Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART CCCXIII
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•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•ΑΩ•Α
Of all that the Master told us, He considered this as the Greatest of Commandments. So much of what we are to understand as aspirants or as believers is found in the precept that we must KEEP HIS WORDS:
“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 12:30-31).
We ask ourselves 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.
We add to this THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST which can serve to both give us an understanding of what it means to Love oneself and how it is that we can Love our neighbor:
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“ (Matthew 7:12).
In the last essay we continued with our thoughts on Repentance and we noted the importance that the Master places upon this decision by the man in the world to change the focus of his Life from the self and the self in the world to the Soul, the God Within and the things of God. This IS of course a radical change in one’s Life but it is a necessary one for any who are Truly intent on following the Spiritual Way as opposed to living Life in what the Apostle Paul calls for us “the bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:21). And we should understand here that Repentance IS but the decision to change, it IS NOT that change itself, and, at the same time it IS the beginning of that change. The True change IS in what the apostle calls being Transformed and we have been using this word to identify that long and slow process of True change in one’s Life that culminates with the apostle’s admonition that we ARE NO LONGER “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). As we have said in previous essays, this process continues on and the whole can be seen from our view in this phrase that we have been using; that there IS in the Life of the man who desires to advance spiritually Redemption, Transformation and Redemption leading us to Transfiguration. This IS our Path, this IS the Way of the Disciple.
We were brought back to this most important aspect of our journey by The Parable of the Prodigal Son which we were using as a first example of the importance of Redemption from the Master’s perspective and to give some strength to our view of Life in form, where as a man comes to maturity he is most likely to choose the Path that he KNOWS, the Path of the world in which he was nurtured. There IS another point in this parable that we DID NOT discuss and this is the action of the Prodigal’s elder brother who DID stay close to the Father’s house and we capitalize today so that we understand that the Father represents God and this is of course True for both brothers. On the first brother, the Prodigal, most properly understand the reality of the Repentant man returning and the JOY of the Father over this event as is highlighted in the parables which follow and which we summarized yesterday in the Master’s sayings that: “likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” and “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:7, 10). The story of the elder brother however is misunderstood by many and today we present this in a way that we had not seen in our prior discussions on this from In the Words of Jesus parts 102 and 106 where we properly relate the idea of this brother saying: The elder brother was always listening; he never left but always maintained a relationship with his Father. This relationship however was not so deep as the relationship of the repentant son to the Father but was rather more of a surface awareness. This is evident in his reaction to seeing how his brother, who became a sinner, is received by the Father when he repents. There is no selfishness nor jealousy nor condemnation in the heart of one who is fully aware and the idea here is simply that there are those who believe that they are in right standing because they never strayed from their vision of the Path. For these should come the understanding that their vision may not be true and that they may not have been fully on the Path at all; that they need to shed their self righteousness,repent as become as the younger.
Now there IS a reality in our past words but today we see this a bit differently and a bit more clearly as we relate this parable to the ways of the man who reaches maturity after being subjected to the experience of birth, infancy, childhood and adolescence in which he IS nurtured only in the ways of the world. Let us see here the more religious man who stays close to the Father as he is nurtured to do and let us see that this staying close IS governed by the doctrines that he has learned and not the reality of the word of God. Here then, although the elder brother believes that he has always done right and perhaps believes that he is righteous, his need for Repentance IS exposed by his attitude which includes pride and jealousy instead of meekness and Love. This elder brother of course DOES NOT see this truth and argues against the Father’s treatment of the Prodigal. The Master leaves this elder brother’s story open ended, He does not give us a resolution nor a moral ending and perhaps because this IS the attitude that He sees in the Pharisees and the Jewish religious rulers of the day and to whom he says after the next parable which follows immediately that “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:14-15). We should try to see here that short of discipleship this way of the Pharisee is the way of most ALL men and IS a great part of what must be overcome and our point IS that this elder brother is of this mind, that he stays a Home and attends the things of God in that way that he was taught by men of the world, his earthly father can be seen here, and that these things that he does ARE according to the ways of the world. Taking this idea to our thoughts from the last essay brings us to the perspective that most ALL men are in the same spiritual condition as one of these two brothers which IS either attending fully to the things of the world and the pleasures of Life or attending to the ways of the world from that doctrinal perspective in which they ARE taught. Both are nurtured in the ways of the world by men of the world and both react by living their lives by degree in the world and here we should remember that ALL things operate by degree and that there are likely as many different realities of this along this scale of doctrinally religious to fully worldly as there are men on this planet.
We should note here that there IS NO wrong here except where one man harms another in some way. These are, at both ends of the scale, simply the ways of the man in the world who finds himself faced with that question that most often answers itself by what happens; what should I do based upon what I KNOW? And it IS difficult to say which part is worse, on the one hand the man who takes on the pleasures of Life in excess without regard to any sense of God and who likely KNOWS his position while the man who takes on the pleasures of Life while believing that these are his gift from God may never realize his True place. Our point here is that regardless of our experience of birth, infancy, childhood and adolescence in which we ARE nurtured only in the ways of the world; regardless whether our nurturing is religious or secular to any degree, whether it is positive or negative, we ARE what we ARE at maturity and we ARE, most ALL of us, in the world and it is perhaps far worse to believe that we ARE righteous when we ARE not than to KNOW who and what we ARE. And this IS a great dilemma in the world yet today where around the world men believe that they ARE living Life according to the ways of God when in reality they are but living Life according to the ways of the world; and much of what we write in this blog as well as the way that we write it IS intended to awaken us to this reality as it IS ONLY in realizing who and what we ARE that we can take that necessary step of Repentance. Here again we are likely to offend many with our words and again we say that it IS NOT our intention to offend by ONLY to highlight what we see as the Truth of the words of the Master and His apostles which try to teach us the Way of the Christ which IS the Way of discipleship and the Way to the Kingdom of God.
We should remember her as well that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) and in this we should see that there IS NOT better or worse in the Eye of God with regard to where one spends his Life and this is a point that IS NOT understood by any religion which sees God as ONLY that Transcendent Deity and fails to see His Immanence. This saying and the others like it should be viewed in the reality that the link of every man to God is through his own Soul that it IS this Inner man that is the Lord, the Judge and the Master of his Life. It IS in this Light that we should understand that NO matter how one may view God, there should be that understanding that He is not favoring any man over another regardless of how he conducts his Life in this world. The objective and the goal of ALL men is to be FREE from the “the bondage of corruption” in this world and to be able to stand with the Master and say that “I have overcome the world” (Colossians 2:9). This IS not to say that there IS NO price to pay for one’s acts against the law as there most certainly IS and this price will be realized in the afterlife and in the karmic responsibility that one incurs, and which WILL result in a lessening of that spiritual collateral that can be brought into the next incarnation. We should try to understand that while there are degrees of offences against the law in the minds of men, that murder is seen as much more ‘evil’ than adultery and that both of these are of greater harm than stealing as pronounced in the Ten Commandments of which ALL three are a part, this may not be as so in the Eye of God. These are ALL listed together in the Master’s pronouncement of what commandments the rich young man should keep as He tells him that “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” (Matthew 19:18-19). Do we think here that Jesus is putting these in the order of importance? and, if so, why IS that part of the Greatest Commandments listed last? Similarly Paul lists these offences for us saying: “For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Romans 13:9). Should we see here that adultery is worse that killing or that honoring father or mother does not have such importance covetousness? From the perspective of God there is likely no order to these offences although in the laws of men there definitely IS but with many of the Ten Commandments not even reaching the threshold of being a wrong in a worldly sense and this is especially True of the Great Commandment of “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“.
The Apostle James paints the whole of this topic differently for us and it is likely that in his bluntness and in the way that his words are contrary to the ways of men in the world that his understanding IS NOT taken to heart. James tells us: “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:8-12). Here in James words we should see that there IS NO order of offences from a scriptural perspective which we take as the word of God and, more importantly, we should see here that in partaking in any one offence a man is partaking in ALL of them. The apostle IS NOT saying that if we do one offence that we have actually done them ALL but rather that to transgress in one IS as transgressing in them ALL thus showing us that it matters not so much what one does, it matters only that he does. This is a bitter pill to swallow for the man in the world who sees these offenses by degree and who CAN NOT see the apostle’s point that ‘sin’ IS ‘sin’ regardless of what it IS and, in our words we should see that ALL of these offences will occur only by the man whose focus IS on the self and the self in the world.
As we close here today we should reflect upon the words of Paul who tells us that “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The apostle DOES NOT tell us about this sin or that sin but plainly ANY sin and here we should again see our own perspective on this, that sin is not the offence but rather the focus and it IS in this Light that we should read Paul’s words that “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). It IS here in this Love as the Master teaches us, and as we have at the top of our essay now for many days, that we can find the Truth and the reality, that it IS in this Love that ALL sin, ALL worldly focus on the self and the self in the world, IS resolved. It is in this Love that our focus changes and it IS this Love that must be the among the first realizations of the man who desires any kind of spiritual advancement in this Life time. And we should see in these ideas the Truth of Repentance, that one does not Repent for a specific offence but rather he Repents for ALL offences that he may have ever committed as he changes his focus from the things of the world to the things of God as it IS in this change that we begin that next phase of Transformation.
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.
O Thou Who givest sustenance to the universe,
From Whom all things proceed,
To Whom all things return,
Unveil to us the face of the true Spiritual Sun
Hidden by a disc of golden Light
That we may know the Truth And do our whole duty
As we journey to Thy sacred feet.
As with any ancient manuscript from a foreign land, there are many interpretations and translations of The Gayatri available. The version that appears here comes to us in every day English and without the need to have a Sanskrit reference as a key; it is constructed so that all can understand it and use it.
The Gayatri is really quite simple and straightforward in the form that we have here. It begins, as does the Lord’s Prayer, with an acknowledgement of the Majesty of God as the Giver of all Life and as our Source of all things. We ask only one thing in this prayer; that the true spiritual light of God be unveiled to us so that we may see it clearly. The Sun is the giver of light and life to our planet and all that is on it and, just as each of our forms veils the Spirit within, we ask to see and to know the Light that is behind the Sun that which we see.
In saying this we believe that by seeing the true Spiritual Light that we will be able to see and to know the Truth that is in that light. This is the Light that the Buddha and then the Christ brought to us through their lives on Earth. This is the Light that shines in our hearts from our own spiritual selves, the Christ Within.
We close by acknowledging that we have a duty to God, to our brothers and to His Plan and it is this duty that we will perform when we realize the truth as we journey back to God.
Others have said about this prayer that “The Gayatri is one of the oldest invocations, or mantrams, know to man. It carries the power of purpose, the plan of love and the light of truth. It reveals human relationships as vertical alignment with the source of all Energy and horizontal service in the right use of energy. It is a potent tool for use with the inflow of new age energies” (from The Gayatri prayer card of World Goodwill; NY, NY).
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 6 Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1996
