The Impersonal Life

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====== The Inner Life ======
== THE HERALD OF THE NEW AGE | SEPTEMBER 1937 ==
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==== EDITORIAL ====
=== “HE SHALL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS” ===
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THESE days when we are having presented to us Eastern teachings by many representatives of Eastern peoples and religions, as well as by Western students who have either lived in the Orient or have imbibed deeply of its spirit, it becomes our duty to inquire into the matter and to set before our audience certain facts for their consideration.

This is of importance at this time because of the fact that many are being influenced by these teachings, and not a few have come to the place where they are believing that while Christ’s teachings are good and most helpful for young souls, for advanced students the occult teachings of the East are the only ones that afford opportunities for real Spiritual growth, because of the definite and practical instructions they provide for self development and the attainment of self-mastery.

We have chosen carefully the words in this last statement, in order to express what we feel is the attitude of many students. We refer in it particularly to the religions of India and its adjacent countries, and have fully in mind the value of these religions for their respective peoples.

But there are certain things that all should know in order to be fully informed about these religions, and especially that you may correctly estimate their importance for you at this particular stage of your Spiritual unfoldment.

In the first place you must realize that these religions were given to their respective peoples in the early days of the race when they were undoubtedly suited to the peculiar needs of their times, or each would not have such different religions. Likewise you must realize that each was the attempt to express to the human understanding of those peoples the meaning of God, of man’s relation to Him, and of God’s will for man, which they could accept and apply in their daily conduct and in their efforts to please Him.

Another thing to realize is that from the very beginning there seems to have existed a fundamental Teaching, universal in its Truth, known to a very few in each race, and which served as the basic pattern, so to speak, from which certain great souls, the most perfect fruit of each race, gave forth teachings, and which later were gathered together by others and formulated into definite dogmas or religious belief.

From this it is easy to see that basically all religions are one, for all of these truths were derived from the same source—the original Ancient Teaching. The fact is there have always been certain great souls, whatever the time or race, who have been able to delve beneath the dogmas and forms of existing religions and to uncover and give to the world the truths of the Ancient Teaching in higher and clearer form than had before been known. And these souls have ever been recognized and accepted as prophets and teachers by their peoples.

But that which few realize and which we now wish to impress upon our readers is that what are called the civilized races of today are composed of the souls that formed the races of one thousand, two thousand, five, ten, twenty-five, one hundred thousand and more years ago. And we would particularly have you know that the souls now in the bodies of the Western peoples, those of the Anglo-Saxon race, are the oldest souls in the world today, and are therefore the most advanced.

Only a casual study of history will show that as “Westward the course of empire takes its way,” so did the most advanced souls of each age migrate westward, beginning apparently in Babylon, India, and Egypt, then to Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, England, and then Westward across the Atlantic to America, occupying in each nation or people bodies that would enable them to do greater things than had ever been done before.

This can only mean that large numbers of souls were reborn successively, perhaps, in the various peoples of the different countries mentioned, for the sole purpose of experience, of gaining greater knowledge of life’s meaning, and of earning greater opportunities for soul advancement. Of course to each new people they carried the knowledge garnered from the experiences of past lives; and naturally those souls now occupying Western bodies have brought with them all the knowledge gained from the experiences of all their physical lives of the past in other countries and peoples, including those of the East, from which they originally “migrated” thousands of years before.

Then this also means that most of us of the West long ages ago were Hindus or Orientals, and if some today are still attracted by those old religions it is only in order that their souls can at this time uncover to their brain minds certain of the knowledge gained therein, that they may put it to definite use in present conditions. But with the oldest souls that knowledge has been ingrained into the consciousness and is now being unconsciously applied and utilized in the higher methods of self-expression practiced by Western civilization.

One other thing must be considered so that all may see for themselves. When these older souls after leaving a race or people moved Westward and were reborn in new races, it means that naturally their places were taken by younger souls; and that after the many migrations of older and then of younger and younger souls from a country or people during the ages, there must now be left in the bodies of all Eastern peoples only the youngest and most backward souls.

We have only to look at the peoples now living in India, Thibet, China, Egypt, etc., to see that this must be so; for not only all living conditions have deteriorated into almost unbelievable states, but their former religions likewise are far from being what they originally were when first given to their ancestors. We are referring to the masses—not to the ruling classes—but to the many millions of people in the East that are living in not much better conditions than those of their cattle, and with practically no education or opportunities for receiving it.

This is all shown you to prepare you for the realization that the teachings of Jesus Christ, from which has been formed the Christian religion, the last of the great religions of the world, must conclusively contain the highest teachings so far given to humanity, and those intended for and best suited to the minds of the Western peoples. Despite what may be said against the results of so-called Western civilization, there are plenty of evidences that there are today more great souls in incarnation in the Western nations than were ever before in manifestation at any time in any one people in the history of the world. And by great souls we mean those who have done or are doing great things, estimated by their capacity for accomplishing great things even in the eyes of the world. You have only to look about you in all departments of life to see what we mean. Not that all are devoting their capacities and abilities to the highest types of human endeavor, but we marvel at what would be accomplished by these souls did they turn all their talents to the serving and betterment of the race, instead of thinking and working chiefly for self and of piling up wealth and possessions for the sole use of themselves and their children.

From the above it is not difficult to see, if the oldest and farthest advanced souls are living in Western bodies, that the great souls who are doing things today must have likewise been the ones who did the outstanding things of the past in the various races and peoples in which they were then incarnated, undoubtedly for the very purpose of helping and hastening the evolution and advancement of those peoples.

But it must be remembered that the human minds of these souls know very little, if anything, of this; they only know that they have powers within themselves greater than those of their fellows, and that they were impelled to do what they did by desires more to gratify self than to benefit the race. Nevertheless, their Higher Selves knew from the beginning, and some day their souls will awaken, and then their minds will be made to see that all they have been doing has been but a preparation, development and training of their human personalities as instruments for the later use of their Christ Selves. Should some souls have come too much under the dominion of their lower selves and they refuse to yield to their better natures, when the veil of the soul is lifted, as it soon will be, then they will be compelled to line up definitely with the powers of darkness, and they will have to face the consequences and go down with the hosts of evil into the darkness—when the forces of Light come with their conquering hosts and bring with them the Kingdom of Heaven upon the Earth.

Naturally we refer in the last mentioned to the great business men of today, to the many industrialists, bankers, financiers, engineers, scientists, lawyers, physicians, who are doing big things in the world’s eyes, but who at present are more or less under the control of the enemy, through the glamour cast over them by money’s power, and who do not realize whom they are serving. But the day of awakening is soon here, and let us hope that all will then be recalled to their true natures, and that they will throw off the yoke of the enemy and will join definitely the forces of Light.

These forces of Light of course include all those awakened souls who have caused their human instruments to dedicate themselves and all their powers to serving and uplifting the race. They are the prophets and teachers of old come again into incarnation to do what they have always done—to quicken, awaken, inspire and teach younger souls the knowledge of their spiritual nature—as fast as such are able to receive such knowledge. Their lives are a devotion in one way or another to such work, although but very few as yet in their brain minds know anything about the past—they only know that they are thus serving because they must, because of the love in their hearts which makes them want to bless and help all of their fellowmen.

It is the few who know who they are and why they are here, who are the great prophets, teachers and leaders of the past, and who, when the full awakening comes to all people, will step into their true places—when the Kingdom of Heaven manifests upon earth.

YOU have been given, as it were, a more or less comprehensive bird’s-eye view of the past, showing how all through history of the human race there have been three types of souls manifesting in physical bodies composing the race,—

(1) Very old and wise souls, who seemingly are responsible for the evolution and advancement of the race, and in whom by now you recognize the Sons of God, mentioned in the previous articles on the soul.

(2) The souls of ordinary humanity, who are gradually unfolding in consciousness to an awareness of the love of their Father-God within their hearts, and with the help of these Teachers, the Sons of God, are being reborn through the birth of their Christ Selves in their consciousness, and who thereupon attain conscious immortality and become definite co-workers with the Forces of Light.

(3) The souls of those who are so bound by selfishness that they think, speak and work only for self, and who thereby become the instruments of the forces of darkness, who from the beginning have been warring with the children of Light, ever seeking to drag down all the souls they can to their estate, to make them their tools and do their bidding.

From the above you can see that there is a definite plan back of all manifestation. We tried to make this plain in the several articles on the soul, and we will now give a short résumé of this plan in the light of what has just been shown.

Through the aid of His Sons of Light, Jehovah-God is lifting the consciousness of humanity back into His Consciousness. In order to do this, at various times during the ages He used one of His chosen Sons as a manifestation in human form of His Spirit, who thus became a Christ even as Jesus was a Christ, showing through that Son the way that He wanted the people and the race of that time to go, and teaching them the truths they were then able to accept and use.

Each Son as a Christ, a divine manifestation of the Father, helped unmistakably the race to which He manifested to unfold to a higher state of consciousness, and out of the various teachings given by these different Sons of Light grew the different religions of the world.

Jesus Christ was the last great Son of God through whom Jehovah-God manifested, and He calls Jesus His “only begotten son,” for the reason that He was finally able through Him to manifest the fullness of Himself as the Christos or Logos, as we have shown in the 18th Paper.

Therefore the world has been given through Jesus’ teachings, and has seen manifested in His life, the very God-head Itself, and while in the Christian religion His teachings have been distorted and commercialized and have brought discredit to Jesus, and to God Himself (as has likewise been done to all originally pure teachings in their respective religions), yet to those whose Spiritual faculties are awakened there is in the Christian religion, or rather in the Christian Bible, so much wonderful Truth that it establishes it unquestionably as the greatest, most comprehensive and inclusive teaching that has ever been given to man.

From this it must be seen that if such Truth is to be found in the teachings of the Bible, and especially in Jesus’ own words, then the claim of occult students about the Eastern teachings is not borne out by facts. To those who have eyes to see and the necessary Spiritual understanding to appreciate it, the teachings of Christ Jesus include not only all of the essential truths previously given to the world, but what is infinitely more, they aid the student to enter directly into the Christ Consciousness Itself—for, as our Master, Himself, states, by finding the Kingdom, which is the Christ Consciousness, all things else will be added.

What is plainer than this, and what more is it that an earnest student needs?

Therefore let not any of those who have journeyed with us be beguiled by the claims of occult students of Eastern teachings, but let them stick close to Jesus’ teachings, trying unceasingly to live them; for we positively assert that in them there is all that is needed to find the Kingdom, and to gain with it all the results and many more wondrous powers than Occultism affords.

It is a part of our work to provide help and instruction for self-training and discipline in the fulfillment of and as a furtherance of Jesus’ teaching. All of His efforts and the great longing of His soul was that all should find the Christ, the Comforter, in their own hearts, so that the Comforter, within them, could lead them into the Kingdom, where He could teach them all things and guide them unto all Truth, as we have shown by His wonderful words in the preceding Paper.—From Paper No. 21.

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=== THE SUMMER CLASSES ===
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THE Summer Classes are over, and it was the greatest session so far held, and the greatest accomplishment attained. Students were taken through The Way Out, The Way Beyond, the Soul, the Mind, and such Impersonal teachings that systematically built up an understanding and consciousness of power that would equip and enable them to do Healing and Inner Work of all kinds, in the highest and most effective way—by knowing the truth of God being All in all, and seeing only Him in all things, conditions and people.

This Truth was proven to their minds in so many ways that most of those in attendance went home convinced of it, and in a consciousness so high that they cannot but see and know the truth henceforth, no matter what appears.

There were students present from Washington, California, Colorado, Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut; and the spirit of Love and true Brotherhood in evidence was so pronounced that it will ever be remembered by everyone present.
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