Empty Thyself and I shall fill thee

This single sentence is an important message for people on the Spiritual path. The Spirit is not a quantity and it is other than being quantitative. Spirit cannot be defined by the mind. It is beyond mind.

'Blessed are the poor in spirit,' is a statement of Jesus the Christ, but it does not imply lacking something, it means being humble.

For us, to be poor implies not to have money. That would be economic poverty. Likewise, the idea of emptying oneself, as far as our minds can understand, is a physical displacement of content.

Far from this is the idea of the Spirit, which is implied in the above single-sentence message. It is Consciousness what is to be taken into account here in our understanding of this statement.

When referring to the New Testament we should be aware that there is a difference between the name Christ and Christ-Consciousness. This fact was repeatedly emphasized by Jesus himself in many of His declarations as recorded in the New Testament. He never regarded Himself as a person, nor did He ever indicate that a person was speaking when He spoke. He always referred to 'Him that sent me'. John 9:4 (KJV).The Spirit that spoke through Him was not one that was of time.

Here is a most significant statement of Jesus. "Before Abraham was, I am,” John 8:58 (KJV).   Grammatically the statement makes no sense. But in John 8:58, that is the real Christ that spoke. The present precedes the past. How could it be? And that is what is implied in saying, "Before Abraham was, I am." The Spirit is a present and not an event or content or a creature in the passage of time which is usually dissected into the past, present and future. The Spirit has no past, no present and no future. And this is the Christ-Consciousness.

Jesus was perpetually in unison with the Spirit, drew sustenance from the Spirit and operated upon the Law of the Spirit in the world or the realm of matter. Anything that we speak of in regard to the Spirit has to be empirical (based on experience) and we have to shed the prejudice of earthly ways of thinking even before we take the first step in the practice of the way of the Spirit. All prejudices have to be shed. This is one of the conditions of emptying ourselves.

In society much is based on certain prejudices (preconceived opinions). But the Spirit does not care for societal structures. Spirit is superior in its value and content. To be spiritual is hard to conceive for people who are fully engrossed in the matter realm.

Jesus never came to rule the world of Caesar, as he put it. "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."The Christ-Consciousness stands far above this common way of give-and-take thinking. It is from this superior and sublime point of view that we have to understand what it is to empty oneself and to be filled by the Spirit. When we ponder “empty thyself and you shall be filled, we cannot think of a material substance that fills us, but Spirit”. It is Spirit that can fill the emptied vessel of human personality.

Know that Spirit cannot be thought of, because the Spirit is what underlies thought. Even before we start thinking, Spirit is there behind thought impelling us to think. So there is no such thing as thinking the Spirit.

This wonderful statement 'Empty thyself and I shall fill thee' is complemented by another equally wonder-statement of His, 'The kingdom of heaven is within you'.

 How can the heaven be within us? We are such a small frail personality, a little body? Yet, it is said by the Christ. It is something like saying that the ocean is in a drop, which is unthinkable. All these inscrutable statements of Jesus appear to be inscrutable, because we cannot understand what the Spirit is, from the point of view of which he always spoke.

The way in which we are thinking is different from the way that we have to conceive spiritually, or at least non-materially. It is from this stand point that the kingdom of heaven can be within us. The Kingdom of heaven is not a physical empire. It is Spirit, and the Spirit can be contained everywhere. It does not require space to exist. Therefore, it can be wholly present even in the smallest of atoms.

All these phrases are not explained in the Bible. Great spiritual masters like Christ, Krishna or the Buddha do not comment on their statements. They make suggestive statements which have to be expounded by lesser minds later on, for the sake of being understood by the ordinary mind.

So, from the point of view of the Spirit, what would it mean to empty one-self and to be filled by it? The accumulations, mental impressions that have amassed on our mind have to be gradually shed. We can do this by observing our mind and let go of thoughts that are not useful. The objective accumulations over the Spirit have to be cast asunder in order that the Spirit may blossom forth in its fullness. 'To empty one-self', therefore, cannot mean anything else. It means to stand by the Spirit and not to be dominated by any material value.

Here is another statement. We believe that by giving we lose. But, the Spirit says that by giving we gain. Luke 6:38, Give, and it shall be given unto you. So, everywhere we find that the law of the Spirit is different from the law of matter. The law of the Christ is different from the law of Caesar. The law of God is different from the law of man. This is wonderful!

Now, to empty oneself would be the tendency to stand by the Spirit, and this tendency to stand by the Spirit is to recognize the character of the Spirit in the world of matter.

We have lost consciousness of the Spirit. We are conscious primarily of matter. To be aware of the Spirit is to be aware of its characteristics simultaneously. We cannot think of fire without thinking of light and heat. The idea of fire is automatically associated with the idea of heat and light. Likewise, the idea of the Spirit is automatically associated with Omnipresence and a capacity to permeate and penetrate through everything.

When God thinks through man, we may call that person a superman. Such was Christ, Buddha and Krishna. But all the great wonderful masters of humankind were thoroughly misunderstood; their teachings were never understood, but misrepresented, misapplied and abused to the doom of man, towards which we seem to be unfortunately heading.

But God is great, and everything shall be well in the realm of God whose Omniscient eyes see everything. The recognition of the Spirit is therefore, the recognition of God's omnipresent existence. And to be filled with God, is the same as to be filled with the Spirit. For that, we have to empty ourselves of all the externalized prejudice of objective thinking. Above all we need to still our mind.

We should not hang on objects, for our sustenance. “Man does not live on bread alone”, Matthew 4:4, which means to say we do not live merely by the stuff of the world. We have something in us which is superior to even the entire quantity of the cosmos. The Spirit is larger than the universe itself. The universe is after all a quantity. The entire Universe is floating in Spirit.

With this background of spiritual refreshment of our thoughts we have to contemplate daily the mystery of creation, the majesty of God, the greatness of spiritual life, the stupendousness of yoga or oneness with God and the glorious consummation that lies ahead of us which is supreme Liberation, Christ-Consciousness, God-realization or God union.

A Non Dual understanding of the Cosmos

Spirituality or mysticism is mental discipline, inquiry and the quest for ultimate Reality.

In our current era, there are millions of people striving to understand higher realities in order to support their spiritual well being, What is required in this endeavour is an accurate understanding of ultimate Reality and our relationship to it. This needs to be followed by a calm concentrated effort to allow our innate qualities to be revealed and then appropriately acted upon. We also need to let go of our mistaken sense of self identity in order to directly experience our pure essence which is always a unit of pure, ultimate Reality.

Yet living in the world we need to daily make choices, ponder possibilities, use our will power and mind and perform physical activities. In order to live effectively, we should perform all our actions wisely and skillfully.

To nurture our spiritual awakening is keeping in mind, that everything we do and think is a spiritual activity. We need to act as though our spiritual and material life and the circumstances, into which they bring us, are one. Which leads us into a non dual understanding of ‘(one not two)’ the cosmos.

Only one Reality exists. Life, nature and all processes express in that one Reality, which is absolute or pure. It expresses as energy and enlivens universes. The realm of nature in which we live is as spiritual as any place in, or outside of, a space-time existence.

This ultimate Reality can be partially known by the intellect, more fully understood through the process of intuition and finally realized through direct experience.

However, when we are not conscious of our relationship with ultimate Reality, and its supportive life enhancing processes, we say that we are lucky. Yet when we are awakened to the source, we will realize that what we need can be spontaneously provided for by nature’s processes, which we do not cause to occur, but which spontaneously come to us. This is known as grace.

How does spiritual awakening occur? It happens easily and naturally since in reality we awaken to our true nature as spititual beings. We all have moments of insight and clarity when we are open to the process. What confine the awareness of our true nature are erroneous ideas and opinions such as thinking, I am non else than body and mind, flawed perceptions, I am the doer, lack of discernment between what is real and what is not, troublesome sub conscious influences, mistaken perception of self-identity.

These are some ideas of how to overcome that which confines our awareness. Know the difference between what is true and an opinion or belief. Rigid opinions can cause mental confusion and interfere with rational thinking. Many religious, social and political ideas are only opinions maintained because of habit, personal bias, resistance to change, a desire to be accepted by people who have similar beliefs or to influence the opinions of and/ or behavior of others, inability or reluctance to know the truth.

There is one universal mind common to everyone. Our mind is part of that universal mind, which means that we have access to it.

The existence of cosmic or universal mind was known to philosophers in India and other parts of Asia several thousand years ago. During the past two hundred years, many teachers of metaphysics taught that mental attitudes, desires and beliefs and expectations interact with cosmic mind, which is inclined to produce and attract corresponding circumstances.

Knowing the relationship between mental states and personal circumstances provides opportunities for people who can be decisive to actively participate in producing and attracting ideal events, resources, relationships and circumstances that can enhance their lives.  

Calm, confident intention to have what is wanted is sufficient to have a positive response from the cosmic mind. The results are not magical or contrary to natural laws of cause and effect. Just as physical actions produce intended effects, mental influences produce intended effects.

What needs to be done is to clearly define one’s needs, desires, goals and purposes that when actualized (produced or attracted by our action), will enhance our life and the lives of others who are affected by what is done. It is a good idea to write out a plan and to do the practical steps to have the results we desire. Above all we need to trust cosmic mind to do for us what we cannot do ourselves. Never forget to be receptive and responsive to unplanned fortunate events and circumstances that life can and will provide for us. Always be established in your pure essence and relationship with ultimate reality while attending to duties and relationships with others, be humble and thankful. Don’t be discouraged when circumstances don’t unfold as you thought they would. Avoid thinking that you don’t have time to nurture your spiritual growth and awaken to Self-realization.

We need to wisely choose our ethical behaviors for every situation and circumstance to promote harmonious relationships that are conducive to psychological well-being and spiritual awareness.

The most ethical characteristic is compassion and relating to people with full awareness of their spiritual essence. Cheerfulness, optimism, confidence, faith, orderly thinking, emotional stability, generosity, constructive purposefulness and having friendly enjoyable relationships, nourishes physical, psychological and spiritual well being.

Exploring Reincarnation

Let us explore the Spiritual Journey of John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ.

An ordinary material minded person’s consciousness is limited to the satisfaction of hunger, thirst and minor necessities of the body including gratification of desires.

An intellectual person spreads his consciousness to explore the secret caves of the mind, life and surrounding human existence.

A spiritual person unites his consciousness with the all pervading Christ Consciousness.

Could it be that Jesus the man lived through other incarnations before he reached the expanded, exalted state as Jesus the Christ?

1 Kings 19:19 (NIV)

19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.

Jesus spoke of John the Baptist:” Matthew 17:12-13 (NIV)

12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

It was Elisha incarnate as Jesus, who could recognize his master in John the Baptist from their past association as Elijah and Elisha. In Matthew 11:11, Jesus referred to John as the greatest of the prophets born of woman.

When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain and Moses and Elijah appeared - (Jesus and three of his apostles, Peter, James, John, go to a mountain, the Mount of Transfiguration to pray. On the mountain, Jesus begins to shine with bright rays of light. Then the prophets Moses and Elijah appear next to him and he speaks with them).

In Christian teachings, the Transfiguration is a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.

Both John the Baptist and Jesus in their former incarnation as Elijah and Elisha had found complete Liberation.

The hand of the Lord was on Elijah 1 Kings 18:46 and the Lord said unto him: “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.

16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.

Thus God directly appointed Elijah to be the spiritual teacher of Elisha. The Supreme always designates the channel through which the disciple shall receive instructions and liberation. Elijah finding Elisha plowing with twelve of yoke of oxen is significant, since Elisha, later as Jesus was to plow the hard soil of human consciousness with twelve disciples to bring about the harvest of divine wisdom and salvation to many souls.

To cast a cloth mantle on another has no transforming power in and of itself. But the casting of a master’s garment over the consciousness of an advanced disciple is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

When it came time for the Lord to end the earthly incarnation of Elijah, the great prophet said to Elisha: 2 Kings 2:9-15 (NKJV)

9 And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?”

Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

10 So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” 11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. 13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.

15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him.

2 Kings 13:20-21(NIV)

20 Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. 21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

Jesus imbued life into the shell of his dead body, spiritualizing and immortalizing it, so also the decaying bones of the departed Elisha retained life reviving power.

John 3:11-12 (KJV)

11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

To understand the magnitude of a divine incarnation, it is necessary to understand the source of consciousness that is incarnate in the divine incarnation.

 Jesus spoke of his consciousness when he proclaimed, (John 10:30 (KJV) I and my Father are one. (John 14:11) Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me. Those who unite their consciousness to God know both the transcendent and the immanent nature of spirit.

Insight into the cosmic principle of re-incarnation:

The cosmic principle of re-incarnation with the law of karma or cause and effect, sowing and reaping, is well known by Hindus, Buddhists, the Essenes, Gnostics and early Christian theologians, as well as philosophers of East and West. Yet for centuries it has been denied by the church orthodoxy although from the common understanding of Jesus’ life, the teaching of reincarnation is evident in many passages in the Old and New Testament, including statements made by Jesus himself in Revelation 3:12 (KJV), “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out.”

The meaning of this is that when a soul overcomes, by spiritual discipline, his desires through contact with matter, that soul becomes a pillar in the everlasting mansion of Cosmic Consciousness.

The early church and re-incarnation:

The early Christian Church accepted the doctrine of reincarnation. Church fathers like Clements of Alexandria, Origen, (both 3^rd century), St. Jerome (5^th century) were in accord with the doctrine. Here God speaks to the great prophet Jeremiah, born 655 B.C. when he was about age17. (Jeremiah lived in the final days of the crumbling nation of Israel).         

Jeremiah 1:5,” before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations”.

The doctrine of reincarnation was first declared heresy in 553 A.D. by the second council of Constantinople. At that time it was thought that the doctrine would give people too much time and that instead they should strive for immediate salvation. The truth is that millions of people have not utilized their (one lifetime) to seek God, but instead to enjoy this world.

The reader can decide for himself whether or not to believe in reincarnation.