Essay on Mystical Easter Half 2

That is half 2 of my essay on Mystical Easter. You’ll find half 1 by way of this hyperlink.

I decide up from the tip of half 1, discussing my strategy to this subject, earlier than discussing the best that means of Easter.

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

It’s Submit-postmodern

I consider 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 discuss post-postmodern as one stage, nevertheless it’s prone to be a number of levels, and actually 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 religious lives after we come out of atheism and rationlism, and start to understand that a number of religion traditions may be vital and conceal deep reality. Thus, we start opening as much as them.

We are inclined to turn into enthusiastic about a number of traditions or programs, comparable to Buddhism, yoga, meditation and Hinduism. We’re now beginning to grasp the teachings on a deeper degree and realise that spirituality is basically about transformation. As an alternative of dismissing symbols, as we are inclined to at Rational, or deciphering them actually, as we are inclined to at Mythic, we turn into 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 is. Postmodern spirituality is commonly about feeling good, coming collectively in teams, exploring well being, exploring a complete buffet of religious practices, however and not using a clear route and construction.

With post-postmodern, I really feel we lastly come to the center 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 center of the problem.

As an alternative of simply completely different traditions and being open to them, we now begin to realise that all of them level to the identical territory in several methods. The deeper truths are enclosed within the religious traditions. With out naively equating all of them, they’re all finally pointing to the territory of Waking Up.

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

Utility is Our Precedence

We now choose religious teachings and programs by their utility.

As an alternative of judging utility based mostly on whether or not they’re Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, or from a sure instructor, we choose them based mostly on utility alone. It’s very non-dogmatic in that sense. Worth isn’t based mostly on the supply of the educating or the instructor, however on how helpful it’s to us as religious practitioners and to our personal direct expertise of reality.

As such, the worth of Christian teachings to a post-postmodern religious practitioner isn’t 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.

In the event you’ve by no means had direct expertise of those issues, it’s close to not possible to grasp why Easter, Christ, the Bible and Christianity is absolutely all about direct expertise.

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

It’s tough for me to concisely describe this topic, so for those who’ve by no means had such experiences, take solace in the truth that direct expertise will finally reveal all. When you’ve it, you’ll perceive loads higher what the religious 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 severely.

Chances are you’ll memorise 100 quotes from Jesus Christ, however for those who’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. In fact, we would 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 for those who’re not making an attempt to take action, then your mental data is basically irrelevant.

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

This will appear to be a burden, nevertheless it’s additionally an awesome alternative: I’m not asking you to consider what I say and simply take me on my phrase. When you’ve direct expertise, you’ll lastly perceive what Easter and Christianity are actually about.

In reality, all that actually counts is your direct expertise. If I don’t assist you’ve 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 goal.

However, the truth that direct expertise is the usual may be very liberating. I’m not saying it’s essential be a Christian, nor that it’s essential memorise something, nor that it’s essential consider tales and myths.

I’m saying it’s essential domesticate your direct expertise. It is advisable to have direct notion of those issues, and you then’ll perceive them.

Based mostly on Psychological Growth Past Mythic and Rational

I wish to make it clear that this isn’t merely based mostly on a unique religious reference or a unique opinion, however on a better 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 consider that each one spirituality boils right down to it. They might not realise they soar to this conclusion. It’s comprehensible, as a result of this type of spirituality is what has dominated human religion for 1000’s of years. It’s performed an important function in human 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 issues from a better standpoint, from a better degree of considering, perceiving and embodying.

We’re not taking place into mythic and rational and making an attempt to repair their worldviews. Although I’m going to critique them loads and have already got, that’s not my final aim.

On one hand, our strategy is extra appropriate as a result of post-rationality contains rationality in its greatest model, but in addition sees issues from a better 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 includes and eclipses rationality. It isn’t a theoretical derivation, however a better mode of being. Our view relies on the self-evident truths which might be embedded on this post-rational mode of being.

The identical applies to Mythic. Our view is embedded in a better mode of being, and is due to this fact extra full, extra complete, 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 thing 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 and the Postmodern view. It’s conscious that the deepest religious truths can’t be put into language and can’t be confirmed apart from by means of 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’t take a look at them from a Mythic or Anti-mythic or Rational or purely Anti-rational. It’s truly past each, but inherently contains them to the extent that’s obligatory.

This Turns into Self-Evident

A reminder that these truths turn into self-evident while you attain into post-conceptual symbolic and metaphoric spirituality. Which means apart from proof or proof, you intrinsically perceive Christianity from this attitude.

As we develop as individuals, our worldview, psychology, perspective-taking, values, morals, and so forth, all alter. As they do, new truths and views speak in confidence to us when beforehand they have been hidden or appeared incomprehensible. Very similar to how an grownup could make sense of written language when younger kids 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 turn into self-evidently true, obligatory and helpful for these with rational capacities, those that attain into post-postmodern religion start to naturally recognize religious symbols and metaphors in the way in which we now have mentioned.

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

We’re actually making an attempt to ask what Easter is about, on the highest doable 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 motive, it’s difficult, probably 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 discuss what Easter is from the 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?

An important 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 befell, 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, nevertheless it doesn’t even matter. We’re not even going into that. We’re simply not being attentive to that as a result of it’s not vital in terms of metaphorical-symbolic spirituality.

We’re additionally ignoring dogma. We’re not enthusiastic about all of the wonderful trivia of the Bible, comparable to who did what and when, what have been the exact particulars, what was the order of the evenets, who mentioned 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. In reality, that’s what Christianity has accomplished for 1000’s of years now. It’s been getting misplaced in all these particulars and taking every thing 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 loads of inventory in whether or not they existed or not. Their solely significance is as symbols. Their operate is symbolic and metaphorical.

If I consider one thing has a metaphorical, symbolic operate, I’ll use it and I’ll consult 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 frequent symbols of the Bible. And the way are we doing this? I would like this to be very clear how we’re truly doing this. The way in which we’re 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 about 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 kinds, we all know what it seems like, we all know that it’s a complete and full form. Due to this fact, it’s possess a recognisable bodily type. All symbols have a recognisable bodily type, which may in lots of circumstances be relatively mundane. Symbols can come within the type of parables and tales.

Even the cross is kind of an earthly image: it’s merely two strains or rectangles crossing one another. The precise bodily type of an egg is mundane and has nothing particular to it. It’s not significantly helpful 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 while 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 operate 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. If you accomplish that, your consciousness expands, and also you discover you hook up with the truth that they disclose.

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

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

Whereas, this requires some abstraction and rational considering to grasp what the image is referring to, basically this mode of interpretation is post-rational. The operate 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, after we’re truly it, we should transfer past these fundamental conclusions right into a post-rational means of deciphering 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 not contact this mode.

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

Additionally, it’s important to neither consider 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 knowledge within the Bible is true, you’re not going to grasp the metaphorical-symbolic view.

Keep in mind: we don’t pay a lot consideration to all of the wonderful particulars, relatively we give attention to probably the most highly effective Christian symbols. Nevertheless, for those who additionally spend your time demonising Christianity, which is what scientific, rational individuals 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 simply take a look at my finger, however that you simply take 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, relatively than the pointer itself. Believing within the myths is to consider within the finger and to magnify its significance.

But in addition, 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 to the center of the matter, which may solely be understood by means of direct expertise.

Let’s cowl two extra factors earlier than we discuss what Easter truly is. First, it’s essential to notice that Easter, very merely, is about you, and is about proper now. Although 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 may 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 after we realise them.

Normally, our consciousness is locked into what I name the floor ranges, and we’re unaware of the degrees which might be past that. Most individuals spend their complete lives unaware of them, although they’re right here proper now.

They’re already current and out there; it’s a matter of seeing them. Fortuitously, at any time when we’re engaged in metaphorical, symbolic work, we’re primarily coaching ourselves to see what is true right here, proper now.

Keep in mind: it’s proper right here, proper now, and it’s inside us, not some other place. We’re not speaking about some other place; we’re speaking about our very expertise proper now. If we’re wanting elsewhere, we’re wanting outdoors 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 religious work, and is essential to recollect after we’re speaking about Christianity and Easter too.

And eventually, you need to realise that religious transformation is feasible. And it’s not doable for Jesus Christ, it’s not doable in your favorite saint, and it’s not doable as an thought: it’s doable for you. That is what Easter is absolutely about, and that is what Christianity is absolutely about. They’re actually about religious transformation. In the event you don’t take this on, you’re not going to have the ability to abdomen what the best that means of Easter is.

In the event you can not abdomen the concept it’s doable and is about you and your personal religious transformation, you’re not going to grasp what we’re speaking about right here, and also you’ll proceed to suppose it’s about some other place or another person. It’s about your personal religious transformation.

What’s Easter?

So, let’s now focus on what Easter is. To briefly summarise earlier than we go into the assorted elements of Easter and what they actually imply, I’ll say that Easter is a metaphor for the trail of religious awakening and religious 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 numerous elements of the trail of religious awakening.

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

Easter is past the Bible, Christianity, dogma, the Church, and any religious 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 religious awakening, which we can not restrict to a sure religious custom, image, pointer, story or set of tales.

Easter is an outline of religious loss of life and rebirth. It’s a metaphor for religious awakening, the trail to it, and who we might turn into after we realise it. To be extra exact, it’s an outline of religious 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. Non secular 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 will additionally consider Easter as a watershed second within the religious practitioner’s life, as a result of it’s a interval of religious loss of life and rebirth. Your individual Easter may be a selected time in your life while you had a deep religious 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 religious path and a repeating theme of the trail. In the event you’re a severe religious practitioner, you’re going by means of religious loss of life and rebirth on a regular basis. A few of these processes may be important or much less so, extra intense or much less so, and a few may be large moments when your life modifications fairly dramatically.

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

Lent, Good Friday & Easter Sunday in Mystical Easter

Let’s look extra carefully on the occasions of Easter and the favored symbology that it incorporates. 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), and is reborn to ascend into heaven (precise transcendence).” That could be a quick abstract of what the Crucifixion and the Resurrection imply.

Let’s discuss 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 religious loss of life and rebirth? Nicely, previous to any type of religious awakening, there’s normally a interval of loads of onerous work, striving and confusion. You’re wrestling together with your outdated means of seeing the world, you’re wrestling with the satan.

However what actually si the satan? The satan isn’t some summary entity outdoors of you. As an alternative, the satan is your personal ignorance of your religious nature. The satan is part of you. So everytime you’re pre-spiritual awakening, you’re principally you’re wrestling together with your dependancy to your character and your ignorance of who you actually are. That’s your interval of Lent.

If we take a look at a literal interpretation of Lent, it’s a interval of renunciation. The theme of renunciation seems in all religious faculties and is taken into account as a obligatory side of awakening. Strolling the trail inevitably contains renunciation. In that sense, lets say that Lent is one thing you might select to do intentionally as a approach to awaken.

Whether or not your religious path explicitly contains renunciation or not, you’ll should undergo it earlier than religious awakening as a result of basically you’re tempted by your ignorance, by your dependancy to your self, by your lack of information of your personal religious 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 religious 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 in 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 not likely for loss of life, however for our religious nature. The cross is a pointer to our religious nature, to what it’s prefer to dwell with our consciousness of our religious nature. The Crucifixion is a metaphor for religious loss of life, for the reducing of our ignorance, the reducing of our attachment to who we’re.

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

The Resurrection isn’t 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 religious 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 now have to put on white garments. That is all metaphorical! We’re not actually like lightning; relatively, there’s an lively change in us. There’s like a change to our character, to how we’re on this planet, to how we dwell. There’s a purification after we are reborn spiritually. We die to our ignorance of who we’re and to the human situation, and we realise that basically we aren’t actually human. In that sense, we are able to by no means die as a result of our religious nature is basically immortal.

Our Christ nature, our personal inside Jesus Christ is immortal. When it says “believes in me”, it doesn’t imply consider in me and all my dogma: it means comply with the way in which of Jesus, comply with the way in which of religious loss of life and rebirth, which is about direct expertise. If you die spiritually, while you undergo religious loss of life and also you undergo religious rebirth, the result’s that you simply turn into a brand new individual, for whom the Jesus determine is an archetype. He’s an archetype for who you’ll be able to turn into if you find yourself spiritually reborn, and contains qualities like purity, generosity, availability, knowledge, and so forth.

These are guiding rules for who we are able to turn into. It doesn’t imply all individuals who have gone by means of religious loss of life and rebirth will consistently show these qualities, however this can be a common results of religious awakening.

Mystical Easter: Conclusion

That’s the Easter story. It’s all metaphors and tips that could this means of religious loss of life and rebirth. That is how one can be Christian with out being Christian. I don’t contemplate myself a Christian and I’ve not learn a lot of the Bible, however I recognize these highly effective symbols and realise they’re pointing to one thing very deep, at the very least when interpreted from a metaphorical-symbolic view.

Everytime you’re participating with Easter and studying about Christianity and the lifetime of Jesus, I encourage you to take a look at it from this metaphorical-symbolic view. Clearly you’ll be able to discard stuff that isn’t helpful or appears superfluous, like I do, however finally that is all about your religious 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 turn into after we undergo this course of.