UP Church

JANUARY 22   

I AM ALIVE, AWAKE AND AWARE, MY SPIRITUAL EYES ARE OPEN 

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:  now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.  I Corinthians 13:12

O ye people, earth-born folk, ye who have given yourselves to drunkenness and sleep and ignorance of God, be sober now, cease from your surfeit, cease to be glamoured by irrational sleep!  Thrice-Greatest Hermes

I ye knew God as He ought to be known, ye would walk on the seas, and the mountains would move at your call.  The Kashf Al-Mahjub

“For now we see through a glass, darkly;…”  How familiar this passage is to all of us, but what does it mean other than our vision is clouded by a material sense of things?  Hermes tells us that we are both drunk and asleep; that we are ignorant of God.  Emerson tells us that once in a while we awake from our slumber and look about us to perceive the world of reality, but too soon sink back again into sleep.  And from another ancient text, quoted above, we are told that if we knew God as we ought to, we would be able to walk on the seas, that the mountains would come at our call.  All progress is an awakening.  Every new scientific fact is a discovery.  This also is an awakening.  It is really true that we are largely asleep, dreaming away the hours.  “Awake thou that sleepest, and rise from the dead, and Christ shall give you life.”  It is indeed “high time that we awake from this sleep.”  No one can awaken us but the self.  Let us, then, make every endeavor to arouse the mind to reality and to penetrate the gloom of fear and superstition; to cast aside doubt and uncertainty; to behold the Light which is eternal.

I awake! I awake! I awake! I am alive, awake and aware.  My spiritual eyes are open.  As from a long night’s sleep, I awake!  

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living ” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

JANUARY 21  

TODAY I ENTER INTO THE LIMITLESS VARIATIONS WHICH THE DIVINE SPIRIT HAS PROJECTED INTO MY EXPERIENCE      

For all flesh is as grass, and all glory of man as the flower of grass.  The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:  But the word of the Lord endureth forever.  I Peter 1:24-25.

All products of Brahm, which is reality, are themselves real; and there is nothing different from it.  Whoever says that there is (anything different), is not free from illusion but is like a man talking in his sleep.  Raja Yoga Philosophy

The unreal hath no being; the real never ceaseth to be.  The Bhagavad-Gita

The Gita tells us that unreality has no existence, while Reality cannot cease to be.  Our lesson also states that all the effects of the Spirit are themselves real, and that there is nothing different from the Divine Spirit.  Jesus tells us to judge not according to appearances.  However, he did not tell us that appearances are unreal.  The unreality of appearances lies not in the thing itself, but rather in our interpretation of it.  If we spiritually interpret the universe, we shall understand it, enter into it, become one with it.  We shall see that the bird, the rock, the mountain and the river are spiritual manifestations of the joy of the Divine Mind.  The illusion is seeking to interpret them as being separate from the Infinite.  The blade of grass may wither, and petals fall from the flower, but the idea, “… the word of the Lord endureth forever.”  This is a very interesting lesson, since it teaches us that there is not only a fundamental unity, there is also an eternal variety.  Without this variety life would become stagnant.

Today I enter into the limitless variations which the Divine Spirit has projected into my experience.  I know that all things are good when rightly used.  I perceive that all experience is a play of life upon itself.  I enter into the game of living, then, with joyful anticipation, with spontaneous enthusiasm and with the determination to play the game well and to enjoy it.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living ” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

JANUARY 20   

TODAY I UNCOVER THE PERFECTION WITHIN ME IN ALL ITS FULLNESS   

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.  Matthew 13:44

Success (in the attainment of objects) forsaketh the person whose heart is unsteady, or who hath no control over his mind, or who is a slave of his senses.  The Mahabharata

Without either hunger or thirst, beyond all grief (all) rejoice in the place of heaven.  Katha Upanishad

Who would not be successful in the true sense of the term?  For there is no success without happiness and a sense of certainty.  There is something eternal about success.  There is no grief in success, because one who is truly successful is no longer sad.  He knows the things of this world are but temporary.  His treasure is truly in heaven.  Jesus likened it unto a treasure hid in a field, and he said he would sell everything we have in order that we might purchase this field and uncover this hidden treasure.  This treasure, the Mahabharata tells us, cannot be found while the heart is unsteady, while one is slave to objective appearances, or while he lacks control over his thought world.  All of this means that success, even in our objective undertakings, depends, first of all, upon stability of mind, consistency of purpose and concentration of effort.  The kingdom of heaven is already hidden within us.  The field which contains this hidden treasure is our own soul.  The priceless Pearl is covered by the hardened shell of experience.  We must learn to see God at the center of our being.

Today I uncover the perfection within me.  In its fullness I reveal the indwelling kingdom.  I look out upon the world of my affairs, knowing that the Spirit within me makes my way both immediate and easy, for I know that “it is not I, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”  

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living ” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

JANUARY 19   

I SEE GOD IN EVERYTHING; PERSONIFIED IN ALL PEOPLE; MANIFEST IN EVERY EVENT

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.  Philippians 2:3, 4

Theirs was the fullness of heaven and earth; the more that they gave to others, the more they had.  Kwang-Tze

One is the Sense that’s active through them – their passions for each other.  ‘Tis Love Himself who worketh the one harmony of all.  Thus, therefore, let us sing the praise of God.  Thrice-Greatest Hermes 

Jesus said, “Give and to you shall be given.”  All the great scriptures have been announced this central and transcendent truth, realizing that every act carries with it a sequence, bringing the result of this action back to the self.  This is what is meant by Karma, for Karma means the fruit of action.  Emerson called it the Law of Compensation, and Jesus proclaimed the same law in his teaching that as we sow, so shall we reap.  This is why Kwang-Tse tells us that the more we give to others the more we have.  Whitman also refers to this when he says, “The gift is most of the giver and comes back most to him.”  This all means the return of the self to itself.  The great apostle did not tell us to forget the self, he merely told us to also remember everyone else.  That is, we are to see ourselves each in the other and behold God in all.  Hermes tells us that when we realize Love as the great harmony, we shall all sing the praise of God.  Before we can do this we must perceive this harmony in each other and in everything.  Thus, everything which seems separated is united at the root.  “Over all, in all and through all,” the “sustaining Beauty” of the inevitable “seed of perfection” to which Browning referred as nestling at the center of our own being.

I see God in everything, personified in all people, manifest in every event.  The Spirit is not separated from the person or the event; It unites each to itself, vitalizing each with the energy of Its own being; creating each through Its own divine imagination.  I, too, am an instrument of Its perfection, and today I recognize my union which is perfect and complete.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living ” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

JANUARY 18   

I KNOW THAT I UNDERSTAND HOW TO SPEAK THE WORD OF TRUTH

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.  John 6:63

And where do name and form both cease, and turn to utter nothingness?  And the answer is, “In consciousness invisible and infinite, of radiance bright.”  Buddhism in Translations

All the objects in the world are of one and the same taste, are of one reality, have nothing to do with the modes of particularization, and are not of dualistic character.  The Awakening of Faith

This lesson tells us that the objective world is quickened by the indwelling Spirit.  The words of truth are life unto every form which they animate.  All words which are spoken in a realization of the Divine Nature are words of truth, and all such words give life. ”It is the spirit that quickeneth.”  Our lesson also tells us that all objects, that is, the entire objective universe, comes from One Substance.  This Substance is differentiated, that is, manifest in many forms.  It looks as though the cause were dual because the forms are all different, but our lesson clearly states that we must not fall under this delusion which is of a dualistic character, but, rather, penetrate the Unity back of all form.  In our text from Buddhism, we have the idea that there is a place where both the objective name and form cease to exist as things in themselves.  There is an invisible consciousness which radiates all forms.  This does not mean a denial of the objective world, but, rather, an affirmation that is an effect projected from, by, and within a transcendent cause which has complete control over it.

I know that I understand how to speak the word of truth.  I know that the invisible Power of the Spirit is with me.  I know that my world is peopled with forms of light, with the Divine Radiance.  I know that I am a perfect being, living under perfect conditions with other perfect beings in a perfect God.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living ” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

JANUARY 17   

I KNOW THAT I LIVE IN THE CHANGELESS REALITY   

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. 

I John 2:17

And the horde of evil passions cannot tarry there, even for a moment.

Hymns of Mahayana Faith

All that is with you passeth away, but that which is with God abideth.  The Koran

Neither the Will of God nor the Nature of God can change.  Reality is the same ‘yesterday, today and forever.”  That which was is, and that which is, will remain.  Man’s nature is spiritual.  The only thing about him that can change is that which ought not to be permanent.  We are changeless beings living in a changing world.  Thus all of our experiences are bound together on a thread of continuity which Lowell called “the thread of the All-Sustaining Beauty which runs through all and doth all unite.”  It is wonderful to know that something permanent, substantial and eternal stands in the midst of our being, and, I believe, watches with joy the eternal change taking place.  To the Spirit these changes are merely variations of experience.  The Spirit is never caught, tied or bound.  Ugliness may seem to exist for a brief moment but Beauty, like Truth, endures forever.  All that is evil passes; as our Hymn of faith says, it cannot exist even for a moment when faced by the Divine Reality.  Everything that we now experience objectively will change, as it ought to, “… but that which is with God (of good) abideth.”

I know that I live in a changeless Reality.  I am not disturbed by the passage of time, the movement around me, nor the variations of experience through which I go.  Something within me remains immovable and says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”  This “I Am” which is God within me, is substantial, changeless and perfect.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living ” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

JANUARY 16   

THE PEACE AND THE POWER OF A CONSCIOUS RECOGNITION OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE IS WITH ME TODAY

Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  II Corinthians 3:17

There is an originating and all-comprehending (principle) in my words, and an authoritative law for the things (which I enforce).  The Texts of Taoism

My fifth name is All good things created by Mazda, the offsprings of the holy principle.  The Zend-Avesta

We all desire to experience liberty, and to know that the all-comprehensive Mind and Principle is in the very words we speak.  The Zend-Avesta tells us that all good things are created by Mazda (the principle of light).  Here we have a concept of liberty, of light and of freedom accompanying our words; a Divine Authority imparting a creativeness to our thought.  The creative power of Spirit is in our word in such degree as we become conscious of Spirit.  We know that words of love overcome thoughts of hate.  We know that peace will heal confusion, and that a sense of power will overcome the belief of weakness.  All our work should be built upon the supposition that good overcomes evil, not by combating, but by transcending it.  The noncombativeness of Spirit is the principle back of the law of nonresistance which Jesus so plainly taught.  The Spirit has no opposites; It is always joyous, perfect and free.  There is no difference in the essence between our spirit and the Spirit.  The spirit of man is the Spirit of God in man – the two are one.

The peace and the power of the Divine Presence is with me today.  Therefore, I walk calmly, knowing that I am enveloped in the Divine Presence.  I am fully conscious that my word liberates every bondage, whether it be in myself or in others. I know that my word is the law of good automatically executing itself, irresistibly proclaiming itself; inevitably fulfilling itself.

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living ” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

JANUARY 15   

THERE IS A SUBTLE POWER WITHIN ME – THE ESSENCE OF SPIRIT   

For, lo, he that formeth the mountains and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name.  Amos 4:13

From Him is the seed of all things, and it is He that upholds the Earth with all her mobile and immobile creatures.  Mahabharata

The Atman (the real self) is permanent, eternal and therefore existence itself.  Raja Yoga

The great prophet Amos tells us that The God of hosts is the name of the Power that forms the mountains, creates the winds, and declares Its presence in the sanctuary of our own thought.  This poetical description of Spirit brings a sense of lightness, of peace and of transcendent joy.  He seems to have lifted the load of life in his declaration that the Spirit treads upon the high places of the earth.  This transcendent thought of God should ever be with us, and, like Jesus, we should walk over the waves of human disturbance rather than being submerged by them.  Again, our lesson tells us that the Atman, which means the real self, is eternal and permanent, and here the text swings into the profound observation that Spirit exists within Itself.  This has a definite meaning in demonstration.  Life does not depend upon something outside itself, but immediately precipitates itself in our experience when we recognize it.  It is this divine recognition which gives us transcendent power and we may rely upon this law for it is absolute.  “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”

There is a subtle power within me, the essence of Spirit.  I am sustained.  I am guided.  I am kept in the way of peace, prosperity and joy.  Every atom of my being is vibrant with life, alive with deathless self-existence.  There is something within me today which sings a celestial song, which exalts.  This song finds its echo in everything I do, causing the deaf to hear, the blind to see, and awakens the paralysis of fear into life and action.   

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living ” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker

JANUARY 14   

TODAY, I AM RESOLVED TO SEE ONLY THE GOOD

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces.  Psalm 107:14

“Sin is an obstruction in the heart; an inability to feel and comprehend all that is noble, true and great, and to take part in the good.”  If man is to be free from sin, his mind and heart must be opened to the influence of enlightenment.  The Talmud

In the world there is nothing absolutely bad; Know, moreover, evil is only relative.  The Masnavi I Ma’Navi

We all wish to be brought out of darkness into the light.  To be free from the bondage of fear, superstition and want, the mind must be riveted on freedom.  The thought must rise transcendent over bondage.  If we do this, we are brought from the shadow of darkness into the light of the glorious freedom of the sons of God.  The Talmud tells us that if we would be free from sin (mistake) the mind and heart must be open to enlightenment.  Ignorance of the truth is the great sin or mistake from which spiritual enlightenment alone can give freedom.  But what is spiritual enlightenment other than an increasing capacity consciously to become aware of the Divine Presence as peace, joy and harmony.  Our lesson tells us that “… evil is only relative.”  This is a blessed assurance that no matter what the so-called evil of limitation may look like, it is an effect, blown across the pathway of our experience by ignorance.  If we are to know the truth that makes us free, we must first recognize the essential non-reality of evil as being a thing within itself; we must equally know the essential absolute reality of good, not only as the Supreme Beneficence, but as the Absolute Power.

Therefore, today I am resolved to see only the good; and whenever evil, in the form of lack, fear, pain or uncertainty presents itself; I shall endeavor instantly to recognize its native nothingness; to know that it is entirely relative.  I shall make every effort to see through this limitation to That which is boundless and free.  I shall proclaim the glad tidings of the freedom of the kingdom of God in my experience, and in the experience of everyone I contact.   

Taken from “ 365 Days of Richer Living ” by Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker