The Unconscious Beckons…

As we begin to explore what Preston Harold has to say about the unconscious, I think it would be a good idea to quote him at length.  This will get us started on the right foot…

Because today’s psychological concepts and terminology are both confused and confusing, and because Jesus symbolized and dramatized the psychological makeup of man, a brief outline of the parallel between psychology and Jesus’ teaching cannot be traced with ease and desirable clarity.  But as Lancelot Law Whyte, author of “The Unconscious Before Freud,” says of his work:

“However inadequate the present study, the attempt is necessary… For today faith, if it bears any relation to the natural world, implies faith in the unconscious.  If there is a God, he must speak there; if there is a healing power, it must operate there; if there is a principle of ordering in the organic realm, it’s most powerful manifestation must be found there.”

What is the Biblical definition of “a principle of ordering in the organic realm?” Why, it’s GENESIS.  According to Whyte, the most powerful manifestation of GENESIS is found in our unconscious.  Harold continues…

Jesus conveyed that the psyche of man is divided: in the Book of Hebrews the author speaks of the Logos penetrating “to the very division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow – scrutinizing the very thoughts and concepts of the heart.  And no created thing is hidden from him; all things lie open and exposed before the eyes of him with whom we have to reckon.” (Heb. 4:12-13)  The origin of the unconscious is unknown, but it was incipient in Jesus’ day.  Whyte writes: “…in a tentative and speculative manner many thinkers in different cultures had already divided the mind into two or three higher and lower parts; the Egyptians, the Hebrews, and Hindus…”

The concept offered by this study is that Jesus identified Himself with the mission of enlightening man by revealing to him his own unconscious mind, that He saw this task as a mission of redemption, that He introduced the principles of functional psychic operations, and both symbolized and demonstrated the Authority and power in the unconscious versus the conscious in man.  

We will have much more to say concerning the divided psyche of man soon.  In the meantime, the next post will look at the “Authority and power” that Jesus demonstrated in the unconscious.  Until then, peace…

Jesus’ Messianic Mission

“Prayer for Messiah” by Ghenadie Sontu.

As promised, we now come to the point of exploring the main themes of Harold’s interpretation of Jesus’ mission.  In Gerald Heard’s introduction, he wastes no time in getting to the point…

THE SHINING STRANGER is based upon a revolutionary and, insofar as I am aware, unprecedented interpretation of Jesus’ Messianic mission which Harold develops as the discourse progresses, drawing upon Jesus’ own words and actions to support his thesis.  This interpretation involves the following points:

1. Jesus recognized the Messianic hope to be valid and universal, but misdirected when man looked beyond his individual being to find the Christ (Logos, God-Son) which Jesus saw to be incarnate in every person, revealed through humankind’s unique power of speech and expression of the Word, God, One, I.

2. Jesus realized that until the ancient Messianic doctrines were superseded by a valid, ethical concept of the Christ, of God, and of man, the individual and society would suffer the ravages of Messianic pretension, as well as the curse of Messianic delusion which Jesus suffered but from which he recovered before beginning his ministry, recognizing himself to be no more, no less, than any other human being.

3. Jesus was convinced that until man ceased to look for a Messiah to come and solve all problems, the development of human consciousness would be arrested because man would not seek his “inner kingdom” to find the Christ of himself, the Authority that governs his life and inevitably leads him to become responsible to and for himself as well as a responsible member of society in which truth alone actually governs and reigns, in time destroying whatever is false, spurious, and incompatible with man’s true nature and need.

4. Therefore, Jesus’ purpose was to complete and destroy the Judaic Messianic tradition together with any Messianic concept akin to it through a withering of this idea as the Messianic idea he espoused, the idea of the Christ in everyone, took root and flowered to overshadow prevailing Messianic expectation. He knew exactly what he was doing and was in no sense victimized.

5. Jesus’ mission was to destroy Messianic tradition creatively by making “Israel” and its history a symbol of human personality or consciousness, while making himself a symbol of the Christ in every person which insures his eternal life and the evolution of his consciousness through dealing with his own forces of good and evil which Jesus saw to be equally essential to life and satisfaction in it, but he saw also that each force was in process of regeneration; Jesus made himself a symbol of the Logos in humankind to establish the pattern of the operation of the Christ in Homo sapiens’ evolution from child to man free of destructive impulses by virtue of being fully conscious and completely empathetic, with dominion over himself, his flesh, and his life.

6. The Bible, one body of words encompassing the limits of human consciousness, truth bearer that can dwell always with men and which Jesus knew must be brought into being as a result of his works and his command to his disciples, is itself historical Judaic Messiah.

Pretty provocative stuff, no?  Hopefully some of these ideas are new to you, or if you are familiar with them the approach to them will be new.  Both of these are true of me when I first encountered this work, and I was certainly intrigued enough to delve into the book and explore further.  At this point I must confess that one of the main reasons for this blog is for me to “journal” my own thoughts as I read through the book, and to use the book as a launching pad for journaling thoughts and observations from other momentous works I have read in the past.  I would certainly appreciate any and all comments, and feedback from you, the reader, as there are many ways of understanding, as the Logos expresses itself individually and creatively through each human being.

OK, we’re almost ready to start Chapter 1.  But before we do, my next post will deal with the ground rules Harold sets if we want to take this journey with him.  We’ll examine his view of the historicity of the Gospels, and the importance thereof.  Until then, peace…