The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta

by Prabhavananda

The Sermon on the Mount represents the essence of both Christ's teachings and the teachings of Vedanta. Christ said, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The kingdom of God is within. Be ye perfect.... Theologians are apt to explain away these teachings, but we believe Christ meant exactly what he said. Read in this book how Vedanta goes to the heart of Christ's teachings.

Genres: Christianity, Religion, Hinduism, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Audiobook

127 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1963

About the author

Swami Prabhavananda was an Indian philosopher, monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and religious teacher.

Born in India, he joined the Ramakrishna Order after graduating from Calcutta university in 1914. He was initiated by Swami Brahmananda.
In 1923, he was sent to the United States of America. Initially he worked as an assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of San Francisco. After two years, he established the Vedanta Society of Portland. In December 1929, he moved to Los Angeles where he founded the Vedanta Society of Southern California in 1930.
Under his administration the Vedanta Society of Southern California grew over the years to become the largest Vedanta Society in the West, with monasteries in Hollywood and Trabuco Canyon and convents in Hollywood and Santa Barbara.
Swami Prabhavananda was a scholar who authored a number of books on Vedanta and Indian religious scriptures and commentary. He was assisted on several of the projects by Christopher Isherwood or Frederick Manchester. His comprehensive knowledge of philosophy and religion attracted such disciples as Aldous Huxley and Gerald Heard.
Swami Prabhavananda died on the bicentennial of America's independence, July 4, 1976, and on the 74th anniversary of the death, or mahasamadhi, of Swami Vivekananda, the founder of the Ramakrishna Order in India and many of the Vedanta centers in America and Europe.
Christopher Isherwood wrote a book, My guru and his disciple,[3] that described his more than three decades (1939–76) as a student of Swami Prabhavananda

Reviews

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thou art our loving mother; thou art
our compassionate father; thou art our true friend and
constant companion. Thou art our only treasure and
our only wisdom. Thou art all in all.
The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta ~~ Prabhavananda



An observation I have made over the years is the that my Hindu friends understand Jesus the Christ’s mission far better than my Christian friends. Swami Prabhavananda’s amazing The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta confirms this.

This book is packed with so much truth and wisdom; it’s left my head spinning.



The way the Swami Prabhavananda blends Eastern and Western beliefs together seamlessly is amazing. Swami explains The Sermon on the Mount in ways that are meaningful and inspiring. For those raised in Christian traditions, this book will help you to embrace the teachings of Christ more fully and ground your faith in ways not yet revealed to you by traditional Christian teachings.

Swami Prabhavananada explains both Christian and Vedantic theologies brilliantly. Swami makes these complex concepts clear and easy to comprehend. Often, these teachings are obscured with overly complex, heavy handed language. Swami Prabhavananada shows us that there are many paths to God, all leading to one truth ~~ yes, we are beautifully taught how all religions are in reality sharing the same truth.



The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta is a fantastic book chocked full of wisdom. This is a book I will return again and again to bring more light my journey.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazon:
A book on the Sermon on the Mount should be no novelty in a Christian community. But when that books is written by a Hindu swami, a follower of Vedanta and The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, that certainly is unusual. More so since the swami extols the Sermon as though it were a scripture of his own.
Beautiful as the this interpretation is in itself, it is presented by Swami Prabhavananda not as a far-off, scarcely attainable ideal, which is the way most Occidentals read the Sermon, but as a practical program of daily living and conduct. So clear is the Swami’s reading of this great scripture, that many a Christian by means of it will discover a simpler approach to the teachings of his Master, more direct than any he had found heretofore.

[Ann Pletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a beautiful explanation of the Beatitudes. The Hindu understood Christ's sermon much better than the Christians themselves.

The Sermon on the Mount is not for the multitudes, it was only for Jesus' disciples. Why is that? Because the disciples were "ripe" and ready for these teachings. Only those who meditate and cultivate higher consciousness would understand. The truth of enlightenment!

The book is easy to read and understand, even for those who do not meditate.

For those who meditate, who are "ripe" themselves, the words resonate within the heart. The words of Jesus are explained with great care.

For example, Blessed are the Meek, for they will inherit the earth. Meek is not weak, the Meek are without ego. With practice, the ego is dropped, with meditation. So Blessed are the Meek. So how will they inherit the earth? Prabhavananda explains using the aphorism from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras - Non stealing. Giving up the egotistic delusion that we can possess anything. Everything belongs to God. Through union with God, Yoga, One who is confirmed in non-stealing becomes the master of all riches.

We are all One, and this is at the Heart of Jesus's teachings. The author writing is truly a gift to all.

[Danny Druid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swami Prabhavananda is a member of the monastic order that Sri Ramakrishna founded, and this book reflects Ramakrishna's teachings. Prabhavananda has a scholarly and philosophical mind, though, so it isn't at all like reading The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna all over again.

Prabhavananda's very short book has one mission: To prove that the essence of Christianity and the essence of Hinduism are in complete harmony with each other as a result of springing from the same Divine source.

He decides to do this by giving a Vedanta reading of the Sermon on the Mount from the Bible, as well as many other Vedantic interpretations of the words of Jesus Christ. It works beautifully.

If this book doesn't convince you that all religions come from the same source, then nothing will help you get over your dogmatism.

Highly recommended to any religious or spiritual seeker of any kind.

[ron btdtbttsawio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting and easy to read book. The author goes through the sermon line by line and compares it to the teachings of vedanta. The two teachings match up quite well.
The author does come up a bit short: In the sections where Jesus mentions hell (3 times in the sermon), Prabhavananda makes no comment. So I have no idea if that fits with vedanta or not.
Also included, are many interesting anecdotes from Prabhavananda's spiritual life and lesson's from his guru.
This was my second read through and still provided me with some good insights into spiritual concepts.
I will read it again in the future for sure.

[Kevin Orth · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a masterfully written book. The author breaths new, fresh life into an often quotes passage in The Bible. The words attributed to Jesus are liberated from the constraints and bindings radical reich fundamentalists calm to be proper. Truly, Jesus’s teaching is Love. What wonderful liberation this teaching can be appreciated when seen through non-dualistic eyes.

[Anna Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful little book explains the Sermon on the Mount (from the Christian Bible) from a Vedantic (mystical Hinduism) perspective.

[Walker S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent fresh look, just perfect for the new class I'm preparing to teach. I love to take a new look through someone a different set of eyes.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is refreshing to visit the life of Jesus as seen through eyes from another religion.
“What do they know of England who only England know?"

[Lucy Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich little book putting the sermon on the mount teachings into simple straightforward terms. Perfect for any lover of Vedantic philosophy and Jesus alike!

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FAMOUS VEDANTA TEACHER LOOKS AT THE WORDS OF JESUS

Swami Prabhavananda (1893-1976) was a monk of the Ramakrishna Order, who moved to America and founded the Vedanta Society of Southern California.

He wrote in the Introduction to this 1963 book, “This book is based on lectures I have given on the Sermon on the Mount… To me, the Sermon on the Mount represents the essence of Christ’s gospel… I am not a Christian, I am not a theologian, I have not read the Bible interpretations of the great Christian scholars. I have studied the New Testament as I have studied the scriptures of my own religion Vedanta… My religion … accepts and reveres all the great prophets, spiritual teachers, and aspects of the Godhead worshiped n different faiths, considering them to be manifestations of one underlying faith.” (Pg. xi)

He continues, “Christ was as much our own as Krishna, Buddha, and other great illumined teachers whom we revered. As a Hindu, I was taught from childhood to respect all religious ideals, to recognize the same divine inspiration in all the different faiths. Thus Christ as a manifest expression of divinity I could never have considered foreign… An intimate spiritual connection between Christ and my monastic order has existed for many years, beginning with its founder, Sri Ramakrishna.” (Pg. xii-xiii)

He adds, “Like Krishna and Buddha, Christ did not preach a mere ethical or social gospel but an uncompromisingly spiritual one. He declared that God could be seen, that divine perfection can be achieved. In order that men might attain this supreme goal of existence, he taught the renunciation of worldliness, the contemplation of God, and the purification of the heart through the love of God.” (Pg. xiv)

He explains in the first chapter, “Any one of us who sincerely wants the treasure, who seeks the truth, can benefit from the message given in the Sermon on the Mount and can become a disciple. Christ, as we shall see in our study of his Sermon, speaks of the conditions of discipleship which we must fulfill---for which we must prepare ourselves. He teaches the ways and means to attain the purification of our hearts, so that the truth of God may be fully revealed within us.” (Pg. 18-19)

He observes, “most of us do not really want God. If we analyze ourselves, we shall find that our interest in God is not nearly as strong as our interest in all kinds of worldly objects. But even a slight desire to know the divine Reality is a beginning that can lead us higher. We must start with self-effort. We must struggle to develop love of the Lord by practicing recollectedness of him, by prayer, worship, and meditation. As we practice these spiritual disciplines, our slight desire to realize him will become intensified until it is a raging hunger and a burning thirst.” (Pg. 24)

He states, “Worldly people do not understand the value of the spiritual life. Often they mock at the spiritual aspirant, and sometimes they revile him and try to do him an injury. But the religious man does not react to this. His mind is fixed in God; therefore he feels the unity, he sees the ignorance, and he is merciful. But whether he is criticized or harmed, he does not compromise; he does not choose to please worldly people.” (Pg. 32)

He explains, “There is this important difference between the Hindu and Christian concepts of divine incarnation. Christians believe in a unique historical event, that God was made flesh once and for all time in Jesus of Nazareth. Hindus, on the other hand, believe that God descends as man many times, in different ages and forms… The point is this: If we take the ‘I’ or ‘me’ of these teachers to refer to a mere historical man, we can never understand their statements. We must know that when Jesus, Krishna, and Buddha say ‘I’ or ‘me,’ they are not asserting the ego, the lower self, as ordinary embodied souls do. They are asserting their divinity, their identity with the Universal Self… Therefore the Hindu accepts all the great sons of God who are worshiped in different religions.” (Pg. 43-44)

He says, “Nonresistance is therefore recognized by Vedanta as the highest virtue, but all people under all circumstances are not expected to live up to it in the highest form. On the contrary, Vedanta points out that for some it is necessary to learn to resist evil and by this means grow in moral strength to a point where they can endure it. Consider the man who does not resist because he is weak and lazy, and will not make the effort to do so. Is there any merit in such nonresistance?” (Pg. 63)

He observes, “few individuals enter this kingdom of God, because few struggle to find it… Of course there are millions of Christians who attend churches regularly and millions of Hindus and Buddhists who worship in temples and pagodas. But of those who do, few seek perfection in God. Most people are satisfied with living a more or less ethical life on earth in the hope of being rewarded in an afterlife for any good deeds they may have done. Christ’s ideal of perfection is generally either forgotten or misunderstood… How can a spiritual aspirant who is longing for the truth be satisfied with theology, with philosophy, with doctrines and creeds?” (Pg. 73)

Here [Matt 6:1-4] Jesus speaks of action and its reward, cause and effect, which in Vedanta is set forth as the law of karma… [which] states that if I do some good deed for you, I will get my reward… If I do something bad, bad will come back to me. That is the law… But in order that we may reach perfection, we must free ourselves from all attachment, from all cravings for the fruits of action. We must free the mind from every kind of impression and tendency---the good as well as the bad, for good actions also create karma. If we want to transcend karma, the Gita teaches, we must learn to offer the fruits of our work to God. This is karma yoga---the way to union with God through God-dedicated action.” (Pg. 81)

He notes, “Many persons find this part [Matt 6:13] of the Lord’s Prayer difficult to understand. How is it possible, they ask, for God to tempt anybody? Some scholars, concluding that Jesus would not have spoken these words, have gone back to the ancient original texts to make new translations, hoping thereby to arrive at a meaning more consistent with their understanding of Christ’s gospel. But to the student of Vedanta, the Prayer is meaningful just as we find it here. Is not the whole universe one gigantic temptation?” (Pg. 96)

He suggests, These teachings of Christ [‘take no thought for the morrow’] are impractical for any individual who is not completely devoted to God. But if you truly seek the kingdom of heaven, then you will not care where you live, what you eat, or where you sleep. There have been men and women in past ages, and there are some today, who live in this spirit of complete dependence upon the Lord.” (Pg. 107-108)

He points out, “Almost everyone has a tendency to gossip, to criticize and judge others… because it swells our own sense of ego. Behind our pleasure there is the feeling, ‘I don’t have this weakness. I a greater than he is.’ Most often the weaknesses we seem to see in another person exists only in our own impure imagination. How many of us can really look into the depths of another human being and see all the motives which are prompting him to act in a particular way? Yet we are eager to judge and impute … evil motives!” (Pg. 112-113)

He concludes, “to have been present, to listen to the Sermon on the Mount, must have been one of the most tremendous experiences a human being could have---yet even this was an experience at second-hand; and so we find that some of Christ’s disciples were later troubled with doubts… and those doubts only vanished finally when he directly perceived the truth of God. And so we return to the basic principle that religion is something we ourselves have to do, and be, and live---or else it is nothing.” (Pg. 125)

This book will be “must reading” for students of comparative religions.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read, but it was so neat to consider a passage of scripture I'm very familiar with from an entirely different spiritual and cultural lens. I really appreciated his insights into the many connections between Hindu Vedanta teachings and Christ's teachings.

[Kitap · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first encountered this book on the Waldenbooks new age shelf, I thought that Vedanta was a person, as in "the Gospel according to Matthew," etc. (This was in 1989 or 1990, when I was high school senior in Decatur, IL; I discovered this book at the same time as the Bhagavad Gita, which at the time was mainly noteworthy because it rhymed with "pita," itself another "foreign" item intruding on my culturally impoverished youth. Sad but true.)

In the subsequent two-plus decades, I spent a lot of time and energy attempting to answer my dad's perennial question, "What do you believe?" I knew I didn't accept my family's fundamentalist Lutheran take on Christianity (and hadn't since the fateful day I brought home that book on human evolution from the public library, only to be told that science was a lie when it contradicted stories in the Bible). I also knew that atheism, at least as I understood and experienced it, was not for me—it seemed too easy an out for me to say, "Oh to hell with the Jesus thing." And so in college I studied science (specifically biology and anthropology) alongside religion, trying to figure it all out. Then I got a Master's degree studying Buddhism and contemplative aspects of other religious traditions, including the Christianity in which I had been reared. I gradually arrived at a (loosely held) worldview in which I affirmed the relevance of Jesus to my own life, just not on terms my parents would, or do, understand. That worldview is one in which Jesus is a yidam, Tibetan for "tutelary deity," a concept akin to the Hindu notion of the iṣṭa-devatā .

So what does all of this rambling have to do with the book in question? Well, after having this book on my shelf for twenty years, and finally getting around to reading it, I found that my current worldview was more or less spelled out in these 126 pages. Perhaps I need not have taken the trip I took if only I had read it way back when, but then, of course, if I had read it 20 years ago, I wouldn't have gotten as much out of it (if anything at all). The decades of searching and pondering were, and are, my path.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting from Majma-ul-Bahrain, theologians across the Indian subcontinent have attempted to unify Hinduism with the western religions. This book is one such attempt. Written at a time when India was deep in political and religious turmoil, trying to free herself from the imperial shackles, and the Ramakrishna mission trying to get its foothold in the West.

A well written essay by a genius in ilk of Swami Vivekananda, deserves a 5 Star for its prose. Yet it fails to convince me that Vedanta and Christianity are one and the same.

Perhaps it might be my ignorance for fundamentally seeing the Bible (in its 100 or so variants) as a book where god is chasing man, where as in Hinduism (Gita, Upanishads or Puranas), man is on his journey to merge with the Brahman and attain moksha.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow. Overall, I loved the message that indicated no religion is wrong. Although they seem different at first glance, they teach the same messages. A religion is "true" as long as it guides its followers toward "...illumination, selfless love, and compassion for all."

[Nellie]

this book opened me up to new ideas about religion and i loved the perspectice that rama krishna gives about jesus's philosophies

[Alaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great realization is to realize that all world's religions point to a single Truth... Realizing God within!
Prabhavananda points this by comparing the passages of the Sermon with Hindu Text. This book takes you into all the secrets one should know to live a universal existence, one with truth and spirit.

To be spiritual can be expressed in this quote mentioned " “You have come to the mango garden.
What good is it to count the leaves on the trees? Eat the mangoes and satisfy your hunger!” Sri Ramakrishna

We often waste our lives trying to live the perfect formula of " balance", balance is a myth to distract oneself of the one thing all humans yearn for, unity with God.

[Glen Schroeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Hindu . . . would find it easy to accept Christ as a divine incarnation and to worship him unreservedly, exactly as he worships Sri Krishna or any other avatar of his choice. But he cannot accept Christ as the only Son of God. Those who insist on regarding the life and teachings of Jesus as unique are bound to have great difficulty in understanding them. Any avatar can be far better understood in the light of other great lives and teachings. No divine incarnation ever came to refute the religion taught by another, but to fulfill all religions; because the truth of God is an eternal truth."

[Robert D. Cornwall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this interesting interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount from a Hindu friend. The Sermon on the Mount does lend itself to different interpretations, and the spiritual dimensions of the sermon are lifted up here. While I might interpret it differently, I found it illuminating.

[Justin Mov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

I chose a 5 star rating because I enjoyed reading this book very much. I liked the flow of the words and also the appearance of the words on the screen. I'd recommend this book to all who would like to comprehend the meaning of true religion.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swami Prabhavananda, a disciple of Ramakrishna, is the co-author of one of my favorite translations and commentaries of the yoga sutras (How to Know God). Here he discusses the Sermon on the Mount in light of Vedanta, and argues movingly for the universal theme of God Realization and transcendence underlying it. An inspiring read for seekers of all stripes.

[Rose Boyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In alignment with metaphysical beliefs. Good book. Helps to solve questions from growing up Christian but knowing that God includes all people and religions. That there is one presence and one power and we are all a part of intricate consciousness.

[Wrath of Maitreya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great life lessons from a very learned monk and teacher. This helped me reconcile my own faith with the Christianity I grew up with and out of.

[Allen O'Dell Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful exposition of the teachings of Christ. It is great that the word of Christ has been most accurately interpreted by a Hindu. The speaks of the eternal truth behind all religions.

[Cristiano Luchini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring, emotional, deep but incredibly practical at the same time. One of the best books I read in my life.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read along side reading the Book of Matthew. Greatly enriched that experience. Full of wisdom that transcends religious categorization and points to something aspiring toward universal truth.

[Skylar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good study for someone who wants to gather more perspectives on the teachings of Jesus.

[Jordan Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Will reread.

[Nathan Hurdle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super chill

[Jordan Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great take on the core teachings of Jesus from a new perspective