ON LOVE; PART CMLXIV

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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. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God

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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).

We ended the last essay with the words of the Apostle James regarding Love. We should try to see here how that James frames this as the “royal law“, the king of ALL laws according to Vincent, and in this we should see the Apostle Paul’s words that equate ALL the law to this same precept of “love thy neighbour as thyself“. Vincent tells us this on the way that James presents this idea: Τελεῖν, fulfil, is stronger than the more common word τηρεῖν, observe or keep, which appears in James 2:10. Compare, also, Matthew 19:17; Matthew 23:3; John 14:15, etc. James here speaks of a single commandment, the proper word for which is ἐντολή , while νόμος is the body of commandments. It is appropriate here, however, since this special commandment sums up the entire law. See Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14. It is the royal law; the king of all laws ⁴.

In the combination of these ideas of fulfill and royal we should be able to see the importance that the apostle places upon this idea of Love as the Master teaches us agape. And we should pay some special attention to the way that he tells us that in fulfilling this commandment one IS DOING well. This idea can be better understood in the context of Good and as the Master shows us this word as we read in Jesus’ words saying: “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17). If we can see Jesus’ point here we can then understand that to DO Good IS Godlike and this IS the Master’s admonition to men as He says “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Again the carnal understanding of the rendered words DOES NOT give us the fullness of the intent of the writers and here, while there IS an seemingly endless list of defining ideas of this Greek word kalos which IS rendered here as well and elsewhere as Good, we should try to see the spiritual side in Jesus’ words and in James’. We read James words again saying:

“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” (James 2:8-11).

We should read James’ next idea as a separate idea from the previous and understand that the punctuation here IS added by the translators and that the Greek word deuteronomy that IS rendered as but is a conjunction that can also mean and, now, then, also as well as other ideas. If a man Loves as the Master teaches He IS keeping the whole law and IS keeping His words and these ideas we take from Paul who shows us that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). This IS the Power of agape: that if a man can Truly fulfill this Great Commandment, he IS then keeping His words and IS thereby Good; it IS this man who then has the Power of the trifecta of spiritual reality which we repeat here again:

• “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).
• “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
• “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).

If we can understand the first part of James’ saying here, “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well” as it IS written, we can then see how that to keep His words IS the reality of Good as the Master shows us this idea and it IS this man who has His Presence, His Kingdom and the fullness of the Truth. Then, rendering deuteronomy as and in place of but will give us a separate saying and we should understand this in the way that James presents his idea: that if one IS fulfilling “the royal law” then he IS keeping His words and, if a man IS keeping His words, there IS then NO “respect to persons” in his expression of Love.

This IS NOT James’ idea but this IS as the Master instructs us throughout His Sermon on the Mount and most clearly in His saying “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:44-45). We should of course note here again that this injunction to Love makes of a man a True Son of God; one who realizes His Presence and His Truth, and one who IS as his Father in regard to “respect to persons” as He sees ALL men in this Earth in the same way.

Hidden in this idea of NO “respect to persons” IS the reality of Love and the ultimate Truth behind the Greek word agape. That men DO NOT see this IS NO different than their overall view of the Master’s words on Love and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles. In this reality of Love IS the defining quality of agape, that this IS NOT that emotional and mental attraction and attachment to others but that this IS as Jesus portrays it in regard to the Father above….that He “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust“. In this we should see the equanimity of ALL men in God’s eyes and, as this IS so with God, so it IS True of men who DO keep His words.

James IS telling us that the man who DOES NOT see ALL men in the same Light IS NOT keeping His words and DOES “commit sin” which IS to be contrary to His words. This IS the reality of agape: that the man who Truly expresses Love as agape DOES NOT see race, nor sex, nor color, nor nationality, nor religion; he DOES NOT see educated vs. uneducated and he DOES not see rich or good looking or any physical attribute….this man sees only brothers, children of the One God. This IS the greater reality of agape and it IS this that IS destroyed in the factious behavior of men whose factions and divisions serve to promote the opposite of Love which the Apostle Paul shows us as hatred, variance, emulations and wrath in his sayings which we repeat here again:

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians  5:17-24).

We should try to see here that while so many believe that they ARE “led of the Spirit“, the reality IS that it IS ONLY in one’s expression of agape that this can be True. And when we connect this idea together with the Apostle John’s saying that “God is love” (1 John 4:8. 16) we can then perhaps see that if God IS Truly leading a man, then that man’s expression MUST be Love….it must be agape. When we can unwind these ideas away from doctrines we can see how that John IS telling us the very nature of God IS agape and when we can relate this idea to Jesus words on the Way of God in regard to men in this world, that there IS naught but equanimity, the entirety of men’s common understanding fails. Here then the question arises, an unanswerable question to the carnal mind: if there IS this equanimity, why IS there such diversity in the worlds population. Perhaps it IS in a vain effort to answer to this question that the many doctrines that claim to KNOW the Truth were founded by men.

The Bhagavad Gîtâ, in those words that we have been carrying for several essays, answers this question for us in terms that ARE NOT accepted by most all Christian teaching. While the Christian sees this Life here on this Earth as his ONLY turn, this Life that IS “made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” as Paul tells us, we should try to see and to understand that it IS the Soul, the spiritual man, that IS made such by the Plan of God. We should understand here that it IS the Soul that IS submerged, if you will, in this sea of illusion that so many believe IS their Truth, that so many see as their True and ONLY Life. It IS ONLY in this view of Life that the ideas of heaven and hell, as these ARE created and  understood by doctrine, can work our in the minds of men whose spiritual desire IS that they be ‘saved’; and it IS in this strong desire that most ALL doctrines ARE established.

If we could but see the reality of agape as the very Nature of God, we could see that this creation in which we live DOES NOT and CAN NOT meet the great Truth that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). Similarly the Master’s own words that the Father “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” falls short when we can see that the idea behind these words IS that ALL that ARE in this creation ARE ‘treated’, for lack of a better word, the same way by the One God. It IS when we can see that it IS the Soul, the spiritual man, that IS the True man and that this body with its mind and emotions IS ONLY a vessel as the apostles tells us, that we can Truly understand that these ideas of Love and “respect to persons” in based in that view of men as the Soul. The Apostle Peter tells us: “Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me” (2 Peter 1:13-14) and in this we should see that separation between the True man and his vehicle of expression on this Earth.

And we should see Paul’s words in this same Light as he tells us of the “Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27) and shows us how that this mystery IS covered and protected from the carnal man who DOES NOT see the Truth past the illusion and the glamour in which he exists. While the parabolic language of the Master and His apostles may cloak the Truth, it IS ONLY cloaked to those whose focus IS NOT upon seeking after such Truth as their lives go round and round within the scope of their attention while their own Souls await the time of their awakening. We should understand here however that the Soul IS ever prompting the man in this world to the Truth, to the Good, the Beautiful and the True, and that such prompting generally DOES NOT resonate in the mind and the emotions which ARE held captive by the illusion, the vanity of which Paul speaks, from which he must escape.

As we have discussed this illusion, this vanity, IS that “corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4) and it IS this corruption that afflicts most ALL men regardless of how it IS that they perceive their own lives. It IS NOT until the final Truth that IS embedded in the Master’s words IS seen with a clear eye, NOT until the Truth of keeping His words and of Love ARE made a part of one’s Life in this world, that the realization that IS the Presence of God can shine through the clouds of illusion and the fogs of glamour; and it IS in this realization that men ARE “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).

We close again today with those words from the Bhagavad Gîtâ, words which the illusion and glamour of most Christian doctrine will NOT allow to be seen nor understand, that we have been carrying now for several posts. In these words and in this particular translation of the Sanskrit we have a great KEY to understanding those ideas on Life that ARE found in the parabolic tone of Jesus’ teaching and in the words of His apostles. In these words we should see the dichotomy between the carnal and the spiritual from a slightly different perspective as well as the effect of the illusion, the vanity, in which men live. Here we should try to read how that the Soul, the spiritual man, exists behind or within this outer Life in this world and that it IS NOT the Soul that IS acting as the player in his own worldly Life. It IS when one can realize the True Presence, the Soul, IS the True man, that one can accomplish the ideas that Paul presents saying: “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1).

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

Anyone who sees that all activities certainly in all respects are the result of material conditioning and that one as the soul is not the doer, sees perfectly. When one following that tries to see that the diversity of the living beings is resting in oneness and that it expanded to that reality, at that time one attains the Absolute of the Spirit.

Bhagavad Gîtâ 13:30-31

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.

This Quote of the Day is the antithesis of glamour and illusion. In this mantram are the thoughts about ourselves and our brothers in the world that can diffuse these forces that hold a man in the world of things and prevent his spiritual progress.

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 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.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888