This psychic reading given by Edgar Cayce at his home on Arctic Crescent, Va. Beach, Va., this 22nd day of August, 1937, in accordance with request by those present.

Present: Edgar Cayce; Gertrude Cayce, Conductor; Gladys Davis, Steno. Esther Wynne, Hannah Miller, Florence & Edith Edmonds and Helen Ellington.

TEXT

1. GC: You will have before you Norfolk Study Group #1, members of which are present in this room, and their work in preparing the lesson Happiness. You will continue with that needed on this lesson, answering the questions that will be submitted:
2. EC: Yes, we have the group as gathered here, as a group and as individuals; and their work upon the lesson Happiness.
3. It is well that you each - in the study of that which was given as necessary for your better concept of Happiness as applied in your personal experiences - think, too, on the difference between Pleasure and Happiness. It is like the spiritual and the material. We oft see things beautiful, and they come out of that which may be very murky, very bad-appearing yet that necessary for the beauty.
4. So with Happiness. Only when one has lost sight of self, in the appreciation of the love, beauty and hope in the Creative Forces and their activity, may one indeed know Happiness.
5. That which gratifies only the sensuous self, or as an aggrandizement of physical pleasure, RARELY brings Happiness. Out of the dregs of same may GROW Happiness, but in themselves they are only passing.
6. To illustrate: The road to Gethsemane, to the minds of those who look upon their own Gethsemane, was as a road of thorns; the perspiration, the sweat of blood and all appear anything but Happiness - yet the kind words spoken, even on the way to Calvary, were indeed those that brought Happiness.
7. And as there were the words from the Cross, these - though filled with all of the horrors of spite, fear, by the very activities of others - were such as to bring Happiness into the hearts and minds of those who seek to know His Way.
8. It is again as Infinite Love and Divine Love. Infinite Love is the love of God, while Love Divine is that manifested by those in their activities who are guided by love divine. These bring Happiness and the experiences of joy; not mere pleasure, not gratification of any of the material things. But differentiate - or, as has been given - put the proper value upon the proper phases of one's experience.
9. Because we see one smile, or with the outward appearance of pleasures and the gratifying of the worldly seekings, does not always indicate Happiness. The gratifying of the worldly seekings may bring pleasures, but very rarely indeed do such pleasures bring Happiness with them. For it is indeed as has been said, there are ways oft that appear to be good but the end thereof is death, separation, dissension, anger, all those things that make for strife.
10. Happiness, then, is of love divine; manifesting in the experiences as one gives a cup of water in His name, that may bring much greater Happiness than to he that taketh a city, or to he that ruleth even a nation. You each are endowed, to be sure, with power only from one source, but to know Happiness - then - is to do the biddings of the Father; or as He gave, "If ye love me, keep my commandments - [John 14:15] they are not grievous - " [I John 5:3]
11. Ready for questions.
12. (Q) What was meant by Him when He said, "If thy brother sue thee and take away thy coat, give him thy cloak also"?
    (A) Go to the other extreme in being kind and gentle, or - Because ye have little ye say, "I must save - that I be not in want" - but there are those who need what little thou hast! For it is indeed as has been given here. If you say, "If I were so and so - if I had this or that - O how much I would give to charity, to the needy" and give not in your present estate, you would not give any at all if you had all at your command! Then His command was as this: If what you have is taken away, give the ALL - that you may be FILLED! For how has it been said? "That alone you give away, that do you possess."
13. (Q) What is the variation between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven?
    (A) As has been indicated, one is within while the other is the activity of the Infinite upon those influences that bring to bear the experiences of the Kingdom within the lives of the individuals. For He has so oft likened it to the various experiences that may be in the emotions of the individuals; as: The kingdom of heaven is likened unto him who has the hundred sheep and one was lost, and he left the ninety and nine and went to seek that which was lost. Or the kingdom of heaven is likened unto she that lost a penny and tore up the whole house and called on the neighbors to rejoice because she had found that which was lost. These are examples of the Kingdom of Heaven; while the Kingdom of God - they that enter in have known the Happiness of the Kingdom of Heaven in their OWN experience.
14. (Q) Please explain that given in the affirmation, "Bring the joy and happiness of the Lord in Jesus." [262-106, Par. 8]
    (A) It has just been illustrated or given, as the example of how and out of what grows Happiness. Then, as the suffering of the Master brought Happiness to Him and to thee, so indeed out of thy disappointments, thy trials, thy tribulations, do ye know Happiness.
    Such then is that as given in the affirmation; and again is it illustrated in that as you see it in and as you do it to your fellow man, so may the measures of Happiness and joy be yours. For, "As ye do it unto the least, ye do it unto me," ever has been, ever is the relationship-conditional. And in the loss of doing or being for self, but rather for the glory of God, does the knowledge and the wisdom and HAPPINESS come. They that know not what have been the measures given for the bringing of life into existence know not the Happiness nor the joys therein. They that have known not the sorrows, the disappointments for Righteousness' sake, know not the joy and the Happiness in the Lord. Hence as has been the warning to many: Look not upon the things of the world and the pleasures of things therein as a measure or standard as to the joy and the Happiness in the Lord.
15. (Q) Please explain from the 5th chapter of Matthew, "Happy are they that mourn."
    (A) Happy are they that have known sorrow, for their joy will be filled if they trust in the Lord. For He IS the force, the power, the might that COMFORTS those that mourn for those things even as He wept over Jerusalem and mourned for the cities about same; yet might He not by His own power have commanded that all who would seek not to know be blotted away? Yet man's will, man's desire is that which makes him at a Oneness with the knowledge of God. And to seek and to know and to be FILLED is that as comes from those who mourn over those things which they may be able to help but are powerless through the very will of others.
16. (Q) Please explain "Happy are the poor in spirit, for they shall see God." Who are the poor in spirit?
    (A) They that have not allowed and do not allow themselves to be directed by other influences than that of Godly-Force itself. They that are not acquainted with the familiar spirits but with the Divine. They that are meek yet proud in their meekness and their humbleness. These are they that are poor in spirit.
17. (Q) Comment on "Where your treasure is, there shall your heart be also."
    (A) This is emblematical; as indicated in that whatever influence or force draws the material mind may also draw the mental and the soul experience. What you desire and seek after mentally and spiritually, and what you desire and seek for in the material things are not ALWAYS from the same promptings; but where the heart or the treasure is, there is the desire. Hence again is the injunction given that you know in WHOM you believe as well as in WHAT you believe; so that you know whether or not thy treasure is laid in that where moth and rust doth not corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal - that is in the Spirit of Truth, in the Christ, in Jesus.
18. (Q) If we completely surrender ourselves to God's will, and become a channel of blessings to others, do we not then possess true Happiness?
    (A) You then possess true Happiness.
19. (Q) Please differentiate between being conscious of and being aware of.
    (A) Being conscious of and being aware of may be synonymous to some; and these may differentiate to some, dependent upon the individual experience. It is much in the same way as being aware of and being satisfied with, or being convinced and being aware; but they each are dependent upon the ACTIVITY to which the motivative influence works upon the individual self. For you may be aware and do nothing about it! You may be conscious, so conscious it is necessary to do something about it!
20. (Q) When one we love is floundering and unhappy, apparently lacking in spiritual purpose, how can we influence such a one to become conscious or aware that He is the Way?
    (A) We may only sow the seed. Remember EVER it is GOD that gives the increase. It is not ANYTHING that an individual may DO, except keeping in that it knows to be the right. For the knowledge or the vision or the comprehension is the GIFT of the FATHER. As was illustrated by the life and experience of John, [John:The Baptist?] one may be great, one may understand, and yet NOT comprehend. Only the Spirit of Truth may awaken. One can only pray and hope, one can only mourn and be glad; one can only live and experience that which is to him and to his activity the fulfilling of it all. You cannot force upon any soul your OWN estate. The Christ died that all might be saved, but those that may be saved must seek to know Him of THEMSELVES. Not HE only making the Way; for He is the light and the way and the truth, the vine, and all - the water and the bread. But unless we PARTAKE, we do not have the awareness, the sustenance, the life, the knowledge, the hope. We MUST PARTAKE! For how gave He when they fainted, when even many of His disciples turned away? "Unless ye eat of my body, drink of my blood, ye CANNOT KNOW the way!" And they all said, "How can this be - lest we partake of Him we may not know?" Then for our loved ones, for our acquaintances, yea for our enemies, we only so live - as in persistence, in patience, in hope; for the prayer of the righteous shall save many. Even as one plead that there be spared a city, if there were only the ten! How GREAT are the mercies of the Father! Then faint not though ye may see those of thy loved ones floundering. Is it not again illustrated in just that given? On the way to the Cross the world seemed black, for darkness covered the whole earth. Yet out of it came joy and Happiness, the renewing of man's relationship to God and the closer communion. For ye have an Advocate in Him. Faint not at thy well-doing, nor find fault with those because they have not grasped hold even as thou. For "In my father's house there are many, many mansions" - many, many consciousnesses.
21. We are through for the present.

BACKGROUND

1. Subject of Reading 262-111 - "Norfolk Study Group #1."

REPORTS

1. The following was originally supplementary material:
   Personal experiences of [288]:
   Sun. morn., June 6, 1937: To be Happy is to be FREE! Free from worry, care, turmoil from within and without. Free from hate, anger, jealousy. Free from possessiveness, but in full possession of "that Thou gavest me from the foundations of the earth." Free from sin (sickness, disease, physically or mentally), through being washed in the blood of the Lamb, that taketh away the sins of the world.
   Mon. night, June 14, 1937: Happiness is not something to be plucked or grabbed, but comes as a natural result of right living according to one's own conscience.
   Sat., 2:00 A.M., July 24, 1937: Happiness is a state of mind, yet - as the Master gave - we may not add one cubit to our stature by JUST taking thought; we must DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Consequently, trying to THINK ourselves Happy when we haven't done the things that cause Happiness is like trying to just THINK we have no pain instead of doing something actually to relieve the pain. Happiness is a result, not a cause.
   2:20 A.M. same morning: Through turning my mind, my body, my entire being into the hands of the living God I am aware of His presence within me; consequently, the Kingdom of Heaven.
   Through then leading an active life of service, of goodness done in the lives of others day by day, according to the direction of the still small voice from within, I am conscious of the Kingdom of God - and of playing a small part in it. The Kingdom of God is something we serve and become a part of only as we attune ourselves to our individual Kingdom of Heaven and live according to the truth we find there.
   We become then a part of a great army in the service of God, realizing we are not alone but that "I and the Father are One" throughout the Kingdom of Heaven AND the Kingdom of God. Praise be to our leader, Jesus, the Christ, who has shown the way!
   1:30 A.M., Aug. 19, 1937: The Kingdom of Heaven is the individual consciousness of His direction; the Kingdom of God is the fulfillment of that direction.
   9:30 A.M., Aug. 19, 1937: Through bearing the cross in my own life; that is, meeting those things that have been at variance to His purpose for me, the Kingdom of God is opened, the burden is lifted from my heart and I become happy. Happy indeed is he who fulfills that whereunto he has been called; who is conscious of meeting his shortcomings - through attunement with the Kingdom of Heaven from within - and goes about doing good, bringing forth fruits in due season - fruits of the spirit.
   Early morning Aug. 28, 1937: I find that most irritations and unpleasantnesses come from trying to defend myself. Most of my unhappy periods come from getting irritated in trying to defend or justify myself before others. When I am sure I am doing all I can, in the right direction, then no destructive criticism or questioning on the part of others should hinder me. Once I get my mental attitude clarified, I usually find that others have nothing but praise and laudation for my efforts. It is only when I flounder that I feel the same reflection from others. It is certainly true that when you smile the world smiles with you, when you weep you weep alone - that is, if you are weeping because of self-pity. Usually when we smile, REALLY smile, we are giving something of ourselves in joy and happiness to others. When we are self-pitying, complaining, blue and discouraged, we are not only making ourselves miserable but we are adding destructive influences that are hard on all those who come in contact with us.

Edgar Cayce Readings © 1971, 1993, 1994, 1995 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation