Spiritual Interpretation of Scripture

Chapter - The True Sense of the Universe

The beliefs we entertain about the body constitute our sense of body. The truth about body is something entirely different from our concepts of it. The body itself is perfect. It is as immortal and eternal as Soul, God, which is the substance and Principle of the body.

Your body -- seen through the universal material beliefs of the world -- was born, matures, ages and dies. This very body when correctly known, that is, spiritually discerned, is the very appearing of Soul-substance, Spirit-substance, eternal being. It is neither functional nor organic. What appears to us as functions and organs are our false finite concepts of the activity of Mind appearing as spiritual body or spiritual formation.

As long as we entertain a material concept of body, we will have concern for it -- we will cater to it -- and find in it both pain and pleasure. As we continue to lift our concept of body until we gain the realization of what our body really is, we will find less and less of either pain or pleasure in it until we arrive at the state of consciousness where we realize the body as an impersonal vehicle or mode of expression.

Every suggestion of discomfort or inharmony coming from the body must be met instantly with the understanding of the true nature of body as spiritual. Only as we understand that errors of sense exist merely as suggestion and false sense, can we find freedom from the pains and pleasures of the body. We are never correcting the body, its so-called organs or functions. We are correcting the false concept or sense of body.

All we have said here about body is equally true about business, home, security, wealth.

"My kingdom is not of this world." There is nothing of God, or reality, in the world we see, hear, taste, touch or smell. The failure of religion in this age is due to the lack of this vision. Theology is attempting to spiritualize a mortal concept of God -- called man. This man and his universe is no part of God, because God or His kingdom is not of this world. Be assured that if God were in this scene there would be no wars, accidents, diseases or deaths. God, the infinite Power of good, is able to maintain harmoniously and eternally Its own creation. In "My kingdom", the realm of Spirit and Truth, there are no errors, no decompositions or defeats.

Prayers uttered for the purpose of healing, improving or aiding the people or conditions of the physical universe, reach no farther than one's own belief and bring only the results of our belief. Any beneficial effects from such prayers are not from God, the universal intelligence and Life, but are the outcome of our faith. Likewise, metaphysical treatment, if it seeks to change the human scene, can only bring forth the fruitage of the confidence placed in the treatment -- or faith in the one treating, or else faith in the suppositional God to whom the prayer is addressed.

God is the divine Reality of individual being. To avail oneself of the harmonious government of this Principle, it is necessary to drop all thought of human persons and conditions; lose all desire to improve humanhood and let the Inner Self reveal in Silence the harmony, wholeness and joy of real Being.

Spiritual good is not composed of more or better material conditions. No amount of increased physical health or wealth can testify to the reign of Spirit or Truth. We rise above sense evidence to find the realm of the real.

Soul power -- that which we contact within ourselves -- results in what appears to be health, harmony and wealth, but these are not the same as that which is attained through attempts to improve the human. The harmony in our affairs which results from our contact with our Inner Self, or Soul, is the manifestation or expression of Spirit, Life; and is the "added things" which come naturally from the realm of real substance. Finite sense beholds these "added things," or spiritual reality, as objectified material sense, or "things" and "persons". Spiritual harmony is not attained by seeking persons, things or conditions, but by taking no thought for these and seeking only contact with the divine Reality of you.

Humans cannot put on or wear the robe of Christhood. The human mind cannot be spiritualized -- it must be "put off." When the Christ appears as individual spiritual Consciousness, it dispels mortal or material sense. The human is never spiritually "clothed upon" but, as spiritual consciousness appears, material or human sense is dissolved. The effort through mental means to become spiritual is wasted effort. The attempt to understand spiritual things with the five senses or the intellect is useless. Developing a sense of receptivity; learning to silence the senses and gaining the ability to listen for "the still, small voice" -- this is the Way. Human thoughts -- even good ones -- will not help.

So in treatment to close the eyes and declare truths, make affirmations and denials, this is not the way of the Spirit or Christ. Be silent - hold a listening attitude, be receptive, be still -- and let the presence and power of God be made manifest through Silence -- this is the Way.

The Christ Way is not a transfer of thought from one individual to another; it does not include suggestion or hypnotism. It is a silent state of Receptivity in which the Christ or Spirit of God is manifest as our individual consciousness. It appears principally as a "feeling" of the Presence, and dispels the illusion of sense for oneself or another. As we are touched by the Christ -- as our consciousness becomes more and more the Christ itself, the receptive consciousness of those asking for help likewise feels this spiritual influence and responds to it and harmony is made evident.

The Christ does not come down from its high estate to serve or cater to mortals. The Christ is the Light of the world, and those desirous of its blessings and benefits must leave the husks of material living -- must forsake sense satisfaction -- even human rights and other forms of human good -- and follow Me. There is no place where the human and the spiritual blend. Stay where you spiritually are -- high in consciousness -- and those who have discovered the nothingness of mortal dreaming -- will come to you.

Franz Kafka writes: "You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even wait, be quite still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."

This is true of your high estate -- your uplifted consciousness. Once you touch or are touched by this, whatever you call it -- Christ -- It -- Tao, then stand and let those attracted receive Its benediction. Do not attempt to carry It to humanity -- on that path lie unnecessary heartaches and persecutions. Only those ready can comprehend It -- and they are seeking you and finding It. Or perhaps more correctly, they are seeking It and finding you. "Give unto him that is athirst" not to those who are finding satisfaction in lesser waters. These feel they are being sated and have no greater desires. Only when intense thirst comes again and again will they realize there is a Water, which when they drink of It, they will never thirst. These are already at the door of your consciousness. Bid them enter. The Christ is here.

I want you all to understand the great secret of the universe. Had the ancients known it, our modern living would be as in a paradise. If we learn it in this age, we can help to usher in the Millennium. The few who have known this secret in past ages could not teach it; it would appear that only a very few had the spiritual capacity to grasp its meaning. Some few understood it intellectually, but rarely was it understood in its spiritual significance.

I am not a dreamer of idle dreams -- but I have a vision of eternal Life. I would not have you either sitting on a cloud or anchored with your feet on the ground. My idea and my ideal is that you be rooted and grounded in Truth; that you be fed with spiritual meat and that you drink waters from the wellsprings of eternal Spirit and Soul.

The secret -- that which has been so rarely understood -- is that spiritual meat and drink; and the secret is this: The life which you behold in man, tree or animal is not the Life which is God; human, animal or plant life is not a manifestation of God, and therefore is not immortal, eternal or spiritual. The life of material man or flower is mortal sense objectified: it is a false sense of the Life which is real.

The understanding of this truth will enable you to look away from the objects of sense; it will enable you to refrain from attempting to heal, correct or reform the mortal sense of existence; and as soon as you have conquered the desire to heal or improve the material sense of existence, the spiritual or real begins to unfold and reveal itself to you. You cannot behold or experience eternal Life and its harmonies and beauties while accepting the evidence of the senses as if it were God's creation.

Do not take lightly what I am saying. This is the Great Revelation; this knowledge will clarify for you the Master's statement, "My kingdom is not of this world"; it will reveal to you the secret of John the Revelator, who beheld the universe which is not made with hands, but which is eternal, as Consciousness appearing; Spirit unfolding; Soul revealing itself.

"My kingdom is not of this world." The attempt to bring Spirit into operation in this finite sense of existence constitutes the warfare between the flesh and the Spirit. To continue in the belief that by some mental hocus-pocus you are going to make material life perfect; to feel that in some holy way a God or God-power is going to make your human life healthier or lengthier; to dream of some religious magic that will enable you to sail on smoothly in the sea of material living -- all this is folly, and it is dangerous. It is leaning on a fable which will not sustain you. The life of material man, the life of the tree, the flower, the animal -- this is not the Life eternal; it is not the manifestation of the Life which is God; it is a false, finite, mortal sense of life. Do not attempt to patch up this sense of life; rather turn from it and with your now enlightened consciousness discern the Life which is God; "feel" through your cultivated spiritual sense this divine energy of Spirit; become conscious in the Silence of your Soul powers. Let the divine harmonies appear as you disregard the evidence of sight and hearing, tasting, touching and smelling.

Believe me -- this is the secret of secrets. This is Life eternal to know this truth. Truly Kings and Emperors would give their thrones could they but learn this one truth, but the rich and powerful in matter - that is, in the material sense of existence -- cannot understand this truth; it is to mortal sense too abstract. Just think -- there is no value, no reality, no use of struggling for that which is seen and felt -- because that is but the unreal concept of eternal values. Can you imagine the power-drunk, the money-mad, the hoarder, the glutton, understanding that what he is handling, saving, fighting and dying for -- is shadow -- mirage?

That which is real and eternal is not seen or touched, but is spiritually discerned. It is cognized only by the intuitive or inner consciousness. Reality is perceived by the Soul senses, the inner vision.

Only to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear can this vision become a living, vital Presence. Only those who have heard what is said by "the still, small voice" and seen what is visible to the "windows of the Soul" can discern "the temple not made with hands" -- the universe of God's creating.

This inner vision, this spiritual consciousness, this Soul-sense, comes only in proportion as we accept and realize the great secret: the life of material man, plant or animal is not the eternal Life, God; it is the finite sense -- the manifestation of mortal, material sense. This false sense of life must be put off, disregarded, un-valued, in order that the real Life and its formations may become evident and experienced.



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