Introduction
Concept Guide Mission
In their report on the workings of the Law of One, Ra used highly specialized vocabulary and syntax in order to speak with as much precision as our language permits—or, as they said, to “maximize the accuracy of the nuances of the answer.” It is in part thanks to their unique word choice that they were able to bring such clarity to the perennially murky waters of metaphysics, delivering a philosophy both remarkably sophisticated and internally consistent.
But since Ra’s terminology is original, it can present a stumbling block to comprehension. Adding to that challenge, Don Elkins couldn’t pursue each idea in a linear, progressive fashion. He instead visited and revisited various topics, following a hint here, circling back to an idea there, balancing methodology with spontaneity as new information was constantly being revealed. Ra’s concepts were therefore addressed repeatedly but sporadically across 2,630 questions. When reading the material in session order, then, it is difficult to grasp the full scope of any one concept.
Consequently, calls have issued from the readership for a glossary of the Confederation’s cosmology ever since the material’s debut. The following work began as an attempt to address that need. As the work unfolded, it transformed into a comprehensive guide to various ideas and concepts found within the Confederation’s philosophy.
Creating the Concept Guide
From Adept–Will, the following pages offer a study of each term, synthesized from all its occurrences throughout the contact. After each entry, I have included citations listing every Q&A that went into building the definition of that term, along with a second list of less central Q&As that help to round out the definition and provide opportunities for further exploration. These references can be used to both cross-check my offerings and deepen your own study.
In each of entry I strove to let Ra speak through the definitions. Toward this end I used their words verbatim wherever this seemed to add clarity. Because of the high incidence of Ra’s words in these definitions, I opted largely not to distract the reader with quotation marks amounting to visual and grammatical spaghetti. It is a safe assumption, then, that if something in the guide sounds remarkable, it is probably Ra, and if it sounds eh, it is probably me.
My goal was always to stay true to Ra’s intended meaning—insofar as I felt I understood it. Sometimes I was able simply to assemble Ra’s information in a curated, tutorial order, adding only some connective tissue in order to let the quotes tell the story they wanted to tell. At other times, when I chose to expand on a concept that was less clear (for example, what is faith?), some inference was needed in the entry. And in other instances where I took additional creative license in offering a more consciously subjective interpretation, I indicated that as an “Author’s Note.”
Any personal bias was hopefully offset and rounded out by the intensive and skillful editing efforts of two other Law of One philosophy scholars, Diana Roy and Austin Bridges. Please know, however, that while we three labored for objectivity, no being within the creation can escape the biases and limitations of viewpoint inherent to their evolutionary station, including Ra. It is said truly that we don’t see the world as it is, but as we are. Consequently, my efforts are only humble signposts, directing you to what I believe Ra intended.
Please let me be clear that this is neither canon nor the final explication of the Confederation’s terminology. This is only one attempt. I have seen these terms examined with scintillating brilliance in a variety of ways by many other seekers. I have learned so much from the unique vantage point each brings to this study. Please always test this offering against your highest understanding.
Words Are Only Approximations
Let it be emphasized, also, that no one can permanently fix these concepts into dogmatic stone, for they are living ideas. Many of the concepts represented here are wrapped in mystery, ranging on topics that delve to the foundation of the universe and reach to its furthest micro- and macro-cosmic edges. Discovering these ideas within the self, along with their personal and collective applications, is a journey that continues through millions of our years, through the densities, and into infinity itself. Always bear in mind that the Law of One is simply the deepest experience of who you really are. It is beyond articulation and thought. It is your realization of Oneness.
This is not to say that striving to understand Ra’s meaning is unimportant; rather, upon gaining familiarity with these concepts, one may peer through the words to the ineffable truths that are available only to experience itself. Words, as Eckhart Tolle asserts, are no more than signposts that point beyond themselves.
A Note about Language
Ra tried to facilitate some measure of understanding using one of Earth’s languages at a particular time in Earth’s history—that being English from 1981 to 1984. As with every language, English’s syntax and lexicon is inescapably rife with assumptions about the very nature of reality. Each word is imprinted with human and cultural experience: where we’ve been, what we fear, what we desire, and—though mostly unknown to each speaker—the limitations of our vision and understanding.
In addressing some errors that had occurred in transmission, Ra described our collection of signs and symbols known as language as a “confining ambiance.” They spoke to their objective in using this foreign tool, saying:
If we could have received from Ra telepathically transmitted, wordless concept communication, who knows what greater vistas they may have been able to open to our eyes. What might they have been able to reveal about the nature of intelligent infinity that the words “intelligent infinity” do not disclose? But they had only the limited colors of the language we provided them to paint their vision of the universe. Ours is a system of communication massively alien to them: word-symbols made of and for an illusion of space, time, and separation. These fundamental aspects of human experience so inextricably encoded in our language are, from Ra’s standpoint, rudimentary relics of an ancient past.
Despite the vast disparity between our present reality and theirs, Ra nevertheless succeeded in driving language further into our unknown than has perhaps been historically achieved.[2] In so doing guiding us to self-understandings cosmic in scope, infinite in potential, and humble in authenticity.
With a sense of awe, I discovered along the way that reading every instance of a term is one of the most rewarding and in-depth ways to study this material. Indeed, I came to feel that the long-term serious student of this information deprives themselves of the full richness of this philosophy if they read the pages only in session order. There is untold treasure awaiting the seeker who studies one topic at a time.
If one attunes the ear to the infinite creation, one can hear many voices singing many melodies. Ra’s particular hymn is the song of the unity of all things. I hope that through this concept guide you may more clearly hear the soaring, crystalline notes Ra used to compose their symphony.
With love and light,
Gary L. Bean
Gary L. Bean