The Light of Knowing

Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."- Gospel of Thomas (logio 3)

Unlike the canonical gospels, this gospel does not address the life and times of Jesus, rather it contains sayings attributed to him. While not included in the traditional Christian church doctrine, they clearly depict Jesus as a mystical teacher who points us inward to discover our own Divine nature. This perspective parallels the direct path of spiritual realization that is professed and promised by the mystical branches of all major religions, such as Sufism (Islam), Advaita Vedanta (Hinduism), Kabbalah (Judaism), and Eastern Christianity. And of course, this inward path is what Unity professes, as it sees Jesus’ teachings as a mystical path to our own realization of oneness with the Absolute and all of Life.

The opening quote reveals a mildly sardonic Jesus that takes aim at the literal belief that Heaven is a place in the sky. Like a quantum scientist, Jesus collapses time and space, destroying all seeming barriers to residing in this lofty spiritual domain - from then and there to here and now. Seen rightly, Heaven is a non-journey - only a realization. One must come to know oneself, as One truly is - Heaven Made, spiritual at the core - an inherent wholeness seemingly lost due to the occlusive effect of the discursive mind. Salvation and true freedom are gained by remembering, and restoring the knowing of this Truth. When we merely identify ourselves with the body and mind - we live in "poverty" limiting our capacity for freedom, love, and peace to the confines of an "egoic operating system."

The journey to an abundant life begins with seeing how we are "looking through a glass darkly," seeing only in part, believing we are a fragile independent self that is run by a sense of inadequacies that demands constant seeking... but never finding. Jesus suggests, in one of the metaphoric Kingdom parables, that we must "sell everything" in order to buy the field that contains the treasure. To have eternity, we must notice and release everything we have become identified with that is temporary. Noticing thoughts, I see they come and go. My feelings come and go. Perceptions, sensations, and memories, come and go. But I, the ever-present light of awareness, remain. This is life-changing recognition - Jesus might say, "Born from above."

Despite the power of this recognition, it couldn’t be more simple and more ordinary, which is why so many of us “simply” overlook it. While we may have been on a spiritual journey for decades hanging on to the hope of a better reality, a transcended state of consciousness, a union with God moment, we have only been overlooking the ever-present reality of our being. The path to this recognition is as Jesus said, closer than breath. It is simply becoming keenly aware of our own existence. We may not know what we are, but we certainly know that we are. Nobody says I am not! While we are well versed in recognizing objects within awareness (a dualistic process) we have lost the simple knowing of awareness itself. Yet all knowing, all perceptions, all seeing, hearing, and sensing are only made possible by the presence of awareness or consciousness. We have trouble perceiving awareness because it’s not an object of perception it is the perceiver itself, and the perceiver cannot be perceived.

Awareness is what you are! And you can only know yourself by being yourself, and turning the light of awareness back on itself. Just like the sun cannot illuminate itself, except by being itself, we can only know our true nature by being ourselves. You and I are the Light by which we see, and that light is unlimited, unbounded, immutable, and invulnerable to the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." This is really good news, isn’t it? The Kingdom of God is within you. You are the Light of the World. Let’s take that in and stop seeking without what is already here for us, as us.

Namaste,

Rev. Larry