It is a mistake to assume that great spiritual teachers are speaking at the level understood by their followers. Few beginners would be foolish enough to assume they could take Einstein literally. Instead, they would assume that they had only the barest outline of an understanding and would spend the rest of their lives growing into the teaching.
When Jesus says “I am the only way” it is understandable that some assume Jesus is speaking from the same ego centered consciousness with which they are hearing him. So they hear the words to say something like, “you must become a Christian or you cannot be saved.” Beginners have no way of knowing the depth of compassion from which such words might be spoken. They have not studied enough to realize that in the “I am” sayings of Jesus refer not to his own ego, but to the Divine Wisdom described in Proverbs. They do not know that “I am” is the divine name. So they have no way of realizing that Jesus is referring to the Wisdom that knits the cosmos together not to a church that has yet to be formed or a Bible that had yet to be written. He is speaking not as you or I might speak, but from the depths of our one common life. Which is why he also said, “What you do to the least of these, you do unto me.” He is saying, “only in loving from the heart of things, as I am, can you find true life.”
Do not assume great teachers are speaking at the level of your current comprehension. Perhaps they are inviting you to a depth of living and loving you do not yet know.
I suppose Jesus is the only way if you believe he is the only way. And others are also paths if you believe that. I suspect our minds create the reality we offer it.
When Einstein and Jesus spoke, do you think their language, their words meant something intelligible to their hearers? Were they both so other-worldly that when they used words, they had no desire or intent that the person they were talking to would “get it”? Maybe they were, maybe not.
When Jesus tried three times in John 8 to explain to his hearers who he is, they didn’t really get it the first time so he tried another way to make it plain, they didn’t get it then either, so he tried another tack because, I think, he wanted his hearers to understand. You can almost hear the foreheads being smacked when he said “before Abraham was, I am” . They got it thoroughly, viscerally, mentally, emotionally enough to attempt murder.
His words had meaning and they were to be taken in the common, normal sense that other’s words were to be taken. It didn’t take initiation or a secret decoder ring. Beginners who heard him understood the normal sense of what he meant by what he said. Surely after a couple of millennia, we’ve connected a few more dots and can expound on it deeply, but he said words that meant something.
When he said “I am the way…” , that was followed by, “No one comes to the father but by me”. I understand how you got from that statement to “only in loving from the heart of things, as I am, can you find true life,” but for me that’s a bit of a stretch if we agree that words mean anything. But even that is a truth statement that some Buddhists, atheists, and Jews might find exclusive and maybe a little offensive.
Again, thank you for disagreeing so well and letting me the be the class dunce who’s just a little slow catching on.
Kirk, I am also considering those phrases where Jesus says he is not talking about himself, and where he says what you do to the least of these you do unto me. What we cannot see in the English is that the particular phrase Jesus is using for “I am” comes from the specific Greek translation of the divine name. It was only used for that purpose and so I believe it misses the point to reduce it to literal English. In fact, part of the irony of John is that those who take Jesus’ words at face value are misunderstanding him.
I also appreciate your willingness to explore these matters. We will both learn and grow as a result.
Jim,
Aren’t you conflating 2 different sets of “I am”/”I AM” statements in John’s Gospel? Do you think they are interchangeable and the difference is insignificant? 1/15/14, 08:13 CST
Bob,
My only claim would be that some of the “ego eimi” sayings refer to the divine name and to Wisdom as it occurs in Proverbs, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon and the Nag Hammadi texts. There may be some places in John that are saying something different. My point would be that we should not use the “I Am” sayings as ordinary speech in defense of the assumption that Christianity is the only way.
Jim
Jim,
Thanks for your reply to my question above. 1/16/14, 12:25 CST