The New Age of Christ is based on
exploring the ideas of achieving Christ Consciousness and becoming Christ-like
in our physical, daily lives, through the actual teachings of Christ; digging
to the root meanings, re-evaluating misconstrued perceptions and moving forward
into the dawn of a new light in Christ, a new age of Christ. This study is not
about Christianity, nor is it about new
age, it is about Christ, the teachings of Christ and our perceptions as we
awaken to Christ consciousness.
The
New Age of Christ is a dedicated commitment to the rebirth and awakening of
our spirit in order to heal humanity, the planet, and all living things through
Christ Consciousness, as we evolve into a new enlightened era. When finally we
have achieved one love, Christ will have returned. “This is my commandment,
that ye love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12 KJV)
As I said, this study is not about new age
philosophy or reconstructing the teachings of Christ but rather reconstructing
our perceptions of Christ and the
teachings from which we have become so far removed. Jesus Christ yesterday, today and forever, as
the saying goes. It is not Christ who
has become outdated, it is our perception.
We need to listen to and do what he said but first we have to allow it
within and then we have to understand it.
The understanding is where we need transformation.
We need a spiritual revolution but not
from the pulpit, from within. Fire and
brimstone is not the way to opening hearts.
It has not worked thus far and it is not going to work in future
generations. We need the second coming
of Christ but sitting around waiting for him to drop out of the sky is not
it. The return is within; within us,
within our minds and hearts and spirits, and within humanity and the collective
consciousness. We need to awaken to the Christ consciousness within. This term came to me and when I looked it up
I found an entire movement with regards to it.
I had never heard the term but there it was. I understand it as a merging of our
consciousness with spirit, with the Holy Ghost, coined by Paramahansa
Yogananda.
Our spirituality and relationship to God,
to Christ, has been kept in a box. We
have not been allowed to free our understanding and open up to the Christ
consciousness. Our ideas,
interpretations, and perceptions about Christ have been force-fed through the
mold melded by others for the sake of control rather than the sake of personal
growth. If we step out and try to think
otherwise, then we are being blasphemous.
The Bible is open to interpretation. It has been interpreted over and over
throughout the centuries and other than a few obscure later discovered works,
is all that we have to go on in understanding Christ and His teachings.
Can anyone achieve spiritual union with
Christ, reach Christ Consciousness? Yes,
with the willingness one will advance because the spirit is already with us, in
us. The spirit never leaves us; it is we
who leave the spirit.
The yogic and Buddhist teachings of
meditation enabled me to allow the opening to occur through which I was able to
receive the spirit of Christ, or the Christ consciousness and the Holy
Ghost. It was not a Methodist minister
or a Wiccan spell (and I have cycled trough all of the spirit-seeking means
available). It is the opening of the
heart, and for me, the doorway in was through meditation and two simple words, cultivate happiness. Of course we are all unique in finding our
spirit-path to God. What works for one
may not work for another but if you are true at heart and so desire the way,
meditation will open the door.
What do you want to call it? We believe that which resonates within
us. To some it is one thing, to others
something else, mostly due to cultural conditioning. All paths lead to the source. I spent over two decades in my search after
having been raised in the Methodist
Church
Though I found truths in all religions, I
also found flaws, things that just didn’t hold water. I took those concepts that resonated within
and discarded the rest and moved on. Some
things I labeled as pure bunk, others integrated within, becoming a part of my
foundation; this came later though. In
the beginning of my spiritual search I had pretty much labeled Christianity as
bunk because as I said, I didn’t have the literate foundation to really
understand so much in terms of symbolism.
The problems had come when like most people, I tried to take the Bible
literally, which is not how it was written to be taken and that is something
which I have since understood. Now after studying and understanding many other
great spiritual leaders and religions, it is like a whole new door has opened
toward the understanding of Christ. This
is where the appeal is, and should be.
Quite honestly, the church has little appeal to people. They sit for an hour a week listening and
singing and praying. I know that
churches do of course offer more for those interested, but it’s just not
interesting to many, especially younger people.
What people need to realize is that the appeal, the mystique, lies
within them in conjunction with the
Christ consciousness. Buddha showed me this
and Buddha is very cool and I believe many people perceive him as so but I do
not think Christ has that same perception because of how the church has handled
and presented the options. We are not
even shown that there is a deeper meaning, nor the way in. Buddhism does teach that. It suddenly became very fascinating to me
when I realized that these same teachings and methods could be applied to
Christianity and that achieving the Christ consciousness was the same as
achieving Nirvana. Hallelujah.
Have
you been down to the alter? Forgiven? Reborn? What happened? Did you really
experience a change or just a mental relief? Were you a changed person from
then on? Did you feel the inner heart
open and truly receive the Holy Spirit?
Or did you revert right back to your old patterns a few days or a week
or a year later? If so, this is what you
need to understand: there is a whole spiritual world waiting for you, already
inside you, you only need to find the opening, and meditation will lead you
there, to the Christ consciousness.
There are many roads to the spirit steeped
in religion, culture, nature, psychology and mysticism. It is important to accept and understand the
universal truths and archetypes that lead to the inner spirit, to the union
with God and All that Is, and their relation to each other. The more we know and understand and share,
the stronger, more compassionate and more enlightened we become. It is time to look inward in order to move
forward outwardly. Union
with spirit, and with each other, is needed to bring us both as individuals,
and as a collective, to a peaceful and harmonious place in existence and
beyond.
Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism,
Hinduism, nature and tribal religions all share pathways to the inner spirit if
one is willing to allow the opening to appear.
The truth lies in many places. A
true seeker leaves no rock unturned, possesses an open mind and is able to process
and sift through the mounds of information for the grains of truth that lie
beneath. Eighty-six percent of the
world’s population considers themselves to be spiritual. If this eighty-six percent’s beliefs were
working there should be very few problems in the world. But in many cases these beliefs are not
working; perhaps due to a lack of effort, faith, guidance or true desire. Many people have turned away from organized
religion due to fanaticism, church control, and outdated dogma. Extremity in
any direction is not positive for it closes the mind and allows no room for
growth or truth. Our search for union
with God has been kept in a box too long.
Religions are the means to justify an end, and the end is spiritual
union, no matter how you arrive at it, the point is to get there. What we need is the way to the spirit in the
heart. The teachings and compassion of Christ offer the way. In past teachings we are told what he said,
what we are not told is how to get there; how to find the opening, allow the
opening where the compassion of Christ may enter wherein we may achieve Christ
consciousness and where we too may live in the kingdom of heaven within. The
teachings of Christ have been compromised, and until we unravel the truth to
see and understand what was truly given in detail, we cannot achieve that which
was set before us.
If you are unsure, or have yet to achieve
a union with spirit, I invite you to explore His teachings with me in a new and
fresh look at what Christ truly offers, not through the interpretation of
bureaucratic dogma but from the soul-level. There is much to learn and
interpret with a fresh viewpoint.
If you have not yet found your path to the
spirit, isn’t it about time you did? As
Christ says, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and
loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26 KJV).
Excerpted from my forthcoming book, The New Age of Christ.
copyright Cheryl Bruedigam 2016
any use of this text is a copyright infringement
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