We have a recognition of what it
is that happens that makes it impossible for man to reach true fulfilment when
he attempts to develop himself—self-development programs of every sort, and
they do not work. They never will work and they never have worked. Human beings
of great intelligence and understanding have tried to make them work for twenty
thousand years, and they do not work. That was the thing that humanity set out
to do when man fell, for man said—while he had all the capacities; he knew far
more about the kingdom of heaven than you do at the present time, he had a far
more brilliant brain than you have at the present time, but he had not had the
background of experience in relationship to fallen humanity that you have—he
however said, “Well now I'm going to develop myself the way I think I ought to
be developed, so that I can be as God, knowing good and evil.” He was going to
develop himself.
Men and women far more brilliant,
who had far more knowledge in the sense of the things of reality than you do
today, and they failed. And all those down through the centuries have failed,
because every self-development program is a process which is repeating the
basic factors of the fall. Every time a human being sets out to develop himself
by any means or method, under the patterns of religion or philosophy or by any means
whatsoever, he is doing the same thing that produced the fall of man in the
first place. That is what carried man down into the slavery of Egypt. And here
we are beginning to study the laws and principles of being by which man may be
delivered from the slavery of Egypt.
Moses felt that pattern of
discouragement and said, “Neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” He
did not however go over and say, “Well now I'm going to start a
self-development program.” The Lord answered him, and what did the Lord say? “Then the Lord said unto Moses,
Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he
let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him,
I am the Lord.”
If Moses had not heard that
statement, “I am the Lord,” he would not have been willing to participate in
the cycles of outworking by which something of a nucleus power center might be
developed, to which others could respond. But it has to all be unified in the
pattern or body of Center if it is to have meaning. There is no other way. Then the individual is not developing
himself; he is not concerned about self-development. He is concerned about
serving the Lord. He is concerned about keeping centered and responding and
letting himself have a chance to grow into that which he ought to be, but
self-development is out, always. So we have the recognition of the basic
principles wherein the human being hears the word, “I am the Lord,” and if He
is the Lord, then the human being simply has to yield and let the Lord's will
be done on earth as it is in heaven.
“And God spake unto Moses, and
said unto him, I am the Lord:
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob, by the name of God Almighty,
but by my name JEHOVAH [Yehovah] was I not
known to them.”
Here we touch the vibrational
factors of the sacred name of God. He had been known before that to Moses’
forebears as God Almighty, and human beings down through the centuries and
millennia have known Him as God Almighty. The Indians in this country called
Him the Great Spirit, or the Great Father; and in all parts of the world,
regardless of so-called Christianity, wherever there was any real pattern of
intelligence, as in the realm of the aborigines of Australia, for instance,
there was something of a recognition of an Almighty. Even they worshipped certain spirits which they considered to be
almighty. So man has known God as God Almighty all through the period of man's
fall. The human beings who consider themselves to be Christians know Him as God
Almighty; the human beings who classify themselves as Mohammedans know Him as
God Almighty—they may say Allah, but it means God; it is the same thing
exactly, God Almighty. The Buddhists, all kinds of people in all kinds of
places where there is any recognition of God at all—they know Him as God
Almighty, no matter what the particularized concept of Him may be. So there
isn't any shortage on earth of the recognition of God as God Almighty; and yet
man has not received the manifestation of power. Man has received certain
blessings into manifestation in relationship to himself, yes; but he has not
allowed the manifestation of power by which the patterns of being, life
expression, might be changed.
And here we come to something
else. Here we begin to see the revelation of God in action on earth. The
significance of those who talk about Jehovah, as it is very often put
[pronounced with a hard J]—there are
those who even call it Jehovee, which
is an abomination—but if one says “Jehovah,” while that may be a term that may
be used in a general sense within the scope of the world consciousness at the
present time, it fundamentally suggests that those who so use it do not know
what they are talking about, because those who do know, or if anyone did know,
he would not call it Jehovah. We
have the people who call themselves Jehovah's Witnesses, and they know
absolutely nothing about Jehovah and they are no more witnesses for Jehovah
than the man in the moon is Arcturus. They are witnesses of the devil, pure and
simple—the self-active mind of man—and they do not know Jehovah. You can
examine into the religious backgrounds of all kinds of people who talk much
about Jehovah, and the very evidence in their lives shows that they do not know
anything about Jehovah.
“By my name of God Almighty I was
known to them, but by my name JEHOVAH [Yehovah] was I not known to them.” The
expression I have given for the enunciation of this particular word or name is
not as you will come to understand
it. It is an introductory step, not a final step—the process by which you can
begin to sense the spirit within the word, so that step by step you may come to
have the deeper realization of the true significance. But our key, remember, is
that this name signified Deity, or God, in
action on earth. There must be a manifestation of God.
Now when we go on and study this
story of Moses, what do we find? That through Moses and Aaron there was a
manifestation of the power of God actually working, that there were certain
elders and certain responding ones in the children of Israel who allowed the
development of the basic control pattern, and that there was through these men
an actual manifestation of God in action on earth. Once we begin to realize the
significance of this, we recognize that everything that the Master taught, and
exemplified, and did, was actually to reveal the significance of this name. And
He talked about doing the works—the manifestation of the power which would do
the works. He likewise was a revelation of Jehovah.
Likewise He taught the principles
that were involved in the process by which man might begin to share the reality
of this name, for Jehovah is not in heaven. The centering of Jehovah is in
heaven, but Jehovah is not in heaven. And the only way Jehovah can be anywhere
is by the manifestation of Deity through man on earth. There was the
manifestation through our Lord and King when He Himself was on earth in the
body that was called Jesus—and there was Jehovah. There was the manifestation
through Moses, and it was Jehovah. There was the manifestation of power through
certain of the other prophets back along the line, but not adequate or
complete; little points of manifestation. But Jehovah is God in action through
man on earth.
You look back along the line of
your own experience. What have you received from God that did not manifest
through human beings, through some human form? What have you received from God,
at any time, under any circumstance, which did not manifest by reason of some
human form? You may say, “Well I've received some blessings from the animal
kingdom and from the vegetable kingdom, and so on.” Yes, but how did they
become blessings to you, even then? Was there no relationship of those
blessings to any human form? Not even your own? No, there is absolutely no such
thing as the manifestation of the blessings of God on earth to man except in
relationship to man, through man, through some human form.
Whatever of God has ever reached
you, even your own life force, manifests to you because of your human form, and
without that human form you, whatever you think yourself to be, would not be
able to talk, or speak, or express anything whatsoever on earth. So everything,
without any exception, that has come to you as a blessing from God has appeared
through some human form. Sometimes the human form did not realize it perhaps,
sometimes it was an inadequate instrument, but something of blessing did
accrue. Once we begin to see this the way God intends us to see it, we begin to
recognize that you have a responsibility of being a human form in the body of
Center, by which the blessings of God may be made manifest on earth—you begin
to be a part of Jehovah.
Now we could note the particular
nature of this name, Jehovah. Je-ho-vah: three distinct syllables, three
syllables signifying the manifestation of the Trinity. We use the word “Jesus”
as the name of the body of the One who was the Center of Deity at that time,
and is now. But what other pronunciations are you aware of with respect to the
word “Jesus”? What about certain songs, for instance? Kathy? “Jesu [Yehsoo].”
Jesu: that is my point. You have all heard the song. That is my point. J-e.
J-e. Instead of Jehovah or Jesus, you begin to realize that a person doesn't
even realize the significance of the word “Jesus” when he says “Jesus,” unless
he is using it out of consideration of his hearers—as I have done so many times
because you wouldn't have understood why I said it any other way—in order to
maintain a meeting point of consciousness. But “Jesus” is not the right way to
say it, and doesn't carry the vibrational significance.
The word or name “Jesus” does not
give those who use it in prayer or meditation a vibrational contact factor in
relationship to God. Consider all the millions of people who use the word every
day, and where is the manifestation of power? The name did not provide them
with a vibrational contact with the reservoir of power of the creative field.
It remained a vacuum. It did not work—just words that were spoken and had no
force back of them. Jesu—that again is an intermediate step, not the final. It
is an intermediate step but sufficient for the moment. Jehovah. We begin to
enter into the vibrational contact. Let me demonstrate.
We say, “Jesus.” You may have a certain
appreciation for the word and it may produce some answering chord within you,
but let go to vibrational factors. Jesu. Jesu. To the degree that you are
attuned to the divine source you can tell the difference, something that must
be recognized in spirit, the spirit of the word and not the letter only; for
the letter killeth. So we have the three syllables in this name. The first
suggests the essence of Center, the manifestation of God on earth, the Je,
whether in Jehovah or Jesu, the Je in both cases signifying, if you please,
exactly the same thing—in both the Old and the New Testaments, the same thing
exactly. Next we see ho, the centering in the creative field, the centering in
Deity. And then the steps of manifestation in relationship to consciousness and
body, individually and collectively. Anyone who does not have some
understanding of the Mother tongue could study this word for a lifetime and
never gain the significance of it, never figure it out. It carries symbolical
meanings, hidden meanings, because man has found some way to desecrate and
spoil everything that God has expressed to reveal Himself. Man has even
desecrated and spoiled himself, and if he would do that, he would not hesitate
to desecrate and spoil other symbols utilized in relationship to the revelation
of Deity, and the means by which Deity may come into the field of action in
power on earth. Ho. The Je goes back to the Motherland too. The whole word
derives from the Motherland tongue—the tongue that man lost at what is pictured
in the Bible as the tower of Babel.
But now, with respect to the
Mother tongue, perhaps I should remind you that it utilized somewhat different
or higher principles than we have in any language in use on earth today, the
dependence upon the vibrational factors released by the speaker or comprehended
by the hearer—in other words the feeling factors. No word in the Motherland
tongue could be set down and defined as Webster undertook to do with the
English language. It could not be done. It did not need to be done in the first
place, but it could not be done. There could be an outline of certain
significant keys in relationship to the proper use of the word, but words were
fundamentally channels for the release of vibratory factors which had to be
internally perceived. "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth
life." So words, within the scope to which they were used, were channels
for the interplay of vibratory factors which were perceived heart to heart. It
entered into the field of what we would classify, using a very limited term, as
mind reading. Actually it was not mind reading. It was heart exchange. Heart
exchange. But impure hearts cannot function correctly in this regard in
relationship to the divine design. It cannot be done. So we see why it was that
the language was lost—the tower of Babel. They had to make up new languages in
order to convey specific ideas which could be intellectually comprehended.
Now the mind, the conscious mind
or intellect, did comprehend with respect to these other things, but you have
already studied something of the functional aspects of mind and heart, so that
you know that so-called mind reading is never conscious mind to conscious mind.
It is always heart to heart, or subconscious to subconscious. The proper
correlations of conscious and subconscious aspects of mind are necessary if
there is going to be any intelligible interchange, any effective interchange. I
have pointed out before that a few words in the Motherland tongue would convey
more than could be said in the same number of paragraphs using the English
language. Now you begin to see why; not that the word as such was supposed to
convey everything that was conveyed, as we use a word that is completely
defined and means such and such a thing according to the dictionary and we use
it that way. No.
You will have noticed that I use
words within the general scope of the dictionary significance but I begin to
make them have an essence of meaning that the dictionary does not suggest. Or
had you noticed? We begin to convey something beyond the word; that is, the
spirit of the word. The spirit of the word fits the outer form of the word of
course, but is in exchange heart to heart, not conscious mind to conscious mind
direct. It reaches conscious mind, it comes from or is shaped by conscious mind
in the speaker and in the hearer; but you have found yourselves, sometimes on
the basis of that which was conveyed, mistranslating as it was expressed by my
mind and heart in the current to you. You felt it, and sometimes, as it came up
into your conscious mind, it got mistranslated into preconceived ideas and did
not convey to you what was actually expressed. I think you have all had that
experience, and no condemnation in it. The point is, then, that as you have
grown you have more and more come to a point where that which is rising up from
your heart, or subconscious realm, in the current of our interchange, was
reaching the level of your conscious mind without being distorted by
mistranslations and the idea that was expressed from me to you was conveyed and
comprehended. Not perfectly perhaps, but it is growth.
Sometimes people say to me, “Well
I think your services, or your classes, are getting better and better. You're
doing a lot better job than you used to do.” I always have to smile. I have
always done this good a job. It is not a matter of the difference of my
expression. I had to work, of course, within the scope of the response patterns
afforded me. But it is because you have been growing. You have been going
through a process of development—not self-development, because you couldn't
develop yourself—but a process of development which appeared naturally and
automatically because you let the Law work. And as you developed you found that
more and more of that which was conveyed in the spirit of the word was reaching
the realm of the consciousness of your mind; so you comprehended and the cycle
was complete without suffering a lot of distortion within yourself.
We begin to see that here we have
the central secret of being. It was revealed by Jesus Christ on earth, yes, but
that is not the first time it was revealed. It was revealed in the range of the
children of Israel, and that was not the first time it was revealed. It had
been known on earth long before the first faint beginnings of Egypt, but it had
been forgotten. Now the Lord said, “I am the Lord: and I appeared unto Abraham,
unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH
was I not known to them.” And so your stay here is fundamentally, basically,
under instruction and training to reach a point where you not only know about
but know Jehovah, where you become a part of that inner reality made manifest.
“I was not known to them” in this sense. This is the next step up in the
revelation of the things of God—the Lord said.
Now, we can recognize the inner
point of focalization and say, “the Lord,” and it is correct; or “the LORD of
Lords,” and it is correct. If we are functioning in limited realms of
consciousness we may say, “Jesus Christ” to signify the LORD of Lords, so that
people will understand something of what we mean; but fundamentally it is not
correct—it is not correct. He said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” Are
the branches to be separate from the vine? And if they are cut off, do they not
wither and die? “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” That is Jesu—the inner
and the outer, the blending of heaven and earth. That is the basic significance
of Jesu—Jesu: the union of heaven and earth. But here the step was the projection
of heaven into earth. Our Master on earth made manifest the reality of the
union of heaven and earth. He showed that they were not in actual fact
separate. But the beginning of the cycle had to be the projection of heaven
into earth. While heaven is not made manifest on earth in the sense of the
world body of humanity, there is the necessity of the projection of heaven into
earth, and is there going to be any power made manifest on any other basis?
You see that the first part of the
cycle with respect to the Master, even in His public ministry, was Jehovah. It
came to the point of Jesu, but it was not Jesu at the beginning. Remember, the
angel said—it was said just a little before His birth, so that the keys would
be clear—“And they shall call his name Jesus.” Well they started calling Him
that right as soon as He was born. But He was not that, in the sense of the
world—He was in the sense of Himself
but not in the sense of the world. So at first it was Jehovah, and it became
Jesu. And until there is the projection of heaven into earth we cannot have the
manifestation of the oneness of heaven and earth, and that is what we are here
for. Not to develop ourselves, or to gain power, or to do something else that
we might think we want to do.
That is what we are here for: so
that man may come to know that heaven and earth are one, and that the things of
God shall be projected into the world; for when man was first created and God
said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion over the earth,” He was creating Jehovah, and before the fall Jehovah
ruled on earth. And the restoration of the divine estate restores Jehovah to
manifest expression and dominion on earth, and you are invited to be a part of
the body, or the form of manifestation, of Jehovah, according to your response,
capacity, and proper place in the cosmic scheme of things. And so, blessed
ones, this introduces to you the great significance of this central secret of
being.
Our service today spans not only the North American continent but the Atlantic Ocean as well. There is a line of connection between all of us here in the Chapel at 100 Mile House and all of you there in Mickleton. There is indeed a cord of connection symbolized by the telephone line, but this cord of horizontal connection which we know this evening and this morning may be woven more strongly during this hour. But the fact that it exists at all is consequent upon the cord of vertical connection. To the extent that there is this connection from heaven there is also the connection on earth. Such connections on earth are impossible in any close meaningful sense, connections of agreement, without first the woven connection between heaven and earth. Because there is such a connection in our own experience, a heavenly connection, we delight also in the earthly connection. Indeed we are most thankful to be privileged to share this hour in these two locations.
A door has indeed been opened in heaven. I would like to say a word about this in connection with a name: Emissaries of Divine Light, or in abbreviated form, EDL. Many people talk about EDL without really knowing what they are talking about. I would suggest that EDL is a door. There are many fancy doors to great buildings in the earth. There were massive doors opening into the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. These are brass doors, and we were told it took twelve men to open them. One may stand outside the cathedral and look at the doors. Because they are so massive and because they are made the way they are, they may appear to be very impressive. One may be in awe of the door. One may also examine such doors critically. There are those who maybe think they should have been designed some other way. I'm still speaking about those massive cathedral doors.
But if we turn to EDL and recognize that here is a door, then indeed there may be something impressive about the door, or there may be those things to which observers take exception. Even those who are associated more closely with EDL have been known to assume a critical attitude toward the door. A door is useful because it can be opened. It is most useful when it is scarcely visible. One can then move easily in and out through the doorway, which was previously blocked by the door. Would it be helpful if Emissaries of Divine Light changed its name to "The East Gate," for instance? If a person really begins to recognize that EDL is a name given to a form which composes a door capable of being opened, then there might be less concern about the design of the door, if one accepted the fact that its value was in being open. And when it is open it is scarcely visible at all. It is only visible and therefore subject to human judgment when it is closed to the person who judges. There would be no judgment at all if it was open because there would be no door apparent, just the space through which there might be movement back and forth.
This name, EDL, given to a form, is something like our names. We all have names which identify our forms. We are accustomed to looking at one another in terms of those names and, in times past—I'm sure it is not so out front as it used to be—there may have been judgment as to the forms to which the names were attached. It seems that some people like their names, some people don't. I'm speaking of first names now, given names. We were all given names before we had any input in the matter, and so it seems reasonable that there could be like and dislike with respect to this. Most of us have grown accustomed to our names and accept them. Some of course change them or prefer nicknames. But here is identification of a form, just as EDL is identification of a form.
We are well aware that there is more to us as individuals than the form, more to us than our names. The same is true of the form and the name EDL. Individually our forms are properly available for the revelation of what is called light. Here we find that the name EDL is probably more fitting than any of the names which we ourselves may have. It is indication of the fact that identity is in the light, not in the form. Of course the light must shine for this identity to be seen and recognized; but when it is seen and recognized it is indication of the fact that the door is open, so that the personal name, or EDL as the case may be, is no longer so prominent. Only those who see EDL as a closed door fuss about it. They may be concerned that the design is not the way they think it ought to be. The design of the door is perhaps useful and may even be beautiful; but, even so, the use and the beauty pale into insignificance when the door is opened.
It is well that we should all understand that the name EDL is the name of a door, a door which may be opened if one is willing that it should be. If one is stuck with examining the door and making assumptions that it should be some other way than it is, what a waste of time. Why not just let the door be opened? Then the value may begin to be appreciated and understood. As long as it is closed it is nothing but a door, blocking the way. But one maintains that block by one's judgment of the appearance. This we see also as it relates to each individual. Each person is a door. Your given name identifies the door. It doesn't identify what would be apparent if the door was open. We have been concerned to allow these doors to be opened, individually. When this occurs for oneself there is understanding with respect to the door called EDL, because that is open then also.
One cannot pry open EDL. One can allow one's own door to be opened, in which case the door of EDL is open too. Usually people approach the door of EDL imagining that they have to get that one open, but the first one to open relates to oneself. Unless one's own door, one's own form with a name, is open, the door of EDL is not open—to oneself. One can't make it open; one can't examine EDL, one can't examine the door, and imagine that that would be sufficient. Well I suppose one could imagine that that would be sufficient, but it isn't, because the purpose of the door is to be opened. However the first door to be opened relates to oneself. It may be that the design on the door of EDL will give some clues as to how one's own door may be opened. That, after all, has been the suggestion all along, hasn't it? The value of the closed door of EDL is just to the extent that the design on the door encourages one's own willingness to let oneself be opened. And when that happens, lo and behold, EDL is open and is no longer a subject for judgment.
This is an approach that may be quite usefully made as it begins to be seen as quite accurate. So there are names; we all have them. And whatever the form of EDL may seem to be, it has a name, but that is not the identity. None of us by repeating our own name can come to an awareness of our own true identity. That should be more or less obvious, because it isn't the name of our true identity; it's the name of the form which needs to be opened in order to discover what the true identity is. The opening of the door lets the light shine. This is why I said I thought the name EDL was far more accurate than any of the names which we ourselves have, in revealing the truth of the matter, because the identity is in the light. Unless the light shines one cannot experience one's own true identity which, as we well know, is found in heaven. It isn't discoverable on earth by examining the earth. It isn't discoverable by looking into our psychological character, for instance. It isn't discoverable by examining our physical forms. Our physical forms are a door, which must be opened by the shining of the light. The physical form as it is now known in this human state is very dense, one might say. The light finds quite a job getting through. Sometimes there are those who are spoken of as having a "glow of health." That is a very restricted evidence of life in that form, but there is something much more to be known than is presently conceivable to the human mind.
The human mind is the means by which the light may shine. We have spoken of Lucifer, the light-bearer. The transparent mind allows the already existing angelic light to shine through. The mind is not an entity of itself, as it tries to be in the human state. Trying to be an entity of itself, it becomes satan; it lands up in darkness. The state of the human mind, in the peoples of the world as we now know it, is darkened. The light is still present—we're still alive—but the light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehends it not. We are aware of this state, the state where there is a separation between the heaven and the earth of the individual human being. That separation has taken place because satan, the darkened mind, has assumed—or usurped, I suppose you could say—the position of the true identity, the true identity which isn't Lucifer but is revealed by the fact of Lucifer's presence, because Lucifer is the light-bearer, the identity-bearer. It makes possible the experience of the true identity.
We are quite aware of our own propensities, mental propensities, to try to do our own thing and get our own way. We've examined manifold aspects related to this endeavor in order to recognize the fact that this is the state of affairs. As long as it is the state of affairs we remain in darkness, and the only identity we seem to have is the one to which this given human name relates. We are inclined to ask people, "What's your name?" or, "Do I know you? Who are you?" And a name will be forthcoming. "Ah, now I know." Sometimes in my own experience this reminds me of something that I had maybe temporarily forgotten. There seem to be so many names to remember, none of which identify those concerned. However I suppose there is a certain usefulness to it, as there has been a usefulness to the name EDL. But EDL and our own names are names of the form only; they do not reveal the identity.
We ourselves know that we properly come in the name of the Lord. How can we come in the name of the Lord if we don't know His name? I think there has been a certain amount of fooling ourselves on this basis. We could say of ourselves, "I am the door," just as we may say of EDL, "I am the door." The closed door is of little value. But when the door is opened, the door itself recedes into the background, and all that is seen is what emerges by reason of the open door. And that emergence is light. In light is the truth of each one. What a very practical suggestion: "Let your light so shine." That simply means, allow Lucifer to be restored so that the light of true being may shine forth. And when it does, there is the identity, and it is known. It doesn't mean that humanly speaking we drop our human names and pick up another one; it simply means that we are identifiable by the light which is shining. Is this not the way that Emissaries of Divine Light are aware of each other? We discover that we have friends all over the face of the earth. We may never have met them before, but when we do, we know. Why is that? Simply because there is at least some measure of light shining. Lucifer begins to come again into place; and the darkened satan consciousness, while one may be aware of the fact of it, carries little or no weight.
Let your light so shine. It is a spiritual light, we might say, in which case it probably seems to be incomprehensible light. But heaven and earth are one; so what is deemed to be spiritual light has its counterpart in the earth, which could be said to be literal light. The evidence of man, the truth of man, is in the light. This physical form is something of a burden, isn't it? We have to lug it around. Some of us are more sprightly than others, more agile, but it becomes a more evident burden as one grows older. It's a heavy load of flesh to pack around! This is a form which has enabled the continued existence of potential Man on earth. It is useful because of this. But to become the form of Man it must be filled with light. "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light"—literal light. They say that light weighs a little, but not much. It's very light! And if the composition of human expression in living is light, the body becomes light. Here we see something of a transformation, even transmutation, to occur.
However, Man is more than one person. Even from the standpoint of the beginning of things, it turned out to be Adam and Eve—two, at least. So the light relates to more than one person. It may be said that Man is composed of a body of individuals, and the form of that body is made up of the individuals who compose it. That body is properly the light in expression, the radiant light made manifest. This is something very different to this heavy clod of flesh. Where to start to let the restoration come? We know where to start, because we have started. The question is of no interest any longer. EDL, Emissaries of Divine Light: a form composed of individuals through whom the light shines.
The light shines through the form of EDL to the extent that it is shining through the forms of those who compose the form of EDL. It's not some sort of extraneous light that appears magically through EDL, whatever that is. EDL doesn't exist except for those individual forms that are drawn together to compose it. The shining of the light relates to that form. The transformation, in other words, relates to that form. Obviously it relates to the individuals who compose that form, but it doesn't happen merely for this individual and that individual. It occurs because there is a form, which presently is identified by the letters "EDL."
Because there is such a form there is a facility through which the light may shine. But then we come back to the individual, because the extent to which it is shining is dependent upon the extent to which it is shining through each individual. As we have recognized before, the sum of the light—in this instance, light shining through these individuals—is not the total light shining through the form of EDL. That is far more. We have seen this from the standpoint of putting two people together, a man and a woman for instance. Each has an ability to reveal and express and radiate the light, to whatever extent. If you add one and one together, we find more than two. This is a new math! Properly there are at least three: there are the two who are together and there is the new state that comes because they are together. So one and one make three.
This just illustrates something. The composition of the body, the form, of EDL provides a facility which can radiate far more light than the sum of all the light of the individuals who compose the body of EDL, and because that is far more, it enhances the individual expression of light. We begin to find something happening exponentially here, but it only comes because, individually, responsibility is being taken for letting the light shine to the extent that it may now do so. Then that extent of light, put together collectively, is found to be far more than the mere sum of the individual light. This is indication of how rapidly transformation can occur. We ourselves as individuals simply keep it from occurring, if it doesn't occur. We have known the fact of our own individual responsibility. We may see it now in terms of letting the light shine.
We find that there are variations in the shining of the light. We may take what is occurring now as an example. My responsibility is of a particular nature which will permit an intensification of the light to shine by reason of my radiant expression. This is very different to what may occur in conversation, for instance, during the day. In other words, as Uranda put it one time—you may recall from Class—the sun rises, and there is day; there is a bright intensity of radiation for whatever period of time is necessary for that. And then the sun sets. But the morning star is still there. In fact when the sun is shining the morning star can't be seen, but when the sun sets the morning star is right there. Lucifer is always on hand, but he is the light-bearer. He doesn't bear a flaming torch which is always the same intensity. He bears whatever light is necessary in the particular circumstance of the moment. And there is a variation in the intensity of that light, but it is always the same light. It's not some sort of strange extraneous light coming in on special occasions. "On special occasions a light is going to come from"—where would you like it to come from? Jupiter! And there it will be for us." No, it's the same light, but there are pulsations in the creative process, and it shines with the intensity that is necessary in the moment. At least this is the intent, unless we block it.
So we are very much aware, I'm sure, of the real nature of our responsibility mentally. The light determines what is thought. The light determines, therefore, what is said and what is done. Here is the process of creation. Creation comes through thought. It has continued to come through the thoughts of human beings in this fallen condition, but very sluggishly. It takes a great deal of the sweat of the brow to get anything done. We all know that, in this human state. We've struggled with it and exhausted ourselves at the business. But where the thought which moves through the mind is not generated by the mind but is generated by the light, it's easy and there is a natural flow. And all creation has occurred on this basis within the range of the responsibility of man. It would be very risky, wouldn't it, if presently your thoughts during a day were immediately to take form! So it's useful that a certain sluggishness has put in an appearance. But they do take form after a while, and they come back to haunt us. What a wretched state.
How wonderful to have the mind transparent so that the light may be born, the fitting light of the moment may be born, the fitting thought of the moment, primarily, may be born—not generated because one is thinking so desperately, as human beings do in an endeavor to control all their circumstances, but the thought which is the creative thought coming down from God out of heaven into the earth. How? Through the mind. That's what it's for—not to do its own thinking and to mess things up constantly on that basis, but to become transparent so that the light may be born. The light may be carried, yes, but also born into expression, and the first expression comes through thought. There is something which precedes the thought, mind you, but the first awareness that one may have of what it is that is moving comes through conscious thought. Conscious thought is controlled thought, controlled by the design in heaven, controlled angelically. That thought may safely take form, and it will do so. I'm sure you have found already that when there is that thought, what is thought very quickly takes form. The world is transformed on this basis, not by manipulation either mental or physical but by the flow of creative thought out of heaven into the earth by reason of a transparent mind. The transparency of mind cuts human beings down to size. The usual view is that value comes because a mind is very capable of generating its own thoughts. But that all dissolves, and there is a totally new state, a new heaven. Out of the new heaven the new earth springs, and the basis of that coming forth is the flow that occurs through the transparent mind.
I most thankfully share these thoughts with you now, that we may all be willing to let the light shine. I would offer the opportunity to Rupert to let the light shine by the words he might find fitting to speak now.
Rupert Maskell — Martin, it's a pleasure to participate in the process of truly creative thinking with you. This has been an hour where we've had opportunity to do that by joining you in this process of creative thinking, because of the transparency of our own mental equipment made fully available, through our love and appreciation for the spirit that you are, to turn the wheel so that we might, together with you, participate in the creation and allow the differentiation of this one spirit that occurs so naturally thereby. It's a process which is easy and delightful; "light" certainly describes it very well. And we know something of the exponential nature of that creative process as together we find a fluidity and an ease in this.
I appreciated particularly your words about the open door, and it reminded me very much of what you were discussing last week concerning the wrapping paper. The gift is light. If we've tended to be confused by forms or wrapping paper, this is the time to let them go so that together the light may shine ever increasingly, more brightly and with greater potency. This is our commission, and it's a joy to share it with you in this particular way this evening and this morning. Thank you very much.
Martin Exeter — The light shines and, in the shining, transforms. Creation occurs by reason of the shining of the light. Re-creation occurs in this way. Insofar as human beings are concerned, the only way that there may be participation in creation is when the facility for the shining of the light is available to that shining. And the facility is the human mind, not merely the conscious mind but the unconscious mind as well. The light is apparent consciously, and it transforms by reason of the radiation. We are familiar with the process: radiation, response, attraction, union, unified radiation. This is a mental description of something which happens continuously when the mind is in place to let it do so. There is radiation and there is consequent transformation.
It is not only what may be deemed to be spiritual light, but it is literal light also. When the light shines, the flesh is revealing of it and is transformed by it. But, as we have recognized in our consideration this morning, it is not possible for it to occur individually without it at the same time occurring collectively. The collective shining of the light is what clarifies and restores the flesh to the point where the light may be intensified so that the transformation occurs. However, the flesh is the last along the line. The light only comes to the flesh because there is a transparent mind, and it is the transparent collective mind that permits the intensity of radiant light to be of such power that the very flesh may be transformed. All these things work in the creative process, if we trust the creative process and let it work. Moving together in the assumption of individual responsibility for the light, the fulfillment comes.
I am thankful that we shared this hour of creative thought, amongst other things; and it is the creative thought that brings forth the creation. We have an enormous responsibility in this matter. Our external cord of connection will now be severed, but our internal cord of connection remains as strong as ever. We all wish you well, Rupert, in your journeyings with Tessa which begin, I understand, early tomorrow morning for you. So that will complete our external association. We continue together in spirit.
The importance of the light may be easily seen. Mention was made of loving the light, which is what is essential. If you love darkness more than you love the light, well you'll stay in the dark. But loving the light implies loving the Word, the illuminating Word. This has always been stressed, hasn't it? Finally there are those who suddenly seem to have become aware of the vital nature of the Word—not of the printed form in and of itself but of the radiance which is made available in this way. It's made available in other ways too, and it's made available rightly through each of us and all of us continually. But to appreciate the light and to know the nature of it, it must be loved, certainly, above all else. In the light is the one identity, the one I am.
So there is natural love for the light and consequently a delight to bathe oneself in it, because thereby it is found that as the substance of one's own external being resonates with the light, it is resonating with one's own true identity. And one's own true identity consequently emerges. It can never emerge except by reason of the light, because that's what it is. And in the radiance of the light the truth is known: "I am the door. I am the open door."
