Finding
Christmas
by
Rev. Tom Thresher
At our interfaith service in December, I
suggested that our commercialized, materialized American
Christmas is to the real Christmas as pornography is to
intimate loving sex. I also suggested that if you were
interested in finding the real Christmas, you would will
get no better directions than to head 180 degrees away
from that commercialized American Christmas.
Those provocative statements need more
explanation, particularly since Christmas is genuinely a
special time, despite the frenzy of buying and the
frustrated hopes for fulfillment that accompany the
season. In the following I explore Christmas from the
perspective that it is not so much about Jesus, as it is
about you.
I am increasingly persuaded that
Christianity is not as friendly or accommodating a faith
as has long been suggested. I am largely convinced that
it is actually quite brutal; it is especially
destructive to the illusory worlds we create to protect
ourselves from seeing “what is.”
Ironically, all of this is good news
(Gospel!) for, as Jesus said, “You will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.” He didn’t say, “You
will believe a story and the story will set you free.”
If, as I suggest, Advent is
about emptying oneself in preparation for the birth of
the Christ, or the awakening of one’s own divinity, then
what does the actual event of Christmas signify? The
idea that the Christ is being born in us at
Christmastime is a wonderful image. But somehow it
doesn’t seem like a totally accurate metaphor for what
is actually happening, that is, what is actually
happening in the context of the Jesus story as a story
of awakening.
The awakening of the
Christ in us is not enlightenment, it is not salvation;
it is the beginning of the process, the "first step,” if
you will. I suggest that in the Christian context of
awakening, Advent tends to extend over a long period of
time. It is the time of vigilance, of noticing
every thought that arises and bringing the light of
consciousness to bear on it, thereby destroying it.
Advent is about looking at what we believe, at every
belief we hold, and bringing it into question; a time of
asking “is it true?” about everything we believe.
Advent asks this question, not with the intention of
getting an answer, but with the purpose of obliterating
the belief itself.
During Advent we take on
the process of eliminating everything we believe which
is
untrue.
What is the point of this? Why would we want to
challenge the validity of every belief we hold, of
everything we think, of everything we hold as sacred?
What could be the point of that!?
Well, a primary reason is so we
can be Christians, not “Jesusians.” In other words, as “Jesusians” we seek to
do what Jesus did, follow his example, to act like him. As “Christians” we seek
to
become what Jesus was,
to live from the same reality that guided him.
Big difference!
The first
--
emulating Jesus -- is the foundation of most Christian institutions; becoming the
Christ, as Jesus was the Christ (and as Buddha was the Christ, and as Gandhi and
Mother Teresa were the Christ) is the point of the second, actually being a
Christian. To become what Jesus was, to find what Jesus found (the pearl of
great price), begins with emptying ourselves of all that stands between our true
nature, and us; the Christ, the incarnation of the Divine.
This creates a sublime paradox.
We imagine that when we clear ourselves of our false beliefs, quiet our
thoughts, and move into the present moment, that something special will arise. We
expect some wonderful experience, like bliss, or mystical insight, or
compassion, or anything that we consider to be really, really good!
And this
may happen, but it is not the arising of the Christ. It is merely the mind
racing around in a different guise to regain control again. The paradox is that
the Christ that is born (awakened, discovered, revealed) is not a “thing.” It
is not an experience, an emotion, a sensation, any kind of thought, or anything
that will fade away in time. Rather, it is that which is prior to thought or
experience; outside of time. It is empty, it is void, it is nothingness; and
yet, paradoxically, it is the source of all that is.
John, in
the 4th
gospel, says that “In the beginning was the Word and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God." He was in the
beginning with God. All things came into
being through him, and without him not
one thing came into being.” I believe this passage
reveals more when the definitive article is dropped, by
dropping the definitive article “the”: “in beginning was
Word, and Word was God. Word was beginning. All things
came into being through Word, and without Word not one
thing came into being.”
“Word” translates as “Logos” -- thought.
And even though the implication is that the Word is
Christ, Christ is actually prior to Word.
Christ is the creative source from which
Word springs; the Christ is the source of the Word that
created all things. As John says, the Word was the
beginning -- the beginning of things, the beginning of
time -- but prior to the beginning was the utterly
empty, formless intelligence we point to with the word
“God,” and that dimension of God which gave rise to the
Word and everything else is what we call “Christ.”
(Tangentially, “Word” is masculine, mental, and
transcendent; the complementary conception is “Sophia,”
the feminine, sensual, incarnation of the Christ.)
So, paradoxically, when we speak of the
birth of Christ within us, we are speaking of nothing --
no thing. We are speaking of that which is left when we
get everything else out of the way, including (and most
especially) that which we think of as our self.
That is the first step, and it is utterly
destructive. In time it will destroy everything we hold
sacred, everything we believe, everything we desire, and
ultimately it will destroy us (Good Friday). As one
enlightened teacher put it (and I mean no disrespect
here), it is the “little bastard,” which tells us the
truth no matter what. When the “little bastard” awoke
within Jesus at his baptism, it immediately drove him
into the desert where he had to contend with the Devil
(that which wanted to drag him back into ordinary,
unawakened consciousness; to put him back to sleep).
And, at the same time, it is that “little bastard” --
the infant Christ -- which will eventually lead us to
freedom, to awareness of our oneness with the Divine,
and liberate us completely from the bonds of our
ignorance (“deliver us from ‘sin’”). Fun, huh?!
Let us
return now to the gospel of John where he speaks of the
Word as the “beginning.” I have indicated that Christ
is prior to the beginning. Christ is the incarnation
that comes in the form of thought (Logos, transcendence)
and action (Sophia, incarnation). Now the Word is the
beginning of all “things” and the Christ is prior to the
beginning of all “things.” The Christ is true; the Word
is the beginning of all that is illusion.
Let me
offer some explanation.
When we look out into the world we
perceive that there are “things” out there. When we
think, we imagine that our thoughts are real. And we
imagine that there is a “me” thinking these thoughts and
seeing the things in the world. But none of this is
true. “Things” are concepts imposed upon the world by
our minds. “Things” imply separation -- that is, one
thing is separate from another -- but that is not true.
For example, as I look out my window I
notice a tree. I imagine that that tree is a separate
thing. But a closer look reveals that that tree only
exists relative to its context. There are other trees,
the earth, water and sky behind it that reveal a shape;
each branch is surrounded by emptiness, which permits
“edges.” There is sky above, water below, birds flying
through the branches. Everything that allows me to
conceptualize this as a “tree” is provided by everything
that surrounds it; and everything that surrounds it is
defined by everything else, including the “tree” I am
considering.
To go a step further: The word -- or
concept -- “tree” that I am using to define the “thing”
I am looking at only has meaning within the context of
the entire system of language I am using. All of the
language I am using to describe the “tree” is relative
to all of the other words that I am using. I could
point to this “thing” and utter “tree,” but it would
have no meaning or relevance without the entire context
of our language.
As with the tree, we create the
illusion of time. Through memory we construct a past, which is nothing more
than a story created by the mind in the present about events that occurred in a
previous now. The mind then projects the story of that past into a future that
has no existence. We mistakenly believe that both the past and the future are
real, and that there is a real “me” who has continuity through that past and
future. These, again, are figments, illusions, created by the mind, by the
Word. These are not bad, of course; creation is a marvelous thing. They just
aren’t true. And to the extent that we believe that they are true, we suffer.In naming, in conceptualizing,
in “Wording,” we create the idea of “tree” as an entity that exists separate from
everything else. And we create time when we name our memories as “past” and
project them into a “future” that does not exist. In all of this we create a
world or illusion and falsely believe that we are separate from all that is. By
conceptualizing, naming, and defining, we create a world of illusion that is
endlessly captivating to us. Stated differently, we are the Divine Mystery
forgetting who it is and getting lost in its own illusion. Why? Well, why not?
It certainly is entertaining!
So,
to bring this back to Christmas, we create this massive
world of illusion and we are saved from its suffering by
the awakening of the Christ within us. The Christ saves
us because it is the one true incarnation. It is
the one “thing” that is both
in
time and space and
out
of it. The Christ exists eternally here (which is
the only “place”) and infinitely now (which is the only
“when”). The Christ is the only truth, in its
infinite depth and eternal presence. As such it
has no dimension, but is “outside” of all dimensionality
and is thus “one with God.” As Jesus said, when
expressing his Christ essence, “the Father and I are
one.”
So,
at Christmas we celebrate the birth of that which is no
thing and no time which will eventually destroy all that
we hold sacred and set us free. Sing “Glory,
hallelujah!” Amen.
