With her treatise, Tanya Tiedje invites her readers to join her on a journey to uncover life truths long ago hidden from humanity, to shed the veils obscuring the world's workings, the dogmas that bind people to outdated views and ways, and to seek the spiritual liberation that is attainable by all.
She likens this process to Morpheus' revelation to Neo in "The Matrix," when he uttered: "It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth… That you are a slave… Like everyone else, you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind." This is "The Lantern" she offers her readers to light their way and dispel the shadows of zealotry and conformism blocking them from the truth.
Tiedje warns that her book is not for the faint-hearted. It is for those dedicated to refuting falsehoods and untrue beliefs to find out what truly is factual, logical, and rational. This is not mutually exclusive with the fundamental axioms underlying compassion, kindness, love, and understanding. "The Lantern" is for those who dare to question creeds that would normally be considered unquestionable and absolute. She challenges her readers to go beyond these preconceptions, particularly those that are enforced by the threat of punishment - corporeal or spiritual.
"All kinds of people come to all kinds of erroneous flawed premises about how things come to them because they put these beliefs in place that prevent them from trusting in the goodness of the Universe that is always flowing to you." Tiedje cites Esther Hicks' teachings, known as Abraham-Esther teachings. To encourage readers, she cites Biblical passages, such as Matthew 7:7, which says: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
Tiedje's book is for those who ask, seek, and knock at the door of greater knowledge and wisdom. She delves into the teachings of the Bible, the nature of God, humanity, and the soul. She also explores the meaning of love, the process of finding atonement, and what lies beyond in the afterlife. It is essential to develop a better understanding of these matters, as opposed to simply memorizing verses or sermons, in order to develop a genuine and independent perspective and cultivate one's nature to the divine and the truth, even if this contradicts established doctrine. The ability and courage to challenge one's ingrained belief systems is key to not just reassessing one's world views but also changing them. Likewise, being able to do this can translate into making the necessary alterations in life to become happier and healthier.
Tiedje holds that human beings were created to be fulfilled and happy beyond our wildest dreams, all of the time. She believes that man was not meant to be a depraved immoral creature living in darkness but was born to walk in the light. Destructive beliefs that promote fear, blind obedience to forces that do not have humanity's best interests at heart, and conformity to ancient beliefs written by men who are long dead for outdated societies, can imprison people in patterns that not only prevent them from finding real happiness but actively make them suffer. It can lead people to enforce restrictive lifestyles upon themselves and others for generations. With her book, she offers a way to break the pattern, to escape the cycle of obedience for the sake of obedience, allowing people to chart their own paths.
"It is our destiny, our birth right. We need only believe it." Tiedje says. Thus by shedding false preconceptions and embracing the wider possibilities the universe offers, one can be freed of destructive untruths and harmful belief systems that only serve to chain people and cause them to live in fear, to conform unquestioningly to authorities and never think for themselves. The will to pursue the truth will enable the individual to become independent and allow them to grow and become self-actualized on their own terms. As John 8:32 says: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
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