White Raiment of Illumination
The King's Court
Uranda September 15, 1953 8:00 pm Anniversary Meditation
In our pattern of Anniversary Meditations, we come to this evening hour on September 15, 1953. Last evening, as we shared an hour of Meditation, you moved into a deeper realization of the means whereby the design in thought or idea, concept or belief, becomes animated, or becomes a living, meaningful thing. The Truth, through the mind, through the working of intelligence, provides the design, the factors of form in concept or belief. Love, through the heart, animates that which is accepted by the mind. The physical body receives that which is so established, for the body as such has no choice but to receive that which is imposed upon it. We began to comprehend and realize this process by which something ascends to a given point in the human being, by his acceptance of the Kingdom-of-Heaven-at-hand idea in the pattern of Truth, and Love comes down out of Heaven from God to animate, or give life to, the accepted idea. We noted how it was, and is, that human beings accept certain things in the sense of intellectual beliefs, but that which is animated in the actual expression of their lives takes form, or has form, on the basis of resentment ideas, fear ideas, rebellion ideas, or hate ideas. The real feeling manifests in the range of something which carries a critical, condemnatory or destructive attitude, and that which is of the Divine Design, even though it be seen, is not animated in the individual life because there is no particular feeling in regard to it.
I would share with you a particularized Meditation which takes into consideration not only this point but the other points we have covered so far, in relationship to polarity or centering in Deity, under the One Law, and the principle of giving into life, or the expression of life, that which is to return, for, “As ye sow, so also shall ye reap.”
In undertaking to live by what is sometimes called The Golden Rule—“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”—human beings very often interpret the Golden Rule idea on the basis of selfish, self-centered designs, and they think they would like such-and-such a thing done unto them, when they have failed to take cognizance of that which is ultimate in the pattern, that which would derive, that which would appear as a natural result. In other words, the human interpretation of that which the individual would like to have done unto himself is very often contrary to the true design.
So, we need to begin to see these things in relationship to the reality of control. We have used the word, control, many times and have considered it from the standpoint of Dominion, or the Kingdom of Heaven that is at hand, but until the Cycles of Illumination begin to unfold, the Kingdom idea, or the Dominion idea, even though it be accepted intellectually, does not become adequately animated through the heart, and consequently there is no force in the individual life in relationship to the idea.
One of the factors which enters in here, if polarity is not correct, is that of self-centeredness. Illumination comes when the mind accepts the Truth idea, and the Dominion idea, in a manner which allows the heart to animate the Dominion, Kingdom idea. Any constructive idea which becomes animated through the heart brings some degree of Illumination, which is to say, vividness of comprehension and appreciation; for Illumination is simply comprehension coupled with due appreciation. And by reason of appreciation there is the acceptance of value.
Now, the human tendency, when elements of self-centeredness remain, is to devise a pattern of concept or idea which the individual deems to be acceptable to himself, which is to some degree animated by self-interest through the feeling nature, and then to ask, as it were—perhaps not in so many words, but in attitude, in practical function—to ask that this individually devised idea pattern be received as a completed, or ready-made object into Center. The individual in this particular situation is following the world method. He devises something in his own mind, according to the pattern of what he deems to be pleasing, desirable or suitable, and then he prays the Lord to receive into Center, as a part of Center, that which he himself has devised. When that which is so developed is not received into Center, the individual feels that he himself is being rejected, or in some fashion inadequately appreciated.
The right pattern, the Kingdom Pattern, causes the individual to relinquish his ideas and concepts of that which is seemingly desirable, and he does this relinquishing without qualms because he knows that such talents and abilities as he may have are derived from the Lord, and that the Lord is not arbitrarily going to disregard that which the Lord Himself devised, that which the Lord Himself bequeathed, in image and likeness of God to the human form, in capacity and ability. Therefore, there is true trust, and the individual knows that that which is true in relationship to himself will endure, and that which is not true will not endure. Therefore, he has no qualms about trusting the Lord and he feels no necessity of trying to impose his self-made designs upon the Lord if he is, himself, as an individual, to be received by the Lord. Therefore, such an individual, responding truly under the Law, in harmony with the principles we have thus far considered, comes to Center as an individual, naked insofar as the clothing of his own concepts is concerned. That which he has woven in concept he sets aside, willing to trust the Lord's designing. He knows that whatever comes forth must be given form by himself, that he has a part to play in any case, and so he comes to stand, naked and unashamed, before the Lord, not physically naked but mentally naked, his mind at peace and at rest.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Having allowed the spirit of shame to vanish away because he has sought and received forgiveness, he is ready to stand naked and unashamed before the Lord, not physical nakedness but mental nakedness. While the individual seeks to retain the clothing of his own mental designing, he is, regardless of any concept contrariwise, still subject to the spirit of shame; for the individual does not clear from that spirit of shame, in actual fact, until he has sought and received forgiveness.
In the process of receiving forgiveness, the individual relinquishes his predetermined concepts, ideas, and beliefs, with respect to the particularized pattern of his own being and of his function as a Being. Human beings, in this regard, have failed to recognize how consistently, how repeatedly, they project from themselves the concept patterns which they are, in effect, asking the Lord to receive into Center. They have designed and devised something which they deemed to be good, and they come to present their ideas, their designing, before the Lord, asking the Lord to receive their designing and to relinquish the Divine Design. When the Spirit of Animation does not immediately appear from Center then, to truly give meaning to that which is so humanly designed, the individual feels that he has somehow been rejected and he begins to try to give meaning to his own designing, and in so doing he begins to engender the support of others in order to give form to his own designing. The human being who develops these ready-made designs and tries to persuade the Lord to receive them into Center is defeating himself, and is not coming before the Lord naked, and therefore he wears the garments of shame, even though he may imagine, in his arrogance and egotism, that he is no longer ashamed or that he has relinquished the spirit of shame.
But the shamelessness here mentioned, in relationship to coming before the Lord naked and unashamed, is something that can be a reality in the individual only when he comes naked—naked of his own idea-concepts which would have to be received by the Lord in order to receive the individual.
The Lord is always ready to receive the individual—there is never any question in this matter—any individual, every individual, you! The Lord is ready at any time to receive you. You do not have to wait until some peculiar season works out. The Lord is ready in any moment to receive you. If there is delay, it is because you are not yet ready to be received by the Lord, and the delay is not with respect to the season of the Lord but with respect to the seasons of your yielding, your response, and your coming before the Lord. And while the individual maintains the mental garments of his own designing in the sense of concept, idea and belief, he is, regardless of any of the concepts he may have notwithstanding, still wearing the garments of shame.
The individual is not supposed to devise and design his own garments, and the Lord is not supposed to receive the garments of human designing. From the Lord’s standpoint, there is always a readiness and a willingness to receive the individual, but the individual, in effect, says: “Receive the garments of my designing and I will let you receive me.” But the Lord does not receive the garments of the human designing, and therefore He does not receive the individual. It is of these that it is written that, “They know not that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and naked.”
In the Cycles of Illumination, each one who continues to move forward comes at last to know that when he seems to himself to be naked, as he stands unashamed before the Lord, he is in that moment not naked. While he comes to the Lord, or tries to come to the Lord, clothed so that he will not be naked, he is, in fact, naked. But, when he at last reaches the point where he seems to himself to be naked, then he begins to wear white raiments so that the shame of his nakedness shall not appear. As we begin to comprehend these things, we can have a deeper realization of the reality of Control, for the human mind assumes that control must come in some particular fashion or appear in some particular form, the form and fashion of his own designing, and he knows not that he is naked—naked in the sense of the garment of White Raiment, not naked in the sense of the garment of his own designing. When we come to stand naked and unashamed before the Lord, we are not, to the Lord, naked; for then we are clothed with the white raiment of the Lord's designing. And the Light of Illumination is the white raiment.
Man may receive, and to some degree comprehend, the Truth idea. He may hear it, and in the sense of belief accept it, and forthwith assume that he has the basic condition which will allow Illumination. But he takes his view of Truth and designs it and shapes it, and moulds it after the fashion which he deems to be pleasing to himself according to his assumption of Deity, or the prerogatives of Deity. Therefore, he has woven his own garment and abides in darkness. But he who truly trusts the Lord, knowing that the Lord has granted him his abilities, his capacities, his opportunities, in the image and likeness of God, has no fear that the Reality of his own Being is going to be violated when he allows the Divine Design to appear. And the white raiment of the Divine Design is the Light of Illumination. Having relinquished the human design, the individual is in position to see the Divine Design.
In the past, as I have presented to you various word pictures of the Divine Design, so that you could comprehend enough of it to be willing to receive it, the human tendency has been for you to take the Truth idea of the Divine Design and weave it into the pattern of your own designing, thinking that you were serving the Lord, thinking that you were going to have comprehension and use your God-given opportunities, presumably in service. This continual distortion, whereby the White Raiment was rejected, has delayed the outpouring of the Spirit in the larger sense and kept you from the deeper Illumination wherein you come to wear the garment of White Raiment in relationship to your mind and heart. The body has no choice but to receive that which is imposed upon it, the garments that appear through the working of the mind and the heart. It is not needful that you be concerned about getting the garment of white raiment for your body; for your body wears the raiment imposed upon it by the mind, which is to say, your body wears the raiment in outer form which your mind wears in the invisible realm of mind. The white raiment for the mind makes possible the manifestation of white raiment for the body, not in the sense of getting some new clothes but in the sense of the vibrancy of Being which appears through the body, the reality of Living.
I have seen, right here on Sunrise Ranch as well as in other places, in the lives of others who are seeking to serve with us, the process by which the Truth that is presented is taken and woven into a self-centered garment of human designing. This prevents the manifestation of real Control, because it places the individual in the position of asking God, the Lord, the Father, Center—whatever name may be used—to receive that which is of the human designing. God is supposed to revamp, rearrange, redesign, all that He has created, so that what you have designed may be received into relationship to the whole, on a basis that will permit it to fit correctly. When you learn to receive your garment of understanding for the mind from Center, you will have true Illumination, because then you will be receiving into yourself that which does fit with the Whole.
Now, here is the secret in relationship to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the reason why man has fallen, the reason why man destroys his pattern of living and being. Man is constantly asking God to receive the humanly designed pattern, intact, into the Whole. Man is offering it as a gift to God, but it does not fit, it does not belong to the Whole, it has no meaning to the Whole. It has meaning only to the individual who designed it. So, instead of trying to project something into Center, in the Cycles of Illumination, the individual learns to receive something from Center so that that which manifests through himself has a true relationship to the Whole, according to the Design that includes all. And, having comprehended that which is so designed, the individual is wearing the White Raiment of Illumination. We must reach the point of being willing to stand naked and unashamed before the Lord, not physically naked but mentally and emotionally naked, insofar as garments of our own designing are concerned. And then we are no longer naked, for the Lord beholds us enfolded in the White Raiment of Reality, and the Reality of Illumination is the individual's realization of the presence of the White Raiment which one must wear that the shame of his nakedness may not appear.
We still have many unnecessary delays in our program here, because there has not been adequate Illumination, adequate Realization, with respect to these things. Remember, it is not the Season of the Lord which delays your Illumination; it is your season; for when you are ready to relinquish the mental and emotional clothing of your own designing and receive the White Raiment which the Lord has prepared for you, then shall you know Illumination. Then shall you cease eating of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then shall you find that your capacities and abilities in the image and likeness of God are utilized and appreciated. But that which you would impose of your own designing prevents the true uses of your capacities.
What is in control? There have been certain tendencies for the individual to imagine that Spiritual revelation through himself has established some supposedly great and important understanding, and such individuals expect the Lord to receive that which has been so designed, as if it were a part of Center. There are those things which can be seen and known as tests for that which is supposed to be Divine Revelation through the individual. Even if there be some Truth, we find that the Truth has been woven into the human pattern and formed into clothing which the human being imagines to be adequate for his use in the King's Court.
Blessed Ones, he who would walk in the King's Court must wear the garments which the King provides. No matter how long you take in weaving garments, no matter how much energy or expense in any way, no matter how fine you deem it to be, it is not acceptable in the King's Court. As far as you are concerned, mentally and emotionally speaking, you must come to stand naked and unashamed before the Lord, that you may receive the King's garment and walk in the King's Court, and then shall you know the reality of Divine Control by which your talents and abilities may have true meaningfulness in the Kingdom of the King. Blessed Ones, let the Name of the King be hallowed unto you, that His Dominion may come into manifestation in and through you, that the White Raiment of Illumination may clothe your minds and hearts to the end that you may let the Will of the King be done in earth as it is in Heaven, and that you may come at last, in the Cycles of Illumination, to know the reality of this great Truth, “For Thine, O King, is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever.” Aum-en.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
The Secrets Of Ascension
Divine Commission Anniversary Meditation
Uranda September 14, 1953 8:00 p.m.
We come to our evening hour in the Anniversary Period of Meditation. We have considered the reality of centering and something of the significance of, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” On this evening of September 14, 1953, let us consider the next step in this Cycle of Illumination.
I have felt the deepening spirit of Meditation in you this day, and you have not been as prone as in some times past to forget the significance of our undertaking. The Meditation of this Anniversary Period is penetrating and permeating every part of your beings. In this connection, let us Meditate on what we might call The Secrets of Ascension. There is that which, to the uninitiated, appears to be contradictory. There is the matter of Ascension, of being lifted up, and there is the matter of letting the things of God come down out of Heaven into the earth. I would like to help you to see these two seemingly different things as being one and the same.
We have recognized that the up of Spiritual Reality is not merely up from the surface of the earth. When we let the things of God come out of the invisible realm into body, mind and heart, coming down from God out of Heaven, we find that the body, the mind and the heart, which receive that which is of God, are lifted up and caused to ascend into a higher vibratory rate of Being without leaving the surface of the earth. In this we have the process that is spoken of as resurrection. In the world consciousness there is the pattern of the dust of dead bodies and the idea that the dust of dead bodies will be gathered together, the moisture content necessary will be secured from somewhere, and, supposedly, in a moment all the graves in all the cemeteries will open and those who have been buried will come popping up out of the ground. Something of this is generally conjured up in the imagination when we speak of resurrection. But we know that we are not talking about the dead bodies in the cemeteries, but that we have reference to those who are Spiritually dead, who are in the houses all across the land. The Master said, “Let the dead bury their dead.” This statement has much significance which has been overlooked. Those who are dead to Reality are the ones who should be allowed to take care of the processes that are deemed to be essential for those who are physically dead.
When we begin to live, to recognize the reality of the resurrection, a new vision begins to take hold. We remember the words, “Behold, I make all things new.” Generally speaking, human beings have thought of their physical bodies in this connection. The physical body would be made new, various things round about, objects perhaps. There may be the vision of a tree or a flower being made new. But, whatever else this term or statement may properly include, it includes your ideas, your concepts, your beliefs. “Behold, I make all things new.” Instead of considering this pattern in relationship to the body, for the moment, the healing of the physical body, let us consider it in relationship to the things of mind and heart. “Behold, I make all things new.”
The process of Ascension, coupled with the process of letting something come down from God out of Heaven, constitutes the resurrection and the life. We look at the Master's Life and Ministry, and hear the words which came from His lips and the sweet sound of His Voice echoing down through the centuries: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” We see in Him a pattern of Being wherein something was constantly coming down from God out of Heaven into the earth, and we see in Him, His Life, His Ministry, in word and deed, the processes of lifting someone up to a higher level of being, the meeting place in the physical realm of being for that which is ascending and that which is descending. This level of the Divine Estate is not up from the surface of the earth—it is right here where we are. As we learn to truly serve God, we find that we become, individually and collectively, a meeting point where that which is ascending blends with that which is descending out of Heaven from God. As this process takes place—the continued manifestation of Ascension, the continued manifestation of descending Reality—all things in us are made new.
The physical changes in the body are of vital interest and of paramount importance from the standpoint of the human consciousness, and we are not belittling this phase of the outworking, but there is a certain Truth which I have suggested for your meditation on a number of occasions—a certain Truth which needs to be remembered. The physical body, as such, has no choice, but must accept that which is imposed upon it. The physical body, as such, has no choice, but must accept that which is imposed upon it. When we begin to consider the vibratory factors of the resurrection process, and remember the Creator's Words, “Behold, I make all things new,” we see that the first things which should be made new are the ideas, the beliefs, the concepts. And, following, more or less concurrently, the feelings and the attitudes, the patterns of manifestation by which the heart, or emotional nature, reveals itself, must be made new.
Now we recall something else the Master said: “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they they shall see God.” Purity of heart makes it possible for us to see God. It is not a matter of securing some certain results physically that we may see God. It is not by reason of having a physical body pop out of a grave somewhere that we see God. It is not physical change, or movement from this level to some other, that permits us to see God. It is the change of the heart that permits us to see God. “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.” “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in His Holy Place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” Action springs from thoughts, beliefs, feelings, attitudes. “He that hath clean hands”—a right pattern of action—“and a pure heart.” Here, then, we see the basic principle that the mind and the heart are of primary importance in reaching a state of being where we ascend into the hill of the Lord.
Now, the Lord has evidently descended to His hill. “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?”—the human pattern. It would appear that the Lord has descended to that hill. Ascension, plus the descending manifestation of something out of Heaven from God. First the mind and then the heart, and the body accepts without choice that which is imposed upon it. Before the heart can be changed or purified, the mind must undergo certain changes. When the mind accepts the Spirit of Truth and lets the human concepts be cast out, or changed, or made new, the limited human idea is made new. Then there begins to be a comprehension of that which is coming down from God out of Heaven. The moment the consciousness of man, his intelligence, is aware of, and meets, that which is coming down from God out of Heaven, it has ascended.
Consider the level of consciousness in most human beings, individuals whose lives are taken up with a pattern of constant idolatry, subject to money, position, material things, the important, so-called practical things. Human beings are subject to those things which they deem to be practical in the world as it is. They are slaves to these supposedly practical things. I am not suggesting that there are no practical things, but I am suggesting that anything that is material cannot be of the greatest possible practical value to us while we are subject to it. If these practical things are to have real value to us, we must have dominion over them; there must be control in relationship to them. So, once we reach a point in mind where we begin to let all things be made new, we stop imagining that the measure of newness must relate primarily to physical things. It will ultimately manifest in relationship to physical things, but human beings who try to let this newness appear are inclined to measure the results on the basis of observable changes in the physical realm, in relationship to their own bodies, in relationship to their affairs, their circumstances. They think they are letting things be made new, and they are watching the physical things, and if the physical things do not change according to their concepts they decide that it simply does not work.
But, once we reach a point where we realize that our physical bodies have no choice but to receive that which is imposed upon them, we are ready to go another step and see that the same is true of all physical substance. Physical substance has no choice but to receive that which is imposed upon it. So, trying to change physical things, in body or environment, defeats the individual. These physical things will change in their season because physical things have no choice but to accept that which is imposed upon them. If physical things are, in a certain pattern, manifesting in a certain fashion, then that manifestation is by reason of that which is imposed upon the physical substance involved. If the physical manifestation does not change, it shows that there has been no change in the nature of that which is being imposed upon the physical substance.
We are not, then, immediately concerned about the changes in the physical substance. We are concerned about changes in the Divinely established machinery by reason of which something is imposed upon physical substance. The machinery by which this imposition takes place is found in the mind and in the emotional nature. But we have found that the emotional nature is not the place where the changes begin. We talk about a change of heart or the manifestation of purity of heart, but, always, when a change begins to appear in the heart we find that first a change has appeared in the mind.
Let us be sure that we recall clearly a point from our earlier Meditation in relationship to purity of heart. Generally speaking, the human idea is that if a person does not act contrary to any of the Ten Commandments, that person is, per se, pure in heart. If we truly understand what the Ten Commandments really mean, that might conceivably be held to be true, but the popular concept of purity of heart is very misleading. I have known people to imagine that purity of heart meant, primarily, no consciousness of the sex impulse and no impulse to get so angry that one might commit murder. That is a very distorted idea. Here we see that it is impossible for us to even recognize purity of heart, or to know what it is, until the idea has changed, the concept, the belief has been made new. “Behold, I make all things new.”
Now, something is coming down from God out of Heaven, and something is ascending up, right on the earth's surface, vibrationally speaking, to meet that which is coming down from God out of Heaven. Wherever else these things are that may be working out, they must first, insofar as the individual is concerned, work out in relationship to the mind. That which has direct relationship to the mind is the Spirit of Truth. The Truth, the vibratory patterns of the Divine Design and the principles of Control, are coming down from God out of Heaven, and when the mind begins to show a willingness to receive that which is coming from God out of Heaven, so that the mind is no longer devoting itself to receiving that which is coming from man out of the earth, we begin to have the Resurrection process. Generally speaking, the mind of man is preoccupied with that which is coming out of the world from man, and the mind is not particularly aware of, or even interested in, that which is coming from God out of Heaven. If we are going to let the idea be made new, the concept be made new, the belief be made new, we cannot properly cling with prejudiced attitude to concepts, ideas and beliefs which have been handed down to us from out of the past. The mind, clinging to its old ideas, concepts and beliefs, holding to them with prejudiced tenacity, imagines that it is being loyal, that it is maintaining the human being's own individuality, and that it is making possible the manifestation of goodness, something supposedly desirable. But, we have the words: “Behold, I make all things new.” The place where this newness must begin to appear is in relationship to the mind, specifically in relationship to ideas, concepts and beliefs.
Prejudice is always, without exception, based in ignorance. Ignorance is a state wherein there is a failure to comprehend the Truth of the matter, so that there is no understanding. Ignorance is a state wherein there is no understanding of the facts or of the Truth, and prejudice maintains a state of no understanding. Prejudice, wherever we find it, is maintaining the state of no understanding. There are religious prejudices, racial prejudices, national and community prejudices, maintaining a state of no understanding.
Now, remember, the physical body and all physical things have no choice but to receive that which is imposed upon them. And that which is imposed originates in ideas, concepts and beliefs. These three things, animated, become creatures of the heart. A belief which is not animated has no force, no vitality, and is something that is purely of the mind, in which relationship the heart is not functioning. But the animation of ideas, concepts and beliefs is a matter of the heart. Now we have, under consideration, the state of Resurrection to Life, the process of Resurrection from a state of dying to a state of living. Every idea which begins to have meaningfulness to the individual is animated by the heart, the emotional nature. The heart, or the emotional nature, may feel that it has the capacity to originate something, but it does not begin to specifically animate anything until there is some kind of an idea, belief or concept.
We see that before the heart can animate something there must be something, and if that something is not present in actual fact in the physical sense, then, in order for the heart to function, the mind must develop something in the dream-world in relationship to an idea, a belief or a concept. Most of that which we consider to be of religion is in this dream-world. Human beings imagine that Jesus Christ was thus and so. They imagine that things are going to be thus and so some day, and, in actual fact, their religious life is a dream-world life and they are busy letting their hearts animate a dream-world idea. But, generally speaking, in this practical world the human being does not feel that he can devote more than one hour out of a week letting his heart give some animation to the dream-world pattern, and he says, “I must be practical. I must live.” So, he lets his heart animate to some degree that which is in the physical realm round about him. But these individuals have not, in the true sense, grown up. They have not reached a state of true maturity. They have not yet learned how to move out of the dream-world into the world of practical living. They maintain their dream-world belief, and call it “religion.”
Once we begin to see this with a basic honesty, a basic integrity, we can begin to recognize that if we are to mature into men and women in Christ, we must let go of the dream-world. Some human beings, feeling this to be true, have simply tossed religion aside. They say, “There is nothing to it. Anyone who believes in religion is an old fogey, or crazy, or something of the sort.” They imagine that they have become practical by setting aside the dream-world of religion, but they have not had any real success in transferring from the dream-world state to the practical, physical-world state, because they see nothing but making money or getting pleasure, having a good time, or gaining fame or physical power, as a substitute for the dream-world state. So, they imagine that in this physical endeavor they will find fulfilment, and that idea is a part of the dream-world state wherein the physical facts of life are being ignored. Consequently, we begin to see that if we are going to let all things be made new, if we are going to experience Resurrection, if we are going to be the Meeting Point for that which is ascending and that which is descending from God out of Heaven, we must, of necessity, let the pattern of idea, concept and belief, be made new, that instead of the old dream-world ideas and concepts there may be the true world, the Divine World, the Kingdom-of-Heaven-at-hand-World ideas, concepts and beliefs, coming into manifestation. “Behold, I make all things new.” This process must begin with the mind. And, once there begins to be the idea, the heart will, by reason of interest, begin to animate the idea. It will begin to be alive.
If the idea which is animated by the heart is not of Truth, not of the Garden of God or the Kingdom of Heaven at hand, or however else we might put it, if the idea or the concept which is animated by the heart is not of God or of Truth, then the heart is not pure. The heart is pure to the degree that the ideas and concepts animated by the heart are of Truth. That is purity. When the heart is animating ideas, concepts and beliefs that are of Truth, that heart is pure. And the Master said: “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.” When your heart has been made pure, because your heart is animating only those ideas that are of Truth, you will, in that moment, begin to see God.
In this connection, I would like to recall to mind the Master's basic statement, “And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” Human beings have often wondered how this process could work out. There has been the question in many minds as to what the Truth is, and many have denied that it is possible for human beings to know the Truth, to distinguish the Truth from the incomplete or distorted idea. However, we have come to recognize that there are some basic, central, fundamental points where man can comprehend the Truth, and test it and show that it is true. We have come to recognize that if we work according to the Law, always orienting to that One Law, we can test, step by step as we move forward, as to whether that which is being presented to the mind as an idea is true. If we are, as we have already noted, animating by our feeling natures, giving life or life force to, ideas that are not true, then we are throwing our life force away.
God's Love—I doubt if there are many here who could answer me very adequately if I were to ask you “What is God's Love?” We can say, “God is Love; therefore Love is God.” But what is Love? It is not merely affection. It is not merely a human feeling. It is something that is of the Essence of Life. It is a part of the Spirit of God
The Spirit of God has three primary aspects which may, in turn, be sub-divided into many aspects. But first we note the Spirit of Love, the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Life—these three. And we are alive. We are conscious of the fact that we are alive. That very fact proves to us, if we will receive it, that the Spirit of God is in us in this moment. And then, to some degree, our minds are aware of Truth; not merely a human opinion, not merely an idea, a concept that may have been developed. We are interested only in Truth, regardless of human concepts, regardless of age-old beliefs, regardless of anything. What is the Truth of the matter? Let us find that Truth and we will find that the working of Love through the heart, animating Truth, produces Life. But when we use the life force that is called Love to animate ideas that are not true, or ideas of hate, for instance, or fear or resentment, any ill or destructive idea, the life force is being thrown away and, therefore, the pattern of life expression diminishes. It decreases and becomes less and less until the physical form is no longer capable of maintaining life. Disintegration has set in.
On the other hand, if we utilize the life force that we call God's Love in relationship to true ideas, true concepts, true things, we begin to find that, instead of diminishing, life increases. It has greater meaning. We have recognized in past meditations that life must be born in the form through which it manifests. It does not come from somewhere. It must be born in the form through which it manifests. And we have recognized that the parents of Life are Love and Truth. The current of life force which we call God's Love is the Father-aspect of the life force that is born in your body; and that which we call Truth, or the Spirit of Truth, is the Mother-aspect. When the Mother and Father aspects of the Spirit of God blend in you, their Child is Life—but that Life must have a means of manifestation. And it is for this purpose that your physical body was formed in your mother's womb. Now, to the degree that the human mind accepts ideas that are contrary to Truth, that life force is used, wasted, in the animation of that which is destructive, in that which is contrary to Truth, and disintegration begins.
Let us pause for a moment to recognize what Truth is. We cannot, perhaps, fully define it; but we can recognize that it has two primary aspects: one of design, and the other of control. We consider the hand. If the hand is functioning according to its true design it has remarkable flexibility and facility. You can do so many things with a well-formed hand when there is control. But there might be design, in part at least, and yet the hand might be stiff. You may say, “Well, I can look at it. It's a hand.” Yes, but no control! The design is only part of the Truth of my hand. The control of it is the rest of the Truth. The physical form by which the design and the control have meaning in the physical world is important. We have a glass here. It has form. We have a flower, perhaps. Whatever we might choose, there is form and there is substance. But that fact does not say there is a hand. That which characterizes the hand is established in design and control. The same is true of the ear. And the Truth of your ear is not the same as the Truth of your hand, or your foot, or some other part of your body. The Truth of your stomach is very different from the Truth of the nose, every part having its design and the elements of control. You are not supposed to walk all through the days of your life on your hands. Your ears were not meant to see. So, each part functions according to its design when there is true control. And when the control is lost, even though you may have an ear, you may say, “I cannot hear.” You might conceivably still have a physical eye, but if control is lost in the function of that eye you cannot see. So the Truth of anything is, in essence, its true design and the elements that make possible the control according to that design. The Truth of yourself as a man or a woman is something distinct and characteristic. It is individual. No other person has exactly the same thing.
Now, if the idea pattern that is developed in consciousness is contrary to the Truth of your own Being, your own life force will be wasted in something that does not bring forth life in you, and, consequently, you are robbing your body of life. Having robbed the body of life, it begins to get out of control; it begins to disintegrate, to decay, to become ill, and then you say you are sick. The only way you can begin to re-establish true health of body or mind or heart is to re-establish the release of the basic life force of your Being through that which is in harmony with your being as a man or a woman. Once we begin to do that, the control pattern is re-asserted in the physical body and, if the disintegration has not gone too far, there is a renewing. Otherwise, it takes a re-creative process.
But, if we realize that the Father-principle and the Mother-principle in each and every one of us—Love and Truth—must be allowed to abide in true union in us in order to bring forth Life through us, we will see that wasting the life force of the Father-principle through that which is not true is robbing our own bodies, our lives, of life. Life diminishes and we fail. But if we function correctly according to these principles, the life force in us is animating only that which is true to our own Beings, which includes, of course, our relationship with God. So, being in true relationship with God, we can be in true relationship with each other and begin to live, to be resurrected out of the state of disintegration into the state of a larger life. “And ye shall know the Truth”—not merely believe it. You come to know the Truth, and, knowing the Truth, holding that Truth as the animated thing in your own mind, your own heart, in your own life, you bring forth life in yourself and glorify God thereby, and bless your brother-man.
“I am the resurrection and the Life.” That was not spoken by the man, Jesus, concerning Himself, as we shall see in our further meditations. That can be as true of you as an individual as it was of Jesus. That is what He said. “The works that I do shall ye do also.” And if we say that He did anything in the current of God's Will which we cannot do, then we, by that attitude, make Him a liar, which God forbid! The thing that He did we can do. That is one of the points that has not been recognized and realized as the Truth. We have assumed that He had some prerogative that was denied to us. But He did not say so. It is not from His lips that the idea comes. So let us begin to know the Truth. But before we can know it, we must find it, we must comprehend it, we must let it be shaped in our minds, and then it can be animated by the life force of our beings and we can bring forth Life, the resurrection from the state of dying to the state of living, to the Glory of God and the blessing of the children of men.
© emissaries of divine light
In The Cycle Of Illumination
Divine Commission Anniversary Meditation
Uranda September 13, 1953 p.m. 8 p.m.
The time has come to share the pattern of Meditation on this Sunday evening, September 13th, 1953. We would continue tonight in the theme of our Anniversary period Meditation that you may, according to your response, share in the next step. Having recognized the reality of polarity, under the Law, and the need for centering so that we may truly begin to be with one accord in one place, we need to recognize something of the principles and processes by reason of which our togetherness, in the state of being with one accord in one place, may begin to have meaning. The physical presence of a number of individuals in one place, in one room, does not signify accord; it does not signify togetherness.
In approaching this subject, I might mention that the one thing that causes me to feel weariness more quickly than anything else is the pattern of friction, misunderstanding, or reactionary attitudes, breaking vibrational factors, in the members of my flock. I mention this to emphasize a vitally important point. Weariness, in the sense of world weariness—there may be some wholesome tiredness but weariness, as it is known in the world—is always a sign that something is wrong; not necessarily that the individual is working too hard, physically, but that something, somewhere, is wrong. When human beings work against themselves, or when any individual places himself in the position of working against himself, he wearies himself. I have accepted each of you, all of you, as a part of my own Body, my own Being, to share with you that outworking in life which may confront us. Because I have accepted a personal relatedness to you, that which affects you affects me, to some degree at least, as long as that pattern of relatedness is maintained. If it is cut off, then the pattern no longer has meaning in relationship to me. But, this that is true in our relationship becomes true in the relationship between you and others.
First, it is important that you reach a point where you, yourself, are not violating the Principles of Being, so that you are not wearying yourself; and then, you begin to share the pattern in relationship to the whole, the pattern of centering. This does not mean that you must, of necessity, be weary. Sometimes human beings are inclined to excuse violations of principle within themselves which result in unnatural weariness on the basis that the cause rests somewhere else. As we serve we are dealing with pressure, but pressure, as such, does not cause weariness. Pressure, as such, does not cause difficulties within ourselves. We can deal with pressure without, in any sense, being upset, or disturbed, or limited. It is not the fact that there are pressures in the world, or pressures here or there, but the violation of principle within the scope of the One Body, that causes weariness. It appears that human beings are very much inclined to attribute their own limitations in this regard, to others. Most human beings tend to have a blind spot wherein they fail to see their personal responsibility in the range of the violation.
This reminds us of the Master's Words: “Judge not, that ye be not judged, for with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” “As ye sow, so also shall ye reap.” “As ye forgive others their trespasses against you, so also shall your Heavenly Father forgive your trespasses. But if ye forgive men not their trespasses against you, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.” These are the Teachings of our Lord, Jesus Christ. There needs to be a deeper insight in this second step in the Path of Illumination and cycle of our Anniversary Meditation. There needs to be a deeper insight into the significance of these things. “Judge not, for with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.” “As ye sow, so also shall ye reap.” “As ye forgive men their trespasses against you, so also shall your Heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.”
Human beings seem to imagine that illumination must, of necessity, relate to some grand and awful secret, some great and mysterious thing, some tremendous outworking. There are great and wonderful things in the Cycles of Illumination, and I would not detract from those, but we need to begin to realize deeply that Illumination relates to some simple things, to some little things. There are flashes of reaction which tend to appear, there are ill attitudes or harsh attitudes which tend to manifest, which are not always recognized as the violation of these basic principles. Sometimes they seem to be little things, sometimes they seem to be justified, and sometimes the individual acts as if he didn't even know what it was that found expression through himself. He goes on and acts as if it never appeared, and he expects everyone else to act as if it never appeared. But where there is a violation of the pattern, it is injecting a destructive factor into the body of the whole, and it cannot be cleared away by merely closing one's eyes to it, by trying to act as if it never happened. Something has to be done to clear the vibration.
Suppose the cook, in preparing your food, had some kind of reaction and tossed a handful of dirt in the mashed potatoes, and then the cook were to say, “Oh, I am sorry; I should not have had that reaction; just forget it. Everybody pay no attention to it. Act just exactly as if I never said it, I never did it, and it will be all right. We'll eat the mashed potatoes just the same.” But the potatoes would be full of grit, hard on our teeth, and perhaps harder on our dispositions. You would take the attitude that the cook had absolutely no right to throw sand in the mashed potatoes. And I think you would be justified. But some people act as if they had a right to throw sand in the mashed potatoes, vibrationally speaking, and they go on just exactly as if it never happened. You go ahead and eat the mashed potatoes with the sand.
These are the things, the little things, that have delayed our progress over-long, and if we would reach a point of being with one accord in one place, and share a deeper experience in the outworking and manifestation of the Shekinah Pattern of Being, we need to give heed to these little things. There is one thing that has always struck me as being rather strange, rather on the amazing side. Individuals who seem to imagine that they have special license to break the pattern in some fashion, to do something that disrupts the vibratory cycle, say something that is harsh or inconsiderate, some sharp-tongued expression, some lack of control, expect others to just take it. They seem to expect it, because they are that way. But if I started to move on the basis of dealing with them as they deal with others, their howl would reach to high heaven. They would be the ones that would blow up first. They just would not like it. And yet, in the Master's Teaching, we find these words, or at least this idea: “Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you.” Sometimes people forget that, in actual fact, whether I take advantage of it or not, when anyone treats another in some harsh or ill fashion, some sharp-tongued expression, some inconsiderate manner, that person has, in actual fact, invited me to treat him as he has treated others. But, generally speaking, I do not do it. Sometimes I am forced into a corner where I have to take advantage of my prerogative in that matter. In actual fact, putting it into the realm of daily function day-in and day-out, to what degree have you, so far, been successful in actually treating others, doing unto others, as you would others should do unto you? There is a basic, fundamental principle, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” “As ye sow, so also shall ye reap.” “As ye forgive others their trespasses against you, so shall your Heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.”
Now you say, “But I thought we were going to have a Meditation upon some great and marvelous wonder in the Cycle of Illumination, in the period of our Anniversary. That is what it is. What do you suppose it was that I found in that Second Step twenty-one years ago? I am sharing with you, on the basis of our present situation, exactly what I shared twenty-one years ago in that Cycle of Illumination. Must it be some great big thing, a marvelous mystery? Here is a mystery to me. Why does it take so long for people to learn, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?” There has been stubbornness and contrariness and reactionary expressions, snappy attitudes, right here on Sunrise Ranch, and we do not have to go back beyond the beginnings of this year. I saw them through the summertime, for instance, some not too long ago. I seek to meet such issues in the services, generally. I offer a solution in the services without dealing with the individual on an individual basis, if he will accept it that way. Sometimes people go right on, exactly as if I had never said a word that applied. They've got a blind spot, perhaps. They can apply it to their neighbor but not to themselves. “With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.” The Law works with absolute certainty. What shall I say? With awful, terrible certainty? It is. With terrible exactness. With wonderful exactness.
The Law works. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Instead of letting it be an airy thing, let's get it down to the range of our everyday living. To some degree, you do already. Some of you are better in that than others. But, think you that we are going to share the experience of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit while these principles are being violated in our membership right here? No. There will be an outpouring of some spirit but it will not be the Holy Spirit. The outpouring of an unholy spirit through you is an unlovely sight. Sometimes human beings let an unholy spirit manifest. “Judge not that ye be not judged, for with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged.” Perhaps results will not manifest in the moment. Over and over again, I have seen people when results start coming back. Oh, they are hurt. “People do not appreciate what I do, the service I have rendered. I worked so hard here. I did that, I did the other thing.” It starts coming back. They have to pay the price, but they do not like it. The Law works with terrible certainty. With wonderful certainty. And it is something upon which to meditate.
I cannot, in this short hour, cover all the aspects of this subject that you should consider. I'm going to leave plenty of room for you to think about it. I will not have completed covering the subject at the end of this hour. There will be plenty of room for you to think about it, to meditate upon it, to face the issue. If we would know the Reality of the Kingdom of Heaven that is at hand, we need to begin to give more consideration to these basic factors and principles. It is not enough, merely for me to talk about the things that you find particularly entertaining, particularly pleasing. It is necessary that we come to the point of accepting personal, individual responsibility in relationship to these things. If anyone, in any other place, at any time, shall read these words, let no one imagine that I am talking only to those here gathered. Before anyone else starts judging those who are here, let that someone come here and live a righteous life, revealing the principles. It applies to each and every Emissary everywhere, to all who are responding.
There has not been a deep enough realization of what it means to judge not, to measure what it is that you measure out. You are going to snap it out to others, but you do not want me to snap it out to you. You do not want to take your own medicine? Maybe some day you will have to. If you do not want to take your own medicine, do not dish it out. In these things there is a wonderful opportunity for you.
What do you think would happen if, for one week, for seven days, you actually measured every attitude, every feeling, every word, every thought, every deed, and expressed nothing but that which you were willing to have come back to you, released absolutely nothing in thought or word or deed, in attitude, but what you were willing to have that multiplied an hundredfold and have it come back to you? For just seven days! Do you suppose it would make any difference? It is going to come back; whatever it is, it will come back. And so, let us be more careful of what we sow. Let us be more careful of what it is that we measure out and ask others to receive at our hands or at our tongues. This is something that any one of you can do in relationship to yourselves. I am not asking you to try to apply it to your neighbor, your husband, your wife, your friend, whoever it may be. I have not set one of you up as a judge over the rest, to criticize, to condemn. I am talking to you, individually. And unless this step is truly taken in a deep and vibrant manner within yourselves, it will stand as a barrier to the next step. You cannot take the next one until you take this one. You can struggle, you can try; whatever you do it will not work. You cannot take the next one until you take this one. And when you measure out to others, in thought and word and deed, only those things which you would like to have multiplied to come back to you, you will be living the principle “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Judge not, that you be not judged.”
These are the little things that reveal the quality of your service. Maybe you can get by with it for a little while, but are you ready to pay the price? Only the right can secure the right results, step-by-step, step-by-step. Are you ready to face your responsibility in these things? Until you are, and until you accept the basic principles our Master revealed, you cannot, will not, share in that greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which we call Illumination. You cannot know what it is to abide in the Shekinah Cloud of Glory, or know the Illuminating Wonder of the Light that Glows, or touch the Unspeakable Wonder of the Fire that Burns, until you take this step. If you think we are not a large enough group to do it, you are wrong. It could be done with just two or three. But we have more than two or three. But if you decide to have the two or three out there, without regard to me, I doubt if it will work too well. There have been thousands of years for people to do that. There are millions of people all over the world trying it. Let us remember that only as we come to Center and abide in true polarity under the Law, letting the pattern unfold according to the Divine Design, can we be in position to let the Truth make us free. When we are actually living “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” we will be on the Way.
Blessed Ones, I cannot emphasize strongly enough the vital importance of these things. Think upon them. Meditate upon them. Watch yourself concerning them. And, unless you watch yourself concerning them, and do a job of it, what does it mean? That I will have no choice but to watch you concerning them, and deal with you on the point. I am always reluctant to take corrective measures, but sometimes I have no choice. I would rather be directive. I would rather that the individual, with his own response and initiative, would clear to point and let it work—and we will let the dead past bury its dead. But, if you do not do it, I must. It will have to clear. If you rebel about it when it comes, you just make it that much harder, that much more difficult, for yourself.
There has been much loss in our Field of Ministry through this past season, the summer season that draws to a close, by reason of these things—for when you fail to watch yourselves on these points you tend to make your efforts to be null and void, your service to be meaningless. The results just do not appear. And I have heard people say: “But I've tried it, and it doesn't work.” Oh no they didn't! They did not. They did not let it work, because it does work. “Judge not that ye be not judged, for with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” “And as ye forgive men their trespasses against you, so shall your Heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.” What a blessed and wonderful realization of God is Truth that is. We need not labor under the pattern of futility, getting nowhere. If we let it work in ourselves, it will begin to work through us just as surely as the sun rises and sets. It is absolutely certain. So, let us remember that it is our business here to be about our King's business, to serve the Lord, to do the right thing because it is right. Let the Light shine, and move forward to the Victory.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
