The Mystery of The Christ Force: A Personal Story of Enlightenment for Spiritual Seekers

By Ron Scolastico

"This is a book that will touch anyone, regardless of their spiritual orientation. It presents deeply inspiring wisdom that will help you awaken to the magnificence of the spiritual realities of life."
Barbara DeAngelis, Ph.D., best-selling author of How Did I Get Here? and more

"I love this book. It could help to make a better world. I think a lot of people have an intuitive sense that there is something deeply important about the life of Jesus, but they are put off by the `holier than thou' interpretation that is so prevalent today. They hunger for something more. The Mystery of the Christ Force gives them what they hunger for."
Dr. John Bardi, professor of Philosophy and Religion at Penn State University

"This book illuminates the life of Jesus and the Mystery of the Christ Force in a new way. Dr. Scolastico takes us on an incredible journey beyond traditional sources of knowledge to experiences of spiritual depth that connect us to our own sense of the Divine."
Lois A. Vitt, Ph.D., Sociologist and Author, Middleburg, VA
"The Story of Dr. Scolastico's search for enlightenment inspired and entertained me. His discoveries about the Christ Force reveal profound metaphysical truths that will open your heart and stimulate your mind."
Chris Ternand, M.D. University of Minnesota

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ron Scolastico
• Release date: Feb 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9780943833194

Ron Scolastico

RON SCOLASTICO, PH.D. is a distinguished Transpersonal Psychologist, author, artist, and Spiritual Counselor who has studied human consciousness for more than 40 years. He has a unique ability to enter a deep state of consciousness and draw upon a vast source of wisdom that lies outside of ordinary awareness. This source of wisdom is often referred to as "The Guides." From that state of greatly expanded consciousness, Dr. Scolastico speaks in depth on many aspects of life. "Ron Scolastico is an important guide to higher wisdom." Marianne Williamson, Best-Selling Author of "A Return to Love." Ron Scolastico is the author of 7 books and hundreds of audio recordings. He holds degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, from the University of Iowa, and has studied at the University of Bordeaux, France.

Book preview

"This is a book that will touch anyone, regardless of their spiritual orientation. It presents deeply inspiring wisdom that will help you awaken to the magnificence of the spiritual realities of life.

Barbara DeAngelis, Ph.D., best-selling author of How Did I Get Here? and more

"I love this book. It could help to make a better world. I think a lot of people have an intuitive sense that there is something deeply important about the life of Jesus, but they are put off by the `holier than thou' interpretation that is so prevalent today. They hunger for something more. The Mystery of the Christ Force gives them what they hunger for."

Dr. John Bardi, professor of Philosophy and Religion at Penn State University

This book illuminates the life of Jesus and the Mystery of the Christ Force in a new way. Dr. Scolastico takes us on an incredible journey beyond traditional sources of knowledge to experiences of spiritual depth that connect us to our own sense of the Divine.

Lois A. Vitt, Ph.D., Sociologist and Author, Middleburg, VA

The Story of Dr. Scolastico's search for enlightenment inspired and entertained me. His discoveries about the Christ Force reveal profound metaphysical truths that will open your heart and stimulate your mind.

Chris Ternand, M.D. University of Minnesota

ALSO BY RON SCOLASTICO, PH.D.

COSMIC MOMENTS

Inspiring Reminders of your Divine Nature

BECOMING ENLIGHTENED:

Twelve Keys to Higher Consciousness

DOORWAY TO THE SOUL

How to Have a Profound Spiritual Experience

REFLECTIONS

Inspired Wisdom on: Gods and Symbols; The Human Mind

Angels and Guides; Education; Healing Addictions;

and, Healing the Hurt Child

HEALING THE HEART, HEALING THE BODY

A Spiritual Perspective on Emotional,

Mental, and Physical Health

THE EARTH ADVENTURE

Your Soul’s Journey Through Physical Reality

THE MYSTERY OF THE CHRIST FORCE

A Personal Story of Enlightenment for Spiritual Seekers

Copyright © 2007 by Ron Scolastico, Ph.D.

UNIVERSAL GUIDANCE PRESS

P.O. Box 6556

Woodland Hills, CA 91365

www.ronscolastico.com

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Scolastico, Ronald B. (Ronald Barry)

The Mystery of The Christ Force/

Ron Scolastico

1. Spiritual life. 2. Experience (Religion) 3. Self-realization—

Religious aspects. I. Title.

Paperback: ISBN 978-0-943833-16-7

eBook: ISBN 978-0-943833-19-4

A student came to a master, and she asked him how to approach God. The master told her to be quiet, and after a moment he asked, What do you hear?

"Nothing," she replied.

"Start from there," he said.

SUFI STORY

*

All truth, all reality, must ever be proclaimed to humanity in new forms, in new ways, for the needs of human beings change from one epoch to another.

DR. RUDOLPH STEINER (1861-1925)

Contents

Acknowledgements

PART ONE

THE MYSTERY OF THE CHRIST FORCE

Chapter One Waking Up

Chapter Two Preparing for a Profound Discovery

Chapter Three Opening to the Spiritual World

Chapter Four The Next Step: Thinking Versus Feeling

Chapter Five The Problem of God: Discovering a Larger Truth

Chapter Six An Encounter and a New Awakening

Chapter Seven Who and What Was Jesus

Chapter Eight The Troubling Jesus Mysteries

Chapter Nine The Mystery of the Christ Force

Chapter Ten Preparing for Your Attunement

PART TWO

A Pattern For Personal Enlightenment

Chapter Eleven The Christ Force Attunement

Chapter Twelve Your Enlightenment

Chapter Thirteen Deepening Your Attunement: Your Intuitive Sensing Ability

Chapter Fourteen Deepening Your Attunement: Your Inner and Outer Life

Chapter Fifteen Deepening Your Attunement: Your Attitude Toward Yourself

Chapter Sixteen Deepening Your Attunement: Your Expectations

Chapter Seventeen Deepening Your Attunement: Connection to the Christ Force

Chapter Eighteen Deepening Your Attunement: The Power of Imagination

Chapter Nineteen Deepening Your Attunement: Advanced Refinements

Chapter Twenty The Journey Continues

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to acknowledge the inspiration and love of my wonderful wife, Susan.

I am very grateful to my long-time friend, Ellen Seely, for taking the time from her busy psychotherapy practice to review the manuscript of the book.

I want to particularly thank Don Marrs for his many years of support and inspiration, and for his brilliant suggestions for the editing and organization of the book.

And lastly, a special thank you to the many people with whom I have worked over the years for trusting me with your life experiences. I feel privileged to be part of your spiritual awakening, and I am deeply grateful for your friendship and your love.

PART ONE

The Mystery Of

The Christ Force

Chapter One

Waking Up

It first happened to me when I was eight years old. I was lying on my bed reading a book. I was totally immersed in the exciting adventure story of a young boy detective when, all of a sudden, I began to have a very strange feeling in my head. I started to feel as if I were expanding. It seemed as if my awareness inside my head was growing larger every second. It just kept getting larger and larger. Soon, I felt like I was filling my entire room, touching the walls, the floor, the ceiling.

I was terrified. I could not move. I frantically tried to shake my body, hoping to escape the awful feeling of being so huge. Finally, I managed to make my arms and legs move, and I seemed to immediately shrink back down to my normal size.

I jumped off of the bed in a panic. I ran into the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the tub. My heart was racing, my hands were shaking, and I had to gasp for air.

Finally, I was able to calm down a bit and make my hands stop shaking. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head. Then, I began to force the experience out of my mind. It was too frightening to think about for an instant longer.

Somehow, in that moment, I was able to completely block out the memory of the alarming experience. However, as you will learn as my story unfolds, that memory would eventually be brought back to me in a most amazing way. That would set me off on a remarkable spiritual journey that would lead to the discovery of the mystery of the Christ Force.

*

As a psychologist and spiritual counselor I have worked with people around the world for many years. In that work I have discovered that there is now a wide-spread spiritual awakening occurring. Many people are beginning to realize that they can go beyond traditional teachings handed down from past generations that were considered to reveal the truth about the spiritual realities of life. They are discovering that they can decide for themselves what to believe about those realities.

In the past, many people believed that they could not directly experience the spiritual dimensions of existence. Thus, they needed to rely upon descriptions of the spiritual world that were given to them by various religious and academic authorities. Now, many are discovering that they do not need to blindly follow the beliefs and philosophies of other people. They are awakening to the fact that they have an innate ability to directly engage the spiritual realities of life within their own inner experience.

There are a lot of people who seek spiritual truths through organized religion. Even though they find comfort and inspiration in belonging to their religion, many that I have worked with have told me that it is difficult for them to have a direct experience of the spiritual realities by simply following the traditional practices of their religion. Some say that they receive a great deal of good from belonging to their church, synagogue or mosque, but they have never had a personal experience of the spiritual realms of existence, nor have they ever perceived spiritual beings.

When I work with such people I encourage them to keep following their chosen religious pathway for the benefit that they receive. At the same time, I teach them how to make important openings within their inner self that can lead them to the deep spiritual experience that they desire.

*

For many people with whom I have worked, learning to have a spiritual experience has brought them great benefit. For some, there came the healing of painful feelings of aloneness and isolation. Others who were not feeling enough love in their life were able to experience profound levels of love through a direct connection with the spiritual realms. I have counseled many who were deeply troubled by the violence and turmoil in the world. Learning to experience the spiritual realities helped them awaken to the powerful spiritual forces that we can draw upon to understand the dramas and traumas of life in a more enlightened way.

All over the world people are embarking upon their own personal quest to expand their inner experience to discover spiritual truths for themselves. They are doing this by learning to awaken a powerful intuitive sensing ability that lives within each of us. The discovery of this innate ability to intuitively perceive the spiritual world for oneself is the great expanding impulse behind a new spirituality that is now emerging.

*

After more than forty years spent exploring human psychology and the spiritual realities of life, I have accumulated a large body of knowledge about our latent intuitive sensing ability, and I have developed ways to awaken it. Through lectures, workshops, seminars and books, I have taught many people to open their intuitive ability to achieve a direct experience of the magnificence of the spiritual world on their own.

In this book I will share with you the knowledge that I have gained in guiding people through the process of opening their intuitive sensing ability. I will show you how to use a powerful method of personal enlightenment that, no matter what your spiritual, philosophical or religious beliefs might be, can enable you to create deep spiritual experiences that can bring you the fulfillment, joy and love that you desire in your life.

*

One of the most difficult aspects of my own personal quest to achieve a spiritual experience was a terrible struggle that I had with a strict fundamentalist version of Southern Christianity that tormented me as a child. Even as an adult, after spending many years engaged in a thorough study of various spiritual teachings from around the world, I continued to have a strong resistance to anything that resembled what I was taught in my church as a child.

That is why it took me many years to discover what I now realize is one of the most important aspects of any spiritual pathway. It is one of the most powerful components of awakening our latent intuitive sensing ability to achieve a personal enlightenment. As it turns out, to my great surprise, what I discovered happens to be entwined with the mystery of a magnificent cosmic reality that I am calling the Christ Force.

Because of my struggle with the religious teachings that frightened me so much as a child, I developed an early dislike for what I considered to be the narrow dogma of various religions. Then, after a long personal quest, I came to understand that the truth of the Christ Force has very little to do with organized religion. I discovered that the mystery of the Christ Force embodies the most amazingly powerful pattern for personal enlightenment for anyone, no matter what spiritual pathway they follow. As you will discover in the following chapters, a true understanding of the mystery of the Christ Force, and the use of the pattern of enlightenment inherent within that mystery, can open the door for anyone to have a direct experience of the spiritual realities of life.

*

My personal discovery of the Christ Force came out of a long spiritual quest that began for me two years after my frightening experience of expansion. At that time, I was ten years old, and I was terrified that I was a sinner, and I thought I was going to Hell where I believed that I would roast in horrible flames, for eternity. I believed that because, every Sunday, a fiery Southern fundamentalist preacher told me it was true.

Things were different in 1948. If you were a kid, you believed what adults told you. Especially, the tall, imposing, silver haired and charismatic preacher of our neighborhood church in Louisville, Kentucky.

My father, a stern, devout, and divorced Italian Catholic from Pennsylvania, had moved to Louisville for his work as a mechanical engineer. To my amazement, instead of joining the nearby Catholic church, for some reason that he never bothered to explain to me, he decided to go to a Southern Baptist church down the street from our home. There, he immediately became a Born-Again Christian.

He also decided that I would join him in his new religion. Even though in the past he had never talked to me about religion, and had never made me go to Catholic schools, or to Mass, now, every Sunday, he would make me put on a white shirt and tie, and he would drag me along to the Baptist church. That was where my spiritual quest was born in the torture of agonizing childhood fear.

On those dreaded Sundays, when the preacher stood up on the stage in his usual bright blue suit and pounded on his massive podium while shouting out to the large congregation that we were all sinners, I believed him. When he leaped around and screamed that we were all doomed to go to Hell and burn forever if we failed to take Jesus Christ as our personal savior, I believed him, and I shook with fear.

There were many sins that the fiery preacher listed that he said could send me to a horrible end in Hell. And, even at ten years of age, I liked to do all of the sinful things, such as dancing, playing cards, playing the pinball machine, using curse words, or drinking sips of an occasional stolen beer with older neighborhood children. On and on, the list of sins seemed endless.

What was so terrifying to my young self was that I was taught to believe that if I did any of those things during the day, and then I happened to die in my sleep that night, I would not be saved and I would go straight to Hell and burn in that horrifying eternal torment. After a while I was afraid to go to sleep at night.

Yet, being rebellious in nature, in spite of my terrible fear, I kept doing all the fun things, especially playing the pinball machine, which was my favorite sin. However, each day as I committed that sin at a friendly cafe near my house, my terror of Hell grew stronger and stronger.

Finally, I realized that I had no choice. I could not go on living my life in a constant fear of Hell. There was nothing else to do. I had to be saved.

In our church, every Sunday, after the preacher finished his sermon in which he painted his gruesome picture of Hell, he would come down from the stage, stand in front of the large congregation, spread his arms wide, and shout out for the sinners to come forward and be saved. This meant that the sinner, me, in order to be saved, would have to get up from my place in the pew, and, in front of several hundred people filling the church—some of them my saved friends—I would have to walk down the aisle to where the preacher stood waiting with open arms. I would have to stand in front of the whole congregation and admit that I was a sinner.

One fateful Sunday, I finally gathered up the courage to take that frightening walk. I was sitting in a pew at the back of the church with a group of adults that I knew, and my father was sitting up front with his men’s group. All during the sermon I kept dreading rising up before the whole congregation to admit that I was a sinner. But, my fear of burning in Hell for eternity was much stronger than the feeling of shame and embarrassment that I expected to feel on my long walk down the aisle.

The sermon seemed to take forever. When it finally came to an end and the preacher gave the invitation to the sinners, my heart was pounding. My hands were sweating. I felt nauseous. I loosened my little tie which suddenly seemed to be choking me. I did not want to move. But, with one last thought about eternal Hell fire, I took a deep breath, pushed myself from the pew, squeezed past the adults in my row, and slowly began the dreaded walk.

*

My experience of being saved was a rapid blur. I remember standing before the preacher at the front of the church with four other sinners, all grown men, while the entire congregation looked on. The preacher went from one man to the other, placed his big hands on each man’s head, and, shouting as loud as he could, demanded that the devil leave the man’s body. Then, he asked each man in a threatening voice, Do you confess your sins, and do you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior, and will you allow Jesus to come into your life?

Each man answered, Yes.

Then, he came to me. I was trembling. I felt his hands pressing down hard on my head. He kept pushing on my head as he yelled at the devil for a minute. Then, he shouted at me and asked me if I confessed my sins, if I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal savior, and if I would I allow Jesus to come into my life.

I said, Yes. I must have whispered it because the preacher leaned down to me and he demanded, Say, yes. I said it again as loud as I could.

Then, the preacher took us all to a small, green windowless room behind the stage that smelled of mildew. There, we had to strip down to our underwear and put on long white robes. The preacher changed with us and put on a bright blue robe that was the same color as his suit.

When we were all dressed, the preacher was joined by two deacons and they led us up some narrow steps at the back of the stage to the top of a silver metal tank that was filled with water. As we stood on a small wooden platform at the edge of the tank, I noticed that the wall beside us was open out into the church and I could see the entire congregation watching us.

The preacher climbed down some steps inside the tank and stood in waist-deep water. Then, he reached up, took my hand, and pulled me down the steps. The water was shockingly cold. It came up to my chest.

I remember the preacher telling me to hold my breath as he grabbed me from behind. He shouted out, I now baptize you in the name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then, he jerked me backwards and dunked me down into the freezing water where he held me for a few seconds.

As he pulled me up I did not hold my breath long enough and I ended up with a nose full of water. Coughing and sputtering, I staggered up the steps out of the tank and a deacon led me back into the changing room.

After the four men were baptized and we were all dressed, the preacher took us back to the stage at the front of the church and we all stood and faced the congregation. There was a lot of singing and shouting of, amen. I could feel my face flush with embarrassment before all those people, but, I felt pretty good. Now, I was saved. I no longer had to fear an eternity in Hell.

*

All during the next week, in class, walking home from school, lying in bed at night, I kept expecting Jesus to appear and come into my life. If he was my personal savior, where was he?

For weeks I kept fighting my urge to sin—especially my desire to play the pinball machine with my unsaved friends after school. And, I kept waiting for Jesus to appear. Several months went by. Jesus never showed up.

I was very disappointed in Jesus. I had done my part. Jesus was not doing his.

Then, even to a naive child such as myself who had no understanding of religious beliefs, it became clear that something was wrong. After weeks of intense inner struggle as I kept trying to understand what was wrong, my rebellious nature, and perhaps some kind of innate intelligence came forward and saved me. I was sitting alone in my room one day, deeply pondering Jesus, and being saved, and sin, and Hell, when I suddenly had a great burst of understanding. I immediately framed the thought in my mind: It’s my preacher who’s wrong. I jumped up in excitement. I suddenly knew with a deep conviction, and I said it out loud to myself: "There is no Hell! It all became clear to me in a brilliant moment of insight and knowing certainty, and I said: Hell is a story made up by people in churches."

Then, I began to suspect that perhaps Jesus was also a story made up by people in churches. There probably wasn’t even a Jesus. If there was no Hell, then there was no need for a savior to save us from Hell. I was not sure about that, but I was very suspicious of the whole thing about Jesus and being saved.

I then made a decision that I now think was extremely bold for a young child. I decided that I would no longer worry about Jesus, or sin, or Hell. From then on, I would live my life as I pleased.

After that, every Sunday when my father dropped me off at the door of the church, I would mingle around and hide in the incoming crowd until he went inside the building to sit with his men’s group up at the front. Then, I would take the fifty cents that he gave me to put in the offering plate during the service and I would go to the cafe at the end of the block and use the money to play the pinball machine until it was time for church to be over.

***

Chapter Two

Preparing For A

Profound Discovery

After my rebellion against my church teachings, and my vow to live my life as I pleased, as I grew up I went my own way and explored life without any concern for sin, Jesus, Hell, or anything spiritual. Then, after spending five years in the United States Air Force, and eventually entering academia, I developed a deep curiosity about the nature of existence. In spite of my aversion to what I still considered to be the narrow focus of religion, I found myself increasingly interested in the spiritual aspects of life.

During the 1960’s I read every book that I could find that offered knowledge about spiritual realities. Year after year, I tried to discover the truth about those realities by immersing myself in the experience of other people. However, it would be 1978 before I would begin to have my own personal spiritual awakening.

*

In 1948 when I was struggling with my fears of Hell, kids believed what adults told them. Thirty years later in 1978 things were very different. If you were a student at a university it was difficult to believe anything that anyone told you.

I had begun my long romance with academia in the late 1950’s by taking night classes at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro while stationed there in the Air Force. Then, after my discharge, determined to get a college degree, I enrolled in night classes at Memphis State University in Memphis, Tennessee. When I moved to California in 1961, I worked for several years as a technical writer for Kaiser Engineers during the day, and at night I went to Oakland City College for more classes. Then, in the mid 1960’s I was accepted as a full-time student at the University of California at