Living on Purpose

I recently began reading Deepak Chopra’s book, The Third Jesus, The Christ We Cannot Ignore.  This is a book that has been on my shelf for quite some time.  I am not sure why, but I have avoided reading it for years.  I suppose that until now I was not yet ready for the message it offers.  However, over a period of a few months, the book showed up in my awareness several times.  Sometimes it takes the proverbial two-by-four to get my attention, but not always.  I am getting better at paying attention; in this case I did.  I believe I am not alone in having the experience of information showing up when I am ready to receive it, further evidence of the truth in the adage, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

When I picked up the book and decided to read it, I was not at all surprised that it spoke directly to the place at which I now find myself in my own spiritual journey.  While I am confident that Christianity is my chosen spiritual path, I am still exploring what that means for me.   Further, I am continuing to explore my beliefs about Jesus, historically, metaphysically and theologically. 
I am happy to report that with the help of Dr. Chopra, I am once again allowing the Jesus of the Christian Scriptures to be my teacher from a slightly different and fresh perspective. 

The Introduction to the book begins, “Jesus Christ left behind a riddle that two thousand years of worship haven’t solved.  The riddle can be stated in one sentence: “Why are Jesus’s teachings impossible to live by?”  Dr. Chopra posits that for centuries Christians have tried to live according to what Jesus taught and they have failed, leaving us to question whether the Christian church misunderstood or possibly purposefully misconstrued his teachings to serve its own agenda. 

Dr. Chopra asserts that what Jesus was actually teaching was more radical and mystical than most of us have explored or have been willing to comprehend.  He states that Jesus “wanted to inspire a world reborn in God.” Moreover, Jesus, who had attained God Consciousness, was teaching his followers how to do the same, and thereby change the world and their experience of it.

Dr. Chopra's book has helped me to understand that so many of us have failed to live by the teachings of Jesus because we have, for centuries, attempted to live by a mode of behavioral, moral standards that have been prescribed by the traditional Christian church.  Those who have superimposed these standards upon humanity and those who have attempted to live by them are largely unaware that they can achieve the same level of consciousness Jesus achieved. This awakening is something that the traditional Christian church does not teach, and for the most part, even denies.  Jesus lived in the conscious awareness of his Divinity; however, traditionalists expect to live by those same standards from a consciousness grounded in a religion based on the idea of separation.  It is no wonder so many of us have not been able to achieve and live from the kingdom of God consciousness that Jesus promised.

Unity teaches that indeed Christ Consciousness is the potential.  Each of us already possess the potential to attain the same God consciousness that Jesus realized.  Unity has been teaching this message for over a hundred years.  In fact, the word ‘unity’ has multiple meanings, not the least of which is “a state of being one; oneness.”  When Charles Fillmore adopted the name Unity for what would become a Truth movement, he surely must have intended to capture the more radical and mystical intent of Jesus’s teachings, and for Unity to not be just another denomination of the traditional Christian church. 

As Mr. Fillmore once stated, “Unity is a link in the great educational movement inaugurated by Jesus Christ.  Our objective is to discern the Truth in Christianity and prove it.  The Truth that we teach is not new; neither do we claim special revelations or discovery of new religious principles.  Our purpose is to help and teach humankind to use and prove the eternal Truth taught by the Master.”

I propose that we have overlain the original teachings of Jesus as interpreted by Charles & Myrtle Fillmore with platitudes and jargon that do not serve the original intent of the movement.  I suggest that we reclaim Mr. Fillmore’s defining statement and truly prove that the “riddle” Dr. Chopra claims Jesus left behind does have a discernible answer. 

We can make the conscious choice to attain and live from Christ consciousness, thereby embodying the teaching of Jesus and fulfilling our divine purpose, which is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and be the Christ in the world. Let us be the ones to prove that it is, indeed, possible to live by Jesus’s teachings.  Let us be the ones that demonstrate the true rebirth in God.  Let us be the ones who establish God’s kingdom on earth.  Let us be the ones to instate the reign of peace.  Let us be the saviors of the world. Let us live our divine purpose.