Page 15 - Mystic Pathways through the Bible

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chapter one 9
First Commandment
I am the Lord thy God.
Thou shalt not have other gods before me.
This commandment is a declaration of the nonduality of existence—the nonduality of the Divine Self. If the Self, or God, is in nite, how can there be two Gods? There cannot be two in nities. God is One. God is nondual. There cannot be any God other than the Absolute Self. However, the commandment can often be misinterpreted by the masses to mean: My God is the only God, and the God of other faiths is not the true God. The God of the Mohammedans, the God of the Hindus or the Zoroastrians are all satanic personalities! This misinterpretation encouraged by some spiritual ministers has created so much dissension, hostility and hatred among the races of man and has resulted in terrible ghting in the name of religion.
Regarded in still another way, “other gods” refers to the concepts, names, and forms to which one becomes attached for sel sh purposes, for perpetuating egoism, superiority and the sense of individuality or separation. In other words, when you insult another person’s right to worship God in his or her own way, or disrespect a person’s religion or spiritual practice, you are worshipping pettiness,