The New Humanity - Part 4

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

In the appended, the undermentioned passage is particularly poignant:

 

" It is of great significance that Jesus left his disciples with the

understanding that he would return again at any time and bring the world to an

end. In a real sense it can be said that the resurrection itself brings the

world to an end. It is the passage of human nature beyond time and space, and

reveals the whole of this spatial temporal world as a passing phenomenon. We see

the one Reality reflected through the changing forms of space and time, but we

know that these forms are conditioned by our present mode of consciousness. When

we pass beyond this limited mode of time-space consciousness, we shall see the

eternal Reality as it is. " (P.106)

 

It reminds me of how Jesus talked about this greater eternal Reality, and how

Shri Mataji talked to Sahaja Yogis about this greater eternal Reality also.

 

In Part 3 we concluded with:

 

" If we look for the basic inspiration which underlies Christianity, it is to be

found in the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus came to set Israel

free from its bondage to the Law, that is, to its religious tradition, and to

take it back to the source of all religion. It is clear that Jesus left behind

no definite structure of religion. He chose twelve disciples, whom he called

" apostles " , and by all accounts gave Peter a position of leadership among them.

He also left behind a " memorial " of his death and resurrection, the central

" mystery " of his life, but beyond that it is difficult to discern with certainty

any other formal structure. What he communicated to his disciples was the gift

of his Spirit, which was to lead them into all truth. The essential mystery of

the Gospel is this gift of the Spirit, that is, the opening of humanity to the

life of the Spirit, which had been lost at the Fall, and its return to the

communion with God in which the meaning and purpose of human existence is to be

found. It was this which was to lead his disciples to discern the significance

of his life and teaching and to enable them to become the nucleus of a new

humanity. "

 

Here now is Part 4.

 

Enjoy!

 

violet

 

 

The New Humanity - Part 4

 

(P.105) It was St. Paul who had the deepest insight into this matter of religion

and law. He himself had been brought up as a Jew " educated according to the

strict manner of the Law " (Acts 22:3), but his conversion brought about a

radical change in his understanding of the place of law in religion. He was able

to discern that the whole law of Israel, though holy in itself and given by God,

yet had only a relative value. All the sacred rites of Israel, circumcision, the

worship of the temple, even the institution of the Sabbath were all seen as of

relative importance and could be dispensed with. So he was able to say, " neither

circumcision nor uncircumcision count for anything, but a new creation "

(Galatians 6:15). In this way he broke through all the restrictions of Judaism

and opened the way of salvation to all humanity. As he said, " There is neither

Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, but you

are all one in Christ Jesus " (Galatians 3:28). Thus all the barriers, economic,

social, political, even the division between the sexes, were overcome and the

fundamental unity of mankind was proclaimed.

 

But this principle of freedom from the Law has now to be applied to all

religion. Christianity in the course of time has built up its own structure of

law and religion, of ritual and dogma and organisation, which have now become a

barrier, separating the Christian churches from the rest of humanity. So also

Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism have developed their own structures of law and

ritual and are divided from one another. We have to learn to go beyond all these

differences in the external forms of religion and discover the hidden mystery

which lies at the heart of all religion. In Christianity it was the mystery of

the resurrection which gave this insight into the ultimate meaning of religion.

The resurrection of Jesus was seen as the passage beyond time and space to the

eternal transcendent Reality. This was accomplished, not merely for Jesus

himself, but for all humanity. The resurrection marks the beginning of a new

humanity and, as St. Paul says, a " new creation " (2 Corinthians 5:17). (P.106)

Just as Israel closed in on itself and saw salvation in terms of its own limited

existence, so the Christian churches have closed in on themselves and separated

themselves from humanity as a whole. But in the wider perspective which we can

discern today, Jesus died for all humanity and the salvation which he achieved

was won for all humanity. We must never forget that in its deepest reality all

humanity is one being, just as the whole creation is one being. As St. Gregory

of Nyassa, one of the greatest of the Greek Fathers, proclaimed, " All men from

the first man to the last are one image of Him Who Is " . Adam in the book of

Genesis represents humanity as a whole, and when this Adam falls all humanity

falls with him. So also Christ is the new Adam, the new representative of

redeemed humanity, and with his resurrection humanity as a whole is redeemed

from sin and death.

 

It is of great significance that Jesus left his disciples with the understanding

that he would return again at any time and bring the world to an end. In a real

sense it can be said that the resurrection itself brings the world to an end. It

is the passage of human nature beyond time and space, and reveals the whole of

this spatial temporal world as a passing phenomenon. We see the one Reality

reflected through the changing forms of space and time, but we know that these

forms are conditioned by our present mode of consciousness. When we pass beyond

this limited mode of time-space consciousness, we shall see the eternal Reality

as it is. As St. Paul says, " now we see in a glass darkly but then face to face "

(1 Corinthians 13:12). The whole of human history is a passage from our present

mode of existence and consciousness into the eternal world where all the

diversities of this world are seen in their essential unity. Our present mode of

consciousness is dualistic, but as the mystics of all religions have discerned,

the ultimate reality is non-dual. This new mode of being and consciousness is

the 'nirvana' of the Buddha, the 'brahman-atman' of the Upanishads, the 'al

haqq' of the Muslim mystics and the kingdom of heaven of the Christian Gospel.

It is here and here alone that we can find the meeting place of all religion.

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and

Christian Faith)

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0

Pgs. 105-107