THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM. Joseph Benner
by what is contained in these lessons. To that end we suggest a careful study of “The Impersonal Life,” for the consciousness from which its words were written is His Consciousness, which is also in you—is the Light which lighteth you, and from which consciousness each one of you may speak and teach your own self.
As a part of our work we purpose to bring out the inner meaning of certain teachings already given. All must admit that enough teachings have been given and are available to all who are ready for them. Comparatively few, however, are able to get more than an intellectual understanding of them as yet. It is only by opening up the inner meaning to the mind that the Spirit within is quickened.
All earnest ones, as they grow and unfold spiritually, through study and meditation, will receive guidance and instruction from their Higher Self in symbolic dreams and visions. They should keep a diary of such, writing down every spiritual experience, as they will prove of great value to the one receiving them when correctly interpreted. They will, in fact, aid in determining the stage on The Path of the soul to whom they are given. Assistance in the interpretation of such experiences will be gladly given on request.
THE PLAN
This being an Inner Work, no outer organization is necessary. As individuals come into the enlightenment that awaits, they will naturally enter into the realization of who they are and of what they are a part. That realization will show them that they are in very fact disciples of the Master, and that Master is even Christ, the Higher Self of them and of their brothers, and they will know that they are an integral part of the GREAT BROTHERHOOD of the Spirit of which He is the Supreme Head and Life. This finding and knowing the real Brotherhood of the Spirit that exists within and back of the personalities of their fellows is finding the Christ in His Kingdom, and this realization will prove to be a Haven of Refuge in which, while abiding in it, no outer force or circumstance can reach or affect them. Only when in this Haven can one know and be sure of the Master’s Voice and can be led, taught, guarded and cared for by Him when necessary.
Our part is to help quicken all truly earnest ones into finding and entering this Haven of Refuge—the actual consciousness of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and to enlist them in His Service. This will link and bind them in Spirit, making them one in Christ. The only outer linking will be after the inner pattern. Wherever possible, Aspirants will form naturally into Groups for meditation and service. Each Group will thus be a Chalice serving as a cup or reservoir into which will be poured all the Love and Wisdom of the Master and of THE GREAT BROTHERHOOD, and which will flow—as water flows through a faucet turned on—to each Aspirant for use in Service as they consciously connect up with THE BROTHERHOOD of which they are a part.
The quickening of our younger brothers is our sole purpose in this book, and the carrying of the Light of the Christ to all seekers wandering in the darkness of separation is our chief endeavor. But let none of us forget that we of ourselves can do nothing. Only as we give ourselves over wholly to the Father’s will, being concerned only that we are letting Him lead and speak through us, permitting no thoughts to enter our minds that are not His thoughts, can we do His work as He intends it to be done.
Many have been expecting and longing to be given some real work, not realizing they have already been given it in the past; but because it was not something definite in the way of healing or helping others, and was instead a work of preparation, a learning to discipline and control the mind and the emotions so as to enable the Aspirant to enter the desire and mental planes of consciousness as master of self when necessary to go thence, they think they have accomplished nothing, and long for tasks for which they are not yet fitted.
It is all a part of the injunction, “Seek ye first the Kingdom, etc,” for you cannot find the Kingdom until you are able to control those forces of your emotional and mental nature that heretofore had their way with you almost unopposed. If and when you are able to command, “Be Still, and know I AM,” and be instantly obeyed on all planes of consciousness, then and then only will you be able to do the work that will be given you; for then only can you work in the Consciousness and with the Power of Christ—the Master within.
There is a real work—much real work to do, and never doubt, when you have once proven your ability to do it and to subject your self and your whole nature to the Master’s will, and when they have become an impersonal instrument which He can use, you will be given so much to do that there will be little time left to think of self and its concerns.
DEFINITE WORK
Daily meditation is the first and most important requisite of the Aspirant. No real progress can be made without it. To help prepare and start you on the right kind of meditation, study carefully and use often the Meditation No. 1, to be found in the appendix. In it is condensed the essence of Jesus’ teaching, and there is nothing that will help you more to find the Loving Christ and His Kingdom within than its illuminating words.
This Work has in it no place for laggards or for the mentally lazy. It is only for those who are imbued with an unquenchable determination and a fiery zeal to find the Master and the Kingdom.
Many think they can contrive no regular time to meditate, but in bed after retiring or early in the morning are times always available if really sought, and are often most satisfactory. There will be no danger of falling asleep when the mind learns to obey you. Again, while doing simple tasks around the home or in the office or factory, real meditation can be done and most profitably. It is really possible at such times, as you will find, to “be in the world but not of it,” for you can go in thought wherever you will, while your hands are busy at their regular work.
Instead of worrying about it, simply put it up to the Higher Self, stating that you earnestly desire the time and opportunity to do regular meditating, and if He sees you really mean it and want it, you will find it will be arranged for you in a most natural manner—if you leave it in His hands and trust it all to Him.
Therefore rouse yourself to action. The Kingdom is not for those who still crave for or are held by the allurements of the world, the flesh, or the devil—self. The time has come when all such must be left behind, if you would lift your heart and mind to Christ. When you have found—earned—Him, then you will join with the other Brothers of the Kingdom in helping those who will be sent to you also to find Him and THE BROTHERHOOD, of which you will then be a conscious integral part.
While meditating, an effort should always be made in the I AM consciousness to command the forces of the mind, the emotions, and the physical senses to be still and know that You—the God of you—speaks and must be obeyed.
Eventually, after persistent effort, you will realize that you are that Consciousness, and that these forces are listening to and obeying you. Then, in that Consciousness, you can continue speaking as in “The Impersonal Life,” and your mind will receive and accept what comes as from the God of you, and you will know Who you are.
CHAPTER 2
“THE LIGHT WHICH LIGHTETH EVERY MAN”
A THOUGHT FOR CHRISTMAS
IT IS fitting at the Christmas season, when all Christians are celebrating the birth of the Christ, that those traveling the journey to the Kingdom 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