Heaven is Not a Place ~Understanding Religion and Using it Correctly~
“If, for even one moment, you can look at someone with the eyes of true love, you’ll know those eyes are not yours. Your eyes could never look with that amount of love. Your eyes could never be that unconditional. Your eyes could never, even in a million years, see only beauty and total perfection in your beloved. Those are the eyes of God looking down through you.” “The ones who went beyond said it’s the state you attain when you drift into spirit,”
--Michael A Singer (The Untethered Soul)
"Forgive them father, for they know not what they do."
Jesus uttered these words on the cross.
This represents the answer to everything in the Universe. The answer that lies so obviously in front of us that it is hard to see.
Life’s simplicity is what makes it so complex.
Those words along with other verses, scriptures, or teachings from any religion all represent the secret to life, but are greatly misunderstood. Masters from the beginning of time were all teaching the same thing, yet in each religion followers falsely began practicing a teaching they misunderstood and couldn't yet comprehend.
We are taught that God is judging, but through this verse we can see that he is loving. He is nonjudgmental and he is understanding. When Jesus said this, he was referring to people and how they are blinded by the illusion of the physical world. Society is unconscious. Unaware. The people of the world don't even know that they are suffering. They don't even know the suffering that they cause to others daily. They are unaware of the living hell that they create for themselves and for others. That is what Jesus meant when he said, "they know not what they do."
This not knowing is the state that most normal human beings live in. Christians refer to this state as "original sin.” Sin is often misinterpreted in teachings. The true meaning of sin is “to miss the point.” So really the Christian teachings are talking about missing the point of life, when they refer to sin. To miss the point of life is to create a hell on Earth. Missing the point of life is to not live in the present moment. To not see all the heavenly beauty that is right in front of you at each moment.
Religion nowadays defeats the purpose of being religious. After too many centuries of misinterpretation, the truth has become lost in the teachings of religion. Religion now divides people of the world rather than do what it was meant to do; bring everyone together as a whole. As one. You can't find the truth where the truth does not exist and the truth does not exist in words, thoughts, or beliefs. Religion is made up of words, thoughts, and beliefs.
Buddhists say, "The finger pointing to the moon is not the moon."
Religion, if used correctly, can be a road map to the truth, but it is not the truth. The truth is not made up of words. There is no right or wrong answer. There is only one truth. Therefore, all religions are right as well as wrong. They are all one. They are all the same. Each one, if used correctly, will point you to the same truth. The secret of life.
Religion is a bunch of words that create thoughts, which in return create a belief system. In the eyes of the ego if you don't have the same beliefs as another religion they are then "wrong" and you are “right.” But, what many don't understand is that when you identify with your beliefs you are creating a block to your true self. You are adding another wall between you and peace when you identify with your beliefs. The more you identify with beliefs the more you cut yourself off from true spirituality. Spirituality refers to how conscious you are.
You see, Heaven is not a place or location. Heaven is a state of consciousness. A concept that is hard to accept until you have experienced this state. Consciousness is referring to the now. The ability to be alert and aware in the now through feeling rather than thought. Through this consciousness you enter an incomprehensible state of peace and joy that can't be taken away from you. This is eternal happiness. This is heaven.
St. Paul once said it like this, "the peace of God which passeth all understanding.”
By this he meant that peace will emerge when physical identification is taken away. A peace that doesn't make sense; that one can't comprehend with the mind.
This peace is what heaven is. Heaven is your true inner state. Earth is the outer, physical realm. Earth mirrors the inner realm.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs will be the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus Says.
You reach heaven by being poor in spirit. Being poor in spirit means that you don’t have inner baggage or mental concepts that you identify with. You are just joyful to be. To be is present.
Shakespeare once said, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
Everything is one until you create thoughts based off your opinion on an experience. This is when people decide in their head that a situation is good or bad when really it is neither. This is how one lives without being present. Through thought you are living in a state of time that does not exist; the past and/or the future.
When you get rid of thoughts you are left with only being. To be you must know what it is like not to be. Without unconscious living, there would be no present living. Without up there is no down. Without bad there is no good. Without the Devil, there is no God. They are one of the same. Another concept that is hard to accept. God is the Devil. The Devil is God. Good is bad. Bad is good. Everything is one. Until you can see yourself in everything it is hard to remain present with no thoughts.
Jesus says, "I am the way the truth and the life."
This is often misinterpreted. By this he means that there is only one truth and that one truth is you. You are the truth. The truth can only be found and experienced from within yourself.
Buddha calls it anata (no self) and Jesus says, "deny thyself."
To know yourself you must deny yourself. The way of the truth is through what you are not. You are not the illusion of the ego. The ego resents reality. Buddha says that reality is the suchness of this moment. So, we must be present. With no thoughts to give us the idea that an experience is good or bad. You are not your thoughts. Zen teaches, "Don't seek the truth. Just cease to cherish opinions."
Once you can be aware of what you are not, it is much easier to be aware of what you are. This is how we become one with reality, not our perception of reality. The way to the truth is through yourself. The way to yourself is through what you are not. And the way to what you are not is through consciousness and awareness of the present moment. This is how one obtains eternal happiness, an eternal happiness and Heaven that all of the great masters and prophets were pointing to.