There is much talk these days of 'Ascension'; the question might well be asked though, "What is it?" By definition, Ascension would naturally imply a rising up, in essence, moving from a lower place to a higher one, whether metaphorically or literally, whether mentally, emotionally, spiritually or physically. In a metaphysical sense, it might be described as reaching a higher dimension, a higher frequency, if you will. Spiritually, it could be described as being "crucified with Christ", not necessarily in the literal sense, as the Bible seems to portray, but again, in a metaphysical sense, as the journey of the spinal fluid rising from the sacral chakra to the crown chakra. The biblical story of Jesus indeed seems to follow this Journey, particularly with Jesus' '40 day' Temptation in the Wilderness. However one chooses to define 'Ascension', it is generally accepted that it involves some sort of heightened experience, again, whether physically, emotionally or spiritually.
Answering the question, "How does one ascend?" is another matter entirely! Does one achieve Ascension by ignoring certain bodily functions, or simply by embracing those functions? Is 'Ascension' what occurs when, through meditation or by whatever means, we train our bodies to rise above it all, not unlike the Phoenix?! More importantly, especially for the purposes of this short blogpost, is 'Ascension' more akin to Jesus' own fabled Ascension, as chronicled in Mark 16, Luke 19 & the 1st chapter of the book of Acts? Ephesians 4:9 seems to agree with this metaphysical interpretation, wherein "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?".
'Ascension' is something everybody wants, right?! One might think so & for the most part, they may be right, to a point. It's really not all that surprising, once they realize how mentally, emotionally, spiritually & yes, even physically demanding it is, the amount of people who are tempted to back down, maybe even forget the matter entirely! Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the pain that comes with Ascension is unbearable, or even that once one has 'achieved' It, your troubles are over. "Not at all!" No, once One has ascended ( whatever that means to you), not only do you still have to deal with those who have not yet ascended ( ? ); you must also continue to struggle with that ever-present trouble-maker, the Ego!
The Ego is unavoidable! One might, in fact, note that it is one of those 'necessary constituents' of our human nature. As previously discussed, the Ego is neither good nor evil, right or wrong; "it just IS". The problem with the Ego is when we allow it to get the better of us, so to speak, allowing it to dictate our actions, or reactions. Some might argue that the Ego is something that can be & indeed should be squelched. To a point, I agree; we can & should, maybe, subdue the Ego to the point where it is barely ( if that ) noticeable, but while we are at home in this 'meat-suit', I would dare to say that it cannot, indeed should not be entirely squelched! "Why?" you may well ask. "As above, so below"; it is a necessary component to our humanity!
The question might be proffered at this point; "Why even bother?" If the Ego is going to constantly oppose us us, "Why shouldn't we just get rid of it entirely?" Another option, however is, rather than view the Ego as something that we must fight against, we learn to live with it, not letting it control us, yet not trying to control it either! Rather, we might look at it as it is, not an adversary, or something that must be defeated, but as a necessary constituent of our humanity that allows us to be Who We are, which is Divine & yet function as true human beings in a 'Mundane' world!
Is the Ego, then, NOT something to be overcome?! Well, "yes & no": is it something that CAN be overcome? "Sure". Is it something we must strive to overcome? Again, "yes & no"! It will not be overcome by us sitting on our laurels & throwing our hands up in despair, but, on the other hand, the harder we TRY to overcome It, the harder It's going to fight back! "What CAN we do?" you might ask. Well, for one thing; "STOP!" Stop striving, it's only going to make it worse! The Ego, not unlike our Mind, strong as It is, is a delicate thing, easily wounded. The best, really the only thing we can do, is to quiet them both. I know this is "easier said than done", but it is the most we can do, especially with any hope of success!
"So, 'Ascension'; why would we want to even attempt It if It's only going to cause us more pain?!" Wouldn't it just be easier to just accept the status quo, including the belief that most of us grew up with, that "We have but one life to live, and after that, the Judgement"? It would make Life so much simpler if we could just take things as they come, conforming to the crowd & living 'the American Dream' ( thinking of don Miguel Ruiz & his 'dream of the planet' )! "Why would ANYONE want to mess with Perfection?!
"The Answer, my friends, is blowin' in the wind..............." Yes, I'm referring here to our true nature, that of the Spirit, which means that We are Divine. This, my friends, is "Why" We would want to go to all that trouble, to re-open all those old wounds, to heal our pain! This world is in so much turmoil right now, thanks to us humans & most of us don't even realize that it's our fault! I say 'our' in a very general sense, no woman or man ( not even a fallen spiritual being ) can shoulder the blame; it's a group effort!
There's a saying that goes something like this, "It's taken so long to get to where we are; it's going to take at least as long to get back, if not longer!" Okay, so it's my saying; I said it, but isn't it true? Yes, my words could be proven untrue ( actually, I'm kinda hoping they are ), but that's where 'Ascension' comes in; once a person ascends ( whatever that means to YOU ), there's really no going back. Once One tastes the Freedom that knowing yourself & your true Power brings, that One could never even think of retreating, no matter how painful It is ( believe me, "It hurts like HELL" )! This is the ONLY way that we'll EVER 'get ourselves back to the Garden', so to speak! It is a choice; 'To ascend, or not to ascend", to BE Who we are, or not to BE Who we are!
By now, my readers might be wondering,"Why didn't he just title this 'How to Ascend'?" Well, you may have noticed that I used the phrase "whatever that means to YOU" a lot; Ascension, as we've seen, means different things to different people. There is One Spirit, yes, but We are all different aspects of that One Spirit. So, is there One way to reach that Spirit, to scale that seemingly unscalable height? To posit that there is would be akin to saying that all children should be able to learn at the same pace!
Jesus' Ascension has been assumed, religiously speaking, for the most part, to be a literal rising of His physical body to 'Realms of Glory' ( AKA 'Heaven' ). I do not believe this to be the case. Whether literal history or not, in most cases the Bible as we have it today is so far from it's intended meaning & audience that it's somewhat surprising that humanity hasn't totally fucked things up! "Oh, wait........"
But seriously, if Jesus' Ascension was simply a model, a precursor really, of our own, as I, along with many scholars have posited ( even the Bible says as much ), then it stands to reason that it speaks, not of a physical event, but rather to a spiritual, or metaphysical one.
To rise above it all, One must first descend to the depths of human nature, to face the Shadow that reveals the dark side of that human nature. Once we have experienced the darkness of our deepest desire, we are forced to be honest with ourselves, to face our shadow self , which is as much a part of 'Us' as our Divinity. Knowing ourselves, Who We truly are, not just in our Divinity, but as a true human being, is of utmost importance here!
Quite seriously then, "What IS Ascension?!" Is Ascension something we aspire to achieve; some lofty peak that we hope to some day reach? Or is Ascension more akin to the salvation that the Bible teaches us to work out ( Philippians 2:12 )? Now, admittedly, there are parts of the Bible that seem to tell us that salvation, or atonement come from without, 'from Above' ( 'Heaven' ), so to speak, but in Reality, this is actually just a matter of interpretation/perception. Like biblical salvation & atonement ( at-one-ment ), Ascension is an inside job: It DOES come from Above, though this does not refer to something outside of or separate from ourselves; it is a choice we make within ourselves to, again, rise above it all, to realize that we are More than our Ego, More even than our choices! THIS is what we Ascend TO; not just the realization that We ARE More, but the Ability to Manifest that realization in daily Life! "So mote it Be!"
Namaste' & Blessed Be!
Sage Charles
No comments:
Post a Comment