The Revealing Word, by Charles Fillmore, [1959], at sacred-texts.com
The Revealing Word, by Charles Fillmore, [1959], at sacred-texts.com
ears--Represent the obedience and receptivity of the mind.
earth--Metaphysically speaking, the earth represents the consciousness of the physical body.
east--The within. As used in Matt. 2:1, the word in the original is plural; thus, from the regions of interior wisdom come thoughts of reverence and rich gifts of substance, understanding, and every spiritual help for the Christ child, whose growth in consciousness has begun.
Easter--The awakening and raising to spiritual consciousness of the I AM in man, which has been dead in trespasses and sins and buried in the tomb of materiality.
eat and drink--To appropriate; to become conscious of the food that "abideth unto eternal life," and to use it.
eat of the tree of life--The eternal life of God is within every man. When we consciously realize the presence of this life in every part of our organism we are eating of the tree of life.
eating--Eating is symbolical of mental appropriation of thoughts of substance. "Thy words were found, and I
did eat them; and thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart" (Jer. 15:16).
Supplying the physical needs does not solve the whole problem of hunger for man, for his hungers are as varied as his interests and desires. They include his thoughts and feelings as well as his physical needs. When Jesus said, "He that eateth me, he also shall live because of me" (John 6:57), He referred to the appropriation of spiritual substance by man, and not to his eating of material food. We "eat" spiritual things when we affirm that we are strengthened and sustained by spiritual substance.
When in the holy silence you nourish your consciousness on God's word, you are eating of the "hidden manna" (Rev. 2:17), the bread that gives everlasting life. The Lord's Supper (Matt. 26:26-31) is a mental feast.
eating of the tree of good and evil--Appropriating the consciousness of both good and evil.
To "eat" is to appropriate the substance of ideas through thinking about them. "Evil" represents error-thought combinations; that part of consciousness which has lost sight of true principles and through sensation becomes enamored of the thing formed. Form has its place in creation, but it is subject to the creative idea that begets it. The activity of an idea in man's mind produces sensation. To become involved in the sensation of an idea to the exclusion of control is to eat of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and to die to all consciousness of the original idea.
ecclesia--The church of Jesus Christ: the called-out ones.
Eden, Garden of--Represents a region of Being in which are provided all primal ideas for the production of the beautiful. As described in Genesis, it represents, allegorically, the elemental life and intelligence placed at the disposal of man and through which he is to evolve both mind and body.
The human body with its psychical and spiritual attributes comprises a miniature Garden of Eden. When man develops spiritual insight and in thought, word, and act voluntarily operates in accord with divine law, then rulership, authority, and dominion become his in both mind and body. "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). (see Garden of Eden)
education, spiritual--To draw forth from within, through meditation and prayer, the deep truths of God.
ego--The I. The ego is man, and by reason of his divinity he makes and remakes as he wills. In this lie his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. The ego of itself is possessed of nothing. It is a mere ignorant child of innocence floating in the Mind of Being, but through the door of its consciousness must pass all the treasures of God.
ego, adverse--When the ego attaches itself to sense consciousness, it builds the antichrist man, who has no basis in reality. This is known as the adverse ego. It is the adverse ego that causes all the trouble in the world. Its selfishness and greed make men grovel in the mire of materiality, when they might soar in the heavens of spirituality.
ego, spiritual--The true self; an individualized center of God consciousness; I AM; conscious identity.
egotism--A state of consciousness built up by the will functioning in the sense world. In this false expression it looks upon itself as great, honorable, mighty. Supreme egotism stops the flow of spiritual life in the organism, and body atrophy sets in.
Egypt--Mental bondage to sense thoughts; material consciousness. It pertains to the physical sense of life, the corporeal organism.
elimination--(see renunciation)
Elohim God--The original Mind in creative action. El means "the strong and ever-sustaining one," and Alah,
"to swear or formulate by the power of the Word." Elohim thus represents the universal Principle of Being that designed all creation.
El Shaddai--(see almighty)
emanate--"To issue forth from a source" (Webster). In metaphysics, emanation usually refers to the silent influence of Mind of Spirit.
emotion--Undisciplined or uncontrolled forces. Subnormal or supernormal activity of mental or physical forces. Excitement of the feelings.
It is found that for each bad emotion there is a corresponding chemical change in the tissues of the body that is life-depressing and poisonous. Contrariwise, every good emotion makes a life-promoting change. Thus, it follows that it pays to think good thoughts and to do good acts for one's own sake.
"end of the world"--Literally, "the completion of this eon." This does not refer to the physical world, but to the present era or age; or individually, to the end of a certain state of consciousness.
The "end of the world" is the separation of the true from the false in consciousness, when the wisdom and understanding of Spirit are so developed in us that we, of our own accord, choose whom we will serve and select that which is right in the sight of God. "The world passeth away, and the lust thereof" (I John 2:17).
"The end of the world" is sometimes translated "the End of the Age" ("Emphatic Diaglott"), thus giving a clearer meaning to the text. The world, the age, the old order of things shall come to an end and pass away; and the new world, the new age, "wherein dwelleth righteousness," will be established.
energy--The power of God within us to accomplish. Strength or vigor of expression. Internal or inherent power, as of the mind; capacity of acting, or producing an effect.
Power forcibly exerted; force or action. Zeal in motion, the forerunner of every effect.
enthusiasm--"Ardent zeal or interest; fervor. Divine inspiration or possession" (Webster). It is a powerful expression of a living interest; it is active and vital. Enthusiasm is another word for zeal, and zeal is a great stimulator of man. You cannot think of or repeat the word zeal without evoking a certain mental thrill that spurs you to action in some direction.
entity--"A thing which has reality and distinctness of being either in fact or for thought" (Webster).
entities, protective--The shepherds who were watching their flocks by night at the time of Jesus' birth symbolize protective entities of God that have kept watch over the soul in its sleep between incarnations.
environment--Surroundings. Our consciousness is our real environment. The outer environment is always in correspondence to the thoughts making up our consciousness.
equivalent--"Equal in force or authority" (Webster). Our demonstrations are equivalent to the power and illumination contained in our realizations. We receive according to our capacity to receive.
error--That which is untrue. Error thoughts represent belief in thoughts and beliefs not of God. Error thoughts have no foundation in Truth. They originate in the intellect. They are eliminated by one's denying their reality and power, and affirming the Truth of Being.
essence, spiritual--The substance in which all things exist and out of which all things are made.
eternal--Without beginning or end; timeless; everlasting in duration. "The eternal God is thy dwelling-place" (Deut. 33:27).
ether--The spiritual substance in which we live, move,
and have our being and out of which can be made whatever we desire. Some scientists teach that space is heavily charged with energies that would transform the earth if they could be controlled. Arthur Eddington says that about half the leading physicists assert that the ether exists and the other half deny its existence; but, in his words, "Both parties mean exactly the same thing, and are divided only by words."
One with spiritual understanding knows that the ether exists as an emanation of Mind and should not be confused in its limitations with matter. Its being is governed and sustained by ideas, and ideas have no physical dimensions.
evil--That which is not of God; unreality; error thought; a product of the fallen human consciousness; negation.
Evil is a parasite. It has no permanent life of itself; its whole existence depends on the life it borrows from its parent, and when its connection with the parent is severed nothing remains. In Divine Mind there is no recognition of evil conditions. Such conditions have no basis of reality. They are conjurations of a false consciousness. Apparent evil is the result of ignorance, and when Truth is presented the error disappears.
There is but one presence and one power, God omnipotent. But man has the privilege and freedom of using this power as he will. When he misuses it he brings about inharmonious conditions. These are called evil. Evil appears in the world because man is not in spiritual understanding. He has not learned that all is Mind; neither has he conformed to the law of Mind, with the result that inharmony appears in his body and affairs. He can do away with evil by learning rightly to use the one Power. If there were a power of evil, it could not be changed.
evil, overcoming--Evil must be overcome with good. We must dwell in the good so wholly that all the substance of our thoughts and our being is given over to the
promotion of the good. This is a mental process in which all negation (evil) is denied, and creative, fearless affirmation of God's perfect good is steadfastly adhered to.
evolution--The development achieved by man working under spiritual law. It is the result of the development of ideas in mind. What we are is the result of the evolution of our consciousness, and this consciousness is the result of seed ideas sown in the mind. In the beginning, God implanted His perfect word--involved this seed word into each man. Evolution is the unfolding in consciousness of that which God involved in man in the beginning. (see involution)
evolution, spiritual--The unfolding of the Spirit of God into expression. The Christ or Son of God evolution in man is plainly taught in the New Testament as the supreme attainment of every man. "For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God" (Rom. 8:19).
exaltation--A lifting up; a raising up of the consciousness in man from a physical and mental basis to the spiritual. Affirm: "I hear the voice of God within me and I am exalted."
exercise--The act of training the mind to think of God's attributes as forces that are being incorporated into the mind as one incorporates strength into the body. "Exercise thyself unto godliness" (I Tim. 4:7).
exercises, spiritual--Prayer, meditation, worship, and fasting from erroneous ideas.
existence--"State or fact of having being" (Webster); manifestation. The object of man's existence is to bring forth in the race that which exists in God.
exorcist--One who uses a holy name to cast out evil spirits; an imitator of Truth who is not in the understanding of the change of heart and thought that must accompany all true healing. (see Acts 19:13-16)
expectation--Anticipation of divine good. Looking
about for the wondrous benefits God has prepared for us.
In every person is that which causes him always to hope for and to expect that which is good and true. This very expectation helps the good to become active.
experimentation--Man is a free agent. He can open his mind to divine wisdom and know creative law, or he can work out his unfoldment through experimentation. Our race is in the experimental stage. In our ignorance we transgress the law to the very limit, and then a great reaction sets in, a general condition that is negative to the point of dissolution. Then, that in us which always looks obediently to God in an extremity is awakened, and we seek divine guidance.
external forms of religion, worship of--Undue attention to ritual and ceremony. Concern with the letter and not the spirit of religion.
eye, inner--Spiritual vision; intuitive seeing with the eye of Truth.
eye, single--Searching quality of mind with keen observation that selects only that which is good. The single eye is open and receptive only to the guiding light of Spirit.
eyes, blind--A darkened consciousness. When we are exalted and illumined through Truth darkness disappears. "And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness" (Isa. 29:18).