missing Years" of Jesus' life, Jesus was in India and the East studying with the great saints, yogis, and sages.)

So let's begin with:

The Advaita "Non-Dual" Philosophy of India

Before we focus on Jesus as a fully Self-Realized Spiritual Master, we’re going to need to introduce a crucial idea that originally came out of India. And that is the idea that we can actually become "One in Consciousness with GOD", and thus no longer think of ourselves as separate from GOD. This advanced state of consciousness is called Advaita, or Non-dualism, and has been advocated in its purest form in India by the great South Indian Saint Adi Shankaracharya. It is also expressed in the Upanishads, where it is given in Sanskrit by the words, “Tat Twam Asi,” which literally means “I AM That,” which figuratively means, “I am the Atma - I am One With GOD.”

The 3-Stage Process of Awakening to Oneness:

Sathya Sai Baba says that this consciousness of Divine Oneness is usually approached gradually over many years through a 3-stage process. And he said that not only is this exactly what Jesus did, but that we too can do the same thing!

Sathya Sai Baba says Jesus was a:

Master, born with a purpose: the mission of restoring love, charity and compassion in the hearts of man.

- Sathya Sai Baba – 24 December 1980

And yet, even though Jesus was born as someone who had achieved perfect Self-Mastery in previous lives, Sai Baba says that during his life as Jesus, he still had to go through the various stages in order to re-awaken into what he had already previously achieved in former lives. (So who knows, maybe we too are a little further along than we think. Let’s hope so.)

Jesus & The 3 Stages of Awakening:

Okay, what is the process that Jesus went through? Well it is actually a long gradual process that takes most yogis many years, but Sai Baba tells us that the understanding of the 3 stages can be captured by 3 phrases:

1) “I Am a Messenger of GOD.”

2) “I Am the Son (or Daughter) of GOD.”

3) “I and my Father are One.”

Sai Baba explains that when Jesus was 16 years of age, he began to awaken into the first stage of Self-Realization, which is known as "duality", or "dualism", by saying to himself, “I am a messenger of GOD.” (Jesus was in India at this point.) In other words, in his heart and mind, he could feel that he had a very close spiritual relationship to GOD, and yet he and GOD were still separate. Then as the years went by, he gradually awakened into the second stage of Self-Realization, in which he realized, “I am the Son of GOD.” Sai Baba explains that this obviously is a much closer alignment with GOD than the previous statement, but still it’s not the consciousness of complete "Oneness", because there was still a partial feeling of separateness from GOD - there's the "Son" and there's "GOD". And finally, Jesus entered the third and final stage of "Oneness Consciousness", at which time he was able to directly experience at all times that, “I and my Father are One.” It may be helpful to point out here, that when one is dwelling in this awareness at all times, they are now fully Self-Realized.

The Christ Consciousness

Sai Baba tells us that it was also about this same time that Jesus completely awakened into the Christ Consciousness, and realized that he had come to initiate humanity into the Universal Consciousness of Divine Love, Mercy and Compassion. In fact, Sai Baba says that this final stage of Self-Realization occurred with Jesus when he was 25 years old:

“Jesus realized that he was Christ in his 25th year."

- from: "Conversations with Sathya Sai Baba", by Dr. John Hislop, p 88 (Chapter 32).

This means that it occurred during the time period when Jesus was still in India or Tibet, and it probably corresponds to the time when he was studying in a monastery up in the Himalayas. (For more on Jesus' where abouts at this time, please see the 18 Missing Years.)

Three Additional Statements that Encapsulate the Process of Enlightenment:

1) “I Am in the Light.”

2) "The Light is in Me."

3) "I Am the Light."

Sathya Sai Baba also says that there was another aspect to this 3 stage awakening process that Jesus went through. In the first stage, he started off by saying, "I Am in the Light." In other words, he is directly experiencing in his prayers and meditation that some sort of Divine Light is surrounding him, but it still seems separate from him. Then he moves into the second stage, which is: "The Light is in Me." So now Jesus is directly experiencing that the Light is no longer just outside him, but is now inside him as well, especially in his heart area. And finally he awakens into the full conscious awareness of directly experiencing at all times that: "I Am the Light."

Sai Baba tells us that this final stage of full Enlightenment, exemplified by Jesus statements, "I Am the Light", and "I and my Father are One", is the state of Advaita, or Nondualism, which is described in the Vedas, especially the Upanishads, and which has been partially exemplified by the two modern Indian Saints: Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and Ramana Maharshi; both of whom Sai Baba speaks very highly of.

So in summary, Jesus went from:

The first stage of:

"I Am a Messenger of GOD" = "I Am in the Light."

To the second stage of:

"I Am a Son of GOD" = "The Light is in Me."

And finally to the third stage of:

"I and the Father are One." = "I Am the Light."

Jesus goes on to become a full Master Presence

The remarkable thing for Jesus is that after he attained full Self-Realization - full Enlightenment, he didn’t stop there, but continued on into an even higher state of consciousness, the state of perfect Self-Mastery - not just partial Self-Mastery. In this state he gained absolutely perfect control over his thoughts, feelings, and actions, and thus became a Perfect Spiritual Master. Consequently, as a result of achieving Perfect Mastery, there was no limit to the amount of GOD's Light that could pour into him through his Higher Self. Thus, he was now able to instantly heal the sick, make the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, multiply loaves of bread, walk on the water, calm the storm, raise the dead, and so on. He had now become one of the greatest spiritual Masters of all time. He was now ready to save us from our erroneous ways of selfish, material living and lead us back to the ways of Grateful Devotion, Loving Kindness and unselfish living so eventually after many lifetimes, we too could become masterful enough to Ascend like he did.