Nahum 2
These are the same lions
that ferociously attacked
their victims,
then dragged away the flesh
to feed their young.
13 The Lord All-Powerful
is against you, Nineveh.
God will burn your chariots
and send an army
to kill
those young lions of yours.
You will never again
make victims of others
or send messengers to threaten
everyone on this earth.
2 Chronicles 23
They all came to Jerusalem 3 and gathered at the temple, where they agreed to help Joash.
Jehoiada said to them:
Joash will be our next king, because long ago the Lord promised that one of David’s descendants would always be king. 4 Here is what we will do. Three groups of priests and Levites will be on guard duty on the Sabbath—one group will guard the gates of the temple, 5 one will guard the palace, and the other will guard Foundation Gate. The rest of you will stand guard in the temple courtyards. 6 Only the priests and Levites who are on duty will be able to enter the temple, because they will be the only ones who have gone through the ceremony to make themselves clean and acceptable. The others must stay outside in the courtyards, just as the Lord has commanded. 7 You Levites must protect King Joash. Don’t let him out of your sight! And keep your swords ready to kill anyone who comes into the temple.
8 The Levites and the people of Judah followed Jehoiada’s orders. The guards going off duty were not allowed to go home, and so each commander had all his guards available—those going off duty as well as those coming on duty. 9 Jehoiada went into the temple and brought out the swords and shields that had belonged to King David, and he gave them to the commanders. 10 They gave the weapons to the guards, and Jehoiada then made sure that the guards took their positions around the temple and the altar to protect the king on every side.
Richard: This is an interesting story as Queen Athaliah had been an unrighteous and scheming ruler for six years who ordered that the legitimate heirs be murdred. But Joash was hidden in the temple for six years. After that time the army decided to help him become the rightful King.
Enilghtenment
3. Opening the Third Eye
I am blind and do not see the things of this world; but when the light comes from above, it enlightens my heart and I can see, for the Eye of my heart sees everything; and through this vision I can help my people. The heart is a sanctuary at the center of which there is a little space, wherein the Great Spirit dwells, and this is the Eye. This is the Eye of the Great Spirit by which He sees all things, and through which we see Him. If the heart is not pure, the Great Spirit cannot be seen.
Black Elk (Native American Religions)
The enlightenment consists of a mysterious light which the shaman suddenly feels in his body, inside his head, within the brain, an inexplicable searchlight, a luminous fire…for he can now, even with closed eyes, see through darkness and perceive things and coming events which are hidden from others: thus they look into the future and into the secrets of others.
The candidate obtains this mystical light after long hours of waiting, sitting on a bench in his hut and invoking the spirits. When he experiences it for the first time, it is as if the house in which he is suddenly rises, he sees far ahead of him, through mountains, exactly as if the earth were one great plain, and his eyes could reach to the end of the earth. Nothing is hidden from him any longer; not only can he see things far, far away, but he can also discover souls, stolen souls, which are either kept concealed in far, strange lands or have been taken up or down to the Land of the Dead.
Iglulik Eskimo Shaman Initiation (Native American Religions)
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Most people do not know the spirit world. They know only the world they perceive through their five senses. However, when we directly relate to God in true love, we can cultivate our ten senses—the five physical senses and beyond them, the five spiritual senses. This will enable us to resonate with the spirit world.
People who only seek self-centered love cannot achieve it. Fallen love is dark; it is destruction itself. The more you immerse yourself in fallen love, the more darkness will envelop you. It is as if an insulator covered your electrical terminal; no electricity can flow. (399:220, December 24, 2002)
Cognition of spiritual reality begins when it is perceived through the five senses of the spirit self. These perceptions resonate through the five physical senses and are felt physiologically. Cognition of truth, on the other hand, arises from the knowledge gleaned from the physical world as it is perceived directly through our physiological sense organs. Cognition thus takes place through both spiritual and physical processes.
Human beings become complete only when their spirit self and physical self are unified. Hence, the experience of divine inspiration gained through spiritual cognition and the knowledge of truth obtained through physical cognition should become fully harmonized and awaken the spirituality and intellect together. It is only when the spiritual and physical dimensions of cognition resonate together that we can thoroughly comprehend God and the universe. (Exposition of the Divine Principle,Eschatology 5.1)
