The Ordinary Mystic

“Where is the one born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east …”

Is it possible to see the star of Bethlehem today? To this day, there is no definite explanation for the star of Bethlehem. According to mainstream Christianity, this star was God’s way of identifying the birth of His son. Jehovah’s Witnesses might tell you that it was Satan’s attempt to kill the child Jesus.

Was the star of Bethlehem a comet? A constellation? A conjunction of planets? There are plenty of theories and claims – one group has a website where they claim to have figured out scientifically what the star was. You can check it out at The Star of Bethlehem. It’s actually pretty fascinating. See also a report from John Mosley, program supervisor for the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, which contains similar information.

But are these viewpoints based on too literal an interpretation? Could there be something much more profound contained within this story – something with more universal lessons? Something which opens up the possibility of seeing the star of Bethlehem today?

There are several reasons to believe that there is much to the story that cannot be taken literally.

One vital clue lies in the identity of the Magi.

Who were the Magi?

The consensus among researchers is that they were Persian astrologers. However, the archeologist and historian Henry Heras, in his book The story of the Magi: The first Indians at the feet of Our Lady (Studies in Indian history of the Indian Historical Research Institute, St. Xavier’s College, Bombay ; no. 21), makes the case for another identity of the magi:

• If the word magi truly indicated the well-known Persian Magi, then Persia would have been identified as their home. Yet tradition, and the scriptures, only state that these magi came “from the east”.
• There are centuries-old traditions in India that claim that the Magi were “Wise Men”, or rishis (patriarchal sages), who came from India.
• The gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, were from ancient times traditional gifts offered to parents of the newly born in India. As far as we know, there has never been that tradition in Persia.

So there is good reason to believe that the magi were sages from India, known for their intense search for spiritual truth.

Let’s examine what the scriptures say about the star itself.

The Star in the East

The magi said they saw the star “in the east”. The magi came from the east and later saw the star over Bethlehem, so eventually the star had to be seen in another areas of the sky other than “in the east”. What kind of star exhibits that kind of movement?

Of all the celestial theories, the most plausible ones involve a conjunction of planets. And even those theories describe the planets taking different positions in the sky and eventually being seen in the western skies. Yet nowhere is the term “west” used in the scriptural account. Instead, all we read are references to the east – the account emphasizes the fact that the star was “in the east”, as if being in the east was a fundamental feature of the star.

Why is that? And why is it never described in any other way? Never “in the west”, or even south, where Bethlehem is in relation to Jerusalem.

The Significance of “East”

A clue might be found in the Jewish word for east – “kedem” – which also means “front” or “fore”. Could there be a special meaning behind the use of the word “east”, a meaning that includes the concept of the “front” or “fore”?

“But the New Testament was written in Greek”, I can hear some people say. And that is true – for the most part. However, there is testimony from Christian writers that indicates that Matthew wrote a Gospel, or some portion of it, in Hebrew or Aramaic. And coincidentally, out of all four gospels, it is only the Gospel of Matthew that contains the story of the star of Bethlehem.

Another “Star” Seen in the “East”

Experienced meditators in certain yoga traditions are quite familiar with a phenomenon that occurs during meditation, when eyes are closed and raised upward, toward the forehead. There, in your mental field of vision, appears a disc of purple or dark blue surrounded by a band of yellow. With continued focus there also appears a point of light in the center – a star.

This isn’t just a metaphysical theory. I see something similar to it during my own meditations, although it appears as more of an amorphous blob of dark blue surrounded by yellow. The yellow repeatedly collapses into a point in the center of the blue.

According to the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, this is the spiritual eye, a reflection of spiritual energy entering the body. By focusing on the spiritual eye, the meditator’s consciousness rises until it reaches a state of superconsciousness, and the heart is filled with peace.

“On seeing the star they rejoiced.”

This leads us to the following interpretation of the story of the magi and the star of Bethlehem:

The magi, sages from India who were practiced in the art of achieving superconscious states and heightened intuition through meditation and yoga, perceived that the one who would embody spiritual enlightenment was being born somewhere in Judea. Familiar with the Jewish prophecies, they went to the capital city, Jerusalem, and asked King Herod “Where is the one born king of the Jews?” He then consulted the chief priests and scribes for an answer, who told him “in Bethlehem”. After he provided this information to the magi, they then traveled to Bethlehem, relying on their intuition as revealed in meditation to guide them to the exact location of the child.

“When they had heard the king, they went their way; and look! the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them, until it came to a stop above where the young child was.”

They recognized the Christ child within the spiritual eye that they saw in their meditations, and their superconscious insight guided them to where the child was.

Seeing the Star Today

With practice, anyone can see the star during meditation. But seeing the star, or light in the forehead, is only the beginning stages of an ongoing process of experiencing increased intuition and deeper levels of consciousness through meditation.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus during this holiday season, may we recognize the potential within all of us for achieving Christ-consciousness; and in doing so, the realized promise of peace on earth.

Notes:

“kedem” means “east” as well as “front” or “fore”
“shemal” means north as well as left.
“teyman” means south as well as “to the right”.

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