Life and Death

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time studying Greek myths. If it were me reading these myths seven to eight years ago, I’m sure I wouldn’t understand much about them, except for the clear and blatant moral question. However, now, having passed through many thresholds and armed with a better understanding of the mind-soul phenomena or the intrinsic ways it plays into how we perceive ourselves and life, we are in a position to become a living archetype of transformation. To say I am fascinated by Greek myths is obviously an understatement. My soul puts a big ass grin on my face while I discover all the beautiful and complex stories of the Greeks. Like a child in a candy shop, a silent warmth moves through my soul. Life and death have always been the riddle that was born to be solved but never quite answered since the beginning of time. It’s a constant… like change. One thing we are sure of is change. Seasons change, stories change, people change, and the world along with it. And that’s okay, I guess.

In this post, I will try not to get too philosophical because I happen to have a bad headache again. In my last post, I was also battling a terrible headache and seasonal allergies. Perfect timing, of course. Now, having covered a little bit of what I want to do, I want to focus on the mystery we call life and the other side of the coin, death. While yes, when we think of death, we are mainly referring to the physical process of dying, I want to invite you into the world of the Greeks, poets, mystics, and philosophers, and what death implies beyond the physical manifestation of it. According to the Hindus, every breath we take is an act of dying. When we inhale and exhale, life and death participate in the cosmic drama. When a thought arises and subsides, when love rises and leaves, when the sun rises and sets, when the moon rises and sets, and when a wave forms and breaks, it is also life and death that participate in the cosmic drama.

Still, today we haven’t found an answer we can all agree on about what the purpose of life and death is, and we can’t deny that the question often arises: What’s the point in being born when we all have to die? From a more spiritual and religious sense, although they do differ, the underlying moral message is the same. We are here to get to know God. We are here to serve God and understand God, His power through His magnificent creation. Sometimes, we spiritualists forget this and still get caught in the mundane world, but in the end, we always come to the same experience, maybe from a different path, that yes, we are here to witness God’s creation, give glory to His creation, and hopefully understand what God wants, including our place and purpose in this cosmic drama.

Knowledge, the forbidden fruit

Something that really captured my attention recently, when I read about Hades and Persephone, was the similarity of the story with the biblical drama of Adam and Eve, the temptress. I understand most of the myths intuitively now, and it is kind of mind-blowing when you understand the archetypal narrative to interpret something so human and inward. As I mentioned previously, I probably wouldn’t understand much if it were me reading these myths several years ago, and probably still don’t for the most part, largely due to the genius of how they were written, where the reader is invited to constantly solve a riddle that can to a great extent be understood through lived experience, and where we are constantly contemplating and unraveling the true meaning behind it.

Persephone, the gentle young girl who liked to pick flowers beneath the Sicilian sun, became the queen of the underworld. But who is she really, and how did she become the queen of the underworld? Before I get into that, let me start by saying that the couple, Hades and Persephone, was actually a happy one, contrary to all expectations, of course. Persephone took her role as queen very seriously, as did her role as wife. Her presence brings a new image and understanding of life and death to Western civilization, since the young woman shares her time between the two worlds, the lower one and the upper one. This marriage, though eventually accepted, did not improve the reputation of the lord of the underworld.

Though many stories differ, I can’t help but notice the same underlying message recurring throughout different cultures and eras. In mysticism, the whole idea of dying is a means to know something. Without death, there’s no knowledge. When we look at the story of Adam and Eve, Eve was deceived by the serpent, ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and gave some to her husband. When we look at Persephone, though a different narrative, she too ate the pomegranate seeds of the underworld, and though she tried to deny it, Ascalaphus witnessed it and reported it to Demeter, and therefore she was not granted total freedom to return and live on the surface, but had to abide by the law and live between the two worlds. In both stories, the act of eating is not just physical; it is the moment knowledge is gained, and with it, consequence.

Knowledge is not something that is simply given. It is something that is taken, and often through a crossing of a boundary that cannot be undone. It is like an initiation. As we all know and have experienced throughout the course of living, once we see, we cannot unsee. In that sense, knowledge is not only the end of innocence as often depicted or interpreted in the Bible, but also the beginning of awareness, self-awareness. Adam and Eve are cast out of the garden, no longer able to exist in unconscious harmony, as living in unconscious harmony is one of the main paths provided by the universe. And Persephone, having eaten in the underworld, is now bound to live between two worlds. This is not punishment in the way we often simplify things, but a consequence. To know means to carry, and as I often mention in my posts, to carry is to live with the tension of opposites, between light and dark, the outer and the inner, or life and death.

Hades falls in love at first sight | Hades and Persephone

Hades is a rich god surrounded by precious stones and rare metals, gold, diamonds, rubies, and possesses nothing on the earth’s surface. No mortals dedicate temples or altars to him, and if they do praise him with sinister ceremonies and sacrifice, they do so in secret. He lives below in the darkness and has no idea of what goes on in the upper world or on Mount Olympus. The only news he receives of the world is contained in the oaths and curses that mortals utter as they strike the ground with their hands. Sometimes he feels the need to leave his infernal palace and breathe the outside air. One day, having left the depths of his kingdom, Hades drives his chariot pulled by horses across a Sicilian plain, not far from Mount Etna. He’s indifferent to the beautiful landscapes, forests, and valleys of Greece, but suddenly a silhouette draws his attention. He suddenly brought his horses to a halt, and there, just a few steps away, a young girl of exceptional beauty was picking flowers. Her name is Persephone , which signifies bringer of destruction. And this young girl is not just anybody. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and harvests.

On Mount Olympus, where she is sometimes allowed to go, she is known as Kore, which simply means the young girl, the maiden. Hades’ heart goes wild. He could kidnap her, but being her brother’s daughter, he respects the law. Hades sets off to see his brother Zeus and ask for Persephone’s hand. This is hugely embarrassing for Zeus because if he refuses, he offends his brother, and if he accepts, Demeter, will never forgive him. Zeus is conflicted, so he ducks the question and says I can neither give or refuse my consent. Hades considers himself free of all constraints and heads back to Sicily and the plain of Etna. Persephone is still there in the company of nymphs. Hades puts on his cap of invisibility and disappears. A few moments later, as Persephone bends to pick a flower, the ground abruptly opens beneath her feet, and Hades carries her off into the pit of the dead and the night.

Demeter | Goddess of Harvest

When her daughter doesn’t return, goddess Demeter goes to look for her and questions everyone she meets, but no one tells her the truth, nor the man, nor the gods, nor the birds, nor the nymphs, no one. Until an old woman approaches her, Hecate. Hecate is the goddess with double powers.She is the goddess of fertility and the goddess of the moon. When the moon is full, lighting the night sky and making men and beasts mad, it is said that Hecate points out the path to the underworld. This goddess stands at the crossroads between good and evil, between ferility and drought. Hecate is the only divinity who, of her own free will, goes down to see Hades at home. Hecate had heard Persephone call for help the other morning, but when she got there, no one was to be found. Demeter, without pausing for breath, for nine days and nine nights, continues her search through mountains, forests, lakes, and valleys, all in vain.  When all hope seems to be lost, Hecate takes her to see Helios, the god of the sun, who sees everything. Helios decides to name the guilty party. Hades.

Demeter demands the return of her daughter, but Hades refuses. “In that case,” announces Demeter to the assembly of gods, “I leave Olympus never to return, and the earth will be sterile until my daughter is returned to me.” This is no empty threat. She is the goddess of wheat and nourishment. The following day, the crops start to fail, fruits rot, and famine ravages the earth. The human race is threatened with extinction. In his palace, Zeus is at a loss to know what to do. He sends Demeter his messenger, the Goddess Iris, to beg her to see reason. Demeter doesn’t want to hear it. A delegation of gods and goddesses goes to plead with her without success. Zeus, with no choice left to him, sends his son Hermes to see his brother Hades with the following message. “If you do not give back Persephone, we are all lost! Mankind will die, and there will be no one left to honor us, no one left to believe in us!”

Hades considers and accepts. He is willing to give Persephone back to her mother, but on one condition. The laws of the gods must be respected, as he respected Zeus when asking for Persephone’s hand. And there is a law in the underworld which everyone is aware of and which no one may violate: whosever has consumed the food of the dead will remain beneath the earth for eternity. Hermes questions Persephone if she tasted any food, but she assures him that she has been so unhappy since being kidnapped that she has eaten nothing. Hades, therefore, accepts that she return to her mother’s side. Just as Hermes is helping the young girl onto his chariot, a voice rings out. It is Ascalaphus, one of the gardeners of the Lord of Darkness. “She’s lying,” he declares, specifying that he saw Persephone picking a pomegranate and ate seven grains from it, and is willing to bear witness to it. Ascalaphus is to regret these words later, when Demeter turns him into an owl.  

Saddened than ever, Demeter shuts herself away all alone and refuses to return to Olympus and continues to starve mankind. Zeus explains the problem to Rhea, his mother, for Rhea is also the mother of Hades and of Demeter. It is Rhea who will preside over the negotiations between her three children, Zeus, Demeter, and Hades. There is discussion, debate, and tears, and at last, agreement has come. Persephone, because she has tasted the food of the dead, will spend her winters in the underworld, and the rest of the year she will be in the fresh air with Demeter. And that is why when Demeter and Persephone are separated, the earth freezes, nothing grows or flowers, and refuses to feed mankind. Nature is waiting for Persephone to return.

Hades, the master of the underworld | Self-awareness

So, who is Hades really? To reduce him to just the god of death would be fatal because he isn’t exactly death. Death is another god, Thanatos. Hades, son of Rhea and Cronus, and brother to Zeus, contrary to many beliefs, is neither satanic nor evil-doing. It is not he who torments his subjects. That is the Erinyes, the goddesses of vengeance who are a law unto themselves. Crowned with snakes, armed with whips, it is the Erinyes who relentlessly persecute their victims, going so far as to make them mad. Hades has nothing to do with that. He governs the underground world.

Hades, the god who isn’t named, reigns over the underworld kingdom, which he never wanted but was allotted to him against his will. When Zeus overthrew his father, Cronus, to liberate all his siblings and took power, he decided to share the universe with his brothers. Zeus took the world of men and the celestial world for himself, gave Poseidon the sea world, and gave Hades the underworld. The fear that Hades awakens is so great that rather than speak his name, he is referred to by all sorts of nicknames: the Receiver of Many, the Illustrious, the Giver of Good Counsel, or even the Zeus of the underworld. With a scepter in his hand, he governs the souls of the dead.

He is surrounded by monstrous creatures with precise functions. Out of duty, he pretends to be pitiless, but in his heart, he is also wise and sometimes tender. If approached in the right way, he is capable of showing a certain indulgence. For instance, Orpheus, a warrior and the most famous poet and musician of all time, pays Hades a visit before death comes to reap him. With no weapon or violence, but only his lyre and voice, Orpheus manages to fight his way through to the infernal couple. Orpheus, after a life of adventures and exploits, met Eurydice, a nymph of incomparable grace.

Overcome by an immeasurable passion, he married her, but their happiness did not last long. Eurydice dies, and Orpheus, mad with grief, dares to do what no other mortal had dared to do before him. He descends into the underworld and asks the infernal couple for the return of his love. Both speechless, poised to punish such impudence, Orpheus stops them with an imploring gesture, striking a sensitive chord, he reminds Hades of the feelings he experienced towards Persephone, the flight of love that he succumbed to, his desperations and sadness when the one he made the queen of the underworld is kept far from his side.

Softened by the celestial notes and the poetical musician’s words, Hades and Persephone give in to his prayers, on condition, of course, that the laws of the underworld be respected. Orpheus can leave, Eurydice will follow him, and he must never turn around, not before reaching the surface. If he disobeys, then Eurydice will be lost to him forever. The destiny of Eurydice now lies in his hands alone.

This decision sheds light on the multiple facets of the personality of the master of the underworld. He is music-loving, sensitive to lovers’ laments, and capable of being moved by beauty. However, whatever he does, in the eyes of mortals, Hades will always be this feared and detested god. When in truth he is both life and death. On certain evenings, overcome by sadness, Hades says to himself that mortals are very wrong to fear him, because real death, as the Greeks well knew, is not the underworld but being forgotten.

The post Hades & Persephone | Knowledge and the Fall into Awareness appeared first on Sentient Muse.

Brace yourself. It is going to be a long one. Almost all esoteric doctrines, including yoga and Hinduism, discuss the four elements as the foundation of the physical phenomena in the Universe that we know and can observe. Circa 2013, on the first day of my yoga training here in New York City, one of the lead teachers began explaining how yogis understand the world through Hindu cosmogeny. She asked, “So what was in the beginning?” And while everyone knew about the Big Bang, she followed with, “And what came after the Big Bang? How did we end up with life here in our solar system?” The room went quiet.

It was a simple question, and maybe a scientist might have had a direct explanation, but it would obviously lead to more questions. Then she said, “The four elements came: Fire, Water, Air, Earth.”

While I thought I was more than prepared for such a discussion, having studied various doctrines at least five years prior, I was still taken aback by the simplicity and the insight, more of a bird’s-eye view, so to speak. There are countless cosmogonies written about the birth of the Universe. Just the thought of how much there is to read and study overwhelms me every day. But one thing I am getting better at is taking it one day at a time.

Twenty-first century teachers describe the four elements as the biggest beings in the Universe. While we probably think of the elements as resources we can exploit or dominate, in the spiritual or metaphysical realm, there is much more going on with them.

Water H₂O

We all know water as H₂O, a simple molecule made of two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom, the substance that makes life possible on Earth. When I was in middle school, we were still debating or speculating whether there was water anywhere beyond planet Earth, and it was a big deal. But I mean, a big deal. Now that we have confirmed water on other planets and moons, the idea has become almost ordinary, but in my generation, this was something we could only dream of. Confirmation of water outside our planet came after 2005 with Cassini and even more in the 2010s. Even comets are mostly water ice, as well as many asteroids with hydrating minerals. We have also detected oxygen on Mars, Venus, and several moons in our Solar System, but not in the same quantities as Earth.

Now, beyond its scientific identity, water has often been seen as something that holds memory, emotion, depth, mystery, and the ability to cleanse and transform. Many cultures have viewed it as alive in its own way. So even though we can study it in a lab, there is another side or dimension to water that invites us to look past its chemical makeup and into the deeper form it carries.

Water for us moves downward, not upward, unless you are on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, where water from an underground ocean is forced upward through cracks in the ice, erupting into space in visible jets like giant sprays. Water has also been used as a symbol of purification and holiness, especially in Christianity, and with the new ritual of baptism that came with the Essenes or whoever the first Christians were.

While water seeks life and depth, fire seeks height and sublimation. Sublimation in science is the process by which a solid changes directly into a gas without passing through the liquid state. It is extremely important in the search for life on other planets because it helps scientists understand how, i.e., water ice or other volatile substances, can move, disappear, or reappear on a planet’s surface, which affects where life might exist.

In spirituality, sublimation is the process of transforming raw or lower energies of desire or impulsiveness into higher states of awareness, creativity, or spiritual growth. Just as a comparison of how our ancestors understood the elements. Fire was represented by the Stars in the sky, like our own Sun, our destiny, and water was a representation of our inner mystery, associated with emotion, memory, imagination, and feeling.

Here’s a Hindu text for reference, which I thought was worth noting, as stated in the epic Itihāsa, the Mahabharata.

“I am Narayana, the Source of all things, the Eternal, the Unchangeable. I am the Creator of all things, and the Destroyer also of all. I am Vishnu, I am Brahma and I am Shankara, the chief of the gods. I am king Vaisravana, and I am Yama, the lord of the deceased spirits. I am Siva, I am Soma, and I am Kasyapa the lord of the created things. And, O best of regenerate ones, I am he called Dhatri, and he also that is called Vidhatri, and I am Sacrifice embodied. Fire is my mouth, the earth my feet, and the Sun and the Moon are my eyes; the Heaven is the crown of my head, the firmament and the cardinal points are my ears; the waters are born of my sweat. Space with the cardinal points are my body, and the Air is my mind…

…And, O Brahmana, whatever is obtained by men by the practice of truth, charity, ascetic austerities, and peace and harmlessness towards all creatures, and such other handsome deeds, is obtained because of my arrangements. Governed by my ordinance, men wander within my body, their senses overwhelmed by me. They move not according to their will but as they are moved by me.”

— Mahabharata (translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, 1883-1896), Book 3, Varna Parva, Chapter CLXXXVIII (188)

Water, baptism, and holiness

Baptism and the symbol of purification mark the culmination of the Age of Pisces, the era that begins with the coming of Jesus Christ and carries the themes of water, faith, sacrifice, and spiritual rebirth. All things that are represented by the sign of Pisces that astrologers know very well, better than I can ever say. The painting is by Leonardo da Vinci. Notice how Jesus’s feet are immersed in water as well as John’s, performing the holy ritual of purification on Jesus Christ. It actually reminds me of Temperance in the Major Arcana of the Tarot, representing healing, patience, and the reconciliation of opposites within, all things essential for one’s spiritual actualization.

While the 60s are said to mark the beginning of the Age of Aquarius, throughout this period, the Age of Pisces, water became more than a physical element. It turned into a holy tool, something capable of cleansing not just the physical body but the unseen realms around us. In Christianity and in many older traditions, water is blessed, prayed over, and infused with intention so it can cast out demons, break negative attachments, and support acts of exorcism and spiritual protection. Holy water in these rituals is used not just as a weapon but as a reminder of purity, surrender, and the return to one’s original state before fear and darkness take over. So water then becomes a bridge between the physical and the spiritual, emphasizing the same idea found in baptism, the teachings of Jesus Christ, and the esoteric understanding of water as the element of memory, dissolution, renewal, and transformation.

Water has the power to transform our identity on a cellular level, especially with the right intention in mind and spirit. Even a simple bath at home can become a powerful ritual of purification and healing. As long as we hold the truth in our hearts and remain honest before the holy, water will do its job and cleanse us of our sins, marking a rebirth in its own way.

John 3:5
“Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 3:11
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Nymphs – Greek Mythology

In Greek mythology, nymphs were seen as the silent presence within nature, especially inside water. They were the soft, watchful spirits of a spring, a river, or a sea, like the Nereids. They weren’t gods, just subtle beings that held the mood and intelligence of the water they lived in.

Above is one of my favorite paintings in the more realistic and classical style. I’ve looked at this painting for years, and every time I return to it, it remains one of my favorites, especially within the theme of mythical creatures and fantasy. I grew up swimming before I could walk (I mean that literally, lol), and I’ve always connected to water in a way that is hard to put into words. I mean this in the most humble way possible. I have no desire to dominate water or challenge it, like riding big waves, etc., but more to meet it in its most serene state.

Growing up in the southern tip of Albania, by the Ionian Sea in Vlorë County, where both my parents are from, Vuno, to be more precise, apart from stuffing my face with prickly pears, feta cheese, and grapes, living among the calm, turquoise waters of Jalë and the surrounding beaches helped us, as natives at least, build an understanding and relationship with this element that is hard to put into words. Everyone in my family and culture quietly understands and relates. Rich in salt, iodine, and sodium, these waters offered a level of cleansing and purification that felt almost indispensable for the temperament of my people, lol, especially on my father’s side, in Vlorë City.

Story time

Now, a little story time and a fun fact about my ancestry, since some of you have asked. The picture above is a more recent one. When I was growing up, there was nothing there except the military base at the very far right of the picture up the hill. Sometimes my family felt adventurous enough to hike down from the village, which sits high in the mountains, through the olive terraces, and then down the steep slopes toward Jale, shown in this image. The whole walk took a good 60–70 minutes if I remember it right. There are also beautiful surrounding beaches not included in the image, where my brothers and cousins would swim to. We were that brave. Haha.

Vuno was a key base for resistance during WW2, also involving Greek Himariotes, where my grandmother was raised, only about a 30-minute drive from Vuno, with many villagers listed on monuments for their sacrifices. Among these heroes was my great-aunt, Amalí Andoni, my grandfather’s little sister, who was killed by Nazis and Italian fascists at the age of 16.

This is how the story was told to me for as long as I could understand words. One night, when the moon was full, Aunt Amali prepared food for the soldiers in the resistance, as she always did. She was brave but stubborn. On the way to the partisans, the German soldiers spotted her and shouted at her in German (my grandfather would shout in German when narrating the story), but she was determined to keep going and didn’t stop, and she was shot in the back several times.

The partisans later found the man who had done it and brought him to my great-grandmother and said, “It’s him. This is the Nazi who killed your daughter. What do you want us to do with him?” And my great-grandmother replied, “Let him go, for he too has a mother who waits for him at home.” These kinds of stories became part of my values and how I was shaped while growing up.

My grandfather would tell me this story almost every year, and he would always tear up halfway through. December 5th was his birthday, and so I thought, in honor of him, Piro Andoni, who raised me, I would tell the story. While my family is filled with stories I like to keep for myself, here’s one more fun fact about my grandfather. He was raised as poor as a… well, a very poor child. He told me that growing up, he would read books only with the light of the moon because he was so poor that he had no electricity. My upbringing wasn’t so different, by the way. He read so much, though, and even learned a whole new language, Spanish, that he later became the Albanian ambassador in South America for 13 years.

Growing up, I would hear him on the typewriter every day, writing stories from his diaries and about each country he had visited in South America. He spoke fluent Spanish, obviously, and he also raised me with some South American musical influence, which is kind of funny to me now, lol. He was based in Argentina and had a weird obsession with actress Greta Garbo, who had very similar features to my grandmother, with high cheekbones, small but defined lips, and clear blue eyes. He wrote an entire book about her life and translated it from Spanish. He would often talk to me about Greta Garbo and what her career as an actress meant for her, which I now, as an adult, see more clearly. He traveled through the entire South American continent with my grandmother, Athina Andoni, for all those years.

Okay! Enough of me, because I’m already cringing. See you in the next one.

The post An Esoteric Dive Into the Water Element, The Age of Pisces, & Baptism appeared first on Sentient Muse.

Reincarnation

The topic of reincarnation is pretty difficult to navigate because, first and foremost, I have to speak primarily from a spiritual point of view and delve deeply into topics that are still considered unconventional or taboo for most people. This won’t stop me, though, because where is the fun in writing if we don’t embrace a little bit of a challenge?

So what is reincarnation, and what does it mean for us if it were really true? Reincarnation is the belief that life doesn’t end with death, and that our soul or consciousness returns into a new vessel to live, i.e., another human life, for the purpose of evolution or karma, such as unfinished lessons. Some people living and breathing today remember past lives, and I had the privilege to be friends with one of such people during college. Not only did she have past-life memories, but her mother did as well. I’m not going to mention who, obviously, as I want to respect their privacy, and the only reason I want to bring it up is to offer another experience and opportunity to maybe try and keep more of an open mind when it comes to such topics.

Even from a scientific perspective, consciousness is still a great mystery. Meaning we can map the brain and study behavior, but no one truly knows where awareness comes from or where it goes. While we don’t have definitive scientific proof of reincarnation, research into memory, near-death experiences, and so many cases of children remembering past lives shows there’s more to consciousness and human life than we know.

For instance, DNA holds water around its carbon atoms and between base pairs, helping the helix-like structure stay in place. Some researchers have found that water can hold structure or information, and since our bodies are mostly made up of water, I am not shocked that people who do remember past lives often describe it as if their memories live not just inside their minds, but in the water inside their cells.

Priorities and karma | Reincarnation

While most people have a general understanding of karma as action and consequence, like “what goes around comes around,” karma, at its core, as I have described in detail in my book How to Get on the Good Side of Life, stems from a misconception of the self and, if we go even deeper, a distortion in how we view or perceive personal power. Now, yes, every action has consequences, but if we truly want to escape the matrix or third dimension, as most people in the spiritual community are acquainted with when it comes to living life, we have to understand the true value of life and what distracts us from it.

Those who are innately more in tune or in alignment with the spiritual dimension of life began with these questions. Such as: what is important in life? What has worth in life? What is the purpose of life? What is the mission of life? Etc. So now the question is, what makes us prisoners of life? What keeps us bound to reincarnation and forces us to face harsh lessons from life to life? And the short answer to this is whenever you step beyond the spirit and place anything above the spirit, that is when you accumulate debt. Meaning, when you constantly place priorities beyond the spirit, you incur karma or create debt, and that results in reincarnation.

This can also equate to putting God first. You’ll see many people who say or claim they place God before everything else, but their actions may prove otherwise. This is hypocrisy. Now, we’re not here to call people out because it’s not our business to do that, and who’s got the time for it anyway, right? This is just a heads-up that spiritualists, like materialists, come in all shapes and sizes. The most dangerous types of spiritualists to be aware of are those who form or partake in cults or those who cover up their trauma with spirituality. You’ll see these patterns everywhere, especially if you’ve been around the block for a while.

You don’t have to be spiritual or call yourself spiritual to be in tune with the spiritual dimension of life. If you want my opinion on where to start with being more aligned with the spiritual dimension of life, start by first learning to become more aware, understanding consciousness, and recognizing what distorts consciousness.

Christian perspective on the divine

Before I proceed, I want to cite John 14, as this is probably one of the most profound passages in the Christian Testament for understanding God and what it truly means to place priorities beyond Him. I find this passage so tender that it touches my heart and often brings a tear or two.

John 14

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

“Come now; let us leave.

God, the jealous lover

Please keep in mind that when I speak of God here, I don’t mean this in a religious or dogmatic sense, but from a deeply personal and spiritual experience.

No one can love us better than God, and I don’t think we will ever fully understand that kind of love while living this brief human experience. The only way to come even close to feeling it is by humbling ourselves and accepting our limits. And no, I don’t mean humbling ourselves by playing small. That is a distortion of what it means to be devoted to God or to live and breathe God. I mean, knowing that we can only experience and understand so much while being in this human vessel.

I know this because I have witnessed the miracle of God’s presence, even in the darkest places. God doesn’t like to be rejected, and if He is, you will surely know and feel his wrath. God wants our undivided attention and devotion. He’s a jealous lover. God wants you to do and create everything with and for the love of God. He wants you to put Him first, above everything else. He wants us to talk to Him and to acknowledge our mistakes and limitations. God wants us to be honest with Him. He’s a possessive lover.

Circa 2014, I was practicing “My Sweet Lord” on the guitar by George Harrison. I kept playing and singing the song over and over again because I wanted to post it on Instagram, lol. That same night, I had a profound experience. I became conscious while dreaming and found myself face-to-face with a man I had never seen before. As this man appeared in the room, a profound and encompassing love radiated through every pore of his face, and with the most tender smile, I instantly knew this was God. I was so shocked and overwhelmed by the experience that I woke up and couldn’t believe what had just happened. I kept asking myself, Did I just meet God?

I thought it might have been the power of that song, and I never thought too much about it after that. Only sometimes, when I would find myself asking questions about God and who or what God is. To this day, I haven’t forgotten a single detail of that encounter.

Maybe God did appear in my dream after I sang that song for nearly three hours straight and took the form of a man I had never met. But, regardless, the whole point is that if you truly want to meet God, then sing for him, write to him, and talk to him. Like I said, He’s a jealous lover, and if you take one step toward him, he will take ten toward you, because no one, I mean no one, can love us better than God.

The post Ending The Cycle of Reincarnation | A Spiritual Dive Into Life & Death appeared first on Sentient Muse.

What inspired me to write The Great Hijacking of the Mind i is mainly the current political climate we find ourselves in. It’s definitely an interesting time, to say the least. As we all witness this global tension rising among different and opposing groups, whether political, philosophical, or whatever the case may be, it might seem as if something new or some uncharted and dangerous territory is on the rise. But as I see it, none of this is new. Rather, we are becoming much more aware of how we participate with our own views and understanding in different world affairs, starting with, of course, our own little communities or the place we call home, wherever that may be.

We are definitely moving beyond the first quarter of the 21st century, so it may be natural that so much of our understanding is being challenged, leaving us confused or, hopefully, reconsidering a little bit of what we’ve been so sure of until now. One thing I find interesting in my observations of the current political climate here in the U.S. is the unconscious need to be validated and proven right. The truth is, there’s a little bit of truth in all our differences, including our political or philosophical views. From a spiritual perspective, the world moves better not when we negate one aspect of reality, but when we accept all aspects of it as parts of a larger picture, a greater puzzle of that same reality. Meaning, I can admit that I’m a badass and I don’t give two sh*ts about what people have to say about me, but the larger reality underneath that is that I may just be terrified of being seen as unfit or a bad person.

Social Conditioning & Critical Thinking

Having said that, I want to start by explaining what I mean by the Great Hijacking, as highlighted in the title of this post. First of all, it’s crucial to realize, if we haven’t yet, just how fragile and malleable our minds can be. This is why, when someone commits a certain crime, it almost immediately instills a virus in other people’s minds, inciting those same actions. For instance, we can see how that plays out among young people in the UK with knife crime or here in the U.S. with gun violence. Just recently, after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, almost immediately, someone committed the same crime targeting federal agents.

Now, since I brought this up briefly, here is where I stand on what happened to Charlie Kirk. No one deserves to die like that, whether we agree with him or not. And if, for some reason, we can’t feel that to be true or have it resonate with us, it may call us to address some underlying and unresolved things we may not even realize we carry. In other words, a distortion that has seeped into our minds, but we are unable or rather choose not to see it, often shaped by societal programming.

Did I like Charlie Kirk? No, I didn’t like him. Actually, I found his face very unlikable, and I even jokingly commented on some of his videos that he needed some major therapy to address his mommy issues. Did some of his debates make sense? Absolutely, yes. A lot of his open debates were logical and rooted in facts. Did I agree with everything he debated or the angles he took on certain issues, especially regarding women’s rights or religious understanding? Of course not, as many others didn’t. I actually found him to speak in a holier-than-thou manner, as if he were morally superior, and people like that don’t rub me the right way, even when they present themselves as religious. (I will cite the Bible below for why that is)

But again, to have someone assassinated for open debates and for building a brand around their own perspective is absolutely wrong. No one deserves to go like that. If we truly want change and to be a positive influence for future generations, we can strengthen our arguments instead, write books, or become better spokespersons to open people’s minds. Eliminating someone, especially while they are openly debating, is utterly delirious and will not eliminate the root of the problem.

John 8:3–11

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Mass Influence Psychology | The Great Hijacking of the Mind

As someone who is generally more emotionally in tune with the collective, I did feel the loss, as it was felt by many, and I still can’t believe something like that happened in 2025. But funny enough, I also felt the unspoken relief or lightness that I believe was shared by many in the collective, especially here in NYC, who strongly disagreed with his ideology and viewed him as a potential threat in society. Now the real question is, did I view him as a potential threat to future generations? As an independent writer, I feel it is my duty to be completely honest with my audience, so I’m going to tell it like it is. Yes and no, but here’s the thing. This is a crucial point in understanding what I mean by The Great Hijacking of the Mind.

Yes, because if we want to advance in society but are offered ways of the past, adhering to a way of life that requires moving backward in time rather than finding a new solution, it is not advantageous in any way and is potentially dangerous, in the sense that the same cycle will be repeated. Anytime you watch someone with some sort of influential platform, whether they are a social media influencer, a YouTuber with a large following, a podcaster, or whatever the case may be, and they’re presenting arguments that seem more than reasonable and align with much of what you believe, but then offer to take us backward in time and adhere to an ideology of the past that has already proven not to serve society well, such as “women belong in the kitchen or women don’t have the intellectual capacity of a man,” it is a huge warning sign.

When Ideology Takes Us Backward in Time

If you ever notice someone with influence who isn’t offering new solutions to move us forward into the future, but instead drags us backward while suppressing the ways in which we have already progressed or evolved, they are complete phonies, and you are wasting your time listening to them. We have moved past power struggles in society, and it’s still shocking to see women on YouTube, even today, openly say that they’d rather have men take on professional jobs while they stay home, change diapers, and represent all women in this way. It is an abomination. While some women may prefer that, and that is completely okay, influencing young women in this way is obviously complete delirium. We have great doctors, scientists, journalists, politicians, writers, and women who will come with their own calling in life and would rather spend time doing something far more interesting than merely changing diapers. Not that there’s anything wrong with changing diapers, for God’s sake.

These people may come across as experts in history and politics, delivering what feels like the best hour of podcasts you’ve had in months, only to incite their venom in the end and reveal their true colors. It shows that they have not matured or experienced life enough, are incapable of being in touch with reality, or have some sort of underlying mental dysfunction. And this is just one example among many that you’ll find out there in this Great Hijacking of the Mind.

No, he wasn’t a threat because at the end of the day, his debates had substance but his influence was not powerful enough to shift the collective trajectory of human evolution. We always finds a wayeven when some try and amplify outdated ideologies, and this goes for anybody, not just Charlie Kirk. They don’t last because consciousness keeps expanding. He was more of a symptom of a collective wound rather than the wound itself. A reflection of what still needs healing in our society, not the root cause of it, such as a lack of tolerance.

So beware of who you allow to influence your mind and shape your perspectives in life, whether man or woman. Listen to your body. The body knows. From a spiritual perspective, moving toward the future is moving toward truth. The future is closer to our origin, while the past is further away. This is, both metaphysically and spiritually speaking, something that may be easier for some to grasp, but it’s really not complicated.

The post The Great Hijacking of the Mind Has Begun| Beware appeared first on Sentient Muse.

History as a Foundation

In this post, I want to highlight the importance of history, particularly as the foundation of our beliefs, whether spiritual, religious, or political. Too often, I see people completely disregard historical context and facts to fit a delusional narrative that serves their own interests, even in the spiritual community, or to criticize one group over another. History tells more than just facts. It tells stories and how culture unfolds over time, and it also provides us with a more accurate understanding of the spirit and identity of different peoples. Also, some of you have asked me about my writing recently, and here’s the truth: when I write, I rarely feel like it is me who is writing. I do more listening and weaving of ideas that arise. If you still don’t get it, I don’t get it either, so don’t worry about it too much. Now, before I get started, a little fun fact about me. I almost failed history in high school, but I was great at writing essays and always scored above 85. My English teacher didn’t like that I was more interested in bagels in history class, so she gave me a rather shitty grade instead. Talk about fairness. My history teacher, on the other hand, was a bit strange, and when I think of her, I only remember her profile for some reason, and while she lectured in a soul-numbing voice that almost felt like a slow death, I actually found it perfect for daydreaming, and eating bagels, of course.

While there can be more than one side to history, or “textbook history” as it is now called, overall, we have a great deal of artifacts, including newer ones, that give us a fairly accurate understanding of past events and how culture unfolded over time. From 1947 to 1957, the Dead Sea Scrolls, over 800 manuscripts to be precise, were found near Qumran, about a day’s walk from Jerusalem, and in what is now the West Bank. The scrolls were written by an extinct religious sect that existed at the same time Jesus walked the earth, in various languages such as Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. These were the languages spoken in the region more than 2,000 years ago. The caves in the area gave us manuscripts dating from 300 BCE to 100 CE, a crucial time in our world’s history, and include biblical texts, alternate versions of biblical texts such as the Genesis Apocryphon written in Aramaic, original works never seen before, sectarian writings, and other Jewish documents.

What I found interesting is that among these scrolls were the sectarian scrolls, the third grouping, which described the life and teachings of the people who made the scrolls. This was a secretive and apocalyptic group that called themselves the Sons of Light. Most scholars, given the chronology and archaeological findings, agree that the scrolls were hidden around 66 to 70 CE, during the First Jewish Revolt against Rome, which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Jewish temple. It is said that this vicious conflict was so intense that the members of the sect never returned to retrieve their scrolls in the isolated desert of Qumran.

Early Christians

The manuscripts found of the secretive sect, The Sons of Light, have sparked thousands of books written about who they were and what they meant for Christianity. Of course, naturally, the impact of these findings has produced expectancies in many, and everyone involved in the interpretation of the scrolls has tried to add something to the interpretation itself. Generally, the makers of these scrolls seemed to have been an almost exclusively male and Jewish sect, having extremely difficult initiation rituals. According to the scrolls, like many early Christian ascetics or monks, the Sons of Light had given up their early possessions to live in the desert in a communal existence and attempted to gain wisdom and achieve salvation by communing with angels, a belief generally denied by mainstream Judaism at the time. There were also dualist apocalyptic elements derived in part from Zoroastrianism and reminiscent of later Christian heresies of the Bogomils and the Cathars. The Thanksgiving scroll, found in 1947, which lists various prayers and sayings of the sect, also suggests the link between early Christians and the Sons of Light due to the similarity of prayers and sayings found in the scroll, with Christianity perhaps being an offshoot.

Old Testament | History as a Foundation

Once, I was called an Old Testament girl because when asked what I liked from the Bible, I would only cite from the Books of Poetry in the Old Testament. Please don’t think I’m some sort of religious and Christian devotee. I wish I were that focused and devoted to one thing, but my ADHD clearly has other plans for me, at least for now. I only read the texts just as any other sacred scripture or text, whether it’s in Sanskrit or Chinese. Though I have to admit, if I had to choose one religious text as a means to self-realize or improve my relationship with myself and whatever lies behind the veil, it would undoubtedly be the Holy Bible. But that’s probably due to cultural resonance more than anything else. I grew up with Christian Orthodox values as my grandmother was from Athens, and we’d go to an Orthodox church on Sundays every so often, including my father, who was a complete Atheist.

Though I was told to start with John in the New Testament, I haven’t gotten to it yet because God knows how many books I have to read. Anyway. There is much to say, and I could sit here and write chapters on chapters about the history of how and when we got to the Old Testament and its standardization, but I’m not a historian, so that’s not my job. Thank God. I’d rather observe lunatics and write about them and hopefully save us from becoming crazier than we already have.

With that being said, I’m briefly going to summarize its history just for historical context and move on to hopefully a more interesting take on beliefs, so I stop boring you with history for a bit, especially if you’re more interested in bagels like me. Though very little actual historical evidence exists for the exodus from Egypt and other ancient stories, a good deal of information from the Old Testament is at least partially historical, more so proven by the rediscovery of the Hittite Empire in the 1800s, which was long considered to be a biblical fantasy. Now, the first verifiable period that we have evidence for is the pre-Monarchic age, around 1400-1000 BC. A time of wandering peoples and warring tribes. We are talking about the age of Abraham and Joseph. By around 1000 BC, a unified Jewish State was born, ruled over by King David and then taken over by his son, King Solomon, C. 970-931 BC.

The kingdom of Judea then entered a period of division between two kingdoms, along with a series of wars against outside invaders, C. 900-586 BC. Such as the Neo-Assyrian Empire, 911-609 BC, until finally, in 586 BC, the holy city of Jerusalem, along with its first temple, was completely destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, thus began the Babylonian exile from 586-538 BC. In 538 BC, a new power arose, far from the slave masters portrayed in many Greek sources, Achaemenid Persia under Cyrus the Great was an especially tolerant empire, allowing the Jews and various and various other peoples enslaved by their predecessors to return to their homelands. Work then began on the second temple, along with another 200 years of self-rule, C. 538-330 BC. It is during this time that the Old Testament seems to have been mostly written down and, to a certain extent, standardized.

Then, in 333 BC, we had the empire of Alexander the Great, “Lord of all Asia”, dominating from Egypt to Afghanistan, and remaking everything in its own image, bringing an end to what is referred to as the biblical period. When Alexander died without naming a successor, it sparked a vicious 20-year civil war between his generals. Finally, by 301 BC, the council of the Victors agreed to carve up the Empire. Judea became part of the territory of Ptolemy. At this time, the Hellenistic age had already begun, with many Jews speaking Greek, which rather quickly became the language of administration and governance, thus explaining why some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written in Greek.

Hellenistic Reformation

Greek philosophy and science were introduced all over the Middle East, along with Hippodromes, amphitheaters, and gymnasiums. And, of course, a mixture of Greek ideas, traditions, and culture mixed with native Jewish ones. Certain Hellenistic ideas even permeated Judaism, often without the Jews realizing what was happening. For example, the Bible was translated into Greek and, in time, ambitious dynasts who wanted to get ahead began to resemble Greeks. According to historians, it’s likely around this time that sects such as the Sons of Light began to form as a direct opposition to the new way of life sweeping over the region. From 330- 30BC, Hellenistic Egypt had at least 13 Ptolemy rulers, with many extending north and governing Judea, with total religious freedom being allowed, until Antiochus the IV, when everything was to change. Jewish life and rituals were increasingly restricted, and cities were turned into a Greek polis. Many Jewish rituals and diets were prohibited, and because of the slow reformation, thousands of peaceful protestors were killed. Some scholars see this movement as the origins of the Sons of Light.

Hasmonean Dynasty

The Macabees then began a guerrilla war against the Hellenistic rule of Ptolemy, and eventually won the war, with the kingdom being once again independent. Many kings ruled from the Macabees family, who were regarded as descendants of King David, and also known as the Hasmonean Dynasty. Soon, the Hasmoneans, with a strong army, began conquering more lands and enlarging their Kingdom, even conquering Edomites and Samaritans, destroying their temple, with many survivors being sold into slavery and forcefully converted into Judaism. The Hasmoneans took things even further with Aristobulus I, upsetting religious groups even more. In search of diplomatic ties with the surrounding Hellenistic powers, the Hasmoneans began to style themselves more and more as Hellenistic monarchs.

The time of the Hasmoneans was soon to be over, especially with a more vicious successor, like Jannaeus, who adopted a Greek name and who had all Pharisees, another Jewish sect who opposed him, publicly crucified, all 800 of them, and their entire families murdered. These were not the only Jewish sects that were known, as it was also documented in the Roman scientific literature, Natural History, by Pliny the Elder. Just to the north of Ein Gedi, he had encountered another Jewish sect known as the Essenes, who claimed they had lived there for thousands of generations, had no money, and had their priestly class refrain from marrying.

The Essenes were also talked about by different philosophers, such as Philo, and Flavius Josephus, who was also a General during the First Jewish revolt. Flavius documented the main religious sects of his day, which were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. During the 1st century AD, there wasn’t just one standardized Judaism. Varying creeds and schools of thought existed. The Samaritans, for example, were a much earlier offshoot of Judaism, splitting off by around 500 BC, before they were wiped out by the Hasmonean King, John Hyrcanus. Their main dividing issue had been each having their own mountain of worship. Mount Zion and Mount Gerizim. Another sect mentioned by Philo were the Therapeutae, that lived in his native land, Egypt, but perhaps Judea too.

The Three Jewish Sects

The Sadducees, the main priestly group at the temple of Jerusalem. Their mostly hereditary power stemmed from ancient aristocratic roots. As for them, only the priests at the temple could sacrifice; therefore, they held all the religious power. They denied all heterodox theories, such as the existence of angels and the immortality of the soul. They were seen as an imperfection derived from Plato.

The Pharisees, on the other hand, wanted to democratize and transfer power from the temple to the household. They came up with other ways of worshipping. For example, reading the Torah and communal prayer.

Then we have the Essenes. According to Josephus, they were most certainly a fringe group, desert separatists, directly opposed to both the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Also, the only place north of Ein Gedi, mentioned in the literature of Natural History, is Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Qumran was discovered to be inhabited between 134 BC – 68 AD.  It’s possible that there were more subdivisions within the three sects, just as we have Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and Protestantism today.

Most scholars today equate the Essenes with the Qumran community, who wrote the scrolls; therefore, it is very possible that they were the Sons of Light. And if they were, it would allow us to have an insider’s view of the thoughts and beliefs of, first and foremost, a Jewish sect not only contemporary with but very similar to early Christianity. This is not to negate that they actually did differ on a number of key issues. They did not have bishops who performed baptisms; they were a group of jews who performed ritual purifications and copied texts in their libraries. Also, women are mentioned in a variety of the Dead Sea Scrolls documents, and amongst the 1100 graves found at the Qumran cemetery, a significant number of female skeletons were found. So either the sources, such as Philo and Pliny, describing the Essenes weren’t strictly accurate, or maybe, like later dualists, like the Cathars, it was only the highest priests who were celibate.

Over 500 coins dating from the Seleucid and Hasmonian periods were found at the site in Qumran in three large clay vessels, leading many to suggest that this was the earthly wealth given by the members of the sect. There is also evidence of religious doctrine as described in the scrolls and contemporary accounts of the Essenes. The pots at Qumran were a unique type, being long and thin, rather than the usual wide ones found in the Roman Empire. By having a lid instead of a cork, it was less work to open and didn’t break the rules of the Sabbath. Many individual plates were found, which gave evidence of their obsession with purity, which was very rare in the ancient world. In the 1990s, definitive proof was found by another team that discovered an ancient pathway between the caves and settlements with occasional nails along the route that had fallen from loose sandals, dated to the Second Temple period, 516 BC – 70 AD.

Just as predicted by the Sons of Light, the apocalyptic era began with the first Jewish revolt, 66-73 AD. There were many causes for the revolt, including the incompetence of Roman governors, outright oppression, Jewish religious sensibilities, class tensions, and general social disunity, exemplified by the three separate quarreling sects that went on to fortify three separate districts of the capital. After the massacre of the first Jewish revolt and the destruction of the temple, the Sadducees had nowhere to worship and soon died out. The Essenes also disappeared from the record after the apocalyptic battle, which explains why they never returned to Qumran to retrieve the scroll. Interestingly, the Pharisees survived and eventually morphed into the mainstream rabbinic Judaism we know today.

But there was also another famous Jewish sect. Though very low in numbers, over time, it became more distinct from Judaism due to its acceptance of polytheistic Gentiles as well as Jews. Of course, the Christians. The Dead Sea Scrolls are not Christian, but we also can’t deny the links between their makers and the man who went to form Christianity. Most Bible scholars also argue that the faith does seem to have sprung from a particular apocalyptic movement within Judaism. In the Bible, John the Baptist, an earlier teacher figure of Jesus, repeatedly scorns the Sadducees and Pharisees, but not the Essenes. The same position the Dead Sea Scrolls take. In the New Testament, John chapter 12, verse 38, Jesus says; As long as you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light. This also sounds very similar to the Sons of Light from the War Scroll.

Jewish Mysticism

Jewish mysticism, later called Kabbalah, began to circulate in texts like the Merkavah “Chariot” mysticism, inspired by visions in the Book of Ezekiel. These mystical ideas began as early as the 1st-10th centuries CE.
One of the earliest Jewish mystical texts laying the groundwork for later Kabbalistic thought about creation and the Hebrew letters was the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation), 3rd–6th centuries CE, which I have read three times. These early practices focused on ascents to heavenly realms and encounters with angels. In the Middle Ages, especially in the 12th–13th century Provence and Spain, Kabbalah took on a more systematic form, emphasizing the sefirot (divine emanations) as a way to understand God’s interaction with the world. The Zohar was then written in the late 13th century and became the central text, presenting mystical interpretations of the Torah. Over time, Kabbalah influenced Jewish prayer, ethics, and philosophy, later spreading into movements like Lurianic Kabbalah in the 16th century and eventually shaping parts of Hasidism, which is central to Jewish culture, especially here in New York.

Jesus | Man, Messenger, God, Archetype

Do I dare approach this topic? Dear Lord, help me. Jokes aside, before I get roasted by probably anyone who has different and strong thoughts or beliefs on Jesus, what I am about to share is simply my experience, unique to my understanding, and what I have experienced beyond mere intellectual practice. So I am not aiming to change anyone else’s beliefs or thoughts, but rather try to bring a broader perspective, not only as someone who has been extensively active in the personal development field for over 10 years, but someone who is passionate about spiritual practice and metaphysics, including comparative religious understandings.

First and foremost, did Jesus as a man exist? Yes, I think Jesus as a man existed and walked the earth like you and me about 2000 years ago. While many pseudo-historians and those who believe in them claim it was all fabricated and that Jesus never existed, I would have to disagree solely on the fact that Christianity could not have evolved purely on the imagination of a few or simply as an offshoot of a Jewish sect without a central figure who was key to the core of Christian belief, practice, and understanding. In order for a new religion to be born, obviously, there must be a central figure to the story and a story worth telling; otherwise, the story could not evolve at all. Especially when we are talking about Christianity, which almost consumed the whole world like a wildfire during those times.

John 14:6, where Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This is very profound and probably the only verse I need to share my understanding and perspective on Jesus, not only as a messenger but as God. A few months ago, I came across a podcast where a woman was speaking about her near-death experience. Many of these near-death experiences fascinate me. And I actually believe that if we are intelligent enough to discern what they are actually saying, we could get much closer to the truth and understanding of spiritual life. This woman was kidnapped, and long story short, she began to have visions, and among many of the visions she was describing, she had a personal encounter with Jesus, the Christ.

She was not a Christian woman at all; she was actually of Indian descent, too. What was interesting, though, about her story is that she immediately describes that when Jesus came into the picture, everything around her stood still. She described the whole encounter and how she was on the sandy beach, but the waves stood still, and unlike before, where everything, including the sand she was grasping with her hands, was in constant movement, Jesus had come almost from outside of time, she continued; everything froze in or seemingly outside of time. I wish I could find her podcast again, but unfortunately, I have such a long list of NDEs that I couldn’t go through each one to find it again. Anyway, if I do find it, I will insert it somewhere in this post.

She continued to speak about the encounter, and she said in the presence of Jesus, the Christ, all her pain had completely dissipated. She also described that he had not come alone but with other saints or teachers, and they were all wearing hooded robes that lit up with so much light inside and out, but she could not see their faces. While she was kidnapped, the only thing she could think of was her children, but in his presence, she was engulfed in the utmost euphoric love and bliss, and all her worries had completely disappeared. She spoke with Jesus himself, and he went on to tell her that everything was going to be alright and that she would return to see her children again.

Peter 3:8 –“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. In other religious texts, such as Hinduism, time is also seen as the source of pain and suffering, but God is always described as being above or outside of time. So if God exists outside of time, and if Jesus is the son of God, then he must also exist outside of time and personal suffering. Now, if we can achieve salvation and unite with the Father, God, through Jesus, the Son of God, what can we conclude about Jesus as an archetype, man, messenger, and God? How can we relate to this story or apply the moral of his message to our own path toward the self?

Firstly, the figure of Jesus can be understood not only in historical or religious terms, but also as a universal archetype or primal stuff embedded in the collective unconscious. Beyond Christian doctrine, Jesus represents the reconciliation of opposites, suffering and transcendence, human and divine, time and eternity. In this sense, he embodies non-duality. A path that does not deny suffering but embraces it with grace, transforming it into a doorway toward God or the divine. His life serves as a reminder that faith is not simply passive belief but an active alignment with our innate potential or capacity for light, healing, and resilience. To walk the path of Christ is to remember that we are never abandoned by God, even in the darkest hour, and that within us lies the potential to rise beyond suffering into a state of wholeness and divinity.

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