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Context

CONTEXT


      There is one thing that must always be remembered when reading any religious text. There are universal timeless truths sprinkled throughout these texts and teachings. However, there are many time-specific truths, as well. These are writings and teachings meant to guide and instruct the people at a specific point in the social / political / economic / psychological climate in which they were penned or taught. This goes for the verbal teachings as well. All through the recorded history of humankind there have been Masters, Avatars, Teachers and Prophets wandering through the inhabited world, teaching and assisting the populace. They have been known by many names; Speakers, Shaman, Medicine Man/Woman, Healers.

      These verbal teachings were usually written many years or even centuries after they were given. As a result, errors crept into the transcribed material. The teachings could be (and usually were) outdated by the time they were written down. Further, since the above mentioned climates had changed, they were filtered through the existing climate of the environment, as well as being filtered through the prejudices of the scribe.

      There are universal truths, and there are truths meant for a specific period of time and circumstance. Do not confuse the two. This is where man problems have arisen in today’s current environment. Everything is written and given for the context of the Time the information is given. Everything is filtered through the medium of the scribe.

      We can make the utmost information available, but if it is too far beyond the comprehension level of the individuals for whom intended, such information is worse than useless. There is not sufficient background experience or understanding to make the information useful for those for whom it is meant. As an example, should a Greek tell a Native American, “I Love You,” and the Native American can not understand Greek, the message is lost. So it is also, with...