Esoteric and Exoteric Teaching
Throughout
the history of organized religious practices there has been a Veil between what
is preached to the common man, and what is known by the initiated. This
division follows logically from the fact that individuals are on different
psychological levels. Children learn the ethics of society by fairy tales; in
the same manner most people need the religious fairy tales to further develop
their mind.
The focus of ancient civilizations was exactly that, to develop the mind of the human race, to lift them up from the unordered darkness of unconscious being [1]. Some individuals were front runners; they did battles on the very boundary of mental reality: shamans, prophets, gurus, pharaohs - sons and daughters of the Divine. Their insights became over time the basis for the development of ethics, morality and human interaction.
But these insights could not be presented in their pure form, for a number of reasons; one being that the language was insufficient, another being the inability of the people to comprehend the material. This situation was illustrated by Plato in the allegory of the cave [3]. The ones that left the darkness of the cave, and returned out of compassion for the ones still in the dark, were scorned and killed by the very people they wanted to save. Hence there was, and still is perhaps, a need to keep the Veil between the common people and the initiated.
In the so called western part of the world this changed with the advent of Christianity. Jesus specifically points out the poor and the uneducated as the bearers of the Truth [4]. The Bible tells us that when Jesus dies at the cross, the veil is torn open in the Temple [5]; indicating that the Divine no longer is separated from the people. Or so they say...
There are many indications that the Veil was in fact kept by Paul:
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 1 Corinthians 3:2
and by Jesus himself:
And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things comes in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.’" Mark 4:11-12
This is not surprising; the Veil had to be kept because people did not have the ability to digest the illuminated experiences of the Saints, Hermits and spiritual madmen.
The story of religious experience is the story of developing the human mind - some civilizations were able to collaborate for the most part with this development; some did not. In Asia there is still a great emphasis on the numinous, and also in parts of South America and Africa.
In Europe religious organizations were built for a single purpose – to get people in line with the will of the rulers. To these organizations the true, mystical experience became a threat, a heresy, something to be burnt at the stake.
So here we are - in a western civilization based upon greed, egoism and violence. No longer does the development of the human mind matter; we are reduced to producers and consumers - bound by the cold, hard cash. But there is something lurking in shadows; something is growing in the deep of the forest - there will always be those who can see and hear, and thus the Inner Divine will rise again to show its glory!
The focus of ancient civilizations was exactly that, to develop the mind of the human race, to lift them up from the unordered darkness of unconscious being [1]. Some individuals were front runners; they did battles on the very boundary of mental reality: shamans, prophets, gurus, pharaohs - sons and daughters of the Divine. Their insights became over time the basis for the development of ethics, morality and human interaction.
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| Worshiping at a sarcophagus of Osiris, fresco from Pompeii [2]. |
But these insights could not be presented in their pure form, for a number of reasons; one being that the language was insufficient, another being the inability of the people to comprehend the material. This situation was illustrated by Plato in the allegory of the cave [3]. The ones that left the darkness of the cave, and returned out of compassion for the ones still in the dark, were scorned and killed by the very people they wanted to save. Hence there was, and still is perhaps, a need to keep the Veil between the common people and the initiated.
In the so called western part of the world this changed with the advent of Christianity. Jesus specifically points out the poor and the uneducated as the bearers of the Truth [4]. The Bible tells us that when Jesus dies at the cross, the veil is torn open in the Temple [5]; indicating that the Divine no longer is separated from the people. Or so they say...
There are many indications that the Veil was in fact kept by Paul:
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 1 Corinthians 3:2
and by Jesus himself:
And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things comes in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.’" Mark 4:11-12
This is not surprising; the Veil had to be kept because people did not have the ability to digest the illuminated experiences of the Saints, Hermits and spiritual madmen.
The story of religious experience is the story of developing the human mind - some civilizations were able to collaborate for the most part with this development; some did not. In Asia there is still a great emphasis on the numinous, and also in parts of South America and Africa.
In Europe religious organizations were built for a single purpose – to get people in line with the will of the rulers. To these organizations the true, mystical experience became a threat, a heresy, something to be burnt at the stake.
So here we are - in a western civilization based upon greed, egoism and violence. No longer does the development of the human mind matter; we are reduced to producers and consumers - bound by the cold, hard cash. But there is something lurking in shadows; something is growing in the deep of the forest - there will always be those who can see and hear, and thus the Inner Divine will rise again to show its glory!
[1]
[2] Mysteries of Isis; Mystery Cults in Greek and Roman World
[3] Plato: The Allegory of the Cave
[4] Matthew 11:25
[5] Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45
[2] Mysteries of Isis; Mystery Cults in Greek and Roman World
[3] Plato: The Allegory of the Cave
[4] Matthew 11:25
[5] Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45
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