The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta

For those who are willing to find a common thread in all religions, and especially for those interested in Advaita Vedanta, this reading of Jesus' teachings by one of Hinduism's foremost writers for the western ear, enlightens both Vedanta and the Bible. Highly recommended.

What did Jesus preach? It depended on his audience! Jesus taught the masses according to their capacity. He spoke to them indirectly about spiritual truths through means of parable and metaphor. He was not an elitist. He was a realist. Even the Universe itself is but a parable God is telling us. I digress. Jesus taught those closest to him through both indirect and direct means. "When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables..." Mark 4:10-11. NIV. There is the exoteric "outside" type of Christianity of the masses and then there is the esoteric "inside" type of Christianity of the few. This is a tendency of all organized religions. But this is a book about the Sermon on the Mount. One type of Christianity is of the letter of the law, of doctrine, an indirect religion. The other a Christianity of the spirit of the law, of direct experience, a gnostic faith. Knowing through personal experience rather than believing through indoctrination. Believers are religious, knowers are spiritual. Jesus was an irreligious man. He was in direct communication with God and so was excommunicated and sentenced to death by the religious believers of his time. Jesus was a revolutionary, a freedom fighter that gave his life for his cause. The cause of spiritual freedom. The truth shall make you free. Fundamentalist Christianity is doctrinal religion. Tribal religion. As I alluded to above every esoteric spiritual tradition has a fundamentalist crowd of outsiders claiming to be insiders. They know doctrine, but they do not know God. "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thy eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness..." Matthew 6:22-23. KJV The single eye is the third eye of spiritual intuition that sees the unity of reality. That sees that God is both immanent and transcendent. The evil eye is the eye of duality that separates man from God. Eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is seeing only with our physical eyes. Seeing only appearances, duality. Eating from the Tree of Life is seeing with all of our eyes, physical and spiritual. Seeing that the Kingdom of God is within the holy of holies, the heart within oneself as well as within others. The breath takes one through the gateless gate, the barrier without form, to the garden that leads to the great beyond. Sit quietly and follow your breath. They have eyes but they cannot see for they fail to see that it is not the eyes that see essence. We are awareness. Read "The Sermon on the Mount according to Vedanta." It may just open your eyes to a whole new level of understanding. Remember, it does not matter what we believe if we do not have love in our hearts. "The Love-Religion has no code or doctrine. Only Love". Rumi

i first read this book some 20 yrs ago and found it easy to understand and a clever uniting of vedantic teachings and the core teachings of christianity. over the years i've read it again several times. its simplicity is deceptive. the author is/was obviously a spiritual genius and modern saint. to pack so much universal truth into such a small book is, well, a miracle. if you are a sincere seeker of God, you will love this book. as you begin to live this book, its truths will reveal themselves fresh and new and undeniably true within you. i've read hundreds of "spiritual" books in my life and i would rate this one in the top ten without hesitation. don't miss this divine message; it speaks to the heart and soul in a truly wondrous way!

Over the course of my life, I have been presented on various occasions with texts described as being 'comparative' of different religions -- usually one religion being stood up against Christianity, the author being a Christian, in an attempt to debunk the teachings of non-Christian faiths. I saw those books as little more than thinly-veiled attempts at propaganda, attempts to spread the Christian message (as the authors saw it) to the 'unsaved, misled masses'. This book, which I originally stumbled across quite by accident, couldn't be further in theme and temperament from that lot -- this is aboslutely the gentlest, most respectful, most loving book that I could imagine on the subject. It makes no attempts at conversion, but in a very scholarly -- yet very readable -- way, takes Christ's Sermon on the Mount (paying special attention to the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer) and makes line-by-line comparisons to the ancient teachings of Hinduism.Prabhavananda was a monk of the Ramakrishna Order -- and one of Sri Ramakrishna's most fundamental teachings was the 'oneness of all religions', that, when sincerely believed and practiced, 'all paths lead to the same goal'. This incredible, tender book shows how deeply true his teachings were. Ramakrishna -- a Hindu saint of the 19th century who worshiped God in the form of the Divine Mother, and who experienced ecstatic visions of Christ, Mohammed and Buddha as well -- was one of the most unique, unpretentious, all-encompassing figures in any religion. He embraced them all. Would that we had, in this 'modern, civilized era', when people are still killing each other over the way they each worship God, a teacher so unifying, so true of heart, that could shine the light of wisdom on our folly. Prabhavananda's book brings Ramakrishna's unifying word to modern readers in a wonderful way. I was touched to the core of my soul by this book -- I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who honestly, in their heart, practices ANY faith. It was written to unify, not to divide -- it could be treasured for that alone. For anyone interested in further readings on Sri Ramakrishna, I can recommend THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA, or (if this 1000+ page volume is too 'heavy' for you) Lex Hixon's stunning book GREAT SWAN -- MEETINGS WITH RAMAKRISHNA.

A rare treat. Seldom are philosophies of Hindu and Christian thought combined and made consistent in one text. Typically a short reference in a larger text will make note of similarities, but here we have a line by line explanation of the Sermon, references to Christ's teachings and the Lord's Prayer all in one small book.Interesting to note the similarities and differences as I read, side by side, Martin Luther's Small Catechism and the Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta. Is Christ the "only son of God?" This book offers examples from Krishna and Arjuna, Buddha and the Torah and modern Avatar's woven into a consistent theme describing the power of devotional worship. I'm buying a copy for my Mother.