Pioneering Mystic Sermons, 2004

Justice and Mercy

Linda Mihalic, Palm Sunday, April 4, 2004, Cleveland, Ohio, Luke 19:29-48

  And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them. And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt? And they said, The Lord hath need of him. And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, and could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.–Luke 19:29-48

  Absolute principles are eternal, transcending time and space, and thus incomprehensible to finite relative beings. Justice and mercy, being absolute attributes of the Godhead, conversely operate as relative principles in man. Certain absolute principles become laws of cause and of effect. If man obeys the laws that pertain to his well-being, the effects are good; if he disobeys those laws, the effects are not good. If you like the effect, you don’t question the cause, but if you dislike the effect, you may resent the cause, may think it bad luck, or that God is punishing you. Nonetheless, whatever happens to you is the exact reaction to something that you have done. You are not a victim. What comes to you is something you have devised for your own experience-lessons. Everything that comes to me is mine; what comes to you is yours. You sowed the seeds of it, though perhaps not in this life.
  Materialist "orthodoxy" has banished the doctrine of many lives from religion and public view, yet ignorance of that doesn’t prevent what happens to you. You can ignore the truth of reincarnation, yet you will still live life after life. You can plead that you have been “saved,” yet still have debts to pay; you may repent and receive mercy. You may ask, “Why is this happening to me?” yet find no answer that satisfies your need to understand.
  The world witnessed God’s greatest act of mercy when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He wasn’t born because he needed to be born; he was born because we needed him.
  A truth once stated echoes forever, and can never be stricken from the record. What I say today becomes eternal because I am using Holy Breath to fill my lungs, to move my palate, to cause my larynx to vibrate. I am speaking the Word, acting in the one way that sets man apart from the animals. God has given you the power of speech, which became the very first action in Genesis—“God said, Let there be Light!” is forever the template for perfect action.
  Jesus was born because man needed him, not because he needed to come to earth. We needed him because we are the descended creator gods, the Chosen who fell and must return to God as the Elect. Jesus spoke of us when he said to the Pharisees and scribes, “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?”–John 10:34.
  In the instant God created the universe as a time-space continuum, you were all there—not in the form you occupy now, but as a thought in the Divine Mind. This isn’t a succession, but the meaning of a very powerful divine law, “The end is known from the beginning.” You are part of God, who dwells in you for you are the temple of the Most High. You must respect and honor this truth. Soul doesn’t have to think about it or read it in a book; it knows! You have always known these truths because they were implanted within your soul as the Divine Will of God from the moment of your creation.
  “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Each soul is “man and woman.” Jung called this the anima and the animus, the feminine within the masculine and the masculine within the feminine. In the body it’s gender, but in the soul it’s the “great polarity.” The universe operates between two poles—on and off, motion and rest, expansion and contraction. Contraction is another name for law. Expansion is another name for mercy. The concepts are totally, inextricably and beautifully linked.
  It’s so simple. If you understand this, you will understand everything that could ever happen to you. Your soul debts expand or contract, based on what you choose to do, to think, to act, to say. It’s all up to you. No one can influence you in any way without your express consent; it’s impossible. You permit whatever comes to you and that’s justice, because God gave you free choice, the freedom to choose your own path. God cannot break His own law to take your freedom to choose from you, no matter how petty a choice it may be.
  The events of Holy Week paint a perfect picture of how the Master reflected God’s mercy back to Him. He poured out all the justice and the mercy the Father had reposed in him from the beginning of time. Holy Week was the Master’s greatest act of mercy.
  Justice is defined as the quality of being morally just or righteous, the principle of just conduct, integrity, or rectitude. Justice is observance of the divine law, the state of being righteous or just before God, the conformity of your thoughts, words and actions to moral right, or to truth. Divine justice always brings you before the bar of judgment.
  Mercy is compassionate treatment, clemency; a disposition to be kind and forgiving. However, only perfect surrender, repentance, and devotion to God can turn the divine judgment into mercy. Justice, without compassion or mercy, is selfishness, indifference, or downright cruelty. Mercy, not grounded and based upon justice, is sloppy sentimentality and breeds greater weakness in the giver and receiver of that mercy.

Law is the orderly unfolding of God’s Mind to man. God’s Mind is the balance of Wisdom’s unfailing principles and laws with Love’s sustaining and enfolding life, and Power’s animating activity. God derives varying degrees of law from principle to govern, regulate, and control the action of creators, man, for example.
  Logic, which is the set of absolute abstract principles that govern and balance reasoning, is a means of distinguishing correct from incorrect reasoning, and enables us to apply abstract principle to daily living. Logic reflects absolute principle as the Word, the Logos.
  Reason, which deals with the changeable relative, is the intellectual faculty we use to adapt thought or action to some end, and is based on man-made premises and outer facts. Reason opens the Light on our Path. All reasoning is thinking, but not all thinking is reasoning, because not all thoughts are necessarily conscious. Reason is consciously applying abstract principles in a relative way to gain understanding. When reason refuses to be guided by logic, the result is opinion and prejudice, which usually cause hopeless confusion.–Edna Lister.

  Law is a description of reality. Law is justice itself. To apply justice or mercy, you must know how to apply logic and reason in your life, how to judge a situation, an event, another person’s actions, and your own. As a transitive verb, to judge is to form an opinion about through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premises, judging character.
  The exact prescription for judging a righteous judgment is first to judge yourself, your reaction to what has happened, before you pass unrighteous judgment. Dispense with all personal considerations: How does what Sam did or said affect me? This egocentric view must change to: How does what Sam said or did accord with divine law? Are there extenuating circumstances? Do I have all the facts? How do his actions, his words accord with reality? What is real in this? Such an appraisal disengages emotional reaction.
  Mercy is poorly understood. Most people equate it with permissiveness, or use it as an excuse to serve as some bully’s doormat. You could write a book on How to Stop Being a Doormat, or Elect Creators Don’t Walk on Other People. Whichever slant you choose, it still remains a matter of justice and mercy, rigor and clemency, severity and mildness. God does not walk on anyone, nor does He ask you to let the little self-appetitive soul of anyone else make you a doormat for wiping their feet. God does not ask you to passively accept others’ rudeness, nor does His law permit you to be rude without a reaction of that law.
  Edna Lister said, The law of cause and effect is God’s justice, in the form of law. One law that bears directly on absolute personal responsibility is the hallmark of a Master of Law: You can always do or say a thing, but once you have said it or done it, you cannot unsay or undo it. Absolute personal responsibility is part of the definition of honor, which is the hallmark of Oversoul: Honor above all things.
  The best way to avoid obstacles in life is to Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.–Luke 6:37-38
  When you begin to live in conscious obedience to law, you turn on the mercy tap. Edna Lister said that the rule in heaven is justice tempered with mercy, for mercy tempered with justice is not strong enough to hold the other soul. Every child will hold its parents’ failures in justice and mercy against them. You may not use your own definitions of what is right or just, then call them God’s. Nor may you call retaliation and revenge justice. You may not apply permissiveness and call that mercy either. Being either a wimp or a bully is wrong. This includes emotional manipulation of others as well.
  God holds us, as His descended creators, to a higher standard than anyone else in Creation, and this is an honor! Our Master lived with us, taught us, and teaches us still. Admission is free. Nothing can stop you from hearing him but you, your own weak, petty, nasty self. He is the Logos, the Word, the logic template. God lives in your mind. You cannot have a mind that is separate from divine Mind. God can be your thoughts. God can be your love, flowing as mercy from the tap.

In the scales of justice you are to weigh the facts and the law alone, nor place in either scale personal friendship or personal dislike, neither fear nor favor: and when reformation is no longer to be hoped for, you are to smite relentlessly with the sword of justice.–Albert Pike.

  The Master dispensed mercy in his relentless justice of whipping the greedy moneychangers from the Temple. He gave us a lesson to last throughout eternity. He had seen their injustice as a boy of thirteen, becoming a bar mitzvah in Jerusalem. Twenty years later, he dispensed the justice of God to those who had made the House of Prayer into a den of thieves. He must have thought about the moneychangers for years before he acted.
  Most people assume that Jesus lost his temper because they would, but that wasn’t the case. He said, I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.–John 8:26-28. The way to righteous judgment is never to impose your will on the issue. You must see the facts as they are from the high place of golden silence.
  Your body is a temple of the living God, as are your heart and your mind. You must root out your own emotional and mental moneychangers. Ascension empowers you to resurrect every vibration you have murdered or allowed to die of benign neglect. To serve as the Father’s agent of justice and mercy, first you must so desire, then make His will yours to accomplish all good. What will you choose? Death in a tomb, sealed with the stone of self, or the life immortal, everlasting, and eternal?

Choosing Honor

Linda Mihalic, Pentecost, May 30, 2004, Cleveland, Ohio, John 1:37-51, Mark 2:14-17, Mark 3:14-19

  And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.–John 1:37-51
  And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.–Mark 2:14-17
  And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: And Simon he surnamed Peter; and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him.–Mark 3:14-19

  Jesus called on his disciples to resolutely surrender all ties of family and work for the sake of the approaching Kingdom of God and to follow him to become “fishers of men.” He never concealed how difficult their road would be: “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”–Luke 14:28-33
  Jesus constantly exercised his sovereign power. In the scenes mentioned, it was Jesus who made the decisions. He called, appointed, and selected particular men, without regard to their origin and previous training. He chose fishermen (Andrew, Peter, James, and John), a tax collector (Matthew), and Zealots (Simon and Judas Iscariot) among them, perhaps also a few craftsmen and peasants. Their discipleship was not, as with the rabbis, a transitional stage that ended with their “training.” None of them moved up after sufficient study to the status of “master.”
  From The Book of Thomas the Contender: “The secret words that the savior spoke to Judas Thomas which I, even I, Mathaias, wrote down, while I was walking, listening to them speak with one another. …The savior said, Brother Thomas while you have time in the world, listen to me, and I will reveal to you the things you have pondered in your mind.
  “Now, since it has been said that you are my twin and true companion, examine yourself, and learn who you are, in what way you exist, and how you will come to be. Since you will be called my brother, it is not fitting that you be ignorant of yourself. And I know that you have understood, because you had already understood that I am the knowledge of the truth. So while you accompany me, although you are uncomprehending, you have (in fact) already come to know, and you will be called ‘the one who knows himself’. For he who has not known himself has known nothing, but he who has known himself has at the same time already achieved knowledge about the depth of the all. So then, you, my brother Thomas, have beheld what is obscure to men, that is, what they ignorantly stumble against.”–The Book of Thomas the Contender.
  The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of traditional Sayings (logoi) of Jesus. It is attributed to Didymos Judas Thomas, the “Doubting Thomas” of the canonical Gospels, and according to many early traditions, the twin brother of Jesus (“didymos” means “twin” in Greek). We have two versions of the Gospel of Thomas today. The first was discovered in the late 1800s among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, and consists of fragments of a Greek version, which has been dated to c. 200. The second is a complete version, in Coptic, from Nag Hammadi.–Craig Schenk
  Thomas was probably first written in Greek (or possibly even Syriac or Aramaic) sometime between the mid 1st and 2nd centuries. Many Sayings in Thomas have parallels with the New Testament Sayings, especially those found in the synoptic Gospels. This leads many to believe that Thomas was also based on the so-called “Q” Document, along with Matthew, Luke, and Mark. Indeed, some have speculated that Thomas may in fact be “Q”.

Unlike the synoptic Gospels, and like “Q”, the Gospel of Thomas has no narrative connecting the various Sayings. In form, it is simply a list of 114 Sayings, in no particular order. Comparison with New Testament parallels show that Thomas contains either more primitive versions of the Sayings, or developments of more primitive versions. Either way, Thomas seems to preserve earlier traditions about Jesus than the New Testament.
  Gospel of Thomas Verse 2: Jesus said, “Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All.”
  Gospel of Thomas Verse 12: The disciples said to Jesus, “We know that You will depart from us. Who is to be our leader?” Jesus said to them, “Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.”

Gospel of Thomas Verse 17: Jesus said, “I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind.”
  Gospel of Thomas Verse 22: Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, “These infants being suckled are like those who enter the Kingdom.” They said to him, “Shall we then, as children, enter the Kingdom?” Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter [the Kingdom].” Verse 23: Jesus said, “I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one.” Verse 24: His disciples said to him, “Show us the place where you are, since it is necessary for us to seek it.” He said to them, “Whoever has ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world. If he does not shine, he is darkness.”
  Gospel of Thomas Verse 50: Jesus said, “If they say to you, ‘Where did you come from?’, say to them, ‘We came from the light, the place where the light came into being on its own accord and established [itself] and became manifest through their image.’ If they say to you, ‘Is it you?’, say, ‘We are its children, we are the elect of the Living Father.’ If they ask you, ‘What is the sign of your Father in you?’, say to them, ‘It is movement and repose.’”
  Gospel of Thomas Verse 70: Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
  Gospel of Thomas Verse 77: Jesus said, “It is I who am the light which is above them all. It is I who am the All. From me did the All come forth, and unto me did the All extend. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”
  Gospel of Thomas Verse 92: Jesus said, “Seek and you will find. Yet, what you asked me about in former times and which I did not tell you then, now I do desire to tell, but you do not enquire after it.”
  Gospel of Thomas Verse 112: Jesus said, “Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul; woe to the soul that depends on the flesh.” Verse 113) His disciples said to him, “When will the Kingdom come?” Jesus said, “It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying ‘Here it is’ or ‘There it is.’ Rather, the Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it.”
  The Gospel According to Philip: “Jesus took them all by stealth, for he did not appear as he was, but in the manner in which they would be able to see him. He appeared to them all. He appeared to the great as great. He appeared to the small as small. He appeared to the angels as an angel, and to men as a man. Because of this, his word hid itself from everyone. Some indeed saw him, thinking that they were seeing themselves, but when he appeared to his disciples in glory on the mount, he was not small. He became great, but he made the disciples great, that they might be able to see him in his greatness.
  “Members of a race usually have associated with those of like race. So spirit mingles with spirit, and thought consorts with thought, and light shares with light. If you are born a human being, it is the human being who will love you. If you become a spirit, it is the spirit which will be joined to you. If you become thought, it is thought which will mingle with you. If you become light, it is the light which will share with you. If you become one of those who belong above, it is those who belong above who will rest upon you.–The Gospel According to Philip.
  The Gospel of Truth: “He whose name has not been spoken is ignorant. How shall one hear if his name has not been uttered? For he who remains ignorant until the end is a creature of forgetfulness and will perish with it. If one has knowledge, he is from above. If he is called, he hears, he replies, and he turns toward Him who called him and he ascends to Him, and he knows what he is called. Since he has knowledge, he does the will of Him who called him. He desires to please Him and he finds rest. He receives a certain name. He who thus is going to have knowledge knows whence he came and whither he is going. He knows it as a person who, having become intoxicated, has turned from his drunkenness and having come to himself, has restored what is his own.”–Valentinus.
  Today we have been called. What will we do now? Choosing honor is first to do the honorable thing, then to continue doing so until you become the soul of honor.

Your Mount of Transfiguration

Linda Mihalic, August 8, 2004, Cleveland, Ohio, Matthew 17:1-8, Matthew 6:22-23

  And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.–Matthew 17:1-8
  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!–Matthew 6:22-23

  August 10 is the date appointed for the shattering of darkness, the sacking of evil. Everyone has a little soul-sack of personal not-so-nice traits to put on the altar. Each has some measure of darkness, emotions, thoughts, or deeds he has not lifted, soul substance he has not redeemed. The redemption of your soul substance is transfiguation, which is defined as “to undergo a metamorphosis, to elevate, to glorify, to idealize or to spiritualize.”

  Transfiguration is the initiation of the Mystic Degree, one who ascends to commune directly with God. The Mystic stands in the abyss from doing to becoming, to being in the place of becoming. The Mystic becomes, leaves the old behind, becomes the new. The Mystic is one degree above the Adept, who believes he can manipulate reality and force his will by so-called “persuasion.”
  Your time to transfigure yourself has arrived and your Guardian sponsors will give you all the help you need. Transfiguration will be as simple as you want it to be, or as difficult as you will make it. Edna Lister warned us about the obstacles on the path of Transfiguration. Whatever you leave unconquered crystallizes in the desire body. You must transfigure your body chemistry from the effects of your emotions, thinking, and desires.
  The rate of change is governed by the electronic charge that moves through the atoms of the pituitary gland to the pineal body. How does it work? By the Light descending through the center of your head at the rate of your breathing as you think of Light, reach for the Light, and breath the Light with the air you inhale. You must integrate your glands, nerve plexus centers, desire body vital centers, mental body lotus centers, and electronic fire body sun centers. All these centers must align to dispense the Light and multiply the Power for health under the process of ascension. You open the heart center first, but if you allow your desire for God to gutter and die out, the light goes out in your heart. You have to reach for this Light so that it permeates your body.
  A seed of life forms every 28 days in the solar plexus, the seat of self will. So the seed of life is at risk every month. It could be enslaved to your appetitive soul, building bricks with no straw under Pharaoh, the selfish ruler. Or, it can allow Moses, the deliverer, to set it free. It’s your choice. Moses means ‘drawn out’. It’s time you drew yourself out of Egypt, out of the Adept Degree, once and for all.
  The etheric currents from above move down to the solar plexus, the magnetic currents of the earth move up to the solar plexus, and they meet and explode with life and health and vitality. This causes more Light to ascend the spine to the brain. It opens the pituitary gland and enables you to see. A light then shines from the mystical third eye in the forehead. If you have headaches in your temples, you have crystallized lotus petals. Move up in consciousness to the Christ mind, put your hands up, breathe, breathe, breathe, and declare, “I am healed.” Healing comes from the crown down and from the inside out and there is no other way. You can take the drugs that doctors prescribe, but unless you heal yourself of the real problem, which is a failure to mate desire with will in the crown, then you will need to return in another earth life and do it all again. It’s your choice. The Light is the life.
  The world’s belief in old age and physical decline cuts off transfiguration. You must move from the old earth trinity of emergence, maturity and decline to emergence, maturity and ascension. You must transfigure your desire, your thinking, and your imagination. Shift your focus from outer to inner, from negative to positive, from the world to heaven, from self to soul. Do not allow appetitive soul to use any of these faculties. If you let self use desire, what do you have? If you let it use your thinking, you run in a circle. If you let it use your imagination, God help you.
  Transfiguration is a metamorphosis, like a caterpillar weaving a cocoon from which it emerges as a butterfly. You can’t weave a cocoon, but you can stand, hold, and know. Stand right where you are, on a stand point of Light. Imagine your Father’s throne room, and desire to be there. Seek him and He will seek you. Stand without wavering, doubts, or fears. Hold onto the Light. Hold onto God’s hand, the Master’s hand. Hold fast to your ideals, to your dreams. Hold onto Truth. How do you know when you’ve achieved all this? Edna Lister said it takes grit, guts, and grins, and you must cultivate knowing that you have what it takes.
  The Master chose Peter, James and John to attend the Transfiguration because he knew they could comprehend what he was about to do and what they would do later. He led them up a mountain, to a higher state of consciousness first, then he walked higher. Suddenly the Transfiguration occurred. It must have been utterly stunning, shattering. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became white as the Light. Jesus the Mediator parted the veil between inner and outer and the disciples saw the unseen, bridged the abyss, and communed with the saints. Peter and James and John represent desire, thinking and imagination. History records their great work in carrying on Jesus’ teachings.
  Whenever you pray as a Mystic you transfigure yourself and bridge the abyss to whatever degree you can attain. As you transfigure yourself you integrate your past lives as Jesus did (he had lived as Moses and Elijah). A bright cloud o’er shadowed them and suddenly a voice came from the cloud saying, “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear him.” It isn’t enough to just listen to the voice, you must hear what is truly being said. It isn’t enough just to read the words, you must ponder their meaning in order to gain complete comprehension of what is hidden therein.
  They fell on their faces in awe of the Light as the shock of the voice drove them from their bodies. Jesus touched them to draw them back into their bodies to balance their heart rates and breathing. He told them to arise and not be afraid. What does this mean for us? We must arise and go to our Father’s house and we must not fear Him. God knows everything you think, feel and say, so you can have no secrets from Him. Why fear Him? Fear kills every good thing in your life. It kills your love, your hope, your joy, your dreams, your ideals, your desires. Arise into the Light where no fear can abide. If you still fear you are still Light deficient. You take vitamins for your body, so add Light every day for your soul. More Light is the only answer to what ails you.
  Every August 10 is your personal Mount of Transfiguration. How high you go is up to you. How much you transfigure is your choice also, a spot at a time or as much of your body, mind and soul as you desire, think, or imagine that you can lift. Build yourself a cocoon of Light in the golden silence this week, then transfigure yourself into a beautiful butterfly of soul. Your wings will dry into the glory of the Light. How high can you fly?

Count Your Blessings

Linda Mihalic, October 20, 2004, Cleveland, Ohio, Matthew 5:7, Psalm 23

  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.–Matthew 5:7
  The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.–Psalm 23

  Mercy is defined as "compassionate treatment, clemency; a disposition to be kind and forgiving; a blessing; alleviation of distress; relief." The term "mercy" is used 101 times in the Psalms, loving kindness is used 26 times, and compassion is used six times. David, whose name means "The Beloved," wrote most of the Psalms under soul inspiration. He got all that inspiration from direct, personal experience.
  To understand David’s experiences and inspiration, you must appreciate what it means to be anointed. To put David’s anointing in perspective, you must remember that before Samuel anointed David, he had anointed Saul at God’s Orders. When Samuel anointed Saul with oil, he gave him God’s message for his destiny, which included this Divine Proclamation: "Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will … be turned into another man. And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you." – 1 Samuel 10:6.
  In verse nine it says, "So it was," when Saul left Samuel, that "God gave him another heart." What does this mean, to be turned into another man, and to receive another heart? Anointing is the outward sign of an inner consecration and sanctification, done according to the Will of God. Where the term "anointed" is used in the Bible, God Himself speaks to a seer, such as Samuel, and calls the person "My anointed," or as with Saul, commands the seer, who is also a prophet, to perform the physical act of anointing.
  God chooses a candidate for anointing according to a standard or criterion not clearly understood. An anointing takes place according to the will of God, but we do not necessarily comprehend that will, or God’s reasons for His choice. We must simply accept God’s will. Many souls have trouble with the need for acceptance, which is a primary virtue and a law of the creator. Each soul must integrate this virtue of acceptance with the three tools of the creator, which are desire, thinking and imagination.
  Most souls are slaves to their desires and imaginations, and rarely remember to do the thinking that must accompany their use of desire and imagination. This is all subject to the law of choice. You must choose, and each time you do, you set into motion another great law, the law of action and reaction, also called the law of cause and effect.
  For example, a situation confronts me, I consciously choose my course of action, knowing that I am thereby setting in motion the effect, or the action resulting from my choice. Unfortunately, this is not what most souls usually do, nor did I when much younger. When confronted with a situation, they usually react from self, thus bringing the effect of their unconscious reaction down on their own heads. They precipitate their own soul debts.
  The problem isn’t how you use your creative tools of desire, thinking and imagination, but which part of you is doing the using. The problem is this: Is soul choosing, or is self reacting? Choice is conscious, but reaction is usually unconscious. If you allow self to run the show, then this is your first poor choice. You are in default.
  If you default on a loan in the world, the bank calls the loan due. You must make it good, or you may be forced into bankruptcy, where all your assets are liquidated and used to pay your debts. If you fail to make your mortgage payments, foreclosure results, and you lose the house. If you continue to disobey the laws of the Universe, the Bank of God calls your debt due, and you must pay it. Some souls lose the body that way.
  We all know a few of the laws that apply: Only my own can come to me. I am responsible for my every thought, word and act, conscious or unconscious. Clearly, consciousness in choosing is the better course of action.
  Why do some souls have more trouble with this than others? Some, who would not deliberately transgress the law, makes many mistakes anyway. Why? Because some souls are introspective, and others are not. Introspection is "contemplation of one’s own thoughts, feelings and sensations; self-examination." Some souls question themselves and their own motives, while others do not.
  Introspection is not a God-given gift, but a spiritual or soul habit, a good habit. It comes from a Latin root that means "to look within, or to see what is inside." This is the only way you can know which part of you is doing what. Is soul or self running the show? You build the habit of introspection over the course of many lifetimes, or you don’t. That is a choice.
  
  If you never look inside, you’ll never learn to recognize your own motives. Without introspection, you cannot fulfill the great command of Ascension, which is to "Know Thyself." Pythagoras, a truly great teacher of Ascension, had "Know Thyself" engraved above the gate to his school in Crotona, Sicily. He required that students undergo years of training under a bond of silence.
  Most people today can’t be silent for more than a few minutes. We constantly see young people wearing headphones to listen to music, which is how they drown the voice of self. The fix works only temporarily.
  You learn about self in the Silence. Practicing the Golden Silence is how you train the self to submit to the soul. "Be still, and know that I am God." Unless you are "still," you can never know "I AM," which is the Christ consciousness of Oversoul, the superconscious mind.

The Book of Samuel records that Saul was "a choice and handsome son…There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel." Yet Saul was also hasty and self-willed. He rebelled and wilfully disobeyed God’s Orders several times, so the Lord revoked his anointing. Saul did not "do as the occasion demands," and he forgot that God was with him.
  Finally, God sent Samuel to the family of Jesse of Bethlehem to find the next anointed one. When Samuel saw Eliab, Jesse’s eldest, he was sure he was the one. However, the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
  David was the seventh and youngest of Jesse’s son, a teenaged boy busy herding his father’s sheep. Samuel asked for him and David came. "Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward."–1 Samuel 16:13. Thirteen is the number of the Christing.
  "But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him."–1 Samuel 16:14. Fourteen is the number of Choice and Separation. Some modern writers have suggested that Saul was paranoid and manic depressive, which we now call "bipolar." Saul was bipolar—he continually swung between the poles of self and soul.
  Saul, fearful, threatened and jealous, set traps for David, which he escaped. Then Saul unmercifully persecuted David for years. This is how and why David gained his experiences.
  God chose and anointed both men, and both accepted the will of God initially. Yet there the similarity ends because their soul natures were dissimilar. Saul was not introspective, while David was.
  God-ordained anointing has several implicit rules: 1. You do not choose to be anointed; God chooses you. 2. A God-ordained prophet, who is both a seer and an oracle, performs the anointing. 3. The anointing is performed with a special blend of aromatic and volatile oils applied to the crown of the head. 4. The anointing lasts forever, or until God revokes it.
  The crown of the head is the crown vital center in the desire body and the thousand-petaled lotus in the mental body. The special blend of anointing oils profoundly affects how the vital and lotus centers work: The vital center is a wheel (like a rotary crank) that accelerates, and the lotus center opens up to Light from above. When the crown is opened, the other vital and lotus centers accelerate, and these actions affect the physical as well.
  The mental faculties become supercharged, and open into the spiritual or soul faculties that we so highly prize: intuition, illumination, seeing and hearing. Anointing heals you, unifies your consciousness, and releases a tremendous amount and higher quality of Power as Light through you. Then God sits back to observe what you will do with this great release of Power. What will you choose? Will you act according to the dictates of self or of soul?
  If you choose self and continued unconscious subsoul reactions, doing as you will and as you please, never counting the cost, God revokes the anointing and your soul debt falls due. This can take many forms, most of which are unpleasant: illness, loss, humiliation, and accidents, because the Power you misuse returns to you as force. Mind forgets. Substance becomes diseased. Power becomes force, which you must lift though your body, car, house, or some other symbol of your being.
  If you choose to do well, you can be as David was, a good king, given great honor and responsibility, and increased in every way. That is, until David coveted Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. To get what he wanted, David sent Uriah to the front lines of battle, where he knew the enemy would kill him. This was unmerciful and motivated by self and appetitive soul.
  Mercy then is your saving grace, or the vehicle of your self-destruction. How does this work?
  Because mercy is something that God pours out upon us, much like anointing oil, we have come to associate mercy with personality. Yet mercy is not an aspect of personality. Mercy is a principle, an inherent part of the fabric of the universe. Mercy is how the universe heals itself, repairs or mends itself. Remember, mercy also means "alleviation of distress, or relief."
  Nothing in the universe needs to be healed unless some soul chooses to think, say or do something that causes a rip, rending or tearing of the Universal Unity. Self-will and self-motivated choices are the causes of all problems in the universe.
  Since mercy is a principle, and not some "rescue remedy" dispensed at the whim of Deity, benevolent or otherwise, you can apply logic, reason, discernment, discrimination, and discretion to better understand it. Laws are principles. A principle is the root of every law. Therefore, the principle of mercy flowers in humanity as the law of compassion: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
  People simply do not understand how the mercy principle operates. Mercy operates just like any other law: Only God makes laws. Laws are. The Father applies self-existent laws to certain creative needs, and releases them through prophets, mediators, or the voice of conscience. Laws allow no questioning, but the Father’s heavenly servants turn lights on all alike. Then they watch the colors of persons and groups, and impersonally apply necessary laws.
  What you bless, blesses you; what you curse curses you. This is another restatement of the law of action and reaction under the principle of reciprocity. Mercy is reciprocal: You dispense it, and you receive it, but not until you first give it. Unmerciful choices and actions automatically bring merciless results.
  Mercy flows like water from a tap. Self is an in-line shutoff valve that stops the flow. Repentance, and choosing soul over self, opens the valve and reintroduces the flow.
  Repentance is more than saying, "I’m sorry, please forgive me," and walking off to do it again, which is how most people treat God and the Mercy tap. Repentance means to turn around, away from the world, and to face God, working for clean hands and a pure heart.
  Anointing gives you "a new heart," and confers upon you the Spirit of the Lord. What do you do with this? What do you choose? No one is any better than his last choice. No one is any better than his next choice.
  Nearly a year ago, God gathered all the embodied souls on earth into the Valley of Decision, and we chose. Most of us chose God, and to do His will, I am sure. Now what have you done about that since the initial choosing? What will you choose in days to come?
  October 20th is the beginning date of the Initiatory Year. New prophecies will be given, old prophecies explained, and new Power will released according to how well each soul passed Initiations since August 10th, which is the recap period of the year. All the initiations you faced this year resulted from the choices you made since last October 20th.
  Will you choose differently this year? Must you face the same old tests and trials? Aren’t you ready for something new? November 1 opens the Joy season. You could get an early start by beginning today to practice the presence of the new heart within you as Christed Joy consciousness.
  Joy attunes you to mercy, and eventually makes mercy and forgiveness your natural response. God did not create you as a hard-shelled crab! Who wants to carry the heavy shell of self around any longer than it takes to learn the lessons about self?
  Everyone who comes to you is waving a prescription slip. They need some mercy, forgiveness, clemency, relief, and alleviation of their distress. Mercy is yours, free for the giving. It won’t cost you a dime to fill their prescription without saying a word, but it may cost you a selfish reaction! You can beseech God on their behalf silently in the moment, or in verbal prayer later. The law dictates that if it comes to you, it’s yours to lift, even if it’s nasty.
  Count your blessings! Not those you have received from God or from others, but the blessings that you have dispensed as mercy in the world. The Master himself has given us our mandate as mercy dispensers: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Give mercy, and you shall receive it.

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