c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) When some 1,000 church pastors go to their mailboxes this summer, they’ll find a free book from a publisher whose titles routinely focus on such non-Christian subjects as yoga and reincarnation.

This time, with the release of “Revelations of Christ,” California publisher Crystal Clarity aims to reintroduce pastors and their flocks to Jesus Christ. Gone are all the familiar doctrines about the Messiah and the Atonement. In their place is Jesus as seen through the lens of the late Hindu master, Paramhansa Yogananda, whose 1946 classic “Autobiography of a Yogi” continues to sell in the thousands each month.

The teachings, as reportedly told to the yogi’s American disciple, Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters), are dedicated “to Christians whose faith has been shaken.” The idea is for Christians to come to know the real Jesus by looking beyond the church for guidance from someone steeped in wisdom _ yet unconfined by Christianity’s imperfect institutions.

Crystal Clarity President Sean Meshorer talked about the plan from his office in Nevada City, Calif. Here are excerpts.

Q: Why would a publisher with a focus on Eastern religions come out with a book about Jesus?

A: The point of this book is to show that the teachings of Christ were absolutely valid, but over the years they’ve been layered with dogma and sectarianism. This is an attempt to go back to the original underlying teachings of Christ … . It’s trying to reinvigorate a non-sectarian version of Christianity that focuses on the inspiration and the underlying spirit, stripped of all that dogma.

Q: Does the book challenge Christian dogma?

A: It does, but it’s a very kind book … . Yogananda was a proponent of the “church of all religions.” One of his missions was always to show the underlying unity among the different religious traditions.

Q: Are you expecting this book will be read by Christians?

A: We really see the main market as practicing Christians, or people who would like to be Christians but whose faith has been shaken by things like “The Da Vinci Code,” … or by a scandal involving clergy.

The point is that just because you’re having problems with a specific church, that doesn’t mean you have to have problems with Christ. Those are two different things.

Q: So if someone does embrace Christ but not the church, is there a particular path for doing so?

A: There are infinite possibilities. Yogananda taught non-sectarian meditation techniques and non-sectarian prayer techniques. He did not require you to be “his religion.” The purpose of the techniques is to help you commune with God and Christ … . He talks about ways that you can stay within your own church or structure and be able to get out of it what’s appropriate or what works for you without feeling oppressed by the organizational structure of it.

Q: Are you trying to achieve something other than to sell books?

A: Well, absolutely. The reason Yogananda made his Bible commentaries was to help people and to create a renaissance in real spiritual belief and practice. He wanted to help people not just attend services and call themselves nominal Christians, but to actually get in there themselves and practice the techniques that each of these great religious traditions have offered people.

Q: Do you hope to have an impact on the organizational life of churches, perhaps to disavow some of their dogma?

A: Absolutely, but we’re not pie-in-the-sky about it. … There are many different voices that are part of the dialogue in American religious life today. The goal of this book is to make sure that the perspective of India, of Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism), the eternal religion, is incorporated and is one of the voices heard in the debate today.

This is a very non-sectarian understanding of religion and spiritual practice that emphasizes harmony and unity instead of disharmony. The book aims to create a voice of sanity and harmony amidst the tremendous amount of infighting that takes place today.

Q: What is it about Jesus that enables this yogi to say that he reached the highest possible spiritual level for a human being?

A: Yogananda taught that if you put Buddha and Jesus and Muhammad in a room together, they would predominantly agree with one another. And they would appreciate one another. They wouldn’t draw lines of contention between themselves. They would essentially have a harmonious exchange of ideas and teachings between them, and each would profoundly respect and validate each other’s viewpoints.

Q: Are you a Christian?

A: No, I’m not a Christian. At Crystal Clarity, we believe in the non-sectarian concept that each of us can achieve a level of self-realization. That self-realization can be achieved either inside a church that gives you spiritual practices appropriately and truly, but it can also be accomplished without any formal religious affiliation whatsoever.

Q: So a religious organization is an optional resource for people on a spiritual journey?

A: We feel organizations are highly optional. It’s appropriate to always see an organization from a perspective of a little bit of skepticism. Organizations at their best can be vehicles to help individuals achieve self-realization. But organizations at their worst can actually be impediments to people achieving self-realization.

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A photo of Swami Kriyananda and the book cover for “Revelations of Christ” is available via https://religionnews.com.