The level above Man is called the Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God in the Gospels. It has many other names in different writings. In the Gospels, it is said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within.
Jesus’s Central Teaching
“Jesus said, I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly. That was his mission. And his own particular code word, his favorite expression for what this abundant life was, was the kingdom of heaven. And he kept trying to bring people to this thing that we called the kingdom of heaven. It’s the most common word he uses in his teaching, where he keeps saying, the kingdom of heaven is like this, the kingdom of heaven is like this. Can’t you folks see it? But we’ve managed over the years to lose a sort of understanding of what he meant by the kingdom of heaven. He doesn’t ever say the kingdom of heaven is what you get after you die. He says, the kingdom of heaven is within you. And he’s so clearly focused on the kingdom of heaven is something that you need to touch and taste and live in here and now.” Cynthia Bourgeault, Awakened Mind Awakened Heart-2003, 0:31 Disc 1 Track 6.
“Jesus dumbfounded the sneering masses of surrounding sensualists, rigid in self-pride, by telling them that the Kingdom of Heaven was within them and not a visible thing. He said: ‘The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you’ (Luke xvii.20, 21). It was a state, not a place.” Maurice Nicoll, Psychological Commentaries, p1576
The Inner Level of Being
“Understood internally, the Universe is a series of levels, and a thing is what it is according to where it is, in this series. The level above Man is called the Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God in the Gospels. It has many other names in different writings. In the Gospels, it is said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within. It is at a higher level of a man. To reach it a man must reach a higher level in himself. If everyone did this, the level of life on this earth would change. The whole earth would take a step up in evolution. But this step can only be taken by an individual man. A man can reach a higher level in himself and yet live in the life of this earth.” Maurice Nicoll, The New Man, p187
“All esotericism begins with the idea that there is something higher. Exoteric systems, such as religions, say that this something higher is God, which people of sensory understanding take as something outside them, in the sky, so to speak. Esoteric systems say that this ‘something higher’ is in you—not outside you in the visible world—but within you as a higher possible and existing level of yourself, not yet attained, but there already. So Christ said: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.'” Maurice Nicoll, Psychological Commentaries, p1276
The Conscious Circle of Humanity
“The [Wisdom Teachings] origin is the Conscious Circle of Humanity, which in the Gospels is called the Kingdom of Heaven.” Maurice Nicoll, Commentaries, p1613
“Since God is not an object of the senses, my sensual mind will deny His existence, because sensual thinking is based on the evidence of the senses and none of my senses shows me that God exists. I can think in terms of the existence of the Sun and the Stars for I see them plainly, but the idea of their being created strikes me as nonsense. The existence of God, however, can be understood, even though it is not seen. This is where psychological thinking comes in. It is another level. It is distinct from sensual thinking.” Maurice Nicoll, Commentaries, p1575
The Contemporary Vision
“World 24 is the Kingdom of Heaven as Jesus put it and supremely the home range of the Imaginal. It is the world of presence, where the outer forms of physical materiality are illuminated from within by the light that pours from World 12 and above.” Cynthia Bourgeault, Eye of the Heart, p36
“Our real human task is to weave worlds 24 and 48 into a single flowing Kingdom of Heaven.” Cynthia Bourgeault, Eye of the Heart, p136
The Path of Entry
“The Work is to devaluate oneself. Christ said: ‘Except ye turn and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of Heaven’ (Matt. xviii.3). This is differently expressed in John, where Christ said: ‘Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ (John iii.3). So if we wear many overcoats we cannot expect to become little children because we are all dressed up, layer by layer, with what is not ourselves but which we keep up the pretence of being. Notice in yourselves some of these pretences and you will become not weaker but much stronger.” Maurice Nicoll, Commentaries, p1325
“‘Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein’ (Luke xviii.17). By the little child is meant Essence. Esoteric teaching must reach Essence. Esoteric teaching is always about the Kingdom of God.” Maurice Nicoll, Commentaries, p1569
The Inner Work
“When—and if—I begin to make sincerely a psychological approach to myself and slowly make an inventory of various psychological things in myself—such as self-love, self-vanity, and self-pride, which are three very cruel lords that ruin one’s peace of mind—I will realize very slowly that they may hinder my development and with the aid of the repeated instructions and repeated teaching of the Work may even see why this will be the case. I am then thinking psychologically. I am thinking psychologically about this thing called myself that I have taken for granted hitherto. I am even beginning to understand something of the meaning of the words: The Kingdom of God is within you.” Maurice Nicoll, Commentaries, p1576
“In the Gospel there is the idea that Heaven has many places. Taken with another great saying that ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is within you’ it may help us to understand the importance of knowing where we are in our psychological country. The two ideas warn us that our state of being will be our own judge in deciding to which mansion in our Father’s house we shall go at death.” Maurice Nicoll, Commentaries, p1765
Logion 113
His students asked him,
"On what day will the kingdom arrive? "
"Its coming cannot be perceived from the outside," he said.
"You cannot say, 'Look, it's over there,'
or, 'No, here it is.'
The Father's realm is spreading out
across the face of the earth,
and humanity is not able to perceive it. "
Logion 37
His students asked him,
"When will you manifest yourself to us?
How long will it be
before we see you as you truly are?
Yeshua replied,
"On the day you strip yourselves naked
like those little children,
and take your clothes and trample them
on the ground under your feet without shame,
then you will be able
to look upon the son of the Living One
without fear."
Read other Impressions on the Kingdom of Heaven.
Cynthia Bourgeault, Eye of the Heart, Shambhala Publications, 2020
Page numbers for Maurice Nicoll refer to Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Eureka Editions:2020) unless stated otherwise.
All quotations from the Gospel of Thomas are from Lynn C Bauman, Ward J Bauman, Cynthia Bourgeault, The Luminous Gospels (Praxis 2008)
Read the Impression introducing the Gospel of Thomas.
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