Subtitles
by giving a brief resume of the second 00:00:00
by giving a brief resume of the second session that was held yesterday 00:00:03
afternoon as you remember I had started 00:00:09
out in the very beginning of the seminar 00:00:10
to give you an outline of the Hindu 00:00:14
mythology of the nature of the universe 00:00:17
and then I went on in the second session 00:00:20
to give an outline of the equivalent 00:00:23
Christian mythology which to some extent 00:00:26
includes the Hebrew and we saw that it 00:00:29
had certain very very distinctive and 00:00:31
important features first of all that 00:00:35
whereas in the Hindu world view the 00:00:40
creation is the dismemberment the 00:00:43
voluntary dismemberment of the creator 00:00:46
in the Christian and the Hebrew 00:00:48
worldview what is dismembered is not the 00:00:51
Creator the Creator remains eternally 00:00:54
separate from the creation and I 00:00:57
explained it by the analogy which indeed 00:00:59
is the biblical analogy of manufacture 00:01:03
pottery specifically Adam is formed out 00:01:08
of the clay and so whereas the Hindu 00:01:12
will say tattvam I see that our bow 00:01:14
where that means to the ultimate that to 00:01:18
which then which there is no Witcher the 00:01:21
Christian is told every Ash Wednesday 00:01:24
remember oh man 00:01:26
that dust thou art and unto dust thou 00:01:28
shalt return except that by the grace of 00:01:33
God and only by the grace of God there 00:01:36
may be salvation may be 00:01:40
so the the tremendously important 00:01:43
feature upon which the whole of the 00:01:45
Christian worldview is based is you 00:01:48
could call it really three points and 00:01:50
they are all to do with distinctions the 00:01:53
eternal distinction of the Creator from 00:01:55
the creature of God from man the eternal 00:02:00
distinction of good and evil please do 00:02:04
not resolve themselves into an opposite 00:02:07
the devil is malice but his malice is 00:02:13
overruled it is not a case of Persian 00:02:16
dualism as between or most the principle 00:02:20
of light and Ahriman the principle of 00:02:22
darkness the malice of the devil is 00:02:26
always under the control of the divine 00:02:30
it is allowed because freedom is allowed 00:02:35
but the freedom gets out of hand in the 00:02:38
end it is overruled and the devil is 00:02:41
consigned everlastingly to the torments 00:02:42
of Hell with all his angels and the 00:02:45
human beings he is managed to pervert 00:02:47
except that by the grace of God and only 00:02:50
by the grace of God there may be 00:02:52
salvation may be so the the tremendously 00:02:58
important feature upon which the whole 00:03:01
of the Christian worldview is based is 00:03:04
you could call it really three points 00:03:06
and they are all to do with distinctions 00:03:08
the eternal distinction of the creator 00:03:11
from the creature so that distinction 00:03:15
between good and evil is dead not a very 00:03:18
important firm feature of Christianity 00:03:20
it's a completely serious distinction 00:03:23
that is to say the God is not acting his 00:03:27
part and the devil is not acting his 00:03:29
part they really mean it and the third 00:03:33
principle is an equally eternal 00:03:35
distinction between persons just as you 00:03:39
and I are not God so by the same measure 00:03:43
you and I are not each other 00:03:45
we are all distinct and we are all 00:03:48
important in the eyes of God on the 00:03:51
principle that just as the sparrow 00:03:52
doesn't fall to the ground without the 00:03:54
Father in heaven being aware of it 00:03:57
that means that every sparrow is 00:03:59
important so to a much greater measure 00:04:02
every human being is important in Essure 00:04:06
ibly important in the eyes of the 00:04:09
Godhead and so this this constitutes as 00:04:16
it were the basic distinction the basic 00:04:18
feature of all the theistic religions of 00:04:22
Judaism in the first place of 00:04:24
Christianity in the second and Islam in 00:04:27
the third then I went on to explain and 00:04:33
in in a sort of outline the fact that 00:04:37
Christianity consists above all things 00:04:40
of a story the story of the fall of the 00:04:46
Angels followed by the fall of man a 00:04:51
perversion of the substance of the 00:04:54
universe that is to say a perversion of 00:04:56
the very clay from which all things are 00:04:58
made so that it has as it were if flaw 00:05:03
or fault in it I tried to show what the 00:05:07
fall really consists in so far as man is 00:05:10
concerned which is pride the original 00:05:16
sin is not as some people suppose sexual 00:05:18
intercourse it is pride it is taking the 00:05:22
control of the world into one's own 00:05:24
hands instead of being spontaneous 00:05:27
instead of simply trusting and acting 00:05:29
like we suppose the animals to act and 00:05:31
we suppose children to act on impulse 00:05:34
once you start controlling you are in 00:05:37
the position of The Sorcerer's 00:05:39
Apprentice 00:05:39
you've got to go on 00:05:43
and so we now witness mankind 00:05:46
frantically endeavoring to control the 00:05:51
amazing things that result from his 00:05:53
technology and from his cleverness the 00:05:56
atomic bombs the population explosion 00:05:58
the erosion of the soil the 00:06:00
proliferation of smog the falling of the 00:06:05
water table the messing up of all 00:06:08
bacteriological back entities by 00:06:11
penicillin and heaven only knows what 00:06:13
and we are fighting to control that you 00:06:16
see and we are learning the lesson that 00:06:19
lasts so that was the fall and then I 00:06:23
went on to try and describe the most 00:06:25
difficult part of Christianity which is 00:06:28
what it means to say that the world is 00:06:30
saved by Jesus Christ and you hear some 00:06:34
preacher hold forth about Jesus Saves 00:06:36
are you saved brother and we are saved 00:06:39
by the blood of the Lamb by the 00:06:40
crucifixion of Christ on the cross all 00:06:42
is this sheer gobbledygook to most 00:06:44
people 00:06:44
and I'm the faintest idea what it means 00:06:46
and nor of the preachers but they think 00:06:51
you know like a man like Billy Graham 00:06:53
and goes around with this and moves huge 00:06:55
audiences but he never explains what it 00:06:57
is you just says believe it and then 00:06:59
you'll find it changes your behavior did 00:07:02
you see if you're blessed or cursed with 00:07:04
a critical intellect you just can't 00:07:05
swallow that it just won't do so then I 00:07:11
tried to explain the doctrine of the 00:07:15
Incarnation that is the idea that in the 00:07:20
historical appearance of Jesus Christ in 00:07:24
the world God became man that is to say 00:07:29
the divine UNITED itself with the human 00:07:32
and with all the aspects of human life 00:07:35
with its birth with its problems with 00:07:37
its suffering and finally with its death 00:07:40
and so this union achieved a new start 00:07:43
for the human race 00:07:46
and therefore through the through the 00:07:50
gift as it were of love or grace or 00:07:55
union with God to the human race 00:07:59
everybody is able enable to appropriate 00:08:03
that gift but you see the gift is given 00:08:05
to your substance and not to your person 00:08:07
that's the distinction I underlined in 00:08:12
in in Christian terminology the person 00:08:14
means the ego the will and the substance 00:08:19
is as it were the stuff out of which you 00:08:21
are made is parts and made of clay all 00:08:24
right so the substance has now been 00:08:25
rendered flawless but it's up to you to 00:08:29
appropriate that flawlessness by a 00:08:32
voluntary act and here's the knob the 00:08:34
knob is how under the former problem for 00:08:41
the Jew under the dispensation of the 00:08:43
law on the prophets was how am I to 00:08:46
acquire a pure heart how am I to obey 00:08:49
the law in pureness of heart to have as 00:08:51
an intense Jeremiah's phrase the law 00:08:53
written in my inward parts how am I to 00:08:56
do that and everybody who knows himself 00:08:59
through and through finds out that he 00:09:01
can't do that he can't be spontaneous on 00:09:05
purpose 00:09:05
and so in Christianity the same problem arises again in a far more crucial form 00:09:13
it says you can obey the law you can be 00:09:19
a saint if you've got the power and the 00:09:23
grace of God now how do you get that 00:09:26
well you have to believe in Jesus Christ 00:09:30
you have to believe that all this is 00:09:32
true that God really did become man in 00:09:36
Jesus Christ and you've got to believe 00:09:38
that so you ask yourself do I really 00:09:41
believe it and you think you know 00:09:44
there's something I'm certain about this 00:09:46
like st. augustine's pray our lord I 00:09:48
believe help thou mine unbelief see and 00:09:52
so there's always this little worm at 00:09:55
the center of things where you know and 00:09:58
become conscious of a certain element of 00:10:01
irreducible rascality in you that lies 00:10:04
at the very core of the will and the 00:10:08
question is how do you will to abandon 00:10:11
your will you see that's the problem 00:10:15
you must try not to try 00:10:21
[Applause] 00:10:23
you must freely give up your freedom so 00:10:29
in the words of the prayer God in 00:10:34
knowledge of whom standeth our eternal 00:10:37
life whose service is perfect freedom in 00:10:40
the original Latin whom to know is to 00:10:43
live whom to serve is to reign re IGM so 00:10:52
there is the puzzle of Christianity 00:10:57
furthermore we must remember that 00:10:59
it'sit's a terribly serious religion 00:11:02
there never was whereas the Hinduism 00:11:04
will reveal views the whole world as the 00:11:07
play the sport the leela of the divine 00:11:10
in the West the world is serious it is a 00:11:14
tragic view if it's a dramatic view at 00:11:18
all it's a tragic drama whereas the the 00:11:21
Eastern view is it's a comedy although 00:11:25
it's curious isn't that the Dante could 00:11:27
write the Divine Comedy because 00:11:30
somewhere you see you can't you can't 00:11:32
get rounded that if the the notation of 00:11:35
life if the meaning of life is 00:11:37
fundamentally tragic God's a washout so 00:11:45
there is the idea really in the kind of 00:11:47
esoteric strain of the Christian 00:11:49
tradition 00:11:50
Dante brings it out to see when he heard 00:11:53
the song of the angels he said this 00:11:55
sounded like the laughter of the 00:11:56
universe and all those angels in heaven 00:12:00
get around the throne of God and they 00:12:03
sing alleluia alleluia alleluia forever 00:12:05
and everybody every child who goes to 00:12:07
church thing on a drag I mean we got to 00:12:10
go up there on like a church service 00:12:12
forever sing Alleluia our own throne 00:12:14
well you see the preachers don't get it 00:12:17
across because they don't swing they 00:12:21
they they don't realize that this word 00:12:24
Alleluia is a kind of a dance word 00:12:31
it's like almost it's like scat singing 00:12:34
well all the meaning goes out of the 00:12:37
language and it's just rhythm it's just 00:12:39
sheer exuberance and the Dante makes 00:12:43
this quite 10 that these angels 00:12:45
surrounding God have found it 00:12:49
they found the point and there's no need 00:12:52
for anything else and the point has no 00:12:54
point beyond being the point it doesn't 00:12:56
serve any end beyond itself it's it 00:12:58
you're there you've arrived and they 00:13:00
just go out of their minds and so that 00:13:03
is really what even the most Orthodox 00:13:07
Christianity is after if you will press 00:13:09
the preacher and get him to follow the 00:13:12
logic of his own belief now when we put 00:13:20
Christianity as I showed you inside the 00:13:23
context of Hinduism and this is 00:13:26
something that is happening by simply by 00:13:28
virtue of the spread of communications 00:13:28
before we had steamships let alone jet aircraft we thought that the world 00:13:38
around the Meditec mediterranean was the 00:13:43
only civilized world 00:13:44
indeed the worsen extremely remote 00:13:46
people called the chinese who was 00:13:48
supposed to be highly civilized but they 00:13:50
might have well been might as well have 00:13:52
been on some other planet but as our 00:13:55
communication system has spread beyond 00:13:57
the Mediterranean 00:13:58
it is perfectly inevitable that our 00:14:02
culture and our religions have to exist 00:14:05
in the context of others and the very 00:14:08
fact that this happens automatically 00:14:09
changes their meaning whether you like 00:14:11
it or not just as the context of words 00:14:15
changes the meaning of the individual 00:14:17
words 00:14:17
so we then see that Christianity is now operating it is in fact happening this 00:14:24
is not something I'm discussing as 00:14:29
quaint theory there's something that 00:14:31
ought to happen it's something that is 00:14:33
happening Christianity and Christians 00:14:35
with their particular beliefs and their 00:14:37
particular points of view are waking up 00:14:39
to find themselves surrounded by very 00:14:42
different peoples also civilize to have 00:14:44
rather different points of view now 00:14:47
what's going to happen what difference 00:14:49
does it make so then I'm giving it I'm 00:14:56
putting Christianity in the context of 00:14:58
Hinduism to make a special case to give 00:15:02
a specific example of the sort of thing 00:15:04
that would happen I'm not saying that it 00:15:09
is going to happen just like this I'm 00:15:11
trying to indicate general directions so 00:15:15
then the Hindu looks at Christianity and 00:15:22
he says good heavens 00:15:25
isn't that it isn't that amazing for 00:15:29
here in the many many forms of being 00:15:33
which the supreme self the brahmana 00:15:36
plays at being here comes the Christian 00:15:40
the Christian soul this is a new 00:15:43
identity which the dancer of the 00:15:45
universe is claimed and he's playing as 00:15:50
far out as as he can get he is dancing 00:15:54
not dancing 00:15:55
he is playing that he's not God at all 00:15:58
and never was and that he absolutely not 00:16:04
that don't shoot down claim any kinship 00:16:10
with the Father he created you out of 00:16:14
nothing 00:16:14
you are not forgotten you are made the Sun the log-off's 00:16:18
is forgotten you see the creature is 00:16:28
made and can be a son of God by adoption 00:16:31
only the whole human race is orphaned 00:16:36
and God is the father by adopting you 00:16:40
see so the Hindu would say look at that 00:16:46
what's more this often is a now adopted 00:16:53
but the goodness what are what 00:16:55
conditions 00:16:56
once you've become adopted you become 00:16:59
responsible for making that choice 00:17:01
between the good and evil and if you 00:17:05
choose the evil you are lost forever 00:17:05
absolutely lost and you won't just be annihilated and it will spend all the 00:17:14
endless cycles of time in excruciating 00:17:22
and ineffable agony you will exist 00:17:26
bodily as well as spiritually you'll be 00:17:29
devoured by ever renewed worms and 00:17:32
consumed by files that will penetrate to 00:17:35
the inmost centers of your nerves you 00:17:38
should hear the theologians describe it 00:17:41
look at my book come the two hands of 00:17:46
God i've got quotes in there from a 00:17:47
great very sophisticated german 00:17:49
theologian mathias Schaben who is one of 00:17:53
the great horror writers of all time 00:17:54
because he describes hell in the most 00:17:59
sophisticated philosophical language now 00:18:03
see or something that the ordinary 00:18:04
preacher doesn't deserve like Jonathan 00:18:08
Edwards describing a sinner in the hands 00:18:10
of an angry god 00:18:11
he used the Thornton area vivid imagery 00:18:13
but Schaben goes into philosophical 00:18:15
categories I mean he makes this so 00:18:17
horrendous because he is obviously such 00:18:20
a great intellectual describing the 00:18:24
reality of physical torments as well as 00:18:27
spiritual Tom 00:18:28
Syntel so you see the predicament that 00:18:31
the Christian soul is faced with so the 00:18:35
hindu looks at that you see and says 00:18:38
that is something here the action the 00:18:41
big act is so good that the actor 00:18:45
himself is totally taken in by his part 00:18:45
it's as if Hamlet actually slew Polonius on the stage the actor of Hamlet 00:18:53
actually slew the actor of Polonius to 00:18:58
see the drama is out of hand so the 00:19:03
Hindu knows it will recover because it's 00:19:05
alright don't worry it's okay it was the 00:19:09
doctor in the house and but but but from 00:19:16
his point of view you see he sees this 00:19:19
as a very remarkable religion but now 00:19:25
once they looked at it that way we've 00:19:28
let the cat out of the bag heavily once 00:19:31
you look at it that way you can never go 00:19:33
back to being an ordinary Christian you 00:19:36
know you've seen that there is a twinkle 00:19:38
and the father's eye and when he says 00:19:43
dresses himself up in his official 00:19:45
Rhodes 00:19:46
puts on his beard and his pamela's of 00:19:48
spiritual war and all the angels gather 00:19:51
around and he says thou shalt love me 00:19:56
and all these conditions and you shall 00:19:59
and this and that neither you look him 00:20:02
in the eye cause the angels are supposed 00:20:07
to veil their faces because they don't 00:20:09
look down in their eye because that 00:20:10
would give the show away now there's a 00:20:13
hymn which ends up with the aspiration 00:20:17
prostrate before thy throne to lie and 00:20:19
gaze and gaze on the thing what an 00:20:22
interesting rubber neck you have to have 00:20:24
to do that 00:20:24
anyway the thing is you see if you look in the eye of God you notice there's a 00:20:33
twinkle in it because if he is the God 00:20:39
as the true father a true father as 00:20:41
always like this the father says to the 00:20:44
child 00:20:44
look now you've got to stay in that play 00:20:46
penned because the child is getting big 00:20:49
enough to get out and then you don't 00:20:50
know he going to get into the gas stove 00:20:52
and the electric light system or 00:20:53
something and eventually the child 00:20:55
climbs out of the playpen he's been told 00:20:56
you must stay in it but the father is a 00:20:59
little bit angry but at the same time 00:21:01
he's pleased because it means the child 00:21:02
is growing up or so in the same way 00:21:06
there must be at wrinkle in the father's 00:21:08
eye just as I explained to you there is 00:21:10
always at wrinkle in the Guru's eye 00:21:14
because the Guru knows who you are even 00:21:17
if you claim that you don't the Guru 00:21:20
knows you are the supreme Brahman in 00:21:23
disguise or Shiva or whatever you aspect 00:21:25
you want to assume and you're you're in 00:21:28
disguise and you you won't admit it it's 00:21:33
like in forms of certain 00:21:36
psychoanalytical gambits one of the the 00:21:39
basic gambits of psychoanalysis is that 00:21:43
all behavior which the patient describes 00:21:45
as involuntary is interpreted to him by 00:21:49
the analyst as voluntary involuntary 00:21:54
behavior is say dreams and the analyst 00:21:58
raises the question what do you mean by 00:22:00
those dreams then he switches it when 00:22:03
the patient does certain behavior the 00:22:06
patient interprets is voluntary 00:22:08
the analyst brings it back to him and 00:22:11
says I wonder what compelled you to do 00:22:13
that even then be unconsciously brought 00:22:18
up you see as the source of involuntary 00:22:20
behavior but sometimes in one context 00:22:23
the unconscious is interpreted as 00:22:24
something that happens to you but in 00:22:26
another context it's interpreted as your 00:22:28
own real and secret intent which you 00:22:31
won't admit 00:22:33
this isn't beautiful really it's a very 00:22:36
interesting technique and you don't need 00:22:40
to use it you don't need to believe the 00:22:42
Freudian mythology that goes along with 00:22:44
it but as a technique it is a very 00:22:46
interesting indeed 00:22:48
so in the same way you must now see God 00:22:52
the Father in the Christian context as 00:22:56
guru and Jesus Christ also as guru 00:23:00
coming on very seriously about thou 00:23:03
shalt love and all this business about 00:23:06
hell and so on and challenging you now 00:23:11
what is the nature of the challenge this 00:23:13
is the crucial point nature of the 00:23:18
challenge is the famous double bind you 00:23:25
are required and commanded to perform an 00:23:29
act which will be acceptable only if you 00:23:33
do it voluntarily 00:23:33
and every stratagem is used to bring this home in this a central stratagem is 00:23:43
the crucifixion when I was a boy in 00:23:52
England we used to attend the Good 00:23:53
Friday services naturally and at the 00:23:55
door the Cure the clergyman would hand 00:23:58
each of us a colored picture of Christ 00:24:01
on the cross a very sad dejected Christ 00:24:03
and written underneath in Gothic script 00:24:07
the verse this have I done for thee what 00:24:11
doest thou for me and it wasn't simply 00:24:16
they won so naive as that they felt that 00:24:18
that would make you put a little bit 00:24:19
more in the collection it poses a very 00:24:24
vivid problem you see because you they 00:24:27
they put it this way to you you really 00:24:31
crucified Christ in order of the whole 00:24:37
strain of mysticism and Christianity 00:24:39
whereby the events of the gospel are 00:24:42
eternal events the birth of Christ has 00:24:46
to become the birth of Christ in man's 00:24:48
heart the crucifixion is something that 00:24:51
you did were you there when they 00:24:53
crucified my Lord 00:24:54
if the crucifixion was a merely 00:24:56
historical event the answer is simply no 00:24:59
but were you there when they crucified 00:25:02
my Lord 00:25:03
obviously this mystique wants to impress 00:25:05
that you were that indeed you were a 00:25:08
party to it so you see then you begin to 00:25:12
see that the crucified Christ somehow 00:25:15
involves and contains all misery 00:25:18
inflicted upon the innocent are they 00:25:21
innocent or not what are you going to do 00:25:24
about it the more you realize this the 00:25:26
more you realize that you cannot escape 00:25:28
responsibility for all the horrors that 00:25:33
are going on in the world after all you 00:25:37
don't live except by eating dead 00:25:39
creatures even if you're a vegetarian 00:25:42
the soft luscious vegetables the lettuce 00:25:47
suffer 00:25:47
in its own particular way when you 00:25:49
crunch it and so the grapes when you 00:25:53
squeeze them to make your wine and the 00:25:56
wheat grains when you grind them up to 00:25:58
make your bread they suffer you bet they 00:26:01
suffer certainly the pigs and the cows 00:26:03
and the Sheep do when we slay them for 00:26:05
our entree and so you can't live at all 00:26:13
without crucifying something without 00:26:17
sticking nails into it and spikes and go 00:26:21
on to that what about other people we 00:26:24
are all living by a neutral exploitation 00:26:26
those of us who belong to the middle 00:26:29
class in the United States such as 00:26:30
fairly prosperous are managing 00:26:32
collectively and more or less to exploit 00:26:35
each other only minimally but we are 00:26:38
living off heaven only knows what kinds 00:26:41
of depressed Indians Mexicans Africans 00:26:46
Negroes in this country and so on and so 00:26:48
on you see its exploitation through and 00:26:52
through you cannot get say to the top in 00:26:55
business without putting somebody else 00:26:57
down and so you begin to realize this 00:27:01
and you start feeling awfully guilty and 00:27:03
so this is the meaning this is the idea 00:27:06
of the the man hanging on the cross what 00:27:11
are you going to do about that that's 00:27:14
the question 00:27:14
and you think well oh dear what can I do about it maybe I just better abandon 00:27:22
everything and become a medical 00:27:26
missionary like Albert Schweitzer do 00:27:31
something you're right go down to the 00:27:32
south and be crucified by the people in 00:27:35
this asipi because they are helping the 00:27:36
Negroes oh well alright what about the 00:27:39
medical missionary thing will you be 00:27:41
able to go down and give medicines to 00:27:43
those people that don't come from drug 00:27:44
firms which uses some pretty 00:27:46
questionable practices of course you'll 00:27:51
have to start paying at least that part 00:27:55
of your income tax that goes to the 00:27:56
armaments race but then what about sales 00:27:59
tax that indirectly gets there too 00:28:02
doesn't it where do you stop see then 00:28:06
you suddenly have a more you think about 00:28:07
these things 00:28:08
you realize you're completely involved 00:28:13
and there is no way out you are a 00:28:18
bastard you did it you know that poem of 00:28:24
Kenneth Rexroth about the death of Dylan 00:28:27
Thomas you did it you in your gray 00:28:29
flannel suit Pacific so this is what one 00:28:37
comes to see 00:28:37
now before we explore that critical point further let's look at various 00:28:44
other considerations first of all a lot 00:28:53
of people when they get there think oh 00:28:56
dear well I there is one way I know I 00:29:00
can be spiritually secure to be sure 00:29:04
that I heard so long as I really enjoy 00:29:08
myself I'm frightfully guilty and 00:29:12
obviously sinful but if I hurt it isn't 00:29:15
quite so bad at least I'm doing 00:29:17
something in the direction of making 00:29:19
payment for this frightful affront which 00:29:22
my life consists in oh I thank the good 00:29:26
lawyer vlog for my boils for my mental 00:29:28
and bodily pains but without them my 00:29:31
faith all congeals and I'm doomed to 00:29:33
health now ending pains you'll find this 00:29:40
in many many forms in Christian piety 00:29:44
and devotional literature it's not only 00:29:47
the Calvinistic attitude not only the 00:29:50
Puritan attitude but it's also the 00:29:52
Catholic attitude which is expressed in 00:29:55
let's say the cult of suffering in 00:29:58
Spanish and Mexican Christianity the 00:30:02
idea of the flatulent is the penitent is 00:30:05
the wearing of a hair shirt of the 00:30:09
frightful rules of convents and the 00:30:13
practices to make things uncomfortable 00:30:16
always make yourself a little bit 00:30:18
uncomfortable you see that's a very very 00:30:23
important principle of piety 00:30:23
but you see how funny that can be because it always congratulate yourself 00:30:32
a little bit that you make yourself 00:30:37
uncomfortable you have missed the point 00:30:40
you think you can do something to pay 00:30:43
the price whereas the him says there was 00:30:47
no other good enough to pay the price of 00:30:49
sin he only could unlock the gate of 00:30:52
heaven and let him 00:30:55
[Music] 00:30:57
that the let's look at another aspect of 00:31:00
it another a great feature of 00:31:01
Christianity traditional Christianity is 00:31:07
the mass the central act of Christian 00:31:12
worship which somehow begins in the Last 00:31:14
Supper very curious right almost 00:31:18
cannibalistic salvation through eating 00:31:22
the body and drinking the blood of 00:31:24
Christ 00:31:24
whatever it occur to you that blood the drinking of blood from a Jewish point of 00:31:31
view is outrageous because there are one 00:31:37
of the fundamental rules of the Jewish 00:31:40
ritual law is you that blood is 00:31:43
prohibited when a animal is killed in a 00:31:48
kosher way mother's in as far as 00:31:50
possible drained out because blood is 00:31:54
the life and it belongs only to God so 00:32:00
in a typical sacrifice of the story of 00:32:03
the great sacrifice in which the 00:32:04
Covenant was originally made between the 00:32:06
Hebrews and the and Yahweh the blood is 00:32:11
poured out on the altar for Yahweh but 00:32:15
sprinkled over the people not concealed 00:32:17
by them that sprinkled over them to show 00:32:19
that they have now formed a family with 00:32:23
the Lord but you must need it that is 00:32:27
absolutely taboo so a situation where 00:32:33
suddenly two Hebrew people Jesus says 00:32:36
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of 00:32:38
Man and drink his blood you have no life 00:32:41
in you that is almost in our culture 00:32:44
that would be equivalent to recommending 00:32:46
incest it would be as shocking as that 00:32:50
to them 00:32:53
so then what happens you see at this 00:32:56
last supper he takes the bread which is 00:33:02
of course ground wheat 00:33:02
and the bread is the staff of life it is for those cultures the main ingredient 00:33:12
of the meal meat and vegetables our 00:33:18
garnishing bread is the point like a 00:33:20
tortilla for a Mexican is something you 00:33:22
wrap it up all rice for a Chinese as 00:33:23
that isn't stable but bread for these 00:33:26
people so he says this is my body and 00:33:30
all of you eat it and he breaks it and 00:33:33
hands it round then he takes the captain 00:33:36
says this is my blood and you see even 00:33:41
in simile even in metaphor this is a 00:33:44
terrible thing to say this is my blood 00:33:46
of the new arrangement between God and 00:33:51
man no in Elizabethan English is the New 00:33:55
Testament this is my blood of the new 00:33:57
arrangement which is poured out for you 00:34:02
and for many for the forgiveness of sins 00:34:02
do this in remembrance of me look at that this is to say look you 00:34:17
live by shedding blood you live by 00:34:26
taking life please don't feel guilty 00:34:29
about it anymore 00:34:30
it's for the remission of sins because 00:34:34
in all the animals which contribute to 00:34:37
your nourishment it is I who am giving 00:34:41
myself to you so this is in remembrance 00:34:45
of me the me being the self in all of 00:34:49
you the I am who was before Abraham was 00:34:52
or rather the I am who is before Abraham 00:34:55
was I am the way see all these sayings 00:34:58
contain this subtle meaning underneath 00:35:02
them and in remembrance as I pointed out 00:35:08
to you the beginning of the creation is 00:35:11
dismembering the fulfillment of it is 00:35:14
remembering finding out again who you 00:35:16
are ceasing to be lost 00:35:19
so you see here stands the thing that 00:35:23
comes absolutely at you in the whole 00:35:26
symbolism of the Christian mass only the 00:35:30
Christians never never knew what to do 00:35:32
with it so they they said there's a kind 00:35:36
of dangerous stuff that's bread and wine 00:35:38
it's God once it's consecrated we put it 00:35:42
up the end of the church there don't get 00:35:44
too close to it and put it on top of 00:35:46
steps and when the people could have the 00:35:51
bread all right but when they saw in 00:35:53
Western Europe all those men coming up 00:35:55
to receive the chalices with long 00:35:56
drooping mustaches they said are there 00:36:00
will be desecration of it you know they 00:36:03
old they'll go out they'll kiss some 00:36:04
girl and they want to wipe their 00:36:07
moustaches and they'll 00:36:10
in the soup and our Lord can't be 00:36:13
submitted too bad so the priest who was 00:36:16
clean-shaven usually he could have the 00:36:20
chance the people could have the bread 00:36:23
but there's a perfect panic in Catholic 00:36:26
ritual that no crumb of that bread or no 00:36:28
tiny droplet of that wine should give 00:36:30
control they lock what remains of the 00:36:35
bread in the tabernacle on the altar 00:36:37
which is a safe and it's had been a safe 00:36:41
ever since people started the black mass 00:36:43
so they went stole it and they defiled 00:36:45
it and had a right for Satan instead but 00:36:48
then they drink every drop of the wine 00:36:51
when the priest finishes the chalice he 00:36:55
takes it in his hands like this and he 00:36:57
puts his fingers together and his 00:36:59
acolyte pours water over and he rubs so 00:37:02
that no fragment of bread should be left 00:37:04
on his fingers and then he drinks the 00:37:06
whole thing and then it's washed out 00:37:08
once again and he drinks that see none 00:37:12
of that precious stuff must be defiled 00:37:12
now leave the latest things that are happening in the Vatican what they're 00:37:19
doing now is they've altered all that no 00:37:27
longer is the mass to be celebrated at 00:37:29
the far east end of the church it's to 00:37:30
come right down to the center now 00:37:33
everybody is to gather round and in as 00:37:36
far as possible everybody is to join in 00:37:38
in other words it's not just something 00:37:40
with the priest mumbles in a corner by 00:37:42
himself but the responses that are said 00:37:46
everybody's supposed to join but the you 00:37:47
see what's happened the thing has become 00:37:49
radio instead of addressed to the throne 00:37:54
the picture is the deity in other words 00:37:57
the divine point is moving into the 00:37:59
center where is that the kingdom of 00:38:01
heaven is within you you see instead of 00:38:04
being something out there 00:38:04
now why is this this gimr occurring this glimmer occurs because the challenge 00:38:14
this have I done for thee what doest are for me and you know really it's pretty 00:38:22
bad senior ruler you're really guilty 00:38:30
you're really awfully responsible no way 00:38:33
you can pay for it you know like 00:38:36
sometimes people say to their children 00:38:38
well I'd say this no point you're being 00:38:40
sorry about it it's done and of course I 00:38:43
can't die I can't forgive you now 00:38:44
because you may be sorry today but 00:38:46
they'll have to see how your conduct is 00:38:47
over a period of weeks before you'll 00:38:50
know whether you really decided to 00:38:52
reform oh can you make a people feel 00:38:55
terrible you see and this is much worse 00:38:59
than that 00:39:00
what you to do see and you can't expiate 00:39:04
by doing that medical missionary bit or 00:39:07
by suicide there's no way out and yet 00:39:10
you must love God and you know you jump 00:39:13
the only reason to attend church is 00:39:15
really because you're afraid I mean you 00:39:17
may like the minister and there may be a 00:39:19
sort of nice atmosphere around within 00:39:20
hymns of blessings and the ritual is 00:39:22
rather lovely but when it really comes 00:39:24
down to that confession thing where you 00:39:27
save for these and all my other sins 00:39:29
which I do not now remember I am 00:39:31
heartily sorry firmly purpose amendment 00:39:33
do you you know you don't you're gonna 00:39:38
do it again and that makes you feel all 00:39:41
the more guilty because you wonder 00:39:42
whether you really are forgiven so you 00:39:45
get to a point of impasse the fight that 00:39:49
which you realize there is nothing you 00:39:51
can do to get the grace of God nothing 00:39:56
because it's all funny in incidentally 00:40:01
there's nothing you could not do you 00:40:04
can't de pass it either because that 00:40:07
would be funny also 00:40:09
activism is wrong and quietism is 00:40:11
equally wrong so you say what am I to do 00:40:17
you suddenly realize that's the wrong 00:40:20
question 00:40:20
the point is what does it mean that I am at this predicament what is it making 00:40:25
what it means as is that your conception 00:40:36
and sense of yourself as a separate ego 00:40:39
is phony that this self that you have 00:40:46
imagined yourself to be is a mire and 00:40:48
illusion and you found out that it is 00:40:51
because you found out that it's impotent 00:40:53
there isn't it can't do something that's 00:40:56
really something that has to be done 00:40:57
that you can't do it also you can't help 00:41:01
by not doing the ego is incapable of 00:41:04
either because it is a hoax it is it's a 00:41:08
very interesting hoax and it's been 00:41:11
worthwhile having this drama but drama 00:41:16
it was now you might say well then 00:41:22
that's pretty pretty bad state of 00:41:25
affairs because what you come to realize 00:41:27
is the kind of fatalism you're a 00:41:30
Calvinist after all here is man then 00:41:35
nothing but a puppet but that won't do 00:41:41
because when you talk about a puppet 00:41:48
you look upon it as something pushed 00:41:51
around by somebody else when you see for 00:41:56
example the marionette in the Little 00:41:59
Theater you think of the marionette as 00:42:01
being just a a dead thing which is being 00:42:04
influenced by the player behind the 00:42:05
scenes all right what about your fingers 00:42:08
are they puppets 00:42:12
to whom are you your fingers are you not 00:42:18
your fingers surely your fingers are 00:42:22
integrally you they're not parts of you 00:42:25
they are as much you as your head is 00:42:29
true you can survive with your fingers 00:42:32
or your arm chopped off but human beings 00:42:34
don't ordinarily come that way paring 00:42:37
fingers is as much part of being human 00:42:39
as having a head so they're not puppets 00:42:43
they move by themselves see it's one of 00:42:46
the most interesting things about human 00:42:48
fingers and yet there you just as we 00:42:53
move around by ourselves and yet we are 00:42:57
something a lot more than that so this 00:43:01
comes then this catastrophic moment when 00:43:05
you realize that your ego is reduced to 00:43:08
a joke because you are in tolerably 00:43:13
guilty so as not in him do about it 00:43:18
you can't make amends without creating 00:43:25
further trouble you know how it is when 00:43:27
people get into a family argument 00:43:29
somebody tries to apologize and that 00:43:31
makes everything much worse than it was 00:43:33
before huh 00:43:34
well it's this on a cosmic scale but 00:43:38
it's all been brought out you see by the 00:43:41
Lord whether he's God the Father or 00:43:44
whether he's the image of Jesus Christ 00:43:46
acting as guru see the many ways in 00:43:49
which it's done take the famous Sermon 00:43:52
on the Mount in which Jesus says be not 00:43:59
anxious for your life what you shall eat 00:44:01
what you shall drink and what you shall 00:44:03
put on for is not living more than meat 00:44:07
is not the body more than clothes and 00:44:10
then he says look at the wild birds who 00:44:14
do not sow or they have practice no 00:44:16
agriculture they don't gather things 00:44:18
into barns and yet your Father in Heaven 00:44:21
feeds them well all that everybody 00:44:24
always says of course nobody can 00:44:26
practice the Sermon on the Mount 00:44:28
no no sensible Provident person would 00:44:31
dream of following this advice then why 00:44:36
is it offered 00:44:36
it's saying you see you ought to go back to the life of spontaneity of not making 00:44:42
plans for the future the life of impulse 00:44:47
the implication is why can't you figure 00:44:50
that one out why can't you be 00:44:53
spontaneous what's stopping you 00:44:55
why can't you obey this precept but why 00:44:58
can't you obey the precepts I'll shout 00:44:59
love 00:45:00
now he'll be artificially natural thou 00:45:05
shalt be purpose of purposively 00:45:07
unselfconscious thou shalt free 00:45:10
associate it's a great puzzle 00:45:10