The Revelation of God in a Human Being

By Jeff Munnis

The Revelation of God in a Human Being can help you unlock the mysteries of your existence and your purpose in this world. Included in the book is a model of human consciousness that describes how an individual develops from a lower, less aware state of being, toward greater levels of understanding, with the culmination being the full realization of God, or God consciousness. The book contains channeled material from the author, including a discourse on the life and ministry of Jesus from the context of his interior development—as an example of someone who walked a deeply authentic spiritual path, and who through his life experiences and choices, was transformed. The Revelation of God in a Human Being has the potential to change completely the way you see yourself, the world, and spirituality.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeff Munnis
• Release date: Aug 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9780991274291

Jeff Munnis

Jeff Munnis began having mystical experiences of Christ at an early age. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and works with individuals and small groups interested in learning more about meditation, dream work, and spirituality. For more information visit jeffmunnis.com.

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The Revelation of God in a Human Being

By Jeff Munnis

Published by Rocket House at Smashwords

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in connection with a review for a magazine or newspaper.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

© 2015 Jeff Munnis

jeffmunnis.com

To Stelli

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is a book about my experiences, seeking to understand those experiences, and finding language to express those experiences in a way that is helpful to others. There are many people who have worked on describing consciousness. Most notable for their influence on the ideas presented here are Carl Jung, Henry Reed, Henry Corbin, and Emmanuel Swedenborg. The use of the ideal, as expressed in the readings of Edgar Cayce, is particularly important. Anyone familiar with the works of these people and also familiar with Christian mystics like María de Ágreda and Theresa of Avila will see their influence and presence in the text. This influence and presence should be understood as spiritual in nature because everyone is attempting to explain their experience of God and the ways we attempt to remain consciously connected to God as the source of all life and being. I am in debt to them and all who have come before me who have sought to reveal our spiritual nature.

My wife Stelli is foremost in contributing time reading, questioning, making suggestions, and helping with the editing of this book. She has been tireless and dedicated to helping me throughout the process of preparing the book for publication. I am forever grateful to her for everything she has done for me.

Sue Grossbauer’s careful reading, suggestions, and help have been extremely valuable. Amanda Jozaitis and Adam Ispas of The Grossbauer Group worked on the illustrations and contributed their talent in an effort to help make the content of the book understandable. Thank you!

I'd also like to thank Lisa Rivero for her careful attention to detail in producing the index for this book.

During the course of writing this book I met and became friends with Peter Jacob. Thank you Peter for your careful reading of the text, your helpful comments, and your encouragement.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

List of Figures

Preface

How to Use This Book

Spiritual Practice

Group Process

What to Expect

Introduction

Chapter 1: THE MAP OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The Seven Levels of Consciousness

Level One: The Awake Mind

Level Two: Active Memory

Level Three: The Personal Unconscious

Level Four: The Cultural Unconscious

Level Five: The Human Unconscious

Level Six: The Collective Unconscious

Level Seven: God Consciousness

Components of Consciousness

The Ego

The Will

Instinct

Intuition

The Intellect

The Imagination

Centers of Consciousness: The Chakras

Understanding Karma

The Karmic Sheaths

Stage One Karma

Stage Two Karma

Stage Three Karma

Burning Away Karma

Chapter 2: SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND THE NEW TESTAMENT

Stages of Spiritual Growth

Stage One: Beginning of Self-Awareness

Stage Two: Author of Our Own Story

Stage Three: Discovery of the Unconscious

Stage Four: Recognizing Unity

Stage Five: Recognizing Our Identity

Stage Six: Embodied Spirituality

Stage Seven: Oneness with God

The Truth about Salvation

Understanding Prophecy

Universality of the Revelation

Misapplication of God’s Intention

The Heart-Mind

A New Vessel

Chapter 3: THE REVELATION OF GOD IN JESUS

The Curiosity of Jesus

Baptism and Self-Knowledge

The Authority of Jesus

About Sin

About Miracles

The Objectification of Jesus

The Spiritualization of Jesus

Jesus Steps into His Purpose

Awakening of Consciousness

Preparing the Ground to Receive

Purpose and Synchronicity

Awakening to the Spiritual

Embodiment of Love

Teacher/Student Relationship

Overcoming Spiritual Obstacles

Belief Shapes Awareness

Heaven on Earth

The Transfiguration

The Eternal Presence of God

The Inner Condition (Second Coming)

The Process of Revelation

The Value of the Ideal

The Temptation of Jesus

The Passion and Resurrection

Chapter 4: ILLUMINATION

Love is the Way

Bearing Witness to the Truth

Vastation: Jesus Becomes the Christ

The Eternal Now

The Application of Love

References

Appendix

Parallels in Other Systems of Thought

Level One: The Awake Mind

Level Two: Active Memory – Level Five

Level Six: The Collective Unconscious

Level Seven: God Consciousness

Centers of Consciousness: Chakras

Additional References (Sufism and Hinduism)

The Map of Consciousness: Summary Chart

Glossary

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure

1. The Map of Consciousness: Sphere Diagram

2. The Map of Consciousness: V Diagram

3. The Bound Intellect

4. The Unbound Intellect

5. The Chakras and The Map of Consciousness

6. The Chakras in Action

7. The Living System

8. Stage One Karma

9. Stage Two Karma

10. Stage Three Karma, Level One

11. Stage Three Karma, Level Two

12. The Map of Consciousness: Summary

PREFACE

When I was 19, someone asked me a question that had a profound effect on my sense of self and my spirituality. I was at a Christmas party when Jack Horton, the deacon of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, turned to me and said, What does it mean when I say to you that God loves you? I didn’t have an answer for Mr. Horton, but I felt the question resonate within me in a way that I could not comprehend at the time. Perhaps Mr. Horton thought I would look to the Bible or call upon my Episcopalian heritage to find the answer: something along the lines of For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (John 3:16). But he didn’t qualify the question, and he didn’t suggest the direction I might choose to find an answer.

I did begin searching, at first in my Christian heritage, but my encounters with various forms of Christian theology were disappointing, and as much as they spoke about Jesus, they seemed to miss the point of his teachings and failed to see the opportunity and potential in his essence as a human being. I also wanted to know what other spiritual paths had to offer: from Hinduism, Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, Sufism, Baha’i, and other approaches to God and spirituality. At the University of Florida where I attended college, I read many books about religion, psychology, and spirituality. I visited and took part in classes offered on campus and in the Gainesville community. My search included a desire to understand spiritual experience, so in the spring of 1973 I studied and was initiated into Transcendental Meditation. I also studied the readings of Edgar Cayce and began a lifelong process of recording and interpreting my dreams. The writers who spoke to me were wide-ranging in their thought: Carl Jung, Albert Schweitzer, Thomas Merton, Yogananda, Krishnamurti, Alan Watts, and many others. Eventually my experiences and my search led me back to the forms of Christ-centered thought that were inclusive in spirituality, that saw a different context for the life and teachings of Jesus, and that incorporated much of what I found valuable in non-Christian traditions. The beauty of the many expressions of God and spirit were inspiring as well as reassuring, and I never felt as if I strayed from my purpose, or God, if I simply searched for the truth.

Mr. Horton’s question has remained at the center of my theology and my process of understanding God. More than anything else, it created a context for my personal journey that has never changed. What does it mean that God loves me? What are the qualities of that love? How is that love expressed? How does God’s love differ from other forms of love? Is human love an expression of God’s love? What does Jesus have to do with God’s love? What do other religions and philosophies have to say about God and love? What does my understanding of God’s love have to do with anyone else?

I can answer those questions now for myself and I share them with people whenever they ask. My answer begins with an analogy: As a father, I understand how I love my children, and most people, even if they are not parents, can imagine what the perfect love of a parent might mean. For me it means that no matter who my child is or might become, no matter what path they choose in life—regarding work, education, lifestyle, partnering with another person, anything—I will love them, even if they wound me, intentionally or unintentionally. My love for my children is unconditional. There are no requirements for them to fulfill to receive my love. This love will not prevent me, or them, from getting hurt or from suffering. My love, as I know love, leaves them completely free, and that freedom includes the possibility that they deny my love. There are no assurances, nor requirements, that they love me in return. This love is unconditional. My love for them means that I will be there to help them in the best way I know for the circumstance. My love for them also honors the truth, so it will not enable self-destructive behavior, and it will never be withdrawn under any circumstance. I will stand by them, or I will stand ready, never leaving the relationship, even if it means that the only thing I can do is witness their life and process.

Now, if I can imagine this kind of love—and I have to imagine this perfect love because as a human being I am not always able to express this kind of love—I can imagine the perfect love of God, and I can understand God as a perfect expression of this love. My theological process, my learning about God and the ways that I am in relationship with God makes me question any understanding of God that is less than this kind of love. A god that is judgmental, jealous, or exclusive, that requires anything of me in order to love me, is less than what I understand God to be. Why would I worship or seek relationship to a god or a kind of love that is less capable than the love I give to my children, and much less capable than the kind of love I can imagine? There is something inside of me that intuitively recognizes perfect love, and that part of me intuitively moves toward this love.

There is so much more to understand about this love and God. This book, The Revelation of God in a Human Being, explains some of the ways that love and God are found in ourselves as well as the ways love and God are revealed to us in our relationships. Our purpose is to know this love, and to express this love in a multitude of ways. To fully know this kind of love it must be expressed, so this book is also about the ways that we can grow and learn to express this love. Now you know why Mr. Horton’s question became so important to me, and why I tell my story about his question, because this is the context from which I understand so many things about my life and my spirituality, and it is the context in which every part of this book should be understood.

Two difficult things I have had to learn were how to look at the unpleasant and dark aspects of my character—my dependencies, addictions, attachments, fears, anger, and desires—as well as the positive aspects of myself, such as my unique purpose and contribution to the well-being of humanity, my knowledge, my wisdom, and my gifts. For a long time I was focused on the many ways that others would not let me be myself, but the truth was that their influence on me was so much less relevant than the ways I found to subvert or hinder my own progress. My greatest fears are related to my own feelings of self-worth, my self-esteem, and the possibility that what I want might become true for me.

On my journey I discovered many failed spiritual teachers. There were some who had multiple sexual relationships with their students, some committed fraud, some were taken advantage of by people around them, and some had nasty habits or addictions. In other words, many of them were not so far along the path as they would have liked us to believe. It would have been a natural reaction to discard what they had to say about enlightenment or spirituality, but I found that I had to look at these failures in a different way. I knew many of their teachings to be valid, so to discard the truth seemed foolish and more of a reflection of my own ignorance. Many teachers face a difficult problem: they know they are not perfect, yet they understand profound aspects of the truth. Do they remain silent because they know they are not perfect? Perhaps some of them have actually placed the truth above themselves and they express that truth knowing that they will be exposed. I admire their attempt because it takes a strong person to accept a role as a spiritual teacher knowing that their own weaknesses will become visible and subject to critical review. I am not excusing immoral behavior because I recognize that immoral and abusive behavior has to be confronted. Truth must be expressed and valued in ways that protect potential victims. What I am saying is that we must recognize the complexity of spirituality and revelation because as human beings, we have a tendency to objectify people, to put them up on a pedestal, and to focus on who they are in place of looking carefully at ourselves.

I bring this work to you understanding the complexity and contradictions that exist in me. My gifts, in many ways, have proven to be beyond my conscious understanding. When my gifts arrived, or were uncovered, they did not come with a warning label or admonition that I had to be perfect, though I will admit that I have felt pressure to conform to my own ideas of how holy, spiritual, learned, and humble a spiritual teacher should be. Somehow, I never seem to get there, yet the gifts remain, the information continues to come, and the urgency to record and share the material continues inside of me. It has taken me many years to learn how to accept things about myself that were contrary to what I believed to be my authentic self. Sometimes I have to think of what I learn about myself as something like new clothes. When I first look in the mirror the clothes don’t always match the ways I see myself, but then, gradually, I see with different eyes how they might actually express who I am in an important way. I am reminded of the wounded healer—how the healing is not always a cure, and how a broken vessel can still contain all that is essential to fulfill its purpose.

Much of the content in this book is channeled text—coming either from sessions that I refer to as the readings, or from periods where I go into an awake-altered state of consciousness during my writing process. During the readings, I enter into an unconscious state and my wife, Stelli, transcribes what is communicated. Excerpts from the readings are indented and contain the year in which they were given, followed by the paragraph number (e.g., 2015-124). Text in parentheses is typically a question asked by Stelli, or her response to a posed question. The channeled text from my awake-altered state does not reference a year and paragraph number, but much of the content and tone is indistinguishable from the readings. In both types of channeled messages, sometimes there is a single voice that comes through, and other times there is a collective voice and use of the word we.

2011-57 You have asked before about why there is the use of the word we. You must know that there is collaboration in heaven. You must know that the Christ, even though his voice is a voice of authority, many things are done with those that attend to him as well as attending to all spiritual matters. And so, though we speak, we speak in harmony with the voice and the will of Christ. These things you must come to know gradually in order for them to be fully understood.

Most external texts included in this book are from the New Testament and refer to Jesus. This is primarily a result of my heritage and aspects of the mystical traditions within the broad river of Christ-centered spirituality that resonate with me. I could have used other texts because there are many parallel texts in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism and other traditions (see the Appendix for additional references). The fact that I use biblical texts in no way invalidates or diminishes other texts with the same meaning or intention.

In my opinion, to take any text, especially a text like the Bible, and try to reconcile it as a single, unified voice or perspective on God and spirituality leads to numerous spiritual errors. I believe it is best to approach these texts as the personal revelation of the author, even if they appear to have a broader application. One text cannot be elevated over another in anything other than a subjective manner that basically says, This expresses how I think and feel about the subject and it confirms my experience. The best texts have respect for life, respect for the individual experience of human beings, put nothing between the person and God, and recognize that the essence of life, truth, and love within a human being are intimately connected to God’s presence within us. We are created out of God’s own being, and to know our true self is essential to knowing and understanding God.

The best texts also contain an element of flexibility that allows us to enter into the mystery of God. This is different from saying I accept this because it is God’s word and I don’t have to understand what God intends whenever we find something difficult or offensive. A text that is viewed as a hard and fast rule without compromise or the possibility of questioning usually breaks under the pressure of difficult human circumstances. These approaches to religious texts frequently create false dichotomies similar to you are either with us or against us. This interpretive perspective denies the possibility that there are other choices and other ways to approach difficult life situations, and in a sense denies the potential that exists within God.

When something offends my sensibility or my experience of God, I have no problem discarding it. Seeking the revelation of God within us does not mean that we should deny our experience or deny the gifts of reason and intelligence we have been given. We all use unique gifts—gifts of devotion, gifts of reasoning, gifts of curiosity, gifts of physical discipline, gifts of intelligence, gifts of patience—in the pursuit of truth, and we need not fear truth, because all truth has the same source as the life that exists within us: God. I believe you should look at the text of this book in the same way. I am sharing with you a personal revelation in the hope that my experience and writing are of help to you on your path. If anything impedes you, discard it and move on. My intention is to facilitate your journey.

How to Use This Book

There are two important perspectives to hold while reading The Revelation of God in a Human Being in order to properly understand the model of consciousness that is presented. First, we as human beings tend to organize our experiences in an orderly sequence. This chronological ordering, if applied to the levels of consciousness that are explained, or if used to understand the stages of spiritual growth, will not give us a true perspective on how consciousness unfolds and works in our lives. Human beings do not progress through consciousness and stages of spiritual development in a sequential, easily identified manner. There are many parts of our being that are in process. Some parts function at what we perceive to be low levels of spiritual understanding, and some parts function in what we perceive to be high levels of spirituality. Sometimes we rest in these parts of ourselves for long periods of time; sometimes we get just a taste or a glimpse of something greater, and then we mourn the loss of that special feeling or moment when it leaves. Later we learn that what we have measured as low turns out to be deeply important and high. Measuring our progress for the sake of identification is more of an ego-directed activity that takes us out of a higher state of awareness and generally results in a blow to a positive side of our self-esteem and self-knowledge, a blow by the ego that is an attempt to assert control. Trust that there is a higher awareness at work inside of you.

Second, similar to our attempt to order our experience, we tend to see everything in a direct line of causality. In other words, we see a linear progression of events where one event causes another. Then a subsequent event occurs and we experience our reaction to this event. This linear expression of causality, which we create, eventually fails to help us understand how our lives unfold and what role our free will has in our experiences. This is one of the reasons that a process called reductionism fails to bring resolution to understanding how the sources of our life are connected to the events of our life. No matter how far back or how deep we go, there is always something on the other side of the earliest events that we discover, and our infinite regression, moving backwards toward what we identify as a cause, ends up going nowhere. Our being is a complete system that functions as a fully integrated entity. Underneath the functioning of this system is a multitude of self-concepts and information based on an incorrect understanding of our being as separate from God. Once we begin to see the unity of our being and the oneness of God, we extricate ourselves from a myriad of false spiritual and psychological systems that control us. It is at that point of discovery that we start to understand our role in creating our life circumstances, the freedom we have, and the state of freedom in which we exist, and the relationship we have with the energy, life force, love, and truth—all part of the oneness that is God.

Several ideas have already been offered (and more examples will follow) about what to keep in mind while reading this book and learning how to engage in a committed spiritual practice. A few reminders are listed here for ease of reference.

• A full understanding of love is essential to understanding God.

• Spiritual progress is an uneven, non-linear process, and sometimes trying to measure spiritual growth can be a trap.

• We are complex human beings, and self-knowledge about our identity and purpose is critical to choosing how to live our lives.

• We have to be willing to look at the unpleasant sides of who we are because many of our deepest lessons come from deconstructing the way we see other people and the world.

• To truly understand Jesus, we have to remove the context and understanding created by institutions and people that knowingly and unknowingly use false systems of authority to control others.

• Once we are able to see Jesus in a different context, we can see the ways his personal process can help us to understand spiritual growth, and we can see how his authentic expression of truth and God can become the basis for our own expression of love, truth, and God.

• Each person carries within them the essence of God and the ability to claim and use personal authority in life. This authority and the freedom to use it are the foundation from which spiritual growth occurs.

• While many things appear separate and distinct, there is an underlying unity to everything in the universe that connects all of us to one another and to God.

These ideas and suggestions create a context for understanding the rest of the book and are important to remember because this book is about revelation, illumination, and advanced stages of spiritual growth, which are the result of advanced spiritual practices.

Spiritual Practice

The Revelation of God in a Human Being assumes you have a meditation and