The Design Of Friendship

The  Design  Of  Friendship

Martin Cecil  August 2, 1981

If a guru might in fact be classified as a spiritual master then he may provide a very essential element in the creative process as related to his followers. This is illustrated well by the Master Jesus, and His disciples. The Master and disciples portrays parent and children. People are initially, at best, only spiritual children; therefore guidance needs to be given, but at some point the children, having passed through the cycles of being children, begin to mature. If the guru continues to insist upon the position he held before, while his followers were still children, they will likely never grow up. There tends to be this settling down into a comfortable situation, but a true master will never permit this to be sustained unduly. The young birds need to be pushed out of the nest.

We all remember how in the Master's ministry He indicated finally that His disciples should no longer be called servants but friends. The word friends is perhaps the best translation that could be found for the new maturing experience, but if this word is seen in the light of human understanding of so-called friendship it doesn't provide a very accurate picture. During the time of the master-servant relationship there's a very clearly evident indication of positive and negative factors: the positive master, the negative disciples. Because of these positive and negative factors there could be the beginning generation of the essential collective pneumaplasm, or spiritual substance, which would be needful to accommodate the experience of friendship. Without that substance what is implied by the word “friends” cannot be known.

So there is the need for the generation of the required vibrational substance. This happens on the basis of the interaction between positive and negative. The right basis for that interaction is love: the disciples love the master; the followers love the guru. Thus there may be the beginning generation of the essential substance. A child loves his parents simply because they are there; the situation is not analyzed at all. There is love for the person of the parents. In the case of the followers and the guru, or the disciples and the master, there is love for the person of the guru or the master. This is the starting point for the generation of substance, the substance which is to accommodate the truth. The truth can never be known without this essential vibrational substance. The truth is not a concept of the mind; it is something else altogether. It is a reality, an already existing reality which remains unknown even though it may be theorized about until there is the substance which will accommodate it, thereby bringing it within the range of the experience of those individuals through whom the substance has been generated. This is the basis for knowing the truth.

So the initial stages include spiritual children who are responding in love to their spiritual master just because he is their spiritual master. But as substance is generated, so that the truth can begin to be accommodated within the experience of these maturing children, then the love begins to change toward what it is that is being represented by the master. We may recall here again the words of Jesus: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” He indicated the necessity of His disciples loving Him; either merely loving a person whom the disciples had become more or less familiar with, or what was revealed by that person. Obviously the change is to loving the latter, in other words the Way, the Truth and the Life which He was—not merely a physical person but what was made evident by reason of the presence of that physical person, namely the Way, the Truth and the Life. The change begins to occur when this becomes the nature of the disciple's love, because what he loves—the Way, the Truth and the Life—is acknowledged as being acceptable in his own experience and is not merely left to the master. The Way, the Truth and the Life is available to all people, oneself included. The loving of that then immediately begins to associate one's own experience with the Way, the Truth and the Life, and this opens the door to what has been called “friendship”—fundamentally association, increasing oneness with this One Spirit.

The word “friend” tends to be interpreted in human consciousness as indicating that those concerned are functioning at the same level. Certainly when Jesus indicated the necessity of loving Him—the Way, the Truth and the Life—He was not saying, in effect, “I'm going to cease to be who I am. I'm going to vacate my position of focus.” He didn't say that at all, and that is not implied by the word “friend”. Friend is the experience to the extent that the truth is being accommodated by this spiritual substance which has been generated. But the truth includes design; in other words there are particular relationships between those who participate in knowing the truth. Knowing the truth certainly does not engender the sometimes present human attitude, “I'm just as good as you are.” Maybe. Who knows? There is a design, there is a pattern of right relationship. There are various levels in that relationship. It isn't a flat thing, so that everybody can look at the other and say, “I'm on the same level as you.” Not at all. Who wants to be? That would be very dull. There is a beautiful design, the design of friendship.

Friendship does not necessarily engender familiarity. There is the fitness of things—namely wisdom. The substance which is generated by a right participation in the creative experience of love allows for a vast range of natural and proper relationships. This same substance which accommodates the truth accommodates wisdom. Wisdom is a part of the experience of truth—there is a sense of the fitness of things. There is, one might say, when the substance is available, the experience of the excellency of wisdom, and this same substance accommodates power, the excellency of power. The power is available for right use under right control in the true design. So used, it is creative and makes possible the fulfilment of the purposes of God. We think of this at the moment primarily from the standpoint of what we have called restoration. All this is available once there is the substance to accommodate it.

This substance is initially generated by the clear-cut relationship between parents and children, between master and disciples, and it's generated on the basis of love: love by the master for his disciples and love by the disciples for the master. But, that love of the disciples for the master begins to come out of a childish condition into an increasing awareness of what it is that is being revealed by the master: namely the Way, the Truth and the Life; and the love is for that, for participation in it, for the experience of it, and on this basis there is substance available to accommodate the truth so that the real design can begin to become apparent. The design is seen on the basis of the sense of the fitness of things, and relationships appear as fitting, not arbitrarily established in external form but naturally emerging through the action of spirit, shared spirit, and all concerned find themselves related to one another in particular ways. The one who provides the focus, the one who was considered to be the master, for instance, is seen in the design. That position in the design might not be described by the word “master” but there is a recognition of a point of focus in the design, and it becomes evident that there are other points of focus also which are present, because these other points of focus do not question or deny the first point of focus. The design naturally emerges on this basis from level to level.

This is not to say that any particular person is stuck at some level. There is a creative requirement which necessitates different configurations in the design of truth, so there are natural changes which occur, and all this is included in the pattern of friendship. There is an ease of relatedness which does not cause human beings to be puffed up nor to denigrate themselves. It certainly does not require that one push someone else down or lift someone else up. It is found that all naturally emerges once the substance is there to accommodate the truth. If the substance isn't there the truth is not known and the design remains a mystery. Because it is obscure in such case, human beings have been inclined to try to invent their own designs, and they organize in various ways. They organize in the field of religion; they organize in the field of politics; they organize in all the various fields that human beings have produced for themselves. This, as we well know, is not a revelation of the truth. The truth, after all, makes free, and human beings are surely bound. The essential factor, then, is seen as being this vibrational substance which, when it is present, alone makes possible the knowing of the truth.

There have been those who have struggled to understand the truth, to get all the principles of reality lined up so that they could consider that they then knew the truth. But if one is struggling to do that, indulging in mental gymnastics, one is neglecting the essential generation of substance which alone makes possible knowing the truth. That generation of substance requires, initially, participation in the disciple-master configuration—not that it's going to be that way forever, but it is essential to start with. Also, something needs to happen to bring a balance within the individual himself, the positive and negative aspects which are present in each person, so that there may be a stability experienced in living, a stability which comes because of the centering in love—to start with in the master, and then in what it is that the master reveals, namely the Way, the Truth and the Life. When that is loved, and one is as an individual centered in that, the positive and negative aspects are present in balance within oneself, there is the generation of the required substance and the truth begins to be known. But the substance which is being generated individually blends with what is being generated by other individuals, and the truth begins to include the larger design in one's own experience and one may, because of one's love and absolute centering, trust what it is that is emerging, so that there is no necessity for any competitiveness or any attitudes of, “I'm as good as you are, or maybe I'm better than you are.” Let it alone. We're not in the good and evil arena anyway. What is to be experienced is perfect—it need not be judged. It is what it is, and we know what it is when individually and collectively we have generated the essential substance to accommodate the truth, to accommodate the excellency of wisdom and the excellency of power.

Power presently is exercised by human beings by various means, the principal of which is, generally speaking, money. The world appears to be governed by those who are in position to control the substance of money. They are in position thereby to exercise manipulation. Now this is the appearance of things at the moment, and most human beings feel rather insignificant and futile in that sort of a picture because there are the big boys, whoever they are, pulling the strings in various ways and most people feel as though they have no say in the matter, they’re just pushed around. They try to fight for their rights, they organize, they create organizations and unions and everything else to try to do a little manipulation themselves; but all this because there is a sense of futility as individuals, an awareness of the fact that power is being exercised by somebody and why can't we have a cut of the cake? I trust that there is no further interest in that unholy arena, so that we might be free in the arena of love—loving the Way, the Truth and the Life, loving that to the exclusion of all else in our own experience, so that we are true to this. Then we find ourselves stable and assured, because there is, on the basis of this love, the generation of substance which accommodates the truth—the excellency of wisdom, the excellency of power.

We begin to find that there is power of a new quality, power which is exercised through the Way, the Truth and the Life. As long as it is so exercised it is a constructive power capable of recreating the world. If as this quality of power begins to be sensed there should purposefully or even inadvertently be a failure to remain aligned with the Way, the Truth and the Life, then it may become a very dangerous thing. The power is real. But staying true to the Way, the Truth and the Life, because our love absolutely centers there, we may allow this power to move as it is designed to move, and we remember that we ourselves are associated together in friendship to let this design be a reality on earth. Then the power is present and moving. That movement is reflected in what transpires; in other words spirit takes its own form. This aspect of spirit, namely power—which incidentally relates to love—takes its own natural form. That natural form includes whatever is necessary for the creative achievement of Divine Purpose.

Included among the forms is whatever is necessary in this regard in the way of money. One can see that on this basis there is no impelling necessity to somehow make money. Human beings have been making money for a long time. They made so much of it that’s it’s becoming worthless. The presses pour it out. It seems an aspect of policy now to try to rein back the presses. Well we’re not interested in what human beings try to do in their manipulations. All our concern is that we should accommodate, because we have the substance to do it, the essential wisdom and power coming down from God out of heaven.

The spirit of God is quite capable of creating its own forms, and does so as we let it. Letting it relates to this matter which was originally defined in terms of “friendship”, but we may begin to see that being friends does not properly involve elements of familiarity when these are not fitting. If we have the substance for friendship we have the substance for wisdom; therefore we have the sense of the fitness of things and we know how to relate to each other. There is something to learn in this regard. Humanly speaking we do not have much experience, so there is something to be learned in that sense, but it is learned easily when there is a centering in love—in the Way, the Truth and the Life. There is a recognition then, because there is the sense of the fitness of things, of whatever focus points are present relative to ourselves in the design, and we function in a fitting way with respect to these focus points and with respect to everybody else.

Now we begin to find that the Divine Design, the design of truth, includes friendship, friendship which manifests itself on the basis of the design, not on the basis of some human concept of everybody being equal, everybody being at the same level—flat. How flat! What a flat experience! How uninteresting! How uncreative! There must be those who fill the design with substance at all the required levels, so that there may be interaction, so that there may be the generation of love, the truth of love, the truth of love in the true design.

We begin to discover that this is so, and there is a delight in whatever it is that is experienced in that design. There is oneness known—unity. There it is. And we all individually have parts to play in this to the extent that we can participate in it because we have generated the substance individually that connects us with the substance of the whole. In one sense I suppose it could be looked upon as being something rather exclusive at the moment, because so few people have the substance which would enable them to connect up with the spiritual substance in which the truth is accommodated. Now there is more generation taking place as the days go by. It is happening in various ways the world around, so that there is an increasing availability of substance to accommodate the truth, to accommodate the design. As the design begins to appear within one's own range of awareness let us rejoice in it and not reject it, because fulfilment is only known in the design the way it really is.

Now we have the opportunity of sharing in letting this design be a delighted  reality in our closer association in person. We know that it includes many more with whom we may not at the moment be associated in person. But we are now associated with people in person, and here is the proving ground in one's own experience. Human beings are very prone to envyings and jealousies amongst themselves, which is all indicative of the fact that there is virtually no substance there to accommodate the truth. Of course if there is indulgence in these emotional sprees then any substance that there was is dissipated, and it's impossible to let anything be generated until the individual comes out of that emotional state. We're not in competition with anyone. We are delighted to allow whatever is fitting to appear.

At the moment the true design is accommodated by the substance generated mostly by a few people. This makes it seem as though that is exclusive, but the intent is that everybody should generate it, and then it wouldn't exclude anyone. But so many, by their disruptive attitudes, refuse to generate the substance, dissipate any that comes within the range of their destructive actions, and then feel excluded, when they excluded themselves. From the standpoint of those who participate in this generated substance there is no exclusion. Everybody is welcome if they have the substance to experience what may be known. If they don't have it they can't experience it. And certainly we wouldn't violate the Law by trying to make anyone experience something which they couldn't experience. The substance must be there. We would allow the generation of it in our own living and we would encourage others to participate in that generation so that there may be the experience of the abundance that is available once it can be accommodated because there is substance.

So we have taken a look at these things, that we might have a clearer outlook as to the nature of the truth. We have said for years that there are these two aspects of design and control, but the implications of this have thus far not penetrated all that deeply. There is a design, a spiritual design, and that is all-important. What emerges in form is quite secondary. What is experienced in spirit is the design. So, participating in our balanced living because we are centered in absolute love, in the Way, the Truth and the Life, increasing substance is generated. It is refined by reason of our living, and the truth is then accommodated—the excellency of wisdom and the excellency of power. The power is sufficient, once it is properly accommodated, to transform the world. It is in the process of doing it now, but the days need shortening lest no flesh should be saved. It requires those who provide the substance for the accommodation of the excellency of wisdom and the excellency of power. There is much to be experienced in this that has not yet been experienced, but we may have the assurance that as our centering in love remains true and stable it is all brought to pass with absolute certainty.

I rejoice with you in such stability as you know, and I rejoice with all in whom this stability is increasingly experienced, whoever they are, wherever they are, for so shall the Kingdom come and God's Will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

© emissaries of divine Light

April 27, 1909 - January 12, 1988

“It is vital that one should be aware of what is happening vibrationally. This is a vibrational ministry. Our concern is to abide in the Vibrational Ark. How capable are we of receiving intensification of spirit? Some have described that as fire falling from heaven. It is this that is of supreme importance. When we sense an intensification let’s pay attention to it so that we don’t get side-tracked by something else. We talk about apocalypse. Apocalypse means the passing of all that would be referred to as civilization. How it dissolves is unimportant. That it dissolves is important. It is very important that this should have dissolved in us, so that we are capable of receiving the fire falling from heaven. Now we come to apocalypse—the passing of the first heaven and the first earth, the passing of everything of human invention. This boggles the mind, but it doesn’t boggle the spirit. There is an actual passing going on now, but it is a long way from being complete. The passing comes because there is this focus of the fire present in human form on earth. We are responsible, and whenever there is an intensification in a vibrational sense, that is what is to be welcomed. What that intensification is going to do specifically in any given moment remains to be seen. Sometimes an intensification is interpreted as fear. Almost anything that human beings touch in feeling can be interpreted one way or another. It can be revealing of the emergence of the creative process, the intensity of the fire, and cause for the greatest thanksgiving. Interpreted as fear, there is the inclination to run for cover. The instruction is to stand still. “Be still, and know that I am present.” It is that presence that permits the fulfillment of the purpose for which we are present on earth. I am the intensity. The intensity may be allowed to build. ‘Be still, and know that I am present. I come in the name of the King.’ The King’s name is I AM. I am present. In that presence, the power of the spirit of the King, the power of love, pours forth under control and within the design of truth. It is under control because what is experienced is known for what it is and is not misinterpreted. ‘Be still, and know that I am the King and I am present.’ Such a statement does not cause any of us to assume, as an individual, the position of the King, but it does allow the King to be present because I am present. There begins to be a sense of reverence and respect, love and humility, because we are in this moment in the presence of the King. All people are in the presence of the King, but the fact has been hidden. There is the mystery of God—but here it’s finished.”  Martin Exeter  August 1987