“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John
and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart;
And was transfigured before them:
and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”
I would like to continue the pattern of Meditation which we have been sharing on the basic realities of the Magic of Life. Human beings have for so long unwittingly, ignorantly, been subject to the black magic patterns of distortion in the world, and as we gain a comprehension of the reality of Heavenly Magic we can begin to live, for most people spend the days of their years dying. Let us spend the days of our years living. In opening this pattern of Meditation, let us have a moment of devotion.
Our gracious LORD and Holy KING, with thankful hearts we gather here in the peace which is born of Thy Love, wherein we yield to the control of Thy Eternal Truth, and let the Beauty of Design which Thou hast ordained come forth in body, in every nerve and tissue, gland and organ, and in heart, every part of the emotional or feeling nature, and in mind, that in all levels of the mind we may yield to the Truth and be at peace within and in relationship to those round about us, to the end that we may truly fulfil Thy Eternal Law according to the commandment: Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all thy heart, and mind, and soul, and with all thy strength; for we realize that as we love Thee with all that we are we have no love left for self love, no love left for our neighbor, but all of our love centered in Thee allows Thy Love to come through us to those round about us, to loved ones and friends and neighbors, that the expression of Thy Eternal Love may have meaning on earth now and forever, for so shall Thy Kingdom come and Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, with the same results as in Heaven; for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, for ever, IN the Christ. Aum-en.
Last evening in the pattern of our Meditation [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2025/04/enoch-and-moses-elias-and-jesus.html] we began a consideration of some of the principles of ascension, and we saw that the recorded pattern relating to ascension revealed the Shekinah Pattern of Being—the Cloud of Glory, the Light that Glows, the Fire that Burns, and within the Fire the One Who Dwells. The One Who Dwells. The Master spoke of this Shekinah Pattern of Being as the Father, not excluding the One Who Dwells, for there is the centering, but including the Shekinah Pattern of Being. And wherever we read His words translated as referring to “the Father” we should bear this in mind.
As we begin to gain a comprehension of the reality of Shekinah, we begin to comprehend the basis of our relationship with God, and the things of God are no longer to our consciousness far away, vague, or ambiguous. We begin to yield in a realization that we are not required to do something fanciful, something rather foolish, something that violates logic and reason, but that under the Law, the Law of Being which contains and unifies the Cosmos and all that is therein, we ourselves can begin to know, not in wishful thinking, not in prejudicial concept, but in knowing—not merely knowing about, but knowing the reality of our relationship with Deity, so that we, like Enoch of old may walk with God, and like Moses of old we may talk with God, and like Elijah of old we may reveal the essential Spirit of God, and like our Master who lived on earth, and invited us to follow Him, we may reveal God Himself, not just the Cloud of Glory, not just the Light that Glows, not just the Eternal Fire which is in reality God's Love, but a revelation of the One Who Dwells by the fact that we live.
But here is one of those inconsistencies which beset human beings. Being subject to death, spending the years of their lives, or their existence, the days of their years, in dying, they wonder why they do not more successfully reveal God. But how shall God be revealed by a dying soul? Would that be a true revelation of Deity? No. We must recognize that if we would truly reveal God, if we would let Deity find manifestation in our lives, we must be living souls. That is the first word concerning MAN—the first word concerning MAN in the beginning of things. For God said, “Let us make mankind. Let us make mankind, in our image, after our likeness.” And so, God created mankind; in His own image and likeness created He mankind; male and female created He them. And God breathed the Breath of Life into the nostrils of mankind, into man's nostrils, and MAN became a living soul. The first word with respect to life, action, being—“And man became a living soul.”
Last evening, in our pattern of Meditation, we touched briefly upon the statement the Master made as recorded for us in the Seventeenth Chapter of Matthew, where we find the words—the Master stated, “He charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” Now some there are who have imagined that Jesus was talking about Himself, but most surely He was not. Until he shall be risen again from the dead. Had He already been dead somehow? Not at all. The Son of Man, the Son of mankind, the Son of Adam, the whole body of humanity. Had man been dead before? MAN, though formed by the hand of God, was dead until the Breath of Life had been breathed into his nostrils and man became a living soul, which is to say, MAN first-formed had been a dead soul. And so, the first time man rose from the dead was when man was first created by the hand of God, and man became a living soul. And that is resurrection, resurrection, rebirth. And so, the Son of Man—“Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead.” Our Master had not been dead before; He was not dead after that; He did not die upon the cross as so many have supposed. He was not dead at all. He gained or revealed the victory over death, which means that He did not die—for had He died, where would the victory have been? Not to die and then to live, but to not die. And He gained the victory over death.
Now if we begin to see these things truly, we begin to be in position where we can comprehend something of the real significance of ascension, the meaning with respect to these four men who revealed the Shekinah Pattern of Being by their lives, by the fact that they did not die, by the fact, as it is put, that they ascended. Ascended from what to what? Now some suppose that it means leaving the earth's surface. But we recall the Master's word, just after He came forth from the tomb and spoke to Mary in the Garden. She was about to fall at His feet, and He said, “Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended unto my Father.” The outer form of Being, in other words, was going through the process of ascension. If He was just going to ascend sometime later on, there would have been no reason why she should not have touched Him. But He was going through the process of ascension while He stood there on the surface of the earth.
Now ascension may mean moving from the surface of the earth, if we are talking about an airplane, or a balloon. That may mean being up from the surface of the earth. But if we are talking about the laws and principles of Being, it does not mean moving from the surface of the earth, it means a vibrational change into a higher level of being at that same point in relationship to the earth's surface. For if we are going to think of Heaven as being up, up is a relative thing. Up, what we say is “up” in this moment, twelve hours from now will be “down”, and yet we will say “up” and it will be exactly opposite of what was up when we said “up” in this moment. Twelve hours from now you will still say “up” from the earth's surface and mean exactly the opposite direction from what you mean when you say “up” in this moment. “Up” is a relative thing—let us not forget. And so, ascension is not a matter of ascension from the earth's surface; it is a matter of change in the vibrational state of Being, or the level of Being, without changing from the standpoint of the human concept of the relativity of “up” and “down”.
Now, let us examine this thing. Up from what? The state of the world. To what? The state of Heaven. And everyone has imagined that Heaven was in some far place. But is it? Our Master came and made a statement, a statement that He said was His Good News, His Gospel. Human beings have ignored it, generally speaking. They have said that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was that He died on the cross. In the first place the idea that He died on the cross is a contemptible lie. The idea that He had to die on a cross by some decree of God to save man is a blasphemous falsehood. God did not ordain that He should die. For the Master Himself said, remember, before the betrayal, before the trial, before any of that great atrocity took place—He said, in prayer to the Father, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.” He did not say, “I am about to finish it. I will have finished it when I have died on the cross.” The Master did not at any time in any recorded word signify that He was to die, although people assumed that that’s what it meant because He was crucified—pure assumption. He did not say He was going to die; and He did say, before any of these things, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.” If we say that He, in that prayer to the Father, did not know what He was talking about or did not mean what He said, then we attempt to judge Him and make Him a liar. Let it not be so.
So, He had finished the work before that atrocity took place; He had finished the work which God gave Him to do, but He faced something which man bed imposed upon Him, which was not required by God, and which was not in any sense essential to the salvation of man. And until we begin to see that we cannot comprehend the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Gospel which He Himself stated as, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”—available, within reach. And according to His Word, this Gospel of the Kingdom that is at hand was to be preached unto all nations, unto all peoples, and then should the end come. The end of what? The end of the rule of evil, the end of discord and inharmony, suffering, misery, sorrow, meaningless futility, the end of misery, the end of the self-active pattern of humanity. But not the end of the world, not the end of the earth, not the end of MAN—the end of the fallen state of man, that man might be restored to his Divine Estate. And where would that be? In some far-off Heaven? Not according to the Bible; not according to what the Master taught.
In the beginning God created MAN to be on earth. He created MAN in the image and likeness of God, to be on earth and to have dominion on earth. Man is not supposed to be thought of as some particular asset to some far off Heaven. Man never gets to Heaven in that sense, never has and never will. MAN belongs on earth; and that which is MAN never gets away from the earth, for that which leaves the earth is not MAN. It is something else. MAN's place is on earth, and until we begin to comprehend that basic, fundamental fact, the delusions and superstitions and prejudices which have bound human beings for so long will continue to entangle and betray us. Let us, then, remember that the place for MAN is on earth. God created MAN to be on earth, to have dominion on earth, and the only place where God has any use for MAN is on earth, and MAN is never anywhere else, for that which ascends in the sense of going somewhere else is not MAN, for then MAN has been absorbed into something that is of a higher level of Being and it is no more man or woman. That is a large subject and we do not want to get into it this morning.
But what is ascension as far as we are concerned? The movement from earth, in the sense of the fallen state of things, from this world to Heaven. And where is Heaven? Where is the Kingdom of Heaven? At hand. If it is at hand, it is within reach, it’s available, it’s right here. And until we begin to realize that the true pattern of ascension does not mean that we become something else than that which we are, it does not mean that we leave the surface of the earth and go into the sky, it does not mean that we are to be confused with the relativity of up and down. It means that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and that we ascend from a state of being subject to the pattern of fallen man to the state which God first ordained for MAN—for in that beginning man knew Heaven and earth to be one. They still are. They have never been anything else but one. Man lost consciousness of the heaven aspect, but it was there all the time. And the good news, the thrilling news, which the Master brought to the children of men, was the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, right here, and we do not have to go anywhere to ascend into it, we do not have to lose our bodies, we do not have to die, our bodies do not have to become ethereal things. Our bodies as they are can ascend into Heaven.
Now remember the distinction. The Master said with respect to His body that He, the MAN, had to ascend unto the Father. That is an altogether different thing. In the Divine State, if a God Being incarnate, had completed his or her task on earth, there was an ascension unto the Father. But let us not assume that ascension to Heaven and ascension unto the Father are the same thing. They are not. The Father is there—the One Who Dwells. Individually and collectively the principle holds true. But ascension unto the Father means for the body to leave this sphere of things as we know it, into a level of vibratory Being that is still right here but which human eyes as such cannot see, regardless of all the fantastic tales of so-called visions and all the rest. People suppose they have seen a vision of Jesus Christ, for instance. They have not. They have not. They may have had a vision that was contained within their own consciousness; they may have thought they saw it out here; but it was something formed in their own consciousness and was not a vision of Jesus Christ. It can’t be done. It never has been done since our Master left this sphere of things, and until there’s some radical changes in relationship to man, man is not going to see Jesus Christ again. They will never see Him just as He was. But the same God Being will come—when? After the whole earth has been restored to the Divine Estate and we are ready to turn the Kingdom in full functional form over to the KING. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/the-pattern-of-his-appearinglight-of.html] But the KING did come, and He suffered that great atrocity at the hands of men. Those who imagine that He is going to come floating down out of the sky somewhere but delude themselves. He is not going to come and set everything to rights on earth. If it is done, MAN is going to do it in the spirit and power of God; for God always acts on earth through MAN, through the human being, or through the body of mankind. So, we better be busy about letting the Kingdom come.
If it was so important, according to the popular concept of the second coming of Christ, as it is put, that He should return, why did He not teach men to pray, “Hasten Thy second coming so that then Thy Kingdom may come and then Thy Will may be done on earth as it is in Heaven”? He did not teach men to pray any such thing. He said that we are to pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” the Kingdom of the KING appear, that is the first thing, that is the important thing; everything else has value only in relationship to that in a relative sense—the coming of the Kingdom. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” And according to all reports, the Will of God does very well in Heaven, producing beautiful, lovely, wonderful things; not producing misery, suffering, sickness, sorrow, death; not producing any of the ill things which are commonly attributed to God's Will, in a blasphemous attitude. God's Will produces on earth exactly the same thing God's Will produces in Heaven. So let us let His Will be done on earth.
But now, once we begin to realize that the place of man is on earth, it always has been on earth, always will be on earth, we will stop trying to get out of the earth into Heaven. In that same prayer what did the Master say? “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.” He recognized this weakness, this tendency in human beings, and He Himself put in His prayer. In the Seventeenth Chapter of John it is recorded, if you want to read it for yourself—“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” And yet human beings have been imagining through the centuries that if they wanted to get to Heaven they had to die and get out of the world. Blasphemous nonsense. Heaven is at hand. It is here. And until we begin to recognize that Heaven is here, and our place is here, and we are not to be concerned about getting to some other place, we cannot possibly have the right attitude toward living or the opportunities that are granted to us day by day. Ascension then is ascension from the state of fallen man, the state of self-activity, the state of misery, to the state of the Kingdom of Heaven at hand, the restoration to the Divine Estate on earth.
Now let us connect this up with something upon which we have given Meditation before. For God planted a Garden eastward in Eden. Now Eden is what? The earth, the whole earth; not just some part of it. Eden is the earth as a whole. “And God planted a garden eastward in Eden.” People have wondered if it was not in the region of Mesopotamia, or here or there. They imagined some kind of a garden just planted on the surface of the earth, like you might go out and plant a garden on some spot on the earth's surface. But that is not what the Bible teaches. Eden is the whole earth, including every part of it—every part. And the Garden of Eden God planted was eastward in Eden. From what point? From every point. From all points. And that means east is in the future—tomorrow morning or the next five minutes. What is coming to us from out of the east that will appear and get here in just five minutes from now. Can you prognosticate and tell me? You certainly cannot while I am up here and you are listening to me, because you do not know what I will say in five minutes from now. But the point is that everything of God must come out of the future.
When human beings begin to realize that they cannot change the present—you have to live in the present, but if there is something in the present that needs changing you cannot ever, at any time, change the present. That which was in the future a little while ago is now in the past. The present is never more than one instant long—just this instant; and in this instant we are in eternity. We can’t get out of eternity and we can’t get into it. Why? Because we are in it already. If there is such a thing as eternity it is now. You cannot have an eternity in the future, can you? Without an eternity that is present, an eternity that is past! It is all one. This is eternity. People talk about getting into eternity. They have never stopped to think. You cannot get out of it. This instant is eternity. But you cannot change the present. You can change your future however; you can refuse to let what God planted in your future to come into manifestation, and then that which manifests in the moment will be evil, it will be unpleasant. Or you can let what God planted in the Garden eastward in Eden manifest as it comes to the point of fruitage in the moment, and appears and takes form, and it will be lovely, beautiful, wonderful.
You cannot change the present. The present is going into the past so fast that before you begin to get something changed in the present, if you think you can, it’s gone and you never get oriented. Trying to change the present is the most foolish and futile thing which human beings undertake, unless it be to try to be as God. That is more foolish still. But trying to change the present is impossible. Why waste time trying to do it? The present is as it is. We may look at it, we must live in it, and we must not try to live in the future or in the past—live only in the present, but let your future be changed, let God design it—for the Garden that God planted eastward in Eden is still there.
What is the Divine Word? That there was an angel with a sword which turned every way, a flaming, fiery sword, who was placed in the way that leads to the Garden. What is the way that leads to the Garden? The future. It’s there; it has been in every instant of time, for every man, woman and child on the face of the earth. And if you can pass that flaming sword that turns every way, you can walk in the Way that leads to the Garden of God. But that Garden is still there, and that Garden that is there, at hand, as close as the next second, is the Kingdom of Heaven that the Master talked about, the Kingdom of Heaven that is at hand.
Now if you are going to ascend up into some place, physically speaking, what meaning are you going to have on earth? None. Your place is on earth; that which you need to do is on earth, in relationship to the earth. As I pointed out before, why be in a hurry to get to Heaven? Do you think you will be some especially beautiful ornament up there, or that God needs you up there to make everything work right? Somewhere else you want to go! You don’t know what it is but you want to go. No. Here is our place, and it is only here that you can live, only here that you can live. So if we wish to reveal Deity on earth, if we wish to let the things of the Garden of God come out of the future, into our lives and into our circumstances, we must live here in the present, we must be on earth, and we must be spending the days of our years living and not dying. The time you spend dying you have shut out from yourself and your life, your environment, all those things which God has provided for you in the Garden that He planted eastward in Eden, eastward in the future, the days of our tomorrows. And with each day we have an opportunity to receive something from out of the future, that God provided, that God made possible to you.
What then is ascension? Not leaving the surface of the earth, but moving from the realm of misery and suffering and sorrow and death, moving from the realm of the self-active state to the realm of attunement in and with the continuity of manifestation coming to us from out of the future, from out of the Garden that God planted eastward in Eden. And where is eastward? In the future. Our days come out of the east; the sunrise comes in the east. And so, in the days of our tomorrows the things of God are already provided, but we must learn how to receive them on earth. If we once start receiving them, we may not receive completely all at once, but then the things of God start being around us, and they start extending into the past. What is it that extends into the past with most people? The beauty of the Garden of God or the misery of the hell that man has made on earth? Once you reach a point where that which comes from out of the future from the Garden that God planted eastward in Eden, has come to you, been made manifest in you and through you because you live on earth so that it surrounds you, and begins to move back and extend into the past, where are you then? You are in the midst of the Garden of God. But it’s the only way you can be, when you let it come out of the east, manifest where you are, and extend into the west or into the past. Finally, you are in the midst of the Garden that God planted. And what is in the midst? The Tree of Life.
The Tree of Life is in the midst of the Garden. It is to manifest where you are—where you are! If you think you can go to it, by going up or down or sidewise or something else, you are wrong. The Tree of Life is just as available to you as to any Adam or Eve in the past, before the fall or after. It’s at hand; it’s available; the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; the Garden that God planted eastward in Eden is at hand; for they are one and the same thing. But we must let them come into manifestation, and when we do that what do we do? We ascend out of the old order of things into the new, into the Divine Estate. But we do not leave the earth's surface. We are living right here, letting God's Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. And so does His Kingdom come. Where from? From out of the east, from out of the future, in a manifestation through those men and women who let His Will be done; and it takes form around them; and it begins to extend into the past; and others begin to see, and they aspire to that same ascension—to ascend to the place where there is the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
That is the mystery unveiled by Enoch, by Moses, by Elijah, and by our Master, who was made manifest through the body of Jesus. And He said, “Follow me”—follow Me, that the mystery may be unveiled, that you may begin to know the reality of the Cloud of Glory. The Tabernacle—your own body—the Tabernacle filled with the Glory of the Lord until it shone round about. Yes, to be true of you. Where? In the wilderness of this world as it is, until the wilderness is caused to blossom as the rose because the Garden of God comes out of the east and is made manifest through those who let His Will be done.
Seeing these things, let us take another look at the Mount of Transfiguration. For He ascended a mountain—the process of ascension—but He did not leave the surface of the earth, to be transfigured. The Mount of Transfiguration—let’s take another look at it. “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John”—again the three and the one, the four—“and bringeth them up,” ascension, “into an high mountain” of consciousness, “apart” from what? Apart from the discords and the limitations that are characteristic of the world. “And was transfigured before them.” In other words, they saw that which gave evidence of the Divine Estate. “And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”
Now wherever we have had a description of the One Who Dwells, hasn’t this same pattern of language held true, in the Old Testament or the New, in Revelation or wherever you turn? “His face shone as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” Now note: “And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.” Why just Moses and Elias talking with Him? That made three. Where was the fourth? Here on this level, He was a part of the three, and the fourth was higher still, the next up focalization in the Higher Level of Deity. Up. Moses and Elias, and the Master, making the three. But there was a fourth who was not seen. But these three gave the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells on the next higher level, carrying the Focalization of Being.
Then Peter had to get impetuous and talk out of turn. We will skip that. It does’t mean anything. “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.” A bright cloud overshadowed them. The Cloud of Glory, whether of the Old Testament or the New—it’s all One. “And a bright cloud overshadowed them”—the Shekinah Cloud of Glory. “And behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” Now what was overshadowed? Not just Jesus, but the manifestation, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, the Next Higher Focalization of Being, “overshadowed them.” Then the Shekinah Pattern of Being is the Son, the only begotten Son.
Those who imagine that the body of Jesus was the only begotten Son do not know what they are talking about. It was not, is not. Your body is just as much one of the Sons and Daughters of God as the body of Jesus was, just as much. What was the only begotten Son of God? That which issues forth from God at all times. What is it that issues forth from God? The Shekinah Pattern of Being, the Fire that Burns, the Light that Glows, and the Cloud of Glory. These are present wherever God is, wherever a God Being is present. And that which issues forth from God all the time, that which reveals His Presence to those who have awareness, is the only begotten Son of God.
The Cloud of Glory enfolded Elijah and Moses as surely as Jesus. All three were there, and in that pattern they were the three in relationship to a higher fourth. And “This”—this what? This one man? No. It does not say that. Take a look at how human beings have assumed and jumped to conclusions. What the word said was This—“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” That which was the expression through Jesus was the Shekinah Pattern, yes, but it is the Shekinah Pattern of Being, the Fire of Love, the reality of Truth, and the reality of Glory or Life. Yield to Love and Truth and Life and you will be hearing, you will be feeling, you will be knowing, the Son of God. Because human beings have assumed ignorantly that the body of Jesus was the only begotten Son of God, they have felt separated by nineteen centuries, and by some far sky, from the body of the only begotten Son of God. But the only begotten Son of God is here just as much in this hour as in any moment when the Master walked on earth, in actual fact. Perhaps not revealed as much, but the only begotten Son of God is the Shekinah Pattern of Being; and once you ascend out of the state of dying into the state of living in Shekinah you begin to be a part of the body of the only begotten Son of God because you are a part of the body of mankind, yielding to the Spirit of God or the Shekinah Pattern of Reality.
And it is here, and you do not have to go anywhere. And ascension is not leaving the earth's surface; it is living here on earth. And our work, our place, is on earth, and it is our job to reveal the fact that Heaven and earth are one, they have always been, they will always be, and as we let the Garden which God planted eastward in Eden come into manifest form because we live we will be doing our part toward letting the Kingdom come, and the Will of God be done on earth as His Will is done in Heaven. So let it be in you and through you, now and always.
Our gracious LORD and Holy KING, we would indeed let Thy Kingdom come, that Thy Kingdom may be made manifest and may be made ready to receive Thee, that all who enter Thy Kingdom may know the oneness of Heaven and earth and know that Thou art near, that there is no necessity for Thee to come floating down on a cloud from some far sky, but that Thou art here in Heaven on earth, in relationship to this part of the Cosmic Body of Being, and that the centering cycles extend on and on until we are caused to realize that this part of the Cosmos is centered in the Center of the Cosmos as surely as any other part, and that All is One, and that Thy Allness is here insofar as we are capable of receiving it and revealing it and using it to Thy Glory and to the blessing of the children of men; for Thine is the Kingdom; therefore Thou art the KING, and we would act like it, and we would let Thy Kingdom manifest, we would let it come; and Thine is the Power by which these things shall be done; and Thine is the Glory revealed as they are done in the blessings of Life to all who will receive, IN the Christ, now and forever. Aum-en.
The body of the man or the woman is supposed to be an Ark of the Covenant, a manifestation of the Temple of the Living God, a specific place that is supposed to be Holy and Sacred within which no ill vibrational pattern may be found.
Wherever there are stress patterns in the vibrational factor at any level, the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells is withdrawn and only when the patterns of accord and true peace are again made evident can there begin to be the restoration of the manifestation of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
When it begins to appear, we have evidence that the creative field has been maintained, that there have been no adverse vibrational factors, no discords, no resentments, no critical attitudes, no conflicts, no fear, for where these things rule we never see the beautiful Glowing Light of the Cloud of Glory revealing the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells.
Human reactions, patterns of attitude such as resentment, and the whirring of the endless rounds of meaningless thoughts, or so-called thoughts, maintain a condition which prevents the manifestation of the Light That Glows, and the Cloud that forms, that in season the Cloud may become still more dense, and the Glowing Light begins to appear as if it were a Fire.
As long as human beings are more concerned about the expression and manifestation of their own ideas and concepts and desires, their own pattern of thought and word and action and feeling, than they are of the manifestation of the evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, they will have their reward: the privilege of expressing that which they think they think, which they think they feel, which they think they believe, which they think they wish to do; but none of these things bring peace or satisfaction or the Glory of Living. Only the futility and the emptiness of the processes of dying.
Remember well that wherever there are vibrations of conflict, resentment, any ill attitudes whatsoever, you keep yourself shut out of the Cloud of the Shekinah and contain yourself in the cloud of darkness. Wherever there are resentments, frictions, conflicts, within or without, within the individual or between individuals, you cannot know the beauty and the wonder, the glory and the peace, of the Shekinah, the manifest evidence of the Presence of the One Who Dwells, everywhere, always.
We come to the close of another week, Saturday evening, time for service, on July 18, 1953. It is good to welcome all of you to this hour of meditation. The pattern of Meditation which we have been sharing in services and in class work has all centered around the Magic of Living, in recent weeks—or Heavenly Magic—and step by step there has been a deepening realization not only of the vital importance of drawing near unto God but of the means whereby this may be accomplished effectively, expeditiously. And whatever we can do properly to expedite this pattern of fulfilment we should do. We need to realize that in the world pattern there has been a surface consideration, a surface experience with respect to the things of God; but to actually let them manifest in daily life on earth is something that human beings have not, generally speaking, learned to do.
The other day I had the opportunity of reading a letter which had been written by a man who claims to be an atheist, or at least an agnostic. In this letter he spoke about the—how did he put it? The superstition, I believe, is the word he used with respect to the Christian God; and he used the expression, “I know him not,” the idea being that it was foolish to give consideration to God. And as supposed evidence of the justification in this attitude, he pointed to the cosmos, he suggested that the one who received this letter, the one to whom it was addressed, should go out and look at the sky at night, see the vast array of stars, and recognize that this little earth with its Christian God was—how did he put it?—the earth could not be the tail wagging the dog, I think was the idea. In any case, the idea that the Christian God was something more or less limited to this earth here, and that all the rest of everything put together was certainly greater than this, so the idea of a god according to the popular concept was so much foolishness. Now you understand I have not attempted to quote his words. He put it very briefly but I believe that is a reasonable indication of the idea.
Now, strange as it may seem, I can say that I understand his attitude. I can understand why he feels that way, because the popular concept of the so-called Christian God is of an old man sitting on a throne in a heaven that relates particularly to this earth—it is up here in the sky somewhere—carrying the idea that all the stars in the heavens are merely incidental to this earth; that the sun, the other planets in the solar system, and all the stars in the sky, are merely incidental, for the convenience of this earth, the idea being that really this earth is the center of everything, as far as importance is concerned, and that heaven relates to this earth and wherever that heaven is—out in space, maybe up around the moon some place—and there on a throne somewhere there is supposed to be an old man with a long white beard, sitting on a throne, overlooking the earth and particularly concerned about what goes on here, etc. That idea, which is so wide spread, so widely accepted really even in this so-called modern day, is one which impresses any thinking person as superstitious.
I know I was quite a young boy, perhaps in my very early teens, when I could not accept the idea any more that the religious folks around me were trying to impose upon me—this idea of a god in such a fashion, a more or less general so-called Christian concept; and I rejected it all and assumed that that made me an atheist. Of course, I found out later that it did not. It only gave me an opportunity to begin to know God. And yet, what do most people have offered to them in the world except the old husks that have been offered to mankind through the centuries, or reject them and be an atheist? Generally speaking the pattern of choice is assumed to be between these two factions or states of consciousness, but if we truly look at the stars in the sky we must recognize that surely there is intelligence back of them. We do not assume that the earth is the center of everything and that everything else is incidental to this earth—this earth is not the most important point in the cosmos. We have a part to play in the body of Being that is called the Cosmos, but this is not the center of it, and we have come to have a new vision of God. We never think of an old man sitting on a throne, waiting to wreck vengeance on some human creature that makes a mistake.
This idea, perhaps not put quite so bluntly, is something that we will contact many, many times in the days to come, as we serve. This man is not the only one in the world who has rejected the popular concepts of the so-called Christian God—as well he may. One must either accept a prejudice pattern, refuse to think, or reject these things. And then the churches wonder why they lose members, why the young people do not stay centered and steady in the pattern. On the other hand, in the days to come in our Ministry, we will be contacting those who have accepted the popular concept. It does not make too much difference whether they call it Methodist or Baptist or Presbyterian or Lutheran or something else. The brand name is of very small importance from our standpoint. It is no more than that, just a particular brand. Many different companies put up green beans. There are many brands of green beans, but they are all green beans. Some of them may be better quality than others, but they are still green beans. And the same principle holds true with all the different brands of the so-called Christian religion, all the way from the Roman Catholics to the Holy Rollers. And so it is not just a brand that we are concerned about, but we will have to deal with the patterns of consciousness that have been engendered in the world by reason of all of these ideas.
If we are to deal effectively with such things we must ourselves know God, we must ourselves be channels through which the power of God operates, through whom the wisdom of God is made manifest, through whom understanding is expressed to the children of men. When we recognize these limitations in the patterns of consciousness in the world we are not in any sense condemning them or finding fault with them; we would not in any sense belittle any of them—but it is necessary that we have some understanding of them and be able to face the facts as they are. Recognizing the limitations which exist in the world, recognizing the need, the hungry ones, the thirsty ones, the prodigal sons and daughters who have been feeding upon the husks for so long, we should have a powerful incentive to cause us to utilize every possible opportunity to reach a point where we may function effectively.
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We have in our meditations on the subject of the Magic of Living, the magic of life, been giving a good deal of thought to the Shekinah Pattern of Being. Our meditation thus far has been more or less introductory. We have recognized that the Shekinah Pattern was known in both the Old and the New Testament periods. We have recognized that the Master used the Shekinah Pattern of Being as a basis of His ministry. We have recognized that it was His correct function in relationship to the Shekinah Pattern of Being that allowed Him to teach as He did, allowed Him to carry the healing power to ailing human beings, and this set up the cycle by which the Spirit of His ministry might reach down to us nineteen centuries later—the power of ministry extending for nineteen centuries, reaching to us, an idea, a heavenly idea, which has been misunderstood, distorted, presented on a faulty basis but nevertheless it is here, it is in the world and millions of people earnestly and sincerely seek to let that which He did have meaning in their lives. And yet, all these untold millions have not learned how to follow Him in letting the Shekinah Pattern of Being have meaning in their lives.
This is the distinction—whether you examine Old Testament history or New Testament history—to the degree that any man, anywhere at any time, or any woman, allowed the Shekinah Pattern of Being to manifest under the Law, there was something accomplished. That man or that woman rendered a true service to humanity, that person, whoever it was, stood out at least head and shoulders above the mass of humanity and they are remembered because of what they accomplished.
We remember, for instance, Abraham; we remember Isaac and Jacob; we remember Joseph; we remember Moses; we remember Caleb and Joshua; we remember David and Solomon; we remember Isaiah and Ezekiel and Daniel, and many others from the Old Testament pattern. In connection with all of this we have noted the great significance of the trinity in relationship to the One Who Dwells, making four. We began our cycle of instruction in the Servers’ Training Class considering the reality of the Four Forces, and we see how these Four Forces have been and are operating in relationship to all things whatsoever. There is the One Who Dwells, or the One whom the Master called the Father, the Centering of Being; and then extending out from the One Who Dwells, the Fire and the Light that Glows, and the Cloud of Glory. But seen from our standpoint we have the reverse—the Cloud of Glory, the Light that Glows, the Fire, and the One Who Dwells. And this is the Shekinah Pattern of Being.
Under this pattern of meditation we are reminded that in Biblical history we have a record of three men who ascended—three men who ascended. The first on record was Enoch, and it is written of him: “And Enoch walked with God and he was not; for God took him.” And later there was Elijah. Elijah who at one time because he was tired, in a moment of weakness, fled from Queen Jezebel and feared for his life, and failed to function perfectly at all times. And yet Elijah ascended, and his mantle passed to Elisha—the mantle of the prophet. And then the third was, of course, our LORD in relationship to His ministry on earth. The record of three who ascended.
We have considered together something of the laws and principles of ascension so that we could understand how the substance of the earth does ascend in its vibratory patterns. But we need to begin to see this pattern of ascension in a higher or deeper sense, with a larger vision. Let us note with respect to Enoch that it is written: “And Enoch walked with God and he was not; for God took him.” Enoch walked with God. It seems to me that that simple statement, so briefly put, describes something that is so limitless, so beautiful, so fascinating, so important, that the very simplicity inspires a deeper devotion and dedication. It causes us to ask, “If Enoch in the long ago could walk with God, why not me? Why cannot I walk with God?”
Strange as it may seem, in the midst of the religious dogma to which I was subjected as a boy, in all the attitudes and concepts that made my whole being rebel and which I finally rejected, that simple statement made a very deep impression on my consciousness: “And Enoch walked with God,” and God took him. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/walks-with-god.html] And Enoch walked with God. Enoch did it before our Master came, before the revelation of law and principle, the exemplification and teaching which our Master gave to the world. If Enoch could do it before, why cannot we do it now? What does it mean to you, this thought, this simple picture, this brief outline? “And Enoch walked with God.” That was something that obviously took place on earth. He did not have to go to Heaven to walk with God; he walked with God before he went to whatever Heaven there is—that is why he went to Heaven. He walked with God. Where? On earth. “And Enoch walked with God.”
Before we expand that point any further, let us for the moment look at Elijah, the second one in the pattern of three. Actually Elisha, according to the record, or as far as the record goes, performed many more miracles than Elijah did. You read the story of the two prophets and you will find that through Elisha's ministry there were many spectacular things. Remember the ax head that floated, for instance. One of the men lost an ax head. Now we must remember that that was a very valuable thing in those days, far more precious and far more valuable than we would think an ax head to be, and it was borrowed, and the peculiar circumstances that were involved. And the man was chopping down a tree and the ax head flew off the handle and went in the water, and it was lost. And the man was greatly disturbed. And, according to the story, Elisha caused the ax head to float to the surface of the water so they could get it. It was a very important event if you recognize the peculiar nature of the situation at that time. It was very important. Elisha did a multitude of things, far more miracles, evidences of the manifestation of God's power, than were accomplished through Elijah; and yet, Elisha, according to the record, faced death the same as any other man or woman, and Elijah ascended. The chariot of God, the chariot of Fire, came down and took him. And as he started to ascend, he cast his mantle back and it fell upon Elisha, and Elisha carried on. But Elijah did do some very remarkable things.
In one of our patterns of Meditation we considered his contest with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, a very wonderful outworking. We recognize that his function was at the time when the pattern of the children of Israel was breaking up, and the division was being established in relationship to Jerusalem and Samaria. But what do you remember outside of this experience with respect to Elijah on Mt. Carmel and the fact that he ascended? Perhaps you remember in relationship to him with respect to the famine that there was the cruse of oil and the barrel of meal that never failed, so that there was food during the famine for his landlady and himself. But outside of that, what do you remember about Elijah? I venture not very much, not very much; and yet he was one of the three of whom we have a record of ascension.
The third, our Master. We have shared many hours of Meditation upon His life, upon His teaching, the things He did, the terrible atrocity to which He was subjected at the conclusion of His ministry, but the fact that He came forth victor over death—for He did not die and in season He ascended. Human beings have seemed to have become lost in what we might call the mystical idea of leaving the surface of the earth with one's body. A very interesting thing, and I do not question but what under the right conditions at least, a desirable thing, something that is in harmony with the Divine Design, the Divine Pattern, the Divine Plan. But this which suggests something spectacular, the end result is that which appeals to the minds and hearts of the children of men, the idea of somehow, sometime, ascending with one's whole body. Now, I have not suggested to you or to anyone else that any of us would do it. I have never suggested that even I would do it. Perhaps—perhaps not. That is beside the point. Under the present circumstance it is not too important—the end result of total ascension. There is a partial ascension, in any case, and that is not the important thing at this present stage of events.
What was it in relationship to the lives of these three men that allowed the end result to be a fact? I wonder. Would you be surprised if I told you there was a fourth who had ascended? These three are generally known and recognized in this regard, but the pattern of the story is perhaps a little confusing with another. As we have looked at this pattern of three—and you remember what I said a little while ago about the Shekinah Pattern of Being—perhaps you have wondered about a fourth, that somehow there must have been a fourth. And if there was, it had to be before the time of our Master, because it is obvious that any logical or reasonable understanding of the Pattern of Being would have made His manifestation be the representation of what? That which was contained in the Fire of Love, the One Who Dwells. Yes, He was the fourth one—He was the fourth one. As we begin to see the patterns unfold, see the symbolism that has been provided down through the ages so that man could understand, it is obvious that there should have been three before His day. And there was. There was Enoch who walked with God and was not because God took him; and then we mentioned Elijah. But Elijah was the third one. Enoch was the first. What of the second?
In the Old Testament history pattern as it was translated, as it came down to us, the story is a little on the vague side with respect to Moses. There is the statement that he died at the age of a hundred and twenty; but that was an assumption. Actually, at a certain time he left the encampment of the children of Israel and went out into the wilderness. He went up on a mountain—the Lord's promise that he would be able to see the Promised Land. Now everyone assumed that the Lord was talking about Palestine, that he was going to look over Jordan and see the land where the children of Israel were to dwell. Now, I am not suggesting that it did not include that, but I am pointing to the fact that it was not limited to that. It is written that no man knew where the grave of Moses was, and the story goes, according to legend, that he was buried by some angels. We have a clue in the shortest book in the Bible, the book with only one chapter—Jude. In the Ninth Verse we read: “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him (that is, against the devil) a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” In other words, we have here the picture of Michael the Archangel and the devil contending over the body of Moses, and the Archangel “durst not bring a railing accusation against the devil, but said. The Lord rebuke thee.” The devil is what? The prince of death, the prince of darkness. And if the Archangel said, “The Lord rebuke thee,” under this circumstance, there is at least some indication that it was possible that instead of some angels coming down from Heaven and digging a hole in the ground and burying the body of Moses, as so many have supposed according to the legend, it is possible that he ascended.
Now we do not have here in the Book a positive statement, and so you are free to believe what you will. But I would assure you that Moses did ascend, and he saw the Promised Land, not just the land that was filled with milk and honey, not just the land that lay across the Jordan, not just the land where the ten spies had seen giants in the land and the children of Israel had refused to enter in—but the Promised Land of the Kingdom of Heaven that is at hand. Moses did ascend.
And so once more our pattern of three leads us to a recognition of the pattern of four, the three phases of the Shekinah Pattern of Being which lead us to the One Who Dwells. Enoch, who walked with God and was not because God took him. And there, if we begin to sense the beauty and the wonder of that simple statement, we begin to touch something of glory, something of exquisite glory, beauty. And then came Moses, and it was under the leadership of Moses, one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known, that the Tabernacle was built, the Ark of the Covenant was formed, and the Shekinah manifestation appeared between the cherubims above the Ark of the Covenant, over the mercy seat. And the second is the Light that glows; and the Light that glows relates to Truth; it relates to design; it relates to control. And elements of Truth with respect to design and control were surely revealed through the life of Moses. So, it is reasonable to recognize that Moses was the one who symbolized that second phase of the Shekinah Pattern in the revelation of Deity, the patterns of ascension as they are established in the record. But then the third was Elijah.
Now the Master said something during His ministry that is of vital significance in this relationship. You will remember that we have the simple statement with respect to Enoch: “He walked with God and he was not; for God took him.” And then Moses, in the midst of this pattern of outworking which he revealed, he ascended the Mt. Sinai and there he talked with God, there he received the tablets of the Law, etc., there he was upon the Mount of Glory. And then as we think of the Master's life and ministry, we recall that he took three disciples up to the Mount of Transfiguration. He took Peter, James and John, the three disciples, up into the Mount of Transfiguration—again the three, with the fourth. But those who have considered the Mount of Transfiguration failed to see the Shekinah Pattern of Being, they failed to recognize the great significance, the vital importance. But there was the Mount of Transfiguration, the three and the one. And as they were coming down from the mount, the Master said something. “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” Now, of course, some have taken that statement of Jesus to mean that He Himself was going to be crucified, that He was going to die and be resurrected from the tomb—again mere assumption. What did the Master actually say? “Until the Son of man be risen again from the dead”—mankind, the body of mankind, begins to rise from the dead. The dead, meaning the dust of the grave? Not at all. The state of mankind in which there are so many who are dead to God and the things of God. They are dead to life. You are here sharing a process of resurrection.
Now the story was told. They assumed it was all right to tell it because they did not understand what the Master mentioned. But where do you find this story? In the Gospel according to Matthew. Do you find it in the Gospel according to John? The only one who was there, of Peter, James and John, who wrote a Gospel, did not include this story in his Gospel, because he knew that the Son of man was not yet risen from the dead. Jesus had come forth from the tomb; He had been in a coma in the tomb, yes; but that was not what the Master was talking about. The disciples did not understand. “And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.” In other words, according to the Master's own statement, and that which He conveyed to the disciples, which they did understand, was that Elias or Elijah had incarnated and was made manifest as the one who prepared the way of the Lord, as John the Baptist. Now John the Baptist was beheaded. He did not ascend in the sense that we are talking about it tonight. But Elijah, who did ascend, incarnated in the body of John the Baptist, according to the Master's statement. Some people have tried to get around that, but it is a bit hard to do without calling Him a liar.
So, Elijah did come as John the Baptist. And coming down from the mountain the Master spoke of Elijah or Elias. And who was it that they had seen upon the mountain? Let us notice that. “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John … and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light”—the three, and in the midst the One Who Dwells, the revelation of the Shekinah Pattern of Being. “And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.” Moses and Elias talking with him. Moses was incarnated at that time as John, the disciple. Elias had incarnated, and his body had been beheaded by Harod. But on the Mount of Transfiguration they saw, with the Master, Moses and Elias, or Elijah.
Again we find correlating factors that indicate that Enoch, Moses, and Elijah were the three who revealed the essential elements of the Shekinah Pattern over a long period of time in relationship to the revelation of the One Who Dwells, the revelation of the Father through the body of the man Jesus, being the fourth. This makes a complete revelation, something that is available to us, something that should have great meaning to us—for here, if we can read the signs aright, if we can see what is to be seen, we can understand what is to be understood, we can let the Shekinah Pattern of Being bring forth in our lives the Victory, the revelation of the presence of the One Who Dwells. And if the One Who Dwells is the King of the Kingdom, and He is revealed as being the King of the Kingdom, there should follow a revelation of the Kingdom itself. Enoch, Moses, and Elijah—and finally our Master, the revelation of the King, the revelation of the One Who Dwells. And after the revelation of the King, what? The revelation of the Kingdom. And we are called, you are called, from the north and the south, the east and the west, to share in the revelation of the Kingdom by reason of the working of the Shekinah Pattern of Being. And so once more I would call your attention to the words with which John opened his Gospel:
“In the beginning was Shekinah, and Shekinah was with God, and Shekinah was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Shekinah; and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made. In Shekinah was life; and the life was the light of men.”
Human beings have been searching for life, and where will they find it? In Shekinah. And not until we let ourselves begin to comprehend the vital significance of these words: “In the beginning was Shekinah, and Shekinah was with God, and Shekinah was God”—the three and the one, the four, all being Shekinah. “The same was in the beginning with God. All things,” not some things—all things. And if we would be creative and share in the making of something or the revealing of something, we must use Shekinah or let Shekinah use us. “All things were made by Shekinah; and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made.” So if you begin to grasp even a little, to glimpse a little of the significance of Enoch, who walked with God, and of Moses and of Elijah, and finally of the Master, you will see that the three revelations in Old Testament have a direct relationship to the revelation in the so-called New Testament, and those who seek to divide them know not what they do. It is all a part of one thing, not really old and new—it is one revelation, one revelation of one Truth, of one God, of the Reality of Being. And if we would serve those who stumble in darkness and who rebel against the husks we must come to know Shekinah. He that dwelleth in the Shekinah of the Most High shall abide under the evidence of the presence, under the shadow, under the Shekinah of the Almighty. Let it be so in us, that the Almighty may accomplish His Will and His works because we live on earth in this day, in this time.
Our gracious LORD and KING, we thank Thee for the holy privilege of so yielding body and mind and heart to Thee that we may share in the coming of Thy Kingdom—for the King had already come—that Thy Will may be done on earth as it is in Heaven; for Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for ever. Aum-en.
