Selfless Spirit, Selfish Ego

From Chapter 1: A First in Worldwide Events

"This is the most exciting thing I've ever done," said Oprah. Never before have so many people been interactively connected at one time for one purpose. This unprecedented coming together was accomplished online through the Worldwide Web beginning March 3, 2008 by going to Oprah's website (Oprah.com). The initial Webcast gathered over 700,000 people from over 139 countries and all 50 United States to participate in the first of ten weekly classes hosted by Oprah Winfrey, featuring Eckhart Tolle and his bestselling book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose.

From Chapter 1: A First in Worldwide Events

My initial desire to e-mail Oprah and Eckhart with a question had turned into writing a book. Inspired by this event, my work serves to further lift the New Consciousness, especially for those who might have difficulty reconciling spiritual teachings with what they have been taught by their Bible-based religions. As a nonreligious, independent scholar of the Bible, I do not represent any religion. My work is not intended to offend, but hopefully spark enlightenment.

From Chapter 2: Oprah's Old Religion and Tolle's "New Earth"

Oprah openly revealed a problem with organized religion when asked how she reconciled the spiritual teachings of Eckhart Tolle with her Christian beliefs.

Using one of my favorite phrases, Oprah explained how she "took God out of the box" one day while attending services at her Baptist church. She was in her late twenties and listening intently as the preacher described God as being "Omnipresent" and "All" and "Everything" when he added to the list "Jealous." Realizing that a God of such Majesty could not also be a God of jealousy was an Awakening moment. Oprah was unable to reconcile the teaching that "God is love" to a jealous God. She went on to explain how one of her favorite quotes from Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth came from Chapter 1—"Man made God in his own image. The eternal, the Infinite, the unnameable was reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as 'my God' or 'our God.'"

Precisely. God was reduced to a literal construct and not known by His substance or Spirit. If God is a Spirit, as scripture reveals, then what good is the word of God without the Spirit of the word of God? This is the difference between the "letter of the word"—literalism—and the "Spirit of the word"—the spiritual substance of the word.

From Chapter 5: The Dead Letter and the Living Word

Literalists gladly teach that the Bible is the "inerrant word of God," but what good is the inerrant, literal word without the Spirit of the word? The "literal word" or literalism is dead without the Spirit. We are not to serve the dead letter, but the Living Spirit of the word (Romans 7:6).

The Message of the Spirit requires eyes that see and ears that hear, which is not about opening our visual and auditory organs but about opening our minds. We are repeatedly instructed to overcome the "world" with the Spirit, and so too must we overcome worldly, visible, literal, contradictory "surface" interpretations with the spiritual meat of the message. We are to overcome the "letter of the word" (literalism) with the "Spirit of the word" (spiritual substance of the matter).

From Chapter 6: The Spirit of the Ten Commandments

Much of the world knows the Ten Commandments literally, by the letter of the word, but what about by the Spirit of the word?

The 1st Commandment is the Greatest Commandment and instructs us to love The Way of Selfless Love (God) before all else. The remaining nine are born of the first.

The 2nd Commandment to have no idolatry is about serving Selfless Love. Idolatry is, for example, when religionists judge others as lesser in God and/or going to hell for not partaking in their particular religious works. Idolaters deny that The Way to the Kingdom is by Selfless Love, teaching that it comes by some other way.

The 3rd Commandment tells us not to speak God's name in vain or without worthiness. Those who say "I believe in God," but do not live to personify The Way of Selfless Love are using His name in vain. It is not by the voice from our mouth that justifies our belief, but the "voice" from our hearts and motivations (Matthew 15:17-20).

From Chapter 7: What We Must Know

Here are resplendent revelations not likely to be heard from literal-minded religious leaders. Because Biblical interpretation is so disputed, it was important that I supply scriptural references where needed, which are located within parentheses and decreased in size (like this), so as not to be too distracting from the main body of text. I hope this format makes it easier for you to glance over these references if you prefer not to read them. If you see a reference and want to read the corresponding scripture, please go to the section: Index of Scriptural References.

The "language of the Spirit" hides in literal words. Some scholars teach that the Bible cannot be fully understood until we have studied the cultures, histories and original languages involved. They are incorrect. The translators of original texts were the very finest, not seeking to alter the substantive meaning of any word. If the substance of scripture is not changed, neither is its spiritual message.

Do not fear those who say the Bible is myth or that it is the inerrant word of God. It does not matter if its stories really happened or not in the sense that even if we changed all the character's names and set the stories in different cultures—and as long as the substantive meaning of the words were not changed—we would still have the same Message of The Way of Selfless Love.

The Abrahamic religions have missed the mark, bearing correction by the revelations of The Way. You decide.

From Chapter 8: Healing Revelation

It is my desire to help raise the world out of the ignorance born of literal interpretations of spiritual scripture, especially regarding the Book of Revelation. Having come this far, you mind is better prepared to receive and consider this presentation. The issues with Israel and Christian Zionism are crucial to the peace and safety of many. I hope that your understanding of Chapter 7 does not lead you to conclude that I am here to build separation, but Oneness.

There seems to be no more politically and religiously incendiary issue than Israel among some Bible-based religions and their political leaders. My work in the previous chapter destroys anti-Semitism definitively, as never before that I have seen, so any idea that I am anti-Semitic is preposterous. I do not hate the State of Israel or take sides with the Palestinians, but do this work so that hopefully the selfish ones might one day put their selfishness where it belongs—below their greater love for The Way. The Message of God is not about literal-based, worldly religion, but about personifying the Spirit of Selfless Love no matter who we are, no matter what time of day it is, no matter what we do. There is no law against pouring out loving kindness upon the world.

To understand the heart of the religious divisiveness over Israel we must understand the generally accepted, literal-based interpretation of the Book of Revelation. It is important to find the root of the problem if there is to be a solution.

The Book of Revelation is the Book of the Revelation of Christ, which is not firstly about some terrifying scenario of Armageddon and Christ's glorious descent from the clouds, but about the reader's personal Awakening to The Way, Truth and Life of Selfless Love. By the dead letter of the word, Revelation is easily turned into the world's greatest book of hellfire-and-damnation, but by the Living Spirit of the word it is about soul-evolution in the Selfless Spirit over human selfishness.