John Randolph Price - The Abundance Book

TRACING THE PRINCIPLE
OF ALL-SUFFICIENCY

T his book couldnt possibly cover all the teachings on abundance that have flowed through the channels of Ageless Wisdomand which have then been adapted by Western culture and reinterpreted as spiritual metaphysics. The concept of all-sufficiency was a building block of essentially all philosophical and religious systems (in their original form) until the second-century A.D., when the war against self-knowledge and self-reliance began.

The Ancients taught that to understand oneself was to understand God, and through the process of meditation, one could release the Divine energy from within and transmute discord into harmony, ignorance into wisdom, fear into love, and lack into abundance. The initiate was trained to conceive the highest and noblest ideas as the vision for manifestation, and then to identify the symbols of the vision with the Master Spirit withinthe Source of all.

Students of the Mysteries were also instructed in the use of the innate radiatory and magnetic powers in exercising dominion. By working with the rhythmic Energy of Self, whatever form that was needed for exchange (the legal tender of that time) was brought forth as an instrument of goodwill. As such, money was simply a token of appreciation of ones service, a symbol of love and integrity.

Regardless of the level of instruction, one particular teaching remained constant throughout the initiation process: Mind and emotions embodying love, gentleness, and peace eliminated limitationthat is, such a consciousness of harmlessness freed an individual from the bonds and restrictions of human thought.

The Mystery Schools of Asia, Egypt, Persia, and Greece provided an invaluable service to humankind by reawakening the spiritual powers in a core group of dedicated men and women. This knowledge of harmony and fulfillment continued in sacred books and secret teachingsin the Hebrew Kabbalah, in the beliefs of Hindu and Buddhist mystics, in the Gnostic writings of early Christianity, and in certain passages not removed from the Bible.

Through the inspiration and teachings of Jesus, the Gnostics (from the Greek word gnosis, which means knowledge) continued the esoteric tradition. Their writings emphasized the Oneness of God and man, the divinity of the individual, and the creative power of each soul to rise above limitation. In the Nag Hammadi texts discovered in Egypt in 1945considered older than the New Testament gospelswe have a literal library of gnostic writings. In the Gospel of Thomas, one of 52 books found, Jesus makes it clear that when you know your true identity, youll realize that youre one with the Living Father. And then to emphasize the Truth that your consciousness of the Presence within constitutes your supply, Jesus says: But if you will not know yourselves, then you dwell in poverty, and it is you who are that poverty.

From the Gospel of Philip, were reminded of the esoteric practice of transforming vision into manifest form: what you see you shall become. The Gnostics worshiped the pure spiritual Light of the indwelling Christ, and through their knowledge of thought-form energy and the principles of manifestation, they were able to cooperate with Spirit in the releasing of the creative powersat least for nearly 300 years following Jesus time on Earth.

In A.D. 180, Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyons, attacked independent thinking and all teachings relating to the Oneness of God and individual man/woman. Believing that a spiritual consciousness and a personal union with God would undermine the authority of the priests, he directed his wrath upon Gnosticism. First he issued his five-volume Against Heresies, followed by a list of acceptable writingschoosing only those words that supported his demand for a fixed dogma. The shift in mind-direction from within to without had begun, and the innate power of the individual was gradually given to an outer structure and a lower authority.

When emperor Theodosius made Christianity the sole and official religion of the state in A.D. 380, the Institution assumed complete control over individual minds, and humanity entered the thousand-year period referred to as the Dark Ages. In fact, the first 400 years of this period is considered the barren age in Europe, as few advances in literature, science, and education were contributed to the future of the human race.

During that time, what is known today as a prosperity consciousnessthe realization of God as the Source of all goodwas almost nonexistent. The feudal system controlled secular life, and the keys to spiritual enlightenment were held by the Church leaders. Too free a subjective interpretation of the doctrine or lack of faith in the state religion resulted in extreme penalties. Due to the constant struggle between the Church and the individual, the mastery techniques dealing with freedom from need and the science of forces and forms were temporarily lost. The Western mind was kept in the dark until the institutional structure began to crack in the 1500s, and the eternal principles of Oneness and Unity began to resurface.

The Rosicrucians, also called The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, began to exert influence to counteract religious intolerance, remaining essentially underground until the publication of the Orders manifesto in 1614. Following the traditions of the ancient Egyptians and the Christian Gnostics, members of the secret society were known to transcend the limitations of the physical world through their spiritual awakeningovercoming lack through Knowledge (realization) of the Presence and Will of God.

Freemasonrymore ancient than any of the worlds living religions, according to Albert Pikecontinued the chain of the sacred Mysteries. Through an understanding of spiritual Reality and a dedication to Wisdom, Love, and Service, the Master Masons attained supernatural powers, with the ability to bring an all-sufficiency of visible supply out of the invisible substance. The (human) race mind was beginning to feel the effect of this new Light of Understanding.

By the 1800s, esoteric philosophy and practical mysticism were moving across Europe and America like a tidal wave. The Transcendental Movement led by Ralph Waldo Emerson began in New England; the Metaphysical Movement was ushered in by Phineas Quimby; Helena P. Blavatsky and Henry Olcott founded the Theosophical Society; Mary Baker Eddy founded Christian Science; the New Thought Movement blossomed through the work and teachings of Charles and Myrtle Fillmore (Unity), Nona Brooks (Divine Science), and Ernest Holmes (Religious Science); Alice Bailey established the Arcane School; Rudolf Steiner formed the Anthroposophical Society; Paramahansa Yogananda founded the Self-Realization Fellowship; and out of the wealth of material in the Edgar Cayce files grew the Association for Research and Enlightenmentto name but a few contributors to the New Age of spiritual unfoldment.

Its now estimated that at least 25 percent of the population of America is involved in some measure with what is considered Esoteric Philosophy or New Thought Religion. And right in the mainstream of this consciousness is the Truth that God is boundless wealth, and as expressions of the Infinite, we have an abundant inheritance.

This Message of Prosperity couldnt be concealednot even in the Bible. With more than 2,000 years of censoring, editing, and translating, the Golden Light of the Fathers Assurance remains. For example:

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper (3 John 1:2)

Prove me now herewith, said the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (Malachi 3:10)