of holies. In the words of The Secret of the Golden Flower, “One must not wish to leap over everything and penetrate directly.”
We must first pass through the outer court and holy place within ourselves (the physical conscious mind and the subconscious mind), cleansing and letting go of attitudes and behaviors in these areas that would keep us from contacting that highest sense of life within.
Jesus driving the money changers from the outer court of the temple can be interpreted as a teaching about meditation: Any attempt to meet God within must begin with an effort to cleanse our physical consciousness as best we can. However, we must be careful in such cleansing that we do not merely get rid of something.
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, but he finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and brings with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So shall it be also with this evil generation.” (Matt. 12:43-45)
Instead, we want to replace or supplant the hindering condition or state of mind with something that is consistent with the spirit we seek to contact in meditation.
Experiment: Choose and write down one attitude, habit or physical condition which could be eliminated by conscious effort and which you feel may be a hindrance in your spiritual search.
Then decide on a constructive attitude or way of behaving that could replace that hindering one (and write down the replacement). Work each day on manifesting that replacement attitude or behavior. Record situations in which you are successful in manifesting this replacement attitude or behavior.
 | 2Cooperation |
“Thoughts are deeds and may become crimes or miracles in their application.”
One of the most difficult steps along the spiritual path is to accept responsibility for what it means to be a soul. In our society perhaps one of the most real barriers to the acceptance of ESP search findings is a resistance to the notion that the mind has extraordinary power. If telepathy is in fact possible, then my inner, mental world impinges on everyone else’s and I cannot really isolate myself from others. If psychokinesis is in fact possible, then it may be that my every thought has some effect on the material world. In a sense it is far easier not to have to take responsibility for being a spiritual creation. If the unseen worlds of thought and spirit were only meaningless theory, then an individual could simply drift through life and never have to face what it means to be a part of a greater whole, a community of souls working together in the earth.
For many individuals, responsibility is assumed first by becoming aware of the tremendous creative potential of thought. So important is this capacity of the mind that the readings say “the mind is the builder.” It is within our own making to attune our minds so that our thoughts are healing and uplifting to ourselves and others.
As has been seen, the application of will, as toward influences in the life, alters or changes the development of the inner man—the soul. When these are in accord with the divine, or the Creative influences, hold to that which is good—cleave to that which is right, irrespective of the thought or the speech of those who would be questioned in same. In the building up, keep thyself aright. Avoid even the appearance of evil. Keep so that, that committed unto Him will be answerable in the acts, material and mental, for thoughts are deeds, and may become crimes or miracles. These are within thine own making. Think right, live right, be right!
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Experiment: Live with the awareness that what you are thinking is actually creating and is very real. At the end of each day, review your thought patterns. Record those that you feel were especially constructive or helpful. Without a sense of self-condemnation, record those that you feel were not consistent with your ideals.
“In whatever state we find society let us meet it upon its own level: as we look up, we lift it. That is cooperation.”
This beautiful definition of cooperation calls to mind the necessity for sensitivity and humility. We can rarely help another person unless we are sensitive to and aware of his place in consciousness. We must listen to hear what his special needs are and adapt that which we would give to meet those needs. It does little good to talk over the heads of others, even if one is expounding spiritual truth. Jesus was no doubt a great scholar of the Torah and the mysteries, yet he spoke to the common man in parables.
It also takes humility to cooperate in this way. Outwardly it may appear that one has given in to the way or concerns of others. However, in meeting society or someone else at his own level, one must retain a sense of ideal and purpose. It is then that one can truly add something meaningful to the perspective or awareness of another who is seeking. This process is demonstrated by a young man who is a student of the readings and other spiritual teachings. In an effort to make available the teachings of spiritual law to many who might otherwise be closed to such considerations, he has made a detailed study of the esoteric and spiritual symbology of the Great Seal of the United States, as well as the spiritual interests of the Founding Fathers. Through lectures, writing and painting he has given many people an avenue to a deeper understanding of life by allowing them to grow from where they are.
The principle from the readings is that a soul can grow only from where it is at that time. We must respect that principle as we look for ways to practice cooperation. This was the approach of the Master.
… for He took individuals where they were, in their own environ, their own surroundings, and transmitted to their consciousness—either by act, word or deed—that necessary to awaken or allow that necessary to bring healing to those who sought for same.
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Experiment: Work on being sensitive to where others are in consciousness. Without compromising your own ideals, be willing to speak to others in their own language; show concern for the problems and questions in their own minds (not so much the questions you think they ought to be concerned about). Record the experiences in which you are able to be helpful to someone by meeting that individual at his or her own level.
“We must lose ourselves in Him …”
Referring once again to a model of the nature of man suggested in a dream of Edgar Cayce (294-131), let us consider what it is that keeps us from letting go and losing ourselves in the awareness of His presence. Between ourselves as conscious, physical beings and the superconscious awareness of the oneness of all life, there exists storehouse of memory patterns we can call the subconscious.
We might think of the subconscious as a collection of our habitual patterns of response: karma. Although we may have built habit patterns that are constructive and consistent with the divine (so-called “good karma”), the vast preponderance of the memory patterns of the subconscious are limiting and self-centered (e.g., tendencies to feel sorry for oneself, tendencies to hold resentments).
It is only as we withdraw our attention from these patterns which form a barrier that we can expect to regain the awareness of His spirit moving through our lives. Perhaps the most difficult of all patterns to let go of is the one that says, “I’m really pretty satisfied with the way things are and I don’t want to risk change.” The
