Mother and Child

An evolved man is like a mother and the Absolute is like his child in the sense that he sacrifices to the Absolute his Being, a smaller diamond for the abrasion of the Absolute. He offers his soul, which he has produced by his own conscious labors, as a grinding wheel, for change of the Being of the Absolute.

This chapter has a hidden challenge for us. Let’s take a look. We are given the analogy of the love a mother has for her child. A universal love, one that we can all guess about or, one that we know first hand. But, it is the how that love is held and expressed that creates the groundwork for the work we are doing here.

First and foremost, the natural and human way for that love to express is for the mother to make the external child her centrum of gravity. Thus, the mother devotes all to the child and her attention is outside herself and on the child. This is how most of those relationships have unfolded throughout time. This writes the history of mankind. The core family values flow from this principle, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, in a Work community something else is called forth and may be possible.

If the parent focus’s on his or her centrum of gravity, something else is possible. This centrum of gravity is our essential self. As we awaken to our Essential Self we discover a new base from which we can form this unique relationship. When we stand within our Self, and we include the necessity we have for our child in that attention, then, the child comes to us. Drawn forward by a harmony with the inner essence for which they long. The mechanics of raising the child become a secondary necessity, thus allowing that child a chance to sense and to be part of the inner world from which they came. A unique opportunity arises for the child.

How then are we in the World. As we go about our days, are we sucked into the outer? Or, are we able to hold our Essential self as Prime? If so, what openings are we putting forth for our fellow travelers? Can we extend the love of our children, just a bit?

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Summary of Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Mother and Child

In the introduction to the chapter, we are told that an evolved person is like a mother and the Absolute is like his/her child in that “he sacrifices to the Absolute his Being, a smaller diamond for the abrasion of the Absolute”, he/she offers the soul he has produced, by conscious work, to be used as a ‘grinding wheel’ “for the eventual change of Being of the Absolute.”

The central theme of the chapter seems to be that if we can pacify the mental centrum and all the usual machine distractions, we have a “good beginning for the accumulation of will to awaken the machine.”

One method of doing so is to have another centrum of gravity beyond the machine’s centrum of gravity. An example is given using the analogy of a mother relating to her child.

Two ways are described in which mothers can relate to their children.  Under ordinary circumstances the mother makes the child her outer centrum of gravity, at the sacrifice of her own, in which case she and the child become reciprocal ‘centrums of gravity’ for each other.

Or, alternatively, she can retain her centrum of gravity in her solar plexus in which case the child becomes for her “the passive force, pushing those substances which she (the mother) has transformed as a result of her own awakening and transformation, upward into the higher worlds”, which, it is implied, is not available by making the child the outer centrum of gravity.

In addition to that, the first way leads to the child forming the usual herd instincts.  The second way leads to the formation of everything necessary for the child’s evolution.

The chapter goes on to say that as children the psychological conditioning and functioning was not natural to us and we had to sort of force ourselves to fit into such ‘false centrum’ activities and to have developed corresponding personalities.  Certain shocks can be applied, and were by ancient cultures, to make it so that developing beings do not have their impressions diverted to false centers, thereby allowing them to “develop the higher mental, emotional, and moving-reflexive centrums along with high attention and conscience” which is where true education is supposed to lead.   These shocks can also be applied to adults but must be done with more care because adults are more ‘delicate’  than children.

Another point was emphasized about education which is that it is never advisable to impose it from without, but rather to always wait for the student’s interest, and then proceed by drawing the learning out of the student. [Education comes from the Latin ‘educare’ which means to ‘draw out’.]

By MarkR and Lost Horizon

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Audio File Chapter 06_12 12_12

The log from the class can be found here.