THE MESSIAH WITHIN

The concept of the Messiah is a divine archetype or
aspect of God that exists at the very heart of our being.
The role of Mythic Hero and World Saviour is a latent
potential that lies within all of us.
Here we explore a recurrent theme that is found in most
of the world's great faith traditions and also forms an
integral part of the prophesies of the World's religions.
In the world of religion there are few concepts which are
able to excite such passion from the faithful or else
elicit such disdain from secular people. What we are
talking about here is the idea of the expectation and
future coming of a special person who will play a
decisive role in the unfolding of the events of the
prophesies and in bringing about of their full realization.
This expected or chosen one is given many different
names by the different religions of this world. To Jews
he is the Messiah, to Muslims he is the Mahdi, to
Christians the Second Coming, to Hindus the Kalki and
to Buddhists he is the Maitreya. Also Zoroastrians await
the Saoshyant and even Taoist/Confucian scriptures talk
of the coming of the Future True Man. It is however
reasonable to suppose that all these different names
and titles are really referring to the same person. If we
take it as our starting point that all world religion is
really worshipping the same God and asking after the
same truth, then all the world's prophesies are coming
from the same source and so are really describing the
same set of events and circumstances. Therefore all the
World's religions all really waiting for the same person.
So this person has the role of acting as the catalyst and
instigator of the events prophesied. There follows a
discussion and an interpretation of the prophesies for
this long awaited person. I should mention here that for
clarity and succinctness I'll use the term Messiah or
else 'The Expected One' to mean all the other epithets
as well. That is, instead of Messiah or 'Expected One',
one might equally substitute the name Mahdi, Second
Coming or Maitreya etc. with equal standing and also
with the same meaning.
First I'll answer a question concerning the expected one
that I am often asked or else I am sometimes led to in
my discussions with people in this sort of thing. The
question is this, 'Is the Messiah[or Expected One], going
to be a single person or is it going to be a collection of
people?'. The best and most practical answer to this
question is to suppose that it's going to be a large
collection of people all working towards the realization
of the prophesies. That is, to suppose that everyone has
the Messiah, Mahdi or Christ within them and that it is
through a collective effort that the role of the Messiah is
fulfilled. One of the roles of the World Saviour is to save
the planet. There is these days in the present age,
definitely a planet to be saved and obviously one person
isn't by himself or herself going to save the world. So
therefore it has got to be a group effort involving
millions of people and more. With this interpretation of
the prophesies, the Messiah is therefore seen as an
archetype or essential aspect of our innermost being
which can be activated and brought to the surface of
our consciousness. It is like a dormant potential that
exists within us all, which may under certain conditions
be awakened and incorporated into our being. That is, if
we choose, we may express through our actions the
attributes of the Messiah and take on his roles in our
lives. Through this exercise, in a sense we are
manifesting the divine and also personifying a powerful
aspect of God. We become the preserver of life and the
creator of a new world. However this interpretation of
the prophesies for the Messiah also leaves open the
possibility for a single person or a small group of
people, to play some critical role in the unfolding of the
prophesies. At the same time, this person(s) is not
acting not alone but in concert with a large segment of
humanity; with the common aim of saving the planet
and bringing about peace on Earth.
For the rest of this section I'll be talking in the singular
purely for the sake of conformity with common usage of
terms. So when I say 'Messiah', I really mean
'Messiahs'. Now, we turn to examining the descriptions
of the 'Expected One' contained in the various scriptures
of world religion. Who and what is this person? What is
his role? and what is his meaning in relation to the
prophesies?
When we examine the prophesies and read what they
have to say, we may gain a composite picture of what
the Messiah is all about. What the scriptures seem to
be describing is a peace bringer and unifier of mankind.
Also he is a bringer of justice and arbiter of disputes. So
for example in the Bible we have the following passages
from Isaiah...
' He [The Messiah] shall judge between the nations, and
shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their
swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning
hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more ' - Isaiah 2:2-4
'The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and
might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the
Lord...' - Isaiah 11:2
And in the scriptures of Islam we find in the holy text
called the Nahjul Bhalaga...
" The Imam who will create a world state will make the
ruling nations pay for their crimes against society. He
will bring succor to humanity. He will take out the
hidden wealth from the breast of the earth and will
distribute it equitably amongst the needy deserving." -
Khutba 141
In the ancient and influential religion of Zoroastrianism,
the expected one is known by various names. For
example he is called the Saoshyant which means
'Victorious Benefactor' and he is also known as the
'Astavat erata', which means 'World Renovator'.
Finally the one who's coming has long been prophesied
is also a world teacher and revealer of important truths
and ultimate mysteries. In Buddhist scriptures the
Maitreya is so described...
' I am not the first Buddha [ awakened one ] who has
come upon the Earth, nor will I be the last. In due time
another Buddha will rise in the world, a holy one, a
supreme enlightened one, endowed with auspicious
wisdom embracing the universe, an incomparable leader
of men, a ruler of gods and mortals. He will reveal to
you the same eternal truths, which I have taught you.
He will establish his law [ Religion ], glorious in its
origins, glorious at the climax and glorious at the goal
in the spirit and the letter. He will proclaim a righteous
life wholly perfect and pure, such as I now proclaim.
His disciples will number many thousands, while mine
number many hundreds. He will be known as Maitreya .'
- Buddha Gautama
And also prophesies in Islam about the Imam Mahdi say
the following...
"He will teach you simple living and high thinking. He
will make you understand that virtue is a state of
character which is always a mean between the two
extremes, and which is based upon equity and justice.
He will revive the teaching of the Holy Qur'an and the
traditions of the Holy Prophet after the world has
ignored them as dead letters.... He will protect and
defend himself with resources of science and supreme
knowledge. His control over these resources will be
complete. He will know how supreme they are and how
carefully they will have to be used. His mind will be free
from desires of bringing harm and injury to humanity.
Such a knowledge to him will be like the property which
was wrongly possessed by others and for which he was
waiting for the permission to repossess and use." -
Nahjul Balagha, Khutba 141, 187
Generally what the prophesies are describing is a potent
agent of change and transformation. Someone who
comes along to address our deepest human yearnings,
concerns and fears. In a sense he is a symbol who
represents our desires for a better world and a happy
outcome for the current world situation. He acts like a
beacon, giving people the hope that one day in the
future all the wrongs of our human condition will be
rectified and that the struggles of daily life will be
shown to be ultimately meaningful.