ON LOVE; PART DXIX
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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 discussed the reality of the mysteries of Life and the “things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 13:35). These things ARE still mysteries and although many may believe that they have solved them and have discovered the Truth of Life and divinity it IS more likely that they have barely scratched the surface of True revelation about these things. The testimony to this IS in the fact that there are so many variations of the ONE Truth and in the reality that the doctrines have not changed. To this we should add that when one does come who offers a new vision of even a small part of the overall Truths, they are called heretics and spoken against by those whose beliefs ARE in the mainstream. That ALL things will be revealed is a Truth and this the Master Himself tells us saying: “Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known” (Matthew 10:26). These are companion words to those that we worked with in the last post where the Master tells His disciples not to fear men from a physical perspective but from what we have seen as a psychic perspective; He tells them “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). These words are for the disciples comfort, so that they will KNOW that ALL things will be revealed to them, that they will KNOW the Truth and that they must NOT allow the Spiritual Truth to be dissuaded by the carnal pronouncements of men which can lead them astray. And perhaps the Master’s caution should be seen in the Light of the another caution that Jesus offers them much later; near the end He tells them “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24).
In this verse we should be careful to stay away from doctrinal understandings; here the Master is cautioning them to be careful with those who come among them pronouncing that they speak for God, that they hear from God and that they teach the things of God. He tells them that even if they see “great signs and wonders” that they should not believe and here He adds the idea that even Truly focused men, the disciples, can be deceived. These words are a part of a much misunderstood part of the Master’s words in Matthew’s Gospel; a part that is attributed to eschatological ideas and events by some and to the fall of Jerusalem by others and here we should remember that these ideas, as are most ALL His words, are parabolic and the the True meaning is not readily apparent. Here in the Master’s teaching to His disciples about deception and the disciples and the reader should be reminded of His earlier words saying “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits” and then again that “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:16-16, 20). We should understand the reality of these fruits as the fruits of the Spirit that the Apostle Paul offers and NOT as “great signs and wonders” that Jesus cautions against and we should note here that the world of men likely see the latter as signs of divinity over the former yet today.
And we should see these words as our comfort as well, that ALL things will be revealed. But we should understand here that this revelation IS by degree and this degree IS directly proportionate to our focus upon the things of God and we should understand that the Truth IS NOT in what another man may say or do….the Truth IS ONLY found in the Wisdom from above, in the Light of the Soul. As the words of scripture or of books and literature or even Sunday sermons heard are entertained by the consciousness of the man in the world, they are in a strange way touching the Soul as it IS the Soul that IS the consciousness of the man. Here we should try to understand that this consciousness is being held captive by the personality which is feeding it worldly ideas for the comfort and the pleasure of the form Life and that it IS ONLY the man who has begun to seek and to hear his own Inner voice who will ‘feel’ those things that are entering the ‘ear’ as touching the Soul. And it IS ONLY those whose focus is changing that will respond with a glimpse of reality based upon what one is hearing, seeing or reading. This is a cumbersome way to explain this but we can see no better way based in the words available and the general understanding of them. These things ARE NOT taught in doctrine as they ARE NOT seen by most and here perhaps we can see this idea of glimpses of reality, moments of revelation and realization at work. We should ever remember that there IS a test of these things, a test as to the veracity of what one believes IS a glimpse of reality or a revelation; and that test IS in the Apostle James’ words on the Wisdom from above, that it IS selfless, that there IS no benefit for the self in the world, and that it IS as he says: “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). And this test of Truth should be combined with Paul’s words on the fruit of the Spirit as in this combination one can KNOW the Truth: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23) and then again “the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9).
We must remember here that this IS ALL a very personal and individual thing and that no man can tell another that this or that IS the Truth….a man must find the Truth in his own psyche, in his own consciousness’ ability to reflect the Truth into the personality, into the working mind and emotions, from his Soul. And this IS our point of focus if we are Truly striving toward the strait gate that opens up into the Kingdom of god: the fruit of the Spirit and the Wisdom from above. The choice in essence IS between these ideas that are universal and expressive of that Love that the Master teaches and the self in the world and here we should be able to see the ultimate reality of forsaking. Here we should understand that if one IS so expressive of these ideals that the result IS Love and, at the same time, if one IS Truly expressing Love that these ideals are that expression. We have come a long way in our discussion regarding forsaking over the last several days and in the end the reality IS that this IS a requirement for the man who Truly seeks to advance spiritually and here we should see the reality that if a man expresses this Love that the Master teaches he will be at the same time keeping His words and this we see in the apostles’ words that tell us:
- “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14)
- “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 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. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).
- “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” (James 2:8-9).
This the the reality of Love and the mystery of it as well; if a man Truly Loves as the Master teaches he will see ALL men as his brothers and as children of the ONE God and it is in this sense that a man can DO NO thing against another. This IS NOT because the law prohibits such but because the very nature of this Love precludes it. And we should try to see here that in the ultimate reality of forsaking, that one will be carrying forward the very essence of the Golden Rule as the idea of ‘do unto others as you would have others do unto you‘ is universal and effects every part of the human experience, as does forsaking as we understand it. In the Truth of the Golden Rule a man is ever in the other man’s shoes, seeing Life as he would see it and accommodating this vision in his own thoughts, attitudes and actions. Forsaking IS the way of the disciple and it IS the goal of the aspirant and perhaps we can see here that a major part of the journey from aspirant to disciple IS in the right understanding of this idea of forsaking which IS NOT so much giving up ALL things but giving up the importance placed on any other thing but the things of God and shedding ALL things that can take away the attention of the man from his focus upon the things of God. Our most important points here IS that in this idea of forsaking there IS NOT that need to just give ALL away and become as destitute but rather to have and to use what one needs for self sufficiency and to be a part of the Life of God in the world. It is to this end that we grow, to this end that the Kingdom grows within and with every step of growth there IS a closer approach to God and a further step away from the world and those things that require forsaking.
There is a reality in the Master’s words regarding this forsaking and it IS directed at the man who would be His disciple and, as we KNOW, these are the same directions as there are for being accounted worthy of the Kingdom. In ALL the ideas that we have been reading in the course of this study on forsaking, there is the common thread offered by the Master and His apostles and that IS that this IS the ultimate ‘sacrifice’ that one must offer to be accepted for either. And, from our perspective this idea of ‘sacrifice’ fades because as one moves closer to the goal, he can more clearly see the reality of these mysteries and secrets and comes to KNOW greater the greater Truths. Regardless of how this IS worded the reality IS ever the same; the Master tells us clearly that one must forsake ALL for discipleship and for the Kingdom that we must keep His words and there IS no difference in these ideas which we should see clearly from His instructions to the rich young man. The apostles tell us that we must escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” in order to become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4); that “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13) and 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). ALL of these idea are the same; ALL say that we must give up the ways of the world, the ways of the flesh; that we must forsake our attachment and our attraction to these things if we are to be Truly free and be delivered “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). The clarity here is deafening but we do not listen easily as we find within our own hearts reasons to interpret these idea in ways that offer psychological safe harbor and the illusion of peace.
This IS human nature but it IS more; this IS the reality of that vanity to which the entirety of the race is subjected and from which each man must escape. From our perceptive any other view, any doctrinal view is but a delusion that we offer to ourselves because we are unwilling to make the necessary changes, we are unwilling to Repent. A part of this is grounded in fear, fear that we are seeing this wrongly and that the world IS right in its assessments as presented in doctrines that tell us that we will gain the Kingdom if we affirm this or that, or if we undergo some religious ritual or rite, and that we can live our lives as men so long as we do not harm others directly and that we pray and tithe. We KNOW that these ARE NOT the answers to our destiny, a destiny that we will eventually reach somewhere in the reaches of time and perhaps most ALL KNOW this as a deep seated understanding of Life and are saying, similar to the words of Paul, ‘let us eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we will live again‘. There IS of course a detriment to this attitude and that is the nature of our own existence in the afterlife where we reap the immediate fruits of our lives in the world as personalities without form nor the wherewithal to satisfy any of the desires and lusts that will continue to afflict us, as well as that likely greater sense of what opportunity we missed. And we should remember that the Master tells us to be ready at ALL times for we KNOW NOT the time of our own demise not the time when this will ALL come to an end at the close of a cycle that we DO NOT understand.
There are many reasons for a man to make that decision to Repent but as we KNOW from Life itself this IS a difficult thing to do as it IS contrary to the way of Life that we KNOW and that we see in others. In today’s societies the man who lives by Love, the man whose expression IS the fruit of the Spirit as we see above, would likely be scorned and demeaned as weak and ineffective but the reality IS that this man IS exceedingly strong; it takes far more courage to turn the other cheek than it does to fight back.
And so we strive, we make our sincere effort to Transform our lives in ways contrary to society and religion and we do so alone as individuals whose only comfort may be in the words of scripture and in the words of others that are undertaking the same rigorous journey and it is our sincere hope that our words can help others to understand that they ARE NOT alone.
We did not get back to our comments on the words of Paul to the Romans and will try to do this in the next post. We close today with these words from the Apostle Paul who we KNOW much about from the Book of Acts and from his many epistles which tell us that his was as constant fight and struggle as he Transformed himself from being a Pharisee who persecuted Christians to the fullness of discipleship whose strength of KNOWING was so great that he, like Peter before him, could heal remotely and by his own spiritual will. Paul tells us:
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
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.
We repeat here a Quote of the Day that we spent much time with over the course of our essays. In this affirmation we find the Truth of discipleship as we have been ever been expressing and here we can relate our themes of the last few days; “take no thought” for the things of the world and that we approach the Kingdom and discipleship in the nature of the little child, in humbleness, meekness, unashamed in any way and unassuming. The message that this imparts for us today IS that it IS the Soul that is at work in the world of men as it expresses to some degree the purpose, power and the will through Life in this world. These words are from a meditation offered to his students by our Tibetan brother and in which we find greater understanding of the message of the Master. This IS Truly the way of the disciple.
My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.
My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.
I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love. All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.
My will is one with the great Will of God;. that Holy Will requires that all men serve. And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 3 Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 6 Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1996
