Students of prayer and meditation are often advised to "drop into the heart." However the process of soul unfoldment begins in the Mind. And, as we learn from this video, prayer and meditation also begins in the Mind with the study and application of simple, practical Truth principles taught by Jesus. From the video:
Through the years there has been continued growth in Unity and many changes. But one thing has remained constant: Unity has an open attitude about individual beliefs and continues to emphasize individual growth and soul unfoldment. God is only good and everywhere present and within each person waiting to be discovered through prayer and meditation. The truth principles that Jesus Christ brought to humankind are taught here. ...
The Fillmores knew that Truth had to be practical in order to be useful. It had to be simple. It had to offer practical ideas that people could live by; ideas that would enrich their lives not just on Sunday, but hour by hour, day in and day out. They knew that Christianity must be practical and to do that it must have behind it the simplicity of Truth.
Unity teaches that God is within. We can unite with that divinity through prayer and meditation and we can feel better as a result of what we think. ...
Lesson five of Life of Prayer is about prayer as a source of wisdom, intelligence and divine guidance. Metaphysically, that is about truth and light. The next lesson, on love, will focus primarily on what we call today the heart. This lesson, on Truth and Light, will focus primarily on the Mind.
A wise person once said to me "The heart will not accept what the mind rejects." May this fifth lesson on Light prepare an open heart in lesson six.
Reading:
- Light of Life
- Face to Face with God
- Spiritual Soul Therapy
- Fulfillment
- (Supplementary) Let There Be Light (Turner Pages 15 & 17)
- (Supplementary) Your Hope of Glory (Turner Pages 62, 142, 156, & 204)
- (Supplementary) The Revealing Word: Light (Fillmore page 122)
- (Supplementary) Halfway Up The Mountain (Smock Pages 57-59 & 88-90)
- (Supplementary) Exodus 3:2-5
- (Supplementary) Dynamics For Living (Fillmore Page 354)
1. Light As Intelligence
- Light is the understanding principle of mind. In divine order it always comes first in consciousness.
- Light is the symbol for wisdom.
- In the very first chapter of the Bible we are told that Mind became light. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."
- Bible writers use the word "light" to represent intelligence. When Jesus said, "I am the light of the world," He undoubtedly meant that He was the expresser of Truth in all its aspects. He came to teach us the way that we might have more understanding. "I am the way, the Truth, the life.
- In the first chapter of John light and Truth are synonymous. "There was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world."
- "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." (Isaiah 5:2 & Matthew 4:16)
- We must know the Truth about the omnipresence of the one intelligence in the light; then we shall be free from our intellectual darkness.
- The mind that judges according to appearances never discerns the inner truth about light (or anything else)
- Light is God intelligence in action. We can link our mind with the light and reap the benefit of its marvelous potentialities. How? Through prayer and meditation.
- The experience Moses had with the burning bush holds a lesson for us. God spoke to Moses out of the midst of the bush. God was in the fire that lighted an ordinary bush. Great ideas come to us out of ordinary incidents. Our part in the experience is to open our mind to the light of Spirit wherever we are, and see what the message we have received means to us. Then, as Moses did, we must act upon the idea.
- Study the life and works of Jesus. Feel your oneness with the Light as He did. Know, really know, that you are one with the Light. You and the Father are one.
- Know that you have in you the same wisdom, the same access to the Divine Intelligence that He did.
- Paul urged that we let Christ be formed in us. This means that through the study of the life of Jesus and the discipline He gave His mind, we can put into our mind the same ideas that. He had. These ideas will form in our mind a new concept of life and living.
- How do we discipline our mind? Turn your attention daily to Spirit. When you turn your attention to Spirit your mind makes contact with a realm of ideas very much above the level of your ordinary thinking. When you touch this mental atmosphere you will be tremendously lifted up and inspired.
- If you want more light in your life — practice the Presence. Pray for illumination. Pray for good workable ideas ... and they will be yours.
2. Light As Energy
- Physically we live by the light of the sun.
Spiritually we live by the inner light, the light of Spirit. - What is energy? It is the power of God within us to accomplish.
- Light as energy has a great power.
- The whole universe is alive with a divine, living, spiritual energy.
- A visible form of energy is fire. Fire symbolizes cleansing and purification. Fire consumes only when it meets anything unlike itself.
- We all know what wonderful things the body is capable of. For example, fever. That fire that arises to burn away some impurity in the body.
- Many people who have experienced a physical healing tell me that they felt a sudden warmth in the afflicted part of the body. Almost everyone who tells me about a healing experience mentions this warmth. (Give examples).
- This warmth, this energy is sometimes by healers as the healing light. Dr. Andrews in his book "Symphony of Light", tells us that our bodies are aglow with light. Every cell has in its center a glowing radiance. When we become aware of this light we should fee; radiantly and vitally alive.
- Do you need healing? Open your mind light.
- From what we have talked about in this lesson we could say that the light of God not only reveals, but also heals.
3. Meditation
We end today's class with Charles Fillmore's Treatment To Realize Light.
"THE GLORY OF THE LORD IS RISEN UPON ME, AND I WALK IN THE LIGHT OF LIFE. CHRIST WITHIN ME IS MY GLORY. THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS PRESENCE CAST OUT ALL THE DARKNESS OF ERROR, AND MY WHOLE BODY IS FULL OF LIGHT. MY UNDERSTANDING IS ILLUMINED BY SPIRIT.
In the above four steps, Mary Rexroth has us concentrate on bringing light to various parts of the body. Here is an audio recording of May Rowland doing essentially the same thing. It is the second of a two-step process that begins with complete relaxation of the body (see previous lesson on relaxation), followed by these concentrated affirmations to realize the Christ spirit within. This recording is from Come Ye Apart Awhile. You can follow the written tract or the audio presentation.
