God Beyond Religion: Taking a look at the gospel of John with fresh eyes, ears, and mind.

 

I wondered, and I'm now being convinced that the doctrine or teaching presented in the gospel of John by orthodoxy is completely off the mark. It seems to me the gospel of John is far more esoteric and gnostic than I had previously thought. It is truly the place where Jesus was teaching about the higher self and who we humans really are. I will begin this thought with a verse from John chapter 3. John 3:3  Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." This rendering is from the new revised standard version, but it is the only rendering I know of that states being born from above instead of born again. I think that this is theologically motivated rather than being a linguistic necessity. The truth of the matter is that the literal translation of the Greek word anothen. It means from above. Now if I were to provide a translation I would prefer using realm in place of Kingdom. so, I would write it very truly, I tell you, no one can see the realm of God without being born from above. And further, I take the concept of being born from above as a metaphor for being spiritually and consciously awakened. The reason for this is, in my view, seeing the realm of God means being awakened to the realm of God which coincides with spiritual and consciousness awakening.

This verse comes from a passage that tells the story of Jesus meeting with a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, which could have been a member of the Sanhedrin, or at the very least, an official in the local synagogue. He tells Jesus that because of the miracles Jesus performed he knows that he is from God. It is at this point, that Jesus tells him he must be born from above to even be able to see, that is to comprehend, the realm of God. Jesus was pointing to the fact Nicodemus needed to be awakened to the reality of the spiritual realm. In fact, it is reasonable to conclude that the sin the of world was being spiritually asleep. The definition of sin in the Greek is missing the mark. Humanity, and in this case the Jews, had missed the mark by forgetting their spiritual nature. Jesus’ mission was to awaken them to their divine nature. He was trying to awaken them to the fact that they were one with the source and with each other. He also let them know that the source was father. In other words, they were family with the creative source and thereby family with one another. The family metaphor is indicative of the relationship of individual points of consciousness within the overall field of universal consciousness.

So, being born again, or born from above is not about a spiritual birth as much as it is about remembering the reality of who we humans really are. I know this is cliché, but the fact is, we are spiritual conscious entities having a material experience. When the Bible says that we are created in God's image, and it further says that God is spirit, then to be created in God's image it is to be created as a conscious spirit. However, it takes being awakened to our spiritual divine self. The realm of the divine is truly spiritual, that is in more scientific terms conscious energy. It is conscious energy that creates and sustains the material world.

The point of being born again is not being saved from sin and hell. The reason for the born again experience, actually born from above experience is to be awakened to the realm of God. It is to be awakened to the spiritual realm, the realm of creative conscious energy. Why don't we take some of these concepts and terms back giving them their proper meaning and incorporate them into an eclectic spirituality that is inclusive and universal?