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.

Jamil, the angelic Messenger of Light, came into this world 62 years ago tomorrow, departing a short time before his third year on Earth. It is fitting that we continue with this Saying and the commentary on it given in the Hawaiian Islands seventeen years after his passing.

The Seventeenth Saying (Part 16)

“With this statement, the Third Mariner asked another question saying, ‘In Biblical scripture, there is reference to those who sleep in Christ. The implication is that a person, while dying physically, would be sleeping in Christ, and upon the return of Christ at the Second Coming, that person, likened unto a seed waiting for water, would come alive. Are we to believe these writings?’

“And The Man answered The Mariner saying, ‘The writings to which you refer are to be found in the New Testament and can be attributed to Paul who was not an Apostle of Jesus, nor a disciple of Jesus, nor was he even a member of his early church, that is, a member of the Essene Order. Thus Paul was not part of the early Messianist movement later known as the Christian movement. Paul was part of the Pharisaic movement that did not adhere to the idea of the immortality of the soul. However, we do not wish to overly criticize Paul because it may very well be that his writings are shrouded in cryptic symbology which, if interpreted literally, give a false meaning to that intended. This is something to be considered. There is another teaching which says that when Christ returns to earth, all the bones of those sleeping will come rattling up and be reformed with flesh wrapped around them and all those people will be singing in the sky, joyous with Christ’s return. That is only a kind of allegory; it is not to be accepted literally.’

“At this point, the Second Mariner spoke saying, ‘If I may return to the earlier discussion on the Self, it appears to me from what has been said that the physical is only a false self which, after death, eventually fades into oblivion, and that it is only the True Self, the spiritual Self that survives. Therefore, we must get to know what this True Self is.’

“And The Man answered by saying, ‘The transitory self which you just mentioned does experience that fate, indeed. The True Self, or the immortal Self, has to be created by God through the implantation of the solar spermatikos by means of the techniques that we have been taught. Once the True Self is developed, it becomes Christ-like. The transitory self must become friends with the True Self. We may ask why the True Self has to stay in earthly confines. Why does it not go on to the Worlds of Light? It does. Yet, as a piece of fingernail, or a strand of hair detached from the body remains in tune with that body by means of a frequency, so does the material body remain in touch with that True Self. Thus, there is a connection between the two which forms an interrelationship between them. The body of Light can and does influence the material body in many beneficial ways. It also influences the material mind of the organism so that the mind is able to deal logically and rationally with its counterpart, though I would not say that it is capable of understanding the real nature of an immortal Self. This is beyond the range of a reasoning mind restricted to third-dimensional existence. Yet the two are able to coexist – the mind knowing that its own immortality rests with the True Self and not with its own self.’”

We will continue with the Seventeenth Saying next week. In the meantime, if you are so inclined, please feel free to light a candle tomorrow in remembrance of the Holy Child, Jamil.

Again, if I may be of any personal service to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.

The Seventeenth Saying (Part 15)

“And when he [The Man] had finished his commentary, the Third Mariner spoke saying, ‘I would like to pose a question about self-awareness and identity. What do we mean when we say “self?” We talk about the multiple selves – the physical self, the mental self, the spiritual self. In Cosolargy we teach development of the Light Body or Form and of immortal spiritual Being and Consciousness. Is a certain self-awareness maintained after the transition? I ask because what would be the value of immortality if one did not possess identity? One would be put in the same state as a Zen scholar would put one – a state in which one simply dissolves back into the universe of non-identity, just God Consciousness. [Pierre] Teilhard de Chardin said that we go from a limited self-consciousness into an expanded spiritual greater self-Consciousness which we call Christ Consciousness. And my best understanding of it is that one would still know oneself to be oneself, but one would be with God at the same time, and have a continuity from this little “I”-self one knows in the material world.’

“And The Man replied and said, ‘Let me answer you by making a comparison. When people are young and very strong and healthy, they have a great appetite for food and exercise and entertainment. They like to spend most of their time in movie theaters, at dance halls, roller skating, skiing, and, in general, participating in various kinds of physical activity. They are very sexually inclined, usually with men seeking after women and vice versa. And men and women are engrossed in life. As they age, they become less inclined to do these things. They are bored with entertainment, with novels, with exercising their minds. They are bored with getting involved with so many activities. They stay at home. They do not want to travel. They do not want to exercise like they use to. Their appetite decreases and they are not so much involved with sex. It is difficult for a young person to understand how, or why, an older person fails to see things as he or she does. Being self-centered, they do not realize that the older person has done all of these things and is bored with it all. The younger person often says to himself or herself, “The more I involve myself in life, the more alive I am.” But self-indulgence is only an exercise for the glands and organs. There is nothing wrong with it, except that is not where self is. The more a person indulges in self-centered activities, the less he or she knows about themself.

“‘What do we mean by spiritual self? What do we mean by self-Consciousness, Christ Consciousness? Most people die without ever knowing what these terms represent. If Consciousness does not develop during a person’s life, one dies without having really understood what spirituality means. To him or her, religion is nothing more than an emotional or intellectual experience, a confession of having repeated a belief in Christ or in God, a Christ and a God one has never really known. Many older people simply withdraw from life. They want peace and to be left alone. They withdraw into themselves believing, as the Zen Buddhist, that their peace and immortality comes through merging with the ultimate reality which for them is a nothingness. How many of us have seen an old man or an old woman lying in a bed, hands open, desiring nothing from life, just wanting to be left alone to die in peace without pain or discomfort? Many people simply withdraw from life because they do not have the faculties necessary to see beyond physical reality.

“‘In our System, we teach that once a person exposes oneself to solar energy and allows the Will of God to penetrate one’s being, a new Consciousness begins to unfold. With that developing Consciousness comes a realization of new being that one is greater than what one thought one was. One begins to eat the Food of God, that divine nourishment of Light that sustains an entirely new state of Consciousness, Being, and Form. One is, in fact, recreated a new person of God. This is the True Self which can only be experienced, never described. The knowledge of how Man can restore himself and his world to its original state is not a knowledge that can come from within Man – it can only be revealed by God through His inspired messengers whom He sends and inspires.’”

We will be concluding our review of the Seventeenth Saying of Jamil over the next several weeks. As you can see, the commentary is one of the longer ones. I anticipate there will be about 20 parts in total. So, let us continue with The Man still speaking to the Companions of The Way.

The Seventeenth Saying (Part 13)

“‘Some people believe that God is everywhere, and that everyone is heir to goodness and will attain his or her immortality without any kind of effort, without any kind of legitimate development on his or her part. They believe that a person will become immortal and exist with God in the future. There is no proof, scientific or otherwise, for this. Man does have responsibility in the cosmos. Man is not as a dumb animal, allowed to do what he will when he wants to without consequence. Man is responsible for his acts, and any misconduct on his part will certainly be dealt with by the laws of God. You have all seen how the light of the sun, its brilliance, and its field, can be altered by the environment. If one is in an environment such as a bank, lawyer’s office, hospital, or similar places, and looks at the sun, one will find that the sun is very harsh. The result can be a headache. If you are at a temple, or in a park outside of the confines of a city, you will find that the sun is bland, easy to look at, and the result is a beneficial response of the sun. What does this tell us? It means that Consciousness, Intellect, mind, emotion – all of our states and degrees of life – affect us and our environment, and can affect our states of being.

“‘For example, the sun can be many things to many people. The sun can be very benevolent to one person in a benevolent environment and very adverse or damaging to another person in a negative environment. It is like looking into a magic mirror. You see the true image in reverse. This is a very important point to remember. Adepts learn, from the moment of their initiation into the Order, that they cannot fool the sun. They cannot deceive the face of God. They cannot look at the Eye of God without being observed for what they are. This indicates that Man is a responsible creature and dictates, in accordance with divine laws of the universe, what his destiny will be in this life and beyond.

“‘An evil person may see a Christ being as a very ugly creature that makes him very nervous and upset. He does not want that being around him. A spiritual person will see a Christ person for what he or she is. A spiritual person will see the Sun of Righteousness in all its glory and splendor. As if drinking from a fountain of Light, a spiritual person will be restored and invigorated by the beauty and brilliance of the Sun. An evil person who looks upon the face of the sun will see nothing but a brilliant orb that can blind him. Again, the Sun, God, and beings in Christ are not the same thing to all people.’”

Many of you have inquired about Convocation this year, and we have had some preliminary discussions in this regard. I will be getting more information to you next week, so please bear with us. We appreciate your patience. Thank you.

The Seventeenth Saying (Part 12)

And The Man continued addressing the Mariners, saying:

“‘Light beings will always exist wherever there is Light. Wherever God points a finger, wherever there is a manifestation of Light, beings will appear within that Light. From such higher forms evolved Man. In view of what has been said, it is within the realm of possibility that our own earth evolved out of the sun, or portions of the sun. Higher beings, as part of this solar “stuff,” could very well have evolved down to a lower scale as physical beings of matter.

“‘This School has come forth at a time when the world is ignorant of these great Teachings, just as it is ignorant of Man’s heritage as a spiritual being. The world is truly ignorant of the real message of Jesus and now also of Jamil. It is actually ignorant of the power that rests with the mind and Consciousness of Man, and of the fields that envelop his material being. In spite of all scientific theories, and the many schools of metaphysics that claim to know the means, the fact remains that no institution or school possesses these secrets. It is essential that you, in our School, learn early to look beyond yourselves; and understand the meaning of spirituality, because if one views life from a selfish viewpoint, one will never understand the meaning of God and the meaning of the Teachings of this great School of Light.

“‘There must be a School in the End Times to teach a sacred body of men and women this knowledge so that they may preserve life on the planet and be responsible for creating a New Race of Man who, in effect, could halt the death of the planet and bring about its transformation into a spiritual world of Light. This is the whole concept of our Teachings.

“‘To a solar adept, the idea of the world changing into Light is not any more fantastic than the idea of an atomic explosion is to modern Man. However, because of ignorance and inability to understand, the concept of the world changing to Light is, to modern Man, as fantastic as the concept of atomic explosion would have been to a primitive mind. However, though Man has created the modern world, he is still at the beginning of what he is capable of creating.

“‘The very fact that matter can be transformed into energy proves that energy can be transformed into something else, such as intelligence, or as in this case, Consciousness. What I am trying to say, in so many words, is that when we enter into the realm of Consciousness, and when we project ourselves into the sun, we are penetrating dimensions of tremendous power and force.’”