Extending the Hedge

Extending  the  Hedge

Martin Cecil   May 22, 1966

The sovereign soul

Who lives self-governed and at peace,

Is centred in himself, taking alike

Pleasure and pain; heat, cold; glory and shame.

He is the Faithful and Illumined One, glad

With joy of light and truth; dwelling safely

In the Central Way, with senses subjugate.

By this sign is he known:

Being of equal grace to comrades, friends,

Chance-comers, strangers, lovers, enemies,

Aliens and kinsmen; loving all alike,

Evil or good.

Within the Hedge he lives;

Restraining heart and senses, silent, calm,

Let him express Reality, showing

Pureness of soul, abiding on the Rock,

Tranquil in spirit, free of fear, intent

On Me, expressing thought of Me.

That Faithful One, so devoted, so controlled,

Comes to the peace beyond—My peace, the peace

Of highest Heaven!

Bhagavad Gita

“Within the Hedge he lives.” Do we know the reality of that hedge? What is it? Can it be observed?

You will recall how it was with Job, who was a perfect and an upright man, one who feared God and eschewed evil. The picture is portrayed in this first chapter: “And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?”

“Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.” Of course the way satan says this makes it appear as though this were a terrible thing. But this is the divine state, the perfect state. What is referred to here as the hedge not only extended to include Job himself but also extended into his environment to encompass all that he had on every side. This is the divine state.

The hedge insofar as most human beings are concerned who have any awareness of the reality of it surrounds such a very small place. It doesn't even extend to include very much of the physical body itself. It is a secret place, a hidden place, deep inside a person. If we put it that way, then the person is mostly outside; but deep inside there is this place, the place of true being. There is a hedge about it.

Because it has been so deeply hidden, man has found himself living outside of it. This is the fallen state, where man has excluded himself from the garden. But the hedge itself is invisible. It is light but light is not visible until it is reflected. This hedge is not visible until it is reflected. It cannot be reflected until it emerges into expression. It must radiate forth to be reflected. We have little experience in this regard until we ourselves begin to find a dwelling place within the hedge. We remember the 91st Psalm: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”—that is, within the hedge. Until that which constitutes the hedge is allowed to radiate forth it remains unknown, because there is nothing in expression to be reflected.

The hedge relates to control. Only that is included within the hedge that is under control. When we consider this from our individual viewpoints we may recognize that the reality of our identity is within the hedge, but it does not include very much because, for the most part, that which should be included is not under control. If we assume the position of being what we are in reality, then we are looking forth from the secret place, first of all toward that which constitutes the outer form, the physical body, mind and heart, which is surrounding the hedge. But the hedge is inside and we are inside the hedge. If we can take this position, looking out, then we extend the opportunity to accept control to our physical bodies, minds and hearts, that which is called the soul.

When human beings talk about their souls they are usually thinking of something inside somewhere. Exactly what it is is hard to say. I think, generally speaking, it is the human ego, isn't it? When human beings talk about their souls they are thinking of their human egos. “I hope my soul is saved. I hope my human ego will still be around after I'm dead.” This is a vain hope. Something may be around for a while, but it won't do you much good. In actual fact, as it is put in the Book of Genesis, God made man from the dust of the ground, “and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man”—composed of the dust of the ground, which is certainly an indication of the physical body—“became a living soul.” Human beings tend to have the thing reversed in a rather distorted fashion. They think of themselves as being their physical bodies, and talk about their souls. The fact of the matter is that when we assume the correct identity we may refer to our souls, recognizing that this indicates the physical body with its mental and emotional capacities.

You can say of your soul, “My soul stands in need of salvation.” It is probably going downhill. How is salvation going to be offered to this soul? By extending the hedge through it, so that the soul is included in the hedge. To start with, the true identity is within the hedge, within the soul. Until we begin to accept the reality of true identity for ourselves, even though we do not know exactly what it is yet, we cannot offer control to the soul. We offer control to the soul. We are not expecting it to come from someplace else.

It may be true, and usually is for human beings, that there isn't very much prior experience of the reality of discipline. Human beings in their fallen soul state are ungoverned and undisciplined. They know very little as to what the reality of control would be. This is because there is identification with something that is ungoverned. There may, therefore, be the need to develop experience in the field of discipline. We have emphasized this point. A person needs to learn to obey, so that the soul may have a little practice in this regard. If the soul is ungoverned the individual is identified with it. This he will be in such case. If the soul is ungoverned it means that the reality of Being is not in control; therefore the identity is in the soul. There is very little awareness of what is meant by control, and so it becomes necessary to undergo a certain rigorous training so that the soul may learn what it means to be obedient. Now the soul will have all kinds of ideas about this. It will no doubt decide that it will be obedient about this if the control is offered in a way that will be pleasing to the soul. This is not learning obedience; this is learning to please oneself. It is an endeavor to try to get things to work in a manner that would be pleasing to the soul, which is not the point at all. Things need to work in a manner that is right, from the standpoint of Divine Being, and in this regard the soul is not particularly consulted. If the soul imagines that it will only be obedient when the control is offered in a satisfactory manner, satisfactory to the soul, that is, it will never learn to be obedient.

So we may recognize that there is a certain rigorous training in this regard, because the fallen soul, which stands so much in need of salvation, is, of all things, rebellious, stubborn. Certainly a person has to learn to accept discipline, but from whence? He himself is not identified with the reality of Being; he is in no position to extend discipline to his own soul; so it must come through somebody else. It doesn't really matter through whom it comes, as long as a person is willing to learn. The soul is very anxious to pick and choose whom it is going to obey. Well that's no good. It's not going to learn anything on that basis at all—it's just maintaining its own supposed independence. Finally the soul discovers that on this basis it dies. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” The soul that rejects control dies. So there is an initial requirement here, which has been emphasized over and over, although rather few have taken it very seriously, the requirement of rigorous discipline in which the soul relinquishes the right to try to set the pattern for itself. It becomes willing to learn to be governed, because until there is a beginning point here, the individual himself, in the sense of identity, will have no basis for acceptance of the reality of himself.

You see, these things go together. To the extent that you accept identity with the reality of your Being, your soul will be under control. If your soul is not under control you may recognize that to that extent you have not accepted identity with the reality of your Being. When you begin to discover something of yourself in this divine sense, in the secret place, it will be because your soul is learning to be obedient, to be controlled. The control which is extended shifts as the identification centers in Divine Being—it shifts to you. You then are the one who is exercising the control over the soul. In other words it begins to move away from the external patterns of control, which are absolutely essential to start with when discipline is being learned, to your own control extended to the soul.

We may remember what our Master said about friends. He said, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” This is not the usual human view of what a friend would be, is it? You accept someone as a friend because he is not telling you what to do; that is the usual human approach, isn't it? You don't like people who are telling you what to do. But let us look at this from this viewpoint which I have now introduced. You are beginning to accept identity within the hedge, within your outer form of manifestation, and you recognize that you must extend control to this outer form of manifestation. If your body with its consciousness is going to be your friend it is going to have to accept your control absolutely—do absolutely what you command it. It is not going to have any right to follow out its own designs and desires. You are no longer mixed with the desires of the soul. You recognize that these desires are of the soul which must be under your command. You require this of your soul, and to the extent that there is a willingness on the part of the soul to accept it you have gained a friend.

There is the necessity of handling the situation with wisdom and understanding. You are not going to try to jam anything through. If you did it would be evidence of the fact that you were not identified with the reality of Divine Being. You have understanding of yourself. You do not accept excuses from the soul, but you give opportunity for the soul to learn. The control that needs to be extended springs from your own true Self, which has an awareness of the One Law, for instance; it has an awareness of the basic principles of Being and life which are to govern the function of the soul. You have a new outlook. You are ten feet tall—you stand above, and you look down to the soul which is to accept your government. The government is control. To the extent that you extend this control, and to the extent that your soul accepts it, the hedge begins to move through so that it may encompass your soul. That has something to do with salvation. Your soul may be with you in heaven. If you are not in heaven how could your soul be with you in heaven? And yet this is the only way the soul can experience what it is to be in heaven. Therefore you, in your own experience within yourself, must be in heaven before you can include your soul in it.

I wonder if you have ever taken the attitude that somehow or other you were going to experience heaven without any necessity on your part of taking the responsibility for providing it. Human beings say, “God will provide.” Yes, it's true, because the reality is present, the heaven is there. But God's provision means nothing, it has had no meaning to human beings, simply because no one took Him up on it, so to speak. There has always been a waiting for something to happen, for someone somehow, somewhere, to do something, which then we would gladly accept and experience—provided always that someone else did it. Now we begin to see that we ourselves have this responsibility. We are not separate from God in fact. We have been separate in our own awareness, certainly. Why? Because we've been identified with the soul, the soul that sank. This was the fall. So it needs restoring. He restoreth your soul. Who is he? That is you. If your soul is to be restored it must be because you accept true identity within the hedge and require the soul to come under control.

The soul has been quite accustomed to accepting controls from every direction but the right one. Of course, it has accepted some from the right direction or you wouldn't be alive, but it is accustomed to being governed by everything round about, and it is not going to immediately be in position to experience your control in the complete sense. But here is the interesting thing. You yourself cannot observe what this control is any more than it has been accepted by the soul. Here is the reflection. When the soul has accepted control, to whatever degree it has, you will have a reflection. You may be in position to observe what that control means. It becomes evident to you. That which is extended—the hedge—is invisible until it is reflected by something.

The first reflection appears in your own soul because it is coming out through the soul—it is radiating forth. We may well remember Uranda's words expressed long, long ago, understood by virtually nobody: Let love radiate. Well, what are you going to let radiate? You don't know, because the light of love is invisible until it is reflected by something. We begin to assume the position of control in relationship to the soul which we had previously thought we were, and we extend that control on the basis of our present awareness of the working of the Law and of the principles of Being. We have some awareness in this regard. We know that the soul has no business reacting to external influences. This is one of our commandments to it: “Stop it.” We say, in effect: “Respond to me. Never mind those things round about out there. Respond to me. I shall provide the control, and the control I provide will be characterized by the qualities of my Divine Being, of which I have some present awareness.” Perhaps it is rather an inadequate awareness, because not too much has been reflected yet, but there is something. To the extent that the soul obeys, you begin to observe a greater revelation of your own true character reflected on the screen—of your soul, to start with.

Except from the standpoint of extending control in the current of the spirit of love, truth and life, we are more concerned with that which is to be handled beyond the soul. The soul is the instrument by means of which we contact the environment. The soul is the means by which we create the environment. So the hedge begins to extend out through the soul and includes this much—not very much when you come to consider the larger environment of this world, which is certainly not included in heaven yet, but you include your soul so that you may find yourself functioning on the basis of patience and tranquility, an attitude of understanding and love toward that which is in the environment. This may extend through the soul because you have had understanding and love toward your soul. If you ignore the soul and try to get to the environment beyond without it you won't be successful, because what you offer to the soul will be, in essence, what you offer to your environment. It has to pass through the soul to get to the environment. You can't get to the environment without it.

This emphasizes the particular words contained in the second of the two great commandments: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”—as thy soul. If you don't love your soul, no love can move through your soul to anyone else. If you dislike your soul and try to love somebody else it won't work. There are a lot of people who are trying to do this, and they are very unhappy, because it doesn't work. If you don't like yourself you're not going to like anybody else, really. You may have some preferences with respect to the environment, but the reality of love is unknown, because the reality of love, to be known, must be reflected by something; and it can't be reflected by something if it is not reaching that something. It won't reach that something unless it passes through your soul. It can't pass through your soul if you don't love your soul. So there must be understanding and tolerance and love for the soul. Your attitude toward your outer self, in this sense, will determine your attitude toward others. You can only love your neighbor as yourself. That's the fact of the matter. If you don't love yourself you don't love your neighbor.

Here we begin to see some more of the procedure, some more of the principles, some more of the way it works—looking at it all the time from the standpoint of identification with the reality of our own Divine Being. We need to become accustomed to looking at things this way. If we're always mixed up with the soul we're always in a mess, we're always mixed up. We need to be able to stand back in right identity, within the hedge, and then begin to function on that basis—in which case we will extend control to the soul, because we need the soul. We must have an instrument of action if we are going to achieve anything on earth, so we are concerned with the welfare of the soul, not for itself but for our own action in the fulfilment of the purpose for which we are here. And the soul will need some training. It is going to have to buckle down into a pattern of government. The soul rebels, no doubt—it is accustomed to rebelling. We have to rein it in. You have to work with yourself. And this is one way we learn to serve. If we have never learned to serve in this fashion we are not going to be of much value serving others, because we have never done it ourselves. This is one of the troubles, isn't it, with people who try to teach others in the world. They never taught themselves. I'm speaking about life and living. We need to teach the soul how to do it.

In this process there is a need for assistance, because our centering in the reality of our own selves is not adequate right off the bat. This is one of my reasons for being here, to provide some assistance in this regard, but I certainly couldn't provide assistance if I hadn't done something about training my own soul and requiring that it toe the mark—if it tends to get off on a tangent, to rein it back quickly, so that it may be kept within the hedge, which is the same thing as saying kept under control. And when we have a reasonably effective soul, servant, we find a friend. It is a friend to us when it is doing whatsoever we command it, absolutely. Then there is a state of oneness, which is the experience of love, and in that oneness the hedge may be extended further. It may begin to include some of the environment.

Whatever responds and yields may be included in the hedge, because it is under control. That's the only way by which anything can be included in the hedge. As long as something won't come under control it can't be included in the hedge—no matter how much a person may say, “Well I want to come in, I want to be in the kingdom, I want to experience heaven. Why don't you let me come through the door?” Nobody is preventing anyone from coming through the door. But in order to do it there must be the acceptance of control. It can't be done on any other basis. Don't take the attitude that you, as the soul, are going to determine what the nature of that control shall be. If the soul maintains the right to do this it is not coming under control. It needs to relinquish this supposed right so that it is willing to accept exactly what is offered. And there is an exactness about this which is absolute too. It isn't something which is, “well, almost right, you know; after all, we have to be sweet and loving and kind and gentle.” Oh yes, when control has been accepted—but coming close, it is an absolutely exact thing. There is no room for deviation at all. And a person who has some concepts of what love is, in its gentleness and in its sweetness and in its softness, will be rudely disillusioned; because if that attitude is maintained the individual won't come through the door. It is absolutely exact; there is no deviation whatsoever. If a person is trying to make it work on the basis of a human concept of love, or anything else, he is going to find that it doesn't conform to his concept at all, because he is resisting the process of coming through, resisting the acceptance of control.

We need to remember this from the standpoint of the fact that when we take the position of offering the control to the soul we require this of the soul. We don't let the soul get away with anything. Now this is a sticker with human beings, because so often there is the cry, "Well this isn't love." Isn't it? How do you know? You don't know what love is until you come through, and you can't get through without passing that flaming sword, coming through the hedge, coming through because there has been an acceptance of control. Oh, human beings will wriggle every which way to try to get through without it, but it can't be done—it can't be done. When we know this for ourselves, then we are in position to extend the control to the soul, so that it may come within the hedge; and coming within the hedge, we may have something to extend beyond into the environment. Let love radiate. The radiation can begin to go forth, and that which comes under control reflects that radiation and we see it.

So we have a new look at the hedge, a larger understanding of what it signifies. And it is something more than control. Control is one of the elements of truth. There is a design present, which is the other element of truth. And there is love, of course, which is inseparable from truth. These are all contained within the hedge. It is a flaming sword—the fire of love and the sword of truth. It is a protection when we are within it. It looks rather a savage thing when we're outside—a flaming sword, for heaven's sake!—but it only seems this way when it is pointed at us. When we stand on the other side we have hold of the handle and it's all right. It turns every way and nothing can pass it that does not accept control, that does not accept the nature of the kingdom. So it is a protection, isn't it? And the further it extends out, the more is contained back of it, the more is enfolded in that protection into which nothing enters that works abomination or makes a lie or defiles. Nothing can get through. Nothing can get through to you when you are within the hedge in conscious identity. The reality is there now, always has been, but we've been so busily involved with the soul that we overlooked the truth of the matter.

So let us stand where we belong and see things from that standpoint. And our first view relates to our own soul. The word is, “Come up hither, come inside the hedge, and I will show you things which must be hereafter”—the soul may become aware of that which needs to find expression hereafter. And when we begin to share this attitude and viewpoint, this position, how easy to take responsibility for the soul and for the environment around us. We are protected, and nothing can get to us that would be destructive. It is our desire, in that state, to enfold as much of the environment as possible that will come into the hedge. If we all function correctly, and others stand with us, I wonder how long it would be before the world could be included within the hedge sufficiently so that everything outside of the hedge would cease even to seem to be a threat? Once the hedge reaches a certain point in its expansion, then the available territory for what won't come into the hedge becomes more and more circumscribed. And the things that don't belong in heaven on earth get squeezed out. That can happen with quite a rush when the time comes. But in the meantime we have something to do right at home, right here, because until the soul is included in the hedge none of the environment is going to be, really, because it is through the soul that we work.

I thank God that we have the privilege of an awareness of these things, and the opportunity to let them become real to us. They are real, but probably not very real to us yet. Unfortunately we have had the habit of thinking of unreal things as being real, but as we come into place, in right position, we let that change and we accept reality as being real—and we may serve.

© emissaries of divine light

Wounds and Traumas in the Heart

Wounds  and  Traumas  in  the  Heart

Ascending  Substance  in  Sex

Martin Cecil   April 20, 1979  Assembly — Sunrise Ranch

It’s amazing how human beings have resisted the richest blessings that have been offered by the Lord. It seems that there is the endeavor to keep the impure heart, no matter what it costs. It costs plenty. The hour that has just been shared opened the door to a more intimate experience of the pure heart. What a delight this always is. A most vital aspect of what we may know together is this mutual trust, the yielding of an open heart without fear because there is a setting where this may be done with safety.

Mention was made of the hurts that have been known heart-wise—the wounds and the traumas. This has been magnified into a big deal by human nature. Amongst other things, they have seemed to provide a most excellent excuse for not yielding to the Lord—in other words for retaining the impure heart. How very contradictory. Why should there be any desire to maintain that state? After all, it was the state where all the traumas and the wounds occurred. “Let’s hang on to it, so that we may really enjoy our suffering.” And there is a certain amount of one-upmanship in this field, isn’t there? “I’ve suffered more than you.” I think we should be a little reluctant to admit it. “My heart is more impure than yours. Of course it wasn’t my fault. Others imposed this upon me.”

We would have to admit in the human nature state of affairs there is a lot of imposition goes on, but it is so because those concerned are willing to be imposed upon, as much as they are willing to impose upon others. If you ever impose anything on anyone else you are open to be imposed upon. That’s something to remember. If you complain about people imposing upon you, why is this so? I don’t mean the complaint, I mean your attitude toward an imposition. You are imposed upon because you impose. Most people don’t like to look at this; they are so badly done by. But what are they doing unto others? What do we do unto others? We could easily tell by examining what we think others are doing unto us.

You may recall the statement the Master made in this regard, something to the effect, “Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you.” The implications of this haven’t really been acknowledged. It’s merely the statement of the Law. What you find being done unto you is what you are doing unto others. “Come out of her, my people. Forget the impurity of heart, which maintains the wounds and the traumas.”

Now it may be that there are some scars around because of the wounds. In the realm of physical experience there are those who maybe lose a limb. Does this mean that you have to quit living? It’s remarkable what adjustments many people have made even though they lost more than one limb. When this does happen, sometimes it makes a man out of the person, so to speak, so his manhood was not dependent upon his limbs. We can be ourselves as angels in expression regardless of any scars there may be around in the emotional realm. The very fact of those scars may be helpful. They may allow us to have a greater understanding of others, for instance.  And the necessity of living regardless of those scars, of being true to oneself regardless of the scars, is what makes for strength, increases the valuable evidence of angelic expression. It may do so.

Of course there are those who get under it and never come out. We’re not interested in making lists of our scars. This is like the operations that people boast about: “I’d like to show you my scar sometime.” The emotional scars are much more evident as a rule than the physical scars; we’re exposing them all the time. So we can live and move and have our being in creative expression in one sense regardless of these scars and in another sense because of these scars. We needn’t be inhibited by the scars, and we can use them to advantage. The Lord is capable of using all things to advantage and, as His angels, so are we.

We have been considering the matter of the essential generation of spiritual substance that we may be in position to use all things to advantage. There is the need for a generation upward (the substance of connection) and the generation of substance beyond ourselves (the substance of action). As men and women we have our dominant roles to play in this regard. I suppose, for the sake of illustration, one could say that a man has the responsibility of generating 75% of the substance generated in the outward sense—action substance—and 25% the substance of connection; and the female 75% the substance of connection and 25% the substance of action. Then there is 100% substance of action and 100% substance of connection. Of course these are merely arbitrary figures, for sake of illustration. But it does indicate that there is need for both male and female, whether we are considering this within our own individual beings or whether we consider it collectively.

God didn’t make any mistake creating man, “male and female created he them.” It doesn’t say that God created man neuter—neither one thing nor the other. There is a need for men and there is a need for women. The dissatisfaction known by men and women is based in the fact that there has been a lack of the experience of manhood and womanhnood. There are those apparently who have decided that such an experience is not possible, therefore we’d better have a substitute, the unisex. How pitiful. What a pitiful world it is that human beings have produced on earth—lots of tinsel but virtually nothing underneath. An insubstantial world.

It rightly is a substantial world. Therefore let’s generate the substance. This is the restoration, isn’t it?—re-creation, the re-creation of the substantial world, the world which includes all the dimensions, the spheres, which compose God’s creation. Yesterday I was speaking particularly of the necessity for individual acceptance of responsibility. I don’t know that this is any different to anything that has been said before; it just has been emphasized in relationship to this field of sex, as human beings have understood it at least, because there isn’t any field that isn’t sex in actual fact. The positive and the negative prevail. So we all recognize, or should have recognized for a long time, that we have individual responsibility. The whole emphasis in our ministry is related to this, isn’t it?—individual integrity, individual responsibility.

Those who have become troubled and disturbed about the Guyana experience [cult suicides in Guyana in November 1978], for instance, evidently forgot what this ministry is all about. It has nothing to do with imposition—the imposition of human nature ideas and concepts and beliefs. There is nothing strange about that affair. It simply is an illustration of what’s going on in the human nature world everywhere. Because it came out in such a vivid way it shocked a lot of people, apparently—but I wonder how much it caused them to look at themselves and look at their own experience, and look at all the areas in the world where the same experience is in operation, where people are being instructed to destroy themselves. Isn’t that the state of the human nature world? Isn’t that the basis for the educational system? To teach people how to destroy themselves. We all learned in that school, and we have practiced some of it in our existence. But if we have seen something different, praise the Lord. But we have no sense of association with all that stuff anymore, rightly. If we have no sense of association for it, could what anyone says make us feel guilty or make us wonder as to whether we are associated with something that is going to destroy us? We have been associated with something that has been busy destroying us. I suppose you could say in that sense we couldn’t be any worse off. But you know, in your own experience, what has been brought to you relative to the acceptance of individual responsibility.

Of course, there has been a lot of imposition present in the external sense in our Emissary ministry, because, as I say, human beings are reluctant to relinquish their impure hearts. So they keep going on the same old basis, as long as possible apparently. I trust the fire will get so hot that it will be found to be quite impossible. And if there is this fire being kindled on earth, the intensification of the furnace, it starts rightly first with us, so that the heat rises to the point where human nature can no longer exist in our own experience. That is in fact what we’re here to let happen, because when we let it happen in us, that is the re-creation of man, isn’t it? So we can look forward to that heat: a delightful cool experience in the angelic sense, but a fiery furnace from the human nature sense.

Is your attitude described by the words “Lay on the coals”? Or is it rather, “Well, wait a moment now. Let me prepare myself a little more for what’s coming.” Who is going to prepare whom? Can human nature prepare you for the elimination of human nature do you think? Hardly. The angel is present, so what are we waiting for? The acceptance of individual responsibility. We see this now in a very central way, in a core awareness, relative to this field of sex, because here is something that relates to the very core of things. And the starting point is the focus point at the physical level in our own immediate experience  It is by reason of this focus point that there is the possibility of the generation of the required substance—the required substance which  begins to emerge at that level and proceeds subsequently at each succeeding level as it is allowed to do so, as there is a willingness to let it rise up. Human beings in human nature have seen something of this; they have talked about sublimating sex somehow—magic, black magic. There is a rising up in the generation of substance certainly, and they have talked about various things like the Kundalini, and all this. Let us relinquish any concepts that we might have had in this area and allow the reality to be the experience, allow the generation of substance individually speaking.

We have to take the responsibility individually, obviously, the only starting point we have. We can’t start with somebody else. That’s what many people have tried to do. They thought that by involving somebody else, somebody else who was presumably willing to be involved, that some magic new state would be known. But it isn’t. One is still oneself, and the other person is still himself or herself. There is only one starting point, and that is in relationship to oneself. You may see the implications of this as it emerges in the various patterns of relationships with others, but there is nothing to emerge unless it starts with oneself, unless one has taken the responsibility of handling this particular necessity of generation for oneself. Somebody else is not going to handle it for you. Nobody else can. Each person is responsible for him- or herself in this regard.

I sought yesterday to emphasize the nature of the generation that is required as this is seen relative to male and female, because there is a distinction, there is this difference in essential requirement for generation—generation of substance to connect and generation of substance to act. Now you can’t act in any creative sense unless you are connected. In the human nature state human beings try to act without that connection. The result is destructive chaos. By manipulation it may appear to be orderly for a few moments, but very shortly it is seen in its true colors as being destructive chaos. It becomes plainly evident in the world in these days, and the more people try to stem the tide, so to speak, the worse it gets.

So our primary concern is the substance of connection. Now, whether male or female, we all have a certain responsibility in this regard in the individual sense. The male certainly can’t act, can’t generate the substance of action, without the substance of connection. The generation is initiated and maintained by Spirit, and spirit cannot reach the realm of action without passing through the realm of connection. So there must be the substance of connection. Now in the individual sense we have seen that the ladies have a primary responsibility for the substance of connection, the Substance of Being. The men’s primary responsibility is the substance of action, the Substance of Achieving; but they don’t have any basis for that achieving without the substance of connection. Now if we look at this from an individual standpoint then we can see a collective pattern of men and a collective pattern of women—a collective pattern of women who have the responsibility for the generation of the connecting substance, and a collective pattern of men who have primary responsibility for the substance of action. Both are needed. And the initial stages of generation is based in the correct individual approach.

Obviously, you can see the implications extending beyond that. We could take the intimate association between a man and a woman and see that here is another unit of generation, but such generation as occurs will only occur on the basis of the fact that the man and the woman concerned are functioning correctly for themselves. And it isn’t a matter of an endeavor to find something that is mutually satisfactory. There is no motivation in the approach to the creative expression to try to please each other. That’s not the point. The fact of pleasing each other is a result, and it should not be brought into the realm of cause by human nature. This is the human nature approach: “Let’s enjoy this together”—a little isolated pocket. “Exclude everybody else; we’ll enjoy this together.” That is self-centered. That is also selfish, incidentally. “Oh, but I’m being so unselfish to my partner.” But if you put the whole thing together you have a selfish situation, certainly a self-centered situation.

Angels are intelligent. They know what it means to live. They understand what is required in the creative process, and so they handle the situation accordingly, as angels. As angels they recognize that this generation can be valuably increased or magnified by working together. They work together as individuals and find a sphere of generation that is greater than if they had merely been working separately. But they cannot work together until they know how to work separately. I’ve emphasized this matter in relationship to marriage, haven’t I, particularly with respect to young people—and it applies to older ones as well, because human beings are not usually spiritually mature—but emphasizing the necessity for each of the partners to become sufficiently mature for him- or herself, regardless of the other, so that we do not have a situation of two people leaning on each other, neither one of them mature, each trying to prop the other up because they are not mature. And one pulls out from that situation, they each fall flat. We need to be able to stand upright for ourselves. Then there is the possibility for oneness.

So the function of male and female together is seen as an expansion of the male and the female function separately. But there must be that male and female function separately if there is anything to be brought together. Because this hasn’t been so, the expectation was that if they got together then they’d find out what it was. But that’s putting everything backwards, and it simply doesn’t work that way. There may be, in some instances, a certain amount of human nature satisfaction, but it is a destructive thing. So I place the emphasis upon an adequacy of maturity in this field, as well as in other fields, on the part of the individual, whether male or female, before there can be the experience of an expansion of that maturity because there is a blending of the two maturities. If you blend two children all you have is a continuing child, an expansion of childishness. And this is the human nature experience: the creation of more chaos and destruction, because all these effects arise out of this area of function because of its very potency.

What we see all around us in the world is there because of what human beings have been doing in this field.  If—this would be idle speculation—all sex ceased on the face of the earth all the works of man would collapse. Of course they’re going to collapse anyway—but not because of that—because the true nature of sex begins to be experienced by some. Without that the operation of sex in the human nature sense would bring destruction, entire destruction. This certainly emphasizes the importance of being a bit cautious in this field. It’s extremely potent. Now we don’t wish to become so fearful that we become of no value whatsoever, but it is wise to be careful and to be cautious.

If there is a recognition that in the true working of this sex principle there is an increase of creative potency, this certainly does not indicate that there should be some promiscuous experience in this regard. Angels are not promiscuous. Their concern is with the creative process—what is fitting and right in the unfoldment of that creative process. A true creative process is always under control. It is a governed process, a process that is certainly not governed by the fickle and impure human heart. It is governed by the Spirit of God. It is very specific and very exact. Let no one ever imagine that individual motivations, even the best of them, should take precedence over the motivations that properly control in the whole.

One of the freedoms that I don’t think has been written into the book yet but which human beings assume anyway is the freedom to go to bed with whom you choose. Of course there are certain legal factors here which may enter into the picture perhaps, but basically human beings feel that they have a right in this regard, isn’t that so? I’m sure that many of you have utilized that right. It isn’t a right; it’s a wrong. As an angel one is very much aware of the potency, the creative power, that is made available by reason of the generation of this substance for right use. If it is to be used rightly it must be generated rightly. Most people have imagined, apparently, certainly in the human nature world, that the ends justify the means. This is never true. The ends are a revelation of the means, so that if wrong means are used you will have a wrong end, no matter how much you may claim that you have the fulfilment of divine purpose in mind.

In the human sense we have no freedom whatsoever in this field, rightly, and most people would take the attitude, from the standpoint of human nature, “You’re taking away one of my God-given freedoms.” God didn’t give it; the devil did. There is angelic freedom but no human freedom whatsoever. The angelic freedom, however, is a governed expression. There is no freedom without government. There is no freedom without control. The freedom is the expression of the Spirit, which is One Spirit, concerned with one thing. In the achievement of the purposes of God there may be said to be a multiplicity of purposes, but they are all included in one purpose. And as angels we have responsibility for a certain range of purposes. Now we handle those purposes in whatever the most fitting way may be, and in the handling of them there is the necessity to generate the substance by which they may be handled.

I talk of these things both from the angelic standpoint and from the human standpoint because, somehow or other, these two aspects have to come together. If the human aspect is claiming freedom it can never come together with the angelic attitude, which is based in dominion, in government, in control, so that all things that occur occur to make possible the creative fulfilment of divine purpose. If some human desire supersedes what is required for the fulfilment of divine purpose then the divine purpose can never be achieved. And this is what has been occurring in human experience the world around. One of the evidences of this lack of control is the immense population in the earth today, based in the fact that everybody has the right, in the human view, to have intercourse with anyone, at any time, according to the human choice. And who has the manhood or the womanhood really to face these things and to see what the state of affairs is, and to stop going along with the human nature approach? Because only as there is the emergence on earth of the true expression, the right use of the essential substance, can anything but doom and disaster be anticipated. Well who is going to let it change? “Oh, let it be by the hand of another.” But who is the other?

Now, of course, there have been various human nature views about this matter of sex. In the Roman Catholic Church the priests are supposed to be celibate—impotent, in other words. I think in fact they may not be always; otherwise the church would be even more impotent than it is. So it is considered by some that non-use is right use; others, uncontrolled use is right use. But as long as human nature controls it’s all wrong use. We’ve come again to a recognition of the reality of right use, under the hand of the Lord, by His angels. There is no right promiscuity in this. The Master said something about there is no marrying and giving in marriage in heaven. Some have assumed then that the angels of heaven must be sexless on the one hand or promiscuous on the other. Of course it isn’t either. There is the design of what is required in the creative process, that’s all. And that can’t be set up by human nature. Human nature marriages don’t really mean anything in the sight of God unless those concerned let the marriage be a means of right use.

Now, as I say, it is necessary to accept the situation as it is, whether one is single or whether one is married. At the moment these are the two main alternatives. Therefore if one accepts it as a single person, individually for oneself, accepts the responsibility of right function, it will also be accepted in the marriage on the same basis, individually speaking. But there is also the recognition that here is a socially acceptable union which, if the individuals concerned will accept individual responsibility in the matter, can make possible a magnification of the generation of substance, and therefore of the connection and of the action. So everything is included. I haven’t just been speaking to single people. Those I’ve been speaking to are individuals. But it doesn’t really matter what the social pattern may be—it is still a matter of the individual acceptance of responsibility for right function. And until a person does that there is nothing.

There’s also a recognition that there is a need to allow the creative currents of life to move, and we can’t just stifle them and be right. There is a need for them to move. But when I say that, obviously there is the necessity for a great deal of care, that if they are allowed to move more intensely, then we must already have accepted responsibility for this matter, so that it doesn’t become an uncontrolled sort of explosion. You know this has occurred in various groupings of people in various ways, where there has been an intensification. There is a need for control; that’s an individual matter. The angel may be allowed to have a hand in the matter, and the human nature ideas and desires may recede into the background.

You know, the illustration of the male sex organ is the scepter of the king. Would you expect the king to be governed by his scepter? Or would you expect the king to make right use of his scepter? The answer is obvious. If there is a scepter there is a king on hand. The king needs to become aware of his right authority and of the right use of that scepter. I introduce that part for the men particularly, although the ladies can take note too, so that there may be a greater recognition of the reality of true dominion. The dominion is of the king, not of the scepter. Now insofar as human nature is concerned the dominion has been mostly of the scepter, which is ridiculous.

Obviously, insofar as the female is concerned the generation of substance is supposed to be upward. The clitoris has been considered to be a focus point in the woman of the intensification, but something needs to rise up and not just be kept there, because here we would see something that is a very immature nature, a little girl still on hand, whereas something needs to rise up. That may be a point of focus, a starting point, but something needs to rise up, which will ultimately properly include a woman’s whole body, because it includes, rightly, all the spheres of vibrational substance. It requires all those spheres to provide the connection. If it’s kept down at the lowest point then nothing much is happening. In all of this it can be seen that in the physical body there are the symbols of what is needful from the standpoint of all the spheres.

There are starting points, but let’s not finish with the starting points. Let’s allow something to be generated, something to rise up that “there may be meat in mine house,” as it was put. “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,” that there may be the meat, which we need to eat if we are to give meat to our fellows.  The Master said he had meat to eat that his disciples knew not of, but he also gave meat to the multitudes. Here are the two kinds of substance—the substance of connection, the meat to eat, and the substance of action, the meat to give. We have no meat to give if we haven’t had meat to eat. So both are essential. And we begin to see how essential the male and female aspects are in the creative process, whether within the individual or whether between individuals. It is in relationship to these things that we become aware of how the creative process may be handled as we assume our responsibility as stewards of the Lord on earth.

We begin to have a whole new area of creative living, which doesn’t mean that we become intensely sexy, as it might be put in the human nature world, although there is an intensification in that regard—but it doesn’t just stay there, as I have indicated. It doesn’t stay just at the point of initiation. Then we have a very narrow and meaningless experience in existence, if it does. But here is something that begins to be generated that permeates all the spheres of our living, so that we have connection with the Spirit of God at every level and we have something to offer of the Spirit of God at every level, and we’re not caught in some meaningless little pattern of sexuality, according to the human nature view. And yet we can’t ignore it. It must be there as the point of departure.  Then something massive expands out of that. If we don’t have that point of departure nothing massive can expand. But let’s not get stuck at the point of departure, which is what human nature has done.

So again we’ve had opportunity to consider these things together in a little different way, at a little different level—I trust at a little expansion of awareness, so that there may be a greater understanding. And we may find ourselves in position to become increasingly sensitive to what is back of the initial starting point, and what is beyond that again, so that we don’t settle for the minimum.

© Emissaries of Divine Light