Lessons in Truth Series: the Everlasting Gospel of the Kingdom of God (Spirit) Within. Timothy F. Gardner

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СКАЧАТЬ cited in Isherwood, 1951, pp. 224-225).

      If we are to embark on the spiritual path we must develop the right desire. We must do as God commanded through Saint Paul, and not look at the things which are seen, but to look at the things which are unseen; for the things which are seen are temporal. But, the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:18). Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:24 that, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself [carnality] and take up his cross and follow me.” He also tells us, in Matthew 10:37-39 that, “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.” We must desire to find Him more than anything else. For if we do not we will not find Him, because we are not worthy. Why? Because, we will be accepting the unreal, the shadow, for the real. “He that taketh not his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38).

      Attribute No. Two—the Right Denial:

      You must deny the flesh (worldliness), in order to attain the real. You cannot serve two masters! Carnality has no reality, in itself, and therefore cannot enter into the domain of the real, I cannot stress this enough; carnality cannot enter the kingdom of God (Spirit)! Jesus tells us, that, “he that findeth his life shall truly lose it; and he that loses his life [self] for Christ’s sake shall truly find it”(Matt.10:39). Only if we give up the old man (carnal self) can we expect to find the Christ: God (Spirit) within. In comparison the Vedanta philosophy expresses it thusly:

      The watchword of religion and spiritual life is renunciation of the thirst for life in the world . . . Neither Jesus nor Buddha nor Ramakrishna nor any seer or prophet would ever make any compromise with the idea of spiritual life. They all declare in one voice that God and worldliness cannot go together . . . Where is the root of all cravings? Where is the source of worldliness and thirst for life? The root is ignorance. Ignorance is to accept the unreal for the real. The first—begotten child of ignorance is the sense of ego. All cravings and thirsts for life and worldliness are centered round this ego. This ego is a false self, not the real I. It is the outcome of false identification of the atman (the spirit within) with the body, mind, senses, etc. This sense of ego can be said to be a figment of our ignorant mind. It has no real existence. Peel off one layer after another of an onion, and what remains? Nothing. What is this ego? Are you the body, the mind, the senses, the intellect? Are you any of these, or a combination of these? Is any of them permanent? As you analyze to find what your ego is, you reach a point where you realize that it is only a shadow. Yet we build our whole world round this shadow of an ego.

      Behind this ego is the real man, the Atman, God. To renounce this ego is the meaning of renunciation . . . the ego has no meaning; it is only a shadow . . . Man is spirit and has a body and mind. Through ignorance, he forgets that he is spirit and identifies with the body, mind, senses, etc. and thus there arises the sense of ego. Religion teaches us to overcome this ignorance and realize that our real life, love, happiness can be found only in spirit in God . . . Religion tells us to wake up from this sleep of ignorance, stop chasing the shadow; gather all the forces of the mind, intellect, senses and direct them to the realization of the one end—which is God, the abiding reality . . . (Prabhavananda as cited in Isherwood, 1951, pp. 225-226).

      Attribute No. Three—the Right Discrimination:

      We must realize God (Spirit) alone is real. All else is illusory (temporal, transient). As stated before, by following carnality we are following a shadow; something that has no substantiality of itself. We must abandon hope and trust in the transient, for God (Spirit) is our hope! In the Beatitudes Jesus lays out plainly the qualities and attributes that the aspirant on the path must possess in order to come into the conscious awareness of the kingdom of God (Spirit). In Matthew 5:3 Jesus states, “Blessed are the poor in spirit [material bonds given up to find Him], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Fortunate is the man that has given up carnality; the belief in some power other than God (Spirit), for he shall find the Christ: God (Spirit) within. For as long as we direct our minds outward on the things of the world we overlook the reality of God (Spirit) within. God (Spirit) is within us and is waiting for us to turn to Him. We must remember God (Spirit) is the Life of our life. “He is the true light [Life], which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9).

      Father Hurley taught that, “Every soul is by nature in bondage to the flesh; and to the things of the flesh. It is by ignorance that we misidentify our True Selves: God (Spirit) within, to be one with the earthly selves. Thus, all suffering is a result of this bondage. Our souls are longing for eternal happiness. So the soul looks relentlessly out in the world for the food that will satisfy its hunger. Just to find after consuming meal after meal, that it did not satisfy it all” (Hurley as cited in UHSCA Sunday School Synopsis, n.d.). Such, is the chase, after the fruits of the flesh. For they have no true reality and thus cannot insure lasting joy, happiness, and security. To continue on, Jesus states, “Blessed are ye that mourn for ye shall be comforted.” Fortunate is he who cries and toils because he has not found God (Spirit); for he shall find that peace that surpasseth all understanding.

      Attribute No. Four—the Right Knowledge:

      The right knowledge is the realization of God (Spirit) as Omnipresence and Omnipotence. “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30). The kingdom of God (Spirit) is within. That which I am seeking, I already am. Jesus told us that we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free. Father Hurley takes this one step further and tells us the knowledge of the truth of who we are, and what we are, shall set us free.

      Saint Paul proclaimed, “For I reckon that the suffering of this present time [the pains we feel now] are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). For once finding Him, God (Spirit), there isn’t a destruction of self; but, an expansion and embracing of all that is, for God (Spirit) is All. “Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness [the correct comprehension, seeks out spiritual principles and laws] for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6). Truly, one that desires to find God (Spirit) within over all else shall become aware of the ever-present presence of Christ within themselves. Perfection is already within. It is not something that is attained.

       CONSCIOUS AWARENESS

      Jesus stated that, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). He explicitly stated that you must know—to know here meaning to be aware of; to be acquainted with; to be familiar; cognizant; consciously aware—focusing one’s attention on the realization or knowledge of the truth of their being and of God (Spirit). Thus, he was introducing us to the concept of conscious awareness. Conscious here defined as: awareness of one’s own existence, sensations and thoughts (Dictionary.com).

      Awareness here meaning, “the state or condition of being aware…consciousness” (Dictionary.com). In his spiritual writings, that great American mystic and founder of the Infinite Way Teachings, Joel Goldsmith, explains this concept very explicitly in this manner:

      It is a part of the Christian teaching as given in the fifteenth chapter of St. John, that when we are one with our Source, we bear fruit richly, but when we are separated from that Source, we are as a branch of a tree that is cut off and withereth. The Ninety-first Psalm also promises that none of the evils of this world will come nigh the dwelling place of those who have made God their dwelling place, again indicating to us that our oneness with our Source is what separates us from the evils of this world and maintains in our experience the harmonies of heaven.

      The revelation was given to me that in my conscious oneness with God, in being consciously one with my Source, the good things of life were added unto me, that is, I was at—one with all good: with every form of good that might ever be necessary in my experience. The master said, “Take no thought for your СКАЧАТЬ