To Be Filled With The Holy Ghost
Martin Exeter October 4, 1987 a.m.
We have often spoken of being together with one accord in one place. If we are to be with one accord in one place it must be because we have relinquished human identity, earthly identity, in favor of spiritual or heavenly identity. This alone makes it possible for us to be with one accord in one place. In this identity we are together for the purpose of expressing the spirit of truth, the holy spirit, in unified radiation. These are words describing what the experience may be, and rightly is. The outpouring of this radiation is possible to the extent that there is substance in us of such a quality that it may accommodate the holy spirit.
Human beings are a little averse, seemingly, to associate themselves—too much, anyway—with what might be described as holy. It is imagined that thereby one would lose all the fun in life. But holiness and fun are not mutually exclusive. The word holy relates to what is of God. It also has the meaning of wholeness, wholesomeness. While human beings have eschewed holiness, it has proved to be fatal. The identity which we rightly accept for ourselves in this moment is holy. It is of God. It is included in the wholeness of things, and it is wholesome. There is a purpose to being still in heart and mind. Only so may the holy spirit come into experience; only so may the truth be known of our own individual spiritual identity. This has been excluded from human experience so long that most people imagine it does not even exist. However the fact that as human beings we do exist is indication that the holy spirit does exist.
We have come to a certain awareness of this to the extent that there has been a quality of living day by day which permitted the essential substance to be generated to accommodate the holy spirit. That substance accommodating the holy spirit has been referred to as the holy ghost. We have mentioned the coined word pneumaplasm. It is a substance, generally speaking for most not visible, but present nevertheless. It is the basis for our thoughts and our feelings. Because this substance is present we are capable of what is called thinking and feeling, and we have physical form which, by some magic means, is held together in an operational mode, for a while anyway. All this is consequent upon what may be referred to as pneumaplasm or ghost substance. Unfortunately the ghost substance has been mainly unholy—that is, it has not been of God. It has been self-generated in the human sense to make possible the experience of what may have been referred to as the human personality. The human personality as it exists now is a human invention that has been made possible because the means by which it could occur has been stolen. Life has been stolen, identity has been stolen. It has been stolen so effectively that most are completely unaware of the One to whom life belongs and to whom identity belongs. So we have a lot of little human creatures skittering around on earth claiming identity for themselves, their consciousness completely unrelated to what is holy, to what is of God. Because there are those who have, over the ages, tried to make something out of this personality in the field of what was presumed to be godliness—this relates particularly to religion—the idea of godliness has come into disrepute, and most would seem to prefer to be unholier than holy.
Because a certain amount of substance has been generated in our own experience we have a more inclusive vision of things, and to the extent that judgment has at least been put on the back burner we do not indulge ourselves in classifying things as good or evil. Such classification is valueless. The fact is that whatever is, is. Whether anyone thinks it’s good or bad, it is. We learn to accept what is. Sometimes we may indulge ourselves a little by saying that something that is happening shouldn’t be, but I don’t think that’s really a very accurate definition. After all, if it’s happening, it is; and presumably it should be, because it is. Taking all the factors into consideration, that’s the way it is. It would not seem likely that one could jump from a state of total judgment, which is the human condition, into a state of no judgment in one bound. Apparently it takes a cycle of time. Perhaps again one might say, “Well maybe it took longer than it needed to, or is still taking longer than it needs to,” but then, here again, things are the way they are. However I am sure that we are all open to the increased generation of quality substance, which will accommodate the holy spirit, so that we may be filled with the holy ghost.
It is proper, if we are to be real men and women, that we should be filled with the holy ghost. This shouldn’t be an exceptional thing; it should be the natural, ongoing experience. As we have assembled, we have a consciousness of spiritual identity as individuals only to the extent that we have generated the substance in our living heretofore to accommodate that identity. If we don’t have the substance, we don’t accommodate it. And, like most human beings, we feel somewhat bereft and have to get busy and generate a personality so that we can say, “This is me. I’ve done this, I’ve achieved the other thing; therefore I must be important”—all the while knowing deep down inside that one isn’t, because the true state of identity has been lost. In that true state of identity, spiritual identity, one doesn’t need to feel important; one simply is. Whatever one is, one is. That is most fulfilling.
We are concerned to allow the generation of this necessary ghost substance to occur and be of such a quality as to be capable of accommodating the holy spirit, the spirit of truth, the spirit of what we actually are. We can’t know that except by moving in this creative process. Minds and hearts have been somewhat reluctant to do this because they have been so thoroughly brainwashed or conditioned by the human state. And we all have specific backgrounds in this regard which have brought along a whole host of elements which simply are incapable of accommodating the holy spirit. There has been a great reluctance on the part of most to relinquish these background elements, factors of culture and race and nationality, because all these things are deemed to be so important from the human standpoint; they give people a sense of counterfeit worth. All that is counterfeit. It is counterfeit because the genuine has been almost totally excluded; not completely excluded, because we are still alive and the human race is still inhabiting this planet. The question nowadays arises as to how long this will be possible.
However we ourselves have today brought into our respective locations such substance as we have permitted to be generated in our momentary living heretofore. That’s the substance that we have. We can’t make it any more than it is or any less than it is. It is what it is. We are dealing with facts rather than theory, rather than human belief. No longer are we embedded, as we may have been in the past, in human belief systems. There is bondage. One must come out of all this to know freedom—the reality of freedom, not merely the word. The reality must be lived. It is the experience of life itself—life itself free to live in human form, rather than to be squeezed out of human form, which is the popular pastime. We bring such substance as may be the fact with us into such a setting as we have today; and according to the quality of that substance, also the quantity of it, so is the holy ghost present. The holy spirit then has an opportunity of radiant expression on earth. The invisible may be translated into the visible, because once again there is coming into position Man, male and female. We can’t substitute the word person in there! That is the name of the creation. There is a word, then, that describes the state of male and female in human form on earth. We use the word Man. I don’t know of any other word. It doesn’t put anyone down, and it doesn’t inflate anyone. It just is a useful word, descriptive of what we ourselves begin to know. That knowing occurs both from the male standpoint and the female standpoint, so all are included.
The substance is present—pneumaplasm, ghost substance—beginning to become holy ghost substance, rather than unholy ghost substance. There has always been some such substance present, but to the extent that the holy spirit was excluded it was unholy ghost substance. That is the normal human state: the state of the unholy ghost. And it is a pretty uncomfortable state for most. People get accustomed to it of course. But now the unholy ghost can evaporate, not because it is thrown out, not because it is battled with and destroyed somehow—that’s self-destruction—but because the quality of the substance of our living is such that it will accommodate the holy spirit, the spirit of truth, the spirit of our true identity. People like to talk about true identity. It isn’t a matter of talk, is it? It is a matter of experience; and the facts tell the tale there, not the theory. However, here we are, such as we are, with whatever the substance is, and, being practical—the holy spirit is very practical—if we are filled with the holy ghost that’s the way we operate too. It is the spirit of truth in operation, and the spirit of truth in operation carries particular identity. We call this identity a differentiation of the one identity.
We are all needed, and this is particularly true in these days when the crunch is coming. There must be those present, and undoubtedly will be those present, who can handle the situation. It can only be handled in the power of love, under the control and in the design of truth. When the spirit of truth is known, because that spirit is accommodated in our substance, then the power of love is known. The power of love cannot be known without first the experience of the spirit of truth in radiant expression in our living, and that can only be known when there is substance to accommodate it. We understand these things. We understand them, perhaps, mentally. But do we really understand? Is that the quality of our living, or do we simply have a theory about it? If you extract something out of the flowing expression of spirit, and the human mind begins to try to grasp it and consequently to be a debater with respect to it, the spirit has been squeezed out.
The spirit is characterized by flow, and one must be associated with that flow to understand what the spirit of truth is. Only by association with that flow is one permitting the spirit of truth to find expression. What you express, you know. You don’t need any theory then. There is a flow. Spirit flows, and one must leave it alone to flow in expression through oneself to comprehend it, to know what it is. To the extent that we have done this, in whatever measure, we know something, and we can’t be fooled by all the debatable arguments of the human mind. The truth flows. A store of knowledge is not the truth; it’s a store of knowledge. Some of that knowledge may be relatively accurate at its own level; some of it may be nonsense.
There is a store of knowledge. There is a cistern with all that stuff in it. Spirit may be able to use some of it. It hauls it up out of the cistern, if it’s useful, and puts it together in a new way so that there is the radiant expression of truth. No one could articulate the truth without these facilities which make it possible, even though these facilities have been used to prevent the flow of the spirit of truth. The facilities are quite all right; there is nothing wrong with them. And we all have them. The only thing is, we’ve been trained in their wrong use. We’ve been trained to exclude the holy spirit and to try to take charge on the basis of a self-created personality. Some people have taken charge to considerable effect in the human world and risen to lofty heights, according to the human view at least, and down they come with a crash! There is another state altogether. Seeing that this present state is on its way out, most obviously, we’d better discover what this other state is before the crunch finally comes.
So we share this opportunity, which is based on our daily living. What is the quality of that? The word we rightly speak in our living is, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” There is substance present in everyone, a percentage of which is available to the holy spirit. We would that there might be more of that substance, but for whatever there is we give thanks and are ourselves open to receive it in the continued generation of what is necessary in our own fields of responsibility. That might be put this way: “I am responsible for me; you are responsible for you.” This is a responsibility that can only be handled when the holy ghost is present, when there is the experience of the truth of identity. When that is so, one may handle everything that arises. One assumes the responsibility of being the truth of oneself. I am that. It is necessary that there be someone on the face of the earth who takes responsibility for him-or herself. Taking responsibility relates to everything.
Idle words have been mentioned from time to time. But I am much more concerned with idle thoughts. They precede the words. Were you ever really honest in looking at your thoughts? Of course you can only look at your thoughts right now. Maybe they’re fine right now, they’re really flowing with the spirit. How long is that going to last? Just as long as I’m up here spouting? This establishes something, a basis, a sensing of something, which needs to be present in all our living. We speak of this as the Tone, the quality of substance which makes us aware of the holy ghost, fills us with the holy ghost. Then we can’t have idle thoughts. How much of your day is spent in idle thought? Some people call that daydreaming, but usually that refers to some lovely idea that’s floating in some beautiful realm of imagination. But idle thoughts include virtually everything that human beings think during a day. Foggy, very foggy. There needs to be focus. Then the thought is generated by the holy spirit, by the spirit of truth. This is the divine design—the design aspect of truth.
Do you let the spirit of truth generate your thinking constantly, or just once in a while? It is what happens during the day that counts—the night as well, incidentally, because that will relate to what happens during the day. It is said that for every idle word we will give account in the day of judgment—which is today, by the way, every day—but for every idle thought, because every idle word is merely the end product of the thought. Until one addresses one’s thought processes one will continue to do all the things that one has been doing in the human state. Let us be honest. We often talk about being honest. It is nice to talk about it. But let’s be it, in recognition that what passes through our minds is the responsibility of the spirit of truth. Turn over that responsibility to the spirit of truth. Then you will judge no more. As long as you don’t do that you will judge. And I see judgment.
I said something about “be careful” recently. I don’t know how that was translated in the minds of those who heard. “Well I should be very cautious when I get out of the bath, or when I’m driving I should be very careful,” thinking of it in physical terms—when, if one is getting out of the bath or one is driving, what are the thoughts that are going on? Because if they have no reference to what is actually happening, well there is an accident about to happen, regardless of how cautious one may be. And accidents have been happening. Why? Because of this fogginess. And we know that this is not just an individual thing, because we are a body and we are dependent on each other. I am responsible for me. You are responsible for you. When we all assume responsibility we are all safe. If we don’t do it we’re not; there is always a pending accident about to happen. At least we call them accidents. They are not accidents; they are reapings of a harvest. We share a look, perhaps with greater honesty, at what the facts are in our own experience—not what the fancies are. What's going on in your head! Let’s look at it, that we may be accounted worthy of receiving the holy spirit into radiant expression in our living. That’s what we are here on earth to do.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
Hold the Vibration and Radiation Steady
Uranda Speaking To His Innermost Core
January 10, 1949 Sunrise Ranch
I am keenly aware of the fact that the actual development of focalized vibrations and Radiation must be held consistently, or the world currents will produce some very difficult complications. Perhaps the best illustration could come from the standpoint of lightning. A lightning flash burns up the atmosphere in its path and then it is gone, and the air rushing back into the partial vacuum that is created, produces what we call thunder. When there is an actual focalized Radiation in the power of the Spirit it is like the projection of the fire of lightning out into the world. If the Current is held all is well, and there is an opportunity for continued expansion, but if it is more like a lightning flash, if it goes out and then, for various reasons, suddenly is cut off—whether the period of Radiation be long or short, if it is actually effective and then is cut off, the world vibrational realm comes rushing back into the vacuum, and the vacuum leads straight to the feeling realm of the individuals who participated, and it produces something like thunder, and then the individuals are subject to the terrific pressures of the world reactive vibration; and unless they turn to their basic focalizations and begin to let the reality of Radiation appear and gradually push back the force of the world reaction, such individuals suffer physically, mentally and emotionally—and consequently we may say spiritually, in the sense of the spiritual expression.
I know how it feels because, on innumerable occasions, I have had individuals who were channels for an actual Radiation break the vibration—that is, cease to be a specific point of focalization in the creative field, get out of line, and then, because I present the Central Point of Radiation, that left a vacuum, so to speak, between the world vibration and my own, through which the thunder claps of world reaction rushed back, as it were, to me, and then, if I have not had Focalizations that held, that allowed me to begin to meet that reactive force in Radiation effectively, I was in the position of simply having to suffer it out. Once it almost cost me my life, and at other times it was very dangerous. Nine-tenths of all the suffering I have ever had to face in my Ministry came from this one point in relationship to this one Principle. Fortunately the reactive world vibrations have thus far been primarily of the vibrational realm. They have never been given opportunity to manifest very much in physical form, comparatively speaking—that is, comparing the era of our development of this Unit to the period, for instance, following Pentecost, when persecution became rampant. There the failures worked out on a vibration that permitted the development of form with respect to the world reactive vibration, and there was physical persecution which produced the death of many. Fortunately, as I say, we have had comparatively little of that.
Now, as we move into this new sphere of ministry, we have an opportunity to enhance and build up the material form of our expression if all hold true to the line; but if there were to be any general breaking, the reactive expression with respect to the world would tend to manifest more particularly with respect to the material or physical plane, and we would all suffer. Knowing these things, I have put off the actual initiation of any such Program for a long time. I thought confidently that I was going to get such a Program under way in 1936, and I was moving in that direction. It could have been, but it was not. Of those who shared extensively in that period when that function was being instituted, virtually all of them have been moved out of their places in the Service through the reactive pressures which they brought on themselves—they are all gone, as nearly as I can recall. Anyway, I do not want anyone to get hurt; and I know that we cannot get very far, actually, without taking this step.
I intend to start it as slowly as possible and still get the job done, but the probabilities are that once we get it started I will have to call on you to help meet some of the problems that arise; and from the standpoint of the creative field you will more or less constitute my last line of defense, or perhaps, putting it another way, the first line of offense. We are moving out into a field where this thing is going to be put to a test. If it is what it ought to be there will not be any individual tests to speak of that would cause any trouble, and the world limitations that beset us will be tested. They will be tested against that irresistible force of the Cosmic Power of God. And I would rather not talk about the alternative—it would not be pleasant.
Now we have work to do, work that must be performed in absolute humility before the Lord, and yet work that must be done in the positive current of His Spirit that requires a balance in polarity. In the expression of the Prophets of old time, we find a record of various statements, to the effect that the Lord would sift His people as wheat, the chaff would be blown away—or the Master put it as the division between the sheep and the goats—various ways, all the same thing. They are described as earthquakes, shakings in various ways, pressure points. It means that we have to dare. As much as possible, I want each one to go into it with eyes open. We have to dare to walk in the Flame—step into the Fire. Once we do there can be no turning back safely. Any turning back then is very disastrous—for he who is in the Flame and becomes fearful, and starts to turn back is consumed by the Flame. I do not want any tragedies; and tragedies, if they do occur, always bring a long string of complications that involve all concerned in needless difficulties—and such things delay, and delay is dangerous. I have sought, in every way I know, to impress on the Unit the fact that this is not a child's game. It is something deadly serious.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
The Union Of Conscious And Subconscious
Martin Cecil February 22, 1981 p.m.
Holy, holy, holy. We assemble in the holy place. This is not a geographical position, although it may be so represented. We abide in the holy place. We don't stay just in one geographical position. Wherever we are is the holy place. Human beings in general have forgotten this. They behave as though they were not in the holy place. Awakening to an awareness of the holy place in our own living, we keep that place holy where we are on earth. This morning I reminded you of the truth of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2019/02/from-mind-that-was-in-christ-jesus.html] It is because of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost that we may abide in the Holy Place. The Father is above all, the Son of the Father is the conscious mind, and the Holy Ghost of the Father is the subconscious mind. The heart is present with both conscious and subconscious minds, but to a greater extent in the subconscious mind because it is a larger place.
As the spirit of shame is dissolved in the subconscious mind, the barrier to the movement of the spirit of God is removed. The dissolution of the spirit of shame has been taking place on earth in the experience of many people. It seems as though there has been an increase in what might be called license. Nevertheless, through this process, even though it may have swung to an extreme, this barrier of shame has weakened and in some ways fallen away, so that the spirit of God might move more freely at that level. This has occurred for great numbers of people. The Word has been spoken on earth within the consciousness of mankind with an increasing sound, so that these things have been happening.
The conscious aspect of mind within the body of humanity has, as we are aware, begun to emerge in a way that allows the Son to become a reality. There has always been a certain conscious aspect of the body of mankind. There have always been those who were sufficiently intelligent, in the human sense, to take charge of human affairs in various ways, to impose the human will upon the population in general who were all operating from the subconscious standpoint. Now and again the eruptions would occur from this subconscious mind of humanity and there would be disruptions of all sorts: wars and rumors of wars, revolutions, the antics of human nature; but there were always those around to take advantage of the situation, as they thought of it. So a certain level of the conscious mind has been present in the affairs of men, producing troubles of all sorts. But the Son has been absent. Only in recent decades has there been a certain emergence of the Son into the experience of certain ones within the total consciousness of mankind. Because of this there has been somewhat increased direction given to what has been occurring on earth, particularly as this relates to the subconscious levels of the human race. Presumably we have all had some part in this. Things have happened consequently of which we may not have approved necessarily, failing to realize that we had a responsibility in it. We have been awakening to a realization that we do have a responsibility in it and that the things that are occurring are occurring because of this.
We have had little real awareness of the potency of what we ourselves say and do. It is very potent to the extent that we are assuming the position of the Son in the conscious mind of humanity. We may not entirely have realized that we were doing this. That is perhaps a good thing, because there would have been even more reluctance probably. But it has been happening; and the way things have gone in the world has followed out the direction that has been given through the Son, as well as the direction which continues to be given by reason of the son of perdition: the conscious aspect of the mind of man in its state of separation from God. There are two factors here. We have seen these two factors relative to the dispute over the body of mankind. Here the matter of rebuke began to come into the picture. All these things have been available to be understood by people. For one thing, they have been clearly stated in the scriptures; certainly not alone the Bible as we know it, although perhaps this is the most accurate and succinct presentation that you could find anywhere in any of the scriptures. There are many other scriptures. I would like to read a passage with which you are quite familiar, but this evening it provides an opportunity of seeing what is said in the light of our present considerations, our present understanding, which, even following this morning's service, is not the same as it was last week or even yesterday. So here are the first five verses of the 60th chapter of Isaiah:
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Here we see a reference to the Son consciousness, the conscious mind of the body of the Son of God. “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.”
Here is reference to the realm of the Holy Ghost, or the subconscious aspect of the mind of the body of humanity. Two aspects: one conscious, one subconscious. There is nothing really wrong with the fact that the subconscious is dark; we do not need to judge in the matter. It may be that it is darker in humanity than it needs to be—they call it gross here—but it is all included in the consciousness of mankind, which is being restored to the consciousness of the Son of God on earth. It is all included in the creative cycle, the evolutionary process. If there is darkness, even gross darkness, it might be described as evol. We acknowledge the facts as they are; we don't try to pretend that they are some way they are not. From the divine standpoint facts are always faced, and there is no question that they can always be dealt with; and whatever needs to happen in the creative process will happen. We begin to share this outlook, so we are not scared by the darkness or the gross darkness. We know that the subconscious mind of mankind is necessary, just as our own individual subconscious minds are necessary.
“But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” Here reference is made, by using the word thee, to the conscious mind of the body of the Son of God. You will recall a diagram that Uranda used in which there was an illustration of the old carbon lamp principle. As the barrier of shame is removed in the subconscious mind the Word can reach through the subconscious mind and rise up toward the conscious mind, bringing with it the material that is needful for whatever is occurring in the creative cycle. To the extent that this is happening there is the reality of the Holy Ghost. Coming down from the Father into the conscious mind is the other pole of the creative process, something that remains unknown until it begins to be clothed in form. Well the material for the form is rising up from below, and the design of the form is coming down from above. These positive and negative aspects of spirit meet at the level of the conscious mind. There is an arc, there is light: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come,” on this basis, “and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” The Son is then a reality, and direction can be given to the creative process of the restoration; this is the concern at the moment.
The Son is a word which may represent what we have called the Priesthood. As there is illumination at the level of the conscious mind there is understanding. There is a consequent awareness of what is happening, and the responsibility may be assumed to provide whatever direction is necessary so that the will of the Father coming down from above may be done under the direction of the Son by reason of the power of the Holy Ghost—by reason of what is rising up from below. “But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” Here is the Priesthood, the representatives of the conscious aspect of the mind of the body of the Son of God.
As this occurs, it is suggested here, “Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.” Can we not lift up our eyes and see what is happening, clearly outlined here a long time ago? “Then thou shalt see [if you look], and flow together [unified radiation], and thine heart shall fear [not be afraid, but be in awe of what it is that is happening: how great is God Almighty; there is awe], and be enlarged [there is the necessity of encompassing more, isn't there?]; because the abundance of the sea [that is, what is rising up to be made available out of the subconscious mind of humanity], the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee [shall be available for your use], the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.” The means by which the power of the Holy Ghost is made known on earth rises up from the subconscious levels of the mind of the body of the Son of God on earth.
We see how essential all the aspects of this perfect design are; you can't leave anything out. In the development of what we have thought of as the Emissary ministry much has been excluded. Again I don't say this in condemnation; it was part of the creative cycle. The vision was restricted during the cycle of attraction leading toward union, and even when there was some measure of union the reality of unified radiation wasn't comprehended or allowed to be adequately experienced. Now it begins to come clear. Why is this? Presumably because there is increased light. And why is there increased light? Because of the current of the spirit operating through the two essential poles. We can't, if we have a certain conscious understanding, pat ourselves on the back and say we have this understanding because we are special people. We have the understanding only when the essential facilities for the operation of the current begin to be in place. Then the positive pole from above and the negative pole from below complete the circuit, the arc jumps across, and there is light. Ah! Now we see a lot more than we saw before. But it didn't happen because we sweated and strained to make it happen, did it? nor because we are really such intelligent and spiritually vital people. I suppose it might be said it happened because we got caught in the squeeze, so to speak. We found ourselves at the level where this happens. Presumably there was some reason why we find ourselves there; it is not just by chance. However a clearer recognition cuts the human ego down to size and any lingering tendencies to arrogance can be dropped forthwith.
Our understanding, our ability to function as the Priesthood in this conscious level of the mind that was in Christ Jesus, is made possible by reason of what has been rising up out of the realm of the Gentiles. All superior attitudes, then, toward these “heathen” can be relinquished. They are absolutely essential to our experience. Of course there has been consistently the availability of the positive aspect of this creative current coming down from the Father. We have been able to operate within the range of the working of the Law because we ourselves as individuals had subconscious minds and something could rise up on this basis, and we could see something because of this. We could share a greater understanding, so that we might be maneuvered into position collectively to provide the facility for the Son aspect of consciousness. We can't say to ourselves, “I did it,” or “We did it,” but we do have some experience of coming into position: abiding in the Holy Place as the Priesthood, who certainly are an essential factor in what is happening. But standing alone they would be useless, they would be nonexistent in fact, because this experience of the Priesthood comes because of all the other things that are happening as well, and because the negative current has been released sufficiently at the subconscious level of the body of mankind to allow a rising up of the essential factor to complete the circuit.
So we have shared in this process, to a very large extent unwittingly, just as all those who participate in the subconscious aspect have been moving also unwittingly. And we begin to be put together in the design which allows for the restoration of mankind. The human mind certainly didn't do it. The spirit of God gets the job done. The initiating point was a Focus of the Word in form on earth. From that point of departure—which was preceded by a good many other things as well, mind you—over the last two thousand years there was set in motion what is occurring and has brought us to the point where we lift up our eyes round about and see all these people gathering themselves together. We have noted that there has been a tendency on the one hand to hold people at bay: “Don't come too close; we might be overwhelmed if you came too close,” and on the other hand saying, “Come on home.” Well that leaves virtually nothing! You say out of one side of your mouth, “Come,” and the other side of your mouth, “Don't come,” so they hover in between.
Something needs to be freed up here; not that what we know, what we understand, is going to be thrown out the window. We still know it, we still understand it; but we have a vision of wholeness which transcends the little petty state in which we may have existed before, a state in which we may have felt reasonably self-satisfied because we were identifying with the Word and we were expressing the Word and we were being fine people in our little areas of operation, but we didn't really know what was happening. Now you begin to see what is happening, and that we are associated with something that is, in human terms, vast; not very big in cosmic terms, mind you, but in human terms quite vast. And there are those who have been doing their thing without knowing that they were doing their thing, spiritually speaking—something rising up in them, compelling them to come into position. That position is not separate from us, any more than the subconscious mind is separate from the conscious mind. They compose one entity: one might say, the mind that was in Christ Jesus; both aspects are essential.
So we lift up our eyes round about and see. There are those who are pressing at the door, so to speak. Our purpose is not to keep them fended off. If we do that too much the pressure will become so great that they will burst through, and then we will all be swept away. However, on the other hand it is not a matter of flinging the gates open, so to speak, and welcoming everybody in regardless. There is discretion needed, discernment, a perception of what may be rightly done at this point. So let us not imagine that if we find something that can be rightly done at this point, or perhaps several things, we may then settle down and say, “Well now we've done it.” No, that's just the door open a crack, so to speak—finally it must be wide in its proper seasons.
There are many opportunities. I am sure that you will allow these opportunities to come into your own consciousness. I could stand up here and recite this, this and this and this as opportunities, but that is not what is required. What is required is that it should be your own awareness because the light is shining and you see. And so there is the opportunity to find ways and means of opening doors. Those who come on the basis of their response are quite willing to be moved in the right direction; that is what they are looking for. But we ourselves need to know what that right direction is.
There may be one in about a thousand—and that I think is a very high ratio—who actually is material capable of participating in the conscious aspect of the body of the Son of God. But most belong in this unconscious, subconscious aspect. Leave them there! There needs to be a rising up perhaps, a greater comprehension of what is happening in their own experience and on the larger scene. And this could be offered in a multitude of different ways, ways that are acceptable to the levels of consciousness of those concerned. The door can be opened. The attitude of welcome is an important element, making possible the blending of conscious and subconscious aspects of mind. Let whatever it is come, and deal with it when it comes. If it is something that doesn't belong it simply moves out very easily. Mention has been made of the power of spiritual expression.
I had a number of letters of response to this morning's service, but I don't think there was one of them, really, that undertook to say anything about what it is that might be open to do. The tendency is to talk about the service instead of moving in the current of the spirit that was initiated by the service. This should engender some awareness that there is an open door here for something to be done. We had a comment period at my house after the service, and a number spoke, and what was said was fine. I am not calling it in question particularly, except I don't think that anything came to point until I said something about this matter of opening doors. Then that carried over, actually, after the comment period with those who were still in the house, a further consideration; and some of these things no doubt will come to your attention in due course. But let's not sleep on the job!
Let us lift up your eyes and see: “see: all they gather themselves together.” What for? Hopefully they are coming home. What home? That one over there? Or the home right where one is? And how is the door going to be open for this? How are people going to be welcomed? Into a greater understanding of the reason for their existence on earth and a greater ability to handle their affairs. We have a world full of counselors these days, marriage counselors and all kinds. How about offering—seeing that this is quite acceptable to people—some true counsel, some true awareness? Maybe not in the form of, “Well you come to my office at such and such a time and I'll talk to you about your troubles,” but in opening doors, maybe collective doors for people, to gain a deeper understanding of what it is that goes on in the world, what it is that actually controls them, for instance, and why they do the things they do. They probably never stop to think about it. They imagine they are free agents and doing things the way they decide, never realizing that they are not free agents at all and that they are doing most things simply because the bell was rung à la Pavlov's dog! There is so much to be shared to increase understanding, for which people are hungry. Who is going to give it to them?
© Emissaries of Divine Light
Response! Lust! Passion!
Martin Cecil November 17, 1974 p.m.
As is usual after the morning service, I have received a number of excellent letters of response. There are many ways of response. Some of course are moved to come up to the house after the service and participate in the spoken word of response. It's interesting how human beings are inclined to get established in stereotyped patterns. Some feel that if the word response is mentioned, that means a letter. Maybe, but not necessarily. I would suggest that there are manifold ways of revealing response. The spirit of ingenuity is part of the spirit of God. I'm sure you have noted how very ingenious God is, and we, as human beings, were made in the image and likeness of God. Insofar as spoken response is concerned this tends to limit itself to a certain setting at a certain time. In other words it becomes more or less stereotyped; and the same with letters. Could anyone possibly imagine any other form of response? So how can response be revealed? Actually, the evidence of response is seen in what occurs in the individual's own life expression. One could go on writing letters for fifty years or more and never respond. The letters may be beautiful, they may touch upon realizations of a sort, but possibly the individual's life remains unaffected, in which case obviously there was in fact no response. Of course, I don't think it's possible for a person to keep writing letters for that length of time and not experience some little change in his life.
But surely some thought could be given as to the possibility of other fitting forms of response. Of course there are such things as gifts, which have always been offered freely by many; but I'm not thinking of that particularly. You know, in some of the religions of the world there is an exhibition occasionally of what is deemed to be response. Sometimes people roll upon the floor for instance. Now this might not be particularly fitting. I recall an occasion recorded in the Bible when King David went streaking through the streets as an indication of his hungering and thirsting after righteousness. His wife disapproved, but for him at that moment this apparently impressed him as the thing to do. I have given services where some black people were present who were rather accustomed to indicating their response during the course of the service itself. (I don't know why they necessarily needed to be black, but they were.) “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! That's right! That's right!” Now even that sort of thing becomes stereotyped too.
And yet, what is fitting? We presumably discover this to the extent that the veil is dissolved. Sometimes there is a reluctance to let the veil dissolve for fear of what might be required, but what is required when the veil does dissolve is something entirely natural; it is the truly natural state. Mind you, it may seem a little unfamiliar but it should never be looked upon as establishing some sort of requirements. As long as one is required to do something, it is liable to be an unnatural thing. On the other hand, there is also what we have spoken of as a returning cycle in response, which maintains an open door for the continuing movement of the creative cycle. If I speak to you this evening and there is no response at all, well obviously that would be that. Nothing would be moving and there would be nothing insofar as the continuing cycle is concerned. So response is necessary, and as I say, one form of it comes in letters, which can convey something of the spirit of the individual who is responding and indicate something of his vision and understanding, which all contributes to the continued movement of the creative cycle.
I am sure there are many ways of response that might be discovered. There are occasions when it is right for somebody to respond verbally right here in the Chapel. It's been done occasionally. But here again we need to be careful that it is fitting, that it is not a stereotyped thing: “Well now I think it's about time that somebody responded out of the congregation.” Each person has a responsibility in this regard, not necessarily for saying something on some particular occasion which would be repetitive, but in the experience of the moving of the spirit in the moment, something that is entirely natural to the person. If one is maintaining the veil there then nothing is felt and the individual just sits there. If the veil begins to thin a little then something becomes apparent, there's something moving here, and the individual may feel, well, there is a need for something. And if you don't on occasion feel there's a need for something I suspect there wasn't very much hungering and thirsting, because each one has a responsibility to contribute in some way. “Well,” we may say, “I contribute by washing the dishes; I contribute by doing my job day by day, earning money and contributing the money,” or whatever, and these are all ways of response; but don't get fixed in them as though that was all there was to response. Many could say, I“Well I've been doing this for years.” Is there nothing else, nothing else moving, nothing which would find a particular form of expression that is new, that hasn't yet been done for years? We need to keep alert, because we all carry a tremendous responsibility in this regard. The very word responsibility relates to it, doesn't it? It's the ability to respond. If you have not developed that ability to respond you are not in position to carry true responsibility. So it is something to consider, as to what might fittingly find expression uniquely through oneself.
Sometimes when we have response periods and somebody starts off and gives a pretty good response, then all who follow after just pick up what that first person said and everything goes into this one channel, as though there were no other possibility. There is properly a pattern into which response rightly falls, a pattern of relatedness—it's not as though everybody is supposed to go shooting off in all directions—but within the scope of that pattern of relatedness there is rightly a uniqueness insofar as the individual is concerned. Very often people are afraid that they're going to lose their individuality, and yet so many simply decide to lose it, apparently; they're just going to follow the crowd, be one of the sheep, just copy each other. Something needs to open up in a new way if this true hungering and thirsting is to be proven out. This relates to hungering and thirsting, doesn't it?—hungering and thirsting after righteousness. This may perhaps be a quiet thing. It doesn't mean we have to make a display of it, but obviously there must be hungering and thirsting present if the true expression of spirit is to appear, if it is to emerge. It certainly won't emerge in revealing the scope possible of human expression if one behaves like a vegetable. We are deemed to be human—until we prove otherwise—and therefore have potential for the revelation of God. This revelation only appears in the measure of the hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
We have considered some of the days of creation as these relate to changes that work out in our own experience. We have been aware of the commandment on the first day: “Let there be light”; and on the second day: “Let there be a firmament”; and on the third day: “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.” And we have seen what may be considered to be an unfolding sequence in this regard, an unfolding sequence related to our own experience. These three days have also a relatedness to what we have spoken of as the three Sacred Schools, a sequential movement, the first at the time of the children of Israel. And while that specific group of people failed to carry through and what was initiated disintegrated insofar as that specific group of people was concerned, this was a beginning point of a creative cycle which could then only move on from the standpoint of the Second Sacred School at the time when our Master was on earth. And even though the disciples and others failed to carry through in this, it was still a part of the continuing sequential cycle. What had occurred, had occurred, and there was no means of going back to cause it to occur over again. We need to recognize this insofar as creative cycles are concerned: if something aborts, you can't pick it up again; it's gone!
So there was the continuing movement relating to the Third Sacred School with which we have been particularly concerned. We have spoken of the spiritual expression plane approach, approaching at a new level, no longer trying to establish something first physically speaking: “We'll get it all lined up. We'll have some sort of an organization into which we will invite people to come and they'll pay their dues and express their beliefs and all this, and we'll have it all set up on this basis.” No, that's not the way it works anyhow, even from the standpoint of the First Sacred School. And neither are we going to do it from the standpoint of the mental approach, an intellectual figuring out of everything, the truth we're going to find. Never! But there is a spiritual approach which we have recognized as relating to a sensing of something, a sensing of something which cannot be defined, even though everybody first of all tries to define it. But to the extent that this has been done the real meaning has been lost. People like to have things in boxes, so that they know where they are, what they are—they think! Well you can't get the spirit of God into a box. What's put into a box lacks the spirit of God!
However there is the creative process which is of this sequential nature, coming to the fourth day of creation. Now the fourth day was the day when the fog cleared. “Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven.” They were already in the firmament of heaven but there was so much fog nobody knew it, until the point when the fog cleared. We have recognized this in relationship to our own experience. We're not endeavoring to make anything be. It is not a matter of building up, actually. That was the tower of Babel, wasn't it? It's a matter of becoming aware of what already is, what has been hidden by the veil or the fog; and on the fourth day properly the fog clears, and behold, the heavens, with lights in the firmament of heaven. There they are! They were there all the time but obscured by the fog. In other words, reaching this point where the veil is dissolved there is a different nature to the unfolding of the creative cycle, because instantly, when the veil is dissolved, the heaven is there. There has to be the creative cycle which permits the point to be reached when the veil may be dissolved; but when the veil is dissolved, that type of creative cycle no longer applies. We're not going anywhere.
There has been a concept of movement in relationship to the first part of the creative cycle. First of all, “Let there be light.” Then, “Let there be a firmament,” the firmament of the atmosphere of heaven in our experience. And then movement on and we come where the dry land appears; something begins to take form; there begins to be some evidence, in the external sense, of change. So there is the idea of movement in this way. It's just an idea; there wasn't really any movement, because the whole process was one of becoming aware of what was already there; but this is not clearly seen until the fourth day, when the fog is cleared. And there's the heaven, which has always been there, hidden by the veil but perfect behind the veil. There's been no distortion in relationship to the heaven because nothing of a distorted nature below the veil could penetrate the veil. Only when we reach a point where there is no more abomination, no more making lies, can there be the experience of the clearing of the veil, so that there is an awareness of the heaven that is present. Then nothing can enter into it that defiles or works abomination or makes a lie. The veil won't dissolve if there's anything of that nature present; it just stays there. And no matter how human beings have tried to force their way into heaven they haven't been able to do it, simply because the very endeavor to force one's way in somehow indicates the self-centered state, which doesn't belong in heaven.
So when the veil dissolves, the heaven is apparent. Now of course it doesn't dissolve in the twinkling of an eye. It thins, so that we can become aware of the brightest object, shall we say, in the heaven. And that dissolution takes place because of the hungering and thirsting after righteousness, which causes us to stop judging and begin to experience the spirit of thankfulness. We cannot by any means clamber up into heaven—no one ever has or ever will—because we do not need to go anywhere to find it. It is just exactly where we are, but obscured as long as the veil is in place. Now, we cannot be whole until the veil dissolves.
We recognize that the heaven is a part of this dimensional state. We are more familiar with other dimensions, what we may call earthly dimensions. The heavenly dimensions, having been obscured, do not seem like dimensions to us. When the veil clears we begin to recognize the reality of those dimensions. We have been able to describe what those dimensions are by using such words as love, truth and life, but the mere use of the words doesn't tell us what the dimensions are. We only begin to know the dimensions when the veil clears so that the reality of oneness may begin to be experienced, the oneness of heaven and earth. We do not know heaven as separate from the earth; it isn't separate from the earth. Anyone who imagines a heaven that is somehow separate from the earth is indulging in vain imagination, because it isn't the truth; it's simply a figment of human fancy. This heaven is one with this earth. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”—not two separate things but one thing with two aspects. But let us not think of aspects as relating to one over here and another over there. The heaven permeates the earth, and pull as you may, you can't really get them apart. The veil obscures the truth of this insofar as the human consciousness is concerned, that's all. The truth is true, regardless of what anyone thinks.
The wholeness insofar as one's own experience is concerned requires the dissolution of the veil; then there begins to be an awareness of what integrity means—integrity: heaven and earth integrated. Until there is the experience of heaven and earth integrated, for oneself, one doesn't know what integrity is. Then there begins to be a sense of wholeness, which is at the same time a sense of holiness. There is a holy ghost.
We were talking this morning about the unholy ghost—a ghost which is unholy, unsavory, unpleasant, no matter how pleasing some of its blandishments may seem to be to human beings. As long as the heaven aspect is absent the ghost lacks wholeness; it is therefore unholy, and the unholy ghost on the rampage is very destructive. Here is the power and, in human experience, mostly the power of destruction. The coming of the holy ghost, as it has been put, is only possible to the extent that the veil is dissolved. Then what is back of the veil is experienced as being back of and one with, permeating, what was before in front of the veil. Heaven and earth are one—a state of wholeness, which is the state of holiness; therefore the ghost, as it relates to the material aspect of being, is the holy ghost. The true ghost is no longer absent; it's present; it is wholly present in the dimensions of the earth of the individual. Of course it's not just an individual matter, because the fact is that we are not all separate people with walls in between us, the way it seems now. It seems that way now because the ghost is unholy; there's no sense of wholeness. The individual sense of wholeness brings with it the collective sense of wholeness.
So as long as the veil is in place, no matter how human beings strive to experience brotherhood and all this, it eludes them. It is impossible of experience on that basis. There must be wholeness in individual experience for wholeness in collective experience to be known. But this wholeness working out in individual experience, by reason of the creative process through those who hunger and thirst, is also working out in a collective sense. We can't pick ourselves out and say, “Well now I'm going to let it work out in me as an individual and I'm going to be whole and holy all by myself.” It's not possible, because we're part of a larger whole. So when the veil dissolves then the heaven is experienced as not only being right next to the earth but filling the earth, permeating the earth. This is the nature of heaven. The vibratory nature of heaven is what permits heaven to interpenetrate the vibratory nature of the earth. The higher vibratory pattern interpenetrates the lower vibratory pattern and they are one.
So it's not a continued sequential movement: “Well we've got as far as the fourth day now; the fifth day will bring us…” Where exactly? “We're going to find life; then on the sixth day we'll find truth, and on the seventh day we find love.” No, because when the veil dissolves there's heaven right next to us, right there, all of it, complete, whole, holy—it is holy. So the continuing creative cycle relates to the means by which this which is already whole and holy, this heavenly aspect of the individual, re-creates and clears the channel, the instrument, for the expression of this, physically, mentally, and in spiritual expression. The continuing movement of the creative cycle achieves this to the extent that the veil is dissolved, and of course as this is achieved the veil dissolves some more, until it's all clear and there is a state of oneness. That is MAN—the living soul!
As I say, it is not merely an individual matter. It is a collective matter, because there is a whole body of humanity, and this whole body of humanity must experience the clearing of the veil. Just as in our own individual bodies, in our own individual states of consciousness, there are those things which pass away, so also in the whole body of mankind there is a cleansing process. And that cleansing process has what human beings think of as unpleasant results. Ultimately people die, but before they die they suffer in various ways. This relates to the cleansing of the collective body, just as there is a cleansing of the individual body—not only the body as such but of course the consciousness of the body, and in fact it is the consciousness that is first cleared. And this, incidentally, relates to the fifth day of creation, where what is moving in consciousness is brought forth by the water. The water is what? The symbol of truth. It is brought forth by the truth, and what moves in consciousness is then of a living nature. The living creature it is called, which functions in the water and in the air. Here we see something which pertains to the unholy ghost beginning to become the holy ghost; the living ghost, not the dying one. Human beings sometimes have the idea that ghosts go on living interminably. Only when living or existing human beings keep them alive. The ghosts which haunt not only houses but human beings are kept alive by human beings. They have no life of themselves; they're dying ghosts. Let them die! But so many people want to keep the ghosts alive, don't they? Bloodsuckers they are, life suckers. Some carry them around until they have no more life left. Let the unholy ghost pass away, that the holy ghost may be experienced because we hunger and thirst after righteousness. This is our passion!
When our Master was arrested, unjustly accused, tried, sentenced, and the sentence was carried out, all this is spoken of as His passion. We didn't see Him making a big song and dance of it, and yet do you think He could have moved through that experience as He did, without changing character, if there had been no passion in Him, if there had been no real intensity of love and lust after God? Of course it was there, but the evidence appeared through what occurred in His own continuing expression of the true character. There it was all the way through, no shadow of turning, in spite of that horrible idea that was even put in the Bible, when He was supposed to have said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” How ridiculous! Somebody heard him saying something all right, and didn't understand what He was saying; it sounded like one of the Psalms. Can you imagine Him quoting one of the Psalms while He was hanging on the cross? I don't think so. It was the expression of the spirit which was fitting in the moment, in character all the way through. He didn't deny God, or betray God. That was what Peter and Judas did, respectively.
Hungering and thirsting—and the evidence of that is known by reason of living, is known by reason of the true character displayed, by reason of the consistency of that true character, no shadow of turning. This is only possible to anyone as the veil thins and that true quality of character in the heavenly aspect comes through and permeates the earthly aspect. What sort of technique are you going to find to cause this to happen? There ain't no such animal! because wherever a human technique is used there is a self-centered human being present using it, and if one is identified with that, using this technique, one is not going to experience the dissipation of the human ego; it's busy maintaining itself by its technique. I don't care what the technique is called; it may be something most holy and precious in the mind of the individual; there are many such things. Some of the techniques are called churches or denominations. Loyalty is poured out in this way and the self-centered human ego is maintained in consequence. Others use techniques of whatever—yoga for instance. It may be that some truth is present in these techniques but that truth is not known and cannot be known on the basis of an application by a human ego. It is only when what is in the heaven permeating the earth finds expression through the earth that what may look like a technique may appear. We may be careful about what we eat for instance. We may be careful as to how we breathe. We may be careful to provide our bodies with needed exercise. We may be careful in many ways, but not because this is going to get us into heaven. We have experienced heaven first, and then all these things are added, in the right way. All that we do is an expression of heaven on earth, and every phase of our living, every detail of our living, reveals it. If this is so, what has been lost? All our capacities to live are then used to the full in the right way—righteousness—and we don't have to go chasing after any pleasures. It is all a pleasurable experience, not because we try to make it so but simply because it is so.
Oneness—oneness is Love. Wholeness is Love. Love is the first dimension to appear in this dimensional state, and Truth is a dimension of Love, and Life is a dimension of Love and Truth. All our capacities then proceed to add dimension to dimension in the revelation of God on earth. Hungering and thirsting—passion! Let our lusting then be after righteousness and not after pleasure and power or any of the things after which human beings lust. Let this power, this energy, be offered to God in our lusting after righteousness, that the veil may be dissolved; not because we want to get anything, not because we want to fulfil ourselves, but simply because we long for the truth of the experience of man, and that truth is God. I am deeply thankful for the increasing willingness to move with that spirit present in the heaven; we do it easily and naturally, and the awkwardness begins to dissolve as the veil dissolves. How thankful to God, then, we may be this evening to share this spirit in oneness, and to touch an increased consciousness of wholeness, the reality of love!
© emissaries of divine light
