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50. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.

51. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

If a man keep his sayings-that is, if he lives in harmony with the Divine Law-he cannot see death; for he finds the Father before the body leaves him, and he passes on to the Father, a Conscious Individualized Soul.

52. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets;

and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.

53. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?

54. Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God;

55. Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

56. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Jesus does not refer to the body of Abraham; for that had long since passed to the elements whence it had come. He spoke of the Soul of Abraham, the real Abraham. In life, Abraham had lived in harmony with the Divine Law and therefore he rejoiced in seeing the day of the Christ; for he had become the Christ and had found the Father which is in heaven and had prophesied of the coming of the great teacher. The Jews knew only of the physical Abraham and nothing of him that still lived.

57. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham.

58. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

The Christ has been always. When God created the world, he also created the souls that were to be, and the Spirit of Christ was with Him.

Ever since the time of eternity in the past, since God moved upon the face of the waters, there have been Souls; or Children of God; and the Spirit of the Christ hovered ever over these, as the mother bird over its young, so that it might be ready to envelop the Soul which had reached Consciousness.

59. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

LESSON TWENTY-NINE

Man is a world in himself.

When the Soul has become Con

scious, it is the light of his world.

St. John 9:1-17.

1. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

2. And the disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

3. Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

In the answer given by Jesus to his disciples, we have the clearest exposition of the Law of Karma that is given in the Scriptures. Jesus said neither the man nor his parents had sinned. This being true, and man reaping only according to his sowing, why should this man suffer? The soul in that man lived long before it occupied the body that he now inhabited, which was blind. In a former life, the soul was clothed by the flesh of one who had grievously sinned, but who had not destroyed himself through sin.

There are grades of evil doing, as there are grades in all

things. One man who may have sinned much, eventually awakens to the truth and strives to do right. Before he has fully succeeded in finding the kingdom of heaven, however, the earth form passes away, freeing the soul, yet preventing it from further development in that life.

In the case under consideration, the soul was partly developed, the light was dimly seen by it; consequently, individualization had begun. The soul cannot return to the Father merely as a divine spark; for the germ of the spark had begun to be developed. Furthermore, not being a Conscious Individualized Soul, it cannot return to the Father as a conscious entity, or as the Son of God. There is therefore but one thing for it to do: it must remain in the soul sphere until such time as it finds a suitable opportunity to return to earth. It then takes up its abode in the flesh once more, and begins its awakening and its development where it had left off before, and suffers for its former evils. Though neither he nor his parents had sinned, the body suffers because that which was before had committed evil.

The Law must be fulfilled; for the works of the Father must be made manifest.

4. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day the night cometh when no man can work.

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While the life of the physical body lasts, we must do our work; for the body is necessary that the soul may manifest itself. Through the body only, can Regeneration take place. Only while in the body can Illumination be experienced. Only while in the body can we do the works of the Father -the works of regeneration. If we do not finish the works while it is day-that is to say, while the physical life lastswe cannot do it; for we cannot do the work while the darkness covers us. Therefore we must then wait for another day-that is to say, we must take on another body, in order to finish the work that we had begun.

5. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. The Christ awakened in man is the light and the life of man, and continues to be his light and his life as long as he

remains with man-which is, as long as man obeys the Divine Law.

6. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.

7. And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

When the man that was blind had paid the penalty of sin, he could see. The Law is absolutely just, every debt must be paid in full; and, when all debts have been paid, either through suffering or through service rendered, man is free.

8. The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?

9. Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.

10. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes

opened?

11. He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made

clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.

When we obey the Divine Law, we will reap its benefits. Had this blind man not obeyed, he would have continued blind. But he obeyed the command of the Master and through obedience did he receive his sight. When we obey the Divine Law, and make effort to see, gradually, the Light is given to us, and eventually we will be able to see the Light.

12. Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

13. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was

blind.

14. And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay,

and opened his eyes.

That is to say, it was "the good day" when the blind received sight. Only when we recognize the good and live according to the Laws of Good, which are the Laws of God, do we receive Soul sight. Only through obedience to the good, that which is Divine, can we receive the true light.

15. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.

16. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

The Pharisees could only understand the written code. They knew nothing of the Divine Laws of Soul Development. They considered it better to let those who suffered to suffer than to give them relief on the sabbath day. They forgot that the sabbath day is the day wherein to do good, and that all days are as sabbath days if we keep them as such and do good therein.

17. They said unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.

LESSON THIRTY

While man follows the desires of the flesh he is blind. When he obeys the Voice of the Soul he begins to see.

St. John 9:18-41.

18. But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. 19. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see? 20. His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:

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