(Matt 7:13-14 NKJ)
The Consecrated Life is the Path that leads to Wholeness -- and this Wholeness can only be brought about when the teachings of Yeshua/Jesus and TheWay becomes a mindset and lifestyle that develops the person and brings them to Completion. In the parable of the prodigal son, the experiences in what is portrayed as the Far Country develops the son -- enables him to prevail and to rule over himself -- and it is this state of Completion within himself that permits him to return to the Edenic Kingdom of the Father. Each and every person is presently evolving to this state of Completion and Wholeness in the Omega of Perfection, that will permit them to return to their True Source of Being.
"Let us purify ourselves from everything that
contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God"
(2 Cor 7:1)
(Gen 1:29-31 NKJ).
"Do you not know that you are the temple of God
and that the
Spirit of God dwells in you?"
(1 Cor 3:16 NKJ)
The Scriptures Are An Allegorical
Portrayal Of The Temple We Must Build In Our Body
Moses Was Told
"See to it that you make everything
according to the
pattern shown you on the mountain."
(Heb 8:5 NIV)
"For you are the temple of the living
God. As God has said:
'I will dwell in them and walk among them.
I will be their God, and they
shall be My people.'
Therefore 'Come out from among them and be separate,
says the Lord. Do not touch
what is unclean, and I will receive you.'
I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,
says the Lord
Almighty"
(2 Cor 6:16-18 NKJ)
And he said to me,
"For two thousand
three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."
(Dan 8:14 NKJ)
To Understand The Scriptures, The Higher Reality Of The
Soul,
And The Mysteries Of The Kingdom, You Must First Cleanse Your Sanctuary,
And Build Your Body Into The
Consecrated Living Temple:
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and
wine,
and he asked the chief official for permission
not to defile himself this way.
Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, but the
official told Daniel,
"I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink.
Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age?
The king would then have my head because of
you."
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,
"Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat
and water to drink.
Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food,
and treat your servants in accordance with what
you see."
So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days
they looked healthier and better nourished than
any of the young men who ate the royal food.
So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink
and gave them vegetables instead. To these four young men
God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning.
And Daniel could
understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
(Dan 1:8-17 NIV)
Before You Can Begin To Form The Living Temple In
Your Body-Vessel
You Must First Cleanse It With Your Diet.
If You Want To Understand The Visions And Wisdom Of David,
And Possess The Higher Knowledge Of TheWay
Then You Must Begin With The Cleansing Of Your Own Mind And Body
Do Not Kill: Man has been commanded not to kill -- and if he is to once again return and dwell in the Paradise of the Edenic Kingdom, to do no harm. And what few people today realize is the fact that the Disciples of Yeshua (Jesus) who were of the Nazirene Vow of Consecration -- a Holy people who were set aside and touched not the dead -- not only condemned animal sacrifice, but were all vegetarians. It is written of Jacob who people call James, the brother of Yeshua who is known today as Jesus -- and Jacob being the first leader of the Jerusalem New Covenant Community, Eusebius Pamphilius stated regarding Jacob/James: “This apostle was consecrated from his mother’s womb. He drank neither wine nor fermented liquors, and abstained from animal food. A razor never came upon his head” [Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History, p. 76]. St. Augustine wrote: “St. James never ate animal food, living on seeds and vegetables, never tasting flesh or wine” [Ecclesiastical History, 2 Vols. Translated by H.J. Lawlor and J.E.L. Oulton]. Of the disciple Matthew it is recorded: "Accordingly, the apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, and vegetables, without flesh" (Clement of Alexandria; The Instructor). And in the writings of his disciple Clement, Peter is quoted as stating that "He drank no wine or strong drink, nor did he eat meat." Epiphanius wrote that the Ebionites claimed that the disciple Peter "...abstained from that which had life in it and from meats, even as they do; and from all other food prepared from flesh" (Panarion 30.15.3 Bk I, Sec. II). Thomas is spoken of as eating only bread and water (The Acts of Thomas). While modern Christians don't understand why, there are very important spiritual reasons why the Brother and Disciples of Jesus were all vegetarians.
The Bible: The oldest known complete copy of our Gospels is called the Evangelion Da - Mepharresh and in it we find Yeshua saying at Luke 21:34: "See that you do not make your minds heavy, to do this, never eat meat or drink wine." Was this rejection of eating meat an anomaly? There is overwhelming proof that important spiritual teachings such as this were removed from the Bible (see Bible Corruption). Why was the Bible corrupted and important teachings removed? As stated in the above article, the Gentile converts were too heathen in both their thinking and lifestyle, and the scriptures had to be corrupted in order to be of use to them.
The Original Followers: The original Disciples and followers of Yeshua were called Ebionites (see Ebionites) -- and they were of the Nazirene Vow of Separation and Consecration (see Nazirene Vow). In order for the later very pagan fourth century Church of Constantine to change and corrupt the original teachings, the original Disciples and followers had to be condemned as heretics. Amongst the allegations against them by the Gentile Church was seen in the fact that they were called heretics, because it was said that they were Torah Observant. Yet, they rejected all animal sacrifice, were strict vegetarians, and they rejected the literal interpretation of the Law of Moses which the Sadducees and Pharisees observed in outward rituals and traditions. Quoting Epiphanius: The Ebionites "do not accept Moses' Pentateuch in its entirety; certain sayings they reject... stating Christ has revealed this to me, and will blespheme most of the legislation" (Panarion 30.18.7-9). If is was true that the Ebionites "...blesphemed most of the legislation" because they rejected the outward ritual practices of the mainstream Jews, then their concept of being Torah Observant was very different than what people today understand. Epiphanius then quotes the Gospel of the Ebionites/Hebrews where Yeshua/Jesus states: "I have come to destroy the sacrifices" (Panarion 30.16.5). They were Observant of the Law -- but this was the Royal Law that is Spiritual.
CLICK
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Why Were The Disciples All Vegetarians? |
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Those Who Eat Flesh Cannot Know The Mysteries of The Kingdom Of God | |
Higher
Consciousness - The Negative Effects Of Eating Dead Flesh |
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Theosophy - Cleansing The Body | |
Cleansing The Temple - Ellen G. White And The
Seventh Day Adventists |
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The Final Temple - AskMoses.com
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Animal Sacrifice - What Is The Religious Requirement? | |
The Nazirene Vow | |
Eyes To See - What Each Person Sees In The Scriptures Is in Accord With Their Own Spiritual Condition | |
The Mystery Of The Gospel - Esoteric Knowledge - Gnosis Is The Divine Manna Of The Kingdom | |
All Genuine Religions Are Spiritual And Gnostic | |
The End Times - Spiritual Coming Of The
Kingdom Within |
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Is It God Speaking, Or Demons That You Hear -
The Plight Of The Defiled And Unclean |
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The Princes And Powers Of The Left And Right Hands Of God | |
The Authority Of The Left Hand |
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In Quoting The Law With Respect To The Left And Right Hand Powers of God |
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The Laws That Perfect Mankind - Cause And Effect | |
The Early Church On Predestination | |
The Prison - Why Knowledge Of The Laws Is Imperative - Why Jesus Taught Most People Dwell In A Spiritual Prison | |
The Call To The Wedding Feast | |
The Effects Of The Laws - The Chickens Come Home To Roost - The Laws That Imprison | |
The Secondary Effect Of The Laws - The Ignorance That Imprisons The Unsuspecting Multitude of People | |
The Outer Darkness Of Mind And Being - The Call | |
The True Prophet/Logos/Son Of God As The One
Teacher
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The Virgin
Birth -- All Must Be Born From The Virgin To Enter The Kingdom Of God |
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Born Again - The True Spiritual Objective Of Both The Law and the Gospels | |
The Essence Of Gnosticism -
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The Higher Reality Of The Soul - Our True Self |
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The Command To Know Thyself |
The Kingdom Within: While the
teachings of what Paul called the entry-level simple faith were focused on
belief, the more advanced purpose of the teachings of TheWay was the process of
the transformation of the body-vessel of the flesh, in order to make it an
acceptable Holy and Consecrated Temple for the Kingdom to come within (see
Gate Of Eden). When asked, Jesus said
that the Kingdom will never come upon the earth in the manner that carnal men
predict -- because it is within us (Luke 17:20-21). It is from
this perspective that the requirement in the Book of the Revelation is set
before us in the words: "Nothing impure
will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful"
(Rev 21:27 NIV). This same truth was expressed by Isaiah where it is written:
"And a highway will be there; it will
be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be
for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it"
(Isa 35:8 NIV). And this same truth is expressed in the
words of Jesus when he warned:
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the
gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few
find it" (Matt 7:13-14 NIV). The
"narrow gate"
that Jesus speaks that we must open in order for us to be
born into the Kingdom, has its parallels in the birth canal that serves as the
gate that each of us has emerged through when we physically entered into this
present world. That the next stage of birth has its similarities, is merely the
result that all realities are designed in accordance with the same Divine
Pattern of Creation.
The Mature Are Taught Directly By God:
Christians fail to comprehend both the inner meaning of the Gospels, as well as
the Kingdom within us, because they selectively read only certain verses in the
scriptures, and ignore what is inconvenient and/or, they do not understand.
The works that Paul condemned, were the ritual observance of the Law. In the
same way that Yeshua said that the righteousness of his followers must greatly
exceed that of the Pharisees -- "For I say unto you,
That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven"
(Matt 5:20 KJV). The key is in the fact that an entry level system had to be
instituted, for the purpose of converting the Gentiles and the people's of the
world. In much the same way that a
first grade elementary school student studying the fundamentals of basic math
cannot even begin to comprehend advanced calculus, geometry and physics, neither
were the Gentiles who were immersed in pagan worship, even prepared to
understand the spiritual concepts and higher realities presented in the
(allegorical) Gospels and New Testament scriptures -- most of which were later
corrupted and/or suppressed or destroyed by the Church of Rome (see
www.BibleCorruption.com ).
In Romans 11:24, Paul speaks of the Gentiles
as branches of a "wild olive" that was in
the process of being “grafted into a cultivated olive
tree” (NIV). It is important that we take note that in his words,
there is no suggestion that there was a flaw in the cultivated olive tree --
which he defines as Israel. Only that God wanted to bring this spiritual
cultivation to the Gentiles in order that they would be given the opportunity to
turn from their Pagan and Heathen ways, and enter into the Kingdom. In not
being a part of the cultivated spiritual foundation of Spiritual Israel, they
had to be a people of faith -- faith that God would look kindly upon them, and
graft them into the cultivated olive tree of Israel.
From a biblical perspective, the Apostle declares that the Gentile believers should view the Jews almost as heroes who were sacrificed for the sole benefit of the non-Jewish converts. The Apostle clearly states that the very Hand of God gave the Jews over to a reprobate mind for the benefit of the Gentiles. Moreover, from a biblical perspective, the modern Christian should have good reason to believe the Apostle's words, and literally “Do not be arrogant, but be afraid” (Rom 11:20 NIV). Why? Why would the Apostle warn the Christian they should be afraid? If all that was necessary was to call upon the name of the Lord, and salvation was thereafter guaranteed, then there would have been absolutely no reason for Paul to warn the Christians to be afraid -- lest, they will not be spared. Yet, because the modern Church has been shackled by the spiritual folly of Martin Luther which has attempted to render the Law null and void -- without any understanding of the inner spiritual meaning (see An Inconvenient Truth) -- this is an important question for the modern believer to understand the reality that Paul is presenting. If the believers were saved by faith apart form their actions and lifestyle, then Paul never would have warned them to "be afraid”! And why should those who call themselves Christian be afraid? They should be afraid because of the violation of the covenant with God when the Gentile converts ignored the warning of the Apostle: “For if God did not spare the natural Jewish branches, he will not spare you either… Otherwise, you also will be cut off” (Rom 11:21-22 NIV). And thus, because the Gentile Church totally ignored this warning, they have by their own actions consigned themselves to the abyss of a Spiritual Diaspora -- i.e., cut off from the knowledge and reality of the Kingdom. And it is these words that are applicable to the majority of the Christian world today: "...Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matt 7:21-23 NKJ).
In the same way that the Jews believed they were the chosen people, merely by being Jews -- and became offended when Jesus told them the truth -- the Christians profess they are saved, merely by believing the dogma of the institutionalized Church and calling themselves Christians -- and like the carnal Jews, they become offended when they are told the truth. It is a fact that every one of the popular doctrines which the modern Church embraces, has been openly rejected and condemned in the New Testament (see The Ten Minute Test). Unlike the Jews in the time of Jesus, though, the Christians believe that they are above the Laws of God -- and in the rejection of the most fundamental of biblical principles, they continually embrace the lawless idea that they do not even need to be concerned about the warnings of both Jesus and the Apostles. In fact, in the manner in which Christians have conducted themselves since the Jews were sacrificed, and the Gospel was preached to them, Christians have ignored the most crucial warnings of the Apostle Paul as being ignorant, and have expected Jesus to repent from the spiritual concepts that he taught that are revealed in the Gospel accounts.
In the outreach to the Gentiles, concessions for their heathen ways were made. Thus it is written that after conferring with the Holy Spirit, Jacob/James stated: "So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.' Known to God from eternity are all His works. Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood" (Acts 15:17-20 NKJ). Thus, in order to ease the transition of "...the Gentiles who are turning to God", different requirements were set up for the entry-level believers of the simple faith. And in the same way that we have primary schools for children who are yet too immature, so too were the teachings of the simple faith promoted among the Gentiles who were yet too carnal to understand the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of God (see Why God Speaks In Enigmas). And thus, Paul states: "However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature" (1 Cor 2:6 NKJ) -- and those who were mature in the teachings of TheWay, have prepared themselves to undergo the necessary spiritual transformation that enables them to be Taught directly by God -- i.e., "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me" (John 6:45 NKJ). But in order for this transformation to be brought about in the life of the mature Disciple, the lower nature mush undergo the process of Alchemical Transmutation -- and this is why Paul states: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV). To the degree that Paul warned: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13 KJV).
More Spiritual
Scriptures Were Never Given To The Gentile Converts: Even in the first to
second century, the Gentiles had corrupted the scriptures that had been given to
them (see Bible Corruption). And
thus, because of this corruption of the written word, and the inability of many
of the Gentiles to mature beyond the entry-level, and embrace the necessary
process of spiritual transformation, the more important scriptures were never
placed in their hands. An
important truth is contained in the Epistle of Peter to James where it is
stated: "Hear
me, brethren and fellow-servants. If we should give the books to all
indiscriminately, and they should be corrupted by any daring men, or be
perverted by interpretations, as you have heard that some have already done, it
will remain even for those who really seek the truth, always to wander in
error. Wherefore it is better that they should be with us, and that we should
communicate them with all the fore-mentioned care to those who wish to
live piously, and
to save others."
The first question that a modern believer would ask is why Peter and Jacob/James would state that if the teachings were corrupted, that "...those who really seek the truth, always to wander in error?" If, as modern Christians preach today that man is saved by mere faith and belief, isn't that all that is required? While that is all that is required of the entry-level believers of the simple faith, the Spiritual Elders were required to remove the carnal beam from their own eyes, so they would "learn from the Father", and dwell upon the earth as a Consecrated Living Temple of the Most High.
There still exists scriptures that contain many of the original teachings that were removed from the Bible (see Bible Corruption). And in such scriptures as the Gospel of the Nazirenes (see Gospel), it is taught that those who defile their body-vessel with the flesh of slain beasts, cannot learn of know the Mysteries of God. Thus, Yeshua is asked: "And again that one asked, If anyone comes to us who eats flesh and drinks strong drink, how shall we receive them? And Yeshua said to him, Let such a person abide in the outer court until they cleanse themselves from these grosser evils; for till they perceive, and repent of these, they are not fit to receive the higher mysteries." Why can't they be permitted into the inner core of the Congregational Body of Messiah/Christ? Because their minds are incapable of contemplating the Mysteries of God by virtue of the polluted body-vessel -- and therefore, the necessary spiritual transformation cannot be brought about. And this is further demonstrated in the words of Jesus as preserved in the Gospel of the Nazirenes: And Yeshua said to them, "They, whose hands are stained with blood, or whose mouths are defiled with flesh, or they who partake of benefits which are gotten by wronging one of God's creatures, cannot be righteous; nor can they touch holy things, or teach the mysteries of the kingdom."
Even among the Gentile converts, the earliest of Christians abstained from the eating of flesh. The Church Father Irenaeus recounts how, when the followers of Jesus were accused of cannibalism with respect to the eating of the Lord's body and drinking his blood, the martyr Blandina replied: "How should those persons endure such accusation, who, for the sake of the practice of piety, did not avail themselves even of the flesh that was permitted them to eat?" In like manner St. Jerome wrote: "The eating of Flesh Meat was unknown up to the big flood, but since the flood they have the strings and stinking juices of Animal Meat into our mouths, just as they threw in front of the grumbling sensual people in the desert (Essenes). Jesus Christ, who appeared when the time had been fulfilled, has again joined the end with the beginning, so that it is no longer allowed for us to eat the Flesh of Animal Meat." In total agreement St. Basil wrote: "The steam of Meat meals darkens the Spirit. One can hardly have virtue if one enjoys Meat meals and feasts. In the Earthly Paradise, no one Sacrificed Animals, and no one ate the Flesh of Animal Meat." Clement of Alexandria in like manner explained: "Sacrifices were invented by men to be a pretext for Eating the Flesh of Animals."
Unlike the carnal Jewish sects of the Sadducees and Pharisees, Spiritual Israelites (Essenes-Ebionites-Nazirenes) who were the true people of the New Covenant, were always vegetarians. If the objective of the teachings of The Way is to return the prodigal son to the Kingdom from which he originally emerged, then he must live in the manner of God's original vision, and do no harm to any living creature. With respect to the above verses in the Book of Genesis, the Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament writes: "From this it follows, that, according to the creative will of God, men were not to slaughter animals for food, nor were animals to prey upon one another; consequently, that the fact which now prevails universally in nature and the order of the world, the violent and often painful destruction of life, is not a primary law of nature, nor a divine institution founded in the creation itself, but entered the world along with death at the fall of man, and became a necessity of nature through the curse of sin. It was not till after the flood, that men received authority from God to employ the flesh of animals as well as the green herb as food (Gen 9:3); and the fact that, according to the biblical view, no carnivorous animals existed at the first, may be inferred from the prophetic announcements in Isa. 11:6-8; 65:25, where the cessation of sin and the complete transformation of the world into the kingdom of God are described as being accompanied by the cessation of slaughter and the eating of flesh, even in the case of the animal kingdom."
What the Keil & Delitzsch Commentary clarifies is the fact that if man is to return to the Kingdom, then he must inflict no harm upon any living creature. This is one of the main tenets of what is referred to as the Royal Law of the Most High. With respect to the above verses sited at Isaiah 11:6-7, Keil & Delitzsch Commentary writes: "There now reign among irrational creatures, from the greatest to the least -- even among such as are invisible -- fierce conflicts and bloodthirstiness of the most savage kind. But when the Son of David enters upon the full possession of His royal inheritance, the peace of paradise will be renewed, and all that is true in the popular legends of the golden age be realized and confirmed. This is what the prophet depicts in such lovely colours. The wolf and lamb, those two hereditary foes, will be perfectly reconciled then. The leopard will let the teazing kid lie down beside it. The lion, between the calf and stalled ox, neither seizes upon its weaker neighbour, nor longs for the fatter one."
Unlike the Old Testament, in the New Testament there is the very clear and open declaration that the Kingdom of God will never come upon the earth as carnal men expect, because it already exists within us (Luke 17:20-21). The objective, then, of the teachings of The Way, was to prepare carnal man for the next stage of birth that will enable him to gain access into the inner Kingdom. In order to accomplish this, he must live his life in the manner of God's original vision, and inflict no harm upon any living creature. This requirement which was very clearly presented in the scriptures in their original form, was altered and removed from our Bibles by the Gentiles and Pagan Church of the Roman Empire.
Perhaps the most clear explanation was given by Jesus in the thirty-third chapter of the Nazirene Gospel where he taught: "Jesus was teaching His disciples in the outer court of the temple and one of them said to Him, Master, it is said by the priests that without shedding of blood there is no remission. Can then the blood offerings of the laws take away sin? And Jesus answered, No blood offering, of beast or bird, or man, can take away sin. For how can the conscience be purged from sin by the shedding of innocent blood? Nay, it will increase the condemnation. The priests indeed receive such offerings as a reconciliation of the worshippers for the trespasses against the Law of Moses; but for sins against the Law of God there can be no remission, save by repentance and amendment. Is it not written in the prophets, Put your blood sacrifices to your burnt offerings, and away with them, and cease from the eating flesh. I did not speak to your fathers nor commanded them, concerning these things, when I brought them out of Egypt. But this thing I commanded saying, Obey my voice and walk in the ways that I have commanded you, and you will be my people, and it shall be well with you. But they did not listen, nor inclined their ear. And what doth the eternal command you, but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God? Is it not written that in the beginning God ordained the fruits of the trees and the seeds and the herbs to be food for all flesh? But they have made the house of prayer a den of thieves, and for the oblation with incense, they have polluted my altars with blood, and eaten of the flesh of the slain. But I say to you, shed no innocent blood nor eat flesh. Walk upright, love mercy, and do justly, and your days shall be long in the land".
What
Yeshau is teachings is that if we wish to dwell in the Paradise of our Creator
God, and inherit the promise of eternal life, then we must live in the manner
that God intended when mankind dwelled in Eden. We must do no harm to any
creature -- we must cease to do evil -- and we must "do
justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God". And if you say
that such a thing is impossible -- that you cannot live your life in this manner
-- then your soul has eternity to aimlessly wander this world of suffering,
death and pain, until which time you desire to enter into the Paradise that
awaits you.
Natural man often has great problems when he attempts to embrace such a manner of life. He reasons: The animals were put here for me to eat. The problem is that because he is ruled over by the beasts of his lower animal nature -- i.e., carnivores -- he craves the blood, flesh and fat of slain beasts. In scripture, the good animals are always portrayed as vegetarians that inflict no harm upon any other creature -- i.e., the lamb -- and if we are to make any progress in following in TheWay, we must convert the lower nature within us from a beast, to a subdued companion that supports our quest of higher consciousness. We cannot even begin to accomplish this transformation while our physical bodies are the tombs of dead animals. Why is this truth not more clear in our Bibles today: It is near impossible for carnal, sensually driven men not to eat the flesh of slain beasts. In like manner, the teachings of The Way were unacceptable to the Gentile-heathen world, so they simply eliminated what was objectionable in the scriptures they inherited from the holy men of Spiritual Israel.
Modern Christians often point to the biblical verse where the Pharisees ask Jesus: "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!" (Matt 15:2 NIV) -- and the answer of Jesus that after being edited by the later Church, appears to affirm that Christians were not required to observe the dietary restrictions in the Old Testament: "What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean… Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean’" (Matt 15:11-20 NIV).
Regardless of the fact that what is being presented here is true -- the question remains, is it the whole truth? What should make us question the completeness of what is being presented, and give us an immediate clue that these verses have been edited and corrupted in order to reflect Gentile Pagan religious concepts, is the fact that we know the author of this scripture -- i.e., the Apostle Matthew -- was himself a vegetarian, as seen in the words of Clement of Alexandria: "Accordingly, the apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, and vegetables, without flesh" (Clement; The Instructor). In view of the fact that from an historical perspective, Matthew was a common tax collector before being called as a disciple, that Matthew became a strict vegetarian as a disciple, means that he learned this as a necessary element of the teachings of TheWay.
That the New Testament in like manner condemned the eating of flesh is seen in the Gospel of the Nazirenes, where we can see what the original message that Jesus taught conveyed to the reader: "And Jesus said, ‘Well has Moses commanded you to be clean, and to keep your bodies clean, and your vessels clean, but you have added things which ofttimes cannot be observed by everyone at all times and in all places. Hear me therefore, not only unclean things entering into the body of man defile the man, but much more do evil thoughts and unclean things which pour from the heart of man, defile the inner man and others also. Therefore take heed to your thoughts and cleanse your hearts and let your food be pure. These things ought you to do, and not to leave the others undone. Whosoever breaks The Law of Purification of necessity, are blameless, for they do it not of their own will, neither despising The Law which is just and good. For cleanliness in all things is great gain. Be not therefore followers of evil fashions of the world, even in appearance; for many are led into transgression by the outward seeming, and the likeness of evil" (NG 43:13-16). Thus, the original words of Jesus paint an entirely different picture than the corrupted texts (see http://BibleCorruption.com ) of our modern biblical translations.
God-Fearing Jews!!! Further confirmation that the original people of the New Covenant ate no flesh foods is seen in the Clementine Homily 7, chap 4, where it reads: “Wherefore, as then ye were deceived by the forerunner Simon, and so became dead in your souls to God, and were smitten in your bodies; so now, if you repent, as I said, and submit to those things which are well-pleasing to God, you may get new strength to your bodies, and recover your soul’s health. And the things which are well-pleasing to God are these: to pray to Him, to ask from Him, recognizing that He is the giver of all things, and gives with discriminating law; to abstain from the table of devils, not to taste dead flesh, not to touch blood; to be washed from all pollution; and the rest in one word, — as the God-fearing Jews" Equally important is the reference to what Peter portrays as God-fearing Jews, in contradistinction to the sectarian Jewish sects portrayed in the New Testament as Jews of the flesh -- i.e., the Sadducees and Pharisees.
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Charles and Myrtle Fillmore were the co-founders of what has come to be known as Unity Church (see Unity). And while Unity Church is not Ebionite, as can be seen in the following, the co-founders of Unity Church had much in common with TheWay which the Ebionites embraced. For years Charles Fillmore walked the path of an inner search for Truth and the Kingdom. He was a deeply religious man who fervently studied the scriptures in search of Truth. And while Charles Fillmore began his journey as a meat eater -- very much believing that what you put into the body had no effect on mind and spirit -- somewhere in his journey along TheWay he became cognizant of the fact that his meat-based diet was inhibiting his spiritual progress. In the above quotation of Jesus on the sin of eating flesh and its relationship to seeking the knowledge of the Mysteries of God, the witness of Charles Fillmore verifies both my own witness as to why the Ebionites and Disciples of Jesus were all vegetarians, as well as the experience of others associated with these teachings. And while it can be demonstrated that no connection whatsoever exists between Charles Fillmore and the Ebionites -- and neither authority would promote the idea that vegetarianism in and of itself is the answer in totality -- both sources independently confirm the relationship between a purified body-mind and mans' search for Truth. What they are saying is that, in order to begin to receive the higher revelation and knowledge of the Mysteries of God, the mind of the seeker must begin to undergo the process of spiritual transformation which will permit the person to transcend the limits of the organic physical body, and begin to develop those latent areas of the mind that don't correspond to the physical, and are able to interface with man's higher soul and spiritual reality. In Charles Fillmore's own words he tells of his struggle to embrace the innate spiritual, while still eating a meat-based diet:
I have in years of experiment tested the effect in mind and body of meat-eating and non-meat-eating, and I feel that I am more competent to judge of the effects than one who theorizes about the question.
Some sixteen years ago [i. e., 1887] when I began the study of Truth I was told that it made no difference what I ate if I was in the right thought. This seemed to prove true up to a certain point in my experience. While my spiritual development was confined to the conscious mind there seemed no special need of food discrimination. But gradually a new phase set in. I found that I was having vibrations in the sympathetic nerve centers — the subconscious mind was being quickened, and I was becoming a conscious vital battery. The vital currents gradually grew stronger and stronger until I could hardly control them. Appetite, passion, emotion, etc., were greatly increased. Then my prayers for guidance were answered and a system of communication set up with the higher realms of consciousness. I was shown that the food that entered the organism had to pass through a process of regeneration every day before it was in condition to be built into the new body of Christ. Just how to carry on this regenerative process in the various subconscious centers was also shown, and here is where I discerned the effects of food in body building.
The vitalizing element in food is contained in the cell, which may be termed a mind battery vibrating with intelligence, force, and substance. These elements are present in the living cell — dead cells are those in which intelligence and force have withdrawn and inanimate substance only remains. Man appropriates these cells and they become part of his consciousness according to his capacity to use them. Those who have not developed the capacity to consciously regenerate the cells get but a small part of their energies. (First published in the October 1903 issue of Unity Magazine, Volume 19, number 4)
On the process of transforming the body in order to enable it to begin to accommodate man's innate higher soul and spiritual natures, Charles Fillmore wrote: "I can say about flesh eating that the Spirit has shown me repeatedly that I could not refine my body and make it a harmonious instrument for the soul, so long as I continued to fill it with the cells of dead animals" (The Vegetarian, May, 1920). And thus, when Yeshua/Jesus states in the Gospel of the Nazirenes (see Gospel) "And again that one asked, If anyone comes to us who eats flesh and drinks strong drink, how shall we receive them? And Yeshua said to him, Let such a person abide in the outer court until they cleanse themselves from these grosser evils; for till they perceive, and repent of these, they are not fit to receive the higher mysteries." -- it is not that the knowledge of the Higher Mysteries are being held back -- but rather, that those areas of the mind that vibrate at the higher frequencies and are able to receive and manifest the knowledge of Higher Mysteries, remains undeveloped in those people who consume a meat-based diet. And while Charles Fillmore was a man of extraordinary faith and belief, he could in no manner begin to move onto a higher plane of understanding and spirituality, untile he first ceased to fill his body with the flesh of slain beasts. Again, as stated in the Gospel of the Nazirenes: And Yeshua said to them, "They, whose hands are stained with blood, or whose mouths are defiled with flesh, or they who partake of benefits which are gotten by wronging one of God's creatures, cannot be righteous; nor can they touch holy things, or teach the mysteries of the kingdom."
Did Charles Fillmore do as Yeshua/Jesus commanded? Judge for yourself. We must first ask the question: In the parable, what keeps the prodigal son an almost prisoner to what is portrayed as the "citizen... of the far country"? The answer is that because he has squandered away his inheritance which has become lost in the "far country", he is no longer himself Complete -- and is only functioning at a greatly suppressed organic level of consciousness. In fact, it is because the natural organic consciousness of man is functioning at this suppressed level of awareness which in the parable of the Wedding Feast is portrayed as the "outer darkness" of mind and consciousness (see Outer Darkness), is the very reason why Paul warned that the believers of the simple faith would look upon the Mysteries of God as "foolishness" (see Mysteries Of the Gospel). In Paul's own words he states: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14 NKJ). Paul then goes on and warns these believers of a natural organic mind who were baptized and dedicated to Messiah/Christ: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1 NAS). Thus, these believers could only be taught the doctrine of Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor 2:2), because they were not yet spiritual men -- but rather, they were men of an organic flesh consciousness, and still very much “babes in Christ”. Paul then explains what he was able to teach them: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able” (1 Cor 3:2 NAS). What should be troubling to the modern believer is that Paul openly admits that the baptized and confirmed Christians at Corinth -- people who had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and received the gifts of the laying on of hands and speaking in tongues -- people who were not taught by preachers and priests, but the Apostle himself -- were not yet able to understand and comprehend what Paul referred to as the Mysteries of the Gospel of God.
On the web site at Divine Strategery ( http://DivineStrategery.com ), there are many good reasons why the people of this world are unable to possess the knowledge of their true soul-reality and nature -- i.e., which inhibits them from possessing that Sacred Knowledge which is called Gnosis, Divine Manna of the Knowledge of the Kingdom. Moreover, because organic man is only functioning with less than 10% of his potential of mind, it is impossible for him to comprehend his own higher soul reality. And since without transformation, carnal man would squander away additional Light if it were given to him from On High, the soul-self of each person denies the person they are in this world the necessary Light and energy (vital life-force) which is essential to even begin to empower these higher aspects of mind and being that Charles Fillmore speaks of in the above Unity article. When Jesus condemned going to the teachers of this world -- and stated to his disciples that there was only One Teacher -- this Inner Teacher was called the True Prophet (see True Prophet) by his Ebionite Disciples. Thus, this reality is especially demonstrated in the Recognitions of Clement, where St. Clement quotes the teachings of the Apostle Peter. In chapter 59, under the heading of The True Prophet, Clement quotes Peter and writes: “But I would not have you think, that in saying this I take away the power of judging concerning things; but I give counsel that no one walk through devious places, and rush into errors without end. And therefore I advise not only wise men, but indeed all men who have a desire of knowing what is advantageous to them, that they seek after the true Prophet; for it is He alone who knoweth all things, and who knoweth what and how every man is seeking. For He is within the mind of every one of us, but in those who have no desire of the knowledge of God and His righteousness, He is inoperative; but He works in those who seek after that which is profitable to their souls, and kindles in them the light of knowledge. Wherefore seek Him first of all; and if you do not find Him, expect not that you shall learn anything from any other. But He is soon found by those who diligently seek Him through love of the truth, and whose souls are not taken possession of by wickedness. For He is present with those who desire Him in the innocence of their spirits, who bear patiently, and draw sighs from the bottom of their hearts through love of the truth; but He deserts malevolent minds, because as a prophet He knows the thoughts of every one. And therefore let no one think that he can find Him by his own wisdom, unless, as we have said, he empty his mind of all wickedness, and conceive a pure and faithful desire to know Him. For when any one has so prepared himself, He Himself as a prophet, seeing a mind prepared for Him, of His own accord offers Himself to his knowledge”.
What does Peter say to us in these words? That the True Prophet “is within the mind of every one of us”. This concept is Spiritual -- and is the foundation of the Living Church that the Lord inaugurated. But unless you live the Consecrated Life as a Disciple of TheWay -- and seek the Divine Manna of the Inner Kingdom -- you cannot be taught by the True Prophet, and receive the Gnosis or Divine Manna/Knowledge of the Kingdom. And in the same writing these rather profound words are stated that would be totally rejected by the teachers, philosophers and scholars of this world, is the warning: “Hence, O beloved Clement", proclaims Peter, “if you would know the things pertaining to God, you have to learn them from Him alone, because He alone knows the truth. For if any one else knows anything, he has received it from Him or from His disciples”. And even more profound in the warning that it is impossible for carnal man in his organic state of mind, to perceive and understand the true meaning of the scriptures -- i.e., in the words of Peter: "...therefore great care is to be taken, that when the law of God is read, it be not read according to the understanding of our own mind. For there are many sayings in the divine Scriptures which can be drawn to that sense which every one has preconceived for himself; and this ought not to be done. For you ought not to seek a foreign and extraneous sense, which you have brought from without" (see The Spiritual Disenfranchisement Of The Mind). Which means that those who proclaim they know Jesus, have all been greatly deceived -- and all the knowledge that people think they have, is pseudo-knowledge from the perspective of True Gnosis of the Kingdom. And since the vast majority of people reject the necessary life and mindset that enables them to be taught directly by the True Prophet, they dwell in this world under the illusion of knowledge. In order to learn from the True Prophet, you must become the "good ground" in the parable of the Sower and the Seed (see http://messianic.nazirene.org/sower_seed.html ) -- transform your body and mind into the Final Temple -- and you must live and manifest the Truth that you have received in word, thought, desire and deed. And it was for this reason that Jesus said that only the very few will enter into Life ( http://GateOfEden.com ).
Charles Fillmore merely did exactly as Jesus taught, as he began to live the Consecrated Life which was foundational among the Ebionites. Charles Fillmore cleansed and purified his body-vessel -- sought Truth over manmade doctrine -- Consecrated his mind and raised up his body as a Living Temple -- and sought to learn directly from the True Prophet within himself. Thus, he fulfilled the commandment to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV). And in seeking the Inner Kingdom, he fulfilled the requirement of the Book of the Revelation where it states: "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful" (Rev 21:27 NIV). This same truth was expressed by Isaiah where it is written: "And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it" (Isa 35:8 NIV). And this same truth is expressed in the words of Yeshua/Jesus when he warned: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matt 7:13-14 NIV). The "narrow gate" that Yeshua speaks that we must open in order for us to be born into the Kingdom, has its parallels in the birth canal that serves as the gate that each of us has emerged through when we physically entered into this present world. That the next stage of birth has its similarities, is merely the result that all realities are designed in accordance with the same Divine Pattern of Creation.
The Ebionite Nazirene Disciples and followers were vegetarian, because dead flesh feeds and strengthens the lower carnal nature of man. And it is for this reason that it is stated in the Gospel of the Nazirenes: And Yeshua said to them, "They, whose hands are stained with blood, or whose mouths are defiled with flesh, or they who partake of benefits which are gotten by wronging one of God's creatures, cannot be righteous; nor can they touch holy things, or teach the mysteries of the kingdom." Which reality of body, mind and spirit Charles Fillmore correctly explained in the foregoing that: "I can say about flesh eating that the Spirit has shown me repeatedly that I could not refine my body and make it a harmonious instrument for the soul, so long as I continued to fill it with the cells of dead animals" (The Vegetarian, May, 1920). And what does the Spirit say? "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna" (Rev 2:17) -- and Spiritual Manna which is Spiritual Knowledge, can only be imparted to man directly by God -- and can only be received by those who "overcome", and are prepared to receive it. The Greek word for this secret spiritual knowledge that can only be imparted directly from God to those who are prepared to receive it, is called "Gnosis" -- aka Spiritual Manna. Paul correctly stated that the faith-based Christians who are totally versed in what he called the (historical) "traditions of Jesus and him crucified", were too carnal to receive the Spiritual Manna or Gnosis. Paul portrayed the baptized and committed Christians as still being of an "animal-soul" level of consciousness who were incapable of receiving the Divine Manna or Gnosis. And this reality is expressed in the meaning of the Greek text of Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (2:14) where Paul states that the "natural" organic man cannot comprehend the higher reality of the Soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom. Which profound statement provokes the question: What is meant by the term that Paul used when he described the very people who he had himself taught who were incapable of comprehending the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom when he portrayed them as being of a "natural" organic level of mind and consciousness? The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary writes with respect to the meaning of the word in the original Greek language: "natural man—literally, 'a man of animal soul'." Further, the Treasury Of Scriptural Knowledge states of this ignored and profound statement at 1 Cor 2:14 which reads (quoting Paul): "But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" -- wherein the proper interpretative-meaning of Paul's words with respect to the reality of what is portrayed by Paul as the natural man is then presented: [Psuchikos,] the animal man, one who lives in a natural state, and under the influence of his animal passions; for [psuche] means the inferior and sensual part of man, in opposition to the [nous] understanding, or [pneuma,] the spirit. And this is not only true -- but is is a fact of life that all mystics and enlightened souls must deal with when interacting with organic man. Which is exactly why Paul profoundly stated to the very people who he had personally taught the Gospel message: "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal" (1 Cor 3:1-3 NKJ). Stating to the body of confirmed and baptized believers who he stated had received all truth and knowledge pertaining to the elementary "traditions" of Christ: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14 NKJ).
Mankind is of the Fourth Kingdom -- i.e., mineral, vegetable and animal -- and his lower nature and body consciousness is comprised and immersed in these three lower kingdoms as personified in the subheading: Organic Man Ruled Over By His Lower Animal Nature. Which is why in his Epistles Paul commanded to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV) -- further warning that “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13 KJV). Yet, because important teachings were removed from the Gospels, and modern man does not at all understand the reality of his lower animal nature, he fails to understand that he can very well be portrayed as being of an animal consciousness who is walking the earth in the outward form of man -- i.e., the fourth kingdom being ruled over by the lower three that comprise the consciousness of his physical body. Therefore, what Paul warned with respect to comprehending the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom is that “But the natural man [who is still of an animal-soul] does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually received” (1 Cor 2:14 NKJ). Therefore, the baptized and confirmed believers who Paul had personally taught were incapable of comprehending the higher reality of the soul and the true spiritual meaning of the Gospel, because they were yet too immature to comprehend man's higher spiritual reality -- i.e., "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal" (1 Cor 3:1-3 NKJ). And this fact of reality remains true unto this very day. Without doing as Paul commanded with respect to the transformation of the lower animal-consciousness of the body, it will remain impossible to perceive and comprehend the true spiritual meaning of the Gospels. And it will make no difference if you study the scriptures in a university or seminary -- in the same way that Paul himself could not convey to those he personally taught the spiritual meaning of the Gospels, neither can any man teach this meaning without the seeker/student undergoing the process of transforming the "natural animal-soul" consciousness of the physical.
The authors of the scriptures were Spiritual Seekers in search of Spiritual Knowledge -- i.e., Gnosis or what can be defined as the Sacred Knowledge or the Divine Manna revealed directly from God to the Seeker of the Truth and the Kingdom. Gnosis has absolutely nothing to do with an historical people who were portrayed as Gnostics. There is no formal Church or secret order that can reveal Gnosis. Contrary to popular opinion, the term Gnostic does not in any manner denote an alternative historical tradition which the Church suppressed. Gnosis is not a set of dogmatic beliefs -- or any phenomena pertaining to this world. In fact, all genuine scriptures are Gnostic at their core -- i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- and the whole foundation of the esoteric knowledge concealed within the body of the scriptures, deals entirely with the Forces and Laws that control the Consciousness of Man, and Cosmology of the seekers own Mind and Being. But even more important is the fact that this body of knowledge exists no where else -- i.e., it is totally absent from our modern colleges and universities -- and therefore, it is impossible to teach Gnosis in a university or seminary. The very existence and reality of True Gnosis in fact remains an enigma to virtually all of man's religions and philosophical systems today. Therefore, it is impossible to read and study that body of Knowledge which can be defined as Gnosis in any of the books written by man To the degree that Gnosis cannot be researched or studied in even the greatest of man's libraries. And yet, it is the most important body of knowledge that man could possibly possess. To the degree that the Gospel of Thomas declares: "...But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty". And while it is true that this esoteric body of knowledge lies concealed within the textual cloak of the scriptures, it remains an unseen and camouflaged enigma to the eyes and understanding of the vast majority of mankind who gaze into the textual-body of the scriptures, and who see only the reflection of their own beliefs and/or condition of mind reflected back to them. Which means that if we pose the question: What Difference Does It Make? It makes all the difference in the world!!!
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From the perspective of being able to gain insight and access to the higher reality of the soul and the spirit, the statement on the While everyone can believe and choose what they want, the statement on the Lucas Trust website is important to consider (see http://www.light-weaver.com/psychology1/psyc1078.html ):
One point of interest might here be noted. It is known esoterically that the vegetable kingdom is the transmitter and the transformer of the vital pranic fluid to the other forms of life on our planet. That is its divine and unique function. This pranic fluid, in its form of the astral light, is the reflector of the divine akasha. The second plane therefore reflects itself in the astral plane. Those who seek to read the akashic records, or who endeavour to work upon the astral plane with impunity, and there to study the reflection of events in the astral light correctly, have perforce and without exception to be strict vegetarians. It is this ancient Atlantean lore which lies behind the vegetarian's insistence upon the necessity for a vegetarian diet, and which gives force and truth to this injunction. It is the failure to conform to this wise rule which has brought about the misinterprertions of the astral and akashic records by many of the psychics of the present time, and has given rise to the wild and incorrect reading of past lives. Only those who have been for ten years strict vegetarians can work thus in what might be called the "record aspect of the astral light". When they add to their purified astral and physical bodies the light of reason and illumination of the focussed mind (which is very rarely found), then they become accurate interpreters of astral phenomena. Their link with the vegetable kingdom is then very close and unbreakable, and that link or binding chain will lead them through the door to the scene of their investigations. |
What can be seen in the above quotation
is that Theosophy as presented in the Alice Bailey writings are in total
agreement with the findings and experiences of Charles Fillmore. In fact, the
above statement pertaining to the "divine and unique
function" of the vegetable kingdom confirms the statement of Charles
Fillmore as seen in the words: On the process of
transforming the body in order to enable it to begin to accommodate man's innate
higher soul and spiritual natures, Charles Fillmore wrote: "I can say about
flesh eating that the Spirit has shown me repeatedly that I could not refine my
body and make it a harmonious instrument for the soul, so long as I continued to
fill it with the cells of dead animals" (The Vegetarian, May, 1920).
With respect to the quotation of Jesus that "What goes into a man’s mouth
does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes
him ‘unclean…" -- the original is preserved in the Gospel of the Nazirenes
where it states: "And Jesus said, ‘Well has Moses
commanded you to be clean, and to keep your bodies clean, and your vessels
clean, but you have added things which oft times cannot be observed by everyone
at all times and in all places. Hear me therefore, not only unclean things
entering into the body of man defile the man, but much more do evil thoughts and
unclean things which pour from the heart of man, defile the inner man and others
also. Therefore take heed to your thoughts and cleanse your hearts and let your
food be pure. These things ought you to do, and not to leave the others undone.
Whosoever breaks The Law of Purification of necessity, are blameless, for they
do it not of their own will, neither despising The Law which is just and good.
For cleanliness in all things is great gain. Be not therefore followers of evil
fashions of the world, even in appearance; for many are led into transgression
by the outward seeming, and the likeness of evil" (NG 43:13-16).
Thus, the original words of Jesus paint an entirely different picture than the
corrupted texts (see
http://BibleCorruption.com ) of our modern biblical translations.
Personally, I agree with Alice Bailey and other more modern sources on the
purification of the body -- it is well established that the disciples of Jesus
were vegetarians -- and the words of Jesus as presented in the Gospel of the
Nazirenes I find true with respect to a meat eaters inability to comprehend
man's higher soul and spiritual reality as stated: And Yeshua said to them,
"They, whose hands are stained with blood, or whose
mouths are defiled with flesh, or they who partake of benefits which are gotten
by wronging one of God's creatures, cannot be righteous; nor can they touch holy
things, or teach the mysteries of the kingdom."
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Quoting the Wikipedia: Ellen Gould White (née Harmon) (November 26, 1827 - July 16, 1915), born to Robert and Eunice Harmon, was an American Christian leader whose prophetic ministry was instrumental in founding the Sabbatarian Adventist movement that led to the rise of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Supporters of Ellen G. White regard her as a modern-day prophet, even though she never claimed this title for herself. Support for her prophetic role is usually expressed in the language that she exhibited the spiritual gift of prophecy as outlined in the New Testament.
Ellen G. White was part of a Christian Restoral Movement in the 1800's -- and in addition to Seventh Day Sabbath Observance, was her many positions on both the proper education of children which was instrumental in the modern homeschool movement, and the need for a vegetarian diet (see The Holographic Mind http://TreeOfLife.Nazirene.org#TheHolographicMind ). Quoting Ellen White: "The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ’s work in behalf of men. It concerns every soul living upon the earth. It opens to view the plan of redemption, bringing us down to the very close of time, and revealing the triumphant issue of the contest between righteousness and sin. It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects, and be able to give to every one that asketh them a reason for the hope that is in them” (Great Controversy, 488).
What few Seventh Day Adventists understand is the warning that it is impossible for organic man to understand both the true meaning of the scriptures -- i.e., the literal written word of which Paul called the "letter that killeth [and] Jewish folktales" (see 2 Cor 3:6; Titus 1:14) -- because of it's allegorical nature (see Letter That Killeth, and it is therefore impossible for man in his organic human condition of mind to understand the higher spiritual meaning of both the scriptures, and the reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom (see Natural Man). The cleansing of the body-vessel which was one of the primary teachings of Ellen G. White, is an important part of the building up of the body into a Consecrated Living Temple. As Ellen White writes in the above with respect to the sanctuary in Heaven: "...It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects -- which is why Jesus taught that you must seek the Kingdom within one's own body and mind (see Gate Of Eden). By turning away from the thinking, mindset and lifestyle of this world -- and eating a vegetarian diet with pure water, the higher understanding presented by Charles Fillmore (see above) was bestowed upon Daniel and the others: "...To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds" (Dan 1:8-17 NIV). And while the majority of Seventh Day Adventists continue to look outwardly for the Second Coming -- not applying the Key of Knowledge properly (see http://KeyOfKnowledge.org ) -- and failing to understand the words of Jesus when he taught that the Kingdom will never come upon the earth so as to be seen by men's physical eyes (Luke 17:20-21), because his disciples must seek the Kingdom within themselves (see The End Times - Armageddon/Rapture - The Coming Of The Kingdom http://TreeOfLife.Nazirene.org#EndTimes ) -- and the inner "narrow gate" is opened by living the necessary Consecrated Life and seeking the Divine Manna of the Kingdom. The biblical authors warned that it is impossible for physical organic man to understand the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom (see Natural Man) -- and in the same way that Paul could not speak openly to the baptized and committed congregations about the Mysteries of God which they would judge and condemn as "foolishness", what the Seventh Day Adventists fail to understand is the fact that neither could Ellen G. White receive and prophesy what the untransformed mind of the congregation of believers could not in any measure understand. And once properly understood, Ellen White provided true spiritual guidance that was necessary to begin the process of the transformation of the physical into the Final Temple, that would permit the Second Coming within the body and mind of the true disciple and seeker.
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Quotation From AskMoses.com Under the Heading of: What Is The Holy Temple?
The Final Temple: With the destruction of the Second Temple, G-d changed His mode of interaction with the universe. Until the destruction, the Temple was the window to G-d; spirituality had a physical home in Jerusalem. The Kohanim offered the daily sacrifices, the daily routines went uninterrupted, daily personal prayer was redundant.
With the destruction, G-d destroyed the physical Temple and made it a spiritual place... We cannot find G-d in Jerusalem; we must find Him in us
With the destruction, G-d destroyed the physical Temple and made it a spiritual place. He took that window and placed it within us. Instead of traveling to Jerusalem, G-d wanted us to find Him in our inner Jerusalem. Now, our bodies are our Temples, our souls are our windows, our minds are our Kohanim and our animal instincts are our sacrifices. We cannot offer physical sacrifices three times a day, but we can pray three times a day. We cannot attend Temple services three times a day, but we can tap into our souls three times a day. We cannot atone for our shortcomings by sacrificing animals, but we can sacrifice our inner animals—our hormones, our lusts, our desires, our beastly compulsions. We cannot find G-d in Jerusalem; we must find Him in us.
This was G-d’s Master Plan. By exchanging a sweeping, dramatic outdoor concert of public spirituality for an internal, personal, private experience, G-d was bringing Himself even closer to humanity, laying the groundwork for the Third and final Temple—an age that will synthesize G-d’s presence inside our hearts and minds and in the world around us in a totally new reality: the Era of Moshiach.
Further detail on the above quotation can be found at http://TheThreeLies.com#temple
The above words taken directly from AskMoses.com, represents one of the most profound spiritual insights that must be acknowledged by the leaders of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. That carnal Jews did not understand the allegorical nature of their scriptures, and built a shadow temple in this world where they sacrificed innocent animals. And that the carnal Jews observed the Law outward in ritual and human tradition, is one of the primary reasons why the historical Yeshua opposed the religious authorities of his day. And it is this inner reality of a Holy of Holies where one's own carnal nature must be sacrificed, is openly acknowledgement in the fulfillment of the inauguration of the New Covenant: "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them" (Heb 8:10-11 NKJ). Yet, the Jews have been inhibited from acknowledging this fact that they can only allude to in the above statement which is confirmed in the Epistle to the Hebrews, because a great number of the Gentile converts were too heathen and pagan to comprehend the teachings of Yeshua and TheWay, and the Church of Constantine embraced the idolatry of declaring Yeshua to be God Incarnate.
The word Messiah which in Greek is the Christ, and in English is the Anointed, indicates one whose mind has been Enlightened -- i.e., Anointed and Chosen by God to guide Israel. But what is Israel? It is not the person of the flesh -- but rather, of the Spirit. And the confrontation between Yeshua and the Pharisees in the New Covenant Gospels, was a reenactment of the proverbial struggle between the spirit and the flesh -- i.e., Able and Cain -- Light and darkness -- the Essene portrayal of the Sons of Light and the sons of darkness -- and these are the struggles that exist within each of us -- and it is this struggle that each of us must overcome. And that the Pharisees were of the flesh -- and were blind to the higher reality of soul and spirit -- is the reason the Pharisees asked Yeshua when the Kingdom of God would come upon the earth as they believed their prophets had predicted? (Luke 17:20-21) And because the vast number of Jews went in the way of Cain -- and they are of the flesh -- they are not even aware that there is an inner, spiritual meaning to the Torah that few people are able to see and understand. Why? Because they are oblivious to the above words with respect to the Final Temple. Therefore, without the necessary conscious understanding, they have not purified and sanctified their own body-Temple. Thus, the long ignored Jewish Mystic warns: "Thus the tales related in the Torah are simply her outer garments, and woe to the man who regards that outer garb as the Torah itself, for such a man will be deprived of portion in the next world..." (see No Jew Has Seen The Torah). Which is explained in the Zohar: “The narratives of the doctrine are its cloak. The simple look only on the garment, that is upon the narrative of the doctrine; more they know not. The instructed, however, see not merely the cloak, but what the cloak covers”.
As confirmed in the above article from AskMoses.com, Yeshua/Jesus correctly stated that the Kingdom of God can never come upon the earth in the manner that carnal men predict, because it is within us (see Gate Of Eden) -- all of us -- equally. And since the Torah is a series of allegorical symbols and forms that portray inner realities of body, mind/soul and spirit (see An Inconvenient Truth) to those who possess the eyes to see beneath what is presented as the "...outer garb as the Torah itself" -- which is often allegorically portrayed as the Torah that could not be received because the Children of Israel worshiped the golden calf when Moses returned from the Mount -- which means that within the symbolism of the allegorical forms of the Torah, is the esoteric knowledge necessary to receive the Sacred Manna that one must possess in order to fulfill the Messianic prophesies -- breaking down the inner barriers of mind and being -- and dwelling within the Holy of Holies in the Presence of the Most High. When the article in AskMoses.com states: "With the destruction of the Second Temple, G-d changed His mode of interaction with the universe." This is an acknowledgement that the historical Yeshua/Jesus was the chosen holy vessel and Anointed One (Messiah/Christ) who inaugurated the Holy Temple defined above. That does not mean that Yeshua was God incarnate in the manner that the pagan Gentiles who worshiped everything under the sun proclaimed. Neither does it mean that Yeshua was the only Messiah -- because each of us who seeks to make their body-vessel a Living Temple, is made a Messiah. And this reality of the meaning of the words Messiah and Christ is demonstrated in the position of the Ebionite Nazirene Disciples of Yeshua who were correct in their assertion that Yeshua "was justified by fulfilling the Law. He was the Messiah/Christ of God, since not one of the rest of mankind had observed the Law completely. Had any one else fulfilled the commandments of the Law, he would have been the Messiah/Christ." Hence, when the Disciples and followers of TheWay "...thus fulfill the law, they are able to become Messiah/Christs, for they assert that our Lord Himself was a man in like sense with all humanity." (Hippolytus, Refut. Omn. Haer. vii. 34 - quotations at http://Ebionite.com ). So as a Messiah, the teachings of Yeshua/Jesus with respect to the necessary mindset and lifestyle that is required to fulfill the Law within ourselves, meant that he was sent as a Prophet of the Most High to guide the true seekers into the Inner Kingdom. And isn't this exactly what is presented in the above words of AskMoses: "...G-d destroyed the physical Temple and made it a spiritual place. He took that window and placed it within us. Instead of traveling to Jerusalem, G-d wanted us to find Him in our inner Jerusalem. Now, our bodies are our Temples, our souls are our windows, our minds are our Kohanim and our animal instincts are our sacrifices. We cannot offer physical sacrifices three times a day, but we can pray three times a day. We cannot attend Temple services three times a day, but we can tap into our souls three times a day. We cannot atone for our shortcomings by sacrificing animals, but we can sacrifice our inner animals—our hormones, our lusts, our desires, our beastly compulsions. We cannot find G-d in Jerusalem; we must find Him in us. This was G-d’s Master Plan. By exchanging a sweeping, dramatic outdoor concert of public spirituality for an internal, personal, private experience, G-d was bringing Himself even closer to humanity, laying the groundwork for the Third and final Temple—an age that will synthesize G-d’s presence inside our hearts and minds and in the world around us in a totally new reality: the Era of Moshiach."
What Yeshua/Jesus taught was the mindset and the necessary Consecrated Life Style to become a Living Temple -- and as the High Priest of our own Living Temple, what is portrayed in the allegory of the Torah and Old Testament as entering within the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple, is synonymous with striving to enter at the "narrow gate" and permit the Kingdom to come within -- "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matt 7:13-14 NKJ). And this is why in the Clementine Homilies the Apostle Peter states that if properly understood, there is no difference between the Torah and the New Covenant scriptures -- because the underlying spiritual objective is one and the same. The problem is that neither the Jews or the Christians understand either set of scriptures with any true spiritual depth -- because their body-temple has been ravaged by the thinking, culture and ways of this world, as portrayed in the plundering of the temple by the carnal forces of this world.
Notice the very important words in the above article from AskMoses.com: "We cannot atone for our shortcomings by sacrificing animals, but we can sacrifice our inner animals—our hormones, our lusts, our desires, our beastly compulsions." And this is why the Ebionite Disciples of Yeshua rejected all animal sacrifice -- i.e., quoting Epiphanius: The Ebionites "do not accept Moses' Pentateuch in its entirety; certain sayings they reject... stating Christ has revealed this to me, and will blespheme most of the legislation" (Panarion 30.18.7-9). Epiphanius then quotes the Gospel of the Ebionites/Hebrews where Yeshua states: "I have come to destroy the sacrifices" (ibid. 30.16.5). And when AskMoses.com states that we must sacrifice our inner animals, is this any different than the teachings of Yeshua in the Gospel of the Nazirenes: "For they, making a god of their belly, sacrificed to their God the innocent creatures of the earth, in place of the carnal nature within themselves. And eating of their flesh and drinking of their blood to their own destruction, corrupted their bodies and shortened their days, even as the Gentiles who did not know the truth, or who knowing it, have changed it into a lie."
Only those who make their body-vessel a Living Temple -- and in the words of AskMoses.com, they must "...sacrifice our inner animals—our hormones, our lusts, our desires, our beastly compulsions" -- and is this any different than the words of Paul when he commanded the Gentiles to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV)? Or the requirement that “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13 KJV): Which means that we must transform the beastly predator of carnal man's lower nature, into an unblemished perfect lamb that is a fit sacrifice on the altar of our Inner Living Temple. And this state of required purity and consecration is exactly what is stated by Isaiah where it is written: "And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it" (Isa 35:8 NIV).
The Truth About Animal Sacrifice: It is
important to understand man's motivation to perform animal sacrifice as a part
of his religion. Did God in the Old Testament require animal sacrifice?
Lets begin my answer to this question by quoting the words of Moses Maimonedes,
one of the most respected of Jewish theologians, historian, and Talmudist, where
he writes about the nature of scripture: “Every time
that you find in our books a tale the reality of which seems impossible, a story
which is repugnant to both reason and common sense, then be sure that the tale
contains a profound allegory veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the greater
the absurdity of the letter, the deeper the wisdom of the spirit”.
When understood from the perspective of the original authors of the scriptures
(see An Inconvenient Truth),
what is allegorically presented in the scriptures is not the facade of
historical accounts -- but rather, a blueprint of the seekers own mind -- the
levels and forces of consciousness -- and the Laws that control every aspect of
the person's life. And while the scriptures may appear as historical accounts,
this is merely the facade that enables the authors to present the inner
spiritual meaning which portrays the mental development and spiritual events in
the life of the seeker in search of Higher Truth. Which provokes the
question: Why would the scriptures contain (allegorical) fabricated
"...stories which is repugnant to both reason and common sense" -- which I
might also add was why Paul portrayed these stories as the
"letter that killeth" [and] "Jewish
fables" (see 2 Cor 3:6; Titus 1:14). Why? The
answer goes to the core of our own holographic reality -- and the fact that
whatever we perceive in the outer world, is merely a reflection of the inner
reality of our own mind and being. And that primitive man the world over
is often observed performing animal sacrifice, is because he is externalizing
his own animal nature which he perceives in the outer world.
Innately he senses that his own animal nature must be transformed -- and so, he
engages in the (outward) ritual of animal sacrifice -- doing outwardly, what he
must accomplish within himself. And when AskMoses.com states that we must
sacrifice our inner animals, is this any different than the teachings of Yeshua
in the Gospel of the Nazirenes: "For they, making a god
of their belly, sacrificed to their God the innocent creatures of the earth, in
place of the carnal nature within themselves. And eating of their flesh and
drinking of their blood to their own destruction, corrupted their bodies and
shortened their days, even as the Gentiles who did not know the truth, or who
knowing it, have changed it into a lie."
Only those who make their body-vessel a Living Temple -- and in the words of
AskMoses.com, they must "...sacrifice our inner
animals—our hormones, our lusts, our desires, our beastly compulsions"
-- and is this any different than the words of Paul when he commanded the
Gentiles to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs
to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV)? Or the requirement that
“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if
ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live”
(Rom 8:13 KJV)? Which means that we must transform the
beastly predator of carnal man's lower nature, into an unblemished perfect lamb
that is a fit sacrifice on the altar of our Inner Living Temple. And this
state of required purity and consecration is exactly what is stated by Isaiah
where it is written: "And a highway will be there; it will
be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be
for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it"
(Isa 35:8 NIV).
It is important to recognize that under the Law of Moses, the Jews were ONLY
permitted to perform animal sacrifice in ONE place -- i.e., the Jerusalem
Temple. And when it is understood that the temple in Jerusalem was an
allegorical portrayal of the Living Temple that the seeker/disciple must
transform in their own body-vessel, then it is their understanding that it is
their own lower animal nature that must be raised up as an unspotted lamb, and
sacrificed on the altar of their own transformed body-temple. Which
is why the literal text of the Old Testament is portrayed as the
"letter that killeth" when the Jews fail to
understand the spiritual meaning of the allegorical text, and apply what Jesus
call the Key of Knowledge
-- turning the scriptures within their own consciousness, mind and being. Yet,
the message and meaning is of the utmost importance.
As explained at
What
Difference Does It Make, man is of the fourth kingdom -- with the lower
three kingdoms of mineral, vegetable and animal as part of his earthly
consciousness. That man's lower animal nature in many instances rules and
controls his consciousness and being (see
Organic
Man Ruled Over By His Lower Animal Nature ), which is the cause of much of
the violence and brutality in the world. And because we fail to comprehend
the Cosmology of Mind and Being (
http://SoulSelf.org ), and remain ignorant of the fact that in many people
what we have is the beast walking in the forum of man, there are countless
elements within our modern culture that actually causes and supports the beast
in man to prevail in our society. Further, Paul emphatically warns that
Christians and Jews who remain at the level of what he portrays as of a
"natural" organic human consciousness, are
incapable of comprehending either the higher reality of the Soul, or the true
spiritual meaning of the scriptures, because as Paul asserts the faith-based
believers of a "natural" mind are of an
"animal-soul" level of consciousness and
understanding (see
What
Difference Does It Make) -- and therefore remain totally carnal and
earth-bound in their thinking because they are ruled over by their lower animal
nature.
Enlightened Jewish Perspective: Quoting
the Jewish Vegetarian web site:
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son Rabbi Eleazar hid
in a cave for thirteen years after Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was condemned to
death by the Roman conquerors of Jerusalem for speaking out against them,
following the murders of Rabbi Akiva and many others. While they lived in a
cave, they were sustained by their studies of the Torah, a local stream, and a
nearby carob tree for their food. These great sages demonstrated that a
vegetarian diet, like the manna the Israelites received in the Sinai desert, is
enough to sustain a person as well as a people.
When the wisdom of Rabbi Yochai is understood, what he is verifying is the teachings of Jesus on the Kingdom within and the Final Temple (see above) as TheWay to open the inner "narrow strait gate". Thus, continuing to quote the Jewish Vegetarian web site: "Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught that our world and the unseen 'higher' worlds are unified, as manifestations of the Divine Soul, and that the meaning of life is to reunify Creation with the source of Creation. He also affirmed that the 'crown' of a good name, doing good deeds, is the most important thing, even more so than studying Torah, and is within the reach of everyone. He further asked that his day of passing be a day of celebration. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai died on Lag B'Omer."
Rabbi Yochai had himself opened the inner Gate to the Kingdom by living the necessary Consecrated Life -- and having himself come to learn in the Presence of the True Prophet (see http://TheThreeLies.com#TrueProphet ), the Truth and Higher Reality was revealed and taught to him -- and openly admitted a fact that few Jews understand, as stated in the words that "...He also affirmed that the 'crown' of a good name, doing good deeds, is the most important thing, even more so than studying Torah, and is within the reach of everyone."
Why? Because it is the living of the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount (see The Laws) that has the power to release the sincere believer/seeker from The Prison that Jesus taught about. And once free of the shackles of The Prison that keeps man in ignorance because of the debts incurred, one is then able to invoke those Laws (see The Womb Of Mother Earth - Man And Woman - Transformation And Rebirth), that has the potential to bring about the next stage of birth that Jesus taught was necessary to enter into the Promise of Life.
When properly understood, the mystical wisdom of Rabbi Yochai was confirmed by Rabbi Israel Ben Eliezer who came to be known as the Baal Shem Tov. Like Rabbi Yochai, Rabbi Eliezer also taught that Torah study was not necessary for people to prevail in TheWay. Quoting the web site Enlightened Spirituality under the heading of The Baal Shem Tov: "In Kabbalah, G-d or YHWH, 'I AM WHO AM,' exists both as the absolutely transcendent principle of pure Infinity, Ein Sof (without boundary or end) and also as the immanent divine principle within the spacetime worlds. The latter principle, the Shekhinah, came to be identified with the neshâmah, the divine, innermost spark of the soul, beyond sin. In the unredeemed, unenlightened person, the person fallen from grace, the Shekhinah is in exile, alienated from its origin in the absolute Divine. A person’s task, therefore, is to re-unite his essential self, the divine neshâmah spark, or Shekhinah, with G-d. Traditionally it was always thought, and is still thought, that the long-awaited Mashiach (Moshiah, Messiah) would help in—or even miraculously accomplish in full—this work of reunion. Alas, over the centuries, the Mashiach apparently never having come, the date of his impending arrival uncertain, and the suffering of the Jewish people not abating to any significant degree but exacerbated by the shocking debacle of Shabbetai Tzevi's apostasy to Islam, the Jews, by and large, had become a melancholy and uninspired group. The Ba`al Shem Tov’s mission was to infuse a new vitality into his people."
Thus, Rabbi Eliezer correctly portrays the soul as being beyond sin -- but what is not understood is that the soul does not itself inter into this world -- but maintains is sinless state as a Being of Light ( http://BeingOfLight.com ) -- and we are an embryonic image of our soul that is projected into this world at our physical conception (see Man As An Embryonic Soul-Image). Man can only begin the process "...to re-unite his essential self, the divine neshâmah spark, or Shekhinah, with G-d", when he first overcomes his inherent division between the shadow-image that he is in this world, with his true soul-self that is not incarnate in the body-vessel. The problem is that the Jews will never uncover the true meaning of the Torah, until they begin to seek the true spiritual meaning of the written text (see An Inconvenient Truth). And the true meaning of the scriptures is not at all historical -- but rather, an allegorical presentation of the Laws and Forces of Mind that we must evolve by prevailing over the Laws within our own mind and being -- which is exactly what Jesus taught to his inner core of disciples.
The word Nazirene comes from the biblical term Nazir, which denotes one who is under a vow. Thus, the Commandment of the Lord reads: "The LORD said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of separation to the LORD as a Nazirite, he must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or from other fermented drink. He must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as he is a Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. During the entire period of his vow of separation no razor may be used on his head. He must be holy until the period of his separation to the LORD is over; he must let the hair of his head grow long. Throughout the period of his separation to the LORD he must not go near a dead body. Even if his own father or mother or brother or sister dies, he must not make himself ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the symbol of his separation to God is on his head. Throughout the period of his separation he is consecrated to the LORD" (Num 6:1-8 NIV).
A Nazirite was one who was Anointed by
the Lord to teach or free His people from enslavement to the forces of this
world. Thus, it is written: "Again the Israelites did
evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the
Philistines for forty years. A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan
of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. The angel of
the LORD appeared to her and said, You are sterile and childless, but you are
going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other
fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will
conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the
boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the
deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines" (Judg 13:1-5
NIV).
When Samson explained to Delilah the source of his super-human strength, he said
to her: "No razor has ever been used on my head, he
said, because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head
were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other
man. When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the
rulers of the Philistines, Come back once more; he has told me everything. So
the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. Having
put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of
his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him"
(Judg 16:17-19 NIV).
A Nazir, Nazirite or Nazirene, is one who takes a vow to abstain from the things of this world -- to be set apart -- to be in the world and not of it -- and consecrate himself to God. A Nazirene has always been used in reference to a Holy Man who possessed the gift of spiritual vision, knowledge, prophesy, psychic perception and ecstatic insight into man's higher reality. Another important element in the term Nazir is its linguistic relation to the words Nezer and Netzer -- meaning one of whom it can be said that they represent a militant message of freedom from "worldly Kings" and their secular wickedness.
In order to be a Nazirene one must so purify and consecrate their physical body and mind so as to be set wholly apart for the Lord. Thus, the Nazirene must become the very definition of the requirement to be in the world and not of it. A Nazirene cannot hold allegiance to manmade doctrines, traditions, or religious institutions. A Nazirene knows that there is only One True teacher (see The True Prophet) of the true meaning of the scriptures -- and he lives in such a faithful way and contrite manner, that he receives instruction directly from the Lord. Thus, a Nazirene must so live their life that the inner door of utterance from the Holy Spirit will be opened, and they will be taught directly from God -- "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4 NKJ); "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" (Eph 6:18-20 NKJ); "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak" (Col 4:2-4 KJV).
An Important Article On A Man's Hair And Beard Quoted from The Truth About Hair
Why Native Americans Kept Their Hair Long
"Each part of the body has highly
sensitive work to perform
This data has been hidden from the public since the Vietnam War.
Our culture leads people to believe that hair style
is a matter of personal preference, that hair style is a matter of
fashion and-or convenience, and that how people wear their hair is
simply a cosmetic issue. Back in the Vietnam war however, an
entirely different picture emerged, one that has been carefully
covered up and hidden from public view.
"Some native tribes even scalped their live
enemies. The story of Sampson and Delilah in the Bible has a lot of encoded truth to tell us. When Delilah cut Sampson’s hair, the once undefeatable Sampson was defeated. More About Your Hair. See also Concerning The Tradition of Long Hair and Beards. |
Click Above for an additional article exploring the sensory power of hair
What You See In The Scriptures
Is Directly Related To Your Own Spiritual Condition
To the Ephesians Paul asks for them to pray for him, saying: "And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" (see Eph 6:19-20). What is the meaning of the word "mystery"? Thayer's Lexicon states that it is a "hidden thing, secret, mystery... confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals. A hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding. Of God: The secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men... in rabinic writings, it denotes the mystic or hidden sense of an Old Testament saying..."
What Paul is stating is that he is an ambassador who has been sent to speak to the people -- and that because they are yet too carnal to understand the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom, he cannot speak openly as to his true knowledge. Thayer's Lexicon uses the term initiate -- and an initiate is one who has become prepared to receive higher instruction and revelation. In the parable of the sower and the seed ( http://messianic.nazirene.org/sower_seed.html ), those who bring forth sixtyfold can perceive and understand a higher perception and understanding of what Paul calls the Mysteries of the Kingdom, than those who have brought forth thirtyfold -- and while the one who has brought forth one hundredfold can perceive and understand what others cannot, those who have not brought about the process of expansion by becoming the "good ground", can not understand anything of any true sustenance and spiritual value. Because the people are not yet initiates into the knowledge that is beyond the understanding of "...ordinary mortals" -- secret knowledge that is "...not obvious to the understanding" -- knowledge that is not revealed in the written text of the scriptures -- knowledge that Paul, as "...an ambassador in bonds", cannot speak openly about to them. Again, to the Colossians Paul asks for their prayers that "...God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak" (see Col 5:3-4). Thus, these mysteries of the Gospel that the believers of a "natural" mind will look upon as "foolishness", can not be revealed by man's word -- but only when "...God`...opens ...a door of utterance, to [reveal] the mystery of Christ" -- a knowledge that cannot be revealed "...to ordinary mortals. A hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding" -- including "...the mystic or hidden sense of an Old Testament" story.
When Jesus said of his disciples: “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding” (Mark 4:11-12 NIV) -- that word translated secret, is the same word translated mystery, and makes reference to esoteric knowledge that is beyond man's organic comprehension. In explanation of the above words of Jesus, the Wycliffe Commentary writes that: “…the initiate was instructed in the esoteric teaching of the cult, which was not revealed to outsiders… The mystery of the kingdom in its ultimate development is the full-orbed message of the Gospel (Rom 16:25-26). The purpose of parables was to instruct the initiates without revealing the items of instruction to the ones who were without. This is in keeping with the Biblical principle that spiritual understanding is restricted to those who have become spiritual...”
What Jesus was
stating, is that only those who become separate from the thinking and ways of
this world, and become true disciples of Messiah/Christ, are able to perceive
and understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God -- and this sacred Knowledge is
called Gnosis. And by the very meaning of the word that is being presented
that cannot be revealed "...to ordinary mortals. A
hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding" -- it is
of the utmost importance to recognized that what is being conveyed is the fact
that t spiritual understanding is restricted to those
who have become spiritual...”. It is not that a more advanced
spiritual soul wishes to conceal higher knowledge from others -- but rather, in
the same way that kindergarteners are not prepared to study and comprehend at a
university level -- neither are the organic minded earth-bound people of this
world, prepared to understand the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries
of the Kingdom of God. In the same way that the mind of the kindergartener
must develop and mature, so too must the mind of man begin the process of
expansion beyond organic limits that are supported by the physical
body-vessel. And this is exactly what Paul states when he writes:
"However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature,
yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to
nothing" (1 Cor 2:6 NKJ). The King James Version reads that wisdom
can only be revealed to those who are "perfect"
-- but what must be understood is that each soul can only perceive and
comprehend in accordance with their own level of soul-evolution and spiritual
development.
Of equal importance is the wisdom just following this statement that only the
mature can perceive and comprehend the hidden truths of the Spirit -- hidden,
because the organic mind of the physical body only supports that area of mind
and being that is of the vibration of the earth -- and what is beyond this very
basic level, must be developed by the disciple who walks in TheWay. Thus, Paul
writes: "But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor
ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has
prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us through His
Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For
what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?
Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have
received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we
might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we
also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit
teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does
not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him;
nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is
spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For
'who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?' But we have the
mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:9-16 NKJ)
When Paul uses the term Christ -- the English translation of the word is the
Anointing (Messiah/Christ) -- and the objective of the teachings of the New
Covenant is embodied in the words: "My little children,
of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you" (Gal
4:19 KJV). And this objective is further presented in the goal that all those
who are of an organic mind and spiritually immature, will evolve
"to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:13 NKJ). But to understand what Paul is
presenting, it is important to understand one of the surviving quotations of the
Original Matthew known as the Gospel of the Hebrews/Ebionites where St. Jerome
preserved the text at the baptism (quoting Jerome): "But
according to the gospel which the Nazaraeans read, written up in Hebrew speech:
The whole fount of the holy spirit shall descend over him.... Further on in the
gospel of which we made mention above we find these things written: But it
happened that, when the Lord ascended from the water, the whole fount of the
holy spirit descended and rested over him, and said to him: My son, in all the
prophets I was expecting you, that you should come, and I might rest in you. You
indeed are my rest. You are my firstborn son, who reigns in eternity." To
which Jerome correctly explains "not partially
as in the case of other holy men."
While the prophets
and holy men of the past had received the Anointing (Messiah/Christ) that
enabled them to understand the Mysteries of the Kingdom to the degree that they
were able to receive the Anointing, only Jesus had so fulfilled the Law within
himself, and was therefore able to receive "...the
whole fount of the Holy Spirit". Thus, this original teaching is
preserved by the early Church writer Hippolytus when he stated that Jesus
"was justified by fulfilling the Law. He was the Christ of
God, since not one of the rest of mankind had observed the Law completely. Had
any one else fulfilled the commandments of the Law, he would have been the
Christ." And in speaking of this
original Ebionite Nazirene position, he writes that when each disciple
"...thus fulfills the law, they are able to become
Christs, for they assert that our Lord Himself was a man in like sense with all
humanity." (Hippolytus, Refut. Omn.
Haer. vii. 34). And it is this spiritually evolved objective of the
teachings of the New Covenant that Paul is making reference to when he states
that each believer is to be matured into "...a perfect
man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph
4:13 NKJ)
In the case of the historical man Jesus who totally fulfilled the Law within
himself, he was in
“supernatural union of a man and God... In their [his
Ebionite Nazirene disciples] eyes, Jesus of Nazareth was a mere mortal, the
legitimate son of Joseph and Mary: but he was the best and wisest of the human
race, selected as the worthy instrument to restore upon earth the worship of the
true and supreme Deity. When he was baptized in the Jordan, the Christ, the
first of the aeons, the Son of God himself, descended on Jesus in the form of a
dove, to inhabit his mind, and direct his actions during the allotted period of
his ministry” (Gibbon; The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire, V.4,
P.366) The Son of God is the True Prophet (see
True Prophet), who
was called the Logos among the Greeks, the Teacher of Righteousness among the
Essenes -- and for those who correctly understand the original teachings on the
Trinity, the Logos is the Mind of God.
The reality of the lost prodigal sons and daughters plight in this, the Far Country, is seen in the quotation of Clement of Alexandria who portrayed the vast majority of people as "...Atheists who destroy and pollute, as far as in them lies, the Deity dwelling in them - that is, the Logos -- by association with their vices”. Why Atheists? Because if they truly believed, then they would live the Truth in every aspect of the lives that they live. The Truth is not known by those who believe from the perspective of the organic mind of what Paul portrays as the "natural" mind of man which is earth-bound and blind to the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God -- but rather, the Truth can only be known by those who become the Final Temple -- and in accordance with each person's success in becoming the "good ground" in the parable of the Sower and the Seed. With the ultimate level of spiritual success in the pattern of Jesus who was able to achieve Absolute Oneness with the Indwelling Logos/Son of God/True Prophet. And this is the purpose of living the Consecrated Life in TheWay that Jesus taught.
The living of the necessary Consecrated Life cannot be discarded! As stated by Jesus himself: "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46 KJV). Paul states that we must each come to the "...fullness of Christ ...that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting" (Eph 4:14 NKJ). And this can only be accomplished when each believer lives the Consecrated Life that enables them to become the Final Temple -- striving to purify one's self in accord with the pattern of Jesus as stated in the words: “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 Jn 3:3 NIV) -- becoming the Anointed (Messiah/Christ) that enables the disciple to be taught by the Indwelling True Prophet -- as stated by John: "These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him" (I Jn 2:26-27 NKJ).
The degree that each disciple can know the Truth, is in accord with the level of Anointing (Messiah/Christ) they are able to receive -- i.e., "But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For 'who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:9-16 NKJ). The written word of the scriptures are made for those who are immature -- i.e., those who Paul portrays as "babes in Christ". The objective of the New Covenant teaching is for each person to grow to maturity and receive the Anointing (Messiah/Christ) -- which connects us to the Indwelling Logos/Son of God/True Prophet -- i.e., "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him" -- and this is why Peter is quoted in the Homilies as stating with respect to the Indwelling True Prophet: "...For He is within the mind of every one of us, but in those who have no desire of the knowledge of God and His righteousness, He is inoperative; but He works in those who seek after that which is profitable to their souls, and kindles in them the light of knowledge. Wherefore seek Him first of all; and if you do not find Him, expect not that you shall learn anything from any other. But He is soon found by those who diligently seek Him through love of the truth, and whose souls are not taken possession of by wickedness. For He is present with those who desire Him in the innocence of their spirits, who bear patiently, and draw sighs from the bottom of their hearts through love of the truth; but He deserts malevolent minds, because as a prophet He knows the thoughts of every one. And therefore let no one think that he can find Him by his own wisdom, unless, as we have said, he empty his mind of all wickedness, and conceive a pure and faithful desire to know Him. For when any one has so prepared himself, He Himself as a prophet, seeing a mind prepared for Him, of His own accord offers Himself to his knowledge” (see True Prophet ). Those who love Him, and desire to seek the Truth, are those who live the Consecrated Life in TheWay.
When Paul stated to the believers in the Churches: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1) -- what he was stating was that until the believers of the simple faith begin to live the necessary lifestyle that is portrayed as the "good ground" in the parable of the Sower and the Seed (see Sower And The Seed), that it will remain impossible for them to understand the true meaning of the Gospel -- and this sacred Knowledge can only be taught by those who are able to receive Gnosis from the True Prophet/Logos/Son of God (see True Prophet). The disciples possessed the eyes to see and understand, because as it is written: "Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures" (Luke 24:45) -- and this higher enlightened perception and understanding that the mind of organic man is incapable of understanding, is called Gnosis.
All
Genuine Religions Are Gnostic: The term Gnostic is derived from the Greek
word "gnosis", which is the term used to
both delineate and define experiential spiritual knowledge, vs knowledge derived
through human reasoning based upon the natural consciousness of mankind. The
word "gnosis" is defined as indicating
"...direct spiritual experiential knowledge rather than
from rational or reasoned thinking". The objective of all genuine
religions, is to bring about that condition within the mind and life of the
individual where they are able to fulfill the statement in the Gospel of John,
and be "taught by God" -- i.e.,
"It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be
taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father
comes to Me" (John 6:45 NKJ). And it was for this reason that Jesus
commanded his disciples not to be called teacher or rabbi -- i.e.,
"But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have One
Teacher, and you are all brethren" (Matt 23:8 RSV) -- and this was
commanded, because there is Only One True Teacher, and that is the True Prophet
(see True Prophet).
And that those lost prodigal sons who look to other men as their teacher, rabbi
or leaders, will be greatly deceived and misguided, is why the disciple Peter in
the Clementine Homilies declared: “Hence, O
beloved Clement, if you
would know the things pertaining to God, you have to learn them from Him alone,
because He alone knows the truth. For if any one else knows anything, he has
received it from Him or from His disciples”.
The Wisdom and Knowledge that the True Prophet (Son of God/Logos) imparts to those who are worthy, is called Gnosis. And Gnosis cannot be written in the words of man -- or even taught by man -- because Gnosis is defined as Spiritual Knowledge, or the Divine Manna of the Kingdom, that can only be received directly from the True Prophet to those who are themselves true spiritual seekers. In the words of the second century Elder Valentinus: "Gnosis was distinct from the secret teachings they only revealed to initiates once they had reached a certain level of progression." And the whole objective of the teachings of TheWay as revealed by Yeshua/Jesus, was to prepare the mind of the disciple to receive the revelation of Gnosis -- i.e., the Divine Manna of the Kingdom -- from the indwelling True Prophet/Logos/Son of God that is dormant within the minds of carnal believers.
From the perspective of the teachings of Yeshua/Jesus and TheWay, the perpetual array of End Times prophecies represent the absolute folly of the religious world who have raised up generation after generation of doomsday prophets -- and yet, not a single one has ever had any genuine understanding of the true meaning of the End Times. We often hear quotations taken from the Book of Daniel -- and yet, to their own detriment the would be prophets completely ignore the fact that in order for Daniel to be given the ability to interpret allegorical dreams, visions and the written word of God, he was required to cleanse and purify his body -- and make it holy. As stated in the test of Daniel: "Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see. So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds." (Dan 1:8-17 NIV). Can anyone simply open the scriptures and have the power to "...understand visions and dreams of all kinds?" Not at all!!! And such a power and ability could only be given to a seeker who has manifest and brought about the above teachings on building and purifying the Body-Temple. Further, the purification and transformation of the body and organic mind is portrayed in the allegory of Daniel and the three being thrown in the furnace, is merely another way of portraying the reality of the words: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22 NKJ). That the carnal prophets fail to understand the spiritual meaning of the End Times, is in fact why generation after generation of doomsday prophets have all proven to be frauds. And this is why the modern religious world does not at all understand the spiritual meaning behind the apocalyptic visions in the Bible.
Yeshua/Jesus emphatically stated that the Kingdom would never come upon the earth as carnal men predict (see http://GateOfEden.com -- because it is within you -- and can only come within the disciple who makes himself the Living Temple -- which is the true meaning of both Daniel and the Revelation, and reality of the words: "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful" (Rev 21:27 NIV). And the fact that the disciple must strive to overcome their lower carnal animal nature, and make their body-vessel a Living Temple, is seen in the words: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22 NKJ) -- and the Kingdom of God is within us.
The true spiritual meaning of both Daniel, and the Revelation is seen in the words: "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practic
es a lie" (Rev 22:14-15 NKJ). If the text of the Revelation represented the end of the world, as is commonly believed by the majority of Christians today, then why are those who remain outside the city portrayed as "dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie"? Armageddon, then, indicates the disciples personal tribulation described as the "pangs of birth" (Matt 24:8), as the disciple of TheWay who is Spiritual Israel, endeavors to overcome his own lower carnal nature through the crucifixion of what is symbolized by the flesh, in order that he can possess the Knowledge which is the Sacred Manna or the fruit of the Tree of Life, transcend the natural barriers of this world, and "enter through the gates into the city".
The End Times is the coming of the Kingdom
within the body and mind of the disciple.
That the
disciples of Yeshua/Jesus experienced the
"pangs of birth"
of walking in TheWay (see
http://GateOfEden.
While the Jews should be known as those who brought the Messianic teachings of TheWay into the world -- and should be the guides for the people of the Nations -- they have instead been despised and rejected because they have turned upon their own Spiritual Essence. The very place where their temple of this world once stood, is an Islamic Mosque which has inhibited the Jews from once again embracing the way of the flesh, and attempting to rebuild their temple of abomination. For them not to recognize that it is the Will of God that this shadow temple where innocent animal blood is shed, represents the absolute folly of the Jews.
As demonstrated in the above AskMoses.com article, there is no difference between the spiritual concepts that Yeshua/Jesus taught, and what is necessary to become a Living Temple that becomes the Anointed (Messiah/Christ) of the Most High. Yeshua/Jesus did not teach that he was God incarnate (see http://TheTenWords.com . And this fact that Yeshua was a man who became the Anointed (Messiah/Christ), has been proven by the Dead Sea Scrolls and other discoveries (see Ebionite Denial). Nowhere in the New Testament Gospels does it teach the doctrine of what is known as the Trinity (see The Christian Judas). And while these doctrinal beliefs were adopted by the later Pagan Christians, the Jews should have maintained what was true, in order fulfill their role as a Holy Nation who was set aside to guide the Gentiles into TheWay. And while many Jews look upon these manmade doctrines of belief as heresy, the greatest heresy of all is seen in the fact that the vast majority of Jews are totally ignorant of the reality that the true requirement of Judaism is seen in the necessity to make their own body-vessel into a Living Temple where they are able to become the Messiah, and meet with their God. And in the same way that AskMoses.com states that "This was G-d’s Master Plan. By exchanging a sweeping, dramatic outdoor concert of public spirituality for an internal, personal, private experience, G-d was bringing Himself even closer to humanity, laying the groundwork for the Third and final Temple—an age that will synthesize G-d’s presence inside our hearts and minds and in the world around us in a totally new reality: the Era of Moshiach" -- this is exactly what Yeshua taught, and his disciples believed as seen in the words that Yeshua "...was justified by fulfilling the Law. He was the Messiah/Christ of God, since not one of the rest of mankind had observed the Law completely. Had any one else fulfilled the commandments of the Law, he would have been the Messiah/Christ."
That Yeshua/Jesus did not endorse the outward ritual which AskMoses.com describes as a "...sweeping, dramatic outdoor concert of public" exhibition of animal sacrifice as many of the carnal Jews of his day, is to be expected of one who was sent to inaugurate "...the Third and final Temple—an age that will synthesize G-d’s presence inside our hearts and minds and in the world around us in a totally new reality: the Era of Moshiach." If God desired temple sacrifice and ritual worship, then no force on earth could have destroyed the Jerusalem Temple -- much less build a Mosque that would inhibit the Jews from returning to their Old Covenant ways of animal sacrifice and ritual worship -- i.e., "He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog's neck; he who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine's blood; he who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations, So will I choose their delusions, and bring their fears on them; because, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke they did not hear; but they did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight" (Isa 66:3-4 NKJ). But God wanted mankind to know that the Kingdom is within each of us, and the journey of the soul must be accomplished by making your very body-vessel a Holy and Consecrated Temple where you enter within the Holy of Holies, and meet with the Divine. This is the Spiritual Essence of Judaism that the vast majority of Jews totally fail to understand.
If the Jews are the people who were supposed to reveal the Messiah to the world, what better way than to teach them that the historical Yeshua became the Anointed, by fulfilling the Law within himself, and moving into Oneness with the Most High? Once rightly understood, the parable of the prodigal son is no different than the journey of the soul as presented in the Zohar. The following quotation is taken from The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, under the heading of Souls, Transmigration of: “The doctrine of transmigration of souls, which was especially accepted by the Karaites… is generally attacked by Jewish philosophers, but is defended by Isaac Abravanel and Manasseh ben Israel. It appears often in Cabala; it is found in organized form in the Zohar, it is further developed in the teachings of Isaac Luria (1534-1572), and in Hasidism it becomes a universal belief. According to these teachings, all human souls have a common origin in the spiritual unity of the primordial man, sparks of which form the individual souls... The sin of Adam brought higher and lower souls into confusion; as a result, every soul has to pass through a series of incarnations... The soul itself has no sex, which is determined by the body and may vary from incarnation to incarnation”. And in the Zohar which is referenced in the above, a doctrine of Jewish Mysticism, it is written that: “All souls are subject to the trials of transmigration; and men do not know the designs of the Most High with regard to them… The souls must re-enter the absolute substance whence they have emerged. But to accomplish this end they must develop all the perfections, the germ of which is planted in them; and if they have not fulfilled this condition during one life, they must commence another, a third, and so forth, until they have acquired the condition which fits them for reunion with God”. This reunion with God is the rebirth that was spoken of by Jesus to the Pharisee Nicodemus, “a ruler of the Jews”. And the fact that the Christians have alienated themselves from the knowledge of the Journey of the Soul, is because they have adopted the doctrinal beliefs of a Roman Circus Prostitute (see http://ChristianReincarnation.org ).
That the carnal Jews rejected what Yeshua taught with respect to making your body a Living Temple, is understood, because they had yet to fulfill the Law within themselves, and were incapable of "...having acquired the condition which fits them for reunion with God”. But Jews of spiritual vision should know better. That Christians in like manner remain lost and groping in this world, is in part because the Jews reject their finest example of the one who fulfilled the Law within himself -- and thereby proved the superior teachings of Judaism. And that the Christians worship the Jesus-god of Constantine and Pagan Rome, should not trouble wise Jews -- because it is natural for the people of the Nations to worship not only everything under the sun -- but even the sun itself.
People are speaking in tongues -- hearing voices in their head who claim to be Jesus, the Virgin Mother, the Holy Spirit, and even God -- but who are they actually hearing? The teachings of Yeshua/Jesus are spiritual, and embody the reality that the disciple will learn from the One Teacher who he will find in the Temple and Kingdom within. It is also taught by Jesus that the people who live in accordance with the teachings and customs of this world, will be severely influenced by demons and discarnate spirits -- as seen in the teaching of Peter in the Clementine Homilies: "But the reason why the demons delight in entering into men's bodies is that, being disembodied spirits and having perverted desires after meat and sex, but not being able to partake of these due to being spirits, and wanting organs fitted for their enjoyment, they enter the bodies of men in order to gain organs with which to satisfy their lusts, both meat and sex." Peter further taught that we open the door to these demons and discarnate spirits when we eat dead flesh at the table of demons: "But you are still ignorant of this law, that everyone who worships demons or their idols, or sacrifices to them, or partakes with them of their table, shall become subject to them and receive all punishment from them, as being under wicked lords. And you who, on account of ignorance of this law, have been corrupted beside their altars, and have been satiated with food offered to them, have come under their power, and do not know you have been in every way injured in respect of your bodies. But you ought to know that the demons have no power over any one, unless first he be their table-companion; since not even their chief can do anything contrary to the law imposed upon them by God wherein the demons have no power over any one who does not worship them by being their table-companions in the eating of flesh.... But you, being ignorant of the foreordained law, are under the power of the chief of demons through evil deeds, wherefore you are polluted in body and soul, and in the present life you are tyrannized over by sufferings and demons.... If therefore, ye wish to be the vesture of the Divine Spirit,.... neither believe in idols, nor partake with them of the impure table...."
What Peter is stating is that the very presence of dead animals in the body opens the door for the vibration of death -- i.e., demons and discarnate spirits -- to bring the person under their demonic control. It was for this reason in the Gospel of the Nazirenes that Jesus stated that those believers of the simple faith could not be admitted into the inner core of the New Covenant while still eating the flesh of slain beasts: "And again that one asked, If anyone comes to us who eats flesh and drinks strong drink, how shall we receive them? And Yeshua said to him, Let such a person abide in the outer court until they cleanse themselves from these grosser evils; for till they perceive, and repent of these, they are not fit to receive the higher mysteries." What this is further teaching is the reality that those who eat meat cannot enter the Kingdom within, and cannot learn directly from the One Teacher.
In the above quotation of Peter there is another important statement that few people today have any understanding of whatsoever -- i.e., "But the reason why the demons delight in entering into men's bodies is that, being disembodied spirits and having perverted desires after ...sex, but not being able to partake of these due to being spirits, and wanting organs fitted for their enjoyment, they enter the bodies of men in order to gain organs with which to satisfy their lusts [for] sex." What is not at all understood is the reality that the disembodied spirits that Peter is making reference to, controls the people's thinking and drives them into a lifestyle where sexual perversion is the norm -- and having joined themselves to the person, they are able to freely engage in lives of wanton immorality. The question then becomes: Are we real? Or temporal? In quoting from the subheading Reincarnation A Counterfeit Belief: Reality can perhaps best be envisioned by injecting a little science fiction into the equation. From an X-Files perspective, if we were born into this world as a reflection and image of our pre-existent soul, and an alien being in the manner of a body-snatcher took over our life -- displacing and suppressing the person we truly are with a foreign personality -- when the body dies, and the alien is released, how much of our life did we actually live during the time when our true nature was suppressed -- when we existed in a sort of coma -- and some other being used our body in our absence? The truth of the matter would be that we were robbed of our life because the genuine person we were was suppressed -- existing only in a state of suspended animation -- while an alien being walked in us -- talked in us -- and used our opportunity of life for their own purposes. If our true self -- i.e., our higher soul-self -- already exists in a super-conscious state of being in a parallel dimension of mind and being -- and we permit our life to be taken over by what Peter portrays as a host of disembodied spirits and even demons who control our thinking and life -- then the question becomes: As an embryonic image, how real and genuine are we? If what we have become in our very carnal and earth-bound existence does not in any manner reflect our true nature and form, then it can be said in the final analysis, we are little more than a bad dream that our true self that remains totally alien to us, became immersed in by the culture of this world -- i.e., the obscure and long ignored statement of Paul: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world..." (Col 2:8 NIV). Why? Because the hollow and deceptive philosophies based upon purely carnal human reasoning founded upon the basic principles of this world, will totally alienate the person from their true soul-reality -- causing them to be a counterfeit shadow of a true self that they know absolutely nothing about.
While these teachings of Jesus might sound alien to us today, there are countless first century writings that demonstrate their genuineness. In another writing known as The Essene Gospel of Piece which was found by a priest who was working in the Vatican Library, these same teachings are very clearly presented when Jesus tells the carnal Jews why they are blind to man's indwelling spiritual reality. Like the words of Peter in the Homilies of his disciple Clement, the Essene Gospel of Peace warns that "...Satan will have his dwelling in his body. And the flesh of slain beasts in his body will become his own tomb. For I tell you truly, he who kills, kills himself, and whoso eats the flesh of slain beasts, eats of the body of death." The Gospel then goes on where it is written: "Jesus said: You do not understand the words of Life, because you are in Death. Darkness darkens your eyes and your ears are stopped with deafness. For I tell you, it Profits you not at all that you pore over Dead Scriptures if by your deeds you deny him who has given you the Scriptures. I tell you truly, God and his Laws are not in that which you do. They are not in Gluttony and Wine-Bibbing, Flesh Eating, neither in Riotous Living, nor in Lustfulness, nor in seeking after Riches, nor yet in Hatred of your Enemies. For all these things are far from the True God and his Angels. But all these things come from the Kingdom of Darkness and the Lord of all Evils. And all these things do you carry in yourselves; and so the Word and the Power of God enter not into you, because all manner of Evil and all manner of Abominations have their dwelling in your body and in your Spirit. If you will, that the living God’s Word and his Power may enter you, Defile not your Body and your Spirit; for the Body is the Temple of the Spirit, and the Spirit is the Temple of God. Purify, therefore, the Temple, that the Lord of the Temple may dwell therein and occupy a place that is worthy of GOD."
In our search for truth, we are presented with a uniform all-pervading doctrine which emerges from the first century people of the New Covenant -- a doctrine which portrays the absolute need to live in harmony with the Royal Law of the Most High. Moreover, these same words are relevant to the people who portray themselves as the followers and believers in Yeshua today. The body is the Temple of God -- and those who defile the temple are wasting their time when they philosophically call upon the name of the Lord. Those who purify the Temple, are those who truly believe in the Son of God, live in strict accord with his teachings, and permit the indwelling Light to fill every aspect of the True Christian's Life.
Christians today are as the men of Nineveh of whom it is said:
"And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city,
in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons
who cannot discern between their right hand and their left?"
Jonah 4:11
As
it was said to Job: "Then I will also confess to you
that your own right hand can save you" (Job 40:14 NKJ). And in the
Psalms: "You will show me the path of life; in Your
presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore...
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; you will stretch out
Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me"
(Ps 16:11;138:7 NKJ). Which is the reason why Jesus said that those on the
right will enter into life, while those on the left will inherit the tribulation
of their deeds and ways: "Then He will also say to
those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt 25:41 NKJ).
The Authority And
Power Of The Left Hand: Speaking of Simon Magus in the Clementine
writings, the Apostle Peter states:
"He is a power of the left hand of
God, and has authority to do harm to those who know not God, so that he has been
able to involve you in diseases; but by these very diseases, which have been
permitted to come upon you by the good providence of God, you, seeking and
finding him who is able to cure, have been compelled to submit to the will of
God on the occasion of the cure of the body, and to think of believing, in order
that in this way you may have your souls as well as your bodies in a healthy
state."
What does this mean? Ultimately what it means is that from a higher spiritual perspective, there is no such thing as evil -- and what man perceives as evil, is nothing more than the Left Hand of Correction driving man to seek what is good, and the prodigal sons Ultimate Life in the Edenic Kingdom of Origination (see http://GateOfEden.com ). In Peter's explanation of what man in his limited capacity would deem to be evil, Peter states that "...but by these very diseases, which have been permitted to come upon you by the good providence of God, you, seeking and finding him who is able to cure, have been compelled to submit to the will of God on the occasion of the cure of the body".
The modern believer, as well as all the lost prodigal sons and daughters who dwell under the power of what Jesus portrayed as the "Citizen... of the Far Country", can't come to terms with this important teaching, because their manmade doctrines of belief and their carnal thinking so limits their understanding, that they are unable to apply what is conveyed in the parable of the prodigal son to their own lives. They fail to understand that in the journey of the soul, they left the Kingdom of the Father -- and they cannot return until they fulfill the requirements of the very purpose that this world which is portrayed as the Far Country, was brought into existence as God's Divine School House. And because the Christians and people of an organic mind so limit their understanding, they fail to comprehend the meaning of the words: "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive" (Gen 50:20 NKJ).
Christians reason that if God permitted
the scriptures to become corrupted, then man would not know what to believe --
and they therefore promote the counterfeit doctrine that the scriptures are the
pure and infallible Word of God. Yet, just the opposite is true. Quoting the
article on Bible Corruption (
http://BibleCorruption.com ):
The Truth
is that if the Bible had not been corrupted, it would never have been adopted by
the Greeks and Romans
-- so just the opposite is true with respect to what
Christians believe. Thus, modern Christians cling to this doctrine of biblical
purity -- ignoring overwhelming evidence to the contrary -- evidence that
demonstrates conclusively that our Bible has been severely altered and edited --
because they fail to grasp the very foundational principles of the New Covenant
itself -- principles that are not historical, but spiritual. It is not until we
understand that the Bible is a road-map that leads us to the Gate of the
Kingdom, and the Word that is written in our hearts -- rather than a final
revelation from God to man -- that we are able to even begin to come to terms
with the Spiritual Gospel of Messiah/Christ that can never be corrupted.
Thus, God ordained the corruption of the written word of the scriptures
"...for good, in order to bring it about as it is this
day, to save many people alive." Each of the lost prodigal sons and
daughters must use their inherent gift of freewill, to return to the
Edenic Kingdom of Origination. And this
journey which evolves the soul of man to perfection -- i.e.,
"You, therefore, must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father
is Perfect" (Mt. 5:48) -- is controlled by the Left and Right Hands
of God which invoke the Laws that control every aspect of each man's life --
i.e., "A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD
directs his steps" (Prov 16:9 NKJ). And it is these steps which are
directed by the Laws of God, that drives each of the lost prodigal sons and
daughters in TheWay, that brings about their eventual perfection.
In his self-imposed limited understanding, man fails to comprehend the purpose
and reason for what he perceives to be evil. Yet, the written word of the
scriptures proclaims: "I form the light and create
darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.'"
(Isa 45:7 NKJ). And in his ignorance of the Laws, man condemns what he does
not understand, and fails to understand the true source of what to his own
demise he proclaims to be evil -- i.e., "Shall a
trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil
in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?" (Amos 3:6 KJV). Thus,
there is nothing that exists in this world, that has not been orchestrated by
the Laws of God -- i.e., "The LORD of hosts has sworn,
saying, "Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have
purposed, so it shall stand" (Isa 14:24 NKJ). And until a man
begins to understand the true source and purpose of what he calls evil, he
cannot know anything of any true substance.
While man in his lost and organic condition is inhibited from perceiving his own
higher soul and spiritual reality, he is provided fragments and partical truths
that is as the crumbs that fall under the Table of the Children (Mt. 15:27).
In the writings of Clement, the 2nd century Bishop of Alexandria, it
is explained that: “But among the lies, the
false prophets also told some true things. And in reality they prophesied ‘in an
ecstasy,’ as the servants of the apostate”. Using the
early Christian writing known as the Shepherd of Hermas (see http://nazirene.org/shepherd_of_hermas.htm
), Clement then explains: “And the Shepherd,
the angel of repentance, says to Hermas, of the false prophet: ‘For he speaks
some truths. For the devil fills him with his own spirit, if perchance he may be
able to cast down any one from what is right.’ All things, therefore, are
dispensed from heaven for good, ‘that by the Church may be made known the
manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal foreknowledge, which He
purposed in Christ.’ Nothing withstands God: nothing opposes Him: seeing He is
Lord and omnipotent. Further, the counsels and activities of those who have
rebelled, being partial, proceed from a bad disposition, as bodily diseases from
a bad constitution, but are guided by universal Providence to a salutary issue,
even though the cause be productive of disease. It is accordingly the greatest
achievement of divine Providence, not to allow the evil, which has sprung from
voluntary apostasy, to remain useless, and for no good, and not to become in all
respects injurious. For it is the work of the divine wisdom, and excellence, and
power, not alone to do good (for this is, so to speak, the nature of God, as it
is of fire to warm and of light to illumine), but especially to ensure that what
happens through the evils hatched by any, may come to a good and useful issue,
and to use to advantage those things which appear to be evils, as also the
testimony which accrues from temptation”.
Within these
words are contained a profound truth that all believers today must realize.
The Power of God is so all-encompassing, that even the apostate teachers and
prophets still serve the Lord. So, if we ask the question: Is the present
Christian Church the Church of God? Yes -- But not in the manner that most
Christians would understand. Is it not forewarned and written that:
“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord,
did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your
name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matt
7:22-23 NAS). Therefore, it is established that even among those who prophesy,
cast out demons, and perform many great miracles in the name of the Lord, they
are as Simon Magus, and have not part in the teachings of TheWay and the
Kingdom. This means that from your perspective as a believer, for you to be
faithful to the scriptures, you must question everything -- and that includes
every word that myself or anyone else writes for you to read. A true disciple
of the Light is one who proves the truth; not one who believes something because
it sounds good to his carnal mind.
Why would you listen to a man who tells you that you must believe, when Jesus himself commanded you to seek the Truth and the Kingdom -- stating that you should not only reject blind belief and the doctrines of men -- teaching that the means to know the Truth, is to Live the Truth -- i.e., “If any of you really determines to do God’s will, then you will certainly know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own” (John 7:17 TLB). And to each person who reads these words which I have written -- or have been written by God through me -- I can only affirm what Jesus already taught with respect to proving the Truth and TheWay.
With respect to the above statement of Peter portraying Simon Magus as "...a power of the left hand of God, and has authority to do harm to those who know not God", Peter explains about the Two Princes -- why God Ordains ministers and servants of the Left Hand to inflict what man sees as evil upon the lost prodigal sons and daughters -- and the spheres of dominion of the two Princes, one on the Left Hand of God, the other on the Right Hand: "For thus from the beginning was a law laid by God, the Creator of all things, on each of the two princes, him of the right hand and him of the left, that neither should have power over any one whom they might wish to benefit or to hurt, unless first he had sat down at the same table with them. As, then, when you partook of meat offered to idols, you became servants to the prince of evil, in like manner, if you cease from these things, and flee for refuge to God through the good Prince of His right hand, honoring Him without sacrifices, by doing whatsoever He wills, know of a truth that not only will your bodies be healed, but your souls also will become healthy. For He only, destroying with His left hand, can quicken with His right; He only can both smite and raise the fallen."
In Quoting The Law: I am God and
"I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal"
(Deut 32:39) -- and this is brought about through the Laws of God that was
brought into being in the beginning, and is further presented in the words:
"The Lord kills, and makes alive, He brings down to the
grave and brings up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich, he brings low and
lifts up" 1 Sam 2:6-7) -- Peter explains the workings of the Laws in
the Homilies: "But that
this is so, has been said even by the law in the person of God:
‘I will kill, and, I will make alive;
I will strike, and I will heal.'
For, in truth, He kills and makes alive. He kills through the left hand, that
is, through the evil one, who has been so composed as to rejoice in afflicting
the impious. And he saves and benefits through the right hand, that is, through
the good one, who has been made to rejoice in the good deeds and salvation of
the righteous."
The people of the simple faith that Paul warns will look upon the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of God as "foolishness", simply can't understand how and why God would kill and smite with the Left Hand, and heal and sustain with the Right Hand. And because they follow the dictates of Roman Emperors and manmade Pagan doctrines of belief, they are unable to understand the reality portrayed in the words: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Gal 6:7 NIV). And where organic man who dwells in what Jesus portrayed as the "outer darkness" of mind and being (see Outer Darkness), is incapable of understanding the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the God -- and is incapable of comprehending the journey of the soul and the manner in which the Laws force the prodigal son along the road that brings about his eventual perfection and return to the Edenic Kingdom, it is written: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isa 55:8-11 NKJ).
The ultimate Destiny of all the prodigal sons and daughters is portrayed in the words that "I have sworn by Myself, the Word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath" (Isa 45:23) -- and this Ultimate Destiny has been guaranteed from the beginning of Time and Creation, by the Laws which were instituted and put in effect. When a man deviates from the path that brings about this Ultimate Destiny in the perfection and return of each and every prodigal son back to the Edenic Kingdom of their Father, then the Laws correct the path, by returning back to him the fruit of his own words, thoughts, desires and deeds. And through the process of perpetually confronting self, the soul is slowly evolved to perfection.
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Fulfill The Royal Law
When the man addressed Jesus with the title of "good master", and asked him what he must do to have eternal life, Jesus replied: “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matt 19:17 KJV). If Jesus was God, he would have accepted the title of Good Master. He would have replied: Believe in me, and you will have eternal life. And if the Law was done away with as Christians maintain, he never would have told the man: "...but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments”. Paul correctly warns that the written Law is an allegory that contains an inner meaning not apparent to those who read the written word that he calls the "letter that killeth". And with respect to the deeper spiritual meaning, Jesus said: "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63 NIV). Before a believer can become a disciple of Jesus and TheWay, they must first fulfill the Law within themselves. And those who have remained of a natural organic mind, and have yet to bring about the transformation that fulfilling the Law initiates in their lives -- i.e., "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV). To the degree that Paul warned: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13 KJV) -- remain carnal, and cannot become a disciple and enter into Life. And as prodigal sons and daughters who have not come to TheCall, they remain spiritually disenfranchised from the Inner Kingdom, and dwell under the power of the god of this world -- they cannot know the Truth, because they dwell in what the Bible portrays as the "outer darkness". |
Jesus TaughtOnly The Few Can Enter Into Life
If this is true, then it would appear that God has abandoned us! This can't be! Yet, in the parable of the prodigal son, this is exactly how the journey of the soul is presented. The prodigal son who dwelt in the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father, ventured into the "far country" where he came under the control of what is portrayed as the "citizen" of this realm. While here, the citizen which is portrayed by Paul as the god of this world, possessed total control of the thinking, mindset and life of the prodigal son. The first Spiritual Christians called the god of this world the Demiurge -- because he keeps the prodigal sons and daughters shackled through the illusion of knowledge. And regardless of the fact that the prodigal son is portrayed as having to endure much suffering and great hardships, the Father did not attempt in any manner to save him from his fate. And it was not until the son had matured to the degree that he understood and comprehended his plight, that he was able to return to the Kingdom and enter into Life. Thus, so long as man dwells in this, the far country, he will remain under the power and control of the god of this world. And it is not until he matures enough to break free from the shackles of ignorance and corruption, that he will be given the Power to begin the journey in TheWay that will return him to his Source of Being. |
The ParablesJesus Taught In Parables To Conceal The Truth
Jesus taught in parables to conceal the
Mysteries of God from the multitude of people -- he said they were blind
and incapable of perceiving and comprehending the true meaning of life
and the Kingdom of God which was within them. If Jesus had spoken of
the Mysteries of God openly, then the people of this world would have
rejected his words as "foolishness".
Why does men of an organic mind look upon the higher realities of their
own soul and spiritual natures as "foolishness"?
Because the god of this world who Jesus portrayed as the
"citizen" in the parable of the
prodigal son, controls the thinking and lives of those who are lost in
this, the "far country", and will
not permit them to comprehend their own higher soul and spiritual
natures -- or their inheritance as the Offspring of the Most High who
Jesus taught was our Father. So Jesus embedded the Mysteries of God
and the realities of our own higher soul and spirit within a series of
parables -- the understanding of which could only be comprehended by
those who picked up their own cross, and followed in TheWay -- and
because neither the god of this world or his prophets and servants who
corrupted the scriptures, and created a shadow church in this world,
could not understand the inner meaning, they remain preserved to this
day as a portal for the true seekers to know the Truth, and receive the
Divine Manna from Heaven which enlightens and reveals to the faithful
disciples of TheWay the reality of All Things. After visiting the
Inner Kingdom, Paul warned that it is unlawful to reveal the Sacred
Secrets of the Kingdom to the Church-believing Christians of the simple
faith -- calling himself an "Ambasador in
bonds" who was restrained from speaking the truth openly.
Ignatius, the first century Elder who was a disciple of John, warned the
Christians that “Might I not write to you
things more full of mystery? But I fear to do so,
lest I should inflict injury on you who are babes.
Pardon me in this respect, lest, as not being able to receive their
weighty import, ye should be strangled by them.” Man was
banished from the Garden of Eden because, after eating from the Tree of
Duality, if he had then eaten of the Tree of Life, he would have become
eternal -- i.e., "Then the LORD God said,
Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And
now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and
eat, and live forever -- therefore the LORD God sent him out of the
garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove
out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden,
and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree
of life" (Gen 3:22-24 NKJ). Jesus concealed the Mysteries of
God from the perception of both the multitudes of people who he taught,
and the believers of the simple-faith, because the Sacred Manna of the
Tree of Life can only be imparted to the faithful disciples who pick up
their own cross and travail in TheWay in exact imitation of the mindset
and ordained lifestyle that Jesus taught. In the same way that Jesus
told the man seeking eternal life to first fulfill the Law, the
Christians of the simple faith must themselves progress beyond the
"milk" of the simple-faith, and
become a Disciple of TheWay which Jesus taught only to his most faithful
who he called his Brothers and Sisters, in order to receive the Sacred
Manna of the Kingdom. |
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All
genuine religions are Gnostic: The term Gnostic is derived from the Greek
word "gnosis", which is the term used to
both delineate and define experiential spiritual knowledge, vs knowledge derived
through human reasoning based upon the natural consciousness of mankind. The
objective of all genuine religions, is to bring about that condition within the
mind and life of the individual where they are able to fulfill the statement in
the Gospel of John, and be "taught by God"
-- i.e., "It is written in the prophets, 'And they
shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from
the Father comes to Me" (John 6:45 NKJ). And it was for this reason
that Jesus commanded his disciples not to be called teacher or rabbi -- i.e.,
"But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have One
Teacher, and you are all brethren" (Matt 23:8 RSV) -- and this was
commanded, because there is Only One True Teacher, and that is the True Prophet
(see True Prophet).
And that those lost prodigal sons who look to other men as their teacher, rabbi
or leaders, will be greatly deceived and misguided, is why the disciple Peter in
the Clementine Homilies declared: “Hence, O
beloved Clement, if you
would know the things pertaining to God, you have to learn them from Him alone,
because He alone knows the truth. For if any one else knows anything, he has
received it from Him or from His disciples”.
The Wisdom and Knowledge that the True Prophet (Son of God/Logos) imparts to those who are worthy, is called Gnosis. And Gnosis cannot be written in the words of man -- or even taught by man -- because Gnosis is defined as Spiritual Knowledge, or the Divine Manna of the Kingdom, that can only be received directly from the True Prophet to those who are themselves true spiritual seekers. In the words of Valentinus: "Gnosis was distinct from the secret teachings they only revealed to initiates once they had reached a certain level of progression." And the whole objective of the teachings of TheWay as revealed by Yeshua/Jesus, was to prepare the mind of the disciple to receive the revelation of Gnosis -- i.e., the Divine Manna of the Kingdom -- from the indwelling True Prophet/Logos/Son of God that is dormant within the minds of carnal believers.
When Jesus said of his disciples: “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding” (Mark 4:11-12 NIV) -- what he was stating is that only those who become separate from the thinking and ways of this world, and become true disciples of Messiah/Christ, are able to perceive and understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God -- and this sacred Knowledge is called Gnosis. When Paul stated to the believers in the Churches: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1) -- what he was stating was that until the believers of the simple faith begin to live the necessary lifestyle that is portrayed as the "good ground" in the parable of the Sower and the Seed (see Sower And The Seed), that it will remain impossible for them to understand the true meaning of the Gospel -- and this sacred Knowledge can only be taught by those who are able to receive Gnosis from the True Prophet/Son of God. The disciples possessed the eyes to see and understand, because as it is written: "Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures" (Luke 24:45) -- and this higher enlightened perception and understanding that the mind of organic man is incapable of understanding, is called Gnosis.
To even begin to understand the true meaning of both the Gospel, and the nature of what is called Gnosticism, you must first understand that (1) all true men of God have warned us that it is impossible for the natural mind of man to even begin to envision his own inner soul and spiritual natures, as well as God (see Why God Speaks To Us In Enigma And Allegory); (2) religion has always been used by the governments of the world as a primary tool to control the thinking and allegiance of the people, and throughout most of history the worlds religions have been ruled over by politicians, both secular and sectarian.
Any
time that a genuine visionary emerges who knows the Truth, he is always turned
upon by the people when he is condemned by their leaders as a heretic. Because
the vast multitude of people can't even begin to understand either their true
soul-self, or Creator-God, and their fragmentary misunderstood religious
doctrines are more superstitious than factual, the genuine visionary has no
other choice than to communicate with them through the use of allegorical
symbols and forms that are used as a catalyst to connect with the higher soul
and spiritual reality that the people are blind to. And the problem is made
monumental in the life of man, because his body-vessel is comprised of
earth-material, and simply cannot under normal circumstances vibrate at the
necessary frequencies needed to see and understand beyond the barriers of this
natural world (see
Science Proves Religion).
Plato's
Cave: Plato, the Greek philosopher, wrote a series of `Dialogues' which
summarized many of the things which he had learned from his teacher, who was the
philosopher Socrates. One of the most famous of these Dialogues is the
Allegory of the Cave. In this allegory, people are chained in a cave
so that they can only see the shadows which are cast on the walls of the cave by
a fire. To these people, the shadows represent the totality of their existence
-- and it is impossible for them to imagine a reality which consists of anything
beyond the fuzzy shadows on the wall.
True
Spiritual seekers of TheWay who seek the Divine Manna of inner gnosis,
are those who were prisoners, and escape from the cave. Unlike the
multitudes, they are willing to seek the Truth over the carnal doctrines
of men which chain them to the environment of the cave, and are willing
to live the necessary life that enables them to transcend the
limitations of this world. The Sacred Manna or Gnosis is the
experiential knowledge they learn when they go out of what is portrayed
as the cave of this world, and into the inner reality which is portrayed
by Plato as the light of the sun and behold true reality. Then, when
they try to go back into the cave and tell the other captives the truth,
they are mocked as madmen. This fact you can observe throughout the
history of man, as well as in the present time. We are all
initially prisoners and this tangible world that we perceive as physical
reality is our cave. And while the spiritual path of the Gnostic begins
when one who was a prisoner escapes out into the sun, this is in effect
only the beginning of the journey as the mature soul begins to amass
gnosis, which is purely spiritual knowledge gained as they ascend into
the true Light of true reality.
What is equally interesting is the literal interpretation
of Plato's tale: The idea that reality could be represented completely
as "shadows" on
the walls. The true visionary and mystic knows that reality exists in
another dimension beyond our vision, but we are so hypnotized by the
world of shadows, that we fail to perceive the inner reality that is the
source of everything in the life that we live. The scriptures, though,
possess a dimension that the believer is totally unaware of -- i.e., as
with all writings of true spiritual men and women, the scriptures
present an allegorical form in the written word that acts as catalysts
which assist the seeker to break loose of the world of shadows, and
connect with this inner reality that the vast majority of people are
blind to. But for the scriptures to function as designed, you must
begin to perceive what is portrayed in the Macrocosm in the text of the
scriptures, as indicating an inner reality within the microcosm of
self. And this is the reason why Yeshua condemned the Pharisees for
throwing away the Key of Knowledge -- i.e., the scriptures -- by
interpreting them outwardly in an historical mindset, and observing them
in outward ritual and tradition.
“Woe to you lawyers! For you have
taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter in yourselves, and
those who were entering in you hindered” (Luke 11:52 NAS).
What ws true in the past, is true today -- and those who fail to learn
the lessons of history, are doomed to repeat them. Today the lawyers
who see only the "letter that killeth",
(see
The Abysmal
Pursuit Of God By The Letter That Killeth ), are called
Fundamentalist Christians. But since all of life is a Living
(allegorical) Scripture, then so too are most other religious leaders
just a different variety of blind guides who lead the people down the
broad-way of self-destruction. So those who escape the blindness of
the various religious leaders, merely embrace the blindness of other
leaders who are often move blind than the religious traditions they
blindly condemn.
The Problem: In order to possess the eyes to see, you must first
understand the nature of the problem. Those who are prisoners in the
cave who reject the enlightened souls who return in an attempt to awaken
them, also reject the idea that the scriptures which are written in the
allegorical shadow language of this world, have an inner meaning that
they are totally incapable of perceiving. The allegory of the
scriptures are merely written in the same form and symbols that all of
life is imbued with, and in conjunction with the variety of
superstitions of the cultures of the people they were intended to
communicate with. Since the people of a natural organic consciousness
will always look upon the higher reality of their own soul-self and the
Mysteries of God as "foolishness" --
i.e., “But
the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned”
(1 Cor 2:14 NKJ) -- “And I,
brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of
flesh, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food;
for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not
yet able”
(1 Cor 3:2 NAS) -- there is simply no
other means to communicate essential truths that their natural organic
consciousness will vehemently reject and condemn, than to employ
allegorical forms and symbols that appear as either historical or cosmic
accounts.
The
Absurdity Of Those Who Condemn Gnosis: To understand the Gnostic
and begin to embrace the gnosis of the Divine Manna of the Kingdom of
God, one must first comprehend the primary rule for interpreting all
genuine scriptures. In the same way that Jesus condemned the Pharisees
for throwing away the Key of Knowledge that must be turned within in
one's search for the Kingdom (see
Gate Of Eden), and thereby
inhibiting the prodigal sons and daughters from entering into Life, the
primary rule that all pseudo-religious leaders violate is when they
attempt to tell you what the Gnostics believe based upon a literal
interpretation of their writings.
In what is
arguably one of the best works on Christian Gnosticism by G.R.S. Mead
entitled Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, this explanation is put
forth: “…what the Gnostics projected onto the
screen… [in the form of a ] picture of the universe was in reality a
picture of their own minds. Its mythology is a symbolic portrayal,
almost a deliberate one, of the forces which operate in the structuring
and evolution of the human personality”. It was for this
reason that Carl Jung called the Gnostic Christians the worlds first and
foremost psychologists who understood the very fabric of human
consciousness. If it is true what the Apostle wrote:
“For the truth about God is known to them
instinctively; God has put this knowledge in their hearts”
(Rom 1:19 TLB) -- then the anti-Jewish religion that Paul preached must
be seen as a means to tap into this deposit of
“instinctual… knowledge [that God deposited] in their hearts”.
And it is this inner instinctual knowledge that Paul spoke of and
taught the means to find within (see
The Gnostic Paul).
This
allegorical nature of both the scriptures, as well as all of life
itself, to their own demise is not understood by all sectarian and
secular leaders alike. Moreover, the only war between religion and
science, is in reality the struggle of sectarian ignorance and secular
ignorance confronting each other with their own inability to perceive
beyond the limited and dark environment of the Cave. And this
blindness is presented to us in the article entitled
No Jew Has
Seen The Torah, where the carnal Jews are warned by the
Jewish Mystic that
"Thus the tales related in the Torah are simply
her outer garments, and woe to the man who regards that outer garb as
the Torah itself, for such a man will be deprived of portion in the next
world..." --
as well as by the early Christian Church Fathers as represented in the
words of Origen who called the historical narrative
"worthless" -- explaining in his
famed De Principiis that:
“Where the word found that things done according
to the history could be adapted to these mystical senses, he made use of
them concealing from the multitude the deeper meaning; but where in the
narrative of the development of super-sensual things, there did not
follow the performance of those certain events which were already
indicated by the mystical meaning, the scripture interwove in the
history the account of some event that did not take place, sometimes
what could not have happened; sometimes what could but did not”
(see
The Secret Doctrine Of Christianity).
In the first century writings known as the Clementine Homilies
which is a discourse between the Apostle Peter and his disciple Clement,
it is written of the religious writings of the Greeks:
“The wisest of the ancients, men who had by
hard labor learned all truth, kept the path of knowledge hid from those
who were unworthy and had no taste for lessons in divine things. For it
is not really true that from Ouranos and his mother Ge were born twelve
children, as the myth counts them: six sons, Okeanos, Koios, Krios,
Hyperion, Japetos, Kronos; and six daughters, Thea, Themis, Mnemosyne,
Demeter, Tethys, and Rhea. Nor that Kronos, with the knife of adamant,
mutilated his father Ouranos, as you say, and threw the part into the
sea; nor that Aphrodite sprang from the drops of blood which flowed from
it; nor that Kronos associated with Rhea, and devoured his
first-begotten son Pluto, because a certain saying of Prometheus led him
to fear that a child born from him would wax stronger than himself, and
spoil him of his kingdom... But, my son, as I said, such stories have a
peculiar and philosophical meaning, which can be allegorically set forth
in such a way that you yourself would listen with wonder.”
What is being revealed here is that what is written literally in
the sacred writings of the people we call Pagans, is not the true and
genuine message that is being conveyed to the enlightened members of the
Pagan religions -- who by reason of their enlightenment, were called
Christians. All these many stories and myths pertaining to gods and
goddesses were in reality pertaining to the manifestation of the laws
and divine powers throughout all of Creation. Thus, if we are truly
perceptive, we must begin to admit that we haven’t the slightest idea
what the true Pagan initiate believed. Moreover, what we should really
take to heart and be concerned about from our own religious perspective
is the fact that these initiates were referred to as Christians prior to
the time of Jesus -- and their gods where spoken of as the Christos, or
Christ.
That the true meaning of the sacred writings of the Greeks was
concealed from the multitude of people is further established in the
writings of the early Church Father Clement of Alexandria who writes:
“It was not only the Pythagoreans and Plato
then, that concealed many things; but the Epicureans too say that they
have things that may not be uttered, and do not allow all to peruse
those writings. The Stoics also say that by the first Zeno things were
written which they do not readily allow disciples to read, without their
first giving proof whether or not they are genuine philosophers. And the
disciples of Aristotle say that some of their treatises are esoteric,
and others common and exoteric. Further, those who instituted the
mysteries, being philosophers, buried their doctrines in myths, so as
not to be obvious to all. Did they then, by veiling human opinions,
prevent the ignorant from handling them; and was it not more beneficial
for the holy and blessed contemplation of realities to be concealed? But
it was not only the tenets of the Barbarian philosophy, or the
Pythagorean myths. But even those myths in Plato (in the Republic, that
of Hero the Armenian; and in the Gorgias, that of Aeacus and
Rhadamanthus; and in the Phoedo, that of Tartarus; and in the
Protagoras, that of Prometheus and Epimetheus; and besides these, that
of the war between the Atlantini and the Athenians in the Atlanticum)
are to be expounded allegorically, not absolutely in all their
expressions, but in those which ex-press the general sense. And these we
shall find indicated by symbols under the veil of allegory. Also the
association of Pythagoras, and the twofold intercourse with the
associates which designates the majority, hearers), and the others that
have a genuine attachment to philosophy, disciples, yet signified that
something was spoken to the multitude, and something concealed from
them. Perchance, too, the twofold species of the Peripatetic teaching -
that called probable, and that called knowable - came very near the
distinction between opinion on the one hand, and glory and truth on the
other. To win the flowers of fair renown from men, Be not induced to
speak aught more than right.”
In explanation of why the inner meaning of the mysteries are
concealed from the masses, Clement writes: “The
Ionic muses accordingly expressly say, ‘That the majority of people,
wise in their own estimation, follow minstrels and make use of laws,
knowing that many are bad, few good; but that the best pursue glory: for
the best make choice of the everlasting glory of men above all. But the
multitude cram themselves like brutes, measuring happiness by the belly
and the pudenda, and the basest things in us.’ And the great Parmenides
of Elea is introduced describing thus the teaching of the two ways: ‘The
one is the dauntless heart of convincing truth; The other is in the
opinions of men, in whom is no true faith’”.
Because we fail to understand the reason and essence of life
itself, it is near impossible for the modern Christian to understand the
nature of the ancient religions and their relationship to the teachings
of the New Covenant. Moreover, because of our inability to comprehend
the very elementary significance of religion itself, neither can we
perceive the reason why the adoption of Pagan religious symbols were so
readily embraced by the more mature Christians over the first four
centuries. The problem is that we have slammed the door to higher
knowledge by virtue of our own arrogance which manifests itself in the
Christian dogma that we are right, and everyone else is ignorant. What
we fail to realize is that all the religions of the world possess a
degree of truth -- and it was the people of the New Covenant who were
holy enough to embrace Truth in its Ultimate Reality.
What is expressed in these words with regard to the inner meaning
of what we call the Pagan religious symbols, is a sure demonstration of
Universal Truth. In all religions the world over there is
“the teaching of the two ways”. To
the disciple with the “dauntless heart”
who, with his whole life, seeks out the truth, the inner spiritual
meaning is revealed. All the rest, who are the majority -- whose lives
are driven by sensual desires and brute carnal appetites -- the wise men
of all time have provided religious symbols that entice the masses, and
yet conceal the true spiritual meaning from the eyes of the profane.
The reality of mankind is portrayed in the words of Clement when
he wrote in the above quotation: “But the
multitude cram themselves like brutes, measuring happiness by the belly
and the pudenda, and the basest things in us”. This is true
-- true when these words were written, and true of the people in our own
time. The multitude of people do not care about Truth! They have no
desire to embrace the Pure Word! Being carnal, they relate everything
to the fulfillment of their sensual desires and appetites. Knowing
this fact, the holy men the world over have embedded the teachings of
the Two Way into whatever form the multitude of people would accept.
This very important knowledge is beyond our comprehension today, because
we ignore the words of the Apostle Paul when we worship the historical
Jesus, while giving very little attention to the Marriage with the
indwelling Christ.
Clement explains that the ancient sources of philosophy were
spiritual and true, and the great confusion among the Greeks is a result
of false philosophers who are of a later time when he writes:
“But the most ancient of the philosophers were not
carried away to disputing and doubting, much less are we, who are
attached to the really true philosophy, on whom the Scripture enjoins
examination and investigation. For it is the more recent of the Hellenic
philosophers who, by empty and futile love of fame, are led into useless
babbling in refuting and wrangling. But, on the contrary, the Barbarian
philosophy, expelling all contention, said, ‘Seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you; ask, and it shall be given you.’
Accordingly, by investigation, the point proposed for inquiry and answer
knocks at the door of truth, according to what appears. And on an
opening being made through the obstacle in the process of investigation,
there results scientific contemplation. To those who thus knock,
according to my view, the subject under investigation is opened. And to
those who thus ask questions, in the Scriptures, there is given from God
(that at which they aim) the gift of the God-given knowledge, by way of
comprehension, through the true illumination of logical investigation.
For it is impossible to find, without having sought; or to have sought,
without having examined; or to have examined, without having unfolded
and opened up the question by interrogation, to produce distinctness; or
again, to have gone through the whole investigation, without thereafter
receiving as the prize the knowledge of the point in question. But it
belongs to him who has sought, to find; and to him to seek, who thinks
previously that he does not know. Hence drawn by desire to the discovery
of what is good, he seeks thoughtfully, without love of strife or glory,
asking, answering, and besides considering the statements made. For it
is incumbent, in applying ourselves not only to the divine Scriptures,
but also to common notions, to institute investigations, the discovery
ceasing at some useful end. For another place and crowd await turbulent
people, and forensic sophistries. But it is suitable for him, who is at
once a lover and disciple of the truth, to be pacific even in
investigations, advancing by scientific demonstration, without love of
self, but with love of truth, to comprehensive knowledge”.
Modern Christians today pray for a greater understanding of the
Word, and yet the term “scientific
investigations” is totally alien to their perception of the
Word. Perhaps the key phrase is presented to us in the words:
“Knowledge... belongs to him who has sought, to
find; and to him to seek, who thinks previously that he does not know”.
Is this any different than the words of the Apostle when he wrote:
“if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he
knows nothing yet as he ought to know” (1 Cor 8:2 NKJ). So
long as we think we know the meaning of the Pagan religious writings --
the Bible -- and even the meaning of purpose of life itself, the words
of the Apostle will continue to plague us when he said of us that we
know: “nothing yet as we ought to know”.
The blindness is our own! If we had so formed our life that we
were able to fulfill the Word and become the bride of Christ, and were
truly the people of an Anointed and Illumined mind, we would see that
concealed within the body of the narrative, the philosophers spoke of
Christ in the form of the Logos -- in the manner of the Gospel of John
-- and this is seen when Clement writes: “Thus
in the Philebus, Plato, who had been the disciple of the barbarian
philosophy, mystically called those Atheists who destroy and pollute, as
far as in them lies, the Deity dwelling in them - that is, the Logos -
by association with their vices”.
Thus, the message of Clement is threefold: Clement writes that
the true source and inner revelation of the writings of Plato, is the
same Logos attested to in the Gospel of John. Moreover, we observe the
continual statement that the Logos represents the Deity that is
indwelling within all of mankind. Clement then describes our own
present-day condition when he refers to multitude of people as
“Atheists who destroy and pollute, as far as in
them lies, the Deity dwelling in them - that is, the Logos -- by
association with their vices”. This is true of natural man
throughout all time -- i.e., people who have failed to make themselves
an acceptable vessel for them to enter into the Divine Marriage with the
indwelling Logos.
What we are presented with are two major themes that need our
careful attention. First it is demonstrated that Plato knew, and wrote
about the Logos. From our modern-day doctrinal perspective that can
only mean that Plato wrote about Jesus prior to the time of Jesus’
incarnation. Moreover, this is the same Logos that is written about in
the Gospel of John where it reads: “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”
(John 1:1 KJV). Contrary, then, to our present-day doctrines, we must
conclude that Christ was written about by the philosophers prior to the
time of Jesus. Further, unless be begin to comprehend the difference
between the name Jesus and the term Christ, the only conclusion that can
be arrived at is that Jesus wrote through Plato in the same manner that
he wrote through the Hebrew prophets.
The Encyclopedia Britannica (1998 edition) writes of the word
Logos: “In Greek philosophy and theology, the
divine reason implicit in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and
meaning. Though the concept defined by the term logos is found in Greek,
Indian, Egyptian, and Persian philosophical and theological systems...
The idea of the logos in Greek thought harks back at least to the 6th-century-BC
philosopher Heracleitus, who discerned in the cosmic process a logos
analogous to the reasoning power in man. Later, the Stoics, philosophers
who followed the teachings of the thinker Zeno of Citium (4th-3rd
century BC), defined the logos as an active rational and spiritual
principle that permeated all reality... Philo of Alexandria, a 1st-century-AD
Jewish philosopher, taught that the logos was the intermediary between
God and the cosmos, being both the agent of creation and the agent
through which the human mind can apprehend and comprehend God. According
to Philo and the Middle Platonists, philosophers who interpreted in
religious terms the teachings of the 4th-century-BC Greek
master philosopher Plato, the logos was both immanent in the world and
at the same time the transcendent divine mind... The identification of
Jesus with the logos, which is implied in various places in the New
Testament but stated specifically in the Fourth Gospel, was further
developed in the early church but more on the basis of Greek
philosophical ideas... the early Christian Fathers stated that Christ as
the preexistent logos (1) reveals the Father to mankind and is the
subject of the Old Testament manifestations of God; (2) is the divine
reason in which the whole human race shares, so that the 6th-century-BC
philosopher and others who lived with reason were Christians before
Christ; and (3) is the divine will and word by which the worlds were
framed”.
The concept of the Logos is so deeply imbedded in Greek thought,
that the Eleventh, or Scholars Edition of the Britannica which was
published prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls writes that:
“Among the influences that shaped the Fourth
Gospel that of the Alexandrian philosophy must be assigned a distinct...
importance”. Because of this very distinct Hellenic
influence, many Bible experts believed that the Gospel of John had been
written by a Greek convert. This is especially seen in the statement
by the Britannica where it writes: “What John
thus does is to take the Logos idea of Philo and use it for a practical
purpose -- to make more intelligible to himself and his readers the
divine nature of Jesus Christ. That this endeavor to work into the
historical tradition of the life and teaching of Jesus -- a hypothesis
which had a distinctly foreign origin -- led him into serious
difficulties...”.
The idea that John borrowed the concept of the Logos from the
Greeks, or even that the Gospel was written by a Greek convert, was
widely accepted by biblical scholars, and this opinion was only proved
faulty with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. From the
perspective of better understanding what we believe, this whole concept
that is being presented is important for modern Christians to
comprehend. What the scholars are stating is that John borrowed Greek
Hellenistic ideas about the Christ of Plato and the Greek philosophers,
and then incorporated these foreign ideas into his gospel. This
includes the idea of the pre-existent Word that is the creator of the
universe -- which when understood in this light, is as much a concealed
doctrine of the Pagans, as is the biblical teaching that one must be
born again. Because these ideas are absent from the other three
gospels -- was more appropriately used in the Greek mystery religions
than in Judaism -- and were then incorporated in the gospel, biblical
scholars and theologians have long thought that John’s Gospel was
founded upon the same Hellenistic theology responsible for Platonic
thought and the writings of the poets.
What we are presented here is one of the core reasons why most
biblical scholars did not believe the religion of the simple faith, or
in the traditional manner of the very churches they served.
Evangelical and Born again Christians often use the first chapter of
John to prove that Jesus was the pre-existent God who came into the
world. What the Evangelical Christians failed to understand was the
fact that the more informed biblical scholar understood the connection
between the Logos of John and the Logos of Plato and the Pagan world.
Moreover, the scholar also understood the universal doctrine of the
Logos throughout all the religions of the world, as seen in the above
words: “the concept defined by the term logos
is found in Greek, Indian, Egyptian, and Persian philosophical and
theological systems...”
Unlike the people of the simple faith, the biblical scholars knew
that many Pagan concepts were added into the text of the New Testament
in order to better bring the text into harmony with traditional Greek
and Roman religious ideas. With good reason it has even been
speculated that the verse most used by modern Evangelical Christians to
prove that Jesus was God, was added to the beginning of John at a later
date by the Roman Church in the endeavor to Paganize the gospel. What
this means is that Christians today could in every way be calling upon
the god of Plato, and the Christ of the Pagan philosophers.
That most Christians remain lost
today, and fail to comprehend the profound meaning of the requirement to
be "Born Again" -- is seen in their inability to understand both the
allegorical nature of the scriptures, as well as life itself. Thus,
Dead Sea Scroll expert Prof. John Allegro reveals this truth in his
book, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of Christianity, where
writes: “It is a fact that the Qumran Library
has profoundly affected the study of the Johannine writings and many
longheld conceptions have had to be radically revised. No longer can
John be regarded as the most Hellenistic of the Evangelists; his
gnosticism, and the whole framework of his thought is seen now to spring
directly from a Jewish sectarianism rooted in palestinian soil, and his
material recognized as founded in the earliest layers of Gospel
traditions.” The Bible is as much the writings of Gnostics,
as is the writings of men such as Valentinus.
What all the many recent
archaeological discoveries have confirmed and demonstrated that Prof.
Allegro is correct in his assertion that our modern-day understanding of
“the source and originality of Christian
doctrine” is defective. Why? Because the Bible does not
support the tenets and structure of an organized church as we have
today. In the words of Prof. Elaine Pagles, in her book, The Gnostic
Gospels: “It is the winners who write history
- their way. No wonder, then, that the viewpoint of the successful
majority has dominated all traditional accounts of the origin of
Christianity… It suggests that these religious debates - questions of
the nature of God, or of Christ - simultaneously bear social and
political implications that are crucial to the development of
Christianity as an institutional religion. In simplest terms, ideas
which bear implications contrary to that development come to be labeled
as heresy; ideas which implicitly support it become orthodox”.
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In the Gospel of Thomas it is stated that "Whoever finds himself is superior to the world". When the Church became the religious puppet of the Roman Government in the fourth century (see The Death Of The Religion Of Jesus), this self-knowledge, the Key of Knowledge, and the Sacred Manna/Gnosis of the Spirit was thrown away. Quoting a few of the pre-Constantine statements of the early Church Father as contained on the Being of Light web site: It is for this reason that the second-century Church Father Clement of Alexandria said that it is “…the greatest of all lessons to know one's self. For if one knows himself, he will know God; and knowing God, he will be made like God… and that man becomes God, since God so wills”. In his treaties on The Soul and the Resurrection, St Gregory writes that “the Resurrection is no other thing than 'the re-constitution of our nature in its original form’”, and states that there will come a time “…when the complete whole of our race shall have been perfected from the first man to the last”... When God, in the words of St. Nazianzen, no longer is an “object of wonder”, but rather an “object of desire” -- and we, desiring to be purified from the defilements of this world, make ourselves fit vessels for the Lord to indwell, the Spirit, according to St. Nazianzen, reveals to us our true nature, and the revelation of this manifest Sacred Knowledge makes “us like God; so that when we have thus become like Himself, God may, to use a bold expression, hold converse with us as Gods, being united to us, and that perhaps to the same extent as He already knows those who are known to Him”. St. Nazianzen then writes that “the Divine Nature then is boundless and hard to understand” by those who are yet carnal and think as natural beings of this world.
Those who think they can Know God,
without bringing about the next stage of soul-birth and Knowing
Self, are themselves delusional, and under the power of the Demiurge
-- i.e., the god of this world -- the collective consciousness --
the unity consciousness -- the citizen of the far country.
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Main WebSitesIn the recently discovered Gospel of Thomas it is written: (12) The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you will depart from us. Who is to be our leader?" Jesus said to them, "Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being." So to once again restore the teachings of TheWay which is today known as Christianity, the Lord has sent Jacob/James, the Brother of Yeshua/Jesus, back into the world in order to guide the faithful flock into the Truth, the Light, and the Kingdom within (Luke 17:20-21). It is there that my brother Yeshua/Jesus awaits you. The above warning with respect to the predicted corruption of Yeshua's teachings is further stated in the first century writings known today as the Clementine Recognitions where it is written: "Our Lord and Prophet, who hath sent us, declared to us that the wicked one, having disputed with Him forty days, and having prevailed nothing against Him, promised that he would send apostles from amongst his subjects, to deceive. Wherefore, above all, remember to shun apostle or teacher or prophet who does not first accurately compare his preaching with that of James, who was called the brother of my Lord, and to whom was entrusted to administer the church of the Hebrews in Jerusalem, — and that even though he come to you with witnesses: lest the wickedness which disputed forty days with the Lord, and prevailed nothing, should afterwards, like lightning falling from heaven upon the earth, send a preacher to your injury, as now he has sent Simon upon us, preaching, under pretense of the truth, in the name of the Lord, and sowing error. Wherefore He who hath sent us, said, ‘Many shall come to me in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them.’" Again it is warned by Clement: "Wherefore observe the greatest caution, that you believe no teacher, unless he bring from Jerusalem the testimonial of James the Lord’s brother, or of whosoever may come after him. For no one, unless he has gone up thither, and there has been approved as a fit and faithful teacher for preaching the word of Christ, — unless, I say, he brings a testimonial thence, is by any means to be received. But let neither prophet nor apostle be looked for by you at this time, besides us. For there is one true Prophet, whose words we twelve apostles preach" As predicted, the ministers of Satan have succeeded in altering the teachings of my brother Yeshua, and continue to lead many into the abyss of darkness. But have no fear my brothers and sisters, for the teachings of TheWay has been restored so that you might be able to overcome the darkness, and enter the Kingdom of Light within you (Luke 17:20-21).
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