The 'Kindergarten of Souls' Doctrine

I've been trying to figure out which Gnostic sects and/or Mystery Cults are direct proponents of the 'kindergarten of souls' doctrine which argues that the human experience on Earth is a benevolent learning curve, from which a soul will progress when it reaches a certain level of experience and/or purity.

The counterpoint belief depicts Earth as a 'prison of souls' designed by a false demiurge, and is put forward by Luciferian Gnostics among various other esoteric groups who seek to rebel and either bust out (ascension) and/or dominate this dimension through force of will. BTW this concept is a key to understanding how some ppl regard Lucifer (and his counterparts such as Prometheus) as saviour archetypes, who gives man the fire of will to overcome the prison matrix.

I believe this double-sided theory is perhaps the most important esoteric tenet to grasp. It creates a dividing line between various sects, those who believe in a benevolent architect, or a sadistic demiurge. Perhaps the 'Kindergarten' line can be regarded as the diluted and ill-defined subtext of the more cheery mainstream interpretations.

I also posted in Religious Conspiracies but in retrospect perhaps this forum would unearth some more answers..

reply to post by Shar_Chi



Shar_Chi

I am not sure if this will cover the Gnostic but it does cover the rest :-)
I founfd this about a year ago and have just finished reading it (not all the words mind you) it is long but it covers alot of what I think you are looking for

The Urantia Book

Enjoy

Valorian


[edit on 7-12-2007 by Valorian]

Hi Shar_Chi,

In my view, the kindergarten of souls and the prison of souls ideas are both valid:

1. We are basically enslaved in matter until death or are the recipients of a Gift of Total Astral Projection (that manages to overcome any opposition to ascension from the lower discarnate elements).

2. Ideally, if we are spiritually focused (and that has a lot to do with our preparation in the Spirit BEFORE we incarnate), we use this opportunity of being temporarily enslaved in matter to accelerate our spiritual development. For you see, with all the pain and strife that one experiences in a body, one can actually evolve much more quickly - if one is spiritually conscientious - than when in the discarnate state.

However, most do not take the opportunity to evolve and incarnate for less than noble (i.e., common) reasons.

In my research and analysis, I have not come across any evidence or cogent argument that this world was created apart from all the others. It is but a speck of dust and a beautiful one at that. The rarefied being that manifested The Big Bang billions of years ago, had nothing to do with the direct formation of religions here or with the emergence of Homo sapiens.

Where Exactly Did Homo Sapiens Come From?

Lesser beings, like the technically advanced Anunnaki (Zetan-Reptilians) and the semi-divine "yellow energy" angels on the Fourth Plane (combined into Group Entities) had more of an impact on humanoid life here and civilization than The Original Creator - as The First Coming has yet to happen.

An Alternate Mystical View On God

reply to post by Shar_Chi

 

It is explained here:


Gnostic Kabbalah


And also in "The Pistis Sophia Unveiled".

(of which, it is said, that it is best to study after learning Kabbalah intellectually, and more importantly: How to 'tap into' our Intuition by learning how to meditate).



What I've gathered in my very limited understanding, is that the Gnostic works to free her or himself from the limits "imposed" by the Demiurge(who is an Objective aspect of our own Being); while at the same time profoundly respecting and venerating the Demiurge, for the fact that without the Demiurge, we could not attain our own deep Self-Realization.


The Nature of this teaching, is revelead in the Gnostic Egyptian Cosmic Drama, found in the link in the following post about the Gnostic Adept Eliphas Levi.





[edit on 12-12-2007 by Tamahu]

Kindergarten!!! HA! Mankind is still in the terrible two's as far as growth is concerned. Someday, someday, we'll finally be ready for kindergarten.

Still, I have given a bit of thought to the idea of life and existence as a school. The conclusions I came to were not based on someone else's books or thoughts, they are my own and most probably wrong.

Imagine taking a young soul, placing it in a world with infinite choice and then giving it free will to make whatever choice it wants. The choices it makes will lead to the lessons it needs to learn.

It's the perfect, idiot proof school.

Say you need to learn about loyalty. You would cheat on your wife, betray your friends and stab good people in the back. Eventually you'll learn not to do that when you wind up alone or beaten half to death. It may take several occasions for the lesson to take hold.

If your constantly wasting your money you will eventually have to learn about fiscal restraint and proper management.

The choices you make in this life will always lead to the lessons you need to learn.

The perfect school.

Like I said though, these are just my thoughts on it.

wupy

How about neither prison nor kindergarden but GAMEBOARD.

reply to post by Skyfloating


OMG! THE GAME OF LIFE! I always lost it

Hmm, this is probably why I'm such a loser. It all makes sense now...I see...

Originally posted by LightinDarkness
reply to post by Skyfloating

 

OMG! THE GAME OF LIFE! I always lost it

Hmm, this is probably why I'm such a loser. It all makes sense now...I see...

Maybe even the mere ability to have arrived at this Game Board (5th Round of a larger game?) is a huge win that only very few of an infinite number of souls are capable of. Congratulate yourself

Wow some herculean reading required in many of these links. After sifting through a lot of it, I guess the closest I've come to pinpointing the 'kindergarten' school of gnostics would start with the pythagoreans then the essenes, and perhaps the cathars. gonna take a few more days hehe

ps the gameboard should be snakes and ladders imo

Whether we use the word school or prison does not really seem to matter in my opionion as long as progression is possible in each case. Our convicts get released. Our school children eventually graduate.

Yes, well tbh either way, something about trying to escape and / or graduate this dimension doesn't sit right with my intuition. Which is primarily why I've been looking into it. Tbh I find so much of everything out there unnecessarily complicated and dogmatic. I happen to like this place, and I won't be releasing any prisoners nor dismissing any classes until we've got it right!

But yes the key question for me in this thread is to identfiy which group/s of antiquity originated the kindergarten or school of souls idea which seems to permeate so much of the new age stuff. It's a lot trickier to nail than I thought.

Ah, yes.....but what if life on this beautiful place was to have been a reward?........and we have squandered it shamefully!!?

reply to post by frayed1


I think that is a rather profound and abstract concept and one that I have never contemplated or even considered. I feel further thought of it would be inorder.

reply to post by Shar_Chi


I am not familiar with the term "Kindergarten of Souls" - I did a search on metacrawler and the first in line was your thread - not much else though.

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but...one theory exists that some of the Gnostic sects were influenced by the Orphic Cult (based around mythical figure of Orpheus). Their 'creation' myth is that when Dionysus was ripped apart by the Titans fragments of his 'divine nature' were scattered over earth and became a part of all the people who were created on the earth. The Divine Shard or Spark existed in all peoplebut according to Orphism it was not known to most.

Only those who were initiated into the Orphic Cult, according to it's teachings, could freed from their 'earthly prison' and achieve salvation.

Those who did not join the Orphic Cult would not be saved.

I think they date from about 500 to 200BC.

There are a number of parallels to the some of the later Gnostics and Christianities in general, the notion of elitism in relation to salvation.

www.timelessmyths.com...

www.sacred-texts.com...

en.wikipedia.org...(religion)