ABC's of 5 Stages of Consciousness

It is important to remember that, by "consciousness", I mean, the psychological

context in which all thoughts take place. This is explained in more detail in th
e ABC's of Reason and Logic.
Jesus taught that we are all children of God and, therefore, have within us the
potential to be perfect and loving, like God. As the Bible says in Gen 1:27 rsv,
we are created in the "image of God." This means we are psychologically, not ph
ysically, like God.
Jesus himself supports the notion of our potential to be perfect and godlike in
Jn 10:34-35 jbv. Here he says that it is not blasphemous, as the high priests cl
aim, for anyone to think that he or she can be like God-"is it not written [argu
es Jesus that psalms 82:6 rsv says] 'you are gods all of you' and the scripture cann
ot be rejected."
"Jesus is truly normal-that is to say, standard -human being. To become like him
is to belong (if one may say so) to his family rather than that of Adam the Fir
st, is not to become freakish and abnormal; it is to discover what being human r
eally is." (28A)
Understanding that Jesus' goal is to expand consciousness, we must ask, "Is cons
ciousness, as I now experience it, merely a stepping stone to a perfected stage
of consciousness?" The answer is that the nonjudgmental rules of logic which Jes
us' Gnostic teachings provide are the key to the fourth and perfected psychologi
cal stage in a model of five developmental stages of consciousness.
Paul's five stages in the development of consciousness appear in Romans (8:29-30
kjv).
"For whom he [God] did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his son, that he might be the first born [enlightened man] among many
[rational, but unenlightened] brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them
he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justifi
ed, them he also glorified."
An introduction to Paul's model follows.
Stage I of Consciousness: The "foreknown" refers to prehistoric beings who were
not rationally conscious, but were predestined to develop the potential to reaso
n. Mindless behavior characterizes Stage I. Jude 10 refers to those in this stag
e as "irrational animals."
Biblically, Stage I begins when God creates mankind and ends when Adam eats from
the tree of forbidden fruit.
The key to Stage I is life. Our pre-rational consciousness in infancy exemplifie
s this stage.
Stage II of Consciousness: Stage II refers to the first stage of rational beings
, those of us who are in the "image" of Jesus, meaning rational like Jesus, but
do not have a conscience. Narrow-mindedness, intolerance, mean-spiritedness, and
prejudicial behavior identify this beginning stage of rational consciousness. P
aul uses the terms "base mind" (Rm 1:28 rsv) and "senseless mind" (1:21) for tho
se in Stage II.
Biblically, Stage II begins when Adam chooses to eat the forbidden fruit, and en
ds when Moses gives the law. The term "lawless" in 2Pt 2:8 rsv and 1Tm 1:9 refer
s to a conscience-less behavior characterized by those in Stage II.
The key to Stage II is our awakening to self-consciousness through its agent, th
e "I", or ego, of the reasoning mind. Black and white thinking and actions deter
mined by reward and punishment, not conscience, are typical of our childhood and
exemplify this stage.
Stage III of Consciousness: Stage III refers to the "called", who are rational b
eings with an awakened conscience.
Biblically, Stage III begins when Moses gives the law, which establishes the eth
ical basis of right and wrong. This awakens our conscience, the inner voice that
calls us to do the law. However, we still have the tendency to rationalize what
we know is wrong. For that reason, James, in 1:8, refers to those in Stage III
as "double- minded." Nevertheless, openness, acceptance, and inclusive behavior
generally exemplify Stage III.
In Eph 5:14, Paul calls us to "wake up from your sleep [the belief that we are f
ully consciousness when we are not], rise from the dead [leading unfulfilling li
ves], and you will touch Christ [you will find your god-like potentials of highe
r reasoning]."
The key to Stage III is the introduction of laws, and in turn, our conscience, w
hich is awakened by our moral responsibility to the law. The developing conscien
ce of early Stage III can equate to our adolescence. And the reaching for perfec
tion of later Stage III can equate to our responsible, but not fully mature, adu
lthood.
Stage IV of Consciousness: Stage IV refers to "the justified," those of us who a
re righteous or right-minded. Paul speaks of this in Eph 4:21-26, "You must give
up your old way of life; you must put aside your old self, which gets corrupted
by following illusory desires [that we rationalize in lower Stages of conscious
ness]. Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual [psychological] revolution so that
you can put on a new life that has been created in God's way, in the goodness a
nd holiness [perfection] of the truth [of Jesus' logic teachings]. So from now o
n there must be no more lies: you must speak the truth to one another, since we
are all parts of one another."
Seeing ourselves in others, sharing unconditionally, and always acting in accord
with our conscience characterizes the right-thinking of those in Stage IV. Huma
n nature, at this stage, is perfect, loving, and godlike.
Biblically, Stage IV begins when Jesus reveals his Gnostic teachings and ends wh
en everyone reasons accordingly.
The key to Stage IV consciousness is to understand the prevailing theory of natu
re and the new theory of nature that Jesus reveals in his Gnostic teachings. Und
erstanding both theories allies our reasoning mind with our heart. We, therefore
, do the law from within both the head and the heart. Paul refers to those in St
age IV as "men made perfect" (Heb 12:23) and to those who have the "mind of Chri
st." (1Co 2:16) We can equate this stage to our fully mature and enlightened adu
lthood.
Stage V of Consciousness: Paul refers to Stage V as the "glory." In the glory, n
onjudgmental reasoning will be universal because public and parochial schools wi
ll teach Jesus' theory of nature. Theologians of all persuasions will recognize
that if our children learn to reason lovingly, they will live the love, peace an
d joy that religion preaches. Educators will teach Jesus' theory of nature becau
se it is a natural principle that supports brotherly love. We have always known
that love is the answer. Jesus' Gnostic teachings make love the rational thing t
o do.
In Stage V, all will have learned to reason lovingly. We will no longer think it
reasonable to look out for ourselves as others suffer. We will see ourselves as
one with all others and therefore treat them as ourselves. This is the key that
fulfills Jesus' promise that "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Th
is ushers in the Kingdom of God-the glory of Stage V.
Review
The rule of thumb for determining the stages or rational and moral development i
s, the more our care and commitment becomes inclusive, the higher stage we have
reached. When we are at Stage I, or slip back into this level of thinking, we ca
re little about others; our concern is primarily with ourselves. Kindness, compa
ssion, and love are not yet qualities of our minds. On the contrary, as exemplar
s of the highest levels of Stage IV, the Buddha and Jesus are the very embodimen
t of compassion and love. Most of us fall somewhere in between. Our mission as h
uman beings is to continue the development of our rational process and our compr
ehension of the laws of thought upon which our reasoning ultimately depends. My
purpose is to demonstrate that with our rational development will come a corresp
onding advancement in our moral character. When all reach our maximum potentials
for reasoning, we will reason morally and create a kingdom of heaven right here
on earth.

Details of 5 Stages of Consciousness

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Contemporary Models of Five Stages of Human Development
Jesus' Five Stage Model of Consciousness And How His Theory of Nature Provides t
he Key To Stage IV
Biblical References To The Five Stages Of Consciousness
The Gnostic Interpretation of Rm 8:29-30
Stage I of Consciousness
Stage II of Consciousness
Stage III of Consciousness
Toward a new Civilization
Stage IV of Consciousness
Learning From the Past
The Return to the Garden
Characteristics of Stage IV
Baptism of the Spirit
Practical Applications of Jesus' Gnostic Teachings In Stage IV
Reinventing Civilization in Stage IV
TRUE HAPPINESS
Stage V The Glory
Five Stages of Consciousness In Paul's Writings
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contemporary Models of Five Stages of Human Development
Analyses of human development in stages of consciousness can be found in the wri
tings of prominent contemporary thinkers. Let us first review some of these cont
emporary models, which we can then relate to Paul's model.
It is appropriate to point out that at each stage of humanity's development, a n
ew and different "nature" emerges. This will be obvious even to the casual obser
ver. A human being whose basic focus is meeting physiological needs will seem qu
ite different from a human being concerned with gaining love or self-esteem. Cer
tainly, the human being obsessed with security will express human nature in a fu
ndamentally different way from one seeking self-realization. Human nature is not
static. It reflects the level of consciousness we attain. Nature intends that w
e all reach our full potential of consciousness. The wide range of human thinkin
g, however, demonstrates that some of us have evolved more than others.
Note: Experience teaches that Nature intends us to grow through each of the five
stages. Therefore no one stage is superior to the other, any more than college
graduates are superior to third graders because they know more. (They should kno
w more.) Life experiences and choices are the major determinants in expanding ou
r consciousness, not natural abilities, privilege, or education. This is extreme
ly important. If we believe human nature cannot be trusted, our social instituti
ons will reflect this belief. If we believe that human nature is good, we will b
uild social institutions that see good as a meaningful goal.
The growth of consciousness can be seen as a form of intellectual metamorphosis.
Just as a caterpillar is transformed through metamorphoses into a butterfly, so
is our consciousness transformed, from one stage to the next, by the right expe
riences at the right time. And just as a caterpillar cannot be considered less n
oble than a butterfly, lower stages of consciousness cannot be considered inferi
or to higher ones. Actually the higher one is, in consciousness, the less likely
he is to judge in terms of superior/inferior.
In Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, he recognizes that an individual stage c
annot be used to judge a persons worth. "The peak of the earlier stage must be p
assed before the next and 'higher' need emerges to dominate the organism [indivi
dual]. This [five step] sequence characterizes not only growth from childhood to
maturity, but the growth of cultures from subsistence to free expression. For t
his reason an individual stage cannot be used as an automatic value judgment on
personal worth, but is rather indicative of a benign social environment [note] Sud
den emotional or physical deprivation will cause 'lower' needs to reawaken." (28
B)
This is an important point to keep in mind as we briefly review some analyses of
human development. My argument is that civilized man is locked into Stages II a
nd III because we have not yet learned how to reason nonjudgmentally. Nonjudgmen
tal logic is the key that frees us to reason nonjudgmentally / lovingly.
Note: Later we will learn that human nature is not depraved, but rather deprived
, of a rational way to reason lovingly.
Abraham Maslow characterizes the stages of human development in terms of the pro
gressive satisfaction of a "hierarchy of needs": first, physiological "survival"
needs such as food, drink, and exercise; second, "safety" needs such as securit
y, order, and protection; third, the social need of "belonging," such as accepta
nce and love; fourth, personal enhancement or "esteem needs" such as self-respec
t, status, and prestige; and finally, the pinnacle of needs relating to "self-ac
tualization", self-realization, higher personal growth, and holistic fulfillment
. (29)
In his Hero With a Thousand Faces, the distinguished mythologist Joseph Campbell
traces humankind's developmental journey. We might summarize this journey in te
rms of five historical stages of progressive civilization: first, primitive hunt
ing people; second, tribes sharing together in the wilderness; third, the emerge
nce of conscience and the idea of moral law; fourth, the awareness of social int
erdependence; and finally, the realization that there is a divine existence whic
h indwells all of humanity.
Jesuit priest, and accomplished paleontologist, Teilhard de Chardin, in his The
Phenomena of Man, similarly suggests five historical stages of development. Firs
t is the pre-human hominid, which he terms "mentoid." This is followed, by a sec
ond self-conscious and reflective homo sapiens, whose emergence marked the begin
ning of civilization. (30) The third stage is characterized by the development o
f highly individualized persons, whose development in large numbers may be linke
d with the period of the Renaissance. According to de Chardin, we are currently
in the fourth stage, the age of transformation, (31) characterized not only by o
ur awareness of our evolutionary development, (32) but also a desire to integrat
e self with others and nature. (33) Beyond us lies a fifth stage, the "convergen
ce" or "mega-synthesis" of hyper-personal consciousness, oriented toward God, th
e Omega Point. (34) Teilhard uses the term "hominisation" to designate the proce
ss by which the proto-human evolves into the more human, toward what may be call
ed "ultra-hominisation," the future stage in which humanity transcends its curre
nt state. (35)
Still another model is offered by Lawrence Kohlberg in his analysis of moral dev
elopment. The first, or "preconventional" stage, exists before social awareness;
obedience to morality is instilled by punishment, and "good" is whatever brings
about the desired result. The morality of the second stage is determined by the
"conventions" of a society; the individual's interpersonal relations are guided
by the rules or conventions of the particular society. The morality of the thir
d stage has its legalistic basis in a social contract. The morality of the fourt
h stage transcends both particular societal conventions, and even the theory of
a social contract, and instead, is grounded in "universal ethical principles." (
36) A fifth and spiritual stage of moral development is only hinted at in Kohlbe
rg's early writing.
Ken Wilber adopts a similar pattern of spiritual development in his book, A Soci
able God. In order to maintain the parallel with the writers mentioned above, we
will condense his eight categories into five stages. Wilber calls the first sta
ge the "archaic," by which he means that consciousness is concerned with surviva
l and self-preservation. There is a certain "magical" or superstitious aspect to
consciousness at this level, suggesting a lack of shared reality. The second st
age is that of "mythic/membership" where the individual's identity is defined by
, and thus is not separate from, the group. It is only in the third stage that r
ational, self-reflective, and individualistic consciousness truly develops. In W
ilber's fourth stage, a new "inter-individualistic" consciousness emerges, with
a capacity for intimacy as well as personal autonomy, and an awareness of a univ
ersal community. The final stages are characterized by the development of (a) ps
ychic capacity for cosmic consciousness, (b) intuitive capacity for illumination
, and (c) ultimately transcendence of the subject-object duality. (37)
The Hindu saint, Sri Aurobindo, also offers a similar pattern for spiritual deve
lopment. One of his analyses is couched in terms of the origin of standards of c
onduct. (38) The first and lowest moral standards arise from personal needs and
desires associated with physical and vital necessities. Secondly, emotional and
mental cravings and imaginations provide the source of morality. Only in the thi
rd stage does moral consciousness develop to respond to law and the good of the
collective consciousness of the group, which at this stage takes precedence over
individual needs and desires. The fourth origin of morality is an ideal ethic:
here thought overcomes instinct, and one is called upon to recognize that the ne
eds of the individual are invalid if they conflict with the moral law. There is
still a fifth source of morality, when finally the Divine Law becomes the standa
rd and supreme law, and moves the human spirit toward its own concealed perfecti
on. (39)
What is remarkable about these various analyses is their similarity. We human be
ings begin almost as a "seed" of what we shall later become, and we shall develo
p beyond where we currently find ourselves. Along the way, we increase our aware
ness of both our individuality and our interrelatedness, as we are called toward
a higher goal. Accordingly, we are not yet what we are! We have yet to evolve o
r develop into the full potential the human spirit is capable of becoming.
Other similar models are outlined below:

In Hinduism
Stage I Stage II Stage III Stage IV Stage V
Student House-holder Forest Dweller Renunciant Moksha
Student House-holder Hermit Sannyas Moksha
Shanta Dasya Sakhya Vatsalya Madhura

In Buddhism
Stage I Stage II Stage III Stage IV Stage V
Recognize All Life as Suffering Recognize the Cause of Suffering is Desire Recog
nize Narvana Can Be Achieved Recognize the Way to Achieve Narvana Narvana
Unmanifest Manifest Unenlightened Enlightened Immortal
The Five Nafs of Sufism - Islam's "Mystical Core
Stage I Stage II Stage III Stage IV Stage V
The Commanding Nafs The Accusatory Nafs The Inspired Nafs The Tranquil Nafs The
Perfected Nafs
Abraham Maslow's Psychological Model
Stage I Stage II Stage III Stage IV Stage V
Physiological Needs Safety Needs Belonging Needs Esteem Needs Self-Actualizatio
n
Freud' Psychological Model
Stage I Stage II Stage III Stage IV Stage V
Oral Stage Anal Stage Phallic Stage Latency Period Genital Stage
Conditioned Reflexes Habits Personal Traits Selves Total Personality
We can imagine from the functional equivalency of the above models that we keep
rediscovering the concept of stages in the development of consciousness, but fai
l to benefit from these models. If we did, we would understand that our present
perception of our political, religious, social, and economic reality is more the
product of lower stages of consciousness-than the truth of reality.
Psychologist Eric Fromm suggests we may not have yet reached our highest potenti
als of consciousness. "It is naively assumed that the fact that the majority of
people share certain ideas or feelings proves the validity of those ideas and fe
elings. Nothing is further from the truth. Consensual validation as such, has no
bearing whatsoever on reason or mental health. Just as there is a 'folie a' deu
x', there is a 'folie a' millions'! The fact that millions of people share the s
ame vices, do not make those vices virtues, the fact that they share so many err
ors, do not make the errors truths, the fact that millions share the same forms
of mental pathologic [consciousness], does not make these people sane." (40)
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Jesus' Five Stage Model of Consciousness And How His Theory of Nature Provides t
he Key To Stage IV
Jesus' parable of the sower (Mark 4:13-20) conveys how his teachings are receive
d according to the stage of consciousness of the receiver. What the sower is sow
ing is the Word, meaning the logos/mind of God. As soon as those on the edge of
the path (those in Stage I) hear about the word/logos, they let Satan [the perso
nification of evil] come and carry it away. Similarly, those who receive the see
d on patches of rock [those in Stage II] hear the Word [Jesus' logos/logic teach
ings] and at first, welcome it with joy. But because they have no root in them,
they do not last;.. When the first test or persecution on account of the word co
mes, they fall away at once. "For they have no moral conscience to persist. Then
there are others, [those in Stage III], who receive the seed in thorns, [meanin
g in a judgmental environment]. They have heard the word, but the worries of thi
s world, the lure of riches, and all other passions come in to choke the word, a
nd so it produces nothing. And then, there are those who have received the seed
in rich soil [those in Stage IV]. They hear the word and accept it and yield a h
arvest, 30 and 60 and a 100 fold." [Mark 4:13-20]
The key concept, upon which Jesus anchored his knowledge teachings, is that each
of us is meant to grow through five forms/states of consciousness and each form
is initiated by a consciousness-raising idea. Paul refers to growing our consci
ousness in CO 2:2: "it is to bind you together in love and to stir your minds, s
o that your understanding may come to full development, until you really know Go
d's secret [Stage IV of consciousness] in which all the jewels of wisdom and kno
wledge are hidden."
Note: a consciousness-raising idea is an idea that changes how we are conscious
of an experience rather than simply expanding our understanding of that experien
ce. We may, for example, know that we should "do unto others as we would have th
em do unto us." But, until we understand our oneness with others, we will contin
ue to be conscious of others as separate from us, making the performance of "The
Golden Rule" more difficult than it should be. On the other hand, if we knew ot
hers were one with us, following "The Golden Rule" would be simple, natural, and
even automatic. Another example of a consciousness-raising idea is learning the
"I" of self-consciousness, for it is beyond the comprehension of instinctual co
nsciousness, just as the consciousness of an adult is beyond that of an infant.
For example, an infant is not conscious of his/her self. The point is that there
is no reason to believe that we are, even as adults, fully conscious. The "grea
ter things" Jesus promised may be experienced only in a higher stage of consciou
sness than our present "adult" consciousness.
As mentioned above, contemporary psychological and spiritual models of five stag
es in the development of consciousness are abundant. Because these contemporary
models may be, in principle, parallel to Jesus' knowledge teachings about five s
tages of consciousness, let us keep them in mind as we explore the five stages o
f consciousness in Gnostic thought.
It is important to remember that at each stage of our development, a new and dif
ferent self or "ego" emerges. The nature of the ego of a person, whose basic foc
us is meeting their physiological needs, will seem quite different from the ego
of a person concerned with gaining love or self-esteem. The person obsessed with
security will have an ego that is fundamentally different from a person seeking
self- realization. So, the ego a person manifests depends upon his/her psycholo
gical stage of development.
Again, the fact is that many recognize that we human beings begin almost as a se
ed of what we shall later become and that we shall develop beyond where we curre
ntly find ourselves. Along the way we increase our awareness of our individualit
y and our inter-relatedness with others as we are called towards a higher goal.
Accordingly, we are not yet what we are. We have yet to evolve or develop into t
he full potential the human spirit is capable of becoming. As the poet says,
"Withdraw into yourself and look. If you do not find yourself beautiful yet, act
as does the creator of a statue he cuts away here, he smoothes there, he makes th
is line lighter, the other purer until a lovely face has grown upon his work. So
do you also: cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked and n
ever cease chiseling your statue until you see the perfect goodness established in
the stainless shrine." (41)
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Biblical References To The Five Stages Of Consciousness

In the gospel of Philip, "the moral significance of any act depends on the situa
tion, intentions, and level of consciousness of the participants." (42)
It would be odd if western sacred literature did not hint at the five stages dis
closed by the contemporary thinkers above. A clear example of these stages may b
e found in Paul's letters to the Romans, 8:28-30.
"For those God fore-knew [Stage I], he also predestined to be conformed into the
likeness of his Son [Stage II], that He might be the first born, among many bro
thers, and those He predestined, he also called [Stage III]; those he called, he
also justified [Stage IV]; those he justified, he also glorified [Stage V]."
According to Biblical scholarship, such as Peake's commentary 8: 29-30, this ver
se means that God "has" a plan for the perfection of man. In Peake's words, "Chr
ist's task is to bring man into son-ship-and service of God, to be a senior memb
er of a new human family in which all are brothers and sisters [the justified of
Stage II]. The formation of these men and women begins with God's call to them
[Stage III]. As they respond, they come into their right relation to God [Stage
IV], and that means that something of the divine glory becomes theirs [Stage V].
" (43)
In their biblical commentary on Romans 8:20-30, Gore and his fellow editors, off
er a developmental model similar to Peake's. Gore states that, "The history of t
he individual Christian is here conceived as a line (so to speak) stretching fro
m eternity through time through eternity. In this line, five crucial points stan
d out. One, God's prevision or fixing His regard on the yet unborn soul* [non-ra
tional beings in Stage I who are] "predestined" [to become rational beings in Sta
ge II] Three, His call, presumably conveyed by bringing the predestined within he
aring of the Gospel [Stage III]; Four, His acquittal, or absolution of the soul,
bestowed in consideration of its acceptance of the Gospel [Stage IV]; Five, His
glorification of the messianic kingdom [Stage V]." (44)
Paul focuses in on the three most relevant stages of consciousness in Heb. 4:6-1
0, Stages II, III, and Four, when he insists "that 'today' is the decisive time 'd
ays' signify three distinct stages in the process of spiritual [here meaning psy
chological growth] The 'first day' signify the hylic stage of immersion in materi
ality [Stage II]; the 'second day' represents the psychic stage of conversion [S
tage III]; the 'third day', the pneumatic 'day' signifies enlightenment or resur
rection [Stage IV]." (45)
Paul writes in his letter to the Romans in 8:19 that "the whole creation is eage
rly awaiting the revelation of the sons of God. The sons of God [Stage IV] are t
hose who are moved by the spirit (or Spirit,) whether the Holy Spirit or man's o
wn inner spiritual human spirit, 'man's higher moral and religious self." (46)
We can discern these same five stages of consciousness in the Gnostic Gospel of
Eugnostos the Blessed. The "unbegotten" refers to the fore-known (prehistoric no
n-rational beings of Stage I). The "self-begotten" refers to the first self-cons
cience rational beings who were rational but conscious-less (Stage II). The "gen
etor" refers to rational beings with a conscience who are called to go beyond re
ason and love unconditionally (Stage III). The Photogentor refers to Jesus as th
e first or prototype of someone who has internalized the high reasoning/logos of
God (Stage IV). He then teaches this higher form of reasoning to others. This i
s the key to the enlightened mind of the Pangentor, those who have reached Stage
IV of consciousness. When all reach Stage IV, the alpha-omega consciousness of
the Archigentor (Stage V) is achieved. (46A)
Note: Rm 8-23 "the whole creation groans (yearns) in birth pangs (Stages I - III
) for a better time (Stage IV). See 2Co 5:1-2) "Creation will one day be deliver
ed" Is 65:16 "set straight" Jer "God within" "do what I do not want" something i
s missing, set right, and day of adoption.
Gnostic Christians' goal is to "become spiritually* 'mature [meaning psychologic
ally perfect]', to go beyond elementary instructions towards higher levels of unde
rstanding. And this higher awareness they call Gnosis, which means 'knowledge' o
r 'insight'". "Valentinus urged Christians to go beyond the elementary steps of
faith, baptism, and moral reform to spiritual illumination [psychological unders
tanding]. His followers claimed moreover, to have received from his access to th
e secret teachings of Paul, the 'deeper mysteries' that Paul reserved from his p
ublic teachings " (47)
Jesus taught that we are all children of God and, therefore, have within us the
potential to be perfect and loving, like God. As the Bible says in Gen 1:27 rsv,
we are created in the "image of God." This means we are psychologically, not ph
ysically, like God.
As mentioned above, Jesus himself supports the notion of our potential to be per
fect and godlike in Jn 10:34-35 jbv. Here he says that it is not blasphemous, as
the high priests claim, for anyone to think that he or she can be like God-"is
it not written [argues Jesus that psalms 82:6 rsv says] 'you are gods all of you' an
d the scripture cannot be rejected."
If we are meant to become like God, as Jesus himself teaches, is consciousness,
as we now experience it, merely a stepping-stone to a perfected stage of conscio
usness? The answer is that the nonjudgmental rules of logic which Jesus' Gnostic
teachings provide are the key to the fourth and perfected psychological stage i
n a model of five developmental stages of consciousness. Let us now explore how
Gnostic Christians interpret 8:29-30 and how that interpretation infers the poss
ibility of our perfection.
In simple terms, Gnostic Christians identify the Five Stages of Consciousness ac
cording to the following principles.
Stage I refers to non-rational beings.
Stage II refers to rational beings without a conscience.
Stage III refers to rational beings with a conscience.
Stage IV refers to the expanded consciousness (enlightenment) achieved by using
both judgmental and nonjudgmental laws of logic.
Stage V refers to an amplified form of consciousness in which the whole is more
than the sum of the parts.
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The Gnostic Interpretation of Rm 8:29-30

Stage I of Consciousness
According to the Gnostic analysis of Romans 8:29-30, "the foreknown" refers to h
umanity's prehistoric and non-rational past. This is Stage I.
The consciousness-raising idea that initiates Stage I is life itself. In scriptu
re, Stage I begins when God creates preconscious man and ends when Adam becomes
the first self-conscious rational being. In effect, the foreknown are the pre-ra
tional, instinctual beings, destined to develop into the likeness of God, as exe
mplified by the nonjudgmental character of Jesus.
Governed by instinct, those in Stage I live without being fully conscious of lif
e. They have no concept of guilt, deception, evil, justice, philosophy, history,
or the future. Here God is thunder, lightning, and fertility.
Perhaps the "Nephilim" in Gen. 6:4 were preconscious beings who lived primitive
and immoral lives in what the Bible describes as "Sheol/Hell". According to Gnos
tics, the "nabi" were remnants of pre-rational beings who existed at the time in
which the oldest books of the bible were written. In those books, Yahweh calls
for the nabi's extinction. "The nature of existence in Sheol was heathen, and no
n-moral, and could in no sense form a basis on which to form an ethical and spir
itual doctrine thus, the first stage was eminently distinctive in character, but thi
s only with a view to a higher reconstruction. For whilst Yawhehism was destroyi
ng the false life in Sheol [the preconscious cultures of Stage I beings], it was
steadily developing in the individual the consciousness of a new life." (48)
We can connect this change in consciousness with what some historians call the "
Dorian Invasions."
In his book, The Republic, the philosopher, Plato, speaks of a time 'before reas
on' when innocence reigned. In his book, The Origins of Consciousness in the Bre
akdown of the Bicameral Mind, Professor Julien Jaynes argues convincingly that m
ost cultures before 1500 BC were dominantly right brain * orientated, and theref
ore, not self-conscious as we are. Feminine goddesses, rather than masculine god
s, exemplify ancient right brain culture. Perhaps we still share memories of tho
se times in our collective consciousness.
Some of us long for a return to the past. We imagine it as an innocent and gentl
e time. But we forget that in the selfless consciousness of right-brained or pre
conscious man, we were unaware of what we experienced. We had no sense of self t
o relate our experiences to. An example of what can be termed selfless, right-br
ained, or preconscious consciousness can occur when driving our car without bein
g aware of it because our mind was focused elsewhere. Other examples are, when w
e cannot remember what we did because we were intoxicated or on drugs, and when
we quiet the ego or mind self during meditation.
Biblical terms for those in Stage I are "ancient world" in 1Peter 2:4, "irration
al animals", 1Peter 2:12; "before the foundations of the world", Eph. 1:4; "men
in their dreaming", 2Peter 22. Gnostic Christians use terms like "unbegotten", m
eaning those not yet born to reason, and "pro-pator", meaning the forefathers of
rational man.
Top
Stage II of Consciousness
Stage II refers to the first stage of rational beings, those of us who are in th
e "image" of Jesus, meaning rational like Jesus, but do not have a conscience. M
ean-spiritedness, narrow-mindedness, intolerance, and prejudicial behavior ident
ify this stage. The term "lawless" in 2Pt 2:8 rsv and 1Tm 1:9 refers to the cons
cience-less behavior of those in Stage II. Paul also uses the terms "base mind"
(Rm 1:28 rsv) and "senseless mind" (1:21). At this stage, human nature cannot be
trusted.
In Stage II, for example, many of us make decisions in companies and industries
whose products work against the good of all, yet we think of ourselves as good,
God-fearing people. And many of the rest of us, given the chance to earn high in
comes, would do the same. This is conscience-less reasoning. In his first letter
, the apostle John expresses the relationship between loving God and loving one'
s fellow man.
"If a man say I love God, and hateth [and cheats] his brother, he is a liar: for
he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he ha
s not seen?" (First John 4:20-21, KJV)
Biblically, Stage II begins when Adam chooses to eat the forbidden fruit, and en
ds when Moses gives the law. The key to Stage II is our awakening to self-consci
ousness through its agent, the "I", or ego, of the reasoning mind.
In Gnostic thought, the second stage applies to the "first born", who are in the
"likeness of his son", meaning the first rational beings who are psychologicall
y/spiritually like Jesus. By "the likeness" and "first born," Paul means self-co
nscious and rational like Jesus. By "in the image" of Jesus, Paul means that in
Stage II, even though we have learned to reason, the development of our reason h
as not yet reached the perfection of Jesus'. Our reason is like, or in the image
of, Jesus', but not as fully developed in its capacity to love unconditionally
as is his.
"Gnostics read the story of Adam and Eve as relating to the discovery of the authe
ntic spiritual self (Eve) [meaning the true psychological self that is still] hi
dden within the soul (Adam) [meaning in Stage I of consciousness] " (49)
The consciousness-raising idea that initiates Stage II is the idea of self- cons
ciousness, in other words, the discovery that the "I" is separate from all else.
It is this idea of self, which in turn, empowers us to reason, for it is the se
lf to which all rational thoughts relate.
Remember, by reasoning, I mean the process of relating two or more ideas or prem
ises in a way that they produce a conclusion not stated in the premise. If an an
imal, for example, moos (premise one) and gives milk (premise two), we can concl
ude that it is a cow. Reasoning then has to do with the process of relating idea
s, not the subject matter being related or the reasonableness of our conclusion.
Similarly we can come to a wide range of conclusions, depending on what stage of
consciousness we are in. Ideas, in and of themselves, do not reach conclusions.
People reach conclusions according to how they relate ideas.
For Gnostics, Stage II begins with Adam's decision to eat the apple from the tre
e of knowledge of good and evil and ends when Moses gives the law.
Adam's decision to eat the apple symbolizes the birth of self-consciousness, and
, in turn, our ability to reason. For in his first act of choosing, Adam makes t
he distinction between himself (the subject or "I" who chooses) and his choices
("It.") In making that distinction Adam, meaning mankind, became self-conscious.
The author of the Adam and Eve story reinforces that this story symbolizes the b
irth of self-consciousness by adding that it was after Adam ate the apple that h
e realized he was "naked." This indicates that, before his choice, Adam was not
yet self-conscious, he was still in the instinctual stage of consciousness. (Sta
ge I). The connection between being naked and being ashamed of our bodies is the
 product of Augustine's interpretation of Rm 5:12, not the author of Genesis.
John Milton's poem, Paradise Lost, exemplifies Adam's choosing self- consciousne
ss and reason [Stage II] over the selflessness of instinct in the Garden of Eden
[Stage I], for it suggests Adam's awakening to self-consciousness.
"Some tears they drop, but wipe them soon. The world was all before them, theirs
to choose." (50)
Note: Technically speaking, Adam had three options when he became aware of the d
istinction between himself and his choices. One, he could see himself as distinc
t from all else, which is the underlying cause of civilized man's consciousness
of separation. Two, he could see himself as part of the subject of his choices,
which is the underlying cause of "aboriginal man's'" consciousness of being a pa
rt of nature. And three, he could perceive himself as both separate from and yet
one with nature. This perception is the goal of Gnosticism.
Choice, however, is not without responsibility and even terror. Self-consciousne
ss is not only a blessing, but also a curse. Jung has suggested that when "the u
nconscious, instinctive mind of primitive man" evolved into the conscious reflec
ting mind, the resulting "orphaned and isolated" mental states were all too ofte
n the negative ones of doubt and fear. "Abandoned by nature" as we evolved into
self-consciousness, we could have experienced the dawn of conscious awareness as
a curse, as the Biblical story of The Fall depicts. For our reasoning, or self-
conscious, mind would now find itself separated from all else, and therefore, a
lone.
In Stage II, then, rationality makes its first appearance. This stage is charact
erized in terms of a sense of "security and order" (Maslow), "shared tribal valu
es" (Joseph Campbell), "self conscious and reflective homo-sapien" (Chardin). As
individuals we would relate to others in Stage II in our society by "rules, reg
ulations, or conventions of a particular society" (Kohlberg). Also, "the individ
ual's identity is defined by-and thus not separate from-the group" (Wilber). Eac
h analysis recognizes that a growing self-consciousness that identifies with the
clan or tribe, or religious, political, or racial group is dawning in Stage II.
It is a positive step to become aware of ourselves as distinct from others, to "
individuate," to use the psychologist Carl Jung's term-to become our own person.
Distinction from others involves becoming aware of others as different from our
selves. The sense of separation means the loss of that innocence or ignorance sy
mbolized by Adam and Eve before they tasted the forbidden fruit in the garden. B
ut this is a positive step in a developing rational consciousness.
"Man, who lives in the Garden of Eden, in complete harmony with nature, but with
out awareness of himself, begins his history by the first acts of freedom, disob
edience to a command. Concomitantly, he becomes aware of himself, of his separat
eness, of his helplessness; he is expelled from paradise and two angels with fie
ry swords prevent his return." (51)
Self Identity In Stage II
Self-identity in Stage II, then, is a product of our experience, which is provid
ed by the environment and our social group. Hence, the ego self which develops a
t Stage II is, by and large, a social fabrication. At this stage, we imagine our
selves as confronted with a choice between basic instincts and impulsive drives,
on the one hand, and the rational and moral demands of our group, on the other.
Until very late in this stage of development our identity is structured in term
s of this dualism.
Note: This dualism surfaces in clearly defined distinctions between ourselves an
d others, our race and others, our religion and others, our country and others,
and on and on.
This is Kohlberg's "conventional level": moral values are determined by performi
ng the correct roles within the conventional order. In Stage II, we learn to do
what maintains the general authority and social order of our group. Our mentalit
y in this Stage is typically a "law and order" one. Stability is provided by the
social group within which we align ourselves. Hence, our developing ego would i
dentify with these groups and they would become the determining source of our va
lues and character. Being a "conservative", for example, often implies maintaini
ng the values of "our" particular church, political party or special interest gr
oup. In effect, the ego self in Stage II develops through its experience in a gr
oup-such as a family, church, political community, gang, or cult.
The categories of either belonging, or not belonging, are central to our thinkin
g and reasoning in Stage II. In Maslow's "hierarchy of needs" this stage is iden
tified by such social needs as "security, order, and protection" i.e., law and o
rder and conformity. Some of us in Stage II, for example, judge that homosexuali
ty is immoral, because it does not conform to the interests of our group. A conf
ormity like this does not take into account that Jesus says we should not judge.

Social problems arise when we derive our identity in opposition to other groups,
sometimes in a way that may be very childish and even destructive. The negative
side of Stage II is the 'us versus them' mentality endemic to the clan; "if you
're not one of us, then you're against us." Dogmatic 'us versus them' and vengef
ul thinking can exemplify our mean-spirited mentality in Stage II.
Like small children, in Stage II we are absolutely convinced that we are right.
It follows that we will be positively certain that those who disagree with us ar
e wrong. Anyone who disagrees becomes "they", or even the enemy. What is importa
nt to realize is that the source of this mechanism lies in the 'us versus them',
either/or, dogmatic consciousness of Stage II, which judges others in terms of
their difference from our own group.
Historical Examples of Stage II of Consciousness that Persist Today
In Stage II, our social institutions are based on logic justified by Plato's the
ory of nature. This does not work any better than trying to build a home with de
ntal tools. For, just as building a home requires the proper tools, so does buil
ding equitable social philosophies require both Aristotelian and nonjudgmental l
ogic, not a monopoly of one or the other. The perfect example of Aristotelian lo
gic distorting even the best of intentions is religious wars. For even though re
ligions are the shepherds of love and peace, they can become oppressive when pra
cticed in the context of Aristotle's judgmental laws of logic. It is our habit,
of trying to love in a field of Aristotelian logic, that pits the one true God o
f Islam, against the one true God of Judaism, against the one true God of Christ
ianity, and on and on.
Another good illustration of how Aristotelian logic interferes with the accompli
shment of worthy goals surfaces in our political arenas. Democracy, monarchy, th
eocracy, and communism, for example, are all supposed to represent the will of t
he people. However, all too often, hierarchical reasoning concerning power and m
oney turns most states into "oligarchies", governments controlled by privilege,
based on wealth. In practical terms, "oligarchies" are governments that are cont
rolled by special interest groups.
In Stage II and into Stage III, we tend to think of the past as the 'good old da
ys', when greed and lust for power came in second to honor and chivalry. History
, however, documents that even though attire and technology have changed, politi
cal institutions today are carbon copies of those in ancient Greece and Rome.
In Plato's book, The Republic, for example, he writes what is all too often the
case today. His account of oligarchical states is worth noting because its famil
iarity proves how little political life has changed over the last two thousand y
ears. According to Plato, wealth in an oligarchy is controlled by a select few,
"riches and rich men are honored virtue and virtuousness are dishonored." (52)
"Money is [generally] the ruler of success, and a leader is elected because he i
s rich not because he is a better pilot." (52) "To keep their power leaders of o
ligarchies side with the rich and the poor get poorer. The poor, however, cannot
rebel because their means of subsistence is controlled by special interests the
y cannot influence, period. Sometimes forced to sell all that he has, the poor d
well in the city of which he is no longer a part, being neither tradesman, nor a
rtisan, nor horseman, nor hoplite, but only poor helpless creatures [and] where
there are paupers, there are thieves and other criminals. [And I would add stree
t gangs]" (53)
Stage II people in an oligarchical state "are money makers who resemble one anot
her in their toiling and raving ways, [they think] only how lesser sums of money
can be turned into larger ones. The oligarchical man keeps up a fair outside but
he has only an enforced virtue and will cheat when he can." (54) "He will not s
pend money in search of glory [virtue]; so afraid is he of awakening his expensi
ve appetites and inviting them to help in the struggle; in true oligarchical fas
hion he fights [injustice] only with a small part of his resources, and the resu
lt commonly is that he loses the prize and saves his money. (434) [the oligarchica
l man] then, will be at war with himself: he will be two men, and not one." (55)
.
Oligarchies fall in Stage II and III because the goal of oligarchical men is "to
become as rich as possible, a desire which is insatiable [a desire which in the e
nd leads to their downfall because acting as if] their power rests on their weal
th [they] refuse to curtail by law the extravagance of the spendthrift because th
ey gain [through interest] by their ruin: they take interest from them and thus
increase their own wealth and importance There can be no doubt that the love of we
alth and the spirit of moderation cannot exist together in citizens of the same
state to any considerable extent, one or the other will be disregarded." (56) Th
ose who favor moderation will be reduced to poverty as those who have wealth inc
rease their power through interest. "Men of business stooping as they walk, and
pretending not even to see those whom they have already ruined, insert their sti
ng [interest] into someone who is not on guard against them and recovery [throug
h interest] the parent sum many times over and so [over time] they make drone and
pauper abound in the state." (57)
In Paul's time, politics and economics were little changed from Plato's, even th
ough classical Greece had fallen and Rome had risen.
The Roman Empire had become an oligarchical state in Jesus' lifetime. The human
dramas played out then would seem familiar to todays. Unfortunately, those drama
s, and Jesus' involvement in them, are so distorted, by myths and supernatural a
ccounts of history, that the everyday political life of Jesus and his Gnostic fo
llowers are all but lost.
The political environment in which Jesus lived was anything but supernatural. Wh
at was considered important in Jesus' time is still considered important today.
"Materialism, military industrial complexes, bankers, unions, business, politics
, and princely powers" and corrupt "world leaders" (Ref Eph. 6:12) were major co
ncerns. "Bankers proliferated and prospered, they paid interest on deposits, cas
hed checks, met bills for their clients, lent and borrowed money, made or manage
d investments, and fattened on such relentless usury [interest] that cut throat
and money lender became one word." (58).
It is apparent that Jesus did not share in the hierarchical standards of the Sta
ge II values of his time. Jesus, like Paul, considered interest-bearing capital
a ruinous institution that sooner or later funneled all wealth into the hands of
a few at the cost of the dignity of the rest. Is not money loaned for interest
by and far the largest form of welfare? Money does not work, yet when loaned for
interest, it gets paid for doing nothing. For Gnostic Christians, loaning money
for interest was not condoned. It was considered a parasitic practice. (See Usu
ry in Glossary)
"No one [Jesus says in Mt. 6:21-34] can be the slave of two masters: either he w
ill hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the
second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and money for where your tr
easure is, there will your heart be also so do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow
will take care of itself." Yet to this day, most Christians worry more about bui
lding retirement funds for tomorrow than sharing with others today.
In Stage II, Aristotelian logic distorts the best of intentions of all economic
systems. Who would deny that history overflows with examples of class struggles
in which, over time, the victors become as corrupt as the losers.
Capitalism, for example, is based on the idea that humans are competitive by nat
ure, and therefore, they will attain the highest of their goals through competit
ive economic systems. That's no problem, if we think of our highest goals in ter
ms of better ways to enhance the well-being of humanity. In Stages II and III, h
owever, we think in terms of individual profit. Similarly, the basis of communis
m is teamwork and sharing. Again, there's no problem with this idea, except that
most of us are in Stages II and III, which makes us more concerned with ourselv
es than the team.
The basic flaw in capitalism, communism, socialism, or whatever well-intentioned
economic philosophy, is not in the philosophies themselves, but rather in the c
onsciousness of those who apply the philosophies. Karl Marx (1818-1883), for exa
mple, was a well-intentioned political philosopher who gave birth to modern comm
unism. But, when Joseph Stalin, in a lower stage of consciousness than Marx, app
lied Marx' philosophy, Marx' ideals were lost and communism became synonymous wi
th terror. The same holds true in religion. The universal love that Jeremiah, Je
sus, and Mohammad taught is historically undermined by zealots, inquisitors, rad
ical fundamentalists, and terrorists.
The shortcomings of religion, politics, and economics in Stage II can be seen as
a product of Aristotelian laws of logic being inappropriately applied. As was s
aid before, ideas do not relate themselves. People relate ideas/reason. And when
we relate ideas solely on the basis of Aristotle's laws of logic, as we do in S
tage II, we build social institutions, that sooner or later, separate us, destro
y us, bankrupt us, and worst of all, lead us to think we are virtuous, when we a
re not.
Speaking of "the system" in a derogatory way can be equated to the affinity for
judgmentalness that the Aristotelian system of logic builds into our social inst
itutions. We can liken that judgmentalness in contemporary philosophical systems
to the "beast" in Plato's book, The Republic, as well as to the beast in the bo
ok of Revelations, for both are personifications of judgmental reasoning which,
without our awareness, controls our lives. The evil aspects of materialism, cons
umerism, colonialism, fascism, Protestantism, Hinduism, and all other 'isms' are
not the real problem. The real problem is the built-in inclination to judgment
that lurks in our institutions like an ill-tempered beast, waiting to devour us
when we let down our guard of love.
Philosophy must redefine itself when it realizes that its basic tool, reason bas
ed on Aristotelian logic, cannot be considered a qualified instrument with which
 to do philosophy. Without this knowledge, society is at the mercy of chance, be
cause we would not know that how we now think and speak may be counterproductive
to the very things we love. We need to move into a new era of philosophy based
on both Aristotelian and nonjudgmental logic. Then, we will have all the tools n
ecessary to recreate civilization in such a way that we will feel safe and at ho
me.
It is important to remember that, in Stage II and III, we cannot live humanely w
ithin philosophical institutions built with Aristotelian logic. For when we use
only Aristotle's system of logic, our philosophies of religion and politics are
mined with judgmental reasoning. Our repetitive history of wars, racism, sexism,
and hypocrisy demonstrates that even the wisest and most noble of philosophies
will turn into judgmental institutions as long as we use the traditional tools o
f logic. For even though our social institutions are built to facilitate human n
eed, they are built with the tools of judgmental logic, which build into them an
affinity for judgment. This can undermine the stated purpose of even the most w
ell-intended institutions. Trying to build humane social institutions with Arist
otelian logic is like trying to cool down in a pot of boiling water. It cannot b
e done. To cool down, we need to put out the fire beneath the pot. To put out th
at fire, we need both Aristotelian and nonjudgmental logic.
Paul refers to those in Stage II of consciousness as "lawless" men (Second Peter
: 2:9), worldly people (Jude 10), peddlers of God's word (Second Corinthian 2:15
), the anti-Christ-meaning those opposed to Jesus' knowledge teachings (First Jo
hn 2:18), blind and short-sighted (Second Peter 1:9), disguised [hypocritical] s
ervants of righteousness (Second Corinthian 11:5), and in Gnostic terms as hylic
s-meaning "emerged in materialism" (59), self-begotten-meaning awakened to self-
consciousness, and sarkic-meaning materialistically driven.
Top
Stage III of Consciousness
Stage III refers to the "called", meaning rational beings with an awakened consc
ience. Human nature, at this stage, is reaching for perfection.
Biblically, Stage III begins when Moses gives the law, which establishes the eth
ical basis of right and wrong. This awakens our conscience, the inner voice that
calls us to do the law. In Stage II, we are rational, but conscience-less. In S
tage III we are rational and have a developed conscience. In this stage, however
, we still have the tendency to rationalize what we know is wrong. For that reas
on, James, in 1:8, refers to those in Stage III as "double-minded." Nevertheless
, openness, acceptance, and inclusive behavior generally exemplify Stage III.
The key to Stage III is the introduction of laws, and in turn, our conscience, w
hich is awakened by our moral responsibility to the law.
Stage III ends Biblically when Jesus reveals his Gnostic teachings.
Paul refers to those in Stage III in the development of consciousness as "the ca
lled", meaning those who are called by their conscience to be nonjudgmental and
loving. In Stage III these values are imminent spiritually, but intellectually,
they are often rationalized away.
In Paul's biblical model of five forms of consciousness, Stage III begins when M
oses gives the law to Israel and ends when Jesus revealed his theory of nature t
o the world. Paul refers to those in Stage III as "the called", for it is in thi
s stage that the law awakens in us our moral conscience, which ever after asks u
s to do good.
Lawgivers like Moses, Confucius, and the Greek philosopher Salon, were, for Paul
, more than teachers of wisdom. Their formation of a written code of ethics mark
ed a turning point in the development of consciousness for those codes establish
ed ethical criteria for right and wrong. It was in response to such laws that we
can find the origin of consciousness and its call to act in life- affirming way
s.
In Stage II we are lawless and therefore not morally responsible for we have no
laws to be responsible to. In Stage III we have knowledge of moral laws and are
therefore responsible to them. By moral, Gnostics mean 'life-affirming,' or, as
Dr. Albert Schwietzer said "the fundamental principle of morality [is] that good
consists in maintaining, promoting, and enhancing life, and that destroying, in
juring, and limiting life are evil." (60)
It is in our third stage in the development of consciousness that we become awar
e of our inner God-self, whose nature is love. We have discovered our God-self i
n Stage III for our conscience is the voice of our God-self.
The consciousness-raising idea that initiates Stage III, then, is written laws,
for they reform the consciousness of Stage II by adding a conscience. In effect,
the law transforms our rational, but conscience-less form of consciousness, int
o the moral form of consciousness of Stage III.
In Stage III we are no longer driven by dogmatic and judgmental reasoning. Our c
onscience tempers our judgments. We still judge, but in a context of compassion,
empathy, and openness to others. It is in Stage III where we begin to value div
ersity and even equal but opposite virtues. As Neal Bohr, father of quantum mech
anics, has confirmed, "the opposite of a most profound truth may well be another
most profound truth."
In Stage III we longer reason in black or white terms as in Stage II. Our consci
ence moves us to favor gray areas where unconditional love and compassion reside
. Jung would agree because he believes "conscience [in Stage III] is the interna
l perception of the rejection of a rational choice." In Stages IV and V our reas
oning and conscience are harmonious. That inner harmony is the inner peace that
most of us pursue, but too often look for in all the wrong places. Plato says it
best. "We all seek the good, but know not the nature of it".
Most of us, stuck in Stage III form of consciousness, are not yet aware of Jesus
' theory of nature, which is the consciousness-raising idea that admits us to St
age IV. We remain, therefore, caught up in the dilemma of not being able to reco
ncile what we know to be the Good with what our reason tells us is the practical
and logical thing to do.
Paul refers to those of us who are stuck in Stage III of consciousness as "doubl
e- minded men [who are] unstable in all his ways". (Jn 1:8 kjv)
The Greek philosopher, Zeno, tells a tale of Achilles' race with a turtle, to de
monstrate the odd truth that two minds, the rational and intuitive, often oppose
one another, even though they occupy the same head. This illustrates double-min
dedness-two minds in one head-because we intuitively know that the athlete Achil
les can outrun a turtle, yet we can, through mathematics, logically prove that A
chilles can never catch up with the turtle.
What Zeno is trying to explain is the dilemma that the ego-self is often in conf
lict with the intuitive self. And if we can understand the cause of this conflic
t, we can identify the root of evil, for evil lurks in our ability to rationaliz
e away what we intuitively know is right.
The key to reconciling the two minds is the key to Stage IV. This reconciliation
 brings the ego into harmony with the intuitive self, and in turn, the god-self
because in Stage III the intuitive self is synonymous with the god-self.
Stage III may be likened to the "young adult" stage of humanity. Wilber characte
rizes this stage as when "individual consciousness truly develops." Sri Aurobind
o says "moral consciousness develops [and] takes precedence over individual needs
and desires" in this stage. It is in Stage III, then, that the conscience makes
itself heard, and its moral nature known, through our self-conscious ego/mind.
Ideological systems in Stage III would have us believe that our "salvation" lies
in believing some doctrine, whether political, religious, or economic. But in t
he great and universal myths of judgment, from Egyptian to Christian, we are jud
ged not for our beliefs, but for our actions.
In Jesus' story of the Judgment (62), the sheep are divided from the goats on th
e basis of one very simple criterion: did they treat others as they would have t
reated him? Did they give food to the hungry, did they take the stranger in, did
they clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned? "Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (6
3) The sheep did, the goats did not. Those who will "inherit the kingdom," will
be those who draw no distinction between man and God, between the ordinary perso
n and Jesus. For to set the profane apart from the sacred, to distinguish the "m
ere" human being from the Lord, is to engage in judgment based on the categories
of either/or. In contrast, those of us who will be worthy of inheriting the kin
gdom must see in our fellow man both the human and the divine. Nonjudgmental log
ic is the way to this both/and reasoning. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita:
"I am the Self, seated in the hearts of all creatures." (64) "The true yogi obse
rves Me in all beings, and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realize
d man sees Me everywhere." (65)
Characteristics of Stage III
Characteristically, in Stage III we care for most everyone, but spend our time a
nd money primarily on our families and ourselves. In Stage III we might demonstr
ate against abortion, but fail to demonstrate our concern for millions of starvi
ng children. We all too often voice our care, but give only enough to appease ou
r conscience. The result is, to paraphrase Plato, we save our wallets but lose t
he prize. Admittedly, it is not easy to clearly distinguish our reasoning in Sta
ge III from that in Stage II. We must ask: what is it that we understand at Stag
e III that we do not at Stage II? For one thing, we would experience a growing a
wareness that there is a whole to which both sides of an either/or conflict belo
ng. We would realize that when we act without consideration for the general good
of others, we are in Stage I. When we act on our group's behalf against the wel
fare of the whole, we exemplify Stage II consciousness. In Stage III we begin to
realize that we are part of the whole, but still find it hard to commit totally
to the well-being of those outside our group.
In Stage II God is often personified as a vindictive father; in Stage III he is
generally personified as a loving father. This is why in Stages II or III of con
sciousness we tend to look for some divine fatherly image-or superhero-to make e
verything right for us.
Jesus used the parable of The Good Samaritan (66) to illustrate the difference b
etween the consciousness of Stage II and the lower levels of Stage III, on the o
ne hand, and the later levels of Stage III and of Stage IV on the other. In his
story, a priest and Levite walked by a man who had been robbed, wounded, and str
ipped naked and left to die on a road. The Levite, who represents a conscious le
ss person in Stage II, did not stop to render aid. The wounded man was not a Lev
ite, and therefore not his problem. The Priest, who represents a person with a c
onsciousness in Stage III, felt bad about the wounded man, but feared more for h
imself and moved on. But the Samaritan, who represents a person who sees himself
 in others (Stage IV), stopped and offered assistance. Jesus was illustrating ho
w we must become neighbors to one another without regard to our differences. Lov
e Thy Neighbor means that no one may be excluded from one's care and concern. Br
otherly love (agape) is to be extended to all people, even our enemies. In Stage
III we understand this, in Stage IV we live it.
Dilemma of Stage III
A Need For a New Nonjudgmental Logic
"A caution to everybody; consider the Auk: becoming extinct because he forgot ho
w to fly, and only could walk. Consider man, who may well become extinct because
he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked." (67)
Why would those of us who have reached Stage III, continue to think in immoral w
ays? It is because we are logically limited to judgmental reasoning. The secret
of how to transcend judgmental reasoning lies precisely in reasoning in terms of
both/and, or what can be called nonjudgmental categories of reasoning. Jesus' t
heory of nature lays the foundation for this type of reasoning. But again, I am
getting ahead of myself. Let me continue setting the stage upon which Jesus' the
ory will be presented.
Nearly two thousand years have passed since Jesus inaugurated the entrance into
this fourth stage, and initiated it by being its exemplar. Of course, many of us
are still in Stage II, and a smaller number of us still linger in Stage I. But
it would seem that an increasing number of us are ready to enter into the next h
igher stage of development, the stage of the perfected adult who has reached his
or her full potential for being fully human-Stage IV of consciousness.
Experience has taught us that trying to change our thinking by rejecting the min
d, or simply saying no to immoral rationalization, is at most, a stopgap solutio
n, but never a permanent one. Immoral judgments will never be fully overcome unt
il we overcome our ancient affair with judgmental either/or reasoning.
Gnostics believe that civilized man is ready to enter Stage IV. In Stage III we
mean well, and have a moral conscience, but have been held back because our judg
mental process of reason leads us to conflict and opposition. The key to enterin
g into Stage IV lies in our recognition that we must ally our ego-self with the
God-self through Jesus' knowledge teachings.
Paul recognizes the conflict between his reasoning mind/ego and his heartfelt fe
elings, or spiritual values. This dilemma demonstrates the age-old paradox of tw
o opposing minds in one head. In RM 7: 18-23, Paul states, "I can will what is r
ight, but I cannot do it, for I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not
want is what I do." Paul continues, "I delight in the law of God, in my innermo
st [God] self but I see in my members [meaning the ego/reasoning mind] another l
aw [judgmental law] at war with the [nonjudgmental] law of my [God-self] mind".
Here, Paul is setting the stage upon which Jesus' theory of nature will play out
its role as the reconciliator between the ego-self and the God-self.
I stress the word reconcile, because unlike other doctrines that prescribe metho
ds to quiet or escape the ego, Jesus' theory of nature is meant to elevate the e
go to the same level as the God-self. In actuality, Jesus' theory of nature help
s the ego catch up with the God-self, making mind/ego values harmonious with the
values of the God-self. This is what Paul is referring to in Romans 12:2 when h
e says, "be not conformed to this world [meaning our consciousness of the world]
; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind [the ego-self] " This cannot be
overemphasized. Its meaning underlies the relevance of the intellectual understa
nding of Jesus' ministry, and is paramount to Gnostic thought.
Recently discovered Gnostic gospels teach that ordinary consciousness/ego can be
 harmonized with the God-self. For example:
"Only when one's psyche, or ordinary consciousness [of Stages II and III becomes
integrated with one's spiritual nature [which happens in Stage IV] one can achiev
e internal harmony and wholeness." (68)
Gnostics claim that the renewal of the mind/ego that Paul refers to is the fulfi
llment of the prophesy of God's promise of a new covenant. Understanding that "b
iblical idiom differs from modern idiom in considering the heart as the seat of
intelligence heart is used in the bible where in English we should use mind or wil
l to say in the heart means simply to think (Romans 10:6), to reckon in the heart
is to plan (Genesis 6:5, Proverbs 6:18-19). When Yahweh gives Solomon breath of
heart (First Kings 5:9) this signifies not magnanimity, but intelligence " (68A)
Recognizing that 'heart' signifies the objective mind rather than our feelings,
I will quote Jeremiah 31:31-33 to show how Yahweh promises Jeremiah that he will
elevate the "heart," meaning mind, so it will objectively "know the Lord," the
God-self within.
"Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with
the House of Israel and the House of Judah, not like [Israel's covenant with th
e law] I will put my law within them and I will write it upon their hearts; [with
in their reasoning minds] "
Mt 22:14 (rsv) states that "Many are called [in Stage III] but few are chosen [m
eaning few reach Stage IV]". This passage suggests the resistance that those of
us in Stage III have towards giving up old beliefs for new ideas. For example, m
ost find it difficult to give up the ideas of a hereafter, better karma, superhe
roes, or a 'quick fix' through supernatural intervention, for the idea that Jesu
s' Gnostic teachings could change the world by changing the consciousness of all
individuals-one at a time!
The story of a drowned man entering heaven makes the point that we need look no
further than everyday miracles for God's intervention. A man is in danger of dro
wning but turns away rescuers in a boat, and later in a helicopter. After drowni
ng, the angry man approaches St. Peter at heaven's gate and demands to know why
God let him drown. "I prayed and waited, but God never came," to which Peter ans
wered, "Yes He did, but you didn't recognize Him. God was the man in the row boa
t and the pilot of the helicopter you turned away."
The point is that God is manifest in natural events (such as rescuers in row boa
ts), not just in dazzling displays of divine intervention, the latter of which w
e seldom see, the former of which we have the opportunity to experience everyday
. When we have evolved to Stage IV, we will see the divine in others and the wor
ld.
Biblical idioms for those of us in Stage III are found in Paul's terms, such as
double-minded men (James 1:18); those under the law (Colossians 3:5 and 3:19); h
earers (Hebrews 4:2); babes in Christ (First Corinthians 3:2); old covenant (Jam
es 3:4); third heaven [meaning Stage III] (James 12:2); unsteady souls (Second P
eter 2:14); and The Called (Romans 8:29-30).
Gnostics used the term "psychic," meaning worldly but capable of "conversion" (6
9), and sarkic, meaning of the flesh, for those of us in Stage III. In the begin
ning of Stage III we remain judgmental and materialistic, but to a lesser degree
than we were in Stage II. We can safely say that those of us in Stage III are t
he well intended who want to make the world a better place. Unlike IV's, however
, whose care is unconditional, we still spend most of our time and resources on
personal agendas. Actually, most of us in Stage III help only to the extent that
we appease our conscience, which in the end, "saves us our wallet but costs us
our prize."
We stand today at the crossroads between Stages III and IV of consciousness. Our
real hope is that enough of us have already made it through Stage III and are r
eady to make the transition to Stage IV. Jesus' theory of nature is the key to t
hat transition.
Jesus was the first to reach Stage IV through his own knowledge teachings. Those
teachings influenced thousands of people in the first three hundred years after
Jesus. By 400 AD, however, his knowledge teachings were considered heretical, a
nd sentenced to a silence that has not been broken until today.
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Toward a new Civilization
If nonjudgmental logic were taught to children on a global scale, it could lay a
foundation for an entirely new form of civilization. The first step in the tran
sition to a new stage, for the self individually, and for civilization collectiv
ely, is to recognize that the underlying source of our problems is hierarchical,
either/or, and judgmental reasoning. I have argued that this reasoning is the c
onsequence of Plato's theory of Forms and Aristotle's three logical laws of Iden
tity, Excluded Middle, and Contradiction, which evolved from Plato's theory.
After we recognize the source of our problem, the second step is to devise a sol
ution. My solution is the theory that some classes have more than one nature, wh
ich in turn, justifies a nonjudgmental system of logical laws. With these laws,
it would be logical and rational to assume that opposing opinions, values, and c
onflicting actions, when they are life-affirming, could be right. With the formu
lation of these new laws, it should be possible to transcend the judgmental reas
oning inherent in Aristotelian logic's either/or categories, which have become t
he paradigm of logical and rational thought.
We can call on the gods to save us, we can pray for enlightenment, or we can use
the power of reasoning, in conjunction with our spiritual understandings, to ac
hieve that change in consciousness which would usher in a higher form of civiliz
ation.
Nonjudgment will help us to see through the intoxication of individuality, pride
, honor, and success, to envision the whole in which we each are a part. We need
to weave a more durable and unifying cultural pattern of philosophy and religio
n, science and technology, music and poetry, wisdom and truth. When we can liste
n and learn from our fellow human brothers and sisters, we will have taken the f
irst step toward loving unconditionally. For in this openness we can accept the
ideas and values of others on their own merits, especially the most imaginative
and original perspectives of truth, from which we will be able to weave new cult
ural nets, with which to catch visions, of that which we cannot now even dream.
Jesus was serious when, in the Sermon on the Mount, he said: "Be ye therefore pe
rfect." (70) We have the potential for perfectibility. "The earliest Christians
and fathers of the Church would not have accepted Augustine's dogma of original
sin." (71) It is not through Adam that all sinned, as the great saint of Hippo b
elieved. Sin is an error in our consciousness due to our reasoning process. We c
an change that way of thinking: we can reason in nonjudging ways. When we cease
to judge our fellow human beings, when we stop holding them up to our imagined s
tandard, we can instead embrace them in friendship and brotherhood and love. Thi
s is the reasoning which morality is seeking; this is the reasoning which will m
ake a kingdom of heaven possible.
Most of the problems which arise in our world are the result of our perspective.
 We must give up the perspective of human nature as greedy and selfish. Certainl
y, some human beings are like that, but these are the "little children" in the l
ower stages of rational growth, not mankind's more representative examples. Our
perspective must allow us to see in one another and ourselves the image of the D
ivine. Paul's letter to the Ephesians tells us that we are God's work of art and
are pre-ordained to live the good life. (72) Never has civilization been more r
eady or more able to achieve that good life. We have the means for universal edu
cation, the technology to meet our needs, and the philosophy of nonjudgment and
the logic of love to make this possible. This philosophy is not new. It was taug
ht by the great masters of religion and philosophy, such as the Buddha, the Chri
st, Krishna, Mohammed, Lao Tse, Confucius, Plato, Pythagoras, and the prophets o
f Israel.
Can our society survive its current crises? Most of us believe that radical chan
ges are needed to make society civilized and moral. There are those in religious
circles who are talking about Armageddon. Can our political and economic system
s survive the onslaught of crime and corruption? We look back with nostalgia to
the good old days. But they, too, were an illusion, for, greed was every bit as
much in evidence; poverty still claimed its victims; and every institution was s
ubject to moral decay. Albert Schweitzer called for a "renewal of civilization"
and a world view which would set us on "the right path." "The modern man is stil
l without any correct feeling for the full significance of the fact that he is l
iving with an unsatisfactory philosophy, or without any at all." (73)
Humanity is ready for a satisfactory philosophy and for the promise of a good li
fe. We are tired of the hate which produces ethnic cleansing, and the wars, like
that in Cambodia, which left millions homeless and sixty thousand maimed. We ar
e equally tired of relinquishing our streets to drug gangs, Washington to specia
l interest groups, and the Golden Rule to terrorists. We want a change.
Judgmental reasoning in our churches, educational systems, economic systems, and
societal policies are evidenced by the large number of us who still remain at t
he lower stages of moral and rational development. For example, 87% of Americans
are willing to do to the terrorists what they did to us.
Now is the time for the inauguration of a new way of life. The possibility of a
new world-view is at hand. Jeremiah, the Buddha, Mohammad, Gandhi and Martin Lut
her King, Jr. taught us that love was the only answer. Why not build a new world
order based on love and brotherhood, and nonjudgmental reasoning and acceptance
of differences? The choice is ours whether or not to form a new civilization on
life-affirming principles. We can choose to journey toward higher stages of mor
al and rational development, toward Stage IV, where we can all join together in
a kingdom of heaven on earth.
Top
Stage IV of Consciousness
Stage IV refers to "the justified," meaning those of us who are righteous or rig
ht-minded. Seeing ourselves in others, unconditional sharing, and always acting
in accord with our conscience exemplify the right-thinking of those in Stage IV.
Human nature, at this stage, is perfect, godlike, and loving.
Stage IV in Paul's five-stage model of consciousness began when Jesus revealed t
hat the root of evil was the prevailing theory of nature, and that His theory of
nature was the remedy for that evil. Jesus taught that the era of the justified
would end when nonjudgmental reasoning or righteousness was the norm globally,
for then the "glory," or Stage V, meaning doing on earth as it is in heaven, wou
ld become a reality.
The key concepts that initiate Stage IV's state of consciousness are knowledge o
f how the prevailing theory of nature justifies judgmental reasoning and how Jes
us' theory of nature justifies nonjudgmental reasoning.
Knowledge has consequences. The consequence of the knowledge Jesus' Gnostic teac
hings reveal is a new way of thinking. Jesus said, "marvel not that ye must be b
orn again," (John 3:7 kjv). By "born again," Jesus means reborn intellectually i
nto the renewed form of Stage IV consciousness. In other words, He was referring
to the rebirth of consciousness/mind, not physical rebirth.
In Charles Dickens' novel, The Christmas Story, Scrooge's discovery of his capac
ity to love, and the joy it brought, exemplifies baptism, or awakening to our Go
d-nature. Gnostics define baptism as that moment in which we comprehend Jesus' k
nowledge teachings and our consciousness is renewed/reformed. Water sprinkled on
the forehead at Gnostic Christian baptisms symbolizes purifying the consciousne
ss by washing away the judgmental reasoning that clouds our minds in the lower s
tages. The bright halo that crowns Christian saints symbolizes the presence of e
nlightened minds. Jesus was the first to be baptized into higher consciousness t
hrough his knowledge teachings. In effect, Jesus was the first fruits, or in Gno
stic terms, protogenitor, meaning new type of human being, that nature intends a
ll of us to become.
Top
Learning From the Past
"Every revolution was first the private thought in one man's mind and when that
same thought occurs to another man, it is the key to that era. Every reform was
once a private opinion, and when it shall be private again it will solve the pro
blem of the age." --Emerson
Let us remember those who went before us on that search and who passed on to us
their best and most noble ideals. We must think of progress as separating the pe
arls of truth and wisdom from the useless shells which conceal their beauty. Alb
ert Einstein once said: "I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on
the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order
to give in the measure as I have received and am still receiving." (74)
Progress in Stage IV means learning the logos, or Reason of God, and using it. T
his godlike logic is the structure of truth which ties the cosmos together. We c
an reflect that truth more clearly in our rationality through nonjudgmental logi
c/reasoning, the fruits of which are clarity of vision, love, and brotherhood am
ong all human beings. In Stage IV we recognize that the values of others are as
sacred to us as to them. When all acknowledge that people are essentially differ
ent and at different stages of moral and rational development, we shall be able
to set charity in our hearts and nonjudgment in our minds. For if we are to love
, we must follow the injunction, "Judge not." In Stage IV we know the truth, tha
t a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth is possible when all follow the command to judge
not. Here, those who know the truth, wait as they teach others to catch up.
The key to understanding Stage IV is found in John 1:1-20, if we understand that
logos means the "word", or will, or creative mind of God, not Jesus personally.
John considered Jesus the first of a new type of human being who had learned ho
w to reason like God. In fact, John is saying that Jesus began at Stage I of con
sciousness, as we all do, then grew into Stage IV. He started out the son of man
, and then became the Son of God manifesting his growth. John also points out tha
t anyone can become Godlike, just as Jesus did, through Jesus' theory of nature.

"Jesus was the logos incarnate, the logos [word] functioning as man." (75) Most
think this means that Jesus was God functioning on earth. However, John's intent
ion was that the logos/reason of God was within Jesus, meaning Jesus reasoned li
ke God. John, like other Gnostic Christians, understood that Jesus had learned t
he way to bring his innate Godlike potentials of reasoning into everyday life. A
nd that anyone who understood Jesus' teachings could, like him, do the same thin
g, or, as Trimmel says, "make contact with divine reason." (75)
Let me support this by quoting the respected scholar Marcus Borge's translation
of the opening passage of the Gospel of John. Note: Borge will substitute the Gr
eek word, logos, where the English translation reads 'word.'
"In the beginning was the logos [the creative mind of God] and the logos was wit
h God, and the logos was God. He [the logos] was in the beginning with God, all
things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being
that had come into being. In him was life, and the life was the light of all pe
ople He [again the logos] was in the world, and the world came into being through
him: Yet the world did not know him." (76)
"It is important in these opening verses of the Gospel not to think of word, or
logos, as referring to Jesus, if we mean Jesus of Nazareth. Reading them as Jesu
s is subconsciously encouraged by later Christian doctrine on the Trinity and by
the use of masculine pronouns in the Greek original and English translations. B
ut masculine pronouns are used because logos is a masculine noun in Greek, not b
ecause the reference of 'he' indicates Jesus. John is not saying 'in the beginni
ng was Jesus' as if John thought Jesus of Nazareth was present at creation, rath
er that which became incarnate in Jesus-namely, the logos was present at creatio
n-it was the logos (not Jesus) that was with God and that was God." (76) (Also s
ee note M in the Jerusalem bible.)
The point Borges makes is that John is telling us that the logos/reasoning of Go
d created all things and was the true light or intelligence-but, in Stages II an
d III, we do not understand it.
In verses 12-14, John teaches that the logos gave all who accepted it the power
to become children of God. This is what John means by "the word was made flesh."
In other words, the logos/reasoning mind of God was made compatible with the fl
esh, meaning our reasoning mind, the ego self. In verses 16 and 17, John gives c
redit to Jesus' "fullness" [meaning perfect understanding of the logos] for our
opportunity to access the logos within us. For "though the law was given to Mose
s, grace and truth [comprehension of the logos of God within us] have come throu
gh [Jesus' Christ message] No one [before Jesus] has ever seen [the logos of] God;
it is the only son [Jesus] who is nearest to the Father's heart [mind/logos] wh
o has been made Him [the logos] known [to us]."
According to Gnostics, the Trinity coincides with John's teaching that it was Je
sus who made the logos/logic of God known. In early Gnostic Christian understand
ing, "Father" symbolizes God in Stages II and III. The "son" Jesus made the trut
h that God was within us, known to us. With that knowledge, we, like Jesus, beco
me a "holy Spirit,"-a perfect and fully realized being, (Stage IV). The traditio
nal Trinitarian concept of God was "revealed only in the 4th and 5th centuries A
D and hence is not explicitly and formally a biblical belief." (80).
In effect, Jesus' knowledge teachings bridged the gap between a transcendent and
external God and an eminent and internal God. In Stage II, for example, we pers
onify God, Yahweh, as a vengeful father. In Stage III, we personify Him as a lov
ing father. Jesus teaches "the truth" that the logos, or mind of God, is within
us, and is us. Understanding and practicing those teachings, then, is what awake
ns our consciousness to its full potential of perception, making us psychologica
lly, the perfect beings or holy spirits of Stage IV.
(Strength of an Eagle - Isaiah 40)
The Jesuit priest, John L. McKinnsey, states that "in between the flesh [meaning
the reasoning mind] and the holy [meaning the mind of God] there is an impassable
gulf-impassable that is, by man-but bridged by Jesus, the Son, who renders it p
ossible for men to be adopted sons. (81) The point that McKinnsey makes is that
Jesus bridges the gap between the reason of man and the reason of God, and anyon
e, who comprehends Jesus' teachings, can do the same.
Gnostics conclude from these opening paragraphs of the Gospel of John that Jesus
discovered an objective method to pattern his mind after the logos/reasoning mi
nd of God. Through his Gnostic teachings, Jesus empowered us to do the same. In
effect, the popular world-view of Jesus' time-that mankind was meant to be like
God-was, according to John, turned into a practical reality by Jesus' Gnostic te
achings. The point is, these teachings free us from the prison of self-deception
that judgmental reasoning creates. In our new-found freedom we leave behind the
Stage II and III illusions of separation, contradiction, and ignorance (sin), t
o enter a field of oneness and infinite wisdom.
Top

The Return to the Garden

As we trace the development of rational and moral consciousness, we have discove
red that each stage contains the seeds which give birth to the next stage. Let u
s relate these stages to the familiar myth of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve,
before they fell to temptation, symbolize the irrational and instinctive conscio
usness of Stage I innocence. Their choosing to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of
Good and Evil symbolizes the rational and egotistical self-consciousness of Sta
ge II.
Choice awakens an awareness of both responsibility and morality, which, along wi
th self-identity, are the prerequisites of judgmental reasoning. In the awarenes
s that judgment is unnatural, conscience emerges, particularly in response to th
e law in Stage III. And it is conscience that leads eventually to our realizatio
n of the inadequacy of reasoning in terms of either/or categories. This knowledg
e impels our minds toward the understanding that it is the way we think and reas
on which keeps us from inhabiting the Garden. With fear and trembling, we set ou
t on the journey to discover the solution to the riddle of evil. In our desire t
o transcend the rational and moral limitations imposed by either/or logic, we ar
e initiated into a new logic, nonjudgmental logic, the logic of Stage IV.
The Tree of Life now stands before us in the Garden of Eden, holding out the pro
mise of unity with one another, which was lost through the first choice to eat o
f the fruit of the Tree of good and evil. Like the prodigal son, returning to hi
s Father after he realized his errant ways, so we too awaken to our true nature,
after traversing through the lower stages of life.
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Characteristics of Stage IV
Stage IV comes, neither as a miraculous gift of grace, nor with a bolt of lightn
ing from the gods. It is the hard-won prize of our heroic journey of return, dis
covering within ourselves both our essential nature of Love and a system of nonj
udgmental reasoning which makes "doing on earth as it is in heaven" a practical
reality.
In Stage IV, we will have learned nonjudgmental logic, and therefore, embody wit
hin us its qualities. Those qualities include nonjudgment and love, non-discrimi
nation and unconditional acceptance, tolerance, humility, generosity, forgivenes
s, self-realization, and agape and the brotherhood of man. In the words of St. P
aul, we are to "put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion,
kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, . . . forgiving each other. (82) T
hese are not superhuman qualities added to us, but our birthright, when we come
into the fullness of our nature by reasoning lovingly. As Maslow says, "I think
of the self-actualizing man not as an ordinary man with something added but rath
er as an ordinary man with nothing taken away." (83)
What would our lives be like if we had not eaten from the Tree of duality, which
brings opposition and conflict into our world? What would we be if we had never
experienced a sense of separation and alienation from the Divine, Nature, our f
ellow human beings, and our own inner self? Indeed, what would it be like to eat
from the Tree of Life? Writers who describe the developmental path of human pro
gress give us a glimpse into the answer. Maslow talks about self-esteem, self-re
spect, and self-realization. We might add that the "self" in each instance is th
at inner nature whose expression is love. Joseph Campbell says that we are desti
ned to move into an awareness of social interdependence and, ultimately, the rea
lization that there is a divine indwelling presence in each of us. These ideas a
re echoed by Teilhard de Chardin, for whom the desire to integrate ourselves wit
h others and with Nature marks the transition into a new stage which culminates
in a spiritual consciousness. Both Kohlberg and Sri Aurobindo point to a stage w
here universal principles replace mere law; but Aurobindo adds that a further st
age is reached when the Divine Law, the law of love, moves humanity toward its p
erfected end. In Stage IV we realize that nonjudgmental logic is the natural law
of love, and therefore, Divine Law.
We learn through Jesus' theory of nature how to access our potentials to process
ideas/reason in Godlike ways. Utilizing that process can be considered enlighte
nment for it awakens our mind to its capacity for both judgmental and nonjudgmen
tal reasoning, which, in turn, harmonizes our ego-self with our God-self.
In the renewed mind/consciousness of Stage IV we understand that we are both an
individual/ego and our God-self. The ego is still the ego in Stage IV, but here
it is harmonious in thought with the God-self; and therefore one with it. And be
cause our God-self is one with all, we/ego are also one with all. (Eph 4:26 - "A
ll are one with Christ, no distinction between free man and slave" Stendle 27)
In John 14:20 Jesus himself recognizes our oneness with God, and him, by saying
"on that day [when you are in a consciousness of oneness] you will understand th
at I am in my Father and you in me and I in you."
In our new experience of-or awakening to-a consciousness of oneness, we experien
ce what was formerly considered 'other' in profoundly new ways. In our new consc
iousness our senses are flooded with oneness. The sense of separation and other
is replaced by joy, peace, and brotherly love that we cannot, in lower stages of
consciousness, imagine. This is what is meant by making contact with divine rea
son. This is what Jesus and other Gnostic Christians wanted to make available to
us. Their passion was for freedom and life, both theirs and ours. In their mind
s, they are one with us and, therefore, could be truly free only when everyone o
f us is also free.
In Stage IV of consciousness we do not become repentant and pious, we celebrate
being fully alive. The term, Holy Spirit, applies to being fully alive at Stage
IV, because holy means complete or perfected. Spirit, from the Greek word, pneum
atic, or soul, refers to the "psychological self." Together, holy and spirit, me
ans that we are psychologically perfect because we have regained our capacity to
reason like the gods. We have reached our destiny as human beings, which are to
"make contact with divine reason, and like God, discern ultimate truths." (84).
This is higher consciousness.
Again, Jesus says in JN 8:31-32 "if you make my word/logos [reason] your home yo
u will learn the [ultimate] truth, and the truth will set you free."
The Greek term, cosmos, can be translated in many ways. Cosmos can mean the univ
erse, the world, or our consciousness of the world. When we believe that we need
to give up the world (in the sense of giving up living comfortable and fun-fill
ed lives), we have misinterpreted scripture. When Jesus said, "the truth will se
t you free," he meant just that. He was not talking about giving up all the nice
things of the world. He meant giving up our lower stages of consciousness (cosm
os) in order that we can have more abundant lives. Instead of cutting ourselves
off from the good life, we can live the good life by advancing to Stage IV. In G
al 5:16-24, for example, Paul lists "self-indulgence fornication, gross indecency fe
uds, wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels" as things we give up when we
reach higher consciousness. He promises us "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness
, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control" when we reach Stage IV.
In First Corinthians 13:9-12, Paul explains how the transition from our present
consciousness of the world to the higher consciousness of Stage IV changes our p
erceptions of the world. "Once perfection comes (i.e. when we have reached Stage
IV) all imperfect things will disappear. When I (meaning the ego) was a child,
[Stages II and III] I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and arg
ue like a child, but now I am a man [in Stage IV] all childish ways are put behi
nd me. Now, [in the consciousness of Stages II and III] we are seeing a dim refl
ection in a mirror, [a distorted view of life]; but then [when reaching Stage IV
] we shall be seeing face to face the knowledge that I have now [in the psychic-
-Stage III] is imperfect; but then [in the pneumatic--Stage IV] I shall know as
fully as I am known by God " (85) In Rm 7:23 Basilides explains that "being of pne
umatic nature [those in Stage IV] 'do by nature' the law." (86)
Biblical terms that refer to those in Stage IV are "the justified" (Romans 8:30)
, "Sons of God" (8:14-19), "Body of Christ" (First Corinthians 12:22), "mature"
(2-6), "sealed" (Second Corinthians 1:22), "Men of sincerity" (2:17), "Ambassado
rs of Christ" (5:20), "heirs of God through Christ" (Galatians 4:7), "Partakers
of the holy Spirit" (Hebrew 6:4), "Perfect" (James 1:4), "Complete" (1:4), "Lack
ing nothing" (1:4), "Doers of the Word" (1:22), "Share the Divine Nature" (1:4),
"Renewed in the spirits of your minds" (Ephesians 4:23), "Equality with God" (P
hilippians 2:6), and "angels". (Jude 2:11).
Gnostic terms for those in Stage IV are pneumatikoi, which means psychologically
complete individuals, pangenitor, meaning the first universal man, and Bythos,
meaning the will, logos, of our life force in Stage IV.
I would add that many of the modern day references to higher consciousness, enli
ghtenment, and satori exemplify characteristics of Stage IV, learned through Jes
us' Gnostic teachings.
We can only imagine a world in which Hindus would truly see Krishna in the heart
of everyone; Buddhists and Muslims would respect everyone as they would revere
the Buddha and the Prophet respectively; and Christians would treat others as th
ey would treat Jesus. Not once or twice, but three times, Jesus asked his discip
le, Peter, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" Three times Peter answered tha
t he did. And three times Jesus repeated the same words, which were among his la
st recorded, in the Gospel of John, "Feed my sheep." What a world it would be if
we all fed the sheep of the world! What a world it would be if we all came to t
he realization that the divine dwells not only in some distant heavenly realm, b
ut also here and now, in our neighbor and in ourselves. "The kingdom of God is w
ithin you," (87) Jesus said. And so it is for those reborn with a renewed mind.
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Baptism of the Spirit

In the story of Jesus' baptism, it is said that the heavens opened, a dove appea
red, and a voice said: "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." It i
s unusual to find any story in the New Testament in all four of the gospels, the
three synoptic gospels and the gospel of John. But this story was apparently so
important that it was told by the writers of all four gospels. (88) What was th
e immediate consequence of the experience? "Jesus was led up of the Spirit into
the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil." (89)
It is instructive to consider just what those temptations were. The first taunte
d Jesus with the gratification of a pig (Stage I): the temptation was to use his
power to turn stones into bread to assuage his hunger. The second catered to th
e wolf of honor and success (Stage II). He was tempted to throw himself from the
pinnacle of the temple in order to win the crowd's adulation for his miraculous
powers. The third temptation promised Jesus the power of the kingdoms of the wo
rld, if he would but worship and give himself to satanic power (Stage III). In e
very case, Jesus resisted the temptations to bewitch his power of good, and so i
n the wilderness he completed the rebirth begun in the waters of Jordan some for
ty days earlier. Thereafter, he emerged and began his ministry of teaching, heal
ing, and sharing his doctrines of nonjudgment and love (Stage IV).
What Jesus did is what is required of the reborn in Stage IV. For what he did, w
e can do. As he himself admitted: "I do nothing of myself." (90) "The Father tha
t dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." (91) For Jesus and those of us who have c
ome to his realization, there is no separation between the Father and the son. T
he Father and son, the divine and human, are one: "I and my Father are one." (92
) If we realize this truth, then what we call "the power of God" is our power, t
oo. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I d
o shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do." (93) As A Course
in Miracles teaches, there is no separation between us, as sons, and the Divine,
as Father. (94) But in our minds, we erect barriers to that power of truth and
love, and so we keep that power from manifesting in our lives. What A Course in
Miracles leaves out, is that those barriers are the consequence of either/or rea
soning.
The barriers which keep the natural power of love from working its miraculous wo
nders are a misguided and misdirected ego and its world of desires, fears, wants
, needs, expectations, and those actions which spring from those motives. It is
the either/or thinking which creates the consciousness of a separate, needy, and
fearful self, which stands in opposition to others. It is this mind, which feel
s itself isolated and alienated from others, which creates the illusory reality,
which the Hindus called maya. It generates the worlds of sorrow, which the Budd
hists call samsara. It is the misguided and mistaken consciousness of this ego,
which must "die" in order that the ever-present inner nature of love may express
itself unimpeded. Crucifixion and resurrection symbolize this truth in many rel
igious traditions, including Christianity. This "death" is the ultimate requirem
ent of those who are reborn in Stage IV.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground an
d die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that lo
veth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall kee
p it unto life eternal. (John 12:24-25)
The paradox is that by dying, we live. "Dying" means, at the very least, a chang
e in consciousness, a change of mind, a new way of thinking and reasoning. By dy
ing to the consciousness of the old self and its needs, we awaken to the conscio
usness of another self, the fulfillment of whose desires brings abundant life. W
hen we are reborn, we do not live a lackluster life devoid of feeling and desire
s. On the contrary, we live life abundant in creativity and joy.
Stage IV begins when Jesus reveals his Gnostic teachings and ends when everyone
reasons accordingly. This Stage in consciousness can be considered a staging gro
und in which those of us who have reached this stage wait for those in lower sta
ges to catch up. Stage IVs wait willingly because they know that all are one, so
no one is free until everyone is free.
In review, the key to Stage IV of consciousness is to understand the prevailing
theory of nature and the new theory of nature that Jesus reveals in his Gnostic
teachings. Understanding both theories allies our reasoning mind with our heart.
We, therefore, do the law from within both head and heart. Paul refers to those
in Stage IV as "men made perfect" (Heb 12:23) and those who have the "mind of C
hrist". (1 Co 2:16)
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Practical Applications of Jesus' Gnostic Teachings In Stage IV

There is a saying that everything is a philosophy and if you think that is a jok
e, that is your philosophy. What this means is that most everything we think or
do is "of or according to a philosophy or a philosopher." (ref. Dictionary.) Cap
italism, communism, monarchy, deism, atheism, spiritualism, Christianity, Islam,
pacifism, everybody should mind their own business, and the sky is falling are
all philosophies.
Jesus' knowledge teachings are also a philosophy, one that can improve our lives
in two fundamentally important ways.
First, Jesus' Gnostic teachings call into question the validity of all philosoph
ies that involve multiple nature classes, which include all religious, political
, social, economic, and psychological systems. For example, Jesus' teachings dem
onstrate that reason, as we now know it, is a belief system, in the same sense a
s religions are. Like religion, reason is based on assumed standards. Religion i
s an assumption because it is based on the authority of scriptures that not ever
yone agrees with. Likewise, reason is questionable because it is based solely on
Aristotle's laws of logic, and their validity has been called into question by
modern science.
Second, Jesus' knowledge teachings provide the logical foundations to reinvent p
hilosophy in ways that serve us better. Again, Jesus' theory of nature questions
the validity of all philosophies that involve classes with multiple natures. Si
nce humanity is a multiple-nature class, most traditional philosophical and reli
gious systems are questionable. They are structured according to logic based sol
ely on Plato's theory, which does not fit multiple nature classes. We need to mo
ve into a new era of civilization that is based on both Aristotle's judgmental a
nd Jesus' nonjudgmental logic. Then we will have all the tools necessary to recr
eate civilization in such a way that we will feel comfortable and fulfilled.
In First Corinthians 1:19-31, Paul points out that philosophy based on Plato's t
heory of nature, meaning all conventional philosophy, is misdirected, and theref
ore, must be re-evaluated. This means that the very way we now think and speak m
ay be the very thing that keeps up from doing what benefits us the most.
"The language of the cross, [meaning Jesus' knowledge teachings, symbolized by t
he equilateral cross] may be illogical to those who are not on their way to salv
ation [those in Stages 2 and 3], but those of us [in Stage IV] who are on the wa
y see it, [what the stauros symbolizes] as God's power to save. As scripture say
s, 'I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing all the learnin
g of the learned.' Where are the philosophies now, [that in their beginnings hel
d such promise] ? Do you not see how God [through Jesus' knowledge teachings] has
shown up the foolishness of human wisdom. [philosophy]."
"Only faith [understanding Jesus' knowledge teachings] can guarantee the blessin
gs that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that at present [in Sta
ge II and III] remain unseen." (Heb 11:1)
"The human race [those of us in Stages II and III], has nothing to boast about t
o God, but you [those in Stages 4], God has made members of Christ Jesus and by
God's doing, he [meaning the logos or nonjudgmental logic of God], has become ou
r wisdom " (1Co 3:18-23)
Note: Even though it may be true that all of us have been misdirected by our own
judgmental reasoning, we must not condemn ourselves for it. Nor should we fear
the changes that must come. Instead, we need to understand that judgmental reaso
ning represents a lower stage in the natural growth of our capacity for consciou
sness. Understanding this will empower us to seek new higher goals of consciousn
ess.
In summary, Jesus' theory of nature empowers us to grow beyond conventional wisd
om and into the God-like wisdom of nonjudgmental reasoning. We cannot overcome o
ur problems in the same consciousness that created them. Jesus' theory of nature
is the key to a new form of consciousness that can truly overcome the problems
our present consciousness creates. In the new consciousness, truly new philosoph
ies can be developed that will redefine the values and goals of civilization, no
t merely rearrange existing ones to satisfy changing centers of power. (Forgiven
ess)
Ecclesiastes taught that there was nothing new under the sun. Alfred North White
head said, "All western philosophy consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."
(95) Both will remain right as long as we limit ourselves to the wisdom of conve
ntional philosophy. But if we choose to grow our consciousness into the god-like
consciousness of Jesus' teachings, we can anticipate a wealth of new philosophy
that could bring truly new ideas into the sunlight of a brighter day.
" for Jesus, the purpose of God is not found in the creation of planets or galaxie
s of stars, not in building great cities or empires, nor in the organization of
vast institutions, but rather in the steady growth of human character, in the de
velopment of those inner spiritual qualities which are expressed in fair dealing
s, unselfish love, devotion to truth, kindness, mercy, and good will." (96)
Top

Reinventing Civilization in Stage IV

(See 1Jn 2:3 "God shows no partiality" Rm 2:11)
Let us now imagine how we can reinvent philosophy and, in turn, civilization fro
m the perspective of Stage IV consciousness.
1. The most important realization in Stage IV is that we can teach our children
how to reason in loving ways. Traditionally, we have taught only Aristotelian lo
gic. Jesus' teachings provide the means to introduce our children to nonjudgment
al standards of logic. Learning nonjudgmental standards will expand their abilit
y to think beyond what we were taught was reasonable. For they will be able to r
eason both judgmentally and nonjudgmentally, which is synonymous with reasoning
lovingly.
If we plant the most virile seed in sour soil it withers. Like seeds in sour soi
l, our children wither in an atmosphere of judgment. We can give them an atmosph
ere of nonjudgment that will ensure their most basic right-to be fully conscious
and, therefore, fully human. Our most sacred obligation is to give them that ri
ght.
Adding a fourth "r", reasoning nonjudgmentally, to the existing three "r's" of e
ducation, will ensure our children their right to learn how to reason in nonjudg
mental ways. It will also teach them that such reasoning is as important as read
ing, writing and arithmetic. Moreover, it is the rational thing to do. (BB 80-A)
It has often been suggested that we use only a small portion of our brain. We mi
ght ask, "Is our phenomenal ability to absorb enormous quantities of facts when
we are children, indicative of an innate ability to reason nonjudgmentally that
gets turned off early on?" Only after about age seven, does our capacity for exp
onential learning fade. Does this suggest that our youthful capacity to absorb h
uge amounts of information is lost because the use of nonjudgmental reasoning by
our children is discouraged? Again, Maslow states that "the self-actualized man
is not someone with something special added, but someone with nothing taken awa
y." It is very possible that self-actualization is uncommon because culture teac
hes only judgmental logic, which in turn, takes away our right to reason nonjudg
mentally.
Jesus' theory of nature may also explain why it seems like the older we get, the
more rigid our thinking can become. I suspect that as we become older it become
s harder and harder to make sense out of accumulating information based on false
standards that we believe are true. For example, trying to maintain a positive
attitude in a world based on false standards is like trying to construct a house
of more and more cards on a storm-tossed boat. The more information we accumula
te, the more frustrated we get. Soon, black or white thinking becomes easier tha
n trying to harmonize what we experience with what we feel in our hearts.
2. In Stage IV, our psychological nature is not taken as a given, but rather som
ething that changes depending on how we choose to think. The reason for this is
that consciousness is the form or context in which we think, and consciousness-r
aising ideas restructure the character or form of consciousness. Therefore, we c
an assume that consciousness is not the same for us throughout our life, but rat
her it changes according to the consciousness-raising ideas that we learn. With
the above in mind, then, we can imagine that our ability for higher consciousnes
s is limited only by our openness to new ideas. "The difference before and after
enlightenment is in you-not reality. The limitation is in you-your consciousness
-and when that limitation is transcended, you perceive existence differently, an
d therefore relate to it in a new way." (97) The author of proverbs 23:7 (KJV) a
grees with this by stating "for as he thinkest in his heart [mind], so is he."
Gnostic Christians believe that if we awaken our highest potentials of conscious
ness, we will have acquired the ability to create the nature of our reality. To
keep this in perspective, we can imagine that we have begun already to affect re
ality. For example, when pain leaves us after we take what we think is medicine,
but is in fact a placebo, we can understand that our thoughts, rather than the
medicine, affected our cure. The same holds true for modern technology that depe
nds on mathematics that include negative numbers. Does a number of something tha
t is less than nothing really substantiate our technology? Or have we affected t
he outcome of technology by creating the negative numbers technology requires? T
he point is that our thoughts may already be affecting the nature of reality. Je
sus' Gnostic teachings give us the power to recreate reality because his teachin
gs open to us a practical way to understand how we can affect our reality. As th
e Rishis say, "reality is unchanging. [Only our] perception of reality changes."
(98)
Some may ask, "but how could our thoughts be considered the creative force behin
d reality if two individuals decided to affect reality in contradictory ways?" G
nostics would answer that this question applies only to our lower stages of cons
ciousness. In Stages IV and V, we will have the potentials of both individual mi
nds and oneness of mind. The ability to affect personal reality is within the in
dividual mind, while the potential to affect that part of reality that we have i
n common is within our oneness of mind.
3. Stage IV encourages a new philosophy of medicine, in which most illnesses are
considered psychosomatic. If we learn how to think in new ways about ourselves,
we may well be able to cure ourselves, or, better yet, not create illness in th
e first place. Western medicine has its place, but we should not exclude the pow
erful medicine of a healthy attitude that Stage IV reasoning supports.
4. In Stage IV, religion will take on new roles because Jesus' Gnostic teachings
overcome the basic premise upon which most religions rest. Let me explain. The
underlying reason for the existence of religion is to provide us with a way to d
eal with evil. In Christianity, evil is attributed to original sin. In Islam, Ea
stern Christianity and Judaism, evil is attributed to an unexplained "impulse to
evil". In new age thought, it is error consciousness. And in eastern religion,
it is bad karma. Jesus' knowledge teachings however, reveal that our predisposit
ion to evil exists because we use Plato's theory of nature as a basis for our sy
stems of logic. In turn, it is that theory which creates our impulse to evil, ba
d karma, and erroneous thinking.
Jesus' theory, alongside Plato's, however, overcomes our impulse to evil by over
coming the inappropriate use of judgmental reasoning. This new reasoning fulfill
s the traditional role of religion, which is predicated on the idea that we need
to be saved from our evil nature. By using both Jesus' and Plato's theories of
nature, we can grow our consciousness beyond our historical predisposition to ev
il and add a godlike nonjudgmental dimension. This, in turn, makes dealing with
evil unnecessary, because evil does not exist in Stage IV consciousness.
We can conclude that Jesus was not the messiah of Jewish prophesies of a savior
to restore Israel, because Jesus was really the messiah for all mankind. His Gno
stic/Messianic teachings can make every one of us a king or queen in the kingdom
of heaven on earth that he promised-the glory of Stage V. Paul verifies this by
saying "Jesus condemned sin in the flesh [reasoning mind], in order that the ju
st requirement of the law might be fulfilled " (Rm 8:3-4 rsv)
5. Jesus' Gnostic teachings solve the problem of evil in a world created by a lo
ving God by revealing that we are by nature perfect creations. Evil enters the w
orld because we have chosen to judge according to a single standard (henos anthr
opos); which in turn leads us to rationalize evil through judgmental reasoning.
Jesus' Gnostic teachings teach that we are not naturally depraved, but rather th
at it is our own cultural affair with judging by a single standard that has depr
ived us of our natural inheritance of perfection-not any intention of a loving G
od.
6. Forgiveness is the prerequisite of unconditional love. In Stage IV of conscio
usness, forgiveness is natural. In lower stages of consciousness, forgiveness is
a charitable act, which requires that we compromise our feelings.
In Stage IV, forgiveness is as natural as understanding that we cannot blame a c
aterpillar for not being a butterfly. Just as a caterpillar cannot be expected t
o fly, nor can we be angry at ourselves or others for doing things in lower stag
es of consciousness that would not be done in higher ones. Forgiveness in Stage
IV, then, does not require us to compromise our feelings, but rather to understa
nd that those who would do us harm do so only because the know no better. In eff
ect, in Stage IV we distinguish between how one acts and the person. This empowe
rs us to direct our feelings against the former and forgive the latter.
7. Stage IV of consciousness is a practical path to overcoming substance abuse.
Alcohol and drugs is the escape hatch through which we avoid the agony of low se
lf-esteem and internalized anger that underlies drug addiction.
Some can relieve the pain of low self-esteem through the belief in a higher powe
r. But for those who can't believe, a second path exists. On this path, we recog
nize that low self-esteem and anger is the consequence of the frustration of try
ing to live a reality which is unnatural to our nature. Jesus' theory of nature
is the key to understanding the frustration of trying to live a reality which is
unnatural to our nature. His theory that humanity is a class that has more than
one nature alerts us to the fact that what may be right for some, may be totall
y wrong for others.
Jesus' theory of nature demonstrates that there should be as many realities as t
here are different natures. Clichés like "get real," "abnormal," and even the term
"reality" itself infers we accept that one reality fits everyone. This belief s
ets a trap of no escape for those who do not fit "reality," and leads some to tr
y to escape it through drugs.
We can liken the plight of a hummingbird caught up in a bird world that thinks a
ll birds have one nature, say that of a Capistrano swallow-to that of a person w
ith an artistic and creative nature caught up in a world in which organization a
nd conformity were considered the norm. For just as the hummingbird would think
it should be like the swallow and get to the mission of Capistrano on time, the
hummingbird would fail-and worse, never understand why. So would a free-spirited
person caught up in a conservative world seldom feel successful and not know wh
y. Not unless he realized his feelings were natural to him, even though not to w
hat others consider "reality."
My point is that, not until we realize that low self-esteem and anger are the pr
oduct of living in a reality (Stage II and III of consciousness) that does not r
ecognize that humanity has more than one nature, we have no "logical" option to
understand that what can be right for some can be totally wrong for others.
8. From the perspective of Stage IV of consciousness, the well-being of children
would be the prime mover of politics. Historically, military spending, self-ser
ving politicians and business leaders come before our children and over-crowded
schools. In the higher consciousness that Jesus' Gnostic teachings provide, lovi
ng homes, equal opportunity, recognition of parents and communities, and other s
upportive measures would be seen as imperative to the well-being of children. Th
e end result would be a world filled with loving people living at the highest of
their potentials-insuring that following generations could do the same.
9. In Stage IV of consciousness, we would replace our representative form of gov
ernment with a computer-managed town hall democracy. In this type of democracy,
citizens could meet in local town halls, community centers, or cyberspace, to di
scuss the issues; then vote from the privacy of their own homes through computer
s. Aristotle said "man is a political animal." Modern technology makes it possib
le for each of us to participate directly in political discussions. In a compute
rized democracy, we would personally exercise our right to vote, not give politi
cians the right to vote for us.
Jesus' teachings about stages of consciousness empower us to better select publi
c servants. When we understand reasoning relative to stages of consciousness, we
would not stand idly by while demagogues took over the world. We would recogniz
e such tyrants as "sick adults" stuck in the lowest stages of consciousness and
would treat them accordingly-not support them.
10. Stage IV consciousness solves the problem of evil in a world created by a lo
ving God. It explains that we are by nature perfect creations. Evil entered the
perfect world because we chose to reason according to judgmental rules of logic
based on the theory that every class has a single nature. Said another way, Jesu
s' Gnostic teachings reveal that we are not naturally depraved, but rather depri
ved, of our natural inheritance of perfection, because of our affair with judgme
ntal reasoning, not because of any intention of our creator.
11. In Stage IV of consciousness, the well-being of children would be the prime
mover of politics. Historically, military spending, self-serving politicians and
business leaders came before our children and their over-crowded schools. In th
e higher consciousness that Jesus' Gnostic teachings provide, loving homes, equa
l opportunity, recognition of parents and communities, and other supportive meas
ures would be seen as imperative to the well-being of children, and, therefore,
would be a top political priority. The end result would be homes, communities, a
nd a world in which all children would flourish.
12. In Stage IV, we would replace our representative form of government with a c
omputer-managed town hall democracy. In this type of democracy, citizens could m
eet in local town halls, community centers, or cyberspace, to discuss the issues
, and then vote from the privacy of their own homes through computers. Aristotle
said, "Man is a political animal." Modern technology makes it possible for each
of us to participate directly in political discussions. In a computerized democ
racy, politicians would organize, but not vote for us. As informed citizens, we
would vote for ourselves.
13. Nationalism, in Stage IV, would not support selfish interests of individuals
or corporations within a state. Rather, it would preserve the unique difference
s between states, and those differences would be celebrated and honored. Nationa
lism would no longer be an excuse for those of us in lower stages of consciousne
ss to exploit others. Instead, each nation would consider itself the caretaker o
f the resources that nature bestowed on it. Nations would take pride in their ab
ility to contribute what they possess. They would also consider themselves a sho
wcase of their unique culture, rather than trying to impose their culture on oth
ers.
14. In Stage IV consciousness, life-affirming actions would become the natural a
ctions. People would be motivated from within to actively participate in life-af
firming enterprises because they would know that it was in their, as well as eve
ryone's, best interest to do so. Work would become pleasure. (Mathew 6:31 - Do N
ot Worry About Tomorrow)
In industry, benefits of investing in only quality products would be huge. Every
one would have the best, safest, and most durable products because, in the end,
quality is more life-affirming than "the bottom line". For example, in the autom
obile industry, it would be less expensive to build safe cars than to pay the li
abilities incurred by driving unsafe vehicles, not to mention the costs of pain,
suffering, and long-term disabilities.
If we invested only in life-affirming enterprises, we would no longer be threate
ned by human need. Only a small portion of the natural resources we now consume
would be required to meet authentic human needs. Who really needs tanks and terr
ifying bombs, high-rise bank buildings, insurance companies, financial engineeri
ng, and all the roads, cars and workers needed to support them? Those workers co
uld, instead, ease the burden of those engaged in enterprises beneficial to genu
ine human needs.
15. Nature, in Stage IV, would be considered a legal entity in the same sense as
corporations are considered legal entities. As a legal entity, no one could exp
loit nature without due process, just as no one can exploit corporations. The ro
le of private ownership of natural resources would change, from that of exploite
r, to that of caretaker.
16. Overpopulation, in Stage IV, would not be a problem. It is well documented t
hat population is inversely proportional to economic security. Families with the
lowest, or no income, have more children than families who are financially secu
re. So, if everyone were financially secure, everyone would have fewer children,
which would bring an end to overpopulation.
"It is estimated that if all world assets were equally divided, everyone would h
ave $4 million dollars." (Leddy Hammock). And this does not even take into accou
nt that the air we breath and the water we drink are priceless.
17. In Stage IV of consciousness, love would take its rightful place as the moti
ve force behind life. In the past, we were taught that that force was the surviv
al of the fittest. We need to replace this outdated theory, as science has, with
the kinship theory. In the kinship theory, the survival of the family gene is t
he motive force of life. In a practical sense, then, we can say that love is the
motive force of life because love ensures the survival of humanity's family gen
e.
18. In Stage IV, it is clear that Aristotelian logic alone is not the context in
which the reconciliation of conventional science and religion is possible. The
either/or categories of Aristotelian logic are unable to make sense out of quant
um phenomena or religion, but both make sense in nonjudgmental logic. Light can
be both a wave and a particle, and we can be both human and God within nonjudgme
ntal logic. The fact is that it is impossible to reconcile conventional science
with religion because both exist in a different dimension of reality. Convention
al science exists in the either/or dimension, and religion and quantum phenomena
exist in the both/and dimension. From this perspective, the question changes fr
om "how might we reconcile science and religion" to "why would we want to?" Each
represents a different dimension of reality. And just as we accept the qualitie
s of both apples and oranges as different examples of fruit, so can we accept th
e qualities of both science and religion as examples of different realities.
19. Stage IV in consciousness can be likened to that time in which the meanings
behind parables become reality. When we interpret the bible in the consciousness
of Stage IV, we can understand that biblical parables convey Jesus' knowledge t
eachings. In effect, parables are the intuitive foundations for a mature rationa
l understanding of Stage IV. In John 16:25, Jesus himself says "I have been tell
ing you all this in metaphors (parables) the hour is coming [Stage IV] when I wi
ll no longer speak to you in metaphors; but tell you about the Father [logic] in
plain words."
We can, for example, intuitively understand the story of Adam and Eve as an accu
rate explanation of the birth of man, and subsequent evil. Or, we can rationally
understand the story as a symbol of how the act of choosing the forbidden fruit
gave birth to self-consciousness, and in turn, judgmental reasoning, which brou
ght evil into the world. We can also think that the prophecies of Isaiah and Jer
emiah, about God putting his logos within our hearts and minds, refer to the enl
ightenment that Jesus' knowledge teachings make possible in Stage IV.
Paul's belief that Jesus' ministry fulfilled prophecies, parables, and myths, ab
out the logos entering into the hearts and minds of man, surfaces in Ephesians 1
:18, when he says, "May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, g
ive you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed to bring you to fu
ll knowledge of him May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see wha
t hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints [mea
ning those in Stage IV] will inherit."
Prophecies, myths, and parables, then, do have deeper meanings. Jesus' Gnostic t
eachings reveal the meanings that his parables convey intuitively. In Stages II
and III, the feelings we get from those myths motivate us to act according to th
e intuitive meanings of the myths. In Stage IV, we develop an intellectual under
standing of the meaning behind the myths. That understanding has consequences, b
ecause it empowers us to live our life in accordance with that understanding.
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TRUE HAPPINESS
Stage IV consciousness understands that self-interest is better served when ever
yone has access to every advantage possible. In the both/and categories of Stage
IV, we become one with others. In this I/thou relationship, we understand that
as we serve others, we ourselves are compensated. Ralph Waldo Emerson knew this
truth when he said, "it is one of the beautiful compensations of life that no ma
n can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." (99) .going to 1994
A to 95.
Ralph Waldo Trine (1866-1936) wrote,
"True happiness must come, if it come at all, indirectly, or by service, the love
and happiness we give to others life is not, we may say, for mere passing pleasur
e, but for the highest unfoldment that one can obtain to, the noblest character
that one can grow and for the greatest service that one can render to all mankin
d. In this, we will find the greatest pleasure, for in this the only real pleasu
re lies. " (100)
America's first and foremost expert on near death experiences, Dr. Elizabeth Kub
ler-Ross, revealed the four cardinal values those having near death experiences
conveyed to her. They are: one, serving and helping others; two, loving uncondit
ionally; three, being all that one can be by developing all one's talents and ca
pacities, abilities and special gifts; four, encouraging that same development i
n others; and, in so far as one is able, facilitate that development. (101)
As Paul put it in his letters to the Galatians 6:7, "whatsoever a man soweth, th
at also shall he reap." It would seem reasonable that morality would ultimately
bring happiness. Conversely, it would seem reasonable that genuine happiness wou
ld be possible only for those who give of themselves to others. This does not me
an being a doormat. Rather, it means enjoying our support of the growth and plea
sures of others. Parenthood, working for the family, working at a meaningful job
, planting a field of corn, or helping someone reach their goal exemplifies what
I mean by giving of oneself.
The great scholar and humanitarian, Albert Schweitzer, was absolutely clear that
happiness was inseparable from life-affirming acts.
"The purpose of human life is to serve and show Compassion and the will to help
others." (102)
And Albert Einstein agreed:
"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones amo
ng you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve
." (103)
The eighth insight of James Redfield's book, The Celestine Prophecy, concerns th
e energy of love. "Energizing others is the best thing we can do for ourselves.
By appreciating others, and focusing our positive attention on them, we send the
m the energy of love and uplift them. The more that love flows to them, the more
it flows to us. Thus by loving, we are loved; by giving love, we receive love.
If we think of any experience in which we genuinely loved another, we will reali
ze how we ourselves were empowered with love. The more we love, the more cosmic
energy of love flows in us. The best thing that we can do for ourselves, therefo
re, is to love and appreciate others. The more energy of love we give to others,
the more aware they become, and the more that awareness can help us gain insigh
ts and answers. "(104)
Like Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Schweitzer, Einstein, and Redfield, Jesus taught
that by serving others we serve ourselves. According to Jesus, for example, tho
se who enter the Kingdom of God (Stage V) would be those who served others by gi
ving "food drink" to others and by welcoming "strangers" and "clothing" the poor.
For when you do this to the "least" of the brethren, Jesus said, "you did it to
me." (Mt 25:35-46) "So always treat others as you would have them treat you, [sa
id Jesus 7:12 for] that is the meaning of the law and of the prophets."
In Stage IV we know that the differences between self and others, God and man, s
acred and profane, mundane and extraordinary are the result of thinking in categ
ories of either/or. Being "reborn" in Stage IV means struggling constantly to ha
rmonize these dichotomies in a way in which both are affirmed and neither is den
ied. Nonjudgmental logic affirms this harmony. Abraham Maslow found that self-ac
tualizing persons possessed "a rare capacity to resolve value dichotomies." (105
) In his book, Motivation and Personality, he writes:
"The age-old opposition between heart and head was seen to disappear where they be
come synergic rather than antagonistic. The dichotomy between selfishness and un
selfishness disappears our subjects are simultaneously very spiritual and very pag
an and sensual. Duty cannot be contrasted with pleasure nor work with play when
duty is pleasure Similar findings have been reached for kindness- ruthlessness, co
ncreteness-abstractness, acceptance-rebel-lion, self-society, adjustment-maladju
stment , serious-humorous, dionysian-apollonian, introverted-extroverted, intense-
casual, mystic-realistic, active-passive, masculine-feminine, lust-love, and ero
s-agape [all] coalesce into an orgasmic unity and into a non-Aristotelian inter- i
nterpenetration and a thousand philosophical Dilemmas are discovered to have more
than two horns, Or paradoxically, no horns at all. " (105)
Wherever thinking leads us into opposition and conflict, we need to rethink oppo
sition in terms of categories of both/and. Hampton-Turner writes: "The capacity
to hold finite and transcendence in balance distinguishes the growth of producti
ve personality from the regression of the nonproductive. "(106)
In The Sane Society, Eric Fromm wrote,
"The necessity to find ever-new solutions for the contra-dictions in his existen
ce, to find ever-higher forms of unity with nature, his fellow man and himself,
is the source of all psychic forces which motivates man, all of his passions, af
fects and anxieties." (107)
In Stage IV the individual will be in harmony with his fellow man, nature and Go
d. This is a person who is guided in his reasoning by an acceptance of human div
ersity and ability to reason in terms of nonjudgmental logic in which both alter
natives of an either/or judgment can be affirmed. Such a person will be naturall
y loving, life-affirming, and balanced. This is a natural consequence of moral a
nd rational development in Stage IV. It is either/or reasoning in lower stages o
f consciousness that robs us of our natural compassion and love. But that compas
sion reappears in Stages IV and V. When individuals in Stage IV form communities
, a new civilization will be possible and heaven will become a practical reality
right here on earth, just as Jesus promised it would.
Jesus' theory of nature can be seen as a consciousness-raising concept that admi
ts us to Stage IV, because it establishes a foundation upon which we might build
nonjudgmental systems of logic, language, and free will. By definition, parable
s are meaningless unless they have meaning. In Stages II and III, we have an int
uitive understanding of parables. In Stage IV, we have a rational understanding,
with a practical application to everyday life. This, in turn, brings into our f
ield of consciousness an objective way to experience aspects of reality that Sta
ges I through III consciousnesses cannot comprehend.

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Stage V The Glory

Paul refers to Stage V as the "glory." In the glory, nonjudgmental reasoning wil
l be universal because public and parochial schools will teach Jesus' theory of
nature. Theologians of all persuasions will recognize that if our children learn
to reason lovingly, they will live the love, peace and joy that religion preach
es. Educators will teach Jesus' theory of nature because it is a natural princip
le that supports brotherly love. We have always known that love is the answer. J
esus' Gnostic teachings make love the rational thing to do.
In Stage V, all will have learned to reason lovingly. We will no longer think it
reasonable to look out for ourselves as others suffer. We will see ourselves as
one with all others, and therefore treat others as ourselves. This is the key t
hat fulfills Jesus' promise that "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
This ushers in the Kingdom of God-the glory of Stage V.
In Paul's five stage model of consciousness, Stage V, the glory, begins when eve
ry adult reaches his or her highest stage of consciousness. Stage V will never e
nd. Just as the ending of later interpretations of the Lord's Prayer suggests, i
t will go on "forever".
The consciousness-raising idea that initiates Stage V is the knowledge, gained t
hrough the understanding of Jesus' theory of nature, that all are one. When all
realize that all are one, the whole world will work towards the good of all, bec
ause everyone will see themselves in all others, and therefore, it will no longe
r be necessary to have institutions of any kind that are meant to protect us and
our property from others. All will be one and supportive of the others. This wi
ll be the new civilization in the third millennium.
"When the Christian philosopher, Justine, wrote he boosted that they [Gnostic Chri
stians] were people who had completely changed their attitudes we, who used to tak
e pleasure in immorality, now embrace chastity [meaning refraining from practice
s of Roman culture] alone; we who valued above everything else the acquisition o
f wealth and possessions, now bring what we have into common ownership, and shar
e with those in need; we, who hated and destroyed one another, refusing to live
with those of a different race, now live intimately with them". (108)
In Stage V, the glorified (perfected) live the "good life" as Paul in Ephesians
2:10 said God intends us to do. No one can say exactly what living in the glory,
or Kingdom of God, will be, any more than anyone in Stage III can describe livi
ng in Stage IV. But we can imagine and experience it through the intuitive knowl
edge that poetry and metaphors inspire. The beautiful images of the glory as 'gr
een pastures 'still waters' 'paths of righteousness,' in Psalms 23:2, a time when a
ll will "beat their swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks; (and)
nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war an
ymore, IS 2:4B," and "the Promised Land," intuitively inspire visions of what th
e glory will be. In John 1:50, John writes that Jesus said, "We shall do greater
things than he." Other New Testament authors define the glory as, "doing on ear
th as it is in heaven," "enjoying the freedom and glory as children of God" (Rom
ans, 8:21), "The Kingdom of God" (14-17), "crown of glory," (First Peter 5:4), "
partakers of the glory" (5:31), "holy temple" (Ephesians 2:21), "glory and domin
ion" (Hebrews 4:11), "throne of grace" (4:16), "assembly of first born" (12:23),
and "kingdom that cannot be shaken" (12:28).
Our world is in crisis because our egos in Stages II and III have been misguided
by poor reasoning and misdirected toward self-serving activities instead of ser
vice to others. Like the Prodigal Son who has left his Father's house, we are wa
ndering aimlessly in the world, wasting our fortunes. But we are also evolving a
nd growing. If we missed the mark in the past, we can be redeemed through a rene
wed mind and renewed reasoning.
Where we have built our personal and social lives on the quicksand of either/or
thinking, in Stages II and III, we need to reconstruct them on the bedrock of lo
ve and oneness. Just as we cannot build a house without the proper tools, so too
we cannot build abundant lives without the proper reasoning. The tools of Arist
otelian logic have not served us well. The tools of nonjudgmental logic will hel
p us build a world, which is home to everyone.
When we reason in ways which justify unkind and unloving actions, we are like a
mathematician whose calculator has a broken function key. No matter how carefull
y we perform on a broken calculator, we are likely to get the wrong answer. Simi
larly, no matter how logical or reasonable our thinking is, if that thinking is
based on a broken logic, we will be led astray in our conclusions. When reasonin
g about human affairs, we need to lay aside Aristotle's either/or logic and subs
titute the both/and reasoning of nonjudgmental logic.
Why have we believed that it is reasonable to act in ways which are immoral? Tho
mas Paine wrote "a man's moral condition is utterly hopeless as long as he belie
ves he is virtuous when he is not." (109) Why has no one pointed out that to act
in immoral ways is irrational? The answer is that, without nonjudgmental logic,
it seemed rational to do immoral acts. What seemed practical, from the point of
reason, conflicted with what we knew in our hearts was right. Now, with nonjudg
mental logic, we know that it is neither rational nor logical to do what is immo
ral. In fact, quite the contrary is true. It is irrational and illogical.
Love is the answer to our moral crisis, society's problems, world conflict and w
ars between nations. Love has always been known to be the answer! But without no
njudgmental logic and its three laws, love was never the rational answer. In Sta
ge IV it is. To be loving makes rational sense. Now love is the logical answer,
too.
A kingdom of heaven on earth is impossible without a kingdom of heaven in our he
arts and minds. Love resides naturally in our hearts; but we need to give our mi
nds the laws of reasoning, which will enable everyone's heart and head to join i
n the harmony of love in Stage V.

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Five Stages of Consciousness In Paul's Writings
Having explored the characteristics of five stages of consciousness, let us now
look at biblical examples of Paul's model.
In his letters to the Ephesians (2:1-6), Paul writes, "and you were dead [living
barren lives in Stage I] We [Jews] were among them [the dead of Stage I] too in t
he past but God loved us with so much love He was generous with his mercy [and] made
Israel in His image [rational-Stage II]. He brought us to life [gave us a consc
ience-Stage III] and raised us up [made us righteous-Stage IV] with Christ and gav
e us a place with Him in heaven"[meaning the glory of Stage V]." (2:6E)
In Ephesians 2:11-17, Paul adapts the idea of the free gift of reconciliation in
the context of five stages of consciousness.
"2-11. Do not forget, then that there was a time when you [Gentiles] were exclud
ed from membership from Israel, aliens have no part in the covenant with their p
romise; you were immersed in this world without hope and without God.[Stage I] B
ut now you have been brought close by the blood of Christ, [meaning the essence
of the Christ message] for he is the peace between us and has made the two of us
into one and has broken down the barrier which used to keep them [Jew and Genti
le] apart [He broke down the barriers between us through the nonjudgmental reasoni
ng he created through his theory of] one single new man [henos anthropos]" .Paul th
en concludes "so you [Gentiles] are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: You ar
e citizens like all the saints and part of God's household. [Stage IV] all grow i
nto one holy temple in the Lord. [Stage V]." Ephesians 2: 19-21.
Some final examples of Paul's use of five stages of consciousness as a format of
his letters surfaces in Romans 3:20-33.
"No one can be justified [raised to Stage IV] in sight of God by keeping the law
: All the law does is tell us [in Stage II and III] what is sinful So what becomes
of our boasts [about Moses' laws, someone asks?] There is no room for it, [Paul
answers] for it merely regulates behavior. What sort of law excludes them The sor
t of law that tells us what to do [but does not explain why we should do it]? On
the contrary, it [Jesus' knowledge teachings] is the law of faith [meaning inwa
rd understanding] As we [Paul and Gnostic followers] see it, a man is justified [
reaches Stage IV] by faith [meaning his own understanding] and not by doing some
thing the law tells him to do Do we mean that faith [again, meaning our understand
ing] makes the law pointless? Not at all: We [Gnostics] are giving the law its t
rue value. [We commend the law for achieving its goal, protecting people from on
e another until God puts his law within their own minds just as Jeremiah says he
will."
It is apparent that Paul is having trouble convincing his Jewish listeners that
he is not ridiculing Moses' law, when he says that these laws are not necessary.
On the contrary, he means that Moses' laws have done their job and it is now ti
me to reap the rewards-the new covenant God promised Israel-the glory of Stage V
. Paul tries to explain by showing how the biblical stories about the foreknown
(Stage I), Abraham (Stage II), and Moses (Stage III) document his claim that man
kind has been evolving through stages of consciousness, and Jesus' teachings app
ly to those in Stage IV. Here we no longer need external laws because we have in
ternalized the laws and have therefore become of the same mind as the principle
behind the laws of religious institutions. [I hope religious people will recogni
ze this truth today. Earth cannot afford another two thousand years of judgmenta
l reasoning.]
Paul again argues this in Romans 2:13-15, when he says, "it is not listening to
the law but keeping it that will make people holy in the sight of God. For insta
nce, pagans who never heard of the law, but are led by reason to do what the law
commands, may not actually 'possess' the law, but they can be said to 'be' the
law. They can point to the substance of the law engraved on their hearts."
What Paul had written in the above passage is illustrated by him in the Old Test
ament story of the one-sided covenant between Abraham and Yahweh, in which Abrah
am's child-like submission was traded for Yahweh's promise to take care of each
and every Jew. This story illustrates parental-like benevolence rather than mutu
al benefit.
Romans 4:1-3. "If Abraham was justified as a reward for doing something he would
really have something to boast about, though not in God's sight, because Script
ure says; 'Abraham put his faith [from the old Testament word meaning here mere
trust] and this [childlike trust] faith [rather than actions] was considered [by
God] as justifying him.'"
Paul is pointing out that the covenant between Abraham and Yahweh can be seen as
one-sided in favor of Abraham since Abraham's contribution to the bargain was l
ittle more than blind trust. This one-sided bargain indicates that Yahweh was de
aling with Abraham as if he were a child, an approach, which Paul argued, illust
rated that the era in which Abraham lived was set apart from following eras by i
ts childlike (Stage II) thinking.
In Romans 7:1-84, Paul addresses the problem of the purpose of the law, if the l
aw did not eliminate suffering, after it was given to Moses (the beginning of St
age III). The Jews, Paul's audience, complained that they did not seem to fare a
ny better with the law (Stage III) than they did without it (Stage II). Paul exp
lains that before the law (Stage II), God loved Israel as a father loves his chi
ld (Romans 4:1-31). But, under the law, God guides Israel from a distance, which
allows Israel to learn self-reliance. In practice, living under the law is a st
ep up from the childhood dependence of Stages I and II, into the more responsibl
e level of consciousness expected of mature people (Stage III). This is a timely
answer because living under the law is a threshold to having the law within. (S
tage IV).
Paul might have quoted Jeremiah 31:33 to support his claim that Jesus fulfilled
the law by putting it within us, not by rejecting it.
"See, the days are coming-it is Yahweh who speaks-when I will make a new covenan
t with the house of Israel (and the house of Judah,) but not a covenant like the
one I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring the
m out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant of mine, so I had to show t
hem who was the master [by making their lives hard]. It is Yahweh who speaks. No
this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel when those days arriv
e, [Stage IV]-it is Yahweh who speaks-Deep within them I will plant my law [logo
s,] writing it on their hearts [mind/ego self] then I will be their God and they
shall be my people. There will be no further need for neighbor to try to teach
neighbor, brother to say brother 'Learn to know Yahweh!'. No, they will all know
me [from within], the least no less than the greatest-it is Yahweh who speaks-s
ince I will forgive their inequity and never call their sin [selfish reasoning]
to mind."
In Romans 7:1-5, Paul now approaches a subject which has been on his mind for so
me time: "The emancipation of [the Jew and later] the Gentiles from the law [whi
ch is equivalent to saying, breaking the covenant of the law] (Note:7, 1A)." Eve
n though Paul is teaching that the law has fulfilled its duty, many listeners st
ill think he is criticizing the law or even asking them to reject it, which woul
d be blasphemous. To Jews, giving up the law would be like giving up their way o
f life.
Paul supports his argument by saying that although it was uncomfortable to imagi
ne setting aside Moses' covenant (Stage III); it was permissible on the same gro
unds as a widow is free to remarry.
"A married woman for instance, has a legal obligation to her husband while he is
alive, but all these obligations come to an end if her husband dies that is why y
ou, my brothers, who through the body [or consciousness] of Christ are now dead
to external laws because Jesus' teachings put the law within you You can now give
yourselves to another husband [covenant] We are now [meaning in Stage IV] rid of t
he external law [because we] serve [God] in a new spiritual way [meaning from with
in our own sense of reason.] Page 82
Paul then explains the purpose of the law: Romans 7:7"Does it not follow that th
e law itself is sin? Of course not, [Paul answers]. What I mean is that I should
not have known what sin was except for the law. I should not, for instance, hav
e known what it means to covet, if the Lord had not said, "You shall not covet."
But it was His commandment that sin took advantage of to produce all sorts of c
ovetness in me, for where there is no law, [Stage II] sin is dead. [Because we h
ave no sense of wrong until there are laws against it...] The law that forbids t
hem [immoral acts] cannot prevent them: Indeed they seem to thrive on prohibitio
n. We may say that without the law sin could not exist." 46
The above biblical passages exemplify how Paul used five stages in the developme
nt of consciousness as a context for his teachings.
In review, Paul's model of five stages of consciousness begins in the prehistori
c past when creation breathes life into man. In his first stage, man, the forekn
own, is driven by his instincts. Stage II, which Paul defines as those in the im
age of God, begins with self or self-consciousness. Self-consciousness adds a ra
tional dimension to consciousness because the idea of self provides a center to
which all rational thoughts relate. According to Paul, Stage II began when Adam-
here meaning rational man-first discovered his capacity to make choices and subs
equently, his capacity to reason. For Paul, Stage II ended when Moses gave the l
aw to Israel. (Stage II's form of consciousness is defined by Paul as lawless an
d worldly. Gnostics use terms such as the "hylic stage", meaning, "immersed in m
aterialism".) (110)
"The called" (Stage III) begins when Moses gives the law to Israel and ends when
Jesus reveals the cause of evil. The consciousness-raising idea that admits us
to Stage III is the concept of written laws. Paul refers to those in Stage III a
s The called, for it is in this stage of consciousness that the law awakens in u
s, our moral consciousness, which forever calls us to do good.
Paul also uses the term double-minded men (JM 1:6-7 KJV) to exemplify Stage III
individuals "who waveith like a wave [and are] unstable in all his ways." In Stage
III, we are called to do good by our conscience, but too often, rationalize awa
y our good intentions. Gnostics use the term "psychic" for this stage and consid
er it a "stage of conversion" (110)
Stage IV of consciousness, the righteous, begins when Jesus reveals that judgmen
tal reasoning is the consequence of the prevailing theory of nature. He provides
a remedy, an additional theory of nature that creates the foundation for nonjud
gmental processes of reasoning. Nonjudgmental reasoning reforms consciousness be
cause it empowers the understanding of reality in an entirely new way. In effect
, the knowledge of a misused theory of nature and a new theory of nature is the
consciousness-raising idea that admits us to Stage IV's form of consciousness an
d its hallmark-enlightenment.
Hearing and comprehending Jesus' theory of nature initiates a revolution of cons
ciousness that can be thought of as the second coming of Jesus. For even though
we are not hearing about Jesus' theory of nature from him in person, we might im
agine that if we understand his thoughts, and feel his love through his teaching
s, it is reasonable to think that he is within us, and therefore, is with us aga
in.
Stage V in Paul's five stage model of consciousness, the glory, will begin when
every adult reaches his or her highest state of consciousness. Actually, civiliz
ed man has been stuck in the lower three stages since Moses, about 800BC. The kn
owledge that Jesus revealed about the prevailing theory of nature, and his new t
heory, frees us to move forward into the nonjudgmental realm of Stage V consciou
sness.
In Stage V, we see ourselves as one with others and the world. We are like eleme
nts in the formula of life-without the notion of a difference between life and o
urselves. For in Stage V, the notion of separation, propagated by judgmental eit
her/or reasoning, completely gives way to the feeling of oneness, supported by u
nconditional both/and reasoning. In both/and reasoning, we are both elements in
life, and life itself-we are one.
The momentous understanding in Gnostic Christianity's model of consciousness is
that it allows for changes in the nature of consciousness/ego. Most religious do
ctrines assume that the ego is hopelessly trapped in a nature of sin or bad karm
a. But, Gnosticism teaches that sin and bad karma are a consequence of the ego-s
elf in the first three stages of consciousness, caught up in judgmental reasonin
g that is justified by the prevailing theory of nature. In our highest levels of
consciousness, Stages IV and V, or call it enlightenment, that same ego has gro
wn beyond sin and bad karma through Jesus' knowledge teachings and the new form
of nonjudgmental reasoning that it justifies. Gnostics teach that enlightenment
is not a "dazzling display of psychic phenomena or paranormal powers, nor is it
a vision that transports one to a high celestial realm. It is not sitting immobi
le in trance while experiencing an inner world of fascinating colors and sounds
or alternatively, a complete blankness of mind. Enlightenment can include that,
but it also infinitely transcends all that." (111).
Enlight enment is a state of being, in which the mind, body, and spirit are in h
armony, with the nonjudgmental energy of God's love. We awaken to that harmony w
ith Jesus' theory of nature. As an anonymous Gnostic once said, "as I awoke, I r
emembered, I was the son/daughter of the king."
The Buddha also taught that enlightenment is normal, not a psychic phenomenon or
supernatural experience. When he was asked, for example, "Are you an angel?", h
is reply was "No." "What are you then?" The Buddha simply replied, "I am awake."