THE MYSTERY OF BAPTISM

Baptism on this level is a symbolic representation of being raised to the realization
of being God the Father. In his letter, Paul tells the Ephesians that there is only one
baptism. This occurs prior to the realization of being God the Father. And in Paul’s
letter to the Romans he states: “We are buried with Christ by a baptism into death,
so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we also may
walk in newness of life.”

Baptism implies complete immersion. It is said that when Jesus rose out of the
water the heavens opened, and the Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended upon
him.

Has it ever occurred to you that you are immersed in a body which is 90 per cent
water? This is the great water in which God is buried and will remain until – now
individualized as you – He will rise out of the water to see the heavens become
transparent and the Spirit – in bodily form as a dove – descend with his gift of a new
form, a new manner of existence, and a new unification, so that each – while
preserving his individuality – becomes God the Father.
In his great eulogy, Paul places baptism as sixth in order. Beginning with the one
body, Paul speaks of the one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and
finally the one God and Father of all. So this baptism takes place just before you
become aware of being – not just God the Father, but the Father of all!

Now it is said that when the heavens opened to complete translucency, Christ – now
risen – not only saw the Spirit take on bodily form as a dove, but heard a voice
speak directly to him. This event takes place in an individual’s soul, and is not seen
or heard by anyone else!

Jesus is the personification of redeemed humanity. He represents all those who
have fulfilled scripture. His story takes place in the soul of the individual who has
the experience, and it is not shared by another on this level. “I have had a baptism
to be baptized with, and now I am constrained until it is accomplished.” All
scholars interpret this statement to mean the crucifixion, but it is not.

The crucifixion began with a creative act, when the Spirit of God moved upon and
was baptized into these bodies of water. At that moment we were united with Christ
in a death like his. After incubation, we will all hatch out and be united with Him in
a resurrection like his.

Now inundated in a world of illusion, the Spirit is hovering, incubating, and one
day will be raised out of this body of water. Then the heavens will open and the
Spirit, in the form of a dove, will descend.

Bear in mind that Jesus represents redeemed humanity. His is the one body into
which every being is incorporated. Jesus is the one Spirit, the one and only hope of
man, and the only Lord. He is the only faith by which one should live, and the one
baptism culminating into becoming the one God and Father of all. This is baptism
in the true sense of the word.

In 1926 my mother came to see me in New York City, and was quite upset when
she discovered my two-year-old son had not been baptized. She believed that if he
died without being baptized he would not go to heaven, so we had him baptized for
her sake.

But we are told that unless you are born of water – which you are dwelling in right
now, and the Spirit – which is a spiritual experience, you cannot enter the kingdom
of heaven. When this vision possessed me, my head became transparent. Through
its translucency I saw a dove floating above me, and I had fulfilled the story in
Genesis.

Man is not a fantasy of the earth and water, but the true ark of God, containing
everything within him. The dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. When Noah
stretched forth his hand he received the dove and brought her in unto himself, and
there she remained.

In my own case, I came out of the water from which I was inundated. I extended
my right hand and the dove lit upon it. Then I brought the dove to my face and it
smothered me with love, as the voice of God – personified as a woman – said,
“They avoid man because he gives off such an offensive odor; but his love is so
great that he penetrated the ring of offense to demonstrate his love for you.”

Just recently I was reading the dialogues of the pilgrims of Buddha (translated from
the Sanskrit by Mr. Rhys Davids), where he said: “In the eyes of the gods, human
beings are seen as disgusting, revolting, and are accounted as such.” I know in my
own case the voice of God spoke similar words, but not in the same manner. And
on this level they may not be wrong, when you think of the tremendous amount of
advertising is placed upon deodorants. But I do not believe Buddha was speaking
of human beings in that manner.

We are here for a purpose. Ours was a deliberate descent, and not because of
anything we did that was wrong. And when our incubation is over, we will once
more rise from this world of death to be infinitely greater than we were prior to our
descent. This water-body called man is the limit of our contraction and opacity, but
there is no limit to our expansion and luminosity.

Do you know that when a body weighing 300 pounds is cremated, the amount of
ash which remains could be placed in a Campbell’s soup can – so where did the 300
pounds go? It evaporated, because it was all water! We are all individually wearing
a garment of water. We are buried with Christ by baptism unto death. And just as
Christ rose by the glory of the Father, we too will rise in newness of life.

When this happens to you, no one here will know it, for they cannot see the events
you encounter. No one will see the dove descend upon you, the transparency, or
hear God’s voice tell you of his love. These events transpire in your soul, and when
you share your experience with others some will believe you, while others will not.
The majority will not believe, for having been conditioned to think of Jesus as a
little individual who lived and died two thousand years ago, they cannot think of
him as the personification of redeemed humanity. They cannot see Christ as a
cosmic presence buried in all, but only as a mortal man – and that is not his story.

If you cannot enter into the kingdom of God unless you are born of water and the
Spirit, then you must emerge (be born out of) the water in which you, as Spirit, first
entered.

Your birth as Spirit qualifies you for the new form, the new manner of existence,
the new unification of Christ on an entirely different level. One person at a time is
called to enter into and form that one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all who is above all, through all, and
in all.

Whether you have been baptized here or not does not matter, for it is only a
symbolic representation of this – the final mystery in the great series. And when
you have experienced the true baptism, you are an entirely different being. No one
in the outer world can see the being you know yourself to be. But you will become
completely absorbed into that one body, one Spirit, one God, yet you will never
lose your individuality. That’s the great mystery and that’s the purpose of it all.

We were individualized before we descended, and tend forever and ever towards
ever greater individualization. Having descended into these bodies of water, Spirit
hovers over the water, incubating something precious that is buried there until it
hatches. And when the water breaks the heavens open, and the Spirit in bodily form
as a dove, descends. Then the voice of God declares his love, for he has raised up
his glory and you become one with God the Father.

When this experience is yours, you will remain here to share your experiences in
the written form, that in the tomorrows your words may spark something in those
who read them. In this world of Caesar money and security, love and affection, are
sought; but the day will come when nothing will satisfy the individual but an
experience of God. Then he will know the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Your baptism in the Christian faith is only a symbolic representation of this great
mystery of dying, being buried, and rising again with Christ. But you do not have
to be baptized here in order to fulfill scripture.

I hope you will soon fulfill the real baptism and know the mysteries of scripture.
My mother had me baptized at the age of three or four. At the time I had no
knowledge of what was taking place; but in the real baptism I was the sole actor,
alone on the stage where the vision took place.

In his book, John implies that others saw the event, as he put words in the mouth of
John the Baptist. Luke suggested others were there, but told us he was only telling a
story, saying: “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the
things that have been accomplished within us, just as they were delivered to us by
those who from above were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seems good
to me also, having followed all things accurately, from above…”

The phrase “from the beginning” is a translation of the Greek word “anothen”,
which means “from above”. This same word is translated as from above, when the
Risen Christ spoke to the Sanhedrin [member] Nicodemus, saying: “Unless you are
born from above you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Luke is telling you that
he has had the heavenly experience and knows what he is talking about, but he does
not claim his story is chronologically exact. Luke rearranges the story, ending with
the crucifixion, yet knowing that it came first.

Tennyson once said: “Truth embodied in a tale shall enter in at lowly doors.” Luke
told his story as though it took place in the outer world, and unfortunately the world
has accepted it on that level. Luke cannot be condemned for telling it that way, for
it has kept the story alive. But it was written for you, most excellent one who loves
God, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been
informed.

Having been told these stories, you have been informed of the truth which will one
day come to the surface. Believing they happened to one man, you have worshiped
an exterior Christ, joined a church, and done all that the church demands of you.
But one day the true story will erupt within you. Then there will be no judgment
concerning what the evangelist did.

Both Matthew and Mark claimed only the one having the experience saw the clarity
of the heavens and the descent of the dove. Luke and John told of witnesses, but I
know from experience: you and you alone bear witness to yourself.

That is why, when you tell others that the story written about Jesus Christ has
unfolded in you, they cannot believe it. In their eyes you are a human being with
limitations and frustrations, while they are looking for something entirely different.
They do not know that the reenactment is coming to them, for he said: “I have a
baptism to be baptized with, and how I am constrained until it is accomplished.”

When you are baptized with this baptism, you become one with the one body
waiting for all to come. You awaken as the one Spirit waiting for everyone to
awaken. And as that one being, you will wait for all to set their hope fully upon this
grace which comes at the unveiling of Jesus Christ. You will be constrained until
everyone is once more brought into the one body, the one Spirit, the one God and
Father of all.

After baptism you will take off the garment of flesh for the last time, to become one
with God the Father who is above all, through all, and in all; to once more hover
and wait for those you have incubated to rise from the dead garments of water
where they are buried.

Now is the time to set your hope fully upon the true baptism, when the heavens
open and you come out of the water to find the Spirit of God hovering above you.
And because you are fulfilling scripture, you will do exactly what Noah did. You
will extend your hand. The dove will light upon it and you will bring it into
yourself. In my experience, the dove smothered me with love. Then God, in the
form of a woman, told me that His love was so great he penetrated the ring of
offense. Prior to that experience I had never thought of myself as being offensive;
but to those who contemplate this world the ring of death is very offensive.

Throughout the letters of Paul, much is said of this baptism. In the third chapter of
Galatians, Paul tells that baptism removes all human divisions of race, class, or sex.
That after the baptism we are in Christ and are neither Greek nor Jew, slave nor
free, male nor female. Having resurrected from division, we are baptized into the
one Risen Lord who is one with every race and every creed; for the Risen Lord is
above all divisions.

After baptism you will no longer see people in your dreams, for everything
changes. Your little body will remain limited and weak, however, until you are
relieved of it. Having fought the good fight and finished the race, you will have
kept the faith and received the crown of righteousness and the wreath of the victor.
So set your hope upon this – the final of the seven eulogies.

The great confession of Israel, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One,”
parallels the Christian creed as the one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one baptism,
found in the 4th chapter of Ephesians.

On the first day of January, 1963, I was baptized by the Holy Spirit. Now I, like
Paul, spend my days from morning to night telling the story of the fulfillment of
God’s promise to the fathers, while many believe and may disbelieve. But I will
keep on telling it until I depart this world.

Everyone must and will be baptized into the body of the Risen Lord as the Risen
Lord, without loss of identity. Then he will be given a new form, a new manner of
existence, and a new unification; because, having been united with Christ in death,
h is unified with Christ in a resurrection into a completely new unification.

There is no loss of identity, yet you know you are God the Father of all. I will know
you more intimately there than I could ever know you here. I knew you before you
descended, and I will certainly know you after we ascend. We can never lose our
individuality, but will simply know a greater and greater individuality in that one
body, one Lord, one God and Father of all.

Although I urge you to set your hope fully upon this grace that is coming to you, no
one knows when it will happen. Do not think that what you have done has any
restraining power, because it has none. Everyone has had thoughts which he is
ashamed of. I am a perfect example of one who could never have judged myself as
kindly or gently, as compassionately or mercifully, as I was judged to become – so
how could I claim another as not qualified!

I did not come to judge you. I do not know what you have done and I really do not
care, but I urge you not to put a barrier upon yourself because of the things you
have done of which you may be ashamed. When His mercy shines upon you,
though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow, so it doesn’t really
matter.

I am not encouraging you to go out and violate your codes, but I urge you not to
carry the burden of your past with you. Let it go if you can, and set your hope fully
upon this baptism, for the Father is hovering over you. You do not see him because
you are immersed in water, but he is incubating you, and one day you will break
through the surface and be baptized into the body of the one God and Father of all.

Now let us go into the silence.

Neville Goddard 01-31-1969