From: gav (gav_gc@yahoo.com.au)
Date: Tue Sep 13 2005 - 12:20:25 BST
hey all,
let's do the ole switcheroo and see if that helps us
reach a common understanding.
from "the power of now" by eckhart tolle:
"Christ: the reality of your divine presence
Christ is your God-essence or Self, as is it is
sometimes called in the East. The only difference
between Christ and presence is that Christ refers to
your indwelling divinity regardless of whether you are
conscious of it or not, whereas presence means your
*awakened* divinity or God-essence.
Many misunderstandings and false beliefs about Christ
will clear if you realize that there is no past or
future in Christ. To say that Christ *was* or *will
be* is a contradiction in terms. Jesus was. He was man
who lived two thousand years ago and realized divine
presence, his true nature. And so he said: "Before
Abraham was born, i am." He did not say: "i already
existed before Abraham was born." That would have
meant that he was still in the dimension of time and
form-identity. The words *i am* used in a sentence
that starts in the past tense indicate a radical
shift, a discontinuity in the temporal dimension. It
is a Zen-like statement of great profundity. Jesus
attempted to convey directly, not through discursive
thought, the meaning of presence, of self-realization.
He had gone beyond the consciousness dimension
governed by time, into the realm of the timeless. The
dimesion of eternity had come into this world.
Eternity, of course, does not mean endless time, but
no time. Thus the man jesus became christ, a vehicle
for pure consciousness. And what is God's
self-definition in the bible? Did God say, "i have
always been and always will be"? Of course not. That
would have given reality to past and future. God said,
"i am that i am." No time here, just presence.
The second coming of christ is a transformation of
human consciousness, a shift from time to presence,
from thinking to pure consciousness, not the arrival
of some man or woman. If "Christ" were to return
tomorrow in some externalized form, what could he or
she possibly say to you other than this: "I am the
Truth. I am divine presence. I am eternal life. I am
within you. I am here. I am Now.
****Never personalize Christ****[my emphasis]. Don't
make Christ into a form identity. Avatars, divine
mothers, enlightened masters, the very few that are
real, are not special as persons. Without a false self
to uphold, defend and feed, they are more simple, more
ordinary than the ordinary man or woman. Anyone with a
strong ego would regard them as insignificant or more
likely not see them at all.
If you are drawn to an enlightened teacher, it is
because there is already enough presence in you to
recognise presence in another. there were many people
who did not recognise jesus or the buddha, as there
are and always have been many people who are drawn to
false teachers. Egos are drawn to bigger egos.
Darkness cannot recognise light. Only light can
recognise light. So don't believe that the light is
outside you or that it can only come through one
particular form. If only your master is an incarnation
of God, then who are you? Any kind of exclusivity is
identification with form, and identification with form
means ego, no matter how well disguised.
Use the master's presence to reflect your own identity
beyond name and form back to you and to become more
intensely present yourself. You will soon realize that
there is no 'mine' or 'yours' in presence. Presence is
one.
Group work can also be helpful for intensifying the
light of your presence. A group of people coming
together in a state of presence generates a collective
energy field of great intensity. It not only raises
the degree of presence of each member of the group but
also helps free the collective human consciousness
from its current state of mind dominance. This will
make the state of presence increasingly more
accessible to individuals. However, unless at least
one member of the group is already firmly established
in it and thus can hold the energy frequency of that
state, the egoic mind can easily reassert itself and
sabotage the group's endeavours. Although group work
is invaluable it is not enough and you must not come
to depend on it. Nor must you depend on a teacher or a
master, except during the transitional period, when
you are learning the meaning and practice of
presence."
i think that last paragraph captures the potential of
MOQ discuss and also the potential pitfalls nicely.
who hasn't let loose with an ego-based retort hey? i
know i have been a bit of a bighead, more than once
(twice i think ;-)).
interested to hear your thoughts....
gav
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