There is an important truth about the divinity of man veiled in the first and last words of the first five books of the Bible. Known as the Pentateuch and the Torah, the first five books are the bedrock and foundation of scripture, so it makes sense that a powerful statement about the divinity of man would lie in this cornerstone.
The statement which we are about to dissect is so powerful that the casual reader of the Bible will dismiss it. It is only when man has arrived at a certain level of spiritual maturity that he or she really pursues the mystery of divinity, and Jewish mysticism hints that it is only by looking into the soul of the Torah that deep truths about the divinity of man can be acknowledged. Just as the most profound truths about us lie in our soul, so do the most profound truths of scripture lie in the soul of the torah. The soul of the torah is its most hidden nature. Today we will look into the hidden nature of both ourselves and the Torah.
The first few words of the Torah are “In the beginning God…”
The last word of the Torah is “Israel.”
So the Torah begins with “In the beginning God” and ends with “Israel.” This was no accident or mere coincidence. So what does it mean?
Would you call it a stretch if I said the Torah can be summed up with “In the beginning…Israel.” Many Jewish mystics believe this is appropriate.
Esoterically, Israel is a symbol for mankind. So the Torah begins with God and ends with mankind. Ultimately, this means that the Torah itself is making the bold statement that divinity resides in man.
For me, one of the greatest mysteries of the Torah is its explanation of God. I don’t believe we can truly understand what the soul of the Torah is revealing about our own divinity without first understanding more about what or who God is. The Torah states that God is ONE. It also states that he is a plurality of masculine and feminine. And finally, since God is omnipresent, he has to literally BE the entire universe, which makes him a collective.
How can we make sense of this? How could God be one, a plurality, and a collective all at the same time?
God as ONE
God is ONE because everything in the universe is part of the universal mind of God. It is all consciousness. Consciousness is the fundamental component of existence, I AM that I AM. Consciousness is not contingent upon anything. It simply IS. Everything in the entire universe possesses consciousness. This is the underlying connection between everything and God. God is ONE because consciousness is ONE.
God is Plural
God is a plurality of negative and positive, masculine and feminine, Ying and Yang because consciousness manifests through polar opposites. Duality, or experience, would be impossible without polar opposites. This is the ability of consciousness to take on form.
God as a collective
God is one spirit or consciousness, but this one spirit is also the collective consciousness of the universe in many manifested forms. This is why the word Elohim is plural. Elohim refers to the collective consciousness of advanced beings, and it is also why God uses phrases such as “man has become as one of us, to know good and evil.” It is also interesting to note that the Hebrew word for one used to describe God’s oneness in Deuteronomy is echad. Echad means united.
By the way, isn’t it interesting that the above descriptions of God from the Torah automatically resolve the trinity vs. Oneness debateJ The next time you see an argument about whether God is ONE or a trinity, explain that a panoramic view of God can incorporate both!
Now that we have established a little more about who God is, we can understand more about why the Torah begins with God and ends with man.
In some ancient Indian philosophies it is believed that the human body is the only proper vessel for expanding consciousness at a certain but very critical juncture in the grand scale of consciousness evolution. I believe that ancient Jewish mystics taught the same thing. Does this exclude consciousness in other life-forms of the universe? Perhaps consciousness graduates from the human kingdom and then continues to evolve further in another galaxy through another vessel with a new set of rules? Whatever the case, it seems that the human vessel is of cosmic importance, and the Torah makes this clear.
I want to take a brief moment and quote Lee Bladon, an expert on theosophy.
“Consciousness develops by moving our awareness towards our soul or higher self…In order to progress, we must free ourselves from the automated patterns of our subconscious (by continually “watching” our consciousness) and identify more with our superconscious (by meditating and “living in the now”). We must also dedicate our development towards the service of humanity, and not do it for personal gain.”
I have bolded the last sentence in Mr. Bladon’s quote because it reveals the same information as the Torah. We have already pointed out that the Torah begins with God and ends with mankind. Ultimately, this means that God is in man. But this truth is veiled from man because of the predominance of his lower nature or ego, which is self-oriented instead of other-oriented. Man needs his ego to survive in the physical world, but when it is predominate in his beliefs, thoughts, emotions, and actions, it causes an unbalance in the human soul. When man learns to balance the ego through a fuller expression of his higher self or soul, it is said that a portion of Elohim is manifested on earth through man. That is one of the real reasons why the Torah begins with God and ends Israel. Mankind is one giant step in the evolution of consciousness that God manifest his potential through.
If Elohim is a collective, how will the consciousness of man ever attain this status? Ultimately, I don’t believe the soul can in a human body. It is probably through the vessels of other advanced beings that man’s soul will ultimately go on to grow in ways that we cannot even now imagine. But remember I said that the ancient Indian philosophies believe that the human body is a necessary vessel for a critical juncture point in the evolution of consciousness? Possibly it is because man begins to learn the importance of the collective mentality. And this is where Torah—and more importantly, the universal law within it—become so important.
As man’s ethical character evolves he learns to express his higher self in accordance to the Law of Love. Through this gradual process in duality he learns to become other-oriented, slowly gaining knowledge and experience into the collective consciousness of mankind. As man’s consciousness expands, so does his journey to higher and higher expressions of God.
The story of Israel in the Torah, beginning with Abraham and ending with Moses’ death and Joshua’s subsequent leadership, is about the process of birthing the Israelite. The true Israelite is the man / women who has balanced the masculine and feminine energies of duality within his or herself and also expresses those energies through balanced lifestyle.
How does one lead a balanced lifestyle?
It is through the observance of Torah that man journeys toward God and towards being other-oriented. The torah represents a moral code that helps bridle the ego or lower nature in man, directing it in such a way that balances man’s ego nature with his other-oriented higher nature. It is through the observance of Torah that man learns to express divine attributes of God here in the physical world creating a true loving community with fellowman. The Torah is only one discipline of many religious systems which facilitate this process. In other words, the observance of Torah isn’t the only way one realizes his higher nature. The mystic understands that within the soul of the Torah lies universal and cosmic laws that can be followed to advance the moral nature of man, such as the Ten Commandments.
But even the master Jesus said the entire Torah can be summarized in two commands. Love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is essentially because he understood the soul of the Torah: that the law begins with God and ends with man!
So it is the development of the moral and rational nature of man that the process of self-realization and being other-oriented unfolds. The 613 commandments contained in the Torah are very beneficial for developing man’s moral character because they force man to deny his ego. It is a disciplined life that checks the thoughts and emotions of man from being focused on himself and refines his will so that it begins to match up with God’s. The torah laws were developed over many centuries for this very purpose. Other cultures developed other disciplines which seek to accomplish the same thing, which is man’s gradual disassociation from his ego to express his higher nature.
Man still needs his ego to survive, especially in duality. But in each incarnation it should take more and more of a back seat. As we develop spiritually, we no longer desire power, money, fame, and materialism, and I believe that one day in the cosmic evolution process, the ego will become useless and the soul will discard it completely. How do we know this? Because of what God told Zechariah the prophet:
“…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit…” (Zechariah 4:6).
Power and might are things of the ego. But God’s spirit is of love, and man was meant to be an expression of the God on earth through the higher nature of the soul. This view is egoless, because the higher thoughts and emotions of man bridge the gap between the self and other.
This also doesn’t mean we won’t express free will in the higher realms. It just means our expression of free will won’t be based on the necessities physical existence.
Therefore it is important for us to meditate, live in the now, and love our fellowman. All three are the path to enlightenment.
Blessings!
Thank You
Thank You
Thank You
Yes, the Pentateuch and the Torah are no more then roadmaps for the sojourner leading us back to the God Consceousnous Soul within. Within the State of Mind we have the Thalamus known as the inner chamber of the mind, then we have the Petuitary Gland known as the seat of the mind, then there is Pineal Gland known as the Soul of the Brain, a gateway I propose. This information has been symbolically represented all around us everyday which has been ignored because we have been so diverted from it by progressive technology and left our own inner law of Nature. Look at all these so called leaders of countries and in the courts there is 2 instruments called pillars, a gate persay and the man in the center calls himself a gateway or Vicar (ateri – [in place of]), a messiah: John 1:41 – ” He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. ”
<< — Notice we have a plurality here. About a week ago, I found something called the Jubilee to the Constitution written by John Adams and towards the end of that treatis he states: " let the Declaration of Independence be your Ark of Covenant ". But thanks to old knowledge renewed we know that to be a whold lot different from what we are told. It seems to have been the agenda of the powers that be to hide and deny what has been within us all along.
motla,
Thanks for the informative comment. Also, I had not noted the plurality pointed out in John 1:41.
Blessings.
“Whereby are give unto us many exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4 I suppose this New Testament scripture can be interpreted as leading to the divinity of man (divine nature) as a result of having escaped the corruption (ego centered, materialistic life). But the traditional explanation does not go so far as to describe man as divine.
Not sure I have a clear idea of what these masculine a feminine characteristics are in each soul that need to balance each other. I can guess that justice might be masculine and mercy feminine. Knowledge of this might be helpful in development.
Robert,
You might be interested looking into the Cabbalistic concept of Chokma and Binah, two aspects of the mind. Even emotions need balance in our lives,.There are masculine and feminine traits in both the mental and emotional aspects of our being.
Josh,
What literature would you recommend as a practical, easy to comprehend, resource to understand and practice Kaballah?
@Robert:
M/F are 2 of the quintessential dualities of the human experience. First and Second Chakra’s, red/orange, yin/yang, shiva/shakti. This stuff is much more prevalent in eastern texts, as much of the western stuff has had most of the sacred feminine redacted over the years. Wheels of Life is a good starting point, imo, been reading that recently and its helped me.
Thanks Brian, I’ll look into it. Do you mean the Buddhist concept of Wheels of Life or the chakra book by Anoda Judith entitled Wheels of Life. I think Josh may be relating to the male/female duality in the Kaballah, as it is used to interpret the Torah. I would not know if that is western or eastern, but Kaballah is certainly mystical.
Yes! both are great sources.
There are tremendous parallels between the Kaballah’s tree of life and the Chakra System. (and the 12 signs of the zodiac, and the 12 Steps and the list goes on but I digress). True principles are always in agreement, the message is everywhere, and there are infinite paths. As one of my friends and spiritual confidants once told me: have these insights, keep having them, rinse, repeat!
Josh, Robert and Brian,
I believe all these ” Religions ” and their rule books is somewhat of a distraction, we get lost in the interpretations, I believe the sybological meanings is a roadmap leading back to ourselves, all of mankind as oneness. Elohim the beginning yes, but if you look in Websters 1828 Dictionary for the word ” Land ” it says the inhabitants or people who make up a nation or country, so then we have the end Isreal a nation manifested in mankind, what is that inside of us? X and Y chromosomes, the potential for both male and female. Then there is EGO expression, look at Hebrews 11:3 we give are persons a character, that is EGO. Man expresses the ego and it is the EGO that gets a name, not the man. Think of it as the Birth Certificate name that the birth state holds title to. As Josh has put it right in his article: ” process of birthing the Israelite “, it is a literal interpretation. ‘nemaste
Of course they are distractions! but what wonderful rich distractions they are! I love the journey, sometimes I get caught out over-analyzing and that is wonderful too!
I can appreciate that prospective, sometimes we just have to enjoy the ride or the Egos control us instead of we controlling it.
control for me is impossible the moment it is suggested, the more I hold on the worse it gets and lately i’ve been trying to push a boulder through the eye of a needle! deep breath! lol
thank you for the conversation 🙂
I found this article on Masculine and Feminine in the Kabbalah that I thought was one of the more clearly written explanations of Kabbalah http://www.rosicrucian.org/publications/digest/digest2_2012/06_abrams/06_abrams.pdf
Robert,
Just to extrapolate some in the prospectiveness of that document Amun was a god of invisibility, air or wind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun
It is all derived from the same ancient story tellers, just the names have changed and that is how it goes even today, you pass on a message from one to the next and the story changes some.
The druids had no form of written language, no books, it all was spoken passed down from one generation to the next, the only thing in written form was a Calendar and it is said to be the most accurate calendar in the world though. Ironically the leader of the druids was female which where possible the hyphen in that deith starts out “she” i.e. mother earth.
The echelons figured this out though, have read a few texts where it was said that in most old kingdoms it was the king who was the only one that is a common law man on the land. Allegedly that was switched here ast one point, but through ignorance and slothfulness of modern society we have forgotten this.
Here is crucial question I have about the Torah being the “path” to birthing (or developing) the spiritually divine man (Israelite) and the collective thereof (nation of spiritually divine man). The question comes from the influence of traditional Christianity on my understanding of the purpose of the Torah, which claims that the Torah is not sufficient in itself to perfect man, but establishes a standard of rules which is impossible for man to fulfill by trying to be obedient. In fact, the five books of Moses are full of the history of man’s failure to meet the criteria. Even Moses is not permitted to inhabit the promised land because of disobedience. The last prophecy at the end of the fifth book states that the nation of Israel will fall away and thus suffer the consequences stipulated earlier in the Torah of being exiled from the land. If we go by this, then the “process of Torah” is a process of high expectations followed by frustration, failure, and punishment. Man is left defeated by his lower nature, with the memory of how good things could have been if he had not fallen away. Man survives in exile, he is not destroyed as in the flood, but everything good is taken away from him …. but a covenant, an unconditional bond with the higher nature of the universe remains intact. So the Torah is an instrument that causes high expectation, failure, and then sorrow. This does not seem like a very positive process. But then again, birth itself is also a painful process. You get squeezed out of your comfort zone, find yourself hungry and with all kinds of needs, so you kick and cry until something better happens as a result of the care of a parent figure. I lost track of where I was going here, but I think my question has something to do with the Israelite after undergoing the process of Torah, being very, very far from the goal.
Robert, here is an offering;
When you were already formed and came down the birth canal and arrived into this world at that point is when one is baptized. The falling is when we get sucked into these religious paths of not being worthy and we are all still sinners.
If you can read in between the lines we were already chosen, a son was sacrificed so we could be forgiven for all already…… Telestai ! ” meaning; paid in full “. In Romans 3 shows past tense ” have sinned ” . Although Yah is within us yes we still fall short of the glory because we cannot be Yah himself. Through faith and works we shew ourselves approve, then it is the one Most High that will take us there because we cannot do it ourselves, just as shown above how he brings us through the birth canal. It is up to us to show ourselves approve, this could be why where Elohim in the beginning and Israel is the end, the flesh cannot enter the spirit world and as stated above and also previous comment from the Heavens to the Earth we do not even possess our own bodies. God is Photon. ‘ nemaste
Yes, and the Ego.
I have 4 sons and 7 grandchildren. When I see a newborn baby….The wisdom of the Universe is in their eyes. Old souls…With all this wonder and wisdom. The longer they stay on this earth, the dumber they get. LOL hahahaha Seriously, I have always said this, but it’s true. Some children can hold on to it longer…but it always leaves. Replaced by this world and the Ego.
The rest of our Journey seems to be Remembering what we once, already knew. At least, that’s what it seems like for me, so far, on this Journey.
Everything we need is already inside us. It’s just getting rid of the crap that keeps us from seeing that.
Well said, I like it !
Yes!
Thank You!
Robert,
Your question is a very good one. And what you are questioning is essentially correct. To add a little to what Motla stated, The Torah is simply preparing the way. People can awaken without any laws at all, but I am willing to bet they followed a set of principles in former lifetimes that refined their mental and emotional natures enough to allow for the awakening in this life-time. As Motla said, the Torah is not the very thing that awakens a person, and the following of the Torah (even the heart of it), is not what awakens a person. It’s a mystical experience that can only be explained by divine intervention in the final stages.
I have come to believe that knowledge can bring you to the door of the Christ because it is through knowledge that we learn what God is not. However, knowledge cannot take us through the door. That is the divine intervention.
Or as a wise man I know from another principled practice I participate in once told me: “all that stuff we tell you to do in the steps is mostly just busy work to keep you out of the way so god can do his job.”
Interesting concept. Then we may follow various paths that have stated goals, but at some point along the way, while we are busy walking the path, irregardless of whether we are successful at meeting those goals. divine intervention may awaken us to a different path, bring us through the door to a new way of perceiving reality, and the old path may be familiar, like a dream in the past, but no longer relevant. What we thought was the absolute truth in a former path, and which was important for us to believe in for our development back then, is no longer truth for us. And, in turn, what we hold as truth now, may again change. One day we are busy hiding a fallen baby tooth under our pillow at night, and the next day the tooth fairy is old news. Do truths converge to an absolute for everyone when they are developed enough?
I don’t see it exactly that way, Robert. It’s still relevant. The Truth is always the truth. The Truth hasn’t changed, just our perception of it. Seeing it through a veil with our Ego. As we become more enlightened the Veil starts to lift. The perception is now completely different (and deeper) but the truth has not changed at all.
That is the exciting part of all this.
It was not a mistake that I was in a “Full Gospel” church for years. Was there pain? Was there twisted scriptures? Yes. Did I have to unlearn a lot of things? Yes. But the time I spent there was not wasted. It was all a part of the plan. I’ve just moved on and am peeking through the Veil now. What I learned and experienced there has helped learn and grow even more.
I also see where the Truth is pretty much the same with all the religions. Something I couldn’t SEE before because of listening to my Ego. It was always there….I just couldn’t see it.
So, the truth never changes. Just our perception of it.
Laurie, I tend to agree with you. It seems that people I know who have outgrown their older type religious system for a new evolving spirituality all seem to embrace similar ideas about higher consciousness and transcending the ego, and that there is a feeling of comradery and compatibility among them, even though they may be exploring the same thing with slightly different techniques. So in that sense, there is a convergence to a truth. The old doctrines still hang on sometimes. Some people still insist that the Son of God literally died for the sins of mankind, others believe it is a symbolic story with value but not an exclusive requirement to believe.
What made the turning point for me is when I seen a movie that had been put out in 2006 called ” The Peaceful Warrior ” starring Nick Nolte, you definitely have to watch it more then once to get it. Everything is not what it seems.
The latest in this series of thought I think is called the Leap Movie , here is the trailer for it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ziaaO24aJo
Before this though I had been involved in a very deep biblical study with a few people and we just about took the whole bible apart word for word, used both greek and hebrew dictionairies, Strong’s unabridged concordance e.t.c. so this is what prepared me for the spiritual side of it, that movie mentioned above was just icing on the cake for me. The journey does not end just because you arrived at one of the destinations, in fact it never ends, when you leave a legacy behind for the next generation of others to learn from that, your spirit lives on forever.
Close. They are all the same path. Walking one doesn’t preclude you from walking another simultaneously. Just as being the father, doesn’t preclude god from also being the son or the spirit. True principles are always correct, they never disagree! I find god all around me when I’m open to letting her in.
Brian,
Glad you enjoyed it.
Perhaps mankind male and female is beginning to have the spiritual understanding that Enoch had before his translation.
There is no doubt that at least some conversion going on there for specific interests, even today in the name of Public Welfare to give a God for those who do not have one as evidenced in a couple things found not long ago:
– REPUB’LICANIZE, v.t. To convert to republican principles; as, to republicanize the rising generation.
http://1828-dictionary.com/d/word/republicanize
Also found a Treatise by John Adams called: Jubilee to the Constitution, in it he says:
” let the Declaration of Indpenendence be your Ark of Covenant ”
Seems to be an attempt to convert the God within to an external God. I have found more in terms of a duality but, when one awakens to the oneness you begin to realize what never was and never happened from the moment you arrived into this world.
Thank You Tom, your comment got me thinking about Enoch Root from Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle which is the 2nd time I thought of those books today after not having read any of them in years.
“Neil Stephenson has consistently refused to identify Enoch Root, and will not describe Root’s literary function in the books. He has said that to describe Root’s role in the books would be to ruin it, and this indicates that the very mystery of the character is an essential part of his role. Speculation among Stephenson fans has been that Root is Stephenson himself, a personification of the deus ex machina, a projected “factual” basis for the legend of the Wandering Jew (complicated by Enoch’s apparent friendship with Solomon) or the conscious injection of the Reader as a character into the book.
Other clues to Enoch Root’s identity and role in The Baroque Cycle might be found in references to the Biblical figure Enoch. The’s Bible Enoch is only a few generations removed from Adam, the son of Seth and so the grand-grandfather of Noah.The text reads—uniquely in the Generations — that Enoch “walked with God: and he was not; for God took him,” avoiding the mortal death ascribed to Adam’s other descendants. So the biblial Enoch is immortal – so is “Enoch the Root.” Although the flood story in Genesis speaks of only Noah and his family surviving the flood – rendering Noah the “root” of mankind – Enoch is immortal also Enoch can be considered as Root and may be of an identity with Noah. Three apocryphal books are attributed to the biblical Enoch; in one book Enoch was also seen as the inventor of writing, and teacher of astronomy and arithmetics, all three reflecting the interpretation of his name as meaning initiated. Similarly, “Enoch the Root” plays the role of teacher or mentor in The Baroque Cycle. “
Everyone has a little info here an there that is helpful, but perhaps the written text is double sidedness that is limiting us from our full potential ;
Reading about the Boroque Cycle , it made mention of Isaac Newton which reminded me of a study I was doing connecting some dots with concepts, source of mechanics which was math and the Schrodinger Equation, this equation came from the Measurments of stars, additionally it appears that those who could not afford bibles hundreds of years ago, told the stories through the stars, now why would they do this, could it be they understood that this was man’s divine origination ?
course; H4131 1) to totter, shake, slip c) (Hiphil) to dislodge, let fall, drop
Psalms 82:5 ” They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. ”
Was Adam said to have been created from the dust of the earth?
Check this out:
” If one indeed traces the origin of the elements out of which human bodies are made, they are star dust. ” Source: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Cosmic+dust#Stardust
It could be possible this is where the path leads us:
Continuing with Psalms 82:6 ” I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. ”
In my studies of the life force energy from star dust I had came across this and have used it myself a couple times with success, a substance called Ormus >> http://www.naturalnews.com/022705_Ormus_healing_medicinal.html
I believe the oils and salts used back in biblical times were of course more pure and most likely had high percentages of Ormus in it.
Great info Motla! I remember seeing that freeze-dried bacteria is in stardust too.
Ultimately I think you are right: ancient mystics had access to higher knowledge in altered states so there is no doubt in my mind that they knew this stuff.
Scientists analyzing light from star clouds in space have found patterns of light absorbance similar to that of carbon-based molecules found in bacteria. The star dust particles are about the same size as bacterial spores. Whether they are actually from bacteria or some other anomoly is yet to be seen, but the evidence is somewhat suggestive of life throughout the cosmos, and that life on earth may have been seeded from star dust falling on it either naturally or directed by an intelligent source.
Awesome discussion. Seeing the evidence everywhere helps me connect so much. Especially on a snowy Monday morning. Winter just doesn’t want to let go.Reminded me of this bit of evidence I read a month or 2 ago about the wisdom of the ancients:
http://www.grahamhancock.com/forum/CassaroR1.php
Good link, when I seen it mention the Roman god Cyclopes all I could think of at the moment was the Cyclons character in Battlestar Gallactica series, look at the helmets that look like roman had dress, pyramids and how the Cylons sit in arrangements of 3 in their battleships:
youtube.com/watch?v=EmoiAK60xmk
All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again 😉
I’ve been musing over many of these additional comments going off in many directions. It seems like we can find signs, wonders, reminders, cues, synchronicities, serendipitous events, and the like whenever we are open to them and find meaning in sharing them. Even our science fiction movies have clues and secrets imbedded in them that got there, sometimes without direct intention of the movie makers, but filtering through a collective subconsciousness into our art, our technology, our dreams, our speculations. The universe has a way of tickling us, telling us it knows us, what we are, what we were, and what we are going to be. I thought it was very interesting that the US Government had a secret spy program for using trained psychics to perform “remote viewing” during the cold war in the 1980s , called “Stargate”. A good part of our science fiction and now our most advanced technological venture into space involves protecting planet earth from a cataclysmic event, especially a collision with an asteroid or large meteor. It is expensive to do, but just about within our reach. The odds now are for a 30% chance of a 5 megaton collision within this century. Nothing immediate and it can be averted. The planetary shift in consciousness also seems to be coming.
Yes!
I get chills talking about it.
The truth is all around us, whenever we are open to it. True principles always agree. I have so much joy seeing the connections.
We are not who we think we are. We are infinite. All this pain is an illusion.
Brian,
Pain (suffering) a very interesting and complex subject. Certain kinds of suffering are relieved by (right) knowledge. Knowing that we are eternal and always evolving for the best can certaily take the sting out of fear of death, failure, and dissapointment. Knowledge of and communion with the ALL (or God) can stablize and heal past trama. We can develop confidence to move forward in whatever life situation we are in, not becoming overly weighed down or entangled in the mire. The fear of defeat is an illusion. Still, life presents us with some difficulties and pain in the present that can not be avoided and learning to accept them and work through them is valuable….for instance, allowing ourselves to experience grief from a loss in order to get over the loss, instead of trying to shut out the loss and having it silently fester When we must suffer, we can benefit from observing ourselves through the eyes of our higher consciousness, who we really are, and come to a better understanding of the imperfect life that our lower self is momenarily inhabiting and experiencing. Then our higher self can direct our lower self to react more effectively to the imperfect experience of the lower self. We can begin to innovate positive changes amidst a crisis or a chronic problem. So in a sense, part of our pain IS an illusion, but some of it is useful for survival and growth. I think the New Testament says in all things “we are more than conquerors” when we inhabit our Christ (higher) consciousness.
Robert, thank you for sharing that with me, I’m so grateful to be having this conversation and gaining the wisdom of your perspective. Seeing the connections and feeling our similarities, understanding how they are so much more than our differences, and the unity that it creates means everything to me.
As a child I felt betrayed by the god I never really knew because of bad things that happened to me. All that pain I experienced, was exactly what I needed to make me the man I am today, so when I say that it is all an illusion I say it as a reminder embrace it, its transitory, and as always this too shall pass.
The series of awakenings I’ve been blessed by god to be experiencing since I first started to wake up 492001 is limitless in possibilities, and the healing is wonderful. Each time we reach out and share each others perspective our spirits touch and we become more than the sum our our parts. That love we share when we embrace each other, and thereby embrace god in this holy moment is the greatest, most humbling gift I’ve ever been given, it makes everything possible.
Brian, thanks. I was having a rough day. Your response brought some light in to it.
Joshua, this really is a post that I have to read more than once in order to understand everything but as always it gives a lot of insight.
This does not really change anything about what you said but actually the first few words of the Bible (or the Torah) are not: In the beginning God … . You do not take into account that you are reading a translation. In Hebrew the first few words are: Bereshit bara Elohim, that can be translated as In the beginning created God … but there are also other possibilities that Jewish scholars explore. And they are not afraid to try out even the most outrageous possibilities like: In the beginning IT created Elohim, heaven and earth. No doctrines there. There lies a whole world of meaning in those few words.
One thing that by christian theologians is completely overlooked is that the way the characters are written have a deeper meaning. The first character for instance, the bet which is also number 2, is much bigger than the following characters. There is also sometimes a character a little smaller than the rest, or a little bit above or below the other ones and I believe sometimes even upside down. It always means something. In this case the big 2 indicates that the world of duality is being created which goes on with the opposing pairs of heaven and earth, light and darkness etc.
The verb created, bara (2-200-1), already indicates the whole evolution of creation. Duality – the many (ideas, forms, shapes, sizes, species, individuals, lives etc.) – back to the unity of oneness, but with conscious awareness.
As far as the trinity and oneness of God is concerned, I think you could see it as a triangle, three aspects or phases of a process. Rabbi David Cooper wrote a book called God is a verb. The hindu Deepak Chopra defined God, if I remember correctly, as Generation – Organisation – Dissolution (or Desintegration)/renewal. Trinity is a principle and not the monopoly of the christian God. Both the hindus and the ancient Egyptians know trinities. Mind – body – soul is a trinity too. For years I discarded the idea of a Trinity because of the interpretation of it by the church but since I discovered it as a principle I find it very interesting and useful.
Thanks for your comments, Anny. What you say about the translation is true. Since it didn’t change much, I didn’t feel the need to go into it. And you’re right. There are many scholarly articles written on those first words, but sometimes it’s easy to get lost in semantics instead of the overall theme.
I never knew that some of the Hebrew letters were written larger than others. Your explanation continues to assert how polar energies unfold creation. Thank you. So much to know and learn.
The way the church explained the Trinity always puzzled me. It makes no sense to the intellect, which is a slap in the face to people who want to think about these issues.
Hi Joshua, thank you for your reply to my comment.
To begin with I’d like to come back to the first word of the Bible which I already mentioned as meaning more than just: in the beginning. You can also translate it as: with a point God created …, or with a point created IT (which really means neither he/she/it but surpassing that) God, etc. which then made God the highest part of creation. And then I saw in your last post about the tree of life the following sentence: The top of the middle pillar, Crown or Kether, can be considered God, Source, the higher self, or the primordial point. This seems to confirm that interpretation.
The mystic Master Eckhardt distinguishes between Godhead and God. The Godhead is by definition unknowable. It is inactive. I think it is what the Kabbala calls Ein Sof. It withdraws to make room for creation, called tsimtsum, and then this point, which is God, appears from which all else comes forth. God (including all of us) is the active principle.
Every possible interpretation adds new meanings. It is complementary. It is not either this or that. It can very well be everything.
Do you see that it need not really be only semantics, this playing around with all possible interpretations, this looking at everything from all possible angles? I have been doing more or less the same in a meditative state of mind and of course all kinds of things that make no sense (or at least in the beginning) come up but sometimes something gets triggered and all of a sudden a truth emerges. Even if only a temporary one which serves as a step of the ladder.
Fascinating process … looking at all angles while in a meditative state. Will have to try it. Thanks.
Thank you for reacting to my comment. I’m very interested to know what you come up with when you do that!
Hello Joshua,
On rereading this post I have one more comment to make.
You write: If Elohim is a collective, how will the consciousness of man ever attain this status? Ultimately, I don’t believe the soul can in a human body.
I do not know if that is true.
If you think about the fact that until now over 90% of our DNA is called junk DNA by scientists, this really makes no sense at all within a creation of divine origin. But it does mean that right now we function on less than 10% of our capacity. I have read (I do not remember where) that in reality we do not have two but twelve strands of DNA and that those ten strands will be activated again, probably after the rising of the kundalini, when the awareness that is reached at that time has become permanent.
I have also read that we are changing from a carbon based body to a crystal based one right now. That also is a process. So I do think that we can reach much higher levels of awareness when still in our bodies than is possible right now.
I do agree however that the human body, even if transformed, probably will not reach the level of the Absolute Reality, as I believe that we will have laid down even form and shape again by then and have reverted to pure consciousness with a much greater awareness than before because of our experiences in the world of matter.