This is an image I had whilst dreaming...but I quite like the idea.
Imagine a room – An enormous room, almost unimaginably enormous (the ceiling and the walls are so far apart you cannot touch a single wall if you walk for days.)
Now imagine the Universe – or ‘Existence’ IS the room.
The room is pitch black and full of objects/paintings/furniture.
All you have is a small candle and you are in the middle of this room.
All you can discover and see are small parts of the room at a time.
By walking around you can try and piece together, through your perception,
what you believe the reality of the room is.
But you cannot see the room in its entirety (unless you find a light switch – which is nearly impossible, by the mere size of the room as well as the fact that the switch could be anywhere – and most probably somewhere you cannot reach.)
You can make assumptions about what the room is like, or what it is made of, but you cannot KNOW for certain.
Even if you were to find the light switch you would see a small section of the room from a subjective viewpoint.
You might spend your whole life walking around this room trying to discover the ‘secret’ of the universe or your existence.
Now imagine further that this room is part of a larger house still and you firmly believe that only the room you are in is the one that exists.
When you 'see' you may come to 'believe' that everything around you is the only truth/reality (but you still cannot know). When you 'believe' it is more than everything around you, you may 'see' reality in a different way but again not know...
I feel this is one way that could also be used to describe the plight of believing or not believing in a God (or a Creator) of the Universe/Existence..
Science fumbles around with one candle, religion with another, philosophy with another, and individuals with another...
3 comments:
"The metaphor has been given over and over. Imagine that there is a room full of entities called humanity who walk around in darkness. So the metaphor here is spiritual darkness. The Humans don't know who they are or why they are. They have no concept that they are part of the creative energy of God. They follow whatever is given to them and whatever doctrines they learn about when they are young. They find God in whatever corner they can. Some find God profoundly, and some do not. Many go through the motions and never understand any more than the motions.
Seemingly in the dark, they often bump into one another. Some of them bump into another and become angry… a war starts. That's what happens in the dark when you can't really see what's going on apart from what you know about yourself. Therefore, what is always going on is apart from you and is always a mystery. Therefore, there is drama. Therefore, there is conspiracy and mistrust. Being in the dark creates war. Being in the dark creates separation and hatred. Being in the dark creates fear and anxiety.
But now, as the metaphor continues, there is one in the darkness who knows who they are. You might say that the attribute of this person is our Match Bearer. This person bears with them the ability to create light. Small as it might be, this person has a match. In a fully darkened room, one lit match is interesting, for it creates light enough to see dimly for everyone, so that one Match Bearer in that darkened room, on their own, decides to light it. The reason? It's to study their own spirituality, their own self-worth, to light their match to see themselves better."
"So they light it for themselves so that they can take the hand of the Higher-Self and discover who they are. Therefore, they light their match. And in the process of lighting that match, they illuminate (very dimly) the rest of the room. Suddenly, Humans can see one another and they like it! They see family! Fear starts to go away. Understanding what is next to you creates understanding and peacefulness. There's less distrust. Some actually look for where the light has come from. Many don't.
The attribute of the light of the Match Bearer is similar to the lighthouse that stands by the sea, which we have given you before. The lighthouse stands alone, all by itself. It shines a light that others may or may not see, that steers them into safe harbors by their own choice, since they have the rudder of choice on their own ship of life. The Match Bearer is sitting with the match, has illuminated it for themselves, yet it affects all around them in a positive way.
The Match Bearer says nothing. Those around this person may not know his/her name. They may not even know she has lit a match! All they know is they can now see! Some of them start looking for the match in themselves and they begin to slowly light their own matches, and the room becomes brighter. The brighter the room becomes, the more is seen and is not a mystery, and the further a Human Being can see past themselves and their immediate family, the more understanding there is, the more peace there is. This is the attribute of the planet as we see it right now.
We have made the statement over and over that less than one half of one percent of the planet must strike the match for there to be peace on Earth. Now you know the reasoning behind that. It means that there could be Human Beings all over the planet who never strike a match, who don't believe anything that you believe, yet they still participate. They participate in your light.
This is difficult, perhaps, for you to grasp - how one small match would make a difference. But it does. So in this room and listening to me now and reading these words are Match Bearers. How do I know that? Because I know you. Oh, human being. There are warriors in this room; there are stories that would make your hair stand on end. There are heroic actions and joy. There is sorrow beyond belief; there is gratitude. Everything that you can imagine has ever happened to a Human on the planet is here right now. Some of the greatest dramas ever presented on Earth, you participated in. Some of the most heroic actions any Human Being can do for another, you've done. Some of the suffering that never should have occurred on the planet, you've experienced. Some of the greatest celebrations that the planet has ever seen were about you."
Melissa you have just summed up two years of ridiculous Theory Of Knowledge classes better than our teacher ever could. Congrats.
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