The Pharaoh Principle

2001-4-29 01:05:00

Enclosed is another parable. Looking at it as a whole it is not meant to be an exact correspondence of the way things are, but written to illustrate the general truth of what is called "The Pharaoh Principle."

On the other hand, there are parts of the parable which do correspond to the way things are, have been, or will be.

Enjoy.

"The Pharaoh Principle" by JJ Dewey.

In a time and place beyond the records of the present there lived a people seeking light in the land of Ledasa. Legend had it that the Father of their people was a great God named Asu.

The people of Ledasa lived for many generations in a struggle to know Asu. Many arose among them claiming to speak for Asu and some seemed to present greater light while others merely to want to exalt themselves and obtain the adoration of the people.

There began to be disputations among them about the true teachings of Asu, until there arose among them a powerful warrior who subdued all who opposed him and established a great kingdom and seat of power.

One day the leader gathered his advisors around him to present a problem.

"Many in the land adore me and give me homage and thus help advance the kingdom, but there are many who worship Asu and believe they are in communion with him. Many of these fail to give the needed support to the kingdom and thus I, and the kingdom, are deprived of a fullness of power. What can we do to get the support of all the people that none will oppose my words?"

After some thought, the wisest counselor spoke up. "If I may speak, my Lord, I believe I can help. Some of the people who honor Asu believe that you are against him and their prophets are rising up in secret and condemn you before the eyes of the people."

"We will eliminate these prophets," said the leader. "Then the people will have to support me or die themselves."

"But," said the counselor, "if you kill one prophet, two will rise in their place. If you destroy a believer others will replace him."

The leader shook his head and sighed, "What are we to do?"

The counselor smiled. "I have a plan that is sure to succeed. Instead of opposing Asu we will join him and when we have the trust of the people we will announce that you are the great Pharaoh, who is Asu himself come in the flesh."

"Do you think the people will believe this?"

"Yes, of course, my Lord. Just leave the convincing up to us."

Now the counselors had greater plans in mind than merely exalting the leader as Pharaoh. They wanted to exalt themselves for as spokesmen for Pharaoh, they would wield the power of Pharaoh more than Pharaoh himself.

A meeting was arranged with the people and the leader announced to them that he supported the teachings of Asu and that all believers should receive protection within the kingdom.

After this, the counselors went abroad among the people holding many meetings and teaching of the goodness of the leader and soon they began calling him Pharaoh and suggested that that he may be more than just a man because of the great service he rendered in protecting the believers of Asu. Some were suspicious of this teaching, but others were supportive for they were happy to have their leader support their belief.

The counselors made friends with the supporters and helped them obtain honor and position and encouraged them in subtle ways to mock and humiliate the doubters before the people. This continued until the Pharaoh gained wide support and at that time the counselors advised him that the time was right to make the great announcement.

The head counselor spoke before the gathered people (and he was the one to actually reveal the doctrine).

"My friends," he said. "We have all realized that we have a great leader and some of you suspected that he was more than a mere mortal such as ourselves. I am here today to proclaim a great truth. Our leader is more than a mere man. Asu came down from the heavens and took form and became our leader and our God. In honor of this great favor we shall henceforth call him Pharaoh. To call him Pharaoh is an acknowledgement that he is Asu in the flesh.

The people were stunned and then the counselor shouted: "Behold the Pharaoh!"

The leader who was now proclaimed Pharaoh rose up to speak. Within the crowd were planted numerous supporters who were taught beforehand what to do. They all started shouting in unison: "All hail Pharaoh!"

As the planted ones shouted this over and over others joined in until it seemed as if every single person was proclaiming it.

Pharaoh spoke a few words. There was nothing special about his words but he was amazed to notice that his words did not have to be profound. All he needed to do was speak, speak most anything, and the people would shout in approval. This seemed pleasing to him at this time.

A short time later the counselors called a meeting with him and made a proposal. "We have made you God, Asu come in the flesh and Pharaoh to the people, and for this our only hope is that you are pleased."

"It has united the kingdom," said Pharaoh. "I'm a little uncomfortable with being called Asu come in the flesh though. If there is a real Asu, he may be offended."

"We assure you oh Pharaoh that Asu is a myth, but we do have one minor problem that needs to be handled."

"And what is that?" asked Pharaoh

There are still a few rebels who are teaching that you are a mere mortal and not a God. To counter these heretics we ask that you make us Priests of Asu, which is of course you. Then give us power to speak for you and we will make sure the kingdom stays united and you will be the greatest of the gods who ever walked the earth."

Pharaoh had a strong desire to have a united kingdom so he agreed.

The new priests began seizing all the power they could and often times spoke and acted in the name of Asu, or Pharaoh, when he had no knowledge of what was gong on.

The Priests rounded up the rebels and had as many put to death as they could find. To counter the ones that they could not find they spread many untruths about them being enemies of Asu and the kingdom until many of the people betrayed them and persecuted them.

Finally the true followers of Asu had to go completely underground and only meet or teach in absolute secrecy.

For a while Pharaoh was content with the situation for he seemed to have the peaceful unified kingdom that he desired. Then one night he had a dream wherein the real Asu appeared to him with angry countenance for taking his place. The voice of Asu spoke: "To redeem yourself and your nation go tell the people that you are a man like unto them and that everything you are they can be. All who teach this will be my sons."

Pharaoh was greatly disturbed by this and after much thought he decided to obey the voice. He bypassed the priests and went out among the people and taught them without identifying himself. When he taught the spirit of Asu rested upon him and he revealed many great words of truth. As he gathered crowds the authorities were called, but when they discovered he was Pharaoh they were amazed and stood back. Pharaoh then continued going from place to place teaching and when it was rumored about that he was Pharaoh many came to listen.

The officers were troubled and went and reported to the priests what they had witnessed. The High Priest called an emergency meeting and said to his brethren: "We have a major problem with our Pharaoh in that he is teaching that he is a mere mortal on an equal basis with all members of the kingdom. This cannot stand or we shall lose our power. Pharaoh must have authority supreme or speaking in the name of Pharaoh will have no control over the people."

"I agree," said another Priest, "but what can we do? Pharaoh has more authority than do we."

"He only thinks he has authority," said the high priest. "We are the true authorities and if we remove Pharaoh from the kingdom the army and police will all give their support to us for we have taught them all well and they are indebted to us."

"So how will we eliminate Pharaoh?" asked another priest.

"Here's the plan," said the high priest. "We shall call a special gathering and encourage Pharaoh to present his new ideas. Hidden in the crowd will be an expert marksman who will shoot an arrow through his heart. We will have several plants in the audience who will point the finger of blame on one of the rebel leaders and we shall arrest him and convince the people that a rebel conspiracy is behind the death of Pharaoh."

"That's pure genius," said another priest. "The people will then hate the rebels all the more and shall soon eliminate them."

They proceeded with the plan. Pharaoh was pleased that the priests seemed to encourage him to teach his new philosophy and a date for the gathering was set.

All went according to plan except that the assassin took longer than expected to obtain a good shot. This allowed Pharaoh a little extra time to teach the masses. He taught wonderful principles such as equality, brotherhood, loving our neighbors etc. But finally the arrow came and he fell to the ground as the audience gasped in horror.

A rebel was blamed for his death and the persecution of the holdouts became extremely fierce until the appearance of any who could speak for the rebel cause could not be found.

Three days after the assassination the high priest called another gathering and spoke. "My friends, we have all had certain beliefs about our Pharaoh who was the immortal Asu come in the flesh and all these beliefs were right except for one. We thought Asu would remain forever here with us in one body of form, but that sadly is not true. The good news is Asu is still immortal and as Pharaoh he yet speaks to his priests and has declared that we should carry on his work and his teachings. We are in the process of gathering up all the teachings of Pharaoh before he died and we shall compile them and expound them to the people so all can share in the wonderful words of a god who was and is still among us.

"Our great God has already spoken to us and declared that I am to be the new Pharaoh and that Asu will be with me and teach me and the other priests all that I am to say to you. Asu will also explain to the priests the teachings we are compiling of the words of our slain, but still alive-in-us Pharaoh. All hail to Asu come again."

The people then shouted this over and over until it seemed that there was none who could resist this praise.

After this, an eerie silence fell over the kingdom, a silence of no opposition. It was as if the rebels were completely eliminated while all seemed to increase in their adoration of the original Pharaoh. Seven generations passed and with each rising generation the stature of Pharaoh grew. In the first generation he was the god of the nation. In the second generation he was he God of the whole earth. By the third generation he ruled the Sun also. Then in the fourth generation he was the ruler of the universe. Finally by the fifth generation he was believed to be the creator as well, as the ruler of the universe and all things therein. During the next two generations the doctrine of his godhood was perfected and written down as infallible scripture.

For some time the people of Ledasa were united in their belief and glorified in the fact that they were one people and that wherever you went all spoke of the same beliefs with no deviation from the teaching of the priests.

Lo, the priests and leaders were content and secure in their power until there arose among them Jabusa, son of a prominent priest and a descendent of the first Pharaoh.

Jabusa was groomed by his father to take his place and made the mistake of making all the scrolls available to his honest-in-heart son.

It wasn't long before Jabusa started asking questions that none could answer and began to disturb and irritate many.

Jabusa: "Father, look at the thousands of stars which are worlds in the sky and probably millions that we do not see. How could it be that Pharaoh who walked the earth as a mere man created all these things?"

Father: "It's a mystery my son. Do not think upon mysteries or the spirits will drive you insane."

Jabusa: "Why would Asu some to this earth in the body of Pharaoh when there are countless other spheres that need his attention?"

Father: "Maybe we are on the only ones with people, my son."

Jabusa: "What then would be the purpose of the other worlds?"

Father: "The stars are there so our astrologers can read the signs of Asu."

Jabusa: This answer did not satisfy him and he asked another: "It has never made sense to me that First Pharaoh was the god Asu yet he died.

Father: "It was in his wisdom to be one of us."

Jabusa: "And now the all-knowing spirit of Asu is supposed to be speaking through the current Pharaoh."

Father: "Yes. Asu speaks to Pharaoh at all times."

Jabusa: "But Pharaoh says nothing new. He merely repeats the wisdom of the past."

Father: "But we must learn the wisdom of the past before we can be given the new."

Jabusa: "But I can speak wiser things than Pharaoh can. Does that mean I am greater than the god Asu himself?"

Father: "Silence, my son. If any hear your heretical speech you could be barred from the priesthood or even imprisoned"

Jabusa: "And that's another thing that bothers me. If Asu is all wise and speaks through Pharaoh, then why is he afraid to have people like me speak their thoughts? Why does he not just allow it and overwhelm me with superior words and answers?"

Father: "Son. Cease this talk this instant or I will be forced to bring you before the council myself."

Jabusa knew he could not take the conversation any further and was silent. Yet his curiosity was aroused and he felt he needed to discover the truth of first Pharaoh and perhaps the god Asu himself.

In searching through the halls of archives he found a locked room that no one had entered for many years. He picked the lock and entered in secret and there he found records that were kept by the early rebels and read them. These records told the true story of how First Pharaoh was a man like the rest of us who was presented as a God to the people as a plot to secure power for the priests.

He saw that First Pharaoh achieved enlightenment and sought to teach the real truth to the people and was killed for it.

As Jabusa studied the documents a strange feeling arose inside of him. Even though First Pharaoh was lowered in station from the God of millions of worlds to a brave man who walked the land as an equal to himself, he found that the truth was causing him to appreciate the man as a courageous and good man more than he appreciated him as the god of the universe.

"Such irony," thought Jabusa, "that I would love this man as a man like myself, more than I did when he was an all-seeing all-knowing god."

Then Jabusa considered in his mind why this would be true and he concluded" "Only the truth can bring true glory."

At that moment Jabusa knew what he must do. He realized that if the current priesthood were to discover this room that they would burn the writings so he sneaked them out and prepared to leave his family and risk his life to give the truth to the world.

He began his mission by visiting the city of Sum on the outskirts of the kingdom where the Priests rarely visited. Because he was the son of a famous Priest many came to hear what he had to say.

"People of Sum. What I have here in my hand is a part of a manuscript I found in the archives of the Priests. It reveals to us that we have been deceived concerning our understanding of First Pharaoh. It is true that he was a great and good man, a great example for us, but he is not the god of the universe.

A man spoke up: "Who do you think you are? You are attempting to take First Pharaoh off his great throne in the heavens and present him as one of us? This is apostasy in the first order."

Jabusa countered: "I am only taking him off the throne of illusion and putting him in his correct place where he can receive true glory within our history."

Another man spoke: "Do you not realize you are speaking blasphemy and that your words will anger Asu who has power to cast your soul into hell?"

"Why would Asu cast anyone in hell for sincerely revealing what he sees as the truth?" retorted Jabusa

"Because that's what Asu has spoken through the priests," said one.

"But how do you know the Priests speak the true words of Asu?"

"Because earlier priests have told us that Asu will not let the priests lead us astray"

"And how do you know the earlier priests are correct?"

"Because they just are!" shouted a member of the audience."

Now they would have done Jabusa harm except they were afraid because he was the son of a priest so he had a few days to freely teach among the people.

He approached numerous people who seemed to be open-minded and taught them in private. He even went so far to show some of them original pages of the manuscript.

His teachings were always met with fear and a typical response was: "If you are correct then the true Asu is a kind and loving God and I have little to fear if I am wrong. On the other hand, if the priests are right and First Pharaoh is indeed Asu and I remove him from his throne in the eyes of the people I will not only suffer persecution from the Priests, but may suffer an eternal hell in the next world. Even though you may be correct I think it is wisdom to side with the priests where I know my soul will be safe."

Jabusa shook his head, "Asu may not throw you in hellfire for your error, but you will suffer a separation from the true spirit of Asu."

The man replied, "But only for a time and then when I do follow your path I will still be in his good graces. That's a little like I did with my father. I knew I could make mistakes because he would always accept me and work with me until my mistakes were corrected. If your God is like my father I'll be OK in the end."

"But," said Jabusa, "life between the beginning and the end is all we have in the present. Let us make it a great adventure and teach the truth at all costs so when we leave this mortality we can spend blissful periods of time reflecting on what we have done here."

"That is fine for you," said the man, "but I have a family to think of as well as my fears of the wrath of First Pharaoh. I choose the safe path for now."

Jabusa went from family to family and discovered that all were afraid to even consider going against the traditional belief. They were afraid for their souls, afraid for their families, afraid to be rejected by their friends and afraid of the authority of the priests.

Finally one man took him aside and gave him advice: "I am not a believer in the gods so I can look on this situation with an open mind. I do not think you will get one convert from the believers here. I will tell you this truth which I call the Pharaoh Principle. It is the natural tendency of humans to play it safe unless they know a thing beyond the point of doubt. As long as this people even think there is one chance in a million that the priests are right they will support them through fear."

"If therefore, there is a choice between praising First Pharaoh as the creator of the universe or just seeing him as an outstanding mortal they will choose the first.

"If there is a choice between seeing him as Asu incarnate or as regular man incarnate, they will chose the first again because if he is indeed Asu he will then not be angry with them for their disrespect.

"If there is a choice between believing that Asu speaks to the Priests they will support the idea that Asu speaks to them for that is the safe belief."

"But you do not believe at all. What path do you take?" said Jabusa

"I am not a believer," said the man, "but I am practical so I too take the safe route. I shout praises to First Pharaoh and his throne with the rest of them as insurance for me and my family. The only difference between me and the rest is that I understand why I do it."

Jabusa considered the man's words as he spent his remaining safe time visiting some more families and receiving the same fearful responses. Finally he concluded the man was right and considered his next plan of action.

He thought within himself: "If I stay here and teach within the kingdom of Ledasa it will be at great risk and for what? All are too fearful to consider my words. I shall therefore retreat to a wilderness and study the old manuscripts and await my next opportunity.

Thus Jabusa retreated to a wilderness and studied and contemplated for many years until one day the voice of the real Asu came to him at an unexpected hour and said: "The people of Ledasa are not ready for higher knowledge for their fears paralyze them on the path to my presence. Arise and go therefore to other lands and peoples and teach the principles you know in the people's own language and after a time you will be accepted."

Jabusa responded, "And what will become of the people of Ledasa? I have family and friends there and wish that there were a way to share truth with them."

Asu responded: "Suppose you were in a room full of people that was lit by a light so dim that you could barely make out the forms or the faces of the people. It seemed that you were in a land of shadows. But then certain leaders point to the dim light and tell the people that this is the greatest light in the universe and they should look to it and none else. Because the people have seen no other light they believe their leaders, and anyone who teaches otherwise is persecuted.

But then one person goes away to an adjoining room of people and installs a new light a hundredfold as bright and turns it on. The people in the new room are delighted to have a light that makes vision clear and sight accurate and pleasing. Then when all have adjusted to the new light, and other such rooms of light are in the process of being created, a door is swung open from the brightly lighted room to the former dimly lighted one. The inhabitants of the dimly lighted room look toward the doorway and what do they see?"

"They see a great light," said Jabusa

"And when their teachers continue to tell them that their dim light is the greatest of all, what will the people do?"

"I guess they can only ignore the greater light for so long until they take a look at the lighted room with the cheerful people and partake of the fullness of light."

"You now have your answer. Go forth and do and teach what you know, and one by one rooms and cities of light will be turned on until the whole world is filled with the glory of God.