Belief, Consciousness, Faith — A Jesus Christ Series – Part 6
These words arose in meditation the morning after completing the previous blog on Jesus Christ last night.
Gary, stop clinging to a pseudo “faith,” which is no faith at all but a set of beliefs your ego or intellect thinks it needs to hold on to to be safe in the world. You must let go of the entire notion of beliefs, that is “right” or “wrong” beliefs, so that a Faith based upon Truth can arise in you. Faith will arise without effort simply because it is True, as the acorn will grow into the oak without effort simply because this is what is True of acorns – they are oaks in process. This Faith will arise without a forcing current, without a “This I must believe or else” energy.
As this Truth comes to light something lifts, and I feel a release, a dropping of chains; yes, it is a Freedom arising in me. This arising of Truth from within sets me free. The arising of Truth, with my being open to what is True because it is True sets me free. I am reminded of John 8:36 — If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (of course I remember this from the KJV of the bible from my Lutheran grade school days – THANK YOU, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod). And this Freedom brings the Peace. And again the words from my youth arise – these from Paul’s letter to the Philippians in chapter 4 verse 7: And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
What is happening here? What has been happening here all these days, weeks, months, years, and decades? I am coming to an ever-deeper level of consciousness. This coming to deeper consciousness, deeper awareness, is like the Light coming on and shining into the darkness revealing what was always there, but heretofore I could not see it because for me this Truth was in the darkness. I was, for all intents and purposes, blind. So Enlightenment is an apt word for what happens in this process, or the word awakening, perhaps.
Those who, like me, cling to things they were told rather than things that they experienced, things that were in fact experienced ages ago by Enlightened ones and written down and shared through the ages, often cling to things they do not have the consciousness required to experience. In this clinging to what has not experienced but only what has been taught, something I shall call here “belief” in things they have not directly experienced, they, like me, block their own Enlightenment. This clinging can be to atheism, agnosticism (I can’t know), Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or whatever one holds onto for a sense of safety or identity. But such strong beliefs are not Faith. Faith comes from the Light being turned on, from consciousness arising, from Knowing on a felt-sense level.(See short Pathwork Quote on Faith from Pathwork Lecture 18 Free Will)
So the key to my spiritual and psychological development is bringing that which is unconscious (that which is True but can’t be seen by me because for me it has been in the dark) to consciousness (in the Light) so I can see what is True. When I come to Know Truth because the Light has been turned on through a deepening consciousness true Faith is born.
And because consciousness evolves continuously, shining into ever more places, Faith also evolves. What I “Knew” yesterday is different from what I “Know” today, and I never cling to what we “Know” today, because tomorrow, if I am at a deeper level of consciousness, I shall “Know” in a more profound way. Yes, I shall not simply Know more “facts” on the same level of consciousness but shall come to experience a deeper more profound sense of Truth from a deeper consciousness.
So in my journey I began with belief in what I was taught by the Lutheran Church. Then, finding this somehow “not quite right” for my Soul, I sought other beliefs that might resonate more deeply with my Soul. Pathwork seemed to fill this bill, but still I was clinging to beliefs – having a stake in Pathwork somehow being “right,” and my Lutheran Christianity to be “wrong.” But through Pathwork I am coming to deeper levels of awareness, self-awareness first, then other-awareness. As this consciousness deepens via the psychological work and spiritual practices I find I can let go of Pathwork as a set of teachings to believe in. Rather, I am letting go of having to “believe” anything I have not experienced. From here it seems as if deeper more profound experiential Knowing arises continuously. I call this arising a transition from beliefs (a dualistic right/wrong-belief level of consciousness) to Faith my spiritual evolution. Peace arises at the same time, and yes, a peace that transcends intellectual understanding.
So in a way this all changes the ball game in my search for a “right” relationship with Jesus Christ. Rather, I can let go of this intense searching for the “right” relationship with Jesus Christ and simply allow what is True about my relationship with Jesus Christ arise as my consciousness expands. This is a growth into deeper and deeper experiences of Freedom.
I cannot help but close this blog entry with this quote that introduces John’s Gospel (NIV):
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome [or understood] it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Shared in love, Gary