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Beholding the Divine Presence

 

Beholding the Divine Presence
by John Morton, DSS

This article is taken from a Seminar John did in Adelaide, Australia in November 1992 and sharing from a Discourse Workshop held in New York City in May 1989.

Question: How can I know if I am doing something in God’s name?

John: To know you’re doing something in God’s name, have the intention to first come into the presence of the divine. It’s not what you say or pray. It’s not even who you pray to as much as it is the depth of your intention to see the divine.

One of the words that comes to mind in response to what you’re asking about is Darshan, which is not usually attributed to the English language, but it’s a good word none-the-less about coming in to receive and see the presence of the master. That intention is what sets it up. It’s a process of worship and it isn’t necessarily having to do with what is present physically or who is present physically as much as the intention is present. What’s also going to be taken into consideration are those who are in the gathering, so when two or more are gathered in the name, in God’s name, that presence is also with us.

When you’re away from the divine, and I have to qualify what I’m saying when I say when you’re away from the divine in the world, such that your focus is into the world, and your perceptions are also into the world, then there tends to be a shadowing, an obscuring of the Light and the loving that is the divine. When there’s an obscuring and a separation from the divine, then the mind gets in gear. The mind is what is generating the questions.

In the Divine Presence there is no question because it’s a presence of revelation. It’s a presence that is entirely revealing itself. There’s no lack in the presence. There’s nothing missing in the presence so there’s nothing really to ask about because it’s fully revealed. Look, observe, be aware, the presence is here. That presence is not controlled by a body or a personality. It’s not controlled by a location. It’s not controlled at all. It’s omnipresent, always present.

Divine knowing works like a focus. A microscope or a telescope has a variable focus. If you were looking at something out of focus it would appear obscure through the lens. When something is out of focus it can appear unrecognizable. Whatever is being looked at in focus can be revealed with more clarity and high definition; meaning all the aspects, all the parts are more and more revealed. The more fine-tuned the device is that brings focus, the greater the definition for what can be seen.

All spiritual beings are instruments with focus available as needed. The more spiritually attuned you are, the greater the details of the Divine Presence can be revealed to you. If you bring in a consciousness that is out of focus and out of harmony with the divine, then what appears to you is obscure. It’s similar to how refraction works. When we are looking at the Divine Presence through the medium of the mind then what is seen is going to be distorted from what it is in the Divine Presence we know in Spirit, which is also the clearest state of consciousness.

Somebody can be here tonight and be having a divine revelation, let’s say moving into ecstasy, and another person can’t wait to leave because their way of relating to what is present is nothing is going on and it’s a waste of their time. They could be sitting right next to each other in the same Divine Presence. The presence is here. The consciousness with which we relate to what is present can make a great difference. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. But ugly can also be in the eye, or the mind, of the beholder which can also be projected onto what is being seen and perceived. Hence, a beautiful swan can be seen as an ugly duckling.

When you compare yourself to other people there’s often a trap from the curiosity of the mind and the ego. If your intention is to have greater focus with the divine, a greater revelation with the divine, then that which is the divine instrument in you, the master in you, can help refine the focus for you. So your instrument – and by that I mean your physical consciousness – can be refined by the inner master as you come into the Darshan, the Holy Revelation, which comes about by your intention to see the inner master, and come into divine revelation.

The intention to relate to the Divine Presence can be unconscious and it can be also be related to you entirely consciously. So somebody can be here because they were hitchhiking and managed to get in the room and they are sitting here. And others can be here at the culmination of a lifetime and their entire existence, converging in this moment so that everything is directed and geared into what we’re doing here as a focus into the divine. My experience is that when you get into the Light the questions disappear and it’s an entirely natural knowing that takes over. And that natural knowing can pervade the mind. So the mind is opened up into its perceptions and the perceptions could be entirely clear. If I was to tell you eternal truth, which can’t be told, but let’s say if it was revealed to you as such, it would be revealed without question.

Call upon God’s presence and call in God’s name. Do your inner work by presenting yourself in spiritual exercise. Look, observe, and be aware. Let go of any expectations you have about what’s supposed to be happening. Instead, observe with awareness, paying attention, watching and listening to what shows up in your awareness that you identify as coming from Spirit as your intention. Putting in quality time and being consistent takes commitment. It takes willingness. It means doing it rather than not doing it. By making yourself available in this way, you show your dedication to serving in God’s name, which is in service to God, how God would do it, whatever it turns out to be.

Jesus said it as those who have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. He also said it as the Light came into the world and the darkness knew it not. The darkness is the one who asks the questions. If you look in the Gospels it was mostly the Sadducees and the Pharisees who were asking the questions. The disciples were also asking the questions, and by the questions revealing the darkness, meaning what they didn’t know, what they were ignorant to. Is the questioning bad? No it would just be an indicator of the level that comes in.

The only eternalness is right now. The forever is right now. And if God changes His mind, are you willing to change with it? And if you are, then you’re going to be flexible. You’re going to be open. You’re going to be conscious. You’re going to be asking that question right now; instead of assuming that because you answered it five minutes ago it’s the same answer. So you have to bring your awareness here.

So this is a movement of spiritual inner awareness. Awareness is going to be your greatest asset. It’s your aliveness. It is your life energy. Awareness is your life. So if you live your life fully, really putting yourself in as much as you can to whatever you’re doing, called right now, do this as fully as you can. Put your life energy into whatever you are doing. If you’re having an inner experience, do that fully. If you’re listening, do that fully. Whatever it is that’s going on, do it fully. As you do that you increase your awareness because you’re drawing upon life energy. And as a creator, you’re putting out a message to The Creator that says, “Look, if I’m going to do this fully, I need more energy to expand and reach to what I can experience and make manifest. I need more life. I need this vital force because as I am now I’m not capable.”

So you start calling on a greater life force energy right out of Spirit. And that’s how the miracles start taking place. And you can realize, “My God, this is as though they manifest things right out of the invisible.” We are taking the Spirit and making it manifest. And as you get close to God, you gain a greater ability to be and stand in for God in your life. As you do, it starts transmitting beyond this corporal form that we call ourselves. And you realize that, “I’m these people. I’m these things. I’m that speck on the wall.”

And you ask yourself, “What’s the most vital part of God’s creation here?” That becomes your focus and how learning and discerning what is of the Spirit and what is for the highest good is going to be of great value.

How can you do it? By practicing it day in and day out, moment to moment. Practice the Divine Presence so that you learn how to discern it right down to the speck on the wall where Spirit is and where the spiritual focus is in your life. And as you do that with greater and greater dedication and devotion, you automatically increase it. And you start opening your consciousness so that you are of God in everything.

And as you become God in everything here in this world, you’ll start transcending into the other worlds. So that’s a key. Do this world so it’s like – “Okay, I’ve got God down here.” Get that down first so that you’re okay with God here in this world, that you’re not rejecting God on this level by saying, “Well, I judge that and that’s bad and that’s wrong and I’m against that.” As soon as you move into a state of consciousness of againstness, you lose track of job one, to live a peaceful, loving life.

So the key to transcending into Soul is to transcend this world and the ways of this world, and to let go. And to become so light in the state of your being that you’re lighter than air. Then you go up in consciousness and you transcend this world. And this world has a force of gravity in it that will grab hold of anything that’s material and pull it down. That’s a literal statement. So you’ve got to become immaterial in the way you do things, so you’re not attached to the material things, that you don’t identify yourself as things. So if somebody comes in and says, “Let me have your shirt,” and you say, “That’s not your shirt, that’s my shirt,” well, you just relegated your existence to a shirt. I hope you’re happy with it. If you’re not, you might be more willing to give it away, like – “Fine.”

And that doesn’t mean just because some part of God’s existence comes forward and says, “I want this,” that you’re at the mercy of that desire or demand which is worshipping something outside of yourself. So if somebody comes up to you and asks you for something, the answer is not out there, it’s within you. Listen to the one within who is the Divine Presence. And that’s the one who determines whether or not it’s what you are to do.

The problems are when we don’t listen, and we don’t pay attention, and we forget to counsel with the Inner Master, the Beloved, within. But if we follow that consciousness, if we follow that consciousness that is the Beloved within, then it is the consciousness of Soul Transcendence. That’s the Traveler. That’s doing life in God’s name.

Baruch Bashan.

A Blessing of the Holy Presence

Dear Lord,

First of all, we give thanks that You have called us into Your presence, the Divine Presence we know as the Traveler, in all levels, and also as that one who is anointed.

We are all in this anointing of the Christ. We give thanks for the Light that is here through the Holy Spirit and with all of us doing this purpose of the Soul. We do fully accept the gifts that are here for each one of us, that as we are given these gifts, these blessings.

Much is offered to us as opportunity to serve, to serve the Traveler’s work in this world, to serve it through what John-Roger established and Jesus as the Christ established. It continues as a living ministry, a ministry that is also in the Spirit through all those in the line of Traveler. And now we just see that it becomes really simple. It starts here and now in the blessings, and that we live those blessings. It’s a great responsibility and a great opportunity to be the blessings, to do greater good in the world.

It starts in the ways we take care of ourselves and move into taking care of others. It becomes a living manifestation of God in this world, in the transformation of the world into loving, into the greater causes of loving.
In so doing we are releasing any negativity that is no longer necessary. We are holding for these blessings with great healing, great balancing, and clearing. And what is witness in our experience now is great joy, peace and understanding, that it can be greater than ever before.

So we choose in our own way to step forward as much as is allowed, as is permitted. We can handle these choices with strength, with resolution in this purpose that is divine and great friendship and fellowship, and it is a joy to be with one another in this way.

Baruch Bashan.

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