August 5th 1969
Through the grace of God, I kept for thee the stone which is a symbol of wisdom and understanding. It has been called many things: the diamond of the Buddha, the pearl of great price of Jesus, the priceless gem and the lotus itself.
And patiently I waited and watched as you made your daily way over the many, many years. I knew, I had confidence, I had faith, and I loved you so well, and I knew you so well, that I felt almost sure that one day I could pass the stone which I kept into your own keeping. It is but a symbol, but you have also many, many precious gems to add to your collection. All people are born, as it were, with these uncut, unpolished gems in their make-up. There is the gem, the priceless gift of healing, or seeing, of smelling, of touch, of feeling, all these things are given to all normal, average people. All these are gifts of God, gifts from the Father himself, and yet how many remain uncut, unfinished, unpolished,almost at the end of one’s life? Tarnished, no shape, no beauty, no lustre, and yet the one who sees through the eyes of love and understanding, who develops a sense or a desire for reality, for the truth, for the simple, for the good and for the beautiful. When one has come face to face with the Christ Spirit within oneself, then only the best is good enough.
And no matter what hardships one has to endure, there is no turning back. For the glorious goal has been glimpsed, even through the darkness, through the jealousy, through the hate, through the bitterness, through the anxieties, and the tribulations of the flesh, the glimmer of light has been perceived, and its beauty cannot be denied. And one feels, in his thinking, this must be made his very own. The windows of the homestead have been seen from the dark forest of the world. Light in the window has been seen also. One feels drawn, drawn to one’s proper place, in the house of God, in the sacred place, within oneself. The place of peace.
And so, we take these uncut gems and we find that because we have found God, because we have sought for the things of the kingdom first, then the other beautiful things of the material world and of nature can be made our own. No longer can our ears stand the brassy, crashy sound, the noise-some clanging of the outside world. But we must needs listen to the finer sounds, the higher sounds. And we seek with our ears the sounds of beauty that come from those who are inspired in turn from the higher spheres, those who know they have the gift, and who recognise that these times of inspiration, a greater power.
And these, because they are agents for the finer things, bring forth sounds from their musical instruments, through their mind, sounds which are almost heavenly. Distorted a little because, there are always, there must be, barriers, little distortions as the pure and the beautiful things become, as it were, more polished and finished, this wonderful gift begins to take in through itself, through its acknowledgement of love, the more beautiful sounds, and they are so many.
And we want you to thank God for your sense of hearing. And thank Him also because there are they upon the Earth who are willing to be trained and to devote their time and energy to creating a thing of beauty, beautiful music, the sounds of birds, the good, good, clean conversations of good people. And then you develop another gem to add to your collection. You have given back the gift that God gave you, of hearing, and you have let Him do what He will with it. You have recognised the giver, and in His great love he has helped you develop this gift, so that you may hear the lovely and the beautiful.
Also, when you are listening to the conversations of other people, the fine instrument, the Spiritual par of the ear that can truly hear, one knows, one knows whether what you are listening to is genuine, is true, or false. One behaves accordingly. It is a precious gem, and when it becomes finished and cut and polished, it is so wonderful. And as the body itself gets older one can hear with the inner ear, Spiritual sounds,Spiritual voices, a whisper from the true world where love abides.
And the eyes look forth and they see many beautiful things, many interesting things. They do not look for tinsel, for tarnish, for the baubles, for the untrue,for the ugly, for the sensuous, for the things of the world. They see God in everything. And they see the Christ, they see themselves. They know that deep, deep behind those windows of the soul there is the Christ Spirit somewhere, somewhere, waiting, perhaps sleeping, but they see it, they recognise it for what it is, a gem indeed. A precious gem. See to it that it is polished, cut and finished, for God has indeed been good with his precious gifts to His children. And because they eyes and the ears can see and hear in a Spiritual sense, the hands obey, they give wisely, they know when to clasp and to unclasp, concerning those around.
For indeed, we remind you of the words of the old hymn, and yet so few understand: “Bright gems, bright gems for thy crown”. How many think of the heavy things, full of coloured glass and baubles. But we think differently don't we? Because you are beginning, dear charge and ward, to understand. Take thy gifts, thank God for them, and soon we can share all these beautiful and wonderful things, all these wonderful things, and we can help through our experience to polish, to finish, and to cut, the ray material in others.
This transcript widens the stone symbol, familiar throughout this collection, into something everyone is given, not just the rare few who reach it as a final achievement — the ordinary senses themselves are named as "uncut, unpolished gems" present in everyone at birth, hearing and sight and touch all gifts waiting to be shaped rather than merely used. What distinguishes a life well lived isn't possessing these gifts but polishing them, which the transcript says happens naturally, almost as a side effect, once "one has come face to face with the Christ Spirit within."
Its central, more unusual claim is that spiritual development actually refines taste itself — not as a moral improvement layered on top, but as a genuine change in what the senses can bear and what they're drawn to. Ears that have found this inner peace, the transcript says, can no longer tolerate "the brassy, crashy sound, the noise-some clanging of the outside world," turning instead toward music and conversation with real depth to them; eyes stop seeking "tinsel... baubles... the sensuous" and begin, instead, to see God in what they look at. This isn't asceticism imposed from outside, but appetite itself changing shape as the person changes.
The old hymn quoted at the close — "bright gems, bright gems for thy crown" — is given a pointed reading: most people, the transcript suggests, still picture that crown as heavy with "coloured glass and baubles," ordinary achievement and possession, rather than understanding what the real gems actually are — the senses themselves, patiently cut and finished through a life spent seeking what's true rather than what merely glitters.