The Mind of God: "Ye Are Gods"

"Physician, heal thyself"

​There's a famous story from Zen Buddhism involving the Sixth Ancestor (a Chinese master who lived from 628 A.D. to 713 A.D.) (for those of you who are interested, I am referring to Koan 29 from the Mumonkan).

"The wind was flapping the temple flag and two monks started an argument.  One said, 'Look, the flag moves,' and the other said, 'No, it is the wind that moves.'  They argued back and forth but could not reach a conclusion.

"The Sixth Ancestor passed by and heard their argument.  He stopped and said, 'It is not the wind that moves, and it is not the flag that moves; it is your mind that moves.'

"The monks were awestruck."

I want to invite you to join me in an attempt to "move our minds" in this post; I hope we will stretch our sights beyond the day-to-day and ponder our place in this vast, epic, inspiring universe (which scientists believe is approximately 13.7 billion years old).

I think Jesus was better than anyone at helping us to "move our minds" towards God (as well as moving our hearts towards Him).

It took a mental adjustment for Jesus's disciples to wrap their heads around the fact that this average-looking fellow with no political pretensions could actually be the Messiah (I love how the Lord is full of surprises).

After Jesus began His ministry, He returned home to Nazareth and received a cold welcome.  He quoted a proverb to His detractors who questioned whether this upstart, this 'Joseph's son,' could actually be the Light of the World.

Jesus responded to their doubts:

   Ye will surely say unto me
   this proverb,
   Physician, heal thyself. . . .

   Verily I say unto you,
   No prophet is accepted
   in his own country.

(Luke 4:23-24)

Jesus was quoting an ancient Greek proverb, popularized six hundred years before His birth in one of Aesop's Fables, the Frog and the Fox.

"There was a frog who claimed to be trained in the physician's art, acquainted with all the medicinal plants of the earth, the only creature who could cure the animals' ailments.

"The fox listened to the frog's announcement and, looking at the color of his skin, said, 'How can it be that you are able to cure others of their illnesses, but the signs of sickness can still be seen in your own face?'"

The moral of the story was:  Don't trust preachers who cannot produce the fruits they preach; don't trust a plumber with a leaky faucet at home; don't depend on a priest with leprosy to heal you of yours.

Jesus was so remarkable because He walked-the-walk (even on water).  Among all the reasons to trust in Jesus Christ (and there are a lot), this is the reason I believe: He did it!  He overcame death!  His resurrection showed it is possible.

There have been many wise teachers and gurus during earth's history (and I am grateful for them all); but only one of them can rightly be called "the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20) in this cycle of creation.

Jesus was the Physician who actually cured blindness and healed lepers and lameness; He raised people from the dead!  Most importantly, He showed us how we can overcome death and hell, too.

His message was never "Look at me," but was always, "Follow me."  He wasn't interested in converting a bunch of listeners, who sat around debating His sayings: He wanted doers, disciples who would do even as He did.

So when Amulek taught that the atonement required something greater than the sacrifice of a beast or fowl or man ― it required the sacrifice of a Son of God (Alma 34:10, 14) ― we should remember that we are also (on Jesus's word) sons and daughters of God.

[Above: an image of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, Sagittarius arm]

The Oneness of God

The Jews wanted to kill Jesus for saying He was the Son of God.  In John 10:30-39, He declared:

   I and my Father are one.

While these words are about Christ, yes, let's apply them to ourselves.  For wasn't that the point of Jesus's incarnation?  Wasn't the Great Revelation made plain at last, when God made Himself a Man to redeem His people (Mosiah 15:1-4)?

What else did He mean in His great intercessory prayer, but that we are all "one" (or can be)?  He wasn't calling us to a fruitless faith, but a powerful one: a faith that would perform the works He had (John 14:12).

So first and foremost, we must understand the fantastic truth that we are (or someday will be) One with God.  To be like Christ, then, is to be like the Father.  To be One with Them is godliness, or eternal life.

   Then the Jews took up stones
   again to stone him.

Why were the Jews offended?  Well, maybe it was because they were still stuck on the Law of Moses.  Someone claiming to be "one" with God implied they were God; and that was blasphemy.  And blasphemy was punishable by death.

   The Jews answered him,
   saying, For a good work
   we stone thee not;
   but for blasphemy;
   and because that thou,
   being a man,
   makest thyself God.

(John 10:33)

But Jesus had the perfect comeback, quoting scripture back at them, which they could not argue against.

   Jesus answered them,
   Is it not written in your law,
   I said, Ye are gods?

(John 10:34)

Question:  If we are gods, can you imagine what is possible?  What we could accomplish?  What miracles and good works are within our power to perform?  Think of the works of love with which we could heal this wounded world, as Christ did.

Jesus said, "For with God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27).

What percentage is "all"?  

[Above: an image of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, as captured using radio telescopes]

"The Father is in me, and I in him"

For me, the most central teaching of Jesus Christ is the truth that we are children of God who have received His divine nature.

Ergo, we ARE gods (!), even the sons and daughters of God (D&C 76:58).

Now, it is true that our "intelligence" was not created by God ― for we have existed eternally, without beginning or end, as gnolaum (D&C 93:29; Abr. 3:18).

But being unattached and lonely intelligences is no good.  We needed to become part of a family, as organized intelligences ― meaning, placed in a social construct that, through the operation of birth and rebirth, becomes biological through successive "estates" ― (hence the "Begotten" part of Christ's moniker).

In other words, we needed a patron (a patriarch) to adopt us, to spoil us (D&C 84:38), to believe in us ― someone who would help us with our homework and show us how to catch a baseball in the backyard.

You see, people who want to "save" you are a dime-a-dozen (even Lucifer wanted to save us).  But those who want to be our parents, who desire children?  Those who are willing to sacrifice late nights and long hours caring for a bunch of babies?

Nope, Satan had no interest in sons.

All this to say, we needed to be adopted.  Luckily there was someone whose charity was great enough to put up with a bunch of brats, who wanted to raise us, and that was Christ.  He offered to make us His children; He offered a way for us to be fatherless intelligences no more.

Receiving of the fulness of the Son and of the Father changes our intelligence; it changes our nature.  It adds upon us glory and ability and capacity.  By inheriting His nature, we become far more than we ever could have been as undeveloped intelligence meandering through the ether.

For this reason, and with our consent, our intelligences were grafted into the heavenly family of God, which is represented as the Tree of Life.

Others refer to this as entering the New and Everlasting Covenant.

[Above: an image depicting the earth's magnetic field deflecting harmful solar radiation]

"Inherit the Earth"

Trees are a good symbol of divinity because they bear fruit; for what makes something a "fruit" as opposed to a vegetable?  The fact it has seeds.

Seeds are the means by which a species propagates; in the seed is the power of "eternal lives."  The lineage of God is never-ending.

DNA contains the genetic blueprint for our bodies.  It prescribes the manner of growth of our physical selves.  And the good news?  It all occurs without conscious effort; our bodies instinctively know what to do, even in their sleep.
 
While the expression of our DNA is unique, and varies from person to person, we all follow the same general process.  We all share a common blueprint for aging, maturation, and development.
 
Now listen: would it surprise you to learn there is also a blueprint for our intelligence, or spiritual mind?  This mental map is shared among all people; from the beginning of time (the foundation of the world) there has been a structure, an architecture, that shapes our consciousness.
 
This intelligent architecture relates to the fundamental aspects of our humanity, or what makes us "human" (or, as the scriptures call it, created "in the image of God").  This mental DNA, as-it-were, more closely describes our divinity than our physical forms and shapes.

But like toddlers learning to walk, we have trouble perceiving this intelligent architecture in these rough bodies, with our corruptible minds.  We require sanctification to attune ourselves to the perfected, incorruptible Body of God, and our minds to the holy Mind of God.

In The Lectures on Faith 5:2, it teaches that the Son "possesses the same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit."

This explains, I think, the universal instinct and yearning towards God we have, reaching towards transcendence, filled with the hope of Christ.  Every religion seeks love and truth because it is encoded into our spiritual DNA through the light of Christ.
 
Like DNA, our shared mental architecture is also instinctual; it is a process that occurs subconsciously.  At some point in our development, we have to "awake and arise" from our stupor, or blindness, and begin to "see" the higher realities hidden within the temporal.

This collective mental blueprint is calling to us, enticing us to open our spiritual eyes, to reconnect with the roots of creation.
 
It will help us conceptualize this if we consider this global mental structure as the roots of the Tree of the Life.  A tree blossom will mature into seed-bearing fruit, but the blossom is not the root; however, it is connected to the root system and draws strength therefrom.

"The Creator of Heaven and Earth"

King Benjamin gave some of my favorite descriptors for Christ.  He said, quoting an angel:

   And he shall be called
   [notice these are names, or titles; they are types and symbols; they do not define Him, but rather describe Him]
   (1) Jesus Christ,
   (2) the Son of God,
   (3) the Father of heaven
   and earth,
   (4) the Creator of all things
   from the beginning.

(Mosiah 3:8)

How is Christ the creator of all things?  Is this metaphorical?  I want to suggest a different perspective.  By way of crude analogy, think of how a human life is conceived.  Our parents did not birth us fully-formed.  We started as a blueprint, an embryo.

All of the genetic material required to produce a living, breathing baby is received from two small sources: the mother's egg and the father's seed.  The sperm and egg each contain a single set of 23 chromosomes.

Everything we are, all 200 lbs. of us (well, in my case that is being generous) springs from something as small as 0.10 mm in diameter.

But how did we grow, then, so big?  Well, we drew upon the elements of the earth; we drank milk and grew bigger and bigger to our present stature.

Now apply this principle to our universe.  Pretend that a drop of Christ's blood contained the blueprint to encode the elements to gather, and form, and organize: drawing upon oxygen and hydrogen and carbon.

Pretend this symbolic seed burst into the deep darkness, the nothingness, the void, and from this tiny spark, the planets and stars and suns had enough information to form bodies, to which their spirits joined?

What if!  What if the entire universe sprang from the Christ-embryo, His intelligence ordering the elements into limbs and branches and children?

To Him, the elemental matter of our universe responded (which was not created neither can it be destroyed), it heeded and obeyed the blueprint of His blood, and over billions of our earth-years, it has expanded into solar systems and spiraling galaxies and Cindy Lou down the street.

Is the universe alive?  Is it intelligent?  Is it conscious?

Are we?

   For by him were all things
   created, that are in heaven,
   and that are in earth,
   visible and invisible,
   whether they be thrones,
   or dominions,
   or principalities,
   or powers: all things
   were created by him,
   and for him:

   And he is before all things,
   and by him all things consist.

(Colossians 1:16-17)

Imagine if all things emanated from His Person, from the beginning?

And just as our spirits govern our physical bodies, Christ's spirit governs all of the physical creation (D&C 88:7-13).

The Spirit World

As you are aware, our bodies have a spirit.  We also know the earth has a spirit: we call it the "Spirit World."  The spirit world is an entity as much as it is a place; it is the spiritual body of the earth.

Our spirits are linked to the spirit world, which is why when we die we remain here on earth, within its spirit, awaiting resurrection.
 
Those who are resurrected to a celestial glory shall, specifically, "inherit the earth" ― which will have become celestial itself at that point.

This is what D&C 88 is alluding to, referring to the shared glory of the earth and its celestial inhabitants (see verse 20).  I think we're beginning to see that our relationship to the earth is far more important ― and eternal ―
than we first supposed.
 
The reciprocity between the spiritual and physical world is very real, and we've each experienced it.  Just as our spirits affect our bodies, and vice-versa, so too does the Spirit World (the earth’s spirit) affect our physical planet.

In other words, there is a spiritual symbiosis occurring.  It is happening right now.  Conditions in the Spirit World are affecting the physical world (isn't that what we teach at Church, that the righteous spirits in Paradise are preparing for the Lord's Second Coming?) ― just as the condition of humanity on earth is affecting the earth's spirit (Moses 7:48-49).

These separate planes of existence ("kingdoms") are linked and affect the health of the other.

Fire Worshippers

If any of this sounds far-fetched, please consider Joseph Smith's cosmology as presented in the Egyptian Papers​​, specifically his comments to Facsimile 2.

"So what, Tim?" someone asks.  "How is this going to help me pay the cable bill or help my son's football team win on Friday night?  Why does it matter?"
 
Well, I think it is important we understand our nature; I would also like to understand the nature of existence.

When we understand the laws of God, we can begin to understand the reason for things (cause and effect).

The laws of God are of great worth.  We spend trillions of dollars every year on scientific research to better understand the physical workings of the world around us; how important is it to understand the spiritual workings of things?

We are the fruit of the Tree of Life, and are tapped into the Roots.  When we channel nourishment and strength from the Roots, which is the Mind of God, or Spirit of God, we are able to bear godly fruit.

To be "fruitful" means we share the seed God has planted within us, which is the light of Christ, whose rays become blended with our own spiritual energy to reveal the 'light of truth,' which is the glory of God.

How do we illuminate humanity as "the light of the world?"  How do we become a "city that is set on a hill" (Matt. 5:14) as Jesus wanted?

I speak of these things to offer encouragement; for within us is "the true light" (D&C 88:50).  If you have been seeking God, as if He were a separate being, try seeking Him within, and in your neighbor, and in the creation itself.  For He is there, in all things; even in us.  He is with us, literally.

There's a great legend about Moses, where the children of Israel pester him to invite God to dinner.  Moses hikes up Sinai and speaks to God, but fails to ask Him to join them for dinner.  God asks, "Moses, why have you not invited me to dinner, like the people wanted?"

Moses makes excuses, but God tells him, "Tell the people I will share a meal with them tomorrow."

So the people are overjoyed and begin to make lavish preparations to host God for dinner.  During their preparations, an old fire-worshipper (a follower of Zoroaster) wanders into camp, bedraggled and hungry.  The old man asks for food, but the people say, "Are you kidding?  God is about to feast with us, help us prepare and you can eat with the rest of us when it is time."  The man wandered off and was not seen again.

The appointed hour came and God didn't appear.  The people go to bed depressed, disappointed.

The next day Moses climbs Mt. Sinai and says, "God, why didn't you come to dinner?  The people were expecting you!  Are you trying to make me look like a fool?"

The Lord replies, "I came to dinner and the children offered me no meat," referring to the old man.

The Record of Heaven

This "true light" will guide us; we are not rudderless; in the light we can know the truth of all things; it can teach us everything we need to know and reveal the face of God.  I am speaking about the Holy Ghost, which is called "the Record of Heaven" by Enoch.

   Therefore it is given
   to abide in you;
   the record of heaven;
   the Comforter;
   the peaceable things
   of immortal glory.

(Moses 6:61)

The Record of Heaven has a figurehead(s), but it is not a person in the way we have been taught; it is rather all persons who have become "one" in the Godhead.  It is the glory of the celestial-body-unity, represented by our Father and Christ, which produces the life of all things, even "that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power" (Moses 6:61).

When we become sanctified to the point we are able, as mortal ministers of the Record, and as fruits of the Tree (the "love of God"), and as ambassadors of the Mind of God ― I say, when we have followed in our Savior's footsteps and found victory over death and hell, we shall become Saviors upon Mt. Zion.  We shall become Fathers and Mothers.

   And now, behold,
   I say unto you:
   This is the plan of salvation
   unto all men,
   through the blood
   of mine Only Begotten.

(Moses 6:62) 

Then we shall bring seed-light to them that sit in darkness, as the Fire of our Father, even as the Messenger of the Covenant did, who freely gave so we might partake and spread His word (the Record of truth), as suns of the morning, even as Bright and Morning stars in the celestial constellation that forms the Tree of Life.

   That which is of God is light;
   and he that receiveth light,
   and continueth in God,
   receiveth more light;
   and that light groweth
   brighter and brighter
   until the perfect day.

(D&C 50:24)

May God's light shine brightest where it is needed most, upon the waste places and desolate hearts that cry in darkness.

Let us be found where light is dimmest, in places forsaken and forgotten, doing the works of our Father.

Has not Christ said, "Ye are gods?"

Let us be godly, then, by which I mean, to make possible the impossible for those who are blind; let us feed the sheep that shiver and starve in their footrot, bringing the warmth of dawn-sun.

Let nothing ― neither fear nor duty ― prevent us from being gods of love to the weary and downtrodden, putting our flesh upon the hidden hand of God to bless and lift those who are broken and stumble blindly, not knowing of their true worth.  Amen.