The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You

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Summary: Must read book for all lovers of GOD.
Review: I am a practicing Hindu and my kids go a nice catholic school in USA. When I attended the church services, I was struck by the remarkable similarity between Hindu temple rituals and catholic rituals. Now after reading this book, everything makes sense to me. It shows the fundamental unity of the teachings of Bhagavad Gita and Holy Bible. The truths of Yoga are embedded all over the bible and Yoganandaji has done a superb job of explaining all these truths very lucidly and the corresponding truths from Gita. A must read book for all lovers of GOD.


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Summary: COMING HOME
Review: I departed from the Catholicism of my childhood but this huge impressive deeply researched and spiritually resonant work by the holy man, Paramahansa Yogananda, has opened my eyes and heart to the spiritual truth of Christ Consciousness. I was led to this work, now compiled in two gorgeous volumns with extensive footnotes and beautiful pictures. It is a facinating read and one I am so grateful to have found.

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Summary: A truly clarifying book on the Christian religion
Review: I have been waiting for a book like this for years. I am a christian and like so many others have never found myself at ease within this religion. To really appreciate your home sometimes you have to travel away to gain a new perspective. Jesus Christ was born in the East but his spititual message has been westernized through the ages and it was conceived in the Dark Age (Kali Yuga). Priests today are not teaching the pure, original message of the Savior, Yogananda talks about "churchianity" instead of Christianity. What the author does is he gives westerners a perspective on the Gospels ("The Good Tidings") from the point of view of an easterner that comes from the same tradition as the Master (Christ is said to have studied in India for some years and studied Yoga which means Divine Union with God).
Yogananda says that he does not interpret the Bible but the interpretation has been given to him by Jesus Christ through Self-Realization which makes this work really different from other similar works.
This book has clarified for me a lot of issues concerning the "Christian" religion and it has made it easier for me to pray and to meditate. Paramahansa Yogananda is an avatar of pure heart (as evidenced in Autobiography of a Yogi) and this book will touch anyone in a small or a large way.

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Summary: Beyond Words, Beyond Description - Read It With Your Heart
Review: Surely one of the most important books ever written. For truth seekers of every creed and every religion, this book speaks to us all. Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1951) was one of the holiest, most spiritually advanced souls to have ever blessed the human race. His goal in life was to lead us all onto the path back to God, to reawaken our true divine nature. This voluminous work is the culmination of a life's work and teaching. All of his books are remarkable and life-enriching - but these two volumes may well be his crowning literary achievement.

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Summary: The Gospel Commentary that stands out!
Review: The Second Coming of Christ

Yogananda's newest book "The Second Coming of Christ" will not disappoint those who have waited long for this literary spiritual masterpiece from Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers.[released Sept 2004
Although bible academics will tell you that anything written over 50 years ago may be out of date. You will find that this Gospel commentary is at least equal to if not superior to anything written to date on this subject.

There are a number of things that make this work especially qualified to represent the true teachings of Jesus the Christ.
(a)The author Himself actually lived the life described in these gospels- Paramahansa Yogananda was a modern Christ in every regard. If one cannot see this in the Second Coming book, this fact can be further verified through a couple of more years study of the Masters life and other teachings. Plus there are still a few living witnesses to His divine stature.
(b)Yogananda goes far beyond other academics/clergy and theologians. he not only gives a spiritually potent and convincing explanation of Jesus teachings, but also the full and clearest methodology on how to reach that high state of self-realization. He takes you on the actual journey and explains every step of the way. You would not get more or better instruction even if you were in the presence of another physical teacher.
(c)the proof and value of the spiritual instruction in the second coming have already been effectively verified by Yogananda's divine lineage and many successor disciples-it works!
(d)His approach that he is not attempting to prove the authenticity and factualness of the Gospels [see Page 69] is very telling of His foresight and wisdom. This very area, is where many embarrassed and presumptuous previous writers made their first mistake. Assuming that everything in writing is the unadulterated "word of God." This caution alone sets him apart and speaks to his humility.
(e)He uses the mystical path of Yoga Sciences and Vedic spiritual wisdom as the background to share with us the inner/fuller meanings and purposes of Jesus the Christ's teachings and mission. Whereas various other commenters on these same documents have been attempting to show the origins of many Gospel passages as originating in Buddhistic and Egyptian traditions.
(f)The value and veracity of a true revelatory spiritual message rests in part upon its useful and original ideas for the spiritual seeker. Here Yogananda gives us a cornucopia of valuable and refreshingly original approaches to many of the heretofore mysteries of the bible. He fills in a lot of the blanks that were left when other writers on these subjects attempted to come up with similar concepts.
One can clearly see herein the difference between previous "attempts" to explain subtle matters and Yogananda's finished product.
(g) And above all, the author avoids the greatest of all pitfalls so many others got tripped up on - the true meaning of Christ's second coming. He supports his universal Christ Consciousness theory with ample evidence and conviction. Freeing all seekers and faithful from the blind opportunism that has victimized them in the past by the popular doomsday Jesus return concepts. It gives credit to this Gurus way of returning the power from bad leaders to the individual devotee. It further demonstrates how obedience to the Master results in the greatest freedom and god-realization for all who make the effort using the right means. Then one becomes truly free.

This work seems to truly represent the Jesus of Judean times. Before time, men and politics distorted and/or lost so much of the beautiful wisdom that Jesus taught back then. And some that was kept so secretive, as was required in the mystical customs of old.

It is truly fitting that after the attempts of so many other well meaning but ineffectual claims of other prophets who claimed credit for restoring Jesus true teachings, it is a prophet from India [where Jesus spent almost half of his life] who is able to finally reveal the true light of that ancient and holy teaching. A light that has already given new hope to millions of spiritual seekers around the globe for the last hundred or so years.

This book tells us about some of Jesus amazing connections with India that have been verified through history.
It goes into great detail on spiritual practice and healing, the Master -Disciple relationship as the door to heaven before death, and the value of the spiritual life to the fulfillment of ones every other goal of life.


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Summary: "Christ Unveiled"
Review: These two volumes are written from the perspective and experience of one who himself came from the East. The insights into the life and teachings of Jesus offered by Yogananda go much deeper than what we are accustomed to as Westerners. Indeed, Yogananda's work could just as easily have been titled "Christ Unveiled". This is not merely an intellectual commentary based on scholarship (though fine scholarship abounds throughout). Rather, this work is the realized testimony of someone who himself has plumbed the depths and given his whole life to the subject matter at hand. As Westerners raised on the external moral precepts of the "Good Book" our acquaintance with the internal esoteric aspect of God and His prophets is wholly lacking a "holy" understanding. This book does much to expand our understanding of Jesus, not just as a spiritual personage of highest order... whose entire public ministry consisted of doing good to others, but shows us the deeply spiritual and mystical side of his life, teachings and love of God. Such sayings as " the kingdom of God is within you" and "know ye not that ye are Gods?" take on a profound importance in the light of Yogananda's work. Perhaps for the first time in the history of Christianity we are being given the opportunity to understand that the deep care, sincerity, love and urgency of Christ's mission came as a result of seeing in all others (especially the most evil around him) what was fully revealed and uncovered in him. Anyone interested in exploring the deeper aspects of Christianity will find these two volumes invaluable. The footnotes alone contain many fine commentaries on such subjects as the original meanings of various Greek and Aramaic words and suggest how difficult (as always!) it is to find an accurate equivalent in English. Included are many fine reproductions of the great religious art of Carl Bloch and Heinrich Hofmann. As if the rich detail and wisdom conveyed throughout were not enough, we are given ample insight into the love of God overflowing in those who fully know Him. This book bares witness to itself such that, as Yogananda says on page 495 of volume 1," When the devotee is in tune with God, he will hear the divine Voice: "I have loved thee through the ages; I love thee now; and I shall love thee until thou comest Home. Whether thou knowest it or not, I shall always love thee".

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Summary: I have waited a lifetime for this.
Review: Yogananda's book is an astounding gift to the world. As a lapsed Christian (Catholic), I had long ago dismissed the Bible as a kind of theological kindergarten. No more! Yogananda's description of Jesus the Yogi-Christ and his teachings transcend anything written during the last 2000 years. An audacious claim, but if you want to become acquainted with a living, supremely relevant Christ, read this book.