"Jesus was one who taught the universal presence of love rather than the limitation of labels. He was and is an example of a soul at peace with all of life. To confine Jesus to Christianity would be like limiting light to the sun. Light shines from many stars, and it brings illumination wherever there are no masks to block it. Jesus came not to build more walls around the heart, but to remove them." - Alan Cohen, Joy is My Compass (By the way, Cohen is Jewish.)
"Carl Jung said, "Thank God I am not a Jungian!" I wonder if Jesus would thank God that he is not a Christian." -- Alan Cohen
It's Good Friday (or so I thought until I did more research). A good time as any to finally talk about Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ. I know no one reads blogs on Sunday, but I would have preferred to talk about the Resurrection.
I actually saw The Passion on the first day it was released. I was pretty determined not to see it to but a friend talked me into it.
I'm a pretty non-traditional in my spiritual views -- it doesn't fit neatly into Christian nor New Age viewpoints -- basically I have my own direct relationship with "God" (a loaded term that I acknowledge doesn't convey adequately what I know). Thus I should also mention that I don't subscribe to many of the beliefs in my links, although obviously there are definite nuggets there or I won't link to them at all. I don't subscribe to any creed (or dogma) and solely use my internal compass to guide me.
"He prescribed no practices, save forgiveness." - Alan Cohen.
Most Christian sites and blogs appear to love the movie. Although not all agree with the portrayal of suffering or the portrayal of blame. (For the record, I do not like the movie at all.) I can understand why sites like www.christianitymeme.org exist. Guilt, sin, and suffering are pretty strongly associated with Christianity. But I think maybe those are little more Constantinity than Christianity. Christ is a state of consciousness and not a person; Jesus embodied fully that consciousness. It's interesting how memes spread. Did you know that the word sin in Greek simply means "missing the mark" -- a mistake, an error.
One should consider that the Catholic Church arose from the Roman empire. There is a lot of talk in theological circles that some portions of scripture may be revisionist history -- something Constantine is certainly capable of. How does Constantine, the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity, deal with the fact that it was a Roman whom ultimately carried out Jesus' cruxifiction?
For readers of The DaVinci Code, you may already suspect that the Church co-opted spiritual traditions, including paganism, Egyptian hermetic principles, and even Jesus' teachings to suit the empire's aims as well as Constantine's whims. (And also for DaVinci readers, Jesus states, "My kingdom is not of this world." -- John 18:33)
"Even a cursory tour of Church history will reveal to the seeker that Easter is rooted in worship of the Sun. "
Easter is steeped in the worship of Ashtaroth the Goddess of the Zidonians. She was specifically a god of the Amorites that was on the other side of Jordan. Rooted in Babylonian culture, she has continued to this day, known as Istar, Ishtar, Ashtaroth, The Queen of heaven, Mother of God, and after her was Easter named. Emperor Constantine worshipped the sun and after his "conversion to Christianity" he incorporated the two into one. Changing the day of rest from Sabbath to the Venerable Day of the Sun, (Sunday) and combining the Pasach and the resurrection of the Sun God to create Easter was two of his greatest accomplishments.
The history of Easter or the exact day of the Resurrection doesn't change anything about Jesus fundamentally. It is important to separate "the Church" from spiritual texts and even spiritual texts from truth.
"If you cannot hear the truth, no one can tell you". - Claudia, Pilate's wife to Pilate in The Passion.
The Truth Within Us
'Twas a fair orchard
full of trees and fruit
And vines and greenery. A Sufi there
Sat with eyes closed, his head upon his knee,
Sunk deep in meditation mystical.
"Why," asked another, "do you not behold
These signs of God the Merciful displayed
Around you, which He bids us contemplate?
"The signs," he answered, "I behold within;
Without is nothing but symbols of the Signs."
What is beauty in the world? The image,
Like quivering boughs reflected in a stream,
Of that eternal Orchard which abides
Unwithered in the hearts of Perfect Men.
- Rumi (13th c. Islamic mystic, #1 selling poet in U.S.)
Comments