"I am the way"...meaning the truth, the awareness (not just through him alone, the person)...Jesus spoke in metaphores, as the foundation of the Gita, the Ramayana, Buddha (awakened one), Lao Tzu...and many more.

As rising from the dead...being awakened in total awareness.
This is what comes to mind when the term resurrection is used with regards to Jesus.

In Spirit,
Cinda

Yes, I do believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus. Even after 7+ years of George Bush, I haven't lost faith in God or miracles.

Hello Deepak,

Yes I do believe in the literal ressurection of Jesus. My reason for believing this is that if one reads the bible (specifically the descriptions of what happened after the ressurection when Jesus appears I believe first to Mary Magdalene in 3 of the gospels and I think in one version to his mother) it is clear that this is not intended to be taken metaphorically. There is enough, shall we say, "literary" evidence that those present at the time believed this (a literal ressurection) to have actually occurred.
It is like reading a poem, there may be metaphor within the poem but also there is a "reality" to the poem itself--and the 2 should not be confused.
Also, what about the other miracles throughout the bible? Jesus raising Lazereth from the dead, his miracle at the wedding feast, etc. It is clear that these incidents are not intended to be taken metaphorically. It is clear Jesus was believed to be a performer of miracles, to be the son of God, and so, it has to be accepted as so unless one is to water down the essence of the faith.

I am not sure how the story of Jesus came to be what it has become. It's anecdotal, and even the earliest stories about him come several decades, if not a hundred years or more after his passing. That's plenty of time for human exaggeration and the power of legend and mythology to operate.

So I don't think it was physical.

BUT, HOWEVER (IN CAPS), that does NOT MEAN that I think it isn't powerful and transformative.

I don't think the power of the Resurrection Story to inspire and transform people depends at all on whether it was physical, or even whether the historical Jesus even actually existed or not.

An idea or a myth can be far more powerful, and change the lives of far many more people (in this case of whole civilizations) than a physical event.

I hold the different opinion that it's power comes from the fact that the resurrection is NOT a physical event.

Only a psychological event can have such a powerful effect on so many people.

Legends and mythologies do not need to be exactly mirrored by physical reality for validation. Instead they form powerful templates with which we form our perception of reality, and adopt the beliefs and principles by which we conduct ourselves in our lives.

I'm down with Deepak on this one.

Not literal, of course, but I must say that the metaphor is very good because, subjectively, the process of awakening does feel, at every step, as a ressurection from death.

Seen from this point of view, the process is as radical as you Deepak describe it, but it seems to be happening one step at a time. The old paradigm doesn't fall all at once, but in segments. The light is turned on in one corner of wholeness at a time, and sometimes it flickers for a while until it gets stabilized.

Every time "resurrection" happens in some part of consciousness, the heaviness is shed and the lightness of an amazingly new, true and unlimited perspective becomes visible. This can only happen radically, because only when the limited personal view has surrendered can a living, breathing wholeness be perceived.

So awakening from death is a metaphor that is exquisite for this experience, and I look forward to the phase when this process is complete and stabilized.

Hi Deepak : ),

i believe that there is literal reality, behind almost every great spiritual story. Resurrection of Jesus is most definitely one of the greatest stories ever told. It's telling us, in my opinion, that Consciousness, our true self, literally has no boundaries what so ever, physical or any other.

Bible is not the only record of such an event. Your culture Deepak, is filled with these kind of stories, as i'm sure you are aware. One of my personal favorites is ressurection of Sri Yukteshwar, Yogananda's teacher (Autobiography of a Yogi by paramahansa Yogananda). There are many records of great spiritual masters coming back "from the dead" and appearing in flesh way after they went into mahasamadhi and their bodies being burnt to ashes.
I belive that this is our future, our now, since there is no time. To bridge this idea that there are two worlds, Heavens and Earth. In reality there is only One...

Resurrection means to me to over come the physical body/world. What Deepak is talking about is to be "born again".

To be "born again" means to me that we must rid/empty our belief in a separation from God and then find our Self (realize our oneness with God).

The resurrection Jesus and other eastern mystics have experienced, to me, is having a physical death and taking up our own body at will.

Not to be confused with raising someone from the dead, as in Lazereth's case.

Miracles are still happening as we speak. Is our mind still enough to perceive them? Or do we try use our mind to explain something that is outside of the reach of mind?

Hello Deepak and Everyone,

I cannot play the video on my computer either it is simply my own ignorance as to how to get it to or it isn't configured to do it, either case, I haven't been motivated to take the time to figure it out...but I am sure I will in the near or far future...

But from the comments I take it that you are asking people if they think the resurrection of Jesus was physical.

Growing up in the Catholic Church I remember the whole event of lent, good friday, the stations of the cross, the crucifixion, the resurection. I "loved it" the story, the whole story...so hard, so sad, so wrong, and then so very right....as a child this is the kind of stuff you eat up...it is so real, Jesus is so real, you can touch him, taste him, feel those nails and bleed with him, but you also "rise" with him on Easter Sunday.

All this is powerful stuff to a child's mind, heart and soul and that is why once exposed to it as children we have a very difficult time moving away from it, on from it, or even questioning it at all.

And, like my santa claus experience as a child I have fond memories as I do with some of my "catholic chuch" experiences.

I really do not know anything about Jesus other than the story passed down through history.

I can only relate the story of the resurrection to the awakening of one's consciousness when the question...Who Am I....is answered in one's life.

Jesus rose from the "dead" as we all do once we the question...Who Am I.

happy easter weekend everyone, ruth...today brings sun...ah...sun.

correction,

Jesus rose from the "dead" as we all do once we answer the question...Who Am I... ruth

#8 Happy Easter, Ruth.... I think I'll wait and see if Avtar can decipher my question ;)

I do believe that resurrection of Jesus is real to awakening conciousness but according to the person experiencing, if that makes sense. (involves paradox I suggest)

Hi Edmund,

From my understanding when it comes to answering the question Who Am I, a person such as Avtar or Deepak or many other's, for that matter, can point the way in helping someone "find," or "experience" or "awaken" to the answer but each one of us "has" to come to '"know" the answer for ourselves....Avtar's answer cannot be your's or mine, it can only be his, the "resurrection" is a very intimate affair...:))))))

have a wonderful Easter, ruth

I wish everyone could see the video, but Deepak has posted up another article above that helps.

Deepak has a perspective that I, as an American raised as a "protestant" Christian (although my parents were by no means fundies, they still believed in the basic tenets of Christianity).

So my perspective is having been taught this stuff as a child, then questioning it, then rejecting it, and now my present view that it may not be literally true, but still contains powerful ideas encoded into the mythology.

Deepak was raised inside an entirely non-Christian religion, so he truly has an outside perspective.

It would be like me discussing on TV in India whether or not the stories about Krishna are literally true.

I admire the man for being able to pull it off. Most of us would have been devoured by the screams for vengeance coming from the fundie crowd by now.

Well what is most probable is that this Jesus character being a threat to the state and the fictions of the status quo needed to be disposed of.

As long as the state thought that he existed it would pursue him and antagonize those affiliated with him. So a clever plan was devised, Jesus would take this herb, I forget the name which slows down the bodies metabolism, actually allowing him to survive the crucifixion. The pulse basically undetectable would give the appearance of death. He would then several days later recover allowing him to disappear into the world. The authorities thinking he had died would no longer pursue him and he would be free to teach and build taking an anonymous low key approach..

So Jesus overcame the shadow not through resistance but through intelligence and wisdom and embracing the situation and adapting. He did not respond to the fictions in the minds of others but acted on the truth behind them, which is to say he did not give validity to the illusion but embraced the reality behind it.

The other possibility is that he was extraterrestrial and they simply came down and picked him up, fixed him and set him lose again to provide some evidence that there was more to the world than meets the eye, drawing attention to his works and the insights and wisdom that he brought, and then he returned to the Air..... until the time when the Internet would be in place, which eventually occurs in every evolving civilization as a standard pattern of development.

I have always thought it to be the resurrection of a lost truth and that it was more about the illusion of death.

Easter the resurrection of a truth lost is an interesting read.

www.i----i.org/egg.htm

Which begins..

There is a war between fictions and the truth in our minds, scarcity is such a fiction. There is no battle between good and evil in the universe. There is either being connected or being separate from everything. Each perspective produces a different response to the world and the events we participate in as well as our relationships. Each perspective produces different emotions and thoughts. Living the truth

Click my name to read the rest and see the E8 Lattice on the Golden Easter Egg.

I think the resurrection of Jesus was physical and not just metaphorical. There have been other accounts of resurrection which makes me think we don't know about the laws, physical or otherwise, of other 'worlds' where a physical resurrection may be entirely possible.

Not to offend anyone, but I can see how science has "taken over" although it, too, is merely a "belief system" which could similarly be described as a "silly" myth. It is a BELIEF SYSTEM--nothing more.
One can argue whether the ressurection is metaphorical or literal, and poo-poo any literal interpretation based on the scientific approach, but then you are not "reading" the story correctly. It is if you have taken a poem and skimmed through it without really paying attention to the poem and said "oh it means this...". You need to go back and "reread" it, understand it as it was meant to be understood. Don't superimpose your own "lofty" intellectual, scientific approach. The "story" resists that approach. The Catholic faith is built upon taking this story literally, a REAL miracle is required or you are merely watering down the faith, taking the truth of it away and creating something fundamentally different.
Again, read the gospels--this event (the ressurection) was taken very literally and there are many details to support a literal interpretation and NO details to support a purely "metaphorical" interpretation.
For all of you science fanatics, there are many occurences in nature which have absolutely no scientific explanation.
And have a happy Easter (and I mean that literally),
Olivia

The Story of Jesus is just that... It is a story and probably one of the greatest stories ever told.

The people who are blogging here maybe do not realise that there are people alive in the world now who are the same as Jesus was when he too lived here on Earth. I have met possibly a couple of persons who I felt were totaly enlightened beings and this is quite simply what Jesus was.

He was what we call in spiritual circles A Realiser.
He was a Realiser in the sense that he realised the Universal truth of God.

This realisation is happening all of the time here . Sooner or later we all come to the ultimate conclusion and the veil is lifted from our eyes and we know the truth of all of this.

My advice is to not put too much emphasis on any one thing or idea such as the Story of Jesus or Mohammed or any other religious figure.

Instead of Emphasis on one idea or on one person open up your consciousness to Universal Understanding and there lies true realisation of God.

As Deepak Says "Even the diabolical is the Divine"

Love

Simon x

I deeply consider my very own newfound enlightenment as a ressurection of sorts. I've always considered myself a Christian but it wasn't until my recent connection with your teachings that I discovered true enlightenment. So for me it has definitely been a ressurection.

PS ~ I love the lighter colors on you Deepak, i've always felt you wore too much black.

Yes, I do believe in the Resurrection.

We are Light contained within matter.

When death of the physical vehicle occurs and the light energy departs from it - it travels to higher realms where the Soul continues to experience anew and to prepare itself for further lessons.

Happy Easter!

"Betsy" S.

I was raised a Catholic by middle class, hard working parents who went to church every Sunday but hardly ever spoke of God, Jesus or religion in the home. I remember Easter Sunday as the day we put on pastel colored outfits and carried lilies and hyacinths in a procession down the main aisle of the church. It was a relief to see the purple cloths removed from the crucifix and see a statue of Jesus "alive" after the crucifixion. As a kid, I never could quite figure out why He didn't just perform a miracle to prevent his suffering in the first place. Being subjected to the "Stations of the Cross" and being told that Jesus died so we have everlasting life was hard for a kid to understand much less an adult. So when it comes to the resurrection, I recall how I felt on those Easter mornings wearing a new spring outfit and lugging a potted plant to church. I thought, "Hey, Jesus pulled it off... he showed those mean guys who is the better guy and shouldn't they be sorry for what they did to him." I still have a hard time with the idea of all that torture he withstood so that we Catholics could get a free pass to heaven.
That’s why tomorrow I’ll be attending your pal, Howard’s service here in Houston. Thanks, Deepak!

Here I see much ego operating on this blog by fellow readers, so sure in their analysis, so sure in their ability to "interpret", so sure they knew what Jesus was, what the ressurection was, so sure in their ability to literally change the essence of entire religion.
I once had an excellent religion teacher who said "Be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking that all religions are essentially the same." Let the Catholic religion be--it is what it is--either say "I believe it" or "I don't believe it"--don't superimpose
New Age meanings or modernist viewpoints or statements which attempt to say that the ressurection is really equivalent to enlightenment or some such thing. It is what it is--
Again, Happy Easter (literally or metaphorically) whichever

When I was back there in
seminary school
There was a person there
Who put forth the proposition
That you can petition the Lord
with prayer
Petition the Lord with prayer
Petition the Lord with prayer

You CANNOT petition the Lord
with prayer !

Jim Morrison

Well mystics can't be right
all the time.

Gregorian Chant:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qQ32xzn2og

Mystics don't seek something from some kind of authority 'out there'. But they do love to pray!

I loved the Gregorian chant, John.

It's beautiful.

Thanks for sharing it.

It inspired me to browse youtube a bit, and I discovered this one which also touched me - part of an Easter Liturgy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZjwQ8m2Pcg

When heard and utilized as vehicle for 'humbling' our 'false selves', before the Real and Enduring,

it's very potent.

Vanessa

Mystics don't seek something from some kind of authority 'out there'. But they do love to pray!

I loved the Gregorian chant, John.

It's beautiful.

Thanks for sharing it.

It inspired me to browse youtube a bit, and I discovered this one which also touched me - part of an Easter Liturgy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZjwQ8m2Pcg

When heard and utilized as vehicle for 'humbling' our 'false selves', before the Real and Enduring,

it's very potent.

Vanessa

"How to take Communion"

In honor of this Easter Holiday, I share this excerpt from a page entitled "How to take Communion":

"The ritual in which we can all participate in a few minutes is simple, quiet and unspectacular. There are no loud noises, no flashing lights, no jumping up and down; just a few quiet words, reflective music, and blessed silence, while each of us eats a bite of bread and tastes a small drink."

"What do you make of this sacrament? I sometimes wonder how many people, if they were honest, would
say they see Communion as the benign activity of a
more-or-less passive-receptive crowd who expect someone up front to somehow inspire, or at least entertain them. I don't believe that's anything like what Jesus had in mind when he instituted the practice. If anything, I believe he wants us to come to this sacrament with our imaginations switched on. So if you really want to know how to take Communion, let your imagination paint you a picture of at least five deep meanings of this simple act of sharing some bread and a cup."

Freyja:

He then goes on to vividly paint 5 pictures - pictures that invite people to 'step into' the ritual, experience the Last Supper as Jesus and his disciples did.

As Joe Campbell would say - that's the transformative potential of ritual and myth.

http://www.westminsterpres.com/sermons/sermon_09-12-04.htm

Thank you, Deepak, for your voice, once again. I experience Easter week as a profoundly spiritual time of annual renewal. Anglican Easter rituals are metaphorical and strongly supportive of this kind of spiritual experience. But I also have a strong curiosity to know more about the historical Jesus. In order to allow for relating history to the subsequent stories and traditions, I dismiss none of the stories or traditions. My mind is open to whatever truth may be found in them. I accept they were passed on by people who have, without doubt, distorted them to some degree, though we don't know how, or by how much. Very often, old stories retain core elements that are unshakable over time, even if somewhat distorted in the telling, because those core elements are true. For me, this is part of the mystery of the Christian tradition -- the tension between history and metaphor, and how it's unable to weaken the spiritual nature of Christianity, even so.