Radiant Listening and Joyous Service
Gary Courtland-Miles Saturna Island, British Columbia
May 28, 2023
Temple of Light service
Thank you, Steve, and good morning to everyone. It’s such a pleasure to see you all—I’ll take a moment to look around. Such fine company we keep! It’s a delight to welcome you into our virtual Temple of Light again, as we bring our thankful and open minds and hearts into the Presence of the Most High, the One in Whom we live and move and have our Being. We come in utmost humility.
As we find Attunement with this One in these moments, with hearts of praise and thanksgiving for Life, we will find that we are also here to receive the instruction and encouragement of the Holy Spirit. For we are loved. We are valued, for we are willing to do one of the most daunting things imaginable—to play our inimitable parts in letting heaven come on earth here and now, contributing in our own way to the restoration of the human race to its Divine Estate; for we are amongst those who know, and know that we know. What do we know? For one thing, we know that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
As we begin our Service this morning, let us delight to stand firm yet open, upon what was called by John the Beloved, “a sea of glass, clear as crystal, mingled with fire.” Again, as I look out over those gathered here from the four winds this morning, I can see, sense, and feel that individually and collectively we have generated a substantial pneumaplasmic body. So we stand upon that as we interface with the Most High. Of course, we know that the clearer we keep it moment by moment, the more responsive to the Spirit of Love, Truth and Life our minds and hearts are.
So let us enter into the Temple of Light together as One Body, as a Body of vibrant response that we may amplify what we will experience today in this hour and give thanks to the One in Whom we live and move and have our Being. Standing together in what has been called the Holy Place, I would like to suggest that we engage in our own unique devotional time today; for as our Master said—"when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father will bless you.” Enter into the Secret Place, where there is no more personal interface with the Father than this. Let us use our time to simply come into attunement with the One in Whom we live, move, and have our Being. Let our responsive love for this One draw us closer to the heartbeat of all creation and let us commune with the One who gives Life to that heartbeat, its impulse.
Indeed, as we listen responsively, we are simultaneously listening radiantly. As we truly receive this radiation which comes from our heavenly Father, it immediately goes out to all of humanity via the Silver Cord. Such is the blessing shared, and responding ones everywhere are encouraged, lifted up, blessed—drawn upwards on their path to conscious awareness of their own Divine Nature. Our listening always serves a greater purpose than we understand fully at present.
This morning, let us do some radiant listening of our own as we bring our individual and collective minds and hearts into attunement with the One we Love above All. And to facilitate this time, we have cued up a four-minute piece of piano music which sprang from my “Golden Harp” in a moment of such communion. It is called, Love Is Forever. And while the music sounds, let us enter our own Secret Place and allow our individual communion with the Most High to expand, and to let it find a resonance within and together, and let it bless the whole earth, and everything which dwells herein. So, relax, take a few slow and deep breaths, and while the music plays, commune with the Truth of Being and draw near to the One we love.
Love Is Forever by Gary Courtland-Miles
It is so good to bathe in and release this wonderful sacred substance to all who are responsive the Spirit of God everywhere, in every culture, creed and philosophy—and many there are. I would hazard a guess that it is because of those who held such space open over the millennia that we were drawn, and others were drawn, by the Holy Spirit as we opened our hearts and minds to the Truth of Love. It is such a pleasure to do some radiant conscious listening as we gather to consider the things of God, the Eternal Verities, and by reason of this, to increase our attunement with these precious realities, and continue to open our hearts and minds to His Fulsome Love and Wondrous Truth.
As emissaries of the Most High, and I might add, as Secret Agents of Love, Truth and Life, we not only come to give thanks for these realities, but to provide a conscious and living laser-like focus, a focal point through which His Blessings might come pouring through into human consciousness, for we are all connected. These blessings don’t just fall like snow. They come through human beings, through you and me. Indeed, this is how the Light gets in—through flesh and blood, awakened human beings. Consciousness is One, even as every particle, force and field in the Universe is One. And it is through our one-pointed Love Response that what has been called the Father’s Will is released into this world. This is how the Light gets in, for space and time do not separate insofar as the Holy Spirit is concerned. Space and Time provide the medium through which the intelligent purposes and character of the Holy Spirit co-ordinates everything, everywhere, all at once!
It comes to point on earth in our one-pointed response to the LORD of Heaven and Earth—particularly as a core grouping—and the Light gets into human consciousness. And God knows it’s needed! This is how everything is renewed and blessed, how there is a Springtime in consciousness.
At this point I’d like to share a few paragraphs from a Service from April 18, 1982 by Martin Cecil, entitled Listen! In it he describes what occurs when there is a body of focalized response on earth. So let me read a few paragraphs:
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“What is really happening from the standpoint of the movement of the spirit of God may emerge somewhat out of the mists and be observed. There are no decisions to be made, because they are already made. Things are working the way they really work, whether as human beings we have been aware of it or not. What is required of us is to become aware of it and thus to participate in an effective way with what is consequently allowed to take form. We all have some experience of this, according to the extent of our own purity of heart.
“The spirit moves. That movement determines what shall be. What shall be, of course, is modified by the way human beings behave and react, but such behavior and reaction are consequent upon the movement of spirit. The viewpoint of spirit, of course, is not blind to the way human beings are likely to behave and react, so it is all taken into account. But it may be clearly seen that when human beings stop behaving and reacting in their usual human ways the spirit will have a clear shot. Then what needs to occur naturally occurs, and all may participate in it easily and with delight.
“We ourselves are in position to allow this to become known on earth in our own experience. There are others in other places, likewise, who are letting this occur, but the opportunity is open to everyone. What ease and naturalness and delight could be in the experience of all people on the face of the earth. It comes forth in some measure for us. If we find ourselves at times in difficulties it is because we produced those difficulties. We are all well aware of this. Someone else wasn’t responsible, just oneself.
“So we have the opportunity of coming into line with the way things really are and the way things really work. That is the way of easiness, of naturalness and of delight. But the moment we try to make things work the way we humanly think they should we’re in trouble, and we begin to proliferate our difficulties and our so-called problems—all self-produced. What a great thing it is finally to take responsibility for the way things are in our own experience. Taking that responsibility, we are taking responsibility for the way things are in our worlds. But it takes a real man or a woman to do it.
“The spirit is in motion. It always has been and always will be. That motion we have described in various terms. It is indeed the Word. Obviously, to know what the Word is in the moment it is necessary to hear it. There has been such a cacophony of noise humanly produced that the Word has not been heard at all by most human beings on the face of the earth. You know, we hear what we listen for. To hear the Word, we must listen for the Word. This ability to listen is important.
“It was written: ‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.’ But according to what is present in the heart the ear heareth. There has been the idea sometimes that there has been a good deal of repetition in what I have said, for instance. If this is true, I wonder why. Was it because I couldn’t have said anything else? Or was it because those who were present didn’t hear what I was saying, because they had never learned to listen? Obviously, in the world as we know it scarcely anyone ever listens to anyone else. In a way I suppose that’s all right, because no one else has much to say! But usually it is a matter of putting up with what other people are saying, waiting for a chance to say what you have to say—so on that basis no one ever listens to anyone else.
“Presumably over the years we have been learning to listen in some measure but, we may well wonder if we really heard what has been provided even once, because according to what is in the heart our ears have heard. And if our hearts have been impure we certainly haven’t heard the truth. We impose upon the Word what is present in our own hearts. This capacity to listen is dependent upon our hearts and the state of them. If it is to be pure listening, we must have pure hearts.
“Yes, this capacity does refine if we are willing to let it. I’m sure that all of you have heard something said in a service, for instance, and later read it in printed form, discovering that you hadn’t seen at the time what you now saw. You may have heard, at a service, something which had been presented before, possibly in different terms—I usually try to make it more interesting that way, but I could, for the most part, have given the same service quite a number of times, because it wasn’t heard in the first place—but you may have heard something said again, and suddenly, as it has been put, ‘the penny drops,’ and you think you understand.
“We learn to listen. The listening is of a different kind; it is not merely hearing sounds in the ordinary way, but a listening to the spirit. Listen to that first, not being so concerned with the form. Very often those of rather simple understanding, but with open hearts, hear the soundless sound of the spirit with greater clarity than those with complicated intellects, because what is present in the intellect tends to be imposed upon what may be faintly sensed of the spirit.
“The vast majority of people can sense the spirit if they are open to listen for it. They can be moved by it, be delighted because of it, without necessarily understanding or giving form to what it is that the spirit may be conveying in the moment. In fact that is unnecessary for most people. If they are willing to move with the spirit of God because they listen for it, then there is the experience of life—life is found to be a song and a dance. One can hum the music of a song without knowing the words of it. One can dance without specifically being instructed as to where one should put one’s feet. As there is indeed a listening to spirit there is the movement in life—something natural, something wonderful, something easy, something delightful, something which is experienced and doesn’t have to be explained.
“Life is very powerful, and once there is a conscious focus of life on earth then it increasingly has opportunity to move in an unconscious way for people everywhere. It has heretofore obviously been distorted and twisted and caused to take form in destructive ways. But finally, as there are those appearing on earth who are so aligned with the movement of life that the mists clear for them and they see what is happening, then direction is given for the movement of life as it is experienced through all who have at least somewhat open hearts.
“Now life begins to move under intelligent control within the range of human experience, that all may share in the wonder of it, not because they know exactly what is happening but because they discover, when they are aligned with life, how delightful it is. They discover the steps of the dance. They begin to hear the music of the dance. What a joyous and fulfilling experience!”
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Indeed, when we find the joy and begin to share it naturally, easily, in our worlds with all whom we come in contact, its delightful. Many there are who haven’t found the joy. We know something of it, and when we share with whomever it is, they pick up on it; they begin to move with it, even if for only a few moments. Yet it reawakens something, something they want, something they know is there. It gives them encouragement. Yes, the joy!
I’m sure that each of us along the way has been drawn into the Way, the Truth and the Life in a different way, but the overall arc was the same. It required a good deal of seeking and searching at first. It was like an itch that we just had to scratch. We couldn’t help ourselves. We were being drawn—the Holy Spirit was leading us. We probably only knew it subconsciously at the time. And yet, we were drawn. And through all this we learned to listen; we developed a sense of discernment, and it grew keener, and keener as we progressed. We knew that the Truth was out there! What we didn’t know was that it is in here! Now we know.
I am reminded of a story of an Indian Prince named Arjuna. Here is a passage from the Bhagavad Gita. Now Arjuna, representing outer capacities of body, mind and heart, asks Krishna, who in this story represents the spiritual expression of the inner Divine Reality, the following question:
“Yet tell me, Teacher! by what force doth man
Go along his way, unwilling; as if one
Pushed him that troubled path?”
Krishna answered:
“Life it is!
Life's urge it is! And used in darkened understanding,
it pusheth him.
Mighty of appetite,
Powerful, and strong is this!
man's enemy or man’s friend!”
Indeed, within the heartbeat of Life is the creative, powerful, and intelligent force of Love. As I mentioned last time I spoke to you, it pervades the entire Universe as a field—in the sense of a magnetic field. It is present and active within the fine complex dusty plasma out of which the created Universe is both formed, and forever remains One. “Life it is!” But as Krishna said to Arjuna, this same force could either be man’s enemy or man’s friend! And this is why what we needed most on our quest was to know and understand, was the right attitude—and Life it is that gives us attitude adjustments along the Way. We learned that by having the right attitude—sometimes called an Attitude of Gratitude, we began to meet the mentors, teachers and leaders who pointed us in the right direction. And as we listened to them, we began to rise up and be drawn up into Attunement with Life, and finally we began to understand that these very qualities inform our very selves, are who we are. Yes! Krishna went on to say:
“Learn thou! the Life is, spreading life through all;
It cannot anywhere, by any means,
Be anywise diminished, stayed, or changed.
Never the Spirit shall cease to be.
Never was time it was not; End and Beginning are dreams!
Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the Spirit forever.”
Krishna ended this section, the discussion, by telling Arjuna: “Seek refuge in thy soul; have there thy heaven!” Very much like the Master, in teaching His disciples to pray, said, “Enter into the Secret Place and shut the door. Have there thy heaven!” It’s a refuge and we can have this refuge moment-to-moment and live out of it. Life then has a clear shot! Spirit has a clear shot, to do what it will do. We don’t know all the ins-and-outs. We don’t need to. We just need to express that Spirit, as we all know. So, let’s seek refuge in the Wonderful One Within. Yes.
I would also like to share a little bit from Uranda’s masterpiece, Seven Steps to The Temple Of Light, where we find ourselves today:
“The Blessed One, who has entered in, Knows, and knows that he knows, that he who loves the Lord their God with all of their being, first, last, and always, is one who is more active than ever before, for Every instant is filled with glorious adventures in radiating love.
“He knows that he has Wisdom and Strength for every occasion and that he can experience no lack or limitation. He it is who knows how to truly enjoy all material things that come into his life, and his whole Being is filled with rejoicing and gladness.”
So how about that! Ultimately, one finds the joy and then begins to live out of it, Creating in every expression, in every situation, large and small.
“Love is the Power of The Wonderful One, and in it is the Creative Essence. Love is the Fire of Fusion whereby the outer self is uplifted into oneness with the Father Within.”
So, this is where our seeking ended and our serving began, as we knew this to be a reality, a fact—when we found the Oneness. Let us let it be so in all the moments of our living. And on this basis, let our doing be joyful. Let it be full of the Spirit of God and reflect the Love which fills the entire Universe. Thank you for listening today. I think as a group, as emissaries, we’ve done more listening than anyone else on earth; but it’s the joy in doing that tells the tale and creates a new heaven and a new earth.
So, I would open the space for any comments or responses that you might have.
Pamela Gray — Gary, nothing to be sorry about. I thank you for your beautiful vibration, in word and music and Spirit. It blesses. Also for the emphasis on pure listening, divine listening. As Martin said, “Listen with the ear of the heart.” When we listen with the ear of the heart, there's oneness, and I'm thankful for the oneness that we know together.
Marsha Bogolin — I too am so deeply thankful for all that you've shared. There's a wealth, so I'm going to just focus on one thing that really was moving to me: how you evoked the true stature of man; and in this case, I mean, male man, through the responsive heart that opens fully to the One in Whom we live and move and have our Being. Therefore the radiation goes out from that. As a woman, there is nothing more beautiful to me than that quality in a man. I also think it's beautiful, not just because I like it, but because it's powerful and it allows the stream of intelligence and love to come through and bless the world. So truly, thank you.
Robert Merriman — Gary, I love where you went with this today. Selective listening really is required to finish the work that we came to do. I was reminded while you were speaking, of those beautiful lyrics in the song Joy to the World. “Let every heart prepare Him room.” As we value the LORD more than anything else, we prepare real estate, square footage, in our hearts. And that's for His Word, and no other sound. As that place is prepared, voila, it comes; we hear it and then we can move with it. How beautifully you describe that radiation that happens simultaneously and instantly as we allow a space for it to land—and it lands, as it always does, when there's room for it. Thank you so much for what you've initiated for us to move with today. It's glorious and beautiful.
Carl Romaner —Hi Gary. It's been a real pleasure to see you and hear your words, and also to see so many familiar friends in the Gallery viewing; a few more gray hairs, but boy some radiant faces. As I was listening to your words, I was thinking, you know, that for so many people, these are just words. They're just words. That's it! Radiant listening: what does that mean to most people? In one ear, out the other! And yet we have such a rich history of actually radiantly blessing in such deliberate ways, over so many years, that there is a just a huge body of substance that we tap into, and move from that. So I've really enjoyed just tapping into this with you and sharing in this hour, and being reminded of so many hours. As you said, we’ve probably listened more than any other people on the planet, possibly. It wells up feelings of memories of just some really precious, precious times which have laid the foundation for the last 20, 30, 40, 50 years for many of us. That's what it's been for me. So thanks for initiating this and sharing it. I love you brother.
Gary — I love you brother. Thanks so much for appearing. Well, thank you everyone. It's always a delight to come before you. Who could ask for a more receptive loving audience.
Davina Misroch — Sorry, Gary, I just have to say something. There's one sentence that you said earlier which struck me like a chord: “You always hear what you're listening for.” That was powerful and stunning. I'm thinking, what is it that I long to listen for? What am I, what is my heart longing for? And the answer is clear. I'm longing to hear the Word, and that requires everything, all capacities to hear the Word. More than anything—yes, to hear it—to deliver it. But to hear the Word of God and to be in that alignment, is perfection. And I want to say that your delivery today was perfect. The pacing, the pausing, the momentary tone, was exactly that perfection. I heard the Word of God this evening and I thank you for all that you did to bring it to point.
Anne Blaney — Hi Gary. You're not getting rid of us yet. We're still here. I was thinking how often our considerations could be looked at as a big, major anatomy lesson. We can endlessly attempt to articulate what it is we're experiencing, and you did a very fine job this morning. I also found myself thinking about the longing of the heart. And I'm aware that it is not just the heart that longs but also the mind longs—the mind longs to hear something sensible, something truthful, something rational. The body longs to know life, so it longs also. So the longing is at all the different levels. I appreciate your emphasis on intelligent control, and how the spirit enters into this plane, which is through flesh and blood, our flesh and blood, and how we enter into our closet and we listen, carefully. All these things allow things to be seen selectively, in a finer, understandable, conscious designed way. And that is part of our blood, the gift that we received in our experience: in having such things described and then understanding what it was we had begun to experience, understanding that more deeply and fully in a magnified way, we began to understand and live it out. To live and move and have our Being. Those are beautiful words. You live, yes life! You move, with design, and you have Being—have the Being. Those are not just words: “Live and move and have our Being.” Those are actually very significant words. So all these things got stimulated by your consideration, and I thank you for the intelligent, aesthetically beautiful way you presented our anatomy lesson today. I really appreciate it. Thanks.
David Barnes — Hey Gary. I just want to come in here and express my joy at being with you, and with all of us here together this morning. I think it's important to share. and let everybody know that the three pieces of music that we've already listened to this morning, and the one that will share as we close our Service, were improvised and created by you, and some of it with Tim Elliot, in your duo called Shekinah Fire, which is continually producing new improvised music these days, and shared so freely. It's a good name for a band, “Shekinah Fire”. And it's good to have that music played this morning, born of your heart, and Tim's, and to share the feeling pattern in your mind as you were bringing it through into creation, because you had to feel something in your heart and in your mind too. There's evidence of a great love and fiery passion there, and illumination; and it helps to draw the substance together, and bring us into that body of the Shekinah Pattern that is larger than the formulations of music that you created, but from which you drew that beauty that is the Word—which is the nourishment and the food of life itself for all. I have experience with you, of that same fine tuned quality that comes through the creation of your music. I can always be assured that that will come through your thinking capacity, your depth of feeling, through the intelligence with which you share whenever we talk together. It's just as reliable verbally as it is musically—the listening quality is the same.
And, when we're in that Shekinah Reality, the field of the creative Word, together, this is really what we know of one another as angels in human form. We know that the Spirit is being perceived and expressed, and shared amongst us when we are in the creative field of the Word—which Uranda so richly named the Shekinah Pattern of Being—when we have the experience that reality together. What a wonderful field there is for us, in which to engage and be together and create; and because we've listened carefully, learn to be confident in our improvisation together. It's not just an experiment. It's born of something that's absolutely solid and experienced. It comes unrehearsed, and we have assurance and confidence because of what's taking place in the heart and in the mind, of purification and sanctification. We have experience of the thrill that is present in that, the joy and the wonder of that. So on many levels we've experienced this together this morning, and I'm grateful for your leadership in bringing us into this holy space. It is not religious at all, but holy and filled with joy. Thank you Gary.
1 comment:
What a beautiful hour of true worship. Gary, your music is heavenly, as is your spirit. It is easy to draw near to the One we love, in Whom we live and have our being. I continue in this holy place with you and all who draw near to our beloved Lord and King. Bless you my brother.
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