Premise #1: There is but one All-That-Is and All-That-Is-Not which we will call “The Absolute”.
(Ed. Note: In 2006 and 2007, Gloria produced 8 Workbook lessons, Premises 1 through 8, as a work in progress. They included suggested readings and questions for self examination. My responses are included inline in blue. For your convenience, the text of the reading assignment is provided below the lesson.)
Reading Assignment: Session #18, Page #159, Paragraphs #5 & 6
Page #164, Paragraph #6 and Page #166, Paragraph #1
Additional reading: Session #Tue-3, Page #2
(Ed. Note: The suggested readings for this lesson are included below for your convenience.)
Session #18, Page #159, Paragraphs #5 & 6
The “temple”, the word, simply is a descriptive word to give you a sense of structure.
It is true we have a building which has been described to you. And this building is accessible to you, each of you, any time. You simply must come to feel that you are in it. You recognize yourself as a part of it. You are a part of us and we are a part of you. There is nothing mystical. There is not irreverence, certainly, for we do indeed acknowledge The Absolute, the Cosmos Cause, as God.
But that god demands no worship of us. It is! If we choose to worship, we do so to satisfy a longing, a yearning, within ourselves to become more nearly aware of our beingness. Our teachings are intended that our postulates, our novitiates, become self aware, become knowledgeable of their beginning, their meaning, their creative powers. Each of you is a center of creative power. Our beloved Judith has given you certain information all as part of the thrust of our teaching. As you become self aware, you grow in our temple. You pass through the steps of initiation.
Page #164, Paragraph #6
As I said earlier, there is but one Source from which this universe sprang, and if you must worship something, then let it be that Absolute , that fixed center of beingness, which produced the divine cell. Now the word “divine” is used, not out of reverence, but as a definitive word to make you understand that it is singular in nature, that it is a unity of being. The Absolute which gave birth to this universe does not need your worship. That Absolute is going to do its own absolute thing, in your colloquialism.
Page #166, Paragraph #1
But each of you in the physical condition come out of a group of beings. The single sole source of life is that Absolute of which I spoke earlier. Between you and it are innumerable levels or spheres of being, of beingness which is expressed through individualities, people. Your Source will at times seem to be a single unit. But you witness this in your every day physical life where a group of people operate as a single unit. The very word “people” is a singular noun meaning multiple occupation. The Source is a singular noun, but is comprised of multiple identity.
Session #Tue-3, Page #2
STUDENT: Thank you — yes it does. One further thought: you spoke of your spiritual physical self. With coming to us as you do, we very greatly appreciate because we do want your help. This one thought: I’m speaking out with no background whatever — when you are not in the spiritual physical sphere, then are you one of the great masses of energy of spirit?
SILVERTHISTLE: We are all one of the great masses of energy. You at this particular moment have a certain portion of your facility for attention focused into this reality you call physical planet Earth. But you are at all times functioning in other REALITIES as well. The links between the consciousness of the separate realities are so nebulous as to be immaterial to you most of the time. You do enter consciousness into other realities from this reality in the DREAM STATE and at times in MEDITATION, but the unit of energy which ultimately joins with another and another and another unit of energy which ultimately becomes a solid form to you, is still outside the scope of your present technological understanding. We will from time to time refer to these units of energy by the term “ERT”. At a latter time we will have a lesson in the disquietudes of physics.
STUDENT: Last time, Silverthistle, you said happiness was not a permanent state. So I was wondering about the other states, such as the importance — in comparison to happiness — of compassion, hate, and humility. (phone ringing)
SILVERTHISTLE: Is it your wish that I continue with the answer to your question at this moment?
STUDENT: Yes, please. (requested to repeat the question) Last time someone spoke of happiness, and Silverthistle said it was not a permanent state. So I wanted to get his opinion on other states like love, hate, and humility.
SILVERTHISTLE: These are STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS, and consciousness is not a constant thing — you use “permanent”. There is not such thing as permanent insofar as states of being are concerned, with the exception of the ultimate NO THING. That ultimate No Thing from which all things are born is beyond the state of description, especially to your finite mind. But your state of consciousness, while inconstant, continues to cycle, and thus to some degree is permanent on a temporary basis, which appears to be a dichotomy, but it is the best
way to describe it to you. No one in any consciousness remains constantly at the same level or intensity of any emotion. The most humble of consciousnesses is not always as humble at one time as it may be at another. There is no one that is without pride at some time.
STUDENT: Thank you. That does clarify my question. I have been reading the SETH material — do you know Seth?
SILVERTHISTLE: I know of that which you speak, but to me, Seth is not an individual but a state of being.
STUDENT: I was reading where he said Jesus had reincarnated three times. Do you concur with that?
SILVERTHISTLE: No, I do not.
STUDENT: Thank you. Silverthistle, speaking of Jesus and the disciples, have any of the other DISCIPLES in the Christian teaching and Bible — have they been reincarnated?
SILVERTHISTLE: Yes they have, and some are incarnate now. At the time that we go through the series of lessons on cosmology, the matter of Jesus and the nature of the Christ will be brought forth. Those lessons are to be presented to you by another.
STUDENT: Silverthistle, this is Bill talking. Do you have an organized society or something similar to that as we have here on earth. We would like to know about marriage, family, children, and modes of transportation.
SILVERTHISTLE: (SPIRIT PHYSICAL, LIFE IN) Yes, we have a structure, an organization if you will, and indeed in this sphere in which I now exist, we have a structure very similar to the physical world in which you live. We have family, we have sex, children are gestated, there is birth, education — there are all those things which you have and many more, but what you see in the physical, as for instance a flower, may appear as a beautiful melody in my sphere.
As for modes of transportation, we are not limited by the condensations of energy which you meet as resistance in your existence where you may walk through a darkened room and stub your shin against a table. A solid object which you call your leg has come against a resistance in a form of a table. All have resistances in our sphere also, but not of that kind. The resistances, as I can best describe to you, are resistances of the mind and of the heart.
The physicality of our realm is molded by our THOUGHTS, and thus can be changed in the instant. (MANIFESTATION IN SPIRIT PHYSICAL) Thus we must be more careful about what we think than you, for your physical world has been thought by others as well as yourself. As I construct a physical object through molding energy into a form, when I meet with another in my sphere, the mental attitude with which we meet each other then affects this thing which I have created, and it thus becomes changed as necessary. If I want to be in the vicinity of a particular person, I need only think myself there. I do not have to get in a vehicle and travel through space as you do.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Gloria’s response to the premise:
It is beyond human power to conceive of anything that has no beginning and no end, but here Karansa is asking us to give credence to the idea that such a “Causeless Cause” gives of Itself to create everything we know. In other lessons, this is explained more fully as a “No-Thing” which emits some of Itself which becomes “Some-Thing”. We cannot know “No-Thing”, but we can know “Some-Thing” because that has definitive parameters.
Since the beginning of recorded history, man has known that there are powers in his world over which he has no control: stars, sun, moon, fire, flood, etc. Experience seemed to indicate that these powers could be placated. He knew that he himself was respected, appreciated and perhaps revered for his own powers that exceeded those of lesser powers. Thus it would seem only logical that if he pleased the powers beyond his control, they would look kindly upon him and bless his efforts. Evolution brought about the anthropomorphic god in man’s image which man could not only conceive of but also understand to some extent. So worship developed.
Then technological advances showed man that these things he worships also have beginnings and ends. He now believes that even his own sun is going to be extinguished at some point of time in the future. As this becomes apparent God must then become less physical, more mystical, and man has developed a belief in a god that is eternal, all powerful, but still anthropomorphic.
We didn’t understand how you came to this conclusion. Especially “must”. Perhaps you can restate the statement is a different way to see your train of thought better.
Various world religions have given their gods odd shapes, sometimes many-headed, many-armed, etc., but still anthropomorphic. Some cults have grown into worship of snakes and other earthly animals.
The word “cult” has an unnecessarily negative connotation which can be remedied by the use of the words “religious sects”. Also, they are worshiping the deity or spiritual essence that manifests through the animal.
Man has now come to that stage of self awareness that he is asking the questions: “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” “What’s the purpose in all of this?” “Is this all there is?”, etc. The teachers are telling us here that another “leap of faith” is due. It is time for man to start working with self awareness towards developing his full potential, that this is an ordered Universe with purposeful intention, and man has his role to play in the overall picture. It is time for man to consider the possibility that “All-That-Is” is not the be-all and end-all of Consciousness.
I’m reminded that President Clinton was quoted as saying “That depends upon what you mean by ‘IS’!” 🙂
There is also an “All-That-Is-Not”, a beginning before the beginning, a limitless source of beingness, that needed/wanted (we can only surmise motivation) creation for Its own unfathomable ends.
Betty suggests that “All-That-Is-Not” could be enlarged upon a little more as pure potential and suggested the metaphor of a blank artist’s canvas, and that the motivation could be “to experience”.
Caveat: “All-That-Is” being bound or sourced by “All-That-Is-Not” seems like a dual perspective which, though satisfying to “simple minds” such as ours, should be considered merely a model as well.
We don’t even know if motivation is the correct perception, but from our diminutive standpoint, it’s all we can conceive that makes sense to us.
While The Absolute does not need our “worship”, apparently there is value in our appreciation, as in later lessons we are told this builds the higher realms. What is important to us is that we are The Absolute – not all of It, but a direct part of It, and it is that part of us that gives us the power to realize all our own potential.
How about “What is important to us is that we are The Absolute – not all of It, but a significant, inseparable part of it, and it is that Absolute part of our nature that gives us the power to realize all our own potential.”
Practice assignments:
1. What do you perceive or conceive as “God”?
The all-encompassing, which includes all that is immanent and all that is transcendent. On the other hand, there is a perspective that perhaps nothing exists other than consciousness, that all that seems to be real is a construction within an amorphous playhouse called the mind. There are certainly indications that there is something out there other than self, but there is no other than self to verify, from the perspective of oneness. Duality is a convenient perspective for a limited awareness.
2. How much of this belief has been taught to you, and how much have you “divined” for yourself from your own experience?
It has been presented to me, I’ve examined it, it makes sense to me, and rings “true” or at least is satisfying.
3. Describe an experience in which you perceived a greater power at work in your life. To what did you attribute this apparent power?
During career week in high school, when asked to choose a tentative career, I chose “Systems Analyst” from a “Careers In Math” pamphlet since it made the most money. I didn’t really know what it was. I forgot about it, then 6 years later found myself in a Systems Analysis class and realized I had been guided. Having been enthused by Edgar Cayce readings, I assumed that I had created it by planting a seed and made choices which allowed the seed to sprout when the time was right. Whatever set of laws which governed experience seemed to be consistent with the Law of Karma as I understood it.
4. For your own information, determine what may make you feel guilty, and evaluate whether or not this feeling of guilt is appropriate to the situation.
I choose not to project guilt and not to propose/create a guilty situation. I endeavor to live in harmony.
5. If you are studying in a group, share as much of this as you can with others. Writing down your thoughts as you do these assignments will be of great assistance to you in your later studies. Dating them is also a good idea.
————————————————————————————