Back to the Garden

rev. tomas de león
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Spirituality

Back to the garden is a podcast dedicated to the inquiry of philosophical/theological questions and topics that have challenged mankind since the time man reached self awareness. The aim is to aid those in search for a better understanding of man's role and purpose in the universe. My starting point I share with Socrates: I am the wisest man in the world, for I know that I know nothing. Welcome! tomas (tommy) deleon

  1. 11/23/2025

    The Gospel of John (Part 5)

    This is the 5th, and last part of a series on the Gospel of John. We have learned many things. For starters, just as with the others, we don’t know who wrote this book. We also learned that it was the last to be written, some forty years after the first, and seventy years after the death of Jesus. From the perspective of orally handed down stories, that is a very long time for stories to be circulating. It is not hard to imagine they changed along the way before they were finally written down. To further muddy the waters, we don’t have any of the original documents. What we have are copies from a couple of hundred years later. As such some have raised the question of whether these were really the words of Jesus, or of an author trying to make his point of view known? We have no way of knowing with absolute certainty, but there are clues that Biblical Scholars can pick up for insight into this question. Many have made this effort. One such group of scholars, The Jesus Seminar, actually concluded that essentially the entire Gospel of John are not the words of Jesus. In Unity we turn our attention to the words or ideas from this book that would come from a mystic, and when we do, we do find them in this spiritual book.

    20 min

  2. 11/22/2025

    The Gospel of John (Part 4)

    This is the 4th part of a series on the Gospel of John. Episode one began with an overview of all the Gospels. My intention was to show both what they share, and how they differ. Among what they share is that we don’t know who wrote them. They are not eye-witness accounts. They were written generations later, in a different language. They differ, in that each portrays a different Jesus. In Mark, (the first Gospel written), Jesus is a simple itinerant preacher. In Matthew he is the Jewish Messiah, In Luke, the prophet and teacher, and in John (the last to be written) Jesus is the Cosmic Christ. In weeks two and three, we began to examine the Gospel of John from the perspective of the cosmic consciousness revealing itself through this book. From this point of view, what Unity calls a metaphysical interpretation, every character, every event, every word takes on significant meaning as some aspect of our Being, or of a transcendent idea. Some examples we covered were: “The word”, as the infinite potentialities of Being. The lamb of God, as the consciousness that removes error thought from the mind of the individual who has reached that level of realization. John the Baptist as the illumined natural man. Meaning that stage in us when we reach intellectual knowledge of a higher reality, thus begin the journey to the unfolding of the Cosmic Consciousness within. Finally, we addressed Jesus as the voice of the universal consciousness, speaking not as the Redeemer of Sin, but as the Revealer of Truth. Thus, when we hear Jesus make the I AM statements, or say to Nicodemus that he must be born again, he is not making human references, he is speaking as the divine essence within each of us.

    20 min

  3. 11/21/2025

    The Gospel of John (Part 3)

    Two episodes ago I started a new series on the Gospel of John. In episode one I spend some time doing “set-up work” about, not only Gospel of John, but all the Gospels. My intention was to help you understand the history of these gospels—to put them in perspective. Epiode two we dove into some of the abundant spiritual meaning in the book. Three of the major topics covered were (1) the metaphysical meaning of the person John the Baptist as the forerunner to the coming of the Christ consciousness. From Charles Fillmore we get that John the Baptist represents the “illuminated natural man”. This means that in the ever-evolving process, John the Baptist represents the stage in us when we awaken intellectually to the idea of a greater reality. The mind eventually realizes that “baptizing with water” (knowledge of the physical world), is but a voice crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord (the coming of our greater consciousness—Spirit awareness). The prologue to the Gospel reads “and the light shineth in the darkness and darkness apprehended it not”. That is to mean that we are spirit beings, yet unaware of it. We also covered the idea that, (2) spiritually speaking, “in the beginning” is the ever present here and now. So that at any moment we want to change our mind, change our world, that becomes our new beginning. Finally we talked about (3) “the word”. How both John and Genesis 1 make clear that in the beginning there was “the word” and nothing else. I posed the question: what IS this word? Charles Fillmore writes: “The Greek word (logos) cannot be adequately translated into English. In the original it denotes wisdom, judgement, power, and in fact, all inherent potentialities of Being.” Thus, in the beginning (now) there is ever all the inherent potentialities of Being before us awaiting the unfolding of our consciousness into that awareness.

    19 min

  4. 11/21/2025

    The Gospel of John (Part 2)

    Last episode, I started a new series. A series on the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John is distinctive, and unlike the other three, which are more narrative driven. As noted in the last episode, we don ‘t know who wrote any of the Gospels. However, the Gospel of John is so radically different, that some suggest it could have been the product of an entirely different school of thought. A perspective that saw the more mystical side of Jesus. That would not be a stretch, because the Gnostic texts discovered in 1945 certainly show that this was one of the many diverse views about Jesus that existed during that time. This is no different than the distinction between how tradition sees Jesus, and how Unity sees Jesus today. From this comparison, the Unity mindset would have written John, and the traditional mindset the Synoptics. Granted some of this is conjecture because we know so little about the topic from a historical, unbiased, point of view. As such, that leaves us with the liberty to take a metaphysical interpretation of the Gospel of John because that is what we do in Unity.

    23 min

  5. 11/20/2025

    The Gospel of John (Part 1)

    The Gospel of John is a very intriguing book. It is radically different from the other three, referred to as the Synoptic Gospels. The meaning of the word synoptic can be broken down to “syn” (together) and “optic” (seen). Literally “seen together”. In other words, you can place them side by side and see the similarity in format, style, and content. Such is not the case with the Gospel of John. From the onset, in John, Jesus is seen as the “Cosmic Christ”--one with God before time began. It is much more reflective and theological than the narrative-driven Synoptic Gospels. It also includes the “I AM” statements that are frequently quoted in traditional churches. These are not found in the other three gospels. Why? We will see. From the Unity angle of metaphysical interpretation, the Gospel of John is seen as more spiritual. It is the only Gospel Unity Co-Founder Charles Fillmore wrote a book about.

    23 min

  6. 09/29/2024

    The Parable of the Talents

    Back to the Garden

    18 min

  7. 08/30/2023

    What's Mine To Do?

    How many times have you heard someone bring up the question: what is my purpose? Have you ever thought about that question? Do we have a purpose? I have heard many people say that God has a purpose for us. A plan for each and every one of us. Is that true? If it is, what are the theological ramifications? If it is not, does that mean life has no purpose? Most people don't think about these things. I do. Most people are content to simply say “God” has a plan for me, and leave it at that. Join us this week as we examine the questions: What is mine to do? What is my purpose?

    23 min

  8. 08/30/2023

    Unity Principles #5: Walking the Walk

    In today's episode, we finish our review of Unity's Five Principles with a look at Principle #5 and a general overview of the Principles. When the Unity Movement began in the late 1800s, Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore never wrote anything down for the first twenty years. His reasoning was: the person I am today, is not the person I will be tomorrow. He knew that to hold a steadfast set of beliefs was, and is, a limitation contrary to life’s unlimited nature. Eventually, he was persuaded to compile some kind of “theology” for the sake of passing on this new understanding of the relationship between God and Mankind. Many years later Charles' great-granddaughter, Connie Fillmore Bazzy, was asked if she could summarize Unity teachings for a Daily Word article back when she was the president of Unity school in Kansas City. She came up with five principles that have since become the cornerstone of our teachings. These Five Principles are: 1. God is absolute good, everywhere present. 2. Human beings are created in that image of God and our very essence is divine; therefore, we are inherently good. 3. We create our life experiences through our thoughts and beliefs. 4. Through affirmative prayer and meditation, we connect with God and bring out the good in our lives. 5. I do and give my best by living the Truth I know. I make a difference. In this episode, I will focus on Principle #5 which essentially is “walking the walk”. That is to say, putting the knowledge we have of the principles to work in our lives. Join us this week as we conclude our review of Unity’s Five Principles.

    23 min
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About

Back to the garden is a podcast dedicated to the inquiry of philosophical/theological questions and topics that have challenged mankind since the time man reached self awareness. The aim is to aid those in search for a better understanding of man's role and purpose in the universe. My starting point I share with Socrates: I am the wisest man in the world, for I know that I know nothing. Welcome! tomas (tommy) deleon

Information

  • Creator
    rev. tomas de león
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2025
  • Episodes
    54
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © rev. tomas de león
  • Show Website
    Back to the Garden