Month: May 2017

Beware of What You Ask For

Joseph Dewey

May 12, 2017

Beware of What You Ask For

I wrote this:

“We pray for many things of which we are not willing to pay the price. No wonder the heavens seem to be sealed.”

A reader responded by asking about the price and how prayer should be used

The price is different for each thing that is desired. The principle behind getting divine assistance is noted in this scripture:

“for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” II Nephi 25:23

No matter what it is that we want we are expected to do all we can first. When we have done all that is possible on our end then our prayers will be heard and answered if what we ask is in harmony with the will of God as noted here:

“Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss.” II Nephi 4:35

You’ve heard of the story of the caterpillar in the cocoon who is assisted by a helpful person. It dies because the struggle of breaking through the barrier gives the creature the strength it needs to survive.

Even so, if we get assistance too soon we are robbed of the lessons we need to learn that will give us the strength to achieve on our own.

There is no greater joy discovered than he who struggles and achieves through doing all he can do.

When one has done all he can and then reaches a dead end, that is the time to pray for help.

Let us say that Jim wants to find a wife and settle down, but he spends most of his spare time on the computer instead of going out and looking at the many social places available. God is not going to send him a partner who comes and knocks on his door.

Let us say that Bob wants wisdom and knowledge, but he spends no time learning wisdom from the wise through personal contact and books. God is not going to just snap his fingers and give him the gift of wisdom.

The older I get the less I ask for because I know there is a price for all things.

If I ask for patience, I may wind up encountering many irritating people.

If I ask for wisdom I may have to go through painful experiences to obtain it.

If I ask for love, I may first be tested to see if I can love the least of my brethren who may be very difficult people to deal with.

If I ask for wealth for a good cause I may first be required to go through financial struggles so I can learn the value of a dollar.

If one realizes the price required then asking God for something is a fairly brave thing to do. Why? Because the path that will be laid out for you to obtain it is often something you would not have chosen on your own.

Even so, when the path is followed and the prize is won you would not trade the experience for anything.

A reader disagreed with my comments indicating that we must put effort into an endeavor before we can achieve or receive supernatural help. She says that blessings are generously given by the grace of a loving God and are not earned.

It is interesting that this came from an LDS reader when the church places emphasis on works rather than grace. Many of the Protestants place emphasis on grace and faith over works.

The LDS scriptures teach that both faith and works are necessary. As I said the scripture specifically says:

“for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” II Nephi 25:23

Now I by no means see LDS doctrine as perfect, but in this case they are on the right track as well as being in harmony with the Bible wherein we read:

“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Matt 16:27

“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” II Cor 9:6

“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” Rev 14:13

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Gal 6:7

It certainly sounds like Jesus and the prophets placed a similar emphasis on our labors to produce results as was espoused in my article.

We reap as we sow, not as we do not sow. If one observes what happens in his own life as well as others he can see this law is indeed valid.

Of course, there are some effects that cannot be traced to this life alone, but under regression techniques people can be taken to past lives and there will be discovered the works that created the present conditions not explained in his life.

Now let us put scriptures aside and look at the logic of this.

If a person wants to become a champion athlete is he going to achieve this by just having faith and waiting for God to snap his fingers and bless him?

I assure you that you can look far and wide and will not find a champion who did not put a lot of effort into achieving his success.

If a person wants to draw positive people into his life he will not achieve this by being negative, for like attracts like. He must put effort into being a good person and doing the right thing.

If a person wants to be a good speaker then he must apply himself by filling his mind with pertinent facts and then by giving speeches.

I have never seen a person excel at anything without first doing his part and applying himself.

The reader then tells me that she detests the pride that comes from thinking that we earned our blessings.

Actually, I have observed the opposite. The greatest pride I have seen comes from those who have achieved little who think they are great souls. Take a look at all those who claim to be the One Mighty and Strong or the Second Coming. Most of these are not very blessed and have little talent, yet their pride makes them see themselves a the greatest recipients of God’s blessings on the planet.

This Mighty and Strong syndrome carries over to many people who have little achievement in many areas of life.

On the other hand, most of those I know who have achieved a lot are more humble than average. Now there are exceptions, such as Muhammad Ali who proclaimed himself to be “the greatest,” but most of them do not throw their own achievements in your face.

To achieve, sacrifice is often required and some are much easier than others. If the one achieving loves his work then it is not a sacrifice at all. It is only a sacrifice if something is required that he prefer to not do.

I have had to make sacrifices big and small and the reward was definitely the greatest with the larger sacrifices.

Concerning the greatest sacrifice in history we are even told that there was a motive and reward behind it:

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” Heb 12:2

I cannot think of any instance in my life or anyone else who has achieved anything of significance where they did not apply themselves first. I can think of instances in my life where I received divine assistance after I have done all I could in the process.

Copyright by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

Register at Freeread Here

Log on to Freeread Here

For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

JJ’s Amazon page HERE

Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE

The Three Principles

Joseph Dewey

May 24, 1999

The Three Principles

Question: Do you think that we can retain our blind spots and still attain spiritual enlightenment?

The group has made some good observations about the blind spot. There are lots of correspondences possible and we, as a group, have explored the idea from several angles.

Here’s an interesting idea for you. Remember I said that the blind spot must be revealed from without rather than within? Now imagine God as one life in the beginning. Now imagine that It comes to a realization that something is missing in It’s wholeness. Now imagine that God reflects Itself to infinity and by reflecting from the reflection the blind spot of even God is revealed. Creation thus illuminates a missing void in the life of the One God.

As reflections of God we must also find and bring light to our blind spots. This is often hard on the old ego and there is a natural resistance for many to even acknowledge that a specific blind spot exists.

True enlightenment does come as light is thrown on the dark areas. As with my singing voice I was reluctant to admit that much improvement was needed, but when the light was thrown on the truth of the matter I was forced to face it or live in a fantasy world.

There may be blind spots in the formless worlds, but it does us little good to speculate on them at this stage of evolution. But in addition to the physical blind spot it is very beneficial for us to contemplate areas where they may exist within our seeing on the emotional, mental and personality levels.

Earlier we talked about the principle of freedom as a key that must be understood before we can make an accurate decision for the path of light.

I do not want to offend anyone by suggesting that perhaps most of us have not yet reached this point, but, on the other hand, I would be negligent in my duty, if I knew points of preparation for the great Decision and failed to present them to you.

It may be of interest to note that even if the average seeker decided he wanted to take the dark path that he would be far from acceptance into the Dark Brotherhood. If a such a person were to pursue the Left Hand Path it would take around seven lifetimes of selfishness before he would be considered a reliable disciple of Self. The Brotherhood of Light is not the only one who wants reliable disciples. The Dark Brothers have standards of their own and have little use for zealous servants with little understanding of their goals.

The Dark Ones do seek to manipulate the masses through illusion and astral control and some crazy guy with a goal to become a demon is of little use to them.

Perhaps the most distinctive difference, but also a subtle one, is the Principle of Freedom.

If you go ask a hundred people on the street if they believe in maximum freedom for themselves and others you would probably get a hundred people saying yes. On the other hand, if you were able to examine their belief systems and how they play out in their voting and actions we would find that in many cases 99 out of the 100 support unnecessary restrictions of freedom.

The problem arises where programs arise that restrict freedoms in areas out of a person’s concern. If a person does not drink alcohol he is usually not bothered about restrictions on the freedom to drink.

If a person is a vegetarian he is usually not bothered about restrictions on eating meat.

If he does not go white water rafting then he is not bothered about restrictions on this type of recreation.

If he does not take natural vitamins then he is not bothered about restrictions on their sale.

There are exceptions, but the problem is that the majority are selfish enough to only be concerned about the restriction of freedom in areas that directly effect themselves. The trouble is that if we do not stand up for freedom for all, even those we disagree with, then the time will come that no one will stand up for us when our own freedoms are taken away.

The reason I listed earlier five different areas where there is general disagreement about the use of freedom was not to create arguments, but to illustrate that the understanding of freedom, even in a much above average group like this, is not a cut and dried thing.

Only through touching the Spirit of God through the soul can two become one in the understanding of freedom.

In considering the true application of freedom one must balance his thoughts through a triangle of principles.

They are:

(1) The Principle of Freedom

(2) The Principle of Harmlessness

(3) The Principle of Peace.

Let us now pick a deed that we know is in error. Let us say a burglar breaks into your place and steals your valuables. How has this person violated these three principles?

Now let us pick a person who we generally believe was in the right – Jesus. Why was he accused of violating these principles? Were His accusers correct?

The principle of freedom is most difficult for average humanity to see clearly. One of the problems is that almost everyone thinks they understand it, but few do. This is illustrated by the wide variety of opinions people have on the five points I mentioned earlier.

The wise person will filter ideas through the three principles of freedom-harmlessness and peace and relate them to each other to decide if the actions to be taken will create more harm than good. Some things take great reflection to come to the most harmless answer. With the abortion war, for example, there seems to be no good answer as it appears that suffering will occur no matter which side wins.

(1) Freedom

If a burglar breaks into your home you loose several freedoms. You may loose your freedom to feel secure. If he steals your TV set you will lose your freedom to watch TV until you get a new one. If he steals your stereo you will loose your freedom to relax to your favorite music.

(2) Harmlessness

He has caused you harm, because you suffer loss. You now may have to work extra hours to replace the stolen items. Then if they have sentimental value they may be irreplaceable.

(3) Peace

Before the burglar came you felt secure in your home and rarely gave a second thought to feeling insecure, but now your peace is destroyed. You sleep more lightly and every creak and noise you hear at night makes you jump. You are on edge now and don’t seem to have the peace you had before.

When we look at the results of the burglary and see the disturbance of these three principles then it becomes obvious that we should do everything in our power to take away the freedom of others to burglarize homes. By taking away some of the freedoms of the thief to burglarize we increase the power of the majority to utilize the three principles.

So it would seem as if the judgment here is quite cut and dried right? If we consider the three principles it should be easy to tell who is breaking the universal law.

It would seem so, but because the hearts of many are set upon “being” instead of “becoming” there is high resistance to teachers who seek to bring an increase in freedom. When this attachment to “being” is too great then all things will be seen upside down and people will “that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isa 5:20

Such was the case of those who hated Jesus. The Master taught: “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” Instead the religious leaders thought that if people accepted Jesus they would have less freedom as they would have less control over the people. They just wanted things “to be” the way they had always been.

Jesus taught harmlessness with such teachings as: Love your enemies and your neighbors…

But the religious leaders thought that such teaching would harm them because the faith of the people in these new teachings would take away attention from them. These teachers may even find themselves out of a job. Is that not harm?

Jesus often spoke and taught about peace. He even greeted his friends with a simple “peace be unto you.” Even so, the authorities in the land felt terror in their hearts whenever they heard His name spoken.

On looking back it is easy to see the folly of people who thought they were being harmed by great leaders and innovators. We laugh at the people in the days of Columbus who were afraid to travel on the great waters for fear of falling off the edge of the world, but we do not have to look far to find people today with a corresponding mindset. Their number is legion. There are many today who seek to crucify in one way or another those who merely seek to enhance the principles of freedom, harmlessness and peace.

True freedom, true harmlessness and true peace is difficult to judge with the concrete mind, but when higher spiritual contact is made it is the easiest thing in the world.

Question: How does the popular emphasis on “being” instead of “becoming”

distort the vision of many on the three principles?

Copyright by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives (Like this One) in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

Register at Freeread Here

Log on to Freeread Here

For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

JJ’s Amazon page HERE

Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE

 

Take No Thought

Joseph Dewey

May 9, 2017

Take No Thought

Some of the most controversial advice given by Jesus was from the Sermon on the Mount:

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matt 6:19-34

Like all the rest of the words of Jesus these are beautifully said and sound very pleasant. But nodding one’s head in approval of their beauty and trying to incorporate them into life are two different things.

If one were to literally apply them in the here and now what would he do?

It sounds like if you want to serve God rather than mammon (earthly treasure) that you could care less about earning a living. If you own a business perhaps you should cease putting attention on it and read the scriptures, pray and meditate instead.

If you have a job that forces you to work for money perhaps you should quit and become a wandering preacher.

In addition, he tells us to “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.”

If one takes this literally he would not have any savings account, keep any surplus cash, gold or silver and would not be concerned about having any extra food storage, backup power, fuel or supplies of any kind.

There are two types of people who seemed to have literally followed this advice.

The first are the freeloaders. These are irresponsible people who feel the world owes them a living and either will not or cannot keep a job. Friends, family and strangers feel sorry for them and help them out and somehow they seem to survive, yet remain carefree.

These freeloaders are violating the command of the scriptures which say:

“this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” II Thess 3:10

Yes, this group cares not for tomorrow and lets tomorrow take care of itself but on the back of others who do care and do work hard to make sure there is enough to go around.

The second group are spiritual teachers who live on the donations of others so they can devote full time to their work. Jesus himself was in this category. He may have done some carpentry work when younger, but when on his mission he was supported by others who did have regular jobs. The Gospels indicate that there was no shortage of people willing to invite him for dinner.

Buddha, we are told only had one set of clothes and a rice bowl to his name. When hungry he went from place to place teaching and students gave him enough rice to survive.

When Buddha was seeking for enlightenment he came across Hindus who took this teaching further in that they had no clothes at all and lived naked in the forest.

All of Jesus’ disciples wore clothes so he obviously didn’t expect them to go that far.

Today, numerous clergy and missionaries have their needs taken care of by donations so they can concentrate on God rather than mammon, but how about the rest of us? Are we supposed to take no thought of our needs and live on what just comes our way as we contemplate God?

It almost sounds that way. On the other hand, Jesus never criticized or condemned ordinary people for working hard to earn a living. Peter James, John and Andrew were fishermen and Jesus even helped them catch fish on one occasion. Matthew was a tax collector and we assume the others had some kind of gainful employment before they met Jesus.

The famous apostle Paul didn’t rely on donations of others but was a tentmaker by trade and not only supported himself, but helped others.

Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy merchant who donated the tomb for Jesus and was considered a righteous man.

Most of the people written about in the Old Testament had jobs of some kind and did what they could take make sure they had enough for tomorrow.

The most famous example was Joseph who was sold into Egypt. He had a revelation from God that there Egypt needed to store up seven years supply of food to prepare for the times ahead. If Joseph had not done his part in preparing for the future then Egypt would have been devastated and many would have starved.

Taking all this into consideration one then wonders exactly how we are to interpret the words of Jesus for they seem quite impractical for us in the here and now who need to take care of tomorrow.

The first question to ask is this. Is it possible the compiler of the Gospel put this in a different context than Jesus intended? There is some evidence of this in the Book of Mormon that has Jesus repeating the Sermon on the Mount to the Nephites on the American continent, but with subtle changes. The account says:

“And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked upon the twelve whom he had chosen, and said unto them: Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” 3 Nephi 13:25

So in this situation the message was to the twelve apostles, not to the people as a whole. He wanted his ministers to not worry about making money, but to concentrate on teaching the people. Because the people were aware of this they made sure that these servants were taken care of.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where the material needs for most of us are not supplied unless we do place significant attention on the material side. On the other hand, this situation is changing. As society and technology evolves we will eventually reach a state where we all will have our basic needs taken care of and we will be able to have plenty of time to focus on spiritual or creative endeavors.

Until that time, unless we have an inheritance, large savings or someone to take care of us we will have to place some attention on the needs of tomorrow, just as ancient Joseph did.

Copyright by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

Register at Freeread Here

Log on to Freeread Here

For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

JJ’s Amazon page HERE

Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE

Freedom and the Right Hand Path

Joseph Dewey

May 23, 1999

Freedom and the Right Hand Path

Question:

Can you name some freedoms on both sides of the pendulum that those in illusion wish to restrict? What is the only reason that freedom should ever be restricted?

I thought Glenys gave a good answer to this. Let me quote:

“Both conservative and liberals deny freedom of choice in one way or another eg the conservative’s commitment to tradition and the liberal’s commitment to the power of the state (depending on which branch of ‘liberalism’ is practiced). Throughout history, freedom of religion and self-determination have been sacrificed by people who describe themselves as being one or the other. Both look to eternal sources for answers to life and purport to know what’s best for the individual, going so far as to devise severe penalties for those who choose to control their own lives and destinies.”

A reader mentioned that we only seem to have a blind spot when one eye is shut and that it seems to go away when both eyes are open. It is an interesting correspondence that the left eye is male-conservative-logical and the right eye is female-liberal-emotional. In other words, we can greatly eliminate the effects of the blind spot by balancing the male-conservative-logical and female-liberal-emotional energies within us.

Those who have a mindset on either the conservative or liberal side will have a blind spot and be out of balance in their total vision. Hence they will feel justified in restricting the freedoms of those on the other side of the pendulum.

Let us bring this home with specific examples.

(1) Abortion is a great example. Liberals claim conservatives are seeking to restrict their freedom over their own bodies.

On the other hand, conservatives claim liberals are seeking to totally eliminate the freedom of the unborn child.

Who is really seeking to take away freedom, or are they both in the wrong?

(2) Liberals claim that freedom is increased through expensive social programs. Those who receive the money have more freedom because of more access.

Conservatives claim that freedom is decreased because the State takes by force from some and gives it to others. Those who have money taken from them lose freedom.

Who is correct, or are they both wrong?

(3) Liberals support free speech in most creative endeavors even if it distorts and makes fun of God and Jesus. They support the right to say any number of cuss words, sex and violence from Hollywood and insulting opposing views with threatening or guttural language.

In this area conservatives take a stand and say we should restrict some freedom of speech in these areas.

On the other hand, conservatives support free speech in areas considered politically incorrect by the liberals. They think it is ridiculous that anyone should be offended by a name like “Washington Redskins.” They do not like being restricted to the word “person” instead of “him” or “he” and want the freedom to continue to use the word MANkind as a designating word for the race. They want the freedom tell jokes about Italians or Mexicans if they want.

In these politically correct areas many liberals want to make it a law that takes away freedom to use politically incorrect words and phrases. Even now in most government jobs you can be fired for being politically incorrect.

Again, who has the right idea in the restriction of freedom?

(4) The liberal thinks we should correct our children with kindness on the physical level – that kids should have freedom from fear of spanking.

Again, good and decent people have differing views of freedom here.

Many conservatives believe they should have the freedom to spank their kids when necessary.

(5) Conservatives want to restrict freedom to smoke pot and liberals generally want to restrict the freedom to smoke cigarettes.

Now earlier someone mentioned that they thought that most of the people in the group have chosen the path of light, but before the final choice can be made the principle of freedom must be correctly understood.

My guess would be that in these three areas that part of the group would identify with the conservative idea of restricting freedom and part with the liberal side.

Hopefully we have illustrated here that the choice between light and dark is not that simple. If we make a wrong choice for the restriction of freedom now it will be very difficult to change directions in the future.

The dark side is not entered in one giant step or decision, but is preceded my hundreds of small wrong illusionary decisions that later have to be undone with steps retraced if we are to make the correct choice in the end.

When we do make a wrong decision concerning freedom what do you suppose our soul does for us later in life (or a future one) to help us back on the path?

The Reason to Restrict Freedoms

Travis gave a good answer on this:

“Only if in using the freedom in question you cause harm to or remove freedom from another person. So while you are free to drink, you are not free to then drive your car into someone. While you are free to own a gun (for now, if the government gets their way) you are not allowed to shoot someone with it because they pissed you off. While you are free to say anything you like, saying false things about someone can damage their reputation and prevent them from doing business, thus we have libel and

slander laws.

“It should all come down to one simple question: Did the action in question cause measurable damage to the victim?”

You seem to be headed in the right direction with your answer. The trouble is that even if you or I were king of the world and had a responsibility to write the criteria for the restriction of freedom it still would be misinterpreted by future generations no matter how clear and accurate the presentation was.

The reason is that it takes a certain degree of soul contact to obtain a sense of the true principle of freedom. Therefore the best we can do as teachers is to present the principle as clear as word can be and attempt to inspire others to throw the principle of freedom across the soul so the desire for maximum freedom of spirit will burn in the hearts of the sons and daughters of this little planet.

The greatest temptation placed before us humans to assist the Dark Brothers is to get caught in the illusion that “to accomplish good, we must participate in an evil to remove freedom, for the trade off seems good.”

This was what happened with communism. They had a great goal – equality and abundance for all, but they made the mistake of seeking this goal by forcibly removing the freedoms of the people. As a result in the end (in the USSR for example) they had neither equality or abundance.

Remember our discussions about the Beast in the beginning of our group? Some wondered why we spent so much time on that subject, but it is extremely important to understand that the Beast represents a strong authority figure that we either give our freedoms to or it takes them from us “for our own good.”

The only freedom that should be restricted are actions that take away more freedom or rights of the group or individuals than is added.

We restrict the freedom of the thief to rob others because this action takes away more freedom than it adds.

Overall we may define the principle of freedom as follows:

“Those actions and laws lie within the principle of Freedom that bring greater freedom for and amplify the power of DECISION making for the group and individual.

“The actions and laws that lie outside the Principle of Freedom are those that bring less freedom for and diminish the power of DECISION making for the group and individual.

In other words that which increases maximum freedom for the whole points to the right hand path and that which diminishes maximum freedom for the whole points to the left hand, even though a minority may benefit.

“To diminish freedom so that good may come is illusion and the foundation of great evil.

“To allow freedom so that both good and evil is possible is the path of light for when freedom reigns the illusion of evil is eventually seen and dispelled and the power to BECOME and evolve is amplified.”

The decision between the two paths is not a decision between blissful love and demonic madness. If that were all it is then all would choose the path of light. Instead many are deceived into a dangerous heading toward the dark path because they believe they are choosing love.

It is a great temptation for seemingly loving people to support the taking away of freedom so that good may come. Such decisions lessen the power of decision and as the power of decision is diminished the illusion is amplified. As the illusion is amplified the possibility of choosing the unthinkable becomes real.

In our last post we gave five examples of possible distortions of freedom. Try and apply the principle of freedom to discover the true course to take to solve these problems.

Copyright by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives (Like this One) in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

Register at Freeread Here

Log on to Freeread Here

For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

JJ’s Amazon page HERE

Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE

Finding the Blind Spot

Joseph Dewey

May 22, 1999

Finding the Blind Spot

There’s nothing like a good visual demonstration to get your attention. Apparently several of you couldn’t see the blind spot. If it still hasn’t worked for you, you might want to go to the second website I mentioned and print out the dot and cross (or just draw them on a sheet of paper yourself) and do the experiment with the hard copy. Here is the internet  LINK

Rest assured all people do have a physical blind spot.

I’m glad readers enjoyed Samu’s excellent presentation on this subject.

Let me quote him:

“Usually the existence of this spot is difficult to notice, because the eye is normally constantly moving and absorbing light from different objects around us, thus the area that is unseen because of the blind spot changes all the time, and the brain is able to create the illusion of a full picture.”

Notice that Samu states that we have the illusion that there is no blind spot, but that we are seeing the whole picture because “ the eye is normally constantly moving and absorbing light.”

As above so below applies here. Just as we have a physical blind spot even so do we have blind spots on several higher levels. I’ll add a few additional insights here.

First: Where are the additional blind spots located on the higher levels?

The next level up is the astral which governs our lower emotional feelings which supplies over 90% of the emotions felt by the average person.

You have heard that “love is blind.” Higher spiritual love is not blind, but regular emotional love creates some very hard to see blind spots. We have all seen a friend who is newly “in love” with someone we see is obviously a creep.

Why, we wonder can this person not see what he or she is getting into?

The answer is simple. By focusing on the one object (lover boy) she becomes blind to other faults circulating around the guy.

Some of have seen an abused spouse who gets the hell beat out of her again and again. Nevertheless, she keeps her eyes focused on the love that was and refuses to believe she is in danger and stays with the guy on her own free will.

The next level up is that of the mind. You may have heard the ancient statement that “the mind is the slayer of the real.” Why would this be so? Isn’t what the mind reveals a true reality? Basically it is true that the mind is a reliable guide except for one thing. The mind has a blind spot and within this blind spot the mind has no perception.

This point of no vision in the mind causes it to put together conclusions that are not whole (or holy).

We have all met the intellectual who just about drives us crazy with his big words and encyclopedic recitations, yet he seems to never make much sense. He sounds intelligent, but he never turns on that light of truth within our spirits. Often his conclusions just don’t ring true to us even though he seems very positive about them within his own little world.

A person may be very educated and logical, but if he has a flaw (blind spot) in his foundational belief system then many of his conclusions will be wrong.

Example: Using the mind alone an intellectual cannot prove there is a God, higher beings or life after death. If he thus concludes that life began at birth and ends at death, he will be blinded to over 90% of the truths available to mortal man.

On a personality level as a whole most of us have blind spots. Let me tell you one that I discovered in myself.

When I was a teenager I loved the early sixties music. I used to memorize many of the songs (Del Shannon was my favorite) and sing them around the house. At the time I thought I had a great voice. When I listened to myself it sounded pretty good to me. In fact I thought I could sing the songs about as good as the original artists. What amazed me is that my Mom, Dad and Sister constantly complained about my singing. I could not understand this complaining and wrote it off as a lack of appreciation for modern music. I ignored them and kept on singing thinking that eventually they would learn to like the songs as I had.

Then my Dad reached a point where he had enough and borrowed a tape recorder from a friend and brought it home. In those days it was a novelty to have a tape recorder and up to that point I had never heard my singing voice played back to me.

He approached me with a mike and said: “Now sing that favorite song of yours.”

I was eager to hear my “beautiful” voice so I sang my favorite song ““Runaway” for the family. It demanded a falsetto so I thought I would really sound impressive.

After I finished the song my Dad played it back to me with a knowing grin on his face. I couldn’t believe my ears. I thought I was in the Twilight Zone. Surely the person on the tape couldn’t be me. This voice on the tape sounded terrible and when I hit the falsetto the whole family justifiably laughed at my strange attempt.

After the tape was played and the “blind spot” about my voice was revealed no one had to yell at me to shut up again. My ego was taken down several notches and I realized that my singing voice had much to be desired.

I still loved popular songs and continued to sing them when no one was around. Then I eventually got my own tape recorder and practiced singing into it. Hearing my true self on tape allowed me to truly work on improving my voice. Later I took some singing lessons. My teacher told me that I was her greatest challenge. During this time I probably tripled the quality of my singing voice. It went from terrible to about average, but I was grateful for the improvement.

The interesting thing about this experience is that through the use of outside viewpoints and an external player I was able to neutralize the handicap of my blind spot. Then through the use of a teacher with greater knowledge and ability than I had, I was able to make considerable improvement. I realized that there were no limits to the amount that I could improve in this area, but my interests started going in other directions so I am stuck with an average voice – and grateful for it.

This story should help us discover our blind spots on the various levels. When I heard family and friends complaining over and over about my voice, that should have told me something.

When the person in love hears from all family and friends over and over, “that guy is a creep and is no good for you,” maybe they are seeing something you are not.

When the dreamer comes up with ideas that sound great to him, but make no sense to anyone else, maybe there’s a reason they make no sense.

When Romeo thinks he’s a lady killer, but all the ladies go out of their way to avoid him, maybe there’s a reason for it.

We all know people with obvious blind spots to the extent that it seems to be a great mystery as to why they cannot see the fault in themselves.

Many New Agers tell us that everything is “within,” but concentrating on going within will not eliminate the blind spot. It can only be discovered by going without. We must listen and consider comment and evidence from without (the tape recorder) and play it back and see how that which was without compares to that which seems to be within. As in the case of my voice there may be a stark difference. If there is we must be open to the possibility that we have a blind spot that needs to be revealed. Only when we become completely open to this possibility can we discover the real truth and begin to make some improvement.

For many, achieving the average is nothing to be excited about, but because of my struggle with my voice I was more satisfied to have an average voice in the real world than I was when I had a superstar voice in my imaginary world.

There is just something about a real achievement in the real world that is much more satisfying than quantum leaps in an illusionary one.

The within part of ourselves is never going to come forth and broadcast the blind spot to us. We must listen to the complaining and contrasting voices without and where there is consistency and repetition there may be an opportunity of self discovery.

This is what we must do. Not see an insult, but opportunity.

We must also remember that there are extremes in all things and on the other end of the spectrum there is the danger that one or two inconsistent voices can convince us that there is a blind spot that does not exist. Becoming convinced of a phantom blind spot can become as big of a handicap as ignoring the real blind spot.

For instance, a reader, the other day expressed concern about my ego and motive. This did little, however, to make me believe that a blind spot was being revealed. Why is this? Because after thousands of postings this was the first one to express concern about my ego.

A second reason that I did not take it seriously is that there were no specifics mentioned as what I have done that is egotistic.

Now, if a number of group members who have grown to know me started telling me with repetition that they are concerned about my ego and are able to give reasons why, then I should at that point consider that I have a blind spot in that area. If I were to be suspicious with myself I should ask my wife and friends what they think about my ego. If I get a few responses that harmonize with the group then I need to take it seriously.

The alcoholic is a great example of one who has a big blind spot. Many of them who are in big trouble will just not admit they have a problem. Often times the only way they become convinced is when all their family and friends gang up on him and all relate, one by one, the same observation, that the guy indeed has an alcohol problem and it is ruining all his relationships.

Even this does not always work, but it does at times. When successful, the alcoholic finally faces the fact that so many voices saying the same thing cannot be entirely wrong.

Like the alcoholic we often resist with great effort any outside attempts to reveal our blind spot. Outside of our blind spot we may be geniuses, but within it we may appear to be blathering idiots to those who see truly and take pity on us.

Questions: Do you think that we can retain our blind spots and still attain spiritual enlightenment?

Do you know of people who believe themselves to be enlightened that have obvious blind spots?

Copyright by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives (Like this One) in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

Register at Freeread Here

Log on to Freeread Here

For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

JJ’s Amazon page HERE

Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE

The Great Decision

Joseph Dewey

May 22, 1999

The Great Decision

Earlier we talked about the great decision where the advanced disciple clearly sees the dividing points between the path of light and the dark. We mentioned three things he can do to make himself ready.

(1) The first thing we can do to prepare for the great decision is to follow the highest that you know.

(2) Seek to become pure in heart and become he who has pure intent.

(3) Seek to look beyond the universe of Self and cause that your actions benefit the whole with the realization that the self will be more fully realized in the long run.

Question: Is the putting of Self first taught anywhere in new age philosophies as well as old time religion? Give examples.

Both old time and new time religion seems to be telling us to put the self first. This is partially the result of us passing out of the age of sacrifice?

The truth is both extreme views of dealing with self are destructive. If we put our self on a lower footing than others then the principle of equal rights goes out the window and we set ourselves up to become victims.

For instance, if there are four pieces of pizza and five individuals, including yourself and you sacrifice by giving up your piece then you have become a victim and done yourself as much of a disservice as if you had denied a piece to another.

On the other extreme let us say you need two pieces of pizza to be satisfied and you take more than your share so self can be gratified at the expense of others. This is the selfishness that, if persisted in, leads to the temptation of the dark side.

They key to correct direction of self is to seek the good of the group to which you are a part.

In relations with the family one must seek the good of the whole in areas where actions of self and family are interlinked. This applies to civic, religious and national groups with which the person identifies.

Some teachings in circulation push us in the wrong direction by telling us that only by putting self first can we be of use to others. It is true that the self must be taken care of, but the attitude in so doing is one of the dividing points between light and dark.

Serving self for the purpose of self is the dark path. But serving self to maintain vital strength to serve is the path of light.

This applies to true seekers, for average humanity serves self for the sake of self. A person has to reach a certain degree of evolution before he can have an understanding of true service to the group. Only when this understanding comes can he make unselfish decisions in preparation for the great decision.

There is a principle that the disciple must understand and learn to apply before the great decision toward the path of light can be made. I am talking about the principle of freedom. The Brotherhood of Light seeks to amplify this principle in others, whereas the Dark Brothers believe that self can only be exalted by restricting freedom in subordinates..

Both the conservatives and liberals, old age and new age religions have their pet freedoms that they wish to restrict.

Can you name some freedoms on both sides of the pendulum that those in illusion wish to restrict? What is the only reason that freedom should ever be restricted?

Copyright by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives (Like this One) in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

Register at Freeread Here

Log on to Freeread Here

For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

JJ’s Amazon page HERE

Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE

The Mandela Effect

Joseph Dewey

May 4, 2017

The Mandela Effect

There is a theory going around that reality has shifted and many of the things we remember as being true are not true in this reality, but were before the reality shift.

This has been called the Mandela Effect since many say they recall Nelson Mandela dying back in 1980.

Some sincerely believe that this reality shift has happened whereas others think it is just false memories that people have. For instance, we know that many people think there are many things in the Bible that are not really there, such as “money is the root of all evil.”

On the other hand, there are things that astute Bible students remember as being there that are no longer there.

For instance students are reporting that Isaiah 11:6 used to say:

“Then the Lion shall lay down with the Lamb and the bear shall eat grass like the ox, and the child shall play on the hole of the asp and nothing shall hurt nor destroy in all My Holy Mountain.”

But now in all King James Bibles it read:

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”

There is now nowhere in the Bible that speaks of the lion and the lamb together. Instead of lion it is now wolf.

This is one that got me thinking as I do not recall reading about the wolf and the lamb.

Many in the past have memorized the Lord’s Prayer as follows:

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done ON earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THEM WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9–13

But now it reads:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done IN earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:9–13

There are two changes that have occurred according to some students. They say it used to read “ON earth” but now it reads “IN earth.”

It used to read

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

But now it reads:

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Unfortunately, I never memorized the verses in question so I can just go by my reading memory but it really seems like the verses have changed, though our reading comprehension and memory does indeed play tricks on us.

Some religious people are really upset over what they remember and believe the devil is altering scripture to deceive us.

Below is a link to a site that gives 20 examples of the Mandela Effect. I’ll just mention a couple

We remember the show called “Sex In the City.” Wrong. It is “Sex and the City.”

We remember that Darth Vader said. “Luke, I am Your Father.” Wrong. All records now have him saying, “No, I am your father.”

From Snow white we remember the queen saying, “Mirror, mirror on the wall.” Wrong. Now it is, “Magic mirror on the wall.”

Check out this link and tell me what you think. Is reality changing or not?

LINK

 

Explaining the Mandela Effect

So, do I think we are in an altered universe where reality has changed?

I must admit that after seeing some examples people have posted that the idea did seem to be a possibility. The supposed changing of Isaiah from the lion and the lamb to the wolf and the lamb gave me pause.

On the other hand, it is common for people to attribute quotes to the Bible that are not there, or quote with an alternative wording that still teaches the truth.

Isaiah 11:6 tells us that a number of animals will dwell in peace together including the wolf, the leopard, the kid (a goat), the calf, the fatling, and, of course, the lion and the lamb.

Popular culture just changed the order to the lion and the lamb as this portrayed a more impacting image. This association of the lion and the lamb began over 200 years ago and just became one of those phrases that stuck in public consciousness.

So how about the Lord’s Prayer? Why do many remember, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them who trespass against us,” instead of “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” as it is actually worded in the King James?

The answer is quite simple in that the prayer using the word “trespass” originated from an alternative translation originally used in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, published in 1662. This translation became known as the “traditional” Lord’s prayer and has been used in most churches since that time, even though the wording is different in the King James.

It is interesting that some of the changes claimed for the Mandela Effect are not remembered by me and others as changes.

For instance, it is claimed that which now reads as “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles” used to read “wineskins” instead of “bottles.”

My memory tells me that it read “bottles” in the King James when I was younger. The reason that people think it was wineskins is that all modern translations render it wineskins instead of bottles. Most Bible quotations we hear today are from other versions than the King James, so most people have heard this verse quoted using wineskins rather than bottles.

Many remember OSCAR MAYER as being spelled OSCAR MEYER, but my wife says she distinctly remembers that MAYER is accurate.

Others though such as “Mirror Mirror” rather than “Magic Mirror” are false public memories that certainly gives one pause.

So, do I discount this reality shift idea completely?

No. I do not discount anything completely, as anything is possible.

I listen to Coast to Coast radio regularly and listeners call in now and then with reality shift stories. They’ll recall traveling home from work and spotting landmarks that were not there before, or maybe people in the office that were never there before. Some people claim to recall living in a totally different reality than they are in now.

While I think Shakespeare was right that there are more things in heaven and earth than we dream of I tend to go with what makes the most sense until I see something that proves otherwise.

It is a fact that people hear what they want to hear and remember what they want to remember. Often in my life I have had people quote words that I was supposed to have said but I did not say at all. We know that not all memory is accurate and this causes some interesting tricks to be played on us.

On the other hand, many insist that their memories are not false but real. Is there another explanation other than human error to explain this?

Actually there is.

Whenever we come to a fork in the road and face a difficult decision we often wonder what would have happened if we chose the other path, the other marriage partner, the other job etc.

This alternate choice creates waves of creative energy in the ethers that actually play out to some degree. In the spirit world we can review our lives in a reality similar to the Holodeck in Star Trek and examine how our lives would have played out if we had decided differently. One can also examine the earth’s history and see how things would have played out differently if different decisions were made.

We not only visit the spirit world between lives, but also the mental part of ourselves returns there during sleep. During our visits we can obtain access to there alternate realities if desired.

So, what happens is that sometimes a person retains some memory of an alternative history that he obtained from the spirit world which he associates with past events in his current life.

Now this does not discount the fact that plain human error that does occur with our memories, but it does explain why some have vivid past memories that have not occurred in our present reality.

Copyright by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

Register at Freeread Here

Log on to Freeread Here

For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

JJ’s Amazon page HERE

Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE

 

The Divine Hermaphrodite

Joseph Dewey

May 21, 1999

The Divine Hermaphrodite

A reader seems to think that the female has a second rate position because she was made out of the man, but a careful reading of the Bible tells us otherwise.

In the Old Testament Hebrew two words are translated as “man.” The first is ADAM and the second is IYSH. ADAM is sometimes translated as “man” and sometimes literally as “Adam.” ADAM is not the name of a person or even a man, but of a racial being that is the hermaphroditic combination of male and female in the image of God: “Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called THEIR name Adam, in the day when they were created.” Gen 5:2

The word ADAM should not have been translated man as IYSH was, for it refers to a certain type of human. Genesis 1:26-27, where we have a description of the sixth creation day, is an example of ADAM being translated as “man” in most Bibles. Let’s transliterate ADAM as it reads in the Hebrew as “Adam” and see how it reads: “And God said, Let us make Adam in our image, after our likeness…So God created Adam in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

This scripture is especially interesting when we read it in the light of the next chapter which tells us that “on the seventh day God ended his work…” Gen 2:2 On the seventh day, then, we are told that the “end” or last work of God was the creation of woman. She was taken out of the man and brought to him: “And Adam said, This is the bone of my bones, and the flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Gen 2:23-24

If woman was not created until the seventh day then who was the female mentioned as existing during the sixth day?

The amazing answer as we shall illustrate is that the male and female were united in one body during the sixth day and were divided in two on the seventh day (or period).

Enlightenment on this mystery is revealed in the Hebrew word for God. In the first part of Genesis ELOHIYM is used. This is a strange word because it is plural and has been literally translated as “Gods.” The mystifying part is that it is used with a singular verb. In other words, if the first part of Genesis were translated literally it would read: “In the beginning Gods creates the heavens and the earth.” Translators have generally used God (singular) for ELOHIYM because of the belief in one God and it also goes with the verb. On the contrary, we know that God is not singular because later it reads: “And God (ELOHIYM) said, Let US make ADAM in our image…” Verse 25 Thus we see that God is more than one entity and Adam was made in its (or their) image.

How is God plural? This is indicated in the word itself. The first part of the word is EL and is masculine and means “strong.” The second part of the word is thought to come from ALAH which means “to covenant.” This part of the word is feminine. It also is thought by some scholars to correspond to the name of the Muslim God “Allah.” If we place the meanings together we can say that ELOHIYM, or God, means “strong covenant.”

If we add the fact that the male and female genders in the word indicate the “us” that makes the word plural are a male and female united we can say that God, or ELOHIYM, is “a male and female united through a strong covenant.”

Verily, this is the power that created the heavens and the earth and in this light the first verse of Genesis could be translated as: “In the beginning male and female energies united by strong covenants (or bonds) to create the heaven and the earth.”

This agrees with the idea that all manifested form was created through the marriage of opposing energies of the one wavelength.

Genesis continues and tells us that God made Adam in his own image “male and female created he them.”

God, who is male and female united by a strong covenant, created Adam, who was the image of God, or male and female united by a strong covenant…

This first Adam was created out of the non-physical (from our point of view) ethers and was like a living cell with male and female united into one. He was a reflection of the Divine Hermaphrodite God with all the capabilities of reproduction.

Index for Older Archives (Like this One) in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

Register at Freeread Here

Log on to Freeread Here

For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

JJ’s Amazon page HERE

Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE

The Blind Spot

Joseph Dewey

May 19, 1999

The Blind Spot

I want to emphasize the blind spot question:

“What is the “blind spot” in the physical eye and is there a corresponding blind spot in our spiritual eyes? How can we see through the blind spot?”

To understand the physical blind spot I would strongly recommend that you go to the following web page and witness the reality of this. LINK

The physical blind spot is merely a witness to a higher blind spot that obscures our vision.

Most of the major religions were started by a great teacher who in some way represented the Brotherhood of Light and Joseph Smith was no exception. If you read Joseph’s original teachings like the King Follet discourse you see light that eclipses anything in the church today.

I’ll give you another mind teaser.

Christ in the Book of Mormon was called the Father and the Son.   If he was Father Adam (the last Adam) he was the Father and in Jerusalem he was the Son. What the church does not teach is that there have been many Adams (See Moses 1:34) and the first Adam of all millions of years ago was the Ancient of Days.

Joseph illustrated that he was on the right track when fire came down on the Kirkland temple. The D&C teaches that this should happen on all temples if they are not polluted. (see D&C 94:8) Have you seen a fire come down at a recent temple dedication? Do does that mean they are polluted today?

The Church was not quite ready for the fire again at the Nauvoo temple and Joseph planned on making some changes to prepare the people but he was killed before he could set the church in order.

Contrary to church beliefs Joseph did make some mistakes. One of them was allowing himself to get killed. He received a revelation to escape to the West, but gave in to the whiners and gave himself up to the authorities.

After he died Brigham led with intelligence but he did not have the vision and since that time the church has slowly drifted into spiritual mediocrity.

Isaiah 29 really applies well to the LDS. I think you will identify with it. Read the whole chapter.

Isaiah writes,

“Give ye ear and hear my voice; hearken and hear my speech. Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? Doth he not open and break the clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principle wheat and the appointed barley and the rye in their place? For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.” (verses 23-26)

Isaiah refers to the ‘“stammering” teachings in a round about way. He asks the question to a backward Israel: “Doth the plowman plow all day to sow?” In other words, Is all the farmer does is plow all day, day after day? No! Sooner or later if he has any sense at all, if when he hath made plain the face thereof” he will “cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principle wheat and the appointed barley and rye in their place.”

Unfortunately, Israel in these latter days does not have the sense of a simple plowman for all the churches do is plow through the same precepts over and over and over indefinitely. We forget that “precept must be added upon precept” and thus we never cast in the principle wheat and consequently never have a harvest.

The fact that we do not get beyond the plowing stage is no fault of God’s, for we are told that “His God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.” (v. 26) God has instructed us to do more than the plowing, but we have not heard.

Isaiah continues, “For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, his horsemen.” (v. 27-28)

We are told that the fitches (probably fennel) are not threshed with a threshing (Hebrew: charuts, which means a heavy sledge-like) instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin. If this type of crop were harvested in this pulverizing manner, it would be destroyed; instead “the fitches are beaten out with a staff (Hebrew: matteh, which is a stick), and the cummin with a rod (Hebrew: shebet, which is a whip-like stick).

By comparison, today we do not need the same old precepts we should have mastered years ago drilled into us over and over with a sledge hammer. A light threshing of the simple doctrines is all we need so we can move on to the heavier.

Verse 28 is not a very clear translation and I would like to render it a bit plainer. “Bread corn” is undoubtedly wheat; and the word bruised comes from the Hebrew daqaq, which means to crush to powder. The word “because” is from kiy, which is more appropriately rendered “nevertheless”. Taking this into consideration, we will render the passage thus: “Wheat used for bread is ground to powder; nevertheless, he will not ever be threshing it, nor crush it with the wheel of his cart, nor grind it with his horsemen.” In other words, Isaiah here admits that wheat is threshed, broken and ground, but this process is not “stammered” or repeated over and over for it would be a waste of time and damage the grain in the process. Again, we can see the comparison with modern Mormons. They grind through the same simple doctrines over and over forgetting one of a prime teaching of Joseph Smith that “a man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge.”

You have to look at what the scriptures do not say as well as what they say. The Book of Mormon does not say that Lehi’s group was alone on the American continent.   There were many people already here and the two brothers married native dark skinned inhabitants against their father’s advice and that is why there was a skin change in one generation, not because of a supernatural curse.

As far as the priesthood goes Joseph did ordain some blacks to the Melchizedek. He had a good friend named Elijah Abel who was ordained in 1836 as well as his son and grandson.

He helped to build the Nauvoo temple and later went west to Salt Lake.

Obviously, Joseph had a different view of the black and the priesthood than did the authorities who followed him.

He did not say he was visited by the Father and the Son Jesus. He merely stated he was visited by “two personages.” On one transcript he called them two angels and Brigham young also called them angels.

Actually, the priesthood cannot be given by man – only offices may be granted. The priesthood which is the “key to the knowledge of God” must be obtained through a person’s own efforts. The Priesthood order that Joseph and others before him set up is to condition men’s minds to prepare for the true power of God that comes with enlightenment.

Here is a good scripture for reflection: D&C 121

Notice these verses in particular:

“That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.” D&C 121:36-37

The rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the “powers of heaven” not the powers of the General Authorities.

We may have offices “conferred” but that is a mere “call” to obtain the priesthood. We do not obtain the fullness until we are “chosen” or have chosen correctly.

Joseph’s celestial marriage doctrine has been greatly distorted. Those who came after Joseph changed many of his teachings. Notice that he had over fifty wives but the only one who was ever pregnant with his child was Eliza R. Snow, (who lost the child) and this was a mistake on his part.

He also had over fifty men sealed to him, but never had sex with them.

Joseph caught a glimpse of a divine order that was confirmed by the fire that came down on the Kirtland temple. This order is had among the Brotherhood of Light and is about to be introduced in its fullness. It is called The Molecular Relationship. The Mormons will hardly recognize it.

Index for Older Archives (Like this One) in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

Register at Freeread Here

Log on to Freeread Here

For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

JJ’s Amazon page HERE

Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE

Star Wars and the Two Paths

Joseph Dewey

May 17, 1999

Star Wars

Every time I turn on the television the past few days, I find talk of Star Wars permeating everything. Now finally we are approaching the big opening. Here in Boise it opens at midnight tomorrow. I’m going to wait until the crowds die down a little before I see it, but I think it would be interesting to hear a couple of movie reviews (short ones) from some of the first on the list to see it.

Earlier we mentioned that George Lucas was indeed an initiate. However, making a movie alone does not mean a person is a disciple. Lucas is an initiate because he has created positive change that has affected most of the world. Think of three things that he has initiated through Star Wars that brings us closer to the consciousness of the Age of Aquarius.

We live in an interesting age, an age where the disciples of the brotherhood often work unnoticed and unrecognized. Many of them such as Lucas are not fully aware of their mission. They just follow the inner voice, and, if done successfully, a great work is initiated.

Someone said they heard that Lucas was on the dark side. I would like to know the reasoning behind that. I do know that some fundamentalists see the devil under every rock, and I am sure some of them could find evil in Star Wars. Fortunately, the teachings in Star Wars have been so well blended with the thinking of the masses that it would take a fanatic to see negativity in it.

As I see it, here are the three most powerful and direct teachings from Star Wars that are altering the consciousness of humanity and preparing them for the new age:

(1) The Force. Lucas admitted in an interview that the Force is another name for God. But the Force is not a being sitting on a throne, but a universal energy that pervades all things. This prepares the minds of many to see an aspect of God in a different light, and to look for it within ourselves.

(2) The Masters/Teachers. In Star wars you have the idea of Masters presented who have superhuman abilities because they applied themselves over a long period of time. Such persons as Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi are inspiring teachers who use the power of the Force (God) toward miraculous ends.

When the minds of the race are fully prepared, we will have real masters walk among us who are as wise, powerful and old as Yoda.

(3) The Light and Dark Brotherhoods. The Jedi Knights and the teachers represent the Brotherhood of Light, and the Emperor, Darth Vader and their bunch represent the Dark Brothers. Because these two brotherhoods do exist, and are a part of our reality, it is important that we know about them and understand the differences between the two. There will come a time in the life of each disciple that he will have to choose one of the paths, but he cannot make that choice until he fully understands the directions of the two brotherhoods. Very few on the earth have progressed far enough to make that choice.

 

May 18, 1999

The Two Paths

Several of you have asked about my comment on the paths. Let me quote it again:

“There will come a time in the life(s) of each disciple that he will have to choose one of the paths, but he cannot make that choice until he fully understands the directions of the two brotherhoods. Very few on the earth have progressed far enough to make that choice.”

The question arises: What about people who are loving and believe they have made a choice for good.

How about this group?

How about all sincere seekers?

Most people believe they have chosen the path of light to the best of their ability, but in reality they are making many small decisions that pave the way for a major decision of the two paths.

Ironically, even most of those who believe they have chosen the dark path and have become Satanists have not yet chosen. Their decisions are dangerous and based on illusion but they have not yet seen the real choice.

To choose between the two paths one must first see the two paths and one cannot see the two paths until he approaches the third initiation. We will talk more about the initiations in the future.

Suffice it to say the first initiation is the birth of the love of Christ in the heart. This initiate learns to direct the physical passions in a positive and harmless direction. He overcomes maya, the illusion caused by matter.

In the second initiation one receives the Holy Spirit and learns to control and direct his emotions in a positive and harmless direction. He overcomes glamour.

Then as one approaches the third initiation the veil of illusion becomes lifted to the extent that the choice between the two paths becomes visible. Finally, the great choice becomes possible?

All those who choose either side of the path have gone through much love and service, but even after experiencing the beauty of love and many spiritual experiences from God the temptation of the left hand path may still be great.

Why is that?

After a person has experienced great love and spiritual experiences he often gets caught in the illusion that because God is on his side the future is going to be great. Then when great troubles come he begins to doubt the value of all that he has received and is tempted to believe that Self must come first. Hence the greatest gifts he has received often become a stumbling block.

Question: What are the three most important things we can do to prepare for the great decision, so when the day comes we will choose correctly?

As readers pointed out through their comments the number of things we can do to prepare for the great decision is much more than three. Nevertheless, I often stress the three major points of a principle to give focus to the answer. The average person can keep three points in focus much better than a dozen.

(1) The first thing we can do to prepare for the great decision is to follow the highest that you know.

How often is it that we know the right direction to take and then we let someone we are close to plant doubts in our minds and distract us from the light ahead?

The ancient statement of “keeping your mind steady in the light” applies here. Once we know a thing is right and true we must never betray that truth, even if the whole world takes an opposing course.

(2) Seek to become pure in heart and one who has pure intent.

Question: Almost everyone believes they have pure intent. It is easy for us to see deceptive intent in others, but difficult to see it in ourselves. Why is this so and what can we do about it? What is the “blind spot” in the physical eye and is there a corresponding blind spot in our spiritual eyes? How can we see through the blind spot?

(3) Seek to look beyond the universe of Self and cause that your actions benefit the whole with the realization that the self will be more fully realized in the long run.

Question: Is the putting of Self first taught anywhere in new age philosophies as well as old time religion?

Copyright by J J Dewey

Index for Older Archives (Like this One) in the Process of Updating

Index for Recent Posts

Easy Access to All the Writings

Register at Freeread Here

Log on to Freeread Here

For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE

JJ’s Amazon page HERE

Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE