Reflections

The Human One

2011-04-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend seems like an excellent one for discussing the Human One. Sophian Christians, or Followers of the Way, traditionally celebrate the Risen Christ on the Spring Equinox, but Easter Sunday seems like an excellent time to contemplate the deeper meaning of the Human One or the Human One of Light.

Ain, which means “no-thingness,” is a reference to the unknowable aspect of that which we also sometimes call God, better known in the Sophian tradition as Ain Sof. The Christian Kabbalah holds creation was born from Ain Sof’s own desire to reveal itself. What does it mean to be created in the image of God? This is a reference to our spiritual being which, when realized, makes us fully Human. Until we are realized we exist as Divine Potential, which is, in itself, an incredibly awesome, mind-blowing revelation. God is constantly revealing itself through creation and us… and through this revealing we have the ability to return more and more to an awareness of who we most truly are -- as we exist in Ain Sof.

The Hebrew letters for Yahweh or YHWH, a name for God in the supernal realm, form a human being when laid out vertically, thus the Tetragrammaton. This is a deep and beautiful mystery. Within this is the truth of our innermost nature as individuals and as part of the Body of the Christos, the Human One of Light.

Yeshua Messiah was the first one in this human life wave to fully embody something of the Human One of Light. In Hayyah Yeshua divine potential is actualized. He was also the Opener of the Door for his disciples who saw through his resurrection that death is not real. He showed them – and those ready to hear and understand since that time – that the Way back home, back to our true nature, is as near as our own breath, our own being. He was born human but became fully Human, just like we have the ability to become.

There is much more to this mystery, but I thought this was a good place to start.

Feast of the Risen Savior

2011-03-14T03:54:00.000-07:00

“And I held this one thing fast in my mind, that the Lord had performed everything as a symbol and a dispensation for the conversion and salvation of man.” (The Acts of John)

As signs of Spring begin to perk up everywhere we are reminded of just how close it is to the vernal equinox or, as we celebrate it the Sophian tradition, the Feast of the Risen Savior. Just as Spring marks that time of year when plant life rises once again from the earth, we are reminded again that death is not real and that the journey which began in full at the Jordan River didn’t end at the cross. In fact, this was the earthly equivalent of the Big Bang.

Through his resurrection, Yeshua Messiah showed those who could really see that death is not real. The disciples who could not receive in full what the master wanted to impart through light transmission were able to better understand through his resurrection that our Soul of Light carries on. And how it carries on – whether into another incarnation or into realized being – has to do with our individual abilities to receive and impart.

“The Savior” is the one who could show us the Way, the one who opened the door for us to receive the full power of the Supernal abode. The cross became the vehicle for this understanding. The following words from The Acts of John say it best::“This cross of light is sometimes called logos by me for your sakes, sometimes mind, sometimes Jesus, sometimes Christ, sometimes a door, sometimes a way, sometimes bread, sometimes seed, sometimes resurrection, sometimes Son, sometimes Father, sometimes Spirit, sometimes life, sometimes truth, sometimes faith, sometimes grace; and so it is called for men's sake.”

When I read this I’m hearing “mercy.” Great is God’s faithfulness and mercy.

Spring is a beautiful wakeup call that occurs every year, and it’s a reminder of the Soul of Light that lives within us awaiting renewal. The death brought by winter is a temporary experience of dissolution and purification so that something new can be born. My prayer is that each one of us touched by this remembrance in Spring will be willing to ask Our Mother what it is she wants to teach us this year… and where is it she wants us to go with this knowledge.

No Spiritual "Other"

2011-01-29T12:06:00.000-08:00

I grew up in a traditional Baptist family that gave me much love as well as a solid introduction to God for which I am so thankful. From a very early age I felt a deep and abiding connection to Christ even as my understanding of exactly who he was and what he represented was still forming. Of course, time and experience eventually brought me to the Sophian path, or The Way.

My dad’s faith and devotion to God was strong. In the second half of his life he became an ordained Baptist minister and fulfilled his lifelong dream of bringing the Word from the pulpit. My mom’s own faithfulness was great and she received visions from God. While I think my dad would have had some difficulty with understanding why or how I ended up on this path, I also know that he would be open to discuss it with me and to at least consider it with an open mind and heart. My mom has already opened herself up to it and, although she can’t agree with all of it, she knows that it’s a true path of the heart. That, in fact, is the reason she’s told me that she’s so open to discussing it with my husband and myself.

All of this brings me to our current world and something I haven’t discussed on this blog before.

We live in a world made smaller by the information superhighway that, really, just began streaming into our lives 15 short years ago through a technology that’s proliferated like the wildest forest fire. We live in a global community that has gotten even smaller as a result. About 15 years before that, the dissension which some have referred to as America’s "cultural wars” began as politics and religion became the calling card for many Protestant churches. From election to election, from hot button issue to hot button issue, a culture based in fear of “the other” became increasingly apparent from both sides of the aisle. As a result, at some point we forgot to remember that the so-called “other” is also our brother and our sister.

We've forgotten that no matter how much we may disagree with one another, we are united in our humanity as One.

Many have either forgotten how or simply refuse to imagine themselves walking in the shoes of their brothers and sisters. Those whose spiritual journeys have taken them away from the traditional church are seen as threatening to a way of life that feels as comfortable as a warm country breakfast on a cold Southern morning. This is a culture less familiar with the cultural influences wrought by the age of globalization and diversity. On the other hand, those who either grew up or become acquainted with a more global or eclectic worldview, don’t understand those who seem unwilling to listen to them or understand what they have to say.

But maybe the key is for each one of us to begin listening to our brothers and sisters in the traditional church. That doesn’t mean we deny what we believe. It means we listen to them as individuals, respecting them and where their roots reach deep into the earth because that’s where their existence and perception of reality is formed. Very often their sense of integrity and family are held as central to their survival along with a faith in God that is as beautiful as it is real. Let’s come to know them as individuals first and share our own stories when they are ready to hear and ask questions.

From this space – and I realize this is a very generic, brief overview of how we talk and relate to our traditional brethren – the idea of “the other” can disappear as well it should because “the other” is born out of a belief in separation that is mere illusion. In Spirit we are already united as One and there is no such thing as our spiritual “other.” Let’s appreciate that we’re all on different places in our journeys and celebrate this as a part of the ever-becoming.

In short, let's not reduce our brothers and sisters to some fundamentalist label... because they're much more than that, and this holds true even when we don't always feel it.

One of the most spiritual people I have ever known is a beautifully-spirited Baptist woman whose face glows with inner knowing and peace. Most of her beliefs are traditional but she walks with God in these Appalachian hills as surely as she lives and breathes.

The Revealer

2011-01-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

“The figure said to me, ‘John, John, why are you doubting? Why are you afraid? Are you not familiar with this figure? Then do not be fainthearted. I am with you always. I am the father, I am the mother, I am the child. I am the incorruptible and the undefiled one. Now I have come to teach you what is, what was, and what is to come, that you may understand what is invisible and what is visible, and to teach you about the unshakable race of perfect humankind.’ “

Here, in The Secret Book of John, one of Yeshua’s disciples is asked to confront – and not run from – the same doubt and fear that overwhelmed many of the Master's closest followers after the pain and confusion of the crucifixion. Yeshua Messiah tells us in several different sacred texts that “I am with you always.” Right here, in this text, he tells us that he lives within us as father, mother and the child. He reveals to us what is already deeply known within our hearts as truth and light and life. To “reveal” here means to uncover or show the hidden potential of who we most truly are.

Hayyah Yeshua revealed that the Christ Light lives strongly within each one of us as unfulfilled potential awaiting eternal life freed from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth. They had seen the miracles he had performed as an enlightened master but they still did know him as the Great Revealer until after the crucifixion and resurrection. Of course the many revelations – given by the Revealer after the resurrection – became the catalyst or energy that fueled the Gnostic gospels and Gnosticism itself.

This passage from The Secret Book of John reminds us not to doubt ourselves. It seems so simple on the surface, but how soon do we forget who we are in the Christos and begin to doubt? Do we know the resurrected Christ as the Revealer of what is and always has been? Do we know the resurrected Christ as the doorway to greater gnosis? I guess I might as well ask, "Do we know ourselves?"

Power and Wisdom of the Letters

2010-11-26T10:34:00.000-08:00

Of all the archetypes given to us by the Divine through the creative life force of Binah, the letters – and specifically, in our tradition, the Hebrew letters – would seem to carry the full weight of hidden wisdom and the key to understanding the Sacred Unity and ourselves.

Language itself, which separates us from our closest relative in evolution, the primate, is what gives us the ability to communicate and express ourselves so that we may pass knowledge and wisdom along. Through writing and sharing – via sacred discourse or the everyday exchange of sparks in conversation – language has and is changing our world. Through language we understand and grow. We should be thankful for language not only because it played a vast role in our evolution as humans but because that evolution plays such a huge part in our spiritual growth as a collective.

This being said, we can’t help but take notice of the importance of language to communicate our true heart’s desire and intention. If you are going to know me through my language, let me try to communicate it in a way that shows you that I understand the innate power of the words I choose.

Some might say that the discussion of letters and the discussion of language are very different, but letters are the building blocks of language just as they are the building blocks of our universe. In our tradition we believe that God created the universe with 10 utterances. These utterances are or became letters. These letters became words. These words became language. Rabbi Michael Monk wrote, “The 22 sacred letters are profound, primal spiritual forces. They are, in effect, the raw material of creation.”

There is a great mystery behind Adam’s naming of the creatures. For, at that moment, the power of the letters was given to humanity, and this marked our ability to be co-creators with God. The potential which had existed since the desire or concept of the universe in the mind of Ain Sof Or begins to unfold when Adam is given the power to name.

We tend to think the power is in the word or in the way we construct beautiful sentences, and there can be a certain amount of splendor there, but a study of the Hebrew letters is a study of the mysteries of creation. I encourage everyone who is interesting in exploring these letters and mysteries in more detail to check out the discussion threads on the letters at the Sophian Forum. I also recommend The Oracle of the Kabbalah by Richard Seidman.

For instance, Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, not only signifies the beginning but symbolizes that “God is One” and it represents both unity and multiplicity, thus also Yahweh Elohim. Significantly, Aleph is a “silent” sound or the nothing before the sound. Is this the silence before the Big Bang, the thought or desire that is no sound but holds the power to create or manifest? Aleph is perhaps the hardest to understand just because it has no sound. How can a letter have no sound? It’s almost like a manifestation of the mystery of Ain Sof as no-thingness, that aspect of God which we cannot fully grasp.

So many mysteries are contained in just one letter. Let us study and contemplate the letters with a prayerful and focused intention so we may understand them in our hearts as well as our minds.

Creative Evolution

2010-11-20T11:52:00.000-08:00

“The archons thought they killed the Christ, just as they thought by their own power they had created the world and humanity. But they were self-deluded, for they crushed only an empty husk, like themselves, and they began their own end in so doing.”

-- Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene, v. 165

This verse reminds me of many truths as we understand them through individual gnosis, not the least of which is the one surrounding creative evolution itself. Some people still question why Christ’s “real” message wasn’t heard by most people some 2,000 years ago and why his life resulted in an institution that some say stood in the way of our spiritual evolution. But who are we to question the flow of creative evolution that preceded and proceeded during and after this world-changing event? Who are we to question the Holy Spirit’s own plan and how she works through the Sacred Unity of which we are all a part to accomplish God’s will?

We each play a role in evolution as co-creators with God. While the choices we make as individuals and as a collective can sometimes change the original direction momentarily, the Holy Spirit can and does work with whatever we give her. Humans unaware of their place in the Sacred Unity do not work as “conscious” co-creators as much as they do obstructions but through even them God can accomplish much to bring about the enlightenment of humanity.

The archonic forces that make up our world don’t realize their part in the Sacred Unity because they very often believe themselves a force to be reckoned with that is beyond even the Supernal Being. This is the same ignorance that led to the crucifixion of Yeshua the man, releasing the sparks that changed humanity despite their best attempts to squelch them.

In The Gnostic Gospel of St. Thomas, Tau Malachi writes, “[E]ven the cosmic forces of ignorance serve the Lord, although not intending to do so. In fact, they are a secret operation of the Holy Spirit working toward the fulfillment of God’s plan for creation. The cosmic forces of ignorance provide the friction, resistance, strife, and opposition necessary for evolution to occur.”

Indeed, a “secret operation of the Holy Spirit.” I find this encouraging because it reminds us that in the Sacred Unity we are known, understood, and protected. El Elyon is, ultimately, in control and everything is our world is sacred exactly as it is. By trusting in this we can go through our day and forge ahead on our individual spiritual paths with confidence. When we also have the gnosis that comes with our faith and love than this confidence is magnified many times over.

Let us hold the confidence and peace that passes all understanding in our hearts and minds.

Fall Equinox

2010-09-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've always adored autumn’s glorious display of brilliant yellows and reds and oranges. This season may be even more significant to me spiritually because it marks the time of year when the sun begins moving closer to the earth. I have to admit this creates a kind of spiritual energy in me that is, quite frankly, beyond words. Since I was a child, throughout the year I’m drawn to a powerful inner movement by the sun’s reflection during a particular time of day. This awareness of my connection to the Divine I Am isn’t something I understood before I came to this path. I didn’t know why I was feeling this timeless, indescribable sense of beauty and pain mixed with deeper knowing. Now I know. I also know that the same energy and peace that permeates my being during a particular time of the day year-round, stays with me throughout the day in the autumn.

Yes, it can be sun dependent – but not always. It’s like my body knows the sun is closer to the earth – even when I can’t see it – and my soul responds accordingly. Today it's cloudy and we’ve been blessed with the first rain in several weeks here in Virginia – but I still feel that same autumnal energy and the presence of awareness is especially strong with me. This is significant in the context of the Spiritual Sun that resides within and behind our hearts. The Sun of God is within each one of us as the sons and daughters of El Elyon, God Most High. Our heavenly soul is always aware of its connection to the Divine I Am and at certain times we seem to be more aware of it than others although the feeling itself may be quite beyond words.

The Autumnal Equinox is celebrated as the Feast of the Apocalypse in Sophian tradition. This walks hand-in-hand with the idea of the Second Coming which occurs on an individual level anytime someone realizes the Christ Presence within. The key to the Feast of the Apocalypse is celebrating and recognizing this potential in ourselves and all of our brethren as both an awakening and an ongoing process at the same time. For this reason the Fall Equinox or the Feast of the Apocalypse becomes a celebration of the Human One of Light that lives as unfolding potential within us both individually and collectively.

Tau Malachi has written, “As taught in the Christian Kabbalah within Sophian Gnosticism, creation and the Apocalypse are not single or one-time events of the past and future, but are constantly ongoing in the present, transpiring now, always; and when we look to the Book of the Apocalypse we find a dance of great beauty and great horror as the Divine Revelation unfolds, its fruition being the union of the Lamb and Holy Bride, Supernal Tiferet and Malkut – *Divine Beauty*. This life, this reality display, is a dance of beauty and horror, creation and destruction, life and death, light and shadow; this play of radical dualism pervades the unenlightened condition of the Entirety, from the spiritual dimensions on the threshold of the Supernal Abode to the material dimension. Yet, this movement is inherently *liberative*, and its culmination is Divine Beauty, the realization of the True Light, the Holy One."

We learn to appreciate the great dance of opposites and with that appreciation we find a peace that passes all understanding in the space where neither one exists as a separate entity. But this liberating movement Malachi refers to isn’t stagnant because our consciousness isn’t stationary. It shifts as we move and experience life. But the more we cling to Our Mother the more we experience liberation from attachment and aversion. So, let us celebrate the Autumnal Equinox which we just entered a few short days ago as a movement of Spirit and Grace. I can recognize the shifts that take place within me during this time of year although I can’t always define it – just like we can be aware of those times when we are moving with Our Mother in ways we can’t describe. Let us be thankful for these times and offer her all of the glory and praise for something that is quite beyond words or definition. Let her reign supreme in our hearts this day and every day.

Living in Awareness

2010-08-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

What does it mean to contemplate or work toward "self-purification"? Certainly, human nature or Nefesh Behamit, our "bestial soul," seems predisposed toward anything but purity. I think self-purification starts with conscious intention toward remembrance and recognition of the Light Presence and Light Power within. This is a remembrance beyond some lofty ideal of who we think we really are when we practice and interact with others who may be walking the same or similar paths.

Remembrance and recognition of the Light Presence and Light Power that already lives within us as an emanation or light gradation of El Elyon is something we can carry with us each and every day and in every experience or interaction with other individuals. The question is, “Do we walk and talk with an awareness of this or are we just giving it lip service?”

And how does this come about? Do we just wake up one morning and declare for ourselves that we're going to walk with this consciousness like we do with any good habit we're going to adopt? I've found this isn't effective because this is a conscious intention born entirely in our mind with an idea of who and what we think we "should be" as we walk our path. It's ineffective because it is an intention that, more often than not, is an ordinary human endeavor.

So, how do we walk in this awareness as a natural matter of course? Well, some form of daily practice is important as is some type of daily prayer. We should also pray with conscious intention and devotion toward Our Beloved. Then we must carry or remember our experience of the practice and the love we felt in our prayers. Along with that remembrance we never forget the Presence and Power within... and then we strive to make every action and every word a reflection of this truth of our innermost existence -- so that even when we are listening to someone we realize the Christ Presence is listening and not ordinary human consciousness.

This sounds easy enough until we realize that this awareness or response doesn't just come about through conscious intention. In fact, it's not going to come about by declaring that today is the day I develop the good habit of walking in awareness of my True Nature. That's where grace steps in and the Holy Spirit takes over -- and, my friends, this is all the difference. She seems to know when a heart is truly seeking and wanting to experience life through her. You'll know when she is moving through you because it becomes as easy as breathing to turn inward and feel this overwhelming peace surround you. "I can do all through God (or the Christ Presence) who strengthens me."

This presence of awareness can apply to both the mundane and the more profound examples of living or life experience For instance, I have a predisposition to be sensitive to noise or lots of random chatter mixed in with other background sounds. But when I turn inward and remember who I am in the Body of Christ and the Human One of Light I feel an acceptance and peace overwhelm me so that I can not only accept the noise but respond to those participating in the noise or chatter from a place that is beyond ordinary human consciousness.

Also, there is the tendency to judge others we encounter throughout the day. But if we turn inward and remember ourselves in the Human One of Light (conscious intention) and ask Our Mother for greater acceptance and understanding then she takes over and something truly wonderful happens (grace). We can actually feel our hearts filling up with love and understanding... and judgment subsides.

Even in the more difficult circumstances of the day -- such as encountering people or situations that seem to test us -- she is always with us. The more we live with this conscious intention and focus the more these Christ-centered responses and attitudes come about as a natural course of life experience... for it is she and not we who is thinking, feeling, and responding.

We always have a choice. Free will was given to us for a reason. We first have to choose to live as conscious co-creators in our lives and in our thoughts. She knows when our hearts are in the right place and it's like she plugs into our own Light Power to fill us with a measure of her greater understanding and love. It is so powerfully beautiful to know that she is never removed from any of us... and waiting for the times when we are open to receive her love and grace. Our Mother wants to share that with us more than anything... and she will when we are ready. It's only a matter of time or lifetimes until we are ready to receive so we may impart her light presence and power. We are her vessel or conduit for greater love and understanding in our world.

Praise the Holy One of Being who desires to live, love, and create through us.

If you cannot love, you cannot be united

2010-06-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Mary said, "If you cannot love, you cannot be united. One who is divided is destined for destruction. Therefore, the Savior taught us to love so that we might have life."

The human condition apart from understanding or gnosis is adversarial, and today's society is adversarial as a matter of course. We seem to thrive on division and conflict as evidenced by our media outlets, and even here on the Internet where people launch the most scurrilous and vicious -- and sometimes, frankly, nonsensical -- tirades against people or issues about which they may know something or, it seems in many cases, very little. Division, or yin and yang, is the same principle of evolution through which creation came into being. This is the way the Dark Mother brings us and creation into Being, and I don’t wish for an earth without it.

As long as there are people who live apart from their true nature there will be division, disharmony, and discord. But this post isn’t about that. It’s about living in union with our True Nature. Christian Gnostics know that everyone and everything contains a spark of the Divine I Am. There is nothing separate or apart from God or Ain Sof, the Light of the Infinite. What does separate Gnostics who “gnow” from others is the ability to go within and live from this Presence of Awareness. We do this because we know that all else or anything else is futile. There is no peace to be found in living in conflict -- and external conflicts with others and one’s surroundings always hints at conflict within. So, when we find ourselves at war with others or even ourselves, we hearken to Our Mother’s voice telling and teaching us that there is something we need to work on. Her voice may be a gentle whisper or a sharper, more ear-bending shriek, but she wants our attention. Once we’re on a true path of enlightenment she’ll throw situations and circumstances our way that will really test our mettle. Resistance only prolongs the lesson, the pain, the struggle... but it’s always worth it. Never give up -- and praise her for giving you these opportunities to grow and “gnow.”

As a Follower of the Way, I know that achieving a place of peace is not something I do on my own. The Christ Presence and Light Power that live within each one of us enables me to achieve gnosis -- and to respond with love and kindness even when all conditions would seem to run contrary to this ability. When I respond -- and there are occasionally times that I still do -- in ways that run contrary to my True Nature, I not only injure my own peace but have also sown sparks of discord that may resonate for weeks or months or years to come. These sparks hurt others while doing nothing for me but to elevate my ego or sense of personal justice. I have accomplished nothing for the Kingdom of God when I behave this way.

Now, of course, like Yeshua’s reaction to the moneychangers in the temple, there are times when a show of anger is actually from our Divine Mother herself. He was not acting in the temple from a place of personal ego. Even when he cursed a fig tree for not bearing fruit, an act some regard as frivolous or self-serving, he spoke from a deeper place of knowing in order to teach a lesson. But Yeshua’s primary lesson was about love, the eleventh and most important Commandment. This is what the above quote, from “The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene,” also references, but more importantly, this quote refers to love from a deeper place... one where we abide in the Presence of Awareness. It is the Mother who loves through me, working with my own light power to understand and reach out to others. If we attain this center of bliss and return to it from time to time -- and feel its essence through every fiber of our being most of the time -- then we will not know death because no one can abide in this place of love and know death or destruction. This is a love that passes all understanding... and a ground from which one does not judge and does not hate... where we are at peace in our Divine Mother while being born as self-realized Children of the Light.

When we are in union with our center or place of awareness we act and behave out of love. Let us pray each day for a measure of Our Mother’s love and compassion, wisdom and understanding. May we live our lives truly as her children, always seeking with the knowledge that we are never apart from her and never distant from whom we most truly are in the Divine I Am.

The Path of Light

2010-05-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Mary said to some women, “If you know the path of the moon, you will know the path of the sun. With this knowledge and understanding, follow the path of Light, which is beyond the sun or moon. This is the path of the cross.”

This verse from the *Secret Gospel of Mary* reminds me that when we’re walking as Followers of the Way there is no outside or inside, no night or day, no separation between who we are at work and who we are at home or in spiritual practice -- because we know there is no part of our life that is devoid of the Living Presence. But this ideal isn’t so much something we have to achieve as it is a natural byproduct or outgrowth of cleaving to Our Mother through whom all becomes possible.

There’s a special meaning here, I think, when we look at the cycles of the sun and moon. As much as the sun’s path represents the outer rites of our tradition’s solar feasts and the moon’s path represents the inner rites, their true power become actualized when they are joined together on the vertical / horizontal axis of the Cross of Light. On the cross, the outer and the inner may unite as one. When our outer and inner practices become something we do with conscious intention to uplift others or humanity then they take on special talismanic properties of tikkune and renewal. At some point after that, when we are no longer the do-er, we can no longer distinguish the inner from the outer because through Spirit-infused “practice” or “ritual” there is no distinction -- as they have become the skillful and now blessed means by which we unite heaven and earth for the sake of the Human One.

But this may be grounded and brought even closer to cyclic human experience. A great example of this is the female’s natural monthly cycle wherein a woman may view any menstrual discomfort as taking on the pain of the world, thereby viewing her very own body as a vessel or grail for holding the world’s suffering. Her loss of blood symbolizes the purification through which the world is cleansed and healing becomes fully possible. So, at the same time she is receiving the world’s pain, through a conscious, prayerful, and meditative acceptance of her own body as a form of the holy grail, she is also imparting tikkune and Light through purification. Through this example we have a very real, incredibly profound example of how individuals can have an opportunity through the Light Power to become talismanic for the world’s suffering, similar to what Lady Mary was when she met Lord Yeshua. In these moments we can be co-creators / co-healers with HaShem. This is a humbling, beautiful, and merciful example of God’s love. I’m thinking that anytime we can behold our own suffering as talismanic -- easier said than done with ordinary human effort, but very possible by a letting go of name and form to offer ourselves up in service and love -- then we become a way for the Holy Spirit to touch and heal humanity.

Our Mother, we pray with all humility that we may learn to see you in Everything and we may become conscious vessels for receiving and imparting your love and understanding.

More than faith

2010-04-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I take my laptop to Barnes & Noble to read and reflect -- or even write. It's also a good way to check out books (from the comfort of the cafe) to get an idea of which ones I might want to purchase later. Today, I was plugged in near the magazines and happened to catch the cover story of a popular Christian magazine. It was entitled, "The Jesus We'll Never Know."

I was instantly compelled -- not necessarily to read the article itself because I had an idea of what it would say from an Orthodox or exoteric church viewpoint. I knew it was an article about this current fascination -- stronger than I've ever seen it right now -- with the "historical Jesus." It's all over the place -- the Internet, magazines, and on the History Channel. The Shroud of Turin. The archeological dig at the supposed home of Jesus. The physical appearance of Jesus... and so on and so on.

The magazine article's premise is, of course, that we'll never understand who Jesus was through historical scholarship. I certainly agree with that. But my first reaction -- and what compelled me -- was the thought, "How sad." Sad because I knew what the author of the article was getting at -- and when I picked up the magazine my suspicions were confirmed. He writes, "I can establish that the tomb was empty and that resurrection is the best explanation of the empty tomb. But one thing the historical method cannot prove is that Jesus died for our sins and was raised for our justification." This author writes from faith and I do not criticize him for that. My own faith originated in a strong Christian background. What's sad for me is that the author leaves his article here. For him, faith is all that matters. I'm saddened by the thought that there are those who are given a glimpse of something profoundly more intense and real than even faith itself and, yet, they do not pursue this. They become distracted by the world or their own fears.

Now, I know that everyone comes to a greater understanding of Yeshua Messiah or the Christ when they are ready -- whether it is in this lifetime or the ones to come. But this article was a reminder to me that how well we understand Jesus or Yeshua is dependent upon our own awakening, our own consciousness. Historical scholarship is irrelevant to this. And faith is only the start. Faith is a good place to begin and, for many, it's where they'll stay for this lifetime, and many of them will be beautiful examples of just how important this faith can be during their lives here.

But I'm constantly reminded that there's so much more...

Since coming to the Sophian path I have been liberated by a greater understanding that comes -- and continues to come -- with both study and experience. Who was Yeshua and what does that mean for me? A greater understanding of this continues to unfold for me with each new text, each new teaching, each new experience... How well I understand Yeshua comes by knowing the Christ Presence within and how willing I am to adhere to this awareness. Ultimately, how well I understand is reliant upon the Light Power herself helping me to "gnow" and grow. And, from this place, I have a different understanding of what "dying for my sins" and "salvation" or "justification" means.

How I understand Jesus doesn't depend at all on scholarship. It does depend, to a certain degree, on the faith that brought me to the Sophian path rather than, for instance, the Buddhist path. But it is an experience unique to me and for me because it depends on my own unfolding self-awareness and my own release of the ego and klippot. We are all unique manifestations of the Divine I Am and what this means must be discovered within individual hearts and minds.

Contrary to what the article claims, there is no part of Jesus or Yeshua that I cannot know. Ultimately, even as this experience and understanding continues to unfold for me, what I can share is this: You have the potential to understand Yeshua Messiah completely and fully -- within and through yourself.

Crucifying the Christ Presence

2010-03-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

On this Spring Equinox weekend it seems appropriate to consider one of the significances of this celebration in the Christian Gnostic tradition: I'm referencing how we regard or treat the Christ Presence within.

In the "Acts of John," Hayyah Messiah makes it clear that he has not been crucified: "You hear that I suffered, yet I suffered not; and that I suffered not, yet I did suffer; and that I was pierced, yet I was not wounded; that I was hanged, yet I was not hanged; that blood flowed from me, yet it did not flow, and, in a word, that what they say of me, I did not endure..."

No, the Christ Presence that existed in Yeshua Messiah was not crucified, thus he could appear to John in the cave and share the truth of the message he had come to share with all of humanity. Through his awakening and self-realization we are shown that death is not real and any pain he suffered on the cross as a human was not endured by that who he most truly was, always had been, and always will be.

The Christ Presence was not crucified. However, that's not from lack of trying by the powers that be -- a clear representation of Ego in the human collective. And this is an ample reminder of how we attempt to crucify the Christ Presence in our day to day lives. When we give into the personal ego and allow it to direct our actions and thoughts we are also attempting to crucify the Christ Presence. While this is natural, part of our evolution, I also think it's important to be aware of what we're doing. Ultimately, for those who are self-aware and seeking to live with a greater Presence of Awareness, Divine Grace will help us to overcome the tyranny of the ego. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter who will not forsake us.

But self-awareness is key. We might ask ourselves, "How do I crucify the Christ Presence on a daily basis? What do I say or do or think that goes against the Christ within? How do I shun or try to harm my First Love? By ignoring it? By stifling it? By acting in contradiction to it?" For those of us who follow the way of devotion, this is simply unacceptable and by our actions we can harm our connection to Our Beloved.

The good news is this: the Christ Presence cannot be ignored or stifled. All resistance is temporary and by resisting or attempting to crucify this Presence, we are simply relegating ourselves to waiting until the next lifetime(s) to remember, to become.

May Awareness of Hayyah Yeshua Be Our Guide in This Lifetime and May We Remember Divine Grace As Our Promise.

The Love and My Path

2010-02-15T04:05:00.000-08:00

An essay about my sister's death was recently published in The Love: of the Fifth Spiritual Paradigm by the Oracle Institute.

The essay was more difficult to write than I would have imagined before I first put pen to paper. My story begins with an introduction to a squirrel that appeared outside my back door just a few hours before we heard of my sister's death. I found it easier to begin the essay by talking about the baby squirrel we would come to call Dalai. You see, that little squirrel was a real comfort and blessing -- a gift from God during a difficult time. The events of that morning triggered a renewed search for understanding of life and God which, ultimately, brought me to the Sophian path. I had always searched. Now, I felt my search being guided by spiritual forces familiar to me as Agape. I was reminded of a dream-vision I had at the age of 13 -- when I knew and felt the love of God more intensely than I have ever felt and known any love.

Then, now, and forever more this was Agape. The love that is beyond words or general human understanding. It was the name I gave to the Sophian circle I founded in Virginia.

When we know and feel God's love we leave less room for judgment of ourselves or others. There is less dualism. Less division. Less me. More us. I found all of this on the Sophian path.

By upholding the Sophian path I would seem to suggest all other paths are inferior. I do not. Everyone is called to a particular path, a path which he or she may not find in this lifetime, but a path nevertheless. I think the path we choose is a vehicle or divine spiritual means by which we find our way to reunification with God. So, while I don't want to disparage any particular spiritual path -- or even any particular religion -- I do want to encourage all to find a single path.

Modern day spirituality is very much like a buffet of delectable delicacies from which many pick and choose depending on what suits their needs at a particular time. As a result, these individuals fail to find a path that challenges them to adhere to a structure by which Divine Grace may operate to fulfill their heart's desire. The spiritual path is the skillful means by which we find truth. It is a personal quest for gnosis but it's not going to happen by lack of self-discipline, by allowing yourself to be tempted by every morsel from that incredible modern day buffet. Indeed, it makes sense to adhere to the path that speaks to your heart, mind, and soul, but you don't want a path just made up of what you like best from the buffet without any real adherence to a structure that calls you to a genuine reunification with the Divine.

True, the Sophian path has elements of Eastern and Native American spirituality. But it is primarily comprised of the mystical elements of the Christian and Jewish traditions. There is truth in to be found in every spiritual path and it makes sense that a mystical path would have elements of other mystical traditions. However, Sophians adhere to the Judaic-Christian tradition in our ceremonies, meditations, and study. This is the skillful means by which we practice and through which gnosis is attained.

Once achieved, the Light Transmission provides the same unspeakable Gnosis for everyone, and the means by which we got to that point isn't important. Yet, we all need the discipline to get there.

So, I encourage each and every one to listen to what life is showing you because I think, in most cases, life may be calling you to a particular path through which you can experience Agape and know yourself in conjunction with the Divine I Am. Of course, many of us will spend years searching for that singular path before we see the Light... and that is okay, too. It will happen when we are ready.

May We Trust the Holy Spirit to Guide Us So That We May Find Our Peace and Our Place in the Divine I Am.

Amen.

Feast of the Baptist

2010-01-26T04:01:00.000-08:00

As the Feast of John the Baptist approaches I'm moved to remember the significance of this celebration to our own becoming as individuals and as a group. The movement that begins with the Winter Solstice or Feast of Mother and Child takes another step on Feb. 2 with the Feast of the Baptist.

Serving as a midwife and tzaddik, John baptizes Yeshua who then receives the influx of the Holy Spirit. The rebirth that begins with the Winter Solstice, moves into greater Awareness with the Feast of the Baptist. The significance of this is too great to put into words even, although there are some, who are able to put this into words in ways that are truly enriching and empowering.

As a group, too, as followers of the Way, this also holds significance to the role we play and what we can accomplish in our Gnostic communities -- both in our circles and even here in our online community. Of course there needs to be a greater awakening in all of us as individuals first -- but from that ground what we can accomplish as a group is tremendous.

At the Sophian Forum, Sister Sarah+ contemplates this feast most beautifully in terms of nature or the earth. She writes:

The other day, while standing, looking out over the land, over last years vegetable garden and the fruit trees encompasses by it, many contemplations surfaced in regards to the lands natural rhythm and how this rhythm accords with our Traditions Solar Feasts.

We have just exited the Feast of Mother and Child and move toward the Feast of the Baptist. In Feast of the Mother and Child we speak a particular blessing in which we pray the Holy One moves with us in our desire to manifest that which we are seeking in the upcoming cycle. This is a feast of re-birth; a time to go within and seek out what it is we would like to bring to fruition. We recognize here that the journey to fruition takes the whole cycle from birth to death. As we move toward the Feast of the Baptism we pray to be open to the vision which might lead us toward the direction in which the path to fruition is recognized. As Tau Malachi recently put it, 'We pray for the vision of our Gospel.'

If we look into Master Yeshua’s journey, the Gospel as spoken in an earthly ministry transpires between the Feast of the Baptism and the Feast of Crucifixion and Resurrection. Between the beginning of February and Spring Equinox. After the Feast of Crucifixion and Resurrection the rest of the year becomes a story of how the Gospel is received among the people and the land.

As I looked upon the garden, spotted with dead plants from last year and freshly sprouted weeds I realized now the land is seeking a vision…seeking a Gospel. Even though I have previously thought the time between Feast of Mother and Child and Feast of the Baptism is a time for planting seeds, the land told me differently. The land told me, now is not the time to plant seeds, now is the time for pruning fruit trees and removing last years dead plants, now it time to weed and begin to turn the soil. The land is seeking a vision of what it will be, what it will grow in this next cycle, but most primarily is wanting to clear the way to make this possible. Ah, this must be why John the Baptist is called, “Opener of the Way”. As we near the Feast of the Baptism the land is yearning for the way to be opened, for all the old to be cleared and along the way for a vision of a Gospel, a vision of growth!

John baptized Yeshua at the Jordan, in the same waters beside which Elisha asked Elijah for a "double portion" of his holy teacher's spirit. Sophians believe this request was fulfilled at Yeshua's baptism, when John, the incarnation of Elijah, served as a midwife to bring the Spirit of the Messiah into the world through Yeshua.

What a magnificent mystery rests behind this -- the moment when the Light of the Supernal is, at long last, released here. What love and mercy (Hesed) is found in this moment. At this moment, it would seem the Middle Pillar on the Tree of Life becomes possible in our world -- and through the Middle Pillar we might return to El Elyon, God Most High. In this moment, the Kingdom suggested by Keter (crown) could be manifest or fulfilled in this world, here in Malkut.

Thanks to the great love and mercy of God, we are no longer subject to dualism and we all have the freedom to become what and who we most truly are. The influx of light made possible at Yeshua's baptism is living within each one of us now as Divine potential, waiting to be awakened. The awakening is manifest when we create the space for the Holy Spirit to work through spiritual living and spiritual practice -- and by her grace we are given the power to live as true lightbearers, both known by and known in the Light.

There is no moment like the present.

Many blessings!

Feast of Mother and Child

2009-12-06T07:49:00.000-08:00

For the Sophian, the Winter Solstice marks the end of one year and the beginning of a new year. Its closest parallel is Christmas and, to a certain extent, we are paying homage to that celebration. But our celebration puts its emphasis on the Mother as much as the Son. This is why we also call the Winter Solstice the Feast of Mother and Child.

Yeshua’s humble beginnings signify the soul’s incarnation into the material world, Malkut or the “Kingdom.” His birth in a manger in the middle of a barn full of animals symbolizes the most basic entry and state of our soul into the world. We are born with the infinite potential of becoming “priest-kings forever” but we must realize it on our own — and that takes faith and spiritual practice in the Divine Potential which gave birth to creation and all of us.

Mother Sophia as symbolized by Yeshua’s mother, Mary, is the force through which creation and the Soul of the Messiah came into being. Even the “virgin” status of Mary alludes to the supernal nature of her relationship with the Father, who is the unseen and transcendent aspect of God. In our Christian Kabbalah this refers to the supernal triad of Keter (crown), Hokmah (Father), and Binah (Mother). Keter, the Divine Force of Will and Desire, is actualized through Hokmah “impregnating” (so to speak) Binah. This actualization took the form of creation and the Human One of Light, symbolized for Sophians by Yeshua Messiah.

In the beginning sas the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into the world in him was life, and the life as the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1: 1-5)

What does it mean that the Word was with God? Is it not the same Divine Will / Desire actualized through the transcendent Father and immanent Mother? The Soul of the Human One of Light (the Messiah) is part of the Energy Force which is God and has always existed with God, i.e. The Word is God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son. (John 1: 14)

The Word or Desire of God is actualizing through the evolution of humanity — and through the birth of Yeshua physically and the spiritual re-birth which accompanied his Baptism, ordeal in the wilderness, and Resurrection, Sophians believe he was the first soul in Western tradition to achieve full realization. As such he was the first and only son at that time in our evolutionary history. He was and is our example — and our Spiritual Teacher. Through his example — and sacrifice — we are shown our own Potential. Praise the Holy One of Being.

So how does the Feast of Mother and Child tie in with the Winter Solstice?

As Tau Malachi writes, We celebrate the Feast of the Mother and Child on winter solstice, or the Feast of Divine Incarnation — the darkness of winter solstice as the womb of the Divine Mother in which we are conceived and gestated, and from which we are reborn as the Spiritual Sun, the Messiah of God, the Enlightened One; the Solar Sphere representing the Pleroma of Light, the Christ, which gives light and life to the world, to all people.

When we gaze upon the sun, even on the shortest day of the solar year, there is a simple truth: “There is no darkness in the Sun of God, the Sun of God has never experienced the night, or the change of the seasons that represent birth, life and death; the the Sun of God sin and death have never existed — the Sun of God is the Bornless One, the Ancient of Days and the Eternal Youth.”

This is the truth of our Supernal Being, and the sun is the symbol of Holy Remembrance, which is the purpose of the Divine Incarnation: To remind us of who and what we are, and to show us where we have come from, where we are now and where we are going; hence to reveal our Supernal Being and invoke the Remembrance of the Divine I Am (Christ Melchizedek).

This celebration might also be viewed or understood as marking the transitional state of our own consciousness, always becoming as we most truly are in the Mother. We are all in the womb of the Divine Mother as her daughters and sons, and within that space our consciousness is constantly running to and returning from primordial and transcendent awareness back to a dream-like reality. But it is all in the Mother.

Yet, more and more, we may find ourselves desiring to hold on to that awareness, to cling to our Mother in faith, love (devotion), and gnosis. The real peace comes when we realize our own Light Presence and Light Power is something we carry with us at all times -- an awareness that comes by the Divine Grace of Our Mother.

So, as we contemplate a time of year marked in the Sophian tradition by the the celebration of ourselves in the womb of the Mother but being born into Christ consciousness, may we carry that inner knowing with us daily. Rather than allowing ourselves to get caught up in the spend-and-buy culture of the holiday rush, how can we realize the Light by which we can both know ourselves better and help others to become more aware of their own Inner Light?

Who are we in the Mother? Who are we without the Mother? There really is no us without the Mother but the key is to really feel and "gnow" this Truth in the very depth of our being now and forevermore.

May We All Be Empowered In the Divine Remembrance!

The Christ Spirit

2009-11-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

Who was Yeshua Messiah? Those Sophians raised in a traditional church setting knew him first as Jesus Christ. Yet, now as Sophians we find ourselves asking, “Did I really ever know him?” Can we ever know Jesus Christ without first knowing ourselves? These are the questions we ask ourselves more and more as we come to understand the original beliefs which informed followers of “The Way.”

The Gospel of Thomas was first ignored and then lost for centuries and thus escaped the “refinements” and religiously-correct scalping at the hands of canonization. Thomas retains the original “sayings” format that scholars believe the Four Gospels lost through numerous edits. That Thomas went “undiscovered” until the 19th and 20th centuries may actually have been its salvation. Discovered during a time in our human and historic evolution more open to viewing such texts as true literary and cultural artifacts saved it from being annihilated as a “fraudulent” piece of work to be burned or compromised as one needing a KJV-type translation. The sayings of Thomas speak volumes to humanity at the very time humanity is prepared to hear its message:

Jesus said, “If those who lead you say, ‘See, the Kingdom is in heaven,’ then the birds of the heaven will precede you. If they say to you,‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom is within you and it is without 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.” (Thomas, Saying 5)

Those who have recognized the Christ-spirit within find perfect resonance with this saying. Sophians have come to understand the Soul of the Messiah as the already perfect and yet unfolding potential of the will of Ain Sof Or, the Endless Light. Yeshua Messiah was the incarnation of the Soul of the Messiah, sent in a particular time in our human evolution that would deliver many from lawlessness while also creating a long-lasting institution that some would criticize for its inhumanity. How, they might say, could a loving and just God have sent a “Savior” whose legacy would result in so much bloodshed?

“Savior”? Was that really Yeshua’s mission? To show us that through no effort of our own — merely via trust in him — we would find salvation? Sophians believe Yeshua Messiah came to show us that the path to salvation lies within each and every one of us. He was not born realized but became enlightened through a lifetime of spiritual practice and awakening. What is salvation but a remembrance of our true nature as children of the Primordial Light ? Free will is a beautiful part of creation, but that then means evolution is necessary in order to understand and see. Remembrance requires an evolution in both the collective and individual consciousness. Many were not prepared for such remembrance at the time of Yeshua’s appearance and, instead, they made him into an icon, into God. Once institutionalized, he was used throughout history to excuse or support many political and war efforts devised by the minds of still-evolving humanity, influenced more by cosmic ignorance than the True Light. Gnostic Christians, such as Sophians, who dared to view him as other than the incarnation of God, were driven so far underground they were only recently able to resurface to form study and fellowship circles.

Sophians study the words of Yeshua with an inner knowing that he was here to show us “the Way.” This belief both sustains and motivates us. We view God as both beyond and yet within us, and we have confidence that we are never a-part from God. The grief and pain faced by most of humanity is the result of both an individual and collective consciousness that denies its own Christ-essence, thus always feeling separate from God. Our studies of the Scriptures, the Kabbalah, and Gnostic texts show us the “Way” and in turn deepen our faith. Our study and faith together increase our gnosis so that we “gnow” two things: First, we are not separate from God and, second, recognition of the Christ-spirit is the beginning of an understanding of the All.

Jesus said, “Let him who seeks not cease seeking until he finds, and when he finds, he will be troubled. When he has been troubled, he will marvel,and he will reign over the All.” (Thomas, Saying 2)

What does it mean to “reign over the all?” It means an understanding of the Sacred Unity so that all we do is with the heart and mind of God. Within this place we find unimaginable peace:

Let me share with you the idea that the initiates of our lineage hold in their spiritual practice and spiritual living. The view they hold is that is is the Christ-Spirit in them that prays, mediates, and worships God in Spirit and Truth and that it is the Christ-self who lives their life and labors to accomplish God’s plan through it. In everything that is done, it is the Holy Spirit that is the doer and the initiate is the conscious witness and vehicle of this action of Divine Grace. (Tau Malachi in Meditations on the Mystical Teachings in The Gospel of St. Thomas)

The answers to all of life’s questions are contained within the Inner Light of Awareness. In this gnosis we are free and alive. Praise the Holy One of Being Who Sustains Us with the Gifts of Creation and Uplifts Us with the Radiant Awareness of Our True Nature.

Understanding the Sacred Heart

2009-10-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

THE HEART STAR — in Eastern faiths referred to as the “heart chakra” — finds a beautiful voice in the Beatitudes. In Sophian tradition, the heart star is Tiferet, the pattern that connects all of our human energy and desire with the Power and Presence of God. In a fully-open and balanced heart star we may also find the Sacred Heart — but it is most alive in us when we have cultivated the conditions that bring about its residence within our own being. Indeed, the Gospel of Matthew (5:1-11) speaks volumes to this condition of the heart we might call open or unconditional or limitless. But what does this mean? In the context of the typical human heart, being too-giving or too-limitless can mean overwhelming someone or something even to the point of suffocation. But what does all of this blessedness that we find in Matthew mean in the context of the Sacred Heart — and how does that apply to us as humans? What separates the Sacred Heart from the normal human heart?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. How wise and loving is the Holy Mother who opens herself up to those whose hearts have been broken. The kingdom of heaven ultimately signifies the bringing together of Keter and Malkut — for neither heaven nor the kingdom are places, at least not in the traditional sense. The kingdom of heaven is a state of mind. I think sometimes it’s easier for the broken-hearted to contemplate or live in this state of mind or consciousness than someone who has never suffered or felt the pangs of life. When we accept the broken pieces of dreams and disappointments that life hands us and fill the spaces left behind not with bitterness but with understanding then we have created the space for the Holy Spirit (the Power and Presence of God) to reside. Thus, those who have allowed themselves to be broken without becoming bitter have become vessels for a place where the Sacred Heart may take up residence. Life’s battle scars have become a teaching-ground and a healing ground — and a fertile ground.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Those who have lost a loved one have felt the ultimate pang of life — in the pang of death. In that experience of loss we face the ultimate recognition that life and death are inseparable because you can’t have the joy of one without the pain of the other. Those who truly open themselves up to learn from this know that love really does go on forever; the love that we gave and we were given changed us and will forever be a part of us, even doing so through healing the karma of current and past lives. As one opens him or herself up to what this really means we understand that without this dance of life and death we do not grow. We do not “gnow” either. For some, the experience of losing a loved one is so powerful it changes their life direction — in ways that open up the world for others by creating organizations or movements in their honor, changing lives as a result of what they learned through that person’s death about themselves and about humanity — and about God. This is what happened for me when my sister died — for in her death she taught me the most beautiful and precious things in life are beyond what we can see in the material world. Her death renewed my spiritual search in a truly inspiring way, opening me up to the Holy Mother’s life changing movement of sparks that find their melting point in the heart.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. This is so true for those whose life experience teaches them humility because most of us are not born with it. It is mostly learned through the hard knocks and falls that come with being overly-confident and selfish. Life’s experiences aren’t meant to kill our spirit but to awaken it. That which humbles us teaches us truths about the universe and ourselves that we can then use to open our hearts to others. Again, in our humility we have created the space for the Mother to work — and with which the gifts of creation may be truly understood and enjoyed.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Those who truly seek — in fact, long for — truth and justice are already compelled by their own human spirit coming into being as the unfolding potential of the Human One. Those souls who think this way are already compelled by the Mother Spirit to lead others in humanity — and if they don’t allow selfish or ego-driven human nature to preside over their hopes and dreams, their hearts become fertile ground for the Holy Mother to work. This is why a balance of the lower stars is so important for the heart star to be open and for all of these blessings of the Mother to find their true potential.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Here is Hessed on the Tree of Life — the fullness of God’s mercy in creation and humanity coming into being as unlimited love. Those who give of themselves without balance may also drain themselves in the context of the human heart — and sometimes may even see much pain in return. However, that kind of passion and openness is a fertile ground for the blessings of the Mother to take root in these hearts that sometimes give without receiving. These hearts are often broken — but, once broken, if bitterness is not allowed to reside, Divine Grace steps in and the same unconditional love these hearts once gave is reciprocated and returned a thousand-times over.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. We might ask, Is anyone pure in heart anymore? But we’ve all met them — we’ve all known these individuals who seemed to either have been born pure or who became pure as a response to life’s circumstances — or through their own dance with the Holy Shekinah. To have the heart of the Human One — to see and behold the Light and Fire without being consumed by it — enables one to see the face of God. Few have ever gone here but again this is not something they’ve done on their own — but by spiritual living and practice have created the space for the Holy Shekinah to manifest in the most profound ways.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. Like the seekers of truth and justice, the peacemakers are envoys of God, so to speak. Their human spirit is strong and compelled by their internal awareness of humanity as deserving of life and respect. They have the understanding of heart that makes them great emissaries for God whether they know it or not. Those who forge peace pave the way for anger, hatred, and war to be replaced by more gentle pursuits — a kinder, meeker world driven by a common desire for humanity’s own becoming. In this space the Mother can do some of her greatest work in the continuning evolution of humanity.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all manner of evil against you falsely on may account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the very same way they persecuted the prophets before you. Those who follow the path of truth do so very often alone — as they seek to live a life in commitment to the indwelling and transcendent Light Presence and/or a life in which their teaching and practices become a subject of ridicule. These individuals face detractors on a regular basis but, despite that, they continue their labor in service to the actualizing potential of the Human One. Their heart will let them do nothing else because, put quite simply, their heart already knows the truth — and gnowing this truth they will continue steadfast on their course — as did Yeshua, whose sacrifice became a talisman or symbol for humanity to know itself in, to find its own divine potential in. Those who sacrifice all for the sake of the kingdom of heaven are open to the Holy Spirit’s divine grace moving in and through them to touch the very hearts of
men and women.

So, after reflecting on all of this blessedness found in Matthew, I believe the heart star when fully open can become the Sacred Heart — the human heart filled with the Divine Grace of the Holy Spirit, balanced by the most profound knowledge of humanity and self. Because there is no dualism in the Sacred Heart there is no room for excess — only a love and self-awareness that moves mountains, changes the world, and understands the All.

Yeshua said, “Let him who seeks not cease seeking until he finds, and when he finds, he will be troubled. When he has been troubled, he will marvel, and he will reign over the All.” (The Gospel of Thomas, Saying 2)