SECRETS OF SECRETS MEDITATIONS

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform:
He plants his footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
by
William Cowper

Each of us carries within him the spiritual causes that
determine his destiny. Sometimes these causes are not so
much spiritual as psychological "prompters,"[memories of pain]
and when they become twisted through fear, hate, bitterness,
or resentment our lives can be driven calamitously. But
psychological prompters, no matter how deeply buried in the
subconscious,can be overcome by spiritual understanding.

This understanding may be arrived at by intellectual grasp,
by suffering, or simply by humility, very often by all three,
but once arrived at it is as a new birth of the soul. That
which you fancy yourself to be you never have really been, for
it is a thing that changes with the seasons and alters with
the tides. What you truly are is a permanent thing, changeless,
with its foundations planted in eternity.

To let go of the old self and cleave to the new is the essence
of spiritual growth. This new birth, without which, Jesus said,
a man cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven, completely alters
the world.["You must be born again."]

He who views the world through the ego sees all things as
existing outside himself. He feels separate, isolated, and the
world appears to him as a series of unrelated things and objects
all possessing certain inherent dangers to his own being.

He feels small, harassed, unloved, to him the world seems
cruel and unjust. Yet when he awakens to his true spiritual
self, all the old fears and hates and resentments dissolve.

He then sees his kinship with all things, attains to spiritual
identification with them, grows into a spiritual oneness with
all creation that no longer leaves room for his personal ego
and its wounds and vanities.

By letting go of his small self
he attains to a vast self, a self that encompasses all things.
Then at last he recognizes with Walt Whitman, "The whole theory
of the universe is directed to one individual... namely to You."

It is through spiritual rebirth that we overcome all things.
It is through our growth into the spiritual image of God
that the purpose of life itself is fulfilled. For that purpose
did spirit first become involved in matter, to that end shall
it one day be free.

These then are the steps in the method for mastery over
life. 1. Consecration... a complete focusing of one's self
inward and upward, an absolute concentration of the
individual on his God, on his relationship with the Divine.
2. Surrender... a complete and utter giving of one's self, works,
thought, and will to God, an absolute yielding and submission
to the will of the Divine. 3. Sacrifice... an offering to God
of one's every act, every thought, every desire, in constant
reminder of the relationship that the Divine holds with
each created existence. 4. Love... abandonment of self in a
longing for union with the Divine, an all-pervading and
governing attraction to God in all His forms, works, and
ways, a fusion, a oneness, a wholeness with the Supreme.

This method applied to all works, all knowledge, all
human relationships will carry the individual higher and
higher in a divine self-exceeding,lead him to perform far
above his normal human capabilities, develop depths of
intuition and divination. The psychic being then
will slowly emerge.

In this psychic being will be seen the unveiled
Divine in the impress of human personality. All those vast
fields of consciousness hitherto hidden from us... the
subconscious, numberless planes of mind and being... will
become apparent to the enlightened one.

He will touch that secret place where the original determinant
of things exists. He will understand how to call down to
earth those powers and influences, and he will know that
they, if called down in their entirety, could alter completely
the whole of the universe and all of life.

The end of mastery is the divine life, an earthly existence
lived in fullness, joy, and complete effectiveness. There is
inherent in our natures a perfect Being whose purpose is to
unveil Himself in space and time. Insofar as we allow Him
to totally possess us, that far His image shines through.

And possess us He will in any case; use us He will in any case;
but when we identify ourselves with ego and surface mind,
His being is obscured and we struggle in the grip of forces
we neither control nor understand. It is only by living
through God that our lives take on significance.

If we live in the ego we live for an ephemeral, mortal thing
and we are saddened and frustrated. The divine life is not simply
a spiritual realization that transforms a man's inner world
and leaves the outer unchanged. Such realization would have
but the barest meaning.

Spiritual illumination that has
not the power to effectively change the world is not true
illumination at all, but only a kind of emotional and
intellectual sham, a delusion of the ego still, and worse,
one that chooses death instead of life.

The enlightened man by
special deputation of the Divine is granted the power to act
directly upon things through the power of his consciousness,
not through being opposed to them, but through being one-
souled with them. Through this mystical superseding of the
boundaries of consciousness, what he perceives is what each
thing perceives, and his will and that thing's
will are the same.

God dwelleth always right where thou art
Shed thy ego and thou wilt soon see
Hidden within thy most secret heart
A plan that is perfect for thee

I affirm that my true self is spirit, is not contained
within the limits of my body, had no beginning, will
never end. This thing that I am is a subtle thing,
underlying my ego and my sense of personal self. It is of
such dimensions that I constantly must strive to understand
it. It is not my body, it is not my name, it is not
the identity by which the world knows me. It simply
exists, unchanged by the ever-changing scenes of life,
unaltered by any coloring that my ego may give it. This
is my true Self, and I long to know it. I still the questions
and imagined hurts, the vain goals of the ego. I
slide deep within myself to a pool of consciousness
that rests forever in absolute stillness. In a center as
small as a pinpoint, I find infinity. I look inward, and
there is God. All is contained in this center of consciousness.
Smaller than the small is this pinpoint, yet vaster
than the vast. Here I know myself. I center in God, become
detached from my personal ego. From this vantage point I
am able to look upon all things with love. I
observe my ego as a person apart, with understanding
but with control. I see that I never was what I thought
I was, nor was I ever different than what I truly am.
My consciousness is the consciousness of God. I declare
my unity with Him. I exercise no will in the things
and events of my life, but concentrate always on attunement
with the purpose of God. Insofar as I succeed in
this I cannot fail, for God's purposes surely will be
realized. I subject my ego, I yield my will, I attune
myself to the power that flows heavenward throughout
the universe.

Thou attaineth a deep and abiding bliss
When at last thou art able to see
That the hidden secret of life is this:
God wills. God acts. God lives in thee

I search for the secret of life in depths of my soul. I
retire inward, away from the noises and distractions of
the world. In hidden depths of darkness and peace I
find a core of my being that rests in absolute repose.
There is no motion, no desire, nothing to be hoped for,
nothing to lose. All roads, all paths meet and unite
here. I am the center of the universe. Time and space
are contracted to a moment on a pinpoint. Planets
and stars, the universe itself, are contained in me. I
sense all things to be myself, myself to be all things.
That which lives within me, at the very core of my
being, is that which lives in all others. Only one thing
is at work throughout creation, only one thing lives
in all creatures. This is God. I surrender my ego, give up
my will, give over my life and its works to Him. I
recognize that it is He who wills in me, thinks in me, acts
through me. I shed my ego, divorce myself from any
notion of an isolated self. I open wide the doors to the
power that flows heavenward throughout the universe.
I sense this power pouring through my being, molding,
sustaining, lifting my life. I become an instrument for
the work of the Lord. No more do I impose my will
upon the world and its people. Always I seek the will of
God and attune to it. By becoming one with the will
of my Creator I attain to all power, for the purposes of
God will not be denied. Each day of my life I seek the
support of my vast Self. I discipline myself against the
strident longings and desires of the ego. I seek no
personal glory or profit, but perform all tasks for the
Lord, knowing that He is the task, the performer, and
the taskmaster. All solace, all profit, all glory,
I find in Him.

3THE SECRET OF SECRETS:
MEDITATION ON ACTION

Action to thought is as light to the sun
And is only a visible link
Between the idea and the thing to be done
So listen to God when you think

All about me I see the infinite, eternal movement of
God. In the surge of the sea, the flux of the tides, the
precise patterns of the heavens, I see the purpose and
presence of the Creator. He knows where He is going.
All things, past, present, and future are apparent to
Him. In His infinite wisdom He sees immediately the
thing to be done and the perfect method of doing it.
Therefore I turn over all my actions to Him. No longer
will I he guided in my daily tasks by the wilful prompting's
of the ego, but instead I turn inward to the very
center of my being and listen for the will of God. He is
the master and the mover of my works. He is all that
is, and I am being of His being, power of His power,
conscious only of Him. No more shall I hunger after
the fruits of my labor. They belong to God, and I renounce
all desire for them. I know that God never blunders,
that He never is indifferent, and when it appears
that I have failed in some immediate aim, I know it is
only to prepare myself in the end for some rarer joy,
some truer delight. I open myself to universal power
and joy. I declare there is no limitation, no lack, no
malfunction in my life. A perfect power is governing
all my affairs, pervading my very body. I identify myself
with that which is all-powerful, all-perfect. I throw
off the limitations, hurts, and frustrations of the finite
ego. In the depths of my being I am no longer a name,
a past, a place. I am pure spirit, infinite, eternal,
all-encompassing. That which I truly am I can never cease
to be. I cast aside ego, become one with my Creator,
live in the light and the love of the Lord.

4 THE SECRET OF SECRETS:
MEDITATION ON MASTERY

The ego is only a fakir
Through whose fingers the sands of time sift
'Tis from finding within thee thy Maker
That thou gainest life's most precious gift

I acknowledge the existence of the Divine, and I
dedicate my life to Him. I focus my mind on God each
waking moment, seeking His presence, longing to know
Him. All that I am, my work, my thoughts, my very
being, I consecrate to the Divine. In Him I have my
existence. I see His hand in every flower, hush, tree,
created thing; the warmth of His presence is everywhere.
Into whatever dangers I go, by whatever roads
I travel. He is there. He is my comforter and guide.
I surrender my life to Him, forsake myself, take refuge
in the Supreme. No longer will I struggle with the
events and forces of the world. I accept them, see them
as the divine will working out the thing that needs to
be done. I join forces with God by surrendering to
Him my human hopes and aspirations. I attain
ascendancy over my mental and material mind, over my
individual ego, by making a sacrifice of all my works,
my goals, my thoughts and dreams. I see that all of life
is a sacrifice to the Divine. Through all the confusion
and struggle of ego against ego. He works serenely
toward His ultimate purpose. Nothing is lost, nothing
destroyed, for in reality there is nothing but God.
Upon the altar of His presence I lay my action, my
thoughts, my emotions, my will. By consecration, surrender,
by sacrifice of personal will and vanity, I enter
into a state of pure adoration for that which is true
and eternal. Love grows in me as the ruling passion of
my life, for it is my longing to be reunited with my
Universal Self. I know all things by my oneness with them.
They are me; I am they. We are fused, united, bound
together by divine love.

5THE SECRET OF SECRETS:
MEDITATION ON PEACE OF MIND

At the heart of each storm is a center of calm
Find thy own heart and cease from all fear
No matter the tempest thy strengthening psalm
Ring out, "Peace and be still. God is here."

No matter the chaos in the outer world there is within
me a place of utter quiet and absolute repose. Here, in
the center of my consciousness, my soul meets and
unites with God. Here I know my true self, a spiritual
being that is infinite and eternal and untouched by the
harassments of the world. In time of trouble and trial
I turn within, and my heart and mind and energies
are restored. In the quietness of my room, in my study,
during a solitary walk I let my consciousness drift to
that place of pure being, to that eternal "I" that dwells
in all bodies. No time and space are there, no
separateness, no isolation. All is unity, infinite and eternal.
There is perfect love, perfect wisdom, perfect serenity,
perfect peace. There is no struggle, no pain, no sorrow;
these cannot exist where separateness and time are not.
I see my kinship with all things, with all people, with
all creatures. Envy and hate, vanity and greed are but
errors of the ego which I banish from my life. I live
in the consciousness of God. I am equal-soul ed to all
things, for I am neither better nor worse than any
person who lives. I kiss the feet of beggars, shake the
hand of kings, and it is always the feet of God I kiss,
the hand of God I shake. I banish intolerance, for how
can I be intolerant of that which is made by my Father
and in which my Father dwells? I view all creatures,
all beings with love, for in them I perceive the Divine.
I motivate my life with givingness, with tolerance and
humility, with love. I banish fear, and
peace of mind is mine.

6THE SECRET OF SECRETS:
MEDITATION ON HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Think upon this as a hidden key
To the vault where all secrets lie sealed
Pray for thy neighbor and thou wilt soon see
That the healer when healing is healed

I accept my body as a manifestation of spirit. Spirit
created it, spirit moves it, spirit sustains it. I
know this spirit to be greater than myself, to be an
all-encompassing, divine Presence that inhabits all
creatures, that pervades the universe. My heart beats,
my tissue lives in response to some perfect order, some
supreme harmony, some absolute power. I need not command
the organs of my body to function. Health is mine,
perfect function is mine by the simple surrender of
my will to the Divine. Yet I recognize that the power
of decision remains with me, that I may take a stand,
choose a way, and that universal spiritual power will
then lead me on the path that I have chosen. I therefore
assert that I retain no hidden memories of pain in my
subconscious. I bring up from the dimly remembered
depths of mind all those memories that prompt in
my consciousness feelings of hate, bitterness, anger,
and fear. These negative emotions I cast out of my life
forever. By aligning myself with God, by identifying
my being with His, by becoming one-souled with all
things and all beings, I depose all negative emotions
and enshrine reason in their stead. Reason and
attunement lead me down life's most hazardous paths
with perfect composure and absolute surety. Because of
attunement my body functions in harmony with all
nature. There is perfect assimilation for there is
perfect integration. There is perfect circulation for
there is complete freedom. There is perfect elimination
for there is absolute utility. I follow the path of joy,
for that is the road to attunement. I seek laughter, for
in laughter all bonds disappear. I believe in the great
and good ends of life and of man, and this optimism rules
my existence, leading me into inner peace, perfect
attunement, strength, health, and vigor.

7THE SECRET OF SECRETS:
MEDITATION ON LOVING AND BEING LOVED

A candle burns in the depths of the night
And illumines the path and the goal
With the promise of God to redeem with His light
The lost and the fallen through love of each soul

I affirm my love for God, and in that love I perceive the
truth of God's eternal love for me. I affirm the presence
of the Divine within me, and in the knowledge of that
Presence I sense myself secure forever, enfolded in
everlasting arms. The nature of love is the nature of God;
it is the eternal longing of His parts to he integrated
once again into One. Accordingly, my knowledge of God
depends upon my love for God; and inasmuch as this
love possesses me, I possess it and am illumined.
Therefore I consecrate my life, every fiber of my being
to the Divine. I give all, ask back nothing. Yet what I
give from my small self, that which is incomplete and
finite and microscopic, must in the end be returned to me
a hundredfold from that which is whole and entire and
infinite. All about me I perceive the manifold forms of
the Divine, and I perceive Him dwelling in each. There
are no different selves in the universe, but one Self
only, one sense of being, one awareness, one I, which is
always and eternally God. When I love another, it is
God I love. When I perceive in each form the Presence
that inhabits all forms, then I know the Divine and in
that knowledge I love all and my love is complete. No
longer do I rail against loneliness, for God is within
me. No path is too solitary, no way too deserted that
I may not take it with the joy and knowledge of the
companionship and comfort of the Divine. He guides my
every step. He leads me in all ways. His love working
through me draws my mate to me, cements our relationship,
crowns our union with joy. His love working through
me attracts friends, makes of my life a testimony to
His warmth and everlasting compassion.

8THE SECRET OF SECRETS:
MEDITATION ON SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT

Hast thou searched the far reaches of space
For a chance at a coveted role?
Chance cometh to him who perceiveth the face
Of the indwelling God in his soul

There is a power within me which I can use to overcome
all obstacles, solve all problems, a power that
flows from the farthest reaches of the universe, out of
the infinite, omnipotent mind of God. I give over my
work, its progress and path, to Him. Only He knows the
real purpose and actual nature of the things I do and
the goals I aspire to. Only He can chart a perfect course
to the destined shore. No longer do I allow my little
self to direct my life and work, for in such egoistic
blindness there is only suffering. It is knowledge I seek,
and joy, and I find them through serving the Divine.
No matter the negations I encounter, I see beyond
them, perceive their other face. All serve a purpose,
each is a step in spiritual development, each may be
overcome by an inner perception that springs abundance
out of lack, expansion out of limitation, success out of
failure, victory out of defeat. I know that God is all
things at all times; therefore I affirm the positive. By
divine alchemy I call forth good from evil, not because
I will it, but because I perceive it, because I know that
God reveals to the individual soul that which his
consciousness is able to perceive. My consciousness
surpasses the limitations of ego, soars out to encompass all
beings, all life. I affirm my knowledge of God's manifold
expression, and I accept only good as befits my spiritual
stature. Success is mine, victory, progress,
abundance, and joy.

9THE SECRET OF SECRETS:
MEDITATION ON CREATIVENESS

Creative torrents seek out the mind
Of the man who lives in God's grace
Surge through his being, leaving a kind
Of thought-world laid down in space

I search the inner depths of my consciousness for that
haven of refuge where God and I meet and become one.
The noises and insistencies of the clamoring world fade
away, and I retreat ever deeper, through planes of being
and awareness to a place of utter repose, of absolute
bliss, of complete unity, where all barriers are removed
between myself and the Divine. I lose myself in Him,
and in that losing I find my greater Self; He takes my
being and makes it an instrument of His purpose and
His power. Through my mind and spirit course the
restless surging energies of God, ever unfolding,
dynamically illustrating the manifold sides of His nature.
Whatever impinges itself upon my awareness has a
delicate and mystic meaning, and I am conscious that
nothing is fully developed, finally complete, but that
each thing, event, idea is but a partial revelation of a
hidden and magnificent truth. To the emergence of
this truth I dedicate myself, for I know that concealed
in the heart of each creature is the incarnate God;
through expressing Him I discovery myself. To be is to
be a part of God; but to grow is to become God. To that
growth, to that becoming I consecrate my life. The
apparent duality of my being I surrender as partial
truth. I know that my true self is the Self of the
Divine, the one Self that pervades the universe, that
inhabits every being, that looks out of the eyes of every
man. Through allowing this Self to work through my
nature I truly become creative. I am instrument of the
ultimate artistic sensibility. I know that each soul
aspires to union with its Creator, that each seeks for a
sign of that union through beauty, knowledge, love.
By knowing the Divine and loving the Divine I am
assured that His power will work through me to
illustrate to the world the divinity of man.

10THE SECRET OF SECRETS:
MEDITATION ON STAYING YOUNG FOREVER

Spirit is the mold and flesh is the cast
And flesh is donned like a gown
Styled to fashion and not made to last
Cleave not to flesh for all lay it down

Youth is growth, and growth is the measure of
receptiveness to learning. I therefore open my mind and my
heart to the power for life that pervades the universe,
I open my soul to God. He sustains my being. He uses
me for His ends; in Him I center myself, through Him
I attune to life's purpose. There is a place of pure spirit
at the center of my soul that is timeless, spaceless, and
ageless. I anchor myself there. I resign all attachment
to body and ego. These are but instruments of the
Divine. His spirit is not altered by entering a particular
body, is not changed by the delusions of any ego, but
remains always one and indivisible, above suffering and
pain and effort and strife. Infinite serenity and
omnipotence mark Divine spirit, and they are qualities of
my potential self, for Divine spirit dwells within me.
It is God in me who saves me from the flesh, who
preserves me from death, who gives me immortality. It is
God in me who is strong, wise, omnipotent. I clear the
channels between myself and Him, displace the ego,
make it subservient. My life takes on the luster of Him
who guides it. Joy accompanies me on every quest for
I know that I shall find growth and wisdom. What
strain, what struggle, what pain and hardship can there
possibly be in this life that is but an infinitesimal
second in the eternity of my existence? Never born,
never dying, never aging, the spirit within me
keeps me young forever.

11THE SECRET OF SECRETS:
MEDITATION ON MYSTIC POWERS

Winged thoughts that are loos'd in space
On planes that the eye cannot see
Shape coming events, appoint time and place
For the things that will happen to thee

Behind the world of the senses are higher planes of
consciousness where the true causes of things exist.
I affirm that these higher planes are within me, that
my destiny is to know them, that they will reveal
themselves to me insofar as I surrender my being and will
and purpose to God. I know that the truth of objects
is not completely revealed by my senses, that there
is hidden significance in all things. I know that in
actuality there are no inanimate objects, that each
thing consists of arrested consciousness. I know this
consciousness proceeds out of the mind and being of God,
and that in its pure form it is idea only, awareness
only, similar, even identical to my own. Therefore I
affirm my oneness with all things. In all I perceive the
indwelling Presence. He resides in the tree, the flower,
the bird, the beast, in my neighbor. He is the observer
that sits in the center of each creature, who is never
restricted by the restrictions of form. I am not I in a
true and real sense, but my consciousness is the
consciousness of God. Where I fail to expand to meet
this awareness there I limit myself to the form and
circumstance of ordinary life. Therefore I take refuge
in the body and being of God. I stand apart from my own
strivings and concerns and desires and am not
identified with them, but watch them. They are not me; they
are the warp and woof of life's longing for itself, the
inevitable result of conflict and aspiration and effort
and failure, and though I exist in the midst of all and
participate in all, still I am not touched, and by that
very detachment there is unloosed through my nature
the power and the purpose of the Divine. His vaster
being. His greater consciousness manifest through me.

12THE SECRET OF SECRETS:
MEDITATION ON THE MASTERY OF LIFE

Stand not apart from the Maker of all
'Tis illusion for thee to be awed,
By a spiritual Self that is ten miles tall
He is thee, thou art He, the indwelling God

I resign the dominion of the ego and surrender my life
to God. I renounce the priority of sensual stimuli and
find within my own nature the power to originate
thought, feeling, action. No longer do I exist as reflex
to events around me, but now I take up that larger
existence that descends from higher planes of mind and
spirit. I ally myself with first cause, I identify myself
with God. I make my life a living sacrifice to Him,
surrendering each of my thoughts, feelings, and actions
without desire for their fruits. No longer am I
enamored of the vain desires of the ego. Fame and money
and applause are not ends in themselves, and when
sought as such are traps from which pain and suffering
eventually ensue. I penetrate within myself to that
core of consciousness that is pure being. There I take
refuge, turning away from all strident demands of the
beckoning surface self, yielding my identity to God. Yet
I do not lose it. My "I" remains, is not engulfed, but
now takes on greater awareness, an eternal significance.
I expand outward from the center of myself, beyond
all horizons, beyond all limitations, seeking to include
that which formerly included me, so that I may know
God not only by penetrating Him but also by containing
Him. Thus I am led to a mystic resolution of myself
with the Divine, and He and I become one. By special
deputation from above I am forthwith able to live a
divine life upon earth. I seek not to change that which
is ordained, but only to understand, to possess identical
consciousness with all, and in that identical
consciousness to act in accordance with divine will,
equal-souled to all results, existing always above the
conflict, secure in the knowledge of
union with God.

END

The Secret of Secrets, [meditations] by Uell S. Andersen.

	SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATIONS
	Secrets of Secrets meditation on love. Secrets of Secrets meditation on peace of mind. Secrets of Secrets meditation on mystic powers of the mind.

	The Goal In Life Is To Unite The Conscious Mind With The Soul A journal of one man's path toward spiritual enlightenment by physical and mental purity, fasting, raw food diet, few words, natural living, good works, right thinking, and exhilaration of the mind by following the guidance of the Inner Voice. Please, see "Home" for more information

	PETE'S JOURNAL, December 2004
Update Qtly	www.seekeronline.org	Bottom
	God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform: He plants his footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm. by William Cowper THE CORE OF THE PROBLEM THE SECRET OF SECRETS: SEEDS OF DESTINY by Uell S. Andersen Each of us carries within him the spiritual causes that determine his destiny. Sometimes these causes are not so much spiritual as psychological "prompters,"[memories of pain] and when they become twisted through fear, hate, bitterness, or resentment our lives can be driven calamitously. But psychological prompters, no matter how deeply buried in the subconscious,can be overcome by spiritual understanding. This understanding may be arrived at by intellectual grasp, by suffering, or simply by humility, very often by all three, but once arrived at it is as a new birth of the soul. That which you fancy yourself to be you never have really been, for it is a thing that changes with the seasons and alters with the tides. What you truly are is a permanent thing, changeless, with its foundations planted in eternity. To let go of the old self and cleave to the new is the essence of spiritual growth. This new birth, without which, Jesus said, a man cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven, completely alters the world.["You must be born again."] He who views the world through the ego sees all things as existing outside himself. He feels separate, isolated, and the world appears to him as a series of unrelated things and objects all possessing certain inherent dangers to his own being. He feels small, harassed, unloved, to him the world seems cruel and unjust. Yet when he awakens to his true spiritual self, all the old fears and hates and resentments dissolve. He then sees his kinship with all things, attains to spiritual identification with them, grows into a spiritual oneness with all creation that no longer leaves room for his personal ego and its wounds and vanities. By letting go of his small self he attains to a vast self, a self that encompasses all things. Then at last he recognizes with Walt Whitman, "The whole theory of the universe is directed to one individual... namely to You." SPIRITUAL REBIRTH It is through spiritual rebirth that we overcome all things. It is through our growth into the spiritual image of God that the purpose of life itself is fulfilled. For that purpose did spirit first become involved in matter, to that end shall it one day be free. STEPS TO MASTERY These then are the steps in the method for mastery over life. 1. Consecration... a complete focusing of one's self inward and upward, an absolute concentration of the individual on his God, on his relationship with the Divine. 2. Surrender... a complete and utter giving of one's self, works, thought, and will to God, an absolute yielding and submission to the will of the Divine. 3. Sacrifice... an offering to God of one's every act, every thought, every desire, in constant reminder of the relationship that the Divine holds with each created existence. 4. Love... abandonment of self in a longing for union with the Divine, an all-pervading and governing attraction to God in all His forms, works, and ways, a fusion, a oneness, a wholeness with the Supreme. This method applied to all works, all knowledge, all human relationships will carry the individual higher and higher in a divine self-exceeding,lead him to perform far above his normal human capabilities, develop depths of intuition and divination. The psychic being then will slowly emerge. In this psychic being will be seen the unveiled Divine in the impress of human personality. All those vast fields of consciousness hitherto hidden from us... the subconscious, numberless planes of mind and being... will become apparent to the enlightened one. He will touch that secret place where the original determinant of things exists. He will understand how to call down to earth those powers and influences, and he will know that they, if called down in their entirety, could alter completely the whole of the universe and all of life. THE LIFE DIVINE The end of mastery is the divine life, an earthly existence lived in fullness, joy, and complete effectiveness. There is inherent in our natures a perfect Being whose purpose is to unveil Himself in space and time. Insofar as we allow Him to totally possess us, that far His image shines through. And possess us He will in any case; use us He will in any case; but when we identify ourselves with ego and surface mind, His being is obscured and we struggle in the grip of forces we neither control nor understand. It is only by living through God that our lives take on significance. If we live in the ego we live for an ephemeral, mortal thing and we are saddened and frustrated. The divine life is not simply a spiritual realization that transforms a man's inner world and leaves the outer unchanged. Such realization would have but the barest meaning. Spiritual illumination that has not the power to effectively change the world is not true illumination at all, but only a kind of emotional and intellectual sham, a delusion of the ego still, and worse, one that chooses death instead of life. The enlightened man by special deputation of the Divine is granted the power to act directly upon things through the power of his consciousness, not through being opposed to them, but through being one- souled with them. Through this mystical superseding of the boundaries of consciousness, what he perceives is what each thing perceives, and his will and that thing's will are the same. 1THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION on MANIFESTATION God dwelleth always right where thou art Shed thy ego and thou wilt soon see Hidden within thy most secret heart A plan that is perfect for thee I affirm that my true self is spirit, is not contained within the limits of my body, had no beginning, will never end. This thing that I am is a subtle thing, underlying my ego and my sense of personal self. It is of such dimensions that I constantly must strive to understand it. It is not my body, it is not my name, it is not the identity by which the world knows me. It simply exists, unchanged by the ever-changing scenes of life, unaltered by any coloring that my ego may give it. This is my true Self, and I long to know it. I still the questions and imagined hurts, the vain goals of the ego. I slide deep within myself to a pool of consciousness that rests forever in absolute stillness. In a center as small as a pinpoint, I find infinity. I look inward, and there is God. All is contained in this center of consciousness. Smaller than the small is this pinpoint, yet vaster than the vast. Here I know myself. I center in God, become detached from my personal ego. From this vantage point I am able to look upon all things with love. I observe my ego as a person apart, with understanding but with control. I see that I never was what I thought I was, nor was I ever different than what I truly am. My consciousness is the consciousness of God. I declare my unity with Him. I exercise no will in the things and events of my life, but concentrate always on attunement with the purpose of God. Insofar as I succeed in this I cannot fail, for God's purposes surely will be realized. I subject my ego, I yield my will, I attune myself to the power that flows heavenward throughout the universe. 2MEDITATION ON THE SECRET OF SECRETS Thou attaineth a deep and abiding bliss When at last thou art able to see That the hidden secret of life is this: God wills. God acts. God lives in thee I search for the secret of life in depths of my soul. I retire inward, away from the noises and distractions of the world. In hidden depths of darkness and peace I find a core of my being that rests in absolute repose. There is no motion, no desire, nothing to be hoped for, nothing to lose. All roads, all paths meet and unite here. I am the center of the universe. Time and space are contracted to a moment on a pinpoint. Planets and stars, the universe itself, are contained in me. I sense all things to be myself, myself to be all things. That which lives within me, at the very core of my being, is that which lives in all others. Only one thing is at work throughout creation, only one thing lives in all creatures. This is God. I surrender my ego, give up my will, give over my life and its works to Him. I recognize that it is He who wills in me, thinks in me, acts through me. I shed my ego, divorce myself from any notion of an isolated self. I open wide the doors to the power that flows heavenward throughout the universe. I sense this power pouring through my being, molding, sustaining, lifting my life. I become an instrument for the work of the Lord. No more do I impose my will upon the world and its people. Always I seek the will of God and attune to it. By becoming one with the will of my Creator I attain to all power, for the purposes of God will not be denied. Each day of my life I seek the support of my vast Self. I discipline myself against the strident longings and desires of the ego. I seek no personal glory or profit, but perform all tasks for the Lord, knowing that He is the task, the performer, and the taskmaster. All solace, all profit, all glory, I find in Him. 3THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION ON ACTION Action to thought is as light to the sun And is only a visible link Between the idea and the thing to be done So listen to God when you think All about me I see the infinite, eternal movement of God. In the surge of the sea, the flux of the tides, the precise patterns of the heavens, I see the purpose and presence of the Creator. He knows where He is going. All things, past, present, and future are apparent to Him. In His infinite wisdom He sees immediately the thing to be done and the perfect method of doing it. Therefore I turn over all my actions to Him. No longer will I he guided in my daily tasks by the wilful prompting's of the ego, but instead I turn inward to the very center of my being and listen for the will of God. He is the master and the mover of my works. He is all that is, and I am being of His being, power of His power, conscious only of Him. No more shall I hunger after the fruits of my labor. They belong to God, and I renounce all desire for them. I know that God never blunders, that He never is indifferent, and when it appears that I have failed in some immediate aim, I know it is only to prepare myself in the end for some rarer joy, some truer delight. I open myself to universal power and joy. I declare there is no limitation, no lack, no malfunction in my life. A perfect power is governing all my affairs, pervading my very body. I identify myself with that which is all-powerful, all-perfect. I throw off the limitations, hurts, and frustrations of the finite ego. In the depths of my being I am no longer a name, a past, a place. I am pure spirit, infinite, eternal, all-encompassing. That which I truly am I can never cease to be. I cast aside ego, become one with my Creator, live in the light and the love of the Lord. 4 THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION ON MASTERY The ego is only a fakir Through whose fingers the sands of time sift 'Tis from finding within thee thy Maker That thou gainest life's most precious gift I acknowledge the existence of the Divine, and I dedicate my life to Him. I focus my mind on God each waking moment, seeking His presence, longing to know Him. All that I am, my work, my thoughts, my very being, I consecrate to the Divine. In Him I have my existence. I see His hand in every flower, hush, tree, created thing; the warmth of His presence is everywhere. Into whatever dangers I go, by whatever roads I travel. He is there. He is my comforter and guide. I surrender my life to Him, forsake myself, take refuge in the Supreme. No longer will I struggle with the events and forces of the world. I accept them, see them as the divine will working out the thing that needs to be done. I join forces with God by surrendering to Him my human hopes and aspirations. I attain ascendancy over my mental and material mind, over my individual ego, by making a sacrifice of all my works, my goals, my thoughts and dreams. I see that all of life is a sacrifice to the Divine. Through all the confusion and struggle of ego against ego. He works serenely toward His ultimate purpose. Nothing is lost, nothing destroyed, for in reality there is nothing but God. Upon the altar of His presence I lay my action, my thoughts, my emotions, my will. By consecration, surrender, by sacrifice of personal will and vanity, I enter into a state of pure adoration for that which is true and eternal. Love grows in me as the ruling passion of my life, for it is my longing to be reunited with my Universal Self. I know all things by my oneness with them. They are me; I am they. We are fused, united, bound together by divine love. 5THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION ON PEACE OF MIND At the heart of each storm is a center of calm Find thy own heart and cease from all fear No matter the tempest thy strengthening psalm Ring out, "Peace and be still. God is here." No matter the chaos in the outer world there is within me a place of utter quiet and absolute repose. Here, in the center of my consciousness, my soul meets and unites with God. Here I know my true self, a spiritual being that is infinite and eternal and untouched by the harassments of the world. In time of trouble and trial I turn within, and my heart and mind and energies are restored. In the quietness of my room, in my study, during a solitary walk I let my consciousness drift to that place of pure being, to that eternal "I" that dwells in all bodies. No time and space are there, no separateness, no isolation. All is unity, infinite and eternal. There is perfect love, perfect wisdom, perfect serenity, perfect peace. There is no struggle, no pain, no sorrow; these cannot exist where separateness and time are not. I see my kinship with all things, with all people, with all creatures. Envy and hate, vanity and greed are but errors of the ego which I banish from my life. I live in the consciousness of God. I am equal-soul ed to all things, for I am neither better nor worse than any person who lives. I kiss the feet of beggars, shake the hand of kings, and it is always the feet of God I kiss, the hand of God I shake. I banish intolerance, for how can I be intolerant of that which is made by my Father and in which my Father dwells? I view all creatures, all beings with love, for in them I perceive the Divine. I motivate my life with givingness, with tolerance and humility, with love. I banish fear, and peace of mind is mine. 6THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION ON HEALTH AND WELL-BEING Think upon this as a hidden key To the vault where all secrets lie sealed Pray for thy neighbor and thou wilt soon see That the healer when healing is healed I accept my body as a manifestation of spirit. Spirit created it, spirit moves it, spirit sustains it. I know this spirit to be greater than myself, to be an all-encompassing, divine Presence that inhabits all creatures, that pervades the universe. My heart beats, my tissue lives in response to some perfect order, some supreme harmony, some absolute power. I need not command the organs of my body to function. Health is mine, perfect function is mine by the simple surrender of my will to the Divine. Yet I recognize that the power of decision remains with me, that I may take a stand, choose a way, and that universal spiritual power will then lead me on the path that I have chosen. I therefore assert that I retain no hidden memories of pain in my subconscious. I bring up from the dimly remembered depths of mind all those memories that prompt in my consciousness feelings of hate, bitterness, anger, and fear. These negative emotions I cast out of my life forever. By aligning myself with God, by identifying my being with His, by becoming one-souled with all things and all beings, I depose all negative emotions and enshrine reason in their stead. Reason and attunement lead me down life's most hazardous paths with perfect composure and absolute surety. Because of attunement my body functions in harmony with all nature. There is perfect assimilation for there is perfect integration. There is perfect circulation for there is complete freedom. There is perfect elimination for there is absolute utility. I follow the path of joy, for that is the road to attunement. I seek laughter, for in laughter all bonds disappear. I believe in the great and good ends of life and of man, and this optimism rules my existence, leading me into inner peace, perfect attunement, strength, health, and vigor. 7THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION ON LOVING AND BEING LOVED A candle burns in the depths of the night And illumines the path and the goal With the promise of God to redeem with His light The lost and the fallen through love of each soul I affirm my love for God, and in that love I perceive the truth of God's eternal love for me. I affirm the presence of the Divine within me, and in the knowledge of that Presence I sense myself secure forever, enfolded in everlasting arms. The nature of love is the nature of God; it is the eternal longing of His parts to he integrated once again into One. Accordingly, my knowledge of God depends upon my love for God; and inasmuch as this love possesses me, I possess it and am illumined. Therefore I consecrate my life, every fiber of my being to the Divine. I give all, ask back nothing. Yet what I give from my small self, that which is incomplete and finite and microscopic, must in the end be returned to me a hundredfold from that which is whole and entire and infinite. All about me I perceive the manifold forms of the Divine, and I perceive Him dwelling in each. There are no different selves in the universe, but one Self only, one sense of being, one awareness, one I, which is always and eternally God. When I love another, it is God I love. When I perceive in each form the Presence that inhabits all forms, then I know the Divine and in that knowledge I love all and my love is complete. No longer do I rail against loneliness, for God is within me. No path is too solitary, no way too deserted that I may not take it with the joy and knowledge of the companionship and comfort of the Divine. He guides my every step. He leads me in all ways. His love working through me draws my mate to me, cements our relationship, crowns our union with joy. His love working through me attracts friends, makes of my life a testimony to His warmth and everlasting compassion. 8THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION ON SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT Hast thou searched the far reaches of space For a chance at a coveted role? Chance cometh to him who perceiveth the face Of the indwelling God in his soul There is a power within me which I can use to overcome all obstacles, solve all problems, a power that flows from the farthest reaches of the universe, out of the infinite, omnipotent mind of God. I give over my work, its progress and path, to Him. Only He knows the real purpose and actual nature of the things I do and the goals I aspire to. Only He can chart a perfect course to the destined shore. No longer do I allow my little self to direct my life and work, for in such egoistic blindness there is only suffering. It is knowledge I seek, and joy, and I find them through serving the Divine. No matter the negations I encounter, I see beyond them, perceive their other face. All serve a purpose, each is a step in spiritual development, each may be overcome by an inner perception that springs abundance out of lack, expansion out of limitation, success out of failure, victory out of defeat. I know that God is all things at all times; therefore I affirm the positive. By divine alchemy I call forth good from evil, not because I will it, but because I perceive it, because I know that God reveals to the individual soul that which his consciousness is able to perceive. My consciousness surpasses the limitations of ego, soars out to encompass all beings, all life. I affirm my knowledge of God's manifold expression, and I accept only good as befits my spiritual stature. Success is mine, victory, progress, abundance, and joy. 9THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION ON CREATIVENESS Creative torrents seek out the mind Of the man who lives in God's grace Surge through his being, leaving a kind Of thought-world laid down in space I search the inner depths of my consciousness for that haven of refuge where God and I meet and become one. The noises and insistencies of the clamoring world fade away, and I retreat ever deeper, through planes of being and awareness to a place of utter repose, of absolute bliss, of complete unity, where all barriers are removed between myself and the Divine. I lose myself in Him, and in that losing I find my greater Self; He takes my being and makes it an instrument of His purpose and His power. Through my mind and spirit course the restless surging energies of God, ever unfolding, dynamically illustrating the manifold sides of His nature. Whatever impinges itself upon my awareness has a delicate and mystic meaning, and I am conscious that nothing is fully developed, finally complete, but that each thing, event, idea is but a partial revelation of a hidden and magnificent truth. To the emergence of this truth I dedicate myself, for I know that concealed in the heart of each creature is the incarnate God; through expressing Him I discovery myself. To be is to be a part of God; but to grow is to become God. To that growth, to that becoming I consecrate my life. The apparent duality of my being I surrender as partial truth. I know that my true self is the Self of the Divine, the one Self that pervades the universe, that inhabits every being, that looks out of the eyes of every man. Through allowing this Self to work through my nature I truly become creative. I am instrument of the ultimate artistic sensibility. I know that each soul aspires to union with its Creator, that each seeks for a sign of that union through beauty, knowledge, love. By knowing the Divine and loving the Divine I am assured that His power will work through me to illustrate to the world the divinity of man. 10THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION ON STAYING YOUNG FOREVER Spirit is the mold and flesh is the cast And flesh is donned like a gown Styled to fashion and not made to last Cleave not to flesh for all lay it down Youth is growth, and growth is the measure of receptiveness to learning. I therefore open my mind and my heart to the power for life that pervades the universe, I open my soul to God. He sustains my being. He uses me for His ends; in Him I center myself, through Him I attune to life's purpose. There is a place of pure spirit at the center of my soul that is timeless, spaceless, and ageless. I anchor myself there. I resign all attachment to body and ego. These are but instruments of the Divine. His spirit is not altered by entering a particular body, is not changed by the delusions of any ego, but remains always one and indivisible, above suffering and pain and effort and strife. Infinite serenity and omnipotence mark Divine spirit, and they are qualities of my potential self, for Divine spirit dwells within me. It is God in me who saves me from the flesh, who preserves me from death, who gives me immortality. It is God in me who is strong, wise, omnipotent. I clear the channels between myself and Him, displace the ego, make it subservient. My life takes on the luster of Him who guides it. Joy accompanies me on every quest for I know that I shall find growth and wisdom. What strain, what struggle, what pain and hardship can there possibly be in this life that is but an infinitesimal second in the eternity of my existence? Never born, never dying, never aging, the spirit within me keeps me young forever. 11THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION ON MYSTIC POWERS Winged thoughts that are loos'd in space On planes that the eye cannot see Shape coming events, appoint time and place For the things that will happen to thee Behind the world of the senses are higher planes of consciousness where the true causes of things exist. I affirm that these higher planes are within me, that my destiny is to know them, that they will reveal themselves to me insofar as I surrender my being and will and purpose to God. I know that the truth of objects is not completely revealed by my senses, that there is hidden significance in all things. I know that in actuality there are no inanimate objects, that each thing consists of arrested consciousness. I know this consciousness proceeds out of the mind and being of God, and that in its pure form it is idea only, awareness only, similar, even identical to my own. Therefore I affirm my oneness with all things. In all I perceive the indwelling Presence. He resides in the tree, the flower, the bird, the beast, in my neighbor. He is the observer that sits in the center of each creature, who is never restricted by the restrictions of form. I am not I in a true and real sense, but my consciousness is the consciousness of God. Where I fail to expand to meet this awareness there I limit myself to the form and circumstance of ordinary life. Therefore I take refuge in the body and being of God. I stand apart from my own strivings and concerns and desires and am not identified with them, but watch them. They are not me; they are the warp and woof of life's longing for itself, the inevitable result of conflict and aspiration and effort and failure, and though I exist in the midst of all and participate in all, still I am not touched, and by that very detachment there is unloosed through my nature the power and the purpose of the Divine. His vaster being. His greater consciousness manifest through me. 12THE SECRET OF SECRETS: MEDITATION ON THE MASTERY OF LIFE Stand not apart from the Maker of all 'Tis illusion for thee to be awed, By a spiritual Self that is ten miles tall He is thee, thou art He, the indwelling God I resign the dominion of the ego and surrender my life to God. I renounce the priority of sensual stimuli and find within my own nature the power to originate thought, feeling, action. No longer do I exist as reflex to events around me, but now I take up that larger existence that descends from higher planes of mind and spirit. I ally myself with first cause, I identify myself with God. I make my life a living sacrifice to Him, surrendering each of my thoughts, feelings, and actions without desire for their fruits. No longer am I enamored of the vain desires of the ego. Fame and money and applause are not ends in themselves, and when sought as such are traps from which pain and suffering eventually ensue. I penetrate within myself to that core of consciousness that is pure being. There I take refuge, turning away from all strident demands of the beckoning surface self, yielding my identity to God. Yet I do not lose it. My "I" remains, is not engulfed, but now takes on greater awareness, an eternal significance. I expand outward from the center of myself, beyond all horizons, beyond all limitations, seeking to include that which formerly included me, so that I may know God not only by penetrating Him but also by containing Him. Thus I am led to a mystic resolution of myself with the Divine, and He and I become one. By special deputation from above I am forthwith able to live a divine life upon earth. I seek not to change that which is ordained, but only to understand, to possess identical consciousness with all, and in that identical consciousness to act in accordance with divine will, equal-souled to all results, existing always above the conflict, secure in the knowledge of union with God. END The Secret of Secrets, [meditations] by Uell S. Andersen.
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