Before continuing with the Seventeenth Saying of Jamil, I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage you, if you haven’t already done so, to make your pledge for the Cathedral Church restoration. I have been reviewing the income reports and am concerned with the response. As work has already begun, I am sad to say that we have only raised about one-third of the total cost for the Cathedral and the new Sanctuary retreat quarters. Please call the Chancellery today and make your pledge. It is most urgently needed. If you have already made a pledge and feel you can do more, please do so. We have already expended more than what has been brought in anticipating that these two projects would be fully funded. I thank you wholeheartedly for your consideration.
We will now continue with the Saying. Please pay close attention to these words.
The Seventeenth Saying (Part 17)
“And when The Man had completed this statement, the Second Mariner presented a question on the meaning of the Seventeenth Saying. ‘You said it is the healing of the sun that should concern us and not the speaking of it which is of little avail. I do not understand exactly what the words mean.’
“And he answered The Mariner, ‘What is meant is that the healing of the sun itself should concern the adepts of the Order. What should not concern them is the speaking of it to the masses of people who are unfamiliar with our Teachings. We, as adepts, should restrict ourselves to the healing of the sun, to living The Way and attempting to exemplify the Life of Light. If we cause panic by frightening the general public, our action would only invite scorn and ridicule, and in all probability tend to create suppression. It is not our destiny to frighten the world, but to enlighten the world. This is done by living the Teachings, and by so doing having a favorable reaction in the sun. If we allow ourselves to make public our Teachings so as to attract a large following, it will only lead to the creation of another popular religious movement. Our concern should not be to gather a large following, but a dedicated following. A dedicated following will result in a meaningful application of the Teachings.
“‘Mastery of the techniques of reflecting and inflecting properly is a very highly sophisticated achievement accomplished only by the advanced adept. The adept must be able to reflect and inflect to both the material sun of the solar system and to the cosmic spiritual Sun of Righteousness. Let me explain: The adept reflects and inflects to the physical sun on all levels of his or her physical being, which means from all the force centers – psychic, mental, expressive, drive, emotional, physiological, and generative – and he or she also must reflect and inflect on the level of Intellect, Being, and Form. This means that the adept must transform his or her entire person into a living spectrum of colors on the spiritual, psychic, and physical levels, in attunement with both the material and spiritual suns, and he or she must do this as an adept and master of The System.
“‘This is why in ancient times the schools taught the adepts to withdraw from the world, to detach themselves from all things so they could be at oneness with the All – with God. In our modern age, when Man has been exposed to a materialistic understanding of life, and his religious understanding is one of sentiment and emotion, when he is separate from God and Creation, the task is not easy. So the adept must unify the force centers with The Image and The Word manifest in the twin suns, and reflect them as the crystals of a mist reflect the colors of a rainbow. The adept must harmonize his or her entire person with God, as observed in The Image and The Word. Separating himself or herself from the materialistic world of activity, the adept must be above cares of the world and allow no earthly cares to interfere with his or her devotion while reflecting back to God those qualities which reveal Man as the bearer of the spirit. Man was made in the Image of God, thus he is capable of hearing God’s Word. But he must let go of the world and live The System before this is possible. Therefore, when performing the techniques, the adept must bring about a cessation of momentary existence in the material world; that is, he or she must cease being what the world has made him or her and become something more profound. Even if this is realized only for a brief second, the adept has made union with God through the agency of The Image and The Word. This is why it is so important for adepts of the School to devote their entire beings to The Way, just as was done in ancient times.
“‘Many of the schools of antiquity – the Greek schools, the schools of Persia, India, China, Israel, Egypt, and the Americas – practiced the rites within the confines of a temple. They intoned incantations and used musical instruments of various kinds, for example, to help them achieve a state that enabled them to feel at oneness with nature and the sun. They wore vestments of a special kind adorned with jewels, they chanted in a special way and, they trained their bodies and their minds to respond in such a way that the spirit would be free to assist their physical beings. This required much hard work and effort. The schools of Yoga, to name but one system, were originally designed not to teach people how to be very strong or supple, but how to make their bodies respond to commands. This was the whole purpose. In the Hermetic school, among other schools of Light, the adepts were taught different formulas and the use of images so the individual would be able to understand existence as it was; they were taught how to bring about a favorable effect upon their own Consciousness and upon the sun of those times.’”
I am including with this message some photos of the work that is currently underway at the Cathedral Church of the Americas and Monument to Human Spiritual Rights.
Again, if I may be of any personal service to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.
