Fifteen Steps to God-Consciousness: Lessons and Exercises

This First lesson and any that follow are taken from Deepak Chopra’s wonderful book: The Third Jesus, for any seeking a less dogmatic approach and view of Jesus this is a must read!

1. The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.

Applying the teaching—The source of reality is inside you. It is your essence.

Here Jesus points the way to hidden dimensions, not simply the conventional notion of Heaven. When you go inside, you are aware of activity such as thoughts and feelings. Your instinct is to pursue the activity that brings pleasure and avoid that which brings pain. But Jesus speaks of a completely different inner reality. The consciousness hidden behind your thoughts is the consciousness that upholds all intelligence in the universe. It is personal and collective at the same time. The personal is made up of your relationships, the collective is made up of the myths and archetypes common to all cultures. Both dimensions are you, and you can begin to connect the two as a bridge to the scared.

Exercise—Sit quietly when you have time to be alone and undisturbed. Choose a prayer that you feel comfortable with—or better yet, a meaningful phrase from that prayer. Usually I ask people to say, “Our Father, who art in Heaven,” but you may prefer “Hail Mary, full of grace.” (Substitute what ever you feel comfortable with. The source, Universe, Buddah etc.) Silently repeat the words to yourself, letting them settle naturally into your awareness, becoming softer and deeper. Continue for at least five minutes and up to twenty minutes. This kind of sacred repetition is common to every religious tradition.

When you open your eyes, let your gaze settle on a sacred image, such as an icon, a picture of Jesus, a statue of Mary, an image of the universe. Ask this figure to embody itself through you. Gently feel a connection. Don’t force this, just put out the intention that the archetype of Christ, Mary, Universe, or a chosen saint merges with your being. Some people use angels for this purpose, which is the same  as asking for the essence of God to reach you.

Now contemplate the specific qualities you want, such as love, compassion, or forgiveness. These are archetypal energies that you are asking to express through your thoughts, emotions, and actions. By calling on your higher archtype, you will find yourself thinking and doing things you never expected as the person you know. Although Jesus refers to God as the Father, spirit isn’t bound by gender. Like the Gnostics, you may conceive of God as feminine or inclusive of both genders.

This exercise works to remove the artificial boundary between the isolated ego-self and the higher self.

Interested in reading this book in its entirety? Click here!