The Eternal Truths of the Nativity Scene

Picture the Nativity Scene. You probably don't even have to use your imagination - chances are you have a model crib set up in your house, or Christmas cards with a picture of this timeless tableau. And you know what it looks like by now, after years of celebrating Christmas.

In most churches you will find a model crib, although usually the baby Jesus is not placed in the manger until the night of Christmas Eve. When he is put there, generally by a child from the congregation, the significance of the moment is marked with carols and prayers.

This is the moment which symbolizes the new birth in Essence, which we may all experience.

What do you see?

Inside a stable, we have the central image of the mother and child. The baby, the Holy Infant, lies in a crib lined with straw, and his mother, Mary, bends over him with a loving gaze. In some versions, Mary holds the baby in her arms, so that all may see him and join with her in loving him.

Behind the mother and child stands Joseph, the stepfather of this child who is of divine origin. Joseph is his father on earth, the one who will protect, support and guide him to maturity; he is ever watchful, looking out for danger, permanently on guard.

In front we have the shepherds, humble peasants in their workaday clothes, perhaps carrying a lamb or two as a gift. Their flocks of sheep are sometimes shown in the background, quietly grazing.

The three kings, or wise men, the Magi, are often depicted in this scene, despite the fact that they arrived last of all. It's important that they are present, as we shall see. They, too, bear gifts; the traditional gold, frankincense and myrrh, symbolizing kingship, priesthood and divinity, and the bitterness of suffering and death.

Angels are usually present, too, sometimes shown on the thatched roof of a stable, sometimes in the background, silently offering their homage to the God-Man who comes in the form of a baby.

And many nativity tableaux show the obeisance of the animals, with the ox, ass, sheep and other farmyard creatures sometimes standing, sometimes kneeling, as the traditional story narrates. It's not in the Bible itself, but we all know of the legend of the animals kneeling at midnight to honour the
newborn king.

This scene, then, is the time-hallowed depiction of the timeless story that is so rich in symbolism that it delights our eyes and our heart, whether we are three years old, thirty, or ninety! The more we contemplate it, the more meaning we can find in it. No wonder that it is universally popular and easily recognized even by those who are not Christians.

In the Work, of course, it possesses an even more significant meaning.

First of all, of course, we realize that the baby, who is both God and man, represents for us our deepest self, our Essence, in which we may one day encounter Real I. That I is already present in us, just as the tiny baby is already God and King of the Universe, but we have to mature and grow in the spiritual life in order to be able to find it.

 In the same way, that baby in the manger will have to grow up, to gradually become aware of his mission, and ultimately to experience the greatest possible suffering in order to reign as that divine king which he innately is.

The angels are sometimes called the thoughts of God. Their name literally means "messengers", as you probably know, and their function in the nativity scene is to represent divine inspiration in that part of us which we call the Higher Intellectual Centre. This centre constantly tries to communicate with us, to inspire and guide us, but it is only when we are purified and educated in the spiritual life that we are able to listen to it.

Mary, as I wrote in the previous post, represents here the Higher Emotional Centre. Her role in the scene is to contemplate the majesty and mystery of this holy birth which her assent has made possible, and to portray the positive emotions which we, too, may experience when our emotional centre is purged of negativity.

Joseph begins his role in the gospels as the type of the Good Householder, whose role is to guide and protect the child and to ensure his family are safe. He teaches his divine son a trade, so that he may make a living in this world, but he does not seek a reward in life; he lives from his conscience, and always does the right thing. Gradually, he will come to represent the role of the Deputy Steward, and then, as he grows in understanding, the Steward, who guards the precious Work I's within us.

In the outer circle are the shepherds, representing the ordinary life I's, who do their job diligently. They, too, are Good Householders, because although they fulfil their roles in life they are also aware of higher possibilities. This awareness allows them to respond to the angels' message, so that they find their way to the stable and the child within.

The Three Kings, of course, represent the intellectual centre in us. They have reached the highest level possible for that centre in its life role, but they also have the possibility of receiving communications from the Higher Intellectual Centre. When they do, they understand that their own reasoning, based on human studies, has reached its limits. In worshipping the divine infant they also acquire the possibilities of the Higher Intellectual Centre, so that this role is shared between them and the angels, the evangeloi.

In the background we see the sheep, the I's in emotional centre which must be led and disciplined; and finally, the other animals present represent the instinctive/moving centre I's in us. They, too, have an important role to play, for without them we would not be able to respond to the higher levels. The instinctive centre usually needs no education, unless it has become pathological, and then it may need healing - the divine infant has also come to heal.

 The moving centre, however, must be educated so that it serves the needs of the entire human being, including - if we work on ourselves - our higher centres. They may be disciplined in many ways, of course, but in the Work the most important effort here is that which we make in the morning exercise, when the lesser I's must be still so that we may become conscious.

The Nativity Scene, then, in all its elements, pictures the order in which we, as spiritual pilgrims, ought to live our lives. Everything is directed towards appreciating and nurturing the Real I, through the new birth in Essence which we may all experience at Christmas if we have worked for it.

That I deserves our obeisance and our adoration, because it is the opening to the divine.

Only through Essence, which is that part of us that everything in life encourages us to neglect and overlook, may Real I be reached.

All the other I's within us must serve it; we must undergo a long training so that this right ordering becomes possible.

That is the Work. That is the Nativity Scene.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a new birth in Essence!

The World's Hope Comes From Outside

"The world's hope comes from outside it," says Professor Timothy Keller in his excellent book on Advent, "Hidden Christmas".

Indeed, it must be so.

The Christ child, the agent of our ultimate redemption, has a physical body, to be sure, composed of the elements of earth, just as his mother, Mary, is a human being.

His spirit, however, comes from God, directly from the Holy Spirit himself.

In a sense, this is similar to the state of every human being, as we saw in the previous post. We are all part of the animal creation, but our soul comes from God. The difference between our own state and that of Conscious Humanity - which includes Jesus, its Head, and all the many saints, messengers and teachers who have reached the highest state possible for a human being-  is that we are undeveloped; they have reached their highest potential and are Objectively Conscious.

We too are offered the chance to develop to this state, if we wish. This development may only be brought about by our willing cooperation with the forces of redemption, themselves springing from God, from a place far higher than this little, low-down planet, Earth.

We can't save ourselves. Earth cannot redeem herself. We need help, and we have, first of all, to acknowledge that need. If we think we are self-sufficient and can already "do", then we cannot be educated. Humility, the acceptance of our fallen and ignorant state, is the first prerequisite for any education in the realm of the spirit.

Mary, the virgin mother of Christ, is the most complete example of humility in the gospels. It is why she is the Chief Apostle, the Queen of Angels, and the model for all Christians.

From the very start, she accepts her role as one of "active passivity", of cooperating fully with God so that His aims may be accomplished through her.

"Be it done unto me according to thy word," she tells the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation. She does not understand what is to happen, but she has been raised among conscious people dedicated to the service of God, and she knows that what is from Him will be good.

Whenever we encounter Mary in the gospels, her role is to direct us towards Jesus, He who is both God and man.

At the wedding in Cana, she tells the anxious steward and servants, who have run out of wine, to "Do whatever He tells you".

We meet her again in Bethany, where we see clearly once more that the role of Mary - the Mary within us all - is to sit at the feet of Christ and listen to His teaching.

That is the "better part", Jesus affirms. We cannot do anything unless we first listen to what God is telling us, unless we allow His teaching to enter into us and transform us. All our rushing around and Martha-like busy work leads nowhere unless informed by divine instruction and inspiration.

In the Work, all meetings begin with a passive Doh. This is the first requirement for any meeting to take place. We gather together in silence and we sit in the presence of our teacher, maintaining that silence, so that Work I's from a place deep within may come to the foreground of our awareness. Only then may we receive new energy and understand what is taught. Only then are we ourselves in a state worthy to speak.

Our passivity is really a state of watching and waiting while the little, formatory I's in the outer parts of centers die away and cease to draw our attention. In this sense we can call it an "active passivity", and it is in this state that we are able to receive teaching from a higher source.

Mrs Pogson explained that Mary represents the Higher Emotional Centre in us. Her "Be it done unto me according to thy will" is that state which we need to attain so that God may act within us.

Her passive waiting is the equivalent of the passive Doh at the beginning of a Work meeting. She is not passive for the sake of it, or because she is lazy or ignorant; quite the reverse. This state is one of high alert, of serene watchfulness.

Her virginal state symbolizes the purity of the Higher Emotional Centre, free from all other distractions.  There is nothing to take the attention away from God, Who speaks to that center not in words but in pictures, and through the inspiration of Positive Emotions.

It is in this "virginal" state that we must wait in Advent for the coming of Christ. We do not know exactly what to expect, because the new birth in Essence which we may experience will be utterly new, utterly different from our everyday experiences.

And the birth, although it takes place deep within, is ultimately a gift from outside our own limited consciousness.

In this way, the Christian religion is completely the opposite of New Age systems. The latter tell us that we can have anything we want, that we can influence the universe to bend to our will. The success of books based on this false premise shows how deepseated is the belief in the power of wishful thinking, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Christianity tells us the opposite, as do all the world's true religions. We are not all-powerful, far from it - and thank goodness for that. If we were, the world would be in an even worse state than it is at present. Our ability to "do" is limited, and ultimately we depend entirely on God for our wellbeing and our growth.

So that He may act in us, so that He may be born in us, we need to cultivate Mary's attitude of serene acceptance and contemplation. Then we will become aware of His presence, and He will be able to use us for our own highest and best good and for the good of the universe.

"Absolute stillness for as long as possible, that is what is best for you," says Meister Eckhart. That is the state in which we need to dwell for God to accomplish His will in us. That is Mary's inner state, and it is why she is the model for contemplatives from every denomination.

In Advent, we remain still, we wait, and we hope.

The Divine Child Within Us

The Catholic church where I attend Mass has a large statue of the Infant of Prague above the altar. In case you haven't seen it, that statue - which is reputed to have worked many miracles - consists of a beautiful young child, a boy aged about 3 years, wearing splendid robes and a golden crown. The image represents Jesus Christ as a King, but a non-threatening, delightful, very lovable king.

Everyone loves a baby! Until about 5 years old, children live entirely in their Essence. Then you can see the beginnings of Personality forming, but False Personality plays no part in their lives until about 6 or 7, when they start learning negative emotions from the adults around them. A very small baby or child is completely in Essence, and the Infant of Prague shows this truth very clearly.

Dr. Nicoll said that the smile of an infant has a cleansing effect on those around her. We respond directly to the love and joy of another's Essence, which he sometimes termed a person's "darlingness". And the advent of a baby, whether in myth or reality, is always a joyous event, no matter what the circumstances.

Counselling theory tells us that we each have an inner child. In Transactional Analysis (TA) terminology, that child is either "OK",  which is basically the same as being in Essence; or "not OK", which equates to being in False Personality.

Many therapies aim to address the concerns of our inner child. TA encourages clients to observe their thoughts and words, just as the Work does, and to see whereabouts in their inner world they are located at that moment. As well as the Inner Child, we also operate from an Inner Adult or Parent, and there are different voices within these categories. Observation tells us exactly where we are coming from in the present. Skilled counsellors can help us locate ourselves.

In this post, I want to look at the Inner Child, because we are expecting the birth of a Divine Child in the world at Christmas, and the image holds great significance for all of us.

When we are in Essence, we are ageless. Because the Essence is ever youthful, we often find it portrayed in mythology as a Divine Child, or Child Hero. Many religious myths describe miraculous births, and they all embody a universal truth: the Essence within, our spontaneous child, comes from elsewhere.

Essence is not born on Earth. What is born here is the body; the Essence simply continues its journey in a different form.

When you were born, your soul had already been created. Your body was assembled from the DNA
of your parents, but your Essence - your soul - came directly from God.

Essence, once created, is indestructible.

The Work teaches that we are here to learn, to experience difficulties, to grow. Our task at first is to develop Personality, so that we can live as Good Householders, but later it changes, and we need to develop our Essence.

A rich and strong Personality is an asset in the Work, because it creates better food for Essence. Gurdjieff would not accept students unless they had already achieved something in life, whether that was raising children or learning a trade. Someone with no life skills would not be able to nourish their Essence, and since this is the whole point of the Work it would be useless for them to attempt it.

Our Essence is our Inner Child, and that child, springing directly from the hand of God, is divine in origin. The Christmas story reminds us of our own origin, and touches the deepest, most spiritual part of us, our own Essence, where we meet with Real I.

In the Work, we say that Christmas symbolizes a new birth in Essence, and in previous posts we've looked at the reasons why cosmic conditions are especially ripe for such a development at this stage in the earth's yearly round. The whole of humanity could, if people worked on themselves, experience this new birth now. Only from inner work can real progress come, and now is the time for that work to reach its peak in those who are able to respond.

It takes many years before our work can directly benefit our Essence. First, we have to subdue False Personality so that it no longer has power over us, and there are no short cuts in this process. The subordination of Personality itself to Essence occurs later, and it is here that we learn to directly feed our Essence.

 Our Essence should direct our life, not our Personality. And it is this ideal state which is symbolized by the statue of the Infant of Prague. That child is a Divine King, and rules over His creation with benevolence and compassion, just as we are to rule our inner world.

For many people, unfortunately, False Personality, with all its negative emotions and fearful I's, all its anger and resentment, deceit and despair, is what directs their life. You have only to look around you to see that this is true. All the empty promises of consumer society gain their power only from False Personality. And yet, so many ruin their lives and the lives of those around them by chasing after these shadows; they die without ever having truly lived.

Personality rules the majority of so-called "civilized" people. They may have the ability to amass wealth, to organize their lives, to achieve their goals, and to influence others, but if they are not living from Essence then they, too, are inwardly dead. Personality relates to life, not to the spirit. Many people with strong personality are trapped in its shell. They want the rewards of life, not dreaming that there is anything more, but they may begin to catch glimmers of the spiritual world, and then they can choose to follow that, rather than life.

Counselling works on the Personality and the False Personality. Eventually, when a right inner order is reached, spiritual goals may be discerned, and it's then that the Work, or the inner, mystical teachings of religion, can become our way to wholeness.

Essence is born an infant, but to direct our life it must develop into an adult. The Divine Child remains the source of inspiration, but the child must be taught, must be educated in the ways of the world, so that - without ever identifying with them - it can steer a path though this world.

We nourish our Essence when we listen to its needs. Our Inner Child will tell us what it longs for, if we learn to hear its voice. Of course, this means that we have to put in many years of observation so that we understand where each inner voice is coming from. The voices often conflict, and we must be clear about which intuitions and impulses we should follow, and which we must at all costs avoid.

Essence longs for beauty. It is fed with beautiful images, music, poetry, scripture; with the beauty of nature and the awesomeness of mountains and seas.  Just as it appreciates beauty, it also creates beauty. Our creative powers come from our Essence, though it is Personality which knows how to express them in art, craft or writing.

Essence is fed with compassion. Every time we honour our compassionate I's, we are nourishing Essence. We need boundaries, of course, so here again much observation is vital, otherwise we will become codependent and sentimental. Learning to avoid these pitfalls is part of the education we must give our inner child.

Essence lives by Buried Conscience. We have to be very alert to follow its promptings, which always lead us to truth and openness. Lying kills Essence. Lying includes self-deception as well as the deception of others. Once more, observation is the only guide. And we must always be strictly honest with ourselves if our Essence is to flourish. Burying our conscience by self-calming measures leads only to the death of Essence.

People sometimes dream of children or babies. These dreams are often numinous, suffused with great meaning. It may be that a child comes to show us the way on a journey, or we are given a small baby to look after; we may see a neglected child crying for attention, or an infant running along a garden path. All these dreams, and many more, signify that our Essence, our Divine Child, is calling out to us. It needs us so that it may express itself in the world. And we need it, to be the guiding light of our entire life.

If you have a spare moment, you might study a picture of the Infant of Prague and think about what it symbolizes.

The priests who serve our church belong to the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, and they chose that particular statue because they want us to know that our Heavenly King is a completely non-violent, non-judgmental, non-threatening King, He has not come to condemn us or to tyrannize us, as an earthly ruler might do. He wants to draw us by love alone, and in the form of a very young child He comes to solicit our compassionate response.

This Christmas, the Divine Child is calling to us. We await His birth with eagerness and joy. If we have worked for it, we too will experience a new birth within our Essence.

Advent Is Not Christmas

Although the shops are frantically trying to sell us quantities of stuff we don't need or even want, in the name of "Christmas", we must remind ourselves that we are in the season of Advent, not Christmas. Christmas does not arrive until December 24th, at midnight, and it will last for twelve days and nights. It is not yet here.

Advent is a feast that has largely been forgotten outside of the Catholic and Orthodox Eastern churches. Huge commercial pressures exist to manipulate the masses into believing that Christmas has already begun - and that it consists of worshipping Mammon, not Christ. An orgy of compulsive shopping annually takes over the Western world, and even reflective Christians can find it hard to disidentify and remember we are only in Advent.

Advent means that we are waiting for an important event to take place. It has not yet happened. We are not going to be ready for it to occur unless we prepare well, and for that we need a month of quiet reflection and inner work.

Not that we can't go out and buy some presents, of course. The best gifts are often those we've made ourselves, as they convey the message that energy, time and effort have been spent, and these are far more precious than mere money. One devout Catholic lady I know in West Wales makes 27 Christmas cakes every year. They are wonderful gifts, greatly appreciated, both because the person is an excellent baker and because the recipient knows the love and care that have gone into making each cake.

But a list of presents should represent only one aspect of Christmas, and each gift should be something thoughtful, something meaningful, not simply the ticking of a box or the crossing off of an item. Apart from offices or clubs who may operate a "Secret Santa" gift scheme every year, most Christmas presents are personal, given from individuals to their loved ones, family members or close friends. Considering their needs and perhaps unvoiced wishes is external considering and is a fine part of our Advent preparation.

We may decorate the house and office, but simply; evergreens are often brought indoors and wreaths and decorative candles lit, but the tree and its decorations are best left for the final few days of Advent. Then, in the last days before Christmas, perhaps on Christmas Eve itself, the atmosphere of hope and expectancy receives a huge boost and we are reminded of the celebration to come. Doing all this too early leaves many people jaded and bored. By the time Christmas arrives they may be thoroughly sick of the whole idea, not too mention out of pocket, hungover and with digestive problems!

During Advent, big parties and celebrations are inappropriate. We can't celebrate something that has not yet happened! It may be impossible to escape from office or club dinners, and so on, but while we may need to fulfil some obligations in this way, it should again be a question of externally considering those around us, rather than an invitation to guzzle and booze our way through December! We take part to help spread joy, not to over-indulge ourselves.

My teacher, Marian, used to point out that as the galaxy is sending us powerful energies now (see last week's post for a description of this process) these energies must be correctly received, and not allowed to become negative. In just the same way that meditation increases our higher hydrogens, but that energy may be dissipated uselessly unless we remain in attention, so the extra hydrogens that come to us freely from the heavens now must be treasured and used for good, not wasted.

She pointed out that people can very easily become negative about Christmas, due to the commercial pressures I've mentioned and to mental clutter from the past. We should watch out for negativity in our private thoughts and in our conversations, and when we feel this happening we should consciously transform the negative energies into positive ones. This may be done very simply and unobtrusively, and is a good Work exercise during Advent.

Christmas cards, letters and phone calls all increase our loving connections with friends and family and are very much a part of Advent. They help to prepare us all, even those who are unaware of the inner meaning of the season, so that the whole Earth may benefit from the spiritual energies we are all being showered with now.

So, repentance must be continuous during Advent; not a gloomy, condemnatory process, but an acknowledgement of our inner states, and of what needs to change. We wish to observe ourselves throughout this season, watching to see that nothing will impede the new birth, nothing delay or dim the transformation it will bring. We long to receive a new mind, the gift of metanoia, but first we must discard what we can of our old, useless I's.

All those selfish, False Personality I's that prevent us from relating properly to others must be allowed to die away in us. Far from going on a mindless shopping trip to acquire more stuff, we should be considering what we need to empty ourselves of, what we need to let go, so that when Christ is born, in our Essence, we will be in the right state of Being to realize what has happened.

That new birth in Essence is something to be devoutly wished for. And, just as a mother expecting her baby will make sure the house is thoroughly clean and ready for the precious new occupant, so we must be willing to "clean house" in our own internal world so that the Divine Child may live in us.

In the Eastern churches, Advent is a time of fasting in exactly the same way as Lent. Virtually a vegan diet is followed, preparing and "detoxing" the body ready for a healthy celebration at Christmas. Now is not the time to overeat and drink ourselves into oblivion. Recollection includes awareness of the body as well as of the mind. Sobriety is the watchword.

Advent is a season of quiet joy, happy expectancy, serene watchfulness. All the inner work that we have been carrying out since the beginning of Autumn will bear fruit at Christmas.

May we all enjoy a happy and fruitful Advent, and give the season its due importance in our yearly inner calendar!