Who Do You Say I Am?

Everyone you question, has a different tale to tell
Some say I don't know him, some say I know him well
Some say he's a prophet
Some say his presence gives vision to the blind
Some say I never met him, still he's a friend of mine
Some say I don't' know him, some say I know him well
Everyone who sees him sees whatever they desire
Some say crucify him, some say he cannot die,
Some say he lives forever within the heart and mind

Oh what the others have to say has never been concern for me
For it's the word of God alone, that always sets me free
And it is faith in God alone that brings eternal life
By faith I am persuaded my brother is the Christ and what about you
What about you
What about you
Who do you say I am

(Lyrics excerpted from Who Do You Say I Am, by Carlos and Johnny)

Who is Jesus, and why does it matter? This Sunday we begin a new series entitled, Jesus and the Awakening to God Consciousness based upon the book, The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra.

Chopra makes the case that there are three distinct images of Jesus. The first is the Jesus of history, that is, Jesus, the man who walked the earth 2000+ years ago. Second is the Jesus of the traditional Christian faith that Chopra says was appropriated by the Church, esteemed as God's only begotten son who died for humanity's salvation. The third Jesus, which is the one the book and our series is about, is the "Christ" who Chopra asserts we cannot-and must not- ignore."

In Unity, we do not ignore the Christ. It is central to our belief in the Divinity that indwells all humankind. While we recognize the Divinity in Jesus, and acknowledge his mastery in awareness and exemplification of his divine nature, we see him as the great example,
not the great exception. We see Jesus as one who clearly saw the path of spiritual awakening and took it all the way to his enlightenment, leaving us a way to follow that we might also come to know what he knew. Of course, this interpretation is radically different from traditional Christian doctrine, yet it is merely a logical extension of our belief in Oneness. Because we hold the view that there is only one presence and power that is in all, and through all, expressing its fullness at every point in space and time, it follows that It must also be in us. The omnipresence of spirit allows for an individualized expression of God, which is the Christ in you and me.

When Jesus asked his disciple Peter, Who do you say I am, he was inviting Peter to look beyond the human form, the fleshly appearance before him, the story about him, and behold his true nature. This invitation is ours as well.

Jesus knew he was the light of the world, and said you are the light of the world as well. His life teachings and demonstrations were rooted in an almost unfathomable, unflinching depth of love beyond human comprehension. The depth of his love and devotion to God was equaled in his love for everybody he met, friend, stranger or crucifier. He beheld the Christ in everyone he met, and called forth their hidden perfections, resulting in extraordinary transformations of body, mind and spirit. This kind of love, so pure that it fosters a kind of immaculate perception, did not die with Jesus. It is as viable, vital and relevant as ever. To those who can look through this lens of love today can still restore sight to the blind, reclaim hope to the lost, and bring peace to our world.

Aloha, On Earth As In Heaven

You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: what is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions when one can no longer see, one can at least still know. ~ Rene Dumal

Denese and I have just "come down from the summit", that is, we have just returned from 10 glorious days and nights on the beautiful island of Maui. Since returning we have been trying to re-enter reality (small r)--- emptying the sand from our shoes, while grasping at the memories of the blissful moments we shared while away.

We are filled with gratitude for the privilege of this time away, and truly feel refreshed at many levels. Humanly, we are dealing with some re-entry discomfort, as we quickly recognize the challenge of generating and maintaining the peace, joy and loving energy that bubbled up in us so effortlessly on the island.

Maui is shameless in its unbridled seduction of the senses. It's hard to not take all the exhilarating beauty very personally. When every wave that breaks upon the shore feels like it was designed just to soothe you into peaceful surrender, and every brilliant flower seems commissioned by your vision of beauty and every bird song the melody that soothes your mind, separation does not come easy. When each breeze caresses your face like a mother's embrace, and each sunset makes the heart burst with the majesty of a palette of infinite color and beauty, one does not depart easily. As you can tell as I wax on poetically about our time away, that we really were carried away, and thoroughly blissed out.

Now we have returned, and the message for us, and you, this Sunday is how it is possible to generate those feelings on the mainland where we live and move and do our work. The ego mind would have us cling to the notion that Maui is the place for our peace, and the land of our love, and the island of our joy. We can be seduced by that illusion, or we can return to the Truth that assures us that all that we experienced in Maui was an inner response to outer conditions. Herein lies the key to heaven, in our response-ability. Every master has revealed that this key is within our reach and accessible to all who are willing to return home mindfully and open heartedly.

The End Of Suffering

The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. - Zen quote

Why do we suffer? Some would say, It 's the bane of human existence. Some would say it's the life of punishment we earned for something that Eve did with an apple a long time ago. Some would say that it is God's way of testing our faith (remember the story of Job in the bible?)

One of my favorite spiritual teachers, Byron Katie, who cuts right through the dogma with laser clarity and insight, says, the only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is. If you want reality to be different than it is, you might as well try to teach a cat to bark. You can try and try, and in the end, the cat will look up at you and say, "Meow." Wanting reality to be different than it is is hopeless. You can spend the rest of your life trying to teach a cat to bark.

Why in the world do we argue with "what is", why do we cling with stubborn tenacity to our preferences for how life should and could be and resist everything that shows up that does not match our desires. To resist life's twists and turns that deviate from our preferences is the way of suffering; clearly counterproductive to the way of peace and enduring happiness. Wisdom implores us embrace life on its terms, with the equanimity of one who chose all that arises.

This is fundamental understanding in Buddhism. The Buddha's first discourse following his enlightenment contained the Four Noble Truths, the first of which stated that life is, or leads to, suffering (dukkha) in one way or another. Our suffering is said to be caused by craving or attachments to worldly pleasures of all kinds, clinging to a certain sense of self, or to the things, people, or circumstances that we consider the cause of happiness or unhappiness.

Jesus taught from the same well of wisdom, imploring us to avoid judgments based on appearances, dualistic thinking, and clinging to things of the world. Jesus noted that rain falls on the just and the unjust, that a man was born blind not as karmic comeuppance, rather to bear witness to a greater reality through him. In this greater reality, (that he called the kingdom of heaven), we will find a lasting treasure that does not deflate or disappoint.

Buddha did not leave us without an answer to the inevitable suffering of the human condition. The Fourth Noble Truth says there is a way out of suffering, a path to help us develop insight into the nature of things and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion.