Did Jesus Suffer on The Cross?

To the extent that he would have been fully “dialed in” to his spiritual connection with “The Father” going into the experience, Jesus may indeed have been in a state of love and power enough to remain pleasantly above the suffering of the crucifixion. No physically incarnate being can be perfect in their communion with God. A viewpoint is given in Christ Returns: Speaks His Truth that Jesus experienced moments of turmoil during events leading up to the crucifixion, such as anger in the Cleansing of the Temple, feelings of dismay during the Last Supper and frustration enough to curse the fig tree near Gethsemane. Yet he was able to commune with “The Father” there and re-establish his connection powerfully enough to carry him through the crucifixion in a state of transcendent love and grace. 

This is one of my favorite narratives, yet it is not the only valid one. There is no single truth about Jesus' life or the crucifixion. The past is not real but is a projection from out of the present and can be changed by altering one’s point of view. I read any account of Jesus’ life as a tale set to match the philosophical positions of its author, for the purpose of reinforcing them and giving them weight. Metaphysically, these accounts are projections of the author’s either conscious or unconscious philosophy onto the past, literally creating the illusion in their awareness to reflect those philosophical positions. Some tales say Jesus was vulnerable to suffering at times, while others insist he was utterly beyond it at all times. The various and often conflicting narratives about Jesus we hear—from The New Testament to Christ Returns, The Disappearance of the Universe and Conversations With God—are best viewed as tools for teaching and inspiration, within their respective philosophical systems. Accordingly, we are free to choose whichever narratives we feel are most valuable to us as learning aids. Something to keep in mind as we choose is that, when it comes to interpretations of the past, the less dramatic the better.

If it seems impossible to us that Jesus might have been unperturbed during the crucifixion, let us entertain Conversations With God’s point of view that Jesus prayed for—begged for—a way to demonstrate that it is possible to be fully above this world and the body, and that way came in the form of the cross. It seems he expected others to strive for his same way of being. Would the Buddha have given the following instruction to his disciples if he didn’t believe such things were possible for them?

"Monks, even if bandits were to savagely sever you, limb by limb, with a double-handled saw, even then, whoever of you harbors ill will at heart would not be upholding my teaching.

“Monks, even in such a situation you should train yourselves thus: Neither shall our minds be affected by this, nor for this matter shall we give vent to evil words, but we shall remain full of concern and pity, with a mind of love, and we shall not give in to hatred. 

“On the contrary, we shall live projecting thoughts of universal love to those very persons, making them, as well as the whole world, the object of our thoughts of universal love—thoughts that have grown great, exalted and measureless.”

So spoke the Buddha.