Shekinah Fire — Secret Place
Uranda June 16, 1953
We come to our GPC Servers Training Class of June 16, 1953. We have been carrying forward the pattern of meditation on the basic theme of Heavenly Magic, by which we may begin to let the Magic of Life spring from its true source in the invisible realms of Being, that it may find expression through the body and all of its capacities—the capacities not only of physical living but of perception and function in mind and heart. In this pattern of meditation we have been going through a process of recognizing the significance of the Shekinah Fire.
As I have explained to you in the Class who were not here for the first time this morning, the popular pronunciation, from the standpoint of the scholars, is [Shekeyenah] Shekinah, but the original Hebrew word carried something of the expression of Shekaanah, and we have chosen to use the Motherland Pattern of vibratory factors to signify this particular significance—the [Shekeenah] Shekinah Fire, which is surrounded by the Light that Glows, and in turn surrounded by the Cloud, which is the essence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And it is only as we become vividly conscious, in a deep-seated realization of the One Who Dwells, that we can begin to let that One have meaning in our lives. We have the tendency in the fallen world pattern of human beings, the tendency to go about absorbed in the external factors of environment and circumstance and things, ignoring the reality of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
We have recognized, from the standpoint of our interest in what we speak of as attunements, that no man as such, merely as a human being, can heal another; that, if there is to be healing, the force that produces that healing must come from the source which produced the body in the first place; and that wonderful, though seemingly mysterious, power which was capable of forming the body of the babe in the womb with all of its delicate perfections, is likewise capable of re-forming in the physical realm itself that which has become distorted in pattern, if we learn to let the Divine Design and Divine Control have reality in our lives—have meaning. So, instead of being controlled by all of these external distractions which demand and command the attention and the life force of so many, we are undertaking here to become God-centered—centered in the reality of the Creator, to begin to know the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And in this we remember the beautiful refrain from the 91st Psalm; “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” The shadow is the evidence of the presence of something, and that which is the evidence of the Presence of the Almighty is that which we would have made manifest in our lives—the evidence of the Presence of the Almighty.
We look around us, and we have experienced as human beings, as well as having seen in the lives of others, the evidences of weakness, of futility, of uncertainty, the sense of overwhelming insecurity which drives human beings into conflicts and nations into war; and the only place where we can find that sense of security is in the pattern of correct relationship with the Source of our Being. Therefore, the essence, the focalized essence, of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, is of tremendous importance to us, individually and collectively. But this essence appears on the basis of our relationships with others, not on the basis of some human being going apart, segregating himself from the necessities of the world, becoming a hermit and trying by some means to find attunement with the Divine, or some higher Source of Being. Such a pattern leads inevitably to distortion. Even though one may attain some state of consciousness which may in some circumstances be deemed to be higher, it is impractical—it has no meaning in the practical living of life. And our God is a practical God. He was the One who established the wonderful design of the human body, the marvellous mechanism of the hand, the processes of hearing or seeing, all of the wonderful functions of the body which you have been studying, all of these things about which man knows a little but which he cannot himself institute, he cannot himself produce, he cannot even copy let alone improve upon.
And so, the Divine Source, having the intelligence, having the ability, having the power, to produce in actual fact such a practical manifestation of Heavenly Design, is likewise capable of the practical application of the fundamental principles of life in relationship to us here today in this age. And it is only as we begin to realize that the intelligence back of design, the power back of control, necessary to produce all of these designs and bring them to formation in the womb, is equally capable of producing the practical expression of life in us in everyday living, that we can begin to turn our attention from those things which have for so long been distractions, turn our attention to those things which have for so long been false gods, before whom human beings have been committing idolatry, and adultery, and before whom human beings have been pouring out their lifeblood, not necessarily as in the days of old, slashing themselves with knives and leaping upon the altar, but nevertheless as surely pouring out their life blood for that which is empty and futile and meaningless. And so today, centering our attention in the reality of the Shekinah, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, we will read once more this basic text in which we find so much, the Biblical picture of the primary differentiations of the manifest Shekinah.
“And I turned to see the voice.” Immediately the thought of seeing a voice suggests that which is to the human mind that which is mystical and mysterious. It may be in truth be mystical but it need not be mysterious. “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw…” Let us emphasize the significance of those words. The first impulse in turning from the unreal patterns of the world causes the individual to let his attention change, for even a moment, from those things which are pressed in upon him in the external pattern of life. The first impulse comes as an inner sound, not necessarily heard with the physical ear, but an inner sound or impulse, that which suggests, “Turn to Me. Come unto Me.”
The human being who does not give up, who does not become subject to the external pressures of his circumstance, who does not become lethargic, who does not acquiesce, has deep within him—to be awakened sooner or later—the assurance, the belief, the confidence, that there is something higher, something better than that which has thus far been experienced. And in these awakening ones—for we have seen there are four types of people in the world: [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/functional-factors-in-heavenly-magic.html] those who are dead, those who are asleep, those who are awakening, and those who are awake—and so these awakening ones begin to sense a call, a call to turn from the prison of environment, a call to turn to some place, somewhere where there can be the liberty, the freedom to live and not merely to exist for a few moments of time, only to die. And so he begins to turn.
And why does any human being turn? He turns to see the Voice that speaks with him. He begins to turn from the patterns of the unreal world, the realm of idolatry. And being turned, he saw. The individual who does not see the things of Heaven, with the eye of the heart if not with the physical eye, has not yet turned. But as one begins to turn, and goes through the process of resurrection, transformation, rebirth, whatever one may call it, the process of turning from all of the unreal realm, begins to see the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. Not to see God face-to-face in the first flush of recognition, but he begins to turn.
Here, we need to go back to our basic formula for a moment, as we find it in the 23rd Psalm. “He prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” So many human beings are so filled with fear that they are afraid to turn to see the Voice lest the enemy, lest the dangers of the unreal realm, attack from behind. “He prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” Most human beings would prefer to have the enemies removed and then the table prepared, but it does not work that way. Until the human being becomes interested enough, responsive enough, to dare to turn his back upon the enemy, he cannot begin to sit down at the table of the LORD’s bounty. And so, one of the first things necessary is to begin to let perfect love cast out all fear—the reality of love casting out the fear which made it possible for the individual concerned to turn, to begin to turn to let a new pattern of life appear.
And when you go into the field as Servers, you are going to be constantly up against that same type of problem—people so filled with fear that they are doing the things which produce their own prisons, things which destroy their own opportunities, and it is up to you to let perfect love cast out fear from the heart of the responding one so that that person, yielding to love may begin to turn and see, and understand. And so the fears—faith in the wrong things, faith in the evil, faith in the distortions, faith in the sickness, faith in the disease, faith in the enemy—keeps human beings bound to their afflictions with bands of iron; but these bands of iron are broken asunder the moment we begin to turn, begin to recognize the reality of that which is suggested by the psalmist, “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” But human beings have their attention so centered in the muck and the mire that they never see the wonderful works of the LORD, they never have any appreciation. And so, your job as a Server is to begin to help people turn and see the Voice that speaks with them, begin to turn and see, that they may recognize something of the wonderful works to the children of men. And so, “Being turned, I saw…”
“And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man.” Now remember, most people read that as if it said, “The Son of man”—that “there I saw the Son of man,” and they assume, wherever the words “Son of man” is used that it simply means the One who manifested as Jesus Christ. This is not to detract from Him, but to take a careful look at the exact wording and the true significance. “And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man.” Now what is the significance of the Son of man? One who lived a life of victory. One who let the Father be revealed on earth, for that was the Master’s greatest service—the revelation of Deity in the practical expression of life on earth in this present time, not waiting till some vague and distant hereafter—the practical revelation of Deity on earth, in life. And if that is the nature of the One whom we speak of as the Son of man on occasion, and He lived a life of victory, and He said, “Follow me,” then, if he saw “one like unto the Son of man,” what does it mean? It means one who has the capacity of Being, the centering necessary, the understanding of Truth, the reality of living, which permits the manifestation of that same basic pattern—the Pattern of Victory, the revelation of Deity on earth in the practical living of life.
So we begin to see that according to the individual capacities, the focalization of the Cosmic scheme of things, this is true of every man, woman and child upon the face of the earth. It includes you, for you have a Divine Design, you have a purpose—there was a reason for your birth on earth, there was a reason and a purpose in the Cosmic scheme of things. And if you deny that purpose and refuse to let that reason be fulfilled, you make of yourself a meaningless thing, a meaningless thing which might as well not have been. But we cannot accept any such pattern. Nevertheless, you have the responsibility of helping others to begin to see and know that God had a purpose for them, that there was a reason for their birth. They are a part of the Divine Design. And to sell that idea!
There are those who are awakening, and they will be hungry, but you will see many pass ploddingly by, refusing to hearken or heed, and acting as if they had no meaning because they have no concept as yet that they are part of the Divine Design, that they are a part of the Cosmic scheme of things, and they go on their ways to destruction. But it is for you to remember that you can serve only those who respond, and never try to force your service on anyone. “According to your response, so be it unto you.” So, we let the Light shine, we live the Life, we offer the service, and serve in fact according to response.
“One like unto the Son of man.” Here we begin to see the reality of the Centering of Being, for each human being—for you—the Centering of Being for any person anywhere. And what is the Centering of Being? The reality, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, is that which comes into consciousness first. You do not immediately see the One Who Dwells. You see the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, the Shadow of the Almighty, the evidence of the Presence of the Almighty. “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot.” And the garment we have recognized as the Cloud. As it was put in the Old Testament pattern, “The glory of the Lord filled the temple, and shone round about”—the Cloud of His Presence, translated from Shekinah, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
If you stop and think about it now, in quiet meditation with the mind in its self-activity brought to a state of stillness, why should you be concerned about seeing the One Who Dwells? Is He not the Supreme One? Why not leave that to His wisdom, His discretion, His purposes? Is it not enough for any human being if he begins to see the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells? What more could you achieve by seeing the One Who Dwells? To satisfy your curiosity? To make it possible perhaps for you to persuade Him to do what you want, the way you want it, when you want it? If you can desecrate the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells by such self-active thoughts and attitudes, can you hope to reach the point of seeing the One Who Dwells?
It is by reason of response, in fulfilment of the Law, that we reach a consciousness of true relatedness. The fulfilment of the one Law, the Law that sustains the atomic structure or the solar structure, the Law that contains all things between. And it is the fulfilment of the Law, response to the proper Centering of Being, that we begin to be drawn with the irresistible cords of Love into the pattern of the Divine Design where we may know the reality of control. And so it is that here the first thing that is seen, the first thing that is recognized, is the clothing—“clothed with a garment down to the foot.” And what is this garment? It is the Cloud—the Cloud of the silvery essence which contains the Light that Glows and the Fire that Burns; and this Fire does burn forever.
We remember at the time of Elijah [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/behold-elijah-is-here-youtube-video.html] and his experience on Mount Carmel, how the prophets of Baal leaped upon the altar and gnashed themselves with knives so often; but they had been forbidden to put any fire under—“but put no fire under”—no arbitrarily, humanly determined substitute for the Fire that forms the Centering of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And when it came time for Elijah to act, he spoke unto all the people and said, “Come near unto me.” And they came near. “Come near unto me.” How often that Heavenly invitation has been repeated! “Come near unto me.” Don't stand back, don't hesitate, don't resist! As the Master put it, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Come near. And then Elijah turned the pattern of his attention to his own centering in God, and the Fire appeared. What was that Fire? It was the Shekinah Fire. It was the Shekinah Fire that appeared. And what did the ox represent? The stubborn, self-active human mind that is bound and determined, by its plodding and its lowing, to achieve something worth while. As an instrument for Divine intelligence it is wonderful; as an ox, it does not travel very fast—the oxcart days. And most religions are still in the oxcart days.
We need to begin to realize that the Shekinah Fire consumes, that it takes into itself the mind, the mind that was symbolized by the ox; and not only the mind, but the stones of the altar. And what were the stones? The stones of the human heart, bound and determined to have its own way, hardened against God, trying to force the issues of life, to shape things its own purposes and foolish desires. And the water? Water is the symbol of Truth. And so, before the Fire appeared, the ox and the stones had been covered with water. Before the Fire appears there must be the reality of Truth and the acceptance of it, so that the Divine Design begins to take hold, so that Divine control begins to take over and the human being is no longer subject to the false gods of his own circumstance and the desires of his own impure heart. And if the Fire consumes these things—the ox upon the altar, and the stones, and licks up the water, as we see the story given there in relationship to Elijah—what has happened? The same thing that must happen in you if you are to experience this process of Divine liberation, for the ox of the human mind must be consumed.
You have heard that before and you say, “Well now it's gone, it's vanished, it is no more! It's just burned up! It's no good!” If it is consumed, does that mean it is no longer in existence? If it is consumed by the Fire, has not the Fire taken it into itself. What Fire? The Shekinah Fire—the Fire which is at the Center of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And so, the ox is not gone. It has only been consumed, that is, received into the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. It has not been cast into some strange oblivion. And what of the water? It too has been received, licked up from the trenches even. And the stones? They too have been burned, and the stoniness of the heart, the human heart, is melted. And then, with a heart made pure—as the Master put it: “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God”—first they shall begin to see the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells; and with a heart made pure, they begin to let the reality of the One Who Dwells find expression in daily life. They are not so concerned about climbing to the highest heavens and seeing the God of All Gods as they are about letting the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells find expression in their own lives, in the life of service.
What was the greatest service our Master rendered on earth? The revelation of Deity in action in relationship to the affairs of men. The greatest service He rendered! The revelation of Deity in action on earth in relationship to the affairs of men. Practical living. And so what do we begin to do? We begin to let the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells find expression in our own thoughts, in our own words, in our own actions, as soon as the reality of that Presence is established in us in relationship to our consciousness, in relationship to our awareness. But we must turn our attention from those things which have occupied and controlled for so long and begin to give a little attention to Deity, a little attention to the Source of Being; and then, yielding, we begin to receive the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
But do we just receive it and stop at it at some point? We are going to provide a container for God. The Omnipotent and Infinite is going to be contained in us, we are so great! We are so great. So magnificent we are. We are going to contain God and surround Him and use Him for our own purposes. Are we? No. Never! Why attempt then, to establish a dividing line? “I'm going to receive God into me, but I'm going to stop Him here.” No. The very fact that we are alive, that we can hear the sound of a voice, the very fact that we can breathe or sit in a chair, indicates that there is something of the working of the Spirit of God in us, or we would not be here this morning. The Spirit of God is in action in us already. It does not have to be induced. The very fact of life is one of the facets of the Shekinah, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. But if we insist on using that life according to the human purpose and design, we are going to lose it, it will be gone, and the physical form will be no more.
Blessed ones, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells is already finding some expression through you by the very fact that you are alive, but why not let the fulness of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells find expression through you? Can you, not having yet achieved attunement with that centering of Being, cause others to be inspired to know that centering? No. If you are going to bring others into attunement with the Divine Source, so that the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells may manifest in the healing of body and mind and heart, then you yourself must live in that evidence—not just a part of the time, not just for an hour a week, or an hour a day, or fifteen minutes of meditation some time or other. “He that dwelleth.”
What is the Secret Place of the Most High? It is the Shekinah, because human beings do not know it. God has no desire to keep it secret but it is because human beings have ignored it and have refused to enter into it. They have been so careful to maintain their resentments and their fears and their conflicts. They have maintained a spirit which shuts them out of the Shekinah, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. But the moment we begin to recognize that every blessing that we have known, every privilege of life, every breath we have drawn, has been a part of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, we begin to realize that the self-active use of ourselves is thievery. It is stealing. It is more than that—it is murder because it destroys the vehicle of the expression of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And you have no right to destroy that vehicle of expression—your own body or the body of another.
Therefore, instead of shutting ourselves out of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells until there is nothing left but a corpse, let us recognize the reality of that evidence and receive it into ourselves, so that it may consume us. Destroy us? No! Consume us—take it into itself, that only the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells may find expression because we live and move and have our Being here on earth, that every thought, every word, every attitude, every action, shall be a revelation of Deity, a revelation of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
But this manifestation depends upon our relatedness with others, for as long as we take the attitude that we are trying to get something from God, we are declaring we are separate from God and we are trying to get the evidence of His Presence. Have you ever known anyone to take that attitude? Have you? “I want to have the evidence of the Presence of God. Oh I want it more than anything else.” But do you? That human being, denying the evidence already manifest, is hardly in position to recognize or accept any further evidence. Until we begin to recognize the evidence already present in the fact of life—the fact of the Divine Design in the physical form, the fact of the functioning of the mind, the heart, the feeling nature, perception, physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, so that instead of being controlled by what we perceive we use perception intelligently.
We remember that if we see a mud-hole with the eye, we walk around it—the physical eye—if we perceive a vibrational muck-hole with the eye of the heart, most human beings plunge into it and say, “This is mine!” They could not just use the good sense to walk around it. To see it with the physical eye, you will walk around it—a cactus bed perhaps—but with the eye of the heart, the feeling perception, he perceives the cactus bed and says, “Ah, this is mine; and I must perforce go and wallow in it!” And it is a painful business to wallow in the cactus bed. We learn to see with the eye of the heart and avoid those things that do not belong to us, walk around them, to stop denying the reality of the evidence already present—because we make martyrs of ourselves by wallowing in all of the muck and the mire we can find with the eye of the heart. We do not have to identify ourselves with every mud-hole that comes along. We can use discretion even with the eye of the heart, and perceiving these things, refuse to say, “This is what I am.”
But looking to the evidence of the Presence of the Almighty, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, we can say, “But God is not far away. His Spirit is here for the Spirit of Life is still in my body. I acknowledge the things of God. I see them. I accept them.” Then you are in position to begin to let them increase in you. And unless you can inspire others in this same process of turning and accepting, and of learning to dwell, to live, twenty-four hours of every day, in the consciousness of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, you are not going to serve in any true sense. Oh, you may cause a headache to vanish for the moment, but it will come back, or some other difficulty; and those who are blind will say, “Well, that person doesn’t know what they are doing, what he is doing.”
Until we can reach beyond the symptoms and change the causes in man’s relationship to Deity, we cannot achieve that to which we are called. And so, the first step is to learn to see and acknowledge and accept the already present, already evident evidences of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And seeing these things we begin to have the spirit of thanksgiving and we begin to remember—not something forgotten in a moment while we pour out our life’s blood and sacrifice to some idol of an ill condition—something we begin to remember. We can begin to turn our backs on the enemy with supreme disdain; turn our faces to God and our backs on the enemy and begin to partake of the table which He has prepared for us, the abundant evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells—enough to fill every need of life without a single exception, enough power to correct any ill condition as long as there is life and response to the working of that power—a Divine Design that has considered every need of every human being everywhere, regardless of race or color or creed. The Way of God's Love, the Truth—the design and the control factors—and out of this comes Life. And when we let that living be a reality so that we are received into the Shekinah, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, we begin to be in our daily lives a revelation of Deity on earth in relationship to the practical aspects of being, of living, in this world. A hereafter? Well and good. But it is here that we are to live, it is here that there is a need for the revelation of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
And so, if there is One like unto the Son of man in the midst of the seven candlesticks, that One, the Centering of the Shekinah, carries the pattern of victory for you, the pattern of fulfilment according to your own aspect of the Cosmic Design, to the Glory of God. How often we say, “to the glory of God.” If it is to the Glory of God, it is to the revelation of the Shekinah, the manifestation in you by thought and word and deed of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells. And this, according to your design, is your purpose in life, that the blessings of the Most High may be given to the children of men. He that dwelleth in the Secret Place, he that dwelleth in the Shekinah of the Most High, shall abide under the Shekinah of the Almighty.
© emissaries of divine light
