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One Love
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2003
Total Posts : 13888

Posted 4/20/2009 10:16 AM (GMT -6)

Thanks, B.

Christ is Risen!

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Just as the Spirit sends the Son at the Annunciation, the Baptism, and the Transfiguration, and just as the Son in his turn sends the Spirit at Pentecost, so after Pentecost it is the Spirit's task to bear witness to Christ, rendering the risen Lord ever present among us. If the aim of the Incarnation is the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost, [then] the aim of Pentecost is the continuing of Christ's Incarnation within the life of the Church. This is precisely what the Spirit does at the epiclesis in the Eucharistic consecration; and this consecratory epiclesis serves as a model and paradigm for what is happening throughout our whole life in Christ.

"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt 18:20). How is Christ present in our midst? Through the Holy Spirit. "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world" (Matt 28:20) How is Christ always with us? Through the Holy Spirit. Because of the Comforter's presence in our heart, we do not simply know Christ at fourth of fifth hand, as a distant figure from long ago, about whom we possess factual information through written records; but we know him directly, here and now, in the present, as our personal savior and our friend. With the Apostle Thomas, we can affirm "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). We do not merely say "Christ was born"--once, very long ago; we say "Christ is born"--now, at this moment, in my own heart. We do not say merely "Christ died" but "Christ died for me". We do not say merely "Christ rose" but "Christ is risen"--he lives now, for me and in me. This immediacy and personal directness in our relationship with Jesus is precisely the work of the Spirit."

Kallistos Ware. Orthodox Way. 93-94

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Christ himself was treated as “the New Man” and the last Adam. The divine plan of salvation was consummated, the kingdom of God inaugurated through Christ, but the ultimate things were yet to come in fullness and glory. The king had come, but the kingdom was still to come. The promise of the kingdom was granted to the church by the Holy Spirit. The church has lived since then in two dimensions: in sight of ongoing secular history and world events in the time of decay and oblivion, but also in the time of the heavenly kingdom inaugurated by the Risen Savior (in which the church has lived epicletically in the expectation of the kingdom.)

The coming of Christ and the resurrection changed completely the human situation, for in fallen existence, the time form of the world is characterized by law (nomos); this implies that humans were involved in an irreversible chain of decay and corruption, which led them to mortality with no hope of undoing the things they had done. Everything that had been done became ontologically necessary, so that there was no way to overcome this necessity, which is indicated by the word “law”. The coming of Christ and the resurrection relieved us from this law; we are still living in the world or “fallen” temporal order, but we are relieved from the necessity of the law; that is, we have a chance of renewal and of entering the kingdom [of God], cleansing ourselves through constant participation in the resurrection of the Lord.

Alexei V. Nesteruk, Light from the East: Theology, Science, and the Eastern Orthodox Tradition, p.246

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

"I love, therefore I am in I Am. God is my life."

"God in Christ by His Spirit empowers, enables, energizes and enacts all Christian behavior and ministry as the dynamic expression of the life of Jesus Christ. Christianity is Christ. Christian living is the life and character of Jesus Christ lived out through the Christian." -James Fowler

Post Edited (One Love) : 4/20/2009 10:19:06 AM (GMT-5)

One Love
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2003
Total Posts : 13888

Posted 4/20/2009 3:34 PM (GMT -6)

Bhakti, baby. :-)

Jesus, I wanna be living...

In this type of highest Bhakti all attraction and attachment which one has for objects of enjoyment are transferred to the only dearest object, viz., God. This leads the devotee to an eternal union with his Beloved and culminates in oneness.

...

The devotee regards the Lord as his Lover. This was the relation between Radha and Krishna. This is Atma-Samarpana. The lover and the beloved become one. The devotee and God feel one with each other and still maintain a separateness in order to enjoy the bliss of the play of love between them. This is oneness in separation and separation in oneness.

...

Bhakti [devotion] softens the heart and removes jealousy, hatred, lust, anger, egoism, pride and arrogance. It infuses joy, divine ecstasy, bliss, peace and knowledge. All cares, worries and anxieties, fears, mental torments and tribulations entirely vanish. The devotee is freed from the Samsaric wheel of births and deaths. He attains the immortal abode of everlasting peace, bliss and knowledge.

The fruits of Bhakti is Jnana [Knowledge]. Jnana intensifies Bhakti. Even Jnanis like Sankara, Madhusudana and Suka Dev took to Bhakti after Realization to enjoy the sweetness of loving relationship with God.

Knowledge or wisdom will dawn by itself when you practice Bhakti Yoga. Bhakti is the pleasant, smooth, direct road to God. Bhakti is sweet in the beginning, sweet in the middle and sweet in the end. It gives the highest, undecaying bliss.

Kindle love divine in thy heart, for this is the immediate way to the Kingdom of God.

Pray to the Lord. Sing His glory. Recite His Name. Become a channel of His grace.

Seek His will. Do His will. Surrender to His will. You will become one with the cosmic will.

Surrender unto the Lord. He will become your charioteer on the field of life. He will drive your chariot well. You will reach the destination, the Abode of Immortal Bliss.

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Taken from the Christian view, I believe all this ends up with a form of Synapheia between the Lord Jesus and the Lord's Devotee/Bride... A "synapheia of two realities"..."founded on the freedom of mutual love, not on the necessities of nature---at the level of prosopon not of ousia."(pages 161-163)

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

"I love, therefore I am in I Am. God is my life."

Post Edited (One Love) : 4/20/2009 3:58:10 PM (GMT-5)

One Love
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2003
Total Posts : 13888

Posted 4/20/2009 4:04 PM (GMT -6)

Whole thread

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

"I love, therefore I am in I Am. God is my life."

One Love
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2003
Total Posts : 13888

Posted 4/23/2009 3:43 PM (GMT -6)

'"Suddha-bhakti"' is a Sanskrit term used in Hinduism meaning "pure devotional service" to God. A person who has attained this level of devotional service to God is known as a suddha-bhakta. A suddha-bhakta is described as having no other desires besides the desire to serve God. In the bhakti traditions, it is a term of great significance; in these traditions, becoming a suddha-bhakta is actually seen as the goal of all human life, and a crucial step in attaining Moksha or salvation. In this respect, a parallel may be made between the concept of attaining suddha-bhakti in bhakti and the concept of attaining nirvana in Buddhism, as both require a refusal of worldly desires and a pure state of mind.

In bhakti traditions, a guru or spiritual teacher is required to be a suddha-bhakta in order to take responsibility for the karma of his disciples, and possibly help his disciples become suddha-bhaktas in the future.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

"I love, therefore I am in I Am. God is my life."

Post Edited (One Love) : 4/23/2009 5:33:49 PM (GMT-5)

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