Book of Acts 1:1-16 & 2:1-8“The
former treatise have I made ... of all that Jesus began both to do
and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the
Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom
also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being
seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom
of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they
should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,
which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but
ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
“When
they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou
at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is
not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his
own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea,
and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had
spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received
him out of their sight.
“And
while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood
by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
“Then
returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from
Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. And when they were come in, they went up
into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew,
Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and
Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one
accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of
Jesus, and with his brethren. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of
the disciples, and said … (the number of names together were about an hundred
and twenty,) men and brethren …
“And
when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto
them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance …”
Uranda— The closing hours of
Easter Day in this year of our LORD one thousand nine hundred forty eight, and
we gather in His Name to consider the Way, the Truth and the Life. We have, in
our studies and considerations, been keenly cognizant of the necessity of living
life in accordance with the Christ Spirit of Being. As we have considered the
Way which is open, whereby we may let ourselves be resurrected from the tomb of
this world into the Life of the Kingdom of God on earth, we have proven, individually
and collectively, the Power of the Truth to set us free, and, beginning to be
free, we begin to know the Reality of Resurrection, and we begin to live the Life. The Resurrection and the Life—today the world has commemorated the
Reality of the Master's Victory over death, His coming forth from the tomb,
little realizing the deeper significances to be found in these events, little
realizing that man is privileged now
to be resurrected from the tomb of this world into the Life of the Kingdom here
on earth.
We touched on these things
in our Morning Service, but I wish now to carry you forward somewhat in the
Current to the events that followed. For forty days after His Resurrection, our
Master continued on earth. We find the statement in the third verse of the
first chapter of the Book of Acts where, speaking of Jesus, it is stated: “To whom
also” (i.e., to the Apostles) “He showed himself alive after his passion by
many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days”, and the concluding
portion of this verse is especially significant, although so little is recorded
of it—“and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Here is a
mystery. Our Master, having come forth victoriously from the tomb and the
Resurrection, continued to be seen of the Apostles for forty days thereafter,
having “showed himself alive” more than once, and speaking—of what
did our Master speak?—“of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Yet the
record of what He said in that period is contained in a few verses.
Do you suppose that all of
the things that He said were recorded? I think not. If they were ever recorded
they were deliberately set aside and ignored. The state of mind in the
disciples themselves as a whole is revealed just prior to His Ascension,
according to the record in the sixth verse of this same chapter: “When they
therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying Lord, wilt thou at this
time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Even those whom we know as the
Apostles were obsessed with an idea, which they did not let the Master Himself
eradicate from their minds. Back along through the period of Ministry we find
that, repeatedly, they assumed that He was going to set up an earthly kingdom.
He told them otherwise, repeatedly, and yet the majority of the Apostles, or Disciples,
failed completely to grasp His meaning and they were still under that obsession
even when the moment of His final Ascension was at hand. Is it surprising then,
that so little consideration is given to what He said when He was “speaking of
the things pertaining to the kingdom of God”?
How truly were they
earth-bound spirits, and yet in the hands of those earth-bound spirits rested
the continuity of the Ministry begun by Jesus the Christ. The Master instructed
them plainly to tarry in Jerusalem until they had received the baptism of the
Holy Spirit, and He promised that they would be imbued with the Holy Spirit.
His Promise was fulfilled, and yet even then, as they began to let themselves
find inspiration in the Current of the Holy Spirit, they, as a body, allowed themselves
to be swayed by impulsive Peter's rash self-active uses of the Holy Spirit. They
failed to acknowledge and follow the directing Head that the Lord had
established for them, and impulsive Peter's personality became dominant,
determining the course in a current of self-activity. It is not to be wondered
at, when men who had walked in the Way with Jesus Christ and shared three and a
half years of His Ministry, who had shared the hours of His trial and
Crucifixion, and who had been convinced of His Resurrection, and who, at the
moment of His Ascension could ask such a question: “Lord, wilt thou at this
time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” No. It is no wonder that they would
follow such a pattern as they did, for in that question they proved their
incapacity to comprehend the things He had been saying to them “pertaining to
the kingdom of God”.
Even in this day, nearly
two thousand years after, human beings are so materialistically minded, so
imbued with the ideas of the self-active world, that any concept of the reality
of the Christ Kingdom on earth is looked at askance, even by those who claim to
be followers of Jesus Christ. They, like impulsive Peter, prefer to twist it
around to suit their own fancies, to cause it to be what they think it ought to
be, and so few are willing to listen to the Word of Truth which reveals the Pattern
in Reality. Nevertheless, there is that which is of great significance to us in
considering what is called the Day of Pentecost, a short time after the Master
had Ascended; but first let us go back to Luke's record, here in the Acts, of
what the Master said just before His Ascension: “But ye shall receive power,
after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part
of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was
taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”
He said that when the Holy
Spirit should come upon them they would receive Power. The action of that Power
would have to be according to their perception of Truth. If they had learned to
live according to His Word, if they had recognized the Reality of His
instruction, then they would have been ready to use that Power to the Glory of
God and to the Blessing of their brother man, but, immediately upon receiving
greater Power they used it with the same shrivelled, warped state of consciousness
that had dominated them before. Yes, they received Power, and forthwith they
brought upon themselves persecutions and difficulties, and caused many ill and
terrible things to come to pass because they were not willing to let the Voice
of Truth determine the uses of that Power. Is it any wonder that, in the Third Sacred
School, such great emphasis is placed upon the necessity for correct function
in true Polarity, before the increase of Power is made manifest? The Master
could not do other than He did. The fault rested, not with Him, but with the
Disciples, and He could not tarry longer. He had given them all necessary
instruction, and He had ordained the Leadership which they should follow, but,
coming to the last moment, they could ask such a question as that—“Wilt thou”
now, “at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
When men could live and
walk with, and listen to, our Great Master through three and a half years of
Ministry, and pass through the events of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, and
listen to His Words speaking of the things “pertaining to the kingdom” during a
period of forty days thereafter, and could come to the final moment and ask
such a question and reveal themselves as being such shrivelled, wizened, warped
souls of men as that, it is no wonder that the Dark Ages ensued. It is no wonder
that there has been two thousand years of misery, sin, suffering, sorrow and death,
of wars, turmoils and conflicts, until, in the beginning of a New Age, those threads
could be gathered together once more and the Cycles opened in the Currents of Fulfillment.
But there wasa Day of Pentecost. The Master kept His Promise nevertheless, and they received
Power when the Holy Spirit came upon them—but the very moment they began to
receive that Power, instead of holding steady and letting the Spirit bring a
true understanding of the Word of Truth, they began to use the Power according
to their own concepts, and failed. Nevertheless, the outworking of these events
on the basis of the Master's Promise leave open the threads of that Current whereby
those who are faithful and true in this day and in this hour, may share in the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that they may, when the Holy Spirit is come upon
them, receive Power. “But ye shall receive
power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you.” That is true for the Faithful
Ones in this day, but what would be done with that increased Power? Are your
thoughts, your words, your attitudes, your states of polarity, so established
in Reality that you would be willing to take the responsibility for a truly
increased Current of Power in manifestation through yourself into the world? What
would happen? We have had many moments when we have shared a glorious outpouring
of the Spirit, but never yet a moment that truly corresponds with that which
was established on the Day of Pentecost. Why? Because the Unit is not yet ready.
But, for this Unit of Faithful Ones, there is the Promise: “Ye shall receive power after
that the Holy Spirit is come upon you”, and when, for this Unit, the Day of
Pentecost shall fully come, there will be the beginning of the manifestation of
the Works and the Greater Works.
Let me read from the
second chapter of Acts, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they
were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from
heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were
sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it
sat upon each of them.” Three verses—supposed to describe that event. The rest
of it is with respect to what followed after. We look forward to our Day of
Pentecost, but I do not mean a twenty-four hour day—a Day, a Cycle, a period of
time of Ministry which shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, when the Unit,
functioning according to the Voice of Truth shall receive Power and shall Minister
in the world. This is that Ordination for the Unit as the One Christ Body, which
shall yet be. How long shall it be until that Day? How long until we shall be
with one accord in one place, in full alignment in Reality, focalized vibrationally
according to the Law, with all restive emotions under control, with the heart
fully purified, with the mind fully permeated with the Truth and the
consciousness fully dedicated in reverent Love Response to the LORD of Lords
and KING of Kings, that, when the Unit shall receive Power it may act, not as a
self-active body—there are enough such in the world—but rather, as the Body of
the Christ on earth, in Oneness with the Father, letting the Father do the Works,
letting the Father speak the Words in the Power that is not of this world? My
Ministry has had, through the years, as its first Goal in the Absolute sense,
that Day when a Unit, well and truly formed, by those who let themselves be
drawn from the East, the West, the North and the South, shaped and formed
according to the Divine Pattern, with hearts purified, obedient to the Law,
might know that Ordination that shall be not just a Day of Pentecost but a
Cycle of Ministry and Being, which shall be filled with the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit, that the Unit may receive Power according to the Promise, not
Power to be used self-actively according to human concepts, but Power that
shall be used in letting the Father do the Works and speak the Words.
This is that toward which
we are moving; this is that to which you are dedicated as Members of that Unit on
earth. In such function there is no place for the shrivelled souls of men,
where the tempests of emotional upheaval continue, or for that filthiness of
spirit and mind which must wallow ever in degradation. It is a place for those
who are pure in heart; it is a place for those who are letting themselves be
established in the fullness of that Nobility of Being, that Reality of Truth,
that fullness of Divine Love, whereby our KING may cause again His Spirit to
manifest on earth.
He spoke, just after His
Resurrection, of “My Father and your Father, my God and your God”. His Word is
recorded: “I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your
God.” Individually, as they had been taught, they had an individual Father
within, but as a Unit, as a continued manifestation of the Vine on earth, as
the One Christ Body, they were to have the same Father, “My Father and your
Father”—and according to this Plan He had taught them to pray: “Our Father
which art in Heaven”. So, therefore, it is evident that this Unit, this Body,
is to be a means by which our KING may manifest Himself in Spirit on earth, but
that Unit is not to be a Unit of His Spirit only, but, according to the
Commission which He gave, not only on the Cross, but just before He ascended
also, and as is clearly revealed in His instruction prior to His Crucifixion—there
shall also be the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Love and Truth, which shall
allow the Unit, having been Resurrected, to be an expression of the Spirit of
Life on earth.
Has the world ever had
greater need that these things should be? Would it be wise for us to say within
ourselves, “The need of the world is not yet great enough; we will tarry a
little; we will delay ourselves until the need of the world is greater and thenwe shall let these things be”? Nay, let it not be so, but, rather, let the Unit
be, in its consciousness and in its mind and in its attitude, as thatUnit should have been when they saw that our LORD had truly come forth from the
tomb. He continued with them forty days, “speaking of the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God.” You have been taught much longer than forty days concerning “the
things pertaining to the Kingdom of God”, and you have had all things that He
said brought to your remembrance, that you might have all the advantages, all
the privileges of realization and understanding which were granted to those who
walked with Him in that day. Forty days after the Resurrection, after that
first Easter, He Ascended, and then a few days later they had what is called
the Day of Pentecost, and they received Power, after that the Holy Spirit had
come upon them.
Year after year, I have
looked forward to the Easter Season, trusting that surely the Unit should have
reached a point where it might begin to truly realize these things. Is this the
Easter Season, the Easter Day, the Day of Resurrection, which shall be followed
shortly by a Day of Pentecost for the Unit, or must we wait until 1949 or 1950 that such things might be? Has the Word of Truth been withheld, given
only in part? Has the Spirit of Divine Love been so little manifest that the Unit
cannot yet comprehend it? Has the Reality of the Resurrection been but a vague dream?
Has the Word concerning “the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” been too
ambiguous to let a true realization yet manifest? What more is needed? What more
is required that the Unit may let its Day of Resurrection truly manifest, and, having
come forth from the tomb, may let the Day of Pentecost truly come? Surely, there
have been delays enough, and we need delay no longer! “Blessed are the pure in
heart: for they shall see God.” Let us come together, with one accord in one
place, where the purified heart, the serene and tranquil emotional realm, and
the consciousness transformed into that Mind that was in Christ Jesus, may let
our LORD continue His Work on earth through His Unit Body, that the Branches of
the Vine may truly bring forth fruit—much fruit.
O LORD of Lords and KING
of Kings, I thank Thee for these Blessed Ones and for all who are with us in
Spirit, for all who are letting themselves be blended into Thy Body on earth,
that this Unit may, being purified and made whole as Thy Body, come truly to
that Day of Pentecost when it shall receive the Holy Spirit, and Thy Power
shall be made manifest, not to restore the kingdom to Israel, but to bring forth
into manifestation on earth the Kingdom of God, that the Christ Kingdom may be a
Reality on earth, and that it may grow and fill the whole earth, that every
knee may be caused to bow before Thee, and that every lip may be caused to
acknowledge Thee, the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, for IN the Christ it is
so established, and shall be accomplished. Aum-en.
The Spirit of our LORD and
KING be with thee always, even as it shall be as thou shalt abide in Him, and
let Him abide in thee.
We remember that, at the time of Pentecost, the record states that they were all with One Accord in One Place, about one hundred and twenty people; and they had been devoting themselves to prayer and meditation for a period of ten days, to achieve that unity of the Vibrational Pattern which finally developed. And when they reached a point of being with One Accord in One Place, vibrationally, there came a Sound as of a Rushing Mighty Wind, and it filled the Whole House where they were sitting. There came a Sound as of a Rushing Mighty Wind and filled the Whole House where they were sitting, and there sat on them as if it were cloven tongues of Fire. When we reach that point of attunement with the Cosmic Forces of Being which permits a true Centering in the Spirit of God there is always some experience which more-or-less correlates with that which was experienced at the day of Pentecost.
In the ancient writings of various parts of the world there is recognition of theAum, and then there is recognition in various ways of what is called the Music of the Spheres—all touching into the same thing. This particular experience of letting the Divine Current flow freely is something that is really indescribable, and any consideration of it moves into the realm of Holy Ground, the most sacred of things. It is a little difficult to say anything much about it without touching into the field of some personal experience or other, and that has its drawbacks. A personal experience is just that—personal—and the details involved will vary from person to person, from time to time, or from group to group, as the case may be. I do not think there is a better way to describe one aspect of it, at least, thanthe Sound of a Rushing Mighty Wind. But it is not a Sound that you hear with the outer ears—this Sound fills the Body. One has a consciousness of it from within oneself. Perhaps we do not need to go further into that for the moment, except to point out that only to the degree that we, individually and collectively, share attunement in that Mighty Reservoir of Eternal Power can we truly, effectively, serve.
The relationship of all of this to our present problem can be seen in the fact that we are beginning to let an increased Current of Power manifest. But there has not as yet developed a central Solid Pattern or Core of personal understanding, realization, centering, with respect to it. So the whole matter appears on the basis of the fact that we are building something. Something that is not yet manifest is appearing, and when that process is taking place someone has to take the central strain or responsibility of developing a Control Pattern. That is naturally my responsibility, and I am not in the slightest degree objecting to it; but the more rapidly you gain an understanding of what is involved, and your personal relationship to it, the more rapidly will you share in the greater manifestation of God’s Power working through you, and the more quickly will you reach the point where, because of sharing in a Core or Solid Unit Pattern, you will not be under the necessity of facing unnatural, or in the ultimate sense unnecessary, stresses and strains yourself.
Song of the Universe
from Steps To Mastership Lesson 3
Uranda 1936
Among the sayings of the Naacal Sages we find these words: “Words of wisdom rejoice the heart of the wise.” Behold, all the secrets of life, both above and below, are revealed within man. Therefore, it hath been said, “Man, know thyself.” To gain an understanding of the Laws of Life, and the means whereby to apply them, behold yourself. In every organ is hidden a spiritual secret. In every part is hidden a Law of God. To the end that we may gain an understanding of these hidden Laws, and attain unto the Mastery which we seek, let us now begin a study of the relationships between the Body of God and the body of man. Who can comprehend the Body of God? Man functioning within the limiting confines of his conscious mind, cannot attain unto such understanding. For man must ascend into the consciousness of the Inner Self before the hidden things may be revealed.
Man was created “in the image and likeness of God.” Through the Law of Correspondence you may gain a glimpse of the Body of God. The body of man is composed of cells, which are in turn composed of atoms. The atoms are composed of electrons which revolve around a central proton, just as our solar system is composed of planets revolving around our central Sun. Thus we see our solar system as an atom in the Body of God. We see our Universe as one cell in the Body of God. We see the UNIVERSE of Universes, in all its vast expanse—endless in scope, Eternal in Being, with perfect harmony made manifest through unalterable Law which extends from the smallest atom to the greatest Universe—all this we see as the Body of God. Just as your spirit is everywhere present in your body, and through it you are aware of that which transpires in every part of your body, just so is the Spirit of God everywhere present in the Universe of universes which is God's Body. All things are in God, and without God there could be nothing.
We will not now seek to comprehend the Glory of the CENTRAL SUN of the Central Universe of the UNIVERSE of Universes. We will not now seek to comprehend the Glory and Greatness of the Supreme Being who dwells in that CENTRAL SUN and guides the destiny of all that is. This Being man can never comprehend. This Being no man could look upon and live. This Supreme Being is the MYSTERY of Mysteries, and HIS NAME may not be spoken by mortal tongue. In the Book of Books it is recorded that He may be known as, I AM THAT I AM. But of God we may study and comprehend a little, for God is all there is, and that part of that which is which presents itself to our senses we may study, and like Moses of old, we may see the “hinder parts” of God. But to do even this we must sanctify ourselves and ascend into the High Mountain of consciousness, which is Sinai. Therefore, let us sanctify ourselvesagainst the Third Day—which is to say, in all three phases of our beings, Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Expression. On the Third Day—that is, when we have sanctified ourselves fully in all three planes, and all three of these phases are perfectly coordinated according to the Divine Plan, and when we have ascended into the High Mountain of consciousness of the Spiritual Plane—the Lord will come down to the mountain in a “thick, black cloud” and He will talk with us, and He will reveal to us the Laws of Life. We can understand these Laws of Life only as we gain an understanding of ourselves, and we can understand ourselves only to the extent that we understand our relationship to God. According to the Law, “Like begets Like.” God could not create that which is different from Himself, therefore, “Man was created in the image and likeness of God.”
Let us now study ourselves in relation to our correspondence with God. When you speak, you use air, and the working of the air through the vocal cords and the mouth produces sound. As we study, remember that air corresponds to the Spirit of God. Air pressure produced in the lungs causes the Vibrancy of Sound as the air leaves the mouth. Even so, within God is the Source of the Force which sends forth the Spirit, and the Spirit produces that Spiritual Sound which is the Song of the Universe, the Cosmic AUM.
The lungs of God you may know as the Reservoir of the Spirit which God breathes. This reservoir of the Spirit is in God. The Spirit flows into God and goes forth again from God, yet remains within God—even as the air flows into your bodies and goes again from you. When you receive the air into your bodies it brings the Blessings of Light. When you send it forth it carries that which your bodies throw off as poisons. With the Spirit, as it flows into God, are the needs of the Universe which are to be supplied. God is Good, Perfect, and Holy. Therefore the Spirit going forth from God carries that which God is sending forth—not poison, but Life, Blessing and Abundance of all good. Therefore, you see that in God and in man the same principle is at work; yet, because God is the Source and man receives, there is a difference. That which man receives carries Life and Blessing. That which God sends forth carries Life and Blessing. That which man sends forth carries the poisons of his nature. That which God receives carries the needs of the Universe. God breathes the Spirit to supply the Spirit with Blessing. Man breathes the air to receive, from the air, Blessing. Both breathe—one Spirit, the other Air.
When man rises in consciousness above the point where he sees himself as separate from God and begins to be unified with God, man, to that degree, begins to breathe the Spirit, and to that degree he becomes more than man. For then, like God, he breathes forth Life and Blessing. Therefore, to gain Mastery, man must begin to breathe the Spirit, and accordingly begin to send forth rather than to receive only. Here you see the secret of why Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than receive.” As long as man receives only, he does not partake of the nature of God, for God gives Life and Blessings. Breathing the air in the proper way helps man to begin to breathe the Spirit. The more man breathes the Spirit, the nearer he comes to the point of Mastery, where his Word is Creative, where his Power is unlimited. For the only limit placed upon man, in the flesh, is but the limit man sets in the amount of the Spirit which he breathes, becoming like unto God. You have been admonished, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The first requirement in attainment of Perfection is the Breathing of the Spirit.
After you begin to Breathe the Spirit, you can begin to learn about Life. The babe born into the world shows you this, for the first thing that must be accomplished after birth is the start of the breathing process. You are as babes being born into the Spiritual Realms. Would you know the Secrets of Life? You must first begin to Breathe the Spirit. Would you walk, would you run upon the Spiritual Way? You must first begin to Breathe the Spirit, and even as the babe must be slapped upon the back to cause him to breathe, the buffeting of Life slaps you on the back until you begin to Breathe the Spirit. Therefore hear these words. The physical expressions of the Spiritual nostrils are to be found in the brain, one on either side of your head. Through these physical expressions of the Spiritual functions, you can Breathe the Spirit. It is well that as you begin your Silence you breathe air freely, fully, deeply, rhythmically. Then, ceasing to breathe so deeply, forget the air. Concentrate on the two sides of your head near the top, above your ears. Make as if to breathe long, slow breaths through these points. You will feel not only a sensation as if two openings were in your head but also a fullness in the back of your head, for there you will find your Spiritual lungs. Practice this but a short time to begin with. Then increase the time and you will feel the tingling flow of the Spirit through your Whole Body. You are but beginning to Breathe the Spirit.
This is the day of resurrection. In the Christian world it is Easter Day, a time when the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated. But this is the day of resurrection. Most people find it a little difficult to relate to the idea of resurrection. As we have noted before, it is easy to relate to the event of the crucifixion. We all, I’m sure, feel that we have been treated unjustly, at times at least, and we all can relate to suffering. But resurrection is a different matter. There is seemingly no experience in this regard, so imagination has been used. This is understandable by reason of the fact that there has been no experience of resurrection for human beings in general. For something to be known it must be experienced; otherwise it only exists in imagination.
Nevertheless this is the day of resurrection for all people; not just for special candidates, but for the whole human race. Does this mean that it will happen during this twenty-four hours? It is happening during this twenty-four hours, but a day in this sense relates to a period of time. There are certain days of creation recorded in the Book of Genesis. Some have assumed this meant that the world was created in a week. But the word day used in this way is a period of time. This is the day of resurrection; this is the period of time in which resurrection is taking place. In some ways this period of time might be looked upon as having been quite lengthy thus far, because it was particularly initiated almost two thousand years ago. The process of resurrection has been in operation ever since, working at levels where the conscious mind had virtually no awareness at all.
This day of resurrection for mankind was set in motion, as I say, almost two thousand years ago. This was done on an individual basis by one man. As we were noting, we could easily relate to some of His experiences leading up to the crucifixion. It is easily seen that He didn’t resist what was occurring. He let it work out the way it was going. He didn’t make any plea for His human rights, something which is very strongly in the minds of human beings these days. He didn’t resist; He didn’t even object. He simply let it happen. It seems to me that one of the comments He is supposed to have made was, “Resist not evil.” So He was true to His own instruction. There came a moment when He was on the cross when He accepted the actual state of mankind into Himself. This was at the point when it was said He gave up the ghost, when in fact He relinquished the awareness of His conscious mind.
This is the actual state of mankind. There is no true awareness, in the conscious sense, in the body of mankind, or there has been no awareness. The only awareness there has been has been of the nature of a dream state. One may think of oneself as being present in one’s dream, moving around, doing whatever it is, but it is something that is simply occurring subconsciously, and yet there is a conscious awareness of it. That is pretty well descriptive of the state of mankind, functioning at a subconscious level, with some conscious awareness of the fact. That could hardly be described better than a dream.
It was indicated that should human beings eat of the forbidden fruit, become subject through their own feeling reactions to the world around them, judging it this way and that, they would die. It would be a fatal mistake. That has certainly proved out to be the case. A sure thing is death, they say. But the body of mankind as a whole is still in existence. The death sentence hasn’t been carried out yet—individually speaking, yes, generation after generation. At that point on the cross this Man assumed into Himself the state of mankind. His body shortly thereafter was removed from the cross and placed in a sepulcher. Clearly He was unconscious, in the mental sense, during that time. It is assumed that He was dead, although it didn’t prove out to be the case. According to the record some words were imputed to Him which were supposed to mean something, which in fact they didn’t: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”—supposedly “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” a quotation from the Psalms. I doubt if He was too interested in quoting from the Psalms under those circumstances! Would you be? No, the indication here was, as it might be translated: “Darkness, darkness, covers my face.” In other words He was relinquishing the awareness of His conscious mind; He was losing consciousness. It is indicated that He “gave up the ghost.” This has been used subsequently to indicate that a person is dead at that point when he has given up the ghost.
But fundamentally, while the conscious mind was relinquished, the subconscious mind was still in operation, the realm of the ghost; the control was being given into that realm. There was no more conscious mind on hand to do anything. But something was happening in the subconscious levels; here was present a pure heart—one point within the total consciousness of mankind at that time, of a pure heart. We recognize that all people participate in the consciousness of mankind. This was true of this one man, the same as everybody else; the distinction was that His heart was pure. In other words there was free access for the spirit of God through this open window of heaven. It was by reason of this fact that what has been called the resurrection took place.
We have an awareness that the subconscious levels of the mind constitute the realm of power: “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” The Holy Ghost relates immediately to these levels of the mind of man, at least rightly so. It has been a pretty unholy ghost of course heretofore. But at that point of initiation of the creative cycle of resurrection for the body of mankind there was one point of purity of heart. Through that one point something could work. It proved out that it did work by reason of the resurrection of the body of Jesus. Here was the power of not only transformation but transmutation at work. This was the action of the spirit of God through the pure heart and subconscious levels of mind in that particular form.
One can speculate about these things but it is of little consequence because such speculation is all in the realm of imagination. It only has meaning when there is the actual experience. This is the day of resurrection. It has been this day for the last almost two thousand years. It has now reached this point. During this whole period the creative action of the spirit of God has been working—initially through that one point but subsequently there has been an expansion in that regard—within the scope of the subconscious levels of the mind of mankind. Changes have been in the process of being wrought. This is the case whether human beings like it or not, whether they know it or not. Something has been happening. Perhaps we begin to be in position, with others, to realize these things, because what has been happening has finally begun to emerge and break through to the level of consciousness, to the level of the conscious mind, the waking conscious mind. This waking conscious mind is aware of a world that is not at all the same as the world of which the sleeping mind is aware, not the same as the dream world in other words. I’m sure all of you would acknowledge that in whatever measure you have had the opportunity to see things in a different way, to understand things in a different way from that which is common in the world as human beings know it, your understanding, your approach, is different—or has the opportunity of being different. There is somewhat of a distinction here. Some have taken advantage of the opportunity; others haven’t. All these things prove themselves out.
In any case here is the day of resurrection. The One who came on earth, and was called Jesus, offered a different way, to start with; but clearly that was rejected. Christians subsequently have tried to convince themselves that somehow it wasn’t rejected, because they were picking up the scraps, so to speak, afterwards. But what He brought was absolutely rejected. And there is nothing that anybody could do about it subsequently to try to gather it together again. What He brought was gone. But He did establish, by assuming the responsibility which He did while hanging on the cross, the day of resurrection, resurrection which would come inevitably. Who would be included in the experience might be a question. But the day comes. The day is here. The fulfilment comes. We have called the resurrection the restoration of mankind to the true state of man, revealing the likeness of God on earth. Simple. This is not something that human beings by their own efforts could possibly do. They do not know God, after all.
But the working of this creative spirit, through the mass consciousness of mankind since this working was initiated, has wrought many changes. Human beings are inclined to take credit for these changes when they seem to be indicative of real evolution in the human race: technology for instance. This is claimed as though the human mind thought it up, and people feel proud of themselves in this and compliment each other about it—the great men of the earth. In every field this is the way it works from the human standpoint; but it isn’t the way it is really working, because anything that has happened has happened because of this creative working through the subconscious minds of the human race as such, emerging specifically in this individual and that and invariably being mistranslated, translated according to the structures that were already present in the impure hearts of human beings. So all kinds of marvelous things have happened. There is a great civilization, were told. It doesn’t seem to be quite so great and stable as it might be.
So in this day of resurrection the creative spirit of God has been at work, transforming things in the mass consciousness. Many people have the notion these days that we’re moving into some sort of a new age. If we see it in the terms which I have been describing I suppose that could be one way of describing what is happening. As this creative spirit has been at work changes have been wrought, and according to the quality that was present in individual human beings they have either been caused to move upward in the process of resurrection—that is, letting something clarify in their own subconscious minds—or they have been resisting the process. If the resistance is over fifty percent, I suppose, then the individual tends to go down; it tends to be a destructive and painful experience. While the choice may not for the most part—to start with at least—be a conscious one, a choice is constantly being made by people as to how they shall relate to the creative movement of this spirit through their own subconscious minds.
Of course the already existing structures that are present in the subconscious minds of human beings the world around tend to influence what happens in the individual experience. Tradition dies hard, for instance. All that tradition is is a more or less rigid structure which has been built in the consciousness of human beings over the centuries, over the millennia indeed. And so they have these things still in their subconscious minds and the creative spirit of God comes up against them. They either are allowed to yield, because the character of the individual is such as to permit this to happen, or if there is no yielding there is resistance. And there is nothing that can stand in the way of the movement of that creative spirit, so people find themselves being thrown down. That is an uncomfortable experience; it’s much more comfortable to be resilient, to be willing to let go and not to feel that one is betraying anything by doing so. The reason why people feel that they are betraying something is because they have worshipped these images, these traditions, these rigid structures in their subconscious minds. And they occasionally come out into the conscious mind; human beings describe them this way and that; but it has been more important to most people, seemingly, to be loyal and true to these rigid structures than to be true to the creative spirit of God. Of course the choice hasn’t been clear-cut in their own consciousness, but it has become clear-cut in our consciousness, hasn’t it? It started out by being a subconscious thing, and finally it broke surface somewhere along the way and we became conscious of the truth, conscious of the way things really are—at least to the extent that we could see it at that point, which certainly was not a complete view, and isn’t a complete view yet. But we can understand something of what is happening on the grand scale—we could put it that way—at least grand in the eyes of human beings; small potatoes from the universal standpoint.
Seeing this larger view of things we can emerge out of our self-centeredness a little more, if we will, and recognize what our individual responsibility is in the matter, because if we do have a conscious awareness of these things, such as it is at the moment, then we have a responsibility to handle what arises in our own subconscious minds on the basis of what we see, what we know, and not on the basis of the usual traditional eruptions out of the subconscious state. We have noted recently that all human thinking, all of it, has been based in the fact that human beings in their present state have impure hearts, so that what rises up to be thought about rises up out of an impure heart, so that what is called thinking is always rationalization, rationalizing something that is already present in the impure heart. Human beings have become expert at this. There are some brilliant rationalizers in the world—they are sometimes called brilliant minds—very capable of making things seem to be something that they aren’t, making it all seem so logical and reasonable when it isn’t, when all it is is explaining away the impurities that are present in human hearts. This is a futile undertaking, leading nowhere. The nowhere is called the grave.
The body of Jesus was placed in the sepulcher, in the tomb, but obviously there was something happening with respect to that body or it surely couldn’t have stood upon its feet and walked out into the garden. Of course there was the little problem of rolling away the stone from the mouth of the sepulcher to start with. The illustration is absolutely accurate. He had taken upon Himself, accepted the state of, the body of mankind, which is lying in a tomb. Who can dispute that fact? Is not the consciousness of mankind oriented in death? It is a general attitude that death is the most important thing in life! Rather contradictory, one would suppose, but death occupies center stage. And, as Job put it one time, “The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me.” We worship death through fear. It’s interesting to observe that death is the central theme of human experience, the absolutely sure thing in their view. They put taxes alongside; but they’re not really quite the same as death, are they? Here is the one thing that is supposed to be absolutely sure; here is god, eternal god: death. Of course people don’t look at it that way, but that’s the attitude that is being taken. And they revolve around this god.
But there is something at work in the mass consciousness, as there was something at work in the subconscious mind of Jesus in the tomb. He was in a coma there. Human beings, the body of mankind, has been in a coma for a long time: no conscious awareness of the truth, no conscious awareness of what the being of man is, just a sick figment of fancy, an un- pleasant dream in the tomb. This is the human state. Whether anyone believes it or not, likes it or not, that’s the way it is. Human beings have long lost consciousness of the truth as it relates to themselves. Because there has been such a big blank there they have invented all kinds of things to try to fill the blank, but not too successfully. There has always been that emptiness, that sense of insecurity, which they try to fix one way or an- other. We’ve all indulged in this stuff. And all that leads to nothing.
But now, the human race having been given opportunity repeatedly to rise up of its own choice consciously, and having refused to do that, the only way left by which it can be done is subconsciously. This is what is happening. There is the creative action of the spirit of God, initiated at that starting point long ago and working in the subconscious mind of man ever since to sort things out there; so that there will be those who rise up and there will be those who go down. And this is what is happening. We have the experience, in some measure at least, of rising up, or of being given the opportunity to rise up; and again I make that distinction. There are others of course in the world; certainly we’re not the only ones! Everyone in fact is participating in this process: up or down. For a while there are those who are in between—the lukewarm they were called, weren’t they? Neither one thing nor the other. But eventually the issue is presented and each individual either rises up or goes down.
In the rising-up process of course something begins to be seen of a larger vision. To start with, that larger vision is always translated on the basis of previous traditions, but obviously what is to be known in the resurrection is not something that has ever occurred before. It can’t be translated on the basis of forms out of the past. You’ll note that the writers of the Gospels had a little difficulty in describing what happened after the resurrection. Of course! They didn’t know what happened. So they wrote some stories, which may have within them a kernel of truth but they are rather deceptive, because the resurrected state is not the same state as the unresurrected state. The state and condition of the experience of Jesus was not the same after the resurrection as it was before the crucifixion—something different, about which human beings know nothing. They have no experience of it, so all they can do is invent imaginative stories. How about finding out what it is?
Well we have the opportunity, not just for ourselves as individuals but because we are a part of the whole body of mankind. What is happening is happening to the whole body of mankind, no exceptions. Those who compose that body of mankind participate in the resurrection or in the disintegration of what has existed in the experience of human beings heretofore. This nightmare state is passing away. We either identify ourselves with the nightmare state and pass away with it or we allow ourselves to move in the resurrecting process. This is happening, as I say, with human beings everywhere. Some have come to a level of breakthrough into a conscious awareness of the true identity of mankind: Man, made in the image and likeness of God, a facility for God’s action on earth. The identity of man is God, but it hasn’t been in his own consciousness. He has tried to have something separate, all his own, so he could do as he pleased.
Now we come again, in this cycle of resurrection, to the opportunity of participating ever more fully in a true conscious awareness of the mind that was in Christ Jesus. Here is the Son state of consciousness. But the Son state of consciousness is not separate from the subconscious levels, the Holy Ghost state of consciousness. It is all one and is all being clarified. The process of resurrection is in operation. Awakening to this, then consciously we are in position to be deliberate in our attitudes, deliberate with respect to whatever it is of the impurity, the filthiness, of the subconscious mind which may present itself to us. Human beings are inclined to kowtow to these things and say they can’t help it. They are going to be unpleasant if they feel like it. They are going to judge things, they are going to judge people, they’re going to condemn, they’re going to criticize, if they feel like it. Well that’s a dead giveaway! Very dead. If they feel like it: the filthiness of the heart coming out and establishing the control as to how the individual is going to operate, what he’s going to do, what he’s going to say, how he’s going to act, how he’s going to behave. In the resurrection one acts and behaves in the consciousness of the Son of God, or the Daughter of God, and not on the basis of the way one feels. So many people say, “Well I would be dishonest: I feel this way, therefore I have to act this way.” That is dishonesty! It is denying the truth, denying the reality that is present to be expressed. The individual says, “I can’t express that reality; that would be dishonest because I feel some other way.” Who cares how human beings feel? What is it that should be expressed that is honorable and true and right and which does not judge and condemn and criticize and throw down? When we begin to associate ourselves with that truth, which is the only truth, then we find ourselves participating in the resurrection of life. The other aspect of the resurrection is the resurrection of damnation, as it was called—in other words going down, refusing to accept honestly the truth of one’s own divine character. That acceptance is the only honest thing to do; everything else is dishonesty.
So here we are to share in the resurrection, not because we set it up or are so much better than somebody else; but we have the opportunity of seeing, of knowing, and woe unto those who have this opportunity and do not accept the responsibility that goes with it. So we share in allowing the conscious mind of the body of humanity to be reconstituted. By reason of the Son, this conscious mind, the direction is given, the control is extended, with respect to anything that is not fitting that rises up out of the sub- conscious mind. “Get thee hence, satan!” Quite simple. But it takes deliberate action to do it.
This is the day of resurrection. Behold, I come quickly. It may have seemed to be rather slow heretofore, having taken almost two thousand years to get to this point, but I think you and many others are quite aware that something is coming quite quickly now. There has been a clearing, the creative action of the spirit of God is present, and human beings either yield to it, forget all their human nonsense, or they go down. We have the opportunity to the extent that we see, understand and know these things, to offer a point of orientation to all those who, although they do not see clearly, nevertheless sense what is happening and are moving in that resurrecting way. We rejoice to provide for them an enfoldment, a love with no judgment. But we will not be in position to offer no judgment if we have been judging the person sitting right next to us, or if we’ve been judging ourselves, and condemning and criticizing, tearing down, and refusing to face honestly one’s own impure heart, trying to justify and excuse oneself. Ugh! Horrible, isn’t it, if you really look at it. I had the misfortune to see quite a little of it, and one sees it in oneself too.
Let the resurrection occur under the hand of the Lord, by the spirit of God, the Holy Ghost at work in the subconscious mind raising up what needs to come to the conscious mind, so that it may be dealt with. Behold I make all things new. And as that consciousness clarifies, the dream state, the old world of the dream state, passes away and the true world, which is in fact already present, becomes known. That movement is easy when it is our movement; it’s tough when we resist it. So there is a little hint: Do you find anything tough? You know why. Move easily in the creative spirit of God and participate thereby in these final cycles of the day of resurrection, final hours I suppose, of the day of resurrection. Praise the Lord for this opportunity. As we well know, the true character of God in expression through man reveals itself in thanksgiving and thankfulness, amongst other ways. Let us be thankful for this glorious way which is consciously open before our awareness. Let us give thanks for it and walk in that way.
