Key Takeaways
1. Reimagining Faith: From Literalism to Mysticism
The Christian of the future will be a mystic, one who has experienced God for real, or he or she will not exist at all.
Beyond rigid dogma. Traditional evangelical faith often emphasizes unwavering belief in biblical stories as literal historical events, leading to cognitive dissonance and fear-based conversions. This approach, however, can hinder genuine spiritual growth and an authentic relationship with the divine. The author's personal crisis, marked by a nervous breakdown and a profound mystical encounter, revealed the limitations of this literalist framework.
Experiential spirituality. A truly transformative faith moves beyond mere intellectual assent to an experiential understanding of God. This involves recognizing the divine not as an external, distant entity, but as an immanent presence within oneself and all creation. Such a shift allows for a deeper, more personal connection that transcends the confines of rigid doctrine and opens the door to profound spiritual insights.
A new paradigm. The journey into mysticism invites individuals to re-evaluate their understanding of Christianity, moving from spectator religion to participatory living. It encourages questioning beliefs, deconstructing faith, and reinterpreting major components of Christianity to find food that benefits one's unique spiritual journey. This path leads to whole-life transformation, embracing full humanity as a reflection of full divinity.
2. The True Self vs. False Self: The Seed of Divinity Within
Christian life is simply a matter of becoming who we already are.
Unveiling the inner self. The core of spiritual transformation lies in understanding the distinction between the True Self and the False Self, a concept often overlooked in contemporary Christianity. The True Self, or embryo, represents the inherent Imago Dei (image of God) within every human, while the False Self, or outer shell, is the egoic personality developed for survival. This distinction is crucial for psychological healing and spiritual awakening.
The seed metaphor. The anatomy of a seed perfectly illustrates this dynamic: the outer shell (False Self) protects the inner embryo (True Self) during its initial journey. For the seed to grow into a tree, the outer shell must break open and "die," allowing the embryo to take root and flourish. This process mirrors human development, where the False Self, though necessary for early survival, must eventually be surrendered for the True Self to emerge.
Inevitable development. The formation of the False Self is not "original sin" but an inevitable and necessary stage of human development. It allows us to navigate the world and establish boundaries. However, identifying solely with this temporary structure leads to suffering, as it strives to fulfill its destiny externally rather than recognizing the potential hidden within.
3. Mythology as a Map for the Soul
If myth is translated into literal fact, then myth is a lie. But if you read it as a reflection of the world inside you, then it’s true.
Beyond literal interpretation. Many biblical stories, when taken literally, appear implausible or even absurd, leading some to dismiss them as mere folklore. However, their true power lies in their mythological function: to serve as windows into the underlying spiritual energies and experiences at work inside humans. Myths are not historical reports but profound allegories that illuminate universal truths.
Unlocking inner meaning. Joseph Campbell's work highlights that mythological symbols emerge from the human psyche and speak to it, offering a "road map" to navigate our deep inner landscape. By excavating the deeper spiritual truths hidden beneath the story's surface, individuals can unlock personal meaning, understand their behaviors, and chart a course for spiritual growth.
- Mythological stories are not "made up out of thin air"; they are maps for the human soul.
- They point to a reality beyond historical facts, making arguments of historicity largely irrelevant.
- Similar symbols (e.g., immaculate conception) appear across diverse cultures, suggesting universal psychological origins.
A portal to self-discovery. Myths awaken us to our deepest selves, providing clues for our journey of self-discovery and pulling us into truths we didn't know existed. This allows us to discover the "Living Water cascading deep inside the caves of our own hearts," transforming seemingly irrational tales into potent tools for personal and collective transformation.
4. God's True Nature: Compassionate, Immanent, and Inclusive
God is like Jesus. God has always been like Jesus. There has never been a time when God was not like Jesus. We haven’t always known this, but now we do.
Challenging distorted perceptions. Traditional evangelical teachings often portray God as a vengeful, punitive deity who cannot look upon sin, requiring a blood sacrifice for atonement. This creates a distorted relationship with love, fostering fear and anxiety. The author argues that such depictions reflect human misunderstanding of God, not God's actual character.
Jesus as the revelation. Jesus "upgrades" our understanding of God, revealing a non-violent, non-punitive, and all-merciful divine nature. When biblical narratives depict a "God" character acting contrary to Jesus's character, it signifies a human projection of what they think God is like, rather than God's true essence.
- The "God" character in the Abraham and Isaac story, demanding child sacrifice, does not reflect Jesus.
- Jesus's rebuke of Peter as "Satan" highlights the False Self as the enemy, not an external demonic entity.
- God never turned His face from Jesus on the cross; He was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.
Immanent divinity. God is not "out there" but a living presence within us and all creation. This understanding transforms our perception of evil, seeing it less as inherent badness and more as ignorance or disconnection from the True Self. God's compassion extends to all, recognizing the divine hidden within every person, even those we label as "enemies."
5. The Sacred Marriage: Reconciling Opposites Within
When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female...then you will enter [the kingdom].
Internal union. The biblical concept of "the two becoming one flesh" primarily refers to the sacred marriage of masculine and feminine energies within each individual, not solely a heterosexual union. Every human contains both creative, emotive feminine energy (Eros, Holy Spirit) and decisive, logical masculine energy (Logos, Father).
Harmony and wholeness. The task of good religion is to wed these seemingly opposing forces into a balanced, sacred relationship. When achieved, internal suffering subsides as the conscious and unconscious minds align. The masculine mind no longer represses the feminine spirit but provides structure for its flow, leading to a harmonious and generative relationship symbolized as Christ, the Son.
Virgin birth reinterpreted. The virgin birth symbolically represents this divine union within the spiritual heart, where the Christ child (True Self) is conceived. It signifies the generation of spiritual life within a person, a psychological and spiritual immaculate conception, rather than a biological anomaly. This internal birth allows the True Self to grow into the likeness of Christ, concerned with compassion and love.
6. The Path of Transformation: Dying to Self, Rising to Life
Jesus’s first incarnate life, his passing over into death, and his resurrection into the ongoing Christ life is the archetypal model for the entire pattern of creation.
The cruciform process. Jesus's life, death, and resurrection, known as the Paschal Mystery, provide the archetypal pattern for individual and universal transformation. This process involves the "death" of the False Self and the "resurrection" of the True Self, leading to liberation and a deeper understanding of existence. It is a journey of self-realization, not a one-time historical event to be merely believed.
Jonah's descent. The story of Jonah and the Whale serves as a mythological map for this transformative process. Jonah's descent into the whale's belly symbolizes the necessary journey into the unconscious mind, a "hell" where the old self is digested and transformed into new energy. This passage through internal darkness is essential for rebirth and the integration of wisdom.
- The whale's belly is a "second spiritual womb" where the False Self is "cooked" by the fires of hell.
- Jonah's emergence onto dry land signifies being "reborn" from the belly, bringing back wisdom from the unconscious.
- Jesus explicitly links his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection to "the sign of Jonah."
Stripping away defenses. Jesus being "stripped of his garments" symbolizes the shedding of the False Self's defenses—our external identities, status, possessions, and pride. This act of vulnerability demonstrates what is required to become "poor in spirit," allowing the naked self, the image of God, to be revealed. This is not a trade for our sins, but a blueprint for our own internal crucifixion and resurrection.
7. Forgiveness: Transmuting Pain into Compassion
In order for forgiveness to happen, something has to die.
Beyond "letting go." Forgiveness is not simply "letting it go" or a prerequisite for reconciliation; it is an active process of transmuting energy. Unforgiveness consumes vast amounts of psychological energy, maintaining anger and resentment. This energy, when released through forgiveness, is transformed into something higher and more precious: compassion.
The grief process. To forgive, one must be willing to feel their pain all the way through, allowing anger to give way to the underlying grief. This "death" of attachment to the grievance is followed by grief, a necessary step for emotional and psychological adaptation.
- Futility must sink in emotionally, not just intellectually.
- Tears of futility signal the brain's acceptance and release, leading to a shift in energy.
- Without experiencing grief, maturation and true forgiveness are impossible.
Compassion as the outcome. As resentment is transmuted into compassion, the heart opens, and the body becomes lighter and more at ease. This process allows us to understand that pain, when not transformed, is transmitted. Jesus's posture on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," reflects this understanding: people inflict pain out of their own unhealed wounds and ignorance. Forgiveness, therefore, extends unconditional compassion to all, including oneself and perpetrators.
8. The Kingdom of Heaven is Within: An Ever-Present Reality
The “kingdom of heaven” is not something lying “above the earth” or coming “after death.” It does not have a yesterday or a day after tomorrow, and it will not arrive in a “thousand years.” It is an experience of the heart.
Not a future destination. The "kingdom of heaven" is not a geographical place or a future reward, but an internal state of awareness and a present reality. Jesus explicitly states, "The kingdom of God is within you." This means that divine presence is not something to be sought "up there" or "out there," but discovered deep within oneself.
The wellspring of life. The story of the woman at the well illustrates that "the spring within her will well up unto eternal life." This metaphor signifies that heaven, or eternal life, originates and emerges from within us, from an aquifer deep in the ground of our being. Accessing this "Living Water" requires digging deep into our inner landscape, confronting our pains and wounds.
- The well next to the woman symbolizes her heart, where she will find what she's looking for.
- Heaven comes up out of the deeply unconscious mind, buried under layers of "dirt."
- Jesus teaches that we worship God "in the Spirit and in truth," not in physical places.
Children's inherent knowing. Jesus emphasizes that "the kingdom of God belongs to such as these" (children). Children naturally experience a state of unitive consciousness, fully present in their bodies, accepting life as it is without dualistic judgment. "Becoming like little children" means unlearning conditioning, recovering authentic trust in life, and embracing vulnerability. This childlike trust in reality is what Jesus instructs adults to find and recover.
9. Authenticity Over Attachment: The Cost of True Discipleship
If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.
Prioritizing the genuine self. Jesus's extreme statement about "hating" family is not a call for malice, but an emphatic instruction to prioritize one's authentic self over relational attachments. In childhood, we often sacrifice authenticity to maintain attachment to caregivers and social groups, developing a False Self to conform to "the world's" expectations.
Breaking tribalism. "In the world and not of it" means withdrawing from societal conditioning long enough to find one's True Self and genuine voice. Tribalism, often perpetuated by fundamentalist religions, traps individuals in a covert contract of conformity, preventing them from knowing or revealing their true identity.
- "The world" refers to systems driven by animal impulses for safety, domination, and power.
- To be "of the world" is to be a slave to these instincts, denying one's genuine self for group connection.
- True Christianity involves converting the brain and nervous system to a new way of living in harmony with the innate True Self.
The path of integrity. Choosing authenticity over attachment can lead to relational ruptures, as the True Self may threaten existing power structures or expectations. However, this is a moral imperative, as betraying the True Self is a betrayal of God. True intimacy is only possible in relationships where one's authentic self is known and accepted, free from the loneliness of a False Self-driven connection.
10. Original Goodness, Not Original Sin
What is blasphemous is to believe and feel ‘I am a being apart from God’s being. I am a self unto myself, a temporary, finite self, separate from all others and from God.’ That is the original sin, the root cause of all other so-called sins.
Reframing human nature. The doctrine of "original sin," largely developed by St. Augustine centuries after Jesus, posits that humans are inherently depraved or broken. This concept, foreign to Judaism and Jesus, fosters shame and self-loathing, hindering healing by implying that a state of wholeness never existed. The Bible, in Genesis 1 and 2, declares all creation, including humans, as "good... very good."
Inevitable disconnection. A more helpful concept is "Inevitable Sin," which refers to the unavoidable process where the False Self forms a protective shell around the True Self, leading to an unconscious loss of awareness of our true identity. "Sin" (hamartia) means "to miss the mark," signifying this disconnect, not inherent badness or disobedience to God.
- Our brains rewire to protect us from pain, creating unconscious patterns that drive behavior.
- "Generational trauma," not "generational sin," is passed on, leading to self-forgetting.
- Behind every "sinful" behavior is a wound that needs healing, not condemnation.
Return to original blessing. Healing requires recognizing our original goodness and addressing the traumas that led to the formation of the False Self. Like Simba in "The Lion King" remembering his royal identity, we must "die to self" by remembering who we always were. This process allows the "Fruits of the Spirit"—love, joy, peace, etc.—to flow naturally from the True Self, which is rooted in original goodness.
11. Christ as All in All: The Universal Incarnation
The move from seeing the “Body of Christ” as a group of people who believe a certain way to experiencing the “Body of Christ” as the entire universe is the “truth that will set you free.”
God in all flesh. Just as Christ was present in Jesus, Christ is present in all flesh and all creation. The "Word made flesh" signifies that the divine can achieve full incarnation in every human, making visible the otherwise invisible Source. This understanding elevates everyone and everything to a sacred status, worthy of reverence.
The Trinity as dynamic energy. The Trinity (Father, Son, and Mother Spirit) is not a static noun but a dynamic verb, representing the threefold thrust of birth, life, and death at work in all time and space. It is the energy of love—generating, folding into, and unfolding from all things—propelling the entire cosmos.
- God is Being, not a being; God is the dance, not a dancer.
- The universe's structure reveals this trinitarian energy, where individual objects exist in relation to others.
- Mother Nature is the hiding place of God, with the Holy Spirit (Rúach Hakodesh) being feminine.
Sacramental universe. The Eucharist, or Communion, is meant to make us conscious of the physical interconnectedness of all life. Jesus's body and blood, saturating the earth, become the food we eat, literally making us the Body of Christ. This realization transforms all conscious interactions into communion with Christ, revealing that everything is animated and saturated with the same spiritual energy. Christ is all, and is in all.
12. The Way, The Truth, The Life: Your Unique Journey Home
The wisdom of the Prodigal Son reveals that “the Way” is your own way. Any path laid out before you must be someone else’s, not yours.
Your unique path. Jesus's declaration, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me," is often misinterpreted as religious exclusion. Instead, it signifies that the "Way" is your own unique path of self-discovery and navigation back to your True Self. Like homing pigeons, each individual must rely on their internal compass—the Word, the spirit of love—to illuminate their personal journey home.
Spiritual rebirth. This rebirth is the discovery of the "face you had before you were born"—your eternal soul, hidden in God at the center of your being. It's an encounter with who you were before societal labels and dualistic thinking. Jesus's life provides the blueprint for this inward journey of death, resurrection, and rebirth, which no one else can walk for you.
- The Prodigal Son's journey illustrates self-forgetting, self-remembering, and self-actualizing.
- The "other brother" represents religious people who believe they have "the truth" but fail to seek it within.
- "Not all who wander are lost"; sometimes, wandering is necessary to find one's true path.
A new heaven and a new earth. The "Promised Land" is found in our own bodies, and "heaven is here." A "New Earth" is created when we live with the awesome awareness that our lives are meaningful and that we belong. This requires consenting to the journey, embracing grief, and making peace with life's paradoxes. The "Second Coming of Christ" is not a literal event but the recovery and expression of the True Self in the ordinary world, bringing new life and regeneration.
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