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Post by Knowledge Supreme on Mar 10, 2005 18:23:59 GMT -5
P.E.A.C.E to the Cradle
I thought I'd make a thread where I could ask questions, either directly to certain people or just in general. I guess the thread is being made with SHAH more specifically in mind, being that the questions I have are mostly related to Kemet, however feel free to add-on or ask your own questions.
SHEM HOTEP
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Post by Knowledge Supreme on Mar 10, 2005 18:33:46 GMT -5
P.E.A.C.E,
to start with I'd like to discuss the teachings of Akhenaten. Myself and SHAH began building on this recently, and I would like to go deeper into it. My understanding of the teachings of Akhenaten come from what is written by Muata Ashby of which is in opposition to what is written by Ra Un Nefer Amen.
Below I will post the section in Muata Asbhy's tranlation of the Pert Em Heru labelled The Non-dualistic Philosophy of Akhenaton. Shah, if you could break it down and discuss it, it would be much appreciated.
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Post by Knowledge Supreme on Mar 10, 2005 19:08:02 GMT -5
The Non-dualistic Philosophy of Akhenaton
Akhenaton was at the same time, a king and a mystical philosopher. He introduced not a new religion, but a form of worship, which was highly philosophical and abstract, and thus less suited to the masses and more appropriate for the monastic order. The tenents of his hymns can be found in hymns to other Ancient Egyptian gods such as Amun (Amen), Asar (Ausar), and Ra, which he preceded those to Aton (Aten). However, the form of their exposistion brings forth a new dimension of Ancient Egyptian philosophy, which is unsurpasses in some ways, even by the Hymns of Amen. However, he was not able to reconcile the worship of Aton with the pre-existing forms of worship in Ancient Egypt. Also he was not able to balance the duties of kingship with those of his position as High Priest. While he was not able to reconcile these issues, he did bring forth the most advanced expostion of Ancient Egytpian philisophy. Scholars of religious studies have classified him as the first monotheist, before Moses, but his contributions to religion go much deeper than the simple monotheistic concept put forth by Moses.
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Post by Knowledge Supreme on Mar 10, 2005 19:09:37 GMT -5
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Upon closer study, the philosophy, which Akhenaton espoused, is comparable to the most advanced spiritual philosophies developed in India, known as Vedanta philosophy. In Vedanta, two important forms of spiritual philosophies developed. They are expressions of non-dualistic philosophy known as Absolute Monism. The Hymns to Aton, which also espouse Absolute Monism, were recorded at least 579 years before its exposition in India through the Hindu Upanishads which are considered to be the highest expression of Hindu mystical philosophy. Akhenaton's teachings were given less than 200 years before the supposed date for the existance of Moses. However, Moses teachings were not understood as Absolute Monism, but rather as monotheism. Therefore, whether the Jewish Pentareuch was written by a person named Moses or by Jewish scribes much later, as most modern biblical scholars now agree, the influece of Akhentaton's teachings would have been foremost in the instruction of Moses. Remember that the bible says that Moses learnt the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts 7:22). While all of the attributes of Yahweh, the Hebrew God, are contained in the teachings related to Aton, the Hymns to Aton go farther in espousing the nature of God and God's relationship to Creation and humanity. They are based on Monism. Absolute Monism means that there is a recognition that there is only one reality that exists: God. All else is imagination. This means that everything that is perceived with the senses, thoughts, etc., is a manifestation of God. Modifies Monism views God as the soul of nature, just as the human body also has a soul, which sustains it.
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Post by Knowledge Supreme on Mar 10, 2005 19:12:30 GMT -5
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The next form of Philosophy present in Akhenaton's hymns is Pantheism. There are two forms of Pantheism, Absolute and Modified. Absolute Pantheism views God as being everything there is. In other words, God and Creation are one. Modified Pantheism is the view that God is the reality or principle behind nature. Pantheism is the doctrine that God is immanent in all things but also transcendent, so that every part of the universe has its existence in God, but God is more than the sum total of the parts. God transcends physical existence. Aten or Aton was represented not as a human being, but as the sun, from which extended rays terminated with hands which bestowed Ankhs (Life Force), to all Creation. This image was used exclusively and constituted a non-personalised form of Divine iconography pointing towards the abstract and transcendental nature of the Divine as a principle, as opposed to a personality. This was not a departure from Ancient Egyptian philosophy, but an attempt to reinforce Light teaching.
[glow=green,3,000]SHEM HOTEP[/glow]
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Post by SAMURAI36 on Apr 2, 2005 11:25:35 GMT -5
PEACE KNOWLEDGE:
I'm at least partially certain that I know from where this information that you posted is derived (I'd request that you post the source for this material just to be sure, and for the benefit of those who may not know).
As such, I'd like to preface my following replies with the following statements:
For those who don't know, there are only 2 credible teachers currently on the planet earth, regarding Kemetic Sciences, Philosophy, and Spirituality:
SHEQHEM UR SHEQHEMU RA UN NEFER AMEN, and SEBAHY MUATA ASHBY.
I recall during a lecture by the SHEQHEM last year, I was blessed with the opportunity to ask a question to him: "What do you think of the SEMA INSTITUTE, and its founder, MUATA ASHBY, and his teachings?"
The SHEQHEM's response was brief and direct:
"He has alot of studying to do yet."
This may come off as arrogant and competitive for a casual observer, but after one endeavors to undergo extensive study of KEMET in general, as well as the teachings of both men in particular, perhaps a more clear picture emerges.....
Now, it is not my intent here, to judge the teachers or their teachings, for the sake of those reading here; I live that responsibility to the reader(s).
Regardless of their differences, it's a safe bet to say, that one could not only not go wrong by being an adherant to either teaching, but also that there is infinite benefits from alligning oneself with either (if not both, which as been my experience).
However, suffice it to say that there are differences, ranging from the subtle (variations between the structuring of the PA'UT NETER), to the blatant (perspectives on ANKHENATEN, among other things).
One major difference between AMEN's METU NETER teachings and ASHBY's SHETAUT NETER, is that the former is based upon AUSARIAN theology, while the latter is based upon ANUNIAN theology.
Nonetheless, I personally have found that SHEQHEM AMEN's statement to come more or less to fruition, at least regarding SEBAHY ASHBY's teachings regarding ANKHENATEN.
The key to gaining an understanding regarding any and all spiritual phenomenon, is also understanding the physical phenomenon that surrounds it. Nothing is created in a vacuum, including the realm of the Spirit.
The correlative relationship between the tangible and the immaterial, the objective and the subjective, should not be overlooked, though it is quite easy to do so, especially when dealing with, or perceiving the Spirit.
We fail to realize, that it is strictly by and because of the mundane, physical aspects of reality, do the ethereal, eternal aspects manifest themselves to our perception.
Remember, none of us x-sists in a vacuum.
This has been failed to be taken into consideration in the above writer's exerpts about ANKHEN ATEN, that KNOWLEDGE posted for us.
We are immediately led into the realm of Spirituality regarding ANKHEN ATEN, without being given the slightest glimpse regarding the political, social, and mental realms, all of which helped to spawn ATEN's "ideology".
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Post by SAMURAI36 on Apr 2, 2005 11:57:10 GMT -5
I am going to reply directly to the above exerpts with my own statements, as well as with an exerpt from one of RA UN NEFER AMEN's books: "AN AFROCENTRIC GUIDE TO A SPIRITUAL UNION".
[NOTE: SAM7's comments between the exerpts will appear in RED.]
From Chapter 5: STATUS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA
I don't want to belabor the point, but if I ended this chapter without referring to all of the notable women of KEMET, I will be later flooded with questions regarding NEFERTITI. They will ask, because she is the most physically recognized personality of EGYPT, along with KING TUT. And the fact that she is, is part of the same racism. In reality, she was a Eurasian MITANNI (a peoples of northen SYRIA, a HITTITE tribe) woman whose true name was TADUKHIPA.
One of the first kings to depart radically from the tradition that preserved the stability and growth of KEMET {In reference to the MATRIARCHIAL and MATRILENIAL system earlier in this chapter, and in others all throughout this book} was AMEN HOTEP III, a king of the XVII dynasty (grandfather of KING TUT). First, he married a commoner (TUYI), which in and of itself was not a departure from the tradition, but what he did with her was. He elevated her to the rank of SHEQHETI (QUEEN), thus setting a precedent for the practice of circumventing the hereditary mechanism that safeguarded the transmission of the kingship and protected it from usurption, especially from foreigners. Then he developed an insatiable appetite for Eurasian {re: WHITE} women(18).
(18) foot note from AMEN:
This was most likely the legacy left by the HYKSOS, who were a EURASIAN people. They were the source of the first wholesale introduction of the Caucasian strain--resulting in a large mulatto population left behind--and culture into KEMET. Some of them had "Semitic" names like YAQUB, NAHMAN, HUR, etc. Others had IND-EUROPEAN names like BNOM, OG, EDIRE, KHYAN, etc. Their name for "hero or noble", which literally meant "the people in power" was "M'ARYAN". Note its kinship to "ARYAN". See "PALESTINE BEFORE THE HEBREWS", by EMMANUEL ANATI for details regarding their profuse Caucasian cultural ties).
AMEN HOTEP III begged (had to ask SEVEN times) SATHARNA, the king of MITANNI at the time, for the hand of one of his daughters, GILUGHIPA or KIRGHIPA, who was sent with 317 female attendants. she was not elevated to royalty. He later married a daughter of DUSHRATTE, another MITANNI king (brother of GILUGHIPA), and daughter of the HITTITE kings KALLIMASIN and BURABURIASH. He next married, after a great deal of wrangling, another daughter of KALLIMASIN. This time gold was not enough. He had to give the HITTITE king a KEMETIAN beauty, whom the latter passed off as a princess (the KEMAU NEVER married their princesses to foreigners which would give the latter claim to the throne!!). When AMEN HOTEP III's son arrive at the age of marriage, the king sent another request for a MITANNI princess to become the "MISTRESS OF EGYPT". As this is a title strictly reserved for a Queen, and his wife TUYI was still alive and on the throne (which was never and could not be shared with another queen), it was clear that the request was for the son. Thus, TADUKHIPA was sent, but she arrived after the king's death.
It is thus that she became QUEEN OF KEMET, once more again in defiance to tradition, by marriage to AMEN HOTEP IV. Her converted KEMETIC name was NEFER-NEFERU-ATEN ("the beautiful, beautiful disk of the sun"), shortened to NEFERTITI. She could not have had that name by birth, as the custom of creating names around ATEN (the solar disk) did not begin until after AMEN HOTEP IV became king and changed his name to KHUEN ATEN{KHUEN-ATEN: "the spirit of the Sun"; "ANKEN-ATEN" is also a false name, since ATEN dissolved the spiritual value of the ANKH, and thus removed it along with the PA'UT NETER from KEMETIC canon during his reign.}, due to the fact that he repudiated the age-old spiritual tradition of KEMET by adopting the EURASIAN/HITTITE/HYKSOS Sun (SHEMESCH) worship religion, which NEFERTITI, and other MITANNI princesses brought with them.
{The following statements are of the utmost importance to this discussion:}
All historians claim that he replaced the state religion {METU NETER and SHETAUT NETER}, supposedly "polytheistic", with the "monotheistic" worship of ATEN. However, since ATENISM is the worship of the physical sun {The KEMETIANS NEVER worshipped the sun--or any physical object for that matter--prior to ATENISM; the NETERU that is supposedly correlative to the sun--RA--is not even depicted as a sun, because RA does not even represent the sun, he represents Active Energy/Light.}, and thus ATENISM cannot be rightfully called monotheism, but MONOLATRY (the worship of one idol).
Ancient KEMET has always been monotheistic, as is proven in METU NETER volume #1 (I must refer the reader to it, for it involves a rather involved study, that would otherwise take us too far away from the scope of this book).We must however, take note of the fact that after KHUEN-ATEN's rise to power the legitimate heirs to the throne were displaced from about 200 years (19).
(19) footnote from AMEN: On the surface it would seem that the AMEN dynasty was reinstated with the removal of KHUEN-ATEN {It is extremely noteworthy, that neither KHUEN-ATEN nor TADUKHIPA are buried with the other royal families of KEMET, in the Valleys of KINGS/QUEENS; the former was thrown into a unmarked grave, whilst the corpse of the latter was sent back to EURASIA to be buried amongst her own people.}. Although the temples were restored, the royal succession continued with the descendants (both white and black) of KHUEN-ATEN, and AMEN HOTEP III, all the way through until the proceeding RAMSES dynasties.
KHUEN-ATEN's move was not a religious one in the slightest, but rather a political coup engineered by the MITANNI HITTITES, by taking advantage of AMEN HOTEP III's naive, trusting ways and greed--coupled with the subtle manipulations of the KEMETIAN value system.
All of the above will hopefully provide great insight not only into the creation of ATEN's "theology", but also the reasons behind it, as well as the effects that it had (detrimental mostly) on KEMET and the surrounding lands.
We will hopefully also see how the proprogation of such a theology has misguided the world, feeding only and ultimately into the spiritual misperception that is Judeo-Christianity.
Take into consideration also, the fact that ATEN's regime was a socially, intellectually and economically lazy one; he was more or less hedonistic, and his more or less laissez-faire reign was marked as one of the most embarrassing times in KEMETIAN history.
"The Heretic", and "The King of Fools" were but a few nick names branded upon ATEN.
Why would such a spiritually astute society as KEMET degrade their king, in body, spirit and name, if he and his teachings were so profound? Why did a nation and civilization who literally worshipped profundity, not view him and his as such?
And why did his supposedly "profound" teachings not spill over into the rest of KEMETIC society?
His teachings are reminiscent of the CHRISTIAN teachings that he ultimately helped found: focus on one's "spirit", at the sake of one's body/health (ATEN's health was very poor), home, and social, economical, and political well-being (KEMET suffered worst at this time, than they did under the iron rule of the HYKSOS).
The idolizing of ATEN, as well as other EURASIAN personalities falsely associated with KEMET (TADUKHIPA/NEFERTITI), but also people like CLEOPATRA, is apart of the academic and religious agendas from the powers-that-be to control the perception of KEMET and native tribes/societies/civilizations (negative mostly), while bolstering the perception of western institutions and religions.
HOTEPU:
SAM7
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Post by Knowledge Supreme on Apr 3, 2005 3:46:30 GMT -5
P.E.A.C.E
The Information I posted is a section from Muata Asbhy's tranlation of the Pert Em Heru labelled The Non-dualistic Philosophy of Akhenaton.
Thankyou for your reply Shah...
We are immediately led into the realm of Spirituality regarding ANKHEN ATEN, without being given the slightest glimpse regarding the political, social, and mental realms, all of which helped to spawn ATEN's "ideology".
Indeed, when these things are taken into consideration it puts a whole different perpective on things. There's not to much I can really say, except that the info you provided speaks for itself. Hopefully I will own a copy of most, if not, all of Ra Un Nefer Amen's works in the near future.
Once again thanks for your reply.
SHEM HOTEP
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