"You shall KNOW the TRUTH, and the truth shall set you FREE!" This seemingly simple statement is loaded with all sorts of explosive questions and ideas which have often led to, historically speaking, mayhem, murder and mass destruction.

The problem seems to lie with differing definitions of what is or is not to be known, how to know it, and why.

The word "Know," is derived from the Latin root "gnoscere," which is "to know, have a clear perception or understanding of, be sure of or well informed about."

But "truth" is more difficult. It is actually derived from the same root as "tree," and the problems immediately become apparent with this word. The first definition is "that which accords with reality or fact." But, it can also mean a "particular belief or teaching regarded by the speaker as the true one!" (And some trees are sturdier than others!)

The problem with the first definition is related to our definitions of reality. And what is a fact? It seems that facts about our world change from one generation to the next. Many years ago it was a fact that it took weeks to cross the Atlantic by the fastest means, now it only takes hours. So it could be said that facts define our reality. But facts are NOT reality nor are they absolute. It seems that facts are based on knowledge, and knowledge seems to be predicated on what kinds of questions are being asked and how open the seeker is to receive answers.

Yet we come back to the statement: "You shall KNOW the TRUTH and the truth shall set you free." Those who think that "truth" is what is "believed" or "taught" by their particular religion or philosophy fail to note that the vast number of differing, and often opposing, beliefs would indicate that somebody is in error, if not all, and WHO shall arbitrate which?

Well, we do have a small key to this problem: the idea of being FREE. If it is TRUTH, it will set one free. But, what is it to be free? This word is related to the same root from which we get "friend" and denotes feelings of fondness and love and holding something as dear. So, we might think that to be free means that we are full of friendliness and lovingkindness and holding all we behold and experience as dear! To be free means that no power can take these feelings from us, that we have reached a level of knowing that is open and accepting and loving without conditions.

The idea of "friend" being related to freedom and knowledge is found in many ancient teachings. The most widely known are Hebrew and, to a lesser extent, Christian. Abraham was called "the Friend of God," and the father of many nations. So we might think that to be FREE is to be a Friend of God. But, the most important thing about a friend is that it is someone you KNOW by virtue of being open to and accepting of without limitations. So, we have come around in a circle. And we might say that the thing which we need to KNOW in order to be FREE is God.

The apostle, Paul wrote: "For that which is KNOWN about God is evident ... his nature and attributes ... have been made clearly discernible IN and THROUGH the THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE," which clearly indicates that study of the world and all within it is a pathway to God available to all. This is also a precise statement that ALL that exists IS God, and therefore worth knowing and being open to without conditions. Paul further comments on those who substitute beliefs, "vain imaginings, foolish reasoning and stupid speculations," for knowledge of God through study and observation of creation and notes that such people do not "see fit to consider Him worth the knowing." And this leads us back to our differing beliefs that hold one set or criteria as truth, and all others as wrong, or, at the most, only partly correct. Paul remarks: "in posing as judge and passing sentence on another you condemn yourself." And what is it to judge and pass sentence? To limit one's openness to knowledge, to ask questions with pre-formed opinions, assumptions and answers.

These seed ideas are more clearly explicated in the Sufi teachings of Ibn al-'Arabi. Here we find exactly what Paul has said in the first chapter of Romans which can be reduced to the idea that everything that exists, by the fact of existing, manifests something of the Divine Presence, which by definition embraces all that exists. Therefore, God can be found everywhere, in everything, and all knowledge is knowledge of God.

Understanding the principles of creation tell us that the dynamic activity to "know" is expressed in creation by the desire of God to know Himself through creation. Therefore, any limitation or assumption we make about the cosmos and all within it is a limitation placed upon God.

In the Sufi texts, "finding" is identical with consciousness and self- awareness, or with "knowledge." Knowledge is a great bounty to be gathered, but it is obvious that everyone cannot have it equally.

This is clearly described in the Parable of the Talents. In this story, Jesus describes "Knowledge" as "riches" given to three servants. Two of the servants utilize their talents/gold to obtain even more. In fact, the exact description is that they "invest," or take a risk by giving up what they have been given to multiply it. And the servant who clings desperately to his little bit of knowledge/gold, burying it in the ground from fear that his Master is hard and demanding, loses even the little that he has. He closed his mind to more knowledge. He assumed that what he had was sufficient and stopped seeking. He denied himself by denying knowledge.

It may seem unfair, but the point is obvious that letting go of fear and wanting more knowledge to the extent of taking risks and working to get it even if one must temporarily give up one level to gain another is the key to being a "Friend of God." God wants Friends, not groveling, fearful slaves. And how can God have friends with whom he cannot communicate because they have no knowledge? And it is significant that "friends" generally are compatible because they have something in common.

So, we might think that one of the objectives of obtaining knowledge is to know how to be a friend of God. And here is where so many stumble and fall into assumptions. Every attribute or quality that we find in the cosmos must be an attribute or quality of God. The Sufis call this the "Names of God." And God has many "names." Each name denotes a pair of opposites. God the Merciful can be known through Forgiveness and God the Wrathful is known through Vengeance. And these are just two examples. The variety of relationships that can be discerned in God is the reason, the primary cause, of the multiplicity of relationships in the cosmos. ALL THINGS are manifestations and effects of the Divine Names or attributes in myriad combinations. God has many faces, not all of them pleasant to behold!

The idea is that all beings are, in one way or another, seeking God. And the manner in which we seek determines the type of friendship we have. God is a friend to us in the same way we are a friend to the cosmos. The importance of this statement cannot be overestimated! It is only through knowledge of the meanings behind our experiences and the material world that we can truly discern and divide the essential attributes of any given manifestation so that we can exercise our FREE WILL CHOICE in the direction of those that are known as the "Beautiful Faces of God."

How does one obtain truth? How does one cast off the illusions? How does one differentiate between knowledge of Light and knowledge that leads to darkness? This comes by a combination of factors. The first is gaining and gathering knowledge of every form and sort. All sciences and arts are of value in increasing knowledge if they are approached with the intention of preparing a vessel for Divine knowledge. For, in truth, all knowledge is Divine. The more knowledge you have of the matters of your world, the greater the vessel you have prepared for receiving Divine Knowledge. So, seek knowledge to prepare yourself. Seek knowledge as though you were on a treasure hunt! The tiniest clue that might be ordinarily overlooked could be the key that opens the treasure chest! So, be thorough. Be disciplined.

The word that is a stumbling block in many ways for many people comes in here: FAITH. But, is faith, after all, so difficult? It is, in a pure sense, feeling secure in your knowledge by virtue of experience and testing. But, how can you experience and test faith if you have no faith with which to experience and test faith? If your faith is small, you must establish it through knowledge. If you were given proof and the proof gave you faith, then everyone would have faith and then the "virtue of faith," which is the building and brightening of the light within through knowledge combined with faith, would have no value in moving you further along the upward path. Faith is self-evident knowledge of the inner light. It is light that grows within through effort to know truth and God. What did Jesus mean when he said: "I must be about My Father's business?" He meant that he must acquire knowledge of God for God is all knowledge. This was symbolized by his presence in the temple with the Rabbis.

And, how did Jesus go about his Father's business? There are many descriptions in the short stories, known as parables. Did he not describe the man who sold all he owned to obtain a "pearl of great price?" Can we do less than give it our every attention in the most minute of details?

It seems that "selling all that one owns" is related to the idea of giving up assumptions and preconceptions and ASKING. There are those who do not ASK questions. They bury their talent in fear that the asking will destroy them. They have ceded their power to someone or something more powerful who is external to them.

But, for those who ask, there are two fundamental questions: Is there a God/Divine Intelligence?, and Is there a purpose to life?

And, it seems that the asking or not asking of these questions establishes the difference between consciousness and unconsciousness. Of course, there are those who CLAIM to ask, but really do not; they already have their answer in some belief system that is an established power over them. But those who ask, who REALLY ask, are faced with moment-by- moment decisions, choices that they must make to navigate the labyrinth, hoping that those choices will take them either to the center or the exit, depending upon their "direction." Thus, if one asks with a completely open mind and heart, each moment that they are open is a moment that they are conscious. Those who do not ask are unconscious, they exist in a state of fear. They ARE the buried talent. It is their soul.

Therefore, a practical plan, a mode of perception is needed by which we can understand the answers to our questions. Each of us, individually, without giving our power away to some other external, dominating religion or philosophy. We need to learn to interact directly with the cosmos in a personal way. Because it is only in direct interaction with this creative force of existence that we truly ARE our AUTHENTIC selves. When we are navigating the maze under our own power, by our own choices, we are experiencing true freedom of BE-ing. We are able to see that one way does not achieve our destination, and we are free to turn around and try another. We are not forced to march in place, against a brick wall, not knowing that we are getting nowhere because we have allowed ourselves to be blindfolded by "faith" in some external source of power, be it material or philosophical or religious. We are free to BE.

How?

How can we do this without resorting to those same philosophies and religions that have held sway for millennia without producing any appreciable change in our earthly existence, except perhaps, to increase the sophistication of our self-destructive capabilities.

Well, we are going to attempt to do this in a way that will be meaningful to anyone and everyone who can sit up and take nourishment!

And here is where we find it necessary to learn to "read" the symbols of the dynamics of our world.

In human languages, words are metaphors for both objects and concepts, yet they are NOT those objects or concepts. And we have seen in the preceding example that the same principle holds true in another sense. The interactions and exchanges between human beings are metaphors for the underlying dynamics of the movements of energy. Every event of a person's life is a word composed of the letters of the alphabet of the cosmos. And these words make sentences and paragraphs and pages and books. And, if we can learn to read these words, we can begin to gain an understanding of what is being said to us, and choose an appropriate response.

And, just as a child learns to speak a language by exposure, so must we learn this cosmic language by exposure. And we do. Just as a child is not aware, in a conscious way, that he is doing so marvelous a thing as learning a language as he learns to express himself, so we do not initially understand that we are learning a complex organ of communication by our experiences in the world. But, we are. And, when we get to the stage in our learning of a language that it is possible to study it consciously and learn the rules of grammar and syntax, thereby making the language work for us in a conscious and directed way, so also we can consciously study the language of the cosmos, learn its grammar and syntax, and write poetry or prose of ineffable beauty. Conversely, there are those who achieve this who choose to write tales of horror and obscenity.

But we need to learn this language. And we begin with the metaphor we are given to work with - language itself.

Within a described thing or idea, we are looking for some character, some quality or essential thing about it, by which it can be fitted into a framework of understanding. We do this, in general, by COMPARISON. Think of the games whereby a word or phrase is arrived at by either asking questions or by observing actions which are clues. This is, in fact, how the cosmos behaves. We can see this process with reference to our own bodies. How many relationships are there to "body" that describe a thing or idea? Well, we think of a body of water, a body of work, a group of people or things that function as a whole such as a body of soldiers or an advisory body, or body politic, the body of a car or an airplane, heavenly bodies such as stars and planets, and even the idea of richness, tone or flavor as in density or consistency of a substance. And, of course, there is the body of a human being. Well, that is an amazing list for one word! But, what is the ESSENCE of the term "body?" Well, that is where it becomes abstract. On the one hand it can be the "whole," or the "majority." In another way, it describes qualities. Can we get any clearer understanding? Well, we can look at the word itself and see where it came from and the various ways it has been used throughout history.

In the case of the word "body," we find that it has come through an interesting historical line. In Old English it meant "trunk, or chest" which came from the original sense of a cask, or a tub for brewing! Well, can we go any further? Body - bodi, bodig - boddike - botah - bottega. And here, we have an Italian word that means "shop," which comes from the Latin word apotheca, which was a storehouse or storeroom for wine! And, if we go further with it, we find the Greek word: apotheke, which means to "put away." And, that is a word that is created by combining two words: apo and tithenai. Literally away+to put. Well. What can we do to gain an even DEEPER understanding? Let's see. What do we understand about the prefix apo? There is apocalypse, apocarpous, apocope, apocrypha, apod, apodosis, apogee... and on and on. Each word containing different shades of the implication of the essence of "apo," or "away from." Away from WHAT? Well, let us look at tithenai to see if we can find a clue.

There is, of course, tithe which means a tenth of one' annual production or income that is paid as a tax or contribution to support a church or the priests. Then we move to "title," which is derived from the Latin "titulus," which meant an inscription, label or sign. This takes us to ti+tiu which is another combination word from Indo European roots. Ti - tow - tug, or to draw or pull, implying effor or labor and tiu- dei, to shine, gleam - light.

So, what have we discovered? That a body is, in its essence the idea of "light" that is "stored," or "put away" in the sense of being separated from a primary source! And, we have also learned that this idea is essential in many, if not all, languages! This can mean that words are, fundamentally, a means of discovering the clues behind the interactions of force hidden in the symbols of our lives and our very being!

We can apply this idea to every interpretation of the word "body" that we have mentioned, because, in essence, all that exists consists of "congealed light" or quantum particles that can also be interpreted as wave frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Okay, we have performed an interesting exercise that has shown us a principle. How do we apply it in practical ways to learn to read the objects and events and interactions of our lives?

Well, getting back to the body, we can see that, very often, language describes the world in metaphorical terms that relate to the human form! There is the head of a bed or table or page, nail, river, household and organizations. Clocks and cards and rocks have faces. There are brows, eyes, lips, teeth and feet. Arms are weapons, races are legs. Shoes have tongues and so do zippers and joints in objects constructed out of wood. And, when you begin tracking the words that name the things in your life, you will find that they, almost invariably, include a body part!

The Hermetic maxim: "As above, so below," is expressed in this understanding of the world through the microcosmic and macrocosmic "man." Insights into the essence of reality consist in comparisons between what is above and what is below, so to speak. The basic structures of the macrocosm are reproduced in the microcosm at varying levels, even in the interactions of our lives in terms of relationships.

It is by the recognition of these symbols, these metaphors of energy, that we begin to be able to "read" the book of the cosmos and thereby acquire knowledge by which to make choices to lead us through the labyrinth. We search in all things for the thread of Ariadne, the essence of a thing or event, the invisible reality of it.

And the form and processes of our lives are accessible images of this reality! They are there to be used to go beyond the outward appearance of things, to access the deeper meaning that is inherent within the reality. Searching for the meaning in life represents the searching for the infinite within the finite, the light that is put away from the source and stored in all the manifestations of the cosmos. And, each time we find it, each time we discover an essential meaning, it is the finding of the presence of God within the world or even the many unrealized possibilities that may come into existence by our choices in relation to conditions. And this recognizing of God within nature can completely change the flow of the consciousness, diverting it into new and previously unexpected channels of existence. This meeting between the mind and the essence of creation is a contact, a transformational experience that can bring recognition of completely new viewpoints of life. The whole aspect of existence can be transformed by studying the events and objects in our lives and extracting the essence! And, we see from this that BEing is FINDING, and not controlling or attempting to accrue power. No amount of controlling others or believing in power in a future existence will get one through the labyrinth. Only finding the threads that lead out and following them. And this can be different for everyone, because there are different points in the maze where one may find one's being!

Some people suggest that there is one specific way to understand the cosmos. That is like saying that there is only one language that is correct and all others are wrong. This is seeking external power. There are many outward forms through which we can gain insight, and it is only by virtue of the inner meanings, the inner light, that we can come to understand each word in our book of life. Many different sentences can be used to describe the same objective phenomena and none are any better than another, but one or another may be more or less appropriate according to the circumstances.

Now, we find that we must return to practical applications. The first thing we can learn from our observation is that there is an inner meaning and an outer expression of that inner meaning. In the most fundamental of terms, this says that we ARE what we are. Our physical body is an expression of all the words that have been written into the book of our life. The energy that is our BE-ing expresses itself in our bodies. So, the first clue we acknowledge is the existence of some inner force or energy that maintains a pattern of who and what we are in the constant flow of atoms that make up our material body. And from this idea, we can see that if there is something about this body that does not please us, we need to examine all the events and conditions that make up the "book," or the story that is being told, and find out how to re-write it in essential terms... for that is the only way to change the material terms!

And here is where it gets tricky! Because, all is not necessarily as it seems, as we have already discussed. How to read the story accurately and IN CONTEXT?

To understand this, it is going to be necessary to understand some things that may seem strange to the ordinary, power- seeking mind of the five sense. But, please read the material on these pages with an open and questing mind and don't worry if you think your religious beliefs may be assaulted. Any belief that must be protected by being buried or by exclusion of other ideas is a very weak belief, indeed.

to get more information about the future content of these pages e-mail: [email protected]