INTRODUCTION

How does one convey the most important message of all within the limited scope of a few pages? This book is an attempt to do so in a simple way and to the best of my ability – fully realising my own shortcomings, but fully trusting my Heavenly Father to guide me. Many people believe they know what spiritual development involves and what the purpose is of our life here on earth. Yet, up to now this most profound message has been so veiled or concealed that, in part, we are still in the dark. When the light is beginning to shine in your heart – that is, in your innermost being – then your realise that all the time you have actually still been living in the dark. What you have though was day, was actually still night, and what is really day, is so much greater and more marvelous than anything you could ever imagine.

Who am I after all to try and teach others? I am just a weak human being too, someone who himself has often enough stumbled along through the dark valleys of failure. However, uncommon, extra­corporal experiences happened to cross my path, and during some of these the essence of the greatest, inexpressible Love was revealed to me – along with certain truths which I cannot keep for myself. Human beings are the products of conditioning – therefore it is so difficult to communicate the truth to people while a lot of “truths” are already firmly lodged in their brain. The brain is designed in such a way that it stores, by means of neuron chains, everything you experience or learn. You now experience the world by means of this “programming filter” in that space between your ears. One of the advantages of this programming function of the brain is that it makes life easier for you: for instance, you need not look at your identity book every morning to know your name. You know it immediately the moment someone asks you. You also do not have to learn to walk again once you have mastered it. Likewise, you remember an enormous amount of data and convictions, although not consciously. Both on the conscious and the subconscious level your brain’s “scanner”, also called the reticular activating system, is using all these data and convictions as a frame of reference and instructions to regulate your thinking and actions. The “fuller” and more “proficient” you believe your data base to be, the more difficult it is for your brain to admit fresh information and ideas. “As your think, so shall you be.” This is literally true. On the conscious as well as the unconscious level your brain will be “working” all the time to ensure you experience that which you believe. The knowledge you already possess, is the reason why you are your own biggest stumbling-block on the road to true spiritual insight and growth.

The truth is that real spiritual growth and understanding only come through the heart. When you have love in your heart and are truly humble and sincere, then love for our Heavenly Father is gradually awakened in your soul. The spirit of the Father, of whom a small grain of seed or “spark” comes to life by hearing and accepting His Word, will start growing within you, it unites with your soul and true spiritual insight starts developing in you. Only after your true spiritual awakening has taken place, you have accomplished your calling on earth. The Father becomes one with us, and we become one with Him, yet without any limitation to our personal individuality and freedom. In what follows the experiences that have led to the unfolding of the most profound message of all are being outlined. The core of these I consider to be the following: Within you there is your soul, which at present appears in the form of your body, but is in fact a vibration of your own energy which does not perish along with your body. Your soul is destined to become a holy being, and can be regarded as the I iride to whom the Bible refers. Within your soul your Spirit awakens by hearing and accepting the teaching of the Father; this is the small grain of seed or first spark, containing the Spirit of our Heavenly I ather, who is the most pure, the most noble and the inexpressible heavenly Love. This can be considered the Bridegroom the Bible refers to. Your soul was placed here on earth to go through a process of growth and trial, and thus to be purified. That is the mason why you now find yourself in this “physical” world which is based upon the principle of paradox: Good and evil, hot and cold, high and low, truth and lie, justice and injustice, positive and negative. In this world you have a free choice, and your soul has the opportunity to become a true child of the Father, possessing its own consciousness and free will. Certain “natural laws” were established by the Father: “What you sow, you will reap.” Even as you think, believe and act, thus you shall be. Nobody is punished by the Father – you are simply bearing the consequences of your own thinking and actions as a result of these natural laws. This self-inflicted punishment is thus allowed so that you can learn from it and gradually achieve a clearer understanding.

We are equipped with creative abilities and cannot do otherwise than to create by means of what we think and believe – it is part of our nature. We can produce the very same results time and again, in other words, maintain the status quo, or we can create new things – which might be good or less good. But you are born to create – there is no getting away from it, because you are created with this innate ability. But the Father has given us a free will and a mind to think with and to choose. The challenge is to learn through all you have experienced and to discover that in your innermost being – the real you – you are a child of the Father; and then to choose to seek His will and proceed to do it. No distinction can be made between your physical and spiritual life, everything takes place in the same “field”. Most of this ’’field”, however, we cannot see or otherwise perceive. This was purposefully created like this, for the sake of our own spiritual purification and development. When you align what you think, say and do to the order of the Father, the result is growth and true prosperity.

The most important commandment of the Father is to worship Flim alone. We should love and honour Flim with all our heart, and our neighbour as ourselves. To do that properly is far beyond our power, until we have learned true humility and sincerity. That is the reason why most of us first have to pass through the proverbial “desert” or first be cast upon the “ash heap” before we can attain to the proper frame of mind and arrive at true understanding. This is the difficult part of the spiritual path. By seeking for the truth in all sincerity, and by discovering true humility, the genuine love of the Father is awakened within you – your mind, soul and spirit all become one, and the Spirit of Love takes control. You overcome matter and worldly attachments like pride and selfishness; your soul is set free and becomes united with the Father. The aim of this writing is to communicate this perspective, so that the person who understands and accepts this, will grasp the meaningfulness and the enormous opportunity that this earthly life offers – and will, with hope and enthusiasm, make the most of it.

For the sake of clarity, four concepts used in this book are mentioned here:

Body – your physical body

Soul- the real you, the energy-being which at present is taking on the form of your body and will continue to exist when your body passes away. Your soul – i.e. you – possesses your own consciousness and identity in all circumstances, here in the visible world, as well as in the invisible dimension. For the soul, the lominine pronouns “she” and “her” are used – this usage does not refer to the gender of your body.

/ other – the one and only Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth; other names used for Him are Elohim, YahWeh, the Most High, Love

Spirit – the spirit of the Father as Creator, referring to the being of the Father and His presence in us – a heavenly Splendour revealed within us during an emotional dialogue which takes place in love and without words.

1. YOU ARE A CREATIVE BEING

You cannot do otherwise than to create. It is inherent to your nature, an essential feature of the being that you are. Apart form the gift of life you have received, your biggest asset is your ability to think and to act. Here I will just give a simple and concise explanation of what I have learned and experienced about the create-mechanism within us and how it works. I am convinced that this creative mechanism, placed within us by the Father, is functioning in a much more wondrous manner than is explained here. Still, with the knowledge and experience available, this is an attempt at a simple and scientifically based explanation.

I have always been involved in looking for answers about the way in which we create, especially since I have started my own business in this field. In my quest for answers I have done a tremendous lot of reading. You read things like: “If you can dream it, you can do it ”, and “As you think, so shall you be.” I sought for answers about the way it works. It almost became like an obsession to get to the gist of the matter. As is written, if you knock long and hard enough, it shall be opened unto you. If you try hard enough, the answers will come to you. And the information did come to me from unexpected sources, and in a way I could not in my wildest dreams have imagined. It happened like an orchestrated process, at the face of it chaotic, without a pattern and full of “coincidences”, but the final answer was as clear as daylight.

In Proverbs 4:23 we read: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of Life”, or in the Amplified Bible: “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” Meaning: in your heart, your inner thoughts, your entire life is determined! I have discovered that this is literally true. Be careful what goes on in your heart and mind, for that which your are thinking regularly becomes part and parcel of your subconscious mind, and by your thinking, speaking and actions your are inevitably creating those things and circumstances. Proverbs 12:20 reads: “From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things” – poetically couched, but clearly meaning that someone can become prosperous by always using the right words. Thinking tends to lead to words and words to deeds, and deeds produce results.

In 1994 I resigned from my job at Sanlam Broker’s Services and started my own business. At first, together with one of my mentors, the late Andre Pretorius, I was marketing and conducting motivational seminars. Andre has been a real inspiration to me, and for me this friendship and working relationship has been tremendously instructive. One of Andre’s favourite sayings dealt with the importance of having dreams for one’s life, something to reach for and look forward too: “The present is only a one-dimensional line where our dreams turn into memories. A person who has no dreams, experiences the present as empty and meaningless.” Also, in the course of his seminars he was never hesitant to refer openly to our Heavenly Father and the creative talent we have received from Him. “You are a child of The King,” he often said.

I have learned and experienced that the results you get are directly related to the input you allow to enter into your brain, as the saying in computer jargon goes: “Garbage in, garbage out.” If you are stuffing negative thoughts into your mind, you will get negative results; and if you are nourishing your mind with positive thoughts, you will get positive results. I have started the Prosper organization as well as the Prosper Club. The purpose of the club is to make a meaningful contribution to positive thoughts and actions of members, to inspire them, to give new perspective, and create an attitude and mechanism conducive to growth and performance – to the benefit of its members and all people. With the help of experts I compiled the Prosper Program for Goal Achievement. This is a mechanism, or recipe, of how this creative ability within us can purposefully be focused to achieve specific, well-defined goals.

There can be little doubt that we have within us such a goal- achieving mechanism. One of my mentors, dr. Rudi Buys, has taught me that this mechanism is functioning on three levels:

On the fist level it automatically controls all the body’s life functions (e.g. breathing, heartbeat, healing or wounds, etc.) It operates automatically, without any conscious effort on your part – or are you beating your heart right now?! Thus, on the first level this mechanism is keeping you alive. On the second level it is responsible for your survival – the stress response, occupied with the issue of “fight or flight”. In a situation of emergency, adrenalin is automatically being secreted, muscles are straining, the heartbeat is increasing. Thus, on the second level this mechanism is protecting your life.

On the third level there is the goal-setting, goal-achieving ability of your brain. On the subconscious level, your brain is always busy ensuring that what you believe, in other words, what is saved in your memory, will actually be realised or effectuated in your life. On this level as well, it operates automatically, in order to effectuate what is dominant in your subconscious mind, and to maintain the status quo. Without being aware of it, this mechanism is functioning this very moment, influencing what you are thinking and doing. However, on this level you are able to intervene and to switch on this mechanism yourself by making a definite choice of objective.

At the same time, this mechanism continuously remains “switched on.” The so-called reticular activating system in your brain connects to each other everything in your brain and body like an information network; all the time it works like a “scanner,” striving to effectuate in your life that which is dominant in the “programmes” of your subconscious, in other words that which you believe. Thus, you already have built-in and conditioned objectives, even if you did not set them purposely; they have been created through life circumstances and conditioning. These include your current convictions about yourself, your abilities, and the world in general. We are often caught up in circumstances caused by our convictions. The

author, Bertrand Russell, has described it as follows: “Every man is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions which moves with him like flies on a summers day!”

These convictions often create for us an imaginary “jail” from which you can hardly escape. This is actually just an illusion, because when you change these convictions, the circumstances will change as well – it is a law of our nature. When you consciously set a clear-cut and properly formulated goal and make it part of your subconscious, “programming” it in your memory as if it were already there, then your intrinsic creative ability will start working to realise this objective.

This process is carried out mainly by the reticular activating system, and involves, among other things, the following:

• The releasing of information to the conscious mind – information you will need to achieve your objective. It is considered a scientific fact that your subconscious has access to information outside of yourself, as an imperceptible “field” of information is existing around us.
• The mechanism of imagination is being activated. Creative ideas and solutions relating to your objective enter your conscious mind.
• The mechanism of willpower is being activated – the impulse causing you to take action in a physical way in order to achieve your objective.

I he aforementioned is a brief and somewhat oversimplified I’Hplanation from a physical point of view of the way this mechanism Is operating. In actual fact, however, this is much more complicated and miraculous. I can just mention a simple instance among a great number of personal experiences of this kind. Initially we have printed mid mailed to our members once a month a small Prosper Club booklet of an inspirational nature. One day, in the then CNA bookshop in Wellington, while I was looking at the various magazines on the shelf, I realized how much I would like to share these inspiring messages with many more people. I then imagined seeing these messages available on the shelves of every CNA bookshop n the country. About a month later I was conducting a workshop in Sunninghill near Johannesburg with the publisher of the Succeed magazine present in the audience, but without me knowing it. After the workshop the publisher talked to her husband who was the editor, and the next thing they were discussing with me the possibility of cooperating with them, as it was their sincere aim as well to inspire and be of help to entrepreneurs. Shortly afterwards, the inspirational messages of the Prosper Club started to appear in Succeed, with this magazine lying on the shelves of every CNA, and most other bookshops, right across the country. Now, how did this happen? It was not only me, it was as if something much greater, in some miraculous way, contributed toward achieving this objective. For a considerable time we have cooperated with Succeed, and although the messages not longer appear in this magazine, as we nowadays send them out by e-mail, a great number of people had received them in that way.

It is just as if your brain operates like a transmitter/receiver that is transmitting and receiving messages in an imperceptible field of information and energy around us. Your should, therefore, be extremely careful with what your receive and what you emit, because inevitably it yields results. When what we are THINKING, SPEAKING and DOING are focused congruently, in strict accordance with each other, on a particular objective, then that comes to pass! We cannot but create, for it is inherent to our nature. We have been endowed by the Father with a tremendous creative ability which is functioning continuously to effectuate our objectives, whether set consciously or unconsciously. Admittedly, in this field of matter where we find ourselves, achieving an objective can, at times, take quite a while, as the nature of this material world can cause a delay, and this process usually involves many detours and apparent “failures” on the way to the end result. But once your have finally achieved the goal, you realise that this is the way it was intended, and that this was indeed the best road to the final goal.

A proper understanding of this creative aspect of our being is all- important, so that we may employ it purposefully, wisely and with respect to the advantage of all. In pursuing a meaningful objective, having to overcome considerable obstacles and challenges along the way, the value of achievement normally does not particularly consist in the material benefits it may entail; the true value lies in what you experience and learn in the process. What you have learned through difficulties and hardship can never be taken away from you. For me, this seems to be an exercise for performing so much greater things in the life to come, when our life on earth has passed.

2.MIRROR IMAGE

In the course of time I have come to understand that everything in the physical world is being sustained by the underlying spiritual dimension. Our Heavenly Father had created two opposite poles so that we could have a physical school of life. Although not fully grasping the symbolism of it all, I believe that all we perceive and experience in the physical world is a mirror image of what is going on in the invisible or spiritual world.

This insight regarding the mirror image was revealed to me during a deep prayer while we were on a flight somewhere between Bangkok and Phuket. It happened when I became very quiet and was deeply moved by a swirl of emotions, my heart flooding with love. I sincerely asked the Father’s guidance, whereupon the insight crystallized clearly in my mind. I just knew with all certainty.

I knew for sure that love between us is the key – the connection towards unity or wholeness. And the Father is love. If a rainbow should be completed, it would form a perfect circle, a whole. One. It is a symbol of all the shades of love and goodwill. The rainbow is being completed by love when all the colours come together (when we have gained the true insight according to the order of love, which is the order of the Father) and our pure souls unites with the Spirit of the Father.

Our imperfection will then change into perfection in accordance with His image within us, resulting in the brightest, purest white light (the most pure love of the heavenly dimension), and bliss is the result. Before we can achieve the highest possible bliss, we first have to be very far removed from His love. When the rainbow reaches its invisible, imaginary turn below the level of the horizon (deep down within the earth, i.e. the material dimension, lost and doomed), then the diameter of the rainbow is full-length, and its uppermost edge can reach the highest point above the level of the horizon (the highest heavens – the most blissful spiritual dimension). In my mind’s eye I visualize this as a seven-dimensional orb, globular like the sun, boundless in the size, purity and brightness it can achieve. Everyone of us can symbolicly be viewed as such an “orb,” be it small, and everyone possesses this infinite potential. Together, all of us constitute the splendour and the miracle of the whole – the boundless creation. The Father’s complete Being is infinite. Every quality of the complete whole is present in the smallest part. All of these small parts together constitute the whole. It is impossible for the human mind to fully grasp the whole.

The symbolic meaning of everything can also be seen in the order of nature – it just depends on the way you look at it. The process of a small grain of seed bringing forth a flower, or a tree, or its fruit, is a mirror image of yourself. The grain of seed can be seen as portraying the Spirit of the Father; the plant or tree as your soul; the warmth and light of the sun beaming upon the seedling as love and wisdom; the fruit springing forth as the good works you produce. The sun and the light it emits to the earth are the symbols of the Love and Wisdom of the Father, and of the life it gives to the earth and all upon it (and to us as humans). Darkness and night, as opposed to the light of day, are symbolic of evil against good, lies against truth, hate against love, judgment against forgiveness, death against life, et cetera, ad infinitum.

People’s interpretation of the symbolic significance of any object or living organism can, of course, differ widely. Yet, occasionally they share a common feeling when they observe or experience a phenomenon of nature. To me, for instance, an eagle soaring in the sky, higher and still higher, is symbolic of our own striving after that which is more lofty and honourable. As a student, I have often on weekends traveled between Stellenbosch and our farm near Vredendal. One Sunday afternoon I was, as usual, on my way back to Stellenbosch. While driving slowly through a mountainous area somewhere between Clanwilliam and Citrusdal, a giant black eagle suddenly, as if from nowhere, swerved in, right ahead of the bakkie. Its wingspan seemed just as wide as the bakkie. While the eagle was, for a second or two, flying in front of and a little above the bakkie, I saw its talons right in front of the windscreen – they seemed as large as the hands of an adult male. Then it swerved up and away. I was startled but at the same time deeply moved by this experience. I was impressed by its exceptional dexterity and gracefulness when it swerved up and away. That it was flying so close to me, had an enchanting effect. For a long time afterwards I could vividly recall this experience, and at times was wondering about the strange coincidence that the black eagle appeared before me at that precise instant and spot.

After this incident there were quite a number of occasions when I was strangely gripped by the appearance of eagles. The effortless way they were soaring through the sky struck a deep chord in me every time. It symbolized my striving for something higher, something sublime, something noble and holy, something lovely beyond description, and yet dwells within myself. On another occasion a giant black eagle with the female alighted on the branch of a tree in front of my old office window, barely fifteen meters away. They sat looking directly at me, even when I walked closer. After a long while they flew away.

Thus will those who are receptive for it, often be touched emotionally by what occur and what they perceive in nature. In similar manner, we receive veiled messages that something deeper lies hidden behind what is visible, and that something great and miraculous awaits us.

3. HEAVENLY LIGHT

Since the middle of 1999 I have had, on a regular basis, spontaneous so-called out of body experiences, without actively seeking after it. During some of these I experienced that I was flying through the air, but in another dimension than what is known to us. Mostly, these experiences occurred while I was deeply relaxed, e.g. just before I was falling into sleep, or just waking up. During these experiences I was aware of being outside of my body. Therefore I knew that I was more than my body, and that another dimension exists beyond our sensory perception. During these experiences I was usually feeling a violent vibration throughout my body, as if all the energy inside me was set in motion.

However, what I experienced on October 26, 1999, was something completely different. It was not like a dream; it was most real, more evident and clear than reality as we know it. What made this experience different and exceptional, was the presence of a heavenly sensation and light. This experience was more distinctly real and more vivid than even the familiar and normal state of being wide-awake during daytime.

During this specific experience I find myself in the center of a large battlefield – like one from World War I or II. Bombs are exploding and bullets flying all around. In the midst of darkness it is a fearsome experience. Every explosion close by is ear- shattering. My three small children are with me. I am delirious with fear for their safety, feeling powerless to protect them. The next instant a whole series of explosions occur, causing total confusion, with everyone scattering in different directions. I lose sight of the children. Worried to death, I run from one entrenchment to the other, frantically searching for them, calling to them repeatedly, almost out of my mind with anxiety and fear for their safety. Suddenly I find them, all three of them together in a trench, unscathed.

Overcome with joy and relief, I hug them close to my heart, we huddle together. At that moment a bright white light appears.

Suddenly all is quiet and all danger gone. When the light appeared, I hear the’ clear tinkling of little bells and indescribable heavenly music. At the same moment I experience a sensation of love beyond description. . . , of being sheltered in absolute safety . . . ,of security . . ., surpassing all understanding. I see myself, as if I am looking at us from the very angle of that Ight. I see the children’s faces tightly next to mine. I feel an overwhelming love. I thank the Father from my heart, for this love and this message which I understand to mean: to love Him, to love them, to love myself and to practice love for others, is the most important thing of all. There is nothing whatever so important as to love and to cherish love. This event is so indelibly engraved in my mind that I can still recall it, and all the accompanying emotions, with intense clarity.

4. HEAVENLY EXPERIENCE

On December 15, 1999, the most exceptional and unspeakably wonderful event of my of my entire life occurred. We were staying at my parents’ house in Lambert’s Bay. That afternoon, at approximately three or four ’o clock, I went to our room alone to rest awhile. It is impossible to describe this experience adequately in words; but seeing that words are the only means to be used, I will try to explain it as follows:

It was as if I was, for the first time in my life, truly awake. It was clearer and more intense than anything I have ever experienced. I found myself within a field of light. It seemed as if I was standing high upon a mountain, looking down. The entire valley below me, reaching up to my feet, was covered with the most beautiful, purest and whitest clouds. This field of clouds expanded into infinity in all directions. They were not ordinary clouds. They seemed to be alive and moving like a living sea of light. There was one predominant sense impression / emotion / sensation: the intense awareness of the greatest, purest love imaginable. These clouds were a living sea of love and light. It was in me; it moved like waves within me and right across the boundless plain of clouds around me, from here into infinity – it was everywhere. It was exquisite and indescribably beautiful. I was present in the midst of that living, undulating and luminous sea of love – part of it, and one with it.

The only way I may attempt to give and impression of the grandeur and intensity of this heavenly love is as follows: When you think of someone who you love very much, like a child or someone close to you, then the mere image or memory of that person will fill your heart with love, especially when you picture that person in childhood. Imagine yourself tightly hugging that precious little body. You feel overcome by the love for that person welling in your heart – that indescribable warm / sad / joyous / tearful / tender feeling. If you could now magnify that sensation ten thousand by ten thousand times – then it would approximate the sensation I experienced. Words are totally inadequate to describe it accurately at all.

I knew this was the field of our Heavenly Father’s boundless love. That is all that ultimately exists. This field of Love is the underlying base / principle of everything: of that which we can see, as well as that which is invisible to us. Spanning this field, was the grandest, brightest and clearest rainbow. It was alive with a gentle vibration of all colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. I perceived that all the colours of the rainbow merge into the purest white.

The following insights were then revealed to me – I cannot explain how it happened, it was as if they were just placed in my memory and in the chambers of my heart. I know this in all certainty and shall remember them forever. (These are applicable to you, even as they are to me):

1. I am a being of light.
2. I am all the colours of the rainbow (i.e. all nuances of life).
3. I am love existing in love. (I was created in and by this Love, I consist o/This field of love, and I exist in this field of Love – this is what I am in my deepest being.)
4. Nothing can ever change this.
5. I am growing towards and returning to the Father (Love), towards what I . . . am. (During this life on earth we are being purified, and by means of trials and tribulation we are instructed as to principles and truth. It is our choice how we respond to these lessons. These choices, as well as our own quest for truth, determine our internal growth.)
6. Everything I do for others, I do for myself. (We are all part of the same Being.)
7. Money or material things are nothing. (In the field of the soul and the spirit material things mean nothing. Matter means nothing. I could see right through matter; it was completely transparent as if not really existing. Underlying everything, this field of love is the sole reality that truly exists – the Source of life.
   
   [Note: Scientists nowadays know that what were previously regarded as solid matter are not solid at all. See the subsequent chapter.]
   
8. To give is what is really important.
9. I should live like a child – in the now.
10. Everything done in love, is blessed.
11. See the light (rainbow) in every person. (Know that this heavenly love / light is present deep within everyone -j irrespective of that person being good or bad as a human being. Although invisible in the physical dimension, it is existent in everyone.)
12. When all the colours of the rainbow merge, the purest white is the result. (All the individual and unique qualities we develop by way of our spiritual growth on earth, in unison bring about the clearest and purist light.)
    
    I do not know for how long this experience lasted; it could have been ten minutes or an eternity – for in that real dimension time as we know it does not exist. At the end of the experience I only knew that what was revealed to me, is the basis and essence of all. I experienced it first-hand. I was so very grateful, and so relieved by what I have learned from this experience. It produced a completely new and enlightening perspective – a deeper insight in what we essentially are. It served to make me realise that our life on earth is merely a temporary learning school. Yet, this learning is most important, in that your soul has the opportunity and freedom to make its own choices and learn from the results. It means an amazing peace of mind to know that the field of Love from which everything flows, is here, with us, always! It is in us an around us, at this very moment, even though we cannot perceive it due to our temporary human condition.

A number of people have also perceived and experienced this uniform sea of light while in a state of mental rapture. A wise Egyptian Greek, Plato, like others from the distant past, testifies to this sea of light in writings left to us. Plato dozed off and found himself awake in a sea of light where he could imagine himself in his thoughts, but could not see himself. During this experience, he had the blissful sensation of being one with the primordial light, which he called the real Deity.

5.DEEPER DIMENSION

On a deeper level than this material world with all its uncertainties and sorrows there exists another dimension, true and pure. | cannot show it to you; it 6 something you can discover for yourself. This is the dimension of our Real Father; the dimension from which we spring and in which we continue to exist, even though we may not be aware of it. On this planet we can rush about as fast and as far as we wish, and gather as much possessions and knowledge as possible, but ultimately everything of a material nature will come to nothing. The “world” where we are living physically is but an illusion; it is only within the limitation our sensory perception that it can be touched, smelled, heard and observed. Even scientists themselves have come to the conclusion that what we call an atom and was considered to be the fundamental building-block of the physical world, in reality consists of a core, called nucleus (in its turn consisting of protons and neutrons) and an electron. This electron is moving around the nucleus at a speed of 960 km per second, and it is this velocity that creates the illusion that an atom is something solid. (The protons and the neutrons are also not just sitting there — they are moving around within the nucleus at a speed of 64 000 km per second!) It was also discovered that the subatomic particles are not particles at all, but waves or vibrations. Vibrations of energy. Nothing essentially solid exists. Nowhere.

The physicist, Fritiof Capra, has described it as follows: “AS we are penetrating even deeper into the essence of matter, nature is showing us no isolated ‘basic building-blocks,’ but rather appears as a complicated web of relations among the various parts of the whole. These relations by necessity always include the observer. The human observer is the final link in the process of observation, and the attributes and nature of any atomic object can only be understood in terms of that object’s interaction with the observer. In atomic physics we can never speak of nature without at the same time speaking of ourselves.”

For instance, the page your are looking at right now, consists of more empty space than page. The electrons within the atoms of the paper are moving at such a speed that, for our eyes, the illusion of solidity is created. If all these electrons should suddenly stop moving, the page would suddenly vanish before your eyes. These are hard scientific facts, not metaphysical nonsense. Anyone wishing to consult scientific sources in this regard will find confirmation of this. What you are reading at this moment, is vibrating energy creating the mere illusion of a sheet of paper or a computer screen. These
vibrations are, however, invisible to us, because our senses are not capable to observe vibrations at such a high tempo.

The same applies to that which you are now sitting, standing or lying upon, everything in the room you are now finding yourself, indeed, everything you have ever touched, heard,
seen, tasted or smelled. It also applies to your own body. What is keeping these immensely fast revolving protons, neutrons and electrons of your body together? It is the underlying, deeper, invisible, miraculous indescribable, inconceivable and sacred dimension of our Father. | do not understand all the trials, hardships or crises we have to suffer in the course of life on earth; but | do know that in the course of this life we have to turn back to our Father before the protons, neutrons and electrons stop revolving — which will indeed occur when our transitory life on earth comes to an end. Now is the time to choose consciously to get your relationship with the father in order, to put it right. Thus we read in Matthew 16:26: “To what avail shall it be for anyone if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what shall he give in exchange for his soul? ” There are a lot of things we need to sort out, for this
reason that everyone of us, to some extent, and in some way or other, has been affected by what is wrong and evil in this world. You have to find the way to the Father; you have to walk your own straight and narrow path. To find Him, we have to become truly humble and sincere, and follow the teachings
He gave us through Jesus. The Father already knows the most intimate depths of your heart, far better than yourself. When you seek for answers, sincerely and persistently, they will be granted to you. As someone with many failings, | wish to share with you what follows: What I have personally experienced in- my own quest for the spiritual dimension of our Father.

6.THE LOWEST TURNING POINT

It is said that people at the age of 40 or thereabouts are usually going through some or other crisis or “menopause,” or whatever you wish to call it. In April 2004, inexplicably, I was feeling desolate and lost. The quest for truth in which I was perpetually engaged, has caused me to feel a very low ebb – where I was desperately wishing not to be. I now understand that it was just part of my cleansing process, and that you have to arrive at the very lowest point in order to learn true humility. I had the feeling that all the books I have studied were completely worthless. Deep within me something was lacking. I could not explain this feeling, but it was very strong. 

People close to me know that I have always been searching for answers to the deeper issues in life, such as faith, for instance, and therefore I was doing a lot of reading. I was especially interested in the way we are creating (achieving goals) out of nothing, and in healing. I was feeling more and more “lost” and lacking a sense of direction; not a single book I was reading made much sense. I was also aware of certain things in my life which I was struggling to get rid of, knowing well they were holding me back from being close to my Heavenly Father. All the time, there was that longing within me – the longing we all have, because essentially we are yearning to go Home. With a friend, I twice went to Emile, who is doing missionary work in Israel, but was then staying in Wellington. During the second visit, I felt an overpowering need to confess my sins. While he was praying for me, I came out with everything. My heart felt broken, and I was weeping like a child. During the prayer I delivered up all my sin and sorrow to the Father through Jesus. After that I was relieved, feeling light and free from all burdens. Emile remarked that while he was praying he perceived that I was going to help other people break free from their harmful obsessions. It is not easy to try and describe these experiences accurately to someone else, because people’s spiritual experiences differ greatly. For me, the deep gratitude that I am feeling towards the Father, is indescribable. I feel as if I was dead, and now am alive again. I am free from worrying. Much more was am involved during this period in my life, which I do not mention there; for instance, I have learned true humility and sincerity. This period was a turning-point in my life. 

7.QUEST FOR TRUTH
In my quest for truth, exceptional and seemingly strange coincidences and events occurred. One morning, after having prayed, searching for answers, I opened my Bible, 1 Samuel 9:9 caught my eye: “. . . ‘Come, let us go to the seer,’ for the prophet of today used to be called a seer.” Suddenly I remembered the small name-plate with a website address that I have noticed a few times as an ad on lamp posts: www.siener.co.za. I just knew I should proceed with my search at this address. This has led me to illuminating truths contained in publications such as “Die Boek van Herinnering,” [printed in Afrikaans translated the title means “The Book of Remembrance.” – it is the old, original Bible] and “The New Revelation of John,” as written by Jakob Lorber. 

“The Book of Remembrance” was compiled and printed by Dirk van Vuuren, a South African who, under challenging circumstances, completed this mammoth task. He also undertook the translation and printing of Jakob Lorber’s works in Afrikaans. 

Jakob Lorber was an Austrian who, from 1840 onwards, has written down several messages he received. He was a very humble person, and in the course of 25 years, Jesus (YaHWeshua or JaHshua according to original writings) dictated to him hese truths, word-by-word, by means of the inner word (inner voice). These books had remained concealed for more than 160 years – even throughout both world wars. The adjacent buildings were leveled to the ground by bombs, but the small building where these writings were stored for safe keeping, remained intact. This is only one of the many remarkable episodes concerning these writings. More information about these books in Afrikaans can be seen at www.siener.co.za; and for the books in English www.j-lorber.com/English/ These books are published by the Jakob Lorber Foundation, and are titled “The New Revelation of John.” Reading these books, written as communicated by Jesus Himself, as one with the Father (i.e. as He Himself speaks), has helped me getting to know the Heart of the Father – His Love, Humaneness, Wisdom and His Will for us.

Jesus had also predicted these revelations during His sojourn on earth, in the following words: [Quotes from “The New ort Revelation of John,” Book 4, p.254] 

“Yet none of this knowledge will get lost if; as from this moment, a thousand and not quite another thousand years done should pass, and My teachings be almost completely buried under matter most foul, then I will again raise men who will be verbally write down everything that has taken place and has to now been discussed between you and Me, and will share it with the world by means of a great book, opening the eyes of many!” 

[P. 255:] “This, my friend, does not come to pass by way of secret information, but through words spoken publicly, pats perfectly audible for every physical ear! But it is something completely different to hear the secret, inner words coming from My heart into the heart of him who hears it within himself; for that to happen, there should already be a range of specifically prepared people who are capable to endure inwardly the omnipotence and boundless power of My Word!” [End of citations] 

What convinced me that I was going in the right direction, was ben not only what I have read, but the accompanying physical experiences as well. Concerning these, up until the time of writing this, I have written down in my journal 23 exceptional experiences, although there have been many more, not put down in writing. I mention just a few of them: 

On 27/05/2004 in Wellington: Early in the morning I woke up and was praying while still lying in bed. I experienced a very strong vibration in my body, accompanied by a brightly shining on light and an overpowering love within and around me. I became aware of a tall, pure white, radiant and loving Figure in loan front of me; I was feeling as if this was an encounter with Jesus. Afterwards I was so filled with gratitude, I can still remember it vividly.

On 7/08/2004 at the farm Noordhoek, on a mountain near Calvinia: I woke up feeling very restful and at peace. The next instant I was clearly observing myself wandering around, a destitute and lost soul among grey and dark clouds on the plains. I was feeling totally lost. Then I realized – distinctly and clearly: I was created from the Father and am one with Him. I prayed: “Father, your will be done.” A remarkable tranquility and peacefulness came upon me. I was sensing His presence. I felt new energy flowing upwards from my feet and through my legs – a pleasurable sensation. Looking up, I saw a light shining brightly through a window. Smiling, I just surrendered myself. I was being drawn into a big bath with lily-white tiles and pleasantly hot water, clear as crystal. A little boy was in the bath with me – one of my own children. He was cheerfully playing in the water, happily babbling without a break. I was being gently drawn through the water while the little boy kept his arms around my neck. It felt as if I was being baptized. I was feeling at peace, not worrying about anything. I thanked the Father, aware that I was awake all the time. 

That morning I told my family about the experience. This was almost like the story of the prodigal son. It is also my story and the story of everyone of us. Now I am not lost anymore. While I am physically still dwelling in this earthly dimension, in spirit and soul I am anchored in Him by His Word, His Mercy and His Love. I thank you, my Heavenly Father.

Early morning on 16/09/2004, Noordhoek: The previous evening I was feeling very frustrated and rebellious. I have reflected a lot about the mysteries of the Bible and their meaning. Everything seemed like a riddle to me. Why does it have to be like that? I was feeling tired and discouraged and went to bed. Early morning I started praying while still lying in bed. I asked the Father to please help. I kept on praying. Eventually I just surrendered, saying: “Your will be done.” Suddenly His loving presence was with me, and I was feeling the vibrations and warm light of love in me, especially in my upper body. I experienced great joy and the deepest possible gratefulness welled up in me! I only felt gratitude and peace. knew the Father is in control, and everything will go according to His plan, in spite of my own uncertainty about what the future holds. I was just grateful that His peace was within me again. I just want to always keep it that way.

While I was searching for answers about what the Bible is really all about and why it sometimes sounds so nonsensical and absurd, the following answer, among others, emerged. My friend and one of my mentors, Dr. Rudi Buys from Rustenburg phoned me and told me to read in 1 Corinthians 1 (this was in connection with something else we were discussing.) Verse 2 caught my eye: “As God in His wisdom ordained, the world failed to know Him by means of its own wisdom. Instead, Goo decided to save those who believe, by means of the folly of the Gospel.”

Erudition and cleverness cannot help you to arrive at true knowledge of that which is really important. That can only be accomplished by applying the two greatest commandments of the Father: Love, honour and worship Him alone, and love your fellow-man as yourself. What is furthermore needed are sincere humility, truthfulness and patience – but above all we should love the Father and each other in all sincerity, with the love of a child. It is then that the Spirit of the Father awakens within us, and we are being instructed from within, in the chambers of the heart. This alone is the source of true knowledge: that which springs from the Spirit of the Father within us.

Many more experiences and dreams I had are not mentioned here. What was characteristic of some of these was a fine vibration of light which I could physically feel flowing through me. I also experience sometimes, especially when I am praying, a sensation like a tickling on top of my head. It almost feels like something or someone lightly touching the ends of your hair, especially close to your crown. Sometimes, usually when not expecting it, I also get clear thoughts or insights as if they are coming directly from my heart. I usually write them down immediately, or else, spontaneously express them. Because each one of us is a unique human being, each has different spiritual experiences. What is the the same with everyone, however, is genuine love.

8. LOVE IN YOUR HEART

How can I even try to describe the most noble and sublime of and all emotions? The love for the Father and my fellow-man that w has been awakened in me over a period of ime, I can best attempt to describe as follows: Think of someone you love in the extreme – your wife, your child, your brother or sister, your mother of father, or anyone as dear to your as your nearest family; imagine then your compassion when that beloved person should be in severe stress or pain, or the exact opposite should experience the greatest joy or relief; and you hold on to that compassion inside you, then you evoke love. That emotional mix of joy and sorrow, perhaps even including the ingredient of some tears you do not always know whether they are tears of joy of sorrow! You only wish with all your heart to be close to that beloved person. The love for the Father is somewhat like that, only much more intense, accompanied by the deepest gratitude, reverence and respect. This is the only way I can describe it. 

When compassion for someone stirs up in me, I am often deeply moved, and I also project that love in my heart towards the Father. At times it just happens spontaneously, at others I consciously make it happen by thinking of the Father, always with the highest respect and deeply grateful. When it happens spontaneously, it usually occurs while I inwardly become quiet. By merely thinking of the Father, love is welling in my heart – I cannot and do not wish to prevent it! It is a feeling of unity and communication without words. This love is at everyone’s disposal, you just have to evoke it in your heart. And this can the easiest be accomplished by doing something unselfishly for your fellow-man in need of help. The gratitude projected from that person towards you, or merely knowing that of yourself you have done something really good, something divine in the small proportion of being human – that is which will arouse love and gentleness in your towards your fellow- man as well as everyone around you. For our salvation, it is vital to awaken love inside us, because only when we have love in our hearts the Father’s Spirit can be awakened in us, and only then can He teach us from within, and only then we can begin to understand, the magnitude of His grace and our real purpose. That is why the Father, through Jesus, taught us to be loving and kind to our neighbour, because it awakens love inside us. And He went all the way to bring us back to Him, He paid the highest price for us. Through His grace, when we follow His commandment, we will be re-united with the Most High Love.

9. THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE – THE GREAT REWARD

At this moment you are finding yourself within your physical body on planet earth. Exactly how you have arrived here, is not of relevant now, just try to understand that your are destined for a higher goal than this life. The intention behind this is that you ort should awaken your soul by means of the right and proper view of life and the right conduct, so that your soul and Spirit (which is one with the Father) can awaken and develop into an independent child of the Father. 

You have been born here, and have undertaken to forget where you come from, so that your earthly experience might serve as a genuine school of life and an opportunity for real growth. It is almost like going to a movie: Even before you enter, you know that there are actors and film cameras that recorded it; you also know that a lot of separate scenes have been edited to form one continuous and coherent film; and that everything your are watching is determined by the original text of the script writer. The film did not come into being simply at random. Nonetheless, you surrender yourself to this unreal farce; for the duration of the film you deliberately suspend your disbelief, and you usually become absorbed in the story. You do not know everything that is going to happen and how the film will end, but as the story proceeds, you are forming your own conclusions. You often identify with some of the actors, perhaps with the main character or the hero(ine) of the story. His/her experiences almost become your own- as if you have actually become that person, and all the joys and sorrows portrayed are yours. 

In a similar manner we might envisage our existence here on earth. If there is indeed a great Author who has already written the complete script, and has done so in the best interest of the main character – you! – then surely it is clear that you need not worry yourself to death about the final outcome. Unless it is part of the script that at a stage you will be in mortal agony only for the sake of the development and liberation of your soul! In the course of this, your life’s story, certain events and circumstances were designed on purpose to create the best scenario to instruct and purify your soul. Viewed from the angle of a still unenlightened human, having to cope with the very real experience of life on this earth, it is all too understandable that you will try to avoid any kind of hardship at all costs. You have been conditioned, after all, by what is equivalent to a sinister conspiracy, hatched by this world, to believe that material things like money, power and prestige are most important. 

The great “powers” of the world or so-called “Illuminati” who are controlling the immense power of money, also control by some of the biggest churches, governments, public institutions, educational systems, television networks and companies. Almost everything initiated by these worldly oriented powers is intended to enslave people – not literally in chains, but slaves in a figurative sense who “have” to work from eight to five each day, or working irregular – some right through the night – all this for the sake of money. Not that there is anything wrong with working as such – on the contrary. “Labour ennobles,” the saying goes. But the problem is that we have been drawn in by this worldly conspiracy to such an extent that we are not longer able to distinguish the wood from the trees. We are “selling” our souls in exchange for the proverbial plate of lentil soup of worldly progress, prestige, pleasure and material survival. 

We have become so conditioned by the world and by physical, materialistic survival that we are grossly neglecting the soul and the spiritual aspect which ultimately are all that really matters! Compared to this, what kind of work is really important? 

The following citation from Book 5 of Jakob Lorber (ch.73,p.187) clearly shows what Jesus taught people in this regard: 

[Start of citations] 

[par. 9] “I say unto you: Wherever and whenever someone has really worked for the salvation of his soul, there and then he has unselfishly also wrought the best and highest and most genuine work; indeed, to be occupied in the good and proper manner for the well-being and salvation of the soul, totally excludes all selfish activities, just as selfishness and self-love totally exclude the love for Elohim (God, the Father, the Most High) and the fellow-man.” 

[10] “Whoever takes care of his body in earthly fashion, is seeking the treasures of this world, is busying himself with matter, and is thus burying his soul in condemnation and death. Even though such a person should, with dough and mattock, have toiled in the field all day long, so diligently that towards the evening he has properly bathed in his own sweat, he would nonetheless, compared to what I call labour, be a time-thief, a lazy servant as far as the field of Elohim’s Kingdom is concerned.” 

[11] “For whoever does not work in his spirit for the true goal Elohim has set for him, as is just and fair for him to do according to what was ordained by Elohim, most certainly does neither work for the temporal and eternal well-being of his fellow-man; does not consider it worth the trouble to seek Elohim and get to know Him more closely; neither does he exert himself for the salvation of his fellow-man, or, if doing anything at all for him, he does it for his own sake, intending that his fellow-man, in one way or the other, might be of service to him many times more than the single good thing he has done for him. ” 

[End of citations] 

Note well: The Master does not say that you should not do any earthly work. What He does say, is that the development of your soul and spirit is the most important according to His order, and therefore our primary responsibility. 

We will not find unity with the Father in any kind of earthly security, and conversely, true security is nowhere to be found outside of Him. We will not find Him in any “building,” meaning in any institution or doctrine created by humans. We can solely find Him on our own being alone in the open plains of sincerity, honesty and receptiveness. There we can find Him within ourselves when our emotions, thinking and doing are in accordance with His decrees. 

All our deviation and suffering on the road to our great and final goal – they are all part of the story. Each one of us grows up with a certain kind of upbringing which has also been orchestrated beforehand, and in this way one’s character is being developed – good or bad, and mostly a combination of both. Full of inherent failings we enter the school of life. Maybe you are overcome by one disaster or crisis upon the other, perhaps you are being cruelly ill-treated, or illness or financial crises or the loss of a beloved relative has befallen you. On a higher level of which we are unaware in this earthly dimension, there are souls working together in helping each other to have these growth experiences. All of this is directed towards one single goal: to purify and refine your soul towards spiritual maturity. 

Your have a free choice how to respond in every situation. Initially, and often over a long period of time, we make the same mistakes, time and again. In this way we are learning valuable lessons, and in this process precious growth takes place and we begin thirsting for truth. When we are spiritually (and often physically as well) down and out; when we learn to be truly humble and are repentant about the bad choices we have made, then our hearts become receptive to hear the true message of our Heavenly Father. It is then we hear (i.e. feel in our hearts, our emotional soul-being) that we spring from the Father, the Great Love, and that we carry in ourselves the seed or spark of this Great Love. We awaken this Love within us when, in our emotional being (our soul), we arrive at true understanding and begin to keep the commandments of the Father moved by love, not by fear. 

Note well: What is the goal of the Father? To force His creatures by means of hardship and iron rules, to become His followers, slavish and in a uniform way? Not at all! Why would He do that while being the Almighty, having legions of angels at His disposal? No, there is much more behind this story. Out of love He created us, giving us the opportunity to become full- grown children of Him by means of the development of our own unique personalities; and to do this, He is allowing us to go through uncertainty, hardship and trial, so that we ourselves may bring about this development by means of our own independent and free thought and decisions! When you have children of your own, would your want them to be mere clones of yourself, doing exactly what you do, thinking like you, and feeling the same as you? Decidedly not! 

On the contrary, I precisely wish each of them to develop his or her own, unique personality, but I wish them as well to honour me as their father of their own free will, and to live according to the proper order I have taught them, for their own good and that of all around them. 

Each of us has his own story which, taken together, form one GREAT story. Do you have a free choice concerning what happens in your story and how it will end? h my opinion, one has to try and understand this issue from the perspective of the great paradox (apparent contradiction). In his ripe old age, Winston Churchill has pondered over this for a long time, and then reached his conclusion, more or less in the bllowing words: “After long reflection and careful consideration on the issue of free will and predestination, I have come to the following conclusion. . . they are one and the same.” For our human reason this is strange and not logical, but I too suspect that this is indeed the case. For the Heavenly Father nothing is impossible. He does not interfere with our free will. It is we ourselves who decide what we bring about by our words and deeds, whether it be good or evil. 

-He has taught us to pray: “Your will be done here on earth” (the natural in us) “as it is in heaven” (the spiritual in us). We thus have to bring about a convergence between the natural in us (your soul) and the spiritual in us (your spirit). Spirit refers to the imperceptible, deeper field of light and love existing deep within us in a “place” that is actually no place, but is everywhere, as I have previously attempted to describe by the limited means of words, in the chapter headed Heavenly experience. Soul refers to the created “you,” the human being with a consciousness, emotions and thoughts of its own, dwelling within a temporal, physical body, but which is not the body itself. 

The body is equipped with a physical brain, which is actually like a means of programming and a filter for the soul, almost similar in function to the sending and receiving mechanism of a two-way radio. The brain is in control of your physical body, which is the “temple” you are inhabiting. 

Quote: “… so you see that I do not create what is evil; I do not arrange in a specific order the opposite of all positive spiritual qualities in the world; no, they are taking shape themselves, by means of My and My creation’s unique and great physical law, that is, by means of the great freedom of the word.” [Quote from the writing of Gottfied Mayerhofer: ‘Secrets of creation‘ page 91] 

In the course of our life story we normally allow, consciously as well as unconsciously, our earthly “temple” to be polluted by the conditioning process of the world and by our own bad choices in our thinking and acting. We often make decisions and do things that are wrong, as if it were inevitable – although we have total freedom of choice, and could choose not to do so. 

How does it happen? That is the great paradox, the puzzling image we see in the mirror. This is impossible to understand in our earthly dimension, before one day being fully awakened in the spirit. The Father’s purpose is that you should develop into His independent child, entirely equal to Him, a new Creator in unity with Him – this is the great reward.

10. IN QUETNESS AND TRUST SHALL BE YOUR STRENGTH

In my quest for truth the answer concerning inner “quietness” was granted to me repeatedly. How often do we experience turbulence in our hearts, or restlessness, worry, confusion, or discord? In the life of practically every person this occurs almost daily – it is only the degree that differs. What would be the percentage of every day that we find ourselves in one or more of these states of mind? When you think carefully about your own situation and look at the average person, you will have to admit that the “normal” person is probably spending the greatest part of the day in some sort of disquiet. We are being occupied and often kept rushing about for reasons of worries, illness, personal personal conflicts, unpaid accounts, frustrations, problems, planning, marketing, deadlines, exams, children… you name it. And meanwhile, another day of your brief sojourn on earth has passed. On September 7 and 8 of 2004, the message “Be still” was given to me repeatedly. 

First of all, I received an e-mail from Canada, from my friend and mentor, Dr. Rudi Buys. However, because of a lot of things keeping me occupied or causing interruptions, I had no opportunity to open it and read his message on that day. 

Later in the day, my friend Nico dropped in and said that, for spiritual progress, peace and quiet in one’s mind is needed in order to be conscious of the Father’s presence. 

Early the next morning I picked up an issue of the Landbouweekblad magazine (dated 3 Sept. 2004). It just fell open at page 78. I started reading the column by Kobus van der Westhuyzen under the heading: “There is depth in stillness.” In this column he wrote that, standing at the Victoria Falls where the mass of water is tumbling over the big rocks, one only hear the loud, thundering roar of the water. When you go a little way downstream where the river flows underneath a bridge, the water is quiet and deep. There is depth in stillness, he wrote, and we should apply this principle in our lives. In Scripture (1 Kings 19:11-13) we read that the prophet Elijah was urgently in need of the Father’s help, while he was fleeing from Jezebel (who is a symbol of the spirit of seduction and idolatry). He fled into the desert and went hiding in a cave, waiting upon the Father. A strong wind roared through the mountains, followed by an earthquake and a raging fire. 

Through none of these he could find the Father, but after the turbulence had passed, he could hear the inner whisper of the Father’s voice in the sudden calm. 

Right after I have read the column in the magazine, I at last opened the e-mail of Rudi Buys. In it, he told me to read Isaiah 30. In verse 15 I was reading: “Thus spoke the Lord my God, the Holy One of Israel: In repentance and rest shall be your salvation, in quietness an trust shall be your strength.” 

There is no such thing as mere coincidence. When you are seriously searching for answers, they will come to you. 

Much of what I have learned of the value of being quiet, is due to my earlier involvement with sound technology. To help people focus on an objective or concentrate while studying, in memorizing data or enhance their ability in problem-solving, computer-generated sound harmonics are used to help change the rhythms of one’s brain waves in order to induce a more relaxed brain state. It works almost like music, but is more effective. Research and practical experience have shown that there are brain wave frequencies or states ideal for specific tasks like concentration or the visualising of a certain end result. Your brain waves are slight voltage changes causing impulses between the neurons. This is occurring all the time. Whenever you are thinking or feeling something, the polarity of a group of neurons is changing simultaneously. 

Scientists are able to measure these voltage changes. A neuron at rest measures a polarity of minus 80 millivolt; when one is thinking or feeling something, it jumps to plus 40 millivolt. While this is occurring continiously, the frequency is constantly varying at the same time. Frequency is measured in units of cycles per second, also called Hertz. 

It is important to realize that one’s state of mind and tension level have an enormous impact on these frequencies. When, for instance, one is very tense, the frequencies are faster; this is called a high Beta-condition. (A normal Beta-condition occurs when predominant brain wave frequencies are between 14 and 40 Hertz.) When one is more restful and relaxed, the frequencies slow down accordingly. Being lightly relaxed can measure somewhere in the Alpha-condition (between 7 and 14 Hz); when deeply relaxed (between 4 and 7 Hz), it is called the Theta-condition; and when asleep, the predominant brain wave frequencies are in the region of only 4 Hz. 

All these frequencies are simultaneously present, but one’s condition or state of mind is being influenced by your average brain wave tempo, and vice versa. Doctors can monitor these frequencies when one is connected to a so-called electro- encephalograph (EEG). In the course of our own informal research in this field I have subjected myself to the measuring of this brain wave rhythm. These tests were carried out with the help of technicians of the neurological section at Tygerberg Hospital. It is instructive to observe how one’s brain wave rhythms accelerate when you are tense. During this test I was just starting to relax when on of the spotlights the cameraman was using, exploded. Immediately the turbulence in the brain waves could be observed on the print-out of the EEG-machine. You could also clearly see how the waves became smaller and calmer the deeper your level of relaxing became. 

Why is this so important? In order to experience spiritual growth, you have to learn to quiet your mind and to turn “inwards,” without being dominated all the time by the bustle and worries of life. There are scientifically based reasons why it is essential to be at peace when turning inwards – in search of answers or to pray. Research as well as practical experience indicate that a lower tempo of the brain waves, in other words a more relaxed condition, brings about an improved flow of information between the two halves or hemispheres of the brain, through the so-called corpus callosum (the information channel between between the two hemispheres). Cerebral functions like creativity and memory improve, and it becomes easier to think clearly about a problem or the see the broader picture. The higher the level of tension, and thus the brain wave rhythms, the more the arteries in the brain contract and become blocked, and consequently, the more “turbulent” the brain becomes. That explains why students sometimes “strike a complete blank” when subjected to the stress of an exam. In spite of knowing the subject matter well, they cannot recall it under conditions of stress. The moment they leave the examination room and start relaxing, the communication channel “opens up” and they can again recall what they know. 

The value or a quiet state of mind can also be illustrated as follows: Imagine yourself standing on a rock by the seaside with the sea very rough and turbulent, and the waves breaking with an incessant roar around you. Suppose you pick up a small stone and throw it into the foaming mass of water – will you see anything? You will hardly notice any effect of the stone on the water. With all the turbulence, the effect of even a much bigger stone would hardly be noticeable. But standing at the same spot when the sea is calm and flat, the ripple effect of a small stone thrown into the water would be clearly visible. Your brain can be compared to the sea. When searching for answers, praying, or wishing to hear the Word of the Father, it is essential that your brain should be calm and quiet. 

When the pressure and anxiety of the materialistic struggle for survival, the restless pursuit of money and power, and so forth, cause your brain to be turbulent, you cannot hear or understand the Father. But when you are quiet and at peace, then your heart and mind is open and receptive for that which your soul is searching. 

When you are looking down at the surface of turbulent water, you will not be able to see the reflection of your face; the incessant movement and rippling cause that image to be totally distorted and out of focus. But when you are looking down at the surface of calm water, smooth like a mirror, your reflected image will be distinct and clear. Similarly, when we sit down quietly, secluding ourselves from the noise and bustle of the material world only then we can focus our inner emotions and thoughts on the Most High. Then we can achieve that inner awareness of the Father’s love and hear His voice. 

Even while writing down these words, I realize the futility of trying to explain to someone, by means of mere words, precisely what the inner awareness of the Father’s love and His voice involves. You will have to go and practice it yourself – seek the Father in the quietude yourself. If not, it will be like someone who can see, trying to explain to a blind person, who has never seen daylight, what sunlight looks like. It is impossible. Only by doing it yourself, by going to seek for yourself, in sincerity and humility, you will be able to experience it. And you can! He has breathed life into you, the spark of His Spirit is present in your soul too! 

In the Bible too, it says: “Be still and know that I am God.” In a state of mind where inner peace and quiet rule, we can, like Elijah, sense His presence like a whisper in the calm after the storm. In the message my friend Rudi Buys has sent me on the 7th of September 2004, he has also included the following: (When you are reading the Word, it is essential to become quiet in your heart and mind. And do not read in a mere cursory manner, but read attentively, really absorbing it): 

John 14:18 
I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, desolate, bereaved, forlorn, helpless]; I will come [back] to you. (Source:Amplified Bible) 

John 14:27 
Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] 

2 Kor 12:9 
But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! 

11. THE HIGHEST IDEAL – A MESSAGE OF HOPE

What is your highest ideal? Most people do not have a clear ideal or goal. When one should inquire about it, most will give vague answers like: “Just to be happy,” “to be with my family,” “to be financially independent,” “to be without debts,” “to have a lot of money in the bank,” and so forth. For most people it will be a combination of the above. 

Deep in our hearts we know that there is something much more important than what is happening in the world around us. Even if your are not consciously aware of it, this knowing is somewhere in your subconscious mind. At times, when you are marveling at a magnificent sunrise or sunset, or at the stars on a clear night, or a beautiful flower, or when your child gives you a special smile or a warm hug, you feel the stirring inside that there is something very special at the bottom of all that. William Blake once wrote: “I have felt a sense sublime, whose dwelling is in the light of setting suns…” 

This stirring within is the soul’s awareness of her origins – that she is hailing from a place or dimension that it indescribably beautiful and good, yes, out of Love itself. Within the soul there is the spark or small seed of the Father’s Spirit. When your soul (you yourself) of its own free will awakens in you this love for the Father and the people around you, this small seed germinates, and the small spark becomes a flame of love, blazing up ever higher and brighter. Your soul unites with the Father’s Spirit, and you truly become a child of the Father. This is the highest ideal anyone can strive for. 

The material world and everything in it is nothing more than the temporal manifestation of the Father’s will. Once you fully realize this truth, would you then still think and act in the same way as before? Most certainly not! You would be strongly motivated (fired up!) to search for answers about the hereafter and the spiritual dimension. But where would you find the answers? Unless you are truly driven to search for truth and to change your life, you will simply remain in your present condition – like most people do. In that case, the “status quo” by which you are so fatally conditioned, will emerge as winner. It is much easier just to carry on with your life as it is and not rack your brains over the great beyond or things spiritual. That is why it is actually of great advantage to your soul when you have to go through some or other crisis, even if it seems to be the exact opposite; for it has the potential to shake you up for a spiritual awakening. Can you imagine what is going on in the mind of someone, for instance, who is confronted with a terminal disease? Or someone who is suffering severe physical pain? Or a parent who has lost a child. Or a person who has gone bankrupt, losing most of his material possessions? Or someone who has taken one wrong step and has to go to jail? Such a person’s soul experience fear, loneliness, unprecedented grief, self-reproach . . . In extreme cases, people start to believe their situation to be completely desperate, without any hope at all for the future. 

This is the crucible the soul has to pass through and so be purified, the suffering by which you are softened and kneaded like clay – and then moulded anew, and changed, in a process of spiritual growth. This is hard, and often it seems cruel. But its aim is to make the soul look deeply into herself, assisting her in getting cleansed of the wrong programming of the past and preparing her to receive and accept new spiritual insights. All this hardship happening to you is directed and guiding your soul towards deeper insight – although it is so difficult to understand from a human point of view. When your soul attains to new insights, being humble (without true humility it is impossible to discover the love of the Father) and sincere, and voluntarily accepts the truth and teaching of the Father, then she has entered into the order of the Father and is approaching the awakening of the Spirit within her. What does the teaching of the Father involve? To love the Father above all, and to love your neighbour as yourself. By practicing this teaching and through your own inner process of growth, you are being reborn as a new, divine being in your own right – and essentially one with the Father. This is the magnificent gift and opportunity we have received from the Father. In the subsequent section the guidelines are given in the words of Jesus (JahWeshua), as heard and written down by Jakob Lorber. 

12. THE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE

Note concerning the New Revelation of John as written by Jakob Lorber: 

Are these writings to be regarded as trustworthy? That would be the primary reaction of one’s preconditioned brain. Such a lot of false teachings and confusing messages are nowadays being dished up, though mostly with the best intentions, that one is obviously suspicious about a writing like this, presented, moreover, as originating from the Master Himself, and dating from 1840. In reply, all I am asking you is to grant it a fair chance, and to listen to your heart when you are reading it. Ask yourself whether you honestly think that any mere human being would be capable of giving instruction as profound and yet as clear as this. 

But above all, listen to your heart. If this message is meant for you, your soul will recognize it as such. 

It is particularly difficult to make a selection of just certain parts of this work, as it offers such an abundance of valuable insights and lessons. Originally written in German, it has been translated into Dutch, and from Dutch into Afrikaans. I could not establish whether it was published in English, thus we will have to make do with our own rendering in English. This need not be a drawback at all, as everything in this writing is quite clear. Some extracts are given below. 

[The way to eternal life, as reproduced by Jacob Lorber, Book 4,pp.172-186. Originally published by the Jakob Lorber Foundation. Afrikaans translation printed by Ariel Printers, Hartebeespoort.] 

(Note: This message was delivered by Jesus to a large group of His followers during His sojourn on earth. At this occasion He also pointed out to them that the Spirit and wisdom of the Father are present deep down in the soul of everyone, even in those of the most mean and evil criminals or the dregs of society. No single soul can be so corrupted that she is beyond healing. When the soul attains to true understanding, she is healing herself. At this occasion the truth of this was demonstrated to the disciples with the help of a certain Zorel, someone who initially had been an evil and lost person. Jesus Himself is speaking to Zorel, after the latter has already started to perceive the truth about himself and his life on earth. What is said here, specifically applied to Zorel, yet I have inserted it, as I consider it to be a clear and straightforward summary of the Father’s guidelines we should follow in order to find the way to eternal life. The Father is indicated here by the name Elohim.) 

[Commencement of citations]: 

12.1 THE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE 

Ch. 78: But to Zorel’s great surprise and amazement I said to him: “Whoever contritely admits his failings and does penance in true humility of heart, is more precious to Me than ninety nine righteous ones who have never needed to do penance. Therefore, my penitent friend, come to Me now, for in you the true meekness now prevails that is more precious to Me than the disposition of those who are righteous from the very beginning, calling out in their hearts: ‘Hosanna, Elohim in the highest, that we have never desecrated your holy Name through any deliberately committed sin!’ They might call out thus, and they have the right to do so, but that also causes them to look at a sinner with eyes that condemn and to avoid him like the plague.” 

[2] They resemble physicians enjoying radiant health themselves, but are therefore afraid to go where a sick person is calling out for help, fearing that they themselves might become sick themselves. Isn’t that physician then superior and more respectable who is sparing no pains, making haste to go and help every sick person calling to him?! Even though he should at times. become infected himself, he would not be vexed because of it, but would still help the sick person, and himself as well. And doing so is good and proper! 

[3] Therefore come to me now, and I will show you what my disciple could not show you, namely the only true way of life and love, and the true wisdom emerging from love! 

[4] Thanks to these words of Mine, Zorel takes heart and hesitantly comes to Me. 

[5] When he arrived at my side, I said: “Friend, the road leading to the life of the spirit is narrow and full of thorns! This, more or less, means: ‘All the grief and evil and wrong that have befallen you in this life at the hands of others, you will have to meet in all patience and kindness; and if anyone should cause you harm, you are not to do the same in return, but precisely the opposite – then you will be heaping glowing coals upon his head! Whoever hits you, you are not to pay back in the same coin; rather take another blow from him for the sake of peace and harmony between both of you; for peace alone is beneficial for spiritual growth in heart and soul. 

[6] Do not refuse someone who should ask for any service or donation, presuming that the service desired of you does not go against the commandments of Elohim of public law – which you are quite able to determine. 

[7] Should someone ask you for a garment, give him the cloak as well, and he will realize that you are a disciple from the school of Elohim! Realising that, he would not accept the cloak from you; if he does accept it, his perception is still extremely weak; and grieve then, not for the cloak, but because a brother of yours was not able yet to discern the imminence of the reign of Elohim. 

[8] Whoever should request of you to accompany him for one hour, accompany him for two hours, so that your willingness would demonstrate to him the kind of school those belong to who are capable of such a high degree of self-denial! In this manner, even the deaf and blind would clearly perceive that the reign of Elohim is at hand. 

[9] By what you do and how you act, the people will recognize all of you as my disciples. For it is easier to preach the truth than to practice it. To what avail would be the word as such, if it does not become alive by means of action? What would the most beautiful thoughts or ideas mean to you, if you should lack the power ever to put them into practice?! Likewise, beautiful and true words would mean nothing to you if you do not, above all, intend to put them into effect. It is only the action that has value; thoughts, ideas and words are worthless when they are not, in whatever way, put into effect. For that reason, anyone who is good at preaching, should himself also act accordingly; if not, his preaching is worth nothing more than an empty shell!” 

12.2 POVERTY AND NEIGHBOURLY LOVE 

Ch. 79 (The Master): “This world holds a great number of dangers for the soul. On the one hand, there is poverty; the more one is burdened by poverty, the more the soul’s notion of ‘mine’ and ‘yours’ becomes vague. Therefore, if you wish to walk a safe road, see to it that poverty never assume huge proportions among the people!” 

[2] But let those who are already poor, ask what they need from their well-to-do neighbours; and should they meet with hardness of heart, let them turn to Me, and they will be provided for! Poverty of want is no excuse for theft, and far less for killing someone who is robbed! Whoever is poor, now knows to Whom he should turn. 

[3] Indeed, poverty is no mean an affliction to the people, yet it contains in it the noble germ of humility and true modesty; it will therefore always occur among people. And yet, the rich should see to it that it does not spread too widely, or else they are greatly at risk, now, as well as in the hereafter. 

[4] Should there be poor people among you, I say to all of you: You need not provide them with so much as to make them rich as well, but you may not let them suffer any distress! Those whom you see and know to be suffering, you must assist according to what is just and fair! Still, a great many on this big earth will really be appallingly poor and suffering the greatest affliction. You do not know them, however, neither do you hear their groaning; these, therefore, I do not commend to your care, but those only who are known to you and thus will come to you. 

[5] Whosoever among you will prove himself wholeheartedly to be a friend to the poor, to him I shall also be a friend and true brother concerning the temporal as well as the eternal dimension; and he will not have to learn inner wisdom from some other sage, for I shall grant it to him in the fullness of his heart. Whoever will love his poor brother as himself, and will not drive away a poor sister, to whichever tribe he may belong, and of whatever age he may be, to him I shall always come Myself and faithfully reveal Myself. To his spirit, which is love, I shall make it known, and his spirit will fill his soul and mouth with it. Whatever he then will speak or write, shall be spoken and written by Myself for all times. 

[6] The soul of the callous, unfeeling person, however, will be seized by evil spirits and they will put her to ruin and make her equal to the soul of a beast; and like this she will also appear in the hereafter. 

[7] Give gladly and give abundantly, for as you give, likewise you will receive! Someone with an unfeeling heart cannot be pervaded by the light of my mercy; in him darkness will reign, and death in all its horror! 

[8] But a mild and gentle heart will be pervaded quickly and easily by the light of my mercy – which essentially is very gentle itself and I Myself shall then enter a heart like that with all the fullness of my Love and Wisdom. 

[9] Believe this with all your heart! For the words I am speaking to you now, are words of life and light and truth, and an act that was accomplished, the reality of which everyone will experience who follows them diligently. 

12.3 BODILY DESIRES 

Ch. 80 (The Master):”So, poverty we have now discussed, and we have also perceived the risks entailed when its excessive increase is allowed. We have also learned, however, how and why it should be remedied, and what benefits might result when this teaching of Mine, intended for all of you, is being followed. With that, we have brought to a close the discussion of this vexing affliction. We now move on to another matter which at first may seem quite unlike that which we have just dealt with, yet is closely connected to it. This is known as carnal desire.” 

[2] This area is more or less the main breeding ground of evil for all people. Almost all bodily diseases spring from this kind of desire, while mental disorders are certainly to be ascribed to this. 

[3] The human being can deliver himself more easily from any other sin than from his, because the others are occasioned by external reasons, while this kind of evil finds its reasons within itself and in the sinful flesh. You should therefore turn your eyes away from the seductive perils of the flesh, until you have become masters of your bodies! 

[4] Preserve your children from overstepping this threshold and keep them chaste; they will then be able, when grown-up, to control their bodies with ease, and not be seduced at the least occasion; but once caught off guard, the evil spirit of the flesh will have taken possession of the body! No demon is harder to exorcise from a person than the demon of the flesh; only by persistent prayer and fasting can it be cast out. 

[5] Therefore, take great care not to spoil your children, or to arouse their bodily desires by dressing up immodestly or by clothing that is scanty of provoking. Woe to that person who is transgressing in this way against the nature of these little ones! Verily, it would be far better for such a one to have never been born at all! 

[6] Those who sin against the sacred nature of the young, I myself shall chastise with all the power of my wrath! For once the body has been desecrated, the soul no longer has a sound foundation, seriously hampering her perfection. 

[7] How terribly hard it is for a weak soul to restore again the violated body and make it whole and cause the scars to vanish! What anguish she would often suffer when realising how impaired and weakened the body, her habitation on earth, has become! And the cause of this? The bad guidance afforded the children, consequently, the many miseries they had to suffer because of all kinds of pernicious things! 

[8] In the cities, especially, the moral corruption is even worse than in the country. Therefore, once you have become my disciples, draw people’s attention to this and point out to them the multitude of evils resulting from yielding to the flesh at a youthful age. Many will then bear it in mind, and consequently more healthy souls will emerge in whom the spirit will be awakened more easily than in so many cases at present. 

[9] Just look at all those who are blind and deaf, the cripples, the lepers, those who suffer from gout; moreover, look at the children and adults afflicted with various kinds of deformities or other bodily ailments! All of these the result of premature desecration of the body! 

[10] Before his twenty-fourth year the man may not touch a maiden – you know full well what kind of contact is meant – and surely the maiden should be eighteen, or at least fully seventeen; before that time, she is not mature, and may not have intercourse with a man – although in some cases it can occur that a maiden may seem to be mature before that age. If, however, she should come into contact too early with a lustful man, her body will have been desecrated already, and she will become a weak soul, dominated by passion. 

[11] To heal the desecrated body of a man is difficult already but much more so in the case of a young woman whose body has been spoiled prematurely! For, in the first place, it would not be so easy for her to give birth to perfectly healthy children; secondly, week by week she will become more and more lustful, eventually becoming a prostitute, which is a terrible disgrace for humankind – not so much as far as herself is concerned, but rather for those who, through their reckless behavior, caused her to be like that. 

[12] Who to him, however, who should take advantage of the poverty of a young maiden and violate her body! Verily, it would be better for him too never to have been born! But whoever has intercourse with a prostitute, a woman already corrupted, instead of using the proper means to turn her away from her pernicious way and help her onto the straight path, he will one day have to submit to a multiple and severe judgement in My presence; for it is a greater sin to abuse a cripple than to hit someone who is sound in body. 

[13] To have intercourse with a fully mature and healthy woman is a sin too, but since the wrong committed does not entail any specific harmful consequences, especially when both the man and the woman are in good health, only a lesser judgement will be the result. A twofold judgement, however, awaits the man who, filled with lust beforehand, does with a young woman, however mature, the very same as he would to a prostitute, without begetting a living embryo in her womb; should he do the same to a prostitute, however, a tenfold judgement would await him! 

[14] The reason is that a prostitute is a young woman whose evert diy body and soul are complete disrupted and weak. Whoever, being honest in heart an loyal to Me, comes to her rescue in distress, he would one day be held in high. esteem in my kingdom. Whoever, by a disgraceful payment, has intercourse with a prostitute, thereby adding b her depravity, he would one day receive the wage every killer will receive, in the lake of fire prepared for all the demons and their henchmen. 

[15] Woe to every country and woe to every city where prostitution is being perpetrated, and woe to the earth when this great evil should prevail! Over such countries and cities I shall appoint tyrants: They will have to impose upon them such burdens that they will have no profit left, so that all flesh will be famished and so be refrained from the most criminal offence any human being can commit against his poor neighbour! 

[16] But a prostitute will forfeit all honour and esteem, even ser from them who have abused her against disgraceful payment, and, in addition, her body will suffer all kinds of incurable, or hardly curable, and infectious diseases. If there be one, however, who will properly improve herself, I shall again look upon her in mercy! 

[17] Should, however, a lustful man seize at other means of indulging his passions than the bosom of a woman ordained by Me for this purpose, he will hardly ever see My face. Moses has ordered such a person to be stoned, which is a very hard punishment for such crimes and criminals, although they are indeed fully demonic in nature; still, I do not abolish it altogether; I only advise you as a Father to have sinners like these removed from the congregation; first, have them suffer greatly in a place of exile, and only receive them back when they arrive at the borders of the fatherland almost in a state of nakedness; have them then admitted to an institute for spiritual care, and do not let them out of there before they have been completely rehabilitated. If, in the course of a considerable period of time, they have been thoroughly supervised and checked, and have clearly proved to be cured, they may be readmitted into the community. Should they, however, show even the slightest sign of being tempted by lust, it would be preferable to keep them locked up for the rest of their lives – which would be far more beneficial for the unspoiled members of the community than to be pestered by them. 

[18] In this respect, Zorel, you yourself were not quite unblemished either; already as a boy you were possessed of all kinds of impurities, setting a very bad example for your peers. Yet, this can hardly be attributed to you as sin, because you were not brought up in such a way as to learn what is pure and true, and so discern what would be right and proper according to that which Elohim had ordained. The more excellent way you have only started to grasp when learning from a jurist the rights of Roman citizens. Since that time, although no longer a beastly person, you have been twisting the law to the worst degree, cheating your fellow-man wherever possible. But that is all over now, and with your newly acquired understanding you now stand before me as an improved person! 

[19] Notwithstanding all of that, however, I still discern in your quite a lot of carnal lust. I am pertinently drawing your attention to this, advising you to be most diligently on your guard in this respect; for as soon as you are leading an improved life, your carnal nature that is still showing a lot of gaps and far from being fully cured, will once again begin to stir, and then it will cost you the most valiant effort to restrain it and eventually achieve complete cure from the old corruption that is still present there. Be therefore on your guard against every intemperance; for intemperance and excess form the breeding-ground where the seeds of carnal lust lie waiting! So, act in moderation in all things, and beware to be led astray towards intemperance, whether in eating or in drinking; if not, you will only with the greatest difficulty be able to control your flesh! 

[20] And thus we have also covered the domain of carnal desire, inasmuch as you have need of it at present. Subsequently, we will proceed to another issue, one that should also be considered of extreme importance to you! 

12.4 GENUINE GIVING THAT IS PLEASING TO ELOHIM 

Ch. 81 (The Master): “This matter concerns the correct understanding of “mine and ‘yours.’ Moses said ‘You shall not steal!’ and ‘You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbour, excepting that which is in accordance with what is just!'” 

[2] You may, of course, purchase something from your neighbour in an authentic way, and after that possess it as is considered legitimate and honest by all; but depriving your neighbour of something in a clandestine way, would be a sin against the Law of Elohim given to the people through Moses, such conduct being contrary in every way to neighbourly love. For anything you consider to be legally wrong when someone does or would do it to you, you should yourself refrain from doing to your neighbour! 

[3] Larceny mostly originates from self-love, because self- love gives rise to sluggishness, the desire for a pleasant and luxurious life-style, and idleness. These again, cause a certain despondency accompanied by a kind of prideful fear that prevents one prevents one from actually begging for something, as this would be too awkward; instead, one rather proceeds to steal a misappropriate something. Larceny thus has at its root a number of deficiencies, of which a strongly developed self-love appears to be the distinct cause of all the others. This ailment of the soul can, however, be combated quite easily by sincere and active love of one’s neighbour. 

[4] Understandably, you would now argue: ‘Practicing neighbourly love would have been easy if only the necessary means should be at one’s disposal. But out of a hundred people there have always been no more than about ten who were that well-off that they could practice these glorious virtues; the other ninety mostly belonged to those at the receiving end of these virtues that should be practiced by the ten wealthy people. Now, if the evil of larceny is most effectively to be combated solely by means of the practice of neighbourly love, the ninety poor ones would hardly be able to refrain from larceny, as they are lacking the means to practice these virtues as effective as possible.’ 

[5] Logically speaking, you would be correct, and nobody could, with his worldly reason, argue against it. Yet the logic of the heart speaks otherwise, namely: ‘The works of neighbourly love are wrought not merely by means of gifts given feely, but much rather by means of various kinds of virtuous acts, including the aid rendered honestly and sincerely, not lacking, of course, in goodwill.’ 

[6] For goodwill is the life and soul of any good work; where that is lacking, even the most admirable work has no value at all before the judgment seat of Elohim. However, should you possess the goodwill, even lacking the material means, being willing to come to the aid of your neighbour in whatever need you perceive or find him to be, and it grieves you when you cannot help him, that goodwill of yours will then be valued more highly by Elohim than the actual help of another who first had to be persuaded to render it. 

[7] And if a rich person has provided relief to an impoverished parish in order to function properly again, all because the parish has promised, once they have become prosperous, to pay him tithes and render him certain services, then that good work of his is considered by Elohim to be entirely worthless, because he has already claimed his reward. He has done nothing more than what every usurious miser, for the sake of material benefit, would have done. 

[8] From this you can see that everyone, be he rich or poor, is able, in honour of Elohim and for the good of his own inner, spiritual life, to practice neighbourly love. It simply boils down to the disposition of genuine goodwill, whereby everyone gladly and in full commitment is doing the utmost he is capable of. 

[9] The good will has no value if you possess some material means, and it is possible to help the needy standing before you only in an insignificant way or not at all, because certain considerations might prevail, such as the interests of yourself, your children, your relatives, or various other matters; or the idea might cross your mind that for all you know, the person looking for help might very well be just a beggar too lazy to work, and therefore not worthy of any help – it would only serve to assist him in his idle way of life, and thus prevent you from helping someone more worthy of it. But should you meet someone who might indeed be more worthy of help, the very same misgivings will prevail! After all, one can never be fully certain whether someone is indeed worthy of help! 

[10] So, my friend, whoever in performing a good work, be it with the very best intentions, should ask himself whether his intended actions will be important or not, that person’s goodwill is still very far removed from the true life. Neither his goodwill, nor his good works are therefore of any special value to Elohim. With someone who does have the necessary material means, his will and his actions should be in full accord; if not, one of these would deprive the other of value and validity in the sight of Elohim. 

[11] So, whatever you do or give, do and give it with a great amount of joy, for giving and helping cheerfully has a twofold value for Elohim; also, it is twice as near to spiritual perfection! 

[12] For the heart of the cheerful giver resembles a fruit that is ripening easily and fast, because it contains within itself an abundance of warmth, this being absolutely essential in the ripening of a fruit; in a similar way, the corresponding life-element, namely love, prevails in the human heart. 

[13] In this way, it is precisely the joy and cheerfulness of the giver and helper that constitutes the abundance of genuine inner and spiritual warmth, which cannot be recommended too highly. By means of that, the soul is ripening well-nigh twice as soon for the complete assimilation of the spirit in her entire being; and this has to be so, because it is precisely this warmth that forms the transition or the eternal spirit into the soul, in consequence of which the soul is going to resemble the spirit ever more. 

[14] On the other hand, as the giver and benefactor, be he ever so active, grows more and more surly and cheerless in his giving and the rendering of his aid, he would become more and more distant from the goal of the true inner and spiritual perfection of his life. For a cheerless and surly disposition in giving is still containing some material and worldly elements, and is thus far more distant from the pure heavenly element than cheerful and joyous conduct. 

[15] For the same reason, your giving and helping should not be accompanied by a severe and harsh form of admonition, as this often causes a needy brother much grief; it might even put the desire in his heart to rather accept no more gifts from this benefactor who is chiding him so severely every time. Such an inappropriate admonishment often leads the benefactor himself to feel some pride, while the receiver of the boon feels humiliated, fully realising the extent of his need compared to the prosperity of the benefactor, which makes acceptance or the gift much more difficult than giving it. 

[16] Whoever has both the means and the goodwill, is capable of giving with great ease. The needy receiver, on the other hand, although forced by poverty, is reluctant to have a brother a benefactor, however kind-hearted he might be. How much more difficult, then, he would find it when he comes across a benefactor with a morose expression on his face, instructing him beforehand in a number of ‘wise’ lessons! Moreover, these would become embarrassing obstacles, preventing him in future need to approach once again the door of this preacher of penitence. For, on this second occasion he would expect and even ‘wiser,’ more drawn out and incisive sermon, in his mind possibly telling him as much as: ‘Do not come to me so often!’ Or perhaps: ‘Don’t you ever come back!’ – even though the giver might not in the least have thought about it. 

[17] The reason why a cheerful and kind giver is so far ahead of a surly preacher of penitence, is that he consoles and lightens the heart of the receiver, causing him to be truly grateful. Furthermore, by means of this the receiver becomes filled with a loving and fruitful trust in Elohim as well as his fellow-man, and his otherwise heavy yoke is turned into a lighter burden, which he will then bear more patiently and contentedly than before. 

[18] For a poor and needy brother, a cheerful and kind benefactor is like a secure and safe haven for a mariner on a stormy sea. But a surly benefactor appears, for someone in need, just like a sheltered bay that has less suffer from the storm, and will indeed safeguard the mariner against total shipwreck, yet will cause him the greatest anxiety, lest an enormous spring tide will afterwards swoop down on the bay, playing havoc with his ship in the same way as would have happened on the open sea. 

[19] Now you fully know what Elohim wants in regard to the true and spiritual perfection of that neighbourly love that can be practiced with ease and alacrity. Act according to this, and you will have achieved, just as easily and as soon as possible, the true goal of life. 

12.5 HUMILITY AND PRIDE 

Ch. 82 (The Master): “What follows now, concerns another domain of life that is of particular importance. Only subsequent to that, the complete spiritual rebirth that is the most genuine triumph and the highest goal of life. This domain is diametrically opposed to haughtiness and pride, and is known as – humility.” 

[2] In every soul the sense of self-esteem is present, alongside of a yearning after honour. At the slightest opportunity or provocation these can all too soon ignite. into an all-consuming and unrestrained rage that is not to be appeased before the victims who have insulted him have been destroyed. By this terrible fury the soul is being disrupted to such and extent that she becomes much more unsuited for an inner spiritual perfection than the scorching sand of the vast African desert is suitable for quenching one’s thirst! 

[3] The fury of miserable pride eventually causes the soul to become like the scorching desert sand herself, where even the most paltry lichen plan would not grow, not to mention any more succulent and blessed plant. That is the way it goes with the soul of a prideful being! The runaway fire of her fury is relentlessly scorching, consuming and destroying all that is noble, good and true in life; and a thousand times thousands of years will pass before Africa’s sandy desert will transform itself into beautiful fields, abounding in blessings. All the waters of the sea will first have to overflow it many times! 

[4] First, take a look at a proud monarch being insulted for a trifle by his neighbour! His soul ignites into a violent temper; his eyes ablaze, spraying flames of wrath, and irrevocably his voice rings out: ‘The most atrocious revenge to this vile offender!’ And the sorrowful result, so well-known since time immemorial, is a devastating war during which hundreds of thousands are massacred in the most wretched way for the sake of their prideful and arrogant king. In his misplaced pleasure the king, so lightly provoked to rage, is then watching from his tent these dreadful battles and killings, and every ferocious warrior who has been capable of inflicting a severe loss upon his adversaries, is then proudly rewarded by the king with gold and gems. 

[5] And when such a king, by means of his overwhelming military power, has already deprived the offender of almost everything he possessed, he is still far from satisfied! He will further wish to have him horribly tortured before his eyes! No praying or imploring will be of any avail to prevent this. And after the offender, before the eyes of this king, mad from pride, has succumbed under the most terrible and exquisitely painful tortures, his dead body, moreover, will be hideously cursed before being scattered abroad for the ravens to gorge upon; and into the heart of such a king, hard as flint, not even a tiny spark of remorse will ever enter. On the contrary, this kind of rage, scorching like the desert of Africa, will bring the most horrible death upon anyone who should ever dare to refrain from paying him the highest homage in the sphere of his reign. 

[6] Such a king does, of course, have a soul; but what does it look like? I say unto you: worse than the most scorched spot in the whole wide African desert! Do you think such a soul could ever be transformed into an orchard of Elohim’s heaven? I am telling you: a thousand times sooner would the African desert produce the most delicious dates, figs and grapes than such a soul would sense or know even the smallest little drop of the heavenly love! 

[7] Therefore, all of you, do your utmost to steer clear of pride, for nothing else on earth could ruin the soul more effectively than this fuming haughtiness and pride! It is accompanied by an incessant thirst for revenge, even as the everlasting and unquenchable thirst for rain is the constant companion of Africa’s vast and scorching desert; all animals too, setting foot upon this soil, in next to no time have to cope with this privation – even as the servants of a prideful person will eventually become terribly proud and vindictive themselves. For whoever is serving a prideful person, would finally have become proud himself; or else, how would he be able to really serve his prideful master?! 

12.6 INSTRUCTION IN HUMILITY 

Ch. 83 (The Master): “How then could one safeguard himself against this exceptionally serious vice, seeing that the germ of pride is indeed residing in every soul, and is quite often in childhood already pervading the soul? This is possible solely through humility!” 

[2] It is precisely for the purpose of constantly restraining pride, that we find so much more poverty than wealth among the people on this earth. By way of experiment, let a royal crown be placed upon the head of a needy beggar, and then watch his previous humility and patience disappear quicker than lightning. It is as well, therefore, that there are but a few kings and many humble beggars. 

[3] Every soul is in possession of a sense of exaltedness, originating from Elohim according to His will and plan. That such a sense of exaltedness does indeed exist, can be deduced in a clear manner from the sense of shyness in a child. 

[4] Children’s sense of shyness is a perception of the soul, an awareness emerging in her at a given moment. If this awareness becomes manifest, without words, the dissatisfaction of the soul concerning the fact that she, being of a spiritual nature, yet has to see herself invested with a clumsy body, difficult to handle, of which she cannot get separated from without pain. The more tender and sensitive the soul’s body is, the stronger will be her sense of shyness. If a good teacher of these little ones knows the art to transform this ineradicable feeling into true humility, then this feeling will become a veritable guarding spirit for the child, directing him onto the path that will enable him, should he stick to it, to achieve spiritual perfection easily and at a relative early stage. On the other hand, if the process of guiding this innate sense should deviate, however slightly, from the true direction, it might immediately give rise to haughtiness and pride. 

[5] It would be wrong to transform this sense of shyness into so-called childlike vanity, for the child then directly begins to consider himself better than others. Very soon he feels himself insulted and becomes quite touchy, shedding bitter tears about it; by weeping thus, he makes it very clear that his feelings have been injured. 

[6] If the insulted child’s parents, because of either indulgence or short-sightedness, should then attempt to pacify him by calling the offender to account – be it only for the sake of appearances – they have already planted in the child the first seed of quenching the thirst for revenge. And should the parents follow this line of conduct repeatedly, it will often result in that child becoming like a demon in regard to the parents themselves, as well as to many other people. However, if the parents should act wisely by calling the child’s attention, in advance and constantly, to the greater value in other people, including children, and in this way bend the sense of shyness towards true humility, then they will turn their children into angels; they will later be living examples for others, shedding their light like radiant stars in the darkness of this earthly life, quickening them with their gentleness and forbearance. 

[7] Yet, it rarely occurs that a child is being raised in such a manner that his spirit is awakened in his soul; therefore, the adult who has attained pure understanding, should above all see to it that he tries his utmost to achieve true and genuine humility. As long as he has not eradicated the very last remains of haughtiness in himself, he would not be able, neither here on earth, nor in the hereafter, to proceed to the full consummation of the pure and spiritual heavenly life. 

[8] Whoever wants to establish in himself whether he be perfectly humble, should ask himself inwardly whether anything at all could still offend him; whether he would be able to forgive, with all his heart, the very worst of those who have insulted or pestered him; to do good to those who have wronged him; whether he still, now and then, experiences any yearning after the glory of this world; and whether he even derives pleasure from considering himself the very least among the least, and from serving everyone in all things! Whoever is capable of all of this, without sorrow or sadness, is someone who indeed belongs in the highest heavens of Elohim, already here on earth, and for ever and ever; for through such true humility, not only his soul is entirely united with her spirit, but the greatest part of his body as well. 

[9] Moreover, such a one will never taste or experience bodily death, because the entire ethereal part of the body – actually, that part which is the natural living part – has, along with the soul and her spirit, already become immortal here on earth. 

[10] In physical death, it is only the physical feeling-part and lifeless shadow-part that are being detached from the soul. Concerning that, the soul can no longer experience any anguish or further pain, because everything in the body that has feeling and thus is alive, had already been united with the soul. Therefore, such a fully formed person can feel just as little of the already unfeeling and thus dead, external shadow-life, than one would feel during his fully natural life when cutting his hair or trimming his finger-nails if these have grown too long, or when a tiny flake of old skin drops, that here and there has detached itself from the already unfeeling layer of the skin. For everything on the body that never had any feeling before, could neither have any feeling when the soul is leaving the body altogether, because all the feeling and living parts of the body have already fully united themselves with the soul, now forming one being with it, never to be separated from it again. 

[11] Now you have learned what, essentially, true humility is and what it does; in future then, apply yourselves to this virtue! Whoever will diligently follow what I have just told you, will be able to establish by himself that these words, so easy to understand, and delivered without any oratorical or meaningless embellishment, do not originate from a human being, but from Elohim Himself. And whoever will live and act according to them, will be walking upon the right path to the true, inner, spiritual consummation of life. But now please tell Me whether all of this has become completely clear and comprehensible to you! 

[End of first abstract] 

This is followed by some other abstracts that will provide a fuller understanding. 

12.7 THE “WRATH” OF ELOHIM 

Ch. 141, p.329, par.[3]: “When reading about the wrath of Elohim, you should take it to mean the ever constant and firm gravity of His will; and it is precisely this gravity of will in Elohim that is at the innermost core of the most pure and powerful love from which infinity with every work wrought in it had sprung from, like a chicken from the egg – and how could such a love become angry with anyone?! Or does someone among you perhaps think that Elohim could get angry in the manner as a dumb human?” 

12.8 ELOHIM’S “WRATH” AGAINST ADAM AND EVE 

Ch. 142 p. 330, par.[2]: “Has it yet dawned upon you that the five books of Moses and those of all the prophets, and the writings of David and Solomon, are, all of them, only to be understood in the way of the inner, spiritual analogy?!” 

[3] Do your really think, in all earnest, that Elohim had banished Adam from paradise by means of an angel carrying in his hand a flaming sword as weapon to scare him away? I say unto you: even if Adam has had such a vision, it would just have served as a metaphor of what had actually occurred in Adam himself; as such, it belongs to the process of his edification and to establishing the earliest religion and the primeval congregation among the people on earth. 

[4] Nowhere on this earth a material paradise exists where some fried fish would just swim into one’s mouth; they would have to be caught and fried first, before being eaten in moderation. Should someone do some proper work, however, and gather the fruit granted him by the earth, building up a supply, then every region on earth tilled by people would truly be an earthly paradise! 

[5] What would have been the outcome in regard to the human being and his spiritual development should he have found himself in a real paradise of mere idleness, with always enough to eat, and with nothing to worry about or to care for; if the most delicious fruit should, so to speak, be place into his mouth; of if, lying down upon gloriously lush grass, he should merely have to wish for something and it would materialize, so that he should only need to open his mouth to have the sweetest tasting morsels slide into it? With this method of instruction, when would a human being ever have acquired that measure of independence necessary to live and survive? I say unto you, if paradise would have been as you imagine it, the human being, right up to this moment, would have been or known little else than a fatted and well cared for fatted ox, or a gluttonous polyp at the bottom of the sea. 

[12] When, at a later stage, a certain natural phenomena, specifically intended for this purpose, have forced the first people to leave their earliest garden of nourishment and search about further and further upon the earth, this did not happen as a result of a kind of divine wrath; instead, it was solely due to divine love for humankind, to arouse him from his condition of sluggishness and sensuality, and exhort him to labour diligently, for the sake of broadening his experience. 

12.9 ADVANTAGES OF PROPER II RUON OF THE SOUL 

Ch.217, p.517-519 (The Master): If the human soul lies buried beneath all kinds of worldly and
material anxieties, or is just starting to bury herself beneath them, she is obscuring her luminous
being, which will finally become totally obscured in darkness. It would then contain no supply of
powerful love at all, or the small amount still present would hardly be sufficient for her own use;
this then, is the self-love, that can no longer be given to someone else. But when love has
become that insignificant, where would a powerful faith and a firm will then come from? For faith
is set alight by the flame of love, and the will is the light’s power that is at work everywhere!

[2] When such people, lacking in love, should eventually observe in themselves, however
vaguely, that they do not succeed in anything because of the weakness of their love, and,
instead, mostly have to watch every attempt of theirs failing – for which they have only
themselves to blame, as no result could come about or be achieved if the power required is
lacking – then they still could have been helped, but things being as they are, they just get angry
and embittered at the success of others.

[3] It is true that wrath (or anger) is a light as well, but a pernicious one. In that infernal light they
are then quick to invent all kinds of deceitful ways and means to benefit themselves. Presently,
they have a try at these, but this mostly leads to failure, exactly because they are deceitful. Yet,
all their failures do not serve to make them wiser, rather still more angry and malicious. They
become haughty and overbearing, starting to resort to violent means which they actually start to
apply. Should this, for a number of times, prove to be successful, they become still more
impertinent and cruel, attempting to remove by force anything they see as an obstacle in the
way of their alleged success. In this way, through means that are only evil, they have procured
considerable wealth for themselves; and consequently, they consider

[4] When such people are also blessed with children, they could not possibly act otherwise, than to raise them according to the way in which they as parent have achieved their worldly success, namely by means of worldly wisdom of all kinds. They would see to it that their children be instructed in all sorts of things, but exclusively those of this world! The development of the heart, that should be the first priority, would not receive any attention at all; nor is it possible, because not only the parents, but also the teachers and other tutors themselves, although they want to be kind to the children, are so conditioned by motives of gain, that they no longer have any understanding of the heart of the soul. 

[5] Everything possible is being done to start developing and sharpening the child’s mind. For this purpose, the child is being motivated as much as possible by means of all kinds of gifts and rewards for achievements in addition, in developing his mind, from the very beginning as much as possible is being done in terms of selfishness and profiteering; the child is wearing fine and expensive clothes, so that, because of a sense of sheer pride, at the age of ten years the child often does not really know him- /herself anymore. Woe to the poor child – or any other person who would fail to pay to a child with such a rich imagination the homage that is required, or worse still, would dare to mock him! Such a person would have won himself an enemy for life! 

[6] How can such people then possibly think about the life- force that is proper for a being created in My likeness?! Where would they find that power to reign over the whole of nature as well as the elements all creatures ultimately consist of and should consist? 

[7] Should the heart, however, be developed first of all, only followed after that by the development of the mind which would then be quite easy and effective to accomplish – such a developed mind would then become an ethereal luminous life necessary for encircling the soul, even as the luminous ether encircles the sun, from which all the glorious results are emerging that you see coming to life everywhere, like this earth itself. 

[8] In the proper formation of the human soul, the soul is and remains something internal which is active, while that which you call ‘mind’ is the result, flowing forth from the inner activity of the soul. The light of reason, directed outwards, illuminates for the soul all possible critical, external conditions, and the soul’s will then blends itself with this eradiating light and, in a woundrous way, causes everything to be fertile and flourish; for when the human order is in this way in accordance with My order, then the will and the trust also spring from Me or my omnipotent will, by which, indeed, every creature should then definitely abide. Whatever such a person, living within my order, then wills, should occur within the wide perimeter, for through the eradiating human life sphere it is essentially my Spirit who is flowing, through whom all things are possible. 

[9] When such a person is then completely reborn through or by his spirit, he will be entirely like Me, and in full freedom of life he can will whatever he wants to within my order; and whatever he wants to do according to his free will, that would have to happen. In this perfect life condition where he is fully like Me, the human being is ruler and master not merely over the creatures and elements of this earth, but his reign then extends, just like Mine, into infinite space, over the entire creation, and his will can prescribe laws unto the innumerable worlds, and they will be obeyed. For his clarified visual faculty sees through everything just like Mine and actually along with Mine, and in his unhampered perception he sees everywhere in the entire creation all that need to be seen; not only can he prescribe anything, but he can create and help as well; because he is indeed one with Me in everything. 

12.10 POWER OF THE PERFECT SOUL 

Ch. 218, p. 520 (The Master): “But before My incarnation as a human, nobody could attain this degree of supreme perfection; for that reason, I have now come to this earth to make you, by the rebirth of your spirit in your soul, true children of Mine.” Thus when I now speak about a perfect soul, it applies purely to the soul with which my Spirit, although already active there, has not yet become completely one.” 

EDUCATING CHILDREN 

Ch. 124, p. 287, par.[3]: “Therefore, give proper instruction to all your children in their youth, when it is still quite easy to guide them…..” 

[4] Up to his seventh year a child is still much more of an animal than a human being. For, what is human in a child of that age is mostly still dormant. Precisely because the child is much more animal than human, he will also evince many animal needs, but very few human ones. 

[5] Only give them what they are most in need of! Let them get used to do without all kinds of things; do not praise those behaving virtuously in an exaggerated way; on the other hand, do not be too harsh to those less gifted and virtuous, but rather treat them with true love and forbearance. 

[6] Let them train themselves in all kinds of good and useful things; take care that the child, however good and virtuous, never becomes vain or egotistic, or overrates himself. Moreover, do not allow children, especially pretty ones, to dress in such beautiful and expensive clothes that they become even more vain and proud than they already are by nature. One should strive to keep them pure without, however, allowing this to become a household idol; then, one will succeed in guiding them, already from birth, along that path which will bring them, in their riper youth, to the stage that you have reached only now through My intervention. 

[7] The virgin will reach the position of motherhood in chastity and modesty, and the young man will reach manhood with a soul matured unto that of a man and containing a clear-minded spirit, and thus be a blessing to his people as well as to the earth and all her creatures. 

[8] But if you are too lenient regarding the animal desires and passions of your children, you will also open a new and wide gateway for vices of all kinds that will invade the world in their multitudes, spreading disaster; and once they have made their entrance, you might combat against them with every weapon at your disposal, but to no avail; nothing will be accomplished against their great and destructive power! 

[9] Therefore, take care of these saplings in such a way that they might be growing straight heavenwards; and keep them pure by cutting out all wild growth; for, once the trees have grown tall and strong, with the trunk showing unsightly twists, the result of unfavourable winds, you will never succeed, in spite of all your exertions, in getting it straight again! 

12.12 REBIRTH AND PROPER EDUCATION 

Ch. 220, p. 525, par.[8] (somewhat condensed) “. . .Ek het nou die nuwe weg so voorberei dat My Gees – which I now lay, and has laid, in the heart of every soul as a spark of my Love as a Father, taking form in your love for Me, and thereby truly and actively for your neighbour as well – is being nourished and will grow in your soul and, having acquired the desired magnitude and power, will fully unite Himself with the healed soul and become one with it – which, therefore, should be named, and shall be named, rebirth of the spirit.” 

[9] Whoever has achieved this, his standing is, of course, incomparably superior to any other soul, however perfect she might be in herself; such a soul is, in truth, also capable of much, but nonetheless, never in all eternity capable of everything reserved for the fully reborn soul. 

[10] This spark of my love, however, is only then fully laid in the heart of a human soul, when someone has heard my Word and has accepted it in his heart by faith; as long as this has not taken place, no human being, however perfect his soul might be, can achieve the rebirth of the spirit. For without my Word I am speaking to you at this moment, the spark of my love will not come into the heart of your soul, and if she is not there, she cannot grow and thrive in the soul, and nor be reborn there. 

[11] (last sentence) …The heart is being shaped by the true love, gentleness, forbearance and patience. 

[12] Teach the children early in life to love the Father in heaven, and show them how kind and full of love He is, even as everything existing for the sake of humankind, was created with exceptional goodness, beauty and wisdom; teach them too, how kindly-disposed He is, especially towards little children who love Him above all! Make them perceptive of how the Father is arranging everything, of what He does, and how He causes everything to happen; the hearts of these little ones will then turn to Me, and my love will start growing in them very soon! If you should indeed guide the little ones in his manner, the small effort you put in, would soon bear golden fruit; but if not, the harvest would be thorns and thistles, bearing neither grapes nor figs! 

12.13 WONDROUS POWER OF THE REBORN 

Ch. 225, p. 533, par.[3]: “Although your souls, with only a few exceptions, will in themselves, as souls, never attain true understanding, by my superior love for you they will be purified to such an extent that they will be fully capable of receiving my Spirit entirely. When you are then reborn in the spirit, not by your own merit, but solely by my love, along with mercy and compassion, you will accomplish even greater things (than what you have seen here.) This will occur, not through the power of the perfection of your souls, but through the Power of my Spirit that will pervade your souls which in themselves are rather weak; in this way, your souls will, of course, become evermore virile! I do not wish, however, to make miracle-workers out of you, but real benefactors of people! When my spirit who has been awakened in you, is going to fully work in you, your understanding will become clear and enlightened, and in this way you will be listening to the forces of nature in a quite natural manner, making subservient to you her spirits or, respectively, the spiritual, original and distinctive beings of nature. By doing this, you will acquire considerable life- benefits on earth, which, however, you should use for the good of the more needy portion of humanity…!” 

12.14 RELATION BETWEEN SOUL AND SPIRIT 

Ch. 226, p. 534 (The Master): “The soul will ever be relating herself to the spirit like the terrestrial body does to the soul. In a certain sense, the body of a soul, be it ever so perfect, also possesses a will of its own, desiring to be gratified; and the soul getting involved with that, might get corrupted. A properly instructed soul, however, will never get involved with the gluttony of the body, and so remain her body’s master; yet, with a poorly instructed soul, this is quite possible.” 

[2] Still, between soul and spirit there exists rather the same relationship as that between an originally perfect soul and her body. The body itself might cherish as many desires as it wishes, and with all its prickles, which are often quite sharp, goad the soul to comply with and gratify them, but for all that, the perfect soul will always expressly, and with success, say NO to them! And precisely this is what my Spirit accomplishes in the soul in whom He has been fully assimilated! 

[3] As long as the soul fully submits to the will of the spirit, everything will occur exactly according to the will of the spirit, which is my will too; but should the soul, because of reminiscences of earlier times when it was more concerned with sensual desires, become involved in these, at such moments the spirit would withdraw and simply leave the soul to the pursuance of her own desires; this, however, mostly comes to nothing, especially since the pursuance thereof is very seldom if ever aimed at something spiritual. 

[4] Quite soon, however, the soul recognises her egotistical clumsy efforts to be nothing but weakness and selfishness, abandons her dreams directed at gratifying her own desires, and cordially reunites herself with the spirit, letting his will be dominant. Then, of course, order and power and strength return in abundance! 

12.15 REASON FOR THE MASTER’S REVELATIONS 

Ch. 263, p. 615, par. [1] in order that you no longer evaluate all of this according to superstition, but rather according to the full and quite natural truth, and direct yourselves accordingly.” 

[7] You will, of course, have to put in quite some effort to achieve that stage where your soul becomes totally pervaded by the spirit and his power; but when you know with certainty that you will be enriched with the utmost and supreme life-benefits, you might accept it without protest! For, all miraculous qualities of one perfect human soul and all the treasures of this earth do not amount to even the smallest drop of dew compared to the vast ocean of what is awaiting you by diligently complying with my Word and will. Once physical death awaits you – an event, however, which essentially will disturb you just as little as leaving behind and old, dilapidated house, on the point of collapse, to occupy instead, for ever and ever, a brand-new residence – one on which all the tempests of time would not have the least effect! 

[8] For verily I say unto you; No reborn human, living and acting in accordance with my Word, will experience bodily death as worldly people and some animals experience it, namely in fear and trembling; for they will leave the body of their own volition, the moment I call them out of this world to My house, because I need them for higher purposes! 

[End of abstracts] 

13. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE GREAT STORY 

The Father’s thoughts are not our thoughts, therefore no one on earth can claim to possess full insight or understanding of His ways. Still, while we have previously known only in part, we are now beginning to know more fully, and this is occurring worldwide in the hearts and minds of those who are sincerely searching for the truth and striving after what is good. 

I myself envisage the scenario like this: The Father is the only One existing as an infinite Being, and in his Wisdom He has resolved to bring forth from Himself other beings. To some of these He gives the opportunity to be not merely his creatures, but to become fully fledged children of Him, according to his image, that is, equal to Him in regard to disposition, kindliness, perfection, pureness, wisdom and, above all, fullness of love. Some of his creatures, out of their own free will, chose to turn away from the power of His love, and deserted Him. These beings come to this earth, which He had designed in all detail to be the ideal school of life for his creatures, where those who truly wish to be his children, can learn and develop through practical experience, and so return to Him. Satan and his followers were cast upon the earth, and we are seduced to darkness, enmity, hatred, materialistic selfishness, sexual licentiousness, pride, vanity, the abyss, and death the antipode of Love, gentleness, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, mercy, pureness and Light. The Father’s creatures, through their own choice, had been removed from Him, into a physical world where they have completely forgotten where they were coming from and that they were created from Him. To afford them the opportunity to return to Him and become His children once again, fully equal to Him, yet not mere clones of Him, but children with a developed identity and will of their own, He gives them a free will, and with this free will He never interferes. 

He has created all the matter and material we need to “work” with in order to achieve the final goal. He situates the soul, that is you, within a physical body, and within the soul awakens the spark or small seed of his Spirit when his Word is heard and accepted, and the Spirit starts guiding the soul as soon as true understanding begins to dawn upon her. The physical material all around us, being the temporal manifestation of the Father’s will, includes everything we may need for our survival and development. He has made all things on earth and in the universe to be a mirror image of the true reality. When one thinks about it carefully, you can always find some connection between his order and that which we perceive in nature; He has even ordained it that we can be mothers and fathers, and that we too can physically “create” children, with the miraculous life giving power of his Spirit underlying it. When we have children ourselves, we learn about parental love, giving us an understanding of what it means that the Father loves us as his children. The final goal beckoning us and our children, each one of us with an identity and will of our own, is to become, in the way of true understanding and proper awareness, a new being, united with the divine Spirit within us, a true child of the Father – your soul is then being transformed into a a glorified being, yet fully retaining your consciousness and identity. 

The Father has established a certain order that, basically, amounts to the law of cause and effect. What you sow, you will reap. And because His Divine Being possess the attributes of perfect love, wisdom, will, patience, order, earnestness, and mercy, which qualities also constitute the underlying core of everything He has created, therefore all things in this earthly experience are forever inclining towards the learning of these basic attributes through practice. As long as you do not possess all of these attributes, you have to bear the consequences, and in due course you start to learn this by experience. Transgressing this order causes all kinds of bodily diseases and other miseries and misfortune. Everything you experience is aimed at allowing you to grow and to turn back to the Father from whom you have come – a long and wearisome process. But in this process you have received the unbelievable great gift to possess a consciousness and identity of your own, your freedom and independence, along with all the blessings going with them. 

With endless patience and love He allows his creatures to make their own mistakes, and eventually they learn from them. The Father has ordained that in the human person of Jesus He Himself has come to us to deliver us from darkness and to show us that his Son, who Himself is Love, is within us when we awaken Love in ourselves. It has been thus ordained that the biblical writings and what was recorded there have retained the golden thread of truth. Some of these, and the religions that resulted from them, have been distorted by writers and priests, so that many are led astray. In the end, those searching for genuine truth and goodness discover that the answer lies in simplicity, within the inner room of our hearts (in other words, in the inner, emotional experience and awareness of our soul), and not in the doctrines of any synagogue or church. 

Everything has been composed in such a way that, inevitably, you have to learn by sorrow and hardship, and only thus are being purged and purified – a high price that we have to pay. Still, the magnificent gift we are to receive to be elevated to a child of the Heavenly Father, and, along with it, all the blessings and glory thereof is far greater than could be described. It is more than worth the effort on our side to strive with all we have in order to take possession of this precious inheritance awaiting us! We have to release our attachment to material things and, instead, direct our soul-energy to that which is invisible to the human eye, but has ETERNAL value! The Father has sufficiently equipped us to achieve the final goal, the highest ideal. We possess a built-in creative ability that can be activated by a firm choice, and by the convergence of our thoughts, our words and our actions can be focused resolutely on the highest ideal. 

We have to do it NOW. The end of this world has been ordained by Him, where the spiritual and the worldly will be separated. At this point in time, we will have to grow purposefully in things spiritual, in the will of the Father, so that we will not be bound in matter with this separation. Those who have already grown spiritually, and are spiritually disposed, will already have observed the signs of the end-time in nature. It is now here. Those who are still disposed in terms of this world, either would not notice the signs, or do not want to do so, and learned persons of this age will present us with scientific explanations of all kinds. Behind it all, however, is the Father, who has ordained thus, so that more and more people would start thinking spiritually, would search for answers, would inwardly change, and so be saved. 

14. FINAL REMARK

Nobody can earn salvation; it is primarily a matter of the Father’s grace. Our task is to come to the right understanding, only to be achieved in the way of true humility and sincerity. The Father’s commandment of love is so plain and simple that most people can hardly grasp it, because genuine love is foreign to them, both the giving and the experience of it. It consists in uniting with the Spirit, because the entire Being of the Father and his Spirit is love. Despite all our flaws, weakness, trespasses, our plain stupidity, so characteristic of this world, and all the hardship, grief and bitter tears know that all of this has been ordained for the sake of your own development. Know also, and be aware of, the marvel of the Father’s presence within you. Your inner being, your deepest core, is strangely wonderful and familiar, being born from the Father in the Highest Heavens. When you have awakened genuine love in your heart, the supreme Love will come and dwell within you for evermore. The seven colours of the rainbow symbolises the seven attributes of our Father which we develop during our spiritual growth: love, wisdom, will, patience, order, earnestness and mercy All the colours of the rainbow together blend into the brightest, purest white …… 

PRAYER OF THE SOUL – CD 

The aim of this CD is to remind ourselves of the proper disposition of heart when praying to the Father. In the book by Jakob Lorber, THE YOUTH OF YAHSHUA (JESUS), guidelines on how we should go about it are given by Jesus. On this occasion, when Jesus was still a little child, Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, was saying grace, bringing thanks to Elohim for the food on the table. Amazed at this, three priests who were present there asked him which Elohim he was praying to. Wasn’t then this Child the first and the true Elohim? When then did he address another? Joseph was embarrassed by this question and did not know exactly how to respond. 

Quote from THE YOUTH OF YAHSHUA (JESUS) by Jakob Lorber,p. 198: 

“But the Child said: ‘Joseph, do not be unduly worried about this; what these three have said, will be fulfilled!’ Joseph then kissed the Child, and said: ‘Verily, were in you not the heart of the Father, You could never have spoken words such as these! For where in the whole wide world is there a child of Your age who is capable in himself to speak words such as no sage has ever spoken?! Tell me then, whether I should unreservedly worship You as my Elohim and Master!’ This question Joseph put to the Child, once more caused amazement in the minds of all those present. But the Infant, laughing softly, asked his father: Joseph, do you know indeed how one should pray to Elohim? See, you do not fully know, therefore I will tell you! Listen, one should pray to Elohim in spirit and in truth, and not merely with one’s lips as the children of this world do it; they think they have served Elohim if they have but moved their lips for a while. However, should you wish to pray in spirit and in truth, then you should love Elohim in your heart and do good unto all your friends as well as your enemies. Then will your prayer be (regarded as) righteous before Elohim! If, however, someone only mutters with his lips before Elohim, and that for a short while at appointed times, and while thus muttering is thinking of all kinds of worldly things that are more dear to him than his devotional prayer – yes, even more than Elohim Himself – tell Me, is that then a prayer at all?! Truly, millions of prayers such as these will no more be heard by Elohim than a stone would hear the voice of one who screams! 

But when you pray to Elohim out of love, you never need to ask whether you should now worship Me as being the most illustrious Elohim and Father. For whoever prays to Elohim in this way, also prays to Me; because the Father and I are one in love and one in heart.’” 

1. Jarah’s prayer 

(Jarah loved the Father very much, she lived in the time when Jesus was on earth, and she did this prayer when she was a young girl of fifteen. Although she was so young, she was mature spiritually and possessed great wisdom wisdom and understanding.) 

“I now transfer myself, with all my thoughts and feelings, to my deepest being, into my heart, where the Father’s love resides. Thereby this sacred love, devoted to Him, is nourished in the same way as when you have a little low burning fire glowing faintly, and you lay very light, flammable wood on it. This tiny flame ignites into a vivid, bright fire, my heart is lit and warmed with life. 

Oh Father in the heavens! Hallowed be Your Name. Let your Fatherly love come to us poor sinners, who are full of death and darkness! Your sacred will be done here on earth as in all Your heavens! If we have transgressed against Your eternal, sacred order, forgive us this foolishness, and be patient and understanding with us, as we are also showing patience to those who, in some way or another, have caused us injustice! Do not allow us, in our carnal weakness, to be tempted beyond our power by the world and by the devil, but deliver us by Your great mercy, love and compassion from a thousandfold evil by which our love for You, oh Great and Holy Father, could be impaired and weakened! But if we are hungry and thirsty, in spirit or in body, give us then, dear Father, that which You know we need every day! 

Yours is all my love. All the glory and all the praise, from eternity to eternity. Amen❞ 

2. Message from the heart 

For a better insight into the primary source of this message, I include this brief quote from THE YOUTH OF YAHSHUA, where the Child Jesus said the following: 

“Behold, where the love of the Father is, there His heart is; in Me is the love of the Father, and thus also His heart! Nobody carries his heart outside of himself, neither does the Father; where His heart is, there He Himself is! ” 

[End of quote.] 

“Child of man, I know you for a very long time, and I know you very well. I am the Love that dwells inside of you. When you experience love, then I am in you and with you. I am Love and exist forever, and I have known you before you were born upon the earth. From Love that is perfect, and far greater than you can now comprehend, you were created. Love always creates more love; you were therefore created as a precious child in whom Love can dwell and increase, from whom more love can be created, and from whom still more love can shine forth. Love is creative, and it creates with perfect wisdom. Love can only bring forth what is good, therefore your ultimate goal is good. You were created to an higher end; from the perspective of eternity, you have an essential calling to fulfill. 

Already you have experienced a lot of things in the school of life here on earth. Many things which have caused happiness and at other times unhappiness. I know about everything, every feeling, every thought, and every act. I know of the hardships, I know your every pain and sorrow. For you to truly get to know Love, you had to temporarily experience the opposites of love as well. For you to truly become a free child of Love, you have received the opportunity to choose for yourself. Upon earth, I allow two opposite poles: on the one hand, Light and Love, and on the other hand, my opposite, darkness, judgment, hate and fear. Here you get the opportunity to experience them all, and choose for yourself. I ask you to come to Me. Choose love, and you choose life. You cannot see me, but you can feel Me in your heart, in your emotions, when you are meek. When you are very quiet and listen with your heart, you will be able to hear My voice. 

You can experience love, and increase it in your heart when you help your neighbour. A loving gesture of assistance or support to those who are around you and those who cross your path is the surest way to evoke love in yourself. 

A plain commandment has been given to guide you on the way to your salvation: I am the only Creator of all that exist, and you must love Me with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. And you must love your neighbour like yourself. 

You must worship or call upon nobody or nothing else, excepting Me alone. Yet there are many who are worshipping other gods, worldly gods devised by themselves in their search for their own power. 

Should you be governed by pride, selfishness, dishonesty, injustice, attachment to worldly possessions and delights, I cannot dwell within you in my perfection and fullness. When gentleness, humility, forbearance, patience, sincerity, generosity and righteousness reign in you, then, in My perfection and fullness, I can be with you and within you. The more bountiful the love is which you have in your heart and which you share, the more of the same you will receive. 

Purify your heart and mind of all that might keep you away from love. Your innate compass, your conscience, will show you what you should rectify. Just ponder carefully on all aspects of your life, matching them against My commandment. You have received a great gift, greater than what you can now realise. You have the opportunity to be my child to the fullness thereof, and to share in everything that I have. I am the Love that sustains the life of every cell in your body. I am the Love from which your precious soul has come forth. This is my gift of life to you. Accept it in love, even as I offer it in Love. 

Everything is pervaded by My presence. I am very close to you. I am the One who resides in your heart, in the inner core of your emotional being. I am the One who is now looking at the world through your eyes. In My perfect love I love you boundlessly, and nothing will ever change it. Amen❞ 

3. Prayer of the Soul 

“Oh my Heavenly Father, please hear my sincere prayer. I know that empty and idle lip language means nothing to You, only sincere emotions and feelings in the heart of my soul matters to You. I now bring before You these feelings of my heart while simultaneously wording it in my mind. Thank you for life. Thank your for love. From the depths of my soul I revere and acknowledge You as the one and only Creator of heaven and earth. Thank you for your patience with me. I was lost, and You have saved me. You have never interfered with my will, for along with the gift of life You have provided me with a free will. You allow me to make my own mistakes, so that by practical experience I am being schooled to get the correct insight according to Your divine order which is not of this world, but, being holy, is distinct from it. You allow me, through my own experiences, both physical and emotional, to learn by myself about kindness, humility, patience, respect, righteousness, sincerity, hope, faith, and love – all the qualities I have to acquire to redeem my soul from this doomed world. I thank You for each lesson learned. How hard it may be at times, it is nothing compared to the value of eternal life for my soul. 

Please grant me the wisdom not to be concerned for the survival of my physical body, but please also grant me the power and the patience to endure any problem or crisis, and to learn form them the lessons required for true living. Thank you for having revealed to us upon this earth Your true teachings, and that You have already redeemed us from the yoke of judgment and punishment. Please also guide us to assist those who have not yet accepted your teachings, whenever they ask for it with, or also without words. 

To You alone I owe my life, my all. Please help me to live as is worthy of being Your child, according to Your divine Order. The love for You that I am now feeling in my heart, is consoling me as if I am a little child being gently enfolded in its parent’s arms and there feels safe and happy and secure. It is quickening me like a plant that has suffered severe drought, but now enjoys Your gentle rain and with new vitality is sprouting upwards. Please pervade my soul with Your precious Light of Love. Let Your Spirit arise in me according to Your will, and ever more illuminate my soul with Your Love and truth and wisdom. 

You are my Alpha and my Omega, my beginning and my end. Here in my heart, deep within my innermost being, all my devotion is focused on You. I honor and glorify You. Teach me, oh my Father. Grant that the thoughts arising in my heart be according to Your will. Let me clearly recognize Your will, and grant me the wisdom and understanding and the light of life according to Your will and Your eternal Order. If it be Your will, allow me to be Your şervant. Guide me to proclaim, in word and deed, Your love and Your message to my neighbours, in this way assisting them according to Your will. Please forgive me all my shortcomings, and help me overcome them. Grant me to grow into a child of Yours, enabling me to employ my will, in conformity to Your will, in a strong and steadfast way, in contributing to Your glorious plan of creation.” 

Dear Father, thank You for everything. Your will be done. Amen