By Penny Warren, B.A., M.A., D.D.
(C) PLIM REPORT Vol. 7 No. 2
Feel free to copy and circulate this article for non-commercial purposes provided the Web site and author are mentioned.
See Related Articles: PERSONAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield describes an impulsive journey to Peru that reflects a universal spiritual journey. The hero seeks a Manuscript containing nine insights that the religious authorities in Peru are trying to suppress. During his adventure he finds one after another of these principles and allows the reader to absorb the essence of each. In non-biblical terms, the insights reveal a way to transcend a materialistic, inflexible mindset and cultivate one receptive to Spirit (Rom. 12:2).
The First Insight consists of becoming aware of coincidences that reflect being in harmony with Spirit. Coincidences or synchronicity reveal how all events are connected through time as the Bell Theorem in physics showed how non-local reality connects all physical atoms in space. (See "Has Science Found God in Non-Local Reality?" in the September/October 1996 "PLIM REPORT.") The Adherents to Tao religion live by this unity. (See "Sacred Writings of The Major World Religions, Part One" that describes the sacred writings of the four eastern religions and is in the "Did U Know" section of the March/April 1997 issue. Also read "When Did The Worlds Religions Emerge" provides a historical context and development of each religion and is in the same section of the September/October 1996 issue of the "PLIM REPORT".)
The Second Insight consists of correctly perceiving history or knowing where you have been so you can know where you are going. When religion was found to be insufficient to answer all the questions of the natural universe, men sent scientists out to discover how the world worked. While those at home waited for the answers, they decided to make the world more comfortable. Some became so absorbed in transforming the environment to meet their needs, they forgot they were waiting for the answers to pertinent questions, such as, why are we alive? For what purpose do we exist? Awakening from the preoccupation of raising our standard of living and amassing creature comforts would have to occur to realize these questions have still not been answered.
Insights Three through Five involve recognizing that matter is really energy in solid form, learning that thoughts influence matter (Prov. 23:7), and understanding that most human relationships revolve around humans competing for each others energy. Finally, discovering an infinite source of energy allows men to cease human power struggles and commune with Spirit.
The Sixth Insight consists of recognizing the drama we have used throughout our lives to gain energy. Said another way, Know thyself. Redfield identifies four categories of control: intimidator, inquisitor, appearing aloof, poor me.
The Seventh Insight consists of learning to become intuitive by asking questions and waiting for answers. The Messiah told His disciples in Matt. 7:7-8 to ask, seek, and knock. By habitually forming a question in our minds, we are creating the correct scenario for solutions to come to us. When we become close-minded and think we know all the answers, the need to ask questions ceases and answers stop flowing to us.
The Eighth Insight consists of inspiring others to follow this path. The Messiah told Peter to do this. When he was strengthened, he was supposed to convert the bretheren (Lk. 22:32).
Achieving the Ninth Insight appeared to have put them into another state of consciousness. It was as if they left the corporeal and went into the incorporeal. This is like moving to different states and conditions of the mind.
To give fair exposure to other views of the Celestine Prophecy, I must say that some critics view Redfields book in a different light because of his depiction of religious leaders, especially the Roman Catholic church.
"This fiction was and is promoted with the subtle implication that the psycho-mystical occurrences in the story can be fact in our lives. Its words claim a godliness of purpose. Yet its inference is clearly focused on the self and is very denigrating of Christianity in general, and the Catholic Church in particular. It presents to those who have abandoned the major religions, that a "New Way" has come to put meaning & insight back into life: ... meditation on human one-ness with the universe brings peace, and acceptance of any non-violent practice of life nurtures both the soul (a physical energy field) and a slowly self-perfecting society. ... All CP believers who feel Ive mean-spiritedly characterized them as gullible & misguided should recall the ancient insight: If the shoe fits, wear it. And yet, in compassion, it must be recognized that the search for insight is like the search for water in a vast green forest: You know water is there somewhere but could die of thirst searching on the wrong paths. Almost two thousand years ago a man, Who stands now always at your side, offered a path to water that quenches eternally. Drink and live."
http://www.ancientmysteries.com/Ice_Age.htm
For more reviews of Redfields book, visit these sites.
Summary of the 9 insights, http://www.deoxy.org/9insight.htm
Reviews of CP, http://www.octonet.com/~avalon/cepr.htm
Why I Hate the CP, http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/csc/moylek/cp/
Another skeptic, http://wheel.ucdavis.edu/~btcarrol/skeptic/celest.html