What does Jesus mean by Repent?

[Guest guest]

The English verb " repent " derives from the Latin 'paenitere', " to be sorry. " The

deeper meaning of Jesus' usage as the reversal of mind from matter to Spirit may

be found in the fact that in the New Testament, 'repent' is used to translate

the original Greek 'metanoein', meaning " to turn one's mind in the opposite

direction; to change one's mind (by adopting an opposite view) " : from 'meta',

" to change, or to be in opposition to " ; and 'nous', " mind. "

 

What does Jesus mean by " Repent? "

 

....Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and

saying, " The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and

believe the gospel. " (Mark 1:14-15)

 

(p.376) Many people look for heaven at some point in space beyond the clouds,

far away from the noxious, sinful vapors of the earth. Jesus' words " at hand "

signify the nearness of heaven, which lies just behind the darkness of closed

eyes, within the consciousness of man; and that with ease, people could find God

through the mediation Jesus was offering to them. In deep meditation, when one

shuts out the land of finitude and matter, the realm of Eternity, the vast

heavenly kingdom of God's omniscience, is found to lie tier upon tier in endless

vistas before the inner vision.

 

Therefore, the first commandment Jesus gave to the people was " Repent, "

signifying the withdrawal of the principal attention from matter to God. (p.377)

Every soul, upon spiritually awakening, should repent of its folly of expecting

permanent happiness from fleeting sense pleasures. The poor taste for

sorrow-producing evil should be displaced by the superior inclinations for

joy-producing good.

 

People are foolish to look for Paradise in earthly things. How could changeless,

perfect happiness be wring out of imperfect earth surroundings, a motley

perplexity of events of sorrow and joy, disease and health? Earth conditions,

being born of delusion, will always be more or less defective. Heaven on earth

is found only within by the contact of the illuminating Immutable [unchanging]

Wisdom perceived in meditation. Jesus's spiritual persuasion made people open

their closed eyes of soul wisdom to dispel their self-created darkness: The

Fountain of Light springs forth from the cleft soil of dark delusion.

 

If man repents of his excessive attention given to the finite cosmos, and

regularly devotes time to deep meditation, he will find the heavenly land of

infinity within him. The wise man repents because he sees the frivolity of

worldly life and knows the miseries resulting from the contact of matter, not

only in himself but in empathetic feeling for all beings.

 

In 'The Holy Science', my guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, elaborated on the deep

spiritual meaning of Jesus' oft-repeated exhortation to " repent. " [1] The turning

of one's mind from matter to God necessitates a reversal of man's life energy

and consciousness from absorption in the dark ignorance of materiality to

communion with the Holy Ghost, the Word or Cosmic Vibration of 'Aum' or Amen

through which man is uplifted to Christ the Son, and God the Father:

 

" When man directs all his organs of sense toward their common center, the

sensorium or 'Sushumnadwara', the door of the internal world, he

perceives...'Pranava Sabda', the Word of God. Thus perceiving, man naturally

believes in the existence of the true Spiritual Light, and, withdrawing his self

from the outer world, concentrates himself on the sensorium....By this 'Samyama'

or concentration of self on the sensorium [through yoga techniques of

meditation], man becomes baptized or absorbed in the holy stream of Divine

Sound....

 

(p.378) " [He] begins to repent and return toward his Divinity, the Eternal

Father, from where he had fallen. See Revelation 2:5: 'Remember therefore from

where you have fallen, and repent.' "

 

Along with repentance, it is necessary also to believe in the Gospel, God's Word

of truth to man. First, one must believe in God's message as sent through His

saints and avatars, as in the gospel preached by Jesus, and repent of the folly

of matter attachment. When one's repentance turns his mind toward truth and he

believes in the kingdom of God within, then, by constant meditation, he will in

time perceive, through the intuitive knowing of his soul, that Kingdom of

Eternity lying close at hand in the inner realization of his uplifted

consciousness.

 

The Second Coming of Christ (The Resurrection of the Christ Within

You) Volume 1, Discourse 22, pg. 376-378

Paramahansa Yogananda

Printed in the United States of America 1434-J881

ISBN-13:978-0-87612-557-1

ISBN-10:0-87612-557-7

 

Notes:

 

[1] The English verb " repent " derives from the Latin 'paenitere', " to be sorry. "

The deeper meaning of Jesus' usage as the reversal of mind from matter to Spirit

may be found in the fact that in the New Testament, 'repent' is used to

translate the original Greek 'metanoein', meaning " to turn one's mind in the

opposite direction; to change one's mind (by adopting an opposite view) " : from

'meta', " to change, or to be in opposition to " ; and 'nous', " mind. "

[Guest guest]

CONVERSION AND REPENTANCE

THE MEANING of the WORDS

 

The English words repentance and conversion (and their cognates) are

generally used to translate three different Greek words:

 

1) epistrophç: conversion in a physical sense; turning around,

turning back, returning.

 

2) metameleia: repentance at an emotional or affective level;

regret, being sorry, changing of purpose, changing one's mind.

 

3) metanoia: repentance, change of heart, turning from one's sins,

conversion. (of these three terms, this is the one most commonly used

in the New Testament)...

 

The whole proclamation of Jesus, with its categorical demands for the

sake of God's kingdom (the Sermon on the Mount, the sayings about

discipleship), is a proclamation of metanoia even when the term is

not used. It is a proclamation of unconditional turning to God, of

unconditional turning from all that is against God, not merely that

which is downright evil, but that which in a given case makes total

turning to God impossible (Mt. 5:29 f., 44; 6:19 f.; 7:13 f. par.;

10:32–39 par.; Mk. 3:31 ff. par.; Lk. 14:33, cf. Mk. 10:21).

 

[§ 5] As distinct from all forms of eschatological enthusiasm, or

moralism, or casuistry, the demand for conversion is the one and only

imperative in Jesus' preaching of the kingdom of God. It is addressed

to all without distinction and presented with unmitigated severity in

order to indicate the only way of salvation there is. It calls for

total surrender, total commitment to the will of God: God, be

merciful to me, a sinner (Lk. 18:13). It is a conversion to the God

who seeks out sinners rather than the righteous (Lk. 15:7, 10, cf.

17ff.; 5:32; 13:3, 5).

 

[§ 6] Jesus brought out the radicalism of His summons to conversion

in His mortal conflict with the Pharisees. In the preaching of Jesus

faith grows out of conversion (Mk. 1:15), not as a second thing which

He requires, but as the development of the positive side of metanoia,

the turning to God. Conversion as Jesus understands it is not just

negative. It is more than a break with the old nature in face of the

threat of eschatological judgment. It embraces the whole walk of the

person who is claimed by the divine lordship. It carries with it the

founding of a new personal relation of the person to God, i.e., of

faith. " To convert, " " to be converted, " embraces all that the dawn of

God's kingdom demands of the person.

 

www.ldysinger.com/

 

 

, " violettubb " <violettubb

wrote:

>

> The English verb " repent " derives from the Latin 'paenitere', " to be sorry. "

The deeper meaning of Jesus' usage as the reversal of mind from matter to Spirit

may be found in the fact that in the New Testament, 'repent' is used to

translate the original Greek 'metanoein', meaning " to turn one's mind in the

opposite direction; to change one's mind (by adopting an opposite view) " : from

'meta', " to change, or to be in opposition to " ; and 'nous', " mind. "

>

> What does Jesus mean by " Repent? "

>

> ...Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and

saying, " The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and

believe the gospel. " (Mark 1:14-15)

>

> (p.376) Many people look for heaven at some point in space beyond the clouds,

far away from the noxious, sinful vapors of the earth. Jesus' words " at hand "

signify the nearness of heaven, which lies just behind the darkness of closed

eyes, within the consciousness of man; and that with ease, people could find God

through the mediation Jesus was offering to them. In deep meditation, when one

shuts out the land of finitude and matter, the realm of Eternity, the vast

heavenly kingdom of God's omniscience, is found to lie tier upon tier in endless

vistas before the inner vision.

>

> Therefore, the first commandment Jesus gave to the people was " Repent, "

signifying the withdrawal of the principal attention from matter to God. (p.377)

Every soul, upon spiritually awakening, should repent of its folly of expecting

permanent happiness from fleeting sense pleasures. The poor taste for

sorrow-producing evil should be displaced by the superior inclinations for

joy-producing good.

>

> People are foolish to look for Paradise in earthly things. How could

changeless, perfect happiness be wring out of imperfect earth surroundings, a

motley perplexity of events of sorrow and joy, disease and health? Earth

conditions, being born of delusion, will always be more or less defective.

Heaven on earth is found only within by the contact of the illuminating

Immutable [unchanging] Wisdom perceived in meditation. Jesus's spiritual

persuasion made people open their closed eyes of soul wisdom to dispel their

self-created darkness: The Fountain of Light springs forth from the cleft soil

of dark delusion.

>

> If man repents of his excessive attention given to the finite cosmos, and

regularly devotes time to deep meditation, he will find the heavenly land of

infinity within him. The wise man repents because he sees the frivolity of

worldly life and knows the miseries resulting from the contact of matter, not

only in himself but in empathetic feeling for all beings.

>

> In 'The Holy Science', my guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, elaborated on the deep

spiritual meaning of Jesus' oft-repeated exhortation to " repent. " [1] The turning

of one's mind from matter to God necessitates a reversal of man's life energy

and consciousness from absorption in the dark ignorance of materiality to

communion with the Holy Ghost, the Word or Cosmic Vibration of 'Aum' or Amen

through which man is uplifted to Christ the Son, and God the Father:

>

> " When man directs all his organs of sense toward their common center, the

sensorium or 'Sushumnadwara', the door of the internal world, he

perceives...'Pranava Sabda', the Word of God. Thus perceiving, man naturally

believes in the existence of the true Spiritual Light, and, withdrawing his self

from the outer world, concentrates himself on the sensorium....By this 'Samyama'

or concentration of self on the sensorium [through yoga techniques of

meditation], man becomes baptized or absorbed in the holy stream of Divine

Sound....

>

> (p.378) " [He] begins to repent and return toward his Divinity, the Eternal

Father, from where he had fallen. See Revelation 2:5: 'Remember therefore from

where you have fallen, and repent.' "

>

> Along with repentance, it is necessary also to believe in the Gospel, God's

Word of truth to man. First, one must believe in God's message as sent through

His saints and avatars, as in the gospel preached by Jesus, and repent of the

folly of matter attachment. When one's repentance turns his mind toward truth

and he believes in the kingdom of God within, then, by constant meditation, he

will in time perceive, through the intuitive knowing of his soul, that Kingdom

of Eternity lying close at hand in the inner realization of his uplifted

consciousness.

>

> The Second Coming of Christ (The Resurrection of the Christ Within

> You) Volume 1, Discourse 22, pg. 376-378

> Paramahansa Yogananda

> Printed in the United States of America 1434-J881

> ISBN-13:978-0-87612-557-1

> ISBN-10:0-87612-557-7

>

> Notes:

>

> [1] The English verb " repent " derives from the Latin 'paenitere', " to be

sorry. " The deeper meaning of Jesus' usage as the reversal of mind from matter

to Spirit may be found in the fact that in the New Testament, 'repent' is used

to translate the original Greek 'metanoein', meaning " to turn one's mind in the

opposite direction; to change one's mind (by adopting an opposite view) " : from

'meta', " to change, or to be in opposition to " ; and 'nous', " mind. "

>