FROM THE MOUNTAIN TOP ^^ ^1 \n ^ 6 'ST c >> •H 00 00 fi ^^ >» +3 O iinuntain Snp From the Mountain Top + HALCYON BOOK CONCERN HALCYON, CALIF. am:* FEB S 1915 INDEX Angel of Healing, The 68 Angel of the Path, The 269 Answer Me 166 Armor of Faith, The 45 As Ye Sow 50 Ask and Receive 1 10 Ask Each Day 160 Be Merciful to God 24 Beautiful Message, The 235 Bird of Life, The 44 Birds of Prey 180 Birth of the Soul, The 37 Book The 104 Call of the Flesh, The 107 Cause and Effect 232 Cease and Sing 275 Central Flame, The 148 Child of Love, The 55 Children of Light 39 Christ-Born, The 120 Christ or Judas 80 Clarion Call, A ' 276 Come 234 Come Back 72 Come Forth 66 Come Forth, Thou Christ 240 Common Chord, The 196 Compassion 90 Compassion's Veil 153 Cross and Crown 76 Cross of Fire, The 91 Crown, The 221 Cyclic Rounds, The 218 Darkness 163 Dead in Life, The 114 Death 199 Debtors to Life . . . . • 155 Deliverer, The 27 Diamond Soul, The 178 Draught of Lethe, The 86 399504 NDEX Earth-Born God, The 40 Emotion 203 Endurance 167 Enter the Path 74 Eternal Warfare, The 263 Face of Christ, The 25 Faithfulness 149 Father iNIine 19 Father's Care, The 223 Fear 200 Feast, The 226 Find the Good 106 From God to Man 184 Fruit of the Tree, The 38 Fulfilment by Faith 230 Garden of the Soul, The 266 Gift of God, The 103 Gift of Life, The 109 Give Way 108 Goal, The 52 God of Pain, The 81 Grave of Sin, The 175 Greatest is Charity, The 135 Great Moment, The 233 God Still Lives 64 God's Thought 56 Grow Wings and Fly High 188 Guerdon of Humility, The 42 Guerdon or the Loss, Tlie 143 Harp of Infinity, The 49 Hearken to Me 141 Heart of God, The 185 Heart of A World, The 29 He Comes 151 Heights of Life, The 105 His Birthright 237 Higlnvav. Tlie 1 82 Hold High Tliy Trust 1 86 Hold and Listen 79 INDEX Homage of the Heart, The 33 Holy Angel Love, The 83 Holy Flame, The 75 Humanity 21 "I Have Kept The Faith" 126 Illusion's Flames 93 Inner Temple, The 274 Intervals of Life, The 125 It 171 I Stand and Wait 23 I— Thv Soul 22 Jewels of Light 96 Judge Not 272 Just So Far 222 Justice 132 Justice Reigns 116 King Cometh, The 82 Latch, The 14.'5 Law Fulfiled, The 271 Lens of the Soul, The 270 Let Go 170 Life in Death 152 Life Knots 229 Life's Demand 220 Life's Opportunities 48 Life's Shine and Shadow 268 Lift Thou Thine Eves to Ciod 262 Lift Up Thine Eyes 142 Lift Up Your Heads 71 Light of Life, The 77 Light of Peace, The 65 Light of the Soul 260 Light Within, The 197 Listen 118 Little Things, The 245 Living Christ, The 131 Load, The 224 Look Deep <53 Look Within 161 NDEX Loose Him ~53 Love and Hatred 97 Love Divine, The IS Love is God 239 Love the Avenger 62 Love's Abode 57 Love's Conquest tS Love's Offices 207 Loyalty 157 Make Clean Thine Heart 84 Make Room for Me 164 Man 69 Message, The 242 Milestones, The • 254 "Mv Father" 133 My Gifts to Thee 231 M V Kingdom 18 My "Little Ones" 26 Mvsterv of Mvsteries 53 Need of Pain,' The 214 New Births 191 New Cycle, A 67 Next Step, The 209 Nine Steps, The 212 No Recall 112 Northern Windows, The 162 Obstruction, Tlie 211 Open Thine Eyes 129 Op])ortunity 177 Pain of Progress. The 265 Path, The 88 Path is Hard, The 99 Path of Dutv. The 47 Peace of All" Fulfilment, The 2r)6 Peace of God, The 173 Perfect One, The 195 Place of Peace, The 87 Power of Loving, The 248 Power to Build, The 1 1 1 INDEX Prayer 138 Price, The 2Ki Price of Love, The 1 1 i"' Pride 73 Prophecv, A 78 Relight 'Thy Torcli 2G7 Renunciation 3G Rich, The 179 Right to Seek, The 202 Rouse Ye ■'59 Scoffer, The 168 Search 1 ;"50 Seek the Cause 1 93 Shadow, The 165 Shift Thy Load • 1 5 i Sing Soft and Low 1 H Song of Life, The 2 11 Sorrow 181 Soul of Song, The 51 Soul Redeemed, The • 259 Soul's Opportunity, The 91 Speech of Christ^ The 156 Spiritual Birth 31 Stand Up 101 Stones of Sacrifice, The 215 Stream of Sacrifice, The 213 Stricken Soul, The. 169 Tail of the Dragon, The 58 Task. The 214 Temple Plan, The 174 Threefold Warning, The 172 Thou Hast Done Well 1 16 Thou Wanderer 32 Thine Own 92 Thus Saith The Lord 119 Thy Bonds 227 Thy Choice 20 1- Thy Crown 110 Thy Golden Opportunity 187 INDEX Thy Heritage 85 Thy Star and Mine 35 Thy Trust 121 To" the Dead in Life 89 To Mine Own 137 To the Neophvte 34 To My Beloved 17 To the World 261 Trimurti, The 113 Truth 183 Twili(;ht and Dawn 249 Unselfish Love 273 Unfinished, The 201 Umbilicus, The 219 Veil, The 194 Veils of the Soul 70 Victor, The 216 Voice of God, The 95 Warriors of Light 278 Weapons of the Self-Born, The 134 Web, The 198 What Doest Tliou for Me ? 20 Wheel of Suffering, The 264 Wheel of Time, The 30 Where is God ? 98 Which of the Three 60 Will Divine 192 Will to Live, The 252 Wine of Life, The 41 Wing Thv Heart Home 54 Word Eternal, The 189 Workshop, The 123 World Pain, The 208 Wouldst Thou Win ? 225 Ye Too 176 You Must Choose 250 Your Defeats 258 Your Hours 217 Your Resjwnsibility 228 FOREWORD THE following pages are sent forth anononiously to the world at large for the reason that, in the majority of instances, "we humans" only recjuire a specific statement of fact to arouse in oiu' minds a spirit of contradiction or argumentation which at once prevents us from perceiving or accepting the given fact at its true value. If this can be avoided in this instance by withholding the knowledge of the real source of the contents of this book, thus permitting unprejudiced consideration of the messages imprinted on these pages, as well as an opportunity for intuitiion to supply any missing links, it is hoped that their mission of service to the discouraged and heart hungry, to the careless and indifferent, may be accomplished. Truth is its own authority ; the light within alone is able to recognize the light without in any message, teachings, or teacher. Thus the Divine in the human recognizes and realizes its identity with the Divinity cased in human vestments — for Truth and that Divinity are akin — are one in fact. On the Scroll of Infinite Duration is writtin in letters of flaming life, the basic meaning of the first Great Word — that Word which all evolving life is spell- ing out in orderly sequence, letter by letter, syllable by syllable, as the ages pass. The higher consciousness of the human soul is part of that scroll of light, and on that plane understands its Unity with All — but, entombed in matter and outer husks, the personal entity, though "trailing clouds of glory from afar" is seethed in oblivion and forgetfulness, so far as its real nature, its inherent divinity, is concerned. Wars, pestilence, famines and cataclysms, with their attendant shocks of suffering serve to awaken the latent spiritual memories of man to the fundamental moral meaning of existence by stilling the outer self and driv- ing it in, and for those "whose vision is single," vibra- tions of sound and light come from heights where stand the Sentinels of Life ever transmitting and modifying the cosmic evolutionary forces to the status and under- standing of races and worlds on the levels below. Gently but persistently descend those cosmic vibrations into the valleys where dwell the multitudes. Ever and anon, the inner ear, sight or feeling, of some one in those valleys may catch a tinkle of sound, or sense a flash of light, or a color of cosmic feeling, falling from those altitudes celestial, and then — translated into terms of human un- derstanding — a new keynote, a higher impulse, is given to human endeavor with deeper concepts of life; or it may give a more basic understanding of the true phi- losophy of Being; it may mean an uplifting poem or work of art, a high musical inspiration, a new scientific truth or invention that will further unify the races of the earth, or, in the field of politics and government be rendered into terms of a regenerating principle and plan for action that will move the world a step nearer that economic freedom in line with life's fundamental purpose. Eternally beating, ever beating, the rain of spiritual influences fall ceaselessly on humanity, refreshing, quickening and awakening the human more and more to his interdependent greatness, spiritually, morally and materially, with all that is. Standing on life's peaks of snowy whiteness, where one may look down — and under- stand, the Word thunders its truth to the Inner Self and senses. In the valleys, however, are but the faint whisper- ings of that truth, "not easily lieard, and most easily mis- understood, yet the basic meaning of that AVord of Eife is attainable* to all who unselfishly aspire— and search. Brliirat^li to jHumanity S^d^olJl I ^tU0 ^nta Ei^v^ a K01J TO MY BELOVED AROUSE ye! arouse ye! Children of tke New Covenant. Why stand ye in the pubhc places idle throughout the busy day? The war of the ages is upon thee — the strife between the Sons of Uni- versal Light and the Brothers of the Shadow. The long list of the Sons of Betrayal, the Judas power of the ac- cumulated ages, hath its arms about thy neck and is press- ing upon thy cheek the kiss that bringeth crucifixion. Awake! thou that sleepest, and the Logos shall shine upon thee. The Christ in thine own soul whis- pers: "Be of good courage, I have overcome the world." The days of preparation are upon thee. Gird on that armor of Righteousness which is the heritage of every Son of the Living God, and strike for the freedom of the races of the earth from the clutch of the Beast, the embodied JVIammon who now holdeth in subjection the children of Man. Think ye that no protest rises to the seventh heaven from the murdered Abels of the long past ages? Think ye the Law hath lost its power because its judgments tarry long? Become one with the law. Enter thou the Holy of Holies with unsandaled feet and covered head, that the forces of Love, Law and Life may flow unob- structed through the Stone of Sacrifice upon which thou standest, and the return wave bear to thee the spiritual essence that shall make thee free. In freedom lies thy strength. The sword of the Spirit shall be thy reward, and He whom thou lovest shall lead thee to living waters, for He is the Warrior of Light, the Unconquerable, for whom the hour shall never strike. He is thine own true Self, and when thy shadows flee away thou shalt be- hold the King in His beauty and hohness. MY KINGDOM I BUILT me a nest; — I, Hamsa — in the heart of a hall of lire. I hrought from far off regions of space huge relics of long dead spheres to build it strong and true to the lines Infinity fashions and bounds all living things. I lined it with coral reefs and with precious gems, wrought by the fiery lives; I brought fleecy clouds from the sky to soften and cool the glowing stones to which my nest must cling, lest the Storm-Gods, angered by my presumption, should tear it apart from its foundations and scatter its fragments afar. Then I sat me down and waited in the solitudes of Time. Waited, till the whirling balls in the sky above had burst and scattered their glowing earthy embers on the surface of my nesting place and hemmed me in, close, warm, safe from the baffled fury of the Storm Kings. I brought forth my young; creeping things, plants, birds, fishes, animals, and finally man. Then I raised my wings and soared away to the heavens above. Now I fly in never ceasing motion around my nest- ing place, watching, ever watching for the day to dawn when those I brought to birth and gave the chance to win the heritage of the blest, shall look up and see me, and seeing, shall know me as I am. Not as those that hate me, know me, but as I AIM in truth, to lover, friend and husband, bride and mother; and, having known me, yield themselves to me in love, that so at last I come into :MY OWN, my Kingdom, that I loved to life, long ages since. 18 FATHER MINE FxVTHER mine! though Thou hast cast me down where deep calls unto deep across the span of human woe, though Thou hast stripped from me the mantle of protection Thou gavst me, and left me naked, lone, exposed to every blast; though Thou hast given power unto mine enemy to raze my home and send its beams and rafters crashing down upon my shrinking form; yet I behold Thine everlasting, all encircling arm outstretched to me, and through the storms and wreckage of my outer life I see the Star, the symbol of Thy Power, that evermore must rise and set upon Thy breast, — the Star of Thy Nativity — and know that even as its rays reach out and lighten all the vaults of heaven, so doth a single ray of that same Star reach out and pierce the gloom within mj^ heart and make a nesting place of light therein. A single ray! but even so a carrier of the voice of God; a God that speaks such words as no mere human ear can bear, yet speaks in tones my soul doth under- stand, and says — "Fear not, for I am with thee in the dark as well as in the light, and I will cover thee with mine own hand and keep thee safe against the day w^hen thy betrayer seeks the light of that fair star upon my breast w^hich leads to thee. For not until thine enemy doth seek thee out and bind the bruises made upon thy tender flesh, and with repentance and rejoicing brings thee back unto thine own, can e'en a glimmer of that Hght fall o'er his blinded eyes." He who doth strike his brother down and leave him to the beasts of prey, may never find his Father's house again, till led by that same brother's hand back to his Father's feet. 19 WHAT DOEST THOU FOR ME? WHEN Star struck Star and space was quivering from the shock; while flames were flashing red and white-hot metals crept in streams between the flery tongues which leaped from place to place in search of food for burning; I sought and found and held thee in the hollow of my hand till once again the power of Water intervened and cooled the molten mass ; then gathered up the remnants and formed another ball on which my feet might rest the while 1 built another nesting place for thee. Another day of time, when floods were loosed and overwhelmed the earth, on torrents fierce I rode to rescue thee. In crest, in trough of wave I sought and found and tore thee from the water demons' clutch, those demons of the depths who seize and drag the sons of men down to the ocean's floor and take their blood for starring gems to deck satanic crowns. While other Gods looked down on earth from otlier suns in search of portents for their guidance in the war of worlds, I sought thee out for thou wert more to me than all dead worlds. Through all the kingdoms of the earth, in war or peace, through blackest night and light of day, in this, another age, I sought thee in thy wanderings, paid thy ransom, brought thee home. And thou, what doest thou for me? Thou now hast come unto the parting of the ways and if thou turnest from the way marked out by me and mine, then transient life alone remains for thee. 20 HUMANITY AS SHINE the stars set in my kingly crown, the crown which my desire hath welded of my con- quest of the Dragon of Illusion, and studded with the jewels of thy sacrifice, so shalt thou, the prince, the heir to all my universe of riches, shine in that great day when all mine own shall come to me to feast ^\ith me on viands all the ages gone have grown from seed sown in my hody and watered by my deep compassion. As vast as is my kingdom, even so is vast the love which sheltered and protected, conceived and bore thee, son of mine, — the fiery essence of that love which clothes thee, as thou art clothed, with woven garment, clinging close about thy form, — the love that all the waters of the misty deeps can never quench; the love which grows, like to the tree of life whose topmost branches touch the skies, with every day of every age that thou hast passed in battle with the powers of Hell. Then canst thou doubt my purpose, scorn my mes- senger when every tree and flower and living thing points all unerringly to thought for thee, or strive to find some other way to reach the rest and bliss thy soul desires? The poignant grief, the agony of spirit rising like the ocean's waves within thy heart, drawing from thy ten- sioned lips the cry "^ly Father," paves the way and floods the mile-stones with a light supernal, that thou shalt not be hindered when thy face is turned towards me, thy back upon the fleshly things that strew thy way and stay thy feet. Yea, even more, for thou shalt be my crown, my KINGDOM and MY ALL. Lo; I shall live in thee, as thou in me, when dawns that other day. 21 I— THY SOUL THROUGH vaster spaces than thy thought-wings compass. Through the long eternities of never ceasing motion, I — thy soul, must wander, wait- ing, ever waiting for the hour to strike when thou, the body linked to me through all the vanished ages, may clear-eyed look into my face and know me as I am, for now, alas! thou art a living lie; the light of truth is far away from thee, and thou hast taken of my strength to build that lie. "The Path" is hard to tread for thee, for thou hast made it hard. Thinkest thou that self same path is easier for me? I needs must walk therein until thine eyes are opened, and thou seest through the veil of flesh which thou hast built and closely folded round about thee, lest thou be compelled against thy will to see tlie naked truth; for well thou knowest thou must shrink abashed and terror-stricken, if its glorious light fall full unon thee now. But one day surely that same light will pierce the veils despite thy frantic clutch upon them, and as thou bearest all its searching beams, so wilt thou bind me closer far to thee, or drive me forth unbound and deso- late, compelled to leave thee to the Jinns thou hast evoked. 22 I STAND AND WAIT LOOK! my beloved, I stand at the gate and wait. Wait, while my knees bend low, my back bows down 'neath the weight of the heavy load I must bear, lest over-weariness come upon me, the gate swing shut, the latch fall into place, and thus shut out for aye some wayworn child who through my entreaties has entered the path that leads to the mount of transfigu- ration. My outstretched hands must needs fend off the Guardian of the Threshold lest he close the gate ere the threshold is cleared and leave but a part of thy mangled form on either side of the gate. Then canst thou not bring me oil for my anoint- ing, relief for my straining muscles and a kerchief to wipe the bloody sweat from my face? Bring them thy- self from the farther land. I may not enter the nearer land to ease mine own self till thou hast passed the gate, for thou hast bound my body to the gate supports by the network of thy weakness. I plead not for release, but that thou shouldst bring me the 'kerchief and oil, — bring them thyself. 22 BE MERCIFUL TO GOD POOR, weak and fickle, blind and feeble human soul, not even fully born, yet daring and defying God in ignorance of the effects of sacrilege so heedlessly committed. The vaults of Heaven echo with the calls of the re- leased who fain would draw me from thee, saying, "What is this man to thee that thou shouldst sacrifice thyself for him"? Yet all the treasures of the myriad spheres which jostle mine can never yield to me what I M'ould lose in losing thee. ]Man cries to God for pity in his hour of trial, but never sees that God might even cry to man for pity in an hour when in his cowardice, his faithlessness and in ignorance man opens wide the door of Hell and leaps therein in his mad search for that he never yet has earned — the peace of all fulfilment — and so compels the Christ, the first born son of God, to enter Hell again, and yet again. The loss of hand or foot will often send a man despairing to his tomb; yet man will tear a])art the heart and limbs and body of his God, by tearing faith and love and mercy from his soul, — the body of his God, — and not perceive his cruelty until too late to stay his hand. Be merciful to God, thou son of man, and God will mercy find for thee, in that dark hour when all alone thou standest forth to meet the Dweller on the Thresh- old of the future, and battle for thy right to live again as Man. 24 THE FACE OF CHRIST THROUGH all the long, long day, at morn and noon and night, ^ve cry to Thee, Thou Christ of God. At morn we hail Thee King and build a throne and seat Thee there; by noon we tear Thee down, deny that we have ever known Thee, and, ere falls the night, with fulsome flattery or jest we plant the kiss of foul betrayal on Thy lips, and cowardly or stupidly stand by and see Thee nailed upon the cross. And Thou, each day that we in turn do crucify Thee afresh, dost look into our eyes with tenderness, compas- sion, yet in sorrow past all telling; and nevermore while life and reason last, may we forget those eyes of Thine, those limpid pictures of the woes of all the world, nor fail to recognize that one wherein is limned the part that we have played in all that anguished woe. Ah, human race! how great the price which day by day is paid again and yet again to raise each unit of the mass to heights where it may see the face of Christ in every human eye, and understand that only by a brother's need, a sister's pain, can one in justice gauge the helj) which should be given. 25 MY "LITTLE ONES" GENTLE, tender, obedient, fit dwellers for the habitations of light, — though now wandering in wild jungles where herd the human beasts of prey, or through the stony by-ways which thy brothers have prepared for thy weary feet, in ignorance of the law of final retribution; — to thee and such as thee, w^ould I speak a word of promise. Though thine head be now bowed low ; though thine heart pulsate with the thud of the fallen stone, though thy feet are torn and bleeding, — yet shall the weight of thy brother's sin be lifted from thy neck, the blood once more course through thy veins with the bounding life of the days of thy youth; and I, even I, will cast aside the stones from thy path and deliver thee from the power of the human beasts of prey. Thou shalt be led to altars set on high, where thou mayest give thanks for the glory shed upon thy life; and power shall be given thee to reach down thy hand and help thy fallen brother to thine own side on the mountain-top. 26 THE DELIVERER WILL nothing, life or death, the lonehness of the wilderness, the screams of the mob, the heights or the depths, open the eyes of the skeptic to the truth? From the first gleam of light thrown on the law of gravitation; from the first observation of the moon's influence on the tides, life and law have been pouring out streams of corroborative evidence to every open mind, to the fact that "like seeks like," and seeks that it may kill, and kills that it may raise to higher fields of action, that which it kills. In terror, in despan*, or for the sake of self-indulgence, man casts away the only prop that can possibly hold him safely to the Path, — his faith in God — the ultimate Good, and refuses to see that only by the pain he suffers, the sacrifice he is com- pelled to make, (whether he will or nay), his sorrow, repentance and final surrender, can he grow toward God and can gain full Illumination. Like as every grain of sand, leaf of tree, sense or organ of body has developed by stress and strain, and all that action of life which impells to stress and strain and consequent suffering, so it is that all the best in man can only groAv by suffering; and yet the slightest pain, the least sacrifice, the faintest trace of coming sorrow will arouse the demons in his nature to activity, and they will force him to yield them all of their de- 27 THE DELIVERER CONTINUED sires (however hard the blows he strikes at their behest must fall upon some other suffering soul) ; until the hour of his deliverance has come. If all the power he arouses at the call of those demoniacal forces might be turned in the right direction, the pain would vanish, the sacrifice become joy past telling, the desire for self-indulgence change to spiritual satisfaction, but Fear, the paralyzer, seizes him in its grip and only requires a breath of suspicion to cause him to relinquish his power and all that he has hitherto beheved in or hoped for. Make way for the Deliverer. Enthrone the power of Endurance. 28 THE HEART OF A WORLD TREAD softly, my child; breathe lightly, mine own. The sacred place of a breaking heart hath power to bow down the heads of Angels, to hush the wild shrieks of the Demons, and hold e'en the Ham- mer of Thor suspended in space when the last fretted strand is parting. Be still, little ones, you are standing today on most holy ground, for the INIother-heart of a world is break- ing, and with it thy Father's heart. The Devas are raising the altar, and gathering the incense, grain by grain, as 'tis wrung from the sweat of despairing Souls; and the stars are clearing a path through the heavens that the Holy Fire may descend and kindle the Living Sacrifice of broken and contrite hearts. In the smoke of its burning the "seeing" eye may descry a vision of Law fulfilled and of Love, re- deemed from bondage to sense, enthroned forevermore. Go softly, be silent my child. Behold, and listen! 29 THE WHEEL OF TIME Restless, Unsatisfied, Faithless Children: — KNOW ye that no power can stop the Wheel of Time to which I as well as thou art bound se- curely by fetters of our own forging? The more thou strainest at the fetters, the more they will cut into thy quivering nerves and flesh. By twisting thy tor- tured form to catch a glimpse of some other way which thou thinkest may haply lie on the other side of the Wheel, thou dost only succeed in crushing thy head between the spokes. Will ye leave me again as ye have so oft before, to bear the burden of your woe alone, while you go back to the slimy depths of the under-world amid the creep- ing things that weave their webs of Lust, Avarice and Selfishness about you — till ye are helpless in their meshes, and bound more helplessly than ever upon that Wheel from which ye seek release? O that my words were arrows that they might pierce your hardened hearts, — that my thoughts were flames of love that they might kindle the dead embers on the cold altars of vour souls! 30 SPIRITUAL BIRTH LET NOT weariness of flesh or travail of Soul plunge you into sloughs of despair or discourage- ment. Ye cannot yet behold the dawn of new life — the fruition of your long travail. Know ye not that the spiritual man cometh to birth in the silence, coldness and darkness of the Soul's mid- winter, as doth the new life of the tree which seemeth cold and dead, whilst within the shelter of trunk and branch a new life-stream is rising, which shall bring forth healing and beauty when the long winter be passed? Think ye the future foliage, flower and fruit hath knowledge of the newly risen life-stream which is to bring them forth from the unseen, the unmanifest? It is ever he who is willing to lose his life that shall find it. The pure life-stream which sprang forth from Infinity may be dammed up by willful evil, and made a receptacle for vile refuse, the flotsam and jetsam of human infirmities, and can only be clarified by pain, anguish and toil. Tear down thine own peculiar dam, whate'er it cost thee, that the stream — purified by thy toil and suffer- ing — may again flow back to its source, bearing on its bosom thy cargo of experience, and receiving in re- turn the impulse to new life, new birth. 31 THOU WANDERER COME back to me, my child! Thou wanderer — come, ere falls the night of life, and all enwrapped with shadows dense thou canst not see the way. As deep hath called to deep across the centuries of time, so have I called to thee, and in thine egotistic blindness every path save one, — the right one — draw- eth thee afar from me, and I must fain stand still and see thee go to certain sorrow. The star which draws thee now is not the liome thou seekest, nor canst thou reach the nearer star where I now stand, unless thou now wilt take my hand and let me lead thee home. I do not threat thee, child of mine, but with my soul in arms against thy foes, I plead with thee to turn thy back on all the voices of the night, and though it be on sharpened rocks which pierce thy feet, retrace thy steps — come back to me. 32 THE HOMAGE OF THE HEART TIllXK not to gird the laurel leaves of earthly fame upon the brow of him whom countless hosts of Light hail, "Victor!" in Life's lists. What careth he for things — for sense illusions? Purified by fire, bereft of pride, what king of earth or angel of the skies hath power to lead him to the throne where jNIaha Deva awaiteth his appearance? Alone, unheralded, he came upon the screen of time ; alone he lived and died ; alone he must ascend the steps — the spheres strewn with the vanquished and the slain of long past ages. Each hard fought vantage ground he wins gives footing to another who hard beset doth follow; each plunge into the stream which flows from Maha Deva's head doth shower with cleansing drops some other weary soul too weak to reach their source. The homage of thine heart alone will strengthen him for future battles with the hostile dAvellers on "The Path" who fain would stop his way. Love imparteth strength for stern endurance and he may not lay down his arms and crown himself until you too stand by his side, a conquerer in truth. 33 TO THE NEOPHYTE TO ATTAIN tlie goal of perfection— that goal where the consciousness of mortal man identifies itself with all the purity, power and glory of the divine, the inner Self, — the candidate must pass through the Fires of Renunciation which alone can yield the Waters of Regeneration wherewith the sin- stained sheathes of Soul are purified. While passing- through the fires or struggling in the waters. Victory will seem unattainable. A silence, vast, deep, incomprehensible, comes over the neophyte wlien the supreme test of patient endur- ance of pain and suffering is at an end; his arms clasp but empty air as he raises them beseechingly to the Great Self for succor, for strength to bear the unut- terable loneliness that envelops and falls like a pall about him. But it will pass, aye, pass it must, and in the peace that succeeds each hard won fight, there comes a sense of knowledge and power unspeakable — the guerdon of the travailing soul. The indescribable sadness which invariably follows each successful battle with the lower self is natural ; for as the candidate mounts each rung of the ladder of sentient life, he must grope around in the darkness for the next rung upon which to place his weary feet, until the eye of the soul is able to see — beyond the darkness — the star that shines overhead, the Star of Initiation. 34 THY STAR AND MINE WHEREFORE pourest thou forth streams of wrath upon thy brother's head — when amidst the flashing gems that deck the Mantle of the Gods, he finds a single one more })eautiful to his simple vision than all the starry host that thou dost worship? But for a difference in degree, the same light shin- eth through each and all — the same hand guideth all. The brilliant galaxy might w^ell blind a too sensitive eye, when the mild beams of a single star in an azAire field, would fall with tender blessings into depths where soul sight yet was holden. Rejoice with him that he hath seen even the first glimmer of light, and whisper to thine own lieart: "Be still." The King hath many crowns, each of different hue and guise. The one he gives to me would ill become mv Lord— the Warrior of the Skies. 35 RENUNCIATION IT IS not by renouncing the thing of lesser value nor those pleasures whose edges have become dulled to the cloyed senses, that the narrow path to the Gods is made plain. That path lies hidden within thine heart and many tendrils of intense desire must ruth- lessly be torn apart ere its golden portals be disclosed. Do not think that any unselfish effort for others is ever lost or wasted. As the rose attracts, holds, and then gives forth its life in terms of fragrance and beauty, so does the aroma of every true, unselfish act ascend as sw^et incense to the footstool of the Gods — to return with added power as blessings for humanity. "He that loseth his life shall find it," for it is only by renunciation, only by waiting in the darkness when there is no light, until the Way opens and the shadows disappear, bearing the pain, loving the causer of the pain, that the light from the great Father-love can break through the Christ to thee, thou child of Christ. On the first mount thou shalt find a Cross; on the second mount, thy Transfiguration. 36 THE BIRTH OF THE SOUL WHEN Eros, the Star of Love, flashes a gleam of hght into the hidden chamber of the heart, it stirs to hfe and action the sleeping Soul therein. With tender touches Love plumes the pinions of the Soul for flight to some other point in space where yet another Soul, lost in slumber, awaits its coming — for Love alone can bring the Soul to birth. Ye daily clasp the hand and gaze into the eyes of soulless beings. But too often the riven casket alone remains to mark the spot where once dwelt the Splen- dor of God— driven thence by lack of sustenance: for the Soul hath need of daily food no less than hath the body. That which imparts life, sustains life— and Love is Life. 37 THE FRUIT OF THE TREE THE Wisdom apj^les of the Tree of Life hang high on the topmost boughs, and only he who has won the power of far-reaching and strength for high climbing; only he who can keep his head cool and clear and his feet from slipping, can pluck and eat of that fruit. It is the daily food of the Gods and only the God- like man, armed with a purified will, can prevail over the Dragon that eternally guards the roots of that tree. On its lower branches hang the silver apples of Knowledge, and he who hungers for that fruit must pluck it with the hand of Experience, gained through ceaseless search for hidden causes in the hearts of people and things. He must find and destroy the worm of self coiled in the core of the apple he has plucked, and win the soul power of discrimination for by that alone can he find the Seed — the matrix wherein is accomplished the birth of Hermes, or Wisdom. 38 CHILDREN OF LIGHT FREEi born children of Light, what have ye to do with darkness? Darkness, the distorted offspring of Hate and Pride ; darkness, the illusive ensnarer, the bertayer of mind, the glamor which blinds and leads into hopeless captivity the struggling soul; then leaves it to beat its tender wings against gross form until exhausted it sinks into apathy or despair. Ye are Gods ! Death hath no power over ye, condi- tions cannot bind ye; ye are Masters of Destiny if ye so will. Rulers over divine kingdoms. No God, no devil can banish ye from it or wrench it from ye — but alas! ye may renounce it by refusing to rule in right- eousness and peace. Ye are beyond the law for ye are Spirit, and Spirit is liberty, but mark ye. Liberty is not License, it is self- surrender, selflessness, unity, while License begets separateness, the great heresy. Lay not thine head in the dust of the earth, for so the armies of the Shadow shall trample ye under foot. Go forward with faith and lo! the serried ranks of the Hosts of Light shall encompass ye, and together ye shall win in the battle of the ages. The Christ shall lead thee, He who holdeth the hearts of men in his keeping and will not let them go, thine own true self, the AVarrior of Light. 39 THE EARTH-BORN GOD REASON'S votaries — blind leaders of the blind — shepherdless sheep, straying in barren, waterless wastes, in treacherous quagmires; making dwel- ling places at the foot of fiery mountains, at the mercy of the Demons who are but sleeping, or in the beds of old rivers, the waters of which shall once more return and overflow their banks; — know each of you, that the wild beasts of the forests, the hzards sunning them- selves on thy thresholds, interpret the signs of the times far better than thou — thou who hast enthroned earthly reason, and cast down the God of ancient Wisdom, — thou who hast set on high the darkness of the lower mind and quenched the Light of Intuition! The wild beast fleeth from the ])ath of the storm; thou seekest that path upon which to build thy resting place; nor canst thou flee if thou wouldst, for thou hast weighted thy feet with the lead of possessions, and art caught — as it were — in a net of things. What boots it to thee that a warning voice from the mountain top rings out again and again; thou canst hear but the clink of Gold in the Market place and the beguiling voice of thine earth-born God — human rea- son. 40 THE WINE OF LIFE LISTEN, My Beloved:— Pour not with lavish hand upon the earth the wine of life, — that sparkling draught thy mother Maia gave thee at hirth for strength and succor 'gainst thine hour of need. The dregs that remain within the cup art but vile refuse, unfit to feed gross swine upon, though still may- hap retaining some faint flavor of the wasted wine. And if too vile too feed to swine,— how canst thou offer such a gift to God, or lay it on Life's stone of sacrifice ? To the pure heart, all things in heaven and earth are pure; and if thine heart be pure, the cup of wine will overflow and turn to streams of light while still within thy grasp, carrying life and healing on their waves far down the distant centuries of time. 41 THE GUERDON OF HUMILITY HEARKEN unto me, thou who standest with straightened neck in the path of the coming Tempest, the powers of which are seeking to equihbrate the varied forms of life-forces thou hast called into action. Bend low thine head, lest the Daemons, the Satel- lites of the Storm King strike at thine eyes and destroy thy clear vision, — and thou canst not find the path which leadeth to safety. Pride ever precedeth destruction. Only when thou hast gained the guerdon of true humility canst thou stand erect in safety, — for then only hast thou power to don the Armor of sure protection — the Armor of Compassion. 42 THE LOVE DIVINE CAN the Rose tree burst into bloom if turned downward in the earth? Can the Coral Polyp attach its reef to the clouds of the air? Can Water freeze in the path of the Electric bolt? Xo more can man live without love. Xo more can man attain his full spiritual growth away from the rays of the Sun of Righteousness, the warmth of Infinite Love, than he can attain to phys- ical perfection if shut away from light and air. From that love emanated the first impulse of his being; in it must eventually be absorbed the last. He may exist for a time in ignorance of that love, but he will not realize what life means, — for to such, only a cold negative existence is at most possible on earth, and a hopeless looking forward to final annihilation ; for with- out Love tliere is no life either here or hereafter. 43 THE BIRD OF LIFE THINKEST thou, child of my soul, to climb the steep path to thy Father's home with thy feet weighted with the viscid mud of the under- world? Thinkest thou to reach thy Father's heart by means of the power thou hast filched from thy weaker brother — or that thou canst reach Love's heights through Ha- tred's depths? Build thou a nesting place in thy broth- er's love, and the overshadowing wings of the Bird of Life will cover both thee and him. If thou buildest elsewhere, the tierce talons of the Bird will tear asunder and scatter the fragments of that nest to the four winds of heaven; then shalt thou be left homeless and com- fortless, and thy brother sad and lonely, for thou hast robbed him of that which is his by right of the divine brotherhood which dwelleth within his heart as well as witliin thine own. 44 THE ARMOR OF FAITH IF THY nearest and dearest friend stand in its path, the same snake that strikes its poisonous fangs into thy tender flesh, will strike at thy friend with redoubled power gained through the life blood thou hast unwittingly yielded up. Protect thy friend, as well as thyself, by clothing thyself with the impenetrable armor of implicit faith. A single snowflake, carelessly rolled amidst others of its kind, exposed to rain, and left to the power of the Ice King for a time, will make a missile with which thou may est fell a giant. A careless gesture, a thoughtless word rolled amidst others of like character, exposed to the wither- ing blasts of a foul mind, may strike down and cripple the soul thou lovest best. 45 LOVE'S CONQUEST Pl'^ACK and Power come swiftly to the man who hfteth his sister from the depths of her despair, to i)lant her feet on the first step of the ladder of Renunciation. The Law of Compensation will one day set his feet on the highest step of that same lad- der — the step that leadeth to the door of the Inner Sanctuary. AVoe and Ketri})ution fall swiftly upon the head of that woman, who, to enhance her own value in the eyes of the one her eyes are fixed upon, wantonly de- stroys his trust in the honor of another. The murdered trust will arise from its tomb in mighty power to avenge the wrong. With joy and gladness shining as the gems of a coronet upon their placid brows ; with feet shod with the sandals of full reparation; — upward, always upward, passeth the two made one, who have vanquished their deadliest foe, and raised from its ashes the Peace of Purity, — who have built in their hearts a nesting place for the Bird of Love, and opened their ears to the mys- tery and splendor of the Song of Life, — that joyous song, the first sweet notes of which break down for- ever the. wall of separation between two souls, uniting them in the single stream that floweth ever onward to the Ocean of Tufinitv. 46 THE PATH OF DUTY WOULDST thou turn thy face away from thine earthly love at the bidding of another? If so, thou art not worthy of that love. How much less worthy then art thou of spiritual love, if so be thou fleest from the path of duty at the behest of another who hath not even won the power to discern the path wherein he himself might most per- fectly unfold. How much less power, then, hath he to guide thee aright. 47 LIFE'S OPPORTUNITIES LIFE'S opportunities, like angel visitants, pass swiftly, silently, — and if we fail to catch the first faint echo of their coming footfalls, or, all un- trained to action swift, we fail to seize and force them to reveal their hidden power, their passing is for aye. They are tlie spans hy which our lives are measured — a ladder straight and long — with one step leading into Heaven, and yet another reaching down to Hell, — the mile stones 'twixt our puny littleness and the measureless largeness of God. 48 THE HARP OF INFINITY FORGET not, child of my heart, that thou art a builder of worlds: — that millions uncreate await but the touch of thy fingers on the strings of the Harp of Infinity to sirring into being as Paeans of Victory and Life, or discords Satanic, which needs must end in evil and death. Strike full clear tones, that thy place may be opened in the Choir of Heaven. 49 AS YE SOW HE WHO dips his pen in the bitterness of gall and wormwood and therewith destroys the peace of his brothers, by the same act opens the latent centers of poison in his ow^n aura, l)ringing upon him- self disease and spiritual degeneracy. The pen will turn to a sword which, though it pass through his broth- er's heart, will lie embedded in his own at last. 50 THE SOUL OF SONG WOULDST thou, Musician, sing the Song of Life, in tones that gods and men may hear and, hearing, thrill with rapture? Then thou must, by long and patient plodding, strive to reach the inner- most recess of every congery of force — of every thing and being, and reaching it, to make thyself a part of it. Thou canst not sing a tone of it aright if separated from the Soul which is its life ; for, rising, falling, swell- ing with an agony of bliss, the tone called forth from hidden places, responds in fullness only to a soul more hungry than itself; and called by such an one it rushes forth and intermingling with that other Soul it rises in a glorious burst of sound too fine, too strong, for mortal ears to hear and bear. 51 THE GOAL AS POIXTETH the mariner's needle to the white Star of the Xorth, however the waves of the ocean swell or the winds of heaven roar, so must thou point thy will to the Star of thine ambition. In- stability and change may be thy brother's pleasure, but they should find no place in one whose feet are strongly set upon the Path of God. Ah! take thou thought, set thine ambition high. Love and Peace will be worth infinitely more to thee than myriads of lesser prizes, however brightly their reflected light may glow before thine earthlv eves. 52 MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES POOR, desperate, self-tortured Human Heart; large with the largeness of God, narrow as the path of eternal hfe! Selfishly grasping the straws of life for thine own glory, carelessly sacrificing thy Royal inheritance, unwitting that such sacrifice is the crown of thy life-series of mistakes. Blind, yet having the power of infinite perception; dumb, yet possessing the sweetness of Angel tongues or the virulence of Demon speech. Mystery of Mysteries art thou; truly, thy name is Legion, thy nature Incomprehensible. 53 WING THY HEART HOME WING thy Heart home, thou wanderer in desert places. Though needles of sharp cacti pierce thy feet, and scorching sands fill thine eyes; though not a living thing speak thee guidance, yet shalt thou find the path and keep it to the journey's end. For where the heart hath found surcease, there must perforce the weary body follow. So, once again, I say, wing thy heart home, mine own. 54 THE CHILD OF LOVE WHEN your gratitude to me becomes a subject for reasoning — when you can convince your- self that you have earned or deserve that which has been given you in love, — then have you thrown down the Angel of Selfishness and set up an Idol to Self. As gushes forth the spring of water over the thirsty soil, heedless of where its drops may fall, delighting, revelling, in its power to give, even to the uttermost, so gushes from the heart of the child of love, pure grati- tude. 55 GOD'S THOUGHT AH, LITTLE one! God's latest thought. Ah soul reborn on earth from infinite domains! dost think thou camest hence thyself; hence to a world of woe? God thought thee into being; winged thy soul with love and sent thee on the way to find those other thoughts of His — thy brother men, and intermingling with them, form a pool wherein the Light which lights all the world mav be reflected. 56 LOVE'S ABODE MV LITTLE, ones, sit ye here with me in the twihght, while peace falls as a curtain over the turmoil of the day. Let the softly whispered "Hush!" of earth and sky fall on your inner ears as your heads are bent for the benison of the brooding Spirit of Rest. I, too, w^ould speak to thee, weary foot- sore traveler o'er stony places and desert sands. I have seen thine ujDlifted hands, have heard the low cry which passed unheeded by those most near, most dear, to you, and would say again and yet again — seek not surcease from pain and longing in the haunts of men, the hearts of women, for it is not there. Dig deep through the encrusted layers of your own souls till you find the spot which Love hath chosen for its dwelling place — the nesting place of the Infinite. Ah, well I know the tale is trite and old. Too oft hath it fallen on unheeding ears. But it is ever new to some sad soul, and when you have found that spot, it will be all things to you, for it holds the Key to the beginning and end of thy travail, — to the unspeakable heights and depths of the manifest Universe, — the glory of the Shekinah — the crown of thine own and all other lives. 57 THE TAIL OF THE DRAGON THE tail of the Dragon is coiled about the Star of Destiny. Down, down through the fields of space — through the ranks of the Rishis is that Star now (h-awn. Howl, ye sons of ^len, ye Daughters of Earth! War, Panic, Desolation cometh upon you. In the market-places will ye cry, "Xine loaves of bread for a penny," and there will be none to take. Ye call upon the Lord with your lips and defile His image with your hands! Ye dash down the cup of Life from the lips of your brethren, and will not drink thereof yourselves! Ye call out "Liar, Thief, xVdulterer!" while ye are liars, thieves, adulterers. Ye are thieves, for ye steal the fair fame of your brethren; ye are adulterers, for ye cohabit in lust of mind and eye, and l)ring forth spawn of Hell for your brethren's corruption. Ye seek a sign and are blind to the signs ye have received. Liars and hypocrites, who sit in high places! the Dragon will bring you low. Your measure is all but full, and Mercy draweth close the veil over her face till your times are fulfilled. 58 ROUSE YE! POOK, pett}^ figment of matter enmeshed in mud of thine own making! Ye would draw down the stars to minister to your puhng cries! Ye ask, but will raise no hand to receive the offered gift! Ye listen, and hear naught but the echo of your piping voices. Cowards! Renegades from the battle of life — unworthy the great sacrifice offered you! Ye turn and run from a kitten's claws into the mouth of a hungry wolf! Unstable as water, fickle as wind, neither Heaven nor Earth hath room for you — while in truth, ye lay back on your earthy oars in pitiable self-suffici- ency and cry "Ho, Comrade! Behold how great a man I am!" Rouse ye! Mount as have mounted the suns now circling in motion swifter than thought in yonder vaults! Shine as doth shine those flaming thoughts of God that people the aisles of Heaven; for ye are of God, and all power is yours if ye seek aright! 59 WHICH OF THE THREE? HO! Soldiers of the Grand Army of the Great White Lodge! Know ye not, the War of the Ages is on? The warriors are hning up for battle. Where do ye belong? Are ye warriors of Light or of Darkness? Are ye banner men of true and loyal heart, or are ye cowards, traitors? Can ye grasp and hold the colors, the words of truth brought to you under fire, bind them on the hilts of your swords, emblazon them on the ban- ners ye bear, and stand forth to battle for them with the natural foe of your common humanity? Go, with the Rallying Cry of the Red Ray on your lips, the light of high purpose flashing from your eyes, ready to do or to die, as seemeth best, upon tluit field above which soars the gage of battle — the Soul of man! Or will ye steal from the ranks while the war cry is sounding, kill the bearer of the Orders, seize and hide the message in your own selfish hearts until ye find a safe i-etreat wherein, secure from other eyes, ye may gloat over it as misers o'er their gold, under the delusion that ye are saving your souls alive? Will ye join in the din and strife of the battle, raise your voices to stifle the moans of your comrades, reck- lessly trample the wounded 'neath your feet, pile up the bodies of the slain to cover your retreat to the enemy's ranks, all unknowing the fate that is closely following your steps? 60 WHICH OF THE THREE? The grains of corn now in process of grinding by Nemesis, flow fine as mist into the bins the avenger has built and the blood of the slain in battle will yield 230wer for the milling. To which of the three divisions dost thou l)elong? I ask thee. Thee — each in turn, enlisted soldiers of the Army of the Great White Lodge, thou must answer the question. Thine own soul makes demand and will not be denied. 61 LOVE THE AVENGER GODS iiuiy thuiuler, xViigels may whisper, "thou shalt not," "1 pray thee not" to awakened pas- sion in tlie human heart, yet the glamour cast by elemental fiends over tlie mind of men and women, first narcotizes, then drives them on, on to satisfaction and satiation, and finally into hells of their own mak- ing, such as devils might envy them the power to make. For God — Love — is a jealous God. In so far as God is jealous, he is jealous for Love's sake, for Love is higher than any God conceived by mortal mind; and Love betrayed by passion surely bringeth vengeance upon the betrayer — venegance that will eat the heart, as worms may eat the vitals of tlie dead. Passion grati- fied at the expense of Love — illicit love — will turn to gall within the human breast and embitter life, at every turn, and worst of all, it will destroy the very marrow in the bones of the soul. It will leave a man or woman without a vestige of self-respect, and in place of the self-respecting man there M'ill arise a prating effigy, a simulacrum, a thing without a soul. Stretch out your trembling fingers, ye passion- tossed of tlie world. Twang the strings of that harp of the soul, until it has lost the pure tone that the Angels of the Throne attuned it by, if ye Avill, and then quiver in agony at the harsh discords your fingers will thereafter draw from that dishonored harp. You must play u])on it whether you will or nay, and the key-note by which its strings might be attuned is beyond your reach, if liove has been abased, and vengeance has fallen. 62 LOOK DEEP CHILD of Earth, look deep! The scum of a pool always rises to the surface. Be not deceived by that which lieth close at hand, but search the si- lent, waveless depths beneath, wherein lies thy peace. 63 GOD STILL LIVES AROUSE thee! thou who sittest in the darkness. Bestir thyself and weep, if smiles are no more possible. Better far that thou shouldst moisten thy parched soul with tears, than brood o'er vanished joys in silence and despair. The future yet remains un- tried — and God still lives. Inaction breeds despair, which, like all other life- less things, must quickly he entombed, ere like a poison- ous plant it shall destroy all life within its sphere. 64 THE LIGHT OF PEACE HE WHO i^repareth a place for me, to him will I come in peace. Light from on high shall shed its radiance o'er his dwelling place, and he shall lie down in sheltered places. Darkness shall flee away, as fleeth the conscience-smitten from the law, and the glory of righteousness shall deck his form as with a garment sewn with precious gems. 65 COME FORTH! C031E forth from your hiding places, ye whom Lucifer hath frighted! Know ye not that dark- ness and the hght of day can never dwell to- gether in one place ? And ye did seek the darkness, and tiie peace of nonfulfilment when the demon Fear as- sailed and sandaled you with coward's gear. Light is fire, and fire will burn; but better far for thee the burn, the pain, the longing, than dark- ness and the ease it brings; whicli, wliile it soothes to sleep, will steal thy crown of life and hide it where thou canst not seek, then softly laugh, when thou, with outstretched arms, art wandering midst the outer s])heres, a formless, shadowy thing, bereft of name, of liome. of all but semi-consciousness. 66 A NEW CYCLE THE eventide of a cycle has passed and the rays of the morning sun of a new cycle are tinging the horizon of your lives. Whate'er of shadow still remains in memory's vaults, will iielp to soften the aftermath of the high noon days to come, and serve as a screen on which to limn the outlines of a higher ideal than those you have pictured in former days, if so be you have gained the Spiritual Will that can wield the brush of pure Desire aright. But. Beloved, bear well in mind the note of warning I now sound — never dip that brush in the heart's blood of another human being. That blood would darken and spread o'er the form you limned till naught but a dull, red smear would remain to mark its place. Witli brave, strong hand, dip the holy brush into the infinite depths of Love's sacrifice of Self, draw the lines straight and true by the rules of the Higher Self, and an Ideal will flash forth upon that screen of the Soul, too strong, too ])eautiful. mayhap, for other eyes than thine to bear, yet pregnant with a radiant stream of life that, lieing born, will reach and feed all starv- ing hearts witliin your spliere of touch. 67 THE ANGEL OF HEALING WOULDST thou court the Angel of Heahng for thy suffering friend? Then bring not gifts of sorrow's choosing, such as doth al- ready sore afflict thy friend; for so, the Angel first must heal thine own infirmity ere passing to thy friend, for in the bringing, thou hast bound the gifts so close about thy form, they can no more be separate from thee until the healing Angel's touch hath struck thy fetters down and set thee free. 68 MAN WALKING shadows of things that might have been ; potential forms of things that are to be, — God and man in one. Paradox supreme art thou, amidst a universe of paradoxes. Creatures of an hour, fast digging graves with your own hands your forms must fill. Angels of eternity fast build- ing thrones your souls will grace. Who can measure your heights or sound your depths, thou mystery of mysteries? 69 VEILS OF THE SOUL CHILDREN mine, with iiiinds so like as yet the gaseous state of this Dark Star, when, countless a?ons gone, the vapory, shifting masses sejiarated, and to all-seeing eyes disclosed a dazzling tongue of iiame, a softly shimmering light with here and there a peak or pinnacle of glowing fire, which hid a power unspeakahle. Aeons hence, a nearer balance will be struck between you and the world in which you live. The seeming vapory shadows veiling soul from soul, are in reality but background for the liglit concealed, a background upon which the vagaries, tlie dreams of man may fall. But tlie shades will lift and pass away forever when Light and Soul become again the One, as in the far away beginning. 70 LIFT UP YOUR HEADS CAN ye see the faint Hush of the daybreak, ye Children of Light? It hangeth low in the cos- mic darkness as yet, but eyes not holden may catch a gleam of its brightness, ears not dulled hear the clarion note in the distance. The Day Star is ris- ing, rising, rising, and, though sky and earth seem drenched with blood-red reflections— the first emana- tions of darkness — the golden light cometh to redeem, to sanctify, to bless the hard-pressed children of Maya. Lift up your heads, strengthen your weakened knees, bind closer the burdens ye bear, turn your eyes to the East, and watch, wait and work. 71 COME BACK COjME back to me, my children, wandering now in trackless wastes, without guide or compass save thy pride, thy self-sufficiency. Not e'en the sun in heaven can cut its deep wide swath alone, but needs must hold its place by power of other brighter suns. And thou, poor foolish one, because thou canst not always see a golden gleam of light upon the path I laid 'twixt thee and me, must darken more that path, that life, by all the pain and anguish thou canst lay upon it; and then, alas, cry out, there is no path, no light, no loving Father's hand to guide, to hold, to cheer amid the shadowy way of life, both you and I must tread, together or alone. 11 PRIDE FAR better were it for thee, would-be Child of the Stars, wert thou covered with the filth of sensuality, or the foul corruption of the market places, than that thou shouldst stand upon the heights of worldly power, and loudly cry unto thy brethren, *'Behold my virtue, bow to my accomplishments, bend low thy back that I may tread dry-shod the slimy pool in which thou art engulfed." The pride which strips thee of all likeness to the Blessed Ones, will drag thee lower far than lieth now the meanest of thv brethren. 73 ENTER THE PATH HEARKEN thou to the resonant voice of the Silence of Life, the voice of the Warrior hold which calleth to thee from the Place of Peace, powerfulh% pleadinglj^ bidding thee open thine ears, conquer thyself, make room in thine heart for the bloom of th}^ soul long budded, and wearying sore for the power of fruition — the power by which thou canst see my face, and grasp the sword I hold in my hand. The power of the self -born, the warrior bold, alone can open the close-shut door of the hidden garden of life, and shelter give to the sorely pressed of earth. Enter the Path; though the way may be rough, the end will bring thee power and peace and joy ])ast hu- man telling. 74 THE HOLY FLAME SONS of my soul, my tears, children of my tor- ment, why will ye not hasten to lay the wood and coals of fire upon the Seven Horns of mine Altar, that I may descend and bring again the Holy Flame to kindle them. 'Till ye lay wood and coals of fire upon the Seven Horns of mine Altar of your own free will, I must stand and wait. With all the loud voices of earth, sky and sea. I cry unto you, while ye but stand and gape at each other, and fill your ears, that ye may neither see nor hear when Kamsa steals that which is mine ow^n, and that which one dav ve would give a kingdom to possess. 75 CROSS AND CROWN CHILDREX mine, desperate hunted things, weak supine exhausted ones, tortured, tempted, stricken creatures. Hear me while yet I can speak to you. Passion crazed, you go from seeming flower to flower, knowing not, caring not that you go from hell to hell, and are so going because you have not yet the courage, the strength, the will, to look the demons of those hells in the face, grasp their throats, and FORCE them back into their strongholds. One among a thousand, a man or woman can see his or her only chance lies in "throttling the great Beast." As long as you can suffer a single qualm from the poi- son your friend has placed in your cup of life, as long as your enemy can find a tender spot on your exposed parts in which to plant a dagger, you are helpless, un- guarded. As long as a word, a look, a blow or a caress, can start the blood madly bounding through your veins, you are naught but tender nestlings, bound to be de- voured by man and beast. Hear me. Strive to learn to i.ove pain. Open your hearts to crucifixion, that you may so seek the Strength which is in truth vour Real Life. 76 THE LIGHT OF LIFE SENSATION'S offspring, child of Earth thou art, tliough wrapped in fold on fold of starry light. Thine outer vesture masks a spirit stronger far than that which holds it hound hut holds it only through its lack of love and power of sacrifice sul)lime, the love and sacrifice which is thy life, thine all. Regain the poise, the equilibrium wiiich held thy soul in balance true with all that lives and breathes; and which thou parted with in ignorance of all that foul ambition's curse would bring to thee and thy be- loved. Strike for the freedom which is thine by birth- right pure, and be no longer held by filmy threads which stay thy steps and will not let thee go. The light of Life is all about, within and over thee. Open wide the portal of thy soul and send that light, like blessed dew, upon thy brethren wandering now in parched and desert places. It will return to thee ten- fold the brighter, bringing on its waves the joy of life's fulfilment. But if thou hidest it, and w^ill not let it shine for others now in darkness, it will but focus all its power upon thy selfish heart, and only ashes will remain to tell the long sad tale. n A PROPHECY DRAWN by will of the Uaityas from the utter- most ends of Maya's realms, swiftly foregather the clouds in the Eastern sky, hiding the light of the sun from the holden eyes of men. "Ha! Ha!" laugh the Daityas, "no God, no servant of the Lahs can free the earthborn from our power, for we have o'ershadowed the source of their life; now can we stand and watch, while the brown and yellow slaves of our will w^reak vengeance on those who defy our power." Cry aloud, ye sons of earth, for the crashing of arms, the curses of the frenzied, the shrieks of the murdered, now ascend to the fast-barred gates of Devachan, and the Gods heed not, for the hour of judgment is not yet passed. But hold! the Purified comes, to ])iu-st asunder the chains that bind, to tear from their fastenings the bars of those gates. Then must awaken the Gods who sleep, for the new day will dawn. With swift flight will they come to the deso- lated earth; with their breath will they drive back the Daityas to their dwelling-place. They wnll open the inner and outer heavens, and pour down food and drink. They will })ind up the wounds of the smitten, and bring the Holy Fire for the Altars long defiled. Peace and contentment will dwell on the eartli for a thousand rounds. I^ove will conquer hate; and again, as of old, will the Gods dwell with man. 78 HOLD, AND LISTEN HO! YE who hunger and thirst for the enthroned "TRUTH;" and yet look backward longingly into the gulf ye leave, ere lifting foot to take an upward step: Ye hesitate, or dare not stir, lest ye should meet Truth's searching eye, and statid revealed unto yourselves. Ho! Coward, server of the god of Time, fouled with thy satiated lusts, and (huik with hell's fulfilled am- bitions — hold, and listen! Ho! Ye weary and faint-hearted, clutching in thine hand the emptied shell of that which held thy faith; too tired now to seek, too weak to reach Desire, sink- ing 'neath the weight the world hath lain on such as you: Listen all! to one who knows full well the thirst, the hunger and the heat; to one who knows, and once has waded blindly through the sloughs of sin. Listen ye to one who climbed the cross of earth's incessant woe, and nailed his body there for fellow men to smite; who drank the cup ye are too tired to lift, e'en to its dregs; who merged desire for death into desire for life, and made the cross a key to song immortal; to one who learned that even cowardice and shame might lea]) the gulf between the Hero and the slave by consecrated strife, and bind the wreath of all fulfilment on his brow. STRIKE OL^T— all ve who hear and heed! 79 CHRIST OR JUDAS? IS IT Christ or Judas! Ye who hold the scales of earthly power? Have ye yet chosen him whom ye would serve? Choose 3"e must! The time is close at hand. The breath of angels now is held against your choosing. The field of battle stretches far away, but ye are near the ever-living gage, — the gage of man's self-con- sciousness. With hand outstretched, betrayal graven on his face, stands he who ever at the break of day leaps forth to greet each coming soldier of the Christ, who wearied from his journey long and tedious, crazed wath longing for a draught from I^ethe's streams, too often falls beneath the spell, and wrapped in glamour of Satanic w^eaving, looks, and listens, falls — and dies. Art thou of that vast number, son of mine? Or canst thou see the Holy Grail I hold before thine eyes, and seeing, gird thyself and fall in line behind the King of Kings, to die a mortal's death, mayhap — but yet to live eternally with Christ? Will Christ or Judas hold thy mantle in the com- ing strife? Choose ve must — and NOW! THE GOD OF PAIN IF THOU dost choose to learn by pain alone, and turnest far thy face from me when with my gourd in hand I stoop to give thee drink from water sweet which trickles from the font where Knowledge and its sister Power in friendly rivalry do vie to give thee all thy soul demands, — then must I leave thee to the woe which wilful disobedience doth bring to human kind. The power of choice is thine, since the dawn of Kalpas past, the Arhats came to earth to dwell with man — in man ; and if thou heedest not the voice of those who speak thee fair, what is there left for them or me to do but wait until the God of Pain liath chastened thee. 81 THE KING COMETH HEAR ye the thunders of the Triple Six? Know 3'e not the hour of fulfilment is near at hand? Thrice hath INIerodach slain the vultures that tear at the heart of the Sun God, and again must he hend bow and spear ere his task be done, and the glory of the 666 be revealed unto man. Swifter than Hight of arrow cometh the Deliverer to break asunder the chains that bind, and free the cap- tive Prince. Xever again shall the fire of love be quenched with the waters of affliction, the trust of tender woman to be betrayed. Xever again shall the Father's pride in his well-beloved plunge him into outer dark- ness. The King cometli, and who shall prevail against him i THE HOLY ANGEL, LOVE TO DISGUISE the miry sloughs of human pas- sion, hatred, murder, teachery and deceit, man hath used the most sacred of all sacred words — Love; knowing naught of the Holy Angel which it designates; ignorantly fearing not its misused power, which yet is great enough to hold the stars in place and guide the myriad lives of earth to heavenly hliss and back again to earth. The darksomeness of blackest night is no more dense than is the mind that fails to see in Love, the tirst-born Son of (xod; clothed in the vesture of that power which manifests Devotion ]:>in'e and undefiled; the power which tears the gyves and fetters from the limbs of all the human race, and sets it free from bondage to the Wheel of Time. 83 MAKE CLEAN THINE HEART O LITTLE man! O, foolish man! Webbed in the illusive changing scenes about thee, or rooted in the lowest sphere of human fear and passion, thou dost elect by means of potent Will to there remain — content and useless. Back into the faces of the Gods, thou throwest life's great opportunities untried, and draweth close the veil of ignorance around thee. Why trample under foot the seven-stringed Lute through which compassion's low sweet tone may stir thy soul to loftier deeds and aims? Why breathe a film of foul corruption o'er the Lens through which alone the light of Truth may fall on thee? Hast thou not heard the lime grows not on a thorn tree, nor yet a fig on a thistle? Make clean thine Heart, that so the sun- kissed heights of Love may image there the Soul that long hath watched o'er thee — that patiently awaits thine hour of waking. 84 THY HERITAGE THINKEST thou the strength thou usest is thine because of merit won, or is the guerdon of thy labor? Then put away the thought, it ringeth false; for only is it thine by reason of thy unity with all that lives. Yet must thou labor with all diligence from early morn 'till close of day, that thou mayst add to that great sum of all the labor done by Gods and men, by means of which thy heritage, thy greater strength, is won, and will remain for rightful use, 'till life's long day is ended. 85 THE DRAUGHT OF LETHE LOW have you fallen, sons of my Son, who in his greatness cast away the offered gift of endless peace, to win the right to say, "I A^I." For ye would spurn the gift so hardly won by Him, ere ye would suffer pain of body or of soul, and often clutch with greedy hands the cup which holds the draught of Lethe, brewed and offered you by aliens to that Sun of Light who brought self-consciousness to man. S6 THE PLACE OF PEACE WHY trouble your hearts and waste your precious time by dwelling on the evil done by those who wish you harm? Know you not that you lie in hands which have the power to hold you safe, and naught can compass you to your eternal hurt, save by your will? A gnat can minister to your discomfort only as you fix your mind upon it or the wound it leaves. Find the "Place of Peace," and friends and enemies alike will be but added blessings, for both will speak to you of God— the one of Love, the other of Forgive- ness. 87 THE PATH GO! Go quickly, to the place prepared for thee, False Fiend of Selfish Lust — disguised in Plea- sure's changeful robes. Wouldst even thou drag down the "little ones" of Christ, into the slimy ooze where thou dost dwell, abhorred of God and man, that thou mayst rob them of all power, all purpose and all strength, and render them fit devotees and ministers to thee? Strike! strike hard and fast — Renunciation, Pain, Ye Angels of the Arch of Heaven! Let loose the Keys fast clasj^ed by hand to breast — Compassion's Keys — to all the heights, to all the starry corridors where dwells our Lord, and where awaiteth He the advent of His chosen. There the work for which past anguish hath prepared them, is pointed out by Him. None other hath the power to mark the way. for none but Christ hath climbed Transfiguration's heights and bridged the gulf of Hades' hate, to open wide "The Path." 88 TO THE DEAD IN LIFE AGAIN and again falls the hammer of tlie Gods, and the throbbing tones of the Anvil ring true on liearts that hear. Blow follows blow on "The Iron Wheel" hot with the blast of the outraged Law. Higher and yet higher rise the flying sparks, tilling the heavens with fiery streams which descend as scourges of pestilence, famine and flame. Pile up your dead, ye dead in life. Hide them from view, lest their mangled forms cry vengeance upon you ; then stand on their shallow graves, if ye can, and crj!^: "Great are we earthborn sons of Desire; Giants of Power, of Finance and Fame. Hasten! ye slaves of our dominant wills, cover the archives, the records, which prove we be passion-bred bastards of lustful de- sire for lands and silver and gold!" The stench of your evil poisons the air, and only blue flames from the hidden fires can render it fit for the breathing of those who come on the wings of the morn- ing light to offer to fallen man the grip of the Lion's Paw. Go on ! Go on to the end, for ye will not hear. In thirst for Power, ye have blinded your eyes and ye can- not perceive ye are objects of scorn — butts for the play and the laughter of fiendish Jinns, who blind and de- ceive, who set wary traps into which ye trip, who glee- fully laugh at the steel-ribbed vaults ye have crossed and recrossed with the currents of doom. Again and again has the message gone forth: again and again doth the ^Master cry: "As a hen doth gather her chickens, and foldeth them under her wings, so would I gather ye, but ye will not heed." 89 COMPASSION IF HUMAN life with all its bitter experiences hath not yet taught you Compassion's first sweet law, hath not yet awakened true discrimination from its long sleep, attaining to knowledge of hidden things will be a curse past telling. 90 THE CROSS OF FIRE WOULD you shut your hearts against me that I may not enter in and bless you? — then turn away from him who seeketh you in time of need. Since Fohat crossed the Circle with his flaming torch hath Life called unto Life for sustenance — sup- port in time of stress. The law which drove that mighty Angel forth to cross one line of life upon another, will drive you back to nothingness, if you persist in flouting it. 91 THINE OWN SEE ST thou not, O son of man, thou dost create the good thou behevest in with thine whole heart, even as thou dost crush the good thou doubtest? How then canst thou cry "unjust" when evil obstructs thine own path to the footstool of the Gods, and good removes all obstructions from thy brother's path? Thine own will some day meet thine eyes as truly as the morrow's sun will grace the heavenly vault. 92 ILLUSION'S FLAMES A CHILD may not play with Rackshasa's flames and go unscathed; the false light of the fires which that Dttmon doth kindle and flash into human eyes, doth hut serve to hide the mouth of a yawn- ing pit. Better far the steady hght of the Sun, though its heams pierce the heart of thine eye, and cause anguish unspeakable. In the one instance, there followeth growth; in the other, destruction. Many bodies, heads, hands and feet, hath the great Temple of Man, but only one heart. Woe to the hand that strikes at that heart ; woe to the foot that tripping, overturns the body. 93 THE SOUL'S OPPORTUNITY MY CHILD, what cause hast thou for wreaking vengeance upon that soul which refuses to gain its experience by means of thy travail? Know- est thou not if thou dost rob that soul of its opportunity to suffer and thereby gain the strength to conquer its enemies, thou dost place thyself irrevocably in its power ? The man thou hast sinned against becomes thy Master, and thou must serve him till the debt is paid in full. The man thou constrainest to travel the ])ath marked out for thee alone, must needs obstruct that path to thine undoing. 94 THE VOICE OF GOD THOU sayest, "God spake to Man in the olden days, man listened and was blessed, but now in the night of Time, God no longer speaks and man is accursed." Foolish man! God never ceases to speak, but man has destroyed his true sense of hearing by listening too intently to the muffled thunders of the sound waves of human passion pounding against his inner ear. Seek the Silence, Beloved, and when thou hast found it thou shalt hear again the tender cadences, the word of command, the Song of Life, for God is the same today as yesterday, and His voice doth reach to the outermost bounds of Time and Space, and sings in the heart of man. 95 JEWELS OF LIGHT UNCUT, unpolished, are the Jewels hid within this casket, which the Lord of Life hath formed from His own heart, and given unto me. I pray for power to hold me still while He doth cut and polish all these gems, that so, one day I may behold His face reflected in their depths, while He is setting them within a crown, to place on mine own head. 96 LOVE AND HATRED ALAS that each human Soul must learn for itself that in trifling with the Emotion of love, its energy is wasted and lost irrevocably; that by bartering that holy birthright for transient pleasure, the most direct path to divine Love and AVisdom is choked by poisonous weeds and thorny brambles, or still worse, is left so empty and desolate that the Snake of Hate alone dares venture there to find a dwelling place. When the fires of Hate awaken and burn in a human heart, all that makes for life and happiness is consumed, and the unhappy Soul, naked and alone, is left gazing at the ashes of a misspent past. Neither can you drive that human love back into the heart, any more than you can drive the sap back into a tree, the blood back into the veins; the heart would break, the tree and veins would burst from pres- sure put upon each molecule. In the wider love, the sap is expelled, the blood distributd. Law is fulfilled. Life is more fully manifested, and The Will of God completed. 97 WHERE IS GOD? WHERE shall I find God? If I search the heavens and the earth and the waters under the earth, shall I find him? No! But if thou wilt search the depths of thine own heart, all that thou findest of Love, of Beauty, of Unselfishness — all that thou knowest of Peace and Joy will open the path to God, and show thee the hidden places wherein thou wilt find all thou canst know and understand. 98 THE PATH IS HARD IN A sense we may say it is the same path that the jNIaster Jesus followed. There is no other Path, no other way to find the true self, save through effort and suffering. When we think of it from an earthly standpoint, it seems pitiful, that poor, weak, human beings should have apparently so little light to guide them on the way, so little of the comfort that it would seem might be theirs; but those of you who have had an opportunity of watching the wealthy or the so-called "well-to-do," those who seem to enjoy all the good things of this life, know^ that they are often "of all men most miserable." They are using the gaudes of earth to dress up their scarred and tainted carcasses, while their souls are often naked and hungry; and that would show you how little the soul can gain from wordly wealth. It is the strain, the stress, the exercise of power, that gives the final victory. "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." A human being, an angel, a god, is only as strong as he has gained power to endure the stress; and that power can only be gained through suffering. If there were any other way, I would have told you, — for I sorrow in your sorrow, suffer in your suffering; yet I must stand by. even if it be to see you go down into the midst of the flames, and come up again, if it be neces- sary to your growth. You sometimes blame me for not saving you from sorrow, for not keeping suffering 99 THE PATH IS HARD CONTINUED away from you; but my children, I would gladly give you myself, and all that I am, if it would aid you in your development. But you are as I am, of God, — and only tiirough the strength of the God within your- selves and the power that you can gain over these ad- verse conditions will you be enabled to meet and overcome what will be before you in this and in many lives. The effects of suffering are never lost, any more than effort in any direction can be lost. From my soul, 1 wish I could convey to you the love I feel for you, the desire 1 have for your advancement; but every ^lother knows that if her child is to grow strong, it must walk by itself, it must learn all it knows of physi- cal conditions by pain; and this process continues to the end. Any human being who tries to make you believe that you can gain spiritual growth without pass- ing through "Golgotha" is telling you an absolute false- hood. But there is no reason why you should not see tile beauty, the good, the glory there is in life. It is around you on every side, it is yours to take and use as it seems best to you — always in the right spirit. I would not have you look at the liells of life, but at tlie heavens which also lie a])out vou." 100 STAND UP HAVE the ruling powers of the Cosmos forced thee into the path of the storm, stripped thee of courage and streng-th and left thee whirling like a top in the midst of the wreckage of life? With the passing of the storm gather up the fragments of strength and courage, and stand up; keej) thy feet on the ground. If thou hast stumhled into the quagmire ruled by the three demons. Doubt, Despair, Distrust — that miry waste dividing Bondage from Liberty — that fathomless gulf into whicli each soul stumbles when it lets go of the false and reaches out toward the Real; again I say. Stand up. Trouble not thyself about thy rent and miry garments, or that thou seest no hand in sight to drag thee from the mire. Get upon thy feet and stand! then thou shalt see the hand. Have mutual, fair-weather friends nosed a 'trail and set out to chase thy beloved one to cover? Wilt thou join their pack of yelping curs and help to hound him to his death? At the least, thou mayst deaden the trail, if thou canst not stand by his side and thus prove thine own self. If so be thou hast power to separate the evil from the evil doer, and help to bear the burden of the Christ who lives and suffers in a stricken soul, then thou mayst hold at bay the enemy of man until its strength is broken, the striken soul is freed, and find that thou 101 STAND UP CONTINUED art thrice a conqueror. Meet then to take and wear the golden key art thou, for thou hast learned the way to stand upright and open wide the door to greater deeds. Thinkest thou thy JNIaster will by his diviner power, reach forth to pull thee from the mire or from the power of all the hungry pack and set thee down at His right hand by force of arms, to rule o'er those who have come up through all the hells unscathed by fire of Sin? Art thou then such an imbecile as to believe that thine own unbelief, thy fierce repudiation of former faith in Him thou once didst own as ^Master, will obliterate that ^Master from the screen of all thy lives? If so it be, then thou art blind indeed: lost, and helpless, or thou hast bound thine eyes and thrown away the crutch; lame and halt, thou now art caught in the morass with only a poor sodden stick of egotistic ])ride to lean upon; a stick that will surely snap in twain at the first effort to bear thy weight thereon. Stand up, stretch out thine hand toward the fur- ther side of the gulf of thy present delusion, child of the Sun; even if thou canst not yet see that other hand awaiting thine. Bear down on the earth with thine own feet; raise thy head and stand upright. 102 THE GIFT OF GOD HE WHO accepeth Me shall live by Me; he who lives by Me shall dwell with Mine; and in the Light w^here dwelleth Mine the heart of God doth pulse unceasingly. The shade that falls where God doth walk but fills a background drear against which all the light and glory of the Coming Age doth beat in never ceasing rythm. Enter thou that light and fold thy wings and rest, thou Bird of Life; thy pinions are Mine own, My Little Ones, to whom I gave Myself, and giving found My- self. 103 THE BOOK THOU callest it a brain. I call it a })ook, into which thou hast writ at command, the records of many lives. As leaf after leaf of that book is turned, as the cycles come and go, I see exposed the tales inscribed in blood wrung from thine own and other hearts. Short sentences illumined with the transi- tory colors that transient joy hath mixed and given unto thee; whole pages bordered deep with black, o'er w^hich dark shadows seem to flit at will so fast and thick there is no space or chance for written words. Here and there I see a paragraph of careless jest, or record of some kindly deed ; and close upon the page where one day Finis is to be inscribed by other hands than thine, are other pages where the lines no longer traverse straight across the page from side to side. Un- even are they, and the words run one into the other, and every letter shows the work of aged, trembling hands. Xo beauty have those pages to the critic's eye; yet, to the eye of God they are of all most beautiful; for in betw^een those crooked lines and wavering letter strokes, invisible to all but Him, are writ the sum of all the past experience, the mathematics of the soul, that He alone can read and understand. 104 THE HEIGHTS OF LIFE WIIEX thou hast reached the utmost height of louehness — that height so far above the Sun- kissed hills, the softly shaded valleys where once you dreamed away the time in blissful introspec- tion and have left behind you all that sensuous life had folded close, the human love, delights of eye and ear, and tender touch of helpful hand — 'twill seem the very heavens have fallen, the earth rejected and thee cast forth condemned. Thy soul will seem suspended in the depths apart from all created things, dead, as though the icy blast of winter's storm had wrapped it all about; alive, as though volcanic fires were eating into every quickening cell. The formless, soundless pressure of illimitable Space will beat upon your ears, and all the light of all the Suns in Space will sear your eyes; until at last, the debt of sentient life repaid, you yield submissively and cry, "God save me from the desolation, the utter loneliness of all created things, and let me lose myself in Thee alone." No tongue or pen can tell what then befalls that naked Soul, stripped of its gauds — the things which weighed it down, and chained it to a rocky waste; for, losing all it held in memory fond, it finds itself at last, alive with God's own life; a part of every tree and flower, at one with every living thing; a tone of all the melodies the swinging stars give forth — a light which lightens Earth and Sea and Sky, the hosts of Angels and the Cherubim. All, all in thee, and thou in God. 105 FIND THE GOOD DEEP indeed thy poverty, thou son or daughter of the Shadow, when for thine own sustenance thou tilchest from thy })rethren that which they would gladly part with for the asking, — the evil things of long ago that they would kill and hury. Long and hard will he the lesson thou must learn ere Wisdom can enfold thee with her mantle and show thee how much wiser it had been for thee to search for all the Godlike qualities concealed within thy broth- er's heart, that thou might be partaker with him in the ])lessings so revealed, instead of drawing to thyself and giving power to all the demons he hath killed, to fasten their vile fangs within thy quivering flesh, with all the strength that Tanha gives to evil things. If thou wouldst look with half the will thou givest to the search for evil things, to find the good within the heart of every living thing, how great would be thy recompense, thou starved and weary pilgrim of the nether path. Things of darkness seek the darkness, and if by dwelling on the evil thou imputest to thy brother, thou dost darken all thy sphere of being, straight as flies the needle to the magnet will fly the demons of the night to tliee; and most of all to fear will be this trutli that tliou wilt see those demons as the angels of the light, so great will be tlie darkness tliou liast made. 106 THE CALL OF THE FLESH AH, CHILDREN, children that ye are, in your hunoer for tlie old joys, or the unexplored field of some new experience, ye forget that the old joys were the seed of your present woes, that the new field must inevitahly lead you into a morass of similar suffering. The call of the flesh, the intoxication of the new field, cause you to forget the consequences which in your more enlightened hours you know must follow, though do not always admit it to yourselves. So, in- advertently, or through your craving for something, — anything, that will fill the void in your starving hearts, ye reach out for the frothy sweetmeats, the sugared aloes, which bear the semblance of food. If the pain which follows were all, it might be well for you; but alas, it is not all; in tampering with the higher centres of your life you lose your power of spiritual diges- tion, and in losing that, you have also lost your hunger — the call of your Divinity — and your ability to assimi- late the stronger food, which alone could satisfy. 107 GIVE WAY GIVE way, thou stolid, selfish miniature of ease, and let the King pass by, or prone upon the earth his knights will strike thee down! There is no room for thee, no place in all of I^abor's fair domains for such as thou. The King, God's workman, hath no time or will to set thee gently by when on his way to fight the hist long battle for the rights of man, which thou and all thy kind, in sloth, in revelry and lust have forced upon Him and the land which gave thee birth. Give way or die. 108 THE GIFT OF LIFE HOW hard it seemeth, ye who take no note of Nature's lovehest moods — to learn the lesson taught by every curving stem of flower and leaf — to bend, when thou must face the tempest and the storms of life; and so protect that part of thee, thy face, thy features, that which marks thy character, and proves to every seeing eye thy fitness for the gift of Life. The tree which reacheth toward the heavens in straight unbending line is but support for all the foli- age and the seed; while curved and straight lines, stem and tree are needful, the curve which touches close the flower and seed — the finer forms of life — doth give pro- tection and make possible the lives of many, while the straight, unbending line is One, alone. 109 THY CROWN THE Prince is not the King; then how can ye in justice crown the Prince and leave the King uncrowned ? Know ye not the crown doth symboHze all power, and when ye build an image of that power and place it on the brow of Him ye call your Lord, ye rob the King of that which is His due, ye close the path through which all power descends, and make the crown a thing of naught? Give unto God thyself and all thou hast, and He Himself will set His seal within the crown which He will set upon His firstborn's brow, that so in turn it may descend to thee. But think ye well before ye ask for that same crown the Prince doth wear. Its jeweled front doth flash its brilliant beauty forth on all who look thereon, but he who wears it doth not see that beauty rare: the sharp and jagged edges of the underside, the weight of heavy metal, piercing deep into the flesh and press- ing sore the brow; these are His alone, — His part of the inheritance within that crown. 110 THE POWER TO BUILD ^^ \ LL, all I am, my child," the Father saith, "I J^\^ fain would shower on thee. The fulness, maj- esty and power of life, in vast immeasurable streams; the wealth and glory of all suns in space, — the wisdom garnered by the use of all the higher attributes of gods and men; all, all 1 hold in trust, I fain would give to thee; and that which I now ask of thee is that with w^illing heart and in the love which crowiis all service pure, thou wilt take up the little things of life and do them wisely, gladly, — knowing that in giving them to thee to do I give thee power to build and cross the Bridge which must ])e built by effort of thine own to span the stream "twixt me and thee." HI NO RECALL THIXKEST thou that aught the world can offer could buy back the life that thou of thine own will hast given unto God .<' Having given that price- less gift — a life — to the service of thy God, — the serv- ice of thy brethren, — thou canst not take it back. That life has entered into the Soul of all and has become a part of every thing and creature — a part of everything that breathes the breath of life. It is no longer thine to give or take away. It smiles on thee in every rippling brook, in every tender face that lifts itself to thine. It flows from every tear that falls from others' eyes. It throbs in every heart, in every pain of body or of mind. It forms a part of every offered sacrifice. It beats in every measure, every tone, and glows in every sun. Thou mayst befoul the form which holds it, but thou canst not soil the life that is no longer thine, nor rob thy brethren of the gift, for it is theirs, not thine alone, when once accepted by thy God. 112 THE TRIMURTI THOU, the Wonderful, the Trimurti, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, hast now revealed to thy serv- ant a mystery: — The First-born son of the God of War hath passed from his Father's side between the wings of the Great Bird Garuda — the Bird whose talons wield the thunder- bolts of Heaven — to the back of the Eagle of the West- ern mountains. In swift flight shall the Eagle bear the Great Deliverer, for whom our eyes have long waited, to Aryan skies where, standing upright on the Bird's left wing, he shall re-establish the Lunar Dy- nasty and bring peace and plenty to a people oppressed. When the Rivers of the far East and the West meet and commingle, then shall the God of War bury the seven-tipped arrows he now holdeth in hand, be- neath the Ocean so formed, and a mighty Race again rule the Earth. 113 THE DEAD IN LIFE FIT food are ye for the Astral vultures that feed upon you, for dead ye are, while yet ye live. Swollen, besotted with pride, accursed of God, the fiends ye have called from the depths look on you with horror. Fattened by the blood of the human hearts ye break, ye loll at ease, and not only refuse to enter the light of life yourselves, but bar the way to that light, that others may fall in the darkness ye cre- ate. Your lying tongues and deceitful ways cause the weak to stumble and go down to death. Fools that ye are, do vou think in vour blindness the law is dead? 114 THE PRICE OF LOVE TO THE soul with the capacity for a great love there will some time come a moment of illumina- tion, a moment of divine intuition when the veil between spirit and matter is temporarily lifted and that soul catches a glimpse of the tragedy which lies concealed behind the present rapture and dimly senses the icy chill of its approach. So it must ever he, for exevy great love bears the seed of a deep ti'agedy. Such love is seldom under- stood or appreciated at its full value, and still more seldom is it returned in kind. In the moment of illumination the soul realizes be- yond all doubt that the shadow of vicarious atonement, of sacrifice past telling, awaits it also as it has awaited every divinely inspired soul since time for man began. But the veil drops quickly, the momentary revolt against undeserved suffering is stilled. Love sheds its radiant beams over all common things, dazzling the in- tellect, and magically endowing the heloved one with all the attrihutes of a God. And so self-crowned with the diadem of sacrifice, the soul passes on to its Geth- semane and Golgotha to pay the price demanded by divine law for hestowing upon a mortal that which he- longs alone to God. 115 JUSTICE REIGNS " A LL'Swell! All's well!" loudly calls the watch- J^\_ man at the gate. "Sleep on, sleep on! ye kmgs, and lords, and princes all, and take your rest. "Huzza! Huzza! Fill up your glasses to the brim. Drink deep of pleasure's draught, ye sons and daugh- ters of my lords, nor fail to satisfy each lust of eye and mind. "No need of care have ye, for am not I, your slave, erstwhile in bond to want, now watchman at the gate, and watcher over you? "Ye fools, and blind of soul, ye saw no thirst for vengeance in mine eye. Ye heard no cry for justice from my lips so stiff with pain, on that foul day when first ye brought me under thrall to you. "Nov/, even while ye sleej^ or revel, I j'our watch- man and your slave, will lay the train and light the fuse of righteousness for man. "I, even I, will open wide the gate and let the people in — the broken, spoiled, enslaved and sore tried common people of the slums whom ye have kept with- out the gate. Ye could not spoil them of their love of life, though all tilings else worth while lay in your grasp; and love of life hath opened wide the eyes once sealed by want, to see the writing on the wall. The day of weigliing cometh nigh, and ye must stand upon the scales. 116 JUSTICE REIGNS "All's well! All's well! Sleep on, my lords and princes, or revel as ye will. I, the slave whom ye by indolence or wrong have robbed of virtue, manhood, innocence, am given ward o'er you. "Sleep on and revel, fathers, sons and daughters now within the gates, till strikes the hour before the dawn. Then shall ye wake, in deed and in truth, to learn that justice reigns." 117 LISTEN SOUL of iSIy Soul, Heart of My Heart, bend down thine ear, and listen thou well. Listen, as listens a mother, who, with smile on her lips and light in her eyes, lists to the beat of the fast coming feet that are bringing her loved ones, her husband or children, back to their hearthstone — back to her arms. Listen! and know that the heart-throb thou feelest, the life-pulse thou hearest, is but the extension, the rytlimic revealing of heart-throb and life-pulse ai-is- ing in me, escaping fast from me, and finding a shelter in thy willing heart, till thou sendest them forth on their mission of service, it may be to people a woi-ld through the love they invoke, or empty a world through the hatred they bear. I am the Ultimo, thou the revealer, and also dis- penser. In thee lies the power to turn into channels of Good, or to poison with Kvil the love-stream that flows from my soul to thine own. Child of Eternity! Seek well and listen! List till the rhythmic vibration, tlie life-beat of God, strikes thine ear. 118 THUS SAITH THE LORD THUS saith the Lord — my Lord to me: Open thine eyes and hehold my face. Thou hast looked too long at my bleeding feet and rememberest not the smile on my face. Thou hast looked too long at the dire effects, and not enough at the causes of sin. Thou hast wept and jDrayed o'er and fondled and cher- ished the long secret sins thou wilt not let go. Thou fearest the Law, that Law which is mine, which is me and is thee, and in fearing, thou losest the light of my love, that love which o'ertops and enhances the Law, as this one little sphere is o'ertopped and en- hanced by the heavens which surround it — ^by limitless space. Look up, my child, from my feet to my face. 119 THE CHRIST-BORN SCARRED and broken on the wheel of the Dark Star, beset by all the wiles of man, and tried by- demons fierce, — the Dragon's blood ye drank to quench the Tanha thirst hath now been turned to living water in your breast, and all who come to you in faith shall drink and live. Rejoice that ye have kept your troth with Christ — for He will turn that water into precious wine when comes the last great change, and clothe you with a gar- ment white as wool, that ne'er hath borne a stain. 120 THY TRUST ROYxVL prince of the Iviiigdom of Cxod, Sou of tliy Father, the Thrice Eorii! (xreat indeed is thy station, ininieasureahle the power that waits upon thy crowning — thy foot upon the dais of thy Father's Throne. In the shadow of Infinity thou standest, Son of Suns, unknowing of thy future, all thy past unknown to thee. Thy serfs and vassals — thy passions and desires — now press thee close and plead for grace that thou hast power to grant or hinder. Yet, notw^ithstanding rank and station, there is not a slave or minion in thy Father's Kingdom so poor as now thou art, if thou art recreant to thy trust. Xo thief locked in thy castle dungeon can be so hideous in thy sight as thou wilt be if thou art traitor in the sight of those to wdiom thy heart, in faith, was turned, when all the world was young to thee — when purity of motive, purpose, soul looked squarely out from eyes that never wavered when they met the eyes of those who loved and trusted them. A little thing it seemed, when, midst the glamour, clanging bells and great rejoicing on that day which ushered in maturity for thee, thy Father gave His lance and signet ring to thee, and bade thee hold the outer Temple Gate, that so no enemy might gain the inner Wall — that Guardian Wall, each stone of which is 121 THY TRUST CONTINUED chiseled and cemented by tlie brawn and l)lood of count- less races of mankind — that AVall which guards the greatest treasure of His Kingdom, the holiest of Holy Things — the Sacred Fire, which, lit by (xod's own Hand, has never since been quenched. Art thou a traitor, thou, the Son of Kings? Is thine the hand that pierced the Wall and led the foe within? If so it be, thrice traitor then art thou. Thy Fath- er's signet ring, thy ^Mother's bed, the Holy Fire — all jeopardized by thee. Each stone that fell through cause of thine will cry for vengeance from tlie ground it touched. By king or beggar, prince or slave, a trust betrayed is all the same, and bringeth recompense in full. Art tliou thy Father's first-born. His beloved Son? Then stand behind His Throne. Sharpen thy sword if it hath rusty grown, and keep it drawn. That Throne is thine, and thou must liold it in the days to come. As tliou defendest it, so shall it be thine own defense, when kingdoms fall hke rain, and men in ter- ror flee. 122 THE WORKSHOP <