The foundation of my awakening. "The Allegory of the Cave"

[Neco]

I thought I would post this up (and I will bump it to the top from time to time) for everyone's sake.  This should be required reading for every public school in the nation but I know I didn't read it until I was in college.

This is the "Allegory of the Cave" from Plato's Republic as told by Socrates (his teacher).

This is the story of a man who lived in a world his entire life which he was SURE was all there was to the world because he had seen no different and was told no different.  He is gradually ripped away from his world and shown a new one; something he never thought possible.  And then, when he tries to tell his friends, he faces what might be death at their hands.

This is a must read for every human being on this earth.

Read this.  Read it over and over and UNDERSTAND this because it will change your life.

[Socrates] And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: --Behold! human beings living in a underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.
[Glaucon] I see.
[Socrates] And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent.
[Glaucon] You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
[Socrates] Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave?
[Glaucon] True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?
[Socrates] And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only see the shadows?
[Glaucon] Yes, he said.
[Socrates] And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them?
[Glaucon] Very true.
[Socrates] And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?
[Glaucon] No question, he replied.
[Socrates] To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.
[Glaucon] That is certain.
[Socrates] And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision, -what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them, -will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?
[Glaucon] Far truer.
[Socrates] And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?
[Glaucon] True, he now.
[Socrates] And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he 's forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.
[Glaucon] Not all in a moment, he said.
[Socrates] He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day?
[Glaucon] Certainly.
[Socrates] Last of he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is.
[Glaucon] Certainly.
[Socrates] He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been accustomed to behold?
[Glaucon] Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him.
[Socrates] And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the cave and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?
[Glaucon] Certainly, he would.
[Socrates] And if they were in the habit of conferring honors among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that he would care for such honors and glories, or envy the possessors of them? Would he not say with Homer,

Better to be the poor servant of a poor master,

and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their manner?
[Glaucon] Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.
[Socrates] Imagine once more, I said, such an one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness?
[Glaucon] To be sure, he said.
[Socrates] And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the cave, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable) would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.
[Glaucon] No question, he said.
[Socrates] This entire allegory, I said, you may now append, dear Glaucon, to the previous argument; the prison-house is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun, and you will not misapprehend me if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world according to my poor belief, which, at your desire, I have expressed whether rightly or wrongly God knows. But, whether true or false, my opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual; and that this is the power upon which he who would act rationally, either in public or private life must have his eye fixed.
[Glaucon] I agree, he said, as far as I am able to understand you.
[Socrates] Moreover, I said, you must not wonder that those who attain to this beatific vision are unwilling to descend to human affairs; for their souls are ever hastening into the upper world where they desire to dwell; which desire of theirs is very natural, if our allegory may be trusted.
[Glaucon] Yes, very natural.
[Socrates] And is there anything surprising in one who passes from divine contemplations to the evil state of man, misbehaving himself in a ridiculous manner; if, while his eyes are blinking and before he has become accustomed to the surrounding darkness, he is compelled to fight in courts of law, or in other places, about the images or the shadows of images of justice, and is endeavoring to meet the conceptions of those who have never yet seen absolute justice?
[Glaucon] Anything but surprising, he replied.
[Socrates] Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh; he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter light, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light. And he will count the one happy in his condition and state of being, and he will pity the other; or, if he have a mind to laugh at the soul which comes from below into the light, there will be more reason in this than in the laugh which greets him who returns from above out of the light into the cave.
[Glaucon] That, he said, is a very just distinction.
[Socrates] But then, if I am right, certain professors of education must be wrong when they say that they can put a knowledge into the soul which was not there before, like sight into blind eyes.
[Glaucon] They undoubtedly say this, he replied.
[Socrates] Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being, and learn by degrees to endure the sight of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or in other words, of the good.
[Glaucon] Very true.
[Socrates] And must there not be some art which will effect conversion in the easiest and quickest manner; not implanting the faculty of sight, for that exists already, but has been turned in the wrong direction, and is looking away from the truth?
[Glaucon] Yes, he said, such an art may be presumed.
[Socrates] And whereas the other so-called virtues of the soul seem to be akin to bodily qualities, for even when they are not originally innate they can be implanted later by habit and exercise, the of wisdom more than anything else contains a divine element which always remains, and by this conversion is rendered useful and profitable; or, on the other hand, hurtful and useless. Did you never observe the narrow intelligence flashing from the keen eye of a clever rogue --how eager he is, how clearly his paltry soul sees the way to his end; he is the reverse of blind, but his keen eyesight is forced into the service of evil, and he is mischievous in proportion to his cleverness.
[Glaucon] Very true, he said.
[Socrates] But what if there had been a circumcision of such natures in the days of their youth; and they had been severed from those sensual pleasures, such as eating and drinking, which, like leaden weights, were attached to them at their birth, and which drag them down and turn the vision of their souls upon the things that are below --if, I say, they had been released from these impediments and turned in the opposite direction, the very same faculty in them would have seen the truth as keenly as they see what their eyes are turned to now.
[Glaucon] Very likely.
[Socrates] Yes, I said; and there is another thing which is likely. or rather a necessary inference from what has preceded, that neither the uneducated and uninformed of the truth, nor yet those who never make an end of their education, will be able ministers of State; not the former, because they have no single aim of duty which is the rule of all their actions, private as well as public; nor the latter, because they will not act at all except upon compulsion, fancying that they are already dwelling apart in the islands of the blest.
[Glaucon] Very true, he replied.
[Socrates] Then, I said, the business of us who are the founders of the State will be to compel the best minds to attain that knowledge which we have already shown to be the greatest of all-they must continue to ascend until they arrive at the good; but when they have ascended and seen enough we must not allow them to do as they do now.
[Glaucon] What do you mean?
[Socrates] I mean that they remain in the upper world: but this must not be allowed; they must be made to descend again among the prisoners in the cave, and partake of their labors and honors, whether they are worth having or not.
[Glaucon] But is not this unjust? he said; ought we to give them a worse life, when they might have a better?
[Socrates] You have again forgotten, my friend, I said, the intention of the legislator, who did not aim at making any one class in the State happy above the rest; the happiness was to be in the whole State, and he held the citizens together by persuasion and necessity, making them benefactors of the State, and therefore benefactors of one another; to this end he created them, not to please themselves, but to be his instruments in binding up the State.
[Glaucon] True, he said, I had forgotten.
[Socrates] Observe, Glaucon, that there will be no injustice in compelling our philosophers to have a care and providence of others; we shall explain to them that in other States, men of their class are not obliged to share in the toils of politics: and this is reasonable, for they grow up at their own sweet will, and the government would rather not have them. Being self-taught, they cannot be expected to show any gratitude for a culture which they have never received. But we have brought you into the world to be rulers of the hive, kings of yourselves and of the other citizens, and have educated you far better and more perfectly than they have been educated, and you are better able to share in the double duty. Wherefore each of you, when his turn comes, must go down to the general underground abode, and get the habit of seeing in the dark. When you have acquired the habit, you will see ten thousand times better than the inhabitants of the cave, and you will know what the several images are, and what they represent, because you have seen the beautiful and just and good in their truth. And thus our State which is also yours will be a reality, and not a dream only, and will be administered in a spirit unlike that of other States, in which men fight with one another about shadows only and are distracted in the struggle for power, which in their eyes is a great good. Whereas the truth is that the State in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best and most quietly governed, and the State in which they are most eager, the worst.
[Glaucon] Quite true, he replied.
[Socrates] And will our pupils, when they hear this, refuse to take their turn at the toils of State, when they are allowed to spend the greater part of their time with one another in the heavenly light?
[Glaucon] Impossible, he answered; for they are just men, and the commands which we impose upon them are just; there can be no doubt that every one of them will take office as a stern necessity, and not after the fashion of our present rulers of State.
[Socrates] Yes, my friend, I said; and there lies the point. You must contrive for your future rulers another and a better life than that of a ruler, and then you may have a well-ordered State; for only in the State which offers this, will they rule who are truly rich, not in silver and gold, but in virtue and wisdom, which are the true blessings of life. Whereas if they go to the administration of public affairs, poor and hungering after the' own private advantage, thinking that hence they are to snatch the chief good, order there can never be; for they will be fighting about office, and the civil and domestic broils which thus arise will be the ruin of the rulers themselves and of the whole State.
[Glaucon] Most true, he replied.
[Socrates] And the only life which looks down upon the life of political ambition is that of true philosophy. Do you know of any other?
[Glaucon] Indeed, I do not, he said.
[Socrates] And those who govern ought not to be lovers of the task? For, if they are, there will be rival lovers, and they will fight.
[Glaucon] No question.
[Socrates] Who then are those whom we shall compel to be guardians? Surely they will be the men who are wisest about affairs of State, and by whom the State is best administered, and who at the same time have other honors and another and a better life than that of politics?
[Glaucon] They are the men, and I will choose them, he replied.
[Socrates] And now shall we consider in what way such guardians will be produced, and how they are to be brought from darkness to light, -- as some are said to have ascended from the world below to the gods?
[Glaucon] By all means, he replied.
[Socrates] The process, I said, is not the turning over of an oyster-shell, but the turning round of a soul passing from a day which is little better than night to the true day of being, that is, the ascent from below, which we affirm to be true philosophy?
[Glaucon] Quite so.

Here is an illustration to help.

[ekimdrachir]

Very important story. Should be taught to all third graders instead of math.

[phosphene]

i remember this story from 9th grade psychology class....public school even.

[Matt Hatter]

The cave allegory is also the basis for the First Matrix movie.

[Neco]

The cave allegory is also the basis for the First Matrix movie.

Yes it is. 

One of the reasons why The (First) Matrix is one of my favorite flicks.

Along with V for Vendetta.

[ekimdrachir]

The Matrix films were a symphony of synchronicity, allegory, metaphor, philosophy, science, religion-- it was a total unification of science fiction with reality as we collectively "woke up". Thank the wachowsky brothers, reallym thank them for creating such a masterpiece. Their latest flick was AWESOME!!! Man he wasnt just a Ninja, he was the Ninja ASSASSIN-- and they burnt the Assassin school to the ground! Really paints a clear picture how focus and Suffering brings Enlightenment, but how evil can easily rule the blind and weak.

Even Avatar helped us to "awaken from the cave" in a similar way to GAMER and SURROGATE. There are many stories which have taken us from one perspective, even unknowingly, and made us relate to the opposite point of view.

If philosophy was taught to children, I tend to think they would have an advantage.
I didn't start asking "Do I Exist? I think therefore.." until college! I feel like i've been
hit with the DERRR shovel with the infowar.

[Neco]

The Matrix films were a symphony of synchronicity, allegory, metaphor, philosophy, science, religion-- it was a total unification of science fiction with reality as we collectively "woke up". Thank the wachowsky brothers, reallym thank them for creating such a masterpiece. Their latest flick was AWESOME!!! Man he wasnt just a Ninja, he was the Ninja ASSASSIN-- and they burnt the Assassin school to the ground! Really paints a clear picture how focus and Suffering brings Enlightenment, but how evil can easily rule the blind and weak.

Even Avatar helped us to "awaken from the cave" in a similar way to GAMER and SURROGATE. There are many stories which have taken us from one perspective, even unknowingly, and made us relate to the opposite point of view.

If philosophy was taught to children, I tend to think they would have an advantage.
I didn't start asking "Do I Exist? I think therefore.." until college! I feel like i've been
hit with the DERRR shovel with the infowar.

I would say AMEN to that my friend but now I know better.

History, Science, English... all of these subjects can be easily manipulated for an agenda.

If Philosophy was placed as a core subject along with these and made mandatory for every year of schooling in public schools, there is no doubt in my mind this country would be a different place. 

Instead of our children being taught to replicate and obey, they will be taught to THINK and QUESTION.

Think of what a disaster it would be for the NWO if their sheople started to think in mass. 

I THINK, THEREFORE I AM.

I THINK, THEREFORE I AM POWERFUL.

[Matt Hatter]

I would say AMEN to that my friend but now I know better.

History, Science, English... all of these subjects can be easily manipulated for an agenda.

If Philosophy was placed as a core subject along with these and made mandatory for every year of schooling in public schools, there is no doubt in my mind this country would be a different place. 

Instead of our children being taught to replicate and obey, they will be taught to THINK and QUESTION.

Think of what a disaster it would be for the NWO if their sheople started to think in mass. 

I THINK, THEREFORE I AM.

I THINK, THEREFORE I AM POWERFUL.

I just finished watching an outstanding documentary called "The Arrivals" 50 parts on youtube. They also do a great job in explaining the second film in relation to our reality.

That is that the Keymaker opens the doors to other dimentions. This is what the knights templars discovered under solomans tempal. How to communicate with other entities, and hence why they gained so much power. In the second matrix movie, Neo gains the understanding with use of the keymaker to open the doors to the other dimentions, and also shows you that the Maravingians(sp?) that david icke says is one of the top ruling bloodlines above the rothchidles are running the show. The maravingian in the movie has their shapeshifting dimentional entities to guard their power. As far fetched as you may think this is, this is what the second matrix movie is explaing to you, now that you woke up after the first one, you need to understand the reality of dimentional entities that are manipulating this world, and why the freemasons/knightstemplars rose to such great power so quickly.

[ekimdrachir]

I just finished watching an outstanding documentary called "The Arrivals" 50 parts on youtube. They also do a great job in explaining the second film in relation to our reality.

That is that the Keymaker opens the doors to other dimentions. This is what the knights templars discovered under solomans tempal. How to communicate with other entities, and hence why they gained so much power. In the second matrix movie, Neo gains the understanding with use of the keymaker to open the doors to the other dimentions, and also shows you that the Maravingians(sp?) that david icke says is one of the top ruling bloodlines above the rothchidles are running the show. The maravingian in the movie has their shapeshifting dimentional entities to guard their power. As far fetched as you may think this is, this is what the second matrix movie is explaing to you, now that you woke up after the first one, you need to understand the reality of dimentional entities that are manipulating this world, and why the freemasons/knightstemplars rose to such great power so quickly.

I KNEW IT
Ppl who didnt like the second and third ones didnt understand the story.

[Matt Hatter]

How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go.

Alex had a caller on his show yesterday that was talking about these same very facts, how the Devil really is running the show. Alex's next comment was a little disturbing.

He said he only talks about things he can proove, but the farther you go up the pyramid, you will learn that our entire reality is a fraud.

I would like to know more on what Alex has to say about this, I know he doesn't want to tarnish he credibility and be thrown into the Icke camp, but the rabbit hole goes much deeper than any of us can currently comprehend.

[ekimdrachir]

I've done quite a bit of digging, broke a paradigm or two in my own mind along the way.
The light and the darkness are two edges of the same sword, and though there is evil
working against us, there is a greater, truer, pure force of creation to balance it,
and the people who hurt us most truly believe they are doing good.

How is it that people can be corrupted & unwittingly motivated to do something harmful?

EASY, when you realize that the false light shines brightly.



Lucifer is an angel MIND CONTROLLING those who stray from God's unconditional love.
In all the ways that I don't need to explain. Its beyond simple comprehension of course.

But if you believe in Jesus, the true light-- you won't freak out at this.

John 1
The Word Became Flesh
 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.

 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood[a] it.

 6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent,[c] nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,[e][f]who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
John the Baptist Denies Being the Christ
 19Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ.[g]"

 21They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?"
      He said, "I am not."
      "Are you the Prophet?"
      He answered, "No."

 22Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

 23John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' "[h]

 24Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

 26"I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."

 28This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Jesus the Lamb of God
 29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' 31I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."

 32Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."

Every one of you fools who thinks that because you have words inside your head, that YOU ARE GOD, or that you can become God, have been deceived.

It requires setting aside your ego to admit that you are NOT perfect. NONE OF US ARE.

[Neco]

I've done quite a bit of digging, broke a paradigm or two in my own mind along the way.
The light and the darkness are two edges of the same sword, and though there is evil
working against us, there is a greater, truer, pure force of creation to balance it,
and the people who hurt us most truly believe they are doing good.

How is it that people can be corrupted & unwittingly motivated to do something harmful?

EASY, when you realize that the false light shines brightly.

Lucifer is an angel MIND CONTROLLING those who stray from God's unconditional love.
In all the ways that I don't need to explain. Its beyond simple comprehension of course.

But if you believe in Jesus, the true light-- you won't freak out at this.Every one of you fools who thinks that because you have words inside your head, that YOU ARE GOD, or that you can become God, have been deceived.

It requires setting aside your ego to admit that you are NOT perfect. NONE OF US ARE.

The whole point of this story though is to break through from what anyone has programmed into your head throughout the years and analyze it for yourself and that includes if you were raised in a Christian church as I was. 

I have discovered a different truth then you.

[ekimdrachir]

I wasn't raised in a Christian church, I was raised by a loving family who taught me tolerance and strength, to have strong convictions of right and wrong, and the ability to discern the difference for myself. What new truths have you discovered? Maybe were all still in the cave arguing over the nature of the shadows we see..

[Neco]

I wasn't raised in a Christian church, I was raised by a loving family who taught me tolerance and strength, to have strong convictions of right and wrong, and the ability to discern the difference for myself. What new truths have you discovered? Maybe were all still in the cave arguing over the nature of the shadows we see..

I am almost positive that we are.

One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing.
Socrates

I have recently gone on to my "second" period of awakening ( I guess you would call it that ) and that is to question my beliefs about religion and spirituality. 

Right now I am very confused about this subject because A) There are so many opinions on the subject and B) What I was raised to believe about "God's Word" can almost certainly not be true using simple logic.

This doesn't necessarily mean that I have a belief of my own which is a bad spot to be in.  But I will continue the search. 

As long as you keep climbing up the cave; this is all that matters.

I was thinking a few days ago about a more accurate analogy about this cave Socrates has built for us.

In this day and age, I believe you must pass through 100 rooms that "look" like the surface before you ever reach it. 

Recognizing that these rooms are not the surface and continuing on is the sign of the true enlightened person. 

[Matt Hatter]

I agree. 100's or thousands of rooms that all look like the truth. I too, who has been awake for about 6 years, and actively being engaged in seeking the truth, I too am questioning my religion and spirituality, or should I say, am investigating religion and spirituality, as it is connected to me.  Trying to gain a deeper understanding for the world we call reality that we live in, requires more than a simple explination, but a lifelong journey. It is exciting to see people in mass, waking up to who they really are, instead of believing what they were told they should be.

[Neco]

I agree. 100's or thousands of rooms that all look like the truth. I too, who has been awake for about 6 years, and actively being engaged in seeking the truth, I too am questioning my religion and spirituality, or should I say, am investigating religion and spirituality, as it is connected to me.  Trying to gain a deeper understanding for the world we call reality that we live in, requires more than a simple explination, but a lifelong journey. It is exciting to see people in mass, waking up to who they really are, instead of believing what they were told they should be.

And think of how many more would be doing this as well if Philosophy was introduced to them at a young age. =-)

[Mister-Ed]

And think of how many more would be doing this as well if Philosophy was introduced to them at a young age. =-)

Strange, how at age 41 I'm suddenly "where I belong" in this weird little niche of the Prison Planet. I'm agreeing with both Matt Hatter and ekimdrachir (almost richard mike spelled backwards--the only way I can remember it) even though they're each contradictory viewpoints.

I never tried arguing the existence of either God or Christ; I just always believed, but then there was the question of how believe diverged (diverges) from other persons. I was born and raised in what amounts to a new-age school of philosophy; I am literally named after Edgar Cayce. And so I've grown to be somewhat of a theosophist--even Gnostic (within reason)--but it's nothing like the theosophy you understand from Blavatsky and the Babylonian/Egyptian cults.

And I actually agree--in ultimate philosophical sense--with ekimdrachir, that is, Man's only free will, ultimately, is to follow Self or follow God as he can best understand God--and the following of Self eventuates (gradually) in being under the influence/dominion of Lucifer (or Satan, Shaytan, Mara, Maelus--call him what you will) as he is simply endowed with a stronger conscience/control over nature than man in the scala naturae. And for those who want me to prove/disprove Maelus exists, is in charge of the NWO (which I also believe)--to say, give you a photograph of the guy levitating himself around the City of London--well, I can't. All I'm saying is that everything I've read (and believe me, you don't get stuck with a weird name like Edgar Cayce and not feel like reading some things) points me, philosophically, to believe the nightmare of the NWO is the fact it's powered by a paranormal force outside science which cannot be defeated by either science or even a wholly agnostic "political science" as now predominates human culture.

There.

Pick your jaws off the ground when you get a moment.

You know, I'm actually lucky I didn't get born into that cult out in Montana run by Elizabeth Clare Prophet, because when I look at my parents with their ascended master stuff it's eerily similar to that (and I would have really hated being there--Scot Prophet, Elizabeth Clare Prophet's son, now runs and atheist website and plays in a classic rock band--although I like classic rock). But here, let me cut to the chase on these NWO matters and explain where I think this "Jungian unconsciousness" of mankind is headed to throughout these present storms (and pardon my religiousness but, you know, I am religious):

What's the ideal "city" in the Bible? The one run by the "perfect priest of God" who never was born or died, but merely "stayed around awhile" to show mankind how to live? Jerusalem. Yeru-Shalom. Vision of Peace. Perfect city of righteousness. Perfect model of a "state" for mankind, at least for as long Melchizedek stuck around (kind of went downhill after he left, as did neighboring Sodom--then the Jews all emigrated to Egypt).

OK. So we have this concept of a "perfect state" with regards to state meaning "earthly nation" or "sovereign" (there's also a perfect state, biblically, of man being "with God", and that earlier condition is called "Eden", but it's more a circumstance than an actual citadel). And as you read through your bible you begin to get the feeling this--Jerusalem--is what the OT prophets want Israel to be like. They're not worried about it being like Eden, as that's probably out of most people's reach, spiritual-growth wise, but Jerusalem in its golden day is considered "a realistic ideal". So it's argued for, as are its components: justice, mercy, faithfulness--justice for all with an absence of kings or royalty, and mercy for the traveller, the widow and orphan, a preference of God and what amounts to basic human rights over "the love of mammon", love of God, fairness, integrity and human dignity over the love of earthly profit in its various forms.

Kinda like the way the Declaration of Independence reads--if not the Pledge of Allegiance.

Yeru-Shalom = America (the way America's supposed to be wherein all men are created equal, with liberty and justice for all).

Kinda like what America would start to be like if people took seriously Aaron  Russo's "Restore the Republic".

Am I losing you here?

[Probably lost everyone with my first paragraph.]

But wait, I got hit you with this, too. Here's the etymology of the word "religion": I bind together. Bind what together? Science, philosophy and faith in God. Or, maybe it's bind together apples, oranges and those tasty saltine crackers made by Krispy--but I like "science, philosophy and faith" better, so I'll stick with that. What sort of science? Well, holoscience is coming mighty close to painting the universe as both a highly orderly and highly interconnected thing--with people literally affecting the surrounding cosmos with their own magnetic fields. And what sort of philosophy? Idealistic anti-materialism as taught by Georg Hegel, George Berkeley, Warren Felt Evans and John Sterling--all Christians, by the way. In fact, if you go back and research the period in which those men published their works you'll find each of them was fighting against taking "God" out of science, as there (are) no scientific concepts which required the absence of God (or, rather, the absence of an intelligent "First Cause" to the universe).

Am I losing you right and left?

Or you just hate my guts for being sorta-Christian/sorta-philosopher/sorta-Buddhist all at the same time?

Or, is it my weird upbringing has left me completely, positively insane and a perfect mind tool for the Illuminati/Evillae in the truest sense?

I'm just going to leave these thoughts with everyone to do with as they please (flush, forget about, pretend I don't exist). But they are my thoughts--not any organization's or cult's. I also have no church--I went to Methodist Sunday School whilst my parents held their weird dinner parties, but these aren't the thoughts of Methodists (nor even the thoughts of the Edgar Cayce organization down at Virginia Beach--and I don't do more with them than read the Cayce "word for the day" they put in my e-mail box each afternoon). I say the Lord's Prayer every night and hope for a better America. But I offer them because, you know, maybe it's time for agnostics to start broadening their horizons and for Christians to start deepening their hermeneutics--get rid of the prosperity theology that makes Jesus to be some sort of hedonistic magician. I follow God the best I can, but Lord help me I've been less than a role model.

My parents are now 80 and I take care of them--they never talk about Cayce anymore. He was a fad with them--something to make themselves feel sophisticated. And then I look at the Cayce organization, how they're endlessly praising new-age guru Deepak Chopra, and yet Chopra isn't anything but a hypocrite preaching anti-materialism while he lives in his southern California manse with the new Jaguar out front. And the irony I really tried hard to research this stuff that nobody in my family cares about anymore, nor anyone at the organization of my namesake cares about anymore. If anything, I feel like Ben Kenobi hanging out on Tattooine--I'm "like" the Illuminati, yet profoundly not like them.

Maybe I was one of them in a past life!?

It's funny for me to even think that because my last paying job in this life was "janitor"! Literally, I cleaned toilets and cages for an animal hospital! But, you know, seeing as I am a philosophy addict I really don't live in a mental world of toilets and soiled animal bins, and whatever I leave behind in this world will probably (hopefully) be of more intellectual consequence than a fresh-scented bathroom.

[Brocke]

Plato's Cave (animated version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2afuTvUzBQ

[Neco]

Very interesting.

[Matt Hatter]

I just re bought the republic after selling it after my university class. Funny, how you find great treasure in what was once considered trash.

[Neco]

I just re bought the republic after selling it after my university class. Funny, how you find great treasure in what was once considered trash.

[Viper]

Thanks Neco, i got Plato's Rebublic on the wish list now.

"Ancient philosophers were priests. The Greeks wrote copiously on this subject. Plato, Pythagrus, the historian Herodotus and others each spent between 20-30 years being educated and iniciated into the "mysteries". Beginning in Egypt, the iniciate went on to Phoenicia, Jerusalem, Tibet and finally India."
Alan Watt

[ClifIreland]

Thanks for the passage Neco, and Brocke for the video.

[Socrates] And those who govern ought not to be lovers of the task? For, if they are, there will be rival lovers, and they will fight.

This is something that always bothered me.  If there were a drastic and fundamentally positive change in the running of the world, who are those people that run it?  If two real opposing parties fall into different camps for achieve the same ultimate good, will pervasion and the entire system not come back into place?  For there is more than one way of doing the right thing.

Maybe that's the point, and it is an eternal struggle.

However, back in the real world, those who govern make sure to squeeze every part of the collective ideology, each problem as it comes.  When enough people wake up, we'll see.

[Neco]

Thanks for the passage Neco, and Brocke for the video.

This is something that always bothered me.  If there were a drastic and fundamentally positive change in the running of the world, who are those people that run it?  If two real opposing parties fall into different camps for achieve the same ultimate good, will pervasion and the entire system not come back into place?  For there is more than one way of doing the right thing.

Maybe that's the point, and it is an eternal struggle.

However, back in the real world, those who govern make sure to squeeze every part of the collective ideology, each problem as it comes.  When enough people wake up, we'll see.

I think the problem is defining what "doing good" is in the first place.

[Freeski]

Good to see you back, Neco! I just reprinted this and will read it with my morning coffee.

[Neco]

Good to see you back, Neco! I just reprinted this and will read it with my morning coffee.

For sure.  =-)