Discover the Power Within You: A Guide to the Unexplored Depths Within

258 Pages·1992·3.68 MB·English

by  Eric Butterworth

DISCOVE R
THE POWER
WITHIN YOU
Eric B u t t e r w o r t h
A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers
DEDICATED TO CHARLES AND MYRTLE
FILLMORE, AND TO THE INFLUENCE
THAT THEIR LIVES AND TEACHINGS
HAVE HAD UPON ME THROUGH THEIR
"LENGTHENED SHADOW."—THE UNITY
SCHOOL OF CHRISTIANITY, AT LEE'S
SUMMIT, MISSOURI
DISCOVER THE POWER WITHIN YOU. Copyright © 1968, 1989 by Eric
Butterworth. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of
America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quo-
tations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information ad-
dress HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY
10022.
FIRST HARPERCOLLINS PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED IN 1992
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Butterworth, Eric.
Discover the power within you / Eric Butterworth.— 1st
HarperCollins pbk. ed.
p. cm.
Previously published: ©1989
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-06-250115-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Unity School of Christianity—Doctrines. 2. Jesus
Christ—Teachings. 3. New Age movement. I. Title.
[BX9890.U505B87 1992]
232.9'54—dc20 91-58166
CIP
07 08 RRD-H 40 39 38
Contents
Preface v
Introduction xi
P R O L O G U E xv
1 T H E E T E R N A L Q U E S T 1
2 T H E G R E A T D I S C O V E R Y 6
3 T H E G R E A T D E C I S I O N 14
4 J E S U S ' U N I Q U E C O N C E P T OF G O D 27
5 F R O M M I S E R A B L E S I N N E R S TO
M A S T E R S 41
6 T H E A M A Z I N G BE A T T I T U D E S 57
7 Y O U R T H O U G H T IS Y O U R L I F E 73
8 T H E L A W OF N O N R E SI S T A N C E 88
9 T H E F O R G O T T E N A R T OF P R A Y E R 105
iii
iv | CONTENTS
10 S U F F I C I E N T U N T O T O D A Y 121
11 T H E L A W OF C O M P E N S A T I O N 134
12 H O W G O D F O R G I V E S 147
13 J E S U S ' F O R M U L A F O R H E A L I N G 159
14 T H E M I R A C L E OF A B U N D A N C E 175
15 IN D E F E N S E OF J U D A S 190
16 T H E G R E A T D E M O N S T R A T I O N 199
17 D I D J E S U S T E A C H R E I N C A R N A T I O N ? 211
1 8 W H E N S H A L L T H E K I N G D O M C O M E ? 222
Notet 235
Preface to the Twentieth
Anniversary Edition
It has been twenty years since I wrote Discover the Power Within
You and much has happened in the world. Yet the basic needs of
people remain the same. After re-reading the book carefully, I have
concluded, humbly, that it contains a message that is still timely and
greatly needed.
In chapter 1 there is a reference to the problem of "consciousness
expanding" drugs, psychedelics, LSD, etc. But as a serious problem
this pales when seen against the drug crisis that is veritably holding
society hostage today. The widespread and growing addiction to
heroin, cocaine, and "crack55 is a sad commentary on the prevailing
spiritual awareness . . . or lack of it.
It is heartening to have received innumerable letters of validation
of my thesis from readers of Discover the Power Within You. There
have been letters of praise from people of all religious persuasions,
including comments from ministers, priests, and rabbis. A rabbi
wrote that "If this were the Christian position, there would be little
reason for dispute with Judaism.55 A priest wrote that "This concept
of Jesus and his teachings should be required reading for every
student of religion.55
Recently there has been a storm of controversy over a film, The
Last Temptation of Christ, directed by Martin Scorsese and based
on the book of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. Fundamen-
talist Christians were incensed, saying that the film depicted Jesus as
a weak, self-confessed sinner. Their view is that Jesus is God, and
God could not be weak or a sinner.
Oprah Winfrey invited me to appear on her show, in a special
program dealing with the controversy over the Scorsese film. I
V
vi | PREFACE
agreed, assuming that people would discuss the film rationally and
with Christian love. How wrong I was! Touched off by the rhetoric
of panelists in opposition to the film, the audience engaged in a
veritable verbal donnybrook. I realized how wars are fought over
religious differences. Sitting on that panel, unable to get more than a
few words into the discussion, I found myself thinking, "How very
great is the need for the message of Discover the Power Within You.
All of this confusion and bitter feuding represented the rattling of
"custom-made convictions."
Now, let me say that I do not accept the characterization of Jesus
in The Last Temptation of Christ, which portrays him as confused
and indecisive about his mission. However the book was not
intended to be Scripture. It is, after all, a book of fiction. But I can
understand what the scenario was trying to say. Jesus was a person.
A highly evolved person, to be sure. But a person, "tempted in all
points such as we." He was a man with a mission and a message.
But a man, not an angel or a god. A man who might be very dark of
skin, a rugged type of man who slept out of doors, and who never
ate with a fork in his life. A man who had friends . . . and enemies.
If Jesus were walking the streets in your city today, what would
you expect him to look like? One woman voiced her bias against the
long-haired and bearded young people of the sixties. It was pointed
out to her that if Jesus were here today, he might very well have long
hair and a beard. The woman exclaimed, "He wouldn't dare!"
Actually, it is more likely that he would be dressed in modern garb,
a traditional blue pinstripe suit, or jeans and a sweatshirt.
Jesus' great discovery was the divine dimension within all per-
sons, that point where "man is an inlet and may become an outlet to
all there is in God." We totally misread Jesus' life and teachings if we
fail to realize that he was first of all a student on the quest, working
to achieve in consciousness the fullness of what Paul called, "Christ
in you." But as this book makes quite clear, Paul is not referring to
Jesus, but to the divine potential within every person that Jesus
discovered within himself.
We will emphasize again and again that the difference between
Jesus and each one of us is not one of inherent spiritual capacity, but
the demonstration of it. Every person is a spiritual being. Every
person is innately good. Every person is a potential Christ. But only
a very few know this, and even fewer succeed in expressing any
PREFACE | vii
marked degree of the perfection of the Christ within. We all have a
long way to go, but we have a goal that is believable and achievable,
and there is that in you and me that is perfectible. More than this,
Jesus' demonstration of the Christ is repeatable. For Jesus clearly
said, "Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect."
The exciting thing is that wherever you may be along the way of
unfoldment and self-realization, no matter what the problems or
challenges you may face, there is always more in you, the mystery
of god in you, the Christ in you—which means your potential for
healing, for overcoming, for prosperity. There is no limit!
Discover the Power Within You is all about Jesus, and the
volume of questions I have received in response indicates that most
persons know very little about him. Here are ten of the most
common questions asked about Jesus, and some brief answers:
1. What was Jesus' last name? Many people will say Christ. One
person confessed that he had always thought Jesus was the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Christ. Actually there were no last names in those
days. Christ is simply the Greek version of the Hebrew word
meaning messiah or savior. Christ is not a name but the identifica-
tion of a potentiality in man that Jesus discovered and released.
2. What about Jesus Christ? Jesus demonstrated the divine dimen-
sion of man, the indwelling savior of every person's soul. Peter saw
this dimension in Jesus and said, "Thou art the Christ, the son of the
living God." Later Paul indicated an awareness of the Christ as the
divinity of man, saying, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Jesus so
demonstrated his divinity that people could not tell where one left
off and the other began. Thus he is often referred to as Jesus Christ,
in the same manner as historians refer to "Alexander the Great" and
"Richard the Lion-Hearted."
3. By what name did Jesus' friends and family call him? It's
unlikely that Jesus would have answered to any name other than
Yeshua, which is the Aramaic. In Hebrew it would be Joshua. In
Greek, Ihsous. In Latin, Jesus. The language spoken by Jesus and
his disciples was not Hebrew nor Greek nor Latin, but Aramaic.
4. Was Jesus born on December 25th in the year beginning the
Christian era? Almost certainly not. The Christian era was not
calculated until the sixth century and was not accepted in Christen-
viii |
PREFACE
dom until the year 1000. When the Roman time was changed to a
Christian method, the actual date of Jesus' birth was conjectural—
thus it was set by "guesstimate." Contemporary scholars think that
the proper date would be closer to 4 B.C. and the month probably
August.
5. Since Jesus is called "the son of David," is Mary listed in the
genealogy?" Strangely not! In Matt. 1: and in Luke 3: the descent of
Joseph is traced from David. Mary is not mentioned. This poses
some questions relative to the Virgin Birth.
6. Was Jesus a Christian ? The question is ridiculous, for the name
Christian came later. Jesus was a good and pious Jew, as were his
early disciples. Paul makes reference to the fact that the early
Christians "went every day into the Temple to pray." This makes
academic the charge that the Jews killed Jesus. The Jews also
spawned Christianity.
7. Did Jesus intend to start a new religion named for Himself? We
can say unequivocally that Jesus had no intent to create a new
religion or to foment a division or schism within Judaism. He did
seem intent upon being an influence for change saying, "I came not
to destroy the law but to fulfill it." The law was the Torah. He came
into a time when his people had lost their way They had always
been a devout and God-led people, with the early prophets bring-
ing great insights relative to the divine nature of man. But their
religion had settled into a mire of institutionalism. It was all form
and ceremony... no Spirit. All "first-hand and immediate experi-
ence of God" had become merely a memory from ages past.
8. Is God a Christian? Think about it. There was no Christianity
when Jesus walked the earth. What he taught was a Universal
Truth. His followers later made it into what we think of as the
Christian religion. Most of this happened over centuries engineered
by those more concerned with perpetuating a monument than
disseminating a message.
I have often speculated on what Jesus would have done if he had
been seated around a table with a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Moslem,
and a Shintoist—discussing ultimate Truth. I just can't believe that
Jesus would have said, "You must all forsake your beliefs and come
and follow me." I think he might have pointed out that the differ-