The Pathway of Roses/A Sublime State of Existence

by Christian D. Larson

CHAPTER XVII

A SUBLIME STATE OF EXISTENCE

There never existed an awakened soul that did not believe in a spiritual state of being; and there never existed a soul in any condition of human understanding that did not have glimpses, at times, of what appeared to be another world. To those who had simply gained the simplest form of human consciousness, this other world seemed to be far away, a place we could not inherit until we had taken our departure from this visible state of existence; but to those who were on the verge of spiritual consciousness, this other world was not a far away place. Those awakened souls could discern that it was a spiritual realm in which all might dwell to-day—the kingdom of heaven that is ever at hand.

This other world is the soul of the universe, permeating the limitless vastness of the entire cosmos. It is the sublime essence of all reality, the real reality of all that is; it is the infinite spiritual sea in which we live and move and have our being, the divine counterpart of everything that was, is, or is to be. It is that world which we find on the supreme heights of all existence, and is therefore the cosmic world, orderly, harmonious, complete, perfect, transcendent, infinite, divine. To live in this cosmic world is to view the entire universe from the heights, and from that sublime view everything is beautiful and all is good. Therefore, the life of the cosmic is a life of perfected being, everlasting peace and eternal joy. It is the life victorious—the life of the spirit—that every exalted soul has revealed to man, but it is not a life that is apart from personal existence; it is the soul of personal existence.

The cosmic world permeates the physical world as spirit permeates substance; and what the physical world is to the body, the cosmic world is to the soul. According to the true purpose of life, the body should live in the physical world, enjoying everything that is good and beautiful in personal existence; while the soul should live in the cosmic world, enjoying everything that is good and beautiful in spiritual existence. This is complete existence, but the soul cannot consciously live in the cosmic until it is awakened, or until it has become conscious of its own exalted divinity.

The awakening of the soul into the world of its own spiritual nature, will not deprive the body of anything that is worthy in physical life. We are not required to leave the physical to enjoy the spiritual, nor is it necessary to sacrifice anything that can add to the welfare of the body in order to inherit the riches of the soul. The greatest good comes into the whole of life only when the body lives a complete physical life and the soul a complete spiritual life. The soul cannot fully express itself unless physical existence is all that it can be on the physical plane, and the body is not fully alive until the soul is awakened on the spiritual plane. We do not appreciate the beauty of the physical until we are illumined by the light of the spiritual, and we cannot comprehend the marvellousness of the visible world until we can see its splendor and vastness from the supreme heights of the cosmic world.

We must live in the cosmic world before we can live real life in any world. It is the soul of existence that unfolds the real beauty, the real worth and the real joy of every form of existence, but we do not become conscious of the soul of existence until we begin to live in the cosmic world. We cannot realize the fullness of life until we live in the source of life, and the source of life is spiritual. All life comes from above, therefore the nearer we live to that which is above, the more life we shall receive until we inherit real life itself—the life of the spirit—the life that is lived in the full consciousness of divine being. When we live almost wholly in the personal we live only in part, but when we live in the full consciousness of the spiritual as well as the personal, that which is in part passes away and the limitless life is realized instead. It is then that we inherit the life more abundant, and everything that life has the power to give.

To live in the cosmic world is to realize the purity and the absoluteness of the spiritual, the divinity of man's real nature and the absolute perfection of his true being. It is to know the truth about man—the truth that he is created in the image and likeness of God, and it is the knowing of this truth that makes man free, that produces complete emancipation. To enter into the cosmic world, therefore, is to enter into freedom, health, harmony and wholeness, and, in brief, everything that promotes the highest good for body, mind and soul. The cosmic life is the apex of all ascending life, the fulfillment of every true desire in life, the realization of everything that is ideal in life, the attainment of the one supreme goal in the living of divine life. To live in the cosmic is to live in the world of the great within, in the highest state of being, in the life of the soul, in tune with the Infinite, in the secret places of the Most High.

To enter the cosmic world is to ascend to the heights and live the spiritual life. The living of the spiritual life means the overcoming of spiritual death, and it is spiritual death that must be overcome before man can receive his inheritance, here or hereafter. The phenomena of physical death need not concern us; its coming produces no permanent effect upon real existence, nor is anything gained by prolonging personal existence so long as the soul is dead to spiritual existence. It is spiritual life that gives real worth to personal life, and it is the life of the living soul that prolongs indefinitely the life of the living body.

When the soul is not awakened, consciousness lives in a condition of spiritual death and mental darkness. The mind is deprived of the guidance of the spirit, and therefore follows blindly the changing desires of the flesh, those desires that are suggested by the world of things. In consequence, the person is almost buried in materiality, and goes wrong more frequently than otherwise, usually not knowing the reason why. The result is sickness, trouble and adversity, or the sum total of the ills of life. The real cause of all these ills is spiritual death, and the great, infallible remedy is the spiritual life. The ills of life are produced by the mind going wrong, but the mind will not go wrong when it is led by the spirit, and the mind invariably is led by the spirit when we live in the life of the spirit.

The higher we ascend in the true light of the spiritual life the more clearly we can see how to so live that we may be in perfect harmony with all the principles and laws of life. Our sins will cease, our mistakes will diminish, and consequently, ill effects will become more and more insignificant until we can truthfully say that we have gained complete emancipation. When we live in the spirit we live in the light, and when we live in the light we will not go wrong. We can then see where to find the greatest good, and no person will seek the lesser after having learned where to find the greater.

When consciousness acts almost entirely in conditions of spiritual death, nearly every action is at variance with the true order of things; in consequence, confusion, darkness and the downfall of the person follows. We always go down when darkness becomes our only guide, and as the spiritual light is the only guiding light, we will continue to go down so long as the spirit is not awakened. When spiritual death begins, downfall begins, not only in the lives of individuals, but also in the lives of nations, races and systems of thought. Therefore, the overcoming of spiritual death is the great hope of the world. It is this alone that can lead us out of the Egypt of sin, sickness, adversity and pain, into the promised land of peace, wholeness, happiness, freedom, power and truth. It is the awakening of the spirit that will take men and nations out of the powers of darkness, and place the whole of mankind upon those sublime heights where we shall live a life that is befitting the Sons of God.

The spiritualization of the world means the real salvation of the world; not salvation for the future alone but also salvation from sin, sickness and adversity now. When spiritualization begins, the mind is given a light, and that light invariably leads upward and onward into better things. To spiritualize the mind, the soul must be awakened, and to awaken the soul is to overcome and eliminate the conditions of spiritual death. Then real life begins—the life of an emancipated personal existence harmoniously blended with the life of an exalted spiritual existence. To awaken the soul, every act of consciousness must be animated with a strong, deeply felt desire to reach the heights; the eye must be kept single upon the supreme spiritual goal, and very thought must be formed by the highest spiritual understanding that can possibly be realized. To live must be the one ruling purpose, and that purpose must be inspired by the spiritual touch of that life that we know to be eternal life.

To awaken the soul and illumine the mind with the light of the spirit, one of the great essentials is to live by faith. To live by faith is to place your entire life, and everything that pertains to your life, in the hands of Supreme Power. This means that your life will be drawn towards the heights, because Supreme Power is ever ascending towards greater and greater heights. It also means that all things that pertain to your life will work together for the greatest good, because it is the purpose of Supreme Power to produce the greatest good. Whatever is placed in the hands of this power will be inspired and guided by this power, and consequently will do what this power is doing, that is, working in harmony with everything to produce the greatest good.

The secret of faith is therefore simple, and we can readily understand why all things become possible to him who has real faith. Supreme Power can do all things, and he who has faith places his life, his purpose, his plans, his desires—everything, in the hands of Supreme Power. That he should fail is impossible. When the Supreme is with us nothing can be against us, and the Supreme is with us when we place ourselves absolutely in the hands of His power.

When we live by faith, we are constantly on the verge of the great spiritual world, because the power into which we have given everything, is the power of the spiritual world. We are living, thinking and acting in constant recognition of the Supreme Power of the spirit, and are therefore constantly being touched by the spirit, and there is nothing that is more conducive to spiritual awakening than this tender touch of the spirit. To feel, through and through, that His presence is closer than breathing, nearer than hands and feet, is to arouse every spiritual element in our nature, and the soul will come forth into life clothed with the sublime glory of its own inherent divinity. Then we shall ascend into God's own beautiful world, and the life on the heights will begin.

When the soul discerns that My Father and I are One, the door to the kingdom of heaven within will be opened. To be with God is to be in heaven, and this is a privilege that any soul may enjoy now while yet in personal form.

To simply hope for health and freedom is to remain in our present condition however adverse that condition may be. But when we have faith in that power that can give us health and freedom we enter into the very life of that power, and we are healed at once. Faith moves on and on and enters directly into the very condition that is desired; it never ceases to press on until it is in the presence of that which is wanted, and therefore we can never fail. Hope stands on the outside; faith walks in; hope waits to be guided; faith trusts its own light and proceeds; hope waits for the right opportunity; faith creates its own opportunity; hope waits to see the solid rock appearing from out the seeming void; faith goes out upon the seeming void and finds the solid rock; hope stands upon the earth eagerly looking towards the heavens; faith mounts upon the wings of the spirit and ascends to the highest heavens.