Analogue 71

Analogue 71 

Ultimate Reconciliation in Perfect Light

As long as evil is hidden and continues to contaminate the seed of the Sacred Spirit, it retains its full potency and is capable of enslaving us by its oppressive force. But as soon as the Perfect Light shines forth pouring itself down upon us, those at its heart receive the anointing. It is precisely then that the slaves are freed and rescued from captivity.

So then every seed that my Father in Heaven has not planted shall be uprooted. Those who were separated shall be united, and all who are empty shall be filled, so that everyone may enter into the Bridal Chamber where they will be born into the Light. Their birth shall not be as a result of some unseen union that flares up like a fire in the night and then is extinguished, but rather, as the result of the mystery of Spiritual Marriage, is consummated in the full light of day whose light never ceases nor shall ever be put out.

SYNOPSIS

• Perfect Light is the complete and unobstructed divine Light. 
• The restoration of all things is the hope of divine perfection in Light. 
• The divine goal of restoration, always in the divine Mind, is  being realized step by step
• Apocatastasis is not accomplished in an exoteric way, nor is it done by force or coercion. 
• The contamination of the seed within is the great obstruction before the breakthrough into light. 
• Evil as ignorance and confusion is the prohibiting factor for inner awakening. 
• The warmth of Perfect Light is necessary for awakening the seed. 
• The anointing is the supersaturation of Spirit as light and warmth upon the divine seed. 
• The slaves freed from their shell of ignorance and darkness are awakened into Light. 
• The final uprooting from the contamination of evil is perhaps a logion from Yeshua speaking of “my father.” 
• Yeshua’s ultimate vision of the future concerns the uniting of all things in spiritual marriage. 
• Fullness rather than an emptiness is result of an interior completion. 
• New birth is a Bridal Chamber experience and the ultimate outcome  of Spiritual Marriage. It ultimately releases creation from bondage into the maturation of an ecstatic fullness. 

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COMMENTARY

The Perfecting of Creation

As the Gospel of Philip nears its completion, the vast scale of the ultimate reconciliation of all things and the perfecting of the creation comes into full view. Evil, understood as ignorance, is clearly seen to be the inhibitor of the divine plan and God’s intention for humankind is finally vanquished. Ignorance, which has challenged and prevented humankind from reaching its full potential and destiny, is overcome. The spiritual imprisonment that has kept the human spirit from completion is removed. The Perfect Light from the Anointing pours down upon the seeds that have been buried in darkness and has awakened them into resurrection. Out of their ages-long imprisonment and like seeds in springing, they spring to fullness of life from the dark underground.  

This has been the goal and work of the Messiah from the beginning. The spiritual energy necessary to reverse the effects of containment in captivity is now being realized, while the human spirit, enslaved by ignorance and held captive, is being released by Perfect Light. Healing the toxicity and reversing its effects brings enslaved souls out of imprisonment. Light, acting as a purifier and an anointing oil, supersaturates the souls of willing humanity. Not only is the healing oil therapeutic, but it also bursts into flame to burn and cleanse, and at the same time, enlighten from within. The metaphor is double. The result is freedom, which the truth brings, and this truth was previously said to be the work of the Logos. Logos as Perfect Light, and Anointing Oil as burning flame (both titles for the Messiah), bring their medicine as a gift to humankind. 

In its own unique way, this Gospel highlights Yeshua’s abandoned vision, hidden but held in secret, perhaps, at the heart of a First-Temple mystical tradition of which he was a part.

The Four Great Assurances

Notice that what comes next in the analogue appears to be a direct quote from the teachings of Yeshua, which is not found in the canonical Gospels. By saying, “my father” it appears we are hearing a direct quote. The clarity of what is said is astounding. If one is a member of a family, living in its inner circle, one has access to the thinking and behavior of its members, especially its mother and father. Here, Yeshua is placing himself directly within that family circle. He speaks with authority about the Father’s thinking. It is often asked in religious circles, “What is God’s will?” Most folk end up by guessing, but in this passage, Yeshua does not guess. He speaks what he knows, which are the promises he makes for the complete restoration and return of all things to their perfect resting point (apocatastasis). We might call these the four eternal pledges or agreements:

• Any seed not planted by the Source (perhaps errantly sown by the energy of dark forces), cannot last forever. Like weeds in a garden, perhaps, they must and will be uprooted. 
• Anything and everyone that has been separated from the Source will ultimately be reunited to their Origin. All the bonds that were broken and all severed relationships will be healed and restored.
• Anyone who knows the experience of inner emptiness (perhaps as a result of the original wound of separation) will be filled full and made whole.
•  Everyone is invited into and will enter the Bridal Chamber to be born anew from the Light. Like a seed germinating in the ground and drawn by the warmth of light, they will experience a new birth as a result of spiritual marriage. 

These four have been at the heart of the divine agenda all along. They are also the powerful energy behind the work of the Messiah as the emissary of heaven. Through the long ages, it may have seemed that the work of the divine will had been utterly thwarted, unable to reach its perfection, but in this longer view, it is perceived not to be the case. Prophetically, this Gospel sees beyond these limited horizons to the place where all barriers are overthrown and the goal is accomplished. At the heart of the internal vision of Yeshua is the unveiling of the future in this remarkable way. It is a Finale as apocalypsis and eschaton. This is not only what he saw; it became the Principle—his guiding light from the beginning to the end of his mission on earth. It still exists today, and will exert itself throughout the ages to come until all is accomplished and the work is done. 

The Uprooting

In our current state of affairs, here in the middle of time, however, it is difficult to imagine the “perfecting” of creation and of the resolution of human history in just this way. So much water has passed under the bridge. The destruction and ruin in human history is a tragedy beyond comprehension. There has been so much suffering and horror; how can one conceive of a positive outcome? It all appears impossible to us—like some unrealizable fantasy in a wild dream. This Gospel, however, speaks of an outcome in which our doubts are overcome and the end of all things brings about a conclusion that reconciles the unresolvable and overcomes the darknesses in such a way that we who have experienced this can accept and understand it. How this is possible is not clear, but Yeshua sees it as the outcome of the work of “my father,” whom he trusts. Yeshua has seen something—a perfect outcome, but as of yet, unimaginable perhaps to the rest of us. 

The single solution to the problem of evil envisioned here is that there must be an “uprooting” of evil—evil removed by its roots. It is not simply cut down, leaving the roots alive to sprout again—much like the way we cut a lawn. It must be total removal from the roots upward. Imagine that there is an ecosystem that is perfect in every way, but perhaps in a weakened state, an “invasive species” begins to take over and dominate the entire environment. This has happened over and over again across wilderness areas. For whatever reason, the invasive species becomes dominant, crowding out native plants, unbalancing the system, and putting it not only off-balance but in peril of collapse. In order to restore the balance and return the environment to its original state, the invasive species must be deliberately uprooted and removed, possibly as a remediation project. Suppose there is something in the divine plan that we could call “remedial wisdom” taking effect and wisely removing the domineering species without harming or destroying the original environment. The land is then allowed to recover. It takes wisdom and understanding to do this work, and elsewhere, Yeshua reports on this possibility at the time of harvest at the end of time. He describes what he calls “the tares” (in the King James Version, Matthew 13:24-43) that are weeds growing among the wheat being removed and destroyed.

Bridal Chamber as Birthing Room

This analogue goes on to describe this action as a birthing process, which takes place as a result of spiritual marriage within the Bridal Chamber. Making use of the metaphor of sexual union (resulting in the birth of children from that marriage), the text goes on to describe what the progeny are like that come from this sacred union. Instead of this being the result of a flaring up of sexual passion (the genesis of human birth), this comes from a sustained relationship whose energies emit a continuous light that can never be extinguished until all is accomplished. From that sustained Light, born out of the spiritual marriage between heaven and earth (and from the uniting of the human and the divine), everything else is born. This profound intimacy returns everything to its original Source as Light. 

In the vision of this Gospel, this birthing process will continue until all is accomplished. A turning point has already been reached which cannot be reversed now nor thwarted. The veils of separation are being removed. Not only is there the truth of the unity of all things, that unity is now understood and experienced to be the inter-penetration of all things with the All itself in Perfect Light, understood as ultimate Interbeing. Knowledge of this truth, the reality of hidden things, is no longer concealed from us. It is both revealed and also experienced as a great fullness. In perfect completion, the Omega point (seen from afar by all the prophets and sages), reached in the Eschaton, is also being brought into the middle of time itself and realized in the here and now. 

This Gospel says that this is what the Messiah knows. As a wisdom sage, a visionary prophet, and the greater healer-restorer of humankind, it is at the heart of his extraordinary seeing. Nothing less than this full remedy is at the center of his work. These are the secret teachings revealed to him, which he sought to transmit to his spiritual heirs and students. Much of it, however, was lost from sight through all the vicissitudes of theological history, though some parts of it were heard, retained, and reclaimed by the great mystics of the ages. In its own unique way, however, this Gospel highlights Yeshua’s abandoned vision, hidden but held in secret, perhaps, at the heart of a First-Temple mystical tradition of which he was a part. It may appear foreign to us now and so far from our western concepts of orthodoxy as to be considered a heretical contradiction. From the sands of ancient Egypt, the teachings of Oriental Light preserved by Philip, however, are reaching out to us in our day in a strange new arising. Though they may have been preserved in some of the esoteric traditions of western Christianity, and certainly available in the mysticism of Islam, here, at last, in the final analogues of this Gospel, and just at the edge of words and almost beyond telling, the fullness of that vision is being returned.

 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. In this analogue, you have been introduced to Yeshua’s vision (and also the secrets of First-Temple mystical tradition); how has it affected you and your view of humankind and its future?
2. How different is this visionary tradition from what you may have previously heard or known? Describe any significant differences in a journal entry and share it with someone you trust. 
3. Looking at the four eternal pledges of Ultimate Restoration that Yeshua makes in this Gospel, which one stands out most vividly for you? What compels or attracts you to this agreement? What does it mean for you personally? Are there things that you question about this way of seeing?
4. A more difficult concern has to do with any unresolved issues you may experience within yourself. These may be at the roots of the shadows existing inside you. How would you describe those issues or shadows? What might need to be uprooted that may spring from personal experience or old patterns that are a part of your heritage? In a journal entry, describe these as best you can.
5. What might the invasive species be in the ground of your own being or at the roots of the human condition in society and culture?
6. How might those patterns be uprooted? Is this God’s work or yours? Or is it a combined effort, and you become a cooperating partner in this difficult work? How would you describe this effort?
7. How would you describe your personal relationship to the Bridal Chamber as birthing room? Where and who are you now in this metaphor? In your own experience, what has happened to you that might traditionally be called a “new birth?”
8. How are you already a mystic? What would you say about your own mystical experience that might be helpful to someone else?

 

NOTES FOR FURTHER STUDY 

AND REFERENCE

1. The western streams of Christianity have been plagued by dogmas of eternal damnation originating from the writings of St. Paul at the early beginnings and were later expanded on by such figures as St. Augustine and others. These two individuals set the trajectory whereby atonement theology, at its base, expressed a profoundly pessimistic view of the ultimate outcome of humanity’s experience and sojourn through time, space, and human history. An altogether different teaching, however, was prominent in the early centuries of the Christian tradition, which reflects the outlook of the Gospel of Philip. As has been expressed earlier, the Ultimate Reconciliation of all things (apocatastasis) was a position held by a majority of the early Church fathers and mothers who saw the destiny of the human race to be its final uniting to the Source through the work of the healing and restoring energies begun by the Messiah. This interpretative vision is clearly at the center of this Gospel and is embedded in its sacramental system, where the divine powers work ceaselessly toward this goal. Emptiness and separation describe the original wound of the soul coming into time, and divine fullness is its ultimate antidote. 
2. A profound early insight about the wounding of the soul, however, comes from the writings (and autobiography) of St. Augustine, who sees that there is a God-shaped vacuum in every human soul that only God can fill. This powerful understanding brings us very close to the roots of the human condition, which is also echoed across the ages in the writings of many mystics. In the poetry of Jalaluddin Rumi and his opening to the Mathnawi, for example, he writes concerning the empty, hollow reed flute (the ney, which is carved with holes). It cries out, feeling the original wound of separation, and longs for return. These themes are also central to the the teachings of A.H. Almaas, and the contemporary Diamond Heart approach to the soul’s journey, which addresses this original wounding. Almaas teaches that the egoic structures of the soul grow around the wound, seeking to protect us both from the effects of the wound and the world around it. In the process, however, these protective strategies typically distort the self’s own true nature. These are very complex teachings that deserve attention and study. Origins of these teachings, however, can clearly be seen to exist in this Gospel, coming, it seems, from the insights and teachings of Yeshua himself. 
3. Burning, or purification, appears to be the first action of light upon the soul. In the ancient world, one could not have light without first there being fire. Their effects are known as catharsis, and in many mystical traditions, it speaks to processes of removal and cleansing which precede later illumination. In some contemporary understandings, this is often also called shadow-work, which was introduced by Carl Jung, who taught that without personal work with one’s own shadows (in shadowland of the soul), we cannot fully understand ourselves. In this analogue, the practice is to root out the shadows by casting light into those dark places. In much of the psycho-spiritual work of Jung and others, a different approach is counseled: to understand, befriend, and even integrate the shadows into the totality of one’s life. This approach has its own wisdom, though it seems to contradict the teachings of this analogue. 
4. Awakening through the press of Perfect Light upon the soul is the ultimate resolution for the darkness of ignorance which has kept it and all humankind imprisoned and bound outside the Bridal Chamber and unable to complete the process of maturation at least in this world. This is the original medicine, which is the gift of Perfect Light flowing from divine Love, that brings healing and full restoration to all the souls of humankind. 

Notes on the Translation

• The Perfect Light is not light brought to perfection, but complete, full-spectrum light. 
• The term “seed of Spirit” translates the Greek word for “sperm.”
• It is unclear whether the seed is planted within evil or the evil is planted in the seed. Whichever it is, it retains the power to oppress.
• The term “sacred marriage” translates the “mystery of this (form of) marriage,” different from the other natural form.