The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in the region of Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 167 -
The heavyheartedness of the Roman at the beautiful view.
When we came on the mountain, the Greeks and the Roman admired the beautiful environment.
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The Roman said: "Truly, I have never seen such landscape that is so marvelous into all directions. If we always could stay young, strong and healthy on this precious Earth, and be provided with all the necessary things, then we also could forever rejoice in such environment.
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But at the sight of such beautiful landscape, the human mind is often filled with a great heavyheartedness when he always has to think by that: 'only a short time is this joy granted to you, and then you painfully will have to leave it forever.' But what can weak man do against this, except sighing? Because he so quickly will have to leave a life that is often, also on this Earth, very nice and pleasant, and will no more be able to view and enjoy the charms and beauties of such marvelous environments of this Earth. But this is the way You want it, o Lord and Master, and the poor, powerless human being must comply with the almightiness of Your will."
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I said: "Friend, now again, the old, blind Roman and gentile out of you has spoken, and despite your exemplary strong and active faith and trust in Me, you have shown that you really are still not initiated in the secrets of the true, inner life of the soul.
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Do you perhaps think that the soul will not be able to also view the regions of this Earth without the help of his material body, provided that he is perfected according to My order that is clearly shown to you and that he will leave his heavy body in this way?
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Who is it that can see now this landscape, although imperfectly, through the 2 little windows under your forehead? For sure, only your only living soul. Because the body was only given to him for a short time as an instrument in order to acquire and secure for himself, through the right use of it, the full freedom of life and independence forever. He who feels, hears, sees, smells, tastes, thinks and wills in the body is surely the immortal being of the soul and not the dead body in itself, which apparent life would not be possible without the true life of the soul.
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If your soul can see now the beautiful landscapes of this Earth through your body, with all the limitations of his life, and can feel real joy about it, only by viewing the most outer form, he will feel an even greater joy and delight when he will be able to view, evaluate and understand, with his brighter eyes, not only the outer shell of the beings and things, but the whole interior in its most wonderful connection, action and meaning.
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Yes, he who is still so deeply buried in his flesh, so that he will feel as if pulled along into death during the certain death of his body - which is the result of his too great love for the world and the flesh - then man must of course speak as pitifully as you have spoken now, My friend. But once man, in whom the soul is free from the earthly dross according to My teaching and My will, and who became by that more perfect and perfected, will speak quite differently and exaltedly at the view of such environment and landscape.
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A natural human being, as you are still now - although you can view now with your eyes, and hear with your ears, the Lord and Master of all existence and life - if he becomes heavyhearted at the sight of a beautiful environment, because the feeling of his perishability awoke in him, then this is only very beneficial for his soul. Because that feeling is the immortal Spirit from Me in the soul of every human being, without which he would not possess a life. That Spirit cries out to the soul: 'Do not love the world for the sake of its outer charms, for they are all subject to death and perishability. Take courage and turn away your lustful eye from that which is nothing in itself. Instead of that, turn inwardly in your deepest inner self, in Me, your true existence and eternal life. Then you will not only see and recognize the dead, outer shell of the things and beings, but excellently see and recognize that which is in them and which is active, and how and why, and what ultimate goal they have.'
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Tell Me now, friend, if this is so, and can really not be otherwise, does a human being, who has received understanding about his being and existence, have actually any reason to become heavyhearted in himself at the sight of a charming outer form because he once will have to put off his decaying body?"