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Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART LXXXIV

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live , ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 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. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:13-26).

We have been establishing the reality of the ideas of the Master regarding “take no thought“, to the Eastern way of rejecting desire, a rejection which much of the Christian Church soundly ‘rejects’ as a teaching of the Master. As we noted in an earlier essay, there is a doctrinal approach to these ideas that seeks to retain the ability of the man in form to accept that the fulfillment of his Earthly desires is a part of the Plan of God; from our perspective, nothing could be further from the Truth. We have broached this concept of desire as we were attempting to put into modern terms the these words from the Master that tell us to “take no thought” and His other words regarding discipleship that tell us plainly that: “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). In our attempt then to understand the meanings and the way of forsaking and NOT thinking about the things of the world, we came upon the many words of the Buddha on desire and it is here that we landed and it is here that we work out our first attempt at understanding the Master’s words in this modern world of things….of so many things.

In the days of the Jews of the Old Testament leading up to the days of the Master’s time with us on this Earth, Life was a much more simple affair. For the most part a man was born, lived and died among a group of people, and extended family and community, that he supported and which helped to support him. Even functionally there was a great similarity in the groups activities which were both a man’s means of employment and likely the source of his recreation as well. There was little diversity, women and children has a specific place in the scheme of things and there were special provisions in the law to govern most every activity. We must recognize here that insofar as the Jews were concerned the basis of the law was the word of God given to them by Moses as the way to live Life in the righteousness of the day with the promise of reward being a sort of multiplication of one’s possessions and favor. There were also those who were chosen to the priesthood based upon their clan and family ties. We can look at this as the Plan of God for the people in that time and in that place, culture and society and, as this was taking place over thousands of years; we cannot forget here the pre-Moses era of Noah, Abraham, and Joseph, Holy men ALL who were charged with the responsibility of bringing the ‘race’ to the steps of the law and the new dispensation that is originated with Moses. This dispensation then gives way to the more advanced teachings of the Christ where we learn that Love is the way par excellence of righteousness and where a man learns that to follow the law is good but it is not enough to do as one is instructed by God and that he must advance to that place where he does what is Right because it is Right and in this we find the reality of Love.

In this new dispensation of the Christ there is no longer a promise of Earthly reward, no longer a promise of multiplication of one’s possessions and favor; there is in its place the favor that we find in His Kingdom which is the peace and the harmony of Love as expressed by the Soul, the Christ Within, through form. Here we find the coexistent evolution of the form and of the psyche allowing the Soul to play its rightful role in the Life of man and, of course, this happens over much time and by degree with those closer to the goal achieving first and showing the way to us ALL. The form and the psyche of the superstitious and rather barbarous man of Abraham’s day gives way over the centuries to the less superstitious and less barbarous man in Moses day where we find distinctly different societies and customs as the Jews are removed from the nurturing of centuries in Egypt to a life under the law of Moses; laws that they could not understand nor follow if they had not been liberated. In this we should be able to glimpse the idea that there is parallel evolution by sub race and groups and cultures and to each there is revelation from God. Revelations that result in the variety of different religions and religious forms as brought to man by the Holy men, the avatars and Sons of God, many of whom are not recognized as such by popular culture.

These teachings are, ALL of them, rather deep and spiritual and likely parabolic in much the same way as the teachings of the Master and we can likely see the parabolic value in the Old Testament should we take the time to read it in a way that puts the historical value aside. Being as we are not close enough to other world religions, this search for parabolic value can get lost in the translations and the interpretations that one may read. This is a simple way of saying that the lack of True understanding of any particular religion results in doctrine and, much like in Christianity, there are ever several doctrinal approaches to each. For example, there is a common understanding that the Buddhist does not believe in God and there are likely sects that teach the Buddha in this way but there is reality in the True sayings of the Buddha that associates God to man as the God within, as the spiritual man. We find this same reality in the teachings of the Christ who speaks much of the inner man starting with His revelation that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). To Buddhist doctrine this results in a perceived denial of God as a reality; and, to Christian doctrine this results in the continued portrayal of God as outside of His Creation and man. A similar doctrinal interpretation is found in some Hindu sects who believe that the teaching include the transmigration of Souls back into the animal kingdom which is but an interpretation of a greater Truth,

Another example comes to us from the Old Testament laws which include New Testament realities in a rather germinal state. We say that the Old Testament laws and the promise of reward is directed at the righteous functioning of the man in the world as it dictates his relationship with others and with his God and this is clear in the writings attributed to Moses in the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Aside from the Ten Commandments that we KNOW so well are hundreds of lesser commandments and, we as we have said before, the Christ took one of these lesser ones and made it of the highest importance calling it one of the two greatest commandments. It is in these hundreds that we find the finer points of how a man should deal with his brothers and his neighbors and it is here that we will explore the reality of the simple Life in those days so that we can compare it to the complexity of today; we must add here that this complexity IS NOT world wide but, being an evolutionary effect, it varies from culture to culture and sub race to sub race and we can see this effect as a societal force by looking at the different cultures and ways of Life around the world.

Before we return to the ideas that we have been presenting regarding desire, let us build a surer foundation for our understanding of the Truth of the Old Testament and how these Truths are expanded upon and changed in meaning from their original declarations on how a man should live and act among his brothers by law to how one should do so in Love.

• We read in Leviticus that: “And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God” (Leviticus 24:35-38). Can we see here that by the pronouncement of the word of God that this is how the man in that day was to act. Can we see too the nature of one’s brother, that he may indeed be the stranger or, as we would say today, the neighbor.
• In Deuteronomy we find this which should give us additional understanding of the True message: “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible , which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19). Here is the introduction of the idea of Love with the only difference between this and the Master’s teachings being the reason for doing so; because it is commanded by the Lord verses its being commanded by the individual’s own heart.
• We speak above about the parabolic writings of the Old Testament and we can find some of this in these sayings that relate the stranger to the brother and to this one where we see the introduction of the neighbor. The Lord says through Moses that: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:17-18). This saying is of course the Old Testament reference that the Master refer’s to when He gives us the Greatest Commandments as follows.
• Bringing these ideas forward to the time of the Master we find: “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 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 22:35-40). Here the Master rescues the idea of Love for one’s neighbor out of the obscurity of Leviticus and calls it one of the two greatest commandments.
• We can also find some evidence that this idea of Love for the neighbor was already KNOWN to the Jews. In apparently the same sequence as we see above but from the Gospel of Mark we read: “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, 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. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there iso ne God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question” (Mark 12:28-34). Of special note here is the response of the scribe.
• Finally we find this same reality of and importance of the ideas from the Old Testament in the Master’s speaking to the rich young man where we read: “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast , and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me” (Matthew 19:17-21). In these sayings we have several ideas of note; first is the elevation of the idea of “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“, its being move into parity with the Ten Commandments; second we have the understanding of forsaking ALL to attain the Kingdom and its perfection and finally we have the reality of the NEW reward that is not in the things of this world.

Our point here has been to build a parallel between the realities of these days of Moses and of the Christ while at the same time noting the advancement in the thinking about them and the new and greater understanding imparted. In doing so we also find the movement from the rewards in this world to the rewards of and in the Kingdom and the underlying theme of forsaking, a theme that is not clearly pronounced in the Old Testament. We will cover some additional points in this regard in the next post as we build a foundation for our understanding of the Master’s teachings on desire.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post as we continue with our use of the Great Invocation as the Quote of the Day.

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.:

Today we post a World Prayer that is also included in the Prayers and Meditation section with some explanation of its source and its use. We are entering a time of the year which we can consider more sacred by way of the newness of Spring which should reflect in our newness of Life. This is the Festival of Easter and a time of rejoicing; not only for the Resurrection of the Lord from the Christian perspective but also for the teaching that is incorporated in the Master’s sacrifice 2000 years ago and in His continued sacrifice. We should remember His parting words: “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20)

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.