Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We see our beautiful island earth adjusting to the increase in Light. This requires an even greater commitment to love one another, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are told and know that perfect love casts out fear. I was reminded this morning that this is the time that Father Paul spoke of often: that we would be called upon to lend not just our physical aid, but our peaceful presence to help usher in the New Age in reality.
It’s very challenging! But our Master Jesus faced even greater challenges and overcame them for us all. These verses brought comfort and joy to me this morning, I am so grateful for his words at this season of his birth:
John 16:20 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
From Father Paul, excerpt from Book of Activity class 11/03/73
“Seek not glory for thyself lest pride setteth in and fester like a sore.”
And you know this is a very good description of what takes place when we start to feel that movement of pride in something that we have accomplished. Or we are able to do something that we haven’t been able to do before and we start to feel real proud of what we have done. We look at it, and the work is good, and we kind of square back our shoulders and start to walk straight, and that is what you’ll find in one of the rituals of our order – pride in the word and the works of the Father. And this is the safeguard for human relationship, and the relationship between ourselves and God. Because this thing of pride has many faces. We can have pride because we have been able to get enough real confidence in the Word of God so that it worked for us, and it accomplished something. And we get that pride and we start to say, “Well, I’ve made it.” Whoops, look out. Right off the bat you’re heading right down that wrong alley.
If you said to yourself, “Well, I have finally become obedient to the work and the rules and the way of God and Jesus Christ, then you could feel proud of that, so to speak, but pride is not the thing that you should feel. You should feel joy at being able to reach and get close enough to God, in order that the laws would work for you. In other words, close enough to being totally obedient so that they did work for you, the Word worked for you and the power moved.
You see, we are used to the, that other facet of life so completely, from the time of birth until transition, that unless we declare ourselves, unless we stand on our two feet and make it known who we are, we are nobody. And if somebody says, “I feel just like nobody,” I say, “Well, at last we got there.” And that doesn’t mean that you’re not happy, and really joyous and proud of the works of the Father and His creation. Now, this is a different thing. But we have to look out for this facet of human, hu-man, nature, because our Lord Jesus said that pride cometh before a fall, and that’s very true. Because pride is a funny thing. You may take it in all of a good Christian way, so to speak, from everything that you can see, and you will look at this and say, “Well, now that’s wonderful. See, there’s just what the teacher told me or the priest told me, and it’s really working out that way. So it is true what Jesus said and I worked it out fine.”
Everything was fine in that statement till I got down there to that last one. And it is one of the most subtle things in the world, because you can be so right, and yet you will be so wrong. Because this immediately sets up a point, a focus to us – for us, I mean – to which the power and the energy will move and it will be totally false and pretty soon you’ve got a festering sore, as it says here, because this stimulates a need in our feelings to accomplish, to accomplish, accomplish, accomplish. Accomplish what? All we’ve got to do is to stop doing that which is not like God’s creation and the things will be accomplished.
You see, somehow or other – and of course it’s through the human aspect of life that we feel that we have to do something and accomplish something in order to bring ourselves into a position where we are of greater service and really climbing the ladder of attainment, you might say, or Jacob’s ladder. Now this is all wrong, because actually the only thing that you’ve got to do is go right back to that old cliché of “get out of the way”. In other words, stop doing the things that are contrary to Creation or contrary to God’s Law, contrary to the way God created this universe and contrary to the teachings of our Lord, and submit ourselves to the place where we were, at least the place where we were when we came into this world as a little baby. And when we do this and still use the wisdom that our Lord has taught us, the Father has taught us, everything will happen just right because we have gotten out of the way of the illusions, the false things that man has built in his own way and in his own path that keep him from accomplishing the Word of God when he tries to pray and he tries to manifest things, or when he tries to use these things in service to God and man, through the Master. And when you get these other false illusions out of the way, then things will happen just as they should.
It is – here is where the false pride, as it is often called, because it really is false. There’s really nothing we have to be proud of except those things which God does, and the Master. Because if we are proud of anything, we are exhibiting and manifesting false pride, Because if you will sit down and recapitulate very carefully all the things you do in the day, you’ll find that you are totally dependent on the Word and the works of our Father, and the power and the force and the energy of Creation functioning in this solar system, and functioning in our everyday life right in our own order. So what have we got to be proud of? What did we create originally ourselves? Is there anything that you can find that you actually created, really? Something like the Law of the Word or the Law of Cause and Effect in some way, or the Law of Assumption, or the laws of the triangle, and so forth down the line?
Is there anything you ever did create? No, there isn’t, because even to this beautiful picture of a mother and her child, she didn’t determine who was going to come in. She didn’t determine what that body was going to be like, that she was going to give birth to. She didn’t determine this. She only determined that she was ready to receive and to accept and to give birth to a child. But it was up to those on the other side, the great angelic Host and Brothers and teachers over there that would help this individual to pick the kind of body and nature of it, and when it was going to come into this world.
Now she can keep herself as an open channel and she’ll probably have that child, but she didn’t create anything. The tools and the electro-chemistry and so forth of her body, and the nature of it is such that it will help the body to grow after it has been chosen and manifests through the archetype of that body that comes into her being. But she didn’t create any of it; it’s done according to the pattern that has already been set. It is done according to the pattern of the soul of this individual, because each one of us, whether we’re in a male body or a female body, it doesn’t make any difference, we’ve had this same experience from both sides of the fence at all times. So don’t any of you males get any grandiose idea; you’ve been there too, and you’ve had these children. and you have had these experiences, and you’ve had the experience of following the life of a feminine potential in your work and in your everyday life, and in the home and all those other things, and probably in times when things weren’t even as good as they are today. But there is none of us who will have had the advantage, except those whom have taken on the priesthood and the higher levels of things.
We all have the opportunity of service. We all are able to joyously say, “Well, I thank God this morning that I am going to have the opportunity of service. I am thankful that I am being given a full day of service. I have the opportunity of serving a full day with all the tools that God has put into this creation that He has taught me how to use. And I know that with all the things going on I will be fully protected, because I have His Word for that.” You see.
Now, I am putting you in a rather curious position. If you know you have His word for that, you’re being pretty obstinate, aren’t you, if you don’t use it. And you are not being very reverent in not using it. And you certainly are not being very proud in the words and the works of the Father. So subtly, you are saying decidedly, “All right, Father. I know about it, but I’ll do it my way.”
Now of course you know to start with, you can’t do it your way even though you would like to, but you have put that connotation onto it of self-pride in your own action and your own words, and you’ve taken off the label of the Creator, off of those words, and therefore they become and they are labeled as your words and your way of doing it. Consequently you have a non-function, usually, if you get that far. Because that is pride in your own vehicle which only functions according to what you have previously learned anyway, and what God has provided for.
So we don’t want to build these sores that we are going to have to contend with, because these things can be carried like a germ, a disease, from one lifetime to another. And usually the price, the equalizer to self-pride in your works, regardless of what they are, is a pretty nasty and pretty shocking thing to have to go through, because you sure will get let down and with a thud, and usually it is pretty painful.
“And unto him who knoweth me, so knoweth my Father of him, and he shall reap a fat harvest in the days to come. For I say unto you, out of revelation shall come things unthought of by man, who has tried to solve these problems before.”
I catch something in here. I catch something, that in the lean years and closing days of the old world and the beginning of this new one that we’re already starting to go into, in these lean days we shall still reap a fat harvest in the days to come. “For I say unto you, out of the revelation shall come things unthought of by man.” In other words, we haven’t learned all about it yet, have we? We haven’t learned all about our world. In other words, what we see and have seen is not all that there is to reckon with. And it’s not all that there is to it; not all.
“And unto him that knoweth Me, unto him that knoweth Me” – ah, h’m, there’s a condition – “so knoweth my Father of him.” Only through Me shall you see the face of the Father. H’m. “And he shall reap a fat harvest in the days to come.”
You see, if you know the Old Man, you can come in the front door. If you know the Son, – you know, that’s just like some things in life. You get acquainted with a young friend out here, and he sort of takes a notion to you, and you go with him to his house and you get introduced to his dad, and his dad says, “Why, son, you looking for a job? You need this or that?” And “Why, sure.” And, “Well, you come down tomorrow. I’ll see that you get taken care of. We’ll set you up and give you a chance and a start.” Just like a human family, it’s right there. If you know the right people. And believe me, They’re the right people too…
Y
“The Virgin Mary is usually pictured wearing blue and white to represent virginal purity. But en route to Bethlehem, she could appropriately have worn a green cloak. A green robe is also traditionally worn by the Patriarch of Zen Buddhism. It is the color of nearly all vegetation which covers the Earth, and of chlorophyll leaf-covering, which both draws sunlight to itself and emanates a substance back toward the sun in reciprocal action…” – Jewels of the Wise “The Empress”
“My grandma used to get up in the morning and say a prayer before she cooked. That prayer was a song. It’s amazing to me that the singing she did is an ancient way of connecting with the Universe. The Uni-verse means “One Song.” In the early 1930’s and 40’s, Lakota ceremonies were referred to as lo wapi, which means song/singing. Also my grandma told me that the Universe is singing in the snowflakes, the raindrops, in the trees, the water, and all Creation. Physicists call this holistic holographic universe. Lakotas call it Taku Wakan Skan Skan/Mitakuye Oyasin, which means everything is connected and related in divine rhythm, vibration.
Remember the Lakotas know that the song sings the singer. The Spirit sings the song.”
— Basil Braveheart
Sacraments in the Life of an Initiate: COMMUNION
The sacrament of Communion is the central act of Christian life. The Word made flesh is the central fact of the life of the Cosmos. It is the wonderful reality of the great Being in whom we live and move, and have our being.
The rites of the Communion were not initiated by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a most ancient rite practiced by all the great mystery schools, including the Essenes. In the life of the Master Jesus, however, is embodied the new divine pattern for our rebirth, the Redemption and the Atonement; and the chief events of His life, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and the Ascension are lasting imprints within the Earth itself. A disciple will experience these spiritual imprints at the altar of the heart by letting go and accepting divine Communion (Come-union) with Jesus Christ.
Wine is the ancient symbol of Illumination. Bread was and is the foremost substance in many people’s diets; essential to their very existence on earth. It, therefore, has great meaning in religious ceremonies.
During the blessing of the bread and wine by a truly ordained minister/ priest trained in this particular use of alchemy, the essence of the Christ being, the pure Christ Light from which all things are formed, is called forth to infuse both bread and wine. What was before mere material substance becomes bright with white light and scintillates [the dictionary defines this as gleaming or emitting quick flashes as if throwing off sparks] as being alive with force, power and energy. It is Light energy.
As this transformed bread and wine is administered to those partaking, the experience of the Christ is absorbed into the blood, adding to the experience already contained therein.
If the full atonement, ablution, or redeeming quality of this Christ experience were fully accepted by a partaker at the time, the disciple would truly realize he/she was without sin and a son/sun of God. The partaker would at once be light and perfect.
This is, unfortunately, not accepted right away by the partakers. But the Light adds a little more of its consciousness to the being at that time. It is building up. . Christ experience contained in its Light is added into the being, layer upon layer, until one rises above the darkness of chaotic “waters” (confusion, wrong-thinking, self-condemnation, etc.) into the bright light of day, never to return again into the darkness, even though one might not think so at the time.
Even while in troubled darkness, the partaker must have faith (and this is real faith) that, eventually, the seeker will be absolutely purified and clean. This may be very hard at times because everything at times will seem the reverse in one’s mind (light must be darkness, truth must be a lie, etc.) Of course, each experiences this according to need.
Communion is a living, dynamic contact with the essence of the Christ. Whether or not one attends a Communion service each day, some time should be set aside daily to make contact with our Lord Jesus Christ. Coming into union with Him drives out, day by day, all darkness.
Physical changes will occur also by Communion. That which is being cleaned up on the inside manifests on the outside as well.
While Communion may not seem to the uninitiated as anything more than ritual, it is one of the greatest tools that could possibly be used to bring a being into full Illumination and the joy and peace of the Christos; a Sun of God.
LIGHT I (from Tree of Life lessons) – continued
…Schools of enlightenment have known and taught for years that an aura exists around the human body. This, in reality, is light.
You can, by using your brain, control this flow of energy and light so that rather than it being continually cast out it is turned in. But only by the silencing of the mind because that way you have created a vacuum which this light can fill. There is a law existent in the universe that is stated like this: Nature abhors a vacuum — thus it is filled.
To assure that you fill this vacuum with the pure light of Christ, it is necessary to cleanse the field of energy around the body of the dark and/or evil thoughts which emanate from within you. To accomplish this it takes one who can see the field and know what it is within you that needs to come out in order that this can take place.
For, as was stated in the beginning of this lesson, man came from the mind of the Creator. Therefore, man in his essence is but a part of this mind made manifest. This being so, he is but a thought pattern in that mind. When man will use that energy he is endowed with to cleanse this pattern of all impurity that it acquired by his not controlling what filled that pattern, he will be in a constant state of illumination.
To attain this state of being, it is necessary to renounce the thinking or not thinking of those around you and to take conscious control of your atmosphere. To keep out thoughts that are not in accordance with the workings of your being.
We advise that a man not try this on his own for the simple reason that he does not know himself yet; nor does he know what his function is yet with regard to creation. This is not made known to him until he has begun to work with God in peace and in understanding of the world around him by becoming that Self.
Therefore, it is advisable for a man to take a Master Teacher. This means one who does know and has absolute control of his being and of the world around him. These beings are more of God than of flesh for they are in continual communion with the inner man and with the forces of the universe. This is not to say that they are not in a flesh body, for some of them are. It is possible to receive instruction from the higher mind or rather from a higher plane of existence, through continual prayer and a conscientious striving to know. Though often they will merely guide you to a teacher on this plane for they have their function on that plane to attend
Man’s first duty is to find this teacher and then to be obedient to whatever this teacher asks him to do, bearing in mind at all times if he knew he would not be seeking a teacher to guide him to his Illumination. For all the things that you are asked to do are not always something that one considers to pertain to his illumination at all. But then the teacher will merely smile and say to you, “Just who the hell are you to tell me what is best for you.” Remember, he does not need you as much as you need him. In fact, most of the time these beings could find other means of service to be doing.
Now that we have taken the first step in starting our road toward the Illumination we are ready to take another step. Once you have cleansed the mind of thinking what the other guy is thinking, you must cleanse the body of the results of all that thinking. This is accomplished by eating a well balanced diet and by the continuance of sound thinking.
The most valuable thing in this cleansing process is to keep the mind only on that which you are doing. Therefore you must be doing something. Work! Working on jobs of almost anything that will tear your mind off what you are learning and thereby letting them manifest in your being to replace that which you were thinking that caused you to need this teacher.
Once you have done this you are then ready to begin the process of looking within for the light. During all the preceding time you have been learning to relax. Now you must learn to meditate. Most teachers will tell you to meditate when you first go into training; but if you’re honest with yourself now you will know that you are merely relaxing and often fall asleep instead of meditating.
After a while of actual meditating you will feel the influx of power that comes each time. What you are actually doing is letting go of your thinking entirely thereby making yourself accessible to be filled with the LIGHT and the peace of God.
When you feel that power within you and you cannot find a way to get away from it as most people try to do and then finally just let go you will see that light. Then you will begin to know where you come from. As you begin to work with the power of you,that is the inner you, you will know why you are here and what your function is.
The winter solstice time is no longer celebrated as it once was, with the understanding that this is a period of descent and rest, of going within our homes, within ourselves and taking in all that we have been through, all that has passed in this full year which is coming to a close… like nature and the animal kingdom around us, this time of hibernation is so necessary for our tired limbs, our burdened minds.
Our modern culture teaches avoidance at a max at this time; alcohol, lights, shopping, overworking, over spending, comfort food and consumerism.
And yet the natural tug to go inwards as nearly all creatures are doing is strong and the weather so bitter that people are left feeling that winter is hard, because for those of us without burning fires and big festive families, it can be lonely and isolating. Whereas in actual fact winter is kind, she points us in her quiet soft way towards our inner self, towards this annual time of peace and reflection, embracing the darkness and forgiving, accepting and loving embracing goodbye the past year.
“Winter takes away the distractions, the buzz, and presents us with the perfect time to rest and withdraw into a womb like love, bringing fire & light to our hearth”.
.. and then, just around the corner the new year will begin again, and like a seed planted deep in the earth, we will all rise with renewed energy once again to dance in the sunlight
Life is a gift a Happy winter to you all…
–Written by Bridget Anna McNeil