As we continue with our review of The Twentieth and Twenty-first Sayings – our Part 8 – I found this segment to be particularly interesting as it deals with both spiritual Sight and physical sight.
“And a Companion of The Way, the first to speak, said: ‘I was thinking of the special blessing of God. What if a person is deprived of vision and the delight of looking at the sun and receiving its beneficial rays – could that blind person benefit while not actually perceiving the sun by means of sight? How is our spiritual evolvement determined by the absorption of sunlight, which we are told is the carrier of God’s Word? It seems fitting to ask this question now for it has concerned me for many years.’
“And The Man looked at the Companion who had spoken and answered him saying, ‘We have been told by the ancient teachers, prophets and Holy Ones of times past who gave us our religions and who served as spokesmen and Messengers of God that in order to attain immortality, every person is required to generate a spiritual body of Light. Immortality is not bestowed upon us by that physical body given to us by our earthly parents. Immortality is granted to us only by God who, being spirit, is known only by the spirit. If a body of spirit not be created, then we can never know God. This we are told by the ancients. And our own Jamil, beloved Child of God sent into the world to proclaim the appearance of God in the Sun of Righteousness, has confirmed this.
“‘Every person must needs be reborn; that is, given new life in spirit which assumes a Form, a Being and a Consciousness of its own. This life should never be confused with our physical form or with our emotional being, character or personality, nor with our rational, reasoning self. As each of us was procreated by our parents together by means of conception, God creates us spiritual beings by means of the Divine Word and Image. This process is governed by supernatural law just as our physical being is governed by natural law. Generation and creation are not possible outside of these laws.
“‘This explains why The Teachings entrusted into the care of The Community are so important to the race. Being revealed to us from higher worlds of spirit by the Will of God, they give us the means by which each and every one of us may be created God’s people to be ruled and governed by Divine Law, just as the people of the world are governed by the laws of nature and by Man’s law. The two – natural and supernatural law – must be considered separate and apart from one another. The religions of the world often confuse this fact, and they serve social order more than Godly order.
“‘We are told that the Divine Light radiated from the spiritual Sun of Righteousness manifests as God’s Image, and that God’s Word is found within that Image. The Light of God is eternal Life, and the Word of God is eternal Truth. Those who look upon God’s Image and hear God’s Word are made new spiritual beings. Does this mean that only people who have physical eyesight are able to create a spiritual body because of those eyes? Of course not. We are talking about a spiritual Body. The physical eyes, the mind, the senses are the only means we have of measuring reality as ordinary humans. And if we use those faculties of cognition and the perceptory senses to look beyond perceptions of the natural world and go on to the more refined causes of those perceptions, we then see reality in a different way and bring into effect those senses behind the physical senses. So there is, to answer your question, a Sight behind physical sight.
“‘We know that people are able to see color fields, electrical fields, and force fields around living things by use of the eyes and even without the use of the eyes. Sometimes they can read with the palms of the hands and see colors through the back of the head. So the senses, perhaps, are different than our understanding of them. Therefore, I would say that though a person who has the faculties of eyesight can experience something a blind person cannot, we know that blind persons or persons who have a handicap in sight are sometimes more sensitive in other senses. I would say that a person can see the sun without means of the physical eyes. I believe a person can see the spiritual Sun without physical eyes. We have all seen visions with our eyes closed at night, even during the day. We can see with our eyes closed. I believe that if a blind person were to face the sun, that person would see the Image of God and hear the Word of God within it just as much as a person with sight.
“‘You can experience this for yourself by raising your palms to the sun. You can feel the pulse of the sun and become very sensitized to it even by turning the back of the head to the sun. With practice, you can become very sensitive and receive the benefits of the sun just as surely as if you would receive the beneficial rays of the sun by means of the eyes.
“‘The great mystery of spiritual rebirth by means of the spiritual Sun of Righteousness is the goal of a lifetime. Spiritual rebirth cannot be attained by wrong means. The intent of a person, which is always known to the spirit and to God, must needs be pure. Those who would look upon, or hope to look upon, the spiritual Sun with wrong intent never perceive it. Indeed, they are blind – without spiritual Sight. With pure intent – by desiring to serve God with one’s whole heart and being – spiritual Sight is restored, for we are born with that Sight, not with physical sight. If a person looks to The Community and desires position; or comes to us because of love of another person; or desires companionship, status, comfort, or for any other material benefits that may be realized – meaning they come to The Community for selfish motives – they will not see God’s Image nor hear God’s Word. They are indeed blind, and no prophet would or could restore their vision.’”
