The Love That Purifies
Martin Cecil April 12, 1981
The morning stars sing together
and all the sons of God shout for joy. It is a joy unspeakable and full of
glory to welcome Thy presence, O Lord, into our unified holy place in this
hour. Thy love purifies and unifies. According to our love for Thee, so is Thy
love known to us, and we are one. Thy
kingdom is our kingdom. Thy power is our power. Thy glory is our glory,
forever. Aum-en.
“Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” I offer
these words to you this morning, not apart from the context in which they
appear, for that context may be summarized by the words, “Feed my sheep.” We
have the responsibility now in this hour of fulfilling this instruction—nay,
commandment: “Feed my sheep.” We can offer the necessary substance only to the
extent that we have indeed accepted the responsibility of inheriting the
kingdom. The substance by which the
sheep are fed is the substance of love.
Inherent in this substance is truth and life.
Truth, as we well know, is not a
mental image. Instruction was given long ago with respect to such images: Do
not worship them. It is easily seen that in the world as a whole this
commandment has been thoroughly and consistently violated. The truth is not a
mental image or a whole slew of them. The truth is the natural design and
control of being. It cannot be isolated by the human mind and filed away neatly
in concept form. The truth is the natural design and control of being.
Fundamentally the truth is known subconsciously. It may emerge in specific
expression into the conscious mind in the handling of responsibility, but it
rises up out of the subconscious mind when the heart is pure. If the heart is not
pure the truth is not known. So a substitute seems necessary and this has been
provided by mental images. But mental images are never the truth; they become
idols if they are worshipped as though they were the truth. The substance of
love, which includes truth and life, which is the evidence of the truth of
love, is the food by which the sheep are fed. All this is the nature of heaven,
the nature of heaven which is to be offered into the earth.
We are aware of these things
mentally, but not always spiritually. The spiritual awareness comes when spirit
is allowed expression, when the nature of heaven, which is the spirit of God,
finds release and expression through human living. This requires that the
conscious mind and the subconscious mind be on hand to let it happen. It is not
going to emerge merely through the conscious mind; it is not going to emerge
merely through the subconscious mind. These two are, in reality, one in any
case; you cannot separate them. We may refer to them separately but that does
not separate them. Conscious and subconscious are one. Because the heart has
been impure there has been considerable conflict present, both subconsciously
and consciously. Obviously when this is so, the kingdom has certainly not been
inherited, and what is offered in expression of human existence does not reveal
the quality and nature of that heaven.
We are very much aware that the
motivation of human minds and hearts springs out of a reaction to the world.
There are many levels to the world around us within our consciousness.
Different people react in different ways to different levels. But of course as
long as the heart is reacting to the world it is impure. The mind, the
conscious mind, has the very deeply ingrained habit of following the heart.
Mind you, most people would be inclined to contradict this; they are rational
thinkers, they say. Not by a long shot! The design of human beings is such that
the heart has a part to play relative to the process of thinking—because of
this, and because the heart is impure, the thinking of the mind following the
heart is not rational. Most have assumed that their brilliant intellects
proceed from a premise of logic and reason, following out the process on this
basis. But all thinking, while it may happen very quickly, is nevertheless
consequent, as we have noted many times, upon what occurs in the heart. When
the heart is impure, rational thinking is impossible—I don't care how brilliant
the human intellect may be—because what is thought follows the heart; it does
not precede the heart. All the world has been deceived in this regard
apparently, particularly those who are proud of their intellects. It is
assumed, by all too many of those, that their thinking is really logical and
reasonable; but it isn't ever, as long as the heart is impure.
This happens because there is a
design in which the heart properly plays a part relative to thinking. When the
heart is pure it is transparent, it is clear, so that what is in the heaven may
emerge through the heart into the experience of the mind, both conscious and
subconscious. This happens without distortion when the heart is pure. It is as
though there was a sea of glass, clear as crystal, unifying the heaven with the
earth through human minds and hearts. The mind in such case follows the spirit.
It follows the spirit because the way has been opened by which the spirit of
God may be present in the mind of man, both conscious and subconscious. The
heart makes that possible when it is pure. There is no interference, there is
nothing of a reactionary nature present. The spirit flows freely. As it flows
through the heart it picks up an emotional content, but the emotions are not
the cause of the operation of the mind. The spirit is the cause of the
operation of the mind, and the operation of the mind includes an emotional
content generated by spirit. So there is a smooth operation here, no jagged
pieces against which the spirit breaks. It is a whole operation, a holy one.
The spirit emerging out of heaven through the clear space of the heart provides
what is necessary for the mind to follow. The mind follows not the heart in
such case but the spirit.
Presently in human experience the
mind follows the heart. The heart is impure—there is no sea of glass clear as
crystal certainly—and the impurity of the heart is consequent upon the
government which has been accepted out of the world. That government comes on
the basis of the lusts of the heart toward the world. There are those lusts
which might be classified as acceptable, supposed to be satisfying to human
experience; but there are also those lusts which are not so acceptable, against
which human beings are inclined to fight. But whether the attitude is pro or
con, the result is the same: The world governs, and human beings through their
heart connection with the world are mentally governed. They think along the
lines suggested by the heart; the mind follows the heart. It follows it both consciously
and subconsciously. The result of this of course is the production of an even
more thoroughly confused world.
It is interesting to observe this
as though we were a third party somehow, standing in space and seeing all these
things going on. But this is not the fact of the matter, and if we take such an
attitude, obviously we are being deceived. It is impossible for human beings to
extract themselves from the world, from the universe, and stand apart somewhere
to observe the world and the universe. It can't be done. There isn't any place
to stand, and if it is imagined that this is the case then there is obviously
thorough deception. We deceive ourselves. We are all mentally and emotionally
present in the world of mind and heart. We can't extract ourselves from this.
If we succeeded in extracting ourselves, and I suppose it could be said that
most people eventually do, what would be found? Nothing. Nothing at all. There
is no such place where we may stand. The mind and the heart are here and are a
part of the total mental and emotional state which is present in humanity. We
find ourselves connected up with that, and out of that has heretofore come the
government of our living, which would then better be described as dying. It is
the process of dying. Human beings spend the days of their years dying. We have vast experience in this field. The
more enormous our experience in that direction the less we know about living,
the less we have experience of living, because the experience of living is
impossible without the pure heart. The impure heart is the veil of separation
from the spirit of God, which is characterized primarily by love, truth and
life. Unless the spirit of God has a pure heart through which to move, love, truth
and life cannot be known. Little dribs and drabs are known, and human beings
eulogize these sometimes; a great deal of poetry has been written about love,
this marvelous sensation. But the truth of love has never been known in human
experience since what has been called the fall took place.
We come again to a place of
experience, in the unfolding creative cycles of spirit, when it becomes possible
once more in a collective sense, and consequently in an individual sense also,
to allow the heart to be purified. We have noted that the heart is certainly
not purified by any efforts of the mind; we can't think ourselves into purity.
There is only one way by which purification comes, and that is through love.
Well how can it come if we don't know what love is? This is why human beings have
remained with impure hearts. But love is present nevertheless. We might easily
recognize that the design and control which is natural to being is in operation
everywhere in the universe, with that little exception of human consciousness.
Even though human beings do not know it, it is in operation obviously in some
measure, even with respect to human beings, because if it wasn't they couldn't
exist. However insofar as the conscious and subconscious minds of human beings
are concerned they have virtually no awareness of this universal operation
springing from the one true source. They have decided hopefully, they think, that
there perhaps isn't one true source, so that they themselves can take things
over. Or if there is one true source then one might perhaps, by a little
cajoling of some sort, obtain support and cooperation from that one true source
for one's own intentions. Of course this is childish. It certainly doesn't work
that way and never could.
I think we have here a
demonstration of mercy. Do you ever get impatient, sometimes impatient with the
foolishness of other people? If you do you might wonder how possibly the One
responsible for this little comer of the universe could have kept His patience
for all these millennia with the ridiculous antics of silly human beings. I
suppose the only way that could be done would be to look upon them as children.
This is the approach that has been made in scripture: human
beings are children, naughty children, self-willed children, not knowing what
they were doing, not having a clue as to what they were doing but nevertheless
doing it. And this has wrecked a beautiful world. We see the wreckage on every
hand. Many people these days are becoming somewhat discouraged because of all
the piles of wreckage. But as the heart is purified a different understanding
begins to emerge in the conscious and subconscious minds of human beings. That
purifying of the heart is what makes it possible, and the heart is only
purified by love.
Love must be received if the
purification is to take place. It must be received into the heart. It must be
received into the subconscious mind. It must be received indeed into the
conscious mind too. It must be received at every level if the purifying process
is to occur. It cannot be received except as the source from which love springs
is loved. We've all known this in theory; a lot of people have known this in
theory: We should keep the first great commandment. This is vitally important. Oh
yes, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all.” As a general statement that
is quite popular, and acceptable to many. But it is not quite so popular and acceptable
actually to let it happen now in this immediate circumstance, whatever it may
be; not in a world of theoretical imagination but now, so that in one's own
experience there is nothing loved more than the reality of the true expression
of the spirit of God in the fulfilment of the purposes of God. Ah, but here is
the sticker, isn't it, because there is an inclination to fool oneself into
imagining that this is the case in one's own experience when impurities of
heart are still the motivation.
Love requires that the truth be
faced, and there is a certain reluctance in most people to let this happen with
respect to themselves as individuals. In a general sense, yes, again it is
quite easy to see that the truth must be faced. Human beings are all deceived,
aren't they? Which ones? Or which particular one? Unless one sees it in terms
of one's own experience it doesn't mean much, and one can only see it in terms
of one's own experience relative to what is immediately present now. How easily
human beings slip out of the present moment. It is only as one assumes
responsibility in the present that something happens.
So when there is love for the Lord
one is immediately concerned with what is needful in this present moment: the
opening of the heart to the love which I'm sure most of you do sense. There is
a love which we share. We can excuse ourselves from sharing it quite readily;
at least this has been the case in the past. But in this present moment I'm
sure that no one is looking for justifications to sustain an attitude of
indifference or dislike or any of the attitudes of this nature in which human
beings indulge themselves There is no
one, there is nothing, to whom we would not offer love. “Feed my sheep”—give
the substance of love, which does not conform to the human concept of love but
is characterized by truth, the natural design and control of being. As the
heart is purified this natural control becomes our nature—our subconscious
nature. If you have to think with your conscious mind of some principle or
other that would seem to apply to this situation, you certainly do not know the
truth, because the truth is not a mental image. The truth is the natural design
and control of being which rightly informs the subconscious mind. It does so to
the extent that the heart is pure, and the heart is pure to the extent of our
love for the love which purifies it. And there is nothing else for us. There
may be an awareness of what is present in human consciousness in a general
sense. That is the world that human beings know; it's there because human
beings have it in their consciousness. The very moment there is no
consciousness in which to have that world the world vanishes. If someone hits
you on the head the world vanishes.
The world is sustained in the
consciousness of human beings, and it is of the nature it is because of the
impurity of human hearts. It seems that there has been a problem to, I don't
know whether persuade is the right
word quite, to awaken human beings to the truth. No, they don't want that
truth; they want to keep on going the way they have always gone since the
fathers fell asleep. But that's fatal. It is obviously fatal. It has been fatal
in every generation so far, as long as human memory goes back. What would be
the sense then to sustain something that inevitably brings nothing, when there
is the opportunity to receive into expression, into manifestation, into
experience, a beautiful and wonderful world? It is just waiting at the doors;
as it is stated over and over, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is there to
be received when there is a willingness to receive it, because there is a
willingness to face facts, for one thing, to face the situation as it really is
and not as one would like to justify it and explain it to oneself by the wrong
use of the conscious mind—rationalizing, that is called. We deceive ourselves
constantly by this process of rationalizing what is brought to our attention
out of the heart, out of the subconscious mind. It comes up, but we become so
adept at explaining it that we think our justification of this is original thinking. There isn't any such thing as original thinking insofar as
human beings are concerned, because it always springs out of an impure heart. Original
thinking is the thinking of spirit: God's thinking, the thinking of the
Creator, making use of human minds and hearts. Such use cannot be made in any
creative sense until the heart is pure.
Here is a verse from the Book of
Job which is relevant: “Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set
the dominion thereof in the earth?” The ordinances of heaven are the truth, the
design and the control in heaven, the natural design and control of being.
Human beings of course have denied that, so in their world the ordinances of
heaven have not been set. The attempt has been made to set the ordinances
deriving from the impure heart; the mind cooperates in this. So there has been
a world created on this basis, a world with which we are quite familiar and
which has, to us and to most people, seemed the most real world there could
possibly be. It even is so real and so extensive that it includes the rest of
the universe; but whatever is present has been created and sustained by the
minds of human beings subject to impure hearts. The ordinances of heaven are
the truth, and this is the foundation of the world, the kingdom which was
prepared from the foundation of the world. That's where it comes from; heaven
is the foundation of the world rightly. The kingdom has been prepared, it is
there, waiting for someone to acknowledge the foundation. As the foundation is
acknowledged the kingdom is inherited. That foundation can only be acknowledged
to the extent that the heart is pure, and the heart is pure when love is
absolute for the source from whence love comes. The purposes of that source, as
they relate to the area of human responsibility, must be supreme in one's own
awareness and attitude, nothing held out on the side. But it is the impure
heart that makes people hold things out on the side, and then the mind comes
along and rationalizes what the impure heart has made them do, justifies it,
makes it seem so plausible and reasonable that obviously one has to act that
way. But it was something that was brought forth by the impure heart—you could
say by the devil—and human beings are trapped in that state, just automatons.
In these days it would seem that
there is a dawning awareness—misinterpreted, mind you—that the field of human
responsibility, while it primarily relates to what is happening on the surface
of this planet, goes beyond that too. There is certainly a field of
responsibility which goes beyond the immediate confines of this planet, but
that field of responsibility beyond cannot be handled with wisdom until what is
immediately present in one's own personal field of responsibility now is
handled correctly. We well know we can never jump over anything and get out
there and handle something out there correctly. This is one of the reasons why
there is so much confusion from the standpoint of the world leadership, because
world leaders—no matter how sincere they may be—have virtually never revealed
the capability of handling correctly what is immediately next to them. In fact
very often world leadership arises because the individual is so ineffective in what
is close to him; he feels frustrated and therefore he jumps out there in order
to produce a sense of meaning, which is actually quite invalid. It is accepted
as being meaning because this is the way human beings have operated. But it has
very little true meaning, because what is immediately present has never been
accepted as the focus for what is to be achieved further out. No one can
achieve anything further out without accepting what is immediately here; it is
impossible; you cannot jump over it. Only as we can handle what is immediately
next to us may we have meaning with respect to what is beyond.
Our concern is to let this happen
because we experience the ordinances of heaven in our momentary living now, and
consequently, doing that, set the dominion thereof in the earth because we are
in the earth. It is an automatic movement: the flow of spirit through the pure
heart initiates the right operation of the mind; there is understanding as to
what it is that needs to happen now here. Most people are not looking at what
needs to happen now here; they are gazing out there and wondering about what
should happen over there or how someone else should be behaving. How would it
be if we really did come to point? Well let's do it, for heaven's sake! That's
right—for heaven’s sake, that there
may be something which can reach the earth out of heaven, that the ordinances
of heaven may be set in the earth.
We have that natural
responsibility, which may be easily assumed and which we have assumed during
this hour to the extent that there has been a willingness, an openness, to move
with the truth of love, wherever that may take us. We don't know at this
moment. If you have it all set up in your mind as to where you are going, well
what chance has the truth of love to take you anywhere? No, we discover what it
is in the moment, when there is the acknowledgment of the real way it works,
and we have a love above all for that working. Let it work that way, not the
way we have designed everything and thought we were going to succeed in life,
and all the rest. I'm sure that most of you have set those things to one side
but I wonder if there isn't a little still in there somewhere. It only begins
to work when it is absolute, and we have the opportunity of letting it be
absolute now in this moment.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
You Are Not To Be Discouraged Or Disturbed
Uranda December 29, 1939
As I have pointed out before, the
manifestation of your function and expression must be practical under the
present world situations and conditions, and it is in this that you live each
day as if the present world situation were to continue for a thousand years. On
the other hand, because you know that the world is subject to changes, you are
undisturbed by those changes, and though you live each day to the full, attuned
in life, you are undisturbed by that which proves to be polarized in death and
destruction, so that it thereby is caused to fall away.
It is to be expected that you will
find cycle after cycle is worked out to a degree, and then the full fruition of
it becomes impossible because a portion of it has proved to be polarized in
death and destruction. Therefore I assure you that you are not to be
discouraged or disturbed when you find that things do not work out as you had
hoped, or as you realize they could have. You should not be troubled when
material things of the world are taken from you by conditions and situations
which you recognize to be unjust; but you should be so polarized in life that
you are undisturbed by the things and activities of death. So it is that you
let go of that which is of the unreal, letting it fall away, and respond
one-pointedly to life. Being polarized in life, you find that a new cycle
immediately begins and carries on in an increasing and expanding expression
toward that which is perfect, until finally you are privileged to take part in
the beginning of a cycle which carries through into ultimate perfection.
However, in these smaller cycles, which relate to your individual life
activities of the present, it is not to be anticipated that any cycle that you
can now begin will carry through in fulness into that which is perfect.
This process which I have outlined
to you briefly is that whereby the changes in the transition into the new earth
state must take place. Too great a concern about the failures of your present
cycles of function only tends to prevent your full release, and proves that you
are still somewhat subject to the polarity in death, else the things of death
could not disturb you. To the degree that you are truly polarized in life, you
realize that all persons, things and conditions which are polarized in death
must surely die—and so it is that you are in no wise troubled thereby. Because
you are polarized in life, you know that the things of life cannot die, for
they are eternal. So is the fear of death caused to vanish away. Your
conviction in the reality of life at once gives assurance that death and the
things of death must, by their very nature, perish in death. And so it is that
death itself must come to an end, so that only life and the things of life can
continue to manifest and endure.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
Obviously
What Has Thus Far Transpired
from
Be Awake to the Potential in Each Role and Task
Martin
Exeter February 22, 1987
All is well. The power of love draws this planet with its burden of
life forms back into alignment with cosmic purpose. Because there has been this
lack of alignment, the world over the ages has been filled with tribulation.
During this time every individual who has been present on earth has experienced
varying degrees of tribulation. We are well aware that this is consequent upon
the human failure to remain aligned with cosmic purpose. But the power of love
works and is indeed in the process of drawing all on the surface of this
planet—and the planet itself—back into alignment with the Creative Cosmic Purpose.
The reason for our presence on earth is that we might awaken to what
is happening and participate in the process, letting it be drawn to focus. We
are aware that this is necessary—the focus has been absent. What human beings refer
to as nature has been left on its own without the necessary direction, which
was the responsibility of Man. It has been able to survive thus far in a very
distorted state. Because of this it is quite useless to look to nature for human
guidance. We are aware of the fact that it is the restoration of man that is
required. Without that focus there is no control out of heaven to set the
dominion of the ordinances of heaven in the earth. This is the responsibility
of Man—a responsibility long forgotten. In its place has come the vast variety
of human effort and the vast variety of consequent tribulation.
We ourselves have become aware that there is no way out of this state
of affairs except as there is a return to the state and the condition of Man.
So we have shared this recognition of responsibility—and have assumed a certain
factual responsibility in our own living. Obviously what has thus far
transpired is not adequate, but we are aware, to the extent that we have
participated in this process, that there is an inexorable process which brings
the fulfilment which is necessary. We recognize the nature of this fulfilment
as being absolutely dependent upon what is experienced in the nature of our own
living. This is not something that happens regardless of human beings. It is
not an imposition from some supposed heavenly source upon the body of mankind.
It may appear to be that way by reason of the tribulation, but the tribulation
is the very just result of human failure.
There is a tendency for human beings to complain good
deal about injustice and unfairness, and so on. This view is generated
self-centeredly and fails to take into consideration the larger picture, fails
to take into consideration even the smaller picture of individual human
function. We produce our own worlds, and, as it has been, we suffer the
consequences. There is always the potential and opportunity of allowing the
production of the true world, but this is absolutely impossible until there is
Man on earth. We could say that this is a fortunate thing; otherwise I am sure
that the human race would long have departed. But there is always the
expectation that somehow in the outworking of the Cosmic Cycles of Things man
could be restored. This has always been the first order of business: the
restoration of Man—not the restoration of the state of the planet, because the
state of the planet is absolutely dependent upon the state of human beings.
Until Man is restored there is no basis for fundamental change in the
condition of the world.
So we present ourselves to participate in this creative process. This
requires the necessity of letting go of the human nature which heretofore has
dictated human behavior. It is a matter of letting go of that, but also letting go to the true nature of Man, which has always been present. When we cease to be so
busy about our human affairs there comes a certain awareness that there is state
transcending human nature. However we can’t be governed by human nature and by
this true state at the same time. I suppose there may a mixture for a while,
and we have all had some experience of the mixture—but along the way the truth
must prevail, at least in the experience of some. It would seem like a tall order
to expect it to be present in the experience of all. However, we would not judge
in this matter but accept the responsibility individually, so that we ourselves
may play our part. We are most thankful for all who play their part in this over the years. But it is our responsibility to make sure that we fulfil that task which
comes to our hand.
We are together collectively to allow a focus of the role
and the task which is necessary
for the continuing process of restoration
We
are in position to do this only to the extent that individually speaking we
bring with us the evidence of a factual acceptance of the role and task which
come to each of us—then there is something to be drawn to focus when we
assemble with one accord in one place, as we have opportunity of doing now. All that can be done collectively speaking is based in whatever has been
done up to this point individually speaking. It is out of this individual
experience that the focus comes. The extent of the clarity of that focus is
dependent upon the clarity with which we have handled our momentary roles and
tasks.
How beautiful to experience this state of oneness as a reality—no longer to be theorized about but to be experienced and expressed moment by moment, day by day. And so, in oneness of this creative spirit which we know, we continue to let it be in focus in our living consistently, rejoicing also in the opportunities that we do have when we assemble together to let all this which is a factual reality finally be drawn to focus, that the creative process may be present on earth, in expression to the glory of the One whom we love and serve, fulfilling the commission of which we have become aware here on this planet.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
