LOVE, GIVING AND THE CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS - Keys to the Ultimate Freedom

星空

It is now the Christmas season so let us direct our attention toward Christmas. Maybe I ought to allow you to lead me into what you would like to hear about Christmas, or should I just talk? All right. Christ-mass, the day when the masses look toward Christ, when mass is held in reverence to Jesus.

When I interpret the Bible, it's the way I see it, not the way I've read it or someone else has said it's so. Christmas is related to Christ. Christ is not the man Jesus. Christ is the title of Jesus who has attained the Christ Consciousness. And I think if you separate the two, Jesus and Christ, you will far better understand the meaning of His words and the meaning of the Bible. When He says, I am the way, He doesn't mean Jesus He means Christ. So first I'd better explain what I mean by Christ and Jesus.

Jesus was a man who was born on 'this earth approximately 2,000 years ago, who through righteousness or righteousness, rightly used the world to attain the Christ Consciousness. By so doing He showed the way to immortality that each and everyone of us must take. We must die to death, i.e., eliminate from our consciousness all thoughts of death and hold in its place only eternality and immortality. In order to show us, He allowed Himself to be crucified so that He could prove immortality by resurrecting Himself. He was a way-shower and dedicated and gave His life only to show us the way.

Christ Consciousness is the consciousness that saves us from all this mess that we find ourselves in when we try to be worldly man. It is the attaining of the Christ Consciousness that saves us from all the horrors and miseries of the world. It is the Christ Consciousness that gives us liberation from all difficulty and leads us into our immortality. If we were to try to be Jesus, we would have all the trials and tribulations that He went through. However, when we become the Christ, by being Christ-like and thereby attaining the Christ Consciousness, we eliminate all and every misery and have nothing but infinite joy.

So Christhood is a state that was attained by the man Jesus. He attained His Christhood before He was born and He came back to show us the way by actual example. And if you will keep these two in their meaning as you read the Bible, I believe it will make much more sense.

Christmas is known mostly by the spirit of givingness, good will toward all men. Locked up in that word givingness is the key to all happiness. It's in the spirit of givingness that we have and experience the greatest joy. If you'll think back you'll see that when you were giving, you were most joyous. Love and giving are two words that are synonymous. It's in the spirit of givingness that the secret to joy lies. When we fully have that we want to give every thing that we have to everyone we meet, and we have infinite joy. It's so important. It's in the spirit of givingness; it's not in the givingness of things, unfortunately, because Christmas is a great time of gift-giving. People are giving, giving, giving. But it's not in the givingness; it's in the spirit of givingness that the joy lies.

The feeling of the spirit of givingness is felt more around Christmas time by more people than any other time of the year. It's a wonderful thing. We should make every day Christmas. When we get full realization we do just that. There isn't a moment in which we're not wanting to give everything we know to everyone.

Q: You mean giving things, or giving of yourself?

Lester: Well, first givingness. If we give with strings attached, with reservations, with recriminations, there is little joy in it. But when we give freely we have the greatest of feelings. And it's this constant spirit of givingness that is the secret of eternal joy. Now, the greatest thing we can give, as the Bible says, is wisdom, because when you give one wisdom you give one the method of attaining everything, not just one single thing. So, the greatest of all givingness is giving wisdom, is giving understanding, and is giving knowledge of this subject that we are interested in.

I might explain it this way. If you give a man a meal when he's hungry, he's made happy for the moment and he's satisfied. But three hours later, he needs another meal, and probably thousands of meals after that. So what is one meal that you give to him? Relatively little. However, if you give the man the understanding of how to produce a meal, he will never go hungry! You will give him the knowledge of how to always have all the food he wants. You will have given him sixty thousand meals! So, that's the greatest givingness, giving understanding and wisdom.

Practicing this would be an excellent method of growth and I think, as a group, you're ready for it. Give this understanding to everyone whom you meet who asks for it. It's excellent in that it takes you out of your little self onto others. It's an act of love. I'm suggesting that this givingness be taken on as almost a way of life from here on,-to help others to get this understanding. It will help you to rapidly attain mastership, - and it will give you the greatest of all joys.

It's good to give gifts. They should be given from the heart. However, I think we are all at the point where we can give much more than just things. We should try to give wisdom and understanding. Did I answer your question, Lil?

Q: Yes.

Q: This is only if we are asked?

Lester: Yes. If we try to help people who are not asking for it, we are just expressing our own ego. I know something you should know, see? I, talking down to you, trying to teach you something when you're not asking for it, is just ego-expression on my part. So it should only be given when asked for.

Q: Is there a time when you become sensitive enough so that you do say things to people which they need, even without them asking?

Lester: Yes, there is. As you let go of your ego you automatically tune in more with others. The less your ego, the more you are attuned to others. You reach a state in which they don't even have to ask. You'll discover that some people who ask don't really want help. Likewise, some people who say I dont want any help, are really wanting it. It takes a little experience to handle situations like that. But it's true that as we grow, as we let go of our ego, we become more attuned to others and we automatically help them. And we help at all times, no matter what or where the situation is. It could be the cashier in a market, or someone you meet on the street. There's always a certain givingness that should be going on all the time. And it doesn't have to be only words of wisdom, it could be a kind word, an expression of love.

It wouldn't hurt to try helping others. That would be the greatest of all givingness. Any more questions?

Q: What is the second coming of the Christ? .

Lester: The second coming of the Christ is not the same as the second coming of Jesus. The second coming of Jesus will be the time when He returns and walks on this earth again in a physical body; and I believe it will be the body that He had the last time He walked the earth. The second coming of the Christ is when we attain the Christ Consciousness.

As a group, we are very fortunate in that we are close to Jesus. This was very evident the very first time we had a meditation when Jesus came into this room and walked around to almost everyone here. It was a very definite and a very important sign that, as a group, Jesus is very interested in us, is trying to help us with all the power that He has. That power is never given unless we are receptive to it. There's no forcing it. He can only use His power when we open ourselves to Him. If and when we do, He is right there, ready and very capable. Just try Him. We need this direct connection with a master if we want to go all the way this lifetime. As I've said, it's so difficult in these times to achieve mastership, that it is necessary to have this connection with a master, so that when we are ready to leave this plane he will assist us in getting full realization. There isn't anyone in this room who cannot make it this lifetime, if he or she will just stay faithful to the path until the end. Everyone of us can make it this lifetime if we really want it.

Q: Will you define making it?

Lester: Christhood and full realization. Making it is becoming a master. What is a master? A master is one who is master over all matter in the universe, and who is master over his mind. A master is one who sees his own infinity right within him. A master is one who has undone all thoughts of limitation, who has ripped off all these sheaths of limitations and is free.

Q: And this we can do in this lifetime?

Lester: Yes, definitely! You must want it more than anything else. You must want it more than you want things of the world. And if you do, when you're ready to leave this place, you'll get the assist from the master that you look to and he will help you over. The way he will do it is this way: If you don't make it before you die, you will make it at the time of your so-called death. When a person dies, all thoughts of this lifetime and all thoughts of prior lifetimes come up for review. The master identifies with us. He sees us as himself, and as these thoughts come up in our mind, it's like coming up in his mind, and he, identified with and as us, helps us undo them. When they are totally undone, we are totally free!

Q: This is what we are doing every day when we say, We're not limited. I won't accept this. I'm not this limited being. Isn't this what we should be doing all day long?

Lester: Yes. We should continue it until the end of all thoughts. We should not be limited by anything or any thought.

Q: But this is jumping so far. I'm interested in being able to walk down the street without getting mad at the fellow in front of me.

Lester: I'm trying to show you the entire way. What I'm trying to do is to give you a map that takes you all the way. I'm not saying, Bob, be this today, But I think if you have a map that shows the entire route, you can take it all by yourself. You don't need to have people like me say this to you. Once you've got the map, all you need to do is to follow it. I'm trying to give you a complete picture, a complete understanding of what full realization is and the way to accomplish it. And it's a very difficult thing to do because you'll never really know what it is until you attain it.

Q: And the ego is simply the feeling that I am not this.

Lester: Right. The ego is a feeling that I am a separated individual, separated from the All and I need a body and a mind to be separate.

Q: That I s limited?

Lester: Well, if I have a body and 1 have a mind, I have thousands of limitations; I have to feed the body, take care of it. I have thoughts. My feelings are hurt. This goes on and on and on. Realize what you are. You'll see that you are not the body, you are not the ego. Discover what you are and be infinite.

Q: Can Jesus save us?

Lester: Jesus doesn't save, the Christ Consciousness saves. We should believe not in Jesus but believe as Jesus believed. When we make an effort to attain the, Christ Consciousness, Jesus helps us to realize it. Jesus is always available to anyone who asks and is receptive to His help.

You may and can contact Jesus, to the degree you actually accept the fact that you can. Were you to accept that you could talk to Jesus in a physical body, then you would meet with Him in a physical body. If you can accept meeting with Him in a vision or in a dream, then you would meet with Him in that manner. If you can accept Him as a presence ,then you will feel His presence and receive His support. It is all up to you.

***

This Session was recorded in Los Angeles, December 16, 1965