Thursday, March 27, 2025
It’s easy to think of Jesus abstractly, like he had no human qualities. Sadhguru, another famous spiritualist, can be left sitting on pillows, wearing a turban, and living on a cloud; until we remember that he is recovering from emergency brain surgery, after experiencing life-threatening bleeding in the skull.
Even though Jesus said he overcame the world, he lived in a body for 33 years. As long as you live in a body, you’ll work on dealing with “otherness,” which is like resistance training. Otherness might seem like “not me,” but it’s all you – your thoughts, your circumstances, and even other people. The way Jesus put it was, “I and the Father are one” and “Love your enemies.” People still believe there are enemies or the absence of One, Universal Consciousness, even in what appears as vile, sinister, and dark. But it’s all one mind, like we have a subconscious mind that wreaks havoc, but it is still ultimately a united mind. You are not defined purely by your so-called voluntary actions.
We’d prefer not to coexist with what seems like opposition; cooperate with what seems like a challenge; and co-create with what seems like “a mess.” Who likes going to the gym? But bodybuilders cooperate with gravity. They use what seems like opposition. Those who don’t understand keep fighting against what seems to oppose them – essentially, themselves. The spiritually minded are like bodybuilders who understand what picking up a weight (or a cross) can do for their strength and physical potential. They don’t fight enemies – they catch themselves turning things into enemies. The results are quite beautiful when you cooperate with the resistance. That’s why it’s called resistance training. Life is like this. You work with it and you sculpt a beautiful spirit.