God, Christianity, Jesus, religion, and Enlightenment

Ok folks this could be a long one, but I will try to distill it. There has been a shift going on that I have perceived lately regarding Jesus, who's real name is Yeshua, or Yehoshua. Or maybe a shift in the whole spiritual view of religions, Christianity and God. My take on it has been one that has grown over the years, but as of late has acquired new dimensions through self realization, meditation and a whole lot of reading. Instead of making statements. I will ask questions and or make statements you can ponder. Lets start with Yeshua. He was a rebel, an apostate, he spoke from the heart, and he was a man of peace. He was hated by the religious establishment of his day, and his own fellow Jews. Let me put a caveat on that, the pious Jewish leaders who didn't listen, and turned others against him. let him who has ears listen and hear. The words he spoke were ones of direction, explanation, and mystery's that might not have been meant to be understood until this time period. He even said, when asked by the disciples what things meant, that it would be a mystery to a lot of people.

Since the finding of the dead sea scrolls and the nag Hammadi discoveries, other books have been unearthed that lend a different slant to things. One that comes to mind is the Gospel of Thomas. These are just the condensed sayings of Christ or yeshua without any religious dogma added. In other words, no dying on the cross for our sins, no explanation of anything that is associated with the dogma of today's Christian movement. No condemnation, guilt, control, or manipulative attempts. Now when you look at a distilled version of what he had to say in Thomas, along with other sources Like the Aramaic words he spoke, and of the different, colorful, beautiful meanings those have. You start to get a different picture. You start to get this picture of an enlightened master, who was trying to show us things.

This brings up the question of was he God's literal son? Was he divine? Was he an enlightened soul who had a purpose to fulfill. The gospels that we have in our bibles today are dare I say, manipulated into the Bible by emperor Constantine around 325 ad at the council of Nicea. Evidently Constantine wanted to reshape the movement that was born out of Christ for his own selfish purposes. Off of that sprung the church of Rome along with all the Hierarchical trappings and control of the people. It was all about control. The stuff that went on during this time is too extensive to go into, and there are much better books on this subject then I could write here. But the bottom line is, a lot of the books that could have been included in the bible were discarded. Some of them from the Gnostic (Gnosis meaning Knowledge or hidden Knowledge) movement, which saw a much deeper meaning then what was written in the books Constantine included.

These books sometimes referred to things that Jesus implied. Ideas like the kingdom of heaven being within us. Constantine couldn't use those books because if the kingdom was within, and god was within, like Jesus said Quote "I and the father are one." Then what would Constantine use to control the people. Because he wanted everything to be external. Obey the commandments or burn in hell. Accept Christ as Saviour or burn in hell. Do what the church says. Feel guilt and fear. God will punish you! And a whole host of things. Some of the gospels chosen could have even been manipulated to include dogma, and may not have been written by Mathew or John or whoever. Most of then were written decades after Christ was gone.

So with all that being said, and check my facts, don't take my word for it. Was Yeshua here for a different reason then we think. Was he here to point the way to what I call Transformation, Transcendence, and truth. Think of the cross as a "T" and think of the three crosses on the hill as three "T's" Transcendence, Transformation and Truth. That came to me in a vision.

Now when you think about it, Christianity or a lot of churches and Christians don't represent these ideals, and the ideals of the sayings of Christ and the actions of Christ. He said Love thy neighbor, but they say lets go to war and kill, he said Love thy enemies, but they say Gods on our side. He said The kingdom of heaven is not over here or over there but something you can't see, and that the Kingdom of heaven is within you. And they say you won't make it to the kingdom if you don't do this or do that. And you will go to hell, or be destroyed! Christ said God was loving and merciful. They say god is angry, punishing, and sometimes even condones evil acts. Who would you rather believe? Is there any question?

Now you might say, why is "Thunderhands" talking about Christian things and not Native American Beliefs? Well, you might be surprised to learn what some of the native beliefs are. They have many of the same concepts of another system that doesn't judge, and that is Taoism, an eastern viewpoint. And when you look at some of the enlightening things the Native American says or believes, and the Taoists philosophy, you find a close resemblance. And that is Nature with a capitol "N." You find sayings that are incredible and loving. One that comes to mind and I am paraphrasing some of this. "You whites tend to believe that when man and everything was created great spirit breathed into man the breath of life, but we believe his breath took in all of nature as well." Wow! Isn't that profound? The "Tao" often time associates things with the elements of wood, wind, water, fire, etc. The tao te Ching speaks of water and nature, and other natural elements, Like thunder, and lightening. Its funny Jesus called peter "The son of thunder" and the rock. Jesus often spoke of crops, and the wheat and fire. And he picked fisherman as some of his disciples. He walked on water. And there were storms and lightening and thunder from the heavens. Open your eyes, Jesus's sayings were steeped in nature. And thunder came from heaven and the ground shook!

Thunder is big in native American culture, it represents a shock sometimes, or waking up, or a cleansing and a calm after the storm. And so it is with the I-Ching. Thunder beings are powerful beings featured on totem poles in the form of Thunderbirds. Drums are used in ceremony, as ritualistic thunderous drums. The lakota say that the first great mystery of the 16 great mysteries is the Sun, and everything was created from then on. Sometimes that sun is looked at as son or s-o-n, or Tunkashila. Many of the beliefs seem eastern, and so many believe that the Native American came from the east over the land bridge that once existed up by the Aleutian Island chain. And hey! Wasn't Yeshua eastern or from the east. And where did he travel, and what did he pick up during all those years that are missing in the Bible. Its funny they are missing isn't it? You would think that the bible writers would have included that. I mean those are the informative years. Doesn't make sense does it. It's like some one wanted to cut that part of the picture out. But you never know whats going to be found on the splicing room floor.

So does religion today espouse the real teachings of Christ or are they in the same bag of trying to strike fear, condemnation, guilt and control. Or maybe they like and want a lot of money when they pass the plate. Do they support the powers to be, and war and hate. And do they stand Idly by and watch the planet destroyed by greed, corruption and war. And at times through history did they kill thousands in the name of Christ during the crusades. And how about the Inquisition, and burning people at the stake. What do you think Yeshua would say or think about that? Get behind me Satan! Why does the church profile and hate certain groups of people as not worthy. Jesus hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors and those considered low life.

Now I know there are a lot of sincere people that are Christians, and I am not here to judge anyone, or any system, because it's all an illusion anyway. But if you were to call anything the anti-Christ. It wouldn't be a person it would be those who represented themselves as speaking for Christ, but then did just the opposite.

Its not about religion, its about enlightenment. Its about Love and all those who speak of love. Its about living in accordance with nature within yourself, and without. Its not about four walls with a roof and steeple. Its about grandmother earth and Grandfather sky and all of creation.
Jesus spoke of wolves in sheep's clothing. He warned against being mislead. Broad is the road to destruction narrow the road to life. The Indians have a name for the good Road. It is called the "Red" road. Look whats being done to the planet today and to the people on it. Where is the love?

So the shift I am seeing that I mentioned at the beginning is a shift in consciousness about Christ or Jesus and religion. And I see a lot of people waking up. And a lot of people are writing books now about the lessons we can learn from Jesus words and how to really understand what he was saying. And about how religion is a middleman that isn't needed. But if the consciousness shifts and people start connecting and loving one another, think of the possibilities. The Government is sadly inadequate in spiritual matters. They are part of the problem, not the solution. They speak with a forked tongue. Just like they did when they committed Genocide on the original inhabitants of America. When the shift is complete they will either sink or swim. The politicians speak of god and Jesus out of one side of their mouth, and declare war out of the other. What have they really done for the homeless. Jesus spoke of the good Samaritan. What about the elderly on fixed incomes. Need I go further, and thats just scratching the surface. Do you want to live in the kingdom that yeshua spoke of. Then disavow all that you see around you. Be non-attached and go within. Ignore the duality so that you can change yourself inside and see that change take affect outside. As above so below. Be a Christ, by using you Christ consciousness. Cast away all the negativity that you see around you in the media, the government, the schools and religion. Be reborn not born again. Pretty shocking isn't it. But remember my name is thunderhands, thunder shocks and hands create, by writing, and by other means like my drums. So maybe I'm beating a different kind of drum. Drums were used for communication you know? Somebody has to speak up and from the heart, which also beats like a drum.