Month: August 2024

Understanding Love

Joseph Dewey

Understanding Love

The first paragraph in the Course says this about love:

“The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance. T-in.1

It is interesting that for a subject that it does not aim at teaching that it indeed covers it quite well and mentions it 1737 times in the FIP edition.

Even though this is a major subject. the Course maintains that its real meaning cannot be taught:

“Love is not learned. Its meaning lies within itself.” T-18.IX.12

In other words, we cannot just take one who does not understand love and cause him to understand it by explaining it to him. That just does not work.

What does work then?

What works is to remove “the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence” so it can be felt.

Then, because love is our “natural inheritance,” we can recognize true divine love when we feel it. We know it when we actually experience it.

There is a problem with recognizing real love and that is false or illusionary love gets in the way and “blocks” our understanding of it.

“In Heaven, where the meaning of love is known, love is the same as union. Here, where the illusion of love is accepted in love’s place, love is perceived as separation and exclusion.” T-16.V.3

The real meaning of love is known in heaven, but here in our separated state “the illusion of love is accepted in love’s place, love is perceived as separation and exclusion.”

What does it mean when it says that in the illusion “love is perceived as separation and exclusion.”

This is explained by what the Course calls the “special relationship.” This quote sheds some light:

“Be not afraid to look upon the special hate relationship, for freedom lies in looking at it. It would be impossible not to know the meaning of love, except for this. For the special love relationship, in which the meaning of love is hidden, is undertaken solely to offset the hate, but not to let it go.” T-16.IV.1

This is a very difficult teaching for many students to accept for all of us in this world have special relationships with our spouse, our children, our family and friends. Concerning them we are told this:

“You cannot enter into real relationships with any of God’s Sons unless you love them all and equally. Love is not special. If you single out part of the Sonship for your love, you are imposing guilt on all your relationships and making them unreal.” T-13.X.11

I do not think that the admonition to love all equally means that you pay as much attention to your neighbor’s wife and kids as your own, but that you treat everyone with equal fairness.

For example, let us suppose that your child gets in a dispute with another child at school and the principle thinks your kid is mostly to blame. The natural tendency of many parents is to defend the kid right or wrong. This is showing special love. The parent who loves equally will be as concerned for the other child as with his own and if his own child is in error, he will place responsibility where it belongs.

In this day and age perhaps the greatest temptation of special love comes from our current political division. Perhaps on one side you cannot stand a certain politician and his supporters, but love the other side and their voters.

To love equally would mean that you see perfect Sons of God on both sides who equally deserve your love and support. Let us suppose you pass by one of these opposition voters who has car trouble. Do you smile at his problem and drive on, or do you stop and help him with the same care as you would with one who votes as you do?

Similarly, the parable of the Good Samaritan given by Jesus is a great example of one who transcended special love, but these words from the Biblical Jesus surely make the point:

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

“For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matt 5:43-48

There has been a lot written about the problem of special relationships but the main point I wish to make here from the Course is that in the special relationship “the meaning of love is hidden, is undertaken solely to offset the hate, but not to let it go.” T-16.IV.1

In other words, your love for one political candidate “is undertaken solely to offset the hate,” you have for the other guy.

To gain a true understanding of love we have to let the hate go or the true love of God will elude us. On the other hand, if we transcend the special relationship, we are promised that the true meaning of love will be revealed for “It would be impossible not to know the meaning of love, except for this.” (the special relationship) T-16.IV.1  

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Human Evolution

Joseph Dewey

Human Evolution

There is a lot of truth revealed and hidden in the book of Genesis. It was originally written by Moses with two objectives in mind. First he wanted to present an account of creation that would give glory to God in the minds and hearts of a rather primitive people. The second objective was to be an accurate presentation of truth by the use of the Law of Correspondences that would be useful for many ages hence.

Most New Agers only see the simple presentation to a primitive people and often see contradictions when in reality the whole picture is not seen.

For instance, Chapter One of Genesis seems to present one version of creation, and Chapter Two seems to describe another.

The truth is that they are not two contradictory versions, but corresponds to two steps in creation. The first creation was in etheric, or spiritual matter, and the second was creation in physical matter. Nevertheless, the first creation also corresponds in a large measure to many creations and recreations on this and other earths.

Notice that the first human was called Adam, a unit of human energy, and how closely it resembles the word “Atom,” a unit of physical energy.

Several times in the first few chapters the word Adam is mistranslated as “man.” Let us translate it correctly in Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 27:

“So God created Adam (Translated as man) in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

This statement was made some time before Eve was created. In other words, the first Adam was an Hermaphrodite — male and female in one body, just as an atomic atom has a balance of male and female energy in one unit.

This is verified in Genesis, Chapter 5, Verse 2:

“Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and CALLED THEIR NAME ADAM, in the day when they were created.”

Jesus also verified this when he said:

“Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female?” (Matt 19:4)

The seeds for the Fall were created even before Adam’s sin, but it was prepared when Adam was split in two and made into a separate male and female. In the Hebrew we read that Eve was taken from the side, not the rib of Adam.

The first race of human was the male-female Adams which were many. The second race was the split male-female units who lived in a state of innocence and looked only to the Masters for their decisions. This race was not yet physical but was a lower vibration than the first.

In the midst of The Garden was a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat of it lest they die.

During the latter period of this second spiritual race the earth was descending from the spiritual to the physical and when the Tree of Knowledge appeared the elements of the earth were part spiritual and part physical. The Tree of Knowledge was the parts of the earth which had a vibration in physical matter yet was high enough to still be seen and touched in the spiritual. The Masters warned Adam that if he partook of the physical he would lose his apparent immortality and become physical, subject to the perils of mortal flesh including death. This would be a path to knowledge and the exercise of free will, but it would be painful and also bring a separation from innocence and the presence of God.

The Serpent was a member of a race that seemed part human and part Serpent. It had arms and legs as we do. The Serpents had already fallen into physical matter and sought to take the race of Adam along with them. The reason they sought Adam was that they were vampires in the sense that they got a large part of their energy from the life energy of other beings. They felt that by pulling Adam from the spiritual to the physical they could siphon off his God energies and live indefinitely.

Fortunately, after The Fall there were enough Adamites who recognized the God within who were able to resist the Serpents and teach the truth about them that the race of Serpents did not dominate the Adams, but eventually became extinct during Atlantis. Today, however the Serpents are incarnated as humans. Many of them are our leaders in the areas of business, government, and finance. They still seek (unconsciously) not to have their own power but to have power over others. If you meet one you can recognize him by a feeling of weakness you will experience in his presence. Only your personal soul contact can neutralize their power over you.

Eve being a female energy identified with the pull of “mother matter,” or Mother earth, and led Adam in a great, but necessary journey if the human units were to obtain greater knowledge and understanding.

The third, but first physical race was the Lemurian of which the Australian aborigines are a remnant. The Fourth Race — the Atlantean of which the “Oriental” is a remnant — and the Fifth Race was the “Aryan.” The Sixth Race is currently being created by the gathering principle — which principle is a core part of my teachings. The Sixth or coming race is being gathered from all the races and a person belonging to this race will have refined features, but can belong to any current race. This will be a synthetic race and the major change will be in consciousness. An individual belonging to this race will be capable of soul contact and will have a strong desire to serve the planet as a whole. He or she will also have a sense that the Kingdom of God will soon manifest.

During the Sixth Race all the races of the earth will blend and right human relations will be a key teaching, especially the relationships between the male-female. The marriage relationship is part of a great preparation for the Seventh and final race on this planet. The goal in the male-female relationship is to find the opposite with which one can blend or fuse. Just as your head and your heart are blended in your own body so will you merge with your opposite sex in the body of an hermaphrodite ages hence. The urge we have for sex is the force that is driving us in that direction.

Plato once told the story of a race of male-female beings that were so powerful that the gods became threatened and sent and angel with a sword to cut them in two. Since that time each entity has been looking for his other half so he can regain his power. There is some truth to this story.

Few, if any of us have learned to harmonize with soul energy with even one other human being, but many of us will master this during the coming era.

In the coming era the Garden of Eden will reappear. In other words, the spiritual and physical will co-exist. Many physical beings will have casual communications with spiritual beings. Others will be able to partake of “the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

“An expert is a person who avoids small error as he sweeps on to the grand fallacy.” — Benjamin Stolberg

April 13, 2009

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Rods of Initiation

Joseph Dewey

Rods of Initiation

A reader wanted more information on the rods of initiation as taught through the Bailey writings, but about all we have on them is contained in the writings themselves. I have therefore extracted pertinent quotes about them and have put them in one place in this post.

“The spiral-cyclic force demonstrates, as might be expected, in seven ways; of these, the three major methods of demonstration are symbolised in the Rod of Initiation of Sanat Kumara. The Rod most frequently recognised by men is that of the Hierophant, the Bodhisattva, which consists of the straight central serpent with the two others entwined around it, thus picturing, among other things:

“a. The three outpourings,

“b. The three worlds,

“c. The spinal column and its channels,

“Or those main factors with which the initiate concerns himself. He has to understand somewhat the nature of matter and what is occultly involved in that expression, his own triple constitution, the three worlds in which he has to play his part, and the instrument which he has to use. This rod of the Bodhisattva is surmounted by a diamond which is not as great a diamond as the ‘Flaming Diamond’ of the first Kumara, but is of rare beauty. At the time of initiation when the electrical forces are tapped, this diamond revolves on its axis, picturing the rotary nature of atomic matter.” Treatise on Cosmic Fire, Page 1035

“The next point to be remembered is that these limitations have been rejected by him under the applied stimulation of the Rod of Initiation, wielded by the Initiator. I would ask you to remember that this Rod is the Rod of Stimulating Light which is projected by the Initiator with all its Lighted energy on to the centre which is receiving attention during any specific initiation.” Discipleship in the New Age Vol 2, Page 438)

“The force of the Rod is twofold, and its power terrific. Apart and alone the initiate could not receive the voltage from the Rod without serious hurt, but in triangular transmission comes safety. We need to remember here that two Masters sponsor all applicants for initiation, and represent two polarities of the electric All. Part of Their function is to stand with applicants for initiation when they come before the Great Lord.

“When the rods are held in the hands of the Initiator in His position of power, and at the stated seasons, they act as transmitters of electric force from very high levels, so high indeed that the ‘Flaming Diamond,’ at certain of the final initiations, the sixth and seventh, transmits force via the Logos from outside the system altogether. This major Rod is the one used on this planet, but within the system there are several such Rods of Power, and they are to be found in three grades — if it may be so expressed.

“One Rod of Initiation is used for the first two initiations, and is wielded by the Great Lord. It is magnetised by the application of the ‘Flaming Diamond,’ the magnetisation being repeated for each new World Teacher. There is a wonderful ceremony performed at the time that a new World Teacher takes office, in which He receives His Rod of Power — the same Rod as used since the foundation of our Planetary Hierarchy-and holds it forth to the Lord of the World, Who touches it with His own mighty Rod, causing a fresh recharging of its electric capacity. This ceremony takes place at Shamballa.

“The Rod of Initiation known as the ‘Flaming Diamond,’ is used by Sanat Kumara, the One Initiator. This Rod lies hidden ‘in the East,’ and holds the fire hidden that irradiates the Wisdom Religion. This Rod was brought by the Lord of the World from Venus, and once in every world period it is subjected to a similar process to that of the lesser Rod, only this time it is recharged by the direct action of the Logos Himself, the Logos of the solar system. The exact location of this Rod is known only to the Lord of the World and to the Chohans of the rays, and being the talisman of this evolution the Chohan of the second ray is — under the Lord of the World — its prime guardian, aided by the deva Lord of the second plane. The Buddhas of Activity are responsible for its custody, and under Them the Chohan of the ray. It is produced only at stated times, when specific work has to be done. It is used not only at the initiating of men, but at certain planetary functions of which nothing is at present known. It has its place and function in certain ceremonies connected with the inner round, and the triangle formed by the Earth, Mars, and Mercury.

“The purpose of the Rods of Power.

“In the sceptre of a ruling monarch at this day is hidden the symbolism of these various Rods. They are duly recognised as symbols of office and of power, but it is not generally appreciated that they are of electrical origin, and that their true significance is concerned with the dynamic stimulation of all the subordinates in office who come under their touch thus inspiring them to increased activity and service for the race.

“The great Rod of Power of the Logos Himself is hidden in the sun.

“To recapitulate, the esoteric location of the various rods is as follows:

“[1] The Rod of the Bodhisattva lies hidden in the ‘heart of the wisdom,’ that is, at Shamballa.

“[2] The Rod of the One Initiator is hidden in ‘the East,’ a definite planetary location.

“[3] The Rod of the solar Logos is hidden in ‘the heart of the sun,’ that mysterious subjective sphere which lies back of our physical sun, and of which our physical sun is but the environing shield and envelope.

“[4] The Rod of the cosmic Logos associated with our solar Logos is secreted in that central spot in the heavens around which our solar system revolves, and which is termed ‘the central spiritual sun.’

“One Rod is charged anew at Shamballa for each new World Teacher; the Rod of Sanat Kumara is charged afresh at each recurring world period, and therefore seven times in the history of a planetary scheme. The Logoic Rod of Power is electrified at the recurrence of each new period of creation, or for each solar system through which the Logos manifests, as a man manifests through his physical body life. The first two ceremonies take place at Shamballa, the sacred point of planetary manifestation, that central location in our physical planet which corresponds to the heart of a human being. Many of the places on the earth’s surface, for instance, which are famed for their healing properties, are thus noted because they are magnetised spots, and their magnetic properties demonstrate as healing influences. The recognition of these properties by man is but the preamble of a later and more definite recognition, which will eventuate when his etheric sight is normally developed.” Initiation, Human and Solar, Pages 128-130

Do not wait for ideal circumstances, nor the best opportunities; they will never come. —Janet Erskine Stuart

April 11, 2009

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Human Antichrist

Joseph Dewey

Human Antichrist

Question: You teach that the Beast (or the antichrist) is unearned authority that controls the hearts and minds of the people, but is it possible that it  will manifest as a worse than Hitler figure that many expect?

Yes, such a thing is entirely possible and came close to happening in the person of Adolf Hitler. If Hitler had won the war we would have seen an antichrist dominating the world in a way that would have been apocalyptic. Instead of ruling for just 7 years, as many expect of the antichrist though his third Reich, he would have dominated for 1000 years.

Are we still in danger of another human antichrist like Hitler?

Yes, the door to evil has not yet been shut. Another human antichrist could certainly appear. Some always associate the current president with the antichrist others think he is yet to come.

In the past an antichrist figure has appeared every several generations and will continue to do so until the nations of the world reach a point of stabilization. That stabilization should be reached within 150-200 years, but if another antichrist is let loose to wreak havoc on the world that could be delayed.

The fundamentalists are expecting an antichrist that will make Hitler look like “Snow White,” and expect him to place a computer chip in everyone’s right hand or they will not be able to buy or sell.

Is it possible that some “evil dude” will force a computer ID chip on us all? Yes, it is possible, but even if he does try to control buying and selling it is not likely to literally fulfill Bible scriptures, at least not the way believers expect. For one thing, if a computer chip were used he would probably use the left hand as Hitler did to avoid the antichrist label.

Then too, the fear is so wide spread that an antichrist will forcefully plant a computer chip in us that the resistance would be very great and some other method of control sought.

Prospective antichrist figures will indeed surface but if disciples do their job they will not be able to create enough havoc to prevent the New Age from arriving on schedule.

Right now there are many antichrist forces at work in the world designed to take away our freedoms. Disciples must do all in their power to teach and speak up for the principles of freedom so that free will prevails over slavery.

Retracing Steps

Question: Was Joseph Smith a master?

Let me clarify. In the past I have taught that Joseph definitely passed the third initiation but failed the fourth when he refused to go west and escape with his life. It is possible he made it farther in past lives but, whatever the case, to become a master he would have to come back and pass the fourth and fifth initiations.”

We might have all been masters in a past universe, but the fact is that when anyone incarnates as a baby he has to start at point zero and move in miniature through all past progression in this system.

Question: Why do we have to  start over  with each incarnation?

JJ: It has to  do with the loss of memory when we are born again. This involves more than loss of data in the physical brain but a loss of instinctual reaction that is built into our bodies and loss of most emotional memories in the astral body. The main thing we take with us is our native intelligence.

Let me give an imperfect analogy.

A person may go to a foreign country (France) for a few years and master the language so he is conversant in it. Then he comes home for 20 years and never speaks it. After this period of time he finds he is rusty and when he reads a French article or meets a French person he finds that he is amazed at how much he has forgotten. There are a lot of words he doesn’t understand anymore.

Then he has to take another extended visit to France with his wife who has never spoken French. He then finds he is able to again master the French language much faster than his wife, up to the skill he had in his past visit. After that is reached his progress is no faster than his wife’s.

I say this is imperfect because there are no points of tension such as the initiations in learning a language. These points can even stop a master in his tracks, but overall, he will have an easier time than a novice because he has been there before. Intense, uncomfortable and sometimes painful experiences are involved in the initiations and we never get completely used to them. One person who has had a lot of pain may not fear it as much as a person who has not had it, but it is still a barrier to be transcended.

If a person was a master in the past and is reborn then he is no longer a master until he passes through the necessary steps.

“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.” — Voltaire (1694 – 1778)

April 9, 2009

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Karma and ACIM

Joseph Dewey

Karma and ACIM

Karma is an interesting subject for many spiritual students. Those who seek to find additional light on it from A Course in Miracles are somewhat disappointed as the FIP edition does not make one mention of it, though the original edition does mention it in one verse:

“‘Vengeance is Mine sayeth the Lord,’ is a strictly karmic viewpoint. It is a real misperception of truth by which man assigns his own ‘evil’ past to God. The ‘evil conscience’ from the past has nothing to do with God.” OE Tx:3.15

It is also interesting that the Circle of Atonement found a transcription of Helen’s notes with some more comments on Karma. It forms a section in the COA edition titled “The Question of Karma.”

It reinforces the idea that karma is linked to the past concerning which God has no interest for He dwells in the eternal present. On the other hand, He says this:

“There was a past, but it does not matter. It does not explain the present or account for the future.

“Are you interested in healing insanity or in studying its past?

“The history of a split mind is not a constructive focus for those who are being trained in an integrated and true concept of themselves.”

It sounds like Bill and Helen may have been enquiring about their past lives for they were told this:

“I am quite willing to tell you about your past when it no longer is of any interest to your ego, and if it is of help to someone else.

“For instance, they often relate a bodily condition to the past even when they affirm that mind is the builder.”

The thread that deals with karma is not all negative for it says:

“The chief value of the concept lies in its helpfulness in counteracting the idea of hell, a belief that is hard for the ego to relinquish.”

Many fundamentalist believers think we have only one life and if we do not accept their interpretation that we will go to hell for eternity. That is a pretty fearful thought.

On the other hand, teachings of reincarnation and karma say there is no such thing as eternal punishment. Instead, we are to merely right the wrongs we have committed in the past. This is something much less fearful.

So, is this all we have to go on concerning karma?

I submit that the answer is no. We can see the truth of this when we realize that karma is merely the playing out of cause and effect, and cause and effect have both positive and negative repercussions. Those who see karma as only producing a punishment do not understand it.

Here is a simple example: If you take out a loan from the bank you are now a debtor and must pay it back. This corresponds to negative karma.

On the other hand, if you create a savings account and make deposits you will find the bank owes you instead. This corresponds to positive karma.

The basic idea is that some causes that we initiate move us forward and others do not.

It is interesting then that even though the FIP edition does not mention karma, it does say a lot about the principle behind karma which is cause and effect.

As it is with numerous other subjects, one has to examine the context when the Course discusses cause and effect.

For instance, it stresses that “God is the only Cause.” T-14.III.8.

“Fear cannot be real without a cause, and God is the only Cause.” T-9.I.9

Because God is the only cause then only the things caused by God are real. This includes the Sonship which is caused by God:

“The Son is the Effect, whose Cause he would deny. And so he seems to be the cause, producing real effects. Nothing can have effects without a cause, and to confuse the two is merely to fail to understand them both.”  T-21.II.10

The Son then is the effect of a cause initiated by God, but in the separated  condition he seems to be the cause for here everything is reversed.

“Effect and cause are first split off, and then reversed, so that effect becomes a cause; the cause, effect.”  T-28.II.8.

From the vantage point of heaven then, the past does not exist and is causeless.

“What you remember never was. It came from causelessness which you confused with cause.” T-28.I.9 “What never was is causeless.” T-17.VII.8

In the true reality, according to the Course, God is the only true cause and only that which is real are those things He has caused to be. We are told that he did not create this world but it was made by the Son when he got a mad idea. He thus made the illusion which was an effect that he thought was a cause.

But while in this world even the Course has to use cause and effect as understood by us or confusion would be the result. For instance:

“I see no neutral things. This idea is another step in the direction of identifying cause and effect as it really operates in the world.” W-pI.17.1.

“What you desire you will see. Such is the real law of cause and effect as it operates in the world.”  W-pI.20.5

Even though there is no real cause in this world with eternal effects the Course  acknowledges there is a law of cause  and effect “as it operates in the world.”

This is basically the same as karma and it has kept us in separation for millions of years:

“Just as the separation occurred over millions of years, the Last Judgment will extend over a similarly long period, and perhaps an even longer one.” T-2.VIII.2.

Why has it taken millions of years for us to awaken from t the dream?

The answer  is quite simple. We strongly identify with cause and effect, or karma in this world. When we make some great mistakes and leave the world we receive a life review and along with that is a desire to correct the wrongs we have made. This, plus other desires, draws us back into incarnation again and again with the hope of achieving balance.

The Course on the other hand, presents a plan that can greatly shorten that time in achieving balance.

It is interesting that Helen received an interesting message about her own past and even though it concerned her past it still had a tremendous effect upon her present and without it we would not have A Course in Miracles:

“The world situation is worsening to an alarming degree. People all over the world are being called on to help, and are making their individual contributions as part of an overall prearranged plan. Part of the plan is taking down A Course in Miracles, and I am fulfilling my part in the agreement, as you will fulfill yours. You will be using abilities you developed long ago, and which you are not really ready to use again. Because of the acute emergency, however, the usual slow, evolutionary process is being by-passed in what might best be described as a ‘celestial speed-up.’” Journey Without Distance by Robert Skutch, Chapter Four

The cause of Helen’s ability to hear the voice of Christ was “developed long ago,” and circumstances required she use them again to give us the Course. This was positive karma put to use.

Cause and effect or karma has a strong hold on all humanity, but understanding its attraction to us and how it works is an important step to awakening from the dream.

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Advice to Students

Joseph Dewey

Advice to Students

Reader comments made my mind focus on the subject of teachers and the approach to them the disciple must take. As I have said before, it takes as much ability to be a good student as it does to be a good teacher.

There are two extremes the student must avoid:

[1] The extreme where an admired teacher is his whole world, where nothing is true unless the teacher or guru endorses it. This is the extreme promoted by cult leaders where the students are not allowed or encouraged to think for themselves. Instead, they are to learn from the cult teacher and no one else.

[2] The extreme where the student has no base teachings that ring with his soul, but moves from one to another using little discrimination to place a value of one over another. In this extreme the student will often claim to believe several different teachers, even though they may teach conflicting doctrines that oppose one another. For instance, some may accept the “Urantia Book” which says there is no reincarnation, and also accept Edgar Cayce who definitely taught it.

It is a simple fact that if two teachings oppose each other they cannot both be true.

The student who follows the Middle Way goes not on the path of either extreme. He is not a black-and-white follower of an infallible prophet or guru, but neither does he flit from teacher to teacher in a never ending quest for truth, but not finding it.

The wise student will seek until he finds teachings that square with his soul. These teachings will then be his base from which he can judge other teachings when the light of his soul alone may not be enough for a full revelation.

Instead of replacing these teachings every few months with the latest “channeling,” he uses them as a standard for which to judge others. He will only replace this base with another if his soul confirms that a new set of teachings has a higher percentage or quality of truth. Now even if he does make this replacement he will not leave the truth behind he has gathered from his first base. Truth is truth, and the true seeker will always incorporate true principles he has embraced in his journey.

A higher teacher may correct some errors and fill in some gaps from a lesser teacher, but he will not contradict that which is true.

It is interesting that many teachers in the east demand that their students learn only from them for a period of time. The good ones do this not to establish infallible authority but to avoid confusion. Two teachers of equal quality will often teach the same thing quite differently. If the student is learning the same course from two teachers who teach from a different perspective he will often wind up getting confused and waste both teacher’s time in getting them to explain and clarify.

Now I make no such demands of allegiance, but may if I were to teach some specific course in something like meditation, for instance. Where I teach a wide range of material it is not necessary to make any more demand from students other than to take their learning serious, check with their souls and to be courteous.

If some grow to feel that I am an earned authority and can use my teachings as a base until something better comes along well and good. Having a sound base is a much better position than having no base and being “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” (Eph 4:14)

The Fourth Ray

Creativity is indeed a divine aspect. Out of the Seven Rays of creation it is represented in the Fourth Ray, but it is not the key word for the Middle Way.

Creativity is a sign of an advanced human, but many creative people have not found the Middle Way.

When Adam named the animals he could have been creative with the names, but he could have also been very simple and uncreative. Perhaps he called them the first thing that came to his mind with little creativity.

He did use a quality that precedes decision and is the reason that men are called gods, or Elohim, several times in the Old Testament.

What is Energy?

What is energy? Good question. Energy is that power which creates or can create a force capable of moving matter in any direction. This includes not only matter in the physical, but also the astral and mental planes.

Energy is created by the interplay of spirit and matter and is released when spirit descends into matter or matter is elevated into spirit.

If one is descending deeper into matter or the plane of selfishness and puts his or her attention on this motion he will have an increase of material energy. Likewise, if one is ascending into Spirit and puts his attention on Spirit, or selflessness, then he will have an increase of spiritual energy.

If one is indecisive and does little or nothing with his attention, energy will be dissipated and little or no new energy will come to his aid.

If you think there is no truth to be found in a certain place, then you will find none. On the other hand, truth can be found by contemplating the most simple and erroneous words, because “the Word is God” — a future key.

I make no judgement about the book of Genesis, I merely ponder the words.

“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be open, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:5)

Now substitute “deciding” for “knowing.”

Now Verse 22:

“And God said” Behold the man is to become as one of us, to know (decide between) good and evil.”

The power of decision is a key that will take you from the kingdom of man to the kingdom of God.

Why is this?

“Raise your sail one foot and you get ten feet of wind.” — Chinese Proverb

April 3, 2009

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