The Text - Section 23
23. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Greetings in the Name of God and Jesus Christ. I bring blessings to all of you, my friends.
As I have promised, we will have tonight a question and answer session. From now on I will
be ready to answer also personal questions in these general sessions, my friends, but only those of
you who do not come for private sessions should take this opportunity. This is not an imposition
for the other listeners. Quite the contrary. If you are ready to ask anything personal -- of course
only concerning your spiritual development or psychological difficulties -- this will help others much
more than you can imagine. And rather than taking time away from them by asking such questions,
you will offer a gift to the others, while you benefit at the same time. So, whoever is ready will be
welcome. And now, my friends, I am ready for your questions.
QUESTION: I understand how the fallen spirits, through their longings, created for
themselves the earth. But I do not understand why it was necessary to move to a physical planet
and have such a very physical and material life in order to achieve this.
ANSWER: In the first place, "physical" is merely an indication of the degree of density.
Human beings often make the mistake in thinking that, for instance, the world of darkness is not
physical or that the spiritual matter there is of radiant matter. In fact, the substance there is much
denser than your physical substance. It is so dense that it too becomes invisible and untouchable for
your degree of density. The whole scale of matter existing in the universe is in various degrees dense
or subtle. The lowest is of the thickest or heaviest or densest degree. The higher the development,
the more radiant or the finer the degree becomes. While the more highly developed beings can see
and feel not only their own substance, according to their development, but can also see and touch
the substance of lower levels, the lower spirits cannot do so. They are only receptive to the
substance that corresponds to their own level of development. The same applies to the human
being or to the physical substance. The lower the development, the blinder the being must be. The
earth sphere is just a grade in-between. It is a condition of the particular development of the earth
sphere that humans generally cannot see any other substance than their very own. The same
principle applies to all spheres lower than the earth sphere, but does not apply to higher spiritual
spheres.
One of the particular purposes of this world of matter is that on the earth you are open for
influences of the higher, as well as of the lower spheres, and you stand, so to speak, in the middle
and can choose. This gives you a much greater chance for faster development. At the same time,
you live surrounded by people of different levels of development, which creates friction. It is much
easier to live with people of the same spiritual spheres, while the difference of development among
different people creates misunderstandings, blindness, and so on. This very difficulty can be the key
to faster development, because you can certainly overcome your weaknesses faster if they are
challenged. And this they are, by the frictions and conflicts arising from the differences in outlook
and development. So conditions of this earth sphere, with its degree of density and circumstances
arising from it, are certainly more difficult. But therein lies the possibility of infinitely faster
development. Is that clear?
QUESTION: Yes, thank you, but now I have two questions. One is: Do I understand right
that because of the special degree of density of the world of darkness we cannot see it and we
cannot touch it?
ANSWER: That is right. It is of an entirely different caliber, of a very different substance. It
is not finer than yours, but thicker. It is so thick that you would not call it physical anymore.
QUESTION: The other question is: I believe you said in a lecture once that the spirits who
are in darkness actually wince and shrink away and feel physical pain when they come into contact
with the light of higher spirits. You said that the lower spirits don't see the higher.
ANSWER: It is this way: As a rule, they cannot see it. As a manifestation from the higher
worlds, at exceptional occasions, the higher spirits can manifest, either in the form of light or in their
actual form. If these higher spirits do not take certain measures to manifest, the lower spirits will
not see them ordinarily. But if such measures have been taken, the lower beings will see, feel, or
perceive in some way the higher beings. The same applies to your world. You may see a
materialization or other sights, if the spirit world fulfills the requirements and wishes to give such a
sign. But ordinarily you will not see it. So if this light then manifests to those spirits in darkness, it
creates a pain or discomfort of some kind, again according to their development, or lack of it. Is
that clear? [Yes, thank you.]
QUESTION: You said last time that due to the longing of the fallen spirits, gradually this
earth sphere came into existence. I always thought God created the world -- not the lower spirits.
ANSWER: In the first place, I purposely said that this earth came into existence not only due
to the longing of the fallen spirits, but also due to the longing of the higher spirits who have
remained faithful to God and whose longing was directed to the salvation of their fallen brothers
and sisters. Their longing also helped to create this world. But this will still not answer your
question quite satisfactorily. Whether God created this world or the longing of the spirits -- the
fallen ones, as well as the pure ones -- is one and the same thing, my dear. God creates often
through His children, through His spirits, through His laws. The spirits cannot create anything,
unless they are given the power I was speaking of lately, the power that can be used for good or for
evil. This creative power, this life force, can be directed into any channel and can create therefore
worlds of beauty and harmony or worlds of ugliness and pain. You create worlds all the time, every
day and every hour, as you know and as I have repeatedly said. You create spiritual worlds. You do
that automatically, because the law works in this way. Therefore, God creates through His power
which He has given to His children to use to a wide extent and through His law that makes this
possible.
This material world was, and still is being created in the same way as many other spiritual
worlds. The coming into existence of this earth was the expression of the attitude, of the longing, of
everything that was and is part of the personalities involved, the higher as the lower ones. The
spiritual worlds are nothing else but the expression of their attitudes, their mentality, their longing,
their goals, their feelings, their deeds and thoughts. Is that clear?
QUESTION: Is it, so to speak, a co-creation?
ANSWER: No, I would not say a co-creation. You might call it that, but it is not entirely
correct, it will give a false idea. Co-creation would mean that God actually went ahead and created
Himself this world, while the other spirits helped and participated in the creation. It is not that way.
God created His laws of the universe. He created His children. He created various powers and
strengths and forces and He distributed them in such a way that all living spirits can use this power
in free choice. Part of the expression of this power are the various worlds or spheres coming into
existence.
QUESTION: Yes, I understand that. But there is something else. You said that at that time
they were not so far developed that they would produce only spheres of light. When I read that, I
thought, is anybody now able to produce only spheres of light?
ANSWER: Well, there are people now on this earth who belonged once to the light and
partly, let us say, medium spheres, but not dark spheres anymore. At that time, this ability to
produce only spheres of light did not exist, unless you take the pure incarnated spirits. And that was
the exact reason why pure spirits were incarnated at intervals, so that a communication with the
spirit world of God could be established, for which it is necessary that the beings in question do not
produce spheres of ugliness and darkness anymore, but have, at least to some degree, spheres of
light and harmony of their own. At that time, there were very few of the fallen spirits who had any
light spheres. The best they could do was to have -- again I use this word -- medium spheres. Of
course, all this is so relative. [Yes, thank you.]
QUESTION: How come that for the satanic power the name Lucifer, which means light-
bringer, was given? Where is its scriptural origin?
ANSWER: The name Lucifer was not given to this spirit after he became what you call Satan.
That was his name when he was created as a spirit of light. And as you know, Lucifer came after
Christ. He was a marvelous and beautiful spirit -- the bringer of light. That name originates from
that time. Where you can find it in the Scriptures is a question I am not entitled to answer, because,
as you know, a spirit does not have the right to answer questions you could find out by your own
endeavors. But let me say this to you: Lucifer was not mentioned particularly by name in the
Scriptures or in some of the so-called Gnostic literature for the same reason that a number of
religions do not refer to the Fall and Creation and the Plan of Salvation as the Christian religion
does. I have explained this already. If you wish, I can answer it again, tonight or at another time.
And perhaps you will then understand it better. But there are also a great number of seers who have
brought this knowledge and put it into books and literature. In other words, people who are open
for this type of knowledge, for this explanation of the Creation and of the spiritual facts, are able to
receive this enlightenment. And others, whose different personalities follow trends of another
direction, may receive great and wonderful enlightenment in other ways, concerning different facets
of spiritual truth.
QUESTION: Are the god and goddess Shiva and Kali in any way connected with Lucifer?
ANSWER: That is a different variation. They certainly represent evil. They may not
represent Lucifer himself, but the evil forces. So there is a part of that.
QUESTION: Has Lucifer been incarnated as Christ was?
ANSWER: No, my friends, how could he? Before you can be incarnated, you have to have
reached a certain development. There are many, many, many other spirits, who have not fallen as
deeply as Lucifer, who are not ready for incarnation either. And much time will have to elapse
before they can incarnate. The worst criminals on this earth must have already some sense for good,
somewhere inside them. For otherwise they could not be human. They would not be ready for
incarnation. Lucifer must be the very last to incarnate, in theory. In practice, of course, since he
would be the last, his development will proceed in a different way as the others and will not go
through this form of human incarnation. If he would be the only man living on earth, there would
be no point to it. And he must, perforce, be the last. The first will be the last! And he was the first
to fall, so he must be the last to come back. And he will be the last to come back, because he is
farthest away from God in his attitude. So if it were logical for him to be incarnated at all, he would
be the last one. But since there would be no purpose for such an incarnation, his development will
proceed differently.
QUESTION: Is it true that during World War II there was a danger point also in the battle of
the heavens, parallel to the height of power of Hitler before the Russian debacle?
ANSWER: Oh, no my friends! Oh no! You see, if there was still a danger point on that
score, the salvation through Christ would make no sense. Since that war between Christ and
Lucifer, and since the salvation everything is established and runs according to plan. The free will of
the individual plays a role in it; there is always enough leeway left for that, in both directions.
Nevertheless, up to a certain point of development, until they have found a certain spiritual light in
an overall development, collectively, people will have wars on your earth. In principle, from a
spiritual point of view, the last wars were no worse than the wars you had hundreds and thousands
of years ago, because it is not a question of how many people are killed. The question is the motive.
And the motives have certainly purified in the latest wars, not only the very last.
With that I do not mean to say that one side is always entirely right and the other is entirely
wrong. There is always some wrong on both sides, certainly. In recent times, when people make
war, they may be mistaken in their ideologies, but at least there is always some ideology behind it,
even if there are some ruthless people who are completely selfish. The majority of the people follow
some cause, some idea, while in former times they had to go to war like sheep. Their rulers forced
them and they had absolutely no idea why. It was just the thing to do. Then the more you killed,
the greater a hero you were. The rulers simply had their own advantages as their goals -- to get more
land, to get more power. Though people seem to be that way now too, even the most ruthless ones
have deep convictions about their own ideas and ideals, wrong as they may be in themselves. If they
were completely ruthless, today they could not get away with this anymore and could never induce
whole nations to kill each other for their selfish interests. Deep down they know and sense this.
There are some people who claim that the old way is still the case today, but they are entirely
mistaken.
From the spiritual point of view, the question is not how bloody a war is, how effective your
weapons are. From our angle, what matters is the motive. Even if you are mistaken, if your motive
has some vestiges of decency, it is far better than what happened in former times. It is true that a
sincere but mistaken motive to go to war will not save you from the consequences, because
ignorance does not alter the law of cause and effect. But what is absolutely true is that the sincere,
though false motive is not evaluated in the same way as the purely selfish and wicked one -- and
therefore this must also eventually have an effect. This alone should be an answer to people who
claim there is no advance in spiritual development. For there is! And this is one of the many
proofs.
But people will reach eventually -- and it is to be hoped that this will happen in the not too
faraway future -- an understanding that war can never be a solution. There was and is spiritual
progress, but not measured by technical progress. The mere fact that technical and material
progress has been going on so fast in comparison to spiritual progress will force people to come to
this conclusion and this enlightenment. As long as people do not fight their lower selves and thus
become enslaved to them and to the powers of darkness, the outer expression of this state will be,
among other things, war. But when this fight in individual and personal development will have
reached a certain stage, when people have reached a step nearer to God in a certain definite way,
wars will not be possible anymore.
If only a certain percentage of human beings -- by no means even half of the world
population, but only a small part, one tenth, and perhaps not even that -- would really follow the
spiritual development and purification I advocate, overcoming their own lower trends, recognizing
in self-honesty their own lower nature, and thus finishing the war that is raging in almost every
human soul, the outpouring of energy forms in the form of warfare will cease to exist.
There is hardly a person, even in this room, in whom a war is not going on inside, a war that is
not recognized as yet, where one trend of the subconscious wants to go this way, and the other that
way. And your consciousness does not know it. This creates wars on this earth -- your
unrecognized hatred, your unrecognized selfishness, your unrecognized lack of love, and so on.
Once you control this -- it does not mean you have to be completely purified, but you control it, you
are aware of it -- even if only less than one-tenth of the entire human population will reach that
stage, I assure you, war will be impossible. But to say that this war was created because of the war
of the spirits cannot possibly be right.
QUESTION: Are we to understand that it does not matter so much how many people are
killed and that this is not regrettable?
ANSWER: My dear, this depends entirely on the way you look at it, from what point of view.
As far as you human beings are concerned, you should be very responsible, not only about the life of
your fellow-creatures, but also their well-being. It is your personal responsibility. So certainly, you
should never adopt the point of view that what happens to others does not matter. This distortion
may serve people's lowest instincts. It is your sacred duty, just as it is to do your best for your own
development, for your own life, also to be concerned with the life of every other person. In some
way you are bound to everyone else, even your worst enemy. That person is you and you are that
person. But from the spiritual point of view, the question how many people were killed in a war is
not the important matter. There, the important matter is what the motive is, how the spiritual
attitudes of everyone involved look to us. Also, you must not forget that the clockwork of the laws
is so perfect that nothing unjust can come to any single individual. But that does not mean that you
are free to commit sins, to be careless about the lives of others by leaning heavily on the fact that no
injustice can happen to anyone anyway. You cannot do injustice to another being, but you can harm
yourself by violating the laws of love.
QUESTION: Are some of the occult teachings true that there is an Antichrist incarnated
now?
ANSWER: Oh no, oh no! Definitely not, if by this is meant one particular Antichrist. Of
course, all spirits who come from the world of darkness and who are still entrapped in that darkness,
are all Antichrists. Everyone who does not see the light of God and the light of Christ and the light
of goodness, love and truth is an Antichrist. In that sense, yes. They are still that, but they will not
always be. They may be instruments, consciously or unconsciously, of the world of darkness. But
there is no particular, single, incarnation representing the Antichrist.
QUESTION: So the idea that existed for a time that Hitler was the Antichrist is wrong.
ANSWER: It is entirely wrong. Hitler came from the world of darkness. That is quite true.
But, particularly in the case of Hitler, the chances were that he could have done well in this life.
Before he was incarnated, he was in a certain school in the spirit world. He had, through previous
incarnations, deserved certain merits and even though he was still very much connected with the
world of darkness, these merits warranted that he be given certain instructions. Before he came to
earth, he was told that he would, by a conglomeration of many circumstances that all play into the
divine laws, be given great power and it would be according to his free will how he would use this
power. He even had a great deal of psychic power. Up to a certain point, the chances were there
that he might have used these powers in a good way. That may surprise you. I do not mean by that
that he could have become a savior, a saint, or anything like that. Of course not. He was much too
bound to the world of darkness for that, not enough developed by far. But he could have gained
some progress in his spiritual development. He could have overcome some of the darkness that was
still in his soul. And he could have done some good.
Yet, he was weak and he did not take this chance. He used his powers first only a little,
unwittingly, and then more and more for the powers of darkness. But that was not determined from
the beginning. There was a certain time in his life, in his youth -- and we can see this picture now --
when he was almost at the point of going over the borderline. He just did not quite make it. And
once entangled only a little with the dark powers, he could never muster the strength anymore to
disentangle himself from them. So he was not a Lucifer by any means. He could not have lived on
earth in the first place, if he were anything like it. And particularly in his case, more than in many of
the others that surrounded him, who were much darker spirits, the very strong inclination existed --
comparatively speaking -- to strive upward, to reach into the world of God. If you were to study his
life thoroughly, you would find many indications that would confirm my words.
QUESTION: In other words, he was a tragic figure?
ANSWER: Yes, much more tragic than some others.
QUESTION: And with regard to Mussolini?
ANSWER: Mussolini was not quite the same case. His case was different insofar that he did
not come from such a dark sphere as Hitler. But on the other hand, he did not have as much of the
possibility for light as Hitler had. His personality was more "even," if I might use this expression.
There are people -- and you may encounter them every day, and perhaps some of you fall into the
same category -- who have a very strong inclination toward the good, but the discrepancy between
good and evil in them is much more extreme than in others. They are much better than some other
people, but also, at the same time, much worse. Correspondingly, one type of person will have
some very dark spheres as their homes, but several spheres of the same type, with not too much
difference among them, belong into a world of medium gray. Roughly speaking, this is the
difference between Hitler and Mussolini.
QUESTION: May I ask in this connection about Nostradamus who has prophesied some of
these events? Isn't that impossible to do? Over 400 to 500 years?
ANSWER: No. It is not impossible, because any great seer -- and they are never entirely
right, you will understand why -- can at times be allowed to see the plan that exists in the spirit
world. Or, perhaps, due to some particular talent and personal vibration, one can be tuned in, so to
speak, to see a part of such a plan. God makes the plan according to the given circumstances,
always within the framework of the law. But there are several plans, meeting all eventualities
resulting from free will. Either one will come true or another, or still another, varying only slightly
in the time element in certain conditions. But the plans must be made and prepared for all possible
decisions, resulting from free will. This is an important part of the Plan of Salvation. We know that
a certain number of possibilities are open. We give leeway for all these possibilities when the time
comes, to work from our end. Now it sometimes happens that a seer sees just one such plan. If,
later, the free will of the individuals involved will have led up to the fulfillment of this plan, the seer
was right. Otherwise, this may account for his mistakes, although other circumstances may also play
a role in that, such as false interpretation of what was seen.
QUESTION: So the prediction of Nostradamus for the end of this century does not have to
come true?
ANSWER: Not necessarily.
QUESTION: That's why I was asking, whether this can be avoided.
ANSWER: Certainly. He saw one plan, and if the free will of the people would work to
avoid this particular direction, then this would be a necessary means to a good end. But if free will
works in any number of other directions, the plan is modified accordingly, fitting the circumstances
exactly. All the alternatives are prepared beforehand. Nostradamus just saw one alternative and not
the many other possibilities according to free will.
QUESTION: So seers, such as Nostradamus, have insight into these records?
ANSWER: Into some of it, to a small degree. As I said, they may have glimpses of one plan
for one alternative, but not of the many other possibilities arising out of free will. That is why such
seers are sometimes right and sometimes wrong. And do not imagine that such insight is always
purposefully given from the spirit world. This may occasionally be so, but generally this happens
rather as a byproduct of a certain talent of seership where particular wavelengths meet and thus a
tuning-in results.
QUESTION: Can deep-seated psychological problems, pertaining to a previous life, be
solved by human methods of hypnosis alone or does it need regression?
ANSWER: You mean whether certain problems, resulting from a former life, can be solved
without becoming aware of them? [Yes.] That depends very much on the case. There are many,
many cases where the psychological problems can be solved without regression, without the
knowledge of the particular incarnation involved. But there are instances where this knowledge is an
absolutely necessary factor, where the problem can be solved thoroughly only if this knowledge is
made available. But these cases are in the minority. However, I would like to add this: Only if the
person in question undergoes the strictest process of self-development and purification, only if the
steepest and most direct path is taken, should or even can such knowledge be made available
without harm. Then the spirit world of God will interfere, will direct, and help with the right timing
and the proper and necessary guidance and see to it that not more than just certain sectors of
knowledge are brought back. Otherwise, there would be no point in taking away your memory
when you are born on this planet.
All that you hear today about previous incarnations and knowledge that is supposed to be so
easily available should not be believed, my friends. It is one of the hardest, most difficult things to
accomplish. The world of God guards this knowledge very carefully. This knowledge can never
come to you, be it through hypnosis or through mediumship, without the spirit world of God. And
the latter will not lend a helping hand if there is not a very good spiritual reason. If this knowledge
serves the purpose of further purification, then without this knowledge this further and utmost
purification cannot be accomplished quite successfully. It should not be taken merely as a cure -- let
alone to satisfy personal curiosity. It must be taken as a heavy piece of responsibility. The person
should think and feel somewhat like this: "If I learn certain factors about previous lives, then I have
the duty to fulfill even more in my own development and in what I have to give to God." This
knowledge must be the material for further self-purification -- nothing less. And before this
knowledge is made available, this attitude has to be proven already, at least to some extent. It will
not be made available unless it is proven that the person is following this path.
Now, as to the technical and practical procedure with regression in hypnosis: Here it is my
very strong and definite advice that it should never be undertaken without God and Christ. Both
the subject and the hypnotist should feel themselves to be instruments and should surrender to God
and ask for guidance and inspiration. Otherwise, it may be either fake -- and thus have no meaning
whatsoever in the life of a person -- or even dangerous. But if it is undertaken in the proper
attitude, then the spirit world of God will help and will, among other things, show the hypnotist
how to go about it. There are no definite rules that can be applied with everyone in the same way.
It depends very much on the case, on the individual. Therefore, it has to be done differently with
everyone. And only the spirits of the world of God are in a position to see into the soul to know
how much knowledge this person can digest without shock, how the timing and the procedure
should be handled. Only the soul is capable of conducting this operation. It can do so if the
hypnotist is open to this guidance and inspiration. Such a hypnotist will also have to go through a
particular training of this sort. This kind of hypnosis must be handled entirely differently than
ordinary hypnosis. And never, never, should one start with hypnosis. Only after much progress has
been achieved by other approaches, in psychological problems that can be handled without such
regression, in purification, in uncovering the subconscious trends for the purpose of harmony in the
soul, only after some considerable progress of spiritual development, emotional maturity and
stability, only then should this treatment be started -- if God has given the answer, as always, in this
matter just as in others. I would be very happy, occasionally, to give advice in a more specific form.
[Thank you.]
QUESTION: You have told us how difficult it is for the spiritual world to prepare a spirit for
incarnation in our world. The fluids have to be changed, and so on, even in the case of a newborn
baby that dies after two days. Why all this work for nothing?
ANSWER: Oh, the work is not for nothing. The mother has to go through a karma and this
little baby will be given to another mother. [Immediately?] Certainly. It will not go back to the
spirit world, it will be brought immediately to the mother who was chosen for it in the first place,
for, in the spirit world it is known that the first mother has to go through this karma. This
unhappiness is in her plan that she has somehow sown before and now she has to reap. It is good
for her development and she thus pays off a debt. You all know what the implication of tests and
unhappy occurrences are. But the work is not for nothing, for all this is figured out and planned
beforehand and arrangements are made before the first birth. And this infant is carried to the
mother it was destined for in the first place.
QUESTION: Would that hold true for an infant that has not developed? Just started? In a
miscarriage?
ANSWER: In such a case there is no spirit there as yet. The spirit takes possession the
moment the first cry is uttered.
QUESTION: You say -- and I have heard it from others too -- that the spirit takes
possession only after the first cry has been uttered. But it has been known that in some cases a
person could remember hearing the parents talking while it was still in the womb.
ANSWER: I see what you mean. But that does not mean that the child was in the womb.
The child is not in the womb at that time. It is outside, a spirit. Of course, among human beings
there are these arguments about various matters, where one school of thought claims one thing and
another the opposite and you will never agree. I will tell you the way it is. You can believe it or not.
It is not correct that the spirit takes over at the time of conception. The movement in the womb is
an automatic one, as I have already explained before. It is caused by the bloodstream of the mother
in order that the limbs will not atrophy. It is necessary, but merely a technical procedure, so to say.
If such memories occur, it may be in rare instances that the spirit, prepared for birth, is awake at
short intervals and then retains such memories. It may be close to the parents in this period. But it
is even more likely that this baby happens to be very psychic, clairvoyant, or clairaudient. After birth
it can perceive -- and remember -- certain forms. You know that thoughts create forms in the spirit
world and the child perceives them afterward. It may also be that other spirits repeat the same
words after birth and the child can hear and remember them. Such incidents may happen and are
allowed to happen occasionally to show to humans that life does not originate on this earth plane.
But then, people often misinterpret this in another wrong way, namely, like in this instance, that this
is memory from the time the child was in the womb. Humankind ignores the many complicated and
involved possibilities with these things.
QUESTION: I would like to ask something about the idea of Ahriman.
ANSWER: I have answered that already some time ago. All you would have to do is look it
up. Briefly, I will just repeat that this is also a spirit who had once very high standing in the world of
God and who also participated in the Fall. Lucifer has given this spirit the authority for this earth
sphere, for the world of matter, for this particular substance. As much power as this spirit has, he is
still a part of the Luciferic world. To deny this is a great error.
QUESTION: May I ask, in connection with the discussion on the "Pistis Sophia *," whether
after giving excerpts and covering the material in about five or six sessions, can we then ask you
some questions in the subsequent meeting?
ANSWER: I would even suggest that it is perfectly all right not to wait until the end of the
series, but ask me in our next meeting. This will be better, because it will enable you to get deeper
understanding of what you will read and discuss afterward.
QUESTION: Could you please explain what Jesus meant when he said to Peter, "Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it;
And I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be bound in Heaven." (Matthew 16: 18-20).
ANSWER: The meaning is this: Jesus entrusted Peter with His teachings, that he might
organize the spreading of His teachings. Now it is a well-known fact that the Catholic Church
builds on the belief that from that time on everything is so settled that nothing this Church says
could be wrong -- based on the saying you quoted. And here, I do want to explain this: What Jesus
meant was that Peter should spread the teachings exactly as He has brought them. But that
definitely included a communication with the spirit world of God. This communication existed very
actively at that time, the time of the first Christians. Jesus was much too wise to suggest that any
truth could be kept undiluted by spreading from one human being to another, from one generation
to another. He knew that human failings are still much too great not to let errors and false
interpretations slip in -- not to speak of the danger of the twisting of truth the world of darkness has
always aimed for and which will succeed as long as there are unpurified beings on this earth.
Therefore, direct communication with the World of God is the only way possible.
Unfortunately, human beings have, sometimes ignorantly, sometimes deliberately,
misinterpreted these words -- as they have many others, for that matter. If these words had been
taken in their true sense, exactly as Jesus had taught and as Peter had meant then, which included
such a communication with the world of God, many things would have been very different in your
human history. I know this will shock some friends, but I cannot help it. This is the truth. And if
you read the Bible with true understanding and openness, you will find many, many instances where
the sayings of Jesus cannot be interpreted in any other way. As a matter of fact, you will see
particularly from the lectures my friend will start now that this is so. You have one demonstration
there that Jesus always meant you to contact His spirits of truth. It was part of Jesus' teachings that
Peter was supposed to spread. And also -- which was not published, or later taken out -- how to go
about it, what the laws are to have communication with the spirits of light and truth. And when it
was said that Jesus appeared to his disciples after His death, it was also a form of communication.
There are many different forms. Later on Jesus would not appear Himself anymore, but send His
emissaries. And when He said before His death, "There are many things I cannot tell you as yet, but
will tell you later," how do you imagine He could tell that, unless through such a communication for
which certain laws have to be obeyed and certain conditions prepared? This was an integral part of
His teachings that was, unfortunately, for various reasons, not maintained or even distorted.
Furthermore, this quotation means that anyone -- then or now -- who binds himself to God through
adhering to the teachings of Jesus that Peter was to maintain, spread and organize, would also be
bound to the Father in the Kingdom of Heaven and could never be lost anymore. But anyone who
refuses these teachings and loosens himself thus further from God, will also be lost after death --
not forever, but for as long as this attitude prevails.
This inner declaration to put God above everything else and follow His will in every respect
marks a decisive step in the development of a soul -- sometimes this is called an "initiation". This is
the meaning of it in its essence, and certainly not that God and Christ would only manifest through
one human church-organization which alone should be immune to human failings and thus to the
influence of the powers of darkness. This would make no sense. Whoever follows the real
teachings of Christ and seeks the development and purification through which it is possible to hold
the laws of God is indeed immune to all evil -- "Hell will not prevail" -- and will thus gain the
Kingdom of Heaven. But that is the only way that this can happen, the only way, my friends! And I
believe that this must make sense to you.
And now, my friends, I will retire into my world, and I am leaving you with a particular
blessing for each one of you. May it give you the strength to find yourself truly and thus live in bliss
and joy! Be joyful, for whoever is seeking God through his own good and sincere will, has all the
reason in the world to have joy in his heart. Be in peace. Be in God!
*"The Wisdom of the Savior", a second-century Gnostic document.