The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like.”
He said to them, “It is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds. But when it falls on tilled soil, it produces a great plant and becomes a shelter for the birds of the sky.”
Perhaps now the Lord might say, “It is like a quantum leap. A quantum leap is the smallest movement, not really moving at all. But when it happens under the right conditions, it produces the most radical change in consciousness and reality, so that the reality of one’s experience is not at all the same and one’s knowledge vastly increases.” Yes, perhaps he might say this or, perhaps again, he might use the analogy of the nucleus of an atom. Nevertheless, he is speaking of the smallest thing that produces the largest transformation, saying the nature of the kingdom of heaven is like that, the smallest thing, which is the most powerful thing.
Here, once again, we have an allusion to a spiritual nuclear force that bears a most radical power to transform, the very power of Keter everywhere in Creation secretly waiting to be realized and actualized. The Master alludes to this Supernal Light-force again and again in his teachings. It is the heart of the Divine presence and power we behold in him.
Now planting of a seed always holds the meaning of initiation. In this context, the Master is speaking of an initiation from which the Tree of Life grows and provides shelter for souls of righteous and angelic beings. When one receives initiation and instruction on how to bind the holy Sefirot to oneself, so that these streams of spiritual power are established in one’s aura and subtle body, one experiences directly something of the kingdom of heaven, and angelic beings will frequent the environment of the initiate. What this means is that you have the ability to manifest the kingdom of heaven at any time—you merely need to learn how to shift to a higher state of consciousness.
A shift in consciousness is, most truly, the smallest movement. Like the mustard seed it is the slightest of things, yet the affect/effect is incredible! The whole magical display of reality can completely transform in an instant. One becomes aware of the presence of God everywhere in everything, and becomes conscious of countless worlds and countless beings-forces occupying the same space at the same time in a vast matrix that is completely interconnected. Now, here, I’m not proposing to say what the experience of the kingdom of heaven is, but rather attempting to give some glimpse of what one aspect of the experience might be. And I tell you, this tiny taste or suggestion is nothing compared to the actual experience, nothing at all. It is something far more, and it is contained in the most ordinary level of reality. It is so ordinary and so close, no one notices the key to heaven’s gate!
In truth, it can be said that the first heaven is the awareness of the presence of God everywhere in this very life, an awareness of the living presence in everyone and everything, which, of course, comes from the awareness of the Divine presence in you. This level of awareness itself is what it means to enter into Malkut, the kingdom of the Tree of Life. Any moment this awareness is present, one is experiencing Malkut. It is the slightest change in levels of awareness, yet the change in one’s view of life is radical. Such awareness is a direct manifestation of faith, a level of gnosis which is the fruit of faith.
The seed of faith sown in the mind, heart, and life, purified and consecrated to the Divine Life, will naturally lead to this level of awareness, and yet higher levels of awareness. But the desire for heaven cannot compete with all manner of base and petty desires, nor come to fruit amid insecurity and fear. Such impurities, hindrances, and obstructions must be progressively rooted out, so that your faith might grow and the Holy Spirit might do her work in you. Everything that in any way hinders or obstructs the Spirit’s work must be either cut away or transformed. Hence, the soil of consciousness must be tilled to allow the seed of faith to take root and come to fruition in some degree of gnosis or higher awareness.
A great deal could be said of the experience of higher states of awareness and the inner dimensions, but these are things best discovered and learned through one’s own experience. Voyeurism in spirituality never results in attainment, thus spiritual practice and spiritual living are called for from each aspirant. The fruits of experience will accord with one’s labor in the field of one’s own consciousness, but it must be said that whenever the right conditions in consciousness are manifest, Divine Grace immediately flows and acts to impart all blessings.