Consciousness As Ruler, Universal And Personal

Our talk for this morning is Consciousness as Ruler, Universal and Personal.

We are going to cover this subject in part, of course, because no topic can be covered entirely in any one talk each time, since you are the ones who give the talk, basically, that which you call forth from me in terms of your need. For this time, this day, this hour, we always cover whatever portion is being stressed by you and each one of you.

And in that manner we all manage to receive the help we want, the help we yearn for, in ways that we little dreamed of at one time.

But the topic is going to be covered in part via Tarot Key Number Four, because in this particular series of talks on my Sundays, you know, I give my talks on the second and fourth Sundays, and our beloved frother, the Reverend Eugenie Mard, my assistant, takes the first and third Sundays. So it's time for me to do the talk on Tarot Key Number Four, which if you will look to To your right, the very first tarot key there, right over my beautiful Fr. David, you will see tarot key number four, the emperor, in all his full regalia and color. Now, Kabbalistically, we want to remember some of the basic meanings, because when we know these basic meanings of each particular flame, the Hebrew Chaldean alphabet, along with the attributions given, we develop this shorthand of consciousness via the tarot and its letterings and symbols so that through this shorthand our consciousness expands expands into a larger capacity to function with the universal life, the universal awareness.

And indeed evolution and expansion of consciousness are developed in this manner. So let's go over a few of the attributions and cover them in practical everyday livingness to see how they apply.

Now the Hebrew letter itself has the meaning window. And as we know, window is something we look out of from a house. Window.

And if you recall, when our beloved Fr. David read to us from the Book of Tokens, he mentioned window and one of its very special meanings.

Now, also because this particular letter and Tarot key are assigned to the astrological sign of Aries, we are dealing with beginnings. And so rulership and beginnings are all correlated with that which we call the divine father. Well, we have here in the emperor one of the symbols of the divine father. And again, we have attribution-wise the phrase, the intelligence or the expression of the kind of consciousness which is called the constituting intelligence and there again we have an indication of the rulership because what the constituting is the word given for the idea of our arranging or rearranging whatever is both inward and outward and so the function of reason In other words, the reasoning capacities are involved with the meaning of this Tarot Key. So we have the reasoning ability, we have the Divine Father, we have the window, we have the constituting intelligence, that is that which has the ability to arrange and rearrange again, tied up with reason.

And then, of course, there are the various attributions in this tarot key that deal with the ability to rule through the symbols in the key itself, as we see. The scepter, the globe being held, the crown, all of these are symbolizing a rulership, and rulership in more than one area. The overlooking of the waters involves the idea that this rulership is ruling the motion of consciousness because water is always symbolizing the substance of consciousness and if you will recall in the book of tokens uh it was mentioned that anything that gives you sustenance is really the substance of the Most High. In other words, there is nothing else. And so in this beautifully exalting poetic way, we are reminded that we can't get away from that which is actually beyond us because it is not only within us, but it keeps nourishing us from the within even though we feel that we are chasing it with our minds, with our consciousness.

In other words, we aspire. We aspire towards the divine. We aspire towards the ability and the capacity to have greater control over our environment, over the world, over life, over our consciousness. And this very aspiration, which is an essential, keeps us in that state of attitude as though we are chasing something.

And yet, as we chase and chase, we cannot catch, because we get the idea that what we are chasing is something that's outside. And so we can chase from now through eternity, and eternity, remember, has no finish to it. We can do just that, chasing on and on and on, and accomplishing nothing in essence, or accomplishing nothing as far as actually grasping, catching, getting hold of anything that would seem or be substantial, because of the fact that we are, again, although we don't realize it usually, usually we are thinking or feeling that we are going to get something from the outside. However, we are reminded in this very meditation that though we chase this wonder, this miracle, if you please, this essence, this beginning of all beginnings, this glory, it is inside of us, even though we can never catch it. And not only is it inside of us, it abides there and it nourishes us.

So it's both inside and it's outside. It feeds. What is it that it feeds us with? You know, we have to understand the symbology of these ageless truths which have been handed on to us through these countless generations. Generations. What is it then, basically, that is feeding us? The very substance of consciousness itself, because there is not else. Now, the substance of consciousness is what? It is the ability to experience what we see. And here is where we come to the idea of the window. Because you see each one of us looks out at the world through the window pane with whatever colorations, with whatever purity this glass has or warping. Have you ever tried looking out of a glass that's kind of old and dashed, knocked around and in pretty bad shape? It's rough, isn't it? We try driving a car through a windshield that's not only full of all of these various cracks, but also has oil and dirt and dust and let's call it gunk.

That's a good word, isn't it? I think it's expressive.

And you know what happens?

We try to drive a car through this type of window because a windshield is also a window. Now, we have to come to understand and recognize the fact that at all times, especially when we are within an incarnation in a physical body, we are looking out at the world, at other people, at other creatures, at all creation, at the entire universe. We are looking through a window and it's a very special kind of window it's the window of us in other words, whatever we see whatever we see we get the idea that that's something separated absent and that we are not responsible for what we are seeing this is where the greatest delusion comes in because just as it was mentioned and there's meditation that we can chase and chase yet not catch this divinity. It still abides within us and is nourishing us. Well, we, as parts of this substance, actually, then, are nourishing ourselves because the true I, the true ruler, is the eternal part of our being.

We are nourishing ourselves with what we take into ourselves in the way of seeing this is one of the messages one of the most vital messages of this Tarot Key and as you are trained to work with each of the Tarot Keys in the lesson to receive at home through the mail you come to recognize this more and more by working with the idea and testing it with your reason because remember the reasoning faculty cannot be laid aside in true mystical development. Those who lay it aside always wind up in a world of unreality. And it turns out that their window is very warped indeed and full of this gunk and what not and which not. That it has been working with. In fact, the very interference with vision has to do with taking in the wrong kinds of nourishment because of a lack of proper reasoning faculty. You know, in physical seeing, it is certainly understood today that we do not see things exactly as they are from the moment we're born.

We have a pair of eyes.

And indeed, this pair of eyes gives us the registration of vibrations, which is light in this Tarot key, also as the first sign of the zodiac is alluded to as the basic rising sign that is rising at six in the morning. This is certainly, this is so in the equinox, in the spring equinox, the vernal equinox.

Now, this aspect of seeing, learning how to see then, has to do with how we are going to reason out what takes place. Because, you know, until you have learned how to see, you will misinterpret things, and we all did this.

I remember when I was a child, when the Victrola was put on, and I would listen to all of these various voices. I remember one was Caruso's, this glorious singing, and there was all kinds of singing, there was music, and it was a very great puzzle to me, trying to figure out where these people who did the singing were hiding. And when no one was looking, I tried peeking around the back and looked underneath to see if I could find who was hiding. I must have been about three or four years old, but I remember it well, discovering that it wasn't coming from anyone hiding there. This was a great puzzlement to me. And yet today we all think we understand when we turn on a radio or play the Victrola that we understand what it's all about but not really completely we misinterpret what we hear we misinterpret what we see we certainly know that when we watch the sun it appears to move yet we know our reasoning capacities have corrected this so that we know by reason we tell ourselves by now we say it almost subconsciously we say no the sun isn't really rising and setting and moving it is our planet earth that is revolving and makes it appear that way and because we have learned how to reason correctly we can do such fantastically magnificent things like go to the moon.

And it is magnificent because everything that occurs in the outer world has its significance in what has already taken place on the inner worlds. And the inner worlds are the worlds of consciousness because consciousness is the creator. That's why consciousness is the ruler. Because consciousness rules what it creates can change its creation and each one of us are busy doing just that as the spirits so in our ability to see to look through a window what we discover is that what we're seeing is something so different in any case you know you have heard me give the the example of the little dog I had before this one that I've just now been blessed with, my little dog, Tzadi.

I was forever raving about her magnificent and absolute and perfect beauty.

And one very near and dear friend was forever trying to argue with me about this, trying to point out to me that Tzadi was not beautiful.

And of course, my answer was a click of my tongue and a shaking of my head and a saying to her in a loving, teasing way, My, how unspiritual can you get? It takes spirituality to see beauty.

This is in the eyes of the beholder. And of course, when we look with the eyes of God, by training ourselves so to see, we see what others do not see when they are looking through dirty windows, through dirty windshields, through impurities, through the nonsense that covers the eyes, the ability to see. For example, I can't begin to tell you how many people each May and June I hear say, isn't this a terrible day, look how gray it is. Now every single May and June in this area we have these beautiful glowing silvery days I hope you heard me we have these beautiful glowing silvery days and yet each year regularly I see the expressions and I listen to the unhappy voices about those who are complaining about these gray days as those being some gray is something terrible you know in occultism gray on the qabalistic tree of life is assigned to the divine father see it up there the as you the very second sefiroth number two that's hokman that is divine father the divine masculine and that's also one of the symbols relating to the emperor that we're discussing.

So here we have a situation outside where the rulership of our own consciousness is involved as to how we are going to see.

I hope that you're noticing that very carefully because it is the rulership within us that attends to that glass, that window and therefore sees either correctly or sees with all the dirt the sludge the the debris from the motion of evolution or shall we say riding in the chariot or the car now what's wrong with a day that gleams like silver where it's really not too hot and not too cold for the type of temperature the lord of life has decided our physical body shall have when we get to say say September and have one of those real good super heat waves with the Santa Annas and the golden, glowing golden sun has been shining and shining and shining, we'll start moaning and groaning about that horrible hot sun that we're moaning and groaning about now because because of saying it's apparent absence.

You see now, what is it that is seeing? Our own consciousness sees. And nothing else. There is not else.

Consciousness is the ruler and consciousness sees. And in order to learn how to rule our lives personally, we have to align our seeing, we have to align our consciousness, we have to align our entire beingness with the Universal One, the Divine, the Lord of Life. And then we will be ruling our world in every way.

For example, do we find that people mistreat us very often?

All right, let's examine it in terms of this principle. If we find that people are mistreating us very often, occasionally everybody is supposed to be mistreated, we would never appreciate being treated well. It's one of God's blessings. I'm just talking about if it seems it's being overdone. Now, I hope you realize it is one of God's blessings. How would you appreciate a friend if you haven't been betrayed? And usually we start taking things for granted, you know. And when we take things for granted, it's always a good thing that we lose it. This is divine love and divine grace. Because then we discover that this is a little too precious and we must never take it for granted. You never know when it might just go down that river of consciousness and suddenly we'll discover we didn't want to be without that after all. And so that not only must we recognize this principle but what we must recognize also is that the life that seems to continuously get itself in hot water and especially when it's the same pattern in hot water actually has to stop rushing after that fugitive that you don't catch, trying to find out what's wrong out there, but start looking to that in us which is the real ruler, which builds, and see what attitude, what thought, what are we seeing?

What is our basic habit pattern involved in the way we see? When we recognize that and go to work to change it, then and only then do we develop this control, this rulership, where our outer conditions start to reflect the inner because it is the inner that is the builder. It is the inner that is the ruler.

Whatever happens out there, our very reaction to it has to do with what we decide or how we decide to react. If we decide we're going to permit ourselves to feel insecure then we are going to find that all the conditions outside will develop in order to bring that insecurity into manifestation because we have been building this we are the rulers and we we are ruling not only our today because the today that we rule has to do with our reaction to what's there but we are also ruling what has not yet happened outside you know and this is something that we so very rarely seem to realize we rule tomorrow and we rule tomorrow today you know when we say well if you want things to be all right think good you know it sounds a little trite and it isn't that easy as a matter of fact it's why the wise ones have given us tarot they've given us the qabalistic tree of life they've given us these initiatory processes by which we can be aided by having the group force that makes us more open to the divine power for change because we know that all our work are changing habit patterns, though we do well today, tomorrow, for a minute or an hour or two.

We keep falling down into the old patterns unless we have something to help us. And that help is there because it's in us and it's also given to us as nourishment by the divine, nourishment of consciousness by guiding us to the teaching the teacher, the group where we can receive the help as we learn to become rulers of all that is rulers of all that is for us because again, let's examine this window through which we look out at life Now, if we are, for example, in our work or in our home, it really doesn't matter where it is, if we are, say, perfectionists, which many of us are, and are involved with others who simply are not perfectionists, we aren't all the same nature or have the same temperament, if we were and did, you know how boring life would be in any case, it would be boring for both the unevolved and the evolved because the unevolved wouldn't find as much to pick on and they would be very miserable not having others to criticize and the evolved would find themselves very bored because they wouldn't have enough of the variety with which to give praise to the Lord of Life so in either case one to complain, the other to praise we always know we certainly don't want everyone to be the same.

Still, we do have these conditions we run into, as I was saying, like suppose we're perfectionists and either at work or at home we are involved with one or more who are not perfectionists. Well, now, are we going to permit ourselves to work ourselves up into a good emotional stew, you know, that's what you call self-cooking.

This emotional stew, not only getting the steam to go full force, but actually reducing us to something less than comfortable. You know, it's very uncomfortable to be on the, what do they call it, on the heating element. Element, it's very uncomfortable indeed. It's always nicer to be right near it and just let it warm us. But being in the pot is not to be recommended.

And yet we jump ourselves into the pot continuously, rather regularly. Because just look, what good are we going to do? Let's look at the situation. What good are we going to do the situation, whether it's home or work, if we, number one, permit ourselves to get all worked up into this emotional torrid heat and thereby experience all the discomforts and the physical repercussions as well as the mental-emotional repercussions of such a state, as well as affecting the other people adversely so that those who originally would have been loving us run from us like you know what. Because if there's anything that's uncomfortable to be around, it's someone who is being critical of us even if they're not voicing it.

Because remember, we pick up the emanations, we pick up the vibrations, which means what? Does it mean we should not be aware? Remember this emperor reason has to be aware it has to see clearly but there's a difference between seeing clearly and yet ruling our own responses by saying so that's an infant I'm going to have to cope with it the best way I can and if I'm able to correct it successfully constructively so I will do that is one thing and that is one of the way to handle it in the in the manner required or if we attempt to jump in there to reform you know it has been said the lord preserve us from reformers and many such things when I was quite a youngster I I was uh very fanatically inclined towards reformism does that surprise you maybe I shouldn't confess this but it's good to have been everything because only then do we understand it especially the only then perhaps do we find out what doesn't work now I'm not saying that I completely overcame the reformers tendencies you understand I mean I don't want to go that far but because perhaps what we should say is that we sometimes become become wise enough to stop attempting reforms in the areas that won't work and go to work in those areas that have a chance.

You see, you have to take your calculated risks. And so if I want to be thoroughly honest with you, which of course I do, you believe me.

There was a question in somebody's mind saying, hi, you with your subtleties. Yes. Yes, the truth of the matter is that I am still a reformer, but fanatical? Well, if I was, I wouldn't admit it.

And I would try to prove to you it ain't so, to use the lingo, as they say.

But, you see, the one thing I did find out, and I was so happy I did, as a toddler, was that wanting to reform the world simply gets you exactly 100% no place.

The fact that the world needs to improve is beyond question.

We look out at the world, we see some pretty raw stuff, without any doubt. Certainly children on a rampage, and that's the unevolved, the young souls, children on a rampage are quite trying.

Let's admit this. But you know, parents don't disown them. And so if we remember we are one with the universal mind, we won't disown them either. But you see, when you are a reformist at heart, which I have not admitted I really am very much, just maybe a little I'm admitting at the moment, and you discover you simply can't reform the outside and the ways that seemed obvious through the window you looked at before.

You start analyzing it from terms of your own insides. Again, you go to that which does the real seeing and to that which rules, that truly rules.

And then we come to discover, or at least I hope I discovered, I know that I experienced in the depths of my soul the realization that those who love God and love humanity are absolutely driven by the love of their soul to do something, to help improve to aid evolution to give to help do something which some may call a reformer or having a reformist complex some might say it's a messiah complex you know if they wanted to be unkind and yet every truly spiritual soul has a yearning to help bring about this extra richness this goodness this growth to to those who are their brethren and all of life is the brethren to one who has experienced god now then the question is what do we do because you know we all keep running into the situation in work as I said at home and all relationships relationships where we are in this conflict we don't know what we should be doing about various situations we feel we ought to do something and yet if we do we're risking the relationship we're risking the job or sometimes we feel well I should but I'm a coward I don't dare risk the relationship and so some of some people appease instead of attempting to improve the situation and those who do a lot of appeasing secretly start hating the people they have to appease and so you see it's the whole rulership of consciousness is not being utilized properly it's going off into these these nonsensical areas now then but when we recognize the fact that that the one way we help everyone, even those who aren't being helped on the outside or do not appear to be helped on the outside, the one way we help everyone is by starting with the first steps and then proceeding from there, using our reasoning faculty in harmony with the way the universal law has been laid down by the one divine life.

That one way, step number one within the way, or you might call it A, B, C, D, if you wish, within that number one, is to see, again we're thinking of that window, to see all of humanity as they really are, not as we have been interpreting them with the incorrect reasoning. And so we change the seeing from thinking of people as what has been called SOBs, and there are other choice words where they don't use the initials in order to be delicate in relation to people. Instead of seeing them in these terms we see them as I always love to remind you this is dr. Case used to point out as different degrees of ripeness or a lack of ripeness on this tree of life you know and his favorite expression dealt with this green apple on the tree of life in a way and reminding us of what it tastes like and what happens to us when we bite into a green apple you know we sure get a tummy ache and so there are green apples on the tree of life and an unripe child of God is certainly going to be awfully sour to bite into we're smart if we don't bite them in more ways than one now then seeing other individuals as well as certain portions of our own nature as just simply being unripe or children or infants keeps us from reacting in the ways we react when we think of them as you-know-whats, all those initials.

Can you see this point? There's such a difference. It has to do with our ruling our own personal response. It's ruling the way we see. It is basically making ourselves rule the way we see.

Now that does not mean then that we do not take action. Because, for example, if a green apple or, say, somebody that's immature or a child is going to go about breaking up my furniture or some delicate vase, china vase, I'm sure as heaven going to stop that child, aren't you? And say, hey, you cut that out. Now that's a very precious vase. And if the child continues, I will use brute, I can't use brute force. That's only for men, isn't it? Now, yeah, well, I'll use bina force. That's much more dangerous.

They say the most dangerous thing in the universe is a woman. I mean, you know, that's much more dangerous.

The feminine type of force, whichever, because it's the feminine principle, it's really the discipline factor, though we don't recognize this. You've heard me talk of it before. At any rate, we certainly are going to stop the green apples or the immature ones from smashing our furniture, which means smashing things that are important to us. We're going to do it in such a way that though that will be effective we're not just going to sit around making ourselves ill now if we see this is a child that just has all this energy and has got to um get it out of the system we have to do what we're doing with my uh gorgeous adorable shalom you know that's my new most perfect beautiful precious adorable wonderful marvelous puppy that the lord of life ever created You know, don't you argue with me that yours is.

Because I'll say you don't see right. You have to learn.

There's no prejudice allowed in this temple.

And this puppy of ours, you see, it's at the age, he will be 12 weeks old tomorrow. He will have the birthday party 12 weeks old tomorrow. Tomorrow. And so what we do, we got one of those little gates that we put across the kitchen door. And he can't come into, you know, he has all this energy and he wants to chew everything, which is fine. This is right. It would be wrong if you and I wanted to chew everything, wouldn't it? What would we think of each other, you know, going around chewing each other's furniture or books? You know, it just simply wouldn't do it our age now but for a puppy who is teething it's exactly right and proper however I'm not permitting this most gorgeous perfect wonderful precious oh I said that so we have this gate across the door and we've given him all kinds of lovely things to chew on all little chew things and much more than one thing so if he gets tired of one suddenly he has other things and even some things when he chews them and bites them they squeak at him so he can fight back.

So we're even permitting him a fight with a rubber mouse. He growls and barks and squeezes and he thinks that the mouse has growled back and he's learned that he can control this dangerous rubber mouse.

You see, he's become a ruler and let me tell you, he exercises that rulership just fabulously. You see and yet he's being kept from being damaging where it's important now it's good for us to chuckle together but this isn't just sharing you know the the joy of uh the puppy which is also part of what we're doing we're gathering the spiritual message here and it's a very very important spiritual message we're gathering because we are gathering a real hint which is more than a hint as to how we must handle ourselves and other individuals and life and conditions without all of this upset. Now, do I get upset when I watch the little puppy in there chewing away and tearing up some of the things? He's been given these things to chew and tear. I think he's being utterly adorable, and that's going to help give him good, healthy teeth. When he loses the baby teeth, you know he's getting ready for good healthy tea so when we watch immature souls hooping it up with each other or with things that are not damaging we say good the repercussions of this chewing even if it's indigestible which it usually is when they're young souls or you know unevolved in some area they will suffer the karmic repercussions which will help them to grow up It's the same thing you use the analogy and it's extraordinarily the same that way by seeing it in this way We save ourselves the physical damage of getting our glands all up Bumbled that sends the chemicals through our bloodstream which arrests the proper function of the brain Which keeps our divine consciousness from using this brain and body as its instrument because we have up the window when we permit ourselves to see and react you know with this anger reform then what do we reform what should I try to reform that puppy from biting of course not and this is the thing it's that puppy is going to grow out of his biting when he has no that is the wrong things except his own food which will nourish him when the time is ripe in the same way you see we every single one of us must come to the realization that when other people are not behaving in the ways in our personal lives in the ways that we want or need if we can keep our responses controlled, if we can rule our responses and see that they have to be the way they are, if we can do those things that will help us protect ourselves from the immaturities without the unwholesome reactions, can't you see that we are building our tomorrows in this way?

Because then our tomorrow is going to be full of the ability and capacity to attract those souls that are more in harmony with us.

We will have less of the problems because we will have been ruling the only place, the only area that's ruleable for us. And of course when we get to the point where we have been able to truly rule ourselves and been tested in this rulership and the testing doesn't come from some terrible outside it's from the divine essence of us inside our own being when we have been tested in our responses to all these situations often enough where we certainly have arrived at the strength and this true rulership then we have the right the privilege to become reformers except that we do not attempt the reforming in the ways that the world does. What we do is continue ruling our own insides, and the Lord of Life then brings us into that portion of life that karma has, shall we say, built, and this time the karma then has built something very lovely, a privilege, the privilege of pouring the love, the wisdom, the knowledge, whatever it is we've learned, and we've always learned it the hard way, you know, we then have the ability, the capacity to influence the evolution of the rest of the world.

And that is rulership indeed. Because just think, to the degree then, that we are first able to rule our own reactions, our thinking, our feeling, and therefore the building of our environment and relationships. And then are able to start sharing, to feeding our brethren, those that the Lord of Life, the Holy Guardian Angel, brings. To that degree then, are we becoming divinely participating with the Lord of Life in aiding the evolution of others we we become the nourishers of other people's minds and hearts and souls who are ready to take in this nourishing and then our lives are full of blessing and then to whatever little degree we find we're able to give we give and every one of us here are already able not only to control to rule ourselves in all sorts of ways we certainly weren't able to do ten years ago. Can you imagine how little you were able to rule those portions of your being ten years ago when you compare it to today? And just think the difference in rulership before you came to BOTA and what it is now. Isn't it fantastic? I see all my darlings who've been coming working with it. And then the windows of our world, how they change, how they shine and so beautiful silvery glowing silver days are ours instead of gray glorious golden days are ours instead of torrid hot cooking us a lovely breezes that make love to us become ours instead of horrible winds that disturb the hairdo.

Then people become something so miraculous. And we discover that when we walk into a restaurant and smile, next time we come in, they practically stand on their heads because they're not used to having people smile. People growl at them and say, say, you didn't give me my water.

We discover wherever we go, people are so happy we came.

And in that manner, the very people that are becoming happy that we came there are the ones that are spreading this joy and this light also.

Divine rulership, my darlings, is ours. Deep inside our hearts our spirits it's ours we have the capacity to change every last sorrow and tear by working at being full of joy full of sunshine full of lovingness from within out and my last little note on this talk would be this I ask you what have we got to lose you know doesn't doesn't that give the best part of the argument right there to do this what have we got to lose you know what we've got to lose tears sorrow heartache anger illness loneliness misery This is what we've got to lose, whatever part we have. And you know what, darlings? Let's lose that and gain all through our proper rulership.