ON LOVE; PART DCXXIX
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
“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).
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
“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).
In the last essay we continued our discussion on our selection of verses from the fourth chapter of the Epistle of James and particularly on his words regarding a man’s plans and schemes for the future. As these words are addressed to the aspirant and the disciple, it IS clear that they are cautionary and that they apostle takes an ‘if the shoe fits’ approach which relies upon the focus of the reader to be able to see himself as partaking in a given carnal way or NOT; this IS the tone of much of James’ writing. In his ideas regarding such planning we find the echo of the Master’s Parable of the Rich Fool which we discussed in the last post as well as the ideas behind the words from Ecclesiastes that tell us that as we come into this world, as Souls and NOT as babes, and so we will leave; and there IS naught that we can take out. We noted some difficulty in this saying as regards the personality as we see this continuing after death and into the afterlife for some time but this is resolved in our understanding that the personality IS a part of one’s Earth Life and that the Truth of death IS that this involves more than merely shedding the physical body. This however IS NOT our issue for today and it IS as well a mystery as ARE ALL things regarding the death of the physical form.
The greater point for our discussion IS that NO thing that one can accumulate here save what can be of some spiritual use can be taken from this Earth and whatsoever IS of spiritual use IS NOT from here but IS the garnered spiritual ability of a Lifetime; what we have been calling spiritual collateral and which may well fall into a more advanced understanding of karma. This IS the apostle’s message; that in the temporal and unpredictable nature of Life in the world it IS futile to spend one’s time focused upon such things that have NO meaning in the end save for some perceived degree of pleasure and comfort which IS based in the illusion and the glamour of Life itself. In James’ same words we also see the reality of Life from the perspective of the degree of this temporal nature as he compares Life in this world to “a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away“. While this means different things to different people, for us it IS merely a comment on the Life in this world from which naught can be taken and IS added emphasis for his point. Our subject verses are again:
“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).
We touched upon the idea of the Will of God in the last essay and we noted that there are some that read that Will as that it IS separate from the doing of “this, or that” and this may be James’ True intent. In the end however we see NO difference whether one reads this as the King James renders it above or if on inserts the missing conjunction which renders this into two ideas as “If the Lord will and, we shall live, and do this, or that” as the idea of the Lord’s will is implied into both. The reality here IS that this IS NOT the Will of God that the apostle speaks of and we take this idea from his choice of words; the one used here, thelo, IS NOT used to designate the Will of God but it IS used to offer the idea of ‘whatever’ IS to happen. We found a link to this idea in the Master’s words to Nicodemus where Jesus thought is to say “The wind bloweth where it will“. In this we NO longer have the idea of the Will of God at work in the individual lives of men as this IS contrary to the reality that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). The idea of this saying, “If the Lord will“, IS NOT so much to imply that the Lord has a direct hand in whatever, but rather to imply that the man DOES NOT; John Gill points out that this saying IS used by the Apostle Paul and it IS a saying that many use yet today albeit with some thought that God DOES intervene.
Our understanding IS contrary to this idea of intervention and this reality can be seen by looking out at the world in history and yet today; how that strange and horrible things DO happen; wars and natural phenomenon which sweep up ALL who may be in their path. We should see that those who are at times ‘saved’ from calamity ARE NOT necessarily the devout nor the spiritually minded but are random figures in the haphazardness of Life in this world. It IS this that the apostle tells us in the rest of his words and the clarity IS in the idea that “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” and NOT in the mere saying “If the Lord will“. This IS an important point and one that the Master dwells upon in several of His parables and sayings which implore a man to be ready….we DO NOT KNOW the time of our demise. While James DOES NOT focus upon this idea of being ready in words, he DOES show it in those things that he IS telling the aspirant and the disciple which ARE intended to help him to stay the course.
Many the Master’s parables on this subject of being ready are thought to be eschatological in nature but the reality IS that these ARE parables and they need not imply the ideas that are most easily seen from a carnal view. The reality of ALL is that which James is showing us; that we DO NOT KNOW when Life will “vanisheth away“. The Master’s injunction IS that a man be ready as we can see in this parabolic language from Luke’s Gospel:
“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. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not” (Luke 12:35-40).
In the first verse IS the admonition to be ready and in the central part we should try to see the idea of being ready, that the man IS watching and ready to receive the lord who in our view IS the reality of one’s own spiritual master, the Soul. And watching IS a special word which requires awareness which we can see in the Buddha’s words on Wakefulness:
“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 Wakefulness).
If we can relate these points by the Buddha to the ideas from this Epistle of James we can see a greater depth in the meaning of both as the aspirant and the disciples stand in the Light of the Soul; they watch and they work and they are untouched by the temptations and the lusts and the desires of the self in the world. The master in these words from the Buddha IS the Soul, the Christ Within as he expresses himself through form and we should try to see the idea of the “Son of man” in much the same way as this IS NOT ONLY the Master referring to Himself. Most ALL ideas regarding this term, this combination of the Greek words anthopos and huios, ARE doctrinal in nature and ARE deemed to be the name by which Christ is KNOW in His human form. That this IS used by the Master as He refers to His own reality, the Christ expressing Life through the form of Jesus, can be compared to the idea of Son of God from the perspective that this would refer to the Soul ONLY who IS the Christ and it IS ONLY in this distinction that we can make any sense of its use. In this Light ALL who can express the reality of the Life of a Son of God, the Christ Within, can then be seen in the way that Jesus uses the phrase son of man; that this IS the Soul expressing through form. In this Light we can better understand the idea from the parable which, while still crudely phrased, can take us back from the eschatological views of doctrine so that this IS NOT ONLY seen to be the END of ALL but the demise of the individual as well.
The point here IS that both of these ideas should be considered, in the parable as well as in the ideas that James is setting forth, as in both the Life in this world will “vanisheth away“. We must remember that the language of the Master IS intentionally parabolic and that when He IS asked by Peter “speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?” (Luke 12:41), that the Master responds with another parable that IS equally unclear. The message of both however IS clearly that a man should be ready and since we DO KNOW that our Life IS “even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away“, we MUST consider the demise of the individual as a part of the Master’s words and the most likely place for us to DO this IS in our understanding of the “Son of man“.
James closes out this part of the fourth chapter by returning to the theme of being humble by way of telling us that we should NOT be proud. We should NOT misinterpret the point here as it has NOT ONLY to do with a boastful attitude toward those things that may come one’s way by a man going “into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain“. the greater point here IS in any degree of pride that IS associated with the things of the world which we should further interpret as any degree of self. Here we must see the reality by returning to James’ admonition to the aspirant and the disciple, that he should “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:7-10).
When we can see the idea of the devil as the reality that this IS the things of the world, the forces of illusion and glamour and the carnal power of vainity, we can see how that this IS ALL tied together in the most simple statement that “whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). In this IS also the reality of sin as this IS a man’s focus upon such things of the world; in these current words from James: “But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil” we should understand the point that if a man does succumb to these forces, which may happen from time to time to ALL who strive, that there should be NO such rejoicing. James closes out this segment with a most straightforward statement that brings this back to the enhanced sensibility of the man who strives and to his own self awareness saying: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin“.
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
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
