ON APPROACHING THE BIBLE APPROPIATELY
“And Jehovah-Elohim made coats of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”—Genesis 3:21.
The Bible is like a mirror returning a reflection of the reader’s own psyche. Because of this, the materialists—those who consider themselves to be mere coats of skin—will only be able to see its superficial layer, its words and letters and, from there, either gravitate towards atheism or towards the fanaticism of the literally defunct letter. To these, there is only one thing we can say, that dust is all flesh and to dust it shall return. However, when students kindled by sincere study and meditation start to delve into the mysteries of their own inner being, the different layers of Biblical interpretation may start to unfold, one after the other, and in rapport with the deepening of their own journeys into their inner being.
The soul and the mind dwell in different abodes and speak different tongues. The meeting place is the subconscious becoming conscious and symbology, parable, analogy, etc., are bridge languages. The oracular god Apollo was the god of prophecy and poetry. The reason for secrecy is that the Bible (as many other sacred books and myths) is not a mere book but a device that can be used to stimulate the reunion of mind and soul (male and female). But this act of reunion is individual and—for the greater part—untransferable or unteachable. Each person must sit, study and meditate by himself or herself.
We could teach dogmas to the mundane mind, but the soul can only learn by means of discovery, i.e., by exercising its own creative faculties. The mind upon which many dogmas have been enforced will remember nothing when reincarnated—as the mind shall die shortly after the body—and this will be of rather little use for its spiritual evolution. But a soul that has discovered truths by itself will integrate the essence of these truths forever. The purpose of true religion is spiritual evolution and, ultimately, reunion with the One: the return of the Prodigal Son. The word religion comes from the Latin religare and means reunion; the Sanskrit word yoga (योग) means union.
Many people have reached certain degrees of realisation in relatively modern times. The problem is that such a milestone necessarily comes hand in hand with certain distancing from the mind of the common people which, broadly speaking, rarely have the slightest interest in anything not enticing to the senses. As Plato said, “those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses”. And this is why they are addressed in parables, “because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear.”
ON APPROACHING THE BIBLE APPROPIATELY
“And Jehovah-Elohim made coats of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”—Genesis 3:21.
The Bible is like a mirror returning a reflection of the reader’s own psyche. Because of this, the materialists—those who consider themselves to be mere coats of skin—will only be able to see its superficial layer, its words and letters and, from there, either gravitate towards atheism or towards the fanaticism of the literally defunct letter. To these, there is only one thing we can say, that dust is all flesh and to dust it shall return. However, when students kindled by sincere study and meditation start to delve into the mysteries of their own inner being, the different layers of Biblical interpretation may start to unfold, one after the other, and in rapport with the deepening of their own journeys into their inner being.
The soul and the mind dwell in different abodes and speak different tongues. The meeting place is the subconscious becoming conscious and symbology, parable, analogy, etc., are bridge languages. The oracular god Apollo was the god of prophecy and poetry. The reason for secrecy is that the Bible (as many other sacred books and myths) is not a mere book but a device that can be used to stimulate the reunion of mind and soul (male and female). But this act of reunion is individual and—for the greater part—untransferable or unteachable. Each person must sit, study and meditate by himself or herself.
We could teach dogmas to the mundane mind, but the soul can only learn by means of discovery, i.e., by exercising its own creative faculties. The mind upon which many dogmas have been enforced will remember nothing when reincarnated—as the mind shall die shortly after the body—and this will be of rather little use for its spiritual evolution. But a soul that has discovered truths by itself will integrate the essence of these truths forever. The purpose of true religion is spiritual evolution and, ultimately, reunion with the One: the return of the Prodigal Son. The word religion comes from the Latin religare and means reunion; the Sanskrit word yoga (योग) means union.
Many people have reached certain degrees of realisation in relatively modern times. The problem is that such a milestone necessarily comes hand in hand with certain distancing from the mind of the common people which, broadly speaking, rarely have the slightest interest in anything not enticing to the senses. As Plato said, “those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses”. And this is why they are addressed in parables, “because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear.”