Oahspe Study and Faithism
Four Foods of Man Part 6
Search for the Ideal Form (Social and Individual)
The Cycle of Bon Begins Man's Search for the Ideal Form
Before man could create and sustain an Ideal Form, he required, of course, the Mind to perceive it as well as Soul and Spirit able to recognize it. As set forth previously, in the cycles of Dae (Osiris), Loo (Fragapatti), Spe-ta (Cpenta-armij), man had developed in mind, spirit and soul, respectively. And in Bon (Lika) man, that is, his person individually and collectively, would seek to harmonize and integrate these various perceptions received from his members (mind et al). So that throughout the course of Bon, man was developing to appreciate the need for an Ideal Form so that he could and would aspire toward it.
Man also needed to not only recognize a form as being Ideal, but be able to differentiate it (preferably in an articulate manner) from other forms. This was a particularly tall order for those coming into Bon from Spe-ta; the chief reason being that in Bon, man learned of the many gradations between the All Highest and the All Lowest (more on gradations later). And this had the practical effect of man choosing the middle ground, then aspiring toward the highest within that middle range. In a chain of digression / diversion, this resulted in man eventually placing the Middle as the All Highest while gradually losing sight of the actual All Highest.
Another reason that the development of the Mind (regarding integrating and harmonizing) was tricky for man in early Bon was that man, having just come out of Spe-ta with all its deceit, was not sure that the Mind or its products (words, ideas, proclaimings, persuadings, collective memories, etc.) could be trusted.
The Way Out was Through the Soul
As earlier presented, the activity of knowing via the soul was developed during Spe-ta. This soul development also holds a clue to a purpose of the Mind which would be developed in Bon. For, if one purpose of the Soul is to feed the Mind, as previously discussed, what is the reciprocal purpose of the Mind regarding the Soul? It was previously indicated that the Mind provides for the rise (resurrection) of the Soul. But how does the mind know what to do toward that end? It has an idea of what to do because the mind interprets the soul, and creates designs to fulfill it. That is, the mind arranges things for soul growth. And not just any sort of soul growth, but ideally for optimal soul growth according to the elements of the surroundings and the maturity of the mind to interpret the soul, and the maturity of the spirit to desire this optimal (but almost always more challenging) aim.
This means (obviously) that the Mind in man must be developed prior to his being able to perceive the Soul, and then further developed so that he can perceive that the soul does in truth, develop. The next step requires that man learn the ways that the soul develops. Although this latter step develops mostly during Kosmon, yet the foundation for that was laid in Bon. Let us catch a glimpse of how.
How the Soul Develops
Faithists are always the pioneers in things of es. What they develop and experience during a dan'ha---particularly in the first 400 years or so---is developed by them to some sufficient degree, so that in the following dan'ha the bulk of humanity attempts en masse the same thing. Recall, for instance, Abraham teaching the Faithists regarding evil spirits lest these degrade (lay waste to and thus degrade) the soul (see Chapters 9-10 First Book of God, 24/9 and 24/10). This focus of the mind on soul matters would continue throughout Spe-ta. By the end of Spe-ta, those teachings of the Faithists would bear fruit in Bon, the next dan'ha cycle. In Bon the common man was taught to recognize evil spirits, or shall we say, to recognize the spirits' evil teachings / inspirations. The false Gods took advantage of this learning period of man by teaching that spirits other than the emissaries of their particular false God, were evil spirits. (This act of calling evil the spirits of other Gods, did not originate in Bon; rather it flourished because of the propitious times.
Importantly for our times, while the bulk / trunk / body of humanity always gains the lesson in the succeeding dan'ha (from Spe-ta to Bon in our preceding example), so in the next succeeding cycle (which in our example would be Kosmon) the tail / rump / hind end of humanity finally gains (i.e., perceives, takes to heart) the lesson from two dan'has prior. Using our example this means among other things that in Kosmon the lowest grades of man will at last perceive the wisdom in and embrace the middle way as first taught man in Spe-ta via the Me-de-ans.
That is, although these of the lowest grades, redeemed from the beast as it were, will feel that they themselves cannot sustain the All Highest, yet they can and will choose to sustain the midway point, the so-called Golden Mean between the All Good and the All Evil. And this is a necessary part of man coming to terms with Sabea, which as part of its highest sense, means man learning to live, attaining to live, indeed desiring to live, sufficiently above the beast level so as to have a happy, fulfilling life. For, at the same time, these redeemed grades of man will keep their aspirations on ascension toward the All Highest. That is, they will embrace the path of those whom we call the upward aspiring Me-de-ans. Thus it will be, as we learned from Oahspe: Kosmon comes out of (follows the attainment of) Sabea.
Returning now to the development of the soul and the Spe-ta background development of man in Bon, essentially, then, Abraham taught his people how to live for the soul, that is, how to interpret and develop the soul. In order to do that, certainly man's Mind must have some organization, system and order, tools to use, a sufficiently developed capacity, and experience before he can learn how to interpret the Soul correctly. Paradoxically, whether or not a person (his mind) interprets wisely what he perceives regarding the soul, depends in great measure upon his own soul growth. Thus the conundrum is that man's mind cannot perceive the soul till the soul is sufficiently provided for (developed), yet the soul cannot grow (develop) without man's mind providing for the soul's development. In other words, how can you provide wisely for something you can neither see nor perceive? The problem of course is thus that the undeveloped mind cannot properly interpret the soul and so cannot wisely provide for its growth (so that Ruch (soul light) will constantly radiate from it) --- yet unless the soul is sufficiently developed to be in light (capable of emitting and sustaining Ruch), the undeveloped mind cannot perceive the soul directly at all, much less provide for its growth.
Since we in Kosmon are now in a period of soul development, this bears emphasizing. Such a person of darkened soul can at best only indirectly infer the soul from Jehovih's voice illuminating, however dimly, the soul in darkness. Accordingly, such a man's interpretation of the soul and its light would be sorely lacking.
So if the mind of a person could not perceive the soul to interpret its needs, how then could such a person's mind be expected to provide for soul growth so that the soul may grow in light? The kingdom of Jehovih through His God had long ago solved that dilemma by giving man commandments to adhere to so that his soul could grow while man's mind was immature.
Otherwise man would be lost. For, it is the soul that resurrects into etherea (the emancipated heavens) and life eternal. Because the Faithists obeyed the commandments, they arrived at a developmental stage before the bulk of humanity. The bulk of humanity would not obey the commandments till the Bon cycle, and then only in part. In Kosmon, the bulk of humanity will embrace obeying all the commandments. (Remember though that this will only endure for a long season into this first dan'ha cycle of the Kosmon era; see, e.g., 38/7.7-8)
Interpreting the Soul
So how does man begin to interpret the soul, since learning-to-do-so was one of the goals for man to accomplish in Bon. As we have seen, man must first learn about the soul and understand at least to a minimum level what it is. As one of the purposes of the Spe-ta cycle was for man's introduction to the soul, so in Bon man was to learn how to provide for the soul. Remember, man at that time was nearly wholly inexperienced and thus prone to making many mistakes. Moreover, his soul had been steeped in extreme darkness from the Spe-ta cycle.
Indeed, the conceit and sheer audacity of the false Gods of Spe-ta had written deeply in beast script upon the soul of man. Recall that Anuhasaj--De'yus aka the Lord God--was the most audacious false God the earth's heavens had ever seen, see, e.g., 25/41.1-2 --Book of Wars; and 26/16.3 Book of Lika. And his lesser Gods and followers were not much less so in either audacity or in the conceit implied by audacity.
Because in the Spe-ta cycle the bulk of humanity formed around the standard of the beast, and as the goals of the dan'ha had not changed regarding man learning of the soul, so in Spe-ta the beast became deeply ingrained within the soul substance of man, darkening it and crystallizing it to degrees of adamantine. Receiving this condition into Bon, the charge of teaching man ---who was as an infant in soul understanding--- to interpret the soul correctly, might seem like a tall if not impossible order for the Lords of Jehovih to accomplish. The saving grace, though, came through the Tree of Light which was illumed in man's soul at the advent of Bon. Because the illumination thus began with the Bon Hi'dan, so the light of the Dawn stayed illumed within the soul of mortals, so that through Capilya, Moses, and Chine, and their Faithists followers, that light crystallized deep within the soul, this sealing thus assuring from that time forward the availability of nourishment for Tree of Light rooted within the soul of man.
In short, for man to directly perceive the soul throughout Bon so that he could learn to interpret the soul correctly, it had to be quite bright for him to even perceive it. This is where the Tree of Light comes in. It would provide light throughout Bon so that man's soul light (ruch) could be perceived directly by him, albeit mostly subconsciously for almost all mortals. The soul was illumed so that man could at times be conscious of it, albeit in a rather dim but still direct way.
For which reason, the continual 400 years of light that followed the dawn of Bon, allowed for other upward aspiring mortals to perceive (whether consciously or subconsciously) within one's own soul the Crystallized Light, and by this manner, enlightenment spread. These others especially included the hangers-on that surrounded and lived in proximity to the Faithist of Moses, and included those in proximity to the Faithists of Capilya, and virtually all those who lived in Chine'ya as they essentially became followers of Chine.
Not surprisingly a problem arose because of the darkness of man's soul and the strength of the beast within. As a result, man all too often turned the inspiration of the soul toward self-gratification instead of toward Jehovih's further glory. Nevertheless, man began to see that he had a distinct choice between good and evil, and that it was up to him to choose which of the two he would nurture.
Of course, choosing the beast would result in increasing pain and further suffering, for which the beast in accordance with its nature would blame others. While alternatively, choosing the path of light and righteousness would result in a growth in soul light and thus engender and strengthen an inner protection from the beast. Such a person would first learn to recognize the beast. Then he could avoid, or at least be inspired with a way to proceed that remained in light. Eventually the light of the soul as emitted through the spirit would hold the beast at bay, thus safeguarding the individual's serenity. Now in Kosmon, man is learning more directly how to keep the beast from disrupting his composure.
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i073 Tow'sang. Solar Phalanx, that is, sun-family. Jehovih said: Let a sign be before men, so they may know that I shield My works with My Own hand. || And it was so, for He made a shield for every one of the living creatures on the earth, and in the waters and in the air. Even the kernel of wheat and the flesh of the nut, He encompassed with a hardy shield, so that man could know that He shielded all His works on their exterior. And now in kosmon, the time has come to reveal the vortex of Tow'sang, so that man can perceive the wisdom and glory of His works. An external shield He made for all, except man; but man alone He made to be shielded by the spirit within him. (Oahspe Image and Caption)
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But back in the time of Bon, as strength and faith in the light and its goodness grew, so the person would perceive (usually from Jehovih's angels pointing it out to him) that he was being led to walk in paths where the beast was not. And again (via inspiration, because man, as a soul-child had to be taught / shown) man recognized the choosing of good as a growth in protection from the beast. For by walking in such paths, there would arise fewer and fewer occasions for a beast from one's surroundings to disrupt and distress such a person.
There were of course other lessons in light to be learned, but this writing is not about outlining them per se. Sufficient has been given to set the student on the course to discover these on his own, should it be desired. For in Kosmon, we are to complete the task of rising in soul light but in such a way that the beast will not wind its way through the light to ever again find the citadel of the Inner Temple of Jehovih and destroy man's access to it.
In Part 7 we examine the progress toward building the Inner Temple in Bon as demonstrated in the Jews following the destruction of the Temple in 578 bce.
All Oahspe references are from the modern language edition: Oahspe Standard Edition 2007