Iamblichus: Taking the Shape of the Gods

Taking the Shape of the Gods: A Theurgic Reading of Hermetic Rebirth
 
This is an another paper like the earlier one Offering to the Gods: A Neo-platonic perspective which shows the supreme wisdom of the Neo-platonic philosopher Iamblichus and how he defends the art of theurgy.

People often misunderstand theurgy as an irrational shallow practice since they normally do not understand the esoteric perspective behind those practices. But Theurgy and Esotericism being a profession carried out by only elite members of a society possessing special interests is intelligible only to those who have special knowledge.

"Theurgic union is attained only by the perfective operation of unspeakable acts correctly performed, acts which are beyond all understanding, and by the power of unutterable symbols which are intelligible only to the Gods"

Iamblichus, De Mysteriis. 2,11

Christians - whether you follow the Law or not follow it you simply cannot sin.

There are three salvation paths in Christianity, which are:

1. Strictly follow the Law of Moses to the last word. (Ex: Jewish Christians)

2. Accept Jesus Christ as your saviour, have blind faith in him and receive salvation by doing good deeds. (Ex: Catholics, Protestants, Mormons etc)

3. Abandon the Law, put your old self to death and live your new life in Christ and receive salvation through his grace and not by doing works of the Law. (Ex: Valentinian Christians)

The latter Christians (Valentinian) are preordained to be saved and the former two category of Christians will be judged according to the works of the Law and Faith respectively. So in the end all three category of Christians who have succeeded in their respective paths will receive the salvation in the end with the only difference being some will receive a higher salvation than others while others will receive a lower one. (Excerpt of Theodotus).

What many Christians, irrespective of the sect they belong to are not realizing is that irrespective of which ever salvation path you take the basic message is simply you cannot sin as a Christian.

Just because you have abandon the Law and have become free from all bondage and death it doesn't necessarily mean that you can start sinning now as much as you want, believing that Christ is going to forgive all your sins anyway as he has promised us having no responsibility on your shoulders what so ever. No, The Gospel of Philip is quite clear that,

Those who think that they will die first and then raise are in error if they do not receive the resurrection while they live when they die they receive nothing.

- Gospel of Philip

The third salvation path preached by the great doctor of the church Saint Paul of Tarsus is not an easy path and his letters were not definitely written to be read by every nut job in the world. Saint Paul wrote his letters to matured Christians who were already sincere followers of Christ and he wanted to raise them to a all new higher level by preaching the good news of his Gospel. Not understanding this, atheists and many of his detractors seeing the contradictions between his teachings and the teachings of Jesus Christ start yelling to the world that Saint Paul was a false apostle and start doubting him.

Jesus Christ gave different teachings to different people according to the measure of faith one possessed with in himself. Atheists and unstable men not understanding this come to the stubborn conclusion that scriptures are contradictory and declare that Saint Paul was a false apostle. They cannot see beyond those contradictions the beautiful harmony of the truth that both Paul's teachings and Jesus teachings convey the same message since they lack wisdom which was warned by Simon Peter long time ago.

 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

- II Peter 3:15-16

Saint Paul won out against Simon Peter and Jesus's brother, James because Gentile Christians were quickly able to grasp his message and soon his version of Christianity spread out like wild fire and conquered the whole world. If Jewish Christians and atheists are jealous of it and can not tolerate the success of Saint Paul and if you want to detract him by saying the worst things about him, you can go ahead and do it by all means and I'll leave the judgement to Christ.

The third path which is salvation through grace compels one to give up all forms of boasting and lead a simple life in Christ. It sounds easy but implementing it is hard and it is one of the reasons why such a character has to come by nature and not by doing good deeds i.e. one needs to have a pure heart by nature to be above sin and lead a sinless existence. Experience shows that the other two paths are far more easier to follow than this one and it is definitely not for everyone.

So whichever category you fall into as a Christian there can be no excuse for your sins and there is no free lunch for receiving redemption, anyone who is believing otherwise is basically destroying himself.

Dr. Einar Thomassen speaks on Valentinus and the Valentinian tradition

Dr. Einar Thomassen is the author of the book The Spiritual Seed: The Church of the Valentinians and he is the first gnostic scholar apart from Elaine Pagels to have made a succinct formulation of the Valentinian system. His doctoral research was made on Tripartite Tractate, a Valentinian text which fully describes the Valentinian view of the cosmos. I really don't have to say anything else as Einar Thomassen has beautifully described our doctrine with his own words and I have nothing to object.

I would just like to add that if there is any Valentinian text that I would always like to keep it with me till my death then it will be the Gospel of Truth. In fact Einar Thomassen said in an another interview, "Not every time he (Valentinus) sat down to write a Gospel (Gospel of Truth) where he was going to throw in all the cosmology, cosmogony and the theogony." If anyone wants to understand the Valentinian system I would highly recommend reading Gospel of Truth because it was probably written by the great Valentinus himself. 

Saint Paul was a Gnostic and the Valentinians were the great Paulinists and what better proof for this theory than the work of Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Paul. Christ will never ever forgive those who persecuted the Valentinian Christians. But as Valentinus himself says we should not take error too seriously because all the evil that humans commit in this world is because they are ignorant of the Father and gnosis is the only way to end human suffering and evil in this world but to receive gnosis you need faith. "No one can receive gnosis without faith." (Gospel of Philip)

While I write this my heart bleeds at the way that these sensitive Christians were burnt alive by the so called orthodox church authorities.

The Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sira

Jesus Ben Sira 38-39

24 The wisdom of the scribe depends on the opportunity of leisure; and he who has little business may become wise. 25 How can he become wise who handles the plow, and who glories in the shaft of a goad, who drives oxen and is occupied with their work, and whose talk is about bulls? 26 He sets his heart on plowing furrows, and he is careful about fodder for the heifers. 27 So too is every craftsman and master workman who labors by night as well as by day; those who cut the signets of seals, each is diligent in making a great variety; he sets his heart on painting a lifelike image, and he is careful to finish his work. 28 So too is the smith sitting by the anvil, intent upon his handiwork in iron; the breath of the fire melts his flesh, and he wastes away in the heat of the furnace; he inclines his ear to the sound of the hammer, and his eyes are on the pattern of the object. He sets his heart on finishing his handiwork, and he is careful to complete its decoration. 29 So too is the potter sitting at his work and turning the wheel with his feet; he is always deeply concerned over his work, and all his output is by number. 30 He moulds the clay with his arm and makes it pliable with his feet; he sets his heart to finish the glazing, and he is careful to clean the furnace. 31 All these rely upon their hands, and each is skilful in his own work. 32 Without them a city cannot be established, and men can neither sojourn nor live there. 33 Yet they are not sought out for the council of the people, nor do they attain eminence in the public assembly. They do not sit in the judge's seat, nor do they understand the sentence of judgment; they cannot expound discipline or judgment, and they are not found using proverbs. 34 But they keep stable the fabric of the world, and their prayer is in the practice of their trade. 

1 On the other hand he who devotes himself to the study of the law of the Most High will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients, and will be concerned with prophecies; 2 he will preserve the discourse of notable men and penetrate the subtleties of parables; 3 he will seek out the hidden meanings of proverbs and be at home with the obscurities of parables. 4 He will serve among great men and appear before rulers; he will travel through the lands of foreign nations, for he tests the good and the evil among men. 5 He will set his heart to rise early to seek the Lord who made him, and will make supplication before the Most High; he will open his mouth in prayer and make supplication for his sins. 6 If the great Lord is willing, he will be filled with the spirit of understanding; he will pour forth words of wisdom and give thanks to the Lord in prayer. 7 He will direct his counsel and knowledge aright, and meditate on his secrets. 8 He will reveal instruction in his teaching, and will glory in the law of the Lord's covenant. 9 Many will praise his understanding, and it will never be blotted out; his memory will not disappear, and his name will live through all generations. 10 Nations will declare his wisdom, and the congregation will proclaim his praise; 11 if he lives long, he will leave a name greater than a thousand, and if he goes to rest, it is enough for him. 12 I have yet more to say, which I have thought upon, and I am filled, like the moon at the full. 13 Listen to me, O you holy sons, and bud like a rose growing by a stream of water; 14 send forth fragrance like frankincense, and put forth blossoms like a lily. Scatter the fragrance, and sing a hymn of praise; bless the Lord for all his works; 15 ascribe majesty to his name and give thanks to him with praise, with songs on your lips, and with lyres; and this you shall say in thanksgiving: 16 "All things are the works of the Lord, for they are very good, and whatever he commands will be done in his time." 17 No one can say, "What is this?" "Why is that?" for in God's time all things will be sought after. At his word the waters stood in a heap, and the reservoirs of water at the word of his mouth. 18 At his command whatever pleases him is done, and none can limit his saving power. 19 The works of all flesh are before him, and nothing can be hid from his eyes. 20 From everlasting to everlasting he beholds them, and nothing is marvelous to him. 21 No one can say, "What is this?" "Why is that?" for everything has been created for its use. 22 His blessing covers the dry land like a river, and drenches it like a flood. 23 The nations will incur his wrath, just as he turns fresh water into salt. 24 To the holy his ways are straight, just as they are obstacles to the wicked. 25 From the beginning good things were created for good people, just as evil things for sinners. 26 Basic to all the needs of man's life are water and fire and iron and salt and wheat flour and milk and honey, the blood of the grape, and oil and clothing. 27 All these are for good to the godly, just as they turn into evils for sinners. 28 There are winds that have been created for vengeance, and in their anger they scourge heavily; in the time of consummation they will pour out their strength and calm the anger of their Maker. 29 Fire and hail and famine and pestilence, all these have been created for vengeance; 30 the teeth of wild beasts, and scorpions and vipers, and the sword that punishes the ungodly with destruction; 31 they will rejoice in his commands, and be made ready on earth for their service, and when their times come they will not transgress his word. 32 Therefore from the beginning I have been convinced, and have thought this out and left it in writing: 33 The works of the Lord are all good, and he will supply every need in its hour. 34 And no one can say, "This is worse than that," for all things will prove good in their season. 35 So now sing praise with all your heart and voice, and bless the name of the Lord. 

Forgiveness means removing the poison of bitterness from your heart

Forgiveness doesn't mean forgiving or forgetting one's sins and hurts upon us but removing the poison of bitterness that is being rooted on our heart. The poison of bitterness is a very bad thing, it takes away everything from us, sinks its roots deep with in us and tears us apart from with in.

Why this so called poison of bitterness should come in the way of your relationship with the Holy Father? Why you should stray away from the path of righteousness and from your God just because of other's sins? That doesn't mean we should forgive someone just for the sake of forgiving without being fully healed ourselves. At these times it is better to take your pain to Christ and let him heal your wounds and let him decide when is the right time to forgive someone so that you are fully healed and ready to forgive. When you forgive after you are finally healed your heart becomes lighter and you start gaining strength to take the path of righteousness again.

Most Christians believe in original sin and take for granted that it is in their nature to sin and they believe they are sinners by birth and believe that Christ died for their sins but they all have failed to understand the root cause of sin. While Christianity puts the fall of man with the sin of Adam, Gnosticism puts the origin of sin with the Fall of Sophia. This is where I, as a Valentinian depart from orthodox Christians. I as a Valentinian Christian, reject the original sin and reject the atonement of the sins by Jesus Christ.

People sin not because they are sinners by birth nor do they sin because they have inherited sin from their ancestors, people sin because they are ignorant of the Holy Father, this is the root cause of all sins. Isn't prevention better than cure? Isn't it better to not sin at all instead of sinning again and again and asking for forgiveness again and again? Just by fervently believing that Christ died for our sins will not lift the burden of guilt from our shoulders and will not make our souls free from sinning. Only acquaintance of the Father can really make us free from being sinners.

Gnosis (knowledge) of the Father removes the power of sin. Those who have gnosis (knowledge) are theoretically free of sin. The Gospel of Philip says "The one who has knowledge is a free person. But the free person does not sin, for the one who sins is a slave of sin " (Gospel of Philip 77:15-18 cf.. John 8:34). Spiritual people by definition do not sin. Through knowledge they die with regard to sin and are raised up again with Christ (Excepts of Theodotus 77:1). Gnosis (knowledge) eliminates their inner demons and gives them a "pure heart" which allows them to lead a sinless existence (Valentinus Fragment 2/H) 

This is why Valentinians claimed that spiritual people are "saved by nature" (Excerpts of Theodotus 55:3, cf.. Ep 7:8, Ireneus Against Heresies 1:6:4, Thessalonians 2:13), and that it is "impossible for them to fall prey to corruption" (Ireneus Against Heresies 1:6:2 cf.. 1 John 3:9). They were said to have the knowledge of God's will that allows them to lead a sinless existence (cf.. Gospel of Truth 22:9-11, Interpretation of Knowledge 9:31-33) and become "illuminators in the midst of mortal men" (Letter of Peter to Philip 137:6-9). 

The idea that the redeemed person is theoretically set free from the power of sin is derived from the New Testament, particularly the letters of Saint Paul. In the Epistle to the Romans he says, "Our old sinful self has been put to death with Christ on the cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed" (Romans 5:6). Later in the same letter he says, "You have been set free from sin" (Romans 6:22). Similar ideas occur in the First Epistle of John, "Whoever is a child of God does not continue to sin, for God's very nature is in him" (1 John 3:9)

In contrast, spiritual Christians were redeemed through unmerited grace (cf. Gospel of Truth 35:25-28). The elect are "spiritual not by behavior but by nature" (Irenaeus Against Heresies 1:6:2) as a consequence of having God's spirit. As we have seen previously, the gnosis (knowledge) granted by the grace of God was expressed through complete abstinence from sin. Valentinians believed that ordinary Christians performed good deeds in order to be saved while they themselves performed good deeds as an expression of their salvation. 

In conclusion, Valentinians are closer to the mainstream of Christianity than is often assumed to be the case. The evidence supports the conclusion by Desjardins (1990, page 116) that the Valentinians were "Christians who took sacraments quite seriously, who took to heart Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, and were deeply concerned about not committing sins". It might further be added that there is certainly some truth to their own claims that their theology was derived from Saint Paul. 

        - Valentinian Teaching on sin

  

Isn't the world will be a better place if everyone abstain from sinning but one cannot be free from sinning unless and until one knows the Father and Sophia is doing just that i.e. sowing the spiritual seed in all of us and turning our nature from hylics to psychics and finally to pneumatics. By blind faith or by doing good deeds one cannot receive the gnosis of the Father, it can only be received through grace and by predestination, this is the reason why we don't try to evangelize anyone by force, its a gift which you have to receive from the Holy Father and everyone will finally receive that gift from him.

Giving up Sankalpa, a simple secret of the Vedic Rishis to win the Gods and the Holy Spirit.

Every believer worships God but how many of them know what is the right way to approach the Gods, hardly a few, everyone worships God either to fulfil his desires or to achieve something in their life. Either they ask give me this or give me that, Oh! Father, or else I want to be this or that and their desires are endless. Do gods really love such people who worship them for their own selfish desires? No, absolutely not, even though gods do their duty to fulfil their desires but they all fail to receive the real grace from the gods.

Sankalpa (Hindu thought)

Everyone worships them asking various material goals, "I want a house", "I want to pass in exams", "I want to be a doctor", "I want my business to grow", "I want good wisdom", "I want knowledge", "I want a good job" and it goes on and on. In this part of the world this kind of worship is called Khand Upasana (Khand means individualistic or not wholistic). Rare are those who do Akhand Upasana or Nishkama Upasana (i.e. renouncing the fruits of your works).

What the Vedic rishis did understood very early is that work has been given free to us, we are not really doing any works at all by our own and yet the whole world is immersed in pride, everyone boasts himself that I achieved this, I did this, I created this but what they don't understand is that this kind of thinking is definitely not from our Father.

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

How many of them really worship God saying, "Father, this is your world, this is your body, let everything go according to your will". Giving up Sankalpa means giving up your individuality, your whole personality, a life with no taste, a life with no existence. When the Sun God appeared to Yajnavalkya, the great sage, and asked him what he wants, he replied saying, "Give what this world wants". Then Sun God through Yajnavalkya gave the Shukla Yajurveda and the Isha Upanishad to the world.

Yes giving up Sankalpa is not easy, losing your individuality is not easy but the Vedic Rishis did gave up Sankalpa, so there must be something, some knowledge which prepares our mind to give up Sankalpa. This is what we shall discuss below.

In western psychology and meta-physics Ego is an abstract idea, not a physical entity but that's not how the pagan mystery religions viewed it. A view entirely lost to the western academic world.

"Our perceiving self is nowhere to be found within the world-picture, because it itself is the world-picture."

         - Erwin Schrodinger

Schroedinger was highly influenced by the Upanishads but he didn't dig deep and didn't knew how deep the rabbit hole goes. Let's understand and elaborate that statement by Erwin from the perspective of the pagan mystery religions.

In terms of Samkhya philosophy the external world consists of the five elements - (earth, water, fire, air and space), Manas(Mind), Buddhi(Intellect), Prana(The vital force), Ahankar (Ego or the indwelling God), Aion(Time). All these are anthropomorphic Aeons of the Pleroma.

We have to accept the fact that Purusha(The soul) is entrapped in nature (i.e. Prakrithi) and it is forcing us to make us desire either this or that, that's why our mind always wants to do something or thinks about something like "I have to plan my life like this", "I have to do this tomorrow" etc etc.

Everyone thinks this is what we are, our nature, but nope we all are in ignorance, what we think we are is our false ego, a false personality, the day one realizes that we are no where in this world-picture that we are neither this body, nor this mind, nor this intellect, nor these desires, nor this psyche, nor this ego then he will start giving up sankalpa.

Here we need to bring up the speculation of Rene Descartes, he speculated that an evil daemon can deceive him to believe in the existence of the external world, deceive him to believe in the existence of his own body and the existence of other bodies when no such external world or bodies exist, what would prevent the evil daemon to make us deceive that we are thinking on our own? He can easily deceive us and make us believe that we are thinking and doing works all by our own unless he himself reveals his true nature and the nature of the world. According to the pagan mystery religions that evil daemon is none other than Ego or the highest God of the Pleroma, The Holy Father, but unlike the deceiving evil daemon of Descartes, he is an all loving God and hence he sent the Savior Jesus Christ unto us to impart the Gnosis of the Father so that we can know our true nature and being.

So an initiate of pagan mystery religions first ascends and passes through all the heavens of five elements (i.e. earth, fire, water, air and space) who are basically anthropomorphic Aeons, if you have read Mithras Liturgy which exists in the Greek Magical Papyri then you can figure out as to what I am talking of here, then the initiate ascends to the heaven of the Intellect and then to Ego (King Helios Aion Mithras) and then Helios reveals Aion, the Time and only then you are really free from bondage and you become free and you become immortal. It is Time which does everything and it is what keeps the soul entrapped in this body. This is how esoteric the world-view of the Upanishads is and this is how deep the rabbit hole goes.

"People cannot see anything in the real realm unless they become it, if you have seen Christ you become Christ, if you have seen the spirit you become the spirit, if you have seen the Father you will become the Father"

- Gospel of Philip

So doing Akhand Upasana or giving up Sankalpa is the first step towards our redemption especially in the pagan mystery religions. As pagans this is how we view our world. We are not interested in evangelizing our religion to every nook and corner of the world because just by believing or by blind faith one shall not become free or be saved. Its a process which Sophia and the Holy Father are doing every time a new soul enters this world i.e. sowing the spiritual seed in all of us, in everyone of us and preparing everyone to return to the fullness of the Pleroma. We have no interests in evangelizing anyone because faith is a grace which one has to receive from God.

The Glory Of Gayathri (Maha Bramhana)

Devudu Prathistana

                                                                                                

The Glory of Gayatri is a divine novel by the Kannada scholar Devudu Narasimha Shastry.

Along with this book(Maha Bramhana), the other two books namely Maha Darshana and Maha Kshatriya forms the trilogy(Maha Bramhana, Maha Darshana, Maha Khastriya) which bought great Honor to the scholar.  

  

Among the three, the novel Maha Darshana stands aside as the best novel according to me, though many would disagree with that since Maha Bramhana is a great work too.

  

Maha Darshana is the story of Yajnavalkya Maharshi and how god gave the famous Ishavasya Upanishad to the world through his means. God himself said to him saying "You'll write two books one consisting of a description about me and the other one will be your autobiography and I will always reveal myself to those who make a complete righteous attempt in studying these two Upanishads".

The novel Maha Darshana is almost like an Upanishad and hence the reason for me to stress individually on this. It includes a narration of Yajnavalkya's life as well as the truth hidden in his Upanishad.

Another reason why I loved this book is that it consists of many hidden secrets which not only help you to just read the scripture as it is but also a way to reveal the Upanishads or a way to explore or experience the truth for yourself provided if you can get the necessary guidance from someone who has mastered in it and its a knowledge based novel which provides great wisdom and insight into the vedic culture that was prevailing during ancient times. It is a must read book if you really want to know the basic philosophy behind the Vedic culture. Similar thoughts can be found in the Stoic school of Greek philosophers but this is very unique.

It feels like that your mind has gone into a new realm and it is not surprising if it takes some time for you to come to normal terms after reading this book.

I would love to bring this amazing work out to the public but unfortunately this book is not available in the English version yet and therefore I'm forced to introduce you to an another work of the same author which was the first novel that he wrote among the three books.

I hope the English version gives the same efficacy and touch as the Kannada version did. The Translator has made immense effort to keep the theme of the novel to its appreciable standards as intended by the author of the book.

                The Glory of Gayathri(Maha Bramhana) is a story of the origin of Gayatri Mantra. The author who saw the power of this mantra in his times thought of making aware of its origin to the public and in this way his desire to write this novel spurned. This form of Sun worship should be compulsorily carried out three times a day, but first you should be deserved to get the rights to perform this worship. This is not the only form of Sun worship which is available there are other ways of doing it too and I look forward to post them in the future. You'll comprehend what I mean by Sun worship once you have read this book. All the answers to your queries and the necessary introduction is provided in the reconstructed book itself.

I hope the readers find it interesting as I did and I also hope that it at least adds something to your World-view if it doesn't change it completely. I pray to God so that he stimulate your mind to comprehend the truth of it. Who knows what god has in store for you.

              

 I have uploaded the Introduction and Appendix chapters to Google docs. I hope the link works, all the best!!

Introduction

Appendix

MOSES - Revealer Of True Light


                                                      Golden Calf - Grolier Multimedia


                           Moses was the great figure who received the word of God  and led Israelites out from the bondage in Egypt and what better time we would have to perceive his story than during these holy lent days of the spring.  Moses was a Hebrew and he grew up in Pharaoh's court. At an early age he was thought good wisdom, leadership and priestly qualities as they saw some greatness in him above all other men. 

Moses ended up in the Pharaoh's court when his mother hid him in the round ark bushes and sent him downstream along the river Nile and he was under the protection of god as the pharaoh had ordered that all the new born infants of the Hebrews should be killed but for the glory of the lord this ark bushes was witnessed by the Pharaoh's daughter and when she opened the ark she saw a young baby of the Hebrew origin and she decided to adopt him and named him as Moses, since she drove him out of water and ordered a Hebrew servant to nurse him. Skeptics believe that the mother had intentionally sent him at that place by having a close look at the activities of the Queen. She was the same lady who served him as a nurse in place of the Pharaoh's daughter.

Moses was bought up with the view that he would be the next Pharaoh as they didn't had a heir to the throne. He was thought about Egyptian astrology and they infiltrated leadership qualities in him with a good voice to converse  and he was a practising priest and he knew all the religious frameworks of the Egyptians but God had different plans for Moses.

He was at the age of forty when he went to see his brethren who were brutally tortured by the Pharaoh's taskmasters. They had no hope and no faith in anything and they were praying for only one thing that is deliverance from this bondage. When he saw a taskmaster who was smiting one of his fellow Jews he couldn't tolerate it and seeing that there was no one he killed the taskmaster and buried him in the mud so that no one will be aware of the truth. Later having feared that the replaced Pharaoh might try a plot against him he fled to Midian for safety.

                    

He stayed in Midian for forty years and married a shepherd girl and looked after his father-in-laws flock along with his assistant Joshua who will be an important figure in the later stages of the biblical story and a founder of the promised land. It was during this period that Moses was seeking for god.

                   

One day as he was looking after his herd of flock he climbed the Mount of Sinai and there he saw a tree of bush fire sparkling out and it was no ordinary fire which burns our flesh but it was the lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob and the lord whispered "I am the one" and "I am one" and the lord spoke with him that he has chosen him as the deliverer to rescue his people from the bondage which had put them into slavery for hundreds of years and Moses was never the same man again he was truly enlightened and his prayers were answered and all the prayers of the Hebrews were answered and he came back alone from the mountain which was forbidden for men and his wife was in fear that his husband didn't returned and Joshua whispered "He must be a great man, look his face his blooming with light" and his wife with disbelief said "He has seen god" and Moses came and said "I have heard the word of God and I am the messenger who will go back to Egypt to deliver our brethren from bondage and I know that the light which is shining inside me is the same light which is in everyone". He had found his true God after so much pursuit and everyone lost him including his wife because he was a completely different Moses.

                         

God chose Aoran, Mozes's elder brother to be his spokes person and Moses returned to Egypt with his magical rod in his hand at the age of eighty and in the Pharaoh's court he said "I have come from the most high and I have bought you the word of God" asked the Pharaoh "let my people go". When the Pharaoh replied sarcastically that he knew no God other than himself Moses began to perform magic with his rod and praised the Lord for his glory and since the Pharaoh refused to accept his demand he made a series of miracles starting from turning the river Nile into blood, killing all the frogs from the lake and annoying the Pharaoh and finally the God pulled his wrath in the form of a series of 10 plagues of rodents, mosquitoes, flies, flu etc and God spoke onto Moses and said that at the 10th plague all the first born of Egyptian blood will be dead and as it was the word of god the plague struck all the first Born's of the Egyptian blood including Pharaoh's first born and passed over the doors of the Israelites without harming them. This day is celebrated as the Day of Passover by Jews by eating unleavened bread and bitter herbs and by re-narrating the story of the Exodus.

                            

The Hebrews were let free by the Pharaoh and with loud trumpets they rejoiced their victory and collected water, wheat, gold and wine to cross the heated desert but no one knew where they were going and Moses stood on a tall obelisk and said "We shall go to the footsteps of Mount Sinai and let our Lord impinge the laws into our minds and our heart with his own fingers" and thousands and thousands marched to the foot hills of the mountain and when they were resting on the banks of the Red sea Pharaoh's chariots came on rushing wheels to attack these Hebrews and in panic they cursed Moses for this trouble and wanted to hit him with stone since he put them no where else other than into the jaws of death and Moses said "Ten times you have seen the glory of the lord and yet you refuse to believe in your lord, Stand still, Do not move my fellow brethren" and he hold his rod high up in the air pointing into the skies and the fire of God struck the Pharaoh's chariots and kept them at bay from attacking the Hebrews and they marched across the sea bed astonished by the power of their lord and when they saw that the Pharaoh's army including himself drowned in the Red sea, they played songs and shouted Hallelujah!! and praised the lord with joy.

                            

Moses went up the hill which was forbidden to men to bring the laws on to his people from the holy god and God appeared and sculpted the Ten Commandments with his own fingers in two tablets but by the time Moses came back with the two tablets showing the Ten Commandments of the Lord his people had corrupted themselves and committed the mother of all sins of worshipping an idol god, a golden calf and their minds went wild with no proper conduct and they indulged in vile affections and when Joshua saw Moses with two carved tablets of the word of God in hand he kneel ed down to him and Moses said onto him "Don't kneel to me Joshua".  He saw his people corrupting themselves in disbelief and when Joshua played the trumpet there was a utter silence in the crowd and Moses spoke on to them and said "You don't deserve this laws the word of God for you are not worthy of it as you have gone against his word" and said "those who are on his side will receive these laws and those who don't will repent" and he threw the tablets on to the penitent sinners out of anger and they were killed and sent to hell by fierce some lightning and loud thunders and the tablets were destroyed and later Moses build the ark of the covenant.

                            

Israelites crossed the river Jordan and settled their and grew as a nation for 10 years and ruled the world and Moses was an important figure to them as the shower of the promised land and also as the law giver to them.  Moses was 120 years old when he died as indicated by the bible and his legs were still so strong that he could walk a another thousand miles. God loves this nation and has great plans for them.

                           

Mozes's story is a true example of how God sets out his plans and reveals himself to his people to know more about him and we have seen it throughout the history of mankind. He is the know er of the present, past and the future, he is the ultimate, he utters statements before it really happens. He spoked to Abraham and said "you're people will suffer from slavery and bondage for four hundred years" and the rest his history. He is omniscient. We all have to be prepared to have the wisdom to make the right choice to be in his kingdom as even we might have to make a choice or else face a judgement similar to the one faced by the Hebrews at Mount Sinai.

                          

The light which is in me and stimulating me to do noble deeds is the same pure light which is in everyone. This one single piece of truth brings peace, joy and calmness to ones mind. He is the one who has sacrificed his body for his glorious works and only he has true faith in God. This brings an end to idolatry.

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There is considerable controversy surrounding who the Pharaoh was during the period of Exodus, the childhood of Moses, who was the first-born who died in the 10th plague, Moses step-mother and the exact time-line and chronology of these events and it is not resolved till date as no arguments or views based on the dating of the bible or from the archaeological findings have correctly interpreted the story of the Exodus and it is not with its loopholes, weak points and critics today, the assumptions and arguments are weird, obscure and counter-intuitive and I am not compelled to make any conclusions since neither Bible or any other related sources disclose information about the identity of the Pharaoh.

There are many views and one can find some related links for information in this area of research below.

Thutmoses IV was the Pharaoh of Exodus.

Amenhotep II was the Pharaoh of Exodus.

Thutmoses III was the Pharaoh of Exodus.

Ramesses II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus.

                       All this stuff are exciting and it will reshape on how we view the history and it will rewrite our historic books. Either Amenhotep II or Thutmoses III are believed to be the Pharaoh's of the Exodus since the biblical timescales and the biblical statements are in accordance with the 18th dynasty of this Egyptian period which is considered to be the period of the Exodus.

Yagnavalkya Maharshi

Mahadarshana, Devudu Narasimha shastry

                     I want to introduce a great saint, a philosopher and a revolutionary who had such great insight and experiences with gods revealing to himself in his mind. The vedic philosophers viewed mind and brain as two different things. They were dualist's and their world view is completely different from the world view held by the current scientific community. It is very illogical to merge science with metaphysical things. Science is about building testable models of the physical world where as spiritual experiences deals with unpredictable identical experiences following a set of procedure by individual persons.
                     Spiritual experiences doesn't fall in the boundary of metaphysical entities. Metaphysics is something which can not be falsifiable where as spiritual experiences are unpredictable but they can be falsified through repeating the procedures of the experienced persons.

                   They view the mind as a tightly held rope with the five senses attached to one end and the intelligence or buddhi attached at the other end. They don't see intelligence as something associated with the brain instead they see it as physical entities existing in their own realm like platonic values. This model is based upon the individual experiences of persons who have observed the mind.

           If one has to have spiritual experiences then they have to detach the connection between the mind and  the sense organs. Now the mind appears as a fallen rope and only then we can experience the noumenal world otherwise we'll be seeing the phenomenal world as we see through our eyes. This is the reason why such people abstain themselves from worldly pleasures. It is normally believed that the more pleasure you give to your sense organs more is the strength of the connection between the mind and the sense organs so in order to gain knowledge about the noumenal world through experiences one has to refrain himself from desiring worldly pleasures.
           Their world view is different they will worship the fire and the sun. They don't see the sun as something which is just shining in the sky. They see it as a god wearing lots of ornaments, pearls and stones throughout the body and the light will be emanating from the blue and red pearls with such intensity that it is not possible for one to see the exact form of it. One can describe the sun god with such precision from their experiences and it is not something which can be reproducible or comprehended through the world of sense organs.
           The main belief is that the Sun god is the one who is residing in each and everyone behind the mind stimulating our intellect to do noble work. The belief that god is in each and everyone. The foundation of vedic knowledge.
                            Yagnavalkya maharishi is one of the holiest, purest and highly respected person for his great insight and the height of knowledge that he possessed and who had truly witnessed the sun god. He meditated on his name for one year and lived just by having a glass of milk. When the Sun god revealed to him and asked what he truly wants he said "My lord give what this world truly wants". He didn't asked anything for himself that was the greatness of that man. He wrote two Upanishads one describing the sun god and the other describing the story of himself. He also wrote Yagnavalkya Smrithi which is now the basis for all Hindu traditions and practices from marriage, naming ceremony to cremation.
                    The thing which I most admire about him and his life is that he was very humble and led a simple life and achieved such heights in having deep insight and knowledge and no one had such pure experiences like he did in his time and no one can reach such heights like he has. Hearing about the greatness of this man the king Janaka said "this man knows everything, a true sarvagnya and he acts so humble and we people if we just know a little we jump and act like we know everything , can we place a price for this man's knowledge" .
                     Sarvagnya means a person who knows everything. The interesting thing is that these people has the ability to see the future but they are not interested in knowing what will happen. The future has already happened there is no point in saying that we have to build our future.
                     One more great person Vashista maharishi took the sorrow upon himself to save the world from disaster during his time. We are believed to be in exactly the same time i.e the final first stage of  this yuga. The coming years will be very exciting.
                     The king Janaka wanted to have knowledge of the infinite so he held an event to test and figure out the person with the true correct knowledge of the infinite. The event was organized in which individual persons share their experiences by asking questions to the one claiming to know the infinite. He said who ever wins the event will get thousand cows with gold rings placed on the horns of each cow.
                     The event begins and the king says who ever wants the price can claim it by answering all the questions asked by the fellow persons, no one says anything the hall enters a period of total silence. The king repeats it again and seeing that no one has uttered a word Yagnavalkya politely stands up and says to his student "take the cows with gold rings to our ashram". The other fellow persons and the whole hall was shocked to hear this and they asked "Yagnavalkya, do you understand what you have said, you have rejected all of us and claimed yourself as the true know er of infinite". Yagnavalkya answers politely to all their questions and the king crowns him. Such was the confidence and greatness of this man.
                   Yagnavalkya finally went and resided in the forest giving all his wealth to his wife. He has marked his presence in the history of mankind and he will be remembered forever and for the centuries to come.