Blessed Are the Poor No More

Jesus says it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. So poverty should be better, if one aims for those gates of liberty. One must remember though, that in the days of Jesus, those who were poor remained poor, and they had basically no chance to escape poverty. People inherited their social status, and having a career was simply not an option for the poor back then. They had to accept their lot in life, and do the best they could of it.

Today, at least in the west, and increasingly in other parts of the world, the poor do not necessarily accept poverty. They may win a lottery, they may be selected to partake in a television show which brings them fame (and fortune), or they might through arduous work and luck, escape their unfortunate inheritance. This new situation makes for a completely different mental climate.

In the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5-7) Jesus makes an important distinction. He say “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” It is not primarily physical poverty that matters, but a poverty in spirit. So, we ask ourselves, What is a poor spirit? This is how I understand it:

A wealthy man, does not only have money in the bank, or in property etc. He also carries his money mentally. He thinks of himself as rich. Wealth has become part of his identity – his sense of self. If he loses his money he feels like less of a man. He has made money important to his mental balance.

One can say that from the pure state of being, just the simple I AM, the wealthy person typically adds: I AM rich... not only in conversation, but also in self-identification. He is no longer poor in spirit. This addition to the pure awareness (consciousness) that we enter life with, can happen in many other areas as well, and it seems that that is exactly what most of us is keeping busy with – to add something to our sense of self. It might be things like: I am famous, I am powerful, I am skilled in this or that, I am well educated, I am physically strong, I am beautiful, I am just, I am spiritually advanced, or perhaps something like; 'at least I'm not like him/her'.

The spiritual path is exactly the opposite of this. While you may paint, for example, you do not mentally make yourself into an Artist. In conversation you may present yourself as an artist, so that people understand what you do, but you do not add it to your sense of self. You settle with I AM. You may be: I AM painting, or I AM framing this drawing, but you never try to become anything else but Being. You remain poor in spirit. While one paints for an exhibition and gathers a number of successful paintings in the studio, it is easy to begin this adding in the mind. One may start to envision (fantasize) about how the exhibition will bring great recognition, great sales, and perhaps even glory, but this too is adding to being. Every single painting, every single stroke, must be made from scratch, from a mental point of zero. There is no building to life, because in the end it all comes down again. Mental structures crumble just as physical ones, but unlike the physical buildings they hinder our way to The Lord.

The Lord IS. Life IS. Consciousness IS. It isn't this or that. When we try to become anything but being, we are busy carving our own domain – our own reality and tower. Regardless of our level of success, it is a bleak and tiny castle in the halls of the Universe. This occupation of enhancing the Ego is, in mythological language, our disobedience of the laws of Paradise. It is idolatry and the foundation of Sin. Because of it, we are expelled from the presence of the Lord.

The poor are blessed no more, because they are now entitled to that same dream of becoming – of rising above their fellow men, and to hide from the nakedness of being. Though material wealth doesn't equal wealth in the spirit, it is almost impossible to stay mentally untainted by it. Let us now look at ourselves and ask the question: What do I fear losing the most? Which losses would make me feel less of a man or woman? Behind what walls or subtle curtains do I hide my poverty?

“...and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39)

God the Snowball

The idea or principle of Oneness is hard to fathom for many people. How can The Lord (the Absolute) be one with the human level (the relative)? For ages Christian theologists have pondered the mystery of Christ. How can a being be God and human at the same time? How can God be both Father and Son, while yet undivided in essence? When this is made into a problem I believe it is because we investigate at the same level, and think of God much as any other object, only greater. In that way we find no satisfying answer to the question. However, if we consider the infinite nature of The Lord, other ways of thinking are possible. I personally enjoy the picture of a snowball.

In this symbolic snowball God is the snow. A snowball is 100% snow. In fact, there is nothing else. But the snowball is not half a ball, or a cube, but also 100% a ball. That is the human level. We are form. We think of ourselves as form – physical form and mental form, body, thoughts, and emotions. While many humans are only aware of this level (the ball), spirituality begins in earnest when we also become aware of the snow (The Absolute, called God, The Lord, or Father in Christianity).

When a human completes the spiritual transformation (Jesus of Nazareth, Siddhartha Gautama, for example), they are fully aware of the sacred essence (snow) and form (ball) at the same time. They have returned to Paradise and are liberated from suffering (Dukkha). It is a true liberation because when the ball crumbles the snow remains unharmed. Identity is no longer attached to form, but is rooted fully in essence. Such persons are manifestations of The Lord on Earth – they are the ONE son of God, because they are no longer separated from Life. They are One with All. Through them form is sanctified, and the gates of the Kingdom opened.

It is important to understand, that this essence (the snow) is not something that exists solely in holy persons, or in the Messiah only. Jesus may have been born into this state of freedom, but it is not restricted to him alone. He invites us into his presence and being “...that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). When the ball crumbles the snow remains.

This believing is of course more than just finding the concept of God believable. The believing that Jesus as Christ is taking about means to trust, and to follow. It includes action and a new approach to life. If a person tells you there is a great treasure behind the corner, you can't just say; I believe you. To find it, you have to actually walk there and bring it home. If you stay put, you do not actually believe that person, and if you don't go there, you can't expect to receive it.

To become aware of the essence of our being, to experience the snow, our obsession with form must fade. That is, as long as we keep feeding our form-hungry egos, as if they were the one truth and lord of Life, we will remain in hiding, and the Lord will not know us. “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:8)

Come naked (stripped of ego) before The Lord, and “He” will make Himself known to you. He will even help you undress if you let him. If you believe.

The Meaning of Life Undressed

One of the things that characterizes human beings, is our ability to make sophisticated tools, and to plan for the future. It is not strange then, that we tend to think in terms of meaning and purpose. The purpose of bricks is to build, and the purpose of bows is to hunt or kill. The meaning of gathering and sowing is to eat. However, when we bring this idea of purpose and meaning to Life itself, I believe we are severely mistaken. When we ask for the meaning of life, we reduce Life itself to a means.

While we surround ourselves with tools and gadgets that are means to various ends, Being itself is not. And that is what makes it sacred. Sacred “things” has no meaning. By merely existing they constitute value. They do not need a function. Whenever we mistake a means for an end we are deceived. People who look for fame, wealth, or power in themselves are always disappointed. These are tools that can increase our options in life, but they can't provide a sense of fullness. They are not sacred.

Life, the greatest of miracles and gifts, is in itself a far greater treasure than anything we may acquire once we live and breath. It is the foundation of all other joys. When we truly live, in moments of contentment and happiness, we don't ask for meaning, but when we look out from our seemingly isolated and small place in the Universe, we come to wonder, what is the meaning of it all?

To find an answer to that question, there need to be a plan or a decision involved. That question requires a Creator that produces Life with an intention. (Random example: Souls are intended to go through life and hardships so that they may be purified.) When we think like that, we reduce Life and God to a human level of thinking. We reduce the sacredness of Life to a means. It becomes a mere path to another, yet untasted Mystery. It is also a rather barbaric vision of the Lord, who would in reality say: “Let's put these beings through wars and bloody conflict through thousands of years. Let's have children abused, teenagers trapped in drug-addiction and prostitution, prisoners tortured for decades, and babies crippled from nuclear mutation, just to make them worthy of my Kingdom.”

Some people look on other people as tools. They think of others in terms of production-value, entertainment-value, pleasure-value, cost etc. Fortunately there are many who recognize the sacredness of life, and thus in societies where it is possible, we let the mute, lame and wheel-chaired ones, who contribute to no work or service, remain with us. By their very existence they constitute Presence. They express the Sacred. This is what our Birth means. As we come into Life our value is already full. There is nothing we must do to deserve it. I will repeat that statement: There is NOTHING you must do to deserve value. Whatever you do, you cannot be less than others. Cultures which deny this principle are already lost, or immature.

Life IS Meaning. When we mentally come to experience our full integration with Life – our fullness of Being, we cease to question the meaning. The question evaporates, so to speak, because whatever we were lacking, whatever we sought to fill the void in ourselves, is no longer missing. As we go from “having a life” to “being Life” the idea of purpose vanishes. When we truly ARE, there are no such questions left. That is what the spiritual journey is all about – to know and merge with what already IS.

If you look for a meaning, it means you have not yet come to recognize your fullness. You are still struggling to become – to understand. Know then, that even if you cannot feel it at the moment, you already ARE, and the understanding you seek is not to be found in books or blogs like this one, but in your very Self. It is not a matter of words or concepts, but has to do fully with Being. As your mind struggles to get things in order, and as your emotions accompany its tune, Life is shouting from within – Hey, I'm already here! Know me! I am everywhere.