I have read the book the Celestine Prophecy twice now. I have seen the movie once (I DVR’ed it). As with many works of print, the book is waaay better than the movie. However, the movie did produce in me a recollection of the readings of the books and some thoughts that I had as I did so.
If you have never read the book, let me sum it up for you. There is an ancient scroll found in Peru with these 9 Insights (I know there are 11 total, but only the first 9 were known of in this installment) that will awaken in humanity some sort of evolution to allow us to become who we were supposed to be while ending all the conflict on earth making life awesome. The church in Peru (which appears to be the Catholic church) is vehemently opposed to this scroll as heresy (some say because it will challenge their authority) as well as the government. It is creating a sort of reawakening in the people of Peru and the world. The government and the church are working pseudo-together to destroy the scroll. The story ends with them thinking they have only for the audience to realize they have not.
Here’s where the danger lies in the Celestine Prophecy… it sounds strangely Christian, but interjects non-Christian aspects into it thereby creating something that is close to the truths of Scripture, although not quite. Here are the first 9 Insights as presented on www.celestineview.com:
1. A Critical Mass
A new spiritual awakening is occurring in human culture, an awakening brought about by a critical mass of individuals who experience their lives as a spiritual unfolding, a journey in which we are led forward by mysterious coincidences.
2. The Longer Now
This awakening represents the creation of a new, more complete world view, which replaces a five-hundred-year-old preoccupation with secular survival and comfort. While this technological preoccupation was an important step, our awakening to life’s coincidences is opening us up to the real purpose of human life on this planet, and the real nature of our universe.
3. A Matter Of Energy
We now experience that we live not in a material universe, but in a universe of dynamic energy. Everything extant is a field of sacred energy that we can sense and intuit. Moreover, we humans can project our energy by focusing our attention in the desired direction…where attention goes, energy flows…influencing other energy systems and increasing the pace of coincidences in our lives.
4. The Struggle For Power
Too often humans cut themselves off from the greater source of this energy and so feel weak and insecure. To gain energy we tend to manipulate or force others to give us attention and thus energy. When we successfully dominate others in this way, we feel more powerful, but they are left weakened and often fight back. Competition for scarce, human energy is the cause of all conflict between people.
5. The Message Of The Mystics
Insecurity and violence ends when we experience an inner connection with divine energy within, a connection described by mystics of all traditions. A sense of lightness – buoyancy – along with the constant sensation of love are measures of this connection. If these measures are present, the connection is real. If not, it is only pretended.
6. Clearing The Past
The more we stay connected, the more we are acutely aware of those times when we lose connection, usually when we are under stress. In these times, we can see our own particular way of stealing energy from others. Once our manipulations are brought to personal awareness, our connection becomes more constant and we can discover our own growth path in life, and our spiritual mission – the personal way we can contribute to the world.
7. Engaging The Flow
Knowing our personal mission further enhances the flow of mysterious coincidences as we are guided toward our destinies. First we have a question; then dreams, daydreams, and intuitions lead us towards the answers, which usually are synchronistically provided by the wisdom of another human being.
8. The Interpersonal Ethic
We can increase the frequency of guiding coincidences by uplifting every person that comes into our lives. Care must be taken not to lose our inner connection in romantic relationships. Uplifting others is especially effective in groups where each member can feel energy of all the others. With children it is extremely important for their early security and growth. By seeing the beauty in every face, we lift others into their wisest self, and increase the chances of hearing a synchronistic message.
9. The Emerging Culture
As we all evolve toward the best completion of our spiritual missions, the technological means of survival will be fully automated as humans focus instead on synchronistic growth. Such growth will move humans into higher energy states, ultimately transforming our bodies into spiritual form and uniting this dimension of existence with the after-life dimension, ending the cycle of birth and death.
As you read them you can see they offer some sound, good ideas. But upon further reflection, the danger is easy to see. While it speaks to a spiritual side to us all, I’m not sure it points to Christ. In our world and society where we are tuned into the spiritual, as Christians and leaders in the church we need to be very careful to ensure that the correct message from Scripture is presented. The idea that our goal as humans is t evolve towards a higher sense or state of existence is not found in Scripture. However, the idea of realizing our tendency to control and dominate people followed by the idea that in order to break that cycle we need to uplift and encourage one another does have its roots in Scripture. What we have here, is a little of Scripture and a lot of non-Scripture. This can be very dangerous for Christians that have become increasingly slack in their knowledge of Scripture. For many of us church leaders teaching doctrine and Scripture knowledge has fallen to the back burner of ministry. Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church in Seattle has sent much time and even wrote several books just on Doctrine as of late. He says he does it because of the large number of new Christians they have at Mars Hill. This is one of the most well-known churches in America and the pastor is spending mucho time on doctrine. Why have the rest of us deemed it unnecessary? It would appear that solid Scriptural doctrine is in fact assisting growth rather than impeding it. Who would have ever thought?
The Celestine Prophecy offers an entertaining watch and even more entertaining read, but that is where it ends. Much like Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code. It almost seems these works cause more problems than good. Maybe that’s why they are there…
It is critical for us to know Scripture and to know it well. Christ will return and he is not going to bring anyone back to Heaven because they understood the 5th Insight and were able to connect with the divine energy unless that means they lived out a life of sacrifice to him loving those the world casts out, holding nothing back as an offering to God, made disciples, shared Christ’s love with the lost, cared for the orphans and widows, kept themselves from being unstained by the world, loved the world as Christ does and died to themselves.
What do you think? Do you have any insights on this?
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