Seeking the spirituality of Christ this Christmas

By Suryamithra Vishwa

Christmas is now a universal commercial festival. Unfortunately it is not seen as a universal spiritual festival. By the word ‘spiritual’ what is meant here is that it is not remembered for the achieving of a higher consciousness, in the manner that the personage – Jesus Christ, who was born on the day commemorated, did.  

There are universal spiritual messages for every human being whatever ‘religion’ they adhere to, on every commemoration of holy days from all spiritual traditions, whether it is  Buddhist, Hindu, Islam or  Christian.

 At the foundation of all these traditions is the wisdom, inspiration, purification of mind and cosmic oneness sought by those who spearheaded these paths which are now ‘religions.’ 

At the core was the self-striving they sought which we have conveniently forgotten and used their teachings for the opposite purpose than what it was originally meant for. Instead of wisdom, unity, a higher oneness with the cosmos, the maximum use of our mind for purification and love to all, we now use religion to create division. We have beheaded, crucified and buried spirituality, which is the crux of all religions. We have become bearers of ‘brands’ and are mere ‘marketers’ of one brand over the other.

We have failed to realise that we have much spirituality to learn from the founders of all religions. We can learn the spirit of detachment from all unnecessary binds that bring us eventual sorrow, from the Buddha who gave up a princely life to devote himself to the quest of self-awareness. 

We can learn the spirit of charity, diligence and perseverance from Prophet Muhammad who was orphaned early in life and become a successful merchant through hard work but still kept searching for a higher truth, a higher way of life that connected to the ‘Oneness’ – the ‘God consciousness’ and urged pure ways of living, prescribing Jihad over our individual weaker self, to be fought by us, within us. 

From the many ancient Hindu sages, we can learn the spirit of duty, striving and mental cleansing of impurities, that is an integral part of this oldest paths of wisdom encompassed in texts such as Vedas, Upanishads and the Bagavad Gita. 

From Jesus Christ, the humble carpenter who went on to be a healer and crusader against injustice who fought hypocrisy, connecting deeply to his ‘Father’ in heaven which can be interpreted spiritually in many beautiful, rational and philosophical ways, above and beyond dogma, we can learn that the ‘kingdom of God is within us.’ From Jesus we can also learn the power of forgiveness, loving one’s neighbour as oneself, and fearlessness to stand up against what is unjust.  

This Christmas is a good start to reflect on how much we can gain if we, no matter what our religious brand is, focus on the deep spiritual significance behind all religious festivities, despite them being submerged in outward glamour, commerciality or religious rigour. 

By religious rigour, what is meant is that at times some festivals may seem only meant for one set of people, following that particular religion alone, because we are so polarised in commemorating the spiritual significance of these festivals. But it is good to see how we can experience the inner spirituality of some of this festivals and inner meaning of some of the rituals. 

Therefore, this Christmas may we confront the true spirit of Christ and remember the humble stable in which he was born.

This Christmas, we wish you peace, unconditional love and nurturing of the childlike inner consciousness, as Jesus preached, where he taught in one of his sermons that ‘unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’ referring to the pure, undiluted, state of consciousness of children (before they are poisoned with prejudice, greed, envy and hate by adults). 

There can be many philosophical, spiritual and rational interpretations of the word ‘heaven’ which can essentially be explained as a state of consciousness where surely, if the kingdom of God is within us, then heaven and hell is also invariably within us.  

Have a joyful Christ-mass experience. May you celebrate it with mindfulness and caring for others.

(Suryamithra Vishwa is a Sri Lankan who strives to transcend inherited birth identity pertaining to religion and ethnicity. She is the founder of the thought movement Earth Life Water Knowledge Trails Lanka and has a keen interest in comparative spirituality and indigenous knowledge. Her academic training has been in sociology and she is a curriculum writer and visiting lecturer in Mass Communication at a national university in Sri Lanka under her inherited family name. She has for over 20 years worked as a writer for local and international publications and has been associated with the peace building/training sector. Her library of 20,000 books, of which a large number is on global literature, science, comparative religions and secular spirituality has been opened up for the public free of charge. Those interested in borrowing any book could contact 0812494285.)