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The eighth and final installment of this special eight part series, A New Look at the Beatitudes, using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest.

“Spiritually prosperous are those who have been persecuted on account of righteousness, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
–Matthew 5:10

Those who embody this beatitude get the same reward as those who manifest the first beatitude. The nature of righteousness has already been considered, so we need only look at what is mean by persecution. The Greek word is dioko, which means to pursue, to “hound,” someone, to put pressure on them. From its root word deilos, it means to attempt instilling fear in someone in order to make them timid. Oddly, it is itself the root word of diakonos–minister or deacon. Persecution, then, is inverted service: oppression.

The blessedness lies not in being maltreated but in the purpose for the maltreatment: the pursuit of righteousness. It is also important to realize that the persecution does not ultimately come from any individuals but from the forces of ignorance in the cosmos and in us. If we deal with the latter, the former will be defused.

Jesus continues this subject, saying: “Spiritually prosperous are you whenever they shall revile you and persecute you and say every pernicious thing against you, speaking deliberate falsehoods on account of me.” (Matthew 5:11) Those who hate the teacher hate the students as well. I know this by personal experience. Often hypocrites pretend to respect the teacher while being openly contemptuous of the disciples. This was very much the case around Anandamayi Ma. “I revere Ma, but have no use for those that live around her,” was a common statement made by Indians and non-Indians alike.

Anyhow, what is in store for those who would become righteous?

1. Oneidizo–being slandered, railed at, chided, taunted, reproached, reviled, and upbraided. All this, and more you can be sure. Mockery and defamation are hard gifts to accept but they are showered us those that seek the kingdom. “Oh! I’ve heard of you…,” and the recitation begins.
2. Dioko–already covered, but no less bitter in the receiving.
3. Eiposi pan poniron rema kath’ umon–all manner of evil-speaking directed against you. The sky–and hell–is the limit.

How should we react? With sweet but wan acquiescence and pardon? Not a bit of it! “Be rejoicing and exult exceedingly, because your reward is great in heaven. For in this manner they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12) There it is, as plain as need be. Ignore the braying and the barking and the howling and rejoice in your spirit. Saint Luke uses the words chairo and agalliao. Chairo means to be cheerful in the sense of being calmly happy and content. It implies a kind of impersonal satisfaction. It does meant to rejoice and be happy, but in a very peaceful way. Agalliao, on the other hand means to jump for joy and exult, to rejoice greatly. We should rejoice both outwardly and in the peace of our inner being.

That which usually produces resentment, anger, or pain should be the cause of our great rejoicing. Why? “Because your reward is great in heaven”–not a mythological heaven little better than earth, but the true heaven, the boundless expanse of the Spirit. When we have our sights set on infinity, why would we do anything but rejoice, whatever comes.

We should note that our reward is because of righteousness, not because of the maltreatment and slander of the wicked and the foolish–they do the same to those who are not blessed.

In good company

“For in this manner they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Jesus really honors us by putting us in the company of the prophets, and the persecutors likewise honor us by holding the same opinion of us.

Do we know of a single holy person that was not persecuted and slandered–and worse? Many have been tortured and killed for the sake of righteousness. But so what: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” (Matthew 10:28)

All those who go against the current of the world are reacted to in a negative, even a hateful and destructive way, and this is one of the signs that they are going in the right direction. Let us be going!

Previous posts in this series:
• What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?
• The Kingdom of Heaven According to Jesus
• What Jesus Really Means by Meekness
• When Craving is a Good Thing
• Mercy and the Law of Karma
• Clean to the Core of Our Being
• The Spiritual Process of Making Peace

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Part 7 of a special eight part series, A New Look at the Beatitudes, using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest.

“Spiritually prosperous are those who make peace, because they themselves shall be called sons of God.”
–Matthew 5:9

This beatitude has nothing to do with people who plead for peace, demonstrate or peace, protest for peace, or in some other way bully for peace. It is about making peace, actually creating peace rather than making a cause out of it. This requires a level of spiritual development that must first be obtained by each individual. So the first step in peacemaking is personal spiritual development.

The Greek word is eirenopoios, which is made up of two words: eirene and poieo.

Poieo means both making and doing, and also means to abide. Peacemakers, then, create, act out, and live in peace. A peacemaker “commits peace” just as others “make war.” Peace can be actively practiced. Poieo not only means to cause something, it means to perpetuate (preserve) it. Only in the spiritual realm can there be real “peacekeepers.” So peacemaking is a continual process. It also means to provide something, implying that peacemakers know how to share peace. In my experience this is an essential mark of a saint.

Eirene, the word translated “peace,” means peace, quietness (tranquility), and rest. It occurs ninety-two times in the New Testament, so it is an important subject indeed. It comes from the root word eiro, “to join,” and so has the same connotations as yoga. It also means oneness–unity–and the restoration of unity.

An example

From all this it has to be evident that peacemaking is an exclusively spiritual matter, even though it naturally will have external manifestations in the world around us. I had a bit of experience of this when I returned from my first trip to India. For quite some time I lived in a small room in a slightly rundown part of Los Angeles. This was no problem for me as a monk, but what was not so positive was the nature of the people in the house my room faced. Although a minister’s family, throughout the day they argued with one another and yelled at their little brother whose constant running around could somehow be heard in “my” house as though he was romping in there. On occasion they engaged in what they thought was singing–usually “pop” songs of the most annoying type.

Late one afternoon after some hours of meditation, I was sitting by the open window looking at a small statue of the Virgin Mary in my room. The “dynamic duo” were washing dishes across the way and burst into raucous strains of something awful. Ignoring the din, I mentally began reciting the Hail Mary. Instantly the caterwauling stopped and the two began sweetly singing Ave Maria. This was no coincidence, I was sure. This was confirmed by the fact that after I had been there a little less than a month the arguing and yelling stopped completely. Whenever I heard the little boy spoken to it was always with kindness, and he stopping bouncing off the walls. At least five people were sharers in my peace. Later I had the same kind of experience when working with a few dozen of the nastiest, most hostile people I ever dealt with. It only took a few weeks before peace reigned and the people were quiet and gentle to one another in place of the shouting, cursing, and name-calling that had prevailed when I first came there.

Sons of God

Peace is born in Silence, born in the hearts of those who enter and abide in the peace of meditation. They, too, are “born” and “shall be called sons of God.”

The word kaleo does not mean “called” in the sense of being declared or named something. Rather, it means to be bidden, to hear themselves being called for. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” (John 1:12) So the peacemakers shall be called to become the sons of God. Kaleo also means to be called in the sense of being urged on or incited to something. Peacemakers do not sit around feeling tranquil; they are stirred to move ever onward toward the divine Goal. It also means to hail someone with their name or title. So the peacemakers shall, like Jesus, hear the words: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5)

Sons are of the same species as their father and mother. Even more, physically they are of the very substance of their parents. To be sons of God is to be essentially the same as God our Father, to have that status revealed to us and manifested by us to the world.

Next: Part 8 and the last post of A New Look at the Beatitudes – Blessed Persecution: A Cause for Rejoicing.

Previous posts in this series:
• What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?
• The Kingdom of Heaven According to Jesus
• What Jesus Really Means by Meekness
• When Craving is a Good Thing
• Mercy and the Law of Karma
• Clean to the Core of Our Being

Keep up to date with the latest posts. Subscribe to the Atma Jyoti Blog

Part 6 of a special eight part series, A New Look at the Beatitudes, using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest.

“Spiritually prosperous are those who are pure in the sphere of the heart, because they themselves shall see God.”

The vision of God

In our relative experience, seeing something is not much in the way of comprehension, partly because there is much more to an object than outward appearance, and also because of the limitation and conditionings of our faculty of seeing. Also, the ordinary seeing of an object has no lasting effect on us since the seeing brings about no touching or linking of us with the thing seen. But God essentially is not an object but a subject–just as are we in our true nature. Therefore the “seeing” of God is the joining of the two subjects in a union of consciousness. This is a profound condition, the goal of all Yoga, for if it is persisted in, the merging of the two becomes inevitable. So a promise of the vision of God is a promise of union with God. Knowing what is requisite for that vision is then of prime concern to the intelligent seeker: purity in the sphere of the heart.

Kardia means not just the physical organ that circulates the blood, but embraces the ideas of thoughts, feelings, and mind. It means the core, the center of our being–our spirit–and thus the source of life itself. So Jesus is speaking of the essence of our being as well as its adjuncts of body and mind and their activities internal and external.

The Greek word katharos (from which we get catharsis) is very rich in meaning, and therefore very instructive for us. It appears twenty-eight times in the New Testament. It has many meanings:

1. Clean in the sense of having been made free from all impurities and implies a vigorous and thorough expulsion of all impurity.
2. Purged–as above.
3. Clear in the sense of having nothing obscuring it.
4. Transparent–as above.
5. Unmixed with any other thing whatsoever–absolute singleness of constitution as in chemical purity. This is an ideal symbol for perfect unity of consciousness.
6. Without defect–both without any flaw and also without any lack, complete in all ways.
7. Spotless, without any alien marking, and without any marking at all as that would disrupt its purity in the sense of perfect unity.

By using this word (The Hebrew word tahowr, which was no doubt used by Jesus, conveys the identical meanings. So we lose little in the translation from Hebrew/Aramaic to Greek except in those cases where the text has been deliberately falsified. But that is not a subject to cover here.) Saint Luke is conveying the idea that we must be clean, clear, undivided, and complete in our consciousness from all conditionings or limitations whatsoever. This is no small thing! And it cannot be accomplished without meditation as a major component of our life.

When this is accomplished we shall see–shall know–both ourselves and God. The Greek term optanamai means to see with wide-open eyes without obscurity, impediment, or interruption. Interestingly, it also means to be seen, anticipating the words of Saint Paul: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (I Corinthians 13:12) It also means to experience that which is seen. So the vision of God is the experience of divinity Itself and of assimilation to That.

A final meaning in this beatitude is conveyed by the word autos, which Wuest accurately renders themselves, the idea being that the pure in heart see God directly without any intermediary, and certainly see God for themselves, there being no need for another person to do it for them. This is most important, for it strips away the fraudulent mask of most religion. Despite the lip-service to the nature of the self (atma) and the capacity of human being for enlightenment, even in India we hear nonsense about gods or avatars or gurus “doing it for you” either altogether or in some degree. What a clever out for the ego clinging to its idols and toys of ignorance. “I need do nothing–or little–for it has been done for me by the mercy and grace of….” What degrading foolishness. If we do not “do it” it will not be done. Knowing this is the real grace and mercy of God and the saints.

Next: Part 7 of A New Look at the Beatitudes – The Spiritual Process of Making Peace.

Previous posts in this series:
• What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?
• The Kingdom of Heaven According to Jesus
• What Jesus Really Means by Meekness
• When Craving is a Good Thing
• Mercy and the Law of Karma

Keep up to date with the latest posts. Subscribe to the Atma Jyoti Blog.

Part 5 of a special eight part series, A New Look at the Beatitudes, using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest.

“Spiritually prosperous are those who are merciful, because they themselves shall be the objects of mercy.”
–Matthew 5:7

“W
ith the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright,” (Psalms 18:25) sang David, and Solomon his son wrote: “The merciful man doeth good to his own soul.” (Proverbs 11:17)

Mercy is singled out in this beatitude to represent all other virtues in relation to other people, because whatever the positive behavior may be there is always at least a touch of mercy there. Furthermore, mercy carries within it lack of ego, kindness, good will, and love.

This beatitude also sets forth the law of karma, of sowing and reaping, (“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).) assuring us that all right actions come back to us in the form of blessings. [“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14; see Mark 11:25). “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble” (Psalms 41:1). “He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he” (Proverbs 14:21). “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again” (Proverbs 19:17). “Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity” (Daniel 4:27).]

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:34-40)

“For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (I John 4:20)

Next: Part 6 of A New Look at the Beatitudes – Clean to the Core of Our Being.

Previous posts in this series:
• What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?
• The Kingdom of Heaven According to Jesus
• What Jesus Really Means by Meekness
• When Craving is a Good Thing

Enjoy this series? Subscribe to the Atma Jyoti Blog

Part 4 of a special eight part series, A New Look at the Beatitudes, using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest.

“Spiritually prosperous are those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, because they themselves shall be filled so as to be completely satisfied.”
–Matthew 5:6

Because we are so enslaved by our desire for pleasure and our aversion for pain, we try to avoid even discomfort or inconvenience–to such a degree that we consider wanting something we cannot have to be a form of suffering. We may say “no pain no gain” to others, but we do not want that to apply to ourselves. This beatitude, however, commends discontent to a great degree: the hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Peinao means to be famished, to crave desperately, not just to be simply hungry. Without food we will die, so those suffering from intense hunger are desperate to be fed. In the same way we must see that God-contact is not a wonderful option but an urgent necessity without which we inwardly die. Our yearning for God must be intense to the maximum degree. Otherwise we will not do the needful for the attainment of God-vision. We will foolishly feel that “the price” is too high. Peinao carries with it the connotation of keenly knowing our lack, and this knowledge spurs us on to spiritual fulfillment.

Peino has another meaning that is significant, both it and its root word penes mean to labor intensively (Strong says “pinching toil), to strive for subsistence. Here the idea of strong spiritual desire is supplemented with the concept of intense spiritual practice–also a necessity for blessedness.

Since thirst (dipsao, dipsos) can be even worse than hunger, it, too, is used by Jesus to symbolize the urge toward union with God.

Righteousness

The word dikaiosune does not mean righteousness in the sense of social goodness or approval, or even the approbation of God. Rather it means correctness or “rightness” of the person’s character, inner and outer. It means to be “straight” and “square” and “true” in our mind, our personality, and their expression in our daily life. Rectitude might even be a better word than righteousness. It is not an external matter, but an internal disposition of spiritual health that of course does manifest outwardly as is indicated by one of the root words of dikaiosun: deiknuo, which literally means “to show.”

There are two other significant root words: dikaios and dike. Dikaios means to be just and fitting in deed and thought to such a degree that a person is innocent of all wrong, the idea being that the individual has been purified from all fault by becoming righteous. So righteousness is an effective, positive thing, not just a passive characteristic. Dike is very interesting, for it literally means the judgment and punishment of wrong. In the context of this beatitude it means that a righteous person clear-sightedly detects his defects and eliminates them consciously through self-discipline and mastery.

“Filled so as to be completely satisfied”

The Bible frequently uses eating as a spiritual symbol, so much so that spiritual life is likened to a banquet or feast.

The Greek word employed by Saint Luke in his translating of Jesus’ words is chortazo, which means to eat beyond the point to satiety to that of outright incapacity to eat a bite more. “Gorge” is a synonym given by Strong. In other words, we shall be filled to total capacity with the righteousness of God if we hunger and thirst sufficiently. Abundance is the key thought here, and chortazo also means to completely satisfy all desire. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

There is more. The root word chortos means edible herbage or vegetation, but its literal meaning is “garden,” the idea being that the righteous are restored in spirit to Paradise, the Garden of Eden, and fed from the Tree of Life and thereby made immortal. (Can it be without significance that Saint Luke chose a word that explicitly implied vegetarian fare? [See Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet])

Next: Part 5 of A New Look at the Beatitudes – Mercy and the Law of Karma.

Previous posts in this series:
• What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?
• The Kingdom of Heaven According to Jesus
• What Jesus Really Means by Meekness

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Part 3 of a special eight part series, A New Look at the Beatitudes, using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest.

“Spiritually prosperous are those who are meek because they themselves shall inherit the earth.”
–Matthew 5:5

This has either been used to persuade people to shut up, lie down, and be run over, or it has been a point of rebellion by those who consider passivity unintelligent and harmful. But if we look at the Greek text we will see the actual idea in Jesus’s mind.

Praus means mild and gentle. This does not mean insipid, banal, bland, vapid, feeble, and timid–all “virtues” of the ineffectual and those who would render others ineffectual. Jesus does not want us to become squeaking mice.

Mildness and gentleness are symptoms of the truly peaceful, those who are at rest in God–and confident. Simplicity is implied here as well. Those who are truly strong are the mild and the gentle. Mildness is not characterlessness, either. It is really difficult to explain what is meant by this beatitude, but if you have ever met a truly enlightened person you know what is meant.

The saints I have met were varied in their personalities and “style,” yet they were all mild and gentle people. This is partially because all saints are perfect in ahimsa–non-injury. They are incapable of harming another. Not because they cannot in a mechanical sense, but because they are above such a thing. Saints can speak plainly–and often do–but never with an “edge” to them. Forgive me, I am talking around the subject, mostly because as I am writing this I am seeing in my mind the radiant and merciful faces of Sri Ma Anandamayi, Swami Sivananda, Sri Maitri Devi, and others that I met in India. They were firm and true, yet they were amazingly mild, gentle, and kind. They would not lie or dissemble, but they were always firm and rational, devoid of any sting or bitterness.

“We should blunt our sharp points,” says the Tao Teh King; and we should. And if we do, we “shall inherit the earth.”

Inherit the earth

Kleronomeo means to be an heir or to inherit. This implies that we are being freely given something through our merit: our meekness. Kleronomeo comes from kleronomos, which means to share in something, to actually possess it. So this is not a figurative matter, but something very literal. And what do the meek inherit? Ge, the earth. Not the “world” of human society and social constructs, but the very earth itself, the world of God’s making as opposed to the world of man’s fevered construction. The land itself will accrue to the meek. How many tyrants and empires have ground the meek into the earth only to vanish and become either forgotten or empty names in historical accounts. But the meek continue and abide upon the earth. The patient and the endurant eventually possess the land.

This is an external truth, and also a spiritual one. Those who remain sober, calm, and clear-sighted in their spiritual endeavors, without overblown ideas about their spiritual greatness or what glory they shall obtain, are those that shall attain everything. They shall master both the “earth” and the “heaven” parts of themselves. They shall be kingdoms, reflections of the heavenly kingdom to which they are called. Meekness (mildness and gentleness), then, is the way rather than a martial, brash attitude. Many people turn spiritual life into another craze or passion and burn themselves out in the process. Again, we see the value of the tortoise and the hare story. “In your patience possess ye your souls,” (Luke 21:19) counseled Jesus.

Next: Part 4 of A New Look at the Beatitudes – When Craving is a Good Thing.

Previous posts in this series:
• What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?
• The Kingdom of Heaven According to Jesus

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