 88. Jesus (His Truth) |
There is virtually nothing in "official" Christianity about the esoteric Spirituality that is often suggested by the "New Testament" Gospel stories about Jesus. However, by employing physically based metaphors in the after-lifetime accounting for the "Resurrection" and the "Ascension", the language of the "New Testament" Gospels fabricates a "concretization" of what was, otherwise, a Spiritual teaching. And that Spiritual teaching was not, even in its own time, exclusive to Jesus. Rather, the Spiritual teaching that is hidden and protected in the "New Testament" (by means of the strategic language of physical "concreteness") is, and always was, the characteristic ancient (and still current) Spiritual teaching associated (all over the world) with the esoteric Wisdom of what I describe as the fourth stage of life and the fifth stage of life.
Because Jesus is not now physically alive (or, otherwise, Spiritually active via a lineage of living Spirit-Baptizers), the only matters of significance relative to him are those that are associated with the contents of the teachings that are conveyed in the writings about him. However, for anyone actually practicing the Spiritual Way of life, the matter of greatest significance is the Spiritual Master from whom one receives Spirit-Baptism. Therefore, from the perspective of the actual practice of Spiritually-active living, what is greater than all the teachings of the traditions (both ancient and of the present day) is one's own Spiritual Master-the Spirit-Baptizer who serves the devotee's Spiritual development toward Spiritual Realization: from physical and moral transformation (or the development of self-discipline and virtue), and through devotional outreach (beyond egoic self), and always toward (or in) the Spiritual Condition That Is the Divine.
In the context of the fourth and fifth stages of life, the Spiritual Condition That Is the Divine is always conceived from the bodily perspective, and, thus and thereby, presumed to be absolutely Above,. Therefore, Ascent is the traditional (fourth and fifth stage) process that one must undergo, in order to go beyond the gross realm of conditional existence and enter into the realm of That Which Is Spirit, Above and Beyond the gross.
There is a perennial tradition of teaching about that practice of Spiritual Ascent - a tradition that has been steadily conveyed by Spiritual Masters (and by Means of their Spiritual Blessing-Force) since ancient times. That tradition began before there was writing, and that tradition is still current in the world, in the company of Yogis and Saints of fifth stage Spiritual Realization.
The tradition of Spiritual Ascent represented (and, to a significant degree, covered up) by the Gospel stories of the "New Testament" is strictly limited to the first five stages of life. And, in any case, the "New Testament" is rather silent about the "how" of Jesus' Spiritual Ascent. However, there is some simple suggestiveness about the "how" in the Gospels such as the story of Nicodemus's meeting with Jesus, wherein Jesus told Nicodemus that one must be "born again in the Spirit rather than the flesh". Clearly, this reference to "re-birth" means, "Realize the `point of view' and the Condition of Spirit, rather than that of gross bodily existence". This statement by the "New Testament" Jesus belongs entirely within the tradition of esoteric Spiritual understanding - as do other sayings that ,are attributed to him, such as, "If your eye is made single (or one-pointed., your entire body will be filled with light." I Indeed, the latter aphorism exactly summarizes the essential "how" of the practice that accords with all traditional fifth stage teachings.
Thus, in the "New Testament" Gospels, there exists a thread of esoteric Spiritual instruction that is conveyed (and, yet, hidden) by means of aphorisms and stories - and, altogether, by means of rather homely popular representations of ancient moral and devotional teachings. The thread of esoteric Spiritual teaching in the "New Testament" Gospels exists completely apart from all the institutionalization-language, all the institutional "salvation" messages, and all the rest of the propaganda of an emerging institution looking for its place, its power, its dominance over all others, and its feeling of being culturally superior to all others.
