Introduction
The secret teaching of Jesus inexorably draws us to an extraordinary conclusion: each of us is a divine spiritual being, not just in theological terms, but on a level that can be personally experienced by anyone willing to go through the process of spiritual transformation.
There are four levels of consciousness: simple, self, cosmic, and master consciousness. Animals have simple consciousness: they are aware of their surroundings, basic needs like food, water, rest, and the body language of other animals. Instinct is the single word that describes simple consciousness.
People have, for the most part, self consciousness: they not only have the simple consciousness of the animals, but they also have a sense of self. People are capable of abstract thought and dealing with concepts and principles. The primary pattern of self consciousness is the experience of separation. We think in terms of being an individual, unique in many ways, but always separate from all other people and all other living beings around us. Separation is the single word that describes self consciousness.
Cosmic consciousness is as far above self consciousness as self consciousness is above simple consciousness. Cosmic, or Christ consciousness, connects us with everything. God and creation become one seamlessly connected experience. The person with cosmic consciousness no longer experiences separation of any kind. Everything is intimately interconnected and interdependent. Every living thing becomes a personal extension of us. In the intense, intimate way a mother feels connected to her baby, the person with cosmic consciousness feels connected with all of creation. Through cosmic consciousness the universe appears both fully conscious and interactive. There are two levels of cosmic consciousness: the first level is spiritual awakening, characterized by an increased awareness and our first step into the oneness. The next level is spiritual enlightenment and brings us into conscious contact with the interactive universe. We also become much more sensitive to other people’s thoughts and feelings. Oneness is the single word that describes cosmic consciousness.
Master consciousness exists in many levels above cosmic consciousness and consists of being able to manipulate the physical world around us. Ultimately master consciousness gains control over matter, time, and space. Master consciousness is also referred to as God consciousness.
Gnosticism was the dominant religious teaching in the Middle East for two hundred years before Jesus was born. Both of his parents were spiritual teachers in the Gnostic system, which was the public face of a much older teaching recognized as the ancient mystery school system, dating from 2,750 BCE.
The mystery school system had been involved in establishing spiritual communities across the Middle East, such as the Essene community on the western shore of the Dead Sea. As explained in my previous book, The Sermon on the Mount – an Introduction to the Secret Teachings of Jesus, Joseph and Jesus were not carpenters, but highly skilled and educated people. In Laurence Gardner’s book Bloodline of the Holy Grail (35), the concept of Joseph as a carpenter is explained,
“The word translated into English as ‘carpenter’ represents the much wider sense of the ancient Greek ho tekton, which is in turn a rendition of the Semitic word naggar. As pointed out by the Semitic scholar Dr. Geza Vermes, this descriptive word could perhaps be applied to a trade craftsman, but could equally well define a scholar or teacher. It certainly did not identify Jesus and Joseph as woodworkers. More precisely it identifies them as men with skills, learned men, who were masters of what they did. Indeed, one translation of the Greek, ho tekton, relates to ‘a master of the craft’, as may be applied to modern Freemasonry.”
Mary was no different. The entire family was deeply involved in the mystery school system.
Jesus, as a master spiritual teacher, led a number of people through the mystery school system and on to the apostleship level of training. According to the first section of what has been preserved as The Book of Revelation, Jesus went on to establish seven communities in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. The leaders of each of those communities answered to him.
The Mystery School used a substance known as the white powder of gold. This is a pure, non-metallic form of gold. In this state, it cannot be dissolved by normal chemical means, which is why it was referred to as a “stone” and not a metal. There were two primary means of ingesting the white powder of gold. The first was to mix it with flour and make bread. This was no longer regular bread, but was referred to as the bread of the presence of God. For 150 years before the time of Jesus, the Essene community at Qumran, on the shore of the Dead Sea, was extracting the white powder of gold from the salt water of the Dead Sea and mixing it in the unleavened bread. Each day the leaders of the Essene community were eating not just bread, but the bread of the presence of God. This is the other meaning of “give us this day, our daily bread” in the Lord’s Prayer. On the worldly level, the level of ego, daily bread refers to the basic substances we need for our survival. But on the heavenly level, the level of spirit, daily bread refers to the bread of the presence of God, that which feeds the spirit, not just the body.
The second means was to ingest large quantities of the white powder of gold during a forty-day fast. This initiation was the crossing point from discipleship into apostleship in the mystery school system. As the new personality of the true spiritual being emerged, the person was given a new name. It was necessary to let the transformation continue to its conclusion before the final spiritual personality was fully formed.
The mystery school teaching and the white powder of gold play a significant role in the secret teaching of Jesus. In the seven letters to the churches in the Book of Revelation, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches (communities, rather than churches, is a better translation of the Greek, ecclesia). The angels are apostles who graduated from the mystery school ministry of Jesus. The seven golden lampstands are the seven spiritual communities that Jesus established. In the first letter, it ends with “To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” The tree of life is another reference to the white powder of gold. To him who conquers refers to those who have come through the spiritual journey and have conquered the ego within them.
In the second letter it says, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” The crown of life is cosmic consciousness, or the Christ consciousness. It goes on to say, “He who conquers shall not be hurt by the second death.” Again, he who conquers has conquered the ego.
The first death is the death of the body. When our spirit is separated from the body the ego no longer has the means to generate the fear-based emotional energy the body is capable of producing to sustain the ego. So when we have based our belief and concept of ourselves on the ego, and the ego loses its supply of energy, the level of consciousness we have cannot be supported. In time we lose whatever consciousness we have based on the ego. This is the second death: the death of consciousness.
As a spiritual being we have eternal life. What we don’t have yet is eternal consciousness. This is the primary function of spiritual enlightenment; to raise us into eternal consciousness as being one with the universal consciousness that is God.
The third letter says, “To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it.” The hidden manna is a reference to the practice of the Essene community to mix a portion of the white powder of gold into the bread they ate.
In the last letter, to Laodicea, Jesus recognizes that the apostle in charge has weakened in his level of consciousness, stating, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” This apostle has lost his higher awareness and not recognized that it has happened. Jesus advises him, “Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich and white garments to clothe you . . .” The early Church did not understand the references in the original documents from which the seven letters to the churches were taken. Why would the apostle need to buy gold from Jesus and not anywhere else? The reason is that the gold Jesus offers is the white powder of gold that was only produced by the mystery school system. It wasn’t available anywhere else. The white garment is the love-based emotional nature that is the result of the transformation of emotions and the result of in-depth forgiveness. The white powder of gold acts as an amplifier for the mind and the emotions. It helps keep the level of consciousness and awareness high.
In the two to three hundred years following the life of Jesus some of the concepts of the Pharisees became infused into the teachings of Jesus by Paul ( a former Pharisee) and his writings. By the time the early Christian Church was formed at the council of Nicaea in 325-7 AD the teachings of Paul had taken the dominant place in Christian theology. That theology was based on much older religious systems that focused on a world savior figure, where belief in a specific doctrine was supposed to lead to some form of salvation. Kersey Graves’s book, The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors (first published in 1875) lists thirty-five past savior figures, not including Jesus. The belief that modern Christianity is original and attributed to a faithful rendition of the life of Jesus is not well founded.
A common practice before and during the rise of the early Christian Church was pseudopedigrapha, where an author attributed his or her writing to another person, usually to a famous figure. This practice was used to insert some, or all, of the early Christian Church doctrine into texts thought to be from Jesus or his disciples. For the sake of clarity, I will refer to the modern theology of the Christian Church that differs from the original teaching of Jesus as simply, church doctrine.
The meaning of words or phrases has changed over time. Where I am aware of that happening, I will explain the original meaning and context as best I can. One example of changing meanings is with the word, messiah. In the Gnostic system messiah was used to describe a spiritual teacher who has reached full spiritual enlightenment and was teaching others how to become enlightened themselves. Through the Greek translation, messiah became savior, and our entire perception of Jesus was changed. From the gospels we have in the New Testament, Jesus was commonly referred to as teacher, which is consistent with the older Gnostic tradition.
My intention in this work is not to denigrate the teachings of the Christian Church, but to explain in plain language what the secret teaching of Jesus is and how it differs from Christian theology. In essence, the teaching of Jesus has been a secret for two primary reasons: one, the Gnostic system used symbols to represent concepts, and two, the early Christian Church included the basic teachings of Jesus, but glossed over them in favor of the savior figure theology. As a result, few people realize what Jesus was actually teaching.
The bulk of the secret teaching of Jesus resides within the parables. Parables hold a special place in the process of spiritual teaching. They are easy to remember, entertaining and packed with hidden meaning. Parables have a point to them, much like the moral in an Aesop’s fable. In the tradition of the ancient mystery school, parables provide a system of encoded information intended for the esoteric audience. Esoteric has two general meanings; meant for the few, and applying to inner processes. The ancient tradition is to provide information describing outer things or events, while actually applying to inner thoughts and feelings. Part of the power of the parables is that they use images or symbols that people are familiar with in their daily lives.
Many of the parables talk about the kingdom of heaven. Because the parables are all about inner processes, the kingdom of heaven is also inside of us. The kingdom of heaven is not a physical place, but rather a state of consciousness. In fact, all of the spiritual teachings are about states of consciousness, not physical places.
Our level of consciousness is also a function of what part of the brain we are using. Our spiritual connection to higher consciousness is primarily through the frontal lobes, which are active when we are in a peaceful, relaxed state of mind. Anger, fear, and hatred, for example, tend to deprive our frontal lobes of circulation and refocus our thinking back and down into the limbic or reptilian brain. This is where our “fight or flight” center resides and where our survival mechanisms are functioning. In martial arts, practitioners are trained to not give in to anger or fear because they lose awareness and perception as anger or fear fills the mind. The fight or flight response involves redirecting blood flow from the outer skin to the inner organs and muscles for increased energy and resistance to life threatening injuries. But the same process deprives us of our higher levels of awareness and reasoning and reduces our level of perception. This is also why both martial arts and spiritual practices often include the use of meditation. Meditation calms the body and the mind. It increases awareness, reasoning, and perception by increasing blood circulation to the extremities, including the frontal lobes of the brain.
In many spiritual teachings the idea of duality is presented. Duality involves the concept that we are not a unified being as we like to think, but rather we are a divided being, functioning from both a spiritual and a worldly level. In reality we are a spiritual being having a human or physical experience. This dual experience, divided between the spirit within us and the physical body, is characterized by two different centers of awareness and personality within each person: the spirit, and the ego. The world ties us into the ego because the ego is created and functions from the physical body, and the physical body is part of the physical or outer world. The body has been created out of the material of the world and belongs strictly to that world. Many people view the body as the source of life, but if that were true, why, when someone dies, do we say they are gone? The body is still there. Where do we think they went?
The spirit is not of this outer physical world. One of the things we realize on our spiritual path is that the spirit within is the source of our life, and the spirit already has eternal life. The body is the recipient of life. The spirit is the creation of divine consciousness, or God. We are literally the substance of God; living light. This living light has existed, and will continue to exist with, or without, a physical universe. Time is meaningless to the living light of spirit. Death is also meaningless to the living light of spirit. Death only applies to the physical body. We cannot die, we can only be separated from the physical body, which we all come to realize, is temporary. If we live to be 100 years old, it may seem like a long time, but compared to eternity, as experienced by the spiritual being we really are, it is but a fleeting moment in our true existence.
One of the things spiritual teachers and mystics have all told us is that there is only oneness, that everything is interconnected. God is everywhere, in everything, all knowing, and all powerful. What we come to realize is that the Spirit and divine consciousness that is God is the real source of everything. Nothing exists without it. Consequently, everything exists within the consciousness and presence of God. Every rock, plant, and creature in the universe exists within an ocean of God, or divine consciousness. Part of our human experience is to deliberately separate our mind and awareness from this constant connection to God. We do this because we need the separation from the oneness to experience life’s lessons in all of their intensity. The misery and the ecstasy of life are only meaningful if we believe that’s all there is. The contrast between the agony and the ecstasy in life creates our appreciation and understanding, not only of the way the world works, but of how we work as individual beings. The specific mechanism we use to create the separation is the subconscious mind, which operates between the oneness of universal consciousness and the limited consciousness we believe we are.
A common theme in spiritual teachings is that a time comes when we need to reclaim our place within the oneness and put an end to the separation. In the parables this is often described as the end of an age, or the end of time. These references do not apply to an actual end of the world, for the world is a school, and it will continue to exist and function in that capacity as long as there are souls willing and interested in attending this school. The end of the age is whatever time we come to the point in our spiritual journey where we have learned the lessons we needed from the school of life on earth and are ready to return to the consciousness of oneness.
Re-entering the oneness requires an end to the duality, and subsequently, an end to the ego. The ego, and its world-based personality, will have served its purpose and is no longer needed. But discarding the ego is not a simple matter. Because we have associated ourselves with the ego for so long, it has come to believe it is real, and it feels threatened by the new spiritual knowledge and perspective. The ego will not walk quietly into oblivion. It will fight and struggle for its survival, and it will use the limbic brain to accomplish that goal. The battle we face on our spiritual journey is control of our mind, and more specifically the control of our brain. Our spiritual goal is to function strictly from the higher levels of consciousness and from the frontal lobes of the brain. The ego’s goal is to keep us focused on fear-based emotions and to keep us locked into the limbic brain.
The physical body is a biological energy transformation machine. It takes in food, water, and air, and transforms it into various forms of energy. The energy generated inside of us is created with different frequencies. Higher frequencies feed and empower the spirit within us. Lower frequencies feed and empower the ego. The body will create the type of energy we direct it to make. Those directions come from the emotions we experience. The tools of this inner battle are ideas, concepts, and our feelings. The ego will focus on the lower fear-based emotions because the fear-based emotions feed the ego and starve the spirit. Our goal, as spiritual beings, is to focus on the love-based emotions that feed the spirit within and starve the ego.
Two terms are used that need some explanation: Son of man, and son of God. The Son of man refers to a person who has awakened spiritually and has recognized that he or she is a spiritual being having a human or physical experience. The son of God refers to a person who has become spiritually enlightened, one who has established a one hundred percent conscious contact with God, or universal consciousness. It is through this elevated state of consciousness that we experience the oneness that exists within the universe.
There are three separate and distinct groups of parables, plus a number of different sources of the writing. The first group comprises the parables that are probably original to Jesus, or at least to the mystery school system. Those parables are love-based and symbolic in nature. The second group is composed of those parables that were probably original, but were modified by adding concepts that were not part of the original teaching. The third group contains the parables that have been generated by the early Christian church and contain the theology and doctrine of the church, at the expense of the original teaching of Jesus.
The parables attributed to Jesus in this work are from the mystery school system. In this collection of twenty-nine parables, eighteen are from the mystery school teaching that Jesus presented to the people. Five are parables that have been modified to support church doctrine. The remaining parables are from other authors and were created to support the doctrine of the early Christian Church that developed two to three hundred years after Jesus. We have to keep in mind that when Jesus was teaching and the parables were originally used, there was no Christian Church and there was no church doctrine. Consequently, parables that contain what was to become church doctrine following the Council of Nicea in 325-7 AD, were constructed hundreds of years later and were added into scripture by the early Christian church. Our concern in this presentation is the secret teaching of Jesus. As a result, we will ignore most of the parables created by the early Christian Church.
Another concept that many people may find strange is that we live in an interactive universe. If the spiritual teachers and mystics are correct, and that we live in an ocean of consciousness, then we are intimately connected with the oneness and the universal consciousness that is God. There is no reason to think that the universe isn’t paying attention to us and interacting with us every moment of every day. Just because we have created a subconscious barrier so we can experience separation from God doesn’t mean it has to work both ways. It doesn’t. Because we are created out of God substance; spirit, consciousness, and the life force, we are forever connected to universal consciousness. We can ignore that connection, but it will never ignore us. We are an integral part of an interactive universe, and the spiritual journey is the means of rejoining our conscious mind with the consciousness of God.
Let’s begin our study of the parables and see what they might mean.
The Key
Matthew 13:10-17 (RSV)
Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. With them indeed is fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah which says: “You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.”
This is the key to understanding the parables. Why wouldn’t people understand what they heard? It was all spoken in words they understood. Translated into English, it’s all in words we understand. How is it that we can hear the words but do not hear, nor do we understand? The reason is that the words in the parables are symbolic in nature, and if we do not know what the symbols represent, then we cannot understand what is being said. The information is encoded so that only initiates who have been taught the secret symbols will be able to understand the lessons.
Jesus was a member of the ancient mystery school system and graduated from the very highest level of initiation. The ancient mystery school was well aware of the internal workings of both the body and the mind, and these concepts are embedded within the inner spiritual teachings. The parables are no exception. The hidden meaning within the parables is focused on consciousness, our mind, and our emotions. The goal of the parables is to provide a means for us to return to the oneness and eliminate the influence of the ego and the lower emotions. To accomplish this goal, the parables are encoded with symbols and images that are used to explain exactly what we need to do in order to re-enter the oneness.
Common symbols include seeds, fish, pearls and other small objects. All of these items represent thoughts or feelings within us. When a parable takes place on dry land, it is talking about our intellectual processes; thoughts and how our mind functions. When a parable takes place on water or the sea, it is talking about emotions and how our feelings operate. When something is under the ground, it represents an idea or concept within our subconscious mind. When something is under the water, it represents feelings or emotions from our subconscious emotional nature. Uncovering an object from the ground means bringing an idea or concept up from the subconscious mind into our conscious awareness. Similarly, bringing an object up from under the water means bringing our feelings and emotions up from the subconscious level to conscious awareness so it can be examined and resolved.
A house or building represents our belief system. Fields or crops represent our mind and how we think about things and the concepts and conclusions we have come to about ourselves, others, and how the world works. The higher items are in the parable, the higher the state of consciousness involved. For example; birds in the air represent higher ideas or higher concepts. Birds on the ground represent lower, worldly ideas. When the character is a man in the parable, it is about our thinking. A woman then, represents our feeling nature.
Spiritual teaching has always been encoded, which is why this prophesy of Isaiah is included, “You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.”
The mission of the mystery school was to teach people only when they have turned to them to learn. Physical healing was provided when it is necessary, but the true healing that is offered is healing the separation between us and God or universal consciousness. Oneness is the ultimate healing, for the body is a temporary manifestation. Healing the mind, the consciousness, and the separation of the spirit within us from its true source of universal spirit is the only true healing.
Life in the world tends to focus our attention on the things of the world, which, in turn, dulls our senses to the spiritual both within us and around us. Our churches repeat the spiritual scriptures, without really understanding them, our ears grow heavy of hearing and we never perceive what the spiritual scriptures are really saying to us. We read the words but do not perceive what they really mean. Once we know the symbols being used, the scriptures open up and we see the hidden meanings, we hear the voice of the spirit within and we understand within our heart. Only then can the mind and the emotions be healed and oneness achieved.
The Net
Matthew 13:47-48 (RSV)
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad.
Both heaven and hell are states of consciousness. Heaven is a very high, love-based state of consciousness. By contrast, hell is a very low, fear-based state of consciousness. There are two basic types of emotions; love-based and fear-based. The love-based emotions are: love, empathy, compassion, generosity, gentleness, kindness, understanding, happiness, and affection. The fear-based emotions are: fear, anger, hatred, lust, envy, jealousy, shame, resentment, bitterness, guilt, and greed.
The primary factor in our life that determines our state of consciousness is our emotional state. It is hard to be happy, peaceful, and generous when we are consumed by anger, jealousy, envy, guilt or fear. We can raise our emotional state, and subsequently our consciousness, by changing our emotional responses to the circumstances around us from fear-based to love-based emotions.
The parable begins; “the kingdom of heaven is like . . .” This means that if we want to enter into the higher states of consciousness that are represented by the kingdom of heaven, then the parable gives us an inner process through which we can help make that happen. The parable continues, “a net was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.” What this means is that we are filled with various feelings, emotions, and emotionally related concepts (fish). So the net, when it is drawn ashore brings up fish from under the surface of the water, which represents bringing our feelings and emotions up from the depths of our subconscious and examining them in the light with intellectual understanding (the light of day). When the net was full implies a fullness; a maturity that needs to be achieved before the sorting out of our emotions will benefit us. Men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the fish out. So we must use our logical mind (represented by men) to evaluate the feelings we have inside. Not all fish are valuable, not all feelings are valuable either. Some fish are toxic; so are some emotions.
Just because we experience an emotion and identify with it (I’m angry, for example) doesn’t mean it actually holds any real value for us. Fear-based emotions depress our immune system, lower our consciousness and our awareness and move our thinking from our natural higher functions in the front part of our brain, back and down to the limbic or reptilian part of our brain. We become tense and delve into the realm of unfeeling toward others. We become more likely to do or say something that we will regret later. In general, these fear-based emotions cause problems for us at work, at home, in our relationships, and make our life harder than it needs to be. Fear-based emotions are non-productive at best, and destructive, or deadly at their worst.
Love-based emotions do just the opposite. Love-based emotions enhance our immune system increase our consciousness and our awareness and move our thinking forward into the frontal lobes where our spiritual connection to the higher consciousness of God exists. We tend to think before we speak or act and make allowances for the behavior of other people. This helps improve our work environment, home life, and interpersonal relationships. Love-based emotions are productive, supportive, and life-affirming.
The interim benefit of changing over to love-based emotions is a happier and more productive life. The long-term benefit is the progressive change in consciousness that takes place. As we become more love-based in everything we do, we also become more interested in being of service to others. This shift in attitude will gradually lead us to our higher purpose in life, which will be more satisfying to us personally, and be of greater benefit to those around us.
The higher spiritual states can only be achieved as we calm our mind, refocus our emotional responses on love-based feelings, and redirect our actions to being of service to others. As we progress, the unconditional love that comes from God begins to flow more strongly through us. That unconditional love fills us first, and then as we start radiating that love out into the world through our thoughts, feelings, and actions, the flow of that love creates the inner transformation we recognize as spiritual awakening and eventually spiritual enlightenment. That transformation places us firmly into the conscious experience of the kingdom of heaven.
What we hold in our heart is the measure of what we are. In the parable, the bad fish are thrown away and the good fish are placed in a vessel. That vessel is our heart, our conscious emotional center. By throwing away all of the fear-based emotions and keeping only the love-based ones in our heart, we transform both our life and our level of consciousness.
The Net Continues with an explanation
Matthew 13:49-50 (RSV)
So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and separate them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.
This is our first example of an addition to the parables by another author. The parables of Jesus are consistent in their spiritual approach: they are non-threatening, non-judgmental and overall love-based. They are intended for internal understanding and inner work. The added parables are generally threatening, judgmental, and fear-based. They are intended for an audience focused on external things and external events.
“So it will be at the close of the age.” This portends a time often referred to as the end times when human existence will either end or be profoundly transformed. It also refers to a time of Judgment by God when all humans will be held accountable for their actions. This parable, like several others we will examine, was created in support of church doctrine: that God will judge mankind and only those faithful to the Church will be spared.
Ideologically, they differ profoundly from the parables of Jesus, which are esoteric in nature. The parables constructed by the other authors are exoteric in nature – meant to be taken literally rather than interpreted as being symbolic. Here the threat is that the angels of God will come out of heaven and gather the evil people (those who haven’t become part of the Church) and subject them to the eternal fires of hell. This is church doctrine and is completely adverse to the teachings of Jesus. The threat is intended to scare people into either joining or remaining in the church. This is a fear-based doctrine and is used to manipulate people and bring them under control.
The teachings of Jesus are intended to empower the individual and gradually lead them into a profound freedom, separate from the control of religious organizations. The teachings are intended to guide us on an inner journey and bring us into full conscious contact with God.
Even though the parable is exoteric in nature, we can still apply the same symbolism used in the esoteric parables with some interesting results. “So it will be at the close of the age” symbolically refers to the close of a period of growth, such as infancy, childhood, teenage, young adult, mature adult, and senior adult. The age here indicates a level of maturity has been achieved where we can examine our thoughts and feelings with a certain amount of wisdom. The angels represent the faculty of discernment, which is used to separate the fear-based (evil) thoughts and feelings from the love-based (righteous) thoughts and feelings. The procedure indicates that the fear-based thoughts and feelings are to be destroyed or consumed so they are permanently removed from our consciousness.
“There men will weep and gnash their teeth” is a threat and clearly not within the teachings of Jesus. This marks the writing as being from another author, someone who does not have the same level of understanding that Jesus had.
The Pearl of Great Value
Matthew 13:45-6 (RSV)
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Pearls represent ideas or concepts. We are each like a merchant, seeking fine ideas and concepts. The world is full of ideas. Some are good, fine ideas, and some are bad ideas. When we are young, we lack the experience and wisdom to separate the good ideas from the bad ones. But life experience teaches us that not all ideas are of the same value. A wise person seeks good, fine ideas, for he or she has learned that fine ideas are the most profitable and most rewarding. This merchant finds one pearl of great value—one idea that exceeds the value of all the others. He went and sold all that he had and bought it. In other words, on finding this one idea of great value, this person got rid of all of the other ideas and focused on this single, most valuable one.
What exactly is that one idea of great value? It is the idea that we are spiritual beings, that we are made of the same substance as God; the living light of Spirit. Once we awaken to this reality, our true spiritual journey can begin. We can grow in light and love each day, becoming closer to God and universal consciousness with every loving thought, feeling, and action. As we become more loving, we move deeper into the higher levels of consciousness we recognize as the kingdom of heaven. A true spiritual path leads us into direct conscious contact with God. This change in consciousness is more valuable than anything in the world, for when we die, all of the things we have collected in this world will remain here without us. Only what we hold in our consciousness will come with us, and the greatest height of consciousness that we can bring with us is full one hundred percent conscious contact with God. Everything else pales in comparison.
So this parable is showing us the importance of recognizing that we are spiritual beings, and that is the single most important idea we can grasp. By “getting” that we are spiritual beings first and focusing strictly on that concept, we can eventually enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The Hidden Treasure
Matthew 13:44 (RSV)
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
This parable is like the pearl of great value, and embodies the same principles. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field means that somewhere in our subconscious mind is something of great value. Aside from the recognition that we are spiritual beings there is the spiritual mind. Because our life is dominated by the ego and our attention is focused on the things of the world, the spiritual mind has fallen fast asleep.
The treasure hidden within our subconscious mind is cosmic consciousness, or the Christ consciousness. We have the power to enter into the oneness and transform not only our own life, but the lives of those around us. We don’t understand the power of love within us. Only after we see the effect on other people’s lives that the love within us holds do we come to appreciate the transformative power of love.
As long as we remain in the grip of separation we cannot see the power that we have buried within our own mind. It takes learning, effort, and dedication to enter into the cosmic consciousness buried deep within us. Just as the man goes and sells all that he has, so too must we get rid of all of the thoughts and feelings of separation. It’s a long and difficult process, but it is absolutely necessary if we are to successfully make the journey into spiritual enlightenment. Nothing of the ego can remain. To the exact extent we retain even a sliver of the ego, to that same extent will we be limited in the oneness and interactive nature of the universe. In order for us to gain all of the kingdom, we must lose all of the ego and its attachment to the outer world. We have the potential to transform the world. That potential resides within the spiritual mind. We need but awaken it from its deep sleep.
The Talents
Matthew 25:14-30 (RSV)
For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, “Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have five talents more.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, “Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two more.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But his master answered him, saying, “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from he who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.”
Parables have multiple levels of interpretation. The usual interpretation of this parable is about talent or ability. In a higher level of understanding the talents represent our level of consciousness. In his groundbreaking book, Cosmic Consciousness by Richard Maurice Bucke, the author introduces the concept that people who have entered into cosmic consciousness have an additional source of learning, well and far above normal people. This learning comes to them from the universal consciousness that is God.
In the ordinary world, learning is a linear process. What I mean by that is we learn basic numbers, followed by basic math functions such as addition, subtraction, then multiplication, and division. Higher math functions such as algebra, trigonometry, and calculus come as incremental steps based on our past learning.
People with cosmic consciousness can still learn through the linear method of the world, but they also acquire knowledge through a quantum process, where a complete understanding of a subject arrives all at once, complete in every detail. There is no step-by-step learning process, just the arrival of a complete understanding of a subject, which happens almost instantly. Many times the insight into a subject comes when there is no outer record of the subject to refer to. Many of this world’s inventions came by this very method. The invention of three-phase alternating current production by Nicola Tesla is a prime example. His insight and resulting invention now powers the entire world with electricity.
This is another facet to higher levels of consciousness: the world benefits as we put our level of consciousness to work in service to others. A higher level of consciousness results in greater knowledge, deeper understanding, and an increase in our ability to learn and grow. The higher our level of consciousness, the more interactive the universe becomes, and the more we learn and produce for the benefit of the world. Just as in the parable, the universal consciousness favors people with higher levels of consciousness. And just as in the parable, fear is the limiting factor in our life and in our consciousness.
This is why it is so important to transform the fear-based emotions within us into love. Fear and fear-based emotions are the single most limiting factor in our life. Fear relegates us to the darkness of ignorance and separation. Love raises us into the light, and the light is knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.
Here again another author has added the last line, “there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” The threat is not needed in the original and only detracts from what is meant in the parable.
The Tares
Matthew 13:24-30 (RSV)
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?” He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The servants said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he said, “No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
This parable explains the human condition and the basic process of spiritual growth. The field represents our mind and the good seed represents the beneficial ideas and concepts we learn. While men were sleeping means while we were not paying attention to the thoughts that were forming in our mind. Sleeping refers to a general state of inattentiveness, where we are essentially unaware of the true nature of the ideas and concepts we allow into our thought processes. So, while we are unaware, we allow ideas and concepts into our mind and consciousness that are not beneficial to us. These are the weeds, or tares. Tares are thistles and the root structure of thistles spreads out under the ground. The analogy is that the ideas and concepts that are not beneficial spread and undermine the good ideas and concepts.
In the process of life, both the beneficial and non-beneficial ideas and concepts are allowed to grow together, and for the earthly level of consciousness and general lack of awareness, that’s how life generally works. Most people go through life unaware of the difference in quality of ideas and concepts. Spiritually they are in a state of deep sleep or hibernation. Jesus referred to this state of unawareness as being spiritually dead. When the disciple talks with Jesus he says, “let me go and bury my father and then I will come and follow you”, Jesus replies, “let the dead bury the dead.” In other words, there comes a time when we must decide to follow the spiritual path rather than the worldly one. The worldly path leads to the consciousness of death and the spiritual path leads to the consciousness of life. This is what Jesus means when he says I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly. The statement refers to a state of consciousness, and does not refer to the body or the things of the world.
In the spiritual process we need to develop the skill of discernment, and that is something that only comes to us as we mature. The harvest, or harvest time, refers to that level of maturity when we have developed discernment. Reaping is the use of discernment, specifically going through all of the ideas and concepts that we have learned and evaluating each one of them with the values we have acquired in our maturity.
The weeds, the non-beneficial ideas and concepts, need to be removed first. At first it seems like a simple process, but it becomes a little more complex as we proceed. We have become attached to various ideas and concepts during our growth and maturing process in the world. The tendency is to accept our treasured ideas and concepts as true and good, when, in fact, they are not. So the discernment process is applied repeatedly, not just once. What we find is that many of the concepts we have accepted as true in the past are not true at all. They are non-beneficial to us spiritually, and must be rooted up and destroyed before the good concepts can be gathered and stored in our heart (barn in the parable).
The first level of discernment that we can use is to decide whether an idea or concept is love-based or fear-based. Jesus says you are the light of the world. That is a love-based concept. The opposite concept is that you are a sinner, born in sin and in need of being saved by a savior figure. That is a fear-based concept. So is any concept or idea that ascribes evil to Satan, or the Devil. Ascribing the motivation for our thoughts, feelings, and actions to an outside source is self-defeating. It allows us to deny responsibility for what we have created in life. Responsibility and authority are two sides of the same coin. Accepting responsibility for our life also grants us the authority to change it.
The second level of discernment is whether something is actually true or simply accepted as true. A profound amount of information today is accepted as true, when, in fact, it isn’t. The bulk of our educational system teaches not truth, but what is accepted to be true, or at least what is politically correct. Any ultimate truth is completely ignored. The truth of the world is established by those who control the establishments of government, religion, academia, and business. This is what keeps us locked into the world system—our belief in the truth of the world. But there is a higher truth, a spiritual truth, which needs to be embraced in order to free us from the hypnotic mantra of the world. The teachings of Jesus were designed to do just that; free us from the hypnotic falsehoods of the world.
The Weeds of the Field
Matthew 13:37-43 (RSV)
He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear.
This is also an example of something written by another author, but we can still learn something from it. The Son of man is interpreted as Jesus, with the good seed being those who follow the Church and the weeds are those who don’t accept church doctrine. Again the threat is present of punishing those who have chosen not to become part of the Church.
Using the symbols of the esoteric system, the Son of man is the spiritually awakened person or consciousness, and the good seeds are the spiritual ideas and the love-based concepts. The field is the mind and represents the use of logic and intellectual evaluation. The weeds are the fear-based thoughts and feelings, and the evil one, the devil, represents the ego, the worldly based personality. The close of the age is again when a certain level of maturity is reached.
The angels as reapers represent the spiritual faculty of discernment. The Son of man sending his angels therefore represents the spiritually awakened person using his or her discernment to separate all of the fear-based thoughts and feelings (causes of sin and evildoers) from the love-based thoughts and feelings. The love-based thoughts, feelings, ideas, and concepts will thus shine forth as examples of the kingdom of God when there is nothing left to diminish their light. As the spiritual light shines forth within us, our good works become more and more obvious to all those around us.
The Sower
Matthew 13:3-9 (RSV)
A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and chocked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.
Some of the world’s greatest inventors have clearly stated that ideas are available to all those who will tune into the universal mind or universal consciousness and be open to receiving the ideas. History provides us with multiple examples of this exact phenomenon. The radio wasn’t invented by just one individual; it was developed in five different places around the world at the same time by people who had no contact with each other. God, as universal consciousness, seeds the needed ideas into the world.
So in our parable, the sower is the universal consciousness of God and the seeds that are sown are the beneficial ideas to help mankind. Our focus is on the spiritual ideas and concepts, which enter the consciousness of people the exact same way. The spiritual ideas and concepts are seeded into the world from universal consciousness.
“Some seeds fell along the path.” The path is the general consciousness of the world, the well-accepted ideas that make up the general consensus of thoughts and conventional wisdom. The problem is that the spiritual ideas sown by universal consciousness are not readily accepted by society in general. Here, birds on the ground represent fear-based thoughts and ego-based consciousness. The lower level thoughts and ideas displace, or consume the spiritual ideas, so they cannot take root in the general consciousness of the world.
“Other seeds fell on rocky ground.” These spiritual ideas have fallen in with rocks or firmly-held beliefs, where there is very little soil. The soil represents our ability to think, consider, and analyze ideas with an open mind. With firmly-held beliefs, there is little room for new ideas. The spiritual ideas conflict with the firmly-held beliefs and may grow for a time, but without being supported and nurtured, the ideas will wither and die.
“Other seeds fell upon thorns.” Thorns are the primary characteristic of thistles, which represent the fear-based ideas and concepts of the ego. The fear-based thoughts and feelings of the world will choke out the spiritual ideas that come from God as universal consciousness. The fear-based consciousness of the world supports the ideas of separation and competition, which in turn are a control strategy of divide and conquer. If we are being divided, we are being conquered. Love-based ideas and concepts bring us closer together and bring an end to separation. Love-based ideas sponsor cooperation rather than competition, so instead of separating people, these ideas bring people together where we can share resources, skills, and knowledge which benefit everyone.
“Other seeds fell on good soil.” Some of the spiritual ideas came to people who were receptive and had open minds and hearts. There the spiritual ideas took root and grew. People grew in understanding and wisdom and produced great benefits, not only for themselves, but for everyone around them.
The Sower Explained
Matthew 13:19-23 (RSV)
When one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundred fold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
This is another example of the work of another author. The fear-based approach is obvious and contradictory to the teachings of Jesus. Here again church doctrine is being presented as if it were the true teaching of Jesus, where it is intended not to help people grow and understand, but to frighten people into submission to the Church. Here the “word” is church doctrine expressed as the Church’s interpretation of scripture. But “word”, “logos” in the Greek, also refers to a system of thought, a teaching, like the teaching of Jesus. So he who hears the word and understands it is a person who knows the symbols used, hears the teaching of Jesus, and understands what is being taught. This person indeed bears fruit; he or she grows spiritually and creates benefits for others as well as growing closer to God. Some individuals will grow profoundly, some significantly and others only some. The degree of growth is both a function of ability and dedication. Both are required to produce maximum results.
The reference to the evil one is again a reference to the ego and the fear-based ideas and emotions. Whatever love becomes sown in our heart can be removed by fear and fear-based emotions. Anger and hatred will displace love and kindness. It is only when we clearly see the folly in engaging in anger and hatred that we consciously decide to abandon the fear-based emotions and focus only on the love-based thoughts and feelings. With dedication, the love-based thoughts and feelings will displace the fear-based concepts that have driven our lives. We will accumulate the type of thoughts and feelings upon which we focus our mind and our life. We can choose anything we want, and what we choose will bring the associated results into our life.
The Mustard Seed
Matthew 13:31-32 (RSV)
The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed . . .” The most important part of the teachings of Jesus is repeated over and over so the attentive student can’t miss it. Once we begin to unravel the symbols, these repetitive parts simply fill out the interpretation. The kingdom of heaven is a state of consciousness. It appears to be a small thing in the perspective of the world, just as the grain of mustard is one of the smallest of seeds. But once we sow the basic concept that we are spiritual beings into our mind (our field), it gradually grows and expands, just as the mustard plant becomes a shrub and then a tree. The realization that we are spiritual beings expands and leads us naturally into service to others and eventually into the realization of the oneness; full conscious contact with God or universal mind.
In that process we become more open to other ideas and means of being of service. Universal mind or God continues to fill us with more ideas and advanced concepts represented by the birds of the air (higher ideas and concepts) making nests in the branches, which represents an expanded understanding of consciousness and the related meanings of more and more concepts in life (the emergence of wisdom). We begin connecting the dots, making logical connections between many different aspects of life and the spiritual knowledge-base we are gradually collecting. In making these connections we are branching out our understanding, seeing clearly how much of life is interconnected and interactive. The series of realizations this generates makes us much more aware and expands our perceptions, opening us up to even greater insights.
The mustard tree becomes the symbol of our expanded consciousness and understanding. In this context we should not ignore the close association the symbol has with the Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden, which represents exactly the same thing. Consciousness and life are intimately interconnected. Jesus said he has come to bring us life so that we may have it more abundantly. He is not talking about fame and fortune; he is talking about consciousness.
Leaven
Matthew 13:33 (RSV)
The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.
Leaven is a substance that causes bread or similar mixtures to rise. The parable is about a woman, so we are dealing with our emotional nature. Love-based emotions cause our emotions to rise and act as leaven to our emotional nature. Fear-based emotions do the opposite. If we are to raise our spiritual level we must raise both our intellectual nature and our emotional level. By incorporating loving thoughts and loving feelings into our lives we begin to raise our level of consciousness. By including loving actions we complete the process. This is the meaning of the three measures of meal: the three things we have control over in our lives: our thoughts, feelings and actions.
Spiritual growth is primarily emotionally based. The peace of God that comes to us is first experienced emotionally. So is the love and joy that are a constant part of the experience of the kingdom of heaven. Fear-based feelings accentuate our separation from God and other people and limit our relationship to the outer world. We tend to see other people as competitors for what we want or what we need, which, in turn, fosters feelings of resentment, bitterness, and jealousy, or envy. The whole process becomes a downward spiral leaving us more depressed and desperate for the things we don’t have.
Love-based feelings lead us toward oneness and away from separation. Love-based feelings foster a sense of forgiveness, understanding, and consideration. Our whole outlook on life softens and becomes gentler. We begin to value other people more and listen to what they are saying rather than simply thinking of what we are going to say next. Love-based feelings lead to making connections, first with other people, and then with God. There is a wise saying: people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
The Love that flows from God is the pure transforming power that we all have access to in our lives. But we have to consciously choose to incorporate that Love into our own emotional nature and into our relationships with other people. It is not possible to love God and despise other people. Love is the creative power of God; it is the life-force of everything that lives and the mechanism that renders the un-manifest universe into the manifest universe that we can see and experience. Love is the only power and we need to mix it thoroughly into our thoughts, feelings, and actions before we can raise the spirit and consciousness within us and become one with God.
The Lost Sheep
Luke 15:1-32 (RSV)
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.”
This is one of the more popular parables, and we have heard the conventional interpretation so many times that we don’t notice some of the interesting details hidden within the parable. For example, sheep are tended in a field where they can graze, yet when the shepherd finds the sheep it does not say the sheep is returned to the flock. That part is conspicuous by its absence. Instead, the shepherd returns home and invites others to join in a celebration.
Parables are carefully constructed. People assume that the lost sheep is returned to the flock, but that’s not what it says. Many spiritual lessons are constructed as puzzles. The puzzle is created allowing the uninitiated to make unwarranted assumptions so they will miss the point of the lesson. This is one of those examples.
There is an amusing story about little Johnny. The teacher in school presents a story math problem to him, saying, “If you have ten sheep in a field and one of them jumps over the fence, how many sheep are left in the field?” Little Johnny replies, “None.” The teacher says, “That is not correct. If you take one sheep away, nine are left in the field.” To which little Johnny replies, “Teacher, you may know math, but you don’t know sheep. If one of them jumps over the fence, all of them jump over the fence.”
Sheep are followers and they function in a herd mentality. Sheep represent the conventional thinking of society; people who conform to the established interpretation and don’t question the paradigm. The lost sheep leaves the conventional thinking of the group and begins thinking for him or herself. This is what is required on a spiritual path; we must leave the conventional thinking and explanations behind and find the hidden truth for ourselves. From the perspective of the group, we have become “lost”. Yet what we really seek is the truth. In its essence, a spiritual journey is a search for the truth.
In the parable, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and goes in search of the one. That is exactly what happens on our spiritual journey. Jesus says, “Seek and you will find.” But how it actually works is that through our seeking, we come to the attention of universal mind, or God, just as the missing sheep has come to the attention of the shepherd. God, as unlimited Spirit, comes to us in the midst of our search. Instead of finding the kingdom of heaven, it finds us. Just as there is a celebration when the shepherd returns home; so too is there a celebration among spiritually conscious beings when universal Spirit brings another awakened soul home and into the oneness.
Another similar story is the goose in the jar. A spiritual teacher tells his students a baby goose was placed in a large jar. Water and food was supplied and the goose grows to full size inside of the jar. The goose, long ago, outgrew the opening in the jar. The question is then posed, “How do you get the goose out of the jar without breaking the jar or killing the goose?” The puzzle has no obvious solution because the story is symbolic. The goose represents us and the jar represents the conventional paradigm or belief system. When we are small children we are taught the conventional paradigm, and that is what we believe is true. We grow up confined within that paradigm, within that belief system. Only by “thinking outside of the box” do we realize a different level of existence, a different level of consciousness. When we do, the spiritual teacher suddenly claps his hands and shouts, “The goose is out!” We have escaped the confines of the jar and we are free.
This is the same process of the parable of the lost sheep. When we leave the conventional paradigm behind and seek the truth on our own, we finally change our perspective and break out of the old belief system. We become free, just as Jesus said, “You will come to know the truth, and that truth will set you free.”
The Lost Sheep Continued
Luke 15:7 (RSV)
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than in ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
This section of the parable was added many years later by another author. Here church doctrine is presented; the sinner who repents and gets into heaven. Repent comes from the Greek word, metanoia, which refers to a change in thinking or perception. This is exactly what happens on our spiritual journey; our search for truth. When we change our belief system to a higher level of understanding, we also change our level of awareness and our level of consciousness. As we do so, we eventually enter into the oneness, the kingdom of heaven.
Church doctrine assumes that the righteous, the members of the Church, will go to heaven after they die. This is the exoteric explanation, the outer version meant for the many. The reality is that the conventionally righteous are not going to enter into heaven upon their death. Heaven is a state of consciousness, and death does not, and cannot change our level of consciousness. That has to be a deliberate act and process on our part. We have to free ourselves from the conventional paradigm and enter into the higher states of consciousness on our own. That is the basis of the entire teaching of Jesus.
Jesus said, “Wide and easy is the path that leads to destruction. Narrow and difficult is the path that leads to salvation, and only he who persists unto death will be saved.” Organized religion provides the wide and easy path. Only the inner spiritual journey follows the narrow and difficult path. Only those who persist on the spiritual journey unto the death of the ego will experience the enlightenment that is salvation.
The Lost Coin
Luke 15:8-10 (RSV)
Or a woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.” Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
This too was added many years after Jesus by another author. This parable is again based on church doctrine instead of the teachings of Jesus. By now the difference between the parables of Jesus and those of other authors should be more obvious.
The Prodigal Son
Luke 15:11-26 (RSV)
There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.” And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself and said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.’” And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and now is found.” And they began to make merry.
This parable provides us with an overall view of incarnation and its hidden purpose. As spiritual beings we exist within the presence of God. In the beginning the presence is continually conscious, just as the two brothers are aware of their relationship to their father. But one of the sons, representing each soul who decides to experience incarnation, asks for his share of the father’s estate. We, as spiritual beings experiencing human incarnation, have also asked for our share of our Father’s estate, which is pure Spirit (the upper-case Spirit refers to the spiritual essence of God, unlimited Spirit. The lower-case spirit refers to the share of God’s unlimited Spirit which has been assigned to us as individual spiritual beings, which becomes our individual spirit).
We take our inheritance, our individual spirit, and we incarnate. In the parable the son goes into a far country. A country refers to a state of consciousness, and a far country refers to a state of consciousness that is well removed from the consciousness of God. This is what we experience in physical incarnation as we attach our consciousness to a physical body. Since God, as universal mind is everywhere, there is no physical place we can go where God is not. So the solution is to create the separation from God within our own mind. This is accomplished through the subconscious mind. When the subconscious is filled with fear-based thoughts and emotions it acts as the veil that separates us from the presence of God. By transforming the contents of the subconscious from fear-based to love-based thoughts and emotions, the veil gradually clears and becomes our natural connection to universal consciousness and universal mind. The veil of separation fades and we slowly step into the oneness.
In the parable the younger son squanders his property in loose living. In our physical incarnation we squander the spirit within us as we focus on the body as the source of life. We believe we are the body and that when death arrives, we die. We spend many lifetimes believing we are the body and we experience all of the lessons we have selected as the body. Sometimes we experience wealth and power, sometimes poverty, illness, arrogance, lost loves, betrayal, loneliness, and dependence. Each lifetime grants us the experience of dominance, submission, control, helplessness, guilt, or shame. And with each life lesson comes a small amount of understanding, and a small amount of wisdom.
After many lifetimes of being focused solely on ourselves, we come to the lowest point in our series of incarnations. In the parable, the son had spent everything when a great famine arose in that country. This represents when everything stops working in our life; our job may come to an end, we may lose the relationships we have, we may also lose our health. We hit bottom.
In the parable the son goes and joins himself to one of the citizens of that country. This is a form of indentured servitude. He becomes a slave. This is also what happens to us during incarnation; we become a slave to the body, feeding it, maintaining it, and servicing its desires. What the body wants, we believe is what we want and we become driven by the body. Many times we may fall into addictions that speed our journey to the bottom.
Then something special happens. In the parable the son comes to himself. A realization takes place; there is a better way of doing things. He will be better off as one of his father’s hired servants. In our life we come to the same place. We realize that we will be better off being of service to others than we are trying to serve only ourselves. An intellectual transformation takes place. We come to ourselves; we recognize that we are spiritual beings and not just a body. We realize it is time to go home, back into the presence of God. Just as the prodigal son makes his journey back home to his father, so too do we embark on our spiritual journey back into the presence of God. The spiritual path is a journey without distance. It is a transformation in mind, emotions, and spirit.
In this parable the father sees his son returning from a distance. So too does the universal consciousness that is God see us from a distance on our spiritual journey. We do not have to get all the way back to begin receiving the benefits of our journey. While we are still some distance from being in the oneness, the presence of God comes to us, filling us first with peace, then love, and then Joy.
In our human experience, through life after life, we gradually come to the point where we have learned humility, the value of honesty, and ethics. We have left the ways of the world behind and we have followed the higher path, doing the right things simply because we have developed compassion for others and will not hurt them. We have become dedicated to being of honest service to others, not for what we can get, but rather for what we are becoming—a truly spiritual being.
This is where the father comes to the son and says, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and now is found.” Jesus has referred to those who have not awakened spiritually as the dead. This too is the meaning of the father’s statement, “My son was dead, and is alive again.” We have awakened spiritually and are returning home to the oneness and interconnected nature of the kingdom of heaven. We have been separated from the conscious contact with God and were “lost”. Now we have worked our way through the subconscious mind and we have entered the oneness; we are now “found”. Just as Jesus stated, “I and the Father are one.” So, too, have we become one with the Father.
The Prodigal Son Continued
Luke 15:25-32 (RSV)
Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.” But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, “Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I may make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!” And he said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”
The elder son was in the field. He was operating from the intellectual center of his being. This means that he is not living from the heart center, which is home to the spiritual nature. The spiritual journey is sometimes described as a journey without distance. From a practical aspect, it is the journey from the mind center to the heart center. Once he finds out that his brother has returned and a celebration is taking place, he becomes angry. In the parable he refused to go in (to the celebration). The symbol represents the reality that anger and other fear-based emotions cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Neither can we, as long as we maintain any form of fear-based thoughts or emotions. They all have to be transformed into love-based thoughts and emotions for us to enter into the kingdom of heaven and experience spiritual enlightenment.
The elder brother has stayed where he was, and has not taken the spiritual journey. There is no transformation and the earthly estate of his father will be his. The younger son has made the spiritual transformation. He was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found. He does not inherit the earthly estate; he inherits the Kingdom of Heaven.
Unshrunk Cloth
Matthew 9:16 (RSV)
And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will tear away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.
Belief systems and levels of consciousness are not interchangeable. We cannot bring the kingdom of heaven and insert it into our worldly level of consciousness. The two are incompatible. In the parable new wine is put into fresh wineskins. Wineskins are constructed from leather. As the juice ferments and produces carbon-dioxide as a byproduct, the volume of the wine increases, and subsequently stretches the leather. There is a practical limit as to how much the leather wineskin will stretch before it bursts. Once the fermentation process is complete, the wineskin has no more need to stretch, and thus becomes a viable container. If we put new wine (juice) into an already stretched wineskin, the wineskin will burst. We will lose both the wineskin and the wine.
The wineskin represents our belief system and the new wine represents a new idea, or a new level of consciousness, as we grow on our spiritual journey. The problem comes when we try to fit the new spiritual understanding into our old belief system. The belief that God is someone or something outside of us is a very restrictive thought system. It doesn’t allow us to grow or think for ourselves. When we actually do begin to think for ourselves and see things more clearly, pressure builds within our belief system. Old ideas and new thoughts are in constant conflict with one another. Some kind of resolution is necessary.
The eventual outcome of this inner struggle is that our old belief system breaks down. We lose faith in what we have believed, and we often blame the new thoughts or new teaching for the destruction of our faith. We lose both the wineskin and the wine. It is no wonder that the church considers spiritual growth such a threat. Anyone who considers that the spirit of God is within them is in eminent danger of losing their faith, and the value they have placed upon the church. This is why many churches regularly remind their members that they are sinners, unworthy of the kingdom of heaven without the saving grace of Jesus.
The reality is that no one enters into the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God through believing. No one is saved by believing in a savior figure, whoever that may be. We experience our salvation through the transformation of our consciousness. The ego personality, embedded in fear, anger, hatred, resentment, bitterness, envy, greed, and lust is simply incompatible with the level of consciousness that is the kingdom of heaven. Remember, it’s not a place; it’s a level or state of consciousness.
The example of the goose inside the jar is a simplified version of what actually happens. The image of a Lotus blossom is much more like the actual spiritual process. Spiritual awakening and spiritual enlightenment do not happen as one sudden event or realization. The change of consciousness comes in stages, just as the many petals of the lotus blossom gradually peel away from the central core of the flower. Our belief system gradually changes as we learn more and understand what we have learned. It’s not just ideas. The heart of the transformation process is emotionally based, not logic based.
We begin with the mind, and we end with the mind, but the transformation is almost entirely emotional in nature. In the beginning, we learn some new ideas and some new concepts. We learn that we are spiritual beings, rather than just a body. We learn that we are children of God, created out of God substance; the living light of Spirit, a portion of the awareness of universal consciousness, a soul, and that we are an individualized expression of God. These concepts are far from the demeaning label of sinner. It takes time and experience with the new ideas before we release our old restrictive beliefs. Concept-by-concept, we gradually let go of the old fear-based thoughts and embrace the new love-based ideas. As we do this, our belief system expands. It stretches, much as a new wineskin does.
It is the inner emotional transformation that changes us and creates our salvation. As we practice the transformation of emotions there is a gradual shift within us. The initial concept of being created out of God substance begins to gather emotional support as we focus on changing our fear-based feelings to love. We begin to feel kinder toward ourselves and others. This slowly translates into a better and more positive self-image. The emotional shift away from fear-based feelings and toward love-based feelings creates questions within our mind. We start to challenge some of the guiding principles we have lived by, and in doing so, we gradually open our mind to higher levels of knowledge and greater possibilities.
In a simplified form, we learn a new concept, then we practice the transformation of emotions connected with the new concept. The change in our emotional state raises questions regarding what we have believed in the past about God, the world, and ourselves. Those questions lead to learning more about our inner selves and an expanded knowledge of how our mind works. Then the whole process repeats: new knowledge leads to more emotional transformation, which leads to a deeper understanding of who and what we actually are.
The Unclean Spirit
Matthew 12:43-45 (RSV)
When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, but he finds none. Then he says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” And when he comes he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and brings with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So shall it be also with this evil generation.
This is another example of a modified parable. Everything in it represents the symbolic mystery school system and its inner teachings, except for the last sentence. So shall it be also with this evil generation is a fear-based threat from church doctrine. It was obviously added at a later date by another author.
The unclean spirit represents the ego. From the mystery school perspective, the ego feeds off of fear-based emotions rather than love-based feelings, making it unclean. Only the spirit within can be fed from love-based emotions. We can work on purging the fear-based emotions from our feeling nature, but if we don’t replace the feelings with an emotion of a different level (love-based), then the inner emotional nature becomes depleted. We become more stoic; less connected with the universe around us. This emptiness will last for only so long, before what is left of our ego returns with a vengeance, and we are worse off than we were before.
The solution is to not leave our emotional nature empty. By transforming our emotions from fear-based feelings into love-based feelings, we are keeping our house full. That way there is no room for the ego to return.
From a practical point of view, fear-based emotions feed the ego, while love-based emotions feed the spirit within us. As we focus on love-based ideas and emotions, the ego gradually starves. This is symbolized by the ego passing through waterless places seeking rest, but finding none. Waterless places represent a state without emotions, specifically the fear-based emotions that feed the ego. The ego can’t feed off of love-based emotions. If we leave our emotional house empty by suppressing our fear-based emotions, the ego will eventually resort to much more drastic emotions in order to regain its control over our life. This is symbolized by the unclean spirit that brings with him seven other spirits more evil than himself. It’s not really about unclean or evil spirits that exist outside of us; It’s about the ego, which we have come to believe is who and what we are.
The Banquet
Matthew 22:1-14 (RSV)
The kingdom may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, “Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.” But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants and treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said unto his servants, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you can find.” And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.
The symbols of a marriage, a marriage feast, the bride, the groom, and wedding garments have very specific meanings within the mystery school system and the secret teaching of Jesus. All of these symbols have to do with spiritual enlightenment and the state of oneness that is entered into as a result of our spiritual journey. A man who has completed the journey to spiritual enlightenment is the groom and the Christ consciousness that comes to reside within him is the bride. For a woman, the terminology is reversed: a woman who has completed the journey to spiritual enlightenment is the bride and the Christ consciousness is the groom.
When the word marriage is used, it refers to the mystical marriage, entering into the Christ consciousness and becoming one with God and the rest of the interactive universe. The marriage feast is the celebration that takes place both within the individual and within the community of enlightened beings as another soul becomes an active part of the oneness. Wedding garments are the emotional states of love-based feelings and the associated love-based thoughts within each person. In the parable, the king saw a man who had no wedding garment. In other words, the man had no love-based thoughts or feelings.
For a moment, imagine being in a group of close friends having a good time; laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Then imagine someone you don’t know entering the room, angry and upset, full of resentment and bitterness. The emotional shock is palpable. It doesn’t matter what the person is wearing, their attitude says it all.
Another concept we are dealing with is the light and the darkness. The light is both a state of knowledge and a reference to the increased spiritual light we generate as enlightened spiritual beings. The darkness is the lack of light, so it represents both ignorance and the lack of spiritual light from within. The marriage feast is a place full of light. It is the celebration of the community of enlightened beings. The king orders his men to bind the man without a wedding garment and cast him into the outer darkness. As we are working to attain spiritual enlightenment, this is what we must do to the random thoughts of the ego: we must recognize that it is a fear-based thought, or a fear-based feeling, bind it, so it cannot feed and become stronger, and cast it back into the darkness from which it came. We must throw out every last vestige of the ego. None of it can remain.
The invitation to the wedding feast, or banquet, goes out to all we know. But many will not respond. Every excuse will be used to not follow the spiritual journey. The same explanation applies to the following parable as well. In this parable the main character is the king; a person who has mastered his own thoughts and feelings. Some of those invited simply refused to come “while the rest seized his servants and treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” This is another example of exaggeration added by another author. It doesn’t really fit into the concept of love-based thoughts and feelings.
We have to recognize that as we change, our relationships will also change. Some long-held friendships will gradually cease to be viable. People will drift away from us, preferring to be with people of like mind. We, too, will prefer to be with people of like mind. Some relationships will end and some relationships will start. In both this parable and the one that follows, strangers are invited into the wedding feast or into the banquet. This represents the changes in relationships that will inevitably take place as we grow on our spiritual journey. Some people will drift away, and others will be attracted to us. It’s all part of the process of transformation.
Again, the statement “there men will weep and gnash their teeth” has been added to the parable by another author.
An interesting part has also been added: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” This is also an added concept from church doctrine. It is a reference to the selective nature of the religiously elite. The practical reality of spiritual growth and the inner spiritual journey is that all are called, but few choose to go.
The Great Supper
Luke 14:15-24 (RSV)
A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for all is now ready.” But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray to you, have me excused.” And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.” And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.” And the servant said, “Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.” And the master said to the servant, “Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.”
Here the parable is about a banquet, rather than a marriage feast. A banquet represents the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God. It is a less intense version of the Christ consciousness, and has to do with spiritual awakening, a major milestone on the way to full spiritual enlightenment. Again, the invited guests make excuses and do not attend. Others are brought in to the banquet. “Then the householder in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’ ” There is an interesting quality to those who seek and follow the spiritual journey; they have suffered enough to the point where they will do almost anything to change their life. In the parable the man brings in the poor and maimed and blind and lame; people who have suffered in life and who are seeking a chance to improve the quality of their existence.
Who did Jesus teach? The wealthy and powerful were too busy with their lives to take time and listen. The people Jesus taught were what the church identifies as sinners: the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame. He taught people who had already discovered that their life wasn’t working, and were looking for a chance to change. He was teaching people who were dedicated to transforming their life, no matter what it took. These were people who instinctively knew that what they had learned so far in life wasn’t what they wanted, so they were ready, willing, and able to scrap all that had come before and start anew.
The Ten Maidens
Matthew 25:1-13 (RSV)
Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom (and the bride). Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise replied, “Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.” And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut.
Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” But he replied, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
“The kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom (and the bride).” So this is also about the Christ consciousness and the kingdom of heaven. The parable is about ten maidens, so we are dealing with our emotional state. “Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.” Foolishness is born out of ignorance, a lack of knowledge. Wisdom is created from knowledge, tempered with experience. Here the difference between the foolish and the wise maidens comes down to how much oil they have brought with them. Oil is the fuel for the lamps, which create light. The oil thus is a symbol for the love we have created and hold inside of ourselves, which is the spiritual fuel for the spiritual light within each of us. The spiritual journey is a long one, taking many years and a great deal of dedication and persistence.
The parable says, “As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.” Anyone actively engaged in the spiritual journey is somewhere in between being sound asleep and awakened. In other words; slumbering, or asleep. The kingdom of heaven is a state of being awakened and coming alive, entered into through the process of spiritual awakening.
Very late in the spiritual journey, described as midnight in the parable, the call goes out, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” The maidens trimmed and lit their lamps. If we do not have enough love within us, our spiritual light flickers, and goes out at times. We can become angry, bitter, or resentful. All this means is that we have farther to go on our spiritual journey. We have to transform more fear-based feelings into love-based feelings. When we become filled with love, our light will shine brightly and constantly. Our spiritual lamp will have plenty of oil.
As can be expected, while the foolish maidens are out trying to buy more oil, the bridegroom arrives and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast. The Christ consciousness is entered into only at the very end of the spiritual journey. It is only open to those who have completed the emotional transformation from fear-based emotions to love-based feelings, thoughts, and actions.
“Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ” Entrance into the Christ consciousness isn’t a matter of prayer, meditation, or asking. It is the result of full and complete transformation in our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
The Good Samaritan
Luke 10:25-37 (RSV)
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this and you will live.”
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?”
He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
The Good Samaritan is a popular parable. We’ll start with the discussion with the lawyer, who represents an exacting type of interpretation. The question is posed; what shall I do to inherit eternal life? This is the primary leverage that organized religion uses to manipulate people. If a person becomes a member and follows the dogma, they will gain eternal life. The problem with it is we already have eternal life as a spiritual being. In essence, organized religion is offering us something that we already possess. Organized religion cannot give anyone eternal life, no matter what they do. No organized religion possesses eternal life, nor can they influence God or anyone else to grant something they do not possess. It’s not theirs to give. The manipulation depends on our basic ignorance of whom and what we actually are. There are two basic principles we need to examine: a person cannot earn what they already freely possess, and an organization cannot give something that it does not possess.
Jesus asks, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” In other words, what is your interpretation? The law is the Law of Moses, the foundation of Judaism. The lawyer answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” In other versions of the same or similar story, parts of the Ten Commandments have been added to support church doctrine. In this example we have a fairly clean explanation that is based solely on the quality of love, which is consistent with the teaching of Jesus.
Jesus replies, “You have answered right; do this and you will live.”
The lawyer then gets to the crux of the issue: “And who is my neighbor?”
In the time of Jesus, Samaritans were considered heathens. They did not follow the Law of Moses and were thus disrespected by the society of Judea. Priests and Levites, on the other hand, were well respected people. Jesus drives the point home by having the priest and then the Levite avoid the injured man, leaving him to succumb to his injuries. The despised person, the Samaritan, stops and provides basic medical aid to the injured man. The alcohol in the wine acts as an antiseptic to limit infection. The oil helps to keep the wound clean. At the time of Jesus a number of substances were infused into oil. Among them are myrrh and frankincense, both are powerful healing agents.
The key that Jesus is getting across is that the Samaritan had compassion, something that develops as we progress on our spiritual journey. Compassion is often a quality that is missing in many people. So Jesus asks, “Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?”
The lawyer answers, “The one who showed mercy on him.”
So many times we define our neighbor as someone who lives close to us, or more commonly, someone who believes as we do. The human ego bases everything on the principle of separation: I am separate from God, your religion is separate from mine, I am separate from the objects in the world, I am separate from other people, I am separate from the plants and the animals, and I am separate from the universe. In this separation, we only feel moderately safe with people of our own kind, and those who believe as we do.
We have been told to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Herein resides the problem; if we have not learned to love ourselves, how can we give that non-existent love to anyone else? We cannot give what we do not have. As long as the ego is in control, the inner emotions are, and will be, dominated by fear-based thoughts and feelings.
Jesus tells the lawyer, “Go and do likewise.”
It is a task that, for the most part, cannot be done. This is the importance of the secret teaching of Jesus: we can transform the thoughts and feelings within us. Fear-based thoughts and feelings can be changed into love-based thoughts and feelings.
Jesus was asked about eating unclean food. His answer was that food passes through the body system and passes out the other end. The type of food we eat is not the problem. It’s not what goes into our mouth, it’s what comes out of it that defiles us. For what comes out of our mouth comes from our heart. The thoughts and particularly the emotions that come from our emotional center define whom and what we are. If our heart is filled with anger, bitterness, and resentment, then that is what comes out of our mouth. Again, the only thing you have to give is what you have in your heart and in your mind.
Each one of us is responsible for the content of our mind and our heart. We may have been programmed and imprinted with self-destructive beliefs and feelings, but that does not mean we have to leave the erroneous programming and imprinting in place. We are divine creatures; spiritual beings created out of pure God substance. We have the power of transformation built into our very being. All that is needed to start the transformation process is the recognition that we have not only the power to transform our thoughts and feelings, but the responsibility to do so.
The Rich Young Man
Matthew 19:16-24 (RSV)
And behold, one came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these things I have observed; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.
And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
This parable includes the church doctrine regarding the Ten Commandments, so it is a parable modified by another author. The point is still well made; “go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me.”
Again, possessions are outer things that actually refer to inner thoughts and feelings. Selling is a term that specifies an exchange. In this case we are exchanging the inner fear-based thoughts and feelings for love-based thoughts and feelings. The instructions that Jesus specifies are to sell what you possess. In other words, we are to exchange (transform) all of our thoughts and feelings first. Once we have transformed all of our thoughts and feelings into love-based thoughts and feelings, then we have something of value to give. It is only then that we can become the Good Samaritan from the previous parable.
In this case, the rich young man had great possessions, meaning he had a very strong ego, filled with a large volume of fear-based thoughts and emotions. Transformation is a difficult task under the best of circumstances. A rich ego makes the task even harder.
Jesus tells his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The inner meaning is that the richer the ego is in fear-based thoughts and feelings, the more difficult the transformation process is going to be.
Jesus adds, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
The eye of a needle comes from a much older term and refers to an opening in the outer wall of many ancient cities. Provision was made for merchants and other travelers to make camp outside the city wall, while being able to bring their animals into a small area protected from the weather. The entrance to the area for the animals was specifically designed for camels and was key-hole shaped. The opening was just large enough to allow a camel to pass through without a saddle or any other burden.
The hidden meaning is that if we are to enter the kingdom of God, we must do so unburdened by our baggage. We have to leave our fear-based thoughts and emotions behind. Our spirituality is strictly limited by the amount of fear-based thoughts and emotions we cling to. Fear, anger, hatred, greed, guilt, envy, jealousy, resentment, and bitterness have no place within the consciousness of the kingdom of God. We can’t bring them in. We can’t enter while those thoughts and feelings are still active within us. They all have to be transformed. Then we can enter the kingdom.
The Two Debtors
Luke 7:36-50 (RSV)
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat at his table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was sitting at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “What is it, teacher?” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other owed fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
This is another parable based on church doctrine, but it does bring up some interesting points. The alabaster flask was not a common form of container, so it represents something of value. The ointment is probably oil infused with frankincense, which is used for both healing and anointing. Simon apparently considers Jesus a prophet from the wording of the parable. The term Christ refers to an anointed being, one who has become one with God and the universal consciousness.
The woman is described as a woman of the city, who was a sinner. This again is church doctrine and represents the emotional part of us that has been abused and debased. She represents the injured and disrespected emotional core of so many of us. Yet she recognizes the Christ consciousness and pays respect to it. She washes his feet and anoints him with precious oil. When we are ready for our spiritual journey it is mostly because we have suffered at the hands of others and been taken advantage of so much that we are willing to do whatever is needed to create the transformation from where we are into the Christ consciousness.
“And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ ”
Forgiveness is an essential part of the transformation of emotions. We begin with forgiving others for what they have done to us. This accounts for about ten percent of the work of forgiveness. The other ninety percent is forgiving ourselves for all of the things we have done to not only others, but to ourselves as well. We must also forgive ourselves for the things we believe we should have done, but failed to do. Forgiveness is essentially the intellectual work of correcting our perception of what has taken place. It serves as a correction for our mistakes of the past in regards to others and to us. The transformation of the emotions is the emotional work that changes the content of our emotional nature from fear-based to love-based thoughts and feelings.
“Then those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this, who even forgives sins?’ ” The Church and the priests take it upon themselves to be the authority for the forgiveness of sins. Ordinary people aren’t allowed to forgive sins. Yet it is up to us, not the Church or a priest, to forgive others. Forgiveness is designed to relieve our suffering, especially when it is linked to the transformation of emotions. It is our life. It is our responsibility to transform the thoughts and emotions within ourselves. Forgiveness is not granted from God or from anything or anyone outside of us. Forgiveness is what we do to begin the transformation of our life from suffering to wholeness, from separation into oneness.
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” This is a platitude that is used in church doctrine. In reality, if we seek forgiveness, faithfully doing the forgiveness and the transformation of emotions exercises is what “saves” us.
The Strong Man
Matthew 12:29 (RSV)
Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.
While this may seem strange as an original parable, it has an important point to make. The strong man is the ego, and the strong man’s house is the contents of the subconscious mind. When we go into the ego’s domain to remove the old ideas and concepts and resolve the emotional issues, the ego isn’t going to stand there and watch. The ego is going to fight back either actively, or passively. Active resistance from the ego includes the denial that the exercises will have any effect, or that any exercises need to be done at all. The ego assures us that just intellectually knowing that we are spiritual beings is enough to make it all real for us.
Passive resistance by the ego generally takes the form of misdirection; coming up with easier ways of doing the exercises, or a different exercise that will work so much better. While the modifications to the exercises, or a different exercise, proposed by the ego seems subtle and minor at best, the end effect is to render the exercises useless and non-productive. The other approach by the ego is to be unable to find time to do the exercises. Either way, no progress to spiritual enlightenment is made.
The reason for going through this explanation is that we need to know what tools the ego will use against us on our spiritual journey. This is how we bind the strong man; by understanding how the ego will undermine our efforts to awaken and become spiritually enlightened. Once we understand the tactics of the ego and recognize what the ego is doing, we can consciously decide to go ahead with the exercises, stick to a schedule, and make consistent progress on our spiritual journey. Perfection isn’t required, but persistence and dedication are.
The ego is armed with all of our intense emotions: shame, anger, hatred, guilt, envy, jealousy, resentment, and bitterness. It is also armed with all of the false conclusions we have accepted as valid over our lifetime: that we are useless, valueless, defective, stupid, ugly or unattractive, or generally unable to do anything right. None of these feelings or conclusions about us is true or valid. We need to begin with the knowledge that the ego will use all of the feelings and thoughts from the subconscious as a weapon against us.
The temptation is to think that we are feeling the fear-based emotions and that the feelings are valid. Feelings are not facts; they are just feelings. When we realize that it is the ego that is invoking these emotions for its own benefit, we can smile to ourselves at the realization that we don’t have to identify with the thoughts or feelings that the ego is using. We are spiritual beings, not the disrespected people the ego portrays us to be in our minds. We have the option of simply observing the temper tantrum that the ego is throwing and not buying in, not taking part in the fear-based thoughts and emotions that are being presented to us. We are free to not participate.
The ego is fed by fear-based emotions. That is the energy source for the ego. By practicing non-participation in the ego’s attempt to be fed and grow stronger, we deprive the ego of its energy. We bind the ego, so it no longer has free reign to do whatever it wants. Once we bind the ego, we can enter the subconscious and bring the subconscious thoughts and emotions to the surface so we can examine them. The love-based thoughts and feelings we can keep. The fear-based thoughts and feelings are toxic to us and must be rejected and removed from our consciousness. When we plunder the ego’s house, we remove every thought and emotion it has used against us all of these years. This is how we become free.
Scattered Seeds
Mark 26-29 (RSV)
The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow. He knows not how. The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.
This is another parable written by another author. It illustrates the church doctrine that if we believe and spread the doctrine to others, we do not have to understand how salvation works; we just have to be ready to take advantage of the situation at the right time.
We can also apply some of the inner principles to this parable with some interesting results. If a man should scatter seed upon the ground bears no qualification as to whether it is good seed, or bad seed. Seeds are ideas and concepts. In the parable a man scatters seeds on the ground, in other words, he spreads ideas and concepts into his mind. The seeds sprout and grow. The ideas take hold. He knows not how, but there is a definable progression: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. Ideas and concepts grow and come to fruition within our mind, whether they are good ideas, or bad. The process is always the same. We have so many misguided sayings: as the twig is bent, so grows the tree; raise a child in the way of the lord, and he will not depart from it; spare the rod, and spoil the child.
The “wisdom of the world” is filled with so many self-destructive and damaging ideas and concepts that it boggles the mind. Our cultures are filled with misunderstood sayings and principles that it is no wonder that the condition of the world is the way it is. Based on what we have been taught, no other outcome is likely. The difference is that we can learn new things; we can learn to transform our life from the inside out. We don’t have to blindly believe. We all have the capacity to learn to one degree or another. We can all transform at least part of our life, and in the process, make the world a better place.
Many organized religions tell us that we cannot understand the ways of God. That we must take on faith what the doctrine is and follow it without question. I know a number of people who have challenged the doctrine of their church, wanting to know what it really means. The typical result is excommunication from the church. If you are not a sheep, they don’t want you in their flock, and I agree with them. If you can think for yourself, you don’t belong in their congregation.
We are created out of God substance. We have consciousness, and we are able to learn. I teach people that there are no mysteries that we cannot understand. We are capable of coming to know the truth, and it is that truth that sets us free.
The Unmerciful Servant
Matthew 18:23-35 (RSV)
Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him, who owed him ten thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, “Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, “Pay what you owe.” So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.”
He refused and went and put in prison till he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all of his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.
There is an interesting modification that has taken place in the Lord’s Prayer from the Gospel of Matthew. The text from the Revised Standard Version reads,
“Our father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father also will forgive you;
but if you do not forgive men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
What I find interesting is that in most versions, the prayer is ended after “But deliver us from evil.” The statement, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever,” is customarily added at that point.
What is it about the last four lines that church doctrine dictates that they be ignored? Could it be that we are not supposed to know that we are responsible for what we do? Is believing and faith enough?
Over and over the secret teaching of Jesus brings us back to the point that we are responsible for the content of our own mind and our own heart. If we do not forgive others, if we do not transform the fear-based thoughts and feelings within us, how are we to ever expect to enter into spiritual awakening and spiritual enlightenment?
The parable makes the point that some kind of an exchange is required. If we are to be forgiven, then we must forgive in exchange. The actual exchange that is required is the transformation of our thoughts and feelings from fear-based to love-based.
The Two Sons
Matthew 21:28-32 (RSV)
“What do you think? A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he repented and went. And he went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?”
They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him.
As the saying goes, it’s easy to talk the talk, but difficult to walk the walk. This, again, is the difference between believing and becoming. Believing is the easy path that leads to destruction. Becoming is the narrow and difficult path that leads to salvation. And only he who persists unto the death of the ego will be transformed.
Our thoughts and feelings are the beginning point for our inner transformation. It is essential that we transform the fear-based thoughts and feelings into love-based ones. But more is required. We must also take action. Whether we like it or not, taking compassionate action in the outer world is a vital necessity.
In the New Testament, there is a disagreement between Paul and James. Paul insists that faith alone is all that is required. James, who was the brother of Jesus, stated in The Letter of James, “What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”
Conclusion
The secret teaching of Jesus is a system of inner transformation presented in symbolic form. The symbols are consistent for the Sermon on the Mount, the parables, and the other sayings of Jesus. When taken as a whole, the teaching of Jesus is a love-based approach offering people the option to do the inner work and transform their life in the process.
The demonstrated goal of organized religion is to manipulate and control people for the profit and power of their own organization. The actual teaching of Jesus clearly moves in the opposite direction, giving people the spiritual tools and knowledge they need to resolve their inner turmoil, programming, and imprinting, thus freeing them from the manipulation and control of large religious organizations.
Some religious groups have structured their teaching on a framework of being select, or elite in some way. It’s a clever strategy to attract large numbers of people. Being among the elite, is very attractive to a lot of people.
The part I find interesting is that as we go through the inner process of emotional transformation, we come face-to-face with all of the things we have done to other people, and all of the things we believe we should have done, and did not do. As we work at resolving those emotional issues we lose the pride and arrogance of the ego. In the end we lose the ego altogether. We become truly humble. We see ourselves as being on the same footing as every other person in the human race. We are all on an extended spiritual journey. Those at the very beginning of the journey don’t recognize it as a journey at all. They just see what they either want, or don’t want in their life. They pick a life path based on what is most important to them. They are here for lessons and in many cases, it’s easy for us to recognize the lessons they have selected for their life. We simply see them as being at a different point on their spiritual journey. We have compassion for them, and where appropriate, we help them or give them suggestions that will help them learn.
Even though they don’t see the spiritual side of life, and generally don’t have any real interest in it, we still see them as a spiritual being and an integral part of the oneness.
The spiritual path is a solitary journey. We may have friends and guides along the way, but the whole of the work is within our own selves. We are responsible for walking each and every step on that journey. The blessing of making this inner journey is that the person who completes the journey into spiritual enlightenment is not the only one who benefits from the work. Everyone around them benefits from the love, generosity, gentleness, understanding, and kindness that emanates from them because of the inner transformation.
Emotions are a form of energy. Just as with electricity, emotional energy can be changed, or transformed, into another more useful form. Fear can be changed into love. The key is in understanding that emotions are an integral part of what we are (a spiritual being). When we are not feeling an emotion it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Think of water and ice. Both are exactly the same substance, just in different forms. Emotions work in essentially the same way. When we are not feeling an emotion it resides within the subconscious in a basically solid form. The thoughts in our mind trigger the release of emotions from their solid form into a liquid form, which we experience as feelings. When a feeling has been experienced and we move on to something else, the emotional energy again solidifies and resides within the body. When we are feeling the emotion it is fluid, moving, and capable of change or transformation.
There is an exercise that will bring us to awakening, and eventually, to enlightenment. We are filled with conclusions and emotions from our past. Our childhood is the source of those conclusions and the emotional trauma in our lives. The majority of the exercises will be done on our experiences with our parents, siblings, teachers, and other authority figures from our childhood.
When we trigger a fear-based emotion it is energy in motion. You can think of the word e-motion as being a condensed form of “energy in motion.” When this emotional energy is in motion it can be transformed. We do that by changing the fear-based emotion into love. Once we have changed the nature of the emotional energy from fear-based to love, we can stop the exercise. When we stop feeling the emotional energy in its love state of vibration, it will settle down as love in a solid form. By doing this exercise repeatedly for twenty minutes, twice a day, we can gradually change the nature of the emotional energy stored within our body into love.
Our idle thoughts and feelings are transient, and for the most part, do not change our lives to any recognizable degree. It is our core beliefs and core emotional states that the interactive universe hears. That is what needs to be transformed.
With time and practice, we will gradually transform the basic emotional nature within us from fear into love. Fear-based feelings act as a veil between us and God creating the experience of separation. Love-based feelings act as a clarifying conductor of consciousness, not a barrier. Through the continued practice of transforming fear-based feelings into love-based feelings, we gradually become one with God and all of creation in the universe. This is the step-by-step path to spiritual awakening and spiritual enlightenment.
In our normal state of consciousness the vast majority of our feelings are fear-based. The mind of the ego cannot perceive the oneness of the spirit mind. The spirit mind cannot perceive the separation of the ego mind. A tipping point comes at just over fifty percent in the process of emotional transformation. That is where spiritual awakening takes place. Full spiritual enlightenment comes at one hundred percent love-based emotions.
John the Baptist represents the highest level of consciousness that the ego mind can attain. John’s highest perception was the Law of God. In John 3:26-31 (RSV) it says, “And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bore witness, he is here, baptizing, and all are going to him. John answered and said, :No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegrooms’s voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth belongs to the earth, and of the earth he speaks; he who comes from heaven is above all.”
The ego mind is of the body and thus is of the earth. It cannot experience the oneness; only separation. The spirit mind comes from the universal consciousness that is the kingdom of heaven. It can only experience oneness. When we encounter the tipping point in our emotional transformation our consciousness shifts from the ego mind to the spirit mind. We suddenly see and experience the oneness. The separation ceases to be. Jesus said, “he who is the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist.” This is the shift from the ego mind to the spirit mind.
This spiritual awakening and its new perception tends to fade over time. We must continue the transformation of emotion exercises to solidify the gains we have made. Through continued practice we move deeper into the oneness. If we revert back to the fear-based emotions after awakening we run the risk of falling back into the ego mind and the separation. We will lose the mystical marriage that is the Christ Consciousness, also known as Cosmic Consciousness.
Our emotional transformation is balanced by a series of changes in our thinking as a result of forgiveness. As we confront and resolve the emotional issues within us, we must also modify the conclusions we have come to about ourselves, God, other people, and the universe around us. The realization that we live in an interactive universe and that we are an integral part of that living universe prompts a profound change in our perspective, which invariably changes our level of awareness and consciousness. The end of separation also comes with a series of insights and realizations that are profound and life-altering. We realize that we are exactly where our level of consciousness has brought us. The conditions in our lives are an exact fit to our consciousness, no more, no less. As disconcerting as this realization may be, it also comes with the realization that if anything is going to change in our lives, our level of consciousness has to change first.
For much of our life, we have believed that we are separate from everything else in the universe. We have believed that our thoughts and feelings are private. But that’s only because we haven’t been listening. No such restriction has been placed on the interactive universe. It’s listening to us all of the time, and our lives reflect exactly what we have selected as life lessons and what we have created through our consciousness.
Through the transformation of emotions, described above, we can gradually change our core beliefs and core emotional states. As we do so, we transform our consciousness and eventually our entire lives. We finally come to realize a fundamental principle: oneness is the only reality, truth is the only value, and love is the only power.