The Secrets Of Ascension

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

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

Center In The Divine Commission

Center  In  The  Divine  Commission

Anniversary  Meditation

Uranda   September 13, 1953  11:00 a.m.

We have come to the hour of our Sunday morning Meditation on this 13th day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred fifty three. As I pointed out last evening, this is the beginning of our Anniversary period of Meditation.

Twenty-one years ago this morning, at about 4 o'clock, there was the beginning of that cycle which established this Ministry which we share on earth. And in recognition of this, we plan to have a period of Meditation continuing tomorrow evening, Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening; for the 13th, 14th and 15th days of September mark this Anniversary period, the three days which, in 1932, correlated with the three days of the tomb period and the cycles of the Resurrection, and on the 16th day of September, 1932, our official Ministry on earth began.

As I mentioned last evening, that Commission was not merely to me. It was a Commission to be shared by all who would take part in it. And it is to this end that you are here—to share in the fulfilment of that Divine Commission. Through this special cycle of Meditation, I would like to share with you a consideration, not only of the Commission itself, but of the means whereby it may be fulfilled on earth. To this end, let us have a moment of Devotion.

I have a very vivid memory of that morning twenty-one years ago today, when I was awakened early in the morning at the first faint signs of a coming dawn, with a feeling of being virtually overwhelmed with a tremendous restlessness. I got up and walked about the room for a time. I considered dressing and taking a walk out on the streets, in the city of Nashville, Tennessee. But, somehow, that did not seem to be the course of action. So I tried to read, and the printed page was merely a mass of meaningless words. And I thought I would read the Bible for a while, but it, too, for that moment, appeared to offer nothing. Somehow, whether by coincidence or whatever you may wish to call it, there was a tablet of paper and a pencil on the table, and after it had caught my eye I had an urge to sit down at the table. I had no outer awareness of anything which I might write, but I sat down and picked up the pencil, and gradually the room filled with a silvery cloud of light, until all of the objects in the room were blotted from my view. And, being enfolded in that cloud, I began to write, and in the writing recorded the answers to questions that had been in my mind for many years, seeking the solution. Gradually, after about an hour, and the urge to write had ceased, the cloud disappeared. And I read over, with much interest, what had been written under my hand. The following morning, on September 14th, I was awakened again at about the same hour, and on arising went immediately to the table, and again the cloud filled the room, and again I was enfolded in that cloud for about an hour. The same thing happened on the morning of September 15.

I have never, since that day, had a similar experience. Just those three mornings. And through that experience the consciousness of the basic principles of Reality which I have presented to you was presented to my own outer consciousness. At the conclusion of that experience I knew the answers to the questions, and the questions, in that sense, have not concerned me since that day. The questions of application in service to humanity have concerned me, but for myself I knew the answers. And I knew the work to which my life, from that moment forward, had to be utterly dedicated, and it is through that Ministry that you have been gathered here to share this hour.

In recent weeks and months you have been given an opportunity to begin to understand what we have called the Shekinah pattern of Being, and when I speak of that silver cloud that appeared those three mornings in succession, I am sure you all recognize the reality of what, in olden times, was called the Shekinah Cloud of Glory. I do not suggest that you should try to imitate my experience. I do not suggest that your own outworking should be similar in the sense of the nature of the personal experience, but the principles are the same.

When our Master was on earth, according to the record He made this statement: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.” During that experience I personally became aware of the Truth of the Master’s words that, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” and there was established in my heart a deep and abiding desire to help others come to the realization that man does not need to go somewhere else, that man does not need to wait until he dies, nor does he need to go to some far place; for the door which leads to the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

I suppose the inexperience of the outer man at that time had something to do with it, but somehow I had the conviction that I could convey that Truth to others in a way that would, in a short time, cause untold thousands of people to be aware of that basic Truth. In setting out upon the path to carry that Good News to others, I was to find, through sad experience of many years, that human ears tend to be deaf to the Word of Truth. A few heard and said they agreed, but it did not mean anything to them in real living They would accept the idea, theoretically, but never let it take hold in body and mind and heart. Over and over again I gathered groups together and began to expound the basic principles which you have come to know and to realize to a goodly degree, only to have personal prejudices and disbeliefs cause them to scatter—self-centeredness in some form, because he who would share this of which I speak must reach a point of selflessness. And human beings are so busy with such important business of their own that they have little time for our Father's business.

But, finally, we came to the year 1953, and we found ourselves located here in a little valley at the foot of the majestic Rockies. And various factors had worked together to make it possible for us, not only to have our regular services, but a Class dedicated to the study of the Principles of Reality. We were working forward in the Class and in the Unit here as a whole to a point where there might be a true realization of what has been called, “The outpouring of the Holy Spirit.” But, again, certain factors entered in, and the realization of that experience was held in abeyance until the conditions could be met.

We read the story of what is called the Day of Pentecost, a very brief story, only a few words, portraying a mighty event, and the human mind tends to develop certain concepts, and the feeling that somehow we have to imitate, or duplicate, that which we imagine to have happened then. But in my own experience in that upper room—it was a second-story room—twenty-one years ago today, that which took place could, I believe, properly be called the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; but if there is an attempt to imitate, or duplicate, my experience, factors will be established in the pattern which will prevent the manifestation of that which is needful to us.

The difficulty with human beings is that they read some word of Truth, or hear it with their ears, and forthwith get busy with their minds developing a pattern of concept, or idea, wherein they anticipate fulfilment of the Truth which has been perceived. And so often the human mind fails to comprehend that He who established the Truth in the beginning is well able to clothe that Truth with the reality of right concept. If the human mind did not busy itself developing a concept with respect to the Truths of God, it would be open to the clothing of realization which the Lord provides. But man, having perceived some central Truth, designs the clothing himself, and he expects to produce on the basis of man's design. And in this he fails to see that he is again eating of the forbidden fruit, again violating the Principles of Polarity, and asking God to become subject to man, instead of showing forth a willingness to become subject to the Will of God. This is the key which, when understood properly, makes it possible for us to understand why there are so many religions, so many philosophies, so many beliefs, in the world. It makes us be in position where we can see where the human clothing of concept has entered in and spoiled the revelation of the beauty of Truth. It is not that God withholds the clothing essential to the full manifestation of the basic Truth, but man does not give God a chance to provide the clothing.

You were born naked into the world. As you came forth from your mother's womb, you wore no clothing. The beginning manifestation of Truth, as it is born into the consciousness of man, is always naked, the naked baby of the central Truth. But man, beginning to see the basic Truth, the baby, that is born into his own consciousness, hastens to clothe that baby with his own realizations, his own concepts, his own beliefs, and the baby of Truth becomes smothered in the clothing which man provides, and is gone, so that all man has left are his own formations of idea, belief and concept.

The willingness to receive the naked baby of Truth and to care for it, and to let the Lord begin to provide the raiment, pure and white, like fine linen, is something which man has lacked. A little patience, a little willingness to let the Divine realization unfold, and man could be spared so many unnecessary delays, so much that is false, so much suffering, needless back-tracking, wasting of his own time and energy, his life forces, his own opportunities; for man begins to try to understand. He begins to develop in his own consciousness a pattern of what he conceives to be philosophy, realization, the clothing for his central core of Truth. I do not question but what every religion on the face of the earth, bar none, every philosophy, started out with a central point of Truth. It may have been seen with imperfect vision, but it was there. But that which developed under man's care led human beings away from the Truth, until today we see the evidences of this in many, many ways, one of the most dramatic of which appears at Easter time, when, with new gowns, new hats, people go to church to be seen of men, the display of the clothing.

Now, if we, here today, are to begin to move into the pattern of experience which is possible to us in this Anniversary period, we must let go of this compelling rush to build an idea, to shape it and form it and see it in all of its aspects, to provide clothing for the baby. If we are willing to become patient, if we are willing to see what it is that God would unfold, we can take a forward step along the Way which has been opened unto us. You have recognized, theoretically at least, the basic principles of Reality, the working of the One Law, the principles of Ascension and Resurrection and Restoration. But, even you, here, have tended, in relationship to these things, to do one of two things, take one of two courses. Either you have busied yourselves to knit, or make and fit garments for the babe, or you have sat back, as it were, immovable in relationship to the impulse of the Spirit, and said, “In God's season He will reveal these things; meanwhile, we will do this and that.” The bump-on-a-log pattern is followed by most of those who classify themselves as Christians. They are going to live their daily lives, they are going to do what they think to be necessary. “But, when Jesus comes, or our Lord comes, or at the coming of our Lord, then everything is going to work out. Meanwhile, we are going to be good, we are going to be bumps-on-a-log.” Or, “When we die.” If it is not expecting the Lord to come floating out of the sky, it is all going to happen when we die. Two patterns—when the Lord comes out of the sky, or when we at last come to the day of dying, then it will all happen. And it appears to be difficult for man to actually take the step of moving out of this pattern. Whichever of its particular forms may have been of primary influence in the past, it is one thing, although there are those who imagine that they see a great difference. But it is one thing, whether it is going to happen by the Lord coming according to the popular concepts or it is going to happen when we die. The same idea, the same basic Truth, with a different dress on it—and both of them man-made. In this pattern there is something lethargic, something stolid, something that in some people becomes almost stoic. They are going to endure, somehow, until the Lord comes or until they die. And then, all will be well.

But when we begin to accept the reality of the Shekinah pattern of Being, when we begin to see that the Truth presented in the Old Testament period is identical to the Truth presented in the New Testament period, from the standpoint of our Master at least, we can begin to have a true acceptance of the Gospel that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and we will not, as Paul, go into Arabia to weave the clothing for this central grain of Truth; for that is what he did. He went into Arabia for three years, all by himself, and proceeded to weave a basic pattern of clothing for what he conceived to be the central Truth of what Jesus had presented on earth. He made the clothing for it, and most people have accepted the basic design of clothing which Paul wove, if they call themselves Christians. They have advanced the design, of course. It has changed in various ways. Different groups alter the design according to their concept of what is pleasing, and they have their own churches, but it is the same basic design which Paul so carefully developed, the design of clothing for the Truth which the Master presented on earth.

What shall we do? Go rushing forward, seeing how quickly the Truth can be clothed into something acceptable to the minds of human beings?—we are going to improve on Paul, but do the same thing he did? Or become lethargic, and accept the bump-on-a-log pattern which has dulled the senses and developed the self-righteousness of many millions of people?

In this Anniversary period of Meditation it is not necessary for me to reiterate, extensively at least, the points which we have already considered together. It is, rather, necessary that we begin to take a new look at what we already claim to believe. If the Master set forth certain key points of Truth on earth, then that was the beginning of the manifestation of the Garden which God planted Eastward in Eden. Man was supposed to dress it and keep it. Man hastened to dress it, but he was so busy designing the clothing and getting it established on a suitable manikin, that he did not keep it. He started dressing it, according to his own design. The true process of dressing it, or giving it form, must be under the same inspiration, the same jurisdiction, the same control that established the Truth in the beginning.

In the pattern of development, as it has been outlined to you in Services, and was presented in the Class work, I pointed out that any effort to establish vibratory patterns, deeper understanding, or function, on a cross pattern one to another, was doomed to failure. Inevitably, such an effort causes the Truth to be lost in the maze of human concept. I pointed out that each advancing step should be cleared at Center, so that it was a manifestation of an acceptable segment of the pattern in relationship to the whole, cleared to Center, before it could begin to clear between you. To quite a degree, this principle, which I outlined quite carefully, has been disregarded, and a certain amount of confusion has resulted; ideas have been advanced which must, sooner or later, be repudiated; some of the clothing which has been woven for the basic babe of Truth must be discarded; unnecessary tensions and problems have been engendered. The excuse for doing this is usually worked out in the conviction that the individual is working under the impulse of the Spirit of God and that I desire you to become individuals who can function in relationship to the initiative of the Spirit through yourselves.

It is interesting how the devil distorts Truth to gain his own ends. It is certainly true that I wish you, as rapidly as possible, to reach a point where you do function, individually and collectively, under the initiative of the Spirit, on a basis which does not require that every little thing, as it is put, shall be brought to my attention. But, sometimes what seem to you to be little things may not be so little. And sometimes what seems to you to be the impulse of the Spirit may be very greatly clouded with a distorted emotional pattern or a warped mental comprehension of a basic Truth. There have been some individual developments along this line which have seriously hindered our Program and delayed the time of the manifestation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. No, it is not my intention that you should become puppets and that I must pull the strings. But it is my intention that whatever may appear in the individual which he assumes to be true shall be cleared to Center, so that you will not waste your time busying yourselves clothing what you conceive to be a babe born of God but which is not.

Many of these things that appear can, very cleverly, up to a point, seem to be grounded in the Truth that I have presented. But one of the characteristics which distinguishes such things is that the individual seeks to develop an understanding of what he conceives to be true by talking with others, developing the idea on a cross pattern basis, without first having cleared the matter with me. Any such function is a service of the devil. It tends ta dwarf, distort and destroy, and spoil the pattern of that for which we stand.

We recognize the basic Truth that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and it is God's Will that each and every one should know the beauty and the wonder and the glory of that Kingdom. There are these tendencies to try to get into the Kingdom the back way, or the tendencies on the part of individuals to assume that they know enough so that they can govern the development of a pattern of what they deem to be focalization for the welfare of others, to help them unfold, to help them grow—they imagine that somehow (they may not put it just so, but their actions indicate it) I neglected some aspect of the problem, or that I have somehow failed to give individuals an ample opportunity to grow with respect to some matter. And they step forward to remedy the situation, to help others develop, to give clothing to the basic babe of Truth, and they attempt to weave such beautiful clothing. And it may easily appear to be something inspiring, and it may, for some eyes, appear to be beautiful; but it leads to discord, disillusionment, unnecessary suffering and delay.

These things stand as barriers to our forward movement, our unified sharing in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that we may reach a point where we realize clearly the nature of the Divine Commission, and how we should function in order to discharge our responsibilities under that Commission. 

This comes back to the basic principles of the One Law, the principles of Centering, the principles of Agreement. And there have been too many attempts made to establish agreement between individuals who have not yet come to agreement in the true, or absolute, sense in relationship to Center. There is ample opportunity for the ingenuity, the initiative, under the impulse of the Spirit, of each and everyone, but the time for that expression, the time for that determination, follows a true agreement with Center. There have been some rather serious violations of whatever agreement there was with Center, and when human beings seek a short-cut to an entrance into the Kingdom, that they may the more quickly experience the beauties and wonders of Heaven on earth, it leads inevitably toward tragedy.

I would, therefore, that in the beginning of our Anniversary period of Meditation there should be an awareness of the importance of true Centering, of coming to point under the Law, of right Polarity, and of letting some futures be changed, because violation of the principles which I have outlined has tended to inject into certain futures, within the sound of my voice, those things which ought not to be. Those things in the future may yet be changed, if God's Will is permitted to have control; otherwise, each must reap as he sows. Let us, by right polarity and true centering, change the future to the Divine Estate and not permit ourselves to be drawn into a situation where the beautiful future which God has provided is changed into a future of sorrow and sadness. Ours is the responsibility of moving forward to Victory, to the Glory of God and the Blessing of the children of men.

© Emissaries of Divine Light