What is Christ Consciousness?

Perhaps the sight of the Christ or Atman may have been like this, only much brighter

“Christ consciousness” is a term which means different things to different people.

Some use it to mean the same as an ascended being, such as an ascended master or such as us after Ascension. The galactics often use it in this context.

Since the Fifth Dimension is the same as the Mental Plane on the spirit planes, it follows that it would also mean the state of consciousness attained by those who reach the Mental Planes.  But those who are in the Mental Planes rarely refer to themselves as having Christ Consciousness, which has often caused me to ponder this particular usage. (See New Maps of Heaven.[1])

Some associate it with Brahmajnana or supposed “God Realization,” a state of samadhi attained when the kundalini or spiritual energy reaches the seventh or Crown chakra. At this state of enlightenment, the spiritual heart or hridayam opens but shuts again and the state of samadhi therefore is not permanent.

Others associate it with sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi, which is a more advanced state of enlightenment, visible in Ramana Maharshi and (I believe) Adyashanti.  At sahaja, the spiritual heart opens and does not shut again.  This is the level of mukti or liberation, not Brahmajnana.

Still others use it as a synonym for “perfection.” But there is no perfection short of mergence with God which comes at a level probably well beyond the highest orders of angels.  Paramahansa Yogananda used often to employ it to mean “the perfect man or woman.” “Christed being” is another probable example of this use of the term.

A few reserve it to mean an avatar or a descent of God into form. But if this were the case it could not be used for very many people and certainly would not apply to us, who are ascenders, and not descenders.

Some don’t use the term at all, such as Sri Ramakrishna, even though he was a great admirer of Christ and merged with him in one of his many spiritual experiences.

The “Christ” itself refers to the Light that we are – the Self, the Atman, the Buddha nature, the Child of God, pearl of great price, treasure buried in a field, measure of meal that leavened the whole loaf, or mustard seed that grew into a great tree.

The “Christ” is the “particle” of the Formless that is placed in the womb of Shakti, the Holy Spirit, who is the Divine Mother, mater, matter. (Note the Trinity here of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost or Brahman, Atman, and Shakti – or, for that matter, Osiris, Isis and Horus.)

Here is Jan Ruusbroec looking upon the “Christ.”

“In the abyss of this darkness in which the loving spirit has died to itself [i.e., the ego has died], God’s revelation and eternal life have their origin, for in this darkness an incomprehensible light is born and shines forth; this is the Son of God, in whom a person becomes able to see and to contemplate eternal life.” (2)

“It is Christ, the light of truth, who says, ‘See,’ and it is through him that we are able to see [“I am the way, the truth, and the life”], for he is the light of the Father, without which there is no light in heaven or on earth.” (3)

When Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one reaches the Father but by me,”  or when he gave the parable of the treasure buried in a field, I think he was referring to the fact that no one can know the Father without first knowing the Self, Son, Christ or Atman.

One sees the Self or Christ in a moment of illumination (when the kundalini reaches the fourth chakra), sells all his or her worldly desires, sits down and meditates upon the Self that was seen, until it gradually becomes the vision of the Father (sahaja) and the seeker “buys the field” or achieves mukti (when the kundalini passes the seventh chrakra and reaches the hridayam or spiritual heart).

In my view, when one “buys the field,” one has Christ consciousness.

Namaste,

Steve

Footnotes

(1) New Maps of Heaven, at http://www.angelfire.com/space2/light11/nmh/nmh-index1.html . See the chapters on the Mental Planes.  Also: “It is vitally important that you stay firmly grounded and balanced within the accepted range of duality while functioning within the reality of the third dimension. You must also strive to establish emotional harmony and serenity within the illusionary world of the fourth dimension as you seek wisdom and endeavor to become acclimated to the mental plane of the lower fifth dimension.” (Archangel Michael, “The Physical Vessel is a Wondrous Creaiuon,” Nov. 2010, at http://goldenageofgaia.com/2010/11/04/archangel-michael-the-physical-vessel-is-a-wondrous-creation/#more-23021.)

(2) John Ruusbroec in James A. Wiseman, John Ruusbroec. The Spiritual Espousals and Other Works. New York, etc.: Paulist Press, 1985, 147.

(3) Ibid., 74.