TOGETHER WE ADVANCE
by Ruth Winocur
At the beginning of the “Human Lifewave”, God created the Virgin
Spirits. These were tiny parts of His own Being, separated off from Himself,
yet still retained within Himself. We can envision this as similar to the cells
within our own bodies. They are all individual cells but still a part of the
whole body. Each cell has a unique function, some sort of mental activity or
“knowingness” and a cooperative desire to accomplish their assigned mission.
Although they appear completely independent, obviously this is not the case.
Together they form an organ with a specific function necessary to our health
and welfare.
Groups, in general, are composed of parts with like characteristics in
some way or another. Whether they are students in school striving to learn
their lessons, or a group of people forming a committee to solve some problem,
the result is still the same. Each individual must work for the good of the
whole. As God created the cells in the body to have awareness, but without self-awareness,
there is no divisiveness. On the other hand, mankind, who does possess
self-awareness, does not or has not, achieved such harmony. What is holding him
back? Well, it appears that it is the self-awareness or self-consciousness he
has developed that is the culprit, doesn’t it?
Thus we have a serious dilemma with which to contend. Our role in the
evolutionary plan is to develop self-awareness or self-consciousness, and we
have done this, but this is also our great stumbling block as well! It has produced
an illusion of separation, as false and as strong as any illusion can be, which
has been holding us captive for centuries. How can we escape from this prison
of our own making? Real or not we must escape; we must set aside the illusion;
we must really know and live the real, the true situation. How do we do this?
Christ Jesus was the greatest teacher the world has ever known because
his words were simple and could be understood by almost everyone. Other words
of wisdom or philosophies may be more elaborate, but none are as clear and
powerful as the words of Christ Jesus. We continue to learn from his teachings
to this day. If there is any solution to this problem with self-consciousness
or self-awareness it must be found within his words.
Now, he does not speak directly of self-awareness or
self-consciousness, nor does he speak about separation, per se, but he does
give us the answer we need, and it can be found in several places in the New
Testament. We are instructed to “Love God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind”. And “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”
These are the two greatest commandments. In addition we are told to love, not
only our neighbors, but to love our enemies as well and to do good to them that
hate us. This is the great principle of UNITY being expressed in its simplest
terms.
Now the heart has always been associated with love on many levels. It
has been considered the seat of the affections, or seat of the emotions, since
antiquity. Today we see it associated with love on valentines and we recognize
the heart is a symbol of love. Matthew tells us, “For where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also.” These few little words tell us that we love
what we treasure and imply that our minds will be focused there. This
implication is valid. Many times in the Bible mind and heart are used
interchangeably. For instance, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so shall he
be”. Exodus 31:6 God says, “…In the heart of all those who are wise hearted I
have put wisdom”. I Kings speaks of “an understanding heart” and Psalms speaks
of the “meditation of my heart”.
Our Rosicrucian Sunday Chapel Service speaks to the heart about the
qualities of love from Paul’s Letters in I Corinthians 13 expressing the
supreme importance of love and setting forth its qualities as patience,
kindness, humility, meekness and purity. It is not ostentatious nor prideful,
but clean of thought and joyful in the truth. Love hopes, endures, believes and
bears all things. It never fails and is the greatest among faith and hope.
But what can we make out of all this? We have the problem before us of
the multiple characteristics of love but NOT how to achieve love; especially
love of all God’s creation. Some find it easier to love animals than other
human beings. Perhaps the issue of Trust is the stumbling block; or perhaps the
projection of one’s own darkness on to others. At any rate, it appears that we
must make a determination based upon how we view ourselves; that is, do we work
more easily from the heart or from the head? This is a very important decision
because it shapes the course of our future.
If we work more easily from the heart, then we must practice this all
the time. If this is our decision to follow the path of love, it should be our
natural way of being, without thought of self or reward or keeping score. If
this describes us, then this is our path. By doing this we become more and more
able to truly love. LOVE IS NOT A FEELING; IT IS A STATE OF BEING. Thinking
about love will not do anything, for it is only when we have practiced it long
enough, that it will be ours to keep. We can only keep it by being it! We must
be willing and able to look past the self, look past the dislikes and
objections to viewpoints different from ours, look past the lowly and uncomely,
look past all the negative thoughts, words and deeds of others and stand firmly
in love. We must adapt to love in its full meaning, without hesitation,
perceiving as love perceives and doing what love does. It is not a matter of
picking and choosing people, times and places. It is an immediate response to
the needs of others, an openness and direct contact; not a thought but simply
an act. It entails ignoring or giving up much of what we identify as self. Our
feelings are only the means whereby love can work, but they are not in
themselves love.
Eventually love grows through wisdom about love itself, learned by
experience. We learn what it means and what it can see and what it can do,
asking ourselves what God sees and does and understands. Knowing that God
created us with free will, it becomes obvious that all must have free will. Our
love does not change that, but rather helps us to accept that very fact. The
more we love, the more we realize that we are still in the process of becoming,
that there is a long road before us, and that we will continue to grow and
learn by practicing love. Always, we must ask God what is best for others
because what we want for others might not be best for them. Accept God’s
direction and continue to be all the love you can be. When we become love,
totally and completely, we become as the Christ and one with God, for God is
love.
On the other hand, if we are one of those people who live by the head, who appear to be colder and somewhat more distanced from others, or
less demonstrative, is our position valid? What does the Bible have to say
about this? In Luke, Chapter 2, we read about the birth of Jesus and about his
circumcision 8 days later in the temple. It tells about Simeon, a devout man,
to whom the Holy Ghost had revealed that he should not see death before he had
seen the Lord’s Christ. It goes on to say “And he came by the spirit into the
temple: and when the parents brought the child Jesus, to do for him after the
custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
‘Lord now lettest thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all
people; a light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.’ In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of
the world”. This is a very powerful statement indicating that Christ Jesus was
a world teacher, showing that light is directly related to knowledge. After
having taught his apostles Christ Jesus said in Mark 5:14, “Ye are the light of
the world”. Here we are establishing that “God is light” which makes the
pursuit of knowledge valuable.
It might be helpful if we look at this from another, more scientific
point of view. Understanding that the opposite of separation is cohesion, and
that cohesion is the Force of Attraction in all its fullness, we automatically
come to the term LOVE. So love is a coming together, not only in body, but in
heart and soul and mind as well. Here discernment is of greatest importance
because we must deal in honesty and in truth, not only with others, but mostly
with ourselves. We must not and cannot set ourselves up as an authority and
tell others what to do. Free will must have its freedom.
Our role is to be deeply interested in others and try to understand
them; that is to see them as they truly are, or who and what they are and what
effect they have on others and what is real for them and for others.
Interactions with others and truly caring for them will temper honesty with
what we see as really true about them, about us, and about our relationship
with them, This relationship must be based on understanding, respect and truth.
We must be able to discern the depths of their being, to see the purpose and
meaning or value of things and people. Their essence must be captured and
internally processed, in order for it to be identified and understood
sincerely. Then it is shared in a heartfelt manner to produce light and end the
confusion and inability to see how one’s actions are contrary to their best
interests. Thus comes the end to suffering or depression or inappropriateness.
We have to help someone to see the truth; to see their own self in full light
and to make corrections necessary for their own welfare. Both the giver and
receiver of light may bask in it and feel the joy it brings.
By the training of the mind with honest enquiry in the finding of
knowledge, we come to a place where, finally, preconceptions will fade away.
False beliefs, all of them, will eventually be corrected as we learn and grow
in wisdom. As this comes about, the false belief in separation will be
unmasked. Words like “cohesion” and “love” and “unity” will be fully understood
to have far more meaning than we first could see. Our horizon widens to a
universal viewpoint. Our minds reach out to the mind of God, to His magnificent
creation and to the sure and certain knowledge that He is the Creator of
everything, and that everything is made from His Energy and Being. We see how we once were as little babes,
wide-eyed and ignorant, clinging to misconceptions and fairy tales. Thus we
truly see that God is Light.
No matter which path is natural for us, the destination is still the
same. Whether we walk the path of love, or the path of light, all things come
together in God. If we walk the path of righteousness, being careful not to
harm anyone, not forcing our ideas on others, helping where we can, using
loving understanding as our guide and accepting the Christ Principle of UNITY
we cannot miss the mark. Walk in love and light and all things will be added
onto you. Together we shall advance.
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