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The Inner Voyage The Ascension Career Unit 3 The Inner Voyage
Instructions to Students & Teachers -: In this first lesson we are 5th Epochal Revelation Quotes - The entire ascendant plan of Lesson Content - We’ve probably all wondered
The P. A. M. Technique express a desire with intensity and it is already realized Lesson Plan
Outline:
Supplementary
reading
The Evolution of Prayer Reading
The Master on Prayer The power of
prayer
Text Colors Instructions to the Teacher -
In this first lesson we are
- Urantia Book Quotes Lesson Content
Did you know that throughout the Grand
Universe this world is known on High as the World of the Cross Jesus' answers to his apostle's many
questions regarding prayer are listed for your enlightenment and
may be summarized as follows: 1. Prayer is an expression of the finite
mind in an effort to approach the Infinite. The making of a
prayer must, therefore, be limited by the knowledge, wisdom, and
attributes of the finite; likewise must the answer be
conditioned by the vision, aims, ideals, and prerogatives of the
Infinite. There never can be observed an unbroken continuity of
material phenomena between the making of a prayer and the
reception of the full spiritual answer thereto. 2. When a prayer is apparently
unanswered, the delay often betokens a better answer, although
one which is for some good reason greatly delayed. When Jesus
said that Lazarus's sickness was really not to the death, he had
already been dead eleven hours. No sincere prayer is denied an
answer except when the superior viewpoint of the spiritual world
has devised a better answer, an answer which meets the petition
of the spirit of man as contrasted with the prayer of the mere
mind of man. 4. The answers to the prayer of the
mortal mind are often of such a nature that they can be received
and recognized only after that same praying mind has attained
the immortal state. The prayer of the material being can many
times be answered only when such an individual has progressed to
the spirit level. 5. The prayer of a God-knowing person
may be so distorted by ignorance and so deformed by superstition
that the answer thereto would be highly undesirable. Then must
the intervening spirit beings so translate such a prayer that,
when the answer arrives, the petitioner wholly fails to
recognize it as the answer to his prayer. 6. All true prayers are addressed to
spiritual beings, and all such petitions must be answered in
spiritual terms, and all such answers must consist in spiritual
realities. Spirit beings cannot bestow material answers to the
spirit petitions of even material beings. Material beings can
pray effectively only when they "pray in the spirit." 7. No prayer can hope for an answer
unless it is born of the spirit and nurtured by faith. Your
sincere faith implies that you have in advance virtually granted
your prayer hearers the full right to answer your petitions in
accordance with that supreme wisdom and that divine love which
your faith depicts as always actuating those beings to whom you
pray. 8. The child is always within his rights
when he presumes to petition the parent; and the parent is
always within his parental obligations to the immature child
when his superior wisdom dictates that the answer to the child's
prayer be delayed, modified, segregated, transcended, or
postponed to another stage of spiritual ascension. 9. Do not hesitate to pray the prayers
of spirit longing; doubt not that you shall receive the answer
to your petitions. These answers will be on deposit, awaiting
your achievement of those future spiritual levels of actual
cosmic attainment, on this world or on others, whereon it will
become possible for you to recognize and appropriate the
long-waiting answers to your earlier but ill-timed petitions. 10. All genuine spirit-born petitions
are certain of an answer. Ask and you shall receive. But you
should remember that you are progressive creatures of time and
space; therefore must you constantly reckon with the time-space
factor in the experience of your personal reception of the full
answers to your manifold prayers and petitions. The contact of the mortal mind with its
indwelling Adjuster, while often favored by devoted meditation,
is more frequently facilitated by wholehearted and loving
service in unselfish ministry to one's fellow creatures. N.B.
very important to the success of this lesson. Uncertainty with security is the essence
of the Paradise adventure--uncertainty in time and in mind,
uncertainty as to the events of the unfolding Paradise ascent;
security in spirit and in eternity, security in the unqualified
trust of the creature son in the divine compassion and infinite
love of the Universal Father; uncertainty as an inexperienced
citizen of the universe; security as an ascending son in the
universe mansions of an all-powerful, all-wise, and all-loving
Father. Jesus taught his followers that, when
they had made their prayers to the Father, they should remain
for a time in silent receptivity to afford the indwelling spirit
the better opportunity to speak to the listening soul. The
spirit of the Father speaks best to man when the human mind is
in an attitude of true worship. We worship God by the aid of the
Father's indwelling spirit and by the illumination of the human
mind through the ministry of truth. Worship, taught Jesus, makes
one increasingly like the being who is worshiped. Worship is a
transforming experience whereby the finite gradually approaches
and ultimately attains the presence of the Infinite.
Unit 3 P. A. M. Meditation Technique
Prayer is designed to make man less
thinking but more realizing. It is not designed to increase knowledge
but rather to expand insight Everyone has
dreamed at one time in their life of being more than they are.
The command of our Spiritual Father to be perfect even as His
perfection is shown on high, endows all spiritual beings with a
strong perfection hunger. When applied to a life of becoming
more and more like God in partnership with a living spirit, a
noble and majestic character develops even in this first life of
our long universe quest for God likeness. We have all admired
qualities in others and wished those qualities were ours. In
this lesson you will learn the Master - Teacher relationship,
the Fatherhood of God our Master Spirit Teacher and the
brotherhood of man, our world brotherhood teachers, the Master
who teaches us how to live in spiritual unity, the other that
teaches us how to earn a living and develop a noble character in
the world of our present habitation. The coupling to all
knowledge is our ability to love, it is the carrier beam the
attaches all things in the universe to one another. It
penetrates every dimension and order of being, it's language is
universal. The syntax for this language is "unless you become,
as a small child you shall make little progress in the kingdoms
of eternity or discover the language of love.
We must posses the spiritual
simplicity and easy believing trust as demonstrated in the earth
child's trust in the good father, here on earth, to access the
experience of our increasingly and divinely beautiful universe
Fathers, ending in the witness of the Father of All, and his
watchcare of his little children, each and every one. This technique taught in this lesson
holds the key to every dream you have ever had. Through its use
you can unlock the greatness that lies within you. The creative
expression of your divine destiny. In the last two lessons we learned how
to relax and let the story of our life flow out onto paper, so
we could begin to see how we came to be the person we are today
and learn from our past errors. We learned how to exercise our
Mind’s Eye so the spirit indweller may utilize the pictorial
language of life's symbolic images. By now your ability to
visualize should be improving. We also learned how to remember
the images that flash onto our Mental Screen in the dream state. In this lesson we’ll learn another
exercise in which we use our Mental Screen. One of the many
aspects of meditation we will cover is how to reach the alpha
wavelength in a state other than sleep and emerge with a clearer
recognition of what pictures are projected onto this Mental
Screen by the mind’s eye. Meditation calls upon all of one’s inner
resources, and exercises them. Just as exercise strengthens the
muscles, so can meditation strengthen the fine qualities of the
personality, such as understanding, intuition, knowledge,
counsel, worship, wisdom, empathy, divine appreciation, peace,
inner joy, and spiritual strength. But the P.A.M. Technique does more than
help you to acquire these qualities It teaches how to actually
free yourself from bad habits and undesirable personality traits
like anxiety, tension, lack of confidence and the like. To get
back to the solid beam upon which your whole being is anchored.
MEDITATION IN THE LAB Meditation is not a new subject. It has
been practiced by all of the great men and women in every age.
But it is only recently that the benefits of meditation have
been scientifically investigated. Let’s take a look at these
findings. Ever since the Beatles discovered the
value of "Transcendental" meditation (one of many similar
disciplines), researchers all over the world have been
experimenting. Harvard University researchers confirmed the
actual physiological changes which take place in the body. The metabolic
rate decreases. The heart
pumps more slowly. The
electrical resistance of the skin increases, indicating deep
relaxation. The body
produces less carbon dioxide. Alpha waves
increase in intensity, another sign of deep rest. Less lactic
acid is produced in the blood (high lactic acid levels have been
found in conjunction with anxiety and high blood pressure. High blood
pressure is lowered.
Mental Effects Now refer to the "Human Mind Chart"
Read it over, noting the cycles per second in each category.
You can see by the chart that in the
alpha, theta and delta levels there is less mental energy being
used. So that means less nervous energy is being discharged by
the brain. When in the alpha rhythm, the body’s
engine feels as if it is in "idle" or "neutral" In the theta rhythm, the brain is on
automatic, "life support only" output of messages using very
little energy. The delta range is using even less
energy, and the brain is in a state called "coma." Many East
Indian yogis who are buried for weeks function on this brain
wave. But don’t worry - burying yourself for weeks is not
practiced in the adventures set out upon in this course. You might be wondering if meditation
will turn you into an "absent minded professor"; a happy but
vague, rather passive person. Researchers must have wondered
about this possibility because at the University of Texas,
Austin, they did tests and found that meditating students showed
a 30% faster reaction time than non-meditating students At
U.C.L.A. meditators were found to perform over 200% faster and
more accurately in a complex motor-perception test. It is also
found that they had greater perceptual awareness, greater
efficiency and flexibility. A study done at Berkeley, California,
indicated marked increases in learning ability and memory in
people who practiced meditation. These effects are due to the increased
use of mental potential when the mind starts to function at
deeper levels of consciousness.
Under The Iceberg Picture your mind as an iceberg, with 4
1/2 % showing above the water, the other 95 1/2 % submerged. Do
you remember it was mentioned previously that normally we
function at 4 1/2 % of our mental capacity ... well, meditation
allows us to tap into the other 95 1/2 % of submerged potential. Clarity and
swiftness of thought are the result of an "Illuminated
Intellect" that is controlled by the Mind, and inspired by the
indwelling spirit which uses the information to understand, to
give, to serve. An unruly biological mind does not know it's
universe age or experience, un-spiritualized learning is a
treacherous thing in human experience; it was for this reason
the Master taking one of the Peters little
ones who was near by observing
all that went on as the Master taught a group of about 50 and
setting him on his lap declared "Verily, verily, I say to you,
except you turn about and become more like this child, you will
make little progress in the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever shall
humble himself and become as this little one, the same shall
become greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso receives
such a little one receives me. And they who receive me receive
also Him who sent me. If you would be first in the kingdom, seek
to minister these good truths to your brethren in the flesh. But
whosoever causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would
be better for him if a millstone were hanged about his neck and
he were cast into the sea. If the things you do with your hands,
or the things you see with your eyes give offense in the
progress of the kingdom, sacrifice these cherished idols, for it
is better to enter the kingdom minus many of the beloved things
of life rather than to cling to these idols and find yourself
shut out of the kingdom. But most of all, see that you despise
not one of these little ones, for their angels do always behold
the faces of the heavenly hosts."
A mind illuminated by spirit sees the
wonders at all he does not know in the face of a Greater
Reality, and sees his universe standing with all things and all
people.
SYMPATHY VS Empathy The development of one’s psyche, the
essential nature of our being, deals with the transfer of
dependence from intellect to feelings. Meditation enhances our
capacity to "feel, or sense the vibration of others. To explain
this more clearly we use the Greek verb Pathos which means "to
feel" the quality in something experienced or observed." Four main variations of this word occur
frequently. In the context of these lessons.
A simple way to understand this concept
is, empathy means doing what is best for all, or the giving of
emotion without strings attached Empathy falls like the rain
from heaven upon all things equally - good, bad, medium or
indifferent people. Sympathy on the other hand, is when
feeling is measured out according to one's personal judgment of
the worthiness of the recipient: The computer does a quick check
through its files to see how many "like" items are scored with a
particular person before any feeling goes out to them. Antipathy
is also a result of a personal judgment, based on our
programming. Sometimes new students don’t understand
the difference between Sympathy and Empathy. Many times you may
have heard the words interchanged, as if they meant the same
thing. Sometimes programming leads us to believe that being a
sympathetic person is very desirable.
Pathos Chart
Here is an example of the difference
between sympathy and empathy: Supposing a friend calls you constantly
to complain about her misfortunes. To always feel sorry for her
and agree with her - that she is in a sad plight, is
sympathetic. Whereas compassionate understanding with
suggestions on how she might change things for the better would
be empathetic. Look again at the empathy fountain
illustration. The person who swings from sympathy to antipathy
is going around in circles, dissipating mental energy and making
no emotional progress. Actions motivated by sympathy and
antipathy are essentially self-centered, while those based on
empathy have a universal perspective. Sympathy says "I want things to be the
way I like them to be." Empathy says "what is the RIGHT thing to
do for all concerned?" Apathy is referred to in Spiritual terms as being death to the soul. It is not caring enough to get involved. The Photo below shows how the emotions which are our combined reactions to our social and economic atmosphere becomes paralyzed by indecision and apathy blocking a vibrant emotional body. Note how the emotions are blocked and discolored.
This chart should grow more meaningful
as daily meditation proceeds. Stop for a moment now and think of an
example of your own that illustrates the difference between
Sympathy and Empathy. Write it down. Our goal in Jacobs Ladder is to rise
above the Sympathy - Antipathy circuit. This conserves enormous
amounts of mental energy and keeps the mediator on an upward
course. The rise to Empathy broadens our cosmic radar to
limitless scope.
3 Lesson Technique
Example
4. Although in the beginning there seems
to be three distinct steps to the P.A.M. Procedure, after a
little practice these melt into one. There is no particular time
length involved in each separate part. You should sense when the
"P" aspect has reached the right degree of warmth to proceed
with "A". To start off with, try about 5 minutes
for the "1"', then go on to project the analysis with humility,
yet still inter-mingled with a prayerful attitude. "A" should
take no longer than 5 minutes to complete. 5. Your complete focus of attention is
required for both the "P" and "A" aspects - which can be
combined somewhat to form a package which you earnestly desire
to surrender. 6. Imagine yourself putting this package
on the Sympathy -Empathy altar. Then, with your "Mind's Eye"
conceive of a brilliant streak of energy coming down the empathy
scale to incinerate the error · 7. Make no attempt to deal with more
than one subject on the "A" list in a single session. Persist
with just one item until you feel results have been obtained.
How will you know when to go onto the next item? Most students
get their answers by just knowing. Solutions and ideas suddenly
cross the consciousness, and it is well to accept and act upon
them. 8. Begin your "A" list with the main
error recognized. Then write down a positive quality you would
like to acquire. Be sure to remember to work at one item only at
a time, and alternate between the negative characteristics you
want to PAM out, and the positive qualities you want to PAM in. 9. Now, when the "P" and "A" aspects
have been completed, just sit quietly, and relax. If you are the
kind of person who finds this difficult, you might try this.
Starting with your toes and working up to your head, tell
yourself that each part of your body feels comfortable, warm and
relaxed. When you are relaxed, close your eyes and let your mind
empty so that you reach a state of complete detachment with the
external dimension. 10. Don't try to force anything.
Consciously trying not to think is thinking - in the same way
that when you lie down to sleep at night you don't consciously
try to fall asleep. If you did, it would only serve to hamper
rather than help matters. Anyone who can fall asleep can
meditate. (We call this process the
ability to crystallize. It is were your emotional desire
(Prayer) and your intellectual under-standing (Analysis)
coincide.) Now that scientists are able to measure the
type of brain waves present during meditation, we can prove that
everyone experiences this state to a mild degree several times
during the waking day. 11. Hold the mind quiet, yet during
calm, yet receptive. It is sometimes useful to envision one's
self being drawn up into some vortex of light energy, with the
mind swirling around and around in ever decreasing circles into
the point of the vortex. Or you might imagine your mind as being
like a blank television screen. 12. Allow about 20 minutes minimum for
the "M" aspect. 13. To help you relax for the meditation
part, a deep breathing exercise might be useful.
CONDITIONS OF EFFECTIVE PRAYER Source
Link
If you would engage in effective praying
you should bear in mind the laws of prevailing petitions: 1. You must qualify as a potent prayer
by sincerely and courageously facing the problems of universe
reality. You must possess cosmic stamina. 2. You must have honestly exhausted the
human capacity for human adjustment. You must have been
industrious. 3. You must surrender every wish of mind
and every craving of soul to the transforming embrace of
spiritual growth. You must have experienced an enhancement of
meanings and an elevation of values. 4. You must make a wholehearted choice
of the divine will. You must obliterate the dead center of
indecision. 5. You not only recognize the Father’s
will and choose to do it, but you have effected an unqualified
consecration, and a dynamic dedication, to the actual doing of
the Father’s will. 6. Your prayer will be directed
exclusively for divine wisdom to solve the specific human
problems encountered in the Paradise ascension—the attainment of
divine perfection. 7. And you must have faith - living
faith. [Presented by
the Chief of the Urantia Midwayers.]
The PAM Technique can also be used to
solve problems provided they are not on the personal
sympathy-antipathy scale. For instance, a student should not PAM
on his teacher giving him a good exam mark -but rather work on
acquiring the positive quality of concentration, or confidence
in his ability to assimilate what he has studied. Continue the
PAM form of meditation till you feel that your thinking is all
straightened out Then use a modified PAM Technique each day to
keep mental vibrations up to par. As the weeks pass a subtle, yet
noticeable change takes place in the personality, delightful to
both the student and those about him. GUIDES TO MEDITATION While this Teaching Mission strongly
objects to any form of gimmicks, dogmas or rituals - knowing
these facets hold appeal only for ego, we do recognize certain
aids to meditation, things which seem to quieten the senses,
which may differ widely between individuals. For example (1) When
visiting her summer cottage and meditating
while looking over the lake
one member obtained startling results in meditation. Previous to
she had obtained only limited
success. (2) Softly played Beatles' music did
wonders for a teenaged member. (3) Some find rhythmic dancing holds the
key (natives of Africa for example). (4) Flickering firelight or candlelight
- perhaps combined with incense, or even staring at an imaginary
spot on the wall. Absorption in a work of art. (5) The oohms and other mantras common
to Hinduism. None of these items are necessary in the
great majority of cases, but an open mind to experimentation is
essential. Your temperament is unique and your key to
astonishing success in meditation may also be unique. Take a few minutes now to start a PAM
Sheet, to get the feel of it.
WHAT TO EXPECT 1. Meditation is a subject which could
fill volumes and not be adequately described. It lifts the mind
to other dimensions of reality, to that state where the
individual merges with the ultimate, The gap between the
material and spiritual worlds is perfectly bridged by the serial
association of mortal man, secondary midwayer, primary midwayer,
morontia cherubim, mid-phase cherubim, and seraphim. In the
personal experience of an individual mortal these diverse levels
are undoubtedly more or less unified and made personally
meaningful by the unobserved and mysterious operations of the
divine Thought Adjuster, thus by, becoming as a small child, man
can become humble yet all-knowing. 2. One seems completely lifted out of
the body and earthly existence to new worlds of understanding.
Time, space and matter lose all relevance. 3. Initial success in "Loliad's"
meditation could be a tingling or pins and needles sensation in
the extremities, which gradually works over the body. Heaviness,
weightlessness, or total loss of sensation are common. If any
aspect of fear is still present it may manifest itself by a
feeling of restricted breathing, rapid heartbeat, or rib
cave-in. PAM on fear if you experience any of these feelings. 4. Your mental screen may become quite
active in meditation. You may see a single large eye, vivid
whirling colors and geometric designs, or find yourself looking
into a tunnel. 5. Not everyone has these results, but
meditation can be just as rewarding without them. We think that
spectacular results are received by those who need this
particular phenomena to aid in their psychic growth, while those
who operate more on a "feeling" level don't need the same
treatment. 6.
Information received is not so much in the form of thought
communication as in a
feeling of certain knowledge
suddenly acquired
it may be the solution of a
problem, a thrill of well being, or an abstract awareness of
something beautiful. 7. It is useless to do more than project
the concept of meditation to students at this early stage of
development. As you proceed along the way, fresh avenues of
mental exploration will open before you. The ambitious students
who appreciate the beauty and rarity of deeper meditation will
have no choice but to return for higher guidance. It is not a
path for weaklings.
The path is open to everyone. You, too,
can experience miracles; develop powers of perception, gain
abilities so marvelous and intricate that only a comparative few
will be able to comprehend the fact of their existence. Having mastered the art of in-depth
meditation, the individual literally becomes a new person.
Health problems vanish, the features soften and glow so as to
make them hardly recognizable. The body posture and movements take on
new grace. The whole charisma changes. Even to a casual observer
it is easy to see that here is a person operating on finer
scales of mental activity, one who expresses in every thought
and action complete inner confidence and deep wisdom. The next lesson further illustrates the
power of empathy and shows you how to cash in on life to its
maximum. What is the secret of perfect health?
POINTS TO REMEMBER 1. Continue doing your #1 lesson daily
in your regular time and place. Enjoy the unloading process, and
the joy of realizing something new about yourself every day. 2. Write down your dreams every morning. 3. Make a PAM Sheet and use the PAM
Technique - daily to eliminate aspects of personality you don’t
want and to strengthen the positive aspects you desire. Every
sincere spirit striver must learn to feast upon uncertainty, to
fatten upon disappointment, to enthuse over apparent defeat, to
invigorate in the presence of difficulties, to exhibit
indomitable courage in the face of immensity, and to exercise
unconquerable faith when confronted with the challenge of the
inexplicable. We must adopt the battle cry of every true son of
God: "In liaison with God, nothing--absolutely nothing--is
impossible."
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Jesus' answers to their many questions
may be summarized as follows: 168:4.4 1. Prayer is an expression of
the finite mind in an effort to approach the Infinite. The
making of a prayer must, therefore, be limited by the knowledge,
wisdom, and attributes of the finite; likewise must the answer
be conditioned by the vision, aims, ideals, and prerogatives of
the Infinite. There never can be observed an unbroken continuity
of material phenomena between the making of a prayer and the
reception of the full spiritual answer thereto.
168:4.5 2. When a prayer is
apparently unanswered, the delay often betokens a better answer,
although one which is for some good reason greatly delayed. When
Jesus said that Lazarus's sickness was really not to the death,
he had already been dead eleven hours. No sincere prayer is
denied an answer except when the superior viewpoint of the
spiritual world has devised a better answer, an answer which
meets the petition of the spirit of man as contrasted with the
prayer of the mere mind of man. 168:4.6 3. The prayers of time, when
indited by the spirit and expressed in faith, are often so vast
and all-encompassing that they can be answered only in eternity;
the finite petition is sometimes so fraught with the grasp of
the Infinite that the answer must long be postponed to await the
creation of adequate capacity for receptivity; the prayer of
faith may be so all-embracing that the answer can be received
only on Paradise.
168:4.7 4. The answers to the
prayer of the mortal mind are often of such a nature that they
can be received and recognized only after that same praying mind
has attained the immortal state. The prayer of the material
being can many times be answered only when such an individual
has progressed to the spirit level.
168:4.8 5. The prayer of a
God-knowing person may be so distorted by ignorance and so
deformed by superstition that the answer thereto would be highly
undesirable. Then must the intervening spirit beings so
translate such a prayer that, when the answer arrives, the
petitioner wholly fails to recognize it as the answer to his
prayer.
168:4.9 6. All true prayers
are addressed to spiritual beings, and all such petitions must
be answered in spiritual terms, and all such answers must
consist in spiritual realities. Spirit beings cannot bestow
material answers to the spirit petitions of even material
beings. Material beings can pray effectively only when they
"pray in the spirit." 168:4.10 7. No prayer can hope for an
answer unless it is born of the spirit and nurtured by faith.
Your sincere faith implies that you have in advance virtually
granted your prayer hearers the full right to answer your
petitions in accordance with that supreme wisdom and that divine
love which your faith depicts as always actuating those beings
to whom you pray.
168:4.11 8. The child is
always within his rights when he presumes to petition the
parent; and the parent is always within his parental obligations
to the immature child when his superior wisdom dictates that the
answer to the child's prayer be delayed, modified, segregated,
transcended, or postponed to another stage of spiritual
ascension.
168:4.12 9. Do not hesitate to
pray the prayers of spirit longing; doubt not that you shall
receive the answer to your petitions. These answers will be on
deposit, awaiting your achievement of those future spiritual
levels of actual cosmic attainment, on this world or on others,
whereon it will become possible for you to recognize and
appropriate the long-waiting answers to your earlier but
ill-timed petitions.
168:4.13 10. All genuine
spirit-born petitions are certain of an answer. Ask and you
shall receive. But you should remember that you are progressive
creatures of time and space; therefore must you constantly
reckon with the time-space factor in the experience of your
personal reception of the full answers to your manifold prayers
and petitions.
91:7.1 The contact of the
mortal mind with its indwelling Adjuster, while often favored by
devoted meditation, is more frequently facilitated by
wholehearted and loving service in unselfish ministry to one's
fellow creatures.
111:7.1 Uncertainty with
security is the essence of the Paradise adventure--uncertainty
in time and in mind, uncertainty as to the events of the
unfolding Paradise ascent; security in spirit and in eternity,
security in the unqualified trust of the creature son in the
divine compassion and infinite love of the Universal Father;
uncertainty as an inexperienced citizen of the universe;
security as an ascending son in the universe mansions of an
all-powerful, all-wise, and all-loving Father.
146:2.17 Jesus taught his
followers that, when they had made their prayers to the Father,
they should remain for a time in silent receptivity to afford
the indwelling spirit the better opportunity to speak to the
listening soul. The spirit of the Father speaks best to man when
the human mind is in an attitude of true worship. We worship God
by the aid of the Father's indwelling spirit and by the
illumination of the human mind through the ministry of truth.
Worship, taught Jesus, makes one increasingly like the being who
is worshiped. Worship is a transforming experience whereby the
finite gradually approaches and ultimately attains the presence
of the Infinite. 100:4.2 Religious perplexities are
inevitable; there can be no growth without psychic conflict and
spiritual agitation. The organization of a philosophic standard
of living entails considerable commotion in the philosophic
realms of the mind. Loyalties are not exercised in behalf of the
great, the good, the true, and the noble without a struggle.
Effort is attendant upon clarification of spiritual vision and
enhancement of cosmic insight. And the human intellect protests
against being weaned from subsisting upon the nonspiritual
energies of temporal existence. The slothful animal mind rebels
at the effort required to wrestle with cosmic problem solving.
100:4.3 But the great problem
of religious living consists in the task of unifying the soul
powers of the personality by the dominance of LOVE. Health,
mental efficiency, and happiness arise from the unification of
physical systems, mind systems, and spirit systems. Of health
and sanity man understands much, but of happiness he has truly
realized very little. The highest happiness is indissolubly
linked with spiritual progress. Spiritual growth yields lasting
joy, peace which passes all understanding.
100:4.4 In physical life the
senses tell of the existence of things; mind discovers the
reality of meanings; but the spiritual experience reveals to the
individual the true values of life. These high levels of human
living are attained in the supreme love of God and in the
unselfish love of man. If you love your fellow men, you must
have discovered their values. Jesus loved men so much because he
placed such a high value upon them. You can best discover values
in your associates by discovering their motivation. If some one
irritates you, causes feelings of resentment, you should
sympathetically seek to discern his viewpoint, his reasons for
such objectionable conduct. If once you understand your
neighbor, you will become tolerant, and this tolerance will grow
into friendship and ripen into love. Please use the e-mail link below if you have
questions about this lesson
You are a child of the
universe, no less than the trees and the stars, you have a
right to be here.
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are
the only qualities
essential for
ultimate success in
reaching the topmost
limits of human
consciousness.
