Soul Development Through Application - Part 4

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READING 257-78

(Q) Have I overcome sufficient karma (as suggested by the Forces) to now proceed on my journey on this plane without Lauterstein? [See 257-10, etc.]

(A) If the lesson has been learned well, to more often keep the mouth shut. THINK, but don't talk too much!

(Q) What relation has karma to my present development, and how can I overcome karma?

(A) This possibly to the entity, to the body-consciousness of [257], would require a whole dissertation in itself. The body little understands the MEANING of karma - but to answer same in a few words: That depends upon whether the ACTUAL of the innate forces are kept in accord with that not as HEARSAY, but as to that KNOWN by the body to be GOD'S way! Karma is, then, that that has been in the past builded as INDIFFERENCE to that KNOWN to be right! Taking chances, as it were - "will do better tomorrow - this suits my purpose today - I'll do better tomorrow." Karma is that; making that correction.

(Q) What is the present development of the mind and soul, as compared with two or three years ago?

(A) That would depend upon from what VISION this was taken, and the comparison as the standard, or the standard of comparison. The DESIRE is much more along the lines of spirituality. The ACTIVITIES are much perturbed by that which is being felt, or being awakened within the inner man. The ability to USE the knowledge as being obtained is still yet JUST blossoming. Be WILLING to be led; not by SPIRITS, but by the SPIRIT of God - Good - Right!

(Q) How can I still further advance into the perfection I seek to attain in the Father's eyes and the fellowman's?

(A) Put into practice day by day that as IS known. Not some great deed or act, or speech, but line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. Not as sounding of trumpets as to what is being accomplished, but in the quiet of thine own conscience lay the plans for that that may be accomplished, and in the acts day by day so build that as conforms to HIS way; for, as He has given, those that seek to know the Lord and do His biddings shall not go empty-handed; neither shall his seed beg bread.

READING 257-78 EXPLAINED

Reading 257-78 explains soul development through application, especially through the correction of karma and the daily use of what one already knows to be right. The central teaching is that spiritual progress does not come from mystical knowledge alone, nor from dramatic spiritual experiences, but from consistently applying truth in ordinary life.

The first question asks whether the individual has overcome enough karma to move forward without the influence of another person. The answer given is simple but profound: “Keep the mouth shut more often. Think, but do not talk too much.” This instruction points to an important aspect of soul development—self-discipline and inner reflection. Many people weaken their spiritual progress by speaking impulsively, reacting emotionally, or expressing thoughts before they are fully understood. The soul grows when it learns to think deeply, observe carefully, and speak only when words are helpful and constructive.

The reading then explains the meaning of karma in a very practical way. Karma is not described as a mysterious punishment or cosmic accounting system. Instead, Cayce defines karma as the consequences created when a person knowingly ignores what they believe is right. In other words, karma grows out of indifference to conscience. When someone knows the better path but postpones it—saying “I will do better tomorrow”—they create patterns that eventually must be corrected.

This definition of karma is important for soul development because it shows that karma is not primarily about past lives or fate. It is about how the soul responds to truth in the present moment. Every time a person ignores their inner understanding of what is right, they strengthen patterns that later need correction. Conversely, every time they act according to that inner understanding, they dissolve karma and strengthen the soul.

The reading also addresses the current development of the individual’s mind and soul. It says that the desire for spirituality has increased significantly compared to earlier years. This is an important stage in soul growth. Often the awakening of spiritual desire comes before the ability to fully apply spiritual knowledge. As the inner life awakens, a person may feel unsettled or confused because their old habits no longer feel satisfying, while their new understanding is still developing.

The reading describes this stage as a kind of blossoming. The individual has begun to gather knowledge and spiritual insight, but the ability to use that knowledge effectively in daily life is still emerging. This is a common stage in spiritual growth. The soul first becomes aware of deeper truths, then gradually learns how to embody them in actions, decisions, and relationships.

Another important instruction is given: be willing to be led by the Spirit of God, not by spirits. This distinction is significant. It means that the person should not become fascinated with supernatural influences or psychic phenomena. Instead, the guidance sought should come from the inner alignment with goodness, truth, and right action. The true spiritual guide is not external voices or mystical forces but the deeper spirit of truth that awakens within the soul.

The final question asks how the individual can continue advancing toward spiritual perfection. The answer given is the central principle of the reading: apply what is already known. Spiritual progress does not require extraordinary achievements. It does not come from dramatic acts, impressive speeches, or public demonstrations of spirituality. Instead, it grows through small, consistent actions carried out day by day.

The reading describes this process as “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.” This means that character is built gradually through repeated choices. Each time a person practices patience, honesty, humility, or kindness, the soul becomes stronger and more aligned with divine purpose.

Another important instruction is to avoid making a show of spiritual progress. The reading advises that the individual should not announce their spiritual accomplishments or draw attention to them. True development happens quietly within the conscience, where intentions and plans are shaped. From that inner place, the person then expresses those values through practical actions in daily life.

In essence, the reading teaches that soul development is a quiet, steady process of aligning action with inner truth. Karma is corrected when a person stops postponing what they know is right and begins practicing it consistently. Spiritual awakening begins with desire, but true transformation occurs when that desire becomes daily application.

When a person lives in this way—thinking carefully, speaking wisely, acting according to conscience, and applying truth little by little—the soul gradually becomes more aligned with the divine will. In that alignment, the individual begins to experience greater clarity, stability, and purpose. The promise given in the reading is that those who sincerely seek to know and follow the divine way will not lack what they need for life’s journey, because their actions will increasingly harmonize with the deeper order of life itself.

Karma - Part 1

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READING 262-36 PARAPHRASED

(Q) What does it mean that “He with the cross” represents something every soul experiences, and that all paths of thought and truth eventually lead to the cross?

(A) From the beginning, Christ was the Son—yet He became the Son by entering fully into the condition of all souls who had strayed. Through many lifetimes and experiences, He met every challenge of the world and bore the weight of those experiences as a “cross.” By fully living through suffering, effort, and consequence, He overcame the world. At the final point, with complete knowledge and power gained through experience, He willingly accepted the ultimate Cross.

By doing so, He brought to completion what people often call karma—the necessity that every action must be paid for through suffering. The law of cause and effect still exists in physical, mental, and spiritual life, but Christ transcended it. In overcoming the law, He became greater than it; He fulfilled it. The law then becomes a teacher rather than a judge.

Those who align themselves with Him are no longer bound by the law as punishment, but live under mercy. In Him, all desires and forces can be brought into harmony.

This pattern exists within each person. The “mount” represents the whole self—physical, mental, and spiritual. When these parts are in harmony, everything works toward good. When rebellion or imbalance arises, coordination is lost, leading to disorder, decay, and even death.

Christ established inner harmony as the true throne—the mercy seat within the inner temple. This becomes the model for the soul’s return: “I will arise and go to my Father.” This return happens through conscious will, alignment, and choice.

READING 262-36 EXPLAINED

This reading explains karma as a basic rule of life: what you do has results. Every action, thought, and choice leads to consequences. This doesn’t just affect what happens in the physical world, but also your mind and your inner, spiritual life. This idea is called the law of cause and effect, and it means nothing you do is meaningless—everything shapes who you become.

Instead of avoiding this law, Christ fully lived it. He experienced life the way humans do, including struggle, pain, and responsibility for choices. He didn’t get a free pass. He learned and grew through real experiences. The “cross” is a symbol for all the weight people carry in life—the hard lessons, the consequences of actions, and the challenges that come with being human.

The reading says Christ didn’t cancel the law of cause and effect. Instead, He completed it. By fully understanding and mastering it, He was no longer controlled by it. Because of this, karma stops being something that traps or punishes people and becomes more like a teacher—something that helps you learn and grow instead of holding you back.

For people who try to live in the same spirit Christ did, life isn’t about paying for mistakes through suffering. Growth comes through mercy, understanding, and learning how to live in balance. This doesn’t mean actions don’t matter anymore—it means mistakes are used to help you grow, not to destroy you.

The reading also talks about the “mount,” which represents the whole person: your body, your thoughts, and your spirit. When these parts work together, life feels more peaceful and meaningful. When they’re out of sync—like when your actions don’t match your values—things start to fall apart. Suffering, in this sense, isn’t a punishment from God but a result of being out of balance with yourself.

In the end, the message is about choice. Growth and freedom don’t just happen automatically. You have to decide to move toward what’s right, to realign yourself, and to return to unity and wholeness. That’s what the line “I will arise and go to my Father” means—it’s a personal decision to change and grow.

Simply put, this reading teaches that karma is real, but it isn’t meant to trap you forever. Christ fully experienced it and showed a way beyond it. That way is learning from life, choosing love over fear, and bringing your thoughts, actions, and spirit into balance. Karma doesn’t end by running away from life—it ends by understanding it and growing through it.

ORIGINAL READING 262-36

(Q) Please explain, "He with the cross, represents something in the experience of every entity in their activities through the earth and has led in all the experiences of thought in any of the presented forms of truth in the earth and comes at last to the cross."

(A) As we have given, and as was given by Him, in the beginning He was the Son - MADE the Son - those of the Sons that went astray; and through the varying activities overcame the world through the EXPERIENCES, BEARING the cross in each and every experience, reaching the FINAL cross with ALL power, ALL knowledge in having overcome the world - and of Himself ACCEPTED the Cross. Hence doing away with that often termed karma, that must be met by all. The immutable law of cause and effect is, as evidenced in the world today, in the material, the mental and the spiritual world; but He - in overcoming the world, the law - became the Law. The law, then, becomes as the schoolmaster, or the school of training - and we who have NAMED the Name, then, are no longer UNDER the law as law, but under mercy as in Him; for in Him - and with the desires - may there be made the COORDINATION of all things.

Remember the pattern in the mount, in self, in the physical body, in the mental body, in the spiritual body. THAT is the mount! So long as there is perfect coordination in the mount, all things work together for the GOOD of the mount. When there is the rebellion in the mount, then there is disconnection, destruction, disconcerted effort, and the coordination - the cooperation of activity - is made awry. Hence death in the physical ensues, by the disintegration, through the disconcerted action, through the INCOORDINATED action and this mental, and physical, and spiritual.

So, in overcoming all He set that as the Throne, or the mercy seat, that is within the temple, as the pattern, as in the mount - and in the mount, "I WILL arise and go to my Father, in Him, through Him. I WILL! I WILL!

Van Auken's book: From Karma to Grace

John Van Auken talks about his latest book: From Karma to Grace: The Power of the Fruits of the Spirit



Here are some notes from the video:

John defines Karma as: A universal law of cause and effect, that as one expresses and uses their free will to do things (not only externally but in their own minds and hearts, as one thinks and feels), it creates an action to that. It's that flow back to you. This force reacts to your use of free will, in thought, in feeling, in action, in words. What you dish out comes back to you.

Another aspect of Karma is that it creates patterns and habits and these become hard to change. As a soul acts or thinks in a certain way, it creates these habit patterns.

John describes two aspects to Grace that overcome Karma:
(1) The love of our creator for us. The Force that brought us here did so with a motivation of love. Therefore it cares for us when we try to apply ourselves, and is called "the Grace of God."
(2) That which comes from practicing the Fruits of the Spirit. Karma is suspended when you attempt to learn by using these fruits.

John said the Fruits of the Spirit are mentioned throughout the Bible and Paul writes directly to them. Inside the fruit is the Seed of the Spirit. As you assimilate the fruit into your thoughts, feelings, actions, and words, you give life to the Spirit and it grows within you. John mentions some of these fruits as: Love, Patience, Faithfulness, Humility, and Meekness.

John also discusses "Gifts of the Spirit." The Fruits of the Spirit generate the awakening of the Spirit within you. When awakened, you receive the benefit of the Gifts of the Spirit. They are listed as Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Better Council (responses don't come from the ego, but from the essence of the Spirit), and Fear of the Lord. You come to know the Fear of the Lord when you know the power of the forces of the cosmos and nature, and quit struggling against it. You seek to know this force and come into harmony with it.

Karma & Grace

An article by John Van Auken.

Today, those of us seeking our own personal spirituality are especially aware of the influence of karma and grace. Let’s explore these two forces, and let’s begin at the very beginning.

In conceiving us, God gave us the gifts of individual consciousness and free will. With these we were to come to know ourselves to be ourselves, and yet choose to be one with the Whole (God, others, and ourselves). Only with independent consciousness and free will could we choose to be God’s companions and co-creators. Yet, these powers are often compared to a two-edged sword, because they can lead us towards heavenly oneness or towards hellish selfishness. Each of us has to learn how to bring our mind and will in closer harmony with God’s. But learning implies mistakes, and mistakes with the mind and will can be very harmful.

Therefore, before the two great gifts were given (consciousness and free will), God established a simple but universal law: whatever we do with our mind and will comes back to us, not as punishment or retribution but as education and enlightenment. The law is intended to help us appreciate the effects of our individual thoughts, words, and actions upon God, others, and even ourselves. We recognize this law when we say, “What goes around, comes around.” In the scriptures it is written: “As you sow, so shall you reap”; “With what measure you measure, so shall it be measured to you.” Even proof-oriented scientists observe that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is the law of action and reaction, cause and effect, the law of karma.

The law is unavoidable and immutable. Jesus teaches that not one jot will be erased from it. How then can any of us recover from mistakes? How are we to learn, if every misuse or abuse brings reactions? Are we now trapped in a tangled web of karmic backlash to our past actions, words, and thoughts? Cayce’s readings teach that, “God has not left us without a way.” That way is grace.

Grace is that wonderful spirit that imbues every fiber of our being when we practice the fruits of the spirit: kindness, patience, understanding, forgiveness, love, gentleness, fellowship, and long-suffering. Cayce says that “against these there is no law.” But he says “doubt, fear, avarice, greed, selfishness, self-will; these are the fruits of the evil forces. Against such there is a law.” Obviously we want to choose grace over karma.

Jesus calls us to “learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” The meaning is that a built-in grace already exists in this exacting law of karma. Here’s how it works: The law is absolute, right? Yes. Therefore, what we do or think comes back to us. Then, if we begin to understand mistakes by others, the law -- always at work and never compromising -- reacts with understanding toward our mistakes! If we begin to forgive others, the law reacts with forgiveness for us. And, best of all, if we forget the misuse or abuse by others, then ours is forgotten, too.

This is the deeper meaning behind Jesus’ words “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Few of us could sacrifice enough to make up for all our mistakes, but having mercy toward others who have misused their gifts brings mercy to us. The law is absolute. Therefore, jots of understanding, forgiveness, and forgetting come back upon us as we give them out to others. It is perfect. It is simple. What we give, we receive. The law is filled with latent grace waiting to be released.

Do we seek forgiveness? Then, we must give forgiveness. Seek understanding? Then, give understanding to another. If we want our sins forgotten in the Mind of the All-Knowing, then we need to forget what others have done to us. Let it go; release it. Stop holding onto little spites, hurts, and bitterness. They weigh us down, limiting our ability to grow closer to heavenly consciousness. Ancient Egyptians weighed the heart to see if it was light or heavy. A heavy heart caused the soul to sink into the underworld, but a light one allowed the soul to rise through the heavens. Cayce explains that the High Priest Ra Ta rejuvenated his body by “casting aside the years of toil and strife through which the body had passed,” 696-1. In other words, he let go of the things that had aged him. By letting go, we may release ourselves and others from the heavy burdens of regret, disappointment, self-doubt, and guilt. Just let them go! Shake them off, get up, and get going again. But for this to work, we must also do it for all those we meet -- allowing them to be freed of their burdens and our judgments.

Most of our opportunities to grow in grace will not be with strangers, for the hardest to forgive are those closest to us: parents, siblings, spouses, children, coworkers, and friends. These relationships bring the greatest challenges and opportunities each day. And, we may also think that the greater opportunities for soul growth concern life and death issues, but they more often concern little everyday situations. The very next person that walks up to us brings potential grace. To release this grace, we simply have to use our God-given mind and will to choose to interact positively.

However, we can take this too far, allowing others to do whatever they wish despite their influence on themselves, others, and God. Tough love is as much as part of the journey as understanding. Sometimes, we help our loved ones, friends, and coworkers more with loving truth. Jesus did not ignore Peter’s errors, but called him to rise to a higher level.

Karma and grace go hand-in-hand, because the law is so perfectly crafted. Grace is the rosebud on the thorny stem of karma. The blooming of this bud is dependent on our present use of free will and mind. Cayce taught, “God is Law, and the Law is Love.” The disciple Peter wisely observed that “Love covers a multitude of sins.” The disciple John taught that “God is love; and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” Cayce asked us all: “How can it be then that you do not understand God loves you?” Sensing our questioning reply, given that our lives are not always happy, he stated: “Why do you suffer? It is mercy, it is justice to your soul! For those things that are cares of the flesh and of the Earth cannot inherit eternal life. Hence life alters, life changes in the experiences of individuals through their sojourns in the Earth, and thus you learn your lessons, even as He; for though He were the Son, though you are His sons and daughters, yet must you learn obedience through the things that you suffer.” Karma is a teacher. Freedom comes with responsibility. And oneness is not achieved without cooperation. Obeying the law of love is required.

Let’s live in grace by applying the fruits of the spirit each day.