Jesus as Mythos

1. 49

   billhowee4posted 13 years ago

   Until I found The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur, notwithstanding having grown up in a church, christianity never made much rational sense to me.  However, thanks to Harpur's book of brilliant insights - he really does recover the lost light -
   christianity and Jesus finally made sense to me and I was at
   last able to integrate these matters into my spiritual world
   view.
   Given that the human mind, dominated as it is by the ego-self,
   cannot know truth, especially spiritual truth, I have choosen to
   never to believe or disbelieve in anything.  So were I to be asked what I believe: I could say only I believe in never believing in belief.  As I see it, anyone can believe anything;
   but is has no necessary relationship whatsoever to truth, to what is (or was or will be).  What's true is true; belief makes no difference.
   In place of beliefs, I much prefer theories and hypotheses; likely because I like the scientific approach.  I thus hold
   Jesus as mythos as a theory, or as a working hypotheses; a theory or hypothesis that makes sense of a whole lot of things
   that just do not make sense otherwise.
   Literalism and historicism in the 2000 year history of the chistian faith have generated tremendous conflict and bloodshed;
   providing much further reason for jetisoning the notion of a historical Jesus.
   Dispensing with this opens the door to understanding chistianity
   from a esoteric perpective that can assist and support the advancement of consciousness, or the progress and evolution of the soul in its very long journey of return to its Source.
   My personal theory about Jesus is as follows:
   Jesus was/is an expression of a universal archeotype pervading the human collective unconscious, and first recorded in the Egyptian Religion far pre-dating Judaism.  In its most generic
   form, this acheotype is perhaps best conceived of as The Evercoming One; as that Expression of the Divine that is evercoming down through human history as a Wayshower or Messenger, and also on the far more mundane or common level
   as being the spiritual essence (spark of God) of everyone who is born into the world of matter or enters into incarnation.
   Around the time in question there was considerable persecution and oppression under Roman occupation. Some learned/enlightened
   people at the time, perhaps the Essenes or some other reclusive
   mystic sect among the Jews, having chosen (or having been chosen
   by the Divine) to reveal their teachings about a messiah and about spiritual truths, opted, out fear of persecution, to create a character as a literary device (modelled on notions of The Evercomimg One, which as a univeral acheotype were already
   windespead in the consciousness/unconscious of the time) to which to (safely) attribute the teachings they wished to make
   known. Thus Jesus is an expresion or manifestation of The Evercoming One, but his only form of "incarnation" in this world
   was that of a literary device, a character created a drama by a mystery school to convey spiritual truth and give hope (out of divine compassion) for a God-fearing and oppressed people living through very difficult times.
   
   I welcome any comments on this without regard to religious
   persuasion or lack thereof.

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2. 79

   pennyofheavenposted 13 years ago

   Makes sense to me. I agree with much of what you say. One question came to mind though. This spark of God you see as Jesus wasn't that the holy ghost? Perhaps Jesus was a mortal manifestation of the divine?

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   1. 49

      billhowee4posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      In trying to understand Jesus esoterically, acheotypically or as mythos, this only makes sense to me in universal terms (literalist believers, mythical followers , non-believers, agnostics, atheists, people
      of other religions and faith, and people of no religion or faith, alike) if we
      as soul are all sparks of God.  The journey of the soul, or the gradual
      evolution individual consciousness , is a very long process. Fortunately for the rest of us, at least a few of those highly advanced in their journey
      or in consciousness, have come into the world from time to time to act as
      teachers or wayshowers . Unfortunately, the world often does not receive
      these enlightened ones very well.  One way or another they often become
      "sacrificed" for the world. The story of Jesus no doubt consitutes by far the most widely known and vivid example of this, making this story, as mythos, exceeding more powerful, universal and enduring than if the
      creative power of God (the Word) had literally been made flesh.
      As for the Holy Ghost, God is in essence highly abstract, and for most
      ordinary people, their consciousness dominated as it is by the pre-installed survival program I like to call the ego-self, the sense of their
      separation from God can be very real.   An advanced soul who has come
      to teach or to act as a Wayshower may often not be available.  In this absence, the Holy Ghost or Comforter, perhaps more simple understood
      as the Presense may appear instead.  This experience can be profoundly
      reassuring or inspiring to the individual concerned in communicating to
      them that God can be profoundly personal, and not always abstract,
      impersonal or afar off. 
      I would caution however that the Presence likely cannot be intentionally
      invoked.  My insight is that it is always present and available and that no
      belief in anything is required, nor is even necessarily having any sort of religious faith, nor even is spiritual practice of any sort.  Rather it
      manifests in personal consciousness only when something happens
      to make the ego-self recede into the backgound; something that the tenacious ego-self simply cannot fathom, such as deep contemplation of
      spiritual information, even utter dispair, such that the ego-self is  simply
      overwhelmed, and temporarily conceded its hold on personal
      consciousness to the everywhere and ever-present Presense of God.

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3. 79

   pennyofheavenposted 13 years ago

   Ok cool I understand where you are coming from.  Makes pure sense to me and I do agree!
   
   Thanks!

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