JESUS and SPIRITUALITY - Easing into Metaphysics

“In Jesus the divine and human nature began to interpenetrate in such a way that the human nature, by its communion with the divine, would itself become divine… all who take up in faith the life which Jesus taught… since we have the noble qualities of the Son within us, we can undergo the process of divinization.” Origen

“Jesus never claimed anything in the name of the personal self; rather, he attributed all his works to the Spirit within. 'He that believeth on me, believeth not on me but on Him that sent me. John 12:44. This means that you must believe in the same power that worked thru Jesus – the God-self within you.” John Randolph Price

“The orthodox misunderstood Jesus' teaching because they were unable to accept the reality that each human being has both a human and a divine nature and the potential to become wholly divine… The Church did not understand (or could not admit) that Jesus came to demonstrate the process by which the human nature is transformed into the divine.” Elizabeth Clare Prophet

“The word Jesus may have historical or childhood significance, but it is the journey into soul, into stillness, that uncovers his teachings.” William Kaufman

“Jesus was not sent here to teach the people to build magnificent churches and temples amidst the cold wretched huts and dismal hovels; he came to make the human heart a temple, the soul an altar and the mind a priest.” Kahlil Gibran

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.” Emerson

“The realization of God must come as an individual unfoldment to every aspirant on the spiritual path.” Joel Goldsmith

Did you guys catch that first quote? Early 3rd c. friggin’ Origen nails the core truth of Jesus and his spirituality: As Jesus felt and lived God’s indwelling presence with pure passion, his humanity merged into pure Divinity. It follows that if we emulate Jesus, since we share the Christ Essence, we can all ‘undergo the process of Divinization.’

Pithy. Spot on. Early 3rd c? Totally Awesome.

Speaking of pithy, for me, there’s a pithy truth from Paul that comes to us in Galatians: 'There is neither Jew nor gentile, bond nor free, male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ.’ Realizing, as Paul did not, that we mean by 'Christ’ the Spiritual Essence that Jesus fully assimilated, and that is every person’s birthright. And that today we would add, 'neither straight nor gay, black nor white, rich nor poor…’

In Spirit, we are all born of the pure GodEssence that permeates everything, seen and unseen, in the universe. We experience it as the awesome power that holds galaxies in place, while simultaneously guiding a caterpillar as it morphs into a butterfly. Humans are blessed with bodies and minds, with senses, with reason, imagination, feelings, intuition, consciousness and free will, and we are capable of recognizing the Divine Essence in everyone; we have the potential to embrace that Essence and enable one another to find it, to morph into the butterflies we are all meant to become, as we strive for the inevitable goal of Christhood/Buddhahood/Enlightenment.

Great Spiritual Prophets/messengers/philosophers/guides (what we call the ‘sages of the ages’) have existed throughout the millennia, and they have entrusted us with a wealth of insight into the human condition and the Divine Universe. Often, when we read, study and discuss comparative religions, and include philosophies east and west, our viewpoint of religions is that, while they all started out with gifted spiritual seekers and beautiful messages, today they smack of rigidness and intolerance. This is where we perhaps begin to recognize that Spirituality may be what it's all about. As I see it, Spirituality is the only hope for religion and its adherents and the only hope for a righteous end to religious conflicts.

That we are all children of the Divine is a cornerstone of virtually all religions.

But there’s too much 'us’ and 'them’ instead, and way too much 'us v. them,’ unfruitful aspects that often pervade mainstream religions today, doing a huge disservice to those religions and all their constituents. It contradicts the message of GodSpirit’s compassion and inclusiveness present in all religious teachings. It does an even greater disservice to Spiritual truth, which always supersedes the more relative religious truths. That truth declares that we are all children of the Divine, one unified whole, all interdependent parts of the one universal Spirit.

Too put it in Valley Speak, ‘We are really, like, sooooo totally interconnected!’

That is why co-creating a better world every day, in all our personal

interactions, nudges up the overall consciousness of humankind, as it pushes away the ‘scourges,’ shrinking even microscopically, in its wake.

JESUS AND BUDDHA

These two men were justifiably revered and deserving of tribute, each an exceptional man, each telling us that we are all born from the same fully realizable Essence. Each tells us, in his own way, that we can become fully enlightened in this lifetime by seeking and then engaging in, a life-long relationship with this pure GodSpiritEssence, which allows us to grow continually as we absorb and live with Spirit’s guidance. While many have espoused this way of life, only a rare few exude a natural charisma combined with a well-articulated moral compass and a deep understanding of humankind and free will, to connect with others at such a depth as Jesus and Gautama have.

(Jesus, upsetting the status quo by rejuvenating Judaism, challenging the complacency and corruption of the Jewish hierarchy under Roman rule, all the while performing miracles and delivering rich moral and Spiritual truths to Jews and Gentiles.) (Gautama, by forsaking family and a palatial lifestyle to live for years as an ascetic, then follow his core belief questions into a relationship with pure Spirit that led to 40+ years of teaching, as Spirit revealed to him life’s Divine interconnectedness, as well as paths which turn suffering into salvation and enlightenment.)

There is even a sweet little book (edited) by Marcus Borg, entitled “Jesus and the Buddha, the Parallel Sayings”, which offers up similarities in their lives and ministries. It shows the universality of Spiritual truth, with familiar sayings of Jesus paired with parallel sayings which the Buddha spoke over 500 years earlier.

In an insightful introduction, Borg offers comparisons in all arenas of life and beyond. He says, “Both Jesus and the Buddha offered a similar diagnosis of the typical human condition: blindness, anxiety, grasping, self-preoccupation. In both cases, the prescription for the cure is similar: 'seeing,' 'letting go,' 'dying.' And, "The path of which they both speak is a path of liberation from our anxious grasping; resurrection into a new way of being, and transformation into the compassionate life.”

The 'parallel sayings' begin with:

Jesus: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Buddha: "Consider others as yourself.”

"The ideas – spoken by teachers separated by 500 years, 3000 miles, and two drastically different cultures – are identical... Over and over in the New Testament and ancient Buddhist scriptures, we discover that the lives, deeds and teachings of Jesus and Buddha are strikingly similar.”

From the nearly 100 ‘parallels,’ I offer a number of examples, as they all fit so well in this chapter: (in each, Jesus first, as they are more familiar in the west.)

J. "Give to anyone who requests it.”

B. “Give when you are asked.”

'Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword.”

"Abandoning the taking of life, the ascetic Gautama dwells refraining from taking life, without stick or sword.”

"Your father in heaven makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

"The great cloud rains down on all whether their nature is superior or inferior. The light of the sun and the moon illuminates the whole world, both him who does well and him who does evil.”

"If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”

"The avaricious do not go to heaven, the foolish do not extol charity. The wise one, however, rejoicing in charity, becomes thereby happy in the beyond.”

"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

"One who acts on truth is happy in this world and beyond.”

"Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

"Those who have sufficient faith in me, sufficient love for me, are all headed for heaven or beyond.”

When they saw that they were straining at the oars, against an adverse wind, he came toward them early in the morning, walking on the sea.”

"He walks upon the water without parting it, as if on solid ground.”

"He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was dead calm.”

"Now at that time a great rain fell and a great flood resulted. Then the Lord made the water recede all round; and he paced up and down in the middle on dust-covered ground.”

"Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them.”

"He goes unhindered through a wall.”

"Truly I tell you, if you have the faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.”

"A monk who is skilled in concentration can cut the Himalayas in two.”

"They are not of this world, just as I am not of this world.”

"The Buddha, having come to full growth in the world, passing beyond the world, abides unspotted by the world.”

"Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split.”

"At the Blessed Lord’s final passing, there was a great earthquake, terrible and hair-raising, accompanied by thunder.”

I found all of the parallels calming and reassuring, and in gently chewing on each, felt an ‘unparalleled’ Spirituality speaking in one voice.

Deepak Chopra points up another parallel:

"Most Christians are unaware that centuries before in India (around 600 BC), the king of demons, Mara, came to tempt Buddha under the Bodhi tree… It occurs on the night when Siddhartha (Gautama), a prince who became a seeker, finally attains enlightenment. Mara offers Siddhartha the same rulership of the world that Satan did to Jesus, and he also mocks Siddhartha's claim to deserve to be enlightened. He manifests threatening illusions, including a parade of war elephants and a swarm of demons. Even more, three beautiful daughters are thrown into the bargain. Buddha was able to see through the illusory nature just as Christ was able to say, ‘Satan, get thee behind me.’

"The salvation Jesus offered was the same as Buddha’s. Release from suffering and a path to spiritual freedom, joy, and closeness to God. In that light, the real Jesus is as available today as he ever was, perhaps more so.”

Deepak:

“Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world’ and at other times ‘you are the light of the world’. He describes our destiny as equal to his own. God consciousness is offering to open a path for us."

Through Jesus’s ‘constant reference to the light’, we get a feel for his formula for a true spiritual life:

“Love - when your inner light is connected to God, love flows. Love is nothing but this living connection, in all its creativity and joy.

“Faith - when you stop believing in the illusion of the material world and see everything for what it really is – light - you have faith. The reason all things are given to someone with faith is very simple: the light can shape itself into anything at will. Physical obstacles can't stop the free flow of light.

“Salvation - you are redeemed when you move into the light. You've escaped your false self and arrived at your true self. The false or unredeemed self was trapped in physical limitation. The true self is as unbounded as the light.

“Unity - physical boundaries make it impossible to be united with God, but there are no boundaries in the light. Therefore, once you realize you are the light, nothing stands between you and God.”

“‘For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’. Matt 11:30 - Life becomes more effortless as you move closer to God consciousness. In other words, let go and let God. Allow God, Spirit, the soul, to take over.”

(Paraphrasing) “God's unconditional love is unavailable to fundamentalists while they live in deep denial about their own intolerance, hidden anger and unfaced fears.”

As in many of these chapters, I draw heavily on the words of great writers and sages who have drawn us into the truths of life that are so often hidden by materialism, high-tech barrages and our individual and collective egos. It is my hope that some of the truths that I share find a place of resonance in your minds and hearts. It starts with a recognition of moral truths and an abundance of compassion and forgiveness. It progresses with the knowledge that religions go only so far, offering limited truths, and, at best, simply point us to the limitless realm of spirituality, where the realm of souls lives, towering in splendor over the material world.

A fine book by Stephen C Rose called ‘Beyond Creed: from Religion to Spirituality’ offers the thought that love for all of humanity is the most sacred love. Paraphrasing: ‘Jesus did not want to be worshipped, but emulated. Kindness, healing, sharing are much more important than shows of piety or having possessions.’

He speaks often of learning what is sometimes 'between the lines’ in the Gospels, because our foremost need is to have our own relationship with God, and trust its purity, more than we need the formulaic strata of churches and scriptural dogma. And we need to be helpmates to one another.

“Vastly more important than the ecclesiastic and creedal matters in the understanding of Gospel is the quality of contact among persons, the degree to which trust in God reduces anxiety, extends sharing and enlarges the presence of peace…if we share what we have, trust and follow God’s way, prosperity will follow.”

Let us practice love and compassion for one another, in the name of all that is Divine.