More than 2000 years ago we chose to crucify one of the most profound teachers this world has ever known… Y’eshua, Jesus or Christ. Two days later his tomb was found empty – he had resurrected according to recorded history.
The story of Jesus is the story of all of us; in his world we are all the children of God…
The story of Jesus is the story of all of us; in his world we are all the children of God…
The story tells us that Jesus went 40 days into the desert, facing himself. He was totally alone with himself and his reality. He faced every aspect of himself, seeing every belief he had about himself and his life, his strength and weaknesses, his fear and his love… everything.
What he understood is that we humans cannot see ourselves.
As we come into this world we have no idea who or what we are, we cannot “see” or know ourselves without mirrors, the reflections of other human beings and the events of life. Every human being becomes like a mirror to us, showing us who we are.
The problem with that is that these mirrors are not clean reflections, they don’t show you who or what you are, the reflection only shows you what the other person thinks you are, based on that person’s beliefs, convictions and conditioning.
As we cannot see ourselves, we build our self-image based on reflections from others that are not even real – and then we say, “This is what I am” and we believe it. From then on life evolves around maintaining – or bettering – this persona, this self-image.
Realizing that you are not what you think you are can be terrifying. That’s the journey of “going into the desert” or the “heroes’ journey”, facing yourself, your beliefs and the truth of what you are.
In the desert, Jesus saw through all his illusions and realized that he was not the persona he had thought he was. Instead he saw something much grander.
Jesus realized that he was not the persona, the illusion and the stories or even his physical body… and if he was none of that, then the only thing left was the force of life itself.
Beyond the illusion of body, emotion and mind, there’s a force that moves everything, that creates everything. It’s tangible inside and around our human forms at all times.
The story tells that Jesus realized that he was Life itself; expressing itself into physical form… that we are all this one living being – Life… or God.
Take a moment to reflect on what makes you You. What are some important pieces of what makes up the story of you, what holds your image of who you are into place?
Maybe it’s your position as a prominent leader – in business, politics, transformation
Maybe it’s the number of people you have influence over, control or help.
Maybe it’s related to money, power or recognition.
Maybe it is your role as a parent, in the community or among your friends.
Maybe it’s in your ability to always be happy, strong, funny or compassionate.
There are endless traits to choose from… what are your primary ones?
Now imagine that the unthinkable happens and everything that makes up the story of who you are, is gone… not just one piece here and there, but all of it.
Everything you use as a means to identify your self, hold your self-image in place, is gone.
Your work and all that came from that, your family and friends, your home, car and other belongings… even your familiar personality traits are gone. You have nothing familiar reflecting back to you who you are.
For instance, if you pride yourself on being able to stay happy no matter what, maybe a physical injury to your central nervous systems makes that virtually impossible, at least until you have figured out what’s going on.
It’s hard to even fully imagine, as it is such an unknown to most of us.
For most humans this is incredibly terrifying. We will do everything we can to quickly rebuild a new story, a new self image. Most of us have a need to (think we) know who we are, in order to feel good about ourselves and in order to feel safe.
If instead you can stay in this unknown, without the need to rebuild a new story, without a need to know who you are… and instead go deeper within yourself, you will find this force, the “being” that is untouched by all of this, that does not care if your rich or poor, happy or sad… it IS and that is all. You will find your essence – Life, Love, Peace.
If you can touch this force and know that that is what you are, you and your life will never be the same… you will have resurrected.
You will have died to the illusion of who you thought you were and awakened to that which you truly are… an eternal being, the force of Life… God.
You will have followed in the footsteps of Jesus, just like he invited us all to do.
Author’s note; Even though I have written these words from my own knowing today, I first heard this interpretation of Jesus’ story through my long time friend and teacher at the time, don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements.
What he understood is that we humans cannot see ourselves.
As we come into this world we have no idea who or what we are, we cannot “see” or know ourselves without mirrors, the reflections of other human beings and the events of life. Every human being becomes like a mirror to us, showing us who we are.
The problem with that is that these mirrors are not clean reflections, they don’t show you who or what you are, the reflection only shows you what the other person thinks you are, based on that person’s beliefs, convictions and conditioning.
As we cannot see ourselves, we build our self-image based on reflections from others that are not even real – and then we say, “This is what I am” and we believe it. From then on life evolves around maintaining – or bettering – this persona, this self-image.
Realizing that you are not what you think you are can be terrifying. That’s the journey of “going into the desert” or the “heroes’ journey”, facing yourself, your beliefs and the truth of what you are.
In the desert, Jesus saw through all his illusions and realized that he was not the persona he had thought he was. Instead he saw something much grander.
Jesus realized that he was not the persona, the illusion and the stories or even his physical body… and if he was none of that, then the only thing left was the force of life itself.
Beyond the illusion of body, emotion and mind, there’s a force that moves everything, that creates everything. It’s tangible inside and around our human forms at all times.
The story tells that Jesus realized that he was Life itself; expressing itself into physical form… that we are all this one living being – Life… or God.
Take a moment to reflect on what makes you You. What are some important pieces of what makes up the story of you, what holds your image of who you are into place?
Maybe it’s your position as a prominent leader – in business, politics, transformation
Maybe it’s the number of people you have influence over, control or help.
Maybe it’s related to money, power or recognition.
Maybe it is your role as a parent, in the community or among your friends.
Maybe it’s in your ability to always be happy, strong, funny or compassionate.
There are endless traits to choose from… what are your primary ones?
Now imagine that the unthinkable happens and everything that makes up the story of who you are, is gone… not just one piece here and there, but all of it.
Everything you use as a means to identify your self, hold your self-image in place, is gone.
Your work and all that came from that, your family and friends, your home, car and other belongings… even your familiar personality traits are gone. You have nothing familiar reflecting back to you who you are.
For instance, if you pride yourself on being able to stay happy no matter what, maybe a physical injury to your central nervous systems makes that virtually impossible, at least until you have figured out what’s going on.
It’s hard to even fully imagine, as it is such an unknown to most of us.
For most humans this is incredibly terrifying. We will do everything we can to quickly rebuild a new story, a new self image. Most of us have a need to (think we) know who we are, in order to feel good about ourselves and in order to feel safe.
If instead you can stay in this unknown, without the need to rebuild a new story, without a need to know who you are… and instead go deeper within yourself, you will find this force, the “being” that is untouched by all of this, that does not care if your rich or poor, happy or sad… it IS and that is all. You will find your essence – Life, Love, Peace.
If you can touch this force and know that that is what you are, you and your life will never be the same… you will have resurrected.
You will have died to the illusion of who you thought you were and awakened to that which you truly are… an eternal being, the force of Life… God.
You will have followed in the footsteps of Jesus, just like he invited us all to do.
Author’s note; Even though I have written these words from my own knowing today, I first heard this interpretation of Jesus’ story through my long time friend and teacher at the time, don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements.
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