A LETTER FROM GARY TO HAL

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A LETTER FROM GARY TO HAL
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REPOSING IN THE FULLNESS

OCARINA
O SPHERE OF LIGHT

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The image is from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Wikipedia.
The title of this post, 'A Letter from Gary to Hal'
​is a play on the letters of the New Testament.
Hal Taussig is the editor of 'A New New Testament'.

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Hello Hal,
​

Reading in 'A New New Testament' feels to me like coming home after a long and arduous journey.

Natural attraction to the spiritual, mystical and devotional was shaped in childhood by my devout Catholic mother in the setting of a small college town in northern Colorado.

The death of my older brother when I was twelve influenced me towards rebellion in my teens, culminating in my refusal to take communion and leading me on a path of exploring eastern and metaphysical philosophies, motivated by determination to 'know God.'

Besides an innate but vague sense of an omniscient God outside myself, my understanding of Jesus and the Christ was formed by works such as the channeled 'Urantia Book', the anonymous 'Impersonal Life' series, the questionable 'Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East' volumes, and the intellectual 'Cosmic Consciousness' book. I was obsessed with finding the 'Highest Truth.'

​SHIFTING SUNGLASSES
Subconscious emotions after the death of my beloved younger brother when I was twenty-one sent me first to a week-long personal instruction (called Venusian science) in Waikiki at the 'Institute of Cosmic Wisdom', then into the arms of a summer romance with a radically Bible-believing Pentecostal Christian woman.

The romance culminated or terminated in a marriage ceremony which extended twenty-five years, and saw my gradual shift from a metaphysical worldview to one of a literal interpretation of the Bible as the authoritative and infallible Word of God.

At first my conscience wrestled with the discrepancies between the historical way the Bible came to be, and claims of its infallibility. Worn down by conflicting metaphysical teachings, I opted for a single authoritative Word of God, and said that God was capable of retaining the Bible in a form as He saw fit. Fallible men were moved by the Holy Spirit, and that must count for something.

I read through twice from Genesis to Revelations, and described my religion as my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I became quick to vigorously defend my narrow views.

​WHERE IS YOUR AUTHORITY?
After a service in a Bible church in the Bible belt, a visitor passing through came up to me and asked, 'Why do you put your authority outside yourself?', but I didn't understand until years later.

That person or another (it's been forty-five years) told me about the discovery of ancient texts which shed new light on Christianity.

The texts referred to were probably the leather-bound papyrus manuscripts in an earthen jar uncovered near the Upper Egyptian village of Nag Hammadi in 1945, but not widely known even now. The codices were written in the Coptic language.

Other finds are sometimes called the Dead Sea Scrolls -- ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered in the Qumran Caves in the Judaean Desert, near Ein Feshkha on the northern shore of the Dead Sea.

My heart leapt with the joy of recognition at their mention, but the rest of me didn't respond. My psychospiritual being was perhaps too encapsulated by emotional trauma and self-deception.

Pentecostals, of course, 'speak in tongues' based on verses from writings attributed to Paul — similar to what's called 'light language' in the New Age. I've had transcendent experiences speaking unlearned languages, yet one event gave me pause to question myself.

​AWAKENING FROM SELF-DELUSION
When an unsaved friend from Mexico attending a service with us broke out into 'an unknown tongue', I rejoiced for his breakthrough in the Holy Spirit. Later, at my mention, he told me he was speaking in Spanish. That sobered me for a moment from my naïveté but another incident shook me deeply.

In those years, novels with a sharply dualistic worldview were popular amongst the Christian crowd. One Sunday, after service, while reading 'This Present Darkness' by Frank Peretti, the battle between good and evil was graphically depicted as a pastor confronted a demon-possessed woman and cast the evil spirits out of her by commanding 'the blood of Jesus against you, Satan!' She convulsed, her teeth tightly clenched, her eyes rolled back, and she foamed at the mouth. And the demon was cast out.

That evening, having fallen asleep next to my wife, I was awakened by shaking in the bed, and horrified to see that she was convulsing, her teeth were tightly clenched, her eyes rolled back, and she foamed at the mouth. I commanded 'the blood of Jesus against you, Satan!' And nothing changed. So then I called 911.

My wife was taken to the hospital where eventually it was learned she had been in an epileptic seizure caused by a tumor on her brain stem in the right temporal lobe. Curious that a founder of a Christian denomination, revered by followers as a prophet, had exactly the same.

I worked at Walk Through the Bible Ministries at the time, and felt well supported by my colleagues and co-workers through many doctor visits and second opinions and eventually my wife's surgery. But realizing my self-deception brought me to a crisis of integrity, during which I asked myself what I believed and why. Nine years later, after much agonizing and efforts to maintain the course of our marriage, we were divorced.

In the spring of 2000, I crossed the country from Atlanta, Georgia to Portland, Oregon and embarked upon a new course with many incredible adventures, a wonderful new relationship, and among other things my discovery of 'A New New Testament' which integrates ten of the Nag Hammadi codices with the traditional New Testament, shedding much light on the Christ movement of the early centuries.

​REST FROM THE QUEST
One of the lessons learned in life has been that if there are 7.7 billion humans on the planet, there are 7.7 billion perspectives — or more counting multiple personalities — on any given subject (and as many realities, with none that can be known from this dimension as absolute.). The only Truths may be personal truths, and the most honest answer I can give to any question is, 'I don't know.'

One of my mantras now is, 'However our perspectives may differ, they are always equally valid.'

When I left Atlanta, one of my sayings was, 'I practice having no belief system.' But of course, even that was a belief, part of the permanent sunglasses which color how I interpret the world.

Another of my sayings at the turn of the century was 'I had God in a box, but He got out.'

The Gods of the traditional Old and New Testaments, if existent outside the human psyche, may have proceeded from the First Cause, the Unmoved Mover, the Cosmos of Consciousness — they are perhaps 'local creators'. As restrictive and confining as those Gods were in my experience, so was I at that developmental stage..

Now, rather than any power outside myself called God, I relate to a cosmos suffused with energy, a single deathless entity synonymous with consciousness — and to myself as Source having a human experience.

Now, rather than seeking Truth, I mind my state to maintain balance, harmony, integrity and authenticity.

Now, rather than as religious worship music, the songs I play on the ocarina touch me as simpatico energies.

'A New New Testament' supports what is for me expanded awareness with its depiction of the Cosmic Christ, God within, the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine, and it's conveyed sense of the early Christ movement. Reading it, I come home to myself.

​The image is from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Wikipedia.

Thank you for reading.

https://www.wholehuman.emanatepresence.com/blog/letter

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COMMENTS

​Victoria Pendragon
I am curious about the whole "speaking in tongues" phenomenon. I have done it - spontaneously - since I was a child and have recently met a young being - about 4, I believe - who also does it and we have had a couple of conversations... which is interesting, as I have no idea what either of us is saying, yet the conversation flows as easily as could be. For me, this experience of exchange has been just wonderful and feels, somehow, very validating.
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Gary
Fascinating.

One term for it is glossolalia, and Pentecostal Christians call it 'speaking in tongues.'

The general idea is similar to light language. I don't know the differences. Mine began during a Christian revival, but I've spoken it in various settings such as with shamans, journalists, and New Agers. I cannot force it, it only flows when invited.

Yours doesn't need a name, I'd say, as it is a simple, natural utterance from a deeper wellspring, an innate gift.

I've had the kind of 'conversation' you describe, and felt the same. To speak in an unknown language with a child must be marvelous.

May I add your comment to my post?

​Joe Kleinberg
Speaking in tongues is simply digging into ones own past life memories, generally unskillfully.

​Gary
That's an interesting perspective, but not my experience.

A journalist on the island of Hawaii recorded my language and reversed it. When played back, it could clearly be heard, 'Old Hawaii, Old Hawaii, Old Hawaii.' We were all so intrigued, we played it back a number of times, not knowing what it meant for us.

We had no plans at that time, and had talked with no one about making the trip, but two weeks later my wife and I were on Maui -- our first time to that island. As we drove through the rainforest, coming into Hana, a sign greeted us, 'Welcome to the Old Hawaii.'

That's one of several true stories I can tell about speaking in tongues.

Joe Kleinberg
Who was saying “old Hawaii” in reverse?

You were.

Knowing your own future subconsciously is common, looks like you found an outlet that your mind accepts to permit you to become aware of what you already saw was coming.

Does “speaking tongues” explicitly specify one is seeing the future and speaking backwards?

If you have sugar and water and all the ingredients of Coca-Cola, then you have a Coke.

If you have sugar and water and all the ingredients of grape juice, then you do not have a Coke.

Gary
I have learned to not apply interpretations, especially to such things, but only recount events as they happened. Each person reading can interpret it for themselves.

For me, it was an experience of mystery and wonder. For someone else, it might be coke and grape juice.

That was my only experience of reversing the language, and it came about because the journalist had the equipment and invited us to his home.

​Sometimes the unknown tongue is an actual other language. My wife spoke in tongues in a service and was afterwards told by a visiting scholar that she'd spoken in an ancient language which he studied, and she could not have known it, consciously or subconsciously.
​
Master Mind Content
Thanks for your post Gary...this is a fascinating story. "I relate to a cosmos suffused with energy, a single deathless entity synonymous with consciousness" This is what I imagine God is. Universal Consciousness. " - and to myself as Source having a human experience." This is Jesus before he became Christ. The Source of consciousness becomes fragmented within the human experience...An example in Christianity are "The Fall" stories. Our goal is to seek enlightenment by recovering the fragmented pieces of consciousness (the disciples) and integrating them into the ego. We are always in contact with Source and it is also steering us to recover our missing fragments. If we listen, we can achieve enlightenment. Religious text, ancient myths, art, literature etc are tools that show us the path.
​
​Gary
🙏Thank you.

May I add your comment to my post?

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O SPHERE OF LIGHT

​TRUTH & REVELATIONS

​Slides are unrelated to the post but have personal meaning to me this week.

MY COMMENT IN A 'STARSEEDS ORIGINS' GROUP

​Very interesting to read the post and comments.

I feel connection with all of the groups, and none stronger than another.

In 2000, I often said 'the universe is full of life,' which was too non-committal for the comfort of my new partner. She was new in the States from Europe and new to English, and often said that she was an ambassador of the Galactic Federation. She was escorted out of a Vipassana retreat we were later attending for so saying, as it seemed to scare the leaders.

The first night of our meeting, as we walked in the misty rain, she said to me in her perfect broken English, 'I am from another star, and looking for the same kind.'

Sometimes I would tell people playfully, 'I used to be from Sirius, but now I am from Playful.'

Perhaps I relate more to being from the future or another dimension rather than from a location or people.

But.... my new partner, an energy healer, gave me a light hands session the first week after we met, and was transported to a Cetacean planet. Her description spoken 21 years ago still speaks to me today. Possibly that is one location I am from.