"THE UNDERSTANDING MIND"

"O Holy Spirit, draw us by Thy power into the silence, into comfort, into understanding, when the physical life - the past and future - will, in a measure, be revealed to Thy little children.

"O God, inspire us with further effort, grant that we may realise how glorious a thing it is to work for Thee; and as the realisation comes so we may fold round us the garments of peace, so we may retreat into our real selves, when we can gain that which the Holy Spirit has provided.

"Father, give us more understanding of the seriousness and the joy, of the privilege and the sacredness of the work which Thou hast entrusted to Thy children. Yet let not dismay fill their heart and mind, for by dedication, so that which is missing can be filled in, by concentration, that which is elusive shall be made their own, and Thou wilt add blessing upon blessing; for, obedient to the Voice of the Spirit, so they will emerge out of childhood into maturity, when Thou canst bestow that greater wisdom which it is Thy will that Thy sons and daughters should possess...

"We thank Thee, O God, for all Thy many good gifts, for this great privilege of gathering together and gaining our instruction direct from Thee, and, above all, for the gift of Christ, our Saviour, our Redeemer, the Restorer of all that which we allowed to slip from us in the days which are past... Father, we thank Thee...

"...My little children, although you know it well, I would just refer to the love cords which hold us together, because tonight, by the will of the Beloved, so I would show once more how the gift of Love has been bestowed, for our use, for the use of others and, again, for the use of the generations yet unborn. So, my little ones, asking from you not only faith, but love and the desire to serve, I would speak to you on a subject which has no limitations, either in this plane of sense, in those conditions which are merging on the spiritual, or in the realms where Spirit holds all spaces.

"And those among you, who were with me on the last occasion, will remember my words concerning the valiant heart which must be made our own, before we can proclaim ourselves as active Christians, as definite soldiers of the Most High.

"You see, my children, that although there are many during the earth stage who wish to show courage over life, who wish to rise above their physical self, yet there are problems for which they can find no answer, there are riddles for which no solution has been provided by the mind of man; and because of this, countless numbers go mourning and, alas, turn from Love because it seems to them that Love has hidden His Face from them, that Love has forgotten the circumstances of their daily life.

"And as a result, the spirit within - which in taking on suffering, in holding to itself those deeper pangs of life - the spirit, instead of obtaining that freedom which it so craves, finds itself bound in another direction, finds that the very griefs which, as it were, open the door into revelation, have erected before that door such thickets, such obstacles, that the pilgrim loses heart, and the tears which come blind them to the glory which lies a span in front...

"You see, dear children, how those of the earth, influenced by the adverse forces - unconsciously to the physical mind - have been used to strike at Christ. Cannot you see that there should not be one soul on earth who could say with truth: 'There is no one to comfort me, no one who has that consolation to offer for which my heart craves, no one who understands!'

"The responsibility must be faced someday, and there are those who will be sore dismayed when they see that the words they used, that their attitude of mind blocked out the glory of God's Love. It concerns us all; it concerns every child in every sphere. Once the body is discarded and sight becomes our own, then we stand aghast to find how we were used by the destroyers, and, again, how God tried to use us but found us unsuitable tools...

"Oh, my children - and I speak to many - I entreat you to go through that which represents the physical mind, and to consider what part you have played in the past, and what you intend to do in the future. There are thousands, even in this little city of yours, who have not the Word of God, in the sense that God is Love; who have never had it explained to them what Christ is like; who know not that the burdens, the trials, and the enemies which assail the body - that these things are steps into Light, into freedom; steps nearer to God, nearer to perfect joy, nearer to that peace which no one can wrest from them.

"So this evening, my children, because the time has come for me to emphasise this point, I speak to you on that which I name: 'The Understanding Mind'.

"Right back over the past, over that which you call the centuries, you will find that here and there was one, who, in a measure, understood - who, in a measure, had that wisdom which is God's good gift to His listening children. Aye, in the Holy Scriptures so plainly it is stated that with this one and that, God had opened their understanding; and why was this?

"My little ones, you cannot have without giving, you cannot penetrate into those sacred places where the Holy Spirit instructs, unless the preparation has been put in, unless the real self has striven and striven again. Therefore, my children, it is a foregone conclusion that only those with the valiant heart can have the gift of wisdom, can have that understanding which enables them to enter into those realms which are Spirit.

"Oh, go back in your minds over the past, and think these things out for yourselves. That which is of God, it is there for humanity's use; but the majority, they seek the possessions of the earth which satisfy for a while and then pass away. They seek not those tangible yet intangible, those spiritual yet intensely practical gifts, which shall for ever remain. They seek the things of the world and those jewels which bring them more treasure still; but the quiet heart, the understanding mind, these lay far ahead, and that which is within mourns over its imprisonment, seeks to break its chains, and yet, as one is broken, finds that others still more resisting are there instead.

"Yet, dear children, the responsibility, in the main, lies not with any one, or any generation, as you may think - the responsibility lies with all, in the measure that those who were upon the earth in this day or that, were content with surface things - they failed to find within the will to dig, that which represented toil found not favour in their sight; and so, generation after generation bound the ones who were to come into physical being, themselves bound by those others who had taken their earthly experience an era before...

"But the time comes when the soil of the earth and earthly things must be broken, for God will not longer be denied; and so, my little ones, gleaning power here from those who had a valiant heart, and gathering power there from those who wished they could be strong yet felt they were weak indeed, so the Father, the Great Constructer, the Great Transformer, has taken the little deeds, the little hopes, the little efforts, and the little strivings, and has passed on those seeds to others; and, in time to come, that which once was small shall be great, that which once was feeble shall be strong; for the children of the earth, no longer blinded to things as they really are, no longer tricked by the unrealities of the world - they will send their minds out and grasp at last those realities which are of the Spirit, those things which never pass away.

"And then, dear children, such as these can say with truth that, in a measure, they have an understanding mind; yet, tonight, because we are in the learning stages, because we are putting in the preparation for that gift we long to make our own, so I would instruct you - and so I would instruct those who understood so little during the earth stage - as to its development, as to the road which must be followed, as to the acquirement of that most precious gift.

"My children, oft before I have entreated you to try and understand a little more of that which is in the Divine Mind - I have entreated you, for today this great lack is felt by all. Not only does mankind fail to understand himself, not only does humanity, as a whole, fail in the attempt to understand each other, but over the time which has sped, a fabrication has sprung up which bears no resemblance to the Beloved, which is a travesty in so terrible a way that you, and they, will be able to find no excuse for the misunderstanding which has taken place.

"I have taught you ever not to listen to those who so teach; and in reading the Sacred Record, to reject all that which falsifies Love, which fails to express Love in its highest, purest form; because, dear children, though the ones who wrote, and though the ones who speak, knew it or know it not, the mind of the body has exerted an undue influence, and the free vision of the mind of the spirit has been clouded - clouded by all that traditional thought which surrounded or surrounds them.

"It is imperative that the mind of God should be studied and studied again, for only in approaching that which the Father represents, can you throw a flood of Light over earth conditions, can you go to the sorrowful, to those suffering the pangs of the body, and say to them: 'Here is the solution, here is the answer to it all'.

"Tonight, I would speak to all those who, in their own lives, find themselves removed from the hardships of the daily round. Children, it is not the will of your Father that the conditions of your lives should be used in any way but as a gift to bring you closer to Him; and there are those present who are conscious that in work, that in service to others, not only their redemption lies but, literally, their spiritual life - the saving of all that which represents their real self.

"And so, this evening, I speak to the ones who have those things of the world which remove them from the hardships of the daily round, and I tell them that not only can they help others, not only can they help themselves, but they can help the Saviour. Yes, upon this little earth there are great divisions, made by man bound by the body and physical things: There are those distinctions of race and of class which are absolutely opposed to the Fatherhood of God, there are the rich and the poor, there are the over-worked and there are those who spend their days in indolence and pleasure.

"Oh, pray for the idle ones, for they have much to retrieve in the days to come, pray for the selfish, pray for those many who regard their bodies as their god, for, lo, when the body has been discarded, their god has vanished too, and as the children they are they must set to work to find the bricks - ah, and to make the bricks - before they can build up that foundation of effort which will allow them to penetrate into anything which represents liberty, as we know it...

"Children, in the world today, there are countless thousands who live but for themselves, yet when the physical existence is o'er, they will find to their horror who was their master and the bondage which is theirs; pray for them, for they will need a comforting past your comprehension now, they will walk in desert places, and Love, though reaching out to find them, will not be able to make the contact, for love is absent within. Speak to such as these as to the truth, as to the future, and bid them be not deceived by the flowers of the earth, the flowers that strew their path at this brief stage.

"And then, my children, I pass on to those many who put in a measure of toil, who have responsibilities, and who, more or less, seek to meet those responsibilities as a matter of course. These are constructors, yet they know not what they build - these are sowing, but they know not what they will reap. And because of this, the tares get in amongst the wheat, and the poppies - those symbols of the pleasures of the world and the weakness of the flesh - they appeal to them more than the Bread of Life. Yet, all know that as the poppy is plucked, so it dies - its beauty is fleeting; and the sowers and the reapers would that they were absent, for they are as weeds in that which represents the true grain of the Spirit...

"Yet, because God is Love, so the very ignorance of such as these is used to bring them gain, for they work for others, they contribute to the world in thought and in activity, and they blunder because there are not those who can put them wise; for those who could know, as yet, understand so little - they have neither the will nor the courage to penetrate beyond the veil of knowledge into the citadel of wisdom, and to give out that instruction which it is God's will that His children should possess...

"And then, little ones, I come to those who, it seems to you, have more than their portion of the work of the world, more than their portion of the sorrows of the world, more than their portion of the pangs of the physical body. But remember this: That such as these are not confined to any 'class', they may be rich or poor - yet, methinks, that if they had the treasures of the earth, so such as these would seek to unburden themselves of the shackles they represent.

"Yet, with spiritual sight, I say it is impossible to divide any class from the other, or any child from another according to the physical conditions of their lives; but, in the main, you think of the poor because of their many discomforts, because they not only work but when their work is done that which they call 'home' bears so little resemblance to that sweet word.

"And those of you who, during the months of winter-time, have sent out your thoughts of compassion over the toilers in the highways, over the workers in conditions which seem horrible to you - to those of my children I speak, and I pass on words of commendation. I say that in the measure that you feel for such as these, so in that degree you have purchased an understanding mind; that in the measure that you can enter into the physical discomforts of the ones who are exposed to the elements and who return to no comfort in their shelter at night; to those of you who, in your person, can feel their damp and terrible garments; to those of you who have watched the sellers, those who have wares which are spoiling under their eyes, and have entered into their disappointment - to you I say that you have penetrated beyond the barrier of self, and have entered that vast continent of Understanding, which is unlimited and which lies before all, waiting for exploration.

"Children, the lack of understanding in the mind of man for man, has done more damage to the cause of Christ than anything else in the world. It is the cause of all the turmoil, all the strife, all the fighting, family against family, all the havoc of war, all the breaking up of homes - the lack of understanding that each one is a child of the Great Father, and the Father is Love and Compassion and Understanding beyond all expression...

"My little ones, if those who call themselves the representatives of the Most High, if those who call themselves the healers of the physical body, if those who call themselves the reformers of the conditions of daily life - if such as these understood a little more of the Divine Mind, so their difficulties would be solved, so they could take not only healing of the soul, the body, and the sores of daily life, but they could take explanation in their hands. They could bring happiness where sadness and resentment and despair hold first place; they could bring smiles instead of tears, and a mighty hope instead of that feeling which has ruined 'religion' in whatever form it may have been presented - that feeling that God does not care, that God only blames, that God is the disciplinarian, when all the time He is unlimited Love.

"Oh, my children, the responsibility which lies upon all those who wish to follow Christ cannot be over emphasised, for the responsibility is so far-reaching that the end of the trail cannot be seen either by you or by those who are free. Christ only knows the extent of the damage done; God only knows the work of retrievement which must take place. Therefore, I speak to all for the sake of the souls of men and women, and for the sake of their own soul, and I beg them rise and turn in order to understand a little more of all that wonder which is represented by the Mind of God...

"Little children, I have shown you that the hill of achievement is high and it is rough; I have told you that the way is narrow and that there are many pitfalls for the unwary, but have I not told you also that the helpers, that the consolers and the revivers, never leave your side? And because you wish to show a valiant heart, so, as you climb, step by step, realisation shall come, the comprehension of things spiritual shall explain things physical, the understanding which is revelation shall be made your own; and out of your greater knowledge - which, remember, can only be bought by experience - out of your greater knowledge, you can go to those others who find it so hard to understand what they call: 'The ways of God', and show them that God's way is light, is peace, and is joy, for ever and for ever...

"If only the world could understand. But the world, as a whole, cannot understand, until individuals here and there first set to work to understand themselves. And the way to purchase that understanding is to watch your neighbours with sympathy, to try and get into their conditions, to try and enter into their environment, to judge them not but to consider within yourselves: 'If I had their equipment - mental, physical and material - how should I feel, how should I act?' And having pursued this course, so you will find that irritation, that criticism and condemnation, will have passed away; and if not love, then compassion will be there; if not full understanding, then the desire to understand will make you sister to sister, brother to brother, bound together by the link of your Father and Mother God.

"My children, as we go on, we must not weary by the way; as we go on, we must train ourselves for this great work which God has entrusted to us; and out of the release of the Divine within, so you shall go to others, and, in a measure, release their spirit as well. But the only way, the only way of approach is through that door of understanding, and while that remains closed so you meet as strangers, you pass each other by.

"Seek from within for those essential tools, which, remember, if not today, if not tomorrow, then in one of the tomorrows to come, must be made your own, must be made the possession of every child who has been created; for until understanding is there, so those realms which are Spirit cannot be entered... Outside - in that which represents twilight - you are bound, for the gift is missing, which can take you into those conditions where the Great Worker plans and thinks and reconstructs and transforms the things of the earth into those things of the Spirit which shall not pass away...

"Therefore, my children, I leave you with this thought in your mind, and with all the power which has been gifted to me, I send out a message to those who will hearken; it is this: That they themselves bind themselves, and separate themselves from the Christ they wish to serve, until they understand a little more of the Divine Mind, which will enable them to understand a little more of the human mind, and thus to do that which the Father asks from all - to bring back the straying flocks and to fetter them to the one true fold by Love, by that understanding Love which tells them that because God is Love, He condemns not their weakness but sends strength so that the weak places may be strong. And because God is Love, so He asks not from them that which He does not give Himself - perfect Love, perfect trust - for God has more faith in His little ones than the world can comprehend...

"And now, my children, I will leave you for a space. Those who have been gathered in tonight, have other channels through which they receive that which appertains to the earth and physical things. Here, because it is God's will, only that which touches the Spirit can enter; and, as I speak, I know that each one is willing to give out that which is the best and the highest - service to God, unhindered, untouched by anything of the world at all.

"And now I go. Hold fast to these conditions of peace, for it is God's will that tonight the centuries shall be parted, that one shall speak as a demonstration of the understanding Mind of the Father... Hold fast to these conditions of peace, for much has been gifted to you, by God's grace..."

"...Little children, the great God whom we all worship has vouchsafed that I should come into your presence, and I speak only by His power, gifted direct...

"It is the one that you name Job, and, as was promised, like a mighty ocean the past has been opened, and I step into your presence as a token of God's Love at work...

"Listen, I entreat you, for that which I speak has deep significance, that which I am able to impart, long after the body has been discarded, thou shalt read and thou shalt hold to you as signs and wonders.

"In myself I am as nothing, but as a vessel of the Lord God Jehovah, so I pour out the Waters of Life. The past – it is present; the past - it is here.

"As I speak, it seems as yestere'en that the body I wore was assailed by much, and yet, again, was bestowed with much. As I speak, so that gift of revelation seems once more the miracle that it was... Out of misunderstanding, so understanding came; out of my complaining, so God gave me explanation; out of my woes, so came my gains; out of my pains, so my powers; out of that little seed of faith, before me opened Heaven itself.

"Even that old man am I, yet these many centuries have closed upon that which was physical, that which represented myself. In that space what, think you, have I done? An old man I passed hence, stricken in years, yet glorifying God with every thought of my being. An old man I passed hence, yet it was youth which awaited me, and work which - as a scroll - unrolled as I progressed.

"Many 'years', as you would name them, I studied under those who had the Light, many years again I pursued that wisdom; yet think you not that I left my people without my prayers, my care. Removed from them by conditions, yet what I pursued was for them, aye, that knowledge which turned into wisdom was for their redemption...

"So, little ones, I worked for that which you name 'centuries' among my own people, seeking to retrieve that which we had lost. And, again for centuries, I worked among those who were strangers to me by race, by custom, by thought and understanding.

"And again, the ages passed, and tonight, only through the intervention of the One who loves us with a Love past our understanding, come I amongst you to lead you further on, to lead you out of shadowy places into the sunlight which God represents.

"Out of the darkness - the darkness which was so familiar to me - I stepped into the glory of revelation; and because that gift was mine, and because God bestows His gifts equally upon all, so for the instrument I use, I prophesy again: Only have faith, only have a valiant heart, and God will withhold nothing which expresses Spirit, in the God-sense of the term.

"From the steps of suffering, climbing through pain and weariness and thwarted effort, so each child of the earth can pass out of the earth into Heaven, for the gates for ever remain open, waiting for the aspiring soul. By the pangs of the body I am linked to the instrument I use; by the pangs of the body I passed into joy inconceivable to those upon the earth; by the pangs of the body I was used even as a plank upon which the Beloved stepped when He came to an unbelieving world and preached God's Love in person...

"Think you, children, as I speak of the years passed, caught up in all that yesterday, with its blindness, with its madness, with its unthinking heart; yet, because I sought to serve my God, so when the body was cast aside, my God showed me how that which I failed to do but longed to do, would be used as one of the planks on which He Himself would tread in a far off day, when He came to minister to His children and to save the world from itself.

"As I speak, the coldness of the earth assails me, yet the warmth of the love which fills my whole being shall counteract the coldness, and shall be thrown over you, for love is stronger than all, and God's Love has given me tonight that desire of the spirit which has been held by me over the centuries which have passed...

"Heed not when those of the earth put limits on the Love of God, seeking to confine His powers within the limitations of man's mind. With God all things are possible, and the spirit of that old servant of God is within this body tonight...

"Children, I would have called myself a 'faithless' servant, but Christ held back the word as it came, and in my love and humility I kneel before my God with the remembrance of the past so fresh upon me, with the remembrance of my blindness and of all that which held me prisoner during the earth stage... In spirit I kneel before my God, asking for that forgiveness which was never withheld, entreating for that forgetfulness which, over the years, has been mine.

"Yet, tonight, I ask but to forget in order to remember; to forget that which I failed to accomplish and to remember that which the Almighty God, King of kings, Ruler of all creation, made good because of Love.

"Little ones, I shall come again, and I entreat the instrument I use to forbid me not. He that would rise desires only to serve; he that would be a useful tool begs that the children of the earth will use him, in turn... The way is open, and that great ocean of the past shall never be closed again, for Spirit has met Spirit, and God has joined us together for ever and for ever...

"With faith I clothe this child - with faith, with faith. 'Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you'... Christ stands in our presence tonight, blessing us as we thank Him for His understanding Love and mercy to us all.

"Farewell - yet hold the Cross, for the Cross gives strength, the Cross gives strength..."

"...Now, my children, I can say to you tonight that God's will has been done on earth. I say to you further that the will of the spirit within you has been satisfied, and, again, I say that in time to come the seeds planted this evening shall represent a beauty which is not of the earth at all.

"Remember always, that by lending yourselves in this way for God's work, you are preparing yourselves for that time when to do Christ's work will represent all your longing, it will be your priceless possession, the desire of the 'you' which lasts for ever.

"Remember also, that in trying to enter into the conditions and the earthly environment of those now free, who speak to you in this way, that, as it were, you are forcing still wider apart those boundaries of the physical mind; for, though during these brief hours the mind of the spirit is functioning, impeded only in a slight degree by the mind of the body, yet during your daily life, in your meetings and communings with others in the body, the physical mind must be used; and so it is essential that you should, by God's grace, widen and widen those boundaries which are physical.

"And in the Name of Christ, I can promise you that the time will come when the physical mind shall be merged into the spiritual mind, and the Light and the revelation which now belongs to the Divine within, shall flood that which is physical, and you shall see things and hear things, and mingle in conditions which are of the Spirit itself.

"And now, my children, I bless you in God's Name, and I ask you to put everything on one side that comes between you and the acquirement of understanding; for until that is your own, so you stand fettered to unrealities, and Reality escapes your grasp, so you stand chained to that cold affection which is of the earth, and the warmth and the beauty which is of the Spirit cannot approach. For, through understanding, we link ourselves to God; and, again, through understanding, we link those other children of His - who once knew not the Father - we link them to the Rock which never gives...

"In the Name of the Beloved, I bless you with the desire to make understanding your own... Goodnight, my little ones."

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Download 9 chronologically-ordered digital books of earlier Zodiac Circle sittings (1923-1928)