ON LOVE; PART DCXXXI
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
FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS:
“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
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.ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST:
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12)
As we have been doing as we complete a chapter or a segment on our blog, we are again changing the Quote of the Day which, while it IS not a very accurate name as they DO NOT change daily, does provide an additional part of the home page that may attract the casual surfer and encourage him to look further. It was our original intent to change these daily but with the way that we have approached this with sometimes lengthy commentary has made this rather impractical. Today we close our use of the Great Invocation which we posted for the Wesak Festival, the Festival of the Buddha, and while this IS as appropriate for the upcoming Festival of GoodWill, we will change it nonetheless as the time has come. In this invocation there are many ideas that we speak about almost daily and we should try to realize that while this IS an invocation to the Light, the Love and the Power of an invisible God, this IS at the same time an invocation of for these Powers to come forth into the hearts of men from their own Souls; it IS in this type of mass response that this Power IS to be Truly seen in the Earth. There IS NO magical formula that will directly effect the minds, the hearts and the wills of men, there is not magic wand that will make these things so; there IS only the work of men in the world to draw forth these ideas from their own Souls by their own active participation in the Plan of God.
And this active participation IS NOT religion, it IS NOT creeds nor prayers nor even meditation upon this invocation; this active participation IS that men strive, strive to keep His words and this of course begins with Love. As more and more men come to strive toward that strait gate that opens into the Kingdom of God, and this regardless of religion or custom or any factor that divides humanity, the greater the impact of the Light, the Love and the Power that will be seen in the overall nature of Life in this world. The idea of the Kingdom of God may change from religion to religion and from custom to custom and the idea of the strait gate may take on different meanings, but the reality of striving remains the same as men move forward in their quest to satisfy the precepts of their own sense of the Truth of God. This striving for ALL men IS toward the Good, the Beautiful and the True, toward the things of God; not towards the precepts of the various doctrines but toward the Truth as each man perceives it in the Light of his own Soul. And the KEY for ALL men IS focus; it IS in turning one’s attention away from the minutia of Life in this world, away from the striving for comfort and for pleasures and for a place above others; it IS turning one’s attention to the things of God as spoken by the Avatars of Love and of Wisdom through the ages.
This IS the basis for this invocation, to bring the Light, the Love and the Power of God, as it exists in the realm of the Souls of men, into the consciousness of men in the world; to make the Life of the man on Earth ever more an expression of this Light, Love and Power. It IS by degree that this is realized by the man in the world and it IS by focus that this IS brought about; it IS as men turn their attention away from the little sense of self in the world. And this IS the nature of this prayer; as one prays for the Light to stream forth into the minds of men, he IS fixing his own focus upon this idea and it IS in this similar exercise by many that the reality of this Light descending on Earth will be realized. Similarly with Love; it IS as men can see in these words their own expression of Love, Love as the Master teaches, that the reality of Christ’s return can be felt; and this IS initially by the activity of the Christ Within. How and when the historic Christ may return IS a great unknown but by the action of many men, by the expression of Love by many in the world, the Nature of Christ can surely be felt.
And the Will of God IS similar as well; this Will IS KNOWN by the Soul, it IS understood as the Plan and this Plan IS the purpose. For us this IS found in the reality of Love and in the expression by ALL men of the Light and Love of the Soul through Life in this world. We can see this in our often used words from the Apostle Paul who tells us that:
“For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in expectation that the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:20-23).
In these words IS our sense of the purpose, it IS the Will of God that ALL men “be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” which IS that each will come to express the Good, the Beautiful and the True in the world of men. It IS by the realization of this purpose by degree in the world that the Plan of Light and Love can work out; as more and more men can come to express this Light and Love, more and more men will be able to follow and to see through the illusion and the glamour, more and more will be able to overcome this vanity, and the Truth can begin to take up its rightful place in the world of men. It IS in this way that the Plan can be restored as the way of Life and overcome the carnal instincts that rule so many today. It IS in this way that this invocation works and in its use these ideas should be remembered as the words are but words without any action on the part of the man who uses them; the first change must come from within.
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.
We have discussed this invocation many times and 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. In reading any of these one should see the reality that we paint above as well, that ALL begins with ourselves and our own action as children of the ONE God. The original publishers of this invocation, which are those that publish the words of our Tibetan brother, include these ideas with it. That this IS the Tibetan’s words we do not KNOW but they are most surely based in his teachings:
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 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 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.
We must remember that the idea of the Christ is the idea of the Love of God and a Great Being who can express that Love here and now. This was expressed through the Life of Jesus by that Great Soul that we call the Christ and there are many world religions that ARE expecting the return of some Great Son of God according to their own customs. He may come to us as the Christ and to others by another name but the reality IS the same; it IS the expression of the Love that IS God that men await and which has its place within each man as his own Soul. When the time IS right there will no doubt be another appearance of a Great Son of God and while it IS unknown where, or when or how this would occur, we should understand that it IS the same ONE God whose Love will be represented. It IS by our own individual action according to the realities of the Great Invocation that can help to prepare His way and in this we should see ourselves, as aspirants and disciples, in the words of John the Baptist who said 2000 years ago “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23).
As we begin the fifth chapter of James’ Epistle we should remember that there ARE NOT these chapter breaks in the original writing and that in the absence of a specific change of subject or time as we see often in the gospels, the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next should be seen as a unbroken series of thoughts and words. In the end to the fourth chapter we have a saying that summarizes much of the fourth chapter as well as putting emphasis upon ALL of the ideas that James presents as we discussed in the last essay. At the same time we can see this last verse: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” as a lead in to these next thoughts from the apostle. James takes us from a discussion on the planning and scheming of a man regarding the things of the world to a dissuasion regarding the perils of riches which likely come about as a result of such planning and scheming. And these thoughts are connected by the idea of KNOWING to DO Good and NOT DOING so. By the nature of these next sayings one can clearly see the connection, that it IS sin to accumulate such riches; here again we must understand that this IS NOT necessarily a bad thing from a worldly evil perspective but, at the same time, it IS NOT a Good thing from a spiritual perspective. Again, speaking to aspirants and disciples James says:
“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted , and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days” (James 4:17, 5:1-3).
We should note here that the idea of “go to now” that we have above regarding the rich men IS the same opening that James uses to begin his thoughts regarding those who plan and scheme and in both of these ideas we should see the writer’s attitude of ‘if the shoe fits’ regarding the harshness of his words if it DOES and as a caution for others. The Master speaks much about riches and this includes those ideas that ARE more inclusive than money and possessions such as treasure and mammon. Here in James we should see that his intent IS more specifically against actual riches and those things that riches may buy and this IS much like some of the other ideas of the Master where He speaks in a similar way. Remembering that the apostle’s audience is the man who IS striving, the aspirant and the disciple and the True seeker, we should see his dismay that there would be some among these who think that being rich IS an acceptable thing. It is regarding the spiritual status of a man, regarding the idea of being a disciple of the Lord, that the Master tells the rich young man that “One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me” (Mark 10:21). In this we should understand that the rich man CAN NOT be a disciple and while this IS disputed by doctrines, the dispute IS ONLY because it IS the nature of men to desire riches.
And there should be no mistake here regarding riches and discipleship as the Master tells us clearly that: “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). In this we should see not only riches but ALL things that can take a man’s attention away from the things of God. In James’ words there are several ideas that are not easily understood; he seems to say that it IS riches that will bring misery but this must be understood from a spiritual perspective. Similarly the idea of the corruption of one’s riches, the cankering of gold and silver, IS NOT meant to say that something will happen to these things physically but rather that their possession IS futile, that these have NO redeeming value to the man who seeks God. In the same way that one should not honor a man with riches, that one should NOT have “respect to persons” based in their wealth or any other measure, so too should a man NOT be among these and this IS an underlying reality that IS NOT seen by many in this world of men.
And this IS a most general theme of the Master that we see in the Sermon on the Mount as well as the Master’s comments to His disciples at the departure of the rich young man where we read that: “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23-25). Yet today these words ARE NOT seen in the right light as men hold the idea of riches in higher regard than they do these words. And we must remember that this idea of being rich IS relative as one’s own view of riches is ever in comparison to those around him; it IS how that a man has fared in the world as compared to his peers. In this view one can be rich at many different levels of existence and the very scale of richness can change as one moves from culture to culture.
We should not forget here that the Master tells us that we should give and perhaps this giving IS one’s guard against becoming rich in any measure and in any society. But none of these words from the Master nor from the apostles seem to dissuade men and cause them to see the evil of riches. And again, this idea of evil must be seen in its right intention; that it is one’s focus upon the things of the world….perhaps there IS NO greater trap for men than his sense of riches.
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.
This Quote of the Day is the antithesis of glamour and illusion. In this mantram are the thoughts about ourselves and our brothers in the world that can diffuse those forces that hold a man in the world of things and prevent his spiritual progress.
Mantram of Unification
The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.
Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.
Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.
The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.
