The Great Gospel of John
Volume 4
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 94 -
The development of the life of the soul.
Says Cyrenius to this, who listened with the greatest attention to everything: "Lord, I cannot really say that I have understood everything; still everything is quite clear to me, - only it seems to me, as if all this could at one stage become again unclear to me on this earth, and this would make me unhappy! Since everything what I have heard from Your holy mouth, is, nevertheless a little too high above the most wakened human mind; therefore shedding a little light afterwards over some issues can perhaps not called superfluous!"
2
Says I: "Friend, you Romans have a quite good proverb, which says more or less the following: Longum iter per praecepta, brevis et efficax per exampla! (Long is the way by teaching, short and effective by example). Behold, it can be applied quite well also here! Wait for the later following examples, which I will allow you to see in quite a miraculous way! They will illuminate what is now still unclear to you; but the complete purity of the matter you will only understand, once the pure spirit of the everlasting truth will come over you and guide you in all truth of heaven and all worlds.
3
But haven't you noticed that in nature only one law exists for the growth of all plants and animals?!
4
See, all plants grow and multiply from within; they draw from the moisture of the earth their corresponding substances and finally, purified by many thousand channels and small pipes, in themselves or into their lives.
5
Animals take their food basically from the same source, - with the only difference that it is either by the organism of plants or in the already much more refined flesh of the lower level animal species much more purified than in the original humus of the earth.
6
People finally enjoy the already most refined and purest from the plant world as well as the animal world. Hay, gras and straw does not feed him anymore. From plants he uses mainly only corn and from trees the most noble, honeysweet fruits. From animals he enjoys mainly only the recognised purest and is disgusted by the meat of completely impure animals.
7
But how many deviations, aberrations and detours exist with only the physical unfolding of the plant- and animal world, and still each reaches its goal! It cannot go unnoticed to the observant eye of a researcher of things in the physical world, how always one thing serves the other and how one is present to lift and further animates the other.
8
Life must work itself through the different physical elements. First it is in the ether; it collects itself by seizing the same with the same, similar and related. Thereby it becomes heavier and at first sinks in itself in its own centre, becomes heavier and heavier and becomes out of itself the already heavier and noticeable substance of life.
9
In the air it collects itself again as high in the ether, from that clouds and fog are formed, which again collects itself, become water drops and fall in the form of rain, hail, snow and dew to the earth and in certain areas are remaining as a constant haziness and moisturised precipitation from the air.
10
Water, as a still very subordinated, but already over ether and air standing element of life, must already start to serve the already quite manifold and higher standing life condensation institutions. First it must soften the life in the coarse matter which has hardened as rocks and must also serve as reception and further transportation in itself, which means assimilate into the element of the water: this is the first manner of serving.
11
Thereupon it must give its spirits of life or so to speak soul-like substance particles to the plant. If the particles in the plant with time have developed more and more into certain intelligent forms, they will again be absorbed by the water and the hazy air, and the water must provide them with substances to become new and more free life forms. Therefore the water still serves in its sphere, although from it hourly myriads times myriads small-soul-life-intelligence-particles become free and more and more independent.
12
However, the plant life must again accept and provide several and already more complicated services. The services of the water are still very simple, while the services of plants to the further promotion of life are by some close inspection of an even very simple plant, is already very much involving.
13
Even many times more and very significantly are the services to promote the soul-life itself in the very first and simplest animals. And so the serving becomes increasingly complicated in every higher standing life form.
14
Once the soul life has completely and entirely transformed into the human form, to serve is its first destination. There exist different physical services which is given to each human form as a 'must'; with it there also exist a countless number of freer and na even greater number of most free morally services, which a person is given to execute. And if he in all directions made a loyal servant, he thereby has elevated himself to the highest perfection of life. Now, this in fact takes place with a few people, who already from birth have been placed on a higher level; but with other people who are so to speak still standing close to the line of animals, it doesn't happen on this earth, and their further development can only progress in the beyond, - but always along the fundamental path of serving."