[center][center]Enlightenment from a Christian Perspective[/center][/center]
[center][center]Joseph Mattioli
Matthew 4:17
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Repent (metanoeo) (in Greek) means to think differently for the (basileia) realm of (ouranos) by implication happiness or elevated state is (eggizo) made near or at hand.
Note: The kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God are used interchangeably in the New Testament yet are two different words in the Greek. Heaven denotes the elevated state and God denotes Divinity or the source.
John 3:3-6
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. [4] Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? [5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Truly, Truly, unless a man is (gennao) regenerated or brought forth of the water (flesh) and of the (pneuma) Spirit/vital principle he can’t go in the realm of (theos) Divinity. The two are different. Flesh is (sarx) flesh as in meat of an animal and Spirit is Spirit/vital principle as in essence. To regenerate is to renew again which signifies that something of the Spirit was set aside or forgotten or lost and needs to be renewed to enter back in to the realm of Divinity. In reality nothing is really lost but in this world of duality it is as if it is lost.
Luke 17:20-21
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: [21] Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Here it is plainly told that the realm of Divinity does not (erchomai) appear or come with (parateresis) observation or ocular evidence. Further more he tells us the realm of Divinity is (entos) inside or within you. The outside world would not exist without the presence of the life force from within. (Within and without are from the perspective of this world as in true reality there is neither)
Col. 1:27
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
To whom God/Divinity would make known what is the (ploutos) wealth as in fullness of the glory of this (musterion) secret or mystery (as in hid) which is (Christos) his anointing (his Divinity) as in the idea of contact in you, the hope of glory (his apparent fullness or presence).
2 Cor. 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
If any man be in the anointing contact of God, he is a new creature (as in regenerated freshness): old things are (parerchomai) neglected / set aside / passed away, all things are become ( kainos) new as in freshness.
Luke 18:29-30
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, [30] Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
Left (aphiemi) house or parents, or wife or children does not mean go away or abandon but rather ‘laying aside’ the attachment and desires associated for the realm of Divinity‘s sake. It is a preference of preferring one above the other and not necessarily a physical leaving. This is because there is no where to leave or go in the physical to find the realm of Divinity which is within. It is clear the reward for leaving the old is great in this PRESENT TIME and in the world to come. (See fruits below in Galatians 5:22)
Romans 6:11
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We arrive at this state by the simple considering or reckoning ourselves (as in Repent or thinking differently) to be dead to sin (which is ignorance of the flesh or what some call ego, vanities of the flesh or the old creature which is a result of a false center of self or false thinking) and alive to our true being in Divinity through the same anointing that was in Jesus. In simpler terms the only task to be accomplished is to let go of the identification with the flesh nature (ego or old creature) as one’s real self. Of course, only when one is ready or sees through introspection the fruitlessness of his present state and path will he even be drawn to think differently in his search for truth. Removing the obstacles standing in the way brings revelation understanding and truth which is present all along but obscured. These obstacles include but are not limited to learned and preconceived perceptions of reality, subjective opinions, upbringing, subjective experience, false teachings, and mentations with a mind that operates on dualities, is limited, subjective and incapable of discerning truth from falsehood without the intervention of the Spirit. Since Truth is self evident and already present within, then the key to the kingdom and the fruit is letting go of that which is not true (or as most would say that which is false). This realignment of self to our true nature of Divinity brings about a change in context. (You are what you worship) That change reveals itself in fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
These are the fruits that are manifested from this anointing called Christ in you in Christianity, which is your hope of the presence of God/Divinity in you. The fruit of faith is not the same as believing but is truth itself as defined in Hebrews 11:1 (the substance or evidence of things not seen with the eyes)
Many are worried that by realignment of their thinking they may manifest evil instead of good with their fruits being the opposites of above. However, it is an impossibility to willfully remove the obstacle of duality and end up with opposites as they don’t exist except in the duality of the mind of man which has to be surrendered to God or reckoned dead. There is no such thing as death, evil, fear, anger, hate, pride, conflict, judgment, force or even time in the world of non-duality. They are not possible because they can exist only in mentations in the world of effects and form. That world is changing and evolving as the consciousness of man evolves by the transformation from the Divinity within us. Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
1 Cor. 15:55-56
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? [56] The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
When Christ/Divinity/Truth/Light/Enlightenment is realized, physical death loses its sting which is sin/ignorance. The grave loses its victory because fear of death is gone and we know that we are complete in Divinity and physical death has no power over us. For the strength of sin or ignorance was the law or belief system. (Judgments and measuring which manifests as un-forgiveness , condemnation and fear.)
It is recorded that Jesus prayed in John 17:21
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:
The questions will of course arise:
How did we get into this predicament of separateness in the first place? How did that which was enlightened to start become unenlightened?
The answer is Choice. By choice mans consciousness chose to know both good and evil (the false world of duality) and create a belief system, a melodrama and experience it with all of its attributes. As the human mind/soul gave reality to falsity, it then believed that the falsity had an independent existence. Man identified with that mind and body and became subject to suffering in the form of shame, guilt, pride and fear which existed only in his mind. And the mind creates that which it believes. Man then became unaware or as some say unenlightened of his true nature and subject to error. Creating the world of duality or opposites in a mind allows us to experience the world of form in a myriad of false ways as a separate reality of the minds creation. Being lost in its melodrama led to misidentification and ignorance of our true nature and manifested as positionality and subjective opinionating which is vanity. To the mind it appears we are many separate self existent beings but the nature of Divinity within us tells us we are one and sees allness in all of creation, both with and without form.
But not to worry.
Ephes. 1:9-10
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: [10] That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
1 Cor. 15:23
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
The end is sure. In the fullness of times, ALL will return (home or to source) from whence it came. In Reality, nothing is lost or gained. No one has really left in the first place as the presence of Divinity is the only reality of an omnipresent God. The absence of Divinity is merely a mentation of mind. To remove oneself from the presence of Divinity is an impossible scenario as existence itself whether in or out of form is Divinity by essence. Nonexistence is by linguistic definition a hypothetical and by definition cannot exist.)
Note: Christ is not a man. Jesus manifested Christ consciousness or the connection with Divinity. But his name was not Jesus Christ even though he is referred to that way. He was called “the Christ”. It is a nature or title. In the same way, Siddartha was called “the Buddha”. It is a nature and title meaning an awakened one and is not a name of a person though it is often used that way.[/center][/center]
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