TOPICS: The dream of the ego is immortality without the death of the self – spiritual guidance comes from within, not from an outer scripture – Koran can be used as means to stimulate inner guidance – the Koran not faithful to Mohammed’s revelation – Mohammed was a mystic – God is beyond form – Mohammed made mistake of giving people what they wanted – the danger of letting the prophet become more important than God – the Muslim world will change, but it may require the second law of thermodynamics to break it down – millions of Muslims are ready for a new more open-minded approach – raising the Muslim faith –
Question: These are some of the points I learned from you on Islam:
– Muhammad was a divinely ordained messenger (even though he had not achieved Christhood)
– Large portions of the Quran were delivered intact by Muhammad, particularly the early surahs
– After his passing, much was added to Muhammad’s teachings by his followers
– Islam was intended as a religion for the Arabs and not the world at large
My questions:
1. How useful is the Quran as a tool for spiritual guidance today?
2. Is today’s Quran really the one that Muhammad delivered? For example, it is organised roughly according to the length of the surah and not in chronological order. If the instruction manual is organized wrongly then what good is it?
3. Do today’s muslims pray as Muhammad did? Or is this a man-made creation?
4. Is change possible in the muslim world? It seems that there is zero ability for self-examination and growth amongst muslims. I have my doubts that muslims can rise above their current beliefs and come to a new, fresh and more relevant practice.
I know you ask us to find our own answers which is what I am trying to do. I belong to the muslim faith and have serious issues with it. Rather than throw out the whole thing overnight, I’d like to do this gradually. Hence my questions.
Answer from ascended master Jesus through Kim Michaels: (December 8, 2010)
Question 1:
Any tool is only as useful as the practitioner makes it. If there had been a mechanical way to take people to the ascension, it would long ago have been found. We of the ascended masters have qualified for our ascensions by finding the true path, the creative path within each of us. Thus, we are not seeking to develop or release an automatic path, as we know it cannot be done. It is only unenlightened people who seek a guaranteed path to salvation—the dream of the ego to achieve immortality without self-transcendence, without the death of the self.
Spiritual guidance is not, never has been and never will be a matter of having the perfect outer scripture or set of rules. Spiritual guidance must come from within, from your I AM Presence, as described in my discourse. An outer scripture – be it the Koran, the Bible, the “secret” teachings of the ages or this website – can be helpful only to the extent that it stimulates your ability to go within and contact your higher self. When a student uses an outer source with a desire for a guaranteed path, then it will never lead to true self-transcendence. It will lead to the blind alley of spiritual pride, where you think God must accept you because of what you have done according to a standard defined on earth.
The Koran has the potential to be a source for stimulating your inner contact with your I AM Presence. It is true that the vast majority of Muslims do not use it this way, as the vast majority of Christians do not use the Bible this way. Yet why should you – as a spiritual student – allow the majority to pull you down? No one has ever won their ascension by following the crowd—or even by listening to the crowd.
So if you dare to read between the lines and let the Koran guide you, it can indeed be used as a valid tool—even with the obvious flaws of its organization.
Question 2:
No, the present Koran is not faithful to what Mohammed delivered. However, it is closer to the revelation given to Mohammed than the New Testament is to my true teachings. Thus, it is still useful for those who go beyond the outer word and seek for the inner WORD.
Certainly, it would be preferable to have the Surahs organized in the order they were given, so that students could ignore or look with a discerning eye upon the later ones that clearly have a dualistic vibration. Yet great care was taken by some very misguided early leaders to make this impossible. Then again, for a student willing to use his or her inner guidance, it is not difficult to sense the difference in vibration between the early and later Surahs.
I am not hereby saying that I encourage people to study the Koran exclusively. Those who are open to going beyond the outer word should never confine their minds to one source—including this website. You should always study multiple sources and at any given time focus on the one that resonates more deeply with you—allowing this to change over time.
Question 3:
Mohammed in his early years understood what is the central message of the Koran—and all other inspired scriptures. The message is that the one true God is beyond form, is beyond what can be captured in any scripture or ritual. Thus, he prayed by going within and contacting his higher self as he understood it. This is what all true mystics have done throughout the ages, and Mohammed did start out as a true mystic.
When you understand that the one true God is beyond form, you see that it is meaningless to think this God can be found only in a specific location on earth. Thinking that the formless God can somehow be associated with or confined to any form is precisely the flaw of monotheism. Mohammed did understand this, but most of his followers did not. They needed a physical focal point for their worship, and Mohammed later in life made the mistake of “giving the people what they want,” thinking this was doing God’s service. It was not.
I did not make that mistake. I left them no scripture and I did not even leave them a physical body. Of course, this was added later, and so even if Mohammed had not done what he did, his followers would still have created such physical symbols. Nevertheless, Mohammed did understand that the central point of Islam is the formless God, and he knew the danger of letting the prophet become more important than the source. Thus, he did not want Muslims to be so focused on Mecca. Instead of praying while facing Mecca, he wanted them to pray by going within—as does Allah. You will not find Allah in Mecca, but only in his kingdom—which is within you.
The elaborate prayer ritual that many Muslims follow today is again an expression of the drive to create an outer, mechanical path that will guarantee your salvation. It is no different than certain Tibetans believing that by prostrating yourself 10,000 times, you are guaranteed to reap certain benefits. This is the outer path that will not lead you to the ascension, whereas a simply ritual for emptying your mind of all preconceived notions and tuning in to your I AM Presence would be far more helpful.
Question 4:
Well, we among the ascended masters do ask ourselves the same question from time to time. Then again, we also see how closed-minded the Christian world was only a few centuries past. Although most people in the West are not yet open to going within, there is at least more openness in western society today than what you saw 2-300 years ago.
Thus, we all see that with the inevitability of time, the Muslim world will indeed change. If in no other way, the second law of thermodynamics will inevitably create such chaos that Muslims will be forced to change. Of course, we all hope that a change can happen by people being willing to open their minds.
And this is where you and people like you come in. Do not throw out your Muslim faith. Instead, do what you can to raise the issues and find others who have the same concerns. Organize and help each other spread a new and more open-minded approach.
You may think you are all alone, but I can assure you that millions of Muslims have the same concerns and sense the need for change. Millions of lifestreams have – as yourself – volunteered to embody in the Muslim faith precisely to bring change at this time. This change is much closer than you think, although it has not yet reached the critical mass that causes it to become obvious and undeniable.
Yet study my article on what brings change, and realize that there is a top ten percent among Muslims, and they have great power—especially when they awaken and come together. So do not give up on the Muslim faith—raise it up by raising your own awareness and then helping others do the same.
Copyright © 2010 by Kim Michaels