The Book of Life and The Akashic Record

(Posted 6-10-2008)

Since I mentioned the Book of Life and the Akashic Record on the page titled Highest State of Consciousness, I felt I should discuss that separately here.

I should tell you that references to the Book of Life or Akashic Record can be found in folklore, in myth, and throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible. The ancient Semites, Arabs, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, and Hebrews realized that there was some kind of celestial record or divine memory bank which contained the history of humankind as well as all manner of spiritual information.

It’s referred to in Exodus 32:32 as "the book God has written." In Psalm 139, David realizes and wrote that God has written down everything about him and all the details of his life, even that which is imperfect and those deeds which have yet to be performed.

Unfortunately, the Book of Life is also misrepresented in scripture. Many patriarchal, authoritarian religious traditions hold that this book or record contains the names of all those who are worthy of salvation, and rejects those who are not. The "book" is referred to in connection with divine judgment in the Judaic book of Daniel and in the Christian book of Revelation. But, while those traditions threaten or warn that divine judgment can "write out" or erase the names of disobedient souls and sinners who will consequently be damned to hell and not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven, that is not of God’s doing. They may have been established for effect, attempting to ensure good behavior by making threats. Or they may simply be the doctrines of patriarchal, authoritarian men who, even though they were in certain respects divinely inspired, were in certain instances unable to avoid the temptation of expressing their own personal beliefs, opinions and judgments. They were, after all, only men, and only human.

As I’ve suggested particularly on the pages on this site titled "Sheep" and "Goats" and Wisdom, and in books, such doctrines were established to claim the power and omnipotence of God as a supreme judge who can and will sentence all deceased and departed souls to either heaven or hell. But in my view those doctrines were created to assert the power of man as the religious authority, in a judgmental and punitive way. They are about promise of eternal reward for obedience to religious rule, and threat of eternal damnation for disobedience. Thus they are about establishing patriarchal power and control, and they are exclusive. They are not about universal love, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and inclusiveness.

A more realistic definition of the Book of Life is as ancient Israel’s King David realized it, as containing all the details of all our lives, the entire human record. That definition can also be recognized in the definitions of the Akashic Record. Akasha is a Sanskrit word meaning sky, space or aether, and is a term from Hinduism. And really, the Book of Life and Akashic Record is what the Buddha, the Avatar, the Christ, and all other enlightened people have tapped into. It is what John tapped into and inspired him to write the book of Revelation, after he was "carried away in spirit."

That is what I tapped into in 1971 when I too was carried away in spirit to that high and holy place where God inhabits eternity, which is beyond space and time. However, as I stated in the page title Highest State of Consciousness, that doesn’t mean I am holy or know everything. The human mind and consciousness is a great and wonderful thing, but it is minuscule and puny compared to the mind and Supreme Consciousness of God. The human self-consciousness cannot possibly comprehend or fathom or express the knowledge in the Book of Life. Even the greatest prophets and authors of the world’s greatest religious scriptures could not and did not. They put their own "spin" on what they expressed in writing, just as I do, and they were influenced by their own religious and cultural traditions, just as I am. For God does not write material books in this world. Men and women do.

The “Book of Life” or the Akashic Record is not material, but ethereal. Many people who follow the Western Esoteric Mystical traditions regard it as one of the cosmic principles that is beyond space and time, that is creative in its physical nature, and is the core and spirit of all possible forms of energy and material, stemming or springing forth from the primordial “Word” and Divine Spirit. And I believe that is true.

When discussing the Book of Life and the Akashic Record, the psychic Edgar Cayce said it was the record of God, of you, your soul within, and the knowledge of same. He said it is "the record in which the individual entity itself writes upon the skein of time and space, through patience –– and is opened when self has attuned to the infinite, and may be read by those attuning to that consciousness."

I believe that is true, and each of us, as Cayce put it, " writes the story of our lives through our thoughts, our deeds, and our interactions with the rest of creation." And it influences and affects us right here and now, every moment of our lives, through the karmic consequences of our thoughts, words and actions, as we reap what we sow.

What we perceive here and now as self-conscious human beings is only a very small fragment and shadow of the Eternal Divine Reality. And even though as mortal human beings we can never totally and permanently be cognizant and fully aware of that reality, we can glimpse it and know it is there. We can realize our oneness with God, humanity, and the universe. (See the page titled The Highest State of Consciousness.) And, knowing that it’s possible that you can, you can live your life in accordance with what you know in your heart is right. We can all live abiding by the Golden Rule and the Universal Divine Imperative: Treat all others as you would want to be treated if you were them.

That is, has been and always will be the bottom line, because if we do not, sooner or later, and in one way or another, we will suffer the consequences.

We can, however, mitigate those consequences and redeem ourselves, if and when we face up to the truth, acknowledge our offenses and real sins, try to make amends, and change our ways to be in harmony and in tune with our fellow human beings and our wider community and world. God will forgive us, if we correct and forgive ourselves, and each other.

It’s up to us. We have free will. The future of the world depends on what we do with it. But I can tell you that it is already written in God’s Book of Life that the humble and meek shall indeed inherit the earth, make amends, make peace, and bring harmony to the earth. For God's will shall be done, on earth as it is in heaven.