LESSON VII
“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens.” (2 Cor. 5:1)
“By dissolving the human ‘I’ or ego, the shining Absolute breaks forth and the gross body disappears.” (Esoteric Philosophy page 57:4)
The ancient Hebrew meaning of the word “Shalom” is wholeness, completeness, nothing missing. Judging by our human senses, the concept of wholeness appears as health, vitality, and perfect function in our bodies and in the body of our affairs. Back of that perception of wholeness might be contentment, ease, and grace in our mortal minds as well as in our emotional life. While aspiring to wholeness in our human lives and in the world of matter and forms is indeed a worthy endeavor, that intention is but an instrument of what we are eternally called to. As with all earthly matters, there is more, much more, to aspire to.
The forms that we take, as well as those that we place our intention on in this life, are generally defined by duality, bondage of one form or another, isolation, and limitation. The illusion of time manipulates and controls the forms we see around us, including our own human bodies. Time passes and so do the individual forms we perceive. Everything seems to be in a constant state of change, death, and reformation while our human egos claim the reality of it all. The concrete and tangible, the identifiable and distinguishable, all seem substantial in our minds.
Emma tells us that “the Truth is unknowable by that which is dissolvable.” (Esoteric Philosophy 58:8), and Jesus states that the wise will “judge not according to appearance.” (John 7:24) It can seem counter-intuitive to dissolve our individuality, our human “I”-ness into something else, to give up our rights to ourselves in a radical way. But it only seems that way, because the hypnosis of matter is so pervasive and strong. Is it possible that we need to give up ourselves to find Ourselves? Do we only become truly Whole when we disperse and dissolve into the Changeless Eternal which knows nothing of our humanity, but is the Irresistible Cause of All?
The glass of water knows nothing of the solid, identifiable tablet that is placed into it, but dissolves it, and makes it a part of itself. The motionless soil knows nothing of the organisms that find their way into it, but swallows them up by dissolving. Everything that the tablet and organisms were, remains, but without the restrictions and illusions of material formation.
In science, when one thing dissolves into another, it is called a “solution” and so it is with our consciousness. The “solution” to our being comes by dissolving what we think we are into what we really are, heirs to Immortal Mind. Dissolving exposes Reality in us. Dissolving makes us truly Whole. Dissolving certifies the Christ as us.
To understand God, we engage in the activity of “looking toward” so intently that nothing else appears as real, hence the term “realization.” To become God, we partake of the ultimate act of willingness, receptivity, and trust: dissolving ourselves back into Spirit, revealing Original Mind as Jesus Christ did. This act of dissolving is True Freedom. Suspended and dispersed into First Cause, we are liberated from matter, manifestation, and forms, yet become the living cause and master of them all.
In this state, we become invisible, but all is seen as us. We become nothing, but all Truth is exposed through us. The Cosmic Necessity of dissolving into Reality brings forth in us the Christ, and our spiritual “solution” achieves the victory announced by Jesus, “I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)