“A Soul, when from the body freed, if it has fought the fight of piety-to Know God and to do wrong to no one such a Soul becomes entirely pure. Whereas the impious Soul remains as it is, a slave to its passions, chastised through death, by its own self.”
-AEP
U,
I am catching up with all posts now.
A few words on this great conversation. This will be given from a perspective for L2 aspirants.
As I began my spiritual journey decades ago I reflected on these issues also. In my view the issue is one of purity as I said before but what does that mean? It does not mean we are good and they (people who do not follow Shetaut Neter) are bad. Those are not the terms that are meant. Purity in spiritual practice means positive or negative effects as in the distilling process. Distilling allows for greater purity of the substance being saught. What would happen if we have created a strong structure based on distilled pure materials, pure granite stone for our building; but every generation henceforth uses the same architectural design but with some changes that the founders would not agree with (there can be changes that are in line with the founding vision). Also they use different quality stone in succeeding generations. Now how are the subsequent structures going to fare in the future, over time? Will they project the same vision in the same way? Will the acoustics be the same if the composition of the building materials is changed? Will the sound vibration quality be the same OR in keeping with the originally discovered harmonics and wisdom first imparted? In a chemistry class if we are told by the teacher to add oxygen and hydrogen to get water but we choose to add carbon and potassium because we like the color better or because it produces a warm radiation that is agreeable to the sensibilities, does not challenge the ego, etc. that may satisfy the ego desires but will it lead to the outcome intended by the teacher?
Many scholars, including myself have recognized and demonstrated the origins of Ancient Greek religion and philosophy, Christianity and Hinduism and Buddhism in Ancient Egypt. To this we may also at Yoruba and a myriad of religions of Asia Minor, etc.
However, I do not know of any who would say that what is being done in Yoruba, Christianity, Hinduism, Bhuddism, Vudun, etc. is either exactly the same or in keeping with Ancient Egyptian Shetaut Neter. In “New Age” circles there is a humorous reference to those who practice many elements from many religions because they all seem to harmonize and satisfy the sensibilities of the practitioner; it is called “Salad Bar spirituality” –characterized by choosing elements from different spiritual traditions in a form that appeals to the ego and not including those that are challenging or seemingly contradictory. This is all done without benefit of expert guidance.
Therefore there is bound to be a different outcome, primarily because most of those systems do not have authentic preceptorship and complete religion processes and these are key elements of authentic religion. A complete religious process and authentic preceptor could manifest the same teaching in a stylized manner. All the traditions of ancient Kemet are stylized in accordance with the particular divinity but all relate to the same teaching and same eschatology [spiritual outcome and goal]. However, though we may say that all or any of those systems have pieces of Ancient Egyptian philosophy we may not say that it is or can be imparted in a way that is either effective or in a manner that was intended in Shetaut Neter – due to the aforesaid deficiencies.
Another analogy that is given is of a person trying to dig for water but digging many shallow holes instead of one deep one, consequently not finding the goal and using up precious time in less than fruitful efforts. Therefore, purity is not just in following a correct teaching but also being instructed by someone who is knowledgeable about the system and not just in myth or ritual but also mysticism. If this were the case in those systems it would not matter if they had original pieces or not since they would have their own stylized pathway to enlightenment. The problem is the style which is deficient in substance, leading to religion that may temporarily placate the angst of the soul (deep down hankering for enlightenment) without ultimately leading it to resolution of the ultimate problem of the soul which is ignorance of the knowledge of the Divine due to lack of mystic union with the divine. The problem remains because those systems do not have either the wisdom of the clarity to chart such a course.
In my view there is no need to reinvent the wheel but that necessitates adopting SN as the primary and then only spiritual path so as to be able to concentrate the efforts without distractions (due to impurities) that in the beginning satisfy the ego sensibilities (some prefer Traditional African Religion because they like the rituals, some prefer Islam because they don’t have to think-just have faith and be fundamentalists, some like Native American because it is closer to the earth, some like Christianity because they learned it from young and it is inculcated with fear and guilt –fear of hell and guilt because all people commit sins over time, others prefer Buddhism because they don’t have to deal with all those gods and goddesses, etc., etc. etc,.
The point is the ego sensibilities of the current lifetime and its upbringing and conditioning are all illusory so it behooves all to move towards any authentic complete teaching regardless of what they did in the past or what they grew up with. Otherwise the school of hard knocks takes over and lifetimes will be required to find an authentic path.
Having said all the above, those who do not follow this advice may gain from the impure way of following – and to that extent any authentic preceptor would be pleased; For all are actually gods and goddesses in the making and sovereign beings who through their aryu are determining their destinies and leading to their own fate. Being innately divine, yet not knowing it, still every soul has the choice of where and when to incarnate and where and when to follow whatever teaching suits them at any particular time in their spiritual evolution (sufficient maturity to discover and follow a spiritual path that leads to the desired goals of life). All get what they need when they need it and all are at a soul level responsible for their own incarnation, state of consciousness and the time and place of their evolution, to follow detours and distractions or a straighter path.
HTP
