Post by WalksInSpirit on Jun 25, 2007 22:37:19 GMT -5
No Soul Left Behind: Ch.III Pt.I: 06-19-07
Chapter III – Part 1 of 2 - Relationships – “No Soul Left Behind”
Love and Sex: Cayce is not mystified by the age-old human condition that relationships are the greatest concern of the human race. We suffer conflicts in love or family relationships, on the job, or getting on with friends and neighbors. We try to avoid wars to enjoy the blessings of peace, too often in vain. Cayce observes that we have a common failing: We don’t know how, or don’t care to, love one another. He means love with a spiritual dimension, not just romance. The same advice applies to sex: Physical intimacy without love is inadvisable. Marriage, based on love and mutual respect, is ideal, but successful variations in this traditional pattern are possible within a framework of true giving.
Q: What can we do to improve our relationships, at home, at work, wherever?
A: “Let the law of the Lord be your guide day by day, that there may be in all of your relationships no regrets. 1005-12.” {Foot-note: Cayce frequently used the expression ‘law of the Lord’, or ‘God’s Law’, or simply law to mean a commandment, such as the Ten Commandments received by Moses.
Q: What do you mean by the law of the Lord?
A: “Truth is the unalterable, unchangeable law, ever. What is Truth? Law! What is Law? Love! [The first spiritual law is to love God and your neighbor as yourself.] What is Love? God. What is God? Law and Love. These are the cycle of truth itself. And wherever you are, in whatever clime, it’s ever the same. 3574-2.”
Q: Most of us have difficulty being completely truthful all the time ~~ we often excuse ‘little white lies’. How can we observe the truth more consistently?
A: “Cultivate it in your mind and it will alter the results in your physical being. Yes, you will have much to live fore. For everyone will be your friend, as you have something to give to everyone. Not what brings fault or brings want, and indeed makes an individual poor, but what is a blessing to the mind and to the soul, by giving grains of truth that take from no one, but add something to everyone.
“Know in what spirit you do everything, and that in the spirit of truth ~~ and find it in your own self. For there it may indeed be put to work for Good. 3574-2.”
Q: In other words, be truthful, and it will pay off in our various relationships. You mention the law of love ~~ what is the essential quality of the love you speak of?
A: “Giving. As is given in this injunction, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’. As is given in the injunction, ‘Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, thine soul, and thine body. 3744-5.”
Q: What do you mean when you say that ‘giving’ is the essence of love? What should we give?
A: “Brotherly love, kindness, mercy, patience, love, long-suffering [enduring provocation or injury long and patiently]. Against such [virtues] there is no law, for they are the law of love. 262-50.”
Q: Many good souls show these wonderful traits, at least occasionally. But since we are innately self-centered ~~it is how we are born ~~how can we change?
A: “He that contributes only to his own welfare soon finds little to work for. 3478-2
Q: And yet it often takes years, even a lifetime, to overcome naturally selfish habits and work for the greater welfare of others, doesn’t it?
A: “True, an individual, a soul, must become less and less of self ~~ or thoughts of self . . . These then are conditions in all the relationships, in the home, in the associations, in the domestic relations, in the activities. Whatever your choice is, let these be ever with an eye single to service to that living influence of being a better, a greater channel of blessings to someone. Not of self choosing an easier way; not of self attempting to escape what is necessary for your own understanding, your own soul development; but rather ever, “Your will, O Lord, be done in and through me ~~ use me as You see I have need of, that I may be a living example of your love, or your guidance in this material experience”. 845-4
Q: If we are more giving, can we expect others to be more friendly or less antagonistic toward us?
A: “The gift, the giving, with hope of reward or pay is direct opposition of the law of love. Remember there is no greater than the injunction, “God so loved His creation, or the world, as to give His only begotten son, for their redemption”. Through that love, as man makes it manifest in his own heart and life, does it reach (fulfill) that law; and in compliance of a Law, the law becomes a part of the individual. What is the law of love? Giving in action, without the force felt, expressed, manifested, shown, desired, or reward for what (is) given. Not that the law of love does away with other laws, but makes the law of recompense, the law of faith, the law of divine, with the law of earth forces, if you please, effective, not defective.
“So we have Love is Law, Law is Love. God is Love, Love is God. In that (love) we see the law manifested, not the law itself . . . Now, if we, as individuals, upon the earth plane, have all of the other elementary forces that make to the bettering of life, and have not love we are nothing ~~nothing. ‘Though one may have the gift of prophecy, so as to give great understanding, even of the graces in hope, in charity, in faith, and has not the law of love in their heart, soul, mind and though they give their body to give itself for manifesting even these graces, and has n0t love they are nothing.’ In many, many ways may the manifestations of the law of love be shown, but without the greater love, even as the Father gives, even as the soul gives, there is no understanding, and no compliance of the forces that make our later law effective.” 3744-5
Q: Psychologists refer to some people as codependent when they knock themselves out trying to help others to the exclusion of taking care of themselves ~~ the opposite of self-centeredness. Is there a danger in that?
A: “He that contributes only to the welfare of others soon finds too much of others and has lost the appreciation of self, or of its ideals.” 3478-2
Q: So we have to strike a balance between giving to others and to our self in order to love our neighbor as our self. What about God’s love?
A: “What is Love Divine? That the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit may direct you, does direct you, will direct you in every thought, in every act! And judge not others, condemn not others. This is not love divine, neither is it wisdom. For it builds barriers, it destroys, it undermines the life of self first and then in the hearts and minds and experiences of others brings sorrow, disappointments, and those things that make the hearts of men afraid.” 262-104
Q: Not everyone has conflicted relationships, and some couples are so harmonious and so strongly attracted to one another that they believe they are soul mates. Are there really soul mates ~~ and is so, what distinguishes them from ordinary relationships?
A: “Those of any sect or group where there is the answering of one to another, [such] as would be [in carpentry] the tongue to the groove, the tenon to the mortise; or in any such where they are a complement one of another ~~ that is what is meant by ‘soul mate’. Not from physical attraction, but from the mental and spiritual help [each offers the other, such as a physician might have with his or her nurse].” 1556-2
Q: If we are all one, why don’t we experience the same harmony with everyone?
A: “Do not misinterpret, but knowing that all are one ~~ yet there are those divisions that make for a closer union, when there are the proper relationships brought about. As an illustration, in this: In the material world we find there is in the mineral kingdom those elements that are of the nature as to form a closer union one with another and make compounds … Footnote: Bronze alloy is an example, a compound of copper and tin. That act more in unison with, or against, other forms of activity in the experience in the earth’s environ.” 364-7
Q: Was it God’s intent when He created souls that we fulfill our purpose as individuals or through partnerships?
A: “The gift of God to man is an individual soul that may be one with Him, and that may know itself to be one with Him and yet individual in itself, with the attributes of the whole, yet not the whole.” 262-11
“For he, man, has been made just a little lower than the angels; with all the abilities to become one with Him! Not the whole, nor yet lost in the individuality of the whole, but becoming more and more personal in all of its consciousness of the application of the individuality of the Creative Forces, thus more and ore atonement with Him ~~ yet conscious of being himself.” 2172-1
Q: If the Bible is right, was Adam not content with individuality but wanted companionship?
A: “Adam, as given [in Genesis], discerns that from himself, not from the beasts about him, could be drawn ~~ was drawn that which made for the propagation of beings in the flesh, that made for that companionship as seen by creation in the material worlds about same.” 364-5
Q: You’ve said that God created souls that they might become His companions. Was Adam’s wish ~~ and is our wish ~~ for companionship a reflection in the human soul of God’s wish?
A: “The story [of Adam and Eve] is one and the same. The apple, as ‘apple of the eye’, [symbolizes] the desire of that companionship innate in that created [soul], as innate in the Creator, that brought companionship into creation itself.” 364-5
Q: Am I right to believe that God did not intend for man to be alone, and that even though we stumble through difficult relationships, often feeling as much pain as pleasure, we can learn valuable lessons that aren’t available to loners ~~ how to give love to another person, for one?
A: “In this . . . as is held by many who have reached especially to that understanding of how necessary, then, becomes the proper mating of those souls that may be then answers one to another of what may bring, through that association, that companionship, into begin, what may be the more helpful, more sustaining, more well-rounded life or experience of those that are a portion one of the other.” 364-7
Q: You have said that ‘thoughts are things’ that cannot be dismissed. Are we held accountable for our thoughts about others?
A: “Man is often guilty of immoral action in the mind, for, as was given by the Master that ithas been written that man shall not commit adultery. ‘Yea, I say unto thee that he that looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already.’ Here we see the change in the application of the lesson respecting morality as was governed under the law, taking the actual fact in action to produce that man called guilty of, while in the law of love we find that the greater sin may be in the desire of flesh towards the gratification of fleshly lusts; and in that manner the moralist may be the greater immoral person, and in such action the results are the fruit of what is gained through that activity of the body-mind, the body-consciousness, the inner consciousness of an individual. Keep your heart pure, that the issues therefrom may be in keeping wholly to that of the body-mind and body activity.” 900-347
Q: So we are held accountable for impure thoughts, even when they don ‘t lead to improper behavior?
A: “The actions of the individual toward that of another individual known to the entity are as the truths as given, that thoughts are deeds and become crimes or miracles in the application; and whether meted in material plane or measured in the spiritual plane are as one, see?” 900-331
Q: I thought we had a free ride on our private thoughts, as long as we behaved appropriately. St. Paul urged people to behave in a moral manner to realize the fruits of the spirit. Is that a prescription for us today?
A: “Rather, the understanding of those lessons given by Paul, yet many wrestle with them to their own undoing ~~ meaning that it is not all to be learned in the material sense. Rather, be in that manner as learned in the spiritual sense, with that understanding that to do Good is to live Good, and not [just] to appear Good. Be Good ~~ not just appear Good. To live love is to be love. To be one with the Father is to be equal with the Father. And as the understanding of the entity is gained in the application of truths gained, the consciousness [awareness] of truth is apparent ~~ for, as has been given, to love is to live love ~~ not the answer of desire or of amorous affection, but is all in one ~~ for love is law, law is love.” 900-331
Q: Conflict arises in some marriages over the roles of each partner, especially when women become ‘liberated’ from domestic duties to seek their own careers. What is your perspective on this?
A: “The greatest career of any wife is creating, making, building a home that is of such a nature, so attractive that it becomes what is intended and purposed to be.” 1579-1
Q: But many women today prefer to devote more time and energy to their careers.
A: “There may be chosen the career or there may be chosen the home. Whichever one will make you happier than the other, then choose that! As has been given from the first, know the desire of the heart ~~ know what is the ideal ~~ then choose and work towards that!” 349-8
Q: Your wife worked with you for many years, first in your photo studio, and then in conducting your readings. And I gather it was your idea.
A: “The greatest career of any individual, which is permitted to the wife, is to build the home in such a way and manner as to make it a retreat, as a place where all of those activities are such that it fills the longing that is in the heart and soul of each and every individual who has taken a mate for such.
“As to whether this can be combined with a career or not is dependent upon the application of self in the directions of its abilities; for it may be used as same. But do not let other associations or affiliations make it rather as a place to hang the hat or to rest. Build a home!” 1579-1
Q: Your son, Hugh Lynn Cayce, told me that his mother did just that, not only working with you but managing the domestic side of your family life. What other advice do you have for couples to achieve a harmonious and happy relationship.
A: “Analyze what are your purposes and desires. Analyze what the purposes and desires were that brought you and your spouse together. If they were for a gratifying only of physical, or for the desires of a physical nature, that’s all there will ever be then!
“But go deeper; and if there is the attempt, and the real attempt, and the analyzing of the purposes of each, they can be understood and each become a strength, as a stay [support] one for the other. For that which prompted the very activity of being brought into the relationship was from the spiritual import, while having the physical, the mental, as well as [the] spiritual aspects. Build them into a creative, constructive, and spiritual force.” 1579-1
Q: Is seeking fame or fortune contrary to a spiritual life?
A: “The price must be paid! There is no such thing as receiving without giving; for he that would have life must give life, he that would have joy must make joy in the lives of others, he that would have peace and harmony must create and make peace in self and in relationships with others. This the law, for life begets like; and you do not gather olives from thistles, neither apples from bramble bushes, neither do you find love in hate.” 349-17
Q: Do we always have to choose forsaking one choice for the other?
ra A: “As to the choices, these must ever be in self. For, if free will or the desire [which is an attribute or an expression of will] were taken from man, or from the human soul, it would then become rather the automaton, rather the animal, or rather the spirit of animal activity in a material world; hence not of itself. Rather, when the activity is not of self, let it be not in materiality but in spirituality ~~ and the expressions there of in self’s activities.” 349-17
Q: Many careers offer creative work that requires the person to be giving. Is this less valuable or honorable than homemaking?
A: “If the desire of the heart, of the mind, is such as to build rather a career, that is for the gratification of those interests that are creative within themselves to bring certain characters of activity. But the very purposes that have been given you, that you would find in the very activity that which must give of the very body itself in carnal desire to build for such experiences, should make for the knowledge within self that in such a field that has come to mean this in the lives of others you cannot gather Good from Evil. You cannot do Evil that Good may come of same. You cannot submerge yourself that these can be the better . . . For, what you sow you must reap. Have you sown in dishonor, have you sown in making your conscience subjugated to that which tells within self that this is not the way; then you must reap that which comes . . .
“Success may be made in the activities on the stage or in the cinema, for there is continuing to be sought the new faces, the new types, for feeding the bodies of same to what? Indulgencies of one character, nature, or another! And while they may build and may draw interest within self that will satisfy an ambition, as we have given, ambition ~~ unless it is tested in God’s crucible ~~ is of itself sin. Not that one should be the guide and not self, or man.” 349-17
Q: When you have counseled people who wanted careers in the entertainment world, what did you say to them?
A: “Then be an actress! Self and soul is the price~ The body and soul is the price! “If you have chosen with yourself that you are ready to pay the price, you may rise to heights that few have scaled ~~ but what if you gain the whole world in fame, fortune, position, even in power, and lose your own soul?” 349-17
Q: When conflicts occur within an intimate relationship, what is the secret of reconciliation?
A: “It must begin first within self. Is there the desire on the part of self for such [reconciliation with the partner]? It is needed in yourself, because there are mental conditions, there are those associations that will hinder one’s abilities to serve in other directions. Yes, if there is even the offering to forgive and forget, don’t forgive and say ‘I’ll remember it ~~ I forgive you but I’ll keep on remembering it.’ If you do, you’d better not try it!” 5001-1
Q: What can a man do to enjoy a happier and more harmonious marriage?
A: “Act toward the wife, or his own activities, as he would like her or others to act toward him. Ask no more than you give. Demand no more than you allowed, or allow, to be demanded of you. Marriage, such an association, is a oneness of purpose. Unless there is the oneness of purpose, there can be no harmony. This can be accomplished, not of self alone. For remember, if you made a mighty mess in the experience before this, you suffered for it! Better make it up now or it’ll be ten times worse the next time!” 5001-1
Q: It was more difficult to get a divorce in your day, before the adoption of ‘no-fault’ divorce statutes. Do you think marriage should be forever?
A: “When periods come in the experience of each soul that the associations are unbearable, as to become hindrances to their keeping their own ideal, then to awaken or to attune or to change, or to alter those associations becomes necessary.” 1192-7
Start here next Monday, June 25th……………………
Q: By alter their associations, do you mean separation or divorce?
A: “Each should look into their own consciousnesses. Each should answer that which has been given as from old, ‘Today is set before thee Good and Evil, life and death.’
“These should be then counseled, not in fury, not grudgingly, not in hate nor in condemnation. For what we condemn in another we must meet in our own selves. For God is not mocked, and whatever a soul sows, that it must reap. That our ideals are not of the same is apparent to all; and while man may often look upon the outward appearance, God judges from the heart and from the purpose of every act, every word, every desire.” 1192-7
Q: Do you favor marital counseling when conflicts burden a relationships?
A: “We would counsel together, as to the obligations, the duties, the disturbances, the hopes, the disappointments, the shadows ~~ the brightness that has been should be held rather than the darkness that may bring even greater fear and doubt.
“But in prayerful meditation counsel within self as to the approach: not stern, not just forgiving without a purposefulness, but in love, in simplicity, state, give your own feelings, your own desires, and see if they coordinate or cooperate with the purposes and desires that may be stated by [your partner].
“If these are so far [apart] then that they may not be drawn sufficiently together for a purposeful life, [it is] well that changes be [made]. If the fear is being overshadowed by a determination to put the trust rather in material things, then only in prayer, only in love may there be brought to the consciousness of the entity that great love, that forbearance, that patience that is the basis of a great soul.” 1192-7
Q: Suppose your partner isn’t willing to make changes to improve the relationship?
A: “Condemn not that which is your brother’s mote, or that which is in your brother’s eye, lest there comes that day when you meet your own conscience, your own self. But in love, in patience, reason together. For your spouse’s soul is great in the eyes of his Maker, for his love and his patience and his labors in the experiences in the earth are far, far afield from that seen in the acts and the deeds of today. Yet you may indeed hold, you may indeed at least offer the opportunity and the way for that awakening ~~ and not from without may it come, but from within!
“The best, as has been indicated, is the possible awakening of or in your companion the abilities, the goodness, the nobleness that is indeed there ~~if it will but be aroused to those possibilities, those opportunities that are before him. These make for the greater security. If these fail, then trust in Him only ~~ that in the Giver of all Good and perfect gifts. And in your daily conversation, in your daily acts with your fellow man, show forth by same where your trust, your faith has been put. For to claim or to act in one way and then to think or feel or say unkind things makes all null and void.
“For if you would have love, be lovely. If you would have friends, be friendly. If you would have faith, show it. And as is the law, it will come back to you! This is the greater security for self, for son. For you are indeed God’s children, and He has given and does give His love each day. Then show in your love, in your patience, even in your long-suffering, the appreciations of that love. For He does not fail those that trust in Him. For He has given from the beginning, ‘Be my child and I will be your God’.” 1192-7
Q: People sometimes make major changes ~~ move to another town or take another job ~~ in hopes of improving their relationships. Is this advisable?
A: “Rather, as has been given, it must be an arousing within that will change the surroundings, the environs, the outlook, the desires, the hopes. For it is fear of the present and the future, and the attempts to produce within the very activities that which would justify self in things said and done.” 1192-7
Love and Sex: Cayce is not mystified by the age-old human condition that relationships are the greatest concern of the human race. We suffer conflicts in love or family relationships, on the job, or getting on with friends and neighbors. We try to avoid wars to enjoy the blessings of peace, too often in vain. Cayce observes that we have a common failing: We don’t know how, or don’t care to, love one another. He means love with a spiritual dimension, not just romance. The same advice applies to sex: Physical intimacy without love is inadvisable. Marriage, based on love and mutual respect, is ideal, but successful variations in this traditional pattern are possible within a framework of true giving.
Q: What can we do to improve our relationships, at home, at work, wherever?
A: “Let the law of the Lord be your guide day by day, that there may be in all of your relationships no regrets. 1005-12.” {Foot-note: Cayce frequently used the expression ‘law of the Lord’, or ‘God’s Law’, or simply law to mean a commandment, such as the Ten Commandments received by Moses.
Q: What do you mean by the law of the Lord?
A: “Truth is the unalterable, unchangeable law, ever. What is Truth? Law! What is Law? Love! [The first spiritual law is to love God and your neighbor as yourself.] What is Love? God. What is God? Law and Love. These are the cycle of truth itself. And wherever you are, in whatever clime, it’s ever the same. 3574-2.”
Q: Most of us have difficulty being completely truthful all the time ~~ we often excuse ‘little white lies’. How can we observe the truth more consistently?
A: “Cultivate it in your mind and it will alter the results in your physical being. Yes, you will have much to live fore. For everyone will be your friend, as you have something to give to everyone. Not what brings fault or brings want, and indeed makes an individual poor, but what is a blessing to the mind and to the soul, by giving grains of truth that take from no one, but add something to everyone.
“Know in what spirit you do everything, and that in the spirit of truth ~~ and find it in your own self. For there it may indeed be put to work for Good. 3574-2.”
Q: In other words, be truthful, and it will pay off in our various relationships. You mention the law of love ~~ what is the essential quality of the love you speak of?
A: “Giving. As is given in this injunction, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’. As is given in the injunction, ‘Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, thine soul, and thine body. 3744-5.”
Q: What do you mean when you say that ‘giving’ is the essence of love? What should we give?
A: “Brotherly love, kindness, mercy, patience, love, long-suffering [enduring provocation or injury long and patiently]. Against such [virtues] there is no law, for they are the law of love. 262-50.”
Q: Many good souls show these wonderful traits, at least occasionally. But since we are innately self-centered ~~it is how we are born ~~how can we change?
A: “He that contributes only to his own welfare soon finds little to work for. 3478-2
Q: And yet it often takes years, even a lifetime, to overcome naturally selfish habits and work for the greater welfare of others, doesn’t it?
A: “True, an individual, a soul, must become less and less of self ~~ or thoughts of self . . . These then are conditions in all the relationships, in the home, in the associations, in the domestic relations, in the activities. Whatever your choice is, let these be ever with an eye single to service to that living influence of being a better, a greater channel of blessings to someone. Not of self choosing an easier way; not of self attempting to escape what is necessary for your own understanding, your own soul development; but rather ever, “Your will, O Lord, be done in and through me ~~ use me as You see I have need of, that I may be a living example of your love, or your guidance in this material experience”. 845-4
Q: If we are more giving, can we expect others to be more friendly or less antagonistic toward us?
A: “The gift, the giving, with hope of reward or pay is direct opposition of the law of love. Remember there is no greater than the injunction, “God so loved His creation, or the world, as to give His only begotten son, for their redemption”. Through that love, as man makes it manifest in his own heart and life, does it reach (fulfill) that law; and in compliance of a Law, the law becomes a part of the individual. What is the law of love? Giving in action, without the force felt, expressed, manifested, shown, desired, or reward for what (is) given. Not that the law of love does away with other laws, but makes the law of recompense, the law of faith, the law of divine, with the law of earth forces, if you please, effective, not defective.
“So we have Love is Law, Law is Love. God is Love, Love is God. In that (love) we see the law manifested, not the law itself . . . Now, if we, as individuals, upon the earth plane, have all of the other elementary forces that make to the bettering of life, and have not love we are nothing ~~nothing. ‘Though one may have the gift of prophecy, so as to give great understanding, even of the graces in hope, in charity, in faith, and has not the law of love in their heart, soul, mind and though they give their body to give itself for manifesting even these graces, and has n0t love they are nothing.’ In many, many ways may the manifestations of the law of love be shown, but without the greater love, even as the Father gives, even as the soul gives, there is no understanding, and no compliance of the forces that make our later law effective.” 3744-5
Q: Psychologists refer to some people as codependent when they knock themselves out trying to help others to the exclusion of taking care of themselves ~~ the opposite of self-centeredness. Is there a danger in that?
A: “He that contributes only to the welfare of others soon finds too much of others and has lost the appreciation of self, or of its ideals.” 3478-2
Q: So we have to strike a balance between giving to others and to our self in order to love our neighbor as our self. What about God’s love?
A: “What is Love Divine? That the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit may direct you, does direct you, will direct you in every thought, in every act! And judge not others, condemn not others. This is not love divine, neither is it wisdom. For it builds barriers, it destroys, it undermines the life of self first and then in the hearts and minds and experiences of others brings sorrow, disappointments, and those things that make the hearts of men afraid.” 262-104
Q: Not everyone has conflicted relationships, and some couples are so harmonious and so strongly attracted to one another that they believe they are soul mates. Are there really soul mates ~~ and is so, what distinguishes them from ordinary relationships?
A: “Those of any sect or group where there is the answering of one to another, [such] as would be [in carpentry] the tongue to the groove, the tenon to the mortise; or in any such where they are a complement one of another ~~ that is what is meant by ‘soul mate’. Not from physical attraction, but from the mental and spiritual help [each offers the other, such as a physician might have with his or her nurse].” 1556-2
Q: If we are all one, why don’t we experience the same harmony with everyone?
A: “Do not misinterpret, but knowing that all are one ~~ yet there are those divisions that make for a closer union, when there are the proper relationships brought about. As an illustration, in this: In the material world we find there is in the mineral kingdom those elements that are of the nature as to form a closer union one with another and make compounds … Footnote: Bronze alloy is an example, a compound of copper and tin. That act more in unison with, or against, other forms of activity in the experience in the earth’s environ.” 364-7
Q: Was it God’s intent when He created souls that we fulfill our purpose as individuals or through partnerships?
A: “The gift of God to man is an individual soul that may be one with Him, and that may know itself to be one with Him and yet individual in itself, with the attributes of the whole, yet not the whole.” 262-11
“For he, man, has been made just a little lower than the angels; with all the abilities to become one with Him! Not the whole, nor yet lost in the individuality of the whole, but becoming more and more personal in all of its consciousness of the application of the individuality of the Creative Forces, thus more and ore atonement with Him ~~ yet conscious of being himself.” 2172-1
Q: If the Bible is right, was Adam not content with individuality but wanted companionship?
A: “Adam, as given [in Genesis], discerns that from himself, not from the beasts about him, could be drawn ~~ was drawn that which made for the propagation of beings in the flesh, that made for that companionship as seen by creation in the material worlds about same.” 364-5
Q: You’ve said that God created souls that they might become His companions. Was Adam’s wish ~~ and is our wish ~~ for companionship a reflection in the human soul of God’s wish?
A: “The story [of Adam and Eve] is one and the same. The apple, as ‘apple of the eye’, [symbolizes] the desire of that companionship innate in that created [soul], as innate in the Creator, that brought companionship into creation itself.” 364-5
Q: Am I right to believe that God did not intend for man to be alone, and that even though we stumble through difficult relationships, often feeling as much pain as pleasure, we can learn valuable lessons that aren’t available to loners ~~ how to give love to another person, for one?
A: “In this . . . as is held by many who have reached especially to that understanding of how necessary, then, becomes the proper mating of those souls that may be then answers one to another of what may bring, through that association, that companionship, into begin, what may be the more helpful, more sustaining, more well-rounded life or experience of those that are a portion one of the other.” 364-7
Q: You have said that ‘thoughts are things’ that cannot be dismissed. Are we held accountable for our thoughts about others?
A: “Man is often guilty of immoral action in the mind, for, as was given by the Master that ithas been written that man shall not commit adultery. ‘Yea, I say unto thee that he that looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already.’ Here we see the change in the application of the lesson respecting morality as was governed under the law, taking the actual fact in action to produce that man called guilty of, while in the law of love we find that the greater sin may be in the desire of flesh towards the gratification of fleshly lusts; and in that manner the moralist may be the greater immoral person, and in such action the results are the fruit of what is gained through that activity of the body-mind, the body-consciousness, the inner consciousness of an individual. Keep your heart pure, that the issues therefrom may be in keeping wholly to that of the body-mind and body activity.” 900-347
Q: So we are held accountable for impure thoughts, even when they don ‘t lead to improper behavior?
A: “The actions of the individual toward that of another individual known to the entity are as the truths as given, that thoughts are deeds and become crimes or miracles in the application; and whether meted in material plane or measured in the spiritual plane are as one, see?” 900-331
Q: I thought we had a free ride on our private thoughts, as long as we behaved appropriately. St. Paul urged people to behave in a moral manner to realize the fruits of the spirit. Is that a prescription for us today?
A: “Rather, the understanding of those lessons given by Paul, yet many wrestle with them to their own undoing ~~ meaning that it is not all to be learned in the material sense. Rather, be in that manner as learned in the spiritual sense, with that understanding that to do Good is to live Good, and not [just] to appear Good. Be Good ~~ not just appear Good. To live love is to be love. To be one with the Father is to be equal with the Father. And as the understanding of the entity is gained in the application of truths gained, the consciousness [awareness] of truth is apparent ~~ for, as has been given, to love is to live love ~~ not the answer of desire or of amorous affection, but is all in one ~~ for love is law, law is love.” 900-331
Q: Conflict arises in some marriages over the roles of each partner, especially when women become ‘liberated’ from domestic duties to seek their own careers. What is your perspective on this?
A: “The greatest career of any wife is creating, making, building a home that is of such a nature, so attractive that it becomes what is intended and purposed to be.” 1579-1
Q: But many women today prefer to devote more time and energy to their careers.
A: “There may be chosen the career or there may be chosen the home. Whichever one will make you happier than the other, then choose that! As has been given from the first, know the desire of the heart ~~ know what is the ideal ~~ then choose and work towards that!” 349-8
Q: Your wife worked with you for many years, first in your photo studio, and then in conducting your readings. And I gather it was your idea.
A: “The greatest career of any individual, which is permitted to the wife, is to build the home in such a way and manner as to make it a retreat, as a place where all of those activities are such that it fills the longing that is in the heart and soul of each and every individual who has taken a mate for such.
“As to whether this can be combined with a career or not is dependent upon the application of self in the directions of its abilities; for it may be used as same. But do not let other associations or affiliations make it rather as a place to hang the hat or to rest. Build a home!” 1579-1
Q: Your son, Hugh Lynn Cayce, told me that his mother did just that, not only working with you but managing the domestic side of your family life. What other advice do you have for couples to achieve a harmonious and happy relationship.
A: “Analyze what are your purposes and desires. Analyze what the purposes and desires were that brought you and your spouse together. If they were for a gratifying only of physical, or for the desires of a physical nature, that’s all there will ever be then!
“But go deeper; and if there is the attempt, and the real attempt, and the analyzing of the purposes of each, they can be understood and each become a strength, as a stay [support] one for the other. For that which prompted the very activity of being brought into the relationship was from the spiritual import, while having the physical, the mental, as well as [the] spiritual aspects. Build them into a creative, constructive, and spiritual force.” 1579-1
Q: Is seeking fame or fortune contrary to a spiritual life?
A: “The price must be paid! There is no such thing as receiving without giving; for he that would have life must give life, he that would have joy must make joy in the lives of others, he that would have peace and harmony must create and make peace in self and in relationships with others. This the law, for life begets like; and you do not gather olives from thistles, neither apples from bramble bushes, neither do you find love in hate.” 349-17
Q: Do we always have to choose forsaking one choice for the other?
ra A: “As to the choices, these must ever be in self. For, if free will or the desire [which is an attribute or an expression of will] were taken from man, or from the human soul, it would then become rather the automaton, rather the animal, or rather the spirit of animal activity in a material world; hence not of itself. Rather, when the activity is not of self, let it be not in materiality but in spirituality ~~ and the expressions there of in self’s activities.” 349-17
Q: Many careers offer creative work that requires the person to be giving. Is this less valuable or honorable than homemaking?
A: “If the desire of the heart, of the mind, is such as to build rather a career, that is for the gratification of those interests that are creative within themselves to bring certain characters of activity. But the very purposes that have been given you, that you would find in the very activity that which must give of the very body itself in carnal desire to build for such experiences, should make for the knowledge within self that in such a field that has come to mean this in the lives of others you cannot gather Good from Evil. You cannot do Evil that Good may come of same. You cannot submerge yourself that these can be the better . . . For, what you sow you must reap. Have you sown in dishonor, have you sown in making your conscience subjugated to that which tells within self that this is not the way; then you must reap that which comes . . .
“Success may be made in the activities on the stage or in the cinema, for there is continuing to be sought the new faces, the new types, for feeding the bodies of same to what? Indulgencies of one character, nature, or another! And while they may build and may draw interest within self that will satisfy an ambition, as we have given, ambition ~~ unless it is tested in God’s crucible ~~ is of itself sin. Not that one should be the guide and not self, or man.” 349-17
Q: When you have counseled people who wanted careers in the entertainment world, what did you say to them?
A: “Then be an actress! Self and soul is the price~ The body and soul is the price! “If you have chosen with yourself that you are ready to pay the price, you may rise to heights that few have scaled ~~ but what if you gain the whole world in fame, fortune, position, even in power, and lose your own soul?” 349-17
Q: When conflicts occur within an intimate relationship, what is the secret of reconciliation?
A: “It must begin first within self. Is there the desire on the part of self for such [reconciliation with the partner]? It is needed in yourself, because there are mental conditions, there are those associations that will hinder one’s abilities to serve in other directions. Yes, if there is even the offering to forgive and forget, don’t forgive and say ‘I’ll remember it ~~ I forgive you but I’ll keep on remembering it.’ If you do, you’d better not try it!” 5001-1
Q: What can a man do to enjoy a happier and more harmonious marriage?
A: “Act toward the wife, or his own activities, as he would like her or others to act toward him. Ask no more than you give. Demand no more than you allowed, or allow, to be demanded of you. Marriage, such an association, is a oneness of purpose. Unless there is the oneness of purpose, there can be no harmony. This can be accomplished, not of self alone. For remember, if you made a mighty mess in the experience before this, you suffered for it! Better make it up now or it’ll be ten times worse the next time!” 5001-1
Q: It was more difficult to get a divorce in your day, before the adoption of ‘no-fault’ divorce statutes. Do you think marriage should be forever?
A: “When periods come in the experience of each soul that the associations are unbearable, as to become hindrances to their keeping their own ideal, then to awaken or to attune or to change, or to alter those associations becomes necessary.” 1192-7
Start here next Monday, June 25th……………………
Q: By alter their associations, do you mean separation or divorce?
A: “Each should look into their own consciousnesses. Each should answer that which has been given as from old, ‘Today is set before thee Good and Evil, life and death.’
“These should be then counseled, not in fury, not grudgingly, not in hate nor in condemnation. For what we condemn in another we must meet in our own selves. For God is not mocked, and whatever a soul sows, that it must reap. That our ideals are not of the same is apparent to all; and while man may often look upon the outward appearance, God judges from the heart and from the purpose of every act, every word, every desire.” 1192-7
Q: Do you favor marital counseling when conflicts burden a relationships?
A: “We would counsel together, as to the obligations, the duties, the disturbances, the hopes, the disappointments, the shadows ~~ the brightness that has been should be held rather than the darkness that may bring even greater fear and doubt.
“But in prayerful meditation counsel within self as to the approach: not stern, not just forgiving without a purposefulness, but in love, in simplicity, state, give your own feelings, your own desires, and see if they coordinate or cooperate with the purposes and desires that may be stated by [your partner].
“If these are so far [apart] then that they may not be drawn sufficiently together for a purposeful life, [it is] well that changes be [made]. If the fear is being overshadowed by a determination to put the trust rather in material things, then only in prayer, only in love may there be brought to the consciousness of the entity that great love, that forbearance, that patience that is the basis of a great soul.” 1192-7
Q: Suppose your partner isn’t willing to make changes to improve the relationship?
A: “Condemn not that which is your brother’s mote, or that which is in your brother’s eye, lest there comes that day when you meet your own conscience, your own self. But in love, in patience, reason together. For your spouse’s soul is great in the eyes of his Maker, for his love and his patience and his labors in the experiences in the earth are far, far afield from that seen in the acts and the deeds of today. Yet you may indeed hold, you may indeed at least offer the opportunity and the way for that awakening ~~ and not from without may it come, but from within!
“The best, as has been indicated, is the possible awakening of or in your companion the abilities, the goodness, the nobleness that is indeed there ~~if it will but be aroused to those possibilities, those opportunities that are before him. These make for the greater security. If these fail, then trust in Him only ~~ that in the Giver of all Good and perfect gifts. And in your daily conversation, in your daily acts with your fellow man, show forth by same where your trust, your faith has been put. For to claim or to act in one way and then to think or feel or say unkind things makes all null and void.
“For if you would have love, be lovely. If you would have friends, be friendly. If you would have faith, show it. And as is the law, it will come back to you! This is the greater security for self, for son. For you are indeed God’s children, and He has given and does give His love each day. Then show in your love, in your patience, even in your long-suffering, the appreciations of that love. For He does not fail those that trust in Him. For He has given from the beginning, ‘Be my child and I will be your God’.” 1192-7
Q: People sometimes make major changes ~~ move to another town or take another job ~~ in hopes of improving their relationships. Is this advisable?
A: “Rather, as has been given, it must be an arousing within that will change the surroundings, the environs, the outlook, the desires, the hopes. For it is fear of the present and the future, and the attempts to produce within the very activities that which would justify self in things said and done.” 1192-7
