#oobe's

PODCAST: The Mandaean Gnostic Scriptures and NDE's (Near-Death Experiences) -- Spiritual Awakening Radio With James Bean -- Listen @ Youtube: https://youtu.be/rIbk28xS5As

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Some Mandaeans (literally, "possessors of secret Knowledge") live in Iraqi cities like Baghdad and Basra. There's a large Mandaean population that resides in smaller market towns and villages of the marshland in southern Iraq, and near the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Iran also has a Mandaean population; many of them dwell along the river Karun in Rhuzistan province. These days, many Mandaeans are relocating to western countries.

The Prophet Mohammed called them "Sabians," i.e. "Baptists or baptizers," a name which occurs in the Quran and which enabled them to continue under Islam. Islam also categorized them as "a people of the book," a religion that possesses their own ancient scriptures. Another factor that has traditionally enabled them to operate in the Islamic world is their affiliation with John the Baptist. John the Baptist is one of their greatest prophets.

Though the historic connection between John and the Mandaeans is hard to verify, it is indeed possible they are descendants of disciples of John the Baptist, who 2,000 years ago had a large number of followers which believed him to be a great Master and Prophet, if not the awaited Messiah. After John's death, the New Testament portrays Jesus as being the spiritual successor, but other leaders in John's community might have seen things differently. Like Jesus, others might also have claimed to be John's successor and thus would have become the leaders of a John-community that maintained its independence from the Jesus Movement, instead remaining what they were -- an unorthodox baptismal sect of the Trans-Jordan.

According to scholars of Mandaean studies like Werner Foerster, indeed the origins of the Mandaeans do go back to the Jewish tradition of first century AD Palestine and the region of the Jordan River. Foerster states in Gnosis II, published by Oxford University Press, that in the context of the Jewish war of independence and the consolidation of Orthodox Judaism after AD 70, "its position as a minority opposition evidently led to the persecution of the community and finally to its emigration from its native Jordan territory to the east, to begin with in Harran and the median hill country, then in the southern regions of Mesopotamia." Eventually the community settled in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where they could continue the ritual of baptizing initiates in "living waters" (rivers) symbolizing the connecting of their souls with "heavenly Jordan rivers of Light."

The role of the Heavenly Messenger is to give the mystic experience of light to souls and eventually guide them back up to the Place of Light, the Mandaean term for the highest heaven where the Great Life (God) resides.

The mystical encounters recorded in the scriptures of the Mandaeans may seem at times like ancient near-death experiences (NDE's), the visions of souls who were embraced by the Light long ago.

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God is the Ocean of Love and All-Consciousness.

In Divine Light and Sound, Namaste', Gnosis, Peace, Jai Guru, Jai Sat Naam, Bandagi Saheb, Satya Raam, Radhasoami, James

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PODCAST: Ascension of the Soul, Part 4: Whirlpool Vortex to the Fifth Heaven -- Spiritual Awakening Radio with James Bean -- Listen @ Youtube: https://youtu.be/8iUAfJoov-U

The Ascension of the Soul into Interior Regions of Light & Sound, Part 4: The Fourth Heaven: Bhanwar Gupha, the Whirling Cave Vortex, a Tunnel to the Fifth Heaven (Sat Lok)

THE FOURTH REGION

Bhanwar Gupha

Whirling Cave Vortex

Ana-HU: "I Am He!" (in Sufism) -- So-Hang: "I Am That!" (in the Sant Tradition)

"The spirit, thereafter, went to Hootal Hoot [HUtal HUt], which, in Hindi, has been described as Bhanwar Gupha. There is a rotating swing here which all the time in subtle motion, and the spirits ever swing on it. All round, there are innumerable spiritual islands from which the sounds of 'Sohang Sohang' and 'Ana-Hoo [HU] Ana-Hoo [HU]' rise all the time. Spirit entities playfully and rapturously enjoy these sounds. Whiffs of scents of various kinds and sweet fragrance of sandal are enjoyed by the spirit there and the melodies of flutes are heard, while it proceeds onwards. Other characteristics of this region cannot be reduced to writing, as they can be realized by the spirit only when it reaches there after performing Abhyas [meditation practices]."

-- Shiv Dayal Singh, Hidayatnama (Esoteric Teachings, Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry, Book One)

Upon arriving in Bhanwar Gupha, the soul's nirat (power to see) and surat (capacity to hear) attain a state of satisfaction (Julian P. Johnson). This contentment, according to Shiv Dayal Singh's account, is due to perceiving a most intriguing and wondrous structure within the Rukmini tunnel in the entrance to the fourth region. Exactly what this sight is has not been explained by any Radhasoami saint in print. Like all experiences in the upper regions it must be encountered first-hand to be understood, not simply referenced in its decidedly mythological analogies. Bhanwar Gupha is the funnel of the entire creative process from Sach Khand downwards. Its very name exhibits the tremendous power inherent within the region: "whirling vortex". The lord of this realm is termed Sohang ("I Am That"), a descriptive-mantric term which implies a conscious intuition on the part of the soul with its higher identity.

The shabd currents in Bhanwar Gupha are so sweet and enchanting, according to the Saints, that souls live entirely off its invigorating nectar, desiring nothing but darshan of the presiding lord and the manifestations of light and sound. Kabir, the most famous of the medieval saints, describes in his writings (or, at least, those attributed to his pen) how hansas (pure spirits) live on spiritual dweeps (islands) with magnificent palaces for transmundane enjoyment. Faqir Chand, in his Yogic Philosophy of the Saints, gives a more psychological interpretation of the meditator's experiences in the fourth region: "When in the course of meditation man reaches this state of Bhanwar-Gupha he experiences that there was none except his own self. This centre is compared with Bhanwar which means whirl. At this centre a wheel rotates like a cradle. It means that at this centre a wave springs out of the surat of the meditator and again merges in its own source, or say, it rotates around its own source and produces the sound of Sohang-Flute. The Shabd of this centre is so effective that the meditator enjoys the pleasure of being one with the Supreme Soul."

(The Section Above is from the Book, "Enchanted Land", by David Lane, MSAC Philosophy Group)

"Those who purify should bestow upon others from their abundance of purity their own holiness: those who illuminate, as possessing more luminous intelligence, duly receiving and again shedding forth the light, and joyously filled with holy brightness, should impart their own overflowing light to those worthy of it; finally, those who make perfect, being skilled in the mystical participations, should lead to that consummation those who are perfected by the most holy Initiation of the knowledge of holy things which they have contemplated." (The Celestial Hierarchy, by Dionysius the Areopagite)

"When I arrived, I opened a Path and taught people about the Way of Passage for those who are chosen and solitary, who have known the Father and have pursued Truth." (Yeshua, Dialogue of the Savior, a Gnostic Gospel in, The Nag Hammadi Library)

"The world has never been without a Living Master. Beneath all other impelling forces in the creation, spirituality is the primary cause. That, and that alone, is the driving force that always leaps up to join its Source. In every Living Being, from tiny plant up to man, the spiritual flame of life is struggling upward and onward toward its Source of Being, and this process and this struggle must go on until the last speck of dust returns to the central fires of Infinite Being.

"The message of the Masters fills the world with hope, and at the same time it offers a rational foundation for such hope. It not only tells people what they should do, but it offers them a definite method of doing it. In the march of the ages, cycle after cycle, in every planet where human beings reside, the great Masters are the Light-Bearers of that world. Until the end of the ages, they will remain the friends and saviors of those who struggle toward the Light." (Julian P. Johnson, Path of the Masters)

* Podcast Download Page: A Collection of Current Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts-On-Demand: http://hosted.EarthChannel.com/HealthyLife/spa-od.html

God is the Ocean of Love and All-Consciousness.

In Divine Light and Sound, Namaste', Gnosis, Peace, Jai Guru, Jai Sat Naam, Bandagi Saheb, Satya Raam, Radhasoami, James

* Website: http://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

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* Introduction to Sant Mat Spirituality and Meditation: http://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com/santmat