Christ Enthroned in Man — Renunciation
Chapter 12
Affirmation: Jesus Christ is now here raising me to His consciousness of self-denial, and I realize that the cleansing, purifying power of the Holy Spirit is active in me.
(This exercise should be used in conjunction with the study or the 12th chapter of The Twelve Powers of Man, by Charles Fillmore.)
When man began to multiply on the face of the earth and to express his fleshly freedom, “Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Much grieved, Jehovah said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground.”
But there was one righteous man on the earth, a man who even in the midst of wickedness walked with God continually. Jehovah made known to this righteous man Noah the coming of a great deluge that was to cover the whole earth and destroy every living thing on the face of the earth. Then Jehovah said to Noah, Make thee an ark.” Jehovah instructed Noah just how to make the ark. It was to be 525 feet in length, 87 l/2 feet breadth, and 521 feet in height (three stories). It was to be roomy enough to house Noah and his wife, Noah’s three sons and their wives; seven pairs (male and female) of every clean beast of the earth; one pair of the beasts that were not clean; seven pairs of all the different kinds of birds in the heavens; and food enough to support all during the period of the Deluge.
When the ark was completed the Flood came. For forty days and forty nights there was a downpour of water, until every living thing on the face of the earth, outside the ark, had been destroyed. But Noah’s ark floated on the face of the waters and all those on board were safe; finally it drifted onto the top on Mount Ararat and rested there.
At the end of 150 days the waters began to recede. Noah opened the windows of the ark and sent forth a dove, to see whether the waters had been abated on the earth, but the dove returned; she had found no place to rest “the sole of her foot.” Noah waited seven days and sent forth the dove a second time. At eventide she returned bearing an olive leaf in her mouth. Then Noah knew that the waters were almost gone. He waited still another seven days and sent her forth again. She did not return, and Noah knew that she had found a home on the earth. He removed the covering from the ark and found the earth dry. Then he built an altar and offered a burnt offering to Jehovah. “Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake, for that the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”
As a token of the covenant that He would not destroy by water again, God set His “bow in the cloud.”
“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”
The story of Noah and the flood portrays in wonderful symbology the manner in which one of the twelve fundamental faculties of being works in unfolding the perfect man. The faculty of renunciation is twofold in action: It eliminates error and expands the good. The word “Noah” symbolizes the sweet rest and the comfort that come after the soul has worked out in consciousness certain problems, both good and evil, and has perceived that there is an original spark of divinity in man that is indeed a very sacred, holy thing, and that the expansion of this original divine spark is man’s spiritual development. Jehovah, the image-and-likeness man created by Elohim God, recognizes only the good, and instructs the Adam man to open his consciousness only to good thoughts, and by the waters of denial to cleanse his consciousness of the evil.
Man’s body is divine and every activity in the body temple is fundamentally divine. We must know this, realize it daily, if we would make our body a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.
In the lower part of the back, near the base of the spinal column, is a ganglionic nerve center which, when spiritually quickened, has power to perform a wonderful work of the kind symbolized in the story of Noah and the flood. This nerve center is symbolized by Jesus’ apostle Thaddaeus; it presides over the elimination of waste from the body temple; it eliminates error thoughts from the mind and expands the good.
When working under the light of Spirit the faculty of renunciation or elimination establishes a freedom in soul and body consciousness that gives tone and strength and elasticity to the whole man. Letting go of the old in an orderly manner, at the same time laying hold of the new, engenders a sweetness and a lightness in the whole being.
Jesus said, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” The self that Jesus taught must be denied is the grasping personality. It must let go of its hold upon possessive ideas before there can be harmonious activity in the eliminative center. From the invisible side of life Spirit is constantly infusing into our being more of itself, and at the same time casting out of mind and body all the waste. The forgiving love of Jesus Christ is not only a wonderful spiritual stimulant for soul and body, but it is also an important factor in the eliminative process. When the voice of Spirit within proclaims to you, “Thy sins are forgiven,” it means that you have opened the way for the fulfillment of the law in you. There is a discarding of personality and an increased activity of the spiritual forces. There is an inrushing of the new and a letting go of the old. Just as the flower, unfolding its petals to the sunshine and drinking in new life and strength and beauty, exhales that which is poisonous to it, so the whole being of man, when the law of forgiveness is satisfied, draws new life and strength and power from the one divine source and throws oft the old.
While renunciation is passive in character, it is positive and decisive in action. The innermost thoughts of man determine the standard that he sets up in his life, and the whole being endeavors to measure up to this standard. The degree of intelligence that finds expression in man’s conscious thought determines the character of the manifestation. Therefore if we would be healthy and happy and prosperous, we must learn to do healthy, hearty, positive thinking. We must not be dominated by another’s will. To let someone else do our thinking for us makes us negative, indecisive, indirect. If we try to hold on and let go at the same time, renunciation and elimination in both mind and body are weak, negative, irregular. The negative attitude wears away the greater abilities of the soul and diffuses mental poison throughout the whole body.
Holding thoughts of unhappiness, sin, sickness, and poverty is the cause of much of the inharmony that exists today. One may tie up the bowels by holding to grasping, selfish ideas. On the other hand, a person troubled by excessive looseness of the bowels can be healed by a treatment to induce courage and fearlessness. A daily study of the 23d Psalm and a meditation on it are wonderful solvents for fear.
An affirmative thought sometimes produces a congested condition throughout the body and interferes with elimination. Continued strenuous affirmations, even of Truth, will sometimes cause constipation. The remedy is to relax, to let go. The words of Truth that you have affirmed must have time to work out in the subconsciousness. We can never gain possession of the kingdom of harmony until we are free to express the wisdom and the power of Spirit as divine intelligence reveals them to us.
We are born daily and we die daily. While some error thought may stick in our mind and hold fast for a season, whenever new light is born in consciousness the old error thought loses its grasp and falls away. This life activity is illustrated beautifully in nature; in a tree, for example. Throughout the summer months, the leaves drink in new life, which they instinctively feel is in preparation; and they store up in the trunk and branches new energy for next year’s unfoldment. When autumn comes, and their work is accomplished, the leaves fall off, making way for the new. But here and there an old dead leaf holds on, refusing to give way to the blustery winds and the cutting sleet. But when spring comes, and the first tiny green shoot appears beneath its clinging hand, the old leaf loses its hold and follows its comrades.
Man is making his body temple an eternal dwelling place for the soul. His goal is to bring into expression the kingdom of the heavens and to establish it within him. Consequently he needs to realize consciously that the passing away of the old and the incoming of the new are results of the outworking of the law, and that he should assist in bringing about this change. His every experience aids in establishing more firmly his identity in Spirit, and so gives him greater freedom and power and brings him nearer the goal of perfection—perfect health in mind and body. “They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth.”
For a regenerative exercise in the silence, first follow the one given in Chapter I. Then continuing to allow the Presence to dwell at the point designated as the great solar nerve center, realize that Jesus (the indwelling Christ in action) is standing in your midst, the one controlling, directing power, saying: “Come unto me, all ye that labor’and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” As these words penetrate the soul consciousness you will realize that you are letting go of all weariness, all doubt, and all fear, and you feel a lightness and a freedom in your whole being. Hold this thought:
I gladly let go of the old. My whole being expands with the new life in Christ Jesus.
Then allow the Presence to ascend to the love center, the heart; there hold the prayer:
The forgiving love of Jesus Christ cleanses, purifies, and strengthens me.
Dwell on this thought for some time, relaxing more and more throughout the region of the cardiac and solar plexuses. During the whole time be sure that the conscious mind is fully aware of the work that is going on.
Next allow the Presence to return to the center of renunciation, located at the lower end of the spinal column. Meditate upon the word:
The forgiving love of Jesus Christ cleanses, purifies, and strengthens me.
Then let the Presence ascend to the strength center, in small of back, and affirm:
I gladly let go of weak, worn-out thoughts in mind and in body. The joy of the Lord is my strength.
Next let the Presence cross to the order center back of the navel, and hold the prayer:
Every function and every organ is working in perfect harmony with spiritual law. Divine order is established within me, and my bowels move regularly and naturally.
Then let the Presence descend again to the center of elimination and praise God and give thanks that His spiritual word is active throughout your whole being, with all its cleansing, discriminating, purifying power and that you are joyously working with it.
At the conclusion allow the Presence to ascend again to the point designated as the great solar nerve center, and close by repeating the Lord’s Prayer.
As in previous exercises you should be conscious continually of the light of Spirit descending from the spiritual center at the crown of the head; you should in truth be conscious of every step taken in the entire exercise.
After the close of the exercise throw the attention down into the feet and beneath the feet, also into the palms of the hands, and realize perfect poise and balance throughout your whole being.
Download PDF of Christ Enthroned in Man — 12
