The Mind's Christ Concept

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When we heard the word 'Christ', the word 'Jesus' pops straight into our head. It is rare that we talk about Christ in any other context. But the life and death of Jesus is not the be all and end all of the 'Christ' concept. The message of unconditional love that Jesus taught is shared with other cultures and religions. If we delve even further, we find that the stories of Christ have esoteric meanings that we can apply in our own lives to unlock powers we never knew we had.

We can take the messages of all those known as 'Lord and Saviour' throughout the ages and apply them to our own lives. The transformative power this application brings shows how the title Christ refers not to one person, but to an office or role or state of consciousness that we can choose to participate in. By choosing this path we open up a whole new world of possibilities that help us change our world for the better. We don't have to be religious to partake in this power.  Particular incidents in the Bible can be taken on as having new meaning if we approach them from a metaphorical and esoteric standpoint.Take, for example, when Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days and nights and was tempted by the devil. We can compare this process with a particular stage of our own spiritual journey.

Awakening

The temptation in the wilderness represents the time in our lives just after we find new principles to live by. When we have an awakening of some kind, we learn that we need to make changes in ourselves. As we raise our spiritual expectations of ourselves and try to improve our character, we will inevitably go through a series of trials, temptations and tests. This is natural as we are breaking our old habits and forming new ones. This time can be very difficult. The wilderness symbolizes feelings of isolation, barrenness, and lack of sustenance. We can feel stretched to our limits during these times of change and self-discipline, but the fact that Jesus was only in the wilderness for 40 days illustrates that this stage will not go on forever.

To put this in context, Jesus was fasting. This represents the idea that at this particular point we are not focusing on advancing ourselves in the material world or concerned with physical pleasures, but that our main focus at this stage is our spirituality.  First, the devil came to Jesus and told him to turn the stones on the ground into bread. Jesus was very hungry but did not yield to this temptation. This represents that when we are focused on our spirituality we might be tempted to use our energy and power for material gain. Jesus shows us that if we are in this particular stage, we might have to turn down material advancement, so that we can enhance our spirituality instead.

The second temptation the devil gave was to prove God's power. He told Jesus to cast himself down so the angels would catch him and show the devil that God was real. Jesus refused. This represents that when we are in this stage, we might be tempted to use the power and energy that we gain through spirituality to be able to show off, prove something to others or just to test that power for ourselves. Jesus illustrates that we shouldn't try to use higher spiritual powers for an unproductive reason.

Lastly, the devil showed Jesus all the land as far as the eye could see. He told Jesus that if he would bow down and worship the devil, the devil would give him all the land. Jesus refused. This shows us that we shouldn't bow down or give respect to that which we know is wrong, so that we can accumulate more power and possessions in the world. In other words we shouldn't do a 'deal with the devil', which has become a common saying.

The Symbol of The Crucifixion

Another incident of Jesus' life that holds great esoteric power is the crucifixion.  Before Jesus was killed, he was betrayed by one of his friends for money. This symbolizes that even those we thought were closest to us may not understand or value our spiritual journey and may try to sabotage it.  When Jesus knew that he would be crucified, he was sweating blood in the garden of Gethsemane. This illustrates that we can go through periods of great pain and stress on our spiritual journey. This doesn't necessarily mean that we are off-track or doing something wrong. The important thing is that, however we feel, we go on to do what we feel is spiritually right to do, just as Jesus went on to his crucifixion.  Jesus was given a trial by Pontius Pilate, who found him not guilty, but still sent him to execution on the basis of the crowd's reaction. This shows us that even though people may know that we are right in living out our spirituality, we still might not receive fair treatment. We shouldn't depend on authorities, spiritual or otherwise, to make the correct decisions on our behalf.

The crucifixion in itself depicts esoterically one of the most powerful stages of our own personal spirituality. It represents the total giving up of ego and physical self to spiritual destiny. This is where we achieve the pinnacle of Christ consciousness. Here is the marker of the point where we have lost all selfishness. We have spent so much time and energy shaping our lives to be able to benefit the world. This is the final absorption of the ego into the Divine Mind. The crucifixion represents the death of 'Self' in the mind, heart and spirit.  Interpreting the Bible in this way allows us to bring more relevance from its teachings into our everyday life. The life of Jesus provides a blueprint for our own spiritual progress. We can now turn ourselves into the 'Son of God' so that we can gain the same power to uplift and restore humanity.

- Iman Mohiki