About the Teaching of the United Temple
At the end of the twentieth century, a new page was opened in the history of the Teaching of the United Temple. The date of its foundation under this name is March 1, 1996; however, this date does not mark the birth of the Teaching as such, but the beginning of another stage of its existence. And though the Teaching has a long way to go here on earth, in a certain sense this is the last stage.
The evolution of the Universe requires the appearance and development (biological, intellectual, and moral) of sentient races. There are many of them in the Universe, and the development path of each of them is peculiar. Some go their way to perfection rather quickly (by time measures of evolution), while others have problems with this, so they deviate from the way in the moral sense, or face some factors hindering the process of cognition of the surrounding world and self. Of course, the two (morality and cognition) are very closely intertwined and intermingled; but it should be noted that the development of a correct system of values and objective moral principles by a rational race depends directly on the success of its cognition of the surrounding world and itself.
Mankind has proved to be one of the problematic races in this sense. Having existed for much longer than modern science suggests (probably for at least 300,000 years), it has, nevertheless, still not been able to overcome some negative traits of its nature, reach an adequate level in its knowledge of the world and of itself and in its moral evolution, and successfully complete its way of development as a species. This does not mean that it is inferior to other sentient races in the Universe, or to those that have existed on Earth before it and have successfully completed their journey. Humanity is quite adequate in its potential, ability, and capacity; but it has difficulty in coping with some of its problematic features. It can be compared to a troubled teenager – intelligent, inquisitive, good at heart, but of a bad character, a frivolous and wilful bully in whom kindness and cruelty, altruism and selfishness are whimsically mingled.
Humanity is not the only sentient race experiencing such difficulties. There are more problematic races in the Universe. But all of them are necessary elements of the evolutionary process, Nature worked on their creation, they are its particles, and their problems in development are its problems, and the loss of any of them is an irreparable loss for Nature, a great harm for evolution. Therefore, Nature provides mechanisms to help problem races, – ways to help them in their knowledge of the world and their moral evolution.
If said problems turn out to be so critical for any of the sentient races, that in the long term threaten them with extinction or outright annihilation, then a kind of informational aid is given to them: knowledge is passed to them, which should help to overcome a difficult period in their intellectual and moral development. This knowledge is transmitted in a form that can be defined as a revelation: the God of Wisdom addresses one of the individuals of a given race and transmits through him a certain amount of information, which in different cases can be different, larger, or smaller. Here it is necessary to clarify that in the Teaching of the United Temple the term “god” has no mystical content and does not mean anything supernatural: the “gods” in the Teaching are energy beings who are nothing but a reasonable component of the laws of Nature. The gods are its particles, alive and intelligent, and ensure the normal course of natural processes and the implementation of the principles by which Nature exists as a living system. Each of the gods has its specialization and its field of activity. The God of Wisdom is the keeper of knowledge; he has at his disposal information about everything that was, is, and can be in the Universe. And as a creature of the universal scale, if necessary, he comes to the aid of this or that intelligent race, which needs for its development an “informational impulse”.
Throughout its long history, mankind received his revelation many times. After each revelation, the received knowledge was made accessible to the initiated circle, which further disseminated it in the indirect form – through philosophical, ethical Teaching, works of art, and so on. This knowledge was not meant to free mankind from the labor of cognizing the world, but only to help it emerge from the next crisis and slightly accelerate its progress. This succeeded to a greater or lesser extent, but its success was never decisive: after a certain lapse of time, the legacy of the God of Wisdom was distorted, forgotten, and lost. The centuries and millennia passed, and humanity again found itself in a crisis – and one of the humans received a revelation and created a new circle of the chosen ones.
As mentioned above, our species, endowed by nature with all that is necessary for normal development, by some of its peculiarities has proved to be problematic. Its entire history is a series of intellectual and moral upheavals – sometimes independent, sometimes influenced by the revelations of the God of Wisdom – and periods of decline that followed. The revelations had an enormous impact on almost all spheres of his life – but a certain “critical point” of the rise, a tipping point, after which qualitative changes could already ensure the successful achievement of the highest degree of development, has never been reached. Nations and civilizations were born and disappeared, and periods of high culture were replaced by periods of regression to savagery and even almost complete ruin of mankind; and although it has not reached what it could have reached, it has not died. It has survived and created a modern civilization, the most advanced in its history. But this success has a downside, namely, that humanity’s moral progress has lagged behind technical progress, with the result that it has found itself on the brink of self-destruction. This is the first time that such a situation has arisen. And that is why a new revelation of God of Wisdom was given to mankind in the nineties of the twentieth century.
This revelation is different from the previous ones. Firstly, it will be the last in the history of mankind – because the Teaching is no longer in danger of oblivion. Secondly, this time a greater volume of information has been transmitted than ever before. Thirdly, the Teaching is now spread openly and can be accepted by anyone. The purpose of the Teaching is to make the world a better place, and to help humanity in its intellectual and moral development. No doubt, the declaration of such aims may evoke a sarcastic chuckle, for people are accustomed to taking such statements at face value. They have been repeatedly deceived by those who, under the guise of talking about the common good, actually seek to line their pockets or gain power. Moreover, many people judge others by themselves; if they think only of their good or that of their “inner circle”, they are convinced that all people are like that. And some pessimists are convinced that no one can change the world and fix people. In reality, some people think first of the common good and then of themselves. If there were not, the human race would have devoured itself long ago. And making the world a better place is also possible. Human beings make mistakes and destroy, but they can learn from mistakes and create. And if one does not believe that it is possible to make the world and people better, then what is the point of living? The Teaching explains that each person is powerful and precious to the Universe; each of us is nothing but one of the pillars on which the Universe rests. Everyone is capable of changing the world for the better: the main thing is to know it and to want it. And we have the power to do that. Nature, while creating man, made sure we have enough.
What is the Teaching of the United Temple?
First of all, it should be noted that it is not a religion. It does not include belief in the supernatural, has no cult or objects of worship, it has no clergy or priesthood. As already mentioned, the word “god” in it is not used to refer to supernatural beings, but to certain natural forces. Similarly, some other things that at first sight seem similar to religious beliefs (such as belief in the rebirth after death) are based on knowledge of the laws of Nature, as yet unknown to official science. This is not surprising: science is not very far advanced even in the study of the physical world; knowledge of the realities and laws of the world of energy and, even more so, of the world of Spirit, remains a rather distant and vague prospect for it. In this respect, the Teaching is somewhat ahead of it and can help it by providing some orientation in research and some information. Absolutely everything that the Teaching says is cognizable by scientific methods; another thing is that science itself must go some way to developing, expanding, and refining its methods.
In the past periods of its existence, the Teaching of the United Temple could be called by different names – although it did not change the essence: the teaching has always remained the same teaching. The current name was given to it by the God of Wisdom. His name in the Teaching is Emere. Although he has many names by which he has been known to different people and eras; the best known of these is probably Hermes. Therefore, the Teaching is still called the true Teaching of Hermes. In the title “Teaching of the United Temple” the word “temple” means the Universe, Nature, in general, the totality of all existing in its inseparable unity. In this temple one does not have to worship anything: in it, one has to work for the good of all existing. Another name for the Teaching is the True Teaching.
Such definitions usually arouse a lot of censure. Few people like it when someone declares himself to be the ultimate Truth. In reality, however, there is nothing wrong with this, as long as no one is forced to accept any teaching that claims to be true. And if you keep your eyes open to reality, it becomes obvious that the vast majority of Teaching – religious, philosophical, ethical – regard themselves as possessing the Truth. This is normal. Much more ridiculous would be a teaching that claims it is not true. What is the point of its existence then? A teaching that does not affirm, but only supposes (and thus does not claim to be true), is not a teaching in the full sense of the word, but rather a set of theories or hypotheses. And it is certainly not nice the hypocrisy of someone who believes they have Truth, but for fear of being looked at obliquely or for other reasons pretends that they do not. Therefore, the Teaching is not ashamed to call itself the True Teaching. All the more so when the censures come from those who have no way of proving that it is not true. At best these critics can cite evidence from the point of view of another worldview system – and thereby lay claim to their possession of absolute Truth already. These are two contradictions into which the critics often fall in the heat of polemics. First, claiming that one teaching is wrong because the other is right, automatically equates the positions of the critic and the criticized, because the first one thus writes off the same thing for which he criticizes the second one. The second is that he who asserts that there is no absolute Truth is himself claiming it because he holds absolutely true his opinion and assertion that there is no absolute Truth.
The question arises: if it is impossible to prove that The Teaching of the United Temple teaching is not true, is it possible to prove that it is true? The answer is: it is not yet possible to prove its truth by scientific methods. As science develops, scientific evidence will appear in increasing numbers; for now, the truth of the Teaching is proved mainly by its logical and practical aspects. By the first is meant the integrity and consistency of the Teaching, the interrelation and interdependence of all its elements, the complete compatibility of its ontology, practice, and ethics, the rationality of the explanations which it gives to the phenomena of human nature, the surrounding world and the Universe, the total absence of appeals to the supernatural, etc. The second implies the practical possibility of achieving the things that the Teaching narrates about: to remember one’s former lives, to experience one’s unity with the whole Universe and with each of its particles separately, to discover in oneself the hidden powers and to draw strength from Nature, to observe phenomena of the energy world and much more. In other words, if one properly follows the Teaching, they move from the intellectual and intellectual realm to the practical realm and change for the better the human personality, giving it not only new knowledge but also new positive qualities, abilities, and capabilities. And this is the way to change the entire human society and the world for the better. It was said above that the Teaching is the true Teaching of Hermes. However, Hermeticism, for all its antiquity and authority, has very little to do with the true teaching of the God of Wisdom. Some millennia ago, there was a past (i.e. penultimate) revelation of the God of Wisdom, Hermes. The prophet who received the revelation was partially identified with its source and remained in the memory of people as Hermes Trismegistus. The present Hermeticism is very remote in time and a very distorted echo of that revelation. It is amorphous, its written sources (such, for example, as “Corpus Hermeticum”) are interpreted and reinterpreted in every way; as a result, we observe a parallel existence of many treatments of Hermeticism and various hermetic Teachings. All of them have very little to do with the true Teaching of Hermes. Though it might be assumed that there are some texts closer to the original texts: they contain traces of the original teaching, in our time revived under the name the Teaching of the United Temple. The Teaching at the moment does not have any of these texts in its possession, – which are still esoteric in the direct sense of the word, and which are very difficult to find. But this does not make much difference to it either, because it is based on a new revelation and relies on a new collection of texts. Likewise, it does not use the “Corpus Hermeticum” and other similar sources: it is only interesting mainly as material for historical-philosophical research.
The Teaching is not one of the branches of traditional Hermeticism. Hermeticism itself is nothing more than a distorted echo of the Teaching, which has come down to our days from the time of Hermes Trismegistus. Thus, we have a situation where the Teaching has returned to the world where it reveals traces of itself in the form of more or less esoteric hermetic texts and concepts. All this is its history. But there is no doubt that even here there will be those who will stand in opposition to the Teaching simply because they do not want to recognize the hermetic tradition of the last few millennia as no longer relevant. Moreover: the fact that the Teaching declares itself as true Hermeticism will be disliked by very many. The Teaching adheres to the following position: those who strive for knowledge, will manage to approach the problem with an open mind and possibly reconsider their beliefs; as for those who as a rule are not willing to consider the possibility that the Teaching is a revived authentic hermeticism, a discussion with them will hardly be worthwhile. The main argument of such traditionalists usually boils down to the statement that no one has the right to declare themselves the standard and to reject tradition by relegating it to the realm of delusion. In other words, they are outraged not so much by the content of the Teaching as by the very fact of its existence and self-definition. Some are sorry to part with the authoritative tradition, while some will not want to accept the authority of the Teaching and thus lose the possibility of interpreting the traditional material themselves. What can be done? Science, practice, and time will eventually resolve the dispute.
It must be said that the Teaching does not consider polemics with other worldviews as the main way of defending one’s views. That is, debate is possible, but it is not the aim. After all, it is quite clear that it is impossible the persuade a person who does not want any changes. Here the discussion may be led not so much for the disputants themselves, as for outsiders who develop their opinions about the worldview systems represented in it by comparing them. In this sense, polemics is interesting and useful. But the main principle of semination of the Teaching is to show the way to those who seek it. Any form of intrusive propaganda is excluded. Of course, the Teaching can and should be preached; but the task here is not to force anyone to accept it. It is to give people the opportunity to learn about the Teaching and to come to it. Let those who want it – whether out of curiosity, out of serious research interest, out of a desire to criticize it, or because they are looking for a way – come to know it.
Can anyone join the Teaching? As a matter of fact, yes. There are no restrictions on gender, nationality, or social status. There is only one limitation – the age: anyone who is 21 years old (this age in the Teaching is considered the age of majority) can join the Teaching. The Teaching of the United Temple is for everyone. However, to join it several conditions must be met.
First of all, one cannot be in the Teaching and at the same time adhere (even partially) to the views of another teaching. The Teaching is a complete system, which must not be mixed with any other system. Unfortunately, today it is fashionable to compile fragments (often mutually exclusive) of different worldview systems, creating for oneself “personal religions”, though absurd, but convenient for personal use. In the Teaching of the United Temple, this is impossible. One cannot belong to it and at the same time accept the correctness of some contrary to the Teaching statements. Truth is one; therefore, one who recognizes the Teaching as true cannot recognize other Teachings as true (except for those elements of them that coincide with similar elements of the Teaching), perform their rituals, etc. In addition, every follower of the Teaching must understand that the Teaching is a system where all elements are interconnected and interdependent and that the introduction of any outside element destroys the connections between them and makes the whole system unreasonable and chaotic, thus depriving it of meaning. Finally, problems should not be avoided by departing from the Truth. If the way of the Teaching causes difficulties, they should be solved in the way that the Teaching has provided for, one should work on oneself rather than look for more convenient options in other Teaching to avoid difficulties and problems. There are no easy paths; the chosen path must be followed properly – only then it leads to the goal. The habit of avoiding difficulties by using simpler and more convenient elements of other ways devalues the chosen path, turns it into fiction, and following it – into a farce. Certainly, one who does so cannot be regarded as a follower of either the Teaching or any other Teaching.
What is more, it is necessary to recognize and abide by the principles and rules of the Teaching – for example, to recognize the authority of the Teacher in general and one’s Teacher in particular, to treat them properly, to handle the Pandekt properly, etc. But this does not even need much comment, for it is obvious that every community has its internal laws, and if one does not recognize and adhere to them, one cannot belong to that community.
Next, a person should want and try to follow the Teaching. This means that he should work on himself to become what he should be in terms of the Teaching. It is important to point out: the Teaching is not intended to forbid anything. It teaches by pointing out and explaining what is right, why, and how to learn to do it right. I will give an example to illustrate this. It condemns lying as one of the worst evils. But it does not forbid its followers to lie, it does not impose a prohibition in a categorical form, but it encourages them to reject lies as such, as a phenomenon. And whoever truly accepts the Teaching as true, who understands why one must not lie and wants to reject lies, will do so himself, without any compulsion. The same principle applies to other wrong and undesirable phenomena, and vice versa, to that which is desirable and necessary. In other words, the followers of the Teaching adhere to its principles and change themselves according to them because they consider it right and want it. Hence the question: what can be said of a follower who does not try to live according to the principles of the Teaching he professes? Only that he is not a true follower, that his acceptance of the Teaching as true is hypocritical and his affiliation with the Teaching is meaningless. The Teaching of the United Temple seeks to change the world and people; one cannot belong to it nominally, to put it simply. To belong to it means not only to recognize its truth and know its Teaching theoretically but also to put it into practice through one’s actions. It is the Teaching of action. Therefore, it makes sense to join it only for those who seriously intend to follow it in practice. If a man is a follower of the Teaching but does not make a proper effort to put its principles into practice, he will cease to be a follower. Of course, no one will demand that a neophyte instantly change himself. The inner restructuring of a person, his motivations, principles, and psychology, is a difficult and often very long, gradual matter. But the change must happen, the process must go on. If months or even years pass without the follower getting rid of undesirable qualities or acquiring necessary ones, if his life does not change in the needed way, it means that he does not strive for changes, that he is satisfied with the way he was before the Taught. Hence the natural conclusion is that he does not need the Teaching.
Finally, to join the Teaching, one must make goals his own. The goal of the Teaching is to make better people and the world, to help the living Universe in its evolution. Every follower should strive for this as well. In other words, he has to understand that the interests of humanity, the world and the Universe are above private interests. This does not mean renunciation of the personal life; but one has to learn to live life in such a way that it benefits the world, and is not harmful to it. Simply speaking, one has to live in such a way that to be for the benefit of the world and not for the evil, the creator, and not the destroyer. And to remember that nature has created man for something more than taking care of himself. Each of us is necessary for the world and the universe; each of us is endowed with a mind, a receptive and creative soul, and willpower and is truly capable of changing the world for the better. If it were not so, man as a species would never have appeared. This must be remembered. Teaching exists to help people understand themselves as such and to help change the world. If one does not want this, there is no point in being in the Teaching. You can be purely self-conscious without it. It exists for the sake of more.
One might get the impression that there are too many conditions to be fulfilled to join the Teaching. This is not the case. The above are only basic guidelines to judge whether or not the Teaching is truly necessary. Sadly, many people think that accepting a certain worldview as a certain body of information and putting its principles into practice are different things, and the former does not imply the latter. This misconception devalues any spiritual path, turning it into a set of airborne, meaningless maxims and crossing out its goals and meaning. No such thing is allowed in the Teaching. It represents not only a volume of information but a way of life.
Before joining the Teaching, one should become as thoroughly acquainted as possible with its Teaching, principles, and rules. To do so, one must read the Pandekt and communicate with the Teacher. No one is accepted into the Teaching at once: one must first be convinced that he needs it, and must try to live by the principles of the Teaching. This implies a certain lead time, which may vary from case to case, but usually is a few months (or up to 21 years of age if one is younger). The actual joining of the Teaching is a minute procedure, in which the receiver asks some standard questions and the applicant gives standard answers. The ceremony itself is simply to confirm that the initiate knows what is needed, understands the Teaching, and intends to follow it properly. Leaving the teaching is even simpler: they simply announce that they are leaving the teaching and from that moment on they are no longer considered followers. An exception from the Teaching is also possible: if a follower gives only lip service to them but does not follow their chosen path, does not practice their principles, does not try to rid themselves of the negative qualities and develop positive ones in themselves – that is if their belonging to the Teaching is a fiction – they may be told that they are no longer considered followers.
Followers of the Teaching are not required to wear any badges indicating that they belong to it. In the future, such signs will be introduced; but their wearing by ordinary followers will be purely voluntary.
Followers of the Teaching call themselves the Eternal People. This does not mean only those of them who live now, nor does it mean only those who live on Earth. After all, the Teaching has existed almost as long as intelligent life has existed in the universe. When the first intelligent race that appeared in the universe began to cognize the world, that is when the first contact was made with the Teaching, which is nothing other than the teaching of reality. Everyone who cognizes the Truth thereby cognizes the Teaching, some through revelation, some solely on their own. Objective scientific knowledge is the Teaching comprehended without or with the help of the revelation of God of Wisdom. In some worlds, it existed and exists in the form of a God-given Wisdom worldview system that helps to cognize the world in parallel and together with science, in others – as the same worldview system, but formed independently, with the help of scientific and philosophical methods of knowledge. Therefore, the Eternal People are not only modern followers of the Teaching here on Earth, but also people and other intelligent beings who belonged to the Teaching on Earth and other inhabited planets in the past, who belong to it now, and those who will belong to it in the future. The Eternal People extends in space to the entire Universe, and in time to the past and the future. It was, is, and will be: therefore it is eternal. The Teaching makes no distinction between its human and non-human followers; they are all people with the same worldview, the same principles, and the same goals. In the cosmos there are communities of sentient races that make up the Eternal People; in time mankind will also merge into these communities.
Concerning the joining of the Teaching, it only remains to add that every member may choose a name by which he will be called in the Teaching. This is not compulsory, but it may be done if one wishes to emphasize the beginning of a new stage in one’s life or for any other reasons. There is no special procedure for adopting a new name: the follower simply declares what he wants to be called, and the Teacher, with his consent, assigns the chosen name to him. A name can be chosen by oneself or (in some cases) may be suggested by the Teacher. It is not allowed to change it later on. That is why one should not hurry to choose one (a new name can be chosen at any time, not necessarily right after entrance) but one has to take it very seriously and take it very seriously. The teacher may refuse a name if he considers it frivolous, indecent, or otherwise inappropriate. It has already been mentioned that there are no priests in the Teaching. But there are Teachers. A Teacher is a person who has expert knowledge of the Teaching and has the right to teach it to others. Besides, his way of life should be consistent with the Teaching; the Teacher is obliged to serve as an example for apprentices and others in general. The relationship between the apprentice and the Teacher is one of the foundations of the life of the Teaching of the United Temple. Everyone who wants to enter the Teaching has to spend some time with one of the Teachers; as a rule, afterward he is accepted into the Teaching by the same Teacher and he also takes him under his trusteeship. Every follower has to have a Teacher whose task is not only to teach the apprentice, to help him/her to comprehend the Teaching, to give necessary explanations, etc., but also to teach how to live via it, to help to implement its principles in practice, to give counsel, to provide psychological aid if possible, to help on a spiritual way in general. The Teacher helps the apprentice to change, one may say – to be born anew in the Teaching and thus is the spiritual Teacher, a very close person. The apprentice must understand that his new life in the Teaching he owes to the Teacher and must be grateful to him for this. Full confidence in the Teacher is indispensable; the apprentice should recognize his unquestionable authority in matters relating to the Teaching, and should heed his opinions and advice on everything else – for the opinions and judgments of the Teacher are in one way or another the basics of the Teaching and from them much can be learned. It cannot be claimed that the Teacher is immune from errors in his private judgments, for no one is omniscient or perfect. But he never makes rash judgments or unreasonable assessments, so his words are trustworthy. If he does not know something or is not sure about something, he will not assert it. He will never lie to an apprentice. The apprentice, on his part, should be honest and as frank as possible with the Teacher. Of course, no one is forcing complete frankness, and the Teacher will not compulsively pry into the apprentice’s secrets; but the latter must understand that the better the Teacher knows him and his life, the more grounded his advice will be, the better he will be able to help to overcome difficult situations and resolve problems. The distrust of the Teacher is altogether rather strange. Is it possible not to trust the person you rely on to know the world and who helps you to be born again? The Teacher, on his part, undertakes to keep secret what the apprentice confides in him. The same principle applies here as in confession or the work of a psychoanalyst or doctor: non-disclosure of personal information. The apprentice should honor and respect the Teacher at all times – but without self-deprecation. The Teacher, in turn, is obliged to take care of the spiritual perfection of the apprentice. He has no right to use the apprentice (or apprentices – because there can be several of them or even many) for personal purposes and he cannot demand payment from them and cannot accept it if it is offered.
So, how is it possible to distinguish a real Teacher from a false teacher? Firstly, one does not become a Teacher by oneself: one needs the sanction of a more experienced Teacher who knows well the person to whom he gives this sanction and is confident that he can be a Teacher. Secondly, the Teacher must have expert knowledge of the Teaching. Thirdly, he cannot teach anything that contradicts the Teaching. Fourthly, he must live by the Teaching and be an example. Fifthly, he must devote his life to his apprentice. Sixth, he must not lie to them, divulge what they tell him in confidence, use them for personal gain, and charge them. Failure to comply with any of these points means that the Teacher is not real.
Theoretically, any follower of the Teaching can become a Teacher. But to do so, certain requirements have to be met. First of all, one has to have a sufficient level of intelligence – otherwise, one cannot study the Teaching in detail and teach them to others, understand a difficult life situation and give the right advice, understand the psychology of the apprentice and help him on his way. Then one needs such personal qualities as the ability to devote oneself to other people, great patience, willpower, unselfishness, courage and selflessness, and, of course, love of people and the world, without which it is impossible to be a Teacher all. Certainly, the Teacher must be devoted to the Teaching as the aim of his life and live by its principles: this is the basis of his status altogether. In a word, although the opportunity to become a Teacher is open to all, in practice it is not easy and is not accessible to everyone, because the demands made on the Teacher are so high. It cannot be otherwise: the spiritual path and, in many respects, the destiny of his apprentice depends on the Teacher. So, the one who would like to be a Teacher has to go through a very difficult path and achieve a lot. It remains to be added to this subject that either a man or a woman can become a Teacher. Gender is irrelevant; what matters is the dedication to the Teaching, competence, personal qualities, and the ability to be a pillar of life for the apprentices. The highest authority in the Teaching, for both ordinary followers and Teachers, is the prophet. He is the one who communicates with Emera, the God of Wisdom; the one who founded the Teaching of the United Temple. His authority is unquestionable, his judgment on matters of Teaching cannot be challenged. He directs all affairs of the Teaching, and he also gives birth to the institution of the Teaching – for it is from him that the first Teachers receive their status. He is also the creator of the Pandekt, the scriptures of the Teaching; none but him can write the texts for the Pandekt.
The Pandekt ‘Erma’ is of immense importance to the Teaching. Its texts are the speeches of the God of Wisdom and other gods recorded by the prophet; the speeches and accounts recorded by him of people who belonged to the Teaching in times past and are now in the world of energy; texts written by him expounding the ideas of the Teaching and highlighting other matters; his messages on various subjects. The Pandekt continues to be enriched. After the Prophet’s death, it will be the primary source of knowledge of the Teaching, the standard by which the truth of this or that statement and the correctness of this or that action are determined.
The Pandekt is such a standard even now because everything written in it is true. It is just that nowadays knowledge is transmitted to the followers from the prophet orally as well – so now there are two main sources of knowledge: the prophet’s speeches and the Pandekt. The Pandekt is equally important for those who have the opportunity to communicate with the prophet and those who do not. It cannot be said that regular reading of the Pandekt is imposed on the devotees; but it contains a statement of the doctrine of the Teaching, its rules and principles, precepts and judgments on various subjects, messages expounding certain important matters, words of the gods, information about the history of the Teaching, biographies of some of its followers of the past ages, examples of their conduct in various situations – in short, everything without knowing which one cannot belong to the Teaching. Therefore, reading and studying the Pandekt is very desirable and necessary for every follower, both for the apprentice and for the Teacher. It is of immense importance. And it is obvious that he who wants to know and understand the Teaching better, who intends to live by their principles, will read, reread and study the Pandekt, not because he will be forced to (no one will force him), but because he will want to. One of the Teachers’ duties is to help their apprentices to study the Pandekt. The Pandekt is food for the follower’s mind and soul, a guide in life, and the voice of a prophet speaking to him. The two important components of a follower’s life are fellowship with the Teacher and the study of Pandekt. What else can be put in this row, what is the daily life of a follower of the Teaching?
As already stated, the Teaching is not a religion and it has no cult. Thus, its followers are not required to worship any deity; there are no objects of worship, such as icons, statues, sacred symbols, sacred buildings, or places. Certainly, there are no prayers, fasts, pilgrimages, religious rites, and services in the Teachings. There are no religious holidays either. There are a few important dates (such as the date of the founding of the Teaching) that followers may celebrate at will. Thus, we see that the mystical aspect of following the teachings is absent, as are the external rituals.
As for the inner side of the follower’s life, the following should be emphasized. There are some principles and rules in the Teachings which have moral and ethical implications. These principles and rules are derived from the bases of the Teachings, from the knowledge of how the Universe is organized, why it exists, and what is the role of man in it, and have a determining practical meaning for the follower’s life. In other words, one has to live by them; this is following the Teachings. They concern the relationship to the Teachings, to oneself, to the world around, to human beings and other sentient beings, and to the Universe itself. It is through their understanding, awareness, and following them that the follower changes himself for the better and can change the world for the better. But at the same time, no one forces him to follow them. The Teaching does not give orders: it only shows the right way. It explains how one should act and why, but does not force one’s followers to do so. Everything here is built on a simple principle: if one has come to the Teaching to know the Truth and to learn to live by it, then one will do this voluntarily, simply because this is what one wants and for this reason, one has come. If he does not try to live by the Teaching, and does not work on himself to get rid of the negative qualities and acquire the positive ones, then he does not need the Teaching. Compulsion will avail nothing; everything that such a follower will do from under the stick will not be sincere and will do no good either to him or to the world. Therefore, the rule is that a true follower lives via the Teaching and follows it willingly and gladly because that is what he came for and what he wants; but false followers, hypocrites and indifferent who pay lip service to the truth, are unwilling to follow them in practice, have no business in the Teaching. In other words, if someone has entered the Teaching but does not follow it and does not try to follow it, he is simply excluded from the Teaching and the Teacher ceases to communicate with him. The purpose of the Teaching is to make people and the world a better place. This means that this is also the goal of every follower. First of all, you have to understand what you are supposed to be, what you are supposed to be for, and how to achieve it. Self-work is the beginning of everything, the starting point of the path. If one succeeds, then one can help others and make the world a better place. Therefore, unwillingness to work on oneself, and neglecting one’s progress on the path is tantamount to neglecting the good of others and the world. This is nothing less than a rejection of the purposes of the Teaching. What then is the point of being in it? What is the meaning of being in a Teaching that seeks the common good if you do not seek it yourself? That is why those who behave in such a way are expelled from the Teachings.
As we see, outward ritualism in the Teachings is replaced by inner spiritual work; instead of observing rituals and ceremonies there is living according to the principles and rules proclaimed by the Teaching. But it is a mistake to think that this makes life easier for the follower. It is easier to live outwardly – to pray, to go to places of worship, to participate in religious ceremonies and festivals, etc. – than to do spiritual work hourly and minute by minute and constantly confirm it in action. For example, it is easier (and more pleasant) to yield to temptation and sin, and then repent, receive absolution of sins, and feel purified than to constantly struggle with temptation, overcome it, and try to change oneself so that such temptations do not arise again. It is a constant and arduous inner work. However, in the Teaching a man is not alone in this work, he is assisted by a Teacher who has deep knowledge of the Teaching and has his own experience of overcoming such difficulties. He was on this path, he experienced all the difficulties of the inner struggle and knows what it is like to change oneself, overcoming the negative sides of one’s nature. His experience is valuable to the student in a practical sense; it is also proof that it is possible to change oneself, that all difficulties and obstacles can be overcome, and that there is enough human strength to do it.
There is, indeed, enough of it. And the Teaching allows us to gain even greater powers. Therefore, if a human being wants to change, he/she can do it. If months and years go by and he has not achieved anything and he justifies himself by saying that he cannot change himself, that he has no strength, etc., then this means that he simply does not want to work on himself, he does not try, he does not make willed effort, he does not learn to overcome himself. It shows that he or she is not serious and irresponsible – and of course, the Teacher will not waste his or her time and energy on someone who does not need it. Not only inner spiritual work, but also the implementation of its achievements – i.e. following the principles of the Teachings – entail great difficulties and problems. As has already been said, simply recognizing its truth is not enough: one has to put its principles into practice, to adhere to them in everyday life. Here the followers of the Teachings often encounter very serious obstacles. The principles of the Teachings are good; however, this is why people around us often reject them. There is nothing to be surprised about this: if people were not greatly corrupted, if their negative qualities and destructive actions had not brought our world to the brink of destruction, the present revelation of the God of Wisdom might not have been necessary. And when the followers of the Teaching, through their words and actions, oppose that negative which has taken root in people and society, this causes resentment and often makes life difficult for them.
Let us go back to the above example of lying. The Teaching rejects it and it means that followers of this doctrine must eradicate the habit of lying to themselves, and must learn to be truthful always, without exception. But it is obvious that without lying, it is not only unlikely to achieve something in life, but it is difficult even to live. Above all, it causes problems with the people closest to you. If a person does not flatter a relative or a friend, if he/she says what he/she thinks in their eyes, that offends; if a person does not lie to help someone out, to conceal someone’s wrongdoing, that causes accusations of treason; if a person does not lie to help family or friends to solve some morally doubtful but profitable business, that causes accusations of estrangement, not caring about their well-being. In addition, there may be problems with employment. It is not a secret that working at an industrial enterprise, in a company, state or public organization, and other places is often connected with lies: in some cases, it is necessary for the employee himself to hide his failures or to speed up his career, in other cases it is demanded from him by the management, wishing to avoid some financial problems or for other reasons. Lies and deceptions are often used, and an employee who refuses to do so could easily become undesirable and lose his or her job. Apart from the two described – in communication with people close to you and work – a person who does not lie on principle may have many other problems and difficulties. This only applies to lies and deception. Yet, there are other principles and rules that a follower of the Teachings should follow. Trying to live in the right way, according to the Truth, and to be principled and steadfast in this is not easy. However, “the right way” does not mean “the easy way”. Usually, it is the other way around: people lie and commit other immoral deeds just in search of easy ways. Therefore, those who would like to join the Teaching should understand that it will be difficult. It is difficult to fight everything negative in oneself, it is difficult to live in a society where commitment to the good and integrity are often only approved in words but condemned in deeds, it is difficult to prefer the good of humanity and the world to one’s own, personal good. This is true. But one’s spiritual perfection and the good of the world and the Universe are worthwhile. Man is created to become better and to make everything around him better; Nature has given him the strength and possibilities for that. So, he can endure and win his struggle. And if he can better himself, better someone else, and better our world – at least a little – then he will also take care of his descendants, who will not live in such a cruel and dangerous world. And he will help those who will come after him and who will do their way and work – and they will be able to do a little more. The world does not change for the better overnight: to change it requires the work of many people over decades and centuries. That is the task of the Teaching. And this is what each of its followers should aspire to, this is what they should strive for in themselves and the world. The followers of the Teaching have goals not limited to their spiritual advancement or the common interests of the present day: their goals in time extend into the distant future to be taken care of today, and in space – into the entire human world and beyond it because the Eternal People exist and work for the good of the entire Universe, the entire Creation. One has to understand this and accept it as his goal and the meaning of his life – otherwise, there is no point in being in the Teaching.
In the Teaching, every human being is seen as a warrior. The whole human life is a struggle against evil in oneself, in people, and the world. Therefore, such qualities as striving towards the goal, loyalty, diligence, perseverance, principality, courage, fortitude, kindness, and readiness for self-sacrifice are highly valued in the Teaching. After all, the goals it sets for itself – to make the world a better place – cannot be achieved easily. This is a real struggle, in which there is both fighting and death. But “being a warrior” in the Teaching does not mean “being aggressive”. Warriors do not necessarily attack: they also defend. A warrior in the Teaching opposes everything negative, and destructive. And this is what is most aggressive. This means that a warrior is always in danger – if not besieging another’s fortress, then defending his own. What does this mean in the Teaching? That its followers, who struggle against negative phenomena in society, may encounter (and undoubtedly will encounter) hostility from those who benefit from these phenomena. What, in brief, is the struggle of the followers of the Teaching? First of all, it is a struggle within oneself – when reason, feeling and will confront the negative aspects of human nature, unnatural inclinations, bad habits, and character traits. This has already been mentioned above. Then there is the struggle against the various evils of society – aggression, lying, greed, alcoholism and drug addiction, immorality, crime, and other things which make our world a world full of filth, danger, and sorrow. This struggle can be waged in different ways: by living a good life and setting a good example for others, educating people, creating art, participating in different events, movements, and public organizations, and participating in the struggle against crime and terrorism by force – in a word, there are many possibilities. But all this is hard work and a struggle in the literal sense of the word because the destructive forces and phenomena operating in society and the people behind them will not give up their positions without a fight.
A few words must be said about the aforementioned “power struggle”. The Teachings of the United Temple does not approve of violence, which it considers evil in any case. But the Teaching is on the position of realism and therefore recognizes that in some cases violence is necessary. Namely, when it is a question of protecting someone or something. In such cases as defending the weak or right, fighting crime and terrorism, or defensive warfare, for example. At the same time, violence is neither justified nor considered a good thing: it is always evil – and whoever commits it accepts responsibility for it in any case. But sometimes it is necessary to prevent an even greater evil; an example would be the destruction of a terrorist who is a danger to civilians, or, on a more global scale, the war with Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s when the aggressive expansion of Nazism was stopped and the destruction of entire nations prevented. Few would argue that this kind of violence is necessary. This world is a cruel one, and the good in it should not be defenseless. Returning to the question of what a follower of the Teachings should be, there are two basic ways and two options for following the Teachings. The first option is simply to live by the Teachings, adhering to their principles and rules, communicating with the Teacher and reading the Pandekt, and doing the necessary spiritual work within oneself without taking part in any larger activities. The second option is to devote oneself entirely to the Teaching and its work. Of course, this path requires more effort, more dedication, and more employment, and consequently leaves less time for personal and domestic affairs; but in this way, one can do more for the world and people. It is up to each follower to choose which of these options suits him or her best. The second path, of course, imposes certain duties and responsibilities on those who choose it; therefore, it is not only not imposed, but is not even open to all comers. The highest point of the Path is the status of the Teacher.
Are the followers obliged to preach the Teaching? No, they do not have to. This may sound strange, for God of Wisdom gave his revelation to mankind so that the Truth could be a common property. Thus, it is so; but the Truth has to be understood and accepted by the mind and merged with the soul, and for this one has to aspire to it, to seek it. He who seeks it may himself seek the Truth and this now openly offered knowledge; but he who does not want the Truth or believes that he has found it, will not accept it and there is no point in preaching to him. However, such people, too, if they wish, can get acquainted with the Teaching at any moment – from their books and other materials. On the other hand, not every follower of the Teaching can and is ready to preach them. In general terms, the principle here is as follows: preaching (more or less active) can be done by the one who wants it. What does preaching consist of? The most accessible way is simply to tell relatives, friends, and co-workers about the Teaching. One should remember that one should speak about it only to those who are interested in it, who want it. Other ways are communication on the Internet, writing articles on the subject of Teaching, participation in publications, and distribution of histories; there are many variants. Of course, in such an undertaking as preaching the Teaching one should be guided by the precepts and instructions of the Teacher, who is an expert who has devoted his life to it. He who tells someone about the Teaching or lets him read some literature on it is not a Teacher to the person he is talking to, he is simply sharing his views, his knowledge, or his experience. Such a conversation may end up going nowhere. But if a human being is seriously interested and wants to know more to consider joining the Teaching in the future, then he has to be introduced to the Teacher (with the Teacher’s consent, of course). Then it is up to the Teacher to determine whether he is serious or not. Followers are not obliged to make monetary contributions to the Teaching either. Although the situation here is similar to preaching: whoever wants people to learn the Truth may preach, and whoever wants to help the activities of the Teaching may do so also financially, by contributing a certain amount of money. However, money is a sensitive issue, and not everyone can give it. For example, it may not be accepted by someone whose commitment to the Teaching is in doubt, from someone who is in a difficult financial situation and contributing money further aggravates it, from someone who thinks he can substitute work on himself and living the principles of the Teaching with money, from someone who contributes for selfish ends. There may be other reasons as well; and a monetary contribution may be rejected without any explanation.
Unlike some other teachings, the Teaching is not against its followers doing compulsory military service. But there is a serious ethical problem here. The Teaching condemns and rejects lies and deceit; consequently, a follower of the Teaching who has taken an oath of allegiance must fulfill that oath in the future, even if he is ordered to do something that contradicts his principles and beliefs. So everyone decides for himself whether he can do it or not. Although when one considers the fact that the age of entry into the Teaching is 21, and military service is usually earlier, this mitigates the problem somewhat.
As for the loyalty of the Teaching and its followers to the state and the law, the following can be said. Not every law is good, history knows examples when in some states there were inhumane laws. Such were the laws of Fascist Germany, the United States in the period of slavery, Russia in the period of serfdom, and South Africa in the period of apartheid; examples could go on and on. The Teaching holds that the citizens of a state are not obliged to obey inhumane or immoral laws, nor are they obliged to support criminal regimes. Any law can be made and enacted; but that does not mean that any law must be obeyed. To obey a criminal law makes a person a criminal or an accomplice to a crime, which no one has the right to demand. The Teaching rejects racism and nazism in any form. All races are equal and no nation is worse than another. Similarly, people of all nationalities and colors can equally be part of the Eternal People, where race and nationality have no meaning whatsoever. Moreover: The Eternal People, equally with humans, include other sentient races of the universe as well as descendants of those sentient species that existed on Earth before humans. In the future all races and nations of mankind will mix and merge into one, creating a uniform society and uniform culture. This is inevitable and the process is already underway. Likewise, the merging of the intelligent races of the universe is taking place (although their merging certainly involves much greater complexities and is on an incomparably larger scale in space and time). The stage of humanity’s development is inevitable when, as a single person, it will become a member of the cosmic community of intelligent races. Every follower of the Teaching must remember this. One must be aware that even today the Teaching sees as one of its purposes the unity of the peoples of the Earth, and in the future the unity of mankind with other intelligent races of the Universe.
One more interesting and extremely important aspect of the commitment to the Teaching cannot be overlooked. When a person dies, he does not go back irretrievably: his energetic and spiritual essence (if you like – soul) after a temporary stay in the world of energy returns to the physical world, to a new body. This means that adherence to the Teaching may not be limited to one life. It persists in the period between the lifetimes – i.e. in the world of energy, where one can meet his or her fellow students (and not only people; not only those who lived together with you but also those who lived before or after); and then, after getting a new body in the physical world, one can again join the Teaching and continue his or her way in it and work for the benefit of the world. Thus, by working and struggling for the common good of the world now, every follower of the Teachings helps the future self as well: in the future lives, he will live in the world which he creates now with his own hands. And if the future world will be better than the present one, then it will be easier for him/her, the creator of this world, to live and work in it.
It is important to understand that nothing ends with death, that life, work, and struggle continue, and that later it will be possible to see the fruits of your life’s work and continue it. This awareness not only helps us to overcome fear but also gives us the certainty of victory. What can frighten the man and what can defeat him and his work, if he is, in fact, immortal and has not one lifetime at his disposal, but much more? Even if he dies physically, he continues to live and then is reborn, like the Phoenix. Therefore, the followers of the Teaching of the United Temple see themselves and their adherence to it in a somewhat different light from the followers of other teachings. Of course, it is impossible to give a complete picture of what the Teaching is, and to describe all its aspects and features in one article. Thus, the story would remain incomplete without a statement (at least in general terms) of its doctrine itself. But this presentation, even in brief, could by itself constitute the content of a separate and sufficiently lengthy article. Therefore, for a serious acquaintance with the doctrine of the Teaching, it makes sense simply to refer the reader to the relevant materials of the Pandekt. Thus the view of the Teaching on the origins and structure of the Universe is given in the mitevm “Onta” and “Tamely” of the book “Evor”; the moral and ethical aspect is described in the mitevm “Deon” of the same book; a prophet is described in the mitevm “Sebast” of the same book; The relationship between the Teacher and the disciple is covered, in addition to the mitevm “Deon”, also in the mitevm “The Teacher” of the same book and the message “III to Hantur” of “Epistole”; the importance of Pandekt and how it should be treated is explained in the message “About the Pandekt” of “Epistole”; the message “To the one who wishes to enter the Teaching of the United Temple” of the same book is about entering into the Teaching. Stories about the lives of people from the Teaching (in the distant past), their journey, their feelings, and actions can be found in the mitevm “Particle” and “Twenty Days” – book “Evor”, “Word of Vlai”, “Circle”, “The Second Word”, “Fathers”, “Narrative”, “The walker”, “Stories of Darethat”, “Life”, “The Song of Rohami” – book Doron.
The Teaching of the United Temple is about the real world: so it is itself a whole world. It is a wide world – diverse, complex, and yet simple, if you learn to understand it, beautiful and dangerous, full of joys and challenges, encompassing the whole cosmos and extending into the past and the future. This world does not lure or take anyone by force, but it is open to all. Amid the many worlds of illusion and error, of fantasy and falsehood, it has preserved within itself the Truth to be shared with all, human and non-human, on earth and beyond. Everyone who wants to know the Truth can enter this world and become it.
Translated by Amradkhari