Jesus
- olivierbranford
- Jul 9, 2024
- 18 min read
Updated: Jul 15, 2024
This is an extract from Marianne Williamson’s book ‘Tears to Triumph: The Spiritual Journey from Suffering to Enlightenment.’ I found this chapter really powerful during my own healing. I hope that you do too. I very much recommend buying her book.
The life of Jesus was a historical fact to be sure, but it is also a mystical one. Jesus is a timeless conduit of spiritual force: Not just one man who lived 2000 years ago, but also a psychic reality that all of us are experiencing, all the time. His birth represents our own rebirth. His ministry represents our own path to follow. And his death and resurrection represent our own capacity to transcend pain, sorrow, and death...
Jesus
Ego and crucifixion
Buddha's observation of suffering led to his search for Enlightenment. Moses’ compassion for the suffering of his people enabled him to hear the voice of God, directing him to lead them out of slavery. And Jesus’ suffering on the cross condenses the pain and tears of humanity into a single incident. Most importantly, his resurrection represents God's response to our suffering: That in him, all suffering ends.
The suffering of Jesus on the cross was an embodiment of the full viciousness of the ego. His crucifixion is the ultimate symbol of the ego having gotten its wish, causing us to suffer, and ultimately to die. The ego is the belief that we are our bodies. And thus the death of the body seems to be the ego's ultimate triumph.
The resurrection is God's response to the crucifixion: The reemergence of Truth after illusion has had its way with us. It is the ultimate reemergence of the light after darkness: It is the fact that death does not exist, for what God created cannot die. It is the expression of God's will which has never not been done, not only in Jesus's life but also in ours. No matter what happens, no matter what evil might, occur God always has, and always will get the ultimate final word. Now you rise.
In time all will be well. In fact, it will be glorious. Because spiritual reality applies to a state of awareness beyond time and space. The acceptance of the resurrection takes us beyond mere hope. We do not just hope that everything will work out in time; we know it will work out in time. Because in the mind of God it already has. In the mind of God; the quantum field of infinite love, everything is already perfect. We can therefore proclaim our resurrection whilst in the midst of our crucifixion. As it says in ‘A Course in Miracles’ “Miracles collapse time.” We don't wait for circumstances to change to know that things are perfect: We accept that things are perfect, and our conviction causes circumstances to change. The power is always lies in our thinking, as we affirm that God is, and so it is that we make it so.
Christmas and Easter
Christmas and Easter are two existential bookends that underlie every situation. The first represents a choice, always available to us, to give birth to our Higher Selves. The second represents the fact that no matter what tricks the ego may play, the spirit of God will return our lives to divine perfection. The story of Jesus began, of course, with the story of his mother. She was “Awakened from her slumber”, that is, aroused from the stupor of the ego mind. And told that we can be more than we think we are. God has chosen us to impregnate with his seed: His spirit penetrates our consciousness within us and if we allow it to grow it will then produce new life within us.
Mothered by our humanness, and fathered by the spirit of God, the Christ is then born unto the Earth. Free will determines whether the Mary inside us says yes God please use me, allow my mind, my body to be the container for your spirit and the womb through which you incarnate. Mary represents the feminine consciousness through which should we choose we make ourselves available to be used by God. Christ is the name for the being who then emerges when we do. Beyond the body, beyond the material plane, on the level of spirit, we are not separate for God created all of us as one. This is the metaphysical meaning of the statement “There is only one begotten son.” Jesus is a name for the oneness we all share - to join on the level of Christ is to simply realise that we are already one.
The Christ
The Christ mind is the mind we all share beyond the body. In fact we are like the spokes of the wheel: If you identify the spokes with their position on the rim, then they are many, and separate. But if you identify the spokes with the point at which they originate you see that all spokes emerge from the same point: That point of oneness, that shared source point is called by many names, one of which is the Christ.
Michelangelo felt God had already created great statues such as the Pièta and David. His job was simply to get rid of the excess marble surrounding it. So all of us have within us the perfect Self, the unchangeable Self, that is God's creation. Enlightenment means dissolving the fearful thoughts that surround and obscure it. One name for the shared Self is Jesus - he is one in whom all fear-based thought was dissolved. Thus he became one with the Christ - by remembering him, we remember who we really are.
We come into this world as innocent beings, yearning to love, and learning to receive love. But the ego has its way with all of us. It seeks to crucify our innocence, to invalidate our love, to make us suffer, and to kill us if it can. It is the aspect of the mind that repudiates God. The suffering of Jesus on the cross symbolises all the suffering the ego has ever caused or ever will. One human being, suffering through the worst torture while completely loving those who tortured him broke the ego’s sword in half. Because all minds are joined, when anyone achieves anything, their achievement becomes available for everyone. Jesus broke the ego’s spell by surrendering his mind so completely to God that the spell is now broken for everyone.
The body is the level of the crucifixion: The spirit is the level of the resurrection. Jesus demonstrates the power of love to overcome our crucifixions.
Our thinking
The spiritual lesson in any situation does not have to do with what has been done to us but with how we interpret what has been done to us. We experience ourselves as beholden to whatever Universe we choose to identify with. If I identify only with the three-dimensional Universe (the blue pill in ‘The Matrix’) then the ego will have its way with me; but if I identify with the spiritual Universe (the red pill), then the ego is powerless to affect me.
Each of us is responsible for what we choose to think. If I identify only with my body then I'm identifying with my weakness and I will interpret the world in a way that fortifies my sense of weakness. But if I identify with the Christ I am identifying with my strength and will interpret the world in a way that fortifies my sense of strength.
Whether my crucifixion is in the area of health, relationships, money, career, or anything else does not matter: The crucifixion takes many different forms, but the resurrection is formless. There is only one real problem and one real answer. God's answer is the same no matter the particularity of the problem. In any situation, as I remove my barriers to love, I invoke the miraculous power of God to transform it. Crucifixion is the energy pattern by which the ego seeks to ruin our lives. Resurrection is the return to love and thus the overriding of ego. That is why love is always the answer. It doesn't necessarily feel that in any situation the question “Who do I need to forgive?” is relevant to the exercise of my power and the return of deep sanity. But it is. Only when I'm in a state of pure love am I in my power. For only that is the power of God. And from that all miracles follow.
The resurrection is not just an article of Faith but an existential fact. It is simply a description of how the Universe operates. Life always reasserting itself even when the forces of death and darkness have temporarily prevailed. It is an otherworldly event that recreates the world. Like a tiny flower growing through cracks in broken cement, peace of mind emerges at last, after periods of grief have ravaged the heart. Time and time again, love reappears after even the most crushing events and though in time our bodies are finally let go in fact there is no time and in God there is no death. Jesus said “Take heart, for I have overcome the world.” He did not say “Don't worry, I fixed everything.” To fix and to overcome are two distinctly different things: To fix is to change things on the worldly plane; to overcome is to evolve beyond the consciousness of this world entirely. To some Jesus is a teacher. To some he is a transmission. He is either or both in our lives, whichever we choose. For me, he is my Higher Power, as I resonate with so much of what he taught according to the Bible. One of my middle names is Christopher, my father was called Christopher, my best friend growing up was called Christopher, and my own coach and mentor is called Christopher. It feels natural that I choose the Christ as my Higher Power. My full given names, which are also my spiritual names, are Olly (which means peace) Alexander (which means warrior and defender of men) Mary (Jesus’ mother who gave birth to our saviour) John (one of the disciples) Francis (after St Francis of Assisi who was one of the most venerated figures of Christianity, who founded the Franciscan order) and Christopher.
The genuine spiritual experience is one in which we move beyond mere intellectual understanding, to a visceral change within us. Some ask ”But you don't believe the resurrection actually occurs physically? You do think it's just a metaphor, right?” But such argument is facile: The resurrection is a psychic reality whether it occurred physically or not. It is more than a symbol it is a spiritual imprint of infinite possibility accomplished by one, and now available to all.
Faith in the resurrection is simply a recognition of how the Universe operates. For miracles being of God are natural. There are objective discernible laws of the internal Universe just as there are objective discernible loss of the external Universe. Just as physical gravity weighs things down, love is a spiritual anti-gravitational force ensuring that whatever goes down will ultimately rise back up. Ego pulls all things down, and then wherever love is present, they're lifted back up again. But we must align our minds with love in order for the principle to be operative in our lives. If we cannot believe that this is true, then it still remains true, but we are blinded to it. Miracles are always available. But if our inner eye is closed, then we cannot see...
Opportunities arrive, but we do not recognise them. Help arrives, but we don't appreciate it so we fail to take advantage of the miracle it offers. Love stands in front of us but we let it slip away. ‘A Course In Miracles’ says we're like people in a very bright room holding our fingers in front of our eyes and complaining that it is dark in here.
Jesus' complete surrender to God, or correction of perception, made him one with the atonement. According to ‘A Course In Miracles’ he has been authorised by God to be an elder brother to those who call on him for help as we journey on the path of our own Enlightenment.
In remembering Jesus, we remember God. In remembering his power we remember our own. His mind, when joined with our mind, shines away the ego: Any condition of crucifixion in our lives is then miraculously transformed. But it takes three days of course and what does this mean? It means that as we change our thinking during the time of deepest darkness we initiate the process by which light will reassert itself. It takes time within the linear plane - this is symbolised by the 40 years the Israelites spent in the desert. And the three days between the crucifixion and resurrection for worldly conditions to catch up with our change in consciousness. Spirit, having readjusted our thinking on the level of cause, effects then automatically change. While living in the world, we think thoughts that are not of this world, which gives us mastery within it. When we keep our hearts open even when they're breaking; when we seek to love others even when they have denied us their love; we are thinking like Jesus ,and share his resurrection. Jesus will, if we request it, lend us his power join his mind with ours to shine away the ego, stand in the bridge between our ego and spirit, and thus save us from the insanity of the ego mind. That is what it means to say that Jesus ‘casts out demons’. When our minds are surrendered to his care we are lifted beyond our neuroses, mental pathologies, anxiety, and fear.
How did Jesus heal the sick and raise the dead? When the leper stood before Jesus he stood before someone whose mind had been healed of worldly illusion. Jesus saw not only with the physical eye but with the inner eye. The spiritual eye; the vision of the Holy Spirit. When he looked at the leper he saw through the illusion of a sick body to the perfect being: The Christ within the man. As with Moses, Jesus’ alignment with the mind of God bestowed upon him the power to lift all things to divine right order. In ‘A Course In Miracles’ it says that miracles arise from conviction. Jesus simply didn't believe in leprosy. Because he knew that only love is real. His mind so convinced, in his presence, the leper could not believe in it either. And so the leper was healed.
That's what it means to be a miracle worker. To be the presence of the alternative - one whose mind has been so healed of the illusions of the world that in our presence illusions are dissolved. We look to the great spiritual masters of the world who have accomplished this. Those such as Jesus, as elder brothers and sisters, as teachers, as beacons of what is possible for us. In ‘A Course In Miracles’ it is said that Jesus didn't have anything we don't have; that he simply didn't have anything else. That he dwelled in a state that is potential within us all. That, as we ask him to enter our minds, he will help to guide us to that state too. The crucifixion is a personal event. A human story but the resurrection is a spiritual fact. A collective field of infinite possibility that all of us share. We can spiritually leapfrog over the regions of suffering. And experience the glory of suffering’s end. Both crucifixion and resurrection are extraordinary powers at work in our lives. Just as they were in the life of Jesus. They are psychic realities - the understanding of which adds depth to the understanding of our own lives. With this understanding we gain the ability to more wisely navigate our experience of the world. To not feel our suffering is to deny the crucifixion, but to not let go of it is to deny the resurrection. Though we might have fallen we will yet rise.
Easter
Easter is the symbol of the resurrection - the crowning accomplishment of the forgiving mind. It represents the triumph of love and the healing potential within every moment. It represents a reason to hope when all hope seems lost. The potential for light that exists within even the darkest darkness. And the possibility for new beginnings that seem impossible when all has gone wrong. As a principle resurrection does not require our recognition in order to exist but as a practical reality it requires our willingness in order to manifest. Our openness to infinite possibility the willingness to consider that there might be another way that a miracle might be possible makes us available to miracles. We become pregnant with possibilities once having allowed the thought of infinite possibility to penetrate our consciousness. Where parts of us have died, to hope, to creativity, to growth, God restores our crucified Selves to new life. Restoring the cosmic order to situations in which even the most horrifying chaos reigned before. Human suffering is inevitable in a world that is permeated with illusion and fear. Yet through the power of forgiveness we can and do transform it. With every prayer, every moment of Faith, every act of mercy, every instant of contrition, every effort at forgiveness, in time we move beyond our suffering. We die to who we used to be and are reborn as who we are meant to be. Thus we are lifted above darkness, ignorance, and death.
Each of us goes through this - we all have our own crucifixions, our own battles, and trials, and tribulations. But each of us has within us as well the potential for resurrection. As an indwelling God both calls us out of darkness and delivers us to light. Resurrection, salvation, and Enlightenment are the same.
Three days after Jesus was crucified the women who were closest to him went to the tomb to claim his body, but they did not find it. Suddenly two angels appeared and said to them “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He isn't here ,but has been raised.” What does that mean metaphysically? It means that once we have survived a personal crisis, and been delivered to a higher level of understanding, the part of our personality that was crucified by the event no longer exists. God nullifies the effects of that which made us cry we don't just work through our issues - we are saved from them.
The angels’ announcement that Christ's dead body does not exist; that the crucified Christ has arisen; means that the aspect of yourself that self-sabotaged or was victim of someone else’s sabotage needs no longer appear within your personality. Your neurotic patterns, your bitterness, and hopelessness - such aspects of self when healed by God are transmuted to who you are now. You are no longer stuck in fear, no longer blinded by ego, and no longer nailed to the cross of your own crucifixion. Hallelujah seems too small a word.
Understanding anew we become new: We are not just improved, we are changed. This process is both an awakening and a journey. As we emerge from the torment of facing our own demons into the light of having faced them down. The benefits of the journey are cumulative. We become different because of what we've been through. We become wiser , nobler, more humble, and more aware. We become more peaceful and more open to the miracles of life. The holiest work of all is finding this wholeness within. Where all the broken pieces of ourselves have converged and reunited in forgiveness and love. Such is the miracle of redemption, transformation, and personal rebirth.
Jesus as saviour
Having been saved from ego consciousness, Jesus now has the role of saviour to those of us still lost within it. He is someone who having risen above illusions in his own mind has been authorised by God to help anyone who calls to him to do the same. The ego’s exclusive fear-based interpretation of the story of Jesus has been one of the great tragic ironies of the world. As it says in 'A Course In Miracles' “Some bitter idols have been made of him who came only to be brother to the world.” We testify to the power of Jesus in our lives by demonstrating his love, and we testify to his resurrection by living it. To follow Jesus means to love as he loved, for unconditional love is our one and only salvation. To teach is to demonstrate. Jesus does not ask us to be martyrs for him but teachers – people who demonstrate the healing that occurs when our minds are made whole in God. When he said to his disciples go into the countryside and teach my gospel, he did not mean say “Go out into the world and hit people over the head with our book”. He meant go into the world and be love.
That is the same thing as in joining us to go out into the world and work miracles for as we think with love, miracles occur naturally. Anyone who loves the world is a saviour of the world. All genuine spiritual paths are paths of spiritual salvation and of the healing of the spiritually dis-eased mind. Salvation is when we learn to think as God thinks. Having actualised the consciousness of the divine that is potential in us all, Jesus now has the power to help us rise to the vibrational frequency of that consciousness should we ask him to. When the mind is filled with light there is no darkness. When the mind is one with Christ the ego does not exist. It's invoked these days to simply say just change your thoughts but such a change isn't always easy. And certainly not when we're in the grips of a depressing time in our lives we can't just analyse our depression and expect it to dissolve - there are times when we need a miracle to help us rise above our tears. We need help in going from what we know abstractly to what we actually feel. Jesus is one of the powers that can deliver us from the grips of fear and into the arms of love.
The divine mind
It was the mind of Buddha that awakened under the Bodhi Tree. It was the mind of Moses that channelled God’s power to part the Red Sea. And it was the mind of Jesus that channelled God's power. The mind when unaligned with God is the cause of all suffering; the mind when aligned with God is the cause of suffering's end. Two men were crucified with Jesus, one to his left and one to his right, but there is no tale of their resurrections. Why? Because their minds, theoretically, were not illumined. Jesus did not speak of hate for his accusers or blame those around him. He loved even those who hated him. His mind was so purely aligned with the unconditionally loving spirit of God that all the power of God was given unto him. He is the light of the world because he is the light inside our minds. Jesus is a portal, as are all great spiritual systems; they are doors to a field of inexpressible love and Real Personal Power. But the portal means nothing if we don't walk through it. Our aspiration as spiritual seekers is to lift our consciousness so close to God’s that we become masters, not slaves, of the mortal world. Just like Moses parting the Red Sea, and like Jesus rising from the dead. To the sufferer this is not a matter of theology or metaphysics; it is a matter of surviving an experience. Regardless of what name is on the door through which we pass on our way to God, opening the door makes all the difference. No words are more powerful than “Dear God I choose to come into you, please come into me. Amen.”
The miracle is that God will come in for he is already there. And when we see that we are amazed by the light in him and in ourselves. Our amazement then turns into joy, our tears turn into triumph, and peace returns at last. I have borne witness to much agony in my life. I have seen and I have experienced the pain of heartbreak in the lives of others as in my own life as well. I have seen deep darkness turned into light. I have seen hope again in the eyes of those who formerly had none. I have glimpsed how the Universe operates I have seen the glory of God. I am witness to resurrection. I know in my heart that it is true.
Namaste.
I work with men who want to find their true Selves. Let me know if you would like to continue this conversation...
Email me: hello@transformativelifecoach.co.uk
My gift is to be your guide on your very own 'Hero's Journey'...
Please let me know if you would like to join our 'VOICE for men' VIP community: 'Vulnerability & Openness Is a Choice Ensemble', 'Visibility Is Power', where men can find their strength, courage, and authenticity, by dropping their egocentric fears and instead communicate openly with vulnerability. We are co-creating this space. It will change your life. It will empower you. This community is a safe space for men to connect and discuss philosophy, spirituality, positive psychology, awakening to Self-realisation, wisdom and timeless Truths, to share our experience, strength and hope, and to find solutions to our pain and fears. Our meeting is free to join. There is no script, just sharing.
“Transformative life coaching uniquely creates and holds the space for you to see your self afresh, with clarity, and step into new ways of BEing, which will transform how you perceive and intuitively create your world. My work is to guide you to raise your own conscious awareness to the level that you want to achieve.” Olly Alexander Branford
My coaching themes and services for men: Transformative Life Coaching, Transformational Coaching, Life Coaching, Personal Coaching, Positive Psychology Coaching, Recovery Coaching, Trauma Informed Coaching, Work Addiction Coaching, Workaholism Coaching, Addiction Coaching, Mindfulness Coaching.
Click here to read all my articles:
Suggested Reading
Click here for the books that I know will help you along your journey of recovering your Self:
Hello,
I am very pleased to meet you. Thank you for reading this far. I very much look forward to connecting with the highest version of you, to seeing your highest possibility, and to our conversations. Please do contact me via my website for a free connection call and a free experience of coaching.
See you soon,
Olly Alexander Branford MBBS, MA(Cantab), PhD
Click here for my glossary:
Click here for my website:
Click me to contact me:
Click here for my free eBook all about Enlightenment:
Click here for my LinkedIn profile:
Click here for my Medium articles:
I have a Bachelor's degree in Natural Sciences from Trinity College, Cambridge; a Master's Degree in Philosophy from Trinity College, Cambridge; a PhD Doctorate in Scientific Research from University College London (UCL); a Medical Degree (MD/MBBS) from The Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London and have been a doctor and reconstructive trauma and cancer surgeon in London for 20 years. I have published over 50 peer reviewed scientific journal articles, have been an associate editor and frequent scientific faculty member, and am the author of several scientific books. I have been awarded my Diploma in Transformative Life Coaching in London, which has International Coaching Federation (ICF) Accreditation, as well as the UK Association for Coaching (AC), and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). I have been on my own transformative journey full time for four years and I am ready to be your guide to you finding out who you really are and how the world works.
Comments