Jesus’s The Sermon on the Mount: A Radical New Translation and Psychological Explication

[Written around 2005.]

Commentary (from 2005): The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most enlightened pieces of writing I have ever come across.  If it was Jesus who discovered these ideas, then he was incredibly advanced.  If it was someone else, then I take my hat off to him or her.  My goal for this project was to translate the spirit of this Sermon into something fresh, new, and equally enlightening.

King James Version of the Bible in italics; my translation/interpretation below, in bold.

MATTHEW, CHAPTER 5

Verses 1-3:  And seeing the multitudes, he [Jesus] went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And seeing the hordes of people, the prophet went up to the mountain and sat down, and his closest followers gathered round.

And he opened his mouth, and this is what he taught:  Life’s most fortunate are those who are humble enough to receive the truth.  They shall know the true beauty of life.

Verse 4: Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Life’s most fortunate are those who have the capacity to grieve the horrors of their childhood.  Grieving opens their doors to inner peace.

Verse 5Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Life’s most fortunate are those who are who can realistically appraise their own insanity.  Their reward shall be unadulterated growth toward sanity.

Verse 6:  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Life’s most fortunate are those who are desperate to know their soul’s truth at whatever cost – and have the courage to integrate it into their lives.  They shall become centered within themselves.

Verse 7:  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Life’s most fortunate are those who have compassion for the struggles of others.  Their reward shall be compassion for themselves.

Verse 8:  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Life’s most fortunate are those who can deeply self-reflect.  They shall know themselves at their deepest level, and this is to know God.

Verse 9:  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Life’s most fortunate are those who can see the beautiful truth in their enemies.  They shall be called the teachers of the path.

Verse 10:  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Life’s most fortunate are those who are hated for the honest truth they manifest.  This is the sign that their lives are right on track.

Verse 11:  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

You are fortunate when you are rejected by the world’s liars and hypocrites.  Life can offer you no clearer sign that you have rejected your own inner liar and hypocrite.  If the world’s liars and hypocrites loved you and accepted you as their own it would only show that you were still capitulating to their twisted thinking.

Verse 12:  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Be thankful for your incredibly good fortune!  You may not realize how lucky you are to have the capacity to be so honest with yourself.  The greatest of what life has to offer is now available to YOU!  Although the world’s sick liars now hate you, you have entered good company.  All the most honest and wonderful and deepest and most truthful people throughout history were also similarly hated.  Mark my words, you are on the right team.

Verse 13:  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

You give flavor to the dull and bland.  Your honesty gives you value.  You now have something meaningful to contribute to the world.  Without your deep connection to yourself you would have no value, and your life would lack meaning.  Without your deep connection to yourself your death would be no loss at all to the world.

Verse 14:  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Your enlightenment is fantastic!  Let the deep light emanating from your being shine from the highest hill you can climb to, and let the whole world see your radiance!  Go forth and sing at the top of your lungs!

Verse 15:   Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Yes, now that you have discovered the truth within you and have deeply connected to it, there comes an obligation to share the truth with others so that they too can find the truth within themselves.  Fireflies evolved light so they could shine and inspire, not so that they could be pinned out in scientific collections and written about in dead journals.

Verse 16:  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Devote your life to sharing your enlightenment and optimizing your ability to burn brightly.  Use yourself as an example.  When you share the greatness and brilliance that lies within you, you honor the greatness in everyone and everything.  When you shine you become a leader in the world.

Verse 17:   Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

And so you know, my words do not contradict life’s ancient truths.  My words connect these truths with the best inside you.  I am not here to destroy the truth in your beliefs, but to nurture them – and give them POWER!.  The truth I share is the truth of all time, the truth of the universe.

Verse 18:  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Your life and my life and everyone’s life will have lived up to its potential only when we are all enlightened – and therefore live in harmony with our inner selves, our fellows, and our entire natural world.  This is our destiny, and no one can call humanity a success until we have all achieved it.

Verse 19:  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

If you do not follow this great truth – this universal river which flows through your soul – then your life has no value.  You are then merely a regressive force dragging human evolution backwards into the primordial ooze.  But you who follow the truth in your breast and nurture it and devote your life to it – yours is the life of value, the life of positive contribution!  You stand on the vanguard of human evolution.  Your shoulders become the stepping stones for the best of the coming generations.

Verse 20:   For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But if you cannot be more honest with yourself than the millions of blinded leaders who parade around, already falsely believing themselves to be enlightened, then your life has no value – and you will have contributed nothing.  Today is a new time in the progression of truth.

Verses 21-22:  Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

The ancient laws say that killing is wrong.  But I say, The real killing happens on a much deeper level, in the killing of another’s spirit.  If you participate in killing another’s spirit, you shackle your soul and your life loses its own value.  This goes for everyone, and most especially comfort-seeking parents who drink from the psychic blood of their own children.  They poison the cycle of life at its inception, just as was done to them.

Verses 23-24:  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

To contribute to life you must have a clean and unadulterated view into the depths of yourself.  To do this you must first respect the property line of your neighbor’s soul – and then clean up your own side of the street to set a good example.

Verses 25-26:  Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.  Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

You have a great purpose here on earth, and an enormous potential – do not squander it in trifling battles with disconnected people who are entrenched in their miserable dishonesty.  You have everything to lose.  They will kill you in a second to protect their lies – and you will get nothing out of it, because they are not open to your point of view.  Pick your battles, and fight the war within!

Verses 27-28:  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

The ancient laws say that sex outside of marriage is wrong.  But I say, The true marriage lives entirely within yourself:  the marriage between the consciousness of your mind and the core of your spirit.  It takes full devotion to nurture this marriage.  When you divert from your path toward enlightenment, be it through desire for sex or through any other addiction, you cheat on yourself and stunt your progress.

Verses 29-30:  And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Everything is worth sacrificing on the cause to know truth:  Parents, friends, job, money, sex, relationships, procreation, chemical substances, prestige, fame, reputation, surface comfort, warm nights of peaceful sleep, external beauty.  Get rid of whatever is blocking you from knowing your whole spirit.  Do whatever you have to do to resolve the traumas of your childhood.  Suffer the pain, suffer the rejection, suffer the hatred of the world, suffer the abandonment of your lying parents.  It is all worth sacrificing so that you may become fully enlightened, and so that your life will not be worthless.  The path to truth is all that counts.

Verses 31-32:  It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

The ancient laws offered women some civil protection.  But I say, The deeper laws of the universe protect the soul of everyone!  If you marry another person, let your marriage be an external reflection of your deeper marriage within.  Let your devotion to your marriage be as holy and serious as your devotion to your marriage within.  If you fail here, you betray your marriage, you betray your spouse, you betray your soul, and you betray your life’s purpose.

Verses 33-36:  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

The ancient laws prevented people from taking oaths and making vows except in the name of God.  But I say, Do not take oaths or make vows at all.  Do not make grand pronouncements about what you will or will not do.  You fool yourself if you believe yourself to have that kind of power.

Oaths and vows only block the path to enlightenment.  They tear you away from your inner connection with your spirit and send you looking in the wrong direction.  Do not look outside yourself for truth while you neglect the truth within.  Do not look outside yourself for your power and neglect the rumbling engine of your spirit.

Verse 37:  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Your answers lie within.  Look there.  Follow your heart.  Uncover your own self-deception.  Trace your motives.  Grieve your wounds.  Shed a million tears.  Shed a billion tears.  Study your history.  This path will lead you home.  All others will only lead you into the desert of death.

Verses 38-39:  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

The ancient laws followed the law of the jungle, the laws of revenge.  But I say, It was a more emotionally primitive time then.  Life has since evolved.  A more enlightened way has begun to grow from the fertilizer of their muck, and it now follows a connected, universal path.  When you come in contact with primitive people of the self-deceptive school, do not tangle with their insanity.  Instead study them.  Learn from them.  Recognize your own flaws from their behavior.  Use their words as wind in your sails.  Growth is your only purpose – and your only salvation.

Verse 40:  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

Be willing to sacrifice everything that is secondary for your growth.  If you get lost in the little scuffles, you lose sight of the greater war being waged:  within!

Verses 41-42:  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Be flexible, like the young tree whose branches are full of sap.  Use people’s negative treatment of you as a chance for you to provide a positive response.  Share your truth freely.  Use every opportunity you can as a gentle chance to offer others insight into the path toward enlightenment.

Verses 43-45:  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The ancient laws followed the laws of tribalism, where you were expected to love only those like yourself – and hate everyone else.  But I say, Love your enemies too, because the deep truth within them is no different from the deep truth within yourself.  Just because they are dishonest with themselves and therefore hate the best of themselves does not mean you have to follow suit and hate them too.  If you manifest full truth, you cannot help but see theirs as well.  They do not know what love is, and who better to teach them by example than you?

But when I tell you to love your enemies that does not for one second mean that you should love their insanity, love their self-deception, or love their sick behavior.  Do not sacrifice yourself on the altar of their insanity!  Protect your holiness from their viciousness.  To not protect yourself would be suicidal.  Do not end up a bug on their windshield.  You have a greater purpose than that!

Verse 46:  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

As an evolving human you have so much more to offer the world than simply to love only those who love you.  That is what children do.  That is what makes them children.  Even a rat knows not to bite the hand that feeds him.

Verse 47:  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

The time for petty tribalism is over.  All humans – and all beings – are connected by the universal spring of life.  This is what binds us, not race or color or gender or sexual orientation or age or biological relatedness or language or money or language or country.

Verse 48:  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Your life’s purpose is to become fully enlightened.  This is perfection.  There is no excuse for not devoting yourself to this purpose.  Your job while on earth is to manifest the fullest and deepest truth within you, to remove all your inner impediments which block your from knowing this truth.  If you do not accomplish this before you die then your life will have failed to achieve life’s ultimate potential.  Do not die partially dishonest with yourself!  Do not die partially in vain!


MATTHEW, CHAPTER 6

Verses 1-2:  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Do your good deeds quietly and privately, to satisfy only your true self in your heart.  That is how you will grow – and help others to grow.  You get no reward for doing your good deeds for the sake of the approval of others.  Those that live for the approval of others will get that approval…and nothing else.

Verse 3:  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Do not dwell on your good deeds, or even tally them up to yourself to build up your own belief in your greatness.  Do not even force yourself to do good deeds.  Just allow your good deeds to happen as a natural consequence of your deeper connection with yourself.   And when you have done your good deeds, move on and forget about them…and simply keep on growing.

Verse 5:  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Do not pray loudly and wisely so that you earn others’ approval.  When you give importance to external approval, you lose your connection with your heart within.  The bigshots who devote their lives to cultivating external approval are robots.  They are dead within.

Verse 6:  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Instead, pray silently and privately so that only your heart can hear.  Your reward will be that you shall know more truth, and you shall grow more enlightened.

Verse 7:  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

And be original in your prayers.  Let your soul speak through your prayers.  Do not pray mindlessly, and Do not repeat the prayers and thoughts of others.  If you do you will only become mindless and lose your connection with yourself.

Verse 8:  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Your true heart already knows exactly what you desire.  Open up your channel to your heart and let this be the guide in your prayers.  This way your path will have no choice but to unfold.

Verse 9:  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Allow me to give an example of how to pray, but remember, do not copy me:  Oh Spirit residing within my heart, I respect and love and cherish all that you are.

Verse 10:  Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Spirit within, I have great faith in your ability to manifest through me and through all of humanity.  May the pattern of your truth be expressed everywhere, just as it lies perfectly encoded in my heart and the heart of all my fellows and my enemies.

Verse 11:  Give us this day our daily bread.

Guide me through this day, Spirit, and provide for my basic needs so that I may focus on my deeper work.

Verse 12:  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And forgive me for my imperfections – just as I strive to forgive others for theirs.

Verse 13:  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

And keep me traveling on the path toward truth, and help me not to stray off it, because I so trust the beauty and strength and wisdom in everything about you.  You are the way, my Spirit, and I wish to follow you forever.  Amen!

Verse 14:  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

If you resolve your deepest buried traumas, you will have the capacity to truly forgive those who caused them to you – and only then will have the ability to forgive yourself those same traumas that you in your past blindness have inflicted on others.

Verse 15:  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

But if you cannot grieve and thus heal your deepest wounds, you will never be able to forgive anyone – or yourself for those same things that you have done.  Let the poison you still hold in your heart motivate and guide you in the direction of grieving.

Verses 16-18:  Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

When you make your painful sacrifices on your inward path to discover the truth, do not spread the word of how miserable and wretched it is for the sake of arousing pity and sympathy.  If you do, the pity and sympathy you receive will be your only reward, and it is no reward at all.  Instead, glory in your good fortune for having found the path toward enlightenment.  Stand tall and proud for being so lucky to be able to sacrifice the less important things in life.  But make your sacrifices quietly and in private, where only you can see.  Then you will grow optimally.

Verses 19-21:  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Do not focus on accumulating worldly goods, worldly fame, and external approval.  If you do, your consciousness will at best have a tenuous marriage with your spirit.  The externals of life can be stripped from you in an instant in a million ways, and where will you be then?

Focus instead on your internal growth, and nurture your path toward enlightenment.  That is where the true riches of the world lie, and no one can steal them from you.  The greatest investment of them all is the investment within – because it leads right into the overflowing gold mine of the universe.

That which you treasure most in your life becomes the home for your spirit.

Verse 22:  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

Become fully conscious, and then you will see nothing but the truth everywhere.  Resolve all the issues of your unconscious, and your unconscious will dissolve away into nothing – and you will be full of light.  That is ENGLIGHTENMENT!

Verse 23:  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

But if you do not complete this process, where you remain unconscious you will not be enlightened.  Your eyes will deceive you.  They will misread the truth and your actions will manifest deceit.  And the more your consciousness is disconnected from your spirit the less enlightened you will be.

Verse 24:  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Yet no one can live comfortably with only partial enlightenment.  There is a pull to become either fully enlightened or fully unenlightened.  Know truth and side with the full glory of life, or deny truth and side with the smothering comfort of death.  Dying on the morphine drip is dying with poison in your veins.

Verse 25:  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment.

Therefore, be willing to sacrifice everything to become enlightened.  If you cannot do this, you will always live in spiritual torture.  Let your internal path be your total priority.  This is your life’s purpose.  All else is secondary.

Verse 26:  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Do not live in terror of not getting enough.  Everything you need will be provided.  Birds do not obsess about their future, and yet they get all the seed and grain they need.  And yet your purpose is so much more important and valuable, so what convinces you that the world will not provide for you as well?

Verse 27:  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Which of you has improved his life one iota by obsessing?

Verse 28-29:  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Do not get caught up in obsessing about the externals.  Clothing and style mean nothing.  The true beauty lies within.  The lilies of the field do not stress or work and yet they grow without any trouble at all – and are more vital and pure than the most glorious of kings!

Verse 30:  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

The world takes care of the grass and gives it all it needs to survive and grow – and yet it is only grass, here today and gone tomorrow!  Can you truly not believe that the world does not have a greater purpose for you, a potentially conscious human being who can manifest full truth?

Verses 31-32:  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Do not even give consideration to the lesser things of priority in your life.  Do not worry about your food and your clothing and your housing.  The most backward people who manifest no truth at all get all their external needs met – and yet you fear that you will not?  You will!  Everything you need will be provided.

Verse 33:  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Make the path toward enlightenment your first priority – and everything else will fall into line.

Verse 34:  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Do not obsess about tomorrow.  Tomorrow will take care of itself.  You have enough work cut out for yourself rooting out your self-deceptions of today.


MATTHEW, CHAPTER 7

Verse 1:  Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Do not decide the fate of others, just as you would not want others to decide your fate.  Let people choose their own path.

Verse 2:  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Where you decide the fate of others, you violate them and disrespect their integrity.  This only expresses the violations and disrespect to which you were subjected as a child and to which you continue to subject yourself through your own lack of emotional resolution.  When you fail to honor the healing power that lies within others you only demonstrate your failure to honor the healing power within yourself.

Verses 3-4:  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

And do not use others’ lack of healing as an excuse for not healing yourself.  It is all too easy to focus on others’ flaws at the expense of your own inward journey.  Many who purport to heal others have not the slightest awareness of their own insanity.

Verse 5:  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

If your life’s priority is not to nurture your own path toward enlightenment, you are a hypocrite.  If you are disconnected from the full truth within you live with a distorted sense of perspective and will overestimate the flaws in others and underestimate your own.  Look within, heal yourself, and only then, from the perspective of your healing, assess the world.

Verse 6:  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

But if you do make nurturing the path toward enlightenment your life’s priority, protect yourself!  Know the exact dimensions of your enemies!  Do not expose your most tender vulnerabilities to vultures, and do not cast your pearls before swine.  If you do you will only be squandering your life’s greatest gift for no purpose whatsoever, just as your deceptive parents of yesterday taught you to do.

Verses 7-8:  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Instead, ask yourself the deepest questions:  you shall hear the reply.  Look within:  the solution is there.  Knock on your inner doors:  they will open.

Have the courage to tap your inner resources.  You are a storehouse of brilliance. Every answer you ever wanted to know lives inside you.   Your heart holds the truth.  This is the true legacy of your humanity.

Verses 9-11:  Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Yet even unenlightened parents, who are by nature ambivalent in their feelings for their children, provide the best nourishment they can for them.  Meanwhile, the inner core of your being holds a fully encoded template of universal love and giving.  There is no ambivalence in your core.  And yet you do not have faith in it?

Verse 12:  Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  This is the Golden Rule.  But now hear the Universal Rule:  Manifest the deepest truth from your core, and you will by nature treat people with universal love…which is exactly how you yourself have deserved to be treated your whole life.

Verses 13-14:  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Forge your own path through the wilderness.  It is the hard path, and it is the path straight through the brambles.  But it is the path to truth, the path to enlightenment, and the path to the best of yourself.  The path to heaven leads straight through hell.  It is a dangerous way, but if you are one of the rare souls who can connect with your inner compass, you will find the way.

Most people instead follow the blind and mindless and well-trodden path of the herd.  Although it is safe, it leads only to the slaughterhouse.  It is the path away from life.  It is the path of no value.

Verse 15:  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Those who will guide you to the slaughterhouse will offer you ever incentive in the world.  They will promise you love and peace and comfort and acceptance by the norm, and they will truly provide it as promised…until the moment they reveal their true motives and bring out their sharpened knives.  They are the majority of the world’s leaders.  They are the false religious guides, the motive-laden politicians, the blinded gurus, the doctors with their medication, the smiling, fanged parents, the unenlightened therapists, the dissociated meditators, the needy lovers…

Verse 16:  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

The results of the false leaders’ actions speak louder than their words.  The enlightened soul, connected with his or her depths, can easily read their falseness.  They may dress like sheep and smell like sheep and bleat like sheep, but they still move like wolves…

Verse 17:  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

People who follow the true path cannot help but manifest truth and uncorrupted goodness in their lives.  And people who follow the self-deceptive path cannot help but manifest pollution and self-deception and spiritual disconnection.

Verse 18:  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Likewise, people who follow the true path cannot manifest pollution and self-deception and spiritual disconnection.  And people who follow the self-deceptive path cannot manifest truth and uncorrupted goodness.  No matter how pleasantly they dress up their misery, it remains miserable.

Verse 19:  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

When people are self-deceptive their lives have lost their value.  They are only good for being recycled into the next generation of humanity.  Do not honor them for their lies.

Verse 20:  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Yet if your heart is true, do not be afraid to trust your gut when assessing a self-deceptive person.  They always give themselves away.

Verse 21:  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many of the biggest liars sing the most beautifully when they are onstage – and sing all the right words too!  But even the best performer has to come offstage sometime.  And when they are offstage they only spew poison.  It’s what people do when they are offstage, when the spotlight is off them, that counts.  Enlightenment is a full-time business.  The soul never goes out for a smoke break.

Verse 22:  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Many self-deceptive people genuinely believe that they are healed, when in reality they are only totally fooling themselves.  To know themselves would be too painful.  To know themselves would require that they face the horrors of their buried traumas…and leave their worlds of padded comfort behind.

Verse 23:  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The enlightened person will not protect the self-deceptive from their lies.  He will not bolster their insane and pain-avoidant defenses.  He knows the stinking rot they hold in check underneath their surfaces, and the rot they subtly manifest to everyone who comes under their sway.  He knows they are twisted and disturbed, and have no business leading others.

Verses 24-25:  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Therefore if you hear my deep message and you take it to heart, and you truly look within and rid yourself of your lies, and you become consonant and integrated with your core of universal truth, then I will give you all the respect in the world.  You will be my brother in truth or my sister in truth.  Together we will share the glories of heaven.  I will then know how solid and truly stable you are, and I will know that nothing can tear you down, and nothing can shake you from your foundation.  I will know that you are centered in yourself, and that your power is real and deep and renewable.

Verses 26-27:  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

But if you hear my deep message and you do not take it to heart, if you cling to your self-deception and your false comforts and your idealized, dishonest beliefs about your parents and your childhood, then I will know just how foolish and wasted you are.  I will see your remaining vulnerability and weakness, and I will know that it just remains a matter time before a strong wind sweeps you off your feet and leaves you dazed and lost and cut down to your true and appropriate nakedness.

Verse 28:  And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

And thus the prophet finished his sermon.

And the people who heard his message were shocked, because they were used to being coddled and told how great and smart and wise and enlightened and healthy they already were.

They were used to being told it was just fine for them to have children.  They were used to being told that their abuse of their children was not really abuse and that their conditional love for their children really was love.

They were used to being told that their own lies and insanity were actually perfectly healthy and normal.  They were used to listening to false gurus when they had problems.  They were used to being told that their mindless behavior was wise, and that they were doing the right thing by building a wall between their consciousness and the wrenching pain of their true, deep spirit.

They were used to being told that their culture was healthy, their treatment of the earth’s resources was progressive, their romantic relationships were beautiful, their love for their parents was appropriate and warranted, their histories of abuse were overrated, their gurus were indeed gurus, their wars were largely justified, their petty prejudices were acceptable as long as they did not push them in others’ faces, and their hatreds were rational.

They were used to being placated and numbed and medicated and enslaved and psychically castrated by those were profiting from their herd mentality.  And they had always thought this was what love was.

They were uncomfortable that this strange upstart in his ragged clothes would dare to contradict everything they held dear.  And yet his words resonated with them on some deep and long-forgotten level.  They were not used to hearing the truth.  It made them curious.  And it also made some of them want to kill him.

4 thoughts on “Jesus’s The Sermon on the Mount: A Radical New Translation and Psychological Explication

  1. My first degree was theology and my second was art psychotherapy so this speaks to me on some deep long forgotten levels. Really great commentary. Light years ahead of his time!

  2. Wow, I’ve read this part of the Bible many times, but never really “heard” the true meanings behind it till now! I began my journey toward enlightenment about 8 months ago, so I am by no means fully enlightened. However, I certainly have increased my ability to see truth and to seek truth. As I come upon the most difficult part of knowing my true self, which is facing the stark and painful reality of my past, this writing will serve as pure motivation. I love this, and I know 2 people who will embrace this on their road to enlightenment as well. Wow…Wow….Wow…Definitely a lightning bolt moment. Thank you.

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