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Coming into the Light Part V THE PARADOX OF MIND AND REALITY
This article is the beginning of Part V Part I The Path Of The Christian Mystic Part V The Paradox Of Mind -- Coming Into the Presence of the Being of Light Part VI Conversations With The Lord Jesus
Coming Into The Presence of the Being of Light
As
I developed my affirmations, prayers, meditation and contemplation, the Light
that I saw myself immersed in became stronger and more overpowering.
The more I prayed and meditated in the Light, the more it seemed the
Light engulfed me -- to where it appeared that I could taste, smell and touch
the Light, in addition to seeing and hearing what the Light was beginning to
convey to me. Soon I craved
my time in the Light -- and I began to understand the scriptural edict to “Be
still, and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10 KJV), as indicating the stilling
of my own thoughts and mind so I could hear the “…still small voice”
of the Lord (1 Kings 19:12 KJV). As
the Light that engulfed me during my prayer and meditations became more intense
and all pervading, the shelves in my mind that once held the doctrines of
worldly confusion began to melt and fall away.
As I saw the inherent and congenital problem with which all of mankind is imbued
with more clearly, I realized that it was not so much that these doctrines were
wrong -- but more correctly, that they
were incomplete and misunderstood. It
is not an easy thing for carnal man to perceive what the Apostle himself
describes as the “unspeakable…
Mysteries of God”. In
this respect, each opinion, doctrine, and carnal perception of the Word, often
represented a single piece of the puzzle -- and often, each piece preserved the
germ of a profound truth that we did not understand in its fullness.
The Apostle described the vision of realty as “unspeakable”,
not because he wanted to confuse us, but because he wanted to warn us that the
carnal mind of man is only capable of embracing a morsel of truth -- a mere bite
of the solid meat of the Spiritual Gospel of Christ -- and the assimilation of
each piece of the truth was contingent upon other truths -- truths which together filled
the void of darkness and confusion that envelops the mind of the believer.
One
of the paramount reasons that the natural man cannot even imagine the true depth
of Creation, is that we dwell in what appears to be a paradoxical reality that
is multidimensional in its foundation.
Because natural man attempts to cling to one truth, and then make
everything else conform to that truth, he is incapable of perceiving the
Ultimate Truths of Creation. From
one perspective the Jehovah's Witnesses are right -- from another the
Evangelicals are right -- the Roman Catholics -- the Mormons -- the Unitarians
-- the Quakers -- as well as all the other very incomplete perceptions of the
Word and Creation. All the
many conflicting doctrines have their place -- and yet, each falls “…short
of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23 KJV). One
of the keys to understanding the problem is to realize that the thinking and
perception of different people originate from different parts of the mind
itself. It all goes back to
that ten percent limitation which the physical body places upon the potential of
man. As the vital life-force
moves through us, the natural laws which we were born under at birth, causes the
bio-energy to travel through a different route -- which in turn causes each of
us to exhibit not only the different and far reaching abilities that we see
among mankind, but also a different perception and manner of thinking.
When we add to this the factor of sex, race and culture, and the
accomplishments of the past lives of the soul, the possibilities are almost
infinite. Ultimately,
what this means is that each person’s vision of life is valid -- and it is
unlike what other people see because it originates from a different center of
the mind, as well as unique (past-life) foundational experiences.
If we could begin to comprehend the deeper meaning of the biblical story
of the Tower of Babel we would begin to understand this great truth regarding
man's reality. We would then
also see that each of the conflicting opinions behold their own unique truth --
a truth that must be placed in its proper place for man to begin to envision the
multidimensional reality that is beyond his current limited perception and
comprehension. Moreover, it
is for this reason that Jesus did not teach man what to believe -- or even
expect the believer to know what is the correct doctrine to believe -- but rather,
Jesus taught man the means that would enable him to transcend the limitations of
this world, and behold the Higher Truth of Ultimate Reality.
In like manner, it was for this reason that the Apostle Paul condemned the development of all sects as the greatest of sins, because the very presence of carnal parochial doctrines destroys the whole foundation of New Covenant thought. In the words of Paul: "Give at least two warnings to the person who causes divisions, and then have nothing more to do with him. You know that such a person is corrupt, and his sins prove that he is wrong" (Titus 3:10-11 TEV). Why is a person who promotes a doctrine or a sect described by Paul as being corrupt, and a sinner? Because all doctrines of belief are manmade perceptions of a higher spiritual reality that is beyond the comprehension of carnal man. The Truth can only be found in the manner in which the believer must live in order to manifest the Light in their individual lives. That
our carnal and incomplete perceptions and knowledge will give way as the mind
becomes Anointed, and is able to perceive man's higher spiritual reality with a
restored clarity, is seen in the words of the Apostle where he writes: "For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully
known" (1 Cor 13:9-12 NIV). This enlightened perception
and knowledge can only be given to us when we permit the Lord to enter into our
lives, and bring about the total physical transformation into the spiritual
being were are within us. As
I began to move to new depths within my mind and being, I began to open the
doors to the interior castles of the soul which were spoken about by spiritual
Christians such as St. Teresa of Avila. Based upon my own personal experiences, I began to
understand the Bible with a new perception I had heretofore never imagined
existed. It was truly a
universal set of sacred writings that had the power to bring all men to the
Truth -- so long as they were willing to become genuine believers and travel
upon the paths that the Lord would lead them.
To be a genuine follower of the Christ meant exactly what the phrase
conveyed -- i.e., to cast off our carnal limitations, and have enough faith in
The Way, that we surrender to the Lord, and are willing to be lead wherever the
Christ will take us. In
this respect, the static faith that Christians embrace today is as if it were no
faith at all. Jesus came to
us and said: There is another world that exists where man can dwell in paradise.
He then said that, if you believe me, and have faith in me, I can guide
you along the path that will take you to this other world.
It is for this reason that one of the foundational principles of
the New Testament is to be in the world and not of it. The
problem arose when other men appointed themselves priests and shepherds of the
flock, reinterpreted the Word from a carnal perspective, changed the focus of
the Word, and began to preach that if you believe and have faith, you will be
saved either when you die, or when Jesus destroys this world in order to
inaugurate the Kingdom upon the earth. They did not understand that the Kingdom is within us
(Luke 17:20-21). They did not
understand that it is man who must bridge the two worlds within his own mind and
being, in order to find the Kingdom that Jesus declared. Because
these false shepherds failed to embrace the very first principles of New
Covenant theology, which was to open and unloose the mind in order to overcome
the limitations of carnal thinking, they were unable to perceive the Good News
in the manner of the spiritual Christians who obeyed the Commandments of the
Lord -- followed in The Way -- and were able to dwell in both worlds
simultaneously -- i.e., be in the world and not of it.
When the spiritual Christian attempted to speak out to the carnal
believers, the church which now called itself orthodox, condemned the genuine
Christians as heretics -- and either killed them, imprisoned them, or banished
them to distant places where the flock of believers could not hear what they had
to say. Thus, the True Gospel of Christ became condemned as
heresy, and Satan began to rule over the church which called itself Christian. In my new-found understanding of the Bible, I also realized that if the carnal Christians had truly revered the sacred writings, and left them in their original state, man's quest to walk in The Way would be made a great deal easier than it is at present. This became very clear to me as I moved beyond the inner doors of my mind, and entered what St. Teresa called the interior castles of my soul. Sometimes in a vision I would be shown the scriptures
with shaded areas that I realized represented the many places where whole
passages and even chapters were altered and removed.
And as I gazed upon the scriptures, I was shown other areas where foreign
concepts and phrases of doctrines of Pagan origin were added to the text to
alter the meaning of the Bible -- and make it more compatible with the thinking
of the church which called itself orthodox. What Christians today must come to terms with is the
fact that in each case, the majority of alterations to the scriptures were done
by well-meaning people who believed that they were clarifying the Word of God --
but their clarifying was from a carnal and doctrinal perspective.
Thus, the Light that was opening heretofore unknown inner eyes in my mind
was demonstrating to me that the Bibles we depend upon have been corrupted --
but though corrupted, are still sufficient to be used to bring believers to the
Lord if they concentrate on living the Word in their daily lives, and allowing
only Him access to their minds. As
these great truths began to stir in my understanding, one seemed to jump off the
page and stand out from among the rest as I read the words: “But you, do
not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all
brethren” (Matt 23:8 NKJ). And
as the Light flashed in my mind, I understood that the inner path to the Kingdom
and the Light has been hidden and obscured by the doctrines of men, and
believers must again learn only from the Righteous Teacher of the Light. As
I was caught up in my prayer and meditation, there were times where I saw the
Light from a distance, and other times where I was taken directly up into the
Light in a bathing immersion of healing and cleansing.
I began to understand the words of the Jesus when he said: “In my
Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you”
(John 14:2 KJV); and I saw a whole new dimension of being in the words of the
Apostle when he said: “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple
and that God's Spirit lives in you?” (1 Cor 3:16 NIV).
It
is said that if all the books written about God were to be brought together in
one place, there is no library in the world that could hold them.
I perceived that all these countless books written by man -- books which
were designed to teach believers about the Bible and God -- only served to
alienate the believer from God. The
great truth which the people of the simple faith failed to understand is that
the term Old Covenant does not refer to a period of time -- but rather, it
indicates that condition in the congregation where man is forced to learn about
God through the written word. The
New Covenant is never written in letters and words by the hand of man -- but
rather, in the heart of man; and he has only to learn how to retrieve God's Word
in the pure and spiritual form. That
man needs guides is true -- and in this respect, the only valid New Covenant
book is that which leads us to the Kingdom.
As I saw these great truths more clearly, I saw that at another level of
our being each of us was God's child, and our birthright was the Kingdom of His
glory. Soon,
though, the Light unveiled to me other great spiritual truths that were taught
by Jesus in private only to his disciples.
I began to understand the unity and harmony of Creation.
Nothing was ever finished until it was complete -- and even then it was
often part of a higher reality. As
I observed these greater truths that were beyond the natural barrier of the
carnal mind, the Light revealed to me episodes from lifetimes that I had lived
previous to the one I was living now.
As faces and strange places from the past seemed to endlessly flash
before me, I began to grasp the reality that I had a long spiritual ancestry
that I heretofore knew nothing about.
In the realization of what I was observing, I posed the question that
every person today must ask themselves in their quest for truth: Why would I
read a book, or ask someone about things and events pertaining to history, when
I was in effect a living historical resource.
I lived during every stage of human development.
What I quickly came to realize is that whatever is written, has not only
been censored, but has been portrayed from the parochial viewpoint of both the
author and the culture of the timeframe in which it was written. In
the second century I lived as David the Nazarene.
In the third I was a Bishop in what has come to be known today as the
Orthodox Church. In the fourth century I lived as Matthew, an Ebionite.
It was in this life that I witnessed the wholesale destruction of the
True Church of Christ by the very Pagan Church of the Roman Empire.
As I have already revealed in previous writings, I was among the
many (Hebrew and Gentile) Christians who were put to death for refusing to
accept the religion of the emperor. Thereafter,
I lived at various times throughout every period of history right up to the
present. I have lived lives
as a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Deist, a Humanist, and many other variations
of thought. I have been every
race, male and female, and I have seen and experienced life from every dimension
of existence. I was in Europe
during the Middle-Ages at the time of the Reformation.
I was in the new world during colonial times.
I lived during the time of the Revolution, and as an American Indian
during the 1800's. When I
take pen in hand and write, what I write is very different, because I write from
a much wider variance of point of view than almost any other writer I know of. As
a man, when I write about women, I write from my perspective during those times
when I dwelled in a female body. Each race -- each nationality -- each manifestation of
culture -- embodies a different element of man's pre-existent soul.
There is literally a Divine Reason for every expression of man in the
world -- yet, few men the world over has ever known has possessed the vision to
perceive the Divine Hand of God that is continually moving throughout every
element of life. As
I began to perceive the causal effects that connected and interconnected one
life to another, I came to realize that man is literally immersed in a sea of
God's Natural Law that controls every aspect of his being.
Throughout most of my Christian life I had been taught that the Jews were
heretics and Christ killers -- and yet, this was not only a great lie which was
published by the ignorant Gentiles and the Roman Church, but it was God Himself
Who preserved their way of
thinking, because they retained essential teachings that are totally lacking in
modern Christian thought. I
began to see the Law and Commandments as embodied in the Old Testament
scriptures in a new light. Everything
that we experience in life, we bring upon ourselves.
From a biblical perspective, every man truly reaps what he sows -- so
much so, that life is a continual experience of man confronting his own self --
and yet, few men recognize what they see.
As
I surveyed these images from the past that flashed endlessly before my eyes, I
was overwhelmed with the enormity of human experience that each of us possesses
-- but for the most part lies dormant within us.
And as I saw the images of lifetimes that I have lived since the dawn of
time, I found myself being drawn into one life in particular.
Suddenly it seemed as if I could feel the heat of the warm sand under my
feet, a slight breeze on my face, as I found myself listening to the voice of
the Master during that time when he physically walked the earth.
And as I became caught up in the sheer awe of the moment, I realized that
I was really sitting at His feet and hearing the words of Life spoken directly
from the Master's lips. As I
totally surrendered to the moment, the feeling of excitement and peace pervaded
my whole being. Deep within
my soul I felt that I had come home to where I belonged. It
was here, with the Lord, that I wanted to stay.
When he spoke, his voice was like no other -- as it became an intimate
experience that was embraced on a multidimensional level.
I not only heard his words in the normal fashion, but what I heard was
also being spoken from a previously unknown point from deep within my soul.
In fact, I am not quite sure to what degree I even heard him speak from
the outside -- in that, his voice resonated from deep within me, overpowering
whatever was taking place in the outside world. Truly, Jesus was an Oracle through whom God spoke --
i.e., “for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father
speaking through you” (Matt 10:20 NIV).
In
this higher perception of reality, I began to understand what the scriptures
meant by the term “inside the house” with the Lord.
Each person heard the words of the Master on their own level, in
accordance with their own spiritual condition.
His very presence was multidimensional.
The people who were the most carnal -- whose thinking was totally
attached to the earth -- saw him as just another man.
Those who clung to the doctrines of the religious or political
authorities of this world appeared terrified at what they heard and experienced,
and concluded that he was the prince of demons.
A great number of the hearers simply viewed him as an inspired speaker --
i.e., they felt warm and stirred, but they soon went their way about their
normal business. Others,
though, felt a deep level of inner spiritual movement -- but they did not
understand or perceive the depth of the experience.
They were satisfied to partake of the moment, and continue in their lives
with little change. Still
others who had been in search of the deeper meaning and purpose of life,
recognized their time had truly come.
When the Bible states that he taught them “in the house”, the
scripture was not making reference to a physical place that was separate from
the multitudes -- but rather, that these individuals were of sufficient
spiritual maturity, that they heard his words spoken, and the far-reaching inner
spiritual meaning was received as he spoke to them simultaneously from within
the essence of their own selves. On
this great spiritual truth the Church Father Origen defended Christianity
against the attacks against the church by Celsus, the second century Epicurean
philosopher, when he wrote that the true depth of the Gospel message is
difficult for the reader to perceive, “…including a very profound
explanation of the parables, which Jesus delivered to ‘those without’ while
reserving the exhibition of their full meaning for those who have passed beyond
the stage of exoteric teachings, and who came to him privately in the house.
And when he comes to understand it, he will admire the reason why some
are said to be without, and others in the house”. From
their own experiences, men such as Origen came to understand the great truths
that are being conveyed in the body of the scriptures.
It was not that Jesus secreted his disciples away to some remote dwelling
apart from the hearing of the multitudes of the people in order to teach them
the secrets and mysteries that others were not permitted to hear -- but rather,
that these men had matured spiritually to the degree they were able to receive
the true depth of the words from the Master who spoke from within them, as well
as from without. In
this concept we are presented with the very embodiment of Hebrew Christian
Mysticism -- historically condemned as Gnosticism, or the knowledge imparted to
the individual through the Spiritual Revelation of the Word -- that has been
witnessed to throughout the ages by those disciples of the Light who were
willing to truly follow the Lord into the Kingdom that he called out to them
from. In this respect, even
the genuine meaning of the word that we translate “church”, is
derived from the Greek word to “call out” -- and the calling out is
from the spiritual nature that lies dormant, and exists within the soul of
mankind. It
is important to understand these great truths.
What I will yet explore more deeply is the fact that
the whole essence of New Covenant teachings, as well as the relationship of
Jesus to the common people, is based upon the foundational concept that the soul
pre-existed the body, and that each person's level of spiritual maturity is
dependent upon their accomplishments in their previous lives.
It is impossible for us today to get even a very basic understanding of what is
being presented in the scriptures when we unknowingly imagine that Jesus
indiscriminately chose some people to reveal the Mysteries of God, while
teachings others by parables. Thus, the flaw in our thinking that has been brought about by our
quasi-Darwinist mindset is seen in our inability to comprehend that all people
are not the same -- and with good reason some of us are born with greater
potential than others. In
this respect the fundamentalists are correct in their assertion that Jesus did
not conceal anything from the multitudes.
The house within which the scriptures state that Jesus revealed the
Mysteries of God to his disciples was not a physical place.
Those souls of whom it was written learned the Higher Secrets of
Creation in the house, were those whose level of spiritual maturity enabled them
to embrace the Lord Jesus and his teachings on a multidimensional level.
Those who are able to perceive the true depth of the scriptures
understand that this higher level of maturity was not indiscriminately bestowed
upon the few, as is believed today, but was directly related to their own past
life accomplishments. In
the same way that St. Teresa said of the soul that it is as “a castle made
of a single diamond... in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there
are many mansions” (Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila), during those
initial experiences when I visited that life which I lived at the time of the
Master, it was as if I had entered another room of my soul.
I remember the first time I was permitted to enter this other room -- and
as I sat immersed in these great wonders that were beyond my imagination from
the perspective of my present life, in
utter dismay I felt myself being pulled back and away, as the reality of the
experience began to set in. It
saddened me when I realized that it was not I who had been sitting at the feet
of the Master -- but rather, another part of my soul whose name was Jacob -- the
person who my soul was when he lived as a first century follower of Jesus the
Messiah. As
I contemplated these events of the past that had been shown to me, the Light --
sensing my confusion -- revealed to me one of the great paradoxes of life.
Truth must be understood from the perception of the reality from which that it is
spoken. If I were to say
that I never lived before -- i.e., that there was no such thing as reincarnation
as Christians believe today, such a statement was a partial truth, and was not
wrong. In like manner, if I
said that I lived other lifetimes, and I was reincarnated into this present
life, this also was a partial truth, and was not wrong.
The problem with the paradoxes of life is that opposing truths are not
wrong -- but more correctly, there are other elements to the equation that are missing from our
understanding that can harmonize these seemingly opposing truths and make them compatible.
For this reason, when Christians say there is no such thing as
reincarnation, they are not necessarily wrong.
The
great enigma that both believers and disbelievers alike forget is the warning
in the Bible that Ultimate Truth is beyond their carnal perception.
Thus, before they either believe or disbelieve, they should realize that
there are other great truths in the totality of God's multidimensional Creation
which must be considered before closing their minds to the Divine Plan of our
Creator. When we consider the
fact that the Apostle very clearly warns the flock of believers that true spiritual
reality is beyond even their imagination -- that in their natural state of mind
they would view the Mysteries of God as "foolishness" --
and in the Apostle's own words
man’s spiritual reality is openly declared to be of an “unspeakable”
nature -- sincere Christians would perhaps do well to embrace the wisdom of not
being so quick to profess to know right from wrong, and truth from error. As
I began to behold this new vision of my own personal reality, and I was
permitted access into these other rooms of my soul, I could instantly see how
the reasoning of man could easily become entangled in paradoxical thinking.
Jacob and I were entirely different people -- not only separated by
almost two thousand years of what we call time, but there was very little in our
thinking that we held in common. At
one level of Creation, each of us lived and thought entirely independent of each
other. At this level of being, Jacob and I were unique
individuals who had almost no connection whatsoever.
And yet, each of our lives were just episodes that existed as segregated
rooms within the great house that St. Teresa and other mystics described as a
diamond -- which diamond is a gem of great importance to our Heavenly Father.
In
the same way that rooms in a house can be viewed independently -- even belonging
to different family members -- both my own and Jacob's mind were contained
within the same structure, and of the same genetic pattern that bound us
together from another dimension of reality. Yet, both of us were not only unique in our own right,
but we were also unique expressions of our one common soul. Moreover, it was because of the experiences and
accomplishments of my soul when my sole lived as Jacob, that I inherited a much
clearer vision of the Word of God than other people in our present time.
By becoming a disciple of Jesus, Jacob eventually became At-One with his
soul -- thereby experiencing the rebirth that is the very reason and purpose for
life in this realm. To
put this extended reality into terms that is more easily understood: It is as if
the soul produces offspring who come into this world to participate, grow, learn
and accomplish certain things in this life.
Once manifest in this world, these offspring are as independent as the
physical children born from the relationship of man and woman.
In the same way that within a family each of the children are a unique
creation -- an entity unto themselves -- it also remains true that at another
level of their being they share a common tie in the fact that they are an
expression of the same genetic pattern of the two parents.
In
this respect, Adam represents our essence of being that was directly created by
God, our Father. Initially,
Adam was not divided -- and it is for this reason that it is written that Eve
was created out of Adam. The
Bible, then, is not history from the perspective of this world, but must be seen
as the history of the soul -- and as such, is the revelation of universal truths
that are intimately a part of every person who has every walked the face of the
earth. The offspring of Adam,
as portrayed in the sacred writings, are in fact an account of the spiritual
development of each of us. Will
you survive death? Will you
reincarnate? Will you go to
glory as Christians believe? From the perspective
of the soul, there can be no single answer to these questions.
In the majority of instances, the person who we are in this life will not
survive death in the manner we think, because most people lack any connection
with their inner genuine
essence. Why?
Because we live our lives in accordance with the quasi-Darwinist
philosophy that is common among mankind, and we therefore fail to perceive
reality from the perspective of our pre-existent soul.
If we were indeed a new creation at birth, as we generally believe today,
then perhaps our present vision of life after death where we move on to the next
world would be more valid. But
because we are spiritual beings whose genuine self has pre-existed the body that
our soul uses as a vessel in this life, then our survival of death must be
viewed from an entirely different perspective.
If,
as the majority of modern Christians believe, we begin our existence as new
creations at conception and birth, then all of our experiences in this life add to our
stature that make up the person we are. If, on the other
hand, our natural mind is in fact an image of our pre-existent soul, and the
purpose of life is to learn about ourselves, then the proverbial axiom to “know
thyself” begins to take on very serious meaning in our lives.
The difference is that if our soul already exists as a developed entity,
then the more we manifest our inner self, the more real we become.
In contradistinction, the more we become part of the very temporal
culture of this
world, the more foreign we become to our true inner self, and the less genuine
we become. The great truth that we must come to terms with is the reality that we dwell in a transient world of impermanence. Our bodies, our lives, as well as everything we build, do, or create, is temporary. Whatever we spend our lives in pursuit of in this realm, we are destined to lose. Yet, if it is true that we are an outward expression of our pre-existent soul that was projected into this world when our impermanent physical body began to form in our mother’s womb, then there is another dimension to life that is simply beyond the thinking of carnal man -- i.e., the more we connect and manifest the being we are within us, the more we become genuine, real and eternal. What this also means
is that the more we embrace the cultural thinking of this world, the less
genuine we are, and what we become can very much be perceived in the manner of
the tares that were burned up because it was false (Mt 13:39), and of this
world. Ultimately, what this
means is that since the majority of people are almost totally consumed by the
culture in which they dwell, and have little connection with their soul that has
existed since the dawn of time itself, there is very little of their personality
that is genuine, and they will neither reincarnate, go to glory, or even survive
death in the manner that we think. In
this multi-dynamic and multidimensional reality in which we move and have our
being, there is a pattern that extends throughout every aspect of life.
In the same way that our physical bodies can be traced to its genetic
source in our parents, our mind which has the ability to extend beyond this
three dimensional reality also has a genetic source -- an aspect of ourselves
that we often refer to as our soul -- that few of us possess the elevated level
of awareness necessary to perceive. Moreover,
if we search beyond the reality of our soul -- to that level of our being which
we call our spirit -- only at that level of our being can be begin to behold our
true genetic essence as the Divine Offspring of the One God. Carnal thinking is that condition when we view
ourselves as having originated with our physical body -- in the manner of Darwin
-- rather than being an image of our pre-existent soul. This
whole concept of reality has been revealed to the Christian believer in the
parable of the prodigal son. The
problem is seen in the fact that these higher concepts of man's existence, as
well as his true
relationship to our Heavenly Father, can only be understood by those who possess
the spiritual eyes to perceive the true depth of Jesus' teachings.
That while in the world, the prodigal son was seduced and ravaged by the
powers of darkness, and became alienated from his heavenly essence while he was
under the influence of the citizen of the far country, is a reality that
envelopes each of us in this life we are presently living.
The more we strive to become in harmony with the culture and elemental
things of this world, the less of our inner spiritual reality we manifest.
Because
the mind of Jesus was physically manifest from this elevated spiritual level of
reality, and was at-One with the Father, he could say to mankind from a common
voice and perspective: “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to
one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matt 25:40 NKJ).
At the very spiritual core and essence of our being, each of us is the
manifestation of a common Source and Spiritually Genetic Parent -- each of us is
the Divine Offspring and Child of the One God.
Yet, like the prodigal sons that we are, when we attach ourselves to the
god of this world, we dwell in the poverty of this realm -- a poverty that
alienates us from our true spiritual nature and causes us to perceive both
higher reality and the Word of God through the vail of shadowy darkness. It
is from our true genetic essence -- this common inner spiritual level of being
and connectedness -- where each of us is in unity with God, our One Source, that
Jesus said: “Someone told him, Your mother and brothers are standing
outside, wanting to speak to you. He replied to him, Who is my mother, and who
are my brothers? Pointing to his disciples, he said, Here are my mother and my
brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and
sister and mother” (Matt 12:47-50 NIV). This same truth is expressed in the words of Jesus when
he said: “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one
Father, and he is in heaven” (Matt 23:9 NIV); and “In the same way,
let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise
your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16 NIV).
Whose Father? It is
impossible for us to get a right sense of the Gospel message until we begin to
acknowledge that Jesus did not say his Father -- but rather, your Father. The problem is that because we perceive life through a
quasi-Darwinist perception, the truths that are portrayed in the scriptures are
beyond our comprehension. It
is only from this deep spiritual level revealed in the scriptures which Jesus
taught, that we can even begin to see and embrace man's true reality.
Thus, the words of the Apostle when he wrote: “The Spirit himself
testifies with our spirit that we are God's children” (Rom 8:16 NIV); “One
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all”
(Eph 4:6 KJV). It is because
we fail to see the common essence of the indwelling Spirit that is manifest in
our soul, that we fail to comprehend these profound passages of scripture. In
the words of the Apostle Paul: “There is a natural body, and there is a
spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:44 KJV). That these two bodies are in conflict with each other,
is seen in the words: “For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I
see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of
my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members”
(Rom 7:22-23 NIV). Thus, man
himself is a living paradox -- i.e., he possesses both a physical and spiritual
body that are not only separate, but are in conflict with each other.
Once this is understood in relation to the Trinitarian doctrine of the
three that are one, we can then begin to comprehend that it is the third force,
that of our soul, where the two are brought together in a state of Oneness. In
the same way that our physical body has a genetic source in our parents, so too
does our spiritual body: “Moreover, we have all had human fathers who
disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to
the Father of our spirits and live!” (Heb 12:9 NIV).
In these words of the Apostle we must perceive that our spirit is
not only separate from the physical body in which we presently dwell, but there
is nothing in the Bible that states that our spirit was created at the same time
that our physical body was conceived and born into this life.
That this world is one of impermanence, and everything in it is subject
to the natural laws which can be observed in the continual cycle of birth, the
growth to fullness, and the degeneracy of decay and eventual death, is to the
soul of man as breaths in its journey towards the destiny as seen in the return
of the prodigal son. In
each life where the soul manifests it’s image in this world, it harvests what
is spiritual and eternal in the life it has lived in this physical realm.
What is of this world of impermanence that is temporal, because it is
associated with the physical body, or is cultural and thus not genuine, is cast
away and dealt with in a future life.
What this means, then, is the more we embrace the plastic culture of this
world, or cling to the impermanent physical forms, the more we make ourselves
temporal and artificial from the perspective of our soul and spiritual natures. Thus, temporal and artificial people do not go to
glory, do not reincarnate, and being impermanent, neither do they survive death
in the manner they envision. It
is only when we come to realize these sacred truths, and we become aliens to
this world, can we begin to perceive our true Father: “But just as he who
called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy,
because I am holy.' Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work
impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear” (1 Pet
1:15-17 NIV). Fear of what?
Fear of embracing the impermanence of this world, and thus making
ourselves temporal and spiritually dead.
The key understanding here is that, to comprehend our true spiritual
nature, we must begin to embrace the vision and reality of our soul and
spiritual nature. To
accomplish this, we must make the flesh in subjection to the spirit, become
strangers to this world where the temporal things of the flesh rule the lives of
natural man, and take on the holiness of our Father in Heaven. In
the same way the scriptures convey that the carnal people of this world know not
the spirit, which is their true source of being, neither can the people of this
world know the disciple as he moves in harmony with his own true spiritual
nature: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because
it knew him not” (1 Jn 3:1 KJV). And perhaps no other statement conveys the common
brotherhood of mankind more than those spoken by Jesus when he said: “Go
instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:17 NIV).
What Jesus is saying to us is from the very essence of man's inner
reality where we are all brothers, all have the same Father, and it is this
Father that is both Jesus' God, as well as our own. That we fail to see this is because of our own
spiritual blindness -- brought about by our adherence to the doctrines of men,
and our surrender of our thinking to the culture and mindset of this world. The
path into the Light is embraced when we begin to truly believe the witness of
Jesus: i.e., that he is our brother, and the first born from among us.
Only when we come to realize that we are not of this world, and we are in
fact the Prodigal Sons of our Father, can we begin our journey in The Way.
In our search for truth, we must make ourselves aliens to this, the far
country in which we presently dwell, in order for us to begin the journey Home. If
we are to begin to embrace the Mysteries of God that Jesus was able to reveal
only to his faithful disciples, we must ourselves become the disciples of the
Lord, and we must begin to open our minds to the multidimensional reality of
Creation. The Bible is a
spiritual book that conveys spiritual truths -- and the only thing inhibiting
our sitting at the feet of the Master, and learning directly from the True
Prophet, is our own disbelief. While it is true that we can be a person of the simple
faith who believes in the historical Jesus who came in the flesh, true believe
means that we believe in the Spiritual Master who only teaches those who
themselves have become spiritual -- i.e., thus the words of the Apostle: “Therefore
from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have
known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know {Him} {thus} no longer.
Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed
away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor 5:16-17 NAS). We
must begin to see the inconsistencies in both life and the scriptures, and
recognize that it is
these very inconsistencies which we must perceive as the enfoldment of the next
door through which we must pass in our walk in The Way.
They appear to us as inconsistencies, because they represent the next
step of higher truth that when embraced, draws us closer to God. In
the paradoxes of life, each of the opposites of the paradox can be expressed as
either truth or error, depending upon the perception and position of the point
of view. Yet, the wise man
knows that all paradoxes are an illusion -- and that all opposing truths can be
joined together and harmonized by still other greater truths that synthesize
what, on the surface, appears to be opposites in conflict.
The wise man knows that in reality, the only conflict exists in our own
limited perception of divided truths.
The faithful disciple knows that as he continues to follow in The Way,
the Lord his Master will reveal all things to his perception and comprehension.
As I began to understand this reality as it was manifest in the lives of
both Jacob and myself, I saw that the other element of the equation which
harmonized these two seemingly opposing truths, was that both myself and Jacob
were emanations of our one soul, who came into this world in order to learn,
grow, and perfect our own Divine Nature.
Thus, where Jacob and I were very much separate individuals, it was at
our essence -- our soul -- where we were both the image of the one source of
being. This
harmonization of seemingly opposing truths by a higher spiritual truth beyond
the limitations of this physical realm, is the point where both reality and the
Mysteries of God begin to move over the horizon and limits of carnal
familiarity. The problem is
that, so long as we permit our understanding to be restricted by the experiences
of this life, and this three-dimensional realm of existence, and look only to
other equally blind men to form our opinions, spiritual reality has no
foundation in our knowledge base. Moreover,
when we make the fatal mistake of condemning these higher truths, without
understanding the Divine Order of Creation, we in effect condemn ourselves to
lifetimes of a very limited carnal perception of the Mysteries of God.
Once
the plight of carnal man is understood, it is quickly recognized that his
thinking is absurd. Regardless
of the fact that natural man is incapable of knowing the higher will of God, in
the creation of our doctrines of belief we attempt to dictate to God the
limitations of creation that we will accept as truth.
In this respect, man who is blind to the higher vision of reality, is
continually placing himself above God every time he professes to know the manner
in which the Hand of God moves throughout Creation.
How can man learn, when he thinks he already knows? In
his search for truth man must come to terms with the fact that the absolute
prerequisite to learning the Mysteries of God is to become teachable.
When the religious person reads the opinions of those who agree with what
he believes, or the Atheist reads the opinions of the non-believers, without
actually attempting to prove the validity of these opinions, each severely
inhibits and restricts their ability to perceive the Truth.
That other men and women perceive the same thing in an entirely different manner
than we do, does not necessarily indicate a flaw -- but rather, that each sees
something the other does not. We must therefore recognize the great looming reality that it is
impossible to learn, when we are convinced that we think we already know. As
I write these words let me share with you the fact that I was not born with a
greater vision of Creation than the people reading these words.
There was a time when I believed that Jesus was God, and man was saved by
belief and faith in God. As a
Christian, I at one time looked upon the tenets of the doctrine of
transmigration (reincarnation) as foolishness.
In fact, without understanding the concept from within a Gospel
perspective -- as taught to me through the vision of the higher manifestation of
God's Divine Plan -- I would still reject the concept of reincarnation as making
little sense. If I had lived
before, why didn't I remember these past lives? Further,
the belief in reincarnation didn't even make sense in the manner that it is
often taught by men of a carnal mindset.
What use was it to jump from body to body, and not remember the
experience? From a Christian
perspective, these were all valid objections to what I considered a rather
absurd doctrine -- and yet, there were very rational answers to each one of my
points of contention that I was simply not prepared to understand at the time. The fault, therefore, was with my own perception and
understanding of the essence of Jesus' teachings. What
truly complicated the process of genuine learning was the fact that everyone who
endeavored to instruct me -- both religious and non-religious -- attempted to
convey to me a quasi-Darwinist perception of life.
By this I mean that they look at the physical body as the source of
man’s state of being, and fail to perceive it as the vessel which the soul
uses to manifest itself in this world.
When I therefore looked in the mirror, everything I had ever been taught
confirmed to me that the image I viewed was the person I truly was.
I had absolutely no idea that, like everyone else, I had been greatly misled --
and I was a good deal more than my reflected image. Without
the understanding of the pre-existent soul and the perception of myself as a
culturized being who had been robbed of my genuine self-identity -- a being who
had been alienated from my true self by a society of lost, though well-meaning
people who where themselves been robbed of their true identity, I was not even
prepared to understand the reality of either the scriptures, or the life that I
was living -- a life in exile from my true source of being.
In
this respect, though Jacob who lived in the first century and I were images of
one and the same soul on the physical level of our being, in our alienation from
reality, we were very much separate and apart.
We each dwelt in our own separate rooms that existed within the one house
of our soul -- and because I was mesmerized by the view outside my window that
I looked out through at the world in my own timeframe of being -- and the fact
that my own inner door
was locked by my adherence to a carnal mindset -- it was beyond my ability to
perceive anything beyond my very limited and superficial reality.
What,
then, made me different than the majority of other people?
That question is in fact easily answered: Throughout many of the lives my
soul lived I had become a very serious student of the scriptures and the
pursuit of Truth. Prior to
the beginning of our Common Era, I had lived lives as an Essene, as well as
lives as part of other spiritual societies that we know very little of today.
In the same way that when water begins to flow across the face of the
earth, it carves out a path that eventually becomes a river, so too does the
flow of vital life-force create patterns in the mind of man.
In lives where I embraced spiritual discipline in the search of spiritual
knowledge, the inner door to my soul was cracked open. In
the life my soul lived as Jacob I had matured sufficiently that the Master
Jesus was able to help me fully open that inner door spoken of in the
scriptures: ‘Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly
knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in and
fellowship with him and he with me” (Rev 3:20 TLB).
Thus, the inner door was fully opened, and my elder brother and
Spiritual Master Jesus introduced Jacob to his true self -- the part of Jacob
that existed from the very beginning of time which we call the soul -- the
genuine part of himself that transcended all culture and experiences in this
world. What
this accomplished was to truly open the door of spiritual opportunity.
Jacob no longer lived as a culturized carnal person who was limited to
less than ten percent of his potential of mind.
In the life of Jacob, the common soul that both Jacob and myself are an
image of, was totally manifest in the world.
The result was that spiritual maturity became supercharged, as the
soul of Jacob was able to seek unity with what is described as the spiritual
mind of man -- i.e., the threefold nature of body, soul and spirit.
Thus, it is only when we begin to perceive these three realities that we
can even begin to understand the difference between Jesus, the great Spiritual
Master, and the majority of mankind.
When the scriptures state that Jesus became the Son of God, what this
denotes is there was no division between Jesus and God.
In the same way that the soul of Jacob was manifest in the flesh, Jesus
had elevated himself to where he literally became God manifest in the flesh --
but we fail today in our endeavor to embrace the full revelation of the Gospel
because we worship, instead of imitating the Master who has promised to guide us
in The Way to the Kingdom. In
order to get a sense of direction, we must begin to perceive reality from the
proper mindset and perspective. Jacob and I possessed the same spiritual genetic traits
-- but like physical brothers who were the manifestation of the same parents, we
were very different in an uncountable number of ways. In this respect, Christians who say that there is no
such thing as reincarnation are correct -- so long as we understand that they
speak from the reality of this realm of existence.
Because they have permitted themselves to become alienated from their own
true identity -- and their consciousness is very much of the body and the earth
-- few of them will even get the opportunity to live beyond the
limitations of this life. Moreover,
they do not have the memory of previous lives because, from a carnal
perspective, being very much of this world, in the very real sense of
the word, they have never lived before.
It
has been said in many ways by mystics of every persuasion and spiritual
discipline that the person you
truly are within yourself is even more foreign to you than the strangers who
pass you by in the most casual of interactions of this life.
Since few people are even remotely in touch with their authentic person
of the soul, and are little more than products of cultural personifications with
only remnants of their true self manifested in the world, it is also correct to
say that they neither base their ideas of life on the wisdom and vision of the
soul. The result is that
because they are themselves temporal, in a very real sense, they will cease to
exist after death. Why?
Because in making themselves the product of the culture of the life they are
living in this world, they are foreign to their true selves -- and as such, are
not tangible, and their transient personalities behold very little of their real
essence. From
the perspective of the soul: They have betrayed themselves through a total
immersion into the culture in which they lived -- having so integrated their
lives in the thinking of society, that what emerges is counterfeit because they no longer retain any real part of their true soul identity.
Thus, the problem is seen in the fact that because the people view life in
reverse of reality -- making themselves aliens to their true selves, that
it can me said of them that there is
very little of any genuine spiritual essence. Having become totally immersed into the opinions and culture of their
times, they have made themselves strangers to their true nature.
Thus, they are not real -- and are merely a product of the political
currents of the culture in which they lived for a very brief episode in the
movement of this world. The
downfall of carnal man is seen in the fact that he tends to view the world from
a very small perspective, and through his own very limited experiences. It
is as if the
window with which we look out into the world, and the inner door to the soul, exist on
opposite walls in the room in which we dwell.
Carnal man stands perched at the window with his back to the inner door
of the soul. In the manner of
a river, the currents of water flows in one direction -- and it takes a
concerted effort to swim against the force of the river in the endeavor to
travel to its source. This
great truth was confirmed to us in the words of the disciples that: “We
must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22
NIV). If all we had to do was
believe and have faith in Jesus, as is affirmed by Christians today, then these
words contained in the Bible are in error, and never would have been conveyed to
the disciple in search of the Kingdom. In
the normal course of flowing with the tide of popular opinion, the person moves
away from their true essence. It is therefore not the true (inner) person who speaks
and interacts in this world -- but rather, the voices of those who have impressed
their ideas and doctrines upon the mind of the individual.
In the same way that children become alienated from their parents through
peer pressure and social indoctrination, so too does the person become alienated
from their soul by the political, religious and social currents of this world. Like
the offspring of human parents, they retain the genetic identity of their
parents, but this genetic identity can most often only be determined by
laboratory tests. What Hitler
said was true: If you mold the thinking of a person from the time he is a young
child into adolescence, he will be yours for the rest of his life.
When we therefore make ourselves a part of this world, we alienate
ourselves from the world within us. The
majority of people do not even remember how they arrived at any given idea or
concept.
Our thinking becomes formed by attaching itself to theories and opinions
that sound good -- are associated with a group which we have an affinity or
alliance with -- are the result of peer pressure -- or are culturally or
politically correct. As the
experiences which initially formed the opinions sink into our layers of
forgotten and unconsciousness memory, we often do
not even perceive the root cause of our philosophical outlook.
We then attempt to judge people and things as right or wrong -- even though the answer
is often beyond the scope of our experience and understanding. We become polarized in our thinking as we harmonize our
facilities of reasoning with whatever group we are socially, politically or
religiously aligned with. We
narrow our perceptions of right or wrong, yes or no, true or false, and we never
investigate the other elements of the equation that would greatly impact our
parochial judgment if we had the capacity to perceive them. In
this respect, there is little in the life of modern-day man that would prepare
him for a view of spiritual reality beyond the limits of his very narrow
understanding of our present-day culturized existence.
Moreover -- and perhaps even more importantly -- there is little in the
life of the majority of people that would prepare them to meet their own true
selves. Why? They identify
themselves with the genetics of their physical bodies in which they presently
dwell -- their gender, race, nationality, profession, political position, and
all the other uncountable things in this life that we have come to associate ourselves with.
The result is that by embracing the impermanent elements of this realm, in
every way the people make themselves temporal -- not realizing that they possess
an identity that is far greater then the philosophy and elemental things in this world that they imitate
and perceive themselves to be. Writing
about the Apostle Paul's assertion that the Christians at Corinith were too
carnal to comprehend the mysteries of God, St. Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa states: “…it
is wrong to judge of what is morally excellent, or, on the other hand, of what
is evil, by the standard of the senses”.
St. Gregory then writes of going beyond man's very limited physical
reality in order to
ascertain the truth and states: “…by withdrawing the mind from bodily
phenomena, we must decide by itself and from itself the true nature of moral
excellence and of its opposite”. Genuine
religion as that which was taught by Jesus, has very little in common with the
religious philosophy which we embrace today.
The true agenda of a Living religion is to remove the thinking of the
person from the culture and limitations of this world -- take him beyond bodily
phenomena and the sense bound perceptions of this life -- and assist the
believer in crossing over the bridge to the spiritual side of reality.
In this respect, the true spiritual meaning of the biblical Passover is
the moving from the physical to the supernatural -- and represents the rebirth
of man as a spiritual being. That
the crucifixion took place on the cusp of the Passover, is a very real biblical
reality that each of us must -- and will -- eventually participate in.
What
is the saying: We have met the enemy, and the enemy is ourselves.
Man's only limitation is in his vision of reality -- and as the offspring
of God, he is capable of moving into spiritual dimensions of his consciousness
that is far beyond his carnal understanding which is based upon his temporal and
superficial experiences
in this life. The idea of
repentance from a biblical perspective, must be understood in the fullness of man’s reality
in order to be effective -- i.e.,
repentance not only from what we call sin and evil, but just as importantly we must repent
from the adherence to the very limited doctrines of carnal men.
What
the Bible teaches us is that to begin the process of walking in The Way, we
must redirect our attention away from the window that we use to look out into
this world -- we must become cognizant of the inner dimensions of our being --
and it is in these other dimensions -- removed from the limitations of the
physical -- where true knowledge can be gained, and right from wrong can be more
accurately perceived. In our
search for truth and direction, we are ultimately blessed when we begin to
realize that great spiritual souls throughout the history of mankind have
imbedded sacred knowledge in the scriptures, so we can be nourished by the
revelation that the Son of God ordained and sanctified. When
speaking to the people of Athens, the Apostle Paul said with respect to man's
ideas about God, that “in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28
KJV) -- and yet, with the senses of the body in which we presently inhabit, we fail to perceive
Him. Why? Paul also said he was
taken up to the third heaven (2 Cor 12:1-4) -- but where is this third level of
heaven located? Moreover, how many
more levels of heaven exist, and why can't we see them? Each of us
can attest to the fact that with our physical awareness, we do not see this
level of heavenly existence spoken of by the Apostle.
Yet, the holy men and women from every culture since the dawn of time has
witnessed to us that God and these other dimensions of consciousness -- realms
that are beyond the limits of our senses -- not only exist, but are the true
source of our being and movement in this world. To continue to ignore the voice of their witness, is to
condemn us to lives of spiritual darkness.
Allan Cronshaw Contact: allan_cronshaw@nazirene.org
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