by paul skorpen
Sacred
scripture is set apart from profane writings in
its design and intent: it addresses our entire
being.
It is the uniquely human experience that we are
able, as living souls, to engage ourselves in
creation in a multi-faceted manner. We are spiritual
beings who can see, and partake in, the glory
of creation. And as personalities we are morally
intertwined in the world through our mental and
emotional faculties. As incarnate beings we have
a very tangible, and sensuous relationship to
the world through our physical bodies.
A personality, to fully express itself, has life
in each level and dialogue between the levels.
Yet life inevitably leads us in many directions
and we often loose touch with our full nature.
We seek out teachers and teachings because we
suffer from an inner disunity. True teachings
and teachers seek to mend us, and guide us ever
onwards to states of higher unity and awareness.
Divinely inspired, scripture seeks to heal and
unify fractured consciousness.
Parables, from East and West alike, are the quintessential
language of scripture. Parables are textured,
multi-dimensional symbols. They speak with an
economy of language, at these many levels simultaneously.
Parables are ideal vehicles of transmission as
every listener can benefit, each according to
his needs.
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No one sews a piece of
unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise,
the patch pulls away from it, the new from
the old, and a worse tear is made. And no
one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise,
the wine will burst the skins, and the wine
is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts
new wine into fresh wineskins' (Matt. 9:16-17).
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1. Physical/Historical
(Gross material)
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These parables
present images that are easy for the
listener to conceptualize, grasp and
remember: they are rooted in practical
truths, in a prevailing folk wisdom,
which every listener can relate.
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2. Mental/Emotional
(Psycho-noetical)
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The
purification of the personality is
gradual, and requires patience and
time. Elementals form the personality,
and efforts to change radically can
cause more harm than good. We can
not try to force ourselves to be patient
overnight, after years (lifetimes)
of impatience. We need time as we
transform our entire nature (not patching
things up a bit here and there).
When I was the 'Stoa keeper' during
my time in Cyprus I was responsible
to caring for the many arrivals. I
also tried to keep the Stoa in good
form. At times there were over 150
seekers in and around the Stoa, and
only a small toilet to serve them.
With Daskalos' message of 'service
and humility' ringing in my ears I
tried to set about to clean the bathroom.
I believed it would be a great spiritual
act to serve a great Master, and keep
the toilet clean! But try as I might
I couldn't submit myself to the cleaning:
I was trying to force a higher ideal
on myself, when my sensibilities were
still immature. I ended up feeling
discouraged, selfish and guilty.
A biblical metaphor for the personality
is a house. A house is held together
brick by brick, and when a wall is
suddenly remove the whole house is
in danger of collapsing.
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3.Spiritual/Mystical
(Spirit-Soul)
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St. Paul writes: 'Adapt yourselves
no longer to the pattern of this present
world, but let your minds be remade
and your whole nature thus transformed'
(Rom. 12:2).
For the Christ consciousness to be
fully expressed within us, we need
to transform ourselves to become worthy
vessels. This short parable reminds
us of the central calling of the gospels:
1.) rebirth into our soul nature,
2.) Christ as the spiritual manna
(the eucharist). Christ said 'Except
a man be band of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit .' (John 3:6)We need to
grow beyond the limitation of our
birth into a family, a culture and
an era. We need to be born out of
the womb of truth.
To receive Christ as manna, as the
living wine and bread, we need to
make ourselves pure in heart. The
Tibetan Buddhists have a lovely image
of a seeker becoming an empty bowl
cast of gold, which the Buddha nature
can fill. Likewise we need to be fresh
wineskins ‹ holy grails ‹
into which the wine is poured.
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But sacred language is not limited
to parables. In John's Gospel there are no parables,
yet his accounts are of the highest order of sacred
scripture. Let us look at an example.
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Jesus,
knowing that the Father had given all things into
his hands, and that he had come from God and was
going to God, got up from the table, took off
his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.
Then he poured water into a basin and began to
wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with
the towel that was tied around him. He came to
Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are
you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered,
"You do not know now what I am doing, but
later you will understand."
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Peter
said to him, "You will never wash my feet."
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have
no share with me." Simon Peter said to him,
"Lord, not my feet only but also my hands
and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One
who has bathed does not need to wash, except for
the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are cleanŠ
After he had washed their feet, had put on his
robe, and had returned to the table, he said to
them, "Do you know what I have done to you?
You call me Teacher and Lord -- and you are right,
for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought
to wash one another's feet. For I have set you
an example, that you also should do as I have
done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants
are not greater than their master, nor are messengers
greater than the one who sent them. If you know
these things, you are blessed if you do them.
(edited from John 13:3-17)
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1. Physical/Historical
(Gross material)
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In these terms the foot
washing actually took place historically,
and Christ did indeed wash the feet of the
apostles. Christ, as a full reflection of
the Godhead, serves humanity as flesh. The
actual physical act feeds the senses and
gives us strength to rise above the flesh,
and beyond the great burden of pride.
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2. Mental/Emotional
(Psycho-noetical)
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Nourishment
for our ethical maturation: The moral example
is quite clear as Christ Himself explains
the act. It is an act of humility and servitude,
that score deep into the psyches of the
apostles: They are to live humility through
service.
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Spiritual/Mystical
(Spirit-Soul)
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Manna for
our Spiritual journey: The feet of man are
those parts of the body which bring him
into contact with earth, and symbolically
earthly things. In India the feet are, therefore,
considered profane. In washing His students'
feet Christ shows immense respect for our
whole being. Water as in baptisms, and cleaning
the feet to remove their earthly orientation
that the Apostles would be better able to
understand the crucifixion (the supreme
cosmic event). In this light the foot washing
is an initiation of the highest degree.
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Too often spirituality and esoterics feed the mind,
but starves the heart. In 'seeing' only the spiritual
aspect, we are in danger of developing a cold, sterile,
and abstract mysticism. In 'reading' only the mental/emotional
and the physical/historical we risk not the finding
the ultimate message. Inner Christianity encourages
us to experience all three levels, that we can behold
the Son of Man, and the Son of God.
Intellectual arrogance (an affliction of the West) often
blocks us from deeper permeations of sacred scripture.
The intellect is proud, and tends to believe it can
(with force) comprehend any teaching quickly. It bodes
us well to humble ourselves before the great writings
and teachers of the world, and allow ourselves to be
open to the more subtle dimensions of the message, and
thereby allow ourselves to be healed, and transformed.
Before approaching, or re-approaching scripture, try
your best to forget your last reading, let go of your
previous understanding of the text, and read it as if
it were your first reading.
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