ON LOVE; PART DLV
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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).
In the last essay we completed our discussion on the second of the three chapters from the Gospel of Matthew that are called the Sermon on the Mount. This chapter ends with the Master’s words on the concept of “take no thought” and the final reality that if a man can “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), that he will have no reason nor need to focus on or to think about the things of the world. Of course the degree of faith that IS required to do this, to seek the Kingdom without regard to one’s personal Life in the world is great and there IS much illusion to overcome before one can be so focused on the Kingdom of God. This IS however the message and the reality here IS that this state of mind, this state of focusing on the things of God and ignoring the things of the self, is one that IS built over time and this IS the Truth of the Master’s additional lessons on the growth of the Kingdom Within. This message of “take no thought” IS contrary to the ways of the world and so it should be as the whole idea of spiritual Life IS contrary to the ways of the world and both the Master and His apostles tell us this in rather clear terms as we have previously discussed. We repeat some to the apostles’ words here for their effect:
- The Apostle John tells us: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:5).
- The Apostle James tells us: “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 4:4).
- The Apostle Paul tells us: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
We have repeated these words and others like them often recently as these show us the reality of the Master’s ideas from this Sermon; His words on God and mammon ARE intended to show the world as this mammon, that mammon IS the things of the world and not merely the idea of riches that doctrine makes it to be. Similarly His words on treasure, on what treasures a man seeks, ARE NOT intended to be seen only as possessions and wealth but whatsoever a man believes IS important….the things of God or the things of the world, and His words on the eye ARE intended to show that there IS a stark difference between one’s standing in the Light, the spiritual Light of Love and Truth and standing in the darkness of one’s focus upon the evil which IS the ways and the things of the world. It is these ways and things of the world that ARE contrary to the Ways and the things of God which IS the message of the apostles cited above.
These ideas are largely missed by doctrines which DO NOT see the reality of that choice between God and mammon; not that it is unclear, but that men seek to protect their own psyche from bad feelings and in so doing they dilute and change the words and the intent of these spiritual teachers and the Master. They see treasure as wealth and possessions, they see mammon as riches only, the see evil as only the grossest of offenses and they see this idea of “take no thought” as though the disciples need to KNOW NOT to worry or be anxious for which there IS NOT evidence that they ever were…they are in the presence of the Master. Most DO NOT see that the words of the Master ARE intended to make disciples of ALL men and to encourage and sustain those who have chosen this Path to the Kingdom of God. And this IS how we see these words and ideas from the Master and His apostles; as our instructions in discipleship, our encouragement, and our reminder of what IS the cost from the perspective of the man in the world.
Through these first two parts of the Sermon the Master has offered us the Beatitudes, words of Life for the aspirant and the disciple which show the reality of those things that each man must become and while some of these ARE unclear, they are nonetheless the qualities of the disciple and the goal for ALL who seek. He tells the disciple of his Truth in relation to the world of men, that they are the salt and that they are the Light and as such that they should show forth the True savor of discipleship and shine as Love and Truth for ALL to see. He speaks about the Kingdom and His word and on how it IS important to maintain oneself in the Truth and to teach ONLY that which IS the True intent of His words. The Master goes on with many words that are intended to show us the True intent of the Law, that being angry is akin to killing, that lust is akin to adultery and that peace and harmony among a man and his brothers IS required before a man can approach God. He teaches us that we should not make vows but that our word should be ever True and He tells us of the meaninglessness of the body itself as compared to the spiritual Life as He shows us that it IS better to lose the eye or the hand than to fall away from the Truth of God. The Master teaches us on marriage and divorce and in this we can see the effect of those vows and how they should be a man’s word, his unbroken word, and he teaches us on giving, that we should ever give and let go even in lending and in things taken. And He teaches us on the Truth of the unimportant nature of Life in the world and not to fall into man’s inherently carnal mental and emotional ways to protect that Life; we see this in “resist not evil” and turning the other cheek, both of which are sore difficult to actually do. He teaches us on Love, Love for ALL, and He teaches us on the equanimity of God, how that He gives to ALL and how that we should do so as well as we try to be perfect as the Father IS perfect. This IS our reality on the fifth chapter, the first part of the Sermon on the Mount.
And the sixth chapter is much of the same, instructions in discipleship for the disciple, the aspirant and ALL who seek to be counted among them. He teaches us on giving and on praying, on how these should be in secret which we can see as His additional thoughts on not falling into man’s mental and emotional ways which here are to make himself look good among others. He teaches us that this feeling good is futile and meaningless, that the Father KNOWS our giving and our praying and that this IS ALL that is necessary; in this we should understand that it IS the God Within that struggles with the carnal man and the God Within that KNOWS. He teaches us that we need not pray for anything that we need as it IS these things that ARE KNOWN and, if we follow His words, He teaches us that to pray for carnal things is a futile effort as these ARE contrary to His word and to the things of God. In this vein He teaches us how to pray, how that there IS NO self of selfish interests in the prayer that He offers; and, as either a prayer or as a model, it is a prayer intended to bring forth the Truth of the Kingdom’s presence in the Earth, in the hearts of men, and it IS a prayer of forgiveness that meets the needs of ALL. And He goes on to further highlight forgiveness as He tells us that we CAN NOT approach our God if we have not forgiven ALL and here we should see a repetition of His previous words regarding this same idea as we should heal ALL wounds with others before we approach God. He teaches us on the joy of fasting, that if one does fast it IS joy that should be his outward expression. And then He teaches us on treasure, the focus of our lives, that it can be on the things of the world or on the things of God; that we can live in the Light or in the darkness and that we must choose our way; the way of God or of mammon as to try to do, a man does neither properly. Finally He teaches us to “take no thought” regarding the things of the world but to have faith in the promise that the Lord KNOWS what things are needed and that to think on these carnal things only draws a man away from his own spiritual reality and back into the self in the world. And, He teaches us that ALL things become right if a man will “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness“.
ALL in ALL the Master teaches us the Way of the disciple and therefor the Way of the aspirant and the True seeker. ALL these things however must be seen in relation to the Truth of the Kingdom and the reality of keeping His words and it IS this theme that Jesus continues with in the final third of this Sermon where we read our first part:
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:1-5).
In our view these ideas are ALL related and the idea of judging is more seen in the demeanor of men than in their individual dealings with others, that one should NOT be judgmental and this IS of course a division of Love and of that equanimity that we ALL must learn: that we ARE ALL the same, Souls expressing Life and consciousness through form. Some may believe that this sense of being judged in the same way as one frames their judgement of others is found in that judgement at the end of one’s Life or in that day of judgment and this idea varies among denominations. The reality here IS ever self-judgment and Souls do judge their own lives and whether they meet the criteria of discipleship and the Kingdom and Souls DO understand their own karmic responsibilities; the Soul IS divine and KNOWS and, as we have discussed, the True man, the Soul, IS that anointing that the Apostle John speaks of, that unction that ALL men in the world have and which in Truth they ARE. In this the apostle tells us “the anointing which ye have received of him” of which he says that “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all thingsI (1 John 2:27, 20) and it IS this KNOWING that sees the progress of a man in the world against the objectives and the goals of the Kingdom and discipleship.
In this idea of judgment we should see the attitude of the man; if one IS judgmental then this IS seen as his attitude and in this a man will likely be treated similarly by others; perhaps others stay away or even treat harshly because of this trait and we can see this conduct by others as their own sense of judgment. The greater idea here however is that this leads us to the Master’s next words which ARE that a man sees the faults of others; without a judgmental attitude one can be free of this. However the Master appears to realize this tendency in men, that they measure themselves against others and in this IS a sense of judgement that picks out others faults in much quicker fashion that one will recognize his own. And this IS the Master’s message, for the man that CAN NOT forgo the idea of judgment and the tendency to measure others, that he look first at himself and see what is in his own closet. And we should not think like things only here but rather the idea that the Master paints for us in the encounter with the crowd seeking to stone the woman caught in adultery; here the Master’s resolution is clearly stated as “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7). Can we see the Master’s point in this and how it IS a generality and not a specific sin? So too with our current saying as the beam that we carry IS every thing that keeps us from the Kingdom while the only thing we can see in another is a specific matter.
Perhaps we can understand this human trait and the difficulty of it in the Master’s interactions with his own disciples; first in how that they quibble among themselves regard who IS greater where, while this may not be entirely in line with Jesus thoughts above, the same type of self view is present; that each sees himself as better than the others. This IS the same type of measurement of one’s brother as IS our current saying except that it is directed in a different way. In the gospels there are several instances of this sense of self erupting among the disciples:
- “Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us” (Luke 9:46-50). In these sayings there are actually two instances of this selfness; first in the “reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest” and the second in their approach to the outsider who was acting in Jesus’ name, that they saw him as ‘less’ authorized.
- “And they began to enquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth” (Luke 22:23-27). Here we have again more than just the selfness of who “should be accounted the greatest“; we also have their queries about the ‘traitor’ which leads to yet another occasion of judgment. In the idea of greatness the Master tells them here that they ALL should serve and do so in the same tone as He Himself serves while above His message, “he that is least among you all, the same shall be great“, is that ALL are the same which IS ofttimes misread.
- “And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory…And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John” (Mark 10:35-37). In this we see that these two brothers believe that they should be lifted higher than the others; they measure themselves as better which idea does not sit well with the rest as they have their own sense of measure.
We should see in these that this sense of self in relation to others is a trait that is difficult to overcome for the disciples and in our sayings from the Sermon on the spec and the beam we should see the beginning of His words that are intended to correct this problem among His disciples and to offer an important teaching to ALL that are listening. This message is not so much that we should not see others faults without seeing our own as it is that we should understand that we ARE ALL the same…Souls working through Life in this world and that those who are ahead were at one time in the place of those who are behind.
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).
