ON LOVE; PART DCLXXVI
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “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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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.
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
The Master teaches us to Love and to Love in ALL circumstances; the Master teaches us meekness and the forgiveness of men to the N th degree; the Master teaches us mercy, which we should try to see as the expression of this Love and this forgiveness in understanding….the Master teaches us ALL things Good and Godly. And it IS sad and ironic that the same Christian world that portends to keep His words have NOT seen and DO NOT see these ideas as important in the Christian life. This IS our point from the last post regarding the Master’s rebuke of the scribes and the Pharisees and the other religious leaders of the Jews and how that this rebuke IS intended to be so to them and IS intended as a teaching and an admonition to those who would follow Him. As we said in the last post, our thoughts here ARE NOT to the individual as there ARE those who DO see and who DO understand the greater teaching on Love as it is shown in the Great Commandment and the Golden Rule as we read above; there ARE those who see clearly the Truth of the neighbor and the reality of mercy as the Master also teaches us by way of His rebuke of the Jewish leaders saying:
- “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13).
- “But if ye had known what this meaneth , I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7).
- “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done , and not to leave the other undone” (Matthew 23:23).
This IS the reality of mercy as it IS expressed by the Master and it IS in this that the Christian world should have seen that Jesus’ intent IS NOT ONLY to the past practice but to the future as well and NOT ONLY to religious leaders of the day in Judaism but to the religious leaders of the future in the new dispensation that the Master brings to the world. The reality of ALL of these sayings should be seen in regard to doctrine as the guiding principal; doctrine and tradition. The Jews teach sacrifice despite the words of the prophet that discounts the practice in the very saying that the Master IS repeating which we read as “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). These words ARE offered by the Prophet Hosea nearly 800 years before Jesus repeats them and the reality of the this idea from both the prophet and the Master IS the same: that the Truth of Love, expressed as mercy, IS of much greater spiritual value than IS the doctrines and the traditions of men. This however has not been understood by the men who devoutly began the Christian movement as we see it today….NOT the apostles but those who were left to carry on the work. These men firmly believed in the Truth of Christ but mediated that Truth in doctrines and in the rituals and the rites of the church and while we DO NOT KNOW the Truth of their motivations to so this, we DO KNOW that the Truth of Jesus teachings has been diluted and changed to suit the created doctrines of men. We can see how that the doctrines that they created had the intent of making the Truly religious Life an easier fare; perhaps NOT for themselves but for those that they sought to teach and to influence. We are reminded here of a saying from our Tibetan brother who tells us that The church today is the tomb of the Christ and the stone of theology has been rolled to the door of the sepulchre*.
The end result IS what we see today; thousands upon thousands of denominations and sects ALL teaching some different view of the Truth, the ONE Truth that the Master brought us nearly 2000 years ago. In the words of the Master above we should see that the intent was mercy and NOT doctrine and we should try to see that even the True meaning and intent of the Hebrew word has been modified so as to NOT reflect the idea of Love, nor the expression of the Love that we read of in the Great Commandment; mercy has been made to mean compassion ONLY and compassion on the poor and the downtrodden specifically. And so to our point of grace; In this world where wars and conflicts abound; in this world where there IS NO True sense of Love as the Master teaches us; where there IS no True forgiveness and no real understanding of others, where there IS NO glimpse of the True intent of the Master words on who and how to Love nor of the reality that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11): there IS NO grace as we understand this word…..there IS NO ability in the world of men to express mercy which IS the Love of God in the world of men. Again we must remember that this IS NOT in regard to the individual who can and DOES achieve his spiritual reality but the societal effects of the many.
In our sense of practical ideas, this word grace IS NOT the nebulous ‘gift’ from God that IS ofttimes associated with the doctrinal theory of predestination; this word grace IS the ability of the man in the world to express by degree the Love and the Power of the Soul, the Christ and the God Within, and it IS ONLY in this regard that we should see this as a ‘gift’ from God. The degree of one’s ability to express the Truth of God IS one’s degree of grace and this IS directly dependent upon the degree of focus of a man upon the things of God; this ‘amount’ of grace can be measured in the way that the aspirant progresses from his point of Repentance through his accomplishments on the Path to the Kingdom of God…accomplishments that are measured as his Transformation. This growing measure IS the growth of the Kingdom Within as the Master teaches us and the end result of ALL is the appearance on this Earth of the True disciple, the man who has overcome ALL things of the flesh and who can stand with the Master and say “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This IS grace; this is the greater grace that we should see in the ideas presented in the Parable of the Master and the Servant; ideas that ARE missed by most who DO NOT see the relationships that Jesus presents; we read:
“But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:7-10).
There IS a double problem presented here which affects our perception of His words and our understanding; first there IS the idea that the Truth IS hidden in the words of the parable and second IS the translation and the interpretation of words and here that word IS charis which IS rendered as thank above but which should be understood in the intended idea of grace. As we discussed recently, the translation of this Greek word charis IS to thank in most every bible translation in our library; two change this, one renders this as praise and the other, Young’s Literal Translation, offers this as “Hath he favour to that servant” which for us IS the way that this should be viewed except with the word grace rendered in place of favor. While it IS difficult to see the idea of grace in this context from a carnal perspective, this IS the meaning intended as we read in the ending notes that project this story onto the disciples. It IS in the idea of favor that we should understand the Master’s words and NOT in the idea of thanks as this word IS commonly understood and in this we should try to see the idea of reward which we discovered in the different versions of another saying from Luke’s Gospel where charis IS rendered as thank. This IS the Master’s point and His intent: if the servant IS NOT rewarded for what he DOES in the normalcy of his duties, then the disciple should expect NO reward for DOING what it IS that has become his own normal as this IS viewed from the spiritual perspective of the Soul. For his normal thoughts, attitudes and actions, the aspirant and the disciple have already been rewarded with a measure of grace, a measure of revelation and realization pursuant to his focus.
We should see the final words of this parabolic saying from the Master as His admonition that the disciple continually strive to greater and to more and this IS hidden in their own realization that “We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” as their state of DOING at every stage of the Transformation. We should see here that the striving that the Master teaches us saying “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24) IS a continual effort until the goal IS reached and that goal IS the Kingdom of God. We should be able to see and to understand that the flow of grace IS the flow of the spiritual reality that we, as aspirants and disciples, have set out to find and that it IS only in this seeking that the True sense of grace can be realized in one’s Life. We should try to see as well that it IS ONLY as many men can seek and receive this grace that there can be more grace in the world and that it IS by the efforts of those who DO see the Truth that others can be led to seek. It IS ONLY in the education of the succeeding generations in the Truth of GoodWill and Right Human Relations that the necessary changes can be wrought in the world of men and the opportunity for this change has never been greater than it IS today. This GoodWill and Right Human Relations IS the result of grace and ALL who come to see the reality of the Love that IS taught by the Master can share in the benefits of this grace. And, while we have been saying that Repentance IS the beginning of grace in the Life of a man in the world, there ARE hints and glimpses of this reality in the lives of most ALL men; hints and glimpses that come to us in the prompting of our own Souls.
It IS in this sense of grace and the resulting mercy, which IS the effective use of GoodWill and Right Human Relations, that the wars and the conflicts will end. It IS in the greater realization of the Truths as we find them in the Mantram of Unification that we have been using as our Quote of the Day, that men can come to understand the Truth of One Humanity, One World and One God.
Mantram of Unification
The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.
Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.
Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love
The theme here IS Love, and in this Love IS the understanding that the sons of men are one and I am one with them. This understanding IS revealed to us as the grace that flows forth from the Soul for those who can focus upon the Truths that are given us by the Master and by most every True world religion. It IS in this understanding of Unity, of the Unity in the diversity of colors and creeds, of religions and political philosophies, that men can cease to hate and begin to Love and in the ideas of serving and healing are the expression of GoodWill as that mercy they we must express to the world of men. It IS grace that IS the due reward for the pain of living against the grain of the carnal man in the world and it IS in focus and in the resulting grace that the Soul comes to control the outer form, and life and all events. And it IS in the ability of many to see and DO that we can bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time. It IS in the ability of many that we can change the world. It IS grace that IS the vision and the insight, the realizations and the revelations; and it IS in the spiritual view of these that we can see the Truth of tomorrow.
In inner union we should see the reality of the Soul expressing Life through his form in the world; this IS a union that brings with it the sense of Unity and of Love that can eliminate the separations that are created in the carnal minds of Men. These cleavages ARE the divisions and the separations created in the hearts of men that set asunder the Unity and the Oneness which every man should see in the Universal Truth of “love thy neighbour“. As aspirants and disciples of the Lord, these words ARE our rallying cry.
None of this should detract from the ideas that we have previously posted regarding this Mantram of Unification which we repeat here: The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.n
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 again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.
Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita
It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
* From The Reappearance of the Christ by Alice A Bailey; © 1948 by Lucis Trust
