Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CXXXIV

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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“And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Genesis 3:22-24).

We speak often of the Master and we alternately seem to be referring to the Christ, Jesus and Christ Jesus or Jesus Christ. In all of these cases we are speaking about the Christ expressing the Love of God through the man in form, Jesus who we call Christ. The Master is the essence of this Great Incarnation of Love in the Earth and this essence is the same as regards our own Souls when seen apart from Life in form or when seen as “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) expressing through form as we have in the Life of Jesus. We spent some time recently discussing the pointed fact that there is no place in the New Testament words of the Master or His disciples that He asks us for worship and praise; He only asks us to DO as He has done from the perspective of fixing His entire Life around the things of God. And while much of humanity goes about pretending to KNOW and to understand the message and pretending to be ‘holy’ and ‘right with God’ they are in reality just as enmeshed in the illusions and the glamour of Life in the world as those who do not KNOW nor care about such things. We have two points to bring out in this relation:

• First that the Soul, the Christ Within each and every man IS that same Divine Man as is the Christ and the True reality of part and parcel can be seen in this regard. The differences as we have pointed to in previous posts are simple and the first one is that He, the Christ representing the Love of God and ALL Souls, is expressing this Love and Power fully through His incarnation as Jesus; He is born this way and in reality never leaves the sanctity of the Kingdom of God in any way. His consciousness is NOT deluded by the world and while He may have been tempted, He never gives His mind nor His emotions over to the things of the world. The very nature of the Christ is the same as the nature of the True man, the Soul, and this is a great part of the lesson that the Master teaches by both His example and His words; that we as men in form should express this divine part, the Soul, through the form and not spend our time attending to the things of the world. He tells us clearly these things saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) which is to say that we should express this same Love and Power through our own form Life in the world and He tells us also that:
  • “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately” (Luke 12:31-36).
  • And again from the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:33-34). If we can understand evil as the ways of the world, this saying takes on much meaning.
• Our second point is in today’s Quote of the Day from biblestudytools.com  and this makes for us two consecutive days where we have used their quote in our essay. This from the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to Titus tells us from the perspective of the man in form, the aspirant and the disciple who has not yet full realization, what it is that he should do. It does not say to praise the Master nor worship him but simply tells him the same messages as above albeit in different terms: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12).

In none of these things do we find the ‘normal’ Life of man in the world and this is the rub; that to live the normal Life, no matter how righteous one may believe he is, is not sufficient to be accounted worthy of His Kingdom nor worthy of True discipleship with the Master who gives us clear requirements for both. At the same time the sense of the difficulty should be with us ALL and when we reach this juncture in Life, when we see clearly the duality, we are at the threshold of the strait gate and it is here that we can choose our direction. Understanding the difficulty and striving  is the call of the Master who tells us to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24) and we should understand and take some bit of comfort in this Truth of striving for no matter that we are successful, no matter that time allows, we will have brought ourselves closer to the gate and that much closer to our ultimate goal. We should add here that in Truly striving one will gain that understanding and that Light that will allow for yet further gain; it is the striving that brings us not only to the door but through it as well.

In our Quote of the Day below we see another part of this reality and this starts in the very first line that sets the stage for us ALL if we can view it properly: If you are awake in the presence of a master One moment will show you the way. Much is made of the idea of Master in esoteric and occult circles and there Truly are Masters, men who have accomplished the goal of True discipleship and attained the Kingdom, and these ideas are universal regardless of one’s culture or religion. But this IS NOT the idea we are to take from the Buddha’s words and nor are we to see the Christ or the Buddha as our only Master; the idea to be taken that the first Master that each man will KNOW is his own Soul, his own Christ Within, his own Inner Self. It is this part of each man that the Apostle John refers to in speaking about the anointing that we ALL receive and we should remember that the very meaning of the Greek word translated as Christ is ‘anointed‘. John tells us “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27). This anointing IS the Soul, it IS the Christ Within which is for every man part and parcel of the Christ of God and thereby of God Himself.

It is from this perspective, as men in form, that we can KNOW God and it is in KNOWING God that we KNOW our selves, our True selves. It is focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True as it flows from the Soul, the Christ Within, that leads us out of the morass of Life in the Earth and is this not the Master’s teaching as we read above? Reflecting back on our main theme of the last several weeks, Creation as presented in the Book of Genesis, we should see that this perspective is where we started as the first Souls to take form. Whether we see this as Adam and Eve singularly or as what they may represent, these ARE Souls in form who yet KNOW God; their total focus is upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True as they KNOW naught else at that time when they first take to themselves Earth forms of flesh in the human sub kingdom. What we can try to see here is that unlike us today who KNOW the world and are seeking God, these first to take human form KNOW God and are seeking to KNOW themselves in the world. Not to make this confusing, let us look this way:

• Adam and Eve or whatsoever they represent KNOW God when they come into the Earth as Souls taking to themselves forms of flesh; they do not KNOW the ways of the world.
• Since this time of the first Souls in form, men have been born into form so that by the time that the form, the body and personality, are mature enough to KNOW anything, they find that they KNOW the world and that in these years leading to maturity, they lose sight of their own reality and no longer KNOW God.
• These first Souls in form devolve into Life in the world as this Life in the human body with its own instincts and appetites plus the added world anchor of the personality, the mind and the emotions, which drag the Soul further and further into carnal Life. These are the first to be “made subject to vanity, not willingly” (Romans 8:20) as they are immersed in Life in this world and we should note here that there is no way out save the reality of the Master who tells us that “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). And here is a reality in the saying that “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil“; God KNOWS ALL and IS ALL while the Souls that are the True men KNOW only the Good, the Beautiful and the Truth of the Kingdom of God but are lacking the individual experience of Life in the lowest of the planes of existence, the dense physical world….the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil.
• Souls born into this world and this carnal Life KNOW naught else save what they can bring forth into a new incarnation which is likely the way for those who had achieved some degree of enlightenment in a previous incarnation. In this is our premise, that we continually build, or select, better and more useful forms as Souls seeking incarnation and this ability is based upon what one had achieved, in this is a role for that natural cause and effect we KNOW as karma. Here also is found some sense of reaping what one sows as new incarnations tend to build upon the ‘profits’ of the preceding ones. Here, in the time since the devolvement of the first Souls into the carnal Life, men have been seeking the way back to God and this is for most men not a conscious endeavor in the beginning but rather a natural urge to rediscover and to seek the source of the inner urge to the Good, the Beautiful and the True.

We should be able to see in these thoughts the idea that Souls came into the world, they took form in the world and they succumbed to the ways of the world and since the method of incarnation has been birth, this idea of taking form has given way to what we yet have today…born in form with no recollection of our origin as divine beings, as Souls. The first Souls came into the world to KNOW the world and ever since Souls have been seeking the way back; we have taken and eaten the fruit of “the tree of knowledge of good and evil” and now we are seeking the reality of the Tree of Life so that we can return. In New Testament words, we have been subjected to the vanity of Life in form and, as aspirants, we KNOW the reality of this Life and are reaching out, striving, toward that deliverance into the glorious liberty of True Sons of God. Or, as this is so beautifully framed for us by Paul:

“For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.22For we knowthat the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:20-23).

We did not get to the Tree of Life except for our last reference and we will get back to this in the next post where we will continue with our thoughts on this and get to our next and last point from this creation story in Genesis..

• “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.  And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died” (Genesis 5:1-5) .

HAPPY NEW YEAR

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 continue on with this saying from the Buddha as our Quote of the Day and we will try to put this into the perspective of our discussion on the trees and the choices that we all make.

Our Quote of the Day below can be seen in relationship to our text above as we must awake and see past the illusion and the glamour of Life in form; before we can begin to progress, we must be able to recognize that this illusion exists and that it has always existed can help us in our understanding. We should understand here as well that the master that is spoken of is one’s own True self, one’s own Soul.

If you are awake in the presence of a master One moment will show you the way. The fool is his own enemy. The mischief is his undoing. How bitterly he suffers! Why do what you will regret? Why bring tears upon yourself? Do only what you do not regret, And fill yourself with joy. For a while the fool’s mischief Tastes sweet, sweet as honey. Bit in the end it turns bitter. And how bitterly he suffers! For months the fool may fast, Eating from the tip of a grass blade. Still he is not worth a penny Beside the master whose food is the way. Fresh milk takes time to sour. So a fool’s mischief Takes time to catch up with him. Like the embers of a fire It smolders within him. Whatever a fool learns, It only makes him duller. Knowledge cleaves his head. For then he wants recognition. A place before other people, A place over other people. “Let them know my work, Let everyone look to me for direction.” Such are his desires, Such is his swelling pride. One way leads to wealth and fame, The other to the end of the way. Look not for recognition But follow the awakened And set yourself free.

The above is from the the sayings of the Buddha in the Dhammapada, from the section entitled The Fool. Fool here should be seen as reflecting the person who follows the worldly ways and this regardless of one’s intended spiritual nature or standing if this can be so expressed. This is a lesson in following one’s master who we look at as the Master, the Christ, and all those disciples of Christ that have come before us; they KNOW the way that we, being seekers, should follow. In this is a lesson on being humble and meek, the antithesis of pride.