Deep Silent Conscious True.
Before there was me
There is You.
So here we are,
Here and now.
You and me,
We three.
We three.
Eye do you see?
You and I, or
You and me?
What in the world
was There
Before Be?
Once begotten
Not forgotten.
Some would say
We’ve come a long way.
So shush little baby
And open your “I”
Life’s not a long sleep
Breathe deep and fly.
Up here in the Sky
We all know why.
Before there was Be
Ahhhhh
Thee.
Tradition says that after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve forgot much about the upper three Worlds and, in particular, they forgot the way back. But the Holy One took what Adam and Eve forgot and preserved it in Language so nothing was lost. Nothing was lost, but do we remember?
The word ‘tradition’ comes from the Latin tra,trans(across, over) plus dare(to give), and means ‘to give over’, ‘to hand over’, ‘deliver’, ‘entrust’. It is defined as, “the passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication.”[1]Just as there are many cultures, there are many traditions and many types of tradition.
The historical and pre-historical story of where we came from, who we are and whywe are here is called a religious tradition. There are many different cultures, many different stories and therefore many different religious traditions. Among religious traditions, some are complete and these form the great world religions. A complete religious tradition tells about all four realities, the whole story, the Holy Story. It hands on information about all the Worlds from generation to generation. The ABBATradition is one such complete tradition.
Transmitting a tradition from one generation to another generation is a transpersonal process. One generation gives, another receives. But there is the possibility that, in the giving and receiving, the original tradition is altered. In the transmission of elements of a tradition from one generation to another there is always the danger of handing over incorrect information or too little or too much. There is the danger of betrayal. The Greek word for tradition is paradosis, from para, ‘by the side of’ or ‘beside’, and didomi, ‘to give’. The related word paradidomimeans ‘to give over’, ‘hand over’, ‘give up’, ‘deliver up’ or ‘betray’. The word ‘traitor’ comes from the same roots as the word ‘tradition’. A traitor is “one who betrays one’s country, cause, or trust.” A traitor ‘hands over’ what should not be handed over. Fear of betrayal is the reason for the rigidity that often accompanies orthodoxy and orthopraxy. But excessive concern with orthodoxy or orthopraxy runs the risk of forgetting the reason for the orthodox thinking and orthodox practice in the first place. If this happens, the lower Worlds no longer properly reflect the higher and the tradition goes astray.
One approach to ensuring that traditions are transmitted correctly is to write those traditions down, creating a body of writings, a written tradition—Scripture. So the last page of the Bible states, “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”[2]Written traditions are efforts to preserve, and transmit correctly, an underlying tradition which was previously transmitted orally.
[1].American Heritage Dictionary.
The purpose of life on Earth.
The purpose of life on Earth is to make the Worlds below reflect the Worlds above. ABBA is a symbolic word that visually represents that purpose. It is the same word whether spelled forward or backward. The four perfectly symmetrical letters of ABBA can be seen as symbols for the four Worlds as they are meant to be, with the psychological and physical Worlds below perfectly reflecting the divine and spiritual worlds above. This reflection is what is meant by the Lord’s prayer: Thy will be done on Earth as in Heaven. May it be on Earth as it is in Heaven. May I be the blessing I am meant to be. Heaven on Earth. As above, so below.
But how is it in Heaven? Heaven is a biblical word for the transpersonal reality that we share with one another, the reality that is neither physical nor uniquely personal. There is war in heaven, conflict in the transpersonal reality of the seven heavens. “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon.” [1]This War in Heaven is going on in the lowest three heavens, called in the ABBA Tradition The Veil, The Firmament, and The Skies. Above these are the Four Heavens that touch the realm of the Divinity, beyond the War in Heaven.
ABBATradition tells us that we are made in the image and likeness of the Holy One, and that each of us has the potential to be, and is meant to be, a perfect image and reflection of Divinity. Personal transformation is the process of becoming who I am meant to be, of transforming Self into SELF, the World of Forms and Images (Iezirah, Yezirah) into a World of Blessings: ABia into ABba. The Soulworld, your Soul, is meant for perfection, to be a perfect reflection of the Worlds above. The soul fulfills its purpose when it becomes a blessing. When that happens the Soulworld is filled full of blessings and the promise made to Abraham is fulfilled again. “I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.”[2]Each of us fulfills our purpose when we become a blessing. To make that happen takes work, hard work, soul work. When it happens we fulfill our essential role in the Great Work, the work of perfecting all the Worlds, of transforming ABba into ABBA.
