Page 234 - THE SILENT HEALING POWER By DR. MURDO MACDONALD-BAYNE

FEBRUARY 1951

disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? Why do they take their food
with ‘common’ hands?” He said to them, ‘yes, it was about you hypocrites
indeed that Isaiah prophesied!—as it is written; This people honours me with

their lips, but their heart is far away from me: vain is their worship of me, for
the doctrines they teach are but human precepts.”
In Isaiah 29 verse 13 it states, “since this people draw near me with
their mouth,’ says the Eternal, ‘honouring me with their lips, while their hearts

are far remote; since their religion is a mockery, a mere tradition learned by
rote;. . . .’” This is what Jesus was referring to.
Mark 7: 8-10, “‘you drop what God commands and hold to human

tradition. Yes, forsooth,’ he added, ‘you set aside what God commands, so
as to maintain your own tradition!’”
Here Jesus shows us the unreality of tradition and outer show which

meant so much to the Scribes and Pharisees was useless in themselves, in
fact it was honouring with their lips while their hearts were far away from
God. Is this not the same today? We have pomp and ceremony, tradition,

lip-service, while antagonism and separation is rife, then all our prayers
become hypocritical.
Here Jesus shows that right thinking goes above and beyond all creeds
and tradition. Right thinking is freedom while conditioned thinking is oppression.

People are trained what to think. Is not our civilization based on conformity?
Our thought is directed by those who themselves are bound to nationalistic
ideas, to separation in religion, in politics. Are we not subject to propaganda to

make us think the way our leaders want us to think? Thus we are led like sheep
to the slaughter.
Propaganda is not conducive to right thinking, it tells us what to think,
and here Jesus with his right thinking shows the way.

Jesus was showing us that Spirit was the only Reality in man and through
self-awareness we discover our conditioned thought. We discover that we are
merely copying another, that we have acquired a habit of thinking which is

erroneous and disastrous to ourselves and others.
Jesus was aware of himself. He had the source of Reality within him.
“The Father and I are one.” But he could not have reached this state unless

he had first discovered the truth for himself. “Let the innocent among you
throw the first stone.” Anyone who is “innocent” would not cast a stone at
another and those who knew they were not innocent could not do so either.

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