Oahspe Study and Faithism
Faithists, Unbelievers and Those In-between
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Oahspe, First Book of God; (24/19.23-19)
[God's Angel Emissary] spoke through Brahma, saying: While it is yet night, I speak. With the dawn, at sunrise, comes the Father's Voice. Hear me, then, briefly, without expecting much wisdom, for I am not long born in heaven:
The Creator created two great men, the Faithist and the unbeliever; the first has passed through the trials of the flesh, and attained to the Father's Voice; for in becoming one with the Father, he no longer stands in fear of anything in heaven or earth. The glory of constant resurrection is before him forever.
All men who have not attained to this may be compared to a man going up a slippery hillside, who often rises high, but suddenly slides low. They glorify themselves for their own light, wisdom and good gifts, rejoicing for self's sake for the glories that have fallen upon them. But they are cowards.
Nevertheless, the Creator created a great man among these; and that is the unbelieving man. He has neither gold nor silver, nor house nor land; and he is without spiritual sight or spiritual hearing; but his glory is in understanding his own understanding.
He is the one who subdues the forest, and tames the beasts of the field to man's service. He goes alone in the dark, fearing nothing. He does not follow the course of any man, but searches for himself; the priest cannot make him believe, nor can the angels of heaven; none can subdue his judgment. He sees the glory of the earth and manhood. He calls to the multitude, saying: Why do you permit others, even priests, to think for you? Arise, and be a man! Arise, and be a woman!
He inspires of the earth and for the earth; through his arm tyrants and evil kings are overthrown. Through him doctrines and religions are sifted to the bottom, and the falsehood and evil in them cast aside. Yes, who but Ormazd could have created so great a man as the unbeliever?
And these two men, the Faithist and the unbeliever, do most of all the good that is done in the world; one labors at the top of the hill, calling upward; the other labors at the bottom of the hill, pushing upward .||
According to the above teaching from Oahspe there are types of people who achieve the most good in the world and they are at two extremes, apparently opposite each other. The unbeliever goes forth from the corporeal aspect and deals only with what he sees and proves in the material world. The Faithist goes forth in faith that all is possible in Jehovih, he operates beyond the limits of the corporeal world - yet he moves not in belief only.
If we took the above teaching in Oahspe out of its context and treated it in isolation, one might assume that to be a believer is to be worthless or something to be ashamed of. Or one may even assume that since one cannot attain to Faith without a period of uncertainty and even foolishness, it would be best to abandon both and settle for being an effective corporeal man. But such a conclusion would be premature. Belief itself is a part of the human make-up, it would be impossible to come to any conclusions or take action without an element of belief. Even unbelievers are believers, as is evidenced in their belief in their unbelief.
How then would believers fit with these other two types of persons?
Later Brahma explains to his son Hog:
Oahspe, First Book of God; (24/23.10.)
|| Brahma said: We are blessed! This is the first belief: to believe in the spirit surviving the corporeal body; the second belief is to learn the All Person. After this comes faith.||
Apparently believers are in the middle ground between the two extremes --- a relatively neutral place of little effective action. Assuming a progressive continuum, then if one were to move from one extreme to the other, one would have to pass thru this middle, neutral-like state. So it would be like a door and passageway that an unbeliever must pass thru to come to faith. Call it, if you like, a leap of faith, going on intuition or a hunch, allowing one's imagination to take flight, letting go, closing your eyes and taking that step, etc. However one may describe it, it feels like a 180 degree turn in perspective, attitude and behavior, to the one who is experiencing such a change.
We could also consider such a change of focus as transferring one's modus operandi to a new gear. In which case, many of the usually active gears go into neutral. It is a time of transition where output is not only weak in comparison to before, but of a different quality, and, with a whole new set of responses from the environment.
Such a giving up of power and effectiveness is not an easy thing to do, and indeed many people choose not to make such changes. But life, by Jehovih's hand and will, has a way of making us offers we can't refuse.
But the power of Belief is not to be underestimated:
Our beliefs are reflected in our actions. A mathematician believes in what he sees in his numbers - and an artist spends his time proving that brick walls are transparent and clouds are solid ground.
But we are not intrinsically servants to our beliefs --- indeed they can be of useful service to the maturing individual. While we are yet infants we are subject to all that is around us --- our minds are molded by our elders and our surroundings, and so our beliefs are formed almost as much without our will as do our bodies grow seemingly of their own accord. But a part of maturation is the recognition of our ability to choose what we will or will not believe. Knowing that we have this freedom of mind allows us not only to choose what we will believe, but we come to understand that that same freedom of mind also allows others the same privilege of choosing what to believe.
We all operate on Belief:
We can further understand that whether one knows it or not, we all operate on belief --- despite any person's or group's claims to truth over another's. Yet as belief is not the highest, neither are numbers, axioms and other evidences of truth, for while truth may be relative in a subjective world, there exists an absolute Truth, the proof of which is our own existence. Numbers, axioms, etc., as such, then, merely point the way toward an absolute truth, but they are not truth in and of themselves. So we can understand that the more truth that is available to us, the more effective will our beliefs be in guiding our actions which manifest in the real world - the absolute Truth. So we search for Truth.
Oahspe, valuable as it is in revealing knowledge and histories (proven to be true or not as the case may be according to the individual and what he or she chooses to believe), provides an even greater source of knowledge, and that is Wisdom, one of the three Great Attributes of the Creator; the other two, being Love and Power. These three attributes work together, symbolized by the triangle, the first great symbol of Jehovih's Gods of this Earth.
How to attain Wisdom, and how is it related to Truth?
The simple answer is that both lie with the Creator, and as we can never attain to have all wisdom and all truth, we must begin by believing that there is a Creator and then begin the practice of building our Faith in our Creator.
And how do we gain Faith?
As we learn from Oahspe, our Maker first proves His Power to man. This opens the door for man to rise from unbelief to belief. Afterward Jehovih proves to man His Wisdom and that He stands as the undisputed Master of Wise Dominion. It is in man's rise to acknowledge His Creator's Wisdom and Power, that he gains Faith in Jehovih. In the process, man comes to realize never-endingly, that all is moved and sustained by the Ever-present Will and Love of the Creator.
For a season in the ancient days, it was sufficient for man to gain Faith in Jehovih. Today, it is still necessary but not sufficient. Ultimately man seeks to rise in Wise Dominion. How does he do that? It is through Faith in the Wisdom of Jehovih and the living of that Faith. In which regard, Jehovih has given us each capacity for wise dominion, and the subject of our first dominion that we are charged with is over our own self. And in that regard, the wise ones since ancient days have ever told man he must first start with cleanliness and purity. Without those basics, he cannot attain to clarity or wholesomeness, both of which are required for Wise Dominion.
And finally, after Jehovih has proved his Power and Wise dominion to man, He will prove His Love as the enduring foundation that not only never ends but only increases to ever greater fulfillment and glories. Here rests the Golden Chamber (Book of Saphah; 35/AA.0.). Here stands that which rises above Faith --- here stands Certainty, here stands Knowing. Even as the Certainty and Knowledge of the Ever Presence stands above man's Faith which stands above man's Belief which stands above man's Unbelief, so to, those who have attained to Jehovih's Presence have become a Bride or Bridegroom to Jehovih, and so live within a Certainty and Knowledge that are risen above Sa-gwan, the Black Doubt, and beyond the reach of Anra'mainyus.
All Oahspe references are from the modern language edition: Oahspe Standard Edition 2007
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