Guest guest Posted August 24, 2007 Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 Arrows from a Christian Bow III Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen By Sagittarius Is there any way of recognising the pearls of esoteric truth about which I spoke in my previous article? No infallible way, but a good general rule is that they will be found to be those sayings of Christ's which modern Christians ignore. For instance, have you ever heard a sermon preached on the text that many are called but few are chosen? Or read an exposition of it by a theologian or apologist? Perhaps by the fireeating predestinationists of the early Calvinist Church, but not since then. Today we pass it over in uneasy silence. Called to what? Chosen for what? For membership of the Christian Church? Or any of them? Can one imagine a board of missionaries screening applicants for conversion (or, in Christian countries, for baptism or confirmation) and accepting about one in ten? Then to heaven? That would carry the rather grim corollary that most people go to hell. And indeed, Christ's teaching does sound grievously like that when he warns that: "wide is the gate and broad the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in threat: because strait is the gate and narrow the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."1 ____________________1 - St. Matthew, VII, 1314. But isn't it possible just to be neutral? It would be generally agreed that few people are striving in a Christian way, making their life a pathway to salvation, finding the strait gate and following the narrow way, but that few also are actively vicious or destructive. Most people are just making what they can of their life, not exerting themselves to raise it to a godlike level but also not sinking to a bestial or diabolical level. Can't they avoid both Christ's ways and just make life a camping ground to be enjoyed while it lasts, with no thought of where it may lead to? That is not what Christ taught. He mentioned no third possibility; only the two roads up or down. And he said that most follow the latter. There is a saying ascribed to him in Islamic countries which, although not contained in the gospels, fits in well with his teaching; that is: "The world is a bridge; pass over but do not build a house on it." What is reported in the gospels is that Christ specifically repudiated neutrality by saying that those who were not with him were against him. Christianity is not a comfortable religion — not for those who take it seriously, not for those who heed Christ's warnings. It was not comfortable for his contemporaries. I said that in the first of this series of articles, and some readers took offence, thinking that I was attributing the blame for it to Christ. The blame was on those who needed aggressive handling; the blame is on those today who refuse to heed the warning, clear though it is. Religious injunctions reflect spiritual laws which are as natural and universal on their level as physical laws are on theirs. Despite appearances, a tree cannot cease to grow or decay and just stand still, remaining as it is. Nor can a human body. Up to a certain age the process of growth takes place in it. From an even earlier age, perhaps from birth, processes of decay are also active in it. Why should we suppose that the human soul is exempt from this law, that it can stand aside from change and shirk its destiny, taking neither the narrow nor the broad way but just camping out and having a good time? Note that I say 'soul' and not 'spirit'. The Mediaeval schoolmen distinguished between 'animus' and 'spiritus'. The Spirit is indeed changeless, birthless, deathless, One with the Father,2 perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect;3 but the Spirit is above the laws of change, just IS; and to realize its identity with the Spirit is just the task which the soul has to take up._________________2 - St. John, X, 30.3 - St. Matthew, V, 48 Philosophical technicalities apart, it is clear to all that man as he is on earth is not changeless or perfect. Therefore he cannot abjure the need for effort which his humanhood lays upon him. Even to human observation it is clear that he who does not improve deteriorates, that sitting out from the dance of nature, or trying to, means losing one's place in it and falling back. But it is not left to human observation, it is determined by Christ; and he leaves no camping ground between the two ways. By not taking the arduous one people are ipso facto following that which, he says, leads to destruction. That they are the vast majority is an appalling thought; but that does not make it any the less a fact. The narrow path Christ spoke of is the path leading to salvation or realization. The two are the same. The exaggerated importance ascribed to death leads people to distinguish between after-death salvation and realization achieved in this life, but really there is no difference. Neither is attained without effort. The effort must be continuous. Even of those who find the 'strait gate' few follow the 'narrow path' to the end. This is stated even more explicitly in the Bhagavad Gita, which reminds us that even those who are called are few compared with the many not called, that even those find the 'strait gate' are few, let alone those who follow the 'narrow path' to the end. "Among thousands perhaps one strives for Realization; among thousands who strive for Realization perhaps one knows Me as I am."4 _____________4 - Ibid., VII, 3. One who takes the narrow path needs no scripture to tell him this. He sees all the company of his friends or former friends, all the society in which he used to move, occupied with their worldly aims and frustrations, satisfied or dissatisfied, but in neither case willing to turn away from it all and seek true happiness. How Christ's heart must have ached when he spoke of the broad path and the many who tread it! Even after setting forth, a man may look around at his companions or former companions in the quest and see this one fallen back into academic scholarship, that one following a false trail, another claiming to be what he is not, and be hard put to it to count two or three who are still striving in a good way. And even of those, how many will attain? Read with understanding, Malory's Morte d'Arthur is a very sad story. The whole noble company of knights were gathered together at King Arthur's court for the feast of Pentecost, and while they were seated at the Round Table the Sangraal passed through the hall on a beam of light, but veiled so that none actually saw it. They were asked who would undertake its quest and all alike pledged themselves and rode forth with courage and high hopes. Some, however, soon turned back, finding the tug of the world too strong; some perished by the way; some were daunted or overthrown by the dragons of the ego; some bewitched or cast into dungeons by enchanters, the false guides who beset the path; some turned aside to lesser quests or settled down in castles along the way; some attained a single vision of the Sangraal and recognised that, for them, that was sufficient achievement for this lifetime; and out of all that noble company only three pursued the quest to its end. For the many who have been called but will not be chosen, who have found the 'strait gate' but do not tread the 'narrow path' to the end, the Bhagavad Gita does indeed offer a consolation, one that is at the same time compassionate and logical. Arjuna asks Krishna about those who strive but fail to achieve and is assured that no effort is wasted. Even those who fail to bring the quest to a good end, to the ultimate Goal, in this lifetime retain what progress they have made and will be so circumstanced in their next birth as to enable them to take up again from where they stopped and to press on further. Which also explains the phenomenon of those who, like the Maharshi attain the Goal with the very little effort made in this lifetime. But what is a clear message apparent to all seekers from the viewpoint of the quest is meaningless in any other context. When will Christians wake up to the heritage Christ left them and the warnings he gave? 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Guest guest Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Another perspective is that while effort precedes grace, the only effort that Jesus the Christ insisted upon was to " seek first the Kingdom of God " , and that the moral and ethical concerns are not prescibed, but are rather are a description of the realized way of life; that is, " these things will be added upto you " . An edited version of your final admonition, from this perspective, might be: When will Christians stop trying to be perfect before they realize by direct personal experience that, " the Kingdom of Heaven is within. " Jeff , " Michael Bindel " <michael.bindel wrote: > > Arrows from a Christian Bow III > > Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen > > By Sagittarius > > > > Is there any way of recognising the pearls of esoteric truth about which I spoke in my previous article? No infallible way, but a good general rule is that they will be found to be those sayings of Christ's which modern Christians ignore. For instance, have you ever heard a sermon preached on the text that many are called but few are chosen? Or read an exposition of it by a theologian or apologist? Perhaps by the fireeating predestinationists of the early Calvinist Church, but not since then. Today we pass it over in uneasy silence. > > Called to what? Chosen for what? > > For membership of the Christian Church? Or any of them? Can one imagine a board of missionaries screening applicants for conversion (or, in Christian countries, for baptism or confirmation) and accepting about one in ten? > > Then to heaven? That would carry the rather grim corollary that most people go to hell. And indeed, Christ's teaching does sound grievously like that when he warns that: " wide is the gate and broad the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in threat: because strait is the gate and narrow the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. " 1 > ____________________ > 1 - St. Matthew, VII, 1314. > > But isn't it possible just to be neutral? It would be generally agreed that few people are striving in a Christian way, making their life a pathway to salvation, finding the strait gate and following the narrow way, but that few also are actively vicious or destructive. Most people are just making what they can of their life, not exerting themselves to raise it to a godlike level but also not sinking to a bestial or diabolical level. Can't they avoid both Christ's ways and just make life a camping ground to be enjoyed while it lasts, with no thought of where it may lead to? That is not what Christ taught. > > He mentioned no third possibility; only the two roads up or down. > > And he said that most follow the latter. > > There is a saying ascribed to him in Islamic countries which, although not contained in the gospels, fits in well with his teaching; that is: > > " The world is a bridge; pass over but do not build a house on it. " > > What is reported in the gospels is that Christ specifically repudiated neutrality by saying that those who were not with him were against him. Christianity is not a comfortable religion — not for those who take it seriously, not for those who heed Christ's warnings. It was not comfortable for his contemporaries. I said that in the first of this series of articles, and some readers took offence, thinking that I was attributing the blame for it to Christ. The blame was on those who needed aggressive handling; the blame is on those today who refuse to heed the warning, clear though it is. > > Religious injunctions reflect spiritual laws which are as natural and universal on their level as physical laws are on theirs. Despite appearances, a tree cannot cease to grow or decay and just stand still, remaining as it is. Nor can a human body. Up to a certain age the process of growth takes place in it. From an even earlier age, perhaps from birth, processes of decay are also active in it. Why should we suppose that the human soul is exempt from this law, that it can stand aside from change and shirk its destiny, taking neither the narrow nor the broad way but just camping out and having a good time? Note that I say 'soul' and not 'spirit'. The Mediaeval schoolmen distinguished between 'animus' and 'spiritus'. The Spirit is indeed changeless, birthless, deathless, One with the Father,2 perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect;3 but the Spirit is above the laws of change, just IS; and to realize its identity with the Spirit is just the task which the soul has to take up. > _________________ > 2 - St. John, X, 30. > 3 - St. Matthew, V, 48 > > Philosophical technicalities apart, it is clear to all that man as he is on earth is not changeless or perfect. Therefore he cannot abjure the need for effort which his humanhood lays upon him. Even to human observation it is clear that he who does not improve deteriorates, that sitting out from the dance of nature, or trying to, means losing one's place in it and falling back. But it is not left to human observation, it is determined by Christ; and he leaves no camping ground between the two ways. By not taking the arduous one people are ipso facto following that which, he says, leads to destruction. That they are the vast majority is an appalling thought; but that does not make it any the less a fact. > > The narrow path Christ spoke of is the path leading to salvation or realization. The two are the same. > > The exaggerated importance ascribed to death leads people to distinguish between after-death salvation and realization achieved in this life, but really there is no difference. > > Neither is attained without effort. The effort must be continuous. Even of those who find the 'strait gate' few follow the 'narrow path' to the end. > > This is stated even more explicitly in the Bhagavad Gita, which reminds us that even those who are called are few compared with the many not called, that even those find the 'strait gate' are few, let alone those who follow the 'narrow path' to the end. > > " Among thousands perhaps one strives for Realization; among thousands who strive for Realization perhaps one knows Me as I am. " 4 > _____________ > 4 - Ibid., VII, 3. > > One who takes the narrow path needs no scripture to tell him this. He sees all the company of his friends or former friends, all the society in which he used to move, occupied with their worldly aims and frustrations, satisfied or dissatisfied, but in neither case willing to turn away from it all and seek true happiness. > > How Christ's heart must have ached when he spoke of the broad path and the many who tread it! Even after setting forth, a man may look around at his companions or former companions in the quest and see this one fallen back into academic scholarship, that one following a false trail, another claiming to be what he is not, and be hard put to it to count two or three who are still striving in a good way. And even of those, how many will attain? > > Read with understanding, Malory's Morte d'Arthur is a very sad story. The whole noble company of knights were gathered together at King Arthur's court for the feast of Pentecost, and while they were seated at the Round Table the Sangraal passed through the hall on a beam of light, but veiled so that none actually saw it. They were asked who would undertake its quest and all alike pledged themselves and rode forth with courage and high hopes. Some, however, soon turned back, finding the tug of the world too strong; some perished by the way; some were daunted or overthrown by the dragons of the ego; some bewitched or cast into dungeons by enchanters, the false guides who beset the path; some turned aside to lesser quests or settled down in castles along the way; some attained a single vision of the Sangraal and recognised that, for them, that was sufficient achievement for this lifetime; and out of all that noble company only three pursued the quest to its end. > > For the many who have been called but will not be chosen, who have found the 'strait gate' but do not tread the 'narrow path' to the end, the Bhagavad Gita does indeed offer a consolation, one that is at the same time compassionate and logical. > > Arjuna asks Krishna about those who strive but fail to achieve and is assured that no effort is wasted. Even those who fail to bring the quest to a good end, to the ultimate Goal, in this lifetime retain what progress they have made and will be so circumstanced in their next birth as to enable them to take up again from where they stopped and to press on further. Which also explains the phenomenon of those who, like the Maharshi attain the Goal with the very little effort made in this lifetime. > > But what is a clear message apparent to all seekers from the viewpoint of the quest is meaningless in any other context. > > When will Christians wake up to the heritage Christ left them and the warnings he gave? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Dear Jeff tku for commenting michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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