(The above photo does not belong to me. Retrieved from: https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/yoke.html).
There is a quote in the book of Matthew that I have always absolutely adored. At once it was the sweetest most comforting thing I had ever read. I loved it so much and I was so motivated by it that I hung it on the door of my room. "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take My Yoke Upon You and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 This quote might as well be tattooed upon my heart. This is my mantra and drove me to the path of seeking spiritual truth. I never wander too far from this idea. Yet, there are many layers to this simple quote from the mouth of Jesus. When I was meditating recently on the idea of will power and how it can be misused I decided to look at one of the Greatest Teachers and icons of our time. This quote immediately came to mind. In Christianity people tend to claim they are Christ like. Yet, many of the Christians I meet are not charitable in heart (although, they are gladly charitable with money because they believe that by giving to the local person with a homeless sign and then posting about it on Facebook they can buy their way into heaven) nor do they really seek to know what it means to be like Yeshua. Many do not truly seek him or they would know his Jewish name. I no longer call myself Christian. Further, I do not desire to call myself by any name. I simply am. What is The Title Of Christ Let's start off with something basic that most Christians who only show up for Sunday Sermon and Dogmatic Bible Study don't know. Christ was not Jesus's last name. Just as I've stated before his first name was probably not Jesus. Jesus is the Roman version of Joshua. When the Catholics sunk their nails into this new religion they used only their own terms and language. More than likely his name was Yeshua. I only use Jesus because it is the common name in English to refer to that individual. The title doesn't change one whit of what he said or the person he was..a name is just a name as I stated before (I have a lot myself). Yet, it does indicate the religion was hijacked by Rome. Rome had it's own purposes for adopting and twisting the religion into something they could use to maintain control of the known world. They decided what books went into the bible (there were a lot in circulation) at the Council of Nicea. They clearly had an agenda, to keep the Empire of Rome in existence, and although some think this idea has been debunked I don't think it has been done so satisfactorily. Yes, they had criteria but that doesn't mean all of it was innocent. Further, the dogma they introduced required them to ban ordinary people from reading the bible for a reason. Sadly, most of the dogma they taught which isn't even in the bible, is still taught and followed by non-Catholic churches. Christ is actually Christos. Christos is a Greek based word (Messiah in Hebrew) and simply means anointed. That would translate as Yeshua Annointed or Yeshua Messhiah in Hebrew. The practice of anointing was practiced throughout the middle east. In this place of blending between the West, East and South the kings and statues of gods were often anointed. This was considered a mark of sovereignty. Here is an article on anointing: https://www.compellingtruth.org/anointed.html. The Folly of Saints How does one define Christ-like or soverign action? Well, based on the dogma I've been preached and encountered throughout my life people are supposed to act like super natural Saints. These people are considered super humans. They aren't supposed to act like ordinary human beings living pay check from pay check. No, this reserved group comes straight out of the womb abnormal but in a blessed way. Saints give up all of their worldly possessions and devote themselves to the less fortunate. The idea of Mother Theresa comes to mind. Yet, not everyone can be Mother Theresa in this world and it still function. We still need people to work in a myriad of industries including farming. If everyone stopped working and merely devoted their time to the poor all of us would be poor. Strangely, we can see in the bible this is not what was required. "And some tax collectors came to him to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more then you have been ordered." Luke 3:12-13 Did Jesus tell them to quit their day jobs and minister to the poor? No. He told them to keep doing their job but not take anymore than they had to from the people. He just wanted them to be honest. He told them to do their job well and justly. Taking On Others Burdens "Being made in the flesh, heir to the weakness of same, one becomes more spiritual by the even balance that is obtained by making personal application doing that...that will aid another; not that self is to be crucified that another may have ease in the material sense. When the desire and the purpose, the application, is one- then it becomes easy; but when they are at variance one to another, hard is the way,and the call of the flesh becomes strong." EC 538-30 This quote from Edgar Cacye really speaks to this moment. Becoming a martyr is not advisable. Someone I know recently shared a very toxic belief. She believes that Christians need to carry each other's burdens. Nope. Jesus never says that he's going to take your burdens from you. Only later people said that he wiped away their sins. Yet, this isn't really explained in detail in the bible. Clearly, this is one of those hidden teachings and if my dreams are true totally different from what Dogma implied...it is the death of the worldly self that seeks wordly riches which is how humans 'missed the mark.' I will get more into that in a blog on double mindedness. Instead, Jesus tells people to, "Take my Yoke upon you." He stands as a role model and an example of a way of life. What is a Yoke? I have a picture at the top of this blog of a yoke that a person carried. A yoke was often used to carry pails of milk (a symbol of sustenance and the product of work). Sometimes it was referred to as a pole. Either way, it s a burden born of work. How is it that the Yokes we make for ourselves with our deeds seem to be so burdensome and heavy? How did Jesus make a light yoke? How is it that his yoke is lighter than ours? These are the questions I have pondered and meditated on much of my life. Again, here we are brought back to the chakras. Here, we find an indication that if Jesus' heart were to be weighed it would be light as a feather. He was a leader who taught through role modeling. Everything he did taught us how to make our hearts as light as feather so we could experience the Kingdom of Heaven. What is Work? There is confusion for a lot of people here. They think it is profession. Yet, even Tax Collectors (that were seemingly reviled in the time of Jesus) could continue in their job and still be baptized followers of Jesus...clearly we're not talking about how we make our money. This seems a mystery to those who preach dogma. Let me make it very simple for you. Every day, every time you interact with another human being, every moment...you make choices. Those choices are your work. In each of those moments you either make a choice that is self-gratifying that makes your wounded ego feel better dominating the other person in a very predator like way...or you come from a place of mercy and kindness. The choice in every moment is yours. How you treat them is how God/Source treats you. Anyone can claim a title but you'll know them by their works. (Matthew 7:15-20) God/Source is merciful in that there are so many opportunities to change in a lifetime...nearly every moment we can make that choice and start living our life that way. From the perspective of Edgar Cacye everything we have ever done is written down in a Book of Life. If you add into the equation...all of your past lives also testify for or against you...that is quite a record... often of misdeeds and missed opportunities. Yet it is our soul, not God/Source, who reads this book and decides our lessons on Earth are not yet done. Even after you make the choice to act in mercy and loving kindness to your neighbor...it is hard to maintain. Too often it is easy to fall off of the boat and start coming from that place of a judging and vengeful ego when dealing with others. All too often I find it easy to judge someone as cheap, hateful or stupid...but it is not my place to make this judgement or to punish them...that's entirely between them and God/Source. Thus, the labor day in an day out is to gradually start coming from that more merciful place of interacting with others in every relationship and encounter we have...there are so many opportunities in a lifetime that there is no excuse not to perfect it. A Light and Easy Burden When you study just the words (not the layers of interpenetration that started with Paul) of what Jesus said you find he is a very loving person who never denied anyone seeking wisdom. He doesn't say that one person over the other deserves to be enlightened. He didn't work only with people that were in agreement with his beliefs...he said he came for the Jews but at the same time he gave a great teaching to the Samaritan at the well (John 4:1-42). Thanks to Dogma and a feeling of unworthiness most people think the ability to be like Jesus is beyond them. In fact, some might even think it's blasphemy to want to emulate Jesus. Yet, in that quote at the start of this blog from Matthew 11:28-30 he clearly tells us to be like him. Clearly, if he was a loving person he would not tell us to be like him if it is something beyond our capability. Too many put Yeshua on a pedestal where they cannot even conceive of being like him. He was divinely born without sin and the perfect human being according to Dogma. Yet, the story that we find in the bible is not about a perfect person. He scared his parents by staying behind on a Feast Day at the Temple as a child...that's a disobedient little boy. He has doubts, he has fears, he is tested in the desert by Satan...Yet, he passes the test of trusting God/Source and continues to serve the Natural Order instead of his selfish desires...even up to his own death which he prayed he would not have to do but forever sealed him to the fate of becoming a religious symbol for the Roman Empire to conquer with and later the Crusaders. All of us have every opportunity to pass that same test every day. Maybe the test is not so obvious in the moment but nevertheless it is the same. What is Our Burden? Each of us create our own Yoke. We create our own burden. To reach the point where we can see people so clearly that we can truly help them we have to come to terms with our own issues. Sadly, most people will not seize upon the opportunity to start acting in a more enlightened manner simply because they feel they are too 'sinful' to even attempt living a virtuous life. They feel their past testifies against them and they can't start anew. Yet, Sin, in Hebrew simply means to "Miss the Mark." Here is a post that covers this subject. http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Chata_ah/chata_ah.html All of us are carrying baggage...the product of our work...our yoke. What I've learned is the only person really keeping score is ourselves. We punish ourselves endlessly for what we consider to be misdeeds. Whether it's not keeping our houses at certain levels of cleanliness to failing to get a college degree. We are our own worse judges. We hardly need anyone else to beat up on us mentally and when we do encounter that we often justify them. To be free of that burden we have to come to some realizations about life on Earth, our limitations in it and our role. Working through our own issues by taking an inward path requires us to forgive ourselves. That's a huge step on the path that a lot of people aren't willing to take. They hold onto all of their failures, all of their faults, all of their mistakes, all their trauma... identifying themselves and their lives by the past. They work hard to prevent those same things from happening or hiding those misdeeds from others...yet, somehow it always seems to happen again. Yet, God/Source already knows, so who are we really hiding our faults from? Most of the time we hide them from ourselves...unable or unwilling to even feel the pain so we can heal it...we keep the wound open. We carry it through our lives and weave it into our being to the point where we confuse the wound with our very essence. Simply accepting Jesus as the Chosen One of God doesn't heal that pain. That's just magical thinking dogma. Those made up teachings are not based on his actual words but are left over from a religion that justified the existence of a government that wanted to rule the world because humans were too unworthy to have a direct connection to Christ- their government officials (Priests) had to provide it for them. Our Identity I could identify myself as a divorcee, as the mother of a child who died...and I could dwell in that identity for the rest of my life. Other people will see me as a victim and even justify that belief...but for what? Are we the deeds that we have done? Are we the actions that we have committed? At the core of my being I know that I am a spark of light emanated from the Great Source of all the Cosmos. That being is not defined by the actions I took in this life or the life before...it is an immortal unchanging aspect of God/Source. We are not the actions we have done...that does not define our existence. We were judged worthy of existence when we emanated from the Source/God. Source/God knew our entire journey, our purpose that does not lie merely in the Earhtly realm, and knew all of the faults we would commit...he knew how many times we would miss the mark. Yet, we were so worthy of existence despite knowing all of that...Source/God created us! Our actions in the past, our mistakes, our burden...need not define us. We cannot go back and change all of that. We can change in the NOW. We can choose to be the better person instead of being vindictive. We can choose mercy. We can kneel down before the Source and say, "Not as my will, but yours in the labors and deeds of my hands, my mind and my words." (Edgar Cacye) When we are faced with an interaction with another human being we can see it as interacting with God. God is among us in all sorts of varied forms every day. Every day we are tested, "Have you learned your lesson yet? Will you follow God's will or continue to create life in your own image? Will you falter now?" This is why I see opportunities for right action in alignment with the Natural Order and not obstacles in my life. In The Flow Letting go and being in the flow allows you to act within the Natural Order of God/Source. We might not see the reasons or the purposes but we go with it, trusting the entire way that there is a reason and a purpose. This state of being is of peacefulness. The Flow of life is unceasing but it brings us momentary puzzles and delights that we let go of...because we trust that there is a reason and there will be more. How often do we hold onto that which no longer serves us? I did far too often until I learned to let all of that go...until I learned that all things in the physical realm are temporary. Even if I am uncomfortable within a situation...I know that it is temporary and somehow it is serving a Higher Purpose in my life or Source/God would not flow it in my direction. If I am really happy and blissful in a moment I know it is temporary and I am eternally grateful to enjoy that moment to its fullest. I know that I will be tested and tested again, "Have I really learned submission?" That is the purpose, the fiery furnace, of life in which I chose to be placed as a soul because the rewards were so great. To forge my individuality in that furnace and be a companion of God/Source is totally worth all and any tests or tribulations. I can trust that the core of this ultimate truth has settled deep within my being and I offer my service to Source/God in all of its forms and aspects from a truly selfless state of being. As you will see in my next blog that also means promising to be of service to all of my human family. I don't have to change my lifestyle. Just going to my service industry job and treating each person with the love and respect they deserve as emanations of Source is enough. This doesn't have to be a big deal trumpeted by the News Stations. Conclusions To be Christ like is not my goal. Who was Jesus the person and how was his burden light? What influences did he have upon him at the time? Certainly, Jewish, Hindu, Egyptian and Buddhist mysticism were accessible to him. Why would anyone mislead the people into believing Dogma? To preserve their power. Rome, from the time of Paul (who never knew the living Jesus) began to manipulate the early church. That governmental power used Christianity in the hopes of ruling the world and for a time it did...not just physically but mentally. In many ways the Pope in Rome still holds undeserved power as the ruler of the world in Jesus place. May the Malachai Prophecy be right and this be the last false ruler of the spiritual world. Jesus never sought to rule the world. They crowned him with thorns to mock him. What is the Yoke that Yeshua carried? The teachings of how to be a better person. The commandment to love God/Source above all else, and to love your neighbor as yourself. After all, there is only one being here....all of us are emanations or aspects of Source/God. To love yourself is to love God/Source. To love your neighbor is to love God/Source. You still practice discernment and protect your body. You refrain from taking on other people's burdens. Yet, you love them even as you see them struggling and suffering...just as you suffered and triumphed...because you know the end result of that will be the best for them. All of that struggling in this finite world will some day, perhaps in another life, cause them to turn from their own selfishness realizing that what they will create will never match what God/Source creates...that working with the Natural Order is so much easier then trying to thrust our personal will upon creation. That mentality of, "Well, if I were in charge this is how things would be...so everyone should see things and do things my way..." is 'missing the mark.' Nothing does anything better then the Natural Order. All man-made attempts to emulate it have failed. Just look at imitation sugar. Once people realize that they can't do things better then the Natural Order they will stop misusing their willpower...they will turn toward God, admit that his will and creation are flawless. Then they will use their free will in service to the Natural Order that flows from Source/God...combining their will with God's in a union that will benefit all. That is the only way to alleviate suffering. The profound peace I have achieved was completely inconceivable to me...and almost beyond words to convey to others. I am attempting to translate it the best I can in this blog. There is far more to the topic of misusing willpower and this is only my first attempt. Yet, no, you do not need to carry the burdens of other people's work. NO, the people who do so are not good people but are enablers. Enablers prevent people from waking up and seeking God...they lull them further asleep and as such they are just as bad no matter how much monetary success they may experience. The enabled just want the riches of this world without working for them. You cannot love the riches of this world (mostly unnatural) and God at the same time. There is a clear and obvious choice. You know what to do....will you do it? ***UPDATE*** I was watching a video by Victor Oddo this morning that is a great example of what I'm talking about in this blog. A simple little action, someone saying, "Hey," and showing that they genuinely cared changed his entire day. That's all that's needed.
0 Comments
|
Author:
Thank You For Visiting
Brave Soul! May Your Journey On The Path Of The Seeker Bring You Joy and Peace! I'm currently posting every Saturday. With a new addition the family I have pre-scheduled most posts through December 2022. Full Moon Posts will contain up-to-date content when I can get to them. Thank you so much for your support and understanding! This is a place where you can encounter new spiritual ideas that have helped me develop as an Individual On The Path of the Seeker. Take or Leave this information as you see fit. Archives
April 2024
|