Disciples as Mind Traits 4

Road to Emmaus by Alexandra Ross

When we think of Jesus and his Disciples, we should be equally mindful of the mighty Cosmic Spirit called Christ gradually becoming infused into the body of Jesus. Only when we think of it in this way can we approach the truth of the situation. Two beings; Jesus the man and Christ the Being who had never experience life in a human body before. Imagine that! This happened for the first time in the whole universe. Think about what it is like to do something for the first time; learning to swim, learning to drive, learning to ski, taking your first roller coaster ride or first bungee jump. Magnify that thousands of times and we may get some idea.

The other side of this story is that humanity cannot move forward without Christ. That is why he went through the process of entering into the man Jesus. We cannot evolve without Christ - not that he does the work for us, no, quite the opposite, we do the work which he has made possible, and he enhances it.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Jn 14:12

For Jesus to go through the mighty transformation of taking into himself this mighty Cosmic Being required the support of the disciples, just as we need support when we learn to swim, drive or ski. Stop and think for a minute what it would be like to be infused by a being of the stature of Christ. Luke knew when he wrote about the Son of man - the Christ infused human:

"For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of man be in his day." Lk 17:24

Are we ready to be struck by lightning? For that is what it is like when Christ becomes active in our being. For that lightning to be effective, we have to make some choices. Otherwise it will burn us or kill us. To survive the strike, the 12 mind faculties represented by the disciples have to be activated in a positive way.

It is a work in progress and we should go easy on ourselves. We can be so critical of ourselves it can be crippling. It is about building pictures for ourselves and taking baby steps. The last three disciples speak strongly about choice. Having choice is so free making; always mindful that if we can make a choice in one direction then we can also make it in another.

Disciples James Alphaeus, James Zebedee and Simon the Cananaean

James Alphaeus: James the son of Alphaeus represents order, especially creating order in chaos. He is also known as James the Less, or James the Just and is a half-brother of Jesus. James is connected with the use of the word; speech is a very creative thing, primarily because it gives us choice. We can choose to speak or not to speak, and we can choose what to say or what not to say. We can also release a power in what we say, as Jesus did when he said, “Laz’arus, come out.” for instance. James is associated with the power in us to say something, perhaps something difficult. James is also the discipline in us not to say something. Our speech will be orderly according to how conscious we are.

James Zebedee: James the son of Zeb’edee represents the faculty of judgement or discrimination within us. Judgement is that higher ability not be swayed by our self-will, or the will of others; to resist being drawn back to the past and to stand in the present, in the new situation, and seek to express our higher will. Within us, our intentions are our will; without, will is visible in our actions.

Simon the Cananaean: Also known as Simon the Zealot who probably belonged to the Zelotes, an extreme Jewish sect. This sect was also known as the Cananaeans. Simon was the brother of James and Jude. After the martyrdom of James, Simon became head of the Church at Jerusalem. In hermetic tradition, the zelator is the one who is able to approach the fire. Simon the Cananaean stands for zeal, enthusiasm; this motivating energy is optimism for the future.

Published on Huffington Post September 11, 2016

Why Twelve Disciples?

The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, ca. 1308-11 by Duccio

The Bible clearly states that there were many more disciples than 12. Luke gives one example of this.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. Luke 10:1

In the Bible we find two different words to describe these close companions of Christ Jesus; disciple and apostle. In Luke 10, the word ‘sent’ is apostello or apostle. Is there a difference between a disciple and an apostle? If we look at the ancient meaning of these two words, we see that they are two different aspects of the same person.

The Greek word apostello comes from apo which means ‘of separation’; and stello, meaning to set in order or arrange. It speaks of getting ready for something new, preparing for something separate from the way it used to be. In addition, the word stello comes from histemi which means to cause or make to stand. The thing that causes every human being to stand on two feet is the I Am, setting us apart from animals. This could mean that the apostle is the one who now stands on his/her own two feet.

Disciple in Greek is mathetes, which means more than the basic interpretation of ‘thoughtful learner’; it means the learner who uses the principles of mathematics to understand the truth. This may sound weird but if we think about it, it makes sense. It is referring to using the principles of mathematics to test the truth, to ensure things always add up. There is a special word for this which has been used in secret societies down the ages which is mathesis - and we can see the word ‘maths’ in these two words. Therefore, we can say the mathetes mathesis - disciples understanding truth. This, of course, is a continual process of testing and re-testing as we do in mathematics to ensure things always add up.

This brings us to the question: why does the Bible focus on 12 disciples, and why does it mention that there were more than 12?

I would like to suggest that the disciples represent certain human characteristics, I have written about this previously in my book The Twelve Disciples in the Gospel of St John [link]. The meaning of their names explains their nature and in this way shows us different aspects of our own character which we need to develop. The disciple in us, mathetes, is the one who learns and the way we learn is through thinking accompanied by endeavour. Most thinking today is not accompanied by endeavour. In fact, many people are very lazy with their thinking, which is why they never fully understand this world – or themselves.

Not only do the 12 disciples represent 12 different characteristics they also represent 12 ways to understand or approach spiritual truth. This could mean that one person approaches spiritual truth in the Andrew way, while another approaches it in the Phillip way. It is said that there are 12 paths up the mountain.

Now we will look at the nature of the 12 disciples who followed Jesus. We can observe these qualities in ourselves throughout the day to see how they work in our consciousness. We can also identify our own approach to truth.

Disciples Andrew, Simon Peter and Phillip

Andrew: In the Gospel of St John references to Andrew reveal that he works away in the background; he is a companion. Andrew represents strength of mind and humility; therefore, these two faculties must always be our companions working away in the background. Andrew is from Bethsaida, a fishing town. Fish represent our thoughts, our ideas, our concepts, and so Andrew comes from a place where ideas and concepts are caught.

Simon Peter: Simon means hearing and Peter means faith. He captures the essence of our ability to hear and see beyond the physical sounds and images that meet our senses. The Simon nature becomes active when we deeply contemplate something and a new understanding seems to speak from within us like an inner voice. This is the true nature of inspiration; we hear the new idea. The Peter nature means that our faith becomes knowing, rather than blind faith. We are able to confirm our inspirations again and again in our contemplations. Here we can see mathesis at work.

Phillip: The name Philip means lover of horses just as the word philosopher means lover of wisdom. Philip speaks to us about inner power, courage, and an ability to weigh things up. Philip is the challenge within us to use our mind purely intellectually or to allow in a spiritual element that doesn’t rely so much on physical proof but can certainly be tested over and over again in our thinking.

The use of the term spiritual does not mean something airy-fairy. By spiritual is meant something that can’t be physically touched, for example, love is spiritual, a hug or kiss is physical. This points to a notion that behind everything physically present in this world is something spiritual just as love sits behind a hug or a kiss. If we look for the spiritual component behind all that is physical in our lives a whole new world opens up to us.

The disciple in us develops in an intimate way before it expresses itself in the world as the apostle - the one sent. This is not evangelical, converting others. Why do some people focus on converting others when the whole idea is to focus on converting ourselves? When we do this with success others witness what we have done as an example of what they can do.

By working out the unique ways in which we tread our own path, we can be more accepting of the ways in which others tread theirs.

First published in Huffington Post

Becoming a Christ

The Bible is the story of the developing human spirit. The books of the Bible tell us where we came from, where we are going, and how to get there. From the very first words in Genesis, to the very last in The Revelation, the story of the human journey, in the presence of Christ’s activity, is told.

The ultimate goal is to become Christen-ed. I use this word purposefully because the being we call Christ is the human archetype. We strive to be like him.

“Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2

In other words, we become a Christ. St Paul speaks about this often, particularly in this statement:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me;” Galatians 2:20

Therefore, Christ is the model for what we are to become. This mighty Cosmic being who had never experienced this earth before, entered into the human being Jesus, to show us what is possible. John puts it this way:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.” John 14:12

To understand what this means in our lives, we must first try to understand what Christ is for us. This is not about being religious, nor is it about attending a particular church. Christ is a spiritual force present in the whole of humanity; this force is present in every human being, in nature, in this earth and in the universe.

In his highest expression we can call him the Cosmic Christ and find him as part of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At the other end of the scale we can see him in the body of Jesus who lived on this earth. This spectrum from mighty spiritual being to human being is the story of the Son of God becoming the Son of man. His journey is revealed in the Bible as well as in the many myths and legends passed down through the ages.

The immediate question arising from this is why? Why would such a mighty being bother to come to earth? Surely not to save us from our sins - wouldn’t that be a bit of an overreach? Since sin, harmartia, means missing the mark [explored in a previous post] nothing should interfere with us perfecting our aim. Why would we let someone or something else shoot our arrow for us?

One simple reason this mighty Christ Spirit made the journey into the sphere of this earth was to save this earth, to give it a new lease of life, thus enabling us to continue to perfect our aim. His union with the body and blood of Jesus, and the subsequent gushing of blood from Jesus’ side when he was struck with a spear, enabled the spirit of Christ to literally penetrate this earth and hence every human being on this earth who eats food grown in the earth.

This is the basis for the Last Supper when Jesus explained that the bread, a product of the earth, was his body, and the wine made from sun-ripened grapes was his blood. While this event is celebrated during Holy Communion, we can also celebrate it each time we eat. We can think of the journey Christ made through the spiritual spheres of the universe to enter into us, because he entered into Jesus before us.

The reason he came is directly connected to a new phase in the development of the human being. He didn’t come to take something away from us (sin), he came to give us something which we could not access by ourselves - our Higher Self, our True Self, which is our I AM [discussed in this previous post].

We should not take this idea of Christ entering into a human body too lightly. It was not an easy thing to achieve. If we read the accounts of the crucifixion from the point of view of Christ’s difficulty rather than Jesus’ difficulty, we can have new and different understandings. What was it like for a mighty being who had no idea what it was like to live in an earthly physical body, whose consciousness had no limits, to be confined in Jesus’ body? We could liken it to a university professor suddenly having to use the mind of child.

To recap in very simple terms what I have come to understand and experience about this event over the last 33 years. Jesus was the most highly developed human being ever born, his purity exemplified by his mother, the Virgin Mary. His journey to the cross was a series of events that prepared him to receive into himself the Cosmic Christ. Jesus was a vessel prepared for generations through the Hebrews so that he could be the channel for the Son of God to enter into a human body. In so doing, he showed us how to follow in his footsteps and prepare ourselves to become aware of our True Self and awaken the presence of Christ within us.

Our immediate response might be to say. “I want that.” Yet, we have to be able to bear the powerful presence of Christ. Since Golgotha, Christ is within us as a potential, as a seed, to which we must give life. As we know, no seed can survive without being nurtured.

Image: Crucifixion by Giotto di Bondone

First published on Huffington Post 

2 Jesus boys + Jesus & Christ = I AM, Our True Self

The Bible remains locked to us if we gloss over the facts. Examining the difference between Jesus and Christ while exploring the purpose behind the birth of two Jesus children, as well as the baptism of Jesus, does not completely make sense unless we understand the reason why Jesus was born in the first place. He didn’t come to save us; he came to show us how to save ourselves!

To express it in the simplest way possible; a human being was required - Jesus - to take into himself a mighty cosmic being called Christ, so that every human being could personally experience the I AM.

What is this I AM? The first time we hear about the I AM is after Moses sees the burning bush which is not consumed, and then he has his famous conversation with God. Moses asks God what his name is, and the response is Ehyeh asher ehyeh I AM that I AM (Exodus 3:14). We also find this term I AM in the New Testament in the Greek words ego eimi.

Moses and the Burning Bush by Arnold Friberg

Before the time of Christ, human consciousness was not sufficiently developed to experience the I AM. To have this experience required high levels of initiation as was the case for the great initiate Zarathustra. The only way the general population could experience the I AM was in a secondhand way through Elijah in the Old Testament, and Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

Elijah's Chariots of Fire, Byzantine Museum, Athens, Greece

Only through the birth of two Jesus boys, as well as the baptism of the 30 year old Jesus when the Christ Spirit entered into him could we have this personal, firsthand experience of the I AM. Because of Zarathustra’s initiation into the I AM before its time, he played an influential role in this process through his involvement in the birth of the Matthew Jesus. A second Jesus, described by Luke, whose pure being was not tainted by life on this earth, was also required.

Why did this I AM take so many convoluted paths before it became accessible to human beings? The short answer is that it can’t just be given to us, we have to earn it. Human consciousness had to evolve to a point where it could handle the power of the I AM, and it has been a long time in the making; from Adam to Elijah to Jesus and now to us. The power of the I AM is like fire; it must burn in us but not consume us. One way we can recognize it our consciousness is when we are angry but the anger does not consume us.

So what is this I AM, is it God or is it human? Well, simply put, it is both. The I AM is that part of God that is in us. Its main role is to make us creative as God is creative. Whenever we express our talent, in those amazing moments when we do great things, it is the I AM expressing itself in us. We also see it when people who don’t like each other ignore their differences and work together in, for example, an emergency. The I AM knows no boundaries of color, creed, gender or nation.

A powerful example of the nature of the I AM arose in a conversation between Michael Parkinson and Paul McCartney which went like this:

“This is just me in here. Paul McCartney is some guy over there doing amazing things. If I thought that was me constantly it would blow my head off.”

The I AM is certainly a mysterious and powerful thing. It can make us anxious and even fearful. Perhaps for this reason knowledge of it has been hidden from us by the churches and secret societies down the ages. The time has come for us to be aware of it and to use it to the best possible effect in our lives. The challenge is that we have to discover it ourselves; it can’t be taught. We can read about it but then it is up to us to have our own firsthand experience of it.

Every detail in the Bible about the life of Jesus shows us how we prepare ourselves to work with the I AM. The previous posts about Repent, Sin and the Word introduce us to ways in which we can strive to become fully human, which means fully integrated with this I AM. In my book I Connecting : The Soul’s Quest I explain it in a non-religious psychological way.

While I recommend the Bible to discover the true meaning of the I AM I must stress that it is NOT about any specific religion; each religious expression is a path up the mountain to the pinnacle of knowledge of the I AM. Nor is it about dogma and definition, this knowledge can only live in us if we strive to become aware of our own true nature, that is, to really know ourselves.

I am always uplifted and inspired when I read the final words in St Matthew’s gospel: “I am with you always, to the close of the age." In the Greek it says: ego eimi, I AM, always with you till the consummation of this period of time.

Contemplating the ego eimi statements in the Bible is one good way to awaken to the activity of the I AM within us. You will find my fist book about the seven I AM sayings helpful, and all my books focus on this work.

First published on Huffington Post

It took Two Jesus’ to make THE Jesus

It is no accident that the genealogies in St Matthew and St Luke’s Gospel are different. One traces the ancestry of a highly developed human being living on this earth. The other traces the spiritual legacy of a pure human spirit incarnating for the first time on the earth. Wisdom in one, innocence in the other.

The question we can ask is this. Could Christ, a mighty Cosmic Being beyond our understanding, who had never experienced life in a physical body on this earth, just be born through a mother as we all are? That would be like saying the sun could enter this earth and shine from within it.

By looking closely at the two genealogies, it is not difficult to see that two different Jesus children were born to two different Marys with two different fathers called Joseph. The Matthew Jesus descends from the Solomon line of the House of David. The Luke Jesus descends from the Nathan line of the House of David. If we look into our own genealogy, we know that we are quite different from our cousins whose parents were siblings of our great grandparents - then multiply that for all the generations mentioned in the Matthew and Luke Gospels.

The Matthew Jesus child was the product of 42 preceding generations from Abraham to Joseph. Kings visited him when he was born, whereas shepherds visited the Luke child. The Luke Jesus’ genealogy reaches back to Adam when human beings first left their spiritual domain and took on flesh - as told in the story in the Garden of Eden. These details are very important yet often skipped over.

I have written about this in detail in my book Who is Jesus : What is Christ, Vol 1. Why mainstream theologians do not explore this information is a mystery. Others have written about it and some artists have painted the two Jesus children. In this painting Raphael has painted them with John the Baptist and the Luke Jesus’ mother.

Madonna Del Duca di Terranuova by Raphael

Not only that but also these children were born at different times. The Matthew Jesus was older, born at the time when Herod ordered all male children to be killed.

“One notable fact is that Herod ordered all male children aged two and under to be killed, which led to the Matthew Jesus being taken to Egypt, there is no mention of the child described by Luke going to Egypt. Even John the Baptist, who Luke tells us is 6 months older than the Luke Jesus, seems to have escaped Herod’s horrendous order, supporting the fact that these children were born at different times and in different places.” Who is Jesus : What is Christ Vol 1 by Kristina Kaine

To make sense of this story we also need to keep in mind that Jesus and Christ are different beings. Matthew states it clearly when we read the original Greek. Immediately after the genealogy he writes: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.” In the original Greek it says, tou de iesou christou he gennesis outos ne which more accurately translates as ‘of the yet anointed Jesus the origin thus was’. Christ comes from christos, a Greek word meaning ‘anointed.’ Matthew is saying Jesus is yet [to be] anointed, Christen-ed, which points to the future baptism.

Before that can happen, these two Jesus children will become one. We read about this event in Luke when his parents lost track of him. They found him three days later and he was a changed person.

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. Luke 2: 46

If we put ourselves in Joseph and Mary’s shoes as they entered the temple and found their unearthly, innocent son - autistic in today’s terms - in deep dialogue with the teachers in the temple, we can experience their amazement. These teachers had devoted their whole lives to understanding the sacred texts and here was a twelve year old boy matching their understanding! What was incredible to the parents was perhaps understandable to the teachers who knew what was about to take place when they found the two Jesus boys together in the temple.

The twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. Borgognone, fresco, San Ambrosius in Milan

In this fresco, the Luke Jesus sits on the throne having just assumed the wisdom of the Matthew Jesus, who then leaves the temple. Notice that all eyes are on him as recognition of his mighty sacrifice. Now the innocent Jesus takes on earthly wisdom. This is part of what it takes to prepare for the entrance of the Christ into this earth. This twelve year old boy will grow into a thirty year old man and meet his childhood friend John the Baptist by the river Jordan where the Holy Spirit, which always proceeds the Christ, can enter into him.

First published on Huffington Post with 1.3k likes

When Jesus met Christ

After the enormous response to my last Huffington Post, I want to share some more of the story about why Jesus and Christ are two different entities. They do become one eventually, in full maturity, in a similar way that a child grows in the womb, is born, and develops into an adult over time.

What is the point of understanding the process of Jesus taking into himself the Christ you may ask? Isn’t it simpler and easier just to worship the one being and be done with it? In fact why even differentiate between God, the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit?

If the detail is not important, why does the Bible have so much detail? Surely not so we can boil it all down into a few basic ideas! What is the point of that?

We unlock the Bible when we look into the detail and see its place in human evolution, and in our own lives - that is its point and purpose. The Gospels tell us quite clearly that Jesus began his intimate relationship on this earth with Christ at his Baptism when he was 30 years of age. For this reason, the Gospels of St Mark and St John begin with the baptism of Jesus. St Matthew and St Luke begin with the birth of Jesus and that is a story for another time.

It is also interesting to note that Jesus is not referred to as the “Son of God” until after the baptism.

A thorough study of all four Gospels shows that each writer looks from a different angle at the life of Jesus; the first time their views coincide is with their accounts of the baptism.

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Mt 3:3, see also Mk 1:2-3, Lk 3:4-6, Jn 1:23

The baptism of Jesus is celebrated each year on the sixth of January with the religious festival of Epiphany. The word epiphany is a combination of two words, epi, meaning on, to, and phainein, meaning to show. Epiphany then means to manifest, to come into view. At the baptism of Jesus, facilitated by John the Baptist, the physical appearance of the mighty Cosmic Christ Spirit manifested. How did it manifest? Like a dove. Let’s look into that.

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased." Mk 1:9-10 

We find three main points in the accounts of the baptism; heaven opened, spirit descended as a dove, and the Son of God announced. The dove is the sign of the Holy Spirit, always the precursor to the Son, as the Son is the precursor to the Father. St John explains:

"These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Jn 14:25-26 

If Christ was already present in Jesus why send the dove / Holy Spirit? We can look at these beings as The Trinity, or we can look at them individually to see the different work each one does. We can also ask, if Jesus and Christ were one being all along, was this baptism necessary? Also, why was it suggested that John the Baptist might be the Christ? Read what St Luke says.

As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered them all, "I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Lk 3:15-17 

Jesus was no stranger to these people; he was part of their life working as a carpenter. If Jesus and Christ were one, why would people say John might be Christ? Luke also says they “were in expectation” which means they knew something was going on, just as we sense something is going on in our own lives at times.

What was going on here was the entrance of the mighty Christ being into the earth, or at least the beginning of the process. It was begun by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the most pure person on the whole earth able to withstand the power of these heavenly beings. Taking the Christ into himself took three and half years. It wasn’t until he was nailed to the cross, immobilized physically, that the Christ could enter fully into him, right into his bones - which is why "Not a bone of him shall be broken." Jn 19:36

Understanding these details can give us a greater sense of expectation during Holy Week as we walk to the cross with Jesus knowing him more completely.

First published on Huffington Post  

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Jesus and Christ

Understanding the true meaning of words in the Bible unlocks the meaning of this ancient and sacred text. Before we go any further, we need to look at the central character in the New Testament, Jesus Christ. Is this one being or two different beings?

A survey of the New Testament reveals that we rarely find the names Jesus and Christ expressed together. This is an important observation because not only are they two different beings, they are not interchangeable. We can only understand this if we understand who these beings are. To begin with, one is a human being; the other is a spiritual being.

In the Gospel of John for instance the name Jesus is always used alone except in two places:

Jn 1:17 “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,” and,
Jn 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”

In fact, St Paul reverses the names to Christ Jesus. This could suggest that Christ is a title; like saying President Obama or Queen Elizabeth.

If we read the New Testament with this in mind, a new story unfolds. Here is a man called Jesus Iesous meaning saviour, who becomes Christ Christos meaning anointed, or we could say Jesus becomes Christ-ened. This is our task too, but it is not plain sailing as Matthew points out in his discussion of the pseudochristos or false Christ:

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray.” Mt 24:24

If we take the Bible as a manual for evolving consciousness then we could have a goal to become like Jesus striving to achieve Christ-ened perfection. The New Testament is full of descriptions of the nature of Jesus and how this nature might be attained, or followed. The word follow is akoloutheo that literally means ‘alike-way’ and gives the sense of becoming like Jesus, copying the way he is. The way he is has been greatly misunderstood.

When considering human consciousness it isn’t enough to say human beings are conscious and have consciousness. This state of being awake and aware clearly differs from person to person and changes within each of us throughout the day. Nor is it sufficient to say things like; I am health conscious, I have a national consciousness of shared beliefs and feelings, or I lose consciousness if I faint, or the way I think represents the kind of consciousness that I have. This is generalizing, skimming the surface of what it means to be conscious.

To be fully aware of our consciousness means to consider it in detail. Human consciousness has three core activities: feeling, thinking, and willing. We each use these activities differently, and in different combinations.

These three activities actually take place in the human soul, psuche. We form our feelings, thoughts and actions in our soul and express them in our body. The more aware of this we are, the more conscious we are.

In the biblical Greek there are more than thirty different words for these three activities. If we look up “An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words with their precise meanings for English readers” by W.E. Vine, M.A. we find fifteen words for think, five for feel and seven or more for act, commit, do (will). Each particular word reveals a specific quality of human consciousness, and a particular aspect of our soul, and it is in the specific use of these words that the real wisdom of the Bible unfolds.

Aristotle (384BC-322BC) was among the first to write about the human soul. Prior to this, it wasn’t necessary to write anything about the soul because the soul wasn’t differentiated into different activities as it is today - pointing to the fact that human consciousness changes.

Aristotle was aware that a differentiation was taking place which led him to described the soul as having three qualities that he called: Orektikon, Kinetikon, and Dianoetikon.

1. Orektikon refers to desires, appetites, sensations, impulses which is the soul activity of feeling.
2. Kinetikon means to set in motion, to try every way, reasoning, which is the soul activity of thinking.
3. Dianoetikon is about intention that is the soul activity of will.

If we take these things into account, the difference between Christ and Jesus, representing the evolution of consciousness, makes a lot of sense. Jesus had to prepare himself by becoming more aware of his consciousness, giving him the ability to be as objective as possible when he was treated the way he was.

Understanding this, we can follow Jesus on his journey to Golgotha and see how the human being makes way for the spiritual being to arise. Jesus was able to bear all things through his ability to be fully aware of his feeling, thinking and will, just as we are able to bear life’s difficulties when we control our feeling, think clearly and act consciously.

First published on Huffington Post - causing quite a stir, hundreds of people commented.