Beatitudes

it's been said by some biblical scholars that the only words  spoken by Jesus in the New Testament, a direct teaching,  are found in the Sermon of the Mount, the Beatitudes, and if this just these words alone survived as later Christianity, then it would still be enough to base an entire religion upon. They're beautiful words, full of deep meaning and instructions on how to live according to the way of Christ. In my own opinion they serve us much better than the Ten commandments in terms of our relationship with others, as well as being a powerful means of inner transformation.  

of course there are many such teachings in vast array of spiritual texts. Gandhi was transformed through his study of the Bhagavad Gita, it was a living teaching for him, one to be applied in life and not just read to gain knowledge and spiritual information. It awakened his soul and called his body to action. He lived the Gita. But just as easily it could have been Patanjali's Yoga Sutra's, or one of many Upanishads, and yes, the Beatitudes could have sparked this inner fire to serve as well. 

it puzzles me that those who devote their lives to studying the bible, a Christian of true spirit who wishes to serve others and purify their soul through action, wouldn't seize the words of the Beatitudes and apply them to their lives, having them as a daily meditation, a guideline as the way of Christ to follow. After all, this was the directive of Jesus, his own teaching, and he spoke for the benefit of those who must needed to here his message. 

yet today, they largely seemed ignored. 

as for me, I'm not a Christian, but the Beatitudes speak to me deeply. They're powerful words and they certainly have an effect on me even with a brief meditation on their meaning. I could rightly say that my politics are inspired by the Beatitudes, my desire to live humbly, at peace with world and neighbors, causing as little harm as possible to even the smallest creature. The words themselves take us to their deeper meaning as we give them energy and study. For instance, blessed are the peacemakers means those who are actively working for peace, with that being an inner journey that soon finds its way through every aspect of our lives. 

a peacemaker works for peace...

inwardly.

and a more peaceful world will follow. 

each saying has a deeper teaching to offer us, not just the meaning we get at first reading, but to allow the spirit of the words to reach our heart center and spark a true revolution of spirit. Again, this isn't the only holy text to cause this inner fire, really, words themselves are not truly needed for our study. But they're helpful, most especially for those who feel called to live according to specific scriptures. I'm not a Christian, yet I haven't left the words of Jesus behind. 

they're my politics...

to be a peacekeeper.

~

Peace, Eric