The third Primordial Guru - Shri Moses

The third Primordial Guru was Moses, who incarnated in the 13th century BC. Stories can be found in the 
bible in the books: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. 

In the Exodus account, the birth of Moses occurred at a time when an unnamed Egyptian Pharaoh had commanded that all newly born male Hebrew children be drowned in the river Nile. His mother saved him by setting him adrift on the Nile in a small basket. He was rescued by the Pharaoh's daughter and was brought up in the Egyptian court.

As he was growing up, Moses became aware of Hebrew origin. He started to be concerned about their living conditions and one day, while attempting to save a Hebrew from being beaten, killed an Egyptian guard.

After that, he fled from Egypt and reached the land of Midian, where he lived with the priest Jethro’s tribe. He married Jethro's daughter Zipporah and lived happily there for many years until one day, while tending Jethro’s flocks, he saw a burning bush that would not be consumed. As he got close to gaze at this marvel, God spoke to him and told him that he was entitled, as God's Messenger, to save the Hebrew people from Egypt's slavery.

So Moses went back to Egypt, repeated the Lord's words to the Hebrews and showed them some signs (miracles) as a proof. 

 Then he went to the Pharaoh and asked him to let the Hebrew people go. The Pharaoh refused. The obstinacy of the Pharaoh caused God to react by making the Pharaoh’s people suffer from horrible plagues in order to convince the Pharaoh of His existence and power.

 Finally the Pharaoh allowed the Hebrews to leave, but changed his mind just as the people reached the Reed Sea. It is in this moment that God’s Power fully manifested by parting the waters and allowing the people to cross the sea on dry land.

So after escaping from the Egypt, the Hebrews started their wandering in search of the Promised Land. It is said that this wandering lasted about 40 years. It is during these years that Moses received the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai.

Moses died before reaching the Promised Land at the age of 120 years. The legend says that God himself buried Moses in an unknown grave in a valley in the land of Moab.

Teachings -

He laid the basis of Dharma and morality.

Moses’ main task was to lay the foundation of dharma and morality in his people: their morality level at that time was very low, they were lacking in self-discipline and were too indulgent. 

He gave his people a long list of laws (Bible ref: Deuteronomy) to help their purification and their leading a moral and sane social life. 

 The Decalogue are the famous Ten Commandaments spoken by God to Moses on the Mount Sinai:

1. I am the Lord your God.
2. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol.
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God.
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
5. Honour your father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbour.

The liberation from the slavery

Thanks to Moses, the Hebrew was liberated from slavery. They lived comfortably in Egypt for many generations, but when the Pharaoh started to consider them a threat he enslaved them in order to have more control. The Hebrews accepted this slavery for convenience, as they had become lazy because of the easy way they were used to live.

We can see a similar situation in ourselves. Because we are spoilt by our senses and our vices, we do not realize that we are ourselves slaves, and as long as this slavery exists we cannot get the freedom of our Spirit. This topic was thoroughly investigated by Socrates many years later.

The crossing of the Sea

As Shri Mataji has told us many times, the crossing of the sea represents the crossing of the Bhavasagara, the Ocean of Illusion. In fact the Hebrews had to lose the illusion of a comfortable life under slavery in order to gain their freedom.