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To All Who Condemn Not the Word, but Hope in Him -
The smoking censers of sweet incense swinging in the wilderness tabernacles of the children of Israel often commingled in the wind with the odor of sacrificial burnt offerings. These were sacrifices offered to appease a supposedly wrathful God in atonement for the many sins of the children of Israel committed during their wilderness wanderings.1
The desire to appease God, the wish to find release from feelings of guilt and its attendant oppression, and the idea that forgiveness is possible occupy the minds of millions of God's children to the present day. Understandable, then, is the contrast between the sweet incense symbolizing prayer, love, and adoration and the somewhat odoriferous idea of animal or human sacrifice.
Under the guidance of the Darjeeling Council of the Great White Brotherhood, beloved Jesus and I are currently releasing this series of lessons in order to create a climate of greater understanding of what sin is, what sin is not, and what effective countermeasures can be taken to neutralize its effects by removing its cause and core. The involvement of conscience and consciousness with sin, the high expectations God has for his offspring, and a general clarification of this entire subject is to be compressed into our Corona Class Lessons, sent to you with all our love.
This sending should prove highly beneficial to those who carefully assimilate our instruction, for we are determined to put into it much needed assistance for all disciples who would teach Truth to the child heart. We are, however, well aware of the fact that some of our new students retain biased concepts or some religious bigotry. These we admonish to keep those old thought and feeling momentums under control until the completion of the course, in order to forestall any negative interference that would block the flow of our divine ideas into their worlds.
For some this will not be difficult, but for others who may feel a false sense of loyalty to this or that doctrine or its proponent (as I did on occasion, prior to my ascension, when identified with various religious faiths), it may require greater restraint in order to attend that understanding which, by its nearness to God, will be the best self-evident proof of our teaching.
Blessed ones, in connection with such matters as belief systems and religious faiths, remember that long before you reached your present understanding in this life, your concepts underwent change many times - and it is always possible that they will do so again in the course of the journey leading to the circle of understanding of the so-called mysteries of Life.
These matters may seem "cut and dried" to those who are grounded in a specific teaching; but in order to obtain freedom from any or all error inherent in a human system, the price you must be willing to pay is simply to keep an open mind and heart. Pause, then, both to consider new ideas and to reexamine old ones in the blazing light of the forthcoming divine knowledge.
In the world of science, the true scientist must be willing to keep open the avenues of receptivity and to constantly reevaluate long-established theories about the matter universe. By his eagerness to examine new evidence, even if it invalidate his former conclusions, he becomes a reliable channel for the progress of all men.
Spiritual values and principles must also stand the supreme test of validity and demonstrability in time and eternity. It should be recognized, however, that people's concepts concerning the application of eternal truths can be both accurate and inaccurate. Admitting that to err is human, then, the ministering servant must examine his own spiritual progress as it corresponds to the new thoughts that flow from the heavenly octave where I AM - that there ye may be also.2
The sincere students of Christian literature may well recall the biblical scene when beloved Jesus stooped down and carefully wrote in the sand those words which freed the supposedly sinful woman from the scorn of her would-be executioners. His statement, "He that is without sin among you - let him first cast a stone at her,"3 is a classic reminder of the 'humanness' of sin and firmly supports the later remarks of Saint Paul who declared, "There is none righteous, no, not one."4 David's statement in the Psalms "In sin did my mother conceive me"5 is also apropos the idea that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."6
Now, blessed ones, dear Jesus often declared while yet embodied in physical form that the Son of man came not into the world to condemn the world, but that through him the world might find the path to eternal Life.7 It is reasonable to assume that whatever sin may be, all men have either been guilty of it or have submitted to it at one time or another.
It is correct - and I say far more so - to conclude that God as Spirit, as Law, and as the manifestation of the Shekinah glory8 is not at all interested in the condemnation of earth's evolutions or in singling out individuals because of their present or past condition of sin. Rather is he supremely interested in freeing them from the ignorance of sin (and sinful ignorance) and the wiles of the Tempter.
Usually when pondering the doctrines of sin formulated by men, people engage in one of two misconceptions: either they excuse themselves while condemning their brothers for the same error, or they create the image of an angry God made in their own likeness, sustained by their own feelings of guilt and the consequent need for punishment or atonement.
The carnal mind derives satisfaction from contemplating this false picture of God only because it reinforces its own synthetic image and world view and allows it to hate and kill and maim in the name of its god. But the soul, knowing that the Father is in reality all-wise and all-loving, acts accordingly when free from the indoctrination (condemnation) of the serpent mind.
It is true that before the birth of beloved Jesus much of the karmic retribution portrayed in Old Testament scriptures did tend to support the idea of an angry God (the harshness of the Law untempered by the grace of the Divine Mediator); and the carry-over from the old to the new dispensation, because of Christianity's roots in Judaic tradition, has in some quarters affected Christian thought to the present.
If the eyes of men were opened to perceive the immensity of world pain returned upon them daily (by the law of karma) for redemption; if they could see that this pain and their attendant suffering is caused by their erroneous concepts concerning sin and condemnation - they would understand the urgent necessity for us to shed light upon every shadowy, unhappy thought concentration on the matter.
Sincere study and the correct explanation from the office of the World Teachers removes from erroneous concepts the sting and strength of error. The orthodoxy of many religionists (most of whom are sincere people) may be trodden upon in this dissertation, but in the spiritual 'ivory tower' of my own ascension, I have no fear of human censure.
And thus I am determined - with a fervor beyond the usual gentility imputed to me by many of the chelas - to alert the responsive and receptive ones to these accurate probings in Ascended Master Truth which lead to the promised land of freedom. There the milk and honey of spiritually sweetened thought is become that understanding which creates greater harmony with God, peace within oneself, and the power to promote goodwill among the blessed people of earth whom we dearly love in God's name, I AM.
The biblical statement "the sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law"9 is then brought forward for clarification. The idea that "the strength of sin is the law" is a key idea and contains the understanding which beloved Hilarion, as Saint Paul, recorded in his great wisdom.
From one standpoint, the law of which he spoke is the law of mortality, man-made - which itself is strengthened by the law of karma. Death has a sting only where the individual has sustained his own mortality through his failure to absolve the record of sin. This he is obliged to do through balancing his karma by good works and the application of the violet flame in dynamic decrees.10
The relative strength of sin is subject to the law of transmutation whereby through repentance and remission of sin one can transmute by the sacred fire the cause, effect, record, and memory of all error and thereby no longer be under the karmic weight of prior acts. Sin loses all power over the individual once he subjects it and himself fully and finally to the Law of Love.
As you know, beloved ones, it seems there are as many motives as there are people, yet this is not true. For the itemizing of human motives soon terminates and it is quickly perceived that outside of a subtle shading in variety, human motives are quite basic. Furthermore, it will be found that for the most part human attitudes and motivations originate in a misunderstanding as well as in an understanding of the laws of God.
Excessive feelings of hopelessness often overtake men when they contemplate the need to forsake their so-called sins. This, in turn, generates the feeling that they cannot live up to the high standard of the Law. Their perception of the "rigidity" of the Law seems to favor continuing in so-called sin and the way of all flesh because the goal of sinlessness appears nigh impossible. Thus at times it is, in fact, the blessed Law misunderstood, and its apparent inflexibility, which encourages and strengthens both the sense of sin and the act of sin!
Now, we of the Great White Brotherhood in no way desire to see shadow amplified by false doctrine or false teaching, nor would we do aught but assist each soul to find its way back Home. Blessed ones, it is results that count in spiritual matters as well as material ones. And so, in divine practicality, I should point out that the blessed Law is in reality neither weak nor rigid: It is the statement of the purity of eternal Truth. It is the codification of immortal values and standards which by their very nature cannot be compromised by lesser principles - the latter by contrast, appearing at times almost evil.
In truth, the Law is the greatest security in the universe, protecting the righteous and commanding the unrighteous to forsake the sinful unreality of their ways and come up higher. While affording ample opportunity for all to mercifully dismiss sin and the law of sin from their worlds, the Great Law also promises absolute God-justice to evildoers11 who persist in their evildoings, blasphemous towards Christ and his Call.
Your deliverance from all self-delusion is our goal in these Corona Class Lessons. In relation to the foregoing, your freedom from sin and the sense of sinfulness should liberate your soul from an oppressive apprehension of the hurdles of the Law - and what has seemed to be your own limitation in jumping over those hurdles.
Understand, then, that there are eternal as well as temporal values. Surely God who is wholly perfect could not permit his permanent Law to uphold a standard less than absolute perfection. Life on earth reveals countless examples of the great mercy of God, daily bestowed with the infinite patience he extends to all his creation.
Therefore, let none wrongly conclude that God is angry with them or with any part of Life. Neither let them foolishly conclude that, because he is not angry, the Lords of Karma who follow the perfect promptings of the Father of all will let pass deliberate or wanton acts of malice carried out against another part of Life.
For Justice declares, "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."12 This is an operative law and relates to the conduct of men in their dealings with one another. However, in their personal relationship to their own Mighty I AM Presence and the eternal Law of Perfection, there is ever the guiding hand of the patient Father (extended through the Son) who without condemnation adores to see his children know the Truth that makes them free.
No longer permit the high hurdles of the Law or your own temporary limitations to hinder your demonstration of the Law. Let the reach exceed the grasp, and strive by illustriousness of spirit to magnify your God-power for the accomplishment of righteousness - the right use (instead of the wrong use) of the Law among all children of the Light.
Know that each small strength you summon expands the victory of your soul, measurably increasing the Light that illumines, blesses, and heals you. Each act which reinforces the honor of the Law strengthens the manifestation of the great causal Law of Love as it moves the entire creation, in measured cadence, into eternal tabernacles of the Spirit.
It is the sweetness of Love immortal, like fragrant incense rising, that requires no shadow of animal or human sacrifice - only Christ-accomplishment which fulfills the whole Law for you, His grace multiplying your good words and good works.
[Taken from the book version, Corona Class Lessons.]