When we begin our search for greater understanding, we ask the question ‘Why am I here?’ In seeking the answer we spend many years following different systems in the world, which always leads us nowhere. Eventually we begin to perceive that all those ideas, concepts and ignorance act as conflicting buffers that blind our consciousness of the realization of our true nature. Zadore rightly outlined how we have to respond to this.
‘By the power of Light, you will know the innermost selves of men’. Zadore said. ‘As the Light shines upon each one that comes before you, you will know them but will not judge them. You will easily see who are the unbelievers, even as they profess to believe in you and will go along with you for quite a time, but in the end they will fall back asleep, preferring the ease of old habits and behavior to the struggle out of illusion.
‘But it does not matter if many do not believe. For what you do at this deciding moment in the Time Loop in Human Consciousness will be the greatest thing the world has ever known – the beginning of the end of illusion’. (The Golden Shore)
Jesus gave the people the parable of the sower of the seed, which outlines the different stages that we have to move in consciousness before we reach the understanding of the nature of Self:
‘When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom and does not understand it, the Evil One comes and flies away with what was sown in his heart. There you have the man who received his seed by the path.
‘The man who received it on rocky ground is one that hears the Word and accepts it at once with joy. But he has no roots in him, he cannot hold out for long; and when suffering or persecution comes on account of the Word, he promptly recants.
‘The man who received it among the thistles is also one who hears the Word: but the cares of this world and the lure of riches choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful.
‘Finally, the man who received the seed on rich soil is one who hears the Word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit, producing in some cases a hundredfold, in others sixty, in others thirty.’ (Matthew)
Here the Word means Truth and Understanding, which only develops as one begins to cast aside all ignorance and illusion.
The only reality is the Self, which is the Eternal Consciousness. In the general sense, the ego, which is another word for the ‘I’ thought that arises in the consciousness following the body’s birth, is the thought that I am, or the I amness.
This ‘I’ thought contains the seeds of all the unresolved tendencies acquired in previous life experiences. The Self reveals the unresolved tendencies, through the ‘I’ thought and the five senses that materialize as our world and the universe, which then becomes perceptible to the ‘I’ thought or ego. The ‘I’ thought or ego is a reflection of the Eternal Consciousness.
The I amness identifies itself with the body and loses sight of the Self, which results in a state of darkness, ignorance and misery in the present life.
The ‘I’ thought arises from the Self, and forgets the Self. It then believes it is not only the body, but was born with the body. This is the beginning of all illusion. There is always the feeling that something is missing, hence the question, ‘Who am I’? or ‘What existed before I was born?’ This desire to know is, in reality, the desire to regain Self, or the death of the I amness; to surrender to the Self in order to eternally Be. The answer is always in the question ‘Who am I?’ – You are the answer!
Jesus illustrated this in the parable of the prodigal son – Lost and Found.
‘A man had two sons. The younger of them said to him, “Father, let me have my share of the estate.” So he divided the property between them.
‘The younger son realised his whole share and left home after a few days for a distant country, where he squandered his money in extravagant living. But when he had spent it all, there was a serious famine in the country and he faced starvation. So he attached himself to one of the local people; and the man sent him out to look after the pigs on his farm, where no one gave him anything, and he would have gladly gorged himself with the husks the pigs fed on.
‘This brought him to himself and he said, “To think of all my father’s paid hands, with more bread than they can eat, while I am dying of starvation here! I will set out and go up to my father and say, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and yourself. I am no longer worthy to be your son. Treat me as one of your hired men.” And he set out and went to his father.
‘His father saw him when he was still a long way off, and was filled with pity. He ran and fell on his neck and kissed him tenderly. “Father,” said the young man, “I have sinned against Heaven and yourself. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired men.”
‘But the father said to his servants: “Quick! Bring me out a robe, the best we have, and put it on him. Give him a ring for his hand and sandals for his feet. And bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let us eat and make merry; for this son of mine was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and he is found.’
Luke: 15.
Many times in the Gospel, Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven as something that is lost and eventually found. In this parable Jesus relates that the father, his two sons and servants are living outside the manifestation, in a state of pure consciousness. The young son decides to leave and experience consciousness in another country, which is the outer manifestation in Being. As he aligns his consciousness with a body, he becomes immersed in the sensual relationship with the body and forgets his true nature, which is said in the parable as his money or wealth.
Now he is lost, driven to feed on the husks provided for the pigs. He remembers his lost state, and how his father’s servants have more bread than they need. Jesus always refers to bread as meaning the truth and understanding, of which the young man now had little.
We have said that the ego, or ‘I’ arises from Self, as does everything, and the forgetting is the birth of the individual. Once one remembers that there is something that is lost, then there is the desire to regain what is lost, which is Self, and it lives eternally.