Essay on Mystical Easter Half 2

That is half 2 of my essay on Mystical Easter. You could find half 1 through this hyperlink.

I choose up from the tip of half 1 and proceed discussing my strategy to this subject earlier than discussing the very best that means of Easter.

Half 2 can also be accessible as a chat on the Deep Psychology podcast.

It’s Submit-postmodern

I imagine that my strategy is post-postmodern. What do I imply by post-postmodern?

To know this, we first have to recollect the levels of religion improvement, of which post-postmodern religion is one. The three that instantly precede the extent that I’m speaking about are Mythic, Rational, and Postmodern. we’ll speak about post-postmodern as one stage, but it surely’s prone to be a number of levels, and in reality there’s fashions that describe post-postmodern as a number of levels.

To know post-postmodern, we should perceive postmodern religion. That is the interval in our non secular lives once we come out of atheism and rationlism, and start to grasp that a number of religion traditions is likely to be necessary and conceal deep reality. Thus, we start opening as much as them.

We are inclined to grow to be fascinated by a number of traditions or techniques, similar to Buddhism, yoga, meditation, Hinduism. We’re now beginning to grasp the teachings on a deeper degree and realise that spirituality is basically about transformation. As a substitute of dismissing symbols, as we are inclined to at Rational, or decoding them actually, as we are inclined to at Mythic, we grow to be open to symbols as concealing realities that can not be adequately described in phrases.

Nevertheless, at postmodern we nonetheless don’t fairly perceive the depth of what spirituality actually is. Postmodern spirituality is usually about feeling good, coming collectively in teams, exploring well being, exploring an entire buffet of non secular practices, however with out a clear route and construction.

With post-postmodern, I really feel we lastly come to the guts of the matter, which is direct expertise of the divine, of altered states resulting in altered traits. Our focus goes to what I’ll name Gnostic spirituality.

We’ve a spotlight, a really clear focus, and it’s on direct expertise, on awakening. This awakening goes past Mythic, Rational and Postmodern concepts of awakening. This goes proper to the guts of the difficulty.

As a substitute of simply taking a look at completely different traditions and being open to them, we now begin to realise that all of them level to the identical territory in numerous methods. The deeper truths are enclosed within the non secular traditions. With out naively equating all of them, they’re all finally pointing to the territory of Waking Up.

So at post-postmodern, we have a look at the deep truths in all non secular traditions, and we interpret spiritual and non secular symbols as indicators or tips to these deep truths, and certainly as instruments that induce direct expertise of them.

Utility is Our Precedence

We now decide non secular teachings and techniques by their utility.

As a substitute of judging utility primarily based on whether or not it’s Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, or from a sure instructor, we decide it primarily based on utility alone. It’s very non-dogmatic in that sense. Worth is just not primarily based on the supply of the educating or the instructor, however on how helpful it’s to us as non secular practitioners and to our personal direct expertise of reality.

As such, the worth of Christian teachings to a post-postmodern non secular practitioner is just not that they’re Christian, however that they’re helpful teachings. That is my strategy to Christianity.

Direct Expertise

One other key level right here is that this view relies on direct expertise.

For those who’ve by no means had direct expertise of those issues, it’s close to inconceivable to know why Easter, Christ, the Bible and Christianity is admittedly all about direct expertise.

All of that is about direct non secular awakening. It’s about deeply perceiving for your self, in your personal direct expertise, the fact of what Christianity, and most different non secular traditions, are pointing to.

It’s tough for me to concisely describe this topic, so when you’ve by no means had such experiences, take solace in the truth that direct expertise will ultimately reveal all. When you might have it, you’ll perceive quite a bit higher what the non secular traditions are speaking about, together with Christianity.

Our strategy centres on direct expertise. It’s not about believing something. It’s not about memorising the Bible, and it’s not about even taking the pointers, symbols and descriptions too significantly.

You might memorise 100 quotes from Jesus Christ, however when you’ve by no means had a direct expertise, it’s actually a waste of time. Jesus was a Gnostic instructor, and his teachings are designed for us to straight awaken to the deepest truths of life.

If we’re by no means reaching direct expertise of those issues, then we’re both misplaced in perception or in ignorance. After all, we’d want to check these items on a extra mental degree at first, but when it by no means will get translated into direct expertise, and when you’re not making an attempt to take action, then your mental information is basically irrelevant.

In some methods, this can be a ceremony of passage or a bar to fulfill. It implies that these with direct expertise of those issues really know, and people who don’t, don’t.

This may occasionally look like a burden, but it surely’s additionally an ideal alternative: I’m not asking you to imagine what I say and simply take me on my phrase. When you might have direct expertise, you’ll lastly perceive what Easter and Christianity are actually about.

Actually, all that actually counts is your direct expertise. I don’t assist you might have a direct expertise, or if this text doesn’t spur you on to do the work to have a direct expertise of those issues, then it’s not fulfilled its objective.

So, the truth that direct expertise is the usual could be very liberating. I’m not saying you should be a Christian, nor that you should memorise something, nor that you should imagine tales and myths.

I’m saying you should domesticate your direct expertise. You’ll want to have direct notion of those issues, and you then perceive them.

Primarily based on Psychological Improvement Past Mythic and Rational

I need to make it clear that this isn’t merely primarily based on a distinct non secular reference or a distinct opinion, however on the next degree of considering that’s qualitatively completely different to Mythic and Rational ranges.

Most individuals both take part in or are conversant in Mythic spirituality, they usually imagine that every one spirituality boils right down to it. They could not know they achieve this. It’s comprehensible as a result of that’s what has dominated human religion for hundreds of years. It’s most likely performed a task in our evolution, however now we’ve reached the purpose the place we’re sick of it, and on a broad scale we’re prepared for one thing else.

It’s additionally not rational, as I’ve defined. The significance of this strategy being past mythic and rational is that we’re taking a look at issues from the next perspective, from the next degree of considering, perceiving and embodying.

We’re not happening into mythic and rational and making an attempt to repair the Mythic and Rational worldviews. Although I’m going to critique them quite a bit and I’ve already, that isn’t my final aim.

On one hand, our strategy is extra appropriate as a result of post-rationality consists of rationality in its finest model, but in addition it’s seeing issues from the next degree that can not be diminished to rationality. As such, it doesn’t get caught in the identical traps that rationality does. It’s inherently extra inclusive.

And it’s not so as a result of I’ve deliberately derived a post-rational view that comes with and eclipses rationality. It’s not a theoretical derivation, however the next mode of being. Our view relies on the self-evident truths which can be embedded on this post-rational mode of being.

The identical applies to Mythic. Our view is embedded in the next mode of being, and is due to this fact extra full, extra entire, and extra appropriate. It’s conscious of greater than the Mythic and Rational ranges and doesn’t get trapped of their drastic shortcomings.

It’s extra inclusive than Mythic as a result of we’re not clinging to Christianity to the exclusion of all different traditions, and we’re not getting misplaced in literal interpretations.

It’s extra inclusive than Rational as a result of we’re not narrowing our imaginative and prescient by demanding that every part be couched in demonstrable details and confirmed with scientific proof. If we demand this, we get misplaced within the mind, and we’re unlikely to ever have a direct expertise of those issues.

Inherently, it’s conscious of greater than each these views, in addition to the Postmodern view. It’s conscious that the deepest non secular truths can’t be put into language and can’t be confirmed aside from via direct expertise. Mythic and Rational don’t enable for both of those essential factors.

Our view is past it’s past mythic and rational. You can not have a look at them from a Mythic or Anti-mythic or Rational or purely Anti-rational. It’s truly past each, but inherently consists of them to the extent that’s crucial.

This Turns into Self-Evident

A reminder that these truths grow to be self-evident whenever you attain into post-conceptual symbolic and metaphoric spirituality. Which means that apart from proof or proof, you intrinsically perceive Christianity from this angle.

As we develop as folks, our worldview, psychology, perspective-taking, values, morals, and so forth, all alter. As they do, new truths and views divulge heart’s contents to us when beforehand they had been hidden or appeared incomprehensible. Very similar to how an grownup could make sense of written language when younger youngsters see it as random scribbles, these with extra developed antennae can decipher reality that’s past those that lack such antennae.

Simply as rationality and logic grow to be self-evidently true, crucial and helpful for these with rational capacities, those that attain into post-postmodern religion start to naturally respect non secular symbols and metaphors in the way in which we’ve got mentioned.

For that reason, when you’re making an attempt to know these concepts from a perspective that’s purely conceptual or literal, you’re not going to know them, That is post-conceptual, symbolic and metaphorical. We’re aiming excessive, and it gained’t work when you’re making an attempt to fulfill this at a decrease degree.

We’re actually making an attempt to ask what Easter is about, on the highest attainable degree of interpretation. Reaching a passable reply to this requires a degree of psychological improvement that’s past what most individuals can entry.

For that cause, it’s difficult, doubtlessly off-putting, and could seem far on the market. Neither Mythic spirituality nor Rational spirituality nor Postmodern spirituality can totally deal with post-conceptual, post-symbolic and metaphorical spirituality.

Metaphorical-Symbolic Spirituality & Mystical Easter

Earlier than we speak about what Easter is from the very best degree, it’s essential that we cowl what metaphorical, symbolic spirituality is. That is roughly stage 5 and stage six of James Fowler’s religion system.

It’s post-mythic, post-rational, post-conceptual. It’s symbolic and metaphorical. However what does that actually imply? In day-to-day life, what does it really feel like to carry this view of spirituality?

A vital level is that on this view we’re ignoring historic reality and we’re additionally ignoring dogma. I’m not right here to debate the biblical details or whether or not Jesus’ miracles truly came about, whether or not he actually got here out of a cave on the day of the Resurrection, or whether or not the Final Supper was actually the day earlier than he was crucified, whether or not he was actually crucified, or whether or not Jesus even existed.

I’ve received my opinion on these, but it surely doesn’t even matter. We’re not even going into that. We’re simply not listening to that as a result of it’s not necessary in relation to metaphorical-symbolic spirituality.

We’re additionally ignoring dogma. We’re not fascinated by all of the wonderful trivialities of the Bible, similar to who did what and when, what had been the exact particulars, what was the order of the evenets, who stated what, what chapter of the Bible was it in, and so forth.

It doesn’t matter, and it’s really easy to get misplaced in all these particulars. Actually, that’s what Christianity has accomplished for hundreds of years now. It’s been getting misplaced in all these particulars and taking every part so actually.

Once I draw on the Bible or on the details of Jesus’s life, whether or not they’re details or not, the purpose is to not take them as details or to take them as dogma, and even to place a number of inventory in whether or not they existed or not. Their solely significance is as symbols. Their perform is symbolic and metaphorical.

If I imagine one thing has a metaphorical, symbolic perform, I’ll use it and I’ll discuss with it. If it doesn’t, I’ll simply ignore it as a result of it doesn’t play a task in our work.

So, we’re principally ignoring historic reality and dogma and we’re judging issues on their utility.

Second of all, we’re paying very shut consideration to symbols right here, together with all of the widespread symbols of the Bible. And the way are we doing this? I need this to be very clear how we’re truly doing this. The way in which we’re taking a look at symbols is that they’re pointing to transpersonal realities.

For instance, the Christian Cross is pointing to a transpersonal actuality. The Crucifixion is pointing to a transpersonal actuality. The Resurrection is pointing to a transpersonal actuality. Lent is pointing to a transpersonal actuality. Easter eggs are pointing to a transpersonal actuality.

Let’s take Easter eggs for instance, as a result of I’ve an article concerning the symbolism of Easter eggs. Clearly, the egg itself is a recognisable bodily type: everyone knows what an egg is, everyone knows that if an egg grows and is nurtured for sufficient time, you finally get a chick.

We all know it’s a container of types, we all know what it seems like, we all know that it’s an entire and full form. Due to this fact, it’s possess a recognisable bodily type. All symbols have a recognisable bodily type, which might in lots of instances be moderately mundane. Symbols can come within the type of parables and tales.

Even the cross is kind of a secular image: it’s merely two traces or rectangles crossing one another. The precise bodily type of an egg is mundane and has nothing particular to it. It’s not significantly beneficial in and of itself: it’s simply an egg!

Nevertheless, the recognisable bodily type of all symbols factors to a transpersonal actuality.

It would sound foolish to say that. How might an egg be transpersonal? However whenever you put it within the context of the story of Jesus, Easter and the Resurrection, it truly turns into fairly apparent that the egg is pointing to a transpersonal actuality.

One other key level is that symbols are catalysts or inductors. What do I imply by this? From the metaphorical symbolic view, you realise is that the perform of symbols is to principally attain down and seize you. It’s like they’re making an attempt to seize you and present you one thing. Once you achieve this, your consciousness expands, and also you discover you hook up with the fact that they disclose.

As Ken Wilber says: “all of these symbols and the rites and ceremonies related to these symbols are esoterically meant to perform as helps of contemplation or symbolic transformers.” So once we’re speaking about any Easter image, we’re making an attempt to see them on this manner: as an invite, as a catalyst, as an inductor.

Once I see non secular symbols, it seems like I get up and achieve consciousness of the fact that the image is making an attempt to level to.

Whereas, this requires some abstraction and rational considering to know what the image is referring to, basically this mode of interpretation is post-rational. The perform of the rationality is to get a fundamental grasp on the mundane bodily illustration of the image, its historical past and different associated symbols.

Nevertheless, once we’re truly taking a look at it, we should transfer past these fundamental conclusions right into a post-rational manner of decoding it. Its message is post-verbal and post-conceptual. Its that means is tough to verablise, however in connecting with the image, it grabs you and strikes you into that transpersonal actuality. Rationality can’t contact this mode.

Although we do require some abstraction and just a little little bit of understanding to essentially join with symbols on this deep manner, this mode is post-rational.

Additionally, it’s important to neither imagine in myths, but in addition to not demonise them. If we spend our time both believing the Easter story in literal phrases, and that each single fragment of data within the Bible is true, you’re not going to know the metaphorical symbolic view.

Bear in mind: we don’t pay a lot consideration to all of the wonderful particulars, moderately we give attention to essentially the most highly effective Christian symbols. Nevertheless, when you additionally spend your time demonising Christianity, which is what scientific, rational folks are inclined to do, you’re closing your self to the metaphorical-symbolic view. The symbols and tales and the entire narrative of Easter are simply pointers, nothing else.

I’m positive you’ve heard the metaphor of the finger and the moon. If I level to the moon, it’s not so that you just have a look at my finger, however that you just have a look at the moon. The Easter story and the entire of Christianity is only a finger, a pointer. Take a look at what it’s making an attempt to level out, moderately than the pointer itself. Believing within the myths is to imagine within the finger and to magnify its significance.

But additionally, we’re not demonising the finger. If we demonise the finger an excessive amount of, we gained’t see the moon itself. So, the symbols act as a pointer in direction of the guts of the matter, which might solely be understood via direct expertise.

Let’s cowl two extra factors earlier than we speak about what Easter truly is. First, it’s essential to notice that Easter, very merely, is about you, and is about proper now. Though this dialogue might sound very summary, in final occasion, we’re speaking about you, we’re speaking about your direct expertise, and we’re speaking about proper now.

We’re not speaking about some expertise you might need sooner or later, however about this very expertise, the expertise of being alive. We’re speaking concerning the completely different ranges of our consciousness and what occurs once we realise them.

Often, our consciousness is locked into what I name the floor ranges, and we’re unaware of the degrees which can be past that. Most individuals spend their total lives unaware of them, despite the fact that they’re right here proper now.

They’re already current and accessible; it’s a matter of seeing them. Thankfully, every time we’re engaged in metaphorical, symbolic work, we’re basically coaching ourselves to see what is true right here, proper now.

Bear in mind: it’s proper right here, proper now, and it’s inside us, not elsewhere. We’re not speaking about elsewhere; we’re speaking about our very expertise proper now. If we’re wanting elsewhere, we’re wanting exterior of ourselves, or previously or future, we’re not getting it.

It’s proper right here, it’s direct, it’s perceptible, it’s ready for us proper now. That is such a elementary factor to recollect about all non secular work, and is essential to recollect once we’re speaking about Christianity and Easter too.

And at last, you need to realise that non secular transformation is feasible. And it’s not attainable for Jesus Christ, it’s not attainable on your favorite saint, and it’s not attainable as an thought: it’s attainable for you. That is what Easter is admittedly about, and that is what Christianity is admittedly about. They’re actually about non secular transformation. For those who don’t take this on, you’re not going to have the ability to abdomen what the very best that means of Easter is.

For those who can’t abdomen the concept it’s attainable and is about you and your personal non secular transformation, you’re not going to know what we’re speaking about right here, and also you’ll proceed to suppose it’s about elsewhere or another person. It’s about your personal non secular transformation.

What’s Easter?

So, let’s now focus on what Easter is. To briefly summarise earlier than we go into the varied points of Easter and what they actually imply, I’ll say that Easter is a metaphor for the trail of non secular awakening and non secular potential.

Easter is symbolic, whether or not or not the occasions of Easter are actual, historic occasions. Easter is a symbolic story or a set of pointers for varied points of the trail of non secular awakening.

Easter is just not restricted to calendar time, similar to Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday and so forth. It’s not restricted to calendar time, as a result of it might occur at any time. Because it’s speaking about us awakening to our non secular nature, which is already current when you’ve got the eyes to see it, Easter can occur at any time. Certainly, our non secular nature is past time.

Easter is past the Bible, Christianity, dogma, the Church, and any non secular custom. It’s past something, as a result of it’s pointing to a deep side of being human. It has nothing to do with the church actually, and basically it has nothing even to do with Jesus Christ. It’s speaking concerning the actuality of non secular awakening, which we can’t restrict that to a sure non secular custom, image, pointer, story or set of tales.

Easter is an outline of non secular loss of life and rebirth. It’s a metaphor for non secular awakening, the trail to it, and who we might grow to be once we realise it. To be extra exact, it’s an outline of non secular loss of life and rebirth, which is why Lent, Crucifixion and the Resurrection are elementary pillars of the story.

It’s not an outline of your bodily loss of life and even Jesus’s bodily loss of life. Religious loss of life and rebirth is past age, it’s past place and time, it’s past calendar time. It’s a elementary human actuality.

We are able to additionally consider Easter as a watershed second within the non secular practitioner’s life, as a result of it’s a interval of non secular loss of life and rebirth. Your personal Easter is likely to be a particular time in your life whenever you had a deep non secular loss of life and rebirth, and in that sense the Easter story is a metaphor for that course of, its results and what precludes it.

Moreover, Easter could be each a single time frame in your non secular path and a repeating theme of the trail. For those who’re a critical non secular practitioner, you’re going via non secular loss of life and rebirth on a regular basis. A few of these processes is likely to be vital or much less so, extra intense or much less so, and a few is likely to be massive moments the place your life modifications fairly dramatically.

In a nutshell, that’s what Easter actually is: it’s a metaphor for non secular loss of life and rebirth.

Lent, Good Friday & Easter Sunday in Mystical Easter

Let’s look extra intently on the occasions of Easter and the favored symbology that it accommodates. To sum this up, I’m going to cite Ken Wilber, who summarises Easter as such: “Christ is sacrificed (the lamb), he dies to his separate self (the Crucifixion), is reborn to ascend into heaven (precise transcendence).” That could be a quick abstract of what the Crucifixion and the Resurrection imply.

Let’s speak about Lent. The story of Lent is that Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights within the desert, throughout which era he was tempted by the satan. So what does that symbolise when it comes to non secular loss of life and rebirth? Nicely, previous to any type of non secular awakening, there’s often a interval of a number of arduous work, striving and confusion. You’re wrestling along with your previous manner of seeing the world, you’re wrestling with the satan.

However what actually si the satan? The satan is just not some summary entity exterior of you. As a substitute, the satan is your personal ignorance of your non secular nature. The satan is part of you. So everytime you’re pre-spiritual awakening, you’re principally you’re wrestling along with your habit to your persona and your ignorance of who you actually are. That’s your interval of Lent.

If we have a look at a literal interpretation of Lent, it’s a interval of renunciation. The theme of renunciation seems in all non secular colleges and is taken into account as a crucial side of awakening. Strolling the trail inevitably consists of renunciation. In that sense, let’s imagine that Lent is one thing chances are you’ll select to do intentionally as a option to awaken.

Whether or not your non secular path explicitly consists of renunciation or not, you’ll need to undergo it earlier than non secular awakening as a result of basically you’re tempted by your ignorance, by your habit to your self, by your lack of expertise of your personal non secular nature. So, that’s what Lent is: it’s pre-awakening.

How about Good Friday, the Crucifixion? This isn’t a day of bodily loss of life. This isn’t the day that Jesus Christ died 2,000 years in the past. That is non secular loss of life, it’s the loss of life of your ignorance, it’s the loss of life of egoic consciousness. It’s not your bodily loss of life, you’re not dying on your sins, and Jesus didn’t actually die for our sins on the cross.

As Wilber level out, the Crucifxion symbolises what we have to do to spiritually awaken, which is to die to our unique id with the human situation and our sense of id, with our sense of who we’re.

The cross itself is a really highly effective image probably not for loss of life, however for our non secular nature. The cross is a pointer to our non secular nature, to what it’s wish to reside with our consciousness of our non secular nature. The Crucifixion is a metaphor for non secular loss of life, for the slicing of our ignorance, the slicing of our attachment to who we’re.

As for the Resurrection, it’s only a metaphor for non secular rebirth. There’s a phrase in Matthew that tells us what occurs with non secular rebirth: “his look was like lightning and his garments had been white as snow”. And in Thessalonians, “I’m the Resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me although he die but shall he reside, and everybody who lives and believes in me shall by no means die.”

The Resurrection is just not about Jesus being reborn as a human from a cave. It’s not even about you being reborn after bodily loss of life. It’s about our non secular rebirth as Christ-like beings: our garments are “white as snow”, our look is “like lightning”. There’s truly a noticeable transformation that’s going down.

This doesn’t imply we’ve got to put on white garments. That is all metaphorical! We’re not actually like lightening; moderately, there’s an brisk change in us. There’s like a change to our persona, to how we’re on this planet, to how we reside. There’s a purification once we are reborn spiritually. We die to our ignorance of who we’re and to the human situation, and we realise that basically we’re not actually human. In that sense, we will by no means die as a result of our non secular nature is basically immortal.

Our Christ nature, our personal interior Jesus Christ is immortal. When it says “believes in me”, it doesn’t imply imagine in me and all my dogma: it means observe the way in which of Jesus, observe the way in which of non secular loss of life and rebirth, which is about direct expertise. Once you die spiritually, whenever you undergo non secular loss of life and also you undergo non secular rebirth, the result’s that you just grow to be a brand new particular person, for whom the Jesus determine is an archetype. He’s an archetype for who you possibly can grow to be when you’re spiritually reborn, and consists of qualities like purity, generosity, availability, knowledge, and so forth.

These are guiding rules for who we will grow to be. It doesn’t imply all individuals who have gone via non secular loss of life and rebirth will continuously show these qualities, however this can be a common results of non secular awakening.

Mystical Easter: Conclusion

That’s the Easter story. It’s all metaphors and tips to this strategy of non secular loss of life and rebirth. That is how one can be Christian with out being Christian. I don’t take into account myself a Christian and I’ve not learn a lot of the Bible, however I respect these highly effective symbols and realise they’re pointing to one thing very deep, no less than when interpreted from a metaphorical-symbolic view.

Everytime you’re partaking with Easter and studying about Christianity and the lifetime of Jesus, I encourage you to have a look at it from this metaphorical-symbolic view. Clearly you possibly can discard stuff that isn’t helpful or appears superfluous, like I do, however finally that is all about your non secular awakening. It’s not about Christ’s personal transformation! Christ is only a metaphor for you, and Jesus Christ is simply an archetype or a metaphor for who we grow to be once we undergo this course of.