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Lesson Five: Introduction
A mystic is not a mysterious person; but is one who has
a deep, inner sense of Life and Unity with the Whole; mysticism and mystery
are entirely different things; one is real while the other may, or may
not, be an illusion. There is nothing mysterious in the Truth, so far as
It is understood; but all things, of course, are mysteries until we understand
them.
A mystic is one who intuitively perceives Truth and who,
without mental process, arrives at Spiritual Realizations. It is from the
teachings of the great mystics that the best in the philosophy of the world
has come.
The civilization of to-day is built around the teachings
of a few people who have intuitively perceived Spiritual Truth. Our great
code of law was given by Moses, a man who through the mystic sense perceived
that we live in a Universe of Law. Our greatest code of ethics was given
through the perception of the prophets, culminating in such teachings as
those of Jesus and Buddha. Who was there who could have taught such men
as these? By what process of mentality did they arrive at their profound
conclusions? We are compelled to recognize that Spirit Alone was their
Teacher; they were, indeed, taught of God.
The mystic intuitively senses Reality and instinctively
knows The Truth; and in this way all of the best in literature, music and
art have come.
Our great religions have been given by a few who climbed
the heights of spiritual vision and caught a fleeting glimpse of Ultimate
Reality. No living soul could have taught them what they knew, and it is
doubtful if even they themselves knew why they knew.
The great poets have been true mystics and have revealed,
through their poems, the Presence of God. Men like Robert Browning, Tennyson,
Wordsworth, Homer, Walt Whitman, Edward Rowland Sill, and others of like
nature, have given us poetry which is immortal, because they had a mystic
sense of life: the perception of a Living Presence. All true philosophers
are mystics; the old prophets were mystics; David, Solomon, Jesus, Plato,
Buddha, Plotinus, Emerson, and a score of others, all had the same experience:
the sense of a Living Presence.
The greatest music ever composed was written by the hand
of a mystic; and the highest and best in art has come from the same source.
Man has compelled nature to do his bidding; he has harnessed
electric energy, caught the wind, trapped steam and made them all obey
his will. He has invented machines to do the work of thousands; he has
belted the globe with his traffic and built up a wonderful civilization;
but in few cases has he conquered his own soul.
The highest and best that we have in civilization is the
result of the mystic sense which has been perceived by a few in each age.
All that modern appliances and inventions give us in the way of comfort
and luxury, good and necessary as they are, may be counted as nothing compared
to the teachings of Jesus. By this, we do not mean to decry modern civilization,
education or anything that goes with it; for we are firm believers in anything
and everything that makes life interesting and worth living. We believe
in science, art, religion, education, commerce, government, industry, agriculture,
and all that goes to make up a well-rounded experience in life; but we
repeat, what would they amount to, if thought of in any other light than
as passing things?
The mystic has revealed things that do not pass as ships
in the night; he has revealed Eternal Verities and has plainly taught us
that there is a Living Presence indwelling All.
TRUE MYSTICISM AND THE PSYCHIC SENSE
There is a vast difference between mysticism and psychism,
between a mystic and an ordinary psychic. The psychic capacity will be
thoroughly discussed in Lesson Six, and the reader will remember that it
is the power to read subjectively; it may be dealing with a reality or
with an illusion. The average psychic must become more or less subjective
in order to do good work. At best, and even though in a normal
state of mind, he can only read subjective pictures and
tendencies; at best, he is generally dealing with human thought. Should
he penetrate that thought, he would then become a mystic.
A mystic does not read human thought but senses the Thought
of God. The question might be asked, "How do you know that he senses the
Thought of God?" Because the mystics of every age have seen, sensed and
taught THE SAME TRUTH. Psychic experiences more or less contradict each
other, because each psychic sees a different kind of mental picture; but
the mystic experiences of the ages have revealed ONE AND THE SAME TRUTH.
WHAT THE MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Without exception, all of the mystics have taught that
there is but One Ultimate Reality; and that this Ultimate Reality is HERE
NOW, IF WE COULD BUT SEE IT.
Strange as it may seem, the great mystics have all believed
in a Personal God; that is, a God who is Personal to all who believe in
Him. They have not, of course, believed in an ANTHROPOMORPHIC GOD; but
they have believed in a God who consciously works in and through man; and
they have adored and worshiped this God.
The great mystics have been illumined, that is, they have,
at times, seen through the veil of matter and perceived the Spiritual Universe.
They have taught that the Kingdom of God is NOW PRESENT AND NEEDS BUT TO
BE REALIZED; and they have, apparently, sensed that this Kingdom is within.
A psychic sees only through his own subjective mentality;
consequently, everything that he looks at is more or less colored by the
vibration of his own thought; he is subject to hallucinations and false
impressions of every description. This is why, generally speaking, no two
psychics ever see the same thing.
Mystics have all seen the same thing, and their testimony
is in no way confusing; this is because the Spirit within them has borne
witness to the Truth.
NO ULTIMATE EVIL
One of the most illuminating things that mysticism has
revealed, is that evil is not an ultimate reality. Evil is simply and experience
of the soul on its journey toward Reality; it is not an entity but an experience
necessary to self-unfoldment; it is not a thing of itself but simply a
misuse of power. It will disappear when we stop looking at, or believing
in, it. We cannot stop believing in it as long as we indulge in it; so
the mystic has always taught the race to turn from evil and do good.
ULTIMATE SALVATION OF ALL
The mystics have taught the ultimate salvation of all
people and the immortality of every soul. Indeed, they have taught that
immortality IS HERE AND NOW, IF WE WOULD BUT WAKE TO THE FACT. "Beloved,
now are we the Sons of God." Since each soul is some part of the Whole,
it is impossible that any soul can be lost. "God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living." Damnation has been as foreign to the thought
of the mystic as any belief in evil must be to the Mind of God.
FREEDOM FROM BURDEN
The great mystics have taught that man should have no
burdens, and would have none, if he turned to "The One." "Come unto Me
all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." As Jesus
must have known that it would be impossible for all men to come unto Him
as a Personality, He must have meant that we should come into His understanding
of Life and Reality; that is, to come unto the Great God. Some day we will
learn to lay our burdens on the Altar of Love, that they may be consumed
by the fire of faith in the Living Spirit. Man would have no burdens if
he kept his "High watch" toward "The One"; that is, if he always turned
to God.
UNITY OF ALL
Jesus prayed that all might come to see the Unity of Life.
"That they may be One, even as we are One," was His prayer as He neared
the completion of His great work on this planet. All mystics have sensed
that we live in One Life. "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being."
The Unity of Good is a revelation of the greatest importance; for it teaches
us that we are One with the Whole, and One with each other. This realization
alone will settle the question of human inequality. The real Fatherhood
of God and the Actual Brotherhood of Man will be made apparent on earth
to the degree that men realize True Unity.
REALIZATION OF INDIVIDUALITY
No great mystic ever lived who denied the reality of individuality.
The higher the sense of Truth, the greater will be the realization of the
uniqueness of individual character and personality. The Real Self is God-
given and cannot be denied; it is the place where God comes to a point
of Individualized and Personified Expression, and should be thought of
in this light. "I am the Light of the world."
NORMALCY
All mystics have been normal people, that is, they have
lived just as other people have lived. The only difference has been that
they have sensed a greater Reality; namely, the Presence of the Living
Spirit. The true mystic in every age has come into the world of affairs
and lived among men, sometimes as a teacher, and sometimes in the ordinary
walks of life, but always in a perfectly natural way. There is nothing
peculiar or strange about a mystic. People who shroud themselves in a cloak
of mystery are not true mystics but are laboring under mental delusions
and subjective hallucinations. They may be sincere in their beliefs, but
they are none the less wrong in their methods. It is a question if a real
mystic would even
realize that he is a mystic. He would be more liable to
think of himself simply as one who understands that he is One with the
Whole.
THE GREAT LIGHT
It is impossible, perhaps, to put into words or into print
what a mystic sometimes sees, and it is as hard to believe it as it is
to put it into words. But there is a certain inner sense which, at times,
sees Reality in a flash which illuminates the whole being with a great
flood of light. This, too, might seem an illusion unless the testimony
were complete; for every mystic has had this experience; but some have
had it to a greater degree than others. Jesus was the greatest of all the
mystics; and once, at least, after a period of illumination, His face was
so bright that His followers could not look upon it.
In moments of deepest realization the great mystics have
sensed that One Life flows through ALL; and that all are some part of that
Life. They have also seen Substance, a fine, white, brilliant stuff, forever
falling into everything; a Substance, indestructible and eternal. At times,
the realization has been so complete that they have been actually blinded
by the light. There are instances where for several days after such an
experience, the one having it could not see on the physical plane; for
he had seen the Inner Light. Remember, all this takes place when in a perfectly
normal state of mind and has nothing whatever to do with the psychic state.
It is not an illusion but a reality; and it is during these periods that
real revelation comes. Perhaps a good illustration would be to suppose
a large group of people in a room together, but unaware of each other's
presence; each is busy with his own personal affairs. We will suppose the
place to be dark and that some one comes in and takes a flash-light picture
of the room and its occupants. Should this picture be shown to anyone who
was in the room before it was taken, it might be hard for him to believe
that all of the objects in the picture were actually in the room. This
is, of course, a poor analogy, but it does serve to elucidate a point.
In flashes of illumination, the inspired have seen INTO THE VERY CENTER
OF
REALITY, and have brought back with them a picture of
what they have seen and felt. Again, we know that this has not been an
illusion or simply a subjective hallucination, for each age has had its
mystics, and every age has produced the same results. ALL HAVE SEEN THE
SAME THING. The testimony is complete and the evidence is certain.
WHAT THE MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL
All of the great mystics have taught practically the same
thing. They have all agreed that the soul is on the pathway of experience,
that is, of self-discovery; that it is on its way back to its Father's
House; and that every soul will ultimately reach its Heavenly Home. They
have taught the Divinity to Man. "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of
you are children of the most High." They have told us that man's destiny
is Divine and sure; and that Creation is Complete and Perfect NOW. The
great mystics have all agreed that man's life is his to do with as he chooses;
but that when he turns to "The One," he will always receive inspiration
form On High.
They have told us of the marvelous relationship which
exists between God and man, of a close Union that cannot be broken; and
the greatest of the mystics have consciously walked with God and talked
with Him, just as we talk to each other. It is difficult to realize how
this could be; it is hard to understand how a Being, so Universal as God
must be, can talk with man; here, alone, the mystic sense reveals the greater
truth and knows that, Infinite as is the Divine Being, It is still Personal
to all who believe in Its Presence. It is entirely possible for a man to
talk with the Spirit; for the Spirit is within men, and "He who made the
ears" can hear.
INSTINCT AND INTUITION
That quality in an animal which directs its action and
tells it where to go to find food and shelter, we call instinct. It is,
really, Omniscience in the animal. The same quality, more highly developed,
makes its appearance in man; and is what we
call intuition. Intuition is God in man, revealing to
him the Realities of Being; and just as instinct guides the animal, so
would intuition guide man, if he would allow it to operate through him.
Here again, we must be careful not to mistake a psychic impression for
an intuitive one. Psychic impressions seek to control man; intuition
always remains in the background and waits for his recognition. "Behold,
I stand at the door."
All arbitrary control of man stopped as soon as he was
brought to a point of self-knowingness. From this point he must discover
himself; but intuition, which is nothing less than God in man, silently
awaits his recognition and cooperation. The Spirit is always there if we
could but sense Its Presence. Mystics have felt this wonderful power working
from within, and have responded to it; and, as a sure evidence that they
were not laboring under delusions, they have all sensed the same thing;
had the impressions been psychic only, each would have seen and sensed
a different thing; for each would have seen through the darkness of his
own subjective mentality.
ILLUMINATION AND COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS
There is such an experience as Illumination and Cosmic
Consciousness; It is not a mystery, however, but is the Self-Knowingness
of God through man. The more complete the operation of that Power, the
more complete has been man's conscious mentality; for the illumined do
not become less, but more themselves. The greater the consciousness of
God, the more complete must be the realization of the True Self,—The Divine
Reality.
Illumination will come as man more and more realizes his
Unity with the Whole; and as he constantly endeavors to let the Truth operate
through him. But since the Whole is at the point of the Inner Mentality,
it will be here alone that he will contact It. "Speak to Him, thou, for
He hears."
The only God man knows is the God of his own Inner Life;
indeed, he can know no other. To assume that man can know a God outside
himself is to assume that he can know something
of which he is not conscious. This does not mean that
man is God; it means that the only God man knows is within. The only place
that man contacts God is within; and the only life man has is from within.
God is not external, but is Indwelling, at the very center of man's life.
This is why Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within, and why He
prayed, "Our Father Which art in Heaven."
THE HIGHEST PRACTICE
The highest mental practice is to listen to this Inner
Voice and to declare for Its Presence. The greater a man's consciousness
of this Indwelling I AM is, the more power he will have. This will never
lead to illusion but will always lead to Reality. All great souls have
known this and have constantly striven to let the Mind of God come out
through their mentalities. "The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the
works." This was the declaration of the great Master, and it should be
ours also; not a limited sense of life but a limitless one.
THE POWER OF JESUS
The occult significance of the power of Jesus is easily
understood when we study His method of procedure. Consider His raising
of Lazarus from the dead. He stood at the tomb and gave thanks; this was
recognition. He next said, "I Knew that Thou hearest me always"; this was
unification; then He said, "Lazarus, come forth"; this was command. The
method is perfect and we will do well to study and follow it. This method
can be used in all treatment. First, realize that Divine Power Is; then
unify with It, and then speak the word as "one having authority," for the
Law is "the servant of the Eternal Spirit throughout all the ages."
TURNING WITHIN
We should turn within, then, as have all of those great
souls who have blessed the world with their presence; we should turn within
and FIND GOD. It should seem natural to turn to the Great Power back of
everything; it should seem normal to believe in this Power; and we should
have a sense of a Real Presence when we do turn toward the One and Only
Power in the entire Universe. This method is by far the most effective.
It gives a sense of power that nothing else can, and, in this way, proves
that it is a Reality. It would be a wonderful experiment if the world would
try to solve all of its problems through the power of Spirit. Indeed the
time will come when every one will, "From the highest...to the lowest."
A sense of real completion can come only to that soul
which realizes its Unity with the Great Whole. Man will never be satisfied
until his whole being responds to this thought, and then, indeed, "Will
God go forth anew into Creation."
"To as many as believed gave He the Power."
Lesson Five: The Perfect Whole
Chart No. V represents the Triune Unity. The other charts
were divided into Spirit, Soul and Body, symbolizing the Conscious part
of Existence; the Law through which It operates; and the result of the
operation. But those lines were entirely arbitrary. No such lines could
exist, for the threefold Universe, with all of Its attributes, interspheres
Itself. We find the Spirit, or Conscious Mind, the Soul or Subconscious
Mind, and the Body, which is the manifestation of the union of Spirit and
Soul, simultaneously present at every point. This chart represents the
Indivisible Whole, within which are all of Its parts; the Absolute, within
which is the relative; the Uncreated, within which is all Creation.
Creation is the giving of form to the Substance of Spirit.
Spirit, being All and Only, there is nothing for It to change into but
Itself; therefore, It is the Changeless, within which must take place all
change or manifestation of Itself. Change is simply motion within Life.
The Infinite, of Itself, is Formless, but within It are
contained all of the forms which are the expressions or the outlines of
Its experiences.
Spirit is the Limitless, within which is all space; Spirit
is Timeless, within which is all time. "Time is the sequence of events
in a Unitary Whole." Creation and experience are eternally going on, but
a particular experience is measured by time and has a beginning and an
end.
The big circle represents the Universal, within which
is the individual; the One Person within Whom are all people. There is
really but One Person in the Universe; but within this One Person all people
live, "for in Him we live, and move, and have our being." It is the Source
and center of all Life, Power, Action, Truth, Love, Mind, Spirit, the Ever
and the All. It is, of course, God.
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THE TRIUNE UNITY
THE INDIVISIBLE WHOLE
WITHIN WHICH IS ALL OF ITS PARTS
THE ABSOLUTE WITHIN WHICH IS THE RELATIVE
THE UNCREATED WITHIN WHICH IS THE CREATED
THE CHANGELESS WITHIN WHICH IS ALL CHANGE
THE FORMLESS WITHIN WHICH IS ALL FORM
THE LIMITLESS WITHIN WHICH IS ALL SPACE
THE TIMELESS WITHIN WHICH IS ALL TIME
THE UNIVERSAL WITHIN WHICH IS THE INDIVIDUAL
THE ONE PERSON WITHIN WHOM ARE ALL PEOPLE
SOURCE AND CENTER OF ALL LIFE POWER AND ACTION
TRUTH, LOVE, MIND, SPIRIT, THE EVER, AND THE ALL
GOD
Our Father
which art
in
Heaven
THE
SON
PERSONALITY . . . . INDIVIDUALITY
M A N
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Lesson Five: Metaphysical Chart No. V.
This is the Mystic's chart and shows how the Universal
becomes the Particularization of Itself through man. Man comes to a point
in the Universal, or God, and is the Idea of God as man. The Father is
represented as the Whole just back of, or above, or within, man. This is
the Indwelling God to Whom we pray and with Whom we talk. The mystic has
the ability to consciously talk to God and to consciously receive a direct
answer from the Spirit. In this chart it is shown that the Absolute contains
the relative, within Itself, but is not limited by the relative. We must
remember that the relative does not limit, but expresses, the Absolute.
All change takes place within the Changeless. All form subsists within
the Formless. All conditions obtain within that which is Limitless; and
Creation is eternally going on within that which is Uncreated. All are
activities of the One Mind and Spirit of God. All people come to a point
of individuality within that which is universal.
INDIVIDUALITY
The point within the big circle represents the personality
and individuality of man, indicating that he is a center in the Divine
Mind or God.
Man is the Personification of the Infinite Life; and so
we place, just above this point and on the inside of it, "The Son"; and
just above this (with no line to divide them) are written the words, "Our
Father which art in Heaven," taken from the Lord's Prayer. There is no
difference between God, the Absolute, which is Our Father in Heaven, and
the Son, so far as actual Being is concerned. The Son is simply a point
where God recognizes Himself as Personality or Individualized Being. It
is within that we find the Unity of God and man; there is no separation.
Man, having his existence in the Unitary Whole, which
is Indivisible, is compelled to accept the fact that his life is God or
Spirit; but to say that man is God, which is equivalent to saying that
any part equals the whole, is to contradict logic and reason, and limit
the Limitless Idea. It is enough to say that we are at one with the Whole.
It is both within and without. In perhaps a more liberal sense we could
say man is in God; immersed in God; saturated with God. God permeates all
life, and in man we find that this Infinite Mind or Intelligence comes
to a point of Individualized Self-Consciousness.
Theoretically, we believe that the personality which we
possess is on the pathway of self-discovery; for everything bears witness
to this belief; as fast as we discover any truth, it is there to use. We
never create Truth—we discover and use It. We believe, then, that as man
continuously unfolds his personality, he will find latent capacities of
which he has never dreamed.
FURTHER EVOLUTION
Since his whole life is the unfoldment of intelligence,
according to law, man can only evolve as he recognizes greater possibilities—there
could be no other way. The arbitrary process of
evolution ceased when man became an individual; and any
further evolution will be through self-recognition; but back of him is
the whole of Life surging to express Itself. This is what is known as the
Divine Urge. It is that Instinctive, Omniscient "I am" in man, always pushing
him on and up; but It can only express for him as It flows through him.
That person has the greatest power who the most completely recognizes himself
to be one with this Infinite Mind. That is why Jesus said: "I speak not
of myself" (it is not this individualized point); "but the Father that
dwelleth in Me" (that is, God, our Father, Which is in Heaven); "He doeth
the works."
The evolution of man, which is the unfoldment of Spirit
through his personality, will be more complete when his objective and subjective
faculties are more perfectly balanced; that is, when he has conscious control
of the spiritual forces which surge for expression. The psychological nature
has to change somewhat, and the subjective tendencies that hinder the Whole
from coming to a point of conscious contact must be neutralized. This would
produce illumination or the consciousness of his Unity with the Whole.
In treatment, we work until we penetrate the false thought
within and break through to Reality. There is no limitation, either in
Infinite Intelligence or in Infinite Law. The whole limitation which we
experience is not, of itself, a reality or an entity, but is simply one
of the forms within the formless which we are outlining.
THE TRUTH IS KNOWN
Our conscious intelligence is as much of Life as we understand.
We have stopped looking for the Spirit, because we have found It; It is
what you are and It is what I am; we could not be anything else if we tried.
The thing that we look with is the thing that we have been looking for.
That is why it is written: "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are
children of the most High." We have stopped looking for the Law. We have
found It. In the Universe we call It Universal Subjectivity or Soul; in
our own experience we call
It the subjective state of our thought, which is our individual
use of Universal Law. We have found the Law and demonstrated It. We find
that both the Law and the Spirit are Limitless. What is it that we need
for a greater freedom? Nothing but a greater realization of what we already
know.
We should never hesitate to say that we know the Truth,
because we do; for the realization of the Unity of God and man is
the Truth. We simply need a greater realization of this. How are we to
get it? Only by penetrating deeper and yet deeper into our own Divine Nature;
pushing farther and farther back into the Infinite. Where are we to do
that? There is no place except within that we can do it. Who is to do it
for us? No one. No one can. People can heal us; they can set the Law in
motion for us and help us to become prosperous;—that is good and helpful;
but the evolution of the individual, the unfoldment of personality, the
enlightenment of the Soul, the illumination of Spirit, can come only to
the degree that the individual himself purposes to let Life operate through
him. "Let this Mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." This is
the Mind of God,—the only Mind,—the Supreme Intelligence of the Universe.
THE ANSWER IS IN MAN
The answer to every question is within man, because man
is within Spirit and Spirit is an Indivisible Whole. The solution to every
problem is within man; the healing of all disease is within man; the forgiveness
of all sin is within man; the raising of the dead is within man; Heaven
is within man. That is why Jesus prayed to this indwelling "I am" and said:
"Our Father Which art in Heaven." He also said: "The Kingdom of God is
within you."
Each of us, then, represents the Whole. How should we
feel toward the Whole? In the old order, we thought of the Whole as a sort
of mandatory power, an autocratic government, an arbitrary God, sending
some to Heaven and some to hell; and "all for His glory." Now we are much
more enlightened and we realize that there can be no such a Divine Being.
We
have meditated upon the vastness of the Universe of Law,
and we have said: "God is Law; there is a Divine Principle Which is God."
In the new order, we are liable to fall into as great an error as the old
thought fell into, unless we go much deeper than thinking of God simply
as Principle. God is more than Law or Principle. God is the Infinite Spirit,
the Limitless, Conscious Life of the Universe; the One Infinite Person
within Whom all people live. The Law is simply a Force.
GOD—INFINITE PERSONALITY
God or Spirit is Supreme, Infinite, Limitless Personality.
And we should think of the Divine Being as such—as completely responsive
to everything we do. There should come to us a sense of communion, a spontaneous
sense of Irresistible Union. If we had that, we would demonstrate instantaneously.
An evolved soul is always a worshiper of God. He worships
God in everything; for God is in everything. God not only is in
everything, but He is more than everything He is in. "Ye are the light
of the world";—that is, God in us. All that we are is God; yet God is more
than all we are.
The nearer consciousness gets to the Truth, the more Cosmic
sweep it has, the more power it has. Angels wait upon individuals who perceive
Cosmic Purposes and Powers, because the Whole is crowding forth into expression.
Let a man recognize a Cosmic Purpose, which is the expression of Life,
Truth and Love; let his thought vibrate to the higher and grander realization
of life, and see how—automatically—he becomes more powerful.
The process of healing and demonstration is, at first,
mechanical and scientific; then the fire of Spirit is added to make it
real. One is technique—the other is the pulsating life and glow. We need
the recognition of love, coupled with a scientific understanding of what
we are doing. Thoughts are things, and diseases are the direct result of
specific thoughts somewhere in consciousness. Poverty is the direct result
of a subjective state of thought which binds.
UNITY
All Manifestation of Life is from and invisible to a visible
plane; and it is a silent, effortless process of spiritual realization.
We must unify, in our own mentalities, with Pure Spirit. To each of us,
individually, God, or Spirit, is the Supreme Personality of the Universe;
the Supreme Personality of that which we, ourselves, are. It is only as
the relationship of the individual to this Deity becomes enlarged that
he has a consciousness of power.
There should always be a recognition in treatment of the
Absolute Unity of God and man; the Oneness, Inseparability, Indivisibility,
Changelessness; God as the Big Circle, and man as the little circle. Man
is in God and God is in man; just as a drop of water is in the ocean, while
the ocean is in the drop of water. This is the recognition Jesus had when
He said: "I and my Father are One." There is a Perfect Union; and to the
degree that we are conscious of this Union we incorporate this consciousness
in our word, and our word has just as much power as we put in it, no more
and no less.
Within this Infinite Mind each individual exists, not
as a separated, but as a separate, entity. We are a point in Universal
Consciousness, which is God, and God is our Life, Spirit, Mind and Intelligence.
We are not separated from Life, neither is It separated from us; but we
are separate entities in It, Individualized Centers of God's Consciousness.
We came from Life and are in Life, so we are One with
Life; and we know that Instinctive Life within, which has brought us to
the point of self-recognition, still knows in us the reason for all things,
the purpose underlying all things; and we know that there is nothing in
us of fear, doubt or confusion which can hinder the flow of Reality to
the point of our recognition. We are guided, daily, by Divine Intelligence
into paths of peace wherein the soul recognizes its Source and meets It
in joyful Union, in complete At-one-ment.
HOLD TO THE GOOD
Such is the power of clear thought that it penetrates
things; it removes obstructions, the reason being that there is nothing
but consciousness, nothing but Mind. The only instrument of Mind is idea.
See with perfect clearness and never become discouraged nor overcome by
a sense of limitation. Know this:—that the Truth with which you are dealing
is absolute. All of God, all of Truth, all there is, is at the point of
man's recognition; and every time you give a treatment, and all the way
through it, keep bringing this back to your remembrance.
Never struggle; say, "There is nothing to struggle over;
everything is mine by Divine Right; Infinite Intelligence is my Intelligence;
Divine Love is my Love; Limitless Freedom is my Freedom; Perfect Joy is
my Gladness; Limitless Life is my Energy."
Let us BLIND OURSELVES TO NEGATION, as far as we are mentally
able to. LET US NOT TALK, THINK, OR READ ABOUT ANYTHING DESTRUCTIVE, whether
it be war, pestilence, famine, poverty, sickness, or limitation of any
kind. Looking at this from a practical standpoint, there is all to win
and nothing to lose. The rapid progress we would make if we should do this
would be wonderful.
We are always dealing with First Cause. Nothing else can
equal the satisfaction that comes to one when he perceives himself, from
the silence of his own soul and the activity of his own thought, actually
bringing about a condition without the aid of visible instrumentalities.
There is nothing else as satisfying as to heal some disease purely by the
power of thought; this shows that we are dealing with First Cause.
We must definitely neutralize confusion and doubt. We
should take time, daily, to conceive of ourselves as being tranquil, poised,
powerful,—always in control of every situation; as being always the highest
concept of the Divine which we can imagine. We should never hesitate to
think of ourselves in this way. The Ancients used to teach their pupils
to say to themselves—"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful me!"—until they lost
sight of themselves as Mary Smith or John Jones, and perceived themselves
as Divine Realities. Then, when they came
back to the objectivity of Mary Smith and John Jones,
they brought with them that subtle power which distinguishes Spiritual
Growth,—the Atmosphere of Reality.
THE INFINITE IS PERSONAL TO ALL
Undoubtedly the power of Jesus lay in His recognition
of the Infinite Person as a Responsive, Conscious, Living Reality; while,
on the other hand, He recognized the Law as an arbitrary force, which was
compelled to obey His will. He combined the personal and the impersonal
attributes of Life into a perfect whole. The Infinite is Personal to every
soul who believes in the Infinite. It is a mistake to so abstract the Principle
that we forget the Living Presence; it is the combination of the two that
makes work effective.
THE CHRIST
Who is man? He is the Christ. Who is the Christ? The Son,
begotten of the only Father;—not the only begotten Son of God. Christ means
the Universal Idea of Sonship, of which each is a Member. That is why we
are spoken of as Members of that One Body; and why we are told to have
that Mind in us "which was also in Christ Jesus." Each partakes of the
Christ Nature to the degree that the Christ is revealed through him, and
to that degree he becomes the Christ. We should turn to that Living Presence
within, Which is the Father in Heaven, recognize It as the One and Only
Power in the Universe, unify with It, declare our word to be the presence,
power and activity of that One, and speak the word as if we believed it;
because the Law is the servant of the Spirit.
If we could stand aside and let the One Perfect Life flow
through us, we could not help healing people. This is the highest form
of healing.
We have gone through all of our abstract processes of
reasoning and have found out what the Law is and how It works; now we can
forget all about It, and know that there is nothing
but the Word; the Law will be working automatically. We
must forget everything else, and let our word be spoken with a deep inner
realization of love, beauty, peace, poise, power, and of the great Presence
of Life at the point of our own consciousness.
REALIZATION
We do not dare to throw ourselves with abandonment into
a seeming void; but if we did, we would find our feet planted firmly on
a rock, for there is a place in the mentality, in the heights of its greatest
realizations, where it throws itself with complete abandonment into the
very center of the Universe. There is a point in the supreme moment of
realization where the individual merges with the Universe, but not to the
loss of his individuality; where a sense of the Oneness of all Life so
enters his being that there is no sense of otherness; it is here that the
mentality performs seeming miracles, because there is nothing to hinder
the Whole from coming through. We can do this only by providing the great
mental equivalents of Life, by dwelling and meditating upon the immensity
of Life; and yet as vast, as immense, as limitless as It is, the whole
of It is brought to the point of our own consciousness.
We comprehend the Infinite only to the degree that It
expresses Itself through us, becoming to us that which we believe It to
be. And so we daily practice in our meditations the realizations of Life:—"Infinite,
indwelling Spirit within me, Almighty God within me, Perfect Peace within
me, Complete Satisfaction within me, Real Substance within me; that which
is the Truth within me." "I am the Truth," Jesus said. He said: "I am the
way; I am the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." How true
it is! We cannot come unto the Father Which art in Heaven except through
our own nature.
Right here, through our own nature, is the gateway and
the path that gradually leads to illumination, to realization, to inspiration,
to the intuitive perception of everything.
The highest faculty in man is intuition, and it comes
to a
point sometimes where, with no process of reasoning at
all, he realizes the Truth intuitively. So we should daily meditate, particularly
if we are practicing right along.
MEDITATION
Any practitioner should take a certain time every day
to meditate within himself, to realize that the words which he speaks are
the words of Truth. Being the words of Truth, they cannot fail to be fulfilled;
they are a law unto themselves within the Great Law. They know themselves
to be what they are. They are immutable, irresistible, unassailable; they
are eternal and complete, having intelligence, knowledge and understanding
within themselves.
Every treatment must be a complete thing within itself.
It is an unqualified statement of Being and pays no attention to appearances.
If it did, it would not be efficacious. It rises above all appearance and
may contradict every experience the human race has ever had; but it is
real just the same. The treatment begins and ends within the mentality
of the one giving it; and the demonstration takes place within the mentality
of the one giving it; and, to the degree that it does take place there,
it is a good treatment and will be a good demonstration.
If you have a patient who says: "I am sick," and you are
able to neutralize your belief of that man as being sick, or any man as
being sick, and can see him perfect, he will come to you and say: "I am
healed." The practitioner must know within himself. He never thinks
of projecting his thought, sending it out or holding it. He simply takes
the whole condition and brings it into the great realization of Life.
Declare:—"Perfect Life within me, God within me, Spirit
within me, Good within me, Almightiness within me, Loving Intelligence
within me, Peace, Poise, Power, Happiness and Joy within me, Life, Truth
and Love within me, Omniscient Instinctive I am within me, Almighty God
within me." It is not enough to say that God is. The concept must be brought
home to the mentality of the individual and unified with it, in order to
have it expressed through him.
If we need financial healing, we should say: "Infinite
Substance
within me, Infinite Activity within me, flowing through
me into everything I do, say or think, quickening into action all those
things that my mentality touches; Infinite Activity within me, unerring,
never mistaking, always doing the right thing at the right time, always
knowing what to do, knowing how to do it and doing it; Infinite Executive
Power within me, the Great Executive, the great I am, the All-Knowing and
All-Seeing, the All-Wise within me; Infinite Substance within me, forever
expressing Itself through me; Infinite Supply flowing through me and flowing
to me;—irresistible supply, unassailable supply, limitless." As you say
this, stop and think of the things you want—seeing them as realities—much
as one would look at pictures on the wall.
Repeat:—"Infinite Substance within me, Infinite Supply
flowing through me and to me, Infinite Activity around me and within me,
Infinite Intelligence within me, directing me, guarding me, governing me,
controlling me; the One and Only within me and through me, that is, Almighty
God within me. There is no other, or beside which there is none other.
Infinite love within me, seeing all, knowing all, loving all, One in and
through all." Carry this concept out until you see that you live in everybody
and everybody lives in you. Then continue: "Infinite One, comprehending,
seeing, knowing, understanding, living in and including the All, within
me." Realize what this means. "I am One with all people. There are no enemies.
There is only the One, in all and through all."
If we would spend half the time making such affirmations
that we spend complaining, finding fault, fussing, being sad and sorry
for ourselves, we would soon be healed. "Infinite Wisdom within me"; stop
and think what this means,—the Intelligence that operates through everything,
visible and invisible. "Infinite Wisdom within me; Infinite Intelligence
within me; Infinite Power within me";—feel what this means: The Power that
holds the planets in place; a power to which the united force of the human
race is as nothing. "Infinite Intelligence and Infinite Power within me,
the great Executor; Infinite Energy and Wisdom within me,—the All-Knowing,
the Unerring Mind of the Universe;—Infinite Peace within me, Infinite Peace,
undisturbed and unalterable; Infinite Life, Infinite
Peace within me"; that means there is no disturbance,
no commotion, no trouble. There is only Infinite Peace; the power that
stilled the waves and told the winds to be calm is the Power with which
we deal. "Infinite Peace within me, Infinite Joy within me, the Joy that
causes the leaves of the trees to clap their hands." It is the Joy that
sings in the brook, the music of the spheres, the Joy of the sense of completion.
"Infinite Joy within me, not somewhere else, but within me"; It is the
Good which is urging Itself forth through every act which we call human
or humane. We see it in the hand that gives and in every human act. That
is the "Infinite Good that is within me,"—Infinite everything, whatever
the need may be. Meditate upon the abstract essence of the thing; then
bring it to a concrete point within your own mentality and see what it
means as it manifests, declaring that it is.
This great teaching plainly shows the way to liberty and
freedom. It is a pathway continuously unfolding from a Limitless Source
to a Limitless Source. "Arise, shine, for thy light is come." "I am that
I am."
Note: Read and study "Cosmic Consciousness," Bucke; "Twelve
Lessons in Mysticism," Hopkins; "The Impersonal Life" and "Creative Process
in the Individual," T. Troward; "Bible Mystery and Meaning," T. Troward;
"Sayings of Jesus," Red Letter Testament.
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