Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Esotericism with Vernon Howard

These selections of text come from "Esoteric Mind Power":

If you fight against the established system, you are part of the established system.  If you are part of the system, you are attacked by it.  If attacked by it, you are really attacked by unseen negatives within yourself, so fighting the system is like giving ammunition to the enemy.  Stop fighting the system, which is pointless, and start fighting for yourself, which makes sense

Emerson (out of Esoteric Mind Power): "Society never advances.  It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other."  Only individual consciousness can uplift anything.

A wild bird imprisoned in a cage still possesses its capacities for natural happiness, but cannot use them.  Likewise, we possess natural capacities which are blocked by unnatural psychic imprisonment.  As shocking as it may be, admit your actual confinement.  This defeats self complacency and arouses a drive for naturalness.  All human neurosis and unhappiness consists of an unnecessary contradiction of life energy.  It is the pull of inner forces in opposing directions, with the person caught between.

Happiness resides in the mind which does not divide life into opposites of any kind, including today and tomorrow, security and insecurity.

A conscious man is protected at all times, but his protection is utterly unlike anything known by a sleeping man.  It is the protection of having no protection at all.  If you protect anything, perhaps your reputation, it means you are protecting a human label.  So this kind of protection provides nothing!  It just makes you nervous.  But if you have no reputation at all - which is a wonderful way to live - there is no need for protection and there is no nervousness, for you are yourself only.

Love and intelligence and goodness reside in the hypnotized person just as much as in the awakened man, for "the kingdom of heaven is within."  But only the awakened man can enjoy them.

The wise individual uses his exterior affairs - whether labeled a success or a failure - to build interior fortunes.

Unhappiness is caused by comparison.  You feel unhappy only when you unconsciously compare your present state with another state, perhaps when you were younger or healthier, or perhaps when you had a certain companion or possessed certain public honors.  Where there is no comparison, unhappiness is impossible.  Happiness exists where the mind does not move away from itself, when it remains in the present time zone, when it declines to contrast self with another time or another condition.

Hope, so highly prized by many, has neither value nor meaning to the truly happy man.  See how hope creates you and an objective, causing painful self-splitting.  So strangely, hope produces the very feelings of hopelessness one seeks to avoid.  The man without hope is self unified, and so can never feel hopeless!  Self completion has no more need for hope than a healthy plum tree needs to hope for plums.   

Effects

I wrote the other day about effects.  How along my journey that I got caught up in the desiring of effects.  In turn when these effects started to blossom I started to feel proud of myself and what I had accomplished.  I now understand how foolish I was.  To have the base of my learnings in cause creating effect, inner determining outer and in turn worrying about what effects I might be creating is complete blasphemy.  Below are some passages from William Law's book "Grounds and Reasons for Christian Regeneration."  They speak to outward Christians (deists) and worrying about the outward effects that come along the path to regeneration.  My errors are very much starting to come to the light of my attention.  I am grateful for teachers such as Law and Boehme.  Without them I would surely get lost or veer off the path and waste valuable time.  I think we must always stop and take account of where we are in life and what is driving us.  What are our motivating factors?  It is easy to begin to lie to ourselves about the progress we are making and the state of our inner being.  I now personally see the pride I continued to develop even though I had thought I had recognized and began to remove.  When it is put in terms of personal or self will versus God's will it makes it easier for me to to stay on track I believe.  We shall see I suppose.  I want this to happen right away and it is just not possible.  The inner selfishness, pride, wrath, and envy is not simply going to disappear.  It must be gradually worked away.  The Philosopher's Stone is not built in a day.  When I become hasty this is when the problems like pride and self aggrandizement arise.  Let the process happen on it's own.  Let God's will take over and I cannot help but reach the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Unfortunately (or fortunately) there is much richness in the teachings that I have trouble condensing it more. 

William Law - "Grounds and Reasons for Christian Regeneration" -

[Reg-162] The old, natural Man, or the rational Man of this World, is the dark fallen Nature, enlightened only, and solely with the Light of this outward World; it is the diabolical Nature, only softened with Flesh and Blood, quieted and comforted with the Light of the Sun; by this Light, he can only see the outward Images of Things, whether Divine or human, and can only reason, dispute, and wrangle about his own shadowy Images, but can know no more of God, and the Things of God, than such dead Images can represent unto him..


[Reg-163] The old or natural Man, may be an Historian, a Poet, an Orator, a Critic, a Politician, or worldly wise Man, &c., all this Skill and Art lies within his reach; the Fire of his Soul, kindled only by the Light of the Sun, may do all this. But notwithstanding all these Trappings and Endowments, he is wholly shut up in his own dark Prison of Selfishness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath; his Virtues, Piety, and Goodness can be only such, as give no Disturbance to these four Elements of the fallen Nature.

[Reg-164] He is an Animal, full of earthly, sensual Passions and Tempers, and can only favor such things as can gratify their Nature.

[Reg-165] Here, and here only, lies the true, solid, and immutable Distinction, between the old and the new Man, and the plain Reason, why the Life of the one, is the Death of the other.

[Reg-166] (35.) Now in this essential Difference, between the old and the new Man, we may at one View, see a clear and solid Ground of Distinction, between what is called a bare historical, and superficial Faith, which cannot save the Soul, but leaves it a Slave to Sin, and that living and real Faith, which effecteth our Salvation, and sets us in the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God.

[Reg-167] Human Reason, or the natural Man of this Life, can believe and assent to this Truth, that Christ is our Saviour, and that we are to be saved by a Righteousness from him, as easily, as it can assent to any other Relation, or Matter of Fact. But whilst it is human Reason only, that assents to this Truth, little or nothing is done to the Soul by it; the Soul is under much the same Power of Sin as before, because only the Notion, or Image, or History of the Truth is taken in by it; and Reason of itself can take in no more.

[Reg-168] But when the Seed of the New Birth, called the inward Man, has Faith awakened in it, its Faith is not a Notion, but a real, strong, essential Hunger, an attracting, or magnetic Desire of Christ, which as it proceeds from a Seed of the Divine Nature in us, so it attracts and unites with its Like, it lays hold on Christ, puts on the Divine Nature, and in a living and real Manner, grows powerful over all Sins, and effectually works out our Salvation.

[Reg-169] And therefore it is justly called a Divine Faith, not only because of its Divine Effects, but chiefly because it arises from that, which is Divine within us, and by its attracting Hunger, and Thirst after that Fountain of Life, from whence it came, becomes essentially united with it; breathes by that Spirit, and lives by that Word which eternally proceeds out of the Mouth of God. Of this Faith alone it is, that our Lord speaks, when he says, "whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood, hath eternal Life.

[Reg-170] When this Faith is thus awakened, and sprung up in the inward Man, then we may be said to have a strong saving Faith, or a saving Knowledge of Jesus Christ.

[Reg-171] (36.) From these two Sorts of Faith here mentioned, we may very plainly see and perceive, why there is such a Misunderstanding between two Sorts of Believers, and why they speak a Language so unsatisfactory, and disgustful to one another.

[Reg-172] Busy inquisitive Reason, learned enough in its own Sphere, grammatically skilled in Scripture-Knowledge, looking no further, or deeper into the Things of God, than a Dictionary can guide it, cannot bear the Language of the regenerate, inward Man, but condemns it as fanatical, and enthusiastic; not considering, that this rational Man, which is made the Judge of Salvation, is that very individual old Man with his Deeds, that we are by the Religion of the Gospel, to be saved, and delivered from; and that we should have no occasion for a new Seed of a Divine Life in us, no occasion to be born again of God, but because this natural Man of human Reason, can neither see nor hear, nor feel, nor taste, nor understand the Things of God, as they are in themselves.

[Reg-173] (37.) From this Difference between the new, and the old Man, which is a Difference as real, as that between Heaven and Earth, several Lessons of great Instruction may be learnt.

[Reg-174] When Religion is in the Hands of the mere natural Man, he is always the worse for it; it adds a bad Heat to his own dark Fire, and helps to inflame his four Elements of Selfishness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath. And hence it is, that worse Passions, or a worse Degree of them, are to be found in Persons of great religious Zeal, than in others that make no Pretenses to it. History also furnishes us with Instances of Persons of great Piety and Devotion, who have fallen into great Delusions, and deceived both themselves and others. The Occasion of their Fall was this; it was, because they made a Saint of the natural Man. My Meaning is, they considered their whole Nature, as the Subject of Religion, and Divine Graces; and therefore their Religion was according to the Workings of their whole Nature, and the old Man was as busy, and as much delighted in it, as the New. And hence it was, that Persons of this Stamp, all inflamed, as they seemed to be, with Piety, yet overlooked in their own Lives, such Errors of moral Behaviour, as the first Beginners in Religion, dare not allow themselves in.

[Reg-175] Others again, perhaps truly awakened by the Spirit of God, to devote themselves wholly to Piety, and the Service of God, yet making too much haste to have the Glory of Saints, the Elements of fallen Nature, Selfishness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath, could secretly go along with them. For to seek Eminence, and Significancy in Grace, is but like seeking for Eminence and Significancy in Nature. And the old Man can relish Glory, and Distinction in Religion, as well as in common Life, and will be content to undergo as many Labours, Pains, and Self-denials, for the sake of religious, as for the sake of secular Glory. There is nothing safe in Religion, but in such a course of Behaviour, as leaves nothing for corrupt Nature to feed, or live upon; which can only then be done, when every Degree of Perfection we aim at, is a Degree of Death to the Passions of the natural Man.




[Reg-181] (39.) If it be further asked, What are then the certain Marks, or Effects of a highly advanced Degree of Regeneration, which Christians are to look for?

[Reg-182] It may be answered, this Question is not useful: First, Because there is no Obligation upon anyone, to know and feel the Height, or Advancement of his State. Secondly, Because the Inquiry after such Knowledge, and inward Feeling of it, is very dangerous. Thirdly, because it can be no hurt to anyone's Piety and Holiness, to take it to be lower than it really is. Fourthly, Because nothing keeps up our Progress in the Way of Regeneration, let it be in what Degree it will in us, but our constant Fidelity in conforming to the Doctrines, Life, and Death of Jesus Christ. Fifthly, Because this Question directs, and turns People’s Minds to the seeking after certain Effects, merely from Ideas and Descriptions of them, when their Minds should only be set upon the Causes that are to produce them.

[Reg-183] Thus, supposing it to be true, that an Assurance of Salvation, or Continuance in Grace, was a genuine Effect of a certain Degree of Regeneration; Christians should not be directed to seek for this Assurance, as a certain Mark or Effect of such a Degree of Regeneration, for this is directing them to seek for this Effect from their ownselves, and not from the State of their Regeneration.

[Reg-184] For their Minds and Imaginations will be naturally upon the Stretch, how to work themselves up into this Pitch of Assurance, and so it will be something, that they have seized upon by their own Will, and not received as the genuine Effects of their State in Grace. Whereas, supposing (but not granting) this Assurance to be the proper Effect of a certain Degree of the new Birth, yet it is an Effect that is not to be sought for beforehand, but only to be received when its proper Cause has produced it.

[Reg-185] (40.) It is a great Error, to fix any certain Marks or Effects to such a Degree of Regeneration; for its Effects will be various in different Persons, from a Variety of Causes, both on the Part of God, and Man.

[Reg-186] The truly pious Christian, in whom the Holy Ghost dwelleth as in his Temple, is indeed in a State of high Acquiescence in God; but he wants no more to have this Acquiescence turned into an Assurance of his own Mind, that he cannot fall from his State of Grace, than he wants to have the Promises of God made sure to him, by the Promise of some mortal Man.

[Reg-187] And if it pleases God to impress strongly and plainly upon his Mind, that his Salvation is secured, he receives it, as he does everything from God, with a grateful Mind; yet will he not rest in it, or receive it as a Sign of his high Regeneration, but rather as a Sign that God saw his Weakness stood in need of it; and so will pass over it, and return to an humble, total Resignation of his whole Soul, Spirit, and Body, both for Time and Eternity, into the Hands of God, through Faith in the Merits of his Saviour Jesus Christ.

[Reg-188] Least of all can such a one call peremptorily upon others, for such an Assurance as he has had, or condemn their Resignation and Peace in the want of it; he will be more afraid of thus meddling with the Things of God, than of being a Busy-body in other Men's Matters.

[Reg-189] (41.) The only useful Question in this Matter, is this, How a Man may know that he is in the Way of Regeneration, that he is spiritually alive, and growing in the inward and new Man?

[Reg-190] It may be answered, Just as the State, Nature, and Life of the natural Man makes itself to be known, and felt. The Soul of Man, or that which is the Subject both of the old and new Nature, is not two, but one Soul. The Fire of the Soul, or that spiritual Fire which is the Soul itself, is kindled or enlightened by the light of the Sun; this makes the natural Man, and from whence the Imagination, Will, Desires, Thoughts, and Inclinations of the natural Life arise.

[Reg-191] The same individual Fire-soul, enlightened by the Son of God, makes the true new Man, from which Soul thus enlightened, the Imagination, Will, Desires, Thoughts, and Inclinations of the New Man arise. So that the same Proofs are to be expected in both Cases, the spiritual Man is to know that he is alive in the same manner, as the natural Man knows and feels his Life. In these things, in the Imagination, Will, Desires, Thoughts, and Inclinations, consists the Life of each Nature; and what are more than these, are to be considered as the outward Fruits and Effects of each Nature.

[Reg-192] (42.) Now though the natural Life in all Men is one and the same, yet there are under it a Variety of Complexions, which makes Men of the same Nature, almost infinitely different from one another. Now the Matter is just thus with the spiritual Man, or in the inward World. As many different Complexions arise in the Soul, enlightened by the Son of God, as in the Soul, enlightened by the outward Light of this World.

[Reg-193] For the outward World is but a Glass, or Representation of the inward; and everything and Variety of things in temporal Nature, must have its Root, or hidden Cause, in something that is more inward.

[Reg-194] It is therefore a well-grounded, and undeniable Truth, that the new spiritual Man hath his particular Complexion, as sure as the outward and natural Man hath. Hence it is, that there has been so great a Difference, in the Form and Character of the most eminent and faithful Servants of God; one could think of nothing but Penitence and penitential Austerities; another all inflamed with the Love of God, could think or speak of nothing else; some have been driven into a holy Solitude, living as John the Baptist; others have been wholly taken up in Works of Charity, loving their Neighbour even more than themselves. A great Variety of this kind, has been always found amongst those, who were most truly devoted to God, whose Variety, is not only not hurtful in itself, nor displeasing to God, but is as much according to his Will, and the Designs of his Wisdom, as the Difference between Cherubims and Seraphims, or the Variety of the Stars in the Firmament.

[Reg-195] Every Complexion of the inward Man, when sanctified by Humility, and suffering itself to be tuned, and struck, and moved by the Holy Spirit of God, according to its particular Frame and Turn, helps mightily to increase that Harmony of Divine Praise, Thanksgiving, and Adoration, which must arise from different Instruments, Sounds, and Voices. To condemn this Variety in the Servants of God, or to be angry at those who have not served him, in the Way that we have chosen for ourselves, is but too plain a Sign, that we have not enough renounced the Elements of Selfishness, Pride, and Anger.

[Reg-196] (43.) From this Variety of Complexions both in the inward and outward Man, we may make some useful Observations. And the first may be this, that every Man whose Complexion is strong in him, as to one particular Kind, is vehemently inclined to imprint the same upon others, and that others of the same Kind, are naturally disposed to catch and receive it from him. But I shall consider this Matter only with regard to Religion. Let it be supposed that Men of a certain Complexion, have taken upon them to try the religious State of others by these Questions: Are you sure that you should be able to die a Martyr? Do you find certain strong Resolutions, not in your Head, or your Brain, but in your inward Man, that you would not refuse a Martyrdom of any kind? Have you the Witness of the Spirit within you, bearing witness with your Spirit, that you are in this State?

[Reg-197] Now, it is beyond all Question, that an Examination of this Kind, or a Demand of such a Faith, can have no better Foundation than Complexion. Who do you think would be most likely to come into this Faith? First, it would be those that were most unlikely to keep it. It would be those who knew the least of themselves, and whose Piety had more of Heat than of Light in it. It would be those, whose outward Man was of the same Complexion, that was Sanguine, capable of a false Fire, and willing to have the Glory of Resolutions, and fine Persuasions at so easy a Rate. Let it now be supposed, that People of another Complexion should put Questions such as these: Do you know and feel that all your Sins are forgiven you? Do you know when and where, or at what Time, and in what Place, you received this Forgiveness? Do you know when and where you ceased to be one of those Sinners called to Repentance? And became one of those Whole, that need not a Physician? Have you an absolute Assurance of your Salvation, and that you cannot possibly fall from your State of Grace? Now who may be thought the most likely to come into this Religion?

[Reg-198] First, Not he who is deeply humble, that abhors Self-Justification, and truly knows the Free Grace of God. Such a one would say, I believe the Forgiveness of Sins, with as much Assurance, as I believe there is a God; I believe that Jesus Christ does now to all those who have a true, and full Faith in him, that which he did to those who so believed in him, when he was upon Earth. That he forgives their Sins, as immediately, as certainly, as fully, as when he said by an outward Voice, "Thy Sins are forgiven thee." I believe that in this Faith lies all our Strength, and Possibility of growing up in the inward Man, and recovering that Image and Likeness of God, in which we were created; that to this Faith all things are possible, and that by this Faith, every Enemy we have, whether he be within us, or without us, may, and must be entirely overcome. I believe, that to Repentance and Faith in Christ, Salvation is made as secure, and as absolutely assured, as Paradise was made secure to the Thief upon the Cross, by the express Word of our Saviour. I believe that my own Sins, were they greater, and more than the Sins of the whole World, would be wholly expiated, and taken away by my Faith, in the Blood and Life of my blessed Saviour.

[Reg-199] But if I now want to add something of my own to this Faith, if this great and glorious Faith is defective, and saves me not, till I can add my own Sense, and my own Feeling to it, at such a Time or Place, is not this saying in the plainest Manner, that Faith alone cannot justify me? Is not this making this Faith in the Blood of Christ defective, and insufficient to my Salvation, till a Self-Satisfaction, an own-Pleasure, an own-Taste, are joined with it? Might it not better be said, that Faith could not justify me till it had Works, than that it cannot justify me without these inward Workings, Feelings, Witnessings, of my own Mind, Sense, and Imagination? Is there not likely to be a more hurtful Self-seeking, a more hurtful Self-Confidence, a more hurtful Self-Trust, a more dangerous Self-Deceit, in making Faith to depend upon these inward Workings and Feelings, than in making it depend upon outward good Works of our own?

[Reg-200] Secondly, No one who was truly resigned unto God in all things, would come into these Questions; for to be resigned unto God in all things, and yet seek to be not resigned to him, in these great Matters above mentioned, is a Contradiction.

[Reg-201] Such a one would say, I seek not to have an inward Sense and Feeling of the Certainty of these things, because that would be departing from that pure, entire, full, and naked Faith in God, and Resignation of myself to him, which alone can justify me in his Sight, and make me capable of the Operations of his Holy Spirit. He can only then, do all his good Pleasure in me, when I have no own Will, no Self-seeking; this total Resignation of myself to him, is the one only immediate Disposition, or Capability of enjoying God himself with all his infinite Treasures, Particular Impressions, sensible Convictions, strong Tastes, high Satisfactions, though they may be often the good Gifts of God, yet if they are much sought for, or rested in, they minister Food to a spiritual Self-love, and Self-seeking, and lay the Foundation of spiritual Pride; and so become a Wall of Partition between God and the Soul. For the Soul may be as fully fixed in Selfishness, through a Fondness of Sensible Sweetness, pious Motions, and delightful Enjoyments in spiritual things, as by a Fondness for earthly Satisfactions.

[Reg-202] Thirdly, no one, whose Heart was truly touched by a pure and perfect Love of God, could come into these Questions. For this Love cannot seek for Self-comfort in the Answer of such Questions as these.

[Reg-203] Such a Person would say, My Religion consists in living wholly to my Beloved, according to his Satisfaction, and not my own. What God wills, that I will; what God loves, that I love; what pleases God, that pleases me. I have no desire to know anything of myself, or to feel anything in myself, but that I am an Instrument in the Hands of God, to be, to do, and suffer, according to his good Pleasure. I am content to know that I love and rejoice in God alone, that he is what he is, and that I am what he pleases to make of me, and do with me.

[Reg-204] (44.) Seeing then it appears that the truly humble Man, the Man that is wholly resigned to God, and the pure Lover of him, are not likely to come into the Religion of these Questions, let us now see who may be supposed ready to receive it.

[Reg-205] First, All young Persons, whose Passions had not yet been much awakened, or spent their Fire; who had but little Experience of themselves, and the Deceitfulness of their own Hearts; for everything in their Nature, would help them to like, love, and obtain such an Assurance, Strength of Conviction, inward Feeling, as is here required.

[Reg-206] Secondly, All restless Self-lovers, who were uneasy with themselves, and everything else, who could find nothing in Religion, or common Life, that enough pleased them; these would be easily persuaded to work themselves up into a Belief, that their Sins were forgiven them at such a Time, or that Christ took an entire Possession of them at such a Place. For hearing that true Religion consisted solely in this, and that they only wanted it, because of their want of Faith in it, they would naturally embrace this, as the shortest Way to Comfort and Rest in themselves, in their own Self-convictions.

[Reg-207] Thirdly, All Persons of a sanguine, tender, and imaginary Complexion, would be likely to strike in with the Religion of these Questions. For such Persons receiving everything strongly, and having a Power of believing and imagining almost in any degree, as they please, they would not find it hard, to comply with Doctrines so suited to their Nature, and which indulged that in them, which wanted most to be indulged, a sanguine Imagination.

[Reg-208] Fourthly, All those who so blaspheme God, as to make him from all Eternity absolutely to elect some to an irresistible Salvation, and absolutely to reprobate others to an unavoidable Damnation. For there could be no subsisting under such an horrid Belief as this, but by those, who through a blind Partiality, strong bias of Self-love, and Self-esteem, can work themselves up into a full Assurance, inward infallible Feeling that they are in the Number of the absolutely elected from all Eternity.

[Reg-209] Lastly, These Questions are a great Bait to all kinds of Hypocrites, who must find themselves much inclined to enter into a Religion, where they may pass immediately for Saints, upon their own Testimony, and stand in the highest Rank of Piety, and of Interest in Christ, merely by their own laying Claim to it.

[Reg-210] (45.) Suppose it was to be asked Christians, as necessary to their Salvation, Do you believe and know that you have the Self-denial and Mortification of John the Baptist? Have you an inward Conviction that you have a Zeal equal to that of St. Paul? Have you an Assurance that your Love is full as high as that of John the Evangelist? That your Penitence is equal to that of Mary Magdalene?

[Reg-211] Could these Questions, with any Warrant from Scripture, be put to all Christians, as Terms of their Salvation?

[Reg-212] Yet there is as much Foundation in the Gospel, for putting such Questions as these, and making the Salvation of Christians to depend upon them, as for asking them, on the same Account, When, and where they felt their Sins were forgiven them? When and where they felt Christ to take an entire Possession of them? When and where they felt themselves made sure of their Salvation, and incapable of falling from their State of Grace?

[Reg-213] For what is all this but calling, hastening, and stirring up People to seek for Self-Justification, and compelling them to think highly, and affirm rashly of themselves, in order to be saved? Why might it not be as well to call upon them to say, I feel myself to be as good as St. Paul, as pious as St. John, as to say, I feel that my Salvation is secure, and that I cannot fall from my State of Grace? Is not this making Faith in one's self, as good, as necessary, and as beneficial to us, as Faith in Christ?

[Reg-214] Would it not be as well, nay better, to make good Works of our own, necessary to true Faith, than to make Self-Justification, which is not a good Work, to be the very Essence and Perfection of it?

[Reg-215] The Matter will not be much mended by saying, that this Feeling and Assurance is acknowledged to be the pure Gift of God, and so cannot be called our own, or our own Justification. For if I have not this Gift of God, till I pronounce it myself, till my own Feeling and Assurance confirms it to me, I am self-justified, because my Justification arises, from what I feel and declare of myself.

[Reg-216] (46.) How strangely must they have read the Gospel, who can take a naked implicit Faith, and an humble total Resignation of our Spirit, State, and Life, into the Mercy and Goodness of God, to be not only a poor and imperfect, but a reprobate State; or that a Man has no true and saving Faith, till it is an infallible own-Feeling, and Self-Assurance? What must such People think of our Saviour dying upon the Cross, with these Words in his Mouth, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!" Will they say that this is a dangerous State? Is the Spirit of Christ here to be renounced? Will they say, that no new-born Christian can die in this Manner? Or that if he does, he is not in a State of Salvation?

[Reg-217] To know no more, and to seek to know no more of our Salvation, than we can know by an implicit Faith, and absolute Resignation of ourselves to God in Christ Jesus, is the true saving Knowledge of Christ, and such as keeps us in the highest Degree o Fitness to receive our perfect Salvation.

[Reg-218] (47.) I hope it will here be observed, that I no way depreciate, undervalue, or reject any particular Impressions, strong Influences, delightful Sensations, or heavenly Foretastes in the inward Man, which the Holy Spirit of God may at times bestow upon good Souls; I leave them their just Worth, I acknowledge them to be the good Gifts of God, as special Calls, and Awakenings to forsake our Sins, as great Incitements to deny ourselves, and take up our Cross, and follow Christ with greater Courage, and Resolution.

[Reg-219] They may be as beneficial, and useful to us in our spiritual Life, as other Blessings of God, such as Prosperity, Health, happy Complexion, and the like. But then, as outward Blessings, remarkable Providences, religious Complexion, and the like, may be very serviceable to awaken us, and excite our Conversion to God, and much assist the spiritual Life; so they may very easily have a contrary Effect, serve to fill us with Pride, and Self-satisfaction, and make us esteem ourselves, as greater Favourites of God, than those that want them. Who may yet be led to a higher Degree of Goodness, be in a more purified State, and stand nearer to God in their poor, naked, and destitute Condition, than we in the midst of great Blessings.

[Reg-220] It is just thus with regard to those inward Blessings of the spiritual Life. They are so many Spurs, Motives, and Incitements to live wholly unto God; yet they may instead of that, fill us with Self-satisfaction and Self-esteem, and prompt us to despise others that want them, as in a poor, mean, and reprobate State; who yet may be higher advanced, and stand in a nearer Degree of Union with God, by Humility, Faith, Resignation, and pure Love, in their inward Poverty and Emptiness, than we who live high upon spiritual Satisfactions, and can talk of nothing, but our Feasts of fat Things.

[Reg-221] All that I would here say of these inward Delights and Enjoyments, is only this, They are not Holiness, they are not Piety, they are not Perfection, but they are God's gracious Allurements, and Calls to seek after Holiness and spiritual Perfection. They are not to be sought for, for their own sakes; they are not to be prayed for, but with such a perfect Indifference and Resignation, as we must pray for any earthly Blessings; they are not to be rested in, as the Perfection of our Souls, but to be received as Cordials, that suppose us to be sick, faint, and languishing; and ought rather to convince us, that we are as yet, but Babes, than that we are really Men of God.

*Note:  You can use the numbers beside the text to identify which pasages can be read succinctly and which are separate

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Suffering

I've been focusing a lot lately on William Law and Jacob Boehme (if didn't notice).  Their respective philosophy's are quite similar, almost mirror images if you ask me.  Law came along and interpreted a lot of the German Boehme's writings.  They aren't the easiest esoteric writings to interpret that you'll come across.  For most that come across them they will be viewed exoterically or from the surface and brushed off as just more religious fanatacism.  The majority of people, esotericsts included, see anything Christian and automatically head for the hills.  A year ago I wouldn't have considered reading this type of material.  Six months ago I doubt I could have seen through the allegory despite my new found openness to Christianity.

Jacob Boehme and William Law's teachings are the absolute best I have come across.  Or should I say that they are the best for me in my current state.  Occultism gave me the foundation I needed, but this type of Christian Mysticism is the teaching that will propel you forward.  It breaks the process of enlightenment down to as base a state as possible.  There is no seeking when you are trying to find the center sphere where one could become enlightened.  As they say it is dying to the self that is required, nothing more and nothing less.  They interpret scripture to give the seeker a foundation as to how scripture details this whole process, how we came to be in our current state and how we are able to escape.

How does one go about dying to their self?  First what must be realized is that we are all living in sin, we were born into sin and we are living in sin.  When Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good evil she disobeyed God and thus fell into a world based on duality.  God had forbid the eating of the tree for our own sake.  We were to live our lives in a plant like existence, never detached from divinity.  Lucifer came along and told Eve that she would become like God if she ate of the Tree.  What he didn't tell her was that she would fall down into hell where she would die and be separated from God.  The seed was cut off from God and was forced to live in the world of beasts.  We see this world as normal but if we looked at it from the spiritual worlds, from God's throne, we would see ourselves as beasts.

We now live through our own will.  We have free choice to do as we please.  Because we do not live through God's will we live in sin.  If we want to escape this hell then we must fall back into line with God's will.  The way to do this is through learning from the two poles.  When we observe and experiment constantly switching poles seeing what works and what doesn't, we are climbing the ladder back to our throne.  God is not evil.  The only way back to our natural domain is to see the difference between good and evil and eventually find a balance between the two.  Someone who is afraid to face evil is going to become too attached to this world and being that this world is not natural to us then that is not a good thing.  Someone who is constantly immersed in evil is opposite to God.  God is light, he is not darkness.

God or enlightenment, our natural home is stillness.  It is the center where all is balanced.  This is what we are all seeking either consciously or subconsciously.  Most are not at a stage where they can consciously make the effort to reach the center sphere.  This as the mystics will tell you is the hardest thing anyone in life could endeavor upon.

Shifting poles and working your way up the ladder is a painful task.  To this means much trial and error.  It means constant change.  This change brings about pain and suffering.  We have all built up many bad habits.  We don't like to suffer so at any chance when there is a stillness, when we are in our own mind, we seek to fill it with some activity so we don't have to face the pain.  This silence is the way to alleviate the pain, but first we must face it.  One will see no purpose to suffering, there is no goal that the suffering will bring him to so he will choose not to suffer.  TV and video games and drinking at the bar quells any disturbances within.  To truly walk the path one must be fluid, in mind and body.  We must always keep going, we can never stop or we'll start going back to where we were.  One can't just get to a certain spot and say I'm happy that I've gone this far.  As in the matrix you can either take the red or the blue pill, but once you make the decision to let go and walk the path, the door is shut behind you.

I myself didn't quite know what I was getting involved in.  There was a point I came to where I knew I could not continue down the path that I was going down, getting drunk with buddies at any opportunity that arose.  I'm obsessive about most things, all or nothing.  I was a pothead and essentially an alcoholic.  The flip side of it is that when I started finding my way into conspiracies, then on into spirituality, psychology, religion, etc. I became obsessed with this stuff.  I dedicated my life to it.  Along the way I had a major fall where I got a DUI not too long ago and I made myself stop drinking that moment.  I've also now been forced to stop smoking pot.  These events are pushing me closer and closer to my ultimate goal, where when I was drinking and smoking still I was still holding on to my old world. 

Before when I was having a down moment I would just smoke a little pot and wala I'm seeing vistas and feel connected to everything, my suffering (or potential suffering) was turned into an ecstatic high.  Now I have nothing there to comfort me and that is how I want it.  It's hard to let go and face the pain, but deep down this is what I want.  The goal I have means everything to me and I'm not going to stop until it is fulfilled.  A great example is that I'm taking piano lessons.  There is a recital in February that my teacher asked me to participate in.  I told him I would think about it.  The truth is that I'm deathly afraid of being on stage in front of crowds.  I told him that I am all about conquering my fears so I would like to do it.  But then in the back of my head I knew I would bitch out and take the easy road out.  Now at this point, I know that I must suffer and go through with this.  If I am ever going to achieve the ultimate goal then surely will have to not have problems with doing something as simple as playing a piano in front of people.  What am I afraid of?  A bunch of parents and kids who might witness me fuck up playing piano?  I mean that is ridiculous that I have conquered so many fears that I never thought I could, yet I fear playing the piano in front of people.

Suffering is a beautiful thing.  It makes you that much stronger.  It releases that energy that you have been repressing that is holding you down.   How much pain and suffering are you willing to withstand?  When someone attacks you can you be nice back to them?  It takes a lot to do that. 

So we must find the still quietness inside.  If one was to look at it from the occult side of things they would say I have a desire body (hell) and a vital/soul body (heaven).  The desire body (devil/man's will) now rules over humanity.  The vital body (god/god's will) must overcome the desire body.  Notice I said the desire body was equivalent to man's will and thus man cannot simply will himself to find balance.  Man willing himself would create motion and motion is opposite to balance or our natural state.  This is why we must simply die to ourselves through suffering in the stillness.  If you desire to to fall into line with God's will, your subconscious, the divine half of you will bring it into manifestation.  But you must also stand in the fire and fight to maintain your balance in the center.  It was either Boehme or Law who said that eventually the inner light or sun will come and overtake the darkness, essentially filling it with light and extinguishing the dark as a candle does to a dark room.

It's funny how I thought life would start to get so much easier.  I thought life would be great, I would start gaining some occult powers, the energy inside would start building up, I'd find myself in altered states of consciousness.  Yet here I am some of these things have happened and they don't mean much to me.  They are effects, for some reason after all I've learned I cared about effects.  It was nice to see changes taking place within and their requisite external changes but you have to keep it moving.  After a while it's like the hot water in your shower, eventually it starts to feel cold.

There are going to be just as many lows on the path as there are highs.   Naively I could not see this.  I let my energy go along for the ride on the upswing.  I left the ground, had my head in the clouds and didn't come back down until I slammed into the concrete at 100mph.  One must control his energy.  Keep it in the center.  The tides will naturally change, this is the law of rhythmic change.  You simply don't have to go along for the ride.  Keep stable in times of highs and lows.  When you are low keep your faith.  If you can't keep your faith when times are low then all of your work is for nothing.  Don't be afraid to suffer, this is how you evolve.  This is how you get your energy to vibrate at the correct frequency.  Do not go along for the ecstatic ride when you are on the high end of the cycle.  Keep your feet on the ground.  Watch your pride.

It's funny how I started to think I knew it all because I knew occultism and knew how to use energy a little bit.  This is a dangerous game and anyone who comes into it like I did without a teacher helping them along better stay grounded and go slow.  There is a lot more going on around us and within us than you we comprehend.  If one isn't grounded in reality then he will eventually find himself grounded.  The grounding I got was the best thing that could happen to me in regards to the path.  It was forced suffering.  It changed my viewpoint real fast, but it cost me in the short term.  Short term means nothing.  The short term is a little thimble in the grand scheme of things.  On the path we must take baby steps but we must concern ourselves with the big picture.  You do what you do because of a goal you have that can only be reached in the long term.  Patience is key.  If you're willing to work for years with no return and still keep going that is true faith and you will be rewarded it seems to me.

Monday, December 28, 2009

William Law - Grounds and Reasons For Christian Regeneration

Highlights:

[Reg-19] How many Inventions are some People forced to have recourse to, to keep off a certain inward Uneasiness, which they are afraid of, and know not whence it comes? Alas, it is because there is a fallen Spirit, a dark aching Fire within them, which has never had its proper Relief, and is trying to discover itself, and calling out for Help, at every Cessation of worldly Joy.

[Reg-20] Why are some People, when under heavy Disappointments, or some great worldly Shame, at the very Brink of Distraction, unable to bear themselves, and desirous of Death of any kind? ‘Tis because worldly Light and Comforts, no longer acting sweetly upon the Blood, the Soul is left to its own dark, fiery raging Nature, and would destroy the Body at any rate, rather than continue under such a Sensibility of its own wrathful, self-tormenting Fire.

[Reg-21] Who has not at one time or other felt a Sourness, Wrath, Selfishness, Envy, and Pride, which he could not tell what to do with, or how to bear, rising up in him without his Consent, casting a Blackness over all his Thoughts, and then as suddenly going off again, either by the Cheerfulness of the Sun, or Air, or some agreeable Accident, and again, at times, as suddenly returning upon him? Sufficient Indications are these to every Man, that there is a dark Guest within him, concealed under the Cover of Flesh and Blood, often lulled asleep by worldly Light and Amusements, yet such as will, in spite of everything, show itself, which if it has not its proper Relief in this Life, must be his Torment in Eternity. And it was for the sake of this hidden Hell within us, that our Blessed Lord said when on Earth, and says now to every Soul, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you Rest."


[Reg-34] (15.) To proceed: That I have not stated Man’s first Dignity too high, is evidently plain from the Scripture Account of it. It is a fundamental Truth of our Religion, that he was created in Paradise for a Life suitable to it. But Paradise is a Divine Habitation, still existing where it was at the first, though not visible to Eyes which see only by the Light of the Sun, and is the Habitation of such as have attained their first paradisiacal Nature; it was in this Paradise, that our Saviour, through a Miracle of Love, promised to be with the Thief on the Cross.

[Reg-35] It is also a fundamental Truth of Scripture, that Man was created to be immortal, incapable of Death, and of everything that had any Likeness to it, so long as he continued in the Perfection of his State. That it was Sin alone which brought Sorrow, Pain, Evil, Distress, Sickness and Death upon him.

[Reg-36] But if this be a Truth that cannot be denied, then it must be equally true, that before he sinned, he must have stood in such a Paradise, as kept everything in the outward World entirely under him, so that neither Fire nor Water, nor any other Element, could have the least Power over him. But if Fire, the fiercest of the Elements, had not the least Power of touching his Body in any hurtful Manner, or of causing any Pain to it; then it must be granted, that Paradise covered, and governed the Power of all the Elements of this outward World; that Man lived in it as an absolute Lord over it; and therefore it undeniably follows that the Manner, in which he now is under the Power of the Elements, capable of receiving Pain and Evil from them, is a State that he was not in, till Sin took Paradise from him, and left him in the same poor Condition, that we now are in, capable of receiving Pain and Death, from almost everything that is about us.

[Reg-37] That Man in Paradise lived in this World insensible, and also incapable of any Evil from it, superior to all its Elements, is plain from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

[Reg-38] For how could it be more plainly told us, that outward Things, the Stars and Elements could not affect his State, or make any Impression upon him, than by telling us, that he had no Knowledge of Good and Evil in this World, till he had eaten of that Tree? Is not this directly telling us, that before such eating, he was above the Nature of this World, that it had not Power to operate upon him, or give him any Sense or Feeling, of what there was of Good or Evil in it.

[Reg-39] Now that he was created to be, and to continue thus a Lord over all temporal Nature, superior to all the Influences and Effects of the Stars and Elements, is also plain from the Prohibition given him, not to eat of this Tree of Knowledge.

[Reg-40] But he was not content with this happy Superiority above the Evil and Good of outward Nature. His Imagination, helped on by the Devil, longed to look into, to know and feel the secret working Powers of that outward Nature, which it was his Happiness, and Paradise to be insensible of.

[Reg-41] When God forbade his eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, it was the same thing as if he had said, Fall not into the outward World, under the Dominion of its Stars and Elements, but keep thy State in Paradise.

[Reg-42] When Man disobeyed God, and took the Fruit of the Tree into his Body, which brought the Nature and Power of the Stars and Elements into it; this is not to be considered, as that single Act of Eating, but it signifies as much as if he had said; By eating this Fruit, I desire to come within the Influences of the Stars and Elements, and to be made sensible, and feeling of the Good and Evil that is in them.

[Reg-43] Therefore, small as the Action seems to be at the first View, and of a very limited Nature, it was his refusing to be that, which God created him to be; it was his express, open, voluntary Act and Deed, by which he chose to fall into this outward World, in the Manner we now are in it.

[Reg-44] Therefore it was not the mere eating of a Fruit, that brought Adam's Misery upon him, but it was the eating a Fruit, as his chosen Means of entering into this World.

[Reg-45] God himself was not angry at all, or at a small Act of eating a Fruit, and so in Anger turned Man out of Paradise, into a World cursed for that Sin. But Man freely and voluntarily chose, against the Will, and Command of God, to be in the World in its cursed State, unblessed by Paradise; For he chose to enter into a Sensibility and Feeling of its Good and Evil, which is directly choosing to be, where Paradise is not; for nothing that is in Paradise, can be touched, or hurt by anything of the outward World. Therefore the first State of Man was a State of such Glory, and heavenly Prerogatives, as I have above related; and his Fall, was a Fall into, or under the Power of this outward World.

[Reg-46] (16.) If it be also further asked, What sufficient Proof there is, first, that the Likeness and Image of God, in which Man was created, signified thus much, that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, each brought forth their own Nature in him, and in him saw themselves in a creaturely manner? And then, secondly, that by the first Sin, this Birth of the Son of God, and Proceeding of the Holy Ghost was extinguished and lost in the Soul of Man? It may be answered, that these great Truths stand attested by undeniable Evidence of Scripture.

[Reg-47] First, from the Means and Manner of our Redemption. For there is nothing that can so fully, and justly show us the true Nature of our Fall, as the Nature and Manner of our Redemption. And it seems highly suitable to the Wisdom of God to let the first, be but in part discovered, till the latter showed and proved itself in an undeniable Manner. And this, no doubt, is the Reason why Moses is suffered to write no more of the Nature of the Fall of Man, or what it implied, than he has done. Because the Time for a plain Insight into that Matter, was not then come, and it was to lie as much a Secret, as to the true Nature of it, as the Nature and Manner of our Redemption then did; which was then only obscurely declared, by an Enmity between the Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of the Serpent.

[Reg-48] But when the Seed of the Woman showed itself to be the Son of God, the Second Person of the holy Trinity, united to our human Nature; then the Nature of our Fall, and what we fell from, and what was the Seed of the Serpent in us, manifested themselves in the same Degree of Certainty. And therefore it is very unreasonable to hold, that we ought to say no more of our first State before the Fall, of its Dignity and Perfection, and what was lost by the Fall, than what is openly and expressly declared by Moses. For as it seemed Good to the Divine Wisdom to conceal the Mystery of our Redemption and Salvation for many Ages, and to let Moses only discover it under a Declaration of a Serpent-destroyer; so there was a Fitness, and even Necessity, that the Nature and Degree of our Fall should be kept in the same Degree of Secrecy, then only to be discovered with a sufficient Degree of Plainness and Certainty, when our Redemption and Salvation came plainly to be laid open. The Religion of the Jews was suited to that State of Things and Times in which they lived; neither the Mysteries of the Creation, nor Redemption, were then discovered; Things past, and Things to come, had then only their Figures, Shadows, and Types.

[Reg-49] But when the Son of God became incarnate, and showed forth in the plainest Manner, the Nature, Manner, and Necessity of our Redemption through his Blood, and a Life received from him, then the Nature and Degree of our Fall became equally plain and manifest; and everything that he has told us of the Nature and Necessity of a new or second Birth from him, was so much told us of our first Birth in Paradise.

[Reg-50] For the Nature and Greatness of our Redemption, must show the Nature and Greatness of our Fall. These Things have such a necessary Correspondence, as cannot be denied, but by a Mind utterly indisposed to receive Conviction.

[Reg-51] If our Redemption proposed to restore to us a Divine Sight, would not this be a sufficient Proof, that by the Fall we had lost some Divine Manner of seeing? So, if God himself takes our Nature upon him to redeem us, and it be declared that nothing, but this uniting the Divine Nature to the Human, can be our Redemption, can we want a Proof, that the Divine Nature existed in some manner in us, before the Fall?

[Reg-52] Now it is a plain, manifest Doctrine of the holy Scriptures, that Man by the Fall is in such a Condition, that there was no help or Remedy for him, either in the Height above, or in the Depth below, but by the Son of God's becoming incarnate, taking the fallen Nature upon him. If this alone could be the Remedy, does not this enough show us the Disease? Does not this speak plainly enough, what it was that Man had lost by his Fall, namely, the Birth of the Son of God in his Soul; and therefore it was, that only the Son of God in so mysterious a manner, could be his Redeemer?

[Reg-53] If he had lost less, a less Power could have redeemed him. If he had lost something else, the Restoration of that something, would have been his Redemption.

[Reg-54] But since it is an open, undeniable Doctrine of the Gospel, that there can be no Salvation for Mankind but in the Name, and by the Power of the Son of God, by his being united to the fallen Nature, and so raising his own Birth and Life in it, is it not sufficiently declared to us, that what was lost by the Fall, was the Birth of the Son of God in the Soul?

[Reg-55] Secondly, this same Doctrine is not left to be drawn from any Consequences of Things, but is in express Words taught us, when it is said, that we must be born again from above, born of God; for this is expressly telling us what Birth we have lost, and is only saying, that the first Birth is to be restored, or that the Divine Birth is to arise, or to be brought again into us, as at the first, when the living Image of the Holy Trinity was brought forth in us.

[Reg-56] What this new regained Birth is, we are plainly told by St. Peter, that is a being born again of an incorruptible Seed by the Word, that is, the eternal Word, or Son of God. Which Divine Word being only in the Soul as a Seed, is to restore by Degrees the first Birth of the Word, or Son of God in the Soul. Which is Proof enough that this was the State of the Soul in its Creation, that this Birth was then in it, and so was an Image of the Holy Trinity; and that the Death which Adam died in the Day that he sinned, was the losing this holy Birth from his Soul. And on this Account it was, that nothing could restore him, but that which was able to restore this Birth again to his Soul, and make it again such an Image of God, as that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, might therein see themselves again in a creaturely Manner, and dwell in it, and it in them.

[Reg-57] Thirdly, the Holy Ghost is in the Scriptures declared to be the Sanctifier, or Renewer of Holiness in the Soul, and this in such a manner, that all the Motions and Operations of the Soul, so far as they are without it, and unmoved by it, are so far unholy, and unable even for a good Thought.

[Reg-58] Now how could our Thoughts or Operations be unholy in themselves, and want the Sanctification and Renewing of the Holy Ghost, unless this Holy Spirit had first existed in us, and by our Fall had been separated from us?

[Reg-59] Had not the Birth of the Holy Ghost arisen in us at our Creation, we could no more be unholy for want of it, than the Beasts are, nor any more now have wanted to be renewed by it, than the Beasts that never had it. But since there is now no Sanctification or Redemption for us, but by having the Holy Ghost as a free Gift of God breathed again into us, it is no less than a Demonstration, that we had before we fell, this Holiness by the Nature which God gave us at first; and that the Holiness of our Creation consisted in this, that the Holy Spirit then proceeded, or arose forth in our Soul, as the Birth of the Son of God did; and that it might for the same Reason be then called the Holiness of our Nature, as it is now after the Fall, called a Holiness by Gift or Grace. For if we are now to be born again of the Spirit by Grace, does not this tell us, that we had this Birth of the Spirit in us at the first, and that then it was the Birth of our Nature by Creation?

[Reg-60] Fourthly, these same great Truths are evidently signified to us in the fullest Manner by our Baptism, and the Form of it. Our Baptism is to signify our seeking and obtaining a new Birth. And our being baptized in, or into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, tells us in the plainest manner, what Birth it is that we seek, namely, such a new Birth as may make us again what we were at first, a living real Image or Offspring of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[Reg-61] Is it not owned on all hands, that we are baptized into a Renovation of some Divine Birth that we had lost? And, that we may not be at a loss to know what that Divine Birth is, the Form in Baptism openly declares to us, that it is to regain that first Birth of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in our Souls, which at the first made us to be truly and really Images of the Nature of the Holy Trinity in Unity. The Form in Baptism is but very imperfectly apprehended, till it is understood to have this great Meaning in it. And it must be owned, that the Scriptures tend wholly to guide us to this understanding of it. For since they teach us, a Birth of God, a Birth of the Spirit, that we must obtain, and that Baptism, the appointed Sacrament of this New Birth, is to be done into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, can there be any doubt, that this Sacrament is to signify the Renovation of the Birth of the Holy Trinity in our Souls? And that therefore this was the holy Image born or created at first, when God said, "Let us make Man in our Image, after our own Likeness," that is, so make him, that we may see ourselves, our own Nature in him, in a creaturely Manner.

[Reg-62] What an harmonious Agreement does there thus appear, between our Creation and Redemption? and how finely, how surprisingly do our first and our second Birth answer to, and illustrate one another?

[Reg-63] At our first Birth it is said thus, "Let us make Man in our Image, after our own Likeness", when the Divine Birth was lost, and Man was to receive it again, it is said, "Be thou baptized into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost": which is saying, Let the Divine Birth, be brought forth again in thee, or be thou born again such an Image of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as thou wast at first.

[Reg-64] These Considerations all taken from the plain Words, and acknowledged Doctrines of Scripture, do, I think, sufficiently declare and prove to us, these great Truths of the last Importance, namely, that the Image in which Man was created, was such, as in which, the Holy Trinity saw itself, or its own Nature in a creaturely Manner, in which the Father's Nature generated the Nature of the Son, and the Holy Ghost proceeded from them both, as the amiable moving Life of both.

[Reg-65] That by Adam's Sin, this holy Image of the Holy Trinity was broken, and in such a Manner, that the Birth of the Son of God, and of the Holy Spirit, was no more in it, and that therefore in a stupendous Mystery of Love, the Son of God united himself to our fallen Nature, to recover, and restore to it, all that it had lost, and in such a Manner, that it might never be lost again to all Eternity.

[Reg-66] As soon as it is observed and known, that our Fall consisted in the losing of the Birth of the Son of God in our Soul, and consequently the proceeding forth of the Holy Spirit in it, there appears a surprising Agreeableness and Fitness, in the Means of our Redemption, namely, that we could only be saved by the eternal Son of God; that he only could save us, by taking our Nature upon him, and so uniting it with him, that his Life, or Birth might again arise in us, as at the first, and so we become again a perfect living Image of the Holy Trinity.

[Reg-67] (17.) Now the Reason why I have gone thus far in inquiring into the Dignity of Man’s original State, and searched thus deep into his lamentable Fall, is this, to point out to the Reader the true Nature of the Christian Religion, and the infinite Importance of it; which Religion is administered by God, as our only Relief from our sad Condition; and that he may at one View see the Height and Depth of Divine Love, which has had so great Care of Mankind.



[Reg-71] (18.) The Condition in which I have represented our Soul to be by the Fall, a mere dark Fire-breath, of an hellish Nature, showing itself in every Man more or less by its Fruits, by such Eruptions and Breakings forth of dark Passions, but hiding itself under an outward Appearance of Good, and a feigned Civility or Rectitude of Manners, is what every Man must be forced to own to be more or less in himself.

[Reg-72] For this is the State of every Man’s Soul, because it has lost the Birth of the Son of God in it, and so is only as a strong Root of a fiery Life, unenlightened, and unblessed by that holy Word, which is the Brightness of the Father’s Glory.

[Reg-73] This dark Root of a fiery, self-tormenting Life, which is the whole Nature of the fallen Soul, destitute of the Birth of the Son of God in it, is a Life that subsists in four Elements, as the Life of this World hath its four Elements.

[Reg-74] Now the four Elements of this dark, fiery Soul, or fallen Nature, are, (1.) A restless Selfishness; (2.) A restless Envy; (3.) A restless Pride; and, (4.) A restless Wrath or Anger. I call them the Elements of the fallen Soul, because they are that to it, which the four Elements of this World are to the Life of the Body.

[Reg-75] Now these four Elements which nourish and keep up the Life of the fallen Soul, are also the four Elements of Hell, in which the Devils dwell; they can no more depart from, or exist out of these Elements, than an earthly Life can depart from, or exist without the four Elements of this World, Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.

[Reg-76] Now, as the Soul, by the losing of the Birth of the Son of God in it, is become an aching dark Root of Fire, that has this restless Selfishness, restless Envy, restless Pride, and restless Wrath in it, which are the four Elements of Hell; so by its being in these, or having them in it, it is come to pass, that evil Spirits have such Communion with it, and so great Power over it.

[Reg-77] Every stirring of the Soul in the Element of Pride, is a moving in the Devil’s Element, where he is, and has Power to join and act with it; every Motion in the Element of Envy or Wrath, is so far empowering him to enter into the Breath of our Life, and settle his fiery Kingdom in us.

[Reg-78] And thus in every one of these four Elements, so far as we willingly are in their Sphere of Activity, and act and stir according to them, so far we become Members of the Devil’s Kingdom, and have him for our Leader, and Guide. How watchful therefore ought we to be of our Hearts, how fearful of consenting to, or not enough resisting every Motion of these Elements within us, since every voluntary yielding to them, is opening the Kingdom of Darkness in our Souls, and giving the Devil Power to infuse his wretched Nature into us. And we have still further Reason for this Fear and Watchfulness, if it be considered, that as no one of the Elements of this outward World could be, or subsist, if the other three were not, because they are the mutual Cause of one another; so it is in these other Elements, if we live in one, we live in all; Selfishness cannot be, or subsist without Envy, nor Pride without Wrath and Selfishness, nor any one of the four, without carrying the other three in its Bosom; therefore we must have the same Fear of any one, as of them all, for the Name of every one is Legion.



[Reg-91] The Reason why we know so little of Jesus Christ, as our Saviour, Atonement, and Justification, why we are so destitute of that Faith in him, which alone can change, rectify, and redeem our Souls, why we live starving in the Coldness and Deadness of a formal, historical, hearsay-Religion, is this; we are Strangers to our own inward Misery and Wants, we know not that we lie in the Jaws of Death and Hell; we keep all things quiet within us, partly by outward Forms, and Modes of Religion and Morality, and partly by the Comforts, Cares and Delights of this World. Hence it is that we consent to receive a Saviour, as we consent to admit of the Four Gospels, because only Four are received by the Church. We believe in a Saviour, not because we feel an absolute want of one, but because we have been told there is one, and that it would be a Rebellion against God to reject him. We believe in Christ as our Atonement, just as we believe, that he cast seven Devils out of Mary Magdalene, and so are no more helped, delivered, and justified by believing that he is our Atonement, than by believing that he cured Mary Magdalene.

[Reg-92] True Faith, is a coming to Jesus Christ to be saved, and delivered from a sinful Nature, as the Canaanitish Woman came to him, and would not be denied. It is a Faith of Love, a Faith of Hunger, a Faith of Thirst, a Faith of Certainty and firm Assurance, that in Love and Longing, and Hunger, and Thirst, and full Assurance, will lay hold on Christ, as its loving, assured, certain and infallible Saviour and Atonement.

[Reg-93] It is this Faith, that breaks off all the Bars and Chains of Death and Hell in the Soul; it is to this Faith, that Christ always says, what he said in the Gospel, "Thy Faith hath saved thee, thy Sins are forgiven thee; go in Peace." Nothing can be denied to this Faith; all things are possible to it; and he that thus seeks Christ, must find him to be his Salvation.

[Reg-94] On the other hand, all things will be dull and heavy, difficult and impossible to us, we shall toil all the Night and take nothing, we shall be tired with resisting Temptations, grow old and stiff in our Sins and Infirmities, if we do not with a strong, full, loving, and joyful Assurance, seek and come to Christ for every Kind, and Degree of Strength, Salvation and Redemption. We must come unto Christ, as the Blind, the Sick, and the Leprous came to him, expecting all from him, and nothing from themselves. When we have this Faith, then it is, that Christ can do all his mighty Works in us.

[Reg-95] (21.) From the foregoing Account anyone may be supposed already to see the Nature and Necessity of Regeneration, or the New Birth. It is as necessary as our Salvation. By our Fall, our Soul has lost the Birth of the Son of God in it; by this Loss it is become a dark, wrathful, self-tormenting Root of Fire, shut up in the four hellish Elements of Selfishness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath; considered as a fallen Soul, it cannot stir one Step, or exert one Motion but in, and according to these Elements; therefore it is as necessary to have this Nature itself changed, and to be born again from above, as it is necessary to be delivered from Hell, and eternal Death.

[Reg-96] For these Elements are Hell, and eternal Death itself, and not without, or standing at a distance from us, but Hell and Death springing up in the Forms, and Essences of our fallen Nature; they are the Serpent that is in us, and constitute that gnawing Worm which never dieth; for they mutually beget, and mutually torment each other, and so constitute a Worm, or worming Pain, that never dieth.

[Reg-97] Now as this Hell, Serpent, Worm, and Death, are all within us, rising up in the Forms and Essences of our fallen Soul; so our Redeemer, or Regenerator, whatever it be, must be also equally within us, and spring up from as great a Depth in our Nature. Now the Scripture sufficiently tells us, that it is only the promised Seed of the Woman, the eternal Word, or Son of God made Man, that can bruise this Head, or kill this Life of the Serpent in us; therefore this Seed of the Woman must have its Dwelling in the Ground and Essence of our Nature, because the Serpent is there, that a new Life or a new Nature may arise from this Seed within us; and therefore it is plain, that Regeneration, or the New Birth, is, and can be no other thing, but the recovering of the Birth of the Son of God in the fallen Soul.

[Reg-98] And this is what the Scripture means by the Necessity of our being born of God, born again from above, born of the Spirit. Hence also we see in the clearest Light, the Meaning of all those Passages of Scripture, where we are said to be in Christ, that Christ is in us;—that he must put on Christ;—that he must be formed in us;—that he is our Life;—that we must eat his Flesh and drink his Blood;—that he is our Atonement, that his Blood alone cleanseth us from all our Sins; that we have Life from him, as the Branches have Life from the Vine;—that he is our Justification, or Righteousness; that in him we are created again to good Works; that without him we can do nothing, and have no Life in us: All these, I say, and the like Sayings of Scripture, have a wonderful Congruity and Plainness in them, and fill the Mind with the most excellent and solid Truths, as soon as it is known, that Regeneration is absolutely necessary, and that this Regeneration signifies, the recovering of the Birth of the Son of God in the Soul.

[Reg-99] (22.) And as it does this Justice to so great and concerning a Part of Scripture, so it sets the whole Scheme of the Christian Salvation in the most agreeable and engaging Light, and such as is enough even to compel everyone, to embrace it with the utmost Earnestness. The Mystery of this Salvation is still preserved, and yet hereby so unfolded, that every Man has as much Reason to desire to be born again, and to believe that the Son of God can only bring forth this Birth in him, as to believe that God made him, and can alone make him happy.

[Reg-100] A Mediator, an Atonement, Regenerator, thus understood, must be as agreeable and desirable to every human Mind, and as much according to his own Wishes, as to be delivered from the Uneasiness and Disquiets of a Nature, which he finds himself not Master of, nor able to fix it in a State of better Enjoyment.

[Reg-101] What is it that any thoughtful, serious Man could wish for, but to have a new Heart, and a new Spirit, free from the hellish, self-tormenting Elements of Selfishness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath? His own Experience has shown him, that nothing human can do this for him; can take away the Root of Evil that is in him; and it is so natural to him to think, that God alone can do it, that he has often been tempted to accuse God, for suffering it to be so with him.

[Reg-102] Therefore to have the Son of God come from Heaven to redeem him by a Birth of his own Divine Nature in him, must be a way of Salvation, highly suited to his own Sense, Wants and Experience; because he finds, that his Evil lies deep in the very Essence and Forms of his Nature, and therefore can only be removed by the arising of a New Birth, or Life in the first Essences of it.

[Reg-103] Therefore an inward Saviour, a Saviour, that is God himself, raising his own Divine Birth in the fallen Soul, has such an Agreeableness and Fitness in it, to do for him all that he wants, as must make every sober Man, with open Arms, ready and willing to receive such a Salvation.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Jacob Boehme - Regeneration of Man

Like I said yesterday, I am pretty ecstatic to have found a bunch of writings by Jacob Boehme, the 15th century mystic.  The guy worked in a shoe shop and in his spare time wrote stuff life this:

17. THE outward World with the Stars and four Elements, wherein Man and all Creatures live, neither is, nor is called God.  Indeed God dwelleth in it, but the Substance of the outward World comprehendedeth him not.
18. We see also that the Light shineth in Darkness, and the Darkness comprehendeth not the Light, and yet they both dwell in one another.  The four Elements are also an Example of this; which in their Original are but one Element, which is neither hot nor cold, nor dry, nor moist; and yet by its stirring separateth itself into Four Properties, viz. into Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.
19. Who would believe that Fire produceth or generateth Water?  And that the Original of Fire could be in Water, if we did not see it with our Eyes in Tempests of Thunder, Lightening, and Rain; and did not find also, that in living Creatures, the essential Fire of the Body dwelleth in the Blood, and that the Blood is the Mother of the Fire, and the Fire the Father of the Blood.
20. And as God dwelleth in the World, and filleth all Things, and yet possesseth nothing; and as the Fire dwelleth in Water, and yet possesseth it not: Also, as the Light dwelleth in Darkness, and yet possesseth not the Darkness; as the Day is in the Night, and the Night in the Day, Time in Eternity, and Eternity in Time; so is Man created according to the outward Humanity; he is the Time, and in the Time, and the Time is the outward World, and it is also the outward Man.
21. The inward Man is Eternity and the Spiritual Time and World, which also consisteth of Light and Darkness, viz. of the Love of God, as to the eternal Light, and of the Anger of God as to the eternal Darkness; whichsoever of these is manifest in him, his Spirit dwelleth in that, be it Darkness or Light.
22. For Light and Darkness are both in him, but each of them dwelleth in itself, and neither of them possesseth the other; but if one of them entereth into the other, and will possess it, then that other loseth its Right and Power.
23. The passive loseth its Power; for if the Light be made manifest in the Darkness, then the Darkness loseth its Darkness, and is not known or discerned.  Also on the contrary, if the Darkness arise in the Light and get the upper-hand, then the Light and the Power thereof are extinguished.  This is to be observed also in Man.
24. The Eternal Darkness of the Soul is Hell, viz. an aching Source of Anguish, which is called the Anger of God; but the Eternal Light in the Soul is the Kingdom of Heaven, where the fiery Anguish of Darkness is changed into Joy.
25. For the same Nature of Anguish, which in the Darkness is a Cause of Sadness, is in the Light a Cause of the outward and stirring Joy.   For the Source or Original in Light, and the Source in Darkness are but one Eternal Source, and one Nature, and yet they, viz. the Light and Darkness, have a mighty Difference in the Source; the one dwelleth in the other and begetteth the other, and yet is not the other.  The Fire is painful and consuming, but the Light is yielding, friendly, powerful, and delightful, a sweet and amiable Joy.
26. This may be found also in Man; he is and liveth in three Worlds; the First is the Eternal dark World, viz. the Centre of the Eternal Nature, which produceth or generateth the Fire, viz. the Source or Property of Anguish.
27. The Second is the Eternal light World, which begetteth the Eternal Joy, which is the Divine Habitation wherein the Spirit of God dwelleth, and wherein the Spirit of Christ receiveth the human Substance, and subdueth the Darkness, so that it must be a Cause of Joy in the Spirit of Christ in the Light.
28. The Third is the outward visible World in the four Elements and the visible Stars; though indeed every Element hath its peculiar Constellation in itself, whence the Desire and Property arise, and is like a Mind.
29. Thus you may understand, that the Fire in the Light is a Fire of Love, a Desire of Meekness and Delightfulness; but the Fire in the Darkness is a Fire of Anguish, and is painful, irksome, inimicitious {hostile, unfriendly}and full of Contrariety in its Essence.  The Fire of the Light hath a good Relish or Taste, but the Taste in the Essence of Darkness is unpleasant, loathsome and irksome.  For all the Forms or Properties in the Eternal Nature, till they reach to Fire, are in great Anguish.    



What I realize now is how difficult walking the path truly is.  In the beginning you naively think that life will start to get easier if you raise your consciousness.  Life does get easier, you get into the flow and everything becomes more clear.  Life becomes more interesting and purposeful.  The other side is that there is an equal level of responsibility that must be maintained.  You cannot just take a day off if you really seek to attain the ultimate goal.  It is not for the lazy or weak minded.  And I can attest to the fact that you will be tempted and you will be most likely be inclinded toward pride.  You will start to think how great you are that you have learned all of these great teaching that no one else knows about.  This is the "devil" at work as Boehme says.  If you are naive and don't really know what you are doing then there is much room for error.  It is actually a dangerous proposition.  It is like walking a tight rope.  I myself became prideful and I had a major fall.  I went from a ecstatic high in one moment to the lowest low of my life.

You must let go of your pride and thinking how great you are.  As these mystics say, none of this new knowledge gained is your doing.  None of it is accomplished without the source or God.  Become selfless and acknowledge that your new found knowledge is due to the Spirit coming into you.  You must become the passive conduit for the masculine spirit to come into.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Books

I am very happy right now.  I just found access to a ton of books by Jacob Boehme and William Law among others.

Behold:

http://www.passtheword.org/DIALOGS-FROM-THE-PAST/index.html


Enjoy!

Monday, December 21, 2009

William Law - Spirit of Love

This book should be a must read for anyone seeking the higher life.  I believe Aldous Huxley alluded to the fact that William Law is the most underrated and under appreciated theological scholar of the last 1000 years.  Almost everything he writes is an illuminating quote.  Here is where I found the e-book:


http://www.davidcox.com.mx/library/L/Law,%20William%20-%20Spirit%20of%20Love%20(b).pdf

Do yourself a favor and read it

Below are some quotes or paragraphs that stood out for me:

"Now the Difficulty which you find in attaining to this Purity, and Universality
of the Spirit of Love is because you seek for it, as I once told you, in the Way of reasoning:
You would be possessed of it only from a rational Conviction of the Fitness and
Amiableness of it. And as this clear Idea does not put you immediately into the real
Possession of it, your Reason begins to waver, and suggests to you, that it may be only a
fine Notion that has no Ground but in the Power of the Imagination. But this, Sir, is all
your own Error, and as contrary to Nature, as if you would have your Eyes do That which
only your Hands or Feet can do for you. The Spirit of Love is a Spirit of Nature and Life;
and all the Operations of Nature and Life are according to the working Powers of Nature;
and every Growth and Degree of Life can only arise in its own Time and Place from its
proper Cause, and as the genuine Effect of it. Nature and Life do nothing by Chance or
accidentally, but every Thing in one uniform Way. Fire, Air, and Light, do not proceed
sometimes from one Thing, and sometimes from another; but wherever they are, they are
always born in the same Manner, and from the same Working in the Properties of Nature.
So in like Manner, Love is an immutable Birth, always proceeding from the same Cause,
and cannot be in Existence till its own true Parents have brought it forth".

So if you have done the necessary things and taken the right steps you will be united with God.  Your seeking and rising tension due to you believing you deserve illumination only bring you farther away from what your desire.  God is all knowing and knows more about you than you do.  If you are worthy of His light then he will bestow it upon you.  There is no luck involved, it is a black and white issue.  If you have caused it to happen through your correct thinking and action then the proper effect will occur.


"The Fire then is that which changes the Properties into a new and heavenly
State: Therefore the Fire does two things; it alters the State of Nature and brings Heaven
into it, and therefore it must Work from a two-fold Power; the Deity and Nature must both
be in it. It must have some Strength from Nature, or it could not work in Nature. It must
have some Strength from the Deity or it could not overcome and change Nature into a
Divine Life. Now all this is only to show you, that the Fire can only be kindled by the
Entrance of the Deity, or supernatural God, into a Conjunction or Union with Nature. And
this Conjunction of the Deity and Nature maketh, or bringeth forth, that State or Form of
Life, which is called and truly is, Fire: First, Because it does that in the spiritual Properties
of Nature, which Fire doth in the Properties of material Nature; and Secondly, Because it is
that alone, from which every Fire in this World, whether in the Life of animal or vegetable
or inanimate Matter, has its Source and Power and Possibility of Burning. The Fire of this
World overcomes its Fuel, breaks its Nature, alters its State and changes it into Flame and
Light. But why does it do this? Whence has it this Nature and Power? It is because it is a
true Outbirth of the eternal Fire, which overcomes the Darkness, Wrath, and Contrariety
of Nature, and changes all its Properties into a Life of Light, Joy, and Glory. Not a Spark
of Fire could be kindled in this World, nor a Ray of Light come from any material Fire, but
because material Nature is, in itself, nothing else but the very Properties of eternal Nature,
standing for a Time in a material State or Condition; and therefore they must work in Time
as they do in Eternity; and consequently there must be Fire in this World, it must have the
same Birth and do the same Work in its material Way, which the eternal Fire hath, and
doth in spiritual Nature. And this is the true Ground and Reason why every Thing in this
World is delivered as far as it can be from its earthly Impurity, and brought into its highest
State of Existence, only by Fire; it is because the eternal Fire is the Purifier of eternal
Nature and the Opener of every Perfection, Light, and Glory in it. And if you ask why the
eternal Fire is the Purifier of eternal Nature, the Reason is plain; it is because the eternal
Fire has its Birth and Nature and Power from the Entrance of the pure, supernatural Deity
into the Properties of Nature, which Properties must change their State, and be what they
were not before, as soon as the Deity entereth into them. Their Darkness, Wrath, and
Contrariety, is driven out of them, and they work and give forth only a Life and Strength
of Light, and Joy, and Glory. And this two-fold Operation, viz., on one hand taking from
Nature its wrathful Workings, and on the other hand opening a glorious Manifestation of
the Deity in them, is the whole Nature and Form of the Fire, and is the Reason why from
Eternity to Eternity it is and must be the Purifier of eternal Nature; namely, as from
Eternity to Eternity changing Nature into a Kingdom of Heaven. Now every Fire in this
World does, and must do, the same Thing in its low Way, to the utmost of its Power, and
can do nothing else. Kindle Fire where, or in what you will, it acts only as from and by the
Power of this eternal purifying Fire; and therefore it breaks and consumes the Grossness of
every Thing, and makes all that is pure and spirituous to come forth out of it; and therefore
Purification is its one only Work through all material Nature, because it is a real Out-birth
of that eternal Fire which purifies eternal Nature, and changes it into a mere Heaven of
Glory".

My brief take on this paragraph is that he is talking about the spark that must kindled to light the fire within.  To change the inner state from that of darkness to that of the light of God.  It seems as though he is describing alchemy.  That all in nature is going through the slow process of change and evolution until the point where God takes over in all creating the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.  The New Jerusalem is when God's spirit will infuse all living things on earth.  God's fire will purify all the drossness and evil that now infuses the earth.  We must open our hearts completely to let God in.  We must connect and become One.  God must take dominion over the earth as He has over the higher worlds.  We must do the work though and set the stage for His return.

"The Perfection of every Life is no way possibly to be had, but as every Flower comes to its
Perfection, viz., from its own Seed and Root and the various Degrees of Transmutation
which must be gone through before the Flower is found: It is strictly thus with the
Perfection of the Soul: All its Properties of Life must have their true natural Birth and
Growth from one another. The first, as its Seed and Root, must have their natural change
into an higher State; must, like the Seed of the Flower, pass through Death into Life and be
blessed with the Fire and Light and Spirit of Heaven, in their Passage to it; just as the Seed
passes through Death into Life, blessed by the Fire, and Light, and Air of this World, till it
reaches its last Perfection, and becomes a beautiful sweet-smelling Flower. And to think
that the Soul can attain its Perfection any other Way, than by the Change and Exaltation of
its first Properties of Life, just as the Seed has its first Properties changed and exalted till it
comes to have its Flower, is a total Ignorance of the Nature of Things. For as whatever dies
cannot have a Death particular to itself, but the same Death in the same Way, and for the
same Reasons, that any other Creature, whether Animal or vegetable, ever did or can die;
so every Life and Degree of Life, must come into its State and Condition of Life in the
same Way, and for the same Reasons as Life, and the Perfection of Life, comes into every
other living Creature, whether in Heaven or on Earth. Therefore the Deists’ Religion or
Reason, which is to raise the Soul to its true Perfection, is so far from being the Religion of
Nature, that it is quite unnatural and declared to be so by every Working in Nature. For
since Reason can neither give Life nor Death to any one Thing in Nature, but every Thing
lives, or dies, according to the Working of its own Properties, every Thing, dead and alive,
gives forth a Demonstration, that Nature asks no Counsel of Reason, nor stays to be
directed by it. Hold it therefore for a certain Truth, that you can have no Good come into
your Soul, but only by the one Way of a Birth from above, from the Entrance of the Deity
into the Properties of your own soulish Life. Nature must be set right, its Properties must
enter into the Process of a new Birth, it must work to the Production of Light, before the
Spirit of Love can have a Birth in it. For Love is Delight, and Delight cannot arise in any
Creature till its Nature is in a delightful State, or is possessed of that in which it must
rejoice. And this is the Reason why God must become Man; it is because a Birth of the
Deity must be found in the Soul, giving to Nature all that it wants, or the Soul can never
find itself in a delightful State and only Working with the Spirit of Love. For whilst the
Soul has only its natural Life, it can only be in such a State, as Nature, without God, is in,
viz., a mere Hunger, Want, Contrariety, and Strife for it knows not what. Hence is all that
Variety of blind, restless, contrary Passions, which govern and torment the Life of fallen
Man. It is because all the Properties of Nature must Work in Blindness, and be doing they
know not what, till the Light of God is found in them. Hence also it is, that That which is
called the Wisdom, the Honour, the Honesty, and the Religion of the natural Man, often
does as much Hurt to himself, and others, as his Pride, Ambition, Self-Love, Envy, or
Revenge, and are subject to the same Humour and Caprice; it is because Nature is no
better in one Motion than in another, nor can be so, till something supernatural is come
into it. We often charge Men, both in Church and State, with changing their Principles; but
the Charge is too hasty; for no Man ever did, or can change his Principles, but by a Birth
from above. The natural, called in Scripture, the old Man, is steadily the same in Heart and
Spirit in every Thing he does, whatever Variety of Names may be given to his Actions. For
Self can have no Motion but what is selfish, which Way soever it goes, or whatever it does,
either in Church or State. And be assured of this, that Nature in every Man, whether he be
learned or unlearned, is this very Self, and can be nothing else, till a Birth of the Deity is
brought forth in it. There is therefore no Possibility of having the Spirit of Love, or any
Divine Goodness, from any Power of Nature or Working of Reason. It can only be had in
its own Time and Place; and its Time and Place is nowhere, but where Nature is overcome
by a Birth of the Life of God in the Properties of the Soul. And thus you see the infallible
Truth, and absolute Necessity, of Christian Redemption; it is the most demonstrable Thing
in all Nature.— The Deity must become Man, take a Birth in the fallen Nature, be united to
it, become the Life of it, or the natural Man must of all Necessity be forever and ever in the
Hell of his own Hunger, Anguish, Contrariety, and Self-Torment; and all for this plain
Reason, because Nature is, and can be, nothing else, but this Variety of Self-Torment, till
the Deity is manifested and dwelling in it".

Man in this is world is forever longing for his original state.  He desires his original stillness that is God.  He cannot accomplish this in of himself.  Man does not change himself.  Man only changes when he is changed from a higher level.  A lot of people refer to this as "raising one's consciousness".  Law is referring to it as the deity becoming man.  He says that man's hunger for unification with God must be done in a blindness.  I would relate this to not having expectations.  You must first be empty if you want the fullness of God to enter you.  Religious man or "deist" as he puts it holds himself up to be honorable, moral, and honest.  These qualities or opinions of one's self are in fact as detrimental as selfishness, envy, avarice, etc. 

I want to pull this quote out of the above quoted paragraph and isolate it for it's own light:

"Nature must be set right, its Properties must
enter into the Process of a new Birth, it must work to the Production of Light, before the
Spirit of Love can have a Birth in it. For Love is Delight, and Delight cannot arise in any
Creature till its Nature is in a delightful State, or is possessed of that in which it must
rejoice"

What he seems to be saying is that you must first set the tone for the Spirit to enter you.  I have learned from Enoch Tan to approach your (altruistic) desires as if they have already occurred.  Law seems to be saying that you must first feel delight within before the deity will bestow love upon you.  He says to feel delight you must first put yourself in a delightful state.  Do not cry out in agony because you are still hungry for God's light.  This would imply that you lack faith.  If Jesus Christ stressed anything it was to maintain faith and that the most faithful were highest in their Father's eyes.  Have faith that the Father is watching over you.  Act as if you already are One with Him and have His love.  Plant the seed for His Love by being delightful as if you already have it.  Do not want, just be as you are.  

He goes into more depth regarding morality:

"And now, Sir, you see also the absolute Necessity of the Gospel-Doctrine of
the Cross, viz., of dying to Self, as the one only Way to Life in God. This Cross, or Dying
to Self, is the one Morality that does Man any Good. Fancy as many Rules as you will of
modeling the moral Behaviour of Man, they all do nothing, because they leave Nature still
alive, and therefore can only help a Man to a feigned, hypocritical Art of concealing his
own inward Evil, and seeming to be not under its Power. And the Reason why it must be
so is plain; it is because Nature is not possible to be reformed; it is immutable in its
Workings and must be always as it is, and never any better or worse, than its own untaught
Workings are. It can no more change from Evil to Good, than Darkness can Work itself
into Light. The one Work therefore of Morality is the one Doctrine of the Cross, viz., to
resist and deny Nature, that a supernatural Power or Divine Goodness, may take
Possession of it, and bring a new Light into it".