H. Emilie Cady
Lessons in Truth
Lessons in Truth
1. How to seek the secret place--where to find it--how
to abide in it--these are the questions that today, more than at any other time
in the history of the world, are engaging the hearts of men. More than anything
else it is what I want. It is what you want.
3. We need not be anxious or in a hurry for the full
manifestation. Let us not at any time lose sight of the fact that our desire,
great as it is, is only God's desire in us. "No man can come to me, except
the Father that sent me draw him" (Jn. 6:44). The Father in us desires to
reveal to us the secret of His presence, else we had not known any hunger for
the secret, or for Truth.
4. "Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and
appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit" (Jn. 15:16).
5. Whoever you are that read these words, wherever you
stand in the world, be it on the platform preaching the gospel, or in the
humblest little home seeking Truth, that you may make it manifest in a sweeter,
stronger, less selfish life, know once and forever that you are not seeking
God, but God is seeking you. Your longing for greater manifestation is the
eternal energy that holds the worlds in their orbits, outpushing through you to
get into fuller manifestation. You need not worry. You need not be anxious. You
need not strive. Only let it. Learn how to let it.
6. After all our beating about the bush, seeking here
and there for our heart's desire, we must come right to Him who is the
fulfillment of every desire; who waits to manifest more of Himself to us and
through us. If you wanted my love or anything that I am (not that I have), you
would not go to Tom Jones or to Mary Smith to get it. Either of those persons
might tell you that I could and would give myself, but you would have to come
directly to me, and receive of me that which only I am, because I am it.
7. In some way, after all our seeking for the light and
Truth, we must learn to wait, each one for himself, upon God for this inner
revelation of Truth and our oneness with Him.
8. The light that we want is not some thing that God has
to give; it is God Himself. God does not give us life or love as a thing. God
is life and light and love. More of Himself in our consciousness, then, is what
we all want, no matter what other name we may give it.
9. My enduement of power must come from "on
high," from a higher region within myself than my present conscious mind;
so must yours. It must be a descent of the Holy (whole, entire, complete)
Spirit at the center of your being into your conscious mind. The illumination
we want can never come in any other way; nor can the power to make good
manifest.
10. We hear a great deal about "sitting in the
silence." To many it does not mean very much, for they have not yet
learned how to "wait. . .in silence for God only" (Ps. 62:5), or to
hear any voice except external ones. Noise belongs to the outside world, not to
God. God works in the stillness, and we can so wait upon the Father of our
being as to be conscious of the still, inner working--conscious of the
fulfillment of our desires. "They that seek Jehovah shall renew their
strength" (Is. 40:31).
11. In one of Edward
Everett Hale's stories, he speaks of a little girl who, amidst her play
with the butterflies and birds in a country place, used to run into a nearby
chapel frequently to pray; and after praying always remained perfectly still a
few minutes, "waiting," she said, "to see if God wanted to say
anything" to her. Children are often nearest the kingdom.
12. When beginning the practice of sitting in the
silence, do not feel that you must go and sit with some other person. The
presence of another person is apt to distract the mind. Learn first how to
commune alone with the Creator of the universe, who is all-companionship. When
you are able to withdraw from the outside and be alone with Him, then sitting
with others may be profitable to you and to them.
There
are those who are quite able to still their minds from all outside thoughts,
but who, as soon as they get still, find themselves floating out on the astral
or psychic plane where spirits of those departed, appear to them, wanting
recognition and communication. Right here is a tremendous temptation. The
experience is a new one and is more or less fascinating, but if you want the
highest that is for you, this should not be for a moment yielded to. If, when
you begin to get still you find this taking place, get up resolutely and shake
it off. Declare it is not what you want; you want the highest spiritual
illumination and will not take any other or be intruded upon. If necessary, in
order to free yourself, postpone your sitting until another time, when perhaps
you will have no trouble.
The
psychic plane is all good upon its own level. But it is not what you are
seeking. You want your own Spirit brought forth, in all its glorious fullness
and Godlikeness, into manifestation. And if you stop on a lower plane to dabble
with things there, it will only retard the day of your own
realization and manifestation. Put it down at once and it will soon cease to
trouble you.
The
preceding two paragraphs had been deleted from recent editions. We have returned them for their superb commentary on the
importance of "psychic" phenomena. Beginners on the path should be
assured that the experience Cady refers to here is not a common experience and
it is not to be feared.
13. "Sitting in the silence" is not merely a
sort of lazy drifting. It is a passive, but a definite, waiting upon God. When
you want to do this, take a time when you can, for a little while, lay off all
care. Begin your silence by lifting up your heart in prayer to the Father of
your being. Do not be afraid that, if you begin to pray, you will be too
"orthodox." You are not going to supplicate God, who has already
given you things "whatsoever ye desire" (Mk. 11:24 A.V.). You have
already learned that before you call He has sent that which you desire;
otherwise you would not desire it.
14. You know better than to plead with or to beseech God
with an unbelieving prayer. But spending the first few moments of your silence
in speaking directly to the Father centers your mind on the Eternal. Many who
earnestly try to get still and wait upon God have found that, the moment they
sit down and close their eyes, their thoughts, instead of being concentrated,
are filled with every sort of vain imagination. The most trivial things, from
the fixing of a shoestring to the gossipy conversation of a week ago, chase one
another in rapid succession through their minds, and at the end of an hour the
persons have gained nothing. This is to them discouraging.
15. This is but a natural result of trying not to think
at all. Nature abhors a vacuum, and if you make (or try to make) your mind a
vacuum, the thought images of others that fill the atmosphere about you will
rush in to fill it, leaving you as far away from the consciousness of the
divine presence as ever. You can prevent this by beginning your silence with
prayer.
16. It is always easier for the mind to say realizingly,
"Thy will is being done in me now," after having prayed, "Let
Thy will be done in me." It is always easier to say with realization,
"God flows through me as life and peace and power," after having
prayed, "Let Thy life flow through me anew while I wait." Of course
prayer does not change God's attitude toward us, but it is easier for the human
mind to take several successive steps with firmness and assurance than for it
to take one big, bold leap to a point of eminence and hold itself steady there.
While you are thus concentrating your thoughts on God, in definite conversation
with the author of your being, no outside thought images can possibly rush in
to torment or distract you. Your mind, instead of being open toward the
external, is closed to it, and open only to God, the source of all the good you
desire.
17. Of course there is to be no set form of words used.
But sometimes using words similar to the first few verses of the 103d Psalm, in
the beginning of the silent communion, makes it a matter of face-to-face
speaking: "Thou forgivest all mine iniquities (or mistakes); Thou healest
all my diseases; Thou redeemest my life from destruction, and crownest me with
loving kindness, now, now, while I wait upon Thee."
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