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All These Things Added - James Allen · Non-Fiction Library

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Speaker 1: All these things added by James Allen forward. In seeking
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Speaker 1: for pleasures here and rewards hereafter men have destroyed in
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Speaker 1: their hearts the Temple of Righteousness and have wandered from
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Speaker 1: the Kingdom of heaven. By ceasing to seek for earthly
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Speaker 1: pleasures and heavenly rewards, the Temple of Righteousness is restored,
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Speaker 1: and the Kingdom of Heaven is found. This truth is
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Speaker 1: for those who are ready to receive it, and this
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Speaker 1: book is also for those whose souls have been prepared
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Speaker 1: for the acceptance of its teaching. James Allen, end of
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Speaker 1: Forward The soul's great need. I thought the world, but
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Speaker 1: peace was not there. I courted learning, but truth was
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Speaker 1: not revealed. I sojourned with philosophy, but my heart was
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Speaker 1: sore with vanity, and I cried, where is peace to
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Speaker 1: be found? And where is the hiding place of truth?
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Speaker 1: Phileus Lucius. Every human soul is in need. The expression
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Speaker 1: of that need varies with individuals, but there is not
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Speaker 1: one soul that does not feel it in some degree.
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Speaker 1: It is a spiritual and casual need which takes the
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Speaker 1: form in souls of particular development of a deep and
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Speaker 1: inexpressible hunger, which the outward things of life, however abundantly
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Speaker 1: they may be possessed, can never satisfy. Yet the majority,
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Speaker 1: imperfect in knowledge and misled by appearances, seek to satisfy
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Speaker 1: this hunger by striving for material possessions, believing that these
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Speaker 1: will satisfy their need and bring them peace. Every soul,
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Speaker 1: consciously or unconsciously, hungers for righteousness, and every soul seeks
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Speaker 1: to gratify that hunger in its own particular way, and
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Speaker 1: in accordance with its own particular state of knowledge. The
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Speaker 1: hunger is one, and the righteousness is one. But the
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Speaker 1: pathways by which righteousness is sought are many. They who
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Speaker 1: seek consciously or blessed, and shall shortly find that final
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Speaker 1: and permanent satisfaction of soul which righteousness alone can give,
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Speaker 1: for they have come into a knowledge of the true path.
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Speaker 1: They who seek unconsciously, although for a time they may
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Speaker 1: bathe in a sea of pleasure, are not blest, for
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Speaker 1: they are carving out for themselves pathways of suffering over
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Speaker 1: which they must walk with torn and wounded feet. And
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Speaker 1: their hunger will increase, and the soul will cry out
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Speaker 1: for its lost heritage, the eternal heritage of righteousness, not
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Speaker 1: in any of the three worlds waking, dream, and sleep
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Speaker 1: can the soul find lasting satisfaction apart from the realization
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Speaker 1: of righteousness. Bodied or disembodied, it is ceaselessly driven on
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Speaker 1: by the discipline of suffering, until at last, in its extremity,
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Speaker 1: it flies to its only refuge, the refuge of righteousness,
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Speaker 1: and finds that joy, satisfaction, and peace which it had
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Speaker 1: so long and so vainly sought. The great need of
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Speaker 1: the soul, then, is the need of this permanent principle
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Speaker 1: called righteousness, on which it may stand securely and restfully
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Speaker 1: amid the tempest of earthly existence, no more bewildered, and
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Speaker 1: whereon it may build the mansion of a beautiful, peaceful,
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Speaker 1: and perfect life. It is the realization of this principle
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Speaker 1: where the kingdom of Heaven, the abiding home of the soul, resides,
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Speaker 1: and which is the source and storehouse of every permanent blessing.
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Speaker 1: Finding it all is found, not finding it all is lost.
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Speaker 1: It is an attitude of mind, a state of consciousness,
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Speaker 1: an ineffable knowledge in which the struggle for existence ceases,
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Speaker 1: and the soul finds itself at rest in the midst
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Speaker 1: of plenty, where its great need its every need is
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Speaker 1: satisfied without strife and without fear. Blessed are they who
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Speaker 1: earnestly and intelligently seek, for it is impossible that such
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Speaker 1: should seek in vain the competitive laws and the law
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Speaker 1: of love. When I am pure, I shall have solved
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Speaker 1: the mystery of life. I shall be sure when I
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Speaker 1: am free from hatred, lust, and strife. I am in truth,
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Speaker 1: and truth abides in me. I shall be safe and
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Speaker 1: sane and wholly free when I am pure. It has
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Speaker 1: been said that the laws of nature are cruel. It
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Speaker 1: has likewise been said that they are kind. The one
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Speaker 1: statement is the result of dwelling exclusively upon the fiercely
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Speaker 1: competitive aspect of nature. The other results from viewing only
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Speaker 1: the protective and kindly aspect. In reality, natural laws are
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Speaker 1: neither cruel or kind. They are absolutely just, are, in
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Speaker 1: fact the outworking of the indestructible principle of justice itself.
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Speaker 1: The cruelty and consequent suffering which is so prevalent in
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Speaker 1: nature is not inherent in the heart and substance of life.
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Speaker 1: It is a passing phase of evolution, a painful experience
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Speaker 1: which will ultimately ripen into the fruit of a more
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Speaker 1: perfect knowledge, a dark night of ignorance and unrest, leading
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Speaker 1: to a glorious mourning of joy and peace. When a
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Speaker 1: helpless child is burnt to death, we do not ascribe
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Speaker 1: cruelty to the working of the natural law by virtue
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Speaker 1: of which the child was consumed. We infer ignorance in
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Speaker 1: the child, or carelessness on the part of its guardians.
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Speaker 1: Even so, men and creatures are daily being consumed in
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Speaker 1: the invisible flames of passion, succumbing to the ceaseless interplay
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Speaker 1: of those fiery psychic forces, which, in their ignorance they
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Speaker 1: do not understand, but which they shall at last learn
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Speaker 1: how to control and use to their own protection, and not,
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Speaker 1: as present foolishly employ them to their own destruction. To understand, control,
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Speaker 1: and harmoniously adjust the invisible forces of its own soul
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Speaker 1: is the ultimate destiny of every being and creature. Some
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Speaker 1: men and women in the past have accomplished this supreme
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Speaker 1: and exalted purpose, some in the present have likewise succeeded.
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Speaker 1: And until this is done, that place of rest, wherein
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Speaker 1: one receives all that is necessary for one's well being
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Speaker 1: and happiness without striving and with freedom from pain, cannot
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Speaker 1: be entered in an age like the present, when in
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Speaker 1: all civilized countries the string of life is strained to
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Speaker 1: its highest pitch, when men and women, striving each with
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Speaker 1: each in every department of life for the vanities and
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Speaker 1: material possessions of this perishable existence, have developed competition to
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Speaker 1: the utmost limit of endurance. And in such an age,
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Speaker 1: the sublimest heights of knowledge are scaled, the supremest spiritual
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Speaker 1: conquests are achieved. For when the soul is most tired,
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Speaker 1: its need is greatest. And where the need is great,
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Speaker 1: great will be the effort. Where also the temptations are powerful,
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Speaker 1: the greater and more enduring will be the victory. Men
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Speaker 1: love the competitive strife with their fellows while it promises
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Speaker 1: and seems to bring them gain and happiness. But when
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Speaker 1: the inevitable reaction comes, and the cold steel of selfish strife,
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Speaker 1: which their own hands have forged, enters into their hearts,
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Speaker 1: then and not until then, do they seek a better way.
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Speaker 1: Blest are they that mourn. They have come to the
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Speaker 1: end of strife and have found the pain and sorrow
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Speaker 1: to which it leads, For unto them, and unto them,
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Speaker 1: only can open the door which leads to the kingdom.
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Speaker 1: Of peace. In searching for this kingdom, it is necessary
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Speaker 1: to fully understand the nature of that which prevents its realization,
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Speaker 1: namely the strife of nature, the competitive laws operative in
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Speaker 1: human affairs, and the universal unrest, insecurity, and fear which
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Speaker 1: accompany these factors. For without such an understanding, there can
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Speaker 1: be no sound comprehension as to what constitutes the true
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Speaker 1: in faults in life, and therefore no real spiritual advancement.
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Speaker 1: Before the true can be apprehended and enjoyed, the faults
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Speaker 1: must be unveiled, before the real can be perceived as
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Speaker 1: the real, the illusions which distort it must be dispersed,
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Speaker 1: and before the limitless expanse of truth can open before us,
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Speaker 1: the limited experience which is confined to the world of
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Speaker 1: visible and superficial effects must be transcended. Let therefore, those
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Speaker 1: of my readers who are thoughtful, in earnest, and who
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Speaker 1: are diligently seeking, or are willing to seek, for that
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Speaker 1: basis of thought and conduct which shall simplify and harmonize
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Speaker 1: the bewildering complexities and inequities of life, walk with me,
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Speaker 1: step by step as I open up the way to
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Speaker 1: the kingdom. First ascending into hell, the world of strife
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Speaker 1: and self seeking, in order that, having comprehended its intricate ways,
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Speaker 1: we may afterwards ascend into heaven, the world of peace
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Speaker 1: and love. It is the custom in my household during
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Speaker 1: the hard frosts of winter to put out food for
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Speaker 1: the birds. And it is a noticeable fact that these creatures,
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Speaker 1: when they are really starving, live together most amicably, huddling
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Speaker 1: together to keep each other warm and reframing from all strife.
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Speaker 1: And if a small quantity of food be given them,
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Speaker 1: they will eat it with comparative freedom from contention. But
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Speaker 1: let a quantity of food which is more than sufficient
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Speaker 1: for all, to be thrown at them, and fighting over
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Speaker 1: the coveted supply at once ensues. Occasionally we would put
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Speaker 1: out a whole loaf of bread, and then the contention
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Speaker 1: of the birds became fierce and prolonged, although there was
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Speaker 1: more than they could possibly eat. During several days, some
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Speaker 1: having gorged themselves until they could eat no more, would
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Speaker 1: stand upon the loaf and hover round it, pecking fiercely
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Speaker 1: at all newcomers, and endeavoring to prevent them from obtaining
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Speaker 1: any of the food. And along with this fierce contention
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Speaker 1: there was noticeably a great fear. With each mouthful of
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Speaker 1: food taken, the birds would look around in nervous terror,
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Speaker 1: apprehensive of losing their food or their lives. In this
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Speaker 1: simple incident, we have an illustration, crude, perhaps, but true
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Speaker 1: of the basis and outworking of the competitive laws in
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Speaker 1: nature and in human affairs. It is not scarcity that
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Speaker 1: produces competition. It is abundance, so that the richer and
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Speaker 1: more luxurious in nation becomes the keener and fiercer becomes
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Speaker 1: the competition for securing the necessities and luxuries of life.
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Speaker 1: Let famine overtake a nation, and at once compassion and
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Speaker 1: sympathy take the place of competitive strife, and in the
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Speaker 1: blessedness of giving and receiving men enjoy a foretaste of
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Speaker 1: that heavenly bliss which the spiritually wise have found, and
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Speaker 1: which we all shall ultimately reach. The fact that abundance,
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Speaker 1: and not scarcity, creates competition, should be held constantly in
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Speaker 1: mind by the reader during the perusal of this book,
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Speaker 1: as it throws a searching light not only on the
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Speaker 1: statements herein contained, but upon every problem relating to social
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Speaker 1: life in human conduct. Moreover, if it be deeply and
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Speaker 1: earnestly meditated upon, and its lessons applied to individual conduct,
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Speaker 1: it will make plain the way which leads to the kingdom.
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Speaker 1: Let us now search out the cause of this fact,
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Speaker 1: in order that the evils connected with it may be transcended.
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Speaker 1: Every phenomenon in social and national life, as in nature,
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Speaker 1: is an effect, and all these effects are embodied by
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Speaker 1: a cause which is not remote and detached, but which
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Speaker 1: is the immediate soul and life of the effect itself.
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Speaker 1: As the seed is contained in the flower, and the
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Speaker 1: flower in the seed, so the relation of cause and
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Speaker 1: effect is intimate and inseparable. An effect also is vivified
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Speaker 1: and propagated not by any life inherent in itself, but
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Speaker 1: by the life and impulse existing in the cause. Looking
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Speaker 1: out upon the world, we behold it as an arena
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Speaker 1: of strife, in which individuals, communities, and nations are constantly
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Speaker 1: engaged in struggle, striving with each other for superiority and
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Speaker 1: for the largest share of worldly possessions. We see also
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Speaker 1: that the weaker fall out defeated, and that the strong,
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Speaker 1: those who are equipped to pursue the combat with undiminished
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Speaker 1: ardor obtain the victory and enter into possession and along
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Speaker 1: with this struggle, we see the suffering which is inevitably
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Speaker 1: connected with it. Men and women broken down with the
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Speaker 1: weight of their responsibilities, failing in their efforts and losing all.
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Speaker 1: Families and communities broken up, and nations subdued and subordinated.
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Speaker 1: We see seeds of tears telling of unspeakable anguish and grief.
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Speaker 1: We see painful partings in early and unnatural deaths. And
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Speaker 1: we know that this life of strife, when stripped of
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Speaker 1: its surface appearances, is largely a life of sorrow. Such
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Speaker 1: briefly sketched are the phenomena connected with that aspect of
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Speaker 1: human life which we are now dealing. Such are the
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Speaker 1: effects as we see them, and they have one common cause,
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Speaker 1: which is found in the human heart itself. As all
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Speaker 1: the multiformed varieties of plant life have one common soil
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Speaker 1: from which to draw their sustenance and by virtue of
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Speaker 1: which they live and thrive, so all the varied activities
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Speaker 1: of human life are rooted in and draw their vitality
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Speaker 1: from one common source, the human heart. The cause of
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Speaker 1: all suffering and of all happiness resides not in the
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Speaker 1: outer activities of human life, but in the inner activities
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Speaker 1: of the heart. And mind, and every external agency is
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Speaker 1: sustained by the life which it derives from human conduct.
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Speaker 1: The organized life principle and man carves for itself outward
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Speaker 1: channels along which it can pour its pent up energies,
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Speaker 1: makes for itself vehicles through which it can manifest its
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Speaker 1: potency and reap its experience, And as a result we
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Speaker 1: have our religions, social and political organizations. All the visible
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Speaker 1: manifestations of human life, then are effects, and as such,
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Speaker 1: although they may possess a reflex action, they can never
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Speaker 1: be causes, but must remain forever what they are, dead
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Speaker 1: effects galvanized into life by an enduring and profound cause.
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Speaker 1: It is the custom of men to wander about in
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Speaker 1: this world of effects and to mistake its illusions for realities,
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Speaker 1: eternally transposing and readjusting these effects in order to rive
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Speaker 1: at a solution of human problems, instead of reaching down
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Speaker 1: to the underlying cause, which is at once the center
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Speaker 1: of unification and the basis upon which to build a
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Speaker 1: peace giving solution of human life. The strife of the world,
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Speaker 1: in all its forms, whether it be war, social or political, quarreling,
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Speaker 1: sectarian hatred, private disputes, or commercial competition, has its origin
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Speaker 1: in one common cause, namely, individual selfishness. And I employ
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Speaker 1: this term selfishness in a far reaching sense. In it,
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Speaker 1: I include all forms of self love and egotism. I
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Speaker 1: mean by it the desire to pander too and preserve
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Speaker 1: at all costs the personality. This element of selfishness is
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Speaker 1: the life and soul of competition and of competitive laws.
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Speaker 1: Apart from it, they have no existence but in the
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Speaker 1: life of every individual in whose heart selfishness in any
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Speaker 1: form is harbored. These laws are brought into play, and
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Speaker 1: the individual is subject to them. Innumerable economic systems have failed,
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Speaker 1: and must fail, to exterminate the strife of the world.
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Speaker 1: They are the outcome of the delusion that outward systems
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Speaker 1: of government are the causes of that strife, whereas they
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Speaker 1: are but the visible and transient effects of the inward strife,
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Speaker 1: the channels through which it must necessarily manifest itself to
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Speaker 1: destroy the channel is and must ever be ineffectual, as
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Speaker 1: the inward energy will immediately make for itself another, and
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Speaker 1: still another and another. Strife cannot cease, and the competitive
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Speaker 1: laws must prevail. So long as selfishness is fostered in
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Speaker 1: the heart. All reforms fail where this element is ignored
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Speaker 1: or unaccounted for, all reforms will succeed where it is
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Speaker 1: recognized and steps are taken for its removal. Selfishness, then,
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Speaker 1: is the root cause of competition, the foundation on which
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Speaker 1: all competitive systems rest, and the sustaining source of the
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Speaker 1: competitive laws. It will thus be seen that all competitive systems,
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Speaker 1: all the visible activities of the struggle of man with man,
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Speaker 1: are as the leaves and branches of a tree which
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Speaker 1: overspreads the whole earth, the root of that tree being
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Speaker 1: individual selfishness and the ripened fruits of which are pain
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Speaker 1: and sorrow. This tree cannot be destroyed by merely lopping
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Speaker 1: off its branches. To do this effectively, the root must
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Speaker 1: be destroyed. To introduce measures in the form of changed
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Speaker 1: external conditions is merely lopping off the branches. And as
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Speaker 1: the cutting away of certain branches of a tree gives
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Speaker 1: added vigor to those which remain, even so, the very
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Speaker 1: means which are taken to curtail the competitive strife, when
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Speaker 1: those means deal entirely with its outward effects, will but
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Speaker 1: add strength and vigor to the tree, whose roots are
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Speaker 1: all the time being fostered and encouraged in the human heart.
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Speaker 1: The most that even legislation can do is to prune
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Speaker 1: the branches, and so prevent the tree from altogether running wild.
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Speaker 1: Great efforts are now being put forward to found a
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Speaker 1: garden city, which shall be a veritable Eden planted in
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Speaker 1: the midst of orchards, and whose inhabitants shall live in
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Speaker 1: comfort and comparative repose and beautiful and laudable are all
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Speaker 1: such efforts when they are prompted by unselfish love. But
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Speaker 1: a city cannot exist, or cannot long remain the Eden
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Speaker 1: which it aims to be in its outward form, until
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Speaker 1: the majority of its inhabitants have subdued and conquered the
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Speaker 1: inward selfishness. Even one form of selfishness, namely self indulgence,
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Speaker 1: if fostered by its inhabitants, will completely undermine that city,
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Speaker 1: leveling its orchards to the ground, converting many of its
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Speaker 1: beautiful dwellings into competitive marts and obnoxious centers for the
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Speaker 1: personal gratification of appetite in some of its buildings and
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Speaker 1: institutions for the maintenance of order, and upon its public
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Speaker 1: spaces will rise jails, asylums, and orphanages. For where the
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Speaker 1: spirit of self indulgence is the means for its gratification
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Speaker 1: will be immediately adopted, without considering the good of others
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Speaker 1: or of the community, for selfishness is always blind, and
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Speaker 1: the fruits of that gratification will be rapidly reaped. The
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Speaker 1: building of pleasant houses and the planning of beautiful gardens
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Speaker 1: can never of itself constitute a garden city unless its
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Speaker 1: inhabitants have learned that self sacrifice is better than self protection,
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Speaker 1: and have first established in their own hearts the garden
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Speaker 1: city of unselfish love. And when a sufficient number of
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Speaker 1: men and women have done this, the garden city will appear,
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Speaker 1: and it will flourish and prosper, and great will be
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Speaker 1: its peace. For out of the heart are the issues
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Speaker 1: of life. Having found that selfishness is the route cause
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Speaker 1: of all competition and strife, the question naturally arises as
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Speaker 1: to how this cause shall be dealt with. For it
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Speaker 1: naturally follows that a cause being destroyed, all its effects cease.
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Speaker 1: A cause being propagated, all its effects, however they be
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Speaker 1: modified from without, must continue. Every man who has thought
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Speaker 1: at all deeply upon the problem of life, and has
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Speaker 1: brooded sympathetically upon the sufferings of mankind has seen that
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Speaker 1: selfishness is at the root of all sorrow. In fact,
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Speaker 1: this is one of the truths that is first apprehended
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Speaker 1: by the thoughtful mind, and along with that perception there
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Speaker 1: has been born within him a longing to formulate some
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Speaker 1: methods by which that selfishness might be overcome. The first
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Speaker 1: impulse of such a man is to endeavor to frame
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Speaker 1: some outward law, or introduce some new social arrangements or regulations,
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Speaker 1: which shall put a check on the selfishness of others.
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Speaker 1: The second tendency of his mind will be to feel
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Speaker 1: his utter helplessness before the great iron will of selfishness
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Speaker 1: by which he is confronted. Both these attitudes of mind
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Speaker 1: are the result of an incomplete knowledge of what constitutes selfishness,
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Speaker 1: and this partial knowledge dominates him, because although he has
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Speaker 1: overcome the grosser forms of selfishness in himself and is
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Speaker 1: so far noble, he is yet selfish in other and
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Speaker 1: more remote and subtle directions. This feeling of helplessness is
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Speaker 1: the prelude to one of two conditions. The man will
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Speaker 1: either give up in despair and again sink himself into
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Speaker 1: the selfishness of the world, or he will search and
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Speaker 1: meditate until he finds another way out of the difficulty,
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Speaker 1: and that way he will find looking deeper and ever
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Speaker 1: deeper into the things of life, reflecting, brooting, examining and analyzing,
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Speaker 1: grappling with every difficulty and problem, with intensity of thought,
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Speaker 1: and developing day by day a profounder love of true truth.
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Speaker 1: By these means, his heart will grow and his comprehension expand,
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Speaker 1: and at last he will realize that the way to
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Speaker 1: destroy selfishness is not to try to destroy one form
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Speaker 1: of it in other people, but to destroy it utterly,
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Speaker 1: root and branch in himself. The perception of this truth
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Speaker 1: constitutes spiritual illumination. And when once it is awakened in
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Speaker 1: the mind, the straight and narrow way is revealed, and
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Speaker 1: the gates of the kingdom already loom in the distance,
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Speaker 1: then does a man apply to himself not to others
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Speaker 1: these words? And why beholdest thou the mote that is
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Speaker 1: in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that
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Speaker 1: is in thy own eye? Or how wilt thou say
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Speaker 1: to thy brother, let me pull out the moat of
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Speaker 1: thine eye, and behold a beam is in thine own eye.
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Speaker 1: Thou hypocrite. First cast out the beam out of thine
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Speaker 1: own eye, And then shalt thou seek clearly to cast
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Speaker 1: out the moat out of thine brother's eye. When a
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Speaker 1: man can apply these words to himself, and acting upon them,
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Speaker 1: judging himself mercilessly, but judging none other, then he will
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Speaker 1: find his way out of the hell of competitive strife.
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Speaker 1: Then he will rise above and render of non effect
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Speaker 1: the laws of competition, and will find the higher law
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Speaker 1: of love, subjecting himself to which every evil thing will
24:26
Speaker 1: flee from him, And the joys and blessings which the
24:29
Speaker 1: selfish vainly seek will constantly wait upon him. And not
24:34
Speaker 1: only this he will, having lifted himself, lift the world
24:39
Speaker 1: by his example. Many will see the way and will
24:42
Speaker 1: walk it, and the powers of darkness will be weaker
24:45
Speaker 1: for having lived, And it will be here asked. But
24:49
Speaker 1: will not man who has risen above his selfishness and
24:52
Speaker 1: therefore above the competitive strife, suffer through the selfishness and
24:57
Speaker 1: competition of those around him? Will he not, not, after
25:00
Speaker 1: all the troubles he has taken to purify himself suffer
25:04
Speaker 1: at the hands of the impure. No, he will not
25:07
Speaker 1: the equity of the divine order is perfect, so that
25:11
Speaker 1: it is impossible for one who has overcome selfishness to
25:14
Speaker 1: be subject to those laws which are brought into operation
25:18
Speaker 1: by the actions of selfishness. In other words, each individual
25:23
Speaker 1: suffers by virtue of his own selfishness. It is true
25:26
Speaker 1: that the selfish all come under the operation of the
25:29
Speaker 1: competitive laws and suffer collectively, each acting more or less
25:34
Speaker 1: as the instrument by which the suffering of others is
25:37
Speaker 1: brought about, which makes it appear on the surface as
25:41
Speaker 1: though men suffered for the sins of others rather than
25:43
Speaker 1: their own. But the truth is that in a universe
25:47
Speaker 1: the very basis of which is harmony, and which can
25:50
Speaker 1: only be sustained by the perfect adjustment of all its parts,
25:54
Speaker 1: each unit receives its own measure of adjustment and suffers
25:58
Speaker 1: by and of itself. Each man comes under the laws
26:02
Speaker 1: of his own, being, never under those of another. True,
26:06
Speaker 1: he will suffer like another, and even through the instrumentality
26:10
Speaker 1: of another, if he elects to live under the same
26:13
Speaker 1: conditions as that other. But if he chooses to desert
26:16
Speaker 1: those conditions and to live under another and higher set
26:20
Speaker 1: of conditions of which the other is ignorant, he will
26:23
Speaker 1: cease to come under or be affected by the lower laws.
26:28
Speaker 1: Let us now go back to the symbol of the
26:30
Speaker 1: tree and carry the analogy a little further. Just as
26:34
Speaker 1: the leaves and branches are sustained by the roots, so
26:37
Speaker 1: the roots derive their nourishment from the soil, groping blindly
26:41
Speaker 1: in the darkness for the sustenance which the tree demands.
26:45
Speaker 1: In like manner, selfishness, the root of the tree of
26:49
Speaker 1: evil and of suffering, derives its nourishment from the dark
26:52
Speaker 1: soil of ignorance. In this it thrives. Upon this it
26:57
Speaker 1: stands and flourishes. By ignorant I means something vastly different
27:01
Speaker 1: from lack of learning, and the sense in which I
27:04
Speaker 1: use it will be made plain as I proceed. Selfishness
27:08
Speaker 1: always gropes in the dark. It has no knowledge. By
27:12
Speaker 1: its very nature, it is cut off from the source
27:14
Speaker 1: of enlightenment. It is a blind impulse, knowing nothing, obeying
27:19
Speaker 1: no law, for it knows none, and is thereby forcibly
27:23
Speaker 1: bound to those competitive laws by virtue of which suffering
27:27
Speaker 1: is inflicted. In order that harmony may be maintained. We
27:31
Speaker 1: live in a world, a universe abounding with all good things,
27:36
Speaker 1: so great is the abundance of spiritual, mental, and material
27:39
Speaker 1: blessings that every man and woman on this globe could
27:43
Speaker 1: not only be provided with every necessary good, but could
27:47
Speaker 1: live in the midst of abounding plenty, and yet have
27:50
Speaker 1: much to spare. Yet in spite of this, what a
27:54
Speaker 1: spectacle of ignorance do we behold? We see? On the
27:57
Speaker 1: one hand, millions of men and women chained to ceaseless slavery,
28:02
Speaker 1: interminably toiling in order to obtain a poor and scanty
28:06
Speaker 1: meal and a garment to cover their nakedness. And on
28:09
Speaker 1: the other hand we see thousands who already have more
28:13
Speaker 1: than they require and can well manage, depriving themselves of
28:17
Speaker 1: all the blessings of a true life and of the
28:19
Speaker 1: vast opportunities which their possessions place within their reach, in
28:24
Speaker 1: order to accumulate more of those material things for which
28:28
Speaker 1: they have no legitimate use. Surely, men and women have
28:31
Speaker 1: no more wisdom than the beasts which fight over the
28:34
Speaker 1: possession of that which is more than they can all
28:37
Speaker 1: well dispose of, and which they could all enjoy in peace.
28:42
Speaker 1: Such a condition of things can only occur in a
28:44
Speaker 1: state of ignorance. Deep and dark, so dark and dense
28:48
Speaker 1: as to be utterly impenetrable save to the unselfish eye
28:52
Speaker 1: of wisdom and truth. And in the midst of all this,
28:55
Speaker 1: striving after place in food and raiment, their works unseen,
29:00
Speaker 1: yet potent and unerring, the overruling law of justice, metting
29:04
Speaker 1: out to every individual his own quota of merit and demerit.
29:08
Speaker 1: It is impartial. It bestows no favors, It inflicts no
29:13
Speaker 1: unearned punishments. It knows not wrath nor pardon. Utter true,
29:18
Speaker 1: it measures meet its faultless balance ways times are as,
29:22
Speaker 1: not tomorrow it will judge or after many days. The
29:27
Speaker 1: rich and poor alike suffer for their own selfishness, and
29:31
Speaker 1: none escapes. The rich have their particular sufferings as well
29:35
Speaker 1: as the poor. Moreover, the rich are continually losing their riches,
29:40
Speaker 1: the poor are continually acquiring them. The poor man of
29:43
Speaker 1: today is the rich man of tomorrow, and vice versa.
29:47
Speaker 1: There is no stability, no security in hell, and only
29:51
Speaker 1: brief in occasional periods of respite from suffering in some
29:55
Speaker 1: form or another. Fear also follows men like a great shadow,
30:00
Speaker 1: For the man who obtains and holds by selfish force
30:03
Speaker 1: will always be haunted by a feeling of insecurity, and
30:07
Speaker 1: will continually fear its loss, while the poor man who
30:11
Speaker 1: is selfishly seeking or coveting material riches will be harassed
30:15
Speaker 1: by the fear of destitution. And one and all who
30:19
Speaker 1: live in this underworld of strife are overshadowed by one
30:22
Speaker 1: great fear, the fear of death. Surrounded by the darkness
30:27
Speaker 1: of ignorance, and having no knowledge of those eternal and
30:30
Speaker 1: life sustaining principles out of which all things proceed, men
30:34
Speaker 1: labor under the delusion that the most important and essential
30:38
Speaker 1: things in life are food and clothing, that it is
30:41
Speaker 1: their first duty to strive to obtain these, believing that
30:45
Speaker 1: these outward things are the source and cause of all
30:47
Speaker 1: comfort and happiness. It is the blind animal instinct of
30:51
Speaker 1: self preservation, the preservation of the body and personality by
30:56
Speaker 1: virtue of which each man opposes himself to other men
31:00
Speaker 1: in order to get a living or secure a competency,
31:04
Speaker 1: believing that if he does not keep an incessant watch
31:06
Speaker 1: on other men and constantly renew the struggle, they will
31:10
Speaker 1: ultimately take the bread out of his mouth. It is
31:13
Speaker 1: out of this initial delusion that comes all the train
31:16
Speaker 1: of delusions with their attendant sufferings. Food and clothing are
31:20
Speaker 1: not the essential things of life, not the causes of happiness.
31:25
Speaker 1: They are non essentials effects, and as such proceed by
31:30
Speaker 1: a process of natural law from the essentials, the underlying cause.
31:36
Speaker 1: The essential things in life are the enduring elements in character, integrity, faith, righteousness,
31:43
Speaker 1: self sacrifice, compassion, love, and out of these all good
31:48
Speaker 1: things proceed. Food and clothing and money are dead effects.
31:54
Speaker 1: There is in them no life, no power, except that
31:57
Speaker 1: which we invest with them. They are without vice and virtue,
32:01
Speaker 1: and can neither bless nor harm. Even the body which
32:05
Speaker 1: men believe to be themselves, to which they pander, and
32:09
Speaker 1: which they long to keep, must very shortly be yielded
32:12
Speaker 1: up to the dust. But the higher elements of character
32:16
Speaker 1: are life itself, and to practice these, to trust them,
32:20
Speaker 1: and to live entirely in them, constitutes the kingdom of heaven.
32:25
Speaker 1: The man who says, I will first of all earn
32:28
Speaker 1: a competence and secure a good position in life, and
32:31
Speaker 1: will then give my mind to those higher things does
32:35
Speaker 1: not understand these higher things, does not believe them to
32:38
Speaker 1: be higher, for if he did, it would not be
32:41
Speaker 1: possible for him to neglect them. He believes the material
32:45
Speaker 1: outgrowth of life to be higher, and therefore he seeks
32:48
Speaker 1: them first. He believes money, clothing, and position to be
32:53
Speaker 1: of vast and essential importance, righteousness and truth to be
32:57
Speaker 1: at best secondary. For a man always sacrifices that which
33:02
Speaker 1: he believes to be lesser to that which he believes
33:05
Speaker 1: to be greater. Immediately after a man realizes that righteousness
33:10
Speaker 1: is of more importance than the getting of food and clothing,
33:14
Speaker 1: he ceases to strive after the latter and begins to
33:17
Speaker 1: live for the former. It is here where we come
33:20
Speaker 1: to the dividing line between two kingdoms, heaven and hell.
33:24
Speaker 1: Once a man perceives the beauty and enduring reality of righteousness,
33:29
Speaker 1: his whole attitude of mind toward himself and others and
33:32
Speaker 1: the things within and around him changes. The love of
33:36
Speaker 1: personal existence gradually loses its hold on him. The instinct
33:41
Speaker 1: of self preservation begins to die, and the practice of
33:44
Speaker 1: self renunciation takes its place for the sacrifice of others
33:50
Speaker 1: or of the happiness of others for his own good.
33:53
Speaker 1: He substitutes the sacrifice of self and of his own
33:57
Speaker 1: happiness for the good of others, thus rising above self,
34:02
Speaker 1: He rises above the competitive strife, which is the outcome
34:06
Speaker 1: of self, and above the competitive laws, which operate only
34:10
Speaker 1: in the region of self and for the regulation of
34:13
Speaker 1: its blind impulses. He is like the man who has
34:17
Speaker 1: climbed a mountain and thereby risen above all the disturbing
34:20
Speaker 1: currents in the valleys below him. The clouds pour down
34:24
Speaker 1: their rain, the thunders roll, and the lightnings flash. The
34:28
Speaker 1: fogs obscure, and the hurricanes uproot and destroy, but they
34:33
Speaker 1: cannot reach him on the calm heights where he stands
34:36
Speaker 1: and where he dwells in continual sunshine and peace. In
34:40
Speaker 1: the life of such a man, the lower laws cease
34:42
Speaker 1: to operate, and he now comes under the protection of
34:46
Speaker 1: a higher law, namely the law of love. And in
34:50
Speaker 1: accordance with his faithfulness and obedience to this law, will
34:54
Speaker 1: all that is necessary for his well being come to
34:56
Speaker 1: him at the time when he requires it. The idea
35:00
Speaker 1: gaining a position in the world cannot enter his mind,
35:03
Speaker 1: and the external necessities of life, such as money, food,
35:07
Speaker 1: and clothing, he scarcely ever thinks about. But subjecting himself
35:12
Speaker 1: for the good of others, performing all his duties scrupulously
35:16
Speaker 1: and without thinking of reward, and living day by day
35:19
Speaker 1: in the discipline of righteousness. All other things follow at
35:23
Speaker 1: the right time and in the right order. Just as
35:26
Speaker 1: suffering and strife and herein and spring from their root
35:30
Speaker 1: cause of selfishness, so blessedness and peace and herein and
35:34
Speaker 1: spring from their root cause righteousness. And it is a
35:38
Speaker 1: full and all embracing blessedness, complete and perfect in every
35:42
Speaker 1: department of life. For that which is morally and spiritually
35:46
Speaker 1: right is physically immaterially right. Such a man is free,
35:52
Speaker 1: for he is freed from all anxiety, worry, fear, despondency,
35:57
Speaker 1: all those mental disturbances which derive their vitality from the
36:00
Speaker 1: elements of self. And he lives in constant joy and peace.
36:05
Speaker 1: And this while living in the very midst of the
36:07
Speaker 1: competitive strife of the world. Yet, though walking in the
36:10
Speaker 1: midst of hell, its flames fall back before and around him,
36:15
Speaker 1: so that not one hair of his head can be singed.
36:18
Speaker 1: Though he walks in the midst of the lions of
36:20
Speaker 1: selfish force, for him, their jaws are closed, and their
36:24
Speaker 1: ferocity is subdued. Though on every hand men are falling
36:29
Speaker 1: around him in the fierce battles of life, he falls
36:32
Speaker 1: not neither is he dismayed, for no deadly bullet can
36:36
Speaker 1: reach him, no poison shaft can pierce the impenetrable armor
36:40
Speaker 1: of his righteousness. Having lost the little, personal, self seeking
36:45
Speaker 1: life of suffering, anxiety, fear, and want, he has found
36:49
Speaker 1: the illimitable, glorious and self perfecting life of joy and
36:53
Speaker 1: peace and plenty. Therefore, take no thought saying what shall
36:58
Speaker 1: we eat, or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall
37:02
Speaker 1: we be clothed. For your heavenly Father, knoweth ye have
37:05
Speaker 1: need of all these things. But seek ye first the
37:09
Speaker 1: Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things
37:13
Speaker 1: shall be added unto you the finding of a principle.
37:18
Speaker 1: Be still, my soul, and know that peace is within.
37:21
Speaker 1: Be steadfast heart, and know that strength divine belongs to
37:25
Speaker 1: thee cease thy turmoil mind, and thou the everlasting rest
37:31
Speaker 1: shall find. How then, shall a man reach the kingdom?
37:36
Speaker 1: By what process shall he find the light which alone
37:39
Speaker 1: can disperse his darkness? And in what way can he
37:43
Speaker 1: overcome the inward selfishness which is strong and deeply rooted.
37:48
Speaker 1: A man will reach the kingdom by purifying himself, and
37:52
Speaker 1: he can only do this by pursuing a process of
37:55
Speaker 1: self examination and self analysis. The selfishness must be discovered
38:01
Speaker 1: and understood before it can be removed. It is powerless
38:05
Speaker 1: to remove itself, neither will it pass away of itself.
38:10
Speaker 1: Darkness ceases only when light is introduced. So ignorance can
38:15
Speaker 1: only be dispersed by knowledge, selfishness by love. Seeing that
38:20
Speaker 1: in selfishness there is no security, no stability, no peace,
38:26
Speaker 1: the whole process of seeking the kingdom resolves itself into
38:30
Speaker 1: a search for a principle, a divine and permanent principle
38:34
Speaker 1: on which a man can stand secure, freed from himself,
38:38
Speaker 1: that is, from the personal element, and from the tyranny
38:42
Speaker 1: in slavery which that personal self extracts and demands. A
38:47
Speaker 1: man must, first of all be willing to lose himself,
38:50
Speaker 1: his self seeking self, before he can find himself, his
38:55
Speaker 1: divine self. He must realize that selfishness is not worth
38:59
Speaker 1: clinging too, that it is a master altogether unworthy of
39:03
Speaker 1: his service, and that divine goodness alone is worthy to
39:07
Speaker 1: be enthroned in his heart as the supreme master of
39:10
Speaker 1: his life. This means that he must have faith, for
39:14
Speaker 1: without this equipment there can be neither progress nor achievement.
39:19
Speaker 1: He must believe in the desirability of purity, in the
39:22
Speaker 1: supremacy of righteousness, in the sustaining power of integrity. He
39:28
Speaker 1: must ever hold before him the ideal and perfect goodness
39:32
Speaker 1: and strive for its achievement with ever renewed effort and
39:35
Speaker 1: unflagging zeal. This faith must be nurtured and its development encouraged.
39:42
Speaker 1: As a lamp, it must be carefully trimmed and fed,
39:45
Speaker 1: and kept burning in his heart, For without its radiating flame,
39:50
Speaker 1: no way will be seen. In the darkness. He will
39:53
Speaker 1: find no pathway out of self. And as this flame
39:56
Speaker 1: increases and burns with a steadier light, energy, resolution and
40:02
Speaker 1: self reliance will come to his aid, and with each
40:06
Speaker 1: step his progress will be accelerated, until at last the
40:10
Speaker 1: light of knowledge will begin to take the place of
40:13
Speaker 1: the lamp of faith, and the darkness will commence to
40:16
Speaker 1: disappear before its searching splendor. Into his spiritual sight will
40:21
Speaker 1: come the principles of the divine life, and as he
40:24
Speaker 1: approaches them, their incomparable beauty and majestic symmetry will astonish
40:29
Speaker 1: his vision and gladden his heart with a gladness hitherto unknown.
40:35
Speaker 1: Along this pathway of self control and self purification. For
40:39
Speaker 1: such it is every soul must travel on its way
40:42
Speaker 1: to the kingdom. So narrow is this way, and so
40:47
Speaker 1: overgrown with the weeds of selfishness is its entrance, that
40:51
Speaker 1: it is difficult to find, and being found cannot be
40:55
Speaker 1: retained except by daily meditation. Without this, the speed spiritual
41:00
Speaker 1: energies grow weaker, and the man loses the strength necessary
41:04
Speaker 1: to continue. As the body is sustained and invigorated by
41:09
Speaker 1: material food, so the spirit is strengthened and renewed by
41:13
Speaker 1: its own food, namely meditation upon spiritual things. He then,
41:19
Speaker 1: who earnestly resolves to find the kingdom, will commence to
41:23
Speaker 1: meditate and to rigidly examine his heart and mind and
41:27
Speaker 1: life in light of that supreme perfection which is the
41:31
Speaker 1: goal of his attainment. On his way to that goal,
41:34
Speaker 1: he must pass through three gateways of surrender. The first
41:39
Speaker 1: is the surrender of desire, the second is the surrender
41:44
Speaker 1: of opinion, The third is the surrender of self. Entering
41:49
Speaker 1: into meditation, he will commence to examine his desires, tracing
41:54
Speaker 1: them out of his mind and following up their effects
41:57
Speaker 1: in his life and upon his character. And he will
42:00
Speaker 1: quickly perceive that without the renunciation of desire, a man
42:05
Speaker 1: remains a slave both to himself and to his surroundings
42:09
Speaker 1: and circumstances. Having discovered this, the first gait, that of
42:15
Speaker 1: the surrender of desire, is entered. Passing through this gate,
42:20
Speaker 1: he adopts a process of self discipline, which is the
42:24
Speaker 1: first step in the purification of the soul. Hitherto, he
42:28
Speaker 1: has lived as a slavish beast, eating, drinking, sleeping, and
42:33
Speaker 1: pursuing enjoyment at the back and call of his lower impulses,
42:37
Speaker 1: blindly following and gratifying his inclinations without method, not questioning
42:43
Speaker 1: his conduct, and having no fixed center from which to
42:46
Speaker 1: regulate his character in life. Now, however, he begins to
42:51
Speaker 1: live as a man. He curbs his inclinations, controls his passions,
42:56
Speaker 1: and steadies his mind in the practice of virtue. He
43:00
Speaker 1: ceases to pursue enjoyment, but follows the dictates of his reason,
43:05
Speaker 1: and regulates his conduct in accordance with the demands of
43:08
Speaker 1: an ideal. With the introduction of this regulating factor in
43:13
Speaker 1: his life, he at once perceives that certain habits must
43:17
Speaker 1: be abandoned. He begins to select his food and to
43:21
Speaker 1: have his meals at stated periods, no longer eating at
43:25
Speaker 1: any time when the sight of food tempts his inclination,
43:29
Speaker 1: he reduces the number of meals per day and also
43:32
Speaker 1: the quantity of food eaten. He no longer goes to
43:36
Speaker 1: bed by day or night to indulge in pleasurable indolence,
43:40
Speaker 1: but to give his body the rest it needs, and
43:43
Speaker 1: he therefore regulates his hours of sleep, rising early and
43:47
Speaker 1: never encouraging the animal desire to indulge in dreamy indolence.
43:51
Speaker 1: After waking, all those foods and drinks which are particularly
43:55
Speaker 1: associated with gluttony, cruelty, and drunkenness, he will dispose withaltogether,
44:02
Speaker 1: selecting the mild and refreshing sustenance which nature provides in
44:07
Speaker 1: such rich profusion. These preliminary steps will at once be adopted,
44:12
Speaker 1: and as the path of self government and self examination
44:15
Speaker 1: is pursued, a clearer and even clearer perception of the nature, meaning,
44:21
Speaker 1: and effects of desire will be developed, until it will
44:25
Speaker 1: be seen that the mere regulation of one's desires is
44:28
Speaker 1: altogether inadequate and insufficient, and that the desires themselves must
44:33
Speaker 1: be abandoned, must be allowed to fall out of the mind.
44:37
Speaker 1: And to have no part of his character in life.
44:40
Speaker 1: It is at this point where the soul of the
44:42
Speaker 1: seeker will enter the dark valley of temptation, for these
44:47
Speaker 1: desires will not die without a struggle. And here the
44:50
Speaker 1: lamp of faith must be constantly fed and assiduously trimmed,
44:55
Speaker 1: for all the light that it can throw out will
44:57
Speaker 1: be required to guide and incur ridge the traveler in
45:01
Speaker 1: the dense gloom of this dark valley. At first, his desires,
45:06
Speaker 1: like so many wild beasts, will clamor loudly for gratification,
45:11
Speaker 1: failing in that, they will tempt him to struggle with them,
45:15
Speaker 1: that they may overthrow him. And this last temptation is
45:19
Speaker 1: greater and more difficult to overcome than the first, for
45:22
Speaker 1: the desires will not be stilled until they are utterly ignored,
45:27
Speaker 1: until they are left unheeded, unconditionally abandoned, and allowed to
45:32
Speaker 1: perish for want of food. In passing through this valley,
45:36
Speaker 1: the searcher will develop certain powers which are necessary to
45:40
Speaker 1: his further development, and these powers are self control, self reliance, fearlessness,
45:48
Speaker 1: and independence of thought. Here also he will have to
45:52
Speaker 1: pass through ridicule and mockery and false accusation, so much
45:57
Speaker 1: so that some of his best friends, even those whom
46:01
Speaker 1: he most unselfishly loves, will accuse him of folly and inconsistency,
46:06
Speaker 1: and will do all they can to argue him back
46:09
Speaker 1: to the life of animal indulgence, self seeking, and petty
46:13
Speaker 1: personal strife. Nearly everybody around him will suddenly discover that
46:19
Speaker 1: they know his duty better than he knows it himself, and,
46:22
Speaker 1: knowing no other and higher life than their own mingled
46:26
Speaker 1: excitement and suffering, they will take great pains to win
46:29
Speaker 1: him back to it, imagining in their ignorance that he
46:34
Speaker 1: is losing so much pleasure and happiness and is gaining
46:37
Speaker 1: nothing in return. At first, this attitude of others toward
46:41
Speaker 1: him will arouse in him acute suffering, but he will
46:45
Speaker 1: rapidly discover that this suffering is caused by his own
46:49
Speaker 1: vanity and selfishness, and is the result of his own
46:52
Speaker 1: subtle desire to be appreciated, admired, and well thought of.
46:57
Speaker 1: And as immediately this knowledge is arise dat he will
47:01
Speaker 1: rise into a higher state of consciousness, where these things
47:05
Speaker 1: can no longer reach him and inflict pain. It is
47:09
Speaker 1: here where he will begin to stand firm and to
47:12
Speaker 1: yield with effect the powers of mind already mentioned. Let
47:16
Speaker 1: him therefore press on courageously, heeding neither the revilings of
47:21
Speaker 1: his friends, without nor the clamorings of his enemies. Within, aspiring, searching, striving,
47:28
Speaker 1: looking ever toward his ideal with eyes of holy love,
47:32
Speaker 1: day by day, ridding his mind of selfish motive, his
47:36
Speaker 1: heart of impure desire, stumbling, sometimes sometimes falling, but ever
47:42
Speaker 1: traveling onward and rising higher, and recording each night, in
47:47
Speaker 1: the silence of his heart the journey of the day.
47:50
Speaker 1: Let him not despair, if but each day, in spite
47:53
Speaker 1: of all its failures and falls, record some holy battle thought,
47:58
Speaker 1: though lost, some silent victory attempted, though unachieved. The loss
48:04
Speaker 1: of to day will add to the gain of tomorrow.
48:06
Speaker 1: For him whose mind is set on the conquest of self.
48:10
Speaker 1: Passing along the valley, he will at last come to
48:13
Speaker 1: the fields of sorrow and loneliness. His desires, having received
48:18
Speaker 1: at his hands neither encouragement or sustenance, have grown weak,
48:23
Speaker 1: and are now falling away and perishing. He is climbing
48:27
Speaker 1: out of the valley, and the darkness is less dense.
48:31
Speaker 1: But now he realizes for the first time he is alone.
48:35
Speaker 1: He is like a man standing upon the lowest level
48:37
Speaker 1: of a great mountain, and it is night. Above him
48:41
Speaker 1: towers the lofty peak, beyond which shine the everlasting stars.
48:46
Speaker 1: A short distance below him are the glaring lights of
48:49
Speaker 1: the city which he has left. And from it there
48:52
Speaker 1: comes up to him the noises of its inhabitants, a
48:55
Speaker 1: confused mingling of shouts, screams, laughter, rumblings of traffic, and
49:02
Speaker 1: the strains of music. He thinks of his friends, all
49:06
Speaker 1: of whom are in the city, pursuing their own particular pleasures,
49:10
Speaker 1: and he is alone upon the mountain. That city is
49:14
Speaker 1: the city of desire and pleasure. The mountain is the
49:18
Speaker 1: mountain of renunciation. And the climber now knows that he
49:22
Speaker 1: has left the world, that henceforth for him, its excitements
49:26
Speaker 1: and strifes are lifeless things, and contempt him no more.
49:31
Speaker 1: Resting awhile in this lonely place, he will taste of
49:34
Speaker 1: sorrow and learn its secret. Harshness and hatred will pass
49:38
Speaker 1: from him. His heart will grow soft, and the first
49:42
Speaker 1: faint broodings of that divine compassion which shall afterwards absorb
49:47
Speaker 1: his whole being, will overshadow and inspire him. He will
49:51
Speaker 1: begin to feel with every living thing in its strivings
49:54
Speaker 1: and sufferings. And gradually, as this lesson is learned, his
49:59
Speaker 1: own sorrow and loneliness will be forgotten in his great
50:02
Speaker 1: calm love for others, and will pass away. Here also
50:08
Speaker 1: he will begin to perceive and understand the workings of
50:11
Speaker 1: those hidden laws which govern the destinies of individuals and nations.
50:16
Speaker 1: Having risen above the lower region of strife and selfishness
50:20
Speaker 1: within himself, he can now look calmly down upon it
50:24
Speaker 1: in others and in the world, and analyze and comprehend it.
50:29
Speaker 1: And he will see how selfish striving is at the
50:31
Speaker 1: root of all the world suffering. His whole attitude toward
50:36
Speaker 1: others in the world now undergoes a complete change, and
50:39
Speaker 1: compassion and love begin to take the place of self
50:42
Speaker 1: seeking and self protection in his mind. And as a
50:46
Speaker 1: result of this, the world alters in its attitude toward him.
50:52
Speaker 1: At this juncture, he perceives the folly of competition, and
50:56
Speaker 1: ceasing from striving to overtop and get the better off,
51:01
Speaker 1: he begins to encourage them, both with unselfish thoughts and,
51:05
Speaker 1: when necessary, with loving acts. In this he does even
51:10
Speaker 1: to those who selfishly compete with him, no longer defending
51:13
Speaker 1: himself against them. As a direct result of this, his
51:18
Speaker 1: worldly affairs begin to prosper as never before. Many of
51:22
Speaker 1: his friends, who at first mocked him, commenced to respect
51:25
Speaker 1: and even to love him, And he suddenly wakes up
51:29
Speaker 1: to the fact that he is coming in contact with
51:31
Speaker 1: people of a distinctly unworldly and noble type of whose
51:36
Speaker 1: existence he had no knowledge while living in his lower
51:39
Speaker 1: selfish nature. For many parts and from long distances, these
51:45
Speaker 1: people will come to him to minister to him, and
51:48
Speaker 1: that he may minister to them. Spiritual fellowship and loving
51:52
Speaker 1: brotherhood will become potent in his life, and so he
51:56
Speaker 1: will pass beyond the fields of sorrow and loneliness. The
52:00
Speaker 1: lower competitive laws have now ceased to operate in his life,
52:04
Speaker 1: and their results, which are failure, disaster, exposure, and destitution,
52:11
Speaker 1: can no longer enter into and form part of his experience.
52:16
Speaker 1: And this not merely because he has risen above the
52:19
Speaker 1: lower forms of selfishness in himself, but because also in
52:24
Speaker 1: so rising, he has developed certain power of mind by
52:28
Speaker 1: which he is enabled to direct and govern his affairs
52:31
Speaker 1: with a more powerful and masterly hand. He, however, has
52:36
Speaker 1: not yet traveled far, and unless he exercises constant watchfulness,
52:42
Speaker 1: may at any time fall back into the lower world
52:44
Speaker 1: of darkness and strife, reviving its empty pleasures and galvanizing
52:49
Speaker 1: back to life its dead desires. And especially is their danger.
52:55
Speaker 1: When he reaches the greatest temptation through which man is
52:58
Speaker 1: called to pass, temptation of doubt. Before reaching or even
53:04
Speaker 1: perceiving the second gait, that of surrender of opinion, the
53:09
Speaker 1: pilgrim will come upon a great soul desert, the desert
53:13
Speaker 1: of doubt, and here for a time he will wander
53:16
Speaker 1: around and despondency, indecision, and uncertainty. A melancholy brood will
53:23
Speaker 1: surround him like a cloud, hiding from his view the
53:26
Speaker 1: way immediately in front of him. A new and strange fear, too,
53:31
Speaker 1: will possibly overtake him, and he will begin to question
53:35
Speaker 1: the wisdom of the course he is pursuing. Again, the
53:38
Speaker 1: allurements of the world will be presented to him, dressed
53:42
Speaker 1: in their most attractive garb, and the drowning din and
53:45
Speaker 1: stimulating excitement of worldly battle will once more assume a
53:49
Speaker 1: desirable aspect. After all, am I right? What gain is
53:55
Speaker 1: there in? This? Does not? Life? Itself consist of pleasure
53:59
Speaker 1: and excitation and battle. And in giving these up, am
54:02
Speaker 1: I not giving up all? Am I not sacrificing the
54:06
Speaker 1: very substance of life for a meaningless shadow. May it
54:10
Speaker 1: not be that, after all I am a poor, deluded fool,
54:14
Speaker 1: and that all these around me, who live the life
54:17
Speaker 1: of the senses and stand upon its solid, sure and
54:20
Speaker 1: easily procured enjoyments, are wiser than I. By such dark
54:25
Speaker 1: doubtings and questionings, will he here be tempted and troubled.
54:30
Speaker 1: And these very doubts will drive him to a deeper
54:32
Speaker 1: searching into the intricacies of life, and arouse within him
54:37
Speaker 1: the feeling of necessity for some permanent principle upon which
54:41
Speaker 1: to stand and take refuge. He will, therefore, while wandering
54:47
Speaker 1: about in this dark desert, come into contact with the
54:50
Speaker 1: higher and more subtle delusions of his own mind, the
54:54
Speaker 1: delusions of the intellect, And by contrasting these with his ideal,
54:59
Speaker 1: he will learn to distinguished between the real and the unreal,
55:02
Speaker 1: the shadow and the substance, between effect and cause, between
55:07
Speaker 1: fleeting appearances and permanent principles. In the desire of doubt,
55:13
Speaker 1: a man is confronted with all forms of illusion, not
55:17
Speaker 1: only the illusions of the senses, but also those of
55:20
Speaker 1: abstract thought and religious emotion. It is in the testing
55:25
Speaker 1: of grappling with and ultimately destroying these illusions that he
55:30
Speaker 1: developed still higher powers, those of discrimination, spiritual perception, steadfastness
55:37
Speaker 1: of purpose, and calmness of mind, by the exercise of
55:41
Speaker 1: which he is enabled to unerringly distinguish the true from
55:45
Speaker 1: the false, both in the world of thought and that
55:48
Speaker 1: of material appearances. Having acquired these powers and learning how
55:54
Speaker 1: to use them in his holy warfare as weapons against himself,
55:58
Speaker 1: he now emerges from the desert of deabth. The mists
56:01
Speaker 1: and mirages of delusion vanish from his pathway, and there
56:05
Speaker 1: looms before him the second Gate, the gateway of the
56:08
Speaker 1: surrender of opinion. As he approaches this gate, he sees
56:13
Speaker 1: before him the whole pathway along which he is traveling,
56:17
Speaker 1: and for a space obtains a glimpse of the glorious
56:20
Speaker 1: heights of attainment toward which he is moving. He sees
56:24
Speaker 1: the Temple of the Higher Life in all its majesty,
56:27
Speaker 1: and already he feels within him the strength and joy
56:31
Speaker 1: and peace of conquest. With Sir Galahad, he can now
56:36
Speaker 1: exclaim I saw the Grail, the holy Grail, and one
56:41
Speaker 1: will crown me king far in the spiritual city. For
56:45
Speaker 1: he knows that his ultimate victory is assured. He now
56:49
Speaker 1: enters upon a process of self conquest which is altogether
56:53
Speaker 1: distinct from that which he has hitherto pursued. Up to
56:57
Speaker 1: the present. He has been overcoming, trans muting and simplifying
57:01
Speaker 1: his animal desires. Now he commences to transmute and simplify
57:06
Speaker 1: his intellect. He has so far been adjusting his feelings
57:11
Speaker 1: to his ideals. He now begins to adjust his thoughts
57:15
Speaker 1: to that ideal, which also assumes at this point larger
57:19
Speaker 1: and more beautiful proportions. And for the first time he
57:23
Speaker 1: perceives what really constitutes a permanent and imperishable principle. He
57:29
Speaker 1: sees that the righteousness for which he has been searching
57:32
Speaker 1: is fixed and invariable, that it cannot be accommodated to man,
57:37
Speaker 1: but that man must reach up to and obey it.
57:40
Speaker 1: That it consists of an undeviating line of conduct, apart
57:44
Speaker 1: from all considerations of loss or gain, of reward or punishment,
57:49
Speaker 1: That in reality, it consists in abandoning self with all
57:54
Speaker 1: the sins of desire, opinion, and self interest of which
57:58
Speaker 1: that self is composed, and in living the blameless life
58:02
Speaker 1: of perfect love toward all men and creatures. Such a
58:07
Speaker 1: life is fixed and perfect, It is without turning, change
58:11
Speaker 1: or qualification, and demands a sinless and perfect conduct. It
58:16
Speaker 1: is therefore the direct anti thesis of the worldly life
58:20
Speaker 1: of self. Perceiving this, the seeker sees that that although
58:26
Speaker 1: he has purified himself with a purity to which few
58:29
Speaker 1: aspire and which the world cannot understand, he is still
58:33
Speaker 1: defiled with a defilement which is difficult to wash away.
58:38
Speaker 1: He loves his own opinions, and has all along been
58:41
Speaker 1: confounding them with truth, with the principle for which he
58:45
Speaker 1: is seeking. He is not yet free from strife, and
58:49
Speaker 1: is still involved in the competitive laws as they occur
58:52
Speaker 1: in the higher realm of thought. He still believes that he,
58:56
Speaker 1: in his opinions, is right and that others are wrong,
59:00
Speaker 1: and in his egotism, has even fallen so low as
59:04
Speaker 1: to bestow a mock pity on those who hold opinions
59:07
Speaker 1: the reverse of his own. But now realizing this more
59:12
Speaker 1: subtle form of selfishness with which he is enslaved and
59:16
Speaker 1: perceiving all the train of sufferings which spring from it.
59:19
Speaker 1: Having also acquired the priceless possession of spiritual discernment, he
59:24
Speaker 1: reverently bends his head and passes through the second gateway
59:28
Speaker 1: towards his final peace. And now clothing his soul with
59:33
Speaker 1: the colorless garment of humility, he bends all his energies
59:37
Speaker 1: to the uprooting of those opinions which he has hitherto
59:40
Speaker 1: loved and cherished. He now learns to distinguish between truth,
59:45
Speaker 1: which is one and unchangeable, and his own in other's
59:49
Speaker 1: opinions about truth, which are many and changeable. He sees
59:53
Speaker 1: that his opinions about goodness, purity, compassion, and love are
59:58
Speaker 1: very distinct from those qualities themselves, and that he must
1:00:02
Speaker 1: stand upon those divine principles and not upon his opinions.
1:00:07
Speaker 1: Hitherto he has regarded his opinions as of great value,
1:00:11
Speaker 1: and the opinions of others as worthless. But now he
1:00:15
Speaker 1: ceases to so elevate his opinions and to defend them
1:00:19
Speaker 1: against those of others, and comes to regard them as
1:00:23
Speaker 1: utterly worthless. As a direct result of this attitude of mind,
1:00:28
Speaker 1: he takes refuge in the practice of pure goodness, unalloyed
1:00:32
Speaker 1: with base desire and subtle love, and takes his stand
1:00:36
Speaker 1: upon the divine principles of purity, wisdom, compassion, and love,
1:00:42
Speaker 1: incorporating them into his mind and manifesting them in his life.
1:00:47
Speaker 1: He is now clothed with the righteousness of Christ, which
1:00:51
Speaker 1: is incomprehensible to the world, and is rapidly becoming divine.
1:00:56
Speaker 1: He has not only realized the darkness of desire, he
1:00:59
Speaker 1: has also will perceive the vanity of speculative philosophy, and
1:01:03
Speaker 1: so reads his mind of all those metaphysical subtleties which
1:01:07
Speaker 1: have no relation to practical holiness, and which hitherto encumbered
1:01:11
Speaker 1: his progress and prevented him from seeing the enduring realities
1:01:15
Speaker 1: in life. And now he casts from him one after
1:01:19
Speaker 1: another his opinions and speculations and commences to live the
1:01:24
Speaker 1: life of perfect love toward all beings, with each opinion
1:01:29
Speaker 1: overcome and abandoned as a burden. There is an increased
1:01:32
Speaker 1: lightness of spirit, and he now begins to realize the
1:01:36
Speaker 1: meaning of being free. The divine flowers of gladness, joy,
1:01:41
Speaker 1: and peace spring up spontaneously in his heart, and his
1:01:45
Speaker 1: life becomes a blissful song. And as the melody in
1:01:49
Speaker 1: his heart expands and grows more and more perfect, his
1:01:53
Speaker 1: outward life harmonizes itself with the inward music. All the
1:01:58
Speaker 1: effort he puts forth, being now free from strife, he
1:02:02
Speaker 1: obtains all that is necessary for his well being without pain, anxiety,
1:02:06
Speaker 1: or fear. He has almost entirely transcended the competitive laws.
1:02:12
Speaker 1: The law of love is now the governing factor in
1:02:14
Speaker 1: his life, adjusting all his worldly affairs harmoniously and without
1:02:20
Speaker 1: struggle or difficulty on his part. Indeed, the competitive laws
1:02:25
Speaker 1: as they occur in the commercial world have long been
1:02:28
Speaker 1: left behind and have ceased to touch him at any
1:02:31
Speaker 1: point in his material affairs. Here also he enters into
1:02:37
Speaker 1: a wider and more comprehensive consciousness, and viewing the universe
1:02:41
Speaker 1: and humanity from the higher altitudes of purity and knowledge
1:02:45
Speaker 1: to which he has ascended, perceives the orderly sequence of
1:02:49
Speaker 1: law in all human affairs. The pursuit of this path
1:02:53
Speaker 1: brings about the development of still higher powers of mind,
1:02:58
Speaker 1: and these powers are divine patience, spiritual equanimity, non resistance,
1:03:05
Speaker 1: and prophetic insight. By prophetic insight, I do not mean
1:03:10
Speaker 1: the foretelling of events but direct perception of those hidden
1:03:14
Speaker 1: causes which operate in human life, and indeed in all life,
1:03:19
Speaker 1: and out of which spring the multifarious and universal effects
1:03:23
Speaker 1: and events. The man here rises above the competitive laws
1:03:27
Speaker 1: as they operate in the thought world, so that their results,
1:03:32
Speaker 1: which are violence, ignominy, grief, humiliation, and distress and anxiety
1:03:37
Speaker 1: in all their forms, no longer occur in his life.
1:03:42
Speaker 1: As he proceeds, the imperishable principles which form the foundation
1:03:46
Speaker 1: and fabric of the universe, loom before him and assume
1:03:49
Speaker 1: more and more symmetrical proportions. For him. There is no
1:03:54
Speaker 1: more anguish, no evil can come near his dwelling, and
1:03:59
Speaker 1: there breaks upon him the dawning of the abiding peace.
1:04:03
Speaker 1: But he is not yet free. He has not yet
1:04:06
Speaker 1: finished his journey. He may rest here and that as
1:04:10
Speaker 1: long as he chooses, But sooner or later he will
1:04:13
Speaker 1: rouse himself to the last effort, and will reach the
1:04:16
Speaker 1: final goal of achievement, the selfless state, the divine life.
1:04:22
Speaker 1: He is not yet free from self, but still clings,
1:04:26
Speaker 1: though with less tenacity, to the love of personal existence
1:04:30
Speaker 1: and to the idea of exclusive interest in his personal possessions.
1:04:35
Speaker 1: And when he at last realizes that those selfish elements
1:04:39
Speaker 1: must be abandoned. There appears before him the third gait,
1:04:44
Speaker 1: the gateway of surrender of self. It is no dark
1:04:47
Speaker 1: portal which he now approaches, but one luminous with divine glory,
1:04:52
Speaker 1: one radiant, with a radiance with which no earthly splendor
1:04:56
Speaker 1: can vie. And he advances toward it with no uncertainty.
1:05:01
Speaker 1: The clouds of doubt have long been dispersed, the sounds
1:05:05
Speaker 1: of the voices of temptation are lost in the valley below.
1:05:08
Speaker 1: And with firm gait, erect carriage, and a heart filled
1:05:12
Speaker 1: with unspeakable joy, he nears the gate that guards the
1:05:16
Speaker 1: Kingdom of God. He has now given up all but
1:05:20
Speaker 1: self interest in those things which are his by legal right.
1:05:24
Speaker 1: But he now perceives that he must hold nothing as
1:05:27
Speaker 1: his own. And as he pauses at the gate, he
1:05:30
Speaker 1: hears the command which cannot be evaded or denied. Yet,
1:05:34
Speaker 1: lackest thou one thing, Sell all that thou hast, and
1:05:39
Speaker 1: distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.
1:05:44
Speaker 1: And passing through the last gait, he stands glorious, radiant, free,
1:05:50
Speaker 1: detached from the tyranny of desire, of opinion of self,
1:05:55
Speaker 1: a divine man, harmless, patient, tender, pure, He has found
1:06:01
Speaker 1: that for which he has been searching, the Kingdom of
1:06:04
Speaker 1: God and his righteousness. The journey to the kingdom may
1:06:08
Speaker 1: be a long and tedious one, or it may be
1:06:11
Speaker 1: short and rapid. It may occupy a minute, or it
1:06:14
Speaker 1: may take a thousand ages. Everything depends on the faith
1:06:18
Speaker 1: and belief of the searcher. The majority cannot enter in
1:06:22
Speaker 1: because of their unbelief. For how can men realize righteousness
1:06:27
Speaker 1: when they do not believe in it nor in the
1:06:29
Speaker 1: possibility of its accomplishment. Neither is it necessary to leave
1:06:33
Speaker 1: the outer world and one's duties therein Nay, it can
1:06:38
Speaker 1: only be found through the unselfish performance of one's duty.
1:06:42
Speaker 1: Some there are whose faith is so great that when
1:06:46
Speaker 1: this truth is presented to them, they can let all
1:06:49
Speaker 1: the personal elements drop almost immediately out of their minds
1:06:53
Speaker 1: and enter into their divine heritage. But all who believe
1:06:57
Speaker 1: in aspire to achieve, will sooner or later arrive at victory.
1:07:02
Speaker 1: If amid all their worldly duties, they faint not nor
1:07:06
Speaker 1: lose sight of the ideal goodness, and continue with unshaken
1:07:10
Speaker 1: resolve to press on to perfection at rest in the kingdom,
1:07:16
Speaker 1: and all things added, the whole journey from the kingdom
1:07:20
Speaker 1: of strife to the Kingdom of Love resolves itself into
1:07:24
Speaker 1: a process, which may be summed up in the following words,
1:07:28
Speaker 1: the regulation and purification of conduct. Such a process must,
1:07:34
Speaker 1: if assiduously pursued, necessarily lead to perfection. It will also
1:07:40
Speaker 1: be seen that as the man obtains mastery over certain
1:07:43
Speaker 1: forces within himself, he arrives at a knowledge of all
1:07:47
Speaker 1: the laws which operate in the realm of those forces.
1:07:51
Speaker 1: And by watching the ceaseless working of cause and effect
1:07:54
Speaker 1: within himself until he understands it, he then understands it
1:07:59
Speaker 1: in its earth universal adjustments in the body of humanity. Moreover,
1:08:05
Speaker 1: seeing that all the laws which govern human affairs are
1:08:09
Speaker 1: the direct outcome of the necessities of the human heart,
1:08:12
Speaker 1: he having reformed and transmuted those necessities, has brought himself
1:08:18
Speaker 1: under the guidance of other laws which operate in accordance
1:08:22
Speaker 1: with the altered condition, And that, having mastered and overcome
1:08:25
Speaker 1: the selfish forces within himself, he can no longer be
1:08:29
Speaker 1: subject to the laws which exist for their governance. The
1:08:33
Speaker 1: process is also one of simplification of the mind as
1:08:37
Speaker 1: sifting a way of all but the essential gold and character.
1:08:41
Speaker 1: And as the mind is thus simplified, the apparently unfathomable
1:08:45
Speaker 1: complexity of the universe assumes simpler and simpler aspects, until
1:08:51
Speaker 1: the whole is seen to resolve itself into and rest
1:08:54
Speaker 1: upon a few unalterable principles, and these principles are ultimately
1:09:00
Speaker 1: seemed to be contained in one, namely love. The mind
1:09:05
Speaker 1: thus simplified, the man arrives at peace, and he now
1:09:09
Speaker 1: really begins to live. Looking back on the personal life
1:09:13
Speaker 1: which he has forever abandoned, he sees it as a
1:09:16
Speaker 1: horrible nightmare out of which he has awakened. But looking
1:09:20
Speaker 1: out and down with the eyes of the spirit, he
1:09:23
Speaker 1: sees the others continue to live it. He sees men
1:09:26
Speaker 1: and women struggling, fighting, suffering, and perishing for that which
1:09:31
Speaker 1: is abundantly given to them by the bountiful hand of
1:09:34
Speaker 1: the Father, if they would only cease from all covetuousness
1:09:38
Speaker 1: and take it without hurt or hindrance. And compassion fills
1:09:42
Speaker 1: his heart and also gladness, for he knows that humanity
1:09:46
Speaker 1: will wake at last from its long and painful dream.
1:09:50
Speaker 1: In the early part of the journey, he seemed to
1:09:53
Speaker 1: be leaving humanity far behind, and he sorrowed in his loneliness.
1:09:58
Speaker 1: But now having reach the highest, having attained the goal,
1:10:03
Speaker 1: he finds himself nearer to humanity than ever before. Yea
1:10:08
Speaker 1: living in its very heart, sympathizing with all its sorrows,
1:10:13
Speaker 1: rejoicing in all its joys. For having no longer any
1:10:16
Speaker 1: personal considerations to defend, he lives entirely in the heart
1:10:21
Speaker 1: of humanity. He lives no longer for himself, he lives
1:10:25
Speaker 1: for others, And so living he enjoys the highest bliss,
1:10:30
Speaker 1: the deepest peace. For a time he searched for compassion, love, bliss, truth.
1:10:37
Speaker 1: But now he has verily become compassion, love, bliss, truth.
1:10:42
Speaker 1: And it may literally be said of him that he
1:10:45
Speaker 1: has ceased to be a personality, for all the personal
1:10:48
Speaker 1: elements have been extinguished, and there remain only those qualities
1:10:53
Speaker 1: and principles which are entirely impersonal. And those qualities are
1:10:57
Speaker 1: now manifested in the man's life, and henceforth the man's character.
1:11:03
Speaker 1: And having ceased from the protection of the self, and
1:11:07
Speaker 1: living constantly in compassion, wisdom, and love, he comes under
1:11:11
Speaker 1: the protection of the highest law, the law of love,
1:11:15
Speaker 1: and he understands that law and consciously co operates with it.
1:11:20
Speaker 1: YEA is himself inseparably identified with the law. Foregoing self,
1:11:27
Speaker 1: the universe grows. I and he whose nature is compassion, wisdom,
1:11:32
Speaker 1: and love, cannot possibly need any protection, for those principles
1:11:37
Speaker 1: themselves constitute the highest protection, being the real, the divine,
1:11:42
Speaker 1: the immortal in all men and women, in constituting the
1:11:46
Speaker 1: indestructible reality in the cosmic order. Neither does he need
1:11:50
Speaker 1: to seek enjoyment whose very nature is bliss, joy and peace.
1:11:55
Speaker 1: As for competing with others, with whom should he compete?
1:11:59
Speaker 1: Who has lovingly identified himself with all, with whom should
1:12:04
Speaker 1: he struggle, Who has sacrificed himself for all, whose blind,
1:12:09
Speaker 1: misguided and ineffectual competition should he fear. Who has reached
1:12:13
Speaker 1: the source of all blessedness, and who receives, at the
1:12:17
Speaker 1: hands of the Father all necessary things. Having lost himself
1:12:22
Speaker 1: his selfish personality, he has found himself his divine nature,
1:12:28
Speaker 1: love and love in all the effects of love now
1:12:32
Speaker 1: compose his life. He can now joyfully exclaim, I have
1:12:37
Speaker 1: made the acquaintance of the Master of compassion. I have
1:12:40
Speaker 1: put on the garment of the perfect law. I have
1:12:44
Speaker 1: entered the realm of the great reality. Wandering is ended,
1:12:48
Speaker 1: for rest is accomplished. Pain and sorrow have ceased, for
1:12:52
Speaker 1: peace is entered into Confusion is dissolved, for unity is
1:12:57
Speaker 1: made manifest. Error is vanquished, for truth is revealed, the
1:13:03
Speaker 1: harmonizing principle, righteousness, or divine love being found. All things
1:13:09
Speaker 1: are seen as they are, and not through the illusory
1:13:13
Speaker 1: mediums of selfishness and opinion. The universe is one, and
1:13:17
Speaker 1: all its manifold operations are the manifestation of one law.
1:13:23
Speaker 1: Hitherto in this work, laws have been referred to and
1:13:27
Speaker 1: also spoken of, as higher and lower, and this distinction
1:13:31
Speaker 1: was necessary. But now the kingdom is reached, we see
1:13:35
Speaker 1: that all the forces operative in human life are the
1:13:38
Speaker 1: varied manifestations of the one supreme law of love. It
1:13:43
Speaker 1: is by virtue of this law that humanity suffers. That
1:13:47
Speaker 1: by the intensity of its sufferings, it shall become purified
1:13:51
Speaker 1: and wise, and so relinquish the source of suffering, which
1:13:56
Speaker 1: is selfishness. The law and foundation of the universe being love.
1:14:01
Speaker 1: It follows that all self seeking is opposed to that law,
1:14:05
Speaker 1: is an effort to overcome or ignore the law, and
1:14:09
Speaker 1: as a result, every self seeking act and thought is
1:14:13
Speaker 1: followed by an exact quota of suffering, which is required
1:14:16
Speaker 1: to and know its effect and so maintain the universal harmony.
1:14:22
Speaker 1: All suffering is therefore the restraint which the law of
1:14:26
Speaker 1: love puts upon ignorance and selfishness, And out of such
1:14:30
Speaker 1: painful restraint, wisdom at last emerges. There being no strife
1:14:36
Speaker 1: and no selfishness in the kingdom, there is therefore no suffering,
1:14:40
Speaker 1: no restraint. There is perfect harmony, equipoise rest. Those who
1:14:47
Speaker 1: have entered it do not follow any animal inclinations. They
1:14:50
Speaker 1: have none to follow, but live in accordance with the
1:14:54
Speaker 1: highest wisdom. Their nature is love, and they live in
1:14:58
Speaker 1: love toward all. They are never troubled about making a living,
1:15:02
Speaker 1: as they are life itself, living in the very heart
1:15:06
Speaker 1: of life. And should any material or other need arise,
1:15:10
Speaker 1: that need is immediately supplied, without any anxiety or struggle
1:15:14
Speaker 1: on their part. Should they be called to undertake any work,
1:15:19
Speaker 1: the money and friends needed to carry out that work
1:15:21
Speaker 1: are immediately forthcoming. Having ceased to violate their principles, all
1:15:27
Speaker 1: their needs are supplied through legitimate channels. Any money or
1:15:31
Speaker 1: help required always comes through the instrumentality of good people
1:15:36
Speaker 1: who are either living in the kingdom themselves or are
1:15:39
Speaker 1: working for its accomplishment. Those who live in the Kingdom
1:15:43
Speaker 1: of Love have all their needs supplied by the law
1:15:46
Speaker 1: of love, with all freedom from unrest. Just as those
1:15:50
Speaker 1: who live in the kingdom of self only meet their
1:15:53
Speaker 1: needs by much strife and suffering. Having altered the root
1:15:58
Speaker 1: cause in their heart, have altered all the effects in
1:16:01
Speaker 1: their inner and outer life. As self is the root
1:16:04
Speaker 1: cause of all strife and suffering, so love is the
1:16:08
Speaker 1: root cause of all peace and bliss. Those who are
1:16:12
Speaker 1: at rest in the kingdom do not look for happiness
1:16:14
Speaker 1: to any outward possession. They see that all such possessions
1:16:19
Speaker 1: are mere transient effects that come when they are required,
1:16:23
Speaker 1: and after their purposes served, pass away. They never think
1:16:28
Speaker 1: of these things money, clothing, food, et cetera, except as
1:16:33
Speaker 1: mere accessories and effects of the true life. They are
1:16:37
Speaker 1: therefore freed from all anxiety and trouble, and resting in love.
1:16:42
Speaker 1: They are the embodiment of happiness, standing upon the imperishable
1:16:47
Speaker 1: principles of purity, compassion, wisdom, and love. They are immortal,
1:16:53
Speaker 1: and they know they are immortal. They are one with God,
1:16:57
Speaker 1: the supreme Good, and they know they are one life God.
1:17:01
Speaker 1: Seeing the realities of these things, they can find no
1:17:04
Speaker 1: room anywhere for condemnation. All the operations that occur upon
1:17:09
Speaker 1: the earth they see as instruments of the good law,
1:17:13
Speaker 1: even those called evil. All men are essentially divine, though
1:17:18
Speaker 1: unaware of their divine nature, and all their acts are efforts,
1:17:23
Speaker 1: even though many of them are dark and impotent to
1:17:26
Speaker 1: realize some higher good. All so called evil is seen
1:17:30
Speaker 1: to be rooted in ignorance, even those deeds that are
1:17:34
Speaker 1: called deliberately wicked, so that condemnation ceases, and love and
1:17:39
Speaker 1: compassion become all in all. But let it not be
1:17:42
Speaker 1: supposed that the children of the Kingdom live in ease
1:17:45
Speaker 1: and indolence. These two sins are the first that have
1:17:48
Speaker 1: to be eradicated when the search for the Kingdom is
1:17:51
Speaker 1: entered upon. They live in a peaceful activity. In fact,
1:17:56
Speaker 1: they only truly live, for the life of self, with
1:18:00
Speaker 1: its train of worries, griefs and fears, is not real life.
1:18:05
Speaker 1: They perform all their duties with the most scrupulous diligence
1:18:09
Speaker 1: apart from thoughts of self, and employ all their means
1:18:13
Speaker 1: as well as powers and faculties, which are greatly intensified
1:18:18
Speaker 1: in building up the Kingdom of righteousness, in the hearts
1:18:20
Speaker 1: of others and in the world around them. This is
1:18:24
Speaker 1: their work, first by example, then by precept. Having sold
1:18:30
Speaker 1: all that, they have renounced all self interest in their possessions.
1:18:35
Speaker 1: They now give to the poor, Give of their rich
1:18:38
Speaker 1: store of wisdom, love and peace to the needy and
1:18:41
Speaker 1: spirit the weary and broken hearted, and follow the Christ
1:18:46
Speaker 1: whose name is Love. And they have sorrow no more,
1:18:50
Speaker 1: but live in perpetual gladness. For though they cease suffering
1:18:54
Speaker 1: in their world, they also see the final bliss in
1:18:57
Speaker 1: the eternal refuge of love too, which whosoever is ready
1:19:01
Speaker 1: may come now, and to which all will come at last.
1:19:06
Speaker 1: The children of the Kingdom are known by their life.
1:19:09
Speaker 1: They manifest the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace,
1:19:14
Speaker 1: long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance, self control. Under
1:19:22
Speaker 1: all circumstances and vicissitudes, they are entirely free from anger, fear, suspicion, jealousy, caprice, anxiety,
1:19:31
Speaker 1: and grief. Living in the righteousness of God, they manifest
1:19:35
Speaker 1: qualities which are the very reverse of those which occur
1:19:38
Speaker 1: in the world and which are regarded by the world
1:19:41
Speaker 1: as foolishness. They demand no rights, They do not defend themselves,
1:19:47
Speaker 1: do not retaliate, Do good to those who attempt to
1:19:50
Speaker 1: injure them. Manifest the same gentle spirit toward those who
1:19:54
Speaker 1: oppose and attack them as toward those who agree with them.
1:19:58
Speaker 1: Do not pass judgment or others, condemn no person and
1:20:02
Speaker 1: no system, and live at peace withal. The Kingdom of
1:20:07
Speaker 1: Heaven is perfect trust, perfect knowledge, perfect peace. All is music,
1:20:13
Speaker 1: sweetness and tranquility. No irritations, no bad tempers, no harsh words,
1:20:20
Speaker 1: no suspicions, no lust, and no disturbing elements can enter there.
1:20:27
Speaker 1: Its children live in perfect sweetness, forgiving and forgiven, ministering
1:20:32
Speaker 1: to others with kindly thoughts and words and deeds. And
1:20:36
Speaker 1: that kingdom is in the heart of every man and woman.
1:20:40
Speaker 1: It is their rightful heritage, their own kingdom. Theirs to
1:20:44
Speaker 1: enter now. But no sin can enter therein No self
1:20:49
Speaker 1: born thought or deed can pass its golden gates. No
1:20:53
Speaker 1: impure desire can defile its radiant robes. All may enter
1:20:58
Speaker 1: it who will, but all pay the price. And that
1:21:02
Speaker 1: is the unconditional abandonment of self. If thou wilt be perfect,
1:21:08
Speaker 1: sell all that thou hast. But at these words the
1:21:12
Speaker 1: world turns away sorrowful, For it is very rich, rich
1:21:16
Speaker 1: in money which it cannot keep, rich in fears which
1:21:19
Speaker 1: it cannot let go, rich and selfish loves to which
1:21:23
Speaker 1: it greedily clings, rich and grievous partings which it would
1:21:27
Speaker 1: fain escape, rich in seeking employment, rich in pain and sorrow,
1:21:34
Speaker 1: rich in strife and suffering, rich in excitement and woe,
1:21:38
Speaker 1: Rich in all things which are not riches, but poor,
1:21:42
Speaker 1: and riches themselves which are not to be found outside
1:21:45
Speaker 1: the kingdom. Rich in all things that pertain to darkness
1:21:49
Speaker 1: and death, but poor in those things which are light
1:21:52
Speaker 1: and life. He then, who would realize the kingdom. Let
1:21:57
Speaker 1: him pay the price and enter. If if he have
1:22:00
Speaker 1: a great and holy faith, he can do it now,
1:22:03
Speaker 1: letting fall from him like a garment. The self to
1:22:06
Speaker 1: which he has been clinging stand free. If he have
1:22:10
Speaker 1: less faith, he must rise above self more slowly and
1:22:14
Speaker 1: find the kingdom by daily effort and patient work. The
1:22:19
Speaker 1: Temple of Righteousness is built, and its four walls are
1:22:22
Speaker 1: the four principles. Purity, wisdom, compassion, love, Peace is its
1:22:29
Speaker 1: roof its floor is steadfastness. Its entrance door is selfless duty,
1:22:36
Speaker 1: its atmosphere is inspiration, and its music is the joy
1:22:40
Speaker 1: of the perfect. It cannot be shaken, and being eternal
1:22:45
Speaker 1: and indestructible, there is no more need to seek protection
1:22:48
Speaker 1: in taking thought for the things of tomorrow, and the
1:22:52
Speaker 1: Kingdom of Heaven being established in the heart, the obtaining
1:22:56
Speaker 1: of the material necessities of life is no more considered,
1:23:00
Speaker 1: for having found the highest, all these things are added
1:23:04
Speaker 1: as effect to cause. The struggle for existence has ceased,
1:23:09
Speaker 1: and the spiritual, mental, and material needs are daily supplied
1:23:13
Speaker 1: from the universal abundance. Long I sought THEE Spirit, wholly
1:23:18
Speaker 1: master Spirit, meek and lowly sought THEE with a silent sorrow,
1:23:24
Speaker 1: brooding over the woes of men, vainly sought thy yoke
1:23:28
Speaker 1: of meekness neath the weight of woe and weakness. Finding
1:23:32
Speaker 1: not yet in my failing, seeking over and over again,
1:23:38
Speaker 1: in unrest and doubt and sadness, dwelt I. Yet I
1:23:42
Speaker 1: knew thy gladness waited somewhere, somewhere, greeted torn and sorrowing
1:23:48
Speaker 1: hearts like mine. Knew that somehow I should find THEE,
1:23:53
Speaker 1: leaving sin and woe behind THEE, and at last Thy
1:23:56
Speaker 1: love would bid me enter into rest of mine. Hatred,
1:24:01
Speaker 1: mockery and reviling scorched my seeking soul, defiling that which
1:24:06
Speaker 1: should have been Thy temple, wherein thou shouldest move and dwell, praying, striving, hoping, calling, suffering, sorrowing.
1:24:15
Speaker 1: In my falling still, I sought THEE, groping blindly in
1:24:20
Speaker 1: the gloomy depths of hell. And I sought THEE till
1:24:23
Speaker 1: I found THEE. And the dark powers all around me
1:24:27
Speaker 1: fled and left me silent, peaceful, brooding o'er thy holy
1:24:31
Speaker 1: themes from within me and without me fled they when
1:24:36
Speaker 1: I ceased to doubt THEE. And I found THEE in
1:24:39
Speaker 1: Thy glory, Mighty Master of my dreams. Yes, I found THEE.
1:24:45
Speaker 1: Spirit holy, beautiful and pure and lowly, found Thy joy
1:24:50
Speaker 1: and peace and gladness. Found THEE in thy house of rest,
1:24:55
Speaker 1: found Thy strength in love and meekness, And my pain
1:24:59
Speaker 1: and woe and weakness left me. And I walk the
1:25:02
Speaker 1: pathway trodden only by the blessed the divine center. The
1:25:09
Speaker 1: secret of life, of abundant life, with its strength, its felicity,
1:25:14
Speaker 1: and its unbroken peace, is to find the Divine center
1:25:17
Speaker 1: within oneself, and to live in and from that, instead
1:25:22
Speaker 1: of in that outer circumference of disturbances, the clamors, cravings,
1:25:27
Speaker 1: and argumentations which make up the animal an intellectual man,
1:25:32
Speaker 1: These selfish elements constitute the mere husks of life, and
1:25:37
Speaker 1: must be thrown away by him who would penetrate to
1:25:40
Speaker 1: the central heart of things, to life itself. Not to
1:25:44
Speaker 1: know that within you that is changeless and defiant of
1:25:48
Speaker 1: time and death, is not to know anything, but is
1:25:52
Speaker 1: to play vainly with the unsubstantial reflections in the mirror
1:25:55
Speaker 1: of time. Not to find within you those passionless princes
1:26:00
Speaker 1: which are not moved by the strifes and shows and
1:26:03
Speaker 1: vanities of the world, is to find nothing but illusions,
1:26:07
Speaker 1: which vanish as they are grasped. He who resolves that
1:26:11
Speaker 1: he will not rest satisfied with appearances, shadows, illusions, shall,
1:26:17
Speaker 1: by the piercing light of that resolve, disperse every fleeting fantasy,
1:26:22
Speaker 1: and shall enter into the substance and reality of life.
1:26:26
Speaker 1: He shall learn how to live, and he shall live.
1:26:30
Speaker 1: He shall be the slave of no passion, the servant
1:26:34
Speaker 1: of no opinion, the votary of no fond error. Finding
1:26:39
Speaker 1: the divine center within his heart, he will be pure
1:26:42
Speaker 1: and calm, and strong and wise, and he will ceaselessly
1:26:46
Speaker 1: radiate the heavenly life in which he lives, which is himself,
1:26:51
Speaker 1: having betaken himself to the divine refuge within and remaining there.
1:26:56
Speaker 1: A man is free from sin. All his yesterdays are
1:27:00
Speaker 1: the tide washed and untrodden sands. No sin shall rise
1:27:04
Speaker 1: up against him, to torment and accuse him, and destroy
1:27:08
Speaker 1: his sacred peace. The fires of remorse cannot scorch him,
1:27:13
Speaker 1: nor can the storms of regret devastate his dwelling place.
1:27:17
Speaker 1: His tomorrows are his seeds, which shall germinate, bursting into
1:27:21
Speaker 1: beauty and potency of life. And no doubt shall shake
1:27:25
Speaker 1: his trust, no uncertainty rob him of repose. The present
1:27:30
Speaker 1: is his only. In the immortal present does he live,
1:27:35
Speaker 1: And it is as the eternal vault of blue above,
1:27:37
Speaker 1: which looks down silently and calmly, yet radiant with purity
1:27:41
Speaker 1: and light, upon the upturned and tear stained faces of
1:27:45
Speaker 1: the centuries. Men love their destinies, for gratification seems sweet
1:27:51
Speaker 1: to them, but its end is pain and vacuity. They
1:27:55
Speaker 1: love the argumentations of the intellect, for egotism seems most
1:28:00
Speaker 1: desirable to them, But the fruits thereof are humiliation and sorrow.
1:28:06
Speaker 1: When the soul has reached the end of gratification and
1:28:09
Speaker 1: reap the bitter fruits of egotism, it is ready to
1:28:13
Speaker 1: receive the divine wisdom and to enter into the divine life.
1:28:18
Speaker 1: Only the crucified can be transfigured. Only by the death
1:28:22
Speaker 1: of self can the Lord of the heart rise again
1:28:25
Speaker 1: into the immortal life and stand radiant upon the all
1:28:28
Speaker 1: of it. Of wisdom, Thou hast thy trials. Every outward
1:28:33
Speaker 1: trial is the result of an inward imperfection. Thou shalt
1:28:38
Speaker 1: grow wise by knowing this, and shalt thereby transmute trial
1:28:42
Speaker 1: into active joy, finding the kingdom where trial cannot come.
1:28:47
Speaker 1: When wilt thou learn thy lessons, O, child of Earth,
1:28:51
Speaker 1: all thy sorrows cry out against thee. Every pain is
1:28:54
Speaker 1: thy just accuser, and thy griefs are but the shadows
1:28:58
Speaker 1: of thy unworthy and perish self. The kingdom of Heaven
1:29:02
Speaker 1: is thine, how long wilt thou reject it, preferring the
1:29:07
Speaker 1: lurid atmosphere of hell, the hell of thy self. Seeking soul,
1:29:12
Speaker 1: where self is not there is the garden of the
1:29:14
Speaker 1: heavenly life. And there spring the healing streams, quenching all thirst.
1:29:20
Speaker 1: There bloom the immortal flowers, carpeting all the way with joy,
1:29:25
Speaker 1: their throng, swiftest and sweetest hours. The redeemed sons of God,
1:29:31
Speaker 1: the glorified in body and spirit, are bought with a price,
1:29:35
Speaker 1: And that price is the crucifixion of the personality, the
1:29:39
Speaker 1: death of self. And having put away that within which
1:29:43
Speaker 1: is the source of all discord, they have found the
1:29:46
Speaker 1: universal music, the abiding joy. Life is more than motion.
1:29:52
Speaker 1: It is music more than rest. It is peace more
1:29:57
Speaker 1: than work. It is duty more than labour. It is
1:30:02
Speaker 1: love more than enjoyment. It is blessedness more than acquiring
1:30:08
Speaker 1: money and position and reputation. It is knowledge, purpose, strong,
1:30:13
Speaker 1: and high resolve. Let the impure turn to purity, and
1:30:17
Speaker 1: they shall be pure. Let the weak resort to strength,
1:30:21
Speaker 1: and they shall be strong. Let the ignorant fly to knowledge,
1:30:25
Speaker 1: and they shall be wise. All things are man's, And
1:30:30
Speaker 1: he chooses that which he will have. Today he chooses
1:30:34
Speaker 1: in ignorance. Tomorrow he shall choose in wisdom. He shall
1:30:38
Speaker 1: work out his own salvation, whether he believe it or not,
1:30:42
Speaker 1: For he cannot escape himself, nor transfer to another the
1:30:46
Speaker 1: eternal responsibility of his own soul. By no theological subterfuge
1:30:52
Speaker 1: shall he trick the law of his being, which shall
1:30:55
Speaker 1: shatter all his selfish makeshifts and excuses for right thinking
1:30:59
Speaker 1: and right doing. Nor shall God do for him that
1:31:03
Speaker 1: which it is destined his soul shall accomplish for itself.
1:31:08
Speaker 1: What would you say of a man who, wanting to
1:31:11
Speaker 1: possess a mansion in which to dwell, peacefully purchase the site,
1:31:15
Speaker 1: and then knelt down and ask God to build the
1:31:18
Speaker 1: house for him? Would you not say that such a
1:31:21
Speaker 1: man was foolish? And of another man, who, having purchased
1:31:25
Speaker 1: the land, set the architects and builders and carpenters at
1:31:29
Speaker 1: work to erect the edifice, would you not say that
1:31:33
Speaker 1: he was wise? And as it is in the building
1:31:36
Speaker 1: of a material house, even so it is in the
1:31:39
Speaker 1: building of a spiritual mansion, brick by brick, pure thought
1:31:44
Speaker 1: upon pure thought, good deed upon good deed. Must the
1:31:48
Speaker 1: habitation of a blameless life rise from its sure foundation,
1:31:53
Speaker 1: until it at last stands out in all the majesty
1:31:56
Speaker 1: of its faultless proportions, not by caprice, nor gift nor
1:32:01
Speaker 1: favor does a man obtain the spiritual realities. But by diligence, watchfulness, energy,
1:32:08
Speaker 1: and effort. Strong is the soul, and wise and beautiful.
1:32:14
Speaker 1: The seeds of godlike power are in us still God's
1:32:18
Speaker 1: We are bards, saints, heroes, if we will. The spiritual
1:32:24
Speaker 1: heart of man is the heart of the universe, and
1:32:27
Speaker 1: finding that heart man finds strength to accomplish all things.
1:32:32
Speaker 1: He finds there also the wisdom to see things as
1:32:35
Speaker 1: they are. He finds there the peace that is divine
1:32:40
Speaker 1: at the center of man's being is the music which
1:32:43
Speaker 1: orders the stars, the eternal harmony. He who would find blessedness,
1:32:49
Speaker 1: let him find himself. Let him abandon every discordant desire,
1:32:54
Speaker 1: every inharmonious thought, every unlovely habit. Indeed, and he will
1:33:00
Speaker 1: find that grace and beauty and harmony which formed the
1:33:03
Speaker 1: indestructible essence of his own being. Men fly from creed
1:33:08
Speaker 1: to creed and find unrest. They travel in many lands
1:33:13
Speaker 1: and discover disappointment. They build themselves beautiful mansions and plant
1:33:18
Speaker 1: pleasant gardens, and reap on we and discomfort. Not until
1:33:24
Speaker 1: a man falls back upon the truth within himself does
1:33:27
Speaker 1: he find rest and satisfaction. Not until he builds the
1:33:31
Speaker 1: inward mansion of faultless conduct, does he find the endless
1:33:35
Speaker 1: and incorruptible joy, And having obtained that, he will infuse
1:33:40
Speaker 1: into it all his outward doings and possessions. If a
1:33:45
Speaker 1: man would have peace, let him exercise the spirit of peace.
1:33:50
Speaker 1: If he would find love, let him dwell in the
1:33:53
Speaker 1: spirit of love. If he would escape suffering, let him
1:33:57
Speaker 1: cease to inflict it. If he would do noble things
1:34:01
Speaker 1: for humanity, let him cease to do ignoble things for himself.
1:34:06
Speaker 1: If he will but quarry the mind of his own soul,
1:34:09
Speaker 1: he shall find there all the materials for building whatsoever
1:34:13
Speaker 1: he will, And he shall find there also the central
1:34:17
Speaker 1: rock on which to build in safety. Howsoever a man
1:34:21
Speaker 1: works to write the world, it will never be righted
1:34:24
Speaker 1: until he has put himself right. This may be written
1:34:27
Speaker 1: upon the heart as a mathematical axiom. It is not
1:34:31
Speaker 1: enough to preach purity. Men must cease from lust to
1:34:36
Speaker 1: exhort love. They must abandon hatred to extol self sacrifice.
1:34:42
Speaker 1: They must yield up self to adorn with mere words
1:34:46
Speaker 1: the perfect life. They must be perfect. When a man
1:34:51
Speaker 1: can no longer carry the weight of his many sins.
1:34:54
Speaker 1: Let him fly to the Christ, whose throne is the
1:34:57
Speaker 1: center of his own heart, and he shall be come
1:35:00
Speaker 1: light hearted, entering the glad company of the immortals. When
1:35:05
Speaker 1: he can no longer bear the burden of his accumulated learning.
1:35:09
Speaker 1: Let a man leave his books, his science, his philosophy,
1:35:14
Speaker 1: and come back to himself, and he shall find within
1:35:18
Speaker 1: that which he outwardly sought and found, not his own divinity.
1:35:23
Speaker 1: He ceases to argue about God, who has found God within.
1:35:27
Speaker 1: Relying upon that calm strength which is not the strength
1:35:30
Speaker 1: of self, he lives God manifesting in his daily life
1:35:35
Speaker 1: the highest goodness, which is eternal life. The eternal Now.
1:35:42
Speaker 1: Now is thy reality in which time is contained. It
1:35:46
Speaker 1: is more and greater than time. It is an ever
1:35:49
Speaker 1: present reality. It knows neither past nor future, and is
1:35:54
Speaker 1: eternally potent and substantial. Every minute, every day, every year
1:36:00
Speaker 1: is a dream as soon as it has passed, and
1:36:03
Speaker 1: exists only as an imperfect and unsubstantial picture in the
1:36:07
Speaker 1: memory if it not be entirely obliterated. Past and future
1:36:12
Speaker 1: are dreams. Now is a reality. All things are now,
1:36:18
Speaker 1: all power, all possibility, all action is now not to
1:36:22
Speaker 1: act and accomplish now is not to act and accomplish
1:36:26
Speaker 1: at all. To live in thoughts of what you might
1:36:29
Speaker 1: have done, or in dreams of what you meant to do,
1:36:33
Speaker 1: this is folly. But to put away regret, to anchor anticipation,
1:36:38
Speaker 1: and to do and to work now, this is wisdom.
1:36:43
Speaker 1: Whilst a man is dwelling upon the past or future,
1:36:46
Speaker 1: he is missing the present. He is forgetting to live now.
1:36:51
Speaker 1: All things are possible now and only now, without wisdom
1:36:55
Speaker 1: to guide him, and mistakening the unreal. For the real
1:37:00
Speaker 1: man says, if I had done so and so last week,
1:37:04
Speaker 1: last month, or last year, it would have been better
1:37:08
Speaker 1: with me today. Or I know what is best to
1:37:12
Speaker 1: be done, and I will do it tomorrow. The selfish
1:37:16
Speaker 1: cannot comprehend the vast importance and value of the present,
1:37:20
Speaker 1: and fail to see it as the substantial reality of
1:37:23
Speaker 1: which past and future are the empty reflections. It may
1:37:27
Speaker 1: truly be said that past and future do not exist
1:37:31
Speaker 1: except as negative shadows, And to live in them, that is,
1:37:35
Speaker 1: in the regretful and selfish contemplation of them, is to
1:37:39
Speaker 1: miss the reality. In life. The present is all thou hast,
1:37:43
Speaker 1: for thy sure possessing, like the Patriarch's angel, hold it
1:37:49
Speaker 1: fast till it gives its blessing. All which is real
1:37:53
Speaker 1: now remaineth and fateth never the hand which upholds it
1:37:58
Speaker 1: now sustaineth the soul. Then, of what is to be
1:38:03
Speaker 1: and of what is done? Why queerest thou The past
1:38:07
Speaker 1: and the time to be our one, and both are now.
1:38:12
Speaker 1: Man has all power now, But not knowing this, he says,
1:38:16
Speaker 1: I will be perfect next year, or in so many years,
1:38:20
Speaker 1: or in so many lives. The dwellers in the Kingdom
1:38:24
Speaker 1: of God, who live only in the now, say I
1:38:27
Speaker 1: am perfect now, and were framing from all sin now
1:38:31
Speaker 1: and ceaselessly guarding the portals of the mind, not looking
1:38:35
Speaker 1: to the past, nor to the future, nor turning to
1:38:38
Speaker 1: the left or right. They remain eternally holy and blessed.
1:38:43
Speaker 1: Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation.
1:38:48
Speaker 1: Say to yourself, I will live in my ideal. Now,
1:38:52
Speaker 1: I will manifest my ideal. Now, I will be my ideal. Now,
1:38:58
Speaker 1: And all that tempts me away from my eye deal
1:39:00
Speaker 1: I will not listen to. I will listen only to
1:39:03
Speaker 1: the voice of my ideal. Thus resolving and thus doing,
1:39:08
Speaker 1: you shall not depart from the highest, and shall eternally
1:39:12
Speaker 1: manifest the true A foot and light hearted. I take
1:39:16
Speaker 1: to the open road. Henceforth I ask not good fortune,
1:39:21
Speaker 1: I myself am good fortune. Henceforth I whimper no more postpone,
1:39:26
Speaker 1: no more, need nothing done with the indoor complaints, libraries,
1:39:32
Speaker 1: querulous criticisms, strong and content, I take to the open road.
1:39:39
Speaker 1: Cease to tread every by way of dependence, every winding
1:39:43
Speaker 1: sideway that tempts thy soul into the shadowland of the
1:39:46
Speaker 1: past and the future, and manifest thy native and divine strength.
1:39:51
Speaker 1: Now come out into the open road. That which you
1:39:55
Speaker 1: would be and hope to be, you may be now
1:39:59
Speaker 1: non accomplishment. It resides in your perpetual postponement. And having
1:40:03
Speaker 1: the power to postpone, you also have the power to accomplish.
1:40:08
Speaker 1: To perpetually accomplish. Realize this truth, and you shall be
1:40:13
Speaker 1: to day and every day the ideal man of whom
1:40:16
Speaker 1: you dreamed. Virtue consists in fighting sin day after day,
1:40:22
Speaker 1: but holiness consists in leaving sin unnoticed and ignored, to
1:40:27
Speaker 1: die by the wayside. And this is done and can
1:40:30
Speaker 1: only be done in the living. Now say not unto
1:40:35
Speaker 1: thy soul, thou shalt be pure Tomorrow but rather say,
1:40:40
Speaker 1: thou shalt be pure now. Tomorrow is too late for anything,
1:40:45
Speaker 1: and he who sees his help and salvation and tomorrow
1:40:49
Speaker 1: shall continually fail and fall to day. Thou didst fall yesterday,
1:40:55
Speaker 1: didst sin grievously? Having realized this, leave it instantly and forever,
1:41:01
Speaker 1: and watch that thou sinnest not now, though while thou
1:41:06
Speaker 1: art bewailing the past, every gate of thy soul remains
1:41:09
Speaker 1: unguarded against the entrance of sin. Now, Thou shalt not
1:41:14
Speaker 1: rise by grieving over the irremediable past, but by remedying
1:41:18
Speaker 1: the present. The foolish man, loving the boggy side path
1:41:23
Speaker 1: of procrastination rather than the firm highway of present effort, says,
1:41:28
Speaker 1: I will rise early tomorrow. I will get out of
1:41:32
Speaker 1: debt tomorrow. I will carry out my intentions tomorrow. But
1:41:37
Speaker 1: the wise man, realizing the momentous import of the eternal, now,
1:41:42
Speaker 1: rises early today, keeps out of debt today, carries out
1:41:47
Speaker 1: his intentions today, and so never departs from the strength
1:41:51
Speaker 1: and peace and ripe accomplishment. That which is done now remains,
1:41:57
Speaker 1: that which is to be done tomorrow does not appear.
1:42:00
Speaker 1: It is wisdom to leave that which has not arrived,
1:42:04
Speaker 1: and to attend to that which is, and to attend
1:42:07
Speaker 1: to it with such a consecration of soul and concentration
1:42:11
Speaker 1: of effort as shall leave no possible loophole for regret
1:42:15
Speaker 1: to creep in. A man's spiritual comprehension. Being clouded by
1:42:20
Speaker 1: the illusions of self, he says, I was born on
1:42:24
Speaker 1: such a day, so many years ago, and shall die
1:42:28
Speaker 1: at my allotted time. But he was not born, neither
1:42:32
Speaker 1: will he die. For how can that which is immortal,
1:42:36
Speaker 1: which eternally is, be subject to birth and death? Let
1:42:41
Speaker 1: a man throw off his illusions, and he will see
1:42:44
Speaker 1: that the birth and death of the body are the
1:42:46
Speaker 1: mere incidents of a journey, and not its beginning and end.
1:42:50
Speaker 1: Looking back to happy beginnings and forward to mournful endings.
1:42:55
Speaker 1: A man's eyes are blinded so that he beholds not
1:42:59
Speaker 1: his own immortality. His ears are closed so that he
1:43:03
Speaker 1: hears not the ever present harmonies of joy, and his
1:43:07
Speaker 1: heart is hardened so that it pulsates not to the
1:43:10
Speaker 1: rhythmic sounds of peace. The universe, with all that it contains,
1:43:16
Speaker 1: is now put out thy hand, o man, and receive
1:43:20
Speaker 1: the fruits of wisdom. Cease from thy greedy striving, thy selfish, sorrowing,
1:43:25
Speaker 1: thy foolish regretting, And be content to live. Act now
1:43:30
Speaker 1: and low all things are done. Live now, and behold
1:43:36
Speaker 1: thou art in the midst of plenty. Be now and
1:43:40
Speaker 1: know that thou art perfect. The original simplicity. Life is simple,
1:43:47
Speaker 1: being is simple, The universe is simple. Complexity arises in
1:43:53
Speaker 1: ignorance and self delusion. The original simplicity of loudsu is
1:43:58
Speaker 1: a term expressive of the universe as it is and
1:44:02
Speaker 1: not as it appears. Looking through the woven network of
1:44:06
Speaker 1: his own illusions, man sees interminable complication and unfathomable mystery,
1:44:13
Speaker 1: and so loses himself in the labyrinths of his own making.
1:44:17
Speaker 1: Let a man put away egotism, and he will see
1:44:20
Speaker 1: the universe in all the beauty of its pristine simplicity.
1:44:25
Speaker 1: Let him annihilate the delusion of the personal eye, and
1:44:29
Speaker 1: he will destroy all the illusions which spring from that eye.
1:44:33
Speaker 1: He will thus re become a little child, and will
1:44:36
Speaker 1: revert to original simplicity. When a man succeeds in entirely
1:44:41
Speaker 1: forgetting and annihilating his personal self, he becomes a mirror
1:44:46
Speaker 1: in which the universal reality is faultlessly reflected, he is awakened,
1:44:52
Speaker 1: and henceforward he lives not in dreams but in realities.
1:44:58
Speaker 1: Pythagoras saw the union in the ten numbers. But even
1:45:02
Speaker 1: this simplicity may be further reduced, and the universe ultimately
1:45:07
Speaker 1: found to be contained in the number one. For all
1:45:10
Speaker 1: the numerals and all their infinite complications, are but additions
1:45:16
Speaker 1: of the one. Let life cease to be lived as
1:45:19
Speaker 1: a fragmentary thing, and let it be lived as a
1:45:22
Speaker 1: perfect whole. The simplicity of the perfect will then be revealed.
1:45:28
Speaker 1: How shall the fragment comprehend the whole? Yet how simple
1:45:32
Speaker 1: that the whole should comprehend the fragment. How shall sin
1:45:36
Speaker 1: perceive holiness? Yet how plain that holiness should understand sin.
1:45:42
Speaker 1: He who would become the greater, let him abandon the lesser.
1:45:47
Speaker 1: In no form is the circle contained, but in the
1:45:50
Speaker 1: circle all forms are contained. In no color is the
1:45:55
Speaker 1: radiant light imprisoned, but in the radiant light all colors embodied.
1:46:01
Speaker 1: Let a man destroy all forms of self, and he
1:46:05
Speaker 1: shall apprehend the circle of perfection. Let him submerge in
1:46:10
Speaker 1: the silent depths of his being, the varying colors of
1:46:13
Speaker 1: his thoughts and desires, and he shall be illuminated with
1:46:17
Speaker 1: the white light of divine knowledge. In the perfect chord
1:46:22
Speaker 1: of music. The single note, though forgotten, is indispensably contained,
1:46:28
Speaker 1: and the drop of water becomes of supreme usefulness by
1:46:31
Speaker 1: losing itself in the ocean. Sink thyself compassionately in the
1:46:37
Speaker 1: heart of humanity, and thou shalt reproduce the harmonies of heaven.
1:46:42
Speaker 1: Lose thyself in unlimited love toward all, and thou shalt
1:46:47
Speaker 1: work enduring works, and shalt become one with the eternal
1:46:51
Speaker 1: ocean of bliss. Man evolves outward to the periphery of complexity,
1:46:57
Speaker 1: and then evolves backward to the central simplicity. When a
1:47:02
Speaker 1: man discovers that it is mathematically impossible for him to
1:47:06
Speaker 1: know the universe before knowing himself, he starts upon the
1:47:10
Speaker 1: way which leads to the original simplicity. He begins to
1:47:14
Speaker 1: unfold from within, and as he unfolds himself, he unfolds
1:47:20
Speaker 1: the universe is himself a microcosm. Cease to speculate about
1:47:25
Speaker 1: God and find thee all embracing good within thee. So
1:47:30
Speaker 1: shalt thou see the emptiness and vanity of speculation knowing
1:47:34
Speaker 1: thyself one with God. He who will not give up
1:47:38
Speaker 1: his secret, lust, his covetuousness, his anger, his opinion about
1:47:44
Speaker 1: this or that can see nor know nothing, he will
1:47:48
Speaker 1: remain a dullard in the school of wisdom, though he
1:47:51
Speaker 1: be accounted, learned in the colleges. If a man would
1:47:55
Speaker 1: find the key of knowledge, let him find himself. Thy
1:48:00
Speaker 1: kinds are not thyself, They are not any part of thyself.
1:48:04
Speaker 1: They are diseases which thou hast come to love. Cease
1:48:08
Speaker 1: to cling to them, and they will no longer cling
1:48:11
Speaker 1: to thee. Let them fall away, and thyself shall stand revealed.
1:48:17
Speaker 1: Thou shalt then know thyself as comprehensive vision, invincible principle,
1:48:24
Speaker 1: immortal life, and eternal good. The impure man believes impurity
1:48:30
Speaker 1: to be his rightful condition, but the pure man knows
1:48:34
Speaker 1: himself as a pure being. He also, penetrating the veils,
1:48:40
Speaker 1: sees all others as pure being. Purity is extremely simple
1:48:45
Speaker 1: and needs no argument to support it. Impurity is interminably
1:48:50
Speaker 1: complex and is ever involved in defensive argument. Truth lives
1:48:55
Speaker 1: itself a blameless life is the only witness of truth.
1:49:01
Speaker 1: Men cannot see and will not accept the witness until
1:49:05
Speaker 1: they find it within themselves, and having found it, a
1:49:09
Speaker 1: man becomes silent before his fellows. Truth is so simple
1:49:14
Speaker 1: that it cannot be found in the region of argument
1:49:17
Speaker 1: and advertisement, and so silent that it is only manifested
1:49:22
Speaker 1: in actions. So extremely simple is original simplicity that a
1:49:28
Speaker 1: man must let go his hold of everything before he
1:49:30
Speaker 1: can perceive it. The great arch is strong by virtue
1:49:35
Speaker 1: of the hollowness underneath, and a wise man becomes strong
1:49:39
Speaker 1: and invincible by emptying himself. Meekness, patience, love, compassion, and wisdom.
1:49:48
Speaker 1: These are the dominant qualities of original simplicity. Wherefore the
1:49:53
Speaker 1: imperfect cannot understand it. Wisdom can only apprehend wisdom. Wherefore
1:50:00
Speaker 1: the fool says, no man is wise. The imperfect man
1:50:04
Speaker 1: says no man can be perfect, and wherefore he remains
1:50:10
Speaker 1: where he is. Though he live with a perfect man
1:50:14
Speaker 1: all his life, he shall not behold his perfection. Meekness
1:50:19
Speaker 1: he will call cowardice, patience, love, and compassion. He will
1:50:24
Speaker 1: see his weakness, and wisdom will appear to him as folly. Faultless.
1:50:30
Speaker 1: Discrimination belongs to the perfect whole, and resides not in
1:50:34
Speaker 1: any part. Wherefore men are exhorted to refrain from judgment
1:50:40
Speaker 1: until they have themselves manifested the perfect life. Arriving at
1:50:45
Speaker 1: original simplicity, opacity disappears, and the universal transparency becomes apparent.
1:50:53
Speaker 1: He who has found the indwelling reality of his own
1:50:56
Speaker 1: being has found the original and universal reality, knowing the
1:51:01
Speaker 1: divine life within the hearts of all are known, and
1:51:06
Speaker 1: the thoughts of all men become his, who has become
1:51:09
Speaker 1: the master of his own thoughts. Wherefore, the good man
1:51:13
Speaker 1: does not defend himself, but molds the minds of others
1:51:17
Speaker 1: to his own likeness. As the problematical transcends crudity, so
1:51:22
Speaker 1: pure goodness transcends the problematical. All problems vanish when pure
1:51:28
Speaker 1: goodness is reached. Therefore the good man is called the
1:51:32
Speaker 1: slayer of illusions? What problem can vex where sin is not?
1:51:38
Speaker 1: O Thou who strivest loudly and restest, not retire into
1:51:43
Speaker 1: the holy silence of thine own being and live therefrom
1:51:47
Speaker 1: So shalt thou, finding pure goodness, rend in twain the
1:51:52
Speaker 1: veil of the temple of illusion, and shalt enter into
1:51:56
Speaker 1: the patience, peace, and transcendent glory of the perfect. For
1:52:01
Speaker 1: pure goodness and original simplicity are one the unfailing wisdom.
1:52:09
Speaker 1: A man should always be superior to his possessions, his body,
1:52:14
Speaker 1: his circumstances and surroundings, and the opinions of others and
1:52:18
Speaker 1: their attitude towards him. Until he is this, he is
1:52:23
Speaker 1: not strong and steadfast. He should also rise superior to
1:52:27
Speaker 1: his own desires and opinions, and until he is this,
1:52:31
Speaker 1: he is not wise. The man who identifies himself with
1:52:35
Speaker 1: his possessions will feel that all is lost when these
1:52:39
Speaker 1: are lost. He who regards himself as the outcome in
1:52:43
Speaker 1: the tool of circumstances will weakly fluctuate with every change
1:52:47
Speaker 1: in his outward condition, and great will be his unrest
1:52:51
Speaker 1: and pain. Who seeks to stand upon the approbation of others,
1:52:56
Speaker 1: to detach one's self from every outward thing, and to
1:53:00
Speaker 1: rest securely upon the inward virtue, this is the unfailing wisdom.
1:53:05
Speaker 1: Having this wisdom, a man will be the same, whether
1:53:09
Speaker 1: in riches or in poverty. The one cannot add to
1:53:12
Speaker 1: his strength, nor the other rob him of his serenity.
1:53:17
Speaker 1: Neither can richest defile him who has washed away all
1:53:20
Speaker 1: the inward defilement, nor the lack of them degrade him
1:53:24
Speaker 1: who has ceased to degrade the temple of his soul,
1:53:28
Speaker 1: to refuse to be enslaved by any outward thing or happening.
1:53:33
Speaker 1: Regarding all such things and happenings, as for your use
1:53:37
Speaker 1: for your education, this is wisdom to the wise. All
1:53:41
Speaker 1: occurrences are good, and having no eye for evil, they
1:53:45
Speaker 1: grow wiser every day. They utilize all things, and thus
1:53:50
Speaker 1: put all things under their feet. They see all their
1:53:54
Speaker 1: mistakes as soon as made, and accept them as lessons
1:53:58
Speaker 1: of intrinsic value. Knowing that there are no mistakes in
1:54:01
Speaker 1: the divine order. They thus rapidly approach the divine perfection.
1:54:07
Speaker 1: They are moved by none, yet learn from all. They
1:54:11
Speaker 1: crave love from none, yet give love to all, to
1:54:15
Speaker 1: learn and not to be shaken to love where one
1:54:18
Speaker 1: is not loved. Here lies the strength which shall never
1:54:21
Speaker 1: fail a man. The man who says in his heart,
1:54:25
Speaker 1: I will teach all men and learn from none, will
1:54:29
Speaker 1: neither teach nor learn whilst he is in that frame
1:54:31
Speaker 1: of mind, but will remain in his folly. All strength
1:54:36
Speaker 1: and wisdom and power and knowledge a man will find
1:54:40
Speaker 1: within himself, but he will not find it in egotism.
1:54:44
Speaker 1: He will only find it in obedience. Submission and willingness
1:54:48
Speaker 1: to learn. He must obey the higher and not glorify
1:54:53
Speaker 1: himself in the lower. He who stands upon egotism, rejecting reproof,
1:54:59
Speaker 1: in strung and the lessons of experience, will surely fall.
1:55:05
Speaker 1: Yea he has already fallen. Set a great teacher to
1:55:09
Speaker 1: his disciples. Those who shall be a lamp unto themselves,
1:55:14
Speaker 1: relying upon themselves only, and not relying upon any external help,
1:55:19
Speaker 1: but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and
1:55:23
Speaker 1: seeking their salvation in the Truth alone, shall not look
1:55:26
Speaker 1: for assistance to any besides themselves. It is they amongst
1:55:31
Speaker 1: my disciples who shall reach the very topmost height. But
1:55:35
Speaker 1: they must be willing to learn. The wise man is
1:55:39
Speaker 1: always anxious to learn, but never anxious to teach, for
1:55:43
Speaker 1: he knows that the true teacher is in the heart
1:55:45
Speaker 1: of every man, and must ultimately be found there by all.
1:55:50
Speaker 1: The foolish man, being governed largely by vanity, is very
1:55:55
Speaker 1: anxious to teach, but unwilling to learn, not having found
1:55:59
Speaker 1: the holy teachre within who speaks wisdom to the humbly
1:56:03
Speaker 1: listening soul. Be self reliant, But let thy self reliance
1:56:08
Speaker 1: be saintly and not selfish folly, in wisdom, weakness and
1:56:13
Speaker 1: strength or within a man, and not in any external thing.
1:56:18
Speaker 1: Neither do they spring from any external cause. A man
1:56:22
Speaker 1: cannot be strong for another, He can only be strong
1:56:26
Speaker 1: for himself. He cannot overcome for another. He can only
1:56:31
Speaker 1: overcome of himself. You may learn of another, but you
1:56:35
Speaker 1: must accomplish for yourself. Put away all external props, and
1:56:40
Speaker 1: rely upon thy truth within you. A creed will not
1:56:44
Speaker 1: bear a man up in the hour of temptation. He
1:56:47
Speaker 1: must possess the inward knowledge which slays temptation. A speculative
1:56:53
Speaker 1: philosophy will prove a shadowy thing in the time of calamity.
1:56:57
Speaker 1: A man must have the inward wisdom which puts an
1:57:00
Speaker 1: end to grief. Goodness, which is the aim of all religions,
1:57:06
Speaker 1: is distinct from religions themselves. Wisdom, which is the aim
1:57:11
Speaker 1: of every philosophy, is distinct from all philosophies. The unfailing
1:57:17
Speaker 1: wisdom is found only by constant practice in pure thinking
1:57:21
Speaker 1: and well doing, by harmonizing one's mind and heart to
1:57:26
Speaker 1: those things which are beautiful, lovable, and true. In whatever
1:57:31
Speaker 1: condition a man finds himself, he can always find the true,
1:57:36
Speaker 1: and he can find it only by so utilizing his
1:57:38
Speaker 1: present condition as to become strong and wise. The effeminate
1:57:44
Speaker 1: hankering after rewards, and the craven fear of punishment, let
1:57:49
Speaker 1: them be put away forever, and let a man joyfully
1:57:52
Speaker 1: bend himself to the faithful performance of all his duties,
1:57:56
Speaker 1: forgetting himself in his worthless Pleasuresving strong and pure and
1:58:01
Speaker 1: self contained, so shall he surely find the unfailing wisdom,
1:58:06
Speaker 1: god like patience and strength. The situation that has not
1:58:11
Speaker 1: its duty, its ideal was never occupied by man. Here
1:58:16
Speaker 1: or nowhere is thy ideal. Work it out therefrom and working, believe, live,
1:58:24
Speaker 1: and be free. The ideal is in thyself. The impediment, too,
1:58:29
Speaker 1: is in thyself. Thy condition is but the stuff thou
1:58:33
Speaker 1: art to shape that same ideal out of what matters,
1:58:37
Speaker 1: whether such stuff be of this sort or that. So
1:58:41
Speaker 1: the form thou give it be heroic, be poetic. O
1:58:45
Speaker 1: thou the highest in the imprisonment of the actual, and
1:58:49
Speaker 1: criest bitterly to the gods for a kingdom wherein to
1:58:52
Speaker 1: rule and create. Know this of a truth. The thing
1:58:56
Speaker 1: thou seekest is already within thee here and now. Couldst
1:59:00
Speaker 1: thou only see all that is beautiful and blessed is
1:59:05
Speaker 1: in thyself, not in thy neighbor's wealth. Thou art poor,
1:59:10
Speaker 1: thou art poor. Indeed, if thou art not stronger than
1:59:13
Speaker 1: thy poverty, thou hast suffered calamities. Well wilt thou cure
1:59:19
Speaker 1: calamity by adding anxiety to it? Canst thou mend a
1:59:23
Speaker 1: broken vase by weeping over it? Or restore lost delight
1:59:27
Speaker 1: by thy lamentations? There is no evil, but will vanish
1:59:31
Speaker 1: if thou wilt wisely meet it. The godlike soul does
1:59:35
Speaker 1: not grieve over that which has been, is, or will be,
1:59:40
Speaker 1: but perpetually resides in the divine good and gains wisdom
1:59:44
Speaker 1: by every occurrence. Fear is the shadow of selfishness, and
1:59:49
Speaker 1: cannot live where loving wisdom is doubt. Anxiety and worry
1:59:54
Speaker 1: are unsubstantial shades in the underworld of self, and shall
1:59:58
Speaker 1: no more trouble him who will climb the serene altitudes
2:00:02
Speaker 1: of his soul. Grief also will be forever dispelled by
2:00:07
Speaker 1: him who will comprehend the law of his being. He
2:00:11
Speaker 1: whoso comprehends shall find the supreme law of life, and
2:00:15
Speaker 1: he shall find that it is love, and that it
2:00:18
Speaker 1: is imperishable love. He shall become one with that love,
2:00:23
Speaker 1: and loving all with mind. Freed from all hatred and folly,
2:00:27
Speaker 1: he shall receive the invincible protection which love affords. Claiming nothing,
2:00:33
Speaker 1: he shall suffer no loss, seeking no pleasure, he shall
2:00:37
Speaker 1: find no grief, And, employing all his powers as instruments
2:00:42
Speaker 1: of service, he shall evermore live in the highest state
2:00:46
Speaker 1: of blessedness and bliss. Know this, Thou makest and unmakest thyself.
2:00:54
Speaker 1: Thou standest and fallest by what thou art. Thou art
2:00:58
Speaker 1: a slave, if thou preferrest be thou art a master,
2:01:03
Speaker 1: if thou wilt make thyself one, build upon thy animal
2:01:07
Speaker 1: desires and intellectual opinions, and thou buildest upon the sand,
2:01:12
Speaker 1: build upon virtue and holiness. And no wind nor tide
2:01:16
Speaker 1: shall shake thy strong abode. So shall the unfailing wisdom
2:01:21
Speaker 1: uphold THEE in every emergency, and the everlasting arms gather
2:01:26
Speaker 1: THEE to thy peace. Lay up each year thy harvest
2:01:31
Speaker 1: of well doing, wealth that kings nor thieves can take away.
2:01:36
Speaker 1: When all the things thou callest thine goods, pleasures, honors fall,
2:01:41
Speaker 1: Thou and thy virtue shalt survive them. All the might
2:01:46
Speaker 1: of meekness. The mountain bends not to the fiercest storm,
2:01:52
Speaker 1: but it shields the fledgling in the lamb, And though
2:01:55
Speaker 1: all men tread upon it, yet it protects them and
2:01:59
Speaker 1: bears them up upon its deathless bosom. Even so, it
2:02:03
Speaker 1: is the meek man, who, though shaken and disturbed by none,
2:02:08
Speaker 1: yet compassionately bends to shield the lowliest creature, and though
2:02:12
Speaker 1: he may be despised, lifts all men up and lovingly
2:02:17
Speaker 1: protects them. As glorious as the mountain in its silence,
2:02:22
Speaker 1: is the divine man, in his silent meekness. Like its form,
2:02:27
Speaker 1: his loving comparison is expansive and sublime. Truly, his body,
2:02:33
Speaker 1: like the mountain's base, is fixed in the valleys and
2:02:36
Speaker 1: the mists, but the summit of his being is eternally
2:02:40
Speaker 1: bathed in cloudless glory and lives with the silences. He
2:02:45
Speaker 1: who has found meekness, has found divinity. He has realized
2:02:49
Speaker 1: the divine consciousness, and knows himself as divine. He also
2:02:55
Speaker 1: knows all others as divine, though they know it not themselves,
2:02:59
Speaker 1: being asleep and dreaming. Meekness is a divine quality, and
2:03:05
Speaker 1: as such is all powerful. The meek man overcomes not
2:03:09
Speaker 1: by resisting, and by allowing himself to be defeated, he
2:03:13
Speaker 1: attains to the supreme conquest. The man who conquers another
2:03:18
Speaker 1: by force is strong. The man who conquers himself by
2:03:22
Speaker 1: meekness is mighty. He who conquers another by force will
2:03:27
Speaker 1: himself likewise be conquered. He who conquers himself by meekness
2:03:33
Speaker 1: will never be overthrown, for the human cannot overcome the divine.
2:03:38
Speaker 1: The meek man is triumphant in defeat. Socrates lifts the
2:03:42
Speaker 1: more by being put to death. In the Crucified Jesus,
2:03:46
Speaker 1: the risen Christ is revealed, and Stephen, in his stoning,
2:03:51
Speaker 1: devides the hurting power of stones. That which is real
2:03:55
Speaker 1: cannot be destroyed, but only that which is unreal. When
2:04:00
Speaker 1: a man finds that within himself which is real, which
2:04:04
Speaker 1: is constant, abiding, changeless, and eternal, he enters into that
2:04:09
Speaker 1: reality and becomes meek. All the powers of darkness will
2:04:14
Speaker 1: come against him, but they will do him no hurt,
2:04:17
Speaker 1: and will at last depart from him. The meek man
2:04:22
Speaker 1: is found in the time of trial, when other men fall,
2:04:26
Speaker 1: he stands. His patience is not destroyed by the foolish
2:04:30
Speaker 1: passions of others, and when they come against him, he
2:04:33
Speaker 1: does not strive nor cry. He knows the utter powerlessness
2:04:38
Speaker 1: of all evil, having overcome it in himself, and lives
2:04:42
Speaker 1: in the changeless strength and power of divine good. Meekness
2:04:47
Speaker 1: is one aspect of the operation of that changeless love,
2:04:51
Speaker 1: which is at the heart of all things, and is
2:04:54
Speaker 1: therefore an imperishable quality. He who lives in it is
2:04:58
Speaker 1: without fear, knowing the highest and having the lowest under
2:05:03
Speaker 1: his feet. The meek man shines in darkness and flourishes
2:05:08
Speaker 1: in obscurity. Meekness cannot boast nor advertise itself, nor thrive
2:05:15
Speaker 1: on popularity. It is practiced and is seen or not seen.
2:05:20
Speaker 1: Being a spiritual quality, it is perceived only by the
2:05:24
Speaker 1: eye of the spirit. Those who are not spiritually awaken
2:05:28
Speaker 1: see it not, nor do they love it, being enamored
2:05:32
Speaker 1: of and blinded by worldly shows and appearances. Nor does
2:05:37
Speaker 1: history take note of the meek man. Its glory is
2:05:41
Speaker 1: that of strife and self aggrandizement. His glory is the
2:05:45
Speaker 1: glory of peace and gentleness. History chronicles the earthly, not
2:05:51
Speaker 1: the heavenly. Acts. Yet, though he lives in obscurity. He
2:05:55
Speaker 1: cannot be hidden. How can light be hid? He continues
2:05:59
Speaker 1: to after he has withdrawn himself from the world and
2:06:03
Speaker 1: is worshiped by the world which knew him. Not that
2:06:07
Speaker 1: the weak man should be neglected, abused, or misunderstood, is
2:06:11
Speaker 1: reckoned by him as of no account, and therefore not
2:06:15
Speaker 1: to be considered much less resisted. He knows that all
2:06:19
Speaker 1: such weapons are the flimsiest and most ineffectual of shadows.
2:06:24
Speaker 1: To them. Therefore, who give him evil, he gives good.
2:06:28
Speaker 1: He resists none, and thereby conquers all. He who imagines
2:06:33
Speaker 1: he can be injured by others, and who seeks to
2:06:37
Speaker 1: justify and defend himself against them, does not understand meekness
2:06:42
Speaker 1: does not comprehend the essence and meaning of life. He
2:06:46
Speaker 1: abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, He robbed me.
2:06:51
Speaker 1: In those who harbor such thoughts, hatred will never cease.
2:06:55
Speaker 1: For hatred ceases not by hatred at any time. Hatred
2:07:00
Speaker 1: it ceases by love. What sayest thou thy neighbor has
2:07:04
Speaker 1: spoken THEE falsely? Well? What of that? Can a falsity
2:07:09
Speaker 1: hurt THEE? That which is false as false? And there
2:07:13
Speaker 1: is an end of it? It is without life and
2:07:16
Speaker 1: without power to hurt any but him who seeks to
2:07:19
Speaker 1: be hurt by it. It is nothing to THEE that
2:07:22
Speaker 1: thy neighbor should speak falsely of THEE. But it is
2:07:25
Speaker 1: much to THEE that thou shouldest resist him and seek
2:07:29
Speaker 1: to justify thyself. For by so doing thou givest life
2:07:34
Speaker 1: and vitality to thy neighbor's falseness, so that thou art
2:07:38
Speaker 1: injured and distressed. Take all evil out of thine own heart.
2:07:43
Speaker 1: Then shalt thou see the folly of resisting it in another,
2:07:47
Speaker 1: thou wilt be trodden on. Thou art trodden on already,
2:07:51
Speaker 1: if thou thinkest thus the injury that thou seest as
2:07:55
Speaker 1: coming from another comes only from thyself. The wrong thought, aught,
2:08:00
Speaker 1: or word, or act of another has no power to
2:08:03
Speaker 1: hurt THEE unless thou galvanize it into life by thy
2:08:07
Speaker 1: passionate resistance, and so receivest it into thyself. If any
2:08:13
Speaker 1: man slander me, that is his concern, not mine. I
2:08:18
Speaker 1: have to do with my own soul, not with my neighbors.
2:08:22
Speaker 1: Though all the world misjudge me. It is no business
2:08:25
Speaker 1: of mine, but that I should possess my soul and
2:08:29
Speaker 1: purity and love. That is all my business. There shall
2:08:33
Speaker 1: be no end to strife until men cease to justify themselves.
2:08:37
Speaker 1: He who would have war cease, Let him cease to
2:08:40
Speaker 1: defend any party, Let him cease to defend himself. Not
2:08:45
Speaker 1: by strife can peace come but ceasing from strife. The
2:08:49
Speaker 1: glory of Caesar resides in the resistance of his enemies.
2:08:53
Speaker 1: They resist and fall, give to Caesar that which Caesar demands,
2:08:59
Speaker 1: and Caesar's glory and power are gone. Thus by submission
2:09:03
Speaker 1: does the meek man conquer the strong man. But it
2:09:07
Speaker 1: is not that outward show of submission, which is slavery.
2:09:10
Speaker 1: It is that inward and spiritual submission, which is freedom.
2:09:15
Speaker 1: Claiming no rights, the meek man is not troubled with
2:09:19
Speaker 1: self defense and self justification. He lives in love, and
2:09:23
Speaker 1: therefore comes under the immediate and vital protection of the
2:09:27
Speaker 1: great Love, which is the eternal law of the universe.
2:09:31
Speaker 1: He neither claims nor seeks his own. Thus do all
2:09:35
Speaker 1: things come to him, and all the universe shields and
2:09:38
Speaker 1: protects him. He who says I have tried meekness and
2:09:43
Speaker 1: it has failed, has not tried meekness. It cannot be
2:09:47
Speaker 1: tried as an experiment, it has only arrived at by
2:09:51
Speaker 1: unreserved self sacrifice. Meekness does not consist merely in non
2:09:56
Speaker 1: resistance in action. It consists pre eminently in non resistance
2:10:01
Speaker 1: in thought. In ceasing to hold or have any selfish,
2:10:06
Speaker 1: condemnatory or retaliatory thoughts, the meek man therefore cannot take
2:10:12
Speaker 1: offense or have his feelings hurt. Living above hatred, folly,
2:10:17
Speaker 1: and vanity, meekness can never fail. O Thou, who searchest
2:10:22
Speaker 1: for the heavenly life, strive after meekness. Increase thy patience
2:10:27
Speaker 1: and forbearance day by day, bid thy tongue, cease from
2:10:31
Speaker 1: all harsh words, withdraw thy mind from selfish arguments, and
2:10:36
Speaker 1: refuse to brood upon thy wrongs. So living, thou shalt
2:10:41
Speaker 1: carefully tend and cultivate the pure and delicate flower of
2:10:44
Speaker 1: meekness in thy heart, and tell at last its divine
2:10:49
Speaker 1: sweetness and purity, and beauteous perfection shall be revealed to thee,
2:10:53
Speaker 1: and thou shalt become gentle, joyful, and strong. Repin not
2:10:58
Speaker 1: that thou art surround by irritable and selfish people, but
2:11:03
Speaker 1: rather rejoice that thou art so favored as to have
2:11:06
Speaker 1: thine own imperfections revealed to THEE, and that thou art
2:11:11
Speaker 1: so placed as to necessitate within THEE a constant struggle
2:11:16
Speaker 1: for self mastery and the attainment of perfection. The more
2:11:20
Speaker 1: there is of harshness and selfishness around THEE, the greater
2:11:24
Speaker 1: is the need for thy meekness and love. If others
2:11:28
Speaker 1: seek to wrong THEE, all the more is it needful
2:11:32
Speaker 1: that thou shouldst cease from all wrong and live in love.
2:11:36
Speaker 1: If others preach meekness, humility, and love and do not
2:11:40
Speaker 1: practice these, trouble not nor be annoyed. But do thou,
2:11:45
Speaker 1: in the silence of thy heart and in thy contact
2:11:49
Speaker 1: with others, practice these things, and they shall preach themselves.
2:11:55
Speaker 1: And though thou utter no declamatory word, and stand before
2:11:59
Speaker 1: no gathered all audience, thou shalt teach the whole world.
2:12:03
Speaker 1: As thou becomest meek, thou shalt learn the deepest secrets
2:12:07
Speaker 1: of the universe. Nothing is hidden from him who overcomes
2:12:11
Speaker 1: himself into the cause of causes. Shalt thou penetrate, and,
2:12:16
Speaker 1: lifting one after another, every veil of illusion, shalt reach
2:12:21
Speaker 1: at last the innermost heart of being, thus becoming one
2:12:26
Speaker 1: with life. Thou shalt know life, and seeing into its causes,
2:12:31
Speaker 1: and knowing realities. Thou shalt be no more anxious about
2:12:35
Speaker 1: thyself and others and the world, but shalt see all
2:12:40
Speaker 1: things that are are engines of the Great Law. Can
2:12:44
Speaker 1: appede with gentleness. Thou shalt bless where others curse, love
2:12:49
Speaker 1: where others hate, forgive, where others condemn, yield where others strive,
2:12:55
Speaker 1: give up, where others grasp, lose where others gain, And
2:13:00
Speaker 1: in their strength they shall be weak. And in thy
2:13:03
Speaker 1: weakness thou shalt be strong. Yea, thou shalt mightily prevail.
2:13:09
Speaker 1: He that hath not unbroken gentleness, hath not truth. Therefore,
2:13:15
Speaker 1: when Heaven would save a man, it enfolds him with gentleness.
2:13:20
Speaker 1: The righteous man. The righteous man is invincible. No enemy
2:13:25
Speaker 1: can possibly overcome or confront him, and he needs no
2:13:30
Speaker 1: other protection than that of his own integrity and holiness.
2:13:34
Speaker 1: As it is impossible for evil to overcome good, So
2:13:38
Speaker 1: the righteous man can never be brought low by the unrighteous. Slander, envy, hatred,
2:13:45
Speaker 1: malice can never reach him nor cause him any suffering,
2:13:50
Speaker 1: and those who try to injure him only succeed ultimately
2:13:54
Speaker 1: in bringing ignominy upon themselves. The righteous man, having nothing
2:14:00
Speaker 1: to hide, committing no acts which requires stealth, and harboring
2:14:05
Speaker 1: no thoughts and desires which he would not like others
2:14:08
Speaker 1: to know, is fearless and unashamed. His step is firm,
2:14:13
Speaker 1: his body upright, and his speech direct and without ambiguity.
2:14:18
Speaker 1: He looks everybody in the face. How can he fear
2:14:22
Speaker 1: any who wrongs none? How can he be ashamed before
2:14:25
Speaker 1: any who deceives none? And ceasing from all wrong, he
2:14:30
Speaker 1: can never be wronged. The righteous man, performing all his
2:14:34
Speaker 1: duties with scrupulous diligence and living above sin, is invulnerable
2:14:39
Speaker 1: at every point. He who has slain the inward enemies
2:14:43
Speaker 1: of virtue, can never be brought low by any outward enemy.
2:14:48
Speaker 1: Neither does he seek any protection against them, righteousness being
2:14:52
Speaker 1: in all sufficient protection. The unrighteous man is vulnerable at
2:14:57
Speaker 1: almost every point. Living in his past ucians the slave
2:15:01
Speaker 1: of his prejudices, impulses, and ill formed opinions. He is
2:15:06
Speaker 1: continually suffering, as he imagines, at the hands of others.
2:15:12
Speaker 1: The slanders, attacks and accusations of others cause him great suffering,
2:15:17
Speaker 1: because they have a basis of truth in himself, and
2:15:20
Speaker 1: not having the protection of righteousness, he endeavors to justify
2:15:24
Speaker 1: and protect himself by resorting to retaliation in species argument,
2:15:30
Speaker 1: and even to subterfuge and deceit. The partially righteous man
2:15:35
Speaker 1: is vulnerable at all those points where he falls short
2:15:38
Speaker 1: of righteousness. And should the righteous man fall from his
2:15:42
Speaker 1: righteousness and give way to one sin, his invincibility is gone,
2:15:48
Speaker 1: for he has thereby placed himself where attack and accusation
2:15:52
Speaker 1: can justly reach and injure him, because he has first
2:15:55
Speaker 1: injured himself. If a man suffers or is injured through
2:16:00
Speaker 1: the instrumentality of others, let him look to himself, and,
2:16:04
Speaker 1: putting aside self pity and self defense, he will find
2:16:08
Speaker 1: in his own heart the source of all his woe.
2:16:12
Speaker 1: No evil can happen to the righteous man who has
2:16:15
Speaker 1: cut off the source of evil in himself, living in
2:16:19
Speaker 1: the all good and abstaining from sin. In thought, word,
2:16:22
Speaker 1: and deed, whatever happens to him is good. Neither can
2:16:26
Speaker 1: any person, event or circumstance cause him suffering, for the
2:16:31
Speaker 1: tyranny of circumstance is utterly destroyed. For him who has
2:16:35
Speaker 1: broken the bonds of sin, the suffering, the sorrowing, the weary,
2:16:40
Speaker 1: and the broken hearted ever seek a sorrowless refuge, a
2:16:44
Speaker 1: haven of perpetual peace. Let such fly to the refuge
2:16:49
Speaker 1: of the righteous life. Let them come now and enter
2:16:52
Speaker 1: the haven of the sinless state. For sorrow cannot overtake
2:16:56
Speaker 1: the righteous. Suffering cannot reach him who does not waste
2:17:01
Speaker 1: in self seeking his spiritual substance, and he cannot be
2:17:05
Speaker 1: afflicted by weariness and unrest whose heart is at peace
2:17:09
Speaker 1: withal perfect love. The children of Light, who abide in
2:17:15
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Heaven, see the universe in all that
2:17:18
Speaker 1: it contains, as the manifestation of one law, the law
2:17:23
Speaker 1: of love. They see love as the molding, sustaining, protecting,
2:17:27
Speaker 1: and perfecting power imminent in all things animate and inanimate.
2:17:33
Speaker 1: To them, love is not merely and only a rule
2:17:36
Speaker 1: of life. It is the law of life. It is
2:17:39
Speaker 1: life itself. Knowing this, they order their whole life in
2:17:43
Speaker 1: accordance with love, not regarding their own personality. By thus
2:17:49
Speaker 1: practicing obedience to the highest, to divine love, they become
2:17:54
Speaker 1: conscious partakers of the power of love, and so arrive
2:17:58
Speaker 1: at perfect freedom as masters of destiny. The universe is
2:18:02
Speaker 1: preserved because love is at the heart of it. Love
2:18:06
Speaker 1: is the only preservative power. Whilst there is hatred in
2:18:10
Speaker 1: the heart of man, he imagines the law to be cruel.
2:18:14
Speaker 1: But when his heart is mellowed by compassion and love,
2:18:18
Speaker 1: he perceives that the law is infinite kindness. So kind
2:18:22
Speaker 1: is the law that it protects man from his own ignorance. Man,
2:18:27
Speaker 1: in his puny efforts to subvert the law, by attaching
2:18:31
Speaker 1: undue importance to his own little personality, brings upon himself
2:18:35
Speaker 1: such trains of suffering that he is at last compelled,
2:18:39
Speaker 1: in the depth of his afflictions to seek for wisdom.
2:18:43
Speaker 1: And finding wisdom, he finds love and knows it as
2:18:47
Speaker 1: the law of his being, the law of the universe.
2:18:51
Speaker 1: Love does not punish. Man punishes himself by his own hatred,
2:18:56
Speaker 1: by striving to preserve evil, which has no life, by
2:18:59
Speaker 1: way which to preserve itself, and by trying to subvert love,
2:19:04
Speaker 1: which can neither be overcome nor destroyed, being the substance
2:19:08
Speaker 1: of life. When a man burns himself, does he accuse
2:19:13
Speaker 1: the fire. Therefore, when a man suffers, let him look
2:19:17
Speaker 1: for some ignorance or disobedience within himself. Love is perfect harmony,
2:19:24
Speaker 1: pure bliss, and contains therefore no element of suffering. Let
2:19:30
Speaker 1: a man think no thought and do no act which
2:19:33
Speaker 1: is not in accordance with pure love, and suffering shall
2:19:37
Speaker 1: no more trouble him. If a man would no love
2:19:41
Speaker 1: and partake of its undying bliss, he must practice it
2:19:44
Speaker 1: in his heart. He must become love. He who always
2:19:49
Speaker 1: acts from the spirit of love is never deserted, is
2:19:53
Speaker 1: never left in a dilemma or difficulty. For love impersonal
2:19:58
Speaker 1: love is both knowledge and power. He who has learned
2:20:02
Speaker 1: how to love has learned how to master every difficulty,
2:20:06
Speaker 1: how to transmute every failure into success, how to clothe
2:20:11
Speaker 1: every event and condition in the garments of blessedness and beauty.
2:20:16
Speaker 1: The way to love is by self mastery. In traveling
2:20:19
Speaker 1: that way, a man builds himself up in knowledge. As
2:20:23
Speaker 1: he proceeds arriving at love, he enters into full possession
2:20:28
Speaker 1: of body and mind by right of the divine power
2:20:31
Speaker 1: which he has earned. Perfect love casteth out fear. To
2:20:36
Speaker 1: know love is to know that there is no harmful
2:20:39
Speaker 1: power in the whole universe. Even sin itself, which the
2:20:44
Speaker 1: worldly and unbelieving imagine is so unconquerable, is known as
2:20:49
Speaker 1: a very weak and perishable thing that shrinks away and
2:20:53
Speaker 1: disappears before the compelling power of good. Perfect love is
2:20:57
Speaker 1: perfect harmlessness, And he who has destroyed in himself all
2:21:03
Speaker 1: thoughts of harm in all desire to harm, receives the
2:21:07
Speaker 1: universal protection and knows himself to be invincible. Perfect love
2:21:12
Speaker 1: is perfect patience. Anger and irritability cannot dwell with it
2:21:17
Speaker 1: nor come near it. It sweetens every bitter occasion with
2:21:21
Speaker 1: the perfume of holiness and transmutes trial into divine strength.
2:21:26
Speaker 1: Complaint is foreign to it. He who loves bewields nothing,
2:21:31
Speaker 1: but accepts all things and conditions as heavenly guests. He
2:21:35
Speaker 1: is therefore constantly blessed, and sorrow does not overtake him.
2:21:40
Speaker 1: Perfect love is perfect trust. He who has destroyed the
2:21:44
Speaker 1: desire to grasp can never be troubled with the fear
2:21:47
Speaker 1: of loss. Loss and gain are alike foreign to him.
2:21:52
Speaker 1: Steadfastly maintaining a loving attitude of mind toward all and
2:21:56
Speaker 1: pursuing in the performance of his duties a constant and
2:22:01
Speaker 1: loving activity, love protects him and evermore supplies him in
2:22:06
Speaker 1: fullest measure with all that he needs. Perfect love is
2:22:10
Speaker 1: perfect power. The wisely loving heart commands without exercising any authority.
2:22:16
Speaker 1: All things that all men obey. Him who obeys the
2:22:19
Speaker 1: highest he thinks and lull he has already accomplished. He speaks,
2:22:25
Speaker 1: and behold a world hangs upon his simple utterances. He
2:22:30
Speaker 1: has harmonized his thoughts with the imperishable and unconquerable forces,
2:22:35
Speaker 1: and for him, weakness and uncertainty are no more. His
2:22:40
Speaker 1: every thought is a purpose, His every act is an accomplishment.
2:22:44
Speaker 1: He moves with the great law, not setting his puny
2:22:48
Speaker 1: personal will against it, and he thus becomes a channel
2:22:51
Speaker 1: through which the divine power can flow in unimpeded and
2:22:55
Speaker 1: beneficent expression. He has thus become power itself. Perfect love
2:23:01
Speaker 1: is perfect wisdom. The man who loves all is the
2:23:04
Speaker 1: man who knows all. Having thoroughly learned the lessons of
2:23:08
Speaker 1: his own heart, he knows the tasks and trials of
2:23:11
Speaker 1: other hearts, and adapts himself to them gently and without ostentation.
2:23:17
Speaker 1: Love illuminates the intellect. Without it, the intellect is blind
2:23:22
Speaker 1: and cold and lifeless. Love succeeds where the intellect fails,
2:23:27
Speaker 1: sees where the intellect is blind, knows where the intellect
2:23:31
Speaker 1: is ignorant. Reason is only completed in love, and is
2:23:35
Speaker 1: ultimately absorbed in it. Love is the supreme reality in
2:23:39
Speaker 1: the universe, and as such it contains all truth, infinite tenderness,
2:23:45
Speaker 1: and folds and cherishes the universe. Therefore, it is the
2:23:49
Speaker 1: wise man, gentle and childlike, and tender hearted. He sees
2:23:54
Speaker 1: that the one thing which all creatures need is love,
2:23:57
Speaker 1: and he gives it unstintingly. He knows that all occasions
2:24:02
Speaker 1: require the adjusting power of love, and he ceases from
2:24:05
Speaker 1: harshness to the eye of love. All things are revealed
2:24:10
Speaker 1: not as an infinity of complex events, but in the
2:24:14
Speaker 1: light of eternal principles, out of which spring all cause
2:24:18
Speaker 1: and effects, and back into which they return. God is Love. Therefore,
2:24:24
Speaker 1: then love is nothing more than perfect. He who would
2:24:28
Speaker 1: find pure knowledge, let him find pure love. Perfect love
2:24:33
Speaker 1: is perfect peace. He who dwells with it has completed
2:24:37
Speaker 1: his pilgrimage in the underworld of sorrow, with mine calm
2:24:41
Speaker 1: and heart at rest. He has banished the shadows of
2:24:44
Speaker 1: grief and knows the deathless life. If thou wouldst perfect
2:24:49
Speaker 1: thyself in knowledge, perfect thyself in love, if thou wouldst
2:24:54
Speaker 1: reach the highest ceaselessly cultivate a loving and compassionate heart,
2:25:00
Speaker 1: perfect freedom, there is no bondage. In the heavenly life,
2:25:05
Speaker 1: there is perfect freedom. This is its great glory. This
2:25:09
Speaker 1: supreme freedom is gained only by obedience. He who obeys
2:25:14
Speaker 1: the highest cooperates with the highest, and so masters every
2:25:18
Speaker 1: force within himself and every condition without. A man may
2:25:24
Speaker 1: choose the lower and neglect the higher, but the higher
2:25:27
Speaker 1: is never overcome by the lower. Herein lies the revelation
2:25:31
Speaker 1: of freedom. Let a man choose the higher and abandon
2:25:36
Speaker 1: the lower, and he shall then establish himself as an overcomer,
2:25:40
Speaker 1: and shall realize perfect freedom. To give the reins to
2:25:45
Speaker 1: inclination is the only slavery. To conquer one's self is
2:25:49
Speaker 1: the only freedom. The slave to self loves his chains
2:25:54
Speaker 1: and will not have one of them broken, for fear
2:25:57
Speaker 1: he would be depriving himself of some cherished delight. He
2:26:01
Speaker 1: clings to his gratifications and vanities, regarding freedom from them
2:26:05
Speaker 1: as an empty and undesirable condition. He thus defeats and
2:26:10
Speaker 1: enslaves himself by self. Enlightenment is perfect freedom found whilst
2:26:16
Speaker 1: a man remains ignorant of himself, of his desires, of
2:26:21
Speaker 1: his emotions and thoughts, and of the inward causes which
2:26:25
Speaker 1: mold his life and destiny. Having neither control nor understanding
2:26:29
Speaker 1: of himself, he will remain in bondage to passion, sorrow, suffering,
2:26:35
Speaker 1: and fluctuating fortune. The land of perfect freedom lies through
2:26:40
Speaker 1: the gate of knowledge. All outward oppression is but the
2:26:44
Speaker 1: shadow and effect of the real oppression within. For ages,
2:26:48
Speaker 1: the oppressed have cried for liberty, and a thousand man
2:26:52
Speaker 1: made statutes have failed to give it to them. They
2:26:56
Speaker 1: can give it only to themselves. They shall find it
2:26:59
Speaker 1: only in obedience to the divine statutes which are inscribed
2:27:03
Speaker 1: upon their hearts. Let them resort to the inward freedom,
2:27:08
Speaker 1: and the shadow of oppression shall no more darken the earth.
2:27:12
Speaker 1: Let men cease to oppress themselves, and no man shall
2:27:16
Speaker 1: oppress his brother. Men legislate for outward freedom, yet continue
2:27:21
Speaker 1: to render such freedom impossible of achievement by fostering and
2:27:25
Speaker 1: inward condition of enslavement. They thus pursue a shadow without
2:27:31
Speaker 1: and ignore the substance within. Man will be free when
2:27:35
Speaker 1: he is freed from self. All outward forms of bondage
2:27:39
Speaker 1: and oppression will cease to be when man ceases to
2:27:42
Speaker 1: be the willing bond slave of passion, error, and ignorance.
2:27:47
Speaker 1: Freedom is to the free whilst men cling to weakness,
2:27:51
Speaker 1: they cannot have strength. Whilst they love darkness, they cannot
2:27:55
Speaker 1: receive light, and so long as they prefer bondage, they
2:27:59
Speaker 1: can enjoy no living Liberty. Strength, light, and freedom are
2:28:03
Speaker 1: ready now and can be had by all who love them,
2:28:07
Speaker 1: who aspire to them. Freedom does not reside in cooperative aggression,
2:28:12
Speaker 1: for this will always produce reactively cooperative defense, warfare, hatred,
2:28:19
Speaker 1: party strife, and the destruction of liberty. Freedom resides in
2:28:24
Speaker 1: individual self conquest. The emancipation of humanity is frustrated and
2:28:30
Speaker 1: withheld by the self enslavement of the unit. Thou who
2:28:34
Speaker 1: criest to Man and God for liberty, liberate thyself. The
2:28:39
Speaker 1: heavenly freedom is freedom from passion, from cravings, from opinions,
2:28:44
Speaker 1: from the tyranny of the flesh and the tyranny of
2:28:47
Speaker 1: the intellect. This first, and then all outward freedom as
2:28:52
Speaker 1: effect to cause the freedom that begins within and extends
2:28:57
Speaker 1: outwardly until it embraces them a whole man is an
2:29:01
Speaker 1: emancipation so complete, all embracing and perfect as to leave
2:29:07
Speaker 1: no galling fetter unbroken. Free thy soul from all sin,
2:29:12
Speaker 1: and thou shalt walk of freed and fearless man in
2:29:15
Speaker 1: the midst of a world of fearful slaves, and seeing
2:29:19
Speaker 1: thee many slaves, shall take heart and shall join thee
2:29:23
Speaker 1: in thy glorious freedom. He who says, my worldly duties
2:29:28
Speaker 1: are irksome to me, I will leave them and go
2:29:31
Speaker 1: into solitude, where I shall be as free as the air,
2:29:35
Speaker 1: and thinks to gain freedom thus will find only a
2:29:38
Speaker 1: harder slavery. The tree of freedom is rooted in duty,
2:29:43
Speaker 1: and he who would pluck its sweet fruits must discover
2:29:47
Speaker 1: joy and duty. Glad hearted, calm, and ready for all tasks.
2:29:52
Speaker 1: Is he who is freed from self. Irksomeness and weariness
2:29:56
Speaker 1: cannot enter his heart, and his divine strength lightens every
2:30:00
Speaker 1: burden so that its weight is not felt. He does
2:30:04
Speaker 1: not run away from duty with his chains about him,
2:30:07
Speaker 1: but breaks them and stands free. Make thyself pure, make
2:30:13
Speaker 1: thyself proof against weakness, temptation, and sin. For only in
2:30:18
Speaker 1: thine own heart and mind shalt thou find that perfect
2:30:22
Speaker 1: freedom for which the whole world sighs and seeks. In
2:30:26
Speaker 1: vain greatness and goodness, goodness, simplicity, greatness, these three are one,
2:30:36
Speaker 1: and this trinity of perfection cannot be separated. All greatness
2:30:40
Speaker 1: springs from goodness, and all goodness is profoundly simple. Without goodness,
2:30:46
Speaker 1: there is no greatness. Some men pass through the world
2:30:50
Speaker 1: as destructive forces, like the tornado or the avalanche, but
2:30:55
Speaker 1: these are not great. They are to greatness as the
2:30:58
Speaker 1: avalanche is to the mountain. The work of greatness is
2:31:02
Speaker 1: enduring and preservative, and not violent and destructive. The greatest
2:31:07
Speaker 1: souls are the most gentle. Greatness is never obtrusive. It
2:31:13
Speaker 1: works in silence, seeking no recognition. This is why it
2:31:17
Speaker 1: is not easily perceived and recognized. Like the mountain, it
2:31:23
Speaker 1: towers up in its vastness, so that those in its
2:31:26
Speaker 1: immediate vicinity, who receive its shelter and shade, do not
2:31:30
Speaker 1: see it. Its sublime grandeur is only beheld as they
2:31:34
Speaker 1: recede from it. The great man is not seen by
2:31:38
Speaker 1: his contemporaries. The majesty of his form is only outlined
2:31:43
Speaker 1: by its recession in time. This is the awe and
2:31:46
Speaker 1: enchantment of distance. Men occupy themselves with the small things,
2:31:52
Speaker 1: their houses, trees, lands. Few contemplate the mountain at whose
2:31:57
Speaker 1: base they live, and fewer still explore it. But in
2:32:02
Speaker 1: the distance, these small things disappear, and then the solitary
2:32:07
Speaker 1: beauty of the mountain is perceived Popularity, noisy, obtrusiveness, and
2:32:13
Speaker 1: shallow show. These superficialities rapidly disappear and leave behind no
2:32:19
Speaker 1: enduring mark, whereas greatness slowly emerges from obscurity and endures forever.
2:32:26
Speaker 1: Jewish rabbi and rabble alike saw not the divine beauty
2:32:30
Speaker 1: of Jesus. They saw only an unlettered carpenter. To his acquaintances,
2:32:37
Speaker 1: Homer was only a blind beggar, But the centuries reveal
2:32:41
Speaker 1: him as Homer, the immortal poet. Two hundred years after
2:32:45
Speaker 1: the Farmer of Stratford, and all that is known of
2:32:48
Speaker 1: him has disappeared, the real Shakespeare is discerned. All true
2:32:53
Speaker 1: genius is impersonal. It belongs not to the man through
2:32:57
Speaker 1: whom it is manifested. It belongsongs to all. It is
2:33:01
Speaker 1: a diffusion of pure truth, the light of Heaven, descending
2:33:05
Speaker 1: on all mankind. Every work of genius, in whatsoever department
2:33:11
Speaker 1: of art, is a symbolic manifestation of impersonal truth. It
2:33:16
Speaker 1: is universal and finds a response in every heart, in
2:33:20
Speaker 1: every age and race. Anything short of this is not genius,
2:33:25
Speaker 1: is not greatness. That work which defends a religion perishes.
2:33:30
Speaker 1: It is religion that lives. Theories about immortality fade away,
2:33:36
Speaker 1: and mortal man endures. Commentaries upon truth come to dust.
2:33:41
Speaker 1: Truth alone remains. That only is true in art, which
2:33:46
Speaker 1: represents the true, That only is great in life, which
2:33:51
Speaker 1: is universally and eternally true. And the true is the good,
2:33:56
Speaker 1: and the good is the true. Every immortal work springs
2:34:00
Speaker 1: from the eternal goodness in the human heart, and is
2:34:03
Speaker 1: clothed with the sweet and unaffected simplicity of goodness. The
2:34:08
Speaker 1: greatest art is like nature, artless. It knows no trick,
2:34:14
Speaker 1: no pose, no studied effort. There are no stage tricks
2:34:18
Speaker 1: in Shakespeare. And he is the greatest of dramatists because
2:34:22
Speaker 1: he is the simplest. The critics, not understanding the wise
2:34:27
Speaker 1: simplicity of greatness, always condemned the loftiest work. They cannot
2:34:32
Speaker 1: discriminate between the childish and the childlike, the true, the beautiful.
2:34:38
Speaker 1: The great is always childlike, and it is perennially fresh
2:34:43
Speaker 1: and young. The great man is always the good man.
2:34:47
Speaker 1: He is always simple. He draws from nay, lives in
2:34:52
Speaker 1: the inexhaustible fountain of divine goodness within. He inhabits the
2:34:57
Speaker 1: heavenly places, communes with the vanquished great ones, lives with
2:35:02
Speaker 1: the invisible. He is inspired and breathes the airs of heaven.
2:35:08
Speaker 1: He who would be great, let him learn to be good.
2:35:12
Speaker 1: He will therefore become great. By not seeking greatness aiming
2:35:16
Speaker 1: at greatness, a man arrives at nothingness. Aiming at nothingness,
2:35:21
Speaker 1: he arrives at greatness. The desire to be great is
2:35:25
Speaker 1: an indication of littleness, of personal vanity and obtrusiveness. The
2:35:31
Speaker 1: willingness to disappear from gaze, the utter absence of self
2:35:35
Speaker 1: aggrandizement is the witness of greatness. Littleness seeks and loves authority.
2:35:42
Speaker 1: Greatness is never authoritative, and it thereby becomes the authority
2:35:47
Speaker 1: to which the after ages appeal. He who seeks loses.
2:35:52
Speaker 1: He who is willing to lose wins all men. Be
2:35:56
Speaker 1: thy simple self, thy better self, thy impersonal self, and
2:36:02
Speaker 1: lo thou art great. He who selfishly seeks authority shall
2:36:08
Speaker 1: succeed only in becoming a trembling apologist, courting protection behind
2:36:12
Speaker 1: the back of acknowledged greatness. He who will become the
2:36:16
Speaker 1: servant of all men, desiring no personal authority, shall live
2:36:21
Speaker 1: as a man, and shall be called great. Abide in
2:36:25
Speaker 1: the simple and noble regions of thy life. Obey thy heart,
2:36:30
Speaker 1: and thou shalt reproduce the foreworld again. Forget thine own
2:36:35
Speaker 1: little self and fall back upon the universal self, and
2:36:39
Speaker 1: thou shalt reproduce in living and enduring forms a thousand
2:36:44
Speaker 1: beautiful experiences. Thou shalt find within thyself that simple goodness
2:36:50
Speaker 1: which is greatness. It is as easy to be great
2:36:54
Speaker 1: as to be small, says Emerson, and he utters a
2:36:57
Speaker 1: profound truth. Forgetfullness of self is the whole of greatness,
2:37:03
Speaker 1: as it is the whole of goodness and happiness. In
2:37:06
Speaker 1: a fleeting moment of self forgetfulness, the smallest soul becomes great.
2:37:12
Speaker 1: Extend that moment indefinitely, and there is a great soul,
2:37:16
Speaker 1: a great life. Cast away thy personality, thy petty cravings,
2:37:21
Speaker 1: vanities and ambitions as a worthless garment, and dwell in
2:37:26
Speaker 1: the loving, compassionate, selfless regions of thy soul. And thou
2:37:31
Speaker 1: art no longer small, thou art great. Claiming personal authority,
2:37:37
Speaker 1: a man descends into littleness. Practicing goodness, a man ascends
2:37:43
Speaker 1: into greatness. The presumptuousness of the small may for a
2:37:47
Speaker 1: time obscure the humility of the great, but it is
2:37:51
Speaker 1: at last swallowed up by it. As the noisy river
2:37:55
Speaker 1: is lost in the calm motion. The vulgarity of ignorance
2:37:59
Speaker 1: and the propert of learning must disappear. Their worthlessness is equal.
2:38:04
Speaker 1: They have no part in the soul of goodness. If
2:38:07
Speaker 1: thou wouldest do, thou must be. Thou shalt not mistaken
2:38:12
Speaker 1: information for knowledge. Thou must know thyself as pure knowledge.
2:38:18
Speaker 1: Thou shalt not confuse learning with wisdom. Thou must apprehend
2:38:22
Speaker 1: thyself as undefiled wisdom. Wouldst thou write a living book,
2:38:28
Speaker 1: Thou must first live. Thou shalt draw round thee the
2:38:32
Speaker 1: mystic garment of a manifold experience, and shalt learn in
2:38:37
Speaker 1: enjoyment and suffering, gladness and sorrow, conquest and defeat, that
2:38:42
Speaker 1: which no book and no teacher can teach. Thee. Thou
2:38:46
Speaker 1: shalt learn of life of thy soul. Thou shalt dread
2:38:50
Speaker 1: the lonely road, and thou shalt become thou shalt be.
2:38:55
Speaker 1: Thou shalt then write thy book, and it shall live.
2:38:59
Speaker 1: It shall be more than a book let. Thy book.
2:39:03
Speaker 1: First live in thee. Then shalt thou live in thy book.
2:39:07
Speaker 1: Wouldst Thou carve a statue that shall captivate the ages,
2:39:11
Speaker 1: or paint a picture that shall endure. Thou shalt acquaint
2:39:15
Speaker 1: thyself with the divine beauty within thee. Thou shalt comprehend
2:39:20
Speaker 1: and adore the invisible beauty. Thou shalt know the principles
2:39:24
Speaker 1: which are the soul of form. Thou shalt perceive the
2:39:27
Speaker 1: matchless symmetry and faultless proportions of life, of being of
2:39:33
Speaker 1: the universe. Thus knowing the eternally true, thou shalt carve
2:39:38
Speaker 1: or in paint the indescribably beautiful. Wouldst Thou produce an
2:39:42
Speaker 1: imperishable poem. Thou shalt first live thy poem. Thou shalt
2:39:48
Speaker 1: think and act rhythmically. Thou shalt find the never failing
2:39:52
Speaker 1: source of inspiration in the loving places of thy heart.
2:39:57
Speaker 1: Then shall immortal lines flow from thee without effort. And
2:40:01
Speaker 1: as the flowers of wood and fields spontaneously spring, so
2:40:05
Speaker 1: shall beautiful thoughts grow up in thine heart and enshrined
2:40:09
Speaker 1: in words, as molds to their beauty, shall subdue the
2:40:13
Speaker 1: hearts of men. Wouldst Thou compose such music as shall
2:40:18
Speaker 1: gladden and uplift the world. Thou shalt adjust thy soul
2:40:22
Speaker 1: to the heavenly harmonies. Thou shalt know that thyself, that
2:40:27
Speaker 1: life and the universe is music. Thou shalt touch the
2:40:32
Speaker 1: chords of life. Thou shalt know that music is everywhere,
2:40:36
Speaker 1: that it is the heart of being. Then shalt thou
2:40:40
Speaker 1: hear with thy spiritual ear the deathless symphonies wouldst thou
2:40:45
Speaker 1: preach the living word. Thou shalt forego thyself and become
2:40:50
Speaker 1: that word. Thou shalt know one thing, that the human
2:40:54
Speaker 1: heart is good, is divine. Thou shalt live on one thing. Love.
2:41:01
Speaker 1: Thou shalt love all, seeing no evil, thinking no evil,
2:41:07
Speaker 1: believing no evil. Then though thou speak but little, thy
2:41:12
Speaker 1: every act shall be a power, thy every word, a
2:41:15
Speaker 1: precept by thy pure thought, thy selfless deed. Though it
2:41:20
Speaker 1: appear hidden, Thou shalt preach down the ages to untold
2:41:25
Speaker 1: multitudes of aspiring souls. To him who chooses goodness, sacrificing
2:41:31
Speaker 1: all is given that which is more than and includes all,
2:41:36
Speaker 1: he becomes the possessor of the best, communes with the highest,
2:41:41
Speaker 1: and enters the company of the great, The greatness that
2:41:45
Speaker 1: is flawless, rounded and complete, is above and beyond all art.
2:41:50
Speaker 1: It is perfect goodness and manifestation. Therefore, the greatest souls
2:41:56
Speaker 1: are always teachers the heavenly life heaven in the heart.
2:42:02
Speaker 1: The toil of life ceases when the heart is pure,
2:42:06
Speaker 1: When the mind is harmonized with the divine law, the
2:42:08
Speaker 1: wheel of drudgery ceases to turn, and all work is
2:42:12
Speaker 1: transmuted into joyful activity. The pure hearted are as the
2:42:17
Speaker 1: lilies of the field, which toil not yet are fed
2:42:21
Speaker 1: and clothed from the abundant storehouse of the all good.
2:42:24
Speaker 1: But the lily is not lethargic. It is ceaselessly active,
2:42:29
Speaker 1: drawing nourishment from earth and air and sun by the
2:42:33
Speaker 1: divine power eminent within it. It builds itself up sell
2:42:37
Speaker 1: by cell, opening itself to the light, growing and expanding
2:42:42
Speaker 1: towards the perfect flower. So it is with these who,
2:42:46
Speaker 1: having yielded up self, will have learned to co operate
2:42:50
Speaker 1: with the divine will. They grow in grace, goodness, and beauty,
2:42:55
Speaker 1: freed from anxiety, and without friction and toil. And they
2:43:00
Speaker 1: ever work in vain, There is no waste in action.
2:43:03
Speaker 1: Every thought, act, and thing done subserves the divine purpose
2:43:08
Speaker 1: and adds to the sum total of the world's happiness.
2:43:12
Speaker 1: Heaven is in the heart. They will look for it
2:43:15
Speaker 1: in vain who look elsewhere. In no outward place will
2:43:19
Speaker 1: the soul find heaven until he finds it within himself.
2:43:23
Speaker 1: For wherever the soul goes, its thoughts and desires will
2:43:27
Speaker 1: go with it, And howsoever beautiful may be its outward
2:43:31
Speaker 1: dwelling place. If there is sin within, there will be
2:43:35
Speaker 1: darkness and gloom without, for sin always casts a dark
2:43:39
Speaker 1: shadow over the pathway of the soul, the shadow of sorrow.
2:43:44
Speaker 1: This world is beautiful, transcendentally and wonderfully beautiful. Its beauties
2:43:49
Speaker 1: and inspiring wonders cannot be numbered. Yet to the sin's
2:43:53
Speaker 1: sodden mind it appears as a dark and joyless place.
2:43:58
Speaker 1: Where passion and self are, there is hell, and there
2:44:01
Speaker 1: are all the pains of hell. Where holiness and love are,
2:44:06
Speaker 1: there is heaven, and there are all the joys of heaven.
2:44:10
Speaker 1: Heaven is here, it is also everywhere it is wherever
2:44:14
Speaker 1: there is a pure heart, the whole universe is abounding
2:44:18
Speaker 1: with joy. But the sin bound heart can neither see, hear,
2:44:23
Speaker 1: nor partake of it. No one is or can be
2:44:28
Speaker 1: arbitrarily shut out from heaven. Each shuts himself out. Its
2:44:32
Speaker 1: golden gates are eternally ajar, but the selfish cannot find them.
2:44:37
Speaker 1: They mourn, yet they see not. They cry, but they
2:44:41
Speaker 1: hear not. Only to those who turn their eyes to
2:44:44
Speaker 1: heavenly things are the happy portals of the Kingdom revealed,
2:44:48
Speaker 1: and they enter and are glad. All life is gladness
2:44:52
Speaker 1: when the heart is right, and when it is attuned
2:44:55
Speaker 1: to the sweet chords of holy love. Life is religion.
2:45:00
Speaker 1: Religion is life, and all is joy and gladness. The
2:45:04
Speaker 1: jarring notes of creeds and parties, the black shadows of sin,
2:45:09
Speaker 1: Let them pass away forever. They cannot enter the door
2:45:13
Speaker 1: of life. They form no part of religion, Joy, music, beauty.
2:45:19
Speaker 1: These belong to the true order of things. They are
2:45:22
Speaker 1: of the texture of the universe. Of these is the
2:45:25
Speaker 1: great garment of life woven pure. Religion is glad, not gloomy.
2:45:31
Speaker 1: It is light without darkness or shadow. Despondency, disappointment, grief.
2:45:38
Speaker 1: These are the reflex aspects of pleasurable excitement, self seeking,
2:45:42
Speaker 1: and desire. Give up the latter and the former will
2:45:46
Speaker 1: forever disappear. Then there remains the perfect bliss of heaven.
2:45:51
Speaker 1: Abounding and unalloyed happiness is man's true life. Perfect blessedness
2:45:57
Speaker 1: is his rightful portion. And when he loses his false
2:46:01
Speaker 1: life and finds the true, he enters into the full
2:46:05
Speaker 1: possession of the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is man's home,
2:46:09
Speaker 1: and it is here and now. It is in his
2:46:12
Speaker 1: own heart, and he is not left without guides. If
2:46:16
Speaker 1: he wills to find it, let him return to his home.
2:46:20
Speaker 1: His peace awaits him. The heavenly hearted are without sorrow
2:46:25
Speaker 1: and suffering, because they are without sin. What the worldly
2:46:29
Speaker 1: minded call troubles, they regard as pleasant tasks of love
2:46:33
Speaker 1: and wisdom. Troubles belong to hell. They do not enter heaven.
2:46:39
Speaker 1: This is so simple it should not appear strange. If
2:46:42
Speaker 1: you have a trouble, it is in your own mind,
2:46:45
Speaker 1: and nowhere else you make it. It is not made
2:46:48
Speaker 1: for you, It is not in your task. It is
2:46:52
Speaker 1: not in that outward thing. You are its creator, and
2:46:56
Speaker 1: it derives its life from you. Only look upon all
2:46:59
Speaker 1: your day difficulties as lessons to be learned, as aids
2:47:03
Speaker 1: to spiritual growth, and lo they are difficulties no longer.
2:47:08
Speaker 1: This is one of the pathways up to heaven to
2:47:11
Speaker 1: transmute everything into happiness and joy. This is supremely the
2:47:16
Speaker 1: work and duty of the heavenly minded man. To reduce
2:47:20
Speaker 1: everything to wretchedness and deprivation is the process which the
2:47:24
Speaker 1: worldly minded unconsciously pursue. To live and love is to
2:47:29
Speaker 1: work and joy. Love is the magic that transforms all
2:47:33
Speaker 1: things into power and beauty. It brings plenty out of poverty,
2:47:38
Speaker 1: power out of weakness, loveliness out of deformity, sweetness out
2:47:43
Speaker 1: of bitterness, light out of darkness, and produces all blissful
2:47:48
Speaker 1: conditions out of its own substantial but indefinable essence. He
2:47:53
Speaker 1: who loves can never want. The universe belongs to goodness,
2:47:58
Speaker 1: and it therefore belongs to the good god Man. It
2:48:01
Speaker 1: can be possessed by all without stint or shrinking for goodness,
2:48:06
Speaker 1: and the abundance of goodness, material, mental, and spiritual abundance
2:48:11
Speaker 1: is inexhaustible. Think lovingly, speak lovingly, act lovingly, and your
2:48:18
Speaker 1: every need shall be supplied. You shall not walk in
2:48:22
Speaker 1: desert places, and no danger shall overtake you. Love sees
2:48:27
Speaker 1: with faultless vision. Judge is true, Judgment acts in wisdom,
2:48:32
Speaker 1: Look through the eyes of love, and you shall see
2:48:35
Speaker 1: everywhere the beautiful and true Judge with the mind of love,
2:48:39
Speaker 1: and you shall err not, shall wake no wail of sorrow.
2:48:44
Speaker 1: Act in the spirit of love, and you shall strike
2:48:47
Speaker 1: undying harmonies upon the harp of life. Make no compromise
2:48:51
Speaker 1: with self. Cease not to strive until your whole being
2:48:55
Speaker 1: is swallowed up in love. To love all and always
2:49:00
Speaker 1: is the heaven of heavens. Let there be nothing within
2:49:03
Speaker 1: THEE that is not very beautiful and very gentle, and
2:49:07
Speaker 1: then there will be nothing without THEE that is not
2:49:09
Speaker 1: beautified and softened by the spell of Thy presence. All
2:49:14
Speaker 1: that you do, let it be done in calm wisdom,
2:49:17
Speaker 1: and not from desire, impulse, or opinion. This is the
2:49:21
Speaker 1: heavenly way of action. Purify your thought world until no
2:49:26
Speaker 1: stain is left, and you will send into heaven. While
2:49:29
Speaker 1: living in the body. You will then see the things
2:49:32
Speaker 1: of the outward world clothed in all beautiful forms. Having
2:49:37
Speaker 1: found the divine beauty within ourselves, it springs to life
2:49:41
Speaker 1: in every outward thing. To the beautified soul, the world
2:49:45
Speaker 1: is beautiful. Undeveloped souls are merely unopened flowers. The perfect
2:49:51
Speaker 1: beauty lies concealed within, and will one day reveal itself
2:49:55
Speaker 1: to the full orbed light of heaven. Seeing men. Thus
2:50:00
Speaker 1: we stand where evil is not, and where the eye
2:50:03
Speaker 1: beholds only good. Herein lies the peace, and patience and
2:50:08
Speaker 1: beauty of love. It sees no evil. He who loves
2:50:12
Speaker 1: thus becomes the protector of all men. Though in their
2:50:15
Speaker 1: ignorance they should hate him, he shields and loves them.
2:50:20
Speaker 1: What gardener is so foolish as to condemn his flowers
2:50:23
Speaker 1: because they do not develop in a day? Learn to love,
2:50:28
Speaker 1: and you shall see in all souls, even those called degraded,
2:50:32
Speaker 1: the divine beauty, and shall know that it will not
2:50:35
Speaker 1: fail to come forth in its own season. This is
2:50:38
Speaker 1: one of the heavenly visions. It is out of this
2:50:41
Speaker 1: that gladness comes, sin, sorrow, suffering. These are the dark
2:50:47
Speaker 1: gropings of the unopened soul. For light. Open the petals
2:50:51
Speaker 1: of your soul, and let the glorious light stream. In
2:50:56
Speaker 1: every sinful soul is an unresolved harmony. It shall last
2:51:00
Speaker 1: strike the perfect cord and swell the joyful melodies of heaven.
2:51:05
Speaker 1: Hell is the preparation for heaven, And out of the
2:51:08
Speaker 1: debris of its ruined hovels, or build pleasant mansions wherein
2:51:13
Speaker 1: the perfected soul may dwell. Night is only a fleeting
2:51:17
Speaker 1: shadow which the world casts, and sorrow is but a
2:51:20
Speaker 1: transient shade cast by the self. Come out into the sunlight.
2:51:25
Speaker 1: Know this, o reader, that you are divine. You are
2:51:29
Speaker 1: not cut off from the divine except in your own unbelief.
2:51:33
Speaker 1: Rise up, o, Son of God, and shake off the
2:51:36
Speaker 1: nightmare of sin which binds you. Accept your heritage, the
2:51:41
Speaker 1: kingdom of Heaven. Drug your soul no longer with the
2:51:44
Speaker 1: poison of false beliefs. You are not a worm of
2:51:48
Speaker 1: the dust unless you choose to make yourself one. You
2:51:52
Speaker 1: are a divine, immortal, god born being. And this you
2:51:56
Speaker 1: may know if you will to seek and find no
2:52:00
Speaker 1: longer to your impure and groveling thoughts, and you shall
2:52:04
Speaker 1: know that you are a radiant and celestial spirit, filled
2:52:07
Speaker 1: with all pure and lovable thoughts. Wretchedness and sin and
2:52:11
Speaker 1: sorrow are not your portion here unless you choose to
2:52:15
Speaker 1: accept them as such. And if you do this, they
2:52:18
Speaker 1: will be your portion hereafter. For these things are not
2:52:22
Speaker 1: apart from your sole condition. They will go wherever you go.
2:52:26
Speaker 1: They are only within you Heaven, not hell, is your
2:52:30
Speaker 1: portion here and always it requires you to take that
2:52:34
Speaker 1: which belongs to you. You are the master, and you
2:52:38
Speaker 1: choose whom you will serve. You are the maker of
2:52:41
Speaker 1: your state, and your choice determines your condition. What you
2:52:46
Speaker 1: pray and ask for with your mind and heart, not
2:52:50
Speaker 1: with your lips, merely this you will receive. You are
2:52:54
Speaker 1: served as you serve. You are conditioned as you condition.
2:52:58
Speaker 1: You garner in your own. Heaven is yours. You have
2:53:03
Speaker 1: but to enter in and take possession. And heaven means
2:53:06
Speaker 1: supreme happiness, perfect blessedness. It leaves nothing to be desired,
2:53:12
Speaker 1: nothing to be grieved over. It is complete satisfaction now
2:53:16
Speaker 1: and in this world. It is within you. And if
2:53:20
Speaker 1: you do not know this, it is because you persist
2:53:23
Speaker 1: in turning the back of your soul upon it. Turn round,
2:53:27
Speaker 1: and you shall behold it. Come and live in the
2:53:30
Speaker 1: sunshine of your being. Come out of the shadows and
2:53:33
Speaker 1: the dark places. You are framed for happiness. You are
2:53:38
Speaker 1: a child of heaven, purity, wisdom, love, plenty, joy and peace.
2:53:45
Speaker 1: These are the eternal realities of the Kingdom, and they
2:53:48
Speaker 1: are yours. But you cannot possess them in sin. They
2:53:52
Speaker 1: have no part in the realm of darkness. They belong
2:53:56
Speaker 1: to the light which lighteth every man that cometh into
2:53:59
Speaker 1: the world, the light of spotless love. They are the
2:54:03
Speaker 1: heritage of the Holy Christ Child, who shall come to
2:54:06
Speaker 1: birth in your soul when you are ready to divest
2:54:09
Speaker 1: yourself of all impurities. They are your real self. But
2:54:14
Speaker 1: he whose soul has been safely delivered of the wonderful
2:54:18
Speaker 1: joy Child does not forget the travail of the world.