We wish to emphasize the fact that the body, of the man or the woman, or of the child, is supposed to be an Ark of the Covenant, an Ark of the Testament, a manifestation of the Temple of the Living God, a specific place that is supposed to be holy and sacred, within which no ill vibrational pattern may be found; for wherever there are stress patterns in the vibrational factor, at any level, the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells is withdrawn, and only when the patterns of accord and true peace are again made evident can there begin to be the restoration of the manifestation of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. This manifestation is something which must be allowed to grow. It is something which appears in a creative field and does not manifest in its fulness in the instant. When it begins to appear, when the glowing Light is first seen, we have evidence that the Presence has been there for a considerable period, that the creative field has been maintained, that there have been no adverse vibrational factors, no discords, no resentments, no critical attitudes, no conflicts, no fear; for where these things rule we never see the beautiful glowing Light or the Cloud of Glory revealing the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. As we meditate upon these basic factors we can begin to appreciate the great significance of the simple words: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Generally speaking, human beings are not still enough long enough to permit any real beginning manifestation of the Shekinah Fire. Human reactions, patterns of attitude such as resentment, and the whirring of the endless rounds of meaningless thoughts, or so-called thoughts, maintain a condition which prevents the manifestation of the Light that glows and the Cloud that forms, that in season the Cloud may become still more dense and the glowing Light begin to appear as if it were a Fire. As long as human beings are more concerned about the expression and manifestation of their own ideas and concepts and desires, their own patterns of thought and word and action, yea and of feeling, than they are about the manifestation of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, they will have their reward: the privilege of expressing that which they think they think, which they think they feel, which they think they believe, which they think they wish to do; but none of these things bring peace or satisfaction or the Glory of living, only the futility and the emptiness of the processes of dying.
So it is that sooner or later, somewhere, somehow, we shall surely find among you, or among some people somewhere, those who are willing, yea eagerly willing, to be more concerned about the manifestation of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells than they are concerned about making evident the expression of their own thoughts and feelings and words and deeds. And when at last there are those who are willing, yea eagerly willing, to be with one accord in one place, and to remain so, there shall surely be the beginnings of the manifestation of the Cloud; and within the Cloud, finally the beginning of the glowing of the Light; and within the Light, finally the reality of the Fire. And these reveal the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
We note that in the structure of the Ark of the Testament there were two cherubim, one at each end of the Ark, establishing the points of polarity in a creative field. And the appearance of the glowing Light, or of the Fire within the Light that glows, was between these two poles in the creative field. When it shall be that human beings, yielding to the spirit of God, shall reach a place where they begin to be in place as Angels of God on earth there begins to be established a pattern of polarity, the beginning of the manifestation of a creative field. And under the working of the Law there is the beginning of a glow of the Light that glows between these two poles within the creative field. When human beings first begin to feel the glow of the Light that glows they imagine they have attained to something great and wonderful, and they have, in the sense of the beginning of things; but generally they do not let it go beyond that point, for at once they begin, as Peter did, to want to use the glow, and the power that they feel in the Light that glows, for their own purposes, for their own desires. And they may have a little power for a little time, but soon self-centeredness and misuse causes the glow to vanish and the Light to disappear. And when the glow is gone and the Light is no more, there is a coldness and a hardness and a darkness, that tells of the tomb that is at hand. For it is not only the Kingdom of the King of heaven and earth that is at hand. Likewise there is the darkness of the tomb that is at hand.
So each must choose for himself or herself the direction in which he shall go, the place to which he shall come: to accept the privilege of learning to be still, ceasing all self-activity, letting the heart be made pure. What was it the Master said? “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” It is written that Moses saw God and talked with Him. What did Moses see? He saw the Shekinah Fire. He saw the Fire within the Light that glows, and he was enfolded in the Cloud, the Cloud that reveals the Presence of the One Who Dwells. So it was, and so shall it be for those who are willing to let it be so, those who are willing to sacrifice the ox of their own stubborn minds and the lamb of their own patterns of life, yea and the doves of their own thoughts, that their hearts may be made pure, so that they may come at last to the place where all are with one accord in one place, the place of being still, the place where the human mind and heart are no longer concerned about expressing that which they think they are. For then the human being has but one concern: that he may share in the revelation on earth, the revelation of the manifestation of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. So shall it be for those who truly respond. And for those who respond not, the joys and the wonders of the Kingdom of Heaven shall not be known; or if they be known, if they be touched upon and seen, and such an one does not remain faithful and true, that which was known shall be taken away and such an one shall never know the Kingdom of Heaven that is at hand.
Blessed are they who are willing to relinquish the meaninglessness of human expression, that they may come at last to see the Cloud, and within the Cloud the Light that glows, and within the Light the Shekinah Fire, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And from within the Fire, the Shekinah Fire, we hear the words: “Be still. Be still, and know that I am God.”
Good morning everyone. Very good to be with you. As I begin the service today I want to touch on what is continuing to emerge in the world regarding the coronavirus situation. For those of us in Korea the situation is rather stable and therefore we may not be so aware of what’s going on in the world; therefore I want to touch on it. One bit of news that emerged as of yesterday is that around the world forty countries broke their one day record in terms of new confirmed cases—so the spread is accelerating rapidly. In the United States, for four days in a row the number of coronavirus deaths has surpassed one thousand people per day. Korea in the past six months has had only two hundred and ninety deaths. Another statistic in terms of confirmed cases in the United States is that the number of confirmed cases per day now, in the past two weeks, has been between sixty thousand and eighty thousand confirmed cases every day. In Korea it is under sixty per day. This is contrasted to one month ago in the US, when the confirmed cases were about half of that, and two months ago it was half of that yet, so the growth that is rather exponential. There are many experts that are saying that this current coronavirus situation is increasingly similar to the 1918 pandemic, which took several years, and many of the same mistakes are being made in this pandemic. Despite the impact of the coronavirus in the world, there is in the world an increasing shaking of the old systems of our civilization, and this enormous shaking that is going on in the world, we could perhaps see as a movement towards the birth of something new, something which is not entirely clear yet, but coming nonetheless. And as we touch on this world situation, I want to use the story of Moses and the Exodus as containing elements that are similar to this current cycle.
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The story of the Exodus, the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt is a story that occurred after four hundred years of slavery of the Israelites under Egypt. Coincidental to the story of four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, of the children of Israel, is the story of slavery in the modern European era, which began four hundred years ago exactly; and while we have recorded the ending of slavery in modern history as roughly one hundred and fifty years ago, in actual fact the residual accumulated effect of that slavery has continued to this day, and it is evident worldwide now in the mass demonstrations protesting inequality, and the trauma of inequality, in many places. There are aspects of the history of modern age slavery that we must face, confront, honestly and quite deeply. It is said that the number of slaves in this modern slavery period was a total of thirteen million people. The official count of the number of slaves in this modern slavery period is thirteen million, but in actual fact it was twenty million because seven million died in transit, two million while in the ships crossing over the ocean and five million in the slave training camps—so one third of those who were sent across the ocean died unbelievably torturous deaths—and these seven million dead, out of a total of twenty million slaves, is a number that if we were to translate it into our current period, it would be a number far larger in proportion. These seven million who died these torturous deaths, in a way were never really mourned properly. They are buried in history. In Korea we had the Sa Sam Massacre in Jeju, where a far smaller number died (30,000), and there has been a process of mourning for them that has happened at a national level, but it has only just begun; that process has not finished but it was begun. In the news recently I saw that a trauma center in Jeju was opened this year to treat the survivors and the descendants of the Sa Sam Massacre. If there is a Jeju trauma center, it was opened because it was clearly seen that it is needed. Where is the trauma center in the world for the seven million slaves that died these torturous deaths, and for the thirteen million and their descendants who survived and lived lives of trauma?What this shows is that this is a history that must be confronted, come to terms with and, in whatever way is possible, set right. If we look at history, we can see that atrocity, violence, has been naturally, and in an evolving way, confronted by people in history. The violence against native populations in various continents, as well as more recently, sexual violence, is being confronted, and there is an inexorable process by which violence of all sorts is being faced and confronted. In this context we can ask what is the symbol of Egypt that the children of Israel exited from? Egypt is a symbol of the oppression of self-centered control, and the oppression of the material level of control. We can ask, what is the symbol of the Pharaoh? Uranda speaks of the Pharaoh as a symbol of the self-active or self-centered mind. It was present in a specific way at that point in history, but it is present at all points in history.
How much the current civilization—let’s just take the last four hundred years—how much it was a civilization of oppression and inequality, a significant part of which was based on the use of slave labour is only now just beginning to be faced and confronted. The U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776 was a declaration that, for that age, was an extraordinary breakthrough, and it pointed to a world in which human beings were to be treated with dignity, and with respect, and with equality. “All men are created equal.” The central kernel of that Declaration is that all men were and are created equal; and the deeper meaning of that is that all men are created equal, to be respected in their dignity as a fellow human being. But the two hundred and fifty year history after that declaration was written was unable to bring a society that reflected that. The actual meaning of that statement, “All men are created equal”, in application at that time was “All white men are created equal.” Of the founders of the United States that signed that Constitution there were quite a few that were slave owners; and yet there were probably some that wrote it and accepted it in it’s deeper meaning that all men of all colors are created equal. So this one statement, which is, really, you could say, at the center of modern, present day civilization, that all men are created equal, now has to be confronted. There is no way to step back from this statement that has been accepted throughout the whole world as a central value of civilization. Because this has been accepted throughout the world, what is left is only the question, “Why is it that we are not actually living the core principle and value that we have accepted as a civilization, and what must we do to live it?”
What is happening today is that the system that for four hundred years was not able to, in fact, bring into form this principle of dignity and of equality is now shaking. So the shaking in the world today we must see, and do see, as a shaking towards a world of dignity and equality. When sometimes people speak of dignity and equality, others say, “Are you a socialist?” Were the founders of United States of America socialists, then? Dignity and equality are not socialism. These are the highest values that have already been accepted in our civilization. So we can think of the time period that we are in now as being at a period similar to when the children of Israel we’re escaping from years that took away their dignity and their sense of equality—and we are in such a period. So let’s think a little bit together about what it must have been like for the children of Israel leaving Egypt. When the children of Israel left Egypt, did Moses have a five-year plan, or two-year plan? The children of Israel with Moses left Egypt with a complete unknown in front of them—an unknown time, an unknown world. They did not know what would happen as they left; but they left because they were compelled, because they could no longer accept what was before.
There are times in our lives when we also depart because what we have known before is no longer acceptable. We don’t know, we don’t have a certainty about what’s ahead, or the future, but we know for a fact that what has been is no longer acceptable; and compelled by the movement of life itself, in spirit we depart. We do so sometimes individually, and sometimes collectively. When we take departure in this way, from a situation that has been unendurable and no longer acceptable, that departure is sometimes exciting, with trepidation, but there is excitement in it. And we well know that when we make such a departure we won’t have a smooth, red carpet Road, all the way to the Promised Land. Soon the challenges come. In the days ahead for humanity it will be exactly like that—there will be challenges yet in what is unfolding. But no matter what difficulties there are, humanity cannot not go towards a world of dignity. It knows that it is life itself. Humanity knows that dignity, and a world of dignity, is life itself, just as we know that. Even if we have experienced personally times of oppression and of entrapment, we know a deeper compulsion in us that is a compulsion to live and stand in full dignity. Difficulties where we cannot see what is ahead come—they do come! Have some of you experienced where you could not see ahead and it was frightening?
In the story of Exodus there is a clear and precise lesson shown in what we must do personally, and collectively as a whole civilization, to confront a future that is unknown, and where fear and trepidation might be present. One of the most famous phrases in the Old Testament is the utterance that Moses gave in facing the Red Sea, and he spoke to the children of Israel. What is the Red Sea in this story? The Red Sea is a symbol of a challenge that seems insurmountable as we face into the journey and into the future. In our lives, such seemingly insurmountable barriers, like the Red Sea was for the children of Israel, come to us individually and collectively at times. Moses said to the children of Israel, “Be not afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD,” as they stood before the Red Sea with the Egyptian chariots in the distance approaching—Stand still in that circumstance! That’s quite a tall order. The meaning of “stand still” is be still, trust fully, completely—trust the creative process; trust a larger process that is working out fully. Trust the creative process fully. Fear not. Stand still. Be still. Fear not. Relax, and watch what is unfolding. The pathway through is already in the process of being created, already in the process of coming into form—trust the larger process. How did the Red Sea part? What all is involved in that we don’t have time to go into here, so we won’t touch on that right now. The instruction is stand still, be still, and feel and see the process that is already moving, and trust that. Don’t trust that just 50% and then impatiently wonder why nothing is happening, and turn around in nervous tension. Trust fully!
When I was in my twenties I wrote an essay on the philosophy of trust and its relation to our ability to perceive. It was called “The Epistemology Of Basic Trust.” The central point of this essay was that, when we are in a state of deepest trust and of tensionlessness, rest, relaxation, we are able to perceive the most accurately. I used an example in this essay of when we are walking and come across a barking dog—or on a trail, a snake—if we are in the state of panic, or fear or tension, our ability to perceive the situation in full spectrum and angle is reduced, and thus our ability to handle that situation most effectively is reduced. So as we face in our journey forward into the unknown, as we meet our Red Sea, or a barking dog, or a snake on the trail, as we remain in a state of deep relaxation and trust, trusting that there is already a way through, we have the ability to see in three hundred and sixty degrees in a way that tension and panic and fear would narrow and make us less capable.
When we are in a relaxed state and open to perceiving in three hundred and sixty degrees, certain key pieces of information come to us. It was likely similar for Moses. If Moses at the Red Sea was in a state of panic, the information that he needed, which was already coming to him, he might not have perceived. The meaning of this is our ability to stay in a relaxed, profoundly trusting state, open to guidance and information—the difference in the ability to do this or not is a difference that can be life and death, and that was certainly the case for Moses and the children of Israel. Had Moses panicked in that situation, and not been able to perceive from the still place where the path was, that history would have ended there.
Be still. Stand still, and in that quietness and stillness of profoundest trust, wait, and the perception of a path through will come to you. There is a way through. Simply put, don’t panic. The way through is already there, and in your stillness be open to it coming. It may be that perception of the opening of that pathway through doesn’t open immediately—even then, stand still, be still, and in that quietude, and in that trust, wait for the opening. And this doesn’t mean that we stand still and do nothing. In that standing still, and in that quietness and relaxation we are active, pursuing the investigations that we must investigate, taking the steps that we do need to take, but in a state of deep trust knowing that in one way or another the pathway will open. Also when a door closes, sometimes a door of opportunity as we move in our journey, the right way to translate it is that that door is closing so that another door can open.
As we move on this journey into the unknown, towards a world dignity, and as we face the challenges, we trust deeply the compulsion leading towards that world of dignity is the compulsion of life itself, and we trust that.
I want to touch very briefly on a topic that I meant to touch on at the beginning, but I didn’t have a chance, and it’s about the death of Mayor Park Won-soon. People are experiencing, even amongst friends, a division of opinion bringing conflict amongst each other, where one is standing on the side of the victim and the other on the side of Park Won-soon as a selfless servant. The thing I want to mention about this situation is that the truth, the real facts about the situation, are not all known, and we need to wait, without making judgment. The additional thing I want to say is that while there is a need to protect the woman who brought this charge, so that there is not a secondary violence against her, and there is a need to be with her and her pain, we need to be open to the possibility that there is a larger hidden, political conspiracy in this, as there has been in many other situations in the past. We know throughout history, both in Korea as well and rest of the world, but there have been many situations where devious political strategy was used to deceive people into believing, and therefore into siding, in one way. The beginning of the Vietnam War was an example of that; the beginning of the Second World War was another example of that. It was believed by the Americans in general that the Viet Cong attacked American soldiers, and the president declared war as a result. But the historical record now officially acknowledges the president lied. There was no such an attack, and that lie was used to deceive the people. In a time where there is the movement out of the old system of oppression and inequality into a new world, there are those who at all costs will seek to prevent that from happening, and they will do whatever it takes to prevent it, and to damage those who are leading that movement. So we must leave open the possibility, without believing necessarily that this was the case in this particular situation.
When we meet our Red Sea, stand still, and in that stillness and peace be open to where the pathway is that the Lord will show, and it will open. Because of what I said about former mayor Park Won-soon, it may have caused some of what I said previously to evaporate, but it is something that is important enough for me to speak about.
Thank you. A necessary and inexorable journey towards a world of dignity, a journey that we must take. Let’s move forward together in this active trust, and surrender to the vast creative process that is in motion through the events of the world, and the events of our lives, and as we rest in this let’s see what the Lord shall bring forth through us. Kamsahamnida. Thank you.
“I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” These words were recorded as having been spoken by Moses. “I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” They are revealing of the One God, the one universal, unifying, creative power, brought to particular focus in the expression of these words. This is revealing of the truth of man. Man is designed to bring to focus this universal, unifying, creative power in heaven on earth. These words may be spoken, describing a particular state, but what that state is remains speculative until there are those who let it factually be brought to focus. It is quite obvious that human beings, for the most part, have not been interested in so doing. Human beings in their present state certainly do not bring to focus this one universal, unifying, creative power. There has been much more concern about getting one's own human way, producing a state of human affairs. The result, of course, is obvious enough in the state which we not only see all around us but have been aware as being present much closer, namely within ourselves.
These words were spoken by Moses several thousand years ago, relating to an occurrence that had been brought to pass under his hand for the Israelites, those who had been willing to leave the land of Egypt at that time. They were quite a mixed company. That may be an interesting event in the historical sense but it has little meaning to us now unless we are keenly aware of what it is that is being portrayed and made available to the experience of human beings now. We have seen and understood this as the story might relate to ourselves. Clearly, it represents an emergence out of an Egyptian condition, whatever that might be. We have recognized this in terms of darkness, the state into which human beings have been brought where it is dark, because human consciousness is merely of the human subconsciousness. It is of the earth and the things of the earth, including the world which has been humanly created by reason of the conscious mind of man having an awareness merely of what is available subconsciously.
The invitation which is provided through the words which we have just shared is, of course, to become aware consciously of what might be referred to as super-consciousness, a spiritual consciousness as opposed merely to a material consciousness. The material consciousness now humanly experienced is there because the only awareness that the conscious mind has, has been limited to what is present in the human subconscious. What is known consciously arises out of the subconscious. It is a material earthly state, which excludes what might be referred to as the heavenly component. This can be seen easily enough in terms of the story of the fall of man, or the fall of Lucifer, the light-bearer, the conscious mind in heaven, the conscious mind aware of what is present in heaven. There is virtually no awareness in this regard in the general human state now. It is all an earthly awareness, which springs out of the past of human experience stored away in the subconscious.
To be conscious of what is present in the subconscious, in whatever measure, is to be in the dark. It may seem like light; we know something apparently, but what we know is in the dark. The subconscious mind is rightly in the dark; it isn't supposed to be conscious. The conscious mind, however, has become thoroughly involved with the subconscious. Much probing has been going on, in the psychological field, for instance, into the subconscious to try to figure it all out. But the conscious mind has no business being involved in that way with the subconscious, where the subconscious is in control actually. Human beings are inclined to think they are bright at times; but it all boils down to the fact that what is present in the subconscious erupts to the conscious level. What is present in the subconscious is largely irrational, so the conscious mind, having a capacity to be rational (even though it isn't!), undertakes to rationalize what erupts. And, as we have noted, it does it so expertly and quickly that it is imagined that the conscious mind has produced this brilliant idea, opinion, thought—whatever it is—all on its own, when basically all human function is subconsciously controlled. The conscious mind of man does not belong in the earth, seeking light from the subconscious, seeking light from the darkness. There is no light in darkness. But all the supposed great knowledge and understanding, which is prevalent in human experience now, has emerged out of darkness, out of the bottomless pit. This is no basis, as we well know, for determining what shall be done in the earth of human habitation. It is not surprising then that the world so created is in such an appalling mess. More struggle in that realm only produces a worse mess.
“I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, the land of darkness, out of the house of bondage,” if anyone has been willing to be brought out. There is a means by which the conscious mind of man may be raised into heaven; that is, out of the earth, out of subjection to the subconscious mind. We ourselves have presumably been concerned with this matter, recognizing that it is impossible for the conscious mind to raise itself, just as impossible as to lift oneself physically by one's own bootstraps. But there is a means by which the conscious mind may be raised up: I am the Lord thy God and capable of doing it, when there is interest, attention, paid to the quality and the nature of what I really am. Speaking in the first person in this way, I am speaking presumably for everyone, because everyone is capable of speaking in the first person.
There is that present with everyone which is quite capable of lifting up the conscious mind from subjection to the subconscious, out of the land of darkness. Most conscious minds are totally unwilling to let this happen. They have deceived themselves into imagining that they are intelligent and wise and able to operate on the basis of subjection to the subconscious mind—only that is not recognized as being the case. There is the deception! The conscious mind thinks it is free as a bird; it's going to find all sorts of marvelous things, when all it can find is what is already present in the subconscious mind. Everything that is happening now is not something new. It may have changed its form a little bit, but it emerges out of what was already present in the subconscious mind, what had already been the experience of human beings in the past.
There has been some interest displayed in the gentleman who, under self-hypnosis, produced some supposedly marvelous wisdom—Cayce. This information was all out of the human past, all out of the subconscious. He was unconscious of it at the time and was rather amazed apparently afterwards when he heard about it. And there are those who thought that here was something marvelous, but it's something that is going on all the time with everybody. It is merely a particular manner of its production which is not common to most people. What is common to most people is the fact that what is in the subconscious mind erupts into the conscious mind and it controls human behavior. It controls human behavior, it controls human thought, it controls human emotion; and that is the house of bondage, that's where everybody is trapped in this state of deception.
We have been trapped in that and certainly still are in a certain measure, regardless of the fact that we have had opportunity to let the conscious mind be raised up to the level where it really belongs, let Lucifer be restored to heaven. Because it is factually true that heaven and earth are one, being restored to heaven allows the earth to be comprehended, understood. The earth can't be understood by the earth. And human beings buried in the earth can't understand. So they produce all these wonderful theories and hypotheses about everything, to try to explain it on the basis of the eruptions out of the subconscious mind, and it is all confusion; it doesn't mean a thing. Yet it is anticipated that a little more digging in this regard, a little more eruption out of the subconscious, is going to solve all problems. But it is what is present in the subconscious mind in control of the conscious that has produced all these problems. In actual fact there are no problems to solve, because all problems are humanly produced in this way and are absolutely insoluble. This is becoming more and more evident. We don't need these problems.
Let the conscious mind be resurrected to the level where it belongs, out of the clutches of the subconscious, and—no problems! Everything is exactly as it should be. That is something that is discovered when we let this happen. Things are exactly the way they should be right now. Obviously, if there is turmoil and conflict and violence in the world it has been produced by this condition in human experience. As long as the condition in human experience remains, the production will remain—all very logical and reasonable; that's the way it should be. Let the human state change and the production changes. But to try to change the production without changing the human state, or without letting it be changed, is surely well described by the word "stupidity." Yet this is all human beings are doing. Deception! It's all we try to do too in most of our experience, until there is a willingness to acknowledge that all this stuff that keeps erupting out of the subconscious mind should be relinquished, shouldn't be given any weight. Everybody takes it all so seriously. It would be helpful if we could always laugh at it. What amusing stupidity!
On this basis there are many, many people, even in the Emissary ranks, who think that some sort of input, their input, is going to solve all problems. What is input? It's human opinion, isn't it? "My opinion is important about this." No, it isn't! What is needed is output, that is what comes out of heaven, and the whole process of operations is completely reversed. So the first order of business, as is clearly indicated in the words which I read from the 2nd and 3rd verses of the 20th chapter of Exodus, describes how it is that human beings may come out of the state of deception. “I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Is that true? It may have been literally, historically, true of the Israelites, but is it true of anyone now? Come out of the land of darkness and stop being governed by the past of human heredity!
Some of you may have seen the movie "Lost Horizon"—more recently it was a musical—a very excellent one that was made long ago. In any case, in that movie there is something portrayed that is very accurate of usual human behavior. The two brothers who were in Shangri-La were of a different nature. One had become aware of the beauty of being in heaven. The other one interpreted heaven as hell. It's interesting, isn't it?—it's what human beings do. It seems that the vast majority of the population interpret heaven, which is actually present, as being hell; they want to get away from it. Here is the subconscious out of the past establishing the control. It was illustrated in this motion picture on the basis of brotherly love, the implication being that if the older brother, who was aware of heaven, loved his earthly brother the way he should he would follow his earthly brother into perdition, because his earthly brother didn't think he could get there without him. Very interesting: “I can't make it without you. Poor me. You've got to help me!” So much of human function is based in the demands of earthly heredity: “Come and serve me. Look after me. Care for me in my state of human perdition.” And everybody perishes. It's been done generation after generation after generation.
I am the Lord thy God, and I would willingly bring you out of that state. I provide everything that is necessary to do it, except you have to make the choice. It is in making that choice to let consciousness be restored to heaven, which requires relinquishing the subconscious controls, that the way is opened for everybody else. The door is opened in heaven if someone will actually let it be done. “Well I can't. I have all these earthly responsibilities here, got to take care of them.” Yes, we have to take care of things, but not at the expense of what is required to abide in heaven, to let the consciousness be lifted to heaven so that it can see what needs to be done. But if one is being pulled this way and pulled that way by earthly heredity he can't see anything; such a person is blind and in a state of destruction.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”—before the one who is known in conscious experience and expression when the conscious mind is lifted to heaven. Lucifer is then the light-bearer, the bearer of the identity of that one. I am the Lord thy God then, not, “He is the Lord thy God.” I am the Lord thy God, the one who is present in the conscious mind when it is lifted to heaven. There is another one of human invention who is in the conscious mind when it is involved with the subconscious mind. That is the human state, the human identity: “This is me.” No, it isn't! That's a hereditary invention coming out of the earth, humanly produced. Why do we cling to it so desperately? Oh yes, a body, a mind, a conscious mind, are important for my use, for the use of the one who is in heaven. Unless the conscious mind is in heaven, that one is not known. When the conscious mind is in heaven that one is known, but not as someone separate from the conscious mind: “Oh yes, I know this high figure up here, the Lord my God.” I Am the Lord thy God. That is the way the truth is known, because the conscious mind is in heaven where it accommodates the Lord who I am. “Oh, it's impossible to understand all this!” Well of course! How about coming up into heaven, because it can't be understood from the standpoint of the earth.
A door is opened in heaven, because this invitation is always there. I know it's in the past here in Exodus, because it relates presumably to that event, bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. But it can be in the past for anyone: “I brought thee up, I'm quite willing to bring you up, if you will just let go of all these weights which keep you at the bottom of the pool, so to speak.” There's no problem. All supposed problems are humanly produced, and we are inclined to identify ourselves as being human. In fact this is a good justification and excuse for a lot of things: “I'm only human, you know.” What's wrong with you, if you're only human? That's tantamount to saying, “I'm only dead, you know!”
So a door is opened in heaven. “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” Here is something that, to the extent that we have come up hither, we begin to know to be a fact. There is government. I am the Lord thy God which brought thee up. The control emanates from heaven, not from the subconscious mind. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, the control of government is present; and we have become aware of that fact, have we not? We know it's there, even though we still hang onto some of our weights.
“And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.” Clothed in the radiant light of the truth, crowned with the authority of love—here is something emerging into experience. It's no use looking at these things theoretically, but let them emerge into experience. It's interesting that just recently there has been an assemblage on Sunrise Ranch of some elders. If you were going to describe something in heaven, would you differentiate those who are there present as to their age? Utilizing the word angels, for instance, are some angels older than other angels? Are there baby angels? Oh yes, cherubs! No, we begin to consider age on the basis of what emerges into the earth. We talk about growing older—everybody does it—in the earth. But I'm sure that those who are longer in the tooth, as I have called it, don't feel any older inside. Does anybody here feel ancient inside? No, the feeling of being ancient is something that is outside, if it's there; it depends on where you put the emphasis, on what is inside or what is outside.
So elders referred to here would relate to something that was emerging into the earth. Of course there are classifications in some of the churches, the Christian religion in particular; there are elders in some of them. But this is not an organizational factor in humanly produced religions. This relates to something emerging out of heaven, something that is not humanly produced at all, fortunately, because, as we have noted, what is humanly produced is chiefly defined by the word “problems.” And there have been problems with the older people, haven't there? What are we going to do with all these old folk: stack them away somewhere so that they can gradually fade out of the picture without bothering the younger people too much? This is the common human view: you become more and more useless as you get older, because usefulness in human experience is equated with physical action primarily. Some think there is usefulness in mental action. But then older people don't always retain their mental faculties, so they become more and more useless in that regard too. This is not true of everyone of course.
But in what I have just read there is indication that there is a very important part to be played by elders; in fact they are the only ones that are mentioned; it doesn't say anything about the youngsters! Maybe there could be a little deflation here as to their importance. Of course it is not merely a matter of physical age anyway, but of spiritual competence, competence in the process by which what is already moving powerfully in heaven may be shepherded into the earth, may be allowed to take form in the earth. It requires those who are competent in this field. And, by the way, it is not a field of opinion: “Well I think it should be this way,” and somebody else thinks it should be that way. Then arguments break out and there is conflict which leads to violence. No, there is a process with which one may be attuned and of which one may be vividly aware when the conscious mind is lifted into heaven. But it is an unknown quantity as long as a person is consciously subject to the subconscious; that's darkness, darkness which maintains the bondage.
So there is something valuable being indicated here with respect to elders. They have a very significant part to play, which is evidently necessary for the whole of the unfoldment that is to take place. I think when people are younger they sometimes feel, “Oh well, when we get these oldsters out of the way we'll be able to do what's needful.” What arrogance! It simply isn't true. It requires everyone. But, clearly, the elders have a special part to play. Now it's not just being old that does it. I have known a lot of old people who remain childish; they never grew up.
Until recently the high leadership in the Soviet Union was composed of rather ancient characters who evidently had become well crystallized in their age. They kept cracking! So it was thought to be forward movement when a younger man put in an appearance. Maybe, who can tell? But the mere fact of elders in that sense doesn't achieve anything. It is only when spiritual experience over the years has permitted conscious minds to be raised into heaven that the elders have any meaning; otherwise they are just old youngsters. Youngsters are inclined to be a little brash at times perhaps, assuming that they are going to be capable of functioning very wisely. But if they follow out the same old routine that the oldsters did it will never happen. It only happens as conscious minds are permitted to rise up, under the power of the one I am, into heaven, so that there may be a learning—there is a learning process—how to become aware of what it is that is moving in heaven, and how to allow this to emerge into the earth. It is totally—this is output, what I spoke of before as output—totally the reverse procedure of what is commonly thought of as being useful humanly speaking. The human idea is presumed to be so important: my opinion, after all. But human opinions are for the birds. They are of no value, because they are based in the subconscious eruptions; and the subconscious has been a far cry from heaven. It's been filled up with all this human crap; generation after generation after generation—endless repetition. It's been piled high and deep—the experts usually have those initials after their names; they are expert in all this stuff. But what's the use? It produces hell on earth.
So we move with assurance to let our conscious minds be raised up into heaven, because we hear the voice out of heaven, and we are aware of the door open in heaven, and there is a willingness to relinquish all those old controls out of the subconscious which have insisted we behave this way or that way. And we have gone along with it, for the most part unconsciously, but whatever consciousness we had was also subject to this eruption.
It is necessary to acknowledge that virtually everything that arises out of the subconscious mind to control and dictate the way we behave is a destructive deception. So we stop giving it weight, stop insisting that this is the way it is: because we see it this way, this is our opinion; it must be that way, because I see it that way. Who are you? Rising up into heaven there is a totally reversed perspective; and without those who are consciously in heaven there is no means by which what is in heaven may be conveyed into the earth, there is no means of discovering how that works.
We have had a little experience of it. It comes by reason of the focus point of being, and it is step by step differentiated through those who are responsible for conveying it into the earth. It involves no human opinions whatsoever. One becomes aware of one's own particular part in conveying this into the earth, not because anything in the earth told one, not because of all the careful consideration of all the factors. It is well that one should be aware of factors, but the factors are not going to tell you what it is that should be conveyed; they are merely the material which will clothe what it is that is conveyed. There is a total reverse here, and human beings are a little reluctant to let it happen, because of all their good ideas. But what needs to come into the earth has never been here before, so how could you have any idea about it? You find out what it is as you learn to convey it. “Ah, there it is. I didn't need an opinion. This wasn't my opinion, I never even thought of it.” Of course the conscious mind is cut down to size then; it's merely the conveyer, Lucifer the light-bearer; it's not the thing itself. But there is one who comes forth, once Lucifer is restored to heaven.
So we relinquish the weights of the subconscious, the controls out of the hereditary past. All our human forebears, and relationships, and everything else that has been deemed to be so important in the world has no importance whatsoever, except as it may be seen from the standpoint of what is in heaven. Then perhaps out of heaven this may be used, that may be used, the other thing may be used, something else may be completely useless. But it's not determined by the way the human being thinks. It is determined by what it is that is coming down from God out of heaven, what I am bringing into the earth in the ways in which it was designed to be brought into the earth.
It is indeed a wonderful time on earth for those with eyes to see and hearts to understand. I am increasingly impressed with the fact in these days that there are those present with eyes to see and hearts to understand, those
who no longer are governed by habitual human ways out of the past. It is
supposed by many that if those habits are deemed to be commendable, then they
are good and can be perpetuated. The total human state is in the process of
passing away. Those who cling to anything out of the past also pass away. Because
it is so customary to pass away sooner or later, it is deemed to be part of a
very natural process, the process of life. It is a process that has become necessary
and obviously been in effect for as long as human history goes back, but
because this is so doesn’t mean that it should be so.
With God all things
are possible. There are a lot of things from the human standpoint that are deemed
to be impossible, and it is customary to maintain the view of impossibility
insofar as a vast variety of elements in the human state are concerned. It is
the human custom to ensure that what may indeed be entirely possible is kept in
a state of impossibility. With God, with the One I am, all things are possible.
Of course this seems to be rather a blanket statement. Obviously what is
possible in this sense is a part of the creative process. The creative process could
never be violated by the creative process.
We are approaching what may be referred to as a climactic
point of some kind. It is seen by many people. The only answer suggested is
more of the same. I am sure all of us come to the realization, in theory at
least, that the way we have behaved has produced the troubles of our world, so
more of the same behavior will produce more of the same troubles. That seems a
rather obvious fact. There is something else in the offing. I recall a passage which is quite interesting from the standpoint of
present experience: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is
yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise
ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the
doors.”
This analogy relates to something that would be considered
to be a pleasing and creative occurrence. Prior to this, most of the references
had been to disaster: “wars and rumours of wars,” tribulations of all kinds.
One could be very much aware that these are present in our worlds near and far,
but I am very much aware of something else, and I am sure that many of you are
aware also in a very direct sense, direct because it is your own experience: a
new understanding, a new vision, a new sense of responsibility and authority.
There has been a good deal of theorizing about all this, and there are those
who are still involved in theories in this regard; but there are those who have
accepted for themselves something of the authority and understanding and vision
which is available, not something separate from themselves.
It is interesting, when we use the words I am for instance, most people tend to think of that as being
something separate from themselves. Usually reference is made to “the I am.”
Who is “the I am”? It must be some entity over there somewhere! But I am is very clear, is it not, seen as
relating to oneself. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in
vain.” This of course has been the human habit. I am may be said to be the name of the Lord thy God; but human
beings do not accept the authority and the responsibility
that are inherent in that name. Someone else, an “I am” over there, is going to
be responsible. But I am means I am—just me! So the commandment has been most thoroughly broken by all human beings
on the face of the earth, the commandment not to take the name of the Lord thy
God in vain—for they will not be held guiltless. The consequences are to be
expected, and they certainly show up. But there are those who begin to assume
responsibility for their words, amongst other things. When the word I is used, or the words I am, or any other words related to I, let us be very sure that we are not
taking the name of the Lord our God in vain. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2019/01/from-one-god-one-identity-i-am-martin.html]
Long ago, there was one of the disciples who
denied the Lord. There was another of them who betrayed the Lord. This attitude
is customary insofar as human beings are concerned. They deny the identity which
is present in themselves in favor of maintaining the ego-centered identity, an
identity which is not the true one. That is denial, and betrayal goes along
with it—failure—failure to be a man, failure to be a woman. I rejoice that
there is evidence putting in an appearance in these days—and I am made very
much aware of it in one way or another—that there are men and women who are
finally reaching a point where they cease denying and betraying the Lord,
denying and betraying their own individual reality. Supposedly we know all about these things and have put such attitudes behind
us. Do you really think so? If we move away from the matter of denial and
betrayal we come to this business of following afar off. There were evidently
ten of the disciples who followed afar off. This is a portrayal of something
that is very applicable. Those who should have known better followed afar off.
They didn’t accept the responsibility, or only partially so—they kept out of
the way. They were delighted to have somebody else accept the responsibility,
but “not me.” Of course then we have this business of beingtoo humble to do
it. It’s as good an excuse as any, I suppose; but no excuse is valid.
I rejoice that there is evidence of the fig tree. The branches are
yet a bit tender. It must be spring. But there is some putting forth
of leaves, which is an indication that summer is nigh, or the prior state—in
this instance, of winter—is passing away. Spring comes every year, the seasons
are regular, and there is nothing that human beings can do about it. Using this
analogy, there may be the recognition that in what is working there is nothing
that human beings can do to stop it. They can either indulge in following afar
off, denying, betraying, and receive the consequences of so doing, or they can
take the name of the Lord. There is no negative about that; thou shalt take the name of the Lord. Thou
shalt not take that name in vain, which is customary with human beings, but
thou shalt take the name of the Lord, because that is the one identity. That is
the only valid identity. The rest of human experience is based in a human ego
invention to which most people cling desperately. We have learned
to relax our grip a little, that there may be space for the name of the
Lord, for the true identity. We come again to this, and as it is factual—and I
see evidences of it being factual through an increasing number—then summer is
nigh. Then the change is at hand.
What is the difficulty with the state of affairs as it is now in the
world insofar as the human view is concerned? There are so many problems; there
are so many structures of all kinds that are causing turmoil and difficulties;
and the attitude toward them is that if we just adjust them somewhat then
perhaps we can get them to mesh somehow. But it is the structures of human
invention that are the trouble, so struggling with the structures does nothing.
I am sure we have all had experience in this regard. We have had our own
personal structures, and we have had perhaps in mind some valuable structures
that we assume to be of reality. The structures of reality were supposed to
replace these other structures, but the other structures kept coming up and
asserting themselves, and so we had a battle between these various structures.
We found that we could never lay to rest our own human nature on the basis of
this sort of a battle. Everybody is trying to do that in the world, aren’t they, to change
the structures by force, by imposition. We know it can’t be done. Such
structures do not need to be maintained. They are passing away anyhow. We might
just as well let them go and not struggle with them, our own or anyone else’s.
Let it be the way it is. Our concern is to take the name of the Lord, so that
the Lord may be present, the One I am may be present, in this human form,
rather than this other identity with which we have so much trouble. The fact
that we have so much trouble with our own identity is revealed in the fact that
we have so much trouble with other people’s identity. We are all at odds at
this level in the human sense. This is the human state, isn’t it? And as long
as the identity is there everything moves from bad to worse.
There is a great deal of substance present everywhere: physical
substance, physical substance that is in the form of the earth itself—there is
a lot of substance there—and physical substance in the many animated forms of
the earth, physical substance in human beings, in human forms. And there is a
vast amount of physical substance that human beings have been using for their
own purposes. There is a considerable amount of substance to provide this room. There are various sorts of substance. Concrete is a very
widespread one. At another level there is substance that is called money. This
is considered to be valuable because it gives the human identity some
power—perhaps with some merely the power to survive; with others there is much
more power apparently. When we consider the national field we find larger
amounts of power, and internationally. All substance, the earth, is the Lord’s. The earth refers to
substance; all substance is the Lord’s. It is natural for substance to belong
to the Lord. It is held, presently, in humanly created structures—a large
amount of it, that is; perhaps not large if we are considering the total substance
of the earth but large enough within the range of human operations. And this
substance is held firmly in various structures. Some of it is held firmly in
nuclear armaments, for instance, and in the armed forces. It is held firmly in
people everywhere. They try to hang onto it as long as they can. This is usual,
isn’t it?
There are all these structures that have been humanly created in the
sense of the concrete. And there are these structures humanly created in the
sense of the bank account, or wherever it is they keep money—which is what?
Pieces of paper, insofar as we are concerned,
plastic these days—very valuable! Well if you are in the wilderness it’s useful
to start a fire. It takes on a different kind of value, doesn’t it, according
to the setting. There is all this substance, masses and masses of
it. It all belongs to the Lord, to the One I am. Because of this it has a
natural affinity with the One I am and it will naturally, if allowed to do so,
flow easily in whatever way into the design which is inherent in the presence
of the One I am. The only reason it doesn’t flow is because there are human
forms all over the earth who are firmly maintaining it in these structures. It
takes quite an effort to keep it in the structure. As soon as anything is
built, for instance, it begins to decay, so there is constant repair to try to
keep it from falling apart. And that is true of human forms; there
is apparently a need for constant repair. Well there is a natural
process, a natural cycle which occurs in living forms. That doesn’t work in
inanimate forms, does it? They fall apart sooner or later.
So we have all this substance which belongs to the Lord, being firmly held
away from Him by these human entities who maintain their state of separation. As
there begins to be available a form for the One I am, a form which is no longer
intent upon maintaining its own supposed meaning in separation but is willing
to accommodate the One I am, then there begins to be the means by which the
invitation, which we have considered before, may be issued: Come unto me. That
may relate to other human forms, but it doesn’t only relate to other human
forms; it relates to everything. The earth is the Lord’s, all this substance at
every level. And incidentally, it’s not only physical substance; there is more
than that. There is mental and emotional substance too. Once there is a means
by which that invitation may be extended, the substance is most willing to come
home. And a point is reached somewhere along the way where all the efforts of
human entities to keep it in their structures are no longer of any avail. The
substance comes home.
We are beginning to see a little of this occurring—it has been necessary for us to participate in allowing substance to come home.
We ourselves allow whatever substance is available in our range of control to
come home, or we keep it out, as the case may be. Will we allow it to flow back
into the design? It doesn’t only relate now to what has been present within the
range of the control of those who are participating in this form under the
dominion of the One I am. We have talked about a magnetic force. I think we
have thought of that magnetic force in terms of human beings. It doesn’t only
relate to human beings. They have substance, we all have substance, in our
bodies. That substance wants to come home. Most people keep it from coming
home. They use it in the usual and habitual ways of human forms separate from
the One I am, and the substance can’t come home. But being given enough
magnetic force—one might use the analogy of the tide coming in—all
the substance that is needful comes home, and the structures in which it was being
held find themselves devoid of substance. The primary matter is the substance of human beings. If there is
some awareness of how this works, it is easy to see that what needs to happen
can happen quite simply. It certainly can’t happen by human manipulation of substance,
because factually all the substance that human beings have been manipulating hasn’t
wanted to be manipulated. It puts up some resistance to it, and it’s hard work.
It requires sweat of the face to get anything to get into a form and stay
there. It keeps falling out. And we see the human state—this is what it is.
Once there is that focus of form providing space for the One I am,
then immediately substance everywhere begins to feel ready to come home. And this
is something that is in fact happening. It is not interpreted that way; it makes
people very uncomfortable and troubles of all kinds put in an appearance. There
is no reason to try to solve the problems; they can’t be solved. There is
restive substance just waiting to come home, and I suspect at some point it
will come rather quickly. It will be found that those who have had the power in
the world, or thought they had, don’t have it anymore, because whatever it was
they deemed allowed them to have that power simply slips through their fingers.
It leaves the old structures and comes home.
It is in the process of doing that, but the basic reason why it
happens is because I am present in my human form on earth. I have the authority
and the dominion in this regard, but it is an authority and dominion that is
returned to the One I am by those human forms who had stolen it. We
ourselves are among that number. Let it come back into the design where it
belongs, and we will find that as it fills out that design, there the design
is. It has filled it out to this extent now, in rather a limited way. But there
is substance everywhere anxiously waiting to come home, and when the attractive
force which brings it home is strong enough it will bring it home. It will be
stronger than the contrary force which is seeking to hold it in these human
structures. This could be looked upon as war in heaven. It’s
not really war—it’s a foregone conclusion. It’s the generation of the magnetic
force by which all things are made new. It doesn’t happen by chance. It doesn’t
happen according to any human theory, but it happens, and is happening, although
as yet it is not interpreted that way. For those who see and
understand, it is very clear. Our concern is simply to allow the intensification
of that magnetic force because I am present in my human form on earth.
