Secrets of God

by Slawek Wojtowicz

Meditation and prayer are some of the spiritual techniques that allow us to quiet and focus our minds, opening us up to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who tries to meditate for the first time will discover with shock and dismay that it is impossible to control our thoughts. They come and go irrespective of our wishes. It takes years of training to gain command over our own minds.

  28. (1) Jesus said, “I stood in the middle of the world, and I appeared to them in flesh. (2) I found all of them drunk; I found none of them thirsty. (3) And my soul was pained for the children of humankind, because they are blind in their hearts and cannot see; for empty they came into the world, and empty too they seek to leave the world. (4) For the moment they are drunk. But when they shake off their wine, then they will change their mind.”

  If you met Christ on the street today, would you recognize Him? Would anyone listen to Him? Unfortunately, most people today are not that different from Jesus’ contemporaries two thousand years ago. Very few decided to follow his example when he was here with us, and his teachings have been subsequently diluted and distorted over time. Most of us are completely lost in the dream, living our lives in a daze, unconsciously, like zombies or drunks; never wondering who we really are; never asking where we came from or where we are going, or what the purpose of our lives is. Our minds are usually stuck in the past or in the future, almost totally ignoring the present. In this sorry condition we are unable to see things right in front of our faces: neither the beauty of the world surrounding us nor even the Christ present in each of our brothers and sisters. How sad and hopeless is such an existence!

  Most humans on Earth live like robots, blindly following their programming, rushing around in pursuit of meaningless goals and not even knowing what it is that they are really chasing after. People like that are deeply unhappy—their lives are driven by despair, fear, and anxiety, and most of them are too preoccupied with their worries to pay attention to the world around them. Even those who enjoy themselves today know on a deeper level that they are bound to suffer tomorrow—they can’t prevent disease, suffering, and death. Those who are young, rich, healthy, and beautiful today are going to be old and decrepit in a few short years, and even their fortunes will not prevent them from suffering and death.

  Everything that this world offers turns into dust sooner or later. No wonder that even the rich and powerful of this world are not happy. Tabloid pages are full of stories of depression, suicide, drug abuse, divorces, and violence affecting those we admire and put on a pedestal, such as movie and sport stars, politicians, and royals. And yet, in spite of the profuse evidence that worldly pursuits don’t bring lasting peace and happiness, many of us still keep striving for things that never brought happiness to others: sex, money, status, power, or fame. What else could that be but blindness of our hearts and minds? Aren’t we smart enough to realize that what didn’t work for other people—what did not make them happy—won’t bring us happiness either?

  People who live unconsciously don’t understand universal laws (such as the law of karma) that apply to our reality, and thus believe that life treats them unfairly when “bad” things happen to them. In reality, the things we perceive as negative are simply results of our previous hurtful or selfish actions towards others. Anything good that ever happens to us is simply a result of our previous virtuosity, caring, and kindness towards others. Unfortunately, most of us don’t remember our previous lives, and the majority doesn’t believe deep inside that they will live forever. It is indeed a very strange belief that our current lives are our only chance on Earth. This is very damaging and demoralizing, especially when it is combined with a belief in a judgmental, unforgiving god who requires one to be absolutely perfect to be saved (like Jehovah of the Old Testament). Most people eventually realize that they can’t possibly measure up to such an unreasonable standard of conduct required by their “god,” and thus they are powerless to affect their fate. If they also happen to believe that they only have one life to live, then being unable to reach perfection means that they are condemned to burn in hell, no matter how hard they try.

  Others are hypocritical, believing that they are the only perfect people who deserve to be saved. Other people “who are clearly not perfect” in the hypocrite’s eyes will be condemned. In either case, with such beliefs, what incentive does one have to change and strive for salvation? What incentive does one have to be caring and compassionate towards fellow humans and other living beings? That’s why so many people in the modern world abandon traditional religions. Instead of following the path of self-sacrifice and service to others, they choose to enjoy themselves right here and right now—even if it is done at the expense of others—without waiting for uncertain rewards after death. The hypocrites, on the other hand, cling to their exclusive versions of religion, hoping that everyone else will burn in hell. Obviously that worldview does not make one very kind, loving, tolerant, or caring towards others.

  Regrettably, suffering is one of the few things that can shake people up enough to start asking questions that may lead to awakening. God is not responsible for our suffering—we are. Suffering today is the result of our previous actions—in this life as well as in our previous incarnations. Yet everything that happens in our lives is an opportunity to get closer to awakening. It is up to us how we respond to these challenges. If we respond to everything with love, we accumulate a currency that we take with us from one lifetime to the next. This is the treasure that doesn’t rust or get eaten by moths that Jesus mentions in the canonical gospels.

  If we live self-centered lives, using or abusing others and chasing after superficial goals such as money, sex, or power, we use up any and all “love credits” we accumulated in previous lives and end up leaving this world empty-handed. We start the next lifetime with an empty account in the spiritual bank. We are born in impoverished families with sicknesses plaguing us from early on, abused by family members, born under a totalitarian regime in a police state, and so on. Nothing seems to go right in our life—until we realize that nobody else can be blamed for our fate but us. Acceptance of responsibility for our own lives is one of the key steps leading towards salvation.

  29. (1) Jesus said, “If the flesh came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. (2) But if spirit came into being because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. (3) Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty.”

  Do you believe that your consciousness is a result of complex, biochemical reactions and not the other way around? Spirit is the “great wealth” that resides in the “poverty” of the mortal body. In Planet Medicine, Richard Grossinger comments that, “In Darwinian theory, consciousness is said to originate solely from inanimate matter, molecular junk processed in the star cores of the ancient universe and passed in elemental assemblages onto the cooled planets of individual solar systems. On these random worlds, the elements become organized in discrete, energy-conserving creatures self-assembling out of cells. For something so subtle to occur in this inimical circumstance is nothing short of incredible. It is an embarrassment to all these Darwinian scientists who, themselves, must be a product too of this unlikely event.

  Humans are finally a ridiculous burden for a theory, which could not have ‘evolved’ without them. The conventional excuse is that in an infinite amount of time, anything will happen, even beings with intelligence to know that such an unlikely infinite set is unfolding and to spin theories acknowledging that fact. But has an infinite amount of time passed? There is an unacknowledged consensus among many biologists and mathematicians that it has not, and chance occurrence alone is not sufficient to explain the startling configuration of living structures on the Earth today.” This is not an argument in favor of Creationism or so-called “intelligent design” theories currently debated in the US. Neither does it imply that there is no evolution: Evolution is one of the ways in which we can perceive the movement of the Spirit in the universe.

  Jesus taught that the Spirit is the sole
source of life and existence. Without it, nothing can exist. His teachings are obviously based on a firsthand, personal experience of the Divine, not on any philosophy or scientific theory. The good news is that everyone can experience personally the reality and nature of God—but that experience is a subjective one. Modern science dismisses subjective experience as a basis for the scientific process of discovery, forgetting that the only kind of experience we can have is a subjective experience. There is no objective reality outside of us. What we consider to be “real” originates inside of our minds, not the other way around. Each of us is a creator of our own reality.

  Once a person experiences God directly, it becomes obvious how impoverished and unhappy we are when we live in separation from God. When we awaken, we can shape the universe as easily as God himself. When all of humanity awakens, poverty, suffering, diseases, and death will become a distant memory.

  30. (1) Jesus said, “Where there are three, they are without God. (2) Where there is only one, I am with that one.

  On the surface this saying contrasts with a similar saying found in the canonical gospels: “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18: 20). However, both sayings teach us about the importance of unity. The attributes of God include oneness and wholeness. When we create divisions or disagreements—when we act selfishly—we separate from one another and from God. Our goal should be to strive for unity, to lay aside our individual desires in favor of goals that serve the common good. When we serve one another, when we collaborate in harmony—for example, working together towards global peace, protection of the natural environment, and human and animal rights, we are moving towards oneness. When we see everyone else as our brothers and sisters and act accordingly, we are on the right path. Christ is with us when we join forces to reach common goals that benefit all of humanity.

  31. (1) Jesus said, “No prophet is accepted in his own village; (2) no physician cures those who know him.”

  We all have preconceived ideas about the world and other people. We see them as they were in the past, not as they are now. How can someone who we think we know well be anything else but what we imagine them to be? We readily assign roles to people around us, and most of us are very reluctant to let go of our opinions, labels, and prejudices, and to see people as they really are in the present moment. If you can change and grow every day, isn’t it fair to assume that others may also change and be different from their image that we hold in our memory? Jesus teaches us that we should never presume that we know our neighbors, our spouses, our parents, or even our own children. We should try to discover them anew every day. If we are open-minded, we are more likely to be surprised over and over again by people we thought we knew. Being a loving person means that you are willing to see everyone as they are right in the moment when you see them—and to give them the benefit of the doubt even if they have hurt you in the past.

  32. Jesus said, “A city that has been built and fortified on the summit of a high mountain can neither fall nor be hidden.”

  When we are consistently loving, kind, and caring, we are building a city on a solid foundation, as high and strong as a mountain. Our spiritual account fills up quickly with incorruptible currency. Once we enter the spiritual path we know that God is patiently waiting for us, and that even if we occasionally miss the mark and fail to be perfectly kind and caring, everything is still OK, since He still loves us and will not condemn us for our mistakes. As we climb up the mountain our journey becomes easier and easier. And it is primarily through our deeds—not words—that our love and commitment to the path are visible to everyone around us.

  33. (1) Jesus said, “Preach from your housetops that which you will hear in your ear. (2) For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place, (3) but rather he sets it on a lamp stand so that everyone who enters and leaves will see its light.”

  The message of love and the (really!) good news about the Kingdom of Heaven need to be shared with everyone who is ready to receive it, even if it is passed on to us in secret (“into our ear”). In fact, once you discover God within it is very hard not to share with others the joy resulting from that experience. When an oil lamp is placed under the bushel, the fire is extinguished. When the lamp is put in a hidden place, its light will either go out or start a fire, causing a lot of damage to the household. That’s what happens with the message of love—it is meant to be implemented in our lives, instead of being suppressed or forgotten. When we consistently apply the lessons of love in our own life, we pass the message on much more effectively than by preaching. When we put love into action, it affects other people around us even when we don’t speak.

  34. Jesus said, “If a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit.”

  If we are not awakened, if we are not one with Christ, how can we be sure that we are teaching the true, unadulterated word of God? We must be ever vigilant not to let our ego get in the way. Our minds tend to pervert the message of all-encompassing love and our arrogance leads us to believe that we have all the answers. We are quick to see that others are blind, but much slower to realize that we are blind and deaf ourselves. Teachers who claim that their path is the only path leading to God are a perfect example of the blind who lead others into confusion and error. When we teach others we need to remain humble, ever mindful of the way that our ego works. Let’s always keep in mind that nobody holds all the keys to the knowledge, that we learn from one another, that we are always both teachers and disciples.

  35. (1) Jesus said, “It is not possible for anyone to enter the house of a strong man and take it by force unless he binds his hands; (2) then he will loot his house.”

  The strong man is our ego. The ego is loud, selfish, aggressive, and deluded. Eckart Tolle in his book New Earth comments that to the extent that the ego is present in an individual, that individual is insane psychologically. This is in reference to the ego’s nature as compulsively hyperactive and compulsively (and pathologically) self-centered. However, since this is “the norm” in our world, it goes unrecognized as the source of insane behavior in everyday life. To heal this insanity we need to weaken and bind our ego. Only when we become sane can we take over ego’s house and invite God inside. It takes a lot of work to weaken our ego enough so that God can use our bodies and minds to bring love to this world. The ego is very industrious and subversive. It can hijack even spirituality for its own purposes, converting it into spiritual materialism. Please compare this saying with Luke 11: 14–23, Matthew 12: 22–30, and Mark 3: 23–27.

  36. Jesus said, “Do not worry from morning until evening or from evening until morning. Worry neither for your food and what you will eat, nor for your clothing and what you will wear. (You are much greater than the lilies which neither card nor spin. When you lose your clothing, what will you wear? Who can add to your time of life? God himself will give you your clothing.”)

  A similar saying has been recorded in the canonical gospels (Luke 12: 22–34 and Matthew 6: 25–34). Jesus is asking us to focus on the search for the Kingdom of Heaven first and not worry about material success in the world. We have what we need already and everything else will be added when we fully awaken. We should make awakening our priority in every waking moment of our lives; in all interactions with other people; in the way we treat our own bodies, animals, plants, and environment. We can’t control our future while we are asleep, but we can control the present moment and use it to be more loving, kind, compassionate, and caring.

  When we die we shed all of the layers we have accumulated during the lifetime: “the clothing” of our bodies, our identities, habits, and other life circumstances that make us who we think we are. God gives us a new identity when we are born again, and with our own consent we get exactly the kind of “clothing” we earned in the previous lifetimes: we are placed in the precise situation that maximizes our chances for awakening, and it is up to us to rise up to the challenge.

>   37. (1) His disciples said, “When will you become revealed to us and when shall we see you?” (2) Jesus said, “When you take your clothes off without guilt and put them under your feet like little children and trample them, (3) then will you see the son of the Living One, and you will not be afraid.”

  Our bodies and minds, our habits and customs are the clothes that hide the pure Spirit of Love and Life underneath. We get attached to them so much that we are afraid to take them off, even if they are stiff from the dirt and grime, even when they turn into armor and chains that prevent us from escaping to freedom. Only when we let go of our superficial identity can we discover our true, undying nature. We are not the clothes we are wearing, Hallelujah! The original error in the Garden of Eden led to the illusion of separation and a sense of shame at the awareness of being naked. When we are restored to our innocence, there is no need to be ashamed of anything—after all, there is nobody “out there” to be ashamed from.

  The Manichean Psalm Book 99: 26–30 has a similar saying: “I stripped off the vain garment of this flesh and I am saved and purified; I have caused the clean feet of my soul to trample upon it confidently; I have stood in line with the gods that are clothed with Christ.” Once we awaken to our true identity—that of Christ—we will become god-like, joining those who awakened before us. We won’t be afraid of anything in the world anymore, knowing that we are immortal and always perfectly safe, like little children cradled in the hands of God.