Jesus Christ and Yoga: A Book Review
While the author of this book, Sri Shyam Sundar Goswami, passed away when I was only 2 years old, I have been fortunate enough to encounter his last surviving disciple and spiritual heir, Basile Catoméris. As of this writing, Catoméris is a 93-year-old yogi living in France. He introduced me to his guru’s works, and I was so moved by them that I have spent the last 9 years helping to get the out-of-print Jesus Christ and Yoga into a Third Edition. Even after completing this milestone, I wish for my service to continue by sharing with others about the book and its author.
Book cover of Jesus Christ and Yoga by Shyam Sundar Goswami
Born in 1891, Goswami spent most of his life deeply involved in the practice and teaching of Yoga. He made tremendous contributions to Yoga, before passing away in 1978. One of those contributions fits squarely within the field of Christian-Yoga dialog.
Ever the meticulous scholar, Goswami convened a panel of fourteen dedicated Yoga pupils to assist him with gathering Christian textual sources, including apocrypha. Poring through what they gathered, Goswami worked to answer two main questions: were the life, activities and sayings of Jesus consistent with Yoga; and was the wisdom of Jesus unique to him, or can it be found throughout all ages and cultures? His research into these questions culminated in the book, Jesus Christ and Yoga.
One thing which sets this book apart from similar books is that Goswami never makes any attempt to postulate on how the historical Jesus might have learned Yoga. Did he travel to India? Did an itinerant yogi pass through and secretly instruct him? We don’t know and we will never know, but we can examine Christian Scripture to compare its portrayal of Jesus to what is known about Yoga. Goswami bases his examination upon the 4 Canonical Gospels, as well as the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas. (The inclusion of Thomas may rankle some Christians, but Goswami felt that it provides reliable evidence about Jesus.)
Goswami’s book, a slender volume of 150 pages, is presented in 8 chapters. Chapter 1 is intimately familiar to Christians, as it recapitulates the significant events from the life of Jesus. However, Goswami intersperses comparisons to the lives of Eastern religious figures (such as Buddha and Krishna), great yogis of the past (such as Shankara and Chaitanya), and various Hindu religious texts (such as the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita). The non-yogi reader will quickly see the value of looking up terms in the glossary!
Chapter 2 delves into Jesus as an incarnation of God, the special relationship which Jesus saw between himself and the Father, and how he perceived his mission in the world. These are paired up with references to Krishna, who is commonly regarded by Hindus as an incarnation of Vishnu. Goswami never makes the case that Jesus and Krishna are somehow the same (as certain authors assert), but points out the consistent parallels in how they perceived themselves and were perceived by their followers.
Chapter 3 examines the miracles of Jesus—curing the sick, raising the dead, walking on water, etc.—but terms them from a yogic perspective as “superpowers,” a more colloquial English translation for the Sanskrit, vibhuti. This term covers the various miraculous powers attributed to advanced yogis and saintly figures from all world religious traditions. The superpowers of Jesus are discussed and paired up with similar instances from the lives of important Hindus, Buddhists and yogis. This is not meant to diminish the miracles of Jesus, but to situate them within a wider context.
Chapter 4 takes an important turn towards establishing that Jesus was indeed a yogi. Historically, the fundamental underpinnings of Yoga have been the spiritual and ethical disciplines which regulate the life of the yogi, such as non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, spiritual study, and concentration through love for God. In each of these categories by turn, Goswami uses Scriptural passages to show that Jesus was in strong alignment with the guiding principles of the yogis.
Chapter 5 centers on the nature of God. Goswami discusses numerous Scriptural passages where Jesus speaks of God, the Father, or Abba, and then compares them with Hindu and yogic concepts of God. Goswami shows that the Christian understanding of God is harmonious with Hindu/yogic concepts of the ultimate nature of God (if one can set aside the Hindu penchant for representing God through a multitude of names and forms).
Chapter 6 deals with Divine Love. While Jesus tells us to love our enemies, love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and to love God with all of our hearts, souls and minds, Goswami makes a case that Jesus is actually pointing us towards something greater. The culmination of all this practice of love is the attainment of what Goswami calls “superlove,” which brings about an absorption into the Divine Love of God. In Hindu/yogic terms, this state is referred to as bhakti, or God Consciousness.
Chapter 7 explains the Scriptural concept of the Word as being synonymous with the yogic concept of mantra. The Gospel of John famously begins with “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This passage directly aligns with Hindu/yogic concepts of mantra, especially the quintessential mantra Om. This sacred syllable is regarded as being one and the same with God, and the sound which called all creation into being, and also the sound which can awaken us to our oneness with creation. It is difficult to overstate the importance of Om within Yoga practice; those looking for a deeper dive on this mantra might start with this article on Om by the Goswami Yoga Institute.
Chapter 8 brings the book to a conclusion by asserting that the final goal of Yoga was attained and summed up by Jesus, when he said “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Through the cultivation of superlove and the use of sacred mantras, one may follow Jesus in the attainment of superconcentration, a state where all distinction between the yogi and God disappears. Many Christians might be uncomfortable with this conclusion, as it clearly implies that Jesus attained his Divine status through his own efforts and we can all potentially do the same, but this is very much in alignment with the teachings of Yoga.
In the final analysis, Goswami concludes that Jesus’ life, activities and sayings are very much consistent with Yoga. Goswami proclaims that, whether or not he was ever formally instructed in Yoga, Jesus was an accomplished yogi and a source of inspiration for all humans. Also, Goswami concludes that the wisdom of Jesus was not in fact unique to him, as it is very much in alignment with the wisdom of Hindus, Buddhists and yogis who lived before him. That being said, Jesus presented this perennial wisdom in a unique way, tailored to the particular time and context in which he lived.
The ultimate message of Goswami’s book is that Christians and yogis need not distrust one another. While the two perspectives can seem so different, a deep harmony underlies them both. It makes perfect sense for a Christian to be a yogi, or for a yogi to be a Christian. Many different paths can lead to the one goal—God.
About Jim Earles
Jim Earles, of Dubuque, Iowa, USA, has been a certified 3HO Kundalini Yoga teacher since 2001. Raised Catholic, he strongly considered becoming a priest for a few years, but instead ended up as a husband, father, and Yoga teacher! The spiritual aspects of Yoga have always been very important to him, and they have melded with his faith. He now sees Jesus as a master yogi and Christianity as a yogic path. Although he no longer teaches Yoga classes in the usual sense, he has developed a passion for researching and sharing about the history and philosophy of Yoga. In this capacity, he assists with several local Yoga Teacher Training programs. He would be very happy to connect with people through email at yogaspectrum@yahoo.com.