Millennial Avatar

I recently saw the movie Avatar and enjoyed it quite a lot. It is an amazing 3-D experience not to be missed. James Cameron has made some extraordinary movies and this one may be his best. Although there is criticism that the concepts for the story are a mixture of Dances with Wolves, Return of the Jedi and Pocahontas, I must say that it really was an elegant portrayal of some profound spiritual principles. Much like George Lucas for Star Wars, James Cameron pieced together many historical and mythological principles in a science fiction form that creates a timeless quality to the story.

There are the usual demonizations of the military and corporations. Greedy corporations run by white males with no shred of decency, combined with a collusionary military to enforce the desires of the corporation are all too frequent themes that tend to be tired and worn. But if you can move past the typical left wing political ideology and see beyond the cliches then you can truly find some impressive symbols that point towards a millennial frame of reference. Not to mention that the special effects in this movie are extremely impressive.

Jake Sully is the main character. He has left Earth which is no longer green and beautiful but has been "killed" and is presumed to be an environmental wasteland. His twin brother has died and Jake is taking his place as a "driver" for an avatar body on another planet. The planet "Pandora" is filled with life and has a sapient native population called the Navi who are ONE with their environment and the planet. Jake is a disabled marine who is despised and rejected by his own kind but has the DNA to drive an avatar that has the form of the Navi. His initial goal is to assist the corporation and military in pacifying the Navi and moving them away from their home so the corporation can continue to mine the planet for a rare mineral. If he succeeds, Jake will be paid handsomely and the military will also pay for him to have his disabled legs replaced. As he makes contact with the native population and learns their ways, he recognizes that their way of life is more beautiful and more harmonious than the one that he has. As he integrates deeper into the Navi culture and falls in love, he leads the Navi in an epic battle to turn back the tide and defeat the military-industrial alliance.



This movie is a visually stunning reverse parable of the garden of Eden story. Jake (Adam) lives a Telestial existence where all things are fragmented (including his body) and everything is a great threat. It is a place where the pursuit of money and power provides illusory carnal safety and security. Jake describes how they had "killed their mother" Earth and now history would repeat itself on this new planet. In spite of his carnal condition and beliefs, he leaves the lone and dreary world behind. He is saved and guided by a female Navi named Neytiri (Eve) who helps Jake to let go of his fragmented beliefs and embrace oneness and unity in a garden of Eden paradise.

The journey is challenging. Netytiri's mother wonders if Jake's "insanity" can be cured and describes him as a cup that is already full (of fragmented beliefs). Jake's world is turned backwards and upside down as his physical life fades and his spiritual life with the Navi becomes supreme. As Jake unlearns what he has learned and lets go of illusion, Jake and Neytiri become one flesh and live in harmony with each other, the tribe, and all life on Pandora. The Navi are said to believe in "two births". Jake is born again as a Navi when his spirit is miraculously transferred from his disabled human body to his Avatar Navi body at the "Tree of Souls".


Jake in many ways is also a Christ figure who is anointed through sacred signs and "ordinances" to lead the Navi (Spirit) in a battle to conquer the carnal humans (Body). Jake is not of Pandora just as Jesus said that he was "not of this world" (John 8:23). Jake is despised and rejected by his own kind just as Jesus was (see Isaiah 53:3). He is Navi and Human but over the course of the movie his Navi self comes into a fullness until he gathers all the Navi people from various tribes (dispersed Israel) across the planet to himself and leads them in battle and saves the planet from the carnal invaders. Jesus went from grace to grace until he received a fullness (see D&C 93:3-4). He gathers all his people unto himself and fights their battles (see D&C 98:37). The wicked (carnal man) perishes and the millennium is ushered in after the conclusion of "Armageddon".

Temple themes are also abundant in the movie. There is a sacred space where the Navi finally retreat. At the center of this sacred space there is a great white tree called the Tree of Souls that brings healing and unity. The tree is their greatest connection to Eywa (their deity). The natives will encircle the tree and interlock hands and arms with each other and pray and sing as ONE in order to call for miraculous healing to take place for those who are dying.

The Navi have a unified relationship with all the creatures of Pandora. This millennial existence provides sharp contrast to the humans who see everything as a threat. The prophet Joseph Smith had this millennial perspective in mind when he chastised the brethren on their Zion's Camp march. He said: "“We crossed the Embarras river and encamped on a small branch of the same about one mile west. In pitching my tent we found three massasaugas or prairie rattlesnakes, which the brethren were about to kill, but I said, ‘Let them alone—don’t hurt them! How will the serpent ever lose his venom, while the servants of God possess the same disposition and continue to make war upon it? Men must become harmless, before the brute creation; and when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the sucking child can play with the serpent in safety.’ The brethren took the serpents carefully on sticks and carried them across the creek. I exhorted the brethren not to kill a serpent, bird, or an animal of any kind during our journey unless it became necessary in order to preserve ourselves from hunger” (History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2:71-72).



Avatar is an excellent movie and I would definitely recommend you see it. It is also a helpful example of leaving the Telestial world behind and can provide you momentum to take the steps you need to take to begin a new day. As we turn away from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and embrace the Tree of Life, we will come out of our "insanity" and the Telestial world of illusionary threats and carnal security will fade as it did with Jake Sully. We too can see that "all things" testify of Christ. We too can begin a dawning of an internal millennium within ourselves.



Peace and blessings to you until next time my friends.

Millennial Game Change

Greetings everyone. Peace and blessings to each one of you. My prayers and thoughts are with the people of Haiti. I, like many others, are galvanizing my resources to assist however I can. My heart goes out to them.

We all say stupid things. I know I have said some pretty ridiculous things over the course of my journey. It seems that as a former Nicodemus Mormon filled with uber-literalism, legalism, and external focus, I made more than my fair share of stupid comments. One statement in particular that I made from a Telestial/fragmented perspective was when I was hometeaching a "less active" family that I was "working" with. The husband was a convert to the church who had dropped out over the course of many years but was still open to hometeaching visits.

In one encounter we were teaching a lesson on spiritual gifts. He shared an example of a friend of his who was good at reading minds and he had witnessed several examples of her doing this remarkable act. His point was that spiritual gifts were not unique to the church or the priesthood. As a strong Nicodemus Mormon, I wondered how it could be possible for a person to be able to do such a thing. I know Jesus Christ had this gift and I had heard of this ability in others, but I had never witnessed it first hand. I also wondered how it could be done without the priesthood or at the very least not being a member of the church. He asked me how I could account for such a gift if she was not a member and did not hold the priesthood. Initially, I said that I couldn't account for it. But then I played the dreaded "devil card".

According to church doctrine, a third part of the hosts of heaven rebelled and followed Satan, thus rejecting God's plan and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Satan and his followers continue to tempt and deceive the world according to the doctrine of the church. I verbally speculated that perhaps this woman, who I did not know at all, was able to tap into some kind of a satanic power that enabled her to do this. The man I was hometeaching was disgusted that I would think such a thing. For that, and other Nicodemus-like mistakes, I pushed him further away from the church and to this day we don't have any contact even though we had developed a decent friendship up to that point.

Little did I realize at the time that in playing the "devil card", I was the one who was behaving like Satan. One of the definitions of Satan is ACCUSER. He is know as "the accuser of our brethren . . . which accused them before our God day and night" (Revelation 12:10). Accusations bring fragmentations. This is in contrast to Jesus Christ who is known as our ADVOCATE. Advocacy brings unity.

I had become an accuser of this woman who I did not know at all, nor did I have any concept that she could hold a legitimate spiritual gift. As a result, my friend became more disengaged and fragmented from me. I was much like the disciples of Jesus who, when they saw a man casting out devils and yet was not following them, they complained to Jesus. The reply of Jesus is interesting. He said: "Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us (Luke 9:50). Notice how this statement is very unifying while on the other hand the disciples are making an accusation that brings disunity. Nicodemus Mormons take a very narrow view of Luke 9:50 and say that the man must have had the priesthood in order to perform such miracles. However, there is very little evidence that this is the case. If the man had the priesthood and had been called by Jesus, I'm sure the disciples would not have complained and Jesus would not have made such a broad far reaching statement. This scripture is very millennial and I would encourage the reader to ponder it a great deal.

On January 13, 2010 Pat Robertson made an accusation against the people of Haiti. He is quoted as saying: "[S]omething happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it, they were under the heel of the French, uh, you know, Napoleon the third and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the devil, they said, we will serve you, if you get us free from the French, true story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free, and ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor." (France 24 International News).

When I saw his statement, initially I was disgusted. I need to be honest with you. It is so easy to lapse into Nicodemus ways and return hatred for hatred. But then I remembered my own "devil card" play. I saw how I made silly and absurd accusations that created more division and fragmentation in the world.

When any follower of Christ plays the "devil card" it's the fundamentalist equivalent of "jumping the shark" or "diablo" ex machina. I saw myself in Pat Robertson and I had compassion on him. The fact of the matter is that we all have the capacity to say outrageous, hateful and divisive things. It is in all of us and that Accuser that is within our temple needs to be dismissed.

However, I do believe that all fair-minded people of whatever religious tradition or non-tradition should join with me in turning our back on this horrific comment. I can still have compassion for this man. I see my own history of fundamentalism, legalism and carnal mindedness in Pat Robertson and it provides contrast for me to continue to pursue embracing the Tree of Life and becoming perfected in Christ. I can stand up and condemn this comment as Anti-Christ without having any hatred toward the man who uttered it. I hope you will too.

We all say stupid things. Harry Reid, a faithful Mormon and Senate Majority Leader of the United States made a stupid comment about Barrack Obama. Although I don't agree with Harry on all of his political positions, I do know why he was forgiven so quickly and readily. It's because he has a track record of working to achieve racial harmony, equality, tolerance and understanding. Unfortunately, his words were not framed in an appropriate manner and I'm sure he wishes that he could take them back. I wonder if Pat Robertson wishes that he could take what he said about Haiti back.

I used to be a very staunch conservative Republican. I'm not anymore. The comments that Pat Robertson made are a big part of why I no longer label myself a conservative or a Republican. (I don't know that I could call myself a Progressive Democrat either--currently I have no political home. The political foxes have holes, and the political birds of the air have nests; but the political Son of man hath not where to lay his head [Matthew 8:20]). The reality is that much of conservative Christian fundamentalism is intolerant and divisive. The fact of the matter is that between 10% and 30% of registered Republicans would never vote for a Mormon no matter how qualified. You could easily see this played out between Romney and Huckabee in the run up to the 2008 election. You will likely see it between Romney and Palin in the future. And yet, there is a majority of Mormons who continue to align themselves with this hatred and intolerance. As I talk with more and more Mormons, Millennial or Nicodemus, they are moving away from the Republican party for this very reason. We know that the party is largely controlled by fundamentalists who seek to exclude and are intolerant of us and so many others. We need to all turn our backs on intolerance.

Ed Decker, a Christian fundamentalist evangelist who created the grotesque movies The Godmakers and The Godmakers II, (which both have been condemned by fair minded individuals everywhere) also plays the "devil card" when he attributes the miracles of the Restoration and Joseph Smith to be of the devil. I unfortunately see myself in Ed whenever I have a temptation to fall back into Nicodemus ways.

Let the Ed Deckers and Pat Robertsons of the world along with my past Nicodemus example encourage you on your path out of fundamentalism, legalism, uber literalism and continuous partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Haven't you had enough of that? It's time for you to embrace the Tree of Life and seek the dawning of an internal millennium. It's time to dismiss the accuser and stop playing the "devil card". No more jumping the shark! No more diablo ex machina. It's time for a millennial game change.

Peace and Blessings to you and all the people of Haiti.

Happy New Heaven and New Earth!

I hope all of you had an excellent Christmas and New Years. May 2010 bring an abundance of unity into your life.



As I have been considering Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and the subsequent celebration of the New Year, I have pondered its significance from an internal millennial perspective. This time of year has fascinating symbolism. The winter solstice. The birth of Joseph Smith. The celebration of Jesus Christ's birth. In Hanukah, the festival of lights. The new year. All these things point to greater light and truth coming into the world or the dawning of a new millennial day.

However, carnal man will continue to look for the external in these symbols rather than recognizing the great internal truths that are being presented right in front of them. Carnal man will worship these symbols and expand them in increasing layers of complexity that become burdensome and heavy. For instance, Christmas is often condemned for being too materialistic and in many cases it is. It can become the most stressful time of year. This is a great example of how carnal man's worship of signs, symbols, and tokens becomes a burden. As the burden becomes too heavy, in desperation, carnal man then will become sufficiently teachable and perhaps will learn the true meaning behind the symbols. The meaning is about you!



The prophet Nephi spoke well when he said that as he read from the books of Moses and that which was written by Isaiah, he "did liken all scripture unto" him and his people that it might be for their "profit and learning" (1 Nephi 19:23). Most members of the church interpret this scripture to mean that Nephi applied the scriptures to the external circumstances of the children of Lehi and their journey to the promised land as well as their encounters with Gentiles. This is a true interpretation of that scripture. However, there are deeper and more profound levels of understanding. Ultimately, the whole (holy) point of the scriptures is about you! It is the journey you are taking to come unto Christ and become perfected in him. Jesus clearly asked the Nephites: "What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Nephi 27:27). The whole (holy) point of scriptures and prophets, symbols, tokens and signs is to point the way to this meaning. However, the carnal and literalist man will only see and apply scriptures and the words of living prophets to their external environment. What will escape carnal man is that all these things will bring him experience to understand who he is. Once the meaning of scriptures and all things external to us is comprehended, a new INTERNAL millennial day will dawn and there will be a new heaven (spirit) and a new earth (body). The carnal man will have been allowed to perish and the illusion that comes from partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil will dissipate. Your spirit and body will cease their enmity and unite. Men and women will remember once again who they really are and will begin to create that which brings unity and peace first within and then without.



It would be helpful to liken the life and mission of Jesus Christ to our own lives. There are few who apply this to themselves. As you may recall, according to the teachings of the church, our Heavenly Father had a plan for his children to come to earth and gain a physical body and experience. The pre-mortal Jesus (Jehovah) volunteered to be our Savior and redeem us from the Fall where man would partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He would provide an infinite AT-ONE-MENT to reconcile us with God due to man becoming lost in the illusion of a harsh Telestial world filled with sin, death and decay. In desperation, man would need to rely on strict commandments given by messengers because fallen man will categorize all things as either good or evil in order to have illusory safety and survival. As a result, God would give more and more laws and commandments to burden man so they would wake up and see that they are partaking of an illusion. But man in his carnal state would then begin to worship the law and the prophets and miss the mark. Therefore, a Savior would be needed to show lost and fallen man the way back to unity (Tree of Life). They would need to pass the cherubim (angels/messengers) which stand as sentinels to guard the way of the tree of life. God is love (1 John 4:8). He would never want us to live eternally in hell, misery and illusion. Therefore we must consecrate all things to the Lord, including and especially giving up the illusion that comes from partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, before we can partake of the tree of life.



Jesus Christ would clearly show us the way and the path to do this. The difficulty will be in actually seeing that His life can be likened to our own. Many will take up stones and cry blasphemy. Some have attempted to illustrate these principles in word and/or deed. Joseph Smith said: "Brethren, if I were to tell you all I know of the kingdom of God, I do know that you would rise up and kill me." (As recalled by Parley P. Pratt in MS 55 (September 4, 1893): 585.). He also said: "Would to God, brethren, I could tell you WHO I am! Would to God I could tell you WHAT I know! But you would call it blasphemy and want to take my life!" (Life of Heber C. Kimball, p.333).



Jesus Christ is our perfect exemplar who shows the way clearly. Thus Jehovah came to earth, born in a miraculous manner into humble circumstances. He passes through a veil of forgetfulness. The prophet John said: "And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace; And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness; And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first." (D&C 93:12-14).

Each of us decided to come to earth and have a physical experience. Each birth is miraculous in some way. Each of us passes through a veil of forgetfulness. As a result we forget who we are and begin to become lost and fallen in the physical world. It is a humbling experience to lose your memory and have to put the pieces back together. But God is merciful. We have an opportunity to go from grace to grace until we become a joint-heir with Christ and receive of the Father's fullness. Each birth is a miraculous event and journey. Christ's virgin birth is more than a literal miracle but is an important symbol of each one of us. It teaches us who we are and what we have the power to create in the physical world when we become aware and understand the symbolism of all things. The virgin birth of Christ symbolizes purity or creating that which is pure and unifying and can be seen in this way:



God ---> Mary ---> Jesus



Even so, when we begin to understand who we are, we will recognize that we have a trinity within ourselves. Our triune nature can be described as:

Intelligence ---> Spirit ---> Body


It can also be seen this way:

Spirit ---> Body ---> physical manifestation or creation


The fruits of this inspired physical creation unifies and generates peace on earth and goodwill towards men.


When we allow divine intelligence to flow into our lives through our spirit, our body will become servant to that revelation and that which is created brings peace on earth and goodwill towards men. A new heaven and a new earth are created (or discovered) when we become perfected in Christ and live our lives in this way. What we create becomes unifying to the world rather than generating more fragmentation, warfare and tribalism. We too will truly participate in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Our role that we play in this process is co-created with God before the foundation of the world. We can embrace it and take the truly straight and narrow path or we can continue to worship signs, symbols and tokens as most do. Though our role will obviously not involve suffering in Gethsemane or on the cross, still we will have an opportunity to play a unifying role that brings AT-ONE-MENT.



However, when we take the broad well travelled road and fall into the illusion of the Telestial world by partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil moment to moment each day, the body becomes the first rather than the last. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. Often the body is so centric that it has no awareness of spirit or intelligence. This physically dominant state leads to anything but peace on earth or goodwill. Even when our body is aware of its triune nature of intelligence and spirit, it often leads to internal tribalism, fragmentation and internal warfare which then become externalized. This is the source of all hatred and external war.



It is of interest to note that Muslims of the Sufi tradition made a distinction with the concept of Jihad or Holy War. They describe a greater jihad which is the war within oneself rather than the lesser jihad which is an external war against the infidel neighbor.

We could say that the wars between the Nephites (spirit) and Lamanites (body) were of a similar vein. They appear to be external wars but they can also symbolize the war within ourselves. This internal symbolism supersedes literal or carnal interpretations. As we draw closer to God, the internal will become a higher truth than the external. The final great war of Armageddon can be symbolized as the final struggle within men and women to give up the illusion of the Telestial world and allow Christ to come and become King. Or in other words for your spirit to become a righteous king over the body.

When you live a life of conscious awareness of who you are, you will see things clearer and in a different way. A millennial day will dawn inside of you and you will witness a new heaven and earth. May this be a truly NEW YEAR that begins the birth of a millennial day within you.

Peace and blessings to you in your journey.