ADVENT PATH 

TO OURSELVES

4.12.2025

Your GOD within you is the SUBSTANCE 

that will give you all things, 

because He is ALL THINGS.

Ján Master

***

STATEMENTS OF TRUTH FOR HEALTH AND GENERAL FREEDOM

First Day :— I AM every whit whole.

Second Day:—I AM bodily free in every part.

Third Day:—I AM in a state of absolute health.

Fourth Day :— I enjoy the knowledge of being whole.

Fifth Day:—I AM thankful every moment of the day.

Sixth Day:—I rejoice in the oneness of all things.

Seventh Day:—I AM thankful that I realize that there is nothing to con­tend with.

Dear friend, we are one in Spirit and Truth—our communion is divine,

There is one spirit and one body. There is but one Source and one Cause

acting in me, which is the one ever-present Creator, and it is working all things together for good now. I am not subject to or dependent on the past. To­ day is the day of salvation. I have and am exercising absolute dominion over all conditions.

You will understand my words and know that I am whole. I cannot postpone, for there is no postponement with God. I cannot be weary with hoping for results. I am able to accomplish every undertaking without labor, even to doing the Father's work. My existence bears witness of Truth.

Malidna Elliott Cramer

***

SOUL COMMUNION

"DEAR FATHER, how may I always know what is Truth, when I read or hear others speak, so that I may not be deceived or be wrongly taught or guided."

"Dear One, you need but to keep the mind stilled with its concern and turned within to Me, listening carefully to My quiet Voice and to what I will always say about what is being read or heard. By training yourself to keep the right side of your mind (if a man, or the left side, if a woman) as it were, listening for and noting what thus comes from without, and the left (or other) side turned to and listening to Me within, and I will always from within point out what I want you to accept or reject. And if you listen carefully I will then further explain or amplify what is read or said, so that you may know all that I intend when causing you to pay attention to any particular statement that arouses interest or concern.

"Try to realise that I Am always within watching over and directing all that you do, inspiring in you a desire to hear a certain speaker, to receive certain teachings, or to read a certain book, or causing you to enter upon a certain experience, no matter what it is, for purposes of My own—but always for your guidance and instruction. And whether you are aware of it or not, I Am always teaching you during such experience, which causes you to react as you do; for that which impels or urges you to do or say anything is My Voice, but speaking so silently that you know it not as a voice, but as the most common thing in your life.

"For from the very beginning, in earliest childhood, I have been thus leading you through experience after experience, teaching you everything you have learned; and I but used parents, brothers and sisters, playmates, friends, employers, teachers and preachers in the outer as the means, through what they said or did, to impress upon your mind's consciousness what I wanted you to learn and do.

"You must admit that from childhood you have been led by something within to do everything that you have done; that of yourself often you did not want to do as you felt urged to do, and you rebelled—but to no effect, you had to do it; and were either sorry or glad, according to whether or not you got the lesson from the experience at the time. That 'something' was I compelling you, and endeavoring to teach you what I wanted you to learn; and from the experience, whether what you did was 'good' or 'bad,' as the world judges it, more or less good resulted, in that I was able to impress more or less of the truth the experience was intended to teach.

"I know that you may not accept that I Am responsible for and cause you to do all that you do—especially if it be 'evil,' but if evil tendencies are still in you, and you still respond to them, only by causing you to respond can I thus bring forcibly to your attention the results of such acts, with their penalty of inharmony and unhappiness; and only then can I get you to listen to My quiet Voice speaking within when I point out the lesson of such experience.

"Yes, I Am always within, and I always know best what experience you need, for I alone know your weaknesses and shortcomings and what is necessary to round out your character and perfect you for My highest expression in this life. So you may know that every experience, every teacher, teaching or book that I attract to you is brought to teach you some lesson you need to learn—but which lesson may be the exact opposite of what the book, teacher or teaching tries to teach."

"Do you require, dear Father, that I accept everything that the Inner Voice says in simple faith? And how may I know when it is YOUR Voice speaking and not the voice of self? I require you to accept nothing, especially when you are not sure it is I speaking. For the very fact of your uncertainty proves that you do not hear clearly when I speak. When I speak with authority you obey unhesitatingly—even though afterward you may think that you made a mistake. Yet I led you through that seeming mistake purposely in order to teach you what was not the right way; for without that experience you could not hear and understand My word when pointing you the right way. When I speak quietly and without authority, and you do not clearly hear, it is then that you do not get My meaning, and which causes you to doubt, hesitate and hear.

As for always knowing when I speak and when it is the voice of self that speaks, this you must first learn—to know all aboutself and its ways. That is why you have a mind and a body that are seemingly far from perfect—they are what your mind believes is so. What your mind believes yourself and your body to be is what is now manifesting. Therefore, it is necessary for Me to perfect your mind in understanding, so that it may know Me as I Am, and let Me teach it consciously the truth of all things; and that I am doing, by the training and discipline I am giving it in all kinds of life experiences, permitting it to commit sins and make the mistakes it does; until it has learned to know with surety when I speak, and when I show it what is not the right way in all conditions of life, and will just naturally then do and go only the right way.

In this way only is discrimination gained, by perfecting the mind and all its faculties so that it will be a selfless and obedient servant for My use. Only then will it leam perfectly to know My Voice and not be deceived by the voice of self. For discrimination is the faculty of knowing and obeying unerringly My Voice when it speaks; and no one who does not possess a perfectly developed mind and trained intellect ever attains it.

"Dear Father, may I ask just who You are? I know you are my real Self—but what is that Self? Is it my Soul, my Christ Self, or my Father in Heaven?"

"Listen, My Son, and know the truth. I who now speak, and who have spoken, taught and guided you from earliest childhood, Am your real and only Self. I Am the soul of you, the Father of your human mind, in that I have extended My Consciousness and Life in you in this life, even as I extended it in many bodies in many lives in ages past; and you in this life are as much of God's or the One Consciousness as I have unfolded, and as much spiritual understanding as I have gained from all past experience and Am able to convey to your brain-mind, and which I Am giving it as fast as I can develop and prepare it to receive it.

"But even as I Am equipping your brain-mind for My use in the outer world, that you under My guidance may master all the forces of your lower nature; so is My Father in Heaven equipping Me as a soul, as fast as He can unfold in Me the fullness of His Love and His Wisdom, so that He can express His Christ Nature in Me and I in turn in you, even as He is expressing it in Heaven.

"But try to realize that as God is All in all, He is All that I and you are, and only when He has grown us to where the Christ, His Holy Spirit, shining in the midst of Me, can come forth and illumine perfectly My Consciousness as a soul and yours as a mind, can they be wholly One with His Consciousness, and thereby wide open channels through which He can express perfectly His Christ Nature. And then only can you know with Me that I Am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

"For then we will be truly One, will dwell in and BE His Consciousness, will know all things, will be all Love, and will have all Power."

AUTHOR - JOSEPH S. BENNER

EDITOR - JÁN MASTER

3.12.2025

PSALM 23

I AM your shepherd; do not fear the illusion of want. I make you lie down in green pastures, I lead you beside still waters. I restore your soul, I lead you in paths of righteousness for my name's sake. Yes, even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, fear no evil, for I AM with you; I AM your Support and Comforter. I prepare abundance for you in the presence of your enemies, I enlighten your mind with Truth; I let your heart overflow with My Love. Goodness and Mercy accompany you all the days of your life, as you abide with Me in the Consciousness of My FATHER forever.

Amen.

***

I SHALL NEVER WANT

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." Psalms 23:1

The 23rd Psalm is the best known of all the Psalms—we might say that it is the keynote to the message of the Bible.

It tells man he shall never want, when he has the realization (or conviction) that the Lord is his Shepherd: the realization that Infinite Intelligence supplies every need.

If you get this conviction today, every need will be met now and forever-more; you will draw, instantly, from the abundance of the spheres, whatever you desire or require; for what you need is already on your pathway.

A woman suddenly had the realization: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall never want." She seemed to be touching her invisible supply, she felt outside of Time and Space, she no longer relied on the external.

Her first demonstration was a small, but necessary one. She needed at once, some large paperclips, but had no time to go to a stationer's to buy them.

In looking for something else, she opened a little-used chest, and in it, she found, about a dozen large paper-clips. She felt that the law was working, and gave thanks; then some needed money appeared, things large and small came her way.

Since then she has relied upon the statement: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall never want."

We used to hear people say, "I do not think it is right to ask God for money or things."

They did not realize that this Creative Principle is within each man.—(The Father within). True Spirituality is proving God as your supply, daily—not just once in a while.

Jesus Christ knew this law, for whatever He desired or required, appeared immediately on His pathway, the loaves and fishes and money from the fish's mouth.

With this realization, all hoarding and saving would disappear.

This does not mean that you should not have a big bank account, and investments, but it does mean that you should not depend upon them, for if you had a loss in one direction, you would have a gain in another.

Always "your barns would be full and your cup flow over."

Now, how does one make this contact with his invisible supply? By taking a statement of Truth which clicks and gives him realization.

This is not open to a chosen few, "Whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be delivered." The Lord is your shepherd and my shepherd and everybody's shepherd.

God is the Supreme Intelligence devoted to supplying man's need; the explanation is, that man is God in action. Jesus Christ said, "I and the Father are one."

We might paraphrase the statement and say, I and the great Creative Principle of the Universe, are one and the same.

Man only lacks when he loses his contact with this Creative Principle, which must be fully trusted, for it is Pure Intelligence and knows the way of Fulfillment.

The reasoning mind and personal will, cause a short circuit.

"Trust in me and I will bring it to pass."

Most people are filled with apprehension and dread, when there is nothing to cling to on the external.

A woman came to a practitioner and said, "I'm only a poor little woman with no one but God back of me." The practitioner said,—"You need not worry if you have God back of you," for "all that the Kingdom affords is yours."

A woman called me on the phone and said, almost in tears, "I'm so worried about the business situation." I replied, "The situation with God remains the same: The Lord is your Shepherd: you shall not want." "If one door shuts, another door opens."

A very successful business-man who conducts all affairs on Truth methods, said, "The trouble with most people is, that they get to relying on certain conditions. They haven't enough imagination to go forward—to open new channels."

Nearly every big success is built upon a failure.

I was told that Edgar Bergen lost his part in a Broadway production because they did not want any more dummies. Noel Coward got him on the Rudy Vallee radio hour, and he and Charlie McCarthy became famous over night.

I told the story, at one of my meetings, of a man who was so poor and discouraged, that he ended it all. A few days later, came a letter notifying him that he had inherited a large fortune.

A man in the meeting said: "That means, when you want to be dead, your demonstration is three days off." Yes, do not be fooled by the darkness before the dawn.

It is a good thing to see the dawn once in a while, to convince you how unfailing it is. It reminds me of an experience of several years ago.

I had a friend who lived in Brooklyn near Prospect Park. She liked to do unusual things and said to me: "Come to visit me and we'll get up early and see the sun-rise in Prospect Park."

At first I refused, and then came the hunch that it would be an interesting experience.

It was in the summer. We got up about four o'clock,—my friend, her little daughter and myself. It was pitch dark, but we sallied forth down the street, to the entrance of the Park.

Some policemen eyed us curiously, but my friend said to them with dignity, "We are going to see the sun-rise;" and it seemed to satisfy them. We walked through the Park to the beautiful rose-garden.

A faint pink streak appeared in the East, then suddenly, we heard a most tremendous uproar. We were near the Zoo and all the animals were greeting the dawn.

The lions and tigers roared, the hyenas laughed, there were shrieks and howls: every animal had something to say, for a new day was at hand.

It was indeed, most inspiring. The light slanted through the trees; everything had an unearthly aspect.

Then, as it grew lighter, our shadows were in front instead of behind us. The dawn of a new day!

This is the wonderful dawn which comes to each one of us, after some darkness.

Your dawn of Success, Happiness and Abundance is sure to come.

Every day is important, for we read in the wonderful Sanskrit poem, "Look well, therefore, to this day, such is the salutation of the dawn."

This day the Lord is your Shepherd! This day, you shall not want; as you and this great Creative Principle are one and the same.

The 34th Psalm is also a Psalm of security. It starts with a blessing for the Lord, "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

"They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." Seeking the Lord means that man must make the first move. "Draw near to me and I will draw near to thee, saith the Lord."

You seek the Lord by making your affirmation, expecting and preparing for your good.

If you ask for success and prepare for failure, you will receive the thing you have prepared for.

I tell in my book, "The Game of Life and How to Play It," of a man who asked me to speak the word that all his debts be wiped out.

After the treatment, he said, "Now I'm thinking what I'll say to the people when I haven't the money to pay them." A treatment won't help you if you haven't faith in it, for faith and expectancy impress the subconscious mind with the picture of fulfillment.

In the 23rd Psalm we read, "He restoreth my soul." Your soul is your subconscious mind and must be re-stored with the right ideas.

Whatever you feel deeply is impressed upon the subconscious, and manifests in your affairs.

If you are convinced that you are a failure, you will be a failure, until you impress the subconscious with the conviction you are a success.

This is done by making an affirmation which "clicks."

A friend in a meeting said that I had given her the statement as she was leaving the room—"The ground you are on is harvest ground." Things with her, had been very dull; but this statement clicked.

"Harvest Ground, Harvest Ground," rang in her ears. Good things immediately commenced to come to her, and happy surprises.

The reason it is necessary to make an affirmation is because repetition impresses the subconscious. You cannot control your thoughts at first, but you can control your words, and Jesus Christ said:"By your words you are justified and by your words you are condemned."

Every day, choose the right words; the right thoughts!

The Imaging faculty is the creative faculty: "Out of the imaginations of the heart come the issues of life."

We have all a bank we can draw upon, the Bank of the Imagination.

Let us imagine ourselves rich, well and happy: imagine all our affairs in divine order; but leave the way of fulfillment to Infinite Intelligence.

"He has weapons ye know not of," He has channels which will surprise you.

One of the most important passages in the 23rd Psalm is—"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies."

This means that even in the presence of the enemy situation, brought on by your doubts, fears or resentments, a way out is prepared for you.

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall never want.

AUTHOR -FLORENCE SCOVEL SHINN

EDITOR - JÁN MASTER

2.12.2025

A CHRISTMAS REVELATION

ON THE 25th of December the world celebrates Christmas as the birth of Jesus the Christ on earth, our Father God's first fruit of His Kingdom, His Word made manifest.

The story of His birth, the Three Wise Men of the East, His flight into Egypt, and the mystery of His life from the age of twelve to thirty when He was baptised by'John the Baptist in he river Jordan and attained the power to do the Will of His father in Heaven—all must be but symbols which cover up somehing beautiful and glorious that is awaiting to express in each of us, if we can only know what it is. So in my hour of meditaion and communion came this message and revelation:

My child, be still and listen while I tell you the true meaning if Christmas and how it applies to you and to every man on earth, and how the birth, life, teaching, trials, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus are but symbolic outpicturings of what My birth and life in you will mean and accomplish—when you have grown able to wait upon and follow Me wherever I lead.

You think it is the birth of Jesus of Nazareth the world celebrates this day, because you have accepted this theory from your parents and from the world, and you have been satisfied with such theory until now, when in your earnest desire to know its true meaning you have become ready for Me to tell you of My birth in you.

Who am I?

I AM the Christ whom Jesus promised would come as a Comforter to every one who loved Him and followed His Teachings.

I was born in the stable of your heart, where all the animal forces of your nature come for shelter, and in the manger where they feed. I was born of a virgin, meaning that I came to birth in a consciousness purified by selfless Love, which is God's Holy Spirit come into expression.

The Three Wise Men of the East, Love, Wisdom and Power, saw My plight in this stable and came with the treasures of Their Consciousness and gave of them joyously to Me, that I might in your need give their aid to enable you to resist the world of men's creation, which They knew would seek to destroy Me.

Yes, dear child, I AM growing up in you and AM feeding and quickening every faculty of your mind with the truths taught (the True Bread of Life), so that you may become strong and capable of always obeying Me in your hour of need. And as I AM with you always, I AM inspiring all that you do and enabling you to accomplish it—as you learn to wait upon and look to Me for your help and strength.

So, My child, at this season especially AM I here, and havin heard you call I AM come. Be still and Know I AM ever in you—I AM you. Commune with Me that you may become fully acquainted with Me and may know Me as I AM, even as have known you from the beginning. Let not your heart to troubled, I AM always within, waiting to teach you and lead you into all Truth, yea, even unto Christhood, which is your Divin Birthright from God our Father.

I AM your rod and staff; lean on Me. I will be the manna when you come to the desert places of life. I will quench you thirst and be to you the True Bread of Life—no matter what you need—when you know Me as I AM.

Be still, My Son, and know that God is our Father within, in Whose Consciousness we all live, move and have our being. By still, and Know that I, the Christ, AM come. Abide in Me, and let this My Word abide in you, and I will lead you into All Truth even into the fullness of our Father's Consciousness, where yo may know Him even as I know Him.

Let this Christmas then be consecrated to Me, the Christ of you. Let Me have complete possession, so that all who come nead may feel Me, acknowledge Me, and turn and worship Me within their own hearts.

From the book Kingdom of Heaven by Joseph S. Benner

editor -Ján Master

1.12.2025

THE APPROACH OF CHRISTMAS.

What does Christmas mean to each of us? Let us consider this question. To some it means a happy recurring occasion of enjoyment, feasting, the exchange of gifts—a brief halt in the long term of winter. To others it is the celebration of the birth of the Holy Babe venerated by all Christians, no matter what their creed. To others it is a time of wistful longing for the coming to the moment of the birth within themselves of the Christ-Child. While to some others—blessed ones indeed—it is a season of rejoicing marking the already awakened and conscious Christ Presence within their own hearts.

Wherever we may find ourselves on this Spiritual journey to our own Bethlehem, let us begin to prepare for the Event with definite expectancy.

It has been truly said that the Bible may be read from several standpoints. Let us trace some of the features of the Gospel stories of the birth of Jesus, applying them to His coming anew to us.

It is noteworthy that Mary, His Mother, pure and dedicated maiden though she was, had to remove from her customary habitation and go to another heightened state of consciousness before Her own Son could be born to conscious life. She moved to Bethlehem, or the House of Bread. She made that journey on a lowly ass, a creature symbolizing humility, patience and dedication as seen in the cross on his back. Once in Bethlehem, she sought shelter in one of the cave-rooms hollowed out in the rocks, prepared for humble pilgrims for whom there was no place in the Inn. Withdrawn from the come and go of the world—hid in a secret place—watched over by dedicated hearts, and by humble creatures—the Christ Child was born.

Let us learn from this story how to prepare for this Great Event. Let us rise from our customary mental state to one of definite expectancy. The seed of the Divine Child has lain within us for long ages waiting the ripening and fruitage. We have all longed for this birth.

Let us realize that by cooperation with Divine Eternal Law we can experience this conscious birth within. We can provide the atmosphere—the spiritual and mental location in which it may take place. In other words, our dedication, our humility, or the dethronement of the lesser self, in its various phases, and our ardent longing will prepare the place of birth.

And these preparatory qualities are vitally necessary. Just as the vitality within the seed of a plant requires warmth, moisture and darkness to spring into quickened life, so the Divine Seed requires similar conditions. Let us prepare to keep the Feast, and let us do it day by day dedicating sufficient time to prayer, meditation and contemplation. So will the rarer state of pure Spirit illumination be reached, the consequence of which, in due time, brings the quickening of the Christ Child.

If some such preparation for Christmas is definitely and prayer fully considered and put into effect, we shall find that we have entered into and become a part of certain Unseen Powers of the Cosmos. At definite times and seasons These have worked together under the Divine Will to bring onto this earth great embodiments of the Will, Wisdom and Love of God. Such as were culminated and crowned in the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. As in the macrocosm so in the microcosm. The birth of the Christ must sometime come individually to all men, that is the destiny of man. Shall He be born in you this Christmas-tide?

AUTHOR - JOSEPH S. BENNER

EDITOR - JÁN MASTER

30.11.2025

The Way to the Kingdom.

It was very dark and on a great endless field, all the armies of the world, from all periods of world history, from all nations, races, continents, from all ages of humanity, marched together against one enemy. Each soldier had in his heart the image of one common enemy. From that great darkness on the horizon, light slowly appeared. All the armies of the world were preparing for the enemy. Suddenly, a GREAT LIGHT came out, so radiant and beautiful, full of PEACE AND LOVE, it was CHRIST JESUS.

At one moment, in all the hearts of the soldiers, this LIGHT illuminated their minds and they realized that their enemy was CHRIST (LOVE), and that all along they had been fighting against themselves, against their own LIGHT in their hearts.

Thus, all the armies of the world dissolved in the LIGHT OF LOVE. So, everything that is happening in the world is good. Everything is God's Will, it is enough to see this Truth, to be that Truth. To see with the eyes of God that the human racial mind, fighting against the enemy, but does not know that it is fighting against LOVE, which is God's expression in humanity.

JÁN MASTER

***

"THE LIGHT WHICH LIGHTETH EVERY MAN".

IT IS fitting at the Christmas season, when all Christians are celebrating the birth of the Christ, that those traveling the journey to theKingdom should strive to realize fully what that birth has meant and now means to each one who experienced it.Therefore try to recall that experience in your life—when you first felt the quickening of the Christ-child (Love) in the womb of your heart, when it began to stir actively there, not only making you very conscious of its presence, but compelling you to cherish, serve, and worship it; until finally, when undergoing some deep, soul-stirring experience, the day of delivery came, and there was born from within a new consciousness—a yearning to love and bless and to help everyone to come into that new world of understanding you had entered, and which now is the all-compelling spirit of your life.You will remember that this experience came when you were shepherding your thoughts during the night period, when all seemed most dark and you were sustained only by the faith born of your long seeking. It was then that a glow of wonderful light flooded your night of waiting, and a song as of angels filled your consciousness. In deepest humility you sought to know the meaning of it all, and you soon found there was cradled in your heart a tender, beautiful, all-compelling love, that from then on filled and possessed you, and gradually grew in power until it influenced and inspired much of your thinking, speech, and actions.Surely at the Christmas season we should remember the birth of the Christ-child, especially now that we know that It is the actual love of our Father- God—His Holy Spirit, growing, thriving, working in our hearts, seeking to merge our whole nature— body, mind and soul—with His Nature, that He may without hindrance live His life in us, do His will in us, and be His Christ-self in us.

Ah, dear ones, let us not only remember, but let us open our hearts wide that He, the Blessed One, may come forth and possess us and do with us as He wills. May we dedicate ourselves wholly to Him, letting His Love be our life, and our bodies and brain minds His perfect means of expression.It is true that some who read may deem the above but words, it having no real meaning for them, the Christ-child not yet having been quickened in their hearts. To such we would say with Jesus,

"Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

Like Nicodemus, they may be masters of Israel and have great occult knowledge of the law and of the inner worlds, but unless they are born of the water of Divine Inspiration and of the spirit of Christ-Love, they can never find and enter the Kingdom.In the preceding chapter, Aspirants were reminded of that point reached on the Path where they had more or less consciously renounced the old life and were quickened into a new consciousness; the Christ-child had been born in their hearts; the Prodigal had started on his return journey to his Father's house; the dedication of the Aspirant to the higher life had been registered and he had become a Disciple on Probation.It was at this point that you actually started out to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Whether you were aware of it or not in your brain consciousness, your soul had unfolded to the stage where it saw its Father's house afar off; and now it no longer can find rest until it reaches home and can abide there forever.Along with the birth of the love-nature there awakens the desire to serve selflessly, and from then on according to the extent that Love is permitted to grow and lead, will the Disciple gradually become aware of a voice within which speaks when-ever it gets the attention of the conscious mind. It will be no audible voice, and there may be no actually heard words, but nevertheless something speaks within and the Disciple will hear and understand.

He will also note that when he heeds and obeys a blessing in some form follows, but when he fails to obey the hints or "leadings" given, failure, trouble and often suffering result. Thus the Disciple gradually learns of his higher and inner nature, and that it is unmistakably related to Love; more and more he finds himself turning within and seeking to know more of this inner self and he strives to let it guide and direct him in all things.As he thus definitely gives his allegiance to Love and to his better self, he is made aware of qualities in his lower nature rising unexpectedly to prominence and displaying elements of selfishness and baseness that surprise and startle him. For the lower self that had held a dominating part so long in his life is not yielding without a battle—in fact it is fighting for its very existence.It is then you begin to realize that the Path upon which you have entered is not an easy one. The fact is, in the conquering of the lower self, you are assuming a task that will test you to the limit of your strength and endurance. But you will gradually discover that from the same source that comes the Voice will also come the strength needed to conquer and to sustain you along the way. Also you will learn that loving and selfless service releases the strength and gives the wisdom to meet every test, for while serving you are enlisted in the Cause of Brotherhood and in such work the Great Brotherhood of the Spirit always supplies all the wisdom and the strength needed to accomplish it.[* Read in connection with the foregoing the first two chapters of "Brotherhood."]For you who are truly seeking the Kingdom, the time has come to hear certain truths, to see if your Higher Self deems you ready to receive and accept these truths and to make them a part of your soul consciousness. If so they will bring to you an illumination of understanding that will quicken your soul, free your mind from what has been holding you back perhaps for many lifetimes, and will con-sequently now permit you speedily to proceed on your journey.But if you are not yet ready to accept these truths it is well, for your Higher Self has certain necessary experiences in store for you, from which He will be enabled later to teach you to accept them and to want to follow us on our way to the Kingdom.

Consider first the real meaning of these words spoken to His Disciples by the Christ of Jesus-

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."Can the Divinity within any man be reached by any but the Christ Way?These words of our Master tell us definitely, No. Many of you who read may have come along the route of Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Spiritualism, and other occult movements, and according to your study and understanding of what they teach you have an intellectual grasp of much knowledge of the constitution of man and of the Universe, of the laws of matter, and of the hidden side of life, which should be a great aid to you in governing your life and actions—up to a certain point. These, movements help man very considerably to know himself and thereby enable him to gain mastery over qualities and elements in his nature whose influence before was not understood. Such knowledge should dispose him to deal more kindly and justly with his fellows who are of like nature. But does that always result in those who have all the knowledge that these movements teach?Those who gave this knowledge to the world through these different movements are said to be Masters of Wisdom, Adepts, Initiates, or at least very learned Teachers. Unquestionably some of them are of vast knowledge and powers, those whohave far outstripped ordinary humanity—Supermen—our elder brothers, judging from what they taught and what they know. It is their due that we honor, revere and be grateful to them for all they have taught us, and we certainly should strive to use the knowledge gained wisely and for the good of all.But who was the real teacher who pointed out in the teachings that which you were to accept and which to pass by? Who helped you to apply the truths in the teaching to the experiences of life through which you were led?

And who guided and chided and cautioned, and always held before your mind's eye the ideal toward which your face has ever been turned? Was there not One within you who did all this, and Who has a purpose for you and a part for you to play—when you are through seeking without for what the world and its teachers have to offer and you are ready to turn within and get fully acquainted with Him, and are willing to wait upon Him and to sit at His feet and to be consciously taught by Him?We say to you who have been "born again," you within whom the Christ has been born—you Disciples on Probation, that One is your Master—even the Christ-Self of you, Who has more knowledge and power than any initiate, adept or master who has not received the anointing of the Holy Spirit—who has not yet been Christed. For such are but "masters of Israel," like Nicodemus. They are great souls, even as John the Baptist was great, of whom Jesus said:"This is he of whom it was written, behold I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. "For I say unto you, among them that are born of woman, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist; but he that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he."—Matthew 11:10-11.Just as John the Baptist lost his head, so may even one of great knowledge lose his head (men- tally) unless he has wedded wisdom with Love.Such Masters who inaugurate new movements for the enlightenment of men in our modern days are as the Prophets of Old Testament times. They may be considered as the lower part of the pyramid. They represent the great body of human knowledge, or the Law, and "The Law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." Jesus Christ is the capstone of the pyramid. But it often happens that He is"the stone that the Builders rejected, the same that is become the head of the corner."The capstone itself being a perfect pyramid, Christ thus is the Apex, the Zenith, the Essence of all that lies beneath.

It shall be even as Jesus said:

"He that falleth on this stone (stumbles against this truth—fails to see Christ, not merely as the Master and Teacher, but as the God-Self of every man) shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall (or who shall fail to accept or admit this truth) it will scatter as dust."

For Christ is the actual life of humanity —The Light that lighteth every man, consequently they who repudiate Him, and consider and teach that He is only a Master among other Masters, remain in darkness and wander far from their Father's house.Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, and other similar movements brought to the modern world the vision of Brotherhood. And for what purpose? It is claimed, to awaken men to their real mission on earth and to prepare them for HIM WHO IS TO COME,—for the Christ who promised to come and redeem His own.But can you not see that not until He has been born in our hearts, has grown and thrived, and become matured in our lives, can He appear to our consciousness and can make Himself known as He Is—"The Light which shineth in the darkness"of our human minds, and which He will illumine so we may know that our minds are really His Mind, are God's Mind shining within us.Ah, dear comrades on this journey through life, all the vast past—all the many eons through which humanity has struggled—has been an evolving, a growing, a preparing and fitting of us for this very day and age we have now reached. The Christian Era was the final stage of our training. God, our Father, Who is responsible for all, Himself sent His Holy Spirit, the Christ, down to earth, taking on a human form, purposely to prepare us by direct teaching and example what was necessary for us to find our way back to His Home and to enter again into His Eternal Kingdom. Therefore Christ--Christ within us is our highest Teacher, and the sole Authority for every man—for He is

"the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."

There is much said in the different occult teachings of two paths to God—the path of the occultist, and the path of the mystic, or the way of the head and the way of the heart. Yet all great teachers say that the way to Divinity is the way of Love; and surely the way of Love is the way of the heart. But the Love that leads to God is not the intellectual concept of love that occultists speak of, but is God's Love in the heart—the Christ Consciousness there—which cannot be simulated, and which all those in whom Christ has been born and lives know and show forth, and they can never be deceived by a substitute.Gautama brought the teaching of Divine Wisdom and Compassion to develop and prepare the mind of humanity to comprehend God's Love. And even as Gautama came first and brought Wisdom, so Jesus followed and brought us Divine Love to join with Wisdom and give us Understanding, thus completing the Divine Union in Christ of the twain that in the beginning were originally one.We might say Gautama was the manifested Mind of God and Jesus the manifested Heart of God, God having evolved the mind of humanity to the point where it was now ready to know Him in the fullness of His Nature; so He showed Himself to us in the person of Jesus—His Beloved Son—the Fruit of His Divine Love—the First-fruit of them that slept.If you are able to receive it, you will soon have done with all intellectual teachings, and you will be interested only in those brought to you by the Loving One within, that He may point out to you the laws and truths He wishes you to know, thus recalling to you the knowledge gained in the long, long past. For if you can realize it, it was through many past, long forgotten lives, extending over vast eons of time, that He brought you to your present state of unfoldment; and therefore in your soul there is much knowledge at present hidden from your brain mind that soon He will uncover to you.But before that can be, a far more important matter confronts you—the finding and knowing of Him, your True Self—the Christ within you, so that He can reveal to you these and all things, when you need to know them. Throughout this eon He has spoken from the heart of every awakened soul--

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all things else will be added unto you." Christ has been the Great Mystery of all ages. Once you comprehend Him you can know All, for all mysteries lead to Him, and He is the solution of all. All the Prophets of old foretold His Coming. The story of Moses and the children of Israel; the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,—all are parables telling of Him—the Lord Christ, to prepare us for His Coming. Likewise the ancient religions of India, Egypt, Chaldea, and Atlantis ever held forth to the humanity of their days the sacred Mystery of the One we know as Christ. Verily He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End of all things. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God."All things were made by Him (the Word); and without Him was not anything made that was made."In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not." 

Read and meditate on the above and with it the remainder of the first chapter of John, especially up to the 19th verse. 

AUTHOR - JOSEPH S. BENNER

EDITOR - JÁN MASTER