THE SCHOOL OF TRUTH LECTURE I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE

We have heard over numerous lectures given from people's individual experience how beneficial it is to become aware of the power that is within us. But how are we simply to make contact with that power, the Spirit of God within? To many people this may seem to be difficult - but it is not so. We simply have to open our minds and hearts to the divine inflow which is waiting for the door to be opened to it. Just like water flows when a tap is opened, and when the door within is opened and the flow is released, we are then conscious of the spirit of God within. The first thing is that there must be a sincere earnest desire, but this is inborn within us. We don't need to seek outside of ourselves, we just need to release from within and come into contact with it. It is good to separate ourselves from the agitation and disturbances of the world that enter through the physical senses to separate for some periods each day - just collecting ourselves interiorly for a few minutes and entering the silence. If our environment is not what we would like it to be, then we must train ourselves to tune out the noise and there to feel alone with God, putting ourselves into a receptive mood, quietly, calmly and expectantly desiring the oneness and illumination that comes when this realisation takes possession of the soul. This manifestation will be felt in the mind, and in every part of the body, and to the extent that we are able to open ourselves to it, will we be able to feel a quiet, peaceful, uplifting power that will harmonise and align the mind and body with the soul. Harmonise and align the mind and body with the soul. This level of consciousness will then radiate out into the world, and once we have attained this raised consciousness our endeavour should be to maintain it as long as we are able in all the activities of our lives, in home, at the office, and in fact in all situations in which we find ourselves.

Certainly we may sometimes feel that we cannot always live with this ultimate raised consciousness, but the periods in which we can dwell there will become longer and longer, and when we do "come down" as if from the mountain top, we will not descend into the lower valleys, but will remain on the high ridges. Through this practice we come to realise that the universal spirit, love, wisdom, peace, power and plenty, is guiding, protecting and leading us. This consciousness is to be in prayer without ceasing, the realisation that "I" and my father are one, we are born again and walk and talk with God - we are illumined. The basic requirement is to want it, to desire it, and the Bible tells us in Psalm 42:1 "As the hart panteth after water, so panteth my heart after thee O God". The hart is a type of deer, and we can visualise the deer hot and thirsty, seeking water perhaps in the Scottish Highlands. We can see this in our spiritual eye. So, we need to set our feet on the path, to be earnest and persistent in our purpose and we will surely reach our goal. But of course if we do not begin, or if we are not working in the right direction, we will not succeed. As Goethe said - "Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute: what you can do, or dream you can, begin it; boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Only engage and then the mind grows hearted; begin, and then the work will be completed." And as Siddhartha said - "I have awakened to the truth, and I am resolved to accomplish my purpose and the realisation of Nirvana (oneness with God)." So did Siddhartha become the Buddha, the enlightened one, and he taught that this realisation is possible for all people. Buddha became the light bearer to millions of people throughout the world. Our experience of Buddhists in the north of Thailand is that they are the gentlest, kindest people you could ever wish to meet.

Let us try to be like that. Our own Master Jesus Christ said "know ye not that I must be about my Father's business", and he made this the great purpose of his life until he came into a full and complete realisation that "I" and my Father are one. The Master taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, available to all who seek it. So did Jesus give this great teaching - "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be added unto you". People’s lives are greatly changed when they enter the Kingdom of God - through the realisation of their oneness with the infinite. They open themselves to divine guidance and become examples of the reality of this great and all important truth. These people’s lives are guided, not only in a general direction but literally in every detail. They live in the realisation of their oneness with the infinite being, continuously in harmony with it. Further an abundance of all good things is theirs, the supply always seems to equal the demand. Continually conscious that they are being guided by higher powers, these people are in tune with the divine current that permeates the world. All the frictions, anxieties and disorders of life come to us because we accept the conditions and are out of harmony with the infinite. When we are in tune with the infinite, the spiritual, the mental and the physical aspects of life come into harmony, and life becomes full and complete. Jesus said "My yoke is easy and the burden is light." Negative emotions no longer control us: For dwelling within himself his thoughts serene, man finds imperishable happiness. The physical is subordinated to, and rules by the mental, and the mental is subordinated to, and illumined by the spiritual, and so is the soul expressed into life. Then life is not the miserable, poor, closed limited existence that it was previously, but becomes open, expanding and full of joy in all areas, the consciousness is raised and expressed into life.

As we live in the higher realisation that God and I are one, the senses are not ignored, but become more perfected, and powers that we did not know we possess, become gradually developed. So do we come, in a perfectly natural and normal way into the super-conscious realms where it becomes possible for the higher laws and truths to become known to us. As we enter these realms, we no longer discuss the rightness of any spiritual path, or religion for we recognize that all spiritual paths are the right ones for those who are following them. So we make it possible for the truth to be revealed to us, and we in turn become enlightened and reveal them to others through the subtle silent force going out from us, and so do we radiate peace, love, joy and upliftment to all that we meet, and not only that, but we become a source of inspiration, a light unto the world.