IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1193

ON LOVE; PART DCCLXXXII

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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 took our thoughts from the encounter of the Master with the rich young man to our greater understanding of the dichotomy of the Truth that must be realized concerning one’s view of Life. On the carnal side there IS the view of Life in this world as the Life of the man; it IS here that his interests lie and this IS the focus of His Life. On the spiritual side there IS the view of the Life of the Soul, the True man, whose encounter with this Life in this Earth IS a reality of the Plan of God; for the man who has awakened to this reality, there IS a focus upon the things of God. These sides ARE, as the definition of dichotomy should suggest, two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups ⁷ or ideas, and it IS in the attempts to combine these views that we find the stumbling block for men who Truly seek God. This dichotomy or division IS taught to us by the Master and IS shown to us by His apostles but the message IS NOT seen as men turn the intent of their words to serve their own convenience. Over the course of this blog we have often spoken about the reality of the things of God as they ARE opposed to the things of the self and of the world and we have often cited the Master’s ideas that ARE presented to show us that the Truly spiritual man, the man who Truly seeks the Kingdom of God, must change his focus away from the self and onto the things of God….in this IS the reality of faith and of that KNOWING that, in the Light of the Soul, of the God and the Christ Within, ALL things are considered. It IS here in this Light that the man can see past the carnal interests of Life and peer into the greater reality of his own spiritual Life; it IS here that one can Truly understand the futility of pursuing the false realities presented by the carnal mind and emotions. And this IS the reality of the Apostle Paul’s words to the Romans; words that show us our plight as men in the world who are lost in the illusion and the glamour and our deliverance from this plight through the reality of our escape from its clutches; we read again:

“For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:20-23).

We should remember the context of these words from the apostle who first writes about the nature of audience, that they ARE disciples and that they ARE “the children of God“, a idea into which he places himself. It IS to these men, these men whose focus IS upon the things of God, that he shows that they ARE “joint-heirs with Christ” and explains to them that “if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:16, 17:18). Here we should try to see that this “ glory which shall be revealed in us” IS our expression of the Love of God as a man in this world and that this IS the expression of divinity and while doctrines are divided regarding this idea of suffering, we should try to see the greater reality of the context of Paul’s words: that the suffering IS the result of the individual struggle to overcome the attractions and the attachments to the world and the things of the world. The reality of this idea comes to us from the very first verse of this chapter in which the apostle tells the disciples to whom he writes that “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit“. In this idea of condemnation we should see the better idea of judgement and of the reality of the thought that there IS naught against the man who NO longer follows the ways of the world. In this we see again the dichotomy of Life “after the flesh” as opposed to Life “after the Spirit” and in the idea that “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:1, 14), we should try to see the reality of the Presence of God in one’s Life….that same Presence of which the Master speaks as He tells us:

“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).

We should see here how that ALL things come back to the same spiritual reality….that we keep His words. It IS in so doing that we have His grace and His Presence which IS the reality of His Love. It IS in the ways of the world that we find the vanity, the illusion and the glamour, that beset ALL men and it IS in our escape from these that we find His Presence; and it IS in His Presence that comes upon us in keeping His words that we can realize the Truth of Jesus’ saying that “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). And it IS this reality which IS offered to the rich young man; it IS this opportunity to follow the Master that IS missed and while this IS viewed in relation to the man’s riches and wealth, the Truth of this message cuts much deeper. Here, while riches and wealth are but the outward sign of this man’s attachment and attraction to the world, we should KNOW that even these ideas are ignored but this man and most ALL men who come to this juncture; we should try to see that this same illusion and glamour, this same sense of vanity, has caused men to find clever ways to disguise their own shortcomings as relates to the Truths that Jesus presents.

We should try to see that the Presence of God in one’s Life, His Love if you will, IS the means of our escape from the corruption that IS Life in this world. Not that Life here IS itself corrupt but rather that living that Life according to the ways of men and the vanity to which we are subjected IS the corruption. This Is the reality of Paul’s words to the Romans saying that “For 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); here we should see the idea of dying as the result of one’s focus upon the things of the world…that this IS a spiritual death where there IS NO spiritual Life in the man, that he IS lost in the vanity of Life in form. Again we have that division of Life, the separation of Life according to the ways of men from Life according to the Way of God; and it IS from the ways of the world that we must escape as we read in the Apostle Peter’s words saying: “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:3-4). We should see here that it IS in the knowledge of Him, the knowledge of God that comes in the realization that IS His Presence, that we have that “divine power” that facilitates our escape from the clutches of the corruption of the world and here again we should remember that His Presence comes only to the man who “hath my commandments, and keepeth them” as the Master tells us above. And we should try so see as well that Peter’s idea here IS NOT in regard to the common understanding of lust and that the reality of the phrase IS better as ‘having escaped the death that is in the world in lust or in the desire of men for the things of the world’. Death here IS in the same sense as we see in Paul’s words above, a spiritual death that comes upon the man whose focus IS on the self and the things of the self in the world. That there IS an escape IS the timeless lesson of these words, that we can have that “divine power” through the revelations and the realizations of the Truth that comes to a man as the Presence of God, as His grace, which IS the reciprocal action of keeping His words.

The rich young man DID NOT see the dichotomy of the carnal and the spiritual, how that these ARE two wholly distinct paths; the one leads us ever deeper into the ways of Life in this world and the other leads us to the “glorious liberty of the children of God“. These ARE however the two opposite poles of the reality of Life in form; between these is an infinite range of degrees, of places upon the Path to God. In this there IS a center point and likely one that varies by person and which IS based in his own unique circumstance of Life. The nature of his form and his personality and the relative place in this scale that he had previously achieved play a large role in the Life of the man in the world today, but each must yet overcome the nurturing and the experiences of Life, an overcoming that begins with Repentance. It IS this point that IS the center of the scale as we would define it, it IS in the reality of Repentance, the reality of that decision to change the focus of one’s Life, that moves a man ever further away from the carnal pole and ever closer to the spiritual and we should understand that the reality of the “glorious liberty of the children of God” IS found at the end of our journey through Life….an end that most men DO NOT see in a given Lifetime. And so we have the idea of measure, we have the idea of worldly focus that ranges from the totality of one’s expression to a place where one IS ever so close to seeing the world for what it IS, “a bubble, a mirage…..A painted chariot for kings, a trap for fools“⁵ as the Buddha tells us. It IS the glimpse of this Truth which comes in the prompting of the Soul that had heretofore been ignored by the man which will place him on the Path of return where the individual sense of the grace of God will carry him toward his goal, toward his escape from “the corruption that is in the world through lust“.

And it IS this idea of measure that we should try to see in the Apostle John’s words that we have been carrying for several essays and which we repeat again below. In the idea that “if our heart condemn us not” we should see the man on the positive side of the scale; the man who has Repented and can find no sense of sin in most of what he does. At the same time we should try to see the same man in the reality of the self searching question that “if our heart condemn us“; here we see the Life of the aspirant and the disciple who dwell in the realm of duality, in that state of mind and being where one sees rather clearly to both sides of the center line. John’s message here IS that “if our heart condemn us” we should NOT hide because the great reality exists within us, the reality that “God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things“. Here again we have that division between the ways of the world and the ways of God and we should understand that while we may make excuses for ourselves to ourselves, we CAN NOT Truly escape the reality. On the other side we have that “confidence toward God” which IS His Presence and the clearer our hearts, the clearer our conscience, the greater the grace in our lives and the closer we ARE to the goal of that “glorious liberty of the children of God“. And perhaps we should ALL be condemned by John’s opening words and understand the reality of his admonition that we “not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth“. Here we should see how that the apostle reduces the Truth of keeping His words to the reality of Love as the Master teaches us and as we have again at the top of our essay. Repeating the apostle’s words:

“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).

While the doctrinal concentration of the apostle’s words becomes the ideas of antichrist and of the worldly view of confession and of believing, the greater reality of John’s words IS founded in Love and in recognizing when one IS NOT keeping His words. It IS only in so doing that we can have His Presence and understand the depth of the apostle’s words saying “whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight“. And we should be reminded here that one sign of the progress of the individual, a self assessed progress that sees Truth, IS an understanding that “whatsoever we ask” will NOT be of the things of this world but rather of the things of God. John shows us keeping His words in conjunction with our Love for ALL men and says that we must DO and NOT just say and in this we should see the same principal that we find in the Apostle James’ words saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). it IS this deception that John warns about as he shows us that “God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things“. In both of these ideas we find the common thread of keeping His words and the reality that we DO KNOW when we Truly ARE and when we ARE NOT but ARE merely pretending for our own carnal sake. These ARE difficult words but no more difficult than the Master’s own words saying “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

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

• ⁷ Dictionary.com Unabridged based on Random House Dictionary – 2011
• ⁵ The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom 1888