I've been meaning to write this for awhile.
The Roman Empire left an unmistakable mark on the world. Some still believe it was the greatest Empire to ever exist. There are still a lot of people that lament that Empire fell. There is an honest belief that it was the greatest nation to ever exist. Yet, in many ways Rome is the reason why spirituality is so distorted in Western Culture. I want to breakdown the elements of distorted beliefs. That way we can see what, how and why Rome had such a huge mixed influence on the Western Collective Consciousness. I can't say it was entirely bad but I can't think that it's entirely good either. I certainly have no attachment to Rome as some sort of former Utopia or great example of what humanity can create. A Mix Of Cultural Influences I think it's important to recognize that Rome is the result of a mixing of East and West. From the Pharaohs of Egypt came the idea that the Roman Emperor is a Living God. This is a misconception that started in Egypt because the Pharaohs bore a Priestly role alongside their role as national leader. Requiring the people to believe this bore a lot of beneficial results for the government. National pride, loyalty to the throne, created a caste system and prevented the common people from questioning the Emperors administration. When you have a living God in charge your very existence depends on them liking you and their will cannot be questioned unless you want to pay for your transgression in the Afterlife. The Roman Emperor, much like the latter Pharaohs, controlled the subconscious as well as the conscious minds of his subjects. Since citizens were afraid for the eternal soul (believing that it could be destroyed much like their body) they were willing to think and do whatever their living God told them. Rome was also under the Greek influence that intellect, reasoning abilities and strategy were superior to emotions. The General was far more valuable than a priest and played a sacred role. Wanting To Endure Rome created Christianity as we know it. Their main goal was to lock in their rule for eternity. They wanted to create a system of spiritual government that would exist forever. By requiring everyone to be the same spiritually they could inspire religious zeal and their own citizens would reinforce the government decrees for fear that if they did not they would be punished on a spiritual level. Further, they felt all religions were the same religion. That's why they saw the god of Israel as being the same as Zeus...which isn't entirely wrong....but there was no need to put the statue of Zeus into the Hebrew temple and tell the people to worship it. Yet, that's what they did thinking that they would simply absorb these other belief systems into theirs. A Need For Intellect To Balance Intuition Prior to Rome intuition was more highly prized than the intellect. After all, it's the person with the most common sense and not the ability to philosophize that will survive in extreme circumstances. Cities allow people to do more than simply focus on their daily farm...and so the intellect was exalted. This is, in many ways, the legacy of the Greeks. When Intuition and Emotions rule there is a lot of superstition and dogma. The "lower classes" that are living on a day to day basis of survival are often the ones who cling to superstition the most. They are the most fear based and following superstitious beliefs can lead to a very convoluted and messy life. The need for that comes from a need to soothe themselves in a fearful life. Intellect, when used correctly, can cut through the illusion. Buddha used his intellect to intuit Enlightenment...but intuition and intellect must work in tandem for that result. When the Intellect is working over time the thinking process can become just as convoluted as a superstitious person. Intellectualizing and analyzing everything can take a a person out of the present moment so that they are mentally always in the future, the past, or focused on some problem. This dose of Intellectualism that Rome provided was neede in the Collective to balance out the superstition. Catholicism More Of The Old Under The Guise Of New Really, Rome just took advantage of the popularity of Christianity to create something new and unique entirely removed from Yeshua. They didn't even leave his name in the language of his people! The different group meetings that discussed and interpreted Yeshua's teachings even lead to the new governmental system. I want to break this down into smaller pieces so here we go... God As A Person Roman's simply couldn't conceive of an abstract God. They had always had a Roman God King in the flesh. They couldn't imagine something bigger or outside of the material realm. The idea that God is a person and not something bigger comes from the God King paradigm. All other groups believed that God was something much bigger and more abstract than a physical person...much less a person walking this Earth. The Absolute in all tribal systems is always described as a force that holds everything together instead of a being. Even in the most ancient Egyptian teachings this concept is conveyed. Jesus The Rightful Ruler Of Earth This statement is never made by Yeshua in the New Testament. Nowhere in the bible does Yeshua tell people to worship him. Nor was the Messiah foretold by the Jewish people ever prophesied to be anything else than a teacher. Here we have one of the most grievous errors of Christainty. Yeshua never treated his disciples or the people as subjects that were below him. He never demanded tribute or payment for his services. He wasn't known to own a house with lavish decorations. He always told people he was just like all of them. He never tried to rule Israel. By elevating Yeshua above the human experience Rome did the most harm. They created a pattern of behavior that people feel that people cannot emulate which contradicts what Yeshua said. He told people to be like him to find the relief from suffering that he experienced. To put him on a pedestal as the only Son of God dismisses his greatest teachings and miraculous acts. Yet, Rome merely interpreted the story of Yeshua in a Roman way. They might not have been able to conceive of him any other way. They needed Yeshua to be a God-King so they could continue and justify their rule. The story of Jesus and his kindness to the poor, blind and sick lit up the hearts of the lower classes. So, the Pope became the figurehead who is the rightful ruler of Earth until Jesus return. That is what the Pope actually represents symbolically. Further, the men appointed Kings by Rome throughout the West were minor God-Kings. That's why so many claim that they are related to Jesus. If Jesus is the rightful God-Ruler of Earth by sharing a blood connection to him they have the right to rule (the tradition of sacred bloodlines is another tradition from Egypt). They couldn't justify their absolute rule over mankind unless Yeshua was a God King. That he was just a great prophet and teacher that was here to demonstrate what our lives could be like...wasn't enough. The citizens of Rome could stomach nothing less. Service and Suffering As Necessary This is the saddest of all. To justify the misery of the lower classes the Catholic church taught that Service to others and Suffering is necessary to gain entrance into heaven. They justified people to live miserable lives and to rejoice in them because they would be rewarded for living in undesirable conditions. Look at their saints and how much they had to suffer. Look at the suffering and starved crucified image that they worship in their churches. Suffering is something that all the Great Teachers of our planets tried to alleviate...not justify. Suffering only begets more suffering. Taking pride in and feeling grateful to suffer is beyond weird. That is one of the strangest dogmatic belief that has come out of Catholicism...that suffering indicates that we're on the right path. Further, Service without love reaps no rewards. Just going out to serve or recruit people to the religion doesn't inspire personal growth...it merely reinforces the ego. Some people seem to think for each person they convert they will get a gift in heaven and that's just a very materialistic point of view that really misses the mark and point of spiritual growth. Not to mention, Yeshua spoke of his burden as being light. Aside from the short suffering of his death his life was joyful and free...not based on suffering! An Overemphasis On The Crucifixion Ugh, probably the most gross interpretation of Yeshua's work. Seeing Yeshua as a human sacrifice. I have always found it weird that Christians condemned human sacrifice as Devil Worship when the religion, interpreted by dogma, is centered on the Human Sacrifice of Jesus. That is just beyond weird to me. Yes, they say his sacrifice ended the need to continue to sacrifice animals but it's just a gross belief. The idea that the Creator is such a blood thirsty being that he required the painful torturous sacrifice of his son's human body is sick. There is no love in that point of view. Even worse is the idea that the sacrifice was made to save unworthy humans who are incapable of saving themselves. The idea that each soul was condemned solely because they were created to live a human life has always bothered me (it's not in the Hebrew tradition) but to say that they get an automatic get of out jail free card just by accepting that Yeshua is the Son of God even if they do the most profane and harmful acts a human can upon other people...is so wrong. Further sickening is the idea that human beings deserve to suffer as a result of causing the bloody excruciating death of God's only son. Talk about darkness and missing the mark! Catholicism glorified the suffering and torture of Yeshua on the cross. Yet, what the gospels say about Yeshua and the accounts of the day of the crucifixion is totally different. The importance of the crucifixion was that it allowed the resurrection...where Yeshua showed that death is an illusion. His physical suffering was even miraculously cut short according to the gospels! Original Sin This is not a Jewish concept. Therefore, this is not a concept Yeshua taught. The idea that we are all condemned to this life of suffering because Eve bit into that apple is an entirely Catholic concept (just like Messiah being misinterpreted as meaning Christos- "anointed"- a tradition reserved only for a God). Mantra's As A Get Out Of Jail Quick Card This is about the only concept non-Catholic Christianity nixed. They kept the rest of the nonsense that doesn't match up with what Yeshua taught but got rid of this one. I think that's because this is something that is very clearly not part of the Hebrew tradition or the Bible. This is a practice borrowed from India. The practice of repeating the name of a deity- a mantra- is common with a mala. By doing so it's easy to enter a meditative trance like state which has been proven by science to benefit people. This can calm the mind and bring a deep sense of peace. This is a wonderful practice but applied for the wrong reasons by the Catholic tradition. Again, this an indication of the mixed cultures of the Roman Empire. The men who gathered together in a council to create Christianity- that created the canon and interpreted it- borrowed practices and traditions from a number of cultures. The Effect This effect of borrowing concepts and learning heavily on their comprehension of archetypes created such a disconnect from what Yeshua really was...that he seems fake. Their dogma turned Yeshua into such an empty symbol there are books out there that argue very convincingly that he was never real. That's one of the saddest affects of Rome's dogma. The people who argue that Yeshua never existed only look at the symbol...they never studied the Jewish teachings or the bible. Understanding Jewish thought combined with the gospels reveals a very different story. Yeshua was a great teacher who was a living example of how to live a Divinely Inspired life. The Convenience Of Paul The Roman I've never liked the chapters attributed to Paul the Roman. Nothing he wrote ever made sense until I studied the worship of the Roman Pantheon. The fact he never met Yeshua when he was alive has always bothered me. He was never truly a student of Yeshua. He was a foreigner and he interpreted the gospels through that foreign spiritual perspective. There is no suggestion he ever studied the Jewish tradition! This is explained by the idea that Jesus wiped away all previous Laws and traditions because the Jews were in error and responsible for his sacrifice. Further, the idea that it took a Roman to interpret and explain a Jewish Teacher is ludicrous. Yet, that's what many choose to blindly believe because his books are part of the biblical canon approved by Rome. When Yeshua was alive there are no stories of God killing people who did not give him money. As soon as the first church is created, however, a couple that withheld some of their wealth from the church is brutally murdered by God! That's a striking difference in narrative! I don't believe that Paul existed. I think he was just a character Rome invented to interpret the gospels they wanted and tie the Pope to the teaching lineage of Yeshua. They claimed he gained the secret teachings that Yeshua only shared with his disciples but that's simply a lie. After all, Rome conveniently destroyed and killed all the students of Yeshua. They even tried to wipe the Essenes, the Jewish sect Yeshua belonged to, from History and successfully removed them from the bible. The Calendar The Roman's created the inaccurate Sun Calender and assigned the Holidays merely as a way of controlling the populace. By switching it from the Moon based calendar as opposed to the Sun we can again see the emphasis on intellect over intuition (the sun is typically the waking consciousness and moon the subconscious). By removing and redefining the traditions of their people they created a fixed system that is out of touch with Nature. Much of our world is more directly ruled by the Moon than the Sun. The Moon based Calendar system is far more accurate. They probably did this on purpose to get away from Nature Worship. This was necessary for our species. Worshiping the form of nature, which Egypt was really mired in, was an error. The intangible needed to be the focus but changing the calendar and redefining the meaning of seasonal holidays missed the mark. Humanity has started to live in a disconnected unbalanced artificial reality as a result. Modern businesses in the West have taken this system to the extreme. By not allowing their employees to partake in Holidays and being a season ahead of the actual season they are creating an intolerable environment. The remnants of the Holidays have been reduced to a consumerism orgy that misses the mark so completely compared to their deep meanings prior to Rome's Interference that they lead to the most vile human behavior. Hunger Games What lead to Romes downfall is much like the sentiments of the Hunger Games. Countries like Britain were seen like the outer districts...to be exploited by the Capital of Rome. Even today Rome is spiritually like the Hunger Games Capital. Telling their members that their worldly suffering will earn them the riches of the next life as their leader lives the life of a Living God surrounded by luxury, horrendous fashion, and eating the finest food while hoarding priceless artwork, artifacts and books. Does this sound hypocritcal, gratuitous and gross? Well, it should because it is and such has been the market of the priestly class since time immemorial. Conclusion Rome was a great Empire with an elite class that were brilliant visionaries. Those Councils were the architects of Western thought and their carefully crafted mythology continues to influence us today. Thankfully, we can see the multitude of their errors clearly. Knowing that they were only focused on creating an enduring Imperial legacy obsessed with the insanely childish goal of global domination.. the illusions they wove to control and brainwash the collective consciousness of the world can dissolve. The truth is far more interesting and beautiful than the elitist nonsense they told...so I'm happy to see the legacy they left behind crumble into dust.
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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
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