Who Wants to Live Forever?

As I look around me, everywhere I see people giving up. I overheard a conversation this morning where one man asked an old acquaintance that he had clearly not seen in a while, what he was doing with himself these days. To this the other replied that he was not doing much at all other than playing a little golf occasionally. This struck me of a man that sees no future for himself. Of course this is a judgement on my part and one should always be wary of such a tendency, yet I feel as though I hit the mark in this case.

I see example of this type of thing all the time. It is as though people are programmed by this world to accept the inevitability of old age and death, which of course we are. Think, for example, of the old saying that there are only two certainties in life, namely, death and taxes.



The difference between this ‘worldly’ thinking and the thoughts that arise when one dwells in God are that, in God, one assumes life. Indeed, that is the entire premise of religion, is it not? That one will surely die without God, yet with God one can have everlasting life. In was not without a certain smile that I once read of one man’s response to this which went along the lines of “Why on earth would I want everlasting life? Don’t you think this one is hard enough?”

The Christian Church plays on this everlasting life aspect. It is essentially their sales pitch. I see this now. Yet, the problem is that the bible does not promise this to all believers. In fact it goes so far as to declare that most will actually not be chosen.

“Many are called, but few are chosen”
Matthew 22:14

The Church does not teach this. It implies that one is guaranteed salvation and eternal life if one simply believes in Jesus, attends church and leads a good life. This is totally incorrect. One of the core messages that Jesus tried to teach was that belief and leading a good life are just not enough. He held up the scribes and the Pharisees as an example:

“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:20

The Pharisees were considered, (or considered themselves, at least), to be among the most righteous of all. They were well versed in scripture and held perfectly to the letter of the law. And yet they would not see the kingdom of heaven. How, then do we imagine that things have changed today?

We are taught that Jesus’ death on the cross has fully atoned us for all our sins, and that this has guaranteed our salvation, if we believe, that is. If this was indeed the case, do you not think that Jesus’ message would have been more along the lines of “Hey, don’t worry about a thing guys, I’m going to die for all of you so all you need to do is go to church and believe in me and we’ll be sorted!”

Clearly this is not the case, so what more must we do? While it may well be true that Jesus’ death on the cross atoned for our sins, we cannot expect that this automatically ensures our salvation. We must come to know the Christ in each of us. In John 17:3 we are told:

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

How do we come to know God? This passage is interpreted by far greater scholars than I as meaning to be at one with God. Therefore we must achieve what is known as Christ Consciousness. This is known by varying names around the world. Some call it enlightenment or nirvana. Jesus quoted Psalms 82:6 when, in John 10:34 he said:

“…Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?”

Clearly, in our present state, we are not Gods, or at least we do not think we are. We must realise our God nature and become God before we can escape this cycle of life and death. Zen Buddhism teaches that you are Buddha. It is exactly the same as saying “Ye are Gods”.

How do we achieve this feat, then? By first realising that we can do nothing of our selves. The self is the anti-Christ, the very antithesis of our true God nature. We have often heard it called the ego. Society has diminished the meaning of this to a large extent. We often think of it in terms of merely just being big-headed. This is erroneous and dangerous. To underestimate the ego, the anti-Christ, is the route of our ailment. It wants nothing less than to continue to rule our earthly lives as it does already.

In its effort to accomplish this, it will stop at nothing – even killing us. It knows we do not need it and that we are perfectly capable of existing without it, (though not in the sense you now think of existence). The result is that it hides from us. Remember, that the devils greatest feat was convincing mankind that he does not exist. The vast majority of people are not even aware of its existence and almost all are unaware that the entity, with which they identify themselves, is actually the very thing that would deceive them.

We live under mass hypnosis. Spiritual disciplines speak of the awakening process. This is what is meant by this. It is an awakening from the sleep that is our everyday consciousness. It is an awakening to the fact that “Ye are Gods”. It is the death of the ego, the anti-Christ within each of us that has taken possession of our lives.

Once we come to realise this, we can approach an understanding of the doctrine that we, of our own efforts, can do nothing; for the very reason that ‘our’ efforts constitute the efforts of the great deceiver. The Churches have this, at least, right. Yet, by attempting thus, we send out a message or a distress call if you will, to the Higher Self that we are ready to begin the process of return.

The process can and almost invariable will take many, many lifetimes to achieve and during each we must face many more trials and tests of our commitment along the way. Do not be discouraged, though. For, by the mere fact that you are reading this, the chances are that you are already well advanced in this respect anyway. Those that are will understand of what I speak. They will know already that this is so by the unmistakable leap of your soul in recognition of these words. This will be so even if you have not consciously contemplated these concepts before.

We will be guided by our Higher Selves to read the right words, to seek out the right things for our development. Our inner direction shall act as a compass and as we progress along the path, we will gradually learn to heed this more and more. It is our intuition. The truth is that this is the inner guide alerting us to the things that will take us home. This is how we shall achieve unity with the Christ Consciousness. Not by our own efforts, but by the grace of God and by following our inner guide. Jesus came to show us the way. The Church and the State have conspired to pervert this message. When Jesus said:

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"
John 14:6

He did not mean that Christianity is the only religion. He meant that we should become God, achieve unity with our Higher Self. None come to the Father except through unity.

In this, do not be further deceived, though. The Church and the State have indeed deceived us, yet their motives were pure, (by and larger, anyway). They truly believed that the things that have been done have been so as to benefit the world. In this they acted nobly, but the problem is they have been guided not by God but by the anti-Christ. Anyone that looks at the history of the Church can plainly see this.

It is this that is the challenge we face today. While we must realise our own error and the error of our ways, we must not condemn those that would guide us for their folly, for, had we been in their position, the chances are that we would have made the same mistakes and probably many more also.

Around us we may observe the masses turning from the religion of their birth, whatever that may be. In tandem with this, we see people giving up hope of another way. People turn instead to illusory sensory pleasures and carnal vices to numb the pain of everyday existence. There is so much more than this. The journey is not an easy one, but it is the path we must tread to ultimately escape this trap, this earthly life.