“When you make the two into one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the upper like the lower and the lower like the upper . . . When you make an eye to replace an eye and a hand to replace a hand, and a foot to replace a foot, and an image to replace an image, then you will enter the Kingdom” (Jesus, from The Gospel of Thomas)
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“Image” and “Analogue”
From a mystical and metaphysical perspective, the Hermetic teaching “as above so below” is restated by the great Teacher and mystic Jesus, who left a profound teaching himself with his disciples in a stream of dialogue that was recorded in both the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and the Gospel of Thomas, manuscripts that were discovered as early as 1896 (the Magdalene text) and as late as the mid twentieth century when the Nag Hammadi material was discovered. In both of these Gospels, Jesus speaks about an “Image.”
In her powerfully compelling and provocative book, The Meaning of MARY MAGADALENE—Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity, Episcopal priest and author Cynthia Bourgeault shares teachings of the Master Jesus from The Gospel of Mary Magdalene that transgress lines of Church doctrines and traditional orthodoxy. I will excerpt several passages from the fourth chapter of her book that are pertinent to this discussion, starting with a dialogue around “image” and “analogue.” Jesus uses the word “Image” in his dialogue with his disciples: “Attachment to matter gives birth to passion without an Image of itself because it is drawn from that which is contrary to its higher nature….”
Within the particular metaphysical stream that Jesus seems to be working in, image corresponds to that primordial template mentioned earlier—“the origin” of each created form. Very cautiously, you might label it an archetype.
At first glance you may be tempted to transpose this teaching into Platonic categories and assume that Jesus is talking about the “ideal form” of a thing. But be cautious in doing so, for there is a distinctly different dynamism at work here. For Jesus, the “image” is not merely a static blueprint, a preexistent prototype that its earthly analogue mechanically reflects. Between image and analogue there is a dynamic reciprocity as they simultaneously articulate the same reality in two different realms. Image and analogue are in continuously creative tension receiving and fulfilling each other, and it is in the energy exchange that their indivisible wholeness is made manifest.
I like her use of the word “analogue,” which means similar in function but not in origin and structure, as it represents accurately the “dynamic reciprocity” between man and his Creator, in whose image and likeness we are made in order to function as creators ourselves. In our energy and attunement work you might say that we seek to facilitate a clarification, balancing and intensification of this “energy exchange” between image (spirit) and analogue (form) with the intention that the oneness between them may be made manifest in the client’s experience of life, as well as in our own. This is a vital service—an “essential” one, as a renowned colleague once declared after receiving her first attunement with sacred sound.
In “Dialogue One” of the Gospel of Thomas, a disciple asks Jesus about matter and whether it will “survive.” Jesus answered:
“All of nature with its forms and creatures exist together and are interwoven with each other. They will be resolved back, however, to their own proper origin, for the compositions of matter return to the original roots of their nature. Those who have ears, let them hear this.”
Cynthia Bourgeault expands on this:
But by this . . . he does not mean they dissolve into their component atoms, quarks and/or humors. Instead, they return to an original template—or “image”—whose place of arising is in another realm.
Cynthia calls this other realm the “imaginal realm,” where the “Image” of forms are created – not to be confused with the realm of human imagination.
My take on this is that she is alluding to the end of our life’s journey when we make our transition from the earthly to the heavenly planes of being. In our current form of incarnation and state of evolution, flesh returns to dust while the spiritual body, which informed the physical body, makes its transition from this plane to a higher plane. As I understand the dynamics of transmutation, the “atoms, quarks and/or humors” that make up the composition of the physical body ascend with the spiritual body as part of its ethereal composition. What I see in all of this is a divine accommodation of man’s evolution in all of its stages since our forms devolved to the level of the animal kingdom, as I understand happened in what is called “the Fall.”
The dialogue suddenly turns into an inquiry about sin and its origin, into which Jesus offers a remarkably clarifying perspective.
“Sin as such does not exist. You only bring it into manifestation when you act in ways that are adulterous in nature. It is for this reason that the Good has come among you pursuing its own essence within nature in order to reunite everything to its origin.
“This is also the reason for sickness and death, because you embrace what deceives you. Consider these matters, then, with your spiritual intellect.
“Attachment to matter gives birth to passion without an Image of itself because it is drawn from that which is contrary to its higher nature. The result is that confusion and disturbance resonates throughout one’s whole being. It is for this reason that I told you to find contentment at the level of the heart, and if you are discouraged, take heart in the presence of the Image of your true nature. Those with ears, let them hear this.”
Cynthia’s comments on this passage are insightful as well as blunt:
Images do not arise in this realm, however (their origin is several cosmoses more subtle), and trouble begins when this fundamental cosmic law is forgotten. The problem with “attachment to matter,” as Jesus explains, is that the passion it begets corresponds to nothing in the higher realm and is therefore a cul de sac out of spiritual alignment and ultimately illusory. To be deceived by these mirages and spend one’s time chasing after them is — in the blunt words of the Gospel of Thomas — “to make friends with a corpse.”
The “Vertical Axis”
Cynthia Bourgeault continues to comment on this passage offering that “within his particular frame of reference, acting in ways that are ‘adulterous in nature’ will prove to have very specific meaning. It signifies a failure to stay aligned with origin; with that mysterious ‘root’ (or template) of one’s nature he has already alluded to, which, while arising beyond this realm, seeks its full expression here.”
…[Jesus] quickly assures his students that this world is valuable and precious; indeed, this is the very reason the Good has come among them in the first place — “pursuing its own essence within nature . . . in order to reunite everything to its origin.” There is important integrative work to be done here. But it all depends upon keeping a right alignment along what wisdom tradition typically refers to as the “vertical axis”: the invisible spiritual continuum that joins the realms together. Nearly sixteen centuries later, the German mystic Jacob Boehme would express this cosmological insight with poetic precision and beauty:
“For you must realize that earth unfolds its properties and powers in union with Heaven aloft above us, and there is one Heart, one Being, one Will, one God, all in all.”
The author then offers these words of truth and wisdom derived from Jesus’ teaching:
When the realms are in spontaneous resonance — “One Heart, one Being, one Will, one God, all in all” — the music of the spheres bursts forth. When they are not, disease and disharmony inevitably ensue. As he quickly points out (again, with a contemporary feeling to the teaching), “Confusion and disturbance resonate throughout one’s whole being,” and sickness and death are the inevitable result.
The heart realm is the innermost place where we commune with God. It is the capacity for spiritual discernment and understanding. It is precisely this “vertical axis” around which we must “wrap our hearts” in order to attune to the vibration of Love, which emanates from its divine Source, from whence all power to heal and uplift derives. This is the true paradigm for energy healers, as well as holistic healthcare practitioners, all of whom have come out of the traditional paradigm of health care which is polarized in the horizontal axis that embraces only the physical, material plane. When the horizontal axis is penetrated by and polarized in the vertical, we have a plus (+) which results in a positive outcome in our creative undertakings on the physical, material plane.
I bring these excerpts into this writing for the profoundly clear light they shine on the core essence and purpose of attunement and energy work, as well as for the perspective and insight they offer into the dynamism at work between image and analogue — inner Reality and outer form — continually exchanging between them “their perfection” and the spiritual energies that generate the pneumaplasmic substance that connects spirit with form and makes possible their manifest wholeness. I was deeply moved when I first read this chapter of Cynthia’s book, as I was profoundly uplifted — and continue to be — re-visiting sections of her book. I highly recommend it to my readers.
Thawing Our Frozen DNA
I will bring this chapter to a close with these thoughts. In a conversation with my friend mentioned above, the question came up for me as to whether or not our genes today are capable of being rewritten by an updated download, so-to-speak, from the Creator. I was intrigued by my anonymous friend’s response:
I absolutely agree the genetic code is designed to take the imprint of heavenly vibration. In the divine state, the physical nature of man is undoubtedly a good deal more fluid and the rigidity of the genetic coding as we now find it is part and parcel of the fallen state. You might say the DNA pattern is frozen music, an ingrained song of survival in the flesh, ultimately meant to thaw, transfigure and reveal a harmonization with the music of the spheres, in form far more fluid (and melodic) than we have known. I have to say, however, that God is practical and works with what is. A lot of what is in place has specific relevance to the reconstruction of the divine design, and that includes genetic patterns.
He is referencing a previous discussion we were having about the larger cosmic picture and the impact planetary interrelationships have on human beings, notably in the wake of past cataclysmic changes wrought to the earth and to the entire solar system, as well as the current shift in the intensity of energetic factors as we move into a direct alignment with the central sun of the Milky Way Galaxy. Through all of this human genetics has been evolving to its present state. His final comment is pertinent to our discussion around the subject of intention, as well as to the overall rationale of this book:
As a passing note, the state of affairs from a planetary standpoint has created an “off tone” situation in the flesh and that must be a consideration in this matter of toning. In the end, we’re not really interested in healing human nature so it can continue off tone, but in preparing man in and for the vibrational changes in the offing.
I have no doubt that the divine technology of attunement with Love, facilitated by sacred sound, is being given to us specifically to assist in the process of thawing out the frozen music of the DNA pattern and to rewrite the “song of survival” as a song of ascension. We are already using the frequency of 528 Hz to repair damaged DNA. This frequency used as a carrier wave for the spirit of love, melting patterns of genetic coding will surely be made receptive to the imprints of heavenly vibrations and the divine design for our human capacities. As we resonate with the frequency of Love, we may soon rediscover the fine and high art of singing creation into being, an art we once performed in the First Time when we walked with the Creator in the Garden of Paradise.
Working Subtly With Subtle Energy
Facilitation of the delivery of the generative program Christopher Alexander describes above for cellular regeneration and replication is a viable and worthy service, and it falls right into the field of attunement and sacred sound work. This can be seen as highly specialized work, requiring some skills but not extensive training – mostly personal exploration – particularly of the heart-capacity of inner perception, and in the use of the voice. However, we’re not talking about huge, operatic volume here that requires professional vocal development. Just a little work with voice placement and control will do. Subtle energy is just that: subtle. Therefore, it does not take much volume of sound to provide a subtle wave form for spirit to move out on. If volume is needed, it will come from inner prompting. Listen to and follow the attunement current and go where it wants to go—a well-established principle in the attunement field, and it applies to toning as well.
Engaging the client’s participation in the toning can open up a larger portal yet for the outpouring of spirit. Let it be natural, however, and not mentally contrived. Music is of the heart. Toning comes naturally through the heart. Listen to the heart’s wisdom. Tone only when there is a compulsion to do so, which is often felt as a pressure in the vocal chords. This applies to the client as well. The practitioner could say, for instance, “If you feel like toning with me, feel free to do so.” When the client does join in on the toning, incredible apertures can open up for the release of spirit into the field. There is a generation of fine substance. I will develop this further a little later. (Excerpted from Attunement With Sacred Sound, Chapter 6)
Thank you for sharing my thoughts and insights. I welcome any you may have and wish to share. Until my next post . . .
Be love. Be loved.
Anthony
tpal70@gmail.com
Healing Tones 