calm of agnosia.
LUC:12:18 The soulspirit can be whatever it wills itself to be; it is the fashioner of its own form and destiny. It can, if it wishes, see all things as they are in reality by sweeping aside the clouds of illusion and removing the veils of deception. Do not misunderstand me when I talk of the real and the unreal. Earth, earthly experience and material things are not unreal, for the unreal would have no existence. The things so often called unreal do exist and have a reality of their own, it is man's interpretation of that reality that is
wrong. The things are not what man thinks them to be; they are false, deceptive, illusive. Even the words 'real' and 'unreal' are themselves deceptive
and lead into error. LUC:12:19 This higher knowledge has been gained by those who have built up their spiritual powers, so that they could enter into direct communication with the Sphere Above. By their sacrifices and self- disciplines, they so refined and strengthened their soulspirits that they could penetrate to the place where the light of Truth shone clearly. That they were
not misled is easily provable. LUC:12:20 The means of freeing the soulspirit are available to all men who first seek to discover their true nature. This is the beginning of the only direct road; the others lead to illusionary Heavens. Each man is his own ruler and the director of his own destiny; whatever advance he makes, even though it come through the teachings of others, will result from his own individual
effort.
LUC: 12:21 The road to spirituality lies within himself, but too often, it is blocked by barriers erected through his own ignorance and mortal weaknesses. The pain and suffering, against which he so often protests, are only attempts at goading him into clearing away the barriers. Study of the Good Books provides directions for traversing the road, but such study is worthless unless the teachings are put into practice. That is the secret, not
knowledge but practice. LUC:12:22 There are teachings, which declare that man will become lost in a sea of oblivion, but this is incorrect. It comes from a misunderstanding of
the All. Man will not become lost in the Eternal All, but this will become a part of man, of each individual soulspirit. Were this not so, there would be no need for the continual conflict, the continual testing by affliction and the continual presentation of new problems to overcome.
LUC: 12:23 However, it is useless speculating on the truth of other teachings until the truth of your own is established. One thing you now know for certain is that man is more than he thinks himself to be, far more than the
mortal expanse of unawakened potential. This you know, for you have experienced the rapture of the Illuminated. What you have done, others can do, for it is within the scope of anyone prepared to accept the necessary austerities and self-discipline. Not many will reach the goal of complete illumination, but all can obtain a momentary glimpse through the veil separating this sphere from the one above. All can awaken their soulspirit to
consciousness, and only those who have done so can realise its glorious wonder. They become completely freed from every material limitation. They know themselves to be truly immortal, and to them, birth and death are now no more than milestones along the road. They lose their significance in the great inpouring of consciousness, the invigorating surge of new life. LUC: 12:24 All the awareness most persons encompass at any moment in time is just a minute part of the whole being. Some portions just on the fringe of the mortal are tapped from time to time, and these, such as memory, play a large part in life. However, out in the vast expanse beyond, comprising the undeveloped part of man, lie the latent powers, which he is incapable of utilising. Within the reach of each man is an infinite spiritual treasure, if only he would expend the necessary effort to grasp it!
Chapter Thirteen - The Lifeforce
LUC:13:1 When the child grows up, becoming a youth or maiden, it enters into a struggle with existence, with worldliness. It becomes like a
swimmer setting out to cross a turbulent river. Individuals try to mould the world to their own way of thinking, but the world fights back, and in so doing
shapes each one into an image differing from his own conception. To each person Earth takes on a different aspect, according to individual thoughts and
inclinations.
LUC:13:2 The lifeforce centred in man is not something unique in nature, and the vast ocean of life seeks to draw it back into itself. Therefore, if the lifeforce is to remain separate within the individual, the individual must be prepared to face conflict and opposition. The struggle to retain life cannot be renounced; no one can cut himself off from the difficulties of worldly
existence, or discard the burden of manhood or womanhood. LUC:13:3 While strength and vitality throb within the mortal container, worldly problems and difficulties must be steadfastly faced and overcome. But at the onset of middle age, each one should prepare for the downhill run, and by this time, the soulspirit should be aroused to consciousness and be well and harmoniously formed. Each person should, by this time, be strong enough to face the inevitability of old age, decay and death, with equanimity. At this, the turning point of life, there should be an inward turning, a greater effort expended in seeking to understand the purpose and meaning of life. There should be a seeking after spirituality, after fulfillment. LUC:13:4 The sole purpose of earthly life is to realise and develop the latent powers in man. All the problems and struggles, all the spiritual difficulties and obscurities, all the paradoxes, the experiences of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, simply serve to awaken the soulspirit. Life is all- embracing, it includes both birth and death, growth and decline, the contrasts, the opposites, the active and the passive, male and female. LUC:13:5 It is the knowledge of his individuality, his seperateness, his consciousness of self that raises man above the level of the dumb creatures, but this position cannot be maintained without effort; it will always be easier to fall than to rise, to go back instead of forward. The child knows little of the burdens imposed by life, but as it grows older, its light-heartedness becomes overshadowed by the knowledge of duties and obligations, which must be assumed. The hearts of our weaker brethren are so often filled with a longing to return to the state of protected childhood, that they are easily beguiled by parental faiths, which treat them as children. They find it easy to cast their spiritual burdens at the feet of comforting priests, but such action is not only childishly irresponsible; it is also morally cowardly.
LUC:13:6 The spiritually irresponsible, who seek a comforting creed, are generally apathetic or selfish persons careless of their spiritual life and its needs. My friends, the ultimate, the final thing we must depend upon is the soulspirit. Only that accompanies the individual into the life eternal, but it is too late to come to this realisation upon the deathbed. Those who have confidence in their future existence are the only truly contented ones on
Earth.
LUC:13:7 Man should never forget that his most important aspect is the soulspirit, and he should not be neglectful of its needs and demands. He should not confuse it with the frail mortal body whose needs and demands, if given full rein, will override those of his greater self. Man must understand life; he must understand its forces, which play about him. To understand it fully is to know one's own destiny, one's own heritage of struggle and one's own trials. Man must resolve on the inner search and follow its trail