THE BABYLON OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

THE BABYLON OF YESTERDAY
AND TODAY
Let us return to Babylon. What do we see? At first glance,
the ego (Nimrod and his people) appears to have won.
By the way, if we say that by attaining a new degree we
discover new names of the Creator, it follows that “Nimrod”
is one of His names. Why? Because there is no other force in
the world. It is the Creator who puts obstacles on our way
toward the goal, and we must overcome them. This is how
He rears us and purifies us, because we need to merit the
abundance that awaits us at the end of our journey.
The building of the tower was a mammoth undertaking.
Because there was no stone in Babylon, the people created a
new construction material: they burned clay in fire and used
the resulting bricks in place of stone.
The bricks were fashioned as if by themselves: when the
people laid one brick, they discovered two in the wall, and
when they laid two, four bricks appeared in the wall.
What does this passage mean? It is the voice of the ego
(King Nimrod and his people), saying, “We don’t need the
Upper Force, we’ll develop construction technology, we’ll
believe only in our own hands, in our own intellect, and we
will win.”
“Because there was no stone in Babylon, the people
created a new construction material.” Isn’t that the same
thing that is happening now? But where are we going with
this progress? “…they burned clay in the fire and used the
resulting bricks in place of stone.”
A similar scenario unfolded in early 20th century Russia,
when the communists refused to acknowledge the Upper
Force, and thought that they could implement their ideas
all on their own. On the face of it, those slogans of love,
brotherhood, and equality sounded wonderful (the ego is
quite cunning). But there was no Upper Force behind those
slogans. It was all built upon the earth, meaning founded
on the ego.
The Russians didn’t realize that man is inherently egoistic,
and that sooner or later everything would implode and the
Paradise they expected would become Hell.
Until recently, similar developments were happening
worldwide, especially in America, until the new process
of consciousness began. Now humanity is beginning to
understand that no progress can ever lead to happiness if it
lacks a connection with the Upper Force.
At first it may appear like it will work, that progress might
reduce our workday from twelve hours to five, that we might
have more time to spend with our families, to read, educate,
and otherwise improve ourselves. Indeed, at first, things
appeared to be going wonderfully, and it seemed that we
could accomplish anything we put our minds to.
“The bricks were fashioned as if by themselves: when
the people laid one brick, they discovered two in the wall,
and when they laid two, four bricks appeared in the wall.”
But what was the end result? Today we work more than ever


before; we’ve become slaves to corporations; our families are
breaking up, divorce rates are skyrocketing, which results in
miserable adults and children. We seek oblivion in drugs
and alcohol and we fall into depression, which has become
the most widespread illness of our time. Truly, cavemen
were happier than we!
It is the result of progress that is disconnected from the
Creator, from the correction of man, and from achieving
the quality of bestowal.
So what did progress give us? We are beginning to see
that we cannot exist without a connection to the Creator.
This is the single most important result of progress.
Until we realize the necessity of correcting the ego,
nothing can be done about it. As long as we aren’t
corrected or involved in the process of correction, we will
remain susceptible to the tricks of the ego (Nimrod at the
phase of constructing the Tower of Babel, Pharaoh at the
phase of Egypt), and the ego will not be denied. It will
wage war, push the red button, accept bribes, and throw
anyone under the bus, as long as its interests are served,
for the ego is corrupt.
I am confident that the world is almost ready to conclude
that only the Upper Force can tame the ego. Soon we will all
need to turn to the Creator, for we will have no other choice.
And yet, it is better to do it in advance and avoid incredible
suffering by realizing that we need to connect to the Light,
to the Upper Governing Force, and secure its direction.
The tower grew and grew, and soon became so tall that
it took a year to climb to its top. Two broad staircases led
to the tower, one from the east and one from the west. The
staircase to the east was used to lift loads, while the staircase


to the west was used to lower people. People needed to go up
and down frequently to supply the construction materials.
The builders were so fanatical in their desire to
complete the tower that whenever a brick fell and broke,
they lamented: “How hard it will be to replace it.” “But
when a person slipped and fell to his death, no one looked
upon him.”
At this first phase, this is how the ego quells any buds
of selflessness: “But when a person slipped and fell to his
death, no one looked upon him.”
We’ve already mentioned that man (Adam) stems from
the word Adameh—“I will be like” the Creator. Nimrod’s
people didn’t need anything similar to the Creator, only the
bricks for construction. Reflect on these words and try to
feel them: “But when a person slipped and fell to his death,
no one looked upon him.”
One day, a man named Abraham, son of Terah, was
walking past the site of the tower’s construction. He was
forty-eight years old at the time, and famous for opposing
the erection of the tower. When he approached and was
asked, “Join us in building the tower, for you are a powerful
man and will be very useful,” he refused them, saying, “You
have renounced the Creator, who is the Tower, and decided
to replace Him with a tower of bricks.”
This is how the altruistic force that corresponds to this
egoistic degree manifests in us. This force is the only one
capable of defeating Nimrod, and its name is Abraham.
This force throws out a warning almost in passing. It is
not yet capable of dealing with the enlarged egoism, but its
voice can already be heard, and this is very important.
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In other words, you are beginning to come alive and exit
the state of descent. Armed with new altruistic powers, you
are getting to work.
In the meantime, the affair is coming to a head—the tower
is about to “collapse.” (Indeed, you cannot build anything
that’s founded on egoism, but only on a connection with
the Upper One.)