The Cathars

One Last Challenge

Chester waited for the Master to join him in the study. He took a deep breath. He hadn’t challenged the Master in a while but one particular question burned in his mind like an unanswered rebuttal. The Master was so silent that Chester didn’t notice him until he placed a glass of chilled fruit juice next to him. Startled, Chester looked up and said “Thank you.”

The Master sat down with a pleased look. “It has been to long since we talked. But I wanted to leave you alone as you finished your notes. I will miss you when you leave here.” He sipped the fruit juice from the glass he was holding.

Chester held up a thick pile of papers as an answer. “I’m almost finished. But I have one question that won’t leave me alone. You tell me that this secret knowledge has been passed down from Master to Student for almost four thousand years. How is it possible to keep a secret that long?”

“You have a mind that misses nothing yet overlooks the obvious. The seven wisdoms are scattered throughout the world’s religions. I told you that long ago.”

“I’m not talking about the seven wisdoms, I’m talking about the fact that Satan is responsible for the mess we are in. I’m talking about the knowledge that Satan wanted to stop the reincarnations so no soul on this planet could achieve full God Awareness. Certainly this information had to have been leaked before. If so, why doesn’t history record a hint of it?”

“There were a group of Christians who had beliefs very similar to what we are talking about. They were called Gnostics.”

Chester frowned. “Weren't they killed off?”

The Master nodded. “Supposedly all of their writings were destroyed but it turns out not all of them were. You may have heard of the Gnostics, they believed in reincarnation and of the culpability of Satan. They were persecuted and wiped out about three hundred years after Christ. Some of their sacred writings were discovered buried at Nag Hammadi Egypt in 1945. Just before the sect was completely wiped out they buried their sacred texts. The Gospel of Thomas was found among the scrolls unearthed at Nag Hammadi. In their texts you will find an alternate version of creation. In it they attribute that our world was created by an evil God and caused many souls to become trapped here. Jesus, according to their scripture, came to show us how to escape the clutches of the evil one by giving us special knowledge of ourselves. One of his sayings recorded in the Gospel of Thomas basically expresses that belief. In it Christ is quoted as revealing that ‘when you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty.’”

“Satan didn’t create this world, God did.”

“When Satan was still holy he found the green jewel, thus manifesting it from the infinite probabilities. Your quantum science teaches that unless something is observed it is not real. God created the infinite possibilities but we are the creators who manifest reality from day to day. When Lucifer discovered our planet he in a sense created it. After God gave him Lordship, he was and still is, the God of this World. Obviously the way the Gnostics put it is a little different than how you would explain it, but essentially it is the same story told from the perspective of a culture almost 2,000 years old.”

“Are you saying that Christ was one of the Masters or that he learned it from a Master?”

“Christ traveled the world from the time he was 12 to when he was almost 30. Obviously he picked up the information from somewhere. It is recorded that he traveled into India and Tibet.” Instead of continuing the Master shrugged.

“Recorded where?”

“I thought the subject was whether or not this information I have been teaching is recorded in history?”

“Okay, well I can research into the Jesus traveling to India later. Was the time of Christ the only time the information has leaked out? One time could be considered a coincidence of similar views. Christ doesn’t count on this one. Has there ever been a time in recorded history when the secrets you have told me have leaked out instead of being kept secret?”

The Master face grew grim. “Are all Americans so ignorant of history that isn’t directly about them?”

“I had World History in college and it doesn’t mention anything that even remotely resembles your ancient secret. Your past Master kept the secret too well it seems. That is why your story lacks credibility.”

“History is written from the perspective of the winners not the losers. There was a Master who allowed the information to leak out before it was time. His teaching took hold and sweep through whole communities. Thousands were killed because of it. History records them as heretics and they were hunted down and killed because of what they believed.”

Chester frowned. “You’re not talking about the Gnostics again are you?”

The Master shook his head. “Haven’t you heard of the Inquisition?”

Chester jerked his head in disgust. “Of course, it is the most heinous part of Christian history. In some ways, what the Inquisition did was worse than what Hitler did. The Inquisition committed their crimes under the name of Jesus.”

The Master seemed reluctant to continue. He sighed and hung his head. “History records that the office of the Inquisition was formed in 1233 AD and that the first town wide massacre under its authority occurred in 1234 AD.”

Chester was visibly shaken by the date. “I didn’t know that.”

“Aren’t you just a bit interested in what was considered so terrible that a whole town was murdered?” Not waiting for Chester’s response the Master stood up and almost shouted. “I was there. I was the student that leaked the information! The Inquisition was my fault. Read about the Cathars and what they believed. There is a book in my library called The Great Heresy.” The Master had tears in his eyes and he trembled. “I didn’t listen to the warnings that it wasn’t time to reveal the secrets. I did it anyway and the horrible consequences that resulted weigh on my soul.”

Chester was stunned; he had never seen the Master act like this.

Sanjiv ran into the room and confronted Chester. “What have you done to Master?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

Sanjiv wasn’t there to argue. He had gone after the Master. Chester started to follow but thought better of it. He went into the Master’s library to read about the Cathars. He found a book titled The Great Heresy: The History and Beliefs of the Cathars, by Arthur Guirdham. The hairs on his neck slowly rose as he read of a Christian sect that existed for awhile as the Dark Ages raged across Europe. They believed in reincarnation and they believed that Satan or the Devil had created the world and was at war with God. Except for eating fish they were vegetarians. Their teachings spread into northern Italy and Southern France. When he read about the formation of the Inquisition in 1233 AD for the express purpose of eradicating the planet of these people and their beliefs, he couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. He went to look for the Master. By accident he had discovered the Master’s dark secret from one of his past life and he felt that somehow he shared in the Master’s guilt. He hoped the Master was at the contemplation glade. It was dark but the path was white and he was used to its curves and hills. Before he could see him he heard him.

“Here I am.”

Chester saw the outline of Sanjiv and the Master sitting near the water. He joined them and felt the silence of secrets straining to be released.

The Master appeared to have regained his composure because his voice was strong and even. “Years ago I was able to pierce the veil of forgetfulness and I remembered every past life going all the way back to when I was with God in perfect Oneness. One of those lives was of a young man who disobeyed his Master. In a monastery in northern Italy I was the favorite of about a dozen other monks. We were dedicated to a life of companionship with God through Christ. This lifetime was near the end of the first millennium. One of my most vivid memories was arguing that the beginning of the new millennium would be ushered in by the return of Christ. I was so sure because the Abby Master had been sharing with me mystic secrets about how to totally surrender to God. He had chosen me to receive ancient secrets passed from master to master for over 3,000 years. After about fifteen years of training he had instructed me in how to share the secrets with another before I died. He was almost 90 years old when he died. Back then that was an extremely long time.”

“How old were you when he died?”

Chester was surprised at how clear Sanjiv’s English was. He had forgotten he was listening to Master’s story as well.

“I was nearly 40 and I felt old. The 1,000th year since the death of Christ was only twelve years away and I believed so strongly in his return that I decided it was time to share the secrets to help usher in the new millennium. I preached what I had learned to towns and villages over parts of France and Italy for fifteen years. I was wrong about the new millennium. I quit sharing what I had learned in embarrassment of being wrong that Christ would return. I lived to be almost 60, and I did teach and instruct a new master before I died but the information was out and it was slowly spreading. I died not knowing the tragic results of my disobedience. It took about a hundred years before the Roman Catholic Church noticed that a form of Gnosticism had returned.”

“You can’t blame yourself for the Inquisition. It was over 200 years later.” Chester shifted, the grass was damp and his pants were becoming soaked. “Can we go back into the house?”

The Master answered by getting up. As they all three made their way back in the starlight the Master chuckled. “Want to hear a perfect example of Karma in action?” Rather than wait for a reply he continued. “I was one of the first people ever tortured and killed by the Inquisition for believing in Catharism. Of course that was in my next life, I didn’t know of the karmic irony at the time. I remember now that I was proud to die for my beliefs.”

“This is too wild. I guess I know now to keep all this a secret.” Chester had forgotten all about the original challenge.

The Master parted the mosquito netting for Sanjiv and Chester. Chester felt that the Master was still holding something back as he waited for the Master to continue. He followed him and Sanjiv back to the study where the conversation had started in the first place. “No, the Karmic irony has just begun.”

Chester narrowed his eyes. The Master was using his very serious voice. “History repeats itself. I was wrong by about 1,000 years. For a mistake I made over five lives ago I will fulfill my destiny in a different way. I was originally supposed to share these secrets with the world just before the return of Christ. Instead it became my destiny to share it with the one who is to share it with the world in my stead.”

Chester’s flesh crawled. “Look, every time this information gets out a lot of people die. I think keeping it a secret is much better.”

The Master smiled. “There is another way.”

Chester cocked his head. “What are you up to?”

“All you have to do is find a way to share what you have experienced here. Those that are ready for the message will hear it and the rest will be entertained by an interesting story.”

“First, I don’t think anyone will believe me anyway and secondly, it’s not a story this has really happened!”

The Master got up and left Chester with a nugget to focus on. “A lie is a story told to hide the truth. Fiction can be a story told to reveal truth. Don’t use my name, change a detail here and there and call it a novel. Trust me; people would rather read a novel than some lunatic’s version of the truth!”

Chester looked over at Sanjiv who just shrugged then left to tend to his master.

• The Great Heresy: The History and Beliefs of the Cathars

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