V
Fifth Mystery: Purity
We will proceed where we left off. So we’re going to talk about the book and what it says and I will attempt to have a comment now and then. It says
I am pure. Unto Me all things are pure. I see not only that which appears, which in itself gives the thought of impurity; but I also see the very innermost thought of the heart. Are not Mine eyes too pure to behold impurity?
You know it seems that people who don’t think of everything as being impure, seldom see it anywheres; but the ones who feel they’re impure see it about every place under the sun.
Yet is there anything that I do not see?
Says Life.
Therefore, I reveal unto thee the Fifth Mystery, the Mystery of Purity. Unto each I give that measure of My purity which each one is capable of receiving.
Now obviously none of us could receive somethin’ we aren’t capable of receiving.
You cannot yet know all My purity, therefore are you guided by such portions as you have. It is well for you to be what you think is purity until I reveal this Mystery unto you.
In other words, don’t take off doin’ somethin’ because the book said so. Again, we said you do it on your own, and only as you see it that way.
No ceremony can cause that which is selfish to become unselfish. If then any possession of another without ceremony would be selfish, so also is that possession if taken with the world’s sanction.
So it says, we don’t pay too much attention to the world sanctions, but as long as you can’t see it otherwise, by all means get the world sanctions.
Herein is the Fifth Mystery, not that I lay any commandment upon you,
but that I call you from a lesser pleasure unto a greater. If it be a pleasure to you to hold another in bondage unto the self, well. If it be pleasure to win another’s love for the self, well. Even if it be a pleasure to bind another with a bond that you do not yourself observe, well. But listen unto My voice calling you from these pleasures. The body is My temple.
This has been repeated before a number of times.
Shall I not cause it to glow with the fire of My glory?
You see a person every once in a while that just kinda glows, don’t you? And you see other people that look kinda cloudy. I’m not talking about auras or anything. You could call it that if you like, but some people just kinda look a little depressed, and some just glow all over the place.
Shall I not cause the body of the temple to glow with the fire of My glory?
Do you think I am not able to keep it pure without the help of the self?
You know the “self” is always trying to straighten everything out, you know. It makes you feel guilty, and all these good things. But it seems that it’s quite able to take care of things without that.
Yes, I am able, and you shall know the mystery of MY purity.
Struggle as you will against what you think impure.
And you know the more we struggle against something, the more it seems to be there, is that right? The more we try to improve ourselves, the more unworthy we feel and so forth. So…
Struggle as you will against what you think impure. The struggle is not in vain, for out of it shall grow Strength, that the sight may not be blinded when I show you
that all things are pure.
Now I don’t know whether you’ve seen that or not, but I’m quite sure that eventually you’ll see that all things are pure, and that there’s nothing to go out and find fault with in yourself or another.
That which appears impure unto you is not tender love between woman and man, however or wherever shown. But the appearance of desire is impure unto you.
Even unto you, tender love without desire does not seem impure.
So the desire is the desire to control, to possess, to own. You know you never “desire to love”. You just already got that. But then it’s when it turns around that we call the desire to control somebody, to own them, to possess, to manage them, what-have-you. That is desire. And then when that’s rejected, oh how wonderfully we feel we’re in love. Ever been rejected a little bit? Oh man, it makes things worse.
Nothing can sully the purity of that body wherein I dwell. [That is a statement which causes a bit of commotion in the world, but let’s try it again.] Nothing can sully the purity of that body wherein I dwell. Fear not, therefore, anything that can come to the mind body from without, for I am within.
So don’t worry about all these things that come in from the outside.
Have you been warned by others not to think certain thoughts?
You know, you’ve probably been told that that’s terrible, and people tell me they are just controlled by their thoughts, and these horrible thoughts run through their mind. What difference does it make what thoughts run through there? It’s just traffic on the freeway. You know you might as well be concerned as what kind of trucks go down the road.
You really have no control over the thoughts that run through your head. Is that correct or not? You don’t have to give ‘em room. An old gent told me one time, you couldn’t keep a bird from lightin’ on your head, but you didn’t have to let the durn thing build a nest there. You can kick it off after a while. But, you can’t keep a certain thought from running through your mind cause the mind is made up of things that associate. And somethin’ goes by and all kinds of funny thoughts may run through there. And that hasn’t hurt you or anything else. And if you try to prevent such a thought from runnin’ through there, you get allergies.
(laughter from audience.)
Laugh if you please; that’s the way they do, because if you decided, “I will never think of something again,” you probably would not think of it, but you’d be about to think of it every now and then because somethin’s about to remind you of it. And you break out with sneezes, or breaking out all over the body, and all sorts of other things – that is the source of your allergies, ok? If you’re free to think of anything, what difference does it make what runs through the freeways? And if you’re free to think of anything, your allergies disappear. That’s correct. I’m not being funny. It is funny, but I wasn’t doing it.
Fear not, therefore, anything that can come to the mind from without,
for I am within. Have you been warned by others not to think certain thoughts and not allow the self certain actions? Heed the warning well until I reveal Myself further unto you, for those others are also My ministers, sent unto you to
keep you struggling until you know this Mystery.
Now this may sound rather strange that Life would have us struggle. But can you imagine a squirrel workin’ on his head a little bit, or on his spiritual evolvement? He doesn’t, because he hasn’t been taught anything’s wrong, right, or anything else. We have. And to be evolved so to really know freedom, you’d have to first be exposed to what’s called bondage or you’d just take freedom for granted. To be in a literal mental turmoil has a great value to us because you can really appreciate peace. If you had peace, you would never really be interested in knowing how it comes about or what is and you wouldn’t be interested in Life or what makes it—you’d just accept that.
So, human beings, being, as far as we can see, the highest form of Life built here (and I’m talking about form – not that men are so greatly evolved, cause they’re not – that’s a general thing, but the body is and it’s capable of things) but without a certain struggle, without turmoil, you really wouldn’t appreciate what it’s like to really be clear and concise cause you see the difference. Tim, if you hadn’t been through some of the things you’ve been through, would you be so delighted with being sober?
(No.)
You see a lot of people have never been really “drunked out” year in and year out, so they don’t know how wonderful it is to be sober. Hmm? They really don’t know. You do, don’t you? You’re in an utter state of joy at every day that you wake up and you’re sober that day. Is that right?
(No, certainly not every day.)
You’re at least joyful that you’re sober, aren’t you?
(Yes.)
I didn’t say that you were joyful all over. But I said there’s one little point is that you’re joyful that you’re sober, regardless of what all the other stuff’s going on, isn’t that right?
(That’s true.)
Now if one of us had been through all the hell of mental conflict, struggle and resistance, it is a fantastic joy not to be there. And so Life in its wisdom allowed us to get tangled up where we’re very conditioned, in a constant struggle. No matter how much we bitch about it, it still was a great thing for us, or is if we haven’t turned it loose yet. Cause you do have decided motive to get out of it, is that right? You got a big motive to get out of that turmoil? Is that correct?
(Yes.)
So I see the joy of it, so again we go back to this one that “all is ok” and it’s fine to be that way.
Have you certain standards in the mind of purity of thought,
purity of action and holy living?
Oh yes, that’s why we are going to improve ourselves to fit it. Uh huh. Isn’t that wonderful?
They also are from Me and I have sent them unto you to the end that you might be influenced by them and the development enhanced.
You’ll be influenced by ‘em and be miserable, you know, and so then you got something to work on.
But think not that such standards apply to any other save the self,
You can put all the standards on yourself and make you as miserable as you want to. Don’t try to put ‘em on another guy, you know, he doesn’t need them.
for unto each have I given a different standard…
That’s why people fight all the time, you know. I got the standards, “You mustn’t drink coffee and smoke cigarettes.” Somebody else has got one that “you mustn’t go to a dance”; but people who don’t smoke cigarettes and drink coffee, they go to dances, that’s all right. Some others can’t go to dances, but they can drink all the coffee they want to, smoke all the good cigars and cigarettes they want to. Some can drink wine, but you must not drink hard booze. Some you can drink booze as long as you don’t get drunk. Some you can’t gamble at all; some you gamble in church, you know. You go down and run bingo games to keep the thing goin’. And so on… so thank goodness we all have different standards.
Now obviously I have one standard for me and another one for you, you know that? Everybody’s got that. You know, “I’m conservative, you’re stingy, and they’re greedy.” And the further it gets away, the more standards we have for ‘em, you know. “I’m loving, you’re lustful and they’re reprobates,” you know, and so on down the line. It’s just, you know, my way of doing things and it has a proper justification -in fact, it has nothing but the highest ideals to motivate my behavior. Yours is a little further off, and the other guy – he’s clear gone, he has no standard, he’s just an animal out there.
…for unto each have I given a different standard [ thank goodness, you know] according to their needs, and their standard is as good to them as yours is to you, each to each.
So your little standard’s fine. Theirs is fine. They’ll all make you miserable, so it’ll serve the proper purpose, you see.
Therefore if your standard is preached to them, such preaching would be an attempt to interfere with the standards which I have given unto them.
Some of my good friends that I got to talk to in certain cities are constantly bombarding the fact that I drink coffee and smoke cigarettes. I don’t keep the Word of Wisdom, as they call it. But you know, they do a bunch of things I don’t do. Oh, I think my bunch of stuff is as weird as theirs are, you know. Now, I’m not saying mine are good and bad and so forth. I just think it don’t matter a durn for any of ‘em. So if they wanna live by never havin’ a cup of coffee or smokin’ a cigarette, that’s fine. That leaves more for me.
But fear not to preach the standard if it pleases you to do so,
So you go out and tell everybody what’s right and what’s wrong as long as it pleases you to do so.
for I will cause such preaching to be of benefit to you.
Not to the people you preach to, but you’ll finally see what you got in there. Life didn’t say it’s gonna do a thing for those other people, but it’ll finally get around to you, and so it’ll get you killed up one day.
Associate the self with others to bring about social changes or reforms if you will.
Get out there and get it political and get all these terrible things that’s going on in the world straightened out. Join all the movements and really get things straightened up. It will make you feel good. And it’ll be all right – you just do it.
Associate the self with others to bring about social changes or reforms if you will. Take those that offend you before the courts and prosecute them as you will.
Take ‘em to court; stop ‘em.
All such crusades or prosecutions will I cause to be a medium for accomplishing My will.
Probably won’t be gettin’ all those things done, but it will finally get you to straighten up and say, “What difference does it make?” You know…
You know, a number of years ago I used to get on a train and there was certain cars where black people went into. And then there was other cars where white people went. You got on a city bus, the black folks had to sit in the back. White folks had to sit in front. When I was going to school over at Austin a number years ago, I used to work in a shoe store to have bread and shelter around and the black customers came in had to sit in the back of the store. They weren’t allowed to plop down in any chair in the store. Now then, that’s all changed, but if you smoke, you’re sent in the back of the airplane and the back of the bus, and the back of the other. So humanity is not gonna get along without segregation. Just don’t kid yourself. Now, one of these days we’ll have to have separate vehicles for us. You know, you gotta get bused around. Then eventually, why all the people who don’t smoke will have to come and sit with us that do for a while. You know it goes through these cycles.
It’s been going on for ages and it will continue to do so. Now, people have to have segregation and after you got segregation, you got a cause to go out and work for, don’t you? “End segregation.” I think that’s the funniest thing. What difference whether you’re segregated to the back of the store, or the back of the airplane or the back of the bus for one reason or another? Because you do somethin’ different, or look different from somebody else, huh? Then you got to be segregated. Segregation is legal, but it’s not legal for certain reasons. But you know, eventually that will go its full cycle. Now, somebody will have a “cause” to get up on someday and go out and get “equality” back again, huh? I think it’s funny. But if that pleases you to go out and preach on it – work on it. So you can go out and crusade and address a few people all you want to.
Yet know that they whom you do prosecute are also servants of My will.
So just have fun and push them around.
Pray earnestly, if you will, that certain conditions
which are obnoxious to you, be abolished.
Ok, and then we’ll start somethin’ else, you know. Let black folks sit up front in the store and we’ll put the smokers in the back. So what’s the difference? And, of course, people are wantin’ to abolish smoking. You know, they want to do that. California is pretty good at it, you know. They look at you like you have the leprosy or something. It’s kinda nice to come where most everybody smokes. The rest of ‘em are closet smokers. I work in a building where I and one other person are the only ones that openly ever light a cigarette. Whole company full of people. But I go to the washroom and it’s always just loaded with smoke. That’s what you call closet smokers, and these are bathroom smokers. So, man, every so often they got to run in there and smoke in the bathroom. But, now outside they’re, “Why don’t you quit that filthy thing?” I think that’s funny too.
Pray earnestly, if you will, that certain conditions
which are obnoxious to you, be abolished.
Let’s get with it; pray and ask the Lord.
Strive with your fellows unto that end if it seems right unto you. Pride yourself, if you choose, on exercising a strong influence against such conditions.
You have really done much to end these evils in the world. Pat yourself on the back. Just be careful and don’t disjoint it.
I will be with you in all such prayers and strivings.
…and laughin’ up a storm. Can you imagine at the laughing and the joy of the sense of humor that Life must have? Hmm? To answer all the prayers for everbody!
Yet know that I have provided those obnoxious conditions on purpose to exercise the heart and the hearts of all those who are affected thereby,
and will sanctify them unto you, even your deepest distress.
You’ll really be upset, more and more of it’s come on.
That which you deem a disgrace to the times, to the City, or to you,
is intended by Me to work great advantage unto you.
You might finally get so you recognize that everything’s ok – just like it is. You might even get there sometime. That would be kinda nice, wouldn’t it? But without all these things happening, you would never get to the place you could agree that everything was all right. You could never get around to the second mystery here.
Yet, I will that you shall fight, as if it were an enemy,
if you see it as an enemy, and herein is this mystery!
Things are as you see them. They aren’t like you like they might be, but things are to you as you see them. So it’s about purity, but that’s what purity is. So if you should see all things as pure, so the fifth one here – all things are as I see them. To me, of course. All things are to me as I see them.
So now, that is a mystery. We talk about, “Well, that’s the way it is, that’s a fact,” and so forth, but it may or may not have anything to do with fact. So it is to you as you see it. Now if I choose to see you as a wonderful person, what kind of a person are you to me? And if I see you as having a bunch of durn faults and I got to struggle with you to get you straightened out, how do I see you? As a very flawed person that really needs a lot of my ministrations to get you straightened up so you’ll be like you ought to be, is that right?
Now suppose that today we could begin to see everybody as an expression of Life, an individualized expression of Life – God, if you please; X, Spirit, whatever word you want to call it. What kind of world would you live in then? If you saw everybody as being an expression of God, Life, Spirit? You’d see everybody as the Christ then, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t this be a terrible old world to live in? Like the woman said the other day, “Who wants to stay here? Get out and go into the realms.” Forget it, I’m better acquainted here. I wanna stick around. So what kind of world is it when you see everybody as being an expression of Life including yourself, dear Louise? I couldn’t figure out an improvement on it, could you? Could you?
(No.)
Well, that’s pretty close to what it is. I don’t know if that’s the way it is or not, but that’s the way I choose to see it. And everything is as to me as I choose to see it, ok? You are to me as I choose to see you. And you are to me as I choose to see you, and Marcy is to me as I choose to see her. You are, and you are, and on and on. Hmm? Now if I see everybody as an expression of Life, and that whatever they’re doin’ is serving some contribution to the whole, it is Life working. Maybe it’s just having fun. Oh, I don’t think Life has to be so serious all the time, that it never plays jokes or anything. It has a good time, but there is absolutely nothing that you can get all torn up and upset about because everything you see is an expression of God, Life, Spirit, whatever word you’re comfortable with, huh? Now that’s just about what it said here. It says It’s quite pleased with us. You obviously notice that when Life’s not pleased with you, it seems that you’re invited away from the party. We’re all here, so it must be puttin’ up with us quite well, Mary, huh? Now we’re here, you’re here. So I guess Life is pleased with us. Why can’t I be? It’s pleased with everybody around – they’re all right just like they are.
Somebody says, “Don’t you wish everybody in the world was conscious?” I said I’d have a hard time makin’ a living. I need a few sleepy folks to take advantage of every now and then. That right, Mack Harris? If you, as a peddler and a maneuverer in the business world, had all conscious people, it’d be rough to make a living, wouldn’t it? Thank goodness we got a lot of ‘em sleepin’. If you’re a doctor, do you want everybody in the world to be well? You’d starve to death. You gotta have a bunch of “sickies” around to keep goin’. If you’re an undertaker, you don’t want anybody to go. I have a friend that’s an undertaker up in Pennsylvania up in the hills and he’s forever calling me on the phone and says, “Bob, do something to get my business up. I haven’t had a funeral in weeks.” I say, “Well, if I help Charlie out, I got to knock a few people out.” I don’t guess I want to help Charlie’s business much. The doctor says, “My practice has gone down. I haven’t had a patient in two weeks.” So I got to get some people sick so he can be busy. I don’t mind helping out in some of these chores, you know. But isn’t it all right? You see, we really don’t want anything a whole lot different than it is, if you really think over it for a while. Hmm?
Now everybody’s an expression of Life serving some purpose or other, and why should we be disturbed about it and try to straighten everything up and get all our causes and our situations going, and we do these great reforms and everything? I think everybody’s all right just like they are. Tina, don’t you? You’re just fine just like you are. Hmm? You’ve then taken all the troubles out of the world, but then without troubles, how are we gonna survive? We’ve got our whole society set up on fixing other people’s troubles, is that right? Hmm? Can you imagine what a depression would come about if from now on nobody got sick? See the biggest industries in the country are supplyin’ sick people—medications and medical instruments and medical devices of all kinds. In this industrial complex I work in, nine out of ten of the businesses there are all supplying something for sick people – medical devices, etc. But the whole thing would be a ghost town out there in a week if nobody got sick from now on. What would you do? We’d have a depression – unemployment would be rampant. We’d probably go to 25% in this country. You want that to happen? Let ’em stay sick. Keep the business going. Too many of my friends are physicians. If they didn’t have sick people, they’d all starve. Besides that, they’re the greatest people for investments, aren’t they? That right, Mack? Where do you go when you need some risk money (without tellin’ them it’s risk)?
You see, we just got to have all these things. So for goodness sake, see that Life is pretty smart and that everything is just fine just like it is, ok? Not tryin’ to change a thing. Then you don’t have any problems.