The mortal sincerely and earnestly seeking the Path that ultimately leads to Immortality must begin his Great Work by first building a sound foundation. He must first of all have a reasonable and, withal, a sensible idea of what he seeks to accomplish; a sincere aspiration for absolute, tenable truth, and a wholehearted willingness to accept facts and the law irrespective of preconceived ideas, and likewise a readiness to sacrifice all previous conceptions; substituting gladly new and constructive ideas and ideals.

Unfortunately, an uncountable number of those seeking the Path are led astray in the very beginning of their search because of lack of judgment. Usually when the seeker begins to inquire into the reality of a deeper knowledge than that apparent to all, he is immediately surrounded by many and divers opinions and influences. He first attempts to follow one concept or philosophy, then another, until finally he finds himself far from the real Path. This is mostly his own fault. He alone is guilty. To achieve success he must learn the first of the laws, which is that of choice and concentration. He must be willing to concentrate on the study and practice of one system of Soul development to the exclusion of all others, BOTH IN THOUGHT AND PRACTICE. Unless he is willing to do this he will be certain to founder in darkness, misconception and discouragement.

Many of those starting on the Path with a most sincere longing for truth and the greater life, because of dabbling with various systems of thought and inculcations, become either disgusted or discouraged. These often return to their former mode of living, bitter doubters of all philosophy and religion; whereas they might readily have developed themselves into an individuality within the human personality and have found peace of mind and heart, had they been content to follow one teacher, one Path and one form of development.

Desire, a restlessness, a longing for the as yet unknown, does not begin to assail the conscience until there is dissatisfaction with the present way of life and an inner, though possibly as yet an ill-defined, idea of possible attainment; a method toward perfection; the possibility of obtaining knowledge. This is the Annunciation - the message of something better to be won.

The former life, the old religious practices, worn to the last thread by its "worm of the dust" and "Predestination" doctrines, now no longer satisfy the hunger and craving of the as yet slumbering but awakening Soul.

Life up to the present has been of mind and body only. Even the religious practices have been almost purely mental and, at best, emotional. The Soul, the inner spiritual (Cosmic) self, has had little or nothing to do with the thoughts, the desire or the devotions practiced. The Soul is as yet, to all intent and purpose, asleep, though manifesting a restlessness that cannot much longer be denied without doing irreparable injury to it.

The mind, though active, directive and of the utmost importance to the body and in awakening the Soul is not in any sense to be considered as the Soul, or is it spiritual in intent or essence, or can the intellect be considered as Soulful or of possessing a spiritual basis.

The mind is merely the forerunner of that which is to come. It is a John the Baptist crying in the wilderness and foreshadows the coming awakening. This mind, once awakened to its spiritual and constructive ability, unless properly directed, guided and guarded, is certain to either mislead or starve the Soul, or bring it unto destruction, because of its inherent inability to distinguish the false from the true. The close connection of the mind with the body and all that is material, may prevent it from becoming sufficiently militant to be able to arouse the Soul into constructive action from its lethargic state of inertia.

The mind of intellect, though of first importance to man as a whole and desirable as a personality builder, the thinker and reasoner, and as the inventor of things new, both constructive and destructive, is not the spiritually understanding mind until after it has itself become awakened to a more desirable mode of activity. It is too often self-satisfied, conceited, arrogant and vainglorious to the degree of its intellectuality. For this reason it is not open to spiritual impulses or ideals until and unless awakened by suffering of itself and the body it inhabits.

To bring about the awakening and advancement of the Divine Spark, the particle of the Cosmic Soul latent within almost all men, and bring it to Soul Consciousness, requires the enlightened, carefully directed and obedient mind - a mind that has found all other things wanting and is now in quest of that which is on the earth but not of the earth.

Lack of education other than as a result of experience, lack of intellectual attainment or of brilliancy of mind, though these be ever desirable, need not in the least deter anyone from seeking the knowledge of how to awaken and build a Soul radiant with Light and wise in all things desirable.

The sincere, seeking, enthusiastic Soul will direct every effort and every force toward the attainment of Conscious Individuality, that which has been known as Christhood or Cosmic Consciousness despite all obstacles and every opposing material condition. Every force attempting to retard the progress of such a Soul but adds zest to the overcoming and mastery of all opposing conditions and circumstances.

Not for one moment would we think of being guilty of discouraging education, intellectual development, literary attainment or mental brilliancy. We merely seek to assure those who at times become discouraged because of such lack that while there is immensely much that is high and lofty within them, such lack of education is not a hindrance to Soul development. The mind and intellect are not the whole of life. The Soul, though depending upon mind action, is the only reality, and the one thing that survives throughout eternity.

To the embryonically great Soul - the Soul now here and evolving Consciousward (Godward), obstacles, even those that are often difficult and disheartening, most dense, gross and of the highest material form, cannot act as a retarding force, but should be an incentive to greater effort and a glorification in overcoming, thereby proving self-mastery and progress toward the ultimate goal of Soul Consciousness; an harmonization with the great Cosmic Soul.

The mind is or must become conscious of being the builder of the Soul, just as the architect is the designer and director when building a palace or temple. This being true, it is most regrettable that the educated, highly intellectual mind does not always function as the builder of a Soul, or bring the associated Soul to Conscious Individualization. For this reason we are frequently conscious that great, brilliant minds which we contact are incapable of comprehending the possibility of attaining Soul Consciousness or Immortality. If the acquirement of truth and spiritual understanding depended entirely on the mind, and if the mind recognized the inner urge or incentive from the Divine Spark buried in the debris of the personality, then the world would long since have come into the age of Light such as is indicated by the great book of Revelation. Masterminds who have lived and labored for mental-physical-material improvement have seldom given any thought to the things that are lasting and beyond price - the things belonging to and of the Soul.

Inner Wisdom must come from the Soul. This Wisdom once attained, is capable of illuminating the intellect and being its directing force. The mind is the builder of the Soul, but before it can become a builder it must have become conscious of its ability to build the Soul. It must desire a greater life than that offered by ordinary life and physical science. There must also be an urge from the Soul itself and a desire to be brought to life and consciousness. The mind must be awakened to its spiritual opportunities and possibilities in much the same manner as it becomes conscious of the many physical desires of which man is possessed and which govern in ordinary life.

It is written that John the Baptist said: "I am come baptizing with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the latches of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."

Water is the symbol of mind. As such it represents all those thoughts and desires that are part of the mental-physical-mortal man. Active water is active-intellectual mentality. All the things that man thinks, desires and acts upon in ordinary life are the result of this water-baptism or mental-intellectual mentality. But there must come a time when man is no longer satisfied with the mere things of life, desirable as they may be. Then comes the urge to seek for these things that the inner feeling indicates as possible to obtain and when finally the mind is turned to thoughts of, and desire for, spiritual verities and Soul possibilities, then man experiences the beginning of the baptism by Fire and ultimately the baptism of, or by, the Holy Ghost, this last meaning that the Soul has received the heavenly Light, that Light which is on neither land nor sea.

So it is that when the mind, the John the Baptist, has been finally successful in awakening the Divine Spark, the Soul within, to a realization of its existence, and when the inner being accepts the truths and lives accordingly, then will come an influx of the Holy Ghost - the Cosmic Light, and Conscious Individuality is ultimately brought about. This is man's highest estate and once attained, it can truly be said that "and man has become as one of the gods."

The enlightened and desire-awakened mind has become the great spiritualized Soul builder.

  All necessary knowledge, all the essential mental requirements, are at the command of the awakened Soul; the Soul which has by its own desires and efforts evolved toward Conscious Individuality - that state which is the beginning of its Immortalization.

Napoleon, like many others of his type since, possessed one of the most remarkable minds of his kind. He was chosen to free mankind from the bondage of virtual slavery. For a time he was true to his great mission. Then personal ambition took the place of love for his fellow man. He became ambitious and selfish. As a result of this selfishness, he, like Hitler and his kind of modern times, built an egotistical shadow of the real Soul and the spiritual self, debased and abused. This left him to his doom and the shadowy self was the means of his destruction in the very hour of his triumph. The Soul is built in harmony with the desires of the mind and the urge of the Soul still in bondage. If the thoughts and desires become purified, enlightened, exalted, and come under the domain of Wisdom, then the Soul will likewise develop. If, on the contrary, selfishness, self-seeking and the various other evil emotions govern the thoughts, desires and life, then will be created a mere shell of a Soul - the shadow, unbaptized by the Fire of God or the Holy Ghost, and this ultimately brings about its own detention in a mortal body for perhaps many reincarnations, aye, even the possibility of the loss of its personality. This is God's, the Creator's, own Law. It is a fixed fiat; it cannot be set aside or repudiated. It is the Law of Compensation or Reaction.

The mind of Oscar Wilde was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant of all times, but this was at the expense of both body and Soul. The desires finding no deeper outlet than those possible to the body, the Soul was consumed in mental brilliancy on the one hand, and degenerative sex practices on the other. Had this great mind felt the baptism of St. John, a mighty being would have been born and the world would have become conscious of a spiritual giant. Man cannot live but in action and woe if that action is not turned toward spiritual accomplishment.

The first glimpse of truth, the first intuitional conception and inner feeling is the sensing that there exists something greater and above the science, the religion and the wisdom known to the theologian and material scientist. This is the Annunciation from God in the realm of the invisible to our inner individual self making us aware of the possibility of attaining to God consciousness. It is the Conception of the Christos (the Christ of the Gnostics) within us. It is the beginning of real existence. It is the baptism by John the Baptist. It foreshadows greater things to come.

When this comprehension first dawns on the pilgrim, he, as did "Mary" before him, wonders within himself: "How can this thing be?"

Then the guardian angel, the spiritual monitor, answers: "The Holy Ghost (thy Soul's Fire) shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."

This is the baptism by the Holy Ghost, the attainment of the Soul's Illumination.

This re-birth must take place in every human being desirous of attaining Conscious Individuality, the state of Immortalization. The Annunciation must reach us direct. Within us must be born the thought of, and desire for, kinship with the Creator. We must come into the realization that the Soul within must become awakened to its heritage and possibilities; must be brought into conscious activity, and that the Fire from heaven, the glory that is brought about by personal effort toward Illumination, must descend upon us and as a result of this, bring about the conscious birth of the eternal, living, Conscious Soul.

It is then that we have conceived the Word. The Word has become, - is alive within, - flesh; is become holy. It is created by the highest, born of the Holy Ghost. It is baptized with the fire which descended from heaven - the Cosmic Soul.

The reference to fire throughout the Scriptures has been the cause of much conjecture among the teachers of Christian lore. Its true meaning has seldom dawned upon the comprehension of the majority, and it has been interpreted to signify many different things. Nearly all of these interpretations have been at fault and, as a consequence, were grossly misleading.

At the period when the Nazarene, Initiate of the Essenes, was active and the self-righteous Pharisees - the intellectual giants of those days - were masters of religious inculcations, rites and ceremonies, few had any comprehension whatever of the meaning of the term "Soul." Few, indeed, knew whether or not man possessed a Soul, and still less was the number who had the slightest idea of where it might be found. It was a dark secret. The "veil of Isis" was closely drawn. Countless teachers of our present generation, though teaching many beautiful truths, have not the slightest actual understanding of the nature of the Soul, and these are therefore incompetent to instruct anyone in the art and science of Soul development and how to attain Soul Consciousness. Thus we have a continuous repetition of dogmas and creeds, with little or no practical instruction in the methods potent to bring about Conscious Individuality, or the way toward the Immortalization of the Soul.

God - the Father of all, is the Creator of all, consequently he must be the giver of all man has or can have or is ever to receive. From him man received a Spark of the Divine Fire, the Cosmic Soul. This Spark is dormant within man and must remain so unless deliberate effort is made to awaken it. This Spark is an embryonic Soul. It must be aroused, fanned into life, brought into Conscious activity. This is the method of Salvation; not by faith, not through the forgiveness of sin, but by continuous effort, by works, by deeds, by the knowledge which is Divine Wisdom.

Man is then baptized by One who is greater than John the Baptist - he is baptized by the Holy Ghost - the fire of the Christos, and "arises and walks in newness of life." He has in truth been drinking at the fountain of eternal life.

1. What is the Soul?

It is the Spark from the Divine that man receives at birth. It is a part of the Cosmic Soul that acts as a link between man and his creator. The Soul is these things brought into consciousness, and from thence forward this Immortalized inner being functions side by side with the mind.

2. Where is the Soul?

It is within man, "in the secret place," and no man may know where this is unless he first travels the Path, arouses the Spark into a flame and, when the Fire burns, traces it to its source by the Light of the flame, and then listens, as did Moses before him, to the voice that proceeds out of the "burning bush," i.e., his own self.

3. Have you a Soul?

This question you cannot truthfully answer, except in faith, until you have made a determined, continued effort and have succeeded in bringing the Soul into Consciousness.

In these several questions and their answers we find the fundamentals underlying the building of a Soul. Just as when we seek to build a house we must first know what manner of house we want, what it is to look like, what purpose it is to serve, and the manner of material we wish to use and the plan of construction, so must we be equally informed regarding the plan and method of Soul building.

Man continually strives to understand all things in the material realm, especially those things that bring him pleasure or profit or both; but without shame or regret he permits himself to continue stupidly blind spiritually, despite the fact that only in things spiritual can he find that which is truly worth while; and that in the spirit will "all things worth while" be added unto him.

Spirituality - Conscious Individuality - is life. In this is found life that is eternal; but the materialist continues to grope in darkness and for things he knows not what, unmindful of the great truth that in finding his Cosmic self, he will find all things.

John did his best in trying to teach mankind that the "Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," thereby implying that the Soul, all Souls coming from God who is the Word, entered the flesh - the body of men - and dwells there, though few indeed are aware of its presence. This ignorance is as marked today as it was twenty centuries ago. The Word is still with man, but man lives in darkness and is unaware of its presence, thus he resembles the man who has untold wealth hidden on his premises but does not know of its presence and lives like a pauper.

The "Word" which John had in mind and of which he spoke freely and frequently was that part of God that is the inheritance of every man and that is hidden deeply within (become) the flesh. It is the Soul that was to come to be baptized with Fire and the Soul is a Fire.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." If the Soul is from God, and is a part of God, then it is an embryonic god awaiting the efforts of man to bring it into life and action. Man, overshadowed by countless centuries of ignorance, self-seeking, bigotry, intolerance and other depressants, is wholly ignorant that within his vault - within himself - is deposited untold wealth - a part of God - a part of the Cosmic all that is.

"All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made.

"In him was life, and the life [the Soul] was the Light [Fire] of man."

The Light of the Soul brought into a Flame, is "the Light that shineth in darkness; and the darkness [the flesh] comprehendes it not." The Soul when once awakened and baptized by the Fire is "the Light that shineth in darkness," and the darkness which is the flesh is then illuminated by it and it is no longer as a light hidden under a bushel.

"There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light; that all men through him might believe."

John, as so frequently mentioned, represents mind; sometimes mind and faith; he is the annunciator. The mind, becoming dissatisfied with the things that have failed so frequently in the time of need, and with the "thou shalt" of others, begins to seek on its own account; to grope in the darkness; it is reaching forth for something different, for something more certain and lasting than has heretofore been known or experienced. This reaching forth, this seeking, is the baptism of water. If the search be continued then will come he who baptizes with, or by, the Fire - the Holy Ghost.

The mind is ever the witness of the Soul just as it may be the betrayer of the Soul. With the mind we believe; with belief may come action. The mind combined with faith becomes the builder. The consciousness of the mind awakened to the ideal is the witness of the Soul. The mind recognizing the possibility of a Soul, though not yet fully conscious of it, is the Annunciation.

John, or mind in action, was not the Light (Christos or Soul), but was sent forth to bear witness of that Light which follows the process of Soul development. This coming into Conscious Individuality is finding "the true Light, which lighteth (ultimately) every man that cometh into the world," but the multitude allow the light to burn dim and permit it to finally die out.

Every man born into the world, except the idiot, is endowed with the Spark from the Divine, or Embryonic Soul, and has the privilege and opportunity of being shown the way by this Light.

The mind is the witness, testifying whether man is in darkness or is following the Light. The mind is given the power of judgment and judges all things. Ultimately it also will be called upon to either pronounce the sentence upon the guilty or reward the just.

"He [the Soul] that cometh after me [the mind] is preferred before me [mind]; he [the Soul] was [in eternity] before me." The Soul was with God long ages before body and mind had existence.

In this sphere of action, this mundane plane of activity, Soul comes after mind, but should be given preference to mind, for Souls are eternal, whereas minds are temporal.

"No man [the flesh] hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son [man reborn and become a Conscious Individuality], which is in the bosom of the Father [the awakened and Fire-baptized Soul in man], he hath declared him." All men must ultimately come to know and see God through the Holy Ghost - the Fire in the Soul becoming visible and so declaring Him. Those accepting the offer to live in such a manner as to make possible the Soul's manifestation, will know the baptism by the Fire, the embrace of the Holy Ghost.
|Top|