Kingdom of Heaven
“One day, as the crowds were gathering, Christ went up the hillside with his disciples and sat down and taught them there: “Humble men are very fortunate for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.” Now, we should clarify some of our terms here. First of all, “Kingdom of Heaven, in spiritual life, means God-consciousness. It’s not a place off somewhere in some other world or many, many millions and millions and billions of miles beyond the physical universe. “Kingdom of Heaven”, as Christ said, “is within”. It’s a state of consciousness. When the mind becomes completely calm, then the inner Reality which is hidden by thoughts, starts to shine and one feels one is in heaven. It means one is happy and peaceful. That’s heaven. So this is what Christ means when he says, “The Kingdom of Heaven”. Also, many times he refers to the Father: “My Father sent me” “I and the Father are one.” When he says Father, what he’s talking about is Supreme Consciousness, the Absolute Being, Satchitananda, the Ocean of Awareness, the Source of the world. That’s called the Father. Not that the Father is a man, a big man with a beard, or without a beard. But the Father is Reality, impersonal Reality.”—Swami Paramatmananda, “Talks, Volume 1”, p. 85
Kingdom of Heaven
“One day, as the crowds were gathering, Christ went up the hillside with his disciples and sat down and taught them there: “Humble men are very fortunate for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.” Now, we should clarify some of our terms here. First of all, “Kingdom of Heaven, in spiritual life, means God-consciousness. It’s not a place off somewhere in some other world or many, many millions and millions and billions of miles beyond the physical universe. “Kingdom of Heaven”, as Christ said, “is within”. It’s a state of consciousness. When the mind becomes completely calm, then the inner Reality which is hidden by thoughts, starts to shine and one feels one is in heaven. It means one is happy and peaceful. That’s heaven. So this is what Christ means when he says, “The Kingdom of Heaven”. Also, many times he refers to the Father: “My Father sent me” “I and the Father are one.” When he says Father, what he’s talking about is Supreme Consciousness, the Absolute Being, Satchitananda, the Ocean of Awareness, the Source of the world. That’s called the Father. Not that the Father is a man, a big man with a beard, or without a beard. But the Father is Reality, impersonal Reality.”—Swami Paramatmananda, “Talks, Volume 1”, p. 85