 88. Jesus (His Truth) |
Perhaps, in his instruction to the initiate, Jesus would have identified himself with the Morning Star. Hence, such aphoristic sayings as, "I am the bright Morning Star," and, "If your eye is made single (or one-pointed), your entire body will be filled with light." Also, the "Second Letter of Peter" states: "You should pay attention to [the teachings], as to a light that illuminates your path-until the dawn, when the Morning Star rises in your sky of mind."18 And, in the "Book of Revelation", the "Spirit" is given to say: "I will give the Morning Star[to every one who persists in the practice that accords with my teachings, and who perseveres, and overcomes all obstacles]." And, additionally, Jesus would likely have uttered other esoteric promises, even such as the "Spirit" is given to say in the "Book of Revelation": "To those who persevere and overcome, I will give an inner and secret 'manna' [or Spiritual nourishment], and a white stone [or tabula rasa, or pristine state] within them, with a new and secret name on it, which only those who receive it within themselves will be able to identify and understand."
As is quite common elsewhere in the fifth stage traditions of religious and Spiritual schools outside of Christianity, the initiate would concentrate, inwardly and upwardly, at the midpoint between the brows, and, thus and thereby, focus attention at the brain core - or, in terms of the physical anatomy of the human body, at (and upwardly from) the point of the hypothalamus and the ventricles of the midbrain. The initiate would be instructed that he or she will see the interior equivalent of the Morning Star at that place - either immediately or, otherwise, if and when the practice has been done diligently and over time. Once such instructions had been given by Jesus to a new initiate, there would be a laying on of hands (to directly and physically Transmit the Spiritual Blessing, by Jesus), and, then (especially if there is a significant sensitivity to the Spiritual Energy of the Transmitted Spiritual Blessing), there would be various kinds of potential mystical (or brain-mediated) experiences. Such was the principal "secret" indicated in the "New Testament" Gospels with reference to the "secrets" of the "Kingdom of God".
Although this esoteric Spiritual process has been virtually eliminated from the "official" Christian tradition (and, thus and thereby, forgotten - and, in general, denied to all Christian practitioners), it is (nonetheless, and essentially) the same process that can be found, to this day, in the (especially, fifth stage) Yogic traditions of India - and elsewhere, all over the world.
The process referred to in the "parables" of the "New Testament" Gospels is not, in fact, about the blood-"Sacrifice", bodily "Resurrection", and literal, physical "Ascension" of Jesus who, in that case, like a ceremonial temple-offering of an animal, or incense, or a ritual prayer, would "disappear" into the sky, and arrive in "Heaven Above", to rule on the "right-hand side" of the "Father".
At some point, Judaism began to communicate itself in exclusively monotheistic language, and a doctrinal and sacramental approach developed that was oriented strictly to the "male" Deity. Thus, the "female" aspect (and representation) of the Divine was systematically eliminated, and what had (originally, in the earliest centuries of the Hebrew tribal religion) been worshipped as a "Unity". (or a "Primal Union") of male and female became an exclusively male "God". In "official" Christianity, the exclusively "male" tendency (indicated in the reference to "God" as the "Father") appears to be a cultural preference carried over from "official" Judaism. The esoteric language of Jesus (himself) is not oriented toward a paternalistic Deity "outside" the human person, and, thus, "in" the world, but, rather, the esoteric language of Jesus (himself) is oriented toward the Divine As Spirit (or Spirit-Breath )- Which, in fact, traditionally, is often associated with feminine terms of reference (such as "Shakti"), and Which is, in any case, a reference to the Divine as a Reality "inside" the human psycho-physical Form, and, thus, Prior to the world, rather than "in", or of, the world. Indeed, the ancient word for "spirit" (in the common Greek 'Language of Jesus' day) is "pneuma", which means "breath-energy". Therefore, in true (or esoteric) Spiritual practice (as taught by Jesus), the individual breathes (and, Ultimately, is Absorbed In) the Divine Spirit (Pneuma, or Mana)-and, if there is correct Spirit) breathing (or psycho-physical Absorption In the Divine Spirit Power), Spiritual practice is inherently effective.
Also, in "official" Christianity, the cultural (and merely exoteric)) reference for defining the Divine as "Creator" (or "Cause") of the and the Christian Social Exotericism That Succeeded It world is another carryover from "official" Judaism. Again, the esoteric language of Jesus indicates a different (and esoteric, rather than exoteric) idea of "God". The "God"-idea of Jesus is the idea of the Divine As Spirit (or Spirit-Breath) "inside" (and, thus, Prior to both the world and the human psycho-physical form. That is to say, As Spirit the Divine Is the Prior Reality, and, As 'Such, not "Creator" (or "Cause")-but, rather, the Divine Spirit Is Source and Refuge. The Divine As Spirit, Prior to the body-mind and the world, Is (Itself) the "Goal" of humankind, whereas the "God"-idea of the Divine as "Creator" tacitly subordinates the Divine to its "creations" - and, thus, allows human beings to embrace the illusion that conditions in and of the world and conditions in and of the body-mind (or egoic self) itself are the "Goal" of religion and of life.
The practice (and tradition) of astrology was very important in the ancient world. Thus, much of the "New Testament" was written on the basis of a framework of various kinds of astrological conceptions (and of astrological metaphors for esoteric conceptions). Take, for example, the legendary story placed in the "New Testament" Gospels about the "wise men" from the East, who followed a Star. Likewise, references to the Sun often appear in the "New Testament" Gospels, suggesting that the Sun in the sky is (metaphorically speaking) "God the Father". Therefore, also metaphorically speaking, the "Star" (in "New Testament" language) is Jesus, the "Son" of the "Sun" - a "risen" Star (or Morning Star) that is subordinate to the "Sun" (because every star disappears in the full sunlight of day), and that is also "born" of the "Sun" (because all stars first appear in the night sky, after the Sun sets). Jesus also (metaphorically speaking) represented himself as a kind of "Sun-god"-or, that is to say, the "Star" that is "one with the Father" is the "Sun" (or is, in its essence, non-different from the essence of the "Sun").
