PUTTING ON THE MIND OF CHRIST

The journey into awareness (or coming into the Light, as the Bible would describe it) is a fascinating, exciting, sometimes confusing, often difficult, frequently discouraging, and many times frightening, journey.  Joseph Campbell termed it "The Hero's Journey" because it takes great courage to face ourselves and our inner demons or shadows.  I recently read Putting on the Mind of Christ - The Inner Work of Christian Spirituality by Jim Marion, which been a tremendous help to me in understanding my own path along this road to awakening.  Of course, the journey has many "dark nights," meaning periods of obscurity where we just don't know what's happening. Marion says "One can never see with exactness where one is going; one can only see afterwards where one has been" (p. 93).  I'd like to share a portion of this book that was especially enlightening for me.  The author is detailing the new understanding gained when experiencing resurrection from the Dark Night of the Soul.  He says:

"We see that our own selves and all humans are made of 'God-stuff'...begotten of God and made of the same substance ad essence as God.  We see that this has always been so, but up until now, we have been too blind to see it...I'd been picturing the inner God as a sort of invisible extra appendix, a God within but definitely separate.  Now I saw that the opposite  was a fuller and better expression of the truth: God isn't so much within us as we are within God. We are actually cells in God's body, God's Incarnate, or Created, or Only-Begotten Body, the Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-27).  I saw that what St. Paul said to the Athenians is true, that we live and move and have our beings in God (Acts 17:28). 

"I realized that what some Christians call the 'Mystical Body of Christ' wasn't an exercise in fanciful poetry but was a cosmological description of the actual physical (and non-physical) universe.  It is the way things really are, the way they operate.  As Jesus had promised, I saw a whole new world, and I saw that this world, all of Creation visible and invisible, is nothing less than the Christ, God's 'Only-Begotton Son,' God's Word Made Manifest or Flesh (Gen. 1:1, John 1:1-3)...All the great Christian mystics speak the essential truth that is realized upon coming into Christ Consciousness...we realize that 'only God is and we are not' as in 'I live, now not I, but the Christ (God Manifest) lives in and through me' (Gal. 2:20).

"Many things follow automatically from this new understanding, this new vision of reality.  In all one's dealings with others, from now on, one is always aware that one is dealing with God's Son, and that whatever one does to others, one does to God's Son (Matt. 25:35-40); in fact, not only to God's Son but to oneself (since we too are one substance with that Son).  One sees that in this world there are not 'others,' there is only Christ.  One sees that this has always been the case but up until now, we had been blind to this truth. 

"Second, we see that, since humans are made of eternal 'God-stuff,' there is no death (1Cor. 15:54).  Our mortal self is now clothed with immortality exactly as St. Paul says (1 Cor. 15:54). We no longer have to believe in life after death.  We see not only that we will never die but that we have never been born...we are now totally identified with our eternal soul, our true Christ self. Living in the Christ Consciousness we know we will never die (John 11:26).  All fear of death is therefore lost.  As St. Paul said, 'Death has lost its sting" (1 Cor. 15:55). 

"Third, as St. Paul says, sin is conquered.  Since we now see that humans are made of  'God-stuff,' and have always been divine, we see that sin does not exist.  God after all, cannot commit sin.  Nor can God's only-begotten Son, the Christ we all are...From this point on, when face with our own or others' negativity, the Christed person sees not sin but ignorance, that is, lack of awareness.  We see that all the negativity people bring onto themselves and others results from a lack of awareness.  Whenever we encounter negativity, with respect to both self and others, we join with Jesus on the cross in saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do' (Luke 23:34)" (p. 166-169).

"Does the non-existence of sin mean we can do anything we please?  Two answers: Yes, we can do anything we please.  And we have been doing just that since Adam and Eve, including murder, rape, war, cannibalism, and all manner of other horrors.  Free will means precisely that: we can indeed do anything we please...There is a second answer: Since God is all in all  (1 Cor. 15:28) and everyone is divine and has God for their being (Acts (17:28), whatever we do to anyone else we do to God, to Christ, and to ourselves (Mat. 25:40).  There is no other.  Whatever we do to the supposed other, therefore, necessarily comes back to the self.  As Jesus said, 'He that lives by the sword shall die by the sword' (Matt. 26:52). That is why Jesus also warned that we should 'Do unto others what you wish to have done unto you' (Matt. 7:12).  St. Paul admonishes that 'A man will reap what he sows' (Gal. 6:7-8)" (p. 243).

These things I have seen.  Dimly, and from afar.  But I have seen, and wrote about here...

“…seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Col 3:9-11).

Previously, I looked at these verses as meaning that when “they” all come into Christ, there will be no more divisions.  Now I have seen that it is when “I” shed the old man (a.k.a. carnal mind, ego) and come into renewed knowledge, this is a place where “I” see there ARE no divisions – only unity in diversity.  Where I can look with renewed perspective and see there is no Barbarian, Scythian, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. but that Christ IS all and is IN ALL.  

I have seen...and I have hope that I'll come into ever greater understanding of this Reality and be able to live more and more in the beauty of this vision.  The journey continues....

WHAT IS THE BODY OF CHRIST?

Spiritual Insight from the David Ord's book Your Forgotten Self:

The body of Christ isn’t synonymous with Christianity.  It isn’t correlated with the churches. What it may be hard for many Christians to accept is that the body of Christ can be found among people of all faiths: Christians, Jews, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jain, Sikh, and so on.  The body of Christ is far more encompassing and includes the entirety of humanity.

“Christ” is a term, not a surname for Jesus of Nazareth. It’s the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew term messiah, meaning the anointed one. It used to be the term used for Israel’s kings, who were anointed with oil to signify their choice by God for the throne.

The messiah—the savior of the world—isn’t an individual, but is the whole of humanity empowered to at last be true to themselves as the image and likeness of God.

Jesus is definitive of what the Christ reality looks like, and in that sense he’s the “head” of the body. But a head is useless without the rest of the body. The body of Christ—that which will save humanity from its broken state—is comprised of all who begin to move out of the normal unconsciousness of human beings and into the enlightenment of consciousness. They become aware of the divine presence at the heart of their being, the heart of all being.

The term “Adam” doesn’t refer to a real person but is a symbol of humanity in our unconscious state. So too the Christ isn’t a single individual but is a symbol of humanity as we become conscious. This collective reality is made up of all who have become conscious of their oneness with God. When this awareness takes over our lives, we become a more evolved human, as was Jesus. He represents the next leap in our development as a species and is definitive of the new humanity emerging on the planet.

When we read that there's "no other name given by which we must be saved," it's not about saying a name, but about becoming what Jesus was: a conscious person. "In Jesus' name" isn't a statement to be tacked onto the end of prayers like a magical charm. His name represents the divine nature. When we awaken to the divine nature in ourselves, the image and likeness of God that we have always been but lost sight of, we become as Jesus was. It's in this sense there's "no other name." You have to become conscious in the way he was.

As awareness of our oneness with God increases, the impact isn’t just personal. It changes how we relate to each other. Recognition of our oneness with God leads to oneness among us. All barriers between the world’s peoples are broken down. The future of the human race involves the gathering together of all races and creeds to form one new human being. This collective “one new human being” is the Christ. You can read about this new humanity in Ephesians 2:15-22, where it’s likened to a house in which God dwells.

The divine dwells in us. As we recognize this in ourselves, we become the Christ that will save the world from its turmoil and usher in what Eckhart Tolle calls A New Earth—or in more ancient language, the kingdom of God.

This entire article can be accessed at The Body of Christ Means Conscious Individuals.

THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS PART 2

The following is second 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:

The fact that the vast majority of ancient people lacked the same level of Awareness as the enlightened sages of their day made the teachings of enlightened beings seem all the more incomprehensible, mysterious, otherworldly, and unclear. To compound the problem, lesser lights, failing to understand the deeper meaning of enlightened teachings, tended to add their own spin to works they later wrote long after the enlightened ones were gone. Thus they corrupted the original, enlightened teachings all the more. Instead of finding Truth in themselves, as all enlightened beings have done, they established doctrines, rituals, and beliefs in an effort to inadequately comprehend what they did not understand. This, in turn, has entrapped others into believing that a system of belief will somehow ‘save’ them from the fires of ‘hell,’ when it does not.

Regardless of these obstacles, as Consciousness has evolved, an evergrowing number of individuals have walked the Earth, and continue to walk the Earth, who have awakened in the Light. The earliest of these continue to be revered, even worshipped beyond the rest, as they were the forerunners of a new race who are even now being resurrected out of self into a new dimension of cosmic reality.

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.

THE MISSING CROSS

The Penal Substitution theory of atonement is taught in fundamentalist and evangelical circles as 'thus saith the Lord,' and so that was the only atonement theory I was exposed to for much of my Christian life.  Penal Substitution theory argues that Jesus was punished on the cross in the place of sinners.  It is generally recognized that the Penal Substitution theory was not taught in the early church and was conceived by a man named Anselm in 1098.  Both Luther and Calvin adhered to the Penal Substitution theory of atonement, however, and it became the dominate theory in Protestant churches.  But it wasn't until I began having some questions that I discovered this widely popular theory is only one among many atonement theories.  Two other major theories worth mentioning here are the Christus Victor theory and the Moral Example theory.  A summary of the different atonement theories can be read here. 


Despite the strong emphasis on the cross in the Penal Substitution theory, it seems to me that adherence to this theory has left us with a cross bereft of any life-changing power and resulted in a crossless Christianity.  Oh, there is much talk about Jesus' death on the cross - but little personal application.   Basically,  Christianity as we know it today has largely become an escapist religion:  Jesus died on the cross so I don't have to do the hard work of dying to my selfish nature (a.k.a. the ego, flesh, lower nature, carnal man, the anti-christ within us).  Jesus paid it all, so I don't have to....Jesus did it all, so I don't have to...Jesus lived a holy life, so I don't have to.  As a matter of fact, all I have to do is be sure to get him to cover up anything my selfish nature is guilty of - by gettin' it "under the blood."   And, finally, when God comes back and wrath is poured out on the entire planet - Well, none of it'll touch me, because I'll be raptured out of this world before the bad stuff starts... 

We have forgotten that Jesus called us to take up our cross daily and follow him.   Much benefit can be gained from the wisdom of Thomas Merton on this subject:  

        "...it is essential to remember that for a Christian "the word of the Cross" is nothing
         theoretical, but a stark and existential experience of union with Christ in His death in
         order to share in His resurrection. To fully "hear" and "receive" the word of the Cross
         means much more than simple assent to the dogmatic proposition that Christ died for
         our sins. It means to be "nailed to the Cross with Christ," so that the ego-self is no
         longer the principle of our deepest actions, which now proceed from Christ living in 
         us.  "I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal, 2:19-20; see also Romans 8:5-17).  
         To receive the word of the Cross means the acceptance of a complete self-emptying, a
         Kenosis,  in union with the self-emptying Christ "obedient to death." (Phil. 2:5-11) It is
         essential to true Christianity that this experience of the Cross and of self-emptying be
         central in the life of the Christian so that he may fully receive the Holy Spirit and know
         (again by experience) all the riches of God in and through Christ" (John 14:16-17, 26;
         15:26-27; 16:7-15)" Zen and the Birds of Appetite (p.55).

In the Moral Example theory, the call is to follow Jesus rather than have Jesus do it all so we don't have to. Jesus was the pattern son, who set an example that we are to follow - he showed us the way, and we are to travel that same way.  Christ suffered for us, leaving an example, that we should follow in his steps. As we do so, we become partakers in his death, burial, and resurrection.  That our 'old man' is crucified with him (Rom. 6:6) is not mere hyperbole, but must take place in like manner.  Although not physical, this death to our selfish nature is not only a very real experience, but a very painful one as well.  

Don Rogers posted an article at his Reflections blog by Steve Jones on this subject which I heartily agree with.  He said:

"Jesus’ death works a change in us so that we give up our sinful, self-absorbed life and walk in his steps. This is salvation, the life of cross-carrying discipleship….The message of the cross should always be coupled with the message of discipleship. We must take up our cross and follow Christ in a life of servanthood and love. It is common for the New Testament authors to speak of the cross, then to speak of our need to “die” to sin and self-centeredness. And that is the crucial point – the grand objective of the crucifixion. It is for our sanctification that Jesus gave his life. Paul’s declaration “I am crucified with Christ” should be ours.” You can read the entire post here.

CHRIST IS THE WAY

The following is a transcript from an interview in “ONE – The Movie” in which Wayne Teasdale beautifully addresses the spirit in which Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

"It is not those who say Lord, Lord who will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of the Father.  And what is that will?  He illustrates it in Matthew 25:40 when he talks about the final judgment and how to be saved.  He says that then the King will say, meaning God, Come ye blessed of my Father, and inherit the Kingdom that was prepared for you from the beginning.  Because when I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink.  When I was naked you clothed me, when I was a stranger, you welcomed me, when I was imprisoned you visited me, when I was sick you consoled me.  

"When, Lord, when did we do this?  When you did it to the least of my brethren.  It doesn’t say anything about faith in himself, faith in Jesus.  Now, the Scripture scholars tell us we only know six sentences Jesus actually spoke – maybe even less than that.  And to say…they will always bring up this I am the way, the truth, and the life.  Okay, let’s take a peek at that, and illustrate that in spirit rather than in the letter. If God is love itself, infinite love, and Jesus is the incarnation of that love, he is come to reveal the essence of that love through his actions more than his words.  That by being loving in that way – that selfless way – that is leading to the mystery of the Father, who is infinite love itself.  To the extent that he is teaching that, illustrating that, he is the truth of that reality.  And to the extent that he embodies that – that is the way of life.  If a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Jew, an animist, an atheist, achieves that level of love in their life, not only do they know God, they know Christ…because Christ and God are that love.

"So you see this kind of narrow kind of interpretation leads to a kind of ossification of understanding.  And I like to say narrow is the way that leads to eternal life, but it’s not narrow-mindedness.  It’s love in action – you, know, it’s much deeper than that.  And they don’t talk about love too much…they talk about, you know, do you know Jesus Christ.  Well, do you REALLY know Jesus Christ?  In that deeper, Biblical sense of intimacy with the Divine – do you embody that?  Do you incarnate that?  Do you radiate that?  I think that’s closer to what Christ was talking about – to what the gospel was talking about."

The entire movie is available to watch online for free here.