Guest guest Posted September 23, 2008 Report Share Posted September 23, 2008 Dear All, We concluded Part 2 with the following: (P.24) " By witnessing the awesome tragedy of Dionysus, the initiates at Eleusis shared in his suffering, death and resurrection, and so experienced a spiritual purification known as 'catharsis'.[34] (P.25) The Mysteries did not offer religious dogmas to simply be believed, but a myth to be entered into. Initiation was not about learning something, but about experiencing an altered state of awareness. Plutarch, a Pagan high priest, confesses that those who had been initiated could produce no proof of the beliefs that they acquired. Aristotle maintains, 'It is not necessary for the initiated to learn anything, but to receive impressions and to be put in a certain frame of mind.'[35] The philosopher Proclus talks of the Mysteries as evoking a 'sympathy of the soul with the ritual in a way that is unintelligible to us and divine, so that some of the initiates are stricken with panic, being filled with divine awe; others assimilate themselves to the holy symbols, leave their own identity, become at home with the gods, and experience divine possession.'[36] " The Jesus Mysteries Was the Original Jesus A Pagan God? Chapter 2 - p.24-25 Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy Element (imprint of HarperCollins'Publishers') 77-85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith, London W6 8JB ISBN-13 978-0-7225-3677-3 ISBN-10 0-7225-3677-1 Notes: [34] A term meaning purification. Aristotle, in 'Poetics', states that tragedy should result in a purging (catharsis) of the emotions by pity and terror. The Mysteries too were meant to be a catharsis. Empedocles' poem 'Catharmoi', of which a few intriguing fragments remain, is believed to have been a liturgy of initiation. [35] Angus, op.cit., 93, quoting Synesius on Aristotle. Aristotle writes that initiates of the Mysteries were not expected to learn something ('mathein'), but to suffer something ('pathein'). [36] Quoted in Burkert, W. (1992), 11 Here is Part 3. violet What are the 'Mysteries'? - Part 3 (P.25) Why did the myth enacted by the Mysteries have such a profound effect? Encoded Secret Teachings In antiquity the word 'mythos' did not mean something 'untrue', as it does for us today. Superficially a myth was an entertaining story, but to the initiated it was a sacred code that contained profound spiritual teachings.[37] Plato comments, 'It looks as if those also who established rites of initiation for us were no fools, but that there is a hidden meaning in their teachings.'[38] He explains that it is 'those who have given their lives to true philosophy' who will grasp the 'hidden meaning' encoded in the Mystery myths, and so become completely identified with the godman in an experience of mystical enlightenment.[39] The ancient philosophers were not so foolish as to believe that the Mystery myths were literally true, but wise enough to recognize that they were an easy introduction to the profound mystical philosophy at the heart of the Mysteries. Sallustius writes: (P.26) 'To wish to teach all men the truth of the gods causes the foolish to despise, because they cannot learn, and the good to be slothful, whereas to conceal the truth by myths prevents the former from despising philosophy and compels the latter to study it.' [40] It was the role of the priests and philosophers of the Mysteries to decode the hidden depths of spiritual meaning contained within the Mystery myths. Heliodorus, a priest of the Mysteries, explains: 'Philosophers and theologians do not disclose the meanings embedded in these stories to laymen but simply give them preliminary instruction in the form of a myth. But those who have reached the higher grades of the Mysteries they initiate into clear knowledge in the privacy of the holy shrine, in the light cast by the blazing torch of truth.'[41] The Mysteries were divided into various levels of initiation, which led an initiate step by step through ever deepening levels of understanding. The number of levels of initiation varied in different Mystery traditions, but essentially the initiate was led from the Outer Mysteries, in which the myths were understood superficially as religious stories, to the Inner Mysteries, in which the myths were revealed as spiritual allegories. First the initiate was ritually purified. Then they were taught the secret teachings on a one-to-one basis.[42] The highest stage was when the initiate understood the true meaning of the teachings and finally experienced what Theon of Smyrna calls 'friendship and interior communion with God'. The Jesus Mysteries Was the Original Jesus A Pagan God? Chapter 2 - p.25-26 Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy Element (imprint of HarperCollins'Publishers') 77-85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith, London W6 8JB ISBN-13 978-0-7225-3677-3 ISBN-10 0-7225-3677-1 Notes: [37] Fidler, D. (1993), 6: 'The teachings of the mystery religions were characteristically embodied in allegory, myth, and symbolic imagery, both as " teaching stories " and as basic paradigms of human experience. Certain philosophical schools, especially the Stoics and Platonists, drew upon traditional myths to illustrate insights which transcend merely logical description. Moreover, they held that the interpretation of the traditional myths, like the pursuit of philosophy itself, constituted, at its core, a process of initiation.' [38] Plato, 'Phaedo', 69c [39] Ibid., 69d: 'As those who understand the mysteries say, " There are many who bear the wand, but few who become Bacchoi. " ' Becoming one with the godman was the goal of the Mysteries. [40] Quoted in Fidler, op.cit., 23. Sallustius also writes: 'The universe itself can be called a myth, since bodies and material objects are apparent in it, while souls and intellects are concealed,' see Ehrenberg, V. (1968), 5. [41] Heliodorus, 'An Ethiopian Story', 9.9, quoted in Fidler, op.cit., 322, note 46 [42] Kingsley, P. (1995), 367. A beginner was called a 'mystae', which means 'eyes closed' and is the root of our words 'mystery' and 'mysticism'. The 'mystae' were those who had not yet understood the secret Inner Mysteries. The higher level of initiates were called 'epoptae', meaning 'to have seen'. The 'epoptae' were those who had understood the Inner Mysteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 24, 2008 Report Share Posted September 24, 2008 , " Violet " <violetubb wrote: > (P.25)The ancient philosophers were not so foolish as to believe > that the Mystery myths were literally true, but wise enough > to recognize that they were an easy introduction to the > profound mystical philosophy at the heart of the Mysteries. > The Jesus Mysteries > Was the Original Jesus A Pagan God? > Chapter 2 - p.25 > Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy > Element (imprint of HarperCollins'Publishers') > 77-85 Fulham Palace Road > Hammersmith, London W6 8JB > ISBN-13 978-0-7225-3677-3 > ISBN-10 0-7225-3677-1 Dear All, Yet perhaps, unknown to the ancient philosophers, in the Spirit World in the Kingdom of God the mythologies do come true. It would seem that these mythologies give a deeper spiritual truth of the 'Divine within' that has to be individually realized - and in the Spirit World these mythologies can be witnessed, according to the knowledge that Kash and his siblings have given evidence of. Therefore, this knowledge is not only important evidence to confirm Shri Mataji's incarnation, but it is also knowledge that perhaps the ancient philosophers did not know, about the Spirit World and the Kingdom of God: " This overriding unity of all messengers of various religions as One was consistently witnessed by Kash throughout all his journeys into the Kingdom of God. It was for this reason that on December 31, 1993, his father requested him to wish Shri Mataji and all the Messengers of God Almighty a " Happy New Year " . This young child had been meditating for nearly two months and daily provided his father with unassailable evidence that whatever he was witnessing in the Kingdom of God within was not a figment of his imagination, but a Reality greater than that of this earthly existence. And he (together with his brother Arwinder and sister Lalita) always maintained that all the Messengers of Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism and others were living in perfect harmony in the Spirit World. " http://adishakti.org/meeting_his_messengers.htm violet > Dear All, > > We concluded Part 2 with the following: > > (P.24) " By witnessing the awesome tragedy of Dionysus, the initiates at Eleusis shared in his suffering, death and resurrection, and so experienced a spiritual purification known as 'catharsis'.[34] > > (P.25) The Mysteries did not offer religious dogmas to simply be believed, but a myth to be entered into. Initiation was not about learning something, but about experiencing an altered state of awareness. Plutarch, a Pagan high priest, confesses that those who had been initiated could produce no proof of the beliefs that they acquired. Aristotle maintains, 'It is not necessary for the initiated to learn anything, but to receive impressions and to be put in a certain frame of mind.'[35] The philosopher Proclus talks of the Mysteries as evoking a 'sympathy of the soul with the ritual in a way that is unintelligible to us and divine, so that some of the initiates are stricken with panic, being filled with divine awe; others assimilate themselves to the holy symbols, leave their own identity, become at home with the gods, and experience divine possession.'[36] " > > The Jesus Mysteries > Was the Original Jesus A Pagan God? > Chapter 2 - p.24-25 > Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy > Element (imprint of HarperCollins'Publishers') > 77-85 Fulham Palace Road > Hammersmith, London W6 8JB > ISBN-13 978-0-7225-3677-3 > ISBN-10 0-7225-3677-1 > > Notes: > > [34] A term meaning purification. Aristotle, in 'Poetics', states that > tragedy should result in a purging (catharsis) of the emotions by pity > and terror. The Mysteries too were meant to be a catharsis. > Empedocles' poem 'Catharmoi', of which a few intriguing fragments > remain, is believed to have been a liturgy of initiation. > > [35] Angus, op.cit., 93, quoting Synesius on Aristotle. Aristotle > writes that initiates of the Mysteries were not expected to learn > something ('mathein'), but to suffer something ('pathein'). > > [36] Quoted in Burkert, W. (1992), 11 > > Here is Part 3. > > violet > > > > What are the 'Mysteries'? - Part 3 > > (P.25) Why did the myth enacted by the Mysteries have such a profound effect? > > Encoded Secret Teachings > > In antiquity the word 'mythos' did not mean something 'untrue', as it does for us today. Superficially a myth was an entertaining story, but to the initiated it was a sacred code that contained profound spiritual teachings.[37] Plato comments, 'It looks as if those also who established rites of initiation for us were no fools, but that there is a hidden meaning in their teachings.'[38] He explains that it is 'those who have given their lives to true philosophy' who will grasp the 'hidden meaning' encoded in the Mystery myths, and so become completely identified with the godman in an experience of mystical enlightenment.[39] > > The ancient philosophers were not so foolish as to believe that the Mystery myths were literally true, but wise enough to recognize that they were an easy introduction to the profound mystical philosophy at the heart of the Mysteries. Sallustius writes: > > (P.26) 'To wish to teach all men the truth of the gods causes the foolish to despise, because they cannot learn, and the good to be slothful, whereas to conceal the truth by myths prevents the former from despising philosophy and compels the latter to study it.' [40] > > It was the role of the priests and philosophers of the Mysteries to decode the hidden depths of spiritual meaning contained within the Mystery myths. Heliodorus, a priest of the Mysteries, explains: > > 'Philosophers and theologians do not disclose the meanings embedded in these stories to laymen but simply give them preliminary instruction in the form of a myth. But those who have reached the higher grades of the Mysteries they initiate into clear knowledge in the privacy of the holy shrine, in the light cast by the blazing torch of truth.'[41] > > The Mysteries were divided into various levels of initiation, which led an initiate step by step through ever deepening levels of understanding. The number of levels of initiation varied in different Mystery traditions, but essentially the initiate was led from the Outer Mysteries, in which the myths were understood superficially as religious stories, to the Inner Mysteries, in which the myths were revealed as spiritual allegories. First the initiate was ritually purified. Then they were taught the secret teachings on a one-to-one basis.[42] The highest stage was when the initiate understood the true meaning of the teachings and finally experienced what Theon of Smyrna calls 'friendship and interior communion with God'. > > The Jesus Mysteries > Was the Original Jesus A Pagan God? > Chapter 2 - p.25-26 > Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy > Element (imprint of HarperCollins'Publishers') > 77-85 Fulham Palace Road > Hammersmith, London W6 8JB > ISBN-13 978-0-7225-3677-3 > ISBN-10 0-7225-3677-1 > > Notes: > > [37] Fidler, D. (1993), 6: 'The teachings of the mystery religions were characteristically embodied in allegory, myth, and symbolic imagery, both as " teaching stories " and as basic paradigms of human experience. Certain philosophical schools, especially the Stoics and Platonists, drew upon traditional myths to illustrate insights which transcend merely logical description. Moreover, they held that the interpretation of the traditional myths, like the pursuit of philosophy itself, constituted, at its core, a process of initiation.' > > [38] Plato, 'Phaedo', 69c > > [39] Ibid., 69d: 'As those who understand the mysteries say, " There are many who bear the wand, but few who become Bacchoi. " ' Becoming one with the godman was the goal of the Mysteries. > > [40] Quoted in Fidler, op.cit., 23. Sallustius also writes: 'The universe itself can be called a myth, since bodies and material objects are apparent in it, while souls and intellects are concealed,' see Ehrenberg, V. (1968), 5. > > [41] Heliodorus, 'An Ethiopian Story', 9.9, quoted in Fidler, op.cit., 322, note 46 > > [42] Kingsley, P. (1995), 367. A beginner was called a 'mystae', which means 'eyes closed' and is the root of our words 'mystery' and 'mysticism'. The 'mystae' were those who had not yet understood the secret Inner Mysteries. The higher level of initiates were called 'epoptae', meaning 'to have seen'. The 'epoptae' were those who had understood the Inner Mysteries. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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