Gospel of One; Letters of Aul

Hi Everyone, namaste:

We are now on paragraph 4 in chapter 5 of the First letter to the Orinthians from the book "Gospel of One; Letters of Aul."

"Previously I wrote to you about not getting involved with the sexually promiscuous.  I didn't mean that you should avoid outsiders completely.  You'd have to retreat to a remote part of the country to do that.  However, my point is that when some of your own community members are promiscuous, or cheat people, or get drunk or stoned, you shouldn't ignore their behavior.  You just can't go along with it, fearing confrontation.  We can't try to regulate the whole society, but within our community we want to have people who really understand the life of oneness.  We want people who will live the golden rule.  We want people who are mutually helping each other.  Sometimes we need to clean house and find out where everyone stands."

Commentary: Even when a group of people are organized around high spiritual principles and guidelines, there will eventually be people with ulterior motives who come around to take part in the activities. This is a difficult situation because we can't see ulterior motives until later on.  Also, some people have the ulterior motive of seeking power, so they get into leadership positions, and then they start calling the shots, so to speak, and the whole original purpose of the group is undermined. That's why it's good to have open and honest communications between members of the group.

Gospel of oneness

Hi Everyone, namaste:

We are now on paragraph 3 of chapter 5 in the first letter to the Orinthians from the book "Gospel of One; Letters of Aul."

"Bring the matter into the open and deal with it in the authority of Jesus Christ and the Ascended Masters.  Let them know the elder brothers and sisters are inspiring us to do our best.  Assemble the community. I'll be there in spirit and so will Jesus and the Ascended Masters who work closely with us. Let the people who have been misbehaving defend themselves if they can. If they can see the errors of their ways and sincerely want to change, you can help them.  If they are unrepentant and intend to continue to indulge in sexual immorality, then it may be better to ask them to leave the community. We know they are a part of the oneness of life, so we don't judge or condemn them, but we are building a movement of people who respect all life and who live for truth, beauty, honor, joy; and love. Loving sexuality between a man a woman who are committed to each others welfare for the long term is the ideal behavior we endorse."

Commentary: In any spiritual organization made up of people who live on this earth there will be sexual interplay.  It is unavoidable and should be acknowledged and dealt with honestly and honorably. It is up to each individual to keep up his or her own purity and integrity.

Gospel of One; Letters of Aul

Hi Everyone, namaste:

We are beginning chapter 5, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the first letter to the Orinthians from the book "Gospel of One; Letters of Aul" (page 76).

"I also received a report of scandalous sex within your community of believers--of a kind that wouldn't even be tolerated within normal society.  And you are so loose and unconcerned about it!  I would think it would break your heart and bring you to your knees in prayer.  I would expect that you would confront these people and help them out."

"This matter of sexual misconduct needs to be brought out into the open because it can seriously harm a community.  I know that most of you are strong in the faith of always doing your highest and best for everyone, but the illusions of life are very strong, and the weaker ones among you may make poor choices about ego and body gratifications.  However, you must not look the other way and hope the problem goes away on its own."

Commentary:  Sexual infidelity, promiscuity, and selfish sexual desires can make it very difficult for a group of people to get along well, even for people who profess a high level of spiritual understanding.  We are spirit souls with earthly bodies and are thus subject to the sexual desires of all normal human beings. There are no easy answers to sexual dilemmas.  Practitioners of Oneness can know that all good desires will be fulfilled in the oneness of God.  Sexual desires that hurt other people are not acceptable. If sexual temptations are too strong, the best thing to do is to physically get out of the temptation as quickly as possible, and then you can regain your calmness and think clearly.