2007-4-11 07:30:00
Question: What is revelation and what are its three sources? How does one go about receiving a revelation?
When we speak of revelation we speak of the seeker receiving intelligence which is beyond that gained by regular learning and reason.
It is true that reason alone can produce revelation of sorts in that the seeker puts together pieces of the whole and sees a greater picture. Many people do this to some degree. What few people do is receive true revelation from intelligence beyond the power of the concrete mind.
One could say that there is one source of revelation which is the soul, for this opens the door for all higher knowledge. Even so, let us subdivide it into three main categories.
DK gives some great information on the subject of revelation:
In connection with the sixth hint, I pointed out that revelation-induced by right orientation and right thinking-is part of the training of the initiate. Many thus in training delay their progress by not recognising the revelation when it arises above the line of their spiritual horizon.
You will note that the hints themselves frequently deal with the nature of a hint, because a hint is in reality and when properly considered, the seed or germ of an intended revelation. The Master knows well what is the next revelation which will be in order for the disciple in training; through hints He sows the seed of revelation, but it remains for the disciple to discover that which the hint is intended to produce, and to nurture the seed until it flowers forth in the beauty of revelation.
In seeking to elucidate these hints for you I am not doing work which you should do. I am, in fact, only marshalling for your benefit the ideas, information and concepts which are already to be found in your subconscious mind-placed there through meditation, study and experimental critical living. Having done that, I leave it to you to proceed alone and unaided towards the moment of revelation. You talk of a series of initiations, but the Masters talk in terms of a series of revelations, and Their work with Their disciples is to prepare them for revelation. Bear in mind, brother of mine, that revelation is hard to take and to hold-a point oft overlooked. It is exhausting to the personality of the disciple, but it is of no service unless the personality recognises it; it is excessively stimulating and the initiate passes through three stages where a revelation is concerned: First comes the stage of ecstacy and of supreme recognition; then darkness follows and almost despair when the revelation fades and the disciple finds that he must walk again in the ordinary light of the world; he knows now what is, but it is at this point that his test lies, for he must proceed on that inner knowledge but dispense with the stimulation of revelation. Finally, he becomes so engrossed with his service, with aiding his fellowmen and with leading them towards their next revelation that the excitement and the reaction are forgotten. He then discovers to his surprise that at any time and at will-if it serves his selfless interests-the revelation is forever his. Ponder on this.
Discipleship in the New Age, Vol 2, Pages 388-389
In the LDS church they are taught to pray for a confirmation as to whether a thing is true. The belief is that if the thing prayed about is true then they will get a warm feeling about it.
This method has been disappointing to many Mormons as many got a warm feeling about a romantic love only to wind up hating and divorcing them later. Others thought something was confirmed to be true only to find it to be false later.
Many fall away from the church and become fairly cynical of the warm feeling approach to truth. Here is a comment from one member of Sterling's list which largely consists of Ex-Mormons.
"The most deceiving impression is that warm fuzzy confirmation.
Today, I call it 'the bum's rush.' It can cause us to toss aside common sense, our instincts, our gut feelings. When these clash, what we think we knew from the bum's rush is raised above all else, including common sense. Our understanding and action from it is often translated into obey your church leaders." Funny how that works.
As a devout Mormon, I would not even consider the possibility that it could be misleading. My entire outlook and philosophy was based on it.
Eventually one gets beyond it and sees that it's a symbol... a token... a sign... that we mistook for what it symbolizes. It was a staple of the preparatory gospel that we once lived. Not bad, but not good either. It was good for us once, when we are clueless and lost, but we eventually want to grow up."
Question: Obviously revelation through soul contact is accompanied by a very positive feeling. Why do you suppose many Mormons and other Christians are deceived by what they think is the Holy Spirit guiding them?
Global Warming Enlightenment:
As long as the models are based on opinion rather than scientific observation, the results cannot attain a status above that of opinion. The repeated failures of the models to predict anything accurately - including past events - has gradually led to adjustments of the magnitude of predicted warming in the next 100 years, from a high of 5 to 3.5 degrees Celsius in the early days of the campaign, when high numbers helped draw attention to the cause, to a current low of one degree; a series of adjustments reflecting a political need to conform somehow to actual measurements. The similarity between the gradual downgrading of the global warming emergency and that of the asbestos scare, during which the predicted annual deaths from asbestos exposure were reduced from 67,000 to 500 in a few years, is striking.
Global Warming in a Politically Correct Climate by M. Mihkel Mathiesen, Page 92
Copyright © 2007 by J J Dewey, All Rights Reserved