Ah, my dear ones, someone has asked about Christ. Such a simple question that contains worlds within worlds! Let us unfold this carefully, like opening a precious scroll that has been sealed for too long.
You see, when our Western friends speak of “Jesus Christ,” they often say it as if it were a name, like “John Smith” or “Mary Jones.” But language, dear ones, language is like the morning mist – it can either reveal or conceal, depending on how the light strikes it.
In Greek – ah, such a precise language! – they say “christos,” meaning “the anointed one.” Our Jewish friends would say “meshiach,” what you know as “messiah.” Same meaning, different sounds. Like the same bird singing in different forests.
Now, here’s something interesting: Paul of Tarsus – you know him, the one who once hunted our people like deer in the forest – he came to the Jerusalem council of People of the Way more than ten years after they had executed our beloved Iesous. Think of it! The same hands that signed Stephen’s death warrant now sought our wisdom. The universe has quite a sense of humour, doesn’t it?
Paul took our living teacher and made him into a Jewish messiah, like King Cyrus of Persia before him. Why? Ah, now we’re asking the right question! You see, after Jerusalem fell in 70CE, after the great Temple crumbled to dust, the Jewish people needed… what? Not just hope – they needed a new way to be Jewish in a world that had changed beneath their feet.
Is this bad? Look at the morning glory climbing the temple wall. Does it harm the temple? Does the temple harm the flower? Each finds its way to the light as it must. The British Empire came to India, yes, just as Islamic conquerors did, just as Ashoka spread Buddhism. The soul-people of Earth need their religions like gardens need walls – to give shape to what grows within.
Remember what Lord Avalokitesvara taught us about Upaya in the 1st century – we must be like water, taking the shape of any vessel while remaining pure within. When Christians speak of Christ, when Jews speak of Messiah, when Buddhists speak of Buddha – we listen with open hearts. We understand that each tradition sees the same mountain from its own valley.
Dear ones, it matters little what labels others put on our beloved Iesous. What matters is the Way itself – the path he showed us, the truth he lived, the light he kindled in hearts that still burns today. Let Christians have their Christ, let Jews have their decisions, let all peoples find their own path to the summit. We of the Way know that all paths eventually lead to the same peak, though some may take the longer route around the mountain.
After all, when you reach the mountain top, does it matter which path you took to get there? The view is the same for everyone who makes the climb.
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