The Heart of Suffering

Transmission: Christ and Mel Gibson

Dear Reader;

The scent of Spring has arrived; the days of Ramadan, Passover, Beltane and Easter. Rebirth is in the air, heralded by images of suffering. Suffering as sacrifice. Suffering as spiritual heroism.

What does the eternal Christ think of our fascination with the mysteries of his death, our love of the crucifix, our penchant for violent destruction of the body, so richly expressed in the film, The Passion of the Christ? What does Christ think of the ritual of the masses eating his body and drinking his blood? How many bodies does he have to share?

How does the scripted performance of Easter make excuses; and yet how does the spirit of a dying winter and a newborn Spring truly teach us about the deep and contagious pain which seems so alive in every corner of our world?

Our wonderings of the meaning of suffering, particularly that of innocents of all species, surely this is the central spiritual question of the ages.

The following transmission was received in 2004, the year of the release of Gibson’s original and somewhat notorious film.

What have we learned in the past 18 years?

Please, dear Readers, do leave a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Adi

 
THE HEART OF SUFFERING
 
This 
that happened to me
was the purest
of moments
and yet
it was born
from the purest
of pain
 
I cannot tell you
of the pain
without telling you
of the joy
and this
you who show me 
as I die
this
you do not know
 
If I could take you
into the heart
of the suffering I felt
I would also take you
in the hearts
of every living soul
for do you not see
that each one of you
has suffered this
each one of you
has felt
as great a pain as I
and each of you
may also
touch god
as I do
if you dare
if you choose
 
So if you tell
of my pain
you tell
of your own
and if there is a need
to project a vision
of your pain
for the world to see
then this tells all
about you
and nothing
about me
 
If you were to truly know
and realize 
within the boundaries of art
what I lived
when I died
then you would understand
that this kind of depiction
of the physical
is not necessary
at all

Banksy, Jesus Christ with Shopping Bags, 2005.

Men and women 
upon the earth
live these cruelties every moment
of every day;
my fate
was no exception
What was extraordinary
and therefore of interest
was my transcendence
of the experience
and this was born
not out of pain
but out of explosive
joy
 
For if I can give this gift
not of sacrifice
as loss
but of sacrifice
as Awakening
if I can give this gift
to the people
of my world
then there is no greater bliss
in my imagining
and I would share it 
over and over
if it were asked of me
again
 
So as you seek
to know me more
or rather to know more
of what I represent
then be brave enough
to travel into my spirit heart
Ask it
what I felt
and what was given to me
in the power
of offering myself
to god
 
Ask it
what was my consciousness
not what
did my body feel
 
And ask it
to tell the truth
about how I too was afraid
to accept
this tremendous gift
That I did fear the pain
until I saw
that even my fear
must be offered up
for the miracle
to occur
 
There has been so much said
of me
so many likenesses
painted of me
and perhaps
the heartless violence
of this vision 
will awaken many to see
how stories are clearly tempered
not with my words
but with the author's desires
and the dreamer's denials
 
There is a simplicity to me
that can be found
in the truth of this story
for I was 
in so many ways
just a man
The light
that I came to share
lay in my ability to practice
what most dare not believe:
the living of a love
that is present for all
a love
that is everywhere
 
And yes
in my pain I questioned myself
I questioned god
I questioned much more
than is known
but it was out of this place
of giving up everything
that my love
was born
and I could not be killed
by another
and at the hand of another
I could not
die
 
This cannot be shown
in a painting
not a still one
not a moving one
but stories will be told
and if you must 
then tell of the inner death
and the inner rebirth
not simply
the bleeding of the flesh
and the rising of the body
 
Tell
those of you
who are born to bring these tales
to the world
tell of my joy
in surrendering all
to a depth
I had never known
and though this may not
be explained
it can be felt
and it can be lived
by every soul 
as they too
return
 
I welcome myself
to your consciousness once again
May I soon be resurrected
with the grace of truth
told by the heart
and held safe
by the steady hand
of love