UP Church

JANUARY 10   

I HAVE A SPIRITUAL VISION WITHIN ME WHICH BEHOLDS A PERFECT UNIVERSE   

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.  Revelation 1:8

But verily thou art not able to behold Me with these thine eyes; the divine eye I give unto thee.  The Bhagavad-Gita

There is but one Brahma which is Truth’s Self.  It is from ignorance of that One that the god-heads have been conceived to be diverse.  Mahabharata 

Spirit as Absolute Cause is the beginning and end of everything.  If we place complete reliance upon this Spirit as being the adequate Cause, then we may as certainly place complete reliance upon It as producing the desired effect.  When we give a spiritual mind treatment we are using this Absolute Cause, which is the Alpha.  From it automatically proceeds the effect, which is the Omega.  Thus the treatment contains the potential possibility of its own answer.  Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”  He knew that because he consciously dealt with first Cause, there would be no question about the effect.  Our lesson says that a lack of the realization that there is but one final Power, has given rise to the belief in many gods.  Some of these gods we call evil, lack, want, limitation, pain, death.  These false gods must be deserted for there is but One, which is Truth’s Self.  We are told that while we cannot behold the invisible Presence with these physical eyes, “The divine eye I give unto thee.”  This has an identical meaning with the saying of Jesus, that spiritual things must be spiritually discerned.

I have a spiritual vision within me which beholds a perfect universe.  Daily this vision guides me to success, happiness, prosperity, physical and mental well-being.  My spiritual vision is open – I am awake to the greater possibility.

JANUARY 9 

TODAY I FEEL THAT I MERGE WITH THE INFINITE   

Canst thou by searching find out God?  Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?  It is high as heaven… The measure thereof is larger than the earth, and broader than the sea.  Job 11: 7-9

The Tao cannot be heard; what can be heard is not It.  The Tao cannot be seen; what can be seen is not It.  The Tao cannot be expressed in words; what can be expressed in words is not It.  Do we know the Formless which gives form to form?  In the same way the Tao does not admit of being.  Kwang-Tze

Realize that thou art “that” – Brahm, which is the cessation of all differentiation, which never changes its nature and is as unmoved as a waveless ocean, eternally unconditioned and undivided.  Raja Yoga

Job asks us if we can find God by searching.  He means that since God is everywhere, and since the subtle essence of the Infinite is invisible, we do not have to search out the Divine Spirit, but, rather, we should recognize It as the center of all life. That which we see is merely a reflection of this invisible Presence.  The Spirit Itself cannot be seen, but It is felt.  Just as we do not see the essence of beauty, but do feel its presence, so we do not see God but we do feel the Divine in everything.  The Creator is revealed in His creation.  The Formless gives rise to the formed.  We should consciously unite ourselves with this invisible Essence which pervades everything, that which our lesson says is eternally unconditioned and undivided.  To do this is to find wholeness.

Today I feel that I merge with the Infinite.  While there seems to be a beginning and an end to each particular experience, there is neither beginning nor end to myself.  My real spirit is omnipresent in God, secure in Good, and perfect in Divine Being.

JANUARY 8   

THE CHANGELESS ABIDES WITH ME.  I AM CALM AND PEACEFUL IN THE MIDST OF CONFUSION   

I am the Lord, I change not.  Malachi 3:6

The Tao, considered as unchanging has no name.  Texts of Taoism

Immovable (is) God alone, and rightly (He) alone; for He Himself is in Himself, and by Himself, and round Himself, completely full and perfect.  Thrice-Greatest Hermes  

We should realize that all the great scriptures have taught one identical message – the unity of good. All the sacred books have been inspired by the one Mind.  Each in its own tongue has told the story of Reality.  “I am the Lord, I change not,” was revealed to the Hebrew mystic.  To the great Chinese sage came the same message, “The Tao cannot change, it has no name,” and to Hermes, God is in Himself, by Himself, full and perfect.  If we can add to this glorified conception the realization that this Divine Being is the breath of our breath, omnipresent, forever within us, then we shall realize that we live in one eternal and perfect Mind.  An excerpt from the sacred books on the attributes of God says, “There is no variableness in God since He is eternal, immortal and infinite.  Never-the-less He is that from which every transformation arises.”  This means that, while we live in the Eternal which does not change, we are forever drawing from It, or from Him, the possibility of the manifold expressions which give variety to existence and which make living interesting.

I know that the Changeless abides with me.  I am calm and peaceful in the midst of confusion.  I know that nothing moves the soul.  Peace, infinite peace, is at the center of my being.  I love, move and have my being in That which is perfect, complete within Itself.  That Self is my self.

JANUARY 7   

TODAY I STAND ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP OF MY SOUL AND CAUSE MY SPIRITUAL VISION TO ENCOMPASS MORE 

For as he thinketh in his heart so is he.  Proverbs 23:7

As far as mind extends, so far extends Heaven.  Upanishad

My soul hath built for me a habitation.  Book of the Dead

Note that Proverbs does not say that a man is as he thinks he is – quite the contrary.  It says he is as he thinks.  Here is a vast difference.  A person might imagine himself to be a very clever while remaining quite dull, but if his thoughts are brilliant the man also will be brilliant.  “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.”  The heart stands for the center of consciousness, the point from which circulates everything that we are.  It is said that Moses was led by the Divine Spirit into a high mountain and told that all the land that his vision could encompass his feet could tread upon.  This high mountain stands for an exalted place in consciousness.  As consciousness extends its vision it extends the possibility of its objective experience.  This means that objectively we possess that which subjectively we encompass. Our soul is always building a habitation for us, because consciousness is forever dealing with First Cause, with the Causeless Cause, with That which plays with cause and effect as children play ball.  Emerson tells us to stay at home with the cause, to build a habitation and therein to dwell.  It is wonderful to realize that our true home is not made with hands but is eternal in the heavens.

Today I stand on the mountain top of my soul and cause my spiritual vision to encompass more.  I shall push out the horizons of my previous experiences in order that I may have more room.  My soul shall look out and see that all is well.  I am filled with peace, with joy and with contentment.

JANUARY 6        

TODAY I CONSCIOUSLY LIVE IN THE ETERNAL PRESENCE 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Matthew 6:33

Then, in this way know God; as having all things in Himself as thoughts, the whole Cosmos itself.  Thrice-Greatness Hermes

Jesus saith: “… and the Kingdom of Heaven is within you; and whosoever shall know himself shall find it.  Strive therefore to know yourselves, and ye shall be aware that ye are the sons of the … Father; and ye shall know ye are in the City of God, and ye are that City.  Fragments of a Faith Forgotten

Since the kingdom of God is a kingdom of righteousness and since it is a kingdom which contains everything, then it becomes of prime importance to seek this kingdom, which Jesus so plainly stated is to be found within the self.  Of course he was not referring to the lesser, but to the greater Self; that Self upon which is set the stamp of the Eternal – the God Self.  The real Self is inseparable from God, thus in discovering the self, we also discover God, the Cause of the self.  Naturally, everything is included within the Divine, and since we are in It and It is in us, true self-discovery is the key to the mysteries of life.  Hermes tells us that God has everything within Himself as thought; that the whole cosmos itself is a thing of consciousness.  This is the true City of God – the city of right thoughts and right actions; the city which is four square, the length and breadth and thickness of which are equal.  This is the city which Saint Augustine so beautifully depicts in his great essay on the relationship of the individual soul to the Universal Spirit.  All the sages and seers have plainly told us that we already walk the streets of this city, but like the slaves of Plato, blindfolded, our vision is blurred by shadows cast on the wall of human experience.  Evil deals with shadows, truth deals with light, which dispels the shadows.  We are of the Truth.  Evil is neither person, place nor thing.

Today I consciously live in the Eternal Presence.  The Kingdom of heaven is within me and I live in the City of God.  I am one with all other citizens who inhabit this celestial metropolis.  Here, in a true communion of Spirit, I find unity, peace and joy.   

5  JANUARY

THE UNERRING JUDGMENT OF DIVINE INTELLIGENCE DIRECTS MY FAITH AND MAKES PLAIN AND PERFECT THE WAY BEFORE ME 

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: I Corinthians 2: 7-8

The skillful masters (of the Tao) in old times, with a subtle and exquisite penetration, comprehended its mysteries, and were deep (also) so as to elude men’s knowledge.  The Texts of Taoism

He who is happy within, who rejoiceth within, who is illuminated within, that Yogi, becoming the ETERNAL, goeth to the Peace of the ETERNAL.  The Bhagavad-Gita 

The hidden wisdom of God is the knowledge that we are one with the Divine Being.  This wisdom which is hidden from us until we perceive our fundamental unity with Reality, is clearly revealed when we seek the Eternal in everything.  “The skillful masters” who have penetrated the mystery of life which so often eludes the intellect, are those who with utmost simplicity have found direct approach to the Supreme Reality at the center of their own soul.  The Gita tells us that we must become the Eternal if we wish to enter into the peace of the Eternal.  This has an identical meaning with the saying of Jesus that we must be perfect even as God in us is perfect.  This calls for the recognition of the Spirit as an indwelling Presence, as well as an overshadowing Power.  The road to self-discovery often calls for the  clearing  away of the underbrush of ignorance, fear, superstition, and a sense of isolation which has made us feel that we were unworthy, unheld and lost.  In the divine providence of good, salvation is unnecessary but self-discovery is essential.  We do not save that which is lost; we merely discover that which needs to be found.

I know that God is within me and I know that this Divine Spirit is perfect.  I enter into Its peace and am secure in a sense of Its protection.  Love will guide, and Intelligence will direct me.  The power of the Infinite will sustain and uphold, as well as direct.  The unerring judgment of Divine Intelligence directs my faith and makes perfect and plain the way before me. 

JANUARY 4   

I KNOW THAT MY SPIRIT IS FREE FROM ALL LIMITATION – I KNOW THAT I UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH ABOUT MYSELF   

I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect. 

Genesis 17:1

Our Chinese text tells us that Tao, which means Spirit, produces everything, nourishes everything and maintains everything.  It spreads itself over everything.  It flows through everything and is in all things.  Indeed, being all that is, there can be nothing outside It.  Our Hindu text tells us that in such degree as we understand God, who is the one penetrator of the universe in such degree we become liberated.  And the Hebrew text says, “Walk before me and be thou perfect.”  We are to recognize the Divine in everything; to speak to the Divine in everything; to see It everywhere – “Lift the stone and you will find me, cleave the wood for there am I.” There is a mystical Presence which pervades the universe.  The fragrance of the rose; the beauty of the dewdrop glistening in the sun, are manifestations of Its Presence and activity.  This mystical Presence welling up in our consciousness, evermore proclaims Itself as the root and source.”  And the Christian Scriptures tell us, “I am over all, in all and through all.”  The enlightened of the ages have told us that it is this God within us that recognizes Itself, or Himself, in everything we are.

I know that my spirit is free from all limitation; that my physical body and my objective affairs reflect and manifest the perfection which I feel; the wholeness which I am certain of, and the prosperity which rightfully belongs to me.

JANUARY 3                           

TODAY I LIVE   

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain… Revelation 21:4

Pray not that sinners may perish, but that the sin itself may disappear.  The Talmud

By knowledge of God (deva) all the bonds (of ignorance, unhappiness, etc.) are destroyed.  Upanishad

The wisest man who ever lived told us that the knowledge of truth shall make us free.  All books of spiritual wisdom have taught us that it is not the one who makes the mistake whom we should seek to destroy; it is the mistake itself which must be erased.  Now, this means that evil has no existence in itself, it has no history.  No matter what the negations of yesterday may have been, the affirmations of today may rise triumphant and transcendent over them.  Thus all the evils of our yesterdays disappear into their native nothingness.  If we behold beauty instead of ugliness, then beauty will appear.  If we persist in seeing the true rather than the false, then that which is true will appear.  Where is the false, the untrue and the evil when the knowledge of truth has made us free?  Its days are as though they had never been; its cause is neutralized; hence it leaves no effect.  Let us, then, cease weeping over the shortcomings and mistakes and evils of our yesterdays, and steadfastly beholding the face of the great and the divine Reality, let us resolve to walk in that light wherein there is no darkness.

Definitely I know that every negative condition of the past is cleared away from my consciousness.  I no longer think about it, see it, or believe in it.  Nor do I believe that it has any effect whatsoever in my experience.  Yesterday is not, tomorrow is not, but today, bright with hope and filled with promise, is mine.  Today I live.