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I can nourish myself on nothing but truth. ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX
There’s only one guarantee that Jesus gave: if you can receive and awaken and embody what he is speaking about, then your life will never be the same again. Then you will realize that you’re already living in the Kingdom of Heaven.
each one of us is the son or daughter of the living God. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says, “There is light within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world.” [Gospel of Thomas 24] That light within us all is that which you intuit when you sense that something about you has remained unchanging throughout all the days of your life. If you put your attention on it, if you meditate upon it in stillness, it can open up and reveal that indeed it is the divine light, that which lights up the whole world. In fact, the more awake we become to our own divinity, the more we feel revitalized by a living presence, by that which reveals that life is sacred. Human life is sacred; all of life is sacred.
The beauty of this story is that it reminds us: keep your feet firmly planted on the soil, keep your consciousness and your heart open, and stay available to this relative world and all the human beings within it.
The teaching here is about what it looks like to stay aligned—aligned with the vital force of the universe, aligned with your love, aligned with what you really know to be true.
People are drawn to him because he represents the spiritual reality, the radiance of divine being; when one has fully realized divine being, something about that person becomes compelling. Such a one is no longer primarily a person but a radiant presence. There’s a type of charisma, different than the charisma of a celebrity or a public figure. It resonates deep in the hearts of human beings, because human beings resonate with one who shines with the divine reality. People are also terrified by it, because they don’t know exactly what it is. They’re drawn toward the radiance of awakened consciousness, but they also pull away because an awakened being is not predictable, and they don’t operate the way we might expect.
The egoic state of consciousness itself is a fractured state made up of multiple personas. It’s a state in which many psychological forces are at odds with each other. This creates psychological friction, and our name for psychological friction is suffering.
As a teacher, I’ve seen this to be true. That’s why the very first point of my teaching is to help people clarify their aspiration. In other words, what do you want? What do you value? Because if you’re not clear on what you ultimately value and where your allegiance lies, then even if you open up to the divine presence, your divided mind will instinctually turn away from it. You will throw it away almost without knowing you’re throwing it away. There’s a type of inner unification that occurs, where what you want and what you hold as most valuable is like an arrow pointed in one direction; it doesn’t waver all over the place. In the egoic dimension of consciousness we often have many competing wants. We want and value lots of things, and some wants and values are at odds with other wants and other values. An important part of spirituality is coming to a sense of clarity about what we ultimately want, what we ultimately value—and what we’re willing to give up for it. And this is what Jesus is talking about in this explanation of this parable. Jesus says that those who are rocky ground receive the word with joy, but because they have no root in themselves, when tribulation or persecution arises, immediately they fall away.
Have I become more interested in appearing to be spiritual or holy than in really seeking the heart of the transcendent mystery? Am I personally ready and willing to be truly transformed?”
Fire burns away the old structures, the façades, and all that is illusory. It is a purifying force, a force that cuts much deeper to the bone than most people imagine. And the transformation that awakening can bring is much deeper than a lot of people may be prepared for. But Jesus understands the depth of this transformation, and he is ready to live out his destiny.
AI Summary
Resurrecting Jesus by Adyashanti presents key insights from the Christian Mysticism tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
- [To be expanded]
Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
This entry was generated from Readwise highlights. Expand with additional context as appropriate.