Just a few decades ago way back in the Philippines, when I was still in high school in mid 70s, I was only familiar with different denominations of mainstream Christianity namely Roman Catholic, Protestant, Seventh Day Adventist, Iglesia ni Kristo, Iglesia ng Dios, Jesus of Latter Day Saints(Mormons) and Jehovah’s Witness. Later in College I began to hear much about Evangelicals and frequently saw on TV some of the evangelical programs by Billy Graham, Jimmy Swaggart and the like. Then I remember afterwards that so many similar type of congregations namely the Pentecostals and Charismatic community began to sprung forth from different places in the country. It persists up to this day. I believe that this is worldwide for they claim membership in different countries and in fact the adherents are increasing by 9 million per year.
As far as I know, the Evangelicals, Pentecostals and Charismatic Movements differ on certain beliefs for they are Baptists, Protestants, and Catholics respectively, though some similar congregations can never be associated with any of them; but all agree that they can gain the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as healing, prophesy, speaking in tongues, wisdom of the scriptures, etc. They believe that they too, can acquire the gifts of the Holy Spirit similar to what had occurred to Jesus’ disciples in the baptism of the Holy Ghost as described in Acts. They also believe that they can experience Jesus, obey His Teachings and be one with Him. Maybe some of you out there are member of their communities. I, myself, have attended the services a couple of times of the Jesus is Lord Fellowship in the Philippines and the Couples/Singles for Christ as well. I joined in one of the Charismatic Catholic community (Holy Redeemer) here in Australia and I had a first hand experience of what’s going on in their spiritual activities.
In my view, the advent of these congregations is a step higher on the ladder of spiritual growth as compared to the traditional mainstream Christian religion. For example, you may already be aware that attendance in the Catholic Church involves participating in prayers and songs, listening to the priest’s homily, receiving the holy Eucharist and other sacraments. This is invaluable and can be of great help to the people in attendance. However, since their basic belief is that the blood of Jesus has borne the sins of mankind, simply believing and having faith in Jesus will save them. And so the effort of working out one’s own salvation was put aside. On the other hand, in the New Charismatic and Pentecostals community, there is a belief that they can tread the path of discipleship, walk with Jesus be one with Him and with God the Father by obeying Jesus’ Teachings. Jesus to them is the vine and they are the branches. They seriously study the Bible and apply it into their lives. God’s Word has become alive and full of meaning, which is comparably absent in the Catholic Churches. This is in addition to the belief that they too can receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit just like Jesus and His disciples.
It seems however, that nowadays you will find quite a number of catholic priests who preach the unity of all faiths in their church, which is unheard of in the Pentecostals and Evangelicals. Some of these priests hold mass in the catholic charismatic congregations. This is a glimmer of hope for the realization of harmony among all faiths.
Irrespective of whether the aforementioned gifts of the Holy Spirit are real or not, the practice of internalizing God’s word, and applying them into their lives makes them stand on equal footing with practitioner of Christian mysticism, in my own point of view. The goal of Christian mystics is to experience God and attain union with Him through the teachings and examples set by Jesus Christ and His disciples. They believe that they too can become God-like like Jesus by following on His Footsteps. They recognize that the Spirit of God and the Kingdom of God is within them (Luke 17:20). They agree with what St Paul said: “Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the living God and the Spirit of God lives within you.” (1 Cor 3:16); and “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5).
There are many other passages in the Bible telling us that we can be like Christ. This one may shock you if you hear this the first time: Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”(Matthew 5:48). You‘d remark “Oh my God!, is it possible for me to be perfect? I can’t believe this.” Yes it is, but based on Ascended Master Teachings, the perfection that Jesus was referring to was not perfection of performance but rather, perfection of the Heart, perfection of Virtues like Love, Compassion, Mercy, etc. For there were perfectionists who always want to be perfect for example in their manner of dressing, walking, eating, organizing, and scheduling but who are very quick to criticize others and gets angry so easily. Where is perfection in that? Though perfection of performance can possibly be done, it shouldn’t be for ego gratification. Here is another passage: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also and greater works that this shall he do because I go unto my Father”. You might think that like Jesus you can raise the dead, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, walk on waters, and do other miracles. But I don’t think you have to go through that. In fact, perfection is not necessary for you can go to heaven even if you were not perfect. Albeit perfection is attainable; it wouldn’t be given in the scriptures if it isn’t.
This idea of becoming like Christ may sound difficult to accept but it is stated plainly in the words of God. It may be hard because you think that you will do it solely by your own effort and discipline. But it is stated in the Bible that what will be at work on pursuing Christhood is the spirit of God - “As the spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.” (2 Cor. 3:18b) NLT. “Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God.” (Romans 12:2b).
However, it’s not all the grace and Spirit of God; we will also have to put effort on our part. We would remember that God has also stated, “Draw nigh unto me and I will draw nigh unto you”(James 4:8). In addition, St. Paul said, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”(2 Corinthians 7:1); “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” (Phil 2:12-13).This kind of belief is very exalting and surely will bring you into new heights of spiritual growth if applied. These words of God in the Bible are daily foods to most of the practitioners of Christian mysticism.
I would like to let you know that most of the Christian mystics also draw inspiration from scriptures and literatures of other religion especially the Gnostic Christians that are growing in numbers. I just wonder why most of the followers of the traditional/mainstream Christianity still cannot acknowledge the mystical path of other Faiths like that of the eastern religion. There is no question on the part of the Buddhists and Hindus that Jesus Christ is God. They accept Jesus. But why many Christians do not accept their beliefs. Maybe, they simply don’t want to entertain other faiths anymore for they are already satisfied with Christianity. Well that’s okay as long as there is respect with one another’s belief. Maybe, the idea of reincarnation integral with eastern religion is hard for them to digest especially that part where human soul can transmigrate into animals. I, too, disagree with this idea but I understood that this is an incorrect concept of reincarnation by Hindus today. (I’ll discuss reincarnation next time). But I have a notion that the most probable reason is that most of the Christians hold on to the concept that Jesus and Christ are one and the same identity, which to my belief is a misconception. And this is where I want to give my explanation.
Based on esoteric teachings, Christ is not Jesus the man. It is more correct to say that Christ is in Jesus or Jesus has become the Christ so he is called Jesus the Christ or simply Jesus Christ. It’s more of a title, just like somebody who has finished medicine course and qualified to be called a Doctor. Christ is derived from the Greek word “Kristos” which is a translation of the Hebrew word “Meshiach”, which means the anointed one. Messiah in Hebrew is a common term use to any anointed person by God such as King David, the prophets, etc. Though later from the book of Isaiah down to Zechariah of the Old Testament, it seems that the Anointed one were cited to be a specific person that was to come and that was Jesus Christ. This, to me, is evidence that God has plan and is guiding the spiritual evolution of humanity. But it didn’t mean that only Jesus can become the Christ as you will see in my next explanation. It is based on the law of cycles that in every age, there are always times of intensification of Divine Light and emergence of luminaries to serve as wayshowers for mankind. Remember that we’re only talking here of Israelites, we have not considered what was happening in other parts of the world where there were luminaries too.
On another occasion in the gospel of John, Christ (not Jesus) is described as the Word, where it says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” The term Word is taken from the Greek word “Logos” which means “word”, “reason”, “wisdom”, "the animating principle of the universe", as described by Philo, a writer at that time. Thus John said: “That was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”(John 1:9). I think this Logos is also the Law, or knowledge of the universe; It is the Divine Conscience or Christ Consciousness that God has placed in us though it remains dormant (unperceived by outer consciousness) waiting to be awakened (to be perceived by outer consciousness). This is the Lord our Righteousness mentioned in the Old Testament. So, this Christ is within every man, within everyone of us, what ever race, culture or religion. This Christ is the only begotten Son of God. The only begotten Son of God is not Jesus but the Christ which is in Jesus, which is also within every man. It can aptly be called Universal Christ. In Ascended Master’s Teachings, it is called Holy Christ Self or Holy Christ Presence. This universal Christ is the Word made flesh in Jesus. It has fully manifested through Jesus, which can also manifest through us. Jesus has attained that Christhood, thus he became Jesus the Christ, a God-Man, an Avatar. Once you understood this concept, it wouldn’t be hard to accept the mystical path of other religion for they are similar in many respects.
Before the time of Jesus, there have been God Men such as Buddha and Krishna. Even at the time of Jesus there is such a one who attained Christhood, though his life is clouded in mystery and has not become well-known. He was Appolonius of Tyana. You can search his life on the web and books.
Maybe some of you who have heard this the first time were shocked in this concept or perhaps some of you were not convinced and thinking of nailing me on the Cross, but let me take you first to some revelatory biblical examples telling us that it is not only Christianity or Jesus is the way.
I would like to point out that even before the time of Jesus there was a man named Melchizedek mentioned in the Bible (Hebrew 7 ) who was likened unto the Son of God. Surely he was an avatar for even Abraham gave tithe to him. It is clearly stated that he was “Priest of the Most High, King of Righteousness, King of Salem, King of Peace, ... without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a Priest continually.” I think that this Melchizedek could never be Jesus for it is clearly mentioned that “Jesus is a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrew 7:17 and 21), meaning Melchizedek is another higher figure ahead of Jesus. Besides why would he be called or named Melchizedek if he was Jesus? When Jesus said “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58), this to me, means the Christ, the Logos, that manifested in Him has always existed or that could be the words of Christ speaking through Jesus. It could also mean that Jesus had lived previous lives.
Furthermore, the Old Testament speaks of Enoch as a man who ascended back to heaven without tasting death which bears similarity to Jesus who ascended back to Heaven. In Genesis 5:24 it says “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more because God took him. Then in Hebrew 11:5 it says “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God has translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” In addition, there were a number of accounts in Buddhist literatures where a monk died and shortly afterwards, luminous rainbow colors radiated out from him, then he just disappeared. This could also mean another account of physical ascension.
Moreover, there are many occasions in the gospels where Jesus admonished us to worship the Father (not him). It is written that Jesus mentioned the two greatest Commandments: “Love God with all thy Heart, with all thy mind, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength; the second is likened unto it: Love thy neighbour as you love thy (true) self.” (Mark 12:30-31). He also taught us to pray the “Our Father”(Matthew 6:9). Jesus also said “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and Truth.” (John 4:23-24). I’m not saying that we should only pray to the Father as taught by Jesus, for surely, we can pray to Jesus Christ for he is one with the Father in the same manner that the Buddhists can also pray to Buddha. Indeed, we can pray to the Saints, to Mother Mary and other Divine Beings or Ascended Masters for the Father of all is within them. As stated in Ephesians 4:6: “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all”. “God works through different people in different ways, but it is the same God who achieves his purpose through them all.” (1 Cor 12:6).
When Jesus was accused by the Jews as blasphemer for he being a man makes himself God, He answered them: “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are Gods?” (John 10:34).Jesus was referring to Psalm 82: 16, which states, “I have said Ye are Gods; and all of you are children of the most High”.
It will be found in Exodus 3:13-15 that God gave His name to Moses as “I AM THAT I AM”. God told Moses to tell the Israelites that “I AM hath sent me unto you”... and He even said: “this is my name forever and this is my memorial unto all generations.” If that is God’s name and you try to call him I AM, it would seem that you were calling yourself. It would seem that you were saying I AM God. But I think that’s exactly what God wants us to be – to be like Him; for He lives within us. It maybe impossible for you to accept this for you maybe thinking, “Oh my God, I will become God. I will become all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present”. But I think that’s not the case, it simply means to become Christ-like demonstrating Christly Virtues.
One more thing, Jesus said “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” (John 10:16). I take this to mean unity of all faiths. The one shepherd is the Christ that God has placed within every man. Mark L. Prophet, the former Messenger of the Great White Brotherhood, had said something like this: The infinitely powerful God can multiply himself and at the same time maintain his oneness. Just as 1 x 1 x 1 x1 ...will always be equal to 1, So God x God x God ... will always be equal to God. If you dip your finger in the ocean and raise it, a drop will emerge from your finger tip. That drop has the same quality with the ocean. We are those drops in the ocean of God.
Some of the practical reasons why I don’t subscribe to the idea that Christianity is the only true spiritual path:
If Jesus is the only path to salvation, what would happen to those life streams living righteous lives but never had a chance to know Jesus till their death for they were born let’s say as Buddhists or Hindus or Muslims. Or what if a person lived an indigenous life in the mountain or outback and died at a very young age without knowing Jesus. Will he go to hell (traditional christian’s concept of hell) to suffer forever? Was he to be blamed for being born into that circumstance? I think not.
It is indicated in the gospel that Jesus was not born perfect, for it says that he grew in wisdom implying that he does not know everything from the time of birth. If you will make a little web and book searching, you will find that Jesus was a man like us before he became the Christ. He, too, had negativities; he, too, was once a student of the Master. There were books about the lost years of Jesus and there were accounts of his life not written in the canon (official bible), which can be found in the Nag Hammadi library that was discovered in 1945. There you will find the beliefs and practices of the early Gnostic Christians as well as the Gospels of Thomas. Moreover, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947-1956 tells about the life of a pious Qumran community which indicates connection with Jesus. (This will be the subject of my future discussion including how the Official Bible was established.)
My beloved brethren, why am I telling you all this? I have no intention to convert you into my belief. If you’re happy with your faith and belief so be it. It’s just because I want to rekindle that flame of divinity that God has placed in our hearts. And it’s my hope that this writing can be an eye opener to my Christian brothers and sisters who are still repulsive towards mystical path of other faiths to at least acknowledge them. It’s also because I love you people out there that’s why I present these age-old belief, which to my mind is so great, so edifying that can really be of great assistance for the development of society. This I believe is the Truth and I think it’s everyone’s duty to present the truth which he/she believes in but without being dogmatic. If you would ask yourself “If all people were to sincerely apply this principle of becoming perfect by loving God, by following His principles, in fact by reuniting with Him, would it contribute for the improvement of their spirituality and the world or not?”. I think the answer is yes for you can imagine that each person will try to transform themselves by practicing spiritual disciplines. Each would be very forgiving, bearing one another’s burden, obeying Christ’s teachings inherent in and central to all faiths. It wouldn’t be far, though it would take time, that unity and harmony among all faiths, peoples and nations throughout the earth will come into reality. “With God everything is possible.”