The Impersonal Life
THE first chapter of this book was originally issued as a Paper which was sent to a large list of metaphysical students, and which is still being sent to all new correspondents, as well as to all new students of the Impersonal Life message.
In that Paper we offered to send the succeeding numbers to all who were earnestly seeking the Kingdom and who were making that seeking first in their hearts and lives, and we invited all such to accompany us on our journey to the Kingdom, to which we promised to lead them.
Some of those who accepted our invitation and who have journeyed with us from the beginning know that we have reached the Kingdom and that the door is open wide to all who are able consciously to enter and to abide therein.
Again we wish to point out that it is the earnest ones, those to whom the finding of the Kingdom was really the first and supreme purpose of their lives, who are now conscious of the great blessings of the Kingdom, their Father's Home, that is theirs to possess and enjoy.
Those who made this seeking secondary to other interests and desires can now see why they are unable to grasp the full meaning of all that has been shown — why they cannot close the gap between their lower and higher consciousness and know the I AM or Christ as their Self.
In the last chapter we gave final instructions to enable all who were ready to accomplish this last step, and we expect others from time to time, as they digest and prove what the teachings contain, to find that they also have reached the goal; when we will be very happy with them, as will be all our Brothers of the Kingdom.
You who for any reason have not gained what your hearts seek, we urgently advise to go back and start over again, beginning with the first chapter, and not to leave it until you have made everything in it your own, fully digesting and proving each truth to your satisfaction, before passing on to the next. If you do this, we prophesy that you too will be enjoying the blessings of the Kingdom with your Brothers before many weeks.
Now we are going to ask you to consider with us some truths that may prove rather startling, at first thought, until you realize from what has been taught regarding the Soul that they cannot be other than as shown.
The first truth, assuming that you are a disciple of Christ Jesus and consequently are become an immortal soul, is that you are not at all what you think yourself to be. No, you are not the personality — not the John Smith or the Mary Doe — that the world knows; but you are using that personality, which your human mind created, and which now you are cleansing, developing and perfecting, as an instrument with which to accomplish that which you came into physical expression to do.
Try to realize that this must be so—if you are an immortal soul — that this present personality is but one of many you have similarly used back through the ages, — but that these personalities were not you. They were only characters you assumed for the purpose of accomplishing what you planned to do.
Well then who—what am I? You ask.
If you have not studied and meditated upon the several articles on the Soul until you have a fairly clear concept of yourself as a soul, we urge that you go back and study them until it becomes clear. In any event it were better to reread the articles in order to refresh your memory, so that you may grasp more easily what we are now going to say.
Remember, a disciple is a soul consciously being taught by his Higher Self, a Son of God. A conscious disciple is one who is in close communion with his Higher Self, the I AM, the Christ, and is often possessed by Him, and thereby is often in His consciousness. The more advanced the disciple the more he is used by this Master Self, and the more he learns to see with His eyes and to know with His understanding.
Such a disciple sooner or later is given to see and know "who he is and of what he is a part." This means that in time he will know himself as a soul having put on different bodies in different ages, creating personalities that played a part in the history of those days, probably most often an insignificant part, but perhaps one or more times of a prominent nature, according to the age and advancement of the soul. He will know this because it will all be unfolded to him as definite soul memories of those past lives.
Ordinarily a soul spends the few years of life in his mortal body and then retires and lives in his soul body for centuries before reincarnating again. But of course it depends on the soul — the number and frequency of its incarnations, for some souls because of their nature are given special work to do in connection with humanity, while others who ripen more slowly are not yet ready for the special training that can be gained only in strenuous earth experiences.
But this phase of the subject does not pertain to what we are seeking to explain. We want you to realize first that you are old souls—all of you who clearly heard the call of the Master when reading the first chapter, and who have been faithfully and earnestly following Him ever since.
Does this make you stop and think? Then hear this: Perhaps you were one of His followers when He was on earth in Palestine. Perhaps you have been His follower and even a martyr in His Cause in other lives down through the centuries since. Aye, perhaps you were among those who were taught, sung to, or who believed the prophesies about Him, voiced by Moses, or Abraham, or David, or the Prophets, and who long looked forward to His coming before He appeared. So that you love Him with a love that is not only of the soul, but of the Spirit, of which He is the very life essence; because He is the Holy Spirit, and your own Higher Selves are one with Him and one with the Father.
Remember now that we are not speaking of the John Smith or Mary Doe of your present life, but of the real you who are an old soul. If this has awakened a response deep within, you may find it not hard to accept that you were a living soul when He was on earth, maybe before He was on earth, and perhaps even in old Atlantis. Something may say to you, this may be possible. If something does not so say, then it may not be possible. But do not let yourself be fooled or get concerned about it, for it does not make any particular difference; it only gives you an idea of how old is your soul.
This will help you to know. Are you serving? How long have you been serving, and how many and whom are you serving? If you are an old soul you came here to serve, and love is the very essence of your life, so that you began serving in some form or other as soon as your instrument could be used! And the older the soul the more influence you radiate, the more souls you are awakening and helping into the Kingdom.
But do not let your age concern you, for the only thing that matters is — does your soul yearn to serve now, and is it straining to make your human self fit and worthy to serve?
Remember what the Master told us in the parable of the householder who, when paying the laborers in his vineyard, paid those hired the eleventh hour the same wage as those hired the first hour. Those who serve are all part of the Great Brotherhood of Servers; they are Brothers who think not of their wage or of their Brother's part, but are concerned only that they are pleasing the Master by perfectly performing their part.
That is the first truth we wanted to convey. The second is, if we are immortal souls, then we are also Sons of God; for remember that the Sons of God are our Higher and Real Selves, and it is They who are unfolding, developing and ripening our souls through the quickening of our minds and the purifying of our bodies, so that They can enter and possess us and live Their life in us, do Their Will in us, and be the Self of us.
And who are the Sons of God? They are reflections of God, His Holy Spirit, the Christ — God's Love poured forth into the souls of men, so that they may know Him, and may return to conscious Oneness with Him in His Consciousness.
Have you felt the Christ, the Loving One within you? Have you heard Him within your soul say:
In that Paper we offered to send the succeeding numbers to all who were earnestly seeking the Kingdom and who were making that seeking first in their hearts and lives, and we invited all such to accompany us on our journey to the Kingdom, to which we promised to lead them.
Some of those who accepted our invitation and who have journeyed with us from the beginning know that we have reached the Kingdom and that the door is open wide to all who are able consciously to enter and to abide therein.
Again we wish to point out that it is the earnest ones, those to whom the finding of the Kingdom was really the first and supreme purpose of their lives, who are now conscious of the great blessings of the Kingdom, their Father's Home, that is theirs to possess and enjoy.
Those who made this seeking secondary to other interests and desires can now see why they are unable to grasp the full meaning of all that has been shown — why they cannot close the gap between their lower and higher consciousness and know the I AM or Christ as their Self.
In the last chapter we gave final instructions to enable all who were ready to accomplish this last step, and we expect others from time to time, as they digest and prove what the teachings contain, to find that they also have reached the goal; when we will be very happy with them, as will be all our Brothers of the Kingdom.
You who for any reason have not gained what your hearts seek, we urgently advise to go back and start over again, beginning with the first chapter, and not to leave it until you have made everything in it your own, fully digesting and proving each truth to your satisfaction, before passing on to the next. If you do this, we prophesy that you too will be enjoying the blessings of the Kingdom with your Brothers before many weeks.
Now we are going to ask you to consider with us some truths that may prove rather startling, at first thought, until you realize from what has been taught regarding the Soul that they cannot be other than as shown.
The first truth, assuming that you are a disciple of Christ Jesus and consequently are become an immortal soul, is that you are not at all what you think yourself to be. No, you are not the personality — not the John Smith or the Mary Doe — that the world knows; but you are using that personality, which your human mind created, and which now you are cleansing, developing and perfecting, as an instrument with which to accomplish that which you came into physical expression to do.
Try to realize that this must be so—if you are an immortal soul — that this present personality is but one of many you have similarly used back through the ages, — but that these personalities were not you. They were only characters you assumed for the purpose of accomplishing what you planned to do.
Well then who—what am I? You ask.
If you have not studied and meditated upon the several articles on the Soul until you have a fairly clear concept of yourself as a soul, we urge that you go back and study them until it becomes clear. In any event it were better to reread the articles in order to refresh your memory, so that you may grasp more easily what we are now going to say.
Remember, a disciple is a soul consciously being taught by his Higher Self, a Son of God. A conscious disciple is one who is in close communion with his Higher Self, the I AM, the Christ, and is often possessed by Him, and thereby is often in His consciousness. The more advanced the disciple the more he is used by this Master Self, and the more he learns to see with His eyes and to know with His understanding.
Such a disciple sooner or later is given to see and know "who he is and of what he is a part." This means that in time he will know himself as a soul having put on different bodies in different ages, creating personalities that played a part in the history of those days, probably most often an insignificant part, but perhaps one or more times of a prominent nature, according to the age and advancement of the soul. He will know this because it will all be unfolded to him as definite soul memories of those past lives.
Ordinarily a soul spends the few years of life in his mortal body and then retires and lives in his soul body for centuries before reincarnating again. But of course it depends on the soul — the number and frequency of its incarnations, for some souls because of their nature are given special work to do in connection with humanity, while others who ripen more slowly are not yet ready for the special training that can be gained only in strenuous earth experiences.
But this phase of the subject does not pertain to what we are seeking to explain. We want you to realize first that you are old souls—all of you who clearly heard the call of the Master when reading the first chapter, and who have been faithfully and earnestly following Him ever since.
Does this make you stop and think? Then hear this: Perhaps you were one of His followers when He was on earth in Palestine. Perhaps you have been His follower and even a martyr in His Cause in other lives down through the centuries since. Aye, perhaps you were among those who were taught, sung to, or who believed the prophesies about Him, voiced by Moses, or Abraham, or David, or the Prophets, and who long looked forward to His coming before He appeared. So that you love Him with a love that is not only of the soul, but of the Spirit, of which He is the very life essence; because He is the Holy Spirit, and your own Higher Selves are one with Him and one with the Father.
Remember now that we are not speaking of the John Smith or Mary Doe of your present life, but of the real you who are an old soul. If this has awakened a response deep within, you may find it not hard to accept that you were a living soul when He was on earth, maybe before He was on earth, and perhaps even in old Atlantis. Something may say to you, this may be possible. If something does not so say, then it may not be possible. But do not let yourself be fooled or get concerned about it, for it does not make any particular difference; it only gives you an idea of how old is your soul.
This will help you to know. Are you serving? How long have you been serving, and how many and whom are you serving? If you are an old soul you came here to serve, and love is the very essence of your life, so that you began serving in some form or other as soon as your instrument could be used! And the older the soul the more influence you radiate, the more souls you are awakening and helping into the Kingdom.
But do not let your age concern you, for the only thing that matters is — does your soul yearn to serve now, and is it straining to make your human self fit and worthy to serve?
Remember what the Master told us in the parable of the householder who, when paying the laborers in his vineyard, paid those hired the eleventh hour the same wage as those hired the first hour. Those who serve are all part of the Great Brotherhood of Servers; they are Brothers who think not of their wage or of their Brother's part, but are concerned only that they are pleasing the Master by perfectly performing their part.
That is the first truth we wanted to convey. The second is, if we are immortal souls, then we are also Sons of God; for remember that the Sons of God are our Higher and Real Selves, and it is They who are unfolding, developing and ripening our souls through the quickening of our minds and the purifying of our bodies, so that They can enter and possess us and live Their life in us, do Their Will in us, and be the Self of us.
And who are the Sons of God? They are reflections of God, His Holy Spirit, the Christ — God's Love poured forth into the souls of men, so that they may know Him, and may return to conscious Oneness with Him in His Consciousness.
Have you felt the Christ, the Loving One within you? Have you heard Him within your soul say:
"I am the way, the truth and the life. You cannot come unto the Father except by Me.
"For I am the love you feel in your heart urging for expression, and through this love is the only way.
"I am the truth of your being, and without Me — love — you are nothing, can know nothing and can do nothing.
"I am the life, and there is no other life but My life of love. All other ways, all other teachings, lead but to death — the sense of separation from the Father and Me."
"For I am the love you feel in your heart urging for expression, and through this love is the only way.
"I am the truth of your being, and without Me — love — you are nothing, can know nothing and can do nothing.
"I am the life, and there is no other life but My life of love. All other ways, all other teachings, lead but to death — the sense of separation from the Father and Me."
Dear one, if you know Love, if you feel it as an actual presence within you, you know your Higher Self, a Son of God, Who is One with the Father, who is You, the only Real You.
Think! Who is John Smith anyway — he whom you call your self? Has he really ever done anything wholly of himself? Can he do anything? Who puts thoughts into his mind? Who causes him to listen to certain thoughts, to heed some and not others, to obey certain impulses and to let others pass? Who has been putting him through all these experiences of life, for certainly the John Smith part of you did not want to go through many of them?
Who has been doing all this, and what is His purpose; surely there must be one — a wise and loving purpose, or else why do it?
You say, God, or the Father, did it. But we say, You did it all. No, not the you that you know; but the REAL YOU — You who have lived in many bodies, have used many personalities like John Smith and Mary Doe; and when they were capable of being used, You accomplished with them the work You sought to do. This John Smith personality You are now finishing into shape so that You can soon take complete charge and possess him, can actually be the Self of him — Your Self, which You intended from the beginning.
But You, remember, are not John Smith, but are a Son of God, working and directing the John Smith part of you from within your soul, and knowing the end before the beginning. And that end surely is a wise and beneficent one, or why all the trouble?
Now listen, all you who are passing through trials and tribulations — no matter how desperate or severe or how pressing the need of help; for we are going to offer to you the surest and most effective help possible to give. For hear what the SELF of you has to say:
"My dear one, you have been clearly shown who I am, what I am doing and what I intend for you; and that you of yourself are nothing and can do nothing.
"Then, can you not now trust Me to do what is best for you, and realize that I intend only the best? For am I not preparing you so that I can enter in and be wholly My Self in you?
"Then think, would I permit any real harm or hardship to come to you? For remember everything you do I cause or permit you to do, —I, abiding within your soul, which is within your mind, which is within your body—all belonging to and expressing Me only.
"That which is troubling you and seems so desperate, is only a final trial and cleansing necessary to rid you of all remaining qualities of self — of all its fears and doubts and personal concerns that are hindering My taking complete charge and possession of mind and heart for My perfect use. Can you not see that I cannot enable them — when they are so filled and stirred with such thoughts and feelings— to recognize and thus to help Me to outmanifest the Good for you and the Purpose I have intended from the beginning?
"Then let go, dear one, and turn all over to Me, your Self, your God within you — not to some God apart or away off from you. For I, your Self, am here directing all, caring for all and have been waiting so long for you to give Me full charge.
"Can you not realize that I will permit only that to manifest which is for your greatest good? For remember I see and know what is that good, and long with a great longing to have you to participate in it with Me."
"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." — Luke 22:31.
Stop! Read this all over again and try to get the great significance of it all before proceeding. For once the Realization comes it will change your whole life and bring a Peace and a Joy that is beyond telling.
BEING YOURSELF
We have been trying to prove to you first that you are not your personality, but that you are an immortal soul; and secondly that as a soul you are a Divine Being, a very Son of God, one with the Father and co-inheritor with Jesus Christ and with all other Sons of God of all that the Father has; that in you reside all the wisdom and love and power of the God-head. All these are yours to use, and but await your recognition and acceptance of this great truth, when you will begin consciously to use them.
And how am I going to recognize and how am I going to accept and thereby to use this truth? You ask. You intellectually see and know this truth more or less clearly now, but how are you going to know it so you can use it?
Think! How do you go about proving any rule or principle that you have accepted as being true? Let us see if we can show you by taking as an example how you learn to drive an automobile. Your instructor tells you the principle of the throttle, of the different speeds controlled by the gear lever, how to turn on the power and to start and stop the engine; the rules of the road and of starting on low gear first and changing to second and then to high as you attain speed, and of turning and stopping.
You hear all this and the first time it is all Greek to you. But by his repeated telling and explaining and your watching him do it, you get a more or less clear intellectual concept of it all. Does that enable you to drive the car? No, but it will help you to make a try at it, for you will have grasped one or two of the principles; and only after many trials under the careful superintendence of the instructor, and with many mistakes, you get a fairly good understanding of what is necessary to do.
But almost everyone has found that before he can get up enough Confidence to start out alone, he has to do a certain thing, and that is to sit down quietly alone and "see" or visualize himself driving the car, going through all the motions, meeting another car in some unusual emergency and knowing instantly just what to do to prevent an accident. After several times going through the experience of such mental driving, you found actual driving would come easy.
And in like manner, when, in the silence of true meditation, "seeing" yourself an actual Son of God, with all the consciousness and powers of a Christed soul, acting, speaking and knowing as would Jesus or as would your own Divine Self in your every contact with others and in all conditions of life, — when you had thus accustomed yourself to the feeling of being such a great soul, you would then find it easy to gain control of and to drive, guide and use your personality with its mind and emotions, its body and its sensations, which you are developing and preparing to be so used, and for that purpose only.
For try to realize that is all your human personality is for — the John Smith part of you; it is only to serve — when it is finally prepared and ready as you intend it — for the use of your Christ Self in the work which you came here to do as your part in the Divine Plan. Then You — the Real of You — will enter in and possess and be your personality, be John Smith or Mary Doe; aye, be another Christ Soul walking here among men in the flesh.
And how am I going to recognize and how am I going to accept and thereby to use this truth? You ask. You intellectually see and know this truth more or less clearly now, but how are you going to know it so you can use it?
Think! How do you go about proving any rule or principle that you have accepted as being true? Let us see if we can show you by taking as an example how you learn to drive an automobile. Your instructor tells you the principle of the throttle, of the different speeds controlled by the gear lever, how to turn on the power and to start and stop the engine; the rules of the road and of starting on low gear first and changing to second and then to high as you attain speed, and of turning and stopping.
You hear all this and the first time it is all Greek to you. But by his repeated telling and explaining and your watching him do it, you get a more or less clear intellectual concept of it all. Does that enable you to drive the car? No, but it will help you to make a try at it, for you will have grasped one or two of the principles; and only after many trials under the careful superintendence of the instructor, and with many mistakes, you get a fairly good understanding of what is necessary to do.
But almost everyone has found that before he can get up enough Confidence to start out alone, he has to do a certain thing, and that is to sit down quietly alone and "see" or visualize himself driving the car, going through all the motions, meeting another car in some unusual emergency and knowing instantly just what to do to prevent an accident. After several times going through the experience of such mental driving, you found actual driving would come easy.
And in like manner, when, in the silence of true meditation, "seeing" yourself an actual Son of God, with all the consciousness and powers of a Christed soul, acting, speaking and knowing as would Jesus or as would your own Divine Self in your every contact with others and in all conditions of life, — when you had thus accustomed yourself to the feeling of being such a great soul, you would then find it easy to gain control of and to drive, guide and use your personality with its mind and emotions, its body and its sensations, which you are developing and preparing to be so used, and for that purpose only.
For try to realize that is all your human personality is for — the John Smith part of you; it is only to serve — when it is finally prepared and ready as you intend it — for the use of your Christ Self in the work which you came here to do as your part in the Divine Plan. Then You — the Real of You — will enter in and possess and be your personality, be John Smith or Mary Doe; aye, be another Christ Soul walking here among men in the flesh.
THE IMPERSONAL LIFE
We have shown you one way to be your Real Self by first mentally seeing yourself acting as a Divine Being would act, and in meditation so practicing such mental acting that it becomes natural and easy when you mix with others. Those who will prove this will be startled by the attitude of others, the respect and even awe they sometimes unconsciously manifest toward you.
Now we want to show you another way, or rather to give you other helps to aid you to arrive at the same place in consciousness. We want you to consider with us for awhile what is the Impersonal Life, and how to live it.
An article on "Impersonal Persons," in the March, 1929, Unity Daily Word is so excellent and fits in so well with our subject that we give it herewith in full, interspersed with our comments, asking all to read carefully and to try to see that everything stated is as your Higher Self would have you be and do.
"How would you like to live in a world in which there were no misunderstandings, no unpleasant personal remarks, none of the thousand and one situations which cause inharmony and personal dislikes? In other words, how would you like to live in a world where people were impersonal, living above personal consciousness? Would it not be a heavenly world?"
Yes, it would be an actual living in the Kingdom Consciousness here on earth. Is that possible? Read on and see.
"In an impersonal world there could be no personal limitations. No one would look upon you and see your personal shortcomings. You could not see these in others.
"Is it not possible that this impersonal world exists right here and now? You do not believe it true? Possibly you are in personal consciousness and, consequently, cannot sense its existence. Possibly freedom from personal consciousness is the passport that you need in order to enter this world."
Stop here and think on this. Can you not see plainly from this what may be holding you back from your soul's goal — what is preventing your finding and entering the Kingdom? For the impersonal world is really the Kingdom, as you will realize later.
"With such a goal in sight — the finding of an impersonal world, a world of impersonal persons — is it not worth an effort to become so impersonal that you can find your place in this impersonal world? Would it not be well to set out today to improve your thought and your outlook upon life so that you will merit a place in this realm of impersonality?
"How can you be impersonal? By seeing yourself and others freed from personality. In personal consciousness you have been bound to personal shortcomings. You have seen your own shortcomings and those of others. In the great universal consciousness you know yourself and others not according to your personal limitations but according to Truth, according to the philosophy of perfection.
"Begin this very day to be impersonal. Do not let your thought dwell upon personal limitations. Do not think of personal failures of the past. Do not think of any of the things that belong to the personal man— failure, disease, age, time, blemish, fault, the yesterday, or the tomorrow. Live a life entirely separate from personal values.
"You will make a great discovery when you begin to live the impersonal life. You will find that your impersonal attitude toward yourself and others will cause them to take a similar attitude toward you. You will discover that your tendency to find fault had served to attract faultfinding to you. Then you will make another great find. There will be revealed to you a mighty truth: that in reality there never has been such a thing as personality and its limitations, that the eternal truth of man's perfection is the only truth."
That is, that the personality and its limitations are but a personal concept and are ephemeral and have no reality or permanence in consciousness, for only the Soul Consciousness is real and eternal.
"How can you make a practical application of this doctrine of impersonality?
"If there is someone in your life with whom you are always finding fault or someone who seems to be finding fault with you, begin this impersonal treatment at once:
"See the person concerned as loving and perfect. See him as living with you in the impersonal world. Possibly this personal situation will prove through its transformation to be the key which will open the impersonal world to you.
"The impersonal world is not a fictionary one. In fact, the world of personality, with all its beliefs in personal limitation, is the illusionary one. The impersonal world is the world of Truth — the world of reality, love, and perfection.
"The more you practice seeing perfection instead of personal limitation the sooner will you enter the impersonal world, the sooner will you be glorified through impersonal consciousness. You can see that the more persons you behold through impersonal vision, the more will your world be peopled with impersonal persons. Finally, the world of personal shortcomings, criticism, and personality will disappear and only the world of reality will appear."
It is then you will begin to realize "who you are and of what you are a part." For you will discover, through loving service that has now become your life, who your Brother Servers are, and you will be brought into contact not only with such Brothers who are serving outwardly among men, but with those who are directing and aiding from the Spiritual Realms. Can you not now glimpse the Great White Brotherhood of the Spirit of which you are a part?
"Truth teaches us to be impersonal. We learn how to rise above the world in which personal limitations are seen. We live in a world in which only the Son of God in man is seen and exalted. We live in a universe in which man does not think and act according to personal standards but according to the principle of Truth.
"How real this true world seems to us as we meditate upon it! We feel that after all there is an impersonal world peopled with impersonal persons, if we will but lift our vision and see this world through eyes of impersonal seeing."
Through much of such meditation and seeing — and only through such — when dealing with things in the outer world, you will find you need not be of it, but can live in the inner world and from there can direct all the activities of your instrument, the human mind and its body, in whatever is necessary in your outer life.
"You will find another thing. Once you have sensed the impersonal world, you cannot go back to living in the world of personality with all its limitations. You will not care to look at the seeming blemishes or faults of others, once you have seen them as they exist in Truth. You will have no desire to be critical, once you have been able to view your fellow beings through the eyes of God.
"In the impersonal world there is but one power and authority. Since it is the world of God, that power must be the power of God. His principle of Truth reigns supreme. All things must be observed through the eyes of God. We must see the people of this world as God sees them and know them as He knows them.
"Do you know any impersonal persons? That friend of yours who takes the impersonal attitude — does he not bring you just a little closer to heaven and to God? Does he not lift your thought just a little higher through your contacting him? You will find in this impersonal world that there is a strong influence always at work exalting your thought. You will find yourself being lifted up through this power — the power of Divine Mind."
For then you will verily be seeing through the eyes of a Son of God, of your own Higher Self, Who is truly God in You, through the medium of His Spirit, the Christ Love in your heart.
In the above, dear friends, has been shown you as nearly as can be put in words what is the Kingdom of Heaven. Wherever the words "the impersonal world" are used you could verily substitute "the Kingdom of Heaven," and it would apply perfectly.
This chapter serves in a way as a culmination of all that has been taught previously, for it gives you a true view of life in the Kingdom. Our great desire is that everyone study it, stay with it, and try with all your hearts, minds and souls to realize fully its deep meaning for you, and to BE and LIVE all that is herein shown. For you are now looking in through the door of the Kingdom — if you are not able to walk in and to be at home there, and you now know all that is necessary to gain admittance.
And LOVE is the Passport, and the only power that will enable you to enter.
Now we want to show you another way, or rather to give you other helps to aid you to arrive at the same place in consciousness. We want you to consider with us for awhile what is the Impersonal Life, and how to live it.
An article on "Impersonal Persons," in the March, 1929, Unity Daily Word is so excellent and fits in so well with our subject that we give it herewith in full, interspersed with our comments, asking all to read carefully and to try to see that everything stated is as your Higher Self would have you be and do.
"How would you like to live in a world in which there were no misunderstandings, no unpleasant personal remarks, none of the thousand and one situations which cause inharmony and personal dislikes? In other words, how would you like to live in a world where people were impersonal, living above personal consciousness? Would it not be a heavenly world?"
Yes, it would be an actual living in the Kingdom Consciousness here on earth. Is that possible? Read on and see.
"In an impersonal world there could be no personal limitations. No one would look upon you and see your personal shortcomings. You could not see these in others.
"Is it not possible that this impersonal world exists right here and now? You do not believe it true? Possibly you are in personal consciousness and, consequently, cannot sense its existence. Possibly freedom from personal consciousness is the passport that you need in order to enter this world."
Stop here and think on this. Can you not see plainly from this what may be holding you back from your soul's goal — what is preventing your finding and entering the Kingdom? For the impersonal world is really the Kingdom, as you will realize later.
"With such a goal in sight — the finding of an impersonal world, a world of impersonal persons — is it not worth an effort to become so impersonal that you can find your place in this impersonal world? Would it not be well to set out today to improve your thought and your outlook upon life so that you will merit a place in this realm of impersonality?
"How can you be impersonal? By seeing yourself and others freed from personality. In personal consciousness you have been bound to personal shortcomings. You have seen your own shortcomings and those of others. In the great universal consciousness you know yourself and others not according to your personal limitations but according to Truth, according to the philosophy of perfection.
"Begin this very day to be impersonal. Do not let your thought dwell upon personal limitations. Do not think of personal failures of the past. Do not think of any of the things that belong to the personal man— failure, disease, age, time, blemish, fault, the yesterday, or the tomorrow. Live a life entirely separate from personal values.
"You will make a great discovery when you begin to live the impersonal life. You will find that your impersonal attitude toward yourself and others will cause them to take a similar attitude toward you. You will discover that your tendency to find fault had served to attract faultfinding to you. Then you will make another great find. There will be revealed to you a mighty truth: that in reality there never has been such a thing as personality and its limitations, that the eternal truth of man's perfection is the only truth."
That is, that the personality and its limitations are but a personal concept and are ephemeral and have no reality or permanence in consciousness, for only the Soul Consciousness is real and eternal.
"How can you make a practical application of this doctrine of impersonality?
"If there is someone in your life with whom you are always finding fault or someone who seems to be finding fault with you, begin this impersonal treatment at once:
"See the person concerned as loving and perfect. See him as living with you in the impersonal world. Possibly this personal situation will prove through its transformation to be the key which will open the impersonal world to you.
"The impersonal world is not a fictionary one. In fact, the world of personality, with all its beliefs in personal limitation, is the illusionary one. The impersonal world is the world of Truth — the world of reality, love, and perfection.
"The more you practice seeing perfection instead of personal limitation the sooner will you enter the impersonal world, the sooner will you be glorified through impersonal consciousness. You can see that the more persons you behold through impersonal vision, the more will your world be peopled with impersonal persons. Finally, the world of personal shortcomings, criticism, and personality will disappear and only the world of reality will appear."
It is then you will begin to realize "who you are and of what you are a part." For you will discover, through loving service that has now become your life, who your Brother Servers are, and you will be brought into contact not only with such Brothers who are serving outwardly among men, but with those who are directing and aiding from the Spiritual Realms. Can you not now glimpse the Great White Brotherhood of the Spirit of which you are a part?
"Truth teaches us to be impersonal. We learn how to rise above the world in which personal limitations are seen. We live in a world in which only the Son of God in man is seen and exalted. We live in a universe in which man does not think and act according to personal standards but according to the principle of Truth.
"How real this true world seems to us as we meditate upon it! We feel that after all there is an impersonal world peopled with impersonal persons, if we will but lift our vision and see this world through eyes of impersonal seeing."
Through much of such meditation and seeing — and only through such — when dealing with things in the outer world, you will find you need not be of it, but can live in the inner world and from there can direct all the activities of your instrument, the human mind and its body, in whatever is necessary in your outer life.
"You will find another thing. Once you have sensed the impersonal world, you cannot go back to living in the world of personality with all its limitations. You will not care to look at the seeming blemishes or faults of others, once you have seen them as they exist in Truth. You will have no desire to be critical, once you have been able to view your fellow beings through the eyes of God.
"In the impersonal world there is but one power and authority. Since it is the world of God, that power must be the power of God. His principle of Truth reigns supreme. All things must be observed through the eyes of God. We must see the people of this world as God sees them and know them as He knows them.
"Do you know any impersonal persons? That friend of yours who takes the impersonal attitude — does he not bring you just a little closer to heaven and to God? Does he not lift your thought just a little higher through your contacting him? You will find in this impersonal world that there is a strong influence always at work exalting your thought. You will find yourself being lifted up through this power — the power of Divine Mind."
For then you will verily be seeing through the eyes of a Son of God, of your own Higher Self, Who is truly God in You, through the medium of His Spirit, the Christ Love in your heart.
In the above, dear friends, has been shown you as nearly as can be put in words what is the Kingdom of Heaven. Wherever the words "the impersonal world" are used you could verily substitute "the Kingdom of Heaven," and it would apply perfectly.
This chapter serves in a way as a culmination of all that has been taught previously, for it gives you a true view of life in the Kingdom. Our great desire is that everyone study it, stay with it, and try with all your hearts, minds and souls to realize fully its deep meaning for you, and to BE and LIVE all that is herein shown. For you are now looking in through the door of the Kingdom — if you are not able to walk in and to be at home there, and you now know all that is necessary to gain admittance.
And LOVE is the Passport, and the only power that will enable you to enter.