October 10th 1966
We greet you in love. We would remind you of the last supper when Christ gathered with His disciples in the upper room and the last meal was prepared. And we say unto you that he that eateth of the so-called bread of life, the so-called flesh of Jesus, is the one who realises, the one who is aware of the very Spirit within himself. And the one who would drink the wine, this one who would taste of the so-called blood of Jesus, is the one who understands of his or her own experience, the pain and the suffering of others. Who know, as Jesus knew and felt, the deep compassion, the deep sorrow of all those who could not find peace, who could not understand the love of God, who could not love others, who lived only for themselves. They sought and looked this way and that for peace, but never in the right direction in the depths of their own being.
And these can never know the feeling of eating and drinking, of taking sup, as it were, with Jesus, with Christ, with the spirit.
And there are they also who are aware, who have tasted of the bread, who have tasted of the wine, and who have indeed Joined forces with the true spirit, lived in love, seen and felt its magical, wonderful power, and yet, at the very end, in a time of stress and trouble, have turned away from that door, from that love, for another God. Even as Judas turned away from the loving, living, divine, Jesus Christ, to those who held the bag of thirty pieces of silver.
And it is possible even those who have reached this state of grace, who have felt and basked, as it were, in this divine love, can still be overpowered with the material desires, for success, and for wealth, and for peace as the Earth knows it. And that is why there are those around you who seem to have been brought up, as it were, in the religious life, whọ have week by week, knelt in their various churches, and yet, and yet, even in their everyday ordinary life the opportunity arises whereby they can prove their faith, prove their love for Christ, by helping another soul, another spirit, probably with a little of their material possessions, and yet, they turn away. They turn away with clasped hands, and the pursed look, and the uplifted eyes, towards the pulpit, towards the shrine, towards the cross, towards the image of Christ, or the maiden with the Babe, These are they who had the opportunity to partake of the bread and the wine, but the turn away, turn away towards the material goals, material gods, the things of the Earth. They do not understand the meaning of true love.
They talk of it. They pretend to know. But the true gem, the true stone is not recognised by such as these.
For God is love. pure, divine, holy, crystal-clear love, the gem, the stone. But there are countless thousands who say that they understand love, but they worship not at the shrine of the stone itself, but at one of the many facets, one of the many beams. They love and worship another human being, they love and worship their children, their parents, all these loves that bring good, will bring the need for sacrifice, and if one is absolutely sincere and willing to sacrifice for this love, they may follow the gleam, follow the ray, until at last they see the gem itself, the stone itself, from whence cometh all the other lesser lights.
And we hear, we hear of those that are washed, as it were, in the blood of the Lamb. And we realise that this means, and can only mean, that one who loves, who will sup with Christ, who has tasted of the bread and of the wine, the last meal, are filled with this blood which goes round and around to the very heart of things, to the very centre of their being. This compassion, this understanding, this inner knowing, this inner peace. This is when the bread, the true bread, has been swallowed and digested, and it goes forth into the spiritual part of the being, and nourishes and fortifies and creates good and holy thoughts. The blood itself, the wine, this stimulates, after the feeling of heaviness, and haziness and doubt, and wondering, and not knowing quite how or where or why, at last there is that peace. The good therefrom has entered the spiritual blood-stream, and the spiritual body begins to operate, make itself quiet, make itself known. And the spiritual power is reflected through the works, through the thoughts, through the deeds of the physical body and all those who have eyes to see, and who have understanding will know, here is one who has attended the last supper, who has eaten, and loved, and understood, the words of Jesus. And who has found that even though things seen at their very end, have received the nourishment from the food and wine of the Spirit and witnessed the ever-lasting glory of the spirit, the risen Christ, the Spirit within themselves.
And now, perhaps, if you will think of your earlier conversation—of people with plenty of money, who have been blessed in every way—who have tasted of the flesh and of the blood, and yet turn away, for thirty pieces of silver, and give up all that is good, all that is pure, all that is true. You understand.
The Last Supper's bread and wine are given inward meanings here: the bread is realising the Spirit within oneself; the wine is understanding, through one's own experience, the pain and compassion Jesus felt for those still searching. Both are inner states, not rituals — something eaten and digested into one's spiritual being, "reflected through the works, through the thoughts, through the deeds of the physical body," visible to anyone with eyes to see it.
The transcript's sharper warning is that having genuinely tasted this bread and wine is no guarantee of staying at the table. Judas, having walked with Christ and known real love, still turned toward "thirty pieces of silver" — and the transcript applies this directly to those who kneel in church "week by week," who know the words and gestures of faith, but turn away from the concrete chance to prove it, "probably with a little of their material possessions," when the actual moment for sacrifice arrives. Knowing love and living it, on this account, are two different things, and the gap between them can open even in someone who has genuinely known the greater love before.
The transcript closes with an image of degrees: the "gem, the stone" is love itself, pure and whole, while the countless loves people do practise — of a spouse, a child, a parent — are described as facets or beams of that one light, not the light itself. These lesser loves are not dismissed; sincerely followed, with real sacrifice, they can lead a person, "follow the gleam," all the way to the source they were only ever a reflection of. This is close to the account of love C. S. Lewis gives in The Four Loves — that our human loves, rightly ordered, are not rivals to the love of God but training grounds and pathways toward it, useless as substitutes but invaluable as the road.