"Prepare the Way for the Lord"
The true message of the Advent season.
At Christmas, the dilemma of the Christian church becomes particularly clear: we sing wonderful songs, but no one tells us how to do it practically: to become ready for the Lord and for Heaven. I'll tell you how it works.
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I remember last year's Christmas service, the singing of the congregation and the pastor's sermon. I was touched by the audible longing of these people, and at the same time I felt pain, because nobody there knew how it all works: preparing the way for the Lord; becoming able and ready for Heaven. In Christian culture, not much more remains of Jesus' words and the message of Advent than a few tips on how to behave: "love one another, do good, forgive" - well-intentioned words, lifeless and empty.
Jesus, on the other hand, spoke very practically and directly about the essence of the path to God, but people today do not understand him because they simply cannot imagine what he was talking about. My guru Swamiji says that this is perfectly normal: "the Saint speaks at his level, but the disciples listen at their level", and they don't even realize that they are misunderstanding everything.
And so people stick to what they understand and can still experience today: the incredible love and gentleness of Jesus. Then they try to imitate him, but this attempt, although well-intentioned, is frustrating and often leads to nothing good. Because this love that they imitate is only the effect, but not the source from which the love comes.
Jesus spoke of the source. He told us how to become like him: empty, a nobody, egoless, available to God. And whoever becomes like this, love flows through them all by itself. If you become like this, only good things can happen through you, naturally and of its own accord. This is what Advent is all about: becoming ready for the source.
Those who experience this for themselves begin to understand the wonderful old songs that we sing during Advent. In this video, I use two of these songs as examples to explain how I understand their words and how they show us the way, very clearly, very directly. They touch me deeply. They speak of such a deep understanding of the true path to Heaven, and they are a wonderful companion in this time of becoming ready.
I would also like to draw your attention to a very special feature of this year's Advent season: Swamiji's Mahashibir in India begins tomorrow, which anyone who likes can also take part in online from home. This shibir will last until 2nd Christmas Day. What a blessing: for me, there is no better way to experience Advent and Christmas in the company of a living Jesus. And I talk about the miracle and the grace of being able to recognize a living Jesus like him.
Swamiji's Nagpur Mega Shibir Dec. 19 - 26, 2023
Swamiji's discourse Wednesday Dec. 20: 14:00 - 15:30 h CET
Swamiji's Megashibir was held in Nagpur, India, from December 19 - 26, 2023. Each of Swamiji's discourses was transmitted in original Hindi, and there was also an English translation of each discourse. Here are the links to pages with the recordings:
Original Hindi: Link to the live recordings on the live page of the Gurutattva channel on YouTube
Here is my trick: You can run both the Hindi original and the English translation simultaneously in two different browser windows. The original is played with low volume, while the translation is played quite loudly. This way you can hear and feel Swamiji's energy very well, but at the same time understand what he is talking about through the English translation. I think the combination is just so wonderful.
I published a video about my experiences during the Shibir on December 29th:
Living God, eternal learning: Why it's so cool to have a Guru.
Answer to a comment
I received a beautiful comment on YouTube about this video, which I would like to share and answer here.
Comment:
Beloved Mikael, I have a hard time with "the Lord". I sense old patriarchal energy and collective woundedness that have caused a lot of harm. This calls for divine redemption. In my experience, God and Goddess are ONE on a very high level. This is wonderful and opens up a completely new perspective on LOVE. Greetings from the heart!
My Answer:
"Yes, I understand. That's exactly why I chose this title: because we humans carry these wounds you write about within us and therefore can no longer feel the actual, deeply helpful meaning. Basically, we are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Of course there is neither a male nor a female God. There is no God at all as a person or as a being of any kind. That which animates this world and that which we are is impersonal, unlimited, has neither name nor form.
But we are human beings, and we humans experience and understand best emotionally. Abstract things do not help us. And that is why it is easier for us humans to surrender to a guru or a "Lord" than to an abstract, non-experiential idea. The guru and the "Lord" are completely unimportant. It is the devotion, the surrender that matters. And surrender is all the easier for us humans the more concretely we can experience the object of our surrender.
Of course, no guru is God. No one can be God, because God, that which the Indians describe so beautifully with the impersonal word "Paramatma", is unlimited and everywhere. No Jesus can be God, no Lord. But by surrendering to a person, we experience God within us. That, and that alone, is the point.
A long time ago, people worshipped nature. Some primitive peoples still do today. Nature is everywhere. It is the most "unconcrete" form of surrender. Later, people began to worship gods, which made surrender easier for them. surrender became more intense and effective. Then many gods eventually became one god, and again surrender became easier and more intense. Through a guru (or "Lord"), this God becomes even more concrete and surrender becomes even easier.
Of course, the guru, the Jesus, the Lord is not the divine, the person who surrenders knows that. It is all about surrender. Through it, the ego is destroyed and the path to the divine is cleared. And when this happens, the "object of surrender", the guru, the Lord, the Jesus, whether female or male, is no longer needed. One experiences God within oneself. Swamiji says: "I make your own soul your guru". The "Lord" is a kind of aid for a short time, nothing more, but a very effective one.
Today, people's ego is bigger than ever, and the capacity for surrender has almost completely disappeared, because surrender is the last thing the ego allows. "Surrender" is something suspicious for most people. Of course, people's surrender and trust have been abused time and again. Of course, most gurus and "masters" are nothing but charlatans and egocentrics. That is all true. Nevertheless, the path of surrender is the only path. Nevertheless, we love. Nevertheless, we trust. Nevertheless, we set out again and again. And that is a miracle.
There may be people who no longer need this, I cannot judge that. In any case, I experience in my life that my surrender, which was always completely unplanned and spontaneous, is the most important thing that has ever happened to me. I am so infinitely grateful for this: that I am able to do this in a world that no longer knows surrender. I have long since become my own master, I have long since felt God within me, but the surrender to the Master and to the Guru remains, becomes ever purer and deeper, and it helps me more and more on this path on which my own ego is always waiting to return. It purifies me anew every day.
The title of the video is a quotation from the Bible: "Prepare the way of the Lord". I wouldn't use the word "Lord" myself because, as you say, it is loaded. But if we allow the old hurt to keep us from walking the path of surrender, we only make the hurt bigger. I made the video because I know people who have become incapable of surrendering to the master or guru they have because they carry these ancient hurts that you write about. The pain is so great that they cannot recognize the redemption that stands before them. It was for these people that I made the video, and it was for these people that I chose the title.
Dhyan Mikael"