Here is an except from a book I wrote for my children several years ago.
It was based on my mystical concepts of the book of revelations real message.
BUILDING HEAVEN
The book of Revelation is a most exciting and amazing book. As the years
go on, it reveals more and more of its treasures as the human consciousness
expands and understands more. Revelation is intended to show the progress of
the human soul as it climbs the spiritual ladder, and in that sense it is
prophetic. It tells us what will happen if we do certain things. We
foolishly make all kinds of trouble for ourselves and others, but that was
not God's intention. We have to love life. We have to be interested in
ourselves, and anyone who is not, has lost the savor of life. This is not the
same thing as being selfish. If we love life and are interested in ourselves
in a spiritual sense, we are interested in the quality of our thinking. We
are interested in bringing it in harmony with Divine Love. We want conscious
union with God so that we have a greater awareness of good in our lives.
Rev.21 tells us a good deal about doing this by describing in symbolical
language of the Bible, a wonderful city, the celestial city, a principality
in which you are the prince, for this is your very own consciousness. People
who take the Bible literally have thought it was describing a real city,
like we may describe Nashville, or Memphis. But the Bible writer never meant
it to be taken literally. For instance it says, "The city lieth foursquare,
and the length and the breadth and the height are equal. "There never was and
never will be a city that could be as high as it is wide or long.
This is purely symbolic.
The writer gives us another clue in the next verse. He says the Angel
"measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according
to the measure of a man." and of course that means a woman too. It is the
measure of the spiritualized consciousness and each ones measurement will be
different, depending upon how much he has advanced mentally and spiritually.
John is expressing the idea that as you merge the mental and spiritual
things in your life, you will at last find spiritual union with God, the
mystical marriage. In this sense, the Angel is always measuring the walls of
your city. In the beginning it will not add up to one hundred forty four
cubits because that is the ultimate, the city foursquare, the perfect thing.
Twelve times twelve is one hundred forty four. Twelve in the Bible and in all occult
literature stands for completeness, the thing the whole human race is striving
toward, whether they know it or not. In the beginning, people think and act
on a minimal level, just getting by, having ups and downs - probably more
downs than ups. Then things begin to change when they fill their minds with
great ideas from the Bible and from other uplifting literature. They
meditate more and more on spiritual things.
They let new ideas and inspirations flow in. They definitely seek divine
guidance. They develop new attitudes and approaches to their problems, and
they find their lives becoming more fruitful and meaningful. The Bible
symbolizes this by saying, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth...and there
was no more sea. "The sea represents the mental aspect of your nature, the
subconscious , and as you begin to people your celestial city with new,
vibrant, dynamic ideas, you are redeeming the subconscious - a thing
psychiatrists strive for in their patients. People spend hours on the "couch"
trying to release deep down negative ideas, mental blocks, repressions, and
conflicts. But each one can do this spiritually, with less effort, if he
will make it a habit to accept only constructive and positive ideas and deny
the power of anything negative. Little by little we are building a new
heaven and a new earth. And the Bible makes certain promises about that
process. It says, "God will wipe away all tears." That is good news, isn't
it? God will take away all grief and suffering, all regret. God will wipe
out old hurts and scars of the past. Many people have been hurt or
disappointed in the past, and although not actively grieving today, there is
a scar and that scar prevents their getting complete peace of mind. Again it
is a question of redeeming the subconscious.
The account goes on to affirm, "There shall be no more death."
When you get right down to it, how many really believe that? The Bible
is not only speaking of physical death which Jesus overcame. It is alluding
to the death of hope and courage and faith and desire. To emphasize the point
it continues, "neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be no more
pain." And that of course includes mental pain, sorrow, bereavement, deep
remorse for some mistake, deep depression, melancholia. No more pain of any
kind, "for the former things are passed away."
The Bible is saying that as you take into consciousness the constructive
ideas, God will wipe away the negative thing. God will break down the
barriers of doubt, defeat, frustration, and conflict. The greatest mistake
man makes is fear, which is a lack of faith. I have previously given a
personal event of my life and fear, in a previous chapter. Fear prevents
taking that next important step. It makes us distrust our fellow man. It sets
group against group and nation against nation. Think of America today. We
fear No. Korea may build atomic bombs and are literally on the brink of war
because of fear. When fear creeps in and takes possession, we give way to
doubts and anxieties, we have begun to wreck our celestial city. When fear
creeps in, faith flies out the window. Yet faith is the foundation
cornerstone of all enterprise. Faith is the factor which gives impetus
of conviction to a thought and thus brings it to our subconscious as a
conviction to manifest it in the material world. It sets up a blueprint for
accomplishment, as it were. But when you begin to lose your faith, you are
really telling your subconscious, "I have now placed my faith in the
negative. I have placed my faith in failure." Your subconscious follows your
orders and you begin to reap negative results. You have stopped building
your celestial city.
Another great mistake is a reluctance to let go of yesterday. That is
why this paragraph stresses, "Behold, I make all things new" Without newness
of thoughts, there can be no progress either in the individual or the race of
mankind. If you will only use experience to learn from and something to lead
us to better things, rather than dwelling on the good times of the past, or
the bad times had, you will find something much better will come into
existence. "Behold, I make all things new." And this means you, no matter who
you are. It matters not who you are or what mistakes you have made, God looks
to the heart and this is His promise to you. "Behold I make all things new."
There is another verse in this chapter which gives the reason for the
fulfillment of all these promises.
It says, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his
God, and he will be my son." Overcometh what? Overcometh fear, anxiety, and
error. And it goes on to say if we don't do this we will have all kinds of
trouble. That is not a threat. The Bible never threatens. It is merely
stating the law. It's showing us how to live. It refers to the fearful and
unbelieving, and lumps them with a bunch of unsavory characters and says they
shall have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone. This is a pretty
good description of the lives of people who are filled with fear, anger,
resentment, or overwhelming carnal desires, and are trying to live without
God. Yet people have taken this to mean when people die and go to hell,
and they say, "The Bible calls this the second death." But this has no more
to do with physical death than when Jesus was asked by Nicodemus concerning
his teaching. He said, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom
of God." It had nothing to do with physical birth.
Thus in Revelations it is not what happens after death. It is the
description of a kind of hell people go through in this life. Revelations
ends on a high note. It brings in gold and all kinds of jewels in describing
the celestial city - your consciousness. It says that the city has twelve
gates, and as we have seen twelve means completeness. The whole human race
is going to be saved. How soon? That depends on humanity, but sooner or later
the whole race will understand the spiritual ideal and put God first. In the
meantime any individual who wants to can begin to do it for himself. |
