The Psychology of Jesus
We Must Rise in Consciousness
Photo by Myriam Zilles on Unsplash
Jesus was very knowledgeable about human nature.
He also clearly saw that a spiritual life is all about rising in consciousness.
Jesus knew that most people suffer from negative emotions such as anger, fear, and jealousy. They also mostly entertain negative thoughts about themselves, others, and their life conditions.
Negative thoughts, beliefs, and emotions are blockages in a spiritual life.
The role of emotions
Emotions are both a result and a cause of our beliefs and life experiences.
An emotion results from a reaction, guided by our state of consciousness, to events in our life experience. Ironically, this reaction is mostly unconscious.
We can decide for ourselves which emotions and related beliefs we want more of and which we want less of.
It takes courage to reject what most others around us accept as true and normal. However, we can discriminate against negative emotions and their related beliefs.
Such action clears the path for experiencing positive emotions and beliefs.
The negative pull of emotions
Negative emotions, such as anger, fear, or jealousy, have negative effects on our psychological and mental states. They engender difficult relationships with others and have detrimental effects on our health.
Negative emotions are related to negative feelings about ourselves and others. These emotions often create a vicious cycle that will likely cause individuals to have negative life experiences and produce more negativity.
In that state of negativity, life is seen as unfair, harsh, and ending in death.
The positive pull of emotions
Positive emotions such as joy, cooperation, and love generally have positive effects on our psychological and mental states. Such states make us feel happier. It becomes easier to get along with others.
Passing from the lower or negative states of consciousness to the higher and more positive ones takes effort and work.
It also takes courage. It also requires a new level of alertness to avoid new negative emotions and to reject any belief or value contrary to our authentic spiritual nature.
For Jesus, salvation first means an escape from the negative states of consciousness that create a vicious cycle of negativity. In people’s lives to positive states of consciousness that create positive experiences.
Jesus also saw rising in consciousness as a prerequisite to a spiritual life.
People dominated by positive emotions are more likely to view death as a passage. In that passage, the human experience ends with separation from the dead body.
The conscious soul, being eternal, goes on to new experiences.
The Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7) contains a most important lesson from Jesus. The message is new and stunning. It focuses on improving awareness of our emotions and the intent behind our actions.
For example, Jesus says that killing is a sin, but he adds that anger against someone causing thoughts of killing is just a much of a sin.
Once aware of whatever negativity we entertain, our spiritual life requires us to make decisions about rejecting that negativity and contemplate whatever can produce positive states of consciousness.
In The Sermon on The Mount, Jesus gives his followers a way to exit lower states of consciousness. The more we practice conscious action, the more space we create to entertain positive thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. This opens the way to an active spiritual life.
The next step to ascend higher into the positive states of consciousness includes more introspection and meditation.
The purpose of spiritual meditation is to reach a space of silence where we might hear “the still small voice” or get a peaceful sense that all is well.
Text derived from Religion, Politics, and Reclaiming the Soul of Christianity: A Spiritual Imperative for Our Time and Our Nation, by Jon Canas.
If you find this article of value, please give me some claps, follow me, or share this article with your friends. To see my other work, please visit:
