The Essential Edgar Cayce by Mark Thurston Page A
Authors: Mark Thurston
Tags: General, Biography & Autobiography, Literary Criticism, Body, Mind & Spirit, Religious, Parapsychology, Occultism, Telepathy, Mysticism, prophecy, Precognition, ESP (Clairvoyance
Ads: Link
meditation advocated in the readings, for example, is ideals-centered. Furthermore, one of Cayce’s most innovative dream interpretation strategies is to measure what’s happening in your dream against the ideals you hold dear. Another example: His philosophy of healing rests upon having an ideal and a purpose for wanting to get well.
The most quoted Cayce passage about ideals comes from this reading (357-13) for a forty-year-old woman working as a clerk during World War II. “Then, the more important, the most important experience of this or any individual entity is to first know what is the ideal—spiritually.” But far more than this claim makes reading 357-13 special; in fact, the entire reading is valuable because it points to how ideals work in our lives, and outlines the spiritual ideal that Cayce’s source held in the highest esteem: the universal Christ.
As you study the reading, first notice how Edgar Cayce describes in the second and third paragraphs the essential human dilemma: Our minds, with extraordinary creative potential, are pulled in two directions. On the one hand is the attraction of an ideal, a positive, creative image of what is possible. On the other hand is the pull of the material world. Unfortunately, it’s the limiting, destructive material influences that frequently gain the upper hand.
How do desires focused on the material garner our attention? Usually, it’s either by crisis, or good rationalization. Think about your own life: What interrupts or diverts you? What interferes with your pursuit of your ideals? For some, it’s the endless demands of material life that seem too important to ignore; for others, it’s the confusion created by such emotions as worry, anger, resentment, and fear. In these stressful times, almost everyone has days that seem to be ruled either by crisis or emotion.
A second diverter of attention is the impulse to say or do something that seems justifiable at the time. Because we can rationalize it, we can justify settling for something less than best.
See if you can recall examples personally from the past twenty-four hours, instances that took you away from your ideal. This exercise isn’t meant to make you feel guilty; it’s to see just how commonplace crisis and rationalization are.
Merely recognizing this aspect of the psychology of ideals, of course, still leaves one vital question unanswered: What is the best ideal for us to hold? Clearly, Edgar Cayce had a specific spiritual ideal in mind: the universal Christ, as lived by Jesus. Just as significant, it’s a seed for each one of us. In the reading, Cayce eloquently describes this universal Christ pattern, beginning with “a teacher who was bold.” (In chapter 7, “Esoteric Christianity,” we explore his Christology more closely.)
What happens when we commit to that pattern as our own? Or, for that matter, what happens when we invest in any ideal? Setting an ideal engages the unconscious mind in ways that can alter our lives dramatically. That’s why Cayce called it the most important experience that a soul can have.
But what does it mean to set a spiritual ideal ? Is it just a matter of telling someone else what you’ve done, or writing it down on a sheet of paper? Reading 357-13 alludes to two crucial elements that are central to the psychology of ideals. Both play a role in stirring to life the forces of the soul, lying dormant in the unconscious. Both involve an act of free will and the engagement of the creative mind.
Aspiration is the first ingredient. To hold the universal Christ Consciousness as an ideal means to aspire to its qualities. (Much of reading 357-13 is just such a message of inspiration.) Maybe those qualities seem out of reach, but we can feel ourselves inwardly stretching and reaching for all that Christ Consciousness promises us. The same would hold true for any other spiritual ideal chosen. Striving involves both the free will and the creative side of the
The most quoted Cayce passage about ideals comes from this reading (357-13) for a forty-year-old woman working as a clerk during World War II. “Then, the more important, the most important experience of this or any individual entity is to first know what is the ideal—spiritually.” But far more than this claim makes reading 357-13 special; in fact, the entire reading is valuable because it points to how ideals work in our lives, and outlines the spiritual ideal that Cayce’s source held in the highest esteem: the universal Christ.
As you study the reading, first notice how Edgar Cayce describes in the second and third paragraphs the essential human dilemma: Our minds, with extraordinary creative potential, are pulled in two directions. On the one hand is the attraction of an ideal, a positive, creative image of what is possible. On the other hand is the pull of the material world. Unfortunately, it’s the limiting, destructive material influences that frequently gain the upper hand.
How do desires focused on the material garner our attention? Usually, it’s either by crisis, or good rationalization. Think about your own life: What interrupts or diverts you? What interferes with your pursuit of your ideals? For some, it’s the endless demands of material life that seem too important to ignore; for others, it’s the confusion created by such emotions as worry, anger, resentment, and fear. In these stressful times, almost everyone has days that seem to be ruled either by crisis or emotion.
A second diverter of attention is the impulse to say or do something that seems justifiable at the time. Because we can rationalize it, we can justify settling for something less than best.
See if you can recall examples personally from the past twenty-four hours, instances that took you away from your ideal. This exercise isn’t meant to make you feel guilty; it’s to see just how commonplace crisis and rationalization are.
Merely recognizing this aspect of the psychology of ideals, of course, still leaves one vital question unanswered: What is the best ideal for us to hold? Clearly, Edgar Cayce had a specific spiritual ideal in mind: the universal Christ, as lived by Jesus. Just as significant, it’s a seed for each one of us. In the reading, Cayce eloquently describes this universal Christ pattern, beginning with “a teacher who was bold.” (In chapter 7, “Esoteric Christianity,” we explore his Christology more closely.)
What happens when we commit to that pattern as our own? Or, for that matter, what happens when we invest in any ideal? Setting an ideal engages the unconscious mind in ways that can alter our lives dramatically. That’s why Cayce called it the most important experience that a soul can have.
But what does it mean to set a spiritual ideal ? Is it just a matter of telling someone else what you’ve done, or writing it down on a sheet of paper? Reading 357-13 alludes to two crucial elements that are central to the psychology of ideals. Both play a role in stirring to life the forces of the soul, lying dormant in the unconscious. Both involve an act of free will and the engagement of the creative mind.
Aspiration is the first ingredient. To hold the universal Christ Consciousness as an ideal means to aspire to its qualities. (Much of reading 357-13 is just such a message of inspiration.) Maybe those qualities seem out of reach, but we can feel ourselves inwardly stretching and reaching for all that Christ Consciousness promises us. The same would hold true for any other spiritual ideal chosen. Striving involves both the free will and the creative side of the
Similar Books
