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- Herausgeber: Musaicum Books
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
In 'THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM' by Joseph Benner, readers embark on a spiritual journey exploring the concept of the inner kingdom of God within each individual. Written in a poetic and metaphorical style, the book guides readers through self-discovery and awakening to the divine presence within. Benner's use of allegory and mysticism creates a mystical atmosphere reminiscent of other spiritual classics such as 'The Prophet' by Kahlil Gibran. The timeless message of finding inner peace and spiritual fulfillment resonates with readers seeking a deeper understanding of their own existence and connection to the universe. Benner's profound insights into the nature of humanity and the pursuit of spiritual truth make 'THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM' a compelling read for anyone on a path of self-discovery and enlightenment.
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THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
“SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM”
THESE words are addressed to those who are seeking the way into the Kingdom of God—the Kingdom where a Great Love and Wisdom, the serving and the inspiring of others, and the utter forgetfulness of self, are the natural life of everyone who dwells therein.
If you who read have reached that stage on your journey through life where the world without can offer you nothing that will stay your efforts to find that Kingdom, and you welcome any directions that will clearly point you there, then you are ready for these words, and they will be to you a quickening power that will hasten you on your way and perhaps will enable you speedily to reach the goal.
One traveling in a new country is always better able to make his way if provided with maps and information about the conditions to be met and the requirements to be observed along the route. Therefore, we will first try to map out for you the various stages of the journey into the Kingdom, and to tell you of some of the conditions through which you will pass, and what will be required if you expect to reach your journey’s end without mishap or undue delay.
This naturally is no new knowledge being offered you, but is what has been learned and tabulated from the experience of many who have passed over this route—the one over which we would direct you, and which is the narrow and only way that leads straight into the Kingdom.
All may essay the journey into that far country. Indeed, many have started more or less consciously on it, but are now loitering on the way, enticed by the myriad allurements of the senses, the emotions, or the intellect, and by yielding to the appeals of the self to halt and enjoy. Only the few, the very few so far, the earnest and determined ones, and for whom these words are intended, are definitely consecrated to winning the goal. These it is our purpose to help reach it quickly, and to inspire them to help recall the loiterers to their objective and speed them on their way; for it is vitally important at this time that every soul seeking the light but whose human self is wandering in darkness, be led back upon the path.
If you are one of the earnest ones, you will recognize much of what follows as part of your own past experience. Others, it will help to understand the meaning of that through which they are passing. This journey into the Kingdom, sometimes called “The Path,” is symbolized in the allegory of the Prodigal Son, who wasted his substance in riotous living and, when he had spent all and could nowhere get anything to eat, remembered that the hired servants in his father’s home had plenty of bread and to spare; and he awoke to who and what he was, and rose up and said, “I will go to my father and will say unto him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight; make me as one of thy hired servants.’ ”
The Prodigal’s journey back to his father’s home was not as speedy as the allegory seems to depict. Jesus mentioned none of the vicissitudes of the way; He only wanted to show that the Father is always waiting and can see us coming afar off, and will lovingly welcome us and shower upon us all the good things of life when we come back consciously into His home and love.
This journey, in reality, is a long one, covering a greater or less period of years, oftentimes several lifetimes, depending upon the nature and soul status of the individual. The early stage of the journey is evidenced by a spiritual awakening similar to that of the Prodigal Son, followed by an intense and eager thirst for knowledge of the realities of life; a turning away from former sense attractions and obeying an insistent urge from within to seek Truth wherever it can be found. In this stage the urge is largely unconscious to the seeker, especially as to its meaning and purpose; only the insistent desire to know being felt and that desire has to be satisfied.
Gradually, through the deeper knowledge of the meaning of life gained as a result of the cumulative force of this urge, something unfolds in the consciousness. It can be likened to the life within the stalk, concentrating, as it were, upon the building and forming of the bud, pushing out, expanding, swelling itself, becoming big with that which is unfolding, evolving from itself. It can also be likened to the conception and growth of the child in the womb of the mother, and approaching the birthing time.
For that which is felt by the seeker is indeed a birthing—it is the stirring of the Christ-child within, the life that has concentrated in your part of the human stalk now grown to the stage where it can unfold its true nature—your Love nature, and can come forth and blossom in your life as a compelling desire to help others and especially to give to them of the truths you have found.
Such is the sure outcome of such seeking—for those who are not seeking merely for self but to use the knowledge gained for the good that may be done with it. The Christ- child is born in the heart, the bud opens into the blossom, and the fragrance and beauty of the life within shows and proves itself to all who are near.
This is the first stage of the journey back to the Father’s house. It is called the stage of the Aspirant or the Neophyte. It is necessarily a long and very gradual stage, starting with some definite experience—perhaps a physical healing by a Metaphysician, the death of one very dear, or some extreme mental suffering—which are the birth-pangs preceding the awakening of the Spiritual nature. With such there is born the urge to know for one’s self, and after many years of following this urge it develops into a final push which results in an expansion of consciousness and opens up a new world, one of which previously the seeker had been wholly unaware, although it had always been present awaiting his recognition.
There were many soul experiences leading up to this point, many steps along the Path, many vicissitudes and trials, and much mental suffering over leaving behind worn-out joys and useless habits and possessions acquired in the old state of consciousness. This may have resulted in decided changes in outer conditions and things; wealth gained by selfish, ruthless methods; health always before natural and unconsidered,—these now taken away, and their lack a constant source of concern. All or many of the old states of mind given place to new ones, thus prepared the way for the new birth.
From all this seeking, most students think that what was gained was merely some knowledge of life’s realities. But the gaining of any Truth avails little unless the living of that Truth and the building of it into soul consciousness has become the supreme desire of the Aspirant. When such a desire has been awakened, the soul dedicates itself to living a life of Truth, or consecrates itself to God or Christ in fervent prayer and supplication, after which sooner or later the birth takes place.
At the time the Aspirant most likely will not be aware of what is happening, but he will soon realize an increase of inspiration; a coming in touch with others who will open up new and higher fields of study; a clearer grasping of essential truths, and a discarding of the unimportant; and he will realize God and Christ in some intangible way as being much closer, more real, more approachable and loving. For They have in very truth heard his supplication, have accepted his dedication, and are taking him at his word. He has now deliberately consecrated himself to the Higher Life and has set his feet definitely on the Path. The finding of the Kingdom has become the goal, even if he may not be fully conscious of it in his brain mind.
After this new birth, this dedication, the Aspirant enters the second stage of the journey—he now becomes a Disciple on probation. In other words, he is given his chance to prove whether he is worthy and qualified to enter the Kingdom.
OUR IMMEDIATE PURPOSE
As our goal is the finding of the Kingdom, the aim and purpose of those back of this Work is to help and encourage all earnest seekers by providing the necessary instructions for self-discipline and training that will enable them to attain spiritual enlightenment individually. The Master within the heart of each Aspirant has called him to come within and follow Him. To all who follow and obey, His Knowledge, Love and Power are ever available and will be given freely to those who no longer seek anything for self, but only to help and serve their fellow men.
Spiritual enlightenment can be gained only upon the straight and narrow path that leads to the Kingdom. Therefore the seeking of the Kingdom must be made the first thing in your life; that sets your feet firmly upon the path. It is not impossible to find the Kingdom, no matter how long or how unsuccessfully you have sought in the past. All that it takes is earnest and determined effort under the guidance that will be given. But it must be the first and the supreme desire of your heart. No other desire can supersede it. You must want it more than any other thing in life. When that desire has become supreme, it will not be long, for all the Brothers in the Kingdom nearest you will be with you in your search, helping, inspiring, and strengthening you in every possible way.
THE KINGDOM
We will try to give you a glimpse of what the Kingdom will mean to you when you find it—not what you will find there, but how you may know when you have found it.
We all know that Jesus found it, for He tells of it with the authority of one who knows. We speak of Him as Jesus, the Christ. The Christ, or the Christos, is a title given to one who has reached a certain Spiritual unfoldment. It means “The Anointed One.” We know from certain statements of Jesus that most of His teaching was done while in the Christ Consciousness. Whenever He used the words, “I am,” in the peculiar way He did, such as, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” “I am the vine,” “I am the door,” etc., we know it was not from the human mind that Jesus spoke, but from the Holy Spirit within Him, or from His Christ Consciousness. We are told that when Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him as a dove and abode with Him.
All these experiences will come to every seeker of the Kingdom sooner or later. After the Christ-child born in the Aspirant is grown to maturity of Discipleship during the testing and proving period of the Probationary stage, and has come to the Jordan state (beyond which lies the “Promised Land”) he is ready for baptism and to begin his lifework as an Accepted Disciple. Then will be given him the baptism of the Holy Spirit, during which the Spirit of God, which means God’s Consciousness, will descend and enter in and abide with the Disciple. This Spirit is the Christos, and the Disciple becomes the “Anointed One.” Jesus was the “first fruit” of them that slept.
Now the Christ Consciousness or the baptism of the Holy Spirit must come to all before they can enter the Kingdom. In fact, the Christ Consciousness gives the right of admission to the Kingdom, and is the Consciousness of everyone who abides in the Kingdom. And what is the nature of that Consciousness? It is Divine Love, which must be born in the heart of every seeker, must be nourished and thrive and grow until it becomes the very life of the Disciple. When in ripened maturity, after many given opportunities have proven that Love is the nature of his soul and is not of the mind only, the Disciple is permitted to enter into the joy of His Lord, the Christ, and to abide with Him in the Kingdom of His Father’s Consciousness.
All this may be beyond the present comprehension of some who read, but if something deep within impels you to seek out its real meaning, telling you that it is for you fully to know and to possess, then it is earnestly hoped you will obey, and nothing will be permitted to stop you until you have made His Consciousness your consciousness.
INNER WORK
By the foregoing you will perceive that this must be an inner work and, of necessity, an individual work; for no one can do it for you or can help you, other than to point out the way and explain the experiences through which you pass— if you cannot get their meaning direct. For remember, there is always One who is ready and waiting to explain and teach you all things—your own Higher Self, the I AM, the Christ of you, dwelling within your heart, in the Kingdom there.
We take it that all of you who read and are deeply interested are more or less acquainted with His Presence within you. If not, as we are going to speak much of Him from now on, we urge that you begin to learn to know Him intimately, if you wish fully to appreciate and profit by what is contained in these lessons. To that end we suggest a careful study of “The Impersonal Life,” for the consciousness from which its words were written is His Consciousness, which is also in you—is the Light which lighteth you, and from which consciousness each one of you may speak and teach your own self.
As a part of our work we purpose to bring out the inner meaning of certain teachings already given. All must admit that enough teachings have been given and are available to all who are ready for them. Comparatively few, however, are able to get more than an intellectual understanding of them as yet. It is only by opening up the inner meaning to the mind that the Spirit within is quickened.
All earnest ones, as they grow and unfold spiritually, through study and meditation, will receive guidance and instruction from their Higher Self in symbolic dreams and visions. They should keep a diary of such, writing down every spiritual experience, as they will prove of great value to the one receiving them when correctly interpreted. They will, in fact, aid in determining the stage on The Path of the soul to whom they are given. Assistance in the interpretation of such experiences will be gladly given on request.
THE PLAN
This being an Inner Work, no outer organization is necessary. As individuals come into the enlightenment that awaits, they will naturally enter into the realization of who they are and of what they are a part. That realization will show them that they are in very fact disciples of the Master, and that Master is even Christ, the Higher Self of them and of their brothers, and they will know that they are an integral part of the GREAT BROTHERHOOD of the Spirit of which He is the Supreme Head and Life. This finding and knowing the real Brotherhood of the Spirit that exists within and back of the personalities of their fellows is finding the Christ in His Kingdom, and this realization will prove to be a Haven of Refuge in which, while abiding in it, no outer force or circumstance can reach or affect them. Only when in this Haven can one know and be sure of the Master’s Voice and can be led, taught, guarded and cared for by Him when necessary.
Our part is to help quicken all truly earnest ones into finding and entering this Haven of Refuge—the actual consciousness of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and to enlist them in His Service. This will link and bind them in Spirit, making them one in Christ. The only outer linking will be after the inner pattern. Wherever possible, Aspirants will form naturally into Groups for meditation and service. Each Group will thus be a Chalice serving as a cup or reservoir into which will be poured all the Love and Wisdom of the Master and of THE GREAT BROTHERHOOD, and which will flow—as water flows through a faucet turned on—to each Aspirant for use in Service as they consciously connect up with THE BROTHERHOOD of which they are a part.
The quickening of our younger brothers is our sole purpose in this book, and the carrying of the Light of the Christ to all seekers wandering in the darkness of separation is our chief endeavor. But let none of us forget that we of ourselves can do nothing. Only as we give ourselves over wholly to the Father’s will, being concerned only that we are letting Him lead and speak through us, permitting no thoughts to enter our minds that are not His thoughts, can we do His work as He intends it to be done.
Many have been expecting and longing to be given some real work, not realizing they have already been given it in the past; but because it was not something definite in the way of healing or helping others, and was instead a work of preparation, a learning to discipline and control the mind and the emotions so as to enable the Aspirant to enter the desire and mental planes of consciousness as master of self when necessary to go thence, they think they have accomplished nothing, and long for tasks for which they are not yet fitted.
It is all a part of the injunction, “Seek ye first the Kingdom, etc,” for you cannot find the Kingdom until you are able to control those forces of your emotional and mental nature that heretofore had their way with you almost unopposed. If and when you are able to command, “Be Still, and know I AM,” and be instantly obeyed on all planes of consciousness, then and then only will you be able to do the work that will be given you; for then only can you work in the Consciousness and with the Power of Christ—the Master within.
There is a real work—much real work to do, and never doubt, when you have once proven your ability to do it and to subject your self and your whole nature to the Master’s will, and when they have become an impersonal instrument which He can use, you will be given so much to do that there will be little time left to think of self and its concerns.
DEFINITE WORK
Daily meditation is the first and most important requisite of the Aspirant. No real progress can be made without it. To help prepare and start you on the right kind of meditation, study carefully and use often the Meditation No. 1, to be found in the appendix. In it is condensed the essence of Jesus’ teaching, and there is nothing that will help you more to find the Loving Christ and His Kingdom within than its illuminating words.
This Work has in it no place for laggards or for the mentally lazy. It is only for those who are imbued with an unquenchable determination and a fiery zeal to find the Master and the Kingdom.
Many think they can contrive no regular time to meditate, but in bed after retiring or early in the morning are times always available if really sought, and are often most satisfactory. There will be no danger of falling asleep when the mind learns to obey you. Again, while doing simple tasks around the home or in the office or factory, real meditation can be done and most profitably. It is really possible at such times, as you will find, to “be in the world but not of it,” for you can go in thought wherever you will, while your hands are busy at their regular work.
Instead of worrying about it, simply put it up to the Higher Self, stating that you earnestly desire the time and opportunity to do regular meditating, and if He sees you really mean it and want it, you will find it will be arranged for you in a most natural manner—if you leave it in His hands and trust it all to Him.
Therefore rouse yourself to action. The Kingdom is not for those who still crave for or are held by the allurements of the world, the flesh, or the devil—self. The time has come when all such must be left behind, if you would lift your heart and mind to Christ. When you have found—earned—Him, then you will join with the other Brothers of the Kingdom in helping those who will be sent to you also to find Him and THE BROTHERHOOD, of which you will then be a conscious integral part.
While meditating, an effort should always be made in the I AM consciousness to command the forces of the mind, the emotions, and the physical senses to be still and know that You—the God of you—speaks and must be obeyed.
Eventually, after persistent effort, you will realize that you are that Consciousness, and that these forces are listening to and obeying you. Then, in that Consciousness, you can continue speaking as in “The Impersonal Life,” and your mind will receive and accept what comes as from the God of you, and you will know Who you are.
CHAPTER 2
“THE LIGHT WHICH LIGHTETH EVERY MAN”A THOUGHT FOR CHRISTMAS
IT IS fitting at the Christmas season, when all Christians are celebrating the birth of the Christ, that those traveling the journey to the Kingdom should strive to realize fully what that birth has meant and now means to each one who experienced it.
Therefore try to recall that experience in your life—when you first felt the quickening of the Christ-child (Love) in the womb of your heart, when it began to stir actively there, not only making you very conscious of its presence, but compelling you to cherish, serve, and worship it; until finally, when undergoing some deep, soul-stirring experience, the day of delivery came, and there was born from within a new consciousness—a yearning to love and bless and to help everyone to come into that new world of understanding you had entered, and which now is the all compelling spirit of your life.
You will remember that this experience came when you were shepherding your thoughts during the night period, when all seemed most dark and you were sustained only by the faith born of your long seeking. It was then that a glow of wonderful light flooded your night of waiting, and a song as of angels filled your consciousness. In deepest humility, you sought to know the meaning of it all, and you soon found there was cradled in your heart a tender, beautiful, all-compelling love, that from then on filled and possessed you, and gradually grew in power until it influenced and inspired much of your thinking, speech, and actions.
Surely at the Christmas season we should remember the birth of the Christ-child, especially now that we know that It is the actual love of our Father-God—His Holy Spirit, growing, thriving, working in our hearts, seeking to merge our whole nature—body, mind and soul—with His Nature, that He may without hindrance live His life in us, do His will in us, and be His Christ-self in us.
Ah, dear ones, let us not only remember, but let us open our hearts wide that He, the Blessed One, may come forth and possess us and do with us as He wills. May we dedicate ourselves wholly to Him, letting His Love be our life, and our bodies and brain minds His perfect means of expression.
It is true that some who read may deem the above but words, it having no real meaning for them, the Christ-child not yet having been quickened in their hearts. To such we would say with Jesus, “Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Like Nicodemus, they may be masters of Israel and have great occult knowledge of the law and of the inner worlds, but unless they are born of the water of Divine Inspiration and of the spirit of Christ-Love, they can never find and enter the Kingdom.
In the preceding chapter, Aspirants were reminded of that point reached on the Path where they had more or less consciously renounced the old life and were quickened into a new consciousness; the Christ-child had been born in their hearts; the Prodigal had started on his return journey to his Father’s house; the dedication of the Aspirant to the higher life had been registered and he had become a Disciple on Probation.
It was at this point that you actually started out to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Whether you were aware of it or not in your brain consciousness, your soul had unfolded to the stage where it saw its Father’s house afar off; and now it no longer can find rest until it reaches home and can abide there forever.
Along with the birth of the love-nature there awakens the desire to serve selflessly, and from then on according to the extent that Love is permitted to grow and lead, will the Disciple gradually become aware of a voice within which speaks whenever it gets the attention of the conscious mind. It will be no audible voice, and there may be no actually heard words, but nevertheless something speaks within and the Disciple will hear and understand. He will also note that when he heeds and obeys a blessing in some form follows, but when he fails to obey the hints or “leadings” given, failure, trouble and often suffering result. Thus the Disciple gradually learns of his higher and inner nature, and that it is unmistakably related to Love; more and more he finds himself turning within and seeking to know more of this inner self and he strives to let it guide and direct him in all things.
As he thus definitely gives his allegiance to Love and to his better self, he is made aware of qualities in his lower nature rising unexpectedly to prominence and displaying elements of selfishness and baseness that surprise and startle him. For the lower self that had held a dominating part so long in his life is not yielding without a battle—in fact, it is fighting for its very existence.
It is then you begin to realize that the Path upon which you have entered is not an easy one. The fact is, in the conquering of the lower self, you are assuming a task that will test you to the limit of your strength and endurance. But you will gradually discover that from the same source that comes the Voice will also come the strength needed to conquer and to sustain you along the way. Also you will learn that loving and selfless service releases the strength and gives the wisdom to meet every test, for while serving you are enlisted in the Cause of Brotherhood and in such work the Great Brotherhood of the Spirit always supplies all the wisdom and the strength needed to accomplish it.
For you who are truly seeking the Kingdom, the time has come to hear certain truths, to see if your Higher Self deems you ready to receive and accept these truths and to make them a part of your soul consciousness. If so they will bring to you an illumination of understanding that will quicken your soul, free your mind from what has been holding you back perhaps for many lifetimes, and will con sequently now permit you speedily to proceed on your journey.
But if you are not yet ready to accept these truths it is well, for your Higher Self has certain necessary experiences in store for you, from which He will be enabled later to teach you to accept them and to want to follow us on our way to the Kingdom.
Consider first the real meaning of these words spoken to His Disciples by the Christ of Jesus—“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”
Can the Divinity within any man be reached by any but the Christ Way? These words of our Master tell us definitely, No.
Many of you who read may have come along the route of Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Spiritualism, and other occult movements, and according to your study and understanding of what they teach you have an intellectual grasp of much knowledge of the constitution of man and of the Universe, of the laws of matter, and of the hidden side of life, which should be a great aid to you in governing your life and actions—up to a certain point. These, movements help man very considerably to know himself and thereby enable him to gain mastery over qualities and elements in his nature whose influence before was not understood. Such knowledge should dispose him to deal more kindly and justly with his fellows who are of like nature. But does that always result in those who have all the knowledge that these movements teach?
Those who gave this knowledge to the world through these different movements are said to be Masters of Wisdom, Adepts, Initiates, or at least very learned Teachers. Unquestionably some of them are of vast knowledge and powers, those who have far outstripped ordinary humanity—Supermen—our elder brothers, judging from what they taught and what they know. It is their due that we honor, revere and be grateful to them for all they have taught us, and we certainly should strive to use the knowledge gained wisely and for the good of all.
But who was the real teacher who pointed out in the teachings that which you were to accept and which to pass by? Who helped you to apply the truths in the teaching to the experiences of life through which you were led? And who guided and chided and cautioned, and always held before your mind’s eye the ideal toward which your face has ever been turned? Was there not One within you who did all this, and Who has a purpose for you and a part for you to play—when you are through seeking without for what the world and its teachers have to offer and you are ready to turn within and get fully acquainted with Him, and are willing to wait upon Him and to sit at His feet and to be consciously taught by Him?
We say to you who have been “born again” you within whom the Christ has been born—you Disciples on Probation, that One is your Master—even the Christ-Self of you, Who has more knowledge and power than any initiate, adept or master who has not received the anointing of the Holy Spirit—who has not yet been Christed. For such are but “masters of Israel,” like Nicodemus. They are great souls, even as John the Baptist was great, of whom Jesus said:
“This is he of whom it was written, behold I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
“For I say unto you, among them that are born of woman, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist; but he that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.”—Matthew 11:10-11.
Just as John the Baptist lost his head, so may even one of great knowledge lose his head (mentally) unless he has wedded wisdom with Love.
Such Masters who inaugurate new movements for the enlightenment of men in our modern days are as the Prophets of Old Testament times. They may be considered as the lower part of the pyramid. They represent the great body of human knowledge, or the Law, and “The Law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ” Jesus Christ is the capstone of the pyramid. But it often happens that He is “the stone that the Builders rejected, the same that is become the head of the corner.” The capstone itself being a perfect pyramid, Christ thus is the Apex, the Zenith, the Essence of all that lies beneath.
It shall be even as Jesus said: “He that falleth on this stone (stumbles against this truth—fails to see Christ, not merely as the Master and Teacher, but as the God-Self of every man) shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall (or who shall fail to accept or admit this truth) it will scatter as dust.” For Christ is the actual life of humanity— The Light that lighteth every man, consequently they who repudiate Him, and consider and teach that He is only a Master among other Masters, remain in darkness and wander far from their Father’s house.
Theosophy, Rosierucianism, and other similar movements brought to the modern world the vision of Brotherhood. And for what purpose? It is claimed, to awaken men to their real mission on earth and to prepare them for HIM WHO IS TO COME,—for the Christ who promised to come and redeem His own.
But can you not see that not until He has been born in our hearts, has grown and thrived, and become matured in our lives, can He appear to our consciousness and can make Himself known as He Is—“The Light which shineth in the darkness” of our human minds, and which He will illumine so we may know that our minds are really His Mind, are God’s Mind shining within us.
Ah, dear comrades on this journey through life, all the vast past—all the many eons through which humanity has struggled—has been an evolving, a growing, a preparing and fitting of us for this very day and age we have now reached. The Christian Era was the final stage of our training. God, our Father, Who is responsible for all, Himself sent His Holy Spirit, the Christ, down to earth, taking on a human form, purposely to prepare us by direct teaching and example what was necessary for us to find our way back to His Home and to enter again into His Eternal Kingdom. Therefore Christ—Christ within us is our highest Teacher, and the sole Authority for every man—for He is “the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
There is much said in the different occult teachings of two paths to God—the path of the occultist, and the path of the mystic, or the way of the head and the way of the heart. Yet all great teachers say that the way to Divinity is the way of Love; and surely, the way of Love is the way of the heart. But the Love that leads to God is not the intellectual concept of love that occultists speak of, but is God’s Love in the heart—the Christ Consciousness there—which cannot be simulated, and which all those in whom Christ has been born and lives know and show forth, and they can never be deceived by a substitute.
Gautama brought the teaching of Divine Wisdom and Compassion to develop and prepare the mind of humanity to comprehend God’s Love. And even as Gautama came first and brought Wisdom, so Jesus followed and brought us Divine Love to join with Wisdom and give us Understanding, thus completing the Divine Union in Christ of the twain that in the beginning were originally one.
We might say Gautama was the manifested Mind of God and Jesus the manifested Heart of God, God having evolved the mind of humanity to the point where it was now ready to know Him in the fullness of His Nature; so He showed Himself to us in the person of Jesus—His Beloved Son—the Fruit of His Divine Love—the First-fruit of them that slept.
If you are able to receive it, you will soon have done with all intellectual teachings, and you will be interested only in those brought to you by the Loving One within, that He may point out to you the laws and truths He wishes you to know, thus recalling to you the knowledge gained in the long, long past. For if you can realize it, it was through many past, long forgotten lives, extending over vast eons of time, that He brought you to your present state of unfoldment; and therefore in your soul there is much knowledge at present hidden from your brain mind that soon He will uncover to you.
But before that can be, a far more important matter confronts you—the finding and knowing of Him, your True Self—the Christ within you, so that He can reveal to you these and all things, when you need to know them. Throughout this eon He has spoken from the heart of every awakened soul—
“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all things else will be added unto you.”
Christ has been the Great Mystery of all ages. Once you comprehend Him you can know All, for all mysteries lead to Him, and He is the solution of all. All the Prophets of old foretold His Coming. The story of Moses and the children of Israel; the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,—all are parables telling of Him—the Lord Christ, to prepare us for His Coming. Likewise the ancient religions of India, Egypt, Chaldea, and Atlantis ever held forth to the humanity of their days the sacred Mystery of the One we know as Christ. Verily He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End of all things.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
“All things were made by Him (the Word); and without Him was not anything made that was made.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.”
Read and meditate on the above and with it the remainder of the first chapter of John, especially up to the 19th verse.
MEDITATION
With many meditation seems to be quite a problem. Some deem it a task and approach it with hesitancy and some reluctance, because of strain in previous attempts, or of not getting any apparent results.
Others think they cannot find the time for regular meditation. It is not so difficult to find the time; meditation can be made part of a well ordered life as easily as can any other factor. System, that manifestation of the harmony and rhythm of the universe in the affairs of men, will provide the time and the way, if given the opportunity by your earnestly desiring it.
True meditation is the simplest and most natural thing in the world, because it is but a retiring into the quiet of the soul, a letting go in the mind of all outer things and relapsing into a peace and a rest in which the Spirit can come forth and speak to the mind. If you only know it, many times a day do you meditate—when your mind dwells upon things in which the personal self is interested. When that part of you is really concerned about a thing, your mind automatically obeys and dwells upon and ponders over that thing until its interest is appeased (worrying, being anxious, grieving, and such are all negative, unconscious meditation).
Thus you can see that meditation is natural and in no way difficult. It only appears difficult because the human mind, which has been accustomed to having its own way and to thinking of only the personal things in which it is interested, rebels against restraint, particularly when required to think of impersonal and abstract things that you are interested in and wish light upon (purposeful thinking is positive and conscious meditation). We will try to indicate more clearly what we mean.
In “The Impersonal Life” you are shown that it is really God who is living in your body and is your Real Self, and that you are of no importance whatsoever, either to yourself or to the world at large, until you recognize this great truth in a more or less conscious and intelligent way. This of course is not easy to grasp by a mind that considers you and itself separate and apart from God.
Now consider that the life that grew you and is living you is the same life that is growing the grass, the flowers, the trees, the animals and all humanity, and is so wise and powerful a life that despite every obstacle it develops all to the maturity of that which it is their destiny to be. Did you or anyone of these others have any conscious part in the direction of or actual process of such growing? You know that you did not, and you know that this life and intelligence and will doing it all is God—Who is All and all.
Now try to realize that this life that is growing you, this mind that is intelligently directing all, and this will whose power is accomplishing all, is actually God and cannot be you or anyone else. Try to perceive the great truth of this by imagining how it must be.
To do this you must lift your mind away from this page and meditate upon what has been stated, and if you are greatly interested, you will find your attention fixed upon this life within you, imagining it as God living in your body, a very wise and loving Consciousness filling and possessing it, moving it and causing it to do what He wants it to do. And it will gradually dawn upon you that the part of you that is considering all this is only your mind, and then in a wondrously illuminating way it may flash into your consciousness that therefore you are not at all what you before thought was the you living in your body, but that it is a much bigger and more wonderful you—that it is God! that God is the Real You!! and that the other you is but a part of His Mind—a center of His Consciousness that before had thought itself separate from Him.
If you have truly followed this and actually caused your mind to consider and do everything suggested, some illumination must have resulted, for the God of you would surely respond to a heart earnestly desiring to know Him.
The above would be real meditation, and real inner work, as you will by this time have realized.
All meditation is nothing more nor less than a pondering over or reflecting upon any subject to which you direct your mind’s attention. The reason we urge the use of meditation is two-fold: that you can cultivate the power and ability to require your mind to consider thoroughly any subject you wish it to understand fully, realizing that as you hold the subject firmly before your mind’s eye, light will pour in, enabling you to see it from many angles. Also that your mind may gradually learn who you are—learn of your inner self—and that it, the mind, is your child, your instrument that you are teaching, training and disciplining so that it will serve you selflessly and efficiently.
Until you have disciplined your mind, you cannot control your thoughts, and as by being able to control your thoughts you can control your emotions, you can then bring your body into harmony; for its health is largely controlled by the emotions or feelings harbored in the heart.
When you become more or less master of your mind and dedicate it to the service of the Christ—your God-Self, your real work begins; for all such earnest ones are accepted and put to that work for they have been fitted and prepared.
But not until the mind is thoroughly under control can real work be given. Real work awaits, but it will be mental work—in the Silence and at night, when the brain minds of those who seek and need help are still, so their souls can hear and accept. Such Real Work will be given when you are ready.
GROUPS
Wherever it is possible we urge that groups be formed for study and service, for our Master has promised “Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Aspirants who put service first, and in whom the personality has been submerged, always accomplish more and unfold more rapidly while working and studying in a group, for there they quickly become aware of the one Power and Presence and individually feel the results in their daily meditation and work.
It is suggested that all who feel so led watch for others of their acquaintance who they think may be ready for these teachings—those who are not seeking for self, but who are longing to serve the Master within in some definite way. The first lesson, “Seek Ye First the Kingdom,” will be sent to any of such, if their names are forwarded to the publisher.
In groups real ways of service will open up to all in due season—when the unfoldment awaiting is able to manifest. This does not imply that only in groups can one unfold in consciousness so that the Master can accomplish His Will through you, but only that in them He can make known His Presence more easily as He indicates above.
Many are so situated that meeting with others regularly is difficult and often impossible. Such will be shown that their present opportunity for service is in the very condition where they are now placed, but all such should be just that much more faithful in their regular communion with Him through meditation.
CHAPTER 3
“I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE”
WE HAVE arrived at that place, in our pointing out what is to be met by a traveler on the path to the Kingdom, where the Voice of Love has become the recognized and accepted Guide.
If you will remember, the traveler has become a Disciple on Probation—the Prodigal is now on his way back to his Father’s house. After a long period of trials and testing, he has proved that nothing can entice or stop him from his determination to reach the goal. Finally, there comes the supreme test—for this period; in some deep soul experience he is required to make a heart-rending choice, between a long cherished ideal and a plain duty, perhaps. And if duty wins, and it will win—if he turns in prayer for help to this sure Guide within—his Christ-Self, then he enters a new and brighter stage of the journey. For his dedication has proven to be a soul consecration—not merely one of the mind and the heart, and he is now accepted as and has become a real Disciple.
From this on he grows more and more conscious of definite guidance from within; the Voice speaks more clearly and insistently; the love in his heart becomes more pronounced and will not be denied. Gradually he learns, by centering his attention deep within, that there a wonderfully wise and loving Self exists, one that is ever ready to teach, help and strengthen, when asked; and the Voice there, which says with unmistakable authority—“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me” is the Voice of his Christ-Self, ever speaking from out the heart—when the mind is stilled so that it can be heard.
Then it is that the Disciple begins definitely to realize that he is not his human mind with its concerns that has to be stilled and be made to listen, but that in some mystical yet natural way he is a part of and can actually enter into the consciousness of that Christ-Self within, and can at will command the mind to be still and can compel it to obey.
And it dawns upon him that while in this consciousness He is the Master, but when without in the brain consciousness he is only the Disciple. And then he realizes that by opening his heart and letting Love pour out he can at will enter into and be that Love, and that in that Love consciousness He and Christ are One; that he is conscious, even as Christ Jesus was conscious, that He is the Way— the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life; that the brain mind is but the self consciousness which He is teaching, training and disciplining to be His perfect instrument of expression.
