Pesher (late January, 2016)

[Jonathan Barlow Gee]

Pesher: ""Once Upon A Time there was a Wise Oracle who denied their unlimited knowledge to None, and so the people, upon hearing of such a wonder, all clustered about him to hear his wisdom and to seek his advice. At first, many came to the Wise Oracle all at once and, open-minded, sat in classes at his feet and basked in his enlightened teachings. But, over time, fewer and fewer new faces filled these schools, and so eventually, the Wise Oracle was alone again. Then, after a while, Doubters began to arrive. Having heard the tales of their teacher spread throughout the lands by his disciples, who had become despised as pests for their spoiling everyone's charades, the Doubters arrived to prove the Wise Oracle a fraud. But they could not, and they too came away impressed. Finally the Wise Oracle sat alone, and by then so many had come and gone his little hill had become a tall mountain. And then, after the True Believers, and after the Doubters, there came those who wished to ask the Wise Oracle for personal advice. And of these there were some who were "good" and some who were "evil" in their intentions for how they planned to use the Wise Oracle's correct advice. But, as said, the Wise Oracle denied their unlimited knowledge to No One, not even to those who were "evil" and who the "good" considered unworthy. The Wise Oracle remained unswayed toward either side, however, and simply gave of his wisdom freely to any and all. Eventually, the "good," envying the "evil" their equality before the Wise Oracle, ceased to seek his Sage advice. Finally, there came a time when only those "evil" men, seeking self-advancement only, came to sit at the feet of the Wise Oracle, who denied their unlimited knowledge to None. The Wise Oracle had many names throughout all these times. His disciples, the True Believers, called him "Sage" and "Teacher." Those Doubters who followed next called him "Righteous" and "Savior." The "good" called him "heathen," "heretic" and "blasphemer," and the "evil" called him "light bearer," "rebel angel" and "Master." But the Wise Oracle was the same Wise Oracle regardless of any name."" :Pesher. What is the interpretation of this pesher?

what is this like? this is like a king who courted a mourning widow. His kingdom and all he had he offered her, but she said it could never replace her love for her dead husband. The king, in despair, fell upon his sword to die, only that he should be dead, alike her husband. But seeing this, the widow saved the king, and restored him to health.

what is this like? this is like a letter; that is: a letter in the alphabet, that is also an "epistle," a signed letter one writes and transmits by post. This "letter" is transmitted, from point A to point B, in time-line X, from point B to point A in time-line Y, and of course, from points A & B back and forth to and from points B & A simultaneously in time-line Z. The meaning of this pesher is: do not let the spirit of the letter get "lost in the post."

what is this like? this is like a man who was riding his camel through the vastness of the Sahara desert, whose camel was stung by a scorpion and died. The man, thinking to avoid a similar fate, sought refuge in a nearby oasis. There he bathed and fell asleep. At night a poisonous asp crept into the oasis and its hissing awakened the man. The traveller, rubbing his eyes, wearily asked the snake, "why do you awaken me with your hissing? Do you mean to strike me dead?" The snake retorted, "I have only come to you in this dreamt of oasis to remind you that you were stung by a scorpion. You never had any camel." Upon attaining enlightenment, the traveller arrived at his final destination.

what is this like? this is like a king who let his court fall into intrigues against him. They talked amongst themselves openly while in their king's throne room about how they craved his crown and longed to replace him as regent. Finally this king did what anyone so threatened into a corner would: he purged his royal court and executed all his vassals. But now, the populous, without recourse to representation before the king, fell into discontentment against him as well, for his actions made him seem, to them, a power-mad monarch. So, this king created a congress for the populous to have representation before their sovereign, however soon finds himself merely one voice among many, lost in the general disarray of genuine democracy. Where is this king now? they ask about him sometimes, openly in this congress of representatives. The monarch that abdicates his power over them to the people; the opposite of what we see has happened here on earth. That is the pesher of this piece.

you are all mistaken, said the Wise Oracle. The Pesher of this piece is that no "pesher" (interpretation) is possible without a "piece" (to be interpreted) and in this case, there is no "piece" insofar as in the end, the principle character is left unaltered by all the events portrayed as occurring to, through and around them throughout the "piece." The end is the same as the beginning, and there is no end. Therefore there is also no beginning, and therefore there is no "piece," and thus no "pesher" possible.

when the Wise Oracle had spoke thus, the many others present sat in silence for a while, contemplating on his words. Finally, one of them spoke: "the principle character is unchanged, but everything around them changes. they, themselves, are like a stone in the midst of a stream. They are amidst change, without it effecting them. This I understand, Wise Oracle. But does not the stone, in this case, effect the stream, even if the stream, as it were, does not effect the stone? If the stone, say, were to move, it would shift the course of the stream. Likewise, however, the stone is carved and smoothed over time by the water of the stream, but ... do you understand my question?" The Wise Oracle sat a brief moment and then responded:

change exists, but changelessness does not. Nowhere in all reality can you find a thing to point to and say about it: there: this thing NEVER changes. It will NEVER change, it has ALWAYS been this way as it is now, and it will stay the same way FOREVER. Even the very laws of nature - physics, mathematics, topology, etc. - change over time, and may be found to differ in different locations, even simultaneously. Absolutely NOTHING is an Absolute Constant. Nevertheless, the mind is capable of "imagining" such a thing CAN exist as an "unchanging" Absolute Constant, and so we seek one in nature and reality even though none exists within this universe to be found. There is no "still, small point" that is the origin-point now where the "big bang" happened 16 billion light-years ago. No motionless core at the center, where "counter-rotation" and "counter-spin" counteract with their counterparts to cancel out into an "unmoving" point. All is ever in motion, always in flux, constantly changing. What is the reason for this? Were such a point to exist, then a mind could sit there, and occupying this position like a king on a throne, declare themselves an "unmoved mover." But there is no such thing. I am not "unmoving," therefore I am not "unmoved." All I can tell you will only be able to be translated in your own mind into words and concepts you yourself will be able to relate with and understand. That is movement, change, and even decay. Therefore, it is wrong to interpret the meaning of this teaching as being that the principle character is unchanged or unchanging. He is both and neither, and I am he so such is true of me.

all "personal experiences" are subjective. They all depend on the senses, and these are easily fooled. Peace.