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INTRODUCTION: Then GOD said: “Let us make man in our own image and likeness, to resemble us, with mastery over everything.” Why “Us” when GOD is only One? Because the Infinite is Father-God and Mother-God, out of which ALL is created. The Father is the Consciousness (Awareness) – the Will which directs and the Mother is the Intelligence – that which brings forth Form. The
dual aspect of Mankind, is the same as the dual aspect of the Infinite. Man, in his spiritual state, is both male and
female NOTE: The
Garden of Eden is an allegory (parable or metaphor). The Garden of Eden
is the “Garden of the Soul”. It is the
garden in which man’s soul functions, works, acts, creates. The plants which man must tend and cultivate
are thoughts and ideas of Life. In the
garden, the main tree is the Tree of Life, and the other is the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil. These Trees
are represented as being in the centre of the Garden. They are the central point, for from this
point all other ideas must flow outwards. Human life is an
action that takes place in three worlds; spiritual, intellectual and
physical. So when reading the
Scriptures, we should know about which world we are reading. The spiritual is the
supreme, and is absolutely perfect. In
the first chapter of Genesis, we read that GOD saw that his work was good. The Divine eye could find no flaw anywhere,
and we should note carefully, that this absolute perfect creation includes man. But as soon as we descend into the
intellectual world, which is the world of man’s conception of things, it is
quite different. Man’s conceptions result from the fact
that he does not realise the true spiritual nature of things, resulting in the
misdirection of his creative power of thought, which produces corresponding
results and misinformed ideas of reality. Man misdirects the power of thought. Man sees that here is something else besides
“all that is good”. His intellectual
nature sees “evil” as a power in the world, opposing good. The intellect is a necessary adjunct to
mankind, but when he treats it as infallible, then he creates errors, and by so
doing out-pictures these errors in his mind, body and circumstances. It is always the deepest thought that
manifests. You do not get what you want,
but what you think about deeply – thus man’s conceptions bring forth his own
misconceptions, because of the law inherent in his Being. Man
was created in the image and likeness of GOD - in the spiritual state with the
same creative power to create. GOD told
man that he must not partake of the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil, for by
doing so he would die in his sin (die in his ignorance). This Tree was of the Intellect, when man saw
evil as well as good, and by doing so the Intellect dwelt upon evil and
naturally man lived then in the illusion of the evil. Because man continued to live in this
illusion, GOD put him out of the Garden of Eden, for he was no longer spiritual
or perfect in his thought; he saw evil and was blind to his own true
state. Thus man no longer saw that what
GOD created was good, and so developed the evil in man’s mind – evil thoughts
of GODs creation (including himself).
Man could no longer remain in the Garden of Eden (his spiritual state),
so he divorced himself from the perfect and he created the evil which he saw. Thus
he lived in a world of illusion that he himself had created and was blind to
the Truth of the All-Good. As long as
man mixes up the Tree of Life with the Tree of Good and Evil, so will he live
in the world of illusion, sorrow and conflict.
It is man’s ideas and images that cause separation and misery to himself
and to the world in which he lives. What
one believes, so it is unto him. Because
man’s creative power is one with the creative power in the universe – what he
thinks, so it is unto him. Good and evil
are relative terms (Intellectual perceptions that differ from person to person),
and the fruit is the growth or manifestation of these – so man eats of the
effects and has lost himself in illusion.
We are bound up in the effects (manifestation) of our own causes
(thoughts). The Freedom of Truth comes
when we discern the causes (thoughts) in ourselves and remove them. Man’s
spiritual evolution or unfoldment begins when he realises his awareness as
being one with the Infinite Awareness. When
we realise the perfect spiritual state, it will manifest – for it will come
forth of its own free will. This is the
Law of our living, and the Law of Life – that
what we know to be true, becomes true.
It can only be when you realise your own creative power – “made in the
image and likeness of GOD”, when you accept it fully in your life, that it will
be proclaimed in the external (that it will manifest in your life). To
raise the Life Principle into the spiritual state, where a man’s spiritual
understanding enables him to control everything beneath him, a man must first master himself through love and
understanding. Then he becomes aware of
his spiritual state while living in the physical. Without the recognition of this
life-principle man will toil forth in his illusion and misery. The
great deception is that we accept the “knowledge of evil” as being necessary
with “the knowledge of good” – so we continue to eat of the Tree of Knowledge
of Good and Evil. Knowledge of itself is
good, but thinking that “evil” should be studied as knowledge is deadly to the
Soul, because of the Law of Creative Thought.
The more we dwell on the conditions we ourselves create, the more
powerful they appear to us, and naturally affect us accordingly. The
great mistake man makes, is his own conception of evil giving it equal
authority to good, with GOD as some balancing point between them both. If the true teachings of the Christ were
adhered to, man would Free himself to the Truth. Man must emulate the Divine then he brings
forth his true nature. Harmony in
oneself is always expressing and attracting harmony – thus we have health and
happiness. MANs SALVATION: In this world
of form and phenomena, where the Spirit of GOD is individualised in man, the
Law is that we find ourselves through His Law of Causation. We eventually find that we ourselves are the
Cause of all effects we produce – hence knowledge and understanding of this Law
is necessary. Man must realise that
within himself is the cause and the cure.
Open yourself to your real Self – the Christ within (the Spirit of GOD
within). When the Soul is filled with
Divine Light, there is no room for darkness. Man
will learn from experience that evil has proceeded from his own inverted
conceptions, and is not founded upon Truth, but the opposite. Truth
is nothing but Good – this is what GOD proclaimed in the beginning. This is what enables man to rise – to take
hold of the Tree of Life. He then lives
in the Eternal and the Eternal lives in him, bringing forth Beauty, Wisdom and
Happiness. Man, in himself, is to GOD
according to the degree that he realises the truth of his real Being. The fruit of the spiritually enlightened mind
is the recognition of man’s Divine Sonship.
It is the realisation of the fact that he is, indeed, the image and
likeness of GOD. This is the Truth, the
knowledge that would set us free. Each
one who attains this knowledge realises that he is at once the son of man and the son of GOD. It
is ALL good, beyond our conception of “good” as a relative term; therefore,
there can be no evil. How could the Son
of man remove defects if they were created by the Infinite? Therefore, the Infinite is One and man must
be one with Him. This is conclusive, and
the final statement regarding man. “I
am the Life, the Father and I are One”. Heaven
is a state of harmony, peace and plenty, love and wisdom. The natural man is the God-man (the God
realised man). He is simple in his ways,
kind in his manners, always eager to do good for his fellow man. CONCLUSION: (1) The great Truth concerning man is that he is
made in the image and likeness of GOD who is given mastery over
everything. (2) Man is at first ignorant of the Truth, and
this ignorance is his Fall. By his own
creative power he creates those self imposed conditions from which he suffers. (3) Man,
at last, comes to the perfect understanding of the Truth – his oneness with
Life and this understanding enables him, as he is instructed to do, overcome
and master all things. “I am the Life, the Father and I are One”. I
AM THE LIFE (by Murdo MacDonald-Bayne) |
Eliza - Reconnective Healing Practitioner