In a previous newsletter we began our analysis of the true, deeper, inner meaning of the Lords Prayer, probably one of the only passages in the Bible that millions of people can recite from memory. Even I who rejected orthodox religion at school at the age of 8 years can still repeat The Lords Prayer word for word.

However, as we discussed during the first part of this series, The Lords Prayer is not simply a passage intended to be repeated mechanically as a sign of respect or "worship", it rather has much more powerful inner meanings that form part of the greater inner meanings and teachings of the Bible as a whole.

As I have mentioned time and again, but is always worth repeating, the Bible is not a book of theology that demands an abstract belief or blind faith in a deity called God, the Bible is rather part of a much greater collection of inspired works, many of which were not included by Emperor Constantine due to the fact they could not be used in the main context of the "new religion", contrived only for the purposes of continued power and control over a global population in the face of a declining empire.

More importantly, the Bible, to the extent that it does exist, is a book of Initiation, Spiritual Growth and Metaphysics, brought to us by the greatest Initiate and Master to have ever walked on Earth, primarily to prepare humanity for the transition of the ages that we are now facing in the next few years in the context of 2012.

Fortunately, the core teachings of Jesus, real name Jeshua, or Yeshua or Yashua - Jesus is a Greek name - Jeshua was born a Jew - are the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which chronicle the life, times and teachings of Jeshua.

In reading the modern Bible however we must take account of the fact that the original texts, which no longer exist in physical form - at least as far as we know - were written in Ancient Greek, and subsequently translated into English and other modern languages.

Over time there have been numerous mis-translations, and in particular numerous alternative translations on the part of theologians and other religious bodies, contrived to interpret the Bible in such a way that suits their own aspirations, often power and control, and in such a way as to keep religious followers in a state of "fear of God" - in other words the church actually wants and needs "God fearing people" in order to survive and control.

God is often depicted as a jealous, vengeful, intolerant deity, who punishes people with a fiery torture for all eternity or other terrible punishments for failing to "believe in Him" or follow the doctrines of the church who claim to represent the best interests of God on Earth. Somewhat paradoxical for our Father Who Loves us all. As we discussed in part 1 of this series - Our Father - God is indeed Father, or more correctly parent to us all - what Loving parent would send their Child to be tormented for all eternity?

Actually, in the context of the so called "Crucifixion", what Father would send a Son to Earth just so he can be nailed to a cross and tortured before he was prepared to "forgive" everyone?

I trust that people will give these fundamentals some serious thought before accepting these concepts.

One of my missions over the coming years is to obtain, to the extent possible, copies of the original Ancient Greek transcripts of the Bible, and to transcribe them into modern English in their original context, as intended by the Nazarene Master.

Until then the Bible, even as it is today still retains most of its original power, wisdom and teachings, notwithstanding the mistranslations and creative alterations by the various factions down through the centuries, and it is upon these that we will continue to focus.

In Part 1 of our series on understanding The Lords Prayer we examined the teachings contained within the very first line "Our Father" which emphasises the glorious truth that God is not only the Father of Jeshua, but rather God is Father to us all - a fact that Jeshua emphasises time and again, such is its importance.

So having established, in accordance with the teachings of Jeshua the truth that the relationship between ourselves and God is truly that of Child and Parent, we will now move on to the next line in The Lords Prayer:

Which Art in Heaven

This line, in and of itself has probably been one of the most misunderstood teachings of the Bible, conjuring up to many a picture of a stately, elderly looking gentleman, adorned in long, flowing white robes, floating around in the sky, flanked by choirs of Angels plucking their harp strings, while God sits on his huge golden throne deciding who is worthy of being allowed into Heaven, and who should be cast down to fry for all eternity in hellfire and damnation as the guest of Lucifer.

The first, and most obvious flaw in this picture is that "Heaven" is not actually a "place" at all, it is more of a state of "Being".

In order to understand this better, we need to review the structure of the Universe as a whole.

The Universe can be likened to an Apple in many ways. The skin of the Apple represents the physical Universe where the vibration of Energy has slowed to such a low rate that it has differentiated into what we call "matter". This outer "skin" of the Universe probably represents less than 0.01% of the entire Universe as a whole. This is the Universe known to science, but which is still very much viewed in terms of a Newtonian perspective.

As we travel within the flesh of the Apple towards the core, Energy, represented by the flesh of the Apple,vibrates faster and faster, and at the same time becomes less and less dense until eventually vibrating at the fastest rate at the core of the Apple representing God, Source, The First Cause and many other names.

Our initial individuated existence takes place at the skin of the Apple, the physical Universe, where we learn the fundamental lessons we need to know in order to progress inwards towards the core during the quest for perfection. Indeed, until those lessons have been learned and assimilated into our very being we cannot progress inwards.

Before the "Heavenly Journey" can really begin, we need to learn those fundamental lessons, not only here on Earth, but also in the Astral planes which act as a sort of "buffer" or "holding" zone between the physical Universe and the great Mental, Spiritual Planes.

Many people confuse the Astral planes or "afterlife" with "Heaven", when in fact the Astral planes and the people living there are really no more "advanced" than people still living on Earth. The Astral planes are therefore best thought of as the home of people who no longer have a physical body, given that they have to live somewhere, and they are not yet ready to progress to greater things.

Some regard the Astral Planes as "Heaven" on the basis of material things. In the Astral there is no "work", no "money" no "bosses" or other people pushing you around, and in fact compared to Earth it really is an idyllic and "easy" experience - but it is not Heaven.

Like the physical world the Astral planes are an extension of a necessary illusion that exists as the first stage of a much greater journey, where the fundamentals are learned in readiness for that journey, without which the onward journey is just not possible.

The word "Heaven" is most often understood to be a metaphor for a state of "bliss", which means different things to different people.
To someone in so called "modern society", which would be more appropriately known as "material society", "bliss" might be represented by a luxury home on an exotic island. To someone living in parts of Africa for example, "bliss" might be a three course meal. So as with all things, in accordance with the Universal Principle of Polarity, there are no absolutes, everything is relative, and in accordance with individual perceptions.

The question then becomes why has "Heaven" become associated with "bliss", notwithstanding the fact that "bliss" is usually measured in material terms?

The reason is simple, but has long been lost as the true meaning of life and "bliss" has been consumed by materialism. As we progress inwards towards Source, First Cause, God, from Whence we came in the beginning, we experience ever higher states of vibration, and realms of Mind that are far beyond the comprehension of the Earthly human Mind. At these states of vibration we are moving ever nearer to the highest and most Divine vibration of all - Unconditional Love - the Vibration of Source, God, First Cause.

These Heaven Worlds exist beyond the illusion of form as characterised by the physical and Astral worlds, but that does not mean there is "nothingness" - far from it. These are worlds and states of Energy of sheer glory, splendour and bliss where fixed form is no longer relevant, in other words Heavenly in ever sense.

It is the inner knowledge of these Heaven Worlds, known to the Higher Self, that drives the Higher Self on to ever greater things, and the reason Higher Self chooses to send representatives to Earth in order to acquire the necessary perfection in the shortest possible time through the medium of physical matter which God, in all God's wisdom created for this specific purpose.

It should be mentioned that not all Beings choose to incarnate into the physical space-time bound continuum. Many choose to save themselves that extreme effort to evolve from the Astral. This however is an massively more restrictive approach, which will inevitably leave them far behind on the path as compared to those who have graduated from matter, and many eventually decide to "take the plunge" into the physical Universe.

So these then are the "Heaven Worlds" that everyone strives to realise, and the reason we choose to take the fast-track course of learning and initiation on Earth.

The next question, in the context of The Lords Prayer, is in what way is Our Father actually "in Heaven".

This means that our Father, God, Universal Mind is in and through All creation. Our Father is therefore in Heaven, in all creation, in all magnificent spheres of Life and Reality, and in each one of us.

This then teaches us one of the most glorious truths of all, that The Kingdom of Heaven is Within each and every one of us. Heaven is not some "place up there" or "place where we go if we have been a good person" or place "where you go if you have been a devoted adherent to a particular orthodox religious doctrine".

The truth is we are in Heaven right Now, and Heaven is in Us.

Our Father is in Heaven, we are in Heaven, we are Our Father.

This glorious truth is taught by all the major World religions and cultures - including Christianity - if we look in the right places with an open Mind.

Christianity: "Neither shall they say, lo here! or, lo there! For, behold, the Kingdom of Heaven is within you". -- Luke 17:21

Islam: "Those who know themselves know their God".

Buddhism: "Look within, thou art Buddha".

Vedanta, part of Hinduism: "Atman (individual Consciousness) and Brahman (Universal Consciousness) are one".

Upanishads, part of Hinduism: "By understanding the self, all this Universe is known".

Yoga, part of Hinduism: "God dwells within you as you".

Confucianism: "Heaven, Earth and human are of one body".

Christianity: "On that day, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you". -- John 14:20

In the next part of this series on The Lords Prayer, in a few weeks time, we will look at the next line: "Hallowed be thy Name", and discuss why the name of God is "hallowed" and in particular to discuss what "hallowed" really means in the context of the teachings of Jeshua.