2022/02/07

25. The Realm of Consciousness

People feel "existence" as something that "is" because we have spontaneity. This spontaneity originates from the fact that, according to Genesis 1, the heavens and the earth and everything in them were created through God's word, "Let there be." This word of God gave spontaneity to all creatures. Human beings can be aware of this spontaneity, so they feel something that "is" in the object and take it as "existence." So, even when God says in the Bible, "I am", they take it to mean that God "exists". But when God says "I am" in the Bible, the word means that God is with people. In the bush passage in Exodus, God who replied, "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14), to Moses, who asked for his name, had taught him, "I will be with you; and this will be your sign that I have sent you" (Exodus 3:12). Jesus also used the phrase "I am" to mean "God is with people."¹ The world that we perceive as reality is constructed in the realm of consciousness in our brain. In other words, the human brain takes information from the outside world and reconstructs it and creates, so to speak, a virtual reality. To confirm our experience of God being with people as a reality, we need a connection with people who share the space and the things that happen there. Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20), and he required that the connection should be his name. The scene of the Transfiguration,² in which Jesus gave the three Apostles an intense experience, was just like a metaverse. We can come together in the name of Jesus, even in a metaverse.

Reference: 1. replacing the words "I AM" with "God is with people," each verse of John comes to as follows: "For if you do not believe that God is with people, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24), "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that God is with people, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me" (John 8:28), "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, God is with people" (John 8:58), 2. "Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, 'Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.' When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid" (Matthew 17:1-6).

Maria K. M.