Sunday, September 18, 2011

Love

Excerpt from "AT THE FEET OF THE MASTER"

Words spoken by the Ascended Master Kuthumi which were channeled to, and transcribed by, Krishnamurti (Alcyone).


Chapter IV -- LOVE -- Pages 66 to 73.

Three sins there are which work more harm than all else in the world -- gossip, cruelty and superstition -- because they are sins against love. Against these three those who would fill their hearts with the love of God must watch ceaselessly.

See what gossip does. It begins with evil thought, and that in itself is a crime. For in everyone and in everything there is good; in everyone and in everything there is evil. Either of these we can strengthen by thinking of it, and in this way we can help or hinder evolution; we can do the will of the Logos or we can resist it. If you think of the evil in another, you are doing at the same time three wicked things:

(1) You are filling your neighborhood with evil thought instead of with good thought, and so you are adding to the sorrow of the world.

(2) If there is in other persons the evil which you think, you are strengthening it and feeding it; and so you are making them worse instead of better. But generally the evil is not there, and you have only fancied it; and then your wicked thought tempts them to do wrong, for if they are not yet perfect, you may make them that which you have thought them.

(3) You fill your own minds with evil thoughts instead of good; and so you hinder your own growth, and make yourself, for those who can see, an ugly and painful object instead of a beautiful and lovable one.

Not content with having done all this harm to themselves and to their victims, gossips try with all their might to make other people partners in their crime. Eagerly they tell their wicked tale to others, hoping that they will believe it; and then they join with them in pouring evil thought upon the poor sufferer. And this goes on day after day, and is done not by one person but by thousands. Do you begin to see how base, how terrible a sin this is? You must avoid it altogether. Never speak ill of anyone; refuse to listen when anyone speaks ill of another, but gently say: "Perhaps this is not true, and even if it is, it is kinder not to speak of it."
Then as to cruelty. This is of two kinds, intentional and unintentional. Intentional cruelty is purposely to give pain to another living being; and that is the greatest of all sins -- the work of the devil rather than a human being. You would say that no person could do such a thing; but people have done it often, and are daily doing it now. The inquisitors did it; many religious people did it in the name of their religion. Vivisectors do it; many schoolmasters do it habitually. All these people try to excuse their brutality by saying that it is the custom; but a crime does not cease to be a crime because many commit it. Karma takes no account of custom; and the karma of cruelty is the most terrible of all. The fate of the cruel must fall also upon all who go out intentionally to kill God's creatures, and call it "sport."

Such things as these you would not do, I know; and for the sake of the love of God, when opportunity offers, you will speak clearly against them. But there is a cruelty in speech as well as in act; and a person who says a word with the intention to wound another is guilty of this crime. That, too, you would not do; but sometimes a careless word does as much harm as a malicious one. So you must be on your guard against unintentional cruelty.

It comes usually from thoughtlessness. People are so filled with greed and avarice that they never even think of the suffering which they cause to others by paying too little, or by half-starving children. Others think only of their own lust, and care little how many souls and bodies they ruin in satisfying it. Just to save a few minutes' trouble, an employer does not pay workmen on the proper day, thinking nothing of the difficulties this brings upon them. So much suffering is caused just by carelessness -- by forgetting to think how an action will affect others. But karma never forgets, and it takes no account of the fact that people forget. If you wish to enter the Path, you must think of the consequences of what you do, lest you should be guilty of thoughtless cruelty.

Superstition is another mighty evil, and has caused much terrible cruelty. The person who is a slave to it despises others who are wiser, tries to force them to do as he does. Think of the awful slaughter produced by the superstition that animals should be sacrificed. Many crimes have been committed in the name of the God of love, moved by this nightmare of superstition; be very careful therefore that no slightest trace of it remains in you.

These three great crimes you must avoid, for they are fatal to all progress, because they sin against love. But not only must you thus refrain from evil; you must be active in doing good. You must be so filled with the intense desire of service that you are ever on the watch to render it to all around you -- not to people alone, but even to animals and plants. You must render it in small things every day, that the habit may be formed, so that you may not miss the rare opportunity when the great thing offers itself to be done. For if you yearn to be one with God, it is not for your own sake; it is that you may be a channel through which his love may flow to reach your fellows.

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