MAY YOU HAVE A VERY MINDFUL CHRISTMAS

Once again, Christmas is almost upon us. (OMG, I hear some of you say.)

The Nativity Story is so much more than a supposedly literal (ugh) account of the birth of Jesus -- Jesus, the man who was born of a surrogate mother, and of a Middle Eastern refugee family. (Does the latter sound familiar?) The story of the birth of the Christ child is a myth in the truest and most sublime sense of that word. It speaks of the reality of a spiritual -- that is, non-physical -- event that we all can experience, Christian and non-Christian alike.

What event? Well, it’s this---the birth of the Christ child within our ‘hearts’ (that is, minds). Now, when I use those two words ‘Christ child’ I am not referring to the man known as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, as represented in the Gospel accounts in the New Testament, is portrayed as the prototypical human being living fully, powerfully and ... mindfully! He was fully alive from one moment to the next, always focused on what he was doing and on what was happening around him. That, my friends, is what living mindfully is all about.

Oh, yes, there’s one more thing---a very important thing. The Jesus of the Gospels was very much concerned about the needs of the sick, the marginalised, the dispossessed, and the disadvantaged in the society of his day. It seems that he went about doing good, wherever he went. That, my friends, is another sort of mindfulness that is of supreme value, namely, attention to the needs of others, in particular, suffering humanity. 

You know, Jesus never asked people to worship him. Never! He spoke of what has been called the ‘Anonymous Christ’? In Matthew 25:34-40 Jesus made it clear that everyone we meet, everyone we serve, is a personification of the divine. He told us that the kingdom of God was within each of us (cf Lk 17:21). The difference between Jesus, at least as portrayed in the Gospels, and us is simply one of degree and not kind. Like Dr Martin Luther King, Jr [pictured right], Dr Leslie D Weatherhead, Dr Samuel Angus and many other ministers and theologians whom I admire, I dismiss the notion of there having been any inherent divinity in Jesus. His so-called divinity---fully revealed in the grandeur of his humanity---was achieved and not bestowed.

In Biblical terms, Jesus’ incarnation continues all the time, in us and in other people. We read about the Anonymous Christ in the context of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats:

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

How many so-called Christians serve the Anonymous Christ? Not the majority, that’s for sure.

Now, the Christ child of which I speak is our ‘real [true] self’ in contradistinction to that illusory ‘false self’—actually, false selves (the hundreds of I’s and me’s in our mind)---which we mistakenly think is us. One’s real self is the same ‘Self’---capitalised to emphasise its paramount importance---in all persons and things. That Self is not a thing of time or circumstance. It is the only presence and power active in the universe and in our lives now. It is the omnipresence of life itself---the very livingness, be-ing-ness, and Self-expression of life---manifesting itself everywhere as ... the eternal now.

Expressed slightly differently, the Christ child is the potentiality that exists within each of us to be the very best person we can be. In the language of mindfulness, the Christ child is the person who has come to sees things-as-they-really-are and who knows how to live mindfully from one moment to the next. The birth of the Christ child refers to the awakening within us of the conscious but choiceless awareness of the indwelling presence within us of life, truth and love. 

In short, the Christ child is born when you or I ... wake up! Each one of us must surrender, let go, and die to self, indeed die to the very idea that there is a separate, independent, permanent self at the core of our being, in order that a new sense of being---metaphorically and symbolically, a new-born baby---may be ‘born’ in our psyche. And remember this -- the Christ child is born in a stable, and not an inn, that is, in abject humility and no-thing-ness.

The bad news? Well, despite what some would have you believe, only you can wake up and be born anew. No one---not Jesus, not Buddha, not Muhammad, not Krishna, nor anyone else for that matter---can wake you up or otherwise effect this new birth of which I write. Way-showers, world teachers and so-called saviours can but point the way.

May we all wake up this Christmas---and may you have the spirit of Christmas which is peace, the gladness of Christmas which is hope, and the heart of Christmas which is love. 

RELATED POSTS

MAY WE ALL WAKE UP THIS CHRISTMAS

WILL YOU LET THE CHRIST CHILD BE BORN IN YOU?

THE NATIVITY STORY: A STUDY IN MINDFULNESS

THE PAGAN ROOTS AND ORIGINS OF CHRISTMAS

MORE MYTHS ABOUT MINDFULNESS

Despite all the information there is concerning mindfulness, many misconceptions remain concerning the 'thing' known as mindfulness. Let’s call these misconceptions myths, for that is what in truth they are. In a previous post of mine I discussed four such myths, namely, that mindfulness is a religion (false), is Buddhist (also false), is a philosophy (not really), and is a method and technique of meditation (no, it’s really the method of no-method).

Here are three more myths concerning mindfulness:

1. Mindfulness means ‘losing control’

Many people fear ‘losing control’. I see evidence of this phenomenon all the time. Some people can’t even close their eyes to relax. These people just can’t get themselves to practise any form of meditation. Now, I, too, like to be in charge of my life but if we constantly impose the will over things we will never be able to relax or gain insight into ourselves and others. Many people have mental health issues because they are victims of their own ‘self-will run riot’, to borrow a phrase from the ‘Big Book’ of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Mindfulness means staying awake. It is the very opposite of losing control. Mindfulness means becoming more aware. It is not losing control, going into some trance, or otherwise lose contacting with external or internal reality.

2. Mindfulness can be harmful

If mindfulness is staying awake, and being aware of one’s awareness and even one’s non-awareness, it is hard to see that as being harmful. I have not seen any cases of people being damaged by practising mindfulness. All I see is people becoming empowered, gaining insight into themselves, and living happier and more fulfilled lives.

Having said that, some people---mainly persons outside the mental health field---have expressed concern that some people with certain types of mental health issues (eg schizophrenia) may experience a worsening of their condition (that is, exacerbation of psychotic symptoms) as a result of practising mindfulness. However, the preponderance of medical evidence suggests otherwise. In one study published in The American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation---one of several on the matter I could mention---fifteen individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders participated in a pilot study testing a mindfulness-based intervention to reduce anxiety. The results suggested that mindfulness meditation training was acceptable to all participants; no one reported a worsening of psychotic or other symptoms while meditating.

In another study published last year in The British Journal of Psychiatry it was stated that there is now ‘emerging evidence that mindfulness for psychosis - when used in an adapted form - is safe and therapeutic’. (The ‘adapted form’ is essentially more guidance---and reassuring guidance---during the meditation itself.)

As with all matters pertaining to one’s health each person should seek and rely upon the advice of a suitably qualified health care professional.

3. Mindfulness is non-Christian

To some extent I have already dealt with matter when I explained in my previous post that mindfulness was neither a religion nor Buddhist. However, some evangelical Christians assert that mindfulness is an Eastern meditative practice that is non-Christian.

The truth is any Christian---indeed, any person---who is paying attention on purpose and choicelessly to the content of the present moment is practising mindfulness. We all practise mindfulness to some extent. It’s simply the case that some people do it better than others.

One more thing. The Christian tradition is rich in tools for meditation and mindfulness. Examples include contemplative prayer, the practice of the presence of God, and lectio divina.  

Any person can practice mindfulness regardless of their religion or lack of religion. The Christian can use mindfulness as a means of hearing God’s voice speak through the pages of Scripture as well as through the events of day-to-day life.

So, what’s holding you back?

RELATED POSTS

FOUR MYTHS ABOUT MINDFULNESS

MINDFULNESS IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION

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MAY WE ALL WAKE UP THIS CHRISTMAS

Once again, Christmas is almost upon us. (Egad, I hear some of you say.) But what are we to make of the story of the birth of the Christ child?

As I’ve tried to say elsewhere, the Nativity Story is so much more than a supposedly literal (ugh) account of the birth of Jesus. The story is a myth in the truest and most sublime sense of that word. It speaks of the reality of a spiritual event that we all can experience, Christian and non-Christian alike.

What event? Well, it’s this---the birth of the Christ child within our ‘hearts’ (that is, minds). You see, we all need to wake up, surrender, and be born anew. The message of the Buddha, in two English words, is this---wake up. The message of the prophet Muhammad, in one English word, is this---surrender. The message of Jesus, in five English words, is this---you must be born anew. The message of Humanism is that we can and must give shape and meaning to our own lives. As I see it, it’s all essentially the same thing. We must change in a very radical way, and the change referred to must go beyond what is ordinarily understood as self-improvement. Yes, each one of us must undergo a Copernican revolution---a deep, inner psychological revolution, transformation, and mutation---in the way we think, act, and live. We must surrender, let go, and die to self, indeed die to the very idea that there is a separate, independent, permanent self at the core of our being, in order that a new sense of being---metaphorically and symbolically, a new-born baby, at least at first---may be born in our psyche.

Now, most of what I’ve said above is rank heresy to fundamentalist and evangelical Christians. That does not worry me at all. Indeed, I draw great comfort and pleasure from the fact. You see, I am proud to be a heretic. A heretic is one who chooses, and who chooses to think differently and be different. We need more heretics in the world---more people who are prepared to think and live differently. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that only a heretic can change our damaged, troubled and threatened world. And only a heretic, who is prepared to surrender and throw out of the window all their past thinking and conditioning on matters religious and non-religious, can wake up and change the world for the better.

And despite what some would have you believe---the conventional Christians mentioned above---only you can wake up and be born anew. No one---not Jesus, not Buddha, not Muhammad, nor anyone else for that matter---can wake you up or otherwise effect this new birth to which I have referred.

May we all wake up this Christmas. It is said that Christmas is a time of giving and thinking of others. That’s a damn good way of surrendering and giving up our illusory sense of self as well as all our tired, worn-out beliefs and conditioning. Yes, it's a damn good way of---waking up!

Happy Christmas!

RELATED POSTS

WILL YOU LET THE CHRIST CHILD BE BORN IN YOU?

THE NATIVITY STORY: A STUDY IN MINDFULNESS

THE PAGAN ROOTS AND ORIGINS OF CHRISTMAS

THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF MYTH IN OUR LIVES

‘... a mythology is a control system, on the one hand framing its community to accord with an intuited order of nature and, on the other hand, by means of its symbolic pedagogic rites, conducting individuals through the ineluctable psychophysiological stages of transformation of a human lifetime -- birth, childhood and adolescence, age, old age, and the release of death -- in unbroken accord simultaneously with the requirements of this world and the rapture of participation
in a manner of being beyond time.’ Joseph Campbell.

A few decades ago there was a movement in Christian theology the aim of which was to de-mythologize the Bible. The movement was right in one key respect---the Bible, like all so-called holy books, is full of myth, from the very first page to the very last. However, the movement sought to ‘move’ in the wrong direction, and was not very successful. What we need to do is re-mythologize the Bible, not de-mythologize it. Ditto all other so-called holy books.

At the heart of every religion---and not just at the heart but all through it---is … myth! We need myth to learn, grow, evolve, and function successfully as human beings. If religion is to be taught in schools at all---assuming that it is lawful so to do---then it needs to be taught as literature and myth … for that is what it is.

According to the American mythographer Joseph Campbell [pictured left] all myths, indeed all story-telling, folk traditions and ritual practices, share certain common themes. More particularly, Campbell asserted that all such things could be understood in terms of what he described as the ‘hero myth’ (and what he referred to as the ‘monomyth’). Indeed, Campbell tended to construe all religions as ‘misunderstood mythologies’ Campbell 1986; see also Adler 1990:58-9), and saw the principal function of mythology as well as ritual as the ‘supply [of] the symbols that carry the human spirit forward, in counteraction to those other constant human fantasies that tend to tie it back’ (Campbell [1949] 1990:11). According to Campbell (1973:19):

Mythology is apparently coeval with mankind. As far back, that is to say, as we have been able to follow the broken, scattered, earliest evidences of the emergence of our species, signs have been found which indicate that mythological aims and concerns were already shaping the arts and world of Homo sapiens. Such evidences tell us something, furthermore, of the unity of our species, for the fundamental themes of mythological thought have remained constant and universal, not only throughout history, but also over the whole extent of mankind’s occupation of the earth.

Tom Chetwynd (1986:145-6) has written, rather esoterically, about the importance of myth:

Myth is not a complicated way of talking about something perfectly simple like gathering the last sheaf for next year’s planting, or a sort of fancy-dress version of astronomy.  It is the simplest and the most forceful language for talking about what is obscure about life - its Sacred Hidden Depths.  The most profound human experiences which rouse feelings of stupendous awe and wonder, and which come in flashes of inspiration that leave a trace for the rest of your life and mark many other lives besides, these are the subject matter of myth and cannot be expressed in another way except through a mythical perspective on Nature, Body, Culture, Sky, Pattern, Number, any or all of which will do, so long as none of them is taken literally but are seen from the perspective of Soul.

In almost all of the world’s religions one finds fairly similar myths of creation, the flood, and so forth. Then there is the myth of the dying and rising god, which is common to a number of religions and religious philosophies. These myths and common motifs, although not in themselves historical, are nevertheless ‘poetic expressions of … transcendental seeing’ (Campbell 1973:31). The Canadian author, broadcaster and theologian Tom Harpur (2004:17) has written:

As [Joseph] Campbell repeatedly made clear in his many books and in the interviews with [Bill] Moyers, the deepest truths about life, the soul, personal meaning, our place in the universe, our struggle to evolve to higher levels of insight and understanding, and particularly the mystery we call God can be described only by means of a story (mythos) or a ritual drama. The myth itself is fictional, but the timeless truth it expresses is not. As Campbell puts it, ‘Myth is what never was, yet always is.’

In addition to myths, there are stories, often associated with a charismatic leader such as Jesus, Buddha or Muhammad who is regarded as ‘ideal’, setting an example as to how followers are to live their lives. The stories commonly involve very similar patterns of behaviour. History and myth often coalesce into what Joseph Campbell (1973:26) refers to as ‘themes of the imagination’, but care must be exercised here. As the late Ninian Smart (1992:15) points out:

… These stories often are called myths.  The term may be a bit misleading, for in the context of the modern study of religion there is no implication that a myth is false.

Joseph Campbell (1987:389) opined that the common theme of all mythology was ‘achievement’, in particular, the achievement of a supreme good (whether that be eternal life, universal justice, enlightenment or whatever).  In his view, mythology had a fourfold function: to relate the individual to God, to the cosmos, to society and to developmental energies (Cousineau 1990:162).  Joseph Campbell (1988:70) wrote:

The myths and rites were means of putting the mind in accord with the body and the way of life in accord with the way that nature dictates.

Campbell also wrote that myth served certain additional functions, such as the following. First, myth enables individuals and communities to address and overcome psychological stresses by arousing hitherto dormant energies (Campbell 1987:370). Secondly, myth validates and assists in the maintenance of social systems (Cousineau 1990:165). Thirdly, myth assists persons to find their place in the universe (Campbell 1987:4) and to discern and engage the source of the phenomenological (Cousineau 1990: 167).

And what of the transformative power of myth? As the Canadian academic and environmental activist David Suzuki (1997:185) points out, myth is essentially curative and unifying in its effects:

Myths help us to reconcile conflicts and contradictions and describe a coherent reality. They make a meaning that holds the group together and express a set of beliefs; even in our skeptical society, we live by myths that lie so deep we believe them to be reality.

Indeed, myth, properly understood, is real, not imaginary. The Unitarian Universalist minister Mike Young (1999:Online) has spoken of the experiential reality of myth and its importance:

Joseph Campbell has rescued the concept of myth. When I was a youngster a myth was clearly something that was not true. What Campbell kept reminding us was that myths are not not true.  For myths are not about how things are out there, even though that may be the vocabulary of the story. Myths are about how things are in here. They have their roots in the human experience.  They are part of who we are inside as a species, not just as individuals but as a people. During the period of our history when we came into existence as conscious entities, we Homo sapiens existed in self-contained groups. Today we live in a world where the horizons are far, far more vast.

A Masonic writer (Swick 1996:74-5), invoking the Masonic legend of Hiram Abiff, has compellingly articulated the dramatic and transformative power of myth in the lives of believing participants:

It is the lucky man who realizes early on that there is a way in which he, himself, is our Grand Master Hiram Abiff. When revelation of this sublime truth comes to the individual, it may strike him with a great force, making him dead to all that has gone before. We are the myth! And the lives of the great ones who have preceded us, are our lives, if we but choose to have it so! As we seek to walk the path they have walked, we become Adam, we become Abraham, we become Hiram.  Their stories belong to us - and their lives are our lives; for the truth of their lives is the truth of human existence.

Yes, indeed. Lucky is the person who, rooted in and fully cognizant of the mythological be-ing-ness of their own nature, knows that they are … myth! So, live the myth that you are. Live it fully. Yes, you---the hero with a thousand faces.

References

Adler, M J  1990. Truth in Religion: The Plurality of Religions and the Unity of Truth. New York: Collier Books.

Campbell, J  [1949] 1990. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.

Campbell, J  1973.  Myths to Live By. New York: Viking.

Campbell, J  1986. The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion. New York: HarperCollins. 

Campbell, J  1987. The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology. New York: Penguin.

Campbell, J  1988. The Power of Myth. New York: Doubleday.

Chetwynd, T  1986. A Dictionary of Sacred Myth. London: Unwin.

Cousineau, P (ed)  1990. The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. San Francisco: Harper and Row.

Harpur, T  2004. The Pagan Christ: Is Blind Faith Killing Christianity? Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Smart, N  1992. The World’s Religions: Old Traditions and Modern Transformations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Suzuki, D (with A McConnell)  1997. The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Swick III, J S  1996. ‘Veiled in Allegory and Illustrated by Symbols: An Invitation to a Deeper Appreciation of Masonic Teaching’, The Philalethes Magazine, Vol XLIX No 3, June 1996, 74-5.

Young, M  1999. ‘Myth and Modernity’ [sermon: First Unitarian Church of Honolulu HI, December 12 1999], viewed April 5 2005, <http://home.hawaii.rr.com/uuchurch/sermons/myth.htm>.