Monthly Archives: September 2012

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART XLIII

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

GoodWill IS Love in Action

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

Wakefulness is the way to life. The fool sleeps As if he were already dead, But the master is awake And he lives forever. He watches. He is clear. How happy he is! For he sees that wakefulness is life. How happy he is, Following the path of the awakened. With great perseverance He meditates, seeking Freedom and happiness. So awake, reflect, watch. Work with care and attention. Live in the way And the light will grow in you. By watching and working The master makes for himself an island Which the flood cannot overwhelm. The fool is careless. But the master guards his watching. It is his most precious treasure. He never gives in to desire. He meditates. And in the strength of his resolve He discovers true happiness. He overcomes desire – And from the tower of his wisdom He looks down with dispassion Upon the sorrowing crowd. From the mountain top He looks down at those Who live close to the ground. Mindful among the mindless, Awake while others dream, Swift as the race horse He outstrips the field. By watching Indra became king of the gods. How wonderful it is to watch. How foolish to sleep. The beggar who guards his mind And fears the waywardness of his thoughts Burns through every bond With the fire of his vigilance. The beggar who guards his mind And fears his own confusion Cannot fall. He has found his way to peace⁵.

We spent our time yesterday looking at the word and the Master’s ideas on to serve as a replacement for the normal translation of the Greek word proskuneo which is to worship. We noted that Vine’s advises us that the worship of God is nowhere defined in Scripture⁶ and we listed some of the various English meanings for this Greek word. The common understanding is in the idea of to do homage (to one) or make obeisance², and our dictionary meanings of worship ,which is the only translation of this word in the King James Version (KJV), 60 times, while our other lexicon and Strong’s keyed version, the New American Standard, translates this into a variety of terms with worship used 32 times.

• Worship; as a verb: 1. Excellence of character; dignity; worth; worthiness. [Obs.] 2. Honor; respect; civil deference. [Obs.] 3.Hence, a title of honor, used in addresses to certain magistrates and others of rank or station. 4. The act of paying divine honors to the Supreme Being; religious reverence and homage; adoration, or acts of reverence, paid to God, or a being viewed as God. 5.Obsequious or submissive respect; extravagant admiration; adoration. 6.An object of worship. Worship as transitive verb: 1. To respect; to honor; to treat with civil reverence.[Obs.]  2.To pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration; to perform religious exercises in honor of; to adore; to venerate. 3.To honor with extravagant love and extreme submission, as a lover; to adore; to idolize. Syn. — To adore; revere; reverence; bow to; honor. Webster’s add this as an intransitive verb in relation to our verse from John’s Gospel: To perform acts of homage or adoration; esp., to perform religious service. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. John iv. 20.¹
• Homage as a noun: 1. (Feud. Law) A symbolical acknowledgment made by a feudal tenant to, and in the presence of, his lord, on receiving investiture of fee, or coming to it by succession, that he was his man, or vassal; profession of fealty to a sovereign. 2.Respect or reverential regard; deference; especially, respect paid by external action; obeisance. 3. Reverence directed to the Supreme Being; reverential worship; devout affection. Chaucer. Syn. — Fealty; submission; reverence; honor; respect. — Homage, Fealty. Homage was originally the act of a feudal tenant by which he declared himself, on his knees, to be the hommage or bondman of the lord; hence the term is used to denote reverential submission or respect. Fealty was originally the fidelity of such a tenant to his lord, and hence the term denotes a faithful and solemn adherence to the obligations we owe to superior power or authority. We pay our homage to men of preëminent usefulness and virtue, and profess our fealty to the principles by which they have been guided. On homage as a verb Webster’s adds: 1. To pay reverence to by external action. [R.] 2. To cause to pay homage. [Obs.] ¹
• Obeisance: 1. Obedience. [Obs.] 2.A manifestation of obedience; an expression of difference or respect; homage; a bow; a courtesy.¹

Our point here is that there must be more to this idea than is painted in these definitions and the evidence of this is in the context of the Master’s words and the words of His apostles. We noted yesterday that there is another Greek word, latreuo, which is translated as worship by KJV and also as serve which should give us the idea that there IS a relationship between these thoughts. While this word is translated as both serve and worship there is yet another word that is translated as serve which is used, and which we referenced in error, regarding one of our more frequent sayings regarding God and mammon. Although the word serve is used in these verses it is translated from douleuo which, according to the lexicon, has the added value of bondage. This aside, the idea of to serve is an important Christian value and we traced the translation of worship as it appears in John’s Gospel in the saying “The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father” (John 4:19-21) to the Old Testament idea of serve in two verses from Exodus and Deuteronomy. We should note here also the similarity between the commandments to serve and the commandment to Love as they are recorded for us:

• “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).
• “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5)
• “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12)

Here we find the triple idea of seeking the Lord, Loving the Lord and serving the Lord and ALL to be done with “all thy heart and with all thy soul” and in these words the relationship between these virtues should be established. Then, in relation to our verse above from John relating to the Old Testament commandments, which commandments are in our reality to serve the Lord, we should be able to understand the True intent of the word translated as worship; and that intent IS that we serve. We closed yesterday with this from the Master regarding service and while this word is not used in these verses, we should all be able to see the reality if serving in His words.

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink ? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:34-40).

This is the reality of service and we should note here that these things are said to His disciples only as we read in the nearest verse that gives indication of time and place: “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3). And, at the end of these verses above which follow a long string of parables and interpretations, we read: “And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified” (Matthew 26:1-2). It is important that we understand that these ideas on serving are still being given to the disciples by the Master at this time near the end and in this we should get the understanding of the need to reinforce these ideas of Love and serving from the Master’s perspective; which still, to that day on the “mount of Olives“, are being spoken in parable. Here in these verses we have the Master’s dialogue regarding the end which, from our perspective here today may be in regard to the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans, He goes on to speak of the tribulation and the apparent end of things that should follow but which have not, at least not in the literal terms that the Master uses. There is likely a reality in these verses that is yet beyond our ken and the supposition of much of the churches doctrines does not help in our understanding which will come to each of us as we move closer to God, closer to our ability to express the Love and the Power of the Christ Within in this world. Some of these words which are incomprehensible for any yet today are: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:29-31).

Far be it for us to question or to discount any of what the Master says but we do, and we must, question our ability to understand what He says. Today we KNOW that the stars cannot fall and that our tiny planet called Earth is an infinitesimal part of this Awesome Creation of our God. There is a message and a meaning in these words that still eludes us as so much of the Truth of His words yet does. From this dialogue Jesus continues; interpreting the parable of the fig tree and then onto a dissertation on the idea of being ready at ALL times for the coming of the Lord with a message of not thinking that one has time to play with and time to get around to correcting whatever is amiss in Life for that Life can end at any time….individually or corporately. He then tells the Parable of the Ten Virgins (In the Words of Jesus parts 146-147) and goes on to the Parable of the Talents or Minas (In the Words of Jesus parts 104-105) before He returns to ideas about His Coming and our verses on serving that we post above. In these verses above comes the message that whatsoever we believe that we should do for the Lord, we should do the same for our brother, and our neighbor and we should not assume that this is limited to the ideas that the Master uses, ideas of food, shelter, clothing and visitation but rather any thing that one would believe should be done for the Lord. To be clearer, we should say here that we should do for others whatsoever we would want others to do for us and here we use the Golden Rule in a more progressive context.

In the Buddha’s words above that we have been carrying for several days now we should see these ideas inherent. The master stands unabashed in the world and so must we as disciples and as aspirants. The master KNOWS his place and his duty and sees ALL; from the tower of his wisdom He looks down with dispassion Upon the sorrowing crowd. He KNOWS all too well their plight for it was at one time his plight and this is never too far removed from him. He recognizes the necessity to watch and to guard, he KNOWS the master guards his watching. It is his most precious treasure. The Buddha’s sayings here go on to say that The beggar who guards his mind And fears the waywardness of his thoughts Burns through every bond With the fire of his vigilance and here we should see this idea of beggar as Webster’s give us: One who supplicates with humility; a petitioner; but in this sense rarely used, as the word has become a term of contempt¹ from the 1828 version and one who asks or entreats earnestly, or with humility; a petitioner¹ as it is given in the 1913 version. Can we see the picture that is painted by this word’s usage here? It is the same idea that we should get from the Master’s words saying:

• “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing , ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22) and here we should understand prayer as the same as supplication and as asking as in the Buddha’s begging and both with the idea of humility.
• “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). Here we have the same idea except we find asking in His name in place of prayer which are essentially the same when viewed from the right perspective. In both verses we should see that the communication is between the consciousness in the personality and the source of that consciousness in the Soul, the Christ Within. Here we should see the idea of the consciousness in the world as it works out in the aspirant and the disciple or the master as not merely asking but demanding the Light from above, from the Soul and this demand is made through right living and right focus. This is the fire of his vigilance and this is our understanding of asking.
• The antithesis of these ideas is found in the asking of the carnal man, one who IS NOT demanding through right living and right focus; James tells us that: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3).

This is the idea of the beggar in this translation of the Buddha’s words. In the last verse from our saying by the Buddha above we find The beggar who guards his mind And fears his own confusion Cannot fall. He has found his way to peace. Here is the True meaning as expressed in the word above of unabashed which we should understand to mean  Not abashed; not confused with shame, or by modesty¹, as we read from Webster’s 1828 version and not ashamed, disconcerted, or apologetic; boldly certain of one’s position⁷ as we would read it today. The disciple and the master then STAND unabashed and this standing is as the Apostle Paul tells us to do saying: “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). Can we see in this whole armour of God in the life of the disciple the same idea that the Buddha give us in saying of the master that the master guards his watching. We should understand here that as aspirants to discipleship, and to becoming a master, that we must be on guard and diligent in watching; that we must have on the “whole armour of God” and that we must ever STAND.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post. We leave our chart for your further consideration.

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.

This Quote of the Day has now been with us for many days and in this we should be able to see and to understand the two levels of understanding from the perspective of the man in form; the one who sees only those things that are presented physically and the other who is “born of the Spirit” and sees Truth.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (John 3:3-8)

Today’s Quote of the Day is in regard to the new birth which Nicodemus did not understand and which many today do not understand either. The words of the Master tell us of a total commitment to the Lord as the way to the Kingdom and these verses say that as well. This total commitment is being born again. The differences in language aside, we should try to see the relationship between these ideas of being born again which is the essence of discipleship for it is only in discipleship that one can Truly see the Kingdom. These are much misused ideas because they are seen from the perspective of the man in form and no from the perspective of the Soul living through form.

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ³ Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁵ The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
• ⁶ Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1996
• ⁷ Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 28 Jan. 2012.
• ** A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A Bailey © 1951 by Lucis Trust