HIDDEN WISDOM OF THE BIBLE - 8 (FINAL)

Conclusion

The Bible is a connected series of parables. It seems to be a book of history, it appears to be about the Israelites, but it really is about us. it portrays to us our secret fears, hidden longings, our love, rage, and tears; but it also reveals to us our secret innermost power, that marvelous secret we have each kept from ourselves - which is that we are Spirit at our core. We are God in action in the earth - the physical channel through which Creativity and Love may pour forth into the world!


Here is a symbolic translation of Psalm Number One

They are favored
who reject advice from those out of touch with their Source (Spirit):
who do not accept the viewpoint of those in error: or
who do not look with scom on the failings of others;

But who take delight in the working of Universal Law,
and who keep this law in mind continually.

They shall be abundantly supplied,
shall demonstrate accomplishments regularly;
they shall not lose strength, and their actions will lead to success.

Those not aligned with their Source are unfocused, and lack direction;
so they drift with the prevailing mood.

Those not aligned with their Source will think poorly of themselves,
and feel unworthy in the company of those who think rightly.

For the LAW supports right thinking; and actions of those not aligned
with it shall be self-defeating.

HIDDEN WISDOM OF THE BIBLE - 7

Hidden Biblical Humour

There are even jokes- of sorts- hidden in the Bible. In the Science of Mind magazine, I love to read the colunms by Dr. Rocco Errico. He is a scholar of ancient Aramaic, the original language of most of the Bible. Our King James version is NOT translated from the original Aramaic, but from later Greek translations, for the most part.

Errico translates the story of Jonah and the whale. In most translations, it is given as a FISH, not a whale. Jonah was ordered by God in a dream to go and warn the people of a foreign country that they should change their ways or be destroyed. Of course, on the way he spent three days in the 'fish' before being cast up on their shore.

The Aramaic slang expression for being in a real pickle or dilemma is to be "in a fish" Jonah's dilemma was that he was unknown and had no credibility at all in the country where he was expected to preach and make them change their ways. Maybe he couldn't even speak the language! So, for the entire voyage, he was "in a fish".

The writers of ancient Aramaic told an excellent joke, and it only took us a few thousand years to get the punch line! Are we slow, or what?

Imagine if we wrote a story today about someone in a dilemma, and we wrote that he was in a real pickle. Four thousand years from now, people would be wondering what sorts of cucumbers we were able to grow, and how did we get them pickled! We might even have archaeologists rummaging for giant pickle vats - and of course they would find them - or at least something very large, which would immediately be designated a pickle vat!

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The Code Itself-

So what about the code? How does it work?

The ancient Hebrews were an oriental culture, where the NAME of a thing was chosen to reflect and symbolize its nature. This is not entirely unlike the practice in some native North American cultures, which are thought to have had an Asian origin. Thus the personal names and place names in the Bible are selected to reveal the nature of the person, or of the event which happened at a certain place.

Names & Symbols

In many places in the Bible, when an individual had a great change of heart and mind, we see that the name was changed to reflect that.

Abraham's wife Sarai (contentious or quarrelsome), representing the focus of emotional energy onto physical things, became Sarah (princess or noble lady), which refers to the direction of emotional energy to higher things. When this was done, she gave birth to Isaac, meaning joy and laughter, literally, God laughs. In this case the symbolism describes Sarai and Sarah as Abraham's emotional side; partner to his rational identity.

The most famous example was Jacob (the supplanter, or he who lies in wait), who wrestled all night with a strange man (of course representing his outward nature struggling with the inner), and upon being declared the winner, was told to change his name to Israel, meaning ruler with God, or Victor over All.

The most significant symbols used in the Bible are those of water and air, which are used to signify the fluid nature of spirit, which flows through, into and around everything.

In Genesis, it tells us "the waters were separated from the waters." Water, and sometimes air, is the symbol for Spirit, which flows into everything and assumes the shape of Its vessel. Separation of waters from waters describes the formation of our individual identities, as of Spirit dividing itself into portions, thereby creating individual points of view, separate souls. In this symbolic story, Spirit becomes individualized while remaining One.

When the Israelites fled Egypt, which is the symbol for bondage and slavery, they repeatedly complained of thirst, which is to say they became de-spirited. (Lack of water = lack of spirt) They had camped at Rephidim, the place of rest, and the people nagged and complained to Moses. Moses was instructed to take his stick and strike the rock, and water poured out, raisingthe spirits of the people. It doesn't say whether the stick was a rod, the symbol of authority or discipline, or a staff, the symbol of wisdom and learning. But he did strike the rock, which is the symbol of unchanging truth.

This is also why Jesus said of Peter (which is rock - Petra- in Greek) "Upon this rock will I build my church. ". The 'ROCK' symbolized the unchanging, the everlasting truth, the truth that sets us free. Maybe a church somewhere really was built on a rock, but that's not the point.

HIDDEN WISDOM OF THE BIBLE - 5

New Thought teachers:

Many New Thought teachers have unlocked for us the meanings in these great books. These include Thomas Troward, Ernest Holmes, and Jack Addington. Their books should be on your book shelf.

Unlocking the Code:

The 'code' is the similar to what we might use in dream interpretation or in psychoanalysis. The symbols, both objects and events, of a narrative are indicators of what is in the creative mind of the narrator, whether it be dreamer, writer, painter, cartoonist, or subject on the analyst's couch. We dream in parables. We live in parables, as our life experience is an outward symbol of what is in our mind.

Metaphysical schools of thought like ours are based on the symbolic relationship between thought and thing, where the 'things' in our life have flowed into the forms created out of our thought, through the working of an Universal Law of creation. As Ernest Holmes tell us, this is because our individual mind is just the use we are making of a Universal Mind Principle, When we sit on a chair, or pour water, we make individual use of the Universal Principle of Gravitation; When we make coffee or toast we make personal use of an Electrical Principle. And we think with the Universal principle of Thought.

HIDDEN WISDOM OF THE BIBLE - 4

Our role as channels of Universal thought.

As channels of God's Love and Wisdom, it is our function to be better readers of Truth, and writers as well. To do this, we each pursue spiritual growth in our unique way. Each of us adds another viewpoint to the Truth, though it is always the same Truth we encounter.

So how can we be better readers? The pure and contemplative mind is a better channel for high thoughts than the egotistical or overly busy mental attitude. Love purifies the thought process while Fear contaminates it. There is no work, however, that does not bear the stamp of the Creative Power of the universe. In that sense, we can do no wrong- we are always expressing Spirit, since there is nothing else.


The Bible as a symbolic document

The Bible shows evidence of being a book that was deliberately written in symbolism. The clue to this is in the New Testament, where the concept of the parable is introduced, and Jesus speaks a great number of parables, which many of his listeners could not understand. Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." or: "Let those with the tools to interpret this, understand it."


Parables

Thus the New Testament is a key to the Old. It reveals to us that Hebrew thought was oriented to the parable - a story complete in itself, but with a hidden meaning. Such a story, while potentially factual, is not the point. The point is the hidden wisdom which speaks to us about the human Spirit, Mind and Heart. The facts are not the truth.

Jesus talked about a farmer sowing corn. Planting corn is not the point of the story - it's not a lesson in agriculture! Even Biblical fundamentalists know that, yet they can't seem to see that the Old Testament uses selected pieces of history to teach in the same way.

HIDDEN WISDOM OF THE BIBLE - 3

Writing and Reading
are parts of a single act in Consciousness;
The passing of a thought in Mind
over Time & Space

Writing and reading are two sides of the same coin. Taken together, they form a communication between two minds, over both space and time, with both writer and reader contributing to the final understanding of what is read.

When we view people as individual minds, only the writer knew what they meant when they wrote what they wrote. But only the reader can determine the final sense that is gained from reading it. But we know from our study of Religious Science that there are not two individual minds, there is only one Mind, and the great books convey a movement of thought within that Mind, from one part to another. Writing is just another way of planting a thought in Mind.


One thought
with a million viewpoints

A Bible passage, written 3000 years ago, and read by someone today, is such a communication in Mind, transcending time and space. Each reader triggers a different communication, so that one passage results in millions upon millions of transfers of thought across 3000 years of time, and millions of miles in space as the earth goes on its travels. Though there be a single Truth, millions of viewpoints result. And since YOUR spiritual self wrote it years ago, you know at a deep level what it means to you.

In Universal Mind, there is one Consciousness; there is no time or space to form a barrier to understanding; and Writing and Reading are two parts of the same act, the act of passing a thought within Mind itsell There is truly only ONE thought, not many, and if a million thoughts are held in Mind, they are integrated into an expanding Truth. In this way, God contemplates Itself from all points of view.

HIDDEN WISDOM OF THE BIBLE - 2

All writing has symbolic content

Maybe you have heard somebody say, 'Why don't you say what you mean?" But in fact all of us say MORE than we mean, because hidden in our speech and our writing are the contents of our subconscious, influencing our communication without our conscious knowledge.

As someone once said: "Who you are speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you say."

All writings bear the mark of the subconscious thought of the writer. In this way, the inspiration of God influences the heart of every writing, since our innermost subconscious is our link to infinite Mind. Inspirational writings are a direct channeling of the thoughts of Universal Mind, while even ugly and angry writings reflect the authors' reaction and rejection of these same Universal impulses.

The Bible is not the only work that can be interpreted symbolically. The Chinese Tao Te Ching, the Bhagavad Gita of India, the works of modem poets, and writers such as Shakespeare, have high levels of symbolic content. They have a meaning that goes far beyond the literal, so that we may read into them vital and important messages which a literal interpretation totally misses. Literalists only get half the message; perhaps less.

HIDDEN WISDOM OF THE BIBLE - 1

Why
symbolic
interpretation?

In New Thought churches, we interpret the Bible symbolically rather than literally. I want to discuss why we do this, and why it is important to know something of the symbolic way of reading the Bible or any of the ancient (or modern) mystical texts.

At the far end of the scale from us are the literalists or fundamentalists, who advocate a strict literal interpretation of the Bible as the only valid guide for living. This approach leads to some problems, for a number of reasons, apart from the personal inflexibility it creates:

First, translations always lose something of the original meaning. This does not inspire confidence in something that I am going to allow to have authority over my life. hi several versions, the Bible contains translations of translations; compunding the chance for misinterpretation and error.

Secondly, a literal interpretation runs smack into reality, in the form of scientific discoveries and obvious facts.

Thirdly, the culture of Biblical times and of the Israelite people is not our culture; their idioms are not our idioms. Russian-bom comedian Yakov Smirnof says that learning English gets very hard when you hear phrases like "The door is ajar” or "Exact change please”. We may have less trouble with, “What's goin' down, bro?” or "He got some bad mojo, man" than we do with biblical phrases from thousands of years ago. They had their own idioms in Biblical times, too, so a literal translation can result in a certain amount of nonsense.

The stories told in the Bible look like a literal history of the Hebrew people, and that's partially what they are. But if that was all they were, this book would not have become the guide to living of hundreds of millions around the globe.

If I wrote my family history, I don't care how good a writer I am, it would not sell billions of copies over a few thousand years, and become the guide to living for hundreds of millions of people. It is the wisdom buried in bible stories which is the real treasure. The stories may be true, but their literal truth is not the point.

Have you read the Celestine Prophecy? Is that a true story? No. Does it matter whether it is or not? No. Because it conveys an ancient wisdom to us in yet another form. It speaks past the mind, straight to the heart.

Great works like the bible do the same. The story matters a lot less than the message.

FINDING FAITH - 7

“But what if I don’t have faith?”, you might say. Of course you don’t have faith - God has faith.

Why is that? because faith is based on knowledge - on certainty. You can’t be certain of anything, except what you know. That’s why you have faith that the sun will come up, that summer will come, that your toaster will make toast, that flipping the switch makes the lights come on - that. Some of you might even have faith that your car will start!

The more you are certain, the more you have faith - but only God has complete faith - that’s because all knowledge is contained in Universal Intelligence. And that’s the knowledge that is deep within you. At your heart, all knowledge lies. Within your feeble outward intelligence, lies the inward source of ALL intelligence.

How do you obtain it? Just ask! As Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive - knock and the door shall be opened.” If you want faith, ask consciously for faith. Ask for the confidence to KNOW what to do, what to say, how to live.

Think for a minute about the things you have faith in. How did you come by that faith? Why do you believe with certainty that flipping a switch turns on the light? By experience, of course! You have faith because you have seen it done, and you have done it, many times before. Faith in other things comes about by practice, by starting small and then letting your experience grow. But it starts by asking.

Don’t listen to me - ask within yourself - Let that same Christ-mind be in you that was in Jesus, and Buddha, and other great teachers of truth. Follow your own advice - choose your own path - let your own faith carry you. If you only borrow faith, you will borrow someone else’s path too, instead of walking your own.

Start now with small things. Set an intention, and follow through - don't accept drawbacks, and let the completion of your intention be added to your storehouse of confidence - of faith.

FINDING FAITH - 6

Jesus said, “The kingdom is at hand.” His disciples assumed he meant he would return as king soon. They thought of a physical king. But a king is ruler - and you are the ruler of y our life. No matter what happens to you outwardly, you are the one who controls your inner state. The kingdom of God means bringing the consciousness of God into your awareness, so that It rules your life so that It determines your inner state.

And what inner state would that be? What does this Universal Intelligence, this Supreme Mind, have to offer you?

First, the experience of oneness. No longer do you need to feel alone, or unsupported, or ‘out of the loop’. When you have a sense of oneness, you know that you are a part of everything.

Then there is the experience of pure harmony. Within oneness, nothing can be at war
with Itself. “A house divided against itself cannot stand”, as the saying goes. Oneness leads to harmony. You can experience that harmony in your job, in your family, in your community. You can BE it!

There is the experience of abundance. Oneness means that you can tap into the flow of wealth, the flow of success, the flow of opportunity that goes on all around you. You can capture opportunities because you know that they are there for you.

What is the difference between a supremely successful person and one who struggles? It isn’t brains - there are smart poor people everywhere, while folks like Ozzy Osbourne, who are talented but not exactly brilliant, are rolling in money. It isn’t birth - there are a million stories of people who inherited wealth and yet live like paupers. It isn’t luck - we know that about 70% of lottery jackpot winners are poor again within 5 years.

It is thinking! It is belief! It is attitude. It is believing that you are entitled to abundance, that you deserve it, that you attract it to you, and that you are squarely in the flow of it.

There is the experience of pure joy. Joy is the experience of lightness of heart. It is the result of en-theos - God within - from which we get the word “Enthusiasm”. People fly when they take themselves lightly!

That is Heaven on earth. And it is yours, here and now. Yes, the kingdom is at hand. It all begins with faith.

FINDING FAITH - 5

Let’s come back to the questions that we started with. Maybe we do have some answers that will help:

What is God? What isn’t God? God is All There Is. Everything is God is form and in action.

What does God have to do with you? God is the life in you, the intelligence of your bones, your cells. You are that. You are not God - but God is you, and more than you. God is All That Is, and God is certainly all that you are.

What can you do with that? You can become more of what God is, that’s what you can do. This power is in you - it IS you. You can use more of It that you are doing right now. The creative ability in you is your Spirit. The urge you have, the need to build, to grow, to expand your activity - that is God in you calling for a miracle.

Does God speak to us? Yes, in many ways - in our dreams, though the people around us, through the things we notice every day. You have an urge to go somewhere. There, you notice something. You noticed because of an inner program that directed your attention. That was God speaking to you. Someone told you the same thing five times. The fifth time you paid attention, because God in you directed your attention.

Does this God have real personality? Oh, you bet! For one thing God has YOUR personality, and about 5 or 6 billion other personalities - and that’s just the ones currently living. God is infinite personality, all personality, any personality. There is no limit - it is open-ended.

So what can you do? First, stop looking away from yourself. Look at the qualities of God that lie in you, and bring them out to play. Stop waiting for Jesus to come back, and look to develop the Christ that is your fullest potential. Remember, the name of Christ is Em-man-u-el (In man is God). The Christ means the full and total realization of the Spirit of God within you. When the Christ comes down to earth, it means you have taken your Spiritual consciousness, and brought it into your physical life.

Truly, the kingdom is within you.