The Kingdom Of God – A New Interpretation

Many of us have heard the saying of Jesus in the bible, “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” What does this mean?

Research into the subject produced only conflicting and contradictory ideas. It seems that Christian scholars don’t know what it is. Perhaps they actually do and desire to keep it a secret from us. Perhaps they want it all to themselves! (Just joking!)

A new interpretation of the Kingdom of God has been offered by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

There is an island, very safe, very green, where you can find lots of beautiful trees and streams of fresh water and birds, you can take refuge in that beautiful island. If you look deeply there must be love at once right there inside of that island. The Buddha land is in there; the kingdom of God is in there; your mother is there; your sister is there; Jesus is there; the Buddha is there. The island is called the Island of Self. The Buddhist expression is Self Island. It is inside you, available. You have been running; you have been searching. You think that your home is out there in space or in time, but in fact, your home is within and you have the capacity of touching it. Learn to listen to the bell. Learn to listen to the telephone, to the clock playing every quarter of the hour. In Plum Village, all of us practice listening to the bell, enjoy breathing in, breathing out, and go back to that beautiful island that is within us…

So practice walking in such a way that you can arrive in every step. Breathing in, breathing in, breathing out, breathing out. You walk like you walk in the Kingdom of God. Right here, right now, don’t wait until you die. In America one time I give a talk in a big church and I said “You don’t need to die in order to enter the Kingdom of God, in fact you have to be very alive in order to do so. Breathe in, become mindful, become truly alive, and you make one step, only one step can bring you into the Kingdom of God, right here, right now.” That’s what we should do while we are in Plum Village. Every time you make a step, please make it mindfully, so that the land you tread will be the Kingdom of God, will be the Pure Land. It is the land of hell, or the land of God. It depends on your way of walk, not on the geological conditions. You have heard that the Kingdom of God is in you. You have heard that the Buddha land is in you. Touch it, make it real, walk in such a way that solidity and peace and non-fear can be possible.

So you see, the Kingdom of God is at hand. When you touch your island of self, your true self, you touch Jesus, you touch the Pure Land, you touch the Kingdom of God.

Jesus lives in you. You are the continuation of Jesus. Buddha lives in you. You are the continuation of the Buddha. Jesus and Buddha interare!

By walking mindfully, living mindfully, eating mindfully, living mindfully, we develop a true sense of who we are. We recognize our interdependence with all things. We develop loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. We love our neighbor as our own self.

Happy Easter! If you like Jesus or Buddha or both, please share this new interpretation.

This Book Reveals
The New Interpretation

Old Price: $16.00
Price: $6.88

I was very inspired when I read this book many years ago. It is time for me to read it again and I suggest that you do also.