The Original Teachings of Jesus Christ/Meditative Work Meditative WorkAt the last steps on the way to the Bridal Chamber, spiritual warriors have to perfect themselves not only intellectually and ethically, but in the psychoenergetical respect as well. That is, they have to transform the energy of the consciousness, making it more and more subtle, large, and detached from the body. It is called meditative work. Jesus and His disciples had no intention to leave to people a special description of meditative work. But its general principles and stages were outlined in the Gospel of Philip. Below are some excerpts from the Gospels and Epistles that contain information on this subject. “The Kingdom of God is within you!” (Luke 17:21) “Truly I say to you, whoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child (that is openly, with sincere joy) shall in no way enter into it!” (Luke 18:17) “… The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by effort!” (Matt 11:12) “Sky and the Earth will roll up in your presence (i.e. they become small when you become large and merge with the Father), and whoever is Living from the Living One will not see death. “… Those who have found themselves (there), of them the world is not worthy!” (The Gospel of Thomas, 111) “Woe to the flesh that depends upon a (another´s) soul. Woe to the soul that depends upon flesh.” (Gospel of Thomas, 112) “… The Eternal Spirit, dwelling in the state of complete Calm and of Supreme Bliss, awoke and manifested Itself for some time from the Eternal Beingness, so as to show, being clothed in the human appearance, the means of uniting with Divinity and of attaining the Eternal Felicity, and to demonstrate by example how man may attain ethical purity, separate the soul from its coarse cover, and achieve the Perfection necessary to enter into the infinite Kingdom of Heaven, where Eternal Bliss reigns.” (The Life of Saint Issa, 4:2-4) “… What is your life? It is a vapor, which appears for a little time, and then disappears…” (James 4:14) “Do not love this world, nor the things in this world. If anyone loves this world, the love of the Father is not in them, because all that is in this world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life… is of this world!” (1 John 2:15-16) “The world does not know us, because it did not know Him!” (1 John 3:1) “… If the root is holy, so are the branches!” (Rom 11:16) “… We look not at what is seen, but at what is not seen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is not seen is eternal!” (2 Cor 4:18) “… We know that if our earthly house, this tabernacle (body) dissolves, we have a building from God, an eternal house in Heaven. For indeed in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our Heavenly dwelling-place, for we… wish… that the mortal might be swallowed up by the (True) Life. And God formed us for this very purpose… “Then being always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are away… from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight, then we are confident and we are pleased rather to go away (forever)… out of the body, and to come home to the Lord. “Therefore we are also laboring to be well-pleasing to Him, whether at home or away from home…, so that everyone may receive according to what he or she has done while living in the body…” (2 Cor 5:1-10) “… Be imitators of God!…” (Eph 5:1) “… Walk… redeeming the time!…” (Eph 5:15-16) “… He would grant you… to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, and Christ may dwell in your hearts…, (so) that you, being rooted (in the Father) and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend… what is the (true) breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the Love of Christ, which surpasses the understanding (of an ordinary person), that you might be filled with all the fullness of God!” (Eph 3:16-19) “… You are all the sons of light and the sons of the day…” (1 Thes 5:5) “… Anyone who is united with the Lord is One Spirit with Him!” (1 Cor 6:17) “… When… we shall be like Him… we shall see Him as He is!” (1 John 3:2) * * * “The Earth has trembled and the Heavens have wept because of a great crime that has been committed in the land of Israel. For they have tortured and there put to death the great and just Issa, in Whom dwelt the Soul of the universe, which was incarnated in a simple mortal in order to do good to men and to exterminate their evil thoughts. And in order to bring back people, degraded by their sins, to a life of peace, love, and joy and to recall to them the One and Indivisible Creator, Whose mercy is infinite and without bounds. “Thus ended the earthly existence of the Reflection of the Eternal Spirit under the form of a man Who had saved (with His Teachings) hardened sinners and endured many sufferings. “And the disciples of Saint Issa abandoned the land of Israel and scattered themselves among the heathen, preaching that they should renounce their errors, bethink them of the salvation of souls and of the Perfect Felicity awaiting humanity in that immaterial World of Light where, in Calm and in all His Purity, the Great Creator dwells in Perfect Majesty.” (The Life of Saint Issa, 1:1-4; 14:4,10) But “… a time will be when they will not endure the sound Doctrine, but they will heap up teachers to themselves according to their own lusts, tickling the ear. And they will turn away their ears from the Truth and will be turned to myths. But you watch in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fully carry out your ministry!” (2 Tim 4:3-5) “(They) have forsaken the Straight Path and have gone astray…” (2 Peter 2:15) “(They) changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible (body of) man…” (Rom 1:23) “… Some, having swerved, have turned aside to foolish talking, desiring to be teachers of the law, neither understanding what they say nor that which they affirm!” (1 Tim 1:6-7) “If a blind person leads a blind person, both of them will fall into a hole!” (The Gospel of Thomas, 35) * * * Christianity is not — when people pray at icons, when they cross themselves, when they fear demons and Satan, when they beg for themselves salvation from hell and other evil, or try to entreat earthly boons for themselves. This is Christianity — when in order to realize the Teachings of Jesus Christ people declare a merciless war on their vices, zealously cultivate positive qualities, and devote themselves to seeking God-the-Father with the purpose of cognizing Him and merging with Him. Let it be so!
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