ON LOVE; PART CMXXXVI

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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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).

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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. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God

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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).

We ended the last essay with the Master’s words that tell us about the needed separation between the carnal and the spiritual and how that it IS the spiritual that must be the focus of one’s Life if a man IS to make True spiritual progress in a given Lifetime in this world. There IS no shortage of amplifying and clarifying words from His apostles regarding this dichotomy and many are ever so clear as we can see in those idea that we published in the last post. Men and their doctrines however DO NOT see the reality of their words nor the fundamental Truth in Jesus’ own words and this IS largely due to their view of Life itself….that they ARE this body and its attendant personality. In the most common belief, that it IS who we ARE in this world that survives for eternity, there IS for most the more comfortable view of Life and to this men attach various ideas on the afterlife, on heaven and on hell and on their continued relationships with their Loved ones.

None of these ideas IS Truly supported by the scriptures and so much of scripture IS contrary to the established doctrines of men and this IS especially True in regard to the way that men see their carnal lives: that it IS in living according to the doctrinal ways of men that one IS saved. In Jesus words from the Sermon on the Mount we have a rather clear picture painted of the focus that a man must have and the choices that he must make. In Jesus pointed words that show us to “Take no thought for your life” as well as the words that precede these there IS the reality of the Way to the Kingdom of God and, when we consider that these words ARE His words and that to keep His words includes these ideas of Life, we can perhaps glimpse His Truth from yet another perspective. That men look away from the presented Truths on the “treasure of the heart” and fail to see the reality of His words on mammon, IS based upon their view of Life; a view where they CAN NOT easily see how that they ARE NOT the body and its personality in this world.

And this IS the mystery that IS hidden in His words and in the words of His apostles, the mystery of Life as a spiritual being living for a time in this world. It IS this that the Apostle Paul shows us as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). It IS only when we can see this idea of “Christ in you” as the anointing that the Apostle John shows us saying “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20), that we can begin to understand the deeper realities that ARE presented in the parabolic tone of the apostles. Here, as we previously discussed, the unction IS from the same Greek word as the anointing and this word, chrisma, IS from the same root word as is Christos which, while always rendered as Christ, also means the anointed. This idea of the anointing should show us that we ARE the spiritual man in this world and that as such WE DO KNOW the Truth.

It IS the Truth that IS hidden from the view of the man whose focus IS upon the self and the things of the world and it IS the Truth that becomes the realization of the man in the world when He will keep His words. This IS the reality of the Master’s words on keeping His words and when we can see that this Truth IS the essence of discipleship and the rest of our trifecta of spiritual reality, we can then see how that the whole of our Earthly existence IS one’s time and opportunity to free himself from the “the corruption that is in the world through lust” as the Apostle Peter shows us. It IS this freedom that IS the result of keeping His words and this freedom IS our realization of the Presence of God and the Kingdom of God which are the other aspects found in one’s keeping His words. We read our trifecta again:

• “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free“ (John 8:31-32).
• “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
• “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).

It IS these aspects of the trifecta that will show men to be “partakers of the divine nature“; that IS to have “all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue“.  And there IS NO difference between this idea from Peter and that which John shows us regarding the unction which he further explains saying: “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27). ALL of these ideas from the apostles ARE the same in essence and ALL cover the reality of the mystery that remains a mystery until one Truly seeks after the Truth. We read our selection of Peter’s words again saying:

“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:1-4)

We should try to see how that Peter shows us the result of keeping His word in discipleship, as men come to realize their “like precious faith“, and how that by the “the knowledge of God” they become KNOWERS, that IS they come to “know the truth” which “shall make you free“. We should try to see as well how that John shows us the result of keeping His words in the Presence of God, in the realization of the anointing, the unction, which has the same result as in this realization “ye know all things“. In the end these ideas are synonymous, there IS no difference except in the presentation of the idea by the apostles. We should try to understand that it IS Jesus who tells us that we must keep His words to accomplish this spiritual goal, this realization of Truth, and that in the apostles’ writings the “precious promises” ARE make KNOWN to the man who DOES SO….those who ARE “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).

Peter continues in his dialogue which IS addressed to those who ARE striving toward the Truth and who have some measure of that “like precious faith“; he offers a caution to this man who has seen some measure of Truth, a caution to continue in this measure of “like precious faith“. The apostle’s caution is straightforward and specific and while we DO NOT KNOW the real intent of his words, there IS much sense to them even in our own terms. He says: “if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:2-22).

While doctrines may paint this in terms of good and evil, the reality is found in the idea that they ARE “again entangled therein, and overcome“; that IS they go from that “like precious faith” back to the ways of the world and of the self in the world….back to the ways of mammon. And the caution IS NOT that they ARE lost to the Truth but that the way back to “the way of righteousness” will be evermore difficult because the man has seen it better for himself “to turn from the holy commandment“. We could say here that this man was NOT fully in accord with His words else he could NOT digress; and we could say that this man’s personality, his mind and his emotions, were NOT under the control of the indwelling Spirit, the anointing by which one can “know all things“; both would likely be True. Peter DOES feel strongly about this and about the effect of the man who DOES digress on the others who DO NOT and it IS in this tone that he offers his instruction on the Way; we read:

“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barrenc nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off , and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-11).

Before we discuss these next words from the apostle we should reprise the words of our Tibetan brother who shows us these ideas on the Life of the aspirant and the disciple and we should add here that the state of flux that he mentions continues for men until that time when a man Truly has “like precious faith” with the apostle. We read:

“For what is a disciple?  He is one who seeks to learn a new rhythm, to enter a new field of experience, and to follow the steps of that advanced humanity who have trodden ahead of him the path, leading from darkness to light, from the unreal to the real.  He has tasted the joys of life in the world of illusion and has learnt their powerlessness to satisfy and hold him.  Now he is in a state of transition between the new and the old states of being.  He is vibrating between the condition of soul awareness and form awareness.  He is “seeing double” **.

In the early parts of this journey it IS certainly easy to falter and to fall back and this falling back IS like we see in the Apostle Peter; NOT in the way that he questions Jesus decisions but rather in the way that he DID deny the Master and the way that he failed to see the Truth of the resurrection. From the high place of the disciple of the Lord one’s falling need NOT be far and it only takes a glimmer of form awareness, a glimmer of that sense of the self in the world and his desires, to distract one from his progress upon the path. Peter’s caution IS against the distraction rather than the glimmer as the glimmer of the former self WILL most certainly come upon a man and, if we can see the apostle’s words as a stark warning for ALL men who Truly seek God, then we will better understand the point that he makes. We must however see the reality of the words and NOT the common understanding of such terms as sin and evil and false prophets and, of course the Truth behind the corruption from which the disciple IS freed.

In Peter’s words above we should see the reality of righteousness and its importance IS found in Peter’s closing lines saying “he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off ” and the Truth of his words saying “if ye do these things, ye shall never fall“.

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.

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 these 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.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

• ** A Treatise on White Magic or The Way of the Disciple by Alice Bailey ©1951 by Lucis trust