A Seeker Speaks: April 2010

The Five Sacred Cows You Will Never Meet in Heaven (excerpt from KOG Within You Book)

Friday, September 25, 2009 at 7:12am

As a child I remember sitting in the pews of my Lutheran church with my emotions vacillating somewhere between boredom and fear. I was bored because very little of what the minister said interested me. Even at a young age it didn’t seem to resonate with what I knew was true on the inside but was not yet able to articulate. The congregation seemed to be going through the motions of the church rituals but no one seemed very happy or excited about it. It was all rather rote and mechanical. It was in a word, dead. I felt fear for a couple of reasons: First, because our minister’s sermons were typically angry in their tone and also contained a lot of references to what would happen if we didn’t accept Jesus – namely be sent to hell. Secondly, because at the center of the altar stood a large stained glass image of Jesus on the cross. In this image, Jesus was bleeding profusely and obviously in great agony. You might imagine how such a scene could well be something less than comforting or inspiring.

I’m in no way saying that my experience speaks for all Christians, but I’m sure many readers have had similar experiences and I’m sure many have had far worse experiences. A survey of recent headlines regarding the abuses of power in a number of Christian churches should tell you that something has gone terribly awry with the Christian religion. This notion is reinforced by the fact that many people are leaving the churches today to find their own brand of spirituality or have rejected religion or God altogether. The problem is that Christianity simply is not meeting the spiritual needs of many people. And if Christianity is not meeting the needs of the people then I believe it’s important to ask ourselves why.

One the main reasons that Christianity is not meeting people’s spiritual needs are that the times have moved on and Christianity has not kept up. In the modern world, most people have embraced a rational world view, where events and phenomenon are seen to have natural causes. Christianity, however, still contains myths or magical type of ideas – such as the virgin birth - that simply are not believable to the modern mind. We have to remember that the Bible was written in another era where the consciousness of the people was not at the level it is now. Therefore it’s content and style reflects the times in which it was written.

So if Christianity is not keeping up with the times, we should ask why. Here’s where the sacred cows come home so to speak. Unfortunately, the unwillingness to change is one of the hallmarks of Christianity and of course other religions as well. For this and for reasons that we will discuss shortly, it’s clear that Christianity has been influenced by the ego and the duality consciousness. One of the main characteristics of the ego is that it resists growth. And the one of main means by which is does so is to cling to fixed ideas – graven images – about life and God and then actively put down any challenges to those images.

So if Christianity contains fixed ideas that prevent growth, what are they? Many if not all of these I have already discussed, but I believe it’s helpful to summarize and analyze them in one chapter so readers more easily see the dynamics operating in Christianity today.

Let us turn then to the sacred cows. By sacred cows I mean the seemingly unassailable assumptions of Christianity - usually left unspoken – which deter our spiritual growth. A sacred cow is sacred because it can’t be touched or examined. Yet if something can’t be examined, then how can you change it when problems arise? As stated earlier, you can’t solve a problem in the same state of consciousness that produced the problem. You have to rise higher than the consciousness the produce it. The reason these sacred cows are never found in heaven is that that they prevent growth. And in God’s River of Life, all beings need to grow and transcend their present level of consciousness to move everything forward. In fact, part of God’s essential nature is growth and change. Therefore, anything that prevents growth does not come from God and never be a part of heaven.

The purpose of the chapter is to take a close look at certain assumptions in Christian theology which because they have left largely unexamined, have become significant roadblocks to the growth. In each section, I will describe each sacred cow and the reasoning behind each of these and list the antidote to the assumption – which in most cases trace back to the central theme of this book that the kingdom of God is with you.

1. Mankind is sinful by nature
The reason most often put forth by Christians for Jesus coming to earth is to save us from our sins. From this viewpoint, the reason we need to be saved from our sins is that since at least the time of Adam, mankind had fallen into sin. This state of sin, moreover, is not viewed as something that can we rise above or overcome because it has been indelibly stamped into our individual and collective character. It’s almost as if it’s been woven into the fabric of our beings or hard coded into our genes.

On the surface, this position is certainly understandable. For since the fall in the Garden, there have been relatively few individuals who have demonstrated the example of overcoming sin and the consciousness behind it. But because few have done this does not necessarily mean that it cannot be done. In fact, just the opposite is true – what one has done all can do.

I believe its helpful to clarify what we mean by sin. Christian theology and tradition has associated sin acts that we do that are morally wrong. Such breaches of morality are also accompanied by guilt and shame for committing the acts. An interesting twist here, however, is that it is a usually a given that mankind is inherently sinful. Yet at the same time we are still supposed to feel guilt and shame when we commit acts that our supposedly consistent with our nature. It seems then that sin, guilt and shame come in one package and are defining elements of our existence on earth.

Missing the Mark
I believe it is time to take a fresh look at sin. Accordingly, it’s important to note here that literal translation of the term “sin” in Hebrew is not guilt or immorality but rather “missing the mark.” One of the first things we notice about “missing the mark” is that it doesn’t come with the value judgments that sin normally does. Something either hits a target or it doesn’t and normally there is no guilt, blame or shame attached to it.

Sin, then, according to the Hebrew definition, can be seen as any act thought or deed that misses the mark – its target destination. But what is the mark or target to be hit? Well earlier in this book in our discussions on the Word we saw that something is either of from the Word or the Logos or it is not. It is either in harmony with God’s laws and principles or out of harmony with them. Something is either of the vibrations of God or it below the vibration of God. Given this, we can conclude that sin from this perspective is anything that falls beneath the vibration of God, or anything that falls beneath the plum line of the gold standard of the Christ consciousness.

Again, something that misses the mark does not come with the emotional baggage sin does. Of course, it’s not the desired outcome that we miss the mark. Yet in many cases the only way that we learn is to experience the effects of our choices that miss the mark and fall below the level of the Christ. From this perspective, there is no need to pile on the guilt for acts that committed out of alignment with the mind of Christ. Rather, we can simply say that our experiments in the use of our free will missed the intended target. We can therefore try again with the hope that next time will produce a better result. This means we don’t have to approach sin by through the all too human filter of guilt, blame and shame. When we do so, this gives us the space to examine the causes of the sin more dispassionately and objectively.

Sin and Responsibility
And when we look at sin more objectively, we can see that God did not create us as sinners – just the opposite. We were created in the image and likeness of God with inherent sense of self worth. From this point, however, we stepped outside of the protection of oneness into the sense of separation where the human ego and the duality consciousness were born. This is the point where all so called sin began. Since we could not longer see the truth, it follows that we failed to act according to its precepts.

The missing link in the discussion on sin was that it was our own free will decisions that led us into the state of mind where sin is possible. However, if sin is seen as something that we are born with or something that’s an inherent part of our nature then we are not responsible for it. And if we are not responsible for it, we can’t correct it. Therefore, the idea was born that we needed some external savior – namely Jesus - to rescue us from sin. Yet even after he somehow saves us, it seems that we are not through with sinning as Jesus supposedly carries our sins for us until the day he takes us to the heaven this is outside of ourselves.

Yet what we need to understand is that if we take responsibility for the fall that led to sin, then we are also responsible for making the decisions that lead us out of sin. This is very good news indeed. It means that we can control our own destiny. It means that we truly can go and sin no more (John 8:11) because we can make the decisions to transcend the duality consciousness of that is the cause of sin. Why do you think that Jesus told us that simply refraining from adultery was not good enough but we needed to overcome the lusts in our heart as well (Mathew 5:28)?

It is because that he knew that behind every act are thoughts and feelings, and behind those lie a state of consciousness and behind this lies our sense of identity. Therefore we need to change our identity and our consciousness to overcome sin – to go and sin no more.

To change our identity we need to understand that the kingdom of God is within us. We need to understand that this kingdom includes our I AM Presence, our Christ Self and that we have the potential to become one with this higher identity within. We change our consciousness by walking the inner path to oneness with our higher identity which includes taking the beam of duality and separation out of our own eye. And when we do raise our consciousness we will no longer miss the mark. Our target practice will be infinitely more effectively because we are one with the target.

Remember, you can’t be in heaven and be in the consciousness of duality or sin at the same time. You are either one with God or separate from God. When you overcome the fixed ideas – the sacred cow of sin – then you are on the true road to heaven – which as Jesus said, is actually within you.

2. Jesus is the Only Son of God
While there is possibly some debate over the concept of sin, historically and to the present, the assumption that Jesus is the only son of God remains almost entirely unchallenged in the Christian community. This idea is reinforced in the Nicene Creed which has been recited by millions of Christians each week since the time it was brought forth. It’s reinforced from the pulpits. It’s reinforced throughout Christian traditions, literature and music. The concept that Jesus is the only son of God is an inescapable part of Christian culture and theology. But there remains a question that few Christians have dared or cared to ask: Is it true? Is Jesus in fact the only son of God?

If you look at passages in the scripture, it is remarkable how little support there is for the idea that Jesus considered himself the only son of God. Indeed, with the exception of John 3:16, there are few scriptural passages where Jesus refers to himself in this manner. And in the case of that particular passage, readers could only infer that it might refer to Jesus, but as we have seen earlier that a much broader interpretation is possible.

Far from declaring any type of superiority or distance from us, it is interesting to note that in most cases Jesus took pains to emphasize his oneness with humanity. In a number case Jesus refers to himself as the son of man (Luke 9:22). Also, he strikingly emphasizes his oneness with us when he says Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Mathew 25:40).

Did he not also say pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you (John 17:20-21)? Again we can return to Jesus statement that the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father (John 14:12). As I’ve stated earlier, how could we do the works with that Jesus does if we are somehow fundamentally different from Jesus?

If you need more biblical support for this idea, once again we note that in the book of Genesis it states that the God created us in his image and likeness, male and female created he them (Genesis 1:27). I cannot see who we can be created in the likeness of God and not be a part of God. And if we are all created by God, don’t we all deserve to called his sons?

The answer is - not quite yet. You see, while all of us have the potential to be sons of God, many of us have not lived up to that potential. Instead we accepted a lower identity of the human ego born from the consciousness of separation from God. Therefore, as was explained in the chapters on the fall of man, in reality, the sons of God are those who have transcended or never descended into the duality consciousness. The sons of God are those whose have become the Christ, meaning their hearts and minds are totally attuned with the Living Word, the Logos, the same mind that created the heavens and the earth, worlds without end.

So in one sense it may have been true that Jesus was the only son of God walking the earth at the time of his Palestinian embodiment. But Jesus was not the exception to the rule but rather its proof that what one has done all can do. Otherwise, he would not have commanded us to do likewise. Otherwise he would not have told us to be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Mathew 5:38). So you can see that the fact that there may have been only one Son of God walking the earth two thousand years ago in no way precludes people from claiming that title today. In fact, I believe it is Jesus’ true desire that thousands if not millions of people today leave their nets of the human consciousness and follow him into the full realization of their Christhood.

Lets look at this from one final perspective. If God created us as miserable sinners as many believe, would he really want to send his only Son down to us to demonstrate who truly miserable and low we are in comparison to his Jesus who is so special? Is that the type of God who is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34)? If so, would that be the kind of God you would want to love and worship?
Once again when we realize that the Kingdom of God is within us, we understand that is indeed God’s good pleasure to give us that kingdom. All we have to do is give up everything that is unreal about us – including the graven image that we can never be Gods sons or daughters - and accept all that is real about us and continue to multiply our understanding of God as we grow on the path.

Excluding yourself from God’s sonship will keep you out of heaven. Meaning if you cannot accept that you can be the Christ you will not enter the kingdom of God within you. It’s really that simple. We must begin to see the Christ in ourselves and not just in Jesus. So, my hope is that for all who have ears to hear that you surrender this illusion move as high as the Spirit takes you. And where will that lead? Well, it not only leads to your Christhood where you can without hesitation call yourself a Son of God, but more importantly it leads to the state of being where all who embrace this consciousness can truly Be S-u-ns of God walking the earth. You become messengers for the light and love of God. And when you are in this state you are perpetually shining the your light to your fellow man and woman, blazing a trail that all might find a way back home – back to the kingdom of God within.

3. Jesus Saves
There’s a rather cynical joke that goes: “Jesus is coming – look busy.” Although some might take offense at this, the joke is funny because it contains an element of truth. Namely the belief that it’s what we do and what we believe that saves us, not who we are. It really points out how ludicrous it is to believe that looking busy could somehow fool God or Jesus into saving us when he comes. Although it’s made in jest, it’s not too far from reality. For as we have seen when we discussed doing versus being, most Christians assume they can believe or do there way into heaven.

But let’s think about that for a minute. If the kingdom of God is within us like Jesus said it is, doesn’t that mean that we have to seek it out and find it for ourselves? Does it not also mean that we actually have to experience that kingdom to be in it? And if experience is necessary, in what way does it make sense that doing or believing outer things can somehow catapult us into the kingdom?

It would seem that Christians prefer to passively be taken into heaven rather then entering it by their own free will choices. But I think we need to take a firm stance on the whole kingdom of God is within us concept. Either the idea that
the kingdom is inside of us is and waiting for us to enter is true or the kingdom of God is outside of us and we need to an outer savior to get us there is true. Both concepts cannot be true as they represent completely different approaches to God. Let us compare and contrast some of the essential elements of each position.

Please take a minute to examine the chart above. If we look at this objectively, if we zoom out at look at the various characteristics of the traditional Christian versus the inner path approach to God, it should become very clear the traditional approach is decidedly at odds with Jesus message about the inner kingdom. If this is correct, I think we need to ask ourselves, am I following the true path of Jesus? Is it possible that I may be following a path that may have nothing to do with Jesus’ true teaching? And if I’m not following the true teachings, why is that?

The answer goes back to the tendency for Christians not to look at themselves objectively and take the beam of the ego out of their own eyes. For if you look at the characteristics shown in the second column, it becomes clear that these are all approaches of the ego. The ego thinks it’s separate from God. The ego will wants to raise its separate sense of self and have that self be saved. The ego is all about control so it will never ask the essential questions that necessary to see beyond duality. The ego believes it can be automatically saved by doing ever thing right. And of course, the ego will never take the beam out of its eye because the ego is the essence of the beam. If the beam goes, so does the ego. And, if you remember what we said earlier, that is not going to happen on its own because the ego has a survival instinct that will resist this until the bitter end.

But even beyond this, getting back then to our discussion about the ego in earlier chapters, we can see that ironically the approach taken by Christians and that of the Scribes and Pharisees are really identical in the end! Both groups believe they can be automatically saved. The Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus day believed with absolute certainty that they would be saved by the following the outer rules and rituals of Judaic law. Christians, on the other hand, believe they are saved by believing in Jesus as their savior and the only Son of God. They too are absolutely certain of their salvation by this belief.
But what drives this need for certainty?

It is always the ego. Why? Because as we discussed earlier, the ego has a fundamental need for security as it was created from our sense of separation from God and therefore has no inherent self worth. Unlike ourselves, it was not created by God and therefore can never be saved by God. In truth, the ego days were numbered the minute it was born. It can never ultimately survive as it was created from the death consciousness itself – the best it can do is prolong its existence but not indefinitely. For it will either die when a person rises above the ego and the dualistic consciousness or it will die in what we referred to earlier as the second death.

Thus, in an attempt to offset this destiny and the insecurity that goes with it, the ego drives certain individuals to invent religious doctrine that allow people to feel there is absolute security where their salvation is “in the bag” - either through following some outer rules or by declaring that someone outside of themselves can save them.

Am I then saying that the traditional approach to Christianity is a false teaching? Well, let’s look at this logically. The chart above strongly indicates that ego is what underlies the characteristics in the second column - the traditional approach where Jesus presumably guarantees our salvation by our belief in him. And since the ego was born out of the duality consciousness where truth cannot be known and everything is relative, and since we have since traditional Christian doctrine is heavily if not entirely influenced by the ego, how can we say there is any truth in it?

And if there is no truth in it, do we really believe that these doctrines came from Jesus? We know that above anything else, Jesus spoke truth, even very unpopular truth that upset a number of powerful religious leaders to the point that they went so far as to kill him in attempt to silence him. We know that by and large Jesus was above the ego as his tests in the desert (Luke 4:1-13) as well the statement that the prince of this world cometh and have nothing in me (John 14:29) attest.

In fact, Jesus went out of his way to challenge the mindset that Christians take regarding salvation in his interactions with the Scribes and Pharisees. The religions leaders were waiting for a Messiah to come – but they had a very fixed idea about what their version of the Messiah should say and do. They wanted a Messiah who upheld and affirmed their rigid rules and doctrines and reinforced their belief that they could be automatically saved by adhering to them. In truth they wanted a Messiah who was created in the image and likeness of their egos. Yet Jesus rebuked them saying: Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. (Luke 11:52).

The approach of the Scribes and Pharisees effectively killed the desire for people to look within and find truth for themselves which is the key of knowledge that Jesus is referring. Again, in their minds there was no need to find the inner kingdom because the way to heaven was to follow all their outer rules and rituals. Take note here that Christian approach is nearly identical to the Scribes and Pharisees. Both look for something outside of themselves to be saved without having to enter into the spirit of truth and also without having to remove the beam in their own eye which prevents them from seeing the truth.

So it is truly ironic that Christians have criticized Jews for rejecting the Messiah sent to them when they have effectively rejected the same Messiah’s true message. And I probably don’t have to tell you what that is but I’ll say it again anyway: the kingdom of God is within you. All beings who truly are in heaven have internalized this truth. Salvation is achieved not by looking for any type of automatic salvation but rather by raising our consciousness. Salvation is a state of being in the here and now, not a future guarantee in the hereafter.

Yes we are indeed redeemed by the only begotten Son of God – which is the Word of God, the Living Word that we internalize when we become one with Christ Consciousness. But this only Son is universally available to all where each of us can become one with the Son. In the process, we can truly BE the Suns of God shining the light of truth that will draw all people unto their own divine reality.

4. You have to die to get to heaven
We have already seen how the notion of automatically salvation has been subtlety woven into the fabric of Christian thought and doctrine. There’s little point in rehashing this except to say that I hope that my thoughts on the subject have been clear. Namely, that there is no such thing as automatic salvation as salvation is always an inner state of being, not an outer achievement or the result of a set of beliefs.
If this is true then, it follows then that the notion that if we’re good Christians that when we die we go to heaven is really just as an illusory notion as the idea that our salvation is guaranteed. If heaven is a state of consciousness, and if we haven’t achieved that state of consciousness prior to death, there is no reason to believe that when we die we somehow will.

As written in the Old Testament, he who is filthy, let him be filthy still (Revelation 22:11). I believe this means that if someone is in a low state of consciousness when their physical body dies, they will still be in a low state of consciousness after that. God does not magically strip away all our faults and raise into full Christ awareness simply because our spirits have left our physical bodes in the change called death. In fact, God cannot do this as this would be a violation of our free will. Free will is one of the foundational laws of the universe and God does not violate his own laws.

Think about it. What would we possibly learn if God were to magically transform us into a being worthy of heaven after we die? The answer of course is that we wouldn’t learn a thing. Therefore, nothing would be achieved as all of life is about learning and growing. Remember, God always wants us to multiply our talents and be More. But we can’t be More if we somehow bypass the very process by which becoming More is possible – namely, by transcending our current state of consciousness for a higher state of consciousness. This perpetual process is what keeps the River of Life flowing in what is called eternal life.

Death is no more a condition to enter heaven than so is so-called life. This does not mean to say there isn’t a place where souls travel after the physical body dies. There are indeed dimensions to the spiritual universe where souls go after death. However, we will not permanently reside in the higher realms until we have found the kingdom of God with us. Instead, the higher realms we journey to between embodiments serve as places of learning, where we can review our mistakes and strengths from previous lifetimes to prepare ourselves for the next.

What I’m saying here is that there certainly are numberless numbers of beings who permanently reside in higher dimensions that most would call heaven. Yet without exception, each of these beings has realized the kingdom of God within themselves. Likewise, not one of them was automatically saved by Jesus or by any other spiritual being. All of them earned their place in heaven – which is not a fixed place mind you – by the direct experience of God within themselves. All have manifested the Christ consciousness. All have overcome the ego and dualistic illusions if in fact they ever fell into it. All are capable of doing the works that Jesus did and greater works, not because they are somehow artificially elevated to a status beyond their attainment, but rather because like Jesus they have become one with God and therefore manifest the natural fruits of that oneness.

We have seen that death does not guarantee our permanent ascension to spiritual realms. Yet is it true that we have to die to get there? The answer, of course, is an unequivocal no. As we said before, the kingdom of heaven really is a metaphor for a state of consciousness. That state of consciousness, moreover we have referred to as the Christ consciousness. The Christ consciousness is characterized by a state of inner wholeness, oneness, peace and bliss wherein we have the capacity to discern the truth of God. This means that if we can achieve this state of consciousness like Jesus did in his Galilean embodiment, then we are already in heaven. This also means that we can be in what is called heaven right in the here and now and we don’t have to die to get there.

However, what does have to die is our ego, our false sense of identity that we have built out of our sense of separation from God. You can’t drag the ego into heaven with you. You have to remove the beam in your own eye that is the ego. Remember that the ego represents the death consciousness of separation from God – the duality consciousness – as there is no real life outside of God. Therefore, for us to obtain the inner kingdom, what has to die is the death consciousness itself! Only when we let death go can we truly embrace life. Therefore, it behooves us all with all our getting, to get understanding of the ego and how to let it go, how to let it die. We can only have the victory over death when we are willing to face the cause of death and surrender it. We will never find the ego when we look for salvation outside of ourselves. The ego can only survive if it goes undetected. The reason the ego drive us to seek the outer path is that when we do so we never look within ourselves to see it hiding behind all our false beliefs and desires. The solution is for us to walk the inner path where both the ego and the Christ are discerned because we are willing to forsake the one and embrace the other.

So in the end, if we choose the life of Christ, meaning raise our consciousness and put on the mind of Christ while at the same time we shuffle off the mortal coil of the ego, we will then find eternal life. And the best part is we don’t have to die to get there. In fact, the only way to get to heaven is through life not death.

Spiritual Procrastination
The sacred cow that death is our ticket to heaven is a particularly pernicious one because it has the effect that it causes us to postpone our spiritual path. Quite naturally, if you believe that only death will bring you eternal life and happiness, then there is little reason to search for kingdom of God in the present. Why work to transform yourself in the here and now if you have to wait until you die to find the peace you want, the peace you’ve been promised. In this model, there really is no reason to pursue the spiritual path because it’s all done for us anyway and nothing happens until after we die - so what’s the point?

Well the point is that we need to overcome this illusion because when we do so we will find that our divine reality is waiting for us to be who we are today! It’s not waiting for us in some forever after that never comes. Thus, we can begin the process of putting on our Christhood right now and the key is to actually be in the now.

You see, in our divine reality there is no time or space – only Being. This is referred to as the Eternal Now. We connect with our Christ Self and I AM Presence by being in the eternal now. Yet we understand that one of the tricks of the ego is to keep us either forever in the past or forever in the future. You can’t be perpetually in the future or the past and be in the now. And if you’re not in the now, you’re not in your true Being. So the way to Being is being in the now where you effortlessly and spontaneously commune with your Higher Self

Know this. Spiritual procrastination is death. Physical death is not the ticket to eternal life. The belief that our death is our passport to eternity is just another game of the ego. Eternal life is attained within you in the eternal now of oneness with your higher being. So don’t put off your Christhood. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). Today is the day to begin the inner path back to oneness, for the tomorrow of vicarious or automatic salvation truly never comes.

5. The Bible is the Infallible Word of God
I recently visited a Christian church and I was intrigued by a couple of the rituals. First, the congregation still recited the Nicene Creed – which is essentially a hold over from the Middle Ages. Second, before the scriptural reading, there was an elaborate ritual which culminated with one of the church elders raising the Bible up in their hands for all to see, then leans over and kisses it. I had to say that it was eerily similar to depictions of ancient rites of human sacrifice.

I think these two rituals are not unrelated. The Nicene Creed was established by an early church council designed to rid all of its doctrines of “heretical teachings” – reincarnation being one of them. Even though Jesus never wrote down his teachings, it seemed imperative to the early church fathers that all doctrine be codified and that any thing that dared challenge establish this new orthodoxy – which really was the old Roman empire reborn in clerical clothing – be crushed.

The Nicene Creed is a fairly obvious and overt attempt at defining very tight parameters around acceptable Christian beliefs. It clearly establishes both the supremacy of Jesus and our sense of separation from God. For the most part it has worked. Yet I don’t think reciting this creed has been nearly as effective in achieving the same goal of keeping God outside of ourselves as the idea that the Bible is the infallible, unalterable and final word of God. Let’s examine this further through the lens of the second commandment.

Graven Images
The second commandment states that thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image (Exodus 20:4). Many Christians and Jews alike have interpreted this to mean that statues and artistic renderings of religious themes should not include a direct image of God. Another interpretation says that while such depictions are in fact allowed, even encouraged, yet one should not in any way profane or ridicule God’s image.

But if you think about if, if God is the Infinite God of the universe, why would he care so much about artistic renderings of his image? Why would God make this the second commandment and not the tenth – why is it so important? Is it really logical to assume that the Infinite God of universe would say something like “above nearly everything else, don’t create images of me, and if you must do so, don’t create disrespectful images of me?”
From this perspective, this interpretation seems ludicrous. The interpretation implies that God could somehow be offended by what humans do – that God has such a big ego that he would angered at artistic renderings that are not up to snuff. The focus here is on God and not us. But do we really think that God created the Ten Commandments for himself or for us? Of course the answer is that the commandments were created for our edification, not God’s. What then is God trying to tell us by stating in no uncertain terms that we should not create any graven images of him?

This goes back to earlier discussions on the inner versus outer approaches to God. The outer approach to God states that we are separate from God. It tries to bridge this separation by creating mental images that supposedly describe God. So instead of directly experiencing God in our being through our sense of oneness, the outer approach provides only a mental idea – an image – of God. Since this image is not derived from a direct experience of God within, it can only come from one place – the ego. And what is one of the central characteristics of the ego? It is that it designed to prevent growth. And what better way to prevent growth than to create concepts that are fixed – that cannot be alternated, challenged or transcended as the supposed only means to reach God.

This is precisely what has been done with Christian doctrine. First, fixed doctrines like the Nicene Creed and other rituals were given to the masses creating a very dogmatic and inflexible description of our relationship to Jesus and God. On top of that, for a thousand years or so, Catholics were not even allowed to read the Bible so they would never have a chance to challenge the fixed doctrines, if in fact discrepancies did exist. Around the time of the renaissance when the King James Bible was written, the common people finally were allowed to read the Bible for themselves. However, the powers that be saw to it that the Bible was interpreted through a very narrow lens – namely through the perspective of separation from God and the establishment of the authority of an outer church.

Progressive Revelation
But these practices really had nothing to do with purposes of God. God gave us the Ten Commandments and all true spiritual teachings with one purpose in mind – to help us raise our consciousness. As discussed earlier, the idea is that we receive one level of teaching in order that we might raise our consciousness and where the next level of teaching can be given. Yet if we have in our minds fixed or graven images about the nature of God and ourselves – like God is an angry being in the sky and we are miserable sinners – then these images become a substitute for the direct experience of God and inhibit our spiritual growth. The reason then that God was so adamant about us not entertaining fixed ideas about religion and God is precisely because it will stop our spiritual growth. Once again, growth and self transcendence are the essence of true spirituality and you can’t really be spiritual if you are in a mindset that prevents growth.

Again, God never intended spiritual teachings to be infallible. Spiritual teachings are a tool designed to get us to the next level on the path, not to be a millstone around our necks. We can see that the nature of spiritual teachings is progressive. Revelation from God never stops as long as there are people on earth who have raised their consciousness to the point where they can receive it. Therefore while the Bible may be our starting point – and it is a good place to start – it was never intended to be the ending point. It was written to be transcended. Just as you wouldn’t expect a college math student to still be studying arithmetic, so too should we not expect spiritually advanced students to limit themselves to this one spiritual text to the exclusion of all others.

And it should be noted that God – and the spiritual beings who are mankind’s true teachers – never give a revelation that it too far beyond our current ability to understand. The spiritual teachers who guide the earth are wise teachers. They are pragmatic teachers and deal in the realistic terms of what is possible. Therefore they always give us a level of teaching that reaches just beyond our current understanding but not too far beyond it. This makes it possible to reach and assimilate the teachings given to us by raising our consciousness to that level. As we progress - that is assimilate and transcend the teachings -
progressively more advanced teachings are given to the point where we are ultimately able to get our answers directly from inside ourselves.

This is the entire goal of providing spiritual teachings. Namely, to use what Jesus called the key of knowledge to obtain the answers we are looking for inside ourselves. It is to help us have a direct experience of God from when all true knowledge is derived. God doesn’t want us to be co-dependent on the Bible or any other spiritual tool. God wants to give us higher teachings that will assist us on the path of oneness. However, this can’t be done until people are ready to raise their consciousness. So, if they are stuck in the mindset of a fixed outer idea about God, then a higher teaching cannot be released.
It’s a catch-22 which can only be resolved when people tire of what the mirror of life continues to mirror back them – that is the fruits of their graven images that mankind has been sending out for thousands of years. It can only be resolved when we desire to reach beyond the graven images given to us by established religions – be it Christianity or otherwise.

Entropy
Another problem with graven images is that they produce a closed system – meaning they create systems that are impervious to change, whether from within or without. Science has told us that when systems become closed, they inevitably break down. This is the concept called Entropy described in the second law of thermodynamics.

Thus we see this dynamic played out in the rise and fall of civilizations and religions throughout history. Whenever a system becomes closed – as Christianity has become, it will begin to break down. Certainly we have seen it in the breakdown of Catholic Church and some fundamentalist churches as well, for example, with many sex, drug and financial scandals that have rocked the foundations of these organizations. We have also seen it in recent surveys of religion that suggest that many people are moving away from the rigid dogmas tradition Christian churches and looking for their own brand of spirituality or rejecting God altogether.

The problem is that in closed systems there is no room for God. There is no room for the Holy Spirit as the true spirit of God within each of is rejected in favor of the graven image of the outer God. There is an element of pride here is well that says that all we need are the descriptions – graven images of God – and nothing else so don’t bother us with whatever you may have to say as we already have the truth. And so, whenever the descriptions of God are preferred to the experience of God it is inevitable that things will eventually break down as it is not revitalized by light of God. Remember, true life is flowing and transcendent – like a mighty rushing river. Graven images are static, unchanging.- like stagnant pool of water. Therefore they defy the verify foundations of the reality of God. They are the hallmark of those who kick against the pricks of life as some do to the bitter end.

In fact, many Christians are unfortunately completely attached to the idea that the Bible is the unchanging, infallible word of God and will become highly indignant if you suggest otherwise. This is because the entire basis for their spiritual life is the outer approach where you don’t have to use your discernment. The infallibility approach has the seeming advantage where you don’t have to think and make decisions based on your discernment – you can as it were coast along in the black and white consciousness where everything is decided for you. The infallible approach also engenders a sense of superiority over other beliefs. For after all, if the Bible is absolutely right than any other spiritual teaching that is not from the Bible must be absolutely wrong. So you can see from the perspective of the ego, there is much to be lost. Many people are either unready or unwilling to take responsibility for their spiritual path. Thus if you tell them that you need to make your own spiritual decisions they will quite naturally balk at this.

Having said all this, I don’t mean to take a black and white posture on the black and white consciousness itself. As I said earlier, many Christians are black and white about religion, but less so about other aspects of life. Also, it is true that God has in past ages brought forth relatively black and white teachings – like the Ten Commandments themselves – to help people come back into alignment with an outer teaching until they are ready to accept an inner teaching. Yet in this day and age, I believe there are many Christians who are ready to move on to the inner path which is why I’m writing this book. No doubt that many are not yet ready for this step.

Yet many are ready. And so I hope they can come to the understanding that whether the Bible is absolutely true or not has nothing to do with who they are at inner levels.

This is because the Bible is consists of a series of descriptions of God – some more accurate than others, depending on the consciousness of the people who were the instruments for the teaching. Descriptions of God are just that – descriptions, mental images which may or may not have any basis in reality. They cannot define our being. Our being is a formed by our direct experience of the kingdom of God within – not by mere descriptions of an outer God in a text written anywhere between two and five thousand years ago. Words on a page does not being make. We can only manifest true spirituality when we experience God for and in ourselves. An ounce of being is worth a thousand pounds of dogma. A million words in the Bible cannot save you or make you whole. Yet a single insight that you are actually one with God might be the catalyst that will lead you to your Christhood.

So I would ask all open minded Christians to be willing to reexamine the sacred cow of infallibility. My hope is that people can see this concept for what it really is – just another trick of the ego. And when I mentioned the ritual of the Bible being likened unto a human sacrifice, what I meant to imply is that what is sacrificed on the altar of infallibility is our true being, our true identity in God. This has been sacrificed for far too long and at a great price. Isn’t it time to lay down all our nets of attachments to outer doctrines and dogmas for the pearl of great price of the Christ consciousness - the pearl of our real identity? Ask yourself what is more important, the sacred cow or the Living Word? For truly you cannot have both.

Naked Cows
Hopefully this chapter has helped you to see that a sacred cow exposed is a naked cow. And a naked cow should have no power of you. This does not mean that life itself is not sacred because as it comes from God and most decidedly is, but it does mean that sacredness has nothing to do with ignorance. You can’t make a truly informed choice when you don’t know all the facts. That’s because the deck will always be stacked against you and for the ego. The ego wants you to have sacred cows that it can hide behind. If you think about it, all sacred cows contain an element of fear. It is something that we fear to examine for it might upset God or more importantly overturn the entire applecart of the outer path.

We know there is no fear in love. As God is love, there can be no room for sacred cows that keep us in fear. You are on the road to enlightenment when you are willing to examine any and all sacred cows you have and discard them as your inner direction suggests. There are no sacred cows in God’s world, only sacred beings. You are a sacred being. And when you walk the sacred adventure of the inner path, you can then realize just how sacred life truly is as you progressively experience the transcendent love of God.

A Seeker Speaks

Monday, April 26, 2010

Footprints in the Snow

Only as Distant as You Think

Sunday, April 25, 2010

World of Sin

So Long to the Dark Night

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Eve of Being

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Five Sacred Cows You'll Never Meet in Heaven

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