It’s Time to Share and Share Alike

Posted on August 2, 2020 by cdsmiller17
Share International Magazine – December 2019

What are We Doing Wrong?

As the title of the magazine suggests: we need to Share. Not just a little, but a lot.

Questions and answers

At every lecture he gave around the world, and virtually every day of his life, Benjamin Creme was asked numerous questions covering a vast range of topics. We draw on this large recorded resource and publish answers provided by BC and his Master over the years, none of which have yet appeared in Share International.

Q. What will happen to those who will not want to change after Maitreya’s public emergence? I’m thinking of Christian fundamentalists, for example. (US radio interview, 27 November 1991)

A. Those who cannot change, don’t change. They wait maybe for the next incarnation and come in as little babies and then they change. But they are so conditioned by the teachings and doctrines and dogmas that are conditioning their minds and putting blinders on them that they can’t see the reality before their eyes. Indeed, these Christian groups will be the last to recognize the Christ — ‘their’ Christ. They have the wrong idea of the Christ. They think He’s sitting up in heaven at the right hand of God. He is not. They think He is the one and only Son of God. He’s not.

He is a man like you or me, who has evolved to be a great spiritual being, a god. All of the Masters are gods, but so are we in potential. The only difference between the Christ or the Buddha, or any ‘ordinary’ Master, is that They have achieved the kind of perfection that we are on the way to achieving.

They act as a kind of example of what we shall be one day. That’s true for everyone. They are not gods descended ready-made from heaven. They became gods through the evolutionary process, just as we are becoming gods. If you compare humanity today with early animal-man, we have come a fantastic distance. But if you compare us to the Masters, we are nowhere.

From Their point of view, all of the potential is there. They see the potential. We do not see our potential. They are coming into the world more and more openly to present us with this potential, to show us what one day we will be like. When you see Them, you will see the brilliance of Their minds; Their extraordinary breadth of vision; Their capacity to love and serve the world, which is something that no one can measure.

The Christian fundamentalists have steeled themselves because they are frightened and have enmity with Maitreya. He’s not harming them. He loves them and even more than the people who are easy to love, because there is no separation in His mind between Him and them. One day they will realize that He is the Lord of Love come to teach us how to love. We still have to learn that.

Q. How can one start receiving love energy right now, tonight, today? Is it possible?

A. It isn’t [a matter of] receiving it. It’s already there. It’s intrinsic to your nature. You are a soul in incarnation. The nature of that soul is love. You can’t help yourself. But you either release it or you don’t. Most of us don’t because we are afraid. We are afraid of being rejected. We are afraid people won’t love us unless we are tough and strong. What we are is in competition and, so long as we are in competition with each other, we cannot demonstrate love. Competition is not a worthy thing. Competition is the result of fear and where there is fear, there is no love. Take away the fear, and love will demonstrate automatically.

Speaking out for justice and sharing – a compilation

– an excerpt

Today, it is the people who are ahead of their leaders, and are voicing aloud their understanding and needs. In country after country, the voice of the people is becoming more focused and distinct. Millions are now educated and sure of their needs: peace, work and hope for their future. A growing sense of unity, too, is beginning to inform their expectations and demands. They know they are not alone in the world but have millions of brothers and sisters everywhere,with the same problems and needs.

In this way, even if unaware of His presence and teachings, they are responding to Maitreya’s energy and influence, and building the framework of the future. (Benjamin Creme’s Master, from ‘Change towards Unity’)

I shall sustain all who call for Peace, for Justice and brotherly Love. I shall call to My side all who love their brothers. From all parties and all nations they will come, gathering around Me. I shall fill their hearts with hope and Love, and in mounting numbers they shall conquer the world. This process has begun. Already the voices of the people are being heard. Louder and louder they cry for Justice, for Peace for all time. (Maitreya, from Message No.131)

Maitreya Himself said, in Message No.135: “Forming themselves into groups, men of goodwill will brandish aloft their hopes and dreams of justice and peace. This clamour will light the torch of truth among the nations and at its centre shall I be found.” …

This, to me, shows that the people are ready for sharing and for the Christ. It shows that they are ready for His words. In this way, as He speaks, He will focus and evoke that demand and aspiration. There is no government on Earth that can withstand the focused, determined will of educated world public opinion. (Benjamin Creme, Maitreya’s Mission Volume One)

….

There are many today who admit the necessity for change, but still resist it. There are many today who see the crumbling of the old and outworn world of the past, but cling to the old forms. But there is a new voice being heard among the nations: the voice of Truth, which contains the hope, the promise, of the New Time. This voice will increasingly make its impress on the minds of men, for it is the voice of God, speaking through men. (Maitreya, from Message No.12)

On a More Personal Note

Benjamin Creme was someone I admired immensely. But channeling and prophecy being what they are, nebulous, it struck me as strange that he would get all these promises of the Maitreya’s emergence into the world, only to have them unfulfilled.

I used to subscribe to Share International from almost the very beginning (in 1985, if I’m not mistaken), and I enjoyed the words, but I must have missed the ‘message’.

Only now, in my later years, does it all begin to make sense.

Man in the Mirror (2012 Remaster)

Michael Jackson

I’m gonna make a change,
For once I’m my life
It’s gonna feel real good,
Gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right

As I, turn up the collar on
My favorite winter coat
This wind is blowing my mind
I see the kids in the streets,
With not enough to eat
Who am I to be blind?
Pretending not to see their needs

A summer disregard, a broken bottle top
And a one man soul
They follow each other on the wind ya’ know
‘Cause they got nowhere to go
That’s why I want you to know

I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
(If you want to make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

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The Genius Behind (Neon) Rose, Toronto and ‘that’ Heart Song

Posted on August 1, 2020 by cdsmiller17

Brian Allen

It’s something special to see someone you know succeed in showbusiness. Brian Allen wouldn’t remember me: I was just another student on the school bus to Barrie from Camp Borden and Angus in the middle years of the 60’s. But I sure knew who he was.

Rose

Rose (formerly Neon Rose)

We all were trying to make ourselves famous as members of a rock bank. Brian (above left) was a little more productive than the rest of us. My link to Rose was Ron Glatley (centre right). We corresponded off and on after high school.

Toronto

After Rose disbanded, Brian (second from right) formed Toronto, to much greater acclaim. Then Brian decided to try his hand at producing other people’s work.

But he has an enduring claim to fame:

And now it’s the soundtrack of a Heinz commercial!

Now, that’s what I call pure genius…

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Have the Democrats Got Enough Guts to do the ‘Right’ Thing?

Posted on August 1, 2020 by cdsmiller17

He’s Biden His Time, and She’s Trying Not to Harris Him

The back and forth among Democrats in the lead-up to Joe Biden naming his Vice-Presidential running mate has been excruciating to watch, even from here in Canada.

The implication is that they are so scared of not ousting Trump from the White House that they’re not willing to take risks. But, if they want to win, that’s precisely what they need to do. There are a lot of African-American women voters out there that need to find a reason to believe. And Biden is not getting any younger, is he?

But these two individuals (Joe Biden and Kamala Harris), even though they clashed during the early debates, are more alike that it would seem on the surface.

When I first looked at Kamala Harris‘ birth chart fourteen months ago, I noted that the Moon in the next administration’s chart was conjunct hers. Then, as I noted five months ago, Joe Biden‘s Moon is in the same place. The difference is the fact that they are in adjacent signs, which gives them each a distinctly different flavour. But, here’s the thing: the next administration’s Moon is (almost) exactly halfway between their Moons.

We should know within the next two weeks who Biden’s final choice will be. [Fingers crossed] let’s hope he picks the ‘right’ woman as his ‘right hand man’.

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Celebrity is so Ephemeral

Posted on August 1, 2020 by cdsmiller17

We Prefer our Stars to be Dead

It’s coming around to that time of the year when my inner 12-year-old boy mourns for the beautiful movie star who was murdered all those years ago in Hollywood. Last year, I set out to contact her in the spirit world, and instead found that she was reborn as a Israeli woman, who still wants the glamour of celebrity, but finds her aspirations totally frustrated by the world.

When faced with the ‘proof’ of reincarnation, I was chagrined. I’d already seen it in action with David Wilcock, so I kind of knew what to expect, but Adit proved to be a more complicated example of what happens when the light of one’s stardom is snuffed out. There’s no resting on one’s laurels, I think would be an apt saying for this situation.

In the past couple of days, I wrote about Nicole Kidman and her marriage to Keith Urban. As per usual, there were a smattering of views and a couple of ‘likes’, but for the most part, a huge ‘yawn’. And then I read a statement made by another astrologer in one of their posts: evidently, we would want our politicians to drown in their troubles, but couldn’t give a ‘fig’ about celebrity birth charts. Now, doesn’t that say it all?

We are Tired of the Hype

The Romans used to keep their people in line with ‘Bread and Circuses’. Feed them, entertain them, and they will be satisfied with the status quo.

It’s only when they have too much time on their hands that trouble starts:

The Devil makes work for idle hands

dictionary.cambridge.org

The ‘powers that be’ are trying to keep us all bedazzled by glamourous stars of the entertainment industry, but with a pandemic changing the dynamic of everyday life, the other element (enough money for food and rent) is under threat, as probably never before in recent history. And what do people do, when their lives have no hope? Riot.

And governments are ‘playing politics’ to score (non-existent) points against their rivals.

When will they ever learn?

During an Election Year…

It has been noted elsewhere that election years, especially in the United States, bring out the worst in people. And also that there is some disease or another on the loose somewhere in the world, with fear being the great motivator for change, or not.

This year is just the best (worst) example of manipulation I have ever seen. Shutting down the world has demonstrated (in a negative way) how interconnected we all are.

You don’t know what you’ve got ’till it’s gone

Joni Mitchell “Big Yellow Taxi”

Comet Neowise

Postmedia Calgary – Comet NEOWISE is seen with the glow of the aurora at the glacial erratic near Okotoks on July 14, 2020. Chris Ratzlaff Photo

We have seen a new ‘heavenly sight’ in the skies in recent days. It is called NEOWISE. Does that mean that we are ‘newly wise’? I hope so.

And like all such heavenly bodies, it too will be gone one day.

Everything is ephemeral, even comets.

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Are We Too Close to the Truth to Appreciate What It Is?

Posted on July 31, 2020 by cdsmiller17
Image courtesy of amazon.ca

The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore (2008)

I’ve had this book for almost 10 years, but I never had the motivation to read it before now. Perhaps I had to be more prepared for what it said. Perhaps I needed to mature spiritually. Perhaps I didn’t want to be ‘schooled’ in Christianity by someone outside it.

Or, all of the above.

Following on from my reading The Pagan Christ, I’m amazed by the synchronicity of finding the ‘balance point’ between the historical Jesus and the legendary Christ. This ‘third way’ is more akin to Gnosticism than I had originally anticipated. In other words, more like how I usually view Jesus: as the great reformer.

God-Consciousness

If we concentrate on Jesus’ words, as reported in the Gospels (and the Gnostic Gospels), we begin to get a picture of a teacher who was trying to wake his pupils up to the fact that they already have the Kingdom of Heaven within them. “But there are none so blind as those who will not see.” The narrative that was spun around his lessons seems to have clouded the issue of God-consciousness. It is too simple for the intellect, but too hard to actualize while living in the real world. What is the spiritual aspirant to do?

Thus we find in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6:33

Because we are so driven by our individual Egos, we tend to miss how to do this simple act. So the rest of Jesus’ teaching tries to show us how.

And it takes someone as spiritually ‘aware’ as Deepak Chopra to remind us of this.

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When Keith Married Nicole, Two Halves Became Whole

Posted on July 31, 2020 by cdsmiller17
LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 15: Nicole Kidman (L) and Keith Urban attend the 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 15, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/ACMA2018/FilmMagic for ACM)

Synastry at its Best

I touched briefly on Nicole Kidman’s chart, yesterday. And I had anticipated writing about her marriage to Tom Cruise, but then thought better of it. This post will explore the relationship that she has with Keith Urban, instead.

But first, here’s Keith’s chart:

No one has an accurate birth time for Mr. Urban, so I decided to rectify his chart, anchoring his October 19, 2006 drug rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic at age 39, to the position of Neptune in Scorpio, on the cusp of his 8th House. (This event happened a few months after he married Nicole.) Immediately, the chart forms a Yod connecting Neptune and Pluto, and pointing directly at his Ascendant @ 23 Aries. This feels right.

Now, let’s compare their birth charts:

As Nicole’s Ascendant is @ 6 Scorpio, it is significant that it is conjunct Keith’s Sun @ 2 Scorpio. They ‘understand’ each other very well. And, as you ‘d expect from people born within months of each other, there will be a lot of connections:

Saturn in Aries, Uranus in Virgo, Neptune in Scorpio, and Pluto in Virgo (still conjunct with Uranus).

But it’s the subtle effects of the Part of Fortune in Nicole’s chart being conjunct with Keith’s Ascendant in Aries, and Keith’s PoF (in Capricorn) opposite Nicole’s Mercury in Cancer, which gives this chart combination a ‘fortunate’ feel.

And that Yod in Keith’s chart is echoed in the relationship chart, only this time Uranus and Neptune in Nicole’s chart are doing the pointing at Keith’s Ascendant. It was as if Keith needed to marry Nicole to sort himself out.

The final sequence in Pretty Woman seems to echo the effect:

“She rescues him right back.”
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Two Strange Passages from Revelation

Posted on July 30, 2020 by cdsmiller17

The Pagan Christ Appendix C (Pages 211-213) by Tom Harpur

‘There are two oddities from the text of the New Testament itself. They fully support the thesis that the true background of the Jesus story is the eternal, spiritual Christ myth. Both come from the Book of Revelation — the book that Gerald Massey contended holds some of the earliest material in the entire corpus of New Testament writings.

‘a) Revelation 1:13, in the King James Version, says, “And I saw in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” “Paps” is the archaic word for a woman’s breasts. In the Greek, the word used is the plural mastos, which the lexicon defines as “the breast, esp., of the swelling breast of a woman.” Rarely, the plural was used to refer to a man’s breasts, but the prevailing sense is female. The fact that the figure in this passage from Revelation wore a “girdle,” or cincture, about the breasts — the modern equivalent would be a brassiere — confirms that the breasts in question are female. Indeed, the New English Bible translates the plural as though it were a singular — “with a golden girdle round his breast.” The New Revised Standard Version tries to avoid any embarrassment by wrongly translating it as “chest.” True, the word in Greek here for “girdle” is the same one used to describe John the Baptist’s girdle. But there it plainly says that it was wound about his loins, not his chest.

‘What makes me come down on the side of the KJV’s take — though preferring the translation of breasts to paps — is that something more than the surface meaning is at play here. Among the ancients, for centuries before the Christian era and contemporaneously with it, it was common to picture divinities with features of the opposite sex, denoting wholeness. For example, Horus was at times depicted with “the locks of girlhood.” The male gods Bacchus and Serapis often appear with breasts, and Venus, goddess of love for the Romans, is sometimes depicted with a beard.

‘A deep esoteric point was being made. In ancient philosophy and religion, before Creation, God — all life — was seen as Father and Mother in one. Only by slow development did God become Mother and Father separately. The belief was that human beings too were androgynous before a bifurcation took place and they were split into separate sexes. Since there are many other references in Revelation that betray the author’s deep knowledge of so-called Pagan symbolism, it’s quite possible that the Son of Man figure with breasts echoes this primal oneness theme. In any case, this figure of the Christos is by no means any historical man. It’s an archetype of the spiritual, timeless Christ of the myth.’

[My own take on this is fully explored in The Star of Bethlehem, especially here.}

‘b) In Revelation 11:8, there is a most puzzling passage in which two “witnesses” are to be killed. “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually pneumatikos is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified,” reads the text [my emphasis]. Once again, it must be stressed that the author is clearly concerned not with any historical events, or a “Jesus of history,” but with symbolism and allegory. Jerusalem, and not Sodom or Egypt, clearly is the location for the death of Jesus in all four Gospel accounts. Sodom and Egypt here are an esoteric, “spiritual,” or symbolic way of speaking of this earth and of time (as opposed to the heavenly realms and eternity). “Our Lord” here is once more not a “personal” Jesus but the eternal Christos.‘

A Quora Response (by Elhanan Boragin)

The verse specifically mentions the word ‘spiritually’. So it refers to a spiritual interpretation of the crucifixion of Jesus.

Sodom is a symbol of sin and perversion.

Egypt is a symbol of the worldly power and bondage to sin.

So it is in the secular realm and carnal lifestyle that Jesus is being crucified constantly. One needs to remember studying the New Testament that its authors were not familiar with Christian theology and doctrines. Those were developed a few centuries after their deaths. So this concept of Jesus being constantly crucified (not just a historical fact) is mentioned throughout epistles several times.

[Amen.]

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You Don’t Have to be Smart to Gain Wisdom

Posted on July 30, 2020 by cdsmiller17
Image courtesy of amazon.ca

Astrology For Dummies (2nd Edition)

Thank you, Ian, for sharing this one with me. When you first brought it to my attention as an extended summary of the Sun sign personalities, I wondered who the author was. Now I know: Rae Orion.

Rae Orion has been casting horoscopes since the Ford Administration, when she became the court astrologer for a metaphysical bookstore on the West Coast and began to prognosticate for strangers. She has taught astrology to high school students, social service professionals, friends, and relatives, and has written monthly horoscope columns and articles about astrology (among other topics) for New Woman and other magazines. She lives in New York City

About the Author

Creating a Horoscope


Putting together a basic birth chart involves these steps: Looking up the
planets, figuring out your Ascendant, making the wheel of the horoscope, and
placing the planets on the wheel. After that, you’re ready for the true art of
astrology: interpretation.


To illustrate the process, let’s go back to Nicole Kidman, who was born on
June 20, 1967, at 3:15 p.m. in Honolulu. To make her birth chart, begin by
looking up her planets in the Appendix. Here’s what we find for that day:


Her Sun is in Gemini.
Her Moon is in Sagittarius.
The North Node of the Moon is in Taurus (which means that the
South Node is in Scorpio).
Mercury is in Cancer.
Venus is in Leo.
Mars is in Libra.
Jupiter is in Leo.
Saturn is in Aries.
Uranus is in Virgo.
Neptune is in Scorpio.
Pluto is in Virgo.


The next step is to figure out her rising sign, which we did earlier in the
chapter. It’s Scorpio.


Now take a blank horoscope wheel like the one on the Cheat Sheet and assign
Scorpio to the first house, Sagittarius to the second, and so on, as shown in
Figure 3-2. Write the symbols for the planets (or their names) in the correct
houses. If you’re a beginner, you may want to do this in plain English, a
process that yields a chart that looks something like Figure 3-3.


Better yet, memorize the beautiful and mysterious astrological symbols.
(The Cheat Sheet at the beginning of the book can help.) That way, you end
up with a chart that looks like Figure 3-4.

Nicole Kidman

Here’s my version from my Kepler 7.0 program. According to most astrology sites, Ms Kidman’s birth time of 3:15 pm is accurate. That would make Saturn occur at about 16 years of age, when she first started acting. As you can see by the aspects in her chart, Saturn is pivotal to so many things in her life, including finding the man of her dreams.

Nicole describes herself as painfully shy, since early childhood. Neptune in the 1st House can have that effect, especially as it shares the Rising sign, Scorpio. She can sense too much in others, and feels vulnerable because of it. The Moon in Sagittarius in her 2nd House lets her hide behind a different persona, hence the love of acting.

But there is a surprising conjunction between Uranus and Pluto in her 11th House (of associations). This may indicate the involvement she had with Scientology (through her first husband Tom Cruise). Let’s look at that, in some detail:

Uranus Conjunct Pluto

This aspect undoubtedly signifies a generation of children who will have very powerful effects upon the rest of the culture, for they will be revolutionaries in the truest sense. They will be very eager and restless for change., but at the same time patient enough to learn how to really bring it about. They will undoubtedly have a very powerful impact on everyone in society. The parents of these children must be patient and instill in them a real respect for human values. There is the danger that some of them could be absolutely ruthless in their desire for change.

Only the Sun in the last degree of Cancer is unaspected. This indicates for me that there is no limit to what Nicole Kidman can achieve in her life. A simple look at the her entertainment history to date shows what that means, in reality.

Nicole Kidman: Producers Guild award 2020
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A Jewish Story that Explains Reincarnation as a Blessing

Posted on July 29, 2020 by cdsmiller17

Wheels of the Soul (as quoted in “The Way” pages 82-85)

When the Baal Shem Tov was living in the town of Medzhibozh, in Poland, it was said that this righteous man had the power to cure all sorts of problems. One day he was visited by a merchant from a nearby town. The merchant told the Baal Shem Tov his troubles, expecting to get a blessing right there on the spot that would alleviate his distress. Instead, the Baal Shem Tov told the merchant to travel to the little town of Trusti and ask for a man named Eliezer ben Zerah.

The merchant was disconcerted by this advice. “Trusti? Trusti is a journey of three days and nights along a very bad road. Can’t you take care of my troubles right here?” But the Baal Shem Tov insisted, “Go to Trusti and ask for Eliezer ben Zerah. He will help you.” Reluctantly, the merchant did as he was told.

The trip to Trusti was long indeed. Along the way, the merchant had plenty of time to think about all the possible reasons that the Baal Shem Tov had sent him on such an uncomfortable journey. “This Eliezer ben Zerah,” he thought, “he must be a very great man indeed if the Baal Shem Tov sends me to him. And if he is a great man, he might be a rich man as well. Yes, of course, that is why I am going to see him! He is a rich man who is going to give me money to solve my financial problems! And if he is rich, well, then, he must have sons. One of these sons is probably a perfect match for my daughter, who thinks no man is good enough. Yes, I’m certain of it! This is the reason I am going to Trusti. The Baal Shem Tov is a genius.”

So it was that the merchant arrived in the tiny town of Trusti with great expectations of what the wealthy Eliezer ben Zerah was about to do for him. The merchant hopped out of the carriage and asked the livery man, “Eliezer ben Zerah. Where does he live?” But the livery man didn’t know the name. “How could you not know Eliezer den Zerah? A great man, a rich man, with sons, many sons!” But the livery man just shrugged, “I don’t know him. Why don’t you ask the butcher? He knows everyone.” And he directed the merchant to the butcher’s house.

But the butcher didn’t know Eliezer ben Zerah either. And worse, neither did the postman, and even worse, neither did the local rabbi. “How can this be?” the merchant whined. “The great Baal Shem Tov himself sent me here to ask for Eliezer ben Zerah. He’s supposed to help me.” The rabbi was sympathetic. “Look,” he said, “one of the women in my congregation is over a hundred years old, but she’s still very, very sharp in the head. She’s lived here her whole life and she knows the whole history of Trusti and everyone that ever lived in the town. If anyone knows this Eliezer ben Zerah, she will.”

So the rabbi escorted the merchant to the old woman and they asked her about Eliezer ben Zerah. A glimmer of recognition passed over her face. “Eliezer ben Zerah?” she said. “Yes, yes,” the merchant said, excited by the prospect of finally finding someone who knew the name. The old woman stood up, approached the merchant, looked him in the eye, and said, “He was the worst.” She spat on the ground. “He was rotten! He beat his wife. He beat his children. He ran around. He abused his animals. He drank. He punched the rabbi in the nose. Everybody hated him. He never did a good thing in his entire life. I don’t even want to talk about him. When he died, half the town celebrated.”

“He died?” the shocked merchant said, “When?”

“Fifty-seven years ago,” the old woman replied. “That’s why no one else remembers. They are too young.”

The merchant was very upset. Here he was expecting all his troubles to be solved, he had traveled all this way, and now he found that the person who was supposed to help him was not only a rotten drunkard, but worse, had been dead for fifty-seven years.

All the way back to Medzhibozh he stewed and steamed about it, so that by the time he returned to the Baal Shem Tov, the merchant was very, very angry. “What kind of trick is this?” the merchant shouted. “Don’t you know I’m a very busy man? I traveled all the way to Trusti for nothing. You wasted my time! I thought this Eliezer ben Zerah was supposed to help me? I didn’t get any money. He didn’t have any sons for my daugher. I didn’t even get a blessing. The man is dead.”

The Baal Shem Tov waited for the merchant to calm down and then said, “I never said anything about money, or sons. But the blessing, that you did get.”

“What blessing? How could I get a blessing from a dead man?”

“How old are you?” the Baal Shem Tov suddenly asked.

“How old am I? I’m fifty-six years old. What does my age have to do with anything?”

And then the Baal Shem Tov said, “I want you to know that in your previous life, Eliezer ben Zerah was you. Knowing how terrible you were in your last incarnation, you should thank the Creator every day for giving you so much in this life. All your troubles now are the result of your behavior then. Believe me, as bad as you were, it could be a lot worse. The blessing is the knowledge that you’re getting another chance despite what you did last time.”

(Michael Berg, Rabbi – The Kabbalah Centre, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2001)

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When Belief is Shaken

Posted on July 29, 2020 by cdsmiller17

Falling Leaves

For those of us raised in the Christian tradition, it can come as a bit of a shock to discover that the Word of God is not what is written in the Bible but the One Spirit of the Creator. We could liken it to a Holy Wind that blows through our lives and shakes us to the core of our being.

I’ve been contemplating this image since reading The Pagan Christ. If the Bible is only (?) an allegory, what exactly have we been holding on to as our Truth? Belief in a personal saviour called Jesus? That the resurrection is a promise made by God? That only the Faithful will ascend to Heaven?

As a preacher’s kid, I have a very firm grounding in Christianity. But all along I’ve had an undercurrent of Gnosticism, too. That makes for a very dual (and binary) pattern of thought. It’s like I’ve hedged my bets: if I believe in both, one of them may pay off.

But the Bible as allegory thinking means that the underpinning of my Christian beliefs is on very shaky ground. It wouldn’t take much for the whole edifice to come crashing down. Thank goodness for Gnosis.

The Jesus Puzzle (by Earl Doherty) quoted on Pages 152-154

Doherty explains that Jesus (Yeshua/Joshua) is a Hebrew name meaning “saviour” (strictly speaking, “God saves”). At the beginning of Christianity, he notes, it referred not to the name of a specific human individual but, like the terms Logos, to a concept — to a divine, spiritual figure who is the mediator of God’s salvation. As we have seen, the Christos, a Greek translation of the Hebrew word messiah, is also a concept, meaning “the anointed one of God.” “In certain sectarian circles across the Roman Empire, which included both Jews and Gentiles, these names would have enjoyed a broad range of usage. Belief in some form of spiritual Anointed Savior . . . Christ Jesus . . . was in the air.” Doherty writes. Paul and the Jerusalem brotherhood, he argues, were simply one faction of this widespread phenomenon, albeit an important and eventually very influential one. But later, in a “myth-making process of its own,” this group of missionaries came to be regarded as the whole movement’s point of origin. Did the Evangelists see themselves as writing history? he asks, answering that it is now a maxim that the Gospels are “faith documents.” The Evangelists had no concern for historical research as we know it; rather, they were engaged in a type of Midrash, an inspired commentary. He confirms that in the minds of the Evangelists, the Gospels expounded new spiritual truths through a retelling of Scripture. “New Testament elements are simply a reworking of stories recorded in the Old Testament. Jesus was cast in tales like those of Moses, for example, presenting him as a new Moses for contemporary times.” Mark, he says, might have thought there was some Joshua/Jesus figure who actually existed, but “in any event, before long, such Gospels came to be looked upon as purely factual records by gentiles who did not understand their Jewish roots, and scripture came to be seen as the prophecy of such real events rather than their source.” Mark, he argues, brought to a head an already fledgling process and added those biographical elements he found in the “sayings” traditions. With the Old Testament open before him, he fleshed out his story of Jesus’ ministry and passion.

Doherty reminds us too that the story of Jesus “resides in scripture more than in an assortment of isolated passages.” The overall concept of the Passion, death, and Resurrection has emerged out of a theme repeated in tales throughout the Hebrew Bible and related writings. This is the story modern scholars have characterized as the Suffering and Vindication of the Innocent Righteous One. As we have already seen, we find it in the story of the suffering servant in Isaiah, in Tobit, in Esther, in Daniel, and in other places. All tell a story of a righteous man or woman who suffers, is convicted and condemned to death, gets resurrected at the last moment, and rises to a high position. “It is the tale of how the Jews saw themselves; the pious persecuted by the powerful, the people of God subjugated by the godless,” he says. It was an image readily absorbed by the Christian sect, so the tale of Jesus also follows this pattern. Jesus’ redemptive role was a paradigm for Jewish motifs of suffering and atonement and destined exaltation, brought into a potent mix with the Hellenistic son (Logos) and saviour-god philosophies. Thus, he concludes, “Christianity emerged as a genuine synthesis of the leading religious ideas of the ancient world particularly, and it set the course of Western faith for the next two millennia.”

Right. So that’s OK then?

Amen.

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