"Man, know thyself, for within thee is hidden the treasure of treasures." "The elements are the tabernacle of God. Yea, man is the tabernacle of God; even temples."
The temple of God is a house of many mansions for, within each room, new and higher teachings and powers are revealed to him who becomes a disciple of Light or brings himself under the discipline of the Spirit of Almighty God. He is a disciple who is disciplining the physical body and mind to bring all the animal traits and impulses under the rule of the Spirit.
Man IS the temple of the Living God and not until every room of that temple has been opened and explored and its marvelous contents and powers revealed can one receive a "FULLNESS OF THE FATHER." Each room contains blessings and knowledge and power that is unspeakable for the simple reason that it cannot be spoken. These are the sacred, secret things that no man can share with another. To speak of these inner teachings openly is to profane the holy law. It is permissible to speak of the powers of the temple, of its various rooms, and such things. But to speak of one's personal experiences as he is given a knowledge of all that it contains in minute, glorified revelation for himself is forbidden. Nor can he share with another the degree of his progress as he travels this road of inner glory to the very throne of God.
Only as one goes forward, endeavoring with all the strength and power of his being, to cleanse the inside of the cup, can these doors be opened to the Master, even to "The Light of Christ, which is given to abide in every man who cometh into the world." As It is accepted and brought forth, this inner Light becomes the personal Redeemer of Him who contacts It. As one opens his soul and being to receive this Light it begins to fill his temple with its radiant, revealing rays of unutterable glory. And the temple which, heretofore, was occupied by thieves is cleansed. As the inner rooms of the temple are opened and the deep mysteries contained within man are revealed, Christ truly takes up His abode with that individual. And he also abides in Christ.
When every room is opened and their divine mysteries and powers comprehended, then it will be that Christ will reveal the Father -- and one receives of "THE FULNESS OF GOD!"
II. Cor. 3:12-18: "Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon the heart. Nevertheless, when it (the heart) shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now THE LORD IS THAT SPIRIT; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
It is this glass, in which one beholds the image of the Lord, and is thereby transformed into the same likeness, that one must comprehend as he opens another room of the temple. As one learns to begin to fathom these great hidden truths contained within the temple of himself, he will begin to know himself and the powers vested in him.
Man is truly the temple of the Living God and the great stone structures of earth are only the cold symbology of that which is within man.
In I. Kings 7:23-25: is given a description of a molten sea set upon the backs of twelve oxen. It is likened to a cup and contained two thousand baths. This is the font of purification which those who entered the temple, or officiated therein, were required to immerse themselves in. This font was lined with pure gold and, when filled with water, had the appearance of a molten sea of shimmering, liquid, molten gold.
This also is symbolical of what is right within man. The ancient man of glory, Hermes of Egypt who was, in truth, Enoch of old, described it as "The cup of the Lord". This ancient one, who walked with God and comprehended all things, was sent into Egypt, long before the flood, to instruct and teach that people in the knowledge of truth. It was before the dark descendants of Ham, under his daughter Egyptus, took over the land, settling her sons upon it. There was a white race living in that great land along the Nile, in that long ago, before Ham or Egyptus. And it was the instructions given by Enoch that were placed in that Great Pyramid, in that long ago, before the flood.
Hermes, or Enoch, if you like, told of this font, or cup which God had set down on earth, "Which, if a man would immerse himself in, would become purified and glorious." Hermes explained that it was offered to all, although only a few would avail themselves of its powers and blessings.
The symbology of Solomon's molten sea of glass, or font, being placed upon the backs of twelve oxen was partly to portray the fact that after one was immersed in that font he would have power to rise triumphant above every animal trait. In time the symbology came to mean the actual reality to the clouded minds of men and they lost the truth. Even today man is worshiping the symbols instead of taking hold of the divine reality behind them. The symbolism has been sufficient for those who are satisfied with the outward show of things and who concern themselves about the cleansing of the outside of the cup by their empty forms, leaving the inside filthy and unclean.
Man has only believed or accepted what he has desired to believe when he has read the scriptures. Anything that does not agree with his personal beliefs or conform to the doctrine accepted by his creed, is veiled from his eyes because he does not wish to be disturbed by anything that is not in direct conformity to his pre-conceived ideas.
For this reason the information that man is the temple of the Living God has been completely ignored and, if accepted has been greatly misunderstood. How could the churches hold and wield their great power over the minds and lives of men if the truth were understood? How could any church stand blocking the way between man and his God if each and every man learned to go direct to God -- and be taught of Him, as is promised? Therefore to exist, the churches feel that they must fight against anything that begins to crumble their dead, orthodoxed control. Their very existence depends upon their demand for the unlimited devotion of their adherents. And those who give their unquestioning allegiance to such are trusting completely in the arm of flesh instead of their own divine contact with God.
"The elements are the tabernacle of God; Yea, man is the tabernacle of God; even temples." This is one of the greatest truths ever revealed to man. And everything ever contained in any temple, built according to the divine instructions of God, stands only in symbology of this temple right within man.
This divine "Cup of the Lord", as Hermes called it, this molten sea or font, is also contained right within man.
This sea is difficult to explain because man's mind has not been schooled to comprehend these highly spiritual things. Nor is it possible to completely describe it in a language that has only been developed to express physical conditions and to designate concrete, tangible objects. Man's entire attention has been centered on physical things and upon outside conditions. His thoughts have embraced only this material world. He has never learned how to "Be Still" and shut off that outside vision that he might comprehend the spiritual reality behind the things his eyes behold and his mortal hands touch. And the more one puts his attention upon outside things the farther he is from the great TRUTH -- and the farther he is from the Kingdom.
The purpose of this record is to give a glimpse into the inner sanctuary of the temple and to prepare man to enter therein.
This font, or cup, described in I. Kings and the one more lovingly spoken of by Hermes are both telling of the same thing. Only Hermes knew that his divine cup was contained within man. Israel did not know it or, if they did, they lost that knowledge.
This font or cup is the sacred chalice known of old. It is the sacramental cup from which one drinks of the waters of life freely, for the true Spirit essence is the very life of all that is. It is the source of the real communion with God in which a man need never hunger or thirst again. It is the Holy Grail that King Arthur's knights of the round table, the first Christian converts in Britian, searched for so diligently.
This Holy Grail, this sacred chalice, this container of the pure waters of Life, is man himself; but it is defiled and useless until its contents are purified or purged in the fires of the Holy Flame of this inner Christ Light. This divine flame of Spirit purifies and cleanses. It redeems and sanctifies. It consumes the sins and weaknesses, the past errors and mistakes in its healing, purifying, holy essence of redemptive power as man permits it to come forth. It is as one lets go of his heartbreaks, his past mistakes, his way of thinking and feeling and in humble adoration kneels before that divine altar of Almighty God that he realizes he is the Chalice, the Holy Grail, the divine Temple. It is when he is purified, or emptied completely of "self", which is the sin, that he can be filled -- with the FULNESS OF GOD.
This is the full, direct meaning of the "great and acceptable sacrifice of the broken, or open heart and the contrite Spirit." This is the greatest gift or offering man can give to God -- his own being emptied of self and opened to receive. This is the condition required, the meekness of a little child, as one lets go of his opinions, his strident way of thinking, his unkind way of feeling. Man is truly as empty as he can possibly think he is but, when he thinks he knows everything, all the answers and believes he is the great possessor of all truth, he cannot possibly reach this condition so yearned for by God, the Father. As he lets go of all he thinks he has he will be filled full with the Light and the Life and the glory of his Maker.
This Holy Grail, or pool, or mirror of sacred Spirit, is most truly placed in the Holy Temple of man. This divine cup, or font, or rather the contents of it, is sensitive beyond comprehension. It could be likened to quicksilver in its properties of disquietude. Every thought and feeling and every disturbing word shatters the stillness of its repose. In some it is only a restless, turbulent, seething, storm-tossed, disquieted pool torn by the discordant activities of the individual with his constantly warring thoughts and emotions.
As long as this sea remains turbulent and disturbed by wrong thinking, by rebellious and wicked actions and violent reactions, just so long will outer conditions reflect that upheaveled condition into a man's life for the chalice is a spiritual mirror.
This sea was meant to be like smooth glass or molten, spiritual gold -- the true gold that is tried in the fire. It is the mirror that reflects one's thoughts and ideas and ideals and desires out into the Spirit realm of divine substance. It also reflects these conditions into his living, every-day life. For such thoughts will be reflected out and will be returned to the individual as fulfilled realities.
If one's thoughts are selfish and evil, that pool remains disturbed and reflects only a distorted, unclarified dream of confusion. Such desires, when fulfilled, may be completely unrecognized and most assuredly will bring no blessing nor glory with them.
This great font can only be used in its unspeakable power after one has first learned to hold himself within the radiant flame of the Light of Christ, or the altar fire of the Holy Spirit and becomes cleansed. The pure, divine properties of this sea of Spirit can only be appreciated and comprehended when one has become somewhat cleansed of his errors and evil habits of discordant thinking so that he is able to follow the divine admonition, "Be Still! And know that I Am, God!
It is only when one's turbulent, discordant thoughts are stilled and in quiet repose that he can comprehend the powers of this sacred font of Christ. When one's emotions are brought into complete control and his thoughts purified, he can enter this, the first room of his own divine temple, and comprehend the power of that inner font of Spirit.
It is into this quieted sea of molten gold, or Spirit, when it is completely purified and stilled, that one can place his desires or image them into it, and they will be fulfilled. This is the great secret of the gift to "image in". It is the gift every inventor uses, perhaps unknowingly. It is the gift every artist or creator uses. When one learns of the powers contained in this gift, right within himself, he will become a creative thinker. And the things he thinks will take form and be fulfilled. For this is the process of creation. And its powers are centered in man.
As one's desires are mirrored into this divine pool of Spirit, that he has stilled, they are reflected out into the realm of Spirit to take hold of, and gather the substance needed to fill the mold or pattern contained within the thought. The thought is the seed and, as that seed, holding the powers of its own fulfilling, is dropped or reflected into the Spiritual waters of that pool, they will be mirrored out into the universe to call together the spiritual elements or atoms to fill full the mold held out.
It is, however, quite necessary to understand that every doubt and fear must be eliminated for they disturb the surface of that Sea of Spirit, or molten gold, in such a manner that only the doubts and fears are fulfilled. So it is that when this sea is disturbed by contrary thinking and discordant emotions, all the turbulence is reflected out and it is the return of disturbances and confusion alone that become manifest in such a life.
A life is more or less cluttered and disorganized when the pool of Spirit in one's soul has not been quieted.
As long as this inner sea remains turbulent or is disturbed by unkind, evil, restless thoughts and emotions, it is impossible to produce anything but discord and confusion in oneself and surroundings, It is only by becoming "STILL" that the perfection of one's thoughts can be mirrored out into the realm of Spirit with clarity and power.
As one learns to spend at least a small portion of each day to enter that inner room in its quieted stillness, he will know that the divine powers of creatorship are placed in his hands. He will know fully that "All that the Father has, is his". He will stand in humble awe upon the threshold of the greater things.
As that pool is purified and clearified by one's own growing and expanding faculties, he will realize that that gold is the literal gold of his own soul which is being tried in the fire. He will know that Christ is the true refiner of that gold and that He truly sits with His fan in his hand. And as He occasionally leans over the cauldron and fans those vapors, they slowly separate and the purified gold is revealed in its beauty; and He will behold His face reflected back from that molten gold. This is accomplished when the gold is completely purified. And it will be then that the individual will also behold the face of Christ. And "he with open face will behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and will be changed into that same image from glory to glory." And it is most assuredly true that, when "He thus appears we will be like Him -- for we will be purified, even as He is pure."
It is not until this great inner stillness, or purification, is achieved that one can possibly know the blessings and powers contained in the words: "Be Still! And know that I am, God."
It is not until this Spiritual font becomes completely stilled that its full powers can be realized in their grandeur.
When one learns to hold that deep stillness of divine peace, he also learns to place the true desires of his heart into that pure Spirit substance and his desires will be reflected out into the outer realm and take form as the substance is gathered from that divine mother element and is brought into perfect manifestation in the material world.
It is within this quiet depth of Spirit that one's seeds of thought must be planted, through deep desiring that has been awakened by thought and emotions intermingling. It is in this manner that thoughts, ideals and dreams are realized.
The greatest seed possible to produce, in its divine perfection, is the pattern God implanted in man himself. Place the vision or thought, or seed of your own perfection, as God planned it when you were created, and it will be fulfilled or brought forth glorified. This divine pattern is already contained within thyself. All that is really necessary to fulfill it is for you to believe in it. Then placing God's divine idea, or thought, thyself, in that great inner stillness of pure Spirit, it will come forth as divinely perfect as God conceived it in the beginning. Thus you, like the seed, will grow into your own divine self which God planned.
There is even a higher way of glorifying this great font of Spiritual essence and power. It is by love and praise and thanksgiving. In this high vibration of adoration and love the great song of ecstasy joins with the triumphant song of creation and all things that are contained in the Mind and Will of God for the individual's glory and advancement will be bestowed and fulfilled.
In this added information, one soon learns that most of his desires are childish and petty and he will discover that the things he would have, or could have, expressed in words are quickly outgrown, as new and higher horizons reach out before his extended vision. So one finds that most of his mortal desires and petitions are but wasted, childish, immature petitions, which he learns speedily to leave behind. With this knowledge one places himself much more quickly and more humbly in tune with the Mind and Will of God, the Father. It is then the greater blessings can be given. "Before they ask I will answer." And "While they are yet speaking I will hear." This is when all blessings begin to be poured out in such abundance one does not have room enough to receive them.
Praise and love and gratitude release the powers of the universe. Use these three constantly and all doors will be opened to you.
This knowledge is very sacred and very powerful. If anyone having this knowledge uses it amiss, permitting evil, lust-filled thoughts to enter, then he becomes defiled and will be destroyed more speedily by his very knowledge.
This power of creating has been man's to use from the very beginning. And ignorantly man has used it freely. And it has returned to man all that he ignorantly mirrored out -- good and bad. Its very turbulence, caused by discordant thinking, hates and despairs and evils, has been produced in every heartbreaking, disquieting circumstance and set-back of one's life. This font contains the contact with the peace and power of the Almighty as one is "led beside the still waters."
The more one comprehends the power of this inner reality, the more he will desire the will of God to be done and the more perfect and glorious will his own life become. Within this sacred pool the Will of God will be reflected into his life and he will make no errors, nor will he walk in darkness nor act in blindness.
At the birth of Christ the herald angels sang, "Peace on earth, good will toward men." This was the gift God gave to the world with the birth of His Son. But the world has not received it, nor accepted it. This is the gift Christ again offered to the world on his last night of mortality. "My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives, give I unto you." The world gives all its gifts from the outside. Christ's gifts are from within. This molten sea is the place of peace contained deep within man. It is the peace that is beyond thought. It is the peace that is not of this world, but it is the "Peace that passeth understanding." This is the peace eternally held out to man. This is the peace of the "Christ Light that is given to abide in every man who cometh into the world." This is the peace that must be accepted in order to quiet that sea of molten gold, revealing the face of Christ and all the gifts and powers that go with such divine knowledge. Yea, "It is given to abide in you, the peaceable things of immortal glory."
Within every thought is contained the life-germ of growth and existence and the potential power to become. What can be and what ought to be will come forth, as man permits. Or as the holy ones of old proclaimed: "What ought to be IS." The substance to fulfill all things already exists, waiting but to become manifest. Yea, nothing is impossible as understood from the higher realm of Spirit. The whole universe is silently awaiting man's awakening as he begins to command the hidden powers of his being to fulfill their divine destiny.
Only great wickedness, which has been caused by the tragic spiritual blindness of unbelief, and men's orthodoxed, dead, lifeless ideas have prevented men from reaching through into the Light and prevented them from actually knowing God.
As one in mortality learns to go within, that he might begin to be taught of God, he will in time learn to know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. It is then that he will begin to comprehend fully the powers of creatorship that have been placed in his being for his eternal use and glory.
He will know that the mind is the father of thought and that thoughts are seeds, imbued with all the powers of life and fulfillment. He will also learn that the emotions are the mother. He will learn that it is within the emotions that the thought seed is quickened into desire. It is when thought and emotion can be held in the perfect balance of divine stillness that the seed can be dropped or reflected into that inner sea of Spirit and, if held without doubts and fears choking and disturbing it, it will have to come forth.
It is when the thought-desire, imbued with the germ of life and existence, is reflected into that stilled pool of Spirit, in the depths of a man's own soul, that it takes actual form in the Spirit realm. And, as that form is perfected, first in spirit, it has to gather, or accumulate "The substance of things hoped for" into tangible form. The invisible, spiritual atoms, of which all materials are composed, must fill that mold, or pattern held out, thus they become manifest and real.
This is the principle upon which faith works. It is the principle of eternal creation. It is the same principle used in the planting of a seed in the earth. After the seed has been held long enough in the warm, damp embrace of mother earth it reaches up into the sunlight to complete its perfect fulfillment. The seeds of thought are lifted, or reflected from that Spiritual mirror out into the great realms of the Spiritual sunlight of Almighty God to gather to themselves all that is needed for their growth and completion.
Such is the power of creation held within each man. Such is man's productive right to bring forth into this outer realm of tangible reality the ideas and ideals and hopes that burn within his heart. Anything that can be conceived by human thought can be brought forth. This has been proved by man's mechanical inventions. It is waiting now to be made manifest within man himself, transforming him from a grubby, mortal being into one divine.
It is his destiny and purpose to begin to reflect the image of Christ and so to be "transformed into that same image from glory to glory." And as one begins to interpret the wonders of the Lord he becomes that which he interprets. He becomes love as he interprets it. He becomes powerful as he visualizes and believes in the powers contained within himself.
Know this, Oh man, "All that the Father has, is yours." He has not only shared with you the power to multiply and replenish the earth with your own kind, even as the animals. He has shared with you the power to bring forth your ideas and your ideals, your hopes and your desires, your dreams and your divinity.
So far man has only used his creative powers to bring forth and fulfill his small, mortal wishes; his mechanical inventions, his works of art and his violent discords, when he has worked in darkness. But all these have been produced by this one principle of creation. Its powers will be made manifest fully when man begins to use them knowingly and with understanding.
Man, you are "The temple of the Living God," and your temple has been ruled by a den of thieves. The worldly, discordant, warring vibrations of mortal thinking have taken over your temple and used the powers thereof to produce their tragic imperfections in your life.
Drive out the money-changers and still, or silence, the ugly, mortal concepts. Open up the door to thyself and let Him come forth, He whose right it is to rule, as Lord of lords, and Kings of kings. Yea, let this great Light of Christ, that was given to abide in you, come forth to fill the temple with its Holy Light.
This is how you may become one with Him, even as He and the Father are ONE. Thus man becomes a co-creator with God.
Plotinus, one of the ancient, noble ones who walked with God, said: "Whatever comes into being is of the silent vision that belongs to me by nature. I am sprung from vision, I am vision-loving and I create by the vision-seeking faculty within me. I create the objects of contemplation, as mathematicians imagine and draw their figures. I gaze within, and the figures of my material world take being as if they fell from my brooding."
"Without vision the people perish." Without understanding the powers of true vision and having a comprehension of the divine gift of imagination all mankind will perish as they follow the generations before them into the grave. It is the gift of vision, or the power to "image in" to the Spirit realm one's high hopes and worthy ambitions, one's aspirations and noble dreams that hold the keys of Life Eternal -- that a man need not die. This divine gift of vision is first of all the power to BELIEVE.
Do you believe in the divine promises Christ gave? Can you imagine yourself being possessed with such divinity as He holds out? If you have, or can develop the power to hold to that vision, it must be fulfilled in you. As your noble thoughts are held firmly in the focus of your attention until they grow into desires, they will be reflected, or "imaged in", to the Spirit realm and gather to themselves the substance of the things you have hoped for. This is faith in action. And it is the power of fulfilling. It is the gift of creation as you begin to create with God to fulfill the perfection of Himself which He has implanted within you. You are His own imaging of complete perfection as you permit His vision of you to be fulfilled and brought forth.
"And it shall come to pass that he that asketh in Spirit shall receive in Spirit. He that asketh in Spirit asketh according to the will of God, wherefore it is done even as he asketh."