http://groups.msn.com/GnosticTheOtherSide/towardauniversalchrist.msnw
Toward a Universal Christ
John Van Auken
With his outer mind set aside and his deeper mind at one with the Universal
Consciousness, Edgar Cayce asked us, "What will you do with this man Jesus of
Nazareth-- Jeshua of Jerusalem, Joshua in Shiloh, Joseph in the court of the
Pharoah, Melchizedek as he blessed Abraham, Enoch as he warned the people, Adam
as he listened to Eve?"
In a reading for a person who had both Jewish and Christian training and was
wrestling to decide which religion he preferred, the Source of Cayce's readings
asked: "Have you not found that the essence, the truth, the real truth is ONE?
Mercy and justice; peace and harmony.
For without Moses and his leader Joshua, (that was bodily Jesus), there is no
Christ. Christ is not a man. Jesus was the man; Christ the messenger;
Christ in all ages, Jesus in one. Joshua in another, Melchizedek in another;
these be those that led Judaism! These be those that came as the child of
promise; and the promise is in you, that you lead as He has given you: 'Feed
my sheep.' "
Obviously, when in contact with the Universal Consciousness, Cayce's
perspective on Jesus Christ is much different from the church's and even his
own outer self's. Cayce and his family were Bible-reading Christians.
Yet, when he set aside his outer self and lifted his deeper mind into the
Oneness with what the readings called the "Universal Consciousness," a new
perspective on Jesus Christ came through to us, a perspective that is greater
than one incarnation and beyond three dimensional limitations.
From this perspective Christ is the Word, the Logos, the universal light of God
manifested through an incarnate person. Cayce's readings explain that the
light of Christ first incarnated in Poseidia in Atlantis around 106,000 B. C.--
doing so to help souls who had lost their conscious connection with God and
had become trapped in matter.
The attuned Cayce sees us as spirits and minds; physical bodies came long
after our original creation in the image and likeness of the Universal Creator.
The Christ spirit realized it was going to take a series of incarnations in
order to fully overcome the influences that had taken possession of our minds
and hearts, and it came out of the heavens into matter to help us along the
way.
The Christ spirit did not incarnate only in the Western world. Cayce explains
that wherever the concept of one God and one brotherhood, sisterhood was
proclaimed, the Christ spirit was there.
As the disciple John wrote in the opening lines of his gospel: "In the
beginnning was the Word [the Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. All things were created through this One; and nothing that has been
made was made without this One. In this One was life and the life was the
light of humanity. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not
overcome it. The Word [the Christ] became flesh and dwelt among us, full of
grace and truth." A portion of the trinity of God came among humanity to help
us.
Cayce says this first happened in the legendary times of Atlantis; then
again in Eden, between the Tigris and the Euphrates; and again in Egypt, and
again and again, continuing even today. In one of Cayce's most published
readings, he stated: "For the time never was when there was not a Christ..."
Many devoted Christians wrestle with the edict that a person must "name the
name" in order to achieve full resurrection, redemption and eternal life.
Even the Cayce readings quote this phrase, but with a significant twist to it:
"He that would name the name must have become perfect in himself!" How many of
us Christians can say we have met this requirement? Another reading says:
"Magnify that name, that name, that becomes on every tongue that of the
crucified one in the manner that self is crucified to the fleshly desires,
preferring the spirit of the Holy One before self, and considering your
neighbor as yourself."
Using this reading's definition of the name, couldn't a person who has heard
little of Jesus be "naming the name" if he or she has crucified fleshly
desires, preferring God's will over his own, and loving his fellow man as
himself?
Is the name a word or is it spirit? Is salvation the name, "Jesus" or loving
God and others as Jesus instructed? Is Christ only Christian or universal? Is
God and the manifestation of God among us limited to select souls? Does God
not love and seek the companionship of all His/Her children?
"As an entity, a soul, a mind, enters [the spiritual dimensions] put about self
the cloak, the garment, yea the mantle of Christ; not as a man, not as an
individual but the CHRIST-- that universal consciousness of love that we see
manifested in those who have forgotten self but, as Jesus, give themselves that
others may know the truth." Here we see Cayce equating Christ with the
"universal consciousness of love." This consciousness may be achieved by
anyone of any religion or even no religion.
Consider the apparitions in Medjugorje, Bosnia, in 1981. A woman holding a
baby was seen surrounded by equisite rays of light. The young people, (mostly
teenagers), that saw her said she looked like the sun, had twelve stars over
her head, a luminescent white veil and a pearl grey dress. She introduced
herself as "the mother of all people." She encouraged one of the children to
follow the example of a good Muslim woman in her community. She said that her
message was for all people, and "If it is necessary, I will appear in each
home." The luminescent lady warned her listeners that it is time for complete
reconciliatin among people. This message was given in Bosnia, where Christians,
Muslims, Croats and Serbs had much underlying hatred and prejudice toward one
another.
We Christians need to allow Jesus Christ to be bigger than Christianity. As
Jesus said (or the Christ spirit with whom Jesus made himself one), "Other
sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice; and they shall become one flock, one shepherd," John
10:16.
Jesus said that he taught and did what he was guided to do from God, the
Father, within him. And before leaving us to become completely one with God,
Jesus informed us that the "Comforter," the "Spirit of Truth," would come to
us and guide us.
Of course, not only Christians have to let go of religious elitism. Jews,
Muslims and others have contingents that believe their faith is the only true
faith, and all must swear allegiance to their doctrines. As difficult as it
may be, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other religious groups
are going to have to allow God to be the God of all people, and open their own
hearts to all people.
As the psalmist observed, God is everywhere and creator of everyone:
"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy
presence? If I ascend up into heaven. thou art there. If I make my bed in
hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in
the uttermost parts of the sea; even there thy hand leads me, and thy right
hand holds me," Psalm 139:7-10.
Cayce often quoted the passage: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one
Lord," Deut. 6:4 and Mark 12:29.
Having presented this universal Christ, it's important to acknowledge that in
daily personal spirituality, one uses the practices concepts and ceremonies of
one's own religion and culture. In homes in Cairo, Tel Aviv, New Delhi, New
York families flourish best when using their own religious customs. These
evoke the spirit and love of God in particular ways that are ingrained into the
nature of one's being. These become sacred. Universalism is not a call to
deny one's unique ways. It is a call to cleanse our hearts and minds of
prejudice against others in the name of God.
This evil spirit overtakes even the most well-intentioned, causing, moral
people to commit immoral acts, justified in the name of religious or ethnic
purity. And this spirit does not just occur in war. It occurs in daily life,
in little ways. All religious people have felt this from others. Jews,
Muslims and even Christians have felt the sting of prejudice against them.
Many secularists in society today have an anti-any-religion attitude, and they
base their prejudice on the negative actions of religious people throughout the
ages.
A new spirituality needs to be born. One that is universal. One that allows
God to be God of all people. One that has faith that God can and will save all
the souls that can be saved, no matter what their religious or nonreligious
perspective. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's are perfect times to give
birth to a bigger heart and mind, and a more universal Christ.
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