Lord God of Creation, Father and Originator of all things visible and invisible, we acknowledge Thy Presence in this hour. Without Thee nothing could exist. Our presence in the Chapel now reveals this truth. We would not only acknowledge Thy Presence but proclaim it, relinquishing the filthy overlay of human nature that the Glory of Thy Being might be declared on earth for all with eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to understand, that what has been absent from human experience might once again be consciously present. So it is in this hour that in the Oneness of Thy Spirit we would let Thy Word be spoken, the sounding tone of Thy Voice resound on earth in the minds and hearts of human beings everywhere. We surely have no other purpose than this, now in this moment and in each moment yet to come. Aum-en
It has often been said that human beings have good hindsight. This implies that they are blind in the present moment. This hindsight has been emphasized in the Christian religion and indeed in virtually all religions. It is supposed that One came on earth who was Supreme but unrecognized at the time. Because of good human hindsight people have assumed that they recognized it subsequently. To the extent that this might have been true such recognition obscured any real comprehension of what was present now, whenever the now might have been. We are concerned with this particular present moment. There are vast numbers of people who look back, thinking that they see something supreme which was present on earth a long time ago. Out of that has been developed a considerable lexicon declaring all the wonderful things that had been seen and recognized of what occurred before. This has been present in the consciousness of vast numbers of people over the centuries who have been deluded into imagining that they understood.
Understanding is only possible in the present moment, with respect to what is now available to be understood because it is factually present. The past is of imagination now; even five minutes ago is in that category. We only have this moment--a continuing experience, it is true; we are always there. We are in fact never in the past. We are in fact never in the future. We are simply here now. What is our comprehension now with respect to present experience?
When the Master was on earth the magnitude of what He was and is was certainly not recognized. It has tended to be glorified somewhat in the stories that have come down to us, as though it was something that could not have escaped recognition. Even His rather insignificant birth has been blown up into something tremendous. Well it was tremendous if there was anyone there at the time really to know, but the tremendousness of it has been an invention of those who have come afterward. The true dimensions of what is real have virtually never been seen by human beings in the present. They only have imagined that they have seen it when they looked back into the past with their excellent hindsight.
Such awareness, looking back in this way, might have value if it would emphasize to those who indulge in this type of awareness that the time to see the reality is now. When it is in the past it is no longer real now; in the consciousness of human beings it is simply imagination. The question now is as to the extent to which we ourselves comprehend the magnitude of that with which we are associated. Such magnitude, as I say, is almost invariably related either to the past or to the hoped-for future, but magnitude could never be experienced on that basis. It would never be known now. The future keeps receding ahead of us and the past keeps moving into the oblivion beyond memory. Only to the extent that we ourselves are consciously aware of the magnitude of that with which we are now associated is there the experience of any true magnitude on earth. Ideas about magnitude all relate to the past or the future and are valueless. Perhaps it is also possible to have imagination about magnitude in the present. There are those who are confined to institutions who have some imagination in this regard, but usually the magnitude relates to someone or something out of the past. Napoleon, maybe?--who would wish to identify with Napoleon I would not know--even Jesus Christ, someone out of the past, something imaginary. But who has any real comprehension of the factual magnitude of what is available now?
Certainly those who were present with Jesus in the past didn't have any real awareness in that regard, in spite of the rather fanciful stories that have come down to us. The magnitude was there; it was available to be experienced. It has ever been so in the present moment. It is so now in this moment. Because of the denseness, the blindness, the ignorance of human beings, virtually none of the real magnitude has been seen in the present moment, this moment or any other moment in the past. Human events, human reaction to events, occupy the consciousness of most people. The consciousness of most people is certainly not occupied by the spirit of the Father or Originator of all things visible and invisible. I trust that something of that spirit begins to occupy the consciousness of those here present this morning and some others associated with us.
If the Father and Originator of all things visible and invisible is present, one might say eternally present, because present in the present moment, then all things are consequent upon this. There is nothing apart from this truth. In this present moment, then, the spirit, the creative spirit, of this Father and Originator is present and by its very nature on the move. Is there anything more important than this? Anything that may appear in the way of events or in the way of human reaction to events would not happen if it were not for this creative spirit. We have surely become aware that it is only intelligent to pay attention to the creative spirit, associating ourselves with that rather than with the events and the reaction to events that occupy the consciousness of most human beings. When we associate ourselves with this creative spirit then we begin to become aware of the magnitude of that with which we are associated.
Certainly that supposedly tremendous world out there shrinks into insignificance. It is only the result of the movement of the creative spirit as interpreted by human consciousness, human consciousness which presently is unconscious of the creative spirit. To the extent that we do associate ourselves with that creative spirit in our living we have some sort of a vision, a new awareness. This might be referred to as a new heaven. We are in position to understand something of what has been occurring in the past and we begin to see what has been occurring in the past in terms of the present. We do not any longer see what is happening in the present in terms of what has happened in the past. There is a reversal of polarity here, a new stance, a new perspective, where the value is in the present, and anything that happened in the past is seen relative to the present.
We are aware, for instance, of the Master's ministry on earth, something of the past. He initiated something at that point. Most people imagine that He initiated Christianity, but He didn't. That's a human initiation. That isn't what He came to do. That is one of the effects of the creative spirit which He expressed, based in the reaction of human beings to it. And the reaction of human beings has always been distorted. We have noted the distortion in imagining that one could understand something of the past by just looking back at it. Well one can't understand anything in the past unless one is standing in a position of understanding now. The place from which one comes must be a place of understanding. Most people are inclined to imagine that they don't have an understanding now; the understanding is going to come to them out of the past. Never! The understanding is present with us now, regardless of the past. However if we stand in the place of understanding now we can look at the past and understand it, to the extent that that is necessary.
So the Master initiated something on earth, as we have noted before, in an invisible way, because it related to the subconscious levels of human experience. A seed was planted, we might say, in the subconscious soil of humanity. What has appeared on the surface certainly doesn't reveal the nature of that seed. What has appeared on the surface has, amongst other things, been Christianity. It has also been all the other events that have occurred in the world, because something was planted and beginning to grow in the subconscious levels of human experience. It was so deep down that nobody consciously could tell what it was. In fact it is something that has really not existed to human beings at all consciously; but it has been there nevertheless, factually, and at work, as we have noted before, gradually permeating the deeper levels of the subconscious substance of the body of mankind.
Because of this movement, and the reaction of human beings unconsciously to it, various events have put in an appearance. One can look at those events and call them history, without realizing why they happened. The happenings are usually considered to be lineal; in other words one happening causes the next happening. That isn't really the way it works. It may look like that but there is something underneath. The theory of evolution is based in the idea that one happening leads to another happening, without any real recognition of anything underneath, any factor of compulsive direction. It has always been a mystery as to why some creature that couldn't see developed an eye. Why would it develop an eye? It couldn't see, it didn't know what sight was, so why would it think there was any necessity for an eye? Obviously there is something which moves underneath. It has been interpreted in theories of various sorts but those theories have always been based in a lineal movement, when factually there is something invisible at work. There has been something invisible at work in the subconscious mind of mankind, initiated by the Master, by His action, by His very presence, by the way He handled the situation when He was on earth. Generation after generation this has been at work unbeknownst to human beings. People merely reacted to what was subconsciously present and the various events of history ensued.
Today is July the 4th, a day of celebration in the United States, sometimes called Independence Day, I believe. But really it is the celebration of something which was initiated, one might say, as was pointed out yesterday evening, by harsh events. When human beings do not move in response to the creative spirit that is present subconsciously but rather resist it, harsh events put in an appearance. There have been many harsh events: wars, rumors of wars, disease, famine--the Master Himself spoke of these things--simply because human beings resist what is happening. These harsh events sometimes bring a person to the point where, possibly kicking and squealing, there is association with the creative spirit and something emerges to be seen of that. The Founding Fathers gave evidence of this movement, which was a movement in the consciousness of human beings, an awakening to something new.
This was a very little thing, really, just putting in an appearance, and out of it a nation was born. But of course, as is usual with human beings, they tend to revert into the old states and bring upon themselves further harshness. Awakening again to some degree, something else emerges. Mention was made yesterday evening of Abraham Lincoln. Well it wasn't just Abraham Lincoln. There was a new state of consciousness appearing in people, in the nation which had previously been born. Gradually this has become apparent in the wider sense of humanity as a whole. Something that happens in one nation is not ever limited to that nation, and consequently there have been things occurring in the overall picture which correlate with what was happening in this particular nation. That nation provided a focus point for something, and certain individuals in the nation had been in position to bring it to more particular focus, but if something is brought to focus it is because there is something present to be brought to focus, present in the consciousness of many people.
Well there have been continuing wars and rumors of wars, etc.: two world wars, for instance, a depression back along the way--something putting in an appearance now--a number of lesser conflicts, troubles of various sorts, harsh conditions, all consequent upon the resistance in human minds and hearts toward this which was moving in the deeper levels of the subconscious. It is to be noted that if conditions do get harsh enough then people begin to stir in their slumber. You know, if you have a bellyache while you are asleep, eventually it will wake you up. You may dream about it for a while but eventually it will wake you up. Something of the sort is happening in the world. There is a very severe bellyache coming on and mankind is in deep slumber. That's one way of waking people up. And of course there are two possibilities when you wake up: you either become thoroughly subject to the bellyache and pass into oblivion or you begin to discover what should be done about it. So all this is occurring in the world as a whole.
This being Independence Day in the United States, there are many people who are looking back to that glorious time when the beginnings of the nation occurred. Well I suppose it is all right to be thankful for that; otherwise there wouldn't be a nation now; but to consider that those people at that time experienced a level of consciousness greater than that which is now possible is foolishness. They experienced what they naturally did at that time, but it was then, not now, and there has been a continuing movement of this subconscious creative action of spirit. Changes of consciousness have been occurring, obviously so. Some of them don't look too constructive, but others are, or could be said to be leading in the right direction. However, in the general sense there has not been an awakening to an awareness of what it is that has been absent in the experience of mankind. In other words there is still the expectation that by human effort all these things will be resolved. That is a fatal expectation! For the vast majority of people it hasn't changed yet. Certainly it hasn't changed from the standpoint of most of the world's leadership, and the leadership tend to be a reflection of those who are being led. If the consciousness of those who are being led changes significantly, the leadership will change too. Generally speaking most people are looking for the leadership to change first: "Show us the way! You are the leaders, after all." But we have begun to awaken to the fact that the leader isn't over there; he is right where one is now sitting!
This is a significant awakening if the slumber recedes into the oblivion of the past. As we have noted, there is a twilight state of limbo for a while, where a person is neither awake nor quite asleep and there is still some expectation of a resolution appearing by reason of the effort humanly speaking. That effort, humanly speaking, which has been made over the ages has only been present because there was no awareness of what it was that was absent. There may have been some belief that something was absent, God, we'll say; but what that meant nobody knew. That's why they had to invent all these religions, to try to explain something which was quite inexplicable to the state in which human beings were existing. It can't be comprehended in that state. One must come out of that state for comprehension. Well certainly there is an interim experience, presumably between what was and what is. This is fundamentally a business of coming into the present moment, coming out of the past, coming out of the deep darkness of the subconscious to a level where there is vision and understanding.
To come out in that way requires a new basis in living. One can't live on the old compulsions out of the subconscious; otherwise one will stay in the old state. There must be the experience, actual experience, of the new source of compulsion, which is totally different to the old one. People are inclined to argue themselves out of that by saying, "Well there are some good things in the old; we had better hang on to that. We don't really know what would happen if we completely yielded to the new. It's safer to hold on to the old." Is it really? It is the safe way to be buried, if that is one's ambition. But only as there begins to be an actual movement with the creative spirit, and no longer any dependence on the techniques that human beings have invented because the truth was absent, is it possible to begin to comprehend the magnitude of what it is with which one is associated.
Here is this movement of the spirit that has been occurring over the centuries. No one has been able to stop it; it has been happening. Human beings have reacted this way and that. Finally a few began to respond a little, let it emerge to some extent, emerge to the level of consciousness, to awaken, to become aware of the vastness of this movement. Insofar as its effect in human experience is concerned it's very small, but it is the same creative spirit that is moving everywhere, through everything. Could one imagine that little human ideas about parochial affairs are of any significance whatsoever, when seen in contrast to this vast movement? It is ridiculous. Tiddlywinks! But that rather insignificant game has been exalted as though it were the whole thing, human beings thoroughly enmeshed in it. Nowadays, of course, it has been refined a bit and we have these computer games. Everybody is thoroughly enmeshed in this thing, which is a symbol of the way human beings are completely obliterating from experience the only thing that is real. Awakening then, consciously, to an awareness of what it is that has been moving subconsciously, we begin to see its vastness, its inevitability. There isn't anything that anyone can do to stop it, and here is one aspect, at least, of the control and the dominion for which human beings are responsible.
What is your awareness of the magnitude of your own significance? We have noted how petty human beings are. They are always fiddling around with little things that mean nothing. Well there are things we have to take care of, but we see them in proportion. We never exalt them as though they were of some tremendous significance, because they are not. There is something that is of significance, and that is what is emerging of one's own expression of that creative spirit. That is a part, one might say, of the whole, and yet is not separate from the whole. It is not as though a person says, "Well I've got a little piece of the action here, a little piece of the whole action." No, it is the whole action. You can't separate, you can't divide it up. There is one spirit moving of vast magnitude. It has been completely incomprehensible to so-called conscious human minds, but now, to the extent that there is an emergence into expression of that spirit, the mind begins to awaken to what it is and to be in position to see with perspective what is happening. How then could one become involved in the nonsensical pettiness in which human beings everywhere continue to indulge? Well, we can understand why they do it, because they don't have any awareness of what is absent. But we do! There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for us. We know! And only as we accept the responsibility of that knowing may we comprehend the magnitude of what it is with which we are individually associated and for which we are individually responsible.
How great is God Almighty! Where is He if not here present, if not revealed by reason of the fact that we are here present, revealed by reason of the fact that mankind is here present? Mankind certainly could not exist otherwise. But fiddling around in the unconscious levels of the dream state is a waste of precious time. So we awaken. There is no sense in slumbering on. And the expression of our living becomes of such glory that we stand in a place of understanding. We comprehend what is going on and we see things in proportion. What is completely insignificant is completely insignificant, and we can't be fooled into giving it significance. There is the significance as well, but that relates to the creative expression of spirit. We don't give that significance; it is significant already. All we do is allow that significance to be revealed because we no longer cover it up with the filthy overlay of human nature. The Glory of the LORD fills the Tabernacle and shines round about, the Tabernacle of God that is with men. Individually this is what we are, if we are anything in our own self-conscious awareness.
O Lord God, how Great Thou Art. Inseparable from Thee we are. This we proclaim in our living. This we know as we proclaim it in our living. There could be no greater experience than this, no experience with greater magnitude known in the present moment, which is the only moment we have, the moment of thy Glory. Aum-en
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