Holiness, Part II: The Christ behind the Person 


This is where my Christianity begins to intersect with my theory of consciousness. 

I believe that a lot of clarity can be gained by viewing Christ as an emergent phenomenon in this world. I also think that we should consider this explanation BEFORE adopting this or that religious position. So consider this.

We just considered the theory that each person is a sparkling jewel of color and meaning in the last blog entry. I would like to propose that Christ is a meaning phenomenon, just the one I proposed. Christ is the ability to understand, and then to see that each person is priceless. It is in all of us. It is an emergent phenomenon, one that was made possible by the development of language. However, from a different point of view, it might also be that the possibility of having a holy view of people was responsible in some way for the development of life and language. Ok, if you are stuck in your clock-work view of the Universe, I invite you to consider that now our SCIENTISTS are telling us that time and space are relative and PHILOSOPHERS have been telling us since Kant that time and space are categories our mind imposes on experience. From some point of view, all times may be simultaneous, or at least accessible from each other. Even at the level of our own experience, we see possibilities bringing about actualities. That is what planning is all about. I would say that it is certainly at least possible at a higher, God's eye view of reality, just the possibility of Christ emulation is enough to insure that some would try it.

Thus from the Christian point of view, the second coming of Christ could be seen as the emergence of the ability to see each person as an awe-inspiring version of reality. This, of course, would absolutely undermine any literalist interpretation of the Christian or any other Holy Scriptures, insofar that they implied that people with one set of beliefs are right and those with a different set of beliefs are wrong. You may be thinking that I am contradicting myself by proposing a set of beliefs to replace existing ones. But, not so. I am describing the emergence of a new way of looking at people.

The emergence of the Christ concept is not just a set of beliefs, it is a joining together of conscious minds in a new way. As such it is a decision to dance with all possible partners without regard to their physical or conceptual appearance. Of course, you don't have to go to the dance if you don't want to, but it is so much fun when you learn how, and there are so many neat people there, that it's hard to see why you wouldn't want to do it. And, pursuing the metaphor of a dance farther, this is a dance that is being held everywhere, every day, and all you have to do is open your eyes in a new way.

Ok, you can trot out your Hitler examples now, and be irate that anyone could think about dancing with Hitler. But you know, Jesus was dealing with some pretty malevolent individuals. His disciples all wanted him to be clever and escape, but he went headlong into the malevolence. I believe that the inability to stop being malevolent in the face of malevolence is the single most effective barrier to preventing the emergence of the Christ concept into the world.

Let's look at some examples of received Jesus talk. 1) "I and the Father are one." Ok, this can be understood as "I have determined that every action and thought which I take is harmonious with a God's eye perspective." 2) "Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to me." Surely this is a reference to the glistening patina of Christ-consciousness potentiality that lives in every pair of eyes. 3) "Do you love me? Then feed my sheep." I am suggesting that there are no goats, only sheep.

Of course, after years of studying in the Education for Ministry course offered by the University of the South, I have begun to see that knowing exactly what Jesus said is a daunting task. Every gospel is a point of view on Christ. But how is that different from knowing what anyone has said? The point that I am making (my point of view) is that even 2000 years ago, the concept of a Christ was emerging in the minds of the time. The Bible doesn't record a fixed truth; the Bible records a dialog which is in fact the emergence of the Christ concept.

I knew this decades ago, even when I was in my "atheist" period from ages 17 to 34. I kept talking about God, as an atheist, for Christ's sake. (Couldn't resist the pun; becoming Christ doesn't rule out a sense of humor.) I remember thinking that my internal dialog about the nature of God—"in the head" of a self-avowed atheist to boot—must be surely some kind of Neo-Platonic dialog that emerged because I thought about the possibility of God and my mind went to work on that, trying to refine my understanding of the possibility. BUT, in getting clearer on the possibility, I began to see that divinely inspired behavior could be fueled by this clarity, and in fact that such evolving thinking was alive in the world, individually, and possibly collectively.

My Christianity has been totally refreshed by my point of view on this. When I say the Nicene Creed—as I told my bishop awhile back, publicly—I am saying it in solidarity with Christians past and present everywhere. That is to say, I am honoring their point of view on the nature of God and Christ. But I also am capable—and sometimes I do so— of saying the Nicene Creed critically and constructively. For example, when I say "Jesus Christ, the only Son of God," I sometimes understand that there is only one path for all realized souls, i.e. the path of forgiveness. That possibility, of living a path of forgiveness has existed for all time. What about the man, Jesus? Well, never mind. Whatever you say is ok, since it is your point of view. If we dialog about it, we will probably learn something from each other.

I feel the presence of this Christ-consciousness very much in my heart, and I see it emerging in my thinking. And of course, every day, I schlep back to my unrealized ways, snapping at Stephen, ignoring the pain of some others, and on and on. And I forgive myself and try to do better. 

Posted: Sat - April 15, 2006 at 06:21 PM          

©