This psychic reading given by Edgar Cayce at the Edmonds'' home on Pennsylvania Ave., Norfolk, Va., this 3rd day of June, 1934, requested by those present.
P R E S E N T
Edgar Cayce; Gertrude Cayce, Conductor; Gladys Davis, Steno. Minnie & C. A. Barrett, Esther Wynne, Florence & Edith Mildred Edmonds, Frances Y. Morrow, Hugh Lynn Cayce, Mildred Mary Davis, Helen Storey, Helen Ellington, Ruth LeNoir, Margaret Wilkins, Effie Brooks, Ethel and Edgar Parry, Myrtle and R. L. Demaio.
R E A D I N G
Time of Reading 4:25 to 5:05 P. M.
1. GC: You will have before you the Norfolk Study Group #1, members of which are present in this room, and its work on the lesson, Desire. You will give that which will aid the members of the group in continuing their work on this lesson and answer the questions which will be asked.
2. EC: Yes, we have the group as gathered here, as a group and as individuals; their work on the lesson Desire.
3. In continuing that given respecting the principles or basic factors in the activity of Desire in human experience, those of the group that desire to assist others in their study by the application of the truths that have been presented, SHOULD apply same in their daily life and thus - as given - make known that which has been and is found that applies in their OWN experience.
4. For, Desire - as has been given - is of the earth earthy and also of the spirit spiritually, but is activative in the realm in which it is directed by that which is the motivating force through the will and the mental abilities and faculties of the individual.
5. Hence it is a growth, as knowledge, to know in material things what to desire. For, thou hast been given that thine heavenly Father knoweth what ye have need of before ye ask. Then the weak or the pessimist may say, "Why do I have need to ask, if it is known?" The very act shows what the desire is. The very expression shows - if the self will analyze same in the light of that given - as to what is the motivative force in the experience of such a mind, soul or body.
6. But seek ye, for he that seeketh findeth. To him that knocketh it shall be opened. Apply, then, that thou hast received. Know ye within yourselves as to how, in what manner and as to what fruit it will bring in thine own experience.
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7. For, as has been given, "We believed for the word of the woman, but now we believe for we have seen and heard ourselves." Apply ye that ye know, for in the application comes understanding. For, as the Master gave, "Ye ARE gods," if ye will use His force of desire and will in His kingdom, but NOT thine own.
8. Ready for questions.
9. (Q) [379]: Please interpret the dream I had the night of May 1st or 2nd in which a member of Group #1 and I were climbing a mountain and later I was separated from her and could not find her. (A) As there has been given, dreams are of different natures, and have their inception from influences either in the body, in the mind, or from the realm of ACTIVITY without the body through the desires and purposes of the soul itself. Hence there are the various applications of such experiences in the individuals, as visions, dreams or nightmares may affect the body. In this it arises from seeking and, as is understood, it is an emblematical experience in the mental development or application of experiences in the body-mind. Through that vision it may be seen that the mountain represents the reaching higher and higher in the mental development of self and those associated with self, that in climbing these heights of mental or spiritual experience there come separations; which is not to be wondered at, but rather as experienced. For the body will find that in the studies there will come at times separations as to the purpose or application of that found. Then, in making use of same, know in what ye have believed; for there has been set a standard through Him, and IN Him, that ye may measure thine self without condemning thy brother.
10. (Q) [379]: How can we discriminate between selfish and unselfish desires? (A) As to what has motivated and does motivate the desire. If it is for the self, or for the glorification of the Christ Consciousness in thine experience. That this or that may appear to self as being well, if such and such an experience were thine own. But, as has been given, each soul may find in self an answer to that it seeks or desires to KNOW from what source it (the desire) HAS originated, or is in its impelling force. First ask self in the physical consciousness, and answer - and find an answer - yes or no.
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Then enter into the inner self through meditation and prayer, and seek the answer there; for "My Spirit beareth witness with thy spirit as to whether thou art the sons of God or not," in thine activity, thine desire, thine purposes, thine aims.
11. (Q) [303]: What should I do in order to bring into material manifestation my desires? Are not physical needs in life spiritual in essence? (A) If the desires for the physical things in life are SPIRITUALIZED, they are indeed then as necessary as the higher motivative force in spiritual things. But who is the judge? He that is the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. Even as He prayed, "Father, let this cup pass from me, but THY will - not mine - be done." Again and again do we see in this the manifestation of the flesh warring with the spiritual life itself. And we are to be in that position in our desires that His pattern, His life, is the pattern for our lives. Seek ye ever, but THY WILL, O GOD, BE DONE IN ME, THROUGH ME, AS THOU SEEST; FOR THE DESIRE OF MY HEART IS THAT I MAY BE THE CHANNEL OF BLESSINGS TO OTHERS IN THE WAYS AND MANNERS THOU SEEST; NOT MY WAY, O LORD, BUT THY WAY.
12. (Q) [585]: I saw the Christ again - early in the morning of May 24th. This time it was a radiant Christ and the morning seemed to be breaking just above His head. What does this mean? (A) What indeed should it mean to each soul, to any soul, to thy soul, that thou hast been through thine experience granted a privilege of such a vision! It should make thee the more humble, the more self-sacrificing, the more glorious in the praises that thou art even in the way of being shown MANY things - if ye will but live the life. What did He give as thy standard? "Inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye do it unto me." Then, see rather in that thou wouldst give in word of mouth, in deed, in act of body, that thou art ministering unto thy Lord. For of such He said, "I will come again to you, and comfort you - I will receive you unto myself - I WILL abide with you." Art thou living in such an atmosphere? It is being opened before thee. Turn it not aside.
13. (Q) Please explain Haggai 2:7, "And I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of host [hosts]." (A) In the interpretation of that spoken by Haggai or any of the prophets, take into consideration first to whom the message was being given. Yet know that any message that bespeaks of God's dwelling in the heart or in the temple of man is to the individual a lesson now, today. Here we find,
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however, from the literal interpretation, that a wayward people had forsaken their temple worship, where they had been appointed to meet with the living God. For there alone they had heard the words, and there alone they had received the instruction as of old. And the interpretation was that these should be turned again, as they were only a few years later, in how that even those that were called the heathen were shaken to the core and GRANTED the peoples again to establish the desire of their heart in rebuilding the temple. As ye have received from Him, "The day cometh when neither in Jerusalem nor in this mountain shall ye seek or desire to know the Lord, for ye will find Him in thine own heart, in thine own conscience"; and if the desire of thy heart will be that the temple of thy soul (the image of thy Maker; the soul, not the body, the image of thy Maker) shall be renewed in Him, thou shalt be able in self to know that - and the WAY that thou shouldst go.
14. (Q) What is the difference between the desire of the heart and the desire of the will? And is it not possible for harmonious coordination of these? How may it be attained? (A) Only in Him. In speaking of the heart and of the will, analyze for the moment as to what they represent in thine own experience. The heart is ordinarily considered the seat of life in the physical, while the will as a motivative factor in the mental and spiritual realm. To be sure, these may be made one. But how? In that the will of self and the desire of the heart are selfless in the Christ Consciousness. Even as He gave in the shadow of the day when the Cross loomed before Him on Calvary, when the desire of the heart and the will of self were made one. Indeed, as He gave, the flesh is weak, the spirit is willing - if the spirit and the will of the inner self will be made in accord with the spirit of truth, in the desire of the heart to be one in and with and through Him. For, the soul is in Him; yet, as the promise in the Christ is, the soul shall be free in Him through that love, through that manner of making the desire and the will one in the Father as did He in Gethsemane.
15. (Q) What is desire? How does it build physically? (A) This has been given. And how does it build physically? Desire, as first given, was in the motivating force that may separate or make the soul one with or separate from the Whole, through the manifestations in the will. And it builds in that the spirit moves in the direction in which it is motivated by will and desire.
16. (Q) Is it necessary to give up physical desires for spiritual development?
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(A) Rather spiritualize the physical desires as He did in the Garden. What there is shown thee as to how the physical, the spiritual, fought - as it were - one with another? "Father, let this cup pass from me." This is as every experience in the physical man when there is the fear of the loss in this or that direction. There is the constant, "Father, save me from this - from this." Yet, even as He, if there has been builded in thine experience as was in His experience - offering Himself for the world - then thou must pass through same, in making the physical desire and the will of the Father as one, that there may be the cleansing in the soul of those things that may bring the consciousness of the oneness with the Father in whatever realm.
17. (Q) What should we hold in mind when we hold the affirmation in the present lesson, "Let thy desire be my desire," etc.? (A) What to hold in mind? Hold the Christ before thee, ever. For, He has promised to take His own self and to take thy burden upon Himself, as he bore same. Rather would thy prayer be: I CANNOT BEAR THIS ALONE, MY SAVIOR, MY CHRIST. I SEEK THY AID. And such a cry has never, no never, been denied - the believing and ACTING heart.
18. We are through.