Does Christ live in you?
To abide in the peace of Christ is often spoken of, but rarely present in actuality. What does it mean to actually abide in the peace of the Lord? Is it just an emotional, euphoric feeling? Is it simply the “security†of salvation? I am not interested in running around proclaiming that I have been “saved†while I continue to live and act as a member of a gravely distorted and lost society. I am not interested in proclaiming that I have any guarantees or any reserved place with God while my mental, emotional and spiritual energy continues to attach itself to the world in a manner hardened to the influx of God’s Spirit. I am interested in the peace of Christ, which is completely unknown to the world. If it were known, the world would not be consumed by such vain pursuits. We see the chaos in mass-consumerism, in the constant psychological weight that we bear, in the entanglement of our every day mundane concerns, our endless chasing of images and conceptions, always working towards material security, always conscious of how the world perceives us, always crafting ourselves in pursuit of the approval of others and the glorification of our own ego. I do it myself, everyday. How often do I want to appear artistic, intelligent, spiritual, suave or handsome? How often am I using my energies and capacities to construct and project an image of something?
This kind of image-chasing is possibly the greatest contaminant in our society today. The peace of Christ underlies all this tiresome inner activity, obscured by our busyness and reluctance to stop and truly ask the question of exactly how does Christ live in us? The peace of Christ underlies this false self, this mask of Adam.
What exactly is the mask of Adam? We wear it everyday and we usually are not aware of it. We constantly reinforce it, we constantly weave it in with our desires and goals, with our thoughts and emotions, we constantly rely on it as our identity.
The mask of Adam is that self-constructed false-identity that relies on the ever-changing conditions of the world and society. It is to seek knowledge of the self apart from an identity authentically rooted and founded upon God. It is a grasping at things, both material and immaterial and the investment of satisfaction and happiness in them. In fact, it is the immaterial grasping that has a more subtle binding quality. It is quite easy to profess belief in God, it takes little work or effort to claim that our identity is authentically rooted in Christ. In fact, the entire endeavor of being “spiritual†quite easily becomes the favorite image for the false self to chase and trap. In cooperation with the subtly and slyness of the serpent, it weaves in the language of salvation without demanding the authentic mental and emotional emptying that gives space for the inner life of God. Too often we hear that we are saved, that we love Christ, that we are chosen by God, when in reality we are prostituting ourselves to the images of such things and, in fact, preserving everything about our old self in the unquestionable and divine language of our religion. Where is salvation found? How do we find our true identity?
For unification with Christ our mind is an indispensable tool. We have to be aware of our thoughts, of our goals, we have to become conscious of the construction of our identity, what drives us, our emotions and our sense of fulfillment. Sin is rooted fundamentally, not in action or word, but in the mind. Jesus taught that one who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery. He taught that to even harbor anger against our brother nullified the meaning of all rituals and outward signs of praise so long as this mental-state is retained. How then does Christ live in us? He does so through a complete emptying of ourselves, beginning with our mind, imitating the complete emptying of Christ on the Cross. When we surrender the pursuit of every image, including the image that we are “saved†and even “Christian†only then do we leave room for the life of God in us, only then do we attain that same Mind of Christ.
May we abide in the Peace of Christ,
Devekut.
To abide in the peace of Christ is often spoken of, but rarely present in actuality. What does it mean to actually abide in the peace of the Lord? Is it just an emotional, euphoric feeling? Is it simply the “security†of salvation? I am not interested in running around proclaiming that I have been “saved†while I continue to live and act as a member of a gravely distorted and lost society. I am not interested in proclaiming that I have any guarantees or any reserved place with God while my mental, emotional and spiritual energy continues to attach itself to the world in a manner hardened to the influx of God’s Spirit. I am interested in the peace of Christ, which is completely unknown to the world. If it were known, the world would not be consumed by such vain pursuits. We see the chaos in mass-consumerism, in the constant psychological weight that we bear, in the entanglement of our every day mundane concerns, our endless chasing of images and conceptions, always working towards material security, always conscious of how the world perceives us, always crafting ourselves in pursuit of the approval of others and the glorification of our own ego. I do it myself, everyday. How often do I want to appear artistic, intelligent, spiritual, suave or handsome? How often am I using my energies and capacities to construct and project an image of something?
This kind of image-chasing is possibly the greatest contaminant in our society today. The peace of Christ underlies all this tiresome inner activity, obscured by our busyness and reluctance to stop and truly ask the question of exactly how does Christ live in us? The peace of Christ underlies this false self, this mask of Adam.
What exactly is the mask of Adam? We wear it everyday and we usually are not aware of it. We constantly reinforce it, we constantly weave it in with our desires and goals, with our thoughts and emotions, we constantly rely on it as our identity.
The mask of Adam is that self-constructed false-identity that relies on the ever-changing conditions of the world and society. It is to seek knowledge of the self apart from an identity authentically rooted and founded upon God. It is a grasping at things, both material and immaterial and the investment of satisfaction and happiness in them. In fact, it is the immaterial grasping that has a more subtle binding quality. It is quite easy to profess belief in God, it takes little work or effort to claim that our identity is authentically rooted in Christ. In fact, the entire endeavor of being “spiritual†quite easily becomes the favorite image for the false self to chase and trap. In cooperation with the subtly and slyness of the serpent, it weaves in the language of salvation without demanding the authentic mental and emotional emptying that gives space for the inner life of God. Too often we hear that we are saved, that we love Christ, that we are chosen by God, when in reality we are prostituting ourselves to the images of such things and, in fact, preserving everything about our old self in the unquestionable and divine language of our religion. Where is salvation found? How do we find our true identity?
For unification with Christ our mind is an indispensable tool. We have to be aware of our thoughts, of our goals, we have to become conscious of the construction of our identity, what drives us, our emotions and our sense of fulfillment. Sin is rooted fundamentally, not in action or word, but in the mind. Jesus taught that one who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery. He taught that to even harbor anger against our brother nullified the meaning of all rituals and outward signs of praise so long as this mental-state is retained. How then does Christ live in us? He does so through a complete emptying of ourselves, beginning with our mind, imitating the complete emptying of Christ on the Cross. When we surrender the pursuit of every image, including the image that we are “saved†and even “Christian†only then do we leave room for the life of God in us, only then do we attain that same Mind of Christ.
May we abide in the Peace of Christ,
Devekut.