The Testing of Experience Part 3

Continued 15th April 1991
As previously stated, there is an important and constant interplay that follows through in the course of daily life, where the individual is met on many levels with that which he may choose with his entire being to either accept voluntarily into himself, thus taking in that very essence in either the astral/etheric or Budhic/Manas, or battle on the commensurate level, in thereby rejecting that which confronts him. This is necessary to existence, and is part of that progression which we endeavor towards, called discernment.

However, in the case of the infant Man, the being accepts the impressions of the astral/etheric worlds around the babe; as too with the Budhic/Manas environment that is imposed and passed on to him by the surrounding souls entrusted to care for him. The child is protected by Christ - Christ who takes everything on every level unto Himself. 

Within Christ there are no battles taking place, and no thing is rejected, as all is purified and transmuted through Him and by Him, as sunlight penetrates and transmutes the darkness. This acceptance unto Him is as we know: Love.

The infant when born has one foot on the Earth and one in Heaven. His being does not identify the world as a personal arena of conflict. As Christ stands at the crib protecting the child until such a time that the infant may stand upright and walk in the world, then slowly the consciousness of opposing affinities weaves patterns of acceptance and resistance for the continuance of that earthly life. Otherwise the pain of the world would bear down with such a force that the infant would immeasurably suffer, notwithstanding an anxious existence.

In Paradise this would not be so, but mankind having fallen from Paradise in the forefathers preceding, has the burden of learning discernment. For example: should one take a man for a lifetime and place him in a room that would starve the senses, providing neither cold nor warmth, a slap or embrace, a taste bitter or sweet, a sound, neither scream nor symphony; how then would this soul come to know of any physical encounter? At the close of this pitiable life, what should have been gained in the glory of experience? So we say that in all the worlds of manifestation and expression, not only the physical world, one must not deny such testing and experience that calls on our beings daily.


God Bless,

M.

The Testing of Experience Part 2

Continued 14th April 1991

In the preceding lesson we spoke of the voluntary nature with which Man receives pleasures, and how thus the interaction occurs within the astral and etheric substance of that which is in both the pleasure itself and Man. Also comment was made on denial and rejection of certain confronting astral and etheric natures within certain circumstances, which in turn are not received but are distinguished as a pain to the individual that confronts – a veritable angel on the one hand and a dragon on the other.

Taken a step further we should like to comment that this voluntary acceptance also applies very much to the Budhi and Manas of Man. Spiritual teachings can never be imposed on Man because Man has to be in a state of questioning, acceptance and receiving within his Budhi and Manas faculties, in order to assimilate those teachings into himself. Those teachings of the spirit must be absorbed into the spirit and this requires a voluntary acceptance and a wholly embracing of the teachings. Were this not so there would necessarily be conflict and rejection, and the individual is no better for the instruction.

This explains somewhat when it is referred to that "the time must be right". It is to say that teachings and wisdom thereby are never held back from any individual, that it is impossible for the individual to receive wholeheartedly into his Budhic/Manas comprehension, that which he may in fact be fighting against in his lower nature and not identify consciously in the higher, at a given stage.

Conversely, there are beings who would impose upon a soul with various methods, and as we have thus explained it is virtually an impossibility to make any impression in the arena of conflict and rejection, unless acceptance by that soul has taken place. However sickness, both mental and physical can occur, and does occur, when there is repeated conflict; and in some cases insanity.

With the elderly one can often witness where faculties withdraw prematurely to their respective sphere, where resistance is no longer possible for their will-forces to actively resist, resist, resist. It may be symptomatic purely of the inability to meet the concepts of a modern age; and where there is no acceptance on the respective Budhic/Manas spheres, as a muscle withers with unuse, so it is that the ability is weakened to meet with the world concepts at all.

Often in the case of insanity, the individual has gone too far in entertaining the devils that have arisen within their sphere of life, and at a certain point the soul has identified the creatures for what they are, and has ceased to voluntarily absorb such into themselves. Then the only back door in which to escape is to desert the whole physical fabric in which they dwell, and happily withdraw out of harm's way. The devils in question do appear in the individual however, and in the cases of possession one might truly believe that they have won their imposing way over that soul. But the soul has truly vacated and withdrawn on all levels save astral and etheric, where the fight of resistance is no longer pressing in on them, requiring resistance- almost alike to wires that have been in electrical overload.

So one would almost require a fitness regime of sorts in order to meet with the pendulum of resistance and acceptance, and discernment in both the Budhic/Manas substance/worlds of our daily living, and the voluntary acceptance or denial of confrontations in the world of desire, indwelling within the astral/etheric regions of daily life.

Now you have the explanation as to why teachings must be asked for, doors must be knocked, prayers must be made; for without the willingness to receive, not a scrap may be given or received……

Continued....

The Testing of Experience -11th April 1991

THE physical body does not experience pleasure, rather the causal, astral bodies signify the resonance that the certain physical pleasures may inspire. For example, the sweet that you are eating: although the physical body registers both nourishment and sugars, it does not of itself experience the pleasure in which your consciousness takes part in.

Such pleasure is voluntary, when one succumbs to the essence within the sugars, and the essence that has more reality within etherical and astral substance: the character and nature of the sugar, rather than its chemical and organic composition. Pleasures cannot take part within the 'mental world' in this context, as thoughts themselves are indifferent as it were, to the colored impulses that receive and deflect.

Physical pain of course, is a reality. However there is much 'anguish' that can reach extremes, which may or may not be provoked by such physical pain. Let us say that this may be termed by many as 'mental anguish' and once again, is viewed as living purely through the thought-world alone.

In the instance of pleasures, as we have indicated, the man receives such pleasures and delights therein in a voluntary way, giving over to that which we have termed - for the time being - as the essence of that which he derives pleasure from. All of this is relating to and responding to, the astral and etheric substance in both. 

In the case of pain, we have opposition within the man to that which confronts his being, and the conflict and rejection marks the intensity of the pain, believed to be mental, that is experienced within the human constitution. Neither of these conditions is a comment as to whether or not indulgence in either should lead to an unhealthy destruction of the individual, but is meant as something of an explanation of the process that we are involved in constantly in daily life.

The physical body may be viewed as something of a 'poor cousin' in the sense that it is always the last to be told - meaning that it is always the last expression of that which has gone before; a very tangible reflection to a limited extent of what passes through from spirit to soul, astral to ether, and then finally expresses through the physical.

To have an overview as to what inhibits or motivates us in daily life is a prerequisite for being able to manage and cope with the forces that provoke responses continually, day by day. Thus many aspiring yogis and ascetics strove to becalm their interaction with the subtle worlds, in order to rise above the demands made either way. 

However, life itself, the very nature of life itself, is a series of confrontations and response, and should one cease in this, then one should cease to take a vital role in living. And so one can recognize the true nature behind those confrontations and respond accordingly and consciously, rather than be led through life by the nose.

Part 2

Partaking of the bread together…8th April 1991

PARTAKING of the bread together, “in My Name”- that's all that was asked of folk who wish to come together and ponder the holy wonder of the world, as far as groups go. All bread is holy, it is the manner (manna! excuse the pun!) in which it is taken.

Beware of grievous definitions. Beware of sensationalism. Beware of self-importance becoming inflamed - for salt has the most wonderful properties for purifying a wound that it might heal, but it smarts also.

All has been warned and explained. There are folk who would use teachings to meet an end of their own desire, and this will taint any teaching they may hold. The silver shall black.

If you feel hesitation after reviewing what you know, there is no harm in holding back, until you can feel quite certain that the teachings may be passed on with the spirit in which they are given. We care for wisdom lovingly as we would our children. It is not a question of greed in holding back, but caution and care that is necessary.