TOPICS: The masters seek to work with everybody – spirituality without religious jargon – Buddhism a practical approach – the human mind becomes a closed system – the problem with religion is human psychology – materialism glorifies the mind instead of seeing its limitations – a closed system is an infinite loop – second law of thermodynamics breaks down all closed systems – world is not internally existing – other ways to relate to God than theism –
Question: I recently heard about a new Bible, which is created by atheists, and promoted as “A Bible for the rest of us”, or a “Humanist” Bible. It’s called “The Good Book”. It’s possible to find pages on the Internet on the subject – just “google” it. It’s also available at Amazon. The author is A.C Grayling.
My first thought upon this, since I have read somewhere on either this website or in one of the books sold through this site, something about (I can’t find the very quote) that atheism (not materialism) could be a standpoint upon which a new awareness can be built (correct me if I’m wrong!), and to me that would be something that’s sponsored by the ascended masters, and is liberated from the “religious” dogma of traditional Christianity.
I have actually read some lines of it (The Good Book); in the first chapter a certain Tree is mentioned, and a certain Newton is also mentioned (I don’t know if Einstein is). Of course this could as well be an invention from the scientific materialists – and this is also what my first feeling is.
Otherwise, would the ascended masters sponsor a new Bible?
I cannot say I like this. It’s actually made to resemble the real Bible, and considering the fact that the real Bible has been subject to altering, by elites whom see themselves as having the authority to do so, this version could be imposed upon us in the future – as being the real Bible(?)
If that would happen, would it nevertheless be some “fragments” left of the real Truth in “The Good Book”, as is the case in the real Bible? “The Good Book” is in fact a complete rewriting…
Answer from ascended master Jesus through Kim Michaels: (May 17, 2011)
What we have said is that it is quite possible to create a constructive thought system without mentioning God or using any kind of religious or spiritual language. We are seeking to work with all people who are open to self-transcendence. However, it is difficult for people to go beyond a certain level of self-transcendence, if they believe they are creatures of matter and will not consider that there might be a level of reality beyond the material world.
Essentially, what the Buddha did was to create a thought system without mentioning God or any concepts that could conflict the religious dogma of his time. Yet contrary to what some people in the West think, the Buddha never denied the existence of God or a spiritual realm. The Buddha simply took a practical approach. He saw that at the time, the various leaders of the Hindu religion had created an unnecessarily complex theology. It was internally inconsistent and had given rise to many splinter groups, warring with each other.
He also saw that the essential problem was, that most of the people involved had no direct experience of the spiritual realm, so they based their arguments on interpretations and theories created from a lower level of consciousness. Thus, he saw that the only way out was to offer people a practical path to an expanded state of consciousness. Once you have some direct perception of reality, you will be less inclined to cling to a theory and use it as a weapon against others.
I essentially attempted to do the same thing, although – given the nature of my assignment – I did not keep my teaching as neutral from religious jargon. Yet behind my outer teaching, there is indeed an inner path to personal Christhood. It has been obscured, but so has the true inner path to Buddhahood given by the Buddha.
The point is that while we are willing to work with anyone, most atheists and materialists are not open to the one central premise that makes the path work. That is the following realization:
THE HUMAN MIND HAS A TENDENCY TO BECOME A CLOSED SYSTEM
The Buddha saw that the Hinduism of his time had become a closed system. I saw that the Judaism of my time had become a closed system. And we both saw that this is due to a tendency that is built into the human mind.
This is the one realization that atheists and materialists will not recognize. Because if they did, they would have to admit that atheism and materialism are limited concepts that can never set humanity free from ignorance. True freedom can be attained only by reaching for something that is beyond the human mind and the material realm.
Science could indeed help people connect to such an external reality, but due to materialism it is not yet doing this to its fullest potential. Atheists, materialists and humanists have taken the easy way out by reasoning that the problem with the Medieval Catholic Church was that it was based on the belief in a God who is beyond the material world and thus can never be proven. Yet the real problem with the Medieval Catholic Church was that it had fallen prey to the human mind’s tendency to create closed systems.
Surely, pure science has indeed helped free the minds of humanity from the closed system created by Medieval Catholics. But because atheism and materialism will not recognize the inherent weaknesses of the human mind, they have simply imprisoned people’s minds in another closed system. Materialism is as much a creation of the human mind as was Medieval (and for that matter today’s) catholicism.
In fact, materialism is in some ways more of a closed system, for it even glorifies the human mind and the material universe as the ultimate source of knowledge. Read the following quote from The Good Book:
Genesis, Chapter 2
11. Knowledge is freedom, freedom from ignorance and its offspring fear; knowledge is light and liberation.
12. Knowledge that the world contains itself, and its origins, and the mind of man,
13. From which comes more knowledge, and hope of knowledge again.
14. Dare to know: that is the motto of enlightenment.
What is being said between the lines is that only knowledge which comes from within the – self-contained – world and the mind of man is recognized as true knowledge. This, of course, can never lead to freedom of the mind, for indeed true freedom of the mind is freedom FROM the human elements of the mind.
Once you have used the human mind to create a closed system, you can continue almost indefinitely to generate “knowledge, and hope of knowledge again” from within the system. This will, of course, not free you from the closed system. And that is why the second law of thermodynamics will eventually break down the system, as the only way to free the minds of the people. This is what happened to the Catholic Church, this is what happened to communism, and it will surely happen to materialism, atheism, humanism and any other closed system created by man.
Thus, the Good Book is not sponsored by us, partly because it is based on a premise that is internally inconsistent. Read the following quote:
Genesis, Chapter 3
1. All things take their origins from earlier kinds.
If that were true, then it follows that there must always have existed “things” that could evolve into the present “things.” Yet the foremost theory of science holds that everything started in the “Big Bang.” And in the singularity that preceded the Big Bang, time, space and the laws of nature did not exist. Thus, there were no “things” before the Big Bang that could evolve into the things you see today.
Which to a logical mind means that the origin of “things” cannot be explained, unless one recognizes that there must me some “non-thing” beyond the material universe that could give origin to the “things” within the material universe.
Of course, another concern about The Good Book is that we would not today prefer to use the flowering language of the Bible, as it is not the most efficient way to communicate in today’s world. Why promote ideas developed by science in a style that has been made obsolete largely by science?
However, this is not to say that we do not work with a variety of people, who are bringing forth tools whereby people can raise their consciousness. And some of those people are purposely avoiding any kind of religious or even spiritual language. As did the Buddha, it is quite possible to help people raise their consciousness in a neutral way, and once the consciousness has been raised, then religious concepts will no longer be a source of conflict.
If atheists or materialists truly raised their consciousness, then the existence of God would not be seen to them as a taboo that must not be considered or acknowledged. For they would see that it is possible to conceive of a non-material being in other ways than the theist image of the remote and angry being in the sky.
In terms of whether we would sponsor a new Bible, consider that the Bible has for so long been seen as the authoritative book. Consider how often this belief has created conflicts among people. Thus, we have no desire to bring forth a new authoritative book that can be used as a weapon for those with a lower state of consciousness. Let them have their Bibles, their Korans and their scientific textbooks, and let them fight over which one is superior until they have had their fill of this pointless struggle.
Of course, we might bring forth a new Bible as a form of provocation for these kinds of people, but that is another story. In the meantime, we will focus on using non-traditional and non-authoritative sources to help those with open minds, sources such as this website. The Golden Age will not be the age of the book, as was the Piscean age. It will require knowledge that moves too fast to be frozen in books.
Copyright © 2011 by Kim Michaels