Luke 18:10 · World English Bible
Luke 18:10 Meaning Two Men Went Up Into the Temple
Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.
What does Luke 18:10 mean?
The temple is the body, and going up into it is turning attention upward through the spine toward the head where the higher centers sit. 2 men enter because 2 natures share the one body: the outer self that keeps the rules and displays its correctness, and the lower, taxed self that knows it falls short and comes empty.
From the Esoteric reading below.
Luke 18:10 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Esoteric
ESOTERIC
Esoteric
The temple is the body, and going up into it is turning attention upward through the spine toward the head where the higher centers sit. 2 men enter because 2 natures share the one body: the outer self that keeps the rules and displays its correctness, and the lower, taxed self that knows it falls short and comes empty. The Pharisee is the surface mind proud of its own religion, and the publican is the humbled part that has stopped defending itself.
Prayer is not speech sent away but the raising of consciousness inside the temple of flesh. Which of the 2 natures actually rises is the whole question, and it is decided by which one comes without pretense.
Temple: the human body, the structure a person ascends within when consciousness turns upward Pharisee: the proud outer mind that trusts its own correctness and displays its religion Publican: the lowly, honest part of the self that knows its own poverty and comes without defense
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Live Luke 18:10 today
- Before you pray or sit quietly today, drop the part of you that wants to sound good. Say the plain, unflattering truth about where you are, even if it is just "I am tired and I am not sure I mean this."
- In one conversation today, let someone see a place where you are falling short, without explaining it away or adding the sentence that makes you look better.
- When you get criticized today, in an email, a meeting, a group chat, hold off on the defense for ten seconds. Ask yourself whether any part of it is true before you reply.
Which version of me did I bring into the quiet today, the one with the case prepared, or the one with nothing to show?
The same truth in other traditions
Tao Te Ching 22
The one who stays low and makes no case for himself is the one who ends up whole. Emptiness is what gets filled.
Sufism · Rumi
The cracked and broken heart is the one light can get into. A polished surface only shows you yourself.
Zen
A cup already full has no room for tea. The student who arrives knowing nothing is the one who can be taught.
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