{"id":120,"date":"2024-03-13T10:15:14","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T10:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/2024\/03\/13\/a-keresztre-feszites-es-az-ujjaszuletes-miszteriuma\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:42:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T17:42:51","slug":"the-mystery-of-crucifixion-and-rebirth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/2024\/03\/13\/a-keresztre-feszites-es-az-ujjaszuletes-miszteriuma\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mystery of Crucifixion and Rebirth"},"content":{"rendered":"

What does it mean to change in such a way that we do not simply adopt new habits, but come to recognise ourselves in a different light? And what happens to the self-image we had previously believed to be our own?<\/p>\n

In this text, I also interpret the crucifixion and rebirth as symbols of an inner transformation. This is my own spiritual interpretation; it is not intended to replace the biblical narrative or the beliefs of others.<\/p>\n

The person behind the label<\/h2>\n

I consider the biblical term \u201esinner\u201d to be misleading in this context. I see the misinterpretation of the Bible\u2019s teachings in the way in which human beings are labelled as inherently sinful. In my own view, there is no such thing as original sin: I take as my starting point the simultaneity of lives, rather than successive lives in which we would carry forward the burden of past transgressions. In this sense, there is no such thing as a \u201esinful\u201d person.<\/p>\n

In my own metaphysical view, human beings do not come into life as a result of some original sin. Nor do I regard the experience of separation as a permanent state, but rather as an experience from which we can turn towards the realisation of unity.<\/p>\n

That does not make a hurtful act any less significant. The need to take responsibility and the possibility of making amends remain, but it is one thing to consider what I did, and quite another to determine whether I should bring my entire existence to a close with a single judgement.<\/p>\n

Nor would I wish to suggest that anyone who does not follow a specific spiritual path is of lesser value. I think of awakening not as a way of categorising people, but as an opportunity for our own inner transformation.<\/p>\n

When insight becomes lived knowledge<\/h2>\n

We can learn from books, conversations and the guidance of others. In my own faith, this also includes divine guidance: it is not only from outside that insights can come which stir something within us.<\/p>\n

However, transformation is not the same as the accumulation of knowledge. It is one thing to say that every person\u2019s dignity is important, and quite another to conduct oneself in a difficult encounter whilst genuinely bearing this in mind.<\/p>\n

For me, a teaching that is taken to heart is not merely an emotion. It is an inner realisation that will have consequences for our actions, and which may go beyond simply interpreting a situation in a more favourable light.<\/p>\n

I do not see turning towards spiritual knowledge simply as a matter of devising better explanations. It also involves the question of whether we recognise our connection to love and to the Source, which may be obscured by our habitual self-image.<\/p>\n

What does the image of the cross represent?<\/h2>\n

In my own personal interpretation, the cross may also signify the end of our clinging to a rigid image we have of ourselves. I am not talking about destroying our very selves, but rather about the fact that we need not continue, at all costs, to defend something that no longer holds true for us.<\/p>\n

It could be a belief that I\u2019m only lovable if I never make a mistake. Or that I\u2019m only safe if I\u2019m in control of everyone. Letting go of these beliefs can be unsettling, because in the process, the familiar things we cling to also change.<\/p>\n

But it is not pain that makes change genuine. For me, God\u2019s love is not a reward for which one must first suffer, nor are we obliged to remain in a harmful situation in the name of \u201eour own cross\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rebirth: to be present in a different way<\/h2>\n

In the Gospel of John, Nicodemus asks about being born again physically, whilst Jesus speaks of being born of the Spirit (John 3:3\u20138, St Stephen\u2019s Society Bible<\/a>). For me, this dialogue also serves as a reminder that we should not simply seek to repeat the old form.<\/p>\n

In this article, when I use the term \u2018rebirth\u2019, I am not referring to different earthly lives. I am thinking of an inner transformation that can be experienced even in our present life, through which we relate differently to God, to ourselves and to one another.<\/p>\n

This may unfold gradually, or it may be a realisation that, in an instant, casts something in a different light.<\/p>\n

In this interpretation, \u201epurification\u201d is not a certificate of flawlessness. Rather, it is the letting go of whatever obscures our sense of belonging, and the realisation that love is not alien to us.<\/p>\n

Back to everyday life<\/h2>\n

For me, inner change is also significant in terms of the kind of world we pass on to one another. Not all circumstances depend solely on us, yet it does matter how we make the most of our opportunities.<\/p>\n

If we respond less out of fear and self-defence, we can offer a different kind of relationship. We cannot guarantee that the other person will change as a result, but our own presence will no longer be the same.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is precisely one of the quiet signs of rebirth. I no longer need to cling at all costs to the person I thought I was, in order to get closer to who I really am.<\/p>\n

With love,
Georgina
Soul4you<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does it mean to change in such a way that we do not simply adopt new habits, but come to recognise ourselves in a different light? And what happens to the self-image we had previously believed to be our own?<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s4y_en_tartalom":"

What does it mean to change so deeply that we do more than acquire new habits? What happens when we begin to recognise ourselves differently, and the identity we once defended no longer feels like the whole truth?<\/p>\n\n

In this essay, I also read crucifixion and rebirth as images of inward transformation. This is my own spiritual approach, not a replacement for the biblical accounts or the meanings these events hold within Christian faith.<\/p>\n\n

The person behind the label<\/h2>\n\n

I am wary of any use of the word \u201csinner\u201d that makes a person's wrongdoing the final definition of their whole being. In my own metaphysical understanding, we do not enter life as beings whose essential nature is guilt.<\/p>\n\n

I do not understand the soul's presence here as punishment for an original offence. I see the experience of separation as something through which we can turn towards the recognition of unity, rather than as a permanent verdict on who we are.<\/p>\n\n

My understanding of different lives is also one of simultaneity: lives unfolding together, rather than a sequence in which an earlier offence must be repaid in a later existence. This belongs to my metaphysical view; it is not a scientific account of time, and I do not offer it as a logical disproof of another religion's teachings.<\/p>\n\n

For that reason, I keep two questions distinct. How do I understand the soul? And how do I respond to what a person has actually done?<\/p>\n\n

A harmful act does not become insignificant because I believe in our underlying unity. Responsibility, protection and the possibility of making amends remain important; acknowledging what I have done is different from condemning my entire being through one unchanging judgement.<\/p>\n\n

Nor do I believe that someone who follows no named spiritual path is worth less than someone who does. Awakening, as I use the word, concerns an inward turning, not a system for ranking people.<\/p>\n\n

When understanding becomes lived knowledge<\/h2>\n\n

We can learn from books, conversations and the guidance of others. In my own faith, guidance from God also belongs here: a recognition that changes us need not arrive only through an external explanation.<\/p>\n\n

Yet transformation is not the same as accumulating information. It is one thing to say that every person has dignity, and another to remain attentive to that dignity in an encounter that unsettles us.<\/p>\n\n

For me, teaching received through the heart is not merely an emotion. The heart is the place of connection with the Source; the mind can then begin to understand what has been received, and our actions can give it form.<\/p>\n\n

I do not mean that every strong feeling is divine guidance, or that inward certainty makes careful judgement unnecessary. I mean that spiritual knowledge is more than an explanation I find reassuring: it concerns recognition of our relationship with love and with the Source.<\/p>\n\n

The familiar image of myself can obscure that relationship. I may spend so much effort proving who I am that I leave little room to discover what I have never truly ceased to be.<\/p>\n\n

What comes to an end in the image of the cross?<\/h2>\n\n

In my inward reading, the cross can also show the ending of our attachment to a rigid self-image. I am not speaking about destroying ourselves, but about no longer having to defend, at any cost, an identity that has become too small for the truth of our lives.<\/p>\n\n

That identity might say: I am lovable only if I never make a mistake. Or: I can be safe only if I control everyone around me.<\/p>\n\n

Letting such convictions loosen can be unsettling. We may be releasing something that once helped us cope, even when it now keeps us confined.<\/p>\n\n

But pain is not what makes the change authentic. I do not understand God's love as a reward that becomes available only after we have suffered enough.<\/p>\n\n

Neither does the language of \u201ccarrying our cross\u201d oblige us to remain in a harmful situation. A spiritual interpretation should not make it harder to seek safety, name mistreatment or accept help.<\/p>\n\n

What ends, in the reading I am offering, is the insistence that the old image must survive unchanged. What becomes possible is a relationship with ourselves that no longer depends on defending that image.<\/p>\n\n

Rebirth: a different way of being present<\/h2>\n\n

In John's Gospel, Nicodemus asks about being born again in physical terms, while Jesus speaks of birth through water and the Spirit. (John 3:3\u20138<\/a>) I hear in that exchange an invitation to look beyond the repetition of an old form.<\/p>\n\n

Here, I use \u201crebirth\u201d for an inward transformation within our present life. I am not using it as another name for my understanding of multiple lives.<\/p>\n\n

This turning can change how we relate to God, to ourselves and to one another. It may unfold gradually, or begin in a moment of recognition that places something familiar in an entirely different light.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cPurification\u201d, in this sense, is not a certificate of personal perfection. It is the loosening of what conceals our belonging, and the recognition that love is not foreign to us.<\/p>\n\n

The question is not whether I have become a flawless person. It is whether I can live more truthfully from the connection I am beginning to recognise.<\/p>\n\n

What returns with us to everyday life<\/h2>\n\n

For me, inward change matters partly because of the world we offer one another through our presence. We do not control every circumstance, but the way we use the possibilities available to us still matters.<\/p>\n\n

When fear and defensiveness no longer determine every response, we can offer a different kind of encounter. We cannot guarantee that another person will change, but our own participation need not remain the same.<\/p>\n\n

Perhaps this is one quiet sign of rebirth. I no longer have to preserve everything I believed about myself in order to come closer to who I am.<\/p>\n\n

With love,
Georgina
Soul4you<\/p>","_s4y_en_cim":"The Mystery of Crucifixion and Rebirth","_s4y_en_kivonat":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritualis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":432,"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions\/432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soul4you.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}