The Oil

Plato said:
I think the oil is the consciousness of God. It's a reference to the level of consciousness we have attained. We are not a body with consciousness inside it. We are Gods pure consciousness formed into a body. I think the ones with low oil where materialistically minded and their perception of themselves centred around their ego (with an inability to see themselves as they are seen and act accordingly). As such they hadn't recognised who they are on the inside, they are God within, but they had not activated this pure consciousness. You could also call it the Holy Spirit however this can confuse as many today believe you have to recieve this at a point in time, rather then recognising what we have been all along.
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Welcome to the CR Forum's Plato! :)

But in the context of the passage, they weren't just low, they ran out, or rather they didn't have any oil to start with. Then they missed the boat while trying to scramble to find some.


ETA: I missed something. The foolish ones did initially have oil in their lamps, but not in their vessels, which I assume was used to refill the lamps. Still, they missed the boat.
 
Thankyou Dondi, nice to meet you to.

OK no oil at all. It happens all the time, we are so busy going about our business in our ego centred universe and we continually to do things (perhaps mistakes or what not) that we think make us happy because they appeal to our pleasure centre or whatever else. We forget that it is all an illusion and that we are just actors in a play. We forget who we are and what we are, If we have no oil at all, we perhaps have never been enlightened on the type of being we are underneath the body and psyche. When we strip ourselves back we are all the same, we are all God, but we need to reach that level, to know our self, there are many ways we can get there, but until we do we are unaware of the illusion. The oil is Gods nectar, the Holy spirit, the comforter, the consiousness we are in our deepest sleep, we are all different, but we are all one, it is a mystery : O )
 
Sorry Dondi, my memory and spelling are terrible as you will no doubt have gathered by now. The word I meant to use was unguent.

TE
 
That's the rub on belief or consciousness huh?

you gotta have it in your lamp and spare in your vessel...

gotta have enough faith to make it through the night...

where you gonna go for more??

go to the store....and miss out?

so gotta have the werwithal to surpass all unknown circumstances...

in what vessel are you keeping your extra oil?

Do you have a spigot? a never ending supply?

Help me make it through the night....

Hell no, go get your own oil....
 
I agree.. the Holy Spirit. This is why I say it is..

We are anointed with the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

1John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him

Hebrews 1:9You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, hasanointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions
 
That's the rub on belief or consciousness huh?

you gotta have it in your lamp and spare in your vessel...

gotta have enough faith to make it through the night...

where you gonna go for more??

go to the store....and miss out?

so gotta have the werwithal to surpass all unknown circumstances...

in what vessel are you keeping your extra oil?

Do you have a spigot? a never ending supply?

Help me make it through the night....

Hell no, go get your own oil....
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Perhaps a rare moment displaying how selfishness can be a virtue?
 
Faithfulservant said:
I agree.. the Holy Spirit. This is why I say it is..
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Now I know I'm gonna get accused of twisting words. But if I replace Holy Spirit as you described in with the text of the story I get...

The smart virgins had already been saved by Jesus, when they headed for the bridegrooms as evidenced by full vessels of Holy Spirit?

and the foolish versions were not yet saved...as they had enough holy spirit to keep their lamps burning till midnight but not enough to keep them burning after midnight (there is suddenly a turning into pumkins aspect here as well)

and if you have the holy spirit in you, it is common to tell others to head off to the store to go get their own, as you won't share, and to lock the doors behind you...

and if you go get the holy spirit and then come a knocking the bridegroom will say..."I don't know you, go away"



ps...I've played the same with faith and consiousness and belief...and am still contemplating how to handle this oil...
 
wil said:
Now I know I'm gonna get accused of twisting words. But if I replace Holy Spirit as you described in with the text of the story I get...

The smart virgins had already been saved by Jesus, when they headed for the bridegrooms as evidenced by full vessels of Holy Spirit?

and the foolish versions were not yet saved...as they had enough holy spirit to keep their lamps burning till midnight but not enough to keep them burning after midnight (there is suddenly a turning into pumkins aspect here as well)

and if you have the holy spirit in you, it is common to tell others to head off to the store to go get their own, as you won't share, and to lock the doors behind you...

and if you go get the holy spirit and then come a knocking the bridegroom will say..."I don't know you, go away"
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Or you can read the answer in Matthew 24

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
​
Either way the conclusion is the same..


​
 
Hey Everyone. :)

I’m still reading along. Thanks for all the comments so far. Interesting discussion. Sorry I haven’t contributed more to it, but I have been kind of busy elsewhere.

But, just a quick thought here, for now....

I don’t think the intention of the parable is to condone selfishness. After all, no one in the bridal party knew exactly when the groom would knock on the door. They only knew to wait for him. Does that observation help?

(Oh, and welcome to CR, Plato! We talk about you all the time!! Maybe now we can clear up this Atlantis debate. :D )

InPeace,
InLove
 
Perhaps the oil is the time you've invested in learning G-d's word and your understanding of it. You can't give it to someone because they have to invest time and learn for themselves. The lamp might be your mind and the wick how well you keep your mind focus on G-d's word. The light would be your good works.

If you fell asleep and your light went out. You could more easily remind yourself of G-d's truth, get that lamp burning again and join the feast.
 
Prober said:
Perhaps the oil is the time you've invested in learning G-d's word and your understanding of it. You can't give it to someone because they have to invest time and learn for themselves. The lamp might be your mind and the wick how well you keep your mind focus on G-d's word. The light would be your good works.

If you fell asleep and your light went out. You could more easily remind yourself of G-d's truth, get that lamp burning again and join the feast.
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That looks like a viable interpretation. And one would have to go back and invest some time to replenish this...and once you have it your vessel would always be full. For some reason the other trait of oil, oiling parts, reducing friction, allowing things to work better comes to mind in your interpetation.
 
wil said:
and if you have the holy spirit in you, it is common to tell others to head off to the store to go get their own, as you won't share, and to lock the doors behind you...

and if you go get the holy spirit and then come a knocking the bridegroom will say..."I don't know you, go away"

ps...I've played the same with faith and consiousness and belief...and am still contemplating how to handle this oil...
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It's not that the five wise virgin don't want to share, it's just that we cannot "save" another person, only God can do this. If I could save everyone I met, I would gladly do so.

The Holy Spirit brings life to a soul. The foolish virgins might have had life initially (God breathed into Adam and he became a living soul), but our spirit cannot sustain itself. We must remain in communion with the One who give us life, which is something the wise virgins did and the folish virgins failed to do..
 
Dondi said:
It's not that the five wise virgin don't want to share, it's just that we cannot "save" another person, only God can do this. If I could save everyone I met, I would gladly do so.
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So in this interpretation the bridegroom is representative of heaven and not Christ? So the seller they are being sent to is Christ? But when they came back they were denied entrance?

Or if the bridegroom is Christ...who is the seller they are sent to?
 
wil said:
So in this interpretation the bridegroom is representative of heaven and not Christ? So the seller they are being sent to is Christ? But when they came back they were denied entrance?

Or if the bridegroom is Christ...who is the seller they are sent to?
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God the Father.

"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:" - John 15:26

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." - John 16:7
 
Kindest Regards, Wil!

wil said:
but I do think it is a virtue....and wrote about it onced, and even again..
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Cool!

I want you to consider raising your consciusness, to the absolutely highest possible, consider taking your path to the ultimate, meditate till you levitate, be so good, so righteous you ascend, follow the pillars daily….whatever it takes selfishly attain spirit...

...Be selfish, help as many people as you can to do the same.
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Indeed!

Can't speak for Ayn Rand, as far as I understand she was an atheist. But as for me and my comment, I think you fairly well nailed it.

It seems to me a lot of people equate selfishness with depriving others, and that is simply not the case. Selfishness is looking out for oneself with the understanding that others may not be doing (or even able to do) so for you. I cannot expect someone else to go to school for me, earn my degree, and "unselfishly" hand it over giving me all the credit. I must do my own homework.

There's nothing wrong with seeking the assistance of others along the path while I am applying myself towards that degree, but I must selfishly conduct my affairs towards my end goal.

In the case of the virgins and oil, those who were prepared did so by applying themselves with diligence. Those who were not prepared figured they could "just borrow some" and skate on into the party clutching someone else's skirttail. They expected others to do for them, rather than selfishly doing for themselves.

From here I could launch into a tirade about socialism, but to maintain the integrity of this thread, I will not.

The point is, as you so ably noted, that sometimes selfishness is a virtue...when it is not at the expense of another. Note with the virgins, those "with" did not selfishly take from those "without." Whereas those "without" selfishly desired to take from those "with."
 
I'd like to present an example, if I may be indulged?

There is a huge storm blowing your way. You live in a sturdy house, but it is apparent there is going to be some serious damage all around. The electrical power will be out for weeks.

Your family has prepared with a stockpile of food, water and fuel that will last for one week. The family next door, good friends, have not prepared.

The storm comes. The power goes out. Everybody is alive and well. Except here's the problem...

It is going to be at least a week before the government can get any assistance in to help. You are now faced with a choice, feed you neighbors because they were not wise enough to set aside an emergency store and let your own children go hungry, or feed your own family because you were wise enough to set aside an emergency store.

Now, don't get me wrong, anybody with a heart is not going to let the neighbors starve...but I sure am not going to feed them at the expense of my own children. Perhaps others may see this differently, but this is how I see it. Consider, if I had not first been wise enough to set an emergency store aside to begin with, nobody would be eating. If all of us were reliant on the government to rescue us...we would all be seriously malnourished (or starved to death) before help arrived. In other words, the blame is not on me for selfishly having food and not sharing...if I had not had food and thought like the neighbors thought, nobody would be eating.
 
Dondi said:
It's not that the five wise virgin don't want to share, it's just that we cannot "save" another person, only God can do this. If I could save everyone I met, I would gladly do so.

The Holy Spirit brings life to a soul. The foolish virgins might have had life initially (God breathed into Adam and he became a living soul), but our spirit cannot sustain itself. We must remain in communion with the One who give us life, which is something the wise virgins did and the folish virgins failed to do..
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Yep!
 
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