Throughout the scriptures we get the fascinating job of uncovering the clues to a spiritual meaning. Sometimes they are more direct, and sometimes they are more subtle. In the case where they are more subtle, the meaning is still very clear, but we may have to dig through more scriptures to unveil it.
The scripture in question today is 1 Corinthians 14:33-34. They read: [Read more…] about The Real Reason Women are to be Silent in Church
The story of Judas and the 30 pieces of silver has as many literal interpretations as it has characters. And, depending weather we’re literal or esoterically versed, each interpretation resonates validity in its perspective contexts. One version attempts a literal validation of Lazarus, Judas, Mary, Martha and Matthias, and so on, as historical people, while esoteric perception advances the Good News from the practical: ‘Good News’ translated as a ‘Spiritual Revelation’ from within.
Many of these literal characters actually conjure more questions than the story attempts to explain away. The brain is not presented with cognizable detail. Instead, it’s presented with man-made contrivances to the extent that the brain rejects these supposed historical events as non-nonsensical. Failing in this approach, we are encouraged to relate through programming—sound-bites directing us what to see and what to hear. This conditioning, I feel, succeeds only at stifling spiritual growth. [Read more…] about Judas to Christ-Consciousness—Esoterically
Take a moment and ponder.
A thousand years ago, when your distant ancestors were making a history upon this blue sphere against the darkness of the cosmos, where, or what were you?
The atheist would most likely answer: I was nowhere and nothing yet.
The Christian would most likely answer, I was a seed, already conceived in the mind of God.
The one who believes in reincarnation might say, I was in transition, between someone who lived in the past and now IS.
You can intellectualize the many other answers from a myriad of beliefs, but there is one thing that most all would have in common if they are honest with their self-reflection: [Read more…] about The Relationship of God and the Conscious “I”, and Faith
The title of this post was a question put to Eckhart Tolle some years ago. His reply:
“Suffering is necessary until we discover that it is not.”
As suffering seems to be a subject that is coming into the news daily, it may be a good idea to find out what Eckhart means by his reply. Suffering also seems to be the major reason why so many people stopped believing in God after the Second World War, because they could not find answers to the questions and statement: ‘Why does God allow this to happen? Why does God not do anything to stop this? Surely this must mean that there is no God.’ [Read more…] about Is Suffering Really Necessary?
What’s the real meaning behind of the concept of original sin? And why is it assumed that Adam and Eve are the first human beings to blame for bringing sin into the world?
This is a rather silly notion that many have blindly swallowed because they do not think deeply enough about the book they are reading.
The true meaning of sin is to miss the mark. And it has nothing to do with the physical actions. Original sin is a beautiful concept explaining the reason that you seem alienated from God as you dwell in a physical body.
When Paul stated that the wages of sin are death, he was speaking spiritually. We can see this is true from the story of Adam and Eve. God told them that they would die upon partaking of the tree of knowledge. But the author of Genesis was speaking spiritually, not physically. They died spiritually, but were given physical life.
All physical things eventually die, and physical things died for millions of years before man came onto the scene. The actions of man did not originally bring death into the world. Death of the physical body is part of the cyclical state of nature.
In fact, it would be more correct to say that in the case of the story of Adam and Eve, partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil gave them physical life. They were removed from paradise (consciously) and placed into the physical world we know today. It is a world full of thorns and thistles and physical suffering, even though it is also a place of physical beauty. The symbolism and metaphor is strikingly obvious when we stop to think about it.
The Adam and Eve story was a brilliant attempt by the authors of Genesis to explain why we are separated from what we term “God.” Spirit, or Ruach, is simply an ancient term somewhat analogous to consciousness today. It is likened unto wind, which cannot be seen but has force. Consciousness is the spark of life, but it must have a body to experience through, to learn through, and to grow through. Adam and Even are metaphorical representations of mankind’s beginnings into a physical experience. Even the term Adam means humanity, and it is not the name of one man.
Eden is not a physical location either, but a state of consciousness. Consciousness allows the creation of the lower self and ego (the “I”) when it is active in a physical body. It becomes more complex and diversifies as it evolves through the physical bodies it operates through. The story of Adam and Eve explains this process through the language and culture of ancient times. Mankind’s fall from paradise is really the story of consciousness playing in a physical world.
Original sin is simply the state of ignorance man now finds himself in. It is his ignorance of spiritual things. And this is what the Apostle Paul was speaking of. The wages of sin leads to death because as man is ignorant of his true nature, he is spiritually dead. Paul taught that faith in Jesus Christ (even without works) was the answer to this dilemma. Have you ever wondered why some argue whether Paul really believed in faith without works? They are arguing over something that isn’t even an issue. Since Paul is speaking completely spiritually, physical acts aren’t even in the equation. They are therefore wasting their time and debating about a religious idea that was born from Paul’s hard-to-understand writings.
So what is it that Paul means exactly when he states that Jesus Christ is the answer to our spiritual death problem? Is he stating that belief in one man’s act on the cross who was really God makes us become spiritually alive?
Well, yes and no. If it were possible to have a conversation with Paul today about his meaning, he would probably chuckle at how the ideas in religion have evolved over these past thousand years. For Paul, Jesus Christ was the symbol for spiritual truth and life. For Paul, Jesus Christ was the escape from spiritual ignorance. But not just because you believed in the actions of a man that was really God, but because you believed that Jesus Christ was the symbol for the truth of your true spiritual nature. The act of Jesus Christ and the cross is the grand metaphorical theme of your redemption.
You see, when Paul was penning his letters, the Gospels hadn’t even been written yet. When he spoke to Timothy about scriptures being the only inspired word of God, he was speaking of the Old Testament. And Paul made it crystal clear that the symbol of Jesus Christ, as a type and metaphor, was prevalent throughout the inspired writings of the Old Testament. Paul never mentions the virgin birth or lineage of Jesus because he wasn’t concerned with such things. He was concerned with the Jesus Christ nature that is birthed within man as his spiritual ignorance is overcome with the knowledge and understanding of God, that is within man’s true spiritual nature.
If you want to retain the idea that you must believe that a literal human who was God died on a cross for your sin, there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you understand the deeper meaning of the Gospel’s Jesus as well. You see, a belief in something is simply an idea you hold with conviction, and a belief can never open the eyes of your spiritual ignorance to you. That can only happen if what Jesus Christ represents is actually birthed inside of you, as Paul advocates. Even Jesus himself stated that you must go within yourself, to your true spiritual nature, to see the Kingdom of God. Religious people look to religion and belief systems to save them, but they retain their ignorance of spiritual things unless they go within themselves, to an aspect of you that is much greater than the limited physical body and personality that you operate through now. Your physical body is fearfully and wonderfully made, but the spiritual aspect of you is so much more wonderful that when Paul went within himself (to the third heaven), he stated that he could not even talk about what he experienced, because it would not make sense to our conscious “I” operating in this limiting physical world.
It would seem today that many religious people cannot understand even the basics of Paul’s writings, which was also true with the church back then. This is not to speak badly of anyone, because we are all immersed in a religiously minded culture that is responsible for us reading Paul’s text, and the entire Bible, with blinders on. Our religious biases (most of us have them to a certain extent), cloud every verse and line we read until we learn to read the Bible with spiritual eyes instead of physical ones.
But you can detour all this religious thinking by just taking Jesus’ advice. Go within yourself and learn what the kingdom of God is truly about. That’s where the real knowledge of Jesus resides. The entire Bible explains this process perfectly, if only we could see what the spirituality of it, or the metaphor and symbolism of it, is all about. Even the scientist and hard skeptic could then appreciate the Bible for what it really is, instead of what religion tries to make it be.
Blessings!
What really happened to Elijah after God took him in the chariot of fire and the whirlwind? It states that he was taken to heaven, but Jesus said that no man hath ascended to heaven. Is there a better esoteric or metaphysical interpretation here that we can rely on?
With the Bible, always!
A strict literal interpretation creates significant confusion. For example, if Elijah was carried to Heaven, how did he write a letter to King Jehoram after his ascension? Do men write physical letters in heaven? As one skeptic has noted, “Where dead men don’t speak, apparently they can still write.” [Read more…] about Elijah Taken up in the Whirlwind and Chariot of Fire: A Burning Esoteric Interpretation
I am going to start putting up some posts with excerpts from my book, The Bible Simplified (a working Title). I cannot promise a completion date, but I finished a good portion of the book this summer. Since the summer is over and I am back at work full-time, and I am going to be putting most of my after-work hours into the completion of the book, I have decided to provide sneak previews by posting excerpts every now and then on the blog. Sometimes these excerpts may not seem like complete posts because they are just that—excerpts of the book. But at least this way my readers will still see blog posts from time to time and it will give you an idea of what I am working on which will be released on the blog when I am finished. [Read more…] about Man’s Relationship to God: Book Excerpt from Chapter One
Literalists deny it. Materialist are blind to it. And mainstream doctrine unwittingly teaches but a small portion of it. Without a doubt, the beginning of Genesis presents an eosteric statement that echoes throughout every other Biblical story: the consciousness of humankind has dawned. [Read more…] about Meaning of Light and Darkness, Day and Evening in Genesis 1:3-5
Abstract concepts are almost valueless unless we can nail them down practically in our own daily life.
The story of Jesus entering Jerusalem, riding on a donkey and her foal simultaneously, is truly one of those great biblical conundrums: how this double riding feat is achieved, while also considering: Mark 10-32 “Jesus and his disciples were now on the road going up to Jerusalem”.
As we set out examining this amazing parable esoterically, I’m hoping that it becomes obvious that the author of this scripture is not describing or reporting on a physical, historical or a geographical event. [Read more…] about Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
The title of this post may cause some eyebrow raising, but it’s a subject that really needs to be addressed with common sense and esoteric truth. Traditional Christians—some of the kindest and best people on earth whom I call my friends—have been immersed in the doctrines and dogma of man for centuries, and blood sacrifice has been one of those doctrines that has kept them from understanding the deeper truths of the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. Please remember, it is not my intention to offend anyone. Ever. But some of what I write here will no doubt ruffle some feathers. Nonetheless, it needs to be said. [Read more…] about Is the Blood Sacrifice of Jesus Really Taught in the Bible as Atonement for Your Sin?
The scripture mentioned in the title of this post has caused much controversy. This can be expected, because millions across the globe see the scripture as literal, even when Paul clearly indicates this is the not the case.
Are we really to assume that wives should be in subjection to their husbands – in everything? You can imagine the problem here.
It’s quite interesting. I have seen many theologians use the padding of other scriptures to bring more common sense to this issue, such as husbands ought to love their wives properly, and when that’s done, it somehow makes a literal interpretation in the title of this post OKAY because now there is the proper balance and understanding of what Paul truly meant. [Read more…] about “…so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” – An Esoteric Interpretation
Scour the internet, and you will find all kinds of strange ideas about long lost continents that were once inhabited by root races of humans. The most widely known are Lemuria and Atlantis, both with flourishing civilizations long lost to the annals of history, except in circles of Theosophy and conspiracy theorists who claim to hold the truth to humanity’s origins. Ancient Egyptian mythology and Plato’s works originally fueled such ideas for thousands of years, and more recently, even Edgar Cayce, one of the most famed psychics of 20th century, provided detailed accounts of what these civilizations were like. [Read more…] about What do Genesis, Lemuria, and Atlantis Have in Common?
In a previous article of May 6th, Joshua asked the question: What is God to you?
When pondering this question I was suddenly reminded of the orthodox view that God is omniscient and Almighty, and that His Word should be taken absolutely literally and adhered to. During my childhood that did not trouble me at all as I have known since my birth that God is a God of Love. I even experienced that myself during a Near Death Experience. And I grew up in a love-oriented church so there was nothing to worry about.
Things changed however when during my teens I became aware of the fact that other people in other churches saw God as a Jealous God, who threatened with hell and damnation when you did not conform to His laws. And I also became aware of the Holocaust. How could such a thing have happened in a civilized society which at the time could still be considered Christian? Many people began leaving their church (or synagogue) because of the question: Where was God when all this happened? Why did He not do anything to prevent this? This must surely mean that God does not exist.
These questions were not my questions, however. I started wondering: What went wrong with the teaching of the church? Not God caused the Holocaust but people who often belonged to Christian churches. And many churches (not all) remained silent while it was all happening. Something must have gone seriously wrong with the teaching of the churches because how else could something like this have happened? How else could all these other atrocities have happened to both Jews and black people, and to the native peoples in so many countries, ever since conquering Christians arrived there? And all that during so many centuries, almost from the moment Christianity was recognized as a religion, and made into the ruling one by the Roman emperor Constantine. And how else could Christians belonging to different churches have started to even murder each other as well? Each claiming the one and only truth for themselves?
No, something must have gone seriously wrong with the teachings of the churches that appeared to be motivated more by the love of power than by the love of God. And that even started messing with the Bible texts themselves sometimes, especially those of the New Testament, in order to make them supportive of their teachings. The parts and pieces of the old biblical manuscripts that had been found had been ‘corrected’ and changed many times over before being copied again and so on and the differences between them are enormous. And also translations show many differences, caused either by interpretation or manipulation. I have mentioned this subject many times already in my comments on this blog and quite a few books were written about this subject over time.
[Of course there is another side to Christianity as well, a very positive side, but that is not the subject of discussion here.]
All this was a reason for me to undertake an independent search, not founded on the interpretations of any theologian or bible scholar. My discovery of the possibility of a symbolic Bible interpretation was of course a great help, as was the knowledge I gained from an interpretation based on Hebrew numerology but most of all from the insights I received when in a state of a meditative focus on a subject.
The mutual communication between writers and readers on this blog proved to be a great help as well. It made it possible to develop a kind of model of a cycle of spiritual development. A cycle of a descent/involution – into the world of matter – and ascension that I had discovered in the Bible stories. That brought the concept of consciousness and awareness to my attention. I am afraid I used these terms rather loosely to begin with, feeling they are important but …. What the bleep is Consciousness? as somebody asked me once. I couldn’t – and still cannot – describe it as I do not really have words for what is for me a wordless knowing. Still, I intuitively knew that these were the right words, but for what?
My model also includes the concept of energy, as waves vibrating on different levels, frequencies, patterns and what have you. I never remember the details as I am no scientist and the essence of things is what is important to me. I had been aware of the importance of the concept of energy already since the nineties of the last century. Everything is energy, including matter, which, as science finally has proven, does not even exist. No matter how deep you go into ‘matter’, everything proves to be a largely empty space with only a few very small ‘balls’ of matter in it. These however also prove to be an empty space with only a few very small ‘balls’ of matter in it, and so on, never mind how far down the line you explore. Neither do time or space exist in Reality, which was a conclusion reached by Albert Einstein, if I am not mistaken.
So what is this world if nothing is real? Buddhists call it Maya, illusion, and Hindus call it Leela, a game. It is also called a virtual reality or a dream. And this dream I recognized from Genesis, where God puts Adam, who until then had been androgynous, both male and female, into a deep sleep in order to separate the male and female sides of Man from each other. No, gentlemen, the woman did NOT arrive later on the scene than the man! The famous rib of Adam is the Hebrew word ‘tsela’, which also means side. And I am pretty sure that that is the right translation here. Nowhere it is said that they woke up after that. Mankind is still largely asleep though some of us are beginning to wake up now.
This dream is the ‘tardema’ that I have already mentioned very often in my articles and it is not a kind of anaesthesia for an operation but the beginning of a cycle of descent and ascension, of gradually descending into ever lower vibratory frequencies, with at the lowest part a stay in the so-called world of matter, and then a rising up again into ever higher frequencies and a return to the world of our origin. With conscious awareness this time.
Our life on earth is a journey in a world that is not real but a virtual reality in which nothing but our losing or gaining of conscious awareness is real. This may also be the answer to the question: Why does not God interfere? God does not interfere because this virtual reality is nothing but a game, or a school as it has also been called. For how could we possibly gain conscious awareness without getting to know the opposites of duality and without going through all the experiences of this world? How would we know the importance of Light if we had never experienced darkness? God does not interfere because in Reality nothing bad will ever happen to us. On the contrary, we will only gain wisdom from the lessons of this school, but we do have to do our homework!
*****
Looking at it from this point of view makes it easier to understand why we have to undertake this journey. It appears that to begin with we, mankind, departed from a world of High Consciousness but without much if any Awareness. I have heard this foundation of All-that-Is described as: the Zero-point Field of Infinite Potential. And also as a Field of Undifferentiated Consciousness, meaning that it is a oneness that is the same all over, without the possibility of becoming aware of anything at all because there is nothing in it to become aware of.
If this is the starting point of All-that-Is, so to speak, and God IS All-that-Is, then this means that this Zero-point Field of Infinite Potential might be another Name for God. A Name that is different from all the anthropomorphic terms and concepts that we are used to. And that we may still use as long as we remain aware of the fact that there is no One Name or concept that we can define God by. When we are right in our assumption that this term Zero-point Field of Infinite Potential is another Name for God, and in our assumption that God is Love, then Love must be the nature of this Field. And if we assume that Consciousness is another Name for God (which for one scientist was the criterion in order to be able to believe in God), then this field is Consciousness as well. However, to begin with without any Awareness of it. So something has to happen in order to gain this Awareness and this might be, in short, the starting point of a process of creation during which we as mankind finally enter this game of a virtual reality.
It has been said that we are divine sparks, sparks of the Fire that is God, another Name. We, not only humans but everything from quanta to universes and beyond, are all parts of God, points of focus of God, physical or non-physical, who each have our own role to play in this game of gaining Conscious Awareness. Even the physical ones are not really physical of course but only temporarily put on a body suit as it were by descending into the world of matter. The Dutch word for body, lichaam, comes actually from the Gothic word lic hamo, which means something like coat of flesh so people seem to have been aware of this already at the time.
God creates a game of duality and polarity in which all of us, as fractal parts of Him/Her/It (which means we potentially possess all of Its powers) each have our own part to play. We humans put on a blindfold before starting the game; this blindfold is the physical body which Adam and Eve, as mankind, receive by entering into the world of matter, by descending into ever lower frequencies of ever denser energy. In how far this implication of blindness also applies to other life forms in our ‘material’ world goes beyond the scope of this article, not to mention my understanding.
The physical body is ‘or’ in Hebrew, with a numerical value of 70-6-200. This word can also be read as ‘iver’, which means blind, as the number six, the character Vav, can be read both as the vowel o and as the consonant v. This means that we, mankind, are leaving the world of oneness and blindly enter a world of duality and matter in which we will have to come to terms with the conditions of duality. None of this is real but we are not aware of that anymore because this blindness means that our eyes are now closed to oneness but they have been opened to the possibilities of duality. We have also been given a whole toolkit full of tools to help us to discover this world, including time, space and matter, the ego with a full range emotions, karma and reincarnation, which in themselves are not real but will enable us to gradually gain Conscious Awareness by playing this game of duality for all it is worth until we reach the intended goal.
*****
In a comment I once gave a more extensive description of the game as I see it, which I now quote with some slight alterations and additions:
“I see this world as an illusion, or a dream (‘tardema’). It has also been called a game and indeed it can be compared to a computer game in which all possible choices are already there as potential realities. As such we each will create a different world on the basis of the choices we make and our perspective on whatever this world then presents to us as a result of that choice. When we use a so-called bad experience for instance to help others in similar circumstances the result will be different from when we remain angry and bitter about it.
When we enter the game, we leave our real identity behind and everything we know. We put on a blindfold. In this condition we now have to choose which choice of the first array of choices we want to make into a reality for us and then experience the consequences of that choice. Next we will be presented with a new array of choices and so on. Until game over. After the game we re-examine the choices we made and we may or may not see where it might have been better to make other choices. So we start a new game and proceed on the basis of our conclusions.
That is what the idea of karma and reincarnation is about, I think. You can roughly interpret that in two ways as well as the game is a game of duality: 1) karma is guilt which you have incurred in your previous life or game and in the next one you are punished for it, or 2) karma = action. On the basis of what you have learned from the previous life you decide what you can improve this time. Or descend further if you do not. And so on. It is all a matter of choice. There is no real guilt but only an increase or decrease of conscious awareness that has been lost or gained by our choices.
Since we are only playing a game and there is no real guilt involved, there is no need for salvation. There is just a game which helps us gain conscious awareness, which IS real. And as we get stuck sometimes, as I invariably do, we need all the help we can get in order to reach the final level of the game and bring it to a successful end.
And that help is available. We only have to call the Help desk.
And when we get really stuck and cannot bring this game to an end on our own anymore, Someone is sent to us to explain the rules of the game again very clearly and to play a round of the game with us in order to show how it is done. After that we will be able to continue the game on our own again, with some help from the Help desk from time to time.
Of course it is clear that time, space and matter, and karma and reincarnation, are only tools to help us play the game as none of it exists in reality. But as long as we are still living within the reality of this game, and we cannot possibly grasp the Absolute Reality yet, these concepts are good tools to work with.”
*****
This model roughly describes the journey through this world of virtual reality but does not yet show the result of this journey. For the world we return to is of course no longer a world of undifferentiated consciousness, a world of an undifferentiated oneness, but I have come to believe that this World has been changing right along with us! It has become a World of Conscious Awareness, and of Love and Unity in diversity. We humans have travelled different roads, and often been at odds with each other, but finally we will all arrive at the same goal. Entering the city of the New Jerusalem through 12 different gates, each ‘tribe’ passing through its own gate, as someone once remarked in a comment.
*****
There is however still another factor I did not consider yet but which became obvious in an article + video of which I may have shared a link already:
https://documentarystorm.com/the-simulation-hypothesis/
In this video there is an interesting discussion about this virtual reality, which was explained with an extensive variant of the double slit experiment, in which the presence of a Watcher was all important. And that may be the same here as well. This might also prove to be the answer to another point that was debated in the comments on this blog: ”Is God within or outside His creation?”
I looked at this subject from the viewpoint of God as All-that-Is. As such God had to be inside his creation. However when we look at God as the Father who watched the progress of his sons in my article about The Other Son, then the Father can be seen as outside his creation. His creation then being the virtual world. So He is inside All-that-is but at the same time outside the dream as the Watcher of the virtual world, who has to watch it from the outside. And the Watcher is absolutely essential in order to enable us to have all the experiences we need to bring our journey to a successful end, for if no one is watching, then our world ceases to exist. This also was shown by science.
*****
We, as the divine sparks of God, are the representatives of God in this virtual world. We are entangled aspects of His being that experience all there is to experience in this world in order to gain Conscious Awareness. As in Reality we are not separated from God, nor from each other, but an integral part of God, and God is All-that-Is, then Who is making this journey through this world of discovery? Is it not God Itself, the Watcher who keeps the game going. but who by doing so also simultaneously experiences everything all parts of his creation experience. And who in this dream world is embodied by us as so-called individual gods with a blindfold, who to begin with stumble blindly into this world of ever lower vibratory frequencies and open our eyes to the world of duality, but then gradually find our feet and start rising up again, gaining Conscious Awareness in the process. All this changes the Field of Infinite Potential but without any Awareness into a Realm of Unconditional Love and Unity in diversity, which is Consciously Aware of Itself and of all that led to this gaining of Conscious Awareness. And in which the divine sparks have been reabsorbed by the Fire they came from and never left in Reality. Where all levels of consciousness finally flow together through the process of Time that is No-time, and Place that is No-Place and all diverse forms of creation that have evolved into One Formless Consciousness with Full Awareness.
*****
So, seen from this perspective, could it be that maybe God was NOT yet Omniscient and Almighty from the very beginning but slowly gaining Conscious Awareness by this process of sending parts, sparks, of Itself into a virtual reality of time and place in order to safely experience everything there is to experience through them, and to evolve into the Omniscient and Almighty God in this way? Within the timeless No-Space of the Point, which is the translation of the Hebrew word Reshit with which it all began in Genesis 1:1: Bereshit bara Elohim et ha shamayim we et ha arets, which can also be interpreted as: With a point God created heaven and earth.
And may we not see this process then as the Evolution of God, and as the purpose of Creation? From God to God through different phases of being God? within All that is – has been – and always will be One after all?