God Beyond Religion: The Hermetica and Eclectic Spirituality

I am becoming increasingly convinced that Hermetic teaching is foundational to all spirituality and especially eclectic spirituality. It is made somewhat popular and better known by the Kybalion. However, the teaching that undergirds the Kybalion is very ancient. I think it is safe to say that it is much older than any of the other major religions. I have discovered an easy to read book entitled "The Hermetica, The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs" by Tim Freke and Peter Gandy. It gives an excellent look into ancient hermetic teaching and places it squarely within ancient Egyptian history. While under King James I, the Greek Scholar Casaubon, cast a shadow on the ancient origin of hermetic teaching, but that has since been refuted.

"When Casaubon was writing, very little was actually known about ancient Egypt. The hieroglyphs themselves were not translated until two centuries after his death. Consequently many modern scholars now believe that he was wrong to see the Hermetic philosophy as a second-century invention, especially since the discovery of the pyramid texts of Saqquara at the end of the last century. These hieroglyphs are over 5000 years old and yet contain doctrines that are identical to those expounded in the Hermetica.”

Freke, Tim. The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs (p. 16). Tim Freke Publications. Kindle Edition.

Therefore one can rest assured that Hermetic Teaching is ancient and precedes all other world religions by at least 1,500 to 2,000 years. This is why I believe that it is foundational to eclectic spirituality. It is interesting because in the Hermetica, the one true God is portrayed as a loving Father and the word of the Father is a son, or the Son of God. The Father is the one great creative conscious mind and the word, Son is the creative force whereby the Father speaks his thoughts into material existence. 

"My Guide asked: 'Do you understand the secrets of this vision? I am that Light — the Mind of God, which exists before the chaotic dark waters of potentiality. My calming Word is the Son of God — the idea of beautiful order; the harmony of all things with all things. Primal Mind is parent of the Word, just as, in your own experience, your human mind gives birth to speech. They cannot be divided, one from the other, for life is the union of Mind and Word. Now, fix your attention upon the Light, and become One with it."

Freke, Tim. The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs (p. 33). Tim Freke Publications. Kindle Edition.

The above quote concerning the word of God being the Son of God is interesting indeed considering that the Greeks claimed that it was Egyptian from at least 3,000 BCE. And when you see that there were hieroglyphics found to be from 5,000 BCE with essentially the same teachings, it becomes even more intriguing. The above quote bears a great resemblance to the first chapter of John's gospel and substantiates my view of John 1:10-13. I had stated in a previous blog post that I no longer believe that passage was referring to Jesus Jewish contemporaries. Rather it was referring to the fact that the Logos, God's word was in the world all along in the form of God consciousness. When John writes he came unto his own and was not received, he meant conscious souls, not contemporary Jews. The many that received were the mystics over the years. The unique thing that Jesus taught was that the word became incarnate in him, or in other words, he realized that he possessed the word as a human. He did not stop there however, he also proclaimed that we too could be the word incarnate.

It is easy for me to see that much of what Jesus taught was of hermetic origin. There is a hermetic teaching about spiritual rebirth and being born again.

“No one can be saved, until he is born again… He who is reborn communes with the All-Father who is Light and Life.”  

Freke, Tim. The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs (p. 97-98). Tim Freke Publications. Kindle Edition.

The concept of being born from above and born from the spirit was first in the Hermetica. The concept was ancient. It was the way in which humans could be in community with the Father, and the father was light and life. You see here repeating themes that were present in the gospel of John. This is one of the reasons that I believe that the gospel of John is much more mystical and esoteric than the other gospels. Jesus said that unless one is born from above or in other words, born again spiritually she/he could not even see the kingdom of God. What he meant was that one has to be awakened to the fact that they are spiritually and mentally children of God. The thing that makes them God’s children is that they are created in the image of God, in other words, they are a conscious creative mind. There is no magic prayer one has to pray, but one must believe that they are truly divine and children of God to be able to take advantage of their heirship.

It should be apparent that being a Christ follower, and understanding and believing in hermetic principles are very compatible.

 

God Beyond Religion: The Paradox of Freewill and Determinism and Eclectic Spirituality

There is an age old debate within Christianity between the concept of freewill and determinism. Depending on ones position, one can find scripture passages that prove one or the other and conversely, one can find passages that contradict each position. For this reason the debates have raged on with different champions and different schools of thought over the history of Christianity. In adopting eclectic spirituality, I have found a way in which both can be true. It is resolved in understanding Hermetic Teaching. Since Christianity teaches that Jesus realized his divinity being the incarnation of the Logos, and since he taught that all of us are like him in that regard, one can believe that the All is mind, consciousness, and that we are egoic points of consciousness within the All. It is here that my view is the most eclectic as I see the Logos, the All, the Creative Source, the Tao, God as different descriptions of the same thing.

I am a Christ follower that places a lot of stock in the Hermetic principles. While I realize that the Kybalion is a very recent document in historical terms, I have a strong spiritual sense that it is correct. I would say that the author, who I believe to be William Walker Atkinson, received mystical illumination when writing the Kybalion. It is the second hermetic principle that I believe solves the paradox of freewill and determinism. It is the principle of correspondence. It states as above so below and as below so above. It speaks of three planes of existence. They are the physical plane, the mental plane and the spiritual plane. One can believe that the same rules apply in all planes according to the principle of correspondence. In other words, one can see the way the mental and spiritual planes operate by observing the physical plane. On the physical plane, cycles are everywhere. There is the water cycle, there is the daily cycle of the day and night, the planets cycle around the sun. there is the cycle of the seasons. Leaves grow, then die and fall to the ground and end up being fertilizer for the trees that produce more leaves the next season. In essence, there is cycles everywhere in the material plane.

So then, using the principle of correspondence, as above so below and as below so above, one can be fairly certain that there are cycles in the mental and spiritual planes as well. This strongly suggests that reincarnation and the transmigration of souls is a principle that one can count on. This would mean that we cycle through different lives.  If this is true, and I believe it is, then this principle alone can adequately explain the appearance of both free will and determinism as existing simultaneously. According to Hermetic teaching, the All is the creative source. It is mental and spiritual in nature. Further, within the All are individual conscious egos. We humans are those individual conscious egos. Free will comes into play with the choices we make. We choose our life path, our lessons etc. Perhaps it is based on criteria set by the All, or a collective of conscious egos, and quite possibly both. I sense that each individual conscious ego has a lot of input into the plan. That is the place of free will. Our conscious egos can choose the time and place for incarnating. Determinism enters within the plan once the choice is made. It is important to realize that we are a part of the creative source, the All. This is what Peter referred to as the divine nature. We are indeed participants with the creative source.

 

If this is the case, then it is possible that the entire Christian experience is a plan that was set in motion that each of us chose to play a role in. Paul’s mystical revelation in Ephesians chapter one lays out the overall framework of the plan. The source, in this case, God chose those who participate in the plan before creation, and therefore, we too chose that plan and that is why we were born into Christianity. What to do with the plan is a choice. I would look at it as a subplot drama in the overall drama of material existence. There are those who embrace and believe the plan. There are those who question the plan and leave. There are those that try to understand the plan in a contemporary way. But, what if this plan is integral in eclectic spirituality? What if there are many plans? What if Buddhism is a plan; Taoism is a plan; Hinduism, Islam, Mentalism, New Age, are all plans? What if all of the various plans make up eclectic spirituality, and the mystical revelation in Christianity plays an integral part in the upward spiral of spiritual awareness? What if, in the Christ, Christ Consciousness, the Cosmic Christ, the concept of a new humanity is an integral part of the spiritual advancement of humanity?

 

While I realize that there is so much toxic about Christianity, especially evangelicalism, and while there is a lot of toxic teaching in the Pauline scripture, there is also a substantial amount of mystical revelation that includes but is not limited to, Paul’s vision of a New Humanity. There is also his definition of love and the fruit of the spirit. There is John’s revelation that God is love, and that Jesus taught that humans are in fact also partakers of divinity. While those born into Christianity are part of a predetermined plan, each of us within that reality have the freedom of choice to embrace what is good and beneficial and reject out of hand the toxicity. The most toxic of all is the view of scripture that it is all equally the word of the creative source and that is patently false!

 

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?

God Beyond Religion: Seeing Through a Glass Darkly; I'm in Transition

1Corinthians 13:12  "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

After a hiatus of 10 years, I returned to blogging on the freedom blog in May of 2020. The 10-year hiatus was the result of me dedicating 10 years, and over 500 posts to a blog entitled a "paradigm shift for thoughtful evangelicals." That blog came about as a result of me attending a funeral of a close relative in the Bible Belt. The relative loved Jesus and God, but early in life had an addiction problem. The addiction came back and was a contributing factor in her death. I was incensed by the number of evangelicals that had determined she may have headed to eternal torturous punishment in hell. It was then that I decided to write a blog showing how erroneous evangelical Christian doctrine was.

 

In May 2020, I concluded that I had written everything I needed to on the paradigm shift blog. My interests was growing in metaphysics. For a long time, 20 years at least, I had an eclectic spirituality that I did not make known in my public persona. Even though I had come back to evangelical Christianity in the early 1990’s, I had not ever embraced or believed the doctrine of hell. Further, I was skeptical of much of the Old Testament. I saw the garden creation myth as an allegory, and not a real event. I was leery of all the violence in the Old Testament that was sanctioned by God. I could not accept or reconcile the fact, that if God is love, that he would sanction and in some instances command extreme violence against humanity. I would not accept that God would sanction a man selling his daughter as a sex slave, a concubine. Moreover, I had reasoned that much of the New Testament was cultural input and not divinely inspired direction. I had come to believe that the Bible was a combination of metaphysical, mystical revelation, and cultural commentary.

 

So that is where I was at the beginning of May 2020. As I now look back over the Freedom Blog from that point until today July 10th 2021, I am seeing a major and profound transition of thought and belief. It all began early in 2020. We were preparing to move to a new location here in Memphis. The property we were moving to, and subsequently working on, had a Japanese theme in the backyard. There was a Torii gate facing an outdoor shed that was similar to an oriental temple shrine.

 

I sensed that the Tori gate was a power vortex or power spot. The home had been occupied by an oriental lady that died. While we were working on the place prior to moving in, I sensed her presence though she was not malevolent in any way. However, this was an impetus to get me to focus more on eclectic spirituality. At the same time, I felt the urge to begin to invest in and collect crystals. I also joined a Facebook group that was named the Metaphysical Christian. This was not completely new to me because many years earlier in the 1970's, when I lived in Arizona, I was deeply involved in metaphysics and new age spirituality. I had studied numerology and even gave readings. During my return to evangelical Christianity, I never really dismissed my metaphysical, mystical, spiritual experiences and I believed that they were compatible with my Christianity.

 

During this same time, I began to study and explore various ideas, both scientific and metaphysical that dealt with the way we view and understand the material world. I have concluded that the path I am now on is best called eclectic spirituality. I still have a significant and personal attachment and relationship with Jesus of Nazareth via the universal, cosmic Christ. I am convinced that the Christ is the higher self of any Christ follower. Further, I think it is synonymous with what the Christian scripture calls the divine nature and the Holy Spirit. It is important to realize this is just a part of my eclectic spirituality. I add to it the many things I've studied and researched over the last year and a half. To mention a few, though it is not an exhaustive list, are hermetic teaching, the Tao TE Ching, Doctor Donald Hoffman’s work in cognitive science, the theories of Rupert Sheldrake, the writings of William Walker Atkinson, sacred geometry, the writings of Aldous Huxley, and the theories of Carl Jung, I'm quite certain that I have left out some important parts but through all of this, in conjunction with mystical revelation found in the New Testament, I have found a preponderance of evidence both spiritual and scientific that strongly suggests that indeed as the hermetic teaching states, the material world we live in is mental. 

Over this time my views had become less Christian centric and far more eclectic. This can be seen easily as you read through the blog posts from the beginning one in May of 2020 until now. I don't think that I need to eliminate any of them, nor do I need to edit them. This will serve to acknowledge that the transition is there and easily seen by me or anyone who reads the blog. I believe it can be attributed to an observation the apostle Paul made in the above verse from first Corinthians. I, like everyone, see through a glass darkly. But in that effort, it is an upward path toward an awakened light within.

God Beyond Religion: Eclectic Spirituality and Science

"The main interest of my work is not concerned with the treatment of neuroses but rather with the approach to the numinous. But the fact that the approach to the numinous is the real therapy, and inasmuch as you attain to the numinous experience you are released from the curse of pathology."

~Carl Jung

From the most ancient hermetic teaching, to the bulk of the worlds religions, the concept that the universe is created by an ethereal, spiritual source is ubiquitous. Further, most acknowledge that the source of all creativity is thought or consciousness. Even the most scientific materialists, who believe that hydrogen was the prime substance, that it swirled and condensed, and through fusion birthed all the other elements, have no explanation for whence came hydrogen and what set it in motion. The writer of the book of Hebrews in the Christian Bible said that it was by faith people understand that the world of form was created by the unseen. Both the Old Testament and New Testaments of the bible explain that the universe was spoken and therefore thought into existence. 

The Tao Te Ching states that the ineffable Tao expressed itself and was therefore the mother of all spirit and matter. The writer of the Kybalion, quoting ancient hermetic teaching states that the "All is mind, the universe is mental." The stoics of ancient Greece believed that the universe was created by the Logos, which is a thought spoken. Quantum mechanics suggests that by the observation of matter at the quantum level that sub atomic particles are conscious of being observed. 

Dr. Donald Hoffman and his team of cognitive scientists believe they have proven that the material reality we experience is but an interface of conscious agents similar to a computer program, a holographic simulation, or a three dimensional video game. I think that this preponderance of beliefs and theories more than substantiates the importance of the numinous. In case you are not familiar with the word numinous, I will include the definition. Numinous: having a strong religious or spiritual quality; indicating or suggesting the presence of divinity.

While I am not suggesting that the above is an unanimously proven fact, it is most certainly interesting that it is so widely spread over the progression of the millenniums. One certainly could be considered reasonable having strong belief in the existence of the divine supernatural. And yet, over the centuries religion has also been responsible for some of the grossest atrocities against humanity and to a great degree the source of much of mental illness. So it is my belief that when Carl Jung, made the statement he was meaning eclectic spirituality that embraces the best of mystical revelation and science. One without the other creates a slippery slope to malady. It therefore is important to see spirituality and science as compatible. To see that neither one is exclusively intolerant of the other.

This is the place where intuition is extremely important. It could likewise be called spiritual discernment. Avoiding ridged dogmatic beliefs is key in allowing the intuition to logically co-exist along side of scientific theory. I want to emphasize the word theory. All science is indeed theory. Good science is based upon observed and tested theory and yet in the end it is still theory and over the centuries, theories have been found to be inadequate in the presence of new information and observation. It logically follows in my view, that places where mystical revelation and science agree and track together, a solid spiritual foundation for faith is established. 

What I have found over time, and especially recently, is that current scientific studies in physics and cognitive science have bolstered my faith. While I believe that my faith in a creative source, a higher purpose, would be an important factor to me anyway, because I have seen too much evidence for the spiritual and supernatural, the fact is, that current scientific investigation is adding a lot of credence to my beliefs. I still have an abiding belief in Jesus. I do not see it in the same way as I once did. In a lot of ways it is richer and more real. My faith in Jesus fits well within the framework of what I call eclectic spirituality. It is Jesus minus the toxicity. I have truly come to believe that God is love, and that love is precisely what the apostle Paul defined it as in his first letter to the Corinthians. I want to post it here from the NIV. 

1Co 13:4-8  Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  (5)  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  (6)  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  (7)  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  (8)  Love never fails. 

Understand that this is the definition of God! Yes, let that sink in... So then, when Jung speaks of the approach to the numinous he is speaking of correctly discerning the spirit of God, the spirit of the universal and cosmic Christ. If one would simply judge mystical revelation by this standard, one would not have a problem with knowing the difference between mystical revelation from the source and the religious meandering thoughts of humans. One can also look for spiritual fruit. The fruit of the spirit of God is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness and temperance. The standard is easy to discern, and it will never guide us wrong. Understanding the nature of the divine, and the realization that we are partakers of divinity, will go farther toward healing our neurosis's and psychosis's than any other one thing. It is a reality found in many mystical traditions.  

God Beyond Religion: Specularia, Why the Accusation of Cherry-picking Scripture is Absurd!

I have often said about reading the Christian Scripture, that one must discern what is truly mystical revelation given to the writer from source and what is cultural B.S., influenced by the culture of the one writing. Many times people will call me out for what they term cherry-picking, insinuating that I merely ignore the passage I do not like. As I state in the title, that is absurd. How can I say that? Actually it is easy. Abraham Cohen, has written an informative book entitled "Everyman's Talmud." It is the Jewish equivalent to a Christian book on basic, and introductory systematic theology. It divides the Talmud, the written version of the oral traditions of the Rabbi's of old, into various categories such as the doctrine of God, the doctrine of man, the doctrine of revelation or scripture etc. The fact is that long before the Christians codified their scripture, the Jews had already established rules for cherry-picking the Tanakh, or the Old Testament. The rule that makes way for cherry-picking is called specularia.  It states that Moses is the standard by which all other scripture must be interpreted. It uses Numbers chapter 12 verses 6-8 as the justification for specularia. Here is an excerpt from Cohen's book.

“What was the distinction between Moses and the other prophets? The latter looked through nine specularia, whereas Moses looked only through one. They looked through a cloudy specularia, but Moses through one that was clear” (Lev. R. I, 14).1 His apprehension of the divine message was therefore more intimate than theirs. The Revelation granted to him was the source from which all the later prophets drew." Cohen, Abraham. Everyman's Talmud (p. 187). BN Publishing. Kindle Edition. 

Even in the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, the concept of being able to cherry-pick interpretive meaning was well established. Let's look at the passage. Numbers 12:6-8  "The LORD said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.  (7)  My servant Moses is not like this; he is faithful in all my house.  (8)  With him I will speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles; and he will see the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” Notice the phrase, "he is faithful in all my house." 

The writer of Hebrews, used that phrase to overthrow the specularia of Moses. Look at this passage. Hebrews 3:1-6  "Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,  (2)  was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also "was faithful in all God's house."  (3)  Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.  (4)  (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)  (5)  Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later.  (6)  Christ, however, was faithful over God's house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope." There you have it, the justification for Jewish Christians to take the words and witness of Jesus over Moses. This overthrew the earlier specularia and enabled cherry-picking.

Orthodox Christian doctrine is replete with cherry-picking. In fact, all systematic theologies, use essentially the same headings such as doctrine of God, doctrine of man, doctrine of scripture and cherry-pick the meaning. The Pelagian, Augustinian debate is the result of cherry-picking. This was later taken up by the Calvinist, Arminian debate using the same cherry-picking arguments. You should be able to see the extreme absurdity of the accusation of cherry-picking by anyone.

The question is not is the scripture cherry-picked, but how logical is the philosophical and theological foundation for the cherry-picking? So this brings it down to my cherry-picking of scripture. What criteria do I use for cherry-picking scripture. Not just the Christian scripture either. I apply this to all writings that are metaphysical in nature and appear to be mystical revelation from source. I emphasize the Christian scripture here because I believe that there is a lot of mystical revelation from source in it. Wanting to be as transparent as possible, here are some of my criteria. I am not sure that this is exhaustive of the criteria I use, but I believe that it will provide a window into my view, and demonstrate that it is likely something that is supported by the indwelling spirit we all have as a result of being participants of the divine nature. They are not in order of importance.

• All of the biblical narrative must be examined in relation to the advent of Jesus and the ultimate establishment of the New Covenant meant for a "new humanity."
• Jesus message was transitional. It moved from strictly old covenant Judaism to messages that would be universal for all of humanity and instrumental in giving guidance to the "new humanity." This was even true in the Sermon on the Mount.
• Paul's writings, and the pseudo writings from his students, contained a mixture of mystical revelation that Paul received from source, and cultural interpretation that resulted from Paul's rabbinical training in Judaism. Paul was a walking dichotomy.
• John's gospel was meant to be a bridge between the Jewish aspects of the New Testament and the message meant for what Paul called the 'new creation' or the 'new humanity.'
• Paul made a distinction between those who were born under the Law and those who were not. To those born under the law, it was the law of sin and death, to those not born under the law and those who embraced the teachings of Jesus it pointed toward the law of the spirit of life in Christ.
• All true mystical revelation must line up with John's revelation that God is Love!
• Understanding what is meant by God is love must line up with Paul's definition of love in First Corinthians chapter thirteen, especially the one that states that God/Love keeps no records of wrongs
• The spirit was poured out on all flesh and all people have the divine nature and the capability of hearing directly revelation from the Spirit of God. However, any revelation that is truly from the Spirit of God will line up exactly with Paul's definition of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians chapter five.

While I may have more that I have not stated here, these are sufficient to offer justification for the way in which I cherry-pick the scripture, and the accusation that because one does not believe all that is in the Christian scripture, that one cannot use any of the Christian scripture is patently ABSURD!!!

God Beyond Religion: Jesus Statement About Greater Works, The Kybalion, The Arcane Formulas, and Mental Alchemy

John, chapter 14, verse 12,  "Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father."

Was Jesus the ultimate mental alchemist? We know that he was the Son of God, but do we understand that he was in fact, the ultimate big brother? Paul wrote that Jesus was the firstborn of many siblings in Romans 8, and also again in Colossians 1:15&18. Further, this idea is suggested in Ephesians 1:4 which states that Jesus was chosen as the first born before creation. While firstborn is not mentioned in that particular verse, it is obvious that is what is meant. It is the apostle John that tells about the metaphysical divine nature of Jesus, While the synoptic gospels tell of his miraculous deeds, it is John's gospel that explains his relation to humanity. In his gospel, Jesus makes statements about the father being in him and him in the father and both he and the father in us. He also explains that he is going away to be able to send the Spirit that will indwell each of us. Peter expressly states that we participate in the divine nature as a result of Jesus.  John in his first letter makes it abundantly plain. 1Jn 3:2  "Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is." In the verse above from John 14 why would he say that we would do greater works because of him going to the father? It is really plainly obvious when you begin to connect the dots of mystical revelation found in the New Testament. It is by the spirit that the indwelling Christ is poured out on humanity. That is what he did as a big brother. He made us aware of our divinity and showed us what we are indeed capable of.

In the above posited verse from John 14, Jesus makes a claim that has had a lot of different interpretations over the years. It varies from one denominational iteration to the next, but few if any take him literally at his word. Most all of Christian religion say and believe that he didn't really mean that we would do greater works. They say that we would never do the miraculous as he did. I am beginning to understand that we should take him literally. Instead of coming to establish yet another religion on earth, He showed us what it meant to be fully human and fully divine. Let me be clear, it takes some inner-work and shadow-work to begin to embrace our divinity. First above all we have to begin to love ourselves and believe that we are loved and highly favored by source and that we are an extension of source. That is the purpose of our divine nature

I believe that Jesus called source his Father. He taught that source was a loving Father. You may find the patriarchy of Jesus teaching somewhat unsettling but you must understand that he came to a patriarchal culture. However, if one will simply embrace an eclectic spirituality, knowing that there is truth in the hermetic teaching for example, then one would realize that the principle of correspondence found in the Kybalion and other hermetic writings show the feminine or matriarchal as well. If source created male and female, then if one understands the concept of as above so below and as below so above one finds that source is father, mother, sister, brother, cousin, uncle, aunt, and friend. That is the true essence and extent of the familial metaphor.

Further, understanding that the material universe is indeed mental makes the miracles that Jesus did a result of mental alchemy. Now before you go blowing an aorta, thinking in your mind, how dare you say that about Jesus, Genesis says the same thing about the source. The universe sprang into existence as the result of mental alchemy. Before God said, God thought and saying is merely an outward expression of thought. But when one looks at the language of Genesis, one finds that the Hebrew word awmar, which is translated said, has a lot of latitude in meaning and could have as easily been translated thought. Yes indeed, it would have been just as correct to say that "God thought, let there be light, and there was light. Moreover, if one goes to the Gospel of John, and looks at Strong's definition of Logos, it is stated that it means word (including the thought) in parenthesis right behind word, so it could have easily been interpreted in the beginning was thought, and the thought was with God and the thought was God.

All right you may be saying, how do we begin to invoke our divine nature and begin doing mental alchemy which will result in greater works? I'm glad you asked. That is a great question. Remember above, I said that we need to do the inner-work and the shadow-work? Well, let's look at what that might be. First as I suggested above, it begins with learning to love ourselves as we are loved by source. For Christ followers, that is Papa and Jesus. It is important to realize what I had mentioned in a previous post about Jesus' mission to establish a new humanity. The "New Humanity" can be developed first and foremost by having faith. This involves settled confidence in, relying on, clinging too, the idea that we indeed participate in the divine nature; that we were created in the image of God which is creative conscious thought. Beyond this however, it is important to look at what Jesus demonstrated the "new humanity" would be like. He was loving, inclusive, accepting, and most of all kind. He taught his followers to love. While I admit that he was not kind to the Pharisees and religious leaders of his day, it was because of the bondage they were putting on people. He then, did the mental alchemy to grab the attention of the people he wanted to see set free.

I believe that we will begin to see the greater works come to fruition, we be able to do mental alchemy when we begin to embrace the same loving attitude with the goal of setting free those in bondage to religion and all sorts of other evils. We will begin to find that truly the resources available are not scarce and are not limited, but readily available for all. We will discover that the zero sum game is a product of the age of Pisces, a delusion. We will begin to find that the resources of the age of Aquarius are plentiful beyond measure.  As Jesus said, "Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!" and a little later on in that passage he said, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."     

Don't misunderstand. I am not trying to push one to Christian orthodoxy, or Christian religion for that matter. I am not referring to sin nor salvation. What I am saying is the Jesus of Nazareth is an integral teacher and has a preeminent role in establishing the "new humanity" in this new age. It is not that Jesus is the only way to source, but that he is the prime source of what it means to be loving. The Sermon on the Mount, and all of the other teachings that demonstrate what it means to be loving are ultra important in developing a more loving society in an age designated for a new humanity. The age we have begun. The age of Aquarius.

I will end with this thought. Acts 14:3  Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. In the first century, after the resurrection, there was a taste of the greater works afforded those who were telling the story of a new humanity. This I believe will again be the case for those who will tell the story of Christ's mission accurately.