There is "something" in this world which prevents human beings from
fully understanding not only their predicament, but their full
potential. Something like "a Veil" blinds us all, some to a greater
extent, some to a lesser extent.
Paul has talked about this Veil: [2 Corinthians 3:14-3:16: "But their
minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains
when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in
Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil
covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is
taken away"].
It is interesting to note that several popular movies have portrayed
and popularized
this veil: The Matrix, Dark City and The Truman Show. In these movies,
a force superior to humans in intellect and/or power, has concocted a
situation where at least one human remains (and will remain) under the
influence of this veil.
It is important to recognize here that as a species we have reached an
intellectual state where this veil, is at least recognized. Certain
other religions have recognized it as well. Some call it "Maya's
Illusion", the Kabbalah calls it "The Lower Worlds".
It is one thing to have "recognized" this veil, and another thing to
offer solutions for its "lifting". Since getting rid of it seems to
depend
on properly understanding the causes of its installment, and we don't
seem to understand them fully yet, there still exists a huge divide
between "recognizing" and "lifting" it.
There are here several tangential notions which to my mind contribute
to the Veil's influence and I will list them in order of importance:
1) A misunderstanding and/or misapplication of our scientific knowledge.
2) Ignorant Self-importance.
3) Distance from the First Cause.
1)-3) are related and create a vicious circle which feeds on itself.
Our progress in science as a species, tends to create a "unique"
universe, in which we understand that we belong, both in its past and
in its present.
For example, we "think" we belong to a "universe" which started with
The Big Bang and for which we are not sure about its future, since our
physics is not (and probably won't ever be) complete.
As a result, we "think" that we are important in terms of global
significance, because we managed to "survey" a good part of our
existence as a species.
The later, gives us reason to distance ourselves from a (possible)
First Cause, since we ourselves have now an almost "sufficient
understanding" and a reason to expel "primitive" notions (such as that
of God) from our minds.
Our scientific knowledge seems to have no good purpose. Although
tremendous progress has been made scientifically, the fruits always
seem to fall into the hands of those who wish to exploit other people,
be it military generals or greedy doctors. As a result, our science has
no man-centered purpose, which seems to feed 2) and 3).
In any case, in this unique "universe", death reigns supreme. Every
conscious and
every unconscious entity, ends up in the hands of Hades. From galaxies,
stars and planets to animals and plants, nothing escapes the tight grip
of death. Hierarchically, some objects (like galaxies and stars) live
longer, but in the end, they too succumb to oblivion, sometimes in
spectacular ways.
In addition to the predicament of death, we have also come to be
"aware" of its existence for all of us. We all "know" somehow that we
are going to die, sooner or later. This "knowledge", gives life a
particularly bitter taste, since we start wondering what it is all
about if we end up in the hands of death. What is the true reason of
birth, if all fails and dies in the end? What is the true reason for
existence if everything dies?
Most of us have accepted our fate in death and we simply carry through.
This is as ludicrous as having a hand grenade next to someone, knowing
that it will explode at some time in the future and doing nothing about
it, simply
wishing that it explodes as late as possible.
The thought that death does not really exist, is out of the question.
Throughout history we've had no examples of anyone who defeated it,
except the story of Christ, who according to scripture was risen from
the dead 3 days after his crucifixion. And we know better than to
believe the writings of some religious fanatics, right? Wrong. It is
exactly that belief in Christ which settles the answer of death under
the correct perspective.
The conviction we have that we
are going to die is a consequence of the presence of
The Veil, spoken of above. For some reason, this conviction has entered
our
minds and we are unable to get rid of it as a species. We try to
remember, but in the end, our genetic code "forgets" The Truth, and we
wither away. It is like a very sinister "memory problem". It is as if
someone designed this system so our memory of our immortality keeps
being "wiped out". We try to "remember" what we always knew, but
somehow in the end we always end up dying. Why is that?
In Christ, there is no death. So why do we die after all? Because our
ways are not perfect. Even an ever so slight imperfection in our ways,
will eventually introduce death into our minds. Once our minds fall to
death, the body falls too. Perfection is immortal. But we are mortal,
therefore we must be imperfect. So what is this imperfection of ours?
It is precisely 1)-3).
If we agree that God is perfection, then the further we distance
ourselves from God, the closer we are to death. Because our bodies are
made of flesh and thus need corrupt nourishment which depends on the
death of other beings and because of 1)-3), our minds tend to acquire
more and more imperfection from the surrounding environment and from
what we "know", so far. No matter how we try,
most things we do tend to
lead us towards death. Even good and religious people die,
after all.
This is The MEMORY problem. The Veil.
Those who manage to escape the Veil, even temporarily, will see that
death is but an illusion, albeit it cannot STAY an illusion for ever,
because of the Veil. So we have to remind ourselves of ways to lift the
Veil. The way proposed by Christ works, but since we cannot imitate
that which is perfect forever, we eventually die.
Is there any wisdom in death? None whatsoever. That which dies,
perishes. It is by definition temporary. All our wisdom is temporary,
seen from an individual's standpoint. As a collective consciousness and
as a species,
our wisdom has gone as far as today, but we have to always relearn it.
Old scientists die, and new scientists are born. The new scientists
have to relearn the theories of the old scientists who have died,
again and again, ad infinitum. This is, again, The MEMORY problem. The
Veil. The myth of Sisyphus, who lifted a huge stone over the top of a
hill, only to have it run down after he finished lifting it on top.
The tyranny of the Veil becomes ever so present, when one tries to be
perfect. It is impossible. But, in Christ, the Veil is lifted. When
this happens, all of Creation cries out giving proof for the Creator.
From the smallest stone on the sidewalk, to a cloudy sky, to the
dimmest star on a clear night, the "proof" for that which we've always
wanted, for that which we've always desired, is in front of us!
It is very easy to lift the Veil from one's mind, provided one is
predisposed favorably towards the First Cause. And really, if you
think about it, why shouldn't one be? What else is there? That which
exists today, may cease to be tomorrow. This body I sit in, appears
temporary. If it is, I cannot escape death. But at least, in Christ, I
can see the Truth about The Memory problem. The Truth about the Veil.
Christ seems to validate the existence of the Veil: [Matthew 11:25] and
again in [Luke 10:21]: "At that time Jesus, full of joy through the
Holy Spirit, said, "I
praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden
these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little
children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure."
The "wise and learned" are busy with trying to survey our universe
(scientifically or otherwise), and in fact, certain segments of their
creations may stay alive for a while, but the end result depends on
what Christ decides about their creation: [John 15:1-3]: "I am the true
vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me
that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes
so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of
the word I have spoken to you."
The above really shows that the Father in conjunction with the Son,
really decide who\what is worthy to be and who/what is not. This really
says a lot about the potential success of many different endeavors. I
may be busy for an entire life creating something which might be
responsible for the creation of a tiny corner in our universe, but the
end result (whether this creation eventually enjoys immortality) is
being decided by the Father in conjunction with the Son.
Sidetracking a bit on the previous, it is entirely analogous to how a
chess playing program finds a good move during its searches: The
program initially generates ALL available moves on a given position,
including illegal moves or moves with low strategic value.
Subsequently, the program "sifts" through the array of available moves
using a positional evaluation function, which selects only one
candidate, the move which returns the highest value in its positional
evaluation algorithm.
In a sense, as soon as the program "considers" a bad move during the
first stage, (generation or listing of ALL available moves) this
particular bad move enters the domain of the program's "existence". It
temporarily "exists" in the program's memory and depending on the
processor's speed, it may rest in memory for a little while, until the
positional evaluation function calculates the move's absolute worth
relative to the game's position.
If the evaluation function determines that this dormant move has the
highest value relative to the game's current position, it is chosen: It
is copied out of the memory array cell it temporarily occupies and the
program replicates its existence in other variables, finally presenting
it to the opponent as THE move to be made. When this happens, the
chosen move "attains" immortality vis-a-vis the game as a whole. When
this particular game is later presented to an external observer, this
move has a specific place in the program's memory, so its record
remains available. Note also that the move's record remains in
chess-playing "existence" for at least as long as the duration of the
game, for chess playing programs which keep track of only one game at a
time. For a more advanced chess playing "program", like a human or a
chess program which "learns" from past games, such moves stay in memory
forever, since they form part of the player's "experience".
If the evaluation function determines that this dormant move has a low
value relative to the game's current position, it is discarded from
memory: The memory array cell it occupied is freed to make room for new
"potentially good" moves, so its "existence" ends as soon as the
evaluation function determines that the move has a low strategic value.
The endeavors of human society resemble the first part of a move
generating engine, where many possibilities are being generated prior
to being evaluated. All these possibilities remain dormant for a while,
until a proper "judge" (similar to the positional evaluation function)
determines if these possibilities have any worth. If a possibility is
worthy, then it remains in the memory of the global scheme of things,
as part of the vine branch of which Christ speaks of. If it is found
unworthy, it is cast into non-existence.
In a sense, the Veil is akin to the temporary "existence" of an
unrealized bad move in chess. Yes, it "exists" for a temporary period
of time in the global memory of things, but its further existence
depends on the evaluation function making a positive "judgment" on it.
Such "judgment" happens every single day. Every single day one wakes up
in the morning and sees a new day with potential, the Son and Father
give this individual a little more time before they "evaluate" his/her
position relative to the global meaning of things.
Part of the Veil's deceptive nature is the apparent conviction that
one's temporary existence has some worth. This is the root cause of
problem 2). It is not YOU who are living and experiencing your life, it
is the Son, THROUGH you. Therefore an individual human consciousness is
utterly incapable to perform a proper "positional evaluation" of one's
life, unless it is hosted by the one whose experience is being counted
towards. At least insofar as I am concerned, whenever I "drove" my own
life, I made a mess of it.
Several side issues enter here, the most important being that of
Choice. It is certainly MY choice if I want to "drive" my own life
without outside guidance, that's why it seems (to me at least) that the
Veil has a "reason" for existence. It is a device upon which one can
rely to be "voluntarily blinded" so as to be able to see what it is
like to "drive" one's life by oneself.
The Father and the Son are omnipresent, therefore without the Veil it
is utterly impossible for one to drive one's life away from them by
choice. The Veil is the proper "device" which once installed, "allows"
an individual consciousness to "experience" what it is like to be god
in a very "realistic" way, apart from the True source of all things.
The important question now is, WHY do humans fall victim of this Veil?
Here I can only speculate from experience. There certainly was a time
in my life when I was under the Veil's influence. For 18 years to be
specific, from 1986 to 2004. The only thing I can say with certainty is
that I had asked for it. I am trying to recall WHY I asked for it, but
I can't remember. It might have been that the pain from my father's
death in 1986 was so unbearable that I sidetracked voluntarily seeking
consolation in metaphysics and in the occult. The end result was a
disaster, in terms of pain: My consciousness passed into delusion
during those years and only my love for work and creation kept me alive.
I am more than glad to report that the damage is not unrepairable,
however. I cannot know why other human beings would choose to operate
under the Veil, except to perhaps speculate that many may not be happy
with this Father/Son vine pruning business, so they choose
non-existence, similar to being a potential chess move heading for
oblivion, as soon as the Son decides to "evaluate" their position,
relative to the global scheme of things.
Perhaps some consciousnesses find it unbearable to be in the presence
of the Creator and want to STAY blind voluntarily. It appears as though
it is a God given right for people to be able to choose what they want
in this respect, so I can understand their choice from the perspective
of free will. Yet, judging from my individual experience, the pain is
unbearable when one is under the Veil, so such a situation can be
either terminal or obliviously painful and I really have no idea why
one would want this, over a life full of happiness and joy.
In my experience, the root cause of pain when under the Veil, is NOT
KNOWING. Anything. One doesn't know ANYTHING when under the Veil. This
is the ultimate horror of existence, for me at least. Other people
might have no problems with not knowing. "Knowing" in this case is very
specific: "Having knowledge of God", for what else can be the meaning
of Life, apart from "knowing God"?
It follows therefore, that when Satan installs the Veil on an
individual consciousness, this is equivalent to God the Father
"removing" the memory of His existence from an individual. Again, the
reasons why this may happen are unclear to me in general, except for my
case. Perhaps this is the Father's way of distancing Himself from an
individual, once an individual decides that one doesn't want to be in
His presence.
It follows therefore that the existence of this Veil is sort of a
device for a practical application of Free Will. One decides one
doesn't want to be in God's presence, and thus God the Father withdraws
from one's mind, allowing the Veil to uncover itself and create an
illusion whereupon one's individual consciousness "thinks" that one is
"free" to do as one pleases, including thinking that one is god.
Consciously choosing to live in the presence of God vs living in
absence of God, is the ultimate example of exercising one's right to
Free Will. It is the ultimate choice in the life of any individual.
This appears to be exactly the meaning of "eating from the tree of
knowledge of good and evil", found in Genesis 2:16-17: "And the LORD
God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the
garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."" God's testimony was
therefore true. The tree was a device for humans to exercise their Free
Will and God had warned humans of what would happen if they chose to
eat from it. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve chose to want to live in
separation from God, forcing man as a species to be bound by death and
by the Veil.
I can only speculate that for some people it may be impossible to
decide whether they want to be in God the Father's presence, so it may
be necessary for someone who acts as an intermediary to make this
choice for them. It seems to me that this is precisely the role of
Christ, who continuously searches hearts and minds to find who loves
God. [Revelation 2:23] "Then all the churches will know that I am he
who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according
to your deeds."
If I am allowed to sidetrack on the above a bit further, it appears
that the Son is aware of every potentiality in all our lives past and
present, so it appears as though the entire creation has been seen by
Him as a whole, past and present [John 1:18 "No one has ever seen God,
but God the One and
Only, [ Or the Only Begotten] [ Some manuscripts but the only (or only
begotten) Son] who is at the Father's side, has made him known."].
Therefore judgment has already occurred in His mind, but not in ours,
because we appear to be able to choose freely and are still alive. In
all reality we are nothing but a tiny memory in the vine that is the
Son's mind, which is pruned by the Father. We are a potential chess
move, waiting to be evaluated relative to our time.
This creates an apparent contradiction, insofar as some people being
alive, whereas in reality they are dead (memories) by God's standards.
These people are the ones who are under the Veil. From God's
perspective, these memories (that are these people) will cease to exist
eventually if they continue being under the Veil, but for us they are
alive, now. [2 Corinthians 4:3-4: "And even if our gospel is veiled, it
is veiled to those who are perishing. The
god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they
cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God."].
To sum it up: The existence of the people under the Veil
seems therefore a necessary consequence of our freedom of choice to
live in a universe apart from God as a species. If nobody was under the
Veil, the knowledge of God's presence would be permeating everything
(not that it doesn't anyway, but it's not perceivable under the Veil),
so eventually everyone would know God's existence, denying us the right
to freely choose. Therefore it appears valid to say that the very
existence of the Veil depends on people still WANTING to exercise their
freedom of choice and live apart from God.
In my case, I recall a time when I had perfect faith as a child and the
world was perfect. Or should I say, my world was perfect. Then, at some
point in time, I decided I wanted to exercise my Freedom of Will, so I
consciously fell under the influence of the Veil and became voluntarily
blinded. This in turn corrupted my world and brought about what seemed
to be an avalanche of problems, including other people who were under
the influence of the Veil, because I was under it. I lived under the
Veil for 18 years, in a universe full of pain. While under the Veil,
pain, fear of death and dementia reigned complete. I was therefore
forced to re-evaluate my life and make a second choice, this time to
never again live under the Veil. So I have emerged from it with the
help of Christ, damaged but still alive. It is fortunate that I am
still alive, because really, this means that somewhere else, perhaps in
Christ's Mind, I have made the right choice, eventually. Had I stayed
under the Veil in Christ's Mind, I would now be dead.
Since I consciously made the choice to fall under the Veil's influence
in the past with respect to my time, this implies that I have failed in
Christ's judgment relative to His time and Mind. Perhaps therefore, the
reason for my existence now as a life-form was exactly the chance for me
to have this second chance to exit the Veil, which seems perfectly
reasonable to me at least, as an explanation for who and what I am.
[Revelation 2:11: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says
to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second
death.", Revelation 20:6: " Blessed and holy are those who have part in
the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but
they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a
thousand years. " and also in Rev. 20:14 and 21:8]
The more I think about the Veil, the more I become convinced that this
Veil is synonymous to Death. For what is Death, apart from total
separation from God? [Isaiah 25:7-8: "On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death forever"] What can be the Meaning of Life,
apart from
wanting to know God? What can be the highest pleasure apart from
"examining" all of God's little secrets in this universe like little
children?
The existence of our species, which from all appearances seems to be a
potentiality waiting to be evaluated, scientifically goes back in time
1-2 million years, according to science and its future is unknown. We
have surveyed and explained large parts of the universe scientifically
and we keep examining it, but its essence and causes will remain
unexplained for those who live under the Veil, because by definition
the very Meaning of Life (which is knowing God), is missing from their
minds.