The Primal Wish

Tonight’s subject is “The Primal Wish.” And, really, I am so thrilled that you are here tonight. You listen carefully to what I will tell you concerning the primal wish. You read it in the very first chapter of Genesis. God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” That’s the primal wish. And as Shakespeare said, “It has been taught us from the primal state that he which is was wished until he were.” Now this is tonight’s subject. We’re making an image, said God. Scripture teaches us that the image of the invisible God is Christ, as you read it in Paul’s one letter to Colossians, “Christ…the image of the invisible God.” In his letter to Corinthians, he speaks of him as the likeness of God, completing this primal wish, the image and the likeness of God. He goes on to tell us, “My little children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ be formed in you.” The image and the likeness of God must be formed in man. Well, God is invisible. He will never know who he is until God’s Son can identify his Father. And he can’t identify the invisible; he has to see the face of his Father. So when the image is formed in man, God’s only Son appears and calls him Father.183 ¶1

Now, let me share with you that which was given to me a few days ago by a dear friend of mine. And you listen carefully to the symbolism in his letter to me. I’ll bring it out from scripture. He said, “It was war time. I found myself in a dilapidated farmhouse somewhere in [...], and through the window a huge cliff covered with vines, and from it came the bullets of the enemy. They were shooting at me and I was shooting at them. They intended to kill me and I intended to kill them. Then I went into the front room and there to my surprise all the soldiers of my squad were happy, and just about to go out through the front door. I warned them that they would be shot. They told me the enemy was gone. And I said, ‘My God, did I shoot them all?’ As we walked through the door, they all turned into you. And then you led me to the back of this house and to my surprise what was this cliff covered with vines from which the enemy shot at me and I at them, is now this enormous plain of wheat being harvested. In this plain, there were many who gaily harvested the wheat. I looked to the side and here was a mountain of harvested wheat. Then I said to you, ‘What are they doing?’ and you said to me, ‘They are doing the same thing today that they did this time a year ago.’ And I sensed a lapse in memory and so I said to you, ‘How long have I been here?’ You said to me, ‘Two years.’ In this I sensed symbolism, and so I asked you, ‘Did I learn anything?’ You nodded and you said, ‘Yes, how to move, and discipline.’ Then I walked back into the house and it had turned into a palace, and I was led to my quarters.”183 ¶2

Now you have a dream like that and you will think what a strange interesting dream. But you are told in the Book of Numbers, “God speaks to man through the medium of dream.” Well, here is the story. I tell you, you aren’t here by accident, not one of you. Everyone is moving towards the fulfillment of that initial wish, the primal wish: Let us make man in our image and give him dominion over everything in the world; things on the earth, below the earth, under water, below the water, and in the heavens and beyond. Infinite power is his after the image is formed in him, for the image is the image of the invisible God. And there’s nothing but God.183 ¶3

So here, two years you’ve been here. Two is conflict; it’s difference, it’s enmity. The wall must be broken down, that wall of hostility between the two, and they become one. God cleaves and cleaves to his emanation, his wife, ‘til the sleep of death is past. He cleaves to it until they become one. When they become one, that wall of hostility has disappeared and they are one; there is no enmity. But in that interval…not two years (365 days to a year) but two is the important thing. So, while it lasted he had enemies. All the enemies are within him…or they were, I should say. And when the wall is broken down and he goes to the front room and moves through the door, and all of his soldiers forming his squad transform themselves, and they became me. And then I took him to the back of the house.183 ¶4

Now, read the 10th chapter of John. It’s the story of the door…and they didn’t understand him. Then, said he, “I am the door.” Those who will come through any other way are thieves and robbers. There is no other way in, but that which I have told you from experience. Listen carefully to my testimony. It’s the only way in; there is no other way. My sheep hear my voice and they know me. He knew me when soldiers, just soldiers, are transformed into me. He knew me, he knew my voice; for he asked me questions and he knew exactly who was answering. He said, “I am the door”…and there is no other door into the kingdom. And any attempt to come in by any other way makes you a thief and a robber. And the two years, that’s years of conflict.183 ¶5

So here, in this 10th chapter he tells you, I lead you into an abundant life. So he takes his sheep, called all by name, and brings them into life more abundantly when the conflict is over, all within himself. For it was not a cliff covered with vines from which the enemy shot him…the mountains are all within himself. As Blake said, “Great things happen when men and mountains meet.” And the only mountains Blake ever climbed were the mountains of his own skull. These were the mountains. And here the harvest is on. What are they doing now? Just what they were doing this time last year…goes on and on and on, forever and forever until the wall is broken down and there is no division between you and he who is forming you into his image. When he forms you into his image, then his Son can see him, because to look into the face of Christ is to see God, and Christ is the image of the invisible God. Christ is the very God, for I and my Father are one now.183 ¶6

But God cannot be seen, being invisible, unless he has the image formed. And so his Son cannot find him unless he has an image, for he’s invisible. So, let us make man in our image that we may be seen by our Son. So the Son comes, but he can’t see you if you’re invisible; he can only see you if you have a face. And Jesus Christ is God the Father. Jesus is the invisible God; Christ is the image that he wears. He is forming the image. And when the image is formed, Jesus, who is Jehovah, who is the Lord, can be seen then by his Son.183 ¶7

Here we find the door. We find the shepherd who led him into the back and showed him where instead of being at war there’s an abundant life. A field covered in the most glorious glow. He said, “A golden glow covered the entire scene, both the harvested wheat, a mountain of it, and that which is being harvested.” And so, it took a long, long time to harvest that mountain and it was all done in the conflict. Because he wondered, “What are they doing?” Because I knew the war was still on, because I could hear it in the distance. It seemed so far off. But I heard in the distance the heavy guns, and it seemed to come from another country, but the war was still on. So, during the harvest the war is still on, and then he wakes and he goes through the only door. When he goes through the door, he finds that all who were his protectors, his squad, his soldiers, forming themselves into me. And I lead him to the back.183 ¶8

And then he asks me these three questions. The questions are quite simple and the answers simple. What are they doing? What they were doing this time last year. And he sensed in this a certain sign of amnesia, forgetfulness. How long have I been here? Two years. Have I learned anything? Yes, you have learned how to move. The first creative act in the Bible: “And God moved upon the very face of the waters.” You learned how to move. Move in what sense?—to move from my present state, which is the conflict, into the state that I desire. When I move into the state desired, I only say, “Let it be. Let there be light. Come, illuminate it. Let there be light.” He learned how to move and he learned discipline.183 ¶9

So the very first creative act recorded in scripture: “And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” As he moved, God said, “Let there be that into which I have moved”; for everything is here, but I have to move. And if I’m going to be his image, I must imitate him. I must imitate this process and learn the art of moving. How to move from one state in which I’m fixed—the conflict is on, the war is on—and to move from it into a state, and rest in it, saying, “Let it be!” and it comes into being. For the first thing, “Let there be light,” and there was light…no question about it. So I move from one state into another when I learn the art of moving.183 ¶10

And so, he said to me, “Did I learn anything?” I nodded and said, “Yes, you learned how to move, and discipline.” Well, discipline is simply becoming completely discriminating. Doesn’t matter what state is being discussed, what state is now broadcast, what state is in the paper tomorrow morning, all of these things are only states. But I learned how to move. I moved from one state into the state desired and there I remained, saying, Let it be! And the state becomes luminous, becomes real in my world.183 ¶11

So I can’t tell you my thrill when I got it. Because I know who I am, I know how I’ve been sent, and sent what to do, to lead my sheep out; for they’re all myself, anyway. I hope I know them all by name and they know me by name and they follow no other shepherd. That’s the story, in the 10th of John.183 ¶12

Now having received this…first of all, another one in the same letter…he said, “Now this morning (it only came a few days ago), he said, ‘This morning, it was a shock. I was dreaming I was on my bed and I reached up with my hand and I was feeling the top of my head. The left side was normal. As I moved over and felt…well, the right side was at least one inch higher than the left side. I pressed down on it to discover that my skull had been split, split wide open. So in my dream I called out to my wife, “Now I know why I’ve been feeling this way. I cracked my skull.” And then I was wondering how long I would be in the hospital. As I wondered about the time spent in the hospital, I woke.’”183 ¶13

Then said he, “I’ve never felt more peaceful than I feel now and it started at that moment that I felt the cracked skull. From that moment until now I have never felt more peaceful, as though there is a peculiar reversal of feeling in my life. Instead of being a three-dimensional sense-man using a fourth-dimensional power, I am now identified with a fourth-dimensional power using a three-dimensional sense-man as an instrument. ‘And now,’ he said, ‘I know that Blake expressed it more beautifully, but after all, it does seem to me that you can’t quite [...] as Blake, “For hatching ripe he cracked his skull.”’” If you’re not familiar with Blake, Blake indicates a parallel statement, and Blake, “For hatching ripe he breaks the shell.” So that shell is the skull. But he said it was not as poetic as Blake when he expressed it.183 ¶14

And so, in his wonderful way he always has in ending his letters with a humorous note. Whenever the Brothers speak to me they’re always, in the most serious manner, they’re always humorous, most humorous! For when I meet this infinite body of awakened men, whenever they tell me anything, they always tell it in the most humorous manner. You can tell it from their expression, and yet they’re so serious. Yet, it’s always a humorous note. The other night they said to me, “Go, go and write your own concise, condensed paper,” and there was a smile on the face of all of them as they were telling me.183 ¶15

Well, it so happens that my publisher said to me a few weeks ago that the printing of a book today is prohibitive in a hard cover. He has many copies of mine that are out of print and they all retailed at three dollars. And so he mentioned four of them; he said, “Now these four, would you mind, would you have any objection if I brought out the four under paper cover and sell all under one cover for four dollars, instead of [...] under hard cover for three dollars each?” I said, “None whatsoever.” So that night I thought I’d write a last chapter, something entirely different. So I began to dwell upon this last chapter when this night I was one with the Brothers. I mean the Elohim, the gods, and they said quite humorously but in a very serious manner, “Go write your condensed, concentrated paper.” But [...] they said it, they could have been kidding as my brothers, my earthly brothers, kid me, when they speak of anything that I do in the same intimate family tone. So I finished about 6,000 words and called it “Resurrection: A confession of faith in terms of experience.” Telling exactly in detail, all parallels of scripture, what I have experienced, which I know these who spoke to me have experienced. Those who wrote the gospels, they were only relating their own experiences, so I’m telling you exactly what they told that they had experienced. But they tell it in that way.183 ¶16

Sunday morning, in my experiences outside as it were, I was lecturing as I am to you now, but in a more intimate manner. Not standing on a platform, just talking among intimate friends, explaining the Word of God. And I had occasion to look at my watch, it wasn’t on my hand, it was somewhere on a table. I looked at my watch—the same one I’m wearing now; I could recognize the watch—and it registered four ten. Well, I kept on explaining the Word of God and it seemed to me at least an hour in the passage of time. Then I looked again, and instead of being an hour later it still is four ten. I said to myself, “Well, my watch has stopped.” Then, from then I went into a deeper sleep with no memory beyond that until I woke bringing back this to consciousness.183 ¶17

Well, in that experience God speaks to me through the medium of dream. The outstanding thing in that experience is simply four ten. And what I told them, I told them what I’m telling you, it was simply a discussion of the Word of God, interpreting the Word of God. But, four ten, well, what is four ten? You can look up all the commentaries of the world and every great scholar, and they will never understand the four ten. I have so many commentaries at home; they’re so far afield.183 ¶18

But ever word in scripture, that is, in the Hebrew tongue, every letter has its numerical value, as well as its symbolic value. Well, the fourth letter is Daleth, and it has the numerical value of four, and it has a symbolic value of a door. The tenth letter is Yod; its numerical value is ten; its symbolical value is the creative hand of God, the hand of the Director, the hand of the Creator, the first letter in the sacred name of Yod He Vau He, which we pronounce Jehovah, which is Jesus. Same initials we find in Hebrew.183 ¶19

So here, in this vision, it’s the last watch. It’s four ten A.M. The 90th Psalm tells us, “A thousand years in thy sight is but as a watch in the night.” There are only six watches to the twenty-four-hour day. The day is broken down into the day and then the night. Three watches of the day, of equal hours, three watches in the night. Starts at six and it goes to ten, ten to two, from two to six; then from six to ten, ten to two, from two to six.183 ¶20

So this was the morning. I knew this was A.M. from the very start, the atmosphere and the darkness and here is my last watch. And it was four ten. You reach the point of being the door and the creative hand of God. That’s what it means. You are now the door, the shepherd and the creative hand of God. Hasn’t a thing to do with all the commentaries, as they do not have the vision. They do not know it. It’s the last of the watch. It can’t be long delayed when the garment is removed and removed permanently, the garment of sin and death, and join those who now humorously will tell me when I make a mistake just to do so and so. And I communicate with them, and they very humorously said, “Go on and write your nice condensed and concise paper.”183 ¶21

To join that same body who contemplate on death (this world). As we’re told in the works of Blake when he said, “I behold the visions of my deadly sleep of six thousand years.” If a watch is a thousand years and there are six watches to a twenty-four-hour day, a watch is a thousand years. “I behold the visions of my deadly sleep of six thousand years, dazzling around thy skirts like a serpent of precious stones and gold. I know it is my Self, O my Divine Creator and Redeemer.” So here, the watch is over; it’s the last of the watch. For if it were the first watch of the day, it would not be the door…certainly not the creative arm of God. It’s the last watch, it’s four ten in the morning, and that’s the last watch of the day.183 ¶22

When that is over, you’re playing then the part, for a season, of that creative power and the wisdom of God. So I must bring those who he gave me out of this world into the fold of an abundant life. You bring them one by one, and you know them all by name, and they know me by name. You bring every one into the fold—from a conflict where everything is shooting—into a field that is aglow, a golden glow as far as the eye can see. And they’re all harvesting. “So I bring you into life more abundant,” says the gospel of John. And here is this mountain of already harvested wheat, and yet they’re still harvesting. That’s how vast the harvest is.183 ¶23

And then, we all go one by one through that one door that leads to [...]. So this primary wish is simply unfolding in man, as told us in Galatians. “My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you.” It must be. He will remain in labor until every one that was given him is brought out with the image completed and perfect, and brought through the door into the abundant life. When they reentered what was formerly a dilapidated farmhouse in the world of war and conflict, it’s now transformed into a palace and they are led into their quarters. And this is this fantastic play, in which all of us are in this.183 ¶24

So the important story tonight, he learned how to move in this conflict, because man in a conflict, if he could only move he wouldn’t see it. And so I said to him when he said, “What, did I learn anything?” I nodded and said, “Yes, you learned how to move and discipline.” No matter where you are in this world…you could be in the most frightful state in this world, if you know how to move. God’s first creative act is to move upon the face of the waters and then to let it be. And then wherever he is, it becomes luminous and it simply reveals a state in which he has placed himself. He moved upon the face of the waters. So, he learned how to move.183 ¶25

And so tonight if you have any dream in this world, if you learn how to move…I’ve been trying through the years to show you how to move, by bringing into your mind’s eye a scene which would imply that you have moved from where you were to where you would like to be. For were you now the person that you would like to be, you couldn’t see the world as you saw it prior to this motion, you couldn’t. Motion can be detected only by a change of position relative to another state. Unless there is some fixed form of reference against which the mover moves, he doesn’t know that he moves. If I move with the speed of light but everything moves with me, I haven’t moved. If we all move together, I might just as well [...] in the whole vast function. But if I can just simply let it be and I move relative to it, then I can by looking at it and seeing a change in position relative to it, I know I’ve moved. But there is no way of detecting that I have moved unless I have a fixed frame of reference against which I move.183 ¶26

So I start from here and I see all the pictures here and you, and all of a sudden I feel I’m moving, and I find myself in feeling there. Well, then when I look, it’s not the same room. I see everything differently; it’s a different angle. Well, now in my mind’s eye…my friends know me for what I am…my weaknesses, my limitations, whatever I am. If I’m a friend I will share it with them, and they will share their limitations with me. Well, all of a sudden, I want to move from that state. And then I move inwardly, it’s all an inward motion. And I move using the same frame of reference; but now I’m seeing that differently, and they see me differently. They see me not as they formerly saw me, one that they pitied, the one now that if they are friends they will rejoice with me, and if they are not they will hate me… whatever they are relative to me. Those who are not fond of me would envy the state into which I have moved, and those who are fond of me and love me sincerely will rejoice with me. So I move, and look at the fixed frame of reference for confirmation of my motion.183 ¶27

So he learned how to move…after he became disciplined in the two years of war. The two years, may I tell you, last for quite a while. It was a long, long conflict, and then he learned how to move. Unless he forgets it, he doesn’t have to remain one second in any state today that displeases him, for he’s learned how to move. So he can move from one state into another state. And there are infinite states in this world. Man moves into these states either consciously or unconsciously; he falls into them knowingly or unknowingly. But, whether he does it knowingly or unknowingly, he must reap the fruit of the state into which he’s entered. That’s the law.183 ¶28

So here, in this wonderful experience…and he told it in longhand from three assembled pages, [...]. It was a fantastic experience of his. The conflict, yes, it begins with the conflict, and then all that would protect him, his soldiers, his squad, the entire squad, and then they [...], and they want to go through the front door. There’s only one door. He warns them they’ll be shot and he questions them, and they said the enemy had all gone, they’re gone. He said, “I killed them all”…and instantly as they walked through, the entire squad, the whole company, twos became one man, and I am he. They could not see the conflict. And then beyond the door…I led him around to the back, and to his surprise, not a cliff covered with vines from which the enemy shoots but an infinite field of wheat in harvest, with many women gaily harvesting the wheat, and a mountain of harvested wheat, all in this golden tone.183 ¶29

Then he sensed there’s something strange here, there must be. Well, when he asked the question, “What are they doing? Well, they’re doing the same thing now that they did this time last year. A wheel within a wheel within a wheel, all over and over and over it goes on. And now he knows I must have had a lapse of memory, some loss of memory: How long have I been here? Two years. Now he senses a certain symbolism in that answer, and he’s going to ask a question, “Did I learn anything?” I nodded and said, “Yes, you learned how to move, that’s the important part.” After all this conflict, this horrible conflict, war within himself where he could not move out of one state, and everything is shooting at him. He gets poorer and poorer and he makes every effort to get out of it, and everything is crowding in on him, but the whole vast world is crowding in on him. And everyone is his enemy. No matter who he is, he is shooting at him. And he’s shooting at them; he rubs them all out, all competition. And then, he comes out and he who was trying all the time to lead him out now takes all his protectors and he becomes the one who is invisible to him, until now. He’s formed the image, and then you see it, the entire picture. And instead of being a conflict, an enormous field of ripe wheat, bathed in a golden glow. And he learned how to move.183 ¶30

So I tell you tonight, learn how to move. The motion is not difficult, may I tell you. But don’t go from place to place. Into whatever house you go, you’re told in scripture, there remain until I come. Don’t go from house to house; into whatever house you enter there remain. And so I go into the house of affluence. Well, it hasn’t yet appeared. But I did enter the house of affluence. If I remain there, I’m saying, let there be light. Come illuminate it…make it real. Make it visible to me first and to all of my world. If I know how to move and remain faithful to that motion, my whole vast world will reflect it. And no power in the world can stop it. Man is set free by learning how to move, and he learned discipline at the same time.183 ¶31

Now, I look at the same watch…I’m quite sure it is not four ten by mortal time. But it was four ten Sunday morning where it was brought to me so vividly that I am that door and that creative hand of God. Now, let us go into the Silence. * * *183 ¶32