Philippians 2:5-11
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Reflection Jesus’ decision to enter Jerusalem, host a farewell supper with his closest friends, and allow one of them to betray his whereabouts to his persecutors is not a personal decision. He does not act to insure his security, safety, esteem, power or control. Jesus’ action is not personal. It is transpersonal.
An individual who operates with a transpersonal mindset is one "in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind…..”* The transpersonal perspective is integral and undivided, it recognizes and honors all of humankind as interconnected and interdependent.
Jesus is operating from a transpersonal perspective. Standing surely in this inclusive view Jesus is faithful to truth as he knows it. He claims his nondual birthright as the son of humanity and the son of God. Political and religious officials call this treason and blasphemy. Jesus calls it truth. He is willing to give up his life rather than give up his truth.
Right about now you may be thinking, “That is great for Jesus but what does it have to do with me? Jesus’ capacity to seek justice and love unconditionally is unparalleled. I cannot compare to that.”
Wait a minute. Can you hear Jesus’ words to the disciples challenging our smallness? “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these…” (John 14.12)
I believe we humans have set the bar too low. As it is with every generation, we are meant to exceed the good done by those who have gone before us. “How,” you ask? Fortunately St. Paul has a succinct instruction for the Philippians and us, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…”
What is the mind of Christ? It is the transpersonal point of view that sees every person and all of creation as sacred, interconnected and interdependent. Furthermore, the mind of Christ compels action aimed at what is right.
When Paul counsels us to put on the mind of Christ, he is imploring us to grow beyond our small self’s demands that we strive to insure our personal needs for security, safety, attention, affection, power and control. He is admonishing us to live as Christ lived; engaging life from a transpersonal perspective, patiently and practically taking care of other peoples’ needs, even to the point of sacrifice.
Which brings us to a perplexing paradox. When we sacrifice for the good of others, we lose nothing. We are not debased or shamed. Rather, we are stretched beyond the ordinary bounds of human understanding, we are raised into the transpersonal experience of glory, honor and triumph.
This is the mystifying paradox of the cross. When Jesus allows himself to be bound, nailed and raised up on the cross he is not raised to shame and humiliation. He is raised to glory, honor and triumph; he ascends to victory and proceeds to breed hope in our hearts.
We have set the bar too low, made ourselves too small. What if we stood in our place with Jesus and claimed our birthright as children of humanity and children of God? What if we raised our sights to transpersonal heights and doubled down on our commitment to action aimed at what is right, even when it means personal sacrifice? What might our world look like then?
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1 Walsh, R. and F. Vaughan. "On transpersonal definitions". Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. Vol. 25, No2, pp. 199-207, 1993.
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