Four Spirit Teachers | Introduction | Forword | Next Chapter | Previous Chapter
May God be with you, I give you greetings.My friends this evening, a time which is coming close to your festival of Christmas, I wish to speak to you about the various times throughout your year, of celebration. Christianity, a religion purporting to follow the teachings of Jesus, but unfortunately overlaid by many different facets of understanding. Losing because of the deception amongst its followers, the essential message which Jesus gave. Christianity is not alone in this, throughout the earth are many differing beliefs, far too many of them also have been distorted from the original teachings by their followers. Not content to accept the message of simplicity, they have to vie with each other, always seeking to prove that they and they alone have found the way to God. And the various festivals seek to outdo each other until all meaning is lost in a welter of commercialism and secular enjoyment. Now it is good always that you are happy, that you celebrate and enjoy your celebrations. None of the great teachers and messengers of the God Spirit were miserable people, for all knew that laughter is a gift from the God Spirit, that man should be able to enjoy all the gifts which are given of God. That life although serious is to be enjoyed, there are lessons to be learned, but they can be learned just as well through laughter as through sorrow.
The messengers of God came to this earth to give hope, to give light and to give love. They did not teach one way alone, for among you all there are different levels of understanding, different needs, different cultures which respond in different manners to their belief in God. If you examine the roots of all these various cults and beliefs, you will find that beneath the veneer, beneath the ritual, beneath the pomp and circumstance, throughout them all there lies this single thread of truth, that God is Father/Mother to us all. That not one sect alone is favoured of this Spirit of Love, but all mankind whatever the colour, whatever the belief, whatever the creed. To enjoy the festival of Christmas, one should remember its origins. You do not have to believe that Jesus was the only begotten son of God, something which he himself never claimed to be. But what you do have to recognize is that a man was born who devoted his life to giving love, to teaching love, to spreading the words of the God Spirit, to teaching as we try to teach you today, that there is no end to life. That death is nothing, but a shadow, but a veil, that there is truly no separation between this world and the world of the flesh. For those in spirit are your friends, your relatives, your ancestors, those who have gone before you, who have trodden the same road, suffered the same sorrows and known the same joys.
Throughout the history of mankind there have been many such teachers, not perhaps as universally well-known as is Jesus today. But nevertheless, messengers of love, those who have tried to teach man that dissension, anger, death, warfare are not the answers, that God the Creator is not a god of war, is not a god of hatred, not one who demands a sacrifice, but only the sacrifice of your love; demands of you that you shall give to each other as the Creator gives to you.
To return again to this festival of Christmas, it is a time for giving yes, but in this modern time it has become an act of giving material gifts and material gifts alone. The custom of giving stems from the legend of the birth of Jesus, that gifts were brought to him, gifts given by the Magi, some say the three kings. As one who lived at that time, I would say to you that these kings would more likely have, been men who studied the stars, men who were mediums and in touch with the spirit world and knew one was about to come who would be himself a very great psychic medium. But not only a psychic, one who truly was a messenger of the God Spirit, one whose spirituality was beyond question, whose word was founded upon knowledge and who gave because he desired to benefit mankind as a whole. The gifts were symbolic, the gift of gold, the proving of his worth, frankincense, to burn as a symbol of spirituality and myrrh, a symbol of the death of the body and the immortality of the soul within.
Today consider at this time, how you may give of yourselves. It is not the cost that counts, not the value in money of the gifts you give, but the love you can give out. The knowledge which you can share, the teaching which you can give to the young to enable them to withstand the trials of this life upon earth knowing that at all times the God Spirit is there for them. That no man, no woman, no child can ever walk truly alone upon this earth, for there are many on this side of life ever there, ready to give companionship, to give warmth, to give love. You may not be consciously aware of their presence, but they are with you and their love is yours, given freely as you in turn should freely give. Remember there are so many great gifts that even the poorest of the poor have available to spread upon, this earth. You have within you the power of spirit, the power of God, for God lies within you, within every one of you, be you Jew or Gentile, male or female, Pagan or Christian. It matters not, for the spirit within is given by the God Spirit.
To God the Creator all life is equal, all life, not only the life of man, but every created being is part of God. And the message is for all things, for all men, for all nations; you live and you cannot die, for life is continuous, it goes on, you cannot end it, for you have not begun it. The beginning of life, the gift of life comes from the Creator and that Creator is Father and Mother to us an and looks upon this earth as part of the universal family. Christmas, a time for giving, a time for thinking, for taking stock of your own lives, for the affect you have upon others; trying to come to the realization that this earth does not centre around you, but that you are privileged to be part of the whole, to be part of God, part of creation, part of each other. Determined that you shall send forth upon this earth at this Christmastime, true feelings of goodwill, of peace one towards each other. That if there be any rift between you and another, that it shall not be widened by your actions, but that you shall make an effort to heal that rift. Give out love even to those who offend you, as Marcus once said: ‘To love does not necessarily mean to like', so send forth warmth, thoughts of light and thoughts of love, even to those whose manner may not please you.
Let that be your great gift this Christmastime, love towards every living thing upon this earth plane, that they may be uplifted by the light you give and that that light may spread throughout the earth. That there may be indeed peace, not only here but in every corner of this earth, in every nation, that the kingdom of God may at last begin to be made manifest here and now for always. It is a small beginning, but so many times we try to tell you, that if every one of you, if every living being upon this earth could for one moment forget themselves and send out love, then indeed earth would become a brightness, a shining star, instead of carrying the darkness which at present it does. God gives love and love is your inheritance, love is the gift which Jesus, Buddha, Mohamed, Mithra, any teacher you care to name gave to this earth. Remember this, make use of it and let your love light love in another. Let there indeed be a time of peace and goodwill and let your gifts be gifts of understanding.
The Pure in Heart
Question. My question is on the teachings of Jesus. The bible in a number of places mentions the ‘pure in heart' and Jesus is also quoted as speaking of the pure in heart. Could you explain the meaning of this phrase to me and does the lack of purity of heart affect our ability to meditate.
To be pure in heart as he was pure in heart, one must eliminate self. Now Jesus as you will know and I have told you, came to earth, not as a god, for he was not and is not a god, except in the same sense that all living creatures are a part of God. For God is life and spirit, but he was upon this side of life a messenger already and came voluntarily to this earth knowing, not because it was preordained, but realizing that there would be a distinct possibility that he would suffer because of his teaching. He came because there was poverty, tyranny, ignorance and very much fear; to give. Within him there was no thought of self, it was not for instance, how can I develop my power, but Father I have come, I am yours, I am here. I am here to do your will for my brethren upon earth. If the God Spirit had suggested that he lived out his life as a galley slave there would have been no question.
He was here to do the will of the God Spirit, not by compulsion, but because he was and is a being filled with compassion and with love. In spite of this selflessness, this lack of thought for self, he retained his individuality. It is not asked that you lose your personality or that you become automatic, but that to gain this purity of heart you open yourself, you give yourself entirely to the God Spirit. But it must be a voluntary gift, a voluntary sacrifice and you say, fill me with light and give me your understanding in order that I may carry-out your will. If you look further into the teachings of Jesus you will find that always it is, I would such and such, but nevertheless Thy will not my will be done. If you can eliminate completely thoughts of self, you will find this purity of heart, the pure heart which seeks always to give, which seeks service, to be of service to this earth in which you live and to the God who created you.
The Family of Jesus
Question. As you were about in the time of Jesus, could you tell me something about his family, including his sister and brother.
I my brother was alive, I was somewhat younger than Jesus and when he was alive, not one of his followers. I was a very orthodox Jew who later became Christian. I was enabled, privileged to know many of those who had known Jesus. You mentioned his sister and his brother, but there were in fact several children. I presume you mean the sister very close to him. He had a close family relationship, I was told, because there was a warmth and a love between his parents. Now this was not always so at that time, marriages were arranged, the sons were held far above the daughters of a family. But this was not so in the family of Jesus. As you know, when a soul decides to come to this earth, it will choose the environment and the parents best suited to the way of life it needs. Thus it was with Jesus, he chose his parents very wisely. They were people who for that time were enlightened in their thinking, they followed the Jewish religion truly, but they did not hold one child above the other. There was a great expansion of love for each and every member of their family. The sister who followed Jesus, who was born after him, travelled very much with him, but much in the background, she did not desire to be forward in the limelight. His teaching she carried within her and in the early days of Christianity, after his death, she did much to lighten the load of women folk within the Christian movement.
His brother or brothers rather, tended at first rather to ridicule, they felt him to be studious to a ridiculous degree. He was of course the older brother and as such was expected to be obeyed. But Jesus never enforced, he always requested would you, never do this and as the family grew older there became a very close bond of love between them all. Jesus was the only one to fall foul of authority, the others it seems lived out their lives quite naturally, but some of them have come back again to earth as many of us do and found ways of giving out what they learned from him in that incarnation. Jesus although in many ways strong, was still a vulnerable being and needed this love and support from those around him. His greatest agony was not, knowing the kind of death that he would receive, but the pain of being betrayed by one he loved and trusted as a brother. Betrayal is the worst kind of hurt that one being can inflict on another. Throughout this time he knew, felt the love which came from his parents and from every member of his family and even as he was executed his concern was for those who loved him.
Fact or Fiction
Question. How much of the bible is an actual record of what took place. Obviously a lot of it is not authentic and presumably a lot is missing. How much of it can we consider as an historical document.
It is not entirely an historical document. In both the old and the new testament there are facts there, records of events which occurred, but there is much embroidery as any thinking person must realize. And as far as the new testament is concerned, there are sayings of Jesus which are true, but many of them have been mistranslated, or shall we say shaped according to the win, not of Jesus, but of the priests who formed the church. The church, with a capital C has been one of the worst things that could have happened to Jesus. You see, at that time even as now there were many religions and much of the ritual which has attached to Christianity has been borrowed from the Pagans beliefs. The anointing, this with the Eucharist have been taken from the very old Pagan ritual of slaying, sometimes human, sometimes animal creatures and consuming the body and the blood, believing that the qualities of that being would be transferred to those who consumed. This, not the last supper, is the origin of what today is called holy communion. So far as I know, Jesus never spoke of eating his body or drinking his blood.
But you see, the Christians could not be outdone in pageantry by other religions. They tried to convert, but if you try and look at it, what Jesus taught was very plain and very simple. He taught men to love God, to love each other, to serve each other. He told that death did not exist, for the spirit within could never die, which is what we tell you and try to prove to you today. He proved it by passing through the gate of death and visibly returning. He proved it through his own mediumship, through his clairvoyance, through his healing, through the direct voice which came to him; so many ways. But for his followers this was not sufficient, the other religions had festivals. That he came as a messenger carried not sufficient glory. So they invented instead of a kind and loving family which he had, a virgin mother and God, not an earthly father; he was God, God incarnate. Jesus never claimed this, Jesus was content to be himself. All this has been added to what he taught.
Read the gospels by all means, but do not accept that which is not logical. So much of it is symbolic; the walking on water. Jesus was able to project images of himself as indeed there are still wise men today who are quite capable of doing this. The loaves and the fishes, again symbolic. An attempt to show that by sharing, sharing knowledge, sharing understanding, there can be made enough to feed the minds of all men. Too much has been taken literally, there have been so many translations throughout the ages, so many pieces have been added and so much lost. Unfortunately these scripts, these scrolls have been edited, as I have said, not to suit Jesus but to suit the Christians.
Epilogue
My friends, it is always a pleasure to be with you, to speak with you. We love to see the light which you give. We enjoy answering your questions in the hope that they will enlarge your perception, not only your own question, but those of others also. And now if you will bear with me, I will offer a prayer to the God, Spirit.
O Spirit of Life and of Love, let this time, this celebration time, be for these Thy children, a time of light, of joy and of peace. May those who dwell in darkness come once more into the light, may their hearts be warmed at the fire of Thy help. May they be enriched by a greater knowledge and a greater understanding. And may the love which Jesus the man gave to this earth be recognized for what it was, a jewel of light, a pearl of very great price, that is not limited to those who call themselves Christians, but is there for all mankind. May the light of knowledge which he lived spread in truth across this earth plane, that men may come into a truer understanding of the purpose of life and the meaning of love. Father teach each one to appreciate Thy gifts and Thy blessings, that they walk with Thee and talk with Thee as friend, as father, as brother.
May the light of God go with you, may peace be in your hearts and tranquillity within your souls and may Christmas be not one day a year, but there to warm you throughout your daily lives.
May God be with you all and bless you. Good night.
Four Spirit Teachers | Introduction | Forword | Next Chapter | Previous Chapter