Commandments begin with "You shall not …" or "You shall…" Why do we need commandments? Who gave them to us?
On the internet I find "The origin of this text goes along with mysterious frightening incidents". And further it is written: "Already for two months had the Israelites been on their way away from Egypt, the country of their slavery, and now they reached the desert of Sinai. They installed their campsite at the foot of mountain Sinai.
From the heights of the mountain down God makes an offer to Mose, their leader: He wants an alliance with the people who enjoy the long desired freedom since having left Egypt and are in the process of finding a new order if they promise loyal allegiance. The Israelites accepted.
The people prepare for three days for the big day: They wash their clothes; men and women renounce from intimate meetings; moreover they keep a severe distance to the mountain on which this powerful God will reveal himself since anyone - with the exception of Mose - who comes too near is of death. In the fire God comes down, smoke climbs up, the mountain shakes, a mighty trombone sounds. And, finally this frightening God informs Mose, who is the only one allowed to be near, of the Ten Commandments (2nd book Mose, Chapter 19 and 20)."
Is it not that doubts come up with such a strange description of a divinity? Is God somebody who closes a contract with people demanding loyal allegiance? Is God somebody who comes down in fire? Is God somebody who kills people that come too close?
Erich von Däniken had done quite some research on such phenomena and comes up with a different explanation namely that it is about extraterrestrials making the people subject to their rule. And they do not necessarily seem to be such extraterrestrials which are affectionate, or full of wisdom, or well-disposed towards us. It rather shows what has been happening to mankind for millenniums. Humanity has made themselves subservient to dark powers and has become their drudges.
In the Old Testament such cruel descriptions of a supposed God are to be found galore. A long time ago a friend of mine mentioned she does not believe the Old Testament to be true because she does not think God is so cruel. At that time I had not heard about Erich von Däniken and did not know how to answer. Meanwhile I have come to the conclusion that all these stories are real contemporary witness's reports. Only this powerful God probably was a dark entity impersonating divinity.
Some other time I did a brainstorming session with another friend. She gave me a series of words or concepts and I had to spontaneously come up with my immediate reaction. When she mentioned the word God a sudden fright overcame me and I had the image of a menacing thunder God in my mind like the ones often described in the Old Testament. By then I still had not encountered Erich von Däniken and I was frightfully confused by having such a negative image of God anchored deep inside.
Meanwhile my idea of a personified godhood has dissolved. I now rather see the divinity as an energy that connects all life and can be found within everything. We altogether are God. Nobody on his or her own is God. Divinity for me personally means All That Is.
Well, why do I write about it now? It is about the commandment "You shall not steal". Today I realized that people steal if they are afraid of not getting enough. They steal if they have no confidence in the abundance of life. They steal if they are addicted like the drug abuser who cannot wait to get what he so desperately needs and mistrusts life to give it freely.
Stealing has to do with being separated. If I do have a connection to my inner wisdom I do not need anything that is not available to me right now. If there is no avarice and no attachment then I can trust that life gives me exactly what is needed in each moment. No more is required then. Thus no stealing is required if there is trust.
Also regarding the commandment "You shall not murder" I realized that I cannot kill the person I love. If people listen to their heart then there is the wish for unity and the feeling of being connected. Then there is recognition of oneself within the other person and there is absolutely no desire to kill.
Further thoughts came in respect of the commandment "You shall have no other gods before me". Considering this commandment to be made by a self-appointed God wanting to make sure to be the only ruler it does make sense. Does the Source of all Being need to protect a power position in such a manner? I really do not think so.
Now, what is the effect of the Ten Commandments? They have deeply settled within our sub-consciousness because they were delivered from generation to generation, on and on. In 2010 I did an exercise concerning the commandments at a seminar. The exercise was about looking at each single commandment and see the misinterpretations and dissolving them by becoming aware of them.
A few years later in connection with the commandments I additionally deleted every single resulting dogma from my DNA, from my energy system, and from my entire being.
Today, in 2014, I realize more and more that it made absolute sense to do so. In particular if the origin and the purpose of the commandments becomes more obvious, namely to subjugate us, to keep us prisoners of our guilt, and to separate us from our true being. If we are connected with our actual being then there is confidence and love and no need in having to obey to any of the orders and no need in observing the bans.
In 2010 I wrote the following text which was published on my website. Today in 2014 all these additional realizations shed a slightly different light on it:
"In August 2010 at an energetic seminar it was part of the exercises to have a closer look at the Ten Commandments. At first I was a little reluctant because as a child I had to learn these dogmas by heart at school in religious sessions and later on I repressed the memory. What was I supposed to do with theses threatening stuff like 'you shall not …', 'you are not allowed …', or 'you are a bad person if you do this or that …' ?
But this is exactly what it is about. As a child I have internalized theses dogmas. I took them over from my parents consciously or sub-consciously. My parents got them from their parents and so on. And thus we inherited and anchored them over centuries and through many generations. Unfortunately this did not only happen consciously but deep within our sub-consciousness as well.
I have grown up on a farm. We had a henhouse and also rats which made
themselves at home there. Because of the rats the hens laid no more eggs.
Now, we held the hens because of the eggs and therefore the rats were hunted.
One afternoon I went to the henhouse to look for eggs. I discovered a rat
sitting in the trough calmly eating chicken feed. This was a very unusual
behavior for a rat because ordinarily one saw the animals only from the back
if they disappeared quickly in their holes.
This happened at a time when every night there was rat's hunt and with
the help of our dog one or the other was killed. I preferred leaving the killing
of the rats to our dog. If the dog broke their neck I wasn't bothered.
We also had cats and if they caught mice they played with the animals until
those were tired and exhausted. Only then did they kill and eat the mouse.
I felt terribly sorry for the mice but this is nature and I cannot change
the natural behavior of the animals.
Now, coming back to the rat sitting in the trough and eating comfortably, I left the henhouse to search a batten to kill the animal if it was still there after returning. Actually I had assumed that the rat would long be gone before me coming back.
However, it was not. It sat there and literally asked for death because any healthy animal would have run away once I entered the henhouse. I struck and the rat was dead immediately.
Now in the Ten Commandment there is this dogma 'you shall not murder'. I tried my best to repress the memory and to forget this incident but I have not succeeded. Over and over I had the feeling I did something wrong partly because deep inside there is this conviction that I may not kill. From this conviction a dogma had formed: 'I will always feel guilty if I kill'. In order to solve this feeling of unease the only solution was to extinguish the dogma. Only if this dogma is not valid for me any longer am I able to find peace within again.
We are dealing with the subject 'guilt' here. The universe does not know guilt. It only knows cause and effect. I am tired of having to carry guilt for all the grief of previous generations. Why would I in the first place? I do not have to do this at all. We live in a time of change and we are now allowed to let go of guilt.
In order to do that it is necessary to first of all find out what it is that generates guilt in us. Where deep within our sub-consciousness are the triggers for feeling guilty?
Among other things certainly within the Ten Commandments and the emotions that are linked to them deep in our sub-consciousness. Hence, it might be helpful to have a closer look at each single dogma. Find out what each sentence means and how their deeper importance affects our modern life. How do misinterpretations affect our emotions and memories?
Basically I am allowed to do anything that is in contrast with the Ten Commandments. It depends on the circumstances. I may kill or must even kill if I want to eat meat. I may steal or must steal if I conquer a country which I would like to call my own. I am allowed to commit adultery if that is the only way to end a relationship that needs to be ended et cetera …
But what do we get then? Do we have Sodom and Gomorrah then because everybody does as they are pleased and no rules apply any longer? My answer to this question is to listen to our inner voice. It is a matter of practicing to hear the inner voice and a cleansing might be required to remove disturbances in the connection. To what extent am I disturbed by dogmas? Where does the thought of guilt direct me? How did misinformation in the media form my truth? How am I manipulated subliminally? And so on and so forth.
We all have to find the path to our own inner being and to our own truth by ourselves and it is probably part of our life's work. A first step could be to be more aware and to become more conscious of our motivations and regulations.
We are all creators. We altogether determine what is happening in this world by our actions and even by our thinking. Our consciousness creates reality. A possibility to have a clear connection to our inner knowing and to maintain it is to ask for it. For example to request it from godfather and godmother, or father-mother of the universe, or All-That-Is in a way like 'please give us divine guidance for all that we create, let heaven and earth be a united creation according to the divine will in heavenly order.'
From my experience it is important to be patient and be open for any result. In the end our wishes come true. Maybe not in a way we thought but maybe even better. Maybe in a way we could not even think of at the time of requesting.
Regarding the Ten Commandments I was told that basically we should not do things we do not want to be done to ourselves. At first sight this sounds good but some things that were done to me seemed to be really bad at first. After a while they did not seem to be so bad anymore and still some time later they even became a chance. Hence, it is not always easy to decide what is benevolent. Anyway, we are allowed to make mistakes".
Well, saying "not to lose patience because our wishes come true in a way we cannot see by the time we had the wish" is quite true if I am looking back. In 2010 I did not have the slightest idea the Ten Commandments could have been delivered by false godheads.
Finally I would like to add to my text from 2010 that I still regret the killing of the rat. Moreover I never meant to distribute a free ticket for hurting other people. Of course it is a matter of respecting life and each other. But we lack this respect because we were manipulated by separating us from our divine core.
Through reconnecting with our soul and our divine core we know what is right. We then feel deep inside what the best possible way of living is. We then want to live in harmony with all living beings and nature. Deep within our core being is love and there is no other way but acting from our heart once we are connected again.
The exercise we did in 2010 was about looking at each single order of the Ten Commandments. We did the exercise as a group of 4 people. I shared the exercise as well as our results on my website and present them here as well. Meanwhile some other aspects have appeared as mentioned before but nevertheless here is the text from 2010:
The Ten Commandments:
Exercise: Please make up your own mind before reading my thoughts further down. Do not believe me. Instead, find your own truth which is plausible for you at this point in your life. Pay attention to your emotions. Which effect does it have on you if you read the commandments? Do they cause joy or dejection? Which memories come up, e.g. from your childhood or other situations in your life?
You then throw the disagreeable moods and feelings in an imaginary pot and simply let them be there. They are welcome and there is no need to fight them. Simply allow them to be and then put them in the pot.
At the end of the exercise, after having looked at all commandments, symbolically hand the pot over into the light. You might already want to do this during the exercise from time to time. You are allowed to let go of all emotions you experienced in the context of the commandments that are obsolete now and are no longer wanted.
Maybe you cannot let go of all emotions at once. That is ok because sometimes it simply needs time and one or the other experience still needs to be made prior to being able to really let go.
Even after having completed this exercise it is often in a way that we bump into situations in life which still cause unpleasant emotions caused by the commandments. Then it is often sufficient to just let such emotions be there and to give them space.
Remember that they are based on a false understanding of the commandments and just observe them. For example by saying: "Ah, I am afraid now, or I feel guilty because according to the commandments I am supposed to feel or act differently now". Simply allow everything to be there.
By realizing and accepting it will eventually dissolve even if it may take many repetitions to be completely solved. Sometimes the commandments are only part of the cause and quite different aspects may show up as well and want to be seen.
My results from that exercise during the seminar back then were as follows:
The rules which Moses received from God at the mountain Sinai are called Ten Commandments in order for people to being able to live together peacefully. These orders were not originally in English, hence, is to be considered that over the course of time the valid world views have influenced the translations. And now it is time to consider our current world view as well. Moreover we should free ourselves from feelings of guilt and release the traces of misinterpretations. The following suggestions are based on my personal experiences.
One may think: "What do I have to do with the Ten Commandments? They have become completely outdated and do not concern me". Well, this may apply for the consciousness. But if we think that our parents, our grandparents and their parents have once lived according to these rules then these rules have been transmitted unconsciously to the respective next generation. Hence, it is important to find out what slumbers in us and what does have an effect on us without us knowing about it.
0. You shall not touch a hot stove
Sorry, this is not a commandment but I would like to point out that these
rules are rather well-intentioned advices than prohibitions.
Of course one must have touched a hot stove at least once in order to know what it means and what it feels like. Fortunately I do have a sensation of pain which prompts me to immediately remove my hand.
How else are we supposed to recognize what is good for us if not through having our own experiences? It is not a sin to break a commandment. Nevertheless it might help to bring our own experiences in line with the commandments.
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
This could be considered as an advice to concentrate upon the basic essence
in order to avoid getting further away from the divine origin rather than
finding it. Jesus said: 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me'. This might be understood in a way that Jesus
asks each one of us to say this sentence ourselves. Thus, we only find our
divine origin if we search within ourselves and recognize our very own connection
with godfather/godmother of the universe.
2. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD.
If we are told we go to Heaven only if we make a donation of so and so much
money or we do not enter Heaven if we don't donate then I would say the name
of the LORD has been misused for the benefit of the donation receiver.
And formerly there were Lords around. They were men in socially better positions
and thus well respected and a person in authority. It should be avoided to
abuse any authority to put through one's own will or manipulating people.
3. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
In modern time some shops are opened on Sundays, public transport carries
on, people are going to work here and there. On Sundays people sometimes have
leisure stress. In modern time it is not about honoring a single blessed day
any more. It is rather about taking time for ourselves. This maybe a few occasional
minutes to simply reflect on ourselves, and value, love and honor ourselves.
We might consider this time to be holy. We pause and recollect with ease,
love and light. If we bless our quiet personal time and take that time then
we can keep our personal Sabbath whenever we want.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
Our group of 4 was split when we discussed this commandment. Some liked the
idea of honoring mother and father and the others disagreed because they had
unpleasant memories of situations with their parents. There was a conflict
with actual feelings and the feelings we are supposed to have towards our
parents according to society respectively this commandment. This exercise
was not about solving the conflicts with the parents but to allow the discomfort
to be there and freeing oneself from the obligation of having to honor the
parents.
As soon as this obligation is gone there is no bad conscience any longer. The feeling of being obliged would be an example of an emotion which can be put into the imaginary pot if we are ready to let go.
For me personally this commandment reminds me of my origin and to be thankful for my life. It is a matter of accepting my learning exercise because I am the one who chose these parents. They provide exactly the surroundings needed to have the experiences which my soul wants me to have and which I have planned for this life.
Further the balance between male and female, yin and yang, godfather and godmother is important because both principles exist within us. Through acknowledging my parents I am able to admire the miracle of creation because without them I would not be here. Life is a valuable good.
5. You shall not murder.
Regarding this commandment I had to put a lot into the imaginary pot because
my bad conscience tormented me quite heavily. Even if I crushed a little animal
by mistake by stroking it from my arm I felt bad about it.
Recently somebody said to me: "How come you still eat meat although you
live in such a health-conscious way?" I felt unwell with this question.
Was there a reproach? Yes, I do eat meat, not as much as I used to but I still
do.
I felt bad because I eat meat. No, not because I eat meat, but because
somebody persuaded me that it is a bad thing to do so. And exactly this emotion
belongs into the pot because I do not allow anybody to make me feel bad.
During a television interview with Barack Obama I saw how he suddenly killed
a fly which had repeatedly irritated him. I was shocked and thought what kind
of person is this Barack Obama and do I have to worry about the world peace
now?
During the exercise within our group of 4 we began to think of situations where it is normal to kill without thinking about it. For example if we drain parasites from the body, if we remove the tick from the dog, if we kill the mosquito that wants to bite us, if we fight a rat's plague, if we step on little animals while walking, if we give the deathblow to a suffering animal, if we defend ourselves, and so on …
This commandment reminds us of respecting life and not to kill out of an emotion because we are furious or annoyed and to kill only if it seems absolutely necessary.
In addition I had another experience apart from the practice at the seminar: It was within a shamanic guided meditation that was accompanied by a drum. The goal was to meet our power animal. Before the trip into our sub-consciousness started we were told that it might happen that our power animal eats us up. We should not be afraid because it is a good sign. At first I did not understand at all why anything like that should be any good but I did not inquire any further.
The trip began and what should I say. I was really eaten up by my power animal. Then something unexpected and quite miraculous happened. I literally melted with the energy of my power animal. My energy became the elixir of life for this animal. We became one and it was an indescribably extraordinary feeling.
Moreover, I found out on a healer's day that one cause for my scoliosis
was the fact that in former lives I had been killed while trying to run away
and did not manage to escape my attacker. If I imagine that this attacker
was a wild animal who has eaten me, then by now I have no more problems with
eating meat because I was eaten also.
However, if I eat meat now it is with quite a different awareness. I try to
feel the energy of that living being that gave its live in order for my life
to continue. I connect with it, and I am infinitely grateful.
And furthermore I try to lure an irritating fly out of the window or negotiate with it to leave me alone before I think of killing it. Every life is infinitely valuable.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
Because of this commandment unborn children are killed, born children are
denied or have been disowned, murders have been committed. Maybe generations
later within a family constellation somebody finds out about a secret of one
of the forefathers which is still a huge burden for the persons at present
within their sub-consciousness.
Mostly adultery is committed secretly and if something serious happens like a murder or an abortion and nobody is allowed to talk about it then this is an immense psychic load for the people involved.
This load is unconsciously transmitted to their children and the children
transmit it to their children and they do not know what depresses them or
makes them sick. Only if the origin is uncovered then the situation relaxes.
Our society permits merely the marriage with one partner. In other societies,
e.g., in Tibet before 1950, so before the entry of the Chinese, it was allowed
to be married to several partners at the same time. This applied for women
as well as for men. Divorce was generally accepted.
It requires people who love themselves in order to be able to love another one unconditionally without jealousy, claim for possession, envy, or fear of being left. And without false pride if one is cheated. It requires tolerance of the freedom of the other. It is not that simple.
There are so many different scenarios considering adultery. It is a complicated subject and difficult to find universally valid answers. One rather lives with the lie in order to hurt no one but to still follow one's desires. Another rather says the truth and might have to live with consequences he or she does not really want at all. Another suppresses his or her feelings what might result in illnesses later.
The outcome is unpredictable. In one partnership it is good to openly speak of external sexual desires and within another partnership this would be a disaster.
Many aspects play a role like envy, jealousy, false pride, lacking self-love, lacking parent love, social demands, claims for possession, egoism, narrow-mindedness, being hurt etc. And certainly fear to lose house, children, money, or secure existence and so on…
Here are some suggestions regarding this commandment:
On the Internet I found another version of the 6th commandment:
6. You shall not go for incontinence/unchastity
This version makes a lot more sense to me. According to Wikipedia chastity
is an ethical concept in order to deal moderately with sexuality. It does
not mean sexual abstinence at all. The opposite of chastity is unchastity
or put in other words it maybe lasciviousness, lust, or lewdness.
In this version it is not about adultery or having an affair. It is about sexuality in general. Thus the 6th commandment could remind me to observe my sexuality. What does it do to me, what do I long for and how do I feel about it. Do I feel comfortably in my skin? If not, then one might see what can be changed in order to feel good about it.
7. You shall not steal.
Allow yourself and everybody else to accept the abundance of life and live
it. Grant your neighbor more than yourself. Then we do not need this commandment
any longer.
8. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
'False testimony' means to be judgmental or to report something differently
to the way it really happened. However, we always tell a story from our point
of view. This commandment might remind us to be as honest as possible especially
to ourselves and trying to avoid judgment, thus to be as neutral as possible.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
Regarding this commandment I did not throw anything in the pot because the
target group is male but I am female. If the commandment was "You shall
not covet somebody else's partner/husband" then I could further think
about it.
This commandment is not about the action itself but about thoughts and emotions. I might not be able to control them though. But I should definitely allow them. Maybe without immediately taking any action but it is important to observe and examine them.
Many of us think we are not allowed to have certain feelings because society does not consider them to be appropriate. Consequently we suppress such feelings. However, those feelings are real and our feelings are important indicators. They are a communicator for our inner sub-conscious being. Thus why should I ignore such valuable tips? Who but me can better know what goes on inside me? What if not my emotions should inform me what to take care of?
I consider it to be tremendously important to take one's feelings seriously and to accept them as they are. That is why they are there in the first place. It is comparable with pain. Quite often we do not like pain and thus refuse it. "Please, pain, go away! I do not want you. Stop tormenting me and leave me alone!" We might even take painkillers to silence it.
But what if this pain only wants to warn us because a steam locomotive is approaching us with high speed? At first the pain knocks quietly and we numb it. Pain recovers after a while and notices in horror that the steam locomotive has come closer.
Pain now knocks at our door much more violently and tries to warn us … are you going to send it away? Or do you finally accept pain as an ally that wants to assist you? We should probably listen to our pain a lot more carefully because it is there to help us. It is a lot better to find the cause, in this case to simply step aside so the steam engine can pass.
It is similar with emotions. Do we ask ourselves where they come from
and what they want to tell us? It sometimes happens to me that I just allow
certain feelings to be and observe them. After that I am able to let go, it
dissolves all on its own. We can let go a lot easier if we consciously experience
instead of suppressing our emotions.
The commandment could make us think whether we want to interfere with an existing
partnership. I cannot judge in general. I guess it always depends on the situation
and everybody needs to make up their own mind.
10. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.
It says 'not to covet', so this is not yet the action but the thought. Within
our workgroup of four one participant said "thoughts become words and
words become actions." Maybe this commandment reminds us to watch out
what we think. Are we acquisitive? Why are we? And so on.
That was the exercise from 2010 to think about the meaning of the Ten Commandments in modern time. Now in 2014, I would like to modify the exercise and guess what could have been the intention of the deliverer back then when this mighty creature came from the skies in a fire spitting carriage.
Here as well as in the exercise before I invite the reader to speculations. I do not know the truth but I would like to give free rein to my imagination. Additionally I need to mention that I recently listened to some of Michael Tellinger's talks on the web.
According to his theory long ago there were extraterrestrials in South Africa mining for gold and taking it away. In order to do that they had technologies that were based on sound. Different frequencies generated energy. Even today remaining stones can be found in South Africa pointing to this kind of technology. These extraterrestrials needed people or rather drudges who supported the gold mining.
Now the handing over of the Commandments might not have been at the same time as the gold mining in South Africa. But maybe this powerful being from the thunder UFO also needed people as workers, for energy supply, or other reasons. Then the Commandments might have a slightly different meaning.
"You shall have no other gods before me" might then mean to claim the power. The mighty being wanted to be the only one to be in charge.
"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD" indicates that
there is only one Lord that has to be followed.
Why to "keep the Sabbath day holy" I do not know. If it was
in connection with the gold mining then maybe this was the day the gold was
transported off the planet and humans should not be in the way. I am only
guessing.
"To honor father and mother" probably made sure that the tradition of the commandments was honored and passed on from generation to generation.
"You shall not murder" might have been useful to make sure a certain number of people were always available without the 'material' eliminating itself.
"Not to go for unchastity" was then probably the opposite measure since it was to be avoided to have too many people around that needed to be fed. It could have been a sort of birth control to avoid overpopulation.
But these are only speculations. One could carry on endlessly thinking about possible intentions of these dark powers and get lost in "conspiracy theories". Of course the commandments contain a lot of positive suggestions and tips which are definitely valuable with suitable interpretation.
But we certainly should clear out such dogmas which are anchored in our sub-consciousness causing strife resulting from the consideration of the Ten Commandments.
The intention to follow rules according to which humanity should live together in peace backfires on the sub-conscious level. That is because unconsciously we condemn and punish ourselves and each other for not following the rules even though they are not applicable in certain situations. Then this leads exactly to the opposite, to strife. Peace arises if we listen to our heart and with that there are no rules required.
Dogmas which cause strife begin either with "I will always …", or "I will never …". Examples of such dogmas are:
Such or similar dogmas could be figured out by each one of us individually e.g. in a brainstorming session. To remove them from our energy system the following method could be used:
Dogma Removal:
Imagine how you write the dogma which you would like to remove on a slip of paper. Ask you Higher Self to support you in extracting all the energy of this dogma from your entire system, from every cell of your being, and from your entire being and let it flow into the imaginary slip of paper.
With every exhaling imagine how all this released energy flows out of your system into the slip of paper. According to your beliefs you might also ask e.g. spiritual assistants, or guides, or archangels for support.
After all the energy went into this piece of paper imagine then how the
flame of transformation burns the paper and converts everything into positive
energy which you then hand over to the light. Or you might want to hand the
piece of paper over to the light directly. Do what feels better for you. The
most important part in this exercise is to have the firm intention to remove
the dogma and then follow your intuition and let it all happen easily.