THE ESSENCE OF BEING!

ATTITUDES OF BEING

Based Upon

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

a thematic approach

Background:

            Found in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 5, 6 & 7, the Sermon covers the essentials of Jesus’ teachings.
            The Beatitudes, verses 3-10 of chapter 5, are not only the introduction but the framework or essence around which the Sermon is developed.  The remaining verses discuss Jesus’ understanding of the “Blessed” state of the Beatitude, “Attitudes of Being”, but the order is reversed. 

UNIVERSAL TRUTH:          

            In the Beatitudes, Jesus parallels a universal theme found in all of the world’s religions.  Direct correlation is found in the Budha’s 8-fold path and the 8-limbs of Raja Yoga from the Hindu tradition.

Session 12: The Essence of Being –

Summary review and extended meditation on the Attitudes of Being

Matthew 5:1- “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him.”

SM 4, “The actual explanation of man’s life lies in just the fact that he is essentially spiritual and eternal, and the life we live is but a cross section of the full truth concerning him… a cross section of anything… never can furnish even a partial explanation of the whole.”

DPWY 58, “The old order taught men what to do, but Jesus showed them what to be and how to think.”

 SMV 18, “Every spiritual teacher… has two sets of teachings – one for the multitude, the other for his disciples… A truly illumined teacher can transmit to us the power which unfolds the divine consciousness latent within us. But the field must be fertile and the soil ready before the seed can be sown.”

Matthew 7:28-29, “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

SM 141, “The Jesus Christ message is utterly revolutionary… for it turns our gaze from the outside to the inside, from man and his works to God.”

DPWY 145, “When you begin to catch the concept of our innate divinity, you have the means of building a life that is impervious to change and challenge.”

SMV 125, “’He had no other occupation in life, no other thought except one, that he was Spirit… every man and woman… was the embodiment of the same undying Spirit as himself. Therefore, the one work his whole life showed was calling them to realize their own spiritual nature.’”

SUGGESTED READING:

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT, Emmet Fox. (SM)

DISCOVER THE POWER WITHIN YOU, Eric Butterworth (DPWY)

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT ACCORDING TO VEDANTA, Swami Prabhavananda (SMV)

Rev. Matthew E. Long – Peace Unity Network, Box 837, Clarkston, MI 48347 – (248) 891-4365

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