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