The Impersonal Life

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**[[the_way_to_the_kingdom|The Way to The Kingdom]]**

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====== Where Two or Three are Gathered Together ======
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Those who have traveled with us this far and have faithfully studied the various articles and followed the suggestions given are beginning to perceive that there is a plan and purpose back of everything stated, and that all is tending toward and preparing the earnest and persevering ones for a definite work.

They see that this must be a Spiritual work—from all that has come to them, and that it of necessity must be performed by and in the mind, under the direction of the will of one who has taught the mind to be a perfect and obedient servant.

If we have been persistent in urging aspirants to practice regularly the mental exercises and to observe faithfully the meditation hours, it has been only to help them speedily attain that end. And if those who have been mentally lazy or who have discontinued the practice before gaining complete obedience, yielding to the mind’s claim that it is too strenuous or that it cannot see any need of such regularity, they will learn, when asked in the near future to do what will be required of them, why they are unable to help and to accomplish what those who have been faithful are doing easily and with such manifest results.

For in this Work only trained minds and wills will be able to accomplish anything, either for the Master’s Cause, to which you have dedicated your hearts and lives, or for yourselves, when the need is upon you. And the practical work we have been giving you has been to enable you to experiment first on and with yourselves and then in helping those nearest you, in order to prepare you for wider and sterner service, when the time arrives that we will be called upon to assist the Master and our Great Brothers in Spirit in Their Work for humanity.

Before you can do that you must learn to work first under the Master’s direction in an intimate personal way in your own life. Remember you have not chosen to do this, but He has chosen you, because He needs you to accomplish what He has been especially preparing you for; and if you faithfully listen to and obey Him, you will become more than a servant to Him. He will then call you “Friend,” and will endow you with powers that will enable you consciously to co-operate with our Brothers in Spirit in the definite Work for which ALL are now making ready.

After you have truly learned to obey and to wait upon and serve Him, and have given all your own affairs over into His keeping, so that now you always know His voice when He speaks, then you will be ready and able to work with others, and will sooner or later draw to you those who belong with you and who will meet with you for group study and practice of the teachings.

Only a deep yearning to serve will bring this about—a putting of self aside in a desire to be used by the Master in every way possible. This yearning of course is inspired by Him and is your feeling of His desire to use you; and if you yield up self and obey all leadings He gives you, you will soon find He will bring you in touch with one or more earnest students who have the same yearning in their hearts.

This must be,

“For where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.”—Matt. 18:20.

It is He that brings such together for His purpose, which gradually He will unfold to you, as you learn to know His will in group study and service. How to work in a group by losing all consciousness of self and personality, and thereby attaining unto group consciousness, is the next higher stage for those who seek to be brothers in Christ.

From this you will see that groups will form themselves naturally—that is, under the Master’s guidance. But all must first learn to know and obey His leading.

A glimpse of the purpose and possibilities of group work is given us in the two verses preceding the above words of the Master, in Matt. 18:18-19.

“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

“Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Can you conceive of the vast power at the command of a group of consecrated souls who have learned to know “who they are and of what they are a part;” have learned how to “speak the word” in the service of their Father in Heaven and to loose for Him those who are bound and held in darkness?

It is true that each individual can work alone and can accomplish great things; but think of the far greater power for good where five or ten, or a hundred, or a thousand, or ten or a hundred thousand, are combined in a definite act of mind and will, with their Brothers in Spirit back of, directing and pouring through them the power of Their Divine Wills!

And that is what this Work of the Brotherhood, through us and through other similarly consecrated groups, is preparing its members for—those earnest ones who feel the strong urge from within to do everything possible to make themselves fit and worthy to be used.

This does not mean the formation of any outer organization—far from it; for remember, we said that even when small groups are formed it will be “under the Master’s guidance,” and that “all must first learn to know and obey His leading.”

All that we are doing is to help you to find and to know Him, and then to learn to know His voice and to obey His leading. After that gradually He will bring you into the consciousness of “who you are and of what you are a part.”

If this recalls to you some dim memories of a home far beyond mortal ken, and arouses an eager longing to make yourself worthy and fit, we are glad; and we trust that you will let nothing hereafter interfere with the training that the Master is waiting to give you, so that you will be truly ready when the call to action comes.

All possible help will be furnished those who feel the yearning and urge to work with others and who wish to draw to them or find those who belong with them. But first study and meditate earnestly upon the above, and ask the Loving Master within to bring to you or lead you to your own, and it may not be necessary to call upon outside help.

Suggestions for group study and work will be found in the appendix.
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==== THE SOUL ====
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Because of the necessity of students understanding clearly the terms commonly used by metaphysical and esoteric teachers and writers, and especially by ourselves, we will explain the meaning of such terms as we use them from time to time.

The soul, probably more than any other aspect of Divinity in what we know as man, is the least understood. Most students as well as teachers have only a hazy idea of what they consider is the soul, and if required to give an exact definition or explanation of it would be wholly at a loss—at least to make themselves clear.

In order for us to explain and for students to come into a definite understanding, so that hereafter they will always have a clear-cut idea of just what is meant by the soul, it is essential to know something of its birth and development. Try to realize, however, that it will be necessary for us to treat of the soul in terms of consciousness and not of form, for the soul can only be fully understood by considering it as a phase or expression of the One Consciousness.

We have a real starting point and a record of its birth in the second chapter of Genesis, where it is written that Jehovah God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils and man became a “living soul.”

If you will remember, in the first chapter is given a symbolic story of how consciousness evolved up through the mineral, vegetable, animal, and finally into the human kingdom, when man made his first appearance in the world, formed in the image and likeness of God—or of the Elohim, the Gods who were the actual creators of man’s form (“Let us make man in our image after our likeness”)—as the next stage for the use and expression of the fruits of this higher degree of consciousness.

Man’s body, although thus humanly formed, was still of etheric substance and possessed all the characteristics of its former animal nature. But God blessed these newly formed beings called man, and said unto them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle and every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” That is, they were to learn to have dominion over every feeling and impulse in the sea of their emotional nature, over every thought of their minds (birds of the heavens), over their animal appetites (cattle), and over every earthly condition surrounding them (things moving upon the earth).

Then God—the Elohim—rested, and during many long eons of time man continued to develop and unfold, to fit and accustom his animal consciousness into these new human forms, multiplying in vast numbers and gradually over-spreading the face of the earth. As time passed these forms began to grow more and more concrete and thereby to show forth outwardly on the plane of matter as they actually were on the etheric plane—this etheric state being the final stage of Spirit involving in matter before unfolding into visible, material expression—thus preparing them as the physical habitat of man.

In other words, the first chapter of Genesis gives a symbolic out-picturing of the involution of Spirit into matter, while the second chapter begins the history of the evolution of Spirit, now expressing itself as the consciousness of matter, back again into the pure consciousness of Spirit.

It was at this stage—commencing in the fifth verse of the second chapter—that Jehovah God, Himself, took charge, and calling upon His Sons of Mind (the Sons of God) to assist Him, He sent Them to earth to superintend under His guidance the spiritual development of these human beings made in the form of His image and likeness (the Elohim were of course also in His likeness) but not yet endowed with those Divine attributes of consciousness—Reason and Choice—which would enable man to evolve into the spiritual likeness of his Father in Heaven.

Expressing this in another way, in the first chapter of Genesis we have the portrayal of the creation of mortals, or the generation of the sons of man; and in the second chapter the creation of the first immortals, or the beginning of the regeneration of the Sons of God. In the pre-Adamic race—the race of mortals—consciousness had by this time unfolded sufficiently in enough individuals to warrant Jehovah God creating the beginning of a new and higher race—that of Adam and Eve; and by sending His Sons of God down into the bodies of such individuals and giving them these bodies to live in and to possess for the purpose of evolving them into His likeness spiritually, They thus endowed these mortals with “living souls,” changing them thereby from mortals to immortals.

From this you will gather that all of those having human forms were not then (and are not now) endowed with fully conscious or awakened souls, for a soul is only fully developed when self-consciousness has unfolded in the mind to the point where it can be quickened by the Holy Spirit, or where it is ready to be taught from within. Then only can a Son of God, or the Higher Self, enter the soul and live in it, thereby making it into a “living” or awakened soul—the Son of God thus being “reborn” and taking upon Himself the regeneration or rather the redemption of the soul consciousness in which He has involved Himself.
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==== THE “FALL” INTO GENERATION ====
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From this you will also be able to see that the so-called “fall” of Adam and Eve was really the conscious descent of the Sons of God into these human souls, thereby into generation, in order to evolve the consciousness expressing through them into re-generation, or into Their consciousness, and then later into Their Father’s consciousness. The consequences of this “fall” into generation, which need not enter into this article, are what the soul is now working up through, and whereby, under the direction and instruction of the Higher Self, a Son of God, it is gradually gaining the understanding of the true meaning of both generation and regeneration which this experience is intended to teach.

Our previous explanations have made you aware that there is an intimate relation between the soul and the love-nature; and you can now comprehend that not until the love-nature is quickened and unfolded, and man is “re-born” by the Christ Spirit entering into the soul, does the soul awaken and man become a “living” soul, and thus begin his return journey to his Father’s home, its Higher Self’s—a Son of God’s—consciousness.

If you will read this and ponder over it carefully, you will be startled, perhaps, by the thought that many are living today who, while they are mortal men, are not “living” or “awakened” souls and consequently have not attained immortality; they are not yet “re-born,” their Higher Selves not living in their souls, but only overshadowing them, much as some of the domestic animals are overshadowed.

Yes, this is only too true, as you must admit when you try to talk of spiritual things to many of those around you. They not only can not understand, but seemingly do not want to understand or listen and think for themselves, and perhaps consider you a “little cracked on religion,” when you talk of such things to them. But this does not mean that in the course of the ages they will not evolve along with the race into immortality, their final destiny, or that certain ones among them will not “ripen” and come into soul fruitage before their fellows; for as is manifest throughout all nature certain members of a species mature and ripen faster than others.

Returning to our subject, and to the fifth verse of the second chapter of Genesis, we have seen how man’s etheric body was growing concrete and substantial, and his consciousness had developed an intelligence that could be directed and used for his further advancement; but if you will note “no plant of the field was yet on the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, and there was no man to till the ground.” Which means that the planet earth had grown dense and material enough so that it was now ready for the habitation of physical man; but nothing as yet grew upon its surface, and there was no man to till the ground and cultivate the plants and herbs, even if there were any growing upon the earth.

Therefore everything being ripe and ready, Jehovah God, exercising the power of His Creative Will, breathed forth into the earth a new cyclic Life Wave, and “there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground” (watered the etheric substance with a new energizing Spiritual Force), causing the vegetation of all kinds that had been created in etheric form (as recorded in the first chapter of Genesis) to come forth into manifestation and to grow out of the ground. Likewise as a sufficient number of human beings had now evolved from their animal consciousness to self-consciousness, He caused man’s etheric body to slow down in vibration, and thus to become dense; and out of this same etheric, spiritual substance (dust), the basic substance or ground from which all matter springs and out of which was now growing the vegetation of the earth, man’s physical body was formed.

It was when man—the pioneers of the race who had evolved into self-consciousness—thus became fully manifest on earth and had grown accustomed to his new habitation and environment, that Jehovah God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.

This means that it was then that the Sons of Mind first gave to man his mind, which made him conscious of his identity as a “self,” and also They assumed jurisdiction over man’s consciousness and became responsible for his further evolution; but that it was only in the case of the few highly evolved souls—there being comparatively few Adamic men at that time—that They entered into and possessed them, thus making of them living souls and consequently changing them into immortal beings.

If you will remember, however, it was right after man became a living soul that Jehovah God placed this new man in the Garden of Eden and called him Adam, which means he entered a new spiritual consciousness, higher than that of earth, where every good thing grew and provided him with all that he needed for his physical, mental and spiritual sustenance. In other words, these Adamic men were the pioneers or the first appearance of a new and higher evolved race of living souls, immortal men, all others being ordinary human beings or mortal souls, still sleeping and bound up in the sensations of the flesh.

The vast masses of these other human beings, the Sons of God overshadowed, directing and guiding them much as the other and lower grades of Divine Beings did the animal and vegetable kingdoms. But while the latter served as Group Souls to all of the individuals forming a certain species of animal or vegetable, and thus guided their evolution, a Son of God became individually responsible for but one human being, acting as its overshadowing Spirit.
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==== THE REASON FOR REDEMPTION ====
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Now there was a very significant reason for Jehovah God calling upon these particular Sons of God to perform this great task of redeeming and uplifting the consciousness of these human souls. For way back many world periods before the earth was They were part of the humanity of another planet, the same as we are part of the humanity of earth. And They in the ignorance of Their then human nature, in Their countless lives on that planet, committed many sins and crimes against God and Their fellow men, for every one of which They were held responsible by Their Father God, and every one of which some day They would be required to redeem—even as we are responsible for and must redeem all that we have committed in this and our many past lives.

In the course of innumerable eons the souls of the humanity of this ancient planet evolved in consciousness into oneness with Their Higher Selves, then into oneness with the Ruler of Their planet, and finally into oneness with the Ruler of the Solar Universe, Their Father God. In the meantime They were gaining vast experience in the building of forms for the use of the consciousness and in the directing of its unfoldment while expressing in the multiplicity of mediums in the various realms under Their charge, and in all their different stages of development, from the elemental and etheric up through the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms.

During such experience They earned and attained many high degrees in the spiritual and celestial Hierarchies, including that of the Elohim, eventually reaching the exalted state of “Sons of God.” Finally through the knowledge, power and understanding gained, the time came when They were prepared and ready to take full charge of Their own former miscreations of that long ago world period, which in mercy had been lifted away and deposited in the outermost reaches of consciousness in a realm known as the “eighth sphere,” confined there in densest darkness where they would do as little harm as possible, and where they formed the nucleus of what some day would be a new planet.

Imagine a great compost heap of vegetable and animal refuse lying decaying and putrid under the sun, rain and snow, season after season—what a vast amount of energy is being generated, which, when this refuse matter is deposited in a barren field and plowed into the soil, will sweeten, enrich and renew it, giving it new life and enabling it to bring forth rich and bounteous harvests.

In much the same way was this great compost heap of the foul sins and crimes of that ancient humanity lying rotting and offensive, generating new life forces in the darkest realm of consciousness, awaiting the time when they could be used in building a new field of evolution and in providing the energy and substance for the new humanity that later would be grown by and harvested from it.

In fact this cosmic compost heap you can now gather was what originally constituted our planet earth, and those Great Beings Who were responsible for it and all that compose it are the Sons of God Who are actually the Higher Selves of every soul on earth. They naturally are responsible not only for our consciousness but for that of every living thing on the planet, as well as for the earth itself. For is not all of such consciousness what was originally that of Their miscreations of the dim past, which They are redeeming out of the darkness of ignorance in which they were given birth and are lifting back up into the light of the Father’s Consciousness?

Read the last six paragraphs again carefully, so that you get their full meaning, and then go back and study what precedes them. You will find it will help to make many things clear that were not grasped in the first reading. It will also enable you to understand why a Son of God necessarily assumed the direction of the vast aggregation of the centers of intelligence grouped together and comprising the consciousness of the trillions of cells of the human body, every one of which was a sin or crime, His own miscreations of that former world period, and all of which had evolved up through the three lower kingdoms of earth life to the human stage of development. These kingdoms, however, were still closely related to these cells because of this body that they formed still containing their actual elements—as the mineral in the bones and teeth; the vegetable in the hair and nails; and the animal in the flesh, muscle and ligaments.

But try to realize that up to the stage when the animal body changed and became formed and shaped into the image and likeness of the Elohim, there was no actual mind inhabiting these bodies, that the directing of their lives and activities was done by the Minds of the Elohim Who individually had charge of certain whole species of animals, even as before other and lower grades of the Elohim overshadowed and directed different species of the vegetable kingdom, and similarly species of the mineral kingdom. There was no actual directing mind in any animal, but there was an elemental soul animating each. However, many animals of a species were under the direction and control of an overshadowing Group Soul, which means of a conscious intelligent outer Mind capable of directing and controlling the elemental forces of nature,—a Mind which could be no other than that of one of the Elohim—the Great Beings above mentioned.

This is explained so that you can understand that, even though man’s body was formed in human shape, man was still only a super-animal, and that it was only when man was overshadowed and guided exclusively by a Son of God that he became endowed with a mind and thereupon was given the power of becoming a “living” soul; which means that his soul was then given the charge and direction of his own mind and body, and was made responsible for them by His Higher Self and for the life forces animating them. In other words it was not until the Sons of God took charge and gave man his mind that man became a self-conscious entity, with the possibility of attaining immortality.

We have led you through this long roundabout journey in order to show you the many elements and factors that enter into the constitution of the soul; for the above-mentioned aggregation of centers of intelligence, comprising the grouped consciousness of every cell of the body but dwelling in the body now as a composite and at the same time an individual self-consciousness, is—when guided and directed by the Higher Self—what constitutes the soul of man. In other words the soul is the “intelligence” evolved out of the experience of consciousness working up through the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms and combining all into human or self-consciousness, with this intelligence now capable of working with and being used by the Sons of God, Who as his Higher Selves are directing man’s spiritual evolution.

By this time you will perhaps have perceived that the consciousness of man is evolving in and through him along three distinct lines at one and the same time. First there is the consciousness of the cells of his animal body; secondly the consciousness of the human mind or intellect, and last the consciousness that is responsible for and is causing and directing all—the overshadowing Holy Spirit, through the Sons of God.

We might say that the soul is now functioning through the self-consciousness of the human mind and using it as a medium for its outer expression, having evolved up through the various kingdoms of consciousness comprising that of the different cells of the human body, and having built into its consciousness all the intelligence acquired from such kingdoms of consciousness; and that it will continue to evolve and unfold through and from its earth experiences until it is lifted up into the consciousness of the Sons of God Who are serving the Holy-Spirit as the soul’s Higher Self and Teacher.

Expressing this another way we might add that the consciousness of the soul has evolved up through the density of the material or outermost realms, through the etheric and emotional realms, into the mental realms, and is now supposed to be about midway between the lower and higher realms of mind; which explains why the soul is constantly swayed and torn between its lower and higher natures.

Remember that we are speaking now only of living or awakened souls, for the unawakened and unregenerate souls are only existing or, we might say, sleeping in their mortal consciousness, the consciousness of the vast majority of the race today being down on the lower emotional levels.

From the beginning there have been the few who are far in advance of the masses of humanity. The race unfoldment ranges from the Immortals or Super-men, down through geniuses, or high intellectuals; through the average intelligent mortals in our highly civilized nations; then through the backward nations with their large masses of the uneducated and ignorant to the few barbaric peoples still upon the earth, the latter not far above the domestic animals in intelligence.

You must also realize that even among the most highly educated or cultured and supposedly most intelligent are very many who have not yet fully mastered all of the qualities of their animal nature,—for instance, their appetites for food and drink; witness the gourmands and drunkards even in our “best society.” So that it is a case of the soul, once awakened, having to unfold and lift up—as it progresses—the consciousness of the cell centers of all of the lower kingdoms that still comprise its being, and that it cannot itself grow without turning back, as it were, and helping along the laggard qualities of its own nature and thereby of the lower kingdoms to which it is related.

From the foregoing you can gather much that will explain and clarify the meaning and exact status of the human brain mind or personality—the mind that is “overshadowed” and reflected in man by a Son of God—the mind’s Higher Self, an actual Son of Mind; also called the Holy Spirit—the Christ, the directing Mind of Jehovah God, Himself.

In other words it is God’s Mind or Consciousness reflected down through a Son of God, through the soul, into a physical brain; the human mind being but the soul in expression on the physical plane, and through the soul a Son of God and very God Himself also expressing.

This means that the soul is you, is your consciousness, as you are when quiet and uninfluenced by any outer thoughts; a consciousness that is therefore independent of your human brain, which it uses only to express itself in the world of matter. You are ever trying to bring the consciousness of your human mind into oneness with your consciousness, which if you are a disciple is one with the consciousness of your Higher Self, a Son of God, who is one with His Father God’s Consciousness.

The human soul in each succeeding manifestation on earth of necessity builds for itself, under the direction of its Higher Self, a new body with a new brain mind, appearing in each earth life as a new and different personality. In each personality the soul seeks and gains new experiences, from which through its brain mind it is taught by its Higher Self many lessons whose spiritual essence is built into soul consciousness. Thus gradually the soul or ego is taught all that the Higher Self can teach it on earth, and it knows all that its Teacher knows, when evolution on earth is finished and the soul of man has become more than man.

This pertains only to individual man, for when he reaches this, his divine estate, he turns back and, along with all of his Brothers who have reached that same estate, he helps the souls of his younger brothers also to reach it. After long eons of time evolution accomplishes the awakening and unfoldment of all on earth—Jehovah God’s original plan and purpose, and all mortals have become living souls, and all souls have grown to be Super-men; and earth no longer contains for them any consciousness which could hold them in the human estate or which needs lifting up into Oneness with their Divine Consciousness.

There is so much of vital and far-reaching truth in the foregoing, that we earnestly urge every student who seeks a clear, reasonable and satisfying explanation of the soul to read it repeatedly, slowly and carefully, until the exact meaning is perceived.

We know that it is all very abstract and requires deep concentration to penetrate to the meaning behind the words, and that it is different from anything elsewhere taught; therefore it is necessary to bring to its study an open mind cleansed of all formed ideas and beliefs, in order that its truths may be fully grasped.

But persistent study will bring results that will happily repay you for the time and effort expended, for you will gain an understanding of a subject that savants and philosophers back through the ages have spent their lives seeking without finding, but which is clearly shown in this and the succeeding articles.
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==== DESIRE ====
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“What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”—Mark 11:24.

Whence come the desires of the heart?

Ask yourself that question and try to answer.

From where else could they come but from Me, the I AM, God within you, Who abides deep within your heart?

For the heart is the entrance to the Kingdom of My Consciousness, and from it come all the issues of life—those that matter and affect your ongoing and aid Me in the accomplishing of My purpose for you.

Could any desire, then, coming from the heart, be other than good?

Nay, for all such desires are inspired by Me, and are for your good—or they would not be given you.

Must this not be true of Me, God, your all-wise, all-loving, all-powerful and ONLY Self? For am I not ever seeking to manifest My Self in all fullness in man, whom I made in My image and likeness for the sole purpose of such manifestation?

Ask yourself, if you will, what is a desire and why do I give it to you?

Can you not see? It is My sign to you that I purpose giving you or outmanifesting for you that which already exists within you in Spirit, or in My Mind, and of which the desire is but the reflection. Aye, it is My promise of so doing.

Think, could it be otherwise? Could a desire be, if its fulfillment were not already accomplished in My Mind? What possible other purpose could I have in permitting your mind to see it, if not to bring it forth? And if I thus make you aware of My purpose, it is but to prepare your mind so that it will co-operate with Me in the bringing of it forth.

For desire and its accomplishment are one and the same. Every desire, once born in the heart, is already fulfilled in actuality—that is, in My Mind, and but awaits your acceptance of it to come forth into manifestation.

One who knows this, instead of longing for and seeking and straining by mental and material means to bring it about for personal use, merely calls it to him, accepts it, and possesses it, and in loving appreciation thanks God for being permitted to use it and to assist Him in His Purpose.

All he needs to do, after visioning clearly that for which his heart yearns, is to speak aloud the words:

“Let this desire of my heart, that—(naming it definitely), and which is already fulfilled in my Father’s sight, come forth Now in all its fullness and perfection, that the Father may be glorified in me His son.”

Know, My child, that this is a simple law, but how hard and difficult you have made it for it to work for you and for your good! By your anxious fears and seeking to obtain and use for your own selfish ends, you have but covered the fulfillment with a cloud of darkness, hiding it from the outer light, and thus preventing your seeing that which only awaits your recognition of the truth of its being to come forth and bless you.

By possessing it is meant feeling and acting as if it is already yours, as it really Is, letting no thought or feeling contrary to such consciousness of possession for one slightest moment be entertained by your mind.

By thus going about in that consciousness, you become a powerful attracting magnet—aye, a cosmic vortex—toward which all the powers of mind and all the forces of nature speedily rush at your voiced command to fill full and complete that which temporarily seems a lack or need.

Know likewise this truth,—All that I have is yours now, and always was yours. Therefore great riches of the Spirit are yours, and when I reflect in your mind from a desire felt in your heart an image of that which will fulfill (fill full) a need in your life, know now that as I thus promise so shall it BE speedily—according to the degree of your coperation with the law.

But before you seek to prove this law, be sure that your desires spring from your heart, and are not from the selfish and separate mind. For a use of the law for selfish ends will surely bring its own retribution. Learn prayerfully to distinguish your personal desires from My desires for you.

That is not hard to learn, for My desires are always for your soul’s good—and for the soul good of others, and never to benefit the selfish personality. To realize this, however, self must step aside, and you must learn to view your desires as if they were the desires of another. Nothing is ever good that will take from or deprive another to benefit self. It is much better that you yield to what seems a selfish desire on the part of another, than to deprive that other of it—if such would benefit self.

On the other hand it is wisdom to withhold from a selfish personality that which would only feed its selfishness, if such withholding in no way benefits self. This last, however, requires great strength of mind and an understanding heart, which has learned to turn to Me for guidance at all times.🔅
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