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 3rd century), St. Jerome
(5th 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.
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