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What did Jesus mean when he said, “Unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of his blood, he has no life in you”?
The Guide: Of course, you realize, my friends, that this saying is entirely symbolic. As I have said repeatedly, the flesh means the earth matter that has to be accepted. The question for humanity always revolves around the unwillingness to accept the difficulties of life with all its obstacles.
You reject matter, you reject the difficulty of life, you try to escape these difficulties by various, often unconscious means. Imbibing matter – symbolized by Jesus’ body which came from man – means to say Yes to this earth life and all it stands for, good and bad.
Everything is included in that. It may be a good mediation exercise to think what Earth life includes and what should be accepted. Many people reject different things, even good things, either out of fear to sin, or fear that these good things bring increased unhappiness. The symbolism of Jesus’ blood is pain. Blood is associated with pain. You also have to drink pain, my friends.
Again, accept it instead of escaping from it. Accept it in a healthy way, not fleeing it. Accept it as a necessary byproduct of life and your own temporary state of imperfection. Accept it as the effect you have set in motion through your own inner causes. And if you drink the pain instead of turning away from it, you will be revived and come out of pain, as Jesus demonstrated by his death and spiritual resurrection. That is the symbolism of these words.
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