Re-Membering
“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. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.” John 14:25-29
Buddha’s path is described as having three characteristics: wisdom, morality and meditation. The last three steps, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration lead us through the final meditation or samadhi stage. Samadhi means complete concentration, communion with God.
We will look at the final two steps together this month so that we finish the series this year (2004). When Buddha gave these steps he had in mind to prepare us for the coming of Christ, as he was also preparing himself to assist in the wondrous birth from the spiritual worlds.
Right Mindfulness will “bring to your remembrance all that I (Christ) have said to you”. Right Concentration is the discipline to “let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
It becomes clear that as we integrate these last two steps we will need courage and steadfastness. We are also told that we will have assistance; a mediator, a counsellor, who will assist us to be mindful. The Holy Spirit will cause us to remember; it will put into our mind all that Christ has said … over all time. Our mind will be very full.
Do we give the Holy Spirit the prominence that we must? For we cannot have Christ without the Holy Spirit. We cannot go directly to Christ, the Christ force is too powerful, it must be mediated. Using the Greek we can read Matthew Ch 1 verse 18, “She was found having the Holy Spirit in her womb” and in verse 20 “For the thing in her is the Holy Spirit.” Our soul must contain the Holy Spirit before we can give birth to Christ.
During the weeks of Advent each December we can build Imaginations of the Holy Spirit bringing to our remembrance all that Christ has said. In this passage he points directly to one of the most significant things that he said, which was, “Peace be with you.” Whenever we feel disturbed we should muster the most vivid imagination of Christ standing in front of us speaking these words, “My Peace I give to you”. These words should flow into our whole being like a gentle breeze, blowing away any disturbance and filling us with the holy peace of Christ.
We cannot walk the path without this peace - a peace that passes understanding; a peace that abides in the hearts of those who live in the eternal; A peace that makes all things new.[1]
“The path that leads to the truth, beauty and morality was and is called the path to the initia, to the beginnings of all things.”[2] says Rudolf Steiner.
Right Mindfulness means that we remind ourselves that the ‘beginnings of all things’ is within us. Incarnation after incarnation we have walked the path to the beginnings of all things – like the prodigal son.
Initiation turned homeward when Christ called Lazarus from the tomb. Now we must seek initiation with full consciousness. It is our ability to be mindful and focussed that will prepare us for this path to the initia.
No longer depending on unconscious methods of meditation but also sharpening our thinking in Right Concentration.
Also, we become aware of the origin of things. Not just the esoteric secrets but the origin of, for example, feelings that rise up in us. Feelings that will remain instincts unless we are conscious of why they arise: Do they stir for karmic reasons? Do they rise from unknown origins? Only the Holy Spirit can bring these things to remembrance, and only when we are peaceful. After all, remembering is simply a re-membering of fragmentation; unifying and making whole of all that is separated. May the peace that passes understanding fill you with joy for the new-born, self-born self.