The Ten Commandments

Question:

I would like to apply ancient wisdom to modern life. I would like to look at it metaphysically so that I could live a fuller life. My father was not a religious person, but always said we should live by the Ten Commandments.

Comment:

I'm not going to quote the exact text here, since your question is not about specific commandments, but about approaching the commandments in general. (You can find responses concerning specific commandments—Exodus 20:8-11, Exodus 20:12, for example—in previous “Interpret This” responses on the Web site.)   I would highly recommend The Ten Commandments by Emmet Fox as an outstanding guide to approaching the commandments from a Unity/New Thought perspective. The basic point he makes is that a more spiritually accurate translation would not read "You shall not ..." but rather "You cannot …” The intent of the commandments is not to impose rules from above, but to keep us in alignment with the flow of divine energy and the working out of divine law. Thus, for example, it isn't "You shall not murder" but "You cannot murder." Life is eternal; trying to end it is impossible under divine law, and the attempt just generates negative karmic energy in your own life. You cannot steal, because everything is an expression of God, so you're only stealing from yourself. At this fairly early stage on our spiritual journey, we aren't yet ready to understand the underlying spiritual truth; it is enough that we obey the commandments out of fear of negative consequences. As we move toward spiritual maturity, we learn to replace the fear with love. We obey the same commandments, but we do so out of an energy of love for God, for ourselves and for our neighbors. This, of course, is the very heart of the message of Jesus Christ. He made it clear that his teaching was not intended to replace the law, but rather to shift our understanding from fearfully obeying arbitrary rules to joyful cooperation with God as loving and creative Law.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed