I am channeling a divine being, and that being is me. I carry within myself the deepest fountain of living spiritual wisdom, strength, and love I could ever hope to find. Greater than any so-called spiritual being, Jesus or Buddha is tapping into my own divine wisdom and figuring out how to embody and gift that to other people. We suffer confusion when we outsource our divinity to a teacher or religious system, forgetting the power of our own heart and the resource to “cosmic wisdom” that comes through intuition.
I will use spiritual wisdom from the Bible in this article as one who does not subscribe to Christianity or any religion, but who values wisdom wherever he finds it. I have found that applying the interpretive lens of the divinity of the self (being godlike, “created in the image of god” godliness, having a divine nature) opens up a treasure trove of spiritual wisdom in the Bible. Like other spiritual and secular traditions, the Bible speaks of the desertion of personal divinity through the metaphor of a stream of living water: “My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me (you divine self), the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). Applying the idea of God to the godlikeness of the self, this means we forsake ourselves when we turn away from our own fountain and outsource our divine capacities to other people, to the intellect, even to “enlightened spiritual beings.” These all may be useful, but when we abandon our wells because of unbelief in our divine self and instead look always outside, we will never find the salvation that we seek: “Whoever believes in me [yourself as divine], as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38). Faith is faith in your own divinity, not an outside being or idea you look to because you have not yet learned to value your incredible creative self.
The heart is a symbol of connection to our emotional powers like love, empathy, and wisdom (knowing the right thing to do). The heart is your fountain to keep and treasure, because it will serve as a compass for knowing how to meet your desires and those of others with integrity and kindness, avoiding the traps of materialism and greed that entrap people who outsource their divinity: “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). By listening to your heart’s wisdom, you will learn how to embody your creative gift in service to the world. Your fountain will flow out as a river, watering the Tree of Life that represents all life. Your career and service to others when aligned with your divine wisdom will always result in healing (the leaves of the Tree of Life were for the healing of the nations) (Revelation 22:2).
This is Divine Utopia, or Heaven on Earth, symbolized as the heavenly Jerusalem where the heavenly city and the Garden of Eden are united in harmony: “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb [your divine self], in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2). Heart-living is critical to a sustainable future with ecocities, where humanity, technology, and nature will cohabit and nurture each other in reciprocal giving. This kind of utopia might be hard to imagine only because it has not yet happened, not because it is by any means unrealistic. Heart-living results in social justice, moral purity, and wisdom: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24); “Let us draw near (to the divine self) with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).
The water of the heart’s wisdom is said to be eternal life, flowing infinitely, and costing no money while priceless: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14); “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment” (Revelation 21:6). The living water of intuitive wisdom from the heart is symbolized by the Bible as the Holy Spirit. You in your divinity are a Holy Spirit that you channel and channels you. It is your connection to your godself and the godness of divine existence outside of yourself: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me [yourself as divine] and drink. Whoever believes in me [yourself], as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit [your divine self/Self connection], whom those who believed in him were to receive” (John 7:37-39).
The Spirit is poured out on believers in themselves for the salvation of the world, that they might go out in divine service to the world, using their creative gifts and pointing others to their own divinity so they too may serve from their inner heart/Spirit compass. In the Bible, the Holy Spirit was poured out on a group of Christian spiritual seekers. They believed they were empowered with a divine mission and miraculous gifts in order to save the world from a coming disaster. Sadly, this was interpreted in terms of religious imperialism. However, we can apply this metaphorically to the impending disasters of our times like Climate Change, corporate greed, racism, and patriarchy. Those who learn to live from their divine center may find hope and courage to serve humanity boldly in the face of trials, and so achieve “salvation” and self-actualization. The divine self is access to creative power so extraordinary, we might even call it miraculous:
The promised Holy Spirit has poured out what you now see and hear… “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people, Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord (pending catastrophe). And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord (the divine self) will be saved” (Acts 2:33, 17-21).
The end result of whole societies and communities living out of their divine nature is the healing of the world and harmony of humanity and nature. This is the Heavenly Jerusalem and Paradise Restored (the Garden of Eden). It is also described as the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you” (some translations “in your midst”) (Luke 17:21). The divine utopia of harmony, world peace, and global love-based commerce comes from knowing heaven really is inside you, and it is “in your midst” – within the loving bonds of mutual service from one human being to another, from nature to human and human to nature (ecospirituality). The Spirit of your divine self has been revealed! Look no longer to a guru, ideology, or religion to find your salvation and life purpose. What you need and what the world needs is for you to know yourself as god. All the solutions to the desperate problems that threaten to engulf us individually and planetarily can be found within our hearts.
Andrew Jasko, Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) in progress, offers:
* coaching for healing religious trauma and spiritual transition
* trainings for religious leaders to integrate mysticism and psychedelics
* psychedelic medicine retreats
* podcast and video interviews, presentations at conferences, churches, and events
Subscribe to his blog https://lifeafterdogma.org/blog/ for new articles, talks, and announcements about psychedelic medicine retreats
Contact: lifeafterdogma@gmail.com
Bio: Andrew is a former Christian minister turned nondual theologian and religious trauma healer who teaches about the integration of psychology, spirituality, and sacred and secular traditions. He was born the son of a minister and became a preacher and missionary to India, after studying theology at Wheaton College and Princeton Seminary. As a Christian, Andrew’s relationship with God was his passion, but unhealthy religious teachings caused him an anxiety disorder, sexual repression, and spiritual disillusionment. After an agonizing crisis of faith, Andrew rejected religion and spirituality. Then, he had an unexpected spiritual awakening through psychedelics and mystical practices. Andrew writes about these topics and re-interpreting Scriptures through a mystical, nondual lens. Want to dive deeper into increasing your spiritual connection, healing from dogma, and transforming your leadership? Inquire about The Divinity Template Program for transformational spiritual leadership lifeafterdogma@gmail.com
Hello. I’m liking your website. Are any of you familiar with Abhijit Naskar?
Because I must say, I’m impressed with this guy. Unless this is a typo or something, I’m quite surprised he’s so young, and has already written so many books, and has so many sites regarding neuroscience. He was born in 1991.
While I do appreciate his skepticism and his accomplishments, I wish he applied the same amount of skepticism to the reductionist materialistic view he finds so obviously correct. That “we are but a bunch of neurons. We do have a soul, as long as we’re alive. The soul is physical. It’s the result of electrical chemicals in the brain. Spiritual people don’t want to accept this. Live this one and only life we actually have. And professional scientists have succumbed to comforting pseudoscience”.
He says nothing new, like drugs, wishful thinking, stress, and Cotard Syndrome debunks NDEs. And how “even rational experts can succumb to delusions and comforting fantasies”.
https://books.google.be/books?id=ZcJHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT8&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=out%20of%20body%20experience&f=false
https://naskarism.wordpress.com/?s=afterlife&submit=
Yes, belief in an afterlife does create anti-depressants in the brain. Yes, belief in it does help one cope when life gets too hard, or when suffering becomes unbearable. I’ve known quite a few people who were chronologically, or constantly sick and in pain. With little hope of recovery. And they all said this to me. “Belief that there’s more to life than just this physical one, is what’s getting me out of bed in the morning”.
But as I always say, just because something eliminates fear and lets you sleep at night ( a comforting afterlife ), doesn’t mean it’s false. However, I understand why that must mean so to some, because of the popular saying “too good to be true”.