Michael Turner - Christmas Eve Satsang
Michael Turner
December 24, 1995
© 2009 by Michael Turner
This being Christmas Eve, we’re going to discuss the story of
Christmas, which we’ve all probably done in Sunday school once or
twice in our lives. I’m going to read from The Holy Bible. This is
the King James Version here. I’m going to read from the book of Luke,
chapter 2. This is one of the classic readings held in the Christmas
time.
“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a
decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was
governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one
into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee,
out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, (because he was of
the house and lineage of David) to be taxed with Mary
his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was that, while they were there, the days
were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped
him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger;
because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them;
and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, “Fear not; for, behold,
I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you;
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace,
good will toward men.’
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away
from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
‘Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing
which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.’
And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph,
and the babe lying in the manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad
the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which
were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all
these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God
for all the things that they had heard and seen,
as it was told unto them.”
A short reading today; but it’s a good place to start. Now the Christ
story is pretty amazing. It’s an image that has survived 2,000 years,
and the basic story has remained intact most of that time. It’s
traveled the planet. It has affected every culture. And it is truly
remarkable the impact that one great soul can make in his or her
lifetime. In just over thirty years, this man achieved God-
realization, helped his disciples to get close to It, and re-framed
the whole paradigm of spirituality in the Middle East, and for the
whole planet. I cannot overemphasize the impact of Jesus, as a
Satguru, as a human being, and as a thinker.
Before Jesus’ time, in the Middle East the Jews had been articulating
the concept of monotheism. They’re probably singular among people on
the planet in really propounding the concept of one God. The
Zoroasterians approached it to some extent, but there was still
somewhat a theme of nature worship, based upon their own tribal
traditions. But the Jewish people had a very strong ethic of a
singular spiritual principle that superceded all others.
I read an interesting book on comparative religions a while back by
Huston Smith. And it was really quite fascinating, because if you
read the Bible - and we all know most of the Bible stories, I would
assume, of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and his coat of many colors,
Adam & Eve, Noah and the Ark, Moses – there is an impression of
continuity that goes along the whole time. But what they found
through scholastic research was that the Hebrew people, up until the
time of Abraham (who was a historical figure), were divided between
various forms of nature worship and idol worship, and some sense of a
superseding power. And through a series of Divine experiences,
transfigurations, visitations by angels - whatever you want to call
them - Abraham was transformed. His name was “Abram”, then he became
“Abraham”. And the single principle which was very strongly impressed
upon him was that there is one God. In the Middle East they said his
name was “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”.
Now, even with this happening, there was still a strong sense of
nature worship and stuff like that. And so you found that the one God
which the Hebrews worshipped at the time - and for centuries
afterwards, up through the time of David and Saul and the prophet
Samuel and this whole thing - was like a victory god. He was a
military god. It wasn’t many gods - it was one God. But it was a
butt-kicking god who loved his people, but would also really mess with
their heads if they displeased him. And this became a cornerstone to
the faith for the subsequent centuries and millennia. The Hebrews had
this pattern of getting it together, and then having it torn asunder,
and then getting it together again.
I mean, this whole area - Syria, Palestine, Judea, Jordan - this whole
area was constantly in a tumultuous state. It wasn’t really an
agrarian society; it was a nomadic society. There were some areas
where they raised grain and stuff, but there was a lot of sheep-
herding and stuff like that. And it wasn’t particularly stable, over
all. People were fighting wars, and you had these big open plains
where new armies could come riding in and just trample you into the
ground. So you had the Jewish people going into captivity in Babylon,
then they got out - and then another tribe came in and took them over,
and they got out again. It was going back and forth, and they always
felt it was the judgment of God - along with a sense of “Why me?” So
there was a very strong faith they had in their god, but there was
also a bit of perplexity.
Along comes Jesus - 2,000 years ago - a single individual who’s
looking at centuries - millennia - of cultural tradition. And just
like Guru Nanak in his late teens being lifted up out of his body and
taken to the Soul Plane for three days and then being brought back
down, Jesus had a transfiguring inner experience which re-framed the
entire dialogue, the entire game plan, in which he said, “Yes, there
is One God. But It is a God of love, not vengeance. It is a God of
hope, not terror. It is a God of charity, not selfishness. It is a
God of compassion, not punishment. All the rules of the game that
we’ve been playing - all these rules are made by man.” He said the
same thing every master has ever said, every true living master.
Religions are made by men. But spirituality is borne of God, and God
alone.
He caught a bunch of flack for healing people on the Sabbath, for
doing works. They said, “You are not following the rules that have
been established.” And he said, “What are these rules? Will God
allow someone to die when he can be healed, just because it's the
Sabbath?”
He told the holy men, the preachers, the Saducees, the Pharisees, the
Sanhedrin, the big mucky mucks in the church, that this entire edifice
of a church is for naught, if you don’t have love in your heart. He
said, “Don’t pray in public. Don’t make a big show of it. Don't try
to impress people with your piety and your holiness. Go to the temple
within. Find that wave of love in the heart center. Open the inner
door, the archway of the inner temple to see the Light and hear the
Sound, to hear the Voice of God.”
And this was truly astounding. Even his cousin, who as known as “John
the Baptist,” was old school. He was telling the powers-that-be,
“Something big is coming - you better watch out. There’s a big wave
heading your way. So either you better be able to surf it, or head to
the high ground or else you'll drown in it.” But he was still the old
school, just like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaih and Elijah.
And everybody was expecting a big military hero, just like now. A lot
of people are expecting some guy to come out of the sky, in the Second
Coming, on a horse - this big white horse, with a sword that’s going
to smite down all of the evil doers and save the redeemed.
But where did Jesus come from? He was born of a simple carpenter
family, in a stable - not in the best hospital in town - not in the
temple. Who came to visit Him? Who were the first people to come
visit Him, besides the animals in the barnyard? It wasn’t the high
priest; it wasn’t the Sanhedrin; it wasn’t the king of Judea. It was
a group of simple shepherds, some poor shepherds - people just sitting
out tending their flocks, trying to make ends meet. And they had a
very powerful experience witnessing a star lighting up the sky. The
inner door opened and they heard the Voice, they heard the Ringing
Radiance of the Lord. And they went to a simple stable, to see a
simple child who was born of a simple family - whose message was an
exceedingly simple one: “Be Love.”
Everybody was expecting victory over the Romans. But what was offered
instead was far, far more powerful. It was a victory over fear, a
victory over doubt, a victory over dejection and death. It was the
ultimate victory, being able to consciously tap into the Inner Voice
of Divine Love, and let It lift you up - let go to It and just allow
It to lift you up into ItSelf, and purify you and cleanse you. It was
the ultimate victory of approaching God - and the Holy Spirit - like a
virgin on her wedding day (as Kabir would say) and allowing It to
penetrate and give birth to a new human instrument of God-in-
Expression.
This one man, in a very short lifetime, accomplished so much that
still reverberates. Even with all the problems that the Christian
Church has laid on us - all the wars that are fought for faith -
overall, the impact has been so powerfully good, that it’s just
amazing. The law of compassion. The law of forgiveness. The law of
not judging others until you’ve judged yourself - of non-criticism.
Because, no matter how heinous another person is, I guarantee you each
of us has equally sinned in our own ways.
I know sin may be an unfashionable term to use, but we all make our
own grievous errors in life, and it is important to acknowledge our
faults, to bow before the alter of the Divine and ask for
forgiveness. And when somebody does injury to you, instead of seeking
vengeance or justice, offer forgiveness and love and kindness.
Like begets like. And there are a lot of people in the world today,
because we live in very uncertain times, who say, “Ah, yes, an eye for
an eye! You commit injury, I'll commit injury back. I'll show
you.”
What you find though is that there is far more than enough negativity
in this world. What does it solve if somebody takes a life and you
take their life? You’re just adding to the cycle of death. They have
to answer to God. Instead of adding to the cycle of fear and hatred
and death and pain, why not add to a cycle of love and hope and
redemption - belief - laughter? Very simple things, so exceedingly
simple. All articulated by a simple carpenter. This guy hung out.
He traveled around a bit, learned some things, but mostly just went
within and took the time to really penetrate the veil, seeking the
truth - knowing that it would upset people, because a lot of people
had a vested interest in perpetuating the religious organization. The
organization had a trajectory. It had a track record. The didn't
want to upset the apple cart. What possible good could it do to get
people all freaked out?
Jesus followers probably never numbered more than a few hundred at
most. The serious ones were probably more like just a few dozen - the
twelve, and then some hangers-on, a few in the outer circle - during
his entire life. Little clusters of 20 here and 20 there. But he
laid his life on the line for something he believed in, and proved
through an empirical test, that the self is not the body. The self is
eternal. And in doing so, Jesus an entire planet.
Now, a lot of people - this might be more appropriate for an Easter
message, but what the heck - a lot of people try to find some way of
explaining the resurrection. There are some common theses that float
around these days. One is that Jesus died and then manifested an
astral body for people to see. Another one is that He didn't die. He
was drugged with some opiate in the vinegar which they put on the
sponge on the Roman centurion's staff they raised up to His lips as He
was on the cross. And it put Him into a coma. So, by all intents and
purposes, it appeared that He was dead. Then He was revived a couple
of days later and patched up.
It amazes me that people need to find a rational explanation. They
can’t simply believe. “Oh ye of little faith. You believe because
you have seen. Blessed are they who have not seen, yet still
believe.”
There is a story of a Roman centurion who came into contact with
Christ just prior to His death. This is when He was in Jerusalem for
the Passover. Jesus was in the temple, and the centurion came to Him
very upset because one of his servants was gravely ill. And he wanted
Jesus to come heal him. And Jesus said, “Should I come with you?”
And the Roman said, “No. Just say the word, and I know it will be
done.” And Jesus looked around at His disciples and his friends and
said, “Look at this man. This is a Roman. This is the ‘enemy’. And
yet this man - who is part of the opposing team - has the faith of the
mustard seed. He has far more faith than some of my closest followers
- because he knows the power of God.” The Power of God-in-Action, of
the Shabd, of the Inner Master, transcends all space and time in this
universe, and in all universes. It manifests ItSelf everywhere. It
is amazing.
I guess I'm kind of dwelling on Jesus a bit because I want to make it
clear, as Kirpal said so many times, that we honor all masters who
have come in the past. And it is extremely important to do so,
whether it is Jesus or Buddha or Mohammed or Krishna, or Sawan Singh,
or Paul Twitchell, regardless of their space-time continuum. Just
because they’re no longer living, does not mean that we should forget
what they had to say and what they had to offer. Because what you
find is that the true masters have a continuity in their basic core
message. It’s an unbroken chain of love and wisdom that has always
manifested itself on this planet. There has never been a time when It
has not been in expression on some level.
And so, on this Christmas eve, as people all over the planet - people
in every country on earth - gather to worship, so it is important that
we do as well. Let us go to that temple within and say, “Thank you,
God. Thank you, Jesus.” It’s a very special day. Let’s take time
for another short meditation.
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