Who was Jesus Christ? This would seem a very difficult question to answer unless you have had the privilege of reading Stephen Mitchell's, The Gospel According to Jesus. Mitchell beautifully rips away the veils of political Christianity to go the heart of Jesus and his authentic teachings which provide the reader a truly mystical experience. For me, Jesus has always been about love. I was taught from an early age that our God is a loving, forgiving god and Jesus was a manifestation of this light. After reading Mitchell's book, I am now even more convinced.
Jesus is the eternal man. He is the man who does not die because he touches all of our hearts with wisdom, humility, openness, honesty and pain. Jesus died to himself and let go of his ego in order to teach all humankind that this act makes us all Christ. He learned through the pain of his childhood, the temptations of lust and the acceptance that no man is better than another that forgiveness, compassion and love are the only real paths to God. As Stephen Mitchell explains, Jesus wants to tell everyone about the great freedom: "how it feels when we continually surrender to the moment and allow our hearts to become pure, not clinging to past or future, not judging or being judged." This freedom allows us to enter the real kingdom of God which Jesus spoke about. The kingdom of God is not a place we go to after we die. It is a state of peace and serenity that is always available but cannot be felt unless we let go of the ego and float in the eternal now.
The gospels Jesus shared were gifts given so that we may find the path to the eternal now. His wisdom comes from the font of experiencing the presence of God rather than having blind faith about his existence. Jesus wanted for us to realize that knowing God is only possible through knowing one's soul which is a painful experience. The crucifixion of Jesus is symbolic of his own ego death and his resurrection is a light source for all of us to see. Jesus wanted us to follow him, but not as mindless sheep. He asked of us an openness and clarity of mind which are necessary in order to embrace all things. He wanted for us to feel the radiance of love which permeates all life. Jesus was a mystical teacher who shared with his brethren the desire to spread joy upon the earth so that humankind could actualize heaven here, now.
Stephen Mitchell, along with other great scholars such as Thomas Jefferson, tasked himself with finding what his heart and intuition deemed to be the authentic teachings of Jesus. Based on the premise that all mystical teachers taught the same principles of oneness with the universe, a divine source present in all things, forgiveness of both ourselves and our offenders, and that God is love, Mitchell dissects the New Testament in order to find the real Jesus. His discoveries are profound and his analysis is grace itself. For those who have left Jesus behind because of disgust and sadness about the diseased state of Western civilization caused by political Christianity, Mitchell's passages will reacquaint you with Jesus while simultaneously reacquainting you with God.
"For Jesus, the Father is pure generosity, pure creativity...the archetypal power that generates the whole universe, that blesses and keeps and makes its face shine upon all its children and gives them peace. And not only an absolute creative power, but also absolute mercy, a quality we associate more with mothers."
One of the most beautiful passages in the Bible is Jesus teaching about the lilies of the field.
"Therefore I tell you, don't be anxious about what you will eat or what you will wear. Isn't your life more than its food, and your body more than its' clothing? Look at the birds of the sky: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet God feeds them. Which of you by thinking can add a day to his life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin. And yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was robed like one of these. Therefore, if God so clothes the grass, which grows in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won't he all the more clothe you So don't worry about these things and say, 'What will we eat' or What will we wear? For that is what the Gentiles seek; and your Father knows that you need these things. But first seek the kingdom of God; and these thing will be given to you as well."
This passage is so beautiful in its natural imagery and gentle message of letting go and trusting God. It also seems to share its roots with Taoism in that worrying and toil do not change the course of nature and time. In fact, these emotions only muddy the waters and lend life to chaos and drama. What I do find interesting in this quote is that Jesus makes a negative reference to the Gentiles which he often does in many of his teachings including the story of the Syrophoenician Woman. Although he uses the Gentiles as a point of reference for teaching compassion and forgiveness, I am somewhat uncomfortable with his negative attachment to them. In this area along with the passages about his family one finds a Jesus who is more human than God-like and I wonder if the Buddhist was correct when he said that Jesus was almost a Buddha.
Ironically and in contrast to the above opinion, one of the most inspiring teachings of Jesus is about non-judgment. The story of the women accused of adultery is a lesson about the value of right and wrong. Jesus teaches us that no one has the right to accuse another when he too is guilty of sin because he happened to miss the mark on her way to finding the divine. He wants us to understand that forgiveness is truly the only God-like power each of us has. Any type of judgment or punishment given is not a God-like act and only in living like God can we be one unto him. Jesus seems to have been a very complex individual who battled each day with his own ego and perhaps that is why forgiveness was so important to him.
The gospel of the Prodigal Son is lovely and inspiring in its lessons about forgiveness and unconditional compassion. It teaches that the strength required to not condemn one for their wrong-action comes from a God-like source and that by lending compassion to one who has erred in their ways and strayed from their path is the only method able to guide that person back to God. The father does not welcome his wayward son with open arms because he agrees with his actions. Instead, his love and support are the catalysts which will allow his son to be reborn into a new life.
Jesus is famous for his love of children. He saw in their innocence, honesty, trust, love and ability to live in the now the God force in all of its glory. He appreciated their wonder and awe toward all life and wanted each of us "to return and become like children" so that we could attain the kingdom of God. I believe that he surrounded himself with them in order to be reminded of the reality of his own intuitive longings for God. Children taught Jesus about keeping his heart and mind clear so that the luminous light of God could shine through.
It was Jesus' desire to attain the kingdom of heaven while on earth that led him through his suffering, turmoil and eventual death. He had let go of his ego by erasing attachments to family, social opinion, and judgment and allowed himself to rest in the arms of the eternal. In doing this he stands as a lightpost to those of us entering the darkness before enlightenment. Jesus was faced with every human temptation and often succumbed either to anger, resentment, or lust. Yet he continued tirelessly to reach for the good in himself by seeing it in all others. He seemed to be haunted by his own past and tried to exorcise himself of these ghosts by healing his brethren and treating neighbors and strangers as honored friend demonstrated in the story of the Good Samaritan. His very human life is what gives Jesus' teachings their power yet, his death is what made him a savior. Perhaps we value Jesus' death because it was the ultimate surrender to the eternal. It is symbolic of the only path to truly know God but we must remember that he dedicated his life to teaching that the kingdom of heaven was meant to be experienced here, now, on earth.
© Copyright Paula Vaughan
Not to be reprinted without permission.
Reference
The Gospel According to Jesus by Stephen Mitchell
Resources for further study
DVD: The Gospel According to Jesus by Stephen Mitchell