Monthly Archives: July 2013

ON LOVE; PART CCCXXII

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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

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)

Our look at the mantram above in the last post turned into an essay on serving and this because there IS much importance in rightly understanding this concept, especially as it IS framed for us by the Master in that saying that we discussed in some detail: “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John 12:26). We should understand here that serving the Master IS serving God and we serve both by our striving to keep His words as it IS in keeping His words that we Love as the Master instructs us to in His many words which can ALL be brought together in two of the most important sentences in the entire New Testament…The Master tells us clearly that: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, which is one of the most important ideas that He has put forth for us and He calls this as one of the Two Great Commandments saying of this and the other that “There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31). In this idea of commandments we should see the idea of instruction by which one can and will become His disciple as, if we keep His words, His commandments, we are working our way toward His Kingdom and, this IS our reasonable service as the Apostle Paul tells us saying: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2), Here is this saying we should understand that to sacrifice the body is to have “crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24) and that it IS this sacrifice and this crucifixion that are the results of our Right focus on the things of God. This is keeping His word and, of course, the completion of this IS the goal and the objective of every man regardless of whether they may realize it; and the working toward this goal IS our striving which is also a part of His instructions which IS His word. And this IS our service as in striving to keep His words and in accomplishing this, our actions in the world become our expression of the Love and the Power of the Soul, the Christ Within, in this world.

The other of the two most important sentences in the entire New Testament is of course the Golden Rule which we read as: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12). Here, as we have previously said, is the Master’s teaching on 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. In these words we realize the Truth of this Love that He teaches and this from the foundation of what one desires for the self, which we can identify as the Love for oneself, one will readily offer to others which IS to extend the Love of self to ALL men. The KEY idea here IS ALL men and when we tie this to the words of the apostles who tell us clearly that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34), we can have a much greater understanding of what IS meant and of the force of ALL these words. We should understand that this idea that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) IS a part of the very Nature of God and thereby it IS the nature of the God Within as well and this IS then a great part of that Love and Power that we express as we strive and as we accomplish. The Apostle James tells us of the personal application of this through our Life in this world saying: “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors“; James also tells us of the Truth of the personal application of Love as we read it above as he tells us “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well” (James 2:8-9) and in the plainness of this idea “ye do well” we should see the deeper meanings as we read in the lexicon: beautifully, finely, excellently, well rightly, so that there shall be no room for blame, well, truly; excellently, nobly, commendably; honourably, in honour ²

In our words above we have made the natural transition as does our mantram, from service to Love, from seeking the Power to flow through those who serve, to defining that service as Love in Action in the world by the seeker who IS, in the Master’s terms, the one who strives, and then to the reality of Love itself as that GoodWill toward ALL men without any respect for any of their personal traits, habits, appearance or status in the world of men. We can try to see here that it IS in the serving of the first part of our prayer that we find the Power of God and thereby the Power of the Soul and it IS in the the second part that we become that Love which serving expresses. The prayer is dynamic and clear, we ask to be Christ like in our expression of Love, that His Love become our own character. We should remember here that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16) and we should remember as well that the Master Himself tells us of His ONENESS with the Father, with God, saying “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30) and in these two sayings we have the Truth that Christ IS Love as well and, when we see the words of our mantram here, we should see the prayer that this Nature of Christ become the nature of the man in the world; it IS already the nature of the Soul, the Christ Within. That the Love of the Christ characterize the lives IS the very nature of our journey and while this may not be the opinion of doctrine or of many in the church, it IS the basis for most ALL of His teaching and most pointedly that saying that we recently spent considerable time on: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

We noted here that to “come unto” Him IS NOT in a physical way as this audience IS already there with Him and so it IS NOT like many of the similar places throughout the gospels where this term is used; it IS NOT the “come unto” of Peter as he asks the Master to “bid me come unto thee on the water” (Matthew 14:28) and it IS NOT the “come unto” as we read in the Master’s words regarding His response to His disciples when the children were approaching saying: “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16); these ARE instances of coming in a physical manner. The “come unto” in our saying IS NOT of this type but rather it is of the type we see in Jesus saying “Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father” (John 6:65) and as we see in the coming of the Kingdom as He says “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matthew 12:28). We should note this same reality in the ideas that our prayer gives us as it says that this Love that IS God and that IS Christ become the character or the identifying characteristic of ALL who seek to be in His service. Can we see in this idea of seeking the reality of to “come unto“; that both are leaving the relative and illusory comfort of Life in this world for the promise of the rest and of the newness of character that His Love provides? In the Master’s words we should join Him, be yoked to Him, and He offers this as a beneficial state of being for the man who can so join Him, that he will find that Peace that the Master offers. In our prayer we take the different perspective of the one who has heeded these words and in this heeding has accomplished that first step toward the Truth of the Kingdom, Repentance. To “come unto” Him in the context of His saying above IS Repentance, it is the decision to change from the labor and the burdens of Life in the world to the rest, the Peace of joining oneself to Him and our prayer here takes us the next step. Having Repented and having become one who will seek to aid in His work, we pray then for the ability to express the Love and the Power of the Soul, the Christ Within, to the world and to lead a Life of Love as He teaches.

The whole point of the second verse or line here in our mantram IS Love, that this same Love that IS Christ, the manifestation of the Love of God, become our very character as we ask that this Love characterize our own Life. Here in the asking we should note that this IS more of an affirmation of what we want in our own lives than it IS a request for that Higher Power to grant any thing to us and in this affirmation we acknowledge that we ARE seeking to aid in His work. What then IS the work of the Lord, the work of the Christ and how do we serve Him in His endeavor? Let us look here at what He says in the gospels of His own work in the world:

• “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy , but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17). Here is a mysterious saying from a worldly perspective but one that has great meaning aside from the common understanding of His coming as prophesied. How does one fulfill the law as He says that He is come to do? He does this by being “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) and by living this way as an example to ALL. Our service can be seen her in our expression of as much of this fullness as possible in our own lives and then by our example as well.
• “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). To bring those focused upon the things of the world to decide to change that focus to the things of God. In His service we do this  by our own example and by our own expression of the Love and the Power of the Soul and by whatsoever we can do to teach those who may be seeking.
• “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law” (Matthew 10:34). Here we should see the inadvertent but necessary conflict that the Truth has with the ways of the world; in His day there were the Pharisees and those that followed in their teachings which, while appearing to be righteous teachings to many, were actually teachings of the world of men. The conflict here is with those who come to see the Truth set “at variance against” others, even those of one’s own house and today the same dynamics present themselves through modern day Pharisees and their followers who KNOW not the Truth. Our service here is stand in the Truth of Love and by our example, when confronted with the world and its ways and teachings, that we do not shrink back.
• “I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled” (Luke 12:49). Here we have the same as above but with the addition of the idea of fire which Vincent tells us IS to be understood as: a spiritual impulse which shall result in the divisions described in the following verses ⁴; these are the same divisions as we see above and the same service which IS to stand in the Truth of Love and teach by our example.
• “For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth” (Luke 22:27). Here is our example from the Master, that He is the server in ALL that He does and His service IS to do and to teach the Will of the Father and His example must become our own accepted rule of Life and our service as well.
• “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). He IS spiritual nourishment for ALL who will come to Him and this we are as well as we express the Love and the Power of the Soul, the Christ Within, and it IS ever this expression that IS the paramount part of our example and our service.
• “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). Here is a similar sentiment that tells us that He IS the Light and thereby we ARE the Light as well and this He tells us saying to us as disciples: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14). It IS this very Light that IS our expression and this expression IS our service.
• “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness” (John 12:46). Again, here we should see ourselves in this similar role as we become better and better at expressing that Light and the Power and the Love that flow with it as our own reasonable service to the Lord.

Can we see here how it is that we can aid in His work, how each of us can serve the Master and can we see how ALL of these ways of serving ARE characterized by Love, universal and unconditional Love for ALL.

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.

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 peace. (Dhammapada; on Wakefullness) ⁵.

This selection from the Dhammapada, the sayings of the Buddha, is from the chapter called Wakefulness. The ideas here are simple for the awakened but for the unawakened they can be very difficult. This is much like the sayings of the Christ and His apostles, especially these last ones that we discussed regarding the mysteries. Wakefulness here can be likened to our idea of focus on the Christ Within, the Soul, and the spiritual Life. Sleep is just the opposite and can be likened to focus upon the things of the world. To be awake is to see things as they Truly are and to be asleep is to see things in the illusion and the glamour of the world. Wakefulness makes a man the master of his own Life while sleep makes one the fool. Wakefulness is striving to enter at the strait gate while being asleep is to float aimlessly on the waves of the ways of the world where one may think that he is getting somewhere only to realize in the end that he has gone nowhere, accomplished nothing.

In the above we should see the idea of master as we understand the disciple in our writing, as the awakened one, the man in whom the Light of the Soul is being expressed through form, the disciple and the high aspirant and we should see the idea of the beggar as the seeker, the one who is seeking awakening.

This idea then of being awake can be seen running through the teachings of the Master and of the Buddha although the Master does not use the specific word but rather alludes to it in His teachings calling the asleep those whose “heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed” and the awakened those who “see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart” and this is a point that Jesus makes several times and it is to those who can realize their awakening that these words ARE directed: “blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear“.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ²  New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁵ The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom