We are all more complex than we appear to be and
more than we will probably realize in a single lifetime, this is a
fact and the truth. I have often wondered what it is that
"causes" people to judge other people especially in a
negative way. Apparently this has been a poison in the mind of
mankind throughout history as even the Master Mind Jesus taught that
we are not to judge. From the Gospel of Luke 6:37 we can read, "Do
not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will
not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
Obviously he saw this as an ideal that we should all strive to attain
and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there must
have been a great deal of evidence coming to him to cause him to speak
out about judgments. And Shakespeare included this in
"Hamlet", "for there is
nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
And that's a fact.
Not all judgments
are apparent to others but only to those who hold such
judgments. Judgments can be passive and unspoken but still the
effects that they have on the mind and the soul of mankind is not
passive at all. Judgments are often revealed not by what is
said, but what is not said. Either way they are driven by the
soul of the individual and this is a hard truth for many to
realize. So hard in fact, that blame and excuses can become
passionately felt when the effects of judgment block the good in an
individual's life. And at this point we want to change ... which
is the intelligent reaction.
Let me share
with you some wisdom related to this from Horatio Dresser taken from
his book, "The Greatest Truth": "It
is clear that we must distinguish between the body and the self or
soul. When we turn from the body more specifically to the self,
we learn that the self is a complex being and demands careful
analysis. The fact that we are dissatisfied, and wish we might
change our disposition, shows that there are different aspects of the
self. What we complain of is not the full self, but the lower
nature, through whose experiences the higher nature is
evolving. What causes us to complain is the higher nature within
us spurring us to development. The lower self can be changed; it
is changing all the time. We may come to consciousness of that
change and aid it by idealistic thought.
The profounder
question is this: Do we really desire to change the higher
self? How many of us understand what the higher self is?
The whole question of individuality is involved in the answer.
In the ultimate sense of the word, individuality evidently means both
one's own most intimately personal self, the true ego, and the divine
ideal. The important thing in life is to realise the diviner
self in all its fullness, to express it for the good of
humanity. Individuality is the centre of the soul. It is
that which is original in us. When we pause to consider, we
discover that there is nothing we would sooner lose than this higher
self. As for changing it - why, it is one's soul. What one
really desires is not to change but more nobly to realise and manifest
the soul.
When we begin
to look at the self from this higher point of view, we learn that a
vast amount of time is misspent in the attempt to change the
self. We try to "make ourselves over" when in reality
there is nothing we would rather be than that which we truly are."
It is this trying to "make
ourselves over" that causes us to see in other people that which
we have within our own consciousness. Why? Because we can
only see in the world what we perceive to be true within our own mind,
heart and soul. There are people who will never look within
themselves for the reflection of what they see in the world or
especially in others. The Master Mind Jesus made it less
complex, at least for some, when he said, "when you see me, you
see the Father" ... in other words you see Spirit/Mind ... your
mind reflecting your beliefs, your judgments, your positive thoughts
or your bad attitude ... for G-d always reflects back to us what we
believe to be true.
Let's go back
to Horatio Dresser and let's be reminded that he was a Swedenborg
teacher: "There is a
sense, then, in which we can change our dispositions and change them
most effectively. One's disposition is one's way of thinking and
acting. Bring the higher self more into play and new habits will
be formed. A person of a nervous, excitable disposition may
become in a few years unusually calm and moderate. The change
does not come about by working on the nervousness and trying to calm
it, but by cultivating inner peace, poise, equanimity. Best of
all, the development of a wiser philosophy of life is accompanied by
peace of mind. It is remarkable what changes may be wrought by
persistence in the wiser direction. Some who have changed
themselves from restless, excitable persons to moderate, well-poised
individuals, find it difficult to persuade people that they were once
entirely lacking in repose.
Finally, the discovery that we
can change our dispositions means that selfishness is not
unconquerable. Everybody knows that selfishness will yield if
one will but make the effort. There is no excuse for taking this
part of ourselves as we find it. Before each of us there is a
spiritual ideal, and no one knows how far or how high the endeavour to
realise the ideal may carry the soul. Just as in a democratic
country it is always possible for people in the common walks of life
to rise into power, so in the spiritual universe "there is always
room at the top." There is a more or less fixed
individuality within each of us, but even this may be subject to
change. At any rate, no man fully knows himself as yet.
Meanwhile, the most rational procedure is to assume that we are
practically modifiable without limit. No one can hope too much
or dare too much in a universe where perfection is the ideal, where
the Christ spirit is ever ready to uplift, and where the grace of God
enables every man to "grow in grace."
What
is our "soul revealing" to us? That is a question each
of us must answer for ourselves. As we focus in our mind on our
ideals and cultivate patterns of thoughts within that foster a greater
realization of the immensity of our ability to create our greatest
joys yet, we shall find ourselves losing from our mind those thoughts
and beliefs that previously hindered our receptivity to the greater
things still that are ours to experience. We shall see in others
the incredible spirit that we feel within our own soul ... our soul
revealing the evolving transformation that is being awakened at the
deepest level of our being.
And
some final words from Horatio Dresser: "There
are few discoveries in regard to the human mind of more consequence
than the revelation which shows the power of prejudice. Some
might say that it is more important to become aware of the power of
fear, or to awaken to the influence and scope of suggestion. But
oftentimes a man's prejudices are far more deeply rooted than his
fears, and to show him the power of suggestion you must show him that
his life is narrowed by his preconceptions. One may be aware of
fear and may be valiantly at work to overcome it, but the peculiarity
of a prejudice is that one is unconscious of it. To discover
that one is prejudiced is forthwith to see that in the respect in
question one stands absolutely in one's own light."
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the
faith!
Rev.
Henry Bates
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