I Have Chosen You
MANY—very, very many—are still at that place in the unfoldment of consciousness where they are wondering, "What is the purpose of our being here?" "Why, if there is a loving God, has He made men as they are—some so wise or good or powerful, and others so ignorant, evil or weak; has given so much to the few and so little to the many?" "What is it all about, anyway?"
Such are those who have not yet awakened—who have not yet felt any strong, compelling urge to find the answer to such questions; they are still in the wondering stage, and are not enough interested to do more than accept what they have learned from church or school, or such books or lectures they have happened to read or hear, with no ability or inclination to do any deliberate thinking for themselves.
But when they find themselves wondering more and more frequently, and after awhile—maybe years later, usually preceded by some soul-stirring experience such as was described in the first chapter—they are impelled definitely to seek an explanation of the purpose of life,—then you may know that something is happening within, that their minds have been awakened, caused by the soul deep within the human consciousness being quickened and now getting ready to express itself. This quickening is like the first stirring of the child in the womb of its mother, and a coming forth in due season may be looked for as the natural result.
We are trying, as before, to show that this is a growth—that the first outer effect to be noted is the awakening of the mind, manifesting as a compelling desire to know the reason and purpose of life. It is the awakened ones that we are trying to reach. They alone are ready for what these articles contain—with the sole exception of the "elect," those who came into this life with the full knowledge in their souls of all that we have to say, but who, through a combination of circumstances due to early orthodox education and perhaps later to false teachings and detrimental environment, have never had presented to their outer minds pure truth in such simple form or with such sure appeal.
We have found it is such to whom "The Impersonal Life" comes as a "revelation from heaven"— a revealing of what they already knew in their soul consciousness; and from that moment they are "awake" and know that what we are offering them is just the spiritual food they need and which they have long been seeking.
To all such possible—the elect and the awakened ones—we are sending this call of the Master. It is to tell them how to find and to know Him, how to learn to know His loving voice within their hearts, so that they may receive direct from Him their own guidance and teaching; also that they may join with all other disciples in the now most important service of awakening and calling to Him all those that He is able to reach through them.
This is but preliminary to the much higher work each will soon be called upon to do—if they have become prepared and are capable of doing such work. All that has been suggested to you in these articles—all the mental discipline and the meditation work—is part of such preparation. Those who have not found the time or felt the significance of our exhortations and have done nothing more than read over the articles one or two times, will wonder why and perhaps be very sorry when they find that they are unable to help even themselves, not to speak of others, when the dark days come and the Master needs and calls for every possible worker and helper.
All who have eyes to see and who understand the sinister import of the dark conditions now holding humanity enslaved and bound, with no sign of relief but only plain evidence of greater darkness ahead, know the vital necessity of getting the word to all of the chosen ones as quickly as possible. Therefore all who wish to help now should ever bear this in mind and follow every urge from within that they receive to that end.
To all such we now bring the Master's own words, in the 15th Chapter of John:
"This is my commandment, That ye love one another as I have loved you.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Surely, dear ones, we want to be His friends, we who are seeking to be His disciples; and all that we need to do is that which He within us commands us to do. If you are a disciple you know that you must love one another—for He within you compels you to do that; and if He requires it, you know that you would lay down your life for your friends. Listen now to what such love leads:
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."
"Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."
Do you realize what this means? It is a definite promise that by obeying His commandments we become not servants any more but His friends, which means that we are privileged to abide in His Consciousness and thereby to know all things that He knows. Just think of it! But this comes only when He sees that we not only obey Him but no longer have any thought for or of self, but so great a love for Him that we seek to serve Him in all of our friends and brothers. Listen!
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."
Can anything be plainer? If He has called you into this His Work, and you acknowledge it as His Work and have truly dedicated yourself to Him—your Highest Self, and seek only to serve and obey Him,—then you are ready for the ordaining. Nay, if in your heart and soul you want it more than anything else, you may know that He has ordained you; and all that remains is for you to realize this and go forth and bring in the fruit to which He will lead you. Believe this then and go forth confidently, taking no thought of how or what you shall speak, for as you let Him speak through you He will awaken and call forth these new brothers (the fruit), and they will then surely remain. Which means that whatsoever you ask in His name, or from His Love in your heart, will the Father grant.
It is for this that He has chosen you and has long been preparing you—you who love your fellows as He loves you. Our part is but to convince you of this, so that you in turn may convince others and lead them to Him.
MAMMON
We wonder how many realize what a mighty power Mammon has become in the world—in fact that he seemingly rules the world.
If you do not realize it as yet, consider what follows, and then perhaps you will agree that there are very few indeed who are not under Mammon's sway, who do not fear him, and who are wholly free from his power.
First look around among your friends and note how money, or the possession of it, means everything to them. Without it they are "looked down upon" by those who have it. With plenty of it, especially if they spend it freely, they are "good fellows." Those with a superabundance of it are "looked up to" with more or less awe by those who have less or little, while others bow and cater to them, deem them a great success, and generally con- sider them as having reached an exalted place in the world.
Can you admit that the possession of money, to- day, in the eyes of the world, does not mean more to the vast majority of people than the possession of any other thing? Which means that practically everyone acknowledges Mammon as their lord and master, yields to his demands, and thereby gives money absolute power over them.
Do you think this is stating it too strongly? Then answer to yourself these questions:
Are you who read truly free from its power? Think! Has it no hold whatever on you? Are you not in the least afraid of losing your job, your social or financial standing, or your investments? Or should you lose all, have you not the slightest fear for yourself and of your power to regain what is lost?
Are you sure in your social relations with others that their possession of wealth or lack of it has no effect or influence whatever on your attitude towards them—that the beggar and the banker are alike your brothers?
Are you sure, in your business dealings with others that the prospect of profit or loss in no way influences your statements or causes you not to listen to a desire to help them, when you want to sell them something?
Can you truly say that money means nothing to you, that the possession or lack of it in the eyes of your friends has no place in your thoughts, and that you could be a tramp or a millionaire with equal disregard of Mammon's power to cause you to deviate one iota from your loving service to the Lord Christ within?
If you can answer "yes" to these questions, then have you truly reached the stage of discipleship, and are ready for or are. now really doing the work of the Master, for you have passed a supreme test and are worthy of doing the work you came here to do.
This article is written in the full understanding of the insidious power Mammon has acquired over practically every seeker of the Kingdom, a power that very few are aware of, and which it is our duty to show up clearly, so that each may know for him or herself and deal with it definitely from now on.
This power has so instilled itself into the consciousness of nearly everyone that it is most difficult to free one's mind from it sufficiently to see the hold it has obtained upon our thoughts and lives. If we will only admit it, it influences unconsciously most of our motives, desires, aims and actions, and it ever drives us onward with the whip of fear so that we cannot reason calmly and see that self is being wholly misled by a false god to the forgetfulness of the Loving One within, who promises if we seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness all things else will be added.
Therefore we say to you, search deeply into your mind and heart and make sure that you have not unconsciously been worshipping Mammon, obeying his mandates and living under his rule, rather than God's.
This applies as much to those to whom the need of money is perhaps at this moment paramount in their thoughts, as to those who have an abundance of it and who are living in an atmosphere of wealth.
Money of itself, of course, is no more than a medium by which we exchange one commodity for another, and is therefore neither good nor evil. But a selfishness that seeks more than one's share of it or more than one needs and can use, is undeniably evil, for that deprives others of their just share or needs. Such a selfishness, however, has become so common that it is not considered to be selfishness any more. It is deemed to be a normal process of nature—a "survival of the fittest," when from the foregoing it is plainly seen as perverted nature.
Therefore many millions of souls are living in a perverted state, entirely under the dominion of a self-created power, existing, maintaining itself and fast gaining a stranglehold upon its creators, solely because they do not realize whom and what they are serving—their own selfish wills.
Mammon is thus seen to be crystallized selfishness—nay, entitized selfishness, because money has no power unless it is gathered together in the hands of a few who purposely deprive many others of their rightful share in order to maintain their power and to further their own evil ends. We will not go further into this phase of the subject at this time, but for fuller light upon it refer to you the article on "The Enemy" in the booklet "Brotherhood."
One thing each seeker of the Kingdom must clearly determine here and now—the influence that Mammon has had over him in the past, and that this influence must be eliminated from mind and heart henceforth and forever.
This means that from this moment his allegiance is to God alone and that he will look to Him only as his support and his supply, and will have full and utter faith in His promise of what will result if he makes the seeking of Him and His Righteousness first in his life.
But realize that much will come to test this faith, and outer circumstances may grow very dark and friends and loved ones may condemn and consider you gone daft. But know that when everything is darkest, and it would seem that God and all else have deserted you, the time of deliverance draws very near. For there is no truer saying than that it is always darkest just before dawn.
Those who have the booklet "Wealth" should read it again in the light of the foregoing. It will prove most illuminating, and you will find its pages filled with inspiration and helpfulness.
HUSBAND AND WIFE
We wish you now to think with us on a subject that is very close to some of you—especially to those who are married, and which perhaps is of more importance to such than any other subject we could consider.
It happens that many seekers after truth, many aspirants—aye, many even who are approaching discipleship, are traveling alone in their search, unaccompanied by husband or wife, who seemingly are unsympathetic with—if they are not actually antagonistic to—their aspirations and efforts to follow and serve the Master.
We wish to recall to you some of the deep truths stated in the chapter on "Soul Mates" in "The Impersonal Life," or rather to restate them in different words. After which we suggest the rereading and studying of the whole chapter.
First, do not think for one moment that it was an accident or a mistake that you are wedded to the one who is now legally your husband or wife. For the I AM, the Higher Self, the Knower, Lover, and Doer within you—and within all—never makes a mistake. Then there must have been a deep purpose in your coming into such special relationship with this other soul, must there not?
Next, remember that this other soul is an Angel from Heaven, even as are you—an attribute of God, a Divine Being—confined in a human body and looking out through the barred cage of its personality. The human mind in that body knows not why it is here in this particular condition and environment, but the soul—if it is awakened—knows, and with the help of the Higher Self often tries to tell the human mind. Some of you who are approaching discipleship have been able to give to your minds glimpses of the purpose of such relationship. You are those who will understand what follows.
Can you not see that two souls never come together intimately in any family or other relation- ship who do not in a way belong together? That is, they either complement or fit in with one another in such a way as to bring about or fulfill certain necessary conditions that will develop and round out their characters and bring wisdom to their souls, so that harmony may eventually express in their outer lives.
Ponder over that a bit, and you will realize that it must be true—you who are learning the law of Love and Harmony. And then perhaps it may occur to you that the principal reason for the one coming to you as husband or wife in this life is to help each of you to learn your lessons, which evidently you failed to learn in the past, and this time to strive more determinedly to conquer those qualities or weaknesses in you which the other seems uncannily able constantly to bring to the surface—each thus under the direction of the Higher Self actually teaching the other.
Of course, if you are still quite selfish and headstrong, and refuse to face yourself and see only those qualities in the other which show up your own weaknesses so glaringly, and you rebel against it all and seek to remain apart from the other, it only postpones the happiness and peace your human mind seeks and which your soul longs for and keeps urging you toward.
On the other hand where human love is still very strong—and selfish, and unwilling to allow the other the freedom of life and thought which you insist upon having for yourself, and you try to force that other to think and see as you love to do,—you will have to learn through much suffering and unhappiness that the strongest demand of the soul is for perfect freedom, and that one who would bind another soul can expect not love, but rebellion, deceit and constant antagonism, if not smothered hatred.
This, however, hardly applies to one on The Path. Such a one gets inner glimpses of the caged soul of the other, and strives hard to conquer those old claims of the selfish personality and even to help the other to awaken to that which is holding him or her back from what their soul is seeking. To such human love is gradually lifted up into divine love, and while the other, if anything, is more greatly loved than ever, despite all weaknesses, yet it is with a love that unites with that of the Higher uncannily able constantly to bring to the surface— each thus under the direction of the Higher Self actually teaching the other.
Of course, if you are still quite selfish and head- strong, and refuse to face yourself and see only those qualities in the other which show up your own weaknesses so glaringly, and you rebel against it all and seek to remain apart from the other, it only postpones the happiness and peace your human mind seeks and which your soul longs for and keeps urging you toward.
On the other hand where human love is still very strong—and selfish, and unwilling to allow the other the freedom of life and thought which you insist upon having for yourself, and you try to force that other to think and see as you love to do,—you will have to learn through much suffering and unhappiness that the strongest demand of the soul is for perfect freedom, and that one who would bind an- other soul can expect not love, but rebellion, deceit and constant antagonism, if not smothered hatred.
This, however, hardly applies to one on The Path. Such a one gets inner glimpses of the caged soul of the other, and strives hard to conquer those old claims of the selfish personality and even to help the other to awaken to that which is holding him or her back from what their soul is seeking. To such human love is gradually lifted up into divine love, and while the other, if anything, is more greatly loved than ever, despite all weaknesses, yet it is with a love that unites with that of the Higher Self of the other, as it were, in a great yearning to bring the other consciously into a true understanding of the purpose of their coming together and consequently into the same joy of the Lord that the knowing one feels.
Some of you are beginning to see that as a disciple of Jesus Christ the only thing now to do is to face this task that is closest to you, whether it is with husband, wife, child, parent or other relation of a family, friendship or business nature, and to take it out of the hands of the personal self and to give it over wholly to the Loving One within, determined to let Him inspire and direct every thought, word and act from this time on. For you now realize what a mess you have made of it, and that He and His Love alone can bring to you and to the other the understanding, the consideration for others, and the self-control that will unfold and broaden your souls and enable you to learn the lessons that you had to come together to teach each other, and thus to help your Higher Selves to bring about that oneness of consciousness that must be in serving Christ.
The principal aim of this Work is to bring awakened souls to Christ. Naturally such souls cannot find and enter the Kingdom with such a task unfinished. You will keenly realize this later—if not now. Therefore, it is necessary to get busy. With the Master's help many of the mistakes of the past can be quickly undone and remedied by those who truly seek to bring every department of their life into harmony with His Life.
Try to realize what a wondrous thing it would be if your husband or wife were working side by side with you in the Master's Cause, each of you equally in earnest and determined to find the Kingdom—you who think this now improbable, if not utterly impossible.
Do you know that there are many such couples in this Work? And there will be many more, for one of our chief endeavors is to join husband and wife in spirit or in the consciousness of the divine purpose of their coming together in this close relationship—where they can truly learn with each other's help to master the lower self, and then to work as one in loving service under their blessed Master, Jesus Christ.
Our part is to assist each husband and wife wherever we can to know that they will grow spiritually very much faster when striving to serve unitedly than each could alone. For alone they are incomplete—that is, the one complements and supplies certain soul qualities and powers that the other lacks, else they would never have come together—being so different.
You may not realize this now—some of you who do not yet know the soul of your husband or wife. We have seen numerous instances where a wife deemed her husband far beneath her spiritually, and when the quickening came to the husband, he proved to be much more advanced than the wife—especially in living and practicing what he knew. Similarly, where the husband thought the wife knew nothing about Truth, when the time of her quickening came she showed herself to be much beyond him in true spiritual understanding.
After coming together in the Work, however, these inequalities begin to disappear, as each learns to know and supply spiritually to the other what each lacks and needs. Thus they complement and round out—as two-in-one—their united channel for service under our Blessed Master, and are in a position to accomplish what He intended from the beginning.
PRACTICAL WORK
The time has come to give definite exercises that will help to lift the consciousness to that of the Master within.
Those of you who have earnestly sought to gain a realization of the meaning of the words "Be Still and Know—I AM—God," as suggested in the earlier articles and in "The Impersonal Life," may already have caught a glimpse of this consciousness, for these magical words have helped many to enter it.
In order to prepare your mind for as clear an understanding as possible of what follows, reread chapters II and XVII of "The Impersonal Life." This will also help you more easily to get into the attitude of mind necessary to comply with the suggestions to be given. Then read carefully all that is stated, seeking to grasp its inner meaning, before attempting to obey any of the instructions.
Stand or sit at ease in front of a mirror and look at your reflection therein. Look particularly into the eyes and try to see and note the intelligence shining out of them.
Try to realize that that intelligence is your mind or soul, but that You who are Spirit are much more than that intelligence or soul, whose mind is now thoroughly alert wondering what is coming.
Also realize that in very truth what you see in the mirror is but a reflection—an appearance—of what your mind thinks is You. But the Real You, being Spirit, cannot be seen, and instead is that which sees and knows all things.
Now slowly and very positively—trying as you voice each word to realize fully the deep meaning and significance of the command in them—speak to that intelligence which you see looking out of the eyes in the mirror as follows (you can say it aloud or silently to yourself—whichever is the most effective to you):
"Be still and know,—I AM--God. Know that I am, and that you are not at all—as a separate being. I am not your body, mind or soul,--I am Spirit. I am that which animates you, which lives you, which is your intelligence, which is your power to be and to do all that you are and do.
"I am your REAL self—your ONLY self—I, the God of you. You are only a portion of My Consciousness, dwelling within a focalized center of My Mind, which you call your self. The proof is, you are nothing, know nothing, can do nothing, only as I inspire and empower you to know and do it."
Continue thus to talk to that intelligence—saying whatever you feel led to say, letting the words speak themselves—with no thought or effort on your part. Keep on talking to it until you find that you have the full attention of your mind, that it is actually listening to you,—when you need look in the mirror no longer, but may close your eyes, for your mind is listening and you can now talk direct to it.
As you continue you will suddenly realize, as your mind follows all that is said, that it is hearing some deep truths which you of yourself never knew before; and with a flash of illumination you will become mystically aware that That which is speaking is from a Consciousness that seems to know all things, that that Consciousness is I AM, God within you, the Real You, and that what is listening and hearing is what you formerly thought was you, but which is only your brain mind which believed itself separate from God's Consciousness—That which is All in all.
Thus has your consciousness for the time being been lifted from the lower brain mind to your higher divine mind—its true home, where it "sees" as You, the Master, wish it to see, and it knows as You know.
Try to grasp the deep significance of every word of the above, and until you do, read it over again—and still again, before proceeding to do what is required. Then practice it faithfully until you get the realization. If you are determined to get it, it will come.
Practice will eventually make it easy to enter the higher consciousness at will—by simply commanding:
Be still and know,—I AM—God.
Go to the next Chapter ~ I, If I Be Lifted Up, Will Draw All Men Unto Me
Such are those who have not yet awakened—who have not yet felt any strong, compelling urge to find the answer to such questions; they are still in the wondering stage, and are not enough interested to do more than accept what they have learned from church or school, or such books or lectures they have happened to read or hear, with no ability or inclination to do any deliberate thinking for themselves.
But when they find themselves wondering more and more frequently, and after awhile—maybe years later, usually preceded by some soul-stirring experience such as was described in the first chapter—they are impelled definitely to seek an explanation of the purpose of life,—then you may know that something is happening within, that their minds have been awakened, caused by the soul deep within the human consciousness being quickened and now getting ready to express itself. This quickening is like the first stirring of the child in the womb of its mother, and a coming forth in due season may be looked for as the natural result.
We are trying, as before, to show that this is a growth—that the first outer effect to be noted is the awakening of the mind, manifesting as a compelling desire to know the reason and purpose of life. It is the awakened ones that we are trying to reach. They alone are ready for what these articles contain—with the sole exception of the "elect," those who came into this life with the full knowledge in their souls of all that we have to say, but who, through a combination of circumstances due to early orthodox education and perhaps later to false teachings and detrimental environment, have never had presented to their outer minds pure truth in such simple form or with such sure appeal.
We have found it is such to whom "The Impersonal Life" comes as a "revelation from heaven"— a revealing of what they already knew in their soul consciousness; and from that moment they are "awake" and know that what we are offering them is just the spiritual food they need and which they have long been seeking.
To all such possible—the elect and the awakened ones—we are sending this call of the Master. It is to tell them how to find and to know Him, how to learn to know His loving voice within their hearts, so that they may receive direct from Him their own guidance and teaching; also that they may join with all other disciples in the now most important service of awakening and calling to Him all those that He is able to reach through them.
This is but preliminary to the much higher work each will soon be called upon to do—if they have become prepared and are capable of doing such work. All that has been suggested to you in these articles—all the mental discipline and the meditation work—is part of such preparation. Those who have not found the time or felt the significance of our exhortations and have done nothing more than read over the articles one or two times, will wonder why and perhaps be very sorry when they find that they are unable to help even themselves, not to speak of others, when the dark days come and the Master needs and calls for every possible worker and helper.
All who have eyes to see and who understand the sinister import of the dark conditions now holding humanity enslaved and bound, with no sign of relief but only plain evidence of greater darkness ahead, know the vital necessity of getting the word to all of the chosen ones as quickly as possible. Therefore all who wish to help now should ever bear this in mind and follow every urge from within that they receive to that end.
To all such we now bring the Master's own words, in the 15th Chapter of John:
"This is my commandment, That ye love one another as I have loved you.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Surely, dear ones, we want to be His friends, we who are seeking to be His disciples; and all that we need to do is that which He within us commands us to do. If you are a disciple you know that you must love one another—for He within you compels you to do that; and if He requires it, you know that you would lay down your life for your friends. Listen now to what such love leads:
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."
"Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."
Do you realize what this means? It is a definite promise that by obeying His commandments we become not servants any more but His friends, which means that we are privileged to abide in His Consciousness and thereby to know all things that He knows. Just think of it! But this comes only when He sees that we not only obey Him but no longer have any thought for or of self, but so great a love for Him that we seek to serve Him in all of our friends and brothers. Listen!
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."
Can anything be plainer? If He has called you into this His Work, and you acknowledge it as His Work and have truly dedicated yourself to Him—your Highest Self, and seek only to serve and obey Him,—then you are ready for the ordaining. Nay, if in your heart and soul you want it more than anything else, you may know that He has ordained you; and all that remains is for you to realize this and go forth and bring in the fruit to which He will lead you. Believe this then and go forth confidently, taking no thought of how or what you shall speak, for as you let Him speak through you He will awaken and call forth these new brothers (the fruit), and they will then surely remain. Which means that whatsoever you ask in His name, or from His Love in your heart, will the Father grant.
It is for this that He has chosen you and has long been preparing you—you who love your fellows as He loves you. Our part is but to convince you of this, so that you in turn may convince others and lead them to Him.
MAMMON
We wonder how many realize what a mighty power Mammon has become in the world—in fact that he seemingly rules the world.
If you do not realize it as yet, consider what follows, and then perhaps you will agree that there are very few indeed who are not under Mammon's sway, who do not fear him, and who are wholly free from his power.
First look around among your friends and note how money, or the possession of it, means everything to them. Without it they are "looked down upon" by those who have it. With plenty of it, especially if they spend it freely, they are "good fellows." Those with a superabundance of it are "looked up to" with more or less awe by those who have less or little, while others bow and cater to them, deem them a great success, and generally con- sider them as having reached an exalted place in the world.
Can you admit that the possession of money, to- day, in the eyes of the world, does not mean more to the vast majority of people than the possession of any other thing? Which means that practically everyone acknowledges Mammon as their lord and master, yields to his demands, and thereby gives money absolute power over them.
Do you think this is stating it too strongly? Then answer to yourself these questions:
Are you who read truly free from its power? Think! Has it no hold whatever on you? Are you not in the least afraid of losing your job, your social or financial standing, or your investments? Or should you lose all, have you not the slightest fear for yourself and of your power to regain what is lost?
Are you sure in your social relations with others that their possession of wealth or lack of it has no effect or influence whatever on your attitude towards them—that the beggar and the banker are alike your brothers?
Are you sure, in your business dealings with others that the prospect of profit or loss in no way influences your statements or causes you not to listen to a desire to help them, when you want to sell them something?
Can you truly say that money means nothing to you, that the possession or lack of it in the eyes of your friends has no place in your thoughts, and that you could be a tramp or a millionaire with equal disregard of Mammon's power to cause you to deviate one iota from your loving service to the Lord Christ within?
If you can answer "yes" to these questions, then have you truly reached the stage of discipleship, and are ready for or are. now really doing the work of the Master, for you have passed a supreme test and are worthy of doing the work you came here to do.
This article is written in the full understanding of the insidious power Mammon has acquired over practically every seeker of the Kingdom, a power that very few are aware of, and which it is our duty to show up clearly, so that each may know for him or herself and deal with it definitely from now on.
This power has so instilled itself into the consciousness of nearly everyone that it is most difficult to free one's mind from it sufficiently to see the hold it has obtained upon our thoughts and lives. If we will only admit it, it influences unconsciously most of our motives, desires, aims and actions, and it ever drives us onward with the whip of fear so that we cannot reason calmly and see that self is being wholly misled by a false god to the forgetfulness of the Loving One within, who promises if we seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness all things else will be added.
Therefore we say to you, search deeply into your mind and heart and make sure that you have not unconsciously been worshipping Mammon, obeying his mandates and living under his rule, rather than God's.
This applies as much to those to whom the need of money is perhaps at this moment paramount in their thoughts, as to those who have an abundance of it and who are living in an atmosphere of wealth.
Money of itself, of course, is no more than a medium by which we exchange one commodity for another, and is therefore neither good nor evil. But a selfishness that seeks more than one's share of it or more than one needs and can use, is undeniably evil, for that deprives others of their just share or needs. Such a selfishness, however, has become so common that it is not considered to be selfishness any more. It is deemed to be a normal process of nature—a "survival of the fittest," when from the foregoing it is plainly seen as perverted nature.
Therefore many millions of souls are living in a perverted state, entirely under the dominion of a self-created power, existing, maintaining itself and fast gaining a stranglehold upon its creators, solely because they do not realize whom and what they are serving—their own selfish wills.
Mammon is thus seen to be crystallized selfishness—nay, entitized selfishness, because money has no power unless it is gathered together in the hands of a few who purposely deprive many others of their rightful share in order to maintain their power and to further their own evil ends. We will not go further into this phase of the subject at this time, but for fuller light upon it refer to you the article on "The Enemy" in the booklet "Brotherhood."
One thing each seeker of the Kingdom must clearly determine here and now—the influence that Mammon has had over him in the past, and that this influence must be eliminated from mind and heart henceforth and forever.
This means that from this moment his allegiance is to God alone and that he will look to Him only as his support and his supply, and will have full and utter faith in His promise of what will result if he makes the seeking of Him and His Righteousness first in his life.
But realize that much will come to test this faith, and outer circumstances may grow very dark and friends and loved ones may condemn and consider you gone daft. But know that when everything is darkest, and it would seem that God and all else have deserted you, the time of deliverance draws very near. For there is no truer saying than that it is always darkest just before dawn.
Those who have the booklet "Wealth" should read it again in the light of the foregoing. It will prove most illuminating, and you will find its pages filled with inspiration and helpfulness.
HUSBAND AND WIFE
We wish you now to think with us on a subject that is very close to some of you—especially to those who are married, and which perhaps is of more importance to such than any other subject we could consider.
It happens that many seekers after truth, many aspirants—aye, many even who are approaching discipleship, are traveling alone in their search, unaccompanied by husband or wife, who seemingly are unsympathetic with—if they are not actually antagonistic to—their aspirations and efforts to follow and serve the Master.
We wish to recall to you some of the deep truths stated in the chapter on "Soul Mates" in "The Impersonal Life," or rather to restate them in different words. After which we suggest the rereading and studying of the whole chapter.
First, do not think for one moment that it was an accident or a mistake that you are wedded to the one who is now legally your husband or wife. For the I AM, the Higher Self, the Knower, Lover, and Doer within you—and within all—never makes a mistake. Then there must have been a deep purpose in your coming into such special relationship with this other soul, must there not?
Next, remember that this other soul is an Angel from Heaven, even as are you—an attribute of God, a Divine Being—confined in a human body and looking out through the barred cage of its personality. The human mind in that body knows not why it is here in this particular condition and environment, but the soul—if it is awakened—knows, and with the help of the Higher Self often tries to tell the human mind. Some of you who are approaching discipleship have been able to give to your minds glimpses of the purpose of such relationship. You are those who will understand what follows.
Can you not see that two souls never come together intimately in any family or other relation- ship who do not in a way belong together? That is, they either complement or fit in with one another in such a way as to bring about or fulfill certain necessary conditions that will develop and round out their characters and bring wisdom to their souls, so that harmony may eventually express in their outer lives.
Ponder over that a bit, and you will realize that it must be true—you who are learning the law of Love and Harmony. And then perhaps it may occur to you that the principal reason for the one coming to you as husband or wife in this life is to help each of you to learn your lessons, which evidently you failed to learn in the past, and this time to strive more determinedly to conquer those qualities or weaknesses in you which the other seems uncannily able constantly to bring to the surface—each thus under the direction of the Higher Self actually teaching the other.
Of course, if you are still quite selfish and headstrong, and refuse to face yourself and see only those qualities in the other which show up your own weaknesses so glaringly, and you rebel against it all and seek to remain apart from the other, it only postpones the happiness and peace your human mind seeks and which your soul longs for and keeps urging you toward.
On the other hand where human love is still very strong—and selfish, and unwilling to allow the other the freedom of life and thought which you insist upon having for yourself, and you try to force that other to think and see as you love to do,—you will have to learn through much suffering and unhappiness that the strongest demand of the soul is for perfect freedom, and that one who would bind another soul can expect not love, but rebellion, deceit and constant antagonism, if not smothered hatred.
This, however, hardly applies to one on The Path. Such a one gets inner glimpses of the caged soul of the other, and strives hard to conquer those old claims of the selfish personality and even to help the other to awaken to that which is holding him or her back from what their soul is seeking. To such human love is gradually lifted up into divine love, and while the other, if anything, is more greatly loved than ever, despite all weaknesses, yet it is with a love that unites with that of the Higher uncannily able constantly to bring to the surface— each thus under the direction of the Higher Self actually teaching the other.
Of course, if you are still quite selfish and head- strong, and refuse to face yourself and see only those qualities in the other which show up your own weaknesses so glaringly, and you rebel against it all and seek to remain apart from the other, it only postpones the happiness and peace your human mind seeks and which your soul longs for and keeps urging you toward.
On the other hand where human love is still very strong—and selfish, and unwilling to allow the other the freedom of life and thought which you insist upon having for yourself, and you try to force that other to think and see as you love to do,—you will have to learn through much suffering and unhappiness that the strongest demand of the soul is for perfect freedom, and that one who would bind an- other soul can expect not love, but rebellion, deceit and constant antagonism, if not smothered hatred.
This, however, hardly applies to one on The Path. Such a one gets inner glimpses of the caged soul of the other, and strives hard to conquer those old claims of the selfish personality and even to help the other to awaken to that which is holding him or her back from what their soul is seeking. To such human love is gradually lifted up into divine love, and while the other, if anything, is more greatly loved than ever, despite all weaknesses, yet it is with a love that unites with that of the Higher Self of the other, as it were, in a great yearning to bring the other consciously into a true understanding of the purpose of their coming together and consequently into the same joy of the Lord that the knowing one feels.
Some of you are beginning to see that as a disciple of Jesus Christ the only thing now to do is to face this task that is closest to you, whether it is with husband, wife, child, parent or other relation of a family, friendship or business nature, and to take it out of the hands of the personal self and to give it over wholly to the Loving One within, determined to let Him inspire and direct every thought, word and act from this time on. For you now realize what a mess you have made of it, and that He and His Love alone can bring to you and to the other the understanding, the consideration for others, and the self-control that will unfold and broaden your souls and enable you to learn the lessons that you had to come together to teach each other, and thus to help your Higher Selves to bring about that oneness of consciousness that must be in serving Christ.
The principal aim of this Work is to bring awakened souls to Christ. Naturally such souls cannot find and enter the Kingdom with such a task unfinished. You will keenly realize this later—if not now. Therefore, it is necessary to get busy. With the Master's help many of the mistakes of the past can be quickly undone and remedied by those who truly seek to bring every department of their life into harmony with His Life.
Try to realize what a wondrous thing it would be if your husband or wife were working side by side with you in the Master's Cause, each of you equally in earnest and determined to find the Kingdom—you who think this now improbable, if not utterly impossible.
Do you know that there are many such couples in this Work? And there will be many more, for one of our chief endeavors is to join husband and wife in spirit or in the consciousness of the divine purpose of their coming together in this close relationship—where they can truly learn with each other's help to master the lower self, and then to work as one in loving service under their blessed Master, Jesus Christ.
Our part is to assist each husband and wife wherever we can to know that they will grow spiritually very much faster when striving to serve unitedly than each could alone. For alone they are incomplete—that is, the one complements and supplies certain soul qualities and powers that the other lacks, else they would never have come together—being so different.
You may not realize this now—some of you who do not yet know the soul of your husband or wife. We have seen numerous instances where a wife deemed her husband far beneath her spiritually, and when the quickening came to the husband, he proved to be much more advanced than the wife—especially in living and practicing what he knew. Similarly, where the husband thought the wife knew nothing about Truth, when the time of her quickening came she showed herself to be much beyond him in true spiritual understanding.
After coming together in the Work, however, these inequalities begin to disappear, as each learns to know and supply spiritually to the other what each lacks and needs. Thus they complement and round out—as two-in-one—their united channel for service under our Blessed Master, and are in a position to accomplish what He intended from the beginning.
PRACTICAL WORK
The time has come to give definite exercises that will help to lift the consciousness to that of the Master within.
Those of you who have earnestly sought to gain a realization of the meaning of the words "Be Still and Know—I AM—God," as suggested in the earlier articles and in "The Impersonal Life," may already have caught a glimpse of this consciousness, for these magical words have helped many to enter it.
In order to prepare your mind for as clear an understanding as possible of what follows, reread chapters II and XVII of "The Impersonal Life." This will also help you more easily to get into the attitude of mind necessary to comply with the suggestions to be given. Then read carefully all that is stated, seeking to grasp its inner meaning, before attempting to obey any of the instructions.
Stand or sit at ease in front of a mirror and look at your reflection therein. Look particularly into the eyes and try to see and note the intelligence shining out of them.
Try to realize that that intelligence is your mind or soul, but that You who are Spirit are much more than that intelligence or soul, whose mind is now thoroughly alert wondering what is coming.
Also realize that in very truth what you see in the mirror is but a reflection—an appearance—of what your mind thinks is You. But the Real You, being Spirit, cannot be seen, and instead is that which sees and knows all things.
Now slowly and very positively—trying as you voice each word to realize fully the deep meaning and significance of the command in them—speak to that intelligence which you see looking out of the eyes in the mirror as follows (you can say it aloud or silently to yourself—whichever is the most effective to you):
"Be still and know,—I AM--God. Know that I am, and that you are not at all—as a separate being. I am not your body, mind or soul,--I am Spirit. I am that which animates you, which lives you, which is your intelligence, which is your power to be and to do all that you are and do.
"I am your REAL self—your ONLY self—I, the God of you. You are only a portion of My Consciousness, dwelling within a focalized center of My Mind, which you call your self. The proof is, you are nothing, know nothing, can do nothing, only as I inspire and empower you to know and do it."
Continue thus to talk to that intelligence—saying whatever you feel led to say, letting the words speak themselves—with no thought or effort on your part. Keep on talking to it until you find that you have the full attention of your mind, that it is actually listening to you,—when you need look in the mirror no longer, but may close your eyes, for your mind is listening and you can now talk direct to it.
As you continue you will suddenly realize, as your mind follows all that is said, that it is hearing some deep truths which you of yourself never knew before; and with a flash of illumination you will become mystically aware that That which is speaking is from a Consciousness that seems to know all things, that that Consciousness is I AM, God within you, the Real You, and that what is listening and hearing is what you formerly thought was you, but which is only your brain mind which believed itself separate from God's Consciousness—That which is All in all.
Thus has your consciousness for the time being been lifted from the lower brain mind to your higher divine mind—its true home, where it "sees" as You, the Master, wish it to see, and it knows as You know.
Try to grasp the deep significance of every word of the above, and until you do, read it over again—and still again, before proceeding to do what is required. Then practice it faithfully until you get the realization. If you are determined to get it, it will come.
Practice will eventually make it easy to enter the higher consciousness at will—by simply commanding:
Be still and know,—I AM—God.
Go to the next Chapter ~ I, If I Be Lifted Up, Will Draw All Men Unto Me