Jesus cries from the cross, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do." In that moment, does he carry the sins of the world, or drop them?
The center of the cross is a place that is light and free, without sin or blame. At the center of the cross, no one carries anything. If you load your cruelty, your bitterness, your blame upon the shoulders of one who dwells at the center of the cross, he won't take it personally.
Centered there, Christ-Consciousness radiates without judgment, from a vanishing point beyond "sin." At the center of the cross, there is no "I" to be burdened or offended, for "I" am crucified.
This is the crossroad of paradox where opposites collide, annihilating one another in an explosion of pure awareness. On the cross of paradox, concepts disappear, and awareness becomes available as free energy, no longer bound up in opposing viewpoints.
On this cross, form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Past and future dissolve into Presence. Joy and sorrow merge in Compassion. Matter and spirit fuse as the body of Grace. In the vanishing point at the center of the cross, where there is no "I" to take anything personally, forgiveness is the natural state.
If you witness events from the center of the cross, through the gaze of the crucified, you will see the world as it truly is: a mirage of shimmering ever-dissolving pairs of opposites. In such a shimmer, what can be accomplished by passing judgment or taking sides?
Arrows of hatred cannot penetrate the silence of one who is centered on the cross. The arrows fall back upon their source, and those who shoot them are destroyed by their own reactivity. Observing this self-destruction, one could assume that Christ-Consciousness has judged and damned the assailants as "evil doers." But divine silence has no need for retribution. Negative energy simply rebounds upon its cause, finding no target in emptiness.
All judgment is self-judgment. Christ will never return to judge the world. At the end of time, there will be no Day of Wrath. Christ simply forgives, and the end of time is now. We have already judged ourselves. "Judge not, lest ye be judged. And you will be judged by the very judgment you pronounce on others" (Mat. 7:1).
If Christ rests weightlessly at the center of the cross, carrying no burden, how should we understand the sacrifice of "the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world?"
The weight of human "sin" is the heaviness of the past. It is a collective story we tell in our minds. The actual pain we experience in the present moment is not the problem. The problem is the story we tell about it. By insisting on our old story, momentary pain becomes unendurable suffering.
But in the clarity of now, the old story simply drops. The lamb who takes away the sins of the world is our own innocent awareness, dissolving negative emotions from the past in the clear flame of Presence. Forgiving the sins of the world is the work of Christ-Consciousness in each of us.
In Philippians 2:6, St. Paul uses the Greek word, kinosis, which means self-emptying. "Though Christ existed as the very form of divinity, he did not cling to God-like status, but emptied himself." The kinosis of Christ is the anatta of Buddha: the healing compassion of no-self.
Jesus invites you to rest in unburdened lightness at the center of the cross. "Come unto me, you who are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest; for my yoke is easy, my burden is light." (Mat. 11:28)
The center of the cross is your heart. Let your heart be spacious and hollow with the impeccable self-emptiness of Christ. Surrender to the golden light of "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27)
And who is Christ? Christ is the self-luminosity of Presence. In Christ, the "I" of the past is crucified. What rises from this death of time is the eternity of now.
Christianity is not about suffering, but about the end of suffering. At the center of the cross is liberation and joy.
The center of the cross is a place that is light and free, without sin or blame. At the center of the cross, no one carries anything. If you load your cruelty, your bitterness, your blame upon the shoulders of one who dwells at the center of the cross, he won't take it personally.
Centered there, Christ-Consciousness radiates without judgment, from a vanishing point beyond "sin." At the center of the cross, there is no "I" to be burdened or offended, for "I" am crucified.
This is the crossroad of paradox where opposites collide, annihilating one another in an explosion of pure awareness. On the cross of paradox, concepts disappear, and awareness becomes available as free energy, no longer bound up in opposing viewpoints.
On this cross, form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Past and future dissolve into Presence. Joy and sorrow merge in Compassion. Matter and spirit fuse as the body of Grace. In the vanishing point at the center of the cross, where there is no "I" to take anything personally, forgiveness is the natural state.
If you witness events from the center of the cross, through the gaze of the crucified, you will see the world as it truly is: a mirage of shimmering ever-dissolving pairs of opposites. In such a shimmer, what can be accomplished by passing judgment or taking sides?
Arrows of hatred cannot penetrate the silence of one who is centered on the cross. The arrows fall back upon their source, and those who shoot them are destroyed by their own reactivity. Observing this self-destruction, one could assume that Christ-Consciousness has judged and damned the assailants as "evil doers." But divine silence has no need for retribution. Negative energy simply rebounds upon its cause, finding no target in emptiness.
All judgment is self-judgment. Christ will never return to judge the world. At the end of time, there will be no Day of Wrath. Christ simply forgives, and the end of time is now. We have already judged ourselves. "Judge not, lest ye be judged. And you will be judged by the very judgment you pronounce on others" (Mat. 7:1).
If Christ rests weightlessly at the center of the cross, carrying no burden, how should we understand the sacrifice of "the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world?"
The weight of human "sin" is the heaviness of the past. It is a collective story we tell in our minds. The actual pain we experience in the present moment is not the problem. The problem is the story we tell about it. By insisting on our old story, momentary pain becomes unendurable suffering.
But in the clarity of now, the old story simply drops. The lamb who takes away the sins of the world is our own innocent awareness, dissolving negative emotions from the past in the clear flame of Presence. Forgiving the sins of the world is the work of Christ-Consciousness in each of us.
In Philippians 2:6, St. Paul uses the Greek word, kinosis, which means self-emptying. "Though Christ existed as the very form of divinity, he did not cling to God-like status, but emptied himself." The kinosis of Christ is the anatta of Buddha: the healing compassion of no-self.
Jesus invites you to rest in unburdened lightness at the center of the cross. "Come unto me, you who are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest; for my yoke is easy, my burden is light." (Mat. 11:28)
The center of the cross is your heart. Let your heart be spacious and hollow with the impeccable self-emptiness of Christ. Surrender to the golden light of "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27)
And who is Christ? Christ is the self-luminosity of Presence. In Christ, the "I" of the past is crucified. What rises from this death of time is the eternity of now.
Christianity is not about suffering, but about the end of suffering. At the center of the cross is liberation and joy.
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