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Pitate o vječnom životu i ulasku u Kraljevstvo. Vanjski izraz koji se koristi za Kraljevstvo jest nebo, no to je usporedba, a ne sličnost; to nije stvarnost ili činjenica, jer Kraljevstvo nije materijalno mjesto: ono je oslobođeno vremena i mjesta. To je duhovni svijet, božanski svijet i središte Suverenosti Božje; on je oslobođen od tijela i svega što je tjelesno i očišćen je i oslobođen od maštarija ljudskog svijeta. Biti ograničen mjestom svojstvo je tijela, a ne duhova. Mjesto i vrijeme okružuju tijelo, a ne um i duh. Upamtite da je tijelo čovjeka ograničeno na malo mjesto; ono pokriva samo dva pedlja zemlje. Ali duh i um čovjeka putuju u sve zemlje i regije – čak i kroz bezgranični prostor nebesa – okružuju sve što postoji i dolaze do otkrića u uzvišenim sferama i na beskonačnim udaljenostima. To je tako stoga što duh nema mjesta; on je bez mjesta i za duh zemlja i nebo predstavljaju jedno, jer on dolazi do otkrića i u jednom i u drugom. No tijelo je ograničeno mjestom i ne zna što je iza njega. |
You question about eternal life and the entrance into the Kingdom. The outer expression used for the Kingdom is heaven; but this is a comparison and similitude, not a reality or fact, for the Kingdom is not a material place; it is sanctified from time and place. It is a spiritual world, a divine world, and the center of the Sovereignty of God; it is freed from body and that which is corporeal, and it is purified and sanctified from the imaginations of the human world. To be limited to place is a property of bodies and not of spirits. Place and time surround the body, not the mind and spirit. Observe that the body of man is confined to a small place; it covers only two spans of earth. But the spirit and mind of man travel to all countries and regions—even through the limitless space of the heavens—surround all that exists, and make discoveries in the exalted spheres and infinite distances. This is because the spirit has no place; it is placeless; and for the spirit the earth and the heaven are as one since it makes discoveries in both. But the body is limited to a place and does not know that which is beyond it. |
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Jer, postoje dvije vrste života: onaj tijela i onaj duha. Život tijela je materijalni život, a život duha izražava postojanje Kraljevstva, koje se sastoji u primanju Duha Božjeg i oživljavanju dahom Svetoga Duha. Premda materijalni život ima postojanje, on predstavlja posvemašnje nepostojanje i apsolutnu smrt za sveta bića. Tako postoje i čovjek i kamen, ali kakve li razlike između postojanja čovjeka i postojanja kamena! Iako kamen postoji, u odnosu na čovjeka on je nepostojeći. |
For life is of two kinds: that of the body and that of the spirit. The life of the body is material life, but the life of the spirit expresses the existence of the Kingdom, which consists in receiving the Spirit of God and becoming vivified by the breath of the Holy Spirit. Although the material life has existence, it is pure nonexistence and absolute death for the holy saints. So man exists, and this stone also exists, but what a difference between the existence of man and that of the stone! Though the stone exists, in relation to the existence of man it is nonexistent. |
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Značenje vječnog života je dar Svetoga Duha, kao što cvijet prima dar godišnjeg doba, zrak i lahore proljeća. Razmislite: cvijet je u početku imao život poput života minerala; ali dolaskom proljeća, obiljem proljetnih oblaka i toplinom sjajnog sunca, on je stekao još jedan život posvemašnje svježine, nježnosti i mirisa. Prvi život cvijeta u usporedbi s drugim jest smrt. |
The meaning of eternal life is the gift of the Holy Spirit, as the flower receives the gift of the season, the air, and the breezes of spring. Consider: this flower had life in the beginning like the life of the mineral; but by the coming of the season of spring, of the bounty of the clouds of the springtime, and of the heat of the glowing sun, it attained to another life of the utmost freshness, delicacy and fragrance. The first life of the flower, in comparison to the second life, is death. |
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To znači da je život Kraljevstva život duha, vječni život, i da je očišćen od mjesta, poput duha čovjekova koji nema mjesta. Jer, pregledate li ljudsko tijelo, nećete naći posebnu točku ili mjesto za duh, jer on nikada nije imao mjesto; on je nematerijalan. Njegova veza s tijelom je poput veze sunca i zrcala. Sunce nije u zrcalu, ali je u vezi sa zrcalom. |
The meaning is that the life of the Kingdom is the life of the spirit, the eternal life, and that it is purified from place, like the spirit of man which has no place. For if you examine the human body, you will not find a special spot or locality for the spirit, for it has never had a place; it is immaterial. It has a connection with the body like that of the sun with this mirror. The sun is not within the mirror, but it has a connection with the mirror. |
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Jednako tako Kraljevstvo je oslobođeno od svega što se može opaziti okom ili ostalim osjetilima – osjetilima sluha, mirisa, okusa ili dodira. Um koji je u čovjeku, čije je postojanje priznato – gdje se nalazi? Pregledate li tijelo okom ili ostalim osjetilima, nećete ga naći; ipak, on postoji. Dakle, um nema svog mjesta, ali je povezan s mozgom. I Kraljevstvo je također poput toga. Također ni ljubav nema mjesta, ali je povezana sa srcem; tako ni Kraljevstvo nema mjesta, ali je povezano sa čovjekom. |
In the same way the world of the Kingdom is sanctified from everything that can be perceived by the eye or by the other senses—hearing, smell, taste or touch. The mind which is in man, the existence of which is recognized—where is it in him? If you examine the body with the eye, the ear or the other senses, you will not find it; nevertheless, it exists. Therefore, the mind has no place, but it is connected with the brain. The Kingdom is also like this. In the same way love has no place, but it is connected with the heart; so the Kingdom has no place, but is connected with man. |
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U Kraljevstvo se ulazi uz pomoć ljubavi Božje, nevezanosti, svetosti i čednosti, istinoljubivosti, čistoće, ustrajnosti, odanosti i žrtve života. |
Entrance into the Kingdom is through the love of God, through detachment, through holiness and chastity, through truthfulness, purity, steadfastness, faithfulness and the sacrifice of life. |
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Ova objašnjenja pokazuju da je čovjek besmrtan i da živi vječno. Za one koji vjeruju u Boga, koji imaju ljubav prema Bogu i vjeru, život je divan – znači, vječan; ali onim dušama koje su velom zakrivene od Boga, iako imaju život, on je mračan i u usporedbi sa životom vjernika on predstavlja nepostojanje. |
These explanations show that man is immortal and lives eternally. For those who believe in God, who have love of God, and faith, life is excellent—that is, it is eternal; but to those souls who are veiled from God, although they have life, it is dark, and in comparison with the life of believers it is nonexistence. |
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Na primjer, oko i nokat su živi; ali život nokta u odnosu na život oka jest nepostojanje. I određeni kamen i određeni čovjek postoje; ali je kamen u odnosu na postojanje čovjeka nepostojeći; on nema bića; jer kad čovjek umre i njegovo se tijelo raspadne i uništi, on postaje poput kamena i zemlje. Zato je jasno da premda mineral postoji, u odnosu prema čovjeku on je nepostojeći. |
For example, the eye and the nail are living; but the life of the nail in relation to the life of the eye is nonexistent. This stone and this man both exist; but the stone in relation to the existence of man is nonexistent; it has no being; for when man dies, and his body is destroyed and annihilated, it becomes like stone and earth. Therefore, it is clear that although the mineral exists, in relation to man it is nonexistent. |
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Također, duše koje su velom zakrivene od Boga, iako postoje u ovom svijetu i u svijetu nakon smrti, u usporedbi sa svetim postojanjem djece Kraljevstva Božjeg nepostojeće su i odvojene od Boga. |
In the same way, the souls who are veiled from God, although they exist in this world and in the world after death, are, in comparison with the holy existence of the children of the Kingdom of God, nonexisting and separated from God. |