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NOTE: This
answer was given on May 20, 2007, during the Shangra-la conference in
Ireland.
Answer from El Morya:
Yes and no!
In the sense, my beloved, that there are many of the stories from the
Old Testament, and even from the New Testament, that do not have the
same kind of reality that you conceive today when you hear the concept
of reality.
You see, my beloved, humankind's consciousness has changed tremendously
in the last several thousand years, in ways that modern people cannot
comprehend. And therefore, when you look back at some of the teachings
in the Bible – and even other scriptures of the world, such as
the scriptures of the Vedas and Buddhism – people with a modern
state of consciousness – who are more used to thinking in a materialistic,
linear way – will have the question "was this real?"
And when they ask the question, they will look at this as they conceive
reality.
Whereas the people who were alive at that time had a different conception
of reality, where they were not as linear, not as focused on the material,
and therefore did not necessarily see things in black-and-white,
linear terms. So they understood – to some degree – that
there was a symbolism in these teachings, and that it was not necessarily
a physical furnace but more a symbol of the trial by fire, whereby every
man's work is tried—whether it is real or not real.
And so, my beloved, this is then what creates the problem, where you
have the modern fundamentalist movement who without knowing it are affected
by the modern mindset, the linear materialistic mindset. And then they
look back at the Bible, and they look at some of the teachings and statements
and they say, "Ah but this must then really, physically have happened
exactly the way that WE interpret the Biblical words." And they
fail to realize that people back at that time did not necessarily interpret
them the same way.
And so, when you look at the flood of Noah, for example, you can say
that there is a reality in the sense that there was a flood that gave
rise to the story of Noah's ark. But it was not the kind of flood that
you perceive today. Because, my beloved, back then the people who received
the teaching and experienced the events did not have the concept of
the Earth that you have today. They did not see the Earth as being as
big as you see it today, did not see the Earth as being round, did not
realize that there are mountains on this Earth much taller than the
mountains they saw around them [such as Ararat].
And so, my beloved, when you – with a modern mindset – look
at the flood of Noah, you say, "Well if the Bible is to be taken
at its word, it must mean that the flood was a worldwide event that
covered the entire Earth, including the tip of Mt Everest, with water."
And that is then when you get into the other aspect of the modern mindset,
the skeptical, scientific mindset which says, "Well, how could
this be possible? Where could that amount of water possibly come from?"
And so, my beloved, do you see what I am saying here? There was a physical
event that gave rise to this. But it was not the same kind of event
that you envision with a modern mindset. In other words, a myth was
built upon the original event that made the event more dramatic to the
modern mindset than it actually was in reality.
And this is how it is with so many things from the past, my beloved.
And that is why I started out by saying that the book was accurate and
inaccurate at the same time. For it truly depends on the mindset with
which you look at the ancient text—the filter through which you
interpret it.
My beloved, it was indeed the Maha Chohan [embodied as Homer] who brought
forth the teachings of the Odyssey and the Iliad. But does it necessarily
mean that the hero of the Odyssey encountered all of the creatures that
are described in the text? Or was it a symbol for what he actually encountered
in his own consciousness? And so, do you necessarily have to adopt the
mindset that if we no longer believe in these kind of creatures, then
the Odyssey must be completely unreal and therefore have no value to
modern people?
And of course – again – with the Bible, whether the events
of the Bible should be interpreted literally according to the modern
mindset. Well, the fact that they have a deeper symbolic meaning does
not make them obsolete, my beloved. And so, again, do not be hung up
on these interpretations. For surely, as we have expressed through our
modern teachings, there is more to understand. And as you will see from
Maitreya's book, there
is a deeper understanding of Genesis than the literal interpretation.
And thus, I will also impress upon you that there are many ways to interpret
spiritual teachings. And this does not mean that one is right and all
others have to be wrong. This is another effect of the modern mindset,
where you – based on a scientific mindset – have come to
believe that there is only one true answer to a particular question
or one correct result of a scientific measurement. And yet, I tell you
that there is a level of consciousness that deals with quantities, and
that is the level where modern science is currently stuck—which
is why they want to measure and quantify everything.
But beyond the level of reality that is quantifiable is a deeper level,
where you cannot quantify by measuring them and dividing them up in
units—for reality is not linear. And so to understand and contact
that deeper level of reality, you must be willing to go beyond the analytical,
intellectual mind that wants to quantify, that wants to put labels on
everything.
And so, my beloved, I realize that I have not answered your question
in a linear way, but I trust that the answer will be sufficient.
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© 2007 by Kim Michaels |
