There is a simple line in the familiar hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful which goes like this: “How great is God Almighty, who has made all things well.” How great is God Almighty. If that is a question it could hardly be answered. If it is just an emphasis on the fact of God's greatness then we may have some consciousness of the truth of this statement. We cannot really know God Almighty. We can know about Him, I suppose. But this term has reference to undimensional God, supreme God. It would be impossible to describe that in dimensional terms. Also, because we are properly present here in a dimensional world we may find no necessity to try to get out of it into some undimensional state in order that we might comprehend what is there present. There is undimensional God and there is also dimensional God. Dimensional God was described by using the word Jehovah.
We have before considered that highest spiritual substance of the most intense vibrational nature which merges into the undimensional state. This substance fills the whole of what we would refer to as the universe. There isn't any place, dimensionally speaking, where it isn't; this is the reason for the idea of the omnipresence of God. This substance is of such a vibrational nature that it is capable of accommodating the spirit of love. The spirit of love is not, obviously, separate from God; it has been said that God is love. So the essences of God in the dimensional world are the essences of love, the union between this highest vibrational substance and the spirit of love. Here is the substance that fills the whole of creation, the whole of the space where creation is. It is undifferentiated. In this sense we may say all is love. Here is the union between the spirit of love and this substance which is capable of being one with love, so that love may emerge into the dimensional universe. At that level there is only love substance filling and composing all that creation is to be.
In order for creation to take place this undifferentiated substance must be differentiated The essence of truth is present initially in the process of differentiation of the original love substance At all the vibratory levels of substance below this highest substance the essence of truth is present. It is by reason of the spirit of truth in union with the essential substance that the differentiation of the original substance of love may transpire. So there are the essences of love and the essences of truth. At every level below the essences of truth, are present the essences of life. Here is the holy trinity: love, truth and life in the dimensional world by reason of the substance with which these spirits may find union. These essences rightly pour forth through the substance which is present at lower levels, initially what might be referred to as heart substance. When the heart is pure there is an open door of connection between this holy trinity and the earth, what we think of as the manifest world, the world of form as we understand it. This pouring forth is spiritual expression in this world of form — mental form, physical form.
As we noted this morning, the largeness is at the highest levels. Here is the creative process by which something is coming into the world. It is being differentiated and consequently narrowed down, brought to focus, in that process of differentiation; and we ourselves have a responsibility for allowing this differentiation to take place at the level where we are. In order to gain perspective in this regard we may well return to those simple words: “How great is God Almighty,” who in this process of creation has made all things well. But there is a very specific way in which it happens, and properly we are a part of the happening. Otherwise within the range of human experience the true happening is absent, it is lacking, and there are voids consequently on every hand.
I am sure that most if not all of you have given some consideration to The Song Celestial—The Bhagavad-Gita, in the recognition that here is a portrayal in symbolic form of the truth as it relates to human experience. The principal characters were Arjuna and Krishna: Krishna, the God in human form; and Arjuna, who was aware of the God in human form. After a great deal of consideration of earthly things there came a point when Arjuna felt that it was most necessary that he should begin to see things as they really were. So he spoke to Krishna along these lines, and here is part of what he said:
O Thou Divinest One!
If this can be, if I may bear the sight,
Make Thyself visible, Lord of all prayer!
Show me Thy very Self, the Eternal God!
Krishna can be seen as providing a focus point in the dimensional world for these highest essences. I suppose from a different approach we might say here was the Christ, the Word made flesh, the essences brought to a particular point of focus. But these essences are not something all on their own. As we have already noted, this substance, this highest substance, is present throughout the whole universal creation, everywhere. If it is brought to focus at some point, that fact doesn't extract the essence from itself; it is still the essence but merely brought to focus; it is still the universal essence. Here is the Word that was with God in the beginning, the Word that is God — God dimensional. There could be no God dimensional if there wasn't first God undimensional, but you cannot separate the two; there's no line of demarcation. This universal substance at the highest vibratory level merges into the undimensional.
It is useless for us to try to examine the undimensional. Insofar as we are concerned it would be nothing. It isn't nothing; we discover that it isn't nothing by reason of dimensional God. So dimensional God relates to these essences at the highest vibrational level, the love essences, which in the creative process must be brought to focus, must be differentiated into the various levels dimensionally speaking. We have noted how this is achieved—not by reason of our experience particularly, but just looking at the picture—the emergence through the connecting substance of the pure heart into the world of creative action when we have a sense of the reality of dimensional God, the essences of love.
These essences of love are not only brought to focus on this little earth, rightly, but everywhere else in the universe in various ways. Arjuna was asking for an awareness within the scope of his own vision of what this would be, the essences brought to focus throughout the whole universe. I think one should be a little cautious about asking for any such thing. However, according to the story here, whether brash or simply trusting, Arjuna requested this, and I have read the words. And here is Krishna's reply:
Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha!
I manifest for thee
Those hundred thousand thousand shapes
that clothe my Mystery:
I show thee all my semblances,
infinite, rich, divine,
My changeful hues, my countless forms.
See! in this face of mine,
Wonders unnumbered, Indian Prince!
revealed to none save thee.
Behold! this is the Universe! —
Look! what is live and dead
I gather all in one-in Me!
Gaze, as thy lips have said,
On God Eternal, Very God!
See Me! see what thou prayest!
Thou canst not! — nor, with human eyes,
Arjuna! ever mayest!
Therefore I give thee sense divine.
Have other eyes, new light!
And, look! This is My glory,
unveiled to mortal sight!
Then follows a description by the servant of what was seen. I do not propose to read this now; we may have opportunity sometime. But here was something so vast, so tremendous, so majestic, that Arjuna went into shock, as might be supposed. So here are some more words of Arjuna, not all of what he said:
Be merciful, and show
The visage that I know;
Let me regard Thee, as of yore, arrayed
With disc and forehead-gem
With mace and anadem,
Thou that sustainest all things! Undismayed
Let me once more behold
The form I loved of old,
Thou of the thousand arms and countless eyes!
This frightened heart is fain
To see restored again
My Charioteer, in Krishna's kind disguise.
I read this this evening, without going into all that was said with respect to the vision, so as nevertheless to emphasize the majesty, the greatness, the vastness, of dimensional God; and dimensional God is only an aspect of God. It has sometimes been felt by those who were associated with this ministry that it was a little thing; human beings tend to be impressed by numbers. But to the extent that the heart opens and yields and the creative processes of purification take place, there comes some sensing of the smallness of this external world in which we dwell; I suppose in one sense it could be said, the insignificance of it when seen in the light of the reality of dimensional God, dimensional God revealed by reason of this highest vibrational substance filling the whole universe. God is omnipresent in this sense, in the dimensional sense. The substance is here where we are.If it is anywhere and everywhere in the universe, it is here where we are.
As the windows of heaven are opened, or as a door is opened in heaven, as it was put somewhere, we don't go through into heaven; we become aware simply of what is already present with us. The wholeness of God is already present with us, brought to specific focus in the reality of the truth of our own being, so that this differentiated aspect may find expression in a fitting way according to the part which we are here to play. But what it is that enables us to play this part dwarfs into insignificance the circumstances, the environment, in which we play the part.The circumstance, even the earth itself, becomes scarcely discernible from the standpoint of true perspective, because whatever comes to focus of dimensional God in our own expression is not in any way separate or apart from the whole of dimensional God. It's not as though God had chopped off little segments from Himself and planted them here and there in human beings. This is the view perhaps that human beings have tended to have in their own experience of themselves, as being little chopped-off chunks, isolated from each other and from God. It's not the fact; it's a fancy. It's a fancy that immediately dissolves as the veil dissolves and what is true begins to emerge into experience.
If we see relative values here—I suppose you could also say relative size—then where's the problem about handling the affairs which are brought to us to be handled? And we may recognize again that these matters which do come to us do not come to us by chance; they are brought to us. It may be said that the true essences call to the material of this world to come home. As we give focus to these true essences, that's the call. We have a new outlook then with respect to what it is that comes to us, what it is that is present in our environment. It is brought to us, It is coming by reason of the call, the call of the essences to which we give focus. Here is the material answering the call.
You may say that some of the things that come to you are not particularly heavenly, they don't particularly appeal to you perhaps; but let us see these things in the true light. Here in fact is the material of this world coming again to associate itself with the true essences. The material of the world cannot actually help itself once the true essences are there. When we are giving focus to these true essences we see things in this way. We're not cringing as puny little human beings overwhelmed by their circumstances, trying to fend off the giants. We don't really see too many giants around anyway. I recall that when the spies came back from investigating the promised land, ten of them were very insistent that there were giants in the land. But two didn't give much emphasis to that.They didn't notice any giants around particularly, because those who have a right perspective couldn't possibly see any giants in this very small world for which we are responsible. In this sense nothing very much has been committed to our charge, certainly not when we begin to understand that of which we are simply a focus, a focus point of this vibrational substance in combination with the spirit of God, to which we have referred as essences, the true essences.
When the true essences are here, when we are providing the focus for them and giving expression to what pours out because of those essences, then something is going to happen in our world and there will be what comes to us in consequence. We don't have to question what it is that comes to us. We certainly know why it's coming to us. It is coming to us in response to the essences to which we give focus. And it is going to sort itself out: the material that belongs will come closer and stay; the material that doesn't belong will be set on one side. Maybe some of it has to wait awhile before it is capable of coming any closer; maybe some of it belongs somewhere else, at some other level where the changes are occurring; but we don't have to judge in the matter. We let it come to us. We're going to find out, on the basis of maintaining the focus of these essences in our living, what it is that belongs with us, what it is that is on hold, so to speak, and what it is that needs to move out. It will do it automatically. It comes to us all mixed up together. It's not as though we're going to swallow the whole mass, but we let it come to us, that coming closer into the fire of these essences to which we give focus it may have the opportunity of being sorted out-and this is what will happen. We will discover that we have things to do, we have things to say, we have things to think, and there are times when it is altogether the right thing to keep quiet! But we are responsible for this sorting-out process and we can only handle it when we have a true perspective; otherwise we'll be afraid of everything that's coming to us. But if we have the true perspective and we have a sensing of the immensity of the essences which we represent, where's the problem? The whole perspective changes, and it doesn't matter what comes to us, it's a little thing. It can be handled with ease provided that we maintain the true focus. If we let that slip then there could be problems, couldn't there?
Where we see problems there is the urge to manipulate, and wherever you manipulate you create more problems. Someone had a computer in which they programmed the required information concerning a large city—all large cities have problems, you know, immense problems—and it was discovered by reason of what came out of this computer that no matter what anyone did, with the best of intentions, it would make the situation worse. That's the fact of the matter. No matter how you manipulate, with the very best of intentions, it makes matters worse. It may not seem to make matters worse in the immediate little bailiwick where you're manipulating; you may get things, temporarily at least, into shape; but how do you know what the repercussions are beyond and beyond and beyond? Difficulties will multiply, and of course eventually the chickens come home to roost. If by reason of your action something goes out, it's going to come back somewhere along the line and, depending upon what it is of course, you may find that it clobbers you. Then you say, probably, “Poor me!I'm being so badly treated; it's so unfair.” Not at all. The Law works. We may not be able to connect the particular clobber that hits us with the cause of it back along the way somewhere, and it's always easy to find someone who is handy to blame for it when the clobber occurs. But that is foolishness.
So we hold the focus of these essences in the space that we have provided where it is kept holy, and we need to be willing, indeed anxious, we might say, to let that space expand so that more can be accepted into it, both from the standpoint of essences and from the standpoint of what is coming to us by reason of the action of those essences; for when the essences are present they are calling to the lower vibratory levels of substance to take form according to the design that is provided, and the material starts to wake up and come home. As I say, coming home it comes home in a mixture. Consequently as it approaches closer the sorting-out process will transpire. It may be that a person sees something approaching and, if he has lost his perspective a bit, it looks pretty big. It's coming closer; he wants to hold it off. No, don't hold it off. Let it come closer, because as it comes closer the things that don't belong will begin to drop off, and by the time it gets to you it probably will be quite small. Well in the true perspective it was quite small at the beginning. It becomes almost infinitesimal by the time it gets to you!
But here we begin to see the association that we have at the crossover point, with the true essences on the one hand and the material of the world for which we are responsible on the other. We are responsible for letting the essences cross over into expression in our living and we are responsible for letting what is coming back be drawn to us. It's being drawn by these essences, that what is drawn to us may give form to these essences. The essences will be taking their true form in this fashion. Well in order to take their true form there's a lot of stuff that needs to drop off that doesn't belong, and it will do so if we hold it steady. I suppose one of the most obvious evidences of what happens when something is held steady was what occurred in the experience of Jesus long ago. He held absolutely steady, no matter what it was that was coming to Him. And it came right up to Him. But there was no wavering. There was no denial of the essences for which He was responsible at any point along the way, and what didn't belong fell away. And what did belong was there when He came forth from the tomb. Here is the evidence of the opening of a door on this earth through which anyone might come and let these principles in action be experienced in living. We share this understanding in whatever measure our hearts are pure, so that we may participate in the process, very keenly aware always of the quality, the nature, the character, of dimensional God, Lov —the vastness of that, the infinite power of that—so that we may be in position smoothly to handle whatever presents itself before us.
Obviously there is still some tendency to manipulate. We've been accustomed to this, to imposing something externally on things to try to make them work better. So we find ourselves in a transition experience, but increasingly, as the veil dissolves, we may be aware of the reality which comes to focus in our own expression, these essences which are primarily of love, then of truth and of life. And being aware of this, there are no giants in the land. What needs to be handled in our worlds may be handled from inside, not from outside. It becomes an organic process. We do not have to beat people over the head to try to make them behave. We do not need to carry placards around protesting against this and that. We just share in the process that works. None of those other things work. They're all attempts to manipulate and they make the situation worse than it was before.
So we participate in the easy way because we have accepted the easy yoke, the yoke of the true essences in our living. As we allow these essences to be the essential quality of our living we become quite familiar with them and we find ourselves in position to work easily with essences in an awareness of those essences and of what is happening by reason of those essences.What was it that the spirit of truth would do? Amongst other things, He would show you things to come. You know exactly what is to come when you are working with the essences that cause it to come. Your eyes are no longer fastened on the forms, fussing about the forms, worrying about the forms, trying to manipulate the forms, change the forms to make the world a better place for forms. You let the world alone in that sense; you leave the forms alone. You just let the material come to you, the material that composes these forms—you're not interested in the forms; the material is coming to you that composes these forms—and that material will be released from the forms which it had previously occupied, in order to give form to what is emerging by reason of the essences to which you give focus.
Here is the creative process. Obviously there needs to be, what shall we say, a little practice; it needs to be done. But one needs to be able to see what it is that's happening and how it is done, so that we may work intelligently in this field. Intelligence, we find, is part of the outpouring of those essences; we don't stay stupid!We begin to understand and to play our part in allowing the glory of God to be revealed on earth by reason of the forms which appear because of the essences that are present. How great is God Almighty, who does make all things well!
When one climbs a mountain one can see greater distances. In the purified air provided there are no clouds, and in that rarified atmosphere one has a new feeling, a new consciousness, concerning life itself. There is a sense of freedom and of peace that can come in such a case. So, Spiritually speaking, we sometimes speak of climbing a mountain. In the Bible we find the text: "Lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” We do not imagine for a moment that, from some particular range of hills we are going to get some help, but they represent a higher level of consciousness through which we can get a better view of things Divine, and gain a perspective of our own life expression. You might say that looking at the world from an airplane, viewing the countryside over which one may be flying, one gets a perspective view which is very different from that which may be seen when walking or driving below. So, sometimes, it is wise to go to the Mountain Top, or fly on the Wings of the Spirit — however one may wish to express it — and get a perspective view of life. So, I will read some passages from A View From The Mountain Top (2-28-41).
In the blessed days of long ago, when the earth was young and only a portion of the inhabitants thereof had fallen, and when the fallen ones were still mindful of the High Estate from whence they had come, the One Language of the Motherland was still known to all men of both the natural and the fallen states. It was then that wayward men could have repented and turned from their evil ways and so have saved the human race from the self-imposed and self-inflicted indignities, sufferings and suspicions which have tormented and imprisoned the wayward hosts throughout these dark and dreary twenty thousand years. In those early days of choice the wayward ones were given every opportunity to turn to the Central Way, and some there were who chose the exquisite joys that awaited the responding ones then as now; but the rebellious ones took the attitude that such response would indicate acknowledgment of guilt, of weakness, and of a need.
Such is the false pride that has doomed untold millions to an existence that was and is in fact a lie attempting to pose as the truth. And such a condition shows, for all who have eyes to see, why it is that acknowledgment of guilt and need, which is followed with that repentance which allows life to be redirected, must always precede release from self-imposed imprisonment into the ascending way of individual and collective return to the High Estate of Reality ordained by God for Divine Man for the entire period of this world's history and future function, and from which man turned away, against and contrary to the will and plan of God. All those of single vision will clearly see in all of this the simple truth that the direction of man's love response determines the direction in which he will go, whether it be down to subjection under the things over which he should be master, or up into the realm of the High Estate from whence man fell. Herein, for the wise who are not wise in the seeming wisdom of human arrogance, is the priceless key which is hidden and secret from none but those who will not see. Let the faithful one whose single vision allows him a view, even if but dim and fleeting, through these few yet all-inclusive words, of the panorama stretching from the time when the earth was young until this present day and on to the wondrous joys awaiting the great return of the wandering ones who shall come again to rest in peace within the portals of Home, where they shall abide with the Father of each forevermore, look once more with me from the mountaintop to the time of the beginning of things as they now are known.
The One Language, from which every language and dialect now used has sprung, was picturesque, with meanings conveyed through inflection, tone and context, coupled with true spiritual perception rather than by fixed and limited definition, so that a few words rightly spoken in the whole world's Mother tongue could easily and clearly convey more meaning and provide greater understanding than is generally possible with a great many words of present-day languages. However, even with present languages, as perception increases, meanings expand, as for instance in poetic usage and appreciation. Beyond or within generally recognized poetic meanings, the earnest one begins to see spiritual meanings. These spiritual meanings unfold, as it were. And in due season he who comes to see with single vision awakens to the fact that there is a living essence within each word, and that this essence is the formation of spiritual meanings within the word, so that it is seen to live and move and change, giving forth from day to day according to the responsive need. Finally, when the triune phases are aligned in focus on the Ray shining from the One within to the essence within the word, that essence is seen with the inner mind's single eye, which does not depend on physical vision, to begin to pulsate and glow, until a flame appears and the mystery of the Burning Bush that is not consumed is understood.
Comprehending this to any small degree, the awakening one is assured that there is much that he still does not understand, and he shows forth a graceful willingness to be directed in the Way. Of those who do not so respond there are three types: those who are still asleep to reality, those who think they already know and have arrived, and thirdly, those who claim to be earnestly seeking the Way but who rebel at change and who become discouraged and quit when they do not understand that which is presented before them, or when it varies from their preconceived ideas. This third type is the only one of the three with which we are presently concerned — in that the other two refuse all suggestion of assistance — but they need to be truly honest before they can be truly helped, for they must prove a willingness to honestly examine, without fear, that which they do not yet understand. This willingness to consider fairly that which is new is absolutely essential each step along the Way that leads to the mountaintop.
It is over this one essential that so many blessed ones stumble; they are not patient enough to let the matter work out to a point where it would be possible for them to understand, and also, they jump to conclusions, reading their own false meanings into that which is presented, so that they often feel most righteous in rejecting the very thing for which they long. Many who pride themselves on being honest are only partially so; for he who is truly honest is always willing to relinquish every wrong or inadequate concept when the truth is offered. In these words is the priceless key which is hidden and secret from none but those who will not see, and who hide in abject fear behind false pride; for those who excuse themselves on any false basis are always subject to fear, and they thereby reveal to the world that they are afraid of that which they do not understand. Only when the honest one lets love cast out all fear can he begin to truly see, in its true light, that which he does not understand.
As you relax into the rhythmic movement of the living essence within these words, you begin to find that comprehension without struggle or mental gymnastics is most natural to you and every man who chooses to respond. Here upon the mountaintop you begin to see that toward which you look. No longer is your view but a blur of shapeless forms which move as through a heavy fog, wherein you cringe and hesitate, ever fearful of what each shape might prove to be and always doubting your own strength and ability to meet the imagined terror. And so it is that you no longer feel a need for the bravado and human hardness behind which you have taken uncertain refuge in times gone by. As your sight is being restored, so that you are no longer blind, your clearing vision begins to see the form and nature of things which you have only imagined in the past as you touched with human feeling the mysterious things which you could not see. Now you understand why and how it is that those who are blind to the reality and who cannot see are forever debating and quarreling, theorizing and guessing, without the sweet certainty which is characteristic of the one who sees and knows that whereof he speaks. Also you see how it is that the blind, who cannot see, are ever questioning and doubting, yea even denying and condemning, the words of those who truly see and know. Lift up your eyes unto the hills!
In our Mother tongue, the mountain was seen as an earthly symbol of all that allows clear vision, which penetrates to every part even as physical vision from the mountain height allows one to see objects, such as other mountains, which may be hundreds of miles away. A cave in the mountainside was seen as a symbol of an abiding place in the realms of clear vision and true understanding. Silence of the outer nature was seen as permitting the expression of the Divine from within. So it is that, after the confusion of tongues and the dispersion of Babel, the scattered ones began to form legends — colored by their own experiences, environments and concepts — and in due season the distorted tales they built about the symbols lost all sight of their true meaning and they were used by greedy leaders to enslave their subject peoples through promotion of superstition and fear. Thus it was that the things of beauty were interpreted in terms of selfishness and all the sordid lusts of self-active human beings, thereby completing the fall in consciousness by which mankind forgot God and became blinded in following after their own fancies. Thousands of years later we find the so-called holy men of Oriental lands deluding themselves and others by their ascetic practices wherein some think to find illumination by long sitting in a cave in the mountains. Thus you behold the cave and the mountain, which were symbols of beauty and perfection in the Mother tongue, are now thought to be the thing rather than the symbol of the thing, and self-tortures bring suffering in useless and abhorrent practices of ascetic delusions which never touch the aesthetic mountaintop.
In this same manner it is seen that the human structure of concepts is so distorted that all worldly arguments over the relative merits of this or that belief are utterly useless, because neither side goes back to the true causes of things but they merely pit one erroneous theory against another, so that one is no more nearly right than the other. Yet the blinded ones loudly proclaim that if you disclaim the one, that makes you a believer in the other! Looks of horror and suspicion pass from one to another when any awakening one dares to say that all the things that man has builded in his self-activity are of no avail, that all are equally wrong, and that an entirely new vision is required if the truth is to be truly known. The blinded ones straightway conclude that any person who thus dares to cast aside the world's pet theories and high-sounding traditions must surely be either mad or — and this they whisper, with knowing nods, to be more likely — such unconventional attitudes must indicate a designing demon who would delude for selfish gain the ones who deem themselves to be prospective prey.
Thus it is that in self-righteous indignation the blinded ones turn on each and every prophet of the Lord who would lead the fettered ones from their slavery to the everlasting freedom of the mountaintop. Thus has the world rejected and condemned the faithful ones down through these twenty thousand years. And as they spared not, nor heeded, the Lord of All when He came among them, but hung Him on the cross in the place of the skull, so do you have no real cause for sorrow, but rather for rejoicing, when His words, even the Sermon on the Mount, are now fulfilled in you.
Nevertheless it is for each to take great care that he does not delude himself by excusing himself unwisely for unlovely traits of the unreal, which arouse the ire of his brother man, by thinking himself to be a martyr unjustly persecuted when in fact he surely ought to be ashamed of the ill things thus manifest in himself, rather than be gloating in false self-righteousness over his inability to dwell peacefully with his fellows. All too often have I beheld unworthy ones who came to me with long tales about their unjust sufferings at the hands of others, seeking thereby to receive words of sympathy from me by which they might be more fully lulled into their false sense of complacent martyrdom. Instead I have pointed them to the Central Way of true righteousness. And all too often they turned away in high indignation, proclaiming loudly their determination to stand for the right, just as if I had asked them to do something wrong, and as if I had denied all their precious good qualities, on which they had so long prided themselves. Actually, I had not denied anything of the real in them, but only pointed them to the right attitude by which they might be drawn out of their false position into the true and worthy harmonization both with God and man.
In the perfect function the results of perfect action will be imperfect to the degree of imperfect reaction in the persons, things and conditions involved. Blessed are they who understand this great truth. My perfect function secures results which are less than perfection as compared with the ultimate, because it is not my choice which governs the matter but rather the choices and actual reactions of all the persons directly and indirectly involved in any case. That does not mean that the results are expected to be perfect now, for they are not. Only a person deluded with foolish fancies would expect to experience perfect results in the world as it now is. Yet the degree of perfection made manifest on the best possible focalization of response in any given case gives great joy and is considered to be most pleasing insofar as that moment, at that point, is concerned. Such imperfect results are never thought to be final, or as worthy of contentment, in the view of those who know the Way. The blessed one rejoices in each expanding step, working and waiting patiently until the more nearly perfect form is brought forth; but even as he works he knows that the form which he draws into manifestation will not be perfect, in that the perfect form, with perfect results, must await the time of transition into the New Age state.
Consider the manner by which such an expression of the truth as this is brought forth for you. Its form, and expression of detail, are well-nigh perfect, in accordance with the present responsive need; but in the perfect state it would not be needed, and so would not be a perfect expression, no matter how true it is in filling present needs. This does not mean that the truth changes, for it does not; but it does mean that the form through which the truth expresses is perfect to the degree that it fills the present need. That which may now be formed to fill the present need is wisely used as long as need be, and then it should be allowed to pass away, that a new form may fill the need as the need shall then appear. Some there have been — whose lives did not give evidence of their wisdom! — who spoke derisively of me, saying that I never finish what I begin. If one judges from an outer-world standpoint which thinks that an empty and useless form should be kept and upheld just because it was once started, then such statements are partly true; but, for those who know the truth, it is easy to see that I do finish what I start, and being different from the outer world, I know when a given cycle is truly finished, in that it has served the purpose for which I brought it forth, and I let it go, giving my attention to such new formations as I may find needful to the meeting of the conditions which then appear.
For many days I have been drawing together the vibrations over which I am now expressing. For weeks and months I have been focalizing the responses by which this release of the Word of truth might be rightly formed and sent forth to accomplish that which should be done. As the flower grows, just so does the vibration of my expression grow. Patiently I tend and watch it develop, protecting it from all who would thoughtlessly harm or destroy it. Such forms as I have brought forth for your blessing have only been preparing the way whereby I might give form to that which you as yet cannot even conceive in imagination. The invisible vibrations are growing together, forming the spirit of that perfect form which is to be. But we all must be patient and let it work out in due season. If you try to speed it up or force the matter, you will only harm yourself and prevent your proper function in your own part and place. That which I do cannot be touched or harmed by the world, for human eyes cannot see it and human minds do not believe that it exists. They think that I am deluded in such things, little knowing how they delude themselves. So it is that we move on in the Central Way step-by-step as rapidly as the world response permits, and so do we accomplish that for which we have been sent into the world by the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings. Thrice blest are they who now let go into the living essence of these my words to you.
From the mountaintop you begin to feel and know a new attitude, and no longer are you looking as “through a glass, darkly.” You see how it is that the faithful one moves with caution and assurance in the Way, letting the vibrations of the spirit of the form become focalized and established before he attempts to bring forth the outer form thereof; for he who attempts to build a form without thought of the spirit thereof condemns himself thereby to endless and fruitless struggle. The Way of God is sure and certain, and the way of man in self-activity is bound to fail. Looking from the mountaintop, you begin to truly understand, and with true rejoicing you go forth to render your service in your place, according to the need of the world and according to the responsive need of those whose lives you contact in the Way. Remember that true love is as firm as it is gentle, and that when you let perfect love cast out all fear you cannot be turned from the Way which God has ordained for you. Arise and walk with me within the fire.
I selected those passages in order to help establish a realization of the fundamental nature of that in which we are engaged, so that the individual can, in the first place, see the facts as they are, and then reach a point where he stops using the facts as they are as an excuse for not being what he ought to be, because, as we let ourselves be subject to the things around us and the things of the past in various ways, we are failing to experience the fulness of life in this present moment, and we are not letting ourselves be in position to experience the fulness of that which is possible to us in the future. No one can live to himself alone. The wisest man, the most intellectual man in the world, put on an island, completely isolated from the rest of the world, with no means of communication whatsoever, would cease to have meaning to the rest of the world for so long a period as he was isolated. We are not creatures to be isolated one from another; we are members of one great family — the human family.
There have been all kinds of barriers and fences put up by human beings — barriers of race and dogma, nationalistic barriers, barriers of color, etc — but those barriers were not created by God. We have to live life in a world where those barriers exist, but they do not have to exist for us with respect to our own attitudes. These things that exist in the world that ought not to be, do not have to be controlling factors in our own inner lives. We can, in our own minds and hearts, be individual members of the human family, looking for that which is fine and noble and true in our brother or sister in that human family and, as we live in that spirit of the human family, we begin to realize that our lives are important to the whole only to the degree that they relate to the whole. To the degree that we make our lives self-centered, the expressions that are selfish being allowed to control, we cease having relatedness to the whole, and then we begin to feel that, somehow, the whole has no appreciation of us.
An individual, to enjoy life, must be appreciated by someone, somewhere, somehow. An individual, in order to experience the fulness of life, must learn how to share the expressions of life; he must learn how to live not to himself alone, and then there comes the realization that there is, in recognition of the Laws of Being, a practical, everyday experience of life that can be caused to help all who will respond to move onward toward higher ground, so that there may be more courage, more joy, more determination to let that which is beautiful, fine, noble and true have dominance in the world; because we find, actually, wherever we go, that there are so many fine people, so many people who are living the best they know how, so many people who long for a better world.
We have, in the past few years, seen a tremendous focalization of energy in the laying down of many lives and the spending of untold wealth, supposedly to make a better world. We will not question that for the moment, but if human beings will pay such a price for freedom, for a better world, why cannot we pay the price of full devotion consistently, every day, to that which will allow us to help to make this a better world? It is not enough just to have the flower of our youth destroyed in a war now and again to convince ourselves that we are working for a better world. True coordination in a better world would stop that carnage. We are working for peace that is world wide, but we know that peace must begin in the hearts and lives of men and women, and, until there is peace within individuals, there can hardly be true peace between individuals; and, when there is not peace in and between individuals within a nation, how can the peoples of nations have peace between nations? So, we recognize that, as we give heed to the Spiritual Realities of life, living for the purposes of peace, a life of Service, we are privileged to share what we conceive to be the highest calling possible to man in the world in this present day and age.
The Master said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” That we would do, so that when all of those who are letting the Light shine find unity of function and purpose, the Light will be so strong that it will dispel the darkness. When darkness is dispelled, fear is gone, because each can see and know for himself — when there is no fear, there is peace.
Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the holy privilege we have of serving Thee, of letting ourselves be drawn nearer unto Thee day by day, for thereby the Spirit of Thy Love and Thy Truth, and the Current of Thy Life, may reach forth in blessing to all who will receive, wheresoever they may be on the face of the whole earth, that all whose hearts yearn for peace may open their hearts to that peace which is of Thee, that they may then be instruments in Thy Hand, whereby that Peace may be established in the world for all the children of men, IN the Christ, now and forevermore. Aum-en.
For over twenty-two years now I have been giving services — four services a week for quite a while; more recently just two — also an indeterminate number of classes and lectures, talks of various kinds and descriptions. Very few, of course, have had opportunity to hear all these, but quite a number have heard many of them. A wide variety of subjects have been dealt with, in a variety of ways. At least for those who have had opportunity to participate with me in what has taken form in expression in this way, I would anticipate that they would be closely with me in understanding. And yet, I keep discovering that certain ones who should know better don’t — it would seem consequent upon not really paying attention to what was offered. I sometimes feel as though it is necessary for me, perhaps, to recapitulate all that has been said before, prior to giving a service; and yet, if I had to do that, the service would last at least a month! Surely you don’t expect me to recapitulate everything, but I do expect you to be aware of what went before, to the extent, at least, that you’ve had opportunity to be aware.
It is said that we must move from the known to the unknown. I always undertake to make this approach even though I don’t undertake to recapitulate everything that has been offered throughout the last twenty-two years. From those who have been associated with me for a goodly proportion of those years I expect much. My expectations are not always fulfilled, that is true. There is something we need to see here, however, as we begin to share in a greater experience of the spiritual state, which is new to us. Regardless of what we may have known to date in this regard, it has been rather little. And it has been, to a large extent, a spiritual appendage to the material condition. It seems to take a real crisis point to cause those concerned to awaken to what is already present but over the line of which I have been speaking. Now, we can wait for this intensity of crisis to occur and then see what the result is. How many would still be around? Or we can be willing to acknowledge the material habits with which we have been associated and stop following out the lines of thought that those habits tend to engender in our experience, that there may be a willingness to awaken to the truth because we are willing to let this be the nature of our momentary expression, relative to our momentary experience. No matter what it is that comes up, our first concern is to handle it rightly and effectively in spiritual expression, in the character and quality of our true nature, the spirit of the living God. If anything in your circumstance, in your experience, can distract you from that, you will be distracted, inevitably so. Sometimes mention has been made of homework, in times past. We are coming now to the point where it is going to be revealed how much homework has been done.
The angel is coming forth collectively speaking, and therefore individually speaking. The flaming sword is in the angel’s hand and is being wielded in that coming forth. I have mentioned that this is something that is happening, whether anyone wants it to happen, likes it or doesn’t like it, or anything else. If it happens in relationship to us first, this is because we have indicated that we are offering ourselves to the creative cycle. And so we should be content that it do so. Now, when we begin to feel that coming forth, because of a certain discomfort, we can either stand still and see the salvation of the Lord or we can try to escape. As we have noted in times past, over and over again, there are many methods that human beings use to escape. The very endeavor to escape, whatever method may be used, requires that one move away from the flaming sword; therefore, in moving away, one is moving away from the means by which the purifying might occur. The purifying is beginning to happen, so that one feels uncomfortable; identifying oneself with the discomfort, the endeavor is then made to move away from what seems to be causing the discomfort. What is causing the discomfort is actually the flaming sword. If one goes away far enough one may cease to feel the burning edge of that sword quite so keenly, and that may seem to be more comfortable; but as the coming forth of the sword continues, it covers more and more of the earth and there are fewer and fewer places to which one may escape, if one is going somewhere physically. At the moment there is quite a bit of space around, but you will note that it is hotting up everywhere on the face of the earth, in various ways. The time is not too far distant when there will be no place to go. So the only thing to do is to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
This is what happened when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt and they came to the Red Sea with Pharaoh and his armies in hot pursuit. The instruction by Moses was, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord,” see what the flaming sword does. In that case there was what has subsequently been described as a miracle. There is a distinction between what occurred then and what occurs now. The cleansing at that point was evidently by water; now it is by fire. But the instruction is just the same: “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Do you have sufficient nerve to do it? When the heat comes on and you are in a state of turmoil and utter confusion, terrified as the Israelites were, are you capable, in that crisis, of standing still and seeing the salvation of the Lord? Or, in such an experience, do you think of nothing else but getting away, of escaping? If you follow out the material compulsion, you lose the opportunity of letting the cleansing take place. And you lose it because you are fearful and ashamed, and you think you can’t face anything anymore, maybe other people, because you have a lot of wild imagination in that stressful state.
Obviously, if you come to such a condition, you need to pay attention to whoever the Moses is. There is always a Moses around who will speak the word, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” But a human being in that sort of an emotional state is inclined to be subject to the compulsion of his own earthly heredity, which has been accustomed to escaping on such occasions for twenty thousand years. So, the compulsion is strong, but there needs to be something stronger in you if you are to survive. And that something stronger is love for the Lord which causes you to heed the commandment of the Lord, through the lips of whoever, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Let the flaming sword move past you.
In moving past you it will consume that ill thing which is seeking to compel you to escape. And when it has moved past you, that particular aspect of the material state will have been burned away; it will have no more power to control you. But you can never experience that release without standing still. Yes, the angel is coming forth; the flaming sword is present and moving through all of us, with respect to all of us. We will find everything hotting up. I remind you in this hour that on every such occasion the word of the Lord is spoken on earth, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Be willing to let it happen. Don’t try to fight with Pharaoh. That’s fatal! Be not afraid, because you are willing to trust the Lord.
Long ago, when the Israelites had already come out of the land of Egypt, they had the opportunity of moving immediately into the promised land. Based upon their material condition, they refused to accept the opportunity and they were condemned to wander in the wilderness, in consequence, for forty years. The objective of that forty years was to allow the generation that came out of Egypt to die, because these were the ones who had rejected the opportunity of moving into the promised land when the opportunity was there. So the opportunity had to be provided for the subsequent generation. This meant that the previous one had to get out of the way, had to perish in the wilderness. What a very sad picture that was. The ones who should have known better didn’t behave on the basis of what they really knew. Is this not the tendency of human beings, to try to behave on the basis of what they don’t know? If we were concerned, always, to live on the basis of what we know, our knowing would increase. But how many times do you find yourselves trying to act on the basis of what you don’t know? If you try to do that, then you get desperate and afraid, because, after all, you don’t know and you are faced with a very fearful situation — the unknown. It’s terrifying, isn’t it? But what do you know? Sometimes those who have been associated with the Emissary ministry fail to realize how much they know, because they are always concerned about the things they think they don’t know: How about this? How about that? How about the other thing? — seeking assurance with respect to something that isn’t there. But the assurance is in what is there, what we do know.
“Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” You know that. You know that’s the thing to do, don’t you? Wouldn’t you agree that you know, at this moment at least, that that’s the thing to do? Fear always relates to something you don’t know. Never become subject to what you don’t know; accept into your expression of living what you do know. I’m talking about the truth, the truth you know. And one aspect of that is, in a point of crisis: Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, regardless of what your emotions say, regardless of what your ideas and concepts may be as to the terrible state you would experience if you stood still. It is the only safe thing to do. No matter what the uproar may be, and we may feel emotional disturbances all around us, if we stand still we remember the instruction contained in a verse of the 91st Psalm: “Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked” — not with your heart, but just in observation. You see all this going on, you see the waves and the wind all around, “but it shall not come nigh thee” if you stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Your heart belongs to the Lord; it doesn’t belong to the turmoil. If you refuse to let the turmoil take over your feelings you are safe. If you let the turmoil take over your feelings, then, like Peter when he was already walking on the water, you begin to sink: “Save me, Lord, save me.” Very fortunately He is a merciful Lord, and He does stretch out His hand on occasion and provide what is necessary so that the individual does not entirely perish at that point. But that sense of failure on Peter’s part stayed with him; he was very much aware of the fact of his own wavering, so that later, when he found himself in another crisis, pressure point, he denied his Lord.
We make a habit of these things until we face the issue. And the easiest moment to face it is always that moment that is here. So often human beings think that when something arises, a pressure point, they are not going to face this pressure point. Perhaps another later on will be more convenient; but they can’t do it now. You will find that whatever it is that comes to you first is the easiest thing. Anything that you put off will be harder, because there will be the thing that you missed before and then the next thing added to it. And so it goes — and it goes — and all too many eventually find there is such an overwhelming condition that they can’t handle it at all. Do your homework. Face the thing that is there, quick, before it slips past you. Don’t try to escape merely by turning a blind eye. You need the eye to see it for the heart to stay true to the Lord. Then in each little thing you stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. That becomes a habit. Now, obviously there are greater pressure points to arise in the days to come; but if we have the experience of handling them rightly as we have moved along the way, we will have the assurance that we may do so no matter what may come in the future. And we don’t need to speculate. You’re not required to handle that imaginary thing, so why fuss with it? Handle the thing that is present in spiritual expression and you will find that what is natural to you in this regard will come forth in your experience.
We have considered the matter of the priesthood. The priesthood provides the capstone of the pyramid of man. Man as a whole may be symbolized by a pyramid. The capstone of a pyramid is a little pyramid. Everything that is in the pyramid is present, in essence, in the capstone. If we see the capstone as symbolizing the priesthood, then we may recognize that all that is true of man as a whole is true with respect to the priesthood. This is why the priesthood can represent man to God and also God to man. This is the position of the priesthood. The priesthood provides the means of government insofar as man is concerned, and man provides the means of government insofar as his total field of responsibility is concerned. If we remember the Israelites of old — after they came out of Egypt and the tabernacle had been built, when they camped, the tabernacle was at the center of the encampment, with the Levites, who were the priesthood, camped round about it. Round about the Levites were the twelve tribes encamped. Here we have a rather broad indication of the requirements insofar as man is concerned. Remembering that man is spiritual, the Israelites at that time represented man. According to the story, they didn’t do too good a job of representing man, who is spiritual — they tended to represent material man all too much, which wasn’t what was required of them. However, we can see the principle.
There was a tabernacle, representing the Lord; there was the priesthood, representing the spiritual expression level of man; and there was the encampment of the twelve tribes, representing the mental and physical levels of man. All that was present in the whole pyramid of representation by the Israelites was in essence in the capstone, symbolizing the priesthood. There were those at the capstone of the capstone, who had very specific responsibility with respect to the priestly requirements of serving in the holy place of the tabernacle — this capstone of the capstone was the spiritual expression level of the priesthood. But then there were those in the base of the capstone, that represented the mental and physical levels of the priesthood. It was not a though all the priesthood should be in the capstone of the capstone. There has to be representation at all levels of the capstone insofar as man as a whole is concerned.
What is here at Sunrise Ranch relates very specifically to this capstone of the priesthood. It’s not altogether a geographical thing — there are those who are of the priesthood at 100 Mile House, and many others in the field. In fact, all of those who are beginning to play a part in what is unfolding in our collective experience compose the priesthood at the present time. But in the priesthood there are these various levels. Everybody is not at the same level; everybody is not supposed to be at the same level. In the encampment of the tribe of Levi there were those in the encampment there, Levites, who necessarily cooked the meals, did the laundry, and cared for all the various things that were required insofar as the encampment of the tribe of Levi was concerned; doing very much the same thing as was being done by many more people in the larger encampment of the twelve tribes.
We need to see this with respect to our own experience, because the coming forth of the angel relates first to the priesthood. They are rightly at the apex, and what is coming forth comes down from God out of heaven into the earth first through the priesthood, that there may be a purification of the priesthood — of the capstone of the total pyramid. And the purification occurs all through the various levels of that capstone. There are those who find themselves taking care of the mundane tasks here, for instance, and they may begin to think to themselves, “Well, I’m not part of the capstone because I’m down here serving in this fashion, therefore it really doesn’t matter so much how I behave. It’s not so important that I handle these things in spiritual expression, because, after all, there is the capstone of the capstone up there and they are doing what is required in that exalted place, and I’m just down here.” Well, we can look at this with respect to the Unit here, or we can look at it from a broader perspective. The same sort of thing is known by everyone. There are various levels, but every level in the priesthood, where the first fruits are, must allow spiritual expression which is fitting at the particular level where the individual is.
This begins to emphasize the fact that there are these levels, and each individual is inclined to reveal the level at which he may effectively function. Some people feel that it is incumbent upon them to try to keep scrambling up to some exalted level that they think they see, when they do not have the capacity in actual fact to function at that level, because it is not required of them. There is a need for people to be content at the level which is the proper and fitting level of their own experience. We all have our natural level in fact, and we are happy at that natural level. The only incentive there is is the experience that is known when spiritual expression is offered in the circumstance at the level where we belong. This is not to say that there may not be a rising up to a higher level in season. But here is a material viewpoint that needs to pass away, that somehow or other, if one is higher in the pyramid, or in the capstone of the pyramid, that that is better, that somehow one will be better. The point is that man is perfect when he is man, and he is man when he has filled out all the levels that are in the pyramid. It would be ridiculous to suppose that all human beings could be at the apex of the pyramid — there wouldn’t be any pyramid then. And it is the pyramid that is perfect. Therefore, as there are those who are allowing this pyramid to be, there is the experience of perfection, no matter at what level the individual may find his natural expression. I don’t think any of us are aspiring to take the place of our Lord and King. Why would we? He’s doing His job perfectly. Let us do our job perfectly, wherever we may happen to be. But it does require, in every instance, that, whatever the level of our expression may be, it should be perfect at that level. If we aspire to some level that is not natural to us, our expression will not be perfect; it won’t belong.
We are part of one whole and we are content to allow that whole to appear in whatever way is fitting. So there are many levels of living, and we naturally find our own level when we are not trying to be something that we are not. Accepting the quality and nature of our own individually unique expression, we discover where we belong. We are quite content to be where we belong. All this striving, ambitious endeavor on the part of human beings is a quality of the material state which must pass away. It is such a delight to be oneself! When you are yourself, no one can take your place. There are no substitutes for you, in reality.
So we have shared something of a vision with respect to the natural experience which comes in the spiritual state of man. At the moment this relates more specifically to the priesthood, the capstone of the pyramid. I have spoken about these things this evening. You’ve all shared in what has been expressed, I trust not trying to grasp anything but just letting it flow. If you have, it is present with you and will not need any later recapitulation. I suspect however, that you have not seen or understood everything that has been offered. And so there will be opportunity for recapitulation, because every service is videoed, transcribed, and released for everyone in various ways — that those who choose to pay attention may never indicate that the provision has not been adequately made. It is all there, always.
