SACRED TEXTS TWO PATHS... physical and spiritual  " For to be carnally minded is death;  but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." When the world made its transition from the Era of Abraham into the Era of Isaac two thousand years ago, the people found themselves at a crossroads, being taxed to make a choice between the physical path they were already on or the spiritual path that was being revealed to them, as it had been revealed to their ancestors fifteen hundred years earlier. They chose the physical path, choosing the carnal law over the spiritual law, choosing flesh over spirit, bondage over freedom, death over life. As the world enters the third and final Era of Jacob (the Era of Spirit) we stand at yet another crossroads. Will we continue to choose literal interpretation over spiritual interpretation? Will we continue to choose the carnal sacrifices of mind-body disciplines over the spiritual sacrifice of the heart discipline advocated by the world's greatest ascended masters? Will we choose the physical path that brings death? Or the spiritual path that brings life and peace?   The Torah of the Tanakh shows us two paths... The creation in Genesis provides an overview of the spiritual path, the book of Exodus detailing the children of Israel's journey through the wilderness and up the mount, symbolizing man's spiritual journey and ascension. But the children of Israel never ascended the mount, leaving the spiritual path in favor of the physical path, choosing the bondage of a physical law, which was to end at the passing of Moses, which brings us to the end of Deuteronomy, and to the end of the Torah.    The Neviim of the Tanakh shows two paths... It begins with the book of Joshua, with the passover at Jordan, where the children pass over into the promised land, eating no more of the manna, but of the old corn, symbolizing their transition form carnal to spiritual. The children of Israel had started on the spiritual path, battling the seven inhabitants of the promised land, illustrating a spiritual battle by which we will take possession of a spiritual promised land. But they would soon divert to the physical path, making marriages with the inhabitants of that land, which God had commanded them not to do, putting them back under the bondage of the physical law as these seven inhabitants symbolize the spiritual enemies that keep us from being free. The book of Judges sets forth the spiritual judgment that would have brought freedom, but they would not hearken to their judges, rejecting the voice of God that spoke through Samuel. They chose instead to have a physical king rule over them, becoming like the very nations they were to remain separate from. Kings and Chronicles names these kings and chronicles their acts. It would be King David, annointed by Samuel, that would come to turn the heart of the children back to God, putting them back on the spiritual path that their patriarchal fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, had followed. But the power and influence of the righteous kings would be usurped by kings that "walked not in the footsteps of David." Yet God's hand was outstretched still, sending His prophets, who prophesied of the destruction that would come if they continued in their spiritual disobedience. But they would not hearken to their prophets, stoning them by their refusal to change, to revert to the spiritual path by keeping the spiritual law/word of God. The Neviim ends with these words: " Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I smite the earth with a curse."   ~ Malachi 4:5,6 Elijah has returned, not once, but twice, revealed to us through the story of Elijah and the juniper tree.   The Holy Qur'an shows us two paths. It establishes quite clearly the error of the children of Israel, yet the Qur'an takes its followers down the same physical path, the laws of the Qur'an no different from the laborious laws of the Old Testament. Muhammad (c. 570-632), founder of Islam, was said to have experienced a vision of the archangel Gabriel in a cave outside Mecca, whose Arabic meaning reveals its symbolism. Muhammed pondered questions raised in his mind as he listened to Jews and Christians expound on their religious views in the marketplace. Proclaimed a prophet by the archangel Gabriel, he continued to receive revelations, which would have no doubt been in opposition to those views held by Jews and Christians alike, whose religious beliefs by this time (c. 610) would have been far removed from the spiritual doctrine taught by Jesus, buried in 460AD. In the process of time, like every religion before it, true Islam (based on the unadulterated revelations of Muhammad, which put one on the spiritual path) gave way to a lesser Islam, which governs its followers with physical laws. The Holy Qur'an, like the Holy Bible, contains the spiritual path, which leads to purification of the heart. It too has been preserved in the language and symbolism of the Holy Text, waiting to be revealed to anyone that is willing to unearth it, allowing the follower to set aside the time consuming physical works and seek internal perfection through spiritual works.   The Book of Mormon shows us two paths. It is another testament of Jesus Christ, and to the disobedience of the children of Israel. Like the Bible, the spiritual truth is encoded in the symbolism contained in its stories, which are strikingly similar to those of the Bible. Joseph Smith, on the evening of September 21st, 1823, experienced a vision of a messenger named Moroni, who told him that he had a work to do. He told Joseph that there was a book deposited, written upon metal plates, giving an account of "the former inhabitants of this continent," and the source from whence they sprang, and that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it. He also told Joseph of two stones in silver bows, and that these stones, fastened to the breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and the Thummim, deposited with the plates; and that the possession and use of these stones were what constituted Seers in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book. The Book of Mormon is to be translated by the one possessing the two stones, the Urim and the Thummin, whose meanings reveal their symbolism: Urim, from the original Hebrew, meaning lights, the oracular brilliancy of the figures in the high-priests breastplate. The word oracular meaning oracle, transmitter of prophecies at such a shrine, from the Latin word: oraculum, meaning to speak. Thummim, from the original Hebrew, meaning perfections, i.e. one of the epithets of the objects in the high-priests breastplate as an emblem of complete truth. The Book of Mormon has yet to be examined for its spiritual truth. It is still, to this day, being used to advocate the physical path. Article written by Sandra L. Butler ~ Copyright 2000 Author; The Bible Decoded: breaking the ancient code The Little Book for the soul: an ancient healing process