Christmas Puja, Ganapatipule, India, December 25th 1999 Today we are going to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. He came on this earth in a very special way, that He was born to a Virgin. And we can understand as you know as Shri Ganesha was also born in the same way, and as Jesus is a incarnation of Shri Ganesha He had all His powers when He was born, He did not have to bring any outward weapons to show that what powers He had. But He had all the powers with Him, but still He tried to show tolerance and understanding, because at that time the people with whom He had to deal were absolutely ignorant of spirituality. They were actually Jews and they were instructed by Moses, Abraham, all these people. But they had lost their moorings, and they didn’t know what to seek, how to seek, and they were not seekers. They are quite satisfied with all the Jewish ritualism they had as also in other religions we do the same. There was no seeking at all for anything great. And so He had a very difficult life, extremely difficult life. When He was born there was a sign, of a star which three men saw and they followed it and reached that place where they found that He was born in a manger, the very simple, simplest possible place to be born. Was born in all great difficulties but it was shown clearly through a star that He was something great. The other day somebody was asking Me how did You find Ganapatipule. Actually I didn’t know, and in Maharastra this is not a very well-known place. They go to Ashtavinayakas but not to this Mahaganapati. They had no idea. But I was coming back from Ratnagiri and I saw really a very big star on top of this temple. But nobody could see it, that’s the problem is. At that time no sahaja yogis could see it. So I told them, let us follow this star. It was a very big, big one, unusually big, not like a star, but quite a big, big star, very unusual. But they couldn’t see it. Other people who were with Me they said that we can’t see it. I said, doesn’t matter. So I told them to turn it, turn it from this Hadkamba they call it, and let us go on this another road. And we just followed it. They of course listened to Me, and they did not argue. And we were travelling, travelling, we were quite late, but still I [said], “Doesn’t matter, it’s alright, let’s go”. By the time we reached Ganapatipule, it was the dawn, beautiful dawn, I can’t forget that. And in that dawn we see such a beautiful place here where we are now. And I said, this is the place where we have to be, where we have to get all the sahaja yogis to. Of course you know that Rabindranath Tagore has already described about this place that people will come here from all over the world and at the shore of Bharat this will be done. All these are predicted, have been done already, but how miraculously I discovered this place is very surprising as those three great men discovered Christ. And the place was really blessed and was very beautifully vibrated. I stayed here for two days and I decided that this is the place we have to take. Ultimately we got this land and we got all these things here but people troubled us a lot. Such negative people they troubled us. Like Christ also was troubled and tortured, very much tortured by people. So at a very young age His parents took him away and they say that they were in Kashmir. And then He came back from Kashmir later on, is described in one of the books I’ve read about Christ being in Kashmir, where He met Shalivahana, I would say our forefather. Is very well described, and in Sanskrit it is written. I think the writer didn’t know what he was writing. And the whole thing was the conversation between Christ and Shalivahan, and Christ told that “The country from where I come is spiritually dead. And the people are running after all filth and dirt. This is My country and I want to live here”. But Shalivahana told Him that, “You are such a great saint”. He also told His name, as Issa. “But You should go back to Your own country. You go over back to Your own country and” – the word he has used – “You teach them Nirmala Tattwam, the principle of Nirmala”. Is clearly written in Sanskrit language. But He went there, and the people were so negative, so negative, that they crucified Him just after three years. This is the sad story of His incarnation. But after that there were twelve disciples He had. And out of these twelve disciples the weakest was Peter. Very weak and he denied Christ thrice. And Christ had told him that, “ A satan will come and meet you”. It was Paul who met him. And the whole thing changed into a satanic anti-Christ force, as Catholic church. This Catholic church when I read about it I am shocked, how can a religious movement be such a criminal thing. It is absolutely criminal, it is anti-Christ. It has been making all money, everything, deceiving people, and brought what, nothing but their own kingdom. They live like saints to show, but all kinds of filth is going on in that Vatican, I have read another book recently. But I can’t imagine how can they call them Christians when Christ was innocence and purity. Such a shame in the name of God to do all these things. They also made artificial, we can say artificial notes and distributed them through their own bank, they have a banking system, they have all kinds of things, I lived there, I know how terrible they are. And this is what is the outcome of such a great soul that sent by God. They changed the Bible also – not only that, but they tortured the Gnostics, the people, the early Christians who have had a religious experience. All nonsense they are doing morning till evening and people are absolutely slavish about it. They are talking of conversion: what conversion has brought good to them? In Italy there is mafia, there’s all kinds of nonsensical things and the Catholics are all full of sins and they have to just go and confess. When they are celebrating His millennium I was not at all very joyous about it, because this is another way to make money, to make money out of this festival. Actually Christ’s Birthday was not celebrated for 347 years, and they thought it’s a good idea to celebrate His birthday so that we can make lots of money. First of all they are all allowed to drink and be merry, all these systems started of immorality there. They also make a wine called Benedictine. They are making all kinds of things which are filthy and bad, and they have amassed so much of money with them that no-one can challenge them and can ask them to get out of the lives of people, but is the people who has seen it through and through and have given them up. This is the beauty of Christ. He has saved really these people, they were seekers of truth, and they have been able to take to Sahaj, to understand that there is truth in it, and we should not anymore cling on to something that is untruth. And now we have so many here who have been harmed and who have been tortured by this Catholic Church. They are quite frightened of Sahaja Yoga I must tell you, they know that we are standing on the truth. They are very much frightened and they are trying their level best to harm us. But so far they have not done anything, they couldn’t achieve anything despite everything. At the end they had one argument through the newspaper about Sahaja Yoga. They said, ‘We don’t want to have one religion all over the world’. I said, ‘Yes, because how will you fight then? You must have many religions to fight’. Then they stopped. The newspaper they were arguing, they all stopped it. All these nonsensical ideas came, and it became so much of an extreme that people saw through it ‘This is wrong’, and they really took to Sahaj. If there is no truth, why are they converting people all over the world? What have they achieved by conversion? And that is why one has to understand that all religions are equally the same. In its manifestation may be different, but in its essence they all say that you have to have your self-realization. Whatever words, this way or that way, it has said you must seek the truth, in the Bible if you read – even, you’ll be amazed, in Koran though they have tried to camouflage lots of things, it has not been possible. Now Muslims also have taken up another view, worse than even Christians. That they are saying that Mohammed Sahib was the last incarnation. If He was so, there were so many others afterwards they may not accept: we had Guru Nanaka, we had Gyaneshwara, we had Shri Shirdi Sainath. How these prophets came on this earth? How can you deny it? If you say we don’t believe then you are stupid. Because if He was the last, how did these incarnations came here? So many things Christ has said. On the cross He said, ‘Behold the Mother’. Behold, is a very good word, meaning that look forward, see the Mother. At the time of His death also He said this. And all these people are just trying to create violence, torture, all kinds of things which cannot be Divine. So one has to understand that you cannot spread any religion with violence, with force, you cannot. Only with love and compassion. You can spread Sahaja Yoga only through love and compassion. And that compassion is not a mental stuff that we think we are better than others so we should change them. No. It is more love and compassion. That you feel that we can really resurrect people, not trying to change anything, but to resurrect, as they are, we will resurrect them. This is our work: to resurrect people and to give them the truth. There are many, many people all over the world, and you have seen now, we are working in the 86 countries. In a place like Benin we have got seven hundred sahaja yogis, seven thousand, sorry, sahaja yogis, who were Muslims. And I asked them how did you take to Sahaj. He said, ‘Obvious’. I said, ‘Why’? I said, ‘First of all, why did you become Christians?’. He said, ‘No, we didn’t. We just became Muslims’. ‘But why?’. ‘Because the French who were ruling there were extremely immoral people, very immoral. And we thought, what’s the use of following their religion, who drink all the time, and do all kinds of filth’ so how can we be better off? So we took to Islam’. But they are now in Sahaja Yoga, because whatever it is they have discrimination. They are seekers and they have discrimination. Imagine, they are all, we can call them as people from the black, black people. But they have such enlightened mind, I was amazed. They have made poems on Me, they have made lots of things about Me, and seven thousand of them have become, and they said one day the whole country will become, sahaja yogis. (Applause) In Turkey you know there is Islam, so-called. But there was their leader Ataturk Kemal Pasha, who was an enlightened soul and he talked to them that all this is nonsense, this purdah system, this, that, oppression of women all is nonsense. And he really made them much free. They are extremely creative people there, and imagine, there are two thousand sahaja yogis in Turkey. When there was this earthquake, you’ll be amazed to know not one sahaja yogi was killed nor anybody’s house was destroyed (Applause). In our country also we have four, four states which were all converted into Catholicism. Now I have talked to them, and they said, ‘No, these people only told us how to dress up well, go to church, sing hymns and come back home’. I was surprised: they are dressed better, no doubt, than other people, but how could they accept such a thing? Because they are aboriginal, they are people who are not yet open to light of the modern times or anything. And then after that, after that, they were trying their hands on Orissa. In Orissa there were already 35 to 40 persons who were Catholics. And I asked some sahaja yogis from Australia to go and do some work there of Sahaja Yoga. And they established nine centers there. Nine centers of Sahaja Yoga were established. But the best part of it, when there was a huge big destruction through a hurricane that came, all the sahaja yogis who have newly accepted Sahaja Yoga, are all safe. (Applause). All their houses are safe. So now what is going to come is the Last Judgment. In that all people who still are trying fundamentalism, who are fundamentalist, they’ll be destroyed, I think so. Because the way they are destroyed in all these countries, I just don’t understand what is happening and why these people are getting destroyed, their families destroyed, their houses destroyed. Is the Kalki I think is acting, and working it out in all these places in such a severe manner. Those people who do black magic and all that they were also destroyed. Is very surprising that in Orissa not one sahaja yogi was hurt. It is such a big protection of the Divine on sahaja yogis, which was to come, was told long time back it was going to come. But people got lost in ritualism, in the priesthood, and its all kinds of talks. By talking you cannot get a spiritual experience, by reading you cannot get any spiritual experience. Guru Nanaka has said it, Kabira has said it, even Adi Shankaracharya has said that this is Shabda Jalam, this is the web of words. “Oh Mother, take me out of that”. All these people who knew the truth have said the same thing, they have repeated the same thing, if you read their lives you’ll be surprised. Even the Sufis who were Muslims have written the same thing all over. It’s surprising, how can Sufis living in Turkey or living in, even they were in Pakistan – now is Pakistan, that time it was India – they all have written the same thing, some great poets even from England have written the same thing, that truth is truth, and truth is love. That’s what Christ wanted to establish, but He was born in a very, very difficult situation. And the people who took over, as priests and Church and all that, made full advantage of that and have really oppressed all the people. There’s no oppression in Sahaja Yoga. It’s your free will by which you come in. And you have to find the truth, truth about yourself, you should know yourself. All the time Christ has said, ‘Know Thyself’. And they don’t try that at all anywhere, Knowing Thyself, because they don’t know themselves. This situation we have in every religion. They all came to fight it, to tell us what is the right path what to follow. What Christ did was a very remarkable thing, that He told the Jews that He is the Light, He is the Path. But He didn’t say He was the destination, clearly, because He knew that somebody has to come, and He said the Holy Ghost will come, and She’ll have three things as you know: that She’ll be a Comforter, She’ll be a Counselor, and She’ll be a Redeemer. He didn’t use She or He, but in Hebrew language it says “It”. So people have misused Bible to such an extent that in England a king wanted to divorce his wife so he authorized the Bible. How can such an adharmic fellow authorize such a holy book like Bible? Because the power: with the power he want to control, want to control all that is reality. This is a blind power. But if you have a real power, then you know what to respect, what not to respect. Which way to go, which way not to go. Because you have a sight, you know a very bright understanding of the whole thing. Which road you have to follow, where you have to go, and which is the right thing. Thank God through this Kali Yuga, because of all kinds of horrible things, as also among Hindus lots of funny, funny rituals they have, that people have seen through that this is not the end of it. You have to seek, you have to seek. But the only thing which is very important is that all of them have said that you have to seek, you have to find out your Self. Which is very clearly written in some of the Indian scriptures. Some of them, I would say not all of them. Some of them it is written that you must seek your Self, specially the saints who came on this earth in India, they have tried to say all the time that you must seek, you must find out the truth. Because they knew the truth and they wanted others to find the truth. So in every religion there have been enlightened people. Among Buddhists also there has been a Viditama, Lao-Tse, and many others, who have talked about seeking, seeking the truth. Christ has said it very clearly, very, very clearly, and at His birthday I feel very happy that so many of you have already found out the truth and that you know the path of love and compassion and humility. As it is we know where Christ resides within us, and how to respect Christ, and how to worship that. With this Agnya chakra you can make out a person whether he is a seeker or he is a dominating arrogant Christian. You cannot do that, if you are a Christian you cannot be that. If you are that, then you are not a Christian. Look at Christ, how humble He was. He could have finished them off - He had such powers - all of them; but He got Himself crucified. The reason was Agnya chakra was to be broken. Was to be crossed. And so He accepted. As I told you He had all the powers of Shri Ganesha, which are the most destructive powers. All these powers come from Mother Earth, and the Mother Earth can shake the whole world. But He was the One who came as Mahavishnu, as described in the Devi Mahatmya. What a person He was, and what He did, all His work is beautifully described in Mahavishnu. Now, when they do not know, want to connect the Devi Mahatmya with Christ’s work, it’s alright, they are lost. There’s such a disintegration, and there’s no collectivity, nothing. And they call themselves as the disciples of Christ: you cannot. You must have love, compassion. And not for a purpose. They have missionaries who go and talk of compassion, love, and what they achieve is nothing but conversion, because it is democracy and they want to have more heads. It’s so despising, the whole attitude towards Christ, is so criminal to have such an attitude towards Christ, who was the One who came to give salvation to the whole world, to unite the whole world, and to make so many different, different efforts to spoil His name. Now I would tell you this, that if Christ is born and He came on this earth, it’s a very, very great occasion. He gave His life for us, He did everything. And how are we following Him is by forgiving. You have to forgive others, you forgive yourself and you forgive others. Is very important if you want to open this Agnya chakra, where resides our Lord Jesus Christ. If you cannot forgive others and you cannot forgive yourself, then this Agnya won’t open. And the best part of it, all the Christian nations I have seen, where there are so-called Christians, they all have a very bad Agnya. If they are really following Christ, why should there be a catch on the Agnya chakra? And they are extremely dominating, arrogant people. They cannot be the disciples of Christ. He was so humble, He was so much one with God Almighty, that He accepted His crucifixion.His birth itself is a very great miracle, and His work is even greater. We have to win over all the Christians and tell them what is real Christianity, what is reality, and what they should take to, and how they should justify their following of Christ. It is very big organizational thing, and it’s a big, I mean, political thing, I mean, all kinds of things are going on. And all the bad things they have from, say Hindu religion, they carry on. So what is the use of conversion also? So from His life we have to learn that He took a birth in such a situation that nobody would have dared to be born like that. So much of darkness and ignorance, so much of cruelty, that He took His birth at that time is extremely remarkable. Such a brave, courageous personality. Nowadays they make Christ look like a TB patient, I mean, just to beg, you know. Because they are beggars. All the time they are begging. And I was in Bombay this time, some little, little girls and boys were singing songs and they came up, and they said, ‘Give us some money’. I said, ‘What are you doing?’. ‘We are singing carols’. ‘So you sing! Why do you need money for?’. ‘You know, we need money, we have no food to eat’. Imagine. Then why sing songs of Christ? All kinds of begging is done. Christ, did He beg for anything? Did He want to create beggars on this earth? He died, lived with self-respect. All His qualities are never studied and people take to something which is very mundane, sometimes absolutely degrading, degrading. He came to give us a very dharmic, very... I shouldn’t say religious because has different meaning, but I would say a very pious and beautiful life. He is the model, He is the model we have to follow. Not that to become beggars and go round and ask for alms. Even in the schools which are Christian schools they teach this to children, that you go and ask for money, ask for money; all over the world they are asking for money. And what do they do with their money God only knows. Money can never be so important, never so important – it is just that we use it, but it cannot dominate us. He came in a very, very humble way, in a manger He was born, to show that money is not important. Though in the Sanskrit literature it is written that a God, or God Almighty when He incarnates, He has aishwarya, means He has wealth, He must have wealth. It is meaning the spiritual wealth. He must be born with the spiritual wealth. If he has spiritual wealth, then He is the real incarnation. If you don’t have the spiritual wealth of love and compassion, and detachment, you cannot be called as an incarnation. It’s a myth. So we have to test it on people who are saying they are incarnations, they are gods, they are divine, that they will take you to divine life. See their own lives, how they live. See their own temperament. You can see how Christ knew about: He told Peter that you’ll meet a satan. And that’s what he met, this Paul. In every incarnation’s life there has been negative force curbing the activity of that incarnation. We too had lots of negative forces, but gradually we have surmounted it and still I am there living, it’s no, there’s no crucifixion for Me at least. So this is what it is, because you are seekers and you have found the truth. This was My job, is to give you the truth. And you have got it, you have got the spiritual experience, which is the greatest thing one can ask for. You know yourself and you are so one with each other. This is the completion of the work of Christ, that He said ‘I will send you the Holy Ghost’. So this millennium for Me is mixed with funny feelings, because all created by this Catholic Church, saying ‘this is the Millennium’. Who says so? Because it is already not was celebrated for four hundred and something, forty-seven years, and now you say ‘this is millennium’. So the whole world has said, ‘Now is millennium, millennium, millennium’. If it is, if it is really the millennium, then what Christ wanted to do is to take a hunter in His hand and hit all the people who are negative or making money in the name of God. I am unhappy because is created by Catholic Church. They have already made so much money out of Christ, out of His name, and if you meet people say in Brazil, or Argentina, of Peru and all these places, wherever there is Catholicism, they are very, very poor people. Catholics are mostly very poor, except in Switzerland I think, where they must, they have banks, maybe that is the reason. Even these banking people are all Catholics. Can you imagine? And Italy also has lots of it, but now, Italians are that way much more open, much more open and they have been attacking by so many ways this Catholic Church. France I don’t know, France partly, they are not yet so many, but one day will come this France will have to learn a lesson, a very serious lesson for whatever they are doing. They don’t know what is freedom is, actually they don’t know laws. They are going at random like mad people. Firstly they drink such a lot. Drinking according to them is allowed. How can it be allowed, drinking, which is the greatest curse on human beings? They said that He went for a wedding and in the wedding He created wine. In Hebrew language wine means the grape juice. Not wine which is fermented. And instantly, how can you create wine? There’s no logic. You have to ferment it, you have to rot it. But the Christians are the worst in this. If somebody dies they will drink. If somebody’s born, they will drink. Anything that happens, whether good or bad, they will drink. Drinking is their religion, specially in France. Now they have no money, French have no money, because this drinking business takes out all your money, everything. Christ never said you should drink. Why will He say? It goes against your awareness, must understand, you can’t bring such a bad name to Him saying that He had agreed to people who were drinking. No, never. He cannot. He was an incarnation of purity: how will He say such a thing? I can’t understand the licentiousness, the immorality that people are doing. They’ll go to church, come back and become immoral. There’s no restriction on them, because they don’t know, because there is no light, light of the Spirit in them, to see what is destructive and what is constructive. That’s why Christ came on this world to show, and they put all these things on Him, and take a license to do whatever they like. After Sahaja Yoga you realize what is wrong, what is good. Unless and until you become a sahaja yogi is difficult to have this discrimination. That’s how so many people are lost in the name of Christ, lost in the destructive forces of their being. As it is we call them all the six enemies that we have. So today, when we remember His life, His birth, His work, His greatness, His sacrifice, we have to know that we have to follow His life. He is our model, we have to bear lots of things, we have to be tolerant, we cannot be aggressive, we cannot be threat to the freedom of others. I know there’s some are satanic people, but we should not be a threat to them. Our truth will fight. This is a very, very simple thing we have to do. In Sahaja Yoga see, I have seen people have taken more to a very moral life, and a moral behavior, and a whole culture also. Sahaja Yoga culture is a very moral culture, very loving culture, very compassionate culture. And I am sure Christ within you will be happy to see you in this manner. May God bless you. (Applause)