ON LOVE; PART CDXCVIII
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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).
We ended the last essay with an abbreviated version of the Sermon on the Mount from the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel and the first part of the Buddha’s words that have been assembled into a chapter called The World. The latter, the Buddha’s words from the Dhammapada, are the reality of living in the world as a man in the world, subjected to the illusion and the glamour of Life as opposed to the man who can live free; the man who can live the Inner Life while yet being a man in the world. The master in these words from the Buddha is the disciple, the man who has mastered his own Life and who has moved his focus away from what He calls A bubble, a mirage and A trap for fools. As we discussed in the last essay this idea of mirage and of illusion is not to be seen as that these things are unreal, rather it is to be seen in the reality that the world and the things of the world are the distraction and false dreams 5 which so consume the minds and emotions of men that they CAN NOT see the Truth and there many that do not ever realize that a greater Truth even exists.
In the Sermon on the Mount we have the practical instruction to accomplish the breaking down of the walls of separation created by this same illusion, this same mirage; this same trap for fools. We should understand here that this idea of the fool IS NOT intended to disparage any but IS the best English word to carry forward the original Pali intent from Indian language. In contrast to the Christian idea, we can view the fool as the man who lives in sin when sin is considered in its Truer meaning which IS one’s focus upon the things of the self and the self in the world. Here the reality IS that there are but two ways which evolve into three; either a man keeps the law and the words of the Master and the Buddha or one does not. This is the fool or the man in sin and the disciple or the master; the third way IS but the difference between the two and it IS here is where the majority of humanity who recognize that there IS a greater Truth exist by degree. It IS here that one who may not steal or murder DOES fornicate or lie or live in that covetousness that is also contrary to the spiritual Way; it IS here that the man in the world chases the mirage and the false dreams instead of pursuing the Truth of his spiritual Life. We should try to see this reality here, that there ARE essentially but two choices and that this third way is but an extension of the first where by degree we find ALL men who have left the grossness of deliberate actions against his fellow man and have found some semblance of conscience; here, in this mix of men we also will find the aspirant and this also IS by degree.
In this we should get a better idea of the difficulty in overcoming as we read about in recent essays where the Apostle John tells us “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:1-5). This believing IS NOT of course that emotional or mental affirmation; this believing IS the Truth of following Him and keeping His words; this believing IS to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. These words from John and others like them have confounded the doctrinal church where some teaches that this overcoming of the world can be accomplished by the affirmation that Jesus IS the Christ and, as we have discussed in recent essays, they have discounted those more pertinent parts that tell us that it IS by the True believing, the DOING, that we WILL “love the children of God“, that we WILL “keep his commandments” and that the reality of overcoming IS NOT in the simplicity of faith but in the complexity of it which IS the same as IS the believing: that we KNOW that these things ARE True and that we DO keep His words as the Word of God. And this is likely the True idea behind the Sermon on the Mount where there are straightforward teachings from the Master that DO tell us what it IS that we should DO, how we should act and interact and how we should approach our own spiritual reality.
And these straightforward teachings are our practical instructions and we should note here that John tells us that “his commandments are not grievous“; this is of course from the perspective of the man who has at least glimpsed the Truth and has accepted it, that Truth that it IS the journey to the Kingdom of God that is of importance to the man in the world. We KNOW this journey as the Path, the psychic Path that brings us out of the mirage and into the reality, the Path that allows us to better understand His words in this very sermon that IS intended to be the straightforward teaching, the practical instruction. We said yesterday in a similar context that perhaps this IS the difficulty; that the the quest and the answer ARE the same; the very teachings that help to put us onto the Path are those that become clear to the man who IS on the Path. Can we see here that the same reality that we as aspirants see in regard to the Master’s words on treasure from this same sermon, that we DO see the reality of what this treasure IS while those who are not on this Path or this Way likely see this treasure only as the riches and the wealth and the possessions that can so cloud the mind? In this we said that the words of both the Master and the Buddha show the Way out of the malaise of the self in the world, out of the illusion and the mirage, and, at the same time, this Way is covered by those same words that will set one free.
How can a man understand the reality of the Master’s words that tell us to “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44), when he DOES NOT Truly understand the fullness of the concept of Love. Can we see the point here and can we see why this idea of Love IS the beginning and the end of the journey where at the beginning we focus on that Love for ALL men and as we come to understand this we realize that ALL men Truly means ALL men. From a human perceptive this IS difficult and this IS why these Truths must come from within the man himself, from his own Soul, from his own sense of the Christ Within. And so the words of the Sermon point the way as do the many other words of the Master and His apostles; they offer the instruction and these very words themselves hope for: that the man who hears them will ponder them and allow for the Inner Truth from the Soul to offer confirmation, testimony if you will, that this is the better way to live. These ideas are spread out across the gospels and the epistles, ideas that create that separation between the carnal Life, the Life of the flesh, and the spiritual Life, the Life of the man who keeps His words and Loves. It is unfortunate that only a few can realize this Truth against that tendency of men and their doctrines to account the Life of the flesh and of sin as to be only the grossest of sins and account the spiritual Life to those who simply believe that Jesus IS the Christ.
The Master tells us clearly that “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63) and this should be understood as it IS offered: that His words “are spirit, and they are life“; not in hearing them but in DOING them. These words are spoken to disciples or rather to those who were disciples of convenience so to speak; these ARE those who were in addition to the Twelve and who could not bear the sayings on eating His flesh and drinking His blood nor could they understand the reality of this saying above. It IS these that the Master reminds of the parabolic saying that is misunderstood yet today; He says: “Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father” and there is a great Truth in these words. The original version which is spoken moments before says that “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:65, 44) and this should be seen in the same context as our words above, that the man who hears the words can then hear the confirmation, the testimony, of the God Within and the Christ Within which ARE the same as the Master also tells us saying “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). Here in this ONENESS IS another great Truth which Vincent explains for us as: One (ε’ν); The neuter, not the masculine εις , one person. It implies unity of essence, not merely of will or of power. Men are ever drawn to the inner Light but until one can see that Light, see the Truth, it IS much the same as His words which fall on deaf ears. It is when the word that we see and hear can bring forth a response from the Christ Within and that the carnal mind of the man accept that response, that we can find the man stepping onto the Path of Life.
One of the most difficult parts of the journey for the aspirant and the disciple is the fear of giving up the worldly ways that one IS accustomed to and in this the idea of forsaking ALL is most perplexing. It is in these ideas that we will spend our words in the next several essays as we try to discover just what this idea of forsaking may mean in this modern world; how IS this accomplished. This forsaking IS of course a requirement for discipleship and not so much a requirement of the Lord but rather a very personal one as the reality of discipleship requires one’s focus upon the things of God and it IS in this idea that we find the greater Truth of the Master’s saying that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13). Here we should see that True discipleship becomes the man as he is able to overcome the duality of the aspirant, the double vision of which we read this from the writings of our Tibetan brother who, speaking of the nature of the awakening of the man in the world says that: He has tasted the joys of life in the world of illusion and has learnt their powerlessness to satisfy and hold him. He adds then some words on that state that we call the aspirant as he tells us that: 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” **.
Can we understand the twofold point here? That the first is the man who is living his life focused in the self and the self in the world; that this man is being awakened by his own dissatisfaction with Life in the illusion, that he grows weary of the mirage and that this IS the sense of the man who IS feeling the prompting of the Soul and allowing it to penetrate his mind and his emotions which heretofore were absorbed by the ‘joys of Life’ which ARE NOT Truly joys but merely momentary pleasures. This then can become that great moment of Repentance as this word is Truly meant; it IS here that a man can decide to follow the new Path according to the prompting, it is here that the man realizes the temporal nature of carnal Life and its powerlessness to satisfy and hold him….he becomes then the seeker. And the Master tells us that if we seek we will find and we KNOW that this IS NOT meant from a carnal perspective as some may believe. We read: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8) which words are a part of that practical instruction that IS the Sermon on the Mount.
Many there are that do follow this idea of asking and seeking and knocking but the reality here is missed as so many do believe that the Lord will provide carnal things and favors for the asking. Yes some may receive but the dynamics here are not that a prayer is answered as much as it is the happenstance of the situation; there IS NO consistency in this and NO predictability and, as we have discussed before, ofttimes it IS NOT the most religious or spiritually oriented man who ‘receives’. There IS much to be said here about the power of the mind and of the emotions in this dynamic of prayer and there IS much that we DO NOT understand, and the reality IS that this IS NOT God answering some individual prayer for anything but things spiritual and that these come from and through one’s own Soul. The Master offers us some reality on this idea of seeking in conjunction with the carnal ideas that He lists as food and clothing and which should be seen to represent ALL carnal needs; Jesus says: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). This too is a part of the Sermon on the Mount and this entire section of dialogue begins and ends with that greatly misunderstood Truth as the Master tells us that we should “take no thought” (Matthew 6:25). Here in the combination of these sayings and these words we can see His intent that the asking and the seeking IS NOT for the things of the world but for those spiritual realities that flow from one’s own Soul.
The Apostle James offers us some clarity on this idea of asking as well as we read that:
- “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:1-4)
- “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8).
Here in this first saying we have that reality of asking for the things of the world and James’ testimony that these things ARE NOT received. In this second idea we have the reality of Wisdom as it flows from above; first in the prompting and then in the steady stream that is interrupted only by one’s variable focus, one’s double mindedness. Here the Truth of ALL that we have been saying about this division between the things of the self and the self in the world and the things of God are made clear in James’ saying that “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God“.
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.
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.
God is love;
and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness
in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.
He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
We love him, because he first loved us.
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen,
how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
And this commandment have we from him,
That he who loveth God love his brother also
1 John 4:16-21
Today’s Quote of the Day from the First Epistle of John is his reflection on God and on Love. John tells us that God is Love and, as we have discussed, Love is certainly as aspect and an attribute of the Godhead and one which is supremely represented by the Christ. John tells us further that without Love there is no relationship with God and likens the Truth of dwelling in Love to being in His Kingdom and in His Presence. He draws for us the idea of Love for ones fellowman being the prime prerequisite for Love of God for although one may say that he Loves God, it cannot be True unless he first Loves his fellowman. In John’s words the equation is certain: “he who loveth God love his brother also“. And, lest we forget that the idea of Love that the Master teaches in not the emotional attraction that we live with daily, we repeat again: LOVE is….
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’. To this we add the ever important High Ideal as taught by the Christ: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 5 The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
- ** A Treatise on White Magic or The Way of the Disciple by Alice Bailey ©1951 by Lucis trust
