Recorded at the Vedanta Society of Western Washington on December 22, 2013.

In this Christmas-season talk, Swami Bhaskarananda reflects on “the Christ we adore” from within the broad religious outlook of the Vedanta tradition. He explains why the Ramakrishna Order honors Jesus as a divine incarnation, recounting Sri Ramakrishna’s vision of Christ and using it to emphasize the unity of the one Divine Reality appearing through different spiritual teachers in different times and cultures. Placing Jesus in the context of India’s understanding of avatāras, he also touches on how religious language and institutions can become distorted by worldly motives, recalling the money-changers in the temple and Jesus’ challenge to hypocrisy.

Swami Bhaskarananda highlights how Jesus embodies multiple yogic paths: devotion expressed through prayer and love of God, knowledge through teachings such as “the kingdom of God is within you” and “I and my Father are one,” and selfless action through compassion, courage, and forgiveness. He notes that while miracles draw attention, Christ’s deeper greatness is revealed in fearlessness, moral clarity, and mercy—especially in praying for his tormentors and in his response to the woman accused of adultery.