Keys to the Parables
by John R. Francis

“Unto you it is given to know the mystery
Of the kingdom of God: but unto them that
are without, all things are done in parables.”

Jesus alone with His close disciples. (Mark 4:11, Luke 8:11)

It is hoped that this article will reach those who have sufficient inner awareness and contemplative experience to recognize the inner dimension of Christ’s teachings that lies beneath the literal language of metaphor. Such individuals have “eyes to see and ears to hear.” Furthermore, it is hoped that the reader will appreciate the implications of this discovery for the deepening of Christian religious life and for making Christianity a truly powerful force for world peace and understanding between East and West.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire the reader with the courage to share these insights with others who are receptive--putting aside all considerations for career advancement or ecclesiastic job security. Remember the words of Jesus: If you are ashamed of me I will be ashamed of you. ( Luke 9:26, Mark 8:38).

Finally, a word of caution is advisable here. The purpose of this paper is NOT to teach meditation. For that one needs the direct, personal instruction and supervision of a competent teacher. Rather, the goal of this paper is to provide some guidelines for discerning a meditation practice that is consistent with what Jesus privately taught to His closest disciples.

The intent of a particular meditation practice is very important. Different intents can lead to different consequences. Also, one might expect that a practice that is based on the presence of a loving God will have very different consequences from one that is atheistic or agnostic regarding the existence of God.  Another important consideration: is the goal of the meditation to merely escape life or to transform and divinize it?

Introduction - Did Jesus Teach Yogic Meditation?

Christian theologians unanimously agree that the parables are at the heart of the authentic teachings of Jesus. Hence, the more deeply we know the parables the greater will be our understanding of Jesus and the closer we will be to “putting on the mind of Christ.”

We read that Jesus frequently spoke in parables yet very few of the general public understood their meaning (Matthew 13:34, Mark 4:34). Actually, it was only in private that Jesus revealed their meanings, and then only to His close disciples (Mark 4:11, Luke 8:10). Hence, they remained a mystery to those outside the inner circle and the Bible contains very little if anything of these private explanations.

Thus, for centuries puzzled theologians have been offering a wide variety of interpretations for these sayings. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the Christian churches themselves have not issued any definitive interpretations of the parables. Even the dogmatic churches have no official, parable interpretations which believers must accept. Actually, there are many parables that rarely get discussed at all in sermons or during the religious indoctrination of members. This is all very surprising given the central importance Jesus apparently gave to the parables in His teaching ministry.

When theologians have offered parable interpretations they see these sayings as relating to either moral teachings, prophecy or church sacraments. However, these approaches are inconsistent with the secrecy in which Jesus wrapped these sayings. Jesus said of outsiders attempts to understand His parables, “they may look but not see, and hear but not understand” (Mark 4:11, Luke 8:11). Is Jesus referring to attempts at literal interpretation that may appear reasonable and rational but which actually miss a deeper meaning? Furthermore, are these common interpretations actually hindering a deeper, mystical understanding of the parables (Luke 11:52)?

The secrecy surrounding the parables also argues against the typical theological explanations. Are not morality, prophecy and sacramental instruction suitable for the entire congregation of believers? Recognizing this incongruity and looking for something deeper, a few modern commentators interpret the parables as psychological wisdom being suitable perhaps only for the spiritually mature.

However, this paper contends that Jesus was not just a moralist, prophet, priest or psychologist. He was also a mystic–one who had direct and intimate experience of Divine Reality. Granted, the parables can be used to justify or illustrate moral, prophetic or psychological teachings in Sunday sermons but this is not what we propose Jesus used them for in His private instruction to His disciples.

Rather, Jesus used many of the parables as keys by which His spiritually-mature disciples could open the inner doors to attain direct communion with God. It is with this assumption that we approach the parables. The secrecy was and is necessary to prevent powerful meditation methods from abuse by those unworthy ones who would misuse the energies accessed.

Furthermore, we will use these mysterious sayings in a way similar to how we suggest Jesus may have done so Himself. Instead of verbose commentary, Jesus may have given His close disciples hints or keys which would guide them to an inner, personal realization of Divine Reality during silent meditation. Thus, we find it more helpful to consider the meditation parables to be a means to direct, inner experience of the Kingdom of God rather than an attempt to describe that hidden realm with words.

A few general keys can be given now. Saint Augustine wrote: “When one encounters numbers in Scripture one would be well advised to consider a mystical interpretation.” Unfortunately, many of the commentators on the Gospels from the Oriental East have failed to appreciate the mystical significance of numbers that appear in the Bible. Origen, the early Christian theologian, also taught that there are levels of meaning to Scripture beneath the apparent, literal interpretations.

Actually, the word parable itself means a saying or narrative that represents or runs parallel to something other than that which is apparent in a surface or literal reading. How we approach a parable will determine its effect on us. To begin with, one has to be deeply motivated to uncover its inner meaning. A casual interest will yield only superficial results. Also, we contend that since the parables came from the heart of Jesus, they can only be understood with the heart and not merely with the brain. Hence, the deepest intentions of the parables have eluded the theologians who themselves don’t practice silent, heart-centered meditation.

Thus the Hesychasts, mystics of the Eastern Christian Church, tell us that only by stilling the mind are the deeper meanings of the Bible revealed to the seeker. Furthermore, they state that a true theologian is one who speaks from inner revelation rather than from logical, scholastic reasoning.

Finally, all old dogmatic preconceptions must, a least temporarily, be suspended if deeper insights are to be found. Otherwise, the parables will merely be mirrors that reflect our indoctrinated assumptions, rather than windows through which the Kingdom of God can be perceived and entered.

One of those assumptions concerns what Jesus meant by “the Kingdom (Reign) of God”–-a phrase in many of His parables. If we assume Jesus is referring to an external, socio-political realm mirrored now in the earthly Church hierarchy and fully realizable only at the “end of the world,” then we will arrive at the same parable interpretations that rational, scholarly theologians have been advocating for nearly two thousand years. However, if one is open to the possibility that Jesus used the metaphoric language of parables to guide His disciples into deep, mystical here-and-now experiences of God, then radically new insights may emerge.

The parable interpretations suggested below will probably be very different from anything the reader has ever encountered or considered before. This is because underlying the following interpretive keys is the radical proposition that Jesus taught meditation.

These insights were born in this author’s heart during deep-silent meditation and supported by a thirty-year comparative study of the mystical writings of a cross-section of the world’s great spiritual traditions.  Furthermore, this author has recently discovered that a number of the Eastern Christian mystics of the Philokalia tradition have also given an interior interpretation to some of the key metaphors of Christ’s parables.

Thus, the reader who continues will be confronted with a choice: dismiss outright the interpretations offered here because they contradict well-established authoritarian dogma or listen with discernment to the still, small voice within. What will it be?

One final recommendation:  Each parable may be considered to be a piece of a larger puzzle. It is only when the larger picture begins to emerge that we can clearly recognize the individual pieces. So the reader may find that a particular parable interpretation becomes more plausible and meaningful as the various pieces of the parable puzzle are put together.

Finally, a word of caution is called for here. The intent of this paper is NOT to teach meditation.  Such instruction should come personally and directly from a competent teacher. Rather, the goal of this paper is to provide some guidelines for discerning a meditation practice that is consistent with what Jesus privately taught to His closest disciples.

The Meditation Parables

1. The Five Wise and the Five Foolish Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-12)

What is the function of a bridesmaid in relation to the bride?  She is an attendant to the bride.  Females are also receptive by nature. What is the function of a physical sense in relation to the mind (soul)? Can the five senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell be considered the attendants of the soul? In physiology, the senses are said to be receptors for the mind.

If we take this parable personally and apply it to our body and soul, what might the number five represent? How many physical senses do we have? There is a spiritually wise use of the senses which conserves life energy (prana, chi) and a spiritually foolish use of them that dissipates life energy. When the senses tempt a wise person toward dissipation she/he says no to the temptation.

There are two ways to still the senses. One way is through exhaustion and the other is through disciplined conservation. Did you ever try to meditate when physically exhausted? Were you able to enter into the cave of the heart or were you shut out? The word “meditation” comes from the Latin “meditari” – being returned to the center.  

Mystics describe the soul as feminine and when married to the Spirit it is referred to as a bride. Yogis refer to the withdrawal of attention from the senses into the cave of the heart as “pratyahara.” It is in the cave of the heart that they say the mystical marriage to God occurs.

Watchfulness, both outer and inner, is a key to the contemplative meditation of the Hesychasts. “Divine things are more clearly manifested to him who withdraws into the recesses of the heart…” Saint Augustine.

2. Girding Your Loins, Keeping Lamps Burning  (Luke 12:35-36) 

“Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning; and ye yourselves be like men who wait for their lord to return from a wedding; so that when he comes and knocks they may open for him immediately.” 

“To gird one’s loins” literally means to pull up the lower portion of one’s robe and fasten it to the waist. This practice prevented the robe from scraping against the ground or becoming an obstacle during certain kinds of physical work or activity. More generally, it means to be ready for action. If one looks in a dictionary one will also find that the word “loins” is used as a literary euphemism – “the area of the genitals regarded as the seat of strength and generative power.”  Meditating yogis practice raising the procreative energy up to the solar plexus and heart centers to conserve and store the precious life force “treasure.” In advanced yogis this results in the “withering of the fig tree.” (Matthew 21:19).

Keeping the sensory “lamps” burning allows one to turn inward in contemplation through the opening of an inner door. Some yogis report that the rising of energy makes a knocking sound against the inner door to the heart (Sri Yukteswar, The Holy Science).  “Behold, I stand at the door and knock ...” (Revelation 3:20). Mystical union is often described as a marriage or wedding of the soul to God.

3.  The Three “Investments” (Matthew 25:14-30)

This parable appears in Matthew’s Gospel immediately after the ten bridesmaids parable discussed above. Are they related? Could they both be concerned with life energy (prana, chi). A spiritual master may infuse a disciple with life energy in order to facilitate spiritual unfoldment. The disciple receives the quantity of energy that she or he is capable of absorbing and using. The more energy a disciple already has, the more additional energy he or she is capable of receiving and utilizing. It has to do with the developed capacity of the subtle nervous system. To he who has, more shall be given (Matthew 25:29).

There are various means to impart this life energy. It can be transmitted directly. “…he breathed on them and said unto them;  Receive ye the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). Also, sometimes material substances such as bread, wine, or water are used as intermediaries. The disciple can then receive the grace by ingesting or simply touching substances that have been blessed (infused) with the life energy. This is known to yogis.

This transmission of energy is sometimes done to initiate the disciple into a higher level of spiritual growth. Hence, it is called a “spiritual initiation.” The disciple is given the energy with the expectation by the master that it will be used in meditation by the disciple to cultivate even more energy. A sufficient level of spiritual energy is necessary for achieving spiritual breakthroughs. However, the disciple who is careless or negligent can fail to accumulate more energy and may even lose through dissipation the spiritual grace that was given. From him who has not, it shall be taken away (Matthew 25:29).

A spiritual master may go away to minister to others only to return later to see what spiritual progress was made with the spiritual “investment” he made in the disciples he blessed. He may subsequently transmit even more life energy to those disciples who made good use of the first gift given. Other disciples, not so conscientious, may be reprimanded.

4.  Leaven in Three Measures (Matthew 13:33, Luke 13:21)

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid (mixed) in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”

Some mystics consider the Holy Spirit to be both the breath of God and the Divine Mother immanent in creation. What might the number three represent? Yogis say that we have three bodies – physical, emotional-mental, and bliss – which surround the spiritual Self.  Furthermore, yoga teaches that the emotional-mental body consists of three layers – intellect, mind, and life energy (see parable 18 - Laborers in the Field).  The first three chakras correspond to these bodies.

By conscious breathing, these three bodies can be infused with life energy (prana, chi).  When infused, they become less dense and hence transparent to the inner radiance of the spiritual center. These encapsulating bodies can also be made more transparent during meditation by alternating tension and relaxation at deeper and more subtle levels while consciously breathing in life energy.

This inner process is continued until the whole being manifests the radiance of spiritual Light.

 Note: In the kneading of actual dough, air as well as leaven is mixed with the dough during the physical squeezing and releasing action which occurs during kneading.

5. The Unfruitful Fig Tree (Luke 13:6-9)

A tree is an apt metaphor for the nervous system of the physical and subtle bodies of the soul. An unfruitful tree is one who has not achieved enlightenment before physical death. By “fertilizing” the three bodies with prana (life force, chi) in meditation one can extend the physical body’s lifespan enough to perhaps achieve enlightenment before physical death.

(To be continued in the next issue of the Journal of Esoteric Psychology)

John R. Francis lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been a practitioner and teacher of esoteric Christianity since 1975. He is the author of The Mystic Way of Radiant Love: Alchemy for a New Creation. John welcomes correspondence at johnf153@yahoo.com

to Part II