Beyond Christianity

But the Lord [ is ] the true God;
He [ is ] the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

Jeremiah 10:10 

Note to my readers; Please, please, please read this passage in context; not only the context of the Greater Story which contains it, but the historical & cultural context in which it was written! Take, for instance, the first half of the 'chapter' in which we find this singular verse; many seem to think it's decrying what is commonly known & loved as 'the Christmas Tree'. The context, as I've mentioned, clearly shows that this is not the case, but is simply, like 'chapters' & 'verses', an invention of humankind'. Now, on with the show......................

I'm sure there are many people out there, praying fervently for me to return to 'the faith of my fathers'! After all, Proverbs 22:6 says, 'Train up a child in the way he should go, ^[a] and when he is old he will not depart from it.' In some sense, one might say I HAVE departed from that 'faith', but really, only in the sense that I have gone beyond it, following its natural conclusions. Although I've reached some conclusions, I have by no means strayed from the Path. The Path I am on, in fact, have been on since I began this Journey some 48 years ago, may look somewhat different than 'the faith' I was reared ( 'trained' ) in, but I assure you all, I AM still on the Path; I have simply taken the next step & moved beyond my training!

Not long ago, I posted on Facebook, something to the effect of, 'Christianity, like any religion, is simply a path, NOT a destination'. To clarify; I'm trying to make the point that while 'the faith of my fathers' certainly is an aspect of the Path, it is by no means the ONLY one. The Bible, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, is our ( modern ) Western translation, or interpretation rather, of an Ancient Near Eastern text! That said, I'm NOT saying that it all got 'lost in the translation'; no, many universal truths, as I've also mentioned before, can be found in its revered pages! However, there IS some Truth that has gotten 'lost in the translation', some of which is that it IS primarily an encapsulated & metaphorical history of 'the children of Israel'. Notwithstanding the theory, proposed by some & accepted by more, that YHWH ( Elohim ), the 'God' of Israel, was simply a Canaanite 'god', 'He' IS an aspect of What is called by many names; call It 'the Source', the Universe', or simply 'Energy', 'It is what It is'. Christians call 'Him' 'God', Muslims call 'Him' 'Allah', Jews call 'Him' 'Yahweh' & many Eastern religions call It by many other names, but really, It is Us, the true 'Us', our Higher Selves!

'Well, there you go; outright blasphemy, claiming that we are 'God'! Actually, I've said it before, though maybe not in so many words. Even Jesus, who clearly made the claim that He was the Son of God, really, God Himself, agreed with the Universal Truth that David, King of Israel wrote when he sang, 'you are gods' ( Psalm 82:6 ). Now, when I say, 'It is Us', I do NOT mean to say that It is our humanity, which most of the above-mentioned religion, except for the Eastern ones, will say is 'utterly depraved'. Although our humanity can most definitely be an aspect of 'Us', or a part of Us, the biological bodies We inhabit are merely our vehicles in which we live & love in this earthly Journey. This is not to say that a person who commits what some would call 'evil' has an evil spirit, although some would no doubt call it that: for the most part, those who commit 'evil' ( ? ) are most likely not aware of Who they are & are living from their Lower Nature, which is not far different from those we call 'animals!

To clarify; by saying 'evil spirit', I'm referring to what many would call 'the soul' or 'the individual ( soul )'. It is not that this person is either 'a Child of God' or 'a child of the devil', as most Christians say, but rather, that this person is unaware they are More than their humanity. This person believes the lie that they ARE their humanity & thus they live from their Lower Nature, which is where their humanity is rooted. This is NOT to say that our humanity is 'evil' ( totally depraved ), as some have accused Us; some, not even aware of their Higher Nature or Self, have employed their human vehicle to accomplish much that has truly blessed this world We live in!

'Our humanity can most definitely be an aspect of 'Us'. 'What is THAT supposed to mean?' you might ask. Simply that our humanity does not always reflect our true Self, the 'Us' we've been discussing. 'We' are all part of the Whole, the Source, What most call 'God'. As what might be called, 'spirit beings having a physical experience', or human beings, We have what is called 'free-will', the freedom & ability to make our own ( individual ) choices. How we choose is dependent upon whether we are living from our Higher or Lower Nature. Living from the Lower Nature, humanly speaking, of course, is what makes us little different from the 'animals'. The Higher Nature is where 'God' manifests. Christians call this 'The Holy Spirit' & while I do not deny this 'Holy Spirit', neither is IT what we have been taught ( 'trained' ) to believe!

Most, if not all Christians have been taught, according to that Ancient Near Eastern text upon which our English Bible is based, that 'the Holy Spirit' is One of Three Persons within a so-called 'God-head'. This should be the first clue that this notion is the invention of a person, or several persons. Having gone there before, I will go no further except to reiterate what I've stated previously; 'the concept of what Christians call 'the Trinity', 'Father, Son & Holy Spirit' is a biblical notion, one based upon a misreading of the Greek text'! 

'Is 'Allah' simply an aspect of 'the Source?' Valid question: as Christians, of course, we were taught that 'Allah' was not the same as 'God', but was simply a 'false god' ( ? ). My readers must judge for themselves whether or not 'Allah' is an aspect of 'the Source', although, may I say, if many of 'His' followers are any indication, I would be inclined to answer in the negative. But that's just MY personal perception! ( To be honest, one might say the same of many Christians )

Most every culture has their own definition/perception of the 'Path to Perfection'! Does this mean that all paths necessarily lead to the same destination? Well, yes & no; depending on what one chooses to believe/perceives the Destination to be might determine ( for them ) if any given path leads there. Then again, many people have many different notions/perceptions of what 'the Path' looks like. Every single human being out there has a slightly different idea of what that Path looks, or should look like. My perception of the Path is that Christianity is simply one aspect of It. 'Is it one of the best ways, or THE best way to view the Path?' Again, my readers must judge for themselves, but, as far as I'm personally concerned, the fact that I've gone beyond 'the faith of my fathers' does not mean that I've strayed from 'the Path'!

Namaste & Blessed Be!

Charles Haddon Shank