The reason of existence is to evolve consciousness. I use the word “reason” instead of “purpose” because I really don’t believe a universal mind “purposed” to evolve itself. Rather, I believe the evolution of consciousness is an inherent quality within the universal mind and consciousness itself.
So if I’m correct and consciousness-evolution is automatic, it also means that each individual is eventually going to evolve in some way whether they try to or not. It’s just part of the experience of existence. That’s also why reincarnation happens. Since most of us don’t learn from our ego-driven desires, it’s back around the same mountain of life all over again—not necessarily because some universal mind wills it, but because when we die our level of consciousness did not evolve past the stage of the carnal ego, so we gravitate back to it by default. Full-blown enlightenment is supposed to end this desire by the way, but I wouldn’t know from personal experience yet🙂
So how do we end the cycle? Let’s briefly explore the Bible from a panoramic view before we tackle this question more directly.
Self-awareness manifests in different degrees
Self-awareness in humans is one of the great achievements of consciousness evolution. But self-awareness manifest in different degrees. The Bible teaches us that the first Adam was flawed. Although he became fully self-aware after the fall (knew his nakedness), he still operated through the carnal nature.
Life-experience teaches us that the carnal nature and ego express many negative thoughts and emotions; we often live them out as the “thorns” and “thistles” in our lives (Gen. 3:18). But we are given hope because the Bible ends with the Christ—the second, more evolved Adam—who operates by the spiritual nature. The spiritual nature (or divine ego as some call it) expresses BEING through positive thoughts and emotions.
As we can see, there are two main types of self-awareness expressed through mankind in this world. One is seen in a negative, dark way, the other in a positive way, often associated with light. And this is what all of the Bible stories express, beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation.
Let’s review an individual scripture that eloquently expresses this truth. In it Jesus is talking to Paul about why he has been chosen to preach the Gospel. I quote:
“To open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God…” (Acts 26:18).
The power of Satan is the carnal ego in every man. It is to walk in darkness because even though the carnal ego is expressed through a self-aware individual, it is often expressed and experienced in negativity. It is a power or force over us because the self-awareness of the individual is not yet strong enough to break free of the habitual and impulsive nature of carnality itself. The negative thoughts and emotions resulting from desire and carnality produce a life of thorns and thistles, which continually manifest with all the seeds we plant. Not only do the thorns and thistles slow us down from reaping a great harvest, but they can make life painful when we have to pull them out. If we never break these subconscious desires and impulses, we will have to deal with them again.
God is of course the light in the scripture above from Acts. But remember that the Kingdom of God is within us. Light dispels darkness. In the same way the Christ in man, once developed and fully-matured, will displace the carnal ego. It is in Christ that self-awareness has evolved to new heights, learning from its experiences of the lower nature, usually through many lifetimes.
More on reincarnation
One thing that fascinates me about the Biblical stories is their focus on developing the higher emotions and thoughts of man. Thoughts are emotions are inexorably linked. If we are honest with ourselves, most of our thoughts are motivated by emotion. Ultimately, emotions are a wonderful gift in the end- game because even the negative ones serve us after multiple reincarnation cycles, as long as we don’t suppress, ignore, run or remain ignorant of them.
Perhaps the greatest blunder of orthodox Christianity was to get rid of the concept of reincarnation during Justinian’s reign over the Roman Empire. The evolution of the flawed Adam to the perfected Christ cannot be understood without it. Most people cannot complete this Biblical transition in one lifetime, either. Nor would it make sense to. Thus Jesus’ message was reinterpreted from a message of spiritual maturity and development to one of salvation through another.
Man can and should be responsible for his own salvation. Even the idea of the law and grace ultimately depicts this. The law is necessary for the lower man because the carnal nature needs to be bridled until experiencing and birthing the Christ within. To operate through grace is to fulfill the law through the divine ego which must be developed. This is grace! A definition from my Word-Web dictionary states that grace is:
“The state of sanctification by God; the state of one who is under such divine influence.”
If the kingdom of God is within us, then so must that state of grace freely flow from within us to without—i.e., manifested in the physical world. And we cannot manifest God’s grace unless we first evolve consciously!
The Christ in us fulfills the law, and in order to fulfill the law you too have to become a Christ. Do we really think we can be righteousness by taking on the righteousness of another? Where is the glory in that? Why would God have a reason to rejoice in the fact that his own creation wasn’t responsible enough to mature into a responsible being that transcends the lower ego by expressing the divine ego?
What was the purpose in coming to earth if we are to give our salvation into the hands of another? Was it to spend our life just to learn that we can’t do it ourselves? Couldn’t God have spared us all of death, disease and discomfort if this were true?
Life is a lesson. It should evolve consciousness, and the gospel of Christ is that he showed us how to save ourselves!
The Mystery of what evolves us and what doesn’t
Why do we reincarnate in the first place? As I already alluded to, I believe it is because at the death of a previous life consciousness was still in a place of expressing through the carnal nature. Therefore the consciousness of the individual is naturally drawn back to carnality. But those who operate through the divine ego purge the lower nature and can move on to higher realms of the conscious experience.
I want to illustrate a personal story and then I will discuss what I think it means in the grander scheme of consciousness evolution for me.
I was very selfish at the beginning of my marriage. I began pursuing some different personal interests that took up so much time I sacrificed quality time with my wife. It wasn’t just here or there. My goals and pursuits became a way of life.
My wife is very affectionate. She loves quality time. Quality time is her love-language and to sacrifice that for her is to sacrifice the reason to share your life with someone. When my wife pointed this out to me, I didn’t let it sink in or change the way I spent my time. Of course I said I would. I even made some genuine efforts, but those efforts always fizzled out within a few days and I was back to my old ways.
It eventually got to the point where I would lash out at Jess when she was pleading for me to change. My desire for success was so strong that I let my ego trick me into thinking that Jess was wrong for trying to interrupt my plans. I figured we had our entire lives together, so what’s the big deal if she sacrificed a little time right now. But what I had planned to be months was turning into years.
My wife is a very patient woman, but eventually my actions had a deep impact. She went into survival mode and closed off her emotions. Eventually she became numb to me. This wasn’t good for her, but I didn’t leave her with much choice. Neither did I really take the time to notice the change.
One day my wife did the right thing for both of us and asked for a separation. The damage I had done went pretty deep and I don’t think she had anything left to give me. But it was a total wake-up call. I realized that she was serious and that I was probably going to lose her. I began to have emotions I didn’t even know existed. They gushed out like a volcano. I couldn’t work, sleep, or eat sometimes. My ego tried to kick in and fight by making more promises and trying to do better. The ego is funny this way: it usually doesn’t stand up and fight for something until it feels threatened that it will be taken away. But ultimately it wasn’t the right answer. The ego was still in charge.
Fortunately I had already left the church and started my own spiritual journey. The information I had learned in esoteric literature gave me the choice to do something totally unexpected and unprecedented: not only did I own my mistake by realizing that there was something terribly wrong with the way I dealt with certain emotions, but I decided to fully experience Jess’s pain so I could grow from it. This last part is crucial. Here’s why:
As I was getting a heavy dose of those emotions my wife had experienced, I realized the full extent of pain to which I had caused her. Experiencing this emotional pain is what gave me the true motivation to move into a place of loving her properly from that point on, even if I ultimately didn’t get what I wanted: her coming back to me. At first this was hard, but in hindsight it was and is immensely satisfying. By facing the problem directly I truly began the process of purging some of those desires and personal interests which really didn’t serve me that well in the long run anyway.
I think subconsciously my wife saw a change in me that she knew was different, so she decided to see where it would go. She still led me to believe it was over since she knew I would probably fall back into my old ways, but I wasn’t focused on that. I only wanted to focus on loving her deeply and fully if and whenever I got the chance.
Fortunately, she gave me more of a chance than I expected, and I grew more as an individual during that time than any other time in my life.
Now I can usually spot the trappings of my lower desires. What’s more, through the love that I expressed for my wife—the kind that wasn’t motivated by ego—I broke the unconscious pattern of following after these lower desires. I’m still not perfect, but I believe I have learned a valuable lesson that will stick with me into the next life (unless I experience full Enlightenment in this one:)).
One thing’s for sure. I have brought a new level of balance to my life.
Ultimately I believe some negative karma was released. By facing this desire in the way that I did helped purge it from my conscious experience so that I no longer gravitate towards it again. This is why I believe it’s so important to trust the universe and allow ourselves to face our problems head on.
Who knows what other demons I have lurking within me that the universe hasn’t pointed out yet, but hopefully I’ll have the courage to face them in the same manner when the time comes. Until then, I hope you will too!
Blessings!
Hi Joshua, I’ve been reading on your site for a while, but this is my first comment. I’m enjoying your interpretations and the insights they catalyze in me. This is your best article, of those I’ve read so far!
Thank you for personalizing this post with your own experience, bringing it “down” (or perhaps up) from the abstract to the practical. I love how you say, “I decided to fully experience Jess’s pain so I could grow from it.” Some might wonder how you did this – what steps you took or what esoteric method you used – but I know, too, that it’s just that simple: deciding to feel what the other is feeling. If the motive is honourable, it really is that easy. It’s like a switch being thrown or a shift occurring, and one is catapulted into another dimension of which one had been totally unaware. What happens next is anything but easy, though, as you also show!
This process has happened in me enough times that it was pure pleasure to see it put into words, and so few at that. It must be that decision – and our following through on it – which triggers the process, or the Mystery, of what evolves us; but what prompted the decision? That’s grace, too!
So beautiful. Thank you.
I’d like to comment on one other mention of yours: calling it a blunder on the part of the early church to excise reincarnation from the Scriptures and build a dogma without it. I wonder if it was a blunder or perhaps a deliberate mangling of the message so that the populace could more easily be subjugated through fear, ignorance, and confusion. After all, if they were told that following the church’s dictates was their only way to heaven and they had only this one chance – this lifetime – to get it right, that would settle it for most of them.
Having withdrawn from the church and religion myself, I have to view my own inner struggles as miniscule in comparison to the courage and strength the early dissidents must have had to embody. It fills me with awe as I contemplate it.
Many blessings on your path, Joshua,
Viola
Viola,
I’m glad you decided to comment. And I really do appreciate all the feedback.
About the reincarnation – yes, there was a deliberate move to eradicate it from Christianity. People would take religious leaders less seriously if they knew they were ALL children of God.
Blessings!
Hi Viola/Josh
I too have been reading over many of the articles you have written and am astounded at your grasp of the deeper things of god. It has helped to pull back the veil from my mind and open new vistas of truth i ‘knew’ had always been there, they just needed something to light the path a little and coax them out. So Thank you Josh for sharing these thoughts.
This too is my first comment and i wanted to echo your thoughts above Viola re:…. ‘deliberate mangling of the message so that the populace could more easily be subjugated through fear, ignorance, and confusion’…. I too, by the sounds of many of the readers here, grew up religiously (very strict JW) but it took me losing religion to find spirituality and come into a true close personal relationship with our creator. And i too have often thought on my new journey that these deeper things are being held back..but maybe for good reason. If this truth was easy then the desire for people to get to know their creator would be placed in the ‘easy’ basket. …i’ll do it in the next incarnation….. Life is meant to have a certain amount of struggle to it so we can understand ourselves better. We are designed to seek out truth, to search for it under every rock and behind every door. And only the truly deserving ‘should’ find it….Its our whole obligation to seek that truth and stretch ourselves to the limit in that quest, that is the glory of it.
I truly believe that the way the religious world operates now is under the premise of holding man back, not so we fight to find the truth, but to hold back in fear for the church’s own selfish means. But i think as time has progressed and the free way information is passed around now, the church’s grip on power is dwindling thanks to sites like this. Each day i wake up i thank the creator for these new incredible journeys that lay ahead, learning the truth of ourselves in relationship to that creator and to each other.
Thank you for this site and to the fellow commentators that share their thoughts.
love and light
Icarus
Icarus,
Thanks for stopping by and letting me know you were here. And many thanks for the comments. It’s great to see more and more people expanding their knowledge about religion and spirituality.
Hi Josh. Thanks for sharing so deeply here. I think we can all relate to parts of your story. What a beautiful story of growth it is!
I agree that we’re evolving towards higher and higher consciousness. Personally, I believe that eons ago, we became trapped in this physical plane. We became preoccupied with our powers and immortality and forgot God altogether. We forgot where we came from and were doomed to a hellish existence of the ego’s creation, never to return again. I believe that God gave us a second chance through Jesus. He showed us the way to get back to God with our own free will and to have many chances to do so through reincarnation. Some believe that Adam was Jesus’s first incarnation. I tend to agree. Jesus’s last incarnation was the one we all celebrate. It’s quite a tremendous thing that humanity will have been saved by each of our personal resurrections – our individual journeys back to God. This is how I see it.
Thanks again for this thoughtful and moving post! ~Suzy
Thank you for your thoughts, Suzy. I have talked to a lot of people who have the exact same views as yourself on Jesus and where we were before earth. Some ancient literature seems to suggest you are right. Personally, I am still tying up some loose ends and gaps that keep me from coming to a definite conclusion yet. Of course I have my opinions, but I’ll admit that their subject to change if I find overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Thanks again!
Josh,
I’ve read all of your posts (and re-read most of them) and just wanted to say thanks for keeping this blog. You are clearly becoming a better writer plummeting deeper depths with each submission, and you’re helping a lot of people learn how separate the wheat from the chaff. Thanks for inviting us to join you on this wonderful journey!
Pete,
Don’t think I remember you commenting before. Thanks for letting me know how you felt about the post. In future posts I will try to make things more practical where applicable. Sharing personal information is one avenue for that. Feel free to comment anytime.
Blessings.
Yes, it is all internal, no doubt about that in the spirit of things:
2:29 ” But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. ”
Galatians says that God’s law is written upon our hearts and minds as well and to be set free from the letter of the law, it also mentions about the covenants / testaments being an allegory, what is the law? Simply the Ten Commandments as reiterated in Hosea 4:6 much simpler then attempting to be he held accountable for the whole ” letter ” OF the law. Which brings me to the 2nd part of my point, Satan was known as the great accountant, so it would only be his idea to hold us accountable for it all.
Romans 7:6 ” But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. ”
There is a balance that is needed though, because if all was good how would we know what was bad ?
Continuing with Romans 7.
21 : ” I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. ”
Now for the distinction of both being present within us:
22: ” For I delight in the law of God [[ after ]] the inward man ”
It is the spirit that is set free NOT the inward man as of yet. So then inward man still needs the letter so that his spirit may understand the law and use the knowledge to ascend.
25: ” I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. “.
The flesh has not escaped just yet, there is still opposing forces among the members of society:
23: ” But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ”
Nowadays I keep a book of life with me in my travels, for it is the shield of grace, especially in courtrooms. Back when I was doing legal research a friend asked me, if you believe in God why are you using mammons statutes to justify your existance going into court? I was speechless when he told me of his story the last time he appeared in court, the short of the story; judge started rattling off statutes of offering, so then friend opens up the book of life he brought with him and asked the judge what page he was on? There was a pause and not long after that case was dismissed.
Would any other creature on this earth be forced to use someone else’s contract to justify his existence other then the law of nature ? Certainly not, they are protected, correct?
quote: “” Point 7. There can be no debate as to the connection between the common law and the natural law. . . . Chief Justice Sir Christopher Wray and the entire Court at King’s Bench resolved a point of law as follows:
“That in this point, as almost in all others, the common law was grounded on the law of God ….”
Ratcliff’s Case, 76 Eng. Rep. 713, 726 (K.B. 1592).
Point 8. Blackstone indicated that one law was more reliable than the other:
“If we could be as certain of the [natural law] as we are of the [revealed law], both would have an equal authority; but, till then, they can never be put in any competition together.”
1 William Blackstone, Commentaries 42. “”
For more info on the above points go to source:
http://www.kevincraig.us/religion/nature.htm
So then you can see here that it is YOU only that make that determination, Body mind and soul.
Do you accept the promise of a higher estate or do you accept the entrapments of a lower estate?
A couple people in my circles have called the bible a guide to building lasting empires and i tend to agree, let the scripture be the guide to your heart and mind in understanding what the Law of the one Most High is so that he can help in partnership to build the Kingdom within, for it is by not faith alone, but works that we all should ascend.
James 2:8 ” If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well ”
A Proclamation
Proclamation 5018 — Year of the Bible, 1983
February 3, 1983
By the President of the United States of America;
” Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, in recognition of the contributions and influence of the Bible on our Republic and our people, do hereby proclaim 1983 the Year of the Bible in the United States. I encourage all citizens, each in his or her own way, to reexamine and rediscover its [ priceless ] and [[ timeless message ]]. ”
CONGRESS DECLARES THE BIBLE
“THE WORD OF GOD”
97th Congress Joint Resolution
[S.J.Res. 165] 96 Stat. 1211
Public Law 97-280 – October 4, 1982
” Whereas that renewing our knowledge of and faith in God through Holy Scripture can strengthen us as a nation and a people ”
My spirit does not lead me to the entire Bible being the Word of God, don’t be fooled; see they left out ” works “, as shown in my above comments it is the stories within the Scripture that influence and inscribe the WORD and grace of God within us, let your spirit guide you. Don’t just have faith in it, excercise it and be good stewards, we were never promised that love would come easy.
‘ Nemaste
Motla,
Thanks for your detailed response. Amazing what happened in that courtroom by the way!
I did want to add something about the Jewish perspective to my post. The law is there to bridle the natural man, but it also helps to develop the higher faculties. You have pointed this out in your comment, Motla.
Coming from a Christian perspective, when I first tried to get into the head of the Jew that loved the Torah, I had a hard time seeing where they were coming from. But once I learned a little more, I would say that the Jews, even those which follow strict Torah observance, are doing a lot more to develop their emotional and mental nature than most orthodox Christians who trust in salvation through doctrine. I know it’s not politically correct to make a generalization like that, but I’ve seen it time and time again.
Motla,
I enjoyed reading your comments and will review them later when I have more time. I especially liked your statement “… it is the spirit that is set free NOT the inward man as of yet. So then inward man still needs the letter so that his spirit may understand the law and use the knowledge to ascend.” I had some inkling of that idea from my own experience but the way you expressed it helped clarify that idea in my own mind and in a way I could present it clearly to others. Thank you. I would like to add that we also need to understand that the letter of the law was written by inspired people to address people according to the customs and understanding of human nature known and accepted at the time of writing, which may be inaccurate to what we know now, and may need quite a lot of tweaking for the inner man to apply it to the present.
Hi Josh,
I know that many hold that view that the cycle of reincarnation is supposed to end once someone attains enlightenment, but I tend not to agree with that view. I know this view melds well with the belief that the reason we incarnate is to the learn and evolve spirituality through experiencing lessons the hard way and life will always be painful and difficult. But, I feel that this is changing right now, and by reconnecting with our higher selves we are beginning to shift into learning through joy.
I can resonate with the idea that when the path to enlightenment leads to resolving deeply interpersonal conflicts, as with a spouse, the trip may sometimes be less painless than we expected (or would even wish on our worst enemies 🙂 ). But it is well worth it to learn to bridge the gap to maintain the unity and harmony of the relationship. I can see how this can become less and less painful, once one gets the hang of it… making a connection between a spouses fulfillment and ones own, and eventually may become rather a normal and enjoyable process, as long as an understanding and remembrance of the connection is maintained.
Hi Joshua,
You write: The Bible teaches us that the first Adam was flawed. Although he became fully self-aware after the fall (knew his nakedness), he still operated through the carnal nature.
I am not so sure he really understood his nakedness (was fully self-aware) as the character of the nakedness has changed from what it was before. As I have already written in a comment once, the word naked un Hebrew contains the element ‘er’, which means awake but after the fall a jod all of a sudden entered in between the e and the r, which eliminated the word awake.
However, this jod often stands for the four letter Name of God and as such might indicate that man is no longer aware of his condition but he is also not alone because God came with him. This may of course mean the divine spark in man. Or even the sleeping kundalini?
Question : What did the little kitty cat do to deserve the suffering of abuse, neglect, etc. in this world. Better still, why does the little newborn dear have to suffer so, as the hungry lion pounces, rips to bits, and devours its “prey” ??? Sorry, I’m just curious as to what the animals do to deserve their “karma” (so called) ?…………..WAKE UP people !!!
David,
Sorry for the late reply, just seeing this. Your question is a good one, but the answer is also equally as good.
First let me ask, if you don’t believe in Karma, then what is your reasoning for the dog eat dog world, for as you suggest, it absolutely exists. Mainstream Christian dogma would answer that this is the fault of the devil. The devil messed up God’s original plan where everything is perfect.
To me this is silly. Doesn’t even Newton’s third law of motion state that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction?
Your question also assumes that each individual life is disconnected from a greater picture, and so in such a case we assume that the animal did nothing to deserve to be eaten by the predator. Animal actions are based on instinct, so it is not about deserving or undeserving. It is the natural way in which consciousness experiences and evolves. Nothing in the universe, including you and I, learns anything without pain, suffering, and experience, whether conscious or unconscious. Pain will manifest unconsciously as a pattern of instinct, which in and of itself is a just way of conscious evolution. Such may not be a conscious way of manifestation to us who are conscious (somewhat it can be argued), but it’s cause and effect still causes evolution and progression to happen, even if it manifest as instinct at first. Your call to “wake up” is exactly what the dog eat dog world is all about in the greater picture, which takes place through DNA patterns created over eons and a myriad of physical sensational experiences.
Just curious, Josh: Are you a pantheist?
Hi Stephen…
Not exactly, but this does represent a term that is very close to what I am. Pantheism asserts an impersonal god. I believe this is a little limiting.
For me, God is both personal and impersonal at the same time. I know this sounds like a contradiction, but in the bigger picture it is not. For example, if impersonal laws become conscious beings, and there is no such thing as time on the grand scale (think quantum mechanics), then if we take time out of the equation that which ever was and IS is both personal and impersonal, being personal through US, it’s higher counterpart being above even that which we call “BEING,” and yet, still manifesting US.
On the lower planes, yes, consciousness is subject to time. But this is a blessing. I am going to explain something below which is probably one of the most important aspects for you, as a thinker, to grasp, and you probably already considered before:
In order for any “thing” to exist, there has to be a subject / object relationship. Nothing can exist separate from God except that it exists through its opposite. This is why the divine mind (God) must manifest as dual, in which we are a part.
All creation is but a limitation, because it has a definite parameter. If it wasn’t a limitation and didn’t have a parameter to be defined by then you couldn’t call it anything or any existence. But the cool thing about God which manifests as soul is that in time / existence / limitation, it is infinite in it’s potential to experience and expand.
God is known as Ain Soph in Hebraic mystical thought, which means, that which is beyond existence and non-existence, which individual consciousness can never touch or experience, or else it would no longer be that which we call existence.
So to your original question, am I a pantheist? In anything that we could discuss, think about, dissect, ponder upon, and logically explain, then yes, I AM. But the truth is so much more than any term such as Pantheist could ever convey.
I hope this makes sense 🙂
Josh