At this time of year the Christian world celebrates the birth of Jesus during a holy day we call Christmas. This birth happened some two thousand years ago, which brought into the world a man who many billions of people today have come to adore and worship as both human and divine.
Jesus is known as the Son of God, God made Incarnate in the flesh, who lived among humanity, taught divine truths, and who many believe took upon himself the sins and errors of all of humanity, all people who have ever been born, in order to save humanity, to bring salvation to the human race in a heavenly kingdom of God. He became known as the Christ, the “Anointed One.”
Much of this story has truth in it. However, many mystics and others throughout history have intuited that we have largely corrupted the essential teachings of Jesus so that we greatly misunderstand who he was and what he did and taught. Consequently, we greatly misunderstand ourselves and the meaning of our lives. As Esau, we have sold our birthright for a mess of pottage.
Jesus didn’t come to proclaim his own exclusive divinity, saying “worship me and me alone as God,” but rather he had this radical realization:
Divinity exists in all of humanity, and in Life itself, even the Light of Truth that lives within you and within me. It is our essential Being.
This is what he taught. This is what has been lost repeatedly throughout human history, even since long before Jesus, and is continually being restored by mystics like Jesus. The following is what I perceive to be real about Jesus, and what Christmas means to me.
Jesus was born as any other typical Jewish baby. He was raised in typical Jewish circumstances, with typical Jewish parents. There was nothing extraordinary or abnormal about his upbringing, his education, his vocation, or his stature in society. He was a normal member of the Jewish culture and community of his time. He may have been taught to be a carpenter by Joseph, his father. There was nothing in his childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood that would bring him any attention. He lived a fairly typical life for a Jewish man. He was like you and me.
Then something happened which changed everything.
When Jesus was about the age of thirty, there came a Jewish preacher into the area known as John. He preached that the Jews should be baptized in order to be cleansed from their impurities, a kind of ritual washing from uncleanliness (perhaps related to the Jewish tevilah, or ablution), becoming pure in body and spirit, in preparation for a coming Messiah. Jesus sought out John, perhaps followed him for a time, and asked to be baptized of him.
At some point around the time of his baptism, Jesus had an ultimate spiritual awakening, a rebirth, an enlightenment, a unitive mystical experience, a deep shift in his consciousness, a realization, a resurrection, an insight into the divine nature of his Soul. Jesus saw and knew that he was much more than his temporal egoic persona, more than his name, more than his limited human knowledge, or abilities, or memories, or mortal life. His ego psychological self fell completely away in consciousness and he perceived the depths of his being, even Being itself, the I AM.
He saw that he was Life, the Light of consciousness, the Truth of existence and of the cosmos that had become aware in the Incarnation of flesh and bones that was his physical body. He knew his true Self as the Light-Energy of the Universe that flowed in and through all things, all life, even the Universe itself that had fully awakened within his body and conscious mind.
This was ultimate and final peace, rest, love, joy, and eternal life, for he knew that he was not a limited mortal human individual, but a living manifestation of the Whole of the Universe itself, and that this Being extended to encompass all things within the Universe, all people, all beings, all existence, all life, all love. He saw that he was One with it all, and that this All was the Source of his mind and body. This was final salvation, liberation, freedom, and release from all the limitations, faults, sufferings, and errors of his human ego, and thereafter he suffered for all of humanity only as they suffered as the Self. He went about comforting those who needed comforting, mourning with those who mourned, because they were Him!
This experience that Jesus had encompassed the whole of the message that he was to spend the rest of his life teaching to others, and helping to guide them to have the exact same realization for themselves. He called this realization the “kingdom of God,” and the way to it “repentance” (the Greek metanoia, meaning a “change of mind”). It meant putting off all selfish egoic pursuits, wants, desires, aversions, thoughts, concepts, and even egoic consciousness itself.
All that Jesus taught from that day until his death was related to helping others come to the very same state of unitary consciousness that he had attained himself, to perceive the fullness of one’s own being perfectly at-one with the whole of the Universe and Cosmos, eliminating all obstacles to that realization, and promoting the Life and Love that emanate from that Divine realization. This is resurrection, salvation, liberation, even the coming of Christ consciousness within one’s own Self, even the Second Coming. This is the “Anointed” consciousness, a consciousness which perceives all things as one eternal loving union with the Cosmic Self.
This was the apocalypse, the revelation, the parousia. This was the “Savior” of all beings, the “Messiah” of humanity, being saved from their very own selves (egoic consciousness) in the Self, realizing a much greater and true identity with the whole of the Universe from which we all emerge from and are ultimately embedded within. We’re not separate from it; we never have been. This was the Infinite At-one-ment, the perception of the perfect, holy, pure, complete, and precious soul of one’s Incarnation, absolutely clean from all faults and imperfections, as a stainless and bright creation of the Universe. This was redemption from the Fall, a return to the Garden of Eden, a union with all things as One, all existence, even the Presence of God. Jesus helped to bring others into that same conscious Union, as described in the Mount of Transfiguration.
It was not just Jesus who was the Savior of all humanity, but each and every human has this Savior within them that saves them from themselves. It was not just Jesus who was the Messiah, but each and every person could realize this Messiah within, this Anointed perception of perfect Being. It was not Jesus who suffered for our sins, but each and every person suffers for their own offenses against nature until they become One in God, and then they suffer for the Self, and do all in their power to alleviate that suffering in others, spreading the Love found in the One abroad.
It was not Jesus alone that was Divine, but each and every person who ever lived is ultimately an emanation of the Divine, part of the One essence that is this Universe, and can each realize this within themselves, within their own minds and hearts. It was not Jesus alone who was the Light of the world, but he explicitly said “you all are the Light of the world!” It wasn’t Jesus alone who was a Son of God, but each and every person ever born is a Child of God, a direct Creation of this Universe. It wasn’t Jesus alone who was the Incarnation of God, but each and every one of us is that Incarnation of the Universe in materiality and consciousness. It was not Jesus alone who realized the Christ, but each and every person has this Christ within them that may be realized, and that name then becomes their true identity. It was not Jesus alone who entered this “kingdom of God” while living, but each and every one of us may do likewise, while we live.
That Peace, that Hope, that Joy, that Rest, that Jubilee, that Oneness, that Wonder of Wonders, that Miracle of Miracles, that Way, that Truth, that Life, that Light, that Endless Love, that Godhood all exist within each and every particle of creation, all beings, all persons, including You and I.
This was Jesus’ message.
This is Christmas.
Great post! My question is what happens if one does not enter into the kingdom of God while in this present incarnation?
Thank you. I perceive that the kingdom of God is all around us in every moment. It is the truth of reality. We just aren’t aware of it. Our perception is blinded. Our consciousness is obscured by ego. We are already in the kingdom, the Beauty of God’s Glory surrounds us everywhere in everything, and is even in us, but most of us just can’t see it. We’re not aware of it. If we don’t become aware of this reality during our life, consciously enter into that awareness, then we just haven’t become aware of it, and we’ve missed that opportunity to unite with it and to have that joy of living a pure awakened life. But life arises again. I think Reality calls to us to know it, to see it, to unite with it, to become aware of the reality of our own being, what we really are, and then to live and love from that at-one awareness and union with all of Reality.
Bryce, I thought that maybe I was done posting here–at least for a while. But I must say, reading this post has saddened me deeply. There’s so much I wish I could say–but I dare not. It’s too sacred.
I think what saddens me most is that your view is based upon a premise that, IMO, stands against just about every doctrine, prophecy, and pronouncement in the LDS standard works regarding who (and what!) the Holy One of Israel is.
Remember this from 2 Nephi:
29 And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out.
This is not about merely arriving at a sense of our true selves. This is about humbling ourselves before Him who is the greatest of all of God’s Lights–KLB. The One who stands nearest to God’s throne. Remember that all things were created:
–By Him,
–Through Him, and
–Of Him.
Notice the obvious implication of various agencies working with Him; those who are below Him; those who are above Him; and He, Himself!
The mystery of Godliness how great it is–and part of that mystery is that Christ is, in His most fundamental manifestation, an individual; a Man; indeed, the Son of Man. And, of course, it goes without saying that we mortals lack the power to comprehend Him in His fullest manifestation where He is garbed in layers of unimaginable glory. But it is His individuality that makes His condescension so utterly miraculous and His suffering so utterly selfless. Without the reality of Christ’s ability to act as an independent agent; out of pure love for others; His sacrifice loses it’s poignancy and therefore it’s power to draw us unto Him.
As the Lord of Hosts He asks us to join with Him through covenant that He may embrace us as a unified whole; as Israel, His sacred bride. And, as your God and my God, he seeks to embrace each one of us with arms that are as tangible as yours and mine.
Jack, thanks for your comment. I’m sorry to hear that this post has saddened you. It fills me with immeasurable Joy to know that Jesus did not merely reveal the divinity within his own self, but the divinity within all of humanity, each and every one, from the greatest to the least of these. It saddens me when institutions corrupt that message and turn Jesus into an idol.
In my view, if this premise stands against every doctrine, prophecy, and pronouncement in LDS scripture, then it is because we have severely misinterpreted our own scriptures.
Let’s take that scripture from 2 Nephi, for instance. Yes, Christ is the Holy One of Israel, because Christ is the living foundation of all people and of all Life, the most precious and pure reality of our incarnation as animate Life. Jacob realized this perfect ground of his living being in a great trial, a struggle, sometimes called a wrestle with an angel/God. I think that battle was with his own ego, and when that ego fell he perceived his true Being, and noted that he had seen God face to face. He realized his true identity, and was given a new name because of it, Israel, meaning one who “struggles with God,” or “triumphs with God,” or perhaps “God struggles,” “God triumphs.” That Holy One lives within each and every one of us as well, and is the Pure Light of our being. And we must struggle to come to know that too, humble our egos to the depths before it, even surrender our egos entirely to it, if we wish to know it, see it face to face, and do its will. I wrote about this some before: https://thymindoman.com/2017/11/24/david-o-mckay-meditate-to-enter-gods-presence/
Yes, all things are made up of Christ, by this Light, through this Light, and of this Light. Even you and I are made of this Light, and yet we are blind to it most of the time. We see through this glass darkly so even our own Light is hidden.
In my understanding, I don’t believe that Christ, in its most fundamental manifestation (if there is such a thing), is a human individual. Even Joseph revealed that Christ is far more than a bodily human (D&C 88:6-13). But yes, Christ may manifest through humanity, as it did through Jesus, and as it may through us. I think it manifested through Gautama as the Buddha, and has manifested to many others who have given many other names to it throughout history including Krishna, Atman, Messiah, I AM, Yahweh/Jehovah, Lord, Adonai, or simply the Transcendent, Eternal Law, Love, or Being. That Glory that transcends comprehension exists within the Life of all beings. It is what gives Life. What makes Christ miraculous is not his localization in a single being somewhere else in the cosmos, but being in and throughout the Whole of the entire cosmos, even all things that are or have ever been.
I perceive that Christ’s suffering is selfless because Christ doesn’t suffer for Christ, ever. Christ suffers for our whole being, including our egos as they suffer in their delusions (the condescension), until those egos fall away, and we realize our at-one-ment with our true being, even Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). There is no egoic self in Christ. Christ is the absence of an egoic self, which is what makes it Pure, Holy, Complete, Whole, Sacred, Perfect, Stainless, Radiant, Divine, and Love itself.
I believe that Christ does not want us to enter into a covenant, like a contract, as in the Law of Moses. Rather we are that covenant, the New Covenant, and when we at-one God is writing it directly on our minds and hearts (Hebrews 8, 10). God embraces us when we realize that we are One with God, even in Christ, just as Jesus so realized, and prayed that we would realize too (John 17). Jesus realized the name by which he was called, which was his true identity, and it is the same name by which we too are called, each and every one.
“Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd.” (Alma 5:38)
Bryce, I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my comments even though some of what I say surely comes across a little harsh.
“In my view, if this premise stands against every doctrine, prophecy, and pronouncement in LDS scripture, then it is because we have severely misinterpreted our own scriptures.”
My description of the underlying premise to your argument serves as a good example of my harshness–sorry. And, if I’m wrong, I’ll be more than willing to take the blame personally for misinterpreting the scriptures.
“Yes, Christ is the Holy One of Israel, because Christ is the living foundation of all people and of all Life, the most precious and pure reality of our incarnation as animate Life.”
I agree with this so far as it goes–as per Section 88. However, even though the Savior may be the animating force in all of Creation, it doesn’t necessarily follow the He is the author of our primal intelligence–which I believe is self-existent.
“That Holy One lives within each and every one of us as well, and is the Pure Light of our being.”
I believe that he sustains the just and the unjust in the way that he sustains all life. But He will not dwell with us unless we are living in a way that invites Him–and, even then, the Spirit may descend upon us and not necessarily tarry with us.
“What makes Christ miraculous is not his localization in a single being somewhere else in the cosmos, but being in and throughout the Whole of the entire cosmos…”
IMO, the beauty of His condescension is that, as a unique individual with a will that is uniquely His own, He suffered Himself to walk with His brethren on this dusty little planet and endure every privation–in spite of His exalted station.
Thank you for your comment, Jack. We can all be harsh at times. I think this may be part of being human. Even Jesus was quite harsh at times.
I believe that Christ is also the source of our “primal intelligence,” because this intelligence is “light and truth,” both of which are of God. They are eternal with God. Christ is this Light and Truth that flows through us and all of creation (D&C 93:9, 29, 36; D&C 88:6, 11; D&C 84:45-46; John 8:12; Matthew 5:14; John 14:6).
It is self-existent because it is God, not because it is separate from God, or created from God, in my view. God cannot create God. It does not exist independently from God. Why do we want to continue to separate ourselves from God? The purpose of the gospel is to realize our at-one-ment with God in God. That can never happen if we desire to remain separate from God, and exist independently from God. It is precisely that separation that we are trying to overcome, to become reconciled once more to our oneness in God, even as Jesus did (John 17).
God always dwells in us, for we are the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). I don’t perceive that this is a temporary or occasional dwelling. If God ever ceased to dwell in us, then we would cease to be. For in God we live, and move, and have our very being (Acts 17:28). However, I do agree that there are many things we can do that will blind us to this truth, such that we cannot perceive this indwelling Presence of God. That is when it appears that God is not dwelling in us, when the Spirit does not appear to tarry with us. It is a matter of our perception and state of consciousness, imo. But God never leaves us, no matter what we do, ever (Romans 8:35-39).
I perceive that Jesus’ own unique will was given up in the at-one-ment, which is what revealed the Christ in him (Luke 22:42). We must also surrender and subdue that egoic will, and all the thoughts, concepts, perceptions that are associated with it, if we are to at-one and perceive the Christ within us. The scripture says, “follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do” (2 Nephi 31:12; JST Matthew 26:25). Christ suffers himself to endure every privation until we realize that it is we (our egos) who are doing it to him, within ourselves and to all other beings and Life. Every human who has ever been born is Divine, and has an exalted station in this creation, not only Jesus. When we do it to the least of these, including ourselves, we are doing it to Christ (Matthew 25:40, 45).
This is because Christ exists within one and all, just as Buddha-nature exists within one and all, just as Atman exists within one and all. Our task is to become aware of it fully, and then embody it in our lives as Jesus did, as Gautama did, and as many others have done who have become aware of this divinity that sits at the core of our being and nature, which is the same as the nature of the entire cosmos and reality itself, the Light of Truth that flows in and through it all.
“I believe that Christ is also the source of our ‘primal intelligence,’ because this intelligence is ‘light and truth,’ both of which are of God.”
I think this is the most fundamental point of our disagreement. I view both the Light and Truth of God and our individual “lights” as being made of the same stuff–in the sense that we are essentially the same in kind.
Yes, I think they are not only the same stuff in kind, but they are the same. The Light and Truth in us are God’s Light and Truth. It is the same Light (D&C 88:11).
Maybe I misunderstand you, but if the singular being, Jesus Christ (Jeshua, son of Mary) , is not the ultimate Savior of mankind (as it seems you’ve put it), then why have there been so many prophecies pointing to Him alone as the Savior of all? For example, why would people be put to death, if the sign of Jesus Christ’s birth was not shown, if He were not destined to be THE Messiah? And how could He have possibly communicated to Nephi saying, “On this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world,” if He were not to be the one, true Savior of the World?
I love many of the ideas you’ve presented, and I believe that God is light and truth and we, therefore, are originated from God in the sense that He too originates from Light, so it is all the same there. I also believe that we too become saviors in the sense that we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling and help others in kind. However, to say that we achieve salvation ultimately ourselves without the necessity of the person Jesus Christ’s atoning blood is blasphemous (see Alma 21:9).
Dylan, thank you for your comments and questions. I’ll share some of my thoughts.
Jesus’ name originally was not Jesus Christ. Christ is a title that means “Anointed One,” and was suffixed to Jesus’ name after his death by his followers. Rather than being a person as is commonly understood, Christ is an enlightened state of mind and being, an exalted state of perception and action, the ultimate condition at which a human may attain and arrive at in life, and that liberates and “saves” one’s life. It is an “Anointed” state of consciousness.
This was known to the Jews prior to “Christ” by the word “Messiah.” And anyone who attained to this ultimate state of being was known as a “Messiah” (also meaning “Anointed One”). Many of Israel’s kings were known as God’s “Messiah,” and were symbolically anointed to demonstrate this. Over time it became more a sign of blessing than an attainment of conscious being.
Jesus was not the only Christ, but he was a very significant one. He embodied that Christ consciousness to a great extent. But I think there were many prior to him and many since that have also so attained that saving consciousness, even including Joseph Smith. We too are called to take upon us that name, to realize that exact same identity within our own minds and hearts. This is the Christ that is the Savior of us all. It is not Jesus that does it, but our own realization of Christ being within ourselves that saves us. We realize Christ just as Jesus realized Christ. We too realize we are Anointed, as Jesus realized he was Anointed.
All the prophesies and teachings of all major spiritual traditions in all of human history have pointed to the same exalted state of being that we may realize, but they’ve called it by many different names (Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Messiah, Allah, Atman, Manifestation, the One, the Good, I AM, Jehovah, etc.).
Sorry, Bryce, but you’ve failed to answer my question. I realize that Jesus Christ is a title, which is why I used the name Jeshua (for that is the name I am most familiar with being used as His first name).
The scripture I cited was specific to the birth of Jesus Christ (or, Jeshua, the One that most Christians refer to as the Messiah, born around 1 AD, give or take a few years). That scripture cannot have applied to anyone else. Why would prophecies only be given about this one specific person, if we all are able to attain such a Messiah stature in mortality? I believe that we can become very enlightened, to be sure, but as far as I’m aware, there are no prophecies about me or you out there, given by prophets/other enlightened, holy speakers/writers. Yet, you argue that we can achieve the same stature of Christ through meditation and oneness with God. My argument is that your thinking and logic are flawed, for there is One true Messiah, the Savior of the World, whom we refer to as Jesus Christ, who saved us from our sins. I believe we have the capacity to be enlightened, even to enter into the presence of God during our mortal lives; however, to consider oneself a savior for him/herself, independent of Christ, is ludicrous—for He, that specific person, is the mediator that allows us to ultimately enter into the presence of God.
Here are some other verses, specific to the same Jesus I spoke of earlier:
Helaman 14:2-8
“Five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe in his name.”
1 Nephi 11:18
“The virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God”
While I’ve heard it argued that virgin could very well be translated to young woman, it does not dismiss the fact that this verse is referring to a specific, singular person.
Mosiah 3:8
“His mother shall be called Mary.”
That is pretty specific to one person.
Alma 7:10
“He shall be born of Mary”
Again, my argument is for a specific, singular Savior for all of mankind. To think that He is simply one of many is to minimize His role in our salvation and exaltation. I am, by no means, trying to diminish our role, for we ultimately decide on whether we come unto God or not, but it is possible only because a Mediator has paid for our sins as a sinless vessel himself (which we are not).
In your response, please address the idea of a specific Christ: the One cited in the scriptures I’ve listed. For the power of your argument is dependent upon how you can explain the purpose of such prophecies if all of us can achieve the same status independent of Him.
The scriptures are a guide, but they are not perfect. Unfortunately much of Christianity (including much of Mormonism) I think has made Jesus into an idol, believing he was the only Christ. I perceive this is a mistake. I believe Jesus did not come to proclaim his own exclusive divinity, but the divinity of all humanity, all of life, each and every one. It is all others who have made Jesus into something he was not. The scriptures are heavily symbolic, and we cannot take them at their surface meaning. I perceive that Christ comes into the world in every moment of every day in Life. So, yes, Christ comes into the world tomorrow, which is as true today as it was at any other time, not only when Jesus was born. We’ve come to believe that all prophesy is of one particular person, but I perceive that the prophesies of Christ pertain to each and every person, who may realize this exact same state of being. It is that state of being that is unified, that is one, that is the Christ, not one person.
There are many prophecies about me and you, given by prophets, but we’ve been blind to them. Here are a few.
“Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd.” (Alma 5:38)
“And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?… I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances? (Alma 5:14, 19)
“Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen.” (Moses 6:68)
“And then shall the angels be crowned with the glory of his might, and the saints shall be filled with his glory, and receive their inheritance and be made equal with him.” (D&C 88:107)
“For if you keep my commandmentsyou shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.” (D&C 93:20)
“Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.” (D&C 132:20)
“And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one;” (3 Nephi 28:10)
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
“You have got to learn how to be a god yourself in order to save yourself… as all Gods has done.” (Joseph Smith, King Follett discourse, as reported by William Clayton)
Yes, every scripture about Christ is about us. Every one.
There is One true Messiah and Savior, yes, and we may be united in that One being, that One consciousness, which is the exact same wherever and in whomever it is attained, and be One. This saves us ourselves from ourselves, it redeems us from our ego. That Christ consciousness saves us all. That is our mediator in the Presence of God, which we may enter through meditation and contemplation, through changing our minds (metanoia).
If you were able to see your fundamental Self, the Self that God has made in you, you would see it even today as a sinless stainless vessel, perfect in every way, radiating a Goodness and Love beyond comprehension. That is what we are. We are that One, we just don’t know it until we unite our minds and hearts in that Oneness.
Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, once beautifully described this “point vierge” (virgin point) that we all have within us.
“At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. It is so to speak His name written in us, as our poverty, as our indigence, as our dependence, as our sonship. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billion points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely.” (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander)
I agree, Dylan. In spite of the special abilities the Father and the Son (and other divine beings) possess which enable them to be one in ways that we don’t fully comprehend during this mortal life, they are separate entities with their own unique center of consciousness.
Bryce, it’s just me blathering again–
Your God is incomprehensible to me. I don’t know why He would have any concern about anything that happens on this dusty little planet–except for, perhaps, His own ontological diversion.
Jack, why do we think God is comprehensible? We can’t comprehend the oneness of God until we’ve experienced it ourselves.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
“Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.” (Jacob 4:8)
Until we realize we are one in God, then this dusty little planet might not mean much to us. But when we realize it, then all things become infinitely precious in our eyes, for we see it all as ourself.
https://thymindoman.com/2017/12/12/the-limits-of-intellectual-thought-knowledge/
Oh, I agree that we don’t comprehend the magnitude of God’s works or His person. Even so, in the scripture you cite from Jacob, it is made clear that we may comprehend Him in some measure through revelation–both personal and canonical, IMO. We are not left without some foundational touchstones with regard to who we worship and what our relationship is to Him.
“…all things become infinitely precious in our eyes, for we see it all as ourself.”
I can’t imagine how that induces greater love than seeing others as separate entities and therefore infinitely unique and precious. To see my children as part of a great whole that is “me” would be an infinite and excruciatingly painful loss. We learn how to love precisely because there are others. And as we become more like God we learn how to love in ways that knit our hearts together.
Yes, we may understand some things of God through scripture, and more through personal revelation/insight. We may know the most of God by realizing our oneness in God, for only God may fully know God.
The second great commandment Jesus said was “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” When we see ourself in others we love them even as ourself. When you do it unto the least of these, you do it unto me. The greatest love is expressed in complete union of lover and Beloved as One; they are of one heart and one mind. This is expressed in the scriptural language of the bridechamber. We love the other as one in ourself. This is why the Father loves the Son, even while they are in perfect oneness, because they are in perfect oneness (John 3:35; John 5:20; John 17:23-24, 26). Separation is not love; union is Love. And when we realize our oneness in God, we’ll also realize our union in all things, all that the Father hath.
The greatest fictional story ever told was concocted by Constantine, who created Jesus’ public murder into a “final” blood-sacrifice, sin-saving ritual, modeled after the Pharisees’ literal following and enactment of an allegorical mind-expanding set of instructions (Torah), thus causing a religious sector of the world to believe in the very thing Jesus came to do away with through his teachings, which were purposely left out of the books chosen to be put together into a “bible,” the books where Jesus taught that there was no saving of sin by the shedding of blood, that the sacrifices were to be internal sacrifices, that animals were not to be slaughtered and their burnt bodies offered up to God, that his purpose was to teach the kingdom is within and how to achieve it and was even the exemplar of how to achieve it when he became the “first” begotten “son” of God when, through his perfecting the will of God, became anointed, where the “God mind/cell” that is within everyone merged with the Mind of God aka the Son of God aka the Logos, thus, causing Jesus to become a “Son of God,” not at birth but at the anointing, which caused a “resurrection” while he was alive, that resurrection being the ascension into the Mind of God, making him “one” with his Father. Today, people in their Pharisee mindset, will be celebrating a death ritual, which if people paid attention to the scripture, the Father said He never commanded the slaughtering and blood shed, that His desire is for His creation to be merciful and love Him with all their heart and mind and soul. And with that “true” love, the carnal nature is dissipated, and people work at sacrificing internally their flaws, which is the “missing of the mark” of doing the Father’s will, and eventually becoming “perfect” like Jesus became perfect, and eventually becoming themselves a messiah, receiving the anointing, become merged with the Mind of God aka the Son of God and themselves becoming a “begotten” Son of God, all having been created with the “God-cell” spark within them. There is no right or wrong in the realm of God; but humanity (allegorical Adam) became influenced by their humanly-fleshed separateness from God and opened up their own duality. What was once the male/female wholeness of the God-cell within became the duality and the free will to be cocreators of good and evil. God does not create the evil; humanity (adams) does. Adams (humanity) became prodigal sons through free will; they separated their “image,” their likeness of God so as to live life at their will, not the will of God, for the will of God is inherently within, as it is the God-cell. Jesus came to tell people aka the “lost” how to go back to the Father; and it wasn’t through animal sacrifices of the carnal-minded man. Three-dimensional man was given the like-minded consciousness of God, which is “good.” The duality caused evil to be good. The evil is the separation from wholeness, and evil is akin to being the opposite of the will of God. Jesus taught, by being the example, of how to return to the wholeness, where there is no right or wrong, for God is pure good; it just is the pureness, where there is no duality, no right or wrong. Jesus was killed for this teaching; the Pharisees wanted their animal sacrifices, burnt and to appease their mind-concepted carnal God with the sweet smell of burnt flesh. Constantine’s mind represents evil, and he has convinced all blood-shedding-sin-saving-believing Christians that Jesus is the “sweet smell of flesh.” Jesus’ resurrection occurred while he was alive, when he became perfect and was anointed and became a Christ, a Son of God, “one” with the Mind of God. Constantine created a different version of the Pharisees. Jesus called the Pharisees liars and murderers. Sadly, so have become the modern-Christian, for they murder Jesus over and over again in the holy day called Easter, look upon his body as a blood-shed lamb, where a ritual literal act of an allegorical mind-expanding-inner sacrifice never saved anyone. Only by becoming a Son of God, merging with the Mind of God, becoming your own Christ/Anointed is one saved, because that “save” is done by no one but God Him/Herself, when the prodigal son “returns” to the Father. Nobody is saved because Jesus “has risen.” And nobody is “saved” until they become whole again aka “the image of God,” the “female/male wholeness.” The Soul is genderless. It is the “spark” of God, It is the “Light.” It is the wholeness of the Soul that returns to the Father. When Jesus said, “I am the Light. No one comes to the Father except through me,” he was saying “you” are that “me.” Only through yourself can you return to the Father. Constantine formulated a belief system to keep people in bondage. Until people realize it is through their own self, the “me” that becomes a begotten, a Son, they will remain in bondage. The Passover is about slaying the internal flaw and next keeping sin away (the leaven) and becoming whole, seeded in the good ground (internal) and becoming a “harvestable” firstfirst of that ground. The holy days are allegorical. The whole theme written through the allegorical texts of the “bible” is for humanity (adam) to return to the Father. Jesus does not save your soul. He taught how to do it yourself based on the will of God, which has always been internal (the kingdom within.) Bondage keeps your Light snuffed, when all along your Light is waiting to return to the Father, as He/She is the Source of the Light. Jesus does not save your soul. He came for the “lost,” those prodigal sons who needed redirection because they were under the spell of the Pharisees, under the spell of being carnal-minded. He said he did not come for the righteous. Big key, “righteous.” They were the people who were not carnal-minded, understood the sacrifices are to be an internal sacrifice, knew the will of God and were doing the will of God; they are the people “not in need of a physician.” The parables, the allegory, it was written to expand the mind. But people remain as Pharisees, learning from rote, passed down from generation to generation, a continual bondage.
Wow, Jocie! These are some great thoughts! Thank you for sharing them. I agree with many of them. We have given up our birthright as One in God. The whole spiritual journey is finding our way back to that Oneness, that true At-one-ment in our consciousness and being. I wish I could know you better, but it seems I can’t friend you on Facebook. Can you be my Friend?