Through the Eyes

This is part of Sam Long's story. My beloved friend and teacher Swami Chetanananda, says that "the Jesus story has been used to manipulate people. What we need is a new story, a true story."

He is correct about the manipulation. Here is a mystery. Many of us have found spiritual vitality in a new telling of the old, old story. This is from Adyashanti's book:

"The Jesus story is a mirror that helps us to see ourselves more clearly. The primary function of mythic storytelling is to render life transparent to the underlying transcendence that shines through it. This is the power of storytelling. Storytelling invites us into a creative relationship with the story. We can’t just be onlookers at a distance; we must throw ourselves into the story so that we start to become the characters.

We must allow ourselves to see life with the eyes of Jesus, with the eyes of Christ, to see the world through the eyes of the disciples, through the eyes of those who were healed and made whole and redeemed by the Christ presence. As I said, each of us will have our unique way of looking at the Jesus story. What I want to bring forth is one particular view that I think is very powerful and potent and relevant for our time. But as we enter together into the story, I also want to invite you into your own creative relationship with the story itself.

Keep your ears open to how each part of the story is speaking uniquely to you. When we listen in this way, this two thousand-year-old mythic journey of Jesus becomes our own journey into ourselves, into the revelation of God within us, into the realization of who and what we really and truly are."

-- Adyashanti Los Gatos, California April 2014