Thou
shalt not kill
I've been thinking about this
one item from the ten
commandments - "Thou shalt not
kill".
What is really meant by that?
Does this imply that to squash a
bug is no different than to
squash a human being?
If it is only referencing human
beings, then we have two
versions of "killing", one for
bugs and for human beings.
And after all, don't we "kill"
fish and fowl and animals for
food?
Then "killing" isn't really what
is meant by this commandment, is
it?
Would it then refer to "murder"?
But what is murder? Is it only
the killing of another human
being?
Does that mean we don't murder
fish or bugs?
If a government sends a soldier
to a war with an order to kill
another human being, doesn't
that contradict God's
commandment? Or can a government
decide which kind of killing is
okay and which kind isn't?
Isn't life precious, regardless
of its form?
And really, can you actually
"kill" life? I mean, no matter
how hard we try to diminish one
or another life form, doesn't
life itself continue?
Now let's suppose that life only
exists on this earth.
In 5 billion years, according to
science, this earth will be
swallowed up by the sun.
No more life, right? That is, if
life only exists
on this earth.
So if its okay for the sun to
extinguish all life, what does
it mean to say, "Thou shalt not
kill"?
Obviously, there are some
contradictions here.
I've been taught that where
there are contradictions, there
is a lie.
One part of a statement that is
true and another part of the
same statement contradicting the
first part makes the whole
statement untrue.
You can't have a partial truth.
You can't have part of something
being a lie and the other part
being the truth.
Only truth is true. Now there's
a self-referencing statement for
you.
But it makes sense.
A contradiction isn't a true
statement.
A lie isn't a true statement.
Only truth is true.
So what is "truth"?
One.
One is incontrivertible.
It has no opposite.
There is no "zero" where there
is "one".
There is no "other" where there
is "one".
If you imagine that "one" has an
opposite, then you no longer
have "one". You have "two".
In our religious teachings we
are taught that God is all. He
is omnipotent, omniscient, and
omnipresent. God is All. God is
One.
God has no opposite.
God is not just everything,
everything is God. And the
"everything" being referred to
is all that "stuff" that makes
up the universe.
But what is the universe made up
of?
If God is all there is, then
whatever we think we see that is
"separate" from some other thing
is not really separate at all.
It has to be "one" in God.
And, here is the clincher, if
God is perfect, and if the
universe is contained in God,
then no one "part" of the
universe is any less perfect
than any other "part". These
"parts" being our perceived
"separateness" of One.
Come on now, if God is all there
is, you can't have a part of God
being "evil" and all the rest
being "good".
And if God is all there is, you
CAN'T kill. To even imagine that
you can kill is in direct
opposition to the basic rule of
One - it can not be divided into
parts and part of it eliminated
in any way.
Go ahead, squash a bug. You
didn't kill it. You transformed
it. The life in the bug is no
longer animating the bug. The
life is elsewhere. The bug
itself, according to E=mc2,
takes on another form (matter
converts to energy, and energy
can neither be created nor
destroyed, hence all matter is a
materialization of energy).
I should not have put that last
part in parentheses. It needs to
stand on its own.
Energy can neither be created
nor destroyed.
All matter is the
materialization of energy.
What we call "good" is
materialization of God.
What we call "evil" is a
materialization of God.
Come on now, it can't be
anything else! God is all, and
therefor all "things" are in
God.
Let me digress a little, but
only to make a point about
killing.
It is only in our judgment that
there is "good" or "evil".
The commandment "Thou shalt not
kill" is reinterpreted by Man to
mean that to kill is to do
"evil, and it is further a
judgment by Man that to do
"good" is "better" than to do
"evil" - because doing "good"
finds favor with God while doing
"evil" brings on the wrath of
God.
Take a long look at that last
statement.
Does this imply that one should
fear God?
The bible says we should fear
God.
Some say that this fear should
be interpreted as having a
healthy respect for - but that
still implies fear. Fear is
fear. It does not matter what
form it takes. Fear is not love.
Only love is love. That's the
same as saying only truth is
true.
Fear and love cannot coexist.
Fear is what is not true, love
is what is true.
To fear God then is to not
recognize the truth.
The truth is, God is love.
What is love?
Love is the all-encompassing
One. This love is not the
emotional love. It is not the "I
love you" love. It is not the
"'till death do we part" love.
It is not the "I love you so
much I will die for you" love.
Love is "we are One".
Unconditional.
Omnipresent.
Omniscient.
Omnipotent.
It means that whatever you do to
another, you have done it to
yourself.
If there is some aspect of
yourself that you do not like,
you have separated yourself from
the One - but only in your mind.
You cannot say to one aspect of
yourself, "This is not good",
and think that you have saved
the rest of yourself from
condemnation. Condemning any
part is condemning the whole,
but in reality, since you cannot
condemn the whole, it is
impossible to condemn yourself
in part. To think you can is an
illusion.
So, "Thou shalt not kill" really
means "Thou canst NOT kill"!
Attempting to kill is an
illusion that life can be
terminated, that things can be
changed by your own will, that
you are in control individually,
set apart from all others, and
that you matter more or less
than another.
Remember, whatever you do to
another is done to yourself.
Accept the One-ness of life (and
all that is) and you are well on
your way to letting go all of
your pain, suffering, guilt,
fear, and all notion of good and
evil.
You cannot "fix" anything. It is
already perfect.
You cannot "heal" anything. It
is already perfect.
You cannot separate yourself
from anything. You are always
One.
You do not need to change. You
are already perfect.
What is meant by all this is
that while you are attempting to
make things "right" you are at
the same time making up a world
of "not right", which is an
illusion because if God is all
there is and if God is perfect,
there is nothing you need to do
except acknowledge God's
perfection in all things and let
Him guide you as to what He
would have you do. Uh, that
really means the same thing as
to step aside from your own
image of yourself and stand
instead in the wholeness of
yourself. In that wholeness you
will "create" instead of "make".
What do you create? The same as
what God creates.
What does God create? If God is
all there is, can he be more
than Himself?
To think that God can create
anything that is apart from
Himself is another illusion.
Sorry, Christians. Didn't mean
to step on the theology that God
and His creations are separate
identities. Maybe in your
imagination, but not in His
reality. Remember, God is ALL
there is. There is no way God
can pull a part of Himself apart
from Himself and say, "This is
not Me, it is my creation."
We like to give God some magical
property that enables Him to
create separate "things" that
aren't Hi mself and at the same
time claim to say God is all
there is. That is another
contradiction.
You can't have a contradiction
and call it God's Will.
God does not contradict Himself.
That's the premise. That's the
entire premise of everything
religious and everything
science.
In science, contradictions prove
a lie.
If science observes a two
phenomenon that appear to
contradict each other, it is not
the expression of what is being
observed that says one or the
other is a lie, but the
interpretation of what is being
observed that is the lie.
So it is in religion.
If any part of the Bible
contradicts itself, it would
seem that the Bible itself is a
lie.
But it only a lie in the way it
is being interpreted.
"Thou shalt not kill" means
"Thou canst not kill", and there
is no contradiction anymore.
So it is with any other
interpretation that leads to
multiple interpretations.
See it from the whole, from One,
and not from the part.
To see things in parts is to
fragment God, and to fragment
the mind.
Your mind cannot be fragmented,
because it is One with God.
You are Love.
You are what God created.
Remember, God can only create
that which He is, and what He
creates is an extension of
Himself, not a projection of
Himself.
Your body is the materialization
of One.
You are not your body.
Following the rule that you
cannot kill, if you want peace,
teach peace to have peace.
If you teach about killing, you
cannot have peace.
Thou art One with Me, and My
Will is that your will and Mine
be the same.
Be thou One with Me and know I
AM.
Amen.
