The One, the Son and The Holy Breath

My relatedness with contemporary Christianity is complex. My passion for the ancient languages in which original teachings were shared makes modern translations less than inspiring and some more than others. Today I consider the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The One
The Aramaic word that became "Father" in the famed Our Father is Abwoon. This word is a far more expansive word than Father and, in fact, may be characterized as ultimate expansiveness. The One Without a Second is my favorite interpretation. There is not much more that you can say...to even contemplate the One is to be in a state of duality. The individual "thinking" about the whole. That said, contemplation of Abwoon or the Father in the ancient sense (and in my opinion the way Jesus would have meant it) is a spiritual experience in itself. Try it. As a math teacher for a period of time I used to encourage students to contemplate infinity. Think of the biggest number, value or concept you can and then make it bigger and bigger and bigger...see what happens.

The Son
The second aspect of the trinity, the Son is typically personified as Jesus. How could it be interpreted from the standpoint of the Father being the One Without a Second? The Son may be more broadly looked upon as that which has been created from the One? In the ancient teaching of Advaita philosophy or the philosphy of Oneness from ancient Sanskrit, duality is a function of the mind. The same way the moon reflects the light of the sun, the Son is a reflection of the One. Unity is experienced through the filter and conditioning of the mind. When we achieve perfect concentration or single-pointed awareness, the glory of the One becomes known. I interpret Jesus to be a Master who was a perfect reflection of the Oneness of the Father God. He and the Father were One because he was able to transcend duality through spiritual practice and awareness.

The Holy Breath
The final aspect of the Trinity called the Holy Spirit is something I always interpret as the Holy Breath. The ancient word for "spirit" also meant light, breath and vibration. The Father is ultimate reality or Oneness and the Son is the manifestation or reflection of that unity it seems the third aspect would speak to the process through which that manifestation occurs and therefore, the process whereby we may experience the unmanifest Source nature. Contemplate the breath. If you are seeking to understand the nature of reality and of life then pay attention to your breath. Do you really think that with the elegance of the manifested Universe the Truth would be so hidden from view? So hidden that our only hope would be to put our faith into the words of men who have the arrogance to call them the Words of God? No offence to anyone but to hold up the modern-day bible and call it the Word of God is perhaps the most blatent form of blasphemy I can imagine. About the only thing we know unequivocally is that Jesus did not utter one word contained in the bible (actually, there may be two Aramaic words remaining in the entire bible so those are debatable).

The God I know, the indescribable elegance that birthed the Universe would not leave our salvation to the minds of men but rather would make it accessible to all and the path would be ultimately simple. Practice your faith...the ancient Aramaic word for faith meant, "a connection to life". Practice being aware of your breath and you will discover your connection to life, your faith and the grand simplicity of salvation will present itself to you. The Christ is here for you in the space between your thoughts extending perfect Peace and unconditional Love. What are you waiting for?

Steve

Detachment

Hello All,

While we enjoy this beautiful Fall season I thought it appropriate to consider that central aspect of yoga known as detachment. My mother actually reminded me as we appreciated the majestic colors of the changing leaves that what manifested as such diversity and inspired such beauty was actually death happening before our eyes. Perhaps hidden in plain sight is the key to our enlightenment.

Yoga is a very rich word that is the practice, the process and the product of enlightenment. To realize the Great Joy that is the fruit of faith requires a certain letting go that can be called detachment. This concept is present in most faith-based traditions. The Buddha said that all suffering in life is caused by attachment. In the Aramaic language of Jesus the Christ, to be attached was to be unripe and that word was translated through Greek and Latin as "evil" and to be detached was to be ripe and that word became "blessing". To practice detachment is then to be blessed in the ancient Christian concept.

There is an ancient yogic axiom related to detachment that simply says, "praise and blame, no difference". Consider for a moment the actuality that praise and blame in the form of words are actually subtle vibrations of sound that travel from a person's vocal chords through the air and are received through our hearing sense. The brain interprets specific vibrations as words and the mind then interprets those words based on past experience (conditioning) which then stimulates the endocrine system leading to an emotional reaction based on our conditioning. Before you realize what happened, you have been triggered into a new emotional state without any consciousness whatsoever. How many of our relationships play out this way throughout the day? Be aware.

Begin by simply observing this process occurring again and again throughout your day. Through our yoga and meditation practice we cultivate the ability to remain present with this mind-body drama without defining ourselves by it. These intellectual approaches assist us in realizing the deeper aspects of detachment but direct experiences of these states of consciousness are the building blocks of yoga. This is why we are meeting to practice yoga (and meditation) this evening at 7pm. Hope you can make it. I may even praise you if you make it and blame you if you don't but SO WHAT?!

Unconditionally Yours,

Steve

Yogi Jayanta