Step 2: “Who Art in Heaven” - Understanding Function
Heaven as a State of Consciousness
In this second step of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus establishes the nature and function of God (“in heaven”) and humanity (“on earth”). However, this doesn’t refer to physical locations but to states of consciousness.
At first thought we believed that meant God was somewhere off in the sky and we were consigned to live here alone and separated upon this planet, because obviously earth means the planet, doesn’t it, and the heavens mean out there somewhere.
But Jesus taught something entirely different: “The kingdom of heaven is to be found in each person.” Heaven, therefore, is not a place to go to after death, but a state of mind to be experienced now. Luke 17:20-21
The Meaning of Heaven
Here are several important insights about the meaning of heaven:
- Heaven stands for God, or first cause, and earth stands for the effect.
- Heaven is the abode, if you will, of God, from whom all blessings flow. Heaven is the source of our good.
- Heaven could be defined perhaps as the mind of God existing everywhere, but most particularly in each of us.
- The kingdom of heaven, or of the heavens therefore, is a state of consciousness in which the human mind is in harmony with infinite intelligence.
Heaven and Earth: The Invisible and Visible
This relationship between heaven and earth also represents the relationship between the invisible world of cause and the visible world of effects:
Causes are always invisible. Effects are invariably visible. For example, you may see a sculptor at work and behold the glorious creation that becomes visible to the eye. You see the sculptor, but you do not see the mind, the incredible creative ability of that sculptor that brings that exquisite creation into existence.
The Dual Nature of Human Consciousness
The second step also establishes that humans possess both heavenly (spiritual) and earthly (physical) aspects of consciousness.
Remember when Jesus said, the least one in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, and he was implying that John the Baptist as fine as he was had not yet achieved self-mastery. Matthew 11:11
There are levels within each state of consciousness, and that we all move between these states throughout our day: Have you not experienced more than one level or state of consciousness in the course of the day, sometimes within moments…?
The Implication for Our Lives
Understanding that heaven is within us means:
- We don’t need to search for God in distant places
- We can access divine wisdom, love, and power within our own consciousness
- Our spiritual growth is about shifting our identification from the “earth” of our physical selves to the “heaven” of our spiritual nature
- The division between heaven and earth isn’t a physical separation but a matter of awareness
Jesus’s apostle John said (John 4:4), he that is within you is greater than he that is in the world, meaning this inner higher self is greater than that part of us that is identified with the world and the things of the world.
This second step establishes that our purpose on earth is to bring our consciousness into alignment with the “heaven” that already exists within us, making the invisible manifest in our visible world.