Lectionary Readings for Tuesday, August 20th, 2019

God’s Book of Eskra Chapters 28, 29, and 30

Chapter 28

1. Sakaya said: Without rites and ceremonies, a people is like a collection of musicians,
with every one playing a different tune.

2. Without pledges to general rules, a community is like a farm without fences, where
cattle roam about, destroying the harvests.

3. Two things stand prominently before all men, about which there need be no dispute,
Light and Darkness. Whether ye call the Light, EOLIN, or ORMAZD, or GOD, or SUDGA, it
mattereth little, provided the idea eliminated hath reference to that which is THE HIGHEST
CONCEIVED OF, Who is Ever Present, and is the Person from which all persons sprung. And
whether ye call darkness SIN, or EVIL, or SATAN, it mattereth little, provided the idea
eliminated is that which is the extreme opposite of light.

4. Without these two entities in view, to shun the one, and strive for the other, a
community is like race-horses striving for a prize by running in circular capers, instead of
going on a well provided track.

5. Take no man nor woman into the family till first pledged to serve the All Person,
Jehovih (Ormazd), with a full and willing heart.

6. To shun satan and his emissaries, be circumspect.

7. And when ye are come together, choose ye the oldest, wisest, best man, to be the father
of the family (community).

8. When matters come up for discussion, whoever speaketh thereon shall speak in the
direction of light, and not of darkness.

9. When asked further explanation on this, Sakaya said:

10. There are two modes of discussion before all men: One is to impart light, and
the other is to abuse the opponent. The first is Jehovih’s, the second is satan’s method.
In the family discussion, the latter method shall not be tolerated by the father.

11. After the discussion is finished, the rab’bah shall decree according to the light of the
Father in him.

12. Sakaya was here asked: Why not decree according to the majority vote?

13. Sakaya said: That is the lower light, being the light of men only.

14. For I declare unto you, ye can not serve both Jehovih and men. It is incumbent on
every man in the community that entereth the discussion to speak from the higher light, as
he perceiveth it, without regard to policy or consequences. And the same law shall be
binding on the rab’bah; and though nine men out of ten side the other way, yet the
rab’bah’s decree shall stand above all the rest.

15. When the discussion turneth upon rites and ceremonies, which the community may
adopt, or the music, or the discipline regarding funerals, or marriages, or births, the
speakers shall remember that a family is composed of old and young; of sedate and
jocose; and that every talent is created for the glory of the whole, and for the glory of the
Creator; and they shall enlarge their understanding, to embrace the whole. Remembering,
it is easier to walk beside a bull, and turn him in his course, than to come against him for
the same purpose.

16. One man hath joy in sacrifice (worship) by clapping his hands and dancing; another,
in poetry; another, in singing; another, in silent prayers. And yet, one hath no preference
over another in sight of Him Who created them, for they are His own handiwork.

17. Consider, then, that ye provide a time and place in the community for all of these in
their own way, directing them holily. For if ye strive to bind them, that are of exuberant
spirits, not to dance and clap their hands, they will find vent in secrecy and to an evil end.

18. Herein have the Brahmin priests been aiders and abettors of bawdy houses and of
drunkenness and licentiousness; because they have sought to make you ascetics by
overthrowing your natural talents

Chapter 29

1. Sakaya said: Of a truth, I declare a new thing to you, but which was old thousands of
years ago.

2. That religion is nothing more nor less than rites and ceremonies in the discipline of a
community. As when an army of soldiers are in training by their captains, when certain
commands and maneuvers cause the soldiers to be as a unit in movement; so is religion in
a community, through rites and ceremonies, made as a unit to carry out works of charity
and harmony and love and righteousness.

3. And every member of a community, that taketh no part in its religion, is like an idler
mixing in with a company of soldiers, where his presence tendeth to evil.

4. Brahmin priests go about preaching, singing and praying before audiences, making
great show in the temples; yet none of these practice what they profess.

5. From these evils learn ye, to do good; first, by living only in families, where all the
members practice what they profess.

6. As the world goeth, it is easy to preach and call it religion; but the fruit must be
measured by the city or the state, that is saved from sin. Who then, of all the priests in the
temple, can say: Here is a community saved from sin!

7. If they can not do this, then they are themselves hypocrites and blasphemers.

8. Satan calleth out from a dark corner, saying: Remain thou within the wicked world,
and leaven the whole mass.

9. Again he calleth out from a dark corner, saying: Go thou away from the wicked world,
and live as an ascetic, praying alone, living alone.

10. Again he calleth from a dark corner, saying: Thou and thy friends are too pure to
mix with the world; go ye away privily, and let the world take care of itself.

11. Now, I say unto you: Do none of these things; and, in the same breath, I say: Do all of
them.

12. Let your community remain within the world, that it may be a proven example that
love, peace, plenty, and happiness are possible on the earth. Let the community be
sufficiently ascetic to attain the beatific state, which is the triumph of spirit over the flesh.

13. And, as to the third proposition: Take ye no part in the governments of men, of kings,
or queens. Neither fight ye for them, nor against them.

14. For they live under the lower law; but ye shall live under the law of Jehovih as He
speaketh to the soul of man.

15. Neither shall ye have kings, nor queens; these belong to the world’s people.

16. Lastly, and above all things, live not for the corporeal man, but for the spiritual man;
remembering ye are not yet born, but are in embryo, shaping yourselves for the
everlasting life.

17. Whoso practiceth not the higher law, will not escape the tortures in hell; but whoso
liveth the higher law will pass on to Nirvania, where dwell Gods and Goddesses of
endless light.

18. Flatter not yourselves that ye shall suddenly reform all the world. Ye can at most but
reach an arm’s length.

19. Three doctrines have been, now are, and ever shall be on the earth; they are: First, the
Faithists’, who know the All Person, Ever Present; second, the idol worshipers’, who
make the Creator into a man in heaven, and not present but by proxy of certain laws; and,
third, infidels’, who believe in nothing they cannot take up in the hand, and weigh.

20. The Faithists beget Faithists, the idolaters beget idolaters, the infidels beget infidels.
For these three conditions are but outward manifestations of the spirit; the infidel is
nearly devoid of spirit; the idolater hath one grade more of spirit; but the Faithist hath
spiritual ascendancy.

21. Since the highest best good things done in the world, come of the order of Faithists,
be ye circumspect as to marriage, that your offspring incline more to spirituality than to
earthliness.

22. But such matters come under the higher law, and can be understood only through the
soul.

23. Also, hath practice proved that the laws of a community must die with the death of
the rab’bah, and that new laws must be made by the new rab’bah. And, in no case, shall
the law of precedent, of things past, apply to things present. For this is making slaves of
the living, to those that are dead. It is making the wisdom of the dead greater than the
wisdom of Jehovih.

24. When a rab’bah retireth from office, it shall be considered the same as a death, for it is
the termination of his rule.

25. Nor shall a rab’bah have any privileges or emoluments, over and above any member
of the community; nor one man above another; nor one woman above another; for there
shall be no partiality, even in favor of the learned and good, over and above the ignorant
and the less good. For ye are all brothers and sisters; children of One Father, created by
Him in His own way and for His own glory.

Chapter 30

1. For four years Sakaya preached, traveling from the east to the west, and from north to
south; and wherever he went, great multitudes came to hear him, for God had so prepared
them.

2. And there went with him seventy-two disciples, who were also inspired of God, to
learn the wisdom of Sakaya’s words. And the people of Vind’yu were stirred up as they
had not been from the time of Capilya.

3. And it came to pass that the priests and magicians of Brahma sought to condemn
Sakaya, saying: The oracles and the spirits of the dead declare, his words are not true
words. Moreover, if he were of the Holy Ghost, he could show signs and miracles.

4. So God gave Sakaya signs and miracles, even to showing the spirits of the dead, who
came and stood beside him whilst he preached; and the spirits spake also, declaring
Sakaya’s words were of Jehovih. And the multitude saw the spirits, and heard them speak.

5. Sakaya said: Of a truth, I do not come of the Holy Ghost; I come of the actual Person,
Jehovih (Ormazd).

6. Then God gave to Sakaya power of the DEATH CAST, whereat his own spirit went out of
his corporeal body, and stood in the presence of many men, and was seen by them; and
his spirit spake to them, and they heard his words.

7. And whilst his spirit was thus out of his corporeal body, another angel of God came
and inhabited it, and spake before the multitude.

8. Now, after these signs came to Sakaya, he preached again, and traveled four years
more, showing these things wherever he went.

9. And on these occasions he explained the spirit of things, and the different heavens
which he had visited. And he showed unto many that it was not imagination; for he left
his corporeal body, and went in spirit to far-off cities and country places, showing his
spirit in regions hundreds of miles remote, and he was recognized in the communities
where he appeared.

10. For there were learned men in those days, and they traveled to the places named to see
his spirit, to witness if such a thing could be; and hundreds and thousands of them
testified it was true.

11. Sakaya said: Of these matters be ye most expert in observation; for though they be
proved to you, yet I declare to you, they are as nothing. For even magicians and spirits of
darkness can attain to the same miracles.

12. Nor is there in such wonders one single virtue, that would contribute to make the
world better, or happier.

13. For the spirits of the lower heavens, like mortals, have multitudes of doctrines; and,
for the most part, they know nothing of the higher heavens, Nirvania, which I proclaim
unto you.

14. Nor is the testimony of a spirit more valuable to you than is the testimony of a mortal.

15. But consider ye the words and doctrines of spirits and men; for that only is good
which provideth for ameliorating the condition of the family and the state.

16. For it is given unto you by the Father, that ye can begin your own resurrection whilst
ye are here in the corporeal body.

17. Consider, then, what ye can do that will raise you in spirit; for this is resurrection.
First, to purify yourselves; second, to do all the good ye can; and third, to affiliate.
Without these, there can be no resurrection.

18. Or, having two of them, and lacking in the third, there can be no resurrection.

19. To live the highest best one knoweth; to practice sharply the convictions of the heart:
these are the working-tools of resurrection. To live not the highest best one knoweth; to
practice not what one is convinced of, is hypocrisy; these are like stones tied to the neck
of a man in deep water.

20. In all, Sakaya preached and practiced fourteen years; and he founded seventy-two
communities.

21. And all the members thereof were sworn against war, and against caste, and against
idleness, and to worship only the Great Spirit, Ormazd. And he gave them many rites and
ceremonies.

22. And then Sakaya said unto the Creator: I know Thou hast in some mysterious way
inspired me to do all I have done. Therefore, all the glory is Thine. How best, O Father,
may these great truths be impressed upon mortals, that they will not soon forget Thy
words through me?

23. Then answered God to Sakaya, saying: By thy death by the hand of the idolater.

24. Sakaya said: Then, O Thou, Who createdst me alive, provide Thou my death as Thou
desirest.

25. Then God cut asunder the cord of light that extended to the heavenly throne in
Paradise. And suddenly now the Brahmins conspired against Sakaya, and they went
privily and poisoned his food with the blood of swine, killed with poison.

26. And Sakaya ate thereof, not perceiving it; and he was taken with a bloody flux and
died.

27. And his disciples took his body, according to the custom of the country, and burnt it,
and scattered the ashes thereof to the four corners of the world.

28. And in the night thereafter, God sent a million angels into the field of ashes, with a
heavenly ship of fire, and they took the spirit of Sakaya therein, and bore him up to the
throne of God.

END OF THE HISTORY OF SAKAYA.