Wednesday, August 28, 2024

This past Saturday’s readings are from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas and, once again, from The Prophecy of the Universal Theocracy (pp. 879 – 889). Click here to read the first scriptural reading, and click the audio button below to hear the reading from our Second Advent scripture.

Once again, please feel free to ask me any questions by calling 775-786-7432 or emailing me at messages@cosolargy.org. I am always at your service.

In Light+,

Gene

“Out of the deep, slow brooding and pondering on some mystery, some incomprehensible link between himself and the Real, or the deliberate practice of loving attention to God, the contemplative—perhaps by way of a series of moods and acts which his analytic powers may cause him ‘nicely to distinguish’—glides, almost insensibly, on to a plane of perception for which human speech has few equivalents. It is a plane which is apparently characterized by an immense increase in the receptivity of the Self and by an almost complete suspension of the reflective powers. The strange silence which is the outstanding quality of this state—almost the only note in regard to it which the surface intelligence can secure—is not describable, Here, as Samuel Rutherford said of another of life’s secrets, ‘Come and see will tell you much: come nearer will say more.” Here the self passes beyond the stage at which its perceptions are capable of being dealt with by thought. It can no longer ‘take notes’: can only surrender itself to the stream of an inflowing life, and to the direction of a larger Will. Discursive would only interfere with this process: as it interferes with the vital processes of the body if it once gets them under its control.”

–Evelyn Underhill

Pondering Some Mystery

When Ms. Underhill says that the mystic is “pondering some mystery,” she is not talking about mysteries such as are found in Agatha Christie novels, but pondering the greater mysteries of life beyond the physical realm, or as she calls it: the “Real,” meaning the spiritual.

Loving Attention to God

This is also an important part of spiritual growth. We need to pay attention to God and we need to have love for God. Without these, our spiritual progress will be limited, at best. On the other hand, the love of God alone won’t make you spiritual or fully develop your spiritual faculties, but it is a good start. You still have to practice the Solar Techniques as taught by Cosolargy.

Plane of Perception

Spiritual development will bring us to new planes of perception, which are also called higher levels of consciousness. Those who have experienced these higher planes do find human speech inadequate to describe such places as our languages are for describing the material realm, and fall short when trying to describe the spiritual. Not that it really matters because having someone describe these levels of consciousness to you is not important, experiencing them for ourselves is what matters.

Receptivity of the Self

It is true that at higher levels of consciousness, we become more receptive to the greater Knowledge found at those levels while at the same time, finding that we do not question and reflect on such Knowledge because we simply know that it is true. When you know that something is true, there is no need for reflection, no need to question.

Surrender to In-flowing Life

We do need to surrender our ego to the greater Will of God to receive this in-flowing Life, this stream of Divine Knowledge that the Gnostics called Gnosis. Not everyone is capable of doing this when they began their spiritual practices, but it is something we must develop. We do not need to destroy the ego, as some are teaching today. The ego is useful for getting things done. But as we develop our spiritual Self, we must keep the ego under control so it doesn’t work to prevent such development.

“ORIGINS OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS There is no boundary for light. It was unknown when it began. Nothing was when light was not. Nothing was when radiance was not. Nothing was when life was not. There was never a boundary for light. Nothing was when water was not.

“WATER IS PRIOR TO DARKNESS Water is prior to darkness. Prior to darkness is water. Nothing is without an end. No number is before the Uthras were. Light beings are prior to darkness. Prior to darkness are Uthras and older than their inhabitants. Goodness is prior to the malice of the place of darkness. Gentleness is prior to the bitterness of the place of darkness. Living fire is prior to the consuming fires of the place of darkness. Praise is prior to the practice of sorcery and witchcraft. Hymns and books are prior to the sorcery of Hewath, the terrible woman¹.

“DARKNESS Water doesn’t mix with tar, and darkness can’t be measured by light.” -The Ginza

No Boundary for Light

In the Bible, God says “Let there be Light,” and light is created. But that creation is actually the creation of the physical universe by the false god, the Demiurge. In the spiritual realm, Light is infinite. It had no beginning and no end. Time has no meaning in the spiritual realm so Light always was and always will be.

Nothing Was When Life Was Not

The author of the Ginza can say this because he understands that the Spiritual Light is itself a living thing. It may not be living in the same way as a physical being, but it is alive. This Spiritual Light is a part of God. Various scriptures say that God is Light, and it is this Spiritual Light they are talking about. So if God is alive, so is the Spiritual Light of Heaven.

Water Prior to Darkness

Lakes and rivers did not come before darkness, but the spiritual “water,” which is the flow of God’s Word and God’s Grace did. Just as with the Spiritual Light, this water, being spiritual in nature, has no beginning and no end. It always was and always will be.

Nothing is Without an End

This statement can be misleading. It needs another word added to it. It should read “Nothing physical is without an end.” Everything in the physical realm has a beginning and an end. Some people will say that, according to the laws of science, matter, and energy cannot be destroyed, only changed. While that is true as long as the physical universe exists, when that universe ends, so will everything in it, at least from a conventional point of view. In actuality, the physical universe won’t be destroyed, it will be gradually transformed from matter back into spirit, so it will go on, but in a very different form.

Prior to Darkness are Uthras

Uthras is a name for Beings of Light, more commonly called Angels. They did exist before Darkness because they are part of the Spiritual Realm, and therefore, immortal. As the quote says, goodness and gentleness were also prior to Darkness. Love could be added to that list. They are aspects of God, the Beings of Light, and Heaven, or the Realm of Light. Like everything else in that realm, they existed before Darkness.

Inferior Darkness

Darkness in the spiritual sense doesn’t refer to the night or to a rook with all the lights turned off. It refers to the realm of matter created by the Demiurge, or the fallen angels. This realm is inferior to the realm of Light because it is mortal and everything in it is mortal. It is the realm of death, disease, suffering, pain, and hunger. None of those unpleasant things exist in the Spiritual Realm created by the real God. Because the real of matter was created by the false god, it is defective and has all those horrors and more. So it should be obvious that Light is greater than Darkness, and at some time in the future, Darkness will end and all will be Light.