from
Not Just Another Man
Martin Cecil
September 15, 1974
Moving into this new seven-year period, a new
experience should be naturally anticipated. “Six days shalt thou labour.” We
have known that, but now something new. I'm not suggesting some sort of instantaneous
transformation is to be expected. There has been something working out in a
natural cycle over the years. What is it that has been fundamentally happening?
What we have referred to as material man has been
dominant; spiritual man was apparently lost. However, gradually, as the
attitude of judgment receded some changes have come. The movement out of the
six days of labor into the seventh day of rest comes because spiritual man again
begins to be revealed and material man recedes somewhat into the background,
although still present. Spiritual man would not be very effective on earth without
material man. Material man is not very effective on earth without spiritual
man—but he's tried his damnedest. There begins to be a greater consciousness of
one's own spiritual being, and responsibility is assumed, or right expression in
this regard, through material man. He is needful that this might be so.
The sabbath of the Lord was blessed by the Lord and
sanctified. We can see here something that relates very directly and particularly
to the holy place where the priesthood are—where spiritual man properly
abides. There comes an increased consciousness of walking day by day on holy
ground. The old material man characteristics are no longer dominant and no
longer seem so attractive as they once did.
Each individual is rightly a leader. The human view
of a leader is sometimes that of a person who issues orders, imposes whatever
is seemingly required upon his followers; but this is not the sort of
leadership which we find in the experience of the true tone. True leadership is
an exemplification of what is right; not with the idea of imposing that example
upon somebody, but to make sure that no support is given to something wrong. If
we give support to something wrong, then we are a follower of the wrong thing—of
the prince of this world. So we have no agreement rightly with anything that is
not right. While we do not make a big thing out of it, there is what might be
called a gentle pressure with respect to anything that is not right appearing
through somebody else.
For this to be the case, one must be right within
himself, so that there is immediate and easy agreement with what is right
wherever it appears. But when something is off-key, when a sour note begins to
put in an appearance, we do not undertake necessarily to correct the person, to
say, “You shouldn't be doing what you're doing; you shouldn't be judging,” or
whatever it is. There's really no need for that if you are yourself an expression
of the right thing. It immediately brings pressure to bear on the other person
without any particular deliberation on your part—you simply are not in
agreement with the wrong thing—you ignore the wrong thing. And you thereby
exhibit the real nature of friendship, because you're not encouraging the
person to follow the wrong thing.
As long as there is not agreement with the wrong
thing, because one is too occupied with expressing the right thing, then
certainly pressure is brought to bear. Something is felt if there is a person
present who is true to the truth and one is deviating from it oneself. You feel
it. And one needs to be alert to that feeling. You immediately know that
something's wrong. The usual self-centered human attitude is to find some
justification for one's own state of discomfort. If the discomfort is
consequent upon agreement with something wrong, then immediately there is a
warning signal which says, “Let your attitude change.” And it can be changed so
easily and quickly in that circumstance. How long do you think it would take
for the wrong things to disappear?
If there have been wrong things maintained—the
habit of judgment, and there have been others around who have been inclined to
agree with that judgment, then, of course, the judgment is maintained, the ill
thing is maintained and fattened even, made more healthy. But if all concerned were
instantly in this moment in agreement with what is right and simply not be in
agreement with anything that is wrong, then the wrong things would clear out
pronto; the person would be so lonely in the egression of something wrong. Particularly
when we begin to move in the current of the spirit and you express something
wrong, you find yourself isolated. And that's the way it should be.
People love to jump right in, don't they? Tear
somebody down—something's wrong. How do you know? There's nothing wrong if we
agree with what is right. There's only something wrong when we agree with
something wrong. If we agree with something right, the tone is sounding and
whatever is seemingly wrong will be taken care of as it should be, whatever way
that may be—by the tone, not by the human judgment. We constantly make sure
that in our association with others we are agreeing with what is right. On this
basis comes a new experience of oneself. Spiritual man is right; material man
separate from spiritual man is wrong. So, we accept the responsibility of
rightness and consequently experience spiritual man. One can't experience
spiritual man if one is wrong.
I have a letter here which I received from a lady
outlining something which is vitally important to see—she outlines something
most clearly and beautifully:
“For almost two years now I've been very careful to
agree with your words, period. I had had an abhorrence to anything approaching
idolatry of another human being. Lately, it had been difficult because your
high vision and even higher expression were hard to ignore, but I worked at
thinking of you as just another person. Last year, about this time, I woke up
and thanked God for the morning. Not ‘the God that is me and is you’ as
previous, but God—the Lord. And last week I suddenly faced the fact that I knew you weren't just another human being
that had good things to say, yet for some reason I had refused to acknowledge
it. And as soon as I did accept it, I realized what I had been doing. By trying
to keep you at my level I didn't have to face the fact that if you were ‘up
there,’ I could be as well. I have seen some idolatry of you. Those that kept
you separate obviously didn't know you. I guess, too, that it's another way not
to have to accept the standards. I realize now, more so than ever, the greatness
of you. But I don't think I'm idolizing you. I know I can stand where you
are—and I know that when I am there you will be higher, inviting me up. I'm
finally, consciously, coming to you; not your words, not the Ranch or the Hundred,
but to you. You've been waiting this long. I offer my total love and being in
thanks.”
As I say, there is something of vital importance to
be seen here. Human beings, in the material man state, look at each other as
material human beings. Spiritual man has been so long absent that he is
virtually an unknown quantity—he doesn't really exist to people. He may exist
in symbol—the symbol of Jesus Christ—there is spiritual man, but not here. And
it's convenient if He is there rather than here, because one then doesn't have
to measure up—He is different; He is separate, and no one could aspire to be
what He revealed Himself to be. This is the general human attitude in the range
of Christianity, isn't it? He is something separate from all of us. But it
isn't the truth. It is a convenient way of avoiding the necessity of facing
what is required of oneself.
The same thing may occur with respect to a person
who is now present. In this instance the lady writes to me. She had been
endeavoring to maintain a distinction between what I was saying—the truth which
appeared in written form or on tape—and me, the endeavor to see me simply as
material man. Now material man sees material man, but spiritual man sees
spiritual man. If one is afraid, as she expresses it, of idolizing material
man, then perhaps there is something valid about the fear. Why should one
idolize material man? But at the same time this attitude tends to deny the
possibility of spiritual man: Everybody
is material man—it can't be any other way. This was more or less the
attitude that was taken when spiritual man was revealed so vividly through
Jesus. The attitude would be, “Well, he's just another man.” When He went back to
His hometown for instance, everybody knew Him. They knew His mother, His
father, His brethren, and so on—just another man. What is being said is, “Here
is just another material man,” which indicated in that instance, certainly, a
great lack of vision. In other words, there were a lot of material people with
no spiritual vision, and all a material person can see is another material
person.
Now a material person is present when spiritual man
is present. What is it you see? What is your vision in this regard? Does it get
hung up in this regard with material man? Or do you see the evidence of
spiritual man? Of course, a person can only see the evidence of spiritual man
to the extent that he himself is beginning to experience the reality of
spiritual man in his own expression. The emergence through the six days, as the
judgmental attitude of material man is left behind, allows a person to begin to
perceive spiritually—spiritual things are spiritually discerned. And who can
discern spiritually? Material man? Oh, no. Spiritual man discerns spiritually,
so there must at least be some measure of the experience of spiritual man in
oneself before one will recognize spiritual man in another.
When there is the recognition of spiritual man in
another, on the basis particularly of someone who is providing leadership, then
one is no longer separating oneself from the same experience. One's own
identity is rightly in the same place. And on this basis we come together in
agreement—we agree as spiritual man, male and female. We don't try to agree as
material man. This effort has been put forth for a long time by human beings,
and still is, to try to produce agreement between material human beings while
ignoring spiritual man. It is an impossible task on that basis—no agreement
ensues. All that happens is that people become more critical of each other. And
the closer people get to each other, the more critical they become of each other.
Agreement is based in the experience of spiritual man. One must acknowledge
spiritual man if one is to begin to know what agreement is.
I'm not interested in being idolized. We don't need
any idols. But we do need agreement—we do need to awaken in our awareness to
the reality of spiritual man. And spiritual man is not as other men, because
that statement refers to material man. Spiritual
man is not as other men, although material man is present in relationship
to spiritual man.
There is the appearance of material man, but then the
instruction is, “Judge not by the appearance”—rather, judge righteous judgment.
See what is actually present and rejoice in that. All I'm concerned with is
spiritual man—and spiritual man is spiritual man. I acknowledge spiritual man in
relationship to each one. Why not, as you look at each other, do the same
thing? If you do do the same thing,
then you're in agreement with me. If you get hung up on material man, then
we're in disagreement and the evidence of that disagreement will appear,
because there will be a critical or judging attitude, where a person looks at
material man and says, “That's not spiritual man.” Well, I know it's not
spiritual man, but our concern is with spiritual man who is also present. Which
carries the most value to us?
We find the value in spiritual man because we know
there is no solution to any of material man's problems or difficulties or
miserable states except by reason of spiritual man. Spiritual man is the one
responsible for propagating the true tone on earth. And the true tone,
propagated on earth, clears the mess which material man has made. Material man
is totally incapable of clearing his own mess. All he does is add to it, make
it worse. Wherever we look, in whatever direction, we see things getting more
and more tangled up, and it is the nature of material human beings to condemn
or criticize this one or that one because they acted thus-and-so and things
became more tangled up. But if they had acted so-and-thus, exactly the same
thing would have happened.
Judge not. Let the whole mess alone and agree with
what is right. You may say, looking out into the world over there somewhere, you
can't see very much that's right. Well, why not come a little closer to home.
There are things that are right right here. Let's agree with this. Never mind
the world out there. That will sort itself out if we are right. But if no one
is right anywhere, it will never sort itself out.
Spiritual man is present. As you have an increasing
awareness of this truth, that awareness becomes ever more vivid to the extent
that we are in agreement with what is right, because spiritual man is that much
more present. Only material man judges. Material human beings have judged God
for judging. They're inclined to say that God is a judge. Oh, no. “With what
judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.” We judge ourselves in the material
condition. Let us rise up out of it. But to do that we have to recognize that
spiritual man is present—acknowledge the fact, not because one is going to
worship spiritual man but because one is going to share in the being of
spiritual man, accepting that responsibility. The failure to acknowledge
spiritual man is the insistence upon remaining in the material state.
Anyone can look at me and judge me—lots of people
have. But those judgments make no difference to me. Do judgments of you make a
difference to you? Does it change you from being you? We are not concerned with
material judgments; we are concerned with the spiritual state in human
experience, spiritual man—Abel as opposed to Cain. And Cain and Abel are
rightly brothers. They belong together. But Cain will only allow the
resurrection of Abel when he stops judging. That's why he killed Abel in the
first place, wasn't it? Let us be willing to acknowledge the presence of
spiritual man on earth, and agree with rightness. That doesn't mean that we
have to disagree with wrongness. Don't judge it.
Always the question can be asked when you judge
something as being wrong, how do you know? How do you know that it is wrong?
Let it alone. To the extent that one begins to associate oneself with spiritual
man, one becomes aware of what is right. We don't need to know what is wrong to
know what is right—at least, the only reason why we may have to take a look sometimes
at what seems to be wrong is so that we may turn to what is right. We're not
going to take issue with what is wrong; we're not going to get into a battle
about it; we're not going to judge it, but agree with what is right. And when
we do, we reveal the fact that we love one another, because we will not support
attitudes of judgment whenever they appear in others. We should be delighted
that, if an attitude of judgment appears in us, we find that those with whom we
are immediately associated don't support it.
Human beings are afraid of being alone, which is
why so much trouble is taken to surround oneself with other people, supposedly
friends—but the sense of aloneness is the void in a person consequent upon the
fact that spiritual man is not being experienced. It doesn't have anything to
do with other people. And other people can't take your loneliness away from
you. Only you can find the true state of comfort, because you agree with spiritual
man. Then the true brothers get together; there's no more loneliness.
So we move into this sabbath day, to stand in the
holy place because we are simply concerned with what is right. We are not
judging others as being wrong; we are concerned to be right ourselves in the expression
of what we are, spiritual man. And as this becomes the increasing experience of
all concerned, whatever doesn't belong in the right expression of spiritual man
in the moment is simply dissolved—it passes away. Many of the things that perhaps
we have judged as being wrong are discovered not to be wrong at all; it was
merely our view of them that was wrong. We didn't see clearly. But as we begin
to see with the eyes of spiritual man, all these things begin to fall into
place and we find that there was really nothing to judge anyway. All things work
together to perfection for those who love and serve the Lord.
Let us continue to love and serve the Lord, which
means to love and serve what is true and right in the expression of spiritual
man. Here is the basis of all agreement. The almighty power of God is released
through the tone of life to achieve what is right and true and proper to the
glory of God. Let it work out on the right basis; everything's under control.
All things work together to perfection—this is true when we love and serve the
Lord, when we are true to the truth, when we are true to the tone. Let us
assume our responsibility as spiritual man, that we may continue to play our
parts together in agreement. The vibrant spirit of the living God is always
present, always enfolding, always ready to find full, free, strong expression
through you in each moment of your living.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
