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Have You Been “Born Again”?

Jesus and Nicodemus - born again

“Born Again” was a cornerstone of the church I grew up in. I “got saved” or “born again” when I was ten; I taught my first Sunday School class when I was eleven; and I spoke in church at the request of the people when I was thirteen. It was believed by all–including me–that I would be a minister.

But when I was twenty I was really born again by waking up to the reality and truth of Sanatana Dharma. And this awakening was confirmed when I read the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads and became a yogi.

What does “born again” mean?

But what did it all mean? Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). The word translated “born” is gennao–to be born. The word translated “again” is anothen–from above. To be born again is to be born in the spirit, which is our higher Self. It takes place when we cease living or being aware only in our physical body, our external life in this material world, and begin to experience our true, higher life as the immortal, divine Self in the greater life and being of God.

This is further explained by the words of Jesus recorded in the Aquarian Gospel: “The birth of which I speak is not the birth of flesh.… The kingdom of the Holy One is in the soul; men cannot see it with their carnal eyes; with all their reasoning powers they comprehend it not. It is a life deep hid in God; its recognition is the work of inner consciousness” (75:10, 15-6). In other words it is awakening into the consciousness of the Self. In his incarnation as David, Jesus said, “When I awake, I am still with thee” (Psalms 139:18).

We have always been in God, but we were unaware of it. When we ourselves are born from above by awakening into our spirit-consciousness it shall be with us as the Aquarian Gospel says of Nicodemus: “The light had come, and Nicodemus went his way; he knew the meaning of the birth of Holy Breath [the Holy Spirit]; he felt the presence of the Spirit in his soul” (75:27).

The beginning of Awakening

The birth of awakening can begin as an intuitive conviction of our nature as spirit, which leads us onward to the revelation, the actual opening and experiencing, of ourselves as spiritual consciousnesses.

The beginning of this awakening can be produced by many things, but the full awakening into higher consciousness, into our true Self, and becoming established permanently in it is accomplished by only one thing: our own practice of Yoga Meditation. For only the inner process of Yoga can awaken our inner consciousness, our inner being–our spirit.

Jesus’ Indian perspective

As a perfected yogi Jesus knew this and taught his disciples accordingly. In India he had himself become a dwija, a “twice-born,” through his initiation into yoga. Knowing this he had further told Nicodemus: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Whoever has undergone both births is a dwija–a twice-born–who lives centered in the spirit. And this dwija sees the many as manifestations of the One. As the Rig Veda (1.164.46) says: “They call Him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutman. To what is One, sages give many a title they call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan.”

So I think we can easily see that according to the enlightened yogi-sages a dwija, one who is twice-born by being born both in flesh and spirit, is a sanatana dharmi, a follower of Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Religion.

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