11 Apr 2015 Comments Off on Transfiguration … is that a good thing?

Transfiguration … is that a good thing?

Holidays come and go and I don’t notice them. But words like “transfiguration,” “metamorphosis” and “resurrection” get my attention!

When Jesus refers to Easter and Christmas in A Course in Miracles, he uses them just like everything else: to help us awaken to our true Identity. Transfiguration, metamorphosis and resurrection are meant to communicate the process of recognizing your true Self. Whether it seems possible or not, it is inevitable that you will discover that you are already awake.

Transfiguration by Alexandr Ivanov 1824

Jesus says it in many different ways throughout the Course, but the Message never varies: we are not the body, we are free, for we are still as God created us.

We are Spirit, we are One Self, we are Great Rays emanating from our Father Who has joined with us in formless timelessness. We share One Name. We are the Same.

Yet, we remain clueless about our true Identity although Jesus insists it is right in front of our nose, simple and obvious! How? By having a running monologue with the ego self. You take yourself to be a person, and are mesmerized by the person you seem to be!

The person you imagine yourself to be is the self-concept, dreamed up by the ego, who is talking to itself, disguised as many. This conversation, seemingly a dialogue, is actually the one ego-mind talking to itself. All the people around the world, good and bad, have emerged from this one ego and are fragments of the one ego mind. From savage disputes to special alliances, it is all one mind acting out different roles.

In A Course in Miracles, Jesus understands our insanity — one mind seeing itself as many and talking to and fighting against “others, out there.” He gives us a forgiveness practice to keep us busy. At first, it seems as if we are forgiving others. Eventually, it becomes clear we are forgiving ourselves. Beyond that, it is seen that forgiveness undoes the personal identity entirely.

“Through your transfiguration is the world redeemed, and joyfully released from guilt. Now do we lift our resurrected minds in gladness and in gratitude to Him Who has restored our sanity to us.” (W-151)

angel sky What does “transfiguration” mean? Basically the same thing that “metamorphosis” means. “Trans” and “meta” can both be used to mean “to go beyond.” To go beyond the figure is to go beyond the body. When we first experience that we are not the body it is miraculous! Eventually, this miracle becomes the new normal as the mind shifts from false personal identity to True Unified Identity. In other words, the process of transfiguration leads to resurrection.

Everyone who sees God’s Light in another will inevitably see her/himself as God’s Light. Jesus tells us, “Your resurrection is your reawakening. I am the model for rebirth, but rebirth itself is merely the dawning on your mind of what is already in it. God placed it there Himself, and so it is true forever.”

At first, this may seem impractical and unattainable, but, rest assured, it is supremely practical and need not even be attained because it is already so! Rebirth may sound like a grand achievement, but actually, even rebirth is unnecessary. As the great contemporary master, Sri Mooji, puts it: You are the Unborn, beyond human life and death. Once you know this, there are no more questions.

“Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you will see your own transfiguration in the glass … When you are ready you will find it there, within your mind and waiting to be found. You will remember then the thought to which you gave this half an hour, thankfully aware that no time was ever better spent.” (W-124)