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Edna Lister’s Lectures 1969
Five Important Steps in Ascension
Edna Lister recording script, January 5, 1969, Moreland Hills, CA
What is ascension? Since we are dealing with soul conquering, it must have reference to something invisible and spiritual. We have found through our past seeking that it does refer to a very vital part of our soul growth and the gaining, through illumination, of a higher comprehension of God as the Source of all life.
To understand just what the doing of all the “greater works” means, we must have a definite and clear conception of our own identity with the Source of all life. To understand that Source of all life, we must accept a Being of Light, a God back of all action, a divine Mind, all-powerful and all-controlling in its creative ability.
To take advantage of the rewards promised for conquering, for learning earth’s lessons, we must accept ascension as the only way in which to reach a higher state of consciousness, because only through a continuously ascending consciousness can we grow in the stature of the Christ strong enough to stand steadfast and expectant in the Light.
Our Bible textbook basis for ascension is found in the twenty-fourth chapter of St. Luke: “And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.”–Luke 24:50-51.
All metaphysics teaches the law of resurrection as the only way to be lifted out of the old, limited ways of ignorant living, into the new ways of truth. Jesus had appeared and disappeared many times, thus preparing them for his last disappearance. Because of his repeated appearing and disappearing, it does seem to make it the more logical and reasonable to think we are meant to follow ascension as part of the greater works.
For us, ascension becomes a simple art of moving up in consciousness by the practice of letting go of the old ways through resurrection, such resurrection being the act of reconditioning our thinking through living as a Christed one. This can be achieved by obeying the following five important laws found in the Master’s teachings.
The full purpose of our ascension through conquering is to have our identity-contact with our Source become so strong that the spiritual Power shall pour through us mentally, emotionally and in all material ways to make perfect our creations. We shall be known by our works. Only the results of this inner conquering can be seen by the world.
To ascend is the only way in which to awaken the dormant faculties within the soul, those hidden treasures of the powers of Being which, when awakened, put forth the call to the Source of divine Mind, allowing all the potential powers of God to move into our creations. These five laws are to be taken as the first opening steps for the student on the pathway of the Christ, which covers the Thirty-three Degrees of the Via Christa way.
Through conquering is the only way to becoming a fully Christed one, a Christed individual, and the only real mystery about the Via Christa way is how to begin walking the long path, from the first unconscious faith in God of self-expression into that final conscious faith of God, of soul-expression, which leads, inevitably, into full conscious comprehension of God. From self-expression into soul-identity with the Source of all life is our goal as we walk the Way of the Christ.
Once our identity as fully begotten souls is established, not created, not just evolved, but begotten in the full consciousness of our God-likeness, we begin to realize our own immortality here and now, waiting to be expressed.
These first five steps do open the first five gates of Maya [illusion], of which there are seven, gates of Maya being the mystical term for the mists of earth that form layers of darkness between us and the different levels of consciousness found between us and the Source of all Wisdom. Until we learn to conquer and properly control the Power released with each unveiling of the mysteries before us, we are and must be protected by these gates of Maya. These gates, or veils of Maya cause us to stop, look and listen, this pause allowing the Light of illumination to break through to us.
From the neophyte’s first inspirational seeking after God or Light, the first veil of Maya grows less dense, and as we stand and praise, the Light from above absorbs the veils of darkness earth has produced. The instant we start our conquering, the Light from above draws us onward and into that glory that only truly hungering and thirsting after righteousness can bring to us. From the very beginning, it becomes inevitable that there is no turning back.
Even though the way seems to grow harder, we find that we must proceed to ascend and grow until we can and do express the true Christ-likeness of God. As we conquer, we learn to speak the words, “Let there be Light,” under any situation produced by earth. We find ourselves freed from all slavery to outer conditions. We become too busy practicing the laws, as disciples and followers of our Lord, Jesus the Christ, to be bothered by distractions of earth and we find ourselves becoming living ensamples of the law instead of just ordinary, outer, everyday examples of the Law.
These five steps form a scientific ladder between this world of time and space, where every day is a school day with its lessons to be learned, and that new world of our Source of potential powers. The gates swing wide and we find ourselves standing as the Light, and feel the potential greater powers of God using us for the greater ways and works.
The first step of the five lessons we must learn is part of every method given for the study of laws and truth: “Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all else shall be added unto thee” is found in the sixth chapter of Matthew, the thirty-third verse. That first seeking is usually a slow process, since we spend time seeking a method. Many times we grow weary because we see no outer results and allow indifference and forgetfulness to leave us floundering about in old ways, which bury us in doubts and fears.
The answer is to find a way that becomes an act, an instantaneous habit of action at every sign of being approached by the world vibration of fears and doubts, opinions and prejudices, an act coming from such a confidence in our identity with God as our Source that nothing can touch us or cause the dimming of our faith. To think of God as the Source of all Light is an abstract vision greater than all of earth and its creations, yet we must add something to it that is practical enough to hold us to our vision, beyond the point of being disturbed by the outer distractions of earth. Just to say, “Let there be Light,” is inadequate to hold us unless we add something to it that can involve our imagination and make it one with our vision.
Only to think about Light as the Source of all creation invokes the full Power of the Almighty and moves it forth to fulfill our desires, but it does not hold our full attention long enough. So, as we say the words, Let there be Light, we must visualize, through imagination, a picture of a sun center of Light into which we then actually feel ourselves moving, moving into the warmth, the brilliance of its glory.
Here we stand, bathed in this original Light, our own center of Light, our hidden place from earth, untouchable by anything of earth, yet knowing we can feel this Light flowing forth through our earth body at the same time and into all of our creations, vitalizing and quickening them into miracles as we stand here unwaveringly. This is the Light from which all things were made in the beginning and to which all things must return, since there is no place else to go. Therefore, we decide to make this sun center of Light our simple act of faith and have no need to seek further, for we have found our own Source of Power.
The beauty of our find is that we can step into our new kingdom of Light in an instant, as we go to answer a doorbell or a telephone call. One instant of time and the swift act of using our computer Mind, with its built-in tool of imagination, allowing the vision of our sun center to take over and absorb us and we are free of earth.
For our commission to use Light for this first step, we open our Bible at James, Chapter 1, verse 17. “For every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
At our first call upon Light, as we awake in the morning, our sun center is filled with glory and so we say, “Let there be Light.” Our body is recharged with life, renewed is our soul, and Power moves into all our creations with a protective vibration, enfolding us for the day.
Since the Bible is our textbook and the Sermon on the Mount holds every law we need to obey to learn our earth lessons, we take our second step from Matthew 5:25: “Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him.” Not hours later, not tomorrow, but right now. It has been thought by some to be a stupid law. It has even been interpreted, in some instances, and used to avoid telling the truth. It does not mean lying to agree with an adversary.
There is no need to be dishonest or cover up the truth for anything. There is no dishonesty in saying to the person, “I can see how that seems to be the truth to you,” even though the statement might be an outrageous one. All we need to do is to keep silent about our own ideas. Our opinions are not interesting to any adversary. To want to argue to convince another is only being a showoff. Smile, be silent, saying mentally, Let there be Light!
There are several lesser laws involved in this truly great one of agreeing. The first one to learn is that we never can know, by any means, exactly what is right or wrong for another. God has made this impossible for us to do. Our business with this law is to know one thing only: When adversaries approach, we are supposed to know instantly what is right or wrong for us, then to stand silently and hold fast to our own right way. There is no law telling us we have to speak. Silence does the agreeing, in the Light, with our adversary. Any words can shatter our own high vibration of Light.
We hold fast to our knowing that divine Mind never gives us the right to know what the other fellow really needs. Each one is in his own place, learning his karmic lessons, and disagreeing with anyone is sure to disturb the very plan of life lesson from above being presented to him. We dare not forget, when agreeing with an adversary, that to declare Light is one thing the Power needs to make the lesson mean ascension for him. An adversary, and his reason for being one, is the most unimportant thing in our lives.
To agree demands of us that we ignore our adversary’s intent to hurt or wound, and to quickly find some reason for praising him. To say, “How wonderful you are,” to an adversary lifts us out of slavery to the world and into our own sun center of Light, where nothing can touch us. To use praise for an adversary causes him frustration until he forgets his original intention and departs.
The third step in ascension is used by every beginner in truth. It is found in St. John 21:22: “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.”This command of Jesus involves one of the lesser Laws to use in following these five steps. It means “judge not.” Only God can know and judge anyone justly. When we obey this step perfectly, it leaves us ample time to attend to our own affairs. It also frees all our family, our friends, and the world, of our own opinions and prejudices. It really means, “I free everyone of my ideas, and free myself to ascend, and free myself of paying the debts of judging. I mind my own business.”
The fourth step is a tricky one to follow, for it deals with all our idle words and silly actions. It really polishes the first three commands. In first Thessalonians 5:22 we find: “Abstain from the appearance of evil.” To ascend on it, we must apply it in four ways: through words, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Every word we speak creates after its degree and kind. The Word is God in action; it is His substance going forth to fill our molds.
If we find ourselves under the necessity of saying, “Oh, I didn’t mean that,” we have been using idle words. Any gossip or stories we repeat create more debts for everyone, especially for the one at their source, debts which we must share. We are wholly responsible for everything we create, conscious or unconsciously. Debts must be paid.
To use unconscious idle words, we automatically let go of our own high state of consciousness, and soon we are using our own precious soul substance for idle word creations, because we have fallen back into old, lesser vibrations. Idle words result in a lowered quality and quantity of Power moving through us, into our affairs, therefore we set a firm watch upon our daily expression of life, as we accept full responsibility for all our debts. We avoid all appearance of darkness, while resurrecting all thinking, emotions and words.
The fifth step is very important. In fact, there can be no ascension without it. St. John 12:32, says: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, shall draw all men unto me.” Since this is a purely metaphysical Law, it means to be caught up in a high state of consciousness by the magnetic Power of God. It means we must stand immovable and steadfast within our visualized sun center of Light at all times, with no more need to seek, since we have found our universal place and our identity with our Source of all life.
When we feel that we do not deserve what we have drawn to us, that we do not warrant this thing we so dislike, then we must remember that all our earth lessons are named and numbered with our own rate of vibration under karmic law, and only our own rate of vibration can touch us. Hence, comes the statement, “only mine own can come to me.” Therefore, whatever we draw to us is for our own lesson, to be learned for our soul conquering. As a lesson, it may be a leftover from a past life, or even one we have been seeking to avoid in the present. We now declare, “Let there be Light upon this lesson. Let it be worked together for good, now!”
When we stand in our sun center, and Light radiates through us, it becomes actual rays of repulsion as it leaves our body and aura. These rays of repulsion penetrate out into all darkness, as far away from us on earth as we have ascended high in soul consciousness. “Let there be Light,” sings our ascended soul. Light to make our life a sun spot of glory, shining out to bless all men whom we contact, whom we draw to us for the invincible rays of God’s healing Power to lift up into their own sun center of life. Let all darkness left on earth be consumed now! Hour by hour, we are empowered to ascend into a greater glory of illumination, and we shall be One, possessed of God, and by God’s great creative Power of Light. Let there be Light!
What Is Principle?
Edna Lister recording script, January 5, 1969, Moreland Hills, CA
What is principle? Principle is the absolute, universal, unchangeable, undeviating, immutable foundation upon which all universes are based and established, and under which they operate eternally. We declare that God is both personality and principle, personality which sustains all its creations and principle which directs and controls all that is created. We declare that heaven is both a state of consciousness under the controlled action of divine Mind, and a place wherein personality lives, moves and has its being.
For the purpose of finding our identity and for understanding the action of God’s Mind as man, we separate the Mind of God into five great categories or phases of expression of Mind. The outermost one is named psychology, next come metaphysics, then science, philosophy and lastly, mysticism. No one can see Mind operating, only the results of its work can be seen in the body and affairs. The result is determined by whether we use Mind or let the perfection of Mind and Power use us. Remember that while we use these five phases as distinct, each from the other, they are forever the One and inseparable Mind, and are working and expressing as One. Since we have already acknowledged that we are created in the image and likeness of God, and because we know nothing comes from nothing, we must affirm our divine Source.
Psychology teaches us that we condition our lives through the use we make of our three creative tools—imagination, thinking and desire—and that only by changing the use of our creative tools can we recondition our lives. To believe that we were created to use Mind, Power and Substance in demand-declarations conditions us to weakness, illness, lack and limitation. To declare the truth of our creation, and to believe it, creates perfection on every level: the physical, the emotional, the mental and the spiritual is a must; therefore, we know and declare that God created us for Mind, Power and Substance to use. Since the state of our consciousness has definitely caused our present condition, we must accept our full responsibility for our present state. And by picturing only that which we want to manifest in body and affairs, by thinking only positive, constructive thoughts of what we desire to express, then standing and knowing that divine Mind desires perfection for us far above all our desires, we let our new molds be filled until they condense and become visible. In gratitude we praise and move into a state of consciousness where we let the Power do the work. Through the study of psychology, which is God’s Mind operating as man, we establish our identity with our Source of life. Man cannot thoroughly understand his relationship to man until he first finds out what his original relationship to God was in the beginning, and still continues to be. All confusion in the world can be traced back to this loss of our original relationship to God, our only Source of life.
Psychology deals with the expression of Mind as man. It has unfolded for us its operation through created man on three distinct levels of consciousness. These three lesser phases of Mind as man form the sum total of man’s personality. We are one ego, one soul, dwelling in this outer form or sheath we call the physical body. But as Mind, it operates on three levels: the subconscious, the conscious and the super-conscious mind of man. In our scientific study of these five phases of creative Mind, we name in our study of mysticism these three as appetitive soul, rational soul and Oversoul, but they refer to the same thing; three functions of the One Mind as man.
Psychology deals with the study of the universal Mind of God as man, or the personality of God as the personality of man. Psychology deals with the study of the science of God’s Mind as it functions through man in the three phases of subconscious, conscious and superconscious mind; so separated into these three phases of Mind to suit the needs and requirements for his expression on earth. The study of academic psychology deals with the absolute and abstract laws governing Mind. The study of practical psychology deals with the concrete and relative secondary and primary laws governing the functioning of the subconscious mind in man. Academic psychology deals with man’s relationship to his Source. Practical psychology deals with man’s relationship to man.Psychology and metaphysics march hand in hand and must be studied together.
Metaphysics deals with or pertains to that which we perceive with the Powers of Mind. Physics deals with that which we see and which can be proven in a laboratory by measurements with instruments. Metaphysics, through perception, finds the basis for existence and shows the individual his Source. Physics shows and proves its outer and material expression. Metaphysics deals with the realm of Mind. Physics deals with the realms of the outer application of Mind. Metaphysics declares Spirit substance as of Being. Physics unfolds its operation into material appearance.
Metaphysics, or applied Mind Power, enables us to function as gods on the inner. Physics enables us to function and to become visible as an outer form. One begins with the inner Light on the inner levels, and brings it forth into outer expression, the other, as science, takes form in the outer and again resolves its component parts back into Light, from which it came forth. Metaphysics deals with that realm which is just beyond our fingertips, invisible to the physical eye. It is the substance used by mathematics as the invisible dot which, when extended into a line, is the postulated invisible basis for all higher mathematical calculations. Metaphysics investigates and studies the science of being. Metaphysics does not deviate from absolute principle but it does, by modifying and lowering the vibration of absolute principle, restate principle as primary law, into language that the finite mind can grasp and apply. It states principle in terms that each level of intelligence can understand.
Science. The scientific phase of Mind studies the exact nature of things and how they operate. In its operation, it is both visible and invisible. It is an exact science because it can measure the invisible with its new special instruments for measuring. Science has proven the truth of metaphysics for the student, who in the past had to postulate, assume and accept on faith alone. Science studies knowledge for its own sake, without any thought of heavenly gains. Yet, the student knows that the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus’ teachings are based on the most exact of scientific laws. However, because of the mental and emotional disturbances in the student’s life, it is difficult for some to prove these laws. When the followers of Jesus have stood firm without wavering, they have proven without any doubt that the formulas for healing given by Jesus were exact and scientific, thousands have had miracles by their use. There is no complete ascension of the soul possible without the use of the scientific approach as a ladder between the outer psychology and metaphysics and the inner philosophy and mysticism.
Philosophy is the study of the three great principles of omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence. Since the great prefix omni means “in all ways, in all places, and of all things,” we realize that our metaphysical statement that God is everywhere evenly present has been modified from these three omni principles. It is a perfect example of how statements are modified. So does philosophy postulate our Source of life for us, and only through the study of philosophy as the hidden wisdom religion of God, can we prove our metaphysics as the truth of scientific being. From philosophy comes our basic scientific definition of principle. Any discrepancies found in philosophy have come from man’s mistaken interpretation of what he sees or hears and not from the principles governing philosophy itself. Since philosophy deals with God as principle, individual study and experiences have given us positive, stable conclusions. And when we correctly follow in obedience all rules under philosophy, we shall have stable results.
Mysticism. Our last and fifth phase or category is altogether invisible and each one must apply his own set of rules for the opening of the mystic eye, the third eye of all Mysteries. There are the general scientific rules of psychology and metaphysics for practice training in discipline and obedience that must be followed by every student. There is no shortcut to mysticism. However, each student must adapt the practice of mysticism to suit his own time and space practice. Mysticism deals entirely with God as personality and man’s relationship to it.
Mysticism deals with that which is mysterious and, because it is always veiled, vaguely stated, made obscure and hard to interpret, it is often misunderstood. This is a necessary precaution taken for the safety of the student, for it is through personality, only, that Power can be invoked. The mysteries are so veiled as to protect the seeker after Power, making it nearly impossible for the student to release Power he has no ability to control. Only with complete comprehension of what released Power is capable of doing is it safe to invoke it. The invisible Power is as great as the difference between the horse and buggy stage and a jet powered plane. The veil between the visible world and the invisible Source is fast being torn asunder. The unknown is becoming the known.
Science is already doing the greater work promised the followers of Jesus. We have the potential ability, and the greater Power is ready and waiting to be invoked for our healing work now, if we let the Light do the work. The real nature of God as personality can only be revealed to man through his study of mysticism. Principle tells us about God. Personality, as a Father opening all the doors of devotion for man, becomes a living, breathing, o’ershadowing Being of Light to follow upward in ascension of mind, heart, body and affairs gladly and joyously.
Jesus gave us this so-great gift, a comforting, understanding, a believable, acceptable Father who neither slumbers nor sleeps, but is ever present and available to hear our call. The church gave us the first Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Metaphysics followed much later with the modern trinity of the Father, Mother and the Son. Today we know that the Father-God Principle of Wisdom and the Mother-God principle of Love combine as One and become the Light from which all form is created. Today we know that original Light must contain all that is at the Source, so we form our new trinity of Mind, Power and Substance for our present day creations.
When we use our miracle words, “Let there be Light,” Mind touches the master switch which sends Power into action, and Power must act upon Substance, causing it to fill our creative molds. When we, the Christed ones, stand in unwavering faith, holding fast to our vivid imagination, allowing nothing to interfere with our burning desire, while breathing deeply and reaching for the stars, we cannot avoid the abundance, the lavishness of our miracles. Our bodies and affairs follow a strong divine pattern as we conquer self, overcome all obstacles, and live by the Light of the soul, our divine identity of immortality established here and now.
Prayer
Oh, Thou, the Source of all life, the glory of all souls, Thou who dost sustain Thy Creations with the Light and the glory of Thyself, hear us as we offer our devotion and give unto Thee our gratitude for all Thou hast ever done for us in the past when we were unconscious of our Source and when we knew not our identity with Thee. Let this immortality of our souls show through. Let us ever be conscious that the Light is doing the work. “Not I, but my Father does the work, my Father works hitherto” and every desire of my heart for a miracle is now established and sustained by the Light of the Living God and shall become manifest. Thank You, Father. Thank you, Lord. We hear, we heed, we obey and our lives shall be a glory unto Thee. Thank You, Father! Amen.
Faith in Action
Edna Lister recording script, January 15, 1969, Moreland Hills, CA
Faith in action! “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”-Hebrews 11:1. This verse is a very mystical answer to our question, What is faith? Faith is a substance. What substance? we ask. We move into the second statement in the verse, still puzzled over how faith can be called evidence. Of course, in the beginning, God created form from Light, so we must consider faith as Light. Through science we learn that Light condenses into energy, and energy into mass, and we know that mass can become form. Faith is a mystical, spiritual word, yet it must be related to material form. In this verse it is called both substance and evidence.
We know that there is a magic connected with the word faith. Therefore, let us declare it a keyword that man may use to open a vibration that allows Light to condense through many different degrees until it is ready to become form solid enough to be seen with physical eyes. Faith, as the evidence of things not seen, is still puzzling, but it is becoming clearer. Because of the confidence with which this statement is made, we perceive that it hides in mystery from the student, that it is the first great challenge that should cover overall the doubts and fears in the minds of men.
Man is now challenged to accept that there must be, that there is, a divine Mind behind all Creation. This challenge should be the number one greatest possible choice in our lives. It is to show us man’s complete freedom to make a choice at any time, either of acceptance or repudiation of anything. Every individual lives daily under the necessity of choice. Man may avoid the application of choice to the matter of faith, but escape from choice is an attitude of repudiation. Putting off choosing is, in itself, an act of rejection. To avoid accepting the challenge of faith as evidence of the Power behind all creation is repudiation, an attitude assumed by the one who repudiates. Repudiation is an act of belligerency, and a fighting attitude assumed by some to proclaim their independence, with no need for either man or God. To reject or repudiate anything presented at any time before considering it is an act indicating an escape desire, all covered up under the surface of the conscious mind, and also an ingrowing, or even a shrinking mind-consciousness. This is referred to in the Bible in the verse that says that “To him who hath not, the little he hath shall be taken.” To repudiate before accepting is an act of pushing the world away, and usually is born from a life attitude of self-satisfaction.
To accept everything presented to us for consideration before rejecting it meets the challenge of faith as evidence of things not seen in an active, seeking, alert way that opens doors before us and bestows upon us added things. To accept faith as such evidence is a deep inner belief to see the glory of the Lord. To repudiate means that the individual must see before he can believe or accept faith as evidence of God. The implication following acceptance as a choice is that we know faith has become the outer expression of the principle of nonresistance. Light invoked enfolds itself completely in this greatest of all principles. Nonresistance is the first absolute principle, which in man becomes a relative principle, but never changing or becoming less as action. It is all-powerful from Light to outer form, even though the vibration is lower than the substance is condensed on every level as it descends to become form. Of course, since all things are formed of Light, it is present in all things, as all things, and is found in all places; and there is no level where anything can be left out. Every smallest combination of substance and energy contains all that is of Light. Science declares that we cannot add to nor take from universal energy. It is forever the same in quality and quantity, but we can change its manifold combinations. All conditions, all healing miracles are based upon these facts.
We can only accept faith as our evidence when faith becomes our outer expression of an inner comprehension of our identity with our Source of life. Through acceptance, faith becomes the base upon which we stand, as upon a footstool, when we reach for the stars. Faith is also the live wire of omnipotence, which reaches above us to meet the vibration of the principle of nonresistance descending as substance and energy. When the two make contact, an explosion takes place within us, which we call an illumination. When we accept this challenge of faith as “the evidence of things not seen,” and move up into the Light, we actually become this evidence to the world. As we reach for more Light, it shines upon us, and our faith becomes a reflection shining back up to our Source of Light, causing a stronger flow of substance and energy to move down to us to fill and condense in all our creative molds.
To move into the Light is our signal of acceptance, and “the evidence of things not seen” appears before the world as a beautiful attitude of inner stillness, of poise and Power. This attitude of poise and Power becomes our challenge against all darkness in the world and, all unconsciously, we become a rebuke to those who still desire above all things to reject anything which curtails their self-satisfaction and self-indulgence.
Standing still while saying, “Let there be Light,” is our answer to the challenge of faith as the evidence of things not seen. Standing still becomes the actual practice in the use of the active power of nonresistance, which instantly begins to work things together for our good. It also sets into motion the law of just appraisal, and we find it easy to stand still and know before moving or speaking. We are also waiting upon the Lord for our answer before passing in judgment upon another, and we find disagreeable things turning into miracles. Sometimes we call this attitude of standing still and letting God do the work for us, “placing our burden upon an altar of Light,” knowing that the Light invoked from the Source can absorb all the weight of any burden.
Remember that first seeking the Light, then standing still in that Light without speaking is the most powerful weapon of faith in action under the principle of nonresistance. It is not only the faith that moves mountains, it is also the Power that turns away wrath, which is a mystical way of saying, “This faith absorbs karma.” We find ourselves alive and more alert in our ability to vision and think. Our vibration of expectancy grows more and more potent, more powerful. We find that to reject and repudiate anything as an instantaneous action leads us into nothing, while the attitude of acceptance leads upward into greater strength, and we soon reach that place where world things cannot disturb us or bind us into slavery. Anything that causes us heartache or hurts us is making us a slave. We must stand untouched by what the world does, or we are not free.
Since all life is based upon the same laws of expansion and contraction, we realize that we must choose each day which law of life to live under. According to our choice, we raise or lower the vibration of substance allotted to us for our creations while our thinking determines the form. Our choice either expands our form or causes it to shrink. What is our choice? By tuning in on the fundamental laws of all creation, we can take everything that comes to us under the Power contained in and issuing from just appraisal. Exactly what is and what do we mean by just appraisal? We are not supposed to allow ourselves to be made over or pushed around by anything or anyone. Unless we stand in poised stillness we can grow suspicious of anything or anyone, even descending into judgment of another.
o make a just appraisal of anyone, anything or any situation, we must not react in repudiation to it, even though we feel or may know it to be wrong. We accept Light and say, “Let there be Light,” then stand still and wait. The right words of refusal to be moved or touched are not rejection or counted as a judgment, and right words will be put upon our lips. Standing still and waiting does free others from ourselves and we, in turn, become free of all others under this just appraisal, which takes the place of all need to judge. Without our complete inner conviction that faith is only another name for divine Mind in action, we can never move into our full expression of perfect acceptance and our standing still while God does the work. And it is while divine Mind is doing through us and living as us that just appraisal can take over. All divine Mind is now waiting to use us as creators with all Power, all substance, ready to move into the visible form of our creations. “I accept” opens the new vibration and the words “Let there be Light” begins the filling of our molds.
Remember that when we become deeply convinced that faith is the evidence of things not seen, but just waiting to become visible, it is inevitable under divine action that they shall assume the outer vibration of form. As we learn to stand still, Power-Substance takes on color, and we show and express more animation and beauty. Our reactions become snappy, and everything we do has more life to it. As we continue standing, Power-Substance lowers to another, more condensed level, and the whole tone of our life accelerates, and our dull personality begins to glow with the Song of the Soul, and we begin to radiate a sort of divine music the soul is singing. The evidence of faith shows in our faces, as our name and number is stamped upon them by the Power of the great vibration of nonresistance, which can only stamp us with such a look of immortality when we learn to stand still. So does Light descend through color, tone and number, to become the individual in form. All this comes from and through accepting our identity with our Source of the full Power of divine Mind. We have become our own miracle!
Once we have moved up into this full Power of faith through accepting, we begin to comprehend all the things mysticism has for us to know. Nonresistance, as our Source of Life, finds us following Light as it was bestowed upon us in the beginning, when we were created in the image and likeness of God. To stand still allows the use of all our original faculties, their use becoming easier to follow, and we have no need to continuously remind ourselves of our identity to our Source. The wasted time spent in reminding ourselves that we are descended gods can now be redeemed with Light from above. We know the Logos, or the Word, contains a million or more unborn new ideas to draw upon. It is the Source of divine Mind, and as we draw upon it for our vision, our ideas and our plans, we open the faculty of reason to apply the powers of organizing our plan into practical and material ways for the outer world. All this is under divine Mind using us as an instrument, but we also call it working out our own salvation.
From applying logic and reason under thinking, our great creative tool, it becomes easy to move higher into the Light, where we apply discretion, discrimination and discernment to our analysis under a just appraisal before we speak or act. When we are lifted in consciousness into this timeless, spaceless place of nonresistance, we move where the impossibles of man are absorbed by the Light and the possibles of God as divine Mind move forth as miracles. When faith has convinced us that God is still in charge of His creations, all Power and Substance become available in an instant, and there are no idle words from man that can shake our faith in miracles. Any word spoken from this unshakable vibration of Light must produce the evidence in ourselves that will cause the world to see and so believe.
The principle of nonresistance is absolute in its ability to breathe from the endlessness of space the small life sparks of Light to condense and fill a great center of Light, which is the Source of all life. From this same center Source, all universes receive their life. Since this great center Source of Light is constantly recharged, it is always ready to send Power forth at any call. When we, as surrendered servants of all Power and as ambassadors of Light, reach up in faith and call “Let there be Light,” the words become an invocation and Power and Substance moves forth into our creations. We know that the great principle of nonresistance, although the Source of All Light as Power and Substance also contains and is the Source of all the potential attributes and qualities of God, still has no power to become form just as itself, but must be acted upon by divine Mind, the all-controlling Power behind and the cause of all Creation.
In the very beginning, divine Mind acts upon it independently, then, after the Seven Ages of Creation, when the Begotten Ones are in form, divine Mind acts upon it through the faith vibration that reaches up from man, the faith vibration that “believes to see” the evidence become outer form. We, by the use of our faculties of logic, reason, discretion, discrimination and discernment applied as just appraisal, draw all the potential powers of Light from the vast center of the principle of nonresistance to operate under the glory and the faith of our spoken Word.
We must become the perfect channel and instrument through which the evidence of things not seen can be expressed. Each must stand on his own Mount of Transfiguration, face shining as the sun, radiant with Light from above. Then shall the world be convinced that there is an overall supervising, controlling God whom we reach through the exercise of faith. This Being of Light, this divine Mind, now makes of us a creator, already immortal. Let there be Light.
The Universal Magna Carta
Edna Lister recording script, January 15, 1969, Moreland Hills, CA
We find the basis for our faith in two quotations taken from our Bible. The first one is from St. John, Chapter 1 and verse 1: “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The second quotation is from Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 1: “In the beginning, God created.” A lonely God, needing action, desired to create and universes were born. God, as Mind in action, opened a great Day of Manifestation. The fundamental obligation demanded that it should cover and contain all that was ever to be.
od’s first use of His Word, the Magna Carta, was the action of the Mind of God as an in-breathing from the void, first causing a pulsation, and then an in-drawing of the tiny first original particles of Light substance, to fill a great Mind-thought center, there condensing this substance until there was enough brought together within this circle to cause an explosion. The built-up energy was great enough to send the vibration forth into space to form a gestating place for all universes. The Word was and is a planned, controlled operation containing all that is. This breathing went on until the vast Power that filled all space was great enough to last a full great Day of Manifestation. That Word was the Magna Carta of all the universes, containing all the plans for Creation. It is still the same vast vibration containing the plans, not only for Creation in the beginning, but for the end of a great Day, and all that is needed for time in between. When the space, as a place, was ready, God, as Mind, created individuals in His own image and likeness to populate and become perfect instruments to fill it and carry out His Creative plans.
“Carta” means “charter, the privilege to operate and do certain things.” “Magna” means “greatness,” enough to cover all needs. God’s Magna Carta, the original Word that was God, is now God and ever shall be God in action, is immutable, indestructible, and can never be changed. It is! The Magna Carta has not been changed, but it has been delayed through the countless combinations made by individuals through their misuse of God’s perfect will. God did not arrange for such delay, but in His wisdom, has been able to work out answers to the new problems presented to Him through and by the misuse of Power in evil ways. The great cost of such disobedience falls upon all alike. We have all delayed God’s perfect plan for us and reap the reward of outer delay. God’s original plans for His creation stands. Behind the scenes, God’s all-knowing ability to control, to hold and to work together for good has ever grown greater. He is! Do you believe this? Do you know, stand and hold fast to this confidence today, that God can and will make all things right? Do you accept that the Word is doing its original perfect work behind the veil that separates the outer and inner worlds?
From the lowest outer form of life, from the creature to the creator, from instinctive intelligence to conscious God-like intelligence, we are all under the original God-given plan, our Magna Carta of life. For one and all alike, the one absolute, fundamental and outer primary Law of Life is the one of perfect obedience. This cannot be set aside to suit the convenience of any individual. As nature operates under the three great creative principles of expansion, explosion and expression, so must each individual accept and follow in obedience these laws of nature. No one can set aside these basic laws of life and thrive. As nature obeys the call of spring and appropriates from earth, water and air God’s original life, lowered in vibration to meet unconscious nature’s needs, so must man appropriate from the highest vibration of his Source, through his breathing, all the original Substance he needs for his expression.
Unlike nature, man must accept and appropriate life with the consent of his conscious mental and emotional lives, as well as reaching up and extending his breathing to include the vibration direct from his Source of life. Only through this threefold and complete acceptance can man appropriate enough life for full health and success. The First Voice declared, “Let there be Light,” and so must man’s first, and at all times conscious, declaration be: Let there be Light! Since Light is the original substance of which all things are made that were made, man must combine everything found in the lower vibrations and appropriate and combine it in the high, deep, constant breathing of the Breath of Life. On earth today, this substance of Light is called atomic energy.
A man’s desire for more life burns high, he breathes and as he appropriates this life, he converts it into that atomic energy which inflates the cells of the atomic body within which he already dwells. By this conscious desire, man converts this Light into active atomic energy to produce any and all outer acts of expression. Divine Mind sends an order to the brain, and that which filled the atoms, expanding them with pure inhaled Light, converts that Light through an explosion of atomic cells into the expression of movement or action. Original Light has been used by the individual, even as nature uses it on the lower level as expansion, explosion and expression. We have been obedient to the three basic creative laws of all universes.
First, God created space by in-breathing consciously until the condensed Substance expanded and filled the need for space in which the Creation and gestating of all universes could be carried out. At the proper moment, an explosion of condensed Substance took place and the first three Emanations filled all space. Secondly, God then created a form for a part of Himself to use, called the Only Begotten Son, called so because he had the Scepter of Power that only the original Mind, the Father, could use. Then came begotten sons and daughters in the image and likeness of the Father, and later came created sons and daughters who descended to fill all space. As Light continued to flow on in rhythmic cycles, it lowered itself in vibration until the successively heavier substance could be used by the sons and daughters of God to enfold themselves in a sheath dense enough to sink to the outpost of divine expression for experience, called earth. The still radiant spiritual beings called their new covering a body. Each individual is still this radiant created son or daughter from the Source, with an identity forever unchangeable.
With the first declaration of “Let there be Light,” the Magna Carta of God went into effect and it is now in effect. Original Light created space and populated it with divine Mind in form for expression. All of this came from that first declaration, and “Let there be Light” is still a first declaration in obedience to the basic creative laws of expansion, explosion and expression. As Light filled space, it created three lowered vibrations, three distinct levels between Light and form. First came color, then tone and then number, all three necessary for the creating of an outer form. This process of descent is still going on under God’s creative principles.
On earth it operates under the control of the seasons. As the dormant winter season awakens to the call of spring and countless tons of verdure, flowers and food opens the new cycle in the process of growth, the bulb, the seed, the root, responding to the warmth of the sun, draws in the Light which is life until enough substance of Light condenses into the power of expansion, resulting in an explosion which sends the sap from roots to the tips of tree branches, and green shoots from seed and bulb to find the sun. This process of drawing in goes on until the full cycle of production is fulfilled according to the original idea impregnated within each type by the original Word. The call to spring in nature represents the same thing that inspiration for higher things represent in the individual, the Power of the Light of the Source calling everything upward.
How does this process apply to the individual? The impregnated idea in nature corresponds to the desire in the individual and, in both, the expression will follow the original desire. Fortunately, the individual is a creator, and by a simple desire-declaration of “Let there be Light,” can open a season of fulfillment for himself at any time in any place. With the original declaration, “Let there be Light,” plus obedience to law, the opening process of melting, dissolving and absorbing the ice, the crystallization dormant in either body or affairs, is started, a whole new cycle of growth. Wherever the declaration of Light is directed in a body or affairs by any individual for self or others, the old pattern begins to fade out and a new pattern is established. However, the in-drawing of life must be as constant as is that of unconscious nature, nothing must interfere with it. Where the old cells are absorbed, the new creative life as Light enters and creates new cells. Each cell expands, then explodes into two cells and continues this growth process until a whole new organ or part is created. We call this a miracle.
A miracle may be a slow process or an act. This is determined by the fervor of the declaration which pre-decides which type of miracle is to be ours. The depth of acceptance and of expectancy add speed to fulfillment. The new business, the new body, organ or part, unfolds under the third principle of expression. The one great need is steadfastness of purpose, for the rhythm must be kept through faithfulness under the great laws of creation, expansion, explosion and expression. As we have entered the new Aquarian Age with its conquering in scientific fields, we become aware of the need for a greater knowledge of the Magna Carta of Creation. We learn and realize that all healing and success are but the dense outer form of the Magna Carta being touched by divine Mind and called back into a higher vibration of tone and then color, allowing the pure Light of our Source to take us over with all our creations. We begin to realize that we are descended gods, already immortal now, and that it “doth not yet appear” what we shall be through our obedience, each one doing the greater works, raised into that original immortality which is Light. The Word does the work. The Word is the work, now ready to expand, to explode and to express. Let there be Light!
Prayer
Let There be Light. Let, oh, Father, our new idea of our own immortality take over every part of our lives. Let our new illumination permeate our lives fully, broaden our love, enrich our compassion for others while filling us with a greater devotion for Thee.
