His disciples said to him, “Is circumcision beneficial or not?”
He said to them, “If it were beneficial, their father would beget them already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become completely profitable.”
What is the meaning of any outward sign or gesture if the truth of that sign or gesture is not inwardly manifest? If one bears the sign of the holy covenant outwardly, but their heart, mind, and life are not purified and consecrated to the Lord our God, then surely they cannot be counted among the chosen ones, for one is not living as a holy person unto God. Likewise, if one refrains from eating pig but acts like a pig, like an insatiable consumer, surely consuming like a pig, one is a pig-man or pig-woman, and not eating the meat of pigs means nothing. If one is intoxicated with self-cherishing and the desires of the world, does it mean anything if one does not partake of alcoholic drinks? Yet consecrated wine may well bring the holy Shekinah to rest upon the one who is faithful and righteous, and who drinks of it!
Here, the Master addresses the question of holiness and righteousness. Holiness is an inward state and righteousness the activity that proceeds from holiness. Holiness is dependent upon no outward sign or thing. It is a state of higher awareness in one who is reborn of the Spirit of holiness. It naturally follows that the holy person will live according to the Truth and Light revealed in his or her experience of rebirth in the Spirit, and will worship God in Spirit and Truth. The holy person will live according to faith, hope, and love—most especially by love and compassion.
What is to be cut off so that the Christ-Spirit might indwell us and the Light shine from within us? I tell you, it is self-cherishing and selfishness, attachment and aversion, and all negative thoughts, emotions, and perverse imaginations that must be cut off, the poisons of pride, jealousy, arrogance, greed, lust, ignorance, fear, anger, envy, falsehood, gossip, slander, gluttony, intolerance, mean-spiritedness, and the like. We are to circumcise our heart, mind, and life of all these and, ultimately, the roots of these evils, which are self-cherishing, attachment, and aversion. Indeed, how can we continue to entertain such darkness and walk in holiness, to walk in the Light? We cannot walk in the Light with the Lord and continue to practice the ways of darkness. Rather we must actively purify ourselves of all darkness in the Lord and practice the way of Light.
When you contemplate the holy sign of the covenant, you will realize that it represents an openness and sensitivity, and that it is specifically related to the purification and consecration of desire-energy and the creative spirit—that is to say, the power of the imagination. This creative power is crucial for conscious evolution. It is a power that creates and destroys for good or for ill. The aspirant must master it so that he or she might subject this great power to God’s Will. So long as this power is directed to things of the world and negativity, the soul cannot seek God and unite with God. Rather, the soul suffers a seeking of fullness in emptiness and a union with that which dies; therefore suffering death again and again. When this creative power is turned away from the world, turned inward and Godward, it is this very power that moves the holy Merkavah in ascent and that accomplishes all manner of good works.
Under the old covenant, the holy sign of circumcision related only to men. In the new covenant it includes women also; for man and wo-man alike can circumcise their heart and mind in the Spirit and so bear forth the holy sign of the covenant equally. This reflects the priestly function to which both men and women are called in Christ. This also reflects the truth of the Neshamah, which is neither male nor female but contains the potential of both the male and the female. Thus, under the new covenant, there is an aspiration to become “like unto the angels of the Lord,” one meaning of which is transcendence of gender.
The Master speaks secretly of a mystery of Yesod, the foundation, for the sign of the covenant corresponds to Yesod and the flow of the astral tides. The subtle body at the level nearest to the physical is etheric and astral in nature and is mostly shaped by the emotions and passions. Therefore, the appearance of this body, as with the aura of a person, is determined by the vibratory frequency of the emotions. If the vital feelings and emotions are positive, bearing a resemblance to the human spirit, and are Christ-like, then the astral body shines with light and is beautiful to behold, appearing angelic—but if the vital feelings and emotions are impure and negative, then the astral body is darkened and distorted, taking on a demonic appearance. The state of the astral body, in turn, invokes spiritual forces in affinity with its condition, and links are formed with the spiritual forces attracted, whether angelic, admixed or demonic. This is true at the level of the mental and causal bodies as well, the mental body shaped by thought-forms and concepts held in the mind and the causal body by previous evolution or karmas.
The subtle body, composed of these various levels, corresponding to Asiyah, Yetzirah, and Beriyah, must be purified and consecrated and shaped in likeness to Christ, so that, receiving the spiritual body, corresponding to Atzilut, the subtle body might be transformed into the Body of Light or Solar Body of the resurrection. This transformation begins with the purification and dedication of each level of consciousness to the Lord, the active cutting off or transformation of all thoughts, feelings, emotions, speech, or activities not in harmony with the Spirit and Truth. This very activity makes the subtle body more and more self-luminous, forms links with Divine and angelic forces, and opens the way for the greater metanoia, when the Holy Spirit enters to transform every level of consciousness into a vehicle of the Christ-self. With any thought or emotion, one might contemplate whether one is linking with the Divine powers and heaven or with some other spiritual forces and domain. This very question represents a knowledge of what true circumcision means.