The Great Gospel of John
Volume 2
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Second Journey of the Lord: Nazareth - Cave at Bethabara (First Feeding of the People) - Mountain of Prayer - Walking on the Sea of Galilee (Peter's test of faith) - By ship to Genneseret in the bay with the same name
- Chapter 148 -
Natural considerations and spiritual significance.
Ins response to the Essene's suggestion, they all come a little closer to Me, and I summon the two Essenes, telling them to pay attention to everything that shall be seen with sunrise, for it shall be most instructive.
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The two Essenes step up closer to Me, saying: "Lord Lord, that it shall be infinitely instructive is bound to be an eternal truth; but how will our soul be capable of such profound instructions?! We certainly gaze upon the brilliant depths of Your splendid Creations with lustful eyes and exceedingly astonished feelings, yet we are far to blind to do justice to even the wonders of a dew-drop, comprehendingly, let alone those rising and falling in immeasurable grandeur and distance, luminously upon the firmament! We furthermore have discussed the floating around of the luminous points above the tiny clouds with the disciple Peter, but he could not clarify it to us properly. - If it please You oh Lord, then You might spare us a few words about it!"
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Say I: "This means very little, and is quite an ordinary thing, similar to the waving of the sea. When you find yourself in the right spot in relation to a moving sea, where the broken sun-beams are impacting, then you will see a similar light-play.
4
The air for human and animal breathing by no means reaches up to the stars, and no further than about four times the height of this mountain from sea-level; beyond such height there is a sharp cut-off, such as between water and air, with a water-smooth surface, constantly undulating like the sea.
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On falling on such said undulating air, sunlight is reflected as from the water surface. If the air- movement is strong, then the occasional refraction is right down to Earth, and most easily so when the sun is still below the horizon, when its rays fall as it were unto the air-sea from below. And so these lively seesawing lights are nothing more than reflections of sunlight, their frequency depending on the air undulations.
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But that they are more prominent right now when the sun appears a mere span below the horizon is because the air-waving is increasingly picking up the shining cloud-light, producing a kind of dallying to and fro game. - Behold, that is the relatively natural explanation of this phenomenon!
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But beyond that, this phenomenon also has a spiritual significance, and for your comprehension it is this:
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Think and imagine yourself also the spiritual sun! The outgoing light from it is adsorb by the continuously waving surface of the created life-sea, and this plays with such light, and thereby all kinds of caricatures occur which still let a matt luster radiate from them, however, destroying every trace of the divine primordial form; thus the whole heathenism and also Judaism is such contortion of everything purely divine.
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However, if you look at a completely quiet water surface, and the sun shines thereupon, it will be reflected from the surface in the same majesty and truth as you can see it at the firmament. In the same manner it requires a quiet, desire-free heart, which can only be obtained by total abnegation, humility, patience and purest love, so that the likeness of God in the spirit of man reflects equally pure and true like the earth's sun from a most quiet water surface.
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If this is the case in a person, everything in him has matured to truth and his soul is then able to direct its views into the depths of the creations of God and to view everything in all fullness of the purest truth. However, as soon as it begins to wave in her, the primordial pictures are getting distorted, and the soul necessarily finds herself on the road of deception and half-truths of all kinds and sorts and cannot reach a clear view until regaining the complete rest in God again.
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And this is the true Sabbath-rest in God, and therefore God has ordered the celebration of the Sabbath. During the Sabbath man should abstain from every heavy, strenuous work, for every heavy work requires the soul to lend its strength to the flesh and thereby becomes excited with it, which stirs the mirror of her life-water into strong movement, so that she cannot recognize the pure divine truth in herself anymore.
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The true Sabbath rest therefore constitutes in a reasonable celebration from all heavy work; without an emergency one should not lay hand on it, however, in need every person is obliged to help his brother.
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Even more so then to withhold oneself from all heavy work, every soul should put aside all desires! Since desires are storms of the soul; they disturb the life-water and the likeness of God is torn in the soul, like the image of the sun is torn upon the waves of the sea. Indeed, the image of the sun flashes from the waves, however, in what distortion! And if the storm lasts for long, soon heavy fumes rise from the moving sea and fill the heavenly air of the soul with heavy clouds; they then obstruct the light of the spiritual sun to reach the life-waters of the soul, - and the soul becomes dark, cannot anymore distinguish true from false and regards the deceptions of hell as the light of heaven.
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Such a soul is then as good as lost! There must come strong winds, this means strong trials from above, so to tear apart the evil clouds of the soul, who should then immediately retire to the true Sabbath rest and thereby bringing to rest her life-sea, - otherwise there is no rescue for her!
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Behold, this is for everyone the useful spiritual meaning, which this beautiful sunrise shows us in its quite natural appearance! Who shall take note of it in himself, shall remain in truth and all light and the everlasting life shall become his inheritance; who, however, shall disregard this teaching and ignore it, shall die forever!"