Jesus: The Son of Man, by Kahlil Gibran

I recently found a book in the Source Bookstore in Davenport, Iowa. It is amazing, beautiful and something that we all might benefit from reading. I feel that the stories related in this book are the Truth of who Jesus was and what he taught.

I gravitated to this book because my mother had given me only one book, that I can remember. When I was 18 she gave me Kahlil's book The Prophet and had written a beautiful message in the front about the book best representing the life philosophy of her and my father. I guess this "knowing" is embedded in me, as I have often thought that the one thing my mother really made me understand is what I am now calling "The Golden Way" (previously we have been told it is the Golden Rule). For those who might want to digress, here are the tributes I Shared about my Mother and Father when they passed.

I have read Jesus, The Son of Man his words and his deeds as told and recorded by those who knew him and I felt very compelled to share some of the passages. I cried more than once reading this book. At times I felt I was there where the stories took place. I also was able to find the book electronically, so those inclined to get the book, just click the link on the bottom of this post.

With Great Love! - Andy

The book is arranged as Sharings by various people who lived with and experienced this Great Being.

Joseph Of Arimathea: On The Primal Aims Of Jesus

You would know the primal aim of Jesus, and I would fain tell you. But none can touch with fingers the life of the blessed wine, nor see the sap that feeds the branches.

And though I have eaten of the grapes and have tasted the new vintage at the winepress, I cannot tell you all.

I can only relate what I know of Him.

Our Master and our Beloved lived but three prophet's seasons. They were the spring of His song, the summer of His ecstasy, and the autumn of His passion; and each season was a thousand years.

The spring of His song was spent in Galilee. It was there that He gathered His lovers about Him, and it was on the shores of the blue lake that He first spoke of the Father, and of our release and our freedom.

By the Lake of Galilee we lost ourselves to find our way to the Father; and oh, the little loss that turned to such gain.

It was there the angels sang in our ears and bade us leave the arid land for the garden of heart's desire.

He spoke of fields and green pastures; of the slopes of Lebanon where the white lilies are heedless of the caravans passing in the dust of the valley.

He spoke of the wild brier that smiles in the sun and yields its incense to the passing breeze.

And He would say, "The lilies and the brier live but a day, yet that day is eternity spent in freedom."

And one evening as we sat beside the stream He said, "Behold the brook and listen to its music. Forever shall it seek the sea, and though it is for ever seeking, it sings its mystery from noon to noon.

"Would that you seek the Father as the brook seeks the sea."

Then came the summer of His ecstasy, and the June of His love was upon us. He spoke of naught then but the other man -- the neighbour, the road-fellow, the stranger, and our childhood's playmates.

He spoke of the traveller journeying from the east to Egypt, of the ploughman coming home with his oxen at eventide, of the chance guest led by dusk to our door.

And He would say, "Your neighbour is your unknown self made visible. His face shall be reflected in your still waters, and if you gaze therein you shall behold your own countenance.

"Should you listen in the night, you shall hear him speak, and his words shall be the throbbing of your own heart.

"Be unto him that which you would have him be unto you.

"This is my law, and I shall say it unto you, and unto your children, and they unto their children until time is spent and generations are no more."

And on another day He said, "You shall not be yourself alone. You are in the deeds of other men, and they though unknowing are with you all your days.

"They shall not commit a crime and your hand not be with their hand.

"They shall not fall down but that you shall also fall down; and they shall not rise but that you shall rise with them.

"Their road to the sanctuary is your road, and when they seek the wasteland you too seek with them.

"You and your neighbour are two seeds sown in the field. Together you grow and together you shall sway in the wind. And neither of you shall claim the field. For a seed on its way to growth claims not even its own ecstasy.

"Today I am with you. Tomorrow I go westward; but ere I go, I say unto you that your neighbour is your unknown self made visible. Seek him in love that you may know yourself, for only in that knowledge shall you become my brothers."
Then came the autumn of His passion.

And He spoke to us of freedom, even as He had spoken in Galilee in the spring of His song; but now His words sought our deeper understanding.

He spoke of leaves that sing only when blown upon the wind; and of man as a cup filled by the ministering angel of the day to quench the thirst of another angel. Yet whether that cup is full or empty it shall stand crystalline upon the board of the Most High.

He said, "You are the cup and you are the wine. Drink yourselves to the dregs; or else remember me and you shall be quenched."

And on our way to the southward He said, "Jerusalem, which stands in pride upon the height, shall descend to the depth of Jahannum the dark valley, and in the midst of her desolation I shall stand alone.

"The temple shall fall to dust, and around the portico you shall hear the cry of widows and orphans; and men in their haste to escape shall not know the faces of their brothers, for fear shall be upon them all.

"But even there, if two of you shall meet and utter my name and look to the west, you shall see me, and these my words shall again visit your ears."

And when we reached the hill of Bethany, He said, "Let us go to Jerusalem. The city awaits us. I will enter the gate riding upon a colt, and I will speak to the multitude.

"Many are there who would chain me, and many who would put out my flame, but in my death you shall find life and you shall be free.

"They shall seek the breath that hovers betwixt heart and mind as the swallow hovers between the field and his nest. But my breath has already escaped them, and they shall not overcome me.

"The walls that my Father has built around me shall not fall down, and the acre He has made holy shall not be profaned.

"When the dawn shall come, the sun will crown my head and I shall be with you to face the day. And that day shall be long, and the world shall not see its eventide.

"The scribes and the Pharisees say the earth is thirsty for my blood. I would quench the thirst of the earth with my blood. But the drops shall rise oak trees and maple, and the east shall carry the acorns to other lands."

And then He said, "Judea would have a king, and she would march against the legions of Rome.

"I shall not be her king. The diadems of Zion were fashioned for lesser brows. And the ring of Solomon is small for this finger.

"Behold my hand. See you not that it is over-strong to hold a sceptre, and over-sinewed to wield a common sword?

"Nay, I shall not command Syrian flesh against Roman. But you with my words shall wake that city, and my spirit shall speak to her second dawn.

"My words shall be an invisible army with horses and chariots, and without axe or spear I shall conquer the priests of Jerusalem, and the Caesars.

"I shall not sit upon a throne where slaves have sat and ruled other slaves. Nor will I rebel against the sons of Italy.

"But I shall be a tempest in their sky, and a song in their soul.

"And I shall be remembered.

"They shall call me Jesus the Anointed."

These things He said outside the walls of Jerusalem before He entered the city.

And His words are graven as with chisels.

Click this link for a digital version of Kahlil's book, Jesus: The Son of Man

How to Live

Ok let’s face it all forms of government have failed to perform. All organized religions have failed. Economics, the money system works bass-ackwards. The idea of survival of the fittest is not how the universe operates. The forms of organized religion and governments have damaged the planet and allowed the majority of the population to live in squalor and misery. The rich have been miserable too, because living prosperously when others are suffering will not ultimately lead to a fulfilled life.

So what principles can we establish by which to create an ever expanding life? How can we turn things around? If we were to “go back to the drawing board” and start over, what could we do?

This idea came to me many years ago when I thought about personal responsibility inside of corporations. Ultimately, there is no “passing the buck” in life, even though “chain of command” has created this preposterous idea: that if someone is my master or boss, and they tell me what to do, I have no responsibility for my actions. This is worse than a lemming mentality. For example: my boss gets an idea that it is a good idea to jump off a cliff, so he tests the idea by telling me to jump off the cliff. He’s my boss, so I have to do it. What happens, I die, or am severely crippled for the rest of my life. Now in truth both of these possibilities are not as bad as we think. In fact, at least in this world, they can lead to great demonstration. However, the point of argument here is, just because my boss made the decision, am I not responsible for the action?

What happens to my boss, maybe he doesn’t die, but in a way, hasn’t he suffered a worse consequence? Isn’t that how it really works? That if I benefit at the expense of another, whether it be another person, another life form, or the planet, I ultimately lose out much more – because like the law of giving is multiplicative, so is the Golden Law, the retributions for ignorance, especially intentional, will come back around, multiplied. Cosmically, or some would say karmically, I will pay a price, some day. But this too is “bass-ackwards”, for the reason “not” to do something is not about saving my own hide.

However, beyond the potential benefits gained from passing from this life, or the powerful demonstrations that can come from people who overcome physical and mental challenges, the question remains did we come here to Live or to Die?, at least in this physical form. If we could learn the lessons of Love, truly, I believe that we would have to answer that we are born to Live, period. This conclusion is what Albert Schwietzer referred to as “will to live”. His simple but profound realization, that all life forms are born and have the creative source’s inherent aim “to survive”, to live a full life, then led him to realize the fact that, to live in absolute harmony with other beings, and ultimately with himself, he needed to establish a foundation, or “ethic” for his existence. His epiphany he called “reverence for life” – and that means all life – including insects and plants.

"So what is the point here?", you ask - "I don't see the 'How to Live"'in this" and "where is this all coming from?" I don't know, but it feels like inspiration. I woke up this morning, after a wonderful Facebook chat last night with a high school friend Tom Dooley who has been on a similar life trek as I. It’s as if he and I ventured out walking from Ames, Iowa, as high school acquaintances, to experience the world and life in all its trials and tribulations, and through some set of serendipitous circumstances found that our wandering, weaving paths, ended meeting squarely head-on again after 30 years.

I found myself all last night dreaming, but also half-dreaming, about some of Tom’s experiences and insights that he has come to. That Everything is only One! Everything is a mirror! But also as I was dreaming, and half-dreaming, I was scripting a message to Tom about my admiration for his journey. Acknowledging his accomplishments and dedication in pursuit of “the Truth”. And I’m not talking about the Christian truth, or the Buddhist truth, or the American Indian truth, or the United States truth, etc. – I’m talking about the One Truth – the One Truth that I think Christ realized, that Siddhartha realized, and that Tom Dooley realizes. There is only One thing here.

I also told him at one point that I have now realized that I had profound epiphanies when I was young. He said "Like what?" And on the spot I didn't remember this one about "personal responsibility", but this morning I did, and I became inspired to write this.

But what does this mean - the idea that there is "only One thing here"? How can this Truth, which many call love, which isn’t what it really is, because love is only a word, that has been tremendously misunderstood, but it comes as close as any word, be realized. How does one go about day to day, to make decisions in a backwards world, to move toward a world that reflects the Love of the One? How do we move from the world of wars, of suffering, of disease, of disharmony and pain to the world of love and harmony and peace and understanding? How do we move away from the “status quo” where people are searching for the truth outside only, instead of inside and then reflecting the beauty that they discover to the outside and then have it reflected back? How do we move out of the existing world we live each day where the economic system seems to be designed to destroy the very thing where the bounty comes from? “Modern” economics kills the geese that lay the golden eggs. And we blame it all on “greed”. The basic premise of Adam Smith’s economic model of scarcity, is the catalyst for greed which feeds “fear of lack”, that puts us in the modality of “get what you can for yourself and your loved ones”, but damn the rest of them. Who is responsible for all this stuff – these ideas, these theories, these beliefs, these excuses? We are! Each one of us. As individuals, we collectively contribute to the continuation of all the things we say or believe are bad. So that is where the solutions to these “apparent dilemmas” must begin. At the individual level. One person at a time. And the amazing thing is, that if I change my mind about these things that something magical happens: I will see the world differently, and subsequently the world will change!

These ideas of what is wrong or who is to blame are all based on a cop-out. If we say these things are “reality” we’ve given up: given up some of our greatest attributes and capabilities such as, imagination, agility, and adaptation. It’s not even about corporate greed or government’s incompetence or political corruption. Because in the end corporations, governments and political systems are composed of people, supposedly created and designed to serve the people. I think it comes down, basically, to personal responsibility. That I need to take responsibility, to the best of my ability, for every thought, action and deed. I would say simply that the world would change significantly if we guided our thoughts and actions by Love. At some level that should be enough. The seven "virtues of the heart" (ps): admiration, compassion, forgiveness, humility, gratitude, understanding and valor provide a wonderful “acid test” of our thoughts, actions and behavior. But how does that convert to practical methods? How do we convert the wonderful “ideas” of the seven virtues into a “practical technique” – maybe just by asking ourselves a few questions.

I suggest this list as a starting point:
- am I being asked to do something that I would do if I had to take personal responsibility for the action – or if I were to receive the negative repercussions?
- have I given some thought to how others might or might not benefit? – and this means as comprehensive a list as possible.
- am I keeping secrets?
- am I telling lies?
- do I think I can pull the wool over someone’s eyes and gain personal benefit at their expense?
- of all possible choices of action, is my action the best choice for other people, to nature, the planet, and myself?
- am I constantly challenging myself to do better? This includes helping others raise their awareness of this level of personal responsibility?
- if I were being watched by a sort of “quality overseer” would I feel ashamed of my efforts, or would I feel that I have done my best?
- am I trying to justify my actions or explain with excuses?
- am I expecting someone else to clean up my mess (this means in every aspect of my life)?
- am I willing to consider the application of “Reverence for Life” in my life?
- am I willing to take time to measure my thoughts and actions against the seven virtues of the heart: admiration, compassion, forgiveness, humility, gratitude, understanding and valor

And finally, do I realize that there is One infinite Loving presence that is overseeing all of this? So really there are not big deals. And all that I have written here doesn’t matter much at all, in the whole scheme of things, but at least I did my best.

Of course all of these things roll into the “Golden Rule”, which I believe is really The “Golden Law”, but this short list of questions provides a practical way to evaluate any given action. The fact of the matter is, that inside each one of us, is the mechanism or guidance program that will answer each of these questions – perfectly – that is if we are clear with our feelings. It’s been called “our conscience”, but it speaks to us through feelings – anxious, angry, painful or fearful (bad) feelings mean we’re making a mistake. Smooth calm, happy, comfortable feelings mean it’s a pretty good decision. The program associated with our heart feelings will guide us with absolute clarity, if we take the time to notice what they are saying to us. The questions provided here are intended to establish a means by which to measure the viability of each decision.

(ps) James of the Wingmakers (www.wingmakers.com) six virtues of the heart - I added gratitude to make it seven