Spiritual Interpretation of Scripture
| Chapter - Unveiling the Christ
Assuming the troubles and burdens of others is one beautiful way to let in discords. Our task should be the realization of the freedom of everyone -- even those who appear outwardly in bondage to sense. To sympathize or pity them is to accept the conditions real, and this opens our thoughts to many errors. In one way or another you are accepting the suggestion of error -- and usually it is through some form of human love or hate. Wake up. I mean wake up this minute. See your human love or hate as mesmeric suggestion. See it for what it is and stop being handled by it. Stop your sympathy and pity for the embattled Greeks or the starving Armenians or the persecuted Jews. This will not make you hardhearted, but it will enable you to pierce the veil of illusion and thus help the receptive thought. Your sympathy will only fasten the condition more firmly in thought. If you pity your patient, you will not heal him. "Loose him and let him go" -- or can't you do that? In connection with the affairs of the world today, we need to remember certain Biblical laws, which ordinarily are not thought of in connection with national and international events. For instance, 'whatsoever a man soweth, so shall he reap'. This is taught as a law of Christ. Is this law really binding upon you? Is it binding upon men individually and collectively? It is true that if we sow seeds of slavery, theft and injustice upon those who cannot defend themselves, that we in turn must be exploited -- revenged upon? It would appear so from this law. Jesus said, "Go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you." If this is true, can we not see a reason for the evil now being suffered by nations for these very crimes? If it is true that as you sow, so shall you reap, it is clear that we need go no further for the reason for the world's ills and for the solution. If it is a law that of a nation places another in slavery to itself; if it exploits the assets and resources of other lands; if it so controls another as to prevent education, culture, spiritual and economic freedom of whole peoples -- then is it not clear why so many Imperial nations -- that is, countries owning and exploiting foreign empires -- must eventually be paying the score now? Under this Christian law, would not the exploiter eventually be exploited? Would not the citizens of these exploiting nations, by their silent acquiescence, be made a party to the punishment? In philosophy this is called the law of cause and effect; in Oriental philosophy it is known as Karma, or payment for sins and rewards for good. Karma is the Christ law of "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" and the philosopher's law of cause and effect. If this is all true, the chaos of today will not be settled by human agreements, nor by prayers to God to set aside the laws of Scripture. One way alone is open. 'Wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." When the people of the world forego the evil practices of their governments and adopt a policy of equal love to all mankind -- only then will individual and national and international harmony appear. "Think on these things." The real significance of Jesus' ministry is lost if we do not grasp his statements: "I can of mine own self do nothing" and "the words I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." Jesus did not say these things in modesty, but as actual facts. There is a Christ within the individual and Jesus was conscious of this Presence, and he found it possible to do nothing of himself, but to let this inner Presence do all things for him. You can readily understand that with the actual awareness of an infinite Power and Presence within him, Jesus did not have to 'take thought' for any detail of his experience. He could always count upon It -- depend fully upon It -- to provide all things, to heal for him, even to feed five thousand when necessary. It was like the fable of having a lamp to rub. But it is not a fable, because the Within knows the need even before it becomes humanly apparent. I suppose that at first we need some measure of faith to believe that there is such a thing as this Christ. No doubt, brought up as we have been, we simply cannot understand that there is more to us than body and thinking capacity. Taught as we have been for so long that we must be "go-getters" -- that "the early bird catches the worm" -- it must be difficult to realize that there is another Way -- spelled with a capital "W" -- an infinite Way, or may I rather say, a Way which is infinite, eternal, harmonious, joyful, successful and oh, so real and lasting, leaving no bitterness in the mouth. This infinite Way is Christ, therefore, I AM the Way -- or, the Way is I AM. Witnessing the great works of Moses, Solomon, Elijah, Jesus; noting the lasting qualities of the Buddha, Shankara -- we must admit they had the conscious awareness of Something more than humanhood. This something is the same Christ, the Spirit of God in them, which is also in you. The consciousness of this Presence within makes available to any individual the whole Power and Presence manifested and demonstrated by Jesus. Do you begin to see how unnecessary it was for Jesus to strive or struggle for good in any form? Can you begin to see why he sent the disciples out into the world "without purse, and scrip." Could there ever have been an occasion for Jesus to be jealous or envious of another or of another's possessions -- not merely because he was a good man, but because he was consciously aware of the Presence and Power which could supply every need without drawing from another person's supply? The Christ, or Spirit of God, is present within or as the Consciousness of everyone of the past ages, of the present and of those still to appear to our sight. There has never been a need for greed, lust, miserliness, hoarding, stealing or marauding -- except that men have lost their awareness of this Within. You have It. It is a slumbering Giant in you -- or perhaps you are the slumbering one with a very wakeful Giant within -- and perhaps this Infinity is kicking so hard at your inner being that it forced you here to awaken to its Presence. At first glance, this appears to be the solution to your problems and mine only -- but right here it becomes necessary for us to realize what change would take place should men and women awaken to this truth. Perhaps what I have said will make plain to you why there have always been wars, covetousness, false desires, and ambitions. Does this not make the reasons for all the world problems clear to you? Can you not see how inevitable these problems are and will be as long as man believes that he of his own self must provide, achieve, accomplish? As long as man attempts to solve the riddle of supply with human means there will be recourse to the misuse of these powers. The human mind and material force do not contain the answer to universal peace, harmony and prosperity. The realization of the spiritual Light or Presence within is the only permanent solution. At the moment, the task of realization of the Christ seems hopeless on any world- wide scale. So few individuals have at any one time had this conscious awareness, that it does not seem hopeful that mankind will awaken now in any great numbers. And yet there are signs that this may be taking place. The very depth of the world's need may be driving it awake -- or perhaps consciousness has been getting prepared for it since time began through a process of evolution. First, however, let us admit there is an infinite Way and that Way is Christ -- or rather the consciousness of the presence of the Spirit within. Then let us strive, through dwelling on the idea, through meditation, prayer or communion, to attain this consciousness -- then live it, teach it, show forth its healing influence so that all receptive to it will open up in its Light and warmth. At this point, I feel that some of you will start checking with yourselves to see if you are living up to the standard of conduct outlined here -- and perhaps will believe that your human conduct will advance you spiritually. Now reverse that: as your spiritual nature unfolds, your so-called human conduct improves. Too many already believe that if they can improve their human thoughts and acts, it will bring them closer to the spiritual sense. Reverse that: in proportion as spiritual consciousness becomes more real, the conditions of so-called human existence improve; therefore, do not make the effort to improve your self humanly, but keep your vision on the spiritual and real, and let your so-called human life unfold progressively. One might believe that gaining physical health or wealth is a step towards the spiritual. In that case, exercise and diet would be an aid to spirituality -- or a successful business might help. No. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." As you live in a higher consciousness - on a higher plane -- your human world so -- called will unfold harmoniously, joyfully, peacefully and successfully. For this reason, the exercise of the human thought is not the factor in healing or in being healed. As spiritual Truth reveals itself in your consciousness, the harmony of body or business appears in tangible evidence; therefore, receptivity should be your watchword. It may be tantalizing to be told that the attempted improvement of human thought and conduct is not the basis of spiritual development. We are really trying so hard to be so careful of our thinking and acting. Well -- that does no harm; perhaps even that effort is Spirit's way of breaking through. Only be careful -- don't stop there. Human goodness is but a way station on the way with a capital "W". GRACE: There is an invisible bond between all of us -- that is one reason we have been brought together. We are not met together as humans. The aims and motives which govern humans are not in operation here. We are not here to get anything from one another -- but to share the spiritual treasures which emanate from God -- the Light of our being. Our interest and aim in being here is the unfolding of the Spirit within. We do not look upon each other as man or woman, rich or poor, grand or humble. At least for the hour all human values are submerged in our common interest: to seek and find the Kingdom within. We see each other as fellow-travelers on the Path of Light; we share our unfoldments, our experiences and our spiritual resources. We would not withhold any of these from each other. Of that I am positive and you are too. Likewise, there is no envy or jealousy of each other's spiritual experiences or attainments. Let us even for a moment realize that whatever we have of supply, position, human prestige or power, health, beauty and wealth, is the gift of God and, therefore, available to all of us in the measure of our openness of consciousness -- and you can see how we could carry our impersonal love out into the human factors of existence. Let us once catch the vision that whatever anyone possesses, even of what appears to be as human values, is but the expression of a state of consciousness, and it would be as impossible to envy or desire any of the other's possessions or lands as it would be to envy our neighbor his sunshine in the garden. The first step in living without taking thought -- living by Grace -- living in universal peace -- must begin here and now. Begin with the understanding that we are not humans, but that we are actually the Christ; that all that I have is of the Father, therefore, it is spiritual; that every one of us is "joint-heir with Christ" and we need not labor, strive, struggle or work for that which is divinely ours. You know that no human element has entered this relationship. No one wants or can get anything of a material nature from another; no one has in thought the social or financial position of another; we have but one thing in thought when we gather and that is the unfoldment of our awareness of spiritual Truth and Light. Now let us stop for a moment and realize this momentous statement: all that any one here possesses, even of a seemingly material nature, is the unfoldment of their own state of consciousness and, therefore, belongs only to the possessor; that what we have or have not is the expression of our individual state of consciousness and we can have as much more as we desire by enlarging the borders of our understanding and realization. Nothing that we could get from another could ever be ours -- even if we got it legally; it would still belong only to the one with the consciousness of it. And what is yours is eternally yours and only because it is your state of consciousness in expression. Now -- in the name of God -- who and what is there to envy, hate, fear or desire? All that the Father (my very own consciousness) hath -- is mine. The realization of this Truth would make of us lifelong friends -- living without a human fear, lust, greed or any other negative emotion. We would be in a Garden of Eden. This is the first step toward living by Grace -- and this is our first recognition of an invisible spiritual tie binding us in an eternal, impersonal brotherhood of Love. By degrees we will extend this vision and the invisible chain. Return to "Spiritual Interpretation of Scripture" Book Menu Page |
I find it necessary to repeat that you will make no headway spiritually until you acknowledge that the Mind of you is the only law unto your affairs. There is nothing outside or apart from you acting upon your health or body. If there is a discord or in harmony, you yourself must realize that the mesmerism of sense cannot use you as a target or victim. True, the error of sense is not personal; it is not you who are the sinner or wrong thinker -- yet it is you who are accepting some suggestion, which in turn is manifesting as sin or fear or disease. Sometimes evil comes to us in the guise of good.