Namaste Friends,
My topic here is about a specific translation of the Bible verse Matthew 6:33. The “official” modern translation is: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”. The original Latin Vulgate translation is “quaerite autem primum regnum et iustitiam eius et omnia haec adicientur vobis” which as it turns out is very hard to translate to modern English, but the translation in the Douay-Rheims Bible which is a direct translation from Latin to Old English is “Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.” When I type the Latin words into an online translator I get something like…“seek but in the first place royal power/control/kingdom and righteousness (no word for eius) and in all respects these (no word for adicientur but assume it to be added or addition) you.” Obviously there has to be some “translation” as literal does not work. But I found a site with several versions of this verse and here they are:
Latin Vulgate
6:33 quaerite autem primum regnum et iustitiam eius et omnia haec adicientur vobis
King James Version
6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
American Standard Version
6:33 But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Bible in Basic English
6:33 But let your first care be for his kingdom and his righteousness; and all these other things will be given to you in addition.
Darby’s English Translation
6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Douay Rheims
6:33 Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Noah Webster Bible
6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Weymouth New Testament
6:33 But make His Kingdom and righteousness your chief aim, and then these things shall all be given you in addition.
World English Bible
6:33 But seek first God`s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you.
Young’s Literal Translation
6:33 but seek ye first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added to you.
Nowhere is there a translation that I can find that includes the word “within” after kingdom as Yogani suggest here http://www.aypsite.org/16.html in this lesson. Perhaps someone can shed some light on where this version exists if it does, and if it doesn’t, Yogani can you please explain why you chose to modify the original text to fit your requirements? I got my ass handed to me today in debate with my father over the correct translation of this verse. Damn. 
Love,
Carson 
EDIT…Better yet here is the original Hebrew and it’s literal translation to English…
æçôåéôå äå ðñùôïí ôçí âáóéëåéáí ôïõ èåïõ êáé ôçí äéêáéïóõíçí áõôïõ êáé ôáõôá ðáíôá ðñïóôåèçóåôáé õìéí
seek but firstly the reign of the kingdom of God and the righteousness and these things all (will be) additioned to you.
No within.
Edit…Sorry, the Hebrew I cut and paste did not show up as Hebrew…Here is the link to the site I got that info from…
http://scripturetext.com/matthew/6-33.htm
Hi Carson
Just found the quote below here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_God
I’ll look further…since these are interpretations.
And further:
http://www.qhpress.org/quakerpages/qhoa/stuke02.htm
Thanks Katrine, but those are all personal interperetations of translations. Won’t help me argue this with my Dad. Please see my EDIT’s in the original post as translation is what I am arguing with my Dad not interpretation.
Love,
Carson
And here:
http://jtoddring.blogspot.com/2008/03/kingdom-of-heaven-is-within-you.html
[quote]The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You
The Missing Scriptures: The Gospel of Thomas
It was from a reference by Joseph Campbell, whom I greatly admire, that I first heard of The Gospel of Thomas. Joseph Campbell’s quotation from the lost scripture made me rush out to order the book immediately.
I guess I was fortunate, because it turned out to be Marvin Meyer’s translation. It is wonderful.
I can’t put words to what this gospel says to me. It rings true in accordance with the writings of sages the world over, East and West, as well as with the generally ignored passage in the New Testament: “The kingdom of heaven is within you.”
It is not surprising that Emperor Constantine chose to crucify the Gospel of Thomas - worse, attempted to erase its memory by burning all copies he could find, and killing anyone who spoke of it - along with other scriptures he disliked: it leaves no need for a gatekeeper to heaven - neither emperor, as self-appointed ruler under God, nor church hierarchy - but only a direct communion with truth, through the wisdom of His words. Power seekers do not like to be left out of the loop.
The Gospel of Thomas is a revelation. Were it not for Emperor Constantine’s self-anointed appropriation of the position of God’s editor in the 4th century CE, we would have a very different, and expanded Bible. The Gospel of Thomas would certainly be one part of that more complete cannon. Only the most rigorously dogmatic can fail to recognize its authenticity.
[/quote]
Did you know of the gospel of Thomas, Carson? I didn’t…
Or this “ignored” paragraph in the New testament…can you find it?
Here are copies of pieces of the emails between me and my father……Hopefully some of you may have some advice for me….
…Inner silence is the key to it all. Pure unshakable inner silence. No attachment to anything, no negative outcome can shake me emotionally. I may feel an angry thought come up in my mind, but now I can watch it with grace float on by unheeded. Nothing is worth letting go of this peace for. Nothing. As Jesus said “Seek first the kingdom of heaven within, and all will be added to you.”
The kingdom of heaven within is accessed via meditation, devotional service, and prayer/samyama. They may have different words in different religions but it all means the same thing. I hope one day you will come to realize this as the Truth as I have. I love you Dad.
Love,
Carson
I took some time to ponder your email. I had hoped you were beginning to see the Truth rather than fabricate your own version of truth. It has always annoyed me when people have twisted scripture to rationalize what they believe. Scripture has never endorsed your position. The correct version is as follows: Matthew 6: 32-34 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
“Within” is not what God intended for us to search first.
You can do this in your own power and I believe you can have limited success, but you will never know what it could really be under Gods plan.
Love Dad.
I have not been able to find evidence of the word “within” anywhere within the original translations or the original text…
Hi Katrine.
I know of the Gospel of Thomas, but unfortunately for me it is not included in the current Bible so my father will not accept the book as the inspired word of God.
Love,
Carson
Luke 17:21 - Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
I’ll try that
Love,
Carson
Carson,
Don’t let anyone diminish your own experience.
Don’t let anyone stop you from enjoying your inner preciousness.
It is very painful when the ones we love and respect rejects something that is preciously true in our own experience. And especially when it is fragile as it is until it manifests in greater and greater present love that noone can deterr you from. You do not need to believe in the rain when you are standing in it feeling it…this is how you will know (as you already do to an extent)
To conclude that you will never know God and at the same time being annoyed at peoples ignorance are your fathers interpretations of what takes place here. To each his own. It is not worth the fight, see? Let him see for himself where you are. Now and in the time to come. Let that be the judge of it, yes?
Although I am not your dad…I am very proud of you, Carson. You are amazing. Give your father the time he needs to trust that you have found a way to enjoy and expand in life.
We are all here to find out for ourselves, right?
What more can I say…other than encourage you to listen inwards.
Stay in heart.
Truth and love resides here.
Thanks Katrine,
I’m just sad for my Dad. I’m sad that he can’t appreciate what I am becoming. Especially since what I am achieving is something he holds most dear, union with God. I’m just not acheiving it the only way he thinks it is possible. I am not upset, I am not angry, and I am not frustrated…I am just sad that I don’t have him at my side cheering me on, and in fact have him doing the opposite. He, and most of the Christian faith in my opinion are so misguided, and Christ was so misrepresented it just saddens me. I will get over it though. Turn my sadness towards God and let him use it for good right?
Love,
Carson
Hi Carson:
It is a debate that has been going on among Christians for a long time. There are many quotes that can be dug up to support either argument. Just Google “kingdom of heaven within.” I’d prefer to avoid the academic debate (the mincing of words), because direct experience is what matters to me.
In other words, the best way to find out where the kingdom of heaven is is to go there. Then we know where it is. Of course, that too can be debated endlessly. It is a question of what one prefers, heaven here and now, or heaven far removed and much later. I will take it here and now, thank you very much. That is putting an experience before the idea of an experience, which is more fulfilling. 
Did Jesus actually say it? Since the scriptures were written years after his death, it is hard to say. And not all those writings ended up in the New Testament. Did you check the original Greek? The Roman Church (and all churches since) have edited to suit their purposes. Regardless, what we know about the life of Jesus exemplifies the kingdom of heaven being within him, and within all of us, not to mention what is found in all of the world’s religions. There is only one truth about human spiritual potentiality. We are confirming that in modern times.
Someone who does not think the kingdom of heaven is within will gain the same benefits from deep meditation as anyone else. We don’t have to call it the kingdom of heaven within, and it will be what it is anyway – how about “inner silence?” If the kingdom of heaven turns out to be somewhere else, we will be much better able to find it with deep meditation and the infinite expansion of abiding inner silence.
Btw, how does your father read the saying from the Psalm: “Be still and know that I am God.”?
Never mind! 
The guru is in you.
Hi Carson
Yes…I understand
The way I see it…the sadness already is God expressing.
Yes…accept it so it can release itself…so there is space for whatever comes next
Hi Yogani,
Yes I understand that this is a bit of an unwinnable arguement from either side, but that is not how my father sees it. There is only 1 Truth in his perspective, and that Truth has no space for yoga. I sent him an entire email filled with verses such as the Psalm you quoted, but have yet to hear back, and I probably won’t. He (and my entire family, mother, siblings, grandparents everyone) are all of the opinion that Fundamentalist Evangelical Christianity is the only true religion and that it must be preached, ministered, and declared from every rooftop as the only salvation for humanity. I can state volumes of evidence for translation differences, scholarly reports, Wiki this and that, but none of it will shake their faith. That all part of the Fundamentalist Evangelical Christian movement…Blind faith. No questioning allowed. That’s why I left the church. That isn’t right. Question everything…twice. These are people that modern science does not phase…people that will outright argue that the world is 6,000 years old at THE MOST! How can you reason with people like this…I know…You can’t. But this is my FAMILY and I have to try. I just have to try to not let it get to me. But I really think you should change that quote in the lessons as there is no founding for the use of the word “within”. Even in the original Greek. (Which was translated from Hebrew which I posted in the original posting) Use Luke 17:21 (KJV or NIV). Many of the other translations use “among us” instead of within and there is good cause for debate there as well, but at least the KJV and the NIV use the word “within”
Love,
Carson
Hi Carson:
The best argument you can make is to go on living your life the best you can, walking ahead in your own truth.
It is a bit late to change that quote, since it is in the AYP books also. Well, I am in good company. Many Christians have heard the words (seen the life) of Jesus that way. That is what I heard as a small lad in Sunday school, even if it was never said (it may have been). Some can see that word, “within,” and some can’t. It will be on the test at the end of the class.
The guru is in you.
PS: Ironically, the most “fundamental” thing about Christianity is that elusive word and idea, “within.” It conveys the essence of all spirituality.
If I were to write a one word scripture, it would say: “Within.”
Hi Yogani,
I know what you say is true. But they know what they say as true also. I know from personal experience that what you and I are saying is true, but that doesn’t really help me win any arguements. I know all I can do is go on living as an example of what I am saying, and I am ( I have a job interview on Thursday morning for an Addictions Counsellor position at the Drop In and Rehab Centre, and that was actually the reason I started writing my Dad) but my family sees this as me trying to “do it all on my own” since I don’t swear to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of my sorry ass. I have a desire to have my family appreciate the Truth I can see and have experienced, but they refuse to see it as such. I know you don’t think that the arguement is winnable, but from a dialectic point of view there is NO arguement that is unwinnable. If we keep arguing rational arguements against the other’s point of view an answer of comprimise MUST be at the end, right?
Love,
Carson
Time is so short though…it is a precious opportunity…life is
Are you sure you are willing to settle for compromises?
Sorry for opening my big mouth, Carson
I do understand how tempting it is…to try and convince them.
But better just be what you are. Truth will touch them through you.
Who knows what will happen to them because of your awakening. You never know the wonders of it.
Hi Carson:
Why compromise later when you can compromise now? You can live your life as you choose, and the rest of your family can live their lives as they choose. There is nothing wrong with a little tolerance. Who knows? If you become more tolerant of them, it might even rub off on those in the family who are prone to judge you. Which is not to say you are responsible for the choices they make in their lives, about you or anything else. You are only responsible for your own choices.
Life really can be that simple and free.
The guru is in you.
Some choose to believe that there is an omnipotent entity that allows those who do not satisfy it to be subjected to unending torture, and they choose to believe that the only way to satisfy that omnipotent entity is to convince it that they are terrified of its wrath. Peace be with them.