About
Edgar Cayce | Edgar
Cayce On...
The Christ Consciousness
Association for Research and Enlightenment, Inc.
Oftentimes,
when individuals hear the terms "Christ" or "Jesus," right away
they may fall into preconceived notions based upon their
upbringing or particular religious background. Throughout
history, the perspectives people have had on the life and
teachings of Jesus have been varied, oftentimes even at odds.
Sometimes individuals involved in so called "new age" philosophies
or comparative religious studies have decided that Jesus
was "just a teacher." Was he only a prophet? Others
have decided to disregard him altogether. Members of non-Christian
faiths may have ignored his life and ministry. Was he
a man who committed blasphemy by thinking himself a God? Others
may have said, "Well, Christians have been cruel to me and
therefore I'm not interested in Jesus." Even among those
who call themselves Christian there is not complete agreement
about the meaning of Jesus' life and work. These disagreements
have resulted in dozens of denominational factions, charges
of heresy or breaking away from the faith, and countless
wars. The Edgar Cayce material, however, offers an approach
that suggests there is a way of looking at Jesus' life in
a manner that unifies all of humankind rather than dividing
it.
Because
of our focus on the material things in life, much of
humankind has forgotten its true birthright as a child
of a loving God. From Cayce's perspective, we are not
simply physical bodies, instead we are spiritual beings
who are having a physical experience entailing personal
growth and development. Many individuals have incorrectly
assumed that the goal of being in the earth is to simply
reach heaven, find enlightenment, or somehow "get out
of the earth." And yet, this is a perspective quite different
from that contained in the Cayce material. Instead, Cayce
believed that as children of God, our mission was to
somehow bring spirit into the earth.
The
dynamics of our deep and literal connection to God can
be found throughout scripture, beginning with Genesis
when we are told that God made humankind in the Creator's
image. But our relationship with God as our Parent is
perhaps no more clearly illustrated than in the Parable
of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24). This parable describes
the journey of the soul: we were with God in the beginning,
through the power of our free will we were able to make
choices that were not necessarily in perfect accord with
the Creator. And, at some point, we will "arise" and
decide to return to God, regaining our inheritance and
experiencing our true relationship with Him. One of the
readings beautifully describes the spiritual nature of
humankind in this way:
"For
ye are a corpuscle in the body of God; thus a co-creator
with Him, in what ye think, in what ye do." Edgar
Cayce reading #2794-3
The readings
state that God desires to be expressed in the world through
us. The example set by Jesus is apparently a "pattern" of
wholeness for each and every soul.
Regardless of an individual's
religious or personal beliefs, this Christ pattern exists
in potential upon the very fiber of their being. It is
that part of each of us that is in perfect accord with
the Creator and is simply waiting to find expression
in our lives. This Christ pattern was further described
as "the awareness within each soul, imprinted in pattern
on the mind and waiting to be awakened by the will, of
the soul's oneness with God" (5749-14), and its manifestation
is the eventual destiny of each and every soul. With
this in mind, the readings present Jesus as our "Elder
brother," a soul who came to show each one of us the
way back to our spiritual Source by perfectly manifesting
the laws of the Creator in the 
earth.
Just
as an older sibling can sometimes provide insight and
counsel into some of life's difficulties ( because
he or she went through them first ) Jesus as Elder
brother can assist us in facing life's challenges. What
may surprise individuals is that this fact has nothing
to do with religion, it has to do with spirituality and
discovering our true relationship with God - a relationship
we share with Jesus. The readings not only affirm that
Jesus was the Son of God, but they also state the same
thing about each and everyone of us. In other words: Jesus
was like each one of us and, ultimately, each one of
us is destined to be like Him.
I
and my Father are one. Then they took up stones again
to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works
have I shewed you from my Father; for which of these
do you stone me? They answered him, saying, For a good
work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because
that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered
them, Is it not written in your law, "I said, Ye are
gods." John 10:30-34
Although
many of us may be repelled at first by such a suggestion,
evidence for this premise is found in both the Bible and
the Edgar Cayce material. When speaking of humankind,
Jesus, himself, states, "They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world," (John 17:16). Surprisingly,
perhaps, a Jewish businessman came to this very conclusion
in questions that he posed in a Cayce reading:
Q.
Jesus was made perfect, God came into His Own. We are
men not yet perfect, god not yet equal to God. He represents
our so-called future, the path to the Throne?
A. Correct. He is the path to the throne, in that we, man,
must become as the One as directs the way.
Q. ...Like us, Jesus was both God and Man until He became God
alone?
A. Correct.
Reading
900-100
Before
becoming offended by this incredible possibility, shouting
out charges of heresy, or believing the idea to be
the work of the devil, we need to look closely at the
life of Jesus. Not only will we find that He was charged
with blasphemy for this very claim, but we will find
that He stated this truth for each and every one of
us:
For
indeed in Him, the Father-God, ye move and have thy
being. Act like it! Don't act like ye think ye are
a god! Ye may become such, but when ye do ye think
not of thyself. For what is the pattern? He thought
it not robbery to make Himself equal with God, but
He acted like it in the earth. He made Himself of no
estate that you, through His grace, through His mercy,
through His sacrifice might have an advocate with that
First Cause, God; that first principle, spirit... Reading
4083-1
The
law Jesus is referring to is the Old Testament, specifically
the 82nd Psalm which asserts that not only are we God's
children, but we are also "gods" (to be sure in-the-making),
as well. Although some individuals may be offended with
the statement that everyone is a part of God, in recent
years more and more people working with esoteric spiritual
traditions have come to that very conclusion. Unfortunately,
oftentimes those individuals who accept this premise have
forgotten the appropriate attitudinal stance that should
accompany it. In reality, this claim is not so much
true as a verbal statement made about oneself. Instead,
it is only true as we become god-like toward one another:
For
the Master, Jesus, even the Christ, is the pattern for
every man in the earth, whether he be Gentile or Jew,
Parthenian or Greek. For all have the pattern, whether
they call on that name or not; but there is no other
name given under heaven whereby men may be saved from
themselves. Reading
3528-1
When
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life,"(John
14:6) it was not a call to religious conversion; but
rather an opportunity for us to realize that His life
could serve as an example for each one of us. Regardless
of our religious background, in Jesus' life we can find
a pattern of how to live, enabling each of us to overcome
our personal weaknesses, our shortcomings, even our problems.
In the language of the Cayce readings:
Q-5. What
is the main purpose of this incarnation?
A-5. To glorify the Christ Consciousness
in the earth . in the lives of those with whom ye come
in contact, and to live the same thyself.
Reading
2441-4
On
one occasion, a thirty-eight-year-old male who primarily
desired additional information on how he might better
manifest his life's purpose, asked Edgar Cayce for clarification
on these words "Jesus" and "Christ":
Q. What
is the meaning and significance of the words Jesus
and Christ...?
A. Just
as indicated. Jesus is the man . the activity, the mind,
the relationships that He bore to others. Yea, He was mindful
of friends, He was sociable, He was loving, He was kind,
He was gentle. He grew faint, He grew weak . and yet gained
that strength that He has promised, in becoming the Christ,
by fulfilling and overcoming the world! Ye are made strong
. in body, in mind, in soul and purpose . by that power
in Christ. The power, then, is in the Christ. The pattern is
in Jesus. Reading
2533-7
This transformative
power of the Christ Consciousness is awakened as individuals
act in accord with the pattern set by the example of Jesus'
life. In fact, this awakening is the essential purpose
for which each soul enters into life:
In terms
of how this Christ Consciousness could unfold in an individual's
life, one person was told:
What
[then] will ye do with this man thy elder brother, thy
Christ, who . that thy Destiny might be sure in Him .
has shown thee the more excellent way. Not in mighty
deeds of valor, not in the exaltation of thy knowledge
or thy power; but in the gentleness of the things of
the spirit: Love, kindness, longsuffering, patience;
these thy brother hath shown thee that thou, applying
them in thy associations with thy fellow man day by day,
here a little, there a little, may become one with Him
as He has destined that thou shouldst be! Wilt thou separate
thyself? For there be nothing...that may separate thee
from the love of thy God, of thy brother, save thine
own self! Reading
849-11
From
Cayce's perspective, Jesus is the Elder brother for all
of humankind, deeply committed to assisting all souls
in reawakening to the awareness of their oneness with
God. This Jesus is not interested in religious conversion,
denominationalism, or even mighty personal accomplishments.
Instead, He is simply interested in how we treat one
another. With this in mind, even in the midst of our
diversity as a human family, we share a common spiritual
heritage. We are all Children of the same God. We are
all part of the one spiritual Source. And, we are all
destined to return to our Creator, our Mother/Father,
our God.
Adapted from:
Twelve Lessons in Personal Spirituality
by Kevin J. Todeschi
