Life and Teachings of Lord Jesus

by Swami Sivananda

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Book Code: ES212
Paperback: xvi+164 pages
ISBN:  8170521297
Book Dimensions: 7.25 x 5.0 x 0.40 inches
Shipping Weight: 160 grams

Table of Contents

Publishers’ Note	iii
Preface	iv
What Christmas Means to Me	v
Children’s Song	vii
Christian Service Songs	viii
Chapter One LIFE OF LORD JESUS	3
The Message Of His Birth	3
Divine Protection for Baby Jesus	6
The First Rays of Light	7
God-Incarnate Seeks a Guru	8
Temptations and Triumph	9
The Spiritual Aspect of Jesus’s Miracles	11
Spirit vs. Form	13
The Lord’s Mission	15
The Transfiguration	21
Crusade Against Hypocrisy	21
The Betrayal	23
The Holy Supper	23
The Lord Is Arrested	24
The Trial and Judgment	25
Christ on the Cross	26
Chapter Two THE BEATITUDES	29
Desirelessness Is Life Divine	30
Prayer and Yearning for God	31
Humility: Hall-Mark of a Hero	31
Living Monuments of Divine Law	32
Mercy: A Divine Virtue	33
Vision of God	34
Children of God	35
The Benefactors of Mankind	35
Chapter Three THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT	38
The Eternal Message Of Lord Jesus	38
Cosmic Love	40
The Practice of Purity	44
Self-Surrender: Key to Truth	45
Shun Insincerity	47
Lord’s Prayer	49
Give Up Fault-finding	51
The Golden Rule	52
The Life Divine	53
Chapter Four CHRISTMAS MESSAGES	56
Divinise Thy Nature!	56
Christmas Message	60
Christ: The Prince Of Peace	61
Strain Of An Eternal Gospel	63
The Christ-Life Must Be Lived	69
Where Are You, O Saviour?	75
Awaken Jesus In You And Follow Him	78
Prayer Is The Answer	81
The Voice Of Jesus	83
Christ-Spirit Must Be Acquired	95
Chapter Five PARABLES OF LORD JESUS	98
l. Parable of the Builders	98
2. The Good Samaritan	99
3. Parable of the Unclean Spirit	99
4. The Rich Fool	100
5. The Prerequisites	101
6. The Pharisee and the Tax Collector	102
7. Parable of the Five Foolish Virgins	103
8. Parable of the Two Sons	104
9. Parable of the Importunate Friend	105
10. The Parable of the Sower	106
11. Parable of the Lost Sheep	107
12. Parable of the Talents	108
13. The Parable of the Prodigal Son	109
14. Parable of the Hidden Treasure	110
15. Parable of the Seed and the Harvest	111
Chapter Six A SYMPOSIUM	113
Christmas—Its Spiritual Meaning – Sri Swami Sivananda	113
‘Thy Kingdom Come’ – Sri Swami Krishnananda	121
A Sacramental Life – Sri Swami Krishnananda	128
Christ’s Divine Life – Sri Swami Chidananda	136
The Christ To The Spiritual Aspirant – Sri Swami Krishnananda	142
The Promises Of Jesus – Sri Sudarshan Sharma	149
Life of Jesus for a Spiritual Aspirant – Sri Swami Chidananda	154
A Significant Chapter In The Bible – Sri Swami Sivananda	161

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PUBLISHERS’ NOTE

Here is a new edition of this valuable publication appearing after several years since the time of H.H. Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj.

This reprint has been made possible through the goodwill gesture of a devotee, Sri Jyoti Priya from South Carolina, U.S.A. God’s Grace be upon her for this voluntary co-operation in the service of the Divine Life Society towards spread of spiritual knowledge in the world.

Shivanandanagar,
9th December, 1996

THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY

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PREFACE

Every year, millions of people all over the world celebrate the Holy Christmas. There are festivities and joyous celebrations, a lot of merry-making. People rejoice that Lord Jesus took birth in our midst about two thousand years ago.

It is certainly an event over which all humanity ought to be proud and jubilant. But it is essential, too, to realise that Lord Jesus had a message to deliver. He laid with his own life and blood, a path for mankind to tread. It is essential that mankind should, in the midst of the joyous celebration of the Holy Event of the Birth of Jesus, reflect on the glorious life of the Lord over His Message. For, in it lies the key to world peace and brotherhood.

May God bless you! May the blessings of Lord Jesus be upon you all.

Swami Sivananda

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WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS TO ME

(Sri Swami Sivananda)

Combining as it does, the joy of life and the Spirit of God, the festival of Christmas comes year after the approaching herald of a new year, with its sweet message and silent shifting of our attention, more and yet more to the spiritual pursuits in which alone consist man’s real peace, true progress, and everlasting glory. Whether it was Jane Taylor or Watts who affirmed, “Lord, I ascribe it to Thy grace, and not to chance, as others do, that I was born of Christian race” it is no expression of any spirit of fanaticism but a humble acknowledgement of the excellent benefits that the genuine Christian way and style of life confers upon one; it is an eloquent tribute to the First Christmas divinely celebrated in the Christ’s crib one thousand, nine hundred and fifty-six years ago, a tribute paid by one who has reaped in experience the life-making fruits of the seeds sown by the birth of Christ. Besides that elevation of sentiments that inspiration for the inmost spirit in man, that gladness of heart for all, Happy Christmas renews and revivifies in us splendid spiritual values, unyielding spirit of courage, hope, service and sacrifice, a wider and more profound meaning of life to live by. Nothing but a complete volume of weighty writing becomes necessary for any satisfactory narration of the Great Meaning that Christmas has always held for each of us. May this Christmas bring to everyman on earth, immense happiness, persisting peace, a new strength, a long life of service, love, sacrifice and spiritual progress!

This message was written in 1956 for including in the special Christmas Issue of ‘The Guardian’, Madras.

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CHRISTIAN SERVICE SONGS

1. LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom
    Lead Thou me on;
The night is dark and I am far from home,
    Lead Thou me on.
Keep Thou my feet, I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
    Shouldst lead me on;
I loved the garish day, and spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will; remember not past years.
So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
    Will lead me on,
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
    The night is gone,
And with the morn, those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since and lost awhile.

2. MAKE ME THINE

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord! to Thee;
Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose.
Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own.
It shall be Thy Royal Throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

3. LOVE SO AMAZING

When I survey the wondrous Cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count by loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbit it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the Cross of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His Blood.
See from His Head, His Hands, His Feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingling down;
Did E’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all,
To Christ, who won for sinners grace
By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race,
For ever and for evermore.

4. ROCK OF AGES

Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the Water and the Blood
From Thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.
Not the labour of my hands
Can fulfil Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know.
Could my tears for ever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring.
Simply to Thy Cross I cling:
Naked, come to Thee for dress,
Helpness, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the Fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyelids close in death,
When I soar through tracts unknown,
See Thee on Thy Judgment Throne;
Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

5. NEARER TO GOD

Nearer, my God; to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
    Still all my song shall be–
Nearer, my God, to Thee, near to Thee.
Though like the wanderer (the sun gone down)
Darkness be over me–my rest a stone;
    Yet in my dreams I’d be
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee.
Then let the way appear steps unto heaven,
All that Thou sendest me in mercy given;
    Angels to beckon me
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee.
Then with my waking thoughts bright with
    Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Beth-el I’ll raise;
    So by woes to be
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee.
Or if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee.

6. THE MISTS HAVE ROLLED AWAY

    When the mists have rolled in splendour
    From the beauty of the hills,
And the sunlight falls in gladness
On the river and the rills.
We recall our Father’s promise
    In the rainbow of the spray
We shall know each other better
When the mists have rolled away

CHORUS
    We shall know as we are known;
Never more to walk alone,
In the dawning of the morning
Of that bright and happy day;
We shall know each other better
    When the mists have rolled away.
Oft we tread the path before us
    With a weary burdened heart;
Oft we toil amid the shadows
    And our fields are far apart;
But the Saviour’s “Come, ye blessed,”
    All our labour will repay,
When we gather in the morning
    Where the mists have rolled away.
We shall come with joy and gladness,
    We shall gather round the Throne;
Face to face with those that love us,
    We shall know as we are known.
And the song of our redemption
    Shall resound through endless day,
When the shadows have departed
    And the mists have rolled away.

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