The Story Of The Risen Christ
Life in the whole of Creation and therefore also in us has two aspects. They consist of streams or forces of positive and negative, wisdom and ignorance, light and darkness, spirit and soul, Highest Self and lower earthly self, the highest and lowest characteristics, the best and the worst. Spirit and soul are reaching ever onwards and upwards to the highest levels of existence. Their counterpoint and polar opposition is the small earthly self with the limited perceptions of its reasoning and logical, cold and calculating capacities of its earthly mind.
This mind is part of our physical body and initially, for the simple reason that it does not yet know any better, it makes every effort to drag us down to Earth and hold us there for as long as it possibly can. But no matter how hard it tries, in the fullness of time the Divine spark in everybody’s small self begins to stir from its spiritual slumber and the lower self becomes aware of its true nature and origin. The Christ child is born and awakens in us the desire to become a better person than we have been in the past. As with each passing day we bring forth a bit more of our best and highest qualities, the child grows and our Christ nature develops. Through this the characteristics of our lower nature fade ever more into the background of our consciousness. This continues until they have gone from our conscious awareness for good and are no longer troubling us. When this has happened on all levels of our being, we have indeed become a true child of God, in a way a Jesus in our own right.
Initially, however, there is a conflict between the upper and lower of our nature. Resolving it is the most essential part of the process of everybody’s own individual spiritual unfolding, which is constantly taking place within the greater context of the Great Architect of life’s evolutionary plan for all life. The central figure of the Jesus story is an illustration of the duality of our nature and represents both parts. The man hanging and dying on the cross is a symbol of our lower earthly self, and the Christ Spirit who rises from the corpse into the heavenly fields, stands for the immortal and eternal aspect of our being.
With the help of our spirit self each one of us will eventually be able to lift ourselves above the trouble and strife of Earth life and we shall no longer have any difficulties perceiving the greater picture. Those who thus fly on the wings of the spiritual wisdom and understanding provided by their Highest Self, the Christ Spirit and the living God within, whose symbol is Jesus, are intuitively aware that in spite of the things that are still happening in our world, life is always unfolding as it should.
There is no doubt in my mind that, if the man Jesus had ever existed on this plane of life, he would have been but one of the many sons/daughters of the Divine, God’s children of the Earth, just the same as any one of us – no more and no less. After all, that’s what each one of is, if only at present in seedform. I believe that the Jesus story from its first appearance has been a legend and a metaphor. To me, it is a navigational aid to help all of us to steer the boat of our lives through the ocean of our race’s spiritual development. Its waters were severely muddied by the false belief that the tale should be understood literally. However, at our entry into the Aquarian Age the mud is swept away. The time has come for making our peace with the endless amounts of suffering and pain the patriarchy inflicted upon us and our world with its powerseeking and warmongering. This is made easier through the understanding that these things also once were necessary for our race’s development and its masculine force.
When I tried to explain this to someone the other day, the person responded by asking me whether I have something against Jesus. This most certainly is not the case and I am sorry if any part of my writings ever created such an impression, as this could not be further from the truth. How could I object to someone who – to me – is but an idea, a metaphor and a symbolism that represents the human Christ nature, the highest and noblest part of all human souls? I am well aware that every one of us contains it, wherever on the evolutionary spiral of life anyone may presently be and whatever level of awareness they have reached. And I do believe that developing this aspect of our nature is the only one in the whole of Creation who can and will save and redeem us and our world.
Knowing this, who would not be willing to do their best to nurture and develop this aspect of their being and through this make their contribution towards creating a better and more peaceful world for all of us? Knowing this, who would refuse to kneel in adoration and worship before the highest and holiest? We then no longer bend our knees before a dead man hanging on a cross, who only ever existed in someone’s imagination in the distant past, but in front of the living God within and that in everybody, including you and me. Although in young and inexperienced souls the Christ nature is but a seed, it most certainly is there, never doubt that.
Who can help loving and adoring something or someone who represents a symbol which is good, right and beautiful in us, whether it comes under the name of Jesus or whatever else? The best thing about it is that you don’t have to be a Christian for this kind of worship. Being one may turn out to be hindrance. It certainly will for as long as you believe Jesus to be a historical figure, who once walked in our midst and who will one day reappear on the Earth, to save and redeem humankind. Mind you, only those who believe that he once really existed.
For as long as people remain trapped in the literalist version of the Jesus story, they will be unable to recognise what he truly stands for, and that will make genuine spiritual progress hard to come by. I believe that those who to this day insist on taking every word of the Bible literally, will eventually realise that this is not the case. There is no need to be disappointed about this, because behind the surface words of the sacred book waiting to be discovered is an immensely rich store of legends and fables, myths and metaphors filled with hidden esoteric meanings.
Although I believe that there never was a man by the name of Jesus, I would not dream of falling out with what he represents because the truths hidden behind his image are eternal and of the greatest value for us and our whole world. Would I otherwise, for more than twenty years, have had an 18 x 24 cm copy of a photograph of Jesus as the risen Christ on the wall in front of my desk? See the image at the beginning of this chapter, which once came into being with the help of Sathya Sai Baba, 1926-2011, the much loved Indian spiritual teacher. You can read more about this by following this link: ‘The Risen Christ Photo’. http://www.revbiro.hu/christ.htm
A devout Christian lady presented a copy of the shroud of Tourine picture of Jesus to Sai Baba, and asked him to bless it. Sai Baba refused to oblige. The essence of the lady’s report about this encounter is: ‘When shall we Christians take Jesus off the cross and place him in his proper place? It has been said of the cross: ‘Let the longer piece of the cross represent God’s Will and the shorter piece ours. If you lay the two pieces side by side, parallel to each other, there no longer is a cross. It is only created when our will conflicts with God’s will, for as long we have not yet learnt how to say: ‘Thy Will be done, Great Spirit’. If our will acquiesces with God’s will, there is no cross. The way to take it down is to always accept gladly and lovingly whatever trial, pain or loss comes our way, surrendering our ego to God and accepting that it comes to us for a high and wise purpose, which is teaching us something.’
The man in the picture is the one who communicates with you through me. Therefore, you could say that it’s Jesus who is using me as his channel – if he had ever existed. Be that as it may, the man is dear to my heart because he provides me with an image of that which is invisible and yet the most high and noble and valuable part in all of us. Isn’t that a miracle and a wonder in itself? When all of us have become aware of who and what the man represents, will there be anyone left who refuses to worship and adore him for what he truly represents?
Why would I have something against someone or something who never existed? How could anyone who has become aware that in truth the man is a symbol of everybody’s own inner Christ nature, fail to love him? Sometimes when I gaze at the picture, the man’s eyes look straight into mine and I sense a deep and profound sadness that flows from him to me and threatens to overwhelm me. Could this be because so many to this day will still not take him off the cross and give him his rightful place as a legend, even though he really is waiting to come alive, but can only do so through everybody’s own heart awakening and understanding his true nature and our own?
When at last we have woken up to the realisation what Jesus truly represents, we can see for ourselves that churches and temples could never be his abode and contain him, because his only rightful dwelling place is humankind’s hearts and souls. Looking around our world it frequently appears as if this were by no means the case. Yet, the Christ Spirit is there in all of us, though merely as a seed in the early stages of our earthly development. This seed is waiting to be planted, watered and nourished, so it can grow into a sturdy and healthy tree that bears rich fruit to nurture the hungry and give shade to those distressed by the heat of Earth life. Never forget that from small acorns big oak trees grow.
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This article is a chapter from ‘Astrology As A Lifehelp On The Healing Journey’.
If it has whetted your appetite to read more, please follow the link below:
‘Astrology As A Lifehelp On The Healing Journey’
