“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.

“Recent discoveries made by great mathematicians and Kabalists prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that every theology, from the earliest and oldest down to the latest, has sprung not only from a common source of abstract beliefs, but from one universal esoteric, or ‘Mystery’ language. These scholars hold the key to the universal language of old, and have turned it successfully, though only once, in the hermetically closed door leading to the Hall of Mysteries. The great archaic system known from prehitoric ages as the sacred Wisdom Science, one that is contained and can be traced in every old as well as in every new religion, had, and still has, its universal language – suspected by the Mason Ragon – the language of the Hierophants, which has seven dialects, so to speak, each referring, and being specially appropriated, to one of the seven mysteries of Nature. Each had its own symbolism. Nature could thus be either read in its fullness, or viewed from one of its special aspects.

“The proof of this lies, to this day, in the extreme difficulty which the Orientalists in general, the Indianists and Egyptologists especially, in interpreting the allegorical writings of the Aryans and the hieratic records of old Egypt.”

–H. P. Blavatsky

Common Source

It is true that all the ancient schools taught essentially the same methods and beliefs. This will probably come as a surprise to those who insist there are many paths to enlightenment. As for a universal language, I am not sure that is true, except in the allegory and symbology used to teach the techniques. We know, for example, that the Hero’s Journey was common to many places all over the world in slightly different forms, but all are allegorical and really represent the quest for spiritual enlightenment.

Scholars Hold the Key

This may have been true in the distant past, but I think it is fair to say that the scholars of today know little, if anything, about spiritual development, and most of them don’t want to learn. If by scholars, Blavatsky means the spiritual Master who ran the Mystery Schools, then she is correct.

Seven Dialects

Blavatsky says that while the Mystery Schools had a universal language, there were seven dialects of that language, one for each of the “Mysteries of Nature”. What those seven mysteries are, she doesn’t explain, at least not in the chapter of the book from which the above quote was taken. We can say, though, that Mystery schools in various places and times probably had slightly different teachings and language that was suitable for the time and place. It is the same in Cosolargy, where Gene Savoy, Sr. updated the ancient teachings and techniques to account for our modern times when people can’t simply drop out of society and enter a monastery. We also have the advantage of computers and the internet that the ancients didn’t have. On the other hand, Savoy did warn us that we are being harmed to some degree by radiation from television, cellphones, computers, and other modern electronics. He also told us that practicing our spiritual development techniques regularly helped shield us from that radiation.

“What the sun is to the solar system, the spirit is to the bodies of man; for his natures, organs, and functions are as planets surrounding the central life (or sun) and living upon its emanations. The solar power in man is divided into three parts, which are termed the threefold human spirit of man. All three of these spiritual natures are said to be radiant and transcendent; united, they form the Divinity in man.

“Man’s threefold lower nature—consisting of his physical organism, his emotional nature, and his mental faculties—reflects the light of his threefold Divinity and bears witness of it in the physical world. Man’s three bodies are symbolized by an upright triangle; his threefold spiritual nature by an inverted triangle. These two triangles, when united in the form of a six-pointed star, were called by the Jews ‘the Star of David,’ ‘the Signet of Solomon,’ and are more commonly known today as ‘the Star of Zion.’ These triangles symbolize the spiritual and material universes linked together in the constitution of the human creature, who partakes of both Nature and Divinity. Man’s animal nature partakes of the earth; his divine nature of the heavens; his human nature of the mediator.”

–Manly P. Hall

Solar System of Man

Mr. Hall says man’s organs and functions are like planets around the central life, or sun. We could think of that center of life in the physical body to be the heart, though others might say it is the brain. Either way, we can see that the body is organized much like a solar system. As above, so below.

Solar Power in Man

Hall says we have a threefold spirit, which he refers to as the solar power in man. While he might mean it in a different way, this certainly fits well with the teachings of Cosolargy. While we don’t think of our spirit as being our solar power, we do know that it is Light from the sun that awakens and nourishes the spirit. Hall says the three spiritual natures are all radiant, and united, they form the Divinity in man. We in Cosolargy think it is more that the Soul is the Divinity in man, and the Soul becomes conscious when spiritual development techniques are practiced regularly.

Lower Nature

Man does have a lower and a higher nature. Hall calls the three parts of the lower nature, the physical body, the emotional nature, and the mental facilities, or the mind. We would say it is the body and the mind which includes the emotional nature of man. Hall says this lower nature was symbolized by an upright triangle. Hall adds that this lower nature reflects the light of our higher nature. That is true to some degree, but not always. It is true that many things start on the spiritual level, move down to the mental level, and then finally to the physical. But some things, such as certain physical illnesses may begin on the mental level, or even be only on the physical level.

Higher Nature

Strangely, Hall doesn’t go into an explanation of the threefold spiritual nature. He does say that this nature was represented by a downward-pointing triangle. Personally, I think he has it backward. I think the spiritual triangle points up toward heaven where it originated, while the physical triangle points down to show that it represents the nature of Man that has fallen from above, meaning from higher (spiritual) dimensions.

Six-pointed Star

Hall says the six-pointed star formed by overlaying the two triangles symbolizes the spiritual and material joined together in man, which makes sense. He doesn’t explain why this matters, or how it helps us develop. In Cosolargy, we use a different symbol, a complex version of a cross that represents the Higher Self, Christ, God, and the fully developed Soul. While many Christians are not aware of it, the oldest symbol used to represent God was a simple cross inside of a circle, the circle representing the sun.

Threefold Nature of Man in Cosolargy

So in Cosolargy, we are taught that the threefold nature of man is, (1) the physical body, (2) the psychic body, and (3) the spirit. The sun-gazing techniques we practice can benefit us on all three levels, but the goal is to get light mostly from the spiritual sun to benefit and develop the spirit.

“There is nothing more secret in this world than the Kingdom of Christ; and it is often so, that he who supposes he has it, and lives therein, has it not, but has the Kingdom of Antichrist, and has the Serpent’s Figure; and his heart also is but the heart of a greedy wolf, and he stands not in the angelical image.

“On the contrary, many a one is in great anguish, and longs after it, and generates very painfully, he would fain have it, but then the Devil rushes upon him, and stirs up vexation and discontent, and overwhelms him with great sins, so that he knows not himself, and then rejects him with impatience and doubting; and his heart stands continually in Anguish, it would fain get out of Evil, and endeavors continually for abstinence or forbearance, many times with groans, sighing, and longing, but then the Devil holds his sins before him, and bars up the door of the Grace of God, that he might despair.

“Yet he sows the Pearl in his anguish, and the Devils covers it in him, that he may not know it, neither does he know himself, he sows in the Kingdom of God.”

-Jacob Boehme

The Secret Kingdom

What Boehme says about there being nothing more secret than the Kingdom of Christ, or more accurately, the spiritual process for connecting with that Kingdom, may have been true when he wrote the quote several hundred years ago. Nowadays, I think there are probably government secrets that are even more protected than those spiritual ones. Still, the point is a sound one.

He who Supposes He Has It

This point is probably even truer today than it was when Boehme was alive. Spiritual development has become popular, and with that comes the charlatans and con men who see this as a quick way to make a buck, so they write all kinds of half-truths and partial truths in books and start schools to teach these partial, or completely false systems, and unfortunately, many people fall for it. In a time of instant gratification, someone offering a plan to make you a spiritual master in two weeks instead of the several years that people used to spend in the great Mystery Schools and Gnostic Schools sounds wonderful, but as they often warn people, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.

Devil Rushes Upon Him

What Boehme is trying to say is often hard to follow, which may be at least partially due to poor translations of his original. But I think that what he is saying here is that very often when we are trying to sincerely develop our spiritual side, the Devil, or more likely one of his demonic minions, will pull us off the path into doing the wrong things. The wrong things are not always obvious “sins” such as murder, but may simply be choosing material things over the spiritual. If the demons succeed in getting you to do something of a material nature and skipping your spiritual practices for the day, it makes it a little easier for them the next time. Before long, they have you skipping your spiritual practices more often than you are doing them.

Then when you realize that you have been turned away from the spiritual, and try to get back on track, the demons will bring up all your “sins” and try to convince you that it is too late to get back on the spiritual path. Don’t listen to them! It is never too late to get back on the spiritual path unless you are lying on your deathbed about to expire.

This is one of the main reasons Cosolargy emphasizes community. When you are part of a community of like-minded people, you can help each other fight off temptations, and get back on the proper path when we do get off it.

So practice your spiritual growth techniques, and remove the veils over the Kingdom of God and Christ, and eventually achieve your own Christ Consciousness.

“Then the savior continued and said, ‘Oh, unsearchable love of light! Oh, bitterness of the fire! You blaze in the bodies of people, and in the marrow of their bones, blazing in them night and day, burning their limbs and making their minds drunk and their souls deranged. You dominate males and females day and night, you move and arouse them secretly and visibly. When the males are aroused, they are attracted to the females and the females to the males. So it is said that everyone who seeks truth from true wisdom will fashion wings to fly, fleeing from the passion that burns human spirits. And one will fashion wings to flee from every visible spirit.’ Thomas answered, saying, ‘Master, this is precisely what I ask you. I understand that what you say is beneficial to us.’ Again the savior answered and said, ‘This is why we must speak to you, because this teaching is for those who are perfect. If you wish to become perfect, keep these sayings. If not, the name for you is “ignorant,” since an intelligent person cannot associate with a fool. The intelligent person is perfect in all wisdom. To the fool, however, good and evil are one and the same. The wise person will be nourished by truth and will be like a tree growing by the stream of water. Some people have wings but rush toward visible things that are far from truth. The fire that guides them gives them an illusion of truth. And it will shine on them with a perishable beauty, and will imprison them in dark delight and capture them in sweet-smelling pleasure. And it will blind them with insatiable desire, inflame their souls, and be like a stake jammed into their heart that can never be removed. It leads them according to its own wish, like a bit in the mouth.’”

-Book of Thomas

Love of Light

Love of Light is important for those seeking spiritual development. Not the ordinary light of a light bulb, or even the light of the physical sun, but a Higher Light that come from God. If you know of this Light and believe in the effect it has on the spirit and soul, you can’t help but love it. This Light, which is the image of God, is loved just as we love God.

Bitterness of Fire

You might think that Jesus is still talking about love when he starts talking about fire in an obviously symbolic way, but when he continues by adding “ in the marrow of their bones, blazing in them night and day, burning their limbs and making their minds drunk and their souls deranged,” it is clear that he isn’t talking about love. He is talking about the fire of greed that consumes those who fall prey to materialism and the material things that it offers. He may also be talking about those who feel that something is missing in their lives and try to satisfy that feeling with material things when what they really need is to awaken and develop their spiritual Self.

Fashion Wings to Fly

Jesus is speaking allegorically when he advises us to “ fashion wings to fly, fleeing from the passion that burns human spirits.” We don’t literally grow wings in order to develop our spiritual faculties, nor does the passion for material things actually burn our human spirits, but it might as well. When we cling to a life of matter, our spirits stay dormant, and the development of a conscious Soul never happens, except in very rare cases where an accident or personal tragedy may trigger an awakening.

For Those Who Are Perfect

When Jesus tells Thomas that these teachings are for those who are perfect, we might question it since we know that none of us still on the earthly plain of existence (third dimension) are perfect. But He then goes on to clarify that he is talking about those who wish to become perfect and are trying their best to do so through the practice of spiritual development techniques. Developing the body and the mind is good, but we also need to develop the spirit.

Good and Evil

Jesus then says: “To the fool, however, good and evil are one and the same.” This is probably the most important statement in the quote. Based on comments and memes I am seeing on social media, it seems there are spiritual schools who are teaching people that they must embrace their dark side and work with it just as much as with the light, or good side. That is foolishness. Did they forget that it is what got the allegorical couple, Adam and Eve in trouble? When they ate from the Tree of Good and Evil they were cast from Heaven because knowledge of evil inevitably leads to some people doing evil. Yes, we do need to acknowledge that there is darkness (or evil) and it is largely in control on the earthly plain of existence, but we should not embrace evil, we should do our best to avoid it. So embrace the Light, try to make it grow within you, and one day in the not-too-distant future, Earth will be a world of light, as will the whole material universe.

“Clairvoyant consciousness is able to learn something of what will happen during the Jupiter state. The beings and facts observed in this field of consciousness have not the nature of sense-images; they do not even appear as fine air structures from which effects might proceed which resemble sense-impressions. They give purely spiritual impressions of sound, light, and heat. These are not expressed through any material embodiments. They can be apprehended only through clairvoyant consciousness. One may say, however, that these beings which at present manifest on the psycho-spiritual plane, possess a ‘body.’ This body, however, appears like a sum of condensed memories which they carry within their souls.

“One can distinguish within their being what they are now experiencing and what they have experienced and now remember. This last is contained within them like a bodily element. They are conscious of it in the same way that an earthly human being is conscious of his [physical] body.

“at a stage of clairvoyant development higher than just described as necessary for a knowledge of the Moon and Jupiter states, the student is able to perceive supersensible beings and things which are, in fact, the more highly developed forms of those present during the Sun condition, but which have reached stages of existence so lofty as to be quite imperceptible to a consciousness capable of observing the Moon forms only.”

–Rudolf Steiner

Clairvoyant Consciousness

What Mr. Steiner calls “Clairvoyant consciousness,” we in Cosolargy might refer to as simply “psychic consciousness” without specifying a specific psychic ability to associate with it. I won’t bother to get into what he calls “the Jupiter state.” Suffice it to say that what he calls “the Moon state” is the low level of the typical materialistic person on Earth. A higher state of consciousness associated with the psychic level of being, he calls “the Jupiter level,” and still higher is the “sun level,” or spiritual level. He also makes it clear that there are even higher levels of being and consciousness than the spiritual level. We would call the highest level Christ Consciousness or Cosmic Consciousness.

Purely Spiritual

Steiner says the beings that one might observe in a higher state of consciousness have “not the nature of sense-images.” In other words, they cannot be seen by the physical senses of the body, but must be seen by awakened psychic and spiritual senses. He adds that they give “purely spiritual impressions,” which makes sense as we are talking about spiritual beings. He adds that these beings do possess a body, but not one of matter. Steiner says their bodies appear “ like a sum of condensed memories,” an odd description in my opinion as I have no idea what condensed memories would look like. I think it is better to describe the bodies of these beings as less dense than our physical bodies, and made of energy rather than matter. At the highest levels of consciousness, the beings found there would have bodies of brilliant Light and energy.

Supersensible Beings

Steiner goes on to say that beyond this Jupiter State, are even higher developed forms of the being found in the Sun State. This indicates that the beings of the Sun State are even more advances, in a spiritual sense, then those found in the Jupiter State. This makes perfect sense to students of Cosolargy who know that there are beings that exist at all levels of reality, some good, some not good. In order to see and communicate with these higher-level beings, we must raise our own consciousness to their level. That is what the Solar Techniques of Cosolargy help us do.

“People are of varying temperaments, and that course that will best suit one will not meet the requirements of another. One will seek progress and development in one direction, and another in a different way, and a third by a still different course. The Yogi Philosophy teaches that the way that seems to appeal most to a person’s general temperament and disposition is the one best adapted to his use at the present time. They divide the Path of Attainment into three paths leading up to the great main road. They call these three paths, (1) Raja Yoga, (2) Karma Yoga, and (3) Gnani Yoga; each being a path leading to the Great Road. …

“Raja Yoga is devoted to the development of the latent powers in Man and the gaining control of the mental faculties by the will—attaining mastery of the lower self—the development of the mind to the end that the soul may be aided in its unfolding. …

“Karma Yoga is the yoga of work. It is the path followed by those who delight in their work, who take a keen interest in doing things with head or hand. …

“Gnani Yoga is the Yoga of Wisdom. It is followed by those of a scientific, intellectual type, who desire to reason out, proving, experimenting, and classifiying the occult knowledge. It follows a strong path towards metaphysics. Examples are to be seen in the great philosophers. As a matter of fact, all students of the Yogi Philosophy are attracted to Gnani Yoga to some degree.”

-William Walker Atkinson

Varying Temperaments

It is true that people are of varying temperaments, and we must all start from where we are. The person who is still very materialistic may start by trying to think about and study things that are spiritual. The one who is, as Stkinson says, all wrapped up in his work and related accomplishments can start to do his work in a way that is more pleasing to God, although that will often mean that is is less pleasing to materialistic bosses and employers. The one who is scientific and needs to experiment and learn from experience is the most fortunate since this is really the beginning of the True Path. Atkinson calls this third path one of Wisdom, but I think that is an inappropriate name for it. It is more one of intellect than wisdom, and they are not the same thing.

Preliminary Steps

The important thing that Mr. Atkinson points out is that all of the three paths of beginners, which might be thought of as preliminary paths rather than true paths to enlightenment, all eventually lead one to the “Great Road,” as he calls it. Many spiritual schools and Gurus tell people that there are many paths and we must each follow our own path, yet they provide little proof of that theory. A study of all the great spiritual leaders and enlightened individuals of the past will reveal that they all followed very similar paths, although their followers have often changed the truth in the written books about them so they may seem to be different. Some anti-religious people love to point out on social media that many of the things that are written about Jesus can be found in earlier writings of the Hindus and others. This doesn’t prove that the stories about Jesus are false, although some are. It proves that all great spiritual leaders follow a similar path.

The Great Road

The most important thing that Atkinson says in the quote is that all of the paths eventually lead to the One True Path that he calls “The Great Road”. So it may be true that there are multiple paths, especially for beginners, but eventually, we must all get on the True Path to achieve real enlightenment. If you think about it, you will realize that if we are all going to be on that path eventually, it is a good idea to head to that route as soon as possible. The teachings of Cosolargy will put you on that path.

“The person who combines spiritual knowledge with the practice of the virtues is a throne and a footstool of God. A throne because of his spiritual knowledge and a footstool because of his ascetic practices. And the human intellect, purified of all material images, and occupied, or, rather adorned with the divine principles of the noetic world, is a heaven itself.

“When any philosopher – any devout philosopher – fortified with virtue and spiritual knowledge, or with ascetic practice and contemplation, sees the power of evil rising up against him through the passions like the king of the Assyrians rising up against Hezekiah, he is aware that only with God’s help can he escape. He invokes God’s mercy by crying out silently and by striving to advance still further in virtue and knowledge; and he receives as an ally, or rather as his salvation, an Angel that is one of the higher principles of Wisdom and Knowledge.

“Every passion has its origin in the corresponding sensible object. For without some object to attract the powers of the soul through the medium of the senses, no passion would ever be generated. Without food, there is no gluttony; without gold, there is no love of money, and so on.”

–St. Maximos (in The Philokalia)

Spiritual Knowledge With Practice of Virtue

I believe that what St. Maximos (or Maximus) is trying to say here is that spiritual knowledge alone doesn’t make one an enlightened person, especially if we are talking about the limited kind of spiritual knowledge that comes from books, or listening to lectures. We must put that spiritual knowledge to use and practice spiritual development techniques to truly gain anything from it.

A Throne Because of Spiritual Knowledge

St. Maximos seems to be saying that anyone who has gained spiritual knowledge is a throne of God. That is true only of those who have achieved the very advanced stage of spiritual development and have gained the high level of Knowledge known as Gnosis. They are thrones of God in an allegorical sense because they have reached the high level of consciousness that permits them to communicate directly with God, at least some of the time.

A Footstool of God

As the photo used to illustrate this post shows, footstools, and thrones are often together, a set like a modern easy chair and hassock (or ottoman). Maximos says those advanced spiritual students are like a footstool of God because of their “ascetic practices”. I think it is more accurate to say that such spiritual adepts are footstools as well as thrones because they have true humility, not thinking of themselves as better than other people because of their advanced spiritual state.

Power of Evil Rising

It is true that spiritual students must watch for the powers of Evil (or darkness) rising in them and trying to take control. Each day, usually just before going to sleep, it is recommended that the students ask themselves if they did a good job of avoiding darkness that day. Did they get angry with someone? Did they get jealous or envious? If so, they should make note of it and try to do better. Did they become attached to material goods or property? If so, they need to work on that, or possibly get rid of the item they are becoming too attached too. That doesn’t mean we can’t have property, we simply must avoid attachments. St. Maximos refers to asceticism, but that is because the book the quote comes from is a training guide for monks in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Passions and Objects

St. Maximos goes on to tell us that passions are always related to a “sensible object”, sensible meaning from the world of the six senses, the realm of matter. He gives a few examples that make sense. It should be noted, however, that people can become passionate about something they don’t actually have, but dream of having. It may not even be something that actually exists, but something they would like to exist. It should also be noted that passion isn’t always a bad thing. We can be passionate about our spiritual development, and that is good. We can be passionate about teaching others to develop their spiritual Self, and that is good as well. So we need not avoid all passions, just the type that leads to attachment to material things.

“’How,’ says the Desciple to the Master in one of Boehme’s ‘Dialogues,’ ‘am I to seek in the center this Fountain of Light which may enlighten me throughout and bring my properties into perfect harmony? I am in Nature, as I said before, and which way shall I pass through Nature and the light thereof, so that I may come to into the supernatural and supersensual ground whence this True Light, which is the Light of Minds, doth arise; and this without the destruction of my nature, or quenching the Light of it, which is my reason?’

‘Master: Cease but from thine own activity, steadfastly fixing thine eye upon one point … For this end, gather in all thy thoughts, and by faith, press into the center laying hold upon the Word of God, which is infallible and which hath called thee. Be obedient to this call, and be silent before the Lord, sitting alone with him in thy inmost and most hidden cell, and attend His Will in the patience of hope.

So shall the Light break forth as the morning, and after the redness thereof has passed, the Sun Himself, which thou waitest for, shall arise unto thee, and under his most healing wings thou shalt greatly rejoice: ascending and descending in his bright and health-giving beams. Behold, this is the true Supersensual Ground of Life.’”

-Evelyn Underhill with an inner quote from Jacob Boehme.

Seek the Fountain of Light

The Desciple in this dialogue by Boehme knows that he should seek the fountain of light, he just doesn’t know how to do so. Still, he is ahead of many who call themselves spiritual, yet have actually done nothing to develop their spiritual faculties. This disciple at least knows of the Fountain of Light and knows that this Light brings Enlightenment, hence the name.

Bring Into Harmony

There are different things involved in being in harmony, but the primary one for most spiritual students is developing their spiritual centers in such a way that they are in harmony and work together without any one of them dominating. There are some spiritual schools that have you developing, or energizing, only the top three or four energy centers. That is fine for the more materialistic person who is overly developed in the lower centers, but a lot of those who seek out spiritual development are actually weak in those lower centers. We need to develop all of them and bring them into balance and harmony. Another way spiritual development brings us into harmony is that it makes us more loving and understanding, more peaceful and humble. This allows us to live in harmony with all people regardless of their age, sex, religion, race, or political leaning.

Without Destruction of My Nature

What the disciple is calling his nature, is what we would refer to as his individuality. Some schools teach that when we become One with The All, we lose all individuality like a drop of water that falls into an ocean. But when we become one with The All, we retain our individuality, much like a brick that becomes part of a wall. The wall is one whole, yet the bricks are still individual things.

Light of Mind

Boehme refers to the Spiritual Light as the Light of Mind. This may be the result of a poor translation or simply because Boehme had to be careful what he wrote so he wouldn’t be accused of heresy. Since Boeme received his enlightenment when sunlight was reflected onto his eyes from a metal bowl he was holding, I think he knows that this is a matter of the Spirit, not the mind.

Fix Thine Eye

The Master tells the student that he must fix his eye on one point, but he doesn’t say what that point is. In part, I think he is saying that one must concentrate on spiritual development when engaging in spiritual development techniques, but he also means to fix his eye on the sun as taught by spiritual masters so that you do not harm your eyes (NEVER stare at the sun).

“Faith is indeed as the ‘grain of mustard seed, to which, as to growth, it is compared in the New Testament. But it can grow for evil as well as good, and, if for evil, may become a tree in which every foul bird of evil omen will come and build its nest. Your evil or gloomy imagining is faith in that evil. Your fear of a disease is in the perpetuity and increase of such disease. You have a slight derangement of stomach or kidney or other organ. So, having it for one day or a few days, you begin to expect it. You think of it only as an unhealthy organ. You never in your mind see it as a sound organ. You may be then told it is in dangerous condition. You have a name possibly given to the ailment which suggests great suffering, debility, and ultimately death. All this is aiding your faith in evil. The force of other minds added to your own increases that evil. Everything tends to make you see yourself as sick, weak, and enfeebled. You have not in your own mind an imagining of the part affected as sound and healthy. None are sending you thoughts or imaginings as vigorous and healthy. The spiritual force sent to you is all for evil. You get more disease, more weakness by the same law, or force, which can, otherwise directed, bring you heath.”

-Prentice Mulford

Grain of Mustard

When Jesus said that with faith no bigger than a mustard seed, which is a very small seed, we can move mountains, that is very true, but it is just as true that if we have faith we won’t be able to do something, then we won’t be able to do it until we manage to lose that false faith. Mulford calls that kind of faith, faith in evil. Still, I would prefer to call it faith in falsehood, because I think of evil as intentional, while in most cases, as in Mulford’s example regarding health, we are not doing it intentionally.

A Tree for Every Foul Bird

What Mr. Mulford is saying here in an allegorical form is that once you have let some false faith, more is likely to follow. Evil attracts more evil.

Fear of Disease

The rest of the quote from Mulford centers on the idea of developing faith in disease. Sadly, just about all of us do this to some degree. You don’t have to be a hypochondriac to develop a faith in disease or unhealthy conditions of the body. A hypochondriac can hear someone talking about an illness on the news and they immediately think they have it and actually start developing symptoms. However, anyone can have an illness such as the stomach flu and convince themselves that it is something serious that will never go away. Or a man can have sexual problems on one day and think he has become impotent and needs to use drugs all the time if he wants to have sex. We could go through a hundred variations, but the point with all of them is that we make the situation worse by believing the illness will continue to get worse. If we learn to start thinking and telling our subconscious mind that the illness is temporary, it will get better, it is getting better every day, etc. We will usually see improvement. Unfortunately, when a belief has become firmly embedded in the subconscious, it is hard to overcome, but it can be done.

Besides Disease

Our physical health is not the only area in life where many of us tend to sabotage ourselves with false beliefs. We do it in business also. We believe that we won’t get a promotion and so fill the situation with falsehoods that hold us back. We think that we aren’t smart enough to become a doctor or a lawyer, possibly because others have told us so, therefore we never try.

Spiritual False Beliefs

The most deadly kind of evil, or falsehood, is false spiritual beliefs. Demons of darkness love to whisper ideas into our heads that fill us with false spiritual beliefs, and we often fall for it. Churches that have, for the most part, lost the way, teach many falsehoods, and millions of people believe them. Scientists will sometimes claim that there is no God, when they have no proof of that belief, and therefore, should know better. In any case, false spiritual beliefs often prevent us from developing our spiritual faculties, even when we want to. That is why an old Chinese saying says you must empty the tea cup before you can fill it with fresh tea. It means you must clear out the false beliefs before the truth can start seeping in. It isn’t easy to do, but it can be done. You don’t have to convince your subconscious that all those beliefs you have accumulated are false, you have to convince it that they may not be true.