The HS (Holy Spirit)

The HS is a very important part of the Trinity, since it stands out from all other religions. Hinduism has identical terms for the Father and the Son (Brahman and Atman), but they don't have a name for the Counselor of God. However, the Christian term "Holy Spirit" can apply to any spiritual being that works towards guiding man back to the oneness of God. But why is the Holy Spirit so important to us? How does the HS work?

The HS can appear in many different ways. He will appear to you in a way that is most helpful to you specifically. Ascended Masters or angels might be sent to help you, or perhaps a Voice. The realized Son of God, or the Christ, takes on the role of the HS as well. This makes the HS the "go-to-guy" for all of your problems.

A unique teaching from ACIM (A Course in Miracles) explains a lot about the HS and time. You can imagine the HS standing at the end of time, walking as fast as he can towards you without frightening you. The HS will give you as much time as you want to reach eternity, but the question is: how long do you really want to wait? Time is really a tool for the ego while eternity is of God, the HS's job is to guide you into eternity. This means that there are two options in time: choosing the ego's script, which plans to extend time, and the HS's script, which plans to shorten it.


Your actions in this life are not really being decided upon in the present moment, but were already planned out by the ego. The only thing that you can do is start listening for the HS and forgiving. Here's the catch: there are alternate time lines that you can move through, those of the ego being longer and those of the Holy Spirit being shorter. Through forgiveness, you will learn lessons that might have taken much longer to learn with the ego, but since you have learned them through forgiveness, you will switch over to the HS's shorter script.

As you can see, there are really only two choices, even though it might seem like many: its either the ego or the Holy Spirit. The HS is any voice that calls for unity and the ego is any voice that calls for separation. Here is J (Jesus) hinting at his relationship with the HS:

John 16:5-15 "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you."

I will briefly talk about how the HS works versus the ego. The Kingdom of God works through knowledge, and both the ego and the HS bring about different perceptions. The ego offers false perception, and the HS offers true perception. True perception works brings you closer to knowledge, and false perception brings you closer to illusion, and away from knowledge. Therefore, the HS is your only guidance towards God's reality.

Demons

Demons are such a controversial thing that I must talk about it in more detail. We must all have a correct view of demons (even thought it might not be my view) because otherwise we will always feel affected by them. Thinking about demons bring about negativity, dis-ease, and sometime pain. I will now discuss different opinions on demons or satanic entities.

Around the time of 700 BC, demons were viewed more as what we might call daemons, or benevolent beings. They would guide and serve man. It later became known solely as an evil force instead of a helpful one, as it is believed today. There are some Christians that believe any unseen force or being to be a demon, causing themselves to constantly be afraid. On an earlier post I talked about a man that saw the demons chasing him in his waking life, in addition to having painful, vivid nightmares. The question remains: are they real, or are they an illusion that we have brought about ourselves?

Archangel Michael claims that he will slay thousands of demons for you. That sounds nice, but are these demons actual souls calling for help? I doubt it, since Michael has such a powerful healing presence that he wouldn't hurt any real soul. This must be self-made demons that he is slaying, which sounds almost identical to the ego. They aren't us, but we made them from our discord and negativity.

How the New Testament explains demons might sound like they are powerful and have control over you, but it also sounds a lot like the ego. When Jesus stopped a demon from giving away his identity, he removed it from the man. This was also done when the Apostle Peter objected to Jesus being crucified, Jesus responded, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." He said this in a way that was not directed towards Peter, but more towards dismantling his ego.

The only evidence against the other Judeo-Christian scripture is from the Book of Enoch. Enoch, the first man in recorded Jewish history to ascend, focused on demons in his writings. One of his biggest statements is that Satan (or a demon) can take physical form in a human body. This supports the idea of the Anti-Christ, but it can bring about fear and hatred of others. This could possibly mean that some one's ego is so destructive that they can bring about the extremes of the one ego (Satan, if you like that word) so that they might be called the Anti-Christ. In all cases, however, a demon needs a host, so the embodied soul is merely identifying with his ego when that isn't who he truly is. Still, if it was really a soulless manifestation or actually a man, the only way to take hold of this force in any situation is through love and will.

Since separation isn't true in reality, that gets rid of making anything real that desires separation. We might be identified with the ego (or demon, per se), but it is still not who we are. Therefore, slaying demons is really slaying nothing, and exorcism brings about a less harsh ego, you could say. We are not the victims in life, but the commanders. We have power to tread over serpents and scorpions, so we are really in complete control over our own lives. Demons cannot hurt you unless you believe them to be true, because they wouldn't seem to exist without your belief. I conclude from the above evidence that demons are egos and that Satan is the one ego, but neither have any control over you whatsoever because they are your own illusions!

Controversies of Christ

Today I have compiled quite a lot of quotes from the New Testament that make up the Christian doctrine. I believe this to be very important scripture, but I also think that the common interpretation of these quotes cause many problems, destroying all of their spiritual significance. There are a few issues here, the subjects being "the one and only Son of God", the atonement's seeming relation to the crucifixion, and making "disciples of all nations."

John 10:34-37 "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'? If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken— what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does."
Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God."

This first quote remains unmentioned by nearly all Christian churches around the world. It reminds us that we are, in reality, much grander than we think we are. Jesus shows that he can truthfully say that he is the Son of God because of this declaration in the Book of Psalms. Anyone can say the same exact thing, but the difference is that Jesus undoubtedly knows it's true because of his personal experiences. You can call yourself the Son of God if you do God's Will, living as a "peacemaker."

Galatians 3:25-27 "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."

Here we see that we are can only call ourselves the Son of God if we have "faith in Christ Jesus," which means having Christ consciousness. Jesus is the first person to be identified as the Christ, making him the model or perfect expression of Christ. We do not need faith specifically in Jesus, but really in anyone who has "clothed themselves with Christ."

Matthew 17:5 "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
John 10:30 "I and the Father are one."

This first quote of the two is from the Transfiguration, and it shows how it is possible to be aware of God's Love so much that His voice is audible. God doesn't love Jesus any more than He loves us, but since Jesus realized that he and His "Father are one," communication is easy.

John 1:29 "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Matthew 20:18-19 "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"

These are great passages, but I believe they have been misinterpreted and misused in the Christian dogma. The "Lamb of God" statement has been taken literally when related to the crucifixion: people think of it meaning that Jesus was a sacrifice, but Jesus never claimed it was so. "Lamb of God" refers the traditional sacrificing ritual and how it was believed to take away sin, bringing about at-one-ment. But John the Baptist did not say "Look, the Lamb of God that will be sacrificed for the forgiveness of original sin!" The Bible never mentions "original sin"! It is purely Christian dogma. Jesus is the Lamb of God because he "takes away the sin of the world" through forgiveness! ACIM teachers like to answer WWJD (what would Jesus do) with forgiveness; who would ever say sacrifice was the answer? Since he is the Forgiver, he is the at-one-ment. This is why he claims he is one with the Father.

When Jesus predicted his death for the millionth time in that second passage, he said that he will be crucified, not for for forgiveness of original sin, but to "be raised to life"! Since this has never happened in the recorded history of the Bible, it says a lot about his oneness with the Father. This was done in order to demonstrate the imperishability and immortality of the spirit, and was also a great conclusion to his legacy. I have to question, "why do people focus on the "atonement" (which is a false definition for at-one-ment) instead of the resurrection?"

Luke 9:23-24 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."

Unfortunately, "take up your cross daily and follow me" has been interpreted as preaching the faith and converting everyone. But really, what good does that do? The passage is about being a servant- being defenseless instead of dwelling in the duality of defense and attack. Attempt to "save your life," and you "will lose it." I named my blog the "Selfless Self" because this is what both Jesus and Buddha preach. If you "lose your life," which basically means lose your ego or your life-situation, then you will actually save your life. You must "take up your cross daily" by being tenacious and consistent on the path to God. Selflessness, love, and forgiveness are what Jesus wants you express daily, since that is what he did in his life.

John 3:16 "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 14:12 "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

This "faith in Christ" teaching I talked about earlier in the post, and these two quotes help explain the concept better. Jesus had "faith in Christ," and this is how his "eternal life" was apparent through his resurrection, and how he was able to do miracles. Now, if we were to do this the same way, Jesus says we "will do even greater things" than he did, and we would not perish but have eternal life. We know when someone does not have true faith in Christ if they do not perish and they do miracles like Jesus did. Sound a little extreme? Well, some people on this planet have done just that; Babaji, Saint Germain, Sai Baba, and Maitreya are perfect examples of this.

Matthew 28:19 "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

And finally, the Great Commission. This passage has presently become a grand converting disaster mess uh-oh mishapping. Why do we always have to work through the ego instead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? We must make disciples of the Trinity, "baptizing" them and guiding them on their way to becoming expressions of the Christ.

To conclude, I must say this: lets get real, and avoid making something that isn't all-encompassing. Jesus Christ's teachings were definitely all-encompassing; Christian teaching is not. We are in desperate need of universality, making disciples of the Trinity instead of converters to Christianity. We must avoid connecting passages that bring about mayhem and corruption. By their fruits you shall know the believers in Christ, not by their ignorance, their ego, their dogma, their converting, or their cult attitude. And remember, "you are gods."

Faith is Just the Beginning

There are authors like James Fowler and M. Scott Peck that talk about the stages of faith, giving us an outline of spiritual progression. Their stages are grouped differently, but I would like to explain them in the way that makes most sense to me. I find this subject to be very helpful, because it explains what I've been going through. However, I noticed that once we reach the last stage of faith, we are only at the beginning of the "road less traveled."

As I see it, there are four stages of faith. The first is the Individualist, the second is the Idealist, the third is the Scientist, and the fourth is the Universalist. The stages do not take a certain amount of time to pass through; they can take a few weeks or even many lifetimes. It is possible that one could be stuck in one of them their whole life. I will now explain them to you so you can evaluate your own progression.

Stage 1: the Individualist. The Individualist worries only about themselves and doesn't have any ideals or morals. Infants are most likely on this stage, but adults can be on this stage as well. Individualists are usually fueled by addictions, such as sex, drugs, and alcohol. They are greedy and selfish. People will come out of this stage at one point, when they realize how painful their lives have become.

Stage 2: the Idealist. These people realize that they can't live without guidelines or their lives will fall apart, so they cling on to ideals and morals, doing things that they think are good to do. These people are usually very religious, but might possibly desire to be involved in the military or other similar organizations. The consequence of this stage is that Idealists are usually illogical and will deny anything that goes against their beliefs. Morals have been attained, but reasoning is gone.

Stage 3: the Scientist. I call this stage "Scientist" because it is mostly based on logic and reason, and they will not believe anything unless they see it for themselves. These people are usually agnostic or atheist, and they like to question everything. Blind faith will not work for them, so they are often very skeptic. The flaw of this stage is that their doubt and skepticism can send them tumbling into fear, and they will lose all sense of peace. They dislike the denying Idealists, but they start to blindly deny things themselves.

Stage 4: the Universalist. At this stage, the search for meaning becomes even stronger than it is when the Individualist becomes the Idealist. There is no prejudice and denying anymore, so they begin to search everywhere. Instead of using one religion to ridicule all others, they will investigate every viewpoint of the same essence. They will compare and harmonize religions instead of contrast them and point out differences. The Universalists discover the universal truth about everything, and attain this through their own personal experience. Fear and doubt is being replaced by love and peace. Once this stage is reached, the love and peace will intensify until the Universalist becomes a light to the world.

You might notice that stage 1 and 3 are both atheistic, while 2 and 4 are more spiritual. The difference between them is that 1 is immoral and 3 is based on reason, and 2 is religious while 4 is more spiritual. But the great thing is that you incorporate the best of every past stage into your present life. This means you can be an individual, you can have ideals, you can be scientific, and you can be universal. And even though stages of faith might be a short journey for you, it's not the end. Once this journey is done, the journey of Spirit begins.