But the Greek word in the New Testament which is translated as 'repentance' is Metanoia, which actually means to change one's mind, to think differently, to think in a new way. The Bible repeatedly teaches that the Mind must take the first step, that all spiritual attainment has to begin with thinking in a new and different way. Unless the Mind changes, unless our attitudes and understandings change, nothing in the world will ever change, for we will remain forever exactly as we are. Metanoia is the beginning of awakening, the beginning of spiritual maturity.



It is easy to suppose that when bad things happen to people it must be the result of divine punishment for their evil behavior. In other words, "it's their own fault". Such people, we are sometimes prone to say, ought to repent, feel sorry for this evil behavior, and beg God's forgiveness. But actually, this is not what Metanoia is about, and this misinterpretation has been a leading cause of much of the savagery, cruelty, and violence, which has persisted throughout western history and still continues to this day -- God is always on our side, those people are evil, and they have to be punished until they are sorry. This peculiar way of thinking continues to serve as the basis of much contemporary so-called morality.

But Jesus denied all of this quite explicitly. At one point, he is talking with his disciples who bring up the recent story of some Galileans whom Pilate had viciously murdered. Jesus asks them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? No, I tell you." He then reminds them of a recent disaster in which a tower had collapsed and killed a number of bystanders. "Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them - do you think they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?" On the contrary, he says, none of this happened to these people because they were evil. They did not 'deserve' it. These things 'just happened' to them.

Then Jesus concluded by telling the disciples, "unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."

What are we to make of this strange warning? It certainly cannot mean that all the disciples will necessarily be murdered by Pontius Pilate or crushed by a falling tower! Nor can it mean that they will all necessarily be punished with a painful death if they do not feel an appropriate amount of guilt for all the bad things they have done: as we all know, plenty of sinful people die peacefully in their sleep without ever seeking forgiveness.

What this means is, 'unless you change the way you think, and awaken, you will die in a state of unconscious, meaningless, sleep, exactly as they did.' This is the issue that Jesus wants his followers to concern themselves with. Meaningful religion is not about social morality - and especially not a mean-spirited vindictive morality. Nor is it about a sanctimonious or sentimental need to be 'good'. Real morality, as Socrates taught, is a morality of aspiration: an act is ethical if it helps to perfect one's soul, even though it may be completely contrary to the priggish demands of society. This does not negate the need to be 'stewards of the earth' or 'our brother's keeper', both of which provide important experience for the soul's growth. But the kind of religion that Jesus was teaching his disciples is all about the perfection and inner evolution of the human soul, and this begins with awakening, it begins with thinking in a new way, it begins with Metanoia.

When we are asleep, the Body sweeps all our attention outward to the material world because the Mind is passive. As a result, everything 'just happens' to us. We are not even truly present. As such, of course, we are not really responsible for what happens in our lives since it all 'just happens' - we do not do it. So no one can really act evilly, since no one is really acting! It all just happens.

But we are ultimately responsible, in fact we are completely responsible, for insisting on remaining asleep.