As will be discussed in more detail below, circumstances have recently arisen surrounding the earlier manuscripts of A Course in Miracles that have necessitated this explanation of the history of the Course, from Helen Schucman's notebooks to its publication in 1976. This is an edited and enlarged transcript from a session of a workshop, held in Atlanta in 2007 (the complete workshop is available on CD and MP3 from the Foundation for A Course in Miracles), which directly addressed this issue in response to a question from a participant. While much of what I will say is already discussed in my book Absence from Felicity: The Story of Helen Schucman and Her Scribing of "A Course in Miracles," it is my hope that this will further help to answer questions, correct misunderstandings, and allay any concerns students may have about the Course—authorized by Helen herself and published by the Foundation for Inner Peace—they are reading.
Let me start by giving a brief overview of how the Course was written, and how what Helen took down ended up as the books we have. This will begin the process of addressing the questions that have been raised, which have largely been based on erroneous information.
When Helen started taking down the Course in October 1965, she wrote down what she heard. One of the misconceptions or myths surrounding her scribing is that this was the first time Helen had heard an inner voice. This is not the case. She had been hearing Jesus' voice at least through the latter part of the summer, and her experience was clear that this was Jesus. Incidentally, I should say that while Helen said she heard an inner voice, the traditional way this kind of experience is described, she told me years later that the experience was closer to seeing words in her mind, and then writing down what she "saw."
The early pre-Course messages she received had to do largely with helping her deal with a close colleague of hers who was dying of brain cancer, and who later died. Helen took these messages down in shorthand, in stenography notebooks. She had learned shorthand when she was in graduate school and had developed her own version, which was partially a blend of Gregg and Pitman, the two main shorthand methods.
The following day, whenever she and Bill would have time in what was then a very busy schedule, she would dictate to Bill what had been dictated to her, and he would type it out. As he would jokingly say afterwards, he would type it out with one hand on the typewriter (this was before computers) and the other hand holding Helen up, because she would be so nervous. Sometimes when she would read it to Bill, she would start to stutter or lose her voice. She was always an excellent speaker, and so this was most uncharacteristic of her.
In the first several weeks of the scribing, which consists roughly of the material up to and including Chapters 4 and 5 in the text, the dictation was much more personal than was the case later. It was as if Helen and Jesus were sitting on her living room couch having a conversation. Helen asked questions that Jesus answered, and there were also corrections to her mishearing, what she, Bill, and I later referred to as "scribal errors." The Course actually began with Jesus saying: "This is a course in miracles. Please take notes. The first and fundamental thing to remember about miracles is that there is no order of difficulty among them." It does not begin that way in the published version. Some time into the scribing, Helen complained to Jesus that he needed a better introduction, saying, in effect: "You know, who is going to start a book with ‘There is no order of difficulty in miracles'!" So she wrote down some things that metamorphosed into the current introduction.
Typically, Helen would write down a miracle principle and then there would be a lot of discussion about it, including the aforementioned questions. These also included things Bill had in mind that he asked Helen to ask for him. Much of the material that came during this time was clearly not meant for publication. It was obviously meant to help Helen personally, and to help Helen and Bill in their relationship, the troubled aspect of which was the original stimulus for the coming of the Course. The material was also directed toward Helen's relationship with her husband, Louis, and Bill's relationship with his friends (Bill was homosexual and never married).
In addition, material was given to help Helen and Bill bridge the gap between the psychology that was being offered in the Course and the psychology they both knew, which was basically Freudian. While the psychology of A Course in Miracles is heavily psychoanalytic, it deviates significantly from what Freud taught in many specifics, though not in the general contours or dynamics of the ego's thought system. There was thus some material on Freud and other psychologists, like Jung and Rank.
There also was some discussion of Edgar Cayce, because Bill was quite interested in him at that time. In fact, he pressured Helen to read some of the Cayce writings. Moreover, they both went to the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, the institute Cayce founded. Edgar was already dead, but Helen and Bill met with his son, Hugh Lynn Cayce, who took over leadership of the A.R.E.
Finally, there was, among other subjects, material on sexuality, statistics, and mental retardation; the last two being major interests of Helen's.
For a number of reasons, none of this material belonged in the published version. First, much of it was personal to Helen and Bill, and had nothing to do with the teachings of A Course in Miracles. Perhaps even more importantly, Helen was notoriously inaccurate when her own ego was involved. A great deal of this early material was colored by Helen. She was incredibly accurate when her ego was not in the way, however, and that is why the pure teaching of the Course is what it is. One could never imagine Jesus saying, for example, what is in the Urtext on sex—not that it was anything horrific, but it obviously reflected Helen's own values and biases. I'll return to this later. The material on Freud is heavily weighted in favor of Freud—Jung does not come off very well. Helen did not like Jung, and neither did Bill; they did not know much about him and his work, but they did not like him. And so, when one reads these comments about Freud and Jung, it becomes clear that distinct biases are involved.
Another important point is that when the messages Helen wrote down had to do with something specific in the world, they were frequently wrong. One of the myths surrounding Helen and the scribing is that anything Helen heard had to be from Jesus, and therefore should be regarded as sacred; not too different from the fundamentalist position regarding the unerring nature of every word in the Bible. Nothing could be farther from the truth regarding the Course. Helen did not believe the words she took down were sacred; nor did Bill (or I for that matter). At the end, I will discuss what should be treated as sacred.
At any rate, after the first few weeks, Helen's experiences began to change. Instead of being a conversation, the dictation became essentially straight lecture, as if Jesus were standing at a podium speaking, and Helen, his devoted student in the auditorium, were writing down everything he said. As one reads the text from Chapters 4 and 5 on, one can see a real difference in the style of writing—more fluent, less inconsistent in language. The writing also becomes increasingly more beautiful, reflecting Helen's love of Shakespeare. From about Chapter 16 on, there are an increasing number of passages in verse, and the last two chapters are all in iambic pentameter. This was unknown to Helen at first, but after a while she realized the words were coming in a definite rhythm. From Lesson 99 on, the entire workbook, including rather prosaic instructions, is in blank verse (i.e., unrhymed poetry). Finally, portions of the manual are in blank verse, as are portions of the two pamphlets that were scribed later (Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice and The Song of Prayer). In other words, as Helen's hearing became clearer, the writing became clearer and more beautiful.
One of the examples I have used in the past to describe the early weeks of the scribing is how if you live in the Northeast or Midwest and leave your house for vacation and shut the water off, when you come back and turn it on, very often you get rust because the pipes are old. You have to run the water for a while until the rust runs through, and then the water is clear again. In a sense, Helen's hearing was like that. She had a vision prior to the Course coming through her in which she saw herself on a beach with a boat, and it was her job to get the boat into the water. A stranger, whom she later identified as Jesus, arrived to help her. On seeing what she described as an ancient sending-and-receiving set in the boat, Helen said to him: "Maybe this will be helpful." But he responded: "No, you're not ready to use this yet." In retrospect, Helen understood this as a reference to the Course, which had not yet begun. She was the "ancient sending-and-receiving set," but her equipment was still entangled in seaweed, to keep to the nautical metaphor.
Helen took down the Text in about three years (1965-1968). Nine months went by and she began taking down the Workbook (1969), and a few months after the Workbook was completed (1971), the Manual for Teachers came, concluding in September of 1972, almost seven years since she began the scribing.
Helen, Bill, and I called Bill's original typing the Urtext, from the German word ur, meaning "original." The word has come to refer to any original manuscript. Bill would read back to Helen what he had typed to be sure they got every word right. There were times when Helen did not read everything in the notebooks to Bill, because, as she told me later, she knew it did not belong. And sometimes she dictated something directly to Bill that was not in the notebooks. I mention all this to emphasize that she did not consider every word to be sacred; it was obvious to her that a great deal of this early material was personal, and also clear to her that sometimes she got in the way. Again, the early writings were awkward and inconsistent. One example of this is that Helen wrote down: "Miracles are cobwebs of steel." Jesus then said to her: "That's not what I said," and corrected it. A lot of that went on, for at the beginning the scribing was informal.
Helen then retyped the text twice, and in the process did some editing, per Jesus' instructions. It was something for her to do at night—a distraction in a sense. She liked to be distracted, as also seen in her paying attention to form and avoiding the content. In fact she used to say to Bill: "You pay attention to what it says. I'll pay attention to how it says it." She was always very proud of the poetic nature of the writing.
Jesus very clearly told both Helen and Bill that whatever was personal or specific did not belong in the published version, even though there was no thought then of publishing it. It was obvious at some point, though, that this was not just for Helen and Bill, so they were specifically told to take out all material that did not belong to the actual teaching. There was a wisdom to this, not only because much of it was private and not meant for anyone else to see, but also, as Helen was more than aware, because her ego definitely got in the way. The workbook needed no changes at all; it was pretty straightforward, and the manual was the same way, because by that time Helen was really in the scribal groove, as it were, the writing just flowed through her.
As I mentioned, Helen and Bill had become friendly with Hugh Lynn Cayce, who was a southern gentleman in every respect, obviously dedicated to his father's work. He was very supportive of what Helen had done and was impressed by her. There is a cute story in this regard. I think the second or third time that Helen and Bill went down to Virginia Beach to see him, they showed him some of what Helen was already taking down, and he was impressed, believing that his father had something to do with it. One of the stylistic peculiarities of the early portions of the scribing is that it sounded like Edgar Cayce, with some obvious "Cayceisms." If you think the Course is hard to read, you should try reading Cayce. There are a lot of archaicisms in the Cayce material, and Helen, having read some of Cayce's work, was influenced by him. And so you can see this influence at the beginning of the text, but it quickly falls away.
And so this one time, a very skittish and anxious Helen was leaving Hugh Lynn's office, and he said to her: "You must be a very advanced soul, but you certainly don't look it." This was part of Helen's "costume." She did not look "very advanced," I assure you, although she had a definite air of authority about her, unmistakable to anyone who knew her. Yet she acted like a typical neurotic—phobic and anxious— and was quick to judge at the same time that this exalted piece of writing was coming through her.
Early in the process of the retyping, Jesus told Helen: "Leave decisions about editing to Bill." At that point, Bill was reasonably sane about the Course and Helen was not—she would have taken out anything that did not "read right" to her. This instruction had to do with the original version that Helen was so anxious about, and therefore her judgment would not be clear—Bill's would be—about taking out the early material that did not belong. That certainly did not mean that Bill was the one to do all the editing. This was not his strength. Helen was the editor on their team. Bill did not have the patience for it. In fact, when Helen and Bill would write articles—they published many professional articles—Bill would write the rough draft. Helen then would tear it apart, edit, and re-edit it—still another source of tension in their already fractious relationship, for they would argue constantly. Helen was indeed an inveterate editor, and here is a funny story in that regard. There was the time when I had a luncheon appointment with a friend, which Helen knew about. When I was about to leave the office, Helen was on the phone, and so I wrote her a very brief note, telling her I was leaving. Without pausing in her conversation, she took out a pencil and began to edit it!
Regarding the Course, Helen never made editorial decisions on her own. She was very clear that this was not her book. While she claimed to be responsible only for the form, not the content that she knew was not hers, she did nothing with this course that she did not feel came with Jesus' blessing, including any thoughts from Bill about what should be left in or taken out. As the editing proceeded, the text was originally put in four volumes of thesis binders. Helen would only want to show people volume IV because the writing there is so beautiful.
Helen and Bill prepared an edition of the text for Hugh Lynn (and later the workbook and manual), which we (Helen, Bill, and I) came to call the Hugh Lynn Version, to differentiate it from the earlier manuscripts. Thus, in this version there was a footnote that expressed gratitude to Hugh Lynn for his support. Though gracious and sincere, it was obviously meant only for Hugh Lynn Cayce. Also in that version, an earlier archaicism was left in, where the Holy Spirit was referred to as the Spiritual Eye, merely because Helen was nervous about the phrase "Holy Spirit." Therefore she used "Spiritual Eye" as a euphemism—a phrase, I think, that Cayce used. It dropped away after the early sections, but it had been left in for the Hugh Lynn Version. And so Helen decided to replace it with "the Holy Spirit."
I met Helen and Bill in the late fall of 1972. I was in the midst of my own journey then, and was on the way to the Middle East. When I returned in May 1973, I saw A Course in Miracles for the first time, and what I saw was this Hugh Lynn Version. I read it through twice—the text, workbook, and teacher's manual. After my second reading—the fall of 1973—I said to Helen and Bill that I thought the Course needed another edit, for a number of reasons. The capitalization was notoriously inconsistent. Helen felt that with very few exceptions, and I will mention those as we go along, Jesus left it to her to capitalize, punctuate, make paragraph breaks, and put in titles, because the text came through without titles or breaks—no sections, chapters, or even paragraphs. Helen, again, felt that was her job; that in effect Jesus did not care about commas, semicolons, or paragraphs, but only the message. And so Helen supplied the capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing, and, along with Bill, the section and chapter titles. One prominent exception was Jesus' insistence that Son of God always be capitalized, to distinguish the Course's usage from the traditional Christian one, where the term was reserved for Jesus alone, and always capitalized. Therefore, he wanted the same capitalized term to be used throughout the Course, but with the meaning extended to embrace everyone, not just him. Atonement had to be capitalized, too, differentiating it from the ego's atonement.
With those very, very few exceptions, everything on the form level was left to Helen. Thus, when I read it, I felt that Helen's idiosyncrasies needed to be smoothed out, and both Helen and Bill agreed. Let me briefly discuss some more of these. Helen went through a period where any word remotely associated with God or Heaven got capitalized. And then Helen had two comma philosophies: more and less. Moreover, she had a quaint British way of using a semicolon when a colon should be used. The section and chapter titles were also a bit strange. Helen would often entitle a section based on the first paragraph, and therefore many titles did not quite fit, and some of the section breaks seemed arbitrary as well. The paragraphing, too, was very inconsistent, and I later found out why. Helen went through a period when she thought every paragraph should have nine lines. She also had two philosophies about the usage of the words "that" and "which," and could not make up her mind which it should be; sometimes it would be "which," other times "that," and I often had to go back over our editing and change a that into a which, and vice versa. And the same with punctuation. Helen would frequently change her mind about the commas, and so I would go back over the manuscript and make the necessary adjustments.
What is important about this is to realize that Helen was very loose with this Course—not with the meaning, to be sure, nor the vocabulary, but in the sense that the form was not sacrosanct to her. Indeed, none of us thought this was a sacred text in which every word was literally the Word of God. Helen knew what A Course in Miracles said, and knew the way it should say it, and she never deviated from that, despite tinkering with the form.
There also was some material that did not belong, as it seemed to be remnants from the old days—nothing that made any difference in terms of the teaching; for example, there was a discussion about Freud that did not fit, for it came out of nowhere and was out of keeping with the rest of the material.
There was a tremendous amount of punning and word-play in the dictation, some of which is still there, but nothing to the extent that it was at the beginning. Bill was a marvelous punster, and I have rarely met anyone as quick or as clever with puns as he was. And so there were all these puns that seemed designed to make Bill more comfortable. Some of these were dreadful and were removed. Here is one example: Jesus was making the point that he could reinterpret anything the ego made into a right-minded thought. And so he took some of the more prominent Freudian defense mechanisms and gave them spiritual interpretations. It seemed a bit too cute to us to keep in. One example had to do with fixation—we should be fixated on the divine; and sublimation—we should be oriented towards the sublime. Therefore, these were taken out.
Bill had a thing about there being fifty miracle principles—he liked the round number. When the principles originally came through, there were forty-three, and this metamorphosed over the course of Helen's retypings to fifty-three. In the original, as I mentioned earlier, a miracle principle was given, and then came a long discussion, followed by another principle. It was all very informal. Helen and Bill, and then Helen and I—which I will get to shortly—made some changes, where discussion material from the miracle principle was taken out and put into a separate section in the same chapter. Since Bill wanted fifty, and we knew this would not change the content at all, Helen and I simply followed the earlier procedure by removing three principles and incorporating them into other sections in the chapter. So these were the kinds of things we did, and Helen never made the final decision without checking first with Jesus to see if there were any objections.
After discussing these editing issues, Helen and Bill agreed that the Course should really be gone through one more time—word by word. As I have said, Bill lacked the patience for this kind of work; he would not have been able to sustain that much concentrated time with Helen over the long period this would take. In addition, Helen and I were very comfortable with each other and knew we would have no difficulty with this particular assignment. And so we all agreed that Helen and I would go through the entire Course, word by word. This took over a year, most of the time being spent on the text, as the workbook and manual required practically no editing.
We spent an inordinate amount of time on the first four chapters. It has been suggested, I know, that this editing is something I essentially did on my own, or that I influenced Helen's decisions. Anyone who knew Helen would clearly recognize the absurdity of this idea. No one, including Jesus, could ever get her to do anything she did not want to do. To think that I could have had an influence on Helen is most strange. Indeed, we were very close and she respected me—I was like her spiritual son—but in no way could that be taken to mean that something I might suggest would be seen as gospel, unless she believed it to be true and checked it first with Jesus.
Let me give another example of personal material that was taken out. There was a section called "True Rehabilitation" that was specifically meant for Bill, to help him with his own bodily concerns as he prepared to attend a conference on rehabilitation at Princeton University. While the message was personal to Bill, it remained in the Hugh Lynn Version that Helen and I were editing. We all agreed it did not belong in the published Course (although I did reproduce it in Absence from Felicity). However, the close of the message contained a lovely prayer, which was perfect for the Course. Helen and Bill asked me to find a place for it, and "Special Principles of Miracle Workers" in Chapter 2 seemed like a perfect fit, where it is now. Among ourselves we referred to it as the "Prayer for Salvation," and it begins with the words: "I am here only to be truly helpful."
There were three other sections, or parts of sections, that began as personal messages to Helen, or to Helen and Bill, but fit in perfectly with the flow of the teaching material: "True Empathy" (Chapter 16), "I Need Do Nothing" (Chapter 18), and "The Branching of the Road" (Chapter 22). There is also "Right Teaching and Right Learning" in Chapter 4, which was originally meant for Bill, who was terrified of having to teach an undergraduate course in psychology at Columbia University. The personal material was removed (though, again, I cite much of this in my book), leaving the more general teaching. There was also an interesting addition. A relatively major focus of my time with Helen was her poetry, and one of my "assignments" was to rescue scraps of poems that Helen would write on little pieces of paper. If I were able to preserve these, Helen was later able to generate the rest of the poem. This was always successful, except for one fragment that Helen could never do anything with. Finally one day, she said to me that this fragment was not a poem but belonged in the Course, and she wanted me to find the right place. The verse began with the lines "There is a risk in thinking death is peace," and it found its rightful home in Chapter 27 of the text. All these examples are discussed in more detail in Absence from Felicity, and they serve to illustrate the point that the scribing of A Course in Miracles was more informal than one might have thought.
You can see Helen's writing on our edited pages, which remain in my safekeeping. My writing is there as well, where I rewrote something as per her instructions, or made suggestions for her to review. As often as possible during the day, Helen and I would go through the Course, and every once in a while Helen would say, "I changed this word. This is what it should be," and we would go back to what she originally heard. Any changes that were made I would then take home with me, type up, and present the copy to Helen the next day, and we would go over it. To repeat, the first four chapters were a tremendous amount of work, so much so that I once said to Helen: "Why don't you just ask Jesus to dictate this again; it would save us both a lot of time." I shall not repeat her not-so-delicate response.
Thus, anything that was changed was done so, first of all, because of style—the writing, to use Helen's word, was clunky, meaning awkward. And so she wanted to clarify the writing because she knew her hearing was not that clear in the beginning. We made the changes that Bill had requested—we took material out of the miracle principles and made it into sections, as I mentioned earlier, so that there would be exactly fifty.
Therefore, we kept the meaning, and the changes made it much more readable. What was originally there was not how it was supposed to be in the published version. Again, Helen's hearing was rusty at the beginning, and her considerable anxiety colored what she heard. Students really have to be clear that these are not the literal words of Jesus—the meaning is, but not the actual language. As I said before, Helen's ego got in the way of some of the more specific messages to her (and Bill).
When the editing was completed, we then had it retyped. When I later saw the notebooks and Urtext, I realized that some of what I was reading was not in the published text, but clearly should have been as it came later in the scribing, an obvious result of Helen's retypings. For example, when Helen was retyping the text, one of the pages had stuck to another. As a result, there were three paragraphs she never saw when she was typing. Therefore that material never made it into that version or any of the subsequent ones. Nothing in those paragraphs was different in meaning from what was already in the Course, but clearly should have been in. I recognized, too, other passages that had been inadvertently left out. When the written material is typed and retyped, mistakes happen, especially if the retypings are not adequately proofread, which was the case with the Course. We subsequently did proofread it at our Foundation in New York, with one group of people reading from the Urtext to be sure that we finally got everything right. We discovered there were words, sentences, and paragraphs left out, mostly in the text, and one we found had been omitted from the teachers manual. Incidentally, an errata booklet, available free of charge from the Foundation, was prepared for the second printing and lists all of the added material.
There were some other minor corrections and changes. As A Course in Miracles was originally written for Helen and Bill, Jesus would frequently address her and Bill and say "you and each other." However, the Course is not meant to be read by anyone but one person—each of us—who is involved in a myriad number of relationships. And so "you and each other" became "you and your brother." The change was easy, for it maintained the meter—always a concern of Helen. Yet we had missed some in our editing.
The decision made by the Foundation for Inner Peace and the Foundation for A Course in Miracles to put out a second edition of the Course in the early 1990s gave us a chance to restore all the omitted material. This was also the time when we instituted the numbering system, which we needed for the concordance we were working on, as well as to provide a common way of referring to verses for the various translations that were beginning to emerge, similar to the Bible where, for example, anyone in the world can find John 5:16, regardless of the edition, pagination, or language. You just go to the fifth chapter, sixteenth verse in John's gospel. With the new numbering system, Course students all over the world could do the same thing.
Since Helen and Bill knew I would never violate their trust, they put me in charge of what we called the archives—the notebooks and all the subsequent typings—as Helen was always misplacing or losing things, and Bill was not very organized. Thus I became the archivist, and still have this material in my possession.
As I mentioned earlier, much of what I am saying now is in my book, Absence from Felicity: The Story of Helen Schucman and Her Scribing of "A Course in Miracles." I included there a good part of the Urtext material that was relevant to understanding Helen and Bill's experience of the scribing. Since I was quoting this material, I felt I should copyright it, which in hindsight appears was a mistake, and indeed, my wise wife Gloria cautioned me against doing this. This was a Herculean task. The Foundation staff made copies of all the material and these were sent to the Copyright Office in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. What could be safer, I thought, than the Library of Congress?
While I had a copy of the Hugh Lynn Version of the Course—actually it was just the textbook—the original, as I stated earlier, was presented by Helen and Bill to Hugh Lynn Cayce, and was eventually put in the rare books section of the A.R.E. library at their headquarters in Virginia Beach. Many years later, when I was giving some lectures at the A.R.E., Charles Thomas Cayce, Hugh Lynn's son and the grandson of Edgar Cayce, took Gloria and me into that locked room to show us the manuscript that had been given many years earlier to his father.
As is widely known, there was a court case involving infringement of the copyright by the Endeavor Academy in Wisconsin, an action brought about by the Foundation for Inner Peace, the publisher of the Course, and the Foundation for A Course in Miracles, its sister organization and copyright holder of the Course. This is not the place to discuss the details, except to say that they were doing inappropriate things with the Course and we were trying to stop them. As part of the proceedings, I was deposed by Endeavor's attorney, who asked me, among other things, about the manuscripts. I mentioned that the Hugh Lynn Version, the one that Helen and I edited, was in the A.R.E. library. Armed with that information, some people subsequently and unlawfully removed the manuscript from the A.R.E., copied it, and then returned it to the library. It was later published under the name "Jesus' Course in Miracles." The contention was that I was the one who had changed Jesus' Course, and that the authentic Course was the Hugh Lynn Version that "Bill" edited. I was thus viewed as an upstart who came along with his own ideas about what the Course said and convinced Helen to make changes; a belief hard to understand because nothing was changed in terms of meaning and, as I have indicated, almost all changes occurred at the beginning of the text. At any rate, the claim was that the Course published by the Foundation for Inner Peace was not the true Course.
Then something happened I never would have thought possible: Under false pretenses, the notebooks and Urtext were taken from the Library of Congress and copied, a violation of federal law. We talked to legal authorities at the Library, who were outraged. However, it was clear that this case was very small potatoes to them. The Library of Congress is under the Department of Justice, which has other things on its mind besides someone taking a manuscript that is of no importance to anyone outside of a very small group. So nothing was ever done about it. We were assured by Library officials that this would never happen again, but of course that was of no help in our situation. The people who were now in possession of the illegally obtained material—the notebooks, Urtext and Hugh Lynn Version—had it scanned or retyped, and have made it available on the Internet and elsewhere for purchase.
That, then, is how all this material got out. The court case was concluded in 2003 and the copyright was declared invalid. This, however, did not apply to the Course's Preface, the additional material added to the Second Edition, the Clarification of Terms, and the two pamphlets, Psychotherapy and The Song of Prayer. Moreover, the Foundation still owns the copyright to the notebooks, Urtext, and the Hugh Lynn Version. As a result, when you go now to amazon.com and call up A Course in Miracles, the chances are, if you are not aware of this background, that you may be selecting the Endeavor or some other version, which is being marketed as the original Course. The Endeavor group has also included Matthew's gospel in the Course, because they have always held that the Course and the Bible are the same. Thus, in that version you are not going to get the true Course at all, not even the Urtext or Hugh Lynn version. There are at least two other versions being marketed as well. Thus people now can do just about anything they want with the Course.
What is most important to consider about the public exposure of these earlier manuscripts is that regardless of the version you read, you will receive the essential teaching of the Course. In that sense, no real harm has been done.
In another sense, however, the situation is unfortunate because people could be misled, and at this point nothing can be done about it—the horse is out of the barn, as it were; Pandora's box is open and can never be closed again—except, perhaps, to clarify what inquiring students may be reading. Let me cite some examples. There is material in the Urtext about sex and sexuality, an area that will almost certainly pique the curiosity (if not prurient interest) of students. Thus, for example, one will read that homosexuality is essentially a pathology (the traditional psychoanalytic view), and that the only purpose for sex is procreation, two positions that are antithetical to Jesus' own teachings in the Course about seeing all forms of the ego's world as the same, the correction to the ego's first law of chaos that there is a hierarchy of illusion (T-23.II.2). To believe that these would be the words and thoughts of Jesus is as preposterous and unthinkable an idea as to believe that I could influence Helen as to what belonged in the Course and what did not. It should be obvious that these beliefs belong to Helen and not to Jesus. Helen had her own biases about sex, and unfortunately they came through in these early passages. Yet those who believe that every word in the Urtext is sacred and are Jesus' words can use statements like these to support their own preconceived notions. This same issue holds, though perhaps with less emotionality, with material related to Edgar Cayce, Freud, and other psychologists (Helen, as I mentioned, did not like Jung), etc.
It would be helpful to digress a moment to speak about Jesus, the scribing, and Helen's relationship to it. Again, this is discussed in much greater depth in my book and also CDs. To begin with, Jesus does not speak words. It is really important to understand this. I remember when we were at an airport, a very sincere woman came up to Helen after hearing us speak, and asked: "How could Jesus have dictated the Course; he didn't know English?" I don't recall Helen's response to this sweet question, except that she was gracious in providing a brief reply (we had to catch a plane). The question, however, reflects an important point. Again, Jesus does not speak in words. To say it differently and succinctly here, his is the content; our minds (and brains) supply the form. Therefore, Helen's decision-making mind identified itself with the non-ego presence that is in everyone. This non-judgmental thought system of love was represented for her by Jesus, as it is for so many of us. Her mind took that non-specific love and translated it into words, in much the same way as our brains translate the upside-down image cast on the retina into right-side-up perceptions. And so, as I have said many times, the form of the Course is from Helen. Here are some illustrative examples of the formal qualities of A Course in Miracles that can be directly attributable to its scribe:
1. It is in the English language.
2. Its idiom is American. There is even a reference to the Declaration of Independence and American currency of "green paper strips."
3. Helen philosophically was a Platonist. The philosophy of A Course in Miracles is Platonic, and there are even references to Plato's famous Allegory of the Cave from the Republic. Moreover, the statement that "words are but symbols of symbols. . . .[and] are thus twice removed from reality" (M-21.1:9-10), is also directly taken from the Republic.
4. Helen loved Shakespeare. The Course is Shakespearean in its language. Much of it is written in blank verse (unrhymed poetry) and in iambic pentameter, the form of Shakespeare's poetry. One can also find allusions to Hamlet, Helen's favorite play.
5. Helen was enamored of the King James version of the Bible. She did not like the content of the Bible at all, but loved the way it was written. Thus, in the Course one finds biblical "archaicisms"—the Elizabethan way of speaking.
6. Helen was fiercely logical. She had one of the most logical minds I have ever seen, and A Course in Miracles develops its thought system—the ego's and the Holy Spirit's—in a strictly logical manner. In addition, one finds that the syllogistic form of argument is both implicitly and explicitly used.
7. Helen was an educator. The Course's curricular format is clear: text, workbook for students, manual for teachers; the Holy Spirit is our Teacher; and the language throughout reflects the learning aspects of the curriculum.
8. Helen was a psychologist. Her psychological background was Freudian and she had a great respect for Freud's work. As I have been saying for over thirty years: without Freud, one would not have A Course in Miracles, as the presentation of the ego thought system is heavily based upon Freud's remarkable insights, which were second nature to Helen.
9. Helen had a love-hate relationship with Jesus. Of course there is no hate in the Course in terms of Jesus, but no one can mistake his loving and non-judgmental presence throughout.
And so, we can see how the form of the Course is all Helen's. Interestingly, however, the style of the writing was not Helen's, who wrote in an almost Spartan style, appropriate for scientific writing, in contrast to the more poetic and grammatically loose sentence structure one finds in the Course, which used to, incidentally, drive Helen up a wall. The content of A Course in Miracles, however, is clearly not Helen's, at least not the Helen the world knew or the person she consciously identified with. This explains why she felt at liberty to change the form, though never the content. Helen knew what the published Course ought to be. One could make recommendations, and Bill and I did from time to time, but Helen had the finished form already in her head. And so the Course published by the Foundation for Inner Peace is the way its scribe knew it should be. I do believe it is a violation of hers and Bill's privacy to read the Urtext (or any other version) when she only sanctioned the Foundation's publication. Helen and Bill wanted me to read it, but it is like reading someone's private diaries. Why would you want to do that, especially when asked not to, unless you are looking for conflict and guilt? Recall these words from the Introduction to the Clarification of Terms:
"All terms are potentially controversial, and those who seek controversy will find it. Yet those who seek clarification will find it as well. They must, however, be willing to overlook controversy, recognizing that it is a defense against truth in the form of a delaying maneuver" (C-in.2:1-3).
Once again, the personal and private material in the Urtext does not belong in any published version. Most writers destroy all the earlier versions when they finish a manuscript. I do that when I complete a book and it is published. In reading the Urtext, students of A Course in Miracles are not going to find "Jesus' authentic words," but the writings of a woman struggling (at first) with the scribal process, and thus are reading what was never meant to be read. Now, if you do read it, I am not saying Helen will strike you dead with a thunderbolt, or that it is sinful, but you should at least ask yourself why you are doing so. As Jesus emphasizes throughout his Course: purpose is everything; we need to ask only one question of anything: What is it for? I can guarantee you one thing, however: the Urtext will not enhance your understanding of the Course. If anything, it will confuse you because, as I have indicated, you will come across specific things that were not meant to be read by the public and will seem to contradict what the Course itself teaches, not to mention its use of words and terms that suggest the opposite of what the Course's teachings are.
Therefore, a question that I think should be asked by students of A Course in Miracles who are interested in this material is: "Why would I want to read something that might be construed as teaching something different from what the Course is actually saying, not to mention that Jesus, Helen, and Bill in effect asked me not to?" It is also helpful to remember that the material that some focus on came during the very early weeks of the scribing, and what followed was hardly changed at all. We thus are speaking of what happened when Helen's hearing was not that accurate. It was during this time, as I mentioned, that Helen was still influenced by Edgar Cayce, and this was reflected in what she wrote down. However, this interference was short-lived. Yet if readers of the Urtext are not aware of this aspect of Helen's scribing, they can easily be confused and misled into thinking, to give one instance, that the Course is teaching that the world is real. To be sure, there are intimations of this at the beginning—in marked distinction from the rest of the Course—which reflects the Cayce influence, wherein this great psychic stated that God created the world as a classroom, after the separation. Again, this is hardly the position of A Course in Miracles.
I remember on one occasion that Helen and I were with someone who was prominently associated with the Course, but did not really know what it said. Helen said to him that he would never understand this Course unless he recognized that this world is an illusion. She was very emphatic: This world is an illusion. God had nothing to do with it, and you will not understand this course that way. Again, no one understood this Course better than Helen.
There is an interesting story about Helen when we were going through the editing process—it was actually quite funny. Helen would frequently become anxious during our editing, and one of the ways she would express her anxiety was that when we would read a paragraph, she would start to laugh and then say: "This makes absolutely no sense to me." So the first teaching I actually did was "teaching" Helen, knowing full well that she knew full well what the passage meant. And I also knew that if I had said something that was wrong, she would have corrected me on the spot. Helen knew the Course from the inside out. She hardly ever read it, but could quote it at will. In the years we were together, we would always quote lines back and forth, when we weren't quoting Hamlet. She would get quite judgmental and angry with people who pretended to know what it said but did not. She was very clear that she was never going to teach it formally, but she did not want anyone else teaching it who was obviously expressing his or her ego, and not Jesus.
Returning to this important point, there is a prominent idea that what Helen took down are Jesus' literal words; they are therefore sacred and should never have been altered. This is as patently absurd as the lady who wrote to me after the second (and numbered) edition was published, accusing me of changing Jesus' Course by adding numbers to it. Helen did not think that way. A lot of what she heard at the beginning was just wrong, and she of course knew that. Again, I had many personal experiences with Helen of her writing down messages she said were from Jesus. This, by the way, occurred during the same time period when she was writing down the pamphlets, which are certainly pure in their teaching. Inaccuracies were frequently the result when she was involved with specifics. Here are some additional examples.
I think it was 1976, a year after we met Judith Skutch, the eventual publisher of the Course through the Foundation for Inner Peace. Helen, Bill, Judy, and I were discussing what we thought was going to happen with the Course and our work with it. As was typical during this period, Helen wrote down a message for us, probably somewhere in the summer, and it said that "This year will end in blazing glory." The meaning was that there was to be some magnificent breakthrough; perhaps, we thought, Helen and Bill's relationship would be healed and we would all ride off into the spiritual sunset together—i.e., wonderful things would be happening. Well, weeks and months went by, and no blazing glory. Finally, it was December 31st and we were still waiting. Judy was giving a New Year's Eve party in her apartment, which overlooked Central Park and provided a beautiful view of the sky. Sometime later in the evening, New York City put on its New Year's Eve fireworks display, and we turned to each other and said: "There's the blazing glory!" Obviously, Helen had been wrong.
Another instance of Helen's inaccuracy with specifics was when she saw her own tombstone, indicating that she would die when she was 72. Well, she died when she was 71. It was close, but if you are Jesus' scribe, you should not be off even a little. She also that said Bill would die within a year of her death, which became a big concern for Bill. But he lived another seven years and died in 1988. Finally, Helen said that her husband Louis would die within five or six years of her death, but he lived for almost another nineteen years! And so Helen was frequently wrong when it came to specifics—the ego loves specifics— or when her messages related to areas in which she was conflicted, as with sex and death. She was not wrong, however, when her ego was not involved. This is why you can trust what the published Course says.
Thus, it became very clear to me in the years I knew Helen that I should take with a grain of salt some of the things she said or wrote as coming from Jesus, and this clearly included the early Urtext material. Unfortunately, there are also some things there that if you do not know the context, you will not understand what they refer to, or what they mean. This inevitably means that those who were not present and did not know Helen or Bill will misunderstand much of what is found there.
Finally, I can assure all students of A Course in Miracles that they have not been cheated, and Helen, Bill, and I worked very hard to be sure that the book published by the Foundation for Inner Peace was the way Jesus meant it to be, and certainly the way Helen knew he wanted it.
It goes without saying that I do not want people to feel guilty if they buy or read the other versions. People should do whatever they want, as long as it is not hurtful; and contrary to what some people might say, there is no "Pope of the Course." So, whatever you do with the Course, what is most important is that it be done without anger, judgment, or feelings of unfair treatment. Those responses are always of the ego. Thus, whatever you do, try to have the motivation be ego free. In that way, whatever you do will be loving.
While some may be tempted to argue about the merits of the different versions, all that is really important is where the Course comes from: everyone's right mind, which each of us can choose at any point. If you find yourself getting caught up in controversy, thinking the arguments mean something, you will argue and see differences, where in truth there are none. Differences undoubtedly exist in form (the body), but never in content (the mind). Thus there can be no significant differences among those who represent different positions. Seeing differences and making them into something serious is when the ego catches us, for we are remembering not to laugh at the tiny, mad idea of separation (T-27.VIII.6:2
What motivates people to stir up controversy is the need to have there be conflict; and when there is conflict, you know the ego has been invited in. There can be no conflict in one's right mind, because there everyone is perceived to be the same. Whatever differences exist, again, are only on the illusory level of the body. Bodies differ. People write different books and say different things; but if you make these differences significant and the object of controversy and conflict, if not war, then you know which voice you are listening to. Our only responsibility is to hear the Voice of peace, and when we do, we recognize that controversies are like boys and girls playing in a sandbox. But you cannot get sand in your eyes unless you sit down with them and play in the sand. If you stand up as an adult, with Jesus by your side, then whatever is happening in the sandbox is of no consequence to you, which means that nothing that goes on in the world can change the experience of God's Love in your mind.
Whether or not you agree with the issues generated by the differing versions of A Course in Miracles is irrelevant. Obviously everyone has a position, but that position should not affect your peace or your vision that sees everyone involved in the issue as the same. That means that what is going on now with the Course is just another classroom; another way of seeing whether you want to get your hands, feet, and eyes filled with sand, or to be able to stand with Jesus and be at peace. When you choose vision instead of judgment, as Jesus is always asking us to do, you will see that everyone is involved in the same quest for returning to the mind and choosing again, and that everyone is tempted to be afraid of this journey. When people are afraid, they get caught in the sandbox and start playing with its toys as if they were weapons.
The point here is that people should take whatever stand they think is right, but to try not to let it amount to anything. The only position that is truly right is that we all made the same mistake of choosing the wrong teacher, and now we can make the correction by choosing again. That is the only thing that is important. What is happening now is just another opportunity to choose differently—to see shared instead of separate interests.
Your perspective on A Course in Miracles will be warped if you see it in any way as part of the world of separation and form. It is said that the Buddha once remarked: "What are known as the teachings of the Buddha are not the teachings of the Buddha." And the same can be said for the Course. In other words, A Course in Miracles is not really a book, nor even a body of specific teachings. It is a symbol for the Atonement, the correction for the thought of separation that is in everyone's mind. When we recognize this, it would be impossible to judge other students, teachers, or the Course vis a vis itself or other spiritualities. We would not accord it any meaning that is fragmenting or separating. This means that we realize that what is holy is not the book, or Helen—her notebooks, pen, or the fingers that held the pen. It is the thought system in our equal minds that is holy. Otherwise the Course becomes just another symbol of specialness and a means of justifying the ego's projection of guilt in the form of judgment, division, and conflict. Just as Christianity ended up as a religion of hate and even murder, this Course could end up like that, too. Unfortunately, its short history already reflects some of the same dynamics of separation, judgment and exclusion. Yet what else would one expect from the ego? In other words, A Course in Miracles is written by the mind, for the mind—that it correct itself.
Yes, it is important that this communication from Jesus be transmitted accurately, as accurately as is possible, although perfect communication is impossible within the illusion. Yet keep in mind, to say it one more time, that the true communication is not the words, but the love with which Helen joined in her mind, and which is in our own as well—a love that reflects the perfect love and oneness of Heaven. And so, work with whatever symbols are meaningful to you, but do so in such a way that you have no investment in the outcome. Fulfill your function of forgiveness as purely as you can, and what happens after that will not be your concern; otherwise you fall into the ego's trap of substituting form for content, one of the prime characteristics of special relationships. That is why I keep insisting that A Course in Miracles is not A Course in Miracles -- at least not the book or its words. If we can remember the love that is the Course, we will not be taken in by the ego's seductions of differences and controversy. And when we are able to keep that love pure in ourselves, we will not make the seeming purity of the form so important, recognizing that we are one in content, albeit different in form. And learning to remember that shared content of love in all God's Sons is the sum and substance of A Course in Miracles.
~ A selection from the original transcript of A Course in Miracles. In context of Helen's upbringing, dimly exposed to Christian Science and Theosophy by her mother, it is understandable but curious to find comment upon and adoption of the paradisal myth from Mary Baker Eddy's writings.
“Be as thou wast wont to be / See as thou wast wont to see.”
It is noteworthy that these words were said by Oberon in releasing Titania from her own errors, both of being and perceiving. These were the words which re-established her true identity as well as her true abilities and judgment. The similarity here is obvious.
There are also some definitions, which I asked you to take from the dictionary, which will also be helpful. Their somewhat unusual nature is due to the fact that they are not first definitions in their chronological appearance. Nevertheless, the fact that each of them does appear in the dictionary should be reassuring.
Project (verb): to extend forward or out.
Project (noun): a plan in the mind World : a natural grand division.
(Note that you originally wrote “word” instead of “world”.)
We will refer later to projection as related to both mental illness and mental health. It will also be commented on that Lucifer literally projected himself from heaven. We also have observed that man can create an empty shell, but cannot create nothing at all.
The Garden of Eden, which is described as a literal garden in the Bible, was not originally an actual garden at all. It was merely a mental state of complete need-lack. Even in the literal account, it is noteworthy that the pre-Separation state was essentially one in which man needed nothing. The Tree of Knowledge, again an overly-literal concept, (as is clearly shown by the subsequent reference to “eating of the fruit of the tree”) is a symbolic reference to some of the misuses of knowledge referred to in the section immediately preceding this one. There is, however, considerable clarification of this concept, which must be understood before the real meaning of the “detour into fear” can be fully comprehended. Projection, as defined above, (this refers to the verb) is a fundamental attribute of God, which he also gave to his Son. In the Creation, God projected his Creative Ability out of Himself toward the Souls which He created, and also imbued them with the same loving wish (or will) to create. We have commented before on the FUNDAMENTAL error involved in confusing what has been created with what is being created. We have also emphasized that man, insofar as the term relates to Soul, has not only been fully Created, but also been created perfect. There is no emptiness in him. The next point, too, has already been made, but bears repetition here. The Soul, because of its own likeness to its Creator, is creative. No Child of God is capable of losing this ability, because it is inherent in what he IS.
Whenever projection in its inappropriate sense is utilized, it always implies that some emptiness (or lack of everything) must exist, and that it is within man’s ability to put his own ideas there INSTEAD of the truth. If you will consider carefully what this entails, the following will become quite apparent:
First, the assumption is implicit that what God has Created can be changed by the mind of Man.
Second, the concept that what is perfect can be rendered imperfect (or wanting) is intruded.
Third, the belief that man can distort the Creations of God (including himself) has arisen, and is tolerated.
Fourth, that since man can create himself, the direction of his own creation is up to him.
These related distortions represent a picture of what actually occurred in the Separation. None of this existed before, nor does it actually exist now. The world, as defined above, WAS made as a natural grand division, or projecting outward of God. That is why everything which He Created is like Him.
It should be noted that the opposite of pro is con. Strictly speaking, then, the opposite of projecting is conjecting, a term which referred to a state of uncertainty or guess work. Other errors arise in connection with ancillary defenses, to be considered later.
For example, dejection, which is obviously associated with depression, injection, which can be misinterpreted readily enough, in terms of possession fallacies (particularly penetration), and rejection, which is clearly associated with denial. It should be noted also that rejection can be used as refusing, a term which necessarily involves a perception of what is refused as something unworthy.
Projection as undertaken by God was very similar to the kind of inner radiance which the Children of the Father inherit from Him. It is important to note that the term “project outward” necessarily implies that the real source of projection is internal. This is as true of the Son as of the Father.
The world, in its original connotation, included both the proper creation of man by God, AND the proper creation by man in his Right Mind. The latter required the endowment of man by God with free will, because all loving creation is freely given. Nothing in either of these statements implies any sort of level involvement, or, in fact, anything except one continuous line of creation, in which all aspects are of the same order.
When the “lies of the serpent” were introduced, they were specifically called lies because they are not true. When man listened, all he heard was untruth. He does not have to continue to believe what is not true, unless he chooses to do so. All of his mis-creations can disappear in the well known “twinkling of an eye”, because it is a visual misperception.
Man’s spiritual eye can sleep, but as will shortly appear... a sleeping eye can still see. One translation of the Fall, a view emphasized by Mary Baker Eddy, and worthy of note, is that “a deep sleep fell upon Adam”. While the Bible continues to associate this sleep as a kind of anesthetic utilized for protection of Adam during the creation of Eve, Mrs. Eddy was correct in emphasizing that nowhere is there any reference made to his waking up. While Christian Science is clearly incomplete, this point is much in its favor.
The history of man in the world as he saw it has not been characterized by any genuine or comprehensive re-awakening, or re-birth. This is impossible as long as man projects in the spirit of miscreation. It still remains within him to project as God projected his own Spirit to him. In reality, this is his ONLY choice, because his free will was made for his own joy in creating the perfect.
All fear is ultimately reducible to the basic misperception of man’s ability to USURP the power of God. It is again emphasized that he neither CAN nor HAS been able to do this. In this statement lies the real justification for his escape from fear. This is brought about by his acceptance of the Atonement, which places him in a position to realize that his own errors never really occurred.
When the deep sleep96 fell upon Adam, he was then in a condition to experience nightmares, precisely because he was sleep‐ ing. If a light is suddenly turned on while someone is dreaming, and the content of his dream is fearful, he is initially likely to interpret the light itself as part of the content of his own dream. However, as soon as he awakens, the light is correctly perceived as the release from the dream, which is no longer accorded reality. I would like to conclude this with the Biblical injunction “Go ye and do likewise.” It is quite apparent that this depends on the kind of knowledge which was NOT referred to by the “Tree of Knowledge” which bore lies as fruit. The knowledge that illuminates rather than obscures is the knowledge which not only makes you free, but also shows you clearly that you ARE free.
~ A selection from the original transcript of A Course in Miracles; this comment is due to Bill's interest in Helen's psychic episodes and their visit to the Edgar Cayce's Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia.
Cayce’s notes, too, could have been much shortened. Their excessive length is due to two factors. The first involves a fundamental error which Cayce himself made, and which required constant undoing. The second is more related to the attitude of his followers. They are unwilling to omit anything he said. This is respectful enough, but not overly‐ judicious. I would be a far better editor, if they would allow me this position on their staff.
It is obvious that Cayce himself was not able to transcend the misperceptions of the need for sacrifice, or he could not possibly have been willing to sacrifice himself. Anyone who is unable to leave the requests of others unanswered has not entirely tran‐ scended egocentricity. I never “gave of myself” in this inappropriate way, nor would I ever have encouraged Cayce to do so.
Cayce could not see the Atonement as totally lacking in sacrifice at ANY level. It WAS obvious to him that the mind cannot be so limited. It was equally apparent to him that the Soul is merely unaffected by such an idea. This left him only the body with which to invest his misperception. This is also why he used his own mind at the “EXPENSE of his body.”
Because Cayce was a somewhat erratic listener, he was compelled to correct his own errors at very great length, and not al‐ ways adequately. Consider the basis from which he started, when he began with “yes, we have the body.” It is noteworthy that in all these readings, a large section was actually devoted to the body, even though he usually concluded with the caution that the body cannot be healed by itself. It would have saved an enormous num‐ ber of words if he had always begun with this.
Cayce and his devotion to me are in no way underestimated by the realization that he worked under very great strain, which is ALWAYS a sign that something is wrong. One of the difficulties in‐ herent in trance states is that it is very difficult to overcome the split which the trance itself induces through the medium of communications made while in the trance state.
Cayce’s whole approach put him in a real double‐bind, from which he did not recover. When he spoke of a dream in which he saw his own rather immanent reincarnation, he was perfectly accurate. He was sufficiently attuned to real communication to make it easy to correct his errors, and free him to communicate without strain. It is noticeable throughout his notes that he frequently engaged in a fallacy that we have already noted in some detail: namely, the tendency to endow the physical with nonphysical properties. Cayce suffered greatly from this error. He did not make either of the other three. However, you will remember that it is this one which is particularly vulnerable to magical associations. Cayce’s accuracy was so great that, even when he did this, he was able to apply it constructively. But it does not follow that this was a genuinely constructive approach.
It should also be noted that, when Cayce attempted to “see” the body in proper perspective, he saw physically discernible auras surrounding it. This is a curious compromise, in which the non‐ physical attributes of the self are approached AS IF they could be seen with the physical eye.
Cayce’s illiteracy never stood in his way. This is because illiteracy does not necessarily imply any lack of love, and in Cayce’s case very definitely did not. He therefore had no difficulty at all in overcoming this seeming limitation. What DID hamper him was a profound sense of personal unworthiness, which, characteristically enough, was sometimes over‐compensated for in what might be called a Christian form of grandiosity. Cayce was essentially uncharitable to himself. This made him very erratic in his own miracles, and, because he was genuinely anxious to help others, left himself in a highly vulnerable position.
His son comments both on the rather erratic nature of the Cayce household, and also on the rather uneven nature of Cayce’s temper. Both of these observations are true, and clearly point to the fact that Cayce did not apply the Peace of God to himself. Once this had occurred, particularly in a man whose communication channels were open, it was virtually impossible for him to escape external solutions. Cayce was a very religious man, who should have been able to escape fear through religion. Being unable to apply his religion wholeheartedly to himself, he was forced to accept certain magical beliefs which were alien to his own Christianity. This is why he was so different when he was asleep, and even disowned what he said in this state.
The lack of integration which this split state implies is clearly shown in certain off‐the‐mark detours into areas such as the effects of stones on the mind, and some curious symbolic attempt to integrate churches and glands. (This is hardly more peculiar than some of your own confusion.)
Cayce’s mind was imprisoned to some extent by an error against which you have been cautioned several times. He looked to the past for an EXPLANATION of the present, but he never suc‐ ceeded in separating the past FROM the present. When he said “mind is the builder,” he did not realize that it is only what it is building NOW that really creates the future. The past, in itself, does not have the ability to do this. Whenever we move from one instant to the next, the previous one no longer exists. In considering the body as the focus for healing, Cayce was expressing his own failure to accept this AS ACCOMPLISHED. He did not fail to recognize the value of the Atonement for others, but he did fail to accept its corrective merit for himself.
As we have frequently emphasized, man CANNOT control his own errors. Having created them, he does believe in them. Be‐ cause of his failure to accept his own perfect freedom FROM the past, Cayce could not really perceive others as similarly free. This is why I have not wholly endorsed the Cayce documents for wide‐spread use.
I am heartily supportive of the ARE’s endeavor to make Cayce’s singular contributions immortal, but it would be most unwise to have them promulgated as a faith until they have been purged of their essential errors. This is why there have been a number of unexplained set backs in their explication. It is also one of the many reasons why the Cayce material, a major step in the speedup, must be properly understood before it can be meaningfully validated.
Cayce’s son has been wise in attempting to deal with reliability, which in Cayce’s case is very high. There is a way of validating the material, and Hugh Lynn is perfectly aware that this must be done eventually. He is also aware of the fact that he is unable to do it. In the present state of the material, it would be most unwise even to attempt it. There is too much that IS invalid. When the time comes that this can be corrected to the point of real safety, I assure you it will be accomplished. In tribute to Cayce, I remind you that no effort is wasted, and Cayce’s effort was very great.
It would be most ungrateful of me if I allowed his work to produce a generation of witch doctors. I am sorry that Cayce himself could not rid himself of a slight tendency in this direction. But fortunately I have a fuller appreciation of him than he had.
I am repeating here a Biblical injunction of my own, already mentioned elsewhere, that if my followers eat any deadly thing it shall not hurt them. This is what Cayce could NOT believe, because he could not see that, as a Son of God, he WAS invulnerable.
~ Chronological selections from the original transcript of A Course in Miracles mentioning sexual impulse and function. Some points remain, but most of this material was edited out or decontextualized prior to sanctioned publication; as it is of a very sensitive personal matter, the scribes in communion with Jesus understandably didn't want his particularly revealing comments on their frustrated sex lives to be publicly known.
(Helen notes: "This upsets me")
Remember the point about Miracles as a means of organizing different levels of consciousness. Miracles come from the below-conscious or subconscious level. Revelations come from the above conscious level. The conscious level is in between & reacts to either sub‐ or super‐conscious impulses in varying ratios. Freud was right about the classification, but not the names. He was also right that the content of consciousness is fleeting. Consciousness is the level which engages in the world, and is capable of responding to both external & internal impulses. Having no impulses from itself, and being primarily a mechanism for inducing response, it can be very wrong.
For example, if the identification is with the body, consciousness may distort superconscious impulses by denying their Source, & seeking their impact in the orgasm. This is the result of the “mistaken identity” confusion.
If you will look back at the description of the EFFECTS of Revelation you will see that there ARE some similarities in the experiential results but hardly in the content.
Revelations induce complete but temporary suspension of doubt & fear. They represent the original form of communication between God and His Souls, before the intrusion of fire and ice made this impossible. It should be noted that they involve an extremely personal sense of closeness to Creation, which man tries to find in sexual relationships. This confusion is responsible for the depression and fear which are often associated with sex.
Sex is often associated with lack of love, but Revelation is PURELY a love experience. Physical closeness CANNOT achieve this. As was said before, the subconscious impulses properly induce Miracles, which ARE interpersonal, and result in closeness to others. This can be misunderstood by a personally willful consciousness as an impulse toward sexual gratification.
The Revelation unites Souls directly with God.
...
Both of you are involved with unconscious distortions (above the miracle level), which are producing a dense cover over miracle‐impulses which makes it hard for them to reach consciousness. Sex & miracles are both WAYS OF RELATING. The nature of any interpersonal relationship is limited or defined by what you want it to DO which is WHY you want it in the first place. Relating is a way of achieving an outcome.
Indiscriminate sexual impulses resemble indiscriminate miracle impulses in that both result in body image misperceptions. The first is an expression of an indiscriminate attempt to reach communion through the body. This involves not only the improper self identification, but also disrespect for the individuality of others. Self-control is NOT the whole answer to this problem, though I am by no means discouraging its use. It must be understood, however, that the underlying mechanism must be uprooted (a word you both should understand well enough by now not to regard it as frightening).
ALL shallow roots have to be uprooted, because they are not deep enough to sustain you. The illusion that shallow roots can be deepened and thus made to hold is one of the corollaries on which the reversal of the Golden Rule, referred to twice before, is balanced. As these false underpinnings are uprooted (or given up), equilibrium is experienced as unstable. But the fact is that NOTHING is less stable than an orientation which is upside down. Anything that holds it this way is hardly conducive to greater stability.
The whole danger of defenses lies in their propensity to hold misperceptions rigidly in place. This is why rigidity is regarded AS stability by those who are off the mark.
NOTE The only final solution ‐ (no, Helen, this has nothing to do with the Nazi use of the term.) You just got frightened again. One of the more horrible examples of inverted or upside down thinking (and history is full of horrible examples of this) is the fact that the Nazis spelled their appalling error with capital letters. I shed many tears over this, but it is by no means the only time I said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
All actions which stem from reverse thinking are literally the behavioral expressions of those who know not what they do. Actually, Jean Dixon was right in her emphasis on “Feet on the ground & fingertips in the Heaven,” though she was a bit too literal for your kind of understanding. Many people knew exactly what she meant, so her statement was the right miracle for them.
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Remember the story about the artist who kept devoting himself to inventing better & better ways of sharpening pencils. He never created anything, but he had the sharpest pencil in town. (The language here is intentional.) Sex is often utilized on behalf of very similar errors. Hostility, triumph, vengeance, self‐debasement, and all sort of expressions of the lack of love are often VERY clearly seen in the accompanying fantasies. But it is a PROFOUND error to imagine that, because these fantasies are so frequent (or occur so reliably), that this implies validity. Remember that while validity implies reliability the relationship is NOT reversible. You can be wholly reliable, and ENTIRELY wrong.
While a reliable test DOES measure something, what USE is the test unless you discover what the “something” is? And if validity is more important than reliability, and is also necessarily implied BY it, why not concentrate on VALIDITY and let reliability fall naturally into place.
Intellect may be a “displacement upward,” but sex can be a “displacement outward.” How can man “come close” to others through the parts of him which are really invisible? The word “invisible” means “cannot be seen or perceived.” What cannot be perceived is hardly the right means for improving perception.
The confusion of miracle impulse with sexual impulse is a major source of perceptual distortion, because it INDUCES rather than straightening out the basic level‐confusion which underlies all those who seek happiness with the instruments of the world. A desert is a desert is a desert. You can do anything you want in it, but you CANNOT change it from what it IS. It still lacks water, which is why it IS a desert. ... The thing to do with a desert is to LEAVE.
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I want to finish the instructions about sex, because this is an area the miracle worker MUST understand.
Inappropriate sex drives (or misdirected miracle‐impulses) result in guilt if expressed, and depression if denied. We said before that ALL real pleasure comes from doing God’s will. Whenever it is NOT done an experience of lack results. This is because NOT doing the will of God IS a lack of self.
Sex was intended as an instrument for physical creation to enable Souls to embark on new chapters in their experience, and thus improve their record. The pencil was NOT an end in itself. (See earlier section.) It was an aid to the artist in his own creative endeavors. As he made new homes for Souls and guided them through the period of their own developmental readiness, he learned the role of the father himself. The whole process was set up as a learning experience in gaining Grace.
The pleasure which is derived from sex AS SUCH is reliable only because it stems from an error which men shared. AWARENESS of the error produces the guilt. DENIAL of the error results in projection. CORRECTION of the error brings release.
The only VALID use of sex is procreation. It is NOT truly pleasurable in itself. “Lead us not into Temptation” means “Do not let us deceive ourselves into believing that we can relate in peace to God or our brothers with ANYTHING external.”
The “sin of Onan” was called a “sin” because it involved a related type of self‐delusion; namely, that pleasure WITHOUT relating can exist.
To repeat an earlier instruction, the concept of either the self or another as a “sex‐OBJECT” epitomizes this strange reversal. As Bill put it, and very correctly, too, it IS objectionable, but only because it is invalid. Upside down logic produces this kind of thinking.
Child of God, you were created to create the good, the beautiful, and the holy. Do not lose sight of this. You were right in telling B. to invite Me to enter anywhere temptation arises. I will change the situation from one of inappropriate sexual attraction to one of impersonal miracle‐working. The concept of changing the channel for libidinal expression is Freud’s greatest contribution, ex‐ cept that he did not understand what “channel” really means.
The love of God, for a little while, must still be expressed through one body to another. That is because the real vision is still so dim. Everyone can use his body best by enlarging man’s perception, so he can see the real VISION. THIS VISION is invisible to the physical eye. The ultimate purpose of the body is to render itself unnecessary. Learning to do this is the only real reason for its creation.
NOTE Scribes have a particular role in the Plan of Atonement, because they have the ability to EXPERIENCE revelations themselves, and also to put into words enough of the experience to serve as a basis for miracles.
(This refers to experiences at the visionary level, after which Helen wrote “If you will tell me what to do, I will to do it.” She had not known that the word “to” was inserted, and had merely intended to write “I will do it.” This recognition had a terrific impact on her.)
This is why you EXPERIENCED that revelation about “I will to do” VERY personally, but also WROTE IT: What you wrote CAN be useful to miracle workers other than yourself. We said before that prayer is the medium of miracles. The miracle prayer IS what you wrote, i.e. “If you will tell me what to do, I will to do it.”
This prayer is the door that leads out of the desert forever.
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Sexual fantasies are distortions of perception by definition. They are a means of making false associations, and obtaining pleasure from them. Man can do this only because he IS creative. But although he can perceive false associations, he can never make them real except to himself. As was said before, man believes in what he creates. If he creates a miracle, he will be equally strong in his belief in that. The strength of his conviction will then sustain the belief of the miracle receiver.
NO fantasies, sexual or otherwise, are true. Fantasies become totally unnecessary as the Wholly satisfying nature of reality becomes apparent. The sex impulse IS a miracle impulse when it is in proper focus. One individual sees in another the right partner for “procreating the stock” (Wolff was not too far off here), and also for their joint establishment of a creative home. This does not involve fantasy at all. If I am asked to participate in the decision, the decision will be a Right one, too.
In a situation where you or another person, or both, experience inappropriate sex impulses, KNOW FIRST that this is an expression of fear. Your love toward each other is NOT perfect, and this is why the fear arose. Turn immediately to me by denying the power of the fear, and ask me to help you to replace it with love.84 This shifts the sexual impulse immediately to the miracle‐impulse, and places it at MY disposal.
Then acknowledge the true creative worth of both yourself AND the other one. This places strength where it belongs. Note that sexual fantasies are ALWAYS destructive (or depleting), in that they perceive another in an inappropriate creative role. Both people are perceived essentially as “objects” fulfilling THEIR OWN pleasure drives. This dehumanized view is the source of the DEPLETING use of sex. Freud’s description is purely NEGATIVE, i.e., as a release from the UNPLEASANT. He also observed that the tension from id impulses never completely abates.
What he should have said is that the shift from miracle‐ impulses to sexual impulses was debilitating in the first place, because of the level‐confusion involved. This set up a state in which real release was impossible. Note also that Freud’s notion of sex was as a device for inducing RELAXATION, which he confused with PEACE.
Inappropriate sex relaxes only in the sense that it may induce physical sleep. The miracle, on the other hand, is an ENERGIZER. It always strengthens, and never depletes. It DOES induce peace, and by establishing tranquility (not relaxation) it enables both giver and receiver to enter into a state of Grace. Here his miracle‐mindedness, (not release from tension) is restored.
Tension is the result of a building‐up of unexpressed miracle‐impulses. This can be truly abated only by releasing the miracle‐drive, which has been blocked. Converting it to sexual libido merely produces further blocking. Never foster this illusion in yourself, or encourage it in others. An “object” is incapable of release, because it is a concept which is deprived of creative power. The recognition of the real creative power in yourself AND others brings release because it brings peace.
The peace of God which passeth understanding CAN keep your hearts now and forever.
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The other question, however, I am more than willing to answer, because it is appropriate for NOW. You and Bill both chose your present sex partners shamefully, and would have to atone for the lack of love which was involved in any case.
You selected them precisely BECAUSE they were NOT suited to gratify your fantasies. This was not because you wanted to abandon or give up the fantasies, but because you were AFRAID of them. You saw in your partners a means of protecting against the fear, but both of you continued to “look around” for chances to indulge the fantasies.
The dream of the “perfect partner” is an attempt to find EXTERNAL integration, while retaining conflicting needs in the self.
Bill was somewhat less guilty of this than you, but largely because he was more afraid. He had abandoned the hope (of finding a perfect partner) in a neurotic sense of despair of finding it. You, on the other hand, insisted that the hope was justified. Neither of you, therefore, was in your Right Mind.
As was said before, homosexuality is INHERENTLY more risky (or error prone) than heterosexuality, but both can be undertaken on an equally false basis. The falseness of the basis is clear in the accompanying fantasies. Homosexuality ALWAYS involves misperception of the self OR the partner, and generally both.
Penetration DOES NOT involve magic, nor DOES ANY form of sexual behavior. It IS a magic belief to engage in ANY form of body image activity at all. You neither created yourselves, nor controlled your creation. By introducing levels into your own perception, you opened the way for body‐image distortions.
The lack of love (or faulty need‐orientation) which led to your particular person (not OBJECT) choices CAN BE corrected within the existent framework, and would HAVE to be in the larger interest of overall progress. The situation is questionable largely because of its inherent vulnerability to fantasy‐gratification. Doing the best you can WITHIN this limitation is probably the best corrective measure at present. Any relationship you have undertaken for whatever reasons becomes a responsibility.
If you shift your own needs, some amount of corresponding shift in the need‐orientation of the other person MUST result, This will be beneficial, even if the partner was originally attracted to you BECAUSE of your disrespect. Teaching devices which are to‐ tally alien to a learner’s perceptual system are usually merely dis‐ ruptive. Transfer depends on SOME common elements in the new situation which are understandable in terms of the old.
Man can never control the effects of fear himself, because he has CREATED fear and believes in what he creates. In attitude, then, though not in content, he resembles his own Creator, who has perfect faith in His Creations because he Created them. All creation rests on belief, and the belief in the creation produces its existence. This is why it is possible for a man to believe what is not true for anyone else. It is true for him because it is made BY him.
Every aspect of fear proceeds from upside down perception. The TRULY creative devote their efforts to correcting this. The neurotic devotes his to compromise. The psychotic tries to escape by establishing the truth of his own errors. It is most difficult to free him by ordinary means, only because he is more stable in his denial of truth.
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Possession is a concept which has been subject to numerous distortions, some of which we will list below:
1. It (possession) can be associated with the body only. If this occurs, sex is particularly likely to be contaminated. Possession versus being possessed is apt to be seen as the male and female role. Since neither will be conceived of as satisfying alone, and both will be associated with fear, this interpretation is particularly vulnerable to psycho‐ sexual confusion.
2. From a rather similar misperceptual reference point, possession can also be associated with things. This is essentially a shift from 1), and is usually due to an underlying fear of associating possession with people. In this sense, it is an attempt to PROTECT people, like the superstition about “protecting the name,” we mentioned before.
Both 1) and 2) are likely to become compulsive for several reasons, including:
a. They represent an attempt to escape from the real possession‐ drive, which cannot be satisfied this way.
b. They set up substitute goals, which are usually reasonably easy to attain.
c. They APPEAR to be relatively harmless, and thus SEEM to allay fear. The fact that they usually interfere with good interpersonal relationships can be interpreted, in this culture, as a lack of sophistica‐ tion on the part of the OTHER (not the self), and this induces a false feeling of confidence in the solution, based on reliability NOT validity. It is also fairly easy to find a partner who SHARES the illusion. Thus, we have any number of relationships which are actually ESTABLISHED on the basis of 1), and others which HOLD TOGETHER primarily because of the joint interests in 2).
d. The manifestly EXTERNAL emphasis which both entail seems to be a safety device, and thus permits a false escape from much more basic inhibitions. As a compromise solution, the ILLUSION of inter‐ personal relating is preserved, along with the retention of the lack of love component. This kind of psychic juggling leaves the person (or juggler?) with a feeling of emptiness, which in fact is perfectly justi‐ fied, because he IS acting from scarcity. He then becomes more and more driven in his behavior, to fill the emptiness.
When these solutions have been invested with extreme belief, 1) leads to sex crimes, and 2) to stealing. The kleptomaniac is a good example of the latter.
Generally, two types of emotional disturbances result:
a. The tendency to maintain the illusion that only the physical is real. This produces depression.
b. The tendency to invest the physical with non‐physical properties. This is essentially magic, and tends more toward anxiety‐proneness.
c. The tendency to vacillate from one to the other, which produces a corresponding vacillation between depression AND anxiety.
Both result in self imposed starvation.
3. Another type of distortion is seen in the fear of or desire for “spirit” possession. The term “spirit” is profoundly debased in this context, but it DOES entail a recognition that the body is not enough, and investing it with magic will not work. This recognition ACCEPTS the fact that neither 1) nor 2) is sufficient, but, precisely BECAUSE it does not limit fear so narrowly, it is more likely to produce greater fear in its own right.
Endowing the Spirit with human possessiveness is a more INCLUSIVE error than 1) or 2), and a step somewhat further away from the “Right Mind.” Projection is also more likely to occur, with vacillations between grandiosity and fear. “Religion” in a distorted sense, is also more likely to occur in this kind of error, because the idea of a “spirit” is introduced, though fallaciously, while it is excluded from 1) and 2).
Witchcraft is thus particularly apt to be associated with 3), because of the much greater investment in magic.
It should be noted that 1) involves only the body, and 2) involves an attempt to associate things with human attributes. Three, on the other hand, is a more serious level confusion, because it endows the Spirit with EVIL attributes. This accounts both for the religious zeal of its proponents, and the aversion (or fear) of its opponents. Both attitudes stem from the same false belief.
This is NOT what the Bible means by “possessed of the Holy Spirit.” It is interesting to note that even those who DID understand that could nevertheless EXPRESS their understanding inappropriately. The concept of “speaking in many tongues” was originally an injunction to communicate to everyone in his own language, or his own level. It hardly meant to speak in a way that NOBODY can understand. This strange error occurs when people DO understand the need for Universal communication, but have contaminated it with possession fallacies. The fear engendered by this misperception leads to a conflicted state in which communication IS attempted, but the fear is allayed by making the communication incomprehensible.
It could also be said that the fear induced selfishness, or regression, because incomprehensible communication is hardly a worthy offering from one Son of God to another.
4. Knowledge can also be misinterpreted as a means of possession. Here, the content is not physical, and the underlying fallacy is more likely to be the confusion of mind and brain. The attempt to unite non‐physical content with physical attributes is illustrated by statements like “the thirst for knowledge.” (No Helen, this is NOT what the “thirst” in the Bible means. The term was used only be‐ cause of man’s limited comprehension, and is probably better dropped.)
The fallacious use of knowledge can result in several errors, including:
a. The idea that knowledge will make the individual more attractive to others. This is a possession‐fallacy.
b. The idea that knowledge will make the individual invulnerable. This is the reaction formation against the underlying fear of vulnerability.
c. The idea that knowledge will make the individual worthy. This is largely pathetic.
Both you and Bill should consider type 4) VERY carefully. Like all these fallacies, it contains a denial mechanism, which swings into operation as the fear increases, thus canceling out the error temporarily, but seriously impairing efficiency.
Thus, you claim you can’t read, and Bill claims that he can’t speak. Note that depression is a real risk here, for a Child of God should never REDUCE his efficiency in ANY way. The depression comes from a peculiar pseudo‐solution which reads: "A Child of God is efficient. I am not efficient. Therefore, I am not a Child of God."
This leads to neurotic resignation, and this is a state which merely INCREASES the depression.
The corresponding denial mechanism for 1) is the sense of PHYSICAL inability, or IMPOTENCE. The denial mechanism for 2) is often bankruptcy. Collectors of things often drive themselves well beyond their financial means, in an attempt to force discontinuance. If this idea of cessation cannot be tolerated, a strange compromise involving BOTH insatiable possessiveness and insatiable throwing-away (bankruptcy) may result. An example is the inveterate or compulsive gambler, particularly the horse‐racing addict. Here, the conflicted drive is displaced both from people AND things, and is invested in animals. The implied DEROGATION of people is the cause of the underlying EXTREME superstition of the horse racing addict.
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I am not too sure of the sequence, but it began with a VERY clear assurance of love, and an equally clear emphasis on my own great value, beauty, and purity. Things got a little confusing after that. First, the idea of “Bride of Christ” occurred to me with vaguely inappropriate “undertones.” Then there was a repetition of “the way of Love,” and a restatement of an earlier experience, now as if it were FROM Him TO me: “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord; Be it done unto you according to His Word.” (This threw me into panic before, but at that time, it was stated in the more accurate Biblical phrasing: “Be it done unto ME according to HIS Word.”) This time I was a bit uneasy, but remembered I had misperceived it last time, and was probably still not seeing it right. Actually, it is really just a statement of allegiance to the Divine Service, which can hardly be dangerous.
Then there was a strange sequence, in which Christ seemed to be making very obvious advances, which became quite sexual in my perception of them. I ALMOST thought briefly that he turned into a devil. I got just a LITTLE scared, and the possession idea came in for a while, but I thought it SO silly, that there is no point in taking it seriously. (Helen: As I am writing this, I remember that thing in the book about the demon lover, which once THROUGH [sic] me into a fit. I am upset, but the spelling slip is reassuring...)
This morning we reviewed the whole episode. He said he was “VERY pleased at the COMPARATIVE lack of fear, and also the concomitant awareness that it WAS misperception. This showed much greater strength, and a much increased Right‐Mindedness. This is because defenses are now being used much better, on behalf of truth MORE than error, though not completely so. The weaker use of mis-projection is shown by my recognition that it canʹt REALLY be that way, which became possible as soon as denial was applied against error, NOT truth. This permitted a much greater awareness of alternative interpretations." ...
You know that when defenses are disrupted there is a period of real disorientation, accompanied by fear, guilt, and usually vacillations between anxiety and depression. This process is different only in that defenses are not being disrupted, but re‐interpreted, even though it may be experienced as the same thing.
In the re‐interpretation of defenses, they are not disrupted but their use for ATTACK is lost. Since this means they can be used only ONE way, they became MUCH stronger, and much more dependable. They no longer oppose the Atonement, but greatly facili‐ tate it. The Atonement can only be accepted within you.
You have perceived it largely as EXTERNAL thus far, and that is why your EXPERIENCE of it has been minimal. You have been SHOWN the chalice many times, but have not accepted it “for yourself.” Your major improper use of defenses is now largely limited to externalization. Do not fail to appreciate your own remarkable progress in this respect. You perceived it first as a vessel of some sort whose purpose was uncertain but which might be a piss‐pot. You DID notice, however, that the INSIDE was gold, while the OUTSIDE, though shiny, was silver. This was a recognition of the fact that the INNER part is more precious than the OUTER side, even though both are resplendent, though with different value.
The re‐interpretation of defenses is essential to break open the INNER light. Since the Separation, man’s defenses have been used almost entirely to defend themselves AGAINST the Atonement, and thus maintain their separation. They generally see this as a need to protect the body from external intrusion (or intruding), and this kind of misperception is largely responsible for the homo‐ sexual fallacy, as well as your own pregnancy fears. The so‐called “anal” behavior is a distorted attempt to “steal” the Atonement, and deny its worth by concealing it, and holding onto it with a bodily receptacle, which is regarded as particularly vicious. “Oral” fantasies are rather similar in purpose, except that they stem more from a sense of deprivation, and insatiable thirst which results. “Anal” fal‐ lacies are more of a refusal to give, while oral fantasies emphasize a distorted need to take. The main error in both is the belief that the body can be used as a means for attaining Atonement.
Perceiving the body as the Temple is only the first step in correcting this kind of distortion.
Seeing the body as the Temple alters part of the misperception, but not all of it. It DOES recognize, however, that the concept of addition or subtraction in PHYSICAL terms is not appropriate. But the next step is to realize that a Temple is not a building at all. Its REAL holiness lies in the INNER altar, around which the building is built. The inappropriate emphasis which men have put on beautiful Church BUILDINGS is a sign of their own fear of Atonement, and unwillingness to reach the altar itself. The REAL beauty of the Temple cannot be seen with the physical eye. The spiritual eye, on the other hand, cannot see the building at all, but it perceives the altar within with perfect clarity. This is because the spiritual eye has perfect vision.
~ An article from Hugh Prather's now defunct website. He and Gayle are parents, ministers, and authors of fourteen books including Spiritual Notes to Myself; Spiritual Parenting; and I Will Never Leave You.
The information I give here about the early days of the Course is sprinkled with a few direct observations but comes primarily from many conversations my wife Gayle and I had with Bill Thetford over the years. If there are any inaccuracies, please chalk these up to my faulty memory of what Bill told us, because nothing here is taken from books and biographies about the Course.
Bill thought it amusing that many "official" details about how the Course came were not what he recalled, even though he was by that time the only one alive who had been there from the beginning. For instance, once he laughed and said, "Now they're saying the Course came over a period of ___ years. I always thought it was ___ years." For reasons that I hope will become clearer as we go along, my purpose is not to correct historical details and for that reason I am not getting into them. "Getting into details" instead of getting into God is what causes all the trouble.
The lesson for Gayle and me was that although Bill disagreed with some of the "facts" that were being recorded about his and Helen's lives, and some of the actions that were being taken in the name of the Course, he did not feel the need to impose his position on other people. However, please note that he did have a position on these and many other subjects, and, primarily as a form of humor, he often would voice his position.
It simply isn't possible to have an ego and yet have no position, no opinions, no attitudes. In fact, when we look at our minds honestly, we see that we have mixed feelings and multiple opinions about almost everything. It is how we respond to our positions, to our own points of view — not staying unaware of them — that determines our sense of wholeness and peace. Bill's gentle example was: Do not become preoccupied with your position — which you inescapably will do if you try to force it on someone else.
In 1978, Gayle and I met Bill Thetford, Judy and Bob Skutch, Jerry Jampolsky, and several other people associated with the Course, all of whom were living in Tiburon at the time. Even though there was an underlying sense of family and mutual support among these people, several of them seemed to be wrestling with two contrasting attitudes toward the Course. One was that the Course needed protecting and promoting. In those days, this point of view was still quite weak because the original thinking — during the period when the Course was being turned over to The Foundation for Inner Peace — was that "the Course is for everyone" and shouldn't even be copyrighted, which of course would mean that no one organization could control it.
There is an interesting parallel between the early days of the Course and the early days of Christian Science. Mary Baker Eddy, like Helen, felt that she was writing down a teaching that was coming to her from a higher source. I believe it is no coincidence, especially since this same attitude was present in the early days of Unity and many other spiritual teachings, that Mrs. Eddy's original impulse was not to copyright and not to organize.
In the case of A Course in Miracles, this attitude was most clearly embodied in Bill Thetford's lighthearted and humorous perspective that the Course could take care of itself, that it merely pointed to a Truth that could never be contained in words, and that no harm could come from doing what it says, which is: forget it and turn to God. For example, I know of two separate times when Bill advised people who were arguing about "what the Course meant" to "tear the page out," because, he said, "nothing should come between you and your brother." If only one manuscript of the Course existed, and if we had all followed Bill's advice, it is safe to say that by now there would be no pages left. And in many ways, that might be a good thing!
Until Bill died, the Course, for the most part, rocked gently on a sea of flexibility and good humor. And despite some very crazy uses that its words were put to by various individuals and groups, no real harm was done. As a consequence, I naively thought that the Course was going to be the first spiritual teaching to escape becoming a tool of separation. But my thinking that the Course was different was part of the mistake many of us were making. Even though separation had overtaken the teachings of Muhammad, the Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu, the Prophets, and even The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, how could it happen, I said to myself, to the only teaching that contained nothing but oneness and forgiveness? In other words, how could separation overtake a teaching that was so separate?
It could happen and it has happened. In my opinion, it has occurred for the same reason that many devout Hindus practice subjugation and slavery. For the same reason that children are slaughtered in the name of Mohammed. For the same reason that students of the Buddha make statues of gold in the image of his body. And for the same reason that Jesus, who taught that we should give all we have to the poor, practice total forgiveness, and devote ourselves to each other became the symbol of the most prejudiced and privileged segment of our culture.
But the lesson for those of us who have chosen A Course in Miracles as our path, the lesson that we must now take — in fact are being forced to take — into the 21st century, is to distinguish between the book and the Reality that the book points to. Only what is separate about the Course, only the part that is in the world — only the part that you and I have been instructed to forget — can be manipulated. A book is mere words, and in Lesson 1 we have already been gently led — perhaps some would say divinely tricked — into looking at it and saying, "This book does not mean anything."
Merely the Course's words can be seen by egos. Merely the words can be taken away from this person, given to that person, used for money, used for litigation and sanctions, used for titles and certificates, and used to leave behind a now long trail of resentment, anger, financial loss, hurt feelings, and bitter righteousness. But what does God have to do with all that insanity? Nothing. Words are just words, and the Course itself assures us that our need for words is almost over.
Make no mistake; the inevitable march toward separation has nothing to do with the particular egos involved. The world is nothing but separation. Regardless of what individuals do or don't do, everything in the world eventually becomes a force for still more separation. This fact should not sadden us but free us to let go of what was never a part of God in the first place. God is not a book.
As I suggested earlier, it is virtually impossible to do the first lesson in the Course without saying, "This book does not mean anything." But if we really believed that, how could we possibly fight about who should control it or what that control should look like? We can try to control the controllers of the book, or we can turn to God. We can be preoccupied with who is and who is not allowed to make money off the book, or we can turn to God. We can argue about which ego can interpret the book best, or we can turn to God.
My guess is that it will continue to decline in popularity and eventually become so associated with the organizations and personalities that war over it that they will become its meaning in the eyes of the public. The words "A Course in Miracles" will end up symbolizing something quite unlike their true meaning, just as has happened on a much larger scale with the words "Christian," "Jesus," and "the Bible."
But none of this will matter to you because the truth will still be true. Love will still be all around you. The holy light of God will still shine within you. And the One who has never left your side will bring you safely home. I suspect that even in the world, the Source of the thousand courses that have already come will send us a thousand more, and a thousand after that, and still more after that, until at last we see that it is not the form that any true teaching takes that has meaning. All that has meaning is the one Reality they point to.
What, then, is our function regarding the Course in the 21st century? It is to be acutely aware of the world's call to separate and love more God's call to come home.
A few years ago, I attended a gathering where I saw many of the people associated with the Course that Gayle and I had gotten to know in the 70's. As I said earlier, I am aware of no teaching that emphasizes innocence and unity in more straightforward terms than A Course in Miracles. I know of no teaching that ranks itself more clearly as just one of many, as a temporary aid only, and as helpful to some but not to all. A Course in Miracles simply does not present itself as a superior or even a permanent teaching, and, in my opinion, the heart of the teaching is that we must turn from our belief that we are individually "special" to the recognition that we are not only equal but one with each other and one with God.
What effect does the long-term study of such a teaching have on its students? I was surprised that after twenty years it was the opposite of what I expected. With two or three exceptions, everyone I saw at the gathering was far more separate and egocentric than they were when Gayle and I first met them. In fact, their egos were so large that many of them had lost the ability to carry on a simple conversation. They made pronouncements and listened deeply to no one. I was appalled, and when I returned home, I said to Gayle, "If this has happened to most of our Course friends, is there any chance it hasn't happened to us?"
The answer was that indeed it had happened to us. Even though we had long noticed the unhelpful effects of most religions and spiritual teachings on their students, we had thought that as Course students we were immune — because the Course emphasizes reversing this very dynamic. If the dynamic is not the fault of the teaching or religion itself — and in most cases it clearly is not — what mistakes do students make that cause it?
When Gayle and I finally looked at ourselves honestly, we discovered that although we had been ministers and spiritual teachers for many years and had written over a dozen books on spiritual themes, we personally had not become kinder or even more sane through our devotion. We, like most individuals, started a spiritual path with the intention of becoming better people and finding ways to be truly helpful, only to move in the opposite direction. The more time and thought we had put into teaching and writing about our path, the more self-absorbed we had become. We had ended up less flexible, less forgiving, and less generous than we were when we first started our path!
What we had actually learned was how to mask our egos, act spiritual, and make our own thoughts less conscious. In addition, we had accumulated hundreds of new spiritual concepts, which, unfortunately, is the primary standard by which spiritual teachers are judged (as well, of course, as TV pundits, columnists, politicians, non-fiction authors, talking-head experts, and the like.).
As happened to us, most devout people seem unaware that these changes are occurring. They think they are making good progress, until one day — if they are lucky — they come face-to-face with the fact that their worst impulses have been growing in power and influence over them. In lieu of a true awakening, they make an unconscious determination that they have arrived, or that they have come close enough to the end of the journey that the remaining distance is of no consequence and requires very little of their attention.
There are clearly many individual exceptions to these generalizations, but not as many as we thought there would be when we began studying the phenomenon. This discovery has led us to place far greater emphasis on exposing the ways that the ego takes over spiritual efforts. Because the fact is, the day you started your spiritual path, your ego started it also, and for every spiritual motive you have, there is an ego motive as well. This is not reason to be afraid, but it is reason to be more aware.
Those individuals we know intimately who we believe are close to being awake, seem to have no interest in contrasting themselves with other people. Generally speaking, they live simple, ordinary lives. They are comfortable if not restful to be around. Their time is usually devoted to unimportant things and their hearts to "unimportant" people. They have no inflexible concepts or rigid patterns and there is nothing particularly unusual about the subjects they choose to talk about or anything outstanding in the personal mannerisms they exhibit. They are easily pleased, and often they are happy for no apparent reason. Because their own egos are no longer destructive, they find other people's egos amusing and endearing. Above all, they are equal and familiar. They would not be good subjects for a magazine profile. And yet, into the mundane, everyday circumstances of their lives, they quietly pour their comfort and their peace.
Bill Thetford was such a person. He didn't talk the Course. He didn't write books about the Course. He very seldom made public statements about the Course, and then only because someone had pleaded with him to do so. What Bill did was quietly and happily live the Course. And even though he saw that this was the best approach, he never said to his Course friends: "You can either teach the Course or live it, but you probably won't succeed in doing both." In this way he was truly a "teacher of God" because he taught in the way the Manual defines teaching.
Does this mean those who lecture or write about the Course have turned down a dark side road? Certainly not. Does it mean that anyone who loves discussing metaphysical ideas has lost his or her way? Certainly not. But it does mean that those who coat themselves in spiritual concepts run the risk of thinking that they are the concepts. It's not hard to notice that the people in our culture who are conspicuously devout and talk continuously about God usually begin to take on an all-knowing, all-seeing attitude. In other words, in their own minds they have become the God they profess.
"Everyone is on a path," many openly devout people say. But what they seem to be thinking is, "I, however, am on a spiritual path." In other words, "Now that I believe in oneness, I see that you and I are not one."
From having fallen into this trap ourselves, we realize that nothing is more selfish or separating than thinking that you, personally, have a higher approach to life than most other people. How could one person's way possibly be superior to another person's way if God is leading us all?
It's ironic that individuals with strong spiritual beliefs often have larger egos, are more rigid, are more unconsciously judgmental, and are more uncomfortable to be around than people who have little interest in pursuing mystical, religious, or metaphysical teachings. Those who value the concept of oneness often lack the desire to feel oneness and equality with anyone.
The ego part of us does not act independently of our wishes, because it is us — at least that is our evident and deeply felt conviction. If we are still judgmental of our teenager; then we still want to be judgmental of our teenager. If we are still confused about what our partner wants from us, then we still want to be confused. Obviously, believing in oneness doesn't automatically decrease the desire for oneness, and many people both believe in it and practice it. Yet it's interesting how often we trumpet what we ourselves fail to do and criticize in others what we ourselves do regularly.
Ironically, those who think they have the smallest egos usually have the largest egos. The self-proclaimed "seekers of truth" often have personal superiority as their unconscious agenda and end up convincing themselves that they have attained it. Those who think of themselves as normal, ordinary, and equal, and who are quite aware of their many limitations, simply are not tempted to believe that they personally can discover a spiritual truth that other people are unaware of. And yet, by definition, that is what a "seeker of truth" believes.
A Course in Miracles can survive in the 21st century, in fact it can transform the 21st century, if those who see the Reality it points to choose to extend themselves beyond their ego boundaries and make the interests of another their own. Awakening is not joining with some shining concept in the sky. It is joining with each other. It is lived and expressed in the hundreds of small encounters, errands, and tasks that fill each day. Only instant by instant do we choose to see our sameness, our equality, and our oneness with others. Only by loving do we wake to Love. Only by extending peace do we wake to Peace.
Every day we have hundreds of little encounters with other people in our activities and in our minds. In each of these contacts we leave something behind, and that something determines whether the Course continues to exist. Only by giving the tiny miracles of understanding, support, forbearance, and happiness can we assure that this precious teaching does not fall on dead ears and dead hearts. Let us walk away from the bloody battlefield where egos fight for the rights to ego words. That was never where the Course was in the first place. God is now. God is here. We never left home. So let us be happy that God's arms are still around us. His heart is still our heart. His eyes are still our eyes. He is all there is.
~ Retrieved from webarchive, the following articles are from Bruce Fraser MacDonald's now defunct website; it is part of his published work, The Thomas Book, whose partial chapters were made available in defense against a personal detractor: for both Gary Renard (infamously terrible writer of Disappearance of the Universe: a complete lie meant to plagiarize Kenneth Wapnick's teachings for his own personal fame and profit) and Bruce MacDonald himself believe themselves to be reincarnations of the apostle Thomas... The former believes himself to have been visited by the spirits of Thaddeus and the same doubting-Thomas (thus his own past self...?) manifesting in the apparition of a man and a woman with Indian names, who go on to make fart jokes in his living room all the while recalling the life of "Jay-dog" (Jesus) a notorious partier. The latter, and writer of this piece, claims to have met Moses, the prophet Elijah, and the historical Jesus in a near-death experience. Insisting to return for the sake of an agreement with Yeshua (Jesus), he has received communications from "Abba," the voice of Father God, assisting him in restoring the Nag Hammadi Gospel of Thomas, which makes comment upon A Course in Miracles. While I take issue with opinions of both authors, to be comment upon at a future date, it is for the sake of honest believers that the ego of Gary Renard must be exposed for his lack of character and intellectual fraud. In the name of the Deceiver, he has cut a deal lying to himself and others for money...
The evidence is incontrovertible. Gary Renard has plagiarized one of the most important parts of his book, Your Immortal Reality. What he calls “Pursah’s Gospel of Thomas” comes directly from Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer’s translation of The Gospel of Thomas from The Nag Hammadi Library...
Renard has objected to my using the term “stolen” in regard to this Gospel. It is actually a title taken from a quote which precedes Pursah’s Gospel. Renard says, “The Hugh Lynn Cayce version was obtained illegally, I guess meaning it was stolen, by someone who put it on the Internet” (p. 144). If he is justified in calling this version “stolen,” when it was actually tried in court and found not to be stolen at all, then it is certainly justified to call Pursah’s Gospel “stolen” when it is so obviously taken directly from the translators without their permission. It has not been tried in court yet, but other similar cases have been considered to be theft of intellectual property.
I know many people will find that what I have to say here brings them considerable hurt because they have benefited from Gary’s writing. They will be always grateful to him for that and will have to learn well the lessons of forgiveness he has been teaching them. It makes it doubly sad that, for some undetermined reason, Renard felt impelled to take someone else’s work and present it as his own — because he could have done it himself without the dishonesty.
I am not the only one who has found reason to doubt Renard’s truthfulness. Miracles Magazine, a Course in Miracles journal, recognized, in the September October 2006 issue, the serious nature of what they felt to be Gary’s lack of truthfulness, so they devoted a special issue to “The Extremely Dubious Tale of Gary Renard.” Jon Mundy, PhD, Greg Mackie and Robert Perry examined what they felt were extremely doubtful aspects of Gary’s claims.
Renard’s plagiarism from Patterson and Meyer is part of a pattern. In his article, “Why Don’t the Masters Have An Original Thought,” (read now at Circle of Atonement, originally in Miracles Magazine) Robert Perry gives extensive evidence that Renard used the same phrases and ideas used by a teacher of ACIM named Ken Wapnick, without acknowledging the source. Perry has even presented the borrowings in graph form, first to show the parallels and, secondly, to demonstrate how Renard’s ideas are different from the actual teachings of ACIM. However, few people in the Course community have taken any of the three writers seriously and many have even attacked them viciously for daring to ask for honesty.
Renard has created a strange dynamic around himself, in which his many followers refuse to see what he is doing in his works. They attack anyone who demonstrates the truth to them. I think this time they will be forced to acknowledge that Renard has actually plagiarized almost the whole of “Pursah’s Gospel of Thomas.” Strangely, he and others argue that because “Pursah” left out fourty-four verses “she” changed it drastically. That is a bit like arguing that “I did not steal your jewels because I only took two thirds of them and left the other third in your jewelry box.”
I will present the evidence for the plagiarism first and then will look at some of the serious implications which arise from this plagiarism.
For those not familiar with Renard’s work, he claims in his books, The Disappearance of the Universe and Your Immortal Reality, that Pursah and Arten, supposed Ascended Masters and reincarnations of Thomas and Thaddaeus, Jesus’ disciple, appeared in his living room and dictated lessons about ACIM. He says he recorded the conversations, copied them into his books and then destroyed the tapes. He has become a best-selling writer and speaker on the spiritual speaking circuit on the basis of these books and their claims.
In Your Immortal Reality, Renard claims that Pursah again appeared to him and recited a new version of The Gospel of Thomas. The same pattern is supposed to have been followed, Renard recording the text, copying it and then destroying the tapes. Pursah is quoted as saying the following:
“I consider it an act of completion to have J’s [Jesus’] words in The Gospel of Thomas recorded accurately by a later incarnation of myself. I recorded J’s words 2,000 years ago, and now you will record them again. Thus will the Gospel be corrected and passed along in its original form. NOTE: I [Gary] inserted the title below. Pursah spoke all 70 of the sayings. They were recorded for accuracy."
Pursah is referring here to “The Gospel of Thomas” which was found in Egypt in 1945 and is currently included in a collection of works called The Nag Hammadi Library, named after the town where the documents were found. There are several translations of the work. Pursah implies here that she will provide a new, corrected and original text which will differ considerably from any of the current translations because, as the reincarnation of Thomas, the original author, she has inside information not available to anyone else.
We now know, without any doubt, that all of this is fabrication because the work Pursah “recites” is an almost verbatim copy of Patterson and Meyer’s translation of the work. I include several passages here to demonstrate the exact nature of the plagiarism.
I have gone through all seventy verses of “Pursah’s Gospel of Thomas” and have the following surprising statistics on the composition of Renard’s work in relation to the original. I will present my findings as five categories with a few examples of each drawn from the original source [labeled] and then from Renard [plagiarized text underlined].
Twenty-nine verses are identical to the original...
(Patterson/Meyer) 90. Jesus said, “Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves.”
(Renard) 90. J said, “Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves.”
(Patterson/Meyer) 91. They said to him, “Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you.” He said to them, “You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment.”
(Renard) 91. They said to him, “Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you.” He said to them, “You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment.”
Even in the following rather convoluted passage, Renard plagiarizes word for word from Patterson and Meyer. Compare this passage to Thomas Lambdin’s translation of verse 92 (similarities with Patterson/Meyer underlined) to see that the Patterson/Meyer translation is not somehow inevitable but their own careful choice which Gary has copied word for word.
(Patterson/Meyer) 92. Jesus said, “Seek and you will find. In the past, however, I did not tell you the things about which you asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you are not seeking them.”
(Renard) 92. J said, “Seek and you will find. In the past, however, I did not tell you the things about which you asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you are not seeking them.”
(Lambdin) 92. Jesus said, “Seek and you will find. Yet, what you asked me about in former times and which I did not tell you then, now I do desire to tell, but you do not inquire after it.”
A translator is a writer and, in the same way as styles of writers vary, so the styles of translators vary. There may be some minor similarities because they are using the English grammatical structures and wordings we all use, or even because they are drawing on a common cultural base. For instance, the first sentence in Lambdin’s translation is the same as Patterson/Meyer because the phrase “Seek and you will find,” has actually become part of the cultural heritage of the English language. The rest is almost completely different. The amount of actual identity (not similarity) between Renard and Patterson/Meyer is unheard of in any stylistic comparison of two writers without plagiarism being involved.
Actually, the difference should be greater than usual because Pursah has told us that she is going to give us a completely new, corrected and previously unheard version of the gospel drawn directly from Jesus’ words — which would have been in Aramaic. We should have a new translation from Aramaic which would indeed provide a completely different linguistic original from which to translate, with strikingly new renditions arising from the different language base, rather than the Greek or Coptic origins of the Gospel of Thomas we now have.
Eighteen verses are identical except for one simple change: as in “God’s Divine Rule” for “The Father’s Kingdom,” “Brother” for “mister,” “shall” for “will,” “fortunate” for “congratulations.” Changes are capitalized...
(Patterson/Meyer) 52. His disciples said to him, "Twenty-four prophets have spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you." He said to them, "You have disregarded the living one who is in your presence, and have spoken of the dead."
(Renard) 52. THE disciples said to him, "Twenty-four prophets have spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you." He said to them, "You have disregarded the living one who is in your presence, and have spoken of the dead."
(Patterson/Meyer) 72. A [person said] to him, "Tell my brothers to divide my father's possessions with me." He said to the person, "Mister, who made me a divider?" He turned to his disciples and said to them, "I'm not a divider, am I?"
(Renard) 72. A person said to him, "Tell my brothers to divide my father's possessions with me." He said to the person, "BROTHER, who made me a divider?" He turned to his disciples and said to them, "I'm not a divider, am I?"
Twelve verses have minor phrases removed or changed, minor word added: the rest is identical. Text which was removed or changed is italicized, Renard’s text is in capitals on the right, with plagiarism underlined...
(Patterson/Meyer) 23. Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one."
(Renard) 23. "I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they SHALL stand as a single one."
(Patterson/Meyer) 76. Jesus said, "The Father's kingdom is like a merchant who had a supply of merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself. So also with you, seek his treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys."
(Renard) 76. J said, "GOD’S DIVINE RULE is like a merchant who had a supply of merchandise and THEN found a pearl. That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself. So also with you, seek THE treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys."
Five verses omit a major part of the verse, but what remains is identical. Italicized words in the original are those which Renard omitted. Underlined text is plagiarized, while added words are capitalized...
(Patterson/Meyer) 61. Jesus said, "Two will recline on a couch; one will die, one will live." Salome said, "Who are you mister? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from someone." Jesus said to her, "I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was grantedfrom the things of my Father." "I am your disciple." "For this reason I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness."
(Renard) 61. "I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was GIVEN from the things of my Father." "I am your disciple." "THEREFORE I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness."
(Patterson/Meyer) 28. Jesus said, "I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, forthey came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty. But meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will change their ways."
(Renard) 28. I STOOD in the world, and found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. They came into the world empty. But meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, they will change their ways."
Six verses have major rearranging, sometimes using the same words or phrases as the original, but not always. It is only in these six verses that we see any original work. Note that there are very few similarities. This is the kind of difference which usually arises between versions of translations but is absent in 64 of the 70 verses in Pursah’s gospel. Underlining and capitalization as usual...
(Patterson/Meyer) 26. Jesus said, "You see the sliver in your friend's eye, but you don't see the timber in your own eye. When you take the timber out of your own eye, then you will see well enough to remove the sliver from your friend's eye."
(Renard) 26. "You see the SPECK THAT IS in your BROTHER’S eye, but you DO NOT see the LOG THAT IS in your own eye. When you take the LOG out of your own eye, then you will see CLEARLY enough to TAKE THE SPECK OUT OF your BROTHER’S eye."
(Patterson/Meyer) 54. Jesus said, "Congratulations to the poor, for to you belongs Heaven's kingdom."
(Renard) 54. FORTUNATE ARE the poor, FOR YOURS IS THE FATHER’S kingdom."
(Patterson/Meyer) 56. Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass, of that person the world is not worthy."
(Renard) 56. "Whoever has come to UNDERSTAND THIS world has FOUND a CORPSE, and whoever has FOUND A CORPSE, of that ONE the world is NO LONGER worthy."
(Patterson/Meyer) 8. And he said, "The person is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"
(Renard) 8. J said, "A wise fisherman cast his net into the sea. WHEN HE drew it up IT WAS full of little fish. Among them HE discovered a LARGE FINE fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and HE chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears SHOULD listen!"
...We can see from these examples that almost the whole of Pursah’s gospel is plagiarized. Statistics reveal another striking feature: In the first 39 verses of the gospel, Renard at least tried to make some minor changes. However, starting with verse 63, he stopped making changed almost entirely. Again, statistics prove the point. Of the final 31 verses: 19 verses are identical, 8 verses are identical with one word replacement, 4 verses have a minor phrase omitted but the rest is identical.
It looks like Renard got tired of revising about half way through the text because, in the last 31 verses of the total 70 verses, there are no "original" verses, nor are there any of the Category Four verses which required a bit more work than Categories One, Two and Three. All of the eleven verses which show signs of having had more work done on them are in the first 39 verses.
Surprisingly, this gospel, which was supposed to be a genuine, new, original and "corrected" version, translated from a completely new language, has only 6 out of 70 verses (14%) which might be considered original. At least 86% of the text is identical to the Patterson/Meyer translation. There is absolutely no doubt that Renard plagiarized at least 86% of his text.
One wonders why Renard omitted verse 6 from his gospel rendition, since its message is of tremendous importance. It reads as follows, again using the Patterson/Meyer translation:
Jesus said, “Don’t lie, and don’t do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed.”
There are several troubling implications which arise logically from the discovery of plagiarism in almost all of Pursah’s gospel.
First, at the beginning of the chapter in which the gospel appears, Renard comments about a version of ACIM over which there is considerable controversy. He says, “The Hugh Lynn Cayce version was obtained illegally, I guess meaning it was stolen, by someone who put it on the Internet. That’s why it is available” (p. 144, quotes are taken from the 2006 paperback edition). Renard is obviously opposed to plagiarism in any form so, I assume, would also condemn his own actions in having plagiarized almost his entire Thomas gospel from Patterson and Meyer. It is odd that this passage is introduced just before the "stolen" (to use his term) gospel. Was it designed to divert the reader’s attention away from the possibility of theft, by condemning theft, as part of an attempt to hide the plagiarized text which follows shortly after this passage?
We now know that Pursah is a fictional character because Ascended Masters do not plagiarize and lie to the world about such an important matter as a new translation of such an important work as the Gospel of Thomas. Thus, when Renard portrays Pursah as saying to him, before her recitation, that she has “a little surprise . . . for you,” we know it is not actually Pursah speaking but Renard constructing a dialogue for his own purposes. Is he intentionally trying to deceive the reader into thinking the gospel is real because an “on the spur of the moment” recitation could not have been carefully laboured over and therefore could not be plagiarized?
After the recitation is over, even though almost the whole of the gospel comes straight from Patterson and Meyer and is not new at all, Renard says, “Whoa, Pursah. That was incredible. It really rang true for me. And the whole thing has a much better flow to it now, too. I could picture J saying the words. In fact, the first time I really heard his Voice, he said a few of the words to me that you said near the end there, at number 110” (p. 171). We know this is also not part of an actual conversation because Pursah is not real. That means it was also planned along with the plagiarism itself. The troubling question here is whether this is another part of a carefully planned pattern of deception to make the reader think that what they have just heard is so new it would be futile to look for its source in a published document.
I suppose we will never know but, given our present knowledge that the gospel is plagiarized, these passages seem to be designed to deceive the reader, like the smoke and mirrors which magicians use to distract the audience from what is really going on. They are so strategically placed that one can’t avoid wondering if they were planned that way to distract the reader’s attention at key points in the fictitious dialogue to divert the reader’s attention. We know generally that plagiarism must be concealed carefully with whatever means are available because to be caught in the act is fatal to one’s reputation.
If these were planned or if they were not, the result has been the same. In the four years since the book was published, I am the only one (as far as I know) who has noticed that the gospel was actually plagiarized. Not even the editors at Hay House knew about it and even Rogier Van Vlissingen, who wrote a whole book about the contrast between Pursah’s gospel and the supposed ordinary, contemporary translations, did not notice that this one was plagiarized.
In 2006 Robert Perry outlined a fantasy of what it would be like for a writer to make up a fictional story and then pass it off as real: “Imagine you yourself going through all the steps to plan such a deception, carry it off, and then maintain it in the face of criticism, as you ride its wave of ill-gotten fame. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? And yet it is done.” It seems unquestionable that the fantasy has become truth, at least in regard to the gospel.
The Course community will have to come to terms with a number of serious questions. What is it about parts of the Community that has made it possible for Renard to get away with this kind of deception when so many voices have been warning about what was really going on?
We now know that Pursah is not real. As I have observed, Ascended Masters do not steal the work of others and lie about it to the world. And if Pursah is not real, we also know that Arten is also not real. It follows that they are both fictions invented by Renard. And since Renard made the claim to have heard the voice of Jesus in the context of this major deception, we can be quite certain that is false also.
It is also safe to assume that Renard is not a reincarnation of the Apostle Thomas, as he claims, even though Kevin Ryerson, spiritual guide to Shirley MacLaine has said he is. There are actually two disciples in the Bible named Thomas and Renard claims to be both of them at the same time. I have addressed that complicated question more fully in my book.
Perhaps the most troubling question the community will have to address is how someone could work so carefully to deceive readers who bought books in good faith, and at the same time could stand in front of those same people and claim to teach them spiritual truths.
These are illustrations of the problems facing Renard’s many followers — they will have to determine exactly what they can believe of what he has told them over the years.
If Renard had been writing on any other subject, he probably would have been exposed long ago. But it seems from the extremely negative reaction to his critics that people actually wanted to be fooled — and not just ignorant people. Many prominent people in the media and film and writing industries have been fooled. Perhaps people wanted to believe that what he was telling them was actually possible. The sad thing is that he answered some of the spiritual longings of his readers with untruths and now they are left with a great blank which had been filled by his fantasies. They will have to start over again to find the truth they thought they had found in him.
There are spiritual sources which are true but every time someone commits another fraud in the name of the things of the Spirit, it becomes harder to find the really true things. Those who plagiarize and commit fraud harm not just the authors from whom they have stolen. They especially cause harm to the spiritual Seekers who turned to them in good faith expecting truthful insight and meaning. And perhaps most important, plagiarists betray all of Spirit in Its attempt to make Its Presence known to the people of the world, because the frauds put yet another stumbling block in the way of trust.
Further opinion of Bruce, for context, from Chapter 4 of The Thomas Book...
Members of the Course in Miracles community “think differently,” and are actually quite open in claiming that they use a different logic than the rest of the world, as I will summarize briefly in what follows here.
The starting point of the philosophy behind A Course in Miracles is the assertion that the world as we know it is not real and the usual logic which we use is one of the sources of our suffering.
The only reality is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Humanity, collectively, is the “Son of God.” The world is an illusion, like a movie which the Son of God (humanity) has projected out of ignorance. It may appear that the Son of God (humanity) suffers in this self-created world, but suffering, and our whole physical existence, is really only a dream.
The way out of the dream is forgiveness. Once we are able to forgive others and the world, to “overlook,” or forgive, the error which brought the world into being, and continues to maintain the illusion, we will literally no longer see the world and its suffering. The title of Gary’s first book, The Disappearance of the Universe, reflects these beliefs: once we “forgive” the universe, it will disappear.
One of the weaknesses of the philosophy is that it is not made clear what “forgiveness” or “overlooking” are. Much of the difference of opinion (and outright animosity) within the Community, revolves around these terms. It is not clear either how “forgiveness,” whatever that is, can cause the world to disappear.
In the Course view, Jesus did not suffer, because he knew the truth that there is no suffering and consequently did not manifest it for himself. We only manifest suffering when we “make it real” for ourselves by doing something like get angry or sad or frustrated or jealous. If we can “forgive” every event, we can make it not real. Gary apparently says in his lectures that Jesus never got angry because anger would only make the reason for the anger, which is illusory, into something real.
When we think Jesus suffered (as in the “Passion of Christ” movie), the Course says that what we are really doing is projecting our own fears of suffering onto Jesus. We do this also every time we think there is error in anyone else — the error is actually in us and we project it into the illusion which seems to be around us, by the mere fact of recognizing that it is there. If we choose not to recognize the error, to “choose a better way,” then the error is supposed to disappear. Jesus’ ability to “overlook” or “forgive” all error leads, in this view, to the possibility of the disappearance of the universe — and hence the end of our suffering. When enough people can overlook error, can stop projecting error into the illusion, then the Course claims the universe will cease to exist.
It is not clear why the universe still exists, since Jesus is supposed to have been perfect and is supposed to have given the complete forgiveness of God to the universe. One would think that the universe would already have disappeared if the philosophy is at all correct.
Although the Course does not go this far, Gary (or his Ascended Masters) even says that God cannot be aware of our suffering and does not care about our suffering, because God cannot know any illusion. God does not know about our pain and so does not make it real. We are thus free to make it unreal by overlooking or forgiving it. God is completely separate from the illusion which we live and cannot help us with our problems. If He did help us, He would be acknowledging that our suffering is real, which is impossible for God to do. In order to help us, God created the Holy Spirit to help us change our way of seeing the world.
It is not clear from Gary’s writing or from the Course how God was aware enough of our suffering (without actually being aware of our suffering — thus making it real) to decide to create the Holy Spirit. It is not clear either how the Holy Spirit can be aware of our suffering without God (who is inseparable from the Holy Spirit) being aware also, but these are some of the contradictions within the system.
If this seems like circular logic, it is. It is only with a lot of work that people are able to adopt this logic. In fact, there is a Workbook with daily exercises which, when practiced regularly, make it possible for the reader to enter more fully into this circular logic. My conclusion, after trying the exercises, is that it is a form of brain washing where any sense of the reality of the world and our place in it is replaced with the views outlined above. I notice on the internet that there are a number of people helping former Course members overcome the effects of this logic on their lives. They speak of the ideas as a trap, a cult, a distortion which poisons relations with family and friends.
There is an interesting similarity here with an early Christian sect called the Docetists, from the Greek dokeo, “to seem.” This similarity will be important later in our discussion of reincarnation identity theft. The Docetists also argued that Jesus did not suffer — he only “seemed” to suffer, because God cannot suffer. For the Docetists, as for the Course Community, the world and our suffering likewise only seemed to be real.
Like Gary, the Docetists felt that, as soon as we see the unreality of suffering and the world, and replace it with the realization that the only reality is God, we will be free, because our suffering only exists as long as we believe in the pain. (This also has similarities with Christian Science which is essentially a docetic movement.) The only differences between the Course and the Docetists is that the Docetists felt it was necessary to perceive the world differently and the Course says we must “forgive” the world, “overlook” the error — which may actually be the same thing.
The effects of this philosophy on human relations are quite striking. The Course teachers often use the metaphor of the theatre. You need to think of yourself as a projector, they say, projecting a movie, which is the world. Since whatever is outside us is illusion which we have projected there, if we see error in someone else (outside), we are really only confirming that it is in ourselves (the actual source of the projection). When we “forgive” the other person, we are actually forgiving ourselves, from whom the error came in the first place.
Applying this logic strictly in the case of murder, for instance, if the police accuse someone of being a murderer, which is by definition an illusion, then the police must be the murderers for having seen an error which does not exist. The police, or even the victims of murder, are projecting this image into the world and are thus making it real. Instead of accusing, they should forgive and the murder will cease to exist — if only it were who wants to question the morality of any action and correct it. If Gary’s critics see dishonesty in Gary, the Course view is that they are actually only seeing it in themselves and projecting it onto Gary. Thus, in the view of many members of the Course community, it is the critics who accuse Gary of fraud, not Gary who is accused of fraud, who are guilty as soon as they have seen the fraud and named it.
To an outsider, this logic seems hopelessly contradictory and in practice it leads to an inability to deal with conflict within the community, as a number of members have discovered as they try to deal with the problem of Gary and his critics.
If the fault which we see is in the fault-finder, not in the one who seems to have committed the offense, people will be at pains not to see error in Gary’s writings (or in anything else) for fear they will be convicted of the fault they point out. Instead, they are encouraged to “overlook” and “forgive” the fault, instead of pointing it out and asking for an explanation. Demanding that others be accountable for their actions is seen as “attack” instead of “love.” Thus, although forgiveness is the aim of the community, members are forced to accept anything that anyone else does as valid, for fear of being seen as the perpetrator of any error they point out.
We can see this played out in Gary’s case. Gary’s critics merely asked for clarification of certain apparent contradictions in his work. In response, Gary wrote a vicious, personal attack against them, without addressing any of the contradictions. After Gary’s reply to his critics, in which he said that he pitied Jon and accused him of “Professional jealousy and mindless attack on a fellow Course teacher,” as well as dishonesty and acting from vested interest instead of integrity, Jon withdrew in seeming hurt and bewilderment and published an “Apology” in which he said that he still did not believe Pursah and Arten were real, but that he acknowledged that Gary did. “Let’s sit down in San Francisco and talk about more pleasant things,” Jon Mundy says, and that seemed to be enough. Jon cannot call Gary to account for dishonesty because that easy. by doing that, Jon is acknowledging that he is the source of conflict, not Gary. Many other members sided with Gary and attacked Jon in language which was so offensive the journal said they could not print it. There was obviously no room to address the whole question of honesty or truthfulness in this case because the only value held up by the community is a vague “forgiveness.” Strangely, this “forgiveness” did not seem to apply to forgiving Gary’s critics. Members even felt free to use extremely offensive language in condemning them.
To an outsider, the whole exchange seems a bit ludicrous. Either Pursah and Arten are real or they are fabrications. It would seem that one should be able to bring up questions about honesty without feeling guilty for doing so, but the logic of the community makes this impossible.
The problem becomes more serious in regard to the blatant intimidation which Gary uses against his opponents. He teaches forgiveness, yet his reaction to his former colleagues and friends is not forgiveness but vicious attack. He even admits he emailed Beverly Hutchins with the following, when she refused to sell his books: “If you care about your image and your place in Course history then you’ll give very strong consideration to changing the nature of our relationship.” In another email to Beverly he says: “The way things stand now, you will not be happy with my next book.” This is direct blackmail. Gary does not feel he has to change anything — it is Beverly who must change. He threatens to portray her in a negative light if she continues to refuse to sell his books, but if she will sell his books, he will change how he portrays her.
Similarly, Gary quotes an email he wrote to Jon Mundy: “If you continue to try to attack me, I predict that only one of us is going to be hurt, and it’s not going to be me.” In whatever context, this is a threat, and his whole reply was obviously letting any future critics, including me, know that the critic was the one who would be hurt.
If the only value in relationships is forgiveness, then questions of honesty, blackmail, intimidation and betrayal of trust are swept under the carpet — and very few people in the Course community seem to be willing or able to question this kind of conduct on Gary’s part. As we have seen, in the logic of the Course, these issues cannot be raised.
~ Introductory section reproduced from Emanuel Swedenborg's final theological work: True Christianity, Volume 1... Translated from Latin by Jonathan S. Rose.
§1
The faith of the new heaven and the new church is stated here in both universal and specific forms to serve as the face of the work that follows, the doorway that allows entry into the temple, and the summary that in one way or another contains all the details to follow. I say “the faith of the new heaven and the new church” because heaven, where there are angels, and the church, in which there are people, act together like the inner and the outer levels in a human being. People in the church who love what is good because they believe what is true and who believe what is true because they love what is good are angels of heaven with regard to the inner levels of their minds. After death they come into heaven, and enjoy happiness there according to the relationship between their love and their faith. It is important to know that the new heaven that the Lord is establishing today has this faith as its face, doorway, and summary.
§2
The faith of the new heaven and the new church in universal form is this:
The Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came into the world to gain control over the hells and to glorify his own human nature. If he had not done this, not one mortal could have been saved; those who believe in him are saved.
I say “in universal form” because this concept is universal to the faith and something universal to the faith is going to be present in each and every aspect of it. It is universal to the faith to believe that God is one in essence and in person, to believe that in God there is a divine Trinity, and to believe that the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ is God. It is universal to the faith to believe that if the Lord had not come into the world not one mortal could have been saved. It is universal to the faith to believe that the Lord came into the world to separate hell from the human race, and that he accomplished this by repeatedly doing battle with hell and conquering it. In this way he gained control over it, forced it back into the divine design, and made it obey him. It is universal to the faith to believe that he came into the world to glorify the human nature he took on in the world, that is, to unite it to its divine source. This is how he keeps hell eternally in its place and in obedience to himself. Since this could not have been accomplished except by allowing his human nature to be tested, including even the ultimate test, the suffering on the cross, therefore he underwent that experience. These are universal points of faith regarding the Lord.
For our part, it is universal to the faith that we believe in the Lord, for our believing in him gives us a partnership with him, and through this partnership comes salvation. To believe in him is to have confidence that he saves; and because only those who live good lives can have such confidence, this too is meant by believing in him. In fact, the Lord says in John: “This is the will of the Father, that everyone who believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 6:39–40). And in another passage, “Those who believe in the Son have eternal life. But those who do not believe the Son will not see life; instead the anger of God remains on them” (John 3:36).
§3
The faith of the new heaven and the new church in a specific form is this:
Jehovah God is love itself and wisdom itself, or goodness itself and truth itself. As divine truth, or the Word, which was “God with God,” he came down and took on a human manifestation for the purpose of forcing everything in heaven, everything in hell, and everything in the church back into the divine design. The power of hell had become stronger than the power of heaven, and on earth the power of evil had become stronger than the power of goodness; therefore total damnation stood threatening at the door. By means of his human manifestation, which was divine truth, Jehovah God lifted this pending damnation and redeemed both people and angels. Afterward, in his human manifestation, he united divine truth to divine goodness, or divine wisdom to divine love. In this way he returned to the divine nature that he had had from eternity, together with and in the human manifestation, which had been glorified. These things are meant by this statement in John: “The Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh” (John 1:1, 14). And in the same Gospel, “I went out from the Father and came into the world; again I am leaving the world and am going to the Father” (John 16:28). And also by this: “We know that the Son of God came and gave us understanding so that we would know the truth. And we are in the truth in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). From all this it is clear that if the Lord had not come into the world no one could have been saved. The situation today is similar. Therefore if the Lord does not come into the world again in the form of divine truth, which is the Word, no one can be saved.
For our part, the specifics of faith are these: (1) There is one God, the divine Trinity exists within him, and he is the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ. (2) Believing in him is a faith that saves. (3) We must not do things that are evil—they belong to the Devil and come from the Devil. (4) We must do things that are good—they belong to God and come from God. (5) We must do these things as if we ourselves were doing them, but we must believe that they come from the Lord working with us and through us.
The first two points have to do with faith, the second two have to do with goodwill; and the fifth has to do with the partnership between goodwill and faith, the partnership between the Lord and us.
~ A long vision of spiritual affairs; Emanuel Swedenborg witnessed these conversations among angels and those recently arrived in the World of Spirits. Reproduced from his final theological work: True Christianity, Volume 2... Translated from Latin by Jonathan S. Rose. Full text.
§731
I saw an angel flying below the eastern heaven. He had a trumpet in his hand and held it to his mouth, sounding to the north, to the west, and to the south. He had a mantle that was flowing behind him as he flew, and was wearing a belt studded with rubies and sapphires that radiated a flame-colored light. His body was facing the ground as he flew parallel to it. He landed softly on the ground not far from where I was. As he touched the ground, he stood upright on his feet and walked here and there. When he noticed me he walked straight in my direction. I was in the spirit and was standing on top of a hill in the southern region. When he was close enough I greeted him and said, “What is going on just now? I heard the sound of your trumpet and saw you come down through the air.”
“I have been sent,” the angel said, “to summon the most famous scholars, the best researchers, and the most distinguished thinkers from the nations of the Christian world that are on this continent to meet on this hill where you are currently standing. They are to express their minds freely on the following question: When they were in the world, what had they thought and understood and what wisdom had they gained concerning heavenly joy and eternal happiness?
“The reason behind this mission of mine is that several people who had recently arrived from the world came to our heavenly community, which is in the east. Once they had been allowed in, they told us that not a single person in the entire Christian world knows what heavenly joy is or what eternal happiness is; therefore people have no idea what heaven is. My companions and colleagues were profoundly shocked to hear this, and said to me, ‘Go down, summon and call together the wisest people in the world of spirits, where all mortals are first gathered after they leave the physical world, for the purpose of verifying from many mouths whether it is in fact true that Christians have this deep a darkness or this blind an ignorance about their future lives.’”
“Wait a little while,” he added, “and you will see groups of the wise coming here. The Lord is going to prepare a place for them to meet.”
I did wait. About half an hour later I saw two groups of people coming from the north, two groups from the west, and two groups from the south. As they arrived, the angel with the trumpet ushered them into the building that had been prepared for the occasion, and they took up places that had been designated for them according to the regions they came from. There were six groups. There was also a seventh group to the east, but the other groups did not see it because the light was in their eyes. After all were gathered, the angel revealed the reason for the gathering. He asked that the groups come forward in sequence and express their wisdom concerning heavenly joy and eternal happiness. Upon hearing the topic, each group turned inward and formed a circle face to face in order first to call to mind what ideas they had formed on these subjects in the physical world, where they used to live; then to discuss the ideas with each other; and finally after discussion and consultation, to express the opinion of their group to the others present.
§732
After consulting with each other, the first group, which was from the 732 north, said, “Heavenly joy and eternal happiness are the same thing as living in heaven. Therefore all who become part of heaven come into the experience of its festivities, much as people do who attend a wedding. Surely heaven is before our eyes; it is above us, and is therefore a place. In that place and nowhere else there is tremendous bliss and extraordinary pleasure. When we come into heaven, our whole mind and our whole body come into this bliss and pleasure, because of the fullness of joys that is there. Therefore heavenly happiness, which is the same thing as eternal happiness, is simply a matter of being allowed into heaven; and it is divine grace that lets us in.”
After they finished speaking, the second group from the north brought forth their wisdom in the form of the following conjecture: “Surely heavenly joy and eternal happiness consist in extremely enjoyable interactions and delicious conversations with angels. Everyone’s faces are smiling broadly and happily all the time; everyone is laughing with pleasure at the wonderful and incredibly clever things that are being said. What else are the joys of heaven but variations on this scene that go on to eternity?”
The third group, which was the first group of wise people from the western region, presented the following as the result of what they had felt and thought: “Surely the height of heavenly joy and eternal happiness consists in dining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At their tables there will be the finest and most sumptuous foods and excellent vintage wine. After the meal there will be games, and young men and women dancing together to the sound of musicians on various instruments, with a break now and then for us to hear the singing of incredibly sweet songs. When the evening comes, there will be stage plays. The next day there will be yet another great feast; and it will continue like this every day to eternity.”
After they had said this, the fourth group, which was the second from the western region, announced their opinion: “We have had many ideas about heavenly joy and eternal happiness. Just now, we considered various joys and compared them with each other. The conclusion of our group is that heavenly joys are the joys of a garden paradise. Surely heaven is a garden paradise that extends all the way from the east to the west and from the south to the north. In it there are fruit trees and gorgeous flowers. At the center of them all there stands a magnificent tree of life. The blessed will sit by this tree and eat exquisitely flavorful fruit and wear wonderfully fragrant garlands of flowers. Because of the perpetual springtime there, these fruits and flowers are being born and reborn every day in unending variety; and because such things are constantly sprouting and flowering, and because the warmth of spring is everlasting there, the minds of the blessed, too, are continually being renewed and cannot help coming upon new joys every day and drinking them in. As a result, they return to the age at which their youth first blossomed; they are brought back into the primordial state that Adam and Eve experienced when they were first created; and they are restored to Adam and Eve’s paradise, only relocated from earth to heaven.”
The fifth group, which was the first group of clever minds from the southern region, gave the following statement: “Surely heavenly joys and eternal happiness consist in the possession of great power and tremendous wealth, and the more-than-regal magnificence and shining splendor that come with them. These are the source of the joys of heaven and of our ongoing enjoyment of them, which is eternal happiness, as we have noticed from observing people in our former world who had such power and wealth. We have also gathered this from [the statements in the Word] that those who are happy in heaven are going to reign with the Lord, and will be kings and princes, because they are children of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; and that they are going to sit on thrones and angels will minister to them. We have realized how magnificent heaven will be from the fact that the New Jerusalem—which is a way of describing the glories of heaven—will have glorious doors, each of which is a pearl, and streets of pure gold, and outside walls built on precious stones. Therefore all who are accepted into heaven will have their own royal palace gleaming with gold and precious stones, and power that rotates in sequence from one person to the next. Because we recognize that there is inherent joy and intrinsic happiness in such situations, and that God’s promises cannot be broken, we could not attribute the happiest aspect of heavenly life to any other factor.”
After that, the sixth group, which was the second from the southern region, raised their voices and said, “The joy of heaven and the eternal happiness that goes with it come from perpetually glorifying God, in a celebration that goes on forever, and blissful worship with songs and shouting. It is a constant lifting of the heart toward God, with complete trust that he accepts our prayers and praise because we experience his divine showering of abundant blessings upon us.” Some in the same group added, “We will glorify him with gorgeous lamps full of wonderfully fragrant incense, and with impressive parades led by the pope holding a great horn, followed next by church leaders and priests of every rank, and then men holding palm branches and women carrying golden images in their hands.”
§733
The seventh group, which was not seen by the others because the light was in the others’ eyes, was from the eastern part of heaven. Its members were angels from the same community as the angel with the trumpet. After hearing that not a single person in the entire Christian world knows what heavenly joy is or what eternal happiness is, they had said to each other, “This cannot possibly be true. Christians could never be that far in the dark or experience that degree of mental collapse. We should go down ourselves and hear if this is true or not; if it does turn out to be true, it is surely an omen of something.” At this point in the event, these angels said to the angel with the trumpet, “As you know, all people who have had a desire to go to heaven and have formed any particular conception of the joys heaven has in store for them are brought after they die to experience the joys they have been picturing. After they have explored the nature of their joys, and have experienced that their concepts of joy were based on empty ideas and insane fantasies, they are brought up out of those concepts and taught better ones. This is what happens in the world of spirits for most people who have meditated on heaven during their life on earth and who have come to some conclusion about the joys of heaven to the point where they desire to experience them.”
Upon hearing this, the angel with the trumpet said to the six groups of wise people from the Christian world who had been summoned, “Follow me, and I will bring you into your joys and therefore into heaven.”
§734
The angel then led the way. The first to go with him were the people who had convinced themselves that heavenly joys were extremely enjoyable interactions and delicious conversations with angels. The angel brought them into a gathering of people in the northern region who had shared the same view of heavenly joys when they were in the physical world.
The people of this kind had been brought together to a very large house there. The house had more than fifty rooms, and the rooms had each been assigned a particular topic of conversation. In several rooms over here, people were discussing what they had heard and seen in the town square and in the streets. In several rooms over there, people were talking about love and relationships, and some were interjecting hilarious comments until all present were laughing hard with big smiles on their faces. In other rooms people were discussing the latest news about the royal family, the government ministers, the political state of the nation, and various points that had been leaked by members of secret committees, as well as their own projections and conjectures about what would happen next. In other rooms, people were discussing business; in other rooms, literature; in others, topics related to civic prudence and moral life; in others, matters related to the church and its various sects; and so on.
I was given permission to look around the house. I saw people rushing from room to room, looking for an exchange that would be close to their heart and joyful for them. I noticed that there were three types of people in these conversations: people who were desperate to speak; people who were eager to ask questions; and people who were avidly listening.
There were four entrances to the house, one toward each point of the compass. I noticed that many people were leaving the conversations and hurrying to leave the building. I followed some to the east door. There I saw a number of people sitting by the door, looking depressed.
I went up to them and asked, “Why are you sitting here and looking so sad?”
“The doors to this house,” they replied, “are kept locked to people who are trying to exit. It is now three days since we came in here. All the life has gone out of our desire to be in conversation. We are so worn out from the endless talking that we can hardly bear to hear even the buzz of it in the distance any more. We are so fed up that we came to this door and have been banging on it to be let out, but the response we get is, ‘The doors to this house do not open to let people out; they only open to let people in. Stay there and relish the joys of heaven!’ Hearing that, we realized we are stuck here forever. We are feeling utterly depressed and are starting to have chest pains and rising anxiety.”
The angel then spoke to them and said, “The state you are in now is actually the death of your joys—yet you recently thought these activities were the only joys in heaven! In fact, they are only an adjunct to true heavenly joys.”
“So what is heavenly joy, then?” they asked the angel.
His brief response was this: “It is the delight found in doing something useful for ourselves or for others. The delight that we feel in being useful derives its essence from love and takes its shape through wisdom. The delight in being useful that arises from love through wisdom is the soul and life of all heavenly joys.”
“In the heavens,” he added, “angels have very enjoyable conversations; these interactions are exhilarating to their higher minds, bring satisfaction to their lower minds, create pleasurable feelings in their chests, and refresh their bodies. These conversations only happen among them, though, after they have done useful things as a part of their jobs and their work. Their work puts soul and life into all the other things that make them happy and give them pleasure. If you take away that soul, that life, these ancillary joys gradually cease to be joyful; at first they become trivial, then completely pointless, and eventually depressing and anxiety-provoking.”
Once he had said that, the door opened up. The people who had been sitting there jumped up and ran back to their homes, to their jobs and their work, and came back to life.
§735
Afterward the angel addressed the people who had convinced themselves that heavenly joys and eternal happiness consist in dining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then playing games and watching shows after the meal, then having another feast the next day, and so on to eternity.
“Follow me,” the angel said to them, “and I will bring you into the happiness of your joys.”
He led them through a wooded area to a clearing with a large, low platform of wooden boards that had tables on it—fifteen on one side, and fifteen on the other.
“Why are there so many tables?” they asked.
“The first table is for Abram, the second for Isaac, the third for Jacob, and next to them is a row of twelve tables for the twelve apostles. On the other side, there are the same number of tables for their wives. The first three tables are for Sarai, Abram’s wife; Rebecca, Isaac’s wife; and Leah and Rachel, Jacob’s wives. The other twelve tables are for the wives of the twelve apostles.”
Not too long afterward, the tables were loaded with dishes of food, and little pyramids with desserts were neatly placed in the spaces between the dishes. The dinner guests stood next to the tables, excited to see the distinguished people who would be sitting at the heads of the tables. After a brief delay, they saw their honorable dinner companions entering in a procession, beginning with Abram and ending with the last of the apostles. Soon the patriarchs were seated on padded chairs at the heads of the tables. They addressed the visitors, who were still standing, and said, “We invite you to sit down with us.”
The men sat down with the patriarchs and the women sat down with their wives. They all ate and drank together in a joyful yet reverent state of mind. After the meal was over, the famous figures left. Then there were games to play, and young men and women giving a dance performance, and afterward several stage plays. At the end of the evening, all were invited to another festival the next day, but with the following stipulation: “You will dine with Abram on the first day, Isaac on the second, Jacob on the third, Peter on the fourth, James on the fifth, John on the sixth, Paul on the seventh, and with the rest in sequence up to the fifteenth day, at which time the dinner cycle will repeat, although you will be sitting in different places. This cycle will go on forever.”
At that point the angel called together the people from his group, and said to them, “All the other guests you dined with were people who had formed similar mental images as your own about the joys of heaven and therefore eternal happiness. These banquets and shows were established with the Lord’s permission for the purpose of allowing people to see that their ideas are foolish so that they can let go of them.
“The famous men that you saw at the heads of the tables were actually older actors with beards; many of them are country folk whose relative wealth compared to their neighbors has given them enough of a superior attitude for the part. They agreed to pretend that they were the ancient patriarchs. But follow me now to the pathways that lead out of this arena.”
They followed, and came upon fifty people here and fifty there who had crammed their stomachs full of food to the point of nausea and were longing for their usual routine at home—some for their professional duties, some for their businesses, and some for the work they did with their hands. Many of them, though, had been detained by the guards of that wooded area and questioned about which day of feasting they were on, and whether they had eaten with Peter or Paul yet. They were told that leaving before doing so was highly improper and would cause them great shame.
Many of the people said to the guards in response, “We are fed up with our joys! We can’t even taste the food or the drink any more—our sense of taste is burned out. Our stomach can’t take it any more, and we can no longer stand to put anything in our mouths. This ridiculous indulgence has gone on for whole days and nights on end. Please, we beg you, let us go!”
They were allowed out and ran home breathlessly.
The angel called his group together again, and as they walked away together he taught them the following things about heaven.
“In heaven as on earth there is food and drink, and there are dinners and parties, and the tables of leading figures are laden with glorious spreads including special delicacies you don’t find elsewhere; these things rejuvenate and refresh the mind. There are also sports and shows and concerts of vocal and instrumental music, all at the height of perfection. All these things are a joy to the angels, but they don’t constitute their true happiness. Their happiness has to be present for these things to bring them joy. The happiness that is present within them during the joyful events is what makes the events joyful, enriches them, and keeps them from becoming meaningless and tedious. And the only source of anyone’s true happiness is doing something useful through his or her work.
“Hidden deep within the desires of every angel’s heart there is a kind of current that draws her or his mind to do something. In that activity the mind finds its peace and satisfaction. This peace and satisfaction then condition the mind to be receptive to the love of being useful that flows in from the Lord. Receiving this love leads to the true heavenly happiness that gives life to the joys that I mentioned a moment ago.
“At the level of its essence, heavenly food is in fact love, wisdom, and usefulness working together; or to put it another way, usefulness that draws on wisdom and comes from love. For all of us in heaven, the type of food we are given for our bodies therefore depends on how useful a function we perform. People who perform the highest-level functions are given magnificent food; people who perform mid-level functions are given more moderate kinds of food, but still very good-tasting; people who perform low-level functions are given humble food. Those who do nothing get no food at all.”
§736
Next, the angel summoned the group of so-called wise people who considered heavenly joys, and the eternal happiness that results from them, to consist in the possession of great power and tremendous wealth, and the more-than-regal magnificence and shining splendor that come with them. (They based their view on statements in the Word to the effect that we are going to be kings and princes and reign with Christ to eternity and angels will minister to us, and many more things of that nature.)
The angel said to them, “Follow me, and I will bring you into your joys.”
He took them into a portico with pillars and obelisks. At the front of it there was a low entryway that led into the portico itself. The angel brought them through this entrance. They came upon [twenty men here and] twenty there who were waiting around. Suddenly an actor who was pretending to be an angel appeared and said to them, “This portico is the entrance to heaven itself. Stay here for a while and prepare yourselves, because the older among you are going to become kings and the younger are going to become princes.”
After the actor said that, next to each pillar a throne appeared; a mantle of silk was laid out on it and a scepter and a crown were sitting on top of the mantle. Next to each obelisk a seat appeared that was raised about four and a half feet off the ground. On the seat there was a gold chain and a sash of the order of the knighthood, which was gathered and held at each end by a ring of diamonds. Then the supposed angel cried out, “Go now and put on this finery; then take your seats and wait.”
The older men immediately ran to the thrones and the younger men to the seats. They put on their royal trappings and sat down. A dense fog rose up from below. As they breathed it in, their heads began to swell and they straightened up on their thrones and seats and came fully to believe that they were now kings and princes. That fog was the aura of the fantasy that now inspired them.
Suddenly a number of young people appeared, flying down as if from heaven. Two of them took up positions behind each throne and one behind each seat in order to minister to the seated royalty.
Then a herald periodically proclaimed, “You, O kings and princes, wait here a little longer. Your royal courts are now being prepared in heaven. Soon, courtiers and attendants will come to escort you there.” And they waited and waited until their spirits were exhausted and worn out by desire.
After three hours heaven opened above their heads and angels looked down and felt sorry for them. The angels said, “Why are you sitting there like idiots and buffoons? These people played a trick on you and managed to turn you from people into statues. They were able to do this because you had taken it to heart that you were going to reign with Christ as kings and princes, and that angels would be ministering to you. Have you forgotten what the Lord said, that in heaven those who want to be great must be servants [Matthew 20:26, 27; Mark 10:43, 44]?
“You need to learn what ‘kings’ and ‘princes’ mean and what ‘reigning with Christ’ means. They mean becoming wise and performing a useful function. Christ’s kingdom, which is heaven, is a kingdom of useful functions. The Lord loves everyone, and wants us all to have what is good. What is good is being useful. Because the Lord does good and useful things indirectly, here through angels and in the world through people, he gives those who are performing useful functions a love for being useful, and also a reward for being useful, which is inner bliss; and this inner bliss is eternal happiness.
“As there is on earth, in heaven as well there is great power and tremendous wealth. There are governments and governmental responsibilities; therefore there are positions of greater and lesser power and status. Those who occupy the top positions have courts and palaces that are of greater magnificence and splendor than the courts and palaces of emperors and monarchs on earth. Because of the sheer number of courtiers, ministers, and attendants, and the finery they all wear, these leaders are surrounded with honor and glory. The people who occupy these top positions, though, are selected from among those whose hearts are devoted to the well-being of all and who are not affected beyond their bodily senses by the grandeur and magnificence that surrounds them in order to establish authority.
“Because it is crucial to the well-being of all that each person has some function in the community (and the community is in effect a body of the whole), and because all usefulness comes from the Lord and is carried out through the agency of angels and people as if they were acting on their own, clearly this is what it means to ‘reign with the Lord.’”
Upon hearing this statement from heaven, the supposed kings and princes came down from their thrones and seats and laid down their scepters, crowns, and mantles. The dense fog that held the aura of their fantasy receded from them, and a bright cloud enveloped them that held an aura of wisdom; it restored their minds to sanity.
§737
After that, the angel went back to the house where the wise from the Christian world were gathered. He next summoned the group that had taken on the belief that heavenly joys and eternal happiness were delightful experiences in a garden paradise.
The angel said to them, “Follow me, and I will bring you to paradise, to your heaven, so that you can begin having the blissful experiences of your eternal happiness.”
He led them through a tall gateway made of interwoven shoots and branches from excellent species of trees. Beyond the entrance he led them along a meandering path from one area to another.
This was in fact a garden paradise at the first point of entry to heaven. This is where people are sent who had believed when they were in the world that heaven consists entirely of one garden paradise, because it is called paradise. It is also used for people who had latched onto the idea that after death there is complete rest from labors, and that this rest takes the form of breathing in delightful experiences, walking among beds of roses, being cheered up by the finest of wines, and enjoying drinking parties; they think that this life is only possible in a heavenly garden paradise.
The group that was led along by the angel then saw a huge crowd of people—both male and female, of all ages. They were in groups of three here, three there; ten here, ten there. Some groups were sitting among rose gardens, weaving garlands for the heads of the older people and the arms of the young, and braiding flower sashes to go around the children’s chests. Other groups were making fruit juice, squeezing grapes, cherries, and berries into cups and enjoying sipping from them. Other groups were inhaling the air, which was redolent with the fragrances of flowers, fruits, and sweet-smelling leaves. Some groups were singing, caressing the ears of their listeners with beautiful songs. Some groups were sitting by fountains, making different patterns with the water that was squirting in the air. Other groups were going into gazebos to lie around on couches. They were all enjoying these and many other paradisal pastimes.
After the angel’s group had seen all this, he brought them along a path that wound here and there, until he finally stopped next to a group of people sitting in a gorgeous rose garden, bordered by olive trees, orange trees, and lemon trees. The people were rocking back and forth holding their heads in their hands, grief-stricken and weeping.
The people in the angel’s group greeted them and asked “What’s wrong?”
“It has been seven days now,” they replied, “since we arrived in this paradise. When we first arrived, we felt as though our minds had been lifted into heaven itself and we had gained access to its inmost joys and pleasures. After three days, though, the fun began to wear off. These things became less and less pleasant to our minds; we eventually became numb to them and found no pleasure in them at all. When things we had thought would be such joys became no fun anymore, we started to fear that we were losing every delight of our life. We began to doubt there was even such a thing as eternal happiness. So then we began wandering along the pathways and through different areas, looking for that gateway through which we had come in. We walked around and around in great circles, and asked directions from the people we met. Some of them said, ‘That gateway cannot be found. This garden paradise is a massive labyrinth. Those who try to leave go deeper and deeper into it. You have no choice but to stay here for eternity. You are in the heart of it now, the most central of all delights!’”
The sufferers went on, “For the last day and a half we have been sitting here. Because we lost all hope of ever finding the way out, we stayed in this rose garden. We look around at all the olives, grapes, oranges, and lemons; but the more we look at them, the more tired we get of everything we can see with our eyes, smell with our noses, and taste with our tongues. So this is why you see us crushed with sorrow, grief-stricken, and crying.”
The angel with the visiting group said to them, “This labyrinth of a garden paradise is actually just an entrance on the outskirts of heaven. I know the way out and I’ll take you there.”
At this the people sitting on the ground jumped up and gave the angel a hug. They joined the angel and his group. As they walked along, the angel taught them what heavenly joy and eternal happiness really are.
“They are not in fact the external pleasures of paradise,” he said, “unless the internal pleasures of paradise are felt at the same time. External pleasures of paradise are just things that delight our bodily senses. Internal pleasures of paradise are things that satisfy the desires of our soul. If these inner pleasures are not present within these outer pleasures, the outer pleasures have no heavenly life, because they have no soul. Every delight that is lacking its corresponding soul fades and wears out over time; eventually it fatigues the mind more than work does.
“All throughout the heavens there are garden paradises, which are a source of great joy to the angels. The more of the soul’s delight the angels have, the more truly joyful these joys become to them.”
At that point they all asked, “What is the soul’s delight and where does it come from?”
“The soul’s delight,” the angel answered, “comes from love and wisdom from the Lord. Love is what produces this delight, and wisdom is how it produces it. Both love and wisdom find a home in the effect they have, and that effect is usefulness. This delight flows from the Lord into our soul and comes down through the higher and lower levels of our mind into all our bodily senses and finds its fulfillment in them. This is what makes a joy joyful and also makes it everlasting, because it comes from the eternal Source.
“You have now seen the features of a heavenly garden paradise, and I tell you the truth: there is not a single thing there, not even the least little leaf, that does not come from the marriage of love and wisdom in usefulness. Therefore if we have that marriage within ourselves, then we are in a heavenly paradise, and therefore in heaven itself.”
§738
After that, the angel guide returned to the first building, to the people who had firmly convinced themselves that heavenly joy and eternal happiness consisted in perpetually glorifying God in a celebration that would go on forever. In the world, they had believed that they were going to see God and that the reason people referred to the life of heaven as “a perpetual Sabbath” was that it consisted entirely in worshiping God.
To this group the angel said, “Follow me and I will bring you into your joy.”
He led them to a small town with a church building in the middle of it. All the houses there were referred to as sacred buildings. In that town the group saw crowds of people coming in from the territory surrounding it on every side. In among the crowd there were a number of priests, greeting and welcoming people and leading them by the hand to the gateways of the church, and through them to several of the buildings surrounding the church; they introduced the people to the everlasting worship of God.
“This town is a point of entry to heaven,” the priests said. “The church building here is an entrance to a magnificent, enormous church that is in heaven. The angels glorify God there with prayers and praises forever. It is a rule both here and there that you first have to come into this church building and spend three days and nights here. After this period of initiation, you will walk around to the other houses in this town, all of which we consider to be sacred; you will go from one building to the next. Along with the rest of the congregations there, you will pray, shout, and have sermons read to you. Take great care that you do not think anything within yourselves, or say anything to anyone else, that is not holy, devout, and religious.”
Then the angel led his group to the church building. It was packed beyond capacity. There were many people there who had been of high rank and position in the world, and also many who had been ordinary people. There were groups of guards posted at each entrance to the church to prevent anyone from leaving before the three days had passed.
“Today is the second day since these people came in,” said the angel. Look at them carefully and you will see how they are glorifying God.”
The angel’s group looked around. They saw that many of the worshipers were fast asleep. The people who were still awake were yawning and yawning. Because they were constantly lifting their thoughts toward God and never allowing those thoughts to come back down into their bodies, some of them had the feeling that they were faces disconnected from their bodies, and that was also how they appeared from the outside. Some of them, whose eyes were rolled back into their heads as a result of looking upward all the time, looked insane. Briefly put, the hearts of all were depressed and their spirits were fatigued with boredom. They turned away from the pulpit and began shouting, “Our ears are going deaf. Stop preaching! We’re not listening to you any more—the sound of your voice is making us sick.”
They stood up and rushed en masse toward the doors, broke them open, pushed up against the guards, and shoved them out of the way. The priests pursued them and clung on to them, teaching and teaching, praying and sighing. They were saying, “Celebrate the festival! Glorify God! Sanctify yourselves! This is a point of entry to heaven where we will be inaugurating you into the everlasting glorification of God that takes place in the magnificent, enormous church that is in heaven—this is your initiation into the enjoyment of eternal happiness!”
The worshipers did not understand these statements, though, and barely even heard them, because their minds had been dulled by this two-day suspension from their usual activity at home and at work.
When they tried to tear themselves away from the priests, however, the priests grabbed them by the arms or the clothes, pulling them toward the buildings where the sermons were being read, but without success. The people shouted, “Leave us alone! We are about to lose consciousness altogether.”
At that moment four men appeared, dressed in shining white, with caps on their heads. One of them had been an archbishop in the world; the other three had been bishops; they had since become angels. They called the priests together. After greeting them, they said, “We have been watching from heaven how you interact with these sheep. You have been feeding and feeding them to the point where they are having a mental breakdown. You evidently don’t know what it means to glorify God. It means bearing the fruits of love—that is, performing our work faithfully, honestly, and diligently. Doing this is loving God; doing this is also loving our neighbor. It is the glue that holds society together, and it is what is best for the community. God is glorified by our doing this, and then also by our having worship at particular times. Have you not read what the Lord said? ‘My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit; and you will become my disciples’ (John 15:8).
“Because it is your job, it is possible for you priests to keep going in a worship service of glorification. It brings you honor, glory, and financial reward. But if this were not your job, and you did not get honor, glory, and money from it, you would not be able to keep glorifying indefinitely any more than these people were able to.”
The bishops then commanded the guards to open the doors and let everyone come in or go out as he or she wished, since there is a great multitude of people, ignorant of the true nature of heaven, who cannot conceive of heavenly joy in any other form than perpetual worship of God.
§739
After that, the angel returned with his group to the original place of meeting. The groups of the wise had not left yet. The angel next summoned the people who believed that heavenly joy and eternal happiness were just a matter of being allowed into heaven by divine grace; and that the joy people then have was much like the joy people have in the world just by showing up when they are invited to a royal palace for the days of a festival or are invited to a wedding.
To this group the angel said, “Wait here a while longer, if you would; I am going to sound the trumpet and summon some people who were famous for their wisdom regarding the spiritual teachings of the church.” Several hours later nine men arrived. As an indication of their distinguished reputations, they were all wearing laurel wreaths. The angel brought them into the building where all the others were who had previously been summoned.
Before the entire assembly, the angel welcomed the nine distinguished guests and said, “I know that because of the idea you had had of heaven, you fervently desired to go there, and it was granted. You went up to heaven; you then came back to this lower region beneath heaven with full knowledge of what heaven is like. Please tell us, therefore, if you would, how heaven seemed to you.”
The nine distinguished theologians gave their responses in sequence.
The first theologian said, “The idea that I had had of heaven from the time I was a child right through to the end of my life in the world was that it was a place—a place that contained all bliss, all good fortune, all delight, all satisfaction, and all pleasure imaginable. I thought that if I were simply to be allowed in, I would be surrounded by an aura of all that happiness, and would drink it in with every fiber of my being, like a bridegroom when he is getting married and when he enters the bridal suite with his bride.
“With this idea in mind, I went up into heaven. I got past the first guard post and the second. When I came to the third, the chief officer stopped me and said, ‘Who are you, my friend?’ I replied, ‘Isn’t this heaven here? I have come up here because I have longed and prayed to be in heaven. Please let me in.’
“He did let me in. I saw angels in white clothes. They gathered around me and were looking me over and murmuring, ‘Look at this. A new guest who is not wearing the clothes of heaven!’
“I heard that and thought to myself, ‘This reminds me of the person whom the Lord says came to the wedding without a wedding garment.’ I said to them, ‘Give me clothes like that.’ But they just laughed.
“Then someone came running from the palace with these orders: ‘Strip him naked, throw him out, and throw his clothes after him.’ And in just that manner I was thrown out.”
The second theologian said, “I had the same beliefs he did, that if I was just allowed into heaven, which is above my head, joys would flow all around me and I would breathe them in forever. Well, my wish was granted. But when the angels saw me they ran away and said to each other, ‘What is this strange omen? How did this night bird get here?’ And in fact, I felt as though I had changed into something nonhuman, although in reality I had not; it was just the effect of breathing the atmosphere of heaven. Soon someone from the palace ran up with orders for two servants to lead me back down by the way I had come, and take me all the way to my home. When I was back at home again, I looked human again to myself and to others.”
The third theologian said, “My idea of heaven was always an idea of a place and not an idea of love. Therefore when I arrived in this world, I felt a tremendous longing for heaven. I saw people going up in that direction, so I followed them. I was let in, but not more than a few feet. Because of the idea I had of the joys and blessings there, when I tried to feel that delight in my mind it went blank instead and I lost my vision and began to lose my mind. That was the effect of the light of heaven, which was as bright and white as snow, and is essentially wisdom, so I’m told. Soon I was having heart palpitations and tremendous anxiety, due to the heat of heaven, which is just as intense as the light is bright and which I now understand is essentially love. I was attacked with inner pain. I threw myself down on my back on the ground there. While I was lying there, an attendant from the palace came with an order to carry me slowly back to my own light and heat. When I was in my own light and heat again, my spirit and my heart were restored.”
The fourth theologian said, “In my case also I had been thinking of heaven in terms of a place and not in terms of love. As soon as I arrived in the spiritual world I asked wise people whether I was allowed to go up to heaven. They told me, ‘Everyone is allowed to go up; just take care not to be thrown back down.’ I laughed when they said that, and up I went, believing as these others did that everyone in the entire world is capable of receiving those joys in all their fullness. In actual fact, though, when I was in heaven, I was almost knocked unconscious by it. Because I felt pain and torment in both my head and my body, I threw myself to the ground and rolled and writhed like a snake next to the fire. I crawled all the way to a cliff-edge and threw myself over it. I was picked up by people who were standing below and carried to an inn; there I recovered.”
The other five theologians told similarly astounding stories about their journeys up to heaven. They compared the state of their life in heaven to a fish that is lifted out of the water into the air and birds that are lifted up into the ether.
They said that after those extremely difficult experiences, they no longer desired to go to heaven; they wanted no more than a life shared with other people who were like them, wherever such people happened to be. They said, “We now know that in the world of spirits, where we are now, we all first undergo a preparation. The good are prepared for heaven, and the evil are prepared for hell. Once we are prepared, we see pathways that open up for us, leading to communities of people like ourselves; we will remain with these people to eternity. We find delight in following these paths, because they are the paths of our own love.”
All the people in the first group heard this and admitted that they had had exactly the same ideas about heaven—that it was a place where they would forever drink in the joys that surrounded them.
The angel with the trumpet then said to them, “Now you see that heavenly joys and eternal happiness are not a matter of where you are, but of what your state of life is. A heavenly state of life comes from love and wisdom. Because usefulness is what contains love and wisdom, a heavenly state of life is a matter of the partnership between love and wisdom in usefulness. You can also use the terms goodwill, faith, and good works. These are equivalent, because goodwill is love, faith is the truth that leads to wisdom, and good works are useful.
“Now, there are in fact locations in our spiritual world, as there are in the physical world. Otherwise there would be no places to live and no separate homes. Nevertheless, the nature of a location here is not physical; it is where something appears to be, based on its state of love and wisdom or of goodwill and faith.
“All who become angels carry their own heaven deep within themselves, because their love is the love that constitutes their heaven. We were all created to be a miniature form, an image, and an emblem of the heaven that exists on a grand scale. That is what the human form is. Therefore all who are miniature forms of heaven come into some actual community of heaven. When they enter that community, they are entering a form that corresponds to themselves. Therefore it is as if they are going from themselves into a community that is already actually inside them, forming a connection between the community outside and the community within, and making the community’s life their own and giving their life to the community. Every community of heaven is like an aggregate whole, and the angels of that community are like individual yet similar parts that together make up that whole.
“It follows then that people who are entrenched in evils and falsities have created a model of hell in themselves. When they are in heaven, that model of hell is tormented by the inflow and the violent activity of one opposite against another. Hellish love is opposite to heavenly love. Therefore when the delights of these two loves encounter each other, they clash like enemies and kill each other.”
§740
When all that came to an end, a voice was heard from heaven saying to the angel with the trumpet, “Out of all who are gathered there, choose ten and bring them up to us. We have heard from the Lord that he will prepare them in such a way that for three days the heat and light or love and wisdom of our heaven will not bring them harm.”
Ten were chosen to follow the angel. They climbed up along a steep trail to the top of a hill, and then from there up a mountain. The heaven of those angels was on the top of that mountain. From a distance it had previously appeared to them as a kind of expanse in the clouds. The gates were opened for them. After they had passed through the third set of gates, the angel who was bringing them in hurried to the prince [who was the head] of that community, that heaven, and announced their arrival.
The prince said, “Take some of the members of my entourage and inform them that these visitors are here with my permission. Bring them into my outer court. Give them each a suite with a bedroom. Have some of my court attendants and some of my servants minister to the visitors and see to their wants.” This was done.
When the angel was bringing them in, they asked whether it would be allowable for them to meet and visit with the prince of the community. The angel answered, “It is morning now; there will not be a chance before noon. Until then the angels are all performing their functions and doing their work. You are invited to a luncheon, however, and you will be seated at the head table with the prince. In the meantime I will take you into the palace, where you will see some magnificent and astounding things.”
When they were brought to the palace they first surveyed it from the outside. It was very large. The main structure was built out of porphyry and was sitting on a foundation made of jasper. In front of the entrance there were six tall pillars made of lapis lazuli. The roof was covered with a layer of gold. The palace had tall windows of completely clear glass, with gilded trim.
Then the ten visitors were led inside the palace and taken from room to room. They saw indescribably beautiful ornamentation there, beneath ceilings decorated with exquisite reliefs. Along the walls there were tables made of a gold and silver alloy; on them were utensils of various kinds made out of precious stones and whole gems shaped into heavenly forms. There was more besides that as well, but they were things that no eyes on earth have ever seen, and therefore there would be no way for people to believe that such things exist in heaven.
As the visitors were feeling stunned by the magnificent things they had seen, the angel said, “Don’t be surprised. The things you have seen here were not made or crafted by any angelic hand. They were fashioned by the same Artist who made the universe and were given as gifts to the prince of our community. The art of architecture exists in heaven in its highest state. All the principles of architecture on earth come from here.
“Now, you might suppose,” the angel added, “that things like this would bewitch our eyes and overwhelm us so that we would think of them as the very joys of our heaven; but in fact our hearts are not set on them. They are just accessories to the joy that is in our hearts. When we contemplate them as accessories and as the handiwork of God, then we behold the divine omnipresence and mercy that are present within them.”
After that, the angel said to them, “It is almost noon. Come with me into the garden of our prince, which is next to the palace.”
§741
They went to the garden. At the entrance to it the angel said, “Enjoy this, the most magnificent of all the gardens in this heavenly community.”
“What are you saying?” was their reply. “There is no garden here. We see just a single tree. On its branches and on its top we see something like pieces of fruit made of gold and leaves made of silver with emeralds along their edges, and under the tree there are little children with their caregivers.”
The angel replied in an inspired voice: “The tree you mention is at the center of the garden. We call it ‘the tree of our heaven’; others refer to it as the tree of life. Keep going forward, though, and get closer to it, and your eyes will be opened and you will see the garden.”
They did so, and their eyes were opened. They saw trees bearing abundant edible fruit, with grapevines wrapped around their limbs. The fruit-laden tops of the trees were bowing inward toward the tree of life at the center.
These trees were laid out in a long curving row that extended and came around to form the arcing arm of a grand spiral. It was a perfect spiral of trees, in which one species followed another according to the relative excellence of its kind of fruit. A large interspace separated the beginning of the spiral from the tree at the center; this open space was sparkling with a gleaming light, which lit the trees in such a way that each tree seemed to pass the glow on to the next, from the first trees all the way to the last.
The trees toward the center were the most excellent of all. They were covered in rich, sumptuous fruit. Called paradise trees, they were unlike anything that has ever been or could ever be witnessed on earth or anywhere in the physical universe. The trees next to them were various kinds of trees that yield oil; then came various kinds of trees that yield wines; then trees that give off beautiful fragrances; and finally trees whose wood is used for making things.
Here and there along this long, spiraling line of trees there were living benches that had been crafted by bending and weaving together the branches of the tree just behind them; these were decorated with an abundance of the tree’s fruits. Along the continuous arcing line of trees there were openings that led into flower gardens, and these led to lawns that were divided into grassy areas and flower beds.
Seeing all this, the people accompanying the angel said, “It is heaven itself laid out before us! Wherever we turn our eyes, we encounter something of heaven, something of paradise, that is beyond description.”
The angel rejoiced to hear this, and said, “All the gardens in our heaven are representative forms or models of the origins of heavenly blessings. The reason why you exclaimed, ‘It is heaven itself laid out before us,’ is that an actual inflow of these blessings lifted your minds. People who are not open to that inflow only see these garden paradises as a forest. People who love being useful are receptive to this inflow; people who love glory apart from usefulness are not.”
Then the angel explained to them and taught them the meaning and representation of all the individual features of the garden.
§742
While they were still engaged in that, a messenger came from the prince with an invitation to them to break bread with him. Two court attendants with the messenger were carrying clothes of fine linen. They said, “Please put these on, because none are allowed at the table of our prince if they are not wearing the clothes of heaven.”
They put on the clothes and went with their angel. They were brought into a large walled area where people from the palace could take walks. There they waited for the prince to arrive. The angel introduced them to dignitaries and governors who were also awaiting the prince’s arrival.
After a little while the doors opened. They saw the prince coming through the wider door to the west in a formal and splendid procession. First came his privy councillors, then the members of his cabinet, and then the highest officials in his court. In among the officials was the prince himself. After him came other distinguished members of the court, and then less distinguished members, and last of all the attendants. There were around a hundred and twenty in the procession all told.
The angel was standing in front of the ten newcomers, who now looked like visiting dignitaries in their fine clothes. Then the angel stepped forward toward the prince, bringing them along, and respectfully presented them. The prince, without stopping, said to them, “Come break bread with me.”
They followed him into a dining room. There they saw a table magnificently laid out. In the middle of the table there was a tall pyramid made of gold with a hundred small dishes held on three different tiers of its structure. These dishes held sweet breads and wine jellies, and other delicacies made with bread and wine. A wine that was like nectar was bubbling up through the center of the pyramid like a fountain; from the top of the pyramid the wine split into many flowing streams and filled goblets below. To the sides of the tall pyramid there were various heavenly forms made out of gold; these held large and small plates that were full of foods of all kinds. The heavenly forms that held these large and small plates were forms made with a wisdom and technique that no drawing or words in the physical world could possibly capture. The large and small plates were made of silver; forms were embossed on their edges that were similar to the forms on the stands that held them, only flatter. Each cup was made out of a translucent gem. This was what the table setting was like.
§743
As for what the prince and the members of his government were wearing: The prince had on a purple robe, decorated with embroidered silver stars. Under the robe he was wearing a vest of shiny blue silk. The vest was open at the chest; underneath you could see the front of his shirt, which bore the insignia of his community. The insignia was an eagle brooding over her chicks at the top of a tree. This image was made with gleaming gold and was surrounded with diamonds. The privy councillors were dressed similarly, although without the insignia. In its place, they wore a braided gold chain around their neck with carved sapphires hanging from it. The courtiers wore robes of light brown, with a decoration of young eagles surrounded by flowers. Their vests, breeches, and stockings were opalescent in color. So these were the kinds of clothes they were wearing.
§744
The privy councillors, the members of the cabinet, and the governors were now standing by the table. At the prince’s request, they joined hands and together softly spoke words of prayer and praise to the Lord. Then the prince gave a nod, and the dignitaries sat down on padded chairs at the table. The prince then said to the ten newcomers, “You too are to sit down with me. These are your places here.” So they sat down. The court attendants whom the prince had originally assigned to them took up positions behind them.
The prince then said to them, “You are each invited to take a plate from its circular stand and also a dish from the pyramid.”
They did so, and immediately fresh plates and dishes appeared and filled the empty spaces. Their goblets were filled with wine from the fountain leaping up from the grand pyramid. They ate and drank.
When they were satisfied but not overly so, the prince spoke to his ten guests and said, “I have heard that down on the plain beneath this heaven you were called on to reveal your thoughts on the joys of heaven and eternal happiness. I understand that you gave various responses on this topic, depending on what particular things your bodily senses took delight in.
“But what delight do the bodily senses feel when the delights of the soul are not present? It is the soul that makes those delights enjoyable. In and of themselves, the delights of the soul are states of blessedness that are beyond our perception; but they become more and more perceptible as they descend into the thoughts of the mind and through these into the sensations of the body. In the thoughts of the mind they are perceived as blissful; in the sensations of the body they are perceived as delightful, and in the body itself they are perceived as pleasurable. These three kinds of joy combine to form eternal happiness. The happiness that comes from the latter feelings alone, however, is not eternal. It is temporary, because it comes to an end and passes away. Sometimes it even becomes unhappiness.
“You have now seen that all the things you listed as joys are in fact joys in heaven, and are superior to anything you could have imagined. Nevertheless these things do not affect our minds all that deeply.
“There are three things that flow as one from the Lord into our souls. These three-in-one, or this trinity, if you will, are love, wisdom, and usefulness. Love and wisdom do not actually take shape, except in some conceptual form, because they reside solely in the feelings and thoughts within our minds; but in usefulness they become real, because then they come together in some activity and work on the part of the body. Where these two come forth into reality, there they also remain. Because love and wisdom take form and find continued existence in usefulness, usefulness itself is what moves us. Usefulness is faithfully, honestly, and diligently carrying out the work involved in our jobs.
“Love of being useful and pursuit of usefulness keep our minds focused so they don’t get distracted and wander off and partake of all the lusts and enticements that flow in from the body and the world through our senses, which would drive away to the four winds all religious and moral truths along with the good actions they enjoin. The mind’s pursuit of usefulness harnesses these true insights and good impulses and turns the mind into a form that is receptive to the wisdom that comes from them. This pursuit also pushes aside the distortions and absurdities that arise from false and idle thoughts.
“On this topic, however, you will hear more from wise people from our community; I am going to send them to you this afternoon.”
Having said this, the prince stood up from the table (and all the others stood up as well). He wished them all peace. He told the angel who was guiding the guests to take them back to their rooms and show them every honor and civility. He also told the angel to summon some sophisticated and affable people to entertain the guests with conversation about the various modes of recreation enjoyed in that community.
§745
When the angel’s group returned to their rooms, what the prince had just ordered was done. People from the city arrived who had been summoned to entertain the guests with conversation about the various modes of recreation in that community. After they met and greeted the newcomers, they all went for a walk together, enjoying a good conversation.
The angel guide then said [to the people from the city], “These ten people were invited to this heaven to see the nature of our joys here and to develop a new concept of eternal happiness. Tell them, if you would, some of the activities here that are rejuvenating for our bodily senses. Later on, we will be visiting with wise people, who are to inform them of some of the inward qualities that make these modes of recreation truly happy and joyful.”
In response to this the people from the city provided the following examples.
“First: There are festival days here, which are scheduled by the prince in order to relieve our minds of the stress and fatigue that tends to affect us if we become overly competitive. On festival days there is music and singing in the streets, and there are sporting events and shows outside the city. In the public squares stages are set up, framed by screens of latticework that have grapevines interwoven in them and bunches of grapes hanging down. Between these the musicians sit on three tiers. They have all kinds of stringed instruments and wind instruments that cover the spectrum from treble to bass, with timbres ranging from soft to sharp. On either side of the musicians there are male and female vocalists, who entertain the audience with excellent songs and praises, in solos and as a choir. Now and then during the performance they will shift to a different type of music. On festival days, entertainments like this will start early and go all morning; then after a break for lunch they will continue through the afternoon into the evening.
“Second: As another example, every morning from the houses around the public squares you hear girls and young women singing songs of great sweetness. The sound fills the entire city. Each morning the song embodies one particular feeling related to spiritual love. That is, the way the voices sound and the mode the song is in convey a given feeling so well that we experience the song as that feeling itself. The song flows into our souls as we listen and stirs in us the feeling it corresponds to. This is the nature of songs in heaven. The singers tell us that as those listening become more receptive, the sound of the song becomes more inspired, inwardly alive, and beautiful.
“When the song is over, the windows of the houses around the central square and also on the side streets are closed, and then so are the doors. Silence fills the entire city. No noise is heard anywhere, and no one is seen out of doors. All are then focused on doing the work that their jobs entail.
“Third: At midday the doors are opened. A little later, some of the windows are opened as well. Then you see boys and girls playing in the streets, under the supervision of their caregivers and teachers, who sit on the porches of their houses.
“Fourth: On the outskirts of the city there are various sporting activities for teenagers and young adults. There are games that involve a lot of running, games with balls, games with rackets. There are also contests in the arena for teenagers in order to see who is quicker or slower at speaking, taking action, and perceiving. Those who are quicker are awarded a laurel wreath as their prize. There are also many other activities designed to bring out the young people’s hidden talents.
“Fifth: For yet another example, outside the city comedies are performed on stage. The players in them represent the various honorable and virtuous attitudes that go to make up a moral life. For the sake of contrast, some of the actors will play buffoons.”
At this point one of the ten newcomers asked, “Why for contrast?”
“No virtue, or the honorable and appropriate actions that go with it, can be brought out in a living way without showing different levels of it from greatest to least. The buffoons represent the least level of that moral quality, just on the edge of no morality at all. It is actually forbidden by law, however, to portray the opposite of that moral quality—to depict behavior that is blatantly dishonorable or shows bad taste; that can only be implied or shown in some remote and indirect way. The reason for this prohibition is that there is no continuum that includes both behavior that is honorable and good, arising out of some virtue, and behavior that is dishonorable and evil. What is good and honorable diminishes to the least amount of it, and then comes to an end. Its opposite only starts up beyond the point at which that virtue has completely ceased to exist. Therefore heaven, where all things are honorable and good, has absolutely nothing in common with hell, where all things are dishonorable and evil.”
§746
As this conversation was still going on, a servant ran up and announced that the eight wise people who had been requested by the prince were present and were asking if they could come in. The angel immediately left to get them and brought them in.
After formal and gracious greetings all around, the wise began by addressing the group on the first beginnings and subsequent stages in the development of wisdom. They also mixed in some points about later stages. They said that among the angels, wisdom never has an end or comes to a stop; it grows and increases forever.
The angel who was in charge of the group said to the wise, “At the table earlier on, our prince told the group where wisdom resides, namely, in usefulness. If you would, could you tell them some more about that?”
The wise responded: “Humankind, as it was first created, was steeped in wisdom and in a love for wisdom, not for their own sake but for the sake of sharing it with others. As a result, an integral part of the wisdom of the wise was the recognition that none are wise for their own sakes alone and none are alive except for the sake of others. This led to the development of society, which would otherwise not have existed.
“Living for others is the same as doing things that are useful. Useful activities are what hold the community together. The community has as many bonds within it as there are good and useful things that are accomplished in it. The number of useful things to do is infinite.
“First, there are useful activities that are spiritual in nature; they relate to loving God and loving our neighbor. Second, there are useful activities that are moral and civic in nature; they relate to loving the society and community in which we live, and also loving our colleagues and fellow citizens, who constitute the community. Third, there are useful activities that are earthly in nature; they relate to loving the world and the things we need in order to continue to exist in it. Fourth, there are useful activities that are bodily in nature; they relate to loving to maintain ourselves for the sake of the higher forms of usefulness.
“All these types of usefulness are built into us; they follow in this sequence, one after the other, and when they occur together, the one is inside the other.
“People who are involved in the first type of usefulness just mentioned, the spiritual forms of usefulness, are also involved in the rest as well. They are the wise.
“People who are not involved in the first type of usefulness, but are involved in the second, third, and fourth types, are not actually as wise, although they seem wise as a result of their external morality and civility alone.
“People who are not involved in either the first or the second type of usefulness, but are involved in the third and fourth types are not wise. They are satans; the only thing they love is the world. They love themselves because they love the world.
“People who limit themselves to the fourth type of usefulness are the least wise of all. They are devils, because they live for themselves alone. If they do anything for others, it is only for their own selfish benefit.
“For another thing, every love has its own delight. The delight is what gives life to the love. The delight that belongs to the love of being useful is a heavenly kind of delight. It becomes integrated into the next delights in sequence, lifts them up according to their place in the sequence, and makes them eternal.”
Then the wise listed some heavenly pleasures that result from loving to be useful. They said that in all, there are billions of them, and that people who become a part of heaven partake of them.
They spent the rest of the day and on into the evening engaged in a profound conversation about the love of being useful.
Around the time of evening, a courier dressed in linen came to the ten newcomers who were with the angel and invited them to attend a wedding celebration on the following day. The newcomers were thrilled at the idea that they would be attending a wedding in heaven.
They were then brought to one of the privy councillors, and enjoyed an evening meal with him. After the meal they went back to their shared quarters, said good-night to each other, retired to their own rooms, and slept through until morning.
They awoke to hear the girls and young women singing from the houses surrounding the public square. That morning, the feeling embodied in the song was the desire for marriage love. The guests were intensely moved and affected by the sweetness of the song. Deep within their joyful response they became aware of a profoundly satisfying sense of bliss, which elevated and refreshed their joy.
When the time had come, the angel said, “Get dressed in the clothes from heaven that our prince sent you earlier.”
They put them on, and were surprised to see that they were now radiant with a flame-colored light. They asked the angel what caused this. He said, “It is because you are going to attend a wedding today. On such days our clothes shine and become wedding garments.”
§747
Then the angel led them to the home where the wedding was to occur. A doorkeeper opened the door. Just beyond the entrance they were greeted and welcomed by an angel who had been posted there by the bridegroom. They were introduced and taken to seats reserved for them.
Soon they were invited to come into a large room that adjoined the wedding bedroom. They saw a table in the middle of the large room, which had a magnificent candelabra on it with seven golden branches and cups. Suspended along the walls there were lamps made of silver. Once the lamps were lit, the light they cast gave the whole atmosphere a golden tinge. The guests also noticed two tables on either side of the candelabra, which were laid out with little loaves of bread in three rows. In the four corners of the room there were tables with crystal goblets.
As they were looking over all these things, a door opened from a room next to the wedding bedroom. Six young women came out, followed by the bridegroom and the bride holding hands and leading each other to a love seat that was set up near the candelabra. The couple sat down on it, the bridegroom on the left, and the bride on his right. The six young women stood beside the bride’s side of the love seat.
The bridegroom was wearing a robe of gleaming purple and a tunic of shining linen. He was also wearing an ephod with a golden brooch edged in diamonds. On the brooch was carved a young eagle, the wedding insignia of that community of heaven. The bridegroom’s head was covered with a turban.
The bride was wearing a red robe over an embroidered gown that was all of one piece from her neck to her feet. Around her waist she had a golden sash, and on her head a crown of gold with rubies in it.
When the couple had taken their seats, the bridegroom turned to the bride and placed a gold ring on her finger. Then he brought out bracelets and a necklace of pearls. He fastened the bracelets on her wrists and the necklace around her neck, and said, “Please accept these gifts as tokens of my love.” When she accepted them, he kissed her and said, “Now you are mine,” and called her his wife.
At that, the wedding guests cried out, “Let there be a blessing!” Each one cried it individually at first, and then all said it together. A delegate sent by the prince cried out the same thing when it was his turn. At that very moment the room was filled with sweet-smelling smoke, which was a sign of a blessing from heaven.
Then servants picked up the little loaves of bread from the two tables by the candelabra, and took the crystal goblets, which were now full of wine, from the tables in the corners. They gave each guest her or his own little loaf of bread and goblet of wine, and they all ate and drank.
Then the husband and wife stood up to leave. The six young women followed them, carrying in their hands little silver lamps, which were now lit; they went just as far as the threshold. The married pair went on into the wedding bedroom and closed the door.
§748
After that, the angel guide spoke to some of the other guests about the ten newcomers who were with him. He told them that he had been commanded to bring the newcomers up to this community and show them the magnificent and miraculous things in the prince’s palace. “They also dined with the prince at his table,” he said, “and afterward had a chance to converse with some of the wise minds in our community.”
The angel then asked the guests, “Would it be possible for the newcomers to have a conversation with you as well?”
They agreed and struck up a conversation. One of the men in attendance at the wedding, a wise person, said to the newcomers, “Do you understand the meaning of what you saw just now?”
The newcomers said, “A little.” They asked the wise person, “Why was the bridegroom (now the husband) wearing those particular clothes?”
“The bridegroom (now the husband) was representing the Lord,” he replied, “and the bride (now the wife) was representing the church, because weddings in heaven represent the marriage between the Lord and the church. This is why he had a turban on his head, and why he was wearing a robe, a tunic, and an ephod like Aaron [Exodus 28; Leviticus 8:7–9]. This is also why the bride (now the wife) had a crown on her head and was wearing a robe like that of a queen. Tomorrow they will dress differently, because this representation lasts only for today.”
The newcomers had another question: “Given that he represented the Lord and she the church, why was she sitting to his right?”
“Because there are two things,” the wise guest replied, “that make a marriage between the Lord and the church: love and wisdom. The Lord is love and the church is wisdom. Wisdom is at love’s right hand. All who are in the church become wise as if they were doing so on their own, and as they become wise, they receive love from the Lord. The right hand means power, and it is through wisdom that love has power.
“As I say, though, after the wedding day is over the representation changes. Then the husband represents wisdom and the wife represents the love of that wisdom; but this latter love is not the love I mentioned a moment ago. It is a second kind of love, which the wife has from the Lord in response to her husband’s wisdom. The kind of love from the Lord mentioned earlier is the love for becoming wise that the husband has. Therefore after the wedding day, both together, the husband and the wife, represent the church.”
The newcomers had yet another question: “Why were none of you men standing beside the groom (now the husband) the way the six young women were standing beside the bride (now the wife)?”
“The reason is that on this day,” the wise person replied, “we ourselves are counted as virginal young women, and the number six means wholeness and completeness.”
“We don’t understand,” the newcomers said.
“Virginal young women mean the church,” the wise man said, “and both sexes constitute the church. In this sense, where the church is concerned we men too are considered to be virginal young women. This is made clear by the following statement in the Book of Revelation: ‘These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they themselves are virgins, and they follow the Lamb wherever he goes’ (Revelation 14:4). Because young women mean the church, therefore the Lord compared the church to ten young women who were invited to a wedding (Matthew 25:1 and following). Because Israel, Zion, and Jerusalem mean the church, therefore the Word often speaks of a virgin or daughter of Israel, of Zion, or of Jerusalem. In fact, the Lord describes his marriage with the church in the following terms in David: ‘The queen stands at your right hand in the best gold from Ophir; her clothing is interwoven with gold. In embroidered clothes she will be brought to her king; young women behind her as her friends will come into the palace of the king’ (Psalms 45:9–15).”
Then the newcomers asked, “Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for a priest to be present and administer the ceremony?”
“That is appropriate on earth,” the wise man responded, “but not in the heavens, because the ceremony here represents the Lord himself and the church. People on earth are not aware that weddings have this symbolic meaning. Still, among us here priests do indeed perform betrothal ceremonies; they hear, accept, confirm, and consecrate the couple’s consent to be married. Consent is the essential ingredient in a marriage; all the other aspects of marriage that follow from consent are just the various forms that that consent takes.”
§749
After that, the angel guide went over to the six young women and told them, too, about his group of visitors. He asked if they would be willing to visit with his group.
The young women agreed and started in the direction of the group, but when they came close they suddenly turned around and walked off instead into a sitting room for women, where their female friends were spending time. The angel guide saw this unfold and went after them. He asked them, “Why did you suddenly leave without even speaking to my group?”
“We couldn’t go near them,” they replied.
“Why not?” the angel asked.
“We don’t know; but we sensed something that refused to let us go further and turned us instead in the opposite direction. We hope they can forgive us.”
The angel went over to his group and told them what the young women had said. He added, “My guess is that your love for the opposite sex is not chaste. In heaven we love young women for their beauty and moral refinement; we love them intensely, but chastely.”
The group laughed and said, “Your guess is entirely correct! Who can see women who are that beautiful just a few feet away and not feel any desire?”
§750
After the celebrations came to an end, the wedding guests left, including the ten newcomers with their angel guide. It was late evening, so they went home to bed.
In the early light before dawn they heard a proclamation: “Today is the Sabbath!”
They got up and asked the angel, “What does this mean?”
“It is a day for worshiping God,” he replied. “Days like this recur at regular intervals and are proclaimed by the priests. The worship service takes place in our churches and lasts about two hours. If you want, you can come with me and I’ll take you there.”
They got dressed and went with the angel. When they came into the church, they saw that it was a very large semicircle with a seating capacity of about three thousand. The seating took the form of extended, curved pews that followed the lines of the church. The pulpit in front of the pews was set back slightly from the focal point of the seating. There was a door behind the pulpit on the left.
The ten newcomers came in with their angel guide. The angel directed them to the places where they should sit. “All who come into the church,” he explained, “know their own place; they know it by a kind of instinct and cannot sit anywhere else. If they do sit elsewhere, they cannot hear or understand anything; in fact, they disrupt the proper arrangement within the congregation, and once that is disrupted, the priest’s inspiration is lost.”
§751
After people were settled into their places, the priest went up into the pulpit and preached a sermon that was full of the spirit of wisdom. The topic was the holiness of Sacred Scripture and the Lord’s union with both worlds, the spiritual and the physical, that the Word provides. Because of the enlightenment the preacher had, the sermon convinced the listeners that that holy book was dictated by Jehovah the Lord, and that therefore he is in it to such a degree that he is the wisdom it contains. Nevertheless that wisdom, which is the Lord himself, lies hidden beneath the literal meaning and is accessible only to people who are interested in theological truth and are engaged in living rightly as well; these are the people who are in the Lord and whom the Lord is in.
After the sermon, he finished with a heartfelt prayer, and came down from the pulpit.
As the congregation was leaving, the angel asked the priest to greet the ten newcomers. The priest joined their group. Their conversation lasted for about half an hour. The priest talked about the divine Trinity and said that it exists within Jesus Christ, since according to the apostle Paul, all the fullness of divinity dwells physically in him [Colossians 2:9]. Then they talked about the union of goodwill and faith; but the preacher spoke of it as the union of goodwill and truth, because faith is truth.
§752
After they expressed their gratitude to the preacher, they went back to their rooms. There the angel said to them, “Today is the third day since you came up into this community of heaven. You were prepared by the Lord to be able to be here for three days. Therefore the time has come for us to part. Take off the clothes that were sent to you by the prince, and put on your own clothes.”
When the newcomers were back in their own clothes, they were inspired with a strong desire to leave; so they left and went back down. The angel came with them all the way to the place of the original meeting. There they humbly gave thanks to the Lord for blessing them with knowledge and understanding concerning heavenly joys and eternal happiness.
~ Translated from Coptic by Thomas O. Lambdin, from the Nag Hammadi Corpus of Gnostic Texts
These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.
1. And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death."
2. Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."
3. Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
4. Jesus said, "The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child seven days old about the place of life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same."
5. Jesus said, "Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest."
6. His disciples questioned him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?" Jesus said, "Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered."
7. Jesus said, "Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man."
8. And he said, "The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the large fish without difficulty. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
9. Jesus said, "Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on the rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed(s) and worms ate them. And others fell on the good soil and it produced good fruit: it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure."
10. Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes."
11. Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is alive. When you come to dwell in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?"
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."
13. Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like." Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a righteous angel." Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher." Thomas said to him, "Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like." Jesus said, "I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring which I have measured out." And he took him and withdrew and told him three things. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?" Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the things which he told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up."
14. Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth - it is that which will defile you."
15. Jesus said, "When you see one who was not born of woman, prostrate yourselves on your faces and worship him. That one is your father."
16. Jesus said, "Men think, perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world. They do not know that it is dissension which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and two against three, the father against the son, and the son against the father. And they will stand solitary."
17. Jesus said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind."
18. The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us how our end will be." Jesus said, "Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning; he will know the end and will not experience death."
19. Jesus said, "Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being. If you become my disciples and listen to my words, these stones will minister to you. For there are five trees for you in Paradise which remain undisturbed summer and winter and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever becomes acquainted with them will not experience death."
20. The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like." He said to them, "It is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds. But when it falls on tilled soil, it produces a great plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky."
21. Mary said to Jesus, "Whom are your disciples like?" He said, "They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have back our field.' They (will) undress in their presence in order to let them have back their field and to give it back to them. Therefore I say, if the owner of a house knows that the thief is coming, he will begin his vigil before he comes and will not let him dig through into his house of his domain to carry away his goods. You, then, be on your guard against the world. Arm yourselves with great strength lest the robbers find a way to come to you, for the difficulty which you expect will (surely) materialize. Let there be among you a man of understanding. When the grain ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in his hand and reaped it. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
22. Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, "These infants being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom." They said to him, "Shall we then, as children, enter the kingdom?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom."
23. Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one."
24. His disciples said to him, "Show us the place where you are, since it is necessary for us to seek it." He said to them, "Whoever has ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world. If he does not shine, he is darkness."
25. Jesus said, "Love your brother like your soul, guard him like the pupil of your eye."
26. Jesus said, "You see the mote in your brother's eye, but you do not see the beam in your own eye. When you cast the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to cast the mote from your brother's eye."
27. "If you do not fast as regards the world, you will not find the kingdom. If you do not observe the Sabbath as a Sabbath, you will not see the father."
28. Jesus said, "I took my place in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in flesh. I found all of them intoxicated; I found none of them thirsty. And my soul became afflicted for the sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts and do not have sight; for empty they came into the world, and empty too they seek to leave the world. But for the moment they are intoxicated. When they shake off their wine, then they will repent."
29. Jesus said, "If the flesh came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. But if spirit came into being because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty."
30. Jesus said, "Where there are three gods, they are gods. Where there are two or one, I am with him."
31. Jesus said, "No prophet is accepted in his own village; no physician heals those who know him."
32. Jesus said, "A city being built on a high mountain and fortified cannot fall, nor can it be hidden."
33. Jesus said, "Preach from your housetops that which you will hear in your ear. For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place, but rather he sets it on a lamp stand so that everyone who enters and leaves will see its light."
34. Jesus said, "If a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit."
35. Jesus said, "It is not possible for anyone to enter the house of a strong man and take it by force unless he binds his hands; then he will (be able to) ransack his house."
36. Jesus said, "Do not be concerned from morning until evening and from evening until morning about what you will wear."
37. His disciples said, "When will you become revealed to us and when shall we see you?" Jesus said, "When you disrobe without being ashamed and take up your garments and place them under your feet like little children and tread on them, then will you see the son of the living one, and you will not be afraid."
38. Jesus said, "Many times have you desired to hear these words which I am saying to you, and you have no one else to hear them from. There will be days when you will look for me and will not find me."
39. Jesus said, "The pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys of knowledge [gnosis] and hidden them. They themselves have not entered, nor have they allowed to enter those who wish to. You, however, be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves."
40. Jesus said, "A grapevine has been planted outside of the father, but being unsound, it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed."
41. Jesus said, "Whoever has something in his hand will receive more, and whoever has nothing will be deprived of even the little he has."
42. Jesus said, "Become passers-by."
43. His disciples said to him, "Who are you, that you should say these things to us?" "You do not realize who I am from what I say to you, but you have become like the Jews, for they (either) love the tree and hate its fruit (or) love the fruit and hate the tree."
44. Jesus said, "Whoever blasphemes against the father will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit will not be forgiven either on earth or in heaven."
45. Jesus said, "Grapes are not harvested from thorns, nor are figs gathered from thistles, for they do not produce fruit. A good man brings forth good from his storehouse; an evil man brings forth evil things from his evil storehouse, which is in his heart, and says evil things. For out of the abundance of the heart he brings forth evil things."
46. Jesus said, "Among those born of women, from Adam until John the Baptist, there is no one so superior to John the Baptist that his eyes should not be lowered (before him). Yet I have said, whichever one of you comes to be a child will be acquainted with the kingdom and will become superior to John."
47. Jesus said, "It is impossible for a man to mount two horses or to stretch two bows. And it is impossible for a servant to serve two masters; otherwise, he will honor the one and treat the other contemptuously. No man drinks old wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. And new wine is not put into old wineskins, lest they burst; nor is old wine put into a new wineskin, lest it spoil it. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, because a tear would result."
48. Jesus said, "If two make peace with each other in this one house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move Away,' and it will move away."
49. Jesus said, "Blessed are the solitary and elect, for you will find the kingdom. For you are from it, and to it you will return."
50. Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where did you come from?', say to them, 'We came from the light, the place where the light came into being on its own accord and established itself and became manifest through their image.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?', say, 'We are its children, we are the elect of the living father.' If they ask you, 'What is the sign of your father in you?', say to them, 'It is movement and repose.'"
51. His disciples said to him, "When will the repose of the dead come about, and when will the new world come?" He said to them, "What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it."
52. His disciples said to him, "Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and all of them spoke in you." He said to them, "You have omitted the one living in your presence and have spoken (only) of the dead."
53. His disciples said to him, "Is circumcision beneficial or not?" He said to them, "If it were beneficial, their father would beget them already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become completely profitable."
54. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven."
55. Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother cannot become a disciple to me. And whoever does not hate his brothers and sisters and take up his cross in my way will not be worthy of me."
56. Jesus said, "Whoever has come to understand the world has found (only) a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world."
57. Jesus said, "The kingdom of the father is like a man who had good seed. His enemy came by night and sowed weeds among the good seed. The man did not allow them to pull up the weeds; he said to them, 'I am afraid that you will go intending to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them.' For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be plainly visible, and they will be pulled up and burned."
58. Jesus said, "Blessed is the man who has suffered and found life."
59. Jesus said, "Take heed of the living one while you are alive, lest you die and seek to see him and be unable to do so."
60. a Samaritan carrying a lamb on his way to Judea. He said to his disciples, "That man is round about the lamb." They said to him, "So that he may kill it and eat it." He said to them, "While it is alive, he will not eat it, but only when he has killed it and it has become a corpse." They said to him, "He cannot do so otherwise." He said to them, "You too, look for a place for yourself within repose, lest you become a corpse and be eaten."
61. Jesus said, "Two will rest on a bed: the one will die, and the other will live." Salome said, "Who are you, man, that you ... have come up on my couch and eaten from my table?" Jesus said to her, "I am he who exists from the undivided. I was given some of the things of my father." <...> "I am your disciple." <...> "Therefore I say, if he is destroyed, he will be filled with light, but if he is divided, he will be filled with darkness."
62. Jesus said, "It is to those who are worthy of my mysteries that I tell my mysteries. Do not let your left (hand) know what your right (hand) is doing."
63. Jesus said, "There was a rich man who had much money. He said, 'I shall put my money to use so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouse with produce, with the result that I shall lack nothing.' Such were his intentions, but that same night he died. Let him who has ears hear."
64. Jesus said, "A man had received visitors. And when he had prepared the dinner, he sent his servant to invite the guests. He went to the first one and said to him, 'My master invites you.' He said, 'I have claims against some merchants. They are coming to me this evening. I must go and give them my orders. I ask to be excused from the dinner.' He went to another and said to him, 'My master has invited you.' He said to him, 'I have just bought a house and am required for the day. I shall not have any spare time.' He went to another and said to him, 'My master invites you.' He said to him, 'My friend is going to get married, and I am to prepare the banquet. I shall not be able to come. I ask to be excused from the dinner.' He went to another and said to him, 'My master invites you.' He said to him, 'I have just bought a farm, and I am on my way to collect the rent. I shall not be able to come. I ask to be excused.' The servant returned and said to his master, 'Those whom you invited to the dinner have asked to be excused.' The master said to his servant, 'Go outside to the streets and bring back those whom you happen to meet, so that they may dine.' Businessmen and merchants will not enter the places of my father."
65. He said, "There was a good man who owned a vineyard. He leased it to tenant farmers so that they might work it and he might collect the produce from them. He sent his servant so that the tenants might give him the produce of the vineyard. They seized his servant and beat him, all but killing him. The servant went back and told his master. The master said, 'Perhaps he did not recognize them.' He sent another servant. The tenants beat this one as well. Then the owner sent his son and said, 'Perhaps they will show respect to my son.' Because the tenants knew that it was he who was the heir to the vineyard, they seized him and killed him. Let him who has ears hear."
66. Jesus said, "Show me the stone which the builders have rejected. That one is the cornerstone."
67. Jesus said, "If one who knows the all still feels a personal deficiency, he is completely deficient."
68. Jesus said, "Blessed are you when you are hated and persecuted. Wherever you have been persecuted they will find no place."
69. Jesus said, "Blessed are they who have been persecuted within themselves. It is they who have truly come to know the father. Blessed are the hungry, for the belly of him who desires will be filled."
70. Jesus said, "That which you have will save you if you bring it forth from yourselves. That which you do not have within you will kill you if you do not have it within you."
71. Jesus said, "I shall destroy this house, and no one will be able to build it [...]."
72. A man said to him, "Tell my brothers to divide my father's possessions with me." He said to him, "O man, who has made me a divider?" He turned to his disciples and said to them, "I am not a divider, am I?"
73. Jesus said, "The harvest is great but the laborers are few. Beseech the Lord, therefore, to send out laborers to the harvest."
74. He said, "O Lord, there are many around the drinking trough, but there is nothing in the cistern."
75. Jesus said, "Many are standing at the door, but it is the solitary who will enter the bridal chamber."
76. Jesus said, "The kingdom of the father is like a merchant who had a consignment of merchandise and who discovered a pearl. That merchant was shrewd. He sold the merchandise and bought the pearl alone for himself. You too, seek his unfailing and enduring treasure where no moth comes near to devour and no worm destroys."
77. Jesus said, "It is I who am the light which is above them all. It is I who am the all. From me did the all come forth, and unto me did the all extend. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."
78. Jesus said, "Why have you come out into the desert? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a man clothed in fine garments like your kings and your great men? Upon them are the fine garments, and they are unable to discern the truth."
79. A woman from the crowd said to him, "Blessed are the womb which bore you and the breasts which nourished you." He said to her, "Blessed are those who have heard the word of the father and have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say, 'Blessed are the womb which has not conceived and the breasts which have not given milk.'"
80. Jesus said, "He who has recognized the world has found the body, but he who has found the body is superior to the world."
81. Jesus said, "Let him who has grown rich be king, and let him who possesses power renounce it."
82. Jesus said, "He who is near me is near the fire, and he who is far from me is far from the kingdom."
83. Jesus said, "The images are manifest to man, but the light in them remains concealed in the image of the light of the father. He will become manifest, but his image will remain concealed by his light."
84. Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you rejoice. But when you see your images which came into being before you, and which neither die not become manifest, how much you will have to bear!"
85. Jesus said, "Adam came into being from a great power and a great wealth, but he did not become worthy of you. For had he been worthy, he would not have experienced death."
86. Jesus said, "The foxes have their holes and the birds have their nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head and rest."
87. Jesus said, "Wretched is the body that is dependent upon a body, and wretched is the soul that is dependent on these two."
88. Jesus said, "The angels and the prophets will come to you and give to you those things you (already) have. And you too, give them those things which you have, and say to yourselves, 'When will they come and take what is theirs?'"
89. Jesus said, "Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not realize that he who made the inside is the same one who made the outside?"
90. Jesus said, "Come unto me, for my yoke is easy and my lordship is mild, and you will find repose for yourselves."
91. They said to him, "Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you." He said to them, "You read the face of the sky and of the earth, but you have not recognized the one who is before you, and you do not know how to read this moment."
92. Jesus said, "Seek and you will find. Yet, what you asked me about in former times and which I did not tell you then, now I do desire to tell, but you do not inquire after it."
93. "Do not give what is holy to dogs, lest they throw them on the dungheap. Do not throw the pearls to swine, lest they [...] it [...]."
94. Jesus said, "He who seeks will find, and he who knocks will be let in."
95. Jesus said, "If you have money, do not lend it at interest, but give it to one from whom you will not get it back."
96. Jesus said, "The kingdom of the father is like a certain woman. She took a little leaven, concealed it in some dough, and made it into large loaves. Let him who has ears hear."
97. Jesus said, "The kingdom of the father is like a certain woman who was carrying a jar full of meal. While she was walking on the road, still some distance from home, the handle of the jar broke and the meal emptied out behind her on the road. She did not realize it; she had noticed no accident. When she reached her house, she set the jar down and found it empty."
98. Jesus said, "The kingdom of the father is like a certain man who wanted to kill a powerful man. In his own house he drew his sword and stuck it into the wall in order to find out whether his hand could carry through. Then he slew the powerful man."
99. The disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your mother are standing outside." He said to them, "Those here who do the will of my father are my brothers and my mother. It is they who will enter the kingdom of my father."
100. They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, "Caesar's men demand taxes from us." He said to them, "Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine."
101. "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother as I do cannot become a disciple to me. And whoever does not love his father and his mother as I do cannot become a disciple to me. For my mother [...], but my true mother gave me life."
102. Jesus said, "Woe to the pharisees, for they are like a dog sleeping in the manger of oxen, for neither does he eat nor does he let the oxen eat."
103. Jesus said, "Fortunate is the man who knows where the brigands will enter, so that he may get up, muster his domain, and arm himself before they invade."
104. They said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray today and let us fast." Jesus said, "What is the sin that I have committed, or wherein have I been defeated? But when the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, then let them fast and pray."
105. Jesus said, "He who knows the father and the mother will be called the son of a harlot."
106. Jesus said, "When you make the two one, you will become the sons of man, and when you say, 'Mountain, move away,' it will move away."
107. Jesus said, "The kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine sheep and looked for that one until he found it. When he had gone to such trouble, he said to the sheep, 'I care for you more than the ninety-nine.'"
108. Jesus said, "He who will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him."
109. Jesus said, "The kingdom is like a man who had a hidden treasure in his field without knowing it. And after he died, he left it to his son. The son did not know (about the treasure). He inherited the field and sold it. And the one who bought it went plowing and found the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished."
110. Jesus said, "Whoever finds the world and becomes rich, let him renounce the world."
111. Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will be rolled up in your presence. And the one who lives from the living one will not see death." Does not Jesus say, "Whoever finds himself is superior to the world?"
112. Jesus said, "Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul; woe to the soul that depends on the flesh."
113. His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" He replied, "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."
114. Simon Peter said to him, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life." Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven."
~ Anguttara Nikaya, Tika Nipata, Mahavagga, Sutta No. 65; translated from Pali by Soma Thera: Access to Insight
1. I heard thus. Once the Blessed One, while wandering in the Kosala country with a large community of bhikkhus, entered a town of the Kalama people called Kesaputta. The Kalamas who were inhabitants of Kesaputta: "Reverend Gotama, the monk, the son of the Sakyans, has, while wandering in the Kosala country, entered Kesaputta. The good repute of the Reverend Gotama has been spread in this way: Indeed, the Blessed One is thus consummate, fully enlightened, endowed with knowledge and practice, sublime, knower of the worlds, peerless, guide of tamable men, teacher of divine and human beings, which he by himself has through direct knowledge understood clearly. He set forth the Dhamma, good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end, possessed of meaning and the letter, and complete in everything; and he proclaims the holy life that is perfectly pure. Seeing such consummate ones is good indeed."
2. Then the Kalamas who were inhabitants of Kesaputta went to where the Blessed One was. On arriving there some paid homage to him and sat down on one side; some exchanged greetings with him and after the ending of cordial memorable talk, sat down on one side; some saluted him raising their joined palms and sat down on one side; some announced their name and family and sat down on one side; some without speaking, sat down on one side.
3. The Kalamas who were inhabitants of Kesaputta sitting on one side said to the Blessed One: "There are some monks and brahmans, venerable sir, who visit Kesaputta. They expound and explain only their own doctrines; the doctrines of others they despise, revile, and pull to pieces. Some other monks and brahmans too, venerable sir, come to Kesaputta. They also expound and explain only their own doctrines; the doctrines of others they despise, revile, and pull to pieces. Venerable sir, there is doubt, there is uncertainty in us concerning them. Which of these reverend monks and brahmans spoke the truth and which falsehood?"
4. "It is proper for you, Kalamas, to doubt, to be uncertain; uncertainty has arisen in you about what is doubtful. Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, 'The monk is our teacher.' Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are bad; these things are blamable; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,' abandon them.
5. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does greed appear in a man for his benefit or harm?" — "For his harm, venerable sir." — "Kalamas, being given to greed, and being overwhelmed and vanquished mentally by greed, this man takes life, steals, commits adultery, and tells lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for his harm and ill?" — "Yes, venerable sir."
6. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does hate appear in a man for his benefit or harm?" — "For his harm, venerable sir." — "Kalamas, being given to hate, and being overwhelmed and vanquished mentally by hate, this man takes life, steals, commits adultery, and tells lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for his harm and ill?" — "Yes, venerable sir."
7. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does delusion appear in a man for his benefit or harm?" — "For his harm, venerable sir." — "Kalamas, being given to delusion, and being overwhelmed and vanquished mentally by delusion, this man takes life, steals, commits adultery, and tells lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for his harm and ill?" — "Yes, venerable sir."
8. "What do you think, Kalamas? Are these things good or bad?" — "Bad, venerable sir" — "Blamable or not blamable?" — "Blamable, venerable sir." — "Censured or praised by the wise?" — "Censured, venerable sir." — "Undertaken and observed, do these things lead to harm and ill, or not? Or how does it strike you?" — "Undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill. Thus it strikes us here."
9. "Therefore, did we say, Kalamas, what was said thus, 'Come Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, "The monk is our teacher." Kalamas, when you yourselves know: "These things are bad; these things are blamable; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill," abandon them.'
10. "Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, 'The monk is our teacher.' Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,' enter on and abide in them.
11. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does absence of greed appear in a man for his benefit or harm?" — "For his benefit, venerable sir." — "Kalamas, being not given to greed, and being not overwhelmed and not vanquished mentally by greed, this man does not take life, does not steal, does not commit adultery, and does not tell lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for his benefit and happiness?" — "Yes, venerable sir."
12. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does absence of hate appear in a man for his benefit or harm?" — "For his benefit, venerable sir." — "Kalamas, being not given to hate, and being not overwhelmed and not vanquished mentally by hate, this man does not take life, does not steal, does not commit adultery, and does not tell lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for his benefit and happiness?" _ "Yes, venerable sir."
13. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does absence of delusion appear in a man for his benefit or harm?" — "For his benefit, venerable sir." — "Kalamas, being not given to delusion, and being not overwhelmed and not vanquished mentally by delusion, this man does not take life, does not steal, does not commit adultery, and does not tell lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for his benefit and happiness?" _ "Yes, venerable sir."
14. "What do you think, Kalamas? Are these things good or bad?" — "Good, venerable sir." — "Blamable or not blamable?" — "Not blamable, venerable sir." — "Censured or praised by the wise?" — "Praised, venerable sir." — "Undertaken and observed, do these things lead to benefit and happiness, or not? Or how does it strike you?" — "Undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness. Thus it strikes us here."
15. "Therefore, did we say, Kalamas, what was said thus, 'Come Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, "The monk is our teacher." Kalamas, when you yourselves know: "These things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness," enter on and abide in them.'
16. "The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who in this way is devoid of coveting, devoid of ill will, undeluded, clearly comprehending and mindful, dwells, having pervaded, with the thought of amity, one quarter; likewise the second; likewise the third; likewise the fourth; so above, below, and across; he dwells, having pervaded because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of amity that is free of hate or malice.
"He lives, having pervaded, with the thought of compassion, one quarter; likewise the second; likewise the third; likewise the fourth; so above, below, and across; he dwells, having pervaded because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of compassion that is free of hate or malice.
"He lives, having pervaded, with the thought of gladness, one quarter; likewise the second; likewise the third; likewise the fourth; so above, below, and across; he dwells, having pervaded because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of gladness that is free of hate or malice.
"He lives, having pervaded, with the thought of equanimity, one quarter; likewise the second; likewise the third; likewise the fourth; so above, below, and across; he dwells, having pervaded because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of equanimity that is free of hate or malice.
17. "The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom four solaces are found here and now.
"'Suppose there is a hereafter and there is a fruit, result, of deeds done well or ill. Then it is possible that at the dissolution of the body after death, I shall arise in the heavenly world, which is possessed of the state of bliss.' This is the first solace found by him.
"'Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, no result, of deeds done well or ill. Yet in this world, here and now, free from hatred, free from malice, safe and sound, and happy, I keep myself.' This is the second solace found by him.
"'Suppose evil (results) befall an evil-doer. I, however, think of doing evil to no one. Then, how can ill (results) affect me who do no evil deed?' This is the third solace found by him.
"'Suppose evil (results) do not befall an evil-doer. Then I see myself purified in any case.' This is the fourth solace found by him.
"The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom, here and now, these four solaces are found."
"So it is, Blessed One. So it is, Sublime one. The disciple of the Noble Ones, venerable sir, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom, here and now, four solaces are found.
"'Suppose there is a hereafter and there is a fruit, result, of deeds done well or ill. Then it is possible that at the dissolution of the body after death, I shall arise in the heavenly world, which is possessed of the state of bliss.' This is the first solace found by him.
"'Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, no result, of deeds done well or ill. Yet in this world, here and now, free from hatred, free from malice, safe and sound, and happy, I keep myself.' This is the second solace found by him.
"'Suppose evil (results) befall an evil-doer. I, however, think of doing evil to no one. Then, how can ill (results) affect me who do no evil deed?' This is the third solace found by him.
"'Suppose evil (results) do not befall an evil-doer. Then I see myself purified in any case.' This is the fourth solace found by him.
"The disciple of the Noble Ones, venerable sir, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom, here and now, these four solaces are found.
"Marvelous, venerable sir! Marvelous, venerable sir! As if, venerable sir, a person were to turn face upwards what is upside down, or to uncover the concealed, or to point the way to one who is lost or to carry a lamp in the darkness, thinking, 'Those who have eyes will see visible objects,' so has the Dhamma been set forth in many ways by the Blessed One. We, venerable sir, go to the Blessed One for refuge, to the Dhamma for refuge, and to the Community of Bhikkhus for refuge. Venerable sir, may the Blessed One regard us as lay followers who have gone for refuge for life, from today."