Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART CCCXII
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•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•ΑΩ•Α
Of all that the Master told us, He considered this as the Greatest of Commandments. So much of what we are to understand as aspirants or as believers is found in the precept that we must KEEP HIS WORDS:
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).
We ask ourselves WHAT THEN IS LOVE?
In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men.
We add to this THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST which can serve to both give us an understanding of what it means to Love oneself and how it is that we can Love our neighbor:
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“ (Matthew 7:12).
In yesterday’s post we looked some more at the idea of ‘world mood’ as the forces of change sweep men along to the new and hopefully the better, better however is of course not always the immediate result as men who are focused upon the world can seize these forces and channel them to the selfish and even the harmful. As we discussed several posts back there ARE men of power on ALL sides of every new thing that emerges in the consciousness of the race of men and we should understand that it IS the emergence ONLY that can be considered at times to be in the purity of the intent of the Plan of God as the reactions and the implementations are ever left to the human race and operate within the realm of the man in form and his limited free-will. This follows along with our point from the last essay that there are changes that come to us under the Plan and in the hidden energies of the Great Cycle of Life and there are energies that are of the minds of men and, in the case of a ‘strong’ man these sources can hardly be distinguished from one another. This is compounded by the fact that even the spiritual energies that emerge from the Plan of God are manipulated by men in the world who are focused on their own selves and their own interests in Life. The ‘strong’ man should be seen as the man who comes into incarnation with some degree of spiritual collateral but who CAN NOT take his focus off of the self and the self in the world and here we can see the difference between the saint and the sinner if we can use these erroneous terms. In both cases here we have a man coming into incarnation with the ability to create forms meet for his use; a mental apparatus that is fully functional and can draw upon the greater world mind, an emotional apparatus that is even, not given to bursts and is calm and clear, and a physical form in which the brain and the nervous and endocrine systems ARE able to properly handle the mental and emotional input without strain as well as an etheric ‘scaffolding’ that can properly link this ALL together; or, any combination of these factors by degree. The totality of this can be seen as the working conscious personality through which a Soul will live and express his consciousness and his Life.
As we have previously discussed, this personality is expressing the Life given by the Soul and the consciousness, that we have phrased as ‘lent’ to the personality, which IS either reclaimed by the Love and the Power of the Soul or is ‘hijacked’ by the personality in the world and this difference is based in the focus of the man who we see as that personality in the world. Here we understand that the Soul IS ever the spiritual and the divine nature of the man and the personality IS that man in the world who CAN choose to focus his attention upon the divine or CAN choose to focus his attention on the world; this choice IS complicated by the reality of the subjection of the consciousness to the vanity, to the forces of illusion and glamour, that mute the divine impulses in the prompting of the Soul. The Life and the consciousness ARE the Soul and in some strange way they ARE at the same time taken over by the Life of the man in the world as the waking consciousness in the world has lost his sense of reality through birth, infancy, childhood and adolescence where he IS nurtured only in the ways of the world. We should understand here that even the man who is nurtured in religion is nurtured for the most part in the ways of the world compounded by doctrines which are of the world, the creations of men that serve as his link to whatsoever vision of God such doctrine promotes. It IS in this time that the child grows in his ability to function in this world and this IS an important aspect of Life and it is his resultant sense of worldliness which CAN be the starting point for the process of return or the revival of the sense of the divine and, deep within the consciousness, the man KNOWS his True self. And this IS our point on illusion and glamour as those forces that keep a man focused in the world and the self as this IS what he consciously KNOWS as Truth and his attention to this ‘false’ Truth blocks out if you will the sense of the divine that is lost in this illusion and glamour through the growing years. We should understand in this rather superficial look at these realities and at why it IS so difficult for a man to return to that divine consciousness that IS his; and, at the same time we should try to at least glimpse the reality of the man who has achieved in the past and who comes into incarnation with some degree of spiritual collateral, that this IS his difficulty as well. ALL are on a level playing field so to speak in each incarnation but there is a vast range of degrees of ability that he brings into incarnation with him as based upon his successes in previous incarnations and whatsoever karmic responsibility, baggage if you will, that he also brings with him and in these ideas we should see that there IS more for the Soul to deal with than just the ability to build suitable forms although this IS likely a most important part.
So the Soul who is incarnating for the first time and who has not any degree of spiritual collateral is born, and more or less chooses to be born, in an environment where there is no need for superior mind and emotions as these would be rather wasted in the poorest and most backward parts of this planet where even the prospect for Life as we understand it is only remotely possible. Can we see that these places and environments are likely adequate starting places for the ‘new Soul’ and a good arena for beginning the necessary accumulation of as much of this spiritual collateral as one can in preparation for the next incarnation. And, can we see in our history when most ALL Life was of this nature and how ONLY a part grows ever more civilized offering better opportunity for the incarnating Souls who have somewhat achieved while still leaving place for the fledgling? We CAN NOT say with any authority how this Truly works out but a look at history and at the range of different types of people and environments in the Earth today can give us the necessary realization when combined with that Truth that we have been discussing, that “there IS no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). Here we should try to see that although there is a great disparity between the peoples of the world, that these differences ARE NOT driven by a God who Loves one segment more than another but IS rather driven by the needs of the incarnating Souls for suitable environments to grow…..that IS, suitable for them. In this we should try to see that the Soul that incarnates in the Pirahã tribe in South America today IS in need of that type of environment to grow and that his incarnation in New York City would NOT offer him the same spiritual opportunities for his growth. Conversely, a more advanced Soul, that is advanced in his ability to build and use form, would not benefit from a birth in this tribe where it is likely that the physical and gross emotional aspects of Life are expressed and that there is little thought as we understand it here today. And this idea CAN be seen in most ALL regions of the world, it is not restricted to tribes such as the Pirahã but CAN be graphically see in those places where there is little or no literacy or where the poor and the hungry are found and seemingly exploited. We should understand as well that in some strange way that this Soul incarnating into this tribe or ‘poor’ region has opportunity for True aspiration and perhaps even discipleship on some level if he can free himself from the illusion and the glamour of Life and here we should try to understand that the result is ever in the ability of the man to focus his consciousness which IS of the Soul.
A Soul then that IS able to build superior form and who CAN build a personality of some greater ability still has to experience that birth, infancy, childhood and adolescence in which he IS nurtured only in the ways of the world. It IS at this point ‘maturity’, notably a different point for most ALL men, in Life that choices ARE made and we should remember that these choices need not be permanent as the Master teaches us in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Here, in our understanding of this part of the parable, the son reaches his age of independence and chooses the ways of the world, he goes off spending ALL his attention on such things of the world as he sees as providing pleasure. Eventually he sees the reality that there IS NO satisfaction in these worldly things, in this attention to the things of the world, and he heeds the Soul’s prompting through which he gets this realization; he returns to his father’s house in Repentance, ready to live the rest of his Life there. This IS a Truth of Life in the world, no matter how deeply one goes into the world, no matter what he may do to harm himself and others, there IS always the prospect of Repentance and on this the Master tells us much by parable as well saying in the end such things as: “likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” and “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:7, 10). Here in these words we should see the very real importance of Repentance as these should serve to amplify the preaching of John the Baptist and the Master and what they tell us on Repentance.
- John tells those who gather to hear him speak “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2) and later that “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). As we recently discussed, this idea of baptism should be seen as immersion, that by the symbol of water those who so decide are immersed into that change which IS Repentance. Our point here is not the baptism which is but a symbol that is much misunderstood, but the act of Repentance that the Baptist calls men to do and which the Master calls for as well albeit from a different perspective as is shown to us throughout the gospels. John tells us that the Master does not use the symbol of water but shows us the direct action of immersion into Repentance by the action of the Soul, the Christ Within, through Life in form. We should remember that in our understanding the Holy Ghost IS the activity of the Christ Within as the result of that change of focus which IS the in its turn the result of that decision to change that we call Repentance. We should note here that the word rendered as fire IS used in many different ways by the Greek word pur and this IS True in English as well so that in both languages its definition IS found in the context in which it IS used; here we can envision fire as the bright Light of the Soul or perhaps according to the apostle’s comment at the Transfiguration, that the Master’s “face did shine as the sun” (Matthew 17:2).
- The Apostle Matthew also tells us of the Master, that after His own experience with the Baptist, “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17) and here we see no ritual and no symbol, just the admonition to Repent. The Apostle Mark tells us similar saying “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15-15). We also learn of the Master’s purpose in coming among us, that it IS, as least in part, according to His words that “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13).
- The Apostle Luke tells us that in the end the Master tells His gathered disciples “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47). Here again we have words that ARE misunderstood and in which we should see the nature of the apostles mission as to what they should do; in the word preach we should see the idea of proclaim, as did John and the Master, the Truth of Repentance, that it IS that decision to change one’s heart, one’s focus, onto the things of God and this according to ALL the teachings that Jesus had given. And that they should preach remission of sins but NOT in the doctrinal way that this is interpreted, but rather in the reality of the word, that in Repentance will come this remission which is our own release from the bondage of sin and our imprisonment in the world of illusion and glamour which IS, according to the Apostle Paul, to be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). This Greek word aphesis should be seen to mean: a dismissal, release 6, according to Vine’s which is the only place we found this word spoken of without attaching the doctrine of forgiveness which Mr. Vine does go on to explain.
- Finally, we see a most important use of this word Repent as Mark reports this in regard to the time when “he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits“; of this Mark tells us “And they went out, and preached that men should repent” (Mark 6:7, 12).
Here we should see the reality of Repentance as it is found in the Gospels and the importance that the Master puts on it and as He relates this to us in the Parable of the Prodigal Son and His other parables on this matter. Our point here should be clear then, that a Soul is born into this world and gives the use of his consciousness to the human form and its attendant personality as part of the Life that he will live for a time in this Earth. At what point the Soul begins to make actual use of the physical form IS NOT KNOWN to us and, to be sure, when we say that the Soul builds the body we do not mean the actual skin, and bone structure, but rather the nature of the body according to the ability of the Soul to use it. Here we must understand that this IS a very complex subject and we have NO simple words to clarify the reality of what happens and we should see the particular body that a Soul takes as being ‘chosen’ as part of the entirety of the intended Life experience. Choosing the body of a male in a particular type of culture with a promise of a socioeconomic environment that would be beneficial to the objectives of the Soul would be an example of our point here. In this regard we should look at the presence in the world of child prodigies and like happenings which CAN NOT be tied to genetics in any way; these are by example the type of building to which we refer and we should note here as well that the personality of a new Life in this world grows through those periods of birth, infancy, childhood and adolescence and that the factors of sex, culture, and socioeconomic environment, as well as others play a large part in defining the man at maturity. There IS much mystery here with or without the understanding that we are presenting and there IS little knowledge beyond the strictly physical.
Here then we have the man born into the world and brought to maturity where he can then choose to be focused in the world, focused in the Soul or focused in any of a great array of possible points in between and it is the ability of the Soul to build, the proclivity of the form nature that IS built, the possibility of some innate motivations of the Soul itself as based upon a particular need or mission, and the nature of and the quality of the nurturing that the child receives, that result in the presence of a mature man in the world. To these ideas we should add the possibility of prenatal problems, the effects of the unseen and perhaps unintended relationships of the child with others which can cover a vast range of possibilities from the death of parents to abduction by strangers plus any other thing imaginable. And we must also consider non-genetic illness and disease and the role of accidents or even purposeful harm and then try to see that in considering ALL of this that we have NOT considered ALL. The end result is the man in the world who has gained whatsoever independence that he can based on the above and again we MUST NOT see God in any of this as we KNOW that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). ALL is the subject of the limited free-will of the man and the effects upon him of the limited free-will of others. We have then the man who IS matured, and this does not happen overnight but is a steady realization of independence, and who, according to his own innate abilities as he has been able to bring them forward from the womb to his present day, is setting out into the world carrying only the nurturing that ALL these experiences have brought him to this point along with the resultant personality view of Life and the prompting of the Soul that wants to lead him out of the clamor of the world, out of the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, and into the Repentant nature of the man focused on the Good, the Beautiful and the True as a disciple of the Lord. We should have in today’s ideas a hint of what must be overcome.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect of God |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way
|
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.
O Thou Who givest sustenance to the universe,
From Whom all things proceed,
To Whom all things return,
Unveil to us the face of the true Spiritual Sun
Hidden by a disc of golden Light
That we may know the Truth And do our whole duty
As we journey to Thy sacred feet.
As with any ancient manuscript from a foreign land, there are many interpretations and translations of The Gayatri available. The version that appears here comes to us in every day English and without the need to have a Sanskrit reference as a key; it is constructed so that all can understand it and use it.
The Gayatri is really quite simple and straightforward in the form that we have here. It begins, as does the Lord’s Prayer, with an acknowledgement of the Majesty of God as the Giver of all Life and as our Source of all things. We ask only one thing in this prayer; that the true spiritual light of God be unveiled to us so that we may see it clearly. The Sun is the giver of light and life to our planet and all that is on it and, just as each of our forms veils the Spirit within, we ask to see and to know the Light that is behind the Sun that which we see.
In saying this we believe that by seeing the true Spiritual Light that we will be able to see and to know the Truth that is in that light. This is the Light that the Buddha and then the Christ brought to us through their lives on Earth. This is the Light that shines in our hearts from our own spiritual selves, the Christ Within.
We close by acknowledging that we have a duty to God, to our brothers and to His Plan and it is this duty that we will perform when we realize the truth as we journey back to God.
Others have said about this prayer that “The Gayatri is one of the oldest invocations, or mantrams, know to man. It carries the power of purpose, the plan of love and the light of truth. It reveals human relationships as vertical alignment with the source of all Energy and horizontal service in the right use of energy. It is a potent tool for use with the inflow of new age energies” (from The Gayatri prayer card of World Goodwill; NY, NY).
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 6 Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1996
