Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART CI
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•Α
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.
We lead today with the Great Invocation as it became the subject of the last post. This was not the intended subject but our comments on its longevity as the Quote of the Day started us on the road to further elucidating the ideas that it contains and the practical application to the everyday Life of the man in form. We have ofttimes said that it is in our right understanding of the True nature of man, a Truth that we can but glimpse from our much limited perspective, that we can find the keys to the Master’s words as well as those of His apostles. It is here that we will find the Way, the Truth as the Life as it is expressed by the Master and detailed in our chart below and the whole of this endeavor begins with Love. Love IS as God IS and we KNOW from the words of the Apostle John that they are the same; John tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16) and while some doctrines may try to make this a more fanciful statement, we see it as the reality that it is a Truth and this from the Master’s profound use of the ideas of True Love as found in the True goal of brotherhood and our realization that in this physical plane existence which we have on Earth there Truly IS UNITY IN DIVERSITY and no sense of separatism whatsoever.
It is in the illusion and the glamour, the vanity of our existence on Earth, that we find the separative tendencies of the race as the reality of Life is not shown nor KNOWN and it is this that must be overcome. This separatist attitude is in so many ways a major component of what is called sin and evil and is manifest in the striving for MORE by men around the world; more for the self, as a man seeks for pleasure and gain in the things of the world. The role of illusion and glamour as forces in this creation can be seen as to give the needed momentum to the growth of cultures and societies in the world of men and, at the same time they appear to be the reality of Life in form that must be overcome in any effort to attain to that spiritual plateau that we as aspirants earnestly seek. Looking again at the story of the rich young ruler we see the dual action of illusion and glamour as the backdrop to his refusal to give up ALL and follow the Master; we read from the Apostle Mark’s Gospel:
“And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:17:27).
The illusion here is in the thoughts of the young man who believes in the importance of the riches of the world and the glamour is in protecting his own position as right and True saying in essence to the Master: ‘I don’t need you I have all these riches and stature in the world of men; this is all that I need’. And, it is these same forces of illusion and glamour that befell the many millions of men who have read or heard this story and the straightforwardness of the Master’s words. We should see here that even keeping the commandments is not sufficient to enter into the Kingdom if one does not have Love and in this story the Love is seen in giving up ALL that one has to take care of his neighbor, his brother and the stranger. We should see here that this forsaking is a key to the Kingdom as we KNOW that it is a key to being His disciple and we should see that the Master’s words on riches are sound and pointed. Yet, the world of men has for more than 2000 years devised clever doctrines to get around these words and it is in this illusion, the believing that they can have the things of the world and the things of God at the same time, and in this glamour which is everyman’s belief that he KNOWS the way is in the doctrines that he has created. And let us not here forget the vanity; not the vanity that the Apostle Paul speaks of in our much repeated saying to the Romans but the common understanding of the idea of vanity which is emulation and which is the product of the forces of illusion and glamour in the world of men.
Looking at the words of the Master regarding the rich young man we should be able to take away the ideas of Love in His words as we can in most everything that He says. When He speaks of giving ALL to the poor, this is an act of Love and when he speaks about the difficulty of a rich man to find the Kingdom, He is speaking about Love as well and this from the perspective that the rich man is concerned about his riches and what he can do with them and, while he may give out of His abundance, it is generally not enough to take his thoughts away from the world and onto God. We must understand that the climax of our journey to the Kingdom is found in our total absorption into the things of the Kingdom and the “take no thought” (Matthew 6:25, 31, 34) attitude that the Master teaches us. Here again we find the illusion that is founded in doctrine as man has and still does interpret these words so that the meaning is in regard only to worry and concern and, while the meaning may include these things, it is a more far reaching idea as is confirmed by the Master’s talk on riches and forsaking for the Kingdom.
The Love that the Master teaches is bound into most ALL of His sayings regarding the Life of man in the world; He tells us that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 19:19) and in this we should see the reality that if we would make ourselves rich that we would do the same for our neighbor….ALL of them. This is of course highly impractical and in this we can see the reality of the ideas of the Master on riches which are inclusive of having them, wanting them and trusting in them. Look also at what we call the Golden Rule for in this we have the same thoughts albeit from a different perspective and we have as well a clearer path to understanding the Love of one’s self and the way to Love a neighbor. The Master does not say that we should do to others as they do to us; He takes it yet farther to tell us that we should do to others what we would want done to us. He tells us: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). This is an ALL inclusive statement that tells us that we should even only think about others as we would want to be thought of.
We started here above on the thought of the Great Invocation and our understanding of the True nature of ourselves as men, as Souls in form, and how in this realization is a key to our deliverance from the clutches of the world. We also noted how it is Love that is the Way, par excellence, of putting us upon the right Path when we can express it through our Life in form and come ever closer to the realities in the two sayings above; the Golden Rule and the Love of one’s neighbors around the world. We came upon then a saying that has been on our front page since the beginning of this blog and this is UNITY IN DIVERSITY and it is here that we must understand that we are ALL the same in Truth; there are no rich Souls and poor Souls, there are just Souls. There are no black or brown or white Souls, there are just Souls; there are not capitalist Souls and socialist or communist Souls, there are just Souls. There are no male Souls and female Souls, no heterosexual and bisexual or homosexual Souls, there are just Souls. Stripped of the outer garb that we display in this world, stripped of the education and the personality features, stripped of ALL that the world offers to the Soul in form, we are ALL the same, we are Souls and we are ONE.
From our home page we take these words from Hindu scripture:
UNITY IN DIVERSITY
“Anyone who sees that all activities certainly in all respects are the result of material conditioning and that one as the soul is not the doer, sees perfectly. When one following that tries to see that the diversity of the living beings is resting in oneness and that it expanded to that reality, at that time one attains the Absolute of the Spirit“ Bhagavad Gîtâ 13:30-31.
The above saying from the Gita addresses the ideas that we set forth at the outset and which we have been carrying forward since the beginning of our blog; ALL is in the realization. Here we see the perfection of the man as a Soul found in the realization not only of one’s inherent nature as a Soul but in the relationship of the Soul to both God and his fellowman. The material conditioning here can be seen in the same Light as we have come to see Paul’s words saying “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20); the idea of the Soul being “not the doer” is found in the reality of Life and should be understood in our terms as the Soul remains pure and unblemished and in the Kingdom and is not the doer of things in form except from the perspective of the Soul that is expressing the Good, the Beautiful and the True through form. We should understand here that both ideas are right and True and the difference is only in perception as the Soul is never Truly in contact with this physical realm. We then come to our point which is that in the diversity of forms that appear on the Earth, a diversity that is seen in the itemization of those things that the Soul is not, there is the essential ONENESS that is found beyond the material conditioning, it is found in the Soul. Different translations of the Bhagavad-Gita vary in their presentation:
- “One who can see that all activities are performed by the body, which is created of material nature, and sees that the self does nothing, actually sees. When a sensible man ceases to see different identities due to different material bodies and he sees how beings are expanded everywhere, he attains to the Brahman conception” Bhagavad Gîtâ 13:30-31.
- “The one who sees that all actions are realized only in prakriti and that the Atman remains in calm — such one truly sees! Comprehending that multifarious existence of beings is rooted in One and originates from Him, such a person attains Brahman“. Bhagavad Gîtâ 13:29-30.
- We must here begin with that saying which should level the field for ALL Christians: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. Here the idea of who IS one’s neighbor is left undefined but the Master does not leave us with this lack of understanding as He gives us the Parable of the Good Samaritan wherein we see the reality of ALL being neighbor regardless of where one might be. In this story we can see that ANY ‘Samaritan’ can come across ANY person in need and help him as he would help himself and as he would want to be helped. We should get the idea here that it matters not who and the Master’s example is taking advantage of the reality that we find in John’s Gospel regarding the rather tenuous relationship between the Samaritan and the Jews. The parable goes thus:
- “But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed , came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:29-37).
- The Master gives us the idea of equality as the foundation for the idea of Unity which we find in His teachings on Love; Jesus tells us: “Ye have heard that it hath been said , Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, 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; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:43-48). Can we see that in these words the Love for ALL regardless of whether one is an enemy or is hated or cursed the idea of Unity and can we see the idea of understanding the reality of Life in Unity in Loving one who may persecute or use him. There are no personal criteria added here and these can be anyone and the idea is that we Love them as we Love ourselves. Then, by example, the Master adds the blind eye of the Lord, blind to who a person is or what they may have done; they receive the rain and the sun equally with ALL and here again is that same idea of Unity.
We did not intend to go this far into this but wanted to complete our look at the Great Invocation before we remove it from its place as the Quote of the Day. This will have to wait until the next post.
|
Aspect of God |
Potency |
Expressed as Fire |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Electric Fire |
Spirit or Life |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Solar Fire |
Soul or Christ Within |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Fire by Friction |
Life Within the Form |
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:
With the comments from the Prayers and Meditations page, we leave the Great Invocation
The Great Invocation
The Great Invocation is a World Prayer and an Invocation asking that the Threefold Potency of God will have a greater effect on our lives on this Earth.
Like the Lord’s Prayer, this invocation is a World Prayer which is as all that a prayer is intended to be. It is a prayer for the uplifting of the Human Family out of the mire of materialism and selfishness. The Lord’s Prayer asks nothing for the individual praying it but asks that its benefits be for US and for WE which is why it was given by the Christ as a prayer and as a model over 2000 years ago. This invocation is also attributed to the Christ who, as He promised, has never left us; He, through channels that we do not readily understand, has Himself instructed His disciples to distribute this prayer and to encourage its use as a world prayer and as an aid in preparing the world for His return.
The first three stanzas of this prayer should be understood as reflecting the effective potencies of the Trinity which is God and which, when brought down to an individual level, the Trinity which is Man. His Will, His Love and His Light we should seen as the Potent Powers of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
For more discussion on this please see our posts: In the Words of Jesus parts 128-132
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.
“The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all Humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept—the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out.“
Alice A. Bailey
