ON LOVE; PART DCLXXXV
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).
While we have spent considerable time in the ideas behind the Masters parabolic words that open the fourteenth chapter and have concentrated the last two essays on the mistaken doctrinal views that have been developed regarding Jesus’ most parabolic saying that “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me“; we have barely touched the deep Truths that ARE hidden away in these words. Our objective in the first few verses has been to show how that the parabolic value of Jesus sayings IS clouded by the doctrinal view which sees His words literally and according to preconceived ideas that ARE based in the older Jewish doctrines and traditions along with other views of Life from those times. The literal view of the beginning part IS built in the ideas that the man IS the physical and psychic presence in this world and that the Kingdom of God, heaven or the “Father’s house” if you will, IS a physical or pseudo physical place which remains as an unknown realm of indeterminate location that IS attainable in some doctrinal way of faith and believing. While some DO see heaven more as a state of being, of eternal bliss, their view of how to get there IS also diluted by misinterpretations of the words of Paul which ARE quite contrary to the Truth of the Master’s specific words on attaining the Kingdom of God. The doctrinal views of heaven ARE many and they are diverse and few if any see this as the reality that the Master teaches us… that “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).
It IS in the doctrinal beliefs that the translations of the Greek words themselves are done and this further complicates these ideas for many seekers who may not realize the doctrinal bent of the translators nor understand that many of these translations were ordained by the denominations and reflect their values. We are not so constrained and we have found that a good part of our own mission IS to break down these doctrinal presentations, many of which date back to antiquity, and seek out the Truth based in Jesus words and from a view that the whole of His message IS Love and that the reward of keeping His words IS the Truth of discipleship. We add to this a modicum of common sense and what we believe IS that Light from our own Souls, that anointing that the Apostle John tells us of, in which we find the essence of the Wisdom from above. And our view of Life, of death, of God and of the Kingdom of God are very different from the doctrinal pronouncements; they are more aligned with the more esoteric ideas on Life. It has ever been our objective to take these esoteric ideas that we believe come in the Light of the Soul and to measure these against the words of the Master and of His apostles and in most every topic that we have touched we have been able to find the deeper Truths. In the last few posts we have discussed again the phenomenon that seems to be an affliction concerning Jesus words and the words of the apostles; this affliction is the tendency to see the most parabolic ideas as though they are intended to be literal, and the opposing tendency to see the most straightforward ideas as though they should mean something else. Our sayings below, and especially the saying that has such unintended meaning to the doctrinal church, ARE an example of this phenomenon where the parabolic Truths are lost in a literal interpretation of His words:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake” (John 14:1-11).
The first part here, the first several verses, are translated and interpreted based in the beliefs about the nature of man and the doctrinal views of the “Father’s house” or the Kingdom of God; in these doctrinal views there are visions of mansions for some and abodes of opulence for others and in most ALL doctrine we find this as a place where men go at death according to the precepts of the individual doctrines. In our view however this IS much different as we have been presenting over the last several posts and, as we have explained, we have spent much time on this to show forth our point that the translations themselves cause much misreading of the Truth of Jesus’ words. Our view of this ALL is that the Master speaks in regard to the Presence of God in the Life of the disciple here and now, how that the disciple should stand strong and continue in his believing of the Truths that they KNOW and have seen. Jesus goes on to assure them that this effort IS NOT in vain and that even though He IS leaving their presence, that His Presence will continue; that they can and will abide in this Presence which IS the “Father’s house“. In the idea that is rendered as “I go” we should see that He IS leading them and that they ARE following Him as both of these ideas are found in the Greek word poreuomai and that in the idea that is rendered as “prepare a place” we should find that He IS preparing them for the place, the station or the condition, of discipleship. We have discussed the irrelevance of the idea of if in the doctrinal view of the next verse and how that the idea that “I will come again, and receive you unto myself” should be seen to show His continual coming to them in the reality of His Presence, which IS the reality of the Christ Within each of them. Our explanatory words on our ideas regarding these verses IS the subject of the last several essays and for us these ideas ARE common sense that can be easily seen when the doctrinal ideas of the nature of man and the Kingdom of God are removed.
After these ideas which we are covering again because of the importance of understanding that the doctrinal views are prejudiced by age old doctrines and traditions, doctrines and traditions that the Master himself tries to teach us to break with, we come to these words that have become a foundation of sorts for most ALL Christian denominations. In these words that “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” there ARE the mistaken ideas as we have been showing over the last essays which, when viewed in the context that these words are offered in by the Master, can take on the Truth of their deeper meanings. And these ARE NOT the most important words that we have in our selection nor in the following sayings in this chapter; the more important ideas ARE in the relationships of the Master and the Father. As we ended the last essay, we should try to see the reality of His words as that they ARE NOT to say that He Himself IS the Way an the ONLY Way but rather to say that what He represents, what He teaches and what He does IS the Way. While it IS difficult for doctrine to see the idea that these words, as well as most ALL of the words in this chapter are parabolic, they ARE. They are intended spiritually and not that in the person of Jesus there is this Way and the Truth and the Life and that by some miracle of believing in Him and acknowledging Him as the Savior, that one will be saved. These ideas ARE the product of the the minds and the doctrines of men much in the same way as being “born again” is interpreted as coming in the affirmations of Christ as Savior along with some rites, rituals and prayers.
The previous words develop the idea of following Him as He leads the disciple into the Presence of God and, as Jesus tells them that they KNOW where this Presence IS and the Way to attain this, Thomas question arises. We should note here that in this idea of whither there need not be a physical place and, even in the interpretation of this place He goes as heaven, we should be able to see the idea that this IS but a state of being. It IS in response to Thomas lack of vision here that the Master says these words that He IS “the way, the truth, and the life“; that in their following Him they will find IN HIM the Way, and this Way IS Truth and this Way IS Life in the same respect that He offers us in the reality that “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25). While many may understand some depth in this saying, few understand this as it relates to Life in His Presence and in the Kingdom of God. Doctrinally these words ARE NOT understood as they are intended which IS to show that the man whose focus IS on this Life in this world will remain in its clutches while the man who “hateth” this Life in the world, in the same way that we should hate father and mother in Jesus other saying on discipleship, will realize the True Life, the spiritual Life in the Presence of God. The parabolic tone of ALL these ideas IS apparent yet sayings like the “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” are still taken in a quite literal fashion by many.
And of the end of this saying there IS much hidden as well as we should see in the context of the Master’s words; His Way IS the Way, the Way of Love, and in the Truth of His words, in keeping His words, there IS this same “life eternal“. It IS in these, in keeping His words, in living the Life of Love, that we can approach the greater Truth of God, it IS in doing these things that we “cometh unto the Father“. It IS then these ideas that lead to the Master’s greater point which IS “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him“; this IS the point that the Master is making rather than the former one of “the way, the truth, and the life“. Here we see the reality that in KNOWING the Master, as we should read in the idea of believing from the first verse, that ALL of God can be KNOWN. Again we must understand that the reference IS NOT to the physical man Jesus but to His expression of divinity….His expression of the divine nature of God; His Way, His Truth and His Life.
The reality here IS that if the disciple KNOWS the Master, if he KNOWS the reality of the Christ as the expression of the Love of God in the Life of Jesus, then the disciple KNOWS God as well and this the Apostle John confirms for us later on saying: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:8). This is the essential reality of the Master’s parabolic words as He tells them that they should understand this and that if they DO NOT, that they should understand it now; that in seeing the expression of God in the world they ARE seeing God. These ideas ARE to be KNOWN by the disciple and the Master here is addressing their lack of KNOWING these Truths which come to each in the anointing that the apostle tells us of in this same epistle but, as we can see in the text above, there ARE still questions as Phillip says to the Master “ Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us“. This IS indicative of the depth of His words and the spiritual awareness that they each need to understand what this ALL means. This question DOES NOT mean that none of the Eleven who are left with him understand, this is just reflective of Thomas and of Phillip and offers us the most general idea of the confusion that they face. And it IS here that so many millions believe that they KNOW HIS meaning while they see only the doctrinal view and interpret it in a most carnal fashion.
What follows can be seen as even a bit of disbelief on the part of the Master as He replies to Phillip, and presumably ONLY to Phillip, saying “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?”. In this the Master’s idea IS the same, that Phillip has been in the Presence of God by his Presence with the Master and yet he DOES NOT KNOW that this IS so. But we should try to see here that the whole of these concepts ARE most difficult to understand and even to accept for the man who DOES NOT yet have the vision, the eyes to see these Truths. And in this there IS the greater reality of grace and of the reality of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the aspirant and the disciple of the Lord. In grace IS the realizations and the revelations of Truth and the operation of these Truths in the Life of a man IS the operation of the Holy Spirit, the activity of the God Within who KNOWS ALL things. Phillip DOES NOT see these Truths that the Master IS presenting and in this we can perhaps see that his measure of grace IS NOT as the Master anticipated that it would be. While this idea of grace IS tied to the focus of a man upon the things of God, we should try to understand that even this idea of focus has its own dynamics as this works out in the Life of the aspirant and the disciple in the world. It IS in the perfection of this sense of focus that the disciple IS complete and it IS perhaps the degree and the completeness of this sense that sets apart Peter and John and perhaps James as well….they see more and they see clearer that the rest.
Here the Master can only repeat His words; there IS naught that He can do to make Phillip or any of them understand the deeper realities of His words. Jesus says to Phillip “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” as He continues on to teach them ALL yet more about this Oneness of Father and Son….of Soul and Spirit.
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.
We repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.
Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita
It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.
