I am very intrigued by the Essenes and I trust the Edgat Cacye material. Although John Van Auken is listed as the first author it seems Ruben Miller wrote most of the book because it doesn't sound like the other three books I read by Van Auken.
I was disappointed by this book. I was hoping for more information about the Essenes but most of the book focuses on Jesus. I don't know what I expected but this wasn't it. This is a prevalent issue with Edgar Cacye's work. Since he was and attracted strict Christian's they were seeking answers about Jesus. I have to admit that I did learn a bit about the Essenes. The group credited with 'creating' a setting where the Messiah could be born is fascinating. That said, for the price, there really isn't anything revelatory in this book. There are fascinating bits of information. I don't regret buying it and maybe on a second reading I will find more value but it was not what I expected. For example, many of the people associated with Edgar Cacye A.R.E. were said to be part of the Essenes. Here is what I marked that stood out to me as I read this book. What was most interesting is that Ruben Miller outlined that there were two predominate cycles of incarnations of two soul groups. Those section is located on page 6 of the bookm. One geoup started in Early Atlantis and the second is Late Atlantis. I was startled to discover that the Past Lives I recall fall neatly into the Early Atlantis group. In particular, Palestine during the time of Jesus and the Crusades. I had nothing in common with Group 2. The next interesting part is the definition of prophet Ruben shares because...quite frankly it's clear prophets are channels. "The term prophet is difficult to define but since the noun "prophet" comes from the Hebrew verb nana, meaning to 'bubble up's or 'boil forth' we may use this definition; A prophet is one who enters heightened states of awareness and pours forth words from divine inspiration." Pg 58 Interestingly, tdhe quote from Peter Woodbury's Venture Inward article, "As Above So Below," pops up in this book and I marked it. Now, I read this book months ago so I didn't even realized this until I wrote the Echos of Atlantis Blog and this blog in the same day. "For as thoughts are things, and as their currents run into the experience of individuals, they shape lives and activities so that they become miracles or crimes in experiences of others as they mete them in their associations with their fellow men. For as ye do it unto the least of these, thy brethern, ye do it unto they Maker. Hence these make for those activities in the experience of this entity's soul in which the masses, as well as classes and groups, are to be, will be, influenced... ...Hence know that He is in His holy temple, and that all the earth must hear, must know. For every knee must bow to that love divine, as ye are capable of meteting and measuring through such activities in they experience and they relationships with thy fellow men." pg 116 Honestly, that's all I want to share from this book. For some it may be an interesting and good entry point into the Edgar Cacye material about Yeshua because the one Edgar Cacye talks about is a lot better then the way Jesus is portrayed in popular mainstream Christianity.
0 Comments
I really enjoyed this book.
I can't recommend it to everyone...and it is one of those diversions on the Path of the Seeker. I bought this book a couple of years ago and it's one that I put down, then picked up and then put down again. A lot of the passages require meditation to really understand them. That said, this book is part of a small collection that appeals to a small group of people. I think those looking to learn more about the Dogon religion will enjoy it. I honestly thought it was awesome to hear a woman's perspective. I loved that she came to many of the same conclusions that I did when reading the Pale Fox and her elaborations when it comes to the second book by Griaule that I have not read called Conversations With Ogotemmeli. The writing is tedious at times. Shannon Dorey has the tendency to repeat the same phrase, sometimes in the same paragraph, several times. The good news is, you end up memorizing several parts of the religion. The bad thing is that I often would skip paragraphs assuming that the author was again restating a conclusion in a new way only to find out there was a small nugget of information in there that I needed to understand in order to comprhend the next paragraph. The other thing that detracted from the rest of her studies is the fact that (like so many people) she has a very literal perspective. I found the chapter where she explained the physical description of the Nummo painful to read. The main reason that this chapter was painful and cast doubt on Shannon's work is because in the book Pale Fox it is stated flat out that the Nummo were none physical. The image of something that looked between a mix of alligator and sloth riding around on a roller skate...well, it that's just an absurd image. Since she presents that as the central argument for the idea that the Nummo are a real force...it really undermines her credibility. The fact she always injects the female pronoun into every quote and reference to the Nummo can be annoying too. She already established (as has everyone else) that the Nummo contained both genders. She establishes that it's implied even when the terms 'he' or 'she' are used. Repeating that throughout the book and quotes can be distracting to the reader and also suggests that the reader is too dumb to realize that 'he' and 'she' are just a placeholder since a more appropriate term does not exist. Also a bit tiresome is the numerous chapters where she equates well known Greek and Roman myths with the different characters in Dogon mythology.That's not because it's not valuable information...but her writing style makes it a bit muddy. The information is a bit repetitive and, at times, confusing. She will often refer to different myths of very different cultures in the same paragraph. Sometimes this is foreshadowing of a future chapter but it can be jarring when trying to follow the logic of her argument regarding a specific myth. However, she presents information and perspectives that are unique and incredibly valuable. In particular, she has as chapter that pretty much explains Shadow Work. She has another chapter on dreams that is totally amazing too. I find these topics as she presents them of such value that I am going to cover those ideas specifically in different blogs. These are topics I can never see Laird Scranton covering. Finally, she does establish a very specific set of symbols for the Jackal, the Nummo, the Master/Mistress of Speech and that is super helpful. Conclusion Shannon Dorey didn't have to convince me that the Dogon mythology represents the 'mother' religion of all religions because Laird Scranton has established that beyond a shadow of a doubt. She also doesn't have to convince me that most of this information applies on a microscopic level either...because, again Laird Scranton proves the same points (hence why I bought this book opposed to her first book that focused on that topic). What she does do exceptionally well is look at the bigger picture. Her identification of specific symbols is invaluable. Her real strength is when she examines non-physical concepts. While she doesn't zoom out completely and fails to include the soul in her interpretation...most authors fail to do that one. At the end of the day this book is for people dedicated to understanding the Dogon religion. Other people will become frustrated by the writing and be deterred by the focus on the physical. I, however, do think it is of immense value and I will probably buy her book Day Of The Fish sometime in the future. The other well known, and I will say one of my most beloved authors, Laird Scranton doesn't explore these 'softer' themes. So, it's nice to come across them. I loved this book.
This is by far the most powerful training in Shadow Work that you can buy. This a very straight forward easy to read book. The book consists of the 7 points of mind training. Guess why I picked up this book two years ago (all of the books I'm reading I bought two years ago because the first year and a half of my daughters life have been non-stop). Yup, because it has the number 7! As always, I wasn't disappointed. The book consists of slogans organized in the 7 points. I actually wrote down each of the slogans on note cards and I'm pulling one each day to mediate on during the day. I love starting off the day this way! Here are the 7 Points of Mind Training: 1. The Preliminaries, which are a basis for Dharma practice. 2. The Main Practice, which is training in Bodhichitta. 3. Transformation Of Bad Circumstances into the Path of Enlightenment 4. Showing the Utilization of Practice in One's Whole Life 5. Evaluation of Mind Training 6. Disciplines of Mind Training 7. Guidelines Of Mind Training Each of these 7 points have several slogans totaling 59. Here are some of the passages that I tagged so you can get a taste of the material: "The practice of tonglen is quite straightforward; it is an actual sitting meditation practice. Yougive away your happiness, your pleasure,anything that feels good. All of that goes with the outbreath. As you breathe in, you breathe in any resentments and problems, anything that feels bad...Sometimes we feel terrible that we are breathing in poison which might kill us and at the same time breathing out whatever little goodness we have. But once we begin to break through, we realize that we have even more goodness and we also have more to breathe in. So the whole process becomes somewhat balanced...The more negativity that we take in with a sense of openness and compassion the more goodness there is to breath out on the other side." pg 26-27 "If you do not allow a little bit of blame and injustice to come to you, nothing is going to work. This is so because everybody is looking for someone to blame, and they would like to blame you- not because you have done anything, but because they probably think you have a soft spot in your heart. They think that if they put their jam or honey or glue on you, then you actually might buy it and say, "Okay, I'm to blame." Once you begin to do that, it is the highest and most powerful logic, the most powerful incantation you can make...You can absorb the poison- then the rest of the situation becomes medicine." pg 45 "In this particular journey the practitioner can be put on a scale, and his or her commitment can be measured. It is like the scale of justice: if your ego is heavy, you go down; if your ego is light you go up." pg 80 "Because of your arrogance and aggression, you prefer to talk about other people's defects as a way of building yourself up...If somebody is completely freaked out and exaggerating his or her particular realm of phenomena, or freaked out about having an encounter with somebody, that is not regarded as an ugly manifestation of that person. It is just a general sense of his or her response to reality, which takes place all of the time." pg 92 "When neurosis arises, you first have to recognize it as neurosis. Then you have to apply a technique or antidote to overcome it. Since neurosis basically comes from selfishness, from p;acing too much importance on yourself, the antidote is that you cut through your ego. Finally, you have to have the determination not to follow the neurosis or continue to be attracted to it. there is a sense of abruptly overcoming neurosis." pg 104 There is so much more than this but I think this enough to establish the awesomeness of this book. |
Author:
Thank You For Visiting
Brave Soul! May Your Journey On The Path Of The Seeker Bring You Joy and Peace! I'm currently posting every Saturday. With a new addition the family I have pre-scheduled most posts through December 2022. Full Moon Posts will contain up-to-date content when I can get to them. Thank you so much for your support and understanding! This is a place where you can encounter new spiritual ideas that have helped me develop as an Individual On The Path of the Seeker. Take or Leave this information as you see fit. Archives
April 2024
|