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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS PART 1


The following is first in a three part series excerpted from "The Christ Is Not A Person The Evolution of Consciousness And The Destiny of Man" By J.C. Tefft:

Considering the evolution of Consciousness, as set forth in ancient scripture, the Biblical story reveals that the evolution of conscious awareness in Man is not about a chosen people who found their ‘Promised Land,’ but about the transformation of certain individuals in Hebrew society from lower to higher levels of conscious awareness in their lifetime, and in generations that followed. First one, then two, then four, then eight, and so on, as ever-greater numbers awakened in the Light. But someone was the first, and that someone, whoever he or she was, was the forerunner to a new race of Man. That someone had awakened to a higher calling, and following that awakening, most likely described it to others, as best he or she could, in conceptual, metaphorical terms in an attempt to communicate at least something of the experience, even though it was not the experience itself.

One problem that the earliest of enlightened beings continuously faced is that others in their societies were either thoroughly unenlightened, or at most, less enlightened than they. This meant that the others did not truly understand what the enlightened ones meant when they spoke of the ending of sorrow, or of denying self, or of realizing Nirvana, or of entering the Kingdom of Heaven, even though some may have sensed something of the Truth of it, albeit in more limited ways.

If we trace the history of conscious awakening in ancient, Biblical lore, we learn first of an individual named Adam (which interpreted means ‘Man’) who metaphorically represents early Man in whom the capacity to think emerged. This is indicated by his ability to ‘name,’ which is to say, to perceive and conceptualize outer things. Much later, another Man, metaphorically referred to as Noah, is said to have lived ‘five hundred years … and was perfect in his generations,’ for he ‘found grace in God’s eyes.’ This is to say, he awakened to a level of Awareness in himself that was above and beyond Adamic Man. After Noah there arose yet another Man, metaphorically referred to as Abraham, the ‘exalted father of many,’ of whom God said He would make ‘nations out of thee’ because Abraham was more consciously Aware than those who had come before.


And out of Abraham arose Jacob, later called ‘Israel,’ or ‘those who struggle with God.’ And out of ‘Israel’ arose Moses, the first acknowledged prophet of the Hebrew people. He was a prophet because he had awakened in conscious awareness to a degree that others in his society had not. Even so, it is highly unlikely he was the first prophet the world had ever known, for inspired ‘seers’ had arisen and were arising in ever-greater numbers in other cultures, as well. First one, then two, then four, and so on, all proclaiming a similar, if not identical message, using different languages and metaphors that pointed to a cosmic dimension of reality beyond that of self; another level of conscious awareness, which they could ‘see,’ if only dimly, was just over the horizon from where they stood, inwardly speaking, from their point of view.

After Moses, enlightened souls the likes of Saul, David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah arose over the years within Israelite society – the later ones proclaiming a new Kingdom yet to come, a Kingdom unlike any they had known before. And lo and behold, centuries later there arose out of this same, Israelite tradition a person by the name of Jesus, who at about age thirty experienced a complete transformation in Pure Conscious Awareness in which ‘the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove.’ The complete transformation of this one individual fulfilled ancient Jewish prophesy that foretold of a new Kingdom yet to come, even though they did not know quite when or how it would unfold. This new Kingdom, as proclaimed by Jesus, turned out to be a Kingdom in Heaven, rather than a kingdom here on Earth. It turned out to be a Kingdom that is within Man, which means it can only be attained by means of an inner awakening to that which it is.

But Jesus was not the first to fully awaken in the Light, nor would he be the last. Some five hundred years before there arose out of India another individual by the name of Siddhartha Gautama, who, like Jesus, awakened in the Light. Following his transformation, this enlightened sage (later known as the Buddha, the awakened one) proclaimed the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path that leads to enlightenment. Once enlightened, the Buddha taught that to attain Nirvana is to end the sorrow of the world. This state of inner Awareness that he called Nirvana is the same state of conscious awareness that Jesus proclaimed is the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth, in which the sorrow of the world ends.

But again, they were not the only two in ancient times who were transformed in the Light, for other individuals in other lands, most notably Lao Tse in China, also awakened and was transformed in the Light. As with Buddha, Lao Tse, and Jesus, there were yet others who were likewise revered as enlightened sages within the societies in which they lived. Not long after Jesus was crucified, an individual named Saul, while on his way to Damascus, experienced a sudden awakening of his own. Later known as the Apostle Paul, he spread the word that a new dispensation, which he called the Christ, was not only coming, but is now here. Thus greater conscious awareness evolved from early Man (Adam) in whom conceptual awareness of self emerged, to and through the likes of the Buddha, Lao Tse, Jesus, Paul, and others in whom a conscious awareness that is other than self came forth, flowered, and bore fruit.

As conscious awareness evolved, so also an ever-greater number of allegorical stories and parables were told, all pointing to the same, fundamental reality – that a new level of conscious awareness was coming to life in Man, and that Man must now be about the business of tending to its development from within. Follow the Eightfold Path to enlightenment, declared the Buddha, and you will be transformed into a state of Nirvana wherein the sorrow of the world ends. Follow me, proclaimed Jesus in Christ. Love God with all your heart and Soul, obey the Commandments (as inwardly prescribed) and enter the Kingdom of Heaven where the sorrow of the world ends. Believe what I say, proclaimed Paul, ‘for now (prior to transformation) we see through a glass, darkly; but then (following transformation) [we see] face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.’ And why Love? Because Love transforms mankind.*
To be continued...

The Evolution of Consciousness Part 2

The Evolution of Consciousness Part 3

"The Christ Is Not A Person The Evolution of Consciousness And The Destiny of Man" By J.C. Tefft can be purchased in ebook form for $6.00 here.

*Emphasis mine

2 comments:

Don said...

Why is it that I keep seeing the same things repeated, hearing the same ideas, teachings? Could it be there is something to them. I think so! Amazing how all the great sages, enlightened ones relate similar ideas. Thanks for further proving this with a post. Looking forward to part II.

Mae said...

Thanks, Don...and, yes! It was so exciting for me when I realized that all the spiritual teachings were describing the same reality, only from a different perspective! And then, really for the first time, it all began to make sense.