Last week we were studying, when we ended, theology and religion. Let’s take in more detail what is THEOLOGY.

Theology is called in the scripture the “Pharisees.” The Pharisees had a lot of rules and regulations concerning the outward behavior of man. They were concerned, as the Christ said, only with washing the outside of the cup and the dish while the inside was full of all manner of uncleanliness. Here shows the difference between the Schools and theology. Theology is concerned with putting forth a good face. It is based upon mammon. It is based on that the whole purpose of living is to regain a non-disturbed state – possibly after this life because they couldn’t deliver it during this one. And that the greatest ideas are to please everybody, believe and do as you’re told by your authorities – which of course are the theologians – and the idea of to behave differently, to appear to be different on the surface. And if one does all these things, one becomes a very excellent aspect of the unconscious or the conditioned state of being we have referred to as “B”. 

Now, of course, there is another kind of theologian which is called a psychologist, psychiatrist, etc. They are very interested in weakening “B”. They want to leave it so that the man can do what he wants to without feeling guilty, without becoming in a state of depression, without getting in a conflict. So, it is very interesting sometime to see a person that subscribes to the ideas of a theology, and at the same time to try to relieve their misery goes to a psychologist or psychiatrist. One is working constantly to increase the power of “B” – the theologians and all their aspects. The physician is doing everything he can possible to weaken the power of “B”. This is to find a very amusing but very pathetic situation, which is very common about us.

The main idea of the theologian is performance, physical performance in the society. He, of course, is having you perform, whoever subscribes to it, in a way that is based upon instructions given by some authority.

Now each theology has a few things in common, possibly, but they have many things at variance. Each claims that it’s the one and only true one, and that all the others are false and will lead one astray. So of course, whatever one finally accepts, one must accept that it and it alone is true and that all other ideas of theology are false and will lead one astray. That one is taking great chances to leave the fold and listen to another. No matter how interesting one may find the other it is dangerous because it will cause one to spend all eternity in a burning hell. And if one does exactly as one believes and is told, one has a chance (only) of getting into the non-disturbed state where the streets are of gold, where everybody has what they want, the way they want it, exactly right, you know.

Of course, all of this is done in public for public consumption. It is seen by all people and it is a public function. It is an organization that must be supported, and it is ritualistic in performance. Whether the ritual is performed in the church, or one performs the ritual all through the day, every day of the week, is immaterial. But one is given instructions on behavior. And of course, the inner state of the man is still in the same old state it always was – fully conditioned, has the conflicts within it because no study is ever made of the inner man. It is assumed that the man has free choice and can do as he pleases. And when he doesn’t do according to the ideals set out for him, he needs to practice more self-improvement.

Now their basic means of practicing this theology is that the watchword of it is work – keep everybody fully occupied in the work of the institution of the particular theology it’s based in. So then they are, of course, real busy doing the work of the institution and this is always called the “work of God.” Suddenly the institution becomes “God”; and it really is the god of the person who subscribes to it because he depends upon it. He makes it important to “believe and do as he is told by his authorities.” And we have seen that whatever a man makes important, whatever he depends on he’s made a god out of. So, it is possible that it could be idolatry because it is a man-made organization that people refer to as doing the work of God. 

One of the major occupations within it is to be able to watch your brother to see where he gets a speck in his eye, no one recognizing that they have a beam. But everybody is watching everybody else to see how they perform. Nobody understands the inner state of the man. But is he performing, and is he agreeing to all the things we have been taught to believe and do by the authorities of this particular ideology? If one is not, of course one is a danger and a threat to the entire “hive.” And one must do something about it. One must throw out these that suddenly pull away their agreement or begin to question anything. Because if they begin to inquire – even as to the purpose of living or the purpose of anything – that is to question.

Because all things are answered by the Scribes and the Pharisees – whoever are the heads of these particular institutions – because the institution goes on. The heads, of course, being mortal, die now and then, or for one reason or another they are no longer in charge. But the whole business is to watch your brother. And of course, the idea of the whole outfit is that it is a flock, or a beehive, or an order where there is a queen bee, and that everything is kept in line. And this is considered to be a successful theology. Of course, it’s usually referred to as religion, but we will get to religion a little bit later.

Now, what does the theology demand of its adherents? One, it demands human sacrifice. Now it doesn’t mean that they go out and cut people’s heads off or cut their hearts out and throw it to the sun or to some other places. But it makes sacrifice of the individual – from his time, his effort, his finances, his loyalty, his attention, his agreement, and everything. He must sacrifice any time that he would have to be in self-Awareness to find out what is going on within himself. He must sacrifice to the organization to make it immortal.

Man is mortal. But the institution is demanding that everybody sacrifice to it, to make the institution immortal. And of course, the longer number of years the institution stays in, the more it can say, “See, we are the real one,” because then it has had more and more people sacrifice to it. Of course, the institution is the idol; and everybody brings it its sacrifice because the institution is considered to be immortal and the various individuals that sacrifice to it are mortal. 

Sacrifice requires giving up something. What it really requires the giving up of is Awareness because somebody else is going to tell one what to think, what is valuable, what is true, what is false, and all these things, and one is not allowed to investigate for self. One can only investigate the claims of the institution that will verify that it is true. If one should attempt to investigate for self in some other manner, then one is a threat to the institution; and one has possibly been thrown out of the institution in one form or another.

Now let’s consider possibly what RELIGION is.

In the Scriptures it is written in the little Book of James in the New Testament [James 1:27] that “religion, pure and undefiled before the Father is one to aid the widows and orphans in their tribulation…” Now, widows and orphans are people who have no teaching, no protector, no head of the household. It does not necessarily only refer to ladies who have lost their husbands and children who have lost their parents. It is one that has no one to look over them and that are subject to being exploited and that are rendered incapable of totally caring for themselves. These are widows and orphans. 

The man – in the story of the Good Samaritan – that was in the ditch, would be considered a widow and an orphan because he at the moment was in great danger and was incapable of providing for himself. So, whoever would provide for him was a friend. And the friend is considered to be a friend of God because each human being is an expression of God. So when a person is rendered incapable, whether in psychological, spiritual matters, or physical ones, they’re considered to be widows and orphans. And that “religion pure and undefiled, before the Father, is to provide for the widows and orphans in their tribulations.”

Not when they’re not in tribulation because that would be being a “do-gooder” and would prevent them from having their necessity increased enough to challenge. But when they’re rendered incapable of responding to stimuli, then they are in tribulation and one is to aid them. Now, that would possibly be in some cases aid the person to find information that could start them on their own way again. In some cases it might actually be dollars and cents, or whatever… food or shelter, or pay their rent or whatever the case may be.

“Religion is to aid the widows and orphans in their tribulations and keep oneself unspotted from the world.” 

Now to be spotted by the world is to believe in ideals and self-improvement, in having signs and demonstrations that one is improving, and blaming when things don’t go. Remember, the world is four basic ideas; and those ideas are that there are ideals that people have imagined, that one struggles towards them as “what ought to be” and “what should be.” So the work of religion is to keep oneself unspotted from that as well as “caring for the widows and orphans.” 

Most of us have been very spotted. In fact, maybe we’ve been dipped in and dyed. This one can certainly say yes – was dipped all the way under and totally covered with the dye. So not just spotted a little bit here and there. But then, the job is to get rid of the dye, to get the inner state clean so that one is no longer spotted by the world. 

This is what we do self-observation for, so that we can remove the dye job that’s been done and the many spots. We find that there are tiny little spots here, there, and elsewhere that escape notice as we go swiftly by. We have been looking for the past few weeks, looking for those more subtle spots – the ones which prevent one from experiencing the higher states of consciousness, the states of being, experiencing the spiritual experience of FAITH, GRACE and LOVE.

So this is to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Now this is what pure and undefiled religion is. It says nothing about attending an organization, it says nothing about joining an organization, it says nothing about supporting any institution. It says simply, possibly, the opposite of that. Because the institution is based on the ideals, on ideas of self-improvement, on having signs and demonstrations of various and sundry kinds that this is the “right way”; and certainly blaming when things go a little haywire. Obviously, if you question it, why, you would be blamed. So then it’s possible that that is to be “very spotted” by the world. Consider it your own observation. Don’t take anybody’s word for it.

The duty of religion is to give alms in secret only. Now to give alms is to give aid for the ones incapable of performing for themselves. And it’s to be done in secret.

As we observe in the world of AGAPE, the Kingdom of Heaven, the three ways of expressing Agape, Love, is being considerate. You would make no one feel in any way that they are obligated to you or that they have been an object of charity and that they would owe you anything. Because if you were very helpful to someone openly, when they were capable of performing again they might want to repay it. And of course, that would only be a transaction of horse trading. So, to be considerate is to not allow anyone to know that “I am obligated to that person over there.” This is whether it be from a psychological area or whether it be from the physical area of food, clothing, shelter, rent, etc.

The other one is to PRAY, which means WORK. Work as we are doing, we have been doing is a prayer. It is asking, seeking, knocking to see what is the obstruction to that union with Spirit. And it is to be done in secret. In other words, we are not to run around telling everybody what we are doing because then we are really being a Pharisee. We are trying to do things to gain the attention and approval of men. That we are really dealing in some esoteric material and that “I” am making great discoveries. This is not prayer. This is praying in public to gain other people’s attention and approval. The prayer that counts, the work that counts, is done in secret. 

That is why we have where you can work all alone. You have your own notes. You have your own reference material. You have your talks. You have your own practice. All of it is in secret. No one else sees it; and you can do it wherever you are. You don’t have to have a fanfare that so and so has gone to a certain school. One is in school wherever one is. One is praying while one is working at observing the self and observing the things in the world – the man-made world and the real world. One is working when one is observing conflict – the struggle between WHAT IS and “what ought to be” being valued instead of WHAT IS. Then one is truly working or praying.

And then what is practiced in true religion? The watchword is WATCH and LISTEN. PAY ATTENTION. PAY ATTENTION! BE HEEDFUL! Observe what’s going on. And don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing – totally dis-identified from the conflict in the world and from any attempt to gain attention/approval, trying to gain pleasure or comfort. One is totally isolated from all that. 

The purpose of that practice is LIBERATION: