By the practice of religion mankind is elevated If religion is not understood, is man not on a level with the brutes? Those who speak ill of religion, Although they go and come by day, Are like the smith s bellows: They have breath but they are not alive. All Religious Practices are Vehicles to Purification and Spiritual Growth Purification of the Body and the Awakening of the Soul Revelations have attempted to clarify that in fact, we are spirits shrouded in a material form. Hence, being physically clean is a form of preparation for ones body to act as a medium between the spiritual and physical realms. Purification is not only limited to the physical, but transcends that to another dimension. Purification of the heart enables the senses to function beyond their physical limits. The eyes and ears act as windows for the spirit. The importance of purifying the senses is emphasized by revelations through the prescription of a cleansing process before any spiritual practice. This is illustrated in the practices of ancient Egyptians, Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ancient Egyptians The ancient Egyptians expressed the need for purification for the purpose of empowering the senses in different ways. Strengthening the power of the insight was a clear goal. The eyes of Horus were considered a symbol for those, whose insights have awakened. While the right eye symbolized the sun, the left symbolized the moon, signifying constant provision of light during both day and night. As such, purifying the whole body for ancient Egyptians was an essential part of the holy practices. The Pharaohs had divine lakes for purification in their temples. The Egyptian priests shaved their entire bodies, including their heads, for that same purpose. taoism In Taoism, breathing is a way of purification, one typical instruction from those who attained spiritual development is to get rid of what is worn out or old, and to receive what is new and fresh (Hua Ching -Ni 1997:121). When we exhale used air, we get rid of the old and when we inhale fresh new air, we allow it to refresh our body and mind. There are many breathing exercises that aim at establishing this effect. Hindu In Hinduism, purification of the senses is a prerequisite for the purification of mind and spirit. When the senses are purified, man can be a transparent medium of the light of God within. He can also see the wisdom of life, because he has eyes of wisdom. Purification of the ears in Hinduism is a symbol for mans ability to receive the divine power that sustains the spirit, without which man starves spiritually: ….if from self conceit, thou wilt not listen (To Me), thou shalt perish (Bhagavad-Gita: 18: 58). Cleanness of the body accompanies yoga practices as a necessary preparation for the union with God. Buddhism In Buddhism, purity directly effects mans ability to see truth, and hear the voice of truth. Man needs that purity in order to be attached to truth, and realize gradual spiritual growth: Thine eyes are holden. If the eye of thy mind were undimmed. Thou couldst see the glory and the power of truth (GB: 53: 2) The teaching of Buddha goes as far as saying that Hearing the truth, man is like a lake, pure and tranquil and deep. To be spiritually purified, man needs to purify the senses. Such purification enables the merger of one s self with the truth within, that is, attaching oneself with Buddha, the Enlightened One. Judaism In the Holy Bible, the guidance to purify the senses is associated with all religious practices. It represents the preparation of the spirit to receive spiritual nourishment from the higher source within and around. Moses and Jesus pointed to hearing as one way of receiving the words of truth. Jesus used the eye as a symbol for spiritual awareness. In the Old Testament, purification of the senses, sometimes the whole body, was recommended before any holy practice. The Lord commanded Moses to make the children of Israel wash before going into the altar or starting any holy congregation: And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal. (Ex:40:30) And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat(Ex:40:31) When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses. And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the LORD commanded to be done. (Le:8:5) And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. (Le:8:6) As such, washing became a necessary part of preparation for prayers in Jewish practices. Christianity In the New Testament, Jesus Christ stressed the purification of the senses focusing on meaning, rather than on form. In different occasions, he emphasized that purification is that of the heart, not of the body, certainly not denying the process of preparation for prayers. Jesus used to say when revealing his guidance let him hear who has ears. Jesus says about some people, ye cannot hear my word Joh: 8: 43) they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not. Neither do they understand. (Mt: 13:13). Jesus also points to the purity of the senses as symbolizing purity of the heart: The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (Mt:6: 22, 23) Islam In Islam, the purification of the senses also corresponds to purification of the spiritual entity. As such it is an integral part of the spiritual growth. The discipline of purification practices is so rich with symbols where each sense refers to a spiritual dimension. They have eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not. They are like cattle, nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning). (HQ: 7:179) In Islam, physical purification before prayer follows a certain order that is very indicative. Water is used to wash the face, arms, the front head, neck, and feet. The purification process starts by expressing mans intention to prepare his whole existence to receive enlightenment. The washing starts by the mouth indicating purifying the tongue of all idle or bad talk, moving to the nose purifying the breathing channels as a symbol for life, and then the whole face purifying the eyes which correspond to discernment. The purification of the arms symbolizes work integrity. The purification of the front head points to the mind. The purification of the ears implies the capability to respond to the words of truth. The purification of the neck implies the link between the upper part of man: the mind and the rest of the body. Purification of the feet symbolizes mans strive in every step seeking attainment of real life. A verse in Koran states that to be purified as a preparation that precedes the holy moment of prayer is essential, even in situations where water is unavailable. In other worlds, the idea of being pure stands behind the procedure of ablution. O ye who believe! when ye prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; rub your heads (with water); and (wash) your feet to the ankles. If ye are in a state of ceremonial impurity, bathe your whole body. But if ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from offices of nature, or ye have bewith women, and ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands. Allah doth not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete His favour to you, that ye may be grateful. (HQ: 5: 6) Conclusion For all revelations, purification is a core concept. However, the symbolic rites of purification differ from one revelation to another. While in almost all revelations, water is used to purify the body, in Taoism, breathing deeply is an act of purification. In Christianity, there are no obvious instructions for how to purify ones body. As for Islam, there are clear instructions of how and when a person should make himself clean and pure. Moreover, the purification process is practiced five times a day preceding the five times prayers. This practices follow certain order. As a symbolic process, ablution conveys a deep message that can be understood and felt through continuous practices. “By reading the Books of Wisdom you will be brought to an understanding of the nature and intention of God, and life will then have meaning and purpose. Without them you can be likened to a man at sea in a fair wind but lacking said and oars. Reading them, but lacking guidance or understanding, you could be likened to a man at sea with sail and oars, but without the ability to utilize them.” Master, which are these laws of life? Rest with us awhile longer and teach us. We would listen to your teaching that we may be healed and become righteous. And Yahshua himself sat down in their midst and said: I tell you truly, none can be happy, except he do the Law. And the others answered: We all do the laws of Moses, our lawgiver, even as they are written in the holy scriptures. And Yahshua answered: Seek not the law in your scriptures, for the law is life, whereas the scripture is dead. I tell you truly, Moses received not his laws from God in writing, but through the living word. The law is living word of living God to living prophets for living men. In everything that is life is the law written. You find it in the grass, in the tree, in the river, in the mountain, in the birds of heaven, in the fishes of the sea; but seek it chiefly in yourselves. For I tell you truly, all living things are nearer to God than the scripture which is without life. God so made life and all living things that they might by the everlasting word teach the laws of the true God to man. God wrote not the laws in the pages of books, but in your heart and in your spirit. They are in your breath, your blood, your bone; in your flesh, your bowels, your eyes, your ears, and in every little part of your body. They are present in the air, in the water, in the earth, in the plants, in th e sunbeams, in the depths and in the heights. They all speak to you that you may understand the tongue and the will of the living God. But you shut your eyes that you may not see, and you shut your ears that you may not hear. I tell you truly, that the scripture is the work of man, but life and all its hosts are the work of our God. Wherefore do you not listen to the words of God which are written in His works? And wherefore do you study the dead scriptures which are the work of the hands of men? How may we read the laws of God elsewhere than in the scriptures? Where are they written? Read them to us from there where you see them, for we know nothing else but the scriptures which we have inherited from our forefathers. Tell us the laws of which you speak, that hearing them we may be healed and justified. Yahshua 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 in wine-bibbing, 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 from 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 your spirit. If you will that the living Gods 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 him. The Jews call ’Uzair a son Of God, and the Christians Call Christ the Son of God. That is a saying from their mouth; (In this) they but imitate What the Unbelievers of old Used to say. Gods curse Be on them: how they are deluded Away from the Truth! They take their priests And their anchorites to be Their lords in derogation of God, And (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; Yet they were commanded To worship but One God: There is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him (Far is He) from having The partners they associate (With Him). Fain would they extinguish Gods Light with their mouths, But God will not allow But that His Light should be Perfected, even though the Unbelievers May detest (it). It is He Who hath sent His Apostle with Guidance And the Religion of Truth, To proclaim it Over all religion, Even though the Pagans May detest (it). O ye who believe! There are Indeed many among the priests And anchorites, who in falsehood Devour the substance of men And hinder (them) from the Way Of God. And there are those Who bury gold and silver And spend it not in the Way. Of God: announce unto them A most grievous penalty— On the Day when heat Will be produced out of That (wealth) in the fire Of Hell, and with it will be Branded their foreheads, Their flanks, and their backs. —This is the (treasure) which ye Buried for yourselves: taste ye, Then, the (treasures) ye buried! THE PYRAMID AND THE JEWS It is the opinion of many earnest believers in the Scriptures that God is not yet done with the Jews as a distinct and peculiar people. As a nation they rejected Christ and fell from their high pre-eminence, and are now on precisely the same footing with the Gentiles with regard to the Christian dispensation. There is no way of salvation nor any special privileges for them now other than the Gospel offers to all men alike. Through the atonement of Christ and union with him, there is redemption for their souls the same as others, but in no other way. But the belief of many is that they are preserved in their singular distinctness, even in unbelief, as the subject of a grand restoration and conversion when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and that blindness in part has happened unto them, in which as a people they will remain till the time of the revelation of Jesus Christ at his second coming. And to this belief the Great Pyramid would also seem to answer in a very marked manner. A special national token of the Jew is the sabbatic system. It was given of God, and made to pervade the whole Jewish economy as a thing by which the chosen people were to be distinguished from all other nations, and in the observance of which they were to exhibit themselves as Gods people. Disregard of this was held to be treason to their King, and a forfeiture of all their rights to the promises and this sabbatic system is specially characteristic of the so-called Queens Chamber and the horizontal passage leading to it. They reached their highest point when of them Christ was born. The same unbelief by which they then were broken off they have ever since retained. Hence the avenue which I take as a symbol of their history from Christs time is horizontal, except that the last seventh (If it drops lower than any other part. If the latter chapters of Ezekiel (from the thirty-sixth onward) and many other passages are to be literally taken, and there is great difficulty in understanding them in any other way, there is to come for Israel a, grander restoration than that of their return from Babylon, when they will be re-established in holiness according to their ancient estate, and all their early institutes again be righted up and put into full effect. Hence this low horizontal passage terminates in a grand sabbatic room full of the most important notations of the measures and proportions of the whole Pyramid. Those who hold to this restoration of the Jews hold also that they will be returned in their present unbelief and blindness as regards the true Messiah, and will only afterwards have the scales removed from their eyes after the manner of Paul, who in this respect was as one born before the time. And this also would seem to be distinctly set forth. Two ventilating tubes have recently been discovered in the so-called Queens Chamber, which the builders left entirely closed over with a thin unbroken scale, which not only shut them front all observation but rendered them of no practical effect whatever. The room has therefore always been noted for its foul air and noisome smell, for the atmosphere there was left without circulation for four thousand years. These tubes extended inward through the masonry and into the stones forming the walls of the room, all nicely cut, but for about one inch they were not cut through into the room itself. On the hidden sides of the walls these air-channels were open, but on the visible sides within the room the surface was smooth, even, and unbroken, the same as any other part. It was only by something of an accident that these scales were broken and the channels opened into the room itself. So singular an arrangement could have none other than a symbolic intent. No architectural reason for the peculiarity can at all be traced. And most strikingly would it serve to signify the blindness of the Jew. and his deadness in unbelief, needing only the breaking away of those scales for the free breath of God to purify everything again. And if this is the meaning of the symbol, it accords precisely with the idea of the re-establishment of the Jewish nationality before the great conversion, and that this breaking away of the disabling and defiling scales of blindness and unbelief remains to be accomplished after entrance upon the state symbolized by this room. And even then it is only removed by a breakage and violence entirely distinct from the ordinary course of things, which would also be fulfilled in case the general conversion of the Jews is to be brought about after the manner of that type of it exhibited in Paul, who was converted as no other man ever has been by the personal apocalypse of the Lord Yahshua. It is also fully agreed by those who hold to the belief of a restoration of the Jews, that they will then be lifted spiritually far above the dead level which has characterized them as a nation since the fall of Jerusalem, and that quite a new, higher, and holier spirit than they ever experienced before will then be breathed into their ancient ceremonial. And the same would seem to be symbolized in this chamber. It has no proper floor, and is entered from a very low plane, even lower than the avenue in general. But inside there is a baseline marked evenly around it at a range with the square top of the entrance passage, indicating a grand lifting up after having entered. It is in the relative spaces above this line that the sabbatism and exalted proportions and commensurations of the apartment appear. This opens an entirely new field in pyramid interpretations, which calls for a more enlarged and thorough examination. But what does that horizontal sabbatic passage, starting from the level of Christs death and dropping lower in the last seventh of its floorline, mean, if not the Jew who has risen no higher since the rejection of his Messiah, but has fallen lower of late by his rationalism, though still preserving his distinctness from all other peoples? What can that remarkable, separate, sabbatic room mean, if not intended to set forth a separate and peculiar earthly destiny of the Jew? And what can that grand uplifting and the breaking through of those thin stoppages of the ventilation signify, if not the re-quickening by the Spirit of God which is promised to the Jew for the sake of his fathers, when once he shall look upon him whom he has pierced? THE PYRAMID AND HEAVEN. The crown of Christian theology and hope is the doctrine concerning heaven, the residence of God and his glorified people. When the Saviour left the earth, he said, I go to prepare a place for you. Abraham looked for a permanent city. Paul spoke hopefully of a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. John beheld and wrote of that great city, the holy Jerusalem, even Jerusalem the golden, of which the Church ever sings with such fondness and delight. And this too is symbolized in the Great Pyramid. If nothing else, the granite chamber in which the dispensations of this world terminate may serve to tell of it. But that chamber seems rather to relate to the consummated earthly than to the heavenly. There is reason to believe that another and superior chamber exists in the mighty edifice, more fully answering to the celestial city. The sabbatic chamber is on the twenty-fifth course of the masonry, and the granite chamber on the fiftieth. To make up the complete count there would have to be a third on the one hundredth course, corresponding to the third heaven. The Apocalypse, that book of the consummations, seems also to call for such a chamber. As the seven churches under the seven stars are found in the Grand Gallery, and the judgment dispensation in the ante-room leading to the granite chamber, and the great tribulation in the granite blocks which hang over the passage-way through that ante-room, there would need to be another and higher apartment to answer to the heavenly Jerusalem, which the Apocalypse introduces as the crown of all. The piles of ancient rubbish from the building of this pyramid which cover the breast of the hill also add their indications of another chamber of grander materials than the others, and higher up in the edifice. After a rain Prof. Smyth paced about among the gutters which the wash cut into these piles of chips and splinters of stone, to see what he could find. Towards the top of the heap and just in front of, though at a great distance from, the Pyramids entrance portal, he found frequent splinters and fragments of green and white diorite. This is a compact, very hard, crypto-crystalline formation, whitish, speckled with black or greenish-black. It is the material of which the celebrated stone statue now in the Boolak Museum is cut. It is not native to the pyramid region, and could only have been brought there from far, whilst the number of these spalls and fragments intermixed with the earth and other chippings and offal in the process of this pyramids building would indicate some extensive use of that excellent material in this structure. Their occurrence near the top of the furthest distance of these piles from the Pyramid would show that the use made of this rock was high up in the edifice and toward its completion. But in none of the present openings has anything been found made of diorite, or anything like it. Therefore, Prof. Smyth, in debating over these fragments, says, I was compelled to gaze up at the Pyramid with its vast bulk, and believe that there is another chamber still undiscovered there, and one which will prove to be the very muniment room of the whole monument. * And even the way to it may perhaps be found from a suggestion which I draw from the Apocalypse. The numberless multitude before the throne of God (chap. 7: 9-17) comes out of the great tribulation, and if those granite blocks suspended over the way through the ante-room to the Kings Chamber denote the great tribulation, as they so expressively do, the way to a room symbolic of heaven would seem to be directly from those blocks, just where nobody has ever searched for it. Those blocks hang in grooves, and have a boss or knob left on the side as if meant to be slid up for a purpose; and the vision of John would seem to imply that the lifting of them would uncover the way to the room which would be the symbol of glory. A light bore . with a rod so directed as to strike behind those blocks would probably reveal whether or not there is such a passage from either side at that point. And until the facts are ascertained by adequate examination, I am inclined to believe, from general analogy and from the correspondence in all other points with the Bible, and especially with the Apocalyptic outlines, that behind those blocks will be found the way to another and superior chamber, situated in the upper centre of the building on the one hundredth course of the masonry. I also anticipate that when it is discovered it will present an exact square, sixteen pyramid cubits every way, with perhaps three distinct entrances on each side, and answering in its prophetic readings to the twenty-first chapter of the Book of the Revelation. Of course this is only a hypothesis, a theoretic persuasion which needs to be tested by further explorations, but it rests on considerations sufficiently strong to beget in me the belief that it will be verified in fact. Hence I have had the place and proportions of such a room indicated on the diagram. THE PYRAMID AND THE SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE. But man is not the only rational creature God has made. As the interval below, between him and nothing, is filled up with uncounted orders and forms of being, so on rational as well as Scriptural grounds it is part of our common faith that there are many intellectual and spiritual orders above, between him and the infinite Creator. These rank in series over series of angels and archangels, seraphim and cherubim, principalities and powers. And as the Pyramid is a Scriptural image of the Church, so it is also of this whole spiritual universe. Galloway, in his Egypts Record of Time, has noted that the ascending scale of natures above man was revealed to Jacob in vision. The collective nature of man is, as it were, at the basis of a mighty pyramid of spiritual natures ascending by successive stages to one glorious apex, from which the whole derives unity, from which the whole has proceeded, and on which it depends for existence. This glorious spiritual pyramid appears to be that which was revealed to Jacob at Bethel, when a solitary traveller on his way to Padan Aram: a mighty ladder or scale of being ascending from man to the highest heaven; a sublime idea of the spiritual universe proceeding from one, and built up into one glorious head, a world not of gross and dead materials, but of living spirit and flame, full of the adoring love and active service of God, at the summit of which the presence of Jehovah was beheld revealed (pp. 339, 340). And this grand, striking, and truthful conception of the universe bound together and headed up in One supreme original of all, we have here in material form, consolidated in stone, worthy in some measure too of the eternal vastness and magnificence of the subject. Thus then the Great Pyramid answers throughout to all history and all Revelation. The substance of both Testaments and all the dispensations of God toward man are here traced in unchanging rock, more than five centuries before Moses. How came these things into this pile, and nowhere else on earth but in the Bible? Whence came this sublime science before the days of science,—this knowledge of all history then only in its beginnings,—this understanding of all sacred doctrines and prophecies before all other existing records of them? By what marvellous eccentricities of chance originated these monumental prophecies, this prehistoric picturing of coming ages, these symbolizations of the mysterious Providence of God toward our world for four thousand years, this fore-announcement of the end from the beginning, this sublime petrifaction of the divine word ere ever a chapter of it was traced in our Scriptures? When we find these things in the Bible written long afterwards we call them inspired. What then shall we call them when we find them all securely laid up in stone hundreds and thousands of years anterior to that Holy Book, and now opened to us with superadded marvels upon which the Bible scarcely touches? I know not how others may be impressed, but I feel as if I would be shutting my eyes to truth, suppressing the force of evidence, and withstanding demonstration, did I not joyfully admit and embrace the fact that we have here a precious memorial from the same blessed Jehovah from whom we have our glorious Bible, erected by some chosen people whom his own Spirit guided, and at the same time a most ancient monumental witness to all the holy truths and histories. And yet the subject is not exhausted. There are various other interesting matters to be considered, all tending to the same conclusion; but I cannot enter upon them now. Reluctantly, I must close again without reaching the end of what needs to be said in a proper presentation of the case. Only one little item more, which seems to belong here, will I yet notice, and with that I conclude this lecture. THE PYRAMID AND JERUSALEM. If this Pyramid is what it would thus seem to be, it would be natural to infer that it ought to have some connection with or reference to Jerusalem. All the institutes and revelations of God had their chief centre there for more than a thousand years. God made it his own sacred metropolis, the only one he ever had localized upon earth. There his only temple stood. There his holy law was deposited. Thither his people were required to come for the celebration of their most distinguishing services. There was the royal seat of his chosen kings. There was the sacred capitol of his consecrated priests, of his inspired prophets, of his holy scribes. There the glorious Messiah presented himself to the elect nation. There he died for the sins of the world. There he rose triumphant from the dead. There he ascended into heaven. There he poured out the Holy Ghost. There he inaugurated the Christian Church. There he sent forth his inspired apostles for the conquest of the world to the religion of the cross. Nay, there he is to appear again when he comes the second time as he has promised. And if the Great Pyramid belongs at all to the great system of Gods redemptive interpositions it could hardly be wanting in some reference to that city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. So at least it appeared to me, and led me to search for the missing indications. I knew that the Pyramids most distinguished cubit answers to the sacred cubit of Moses; that the capacity measure of the Pyramids granite Coffer is the same as that of the Ark of the Covenant; that the sabbatic system of the Jews is distinctly noted in connection with the Queens Chamber; and that the molten sea had proportions of earth-commensuration which also appear in the size of the Pyramids main chamber. These are indeed remarkable and significant coincidences, but they do not give so direct a reference as I thought ought to exist. It hence occurred to me to ascertain the exact direction of Jerusalem from the Great Pyramid and to try whether it would fit to any of its interior angles. Having used two different maps to make sure of accuracy, the result carne out exactly the same in both, namely, that three of the main inside angles of the Great Pyramid applied to its north side eastward, point directly to Jerusalem! If a cannon-ball were shot from the Great Pyramids north side at the precise angle eastward as that of the entrance passage computed with the base-line, or that of the main ascending passage computed with the same line, or that of the Grand Gallery computed with the passage to the Queens Chamber, that ball, could it reach so far, would strike the Holy City! Of itself this might be passed as of no special significance, but taken in connection with what has been developed in this lecture, the unexpected discovery induced a feeling as if the half-smothered pile with all its burden of centuries suddenly arose out of its sands and rubbish, lifted up its stony hand, and looking the very image of old time, pointed its heavy and half pendent finger to the city of Melchisedek, David, and Solomon, saying as with a voice out of the bottom ages, Look over there! Savants of the earth, and all ye that inquire, go yonder! There observe, listen, and wait, and ye shall know whence I am, and whereof I witness! THE HYMN. Glory to Thee,Father! (And we going roundin a ring answered to Him:) Amen! Glory to Thee, Word(Logos)! Amen! Glory to Thee,Grace (Charis)! Amen! Glory to Thee,Spirit! Glory to Thee, HolyOne! Glory to Thy Glory! Amen! We praise Thee, OFather; We give Thanks toThee, O light; In Whom Darknessdwells not! Amen! (For what we givethanks to the Logos). [Or, if we adoptthe emended text: For what we give thanks, I say:] I would be saved;and I would save. Amen! I would be loosed;and I would loose. Amen! I would be wounded;and I would wound. [Or, I would bepierced; and I would pierce. Another reading has: I would be dissolved (or consumed for love); and I would dissolve.] Amen! I would be begotten; and I would beget. Amen! I would eat; and Iwould be eaten. Amen! I would hear; and Iwould be heard. Amen! [I wouldunderstand; and] I would be understood; being all Understanding (Nous). [The first cause Ihave supplied; the last is probably a gloss.] I would be washed;and I would wash. Amen! (Grace leadeth the dance.) I would pipe; danceye all. Amen! I would play adirge; lament ye all. Amen! The one Eight(Ogdoad) sounds (or plays) with us. Amen! The Twelfth number above leadeth the dance. Amen! All whose nature isto dance [doth dance]. Amen! Who danceth not, knows not what is being done. Amen! I would flee; and Iwould stay. Amen! I would be adorned;and I would adorn. [The clauses are reversed in the text.] Amen! I would be at-oned;and I would at-one. Amen! I have no dwelling;and I have dwellings. Amen! I have no place;and I have places. Amen! I have no temple;and I have temples. Amen! I am a lamp to theewho seest Me. Amen! I am a mirror tothee who understandest Me. Amen! I am a door to theewho knockest at Me. Amen! I am a way to thee a wayfarer. Amen! Now answer to My dancing! See thyself in Me who speak; And seeing what Ido, Keep silence on My Mysteries. Understand my dancing, what I do; For thine is thePassion of Man That I am to suffer. Thou couldst not at all be conscious Of what thou dost suffer, Were I not sent as the Word by the Father. The last clause may be emended: I am thy Word; I was sent by the Father. Seeing what I suffer, Thou sawest Me as suffering; And seeing, thou didst not stand, But wast moved wholly, Moved to be wise. Thou hast Me for acouch; rest thou upon Me. Who I am thou shalt know when I depart. What now I am seento be, that I am not. [But what I am]thou shalt see when thou comest. If thou hadst know how to suffer, Thou wouldst havepower not to suffer. Know [then] how to suffer, and thou hast power not to suffer. That which thouknowest not, I Myself will teach thee. I am thy God, not the Betrayers I would be kept intime with holy souls. In Me know thou theWord of Wisdom. Say thou to Me again: Glory to Thee, Father! Glory to Thee, Word! Glory to TheSe, Holy Spirit! But as for Me, ifthou wouldst know what I was: In a word I am theWord who did play [or dance] all things, and was not shamed at all. It was I who leaped and danced. But do thou understand all, and, understanding, say: Glory to Thee, Father! Amen! Now the body of the Aspiring One becomes restless and those who attend him place the power of Hori over his face. He hears the voice of The SunGod, which says, I know the necessary names, I am The Knower of Names. I know the name of The Limitless One, above The Lords of the East and West, I am One Most Powerful. The Aspiring One becomes covered with moisture, he writhes, he shouts, he struggles. The Companionable Watchers know he has left the protection of The Sungod, that he has been seized by the Fiends of Darkness, but he struggles and prevails over them, and all is well. Then the Aspiring One returns. A hundred shining suns whirl above, a whisper rolls around like thunder, lights of manifold hues sway above, like the river reeds in the wind. All things appear to dance in a shimmering haze, then turn over and fold back into themselves, and such beauty is produced that the human tongue cannot describe it. All things take upon themselves shimmering forms through which other forms can be seen. Great melodic music throbs all around, while everything pulsates a soft rhythm. The air is filled with voices of unearthly sweetness, glory and splendour are everywhere. Then the Aspiring One awakes. He is raised, behold he comes forth and walks as one bemused by a vision of glory. He staggers, he cannot walk unsupported. His throat burns and his mouth is overgrown with dryness. His head resounds with drumbeats. He is given the sweet waters in the cup of forgetfulness and drinks deeply, all is well. He is a Reborn One, he is an Enlightened One. He is one resurrected from the Cavern of Stone. O departed one risen to glory, who has left us to sorrow. As we have helped you and surrounded you with the protection of our love and our offerings, so now help us in the days of life left to us on Earth. Yahshua said, “Is it not written, ‘He will come to the worthy and just, but to the people He will be like a winnowing fan, ensuring only the best are gathered in’? “It is also said, ‘He will bless those who follow Him with wisdom and gladness. He will be sinless, gathering together a dedicated people whom He will lead in righteousness as an example to all nations. They will cast out the ungodly from their midst. Those born in the days of the Deliverer will witness the things He will do for the generations which follow.’ “Is it not also written, ‘The words of His mouth will smite the Earth forever, and, for the chosen among men, there will be a guiding light for the rest of their days’?” God is in all and He encompasses all. There is no God but The True God, and His existence is our assurance of life everlasting. He was before the beginning and will be after the end. He is mighty and all powerful. In His magnificence and majesty no man can conceive Him. His divine nature is beyond the understanding of man. His creation is awesome. His ways unfathomable. His creative thought brought all things forth and the power which flows from Him is life. He holds life within His mind and the universe within His body. The heavens declare Thy glory, Lord ! In every star Thy wisdom shines; But when our eyes behold Thy Word, We read Thy name in fairer lines. 2 The radiant sun, the changing light, - And nights and days Thy power confess; But the blest volume Thou hast writ Reveals Thy justice and Thy grace. 3 Sun, moon, and stars convey Thy praise Round the whole earth, and never stand: So, when Thy truth began its race, It touched and glanced on every land. 4 Nor shall Thy spreading Gospel rest, Till through the world Thy truth has run; Till Christ has all the nations blest That see the light or feel the sun.” “The form of the formless, The body of the bodiless, The face of the invisible, The word of the unutterable, The mind of the inconceivable, The fountain which flowed from him, the root of those who are planted, and the god of those who exist, The light of those whom he illumines, The love of those whom he loved, The providence of those for whom he providentially cares, The wisdom of those whom he made wise, The power of those to whom he gives power, The assembly of those whom he assembles to him, The revelation of the things which are sought after, The eye of those who see, The breath of those who breathe, The life of those who live, The unity of those who are mixed with the Totalities” Infinite Love! Light and Love! Christ Light, Sunlight in Love! Light commune with our DNA! Our eyes are the main entrance of Light! Sunlight, Christ Light in Love! Morning, Noon and Evening! Infinite love Mama planet of Love! Infinite praises to the Most High YAH! INFINITE LOVE! THE LORD ASURA! THE BELOVED OF ATUM LORD ATON LORD INDRA THE SUN OF FIRE! THE TATHAGATA THE MOST AUGUSTUS! THE PRINCE OF ISRAEL! THE ISRAELITE! THE LORD OF GREAT GLORY! THE KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS! THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD! THE BELOVED LORD BENYAHAMIN THE BELOVED OF THE MOST YAH, THE AMIN! AMIN AMIN AMIN AMIN AMIN! AMIN AMIN AMIN AMIN AMIN!
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 14:18:36 +0000
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