Spiritual Anarchy, Continued – Part 2 – The Destructive Beliefs of Government and Money

Editor’s Note: The following is another guest article by John Michael Perseo, the second in a series on the subject of spiritual anarchism. In part one, he discusses the anarchist tendencies of Laura Ingalls Wilder and in this part two, he discusses two (in his view) incorrect, popularly held beliefs: 1) Government is Good and Necessary, and 2) Money Has Value and is a Positive Tool.

As a free market anarchist, I asked for further verification regarding #2. When he (clearly) talks about government fiat “money”, I obviously, vehemently agree, but it appears he’s promoting a barter economy, not mentioning things like gold, silver, or even crypto-currencies. In regards to his discussion on scarcity, he is certainly correct that the State and some corporations create it artificially; although, it seems Mr. Perseo doesn’t have a position on whether actual, natural scarcity exists. It certainly does exist.

In closing, the spiritual anarchism aspect is intriguing and I thoroughly enjoyed the piece. He is familiar with Austrian economics, but sees the idea of money (ALL mediums of exchange) as contrary to his viewpoint of spiritual anarchism. I’ve talked about having him on the podcast–this subject would make for an interesting discussion.

Please enjoy, share, and please consider emailing John with your comments, thoughts, criticisms, or whatever! I know he’d love to hear from you.

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Spiritual Anarchy, Continued – Part 2: The Destructive Beliefs of Government and Money
By: John Michael Perseo
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The following is a continuation of the piece I wrote entitled, Laura Ingalls Wilder on Spiritual Anarchy.

In Part 1 readers were given an introduction to Freedom, Anarchy, particularly Spiritual Anarchy, Sovereignty and the laws of Morality (also known as Natural Law). A thorough study of these concepts, along with a considerable amount of introspection, will enable individuals to discover their true identity – who they really are on a deeply profound level – as well as how we co-create our world. The previous article concluded with calling for a need to gain certain knowledge in order for us to properly identify the problems we face, so that we can employ real solutions and create real change. The main causes of the overall dismal state of the world and solutions will be discussed in two parts.

People are becoming increasingly aware that government and authority are dangerous ideas, virtually enemies of humankind. In turn, they are waking up to find the world is not at all as it seems. Many who recognize that freedom is in peril know the extent of the deception, manipulation, and oppression carried out by the Rulers, The Powers That Be, or World Shapers (as this group was referred to in part 1), towards the rest of humanity. Let’s first explore two major worldviews – ways of seeing and accepting the world – that need to be wiped off the face of the Earth and scrubbed from human consciousness, both individually and collectively, if we are to achieve that which we desire for the betterment of humanity and the planet.

 

Destructive Worldview #1: Government is Good and Necessary

Correct Worldview: Authority and Government Are Evil and Impede Our Aspirations for Humankind and the Earth, and Therefore Must Go

If humankind doesn’t acknowledge and deal with the cancer on this planet, that is authority and government, then we will never achieve the things we all say we want such as freedom, peace, a cleaner Earth, free clean energy and happiness, among other things. None of these utopian visions can ever truly come about unless we rid our lives of authority and government (and money which is discussed later). Authority and government can never aid in such aspirations because its ultimate function is to control, limit, suppress, stifle and impose upon the individual. Authority and government do not function to promote and provide freedom and abundance. Authority and government will always obstruct true freedom, true progress and true human evolution. It’s long overdue that we recognize these unpleasant truths about authority and government.

‘Government’ is the most evil notion in our world in that it limits freedom. Government takes punishment on its enemies, the people, and steals from them to fund their violent deeds. At a most basic level, we all know it is wrong to lie, steal and kill, and yet when it comes to government we more or less allow all sorts of wrongdoings to occur under its name. In addition, billions of human beings are enslaved under states that claim to own all land (property), and trillions of dollars in private property has been destroyed or confiscated by government. Government is a far greater criminal than all the criminals it claims to protect us from. In spite of this, the masses have been conditioned to place their faith in government, which includes the belief and justification that government has the moral right to commit atrocious acts.

Since government is founded upon lying, stealing and killing, and dependent on the obedience of the people, it must in so many ways promote the idea of Moral Relativism – the false belief that right and wrong behaviors are subjective and thus can be determined with each individual and each experience, on a case-by-case basis. Examples of government using moral relativism, or justifying its wrong acts, are: bombing and invading other nations that are ‘evil’ and ‘trying to take away our freedoms and liberties’; stealing money from the people to provide ‘goods and services’ while keeping them ‘safe’ and ‘secure’; and passing laws protecting you from yourself ‘for your own good.’ Government does not recognize nor follow Natural Law, and neither do the people who legitimize and support it. It simply cannot. Rather, it acts in direct opposition to morality pretending to be God as it makes-up and decides what is right and what is wrong.

“The definition of freedom is the infinite value of the human being. The definition of evil is the destruction of freedom. Everything that is evil teaches people that they have limited value. … The crucial key for understanding our world is to understand the nature of evil. Evil challenges the value of people by denying them the opportunity to make their own choices; by denying them the chance to grow strong in learning and understanding. … While evil seeks to destroy or hide a person’s worth, freedom shows humans their full potential and their full value. With freedom, people have loved, cured disease, removed hunger, eased labor and lived in peace. With freedom, happiness is possible. Freedom is the exact opposite of evil.” – Jeremy Locke, The End of All Evil

In light of all that’s been addressed so far, stop and think about it. As long as authority and government remain in our lives the world cannot be freed up or cleaned up. Authority and government in fact stand in the way of a truly better world. The concepts of authority and government are immoral and extremely dangerous to humanity’s freedom, evolution and existence. Authority and Government are evil. They must go.

 

And What Of Jesus* And Government?

Numerous examples can be cited from the Synoptic Gospels (the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) in the New Testament of the Bible to demonstrate that Jesus was an Anarchist, a few of which we’ll consider.

At the time when Jesus is said to have lived, the Roman Empire was in power over the land of Palestine, but conditionally gave local civic authority to the religious institutions which administered Jewish law. The story of the life of Jesus demonstrates that he flouted both religious and governmental authorities, who ultimately conspired to arrest and kill him.

During this period, the people throughout the land were living under Old Testament-style, barbaric, authoritarian rule wherein they were forced to follow the strict religious letter of the law and customs, as well as those of the Romans. Jesus, however, sought to uplift the consciousness of the people from their slave mentality, thereby freeing them from the law, man’s law, and bringing them to a spiritual development where they would realize themselves as Sovereign beings and thus become their own Christ or king. This teaching is vital to understanding Jesus the Anarchist.

 

Sovereignty: The Most Powerful and Dangerous Teaching of Jesus

The most powerful, most controversial, and greatest threat to the religious and governmental establishments was, and still is, Jesus’s teaching to the ‘lowly’ masses that they are Sovereign, free individuals. Jesus teaches that not only are common men and women above the rule of another human being but he declares, “You are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14. He assures their potential should they activate their Sovereignty and let their light shine for the world to see:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes in me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father.” John 14:12

Jesus wanted the people to recognize their highest potential, their god potential, and become better than him – how profound! Bill Donahue of hiddenmeanings.com described this teaching of Jesus most beautifully when he stated, “Jesus Christ did not incarnate into this world to show you how great he was. Jesus Christ incarnated into this world to show you how great you are!”

Contrary to what many so-called Christians and churches claim and preach, Jesus did not wish for anyone to worship or idolize him. Instead he sought to help people acknowledge that they too are the Christ, and teach them to manifest the ‘Christ Consciousness’, the ‘God essence’ that exists within all of us but which lays dormant. He taught that Christ – not a man but rather a divine quality, a higher state of mind – lives within all of us. This is where the true Kingdom of God is found.

“The world cannot accept [God], because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” – John 14:17-20

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“Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” – Luke 17:20-21

The religious and governmental authorities have always known that knowledge is power, particularly the Truth that all human beings are Sovereign, and deathly fear the masses, in discovering this Truth, would then discover their own true nature as individual Christs. For if the masses ever discover within themselves the authority for their own existence, then Religion and Government (Authority) would lose their control over them, rendering these institutions powerless, illegitimate and obsolete.

The Truth regarding our Sovereign nature has been and still is being concealed and bastardized by the Rulers. Examples can be seen in religious establishments which tell their members to bow down and worship Jesus as The Creator of All that exists, and that ‘ordinary’ people are ‘worthless sinners’ who could never be like the “Son of God.” Meanwhile the US Government, via the Southern Poverty Law Center and various high-level think-tank groups, has hi-jacked the term ‘Sovereign’ and paired it with ‘Citizen’ to create an oxymoronic so-called movement known as the “Sovereign Citizens” (For starters, a true Sovereign would never refer to himself as a ‘citizen’, as that term reduces his status to a subject-slave of the state). Based upon this “movement” the SPLC demonizes, criminalizes, and ridicules Americans who identify as Sovereign and do not recognize the government’s authority over them. According to the SPLC, Americans claiming to be Sovereign, or in other words free individuals “hold truly bizarre, complex antigovernment beliefs.” They are considered to be an “extremist group.” This is textbook statist propaganda.

Much like the social and psychological engineering jobs which have twisted the idea of Anarchy, such ploys by the Rulers to distort the concept and meaning of Sovereignty goes to show just how powerful these truths are, and how big of a threat they pose to the establishments of religion and government. The Rulers’ grip on humanity remains firm until people of the world discover, activate and assert their own Sovereignty in accordance with Moral Law.

 

The Golden Rule – Not in Accord with Government

Unquestionably, Jesus taught and lived the Natural Law which many have come to call The Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31. Jesus’s teaching of The Golden Rule is yet another key to understanding that he was a true Anarchist. Because of their very nature, no government on earth could ever function in accordance with The Golden Rule – not in theory nor practice. Government has no option but to violate Natural Law, otherwise it would cease being government.

In direct violation of The Golden Rule, government does to the people what it forbids the people do to them. For instance, government makes and controls all the laws and employs a military, police force, and court system to uphold and enforce them. Private individuals could not set-up or practice any of these things themselves as government would aggressively shut them down. Furthermore, by way of threat, duress, and coercion, government extorts money from the people, formally called “taxation”, while it is illegal for the people to steal from each other or government. Government cannot exist without violating The Golden Rule, and in fact does to others what they don’t want done to them. Government is diametrically opposed to The Golden Rule (Natural Law) and freedom.

 

 

The Story of The Temptation of Christ

In the story of The Temptation of Christ (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; and Luke 4:1-12) it was revealed to Jesus, if he was not already aware, that all earthly governments are under ‘Satan’s’ domain. Upon being baptized, Jesus was led into the desert where he met Satan who tempted him with becoming king of the world in exchange for his worship and loyalty (Allegorically, this is the equivalent of selling one’s soul to serve his own selfish ego, or his ‘false’ or ‘lower’ self, and gain boundless material wealth). As the story goes, Satan unequivocally tells Jesus that earthly governments are under his authority. From an allegorical perspective this makes total sense since government is evil, if we’re being honest with ourselves. Not seeking to rule over and enslave humanity but instead free them, Jesus handles Satan’s offer to make him the head of all earthly kingdoms like a true Spiritual Anarchist:

“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Matthew 4:8-11

Those who seek the power to rule over other human beings, and enforce authority with all its man-made laws, have indeed turned their backs on humanity and Good (God) by cutting a deal with (D)evil for their own personal gain. Likewise, such individuals have turned their backs on themselves.

 

Jesus Was Not an Anarchist, He Was THE Anarchist

 

The story of Jesus’s life embodies true Spiritual Anarchy. Jesus followed his own heart which was aligned with God and God’s Laws, in other words that which is Good, and rejected all external authority. Let’s look at some of his other anarchist ways.

Jesus often spoke out against the religious authorities. In The Gospel of Mark he accuses them of “neglecting the commandments of God in order to maintain the traditions of men.” Mark 7:8. In The Gospel of Matthew he denounces them saying, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the Kingdom of God before you [for your deeds are far worse].” 21:31. In The Gospel of Luke he chastises the ‘lawyers’ who take “away the keys of knowledge” for not doing their internal spiritual work while also preventing others from doing so: “Woe to you, experts in the law! You have taken away the keys of knowledge of the law. You did not enter in yourselves, and you hindered those who want to.” 11:52.

Expressing his disgust for the anthropomorphic, cruel, and petty Jewish god of the Old Testament, Jehovah, in The Gospel of John Jesus boldly tells the Jews that their “Father” is not God but the “Devil.” 8:44.

Jesus even defied Jewish sacred literalist law and customs. He ‘works’ and heals on the Sabbath, the holy day of rest (Luke 6:1-11), and hangs out with “sinners” from all walks of life such as the fishermen, tax collectors and prostitutes. Matthew 9:10.

 

The Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount is considered to be Jesus’s longest and greatest public discourse. It contains many pearls of wisdom, including a lesson on Spiritual Anarchy.

A common theme throughout The Sermon is that the Kingdom of God stands over and is counter to the kingdom of this world. Matthew 5, 6 and 7. Accordingly, Jesus informs the people that he expects those who follow God over government to be persecuted by the state and religious powers just as the former prophets were. Matthew 5:11-12.

Jesus insisted that we can serve God (and God’s laws) only if we serve him alone. Matthew 6:24. He insists that we trust God, not the system, even for our necessities. Matthew 6:25-33. He likens those whose will is aligned with the Will of Creation as having built their house upon solid rock, and those who fail to take Right Action in their life as a “fool who built his house on sand.” Matthew 7:21-27.

 

The Religious Authorities and The State Conspired To Stop Jesus, and In Turn The Truth

As he cautioned during The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus again warns his disciples that should they adopt a Spiritual Anarchist way of life, expect to be targeted by the authorities: “They will flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings.” Matthew 10:17. Throughout history all who stood for truth, justice, freedom, peace and love suffered the same fate as Jesus, especially those individuals who were considered highly influential in society. Indeed, embarking on such a path while encouraging others to do the same is not welcomed by Religion and Government, does not bring about material riches, and is not for the faint of heart. However, by taking the “strait” gate and “narrow” way individuals discover their inner freedom and inner power, automatically making them a part of the solution.

 

Destructive Worldview #2: Money Has Value and is a Positive Tool

Correct Worldview: Money is an Illusion Yet Causes Great Suffering, and Therefore Must Go

“You say you don’t believe in magic? From the Monopoly man to J.P. Morgan, the classical banker’s outfit, from the tall hat to walking stick, is the same as a magician’s hat to his wand. Money is the rabbit in the hat, an illusion created by bankers who have occulted knowledge of not only the Laws of Nature but your psychology. Therefore, money is an illusion created from nothing, willed by mysterious men, to draw energy from those who believe it. Real blood, sweat, and tears are spilt everyday over money; an illusion. How magical is that?” – Doc De Lux

Like government, money is something most people fail to question the very nature of and accept its place in our world as immutable. The global perception of money is that it’s a medium of exchange for goods and services, and a store of value. Money, and the study thereof, is thought to be so complex that it should be left to certain groups of people, namely bankers, to control the issuance of money and monetary policies of whole nations. In our selfish, greedy world of suffering, money (namely the idea of money) needs serious reconsideration.

Money is considered the ‘medium’ or intermediary, a balance, between us and the things we need or wish. Money is also thought to be the energy source – the currency, or current – in the system. These notions are false. They’re smokescreens made up by the Rulers to get our minds associating money with something that actually has value, while thinking it’s a true medium of exchange or way to ‘balance’ one’s life. Therefore, money is falsely portrayed as a necessity to improve one’s life, and the acquisition of money is always seen as a positive act.

Like government, money does not exist in nature. Money has no actual value in our natural world. The value of money is based upon our belief that it’s actually worth something. In other words, it is our belief in money that gives it any power (many of you will identify this formula also applies to government). In essence, there is no difference between paper money and toilet paper other than the fact we’ve been conditioned not to wipe our asses with banknotes.

If money doesn’t exist in nature, then where does it come from? Simply and literally, money is created by banks out of nothing. This has been affirmed time and again by bankers and those in the financial industry.

“Banks create money. The manufacturing process to make money consists of making an entry in a book. That is all… Each and every time a Bank makes a loan… new Bank credit is created – brand new money.” – Graham Towers, Governor of the Bank of Canada (1935-1955), quoted in Someone Has To Print The Nation’s Money… So Why Not Our Government?, Monetary Reform Online, reprinted from Victoria Times Colonist, October 16, 1996

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“It may not seem to make much sense, but banks actually “create” money when they lend it.” – Money and Banking, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas publication

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“I am afraid the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can, and do, create money… And they who control the credit of the nation direct the policy of Governments and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people.” – Reginald McKenna, British Chancellor of the Exchequer, as quoted in Tragedy and Hope by Carroll Quigley

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“… Some of these bankers acknowledge that this system where they get to create currency out of thin air is basically a corrupt system – a scam – but you’d have to be crazy not to participate in it.” – Mike Maloney, financial expert and author, speaking at the 8^th Annual Russian Bankers Conference, June 2010

Given the fact that when a loan is taken out new money is created out of nothing (as explained above), it begs the question: who is the actual source of credit in such a system? The answer is that you are the source of credit for you, through your energy (blood, sweat and toil), are the only valuable consideration that is ever ‘put up’ or sacrificed. The individual is the true worth in this bogus system of credit money, and any other system for that matter.

Once again, we are the source energy and we give our power away to the false belief in money. Money is not a true medium as it does not serve as an intermediary or balancer of one’s life. Rather, money is the limiting agent that causes imbalance and great suffering.

The concept of money, including the control of the creation and distribution of money, is based upon the exploitation of human beings and the Earth. Like government, money is an ideology, a belief system of control built upon the fear of scarcity. Scarcity in this context means there is ‘not enough money’ circulating in the system thereby leading to a recession, and/or an individual does not have enough money. There is even the fear of scarcity concerning the things money buys, from consumer products to natural resources. Whether or not true scarcity exists, most of the things which are considered scarce are controlled by the Rulers who get to regulate how much of something is distributed. This false and engineered scarcity is intended to restrict our access to the things we need and want. Ultimately, the money system is built upon death and suffering and therefore our usage of money, thus our participation in such a system, aids and perpetuates this evil.

Although money is illusory, the immense suffering it causes is very real. Like government, the power and value of money lies in our belief, and our choice to give it legitimacy.

As long as money remains in our world it will be tremendously difficult for real change to take place. Many don’t want to hear this about money (or government for that matter), but it’s time to face and accept that it’s another belief system that does not serve us in a positive way. Of course there are those with either a lot of money or little to no money problems, those severely conditioned to believe money is something that cannot be eliminated from society, and those who choose to remain ignorant to the abovementioned problems in connection with money, who will claim it is neither positive nor negative but rather a tool. It’s a tool all right, a tool for exploiting, controlling and enslaving humans. All one has to do is genuinely look at the world and see how much suffering occurs because of money. On an individual level, suffering occurs when one doesn’t have enough of those so-called valuable pieces of paper. Money aids in manifesting all the ugly, negative aspects of this world: war, famine, poverty, selfishness, deceit, hate, envy, jealously, greed, and so on.

The money we use every day is nothing more than Monopoly money. Both involve playing a game of pretend. And like the board game, we can stand up anytime we choose and end the make-believe. Those who are living through the eyes of others, specifically the Rulers, are the ones who cannot envision a world without money, whose imagination and creativity has been so diminished, so boxed in, they fail to recognize their mind has been caged in. It doesn’t have to be like this. For starters, so much can be said in favor of good ole’ honest bartering and voucher systems between individuals where we trade our goods and services in ways other than exchanging banknotes. At a minimum, we should find ways to reduce our use of and dependency upon the Rulers’ money, lest we perpetuate our own enslavement.

“Money is a new form of slavery, and distinguishable from the old simply by the fact that it is impersonal – that there is no human relation between master and slave.” – Leo Tolstoy, What Is To Be Done?

The concept of money is immoral and extremely dangerous to humanity’s freedom and existence. Money is evil. Money must go.

 

Jesus and Money

Acknowledging that money has become the god of this world, Jesus spoke a simple but profound maxim to those who foolishly think they can follow God (and God’s laws) while living a life where accumulating money is an equally important, or a top, priority: “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24. Jesus knew that many people sacrifice their loyalty to God, Morality, and their own self to obtain an illusory sense of security and happiness thought only to come about as a result of obtaining money. Jesus hoped everyone would see money for what it truly is and relegate it to a proper place so that it might lose its control and influence on our lives.

 

Government and Money Keep Us Fixed In Fear, Which Leads To Dis-ease

The ‘God’ of this planet has two heads: Government and Money. Here is the main reason why these two belief systems are destructive and must perish: Government and money keep us in a perpetual mind-state of ‘fight-or-flight’, which is our survival mode. This is described by neuroscience as the R-Complex or “Reptilian Brain.” In this state of mind, humans are subject to feelings of fear, anxiety and anger. It is true that these survival instincts serve their purpose. They help us to take appropriate action when faced with danger and emergent situations. However, and because our brain has other modes of thought in addition to the Reptilian mind, human beings are not to constantly remain functioning in this survival mode for the sheer fact it is not beneficial to our overall health and well-being. The everyday, nonstop anxiety associated with government and money in our lives results in the perpetuation of fear and promotion of disease. We literally become ‘dis-eased’, and our life moves out of harmony and balance. Nutrition-minded, natural-based medical doctors and health-conscious individuals know that a major key to the prevention of disease is a strong immune system. Endless fear, anxiety, and anger severely stress and suppress our immune systems, ultimately promoting disease. Moreover, in such a fear-based state of consciousness largely generated by authority and money, humanity has become collectively incapable of expression to its fullest potential, and the opposite effect has resulted: slavery and cancer.

 

Conclusion

“Some readers may conclude that this book advocates a sort of idealism that may be impossible to achieve, but such is not the case. My dictionary defines idealism as “seeing things as they should be instead of as they are.” That kind of idealism is necessary to check idealism against reality and note the differences. When you do that, what you get is the objective for a practical plan of action. To deride that use of idealism is to say that things should be as they are instead of as they should be, no matter how terribly wrong they are.” – Richard W. Wetherill, Right is Might

Choosing not to be idealistic with respect to making the world a better place to live is the equivalent of ‘settling for less’ and ‘working with the cards we’ve been dealt’, rather than charting new courses and striving to achieve what we all know to be right, or that which should be. While it seems the dual-faced god that is money and government are forever assured in our lives, the simple truth is that at any time we can choose to stop believing in these harmful, exhausted ideas. We can realize government and money are merely mental constructs that we believe to be so real that they dominate our lives and throw us into chaos, while destroying the planet. We can refrain from giving these ideas our energy and support, acknowledge our individual sovereignty, and formulate other ways by which humans can peacefully, constructively, and lovingly co-exist. Consider this: Many of the earlier mentioned aspirations we collectively say we want for the world can be achieved right now were it not for government (working together with mega corporations) and money standing in our way. Humans are not short on ingenuity and skill, however we lack the ability to recognize and break down the true barriers on our evolutionary path which will only come about when we collectively understand our true nature and reinstitute true Morality into our world.

In Part 3 we will go beyond the external constructs of authority and money and discuss the ultimate cause of the world’s problems and our own problems, and how one powerful solution can solve them all.

*A note regarding Jesus: I’m very much aware there may not have existed a historical Jesus as relayed in The Bible. Also, I understand the Astro-Theology and Pagan mythology associated with Jesus as the allegorical Sun. ‘True Christians’ and others who are spiritually mature enough to possess an open mind and an open heart can look at these different aspects, or ideas, of Jesus without allowing their emotions to cloud their judgment and discernment of Truth. A ‘True Christian’ is not dissuaded by these various interpretations of Jesus, but rather embraces them and learns to understand and incorporate the deeper meanings of each different story into their own life, inclusive of their own convictions and understanding of Jesus.

In ancient times, a myth, or mythos (the Greek pronunciation from which the word is derived), did not mean something was not true in the way that it does today. On the surface, a myth was a charming story. But to those who were students, or accepted initiates (such as Plato and Pythagoras), of the Mystery schools of the mystical, inner teachings of life, a myth was a sacred puzzle that contained profound spiritual teachings. Plato once said, “It looks as if those also who established rites of initiation for us were no fools, but that there is a hidden meaning in their teachings.” The philosophers of the past did not interpret myths as literally true, but saw they were an introduction to the profound mystical teachings at the heart of the ‘Mysteries.’

I do not consider myself a Christian or follower or worshipper of Jesus, but rather a Christ as taught by Jesus and other Master Teachers. The teachings of Jesus as I have come to understand them – irrespective of whether he actually lived or not – are timeless, perennial and expressed throughout all spiritual traditions, each in their own customary fashion. The Truths ascribed to Jesus go back to antiquity, long before he was said to have been born. It matters not to me whether an actual Jesus ever walked the Earth. Such concern is trivial and foolishly takes away from the substance and meaning of the story and teachings of Jesus. After all, it’s the Truth messages contained within the story which is most important. As such, I try to align my life with those ‘eternal Truths’, those teachings which transcend Jesus, the Bible and religion, rather than concern myself with rigid dogma, ignorant literalism, pseudo-spiritualism and hero worship. In that sense I do follow Jesus – not the man but rather what he symbolizes: Truth, Freedom and Love.