What Is Christ Consciousness?
In the spirit of Christmas, I want to address an essential universal spiritual topic: Christ Consciousness. Like many American children, I grew up in mainstream Christianity that celebrates Jesus’ birth on Christmas. When I was 19, I discovered New Thought, which is the faith that truly speaks to my soul. While New Thought celebrates Jesus’ birth on Christmas, it also takes a metaphysical look at it as the birth of Christ’s Consciousness within ourselves.
I like to describe New Thought as a very progressive form of Christianity that believes in God as an omnipresent, unconditionally loving spirit, the interconnectedness of God and all life, and the inner divinity that lives in all of us. There is no fear or dogma, so we are free to look critically at spirituality and explore the golden thread of truth in all the world’s religions. New Thought places a significant value on our thoughts to create our reality. Which brings me to…
The Definition of Christ Consciousness
Christ Consciousness is “higher consciousness.” It is an elevated way of thinking and living that transcends beyond the fear of the materialistic world. This was the way of thinking and living that Jesus and all other enlightened beings of the ages, such as Buddha, Krishna, Moses, Muhammad, Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and even Mr. Fred Rogers possessed.
But the Christ Consciousness is the consciousness which does pervade the universe, but is exemplified by the life of Jesus, and all the avatars and all liberated beings, in that they express, not ego consciousness, not a separate, diluted, or divided consciousness, but the unitive consciousness of the Divine Father, and that is the Christ. -Nayaswami Ananta
We Can All Achieve Christ Consciousness
Contrary to popular belief, “Christ” was not Jesus’ last name. Therefore, Mary and Joseph were not “Mr. and Mrs. Christ.” His name was “Jesus of Nazareth.” The Greek word Christ means “anointed one.” At the time, many enlightened people were considered “Christs.” Jesus became the Christ because he was the greatest of them all.
Because all of life is interconnected and we all have access to divinity within ourselves, all of us can achieve Christ Consciousness. It does not matter what religion or belief system one subscribes to. A person can achieve Christ’s Consciousness without religion or a spiritual belief system. The only requirement is a desire for personal growth and development.
Characteristics of Christ Consciousness
· The Three A’s:
1. Awake: We must awaken to the truth of our being. The truth is we are Divine Beings. By this, we are not saying that “we are God.” Like waves are to the ocean, we are unique expressions/individualizations of the Divine. We all have a spark of divinity within us. It is the core of who we are. Therefore, we all possess inherent worth.
2. Aware: Once we become awakened to our inner divinity and inherent worth, we become more self-aware and conscious of our thoughts and actions. We start developing the 12 Powers: Faith, Love, Strength, Wisdom, Power, Imagination, Understanding, Will, Order, Enthusiasm (Zeal), Release, and Life, and become aware of our potential.
3. Active: We start actively living life from a higher consciousness.
· Surrender
As Kute Blackson puts it in his book The Magic of Surrender, “Our demand that life go the way we want is what causes so much suffering. Knowing that the degree to which you surrender determines the degree to which you are alive, the degree to which your life can use you, the degree to which you can enjoy life.”
Surrender is letting go of control and being open to what life throws at us.
· Acceptance
While surrender is more about letting go and being open to life, acceptance is acknowledging and embracing the reality of a situation after going through the initial negative emotional reactions. While the human part of us always needs to go through anger, sadness, judgment, and resistance when things do not work out, people committed to personal development do not stay there. Over time, they actively work through those emotions and come to acceptance.
· Forgiveness
Forgiveness is one of the most challenging things we can do as humans. However, we cannot manifest the life of our dreams unless we forgive those who have hurt us. We cannot move forward until we make peace with the past. By practicing surrender and coming to a place of acceptance, we can forgive and set ourselves free.
As Oprah Winfrey says, “giving up the hope that the past could be any different.” Thurgood Marshall said, “By recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.”
Forgiveness is accepting the reality of what happened, recognizing that person’s or those people’s humanity, and letting it go.
· Gratitude
It is so easy to look at what we do not have and what did not work out in our lives. The Universe responds to our thoughts. Looking at the lack in our lives only causes us to feel hollow and creates more lack. Having an attitude of gratitude helps us see all our blessings and helps us manifest abundance. When we are grateful for what we have, we can feel good along the journey to what we desire.
· Kindness
I once read an article that said spiritual people are kind. I firmly believe that a person’s goodness is defined by how they treat others.
· Inclusivity
This isn’t easy to practice in a nation and a world that is so divided. However, a person of high consciousness can see past race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, etc., and see everyone as human beings needing kindness and love.
· Love Over Fear
Christ Consciousness is all about choosing love over fear. All the above characteristics are about love. Anything that is about control and judgment is about fear. When in doubt, we can think, “What is the higher way of approaching this situation?” Often, it is the more difficult way.
Christ Consciousness Is Not About Perfection
We are only human. We will never be perfect. I miss the mark in practicing the above principles daily. Part of Christ Consciousness is being free and spontaneous, not rigid and controlled. Therefore, we must always do our best and strive to evolve. It’s really that simple 😊.
