Sometimes silence is spoken of as being pregnant. There is an awareness, surely, in these moments of a fulness characterized in the external sense by silence. But it isn't dead; it is living and vibrant. Mention was made of the invisible this morning, the invisible which is one with the visible but which all too often is ignored because of the activity and noise in the visible realms. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/awaken-to-oneness.html]
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We might again take note of the mist which went up on the face of the earth. This is the occurrence immediately before the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Whatever may have been involved in that original creation, we have the present state of affairs. The dust of the ground evidently has already been assembled into the form of man, so that presumably does not need to be done over again. But the mist which went up on the face of the earth, while it may still be present, has not been within the range of human experience for a long time. There has been another state. The first necessity has been to generate this substance within the range of human experience, that the mist might go up upon the face of the earth once more and water the ground.
The distinction in these days to what it was before is that man is already formed but, as we have noted, in a state comparable to coma, a coma state in which he dreams unpleasant dreams. Sometimes the dreams become a little more pleasurable but it's all the unreal state. There is the necessity for re-creation. We have referred to this as restoration, or resurrection. It isn't really a re-forming of man of the dust of the ground. He is already formed but exists in this coma state, dreaming his nightmares the while. We saw the need for awakening, restoration, resurrection, the breathing once again of the breath of life through man's nostrils, or through the facilities that are available for this experience. Man, being formed, is composed of those factors of design within the form which make the breathing of the breath of life possible. Restoration, or resurrection, relates to the living soul experience, a new state.
We have spoken of the present state in terms of a dying soul. If the form is left to its own devices in the coma state it will die, but it may be recalled to life by reason of the breath of life. There are those, you amongst them, who have some awareness of the breath of life, consciousness beginning to return; it is not altogether a state of darkness. There is a natural state of darkness and an unnatural state of darkness. The unnatural state of darkness is this coma state, but there is what might be called divine darkness. Darkness is an essential factor in the creative process. In the beginning darkness was upon the face of the deep. Out of this condition light came. Does that mean to say that when the light came there was no more darkness? The light related to a specific creative process. Where that specific process was not in operation it was dark, and even when it was in operation there was also darkness as a part of the creative process. It was said that light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehends it not. There is a natural darkness which does not comprehend the light.
We have taken note before that the conscious mind only occupies a rather thin surface layer of the total mind composition. The vast majority of it is subconscious, so called: below the level of consciousness. The conscious mind rightly is the enlightened aspect of the mind, which is capable of seeing and understanding. Do you suppose that each individual is supposed to see and understand everything? If a person were capable of seeing and understanding everything then there would be no need for everybody else, would there? It might be said that the extent, the natural extent, the real extent, of the seeing and the understanding of the individual conscious mind is properly somewhat restricted. It would be appalling if consciously we saw everything. That would drive us crazy. We see enough rightly. We don't need to see everything. There are a few others around who can see the things that we don't see. So the conscious mind of the individual is somewhat restricted in its awareness, rightly so. People fuss a good deal about what they don't know, but let us be thankful for what we do know.
Of the total mind the conscious mind is a very small layer. There is vastly more other than the conscious mind, and that is dark. It is supposed to be dark. Of course nowadays human beings are inclined to try to pry into it. The psychiatrists and psychologists are interested in unearthing things out of this darkness, but there is nothing wrong, really, with the state of darkness. And there is a tendency to stir up a hornets' nest if we become too much involved in exploring the dark alleys, so to speak, with our conscious minds. The conscious mind doesn't belong there. Obviously there is something wrong with thesubconscious minds of human beings, just as there is something wrong with their conscious minds, but this is because of a faulty operation, not because the machinery couldn't work the way it was designed to work. It isn't a matter of trying to cause what is properly dark to become light. That messes things up worse than ever. Let us keep our sticky fingers out of the depths of that pie and be willing to let what God created—without understanding what that means either—be the way it is designed to be without human interference. What does need correcting is the manner of operation of this equipment. It wasn't intended to be in human hands when that human state is unreal.
There shouldn't be any unreal state. The real state is something different. We are becoming somewhat aware of the reality, so that we might feel safer in relinquishing the unreality. The question might be asked, "Is it safe to wake up?" That is the question that seems to be posed to human beings, and they are inclined to say, "No, it's safer to stay asleep." Of course it isn't put that way: "It's safer to hang on to what is known than to open the door to something that is unknown." How interesting!
So there is natural darkness and natural light. I suppose this is symbolized by day and night insofar as this planet is concerned. I don't think any of us particularly wish to get rid of night. Even if you live in the high Arctic you still need to go to bed, even though the sun is above the horizon; sleep is required. Then the conscious light goes out temporarily. The sun rises again in the morning, and there we are. So we need to recognize that there is proper darkness and proper light; but there is also improper darkness, and the improper darkness includes the conscious mind which thinks it sees but doesn't. It simply sees something which is imaginary, unreal, a part of the dream experience.
We all know the difference between what is our state when we are dreaming and what our state is when we wake up. If you are wise you let the dream just simply vanish away. Some people get to trying to analyze dreams, find out the deep, dark significance of them. It is deep and dark and should be left that way. If we actually accept the opportunity to wake up into the state of reality the former things pass away, and no one in the state of reality would be in the least interested in trying to revive the former things or clothe them with some great significance. They had no significance at all, and fundamentally that is true of human dreams. People like to make their experiences seem significant somehow, but in the unreal state none of them are significant. They don't mean anything. I suppose that could be a rather shattering realization if one came to it and remained in the unreal state; then there is no point to anything. Of course there are people who come to this recognition. It's a valid recognition but they don't really understand why it is so and why there is another experience possible then.
So there is light and there is darkness in the true state. The present human experience, the unreal experience, the dream state, is occurring within an already existing body that is to be recalled to life, recalled out of the coma. Within the scope of this body there are those, ourselves perhaps and others, who are beginning to awaken. Consciousness is returning. Just to us? No, to the body of mankind. Do you think that when you wake up in the morning you are totally awake instantly? It may be true that some people wake up a little quicker than others. There are some who claim that they are never awake until after their fifth cup of coffee. Well they're not awake then either! But regardless of the rapidity with which we may seem to awaken there is always a cycle of awakening. It never is instantaneous. Some cells related to the conscious mind are animated first and so the light dawns, the sun rises and conscious experience comes again.
Of course we need to understand that our present experience in the human state may be used as an analogy for what really needs to happen. As long as it's the human state and we are under the necessity of using analogies, we are not yet awake—partially awake perhaps, so that there is sufficient light to observe the analogy. Then we can say to ourselves, "Oh yes, I see," without really seeing yet, because the analogy merely refers to something that is to be experienced and is not the thing itself. But there is an awakening here occurring in the consciousness of mankind at various levels, and this awakening relates to particular people. After all, the consciousness of mankind is the collective consciousness of all the individuals who compose it, and we are amongst those individuals. So as the dawn comes and there is some measure of awakening, there is a new consciousness of breathing the breath of life. If you are asleep you are still breathing but you don't know it. Other people may, who are within hearing distance, particularly if snores arise. But when you awaken, while you may give no particular thought to the matter, you are capable of thinking of the fact that you are breathing. While you are asleep you can't. You may think of yourself as breathing in your dream; that's not the same thing, is it? So breathing in one's dream state, in the human nature condition, may be analogous in some way to breathing the breath of life, but it isn't breathing the breath of life.
Beginning to awaken we sometimes stretch and breathe deeply. Even in the human state it's not a bad idea to do that when you wake up. There begins to be then, as there is awakening to the reality in experience, an awakening to the breathing of the breath of life; and even our individual breathing of air, which is necessary, begins to be seen as the breathing of the breath of life when we are awake to the reality. A person may say, "Well you're just breathing the way you were breathing before." No, not if you are awake to the reality. Then you are breathing in a new way. All that we do is made possible by the fact that we breathe, not only from the standpoint of the oxygen that we take into our lungs but also, as we are aware, from the standpoint of the ingestion, so to speak, of what has been called the negative life essence [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/the-from-steps-uranda-1936-there.html], so that there may be generated within us the essential current that moves over the nervous system, for instance. This also relates to mental activity. You know very well that when you have a head cold you don't think too well. You are not only clogged up in your sinuses but you are clogged up in your mind. There is an inadequate current being generated for essential mental activity. At least this current is one aspect of what is required to permit mental activity. It is the negative aspect. There is another aspect also.
So we may see all this if we begin to live on the basis of the expression of the spirit of God. Because we have awakened to this, our breathing is for a different purpose. Most people just breathe to stay alive and to enable them to do whatever it is they want to do. That's the unreal state. We awaken to a new state, where breathing is not included in our experience for the purpose of enabling us to do whatever we before thought we wanted to do. It is included in our experience now so that we may do what we are here to do, and that's something quite different. Our breathing is required for our thinking; obviously it is required for our physical aliveness; it is required for whatever we may experience in the way of emotion; and it is required for whatever may be possible in the way of spiritual expression. We begin to breathe for a purpose. Purposeful breathing we could call it. Maybe this was the idea back of what has come to be thought of as yoga, at least in the breathing aspect of it. So human nature tries to breathe in some special way, but to what end? Well the mind thinks up something or other that looks spiritual and formulates various ideas which may be included in the human nature paraphernalia. It's all thought of as being great and meaningful. It's all part of human nature still. The awakening doesn't come because the conscious mind gets busy and follows out some technique. If there is a genuine awakening it comes because of the movement and the action of the creative cycle, the creative cycle that is working through what was described as the mist, fine spiritual substance. Therefore our first concern has been to allow the generation of this substance within the scope of our own experience.
We are already here, so we don't need to get the dust of the ground together or have anyone do it. Somebody did it already. All that's been done, but there is the necessity for breathing the breath of life if the living soul is once more to be restored. I'm not speaking of personal, individual restoration. This relates to mankind, and our participation in this process is only meaningful because we are a part of mankind. It is something that is happening by reason of the creative cycle that is moving and comes within the range of the awareness of those who have generated sufficient spiritual substance, sufficient mist out of the earth of their own flesh bodies, to have this awareness, or to begin to have it.
The mind of course gets to questioning: "Well why should some people generate more than others? And why should some people come to this understanding therefore and others don't?" The individual human mind is not supposed to understand everything. Let it stay out of its usual self-active endeavors, because the only way that the substance will be generated, so that whatever understanding is necessary may come, is as the mind occupies its proper position, which is not that of God. So all these inquisitive questions can be flushed down the toilet, because what's going to happen is going to happen. How we will be included in that happening depends very largely on our own choice in the matter, and if we insist upon retaining a busy mind the happening may not be all that constructive in our experience.
This movement, this creative cycle, is moving relative to the conscious mind, which, as we have seen, is rather a thin layer. It is also moving relative to what is below that layer of consciousness, and there is a far vaster field there for it to move in. The majority of what is to be achieved by the movement of this creative cycle, spiritual movement, occurs below the level of the conscious mind. Again, the conscious mind, involved in its old habits, will be inclined to look over its shoulder so to speak, or down into the depths, to try to find out, "Well what's going on down there? Is anything happening down there?" What difference does it make to the conscious mind? What is occurring is occurring, and what the conscious mind thinks about it is not going to make much difference, is it? So why bother! Why not let what is happening happen?
Of course this creative movement is doing something in the depths, and occasionally, by reason of that, something pops up to the level of the conscious mind out of those depths. We might perhaps refer to that as a factor of earthly heredity, which puts in an appearance and we become consciously aware of it. Then there's something for the conscious mind to do, if it wants to do something. But that certainly is not to become subject to what it is that arose to the surface and began not only to involve the thinking processes but also the feeling processes. So there is something that the conscious mind can do: avoid becoming enmeshed in whatever it is that is occurring, refrain from becoming identified with it; just let it occur. If it was occurring deep down enough the conscious mind wouldn't know anything about it. It's only when it begins to come up into this twilight zone, close to the surface, that the conscious mind becomes aware of it. But fundamentally the same thing is required in either case: Let it alone; don't become involved with it. But people are inclined to; they get all involved with these emotional experiences and with their mental activity, and it carries them away into outer darkness once again. They sink down into the coma once more and become a part of the state of unconsciousness. To the extent that our living includes the right control of thought, feeling, speaking and acting, then there is the breathing of the breath of life.
In times past I have suggested that it is or may be helpful, particularly if one has breathing problems, to consider that the exhaling of the breath is the offering of a blessing. We are concerned to offer a blessing. Recently there has been a little elementary chanting done. Now you don't chant, very effectively at least, while you're breathing in! The blessing occurs because you are breathing out, and the accompanying sound, when it is fitting, enriches the blessing that is being breathed out. As has before been noted, people who have difficulty with their breathing usually think of it as difficulty with their breathing in. If they would stop being so concerned about breathing in and simply breathe out a blessing the inward breath would be more or less automatic. But people fight for breath, and it's a battle. Breathe out a blessing. One may deliberately do this. It's something that may be done on many occasions, certainly for instance in the attunement field. There is a blessing even in the very air we breathe out. The plants love it.
So we have an increasing consciousness that everything that finds expression and release through us carries a blessing. When it does, here is the experience of the living soul. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/prana-from-steps-to-mastership-uranda.html] Man was created to be a blessing. He has been a curse to himself and to everything else. Well the restoration is the restoration of man to be a blessing, and that blessing is available to the extent of the living soul experience. The living soul experience is dependent upon breathing the breath of life. Breathing is an essential pulsation if we are to live, and when it is the breath of life then every thought, every feeling, every word, every act, is a blessing, an outbreathing of a blessing. We don't need to stop blessing our environment when we breathe in. We don't think too much about breathing in and out when we are busy doing whatever it is we are doing. We don't have to stop doing what we're doing in order to breathe in; so the pulsation is there, but the blessing is continuous. We've seen something of this represented in our unified chanting—the sound never goes away, even though all of us are still breathing and from time to time have to take a breath in without sound.
To the extent, then, that we are participating in this awakened state, the state of reality, there is the experience of the oneness of the invisible and the visible, of God and man, and so the breath of life is breathed into the nostrils of mankind by reason of our breathing. As we noted before, it isn't some external God somewhere who is coming to offer this artificial resuscitation. It is a breathing from within the body of mankind. Are we in it? We can't help ourselves, can we? Well when we begin to breathe the breath of life the body of mankind begins to breathe the breath of life, and there is the initiation of the resurrection in a more specific sense. There are those who are awakening and taking responsibility for the awakening. The restoration is to consciousness, real consciousness; not the phony consciousness which human beings have had until now, but real, the awareness of what is real. What is real is present, so it is the awareness of what is present.
Part of that awareness relates to what is spiritually present, what is vibrationally present, what may be thus sensed so that we may touch in feeling what needs to be touched. This is only possible when the heart is pure. The heart which participates in the circulation of the bloodstream or the lifestream in the body is an essential aspect of the mechanism by which the bloodstream is purified. There are various ways by which the bloodstream is purified. One of them relates to the lungs: the breathing, in other words. But the blood must be purified; when it is purified there is a pure heart. When the lifestream is purified the heart is purified. The lifestream is purified by reason of its movement. If it becomes stagnant it gets filled with sludge and pretty soon it quits circulating. So there must be movement, there must be action. What's that? God in action on earth! Jehovah, isn't it?
Movement, action, purification, breathing, steady breathing, a natural pulsation—all this begins to work within the body of mankind, and on this basis the cycle of resurrection occurs. This is rather a different endeavor, if one could call it that, from those undertaken by human nature schemes in the world the way it is. They don't achieve anything in the end, whereas what is undertaken by the action of the spirit of God gets the job done, so that the coma may vanish by reason of the restoration to a state of consciousness of the real world which is already present, the new heaven and the new earth which have always been here but have been unknown to human consciousness in the coma state. So here is the restoration occurring, to the extent that we are willing to participate in the cycle.
The cycle in which we participate is not another cycle from what is happening in the whole body of mankind. It's the same one. It's all one. But we have a certain experience because of a certain level of consciousness restored, which may not be true of other people. The fact that it isn't true of other people is no reason for judgment. Obviously there is a proper field where it is dark. We have taken note of that fact. There is improper darkness and that passes away, but there are those who participate in allowing the proper darkness to be a reality in the experience of the body of mankind. In other words all people do not need to function at the conscious level. It would be an impossible expectation for all people to do this. It's not necessary. There are those who rightly function at the conscious level, and this perhaps may be seen as relating to what we have called the priesthood. But the priesthood is not something separate from the body of mankind. It is an essential part of the body of mankind, the body of mankind which is man in the image of God, one with God. Here is the restoration. Here is our field of creative responsibility.
