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Christian Mysticism: A Christian View in the Science of the Spiritual Life |
What we think is
essentially all that we really have and who we really are. It is important to
know our own mind that we might understand who we are and why we do what we
do. This enables us to question why we do what we do with greater precision
and objectivity otherwise, we are actually dancing on someone or something
else's string.
While in this state of
somnambulism we are actually in a state of sin - a state of suffering. Removing our sins opens us to
the heavenly existence that Christ promised.
Knowing your own
mind, brings us closer to ourselves and consequently also God!
Christian Mysticism is the living implementation of
the laws of existence towards the personal spiritualization of body
and soul to more resemble their eternal spirit. This was Christ's
living example that was proven to be possible by all human beings by His ascension.
Within the more Earthly among us the soul
aligns
itself with the physical body, for the spiritual among us the soul
matures and identifies with and more resembles its spirit.
Do not confuse a constantly praying person with a truly
spiritual person. They are either afraid or likely want to be seen as
spiritual. Christian Mysticism should not be confused with
mere religion - it is a
way towards an active, rather than a passive, relationship with God.
The subject of Christian Mysticism is
more than just a scholarly historical study of mystics and their
lives. This however, is usually the extent of scholarly writing on the
subject and although it may be taken very seriously as a study;
spiritually speaking it leads nowhere.
There are basically two kinds of people,
those from above and those from below according to Christ. Both are
given the opportunity to become Children of God by being born on this
Earth. Both are in danger of falling further because of Earthly
temptations or rising to perfection by living by the Laws of Love as
set forth in Christianity.
Not everyone is ready to hear about
Christian Mysticism or Christian Mysteries. Those that love life on
Earth certainly don't want to hear of it and those incapable of
stirring love above a strictly animal love in their hearts can't
conceive of anything other than a worldly existence.
Many, because of their concept of things spiritual are afraid to even
approach the subject believing it to be categorically evil.
This article does not presume to
fully explain Christian Mysticism. That is left to those who have been
given the task to more competently write and instruct on this matter.
This article is written to differentiate between Christianity as it is generally
being presented and the living, inner and active Christianity that
could be. Having said this there is a living Christianity that we
should all strive for and a dead Christianity that people accept as a
pretext to Christianity that people merely go through the paces of,
because they are not willing to put the necessary effort into making
more out of it.
This latter form of Christianity
takes Christianity and often lowers it to the level of a religion and
subsequently it becomes a collection of dead ceremonies, exaggerated
and tedious sermons and the well known fire and brimstone Christianity. Not that all practicing Christians,
priests and ministers are without faith; there are many sincere
believers who's belief must and should be respected and at their level
they are surely blessed by the Heavenly Father. But, many peoples
belief is completely blind and as a result people start to argue over the meaning
of words rather than their intent - they fight wars in the name of
God, they force others to believe as they do. They high-jack
Christianity by making membership to a Christian sect a privilege,
charging fees to belong and excommunicating those who do not obey, or
they ask for donations to do work that is not being done or has
already been done more competently by the original Apostles of Christ
and much more. They do these things because they themselves are dead
in their own spirits and have no spiritual life other than through
their strictly physical pretexts and appearances. The living faith and
life that Jesus Christ preached about has no resemblance to these and
countless other unchristian behaviors by would-be external Christians.
In spite of the zealous ravings of many of these type of Christians
and even though there are over a billion people who are officially
members of various Christian religions there are actually very, very
few true Christians.
Christianity is to be lived minute
by minute every day rather than a few minutes only on Sunday. A living
belief has nothing to do with "thumping the Bible," quoting it chapter
and verse. Usually, those who can quote the Bible chapter and verse know far, far less about what they are preaching than an
uneducated person who understands a single Biblical verse and lives it
with an active love for God and for their fellow man without profiting
monetarily by it.
Their living example is by far a better Christian testimonial than much of the empty preaching.
Knowledge of the Christian
Mysteries come through effort and faith. Faith without a disciplined effort is quite
dead. The Christian Mysteries are inborn. They do not seem real
because the physical world beguiles us into believing that our
physical existence is more real than our spiritual nature. Being made
in the image of God, we are therefore spiritual beings first. We exist
for only a very short time on this physical school we call Earth.
The following
series of pages contain various links relating to articles on
Christian Mysticism compiled out of the New Revelation
by Jakob Lorber, the works of Franz Bardon,
Paracelsus, and Karl von Eckartshausen that are in our
book section.
This information is being
presented for the benefit of those who are searching for Light and
truth in our dark and troubled times.
Among those who are
desperately searching are often disillusioned Christians who had been
told that only through their particular denominations will they find
the key to full Christian salvation and understanding only to discover
that their leaders live in the lap of luxury from freely given
donations intended for entirely different purposes.
Anyone who does not
understand the Holy Scriptures and relies on a priest, minister or
scholar to interpret the Scriptures for them is spiritually lazy. They do not wish to make the effort to understand the words that God
has presented for all to know. If they will not strive towards the
Light they deserve and earn their self-imposed darkness.
Many of these may insist that they are
"staunch Christians" yet are likely the first to act
contrary to Christian teaching out of shear laziness. Throughout
history these types have been used by their spiritual
leaders and are lead like sheep to support
every manner of nonsense in the name of Christianity - just as the
illiterates were in the past. They are still being lead because they
refuse to make the effort to ask, seek, and knock for themselves
within their own hearts. Until they do they will have no awakening.
Experience has taught
that the people it is most difficult to teach pure Christianity to
are, in fact, these so called Christians, who also happen to make up
the majority of Christendom on Earth (especially in the Western
Hemisphere). To these lost souls, Christian Mysticism is "of the
devil," and for as much as they talk about "salvation," "being saved," "being
reborn," or "being born again"
they have absolutely no clear concept of what it is that they presume to have
already accomplished by merely stating these terms. Not that these
terms are not essential, but what they mean is not understood.
This quote from (Mathew
8.22) may be helpful; when Peter asks and Christ responds, "suffer me first to go and bury my father.
But Jesus said unto him,
Follow Me, and let the dead bury the dead." In
other words, let the dead in spirit also tend to the unimportant
things of the dead physical world. This is the stage where most people
have brought themselves to at the present time.
In this context a good
hearted atheist is probably a better Christian and further ahead
spiritually than a staunch but blindly believing Christian in the same
way that Christ was generally more successful in teaching the non-Jews
than those who considered themselves the elect. (Note: many Jews at
the time of Christ became Christians.)
Common Symbols Associated with Mystical Christianity
The New Revelation for Our Times
The Advent of Christ
The Great Gospel of John
The Lord's Book of Life and Health
The Healing Power of Sunlight
Earth & Moon
Philosophia Mystica
Questions & Answers
The Lord's Sermons
In Christian Mysticism the Bible remains the only measuring
stick by which to measure all other possibly inspired works. It is the
only inspired work we have left from the times of Christ.
If you want to understand Christian Mysticism itself
it is only possible if one makes the effort and searches for
themselves using ones own heart and conscience as a
compass.
No one will dispute that the Bible is the main
universally recognized wellspring of
written Christianity to date since its final compilation in about 300
A.D. at Nicea. Even though there were several works deemed forbidden
and apocryphal and therefore left out at that time, is it possible or
even likely that there have been absolutely no new prophetic writers
since then whose work can be placed beside the Bible as genuinely
being inspired by God?
Vigilance against false prophets is a good thing and
there have been many past, present day and latter day false prophets,
but, absolutely no new messages from the Heavenly Father?
No more prophets?! They are all over the Old Testament,
yet there are none in the New Testament?! Seems highly improbable!
Most physical fathers, having only an earthly love, yearn to aid,
instruct and otherwise help their children, how much more must the
Holy Father with His incomprehensible Love yearn to help us?
When someone claims to be a prophet it is very
difficult to prove whether they are a true or false prophet. The
worldly wise seem to think that the determination of whether a prophet
is indeed a prophet has to be bonified by someone who is eminent among
them and deemed to be leaned by Earthly standards. However, God
considers the wisdom of the world to be foolishness, while the world
considers Gods Wisdom to be foolishness.
I Corinthians 1;18-3What may best determine the
genuine of a prophet is how the people react to them. Yet a false
prophet may make as much of a stir as a real prophet. Christ says,
"You will know them by their fruits; what they do, not by what they
say.
Genuine prophetic writings do not
change anything Biblical but instead expand on the Bible without modifying
the meaning or intent of the Bible. They clarify or reveal what is
already within the Bible but remained unseen or had become distorted
in time. Not surprisingly while
these works may directly contradict various
accepted interpretations of the Holy Scriptures, they never actually contradict
the Bible itself. As there is only one God, only one point of view can
be
forthcoming from a true prophet. (these exclude all manner of
present day "channeling" or similar practices)
Many authors have claimed prophesy especially in
recent times. (In some denominations, simply being a member
entitles the men to receive prophesy at will, regardless of whether they are whole,
healthy or deserving. Presumably simply being a "good standing" member
is supposed to make one deserving. "When religion works faster than
God it is cause for concern.") Most are false; very, very, very few are genuine. These
authors often create a sensation, their works becoming popular for a
short time then falling into nearly permanent obscurity for
lack of truthful content. Some especially charismatic authors have
started their own distorted sects of Christianity.
We know of the Christian mysteries only because
they are mentioned by Jesus Christ Himself, in the Bible, otherwise,
the very concept of mysteries in relation to Christian teachings might
be considered foreign to Christianity or even heathen. If Christ
mentions them then we should accept them as a fact not explicitly
explained or Christ did not consider the people of the Earth
sufficiently mature to know about them yet.
They not explicitly dealt with or elaborated
upon in the Bible in its present form handed down through time? Christ clearly states to His
apostles regarding things of great and precious significance: "never cast ye pearls before swine lest they turn and rend thee."
Mathew 7:6. It is clear that Christ intended that the sacred
mysteries be kept from the profane; perhaps to be explicitly revealed
at a latter time; perhaps the time of revelation; perhaps now. But,
those who actively and sincerely seek out the Christian Mysteries for
the sake of their spirit will, with God's help, surely find them.
Granted in today's world the term "mystery" in relation
to matters of the spirit is often abused and placed into the wrong
context. Unfortunately any information that even mentions anything
about the Mysteries is often wrongly labeled "occult" by
fundamentalist Christians and bears a negative label.
In defense of the many, "self styled guardians
of the faith - latter day Christians," some of the modern so called
spiritual literature is rather shallow, lacking any kind of foundation
in reality and in some cases is total fantasy, devoid of anything
Christian, offering instead falsehood mixed with some truth. Other
than being confusing and a complete waste of time, most of this type
of literature apart from being misleading does no real harm. New Age
(and the like), most hyped scholarly Christian apologetics and
commentaries, Gothic genres and the like may fall into this category.
This literature is often only spiritually accurate to a point and
deliberately bent towards evil. This group of writings also constantly
contradict each other. If they are contradicting, they cannot contain
the truth because the truth contains no argument.
There is a portion of writings
that are spiritually very accurate and lead towards spiritual good.
These works never, ever contradict each other and apart from the
Bible, they are never in wide distribution.
These works reveal Christian Mysticism
but are often labeled as being evil by those blinded by prejudice or
who are too lazy to investigate them.
Prophetic works should be approached without prejudice
and with caution but also with an open heartedness and mindedness because without a cold
blooded examination how can anyone intelligently discern whether
something has value or not. Only a fool will throw out the "baby with
the bath water."
Often people ask for guidance from within, which
is good. But, most people's concept of what is good and what is bad in
higher spiritual things has been shaped by the pre-conceived notions
of others. What
they are confirming is their own pre-conceived prejudice not whether something has
sound validity. In other words:
"The light shone into the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not" John 1:5
seeds planted in infertile soil will
not find the nourishment to grow. and, as a general rule:
"never cast ye pearls before swine lest they turn and rend thee."
Mathew 7:6
Unless one is looking for a
confrontation never present something highly spiritual to an entirely
worldly (dead) individual. It is the purpose of the darkness to
preserve itself. Those who prefer the darkness are unaware that they
are actually in the dark. They think they are in the Light, albeit a
false light. They deliberately suffer while in this state, yet they
are afraid to leave the comfort of what they have come to know. It is
difficult for most to move from this state.
The confusion in relation to what are
true and false doctrines with respect
to Christian Mysticism are borne out of false teachings and
misinterpreted scripture from the various Christian sects - and there
are many.
Some credit should be placed on the ability of God to
call His own children to Himself and, that His true children should
recognize His voice and His words in their hearts when they hear or
read them without the need to first ask for the qualifications,
pedigree, a bibliography or accreditation of the writer.
No prophet has ever endorsed any earthly
religious organization as such and they themselves do not derive their spiritual
worth from accredited educational or institutional credentials.
The hearts of those who demand these type of
prerequisites of a potential prophet in order to believe in their
spiritual worth must be completely without any Light from above or feeling in
their hearts. They must therefore derive their inspiration from the
"light of the world" through their education and demand that it be so. Christ Himself was asked to prove His worth to the
authorities of His day because what He taught was against the status
quo. To this day Christian Mysticism still threatens the status quo.
In addition, human nature being what it is, prophets are only rarely accepted in their own time
and by their own people. Historically, only after the fact do the
scholars and so called holy men align themselves with the genuine
prophets/mystics they themselves had persecuted or whose name they
tried to obliterate from the face of the Earth only to later praise
them.
Being a little suspicious is not always bad in
spiritual matters!! It is good and wise to test the waters first, before jumping in!
In today's world we are cautioned in the Bible:
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time, no, not ever shall be.
And except those days should be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be
shortened.
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is
Christ, or there: believe it not.
For there shall arise false Christ's, and false
prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if
it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Behold, I have told you before.
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he
is in the desert; go not forth, Behold, he is in the secret
chambers: believe it not." (Mathew 24: 21-26)
It is clear that there will be many liars in low and high
places of influence who's express purpose it is to mislead or bind. They
themselves not knowing that they are being used by forces unseen. All we can
do is to be aware of the potential deceptions in the world but, we
should still seek the Kingdom of the Holy Father while still on
Earth! Otherwise our lives and time on Earth are wasted.
Furthermore, scholarliness, and accreditation from man
made institutions are not prerequisites for knowing the truth about
matters of the spirit and God. These expound the false light in the
form of their own wisdom and the
wisdom of the world. Their behavior towards others betray them as the
scribes and Pharisees of our day. (Scribe: Writers and
expounders of the law. Pharisee: Separatists, who upon the
opinion of their own godliness despise all others.)
The Bible clearly states:
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the
power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world?
hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom
knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling
block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of the god is wiser than men; and the weakness
of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and
base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea and things which are not, to
bring to nought things that are; That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteous ness , and sanctification, and redemption; That,
according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (I Corinthians 1;18-31)
We invite you to investigate with an open mind the New
Revelation by Jakob Lorber, the Hermetic works of Franz Bardon, and Paracelsus and others
among them even if we do not sell their works. Among
them are Jacob Boemhe, Robert Fludd, Roger Bacon, Nostradamus, Emanuel Swedenborg, Christian Rosenkruetz
and a few others. All of them explain the Sacred Mysteries in accord
with the Bible. Nothing in any of the works of these authors is
against the Bible or, more importantly, against Christianity except
perhaps, in the eyes of the learned of the world.
