ON LOVE; PART DCCLXXX

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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)

In the last essay we again addressed the Master’s Truth regarding the difficulty of attaining the Kingdom of God. We discussed how that the strait gate can be seen as both the entry to the Kingdom, that state of being that IS the Presence of God in one’s Life which we ARE admonished to strive towards as well as the entry to the Path that leads to the Kingdom of God. The Master’s point, as brought out by both apostles, IS not so much to show the difficulty however as it IS to show the rarity with which men achieve either of these goals. The Apostle Luke reports this idea to us in the Master’s words saying “many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in , and shall not be able” (Luke 13:23-24) and in this we see both the rarity and the difficulty and we should understand here that the difficulty IS ONLY found in the unwillingness of the carnally focused man to change that focus or, in better terms, his unwillingness to strive toward making that change which IS Repentance as the Master teaches us. The Apostle Matthew, while taking a different approach, shows us this same idea but relates this to us in terms of finding the Path; we read Jesus’ words here as “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). The reality of both IS the same and IS iterated for us in the words of the Buddha as well as He tells us: “The world is in darkness. How few have eyes to see! How few the birds who escape the net and fly to heaven!” (Dhammapada; on The World).

This IS much like the cost of discipleship as we have previously discussed and the cost of the Presence of God in one’s Life which IS the reality of the grace of God. So much of these ideas that ARE rather clearly presented by the Master and His apostles remain unseen by many who follow the ideas of doctrines that DO NOT show the Truth of Life in the world and the stark division between that which IS carnal, of this world, and that which IS spiritual and ARE the things of God. Much effort has been made over the centuries since the Master left our presence in this Earth to meld and merge the carnal and the spiritual and this in spite of the also clear ideas presented in the New Testament. Ideas that should show us that there can be NO intermingling of one’s sense of focus for the man who Truly desires the Kingdom of God and His Presence in Life in this world. Much has been written and taught by the various Christian doctrines that veils the Truths of the Master’s words, and the rather straightforward teaching His apostles, and that serves their own purpose of prospering and living as men while believing that they have found their salvation. While these ideas ARE contrary to the words of the Master, they are justified by scriptural references to the Old Testament and in the out of context and misapplied ideas of the apostles. We should understand here that for the many this IS the way around the difficulty that we speak of above, the difficulty of leaving behind what one KNOWS in search for the Truths that ARE promised, and we should understand as well that this IS the reality of the plight of men in this world who ARE “made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20). It IS this illusion and glamour that clouds the vision of the Truth that emanates from the Soul, the True man who IS the Life and the consciousness of the man in form in this world; it IS this True man who must overcome the nurturing and the experience and welcome in the prompting to the Truths that the Master teaches.

The reality of salvation, the Truth of that deliverance “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” and the reality of “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:21, 23), IS the purview of each individual Soul as he traverses his own Lifetime in this world. And it is here that we find the difficulty and the rarity of leaving ALL behind in the True search for the Kingdom of God; it IS here that we find that men ARE “of this world“. And we should not be misled by this idea; we should see that in the Master’s words saying “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23), the reality IS found in the realization of the man that Jesus addresses. In this IS our own idea of focus; the man whose focus IS carnal IS “of this world” while the man whose focus IS upon the things of God IS “not of this world” and we should see this in the Master’s prayer to the Father near the end as He affirms that “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world“. While the reality of ALL of this IS couched in parabolic language, the Truth can be discerned through Jesus many other words; in this same prayer we find the Master combining ALL men with the Eleven saying: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us“. In the reality of His words and in the Truth of the individual grace that comes to the man who Repents, the man who changes the focus of his Life, we should see the reality presented by the Master as He says “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17: 16, 20-21, 14). Here we should understand that while the word IS given to ALL men, it IS only the man who receives that word that can benefit from it, the man whose realization of Truth IS based in and upon that word as it emanates from his own Soul, his own Christ Within. In this idea of being “of this world” we should also see the further delineation between the carnal and the spiritual and understand a greater idea of one’s focus as IS the attention given and which IS the “treasure of the heart” of which Jesus says: “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 12:35, 6:21).

It IS in the journey of the Soul, the True man in time and space through a Life in this world, that we should see the idea of Repentance as the turning point that brings the man in form onto the Path to the Kingdom of God and away from the nurturing and the experience, and we should understand that it IS in this that the difficulty is seen and understood by the traveler. It IS here that the decision must be made and it IS in this reality that the Master shows us that “few there be that find it“; not because the Kingdom IS hidden from view but because it IS obnubilated by the same carnal Life that must be left behind. In this we should understand that there IS yet the choice for the man who has glimpsed the Truth, the choice to follow the vision, and in this we should understand the Master’s words according to Luke saying “many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able“. It IS this inability that IS found in the unwillingness of the carnally focused man to change that focus. In many ways one’s doctrinal focus becomes a part of this unwillingness as one comes to believe that there IS NO need to change as the Master teaches and to Love as the Great Commandments at the top of our essay show us. The doctrinal view, while it may make one feel better and believe that he IS saved, DOES NOT hold to the reality of the Master’s teaching that we keep His words except insofar as the individual doctrines may define this; Jesus DOES however show us that His Presence, the Presence of God in one’s Life, DOES have that cost which He defines for us saying:

“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” (John 14:21-24).

This IS the reality of the Presence of God and while the ideas of manifesting and abiding may not resonate as such in the minds of men, this IS the basic reality of His words here. And, as we have been saying, this Presence IS His grace and this Presence IS His Love and ALL of this comes to a man as revelations and realizations of divinity. The grace of God IS NOT found in worldly things nor IS it found in worldly pursuits and it IS in this light that the many ideas regarding the dichotomy of the carnal and the spiritual ARE given to us by the Master and His apostles…..spiritual things come from God while carnal things ARE “of this world“. It IS in this idea that we find the deeper meaning of the ideas above regarding being “of this world“; it IS the man who seeks and finds his “treasures upon earth” it IS the man whose focus IS upon the things “of this world“, who IS “of this world“. Conversely, the man who seeks his “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19, 20) IS the man whose focus IS upon the things of God which ARE NOT the things “of this world” and which ARE NOT things at ALL: the “treasures in heaven” ARE the Presence of God which IS the grace of God and the Love of God as revealed to and realized by the man whose focus IS on them. We should see here that it IS in this sense of focus that we strive to keep His words.

While we have referenced the story of the rich young man from the gospel in regard to the idea of riches and wealth in previous essays, we have NOT expanded upon the ideas that ARE offered. There IS much more in this exchange between the Master and the man who affirms to the Master that: “All these things have I kept from my youth up” in answer to the Master’s charge that he keep the “keep the commandments” in order to find the reality of “eternal life” which Jesus frames for us as “treasure in heaven“. It expanding upon this theme that we should find the Truth of the Master’s message and the message offered by the Apostle Paul regarding the law and the commandments as the law. In this story we can find the force behind the idea that to fulfill the commandments because they ARE commandments IS NOT enough, it IS in the giving up of ALL worldly attachments that the True realization of His Presence IS found. It IS ONLY in so DOING that one can find himself among those who can “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 strength and the Truth of the story that IS told in the synoptic gospels and which we read again from the Gospel of Mark:

“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 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. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:16-23).

While our thoughts go to the idea of riches and rich men because of the following ideas offered by the Master, there IS much more clarity that can be gained in the proper definition of the whole of the idea that we see as the Master’s intent….that these riches ARE the “treasure of the heart” which IS the focus of the man on what IS important to him. In this we should see that actual riches ARE but the outer sign of the Truth of “treasures upon earth“; the Truth that what IS “of this world” IS ALL things, ALL thoughts and ALL attitudes of worldly Life and ALL things that keep men in “the bondage of corruption“. When we can realize this Truth from the heart of the Master’s message on treasure, on God and mammon, and on the deeper ideas of “take no thought” (Matthew 6:24, 25), we can break into the Truth of the Master’s message to the rich young man, a message that shows that it IS the heart of the man that must change and in this change of focus ALL things carnal lose their power. And in this story we should see the role of Love as the rich man IS admonished to give ALL that IS of the world and to follow the Master. It IS in this idea of following Him that we should see the same force as believing on Him and of confessing Him; in this idea IS letting Him lead and, in the reality of the Gospel message, there IS NO place of following that IS of this world. It IS in the reality of following the Lord that we keep His words and it IS in this vein that Jesus tells us “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). And we should see this reality in the Master’s parabolic words about the sheep and the shepherd: If He IS the Lord and we realize Him as such, then we should follow Him and in this IS the answer to His rhetorical question that asks: “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

In these ideas regarding the world and the Truth of the Message of the Christ we should be able to see yet deeper into the Apostle John’s words that we repeat here again.

“whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come ; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (1 John 3:17-24, 4:1-6).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

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

HAPPY THANKSGIVING