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Ten Commandments - Part Three - What's in a name?

The Third Commandment is "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."

In otherwords, "Do not lift up, use, or appropraite the word by which you distinctively know God in ways that lack purpose, value or truth."

God said to Moses, "I am that I am." From Hebrew, "Yod-He-Vav-He" transliterated into English: YHWH, with vowels added "Yahweh". Translated, I am who I am, or I will be that I will be, He who IS, the self-existent one, The Great I AM.

From the limited realm of language, these naems are intended to reaveal the fullness of God's being, nature, attributes and everything that can be known. The main concept here has to do with the elusive term "being". Some things are, while others are not. If you want a fancy word, this is an ontological issue--the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature or existence of being.

The name of God embodies all matter, energy, life, and truth. A name points and refers and distinguishes; brings to mind; a name carries with it personal history; power and authority; reputation.

The third commandment says, in substance, in principle, that you cannot take the name of the Lord in vain. You use the name of God whenever you believe in something. What you really believe in, you are attributing to God and experiencing as God. And that shapes the reality of your daily life experiences.

By the power of your thoughts you re-present your idea of God. How would your life change if you believed that your search for God was like a fish in search of water? What would it be like to really believe in the goodness, and mercy, and love, and omnipresence of Source itself...to be at one with that and see it reflected back to you...to find peace and joy by just breathing the air?

You cannot use the name of the Lord in vain. You cannot.

Ten Commandments - Part Two

The Second Commandment is about having no limits.

"You shall not make for yourself any graven image..."

During this time in ancient history, graven or carved images of gods were everywhere. It was a futile attempt to define what is infinite in a finite container. These statues were not considered representations of the gods, but literally to contain the god. The Second Commandment is more than a law against god statues. It was a radical shift in consciousness that forsakes the notion that God can be contained, defined or carved out.

Whenever we describe something, define it, frame it, or set boundaries, we are creating a container. Rules and boundaries, definitions and descriptions, the concepts and contexts with which we hold our concepts, perceptions...our world view...have a useful place in our human experience. Our ability to analyze, categorize, organize, contain, hold and orchestrate our lives is one of our most wonderful and powerful gifts.

Even so, there are some dangers in the use of this power if we forget that we created these definitions and concepts with which we try to contain and control our lives. It is particularly important to remember that our IDEA of God and our IDEA of ourselves is of our own making. These concepts are powerful in our lives. So powerful that they take on a life of their own. It is easy to think that these ideas...these containments have power over us instead of the other way around. The cart begins to pull a horse ulness we know and hold the truth that we created the artificial containment, the limits, and the boundaries...by the power of our thoughts.

God, the infinite, cannot be contained in words, pictures, books, houses of worship or ideas. The infinite has no boundaries. To confine God is to hold a limited concept of who we are. To confine ourselves is to hold a limited concept of God.

We have the amazing power to construct the perceptions of who we are and what we are. We, therefore, have the power to dismantle them. When you find yourself in a container that separates you from God and the world around you - bring the light of truth to your confinement. Know and hold and affirm that there is only The One expressing as the many. That Truth will set you free!

The Ten Commandments - Part One

“I Am That I Am” – The Ten Commandments, Part One

There is a deeper spiritual and metaphysical significance and relevance to the Ten Commandments that is so much more than a list of rules.  The First Commandment is the foundational key to spiritual understanding and liberation. However, the statement made before the Ten Commandments has a value in itself, “I am the Lord (the Law…the Spiritual Principle…the I AM), who brought you out of the land of Egypt (out of the land of limitations), out of the house of bondage (out of ties to old ways of thinking and being).” 

God is I AM THAT I AM, and you are I AM.

The first commandment is: “You shall have no other gods before me.”

The translation of the first commandment is: The power of God, in and through you, is the power to transcend limitations and frees you from old ways of thinking and being. You cannot have anything above or in the face of the God in  you…the ‘I AM” of you…your true identity.  There is nothing above or in the face of your true identity.  To know that gives you all power.

Emmet Fox said, “When you have to go to tackle the “Egyptians” and your heart turns to water within you, and you say to yourself, “I cannot do this,” “I am not adequate”, “There is no way,” then remember your true identity and say to the Egyptians, “I AM has sent me,” and the road will open and you will surmount your difficulties.”

Know this Truth, take it into your hearts and this Truth will set you free.

Talk given by Howard Geer