The Essential Edgar Cayce (8 page)

What is the purpose then, we ask, for our entering into this vale, or experience, or awareness, where disappointments, fears, trials of body and of mind appear to mount above all of the glories that we may see?

In the beginning, when there was the creating, or the calling of individual entities into being, we were made to be the companions with the Father-God.

Now flesh and blood may not inherit eternal life; only the spirit, only the purpose, only the desire may inherit same.

Then that error in individual activity—not of another but of ourselves, individually—separated us from that awareness.

Hence God prepared the way through flesh whereby all phases of spirit, mind and body might express.

The earth then is a three-dimensional, a three-phase or three-manner expression. Just as the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit are one. So are our body, mind and soul one—in Him.

Now we have seen, we have heard, we know that the Son represents or signifies the Mind.

He, the Son, was in the earth-earthy even as we—and yet is of the Godhead.

Hence the Mind is both material and spiritual, and taketh hold on that which is its environ, its want, in our experiences.

Then Mind, as He, was the Word—and dwelt among men; and we beheld Him as the face of the Father.

So is our mind made, so does our mind conceive—even as He; and
is
the builder.

Then that our mind dwells upon, that our mind feeds upon, that do we supply to our body—yes, to our soul!

Hence we find all of these are the background, as it were, for the interpreting of our experience, of our sojourns in the earth.

For the astrological or the relative position of the earth (our immediate home) is not the center of the universe, is not the center of our thought; but the kingdom of the Father or the kingdom of Heaven is within! Why? Because our mind, the Son, is within us.

Then with that consciousness of His awareness, we may know even as He has given, “Ye abide in me, as I in the Father—I will come and abide with thee.”

In that consciousness, then, the purposes for which each soul enters materiality are that it may become aware of its relationships to the Creative Forces or God; by the material manifestation of the things thought, said,
done,
in relation to its fellow man!

As the earth then occupies its three-dimensional phase of experience in our own solar system, and as each of those companions that are about the solar system represents as it were one of the phases of our conscience—the elements of our understanding—or our senses; then they each in their place, in their plane, bear a relationship to us, even as our desires for physical sustenance; that is: foods for the body; with all of the attributes, all of the abilities to take that we feed upon and turn it into elements for our body.

All of the elements are gathered from that upon which we have fed to build blood, bone, hair, nails; the sight, the hearing, the touching, the feelings, the expressions.

Why? Because these are
quickened
by the presence of the spirit of the Creative Force (within).

So our mind, with its attributes, gathers from that upon which we feed in our mental self; forming our concepts of our relationship with those things that are contrariwise to His biddings or in line with that law which is all-inclusive; that is, the love of the Father, with our mind, our body, our soul, and our neighbor as self.

Then all of these influences astrological (as known or called) from without, bear witness—or
are
as innate influences upon our activity, our sojourn through any given experience. Not because we were born with the sun in this sign or that, nor because Jupiter or Mercury or Saturn or Uranus or Mars was rising or setting, but rather:

Because we were made for the purpose of being companions with Him, a little lower than the angels who behold His face ever yet as heirs, as joint heirs with Him who
is
the Savior, the Way, then we have brought these about
because
of our activities through our
experiences
in those realms! Hence they bear witness by being
in
certain positions—because of our activity, our sojourn in those environs, in relationships to the universal forces of activity.

Hence they bear witness of certain urges in us, not beyond our will but controlled by our will!

For as was given of old, there is each day set before us life and death, good and evil. We choose because of our natures. If our will were broken, if we were commanded to do this or that, or to become as an automaton, our individuality then would be lost and we would only be as in Him without conscience—
conscience
—(consciousness) of being one with Him; with the abilities to choose for self!

For we
can,
as God, say yea to this, nay to that; we
can
order this or the other in our experience, by the very gifts that have been given or appointed unto our keeping. For we are indeed as laborers, co-laborers in the vineyard of the Lord—or of they that are fearful of His coming.

And we choose each day
whom
we will serve! And by the records in time and space, as we have moved through the realms of His kingdom, we have left our mark upon same.

Then they influence us, either directly or indirectly, in the manner as we have declared ourselves in favor of this or that influence in our material experience. And by the casting of our lot in this or that direction, we bring into our experience the influence in that manner.

PHILOSOPHY

Edgar Cayce’s philosophy of life is not summarized easily, but that was just exactly what Thomas Sugrue did in the concluding chapter of his authorized biography of Cayce,
There Is a River.
To help Sugrue, Cayce gave a reading to answer a series of problematic questions that Sugrue had identified; reading 5749- 14 is arguably one of
the
most significant readings ever given by Cayce. Since 1943, Sugrue’s remarkable book has introduced the work of Edgar Cayce to hundreds of thousands of people, and the philosophy chapter is a foundation for beginning to work with the ideas presented in the readings. Sugrue probably would not have been able to write it without this reading.

Once you’ve studied 5749-14 carefully, read the philosophy chapter. Sugrue tells the story of the creation of souls and how souls came to be trapped in materiality. His narrative creates the context for understanding Cayce’s
Christology
and his approach to such topics as meditation, dreams, and reincarnation. Any reader of the chapter will no doubt recognize points that are clearly articulated in the reading. But in other passages from the chapter, Sugrue interpreted what he understood from the reading and then added to it. It’s an especially fine illustration of the author extrapolating the essence of Cayce and presenting it in an understandable way to general readers.

To prepare for the reading, Sugrue clearly had done his home-work. He studied the readings carefully, along with biblical and other philosophical sources. For most of the eleven “problem” issues Sugrue hoped Cayce would clarify, he already had tried to formulate his own best thinking on the matter, offering Cayce a possible solution and requesting comment. This sound strategy is consistent with the approach often encouraged by the readings for consulting psychic sources.

Although there are many subtleties and interesting nuances found in the reading, at least five major themes are addressed:

• Creation and the purpose of life.

• The importance of free will.

• A cosmic view of the soul’s journey.

• The process of incarnation and influences that shape a lifetime.

• The mysteries of Jesus, the Christ.

There are, of course, other readings on creation, and Thomas Sugrue was able to draw upon them as well. But in this reading, we find an especially straightforward description of the fall of humanity. Edgar Cayce takes evil seriously. But to answer the ancient problem of its origins, he focuses on the misuse of free will by souls. To decipher essential points in this portion of the reading, it may be helpful to notice that the term
soul
is used for the spiritual component of our nature, whereas
man
refers to the physical creation that happened much later.

Were souls meant to come to earth? Here, the answer is a little more cryptic (“The earth [was] . . .
not necessarily
as a place of tenancy for the souls of men” [emphasis added]). Apparently, it became a place for meaningful experience after souls had fallen through their own misuse of free will.

The issue of free will is so prominent throughout this discourse, in fact, that reading 5749-14 might well be considered Cayce’s most important statement on the subject. Free will, one of the three attributes of the soul along with mind and spirit, is described in a variety of ways:

• The cause of the Fall.

• The greatest factor (surpassing both heredity and environment) in helping or hurting the soul’s growth.

• The agent by which the soul makes use of opportunities due to the circumstances of birth.

• The awakener of the Christ Consciousness resident in the unconscious mind of every soul.

Another particularly significant portion of this reading concerns the distinction between
Jesus
and
the Christ
—a topic explored in more depth in chapter 7, “Esoteric Christianity.” In other readings, we find not only the idea that “Jesus is the pattern” but that the “power is in the Christ.” That is to say, Jesus was a man who was one incarnation of a soul that had many lifetimes, whereas Christ is a consciousness to which a soul can attain. In this reading, the mission of the soul we know as Jesus is clarified.

However, Edgar Cayce’s answer regarding Jesus’s past lives leaves us bewildered. Thomas Sugrue complicates matters by putting the question of Jesus’s past lives and the Christ’s past lives in a single question. Cayce responds that the Christ had incarnations as Enoch and Melchizedek, but then he describes another sequence of lifetimes belonging to a soul that became Jesus, including Joseph, Joshua, and Jeshua. Does this latter sequence denote a new phase of the same soul’s development? We can’t be sure—it’s open to interpretation.

The final question-and-answer exchange may seem like a request for
personal
advice on Sugrue’s part. Up to this point, Cayce has presented a thoughtful dissertation on metaphysics, a clairvoyant view of the structure of the universe and human history. Now comes the twist: Cayce adds a moral dimension. Don’t try to “go around the Cross,” he states. There is no real understanding of all these matters—creation, the past lives of Jesus, or anything else—unless one also embraces the meaning of self-sacrifice.

The passage reminds us of Gandhi’s famous warning: “Be on guard against science without humanity, politics without principle, knowledge without character, wealth without work, commerce without morality, pleasure without consciousness, and work without sacrifice.” Edgar Cayce seems to be speaking in the same spirit: Don’t collect knowledge of higher matters unless you also have the idealism and the will to put them into practice. Don’t explore the mysteries of philosophy and psychology unless you’re willing to surrender your own personal agenda and sacrifice your own limited goals in living. That willingness is the most telling aspect of Cayce’s or any authentic spiritual philosophy.

THE READING

THIS PSYCHIC READING, 5749-14,
WAS GIVEN ON MAY 14, 1941,
AT THE REQUEST OF THOMAS SUGRUE.
The conductor was Hugh Lynn Cayce.

HLC:
You will have before you the inquiring mind of the entity, Thomas Sugrue, present in this room, and certain of the problems which confront him in composing the manuscript of
There Is a River.

The entity is now ready to describe the philosophical concepts which have been given through this source, and wishes to parallel and align them with known religious tenets, especially those of Christian theology. The entity does not wish to set forth a system of thought, nor imply that all questions of a philosophical nature can be answered through this source—the limitations of the finite mind prevent this.

But the entity wishes to answer those questions which will naturally arise in the mind of the reader, and many of the questions which are being asked by all people in the world today. Therefore the entity presents certain problems and questions, which you will answer as befits the entity’s understanding and the task of interpretation before him.

EC:
Yes, we have the inquiring mind, Thomas Sugrue, and those problems, those questions that arise in the mind of the entity at this period. Ready for questions.

Q
The first problem concerns the reason for creation. Should this be given as God’s desire to experience Himself, God’s desire for companionship, God’s desire for expression, or in some other way?

A
God’s desire for companionship and expression.

Q
The second problem concerns that which is variously called evil, darkness, negation, sin. Should it be said that this condition existed as a necessary element of creation, and the soul, given free will, found itself with the power to indulge in it, or lose itself in it? Or should it be said that this is a condition created by the activity of the soul itself? Should it be described, in either case, as a state of consciousness, a gradual lack of awareness of self and self’s relation to God?

A
It is the free will and its losing itself in its relationship to God.

Q
The third problem has to do with the fall of man. Should this be described as something which was inevitable in the destiny of souls, or something which God did not desire, but which He did not prevent once He had given free will? The problem here is to reconcile the omniscience of God and His knowledge of all things with the free will of the soul and the soul’s fall from grace.