Dear friends,
I have 90% recovered from Covid and hope to make full recovery soon. Thank-you for all your prayers and support; my family has fully recovered.
Beginning in February we will commence a series on the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, The Concentration of Heroic Progress. Much preparation is needed but it will be great to be able posting again.
Kind regards,
Vajragoni
Hello, dear freinds
During the Christmas Holiday I contracted Covid at my brother’s house. His wife didn’t know that she had it and it was passed to the whole household. I’m feeling very weak and am not presently able to do any blogging. Wanted to let you know but I’m afraid it’s going to be some time before this horrible thing passes.
Sincerely,
Vajragoni
Today’s theme has of course been made infamous in cinema. Films like The Omen and the Damian series portrays the antichrist since 666 is deeply ingrained on top of his head. Yet, the word antichrist does not appear in The Book of Revelation. It is mentioned in I John 2:18, "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour." Also in II John 7: "For many deceivers have gone Read more [...] 
11:15-19 appears to bring John’s entire eschatological, cosmic vision to an end—the messianic woes have occurred; God’s kingdom has arrived; God’s enemies have been defeated; the final judgment has been pronounced; punishments have been dispensed; and rewards have been bestowed. All that is lacking is the final “Amen!”
But John is not ready to let the final curtain fall. He has a new revelation to present, signaled by the words of 12:1—“a great portent appeared in heaven.” Read more [...] 
Chapter 11 is largely a puzzle for both interpreters and readers alike. It incorporates the measuring of the temple in Jerusalem with two witnesses that describe the end times and concluding with the blasting of the Seventh Trumpet. Exegesis is imperative here for breaking-down these dissimilar themes.
The Temple and the Two Witnesses, 11:1-14
Rev 11:1 Then I was given a long cane like a measuring rod, and I was told, 'Get up and measure God's sanctuary, and the altar, and the people who Read more [...] 
As was the same after the opening of the sixth scroll, there is a great pause in the dramatic action; the audience is waiting with baited-breath for the blaring of the final trumpet, but John inserts a little interlude—a time for contemplative reflection:
These pauses in the action allow the reader to catch his or her breath after the furious onslaught of the plagues, and they increase the dramatic tension of the work. Instead of hearing the final trumpet blast, the reader must wait a while Read more [...] 
I love to watch the old sci-fi films from the 50’s and 60’s—centering on themes such as giant leeches, ants, spiders and locusts. They entertain to the hilt and thrill to open dark corners of the mind where these creatures lurk. One needs to be cautious, though, lest these creepy images consume an overly active imagination. The same can be said for Apocalyptic Literature, for as with horror movies, this literature is not factual but actually imaginative and surrealistic in nature and not Read more [...] 
Today’s title has generated much interest in filmdom history, most particularly in a 1957 Swedish (sjunde inseglet) fantasy film adaptation written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it bespeaks of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and how he attempts to ward-off his own death in a game of chess he plays with the personification of Death; as the film progresses we see whether he wins or loses his life…but no spoilers here. The film is so popular Read more [...] 
According to the JW publication, The Watchtower, 144,000 is the total number of people who will make it into heaven, and every last one of them will have been a Jehovah’s Witness. From time to time we receive these publications in the mailbox as their evangelists still travel door to door in hopes of finding new disciples to add to their flock. Today’s blog offers a different breakdown of that mystical number, one which adds a greater depth to the mystery.
The Sealing of the 144,000, 7:1-8
Rev Read more [...] 
Just as the seven-eyed Lamb foreshadowed the eventual triumphant Christ, today’s ever-popular image of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ushers-in the manner of Death that will swiftly descend upon an evil world. They are harbingers of total destruction from which no one is exempt. The opening of each seal introduces them as they thunder across the page undeterred and unfretted. In point of fact they represent all that is wrong with humanity—climaxing here in scenes of total self-condemnation Read more [...] 