It is interesting how I am obsessed with connecting with the inner self by observing things through the physical senses. While this appears to be a natural result of the body experience, I believe there is a manner of thought that originates from the spirit in spite of the body experience. As a young boy, I can remember having strange feelings about living in the body, about how new and foreign and artificial it felt. Inside me, there were residual memories of how peaceful and secure it was being totally in spirit. Conversely, the body experience was fearful and insecure. Have you ever experienced something in the present via comparison with memories of the past? That is how I observed the body experience as a boy, in light of things I remembered from being in the spirit. I know of other people who claim to have memories of entering the world at birth. While this all sounds crazy and far-fetched, I ask you to consider the possibility that these things could possibly be true. What if it were possible to function in the body but still see the world through the pure eyes of the true spirit inside? How drastically would that affect our thought and actions?
The purpose of these writings is first and foremost to give way to the intense urge I have to write about the things I see with my spirit. I am not interested in writing fiction. I am interested in understanding where I came from, and why I am here. I assume most people have those same questions. But I do not claim to have full understanding of the answers to them. However, I do believe that there is one who does. I believe that Christ was fully connected with truth at all times, knowing from birth exactly who he was and what his purpose was for the world, and never lost sight of it or the truth during his entire body experience. Instead of trying to understand the world through interpretation of body experiences, he understood the truth of all things before he acted on anything with his body. And as is clear from many different forms of scripture, he taught us that his experience could be our experience. So what must change in order for us to experience the world like he experienced it? That is the basic question that underscores these writings. How can I be born again so that everything about my thinking is turned right-side up when it is clearly upside-down. The answer is inside me, as it is you and every other being that has ever lived on this planet. His message and mission was to view the outside via truth on the inside.
While it may appear to the casual reader that these writings are intended to bash religion, that is simply not the case. However, it is a tempting notion for me as I write these words. Religion is based on antichrist thinking. I'm not talking 666, beast-like antichrist. I simply mean that religion as a whole does not view the world from the inward spirit of truth but rather through the outward, body experience - which is the essence of anti-Christ thinking. It claims to know all the answers simply because it interprets the world through the sensations of the body. Body sensations, regardless of scale, will never lead one to the understanding of truth. In fact, if left to its own devices, it will block truth from coming through every time. It simply can't keep itself from doing so. Yet religious leaders attempt to scare the pants off of people by preaching messages that include one irrational experience after another - fire that can never be quenched, eternal separation from loved ones and God, etc., etc., etc. And why do they do this? Because their paramount concern is to maintain an institution rather than lead people to the knowledge of the truth. Think this is not so? Schedule a meeting with your church leaders and suggest that the church building be sold and the money given to the poor. This acid test will make it clear to you what the real agenda of your religious leaders is. Another test would be to meet with your religious leaders and explain to them how much money could be given to the poor if they were all to agree to have their salaries cut in half. My personal view, born of firsthand experience, is that religion is nothing more than a social club geared towards raising money first, and disseminating truth last.
It must be understood, however, that the goal of these writings is not to bash religion. Certainly, Christ harshly criticized religious leaders at almost every turn. But what was his real message? It wasn't to harass arrogant religious leaders who held other people captive with their false ideas of God and his laws. No, it was simply, "the kingdom of God is within you." I encourage you to study scripture references to the "kingdom of God" or the "kingdom of heaven" in the four gospels, and then explain to me how in the world religious leaders of today could ever teach that Christ's kingdom is futuristic and external. Such a conclusion is preposterous. But what did Christ mean when he said, "the kingdom of God is within you?" Have you ever wondered that? The goal of these writings is to answer that question. I am not claiming that these writings do in fact answer that question for you, but I am on a personal quest to do so.
I had a conversion experience at age 18 that changed my life dramatically. At the time, I thought the experience was directly caused by the "salvation" message I read in a religous periodical. While the article acted as the catalyst for change, the truth is I was primed for change for a full year prior to the actual experience. I now believe that the change was not the result of reading a religious article, but rather because in my spirit I was yearning for an experience with truth for a full year before I finally asked for it. Heck, I didn't even know what I was asking for, through my words that is. My spirit, on the other hand, knew exactly what I was looking for. The result was miraculous. My life changed immediately and completely. And so I began the descent into hell, metaphorically speaking. Over the next several months, my life became a series of rules and regulations because religion ruled my life. But I had a sincere desire to know truth - not truth according to other men, but truth experienced firsthand. I began studying the scriptures, old King James of course, praying for the Father to open them up to me according to his thoughts and not my own. At first, it was like reading Greek. I just couldn't get it. And then it all started flowing like a river. I couldn't shut it off. I would study until the early morning hours, get an hour of sleep, and go to work - day after day, night after night. And the one thought that kept filling my head like a mantra was "the kingdom of God is within you...the kingdom of God is within you...the kingdom of God is within you." And so the question finally came, "if the kingdom of God is within me, then what and where is hell?" I can still remember the night the answer came, and the quietness that heralded its arrival in my mind. In fact, I get chills even today when I think about it. "Hell is not a physical place." That thought silenced my mind. Again it came, "hell is not a physical place...hell is not a physical place...hell is not a physical place." I then began to study what the word hell meant in Greek. I found that, as usual, Christ chose a literal term to convey a spiritual truth. This was his method of teaching. He chose literal terms and examples to convey the essence of truth. How else could he teach? He was surrounded by beings that had become completely distracted by the physical world and in the process temporarily forgot who they were. So he used ideas that they could relate with in hopes that the spirit within would awaken to the truth that produced the analogy. The kingdom message and true definition of hell set me free from the bondage of rules and regulations, which is not to say that I am unruly. The truth is bigger than rules and regulations that serve only to bind man's thoughts to the physical. In order to be fulfilled, the true identity inside must look beyond the physical to what is real and eternal.
I believe that what Christ really meant to teach, those listening did not hear or understand. In fact, mankind is still not getting it. Religion is certainly not getting it, testifying to that fact by their constant obsession with external happenings and circumstances. What do you hear? What is the Father saying to you? What have you experienced of Him? Who are you really and why are you here? This is the essence of the kingdom - knowing the truth instead of speculating about it. To the spirit, truth is as tangible as any physical object is to the body - it must be experienced first hand in order to make an impression. Please read on. Hopefully truth will make an impression in your spirit greater than it has in mine.