 89. Jesus or Christ |
Jesus was killed because he taught the truth. The teaching was:
- You don't have to belong to, or follow any religion in order to enter the kingdom of God (heaven).
- Do not follow anyone who teaches that the kingdom of God (heaven) is over here or over there (above). For the kingdom of God (heaven) is within you. (Luke 17:21)*
- Do not follow anyone who tells you that the kingdom of God (heaven) will come later after the death of the physical body. The kingdom of God (heaven) is at hand. (Matthew 10:7) i.e., the kingdom is available now to anyone who seeks the truth (Mark 1:15 and the Gospel of Thomas #113). The kingdom is already here, but the people do not see it (understand it).
- You must attain (return to) your true and original state (called Heaven, Nirvana, Samadhi, Tao, etc., etc.) before the death of the physical body.
- Do not put your eternal soul in the hands of another person, no matter how "whitewashed" they are.
- Jesus taught the "way." It is the same "way" as the ancient Taoist spiritual schools, i.e., it teaches how to save your self by your self. It is a spiritual teaching, not a religion. It is also the spiritual instructions at the temple of Apollo at Dephi, Greece, KNOW-THY-SELF (as eternal spirit). You can only know (experience) your TRUE SELF by yourself.
- Jesus knew that he was going to be killed, not because it was the will of God, but because he had the gift of prophecy.
The Gnostic Gospel
Elaine Pagels
Professor of Religion, Princeton Univ.
First, "Orthodox Jews and Christians insist that a chasm separates humanity from its creator: God is wholly other. But some of the gnostics who wrote these gospels contradict this: self-knowledge is knowledge of God; the self and the divine are identical.
Second, the "living Jesus" of these texts speaks of illusion and enlightenment, not of sin and repentance, like the Jesus of the New Testament. Instead of coming to save us from sin, he comes as a guide who opens access to spiritual understanding. But when the disciples attains enlightenment, Jesus no longer serves as his spiritual master; the two have become equal - even identical.
Third, orthodox Christians believe that Jesus is Lord and Son of God in a unique way: he remains forever distinct from the rest of humanity whom he came to save. Yet the gnostic Gospel of Thomas relates that as soon as Thomas recognizes him, Jesus says to Thomas that they have both received their being from the same source."
The parable of the "Prodigal Son" by Jesus is the moral instruction about self-realization. HE CAME TO HIMSELF means the same thing as KNOW-THY-SELF or come to the understanding that you are eternal spirit. Do not waste the opportunity to BRING FORTH THAT WHICH IS WITHIN. The fallen son (of God) is no longer identified with the physical body and brain, but has RESURRECTED himself to the state of GOD SELF-REALIZATION (also called: Satori, Kingdom of God, Nirvana, Tao, Samadhi, Spiritual Enlightenment, etc., etc., etc.).
*Note: Jesus himself apparently did not believe the popular myth that God is spatially above the physical sky. On the contrary, Jesus affirmed that God is "Spirit" (or "Breath-Energy") - All-Pervading, and within all human beings. Therefore, Jesus would not physically fly up to "Heaven" (since "Heaven" - or the "Where" of God, or Truth - is not a physical place, physically above the physical Earth), but he did pray To and In and As the Spirit - by surrendering the "flesh body" (or the "vessel of clay") To the All-Pervading Divine Spirit, and by participating in the Divine Spirit, via devotional feeling, and via mystical (or Yogic) breathing, and (ultimately) via Absorption In the most ascended Condition of the Divine Spirit Itself.
