Today’s Journal is a message about being born again inside of one day at a time by resurrecting our finer qualities and honoring the better angels of our nature.
This message is a reprinting of an article which appeared on The Daily Stoic, and was authored by Ryan Holiday. It references the life of Jesus on this Easter Day.
This brief writing offers some sobering historical examples of capital punishment in the Roman Empire, but also some very nice reflections to ponder for those of us who are endeared to the life and teachings of Jesus. And for those who may not be so endeared, there are some happy day messages for you also!
The commonly used English word “Jesus” has no intrinsic meaning or etymological backing. This name is a derivation of the original name Yeshua which means “deliverer” or “savior.” Some ascribe a verb quality to the word Yeshua with the process orientation descriptive of “salvation.”
When I think of the word “Jesus” and use it because it is widely and immediately accepted, I also think of his original Hebrew name “Yeshua” and orient to the attunement of salvation. What salvation did he preach?
The author of this article opens by describing Yeshua as a “philosopher.”
I would only add a qualifier that he was a philosopher of salvation via his teachings of love, peace, truth, and purity of the heart. To be born again and resurrected inside of those qualities on a daily basis is the practice of living in spirit and heart based consciousness.
We Can Always Be Born Again
“In the year 33, a philosopher was executed by the Roman authorities. This was not an uncommon thing back then.
Cicero had his head, hands and tongue put up in the Forum by Marc Antony. The Stoic Gaius Rubellius Plautus had his head cut off and then held up and mocked by Nero. Seneca was poisoned, had his wrists slit and smothered at the orders of the man he had tutored into adulthood. Paul of Tarsus, who studied Stoicism, was also beheaded. Justin Martyr, who also studied Stoicism during Marcus Aurelius’ time, was beaten, whipped until the skin was torn from his body, and then beheaded.
But this man, referred to as Christus in Tacitus’ writing, was first beaten and then after being forced to carry the weight of the tools of his annihilation to the site of his ultimate demise, was brutally crucified on full display. But then, after he was entombed–and this is where his story is said to diverge from the Stoics we mentioned above–three days later, Christus, supposedly rose again.
Now, whether or not you consider the events of Jesus’s death to be holy or not, totally true or not, there is nevertheless a powerful lesson in them. A man went bravely to his death. A man with his last words said, ‘Forgive them father, for they know not what they do.’ A man died willingly, believing he would absolve mankind for its sins. And then, from this loss, he and mankind were given a clean slate.
We should take this day, Easter Sunday, as a moment to reflect on the beauty of rebirth and redemption. Especially this Easter, as we emerge from the long dark tunnel that has been our collective journey through the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter what has happened, no matter what we’ve done—none of us are beyond redemption. Even in the brutality of Jesus’ execution there is evidence of this.
Well known is the story of the Roman soldier, Stephaton, who as Jesus was writhing on the cross, offered him a sponge soaked in vinegar. This has long been taken as an example of extreme cruelty—in fact, it is the opposite. The Roman legions drank vinegar wine to reduce their thirst. This was an act of mercy, quite possibly at great risk to the soldier.
There is good in all of us, even those of us who have done bad things. There is hope for all of us. The future can be brighter, as dark as the last few years have been. Let today, regardless of your beliefs, mark a moment of rebirth. Of rejuvenation. Of reemergence.
Whatever our faith, we always have the ability to be reborn. Every day that we awake, we can choose a new life, a new way, to rededicate ourselves to our philosophy. Tell yourself, as Epictetus said, that you’re not going to wait any longer to demand the best of yourself. Don’t, as Marcus Aurelius reminded himself, choose to be good tomorrow. Choose to be good today. For it is a new day, and it can also be the beginning of a new you, too.
Happy Easter.”
Crestone and Beyond
Here is a link to the original article and the website which has sponsored this writing.
The reading links below offer some additional perspectives to ponder about the life and teachings of an exalted being who came to be with us in order to preach love, peace, truth and purity of the heart. He railed against the hypocrisy of the then Jewish religious orthodoxy and the shallow formulaic emptiness of the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, the Sanhedrin and other such fearful controllers who preached shame and guilt and to be fearful of the Creator.
Why should anyone culture an attitude of fear of the Divine Creator? How hopelessly disempowering is such a message…an ultimate “misinformation” and an opprobrium to be avoided.
Purity of the heart is the best thing to contemplate and culture. This leads to a loving, bountiful experience in the course of life. Some pure heart qualities are forgiveness, non judgment, humility, kindness, compassion, empathy, gratitude, courage and joy. These qualities are present without words to make them so, and yet it is good to contemplate in one’s thinking the presence, or absence, of these qualities.
The heart is the hub of all sacred places. It is good to go there and roam while being mindful that the heart is not thinking in words. The key to understanding comes through the quiet of meditation, contemplation, and awareness of the breath.
Thank you for reading, and if this message appeals to you in these times, I hope you will pass it on to others.
Signing off from Crestone and Beyond
Associated Readings
- The Nazarean Way… a favorite website, an extensive presentations of the “Esoteric Teachings of Jesus and the Nazarean Essenes.”…”Dedicated to recovering the original teachings of the historical ‘Jesous The Nassarean’ and ‘Maria The Magdalene.'” This is a fascinating website compendium that one can get lost in, and probably should get lost in. Here is a place where Jesus’ messages to us are not fettered with canonical constraints and Church interpretations, creeds, and rules. The teachings of Jesus are eternal ones. All of the great sages who have walked here with us have preached very similar messages. One only has to study across the spiritual and religious paths to understand this. But, as stated above, the heart is the special place of true spirituality in life.
- The Aramaic Prayer of Jesus (“The Lord’s Prayer”)…the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic as Jesus may have first spoken it. “Original transliteration and translation from the Peshitta (Syriac-Aramaic) version of Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4.”
- The Original Lord’s Prayer in Ancient Aramaic…a YouTube presentation of what the Lord’s Prayer sounds like when spoken in Aramaic. “This is the Nazarene transliteration and translation of the Lord’s Prayer from ancient Aramaic, a language spoken by Yeshua (Jesus). When compared to the Lord’s Prayer found in the bible, we see just how much the traditional version morphed from its original essence. Yeshua was an Essene of the Nazarene sect and there is even indication of this in the bible, in ACTS 24:5.”
- The Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic…this is one of several 30 minute presentations by Dr. Rocco Errico who is an expert in the subtleties of the Aramaic language. This language, which arose about 12,500 years before Jesus in the Aram region of lower Syria, is poetic. Each word or phrase can have different meanings depending on context of time, place, events, and the intent of the user. Dr. Errico presents deeper meanings inherent in the phrases of the Lord’s Prayer. In the sequential presentations he covers each phrase of the prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is a wonderful contemplation of creation and its Creator.
- Prayer…a writing on this website about how prayer works in our lives.
- Minding your Meditation…a writing on this website about meditation and how it can be practiced along the way.