Reflections
Kristina writes a weekly reflection which places the esoteric teachings into daily life. They are thought provoking and pertinent to 21st Century living. They focus on how we can express our I AM, our True Self, more fully in daily situations.
Introduction to The Seven Letters
“Towards the end of the Bible, between the Book of Hebrews and The Revelation, are Seven Letters. They are written by James, John, Peter and Jude. These letters are short and they are written to us, the people who are endeavoring to integrate a radically new consciousness, not just on the earth but in the whole Universe. Since the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ on the earth this Universe was so radically changed that not even the Gods were able to participate as they used to, and so they withdrew.
These were the Gods that guided the human race down the centuries until the time Jesus was born. Humanity depended on them for everything. Now, with the deed of Christ, humanity was left to their own resources. This is a great responsibility and it is up to each individual to discover their path. No longer led and guided by others, but, with an understanding of what lies ahead, stepping out with self-confidence.”
The Seven Letters 72
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 1 John 2:12-14
Why is John listing these different kinds of people? Little children, teknia; fathers, pater; young men, neaniskos; children, paidion; the Father pater; and young men again. Could these be stages of development within us?
Little children, teknia, refers to children generally, whereas children, paidion, are infants. The word teknia is used in connection with “his sake” which is a mistranslation. It should say ‘for your name’. Paidion is used for children in the words, “I write to you, children, because you know the Father.” At the infant stage of our development we still need to be protected by the spiritual worlds. The use of the capital ‘F’ for Father here is not clear. In the Greek it is pater, the same as the other two mentions of the father. Pater is the generator or male ancestor, metaphorically the originator and transmitter of anything.
John says that the sins of the little children forgiven. We could say that forgiving the sins of teknia means to recognize their immaturity as they walk the spiritual path. At this stage mistakes could be made for which they need not be held responsible. These sins are forgiven “for his name’s sake.” This text should read ‘for his or her’ name’s sake. Name, onoma, can refer to the name we call ourselves which is “I”. This “I” is uniquely human, and is uniquely our own. No one can say “I” and refer to someone else. We can take this to be referring to our I Am, our eternal self which participates in regular earthly incarnations to experience the different stages of evolution. In this sense, we could consider our eternal self to be our father.
It is important for us to understand that our spiritual development on this earth is the very reason we are here. In the spiritual worlds, depending on the level of spiritual development we have achieved, we can be an indistinguishable part of the Cosmos. On this earth we are individuals who, since the Christ event, are singularly responsible for our own development. This is a fact we should all contemplate deeply. It is easy to think we are being led by spiritual beings, or even earthly leaders, but in fact we must lead ourselves. Are we ready to take on this responsibility?
John repeatedly says that he is writing, grapho, which means to record, and it has a sense of permanency about it. In fact, its permanency has lasted till now. He is writing to all the different stages of our development, and each of these stages can exist in various areas of our life. John is also urging us to awaken to eternity, so that we don’t focus too much on what takes place now but see it in context with the whole of evolution – from the beginning, arche, the origin.
Then John says, “I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.” The word used for evil here is poneros, this is evil that causes pain, evil that is full of labor. Poneros comes from the word ponos, which means great trouble, intense desire, pain. At this stage in our development we have worked on those areas of ourselves that have caused resistance to our spiritual development. Evil is really a process of resistance calling us to overcome it. When we manage this we reach the youth stage.
Then John says, “I write to you, children, because you know the Father.” At the “little children” stage we are still very connected to our I Am. An indication of this is when we observe little children not using the word “I” to refer to themselves, instead they use the name their parents have given them and by which other people refer to them.
As we consider our own spiritual development we should try to create imaginations of our journey from the beginning. It has been a very long journey and we have worked through many stages of consciousness. At this stage in our development we are experiencing one of the most dramatic changes in the whole of evolution. This is the Christ event. This event is twofold; first we experience our I Am on this earth, not just in the spiritual worlds, and then we experience the presence of Christ within us, in our blood. As John is pointing out, this is a staged process. He is comparing it to childhood development and suggesting that we could do the same.
Evil is part of this process, it calls us into action. In the last verse, the Greek does not say “evil one” it simply says evil, poneros. Evil exists to be overcome nikao, meaning conquer. If we see it this way we can embrace the opportunity it presents to us. Then the word, the logos, of God abides, meno, remains, continues to be present, in us.
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The Seven Letters 73
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever. Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us. 1 John 2:15-19
When John says, “Do not love the world” he uses the word agape, the highest love, spiritual love which is completely free of egotistical tendencies. We can certainly love the world and all that it offers us with other kinds of love – e.g. philia or storge. In fact, this loving gratitude is an important part of our development.
What John is asking of us is to be aware of the purpose of all the elements in life that support our spiritual life. If we reject some elements, and are drawn to others, we are functioning from our lower soul levels. Lusting, epithymia, meaning desire, craving, longing, belongs to the lower soul levels. Then we have the “pride of life”; pride is alazonei, which means empty, pretense; and life is bios. Bios is physical life as opposed to psuche which is soul life and zoe which is spiritual life. If we have pride of physical life without recognizing the soul and spiritual life then we ignore the presence of the Father who created this world so that we could develop into the spiritual beings we are destined to become.
This world that gives us the opportunity to develop spiritually will not last forever; it will pass away, parago, to lead past, to disappear. It is just a stage in the process of becoming fully human. It is the will of God that abides forever. Will, thelema, means intention, and is eternal. We might wonder why John changes from Father to God. We could see the Father as the one who puts the will of God into action.
John again speaks to us as children, paidion, infants in our spiritual development. He tells us that it is the last hour; last, eschatos, which means last in time or place; and hour, hora, meaning a definite time or season. He is telling us that we have come to the end of a period of our development.
This is marked by the coming of the Antichrist, although John says, “now many antichrists have come”. We could take this to mean that we have faced much opposition in our spiritual development. Indeed, the success of our spiritual development has depended on our ability to face opposition. Hans-Werner Schroeder, in his book, Necessary Evil, where he speaks of Ahriman working directly through an earthly human being, says, “Through the danger that confronts us from this event, positive forces within humanity will also be called forth.” The important thing is that we are able to identify the evidence of the activity of the Antichrist.
Hans-Werner Schroeder continues:
Rudolf Steiner described the following as preparation for Ahriman’s incarnation:
- Abstract thinking, the mathematical-mechanical view of the world, increasingly predominates; at the same time any spiritual understanding of the world and man is lost.
- The spiritual is ‘preserved’ in libraries, instead of being carried further in a living way and developed further. (Today we can think of the use of computers for every kind of knowledge.)
- Faith in numbers (statistics) spreads and leads to all kinds of manipulation.
- People will increasingly act without genuine interest in their actions. Not being able to be enthusiastic about spiritual ideas leads to apathy in one’s public and personal life.
- Disharmony in groups of human beings, partisanship, nationalistic impulses will increasingly fragment humanity.
- A materialistic interpretation of the Gospel will lead to a false conception of Christ and to distorted visions of Christ.
- There will be schools or training programs that will, indeed, make people clairvoyant, but will not lead to objective visions of the spiritual world. This is clairvoyance in the sense of hallucinations.
These remarks by Rudolf Steiner confront us with the background of our age. Many people can sense them, and they must be seen through. Then the events that are being prepared for today will not be a terrible catastrophe, but a challenge to develop so much more powerfully the positive forces in human beings and to increase spiritual work. If knowledge about future events combines with such a will, then although they cannot be prevented, these events will have the value within human evolution that they must have.
In the last verse John refers to the I Am, ego eimi, three times. The words translated as “not of us” in Greek are ou eimi ek ego. John is saying that those who don’t awaken their I Am in this world will be “not of us”, those who do will be together. What he is really saying is that without the I Am we are against Christ. As clearly stated above in point 6, “A materialistic interpretation of the Gospel will lead to a false conception of Christ and to distorted visions of Christ.” Our task is to work towards expressing our Higher Self, our I Am, in all areas of our life, and when we do the power of Christ will be awakened within us.
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Reflections on the Seven I AM sayings in the Gospel of St John January – September 2003 – Always free
I AM the Good Shepherd 5 – 24 June 2003
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father.” John 10:17f
These words speak about the ultimate sacrifice. To sacrifice our life … and to be able to sacrifice requires that you actually have something to sacrifice. This sacrifice is not that of a soldier fighting for his country, or a quasi-martyr suicide bomber. This is the shepherd giving his life for his sheep. This is about the gentle and good shepherd and the pure and innocent sheep.
John 20, Food for the I AM 1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Mag’dalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. 4 They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; 5 and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, 7 and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. John 20:1-10 RSV
We know that Christ had to die, but in many of the events surrounding his death choices were made. All through John 18 and 19 we see these choices, especially by Pilate and certainly by the Jews. When an event occurs without choice John writes “this was to fulfil the word”. With this in mind let’s have a look at the morning-after story when Mary and the two disciples visit the tomb. They make many choices.
Let’s say that Christ represents the I AM that must die. The Bible also tells us that a seed must die. A thoughtful person knows that a seed carries within it forces for the future. It is formed by a plant, it actually causes the plant’s death, then it rises again as a totally new plant (not cloned from the old one).
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Reflections of the Seven Christian Initiations in the Gospel of St John, September 2003 – May 2004
The Mystical Death 2 – 9 May 2004 – We die to live
Read John 19:23- 42 After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil the scripture), “I thirst.” A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished”; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 19:28-30
When a person or a thing dies we are told that it no longer exists except as ashes or refuse. Close scrutiny reveals that the opposite is true.
Consider this text in John 12 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:23-24
Reflections on the Eightfold Path of Buddha in the Gospel of St John, June 2004 – December 2004
Read John 5:22-30 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. John 5:22-24
As the Father is about the will, the Son is about thinking. Judging is no longer cosmically impelled; our judging now arises through our personal thinking. This thinking must be rigorous. A reason for errors of judgement is that thinking is not carried through to the end. It is so easy to jump off the train of thought prematurely. Early conclusions are so tempting, not to mention the time that they save. Lucifer always encourages us to take the easy way out.
Reflections on the Twelve Disciples using the Gospel of St John, January – December 2005
Nathanael – Two – Imagining
Philip found Nathan’a-el, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathan’a-el said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathan’a-el coming to him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Nathan’a-el said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathan’a-el answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” John 1:45-51
Nathanael represents one of the most misunderstood human abilities, our Imagination. In reality, Imagination extends our consciousness into another dimension. It is a spiritual faculty which does not rely on our physical brain nor does it have a mystical element. Through it we penetrate the veil which separates the physical and spiritual worlds. At this point our abstract thinking dissolves and we see into outer forms to the spiritual truth that sustains them. This can begin simply by looking at a plant or tree that droops towards the ground in a sad way, or a flower that lifts its head to smile at the sun. This imagining connects us in new ways with the outer world.
Reflections on the Signs in the Gospel of St John, January – July 2006
Water to Wine – One – Changing Feeling into Thinking
On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast.” So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. John 2:1-11
This series of Reflections will explore the so called signs in the Gospel of St John. These signs are also associated with miracles performed by Jesus after he was baptised by John the Baptist. If we take the life of Jesus as a blue print for our own spiritual development, we can use events such as these signs and miracles as a barometer of our progress.
Reflections on the Nine Beatitudes using the Gospel of St John, August 2006 – March 2007
1.4 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We can look at each of the nine beatitudes in terms of the Christ-ening of the nine parts of our being; physical, etheric, astral and then the three soul and three spiritual regions. If we apply the first beatitude to our physical body we will find clues about how our I AM is enlivened in our body.
Our physical body is the most fully developed part of us. The physiology of the human being is a marvel. The way our skeleton, muscles and skin hold and protect our organs in a life giving way is truly wondrous.
Reflections on the Book of Revelation, April 2007 – April 2010
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near. Rev 1:1-3
We can read and contemplate the bible in many ways. We should certainly take notice of the literal meaning of its stories. This becomes a most difficult task when we read the Revelation to John. The imagery is shocking, mystifying and bizarre, especially when we place it outside ourselves. It more closely resembles our dream life rather than our waking life.
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Reflections on Who is Jesus, What is Christ? May 2010 – October 2016
The Bible can only be fully understood when we have a detailed knowledge of the makeup of the human being. We can only have this understanding through our own personal experience of ourselves which we have applied and tested in our own lives throughout the day. When we are able to experience that we are beings of body, soul and spirit we then come to the point of experiencing ourselves as beings of soul and spirit which occupy our body much like we would occupy a car to transport us here and there.
If we can grasp this truth and actually have a personal experience of it, we can then approach the possibility of our soul and spirit entering repeatedly into different bodies at different times in history. This could be compared to upgrading the model of our car from time to time. There is a passage in the Bible that could support this idea of reincarnation. When the Jews heard that John the Baptist was baptising they sent their representatives to question him about who he was; Christ, Elijah, or the prophet?
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” And he answered, “No.” They said to him then, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” Jn 1:19-22
Why would they choose Elijah from all the possibilities? Furthermore, they knew that Elijah was long dead? It is possible that they recognised traits of Elijah’s in the Baptist or perhaps they had the spiritual vision to see who had been in the past. So if he was Elijah in a past life why didn’t he affirm this? To answer this question fully we need to consider in some detail how and why we enter into different bodies at different times throughout history.
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To Journey Back November 2016 – 2019
This is the story about a man who has just died. In the afterlife he is tracing the life he has just lived backwards. It is a life review, step by step, from the moment of the last breath back to the moment of the first breath, to re-experience every thought, feeling, and action and interaction he had through his life.
He remains connected with his close friends and, as he sees what they are doing in the days after his death, he understands more deeply the relationship he had with them. He also sees all the activity surrounding his death, which he was not aware of when he was alive.
More and more people who have had a near death experience are reporting that this is the experience we all have when we die. At some point in their after-life experience they decided to come back and continue living their current life. We have much to learn from them, not only for when we die, but for how we can live our lives on this earth more meaningfully.
If we can have a real experience of what happens when we die it will assist us to meet the end of our own life with more awareness. Our journey forward will then be a great contribution to human evolution. I hope you enjoy this journey.
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The Seven Letters
Towards the end of the Bible, between the Book of Hebrews and The Revelation, are Seven Letters. They are written by James, John, Peter and Jude. These letters are short and they are written to us, the people who are endeavoring to integrate a radically new consciousness, not just on the earth but in the whole Universe. Since the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ on the earth this Universe was so radically changed that not even the Gods were able to participate as they used to, and so they withdrew.
These were the Gods that guided the human race down the centuries until the time Jesus was born. Humanity depended on them for everything. Now, with the deed of Christ, humanity was left to their own resources. This is a great responsibility and it is up to each individual to discover their path. No longer led and guided by others, but, with an understanding of what lies ahead, stepping out with self-confidence.
Even today, this is not a fully acceptable idea. We are always encouraged to follow a leader. The one who claims to be the leader has often placed themselves in this position through manipulating situations to benefit themselves. If anyone speaks out they will be suppressed in various ways. This is a long way from where we need to be.
Our goal, and the purpose of the Christ-Jesus event on the earth, is to reveal the god within every person. This spiritual being within each of us is now working towards self-realization and the recognition of the highest in every other person. Then, to find ways to work in community while acknowledging the individuality in each one.
This work is part of everyday life. It can be as simple as being aware of how we entice others to agree with our ideas, which usually means we do not value their ideas. We see this coercion everywhere in life. At its core is the fear of standing alone in our individuality.
The Seven Letters, as we will discover, reveal the stages of our journey. It is interesting that there are seven letters, just as there are many groups of seven in the Bible, and especially in The Revelation, which also includes seven letters. Buy on Amazon