21. Prescience © 2019 – Matt Sharpe

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prescience – noun

pre·​science | \ ˈpre-sh(ē-)ən(t)s  , ˈprē-, -s(ē-)ən(t)s\

Definition of prescience

: foreknowledge of events:

a : divine omniscience

b : human anticipation of the course of events : Foresight

 

Synonyms: Augury, divination ,foretelling, foresight, precognition, prognostication, prohecy.

 

Etymology:

late 14c., from Old French prescience (13c.) and directly from Late Latin praescientia “fore-knowledge,” from *praescientem, present participle of *praescire “to know in advance,” from Latin prae “before” (see pre-) + scire “to know” (see science).

 

   Prescience has been a part of every culture that has ever existed on earth, to such a great extent of inclusiveness, that it can be assumed that the cultures that we are not yet aware of may well have had it among them too. It has borne many names in English alone, not to mention the vast amount of other languages that do and have existed. Humans have been familiar with its existence for quite some time, although not everyone necessarily accepts it to be a real. Skepticism abounds, and there is nothing wrong with that because critical thinking is a necessary balance factor. But those that have either been told one by another, or had a form of direct experience with it and seen it then play out, know that it does indeed exist despite how much or little the individual perception plays into things.

 

   The earliest tribal cultures had and used it within their spiritual systems and from there it developed into every major religion that has come to exist, in some form or another. Prophecy played no small part in the Abrahamic faiths, but it certainly existed thousands of years earlier. One way in which prophecy has been used in many religions has to do with the so called “end times.” One of the earliest (although debate continues¹) is that of Zarathustra (Zoroaster in Greek) who many consider to have been the first prophet, but that is not true because of the fact that he was the last in a line of Persian prophets that began with Mahabad and with him this religion originated. The names have changed but to followers of Zoroastrianism, it has always been the same religion, from the first prophet to the last.

 

   Zarathustra gave a prophecy that will probably sound familiar. It says that at some point in the future the world would become wicked and mankind evil and bloodthirsty. This is when Saoshyant will be born to be the world savior, end the wickedness of mankind, and renew the world and restore true spirituality, or the true religion. The basics of this story have been repeated and there is such an individual named in many of the modern religions. In Hinduism this is Kalki who comes in the Kali Yuga, the dark age to destroy evil and the evil among humanity and thus restore the world to a Satya Yuga or Golden Age. Kalki is also found in Tibetan Buddhism and has the same purpose, while in other forms of Buddhism that same individual is named Maitreya who is the second Buddha. In Taosim there is the figure of Li Hong who is expected to come to rescue the good and honest people in the end times. Judaism, Christianity and Islam have prophecies about the same basic idea, naming the Mashiach (Judaism), Christ (the second coming in Christianity), and the Madhi (Islam). Each of these figures repeat the same basic story found within Zoroastrianism and Hinduism though opinions differ as to whose came first.

 

   In Eckankar we have no end times prediction because we know that the Kali Yuga won’t be ending for several thousands of years yet, but prescience itself is still a well-known thing. Some have it and use it, but there are a number of factors that also play into it that not all religions recognize or consider. There are a number of factors that can and always do play into a prophecy made, and whether or not it ever happens, and each of these things and the circumstances of them and the variations that exist are what perhaps require a bit of explanation to be understood.

 

 

   One thing that has happened in Eckankar, is that it has been known to happen that one gains the ability to know when looking at a person, that they will soon die. This has occurred a number of times though the way a person sees that may not be the same way as another has. Regardless that is still a foreknowledge. We consider psychic ability, whose source is the lower planes within duality, to be useful, but not always completely accurate, nor of a Divine source. They can be used but with a degree of detachment because they, like many other things, can differ in course from what had been originally predicted.

 

   Another factor regarding prescience that has been expressed to another is that the individual’s state of consciousness and emotional and mental faculties can often hold sway over whether or not it is believed and to which extent. Some might consider prophesying to be evil or of the influence of the Negative Pole, whom we call Kal Niranjan as the Sikhs do. This is not always necessarily so, but at the same time Kal’s job is to test Soul repeatedly so as to strengthen it and make it able to enter the realms beyond duality so it is not out of the question. And when a Soul is about to achieve entry to the planes beyond the dual worlds, even those with a degree of prescience won’t get any alert to say that it is going to happen.

 

   These various lower plane factors that can be found within emotionalism and the various mental states and conditions have much to do with the way that a person views things. Some of these conditions can be false and require being noted and cut out although that is a bit of a process and never occurs necessarily easily or quickly. It can often be rather drawn out and take its proper time to be completed fully while addressing a number of other factors that can play into the entire thing. The various bits and pieces need to be fully extracted and the entirety of the experience examined fully. Even so, not all things will become obvious immediately and might require extra work before being fully completed in a balanced way.

 

 

   When someone mentions a premonition, each of us tends to perceive it in our own specific way, a way that depends on our own mental and emotional habits, indulgences, and misconceptions. These are the same things that on one hand give such a wide variety of opinions about politics and religions adding to the individuality of each, but at the same time creating more widespread thought patterns on the subject at hand. Some are better, and other worse, but how any can be called truthful? Perhaps each is as limited as the other and all could use considerable widening to be able to accept the realities that individuals face on a daily basis. Concerning prescience, once another is told a thing, they will undoubtedly make it fit within their own perspective potentially excluding much that ought to be included.

 

 

   Anyone who has a list of public predictions made at a given time will always have many skeptics and naysayers who always come along to dispute that any of it ever actually happened. That might be easier to do in certain instances where the thing predicted seems so irrational and impossible to actually be considered able to happen, but how many of these individual judgments are accurate? How many individuals are actually correct beyond their own scope of ability to view the thing? None of us are so ope-minded or open-hearted that we ever actually consider every last possibility or potential interpretation of the original prophecy, but that never stops one from laying judgment upon it, as if to imply that they know the entire truth of it better than did he who made the prediction.

 

 

   These types of things definitely affect the interpretations taken from a prophecy which also can affect how true it is taken as having been, but how solid is that view of things? Is there no further that might need to be considered before deciding that it was complete rubbish from the start? Most often, people never consider these things and instead take the view that their own perceptive limitations enforce upon them. This means that the individual is themselves so limited in ability to perceive, that they deny uncomfortable truths or implications that might present themselves in a case where prescience is given. Some will claim to debunk it but instead unwittingly witness the fruition of that which had been predicted, only they lack the ability to recognize it for the lesson that it ought to be, from which they could learn better and open their perceptions much wider than before.

 

   A person who has been in a relationship in which they endured a great deal of constant emotional abuse and manipulation, once having left it behind and moved on, would undoubtedly be more cautious before getting into another relationship, and all the memories and “what if’s” can discolor their perceptions for quite a long time, sometimes even for the remainder of that life and well into future lives. That emotional situation of course also creates many mental habits to go along with it, and each of these narrow that person’s ability to perceive to one extent or another. These sorts of things are ones that we all have and that are at play within our daily lives as we make decisions, so it would be very foolish to believe that this would not be the case, or that these things would be known or obvious, to one who is sought out for help on these issues, or in other words, one who might give prophecy concerning an individual’s state of being.

 

   It becomes quite a large thing when one realizes just how far personal experiences can affect the way we think, feel, and believe about ourselves and others, as well as a particular prophet or group. These things extend outward from the smallest and most personal ways that we might never tell to another, to the way that we perceive literally everything that comes in from around us. Every form of prejudice is created exactly this way, usually from some personal event and how we perceived that as having happened and the causes we recognize. But often there are many other causes that might be identified within the individual’s life that they had no idea about. Each of these minuscule little things color us in a wide variety of ways, sometimes extending out into the world in the way that we speak to and treat others. It is no small job to weed these out, become aware of them, find the causes and then re-balance them so as to be rid of them.

 

   There are many various cycles that constantly run, and many prophecies run on these cycles though not all of them may appear overly important at a given time. But the number of interpretations that can be apparent will undoubtedly vary widely, and just as often appear to change. A person’s ability to perceive also changes greatly and rarely remains constant. This can bring a great deal of change to what might be obviously approaching, or what might appear simply inevitable. One might be more aware of greater detail or specific factors than they are of others at a given moment because there can be many variances. No two persons are exactly the same and so each will have their own specific ways of seeing what approaches or which random occurrences come to pass.

 

   Each person’s moment to moment state of consciousness is also in development constantly. Ever changing, never quite the exact same way in two separate instances throughout a life. At times there are similarities while at others nothing at all may appear to be the same. However, these apparencies are often misleading because one is unable to see all things that might be potentially going on on that are affecting a situation. It is a considerable amount to know and to be aware of, much less to be able to keep within a semblance of order and understanding, which in and of itself also changes often. It is no small task to accomplish and has much to do with why some become well known for uttering accurate predictions while others are not credited with such as often.

 

   Everyone has a different view, opinion, or belief in whether or not prophecies can ever be true. Some are staunch skeptics, unwilling to so much as consider that the future could ever be known in the least before it actually comes to pass, all the way to those who believe that they can look around the corner into which future events lay in wait. While the two sides heartily disagree with one another, neither can either prove themselves to be one hundred percent correct or accurate in their beliefs either. That leaves plenty of room for a variety of beliefs concerning it as well as a complete inability of either to prove themselves correct, at least not 100% of the time. In the end it becomes the job of each individual to investigate both possibilities themselves and come to their own decision about which is more probable or likely, if not both at the same time.

 

   Another factor that often comes into play is the complete changeability of the future, even including the choices made by individuals that will undoubtedly form at least a part of the life experience that awaits them after. Even in the cases where someone makes a comment about this or that approaching at some point in the future, it is unavoidable that still other factors will also come to play and potentially change things to a degree. That can often change what might have been expected or believed to have been drawing near. Even the very same karmic factors and choices previously made can in some ways have their paths changed a bit from what they may have been earlier on. When combined with the various states of awareness that various individuals possess or lack, these things and the way they are perceived can be misinterpreted and misidentified. These mistakes are not necessarily committed by the prophet at all, but often are instead committed by another person in their commentary on the prophecy that had been given at an earlier time.

 

   As both experience and learning is gained over time, they change the state of awareness and what appears possible and can change quite drastically over time from person to person. Most tend to spend much of their lives in habitual ways of perception and interpretation of what is happening and why. These can often serve as nothing more than a trap that a person might not find the opportunity to surpass and exit beyond, thus limiting their ability to perceive and how accurately things are identified. It takes work because habits are, for lack of a better word, habitual. They are things that all of us, from the least to the greatest fall victim to and can become mired within. Attention must be paid to such things and all efforts made to remain aware how much effect is had and always making the effort to be freed of the limitations caused by them. It is never an easy job, but is always one that is well worth working on often and repeatedly.

 

   Of course these things are the problems of every person and are hardly limited to one who possesses and degree of prescience, but they become even more important where precognition is concerned simply because of how wrongly things can go if a person isn’t paying attention to the weaknesses of the mind and emotions which contain an almost unconscious ability to form habits without always recognizing the cause or the reasons that it happens. This is why so many have made comments about how hard it can be when attempting to gain enlightenment and working up through the various layers of consciousness before finally attaining the vision of reality from the True Self in Its actual non-dual state of being.

 

   Another of the vagaries of the mind and emotions that can come into play, especially when someone is looking at a prophecy made centuries in the past and regardless of how accurate it might be or not be, is really simply another related thing that is often encountered and that can be strongly limited is that difference and personal aspect to all interpretations that an individual accepts. These are almost always based on their limited experience up to that point as well as their own ego and its love of itself and its ability to convince itself that it has figured things out correctly and that what it sees is actually true. Earlier in life it is easiest to talk one’s self into believing what it says, but with a greater degree of life experience, mistakes are made, some very harsh ones that can change a life drastically. This happens to everyone but not all find it so easy to recognizing their own mistakes in judgment or decision-making as well as interpretation. So these can also heavily color the way a prophecy is viewed and believed or not.

 

   It can present differing views at different times. A prophecy might be new, and may or may not be believed and then come to pass and prove itself accurate. While that has been known to happen, it is not necessarily recorded and won’t always make it into a history book. Some that do might be changed greatly based on what someone later on believes actually happened when the story was originally recorded, and of course this can change the interpretation given to the original prophecy as well as how it is viewed as far as accuracy is concerned. Over time stories and histories change and cannot always be counted on as having been accurate, or whatever its original state might have been, it can be changed into something else entirely. Especially if a person has that specific goal in mind, and some have. So things of this nature that often happen centuries afterward can completely change the historical view of it to one that is not necessarily favorable. Some will change things to be in line with the belief that makes them most comfortable. A selfish act, but not always one that another ever becomes aware of having happened.

 

   This is nothing more than a general part of the experiences that lead the individual along their spiritual journey. Even the greatest of spiritual Masters spent time as a person who had much more negative habits, ways of making decisions, and types of words or actions they might use or take at a given time. And while knowledge of what will happen forward in time can be useful to a person, it isn’t always, and even a prophet never gets to know every single thing that will happen. Everyone is more blind than they would rather if they could have their way, but each still has to find ways to deal with that and still be able to learn and move forward. We all have limitations to overcome, and the way is never one hundred percent easy, because if it were, that individual would never do any of the work to learn and advance. Prescience exists, but its nature is a thing that can always change, simply because each of us as individuals are constantly learning, growing and changing. Thus, prophecy has no purpose unless it also causes us to do the same, and in almost every case that requires all the answers to not be available. If you get some then be glad and use it the best that you can, but never depend solely upon it because it can never do the work for you, and many things the individual still has to sort through for themselves.

 

 

¹  – Since the time of Alexander the Great’s conquest of Persia circa 334 BCE, all historical and cultural records have been lost regarding Zoroastrianism, and for this reason it is considered to be a much more recent religion by the West, however there are no records that support this. Many of the cultures that existed there at that time, for example the Medes, now known as the Kurds, tell in their oral histories that their religious past is far more ancient than a few hundred years BCE. The problem being that we know full well that all records were purposely destroyed based on Alexander’s own version of his history and conquests. This is where Mahabad begins to come into view as having been a prophet that predated Zarathustra despite the fact that little record exists to place him within any specific time frame. Some claim that he was followed by 28 other prophets, the last of whom was Zarathustra, and others claim only half as many. In either case that indicates that the actual religious history is far more ancient than records could indicate.