DEVIL AND EVIL

DEVIL AND EVIL

If you were raised in the Christian Faith, chances are some of your earliest fears were brought on by the fearsome personage of all evil ... evil incarnate ... the Devil, and/or Satan. Chances are you were also taught at the same time about the all-powerful God who could turn off the sun if he chose to do so. So then, how can "another" mighty, eternal, God of Evil co-exist with this Almighty, Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent total power of the One good God/Source of Absolute Truth? Hmmm. 

The church would teach that this Devil/Satan was once a mighty Angel, the most beautiful of all, they say. But his rebellion led to an uprising and he took a third of the Angels with him ... cast out of the heavenly realm. So, having no where else to go apparently, he came to Earth as a serpent, tempted Adam and Eve, and therefore brought with him, chaos and disorder into the Garden/Paradise that once was - before he moved into the neighborhood. Talk about home values plummeting ... 

So, now he and his fallen cohorts (so-called demons) travel about the world  tempting humans into wars, poverty, hunger, lies, rapes, murders, theft, vandalism, and every other evil that we can come up with. "The Devil made me do it" is what people claim, yet it is the person who has done the evil that will go to jail ... not the Devil or his demons. This is all fine and dandy if it was the basis for the plot of a low-budget horror film, but other than that ... it is all bunk. Yes, bunk. It is just a convenient way to blame someone else the for effects that WE cause. 

The original Christians knew the Truth. But then again, they were murdered and tortured to death by the Roman Church and most all of their scriptures and physical evidence were either destroyed or confiscated. Quite a bit of bounty was collected for a newly formed Empirical Religion that had behind it the armies and legions of the Roman Empire. But, to maintain power over mankind, the power must be held in secret within the highest ranking leaders of the Church. If the people knew the Truth, if they had been empowered with the Truth of The Ages, the Hidden Wisdom, the Apocalyptic Revelation that was life changing, then they would no longer be able to be controlled. And the money, donations, and food offerings would cease to come rolling into the temples and churches.

So then, who is this guy/power?

"For as much as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself took part in the same, that through DEATH, he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is THE DEVIL."

Hebrews 2:14

Much like a dictionary, biblical scripture will give you definitions if you look hard enough. Many times, we have to go back to the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. So right here, we are told in plain English, that whoever or whatever has the "power of death" is the Devil. 

"For since BY MAN came DEATH, by man came also the resurrection of the dead."

1 Corinthians 15:21

So, according to this verse ... direct from the Bible ... MAN has the power of DEATH. And every man is subjected to duality (Though it is an illusion). There are two polarities of men within every man. The Inward Man and the Outward Man. The "outward" is the man of flesh ... Adam so to speak. We inherited this outward man from the story of Adam. Adam is a man (according to scripture) and therefore we inherited the sin nature of Adam, right up the line, as an inclusive part of our human nature. 

"For the wages of SIN is DEATH."

Romans 6:23

Now follow me ... I'm going somewhere. So it is SIN that has the power of DEATH. Sin is the Adam man ... the human nature man ... the first of two. Adam, and Jesus. Adam (and sin) represent your human animal nature ... the flesh that your Soul is wrapped in. 

"If you live after the flesh, you shall die. (sounds a bit like Genesis huh?) but if you "by the Spirit" (the Mind of Christ) do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live."

Romans 8:13

The human body has the power of death, through it's sin (error in thinking) and the battle is in the mind ... where Spirit lives. This is ego-centric consciousness vs. Christ consciousness. While in the mythical Garden of Eden (mind), Adam and Eve were tempted by the lust of sin ... wrong thinking, missing the mark of Divine Truth, which is in all men. The conversation with the serpent, was actually Eve having an internal conversation amongst herselves. Just as we do today. We talk to ourselves, ask ourselves questions, and actually answer them. She wandered into Ego-land.

This story is about inner temptation. Eve was tempted. Adam was tempted. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. The lust of sin in the flesh (the ramblings and desires of our ego) bring about these temptations. And therefore, this Devil/Satan who is "the opposer" leads us astray from the default of goodness and righteousness. When we "sin" (make an error in judgement through ignorance leading to consequences) - we bring forth the Devil. Satan (ha-satan! the Opposer). The opposite end of polarity between good, and not good. We are given this duality (range of polarity) so that we can discern what is right, or unright. Human nature ego, or Divine nature Mind. Once we see the Truth, that which was illusion dissipates. 

Your mirror reflection is not actually you, but it looks just like you ... in the opposite reverse polarity. Once you see that the image is not real, that it is merely an illusion, it is no longer needed. You have learned the lesson that was intended. The Devil/Satan are not anthropomorphized evil as personages, they are our ego mind, forever wanting to follow the desires of our senses, rather than what is best for our Self and everyone else. We are one race, one blood, one point of origin. God/Source/Spirit lives with us, through us, and as us. When all is "whole" ... "holy," then we can attain Heaven on Earth. The Kingdom is described in the scriptures as being "Love, Peace, and Joy." So, let's make it happen. Collectively, we are commissioned to bring order from chaos (day from night, light from darkness). We have the ability to reason. The universe is one giant organism, and we live within it, as it, and there is nowhere else to go but right where we are. All is NOW. All is here. 

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

DO NOT RESIST EVIL - WHY?

DO NOT RESIST EVIL - WHY?

"Resist Not Evil" - What Does This Mean?

“As a man thinketh in his heart so is he...” Proverbs 23:7

Whatever a man thinks, he creates.

Whatever a person focuses on, that, he shall have.

This is such a simple concept and yet we have not grasped it. Jesus was quoted as saying, “Resist NOT evil.” WHY did he say that? And why do we continue to resist it?

He knew that in our resistance and focus, we will create MORE of what we are actually NOT wanting. THINK ABOUT THAT. 

Let me explain further: The human being is endowed with this “pearl” of great price, something that has been forming within the human race for eons. This “treasure” hidden within the human field is the ability to create. Whatever the human focuses his / her thought and emotion upon he / she creates MORE of what he / she thinks about.

The universe does not discriminate. It hears the vibrational request because a human being is focusing thought and emotional currency into being betrayed. And the answer is YES. Our subconscious mind cannot accept “not” or “won’t” … it accepts the thought … in a positive light … and delivers. It is based on image, or picture graphics. You cannot draw a picture of someone NOT swimming. They are either swimming, or doing something else. In this same way, the subconscious mind and universe cannot deliver something that you DON’T want.

The more we think about war … the more war we get. Think about PEACE and in that way we can eradicate war by manifesting peace instead.

Scripture says “take every thought captive” and to “think on things that are pure, lovely and of a good rapport.” There is good reason for this. 

If you are focusing on betrayal for example, you are actually sending a detailed plea for more of the same. You must cease focusing on betrayal and begin focusing on loyalty and integrity in order to receive it. That which we resist, continues to persist. Remember this always.

If we truly grasp the mechanics of creation, then we will maintain our focus on GOOD things. Focusing on things we deem as evil will attract it to us and we will ultimately receive whatever it is that we “ask” for.

The reason we focus on the negative things is because we have an ego that recognizes right and wrong, good and evil. We must remove this wrong thinking ruler from the throne of our humanity, and let the ego be a servant to us rather than a master of us. Always let the Divine within, lead us to the default of goodness. 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

THE TRAGEDY OF MISINTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE

TRAGEDY OF MISINTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURES

Sadly today, most modern Christians are unable to accurately discern the deeper, mystical, inner levels of spirituality that are revealed in Biblical scriptures. They inherited a literal-historical presentation dating back to the Roman Empire and it's charge to create a literal Saviour based religion to unite and control the masses of the Empire. Science, history, and archaeology today still hints that much of the Bible's hidden mysteries are veiled and concealed from the majority of it's followers. 

In fact, todays Christian faithful are unaware that the ancient spiritual Wisdom contains keys that unlock the secrets of the hidden mysteries contained within the package of myth. Furthermore, trying to find these keys and reveal these ancient texts is difficult at best when dealing with English translations, taken from latin translations, taken from the original Greek and Hebrew languages. Remember that Revelation (Apocalypse of St. John) literally means an unveiling of that which is hidden. It so not the war to end all wars as has been perceived. 

Tragically, it is the people outside of the church system that have a better handle on what the ancient Wisdom was attempting to convey through allegory, metaphor, and myth. These researchers are the ones who possess the accurate understandings of the original scriptures and their predecessors. These hidden secrets deal with the spiritual evolution of the souls of mankind that lay hidden under the layers of parables, fables, and myth. 

Unfortunately, within countless denominations, Pastors, Priests, Ministers and the like are taught the dogmas and doctrines of their particular system much in the way a Ford Mechanic is taught how to repair Fords. Going to a Methodist Seminary for example, will teach you the ways of being a Methodist and the rules and rituals of the Methodist Church System. 

These Apologists, Priests, Pastors, and Seminarians are blinded to the Inner Mysteries (esoteric) and taught to present the Outer Mysteries (exoteric) to their congregations. There are TWO ways in which to interpret the stories in the Bible. One way, is as literal-historical real events, and the other as allegory, metaphor, and mystical ... metaphysical. Only ONE of these two is the correct and intended accurate manner in which to interpret what the ancients left behind for us to discover ... but not without a shovel. We have to dig through the layers and get to the roots. 

Unfortunately, most followers today rely on someone else from the pulpit to tell them what to believe instead of doing their own research and finding the Truth. All of the ancient writers of these scriptures veiled the true stories behind myth. These myths told deeper Truths that lay beneath the layers of what appeared to be a real event, location, or person. It is ALL allegory. It's Truth's were presented by earlier civilizations in exactly the same way except that the names and places were changed to fit the customs and traditions of the people. 

I should also mention the misunderstanding of the modern etymology of the word "myth." Myth comes from the Greek word "mythos." It doesn't matter if the literal event ever took place, because the Truth lies in the deeper lesson or message. Joseph Campbell said it best: "a myth is something that never was, yet always is." 

Now, It must be understood that in the Hebrew language, each letter of the aleph-bet (alphabet) had it's own symbolic meanings. Every word, name, geographic location; were all chosen to represent the inner meaning of the message that was being conveyed to those with eyes to see and ears to hear. 

When a Christian is asked if they are "spiritually discerned" as Paul had asked in 1st Corinthians, they say YES. However, when we look back at the original Greek and reference what "spiritually discerned" meant in the original Greek word "pneumatikos" we find that the meaning is that scripture is meant to be "figuratively, allegorically, metaphorically, mystically, metaphysically, non-literal, and non-physical." By interpreting scripture as literal-historical, the deeper spiritual message has been lost and history has been counterfeit. This falsely converts the Bible to a history book filled with presumed biographies of literal and historical persons and places. 

The modern Christian faith system is dependent upon historical events, simply because it separates itself from other religions by calling itself historical, based on historical events, historical miracles, a historical Saviour, a historical crucifixion and resurrection, and a historical wooden cross reserved for the suffering Saviour of Jesus Christ. This Jesus was presumably raised from the dead three days after his crucifixion. Therefore, modern Christianity is totally dependent on a historical literal Jesus dying and resurrecting ... as opposed to the ancient teaching of the dying and resurrecting Godman among many previous civilizations that was intended to describe what happens within each and every man esoterically. 

In reality, St. Paul (a Gnostic Christian), was speaking of the awakening and resurrecting Christ inside a person, NOT outside the person. He knew no historical Jesus. His Christ was Gnostic and esoteric ... part of the Inner Mysteries he had learned from the Mystery Schools of old. This is our darkness today. When we read the Bible literally rather than using the keys of allegory and myth. Luke tells us "look not here nor there for the Christ" because it is within us ... the Divine Spark of God. The story of Jesus, is OUR story, not HIStory. 

It was written for our benefit and for our spiritual journey back home from whence we came. It was written to benefit us as we sojourn in a foreign land ... Earth / matter. It is a guide, an archetype for us to follow esoterically as we travel through our earthly physical experiences as a spiritual being. Billions have gone to their graves not having learned the Truth. They still wait for a real historic Second Coming, a real historic Resurrection of The Dead, a real historic Rapture. These things will never occur ... literally or historically. They are spiritual metaphors for what takes place within us, not without us. 

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM. 

THE SON OF GOD OR A SON OF GOD

THE SON OF GOD OR A SON OF GOD

Greater Things

Though no one will probably take the time to read this, I am posting it anyway because I spent a great deal of time writing it. One of my biggest Mentors, Rick Pinette once told me: "If you want to learn, then teach." This is what I do. Though it may fall on few ears, it allows me to learn more in the process. 

For my friends who follow Christianity, I want to take a much deeper look at two particular verses from the New Testament Bible which is the foundational doctrine of the Christian Faith. Christianity professes Jesus the Nazarene to be not only the one and only begotten Son of God, but also to be God in the flesh dwelling among us. Most people know the rest of the story, so I want to highlight two specific scriptures in this particular article. The first one is:

1 John 4:17

“By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because JUST AS JESUS IS, SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.”

Now, please read this verse again. Slower and let it speak beyond what you have been taught in church, and let it speak to your Soul … the Spirit within you. The SAME Spirit that was within the man from Galilee as well as every single human being that ever existed. It specific and clearly without any confusions states “just as Jesus is, so also are WE in this world.” Now how do we reconcile this statement, against the church teaching of Jesus being THE ONE AND ONLY Son of God? Either ALL of us are sons and daughters of God, or we’re not.

In the King James Bible, Book of John 10:36, Jesus is quoted as saying “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am THE Son of God?”

The King James Version of the Bible has “THE” in italics before the words “Son of God” in John 10:36. This is not for emphasis as some may think, but shows words interpolated by the translators. Everywhere you see italicized words, they have been added by the translators. In this case, they were mistaken. SInce I spoke Greek before I spoke English, its easy for me to have a quick reference to Greek Grammar and it will show the original Greek does NOT have an article before “Son of God,” which in Greek is equivalent to having an indefinite article. 

In the original Greek of this scripture, Jesus did NOT say he is THE Son of God; he said “I am A Son of God.” He also quoted from the OT Psalm 82 that says “Ye are gods.” Now, we look at John 14:12 which is another clear and non-confusing statement as quoted directly from the mouth of Jesus (Iesus, Ieasus, Yehsu, Yeshua, Yehoshua, Joshua, Isa)

John 14:12

“In most solemn truth I tell you that he who trusts in me - THE THINGS WHICH I DO, HE SHALL DO ALSO, AND GREATER THINGS THAN THESE HE SHALL DO …”

In case you missed it … read it one more time only slower. Greater things than HE shall do? Here is Jesus saying that “others” will perform greater achievements than he was able to do. Jesus specifically states that the "ordinary humans he left behind" (who, according to traditional Christian mythology, are NOT Divine as he is) will do greater things than Jesus himself did. So I ask you, if Jesus … is God, or became the one and only Almighty God as Christianity emphatically states, then how are WE to do greater things that God / Source? Unless … there’s something more to the story that we haven’t been told.

Whether you choose to believe it or not, The Bible that so many people follow has been revised, edited, added-to, taken-away from, and changed from the beginning by the church authorities. The oldest known Bible in existence that we know of is the Sinai Bible on display in the British Museum. It dates back to the 1100’s. Then, 500 years later, in 1611 we received the “Authorized” King James Bible. Between the two of these publications, there are over 22,000 discrepancies. 

Now consider how many versions and in how many languages this book is printed in today? Just like food … the closer you can get to the original form, the better it is for you. When studying and researching the Bible deeply, you have to go back to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

Today’s Christianity takes the Bible scriptures ONLY in a literal and historical sense. However, the original authors of the various original scriptures intended for them to be allegorical, metaphorical, and symbolic rather than ONLY literal and historical. The names, the places, the people, all have symbolic meaning in what they were named and labeled as for a purpose … for a deeper hidden meaning or lesson of Truth masked under the surface disguise of a real story. For "those who have eyes to see" and for those who "have ears to hear."

The original Christian teachings had two presentations. The Outer Mysteries (exoteric) were for all the commoners and those without any further spiritual or philosophical interest beyond worshipping and paying homage to a God. The Inner Mysteries (esoteric) were reserved for those initiates who could read between the lines … see beyond the stories and myth … and had a true desire to go much deeper into the Inner teachings of the spiritual Wisdom of The Ages. These teachings date back to ancient Egypt, Greece, Persia, the Far East, and so many earlier civilizations and writings.

The Bible states “there is nothing new under the sun” and this is a very truthful statement. Everything was already here when we got here. Whatever we make, we use the materials that already exist. We are the great re-arrangers. The same it is with religion and belief systems. We take what is already here, and re-arrange it into something else. Everything in the OT and NT Bible is based upon earlier teachings concerning mankind’s purpose for being here and where we came from. We are ALL sons a daughters of God / Source … to the point of origin of ALL things.

Whether you are one to believe Jesus Christ to be an individual personage, or whether you accept the mythical status of a Godman as so many before him were, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that you know you are a child of the universe … the Most High, just as Jesus represents. And that we are all one and equal to each other and to all things. Collectively, as humanity, we are God / Source Energy experiencing the universe through us, with us, and as us. “Sin” is a necessary process for discerning good from bad, right from wrong. Sin is translated from the Greek word “hamartia” which is an Olympic Archery term for “missing the mark.” The mark … is TRUTH. Sin … is ignorance of the Truth. The way to find Truth, is through sin … error … and learning the lessons from our error in judgement and wrongdoings / consequences.

Jesus becoming Christ (karest, christos, krestus, etc) is representative of man finding the Divine spark of God / Source within each of us. We have advanced human consciousness through evolution and involution and we continue to reach higher and higher within our SELF to find the Divine. To truly bring Heaven on Earth. To unite mankind under a civilization of love, peace, joy, and compassion for ALL. To establish The Human Kingdom. Right now, we exist within the Animal Kingdom. We are the ones commissioned to bring about the Kingdom across the planet. Because … “WE SHALL DO GREATER THINGS” … and because “JUST AS JESUS IS, SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.”

Just a thought …

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.