The sword of which Christ speaks is called `viveka.' It is discrimination, or Discernment. Read Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms if you need to brush up. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is the Sword of Manjushi, and I recommend at least researching THIS (even if all you do is google an image).
Christ did exactly as HE HIMSELF had already done in a fairly well-known prior incarnation. As Sri Krishna, he taught Arjuna what to do on the battlefield of life, where even friends and family were gathered, AT WAR ~ and often at ODDS with one another, one way ~ or another.
As a shrink of mine summed up Krishna's entire discourse once:
KRISHNA TOLD Arjuna to PUNT
But if you don't have good discernment, you will not only fail to recognize the Christ, standing right beside you [the Apostle Andrew did just that] ... you will also fail to recognize Him in today's world.
Hence a majority of Christians [but usually identified by their vociferousness and bold claims of being `born again'] do not know ~ or even really know much about ~ their `Savior' ... nor do they have the ability, as yet developed within their thought processes, to recognize any of the other Great Ones.
Without discernment [viveka, Manjushri's SWORD of Truth, as referenced in the quote from Matthew] you will be able to say all sorts of things about Christ, Christed Jesus or even the disciple & Initiate Jesus [Jesus
chrestos] ... but it will be a bit like the average 4-yr-old deciding to school you in advanced algebra-trig, or calculus. Though not theoretically impossible, it is extremely highly unlikely, dubious and rare.
Thus, while a vast majority of people who yap on about Jesus/Christ and Scripture-pick do not actually have the discernment, or ability to present the Truth of the matter, this certainly does not stop them from *thinking* they do, or from feeling compelled to
tell the rest of us how WE should read the Bible, or regard this wonderful REVELATION [from Genesis to the Book of the same name, inclusive ~ or even just the New Testament Gospels, Pauline letters, etc.].
Early on, and certainly here & there ever since MY first post at CR [wait, Interfaith.org] ... I have occasionally come across with all the zeal, all the blind fanatical devotion and every bit the unreasonable, bash-others-over-the-head approach which turns Jesus the Christ ~ and this whole `in God's name' [or in Jesus' name] business ~ into
just another weapon to brandish. Except that when you beat a person over the head in this manner, all you really do is reveal what a fool YOU are, and how much YOU have left to learn - and practice - on the way to Godhood & the Godhead.
I take for granted that we would all like to acknowledge, approach and even - once we realize it is both possible and Destined -
be more like Jesus the Christ ... or, alternately, some other Divine Messenger, Emissary from the Godhead or other Noble figure, be s/he a spiritual/religious leader or otherwise. Many folks would prefer to emulate a non-religious figure - a humanitarian, philosopher or scientist - yet the desire is similar. We sense and wish to respond to the same Calling to BE all that we can BE. And this even
exceeds the accomplishments and MIRACLE-WORKING of the New Testament, Gospel accounts of the Christ Himself (although the Christian usually ignores this portion of what Jesus TAUGHT us).
But you see, I certainly could discern a great deal, ten years or so ago, when I noticed a few folks at this site [and elsewhere] walking all over each other's backs, and I'm sure, burning the midnight oil, all to assure ME that my notion of THEosophical Mahamtas, including both Jesus
and the Christ ~ is unfounded, inaccurate, philosophically unsound and JUST PLAIN WRONG.
So folks, next time you discover someone who, while on the one hand, claims that the Sun and planets and the rest of Cosmos orbits OUR little blue-green orb of wonder [magnificent as it may be] ... yet on the other, also assures you that no such CHIMERAS as Masters and Bodhisattvas, arhats and Buddhas
actually exist ... or certainly not as you have come to imagine them, I say BE WARY. And immediately watch that person, to notice what it is they're driving at, and how they go about attempting to refute your claims. For what I think you'll [often, if not always] see is that in fact, it is their own theology, or philosophy, or spiritual worldview, which is the more lacking.
Why? Because if they had the ability [already developed] as some of us do, to exercise that ability of Consciousness which allows us to DISCERN Truth from falsehood, they would never, EVER deny the existence of the Mahatmas and Masters, Buddha and Arhats, Teachers and Spirit Guides more prolific - on the one hand - than perhaps all the GRAINS of sand you've ever walked on, while on the other hand, these are the highest authorities on spiritual and occult matters alive today on Planet Earth (if numbering only 63 in terms of the spiritual Hierarchy, and perhaps a few hundred as far as High Initiates actively working toward the goal of Planetary Peace and Humanity's hastened Awakening).
There will also be no denial of the things I have said on these forums regarding the Christ, the Galilean Adept and the current, past or future Buddhas ... as anyone will surely agree who has once glimpsed the same Truths as taught by Theosophical sources, whether these same Truths have been approached by another esoteric system (and there are many) ~ or whether in fact they have been realized via exoteric religions under WHATEVER system of codification and discipline.
We may certainly disagree over a particular or two, or as to some of the details which, precisely, determine either a Western or an Eastern approach, or constitute a more orthodox approach vs. a more modern, revised or reformed approach ... even while both [or all] can be equally useful and vital, for different individuals [or even the same individual] at various stages along THE SPIRITUAL PATH.
But unless a person can come to acknowledge that in fact, yes, there is but ONE Spiritual Path of Awakening, experienced differently as surely as you & I standing side by side will have a slightly different visual angle [quite literally] on the same distant scene ... that person remains unaware of even the beginnings of the Path of Wisdom, and/or lives in denial ~ often kicking against the pricks, as we have either experienced, witnessed or discovered.
If you know
anything about the incarnation of Jesus of Nazareth after the Crucifixion ... then you at least know that he was Apollonius of Tyana. And if you are familiar with the work of this Great Adept [
sic], you may also know that what he did involved the location, placement, magnetizing and/or re-magnetizing/re-vitalization of many talismans ~ some of which served immediately, others since then, and others yet to come in a profound spiritual capacity affecting our entire planet [and all Kingdoms, all Life-waves and Lifeforms contained therein, including Devic & Human most notably].
But what can ANYONE here tell me of such work, of JESUS in his next birth?
For certainly,
IF your powers of discernment are in operation, you have no question whatsoever as to the veracity of what I have just shared. And if you are also even slightly in tune with this Adept, TODAY, then you will also be able to ASK HIM, should you
have a fleeting moment of doubt or uncertainty ... and again, HIS OWN WORDS and confirmation will surely return you to the awareness that is already, otherwise, so *solid*.
So do tell, if you know of such work ... but if you do not, perhaps you will find it interesting to read up, listen and perhaps learn about such from someone else [skinker] who ~ as best as I would gather (w/o further investigation) ~ must almost certainly be called to something of the same (as was Apollonius, if in a much greater capacity, as his work probably took him across most of Europe & Asia, as did that of Jesus ... and perhaps also to the Americas and other continents).
If you are going to challenge others to
go get a line on the Truth, as so regarded by such an one as Jesus of Nazareth, or the Christ, or the Buddha, etc. ... please be prepared to DO SO YOURSELF. For I know a great many of folks here, for whom I may feel all the love in the world - and toward whom I may be ACTIVELY trying to practice tolerance, patience, diplomacy & co-Measurement {*look it up*} - yet whose opinions, comments & postings I must certainly take with a chunk of salt ... for the reasons already stated.
In short, since I know full well that Masters and Mahatmas, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas ~ exist (if not quite as we sometimes imagine them) ... and since I know a bit more than that, including enough detail to keep ME busy [in both emulation, and continued learning-mode, via OBservation] for many lifetimes to come ... the last thing I will EVER need, from most folks here, is any kind of a lesson on "what Jesus really taught," or
what Jesus was really like ~ or in fact, what True Christianity was like in 75BCE, at the death of Jesus, or before, or afterward.
Remind me to be polite? Sure, we all can use that from time to time. And correct me if I give a date of 1066 for Columbus finding America, yet 1492 for the Battle of Hastings, ok? But when you know no better, don't try and take me down a peg, or a notch (or do the same with anyone else), for all you've really done - regardless as to what others perceive - is prove to me your own ignorance, or nescience. And that's not necessarily bad ... but I have to wonder, what possibly could you be hoping to accomplish by such? Or, as I sometimes wonder about various folks or postings,
Do you even realize what your doing, or how you're coming across? Perhaps this is the very problem!
Yes, there are things (as perhaps the above) which some of us can say, which make us instantly appear as nothing more than smug and religiously or spiritually self-righteous. Then again, there is the same possibility when you listen to an accomplished physicist lecture on his findings, or when an actress begins to describe how wonderful it was to play such-and-such a role. Where modesty fails, and where humility goes out the window, it begins to cease to matter whether the person in question is even telling the Truth or not, for while the subject may be near & dear to us all, the very delivery can become so grating, so unpleasant and so unbearable that even a lecture-hall packed with would-be followers or converts will slowly, one by one, stand up & empty ... in disgust.
So, as Thomas would sometime remind me, "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar," and at least in this much, he is certainly right!
Now, if only he understood that HIS OWN mission here at CR/Interfaith.org is by no means the same as MY motivation for being here ... and that "catching flies" just really kind of says it all, regarding how HE regards his fellow human beings [Catholic or non-Catholic, either way] vs. how
I so regard others, perhaps he would also see that Christ Jesus did not send us forth, either then OR now, to CATCH FLIES. For the choice of visuals, in this case, pretty much says it all ... and although I know precisely whom & what some folks worship, I don't usually find it necessary to remind others that they tend to worship objects [like widescreen tvs, automobiles and cell phones], or of course, BA'AL [Beelzebub, Lord of Flies] ~ without the former understanding precisely what is our true relationship to the latter (and to other, perhaps equally unsavory or confusing manifestations of the One and Only God that has ever existed).
Yeah, it's not just politically incorrect, it's also quite rude to say things like, "Hey, I'm just here to trap flies, since that's my interpretation of what God sent me out to do," thus anyone who does recognize and try to respond to his or her own higher Calling must continue, day in & day out, to seek further guidance and clarification as to just what this Mission might really entail. If you think Christ or
chrestos Jesus simply glimpsed the Beautific Vision one day and decided, AHA!, here's the way to Serve and Honor God, then of course, you're at least half-right. But you will quickly move into the half-wrong category (which is not so great) if you also think, Yeah, I'll bet he never questioned things again, and from that moment forward, understood PRECISELY what to do at every juncture, every turn, every new/old meeting with a new/old human being ... and Friend-in-Spirit.
So, like the chap does in the movie Pi, you may need to CHECK YOUR ASSUMPTIONS ... and, if you're wise, you'll also CHECK YOUR AGENDAS at the door, for if/when you understand step ONE regarding Spiritual Service, you will also realize, from a very TRUE and helpful perspective (if you can take it, and stand it), you are actually LOW PERSON on the totem pole ~ if not quite the very lowest (and sometimes, even that is true). As such humility and clear INSIGHT into [y]our true condition can only open doors and reveal to you something of the Path which we ALL must tread ... you may also gain valuable insight into how to SERVE others, as increasingly, CLAIR VOYANCE will show you that this is, from one pov, the ONLY reason any of us are here at this time, incarnate, on this planet, during the time of the Reappearance of the Christ.
If you have difficulty making connections, it might be time to return to the ground floor, step OUTSIDE of your current (figurative, or literal) dwelling-structure, and just for a moment, CLOSE the Door. For when some of us can no longer (if ever we could) recognize the Christ w/in, it may just be time to come OUT from our momentary darkness, behold the LIGHT (and the Beauty and the Wonder of Horatio's planet) and smiling, with fresh Affirmation, begin the Work AGAIN & ANEW.
Thus I have reinvented myself as a Christian, as a Buddhist, as a Theosophist and of course, as a PERSON, several times over. And I will not cease to do this, in this or any future lifetime for as far as my mind's eye can see ... even after the experience of the Renunciation & Resurrection/Ascension, afaik or can imagine. If we do not die daily, what chance have we of EVER being reborn in the fashion of a
chrestos-become-
Christos, as we find with Jesus, with Paul, with John the Baptist and John the Evangel,
et al?
