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The kingdom of God – and
God Itself – is within YOU

WHISPERS FROM WITHIN
July 2006

A Prescense, Not a Person

 

            God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must do so in spirit. How many are still thinking of God as some all-powerful man who will intercede in their lives by punishing them for their misdeeds and rewarding them for their benevolences? These yet-to-be illumined ones are still conceptualizing God in the Old Testament way of having a lord god. But God - the only God - can’t be that at all since the Master, Christ Jesus has instructed us that God, our Father/Source, is one and is already the essential aspect of who and what we are.

          Have we not also been informed by the Hebrew prophet that the kingdom of God is within us? How then can God be a person if Its kingdom, that is, where It dwells, is within you, me, everyone, and everything? The only way that God could possibly be within us is as a spirit - formless invisible being. This means that It isn’t something that we’ll ever come to know with our physical senses. We are to - if we truly desire to know God aright - have developed in us a totally different faculty or ability that will enable us to see the unseen and hear the inaudible. This is done by grace! That’s why I stated that we are to “have” it developed in us rather than that we are to do it ourselves. Our only role in the process is to bring ourselves before the altar of God in meditation. After all, the Master, Christ Jesus said “I can of mine own self do nothing, the Father within me doeth the work.”

          The major principle of the message of The Infinite Way is that God constitutes individual Being. This really is the secret to where God is and what God is. Also, this makes it clear that God is not a person but something, a presence, a feeling that is now and always has been at the core of our existence. But for this truth to make a real and demonstrable difference in our life it must be consciously experienced in individual you and me at some point in our journey along the path. It will happen to each one at a different stage of her inner development so it cannot be pinned down to any specific time or after so many periods of meditation. We would do well to forget about looking for results and content ourselves with the fact that we are diligent in the practice of following our inner leading to the best of our ability. The results are to be left in God’s hands. HE that seeeth in secret will reward us openly. HE perfecteth that which concerneth me.

          Now you and I know quite well that there is no “he” per se within us. That is, there isn’t a “person” inside of us. The use of the word “he” is simply a handy means of expressing the truth that there is an actual “presence” or “something” that can be experienced in us. We could very well use “she” or, as is more appropriate, “it.” But we needn’t get ensnarled in words. Suffice it to say that there is something within our consciousness that must be experienced in order for the individual to be convinced of its actual existence in him.

          Much ado is made over studying and reading the letter of truth, and for good reason. We are to establish a fundamental theoretical context within our understanding so that when the experience of God does unfold in us we’ll know just what’s happening. What’s more, this framework will provide all the needed knowledge beforehand to satisfy the curiosity component of the intellect. It – the letter of truth, read and studied – will be the backdrop that will be made evident to our awareness when the spirit of God assumes the full statue of manhood in us and so announces Itself in unspeakable terms. In this way we will know firsthand, for our own inner Teacher will have arisen in us to reveal what’s hidden behind the words and thoughts of the letter of truth.

          He that is within me is greater than he that is in the world. As paradoxical as
many aspects of a mystical teaching seem to be, the truth remains that although God is one and is manifest as individual BEING, still there is an inner and outer aspect to being. There’s the IAM which is God-being, and then there’s I, John. The IAM is that HE that is within me - I, John - and It is greater, much greater than I, John, am. It is this IAM in me with which I must become acquainted. I must learn that there is in fact such a Presence in me so that I can come to believe, truly believe, that God - this IAM - and I are one and not two. In the beginning it seems like we’re two. I feel separated from It just as I feel separated from all other people. This situation cannot be avoided due to the fact that for a very long time we only have our limited intellect as a source of knowledge, and the intellect is capable of understanding only three dimensional knowledge whereas to grasp the truth of our oneness with God we require an ability to discern the fourth dimension.

          Although everyone on the spiritual path is destined to fully discover their true identity, all will not find it in a single incarnation. Each of us will however attain whatever degree of grace that will render us content in whatever stage of development we find ourselves. Some therefore will continue to be satisfied with the milk of the word for quite a while whereas others will not be able to rest with that and so will continue to endure whatever need be to reach that final place of conscious union with their inmost Spirit. Not one of us can wish our measure of grace to be otherwise and thereby make it so. The all-knowing Spirit in each of us is the guiding principle of life and It metes out the appropriate measure of grace to each of Its own manifested forms in accordance with their own state of development. And, of course, each of us finds comfort and encouragement commensurate with our own individual state, and not some other wished for or hoped for state.

          As all those on this path know so very well, one can only go so far with the mind in grasping a mystical message. So it is that the mind comes up short in its ability to understand how something so seemingly intangible as a spirit can be the fulfillment of our needs. But, nonetheless, it is so! How can this be proven to the mind’s satisfaction? Only through the individual’s own inner experience of it will she be convinced, and, in no other way. That is why it is written that each can be led to the Promised Land, but to enter in, each must do that on his own.

          Even with this in mind, it is to be remembered that God is a spirit, therefore, all that God has to offer is spiritual. Is it possible for you and I to be satisfied with the fruitage of Spirit? Do we desire God to get something – especially something material – from God? If so be this is the case, then we’ll be sorely disappointed in the end. If we’re after material good alone, if our heart is set on it, best we leave God out of the picture and go forth on our own devices in this pursuit. This way it’s possible to obtain such and be content. But you and I are headed for discouragement if we seek such things through God. She who, by grace, is so absorbed in God that God is all she seeks; that God is her only satisfaction and therefore the only focus of her spiritual desires will ultimately prevail, and, will find that all the material good she could ever want is added unto her. Whom shall ye serve, God or mammon?

          Perhaps the very first inkling we’ll get of the existence of a Presence in us is through hearing the still small voice. This hearing won’t be through or by way of the ears however. It will be by way of an awakened faculty of inner discernment. In some miraculous way we will become aware of a voice uttering Itself in the quiet of our mind which we have stilled through our contemplating truth. This is the whole purpose of stilling the mind in the first place, that at some point in our preparation of our consciousness the indwelling voice of God may be heard, may be known, may be experienced.

   

                 God in the midst of thee is mighty. But God is

                 Also the very foundation and source of love, of

                 All good in you. God can be such for It is one.

                 That gentle voice, that comforting feeling, that

                  Ever available Presence in you is HE.

 

 

GG

 

                                                                                GG….Glorifying God abbreviated