atanu
21 August 2007, 01:07 PM
While Christianity is considered basically a dualistic religion, a few passages from the Bible can be interpreted non-dualistically. I cite a few such passages below:
Exodus 3:
13: Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14: God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
15: God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
Non-dualistically, the name of God is "I AM". This is easily identified with what we call pure Awareness, I Am, or the Absolute. Furthermore, because God is I Am, It is inward. However, since God is not an object, It cannot be located anywhere within. (Inward is the direction away from all objects, not a location.
Now, a familiar passage from Psalms 46:
10: "Be still, and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth!"
and some passages from John 14:
6: Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.
7: If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him."
Non-dualistically, pure Awareness, (I Am), is the means and the end (the way and the truth). If you know your true nature as pure Awareness, you also know the Absolute (unmanifest Consciousness, the Father).
8: Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.”
9: Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10: Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
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16: And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever,
17: Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.
The other Counselor, or Holy Spirit, is spiritual intuition which few know (it cannot be seen with the world’s eyes), but it can be known by all who want to. (Spiritual intuition, not blind belief, is the true meaning of faith.)
26: But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Your own spiritual intuition (faith) will bring you to Reality and peace.
Now, three passages from John 8:
57: The Jews then said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
58: Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
59: So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
Jesus tells them that his true identity has always been I Am (as it is for everyone). This assertion incited an all-too common reaction among those who fear having their beliefs challenged. Jesus’ identification with pure Consciousness and the reaction of those who were afraid to question what they had been taught is reinforced in the following passages from John 10:
30: I and the Father are one."
31: The Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32: Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?"
33: The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God."
34: Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are gods'?
35: If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken),
36: do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, `You are blaspheming,' because I said, `I am the Son of God'?
37: If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
38: but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
39: Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
Om
Exodus 3:
13: Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14: God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
15: God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
Non-dualistically, the name of God is "I AM". This is easily identified with what we call pure Awareness, I Am, or the Absolute. Furthermore, because God is I Am, It is inward. However, since God is not an object, It cannot be located anywhere within. (Inward is the direction away from all objects, not a location.
Now, a familiar passage from Psalms 46:
10: "Be still, and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth!"
and some passages from John 14:
6: Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.
7: If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him."
Non-dualistically, pure Awareness, (I Am), is the means and the end (the way and the truth). If you know your true nature as pure Awareness, you also know the Absolute (unmanifest Consciousness, the Father).
8: Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.”
9: Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10: Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
-----
16: And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever,
17: Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.
The other Counselor, or Holy Spirit, is spiritual intuition which few know (it cannot be seen with the world’s eyes), but it can be known by all who want to. (Spiritual intuition, not blind belief, is the true meaning of faith.)
26: But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Your own spiritual intuition (faith) will bring you to Reality and peace.
Now, three passages from John 8:
57: The Jews then said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
58: Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
59: So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
Jesus tells them that his true identity has always been I Am (as it is for everyone). This assertion incited an all-too common reaction among those who fear having their beliefs challenged. Jesus’ identification with pure Consciousness and the reaction of those who were afraid to question what they had been taught is reinforced in the following passages from John 10:
30: I and the Father are one."
31: The Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32: Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?"
33: The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God."
34: Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are gods'?
35: If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken),
36: do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, `You are blaspheming,' because I said, `I am the Son of God'?
37: If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
38: but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
39: Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
Om