ON LOVE; PART DCXXVI
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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“The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 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 12:29-31).
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“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).
Today IS the day of the Wesak Festival, the Festival of the Buddha that we have been writing about over the last several days and which has been an annual part of our blog at the time of the Full Moon of May. There are many who celebrate this day in the Buddhist culture as Christians celebrate Easter but there are relatively few in comparison who celebrate the deeper Truths of either of these ‘holidays’. For us this day celebrates the corroboration of two Great Sons of God, Souls who have a large impact on the direction of True Religion in the world, and this even when we consider their Truths ARE NOT yet realized except in the doctrines created by men; doctrines which ARE but a shadow of the Truth that these Great Ones brought to mankind. While we may be seeing the expected outcome of their teachings in the world, one must believe that in giving them that both the Christ and the Buddha had intended a better outcome but such IS the effect of the limited free will of the race of men in the Earth.
And so every year at the May Full Moon these two Great Avatars of Love and Wisdom come together with their True followers, their True disciples if you will, and they channel a measure of spiritual energy by which the Souls of men may be energized and this in the hope that such spiritual flow will find its way into the hearts of some, and that more men will hear and heed the call of their own energized spiritual Life. As we generally do, we should see this idea of hope in the reality of expectation as there IS ever some success; this IS spiritual hope if we can use that word here at all: that the service IS performed for the sake of serving and that there IS always an outcome. While the story of Wesak that we repeat each year may or may not be True, there IS something divine happening in the reality of Their focused energy; and there IS the hope and the expectation that more will heed the call and become ardent seekers of the Light. This IS the reality of Life in this world; that men, by the Love and the Power that flows into the hearts of men from their own Souls, will come to see the great illusion and glamour in which they live and, in seeing this, they will begin to see the Truth in that Light from above.
And this IS the reality of those words from the Apostle Paul that we so often post, his words to the Romans regarding the very nature of Life in this world and how that men, the True man as the Soul, are subjected to the vanity, the illusion and the glamour of Life in this world, where they become lost in the morass of thoughts and feelings and turn to seek the pleasures of the world as they present themselves on every level of human existence. It IS then the teachings of the Great Sons of God that have come among us that become our help in finding the Truth that has been covered over by the vanity and by the illusion and compounded by the glamour of human thoughts and emotions about the self and the power of the self. But Paul tells us of the end as well as the beginning; while his words begin with the subjection of the race of men to the ways of Life in the world, they end with the deliverance of both the individual and the race under the Great and Awesome Plan of God. This end IS the expected result, this end IS the hope that IS woven into the Plan which IS served by these Great Avatars and ALL who come to see the Truth and aid them.
It IS for this end that the Buddha and the Christ come together at Wesak and it IS for this end that they came among us with their teachings of the Love and the Wisdom that IS God and that must become the nature of the Life of men in this world. And we should try to understand that in this eternal story where humanity is seemingly forsaken and then Redeemed, that there IS a purpose that we DO NOT see but which is KNOWN by those who have risen to the higher realizations of Truth, those Sons of God who have been Redeemed and who stand in service to their brothers who are still captive to the ways of Life in form. Repeating again Paul’s words on the nature of Life in this world:
“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” (Romans 8:20-21).
In these words and those that surround them we should be able to understand the reality that the apostle teaches us regarding our plight and our hope; we are here, we are captivated by the illusion and the glamour and we “shall be delivered“. And it IS the Christ’s and the Buddha’s work of Love, their service to the race of men, that we celebrate on Wesak. It IS the endless and tireless service that they and ALL KNOWERS provide that will give us this end result of deliverance which IS hastened for those who can see the Light.
As we return now to our words from the Apostle James, we should understand that these too are service; that the words of ALL the apostles ARE offered to us with the same objective in mind: that through them some will come to see the Light and that those who have seen the Light will be emboldened by the apostles’ words and be able to stay the course. This IS James’ objective as we see it: that the aspirants and the disciples to whom he writes will find comfort and encouragement in his words as they struggle through the duality of Life, and that ALL who may read his thoughts and ideas will find some basis to seek further. This IS the hope of ALL the New Testament writers and the intent of their writings. Our current sayings from James’ Epistle are:
“Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say , If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:11-17).
As we move past the apostles words that we are interpreting as the reality of being humble rather that the appearance of being about what one might say against another, we should remember that the aspirant and the disciple would already be past this type of behavior but that they may be, as were the apostles in Jesus’ day, yet in the grasp of their own worldly visions of greatness. We have explored this idea by way of the similar offense of James and his brother John regarding their own position with the Master and how that they believed that they should be entitled to a higher place than the others. In this we see the idea of judgment loudly speaking as in believing that one IS better than another one IS judging the other. And we should remember that the Master turns this back onto James and John, and onto the whole group in a similar encounter, as He tells them that their greatness IS found in the greatness of their serving. We should see that in this serving IS the idea of being a “doer of the law” as ALL that a man DOES in accord with the word of God and of the Master IS serving both by example and by the expression of the Love that IS at the heart of the law. We should remember that it IS the Apostles John and James who, along with the Apostle Peter, became the three apostles that were closest to the Master and while we may not understand this, we can see in this scene where the brothers ask for special favor that there IS NONE. We can glimpse this same human failing, if we may call it that, in the writing of the Gospel of John where he refers to himself as the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (John 20:12) several times. We DO NOT KNOW the reality of John’s feelings here but we DO sense that there ARE feelings of an emotional nature at play here and that this IS one of those Earthly attachments that the disciple must shed; we can assume that he does shed this as none of this IS apparent in John’s Epistles.
The point here IS that these disciples that we cite here have carnal issues to overcome and while they may NOT seem as issues to us, we can see from the Gospels that they ARE considered as issues by the Master and especially those things that Peter thinks and feels which are openly rebuked by the Master. Can we see the relationship between James’ own experience with thoughts and feelings and the way that he IS instructing disciples regarding the depth of the meaning of this word that IS rendered as humble? and how that it IS the way to avoid the judgmental attitude that IS inherent in believing oneself better. James tells us that there IS ONLY the law, the Will of God in action in the Earth, that the law IS the True judge and it IS against this that ALL men must see their every thought and feeling. The Apostle Paul tells us this same thing in an equally misunderstood saying regarding the thoughts, feelings and attitudes and ALL that races through the minds of men; that we must ever be: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Translation has its way of misrepresenting certain thoughts and in this saying we have this happening in the idea of imaginations which is used but twice in the New Testament and which is otherwise rendered as thought. Imaginations create the image of dreamlike thoughts but this IS NOT the intent of this Greek word logismos which the lexicon 2 defines based upon the doctrinal view of its usage and which Strong’s tells us means: thought; argument, reasoning 3. Other translations render this idea as reasonings, every arrogance, every proud obstacle, every high minded thing, and arrogant reckonings while the simpler and more direct idea could be just as ‘thoughts and proud attitudes that lift one up and which are contrary to the Truth of the teachings God’. James and Paul are cautioning against the same things; thoughts, feelings and attitudes that find their basis in pride; that we should see these things in our own lives and take them captive; that we should NOT allow anything that IS contrary to the deeper Truth of humble to afflict us.
We should be able to see in these ideas how that doctrine will allow for a man’s thoughts, feelings and attitudes to be a part of his spiritual Life and likely because to deny these IS Truly a burden; it IS in this light that these are colored as imaginations and ideas and thoughts that are intentionally against God. They DO NOT see the ideas encapsulated in the gospel stories of James and John, of Peter and of the times when ALL of the apostles debated their own greatness; how that this IS pride and that this IS judgment. And were it NOT for James’ words and the recollection of Paul’s words cited above, we may have continued to miss these ideas as well. We may understand pride from a carnal perspective and as it IS defined by men but we DID NOT see clearly the way that this plays out in the personalities of men who ARE living spiritually and who ARE striving as aspirants and disciples of the Lord.
And this can bring us back as well to one of our most used ideas from James’ Epistle, the realty of what IS that Wisdom from above. In this we can measure what we believe IS from God and from our own Souls and with this we should measure our own thoughts and attitudes as we have previously said and repeat today with yet more intent. In the end it IS every thought, every feeling, every attitude; it IS everything that crosses our field of awareness, that must be measured against the properties of what IS Wisdom from above and this IS the intent of the apostles words. James tells us that “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17) and it IS in the Truer meanings of these words that we will find the reality of being humble and the failings of judgment and pride as we have been discussing; and we should see Paul’s words in the same light: that any thoughts, feelings and attitudes that are contrary to the words of the Master are contrary to these ideas of Wisdom as well.
We are psychic beings, the form IS but our way of existing as psychic beings on this Earth and in this view it IS only right that ALL of that we do be seen from the psychic perspective. It IS this that the Master tells us in the Sermon on the Mount where we read that thinking after a woman IS as much adultery as IS the act; that anger, as a precursor to violent actions, should be seen in the same light as IS killing and how that there IS naught that we may possess that we can Truly possess and therefore should give and lend ALL to ALL and even accept meekly the wrongs of others. This IS the way of the disciple and this IS what must be seen in the progression of the aspirant to the disciple and in his continued Transformation. And this IS how James continues as the transition in thought to the next verses IS NOT a change of subject but IS only a change of perspective that takes us to the reality of one’s Life in this world.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
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.
As we approach the Wesak Festival at the Full Moon of May, it seems appropriate that we post the Great Invocation as our Quote of the Day. Wesak IS the Festival of the Buddha and it IS said that on this day the Buddha returns to us and stands with the Christ to help to focus the attention of men of GoodWill on the Truth of the Plan of God, the Plan that can come to fruition in the expression of the Light and Love and Power in the world of men.
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
This prayer is a part of our Prayers and Meditations section and there is much information about it there and in our discussion of it in the Quote of the Day section of In the Words of Jesus parts 128-132
The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all Humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept—the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out.
Like the Lord’s Prayer, this invocation is a World Prayer which is as all that a prayer is intended to be. It is a prayer for the uplifting of the Human Family out of the mire of materialism and selfishness. The Lord’s Prayer asks nothing for the individual praying it but asks that its benefits be for US and for WE which is why it was given by the Christ as a prayer and as a model over 2000 years ago. This invocation is also attributed to the Christ who, as He promised, has never left us; He, through channels that we do not readily understand, has Himself instructed His disciples to distribute this prayer and to encourage its use as a world prayer and as an aid in preparing the world for His return.
The first three stanzas of this prayer should be understood as reflecting the effective potencies of the Trinity which is God and which, when brought down to an individual level, the Trinity which is Man. His Will, His Love and His Light we should seen as the Potent Powers of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 3 Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
