I try to be as direct as possible, but there are some things that are difficult to convey to the broadest audience. The subject of this post has been discussed and debated by cultures for thousands of years, and each culture has their own way of understanding spiritual matters. I will try to consolidate a subject with so many different nuances that I find it impossible to communicate it in a way that all can understand it, clearly. Nevertheless, if you are able to understand these basic concepts, you can then build on what you know in order to become close and grow closer to God and His absolute truth. In later posts I will write about things I do to enhance and continue to grow in and deepen my relationship with our Father.
When God creates, He endows His creation with His essence. Every particle in our Universe contains part of His essence. It is not a physical part that we can see and measure, but His essence is simply His spiritual energy. In the case of mankind, we give this fundamental essence names such as the “true self”, the “soul”, the “spirit”, “the heart”, or the “superego”. It is the part of ourselves that enables us to connect to God and have a relationship with Him, because it is a part of Him. The more you live according to your true self’s true purpose, to love God and to be loved by Him, the more you will experience the things He promises to those who do. Peace in the midst of conflict, content in the face of loss, courage in the face of death. Proudly blaze up the narrow path, so that your way will be easier, and those that come after you will have a clear way to God. Jesus fully cleared the path to God of any personal obstacles, but we still have things that cause us to separate ourselves from God.
The “world” is not just a place, but it is another way to describe the things that are NOT of God but that are of mankind. It is made up of people and things that we seek after when we lose our focus on the promises God has made to us. Because people often feel unable to control their circumstances, or that they are not strong enough to do so, we make ourselves into victims of those circumstances. And, because people like to relate to that which is familiar to their positive experiences and similar to their self-perception, they tend to personify those circumstances, creating an enemy they can hold accountable for and use to justify their transgressions. Satan, the devil, and the adversary are familiar Biblical terms given to a living being that actively seeks to separate us from God. The truth of the matter is that God does not want us to be separated from Him. He did not create a supernatural being, knowing that being could be the sole factor that causes someone to sin. Loving our neighbors can be one of the most difficult things we are called to do. The ego is our only true adversary.
We all experience the cycle of generational trauma that runs in the blood of all families. “Original Sin” is a Biblical idea that, because our ancestors (figuratively, Adam and Eve) committed the very first sins against God, all of us will sin, because they sinned, and all their offspring (all of humanity) learns to sin from the ones who came before them. Regardless of the absolute origins, this perpetual generational trauma causes us to separate from God and our true self more as we age. We then must consciously evolve into a state of full self-awareness, which enables you to move to a state of full self-actualization, achieving one of the primary goals on the path to a perfect relationship with God.
If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Sometimes, the experiences we go through and our genetic makeup shape our perceptions of reality that cause us to interpret our condition as suffering. As a result, we use physical things to bring us comfort, peace, and contentment. All the ego knows is the physical world, therefore, it believes and embraces the trumpery of the physical world as the only solution to its problems. It is reactive, defensive, self-serving, a hardcore survivalist. Jesus calls it “the flesh”, and it finds its rest in fleeting and temporary physical pleasures. Because psychological terms had not been invented, he preached wirth words used to describe the unseen world using words to which his listeners could relate. Jesus had the wisdom of God coming from his lips. He knew exactly what to say, so that his listeners, and people thousands of years in the future, would be clear about the path to God.
The natural state of the true self can only be experienced by those who can fully separate their true self from the world and then from the ego.. When we are very young, all we know is the ego. It is the only way we are able to perceive, interpret, and react to reality. We do not have the ability to objectively examine ourselves and our behavior. We are simply “not ready” and do not have the mental or spiritual capacity to understand the true self and its relationship to the world. As we grow in age and wisdom, as Jesus did, we become more aware of ourselves and how our behavior affects others. Our interaction with the world, which includes our dealings with the egoes of all others, shapes our reaction to future interactions. When we “live in the flesh”, we subdue certain aspects of our true self by using the physical world to overcome spiritual difficulties. Since the true self and the ego are not compatible, indulging in the physical will not alleviate the spiritual suffering we endure. Knowing the true self and being in a relationship with God will alleviate the physical suffering we all must endure. Achieve the end-goal of full self-actualization, and your desire to be loved by God and His love for you will overcome all physical desire and suffering. Very few can walk this path. Most of us are, like in many other aspects of our lives, floating somewhere in the middle of being suppressed by the weight of the physical and the emancipation of full transcendence to the heart of God.
The true self is not part of the world. It does not need shelter, it does not fear solitude, it does not need to reproduce, it does not seek external validation. The worth of the true self is predetermined by God, before the creation of the Universe. God sees all of His children in the same light, capable of reconciliation from the physical and a return to full communion. It is our own behavior that pushes us away from Him. He never sends us away; we push Him to the side and run far ahead of Him, as our flawed and traumatized ego pursues fruitless endeavors to solve problems, which it is powerless to overcome. We are all the same to God. God is the perfect Father, who loves all of His children equally and unconditionally.
You are already your true self! Aspects of who you truly are, one of God’s children and a sibling to Jesus, come out of your heart and arise to the top of your mind, and you connect with God. You hear His voice, and He is calling to you. Do not avoid acting on His message, as your ego lies to you, saying that following His calling will cause you discomfort and suffering. It is instinctual for people to avoid that which brings suffering. But, we often fail to realize that God may call us to step into uncertain circumstances, but if you are still seeking His Kingdom, you do not have anything to fear; He will take care of it. Trust is absolutely necessary. He trusts you, and He would never ask you to do anything that He did not know you could do.
the unitarian christian 