Part 3: THE DYNAMICS OF LIFE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 3: THE Dynamics of Life

In the second edition of his book, Words, published on March 20, 1983, Doctor Dahesh wrote the following passage:

“I believe in the existence of a Heavenly justice, and that all the inconveniences and troubles that befall us in this worldly life are but punishment in accordance with the sins and evils we have committed in our prior cycles, and that is why we must welcome whatever pains and tragedies of life that are coming to us, without grumbling or complaining; instead, with faith and conviction in Heavenly justice and her lofty systems.”

 

 

EMPOWERING IDEAS

In part one, the Multidimensional Universe, I intimated that had it not been for Doctor Dahesh, I might have become an atheist, thus rejecting the notion of a deeply mysterious, non-anthropomorphic, ever-present and watchful Creator.

 

And so, despite a Catholic upbringing, and due to my penchant for science, and in response to carefully-crafted and ubiquitous arguments, I would have probably embraced Materialism, which is the default, deeply entrenched, highly influential and institutionalized worldview that is passionately embraced, jealously guarded, and aggressively promoted by several high-profile intellectuals in the secular West who reject teleology: namely, the doctrine that promotes the existence of design and purpose in nature.

 

Known as the New Atheists, these gifted and influential science popularizers who have unabashedly bridged the science-philosophy divide, prop up the Darwinian theory of Evolution, and pass it off as incontestable scientific fact, the kind of truth only those who reject reason and science would dissent from, or dare question.

 

Furthermore, they will cast back into the wilderness any heretic who dare openly suggest that science educators should be encouraged to inform students about the strengths and weaknesses of the Darwinian Theory of Evolution. Meanwhile, and normally, discussing strengths and weaknesses of scientific theories is perfectly fine in the case of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, and especially when it comes to String Theory. On that front, and in a September 14, 2006, slate.com article by Gregg Easterbrook called, “The Trouble With String Theory” with the subtitle, “It’s a claptrap, a new book argues,” we learn about the thesis presented by Dr. Lee Smolin in his book, “The Trouble with Physics,” in which String Theory is derided as pretentious nonsense that has hijacked academic physics.

 

In any case, and for some odd reason, the Darwinian Theory of Evolution has always been, and still is off-limits to scrutiny.

 

And so despite peer-reviewed articles from mainstream biology journals acknowledging weaknesses in the standard version of Evolutionary theory, American anthropologist Dr. Eugenie Scott — the then executive director of the National Center for Science Education, which is known for promoting Darwinism — said in a 2009 Dallas Morning News interview, “you can’t apply this strengths and weaknesses idea to the teaching of Darwinian Theory because there are no weaknesses in the Theory of Evolution.”

 

Apparently, and according to Dr. Stephen Meyer, author of Signature in the Cell and Darwin’s Doubt, these types of statements are made all the time, and all of that has given the impression in our broader culture of a consensus that does not exist within evolutionary biology itself.

 

That being the case, what chance does a layperson have in debating evolutionary biologists?

 

Based on my research, these scientific atheists — and many of them are, and even those who claim not to be atheists — employ arguments that are: heavy on extrapolations and light on corroborative facts, deploying equivocation while attacking the straw man in their vociferous attempt to gaslight the public into believing their claim that life is ultimately meaningless, the result of an accident, and not the brainchild of a preexisting, reasoning mind; and so, contrary to what the words of Doctor Dahesh unequivocally imply in the epigraph, life is devoid of objective meaning.

 

Admittedly, the death of Doctor Dahesh on April 9, 1984, drew the curtain on — perhaps — the last age of the great Divine Prophets who, through the mind-boggling Miracles they performed and the Prophecies they revealed, were able to bring to countless witnesses the Good News that their lives had meaning, and gave them a roadmap to allow them to realign their Spiritual Fluids with loftier goals than that of clinging to this Earthly Realm.

 

That notwithstanding, and in light of recent scientific discoveries, particularly those made in the 21st century, could not the argument be made that, thanks to science, there is enough evidence for a reasonable, logical person to come to the conclusion that, at the very least, it is highly probable that some sort of intelligent designer is behind our existence?

To be clear, I am not referring to proof that meets the standard of moral certainty. Instead, I am referring to establishing a reasonable doubt, which would be enough to falsify the Materialist worldview.

 

And even if — as goes the argument — this mind, this designer of arguably imperfect biological machines were flawed, which would be irrelevant given that an intelligent creator need not be perfect for the purposes of this debate, coming to anywhere near such a conclusion, by way of scientific evidence, would be a giant paradigm shift.

 

Again, all one need do is perform due diligence when deliberating the question.

Dahesh, the Beloved Guiding Prophet said, “It only takes a spark, a pebble, a philosophical thought to raze or bring down kingdoms believed to be eternal.”

 

 

BRIDGING THE FAULT LINE

 

Doctor Dahesh, whose private library contained well over a half-million books, dedicated a whole chapter in honor of books in his aforementioned book Words, in which he wrote, “Books are my precious treasure,” and “I love books as much as the drunkards’ love for wine, however the more of them I drink, the more lucid I become.”

 

Being self-taught, he was an exponent of education, and frowned upon a lackadaisical attitude toward general knowledge and implicitly encouraged brushing up on science. And whenever in his company—especially as a teenager prone to boredom—it was always a good idea to be up on such rudiments as the height of Mount Everest, the speed of sound, the speed of light, or however long it took for the sun’s light to reach the earth.

 

 And despite his busy daily schedule, he would tend to the smallest of details. For example, he taught me that it is safer to refrigerate hard-boiled eggs with their shells intact.

 

Also, on one occasion in New York city in 1982, he made me promise to never, ever combine lemon juice with hot tea, in a polystyrene cup. Apparently hot tea, lemon juice, and polystyrene made for a dangerous triad. On that note, and not too long after that, I happened to be eating a sandwich at the 1st floor café in Higgins Hall, at The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, when someone who had just purchased a cup of hot tea with a lemon slice, brought it back, complaining about the thick, vertical dark brown streak that had inexplicably appeared on the cup’s side, and which had eaten its way through the polystyrene!

 

And one of his pet peeves was gratuitous extrapolation.

 

Consequently, he was a harsh critic of fringe ideas promoting the notion that anything was possible, though the counterargument — in all fairness — could be made that anyone who believed in Divine Miracles might believe in anything.

 

For what it’s worth, that is a scary thought.

 

Imagine an airline pilot suddenly deciding he or she could land the plane with their eyes closed; or, how about a structural engineer substituting randomly selected values for precisely calculated ones when designing a suspension bridge.

 

From a Daheshist perspective, the belief that anything is possible despite the immutable and necessary laws of physics — which are arguably fine-tuned for life, that is to the extent we can all agree on a definition of life — reduces Divine Miracles to mundane status. This, in turn, trivializes the importance of the Divine teachings, which are, in their pure, undistorted state, only meant to guide us and help us steer clear of the many temptations that lie in wait for us, and whose source is none other than our own spiritual fluids coaxing us from the lower dimensions.

 

Please hold that thought.

 

Furthermore, Daheshism asserts that not even a divinely anointed Prophet could break the laws of the universe—on a whim or otherwise. Rather, it is Divine Will that decides when a miraculous interaction is to occur at the hand of a Divine Prophet—acting as the physical interface.  And I use the word “physical” with caution being that, as we have seen in part two, The Mechanics of Existence, everything in the “physical” world is made of Spiritual Fluids in various degrees of loftiness, and depth.

 

Doctor Dahesh famously said, “Fanaticism is the first enemy of the temple it serves.”

 

And so as far as he was concerned, the more educated a person was about science and the process of falsifying fantastic claims by using healthy skepticism, the less vulnerable and gullible he or she would be. Therefore, it was that acquired intellectual wherewithal to reject superstition and debunk claims of magic, witchcraft, sorcery, and faith healings that made a person better equipped at discerning the Miracles that occurred at his hands, which were neither provable nor falsifiable.

 

That is why he encouraged delving into the hard sciences despite the recurring mantra, as it were, in modern Western thought that science and religion were mutually exclusive.

 

And at the very core of this hypothesis lies the Darwinian Theory of Evolution, which would eventually be updated to include the latest development in biology. And to be clear, I am referring to the Darwinian theory of evolution, or the Neo-Darwinian Theory of evolution, and not negating evolution at-large, which is a term that has multiple meanings, including “change over time.”

 

In any case, twenty-first century New Atheists ardently more than ever use the Neo-Darwinian Theory of Evolution — also known as the Modern Synthesis — as the basis of their materialist worldview, culminating into a situation in which nihilism is masquerading as science.

 

And the theme that makes the New Atheists a movement onto themselves, according to Dr. David Berlinski, author of among others The Deniable Darwin, and The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions, is “the conviction that God does not exist because science tells us so!”

 

Berlinski, a mathematician and scientist, a self-professed agnostic who refers to himself as a “secular Jew” who is “remarkably indifferent to the religious life” said that while he does not know whether God exists and that his views are inconclusive, “the idea that science has demonstrated, SCIENCE has demonstrated something of fundamental human importance about the existence of God is very much my concern because I think it is a false idea, and I think there are no good arguments supporting it and I think it’s important to say so, and to recognize that it is so.”

 

And the reason Dr. Berlinski is persuaded that is so is because he very much doubts that there’s anything answering to the name of science.

 

And if we want to know what science is in anything other than an institutional sense, the best thing we can do is look at a scientific theory, namely the great ones, of which there are only four. And, according to him, none of these theories make any reference to any religious issue. He said, “For far too long we have been assaulted with the view that science has a voice all its own.”

 

According to Berlinski, it doesn’t, nor does it have a coherent body of theoretical principals that are uniform throughout the sciences, and it doesn’t have a method beyond any method we would use in any kind of human pursuit—such as the game of golf.

 

Therefore it cannot, logically, speak as one single voice.

 

Meanwhile, and back in the land of the mere mortals, I had always gotten the impression from Doctor Dahesh that studying the sciences would lead to strengthening one’s faith.

 

 

GRANTED, BUT HOW EXACTLY?

 

For the life of me, I could not understand why the Founder of Daheshism would encourage scientific literacy if that meant exposure to science textbooks, journals, mainstream literature and best-selling books all asserting that the first life allegedly arose from, and subsequently evolved as the result of a blind, undirected material process, as opposed to some kind of designing intelligence. So there!

And so, was he … putting us on?

 

After all, he was a prankster! Let me unpack this little tidbit. First, however, and in in the interest of providing the broader context, I must take us on a slight detour.

 

 

THE CYNICAL ROAD

 

Aside from me, personally, having been the occasional target of his pranks, which ultimately taught me valuable lessons and made me smarter—we hope, Doctor Dahesh was a raconteur who would dish up stories full of adventure, and garnished with plenty of capers.

 

On many an occasion, he would regale me with sidesplitting anecdotes from his youth involving hilarious—if not surreal— encounters with a lineup of hapless characters, who, for some odd reason, had put it into their heads that they could con or manipulate him.

 

And this perhaps might have been owing to his demeanor, which was typically quiet and reserved.

But to those close to him, Doctor Dahesh was particularly hawkish — while playing naive — when it came to setting charlatans and con artists straight.

 

And more importantly, he was on a mission to educate and enlighten minds on how not to be had.

 

In fact, when I was in my early teens, he clued me in on how mediums had accomplices in the audience, with whom they secretly communicated through coded messages in order to fool people into believing they possessed supernatural powers.

 

And I was very fortunate that he set me straight when he did given that I honestly believed in the power of seers, mediums, hypnotists, and psychics. How could I not, especially that tasseography, the academic term for Turkish Coffee fortune telling, is an occupational hazard if you live, or grow up in a country that favors this type of coffee. Or, if your mother, and all her posse were coffee-drinking Armenians!

 

Ergo, and once again, Doctor Dahesh’s insistence on acquiring an as well-rounded education as possible, precisely to be able to tell the difference between prestidigitation and something that is other-worldly, or to discern a put-up job.

 

Here is one story as told to me by Doctor Dahesh, of one of his friends who had fallen victim to a famous so-called faith healer and conjurer in Beirut:

 

Apparently, she would gather people around a large cauldron, filled with water, and placed over an open fire. She would then put the heavy lid on and recite an incantation. Soon enough, the cauldron, which for all intents and purposes contained only water, would clang!

 

The sorceress, as it were, would then remove the lid in order to reveal the alleged human bones that had magically appeared in the boiling water, scaring everyone half-to-death, prompting them to dig deep into their pockets in the hope she would bless and protect them from evil spirits.

Doctor Dahesh couldn’t believe his ears, and nothing he could say would convince his friend, a supposed educated man, that what he witnessed had to have been a clever trick.

 

Finally, he asked this friend of his to arrange a meeting with this spiritual medium.  And so it was. This time, no sooner had the woman put the lid on, than Doctor Dahesh leaped up, grabbed and flipped it over, revealing to all present, the big and heavy bones that were encased in wax, which, once melted from the heat, would release its payload into the boiling water, cling-clanging the cauldron to life!

 

Of course, not all charlatans were this crafty.

Some, like Platform magician Sammy Rosca were so inept, they gave honest illusionists and skillful stage hypnotists a bad name!

 

 

THE CIRCUS OF LIFE

 

(Audio Clip)

Somewhere amidst the hysterical laughter that broke through the eerie fog of uncertainty brought on by the bloody and ruthless Lebanese Civil war, bringing with it much needed solace, we can hear Doctor Dahesh recounting one of his real-life stories in the kitchen located at the top floor of the landmark Hneine Palace, which between 1914 and 1936 housed the United States Consulate-General, and which would eventually  become the residence of Doctor Dahesh.

 

And so what would later become known as the Daheshist Mission House, was directly situated opposite the Murr tower, inside the epicenter of the infamous thirteen-day battle that would take place in October of 1975, and whose opening salvo was the rocket-propelled-grenade that exploded at close range, missing — by a hair — the wide balcony doors opening onto the room my mother, my father, and me had been sitting in.

 

In our case, we happened to live right opposite the Holiday Inn and Phoenicia Hotel towers. And so, our  respective buildings, located in an idyllic seaside neighborhood, would become both targets and shields, making us all unwilling actors in the theatre known as the Battle of the Hotels.

 

During this harrowing period and beyond, and — against all odds — the Daheshists would  safeguard and carefully pack the contents of the Daheshist Museum and Library into wooden crates destined for the United States, their work interrupted only by the sudden barrage of bullets, bombs, mortar fire and rockets.

 

Tragically on December 15, 1975, the Daheshist Ali Ombargi would be critically wounded while protecting the Beloved Prophet and the House of the Beloved Prophet, and would later die at 6 pm, Beirut local time.

 

And so in light of all the bravery, toil, and sacrifice that went into safeguarding the Daheshist Museum — as Doctor Dahesh would call it — I would be remiss if I did not shine a light on the fact it transcended the mere, albeit noble pursuit of collecting art for art’s sake.

 

(Audio Clip)

In this brief interaction that took place on the evening of February 29, 1976, at around 10:55 pm, we can hear my eldest brother Chucri Chakkour reaffirm to Doctor Dahesh all the things that would take place, back in Paris when he and others would travel with him.

 

(Audio Clip)

 

CHUCRI

The way through which we would look for
paintings, and the way through which
we would find them…

 

Doctor, one realizes that there isn’t one
thing that you do that does not involve
a spiritual reason… No way! If you want
to move a cup from one place to another,
there is a spiritual reason.

 

Doctor Dahesh responds.

 

(Audio Clip)

 

DOCTOR DAHESH

God-willing, this Museum will be completed.
And we do not want anything else, believe me.

 

Describing the Museum as...

(Audio Clip)

DOCTOR DAHESH

Really wonderful. From among the most
wonderful museums.

 

 

And Chucri adds, that...

(Audio Clip)

CHUCRI

It is the greatest of miracles!

 

Referring to the fact Doctor Dahesh was able to build the Daheshist Museum collection in spite of all the financial, physical, and logistical hurdles, to say nothing of the numerous deliberate attempts by Doctor Dahesh’s sworn enemies to assassinate him with a vengeance.

 

WHY RISK LIFE AND LIMB OVER A MUSEUM?

 

Was it all about promoting French Academic art and memorializing the likes of Bouguereau?

 

Where does Daheshism fit in this narrative?

 

True, it is no secret that Doctor Dahesh loved art, and he had even instructed me, in 1979, to keep my eyes peeled for “good paintings,” and to collect them.

In this particular instance, he and I were alone in his study inside the Mission House, and he had been admiring  this painting he had, which depicted a pastoral scene featuring a small herd of sheep, and I distinctly remember looking to my left, and then to my right, to make sure he was actually talking to me; because, after all, I was barely 19, and the idea of collecting art was such an unattainable goal.

 

Although, I must say that about 16 years following that, I would in fact end up featuring a great many artists who, all told, were kind enough to send hundreds of digital paintings to be included in the galleries of finished work that followed each chapter of my first step-by-step instructional book, Painting with Computers, which was a watershed moment in my professional life, one that celebrated the marriage of traditional methods of art with the-then rapidly expanding technology of computers.

 

I’ll never forget that moment when the president of Rockport Publishers, Stan Patey, asked me, after I pitched my concept to him in 1995, if I could create a book that would contain a minimum of 300 paintings, which meant including somewhere in the vicinity of 200 digital works of art that would not be my own.

 

And so I said “Yes!” having no clue what I had just gotten myself into!

Of course, I didn’t know the first thing about convincing anyone to allow me to publish their work in my book, for free.

 

Plus, this was 1995, and the telephone was still the communication tool of choice.

 

One day, after a long, fruitless search, I gathered enough courage and called the renowned Colossal Pictures, in San Francisco.

 

I had heard about Dewey Reid, their award-winning commercial TV director who, in his capacity of  director of new media, was leading their transition from analog to digital filmmaking.

 

But beyond that, I had long been a fan of his creative contributions whose distinctive signature had graced many of the movies, TV shows, and even commercials that had left their mark on me.

So, yeah... I was sweating bullets.

 

To my relief, Dewey was gracious and supportive of my project and would pledge to include many of his well-known illustrations in its publication. This, not only allowed me to put together a serious book dummy — as it’s referred to in the publishing industry — which, in turn, allowed Rockport Publishers to promote and pre-sell the book, it would also give my labor of love the validation it needed in the eyes of other digital artists, who were more than happy to participate in a project featuring the work of Dewey Reid.

 

But, the highlight of that initial phone conversation came about as I mentioned to Dewey that some of my work had been commissioned by someone he most certainly had never heard of, called Salim Moussa Achi, also known as, Doctor Dahesh.

 

That’s when Dewey Reid surprised me by asking,“You knew Dahesh?” to which I responded, “How do you know about Dahesh?”

 

And just as I was about to think I was being pranked, Dewey began to tell me how, on one of his spiritual retreats, he had heard stories about a mystical figure from the Middle East, who could perform miracles, who had been executed, and had come back from the dead, and who had singlehandedly fought against a government that wanted to get rid of him.

And... I’m thinking, “this has got to be legit!”

And it was.

 

And, on top of it all, he had heard about the museum that Doctor Dahesh had collected.

 

If there is one thing my very first, and very lengthy conversation with Dewey Reid would show, it is that the Daheshist Museum, the Daheshist Library, and Daheshism, which would include the more than a hundred and fifty books that Doctor Dahesh had authored, formed a continuum.

 

Meaning: not only were they mutually inclusive, they were necessarily so.

 

Then again, not according to the official statement made on behalf the Dahesh Museum board of directors, and which was published in the December 1996 issue of ARTnews magazine, as part of a six-page feature article called “The Riddle of Doctor Dahesh” written by award-winning author and journalist Ferdinand Protzman.

The article starts off with the following summary:

 

“Almost two years after its founding, New York’s Dahesh Museum remains an enigma, shrouded in secrecy by the family that established and controls it. The man who was its guiding spirit was either a successful Middle Eastern writer and art lover or, to his followers, a miracle-working and religious prophet whose presence in the world was on the order of Christ’s second coming.”

 

And then the article would touch upon the many fascinating facets of a saga that must have left the uninitiated scratching theirs heads.

 

For example, on page five of the article, political writer and conservative activist Kenneth R. Timmerman, founder and director of the Middle East Data Project, Inc., who is an internationally recognized expert on Middle East Security issues is quoted as saying, “It is inconceivable to me how someone could transport something so voluminous as that out of Beirut at the peak of the civil war…It would have been almost impossible without assistance from either the Lebanese military or one of the sectarian militias.”

 

Of course, I  have it on good authority that neither was the case, as we shall see in a future episode.

 

Furthermore, according to the article, the Dahesh Museum Director, Dr. David Farmer, “clearly insists that there is no relationship between the spiritual movement and his institution, and that neither he nor his staff members are Daheshists.”

 

Fair enough, and nothing out of the ordinary here given that around 1990 I interviewed potential directors for the museum on behalf on the museum board of directors, and none of the applicants were Daheshists, nor had to be.

That notwithstanding, however, and in terms of its core mission, the original museum was Daheshist.

 

Let me explain: during a dinner conversation I was having with the late Dr. Ghazi Brax, at Bertucci’s in Old Town Alexandria Virgina, in the early 2000s, he confirmed that the artifacts Doctor Dahesh had been collecting up until the end, contained within them spiritual fluids that needed to be reunited with their respective owners.

 

In other words, let us say a person visited the collection, and came face to face with a particular painting or piece of art that contained a spiritual fluid that linked back to them, that person might be able to reclaim it, if he or she so merited.

 

This is important because, and from a Daheshist perspective, the ultimate goal is to reclaim, if you will, all the spiritual fluids belonging to us, and strive to elevate them to a higher dimension through the thousands of cycles of reincarnation.

 

In any case, Ghazi Brax went into vivid detail about the time he accompanied Doctor Dahesh to the-then vacant Gallery of Modern Art originally commissioned by A&P heir and art collector Huntington Hartford in 1964, at Two Columbus Center, located between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, with its marble cladding featuring Venetian motifs and a curved facade, which according to New York Times journalist David Dunlap was “an abandoned work of romantic modernism that has irritated and amused New Yorkers for 30 years.”

 

At my architecture school, we simply called it the “lollipop building.”

 

You see, before transferring to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, I had briefly attended The New York Institute of Technology, whose Manhattan campus was situated right around the corner, and so I can attest to the fact that, stylistically-speaking, it was an acquired taste: seen in the context of the adjacent buildings, it was flamboyantly iconoclastic while, oddly enough, deferential to the past.

 

It was awkward, but affable.

 

And unlike the revamped version introduced in 2008, which blends perfectly into the background — so please don’t blink or you’ll miss it, you couldn’t miss the old version for the glaring landmark that it was no matter how hard you squinted!

 

Plus, I had always felt there was something eerily familiar — as well as comforting about it — but I couldn’t put my finger on what that was until I learned that it was designed by the architect Edward Durell Stone, who had also designed the Phoenicia Hotel complex located right in front of my childhood home in Beirut, which would later be turned into a launching pad for rockets and mortar fire during that infamous Battle of the Hotels.

 

And they say muscle memory is a myth!

 

And that was the building Doctor Dahesh had always wanted it for his museum. Unfortunately and at the time, the asking price, though relatively affordable by New York City real estate standards, was too rich for the Daheshist Mission’s blood.

 

But what I didn’t know, was that Doctor Dahesh had also wanted a bookstore that would sell his books to be located in that building as well. Apparently, Doctor Dahesh walked around Two Columbus Center pointing and describing his vision in terms of where things would go. Ghazi Brax went as far as emphatically acting out Doctor Dahesh gesturing and saying, “This is where the bookstore would be.”

 

In other words, Doctor Dahesh did not disassociate the museum from Daheshism because their narratives were intertwined:

The books, the library, the museum, and the revelations, while discrete, are different facets of a whole that is other than the sum of its parts.

 

And as a case in point, I dare anyone to attempt to teach the more subtle points of Daheshism, such as the secret life of inanimate objects — and by the way, you’ll never look at your car or blender the same way ever again — without citing many of the textbook examples in Daheshist literature; one in particular involving the riveting conversation that took place between two majestic wooden sculptures, and which Doctor Dahesh relayed in great detail in the non-fictional story called, “And The Eagle Met the Tiger,” which he wrote on April 19, 1978, and which can be found on page 43 of the first edition of Strange Tales and Wondrous Legends, part 2, published in 1979.

 

How can anyone, after reading this story and many others, not think there is a link between the books, the museum, and the teachings? Especially that Doctor Dahesh wrote that the these stories were — once again — non-fictional!

 

And to claim or pretend that Daheshism is not intrinsic to the Daheshist museum collection, at best, demonstrates a lack of understanding.

 

Of course, nothing says you have to include the broader Daheshist narrative in the story of museum—if at all.

 

And as it so happened, the Dahesh Museum board of directors had dominion over the collection, and for that matter, the books and everything Doctor Dahesh had authored.

 

And so, they had the unfettered legal right to remove the aspect of Daheshism from the equation; or to do anything they wanted with the Museum, the writings, and the library, being that they were the principal beneficiaries of Salim Moussa Achi’s will and testament, which — incidentally — my eldest brother Chucri had witnessed.

 

Now, not including Daheshism in any equation, is one thing.

Publicly denying that Daheshism ever existed, however, is a completely different ball of wax.

Enter Flora Kaplan, an anthropology professor at New York University.

On page six of that same ARTnews article, we read, “Kaplan goes even further. Speaking on behalf of the board, she denies that Dr. Dahesh founded the spiritual movement. ‘He didn't establish it,’ Kaplan says. ‘The fact is, these people (Daheshists), that's what they say. He never proclaimed himself anything, not a prophet, not a reincarnation. He never claimed anything that people are claiming for him. He was born a Christian, and he must have been very charismatic.’ ”

 

And just like that, in one fell swoop, Daheshism had been disavowed by its founder’s namesake.

 

And anyone who challenged that assertion was either a liar or loony tunes, which on the face of it doesn’t bode well for me particularly considering that anyone who challenges Darwinism — as I am planning to do — is also loony tunes according to the likes of Richard Dawkins, whom I view as a great snake oil peddler in the war against teleology.

But more on that later.

In the meantime, and going back to Flora Kaplan’s statement, whose far-reaching ramifications we shall never know, and based solely on certain writings of Doctor Dahesh alone — if one is fortunate-enough to find them in their original Arabic version, never mind translated to English — every assertion allegedly made by her in 1996 on behalf of the Dahesh Museum board of directors was so off the mark it had all the markings of a tragicomedy.

 

In hindsight, why didn’t the board of directors, when pressed on the matter of Daheshism, which, incidentally, was at the heart of the literary works of Doctor Dahesh they — themselves — had been publishing and promoting at book fairs under the banner of the Daheshist Publishing Company, simply say, “No comment!” and leave it at that?

 

I mean… seriously, why didn’t the same people who sponsored, and video-taped for posterity the very first lecture on Daheshism to be given outside of Lebanon, in 1986, at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which I copresented, pivot like any “honest” politician would have done, or create a diversion; you know... “What was that? Oh look, bunnies!” or just say…  “no hablamos Inglés” ?

 

Anything that would have elicited, at worst, pity instead of "what?"

 

 

SPEAKING OF JEDI MIND TRICKS GONE WRONG . . .

 

Twenty some odd years prior, on a relatively peaceful evening, starting from 9 pm, Doctor Dahesh, in order to boost morale and combat shell-shock with a good dose of hysterical laughter, would relate a pageantry of real-life hilarious stories, including a couple of which involved the misadventures of platform magician and mentalist Sammy Rosca.

 

(Audio Clip)

 

You've just heard Doctor Dahesh logging in the date and time of February 29, 1976, at 9 o’clock in the evening.

 

(Audio Clip)

 

DOCTOR DAHESH

There that one time... Sammy Rosca. He was big;
he was from Aleppo. He passed away in Marseille...
five,six years ago. He would hypnotize; what do I
do I mean by "hypnotize"...Something, I mean, really

silly. He wasn't trained. And he knew that hypnotism

involved coded messages; he must have heard it
from someone, I'm not sure from whom. And he, at the
Brothers'school, did--what do you call it--a show.

 

 

Rosca would put on the kind of shows that often led to mayhem, and which despite their lack of ingenuity made up for it by being pure comedy fodder — all in all resulting in situations so bizarre, you couldn’t make that stuff up!

 

So much so, that according to Doctor Dahesh…

 

(Audio Clip)

 

DOCTOR DAHESH

If this were ever made into a movie, believe me, it would be one of the most beautiful movies… If they ever made this into a movie… I mean, one that would feature actors… in any case, ten incidences like that one would take up three to four hours’ worth of movie runtime.

 

 

And until such time as this movie is made, here is the abridged version of the story involving that one time Sammy Rosca attempted to perform his standard-issue mentalism trick at the Sacred Heart Catholic School in the Gemayze quarter in Beirut, which is part of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools founded by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle.

And by the way, having attended that particular school myself, as well as two other La Salle institutions in Lebanon, I can vouch for the fact their auditoriums were prized venues where the Brothers would organize variety shows featuring well-known performers and top acts of the day. And so you can imagine how, before television, events such as these would have been a very important part of the social fabric. They certainly were in my day; in fact, I still remember looking forward to these College De La Salle events with joy and anticipation.

 

In any case, and back to Sammy Rosca, inside the packed school auditorium, Sammy had his son and partner in crime on stage, seated on a chair, induced into a hypnotic state with his back turned to the audience consisting mostly of young students.

Essentially, the trick consisted of Sammy Rosca going around and collecting sundry items from the audience, placing them on a small platform he would carry around, and then asking his entranced son to identify each item he would pick out of the mix and hold up.

Doctor Dahesh was in attendance, always as Sammy’s guest-of honor, being that his reputation for debunking charlatans preceded him — although, and it must be said, he appreciated a well-executed sleight of hand, and even a well maneuvered mentalist trick, provided these were all promoted as entertainment.

In Sammy’s case, as I said, there was practically no skill but plenty of entertainment!

 

So Doctor Dahesh cut him some slack, and would never heckle or embarrass him in public.
 Besides, it would've been redundant given that Sammy Rosca usually had that covered.

 

Anyway...

 

The scene opens inside the Sacred Heart School theater. Sammy Rosca has just finished gathering the items that he has placed on a small platform. Doctor Dahesh describes what transpired next.

 

(Audio Clip)

 

DOCTOR DAHESH

Now, all the items are gathered. He grabs...

It just so happened that when he did this

at the Brothers' School, the first thing he

grabbed--he could have picked up a pen, or

something else; as luck would have it, he

picked up...a cigarette.

 

So, he held up a cigarette and his partner
knew it was a cigarette.

 

 

DOCTOR DAHESH

(acting out Sammy Roska)

What am I holding in my hand? [Sammy Roska asks]

 

The other one tells him...

 

DOCTOR DAHESH

(acting out Sammy Roska's son, allegedly entranced)

A cigareeeeeette........

 

DOCTOR DAHESH

Of course, the accomplice knew he had

a cigarette in hand. At that moment,

the brother who was there said, "Stop!"

 

DOCTOR DAHESH

(acting out the irate Brother)

Which one of you children gave him
this cigarette? [Asked the Brother who

was chaperoning the event]

 

DOCTOR DAHESH

Nobody gave him the cigarette.

So he gave himself away! He's the one who

put it there! He told his son, "First, I'll

hold up the cigarette, and then I'll hold

up a pen." Do you get it? Plus, at the

Brothers', cigarettes are forbidden for

children. And when he saw the jig was about
to be up, he told him...

 

 

DOCTOR DAHESH

(now acting out an indignant Sammy Roska)

"Well yeah, I'm the one who put in the cigarette!"

 

 

 

SPEAKING OF WRECKING BALLS…

 

When, in 1986, I read The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design by Richard  Dawkins, in which he writes,“Biology is the study of complicated things that have the appearance of having been designed with a purpose,” the first thing question that jumped out at me was—aside from "whatever happened to the disinterested pursuit of knowledge?"— “How does such a categorical assertion not potentially incline a person’s mind toward atheism?”

 

And for the record, I am not conflating atheism and immorality; or implying it connotes a lack of spirituality, or not pursuing profundity. From a Daheshist perspective, and while a sincere belief in the Creator — and in particular in Doctor Dahesh as His Beloved Guiding Prophet — would certainly benefit one’s Spiritual Fluids, there are many variables that decide the fate of every spiritual fluid in terms of its spiritual ranking, criteria such as its tendencies, thoughts, motives, and actions. And, might I add, judgment is rendered on a relative scale, because Daheshism teaches that whoever understands and appreciates the gravity of the Spiritual Truths bears more responsibility than one who does not.

 

And for sure, mitigating circumstances and degree of awareness do weigh in. A person who willingly abuses his or her position of power, who willfully preys on the helpless, will be judged on a different scale than one who is constantly — albeit unsuccessfully — combating inner demons; and doing so earnestly — not just putting on a show.

 

Moreover, in The Prayer of Dahesh, we pray to God and say, “Keep us away from the wicked and the scoffers at the Word of God; illuminate their eyes.”

 

The prayer says nothing about atheists. “Wicked” can apply to those who claim to believe in God. And the same goes for the “scoffers at the Word of God;” in other words, who willfully mock the word of God and encourage everyone else to do so.

 

On the other hand, a person can be an atheist and decent — spiritual even.

 

So…

 

WHAT’S MY PROBLEM?

 

Well, according to a March 14, 2019, TIME magazine article, the suicide rates are rising sharply. Yes, I know there are so many variables and pathologies that might lead a person to take his or her own life, and I know correlation does not necessarily imply causation. But are we really going to make the case that it’s better for a person to believe life has no meaning, and that there is no afterlife, especially that this assertion has no scientific evidence to back it up?

 

And putting the issue of infinite regress aside for a moment, anyone who says it is absurd or irrational to believe in an intelligent designer has obviously not weighed in the balance the absurdity of believing that the universe came into being from… nothing.

 

In other words, no matter which proposition we choose, when we get right down to it, we are effectively…

 

 

ROMANCING THE ABSURD

One evening, back in New York City, when after pondering the mere notion of existing and feeling overwhelmed by it all, I went up to Doctor Dahesh as he was working away at the desk in my apartment, and quietly blurting out—mind you—in a show of surrender to all of the implications in which I believed though I could not fathom how they could exist, “Doctor,” I said, “this whole thing… all of it… the fact we exist… the miracles… all of it… it seems so… absurd…” to which he smiled, nodded his head in agreement, and with sober alacrity, softly said, “I know.”

 

And so if you ask me, when we apply “rational thinking,” to what I am describing, it all sounds definitely absurd.

 

For my part, and at the risk of appearing as though I were promoting anarchy and mayhem, there are limits beyond which rational thinking — pure abstract mathematical thinking, even — begins to break down.

 

But back to the original question of whether or not it is better for a person to believe life has no objective meaning, that is from the point of view of intellectual fulfillment: because — and after all, and as scientific atheists would have us believe—there is no mind, there is no spirit, it’s all an illusion. And whatever we think of as “mind” is nothing but the brain having evolved to give us that illusion. And, simply put, when I allude to evolution in this case, I mean Darwinian Evolution. In other words: blind; non-intelligent; not-equipped-with-hindsight; not-equipped-with-foresight; non-sentient, natural selection acting on random mutation. And I’ll be talking about that in more depth in the next episode.

 

For now however, this question bears asking because although we no longer have the Miracles and Prophecies of Doctor Dahesh—which typified tangible evidence that, among many other things, reincarnation was a real mechanism, and that the lines between Monism, Dualism, and Idealism were artificial — he was right in promoting scientific literacy as a means to reinforce one’s faith despite the long-held belief that science and faith cannot mix.

Apparently, and it took a few decades to get to this point, there are several lines of empirical evidence that can be used to challenge the deeply entrenched, materialist worldview on several grounds — none of which have remotely anything to do with religious belief; not even remotely, as we shall learn in the next episode.

First however, please know that from a Daheshist perspective, if you commit suicide, the Divine Spiritual laws are such that you will have to come back in one form or another in one form or another — to perhaps undergo a similar test; this time with compound interest added to your sentence.

 

And I use the word “sentence” because we all have materialized on this Earthly plane of existence because we have spiritual fluids that have brought themselves down — or even up — to Planet Earth. We are here in order to pay our debt — or debts, if you will. Our thoughts, our deeds together follow us wherever we might go.

 

Only through goodwill, fair play, hard work and perseverance can we hope to expunge our actions, and purify our tendencies.

 

It is not only about the end result, but about the process as well.

 

And ultimately, it should be for the Love of God Almighty, because — as I indicated in part 2, the Mechanics of Existence — each of our Spiritual Fluids is dispatched or sprung from its respective Mother Spirit residing in the World of the Spirits, also known as The Divine Worlds, and that the highest or purest of these Divine Worlds are called The Heavens: the realm of God Almighty.

 

And once again, God is nothing we can understand, let alone see.

 

Doctor Dahesh wrote:

 

"God, nobody has seen Him, nobody knows Him... The mysteries of Creation are beyond even his archangels. And yet, everything in this Universe bears His imprint, tells us of Him and sings His praises in the unfathomable galaxies of thought, from the infinitely small to the infinitely large."

 

"God is everywhere and in all things. But if you do not first and foremost find His Kingdom within yourself, try as you might, you will not find Him anywhere."

 

In any case, have you ever had a mishap you thought was the worst thing that could ever happen to you, only to find out it was a blessing in disguise?

 

Or narrowly escape injury, or death even?

 

Congratulations, more than likely, you were the beneficiary of spiritual assistance.

 

Of course, we could never know for sure. However, protocol dictates we raise a prayer of thanks to our Creator.

 

And according to Daheshism,  it was not random. There is no such thing as coincidence. It only appears as though there is. And that is because, not only do we not understand infinity, we simply lack the capacity to imagine the combinatorial possibilities.

 

And I will have to tell you more in subsequent episodes, where I hope to do justice to the nuances and subtleties within Daheshism, which is lifelong journey.  In fact, Doctor Dahesh told my brother Chucri that it took him twenty years to make a Daheshist out of someone.

 

Until then, let me just say that all the hard work that one might do from here to Sunday will not mean anything if done in bad faith, or begrudgingly.

 

That is, once more, because our thoughts and intentions carry as much weight, if not more than our actions in some cases.

 

For example, a bed-ridden criminal mastermind — or for that matter,  a hapless half-wit— inciting others to do his bidding, might as well be the one committing the actual crimes.

 

Conversely, perfunctory thoughts and prayers are as useful as the platitudes they are often doomed to serve.

 

That being said, and as though the tests of life were not exponentially-hard enough with their characteristic shades of gray, there are times when we need to outfox the fox — somehow, without compromising our principles or making a pact with the devil. And until we revisit this in greater depth in a future episode, let me just share with you two pieces of wisdom from Doctor Dahesh:

 

In his book, Words, Doctor Dahesh wrote, “It would be a disgrace if you died before performing good deeds toward humanity.” A statement he tempered by also writing in that same book, “It would be insane to burn yourself in order to illuminate the path for others.”

 

And so, back to my original point: action matters; so does speaking out.

 

Speaking of which, and back to this unfortunate business of suicide—and especially as it pertains to euthanasia:

 

Please…

Every second we have left is a gift that allows us to realign our spiritual fluids with loftier goals than that of clinging to this Earthly Realm. And rest assured, we are graded not compared to others, but compared to ourselves. And as I’ve explained, nothing is random and there are reasons why some of us are in the predicament we’re in. So, must be patient and hang on, and be strong in faith!

 

DIVINE MERCY

 

In Daheshism, one overarching principle is that — barring divine revelation, which is strictly the purview of the divine prophets — no human being can gain insight into their former lives — or future ones for that matter — by their own volition. And that is an act of Divine mercy on the part of the Almighty Creator, who by imposing involuntary amnesia, as it were, on all the members of the human species, spares them the psychological burden as well as any potentially dangerous— if not fatal— ramifications. In other words, if we think humanity is already suffering from too much rampant violence and revenge, just imagine what would happen if — all of a sudden — everyone remembered who did what to whom.

Chances are, there would be around-the-clock carnage!

 

To be fair — and based on what the founder of Daheshism himself made me understand following an incident whose details I will expand upon in the future — not all past actions committed need be of the egregious kind, and not every mishap or misfortune that befalls us should be automatically construed as punishment.

 

Please, once again, consider that the full extent of combinatorial possibilities within the space of interaction scenarios is beyond our reach. What we are experiencing right now is only part of a story with many prequels and sequels — of both a concurrent, and consecutive nature. And I say all this with a caveat attached mainly because: time, which cannot exist without space, always appears to move in one direction.

Hence the non-intuitive, nonsensical, totally absurd nature of what I’ve just laid out!

 

For now, let me just say that from a Daheshist perspective, regardless of what we might have done in a previous life cycle —though it certainly had set the stage for both, the multitude of events that ensued the moment we “woke up” into this reality and those that still lie in wait for us — what matters is: how we think, behave, and act in this lifetime. And so to put it simply, some life scenarios are destined to happen, while others are a function of our conduct.

 

And the governing axiom that all Daheshists must unequivocally accept, is that everything happens for a reason.

 

Having said that, and to avoid any misunderstanding, and without going into too much detail, the preceding only applies to situations that are absolutely beyond our control.

So, for example, invoking the “there is a reason behind everything” defense to whitewash or rationalize a premeditated or willfully clumsy act, would be tantamount to abuse of power, with potentially serious spiritual ramifications.

 

And to put it in more eloquent terms: that’s a no-no!

 

And while a person might seemingly get away with it in this lifetime, Doctor Dahesh reminds us that Heavenly justice and her lofty systems are always watching. “Allah Yumhil, wa la yuhmil,” Doctor Dahesh would often say. “God gives respite, but does not neglect.”

 

And as regards failure after an earnest attempt, many a time I would hear Doctor Dahesh say, “Have you done everything you can do? If ‘yes,’ then leave the rest to God.”

 

And in terms of managing people’s expectations, and according to my brother Chucri, he would cite the old Arabic adage, “Itha aradta an too taa’, fa ootlub al moostataa’.” In other words, “If you want to be obeyed, then ask for what is doable.”

 

In any case, the crux of the matter is that by not remembering his or her past lives, a human being is given an opportunity for a fresh start towards redemption — in other words paying off the debt — unhindered by the constant memories that might cripple any prospect for betterment in this lifetime.

 

But if all this is true, how come none of the Abrahamic religions believe in reincarnation?

 

 

OR... DO THEY?

 

In the beginning lines of the introduction to his book Strange Tales and Wondrous Legends, Part 2, penned on January 21, 1979, Doctor Dahesh, and right after he defines reincarnation as “man’s repeated return to Earth in order for him to cleanse himself of his impurities and to get rid of his heavy burdens,” addresses the categorical, flat-out rejection of Reincarnation by the representatives of the Abrahamic religions. Simply stated, he makes the case that the followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam did not believe in reincarnation owing to the manner they have interpreted their respective sacred texts. Furthermore. and in an appeal for them to look at that they might have overlooked, he cited, among others: examples from the Torah, the New Testament, and the Koran, all of which in his view would support the existence of reincarnation, especially when seen with the-then modern, late-1970s lens.

I will table this particular argument from theology for now because I feel I must address the pervasive materialist worldview that has been built upon a pretense of irrefutable scientific evidence, namely Darwinian Evolution.

 

And speaking of evolution at-large, once again, in the sense of “change over time,” and at the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious:

 

Because minds evolve, prophets have addressed the people they were sent to communicate with according to their emotional and intellectual acuity.

 

Prophet Moses gave the ancient Israelites the Ten Divine Commandments, and all the laws that followed. There was no mention of “Love thy neighbor.” Probably because, and back in those days, a person might have had enough trouble refraining from “loving” their neighbors’ spouse.

 

In any case, considering abiding by the spirit — never mind the letter — of a would-be commandment such as “love thy neighbor,” would’ve required a more advanced state of mind.

 

Simply put, the spiritual fluids populating the Earth at the time of Moses were simply not ready to adopt the concept of forgiveness — for example — as an alternative to exacting controlled revenge, as it were. That is not to imply that the spiritual fluids that populated the Earth had all evolved to adopt and implement the gospel of Jesus Christ, which was essentially a major update to the Divine instructions that had been given to them.

 

And here, I should perhaps tell you that each of the Major Prophets carried a Vital Spiritual Fluid that had been tasked with the mission to materialize on Planet Earth in order to establish a religion compatible with the spiritual fluids that had been populating it at that time.

 

And the source of all these lofty spiritual fluids is The Christ.

 

OUR HEAVENLY FATHER

 

Simply stated — and I refer you once again to the section on Mother Spirits in episode two, the Mechanics of Existence — The Christ, whom we commonly refer to as The Heavenly Father — not to be confused with God Almighty — is, technically-speaking, a Mother Spirit of the highest ranking residing in the Realm of The Heavens.

And before I continue, let me simply add that in this context, we use honorifics such as “Mother” and “Father” as a convenient way to describe the indescribable. In reality, and “up there” in the Realm of the Heavens, the familiar notions of mother and father do no apply — in the literal sense, that is!

 

With that out of the way, let me just give a quick overview:

 

From The Christ, emanated Spiritual Fluids that incarnated in not only the Divine Prophets, but also in many pillars of human civilization from philosophers like Socrates; to leaders like Alexander the Great; to composers such as Beethoven; to scientists like Einstein; and authors like Kahlil Gibran.

 

One Spiritual Fluid in Particular that emanated from The Christ, would incarnate as the Main, or Vital Spiritual Fluid within Jesus and Dahesh.

 

Furthermore, the 20th Spiritual Fluid was also part of Adam; although it was not the Main, or Vital Fluid of Adam.

 

And once again, please hold that thought.

 

Now, if you were paying attention in class, you might remember that I said in episode 2, that Spiritual Fluids, which emanate or extend from the Mother Spirits, can only materialize in the realms of Paradise and Hell — being that Paradise and Hell are material realms — as opposed to The Heavens, which are spiritual realms.

 

And you might also remember that Earth sits at the threshold of Hell.

 

That being the case, the Spiritual Fluids on Earth are ranked from 1 to 20 — 20 being the highest, or the loftiest. And again, it is that degree of Spiritual Fluid — the 20th Spiritual Fluid— also known as the Spiritual Fluid of Redemption that would materialize in Adam, Jesus Christ, and Dahesh.

 

Or more precisely: in addition to materializing as one of the Spiritual Fluids of Adam, the 20th Spiritual Fluid would materialize in both, Jesus Christ and Dahesh as their respective Main, or Vital Spiritual Fluid.

 

And I will eventually cover that in more detail especially that, unlike Jesus and Dahesh, Adam was not born into this Earthly realm from human parents, but was spontaneously created in the Garden of Eden, which was hidden from the rest of humanity; again that’s for a later episode.

 

And so in Daheshism, we make a distinction between Jesus Christ, the prophet, and The Christ, the source whence Jesus Christ had come.

 

Once again, the particular lofty spiritual Fluid in question is know as The 20th Spiritual Fluid. And the designation number 20 pertains to that Spiritual Fluid’s Spiritual ranking, which, Let me just say, is very high.

 

And you should know that Doctor Dahesh revealed that Mahatma Gandhi had a Spiritual Fluid from The Christ, as well.

In the introduction to the first volume of Strange Tales and Wondrous Legends, Doctor Dahesh would mourn, honor, and canonize Gandhi under the heading of “Gandhi The Prophet of The Twentieth Century.”

 

But, let’s get back to Jesus Christ for a moment and let me share with you what Doctor Dahesh had told during one of his many stays with me in New York City.

 

 

 

THE NECESSITY OF DIVINE MIRACLES

 

Doctor Dahesh taught us that, at the core, everything about life, including the immutable laws of Nature, should be thought of as a Miracle. The problem, however, is that our human species is quick to take things for granted, and consequently ups the ante on the Divine Force whose ultimate goal is to provide us with the knowledge that would enable us to eventually escape a predicament of our own making. Not only has this been happening through the millennia, but through the many cycles of utter destruction and subsequent recreation.

 

On that front, and for now, please know that we are in the throes of the 761st Genesis, which began after the Great Flood.

 

And miracles may they be the kind many were privileged to witness at the hand of Doctor Dahesh; or the ones manifest in the billions upon billions of biological cells teaming with molecular machines, working away to keep us alive long enough to do our utmost to bring about a positive change as we serve our sentence in good faith, though we will never know what sins we might have committed in other life cycles; right down to these strange coincidences that, while seemingly random, are spiritual interventions on our behalf, the kind we should be grateful for.

 

And so, if there were one key takeaway it would be this: never become jaded.

 

One time at the New York City apartment, located at the corner of 34th and 2nd, Doctor Dahesh told me, “If God Almighty himself materialized on Earth, and sat down with man for a cup of tea in a tent, the whole world would clamor with the news whose shockwave would be felt around the globe. Eventually however, and given man’s penchant for becoming quickly jaded, the next time God came around for tea, people would just languidly announce, ‘Well what do you know, God’s coming over for tea again’.”

 

And to underscore the importance of Miracles, or Spiritual Manifestations as he often referred to them, Doctor Dahesh revealed to me what actually transpired during the events described in John (chapter) 8: (verses) 1-11.

 

According to the New International Version of the Bible, (and I quote):

 

 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?' ”

 

According to the text, “They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, 'Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.' "

"Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman  still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' "

 

" 'No one, sir,' she said. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin.' "

 

That is what the New Testament teaches, and by all accounts, it is a beautiful story of forgiveness, and redemption… a true Kumbaya moment that should bring a of lump to your throat when you imagine how, mere words by our Lord Jesus Christ melted the hearts of an otherwise murderous lot who, incidentally, would eventually play a key role in ambushing, imprisoning, torturing, and crucifying him.

 

However, according to Doctor Dahesh, that is only part of the story, and it has been (for lack of a better word) sanitized:

 

What, according to Doctor Dahesh, really happened, was that Jesus did in fact stoop down to write on the ground, which should automatically beg the question of “What did he write, and what part did that play in his ability to prevail on them to reconsider killing the woman?”

 

According to what Doctor Dahesh told me, what Jesus did was to draw a five-pointed star — a pentacle — in the sand. The moment he finished drawing the five-pointed star, each of the men who were about to stone the woman suddenly had a vision appear before them, which replayed an egregious sin they had themselves committed. The men, according to Doctor Dahesh freaked out and ran away screaming!

 

Then Doctor Dahesh told me, “Do you really think Jesus Christ would have been able to convince this murderous bunch without the assistance of a Miracle? Had he not put the fear of God in them by virtue of the spiritual manifestation that exposed their hypocrisy and sins, they would have stoned him instead!”

 

In any case, Daheshism never drew a fault line between science and faith. In fact, as I alluded to earlier when describing the many ways The Christ has helped advance our human civilization, it is part and parcel of Daheshist belief that humanity was allowed to advance scientifically — thanks to the materialization of lofty Spiritual Fluids, that inspired their hosts to make monumental discoveries in physics, chemistry, medicine, and so on; and despite the fact many of them actually rejected the idea of a higher being, such as Albert Einstein.

 

And so to recap, the intervention of Divine Mercy is not limited to simply sending us Divine prophets whose mission is to guide us — which in of itself is an incredible blessing, of course! — or scientists who make our life easier. It extends through many fields, such as: architecture and engineering, as well as art, music, and literature.

 

And so, as far as Daheshism is concerned, they all constitute a continuum, and science is certainly an inescapable part of the discussion.

For example, one time, around 1982, Doctor Dahesh dropped a bomb when he made a shocking revelation during a conversation he and I were having about the Virgin Birth, and during which he was expressing how odd it was that many rejected the notion of Jesus Christ having been conceived naturally by a human mother and father, an issue, incidentally he addressed at length in part 3 of his book series, Strange Tales, and Wondrous Legends.

 

And on page 86 in that book we learn that Jesus Christ had to be conceived and born like any other human because he had to undergo the full extent of what it meant to be human:

He had resist all of the Earthly temptations that sought his perdition. In essence, it was the only way for him, as a Divine Prophet of God, to be worthy of the title, and be in a position to act as a genuine role model for others to follow.

In other words, when the 20th Fluid stepped in, and volunteered to descend from the 150th level of Paradise, and materialize on Earth, which — as a friendly reminder — sits right on the threshold of Hell, and help humanity — for reasons I will have to table for a later episode — it needed a human body, or an unimaginably complex biological machine, that requires both information and energy to be operated if you will, and which would be subject to all the associated occupational hazards of being human!In any case, and no sooner had Doctor Dahesh finished saying “I do not understand what the big deal is,” than he said, “besides, and scientists do not know this yet, but a woman can conceive a child without a man.”

 

Now, since scientists, at the time he made this declaration had already known about artificial insemination — for nearly a century — I can only deduce that he was definitely talking about something else entirely.

 

If I’m right, and to paraphrase what Doctor Dahesh said: women — insofar their genome, are somehow capable of asexual reproduction; in other words, virgin births.

 

And for that to happen, and theoretically-speaking — for now at least, geneticists would need to find the appropriate master switches in woman’s DNA, and engage them in the right order without triggering any potentially deleterious mutation.

 

 

SPEAKING OF INCONCEIVABLE CONCEPTIONS

 

Earlier in this episode, I brought up the matter of Spiritual Fluids coaxing us from the lower dimensions, and asked you to hold that thought. Thank you for indulging me.

 

And so I would like to pick it up where we left off and tell you that Doctor Dahesh taught that, in reality, God punishes no one.

 

Rather, it is we who punish ourselves.

 

As I briefly alluded to earlier, when we cause the fall or degradation a spiritual fluid, and subsequently condemn it to materialize in a lower dimension, it will seek revenge on us.

 

Remember, Spiritual Fluids are sentient.

 

Now… put yourself in this Spiritual Fluid’s proverbial shoes:

 

You’ve just committed it to materialize and suffer in a world where perhaps the worst thing that could ever happen to you is for someone to threaten you with life.

 

It will hate and resent you. There’s no forgiveness in Hell. That’s probably why they call it Hell!

 

And so, it’ll try its best to make you fall even further, and consequently cause you to commit even more of your Spiritual Fluids, feeding it in the process.

 

And I grossly oversimplified the example because, remember,  Hell is broken into 150 levels — each teeming with an untold number of worlds!

 

Now, the good news is that the same applies when we allow one of our spiritual fluids to rise to a higher dimension. Hence, the inner struggle we might experience is a result of that proverbial tug of war between our Spiritual Fluids.

 

And while I’m at it, remember what I said about holographic projections in Part One, The Multidimensional Universe. Meaning, don’t get too bogged-down with trying to define what reality is.

 

As illogical, absurd, and counterintuitive as it may sound, just keep in mind that we are projections.

 

That’s why — try as they might — scientists cannot find the mind. They know where the brain is, but they don’t know where the mind is! And consequently, many of them reject its existence.

 

In fact, and as far as the Materialists, Neo-Darwinists and Scientific Atheists are concerned, there is no consciousness — in the real sense of the word — because until we can see it, measure it, and test it, it does not exist. By the same token, there is no soul, and the mind is nothing but a physical phenomenon, the byproduct of brain activity.

But that's for later.

 

In any case, Daheshism teaches that it is not God who punishes us; instead, that it is our own Spiritual Fluids that do so.

 

And as we shall see in a future episode, Spiritual Fluids interact and mix with other spiritual fluids, thus forming an unimaginably complex cybernetic control and communications systems.

 

 

 

WE ARE NOT ALONE

 

Doctor Dahesh wrote,  “To a Daheshist, defending freedom is a sacred, heavenly duty… because it is The Creator’s Gift to His Creations.”

And so, it is my sworn duty to defend your right to choose not to believe.

 

However, as I have already said earlier, I must draw the line when a belief is built upon a lie.

 

And before I continue, let me reiterate that Doctor Dahesh invested a lot of time and energy in debunking quackery and shams.

 

And in fact, I will eventually tell you the story of how Dahesh Bey, would become DOCTOR DAHESH in 1930, and how he used — in order to outfox the fox, as it were —  the Doctorate awarded to him in Paris, France, by an institute with ties to an organization headquartered in Rochester, New York, which come to find out, peddled in pseudoscience and preyed upon the gullible — worldwide — through its correspondence courses.

 

In any case, this honorific obtained from an institute in France would do wonders for the reputation of Doctor Dahesh, a chess move that allowed him to intercept and deprogram many seekers of spiritual enlightenment who would have otherwise fallen victim — themselves — to con artists masquerading as scientists who purportedly not only had unlocked the mysteries of the universe, but were willing to share their knowledge—for a modest fee.

 

And just to give you a taste of where Doctor Dahesh officially stood on the matter,  let me read you an excerpt from an opinion piece written by Doctor Dahesh, and which was published in the May 23, 1968, issue of a magazine called Lightning and Thunder, in the section called, You Ask, and Doctor Dahesh Replies:

 

“The alleged 'Spiritual mediums' are — in truth — nothing more than quackery and charlatanism daubed upon the simpleton but not upon the intelligent and enlightened. And the only goal of those claiming to be spiritual mediums is to extricate money from the gullible."

 

And so when I am convinced that notable scientific scholars and stewards of our science curricula and educational system dismiss, outright, an absolutely serious scientific counter-argument that constitutes an inference from empirical, biological evidence, a line must be drawn.

 

Therefore, in the next episode, I aim to present compelling, well-documented facts that, while not conclusive, are suggestive of the following: like many of the charlatans who claimed  to perform white magic or black magic, and whom Doctor Dahesh spent a lifetime shaming and debunking, many so-called scientists are guilty of a conspiracy to mislead the public.

 

To paraphrase the words of Tom Bethell, journalist and author of Darwin’s House of Cards, those scientists have replaced evidence with authority.

 

And so, if a person’s decision to become an atheist stems from what he or she had been taught in Biology class, then I consider that a problem because, after careful study, I can now officially state that the core message of the Darwinian Theory of Evolution, is not science.

 

It is mythology masquerading as science.

 

Historically, it was the inspiration for Eugenics, and the idea that you have to perfect the human being.

 

And while we learn that the relationship between Communism and Darwinism is a matter of contentious debate between scholars, in his EvolutionNews.org article, Darwinism and Communism, Part 2, David Klinghoffer writes, “Marxists and Darwinists are heirs to the materialist revolt against metaphysics that began in the 17th century with Hobbes and Locke and the 18th century ‘naturalist’ revolt against Church and Throne inaugurated by Rousseau.”

 

In all, repudiating the idea of an afterlife and seeking to create a utopia right here on Earth, which led to unfathomable and horrendous acts throughout the 20th century.

 

And so, Darwinism makes claims that should worry anyone who takes the time to consider their implications.

 

Furthermore, you have a situation in which evolutionary biologists are blatantly removing the Creator from the equation by imposing still-to-be-proven explanations for the origin of life on Earth, and how it subsequently evolved to encompass everything we see, from just one accidental living cell — which still no one knows how it came about.

 

In fact, they might as well be describing a Miracle!

 

And so they are essentially brainwashing their students into embracing materialism — which is a philosophy — and pass it off as scientific fact.

 

And speaking of scientific facts, or a lack thereof, apparently, Charles Darwin himself had advanced the following argument in defense of his theory.

 

In The Origin of Species, Darwin wrote:

 

“If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. But I can find out no such case.”

 

In other words Darwin challenged us to prove a negative. Yet, neither in science nor in law for that matter, can anyone prove a negative.

 

Go ahead, prove that unicorns do not exist!

 

And to base a scientific theory on such a premise is the definition of an unscientific argument if ever there was one!

 

And yet, it slipped under the radar!

 

I mean, never mind “slight modifications,” this is “sleight-of-hand”!

 

But more on that, rest assured, in the following episode.

 

In the meantime, I would simply like to stress that belief in the afterlife should never be at the cost of neglecting this here world. And lastly, that we must never give up.

 

One time in New York City, in 1980, I telephoned Doctor Dahesh, who was still back in Beirut and he asked me how I was doing.

I hinted that I was not feeling at peace... to which he quietly said, “Our Spiritual Fluids are constantly rising and falling.”

 

Later, in 1983, he offered me a copy of his newly published second edition of Words, in which he had written the following passage:

 

“Do not despair if the cruel events of life should shake you; instead, draw upon them an unrelenting war, without clemency or leniency, with your willpower, and demand to engage them in a duel by sending them your two witnesses: endless hope, and doing as much as you can.”

 

And that brings us to the end of the Daheshist Theory of Reincarnation, Part 3, The Dynamics of Life.

 

 

MARIO HENRI CHAKKOUR, AIA

February 20, 2020

 

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