COMMUNICATION FROM ARKAY OF KORENDOR
Date of reception: 7 May 1989
Love and light, my Terran friends. Tonight I want to write at some length about a subject that is very close to my heart, the religious beliefs of the Korendian people and the very personal and intense relationship that we have with the Infinite One, our God.
If the reader is familiar with the communications and contacts that Bob Renaud described in Gabriel Green's publications during the decade of the 1960s, what is to follow will be at the very least surprising, and will indeed seem to contradict some of what was reported at the time.
In those early years, the typical "contactee" related events that often suggested the "deus ex machina" (the god from the machine) so familiar to students of ancient drama.
Our intent was to avoid religious overtones in order to communicate our information more effectively. To do so, we de-emphasized our religious beliefs with a partial truth, calling ourselves "pantheist-humanists" without further comment. Now, the "New Age" has brought religion to the fore once more, and the Kor/Alliance focus has changed.
Let me say at the beginning that nothing to follow will in any way be a commentary on your own religions. We do not believe in offering critiques of another's faith. Each of us must seek God in his or her own way.
Unlike Earth, Korendor does not have formalized religions. There is no equivalent to Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism or any other denomination or sect. Yet, our religion is a shared experience insofar as we all believe the same tenets of faith.
Because of this lack of organized religion, we do not have churches in your sense of the word. This does not, however, mean that we do not gather to celebrate our love of God. Quite to the contrary, we join together in enormous numbers, almost "at the drop of a hat", to worship and pray to God or to thank him for the many blessings He bestows on our planet and our people.
These are not ritualistic, deadly dull affairs, but vibrant, joy-filled gatherings, the closest thing on your own world being the old-fashioned "camp meetings". If one can imagine thousands of voices raised in a spirited song of praise or thanks, with the essence of God flowing over the people like a wave of love, then one has a fair picture of how we practice our religion.
More than that, however, we allow God to guide us every moment of our lives. Everything that we do is done for the glory of God, and we live by His universal laws. It is distressing to us to be forced by circumstances to act in a way that goes against all that we have been taught since birth, but I will say more on that at a later date.
As to the beliefs that we hold, let me say that many will be familiar to you, some will be known to the New Age philosophies, and a few may be very surprising.
To begin, our concept of God is as an all-encompassing being, the sum of all things that exist yet greater than everything. We do not envision Him as the white-haired George Burns type, but rather as an eternal spiritual entity. The familiar term "Infinite One" is common to almost every highly advanced civilization, and delineates very well our vision of the Supreme Being.
God is without specific form or substance, but able to appear in any form at will. That we designate God by the masculine pronouns is simply a long tradition as it is on Earth, based on our reverence of fatherhood.
In the last message, I pointed out that on Korendor there is nothing that resembles "feminism". Our women are in all ways equal to our men, and there is never the merest thought of using one's gender as a basis for discrimination or differentiation.
As such, our ladies do not feel at all threatened or demeaned by our use of masculine references to God. It is simply accepted as a convention to aid us in trying to fathom the unfathomable nature of God. We personify Him because it renders Him less mysterious and more accessible to us.
If amongst the readers of these words are some who differ with that, then I can do nothing except say that this is not a judgement of your views, but only a precis of ours.
Continuing, we believe that God provides for those who seek His help and His guidance. We believe that His intercession is common in our worldly affairs. We have no other rational explanation for the abundance that we of Korendor enjoy, nor for the utter happiness and peace that we feel in our hearts and souls when we contemplate Him and pray to Him.
Does this mean that we always get what we want? No, indeed! You have a very wise saying: "Pray for what you want and God will give you what you need." It is a failing of being human that what we desire is often a shallow, short-term fancy that has no real value in the larger scheme. We trust in God to "separate the wheat from the chaff" of our prayers and provide accordingly.
One might ask, do we have in our history a Jesus Christ or a Mohammed or a Buddha? In reply, I must say that although there have been many notable religious figures throughout our long history, there is no evidence that God has manifested Himself directly in our Korendian form.
We believe that He does this on those worlds where there has arrived a crisis in the religious life of its people, a grave situation that requires direct action. Never in our past have we been tempted to drift away from God. He has been an integral part of our existence throughout recorded history. Although we have had our periods of failure and tribulation, never has our faith in God wavered, nor His presence in our lives been questioned.
As such, we feel certain that God has not felt it necessary to intervene in our affairs so strongly. In a way, we envy those worlds where God's great power has been so mightily shown to their peoples. In that respect, you are very fortunate indeed.
Do we believe in the Trinity, the multiple essences of God? Given our understanding of His unlimited nature, we do not deny the possibility of this, but our faith has no specific tenet on that subject. We simply accept that He can be any and all things.
Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? We again cannot directly address that, but based on your own Holy Works we see no reason to disbelieve. However, that is the nature of faith, is it not?
That He derived from what you know as the "Higher Realms" is undeniable. Many cases are recorded of Ascended Masters visiting our worlds to deliver messages or information to us on the physical side. However, His being God is a matter for faith, not knowledge.
It is our belief that God in His infinite wisdom will not force Himself on anyone. Free will elevates humans above the lower life forms. To maintain free will, we cannot have irrefutable proof of the existence of God, although so great is our faith in that reality that we have not the merest doubt.
We are not forced by knowledge to adhere to His laws. We do so on our own initiative, of our own free choice. This makes them all the more wonderful to adopt in our lives.
Concerning prayer, although as I noted earlier we do congregate in vast numbers for communal prayer, in most instances we prefer solitude and quiet in our daily communion with Him. In all Korendian homes there is a small room away from the traffic areas that is for the specific purpose of prayer.
When one is in there, privacy is inviolable, and short of an emergency that person is not to be disturbed for the duration. From our childhood we are taught about the prayer room, and it becomes a part of life as necessary to us as food and air.
Although never seen by outsiders, these rooms are an integral part of our bases, interstellar ships, and other facilities away from home. We may leave home, but we don't leave God behind.
As to the way in which we pray, that is as much a personal matter as the way we think. We have no formalized way of praying, no set words or verses. The Old Words that I wrote of in the first message are for our worldly life. When we commune with God, we open our hearts and speak to Him intimately and with deep emotion, much as one might talk with a cherished companion.
Our equivalent to your Bible is the "Book of Inspirations", containing religious works from our very earliest writing until the present day. It is a never-ending compilation of thoughts and beliefs to which any Korendian may contribute. Although called a book, it is now a computerized "database" that enables us to locate anything in it in a few seconds. All prayer rooms contain terminals that link with this system.
We do not KNOW that texts found in the Book are inspired by the unseen hand of God, but it is an article of faith that whenever a Korendian adds to this mighty work, he or she is serving in the role of a scribe for His words.
Therefore, entries are not made lightly, and we do so only when we are so caught up in His love and power that we find we must contribute or explode with the joy that burns with white-hot glory within us.
I can envision that some who are reading this text are commenting to themselves that Korendians are "flaky" religious fanatics. Perish the thought, my friends.
Our faith is alive within us, a beautiful and reassuring part of our beings that has nothing in common with the pretentious "look how good I am" ostentation that characterizes what you call fanaticism. We do not parade our faith for all to see and approve.
What you call the "holier than thou attitude" does not exist amongst us. No Korendian will make a grand show of his or her faith. Our knowledge of the equality of all human beings makes that inconceivable. Rather, our way is a deep, soul-felt, intensely personal relationship with God, and an ingrained commitment to live by His eternal laws.
If that is how you define fanatic, then we shall wear that label proudly!
What, then, of Heaven, paradise, or the other names for that ultimate goal of all souls. On this subject, I must expand a bit. We know from the Ascended Masters that there are in fact a number of spiritual levels or planes leading, so these Masters have taught us, to the highest level wherein one finds a true unison with God, indeed becoming a part of Him.
The "etheric realm" is where a person's spiritual "soul" resides after physical death. It is the lowest of the several levels, and is seen by people who have undergone "near-death" or "out-of-body" experiences. Knowing that the incredible beauty related by these people is just the first plane, it is beyond imagining to envision the higher levels, and impossible to contemplate that ultimate Heaven.
As I noted, death is an end and a beginning -- in most cases. Sometimes, however, an individual who has gone on is returned to the physical life by the Ascended Masters. Perhaps that person died prematurely, without finishing a necessary task, or desires to continue as a teacher on some world where the Masters deem it useful or necessary. It is also possible that the individual had not completed the requirements for elevation to the etheric realms.
For whatever reason, rebirth does occur. You often call it reincarnation. Some religions refer to "karma", where one is reborn many times to grow in the spiritual sense. There is some basis for this concept, although there are no extended series of lives, one is not returned as a lower life form, nor is one's rebirth a penalty for errors.
On that related subject, we do not have any tenet that deals with Hell. If such a fearsome place exists, we have not been so taught by our Masters. We do know, however, that a life of evil receives punishment in the spiritual planes in the form of denial of the right to elevate to the higher levels. May I say here that, to my mind, being barred from progressing upward would be as close to Hell as I care to conceive.
If that individual, knowing that he or she will be eternally refused access to higher planes, desires with sincere repentance to be reborn to make amends, such a thing is permitted. This in no way refutes my earlier statement. The return is not a penalty. Rather, it is a second chance, an opportunity for redemption, and it is freely chosen by the person.
The location of this rebirth and the circumstances are selected by the Ascended Masters to be appropriate as an object lesson to the person, usually involving a life adversely affected by his or her evil history, and the need to rectify those wrongs in order to attain the forgiveness that will remove the barriers to advancement in the etheric realms.
I point out again that this is a purely voluntary action. None of them, no matter how malevolent they may have been in life, are required to go back against their will. If they elect not to do so, they are removed to a place in the first plane away from the rest, and this is their home for as long as they remain uncontrite, even unto the end of eternity. A true Hell indeed!
My last topic, the concept of sin, is one that may very well bring about uneasiness in my readers. I am aware that it is in vogue in the "modern" age on Earth to reject the "old-fashioned" teachings that one can commit sin by disobeying or defying God's laws.
The new morality of the Twentieth Century is not to adhere to the ancient precepts, but to modify them to suit whatever stretch of immorality happens to suit society. It is easy not to sin when one bends or deletes the laws of God to encompass whatever activities the "free thinkers" decide are proper or "fun" for humanity.
The problem is that God has not changed them. The universe is still governed by the same immutable tenets that have always ruled it.
Yet, God is eminently fair and tolerant, and will do nothing to stop human beings from experimenting with their flawed theories of freedom and maturity. If a race decides that it has grown too big for loving and relying on God, then that race will be permitted to "go its own way".
For as long as people are foolish enough to delude themselves that their self-serving, Godless society is the destiny of humankind, then God will be content to stand aside and allow them to discover from painful experience how utterly wrong they are.
God does not punish disbelievers. Their own imperfections, amplified by the lack of a counteracting force of good, become the source of punishment. Human arrogance is its own worst enemy.
It should be obvious to the astute observor that man on Earth is in this very trap of his own making. By setting yourselves above God and His laws, you are reaping the fruits of your labors.
It is the height of ignorance to assert that mankind will evolve beyond the universal tenets that govern all that exists. God's laws are part of His nature. They are not arbitrary. They are because He is, and what they are is because of what He is.
God can no more alter His laws than we can. His very quintessence of goodness and mercy and justice are the source of the universal laws.
To phrase it another way, your sun shines because it is in its nature to do so. The sun has no choice as to its radiance. It is the sun, therefore it must shine. To cease to do so is to cease being the sun.
God is the source of all universal laws because of His being God. For Him to change those laws is for Him to no longer be the eternally unchanging God. Therefore, there is no option to repeal or amend the ancient laws. They are and will be forever what they were in the very first instant of time.
God's laws are good because He is good, just because He is just, loving because He is loving, merciful because He is merciful, forgiving because He is forgiving. They are what He is.
Unfortunately for the race that thinks itself beyond those laws, they cannot be disobeyed or ignored without consequence. God's way is order, and the antithesis of order is chaos. When a race decides to abandon the order of the universal laws, it inevitably feels the onset of disorder, degeneration and in the end, self-destruction. These are what you call "the wages of sin".
Your race is at a critical stage in its existence, my Terran friends. In your quest to become the masters of your own destinies without the guidance or help of God, you have invited the forces of chaos into your lives and your society. God does not impose upon the free will of humans. Our failures are ours alone. Our successes are ours with God's presence in our lives.
Sin, then, is a universal concept insofar as disobedience of the laws of God earn punishment. Where our faith differs from yours is in our knowing that the penalties exacted by sin are not from God but from our own human fallibilities turning with unchecked vengeance upon us.
Like a man floundering in a pit of quicksand, with his every motion only causing him to sink deeper into the trap, man apart from God can only make his lot worse by thrashing about trying to stay afloat by his unaided efforts.
At the edge of this quagmire God stands by with a rope, and the merest word requesting His help will find that lifeline tossed out to the grasp of the sinking soul.
Will God then drag him to safety? No, it is not His nature. He will only hold firmly to that cord and allow the struggling individual to pull himself hand over hand until he has brought himself to solid ground.
You have another wise saying that "God helps those who help themselves". If you remember that His guidance and aid are always there for the asking, then your destiny is indeed in your own hands.
It will be a future that is born of wisdom and understanding rather than of ignorance and arrogance. With God as the architect and His laws as one's blueprints, there can be no sounder foundation on which to build the rest of one's days.
On that note, I shall close this all too brief discussion of the faith and religion of Korendor. Doubtless it has raised many questions, and I have not touched upon many topics that this subject entails.
In a future communication, I shall endeavor to respond to queries that may come my way from readers. I never grow tired of discussing my God and His infinite wonders. For now, I implore you to know God and let Him be a part of your life. There is no greater joy.
Va i luce, and peace be yours.
I am ArKay.
© 2008 Robert P. Renaud -- all rights reserved