IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 382

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part CLXIII

“For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:44-45).

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt , and where thieves break through and steal : But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt , and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

In our last essay we discussed the idea of heart as the Master uses it and which we refer to as the consciousness of a man. We made a statement regarding this consciousness which the Soul lends to the form life that should have given the idea of the Holy Spirit as the consciousness of man and we remarked that this idea of Holy is cannot be perceived in the heart of the average man in the street. We did not pursue this angle any further but rather went on to tie our ideas regarding the Life of a man in the world  together with the Plan of God through the Apostle Paul’s sayings to the Romans rather than to the ‘fall of man‘ or to ‘original sin‘. We again cited Paul’s words saying: “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20) as a key to the plight of man in the world and this is a part of the overall Plan of God, a Plan that we can only glimpse until we are living according to the words of the Master which is Life as a disciple of the Lord. We cited as well several references by the Master and His apostles that can show those who look openmindedly at scripture that the reality of a man is Spirit and not this body of flesh with its attendant emotional and mental apparatus.

Continuing in this vein we should be able to understand at least dimly that if a man IS Spirit and that man is living through form on this Earth, that the Spirit must in some way be in the form. Tying this to the Master’s teachings about the heart which we call consciousness, we should also be able to understand that this heart is the activity of Spirit in form. Seeing then this heart in form as the creature of which Paul speaks above we should be able to at least glimpse some of what we will now premise.

• The Life of the creature is the Life of the Soul in form and this Life is “made subject to vanity“, that is it is made subject to the illusion and the glamour of the world of things.
• This is the state of everyman, he is enmeshed in this world and although his consciousness is that of the Soul born into a threefold body in this world, he cannot express this Soul activity “by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” which we are interpreting as the Plan of God. The vanity grows with the child as the child learns through his self centered Life in this self centered world and, through ALL that he sees and hears and learns, the child becomes a man unawares of the reality of his own nature and Life as a Soul. The degree of this entombment of the Soul in its chosen form is dependent upon the ability of that Soul to build his form and upon the karmic responsibilities from previous incarnations.
• Thus we have the Soul as an expression of the Spirit and himself expressing Life and consciousness through form in accordance with the Plan of God and this expression of Life and consciousness is become lost in the illusion and the glamour of the world and by these things he is deceived with the biggest deception being that he comes to believe that he is the body and its attributes of emotion and mind. If we find this hard to fathom, we should look at the philosophies on Life without the Soul as the progenitor and see if we can find any greater sense of being. The common understanding of each man born ‘having’ a Soul which has the nature of what we call the personality, the body, emotions and mind, leaves us short of clarity on many fronts which we have discussed throughout our posts. The inadequacy of this view is evident in the True definition of eternal and in the ideas put forth in scripture regarding the fact spoken by the Apostle Peter who tells us that “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) to name but two.
• This is the Spirit of God in form, the God Within, and this is True regardless of the nature of the Life that one is living. The True expression of the Soul in form would not be one that is “made subject to vanity” but would rather be one that would fit into the next verse which tells us that to be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” is the hope of the creature, his destiny and his goal. In this vein one must try to develop an understanding of the sense of duality that is faced by ALL as we approach that strait gate which opens into the Kingdom of God. The idea we should get here is that the consciousness of man in form as the Spirit and the Soul is such that this reality of the man which is subject to the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, is ever set on his eventual deliverance as this is his goal and his objective.
• That he man not realize these things to be true is spoken of by the Master who tells us that “for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light” (Luke 16:8) and in this we should see the duality of which we speak. The only difference between “the children of this world” and “the children of light” is a matter of focus; that is the difference is on where their individual treasure is. And we should know that “the children of light” were at one time “the children of this world” who have been transformed and of this the Master speaks as well citing the saying by the Prophet Elias: “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear“(Matthew 13:15-16). Repeating what we said several days ago on this saying serves us here as well: Can we see here in the Master’s words the plight of vanity, the trappings of illusion and glamour, as they affect the man? Can we see the idea of awakening in the Master’s words “lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart“? And, can we see the idea of the Truly awakened in those to whom He says “blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear“. These ARE the states of consciousness for the man in this world; these are his conditions of heart.
• In the above we have the life of the creature as he is “made subject to vanity“, he is awash in the illusion and glamour of the world and his “heart is waxed gross” and his “ears are dull of hearing” and his “eyes…have closed“; he sees naught but his own limited Life in the world, it is his only reality. Looking at this as a progression we would then have the man sensing the duality of Life, the God and mammon if your will, and it is in this state that the man begins to recognize the vanity as the illusion and the glamour; he is still one of the “children of this world ” but is beginning to sense the presence within himself and the latent reality of  “the children of light“. It is here that the Truth of the free will of man is realized; here is the choice of God or mammon, the choice of Life in the world of things or Life as a True Son of God in form.
• The pull of vanity is strong, the illusion and the glamour cloud the vision of the man and cause him to believe as his worldly Life would have him do; he must choose between the immediate gratification of the sensual life or the Presence of God through a Life of service and this is a most difficult choice and one that is not an open debate but one that takes place in the deep recesses of the consciousness of the man. This is the Life of the man who can sense the reality and who knows that it is the focus of his consciousness that will determine his outcome and his choices are many. He can sink back into the world of things and the sense of duality will leave him, a sense that may return again and again forcing that choice over and over. He can vacillate between the two poles of God and world as what the Apostle James tell us as: “For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8). Each of these choices is of course doable by degree.
• In the last stage we have the idea of blessed as the Master tells those who can achieve this level of following the Lord, keeping His words and being His disciple. Jesus says that “blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear“. And we should know that this word blessed has naught to do with the things of this world. It is here and perhaps only here that the Spirit that is in the man, the activity of the Soul in form, can be called Holy and can be appreciated in Truth as the Holy Spirit. This stage is Truly the conscious activity of the Christ Within expressing through form.

The above is a rather simplified portrayal of the Life of a man in form and his traversing the stages from immersion in the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, to the sensing of duality and to the choices that duality provides. In this latter state where the sense of duality is strong, there comes the added opportunity to take the Kingdom, to submit to its rule and this is the beginning of the Life of the True aspirant which reaches its culmination in True discipleship.

Over the last two posts we included at the end a saying by the Buddha that was pertinent to our discussion and today we do the same. Again this is from the Dhammapada, a compilation of the sayings of the Buddha, and today’s choice is from the section called The World. Here the Buddha is pointing to the same ideas of choices and of overcoming the vanity and the illusion and the glamour of Life in form. He tells us:

Do not live in the world, In distraction and false dreams. Outside the dharma. Arise and watch. Follow the way joyfully through this world and beyond. Follow the way of virtue. Follow the way joyfully Through this world and on beyond! For consider the world – A bubble, a mirage. See the world as it is, And death shall overlook you. Come, consider the world, A painted chariot for kings, A trap for fools. But he who sees goes free. As the moon slips from behind a cloud And shines, So the master comes out from behind his ignorance And shines. The world is in darkness. How few have eyes to see! How few the birds who escape the net and fly to heaven!⁵

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

We have left this saying for several days now and want to here say that within this reflection is the reality of a True Son of God, a disciple if you will, and it is by accomplishing these things that a men can be seen as disciples and, for those who try to achieve, those who strive, as aspirants.

Evening Reflection

May the Power of the One True God flow through His group of all true servers;

May the Love of the Christ characterize the lives of all who seek to aid in His work;

May I fulfill my part in the one work through self-forgetfulness, harmlessness and right speech

(Evening Reflection)