Divine Love is the magnet

That draws my highest good to me.

As I love to receive the good gifts of God,

I freely give,

That all may share in His blessings.

I will think only perfect thoughts,

And speak only true words,

For I know that my thoughts and words

Are the seeds

I am planting for my future harvest.

I know that all knowledge,

Wisdom, and intelligence are within me.

Hence I will concentrate and meditate

More deeply every day

Until I am able to drink

From that fountain Within.

I am manifested

Life,

Health, and Harmony.

Through the Christ power within me,

I can rise above all trials.

My supply comes through many channels,

Not through money alone.

Beloved God,

Let the lightning flash of Thy intelligence

Pierce the clouds of my imagination,

And let the rain drops of Thy Wisdom

Wash away all prejudice and illusion

From my consciousness.

Since I am Thy child, Divine Father,

Let me fly through Omnipresence

On the wings of meditation

To planets and stars

And over burning nebulae, and Father,

Let me float on into the Sun of Suns

And lose myself in Thee.

My body shall be the Temple of God,

Wherein He may dwell

On the throne of my heart.

May I, through the reason and intelligence

He has given me, keep this Temple ever free

From the thieves of illness and inharmony

By obeying His laws.

Laughter is contagious.

I shall spread the contagion of my joy

In the hearts of all those I contact,

So that this health germ

May conquer the universe

By its smiles of sunshine and peace.

As I dislike jealousy, selfishness,

And greed in others,

And avoid people

Possessing such qualities,

How much more

Should I detest

These tendencies within myself

And try to correct them

For I must live with myself.

Because God is perfection,

And I am made in His image and likeness,

It is my duty to manifest that perfection

In all of my endeavors.

That peace which passeth all understanding

Is my peace, for I am One with Him.

Each day is mine to use as I please.

I will not allow it to be invaded

With worry and anxiety.

I shall seek peace and happiness,

Trust in God, And fear nothing.

I shall watch my thoughts

To be sure that they are right,

Then I know that my words

Will be sincere and helpful,

And good deeds will naturally follow.

I will not worry about good deeds

Left undone in the past,

Neither will I try to plan too far ahead

In the future.

All I am perfectly sure of

Is the present, so I shall

"Count the day lost

Whose low descending sun

Views from my hand

No worthy action done."

Divine Love now fills

Every cell of my Body Temple,

And I am free from all thoughts

Of inharmony and lack.

My power cometh from within.

Having the consciousness of the Christ Mind,

I am made whole in every way.

Every day of my life

I shall give the prayer of my Soul

To the Almighty to show me the Light

And to give me

Wisdom and courage to follow that Light.

Heavenly Father, open my eyes

That I may see only Thee in all other eyes,

And only Thy Beauty in everything.

Today I will keep Silence.

Silently in my thoughts

I will bless and help all those around me.

I know that in Silence the Divine blessing

Will be with me.

Help me this day

To behold Thy Divine Presence

As I gaze into the eyes of my fellowmen.

May Thy Love radiate through me.

I will seek Thee every hour

Of every day and night,

Until my restless heart Finds rest in Thee.

I am Thine, Oh Lord.

I will make myself worthy

Of Thy acceptance.

I will not make a burnt offering

Unto the Lord My God

Of that which dost cost me nothing.

I will lay myself,

With all my prejudices and pettiness,

With all that the flesh holds dear,

Upon the burning pyre.

They can, who think they can.

Character is a perfectly educated will.

Nothing can resist the will of a man

Who knows what is true,

And wills what is good.

The truest wisdom

Is a resolute determination.

Impossible is a word

Found only in the dictionary of fools.

While order is harmony’s law,

Intuition is to live within

And enjoy continuously

The universal song-language of

"Peace, Good-Will on Earth."

Though down in the valley

Of the lowly earth-bound I may struggle

Through patches of thistles and briars,

I will patiently ascend the hillside,

For on that high ridge

Of glory and righteousness,

Where I am welcome,

I see a beautiful garden of roses.

Today I will try to realize

That I and My Father Are One

In every breath I breathe,

In every word I utter,

And in every act I perform.

Today I will endeavor

To go much deeper in my meditation,

Realizing that, as I am Spirit,

I am in everything and everything is in me.

I HAVE built in my world

A tower of silence,

Great and bold,

In which to live and express my Being,

The Eternal urge of the Soul.

Some adorn it with song,

And throbbing of the wondrous silvery moon,

And enhance the vast horizon

With the molten laughter’s tune.

Some weave the fabrics of their world

With fragrance undefiled,

And water the roots of their lives

With caressing undying smiles;

Yet some darken the daylight with clouds

From their saddened hearts,

And on the face of a rosebud see death

Shoot his poisoned darts.

But gone are the tears from my eyelids,

Gone the sighs that my Soul had borne,

For I’ve built a new world, of my making,

And I sing with the dream of the morn.

It dances in tune with the daylight,

For it never admits of the night

And heart speaks the language of heart

Beats as the earth joins hands with the light.

Above my tower of silence

Spreads the great, unfathomable space,

While around my tower of beauty

Runs the timeless time apace.

Inside my glorious dwelling

Is the home of perfect peace,

For I’ve buried my earth expression

Forever beyond my reach.

My world is safely builded

In the throbbing heart of God

As Death gives up his scepter

To the hands of life and love,

And life with glorious living

Joins hands with harmony

To Dedicate their service

To the cause of humanity.

To live content with small means;

To seek elegance rather than luxury,

And refinement rather than fashion;

To be worthy, not respectable,

And wealthy, not rich;

To listen to stars and birds,

Babes and sages, with open heart;

To study hard;

To think quietly, act frankly, talk gently,

Await occasions, hurry never; in a word,

To let the spiritual,

Unbidden and unconscious,

Grow up through the common

—This is my symphony.

This illustrates the law of spiritual habit, and, in fact, of all kinds of habits. The material interpretation of the above Bible quotation shows that if a man develops the habit of making money, for instance, more and more prosperity will come to him, and the man who has no habit of prosperity will lose even the prosperity consciousness which he had. The person who has already acquired the habit of attracting abundance through the Cosmic Law of Success will attract prosperity, and the person who has not cultivated the habit of attracting prosperity will not be prosperous. This is a lesson to men and women to create right habits by their daily activities.

Habits of thought are mental magnets which draw unto themselves specific objects relative to the kind and quality of their magnetism. Material habits attract material things and spiritual habits attract spiritual things. Bad habits attract evil things. Good habits attract good things.

Habits are automatic mental machines installed by man to exercise economy in the use of initial will power and effort required in performing actions. Habits make the performance of actions easier. Friendly habits are very helpful in performing difficult good deeds easily. Evil habits, however sympathetic, are deadly, inasmuch as they are die-hards and do not stop disturbing the Mansion of Life even when they strongly will to do so. Bad habits and sin are temporary misery-making grafts on the Soul. They must be thrown out sometime.

Good habits and virtues are eternal joy-making qualities. It is lamentable to be compelled to do evil against one’s will because of the strength of an evil habit, and then to have to suffer for one’s evil actions. It is wonderful to habitually do what is right and thus multiply goodness and happiness.

The power of habit is all supreme in the life of man. Most people spend their lives just in making good mental resolutions, but never succeed in following what is wholesome. We usually do not do what we wish to do, but only what we are accustomed to do. This is why materially-minded people find it difficult to be spiritually-minded even when they try hard. So, also, spiritual people find it difficult to be material even when they associate with materially-minded people. It is difficult for vicious people to be good and it is difficult for noble people to be mean.

The power of habit is specially important in the spiritual path. If one is accustomed to meditating and contacting God, one will like to meditate more and more in order to contact God more frequently. Those who meditate little, and vaguely contact God, find that their desire to meditate and contact God vanishes when they are invaded by their powerful habits of restlessness. Likewise, those who are accustomed to being calm, attract more calmness and serenity, while those who are a little calm find their calmness easily disturbed when restlessness invades. Unspiritual habits entirely destroy the power of weak spiritual habits.

If you have lots of evil habits, you will strengthen them by attracting evil unto yourself, and if you have very little evil within you, then that little will be taken away by the power of your stronger good habits.

Man has either very good or very evil tendencies, or somewhat good or somewhat evil tendencies. There are very few people who have good and evil exactly balanced in themselves. There is always a little less evil than good, or vice versa. The law of Nature is that if you are a little less evil than good, your evil will be taken away by the greater power of good, and if you have a little less good than evil, your little good will gradually be absorbed by the greater number of evil tendencies. If you have more evil than good, you will accumulate still more evil, and if you have more good than evil, you will attract still more good by the greater power of good.

The above biblical law depicts the Law of Karma, (action) spoken of in the Hindu Scriptures. The law of action is based on the law of cause and effect. If you are born good now, you were good before birth in another incarnation, and if you are good, you will attract more good. If you have very few good tendencies within you, you may lose what you have by the invasion of powerful bad habits. If you are born inclined to be bad, it is an indication that you had bad tendencies before, and you will attract more evil. If you are only slightly bad, you were so before, and the greater good within you acquired from past incarnations will destroy the meager evil which you now have within you.

This is the natural working of the Law. However, you do not have to be bound by it and feel helpless if you happen to have undesirable habits which you wish to rid yourself of. Now is the time to begin conquering them through the development of will power and the habit of regular, right meditation. It is possible to free yourself from the clutches of wrong habits and to create the habits of thought and action which will bring you the results you desire.

PLEASE, friends, do not reply to the above question in the negative, for, although your answer might be perfectly correct, it would be a stab from which my Ego would take some time to recover.

Joking aside, however, it is a question which many of us might well ask ourselves. To become well balanced in body and mind is no easy attainment, but it is a condition well worth working for.

The subject was suggested to me by a banquet, recently given at Mt. Washington Self Realization Headquarters. Of course, it was not the banquet itself that suggested the theme, but rather the addresses and conversation that followed the dinner.

Among the topics discussed were "Spirituality" and "Materialism" and, after much good-natured argument, the consensus of opinion seemed to be that India, generally speaking, exemplifies far more spirituality than America, but that the latter country is masterful in its efficiency; that is, in its understanding and application of material things and scientific principles.

The writer has no quarrel with this conclusion and believes that, generally speaking, it is true, notwithstanding the fact that there is much spiritual insight and life among the various churches, and outside of them, in America, just as there is no little efficiency, and possibly some materialistic individuals, in certain sections of India. However, the point we are trying to make is, that there still is need of balance among the individuals and peoples of both the Orient and the Occident.

In the first place, there would be fewer debates concerning "materialism" and "spirituality" if all of us would train ourselves to realize that life is one, and that what we call "material" and "spiritual" are the two halves, or apparent parts, of one Universe and one Truth. Man has taken the golden apple of God, mentally divided it into two parts and labeled one half "material" and the other half "spiritual."

So long as man realizes that this division is for practical purposes, he is safe, but when he becomes serious and considers the division as real, he becomes confused. Is any part of life better than another part? We would answer: "NO. It only appears DIFFERENT in order that the great Spectator and His children may enjoy life’s drama."

If a man thinks that he becomes "spiritual" by sitting about and dreaming all day, instead of being responsible to environment, and doing his duties by his fellow beings, he is much mistaken. On the other hand, if a man imagines that he can be 100 per cent efficient and neglect religion, or his spiritual development, he is mistaken there, too.

Unless one has earned the right to completely renounce action for a life of pure meditation, he is retarding, rather than advancing his spiritual progress if he dares to leave the world of duty for a sequestered life of silence and contemplation. Furthermore, there have been and are today, masters who HAVE earned that right and yet who do not take advantage of it and who remain "down among men" in order to help lift others to the heights which they have attained.

Discussing the "spiritual" and the "material," it would be well if all of us might understand exactly what we are talking about; that is, if we all could have the same definition of the words. As a matter of truth, it is man who, with his wonderfully inventive, God-like mind, has divided life and its meaning, as heretofore discussed. In its essence, matter finally will be found to be Spirit. It could not possibly be anything else, since Spirit, or Life, or God, if you wish to term it so, must logically be one and indivisible.

Now, what is it that is TWO, that is many, that is apparently infinitely multiple? Let the writer say what he has heard and read and what he has come to believe. While matter, in essence, is one (and, finally, Spirit,) names and forms are forever changing. THAT it is which makes for "manyness." Objects, motions, times, spaces, and colors are concepts and are for the purpose of drama.

It is when man takes these things (or concepts) seriously, clinging to appearances and dreading to part with forms and ideas, that he becomes unhappy. If man would have and know love (excepting in it supreme form, in which love and lover are one) he must remain a dualist, or at least a "qualified monist." Realization of Absolute Unity might still include a consciousness of "manyness," but it would mean the death of sorrow and pain, for it would mean victory over the sense of separateness.

The wise soul will practice the art of living in the world, yet being above it. He will love the flowers whose forms appear today and fade tomorrow, but he will remember, as Swamiji says, that "the beauty, fragrance, and life in every blossom is from God."

"And Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the Temple those that sold oxen and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money, sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the Temple, and the sheep and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves: ‘TAKE THESE THINGS HENCE: MAKE NOT MY FATHER’S HOUSE AN HOUSE OF MERCHANDISE.’ And His disciples remembered that it was written: ‘The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.’" ("Walks and Words of Jesus," by Rev. M. N. Olmsted.)

In the foregoing passages, it looks as if such a great Son of God, as Jesus, should not have become angry and made a scourge of cords with which to hit the money-changers. In this action of Jesus it looks as if He contradicted His own saying: "But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."—Matt., 5:39.

Jesus used the cord more or less to scare these grown-up ignorant children of God (His brethren) and to send them away so that they could not desecrate the House of God. He meant that merchandise in the House of Prayer was a distraction, just as an altar and preaching in the shop would be a distraction. Jesus, in this act, tried to show people that they should concentrate on one thing at a time. In the house of business they should think of selling articles. In the House of God they should think of Him. Besides, Jesus, with his little cord, didn’t hurt anyone, nor was He actually angry internally. He put on a show of anger to frighten the big, naughty children who were trading in God’s House. If Jesus had been really angry, He would have used His Divine powers to destroy these desecrators of God’s Temple.

This is well illustrated by an old Hindu story. Once upon a time, long, long ago, a venomous, vicious serpent used to live in a hole in the hill on the outskirts of a village. A hermit of great miraculous power also made his home in this village. Many of the villagers’ children, who ventured to play around the hill, were attacked by this vicious serpent and stung to death. The serpent extremely resented any noise around its dwelling. The villagers tried their utmost to kill the serpent, but met with no success. Failing in this, the villagers went in a body to their local hermit and asked him to find a remedy to prevent the death-dealing work of the serpent.

Yielding to the legitimate prayers of the villagers, the hermit went near the hole in the hill, where the serpent resided, and by his spiritual powers summoned the serpent to appear in his presence. The master hermit scolded the serpent for stinging the villagers’ children to death, and instructed him never to bite again, but to practice loving his enemies.

The hermit left the village for a year on a pilgrimage, and as he was returning to the village by way of the hill, he thought: "Let me see how my friend the serpent is behaving." As he approached the hole in the hill, he found the serpent lying half-dead with several stitches in his back, in front of the hole.

The hermit said: "Hello, Mr. Serpent, what’s all this?" The serpent dolefully whispered: "Master, this is the result of practicing your teaching. Whenever I came out of my hole in quest of food and minded my own business, the village boys noticed my docility and refusal to attack them, and then they threw small stones at me, and when they found me running away from them they made it their business to throw big stones at me, with the object of killing me. Master, I dodged many times, but also got badly hurt many times, and now I am lying here with several stitches in my back because I have been trying to love my enemies.

Then the village hermit looked at him and said rebukingly: "Fool, I told you not to sting to death, but why didn’t you hiss and scare them away?"

This story illustrates that a person although meek and spiritual, should not be spineless or without common sense, and allow himself to be made into a doormat. When provoked or unnecessarily attacked, the spiritual man should try to scare his enemies away by a show of anger or strength, but without getting really angry internally. However, one should never hiss, even with a show of anger, if he has the tendency to bite or to materially injure anybody. That is what Jesus did. He hissed at the money changers and scared them away, but did not injure them or become really angry himself. Instead, he tried to put sense into them so that they would not incur bad Karma (results of evil action) by blasphemy against the Temple of God.

Jesus said: "Take these material things away, for they spread material vibrations and evoke material thoughts. In the temple of God people should think only of possessing the imperishable Infinite, but if material articles are sold in the Temple, they arouse, in the spiritual novice, thoughts of greed and desire for possessing perishable material things and distract him from God."

Jesus knew the law of vibration, which is that each object or person throws out a magnetic vibration, thus producing specific thoughts. The vibration of a candle in the church throws out the symbolical thought of unruffled peace or of the light of Wisdom, whereas, oxen in the church remind one of the slaughter house or of farm labor, and so forth. Jesus signified that the church should be so equipped that it would emanate only spiritual vibrations.

Jesus distinctly advises that churches should be places of worship and not places for the sale of material thought-arousing objects. It is all right to sell Bibles or books in the Temples if they are sold with a spirit of rendering continuous spiritual service. Using the proceeds from the sale of spiritual books, or using the money for some other spiritual purpose, is all right; whereas, a gun sold in a church is contradictory to the vibration of the Holy Place.

OF ALL the wonders imminent in God’s Creation, man stands paramount. In Psalms 8:5 we read that "Thou hast created him a little lower than the angels and hast crowned him with glory and honor." In the same light that an artist conceives his masterpiece, so may we consider man as God’s masterpiece, and just as truly as an artist has a purpose in the production of his masterpiece, so has God a purpose to be manifested through His master Creation—man.

But before that purpose can be glimpsed or prudently directed, one must acquaint oneself somewhat with the true nature of man. From a physiological standpoint, man possesses a physical body, psychologically he possesses a mind, while metaphysically speaking he also possesses an invisible Spirit, or Soul. We, therefore, say that man’s nature is three-fold; namely, physical, mental, and spiritual.

To the mind of the thinker, the question frequently arises as to which phase of man’s nature should be most highly developed. On this question few people have been able to agree. However, let us take into consideration the three phases separately and note slightly the results when any one phase has been emphasized.

One has only to reflect upon the Greek concept to note what takes place when the physical nature of man is stressed. Such physical prowess as that exhibited by the Olympic athletes is the result. When the mental phase of one’s nature is emphasized, the intelligencia of the race comes forth, and when the spiritual nature of man is paramount, the world becomes acquainted with such outstanding and dynamic personalities as those of Kagawa, "The Christ of Japan," as he is called today, and with Mahatma Ghandi of India.

To say that any one phase of man’s nature should be emphasized over and above that of another would be a mistake. That man’s three-fold nature should be equally developed, maintaining a perfect balance on all planes, is coming more and more to be stressed by those far-sighted leaders of the race.

Having accepted the above fact, how and when and where is one to proceed? What is the avenue through which that balanced regime is to be attained? According to the Bible, "Man is created in the image and likeness of God." Since God is Mind and all things that exist are created by Mind and Mind action, it is evident that the avenue for any attainment is through the Mind.

To say that God is Mind means that He is First Cause, that which was in the beginning, the Creative Spiritual Consciousness of the universe, which is in everything, both expressed and unexpressed.

This Creative Spiritual Consciousness abides in that spark of divinity within the Soul of man, and man may do with it whatsoever he will, for he has been created in the image and likeness of God, with unlimited powers. He is the master of his own destiny if he would but accept and use that God-given power. The only limitation placed upon man is imposed by himself, through his thought world. It is a well-known psychological fact that "Thoughts are Things," and the statement taken from Proverbs, 23:7, which says that: "As a Man Thinketh in His Heart so is He," is not merely a pretty biblical phrase, but it is a truth which has revolutionized and transformed the lives of thousands.

Knowing that God is Mind, that the great Creative Spiritual Consciousness of the universe abides at the center of one’s Being, man has only to use the tools at his command to create that consciousness in which he chooses to abide.

Consciousness is a very intangible thing. It is something people talk of, yet know little about. It is something that we can describe in glorious terms, but cannot define at all satisfactorily. When we try to grasp it, we find it very elusive. However, everything that there is—all knowledge, all beauty, all experiences, all things that captivate and enrapture one’s Soul—have value only when felt by and in Consciousness.

Philosophers and psychologists tell us a great deal about the laws of Mind and Consciousness, but very little as to what they are in essence. When one wants to know their inherent character, their whys and wherefores and their origin and destiny, it is difficult to attain anything but a vague answer.

The electrical wizard, while he does not in truth know the essence of electricity, he has learned the laws governing its use, and when he applies those laws with exactness he attains the desired results.

So it is in the case of Consciousness. While we do not understand the true essence of it, we may be content in knowing that consciousness is a state of Being, and, having learned the laws governing it, we may apply them with exactness, and the desired results will be forthcoming.

Just what does one mean when one speaks of Types of Consciousness? In fact, we mean a specific state of mind. Whether aware of the fact or not, every individual exists in some definite state of Consciousness, often so pronounced that it is written large upon his personality.

The fact is that there are as many types of Consciousness as there are fields of endeavor. For example, the man who devotes the major portion of his time to the development of the physical body lives in and develops a physical Consciousness. The person who devotes much time and thought to the field of aesthetics develops an aesthetic Consciousness. The business man frequently develops a money Consciousness, while to the spiritual devotee, the spiritual Consciousness is paramount.

But why should so much consideration be given to the subject of Consciousness? It has already been noted that everything there is—all knowledge, all beauty, all experiences, all things that captivate and enrapture the soul—have value only when felt by and in Consciousness; that Consciousness ultimately becomes REALITY.

Pondering upon that significant statement will help one to realize the significance of Consciousness. By way of illustrating the effect of Consciousness, let us note the following cases: The individual who becomes morose and melancholy, and allows that state of mind to predominate, will create for himself a Consciousness which will culminate in the reality of insanity or his life’s destruction. On the other hand, the individual who, in spite of dire circumstances, takes Jesus the Christ as his guide for daily living, will develop a high spiritual Consciousness leading to the life abundant.

Since God has created man for a specific purpose—that of orienting the God-Self within—should not everyone be concerned about the state of Consciousness which one develops? It is true that all people were not meant to be ministers of the gospel, but is it not possible for one to be employed in one field of endeavor and at the same time use one’s leisure moments in developing a Consciousness for the higher, the better, and the greater?

As but one example of many such cases, I have in mind a young married man who, though regularly employed, is using his leisure hours at the University. He has had that spiritual awakening which has prompted him to prepare for the ministry, and while otherwise temporarily employed, he is developing and raising his Consciousness from the material to the spiritual; he is endeavoring to orient the God-Self within.

Throughout the ages, the majority of mankind has emphasized the material, overlooking for the most part the development of the spiritual. Is it not time now that the spiritual should be given its proper place in the development of the three-fold nature of man? Due to that great need, let us see if we cannot find a definite method of procedure which will aid materially in the development of a Consciousness.

Among the factors entering into the attainment of a Consciousness are:

1. A knowledge of one’s Life Law.

By this statement is meant that one must have some idea or inkling of one’s true nature and the avenue through which one is to orient one’s God-Self—one’s purpose. Every individual in the world has a specific purpose to fulfill, which he can do better than anyone else. In His Creation God has implanted the power for that realization.

2. A deep-seated Desire.

One usually becomes cognizant of one’s purpose in life through that deep-seated Desire.

3. Familiarity with the laws governing Desire.

That deep-seated Desire should prompt one to familiarize oneself with the laws governing one’s desire and one’s talents. To do so may require many months of training, or it may even require years of intensive study and training in a University, the time being dependent upon the Desire and that talent.

4. Concentration and Devotion.

Having availed oneself of the laws, the next step is to use them diligently. Render to mankind the highest service which your talent and preparation afford. Through expression and experience one attains Consciousness.

5. Meditation.

As Meditation is the avenue through which contact is made with God, and since God is ALL and in all, He supplies one’s every need. He knows no limitation. That individual who meditates habitually and deeply until he is consciously aware of his ONENESS WITH GOD will not only attain a specific Consciousness, but he will also orient the GOD-SELF within.

When one develops a spiritual Consciousness, one gains the power to look above and beyond the seeming. One gains the power to approach and enter the super-realm of mind and thought. One gains the power to look into the marvelous realms of SOUL and SPIRIT, which will mean the development and application of the finest and highest spiritual insight. Through service and through the use of these various laws, one gives expression to them. Through expression and experience, one attains Consciousness, and Consciousness ultimately becomes REALITY.

Tasya sanjanaynyharsam Kurubridha Pitamaha.

Singhanadam Binodoehai Shankham daddhau protapaban.

Grandsire Bhisma, oldest and most powerful of the Kurus, with the purpose of cheering Durjodhana, blew his conch shell with a lion-roar.

It must be noticed that Kurjodhana, King Material Desire, did not find any response from his preceptor Drona, or Habit, even though in the Eleventh Stanza he says: "Let all the soldiers of the restless mind (The Wicked Kurus) get together and protect the bodily Ego Consciousness." (See July issue of East-West).

This is because Preceptor Habit was also the teacher of the discriminative tendencies (the Pure Pandus). In other words, the Bad Habit and its wicked mental tendencies, are often concentrated on the invading Good Habit and its discriminative tendencies, and they have no time to pay attention to the thoughts and urgings of King Material Desire to protect the supremely important Ego. In a psychological battle between good and evil tendencies, Bad Habits think themselves of sufficient importance to crush the Good Habits. Usually the Bad Habits do not realize the very important parts which Material Desire and Ego play.

In a psychological battle between the habit of yielding to temptation and the habit of self-control, the latter may easily subdue the former, but it is very hard for Good Habits to overcome newly created, constantly evolving material desires of the body-bound Ego. Material Desire, and Ego, or body consciousness, go together.

Body consciousness (Bhisma) gives rise to material desire (Durjodhana). Material desires are born, not only due to bad habits, but also to the body attachment of the Ego. If this body consciousness, or Ego, is conquered by the consciousness of Omnipresence, in Spirit, then King Material Desire and all his armies of sense tendencies are instantly slain. Body attachment of the Ego and its desires flee like darkness before the light of Soul’s consciousness of Omnipresence.

Of course, we find King Material Desire (Durjodhana) urging Drona (Habit) and the sense soldiers to protect Ego, or body consciousness, (Bhisma) who is the root cause of all material desires.

The all-knower, Ego, mentally saw that Material Desire did not find any response to his Stanzas, so the Ego sent a strong vibration of determination (blew the conch shell) in order to cheer King Material Desire. This prevented him from getting discouraged because he did not get any response from the Bad Habit which was furiously busy making plans for fighting Good Habits.

It is a fact that in meditation the devotee finds his body consciousness resisting the consciousness of Omnipresence. He also finds that the Ego consciousness often wants to make an encouraging noise by breathing fast, and thus inviting the senses to destroy the breathlessness of meditation. The minute the Ego breathes fast, (the blowing of the conch shell which produces material sounds through the action of the air) then the Material Desire of the body is awakened and cheered and fights to drive away the vast Spirit Consciousness which is born of our stillness and meditation.

During meditation, any material vibration set forth by the Ego helps to awaken the material desire to revive the consciousness of the body, and to dispel the consciousness of the vastness in Spirit.

Tatah shankhasheha Bharjasaha panabanakagomukha.

Sahasaibabhyahanyanta sa sabdotu mulobhabat.

After Bhisma blew, then conch shells, big drums, jabors, cow horns, and trumpets sounded from the side of the Kurus and the noise was terrific.

In the following Stanzas, up to the 18th, we find that the inner psychological battle is carried on through the vibratory sounds emanating from the sense tendencies and the discriminative tendencies.

After Ego creates a material vibration, the senses also begin to create different vibratory sounds in order to drown out the musical Astral sounds of the discriminative tendencies in the plexuses of Centers.

All students of the Yogoda Fifth Lesson can understand that during the earlier state of meditation, when Ego consciousness is awake and blows the conch shell of breath, then the sense organs, of heart, circulation, and lungs make many peculiar thumping, throbbing, and purring sounds to drown out the fine Astral music emanating from the Astral Body.

Most insects are near-sighted, and most of them are stone deaf. The only strong sense they have is their sense of smell. They are very keen at smelling through their feeders.

A grasshopper breathes by taking air through little holes in its sides, as all insects do. Then, instead of keeping the air in its lungs, and letting the blood circulate as other animals do, the bodies of insects do just the opposite. The blood does not circulate, but the air circulates through a whole system of air vessels, to every part of the body.

The air is pumped even into the insect’s feet and into the tips of the wings, but not by a heart. The insect has no heart, and so the air is pumped by the abdomen, which heaves in and out without ever stopping even for a minute. Even when a butterfly or mosquito, or ant, is resting, the abdomen goes in and out, in and out. This is true of the bodies of all insects. including beetle, moth, and bee. In each of these the blood never circulates, but air is constantly pumped into every bit of wing and feeler and leg.

I came down the hill,

The path was stony under my feet,

But the birds sang into my world-filled ears,

I wanted to be alone. Alone!

It echoed through the corridors

Of my beating Soul. I was afraid.

What of—I do not know.

And I was alone, and it made me afraid.

Oh, not of myself—

But of God. God!

People worship Him.

Nations herald His Compassion,

But surely He could not make me afraid.

I kept walking.

I stumbled over the stones now and then.

My fears became lessened—

I knew I was alone with Him.

The tears fell from my leaded eyes.

Why, I cannot say;

But they trickled down my cheeks

And splashed on my coat lapel.

I was no longer afraid. God!

I have dreamed of His love,

But my feet walked the muddy earth,

And the way was hard. He freed men.

He was crucified, too.

Something sang in my soul—

Perhaps it was God.

My path led up the hill.

The stones did not touch my feet.

I was no longer weary, or afraid—

I had found Him. Alone!

Yes, but free and strong.

Dreaming of the worlds to conquer—

Praying to be like Him.

"Knowledge is power."

"Wisdom is the right application of knowledge, the right use of power."—"The Great Work."

"Wisdom hath builded her house; she hath hewn out her seven pillars; she hath slain her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath furnished her table."—Proverbs, 12:1, 2.

IN THE building of the Body Temple, in which light the Scriptures should be read, the wise will have a care as to the materials with which they build. They will carefully discriminate and choose natural foods and avoid denatured commercialized foodstuffs, such as white flour products, white sugar, and polished rice, from which the vitamins and organic salts have been removed in the process of manufacture. They will understand the chemical action of one food substance upon another and avoid the causes of fermentation.

The sixteen elements of the body must be supplied in natural form to replenish the daily expenditure from bodily activity. Therefore, the more raw food, which is sun-cooked, the better, as many valuable vitamins and mineral salts become disorganized when subjected to a degree of heat above that of the sun. These latter elements are the cement which holds together the living stones of the House of Wisdom, and good bricks cannot be held together with sand, roughage, and water only, without the cement contained in these subtle, highly organized and sensitized mineral salts and vitamins. It is by the subtle process of photo synthesis, whereby, through the action of sunlight upon the chlorophyll in the green leaf of the vegetable, the inorganic mineral, in the earth, is transmuted into organic form and made available for assimilation by a living, sentient organism.

Know that no inorganic mineral element can possibly be assimilated by the digestive apparatus of the animal or human organism. Any crude mineral, such as table salt, (from the mine) or the tinctures and extracts of minerals are stable, and not only do not nourish the body, but dissipate its vital energies in the effort to expel such foreign substances, which are alien to the animal kingdom, and, for the purpose of preparing such invaluable elements of life for the human dietary, the intervening vegetable kingdom of nature was instituted, as a vehicle of transmutation, by a wise Providence—an unerring, ever-present intelligence. As any inorganic mineral substance enters a living organism, in like manner and condition it leaves it; or, when the vitality is under par, it remains as an obstruction in the joints, intestines, or wherever the circulation is weak and unable to expel the intruding foreigner, who has no affinity with a living, organic body.

We regret very much to say it, but this fact sounds the death knell to all efforts to commercialize the green herb and vegetable products of the soil through the process of artificial heat dehydration. Much to our sorrow, we demonstrated that such preparations are in the same category as cooked foods, and in the case of the sensitive salad herbs, which are rich in the mineral salts, vitamins, hormones, and electro-magnetic living rays, they are disorganized and transmuted back again into their original inorganic mineral state, which renders them unavailable as food elements.

"She (Wisdom) hath hewn out her seven pillars." These are the seven nerve plexuses, upon the correct functioning of which physical health "More abundant," mental efficiency, and spiritual illumination depend. They connect the astral with the physical body. Thus they form the main supports of Wisdom’s House, involving the physical and the spiritual vehicles of the Soul. The awakening of these centers, the opening up of these storehouses of Prana, constitute well-defined, progressive stages in the scaling of the Celestial Ladder from the depths of self or mere sense consciousness on the animal plane to the heights of Cosmic Consciousness.

Unawakened Souls, devoid of knowledge of themselves and the marvelous possibilities of their own development, must be aroused from their long slumber in the quarry of ignorance, and humbly submit themselves to be hewn out by Wisdom’s cunning hand and fashioned into the Immortal Edifice of the Living God they were created to become. John the Divine calls these pillars "Seven Golden Candlesticks," receptacles of Light, and when illumined they become "Seven Stars," as pictured in the hand of the Angel of the Apocalypse.

"She (Wisdom) hath slain her beasts"—the beasts of passions, habits, appetites, carnal desires, evil impulses, destructive thoughts, and uncontrolled emotions, which is the natural, logical outcome of Wisdom’s work.

Man unregenerated is not truly Man. He confirms this fact by his inhuman actions. "God made Man upright, but he hath sought out many inventions." His wrong use of power, the debasement of the body, lust, greed, and every intemperance in self-indulgence, reveals the beast in man; in fact, it would appear sometimes that beasts had actually gotten into a human body prematurely, so evident are the animal characteristics. The book of Ecclesiastes speaks of this sore travail of mortal life: "Hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised thereby," and again: "That they might see that they themselves are beasts." The slain beasts on Jewish altars exemplified to the devotee the slaying of the beast in himself before he could enter the Holy of Holies in Wisdom’s Temple

It is the part of Wisdom to utterly slay, without quarter, all destructive habits and the uncontrolled elements of the animal nature still remaining in the body as "leftovers" from the Soul’s experience in a lower kingdom of Nature. It is Wisdom to know how to control and rightly use the appetites, passions, desires, impulses, and emotions for constructive purposes in the rearing of the Temple of God. "Him that overcometh (the beast) will I make pillar in the Temple of God, and he shall go no more out." The beast in man must be slain by Wisdom’s mighty hand through the right application of knowledge and the right use of power.

By the wrong use of our faculties and powers the beast becomes manifest in varying characteristics and moods of human nature, which the observant may not. Such outbursts of animalism are destructive to all constructive development. The more subtle manifestations, such as tale bearing, slander, gossip, and evil imagining; are the "little FOXES that spoil the vines of Light and Truth. Those who appoint themselves to watch for evil in others, and whose feet move fast to carry an evil report, take on a fox-like expression on their countenances. Such are among the lowest of the grades in Soul development, continually injuring themselves, the subject of their tale, and the one to whom they tell it.

But when the great and the little beasts are slain by Wisdom through the right use of reason and the right application of Will, lo! the Son of Man appears, UPRIGHT, as God designed him, in three-fold perfection: "If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness." This is the revelation the world is in desperate need of today, that man may awaken to the knowledge of his true relationship to his Creator and banish forever the "many inventions" he has sought out to delude himself to seek happiness in finite things and neglect the Infinite, Unlimited Source of his Being, in whose "presence is fullness of joy, at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore." To know that he need no longer be as a beast that perisheth without knowledge or consciousness of his Being, a slave to his bodily appetites and fleshly passions, but an upright MAN, the son and image of God’s own Eternity.

"Then is He gracious unto him and saith: Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom; his flesh shall be fresher than a child’s; he shall return to the days of his youth." Then cometh in the Dawn the great awakening of the Overcomer, the Conqueror of the beast, of the Self, which is Satan, next revealed in the words: "She (Wisdom) hath mingled her wine"—symbol of that joy from whence we came, for which we live, and in which we melt, when "the tiny bubbles of laughter becomes the sea of mirth itself."

Yogoda is the substance of this revelation, unfolding the scientific technique which enables the aspirant to control his appetites, passions, impulses, and emotions, affording that power to command the elements of his surroundings and decree the nature of his environment. By the science of Yogoda, the devotee may tap the Source of Infinite Energy at Will and recharge his body battery. By the practice of Yogoda, the aspirant may learn to consciously "die daily," by which practice he verily transcends compulsory death and becomes the arbiter of his own destiny, in fact.

It is written: "At the first, Wisdom leadeth those who seek her, by crooked paths, to try their souls, but afterward she returneth and leadeth them by a straight path and showeth unto them her secrets." Yogoda is that straight way, and to those who diligently practice the technique with concentration and regular, habitual, and deep meditation, are revealed the secrets of success, embracing health, life, and prosperity for the body, efficiency for the mind, and illumination for the Soul. These gifts, however, are not lightly bestowed, they accompany ennoblement of character as compensatory recompense for faithful, assiduous personal effort in obedience to the Divine mandate. "No sluggard will ever compass Wisdom’s lively proportions," (Wisdom of Solomon) nor behold her in all her splendor and glory beyond the dark veil of ignorance, as "ever-new, everlasting, ever-conscious Bliss."

"She (Wisdom) hath mingled her wine; she hath furnished her table." The Christ said: "I have meat to eat that ye know not of." And "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (intelligent vibration) that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God." Wisdom’s bread cometh down from heaven, which, if a man eat thereof, he shall never die. This is the "hidden manna" of immortality, the Divine Essence of Life. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life," and "I will come and sup with him." When Wisdom enters in thus, it is written: "She, remaining within herself, maketh all things new." This is the Regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory. This is the Redemption, "for which the whole Creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the Redemption of our body."—Rom., 8:23.

Thus Wisdom, the Divine Mother, reveals Herself and builds Her house upon the rock of inspiration, which revelation is the verification of our Scriptures, and proves them to be in harmony with the Vedas, and substantiation of the great message of the Master Minds of India, brought to our shores by Swami Yogananda directly from These Custodians of the Wisdom of the Ages. Wherefore: Hear YE Him.

Make my Body

Thy vast body of the Cosmos.

Make my wisdom

Expand into Thy wisdom.

Make my consciousness

Thy Cosmic Consciousness.

Make my life Thy Cosmic Life.

Make my memory

Thy all-remembering memory.

Make my soul Thy Omnipresent Spirit.

Make my knowledge

Thy Omnipresent Wisdom,

And make my love Thy Love,

To love all things as mine.

Make my silence Thy Temple.

Make my peace Thy Altar.

Make my blessedness

Thy Resting Home.

FORTY-FIVE Cosmic Rays per minute penetrated a 34-story Fifth Avenue, New York, skyscraper a few weeks ago, each one plunging through the roof, through 460 feet of steel and concrete and busy office workers, to register on a "counter" in a vault with a 16-inch steel ceiling 45 feet below ground level.

A new theory of the origin of these strange Rays was announced in this odd setting by the master of ceremonies, Dr. W. F. G. Swann, one of the world’s foremost physicists, and director of the Bartol Research Foundation of Franklin Institute, New York City. The Rays, each one clicking with a sound like the thump of a knuckle on a watermelon, he said, may be particles shot from "stellar spots" on stars. These "star spots" he likened to super-sun spots, vastly powerful magnetic fields. Each clicking Ray, he said, might have started a thousand or a million years ago, a particle from some vastly remote star. Ejected from a super-spot, as from a giant gun, a million years ago, it would have traveled ever since with the speed of light straight toward the earth.

The Cosmic Ray "counter" demonstrated what scientists have contended, that no man-made structure stops the Cosmic Rays. The counter was arranged to register only those Rays which arrived from overhead in a V formation as wide as the skyscraper’s roof. They came through, said Dr. Swann, because to a Cosmic Ray the closely-packed structure of a building is more like open lattice work than is a room full of chairs, from the point of view of a fly. They came through the empty spaces between atoms without touching anything. Some hit upper floors. This was shown by the fact that the same counter outdoors registered about 15 more Rays per minute.

Those that hit, said Dr. Swann, smashed the atom that stopped them. So complete a smash, he added, that if the vault around him were filled with gold, the Rays would ultimately disintegrate it all. "But," he said, "There’s no cause to worry, for the Rays are so small that it would take 100,000 million, million, million years for them to destroy 70 per cent of the gold atoms, and we know much faster ways of getting gold out of bank vaults." The new stellar spot theory applies to Cosmic Rays if they are electrified particles, but not if they are photons, or high-energy light Rays.

"It is possible to show," said Dr. Swann, "that in the case of one of the larger sunspots the growth of the magnetic field is such that during the first second of its creation and before it had grown more than about one-millionth of its final value, it could create in an electron in its vicinity an energy comparable to 100,000,000 volts."

This sort of "sun-spot" mechanism in distant stars could create the Rays, he explained, as there is direct evidence that they do not come from the sun. Moreover, they could be created by stars in countless profusion, for it is the rate of change in the magnetic field rather than the size of spot that can charge the super-power particle and shoot it across a million years of time.

PROF. Alfonso Caso and his archeological expedition have completed the second season’s work on Monte Alban, Mexico. Tomb opening, one of the most important phases of the exploration work, resulted this year in the discovery and opening of 26 new tombs, none of which revealed any such sensational find as that yielded up last year by tomb No. 7, in which rich jewels and golden ornaments were found. Prof. Caso pointed out, however, that from an archeological viewpoint, tomb 33, recently opened, was perhaps more important than No. 7, for it was of far greater age than other tombs, and bones and relics found within it may throw some light on the mysterious Zapotecan Indian origin.

The "key" to the link between all American civilizations—Mixtecan, Zapotecan, Mayan, Incan, and perhaps Mongolian—remains as yet undiscovered, unless more careful study of the contents of tomb 33 throws some light on this mystery. Prof. Caso, considering Monte Alban as the crossroads of the great ancient American civilizations, hopes to find the long-sought key to unravel the mystery of the origins and relations of these great departed civilizations that ruled long before the coming of the conquerors, perhaps even before Christ.

THERE is music in a perfect profile, according to the statement of Dr. Dayton C. Miller, professor of physics at Case School of Applied Science, and widely-known sound authority. He transforms with a device of his own invention the curves of a profile into sound waves. This new device is called a phonodeik, which literally makes vision audible as it detects every defect or nicety of human features.

Before an audience of music teachers in Cleveland, Dr. Miller gave a practical demonstration of his machine by exhibiting the profile of a well-known screen star. As he explained it, the purity of the curves in her face resulted in a corresponding purity of sound—a major chord perfectly attuned. To put it another way, they sounded the perfect mathematical relationships of the over-tone series.

Dr. Miller also synthesized in photographs the sounds of various instruments. The tones of a French horn produced an effect similar to that which the machine gave forth when projected on a rugged masculine profile.

AS far as science can determine mother earth and the universe of which it is a part, is about twenty billion years old. This age was given the universe recently by Abbe Georges Lemaitre, famous Belgian savant, and the man chiefly responsible of the theory of an expanding universe, in an address before a notable gathering of astronomers and physicists at the California Institute of Technology. The Jesuit Priest declared that originally the universe was part of one huge mass hurtling through space. Part of that mass broke away, and that separating process is still in progress.

"Much of the future information of what the universe is and how it came into being will be found in the message that the Cosmic Ray has for science," Lemaitre said. "Experiments to date indicate that the Cosmic Ray comes from a point outside the source of visible light, and hence it may hold the secret of the universe in its lead-penetrating heart."

But to discover that secret man will have to be able to build instruments that will enable him to see just 100 times farther than he is now able with the most powerful telescopes.

Finely chop one cupful of walnut meats. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter, add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and blend well. Add one-fourth teaspoonful of salt and a dash of paprika. Gradually add one cupful of milk and stir constantly until smooth and creamy. Add one well beaten egg and stir until the egg is set. Then add one tablespoonful of onion juice, two cupfuls of sifted bread crumbs, and one cupful of chopped walnut meats; set aside until cold. Then shape into cutlets, egg and crumb them, and fry in deep fat. Drain on unglazed paper and serve with tomato sauce if you wish.

PERSONS of strong character are usually the happiest. They do not blame others for troubles that can usually be traced to their own actions and lack of understanding. They know that no one has any power to add to their happiness or detract from it unless they themselves are so weak that they allow the adverse thoughts and wicked actions of others to affect them.

A strong determination to be happy will help you, but do not wait for your circumstances to change, thinking that there lies the trouble. Try to be happy under all circumstances, but do not try to make your happiness conditional to certain desired changes, except in rare cases. If your happiness sometimes seems to depend upon certain circumstances, then, in that case, change your circumstances so that you will be happy instead of sad all the time. Don’t be bound by set rules, as there are exceptions to every rule. Perhaps you say: "If this or that happens, I shall be very contented." Don’t wait. Snatch the highest prize of happiness that is within your reach now, for it is the will-o’-the-wisp of hoping for and postponing happiness which leads you to go through many sloughs of disappointment.

Happiness grows by what it is fed on. Learn to be happy by being happy all the time. John said: "If I get money, I shall be happy." He became wealthy, then he said: "I shall be happy if I get rid of my acute indigestion." His indigestion was cured, but he thought: "If I get a wife, I shall be happy." Then the bedlam started, for he married a nagging, tongue-lashing woman. He divorced this wife, and after many years married again, but the second wife was worse than the first one. Then he thought that he would be happier if he divorced his second wife, so he did, but at the age of seventy he thought: "No, I shall never be happy unless I can be youthful again." In this way people try, but they never reach their goal of happiness. They are like the man who raced in anger to bite his own nose, but never could, of course.

Make up your mind that you will be happy whether you are rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, happily married or unhappily married, old or young, or smiling or dying. Don’t wait for yourself, or your family, or your surroundings, or the world, to change before you can be happy. Change yourself. Make up your mind to be happy within yourself, right now, whatever you are, or wherever you are.

Age of Leo is Approaching

A further point in this connection should be stressed. This entire series has demonstrated the truth of the ancient Hindu claim that it is the place of the Autumnal, and not the Vernal, Equinox which has significance for mankind. History has proven that the progress and decadence of the world follows, respectively, the rise and fall of the Autumnal Equinox on the zodiacal circle. It is the Autumnal Equinox which is rising at present and which is in Dwapara or the Bronze Age. A secondary Age which is being marked out by the Autumnal Equinox is the zodiacal Age of Virgo. The Vernal Equinox, on the other hand, is falling (on its Descending Arc), and is in that section of the equinoctial cycle assigned to a Golden Age, in the zodiacal Sign of Pisces. Thus it is clear that the Autumnal and not the Vernal Equinox is the true indicator of world conditions. This point is stressed here because western astrologers give first consideration to the Vernal Equinox, and call our present era the Age of Pisces. On the contrary, our zodiacal Age is that of Virgo, since the Autumnal Equinox is falling in that Sign, and in about 726 years we will enter the zodiacal Age of Leo, not Aquarius, except in a complementary sense.

Old Hindu records tell us that a cycle of equinoctial precession is completed in 24,000 years. Western astronomers (who, unlike the Hindus, have not kept records even for one complete cycle) estimate the length of the cycle as 25,920 years, simply because the present rate of motion is about 50" yearly or one degree in 72 years (72 x 360o = 25,920). However, according to the Hindus, the rate is not constant, but varies at different stages of the cycle. The profound connection of the equinoctial cycle with human life is shown when we understand that the heartbeat of man is regulated by the equinoctial motion. The beat of a normal heart is 72 pulsations in one minute, corresponding to the 72 years which it takes the equinoxes, at present, to cover one degree of the zodiac. The equinoctial motion will increase as the Autumnal Equinox ascends on the zodiacal circle, and by the time it reaches that part of its cycle which corresponds to the Ascending Golden Age, it will be covering one degree of the zodiac in about 60 years. The heartbeat of man will then measure only 60 pulsations to the minute. As the Golden Age men will be superior to those of our present Age, it is inevitable that their heartbeats will be less per minute than the normal rate at present. It is well known that great longevity and concentration of mind are connected with slowness of heartbeat and respiration. To have conscious control over the heartbeat, to calm the pulsation and to slower its pace, is, as Yogoda students know, to prolong life and rejuvenate the body cells.

The breath in man has a similar correspondence with the equinoctial cycle. The normal present rate of respiration in a healthy young adult is 72 breaths in four minutes or 18 breaths a minute. Golden Age men will breathe only about 60 times in four minutes. Taking fewer, longer breaths per minute is the shortest cut to concentration of mind. When one is intensely interested in any subject, one’s breathing involuntarily becomes slower and slower. Consciousness is intimately connected with the breath. The faster a person breathes, the less conscious he is; his attention cannot remain fixed. Surgeons of a few hundred years ago, before anesthetics were generally used, took advantage of this knowledge, and induced unconsciousness in their patients by instructing them to breathe very fast for a few moments.

The monkey, most restless of animals, has a very rapid respiratory rate—about 32 breaths per minute. Those animals who attain great longevity have slow heartbeats and respiration. The elephant, snake and tortoise, whose life span exceeds that of man, breathe, respectively, 11, 7 and 4 times a minute.

The importance in man’s life of the number 72 at the present period of the equinoctial cycle is shown in many ways—72 inches or 6 feet is the ideal height, and 72 years, corresponding closely to the "three score and ten" years of the Psalmist, is the ideal age, for the average man of the present Age. Numerous example could be given of the correspondence between the equinoctial cycle and the rhythmic periodicity of man’s physiological processes. Each man is a miniature zodiac, and faithfully reproduces in himself the movements of the solar system. "Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which thou has done; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." Psalm 40:5.

If ye know Brahma’s Day

Which is a thousand Yugas;

If ye know

The thousand Yugas

Making Brahma’s Night,

Then know ye Day and Night

As He doth know!

When that vast Dawn

Doth break, th’ Invisible

Is brought anew into the Visible;

When that deep Night

Doth darken, all which is

Fades back again to Him

Who sent it forth . . .

"What is the numerical relation between a Day and Night of Brahma and a day and night of 24 hours? A simple multiplication will tell us this. The number of days in a sidereal year is 365.256, and 8,601,120,000 x 365.256 = 3.1416 x 1012 = n x 1012. The number 3.1416 is the relation of the diameter to the circumference of a circle and mathematicians represent it by the Greek letter n (pronounced Pi). We, therefore, see that the number of ordinary days in a Day of Brahma is n or 3.1416 multiplied by ten to the twelfth power, or multiplied by a million millions. Pi is full of occult significance; it is the symbol of the circle or cycle, which in its turn is the symbol of Brahma, or the Deity . . . When we learn, therefore, that the relationship of an ordinary day to a Day of Brahma, or the day of the earthly man to the Day of the Heavenly Man, can be expressed by the figures of n, we may feel ourselves to be on the track of the occult figures. . . An Age of Brahma, we are told, consists of 100 years of Brahma so that in figures an Age of Brahma is 314,159,000,000,000 years."

While a Day of Brahma covers the period of existence of a solar system, an Age of Brahma measures out the life span of an entire universe.

Thus, through the clue afforded by the period of an equinoctial cycle, and guided by the records left us by Hindu rishis of Golden Ages long past, we have traced out the interrelation of the greater and lesser cosmic cycles and measured the appointed times of suns and universes.

THE man whispered into the ear of a woman thus: "Oh, sweet descendant of Eve! I confide my secret to you. Even if fire presses on your tender ribs to get our secret out of your heart, beware, betray it not;"

The man took leave and went out into the wide world.

It so happened that a moment later, the glad air silently carried a rich perfume from the rose garden to the doors of the woman’s heart.

The woman melted in gratitude. Softly said she: "Oh, my hospitable friend! I have no coin in my purse to pay you my debt. As you have been so gracious to me, I do not mind pouring out my heart’s treasure to you, but tell it not to any other citizen of God’s universe."

She confided the secret to the ears of the frivolous air.

Now, as the restless air passed by the flowers and fruits, and trees and birds, it whispered the woman’s confidence to every ear. The flowers whispered to the stars, the stars to the sun, and it so came to pass that before the cattle went back to their lair, the whole universe quivered with the romance of the lover’s secret.

Ere long the man learned his own secret from the nightingale’s song in a far-flung land. He wondered how his secret thought uttered unto the heart of a woman became known from one end of the Cosmos to the other.

One night, while resting on the lap of sleep, he had a dream. He dreamt that the queen of sleep came to him, and holding his secret on her palm, said "Dear son! Grieve not over the betrayal. Know you not that woman’s heart is the heart of the Creator. Out of her heart has been molded the heart of the Universe. Her’s is the heart of the mother that throbs with joy and gratitude in tune with the All-Heart. My son, what you cannot confide to the ears of the Universe, confide not in a woman, because on her sincere love is laid the foundation of our Creation."

In the Vestal Valley of My Dreams

A little solacing nook I kept,

Hidden beyond the gaze of curious fancies

And of phantom feelings.

Only I and my Beloved oft would wander

In the gleaming, golden gloaming,

Which fell over a Fairy Lake

That slept in the arms of heavenly hills.

There, in the Bower of Dreams,

In the Temple of Trances,

On the altar of tender fancies,

In the most sacred nook of my heart,

Oft my Beloved

Would come and then depart.

In that dreamland fair

Stood the tall phalanx of Realizations rare.

Ah, there just beneath

That cloister of shady peace,

In that familiar ecstatic place,

Just ‘neath yonder hamlet of happiness,

And in the beauty bower of daily Bliss

My Beloved has graced the vista of my gaze.

I sought such a soul-solacing place

In the Himalayan Hills of Hind

And in many lands of beauty and grace,

But naught could match

That matchless Valley of My Dreams.

But listen! What do I hear?

My beloved’s Voice sang, nearer and near:

"Find that Bower of Thy Dreams

And Thy Fancy’s Shore,

Close by the hills of Lake Elsinore.

There thy Dream Valley

Has come from

The Heaven of Fancy,

And with eternal welcome waits

For you and me,

And my dearest devotees,

To join the festivity

Of mirthful Eternity,

Evermore and evermore,

On the banks

Of the Elysian Lake of Elsinore."

And now, wherever I go, and whatever I see,

Always will I take my Elsinore with me.

THIS is the title of an excellent book written by Dr. R. L. Alsaker, who is the author of several other valuable books, among which is that well-known volume entitled "Eating for Health and Efficiency," which has been a help and inspiration to thousands of readers.

"Outwitting Old Age" is Dr. Alsaker’s latest book. We quote from a few pages, as follows, because we know that East-West readers will be interested and benefitted by what they read. Dr. Alsaker says:

"For centuries man has been studying man. Psychology is an old study. The ancient Hindu sages showed keen insight into the human mind. Socrates was wondrously wise. Plato wrote splendid passages. Seneca was wise in both physical and mental matters. But never have the masses taken advantage of the storehouse of power in the human mind. William James referred to human beings as untapped reservoirs, meaning that we are still in the mental kindergarten. A little study and a little understanding will give us possession of vast mental wealth, beside which material opulence pales into insignificance.

But in studying the mind and learning how to make it a servant of man, please remember that we also have bodies. One unfortunate human trait is narrowness. Some forget the body as soon as they discover the mind; others forget the mind in their discovery of the body. Let us use all of our powers, all of our faculties, all of our resources, and thus gain and give the best in life.

Close students of life who are looking for the Truth will not long hold the exclusively materialistic point of view. Phenomena arise every day that cannot be explained by any material laws so far understood by man. These are the phenomena of the mind, and of the Spirit, or the Soul."

Dr. Alsaker further illustrates his theories by relating the experience of a man whose life has influenced many others, and whose writings are enjoyed by many, and who demonstrated that he could outwit old age. The story is as follows:

"Louis Cornaro was an Italian nobleman born in 1464. He was wealthy and in youth he lived very intemperately. Among his extravagances he dissipated his health. When he was about forty years of age, his doctors informed him that medical skill could help him no more. At this time Cornaro realized that he would either have to change his mode of living or die. Instead of complaining that it is difficult to change the manner of living, he immediately made up his mind to lead a simple and wholesome life. At the time he made this resolution, he had done nothing to repay the world for the opulence bestowed on him.

After living the temperate life for one year, Cornaro was feeling well again. He did not revert to his old style of living, as so many do after they recover. He decided to live long and usefully. He resolved to outwit old age. The basis of long life was to be good health, and the foundation of good health would be living according to the simple laws of Nature, especially as regards eating and drinking.

After regaining his health, he began to make himself useful to humanity. He took great interest in agriculture and he helped to plan for the welfare of his beloved Venice; he was a sanitarian, and he was a builder and an architect.

But the most enduring of his works is his "La Vita Sobria" (The Moderate Life); the first part was written when he was eighty-three years old, the last part when he was ninety-five years of age. During these years of temperate living, he thought much about human welfare, and he was a close observer. For instance: He stressed the fact that as the individual grows older he should eat less—a vital truth that only a few have learned to this day. Another truth that was clear to him was that in disease the body does not want food, but it wants rest, so he wrote that in periods of illness the food intake should be greatly reduced—another vital truth that very few possess.

At the age of seventy-eight, after living in good health for thirty-nine years, Cornaro’s relatives and physicians grew anxious that he should stop eating and drinking in moderation; they argued with him and annoyed him until he consented to increase both his food and wine intake about fifteen per cent. The old gentleman reasoned with them that instead of needing more he needed less nourishment. But they knew that if he would eat and drink more he would increase his strength. So in order to please his doctors and his loved ones he began to eat and drink more.

At the end of twelve days on increased rations he was distressed in mind and seized with a severe fever. Then Cornaro returned to the temperate life, and after five weeks the fever abated. It is the same old story today—people are told, "You must eat to keep up your strength," when they are sorely in need of rest. They eat for this purpose, and lacking digestive ability, the food poisons them. This is one of the chief reasons for a large mortality in fevers.

Cornaro also records that he recovered in a very short time from a serious accident after he reached advanced years. So do people today who lead the orderly life which Cornaro advocated so pleasantly and so piously.

At the age of eighty-three Cornaro writes that he is healthy and has perfect sight and hearing. Eight years later he records that his hands are steady, voice good, memory fine, and health and strength are still with him. And finally at the age of ninety-five years he says that he is strong and healthy, blessed with good sleep and appetite, endowed with keen mind and memory, sound judgment, and mental serenity. He also had a strong voice.

This is not the picture usually drawn of advanced years, but it is old age as it ought to be and as it can be. Cornaro was neither sad nor lonesome. He enjoyed his own family, his friends, his correspondents, his work, his city, and his country. He derived vast satisfaction because he realized that he was serving humanity. No one can deprive us of the privilege of serving.

Let Cornaro speak for himself, at the age of ninety-five.

"In conclusion, I wish to say that, since old age is—as, in truth, it is—filled and overflowing with so many graces and blessings, and since I am one of the number who enjoy them, I cannot fail—not wishing to be wanting in charity—to give testimony to the fact, and to fully certify to all men that my enjoyment is much greater than I can now express in writing. I declare that I have no other motive for writing but my hope that the knowledge of so great a blessing as my old age has proved to be, will induce every human being to determine to adopt this praiseworthy, orderly, and temperate life, in favor of which I ceaselessly keep repeating, ‘Live, Live,’ that you may become better servants of God!"

After writing this he lived seven years, and at the age of 102 he was gathered to his fathers. He sometimes wondered how long he could have lived if he had not almost killed himself through dissipation before reaching the age of forty. Without doubt he could have lived much longer if he had been reasonably moderate in youth.

Cornaro was a man of delicate constitution from childhood. This leads us to wonder how long a man with a good constitution can live, if he will give himself a fair chance. The average individual has the inherent ability to live beyond the age of one hundred years. Thousands do it through accident, in spite of many imprudences. Those who will give the time and attention and exert will power can learn in a few short months how to live long and well. And the beautiful part of it is that advanced years need not mean degeneration of body and mind. People can have the use of their senses, judgement, and physical strength at the age of 100.

Cornaro lacked much knowledge that any of us can obtain, but he fully grasped the two chief essentials—simple living and moderation in all things—and these were enough to save his life, and to prolong it more than sixty years after he was supposed to be dying.

So important are these two fundamentals that this knowledge put into practice will greatly prolong life, even if one makes many other mistakes. Thomas Edison informs us that his grandfather learned about the moderate life from Cornaro’s writings; that he put the principles into practice, and that he lived to be more than one hundred years old. Then one day he decided that he had lived long enough, went to a relative’s house, and gave up his Spirit. He further adds that this was also the manner of his father’s earthly end. How much better that is than the present mode of disease, suffering, and premature death, with sorrow and want for those who are left behind.

We have told about Cornaro because his life is authentic and historic. If a man who is very ill at forty can recover and enjoy life for sixty-two additional years, thus most decidedly outwitting old age, it is obvious that a man who has maintained fair health can do better if he wills it."

Miss Jane Adams of Chicago presided at the first session. Kadarnath das Gupta of India gave an ancient Hindu invocation. Col Patrick Henry Callahan of Louisville, Ky., Catholic prohibition leader, who is also national vice chairman of the Fellowship, spoke on "A Century of Tolerance;" Rabbi William H. Fineshriber of Philadelphia spoke of "Racial and Religious Prejudices—How to Prevent Them," and Miss Maud Ballington Booth, founder of the volunteer Prison League, spoke on "The Living Power of Faith in the Hearts of Men."

Col. Callahan expressed what he said was the hope of the Fellowship. "The Century of Progress," he said, "offers evidence on all sides of the invaluable contributions made by our American people to the welfare of the human race."

Religious discrimination is almost extinct in this country, Col. Callahan said. "Prohibition," he declared, "in the last decade has created enmities and discrimination surpassing anything due to religious prejudices, but what the injudicious sometimes call religious discrimination is not on account of religion at all, but is due to something else—racial characteristics, political activities, community activities or inactivities, social equalities, and so on."

Awake my Soul, Oh mighty God.

Oh, Spirit, set me free.

Lead on, Eternal Love,

With light, to victory.

Guide Thou my footsteps

Through the narrow way,

And I will follow,

Serving all the day.

Yes, I will follow,

Faithful servant be,

Led by the kindly Light

I need for guiding me.

And as I follow in Life’s battle line,

May love of truth and righteousness

Be mine.

Just as I follow, where the

Light doth lead,

May Love and Truth and Peace,

By right, succeed.

Now, at the night-tide,

I lay aside

All thoughts of care and strife,

And look to Thee, Oh, Gracious One,

My Lord of Light and Life.

I look to Thee, and praise be,

For I am thankful still,

That Thou hast gently led me on,

And helped me do Thy will.

I thank Thee, Thou hast lifted

Me from shadows to the Sun,

And ‘mid temptations manifold,

Thou hast the victory won.

I thank Thee, Lord, and praises be

For health, for strength, and poise;

I thank Thee, Thou hast lifted me

To a multitude of Joys!

WOULD you not like to make an epic of dash in your life into the Spiritual heights of Enlightenment, which lie above the dust and din of this little world?

Do you not aspire to soar into the stratosphere of purer air and brighter light, far above the region of clouds, doubts, and desires?

The path of Enlightenment is beset with physical and psychological dangers and difficulties. Before you embark upon your Spiritual voyage, test your body to find out whether or not it will stand the rigors of the higher altitude. Examine every cell to find out whether it is conscious of its Divinity or not. If it is not, speak into its ears the sermon of Immortality.

Essay your mind with scientific accuracy so as to eliminate the dross, as otherwise the weight of the mind will pull you down to the sighs and sorrows of life. Liquify your thoughts into the pure Spirit.

The path of Enlightenment trails through the labyrinths of life. At every turn, new experiences will meet you, sometimes with Cosmic Rays of hope, and at other times with the darkened terror of despair.

Pathfinder, beware! Let not the pressure of duty weigh down your courage and endurance. Every leaf of life is a poem of the Infinite, composed to the music of pain and joy. Even in the heart of pain you can discover the honey of happiness.

Do not tarry on your way to revel in the beauty of the stars shining in the psychic sphere. Make your headway through the Great Void until you reach the land of Enlightenment, which is the promised land of everlasting Bliss. Do not be satisfied with fragmentary experiences of the Infinite. Glimpse the Vision of the Whole.

Bless us with Thy intoxicating, ever-new, joyous, Supremely satisfying contact.

Teach us to drink Thee,

That every blood cell,

Every thought, and every feeling

May become saturated with Thy joy

And have their pleasure-thirst

Quenched forever.

After tasting Thee,

Lead us to temptation

If Thou wilt.

After we are sure of Thy most tempting,

Everlasting gift of Thyself, then test us

With all Thy temptations if Thou wilt.

Teach us by comparison

Between felicity and sense distraction

To completely remove, of our own accord,

All material pleasures from our hearts.

Bless us first with the light of Godly habits,

So that whenever

The darkness of bad habits approaches,

It will be spontaneously driven away.

Teach us to forsake the misery-making

Ignorant ways of living by letting us know

And feel the comforting ways of wise living.

Teach us to be so attached to Thee

That we can not be at all attracted

To material pleasures.

Teach us by Thy love

To conquer all loves for worldly life.

Millions do not love Thee

Because they know not of Thy alluring Love.

Millions love matter

Because they meet it first.

Divine Beloved,

Why dost Thou not come first in human life?

Oh, Father,

How canst Thou expect frail Souls,

Ignorant of Thee

And burdened with bad habits,

To know Thy all-healing Joy.

Of all Thy punishments,

Forgetfulness of Thee is greatest.

Punish us not, therefore, with forgetfulness.

No matter what our tests may be,

Teach us to bear them joyously

By feeling Thy Presence

All the time in our hearts.

For the knowledge

Of Thy Presence in the heart

Makes all our tragedies and comedies of life

But dramas

Of extremely ecstatic entertainment.