The Way

John 14:6
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (KJV)

What does "cometh unto the Father" really mean?

Is it a future promise that comes to one immediately upon death for having professed Jesus Christ as Savior?

Is this a claim of exclusivity by Jesus?

A few verses later, He makes this statement:

John 14:10
"...the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." (KJV)

By following with this context, Jesus Christ is saying that it is the Father who is saying "I am the way, the truth..."

This takes away from the exclusive claims of sectarians, because the same Father-God has been speaking through prophets and saints throughout human history.

This takes nothing away from the Divinity of Jesus Christ unless exclusivity is the only religious experience one can attest to.


    I believe that "coming to the Father" is a present reality and experience that can only come in deep and profound meditation. Coming unto the Father ought to mean speaking to God face to face and not just in imagination or fancy. And not by standing on scripture alone. I have known of too many who rely upon the raw free grace of Christ while in reality the spiritual life shown seems to be another form of atheism. By counting on salvation through proxy, one sometimes ignores the call for profound relationship with the immortal presence of God and one often pursues merely materialistic goals.

     The positive side to the certainty of Christian belief is the energy that results from the absence of doubt. Some beneficial results can come from this such as charitable works and the ability to challenge certain shortcomings and hypocrisies that should be addressed in other faiths and in the world at large.


      To a yogi, there are certain Biblical references that seem to obviously point to the raising of consciousness through some spiritual practice, such as Kriya Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, or transmission of spiritual force through an enlightened master to the student:

Num 21:8
    8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. (KJV)

    The fiery serpent is the kundalini and the pole represents the spinal chakras and higher centers. The serpents that were afflicting the Israelites represent the delusional consciousness of Maya or Satan that cause us to remain separate from the non-dualism or completeness of God-consciousness.


John 3:14-15
    14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
    15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
(KJV)

    The ordinary view is that Jesus Christ died as a proxy for all and simply believing on the sufficiency of this act is all that is required. Indeed, many peoples’ lives are changed for the better with this act of faith. However, to the yogi, John 3:14 again points to the necessity of raising the consciousness beyond the seeming dualism of this world. To "lift up the serpent" is said by Jesus to be a spiritual necessity. Jesus Christ was transparent in his consciousness as the sole reflection of the Father beyond Creation. There was no individualized ego to get in the way of the Creator’s voice. Certainly, Jesus Christ was not circumscribed by his little physical body, his surroundings, or his culture. His being the sole reflection is not exclusive to him as an historical human being but rather by His being an unbroken reflection of the Creator’s will at that point and place in time. One could say that there is only one way to get to outer space and that is through the upper atmosphere. Someone who is speaking from that point of view of the upper atmosphere could very well say, "I am the way." But of course, there are nearly an infinite number of ways to get to space.


John 1:12
    12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (KJV)

    To a yogi, being a son or daughter of God is much more than being a rooting section for one divine teacher or another, but rather a palpable presence that is exquisite in scope.

--
Douglas F. Couch
1-24-00
http://ompage.net/


 
 



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