The Pearl of Great Price

   This post is the fourth (and final) in an informal series (maybe you’ve noticed the interplay between these four posts) on love and realization.  The first post, Where There Is No Love There Is No Enlightenment, connected love with realization/enlightenment.  The second post, Those Who Don't Feel This Love, expanded on the subject of love.  The third post, A Legacy of Lies?, asked the question whether one believes there is an essential (Divine) self even to realize.  In this post I ask the question, what price is one willing to pay to attain realization of one’s essential (Divine) self?
   As stated in my last post, motivations for the spiritual journey vary and most motivations are insufficient to the task.  I then suggested that the belief that one has an essential (Divine) self that one can discover is from whence proper and sufficient motive arises.  This point is beautifully and simply expressed in Jesus’ parable of the pearl of great price. “The kingdom of heaven,” said Jesus,

is like unto a merchant seeking goodly pearls.  When he found the pearl of great price he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

   This is not a difficult parable to understand but in order to understand it in the context in which we are considering it, i.e., spiritual motivation, we need to tease it out a bit.
   First, we need to understand that the kingdom is not an afterlife abode promised to believers.  Rather, it is something that already lies “within you” (Luke, Ch. 17). In other words, the kingdom is the realization of one’s essential (Divine) self.  (I know there are those who would debate this understanding but this post is not for that debate.)
   Second, let us consider the merchant.  It is important to note in this parable that Jesus chose a merchant to make his point, rather than some generic figure (He could have simply said, “...a man...”)  So, why a merchant?
   The merchant is someone who peddles in the acquisition and sale of fine things.  This means two things. One, he possessed a chest of riches. Two, being a peddler of fine things he would recognize the value of the pearl (Many people might have “eyes to see” but still not see.  It has always been the case that many people seeking spiritual wisdom fail “to see it” when they see it.).
   Third, and most pertinent for us here, the merchant sold all that he had (his chest of riches) to obtain the pearl.  That is, he was motivated enough to obtain the pearl that he was willing to pay the highest price he could. Now let’s consider that price.
   By selling all he had to obtain the pearl the merchant was sacrificing his livelihood, the means by which he provided for his personal security: food, clothing, shelter, etc.  This is no mean feat, especially in Jesus’ day when one’s livelihood was an all-consuming (24/7) endeavor. But the merchant understood: the price one is willing to pay for a thing is in direct proportion to one’s motivation to obtain that thing.  Such is the value of the kingdom/realization.
   The pursuit of realization is a costly endeavor - one’s life as one currently knows it.  One must undergo a reevaluation of one’s life context and the influences therein, then make the decision to relinquish the egoic attachments that do not support the spiritual journey.  This usually requires significant life change, including everything from the material one chooses to read to how one spends one’s free time to with whom one chooses to spend one’s time. All such choices indicate the price one is willing to pay – or not.
   There is another saying attributed to Jesus: “Many are called.  Few are chosen.” I am not a Biblical literalist so sometimes find myself reinterpreting what I read therein, in a manner more consistent with the other mystical traditions I study (I consider Jesus a mystical Jew – not a Christian).  In this case I have reinterpreted Jesus’ words thusly: “Many are called. Few Choose.” (Matthew, Ch. 22) I prefer this version of Jesus’ words because, well, given my own study and practice they seem likely to be more historically accurate.  And, this puts the onus of responsibility on the individual rather than God. Truly, isn’t this where it belongs, anyway?

Now, what say ye?
Ego, or, agape?

Namaste,

Alex