I will beautify the mansion of my mind

With the majestic thoughts of all ages

As well as of all lands.

May my mind

Forever think in terms of the Universal.

There is just one kind of life

Which is enjoyable to the utmost,

And it is the busy life.

May I nourish my busy life

With the milk of silent meditation,

So that it will be an unbroken play

Of the Infinite.

Friendship,

Especially spiritual comradeship,

Is a very dear possession of life.

May I have the capacity

To sacrifice my Ego

To save it in the storm and stress

Of worldly misunderstandings.

There is nothing

Save the ONE.

Everything is nothing

But the something

Of the ONE.

May I destroy

The delusion of duality

Which is the root-cause

Of all sorrows.

As Spirit is Omnipresent,

He is present in me.

Omnipresence and Omniscience

Are the attributes of my Soul.

May I unfold even a fragment

Of that of which

My Inner Self is made.

Knowledge lights up

The mansion of mind;

Yet, without Thy light,

What is knowledge

But a heap of darkness.

Thou art there, O Lord,

Where love wields her scepter

In the hearts of men.

May I crown Love

As the Queen of my life.

Light! More Light!

Wisdom! More Wisdom!

This is the constant cry of my Soul.

Oh God,

Vouchsafe Thy illumination to me

So that I may quench

My eternal thirst.

Life is the expression

Of infinite beauty.

May the eternal urge of beauty

Burst forth

Through the petal

Of my every action and thought.

I will tranquilize my mind

In the sacred bower of silence.

May my Inner Eye

Meet the Divine Effulgence

Shining in the immensity of darkness

That is within me.

The Great

Universal Heart of God

Is in the heart

Of everything that breathes.

May my perception

Feel the throb

Of every heart.

May I find meditation

In my activity

And action in my meditation,

So that my whole life

Will be a love offering

To my Lord.

Holy is the dust

Whereon treads a humble Soul.

Crumble, Oh God,

All my earthly pride

Into non-existence.

Where else can I find my God,

Except in the hermitage

Of my own heart?

Blind my eyes, Oh Lord,

To the tantalizing

Without,

So that they can look for Thee

Within.

May I know

That I am

Not the body,

Not the blood,

Not the energy,

Not the thoughts,

Not the mind,

Not the Ego,

Not even the Astral Self.

I am the immortal Soul

Which illumines all,

Remaining itself unchangeable

In spite of changes.

Live

In the constant recognition

Of the great Truth

That God is with you,

That He is nearer

Than your very life,

Because He

Is the very Life of your life.

All things are possible.

Nothing is so bad

That it cannot be cured.

Nothing is too good to be hoped for.

Nothing is too high to be attained.

Sow an action and reap a habit;

Sow a habit and reap a character;

Sow a character and reap a destiny.

Do not worry.

Make up your mind to do better

When you get another chance.

If you have patience,

You can have what you will.

He who is firm in will

Molds the world to himself.

More depends upon

Will power

Than upon brain power.

Do not despair.

Lost hope is a fatal disease.

Seen in its true relation,

There is no experience of life

Over which

We have a right to worry.

He is the best helper

Who is

The most ingenious inspirer

Of hope.

If we do our duty

In the present state,

We have no occasion

To worry

Over the future state.

Guide us,

Lest a perversity of heart

Overrule

The intelligence of mind,

And prevent us

From recognizing the Truth.

Life is a spiral climb;

The sun of success on one side,

And the fog of failure on the others,

But ever upward.

Guide Thou our climb

Up this spiral path of life

Out of the mist of trial,

Tribulation, gloom, and despair

To the dawn of joy, bliss, peace,

And contentment.

Father, reveal Thyself to me

That I may know

Thy Laws and Precepts,

And accomplish the purpose

For which I was sent.

Thy will, not mine,

Be done in me.

I will find something

Each day

For which to give thanks,

And thus

Form the habit of gratitude

For all the good gifts

The Father has bestowed upon me.

Finding error and fault

In another’s behavior

Should not make me criticize him,

But should teach me

To perfect myself

In order that I

May be free from such faults.

Since Thou hast given me

A part to play

On this stage of time,

Bless me

That I may be

A useful and serviceable actor,

Not only for myself,

But for all those around me.

This is a day

Of God’s making,

And I rejoice in it.

Habits

Are the beaten track

Over which

The will travels.

The beaten path of habit

Is the line

Of least resistance

To the will.

One who would train his will

Must provide it

With the proper mental path

Over which to travel.

Divine Peace

Abide within my heart

This day.

May Thy understanding

Illumine my mind

So that my smile

Will radiate Thy peace

To all those

Who cross my path.

All that I do today,

I will do well.

I will work

With all my mind and heart.

I will do my best.

Direct my hands

To the right things

Thou wouldst have them do.

Control my speech,

Dear Father,

That I may sing

Only praises unto Thee.

Divine Mother,

Incline mine ear

To listen to Thy Voice

In the swaying branches

Of the trees,

And in the song of the lark.

Thou dost call me

At the break of day

With the chatter of the birds,

The budding flowers,

The warmth of the sun,

Divine duties to perform.

How can I escape Thee?

Not as a conqueror He came

With bugles blast and banners gay,

And marching men with spoils of war

To herald in some holiday.

Not as a conqueror He came.

Not as a king enthroned in State

With all the pageantry of power,

While twice ten thousand bow the knee

To fill his idle perfumed hour

Not as a king He came.

Not as a sage all worldly wise,

Expounding his philosophy,

Blind leader of the blind, misled

By some vain subtle sophistry.

Not as a sage He came.

Not as a priest with ritual rare,

Nor cowled monk with mien austere,

Whose threatening theologies

Fill heart and mind with haunting fear.

Not as a priest He came.

But lowly as a little child,

He shared our every human need,

And serving all in simple faith

Made Love

Life’s all-inclusive creed.

’Twas in this guise He came.

His words were winged with living light,

His deeds were in compassion wrought,

While matchless through the centuries

Have stood the truths

His wisdom taught.

Thus the Great Teacher came.

The conquerors have sued for peace;

And priests have hung the head in shame;

Sages have questioned: "What is Truth?"

While Kings have bowed before His name.

And though they nailed Him to a tree,

He conquered all and set them free.

I would be pure,

For there is somebody who cares.

I would be strong, for there is much to suffer.

I would be brave, for there is much to dare.

I would be a friend

To the poor and friendless.

I would be a giver and forget the gift.

I would be humble, for I know my weakness.

I would be fair, f

Fr there are those who trust me.

Religious groups and individual ministers should become more scientifically minded. They should turn to experimental psychology and test the real efficacies of faith and spiritual laws upon human beings in the laboratory of their churches. If the scientists do not get new knowledge by blind prayer, how can the religionists expect to know new laws of life, just by blind supplication? The churches, instead of lagging behind, must live abreast of the times.

The usual method of most churches has been to hold their people by virtue of inbred church-going religious habits, or by holy threats, or by lecture, and musical, or festive entertainments.

Dogmatic church members succumb to the influence of parental religious habits, or to a sense of religious fear, or festive religious entertainments, or to a repetition of the same grand theoretical sermons over and over again. Most intellectual people are straying out of the church fold because they do not find any progressive interest there. Huge sums of money are tied up in church edifices just to impress people with the grandeur of architecture, but that is all—scarcely anything more is accomplished. Architectural appeal of comfortable church pews, or sermons of spiritual victrolas, or big advertising campaigns for drawing large crowds to church festivities, are not producing permanent results, for people do not get any new knowledge in the church, which can sufficiently awaken their interest and spontaneously bring them there. What is the use of making the church members believe in untested dogmas which the minister does not know to be true?

People naturally are attracted to good movies because they are interesting. The church cannot compete with professional entertainment and cannot long hold its members by the parroting of the same untested statements in sermons, even when given in new, interesting ways and accompanied by good musical programs.

The churches, instead of fighting with one another about the infallibility of their individual dogmas, and spending money in decorating the temples, should get together and find the real meaning of life, and through psycho-ethical laws try to discover the universal standard of the art of living, which can really daily uplift and help their people.

Instead of peddling untested dogma and urging people to believe, the church should convert its premises into universities of experimental psychology. Ancient India built the biggest and most gorgeous temples in the world, but now they have mostly become marts for priests to ply their religious trades and to shear the pilgrims of money for their own diabolical uses. India is now going through a new evolution and getting rid of this false growth. In little secluded hermitages unmarked by any religious trade-mark, real spiritual teachers, who live the life, are experimenting with the worth-while effect of spiritual laws on the lives of true seekers and not on floating curiosity seekers.

The Protestants, Catholics, Christian Scientists, Jews, Quakers, followers of Unity, Rosecrucians, Theosophists, Buddhists, Shintoists, Mohammedans, Jains, Mormons, Zoroastrians, and Hindus, must cease self-laudation of the Divinity of their respective religions and religious treatises. They must get together and concentrate upon the universal practical religious principles and urge their application in the reorganized universities of their faiths.

Instead of stuffing dogma into the minds of the church members and into young, growing brains, religious leaders should nourish young minds with introspective, stimulating truths of universal wisdom. Instead of just conducting Sunday services and weekly Bible classes in which the ministers do the chief acting, lecturing, and entertaining, the church members should be reorganized to do their own thinking and meditating. Most churches are built on the personalities of oratorical ministers, and when the church lacks that oratorical, or emotional, or musical display, the church members lose interest in it.

First, the idea of a difference between churches must be dissolved by emphasizing the following facts:

1. All churches should have a universal name: "Temple of Truth," "Church of Wisdom," "Church of New Awakening," "Church of Scientific Religion," or "Church of God." Different names, no matter how universal they are, have done the greatest mischief in keeping people divided, superstitious, and narrow-minded. People should concentrate upon the Fatherhood of God and upon the universal principles of morality, which benefit all lives.

2. All the churches in different countries should be maintained by a community church fund.

3. All followers of different beliefs should attend particular churches, according to their change of residence, without being limited by sectarianism, but should preserve loyalty to their own Preceptor and his wishes.

4. All churches should be turned into spiritual universities, with a daily routine of study, and with regular hours. They should have daily evening services for business people. Each church, instead of injecting untested dogmatic training into its floating church members, should advocate the study of experimental psychology and theology of all religions. In the theoretical department, the church university should discuss critically and teach all the views of different religions. In the practical department, the efficacy of prayer, the technique of concentration and meditation, and breathing exercises as discovered by the Master Minds of India and other religious teachers, should be experimented upon paying students who attend regularly, and in secluded, sound-proof rooms. Weekly, monthly, and yearly examinations of the students as to their powers of concentration should be given regularly. In this way the churches would not be places of charity, depending upon the favors of stray visitors, but they would be places of universal utility, attracting real truth-seeking people to them.

5. Only saints who live the life, irrespective of religious belief, should be elected from all races to be professors of such organized church universities.

Thus, if churches were made into Truth Universities, they would be attended everywhere by Christians, Hindus, Jews, and other religious followers alike. All churches would then stand for all beliefs. Then people would concentrate upon Cosmic Brotherhood and upon the One Fatherhood of God, and would work together in the church laboratories to win degrees of Self Realization through the fellowship of all religions.

The Cosmic President would be the Silent Guest who would come, without invitation, into the hall of inner intuitive silence, to present the unseen, imperishable, spiritual diplomas to winning Souls who had earned the Kingdom of God through hard labor in the study of scientific meditation. This would reverse the searchlight of consciousness from without to within.

Last of all, if the above reformations are introduced in all churches, it will save them from the inevitable process of dissolution, which has already begun in Spain, Russia, India, and other countries.

Churches, in their modern form, have done something to keep reminding people of the necessity of knowing God and Truth, but in order to be of real service they must be universities of spiritual discipline and must offer a real practical spiritual training to all people.

Churches have hitherto tried to hold people by untested dogma, hereditary religious habits, preaching of theoretical sermons, entertaining lectures, advertisements, dances, movies, attractive dinners, holy threats, new, good-looking, lecture-drilled theological ministers, or actor orators.

It is the paramount duty of all real ministers to improve themselves by daily, deep, scientific meditation and to reform their churches by using the above-mentioned practical program. The ministers, through their spiritual church universities, should create spiritual habits and the joy of ever-bubbling spiritual Self Realization, which alone, spontaneously, without urging, would hold the church students to their respective church universities for their own everlasting good.

I prefer a real God-loving Soul to a crowd of shallow, emotional Souls, but I love crowds of real Souls. I like to organize mass meetings, not to gather big crowds of soulless Beings, but in order to pick out from the crowds the patient, Truth-seeking Souls. I have noticed that if there are empty seats in a meeting, people stare at the empty seats and feel uncomfortable, and emanate doubt and discouragement, but if the hall is crowded, people feel emotionally intoxicated and fail to distinguish between the empty Souls in a crowd and the real Souls in a small gathering.

Crowd or no crowd, we must learn to love Souls and not empty-minded masses. All new spiritual organizations must profit by the mistakes of most of the big hives of churches, which are without the honey of God. Creation of hives of organizations can only be justified when they contain the honey of Self Realization.

Most churches thrive upon the crowd psychology, and hold people by advertisements, music, and entertaining lectures. This should be changed. Instead of lectures being given in mortgage-laden, money-hungry, costly temples, small groups should be organized in noise-proof rooms in private homes. Such groups should not spend their time in listening to each other give their ideas and imaginations about Truth, but they should get together to meditate according to a system of constantly progressive technique, and should contact God and listen to His sermons of peace and wisdom within. Big meetings can be created anywhere by proper use of money, but crowds of Souls can only be created by individual meditation alone and in groups. The latter, money can never create. Big crowds are held together by the power of dogma or by crowd psychology, but real meditating groups are held by their own Self Realization. If there is no Self Realization to hold groups together, then what is the use of trying to hold them by mere entertainment?

Religious groups which only read good books and pass the time listening to lectures and musical entertainments are theoretical, theological social clubs, and lack the Presence of the Master of all Ceremonies of Life, our beloved God, but where many, not only get together in the name of God, but also try to invoke His Presence in the Temple of Meditation, they are truly blessed by the Presence of God.

Such groups should get away from all soulless crowd psychology and should concentrate upon Soul psychology, allowing only those in group meditations who mean real business with God. Small groups would exclude the necessity of having flattering unspiritual people in order to meet the expenses of a big church. Never mind who comes or goes in a group as long as they are sincere.

Meditation groups should be organized not for the glorification of a Cause or a Leader, but with the express and only purpose of knowing God by the power of united concentration and meditation. Group meditation is a castle which protects the new spiritual aspirants as well as the veteran meditaters. Meditating together increases the degree of Self Realization of each member of the group by the law of invisible vibratory exchange of spiritual magnetism.

My Master told me to organize a group when I first took lessons from him. He said: "Milk cannot float on water until it is churned into butter," and he said that I must churn my butter of Self Realization in good company and then I would be proof against the influence of the waters of wrong or material environment.

Some people, who had lots of Self Realization at the start, stayed away from the group, avoiding us as distractions. Time showed that because their early spiritual enthusiasm had blinded them to the fact that they needed spiritual company and had not grown strong, protective, spiritual habits, they all fell when they went out into the world. Three or four of us stuck together for years, filling our Souls with the fragrance of Self Realization. We cared not who came or went. We did not advertise, and yet our message spread all over the earth, and spontaneously attracted the human bees, the real truth seekers.

The news of God Realization spreads of itself. That is why group meetings, to practice the technique of meditation, are so vitally important. They solidify individual Self Realization acquired at home. They would give a new awakening to church members and make them seek the church instead of it seeking them.

Group meditation will hold people together, not because of the leader’s personality, or because of musical programs and festivities, but because of their own Self Realization. Then, too, they would of their own accord want to get together often, to worship God on the united altar of their devotion. Religious teachers should cease to be sect-makers, money seekers, and dogma builders. They should be Soul-awakeners, Self Realization developers, and universal Truth builders. They should hold people who seek them through Self Realization.

At the Century of Progress, in Chicago, this summer, there will be assembled probably the greatest parliament of religions ever held, namely, the "World Fellowship of Faiths."

Swami Yogananda will speak at 8 p.m. Sunday, September 10, on "Realizing World Unity Through the Art of Living."

Delegates from all parts of the world will be there, including Jadaguru Shri Shankaracharya of Bombay, with twenty of his disciples.

Yogoda students from all over the country are expected to be in Chicago at this time.

LIFE is insistent and eternal in every atom of the universe. Death is only a concept of a living Being. The disintegration of an organized body means only that that special form ceases to function, but it does not mean that its component parts have been rendered inactive nor that the Spirit which organized it has been annihilated, nor does it prove that the organizing power cannot re-collect and revivify the same form if it wills to do so.

If annihilation were possible, if it were a fact in Nature, no one could prove it, for in order to do so he would have to prove the existence of nothing, which is unthinkable. To prove the existence of something that does not exist is equivalent to establishing its existence, and if a thing or state of Being exists, it is not nothing, but something.

Can we go further than to say that nothing does not exist? And, if nothing is not, then annihilation is a conception of the all-inclusive consciousness and is not a Reality, either in or outside of consciousness.

If annihilation were possible, no one could be conscious of it, for to assert that it is possible to be conscious of the non-existent is a proposition that is self-contradictory and requires no argument to prove its fallacy.

Once a person is convinced that life is universal and eternal, he never more will admit the possibility of death, in the sense of annihilation of matter, nor of cessation of consciousness. Such a person will know "matter" and "mind" to be identical in essence, manifesting in the great Soul in which they "live and move and have their Being." He will know that the material is forever conscious and inseparable from the spiritual, and he will know that the Spirit is eternally substantial. Such a person will not deny resurrection, for he will know that He who creates and preserves is also the One who changes and remodels all forms that reflect their Maker. Such a person will affirm resurrection, but he will make no great miracle of it. He will be at One with the Master who knows Himself for the unborn and the undying.

EVERYTHING that lives and breathes—yes, and even every inanimate object in the universe—is a medium, for a medium is "a substance through which force acts, or an effect is transmitted." You do not need to go into a trance to become a medium, for you are a medium already. By your very nature you must be a transmitter, a reflector. Your body transmits or reflects natural forces; your mind is a medium for the transmission of mental energy and forms, your Soul transmits qualities of Spirit.

Since none of us can escape the fact of our mediumship, it behooves us to ask ourselves: "What are we reflecting? What are we transmitting? To what forces, qualities, and Beings do we lend our bodies, our minds, and our souls? To what extent are we conscious mediums? What is the nature of the qualities, the powers, and the pictures which we reflect into the surrounding ether and into the minds and hearts of men?"

A mirror is a medium for the reflection of images. A window pane is a medium for transmission of light. Neither the mirror nor the window pane is conscious, and neither has a will. You are different. You may know that you are a medium, and you may direct your will so that you shall reflect only that which you wish to reflect. Is you blood so pure and your body so radiant that you vibrate only health and courage and joy? Is your mind so clear and clean that it reflects only the pure, the good, and the beautiful? Is your Soul so faithful, so true, so vibrantly loving that it transmits only the glory of the Spirit? Or are your body, mind, and Soul so covered with the mud of doubt, hatred, envy, and greed that only the base and the unclean find lodgment in you and reflection from you?

These questions each one must answer for himself.

DO YOU sometimes allow the usurper, Imagination, to "play you for a fool?" If so, it will do you no harm to meditate upon the statements we are going to make. Furthermore, if you can persuade yourself to believe these statements and act upon the assumption that they are true, the practical effect upon your life will be the establishment, in your consciousness, of their essential truth. You are the supreme ruler of yourself. You are not the slave of anything unless you grant to a thing or condition an apparent power over you.

A great book says: "Shall the thing created say to Him that made it, ‘Why hast Thou made me thus?’" Now, who or what is this Creator? Is it your body, your senses, your mind, your personal will, or the things your personality touches? Surely not. Then, why do your fear to declare that this Creator is yourself—your highest, best, truest Self, who stands back of all phenomena?

You are not governed by your imagination, and the very fact that you speak of it as "Your" imagination, proves it. You are not ruled by the thing you image to yourself nor by the function called imagining, for you are the one who imagines. You are not ruled by even the will to imagine, for you are the governor of your will. You are not governed by your attitude toward anything or any condition in your universe, and the fact that you can change your attitude proves it.

You are the creator, the preserver, the transformer, and your will is the director, but never forget that YOU are the director of your will. When, in the course of creation or of imaging, you discover that you have imparted to any image so much of the essence of yourself that it is capable of believing in its own power, and threatens to rebel against your sovereignty, then know that it is no longer worthy of preservation, but that the time has come for you to transform that image into another and less potent form and to compel it to do you obeisance. Be not frightened by your shadow, be not overcome by the ghost that you have made.

All things, all conditions, all time, all mental qualities, all emotions belong to you. You alone are the enduring one. You are not in the world; all worlds are in you. The universe is under your feet. Forever and ever you govern as you please. If, for a time, you sportively place your crown upon the head of a favored idea, remember that this is but temporary and that you can retake your kingdom whenever you please.

"THE ZEAL OF THINE HOUSE

HATH EATEN ME UP."

The disciples corroborated the words of Jesus with scriptural sayings, which intimate that the material zeal or vibration swallows up the spiritual vibration of God.

Then answered the Jews and said unto Him: "What sign showest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things?" Jesus answered and said unto them: "DESTROY THIS TEMPLE AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP." ("Walks and Words of Jesus," Rev. M. N. Olmsted.)

The Jews wanted a Divine Proof that He was of God, since Jesus took upon Himself the responsibility of driving the money changers from the Temple. In other words, the Jews meant that it was illegal for Jesus to drive away the money changers unless He had Divine authority greater than human laws to do so.

It is beautiful to see that Jesus accepted this challenge in a peculiar Divine way. He did not employ a new miracle to convince the Jews of His greatness. He simply told them what was going to happen. Jesus was not in a hurry to convince His enemies. He only said this to demonstrate the wish and work of God in His life. Jesus thought that no other proof of His divinity could be greater than the telling about a future event in which God was to perform the miracle-of-miracles by rebuilding His crucified body after three days. (What Jesus meant has been several times described and performed by the Yogis of India.)

Human nature is composed of three qualities; namely, good, evil, and activating qualities. The soul of man has three dresses: the ideational, astral, and physical, just as we put on an undergarment, a suit, and an overcoat. The Soul of man can only be liberated from the bondage of mortal Karma and limitation when it rises above the desires of the physical, Astral, and Spiritual bodies. It takes three distinct efforts for the Soul to leave the physical, Astral, and Ideational bodies.

Some people take years and many incarnations to accomplish this, but Jesus knew, advanced as He was, that He would be able to liberate His Soul from the limitations of three bodies by three distinct efforts in three days, and would be able to unite it with the unlimited power of the Spirit.

It is only when Souls, by desirelessness, are free of the limitations of these three bodies that they are not compelled to remain in the Astral or to reincarnate in the physical. It is then that they are imbued with the power of God to re-create any dead body, even as He can. Jesus knew that once He was out of the three bodies, He would demonstrate His Oneness with the Father, and His powers, by re-creating His crucified body as no one could except His Heavenly Father.

There is a story that the East Indian Saint, Kabir, told his Hindu and Mohammedan disciples that he would never die, and yet, when he lay in his coffin dead, the first thing his Hindu and Mohammedan disciples did was to doubt the truth of his saying about his deathlessness, and they began to fight with one another. The Hindus wanted to cremate his dead body and the Mohammedans insisted upon entombing it.

At last they fought so hard that their Master Kabir could not keep still any longer and he broke the after-death paramount vow of silence and rose up in his coffin and rebuked his disciples. "Look, you dreamt that I was dead. Lo! I am even living in the body. Since I told you not to fight about anything and then you quarreled about my dead dream body, I will convert it into the same Divine Cosmic Dream from which it came." Saying this, and blessing them, he said: "Whatever is left in the coffin, half of that bury, and half of it cremate."

When the disciples lifted the coffin lid, they found that their Master ad dematerialized the body and left in its stead a few golden flowers. The Hindus cremated half of these flowers and the Mohammedans buried the remaining half.

It is said from an authoritative source that our great Guru (preceptor) Shyama Charan Lahiri Mahasaya of India consciously left his body when his life work was finished, and that he appeared again in the flesh the next day in three places.

Great saints of India, who have lived knowing and contacting God in their lives, have been known to raise their bodies after death both before and after the time of Christ. It is reported that some saints, like our greatest Guru Babaji, never experience the so-called human death, but keep their bodies for centuries, and through Eternity, enjoying communion as the Infinite God and as the specific finite body.

One can see the ocean without the waves, or one can see the ocean as the ocean in the waves. Likewise, some souls see God without the finite body or any delusive waves of Creation, and yet others may behold God as the Infinite become the finite, or the body. In the latter case, the soul beholds God become the wave of one or more souls. Babaji, the great Guru, experiences himself not apart from God, but perceives that He has become Babaji, you, and me, and all manifestation. In the ultimate experience, one does not lose his Soul or individuality. One only expands it and finds that God has become one’s soul.

The little Soul-Wave, tossed by the storm of dark ignorance, finds itself isolated from the Ocean of Spirit, but when the sunshine of highest wisdom comes, the little Soul-Wave finds that the Ocean of Spirit has become the Soul-Wavelet.

"The cross of life is heavy,

The nails hurt Thy hands and feet;

The thorns on Thy brow are torture

But after, Beloved, what then?"

IT HAS been well said that childhood represents the growing center of race life, and what one can do for humanity must be done through the child. The teacher who would be successful in directing child character into the channel of realization of the "Higher Self" must be a student of biology, history, anthropology, ethics, sociology, psychology, and religion; but more than that, such a person must be able to interpret these values and to intonate them into the life of the child.

In this article it would be quite impossible to show the relationship of all these fields to the development of child life, consequently I shall touch briefly upon the value of a few facts of psychology which bear closely upon the influencing factors of beauty and love in child development.

It has been determined by eminent psychologists that IMAGINATION is a very important factor in the development of child life and the release of moral values. Since that factor is very active among mere children, imaginative procedures may be used advantageously at a very early age.

By the proper use or direction of the imagination, a CONCEPT of a thing may be formed so that "It will be more real than the real thing itself." This is the teaching of a world-famous psychologist and educator. By way of illustrating the proof of this statement, one has only to consider the case of an insane person. Such a person has directed the imagination to the formation of a concept which to him is more real than the real situation.

Since it is true that the imagination can be directed into channels which lead to despondency, illness, and insanity, is it not possible to direct the imagination into channels of beauty and love, which will lead to "Higher Self" realization?

Numerous projects have proven that abstract and concrete thinking in children is possible at a very early age, therefore such methods of procedure can begin in some of the lowest grades.

To those deeply interested in ethics and religion as important factors in the molding of character, it has been a bit disappointing to learn that, through numerous experiments, there is a zero correlation between biblical knowledge and conduct. Perhaps this will also help to explain the fact that direct moral instruction has a negative rather than a positive effect upon conduct and attitude. Since the true springs of moral life have been found in motives and desires rather than in sets of ideas, is it not true that the teaching of morals will have to be approached from a new standpoint?

The doctrine of Buddha and of Jesus, the Christ, has been that one cannot continue to do a thing without becoming like the deed. This is in reality bringing forth into objectivity that which has been conceived by the imagination. It has become objectified through creative activity. This being true, is it not possible to objectify the highest moral ideals leading to "Higher Self" realization through creative activity? With this psychological introduction to child development, which will be referred to again later in this article, may attention be directed for a time to the factor of beauty.

Volumes too numerous to mention here have been written upon the various theories of beauty. However, in this discussion attention will be given only to such theories as may be found closely allied to the development of the "Higher Self" of the child.

In such consideration, Schiller, in calling aesthetic experience play, understands play in a very special sense, defining it indeed as an impulse whose only object is beauty, and as the highest human activity. Another writer, in defining beauty, has said that it is always EXPRESSION, and expression is always a primary spiritual activity.

The mystic explains beauty as a creation of the Spirit which is in all men ONE; that it is the language, the expression, the word, by which individuals, if naturally distinctive, are supernaturally or miraculously capable of ideal unity. A still further explanation of beauty holds that it is no negligible or superfluous appendage to man’s life, but an aspect in which he must value his whole world.

The preceding investigation into the meaning of beauty leads one to the fact that it possesses both spiritual value and activity. Such being the case, the question naturally arises as to the method of intonating beauty values into the life of the child.

In his volume on "Child Training," V. M. Hillyer contends that the rhythmic arts, including dancing, rhymes, songs, and singing games supply the most effective means of advancing the child’s aesthetic life. Referring to the psychological factors previously mentioned—imagination, conception, and creative activity—they may be linked with the statement of V. M. Hillyer and then be applied.

What shall be the method of application of these factors to objectify beauty? May I repeat the old, old doctrine that one becomes like the deed he constantly performs? Let us proceed then to have the children use their imaginations in forming beauty concepts, and then by actually creating that concept objectively also stress the memorizing of ancient but beautiful folk-lore and fairy tales, and insofar as possible have the children dramatize them. By so doing, these finer qualities become intonated, and are a part of the child’s Being.

Through the use of such literature, followed by activity, reverence will develop for these early traditions as well as reverence for home and family life. The study of beauty in every form: literature, art, drama, music, sculpture, and many other fields, cannot be over-emphasized, and the creative activity of every phase of beauty that can be activated should be done daily by the children; every phase of beauty, even to beautiful thoughts accompanied by beautiful deeds, should be foremost in the development of the "Higher Self." In the children’s room there should be many things of beauty, such as:

• Beautiful pictures.
• Samples of beautiful art.
• Pictures of beautiful cathedrals, etc.
• Samples of beautiful statuary.
• Beautiful dolls and other toys.

Referring again to psychological factors, let us consider the question of abstract thinking temporarily. It has already been noted that abstract as well as concrete thinking by children is possible at a very early age. As pertains to the question of beauty, wherein it is not possible to express it in the concrete form, it should be done in the abstract.

By way of illustration, a child’s imagination might be directed to formulate a picture of a rose, a concept of a rose, and then pretending to hold that beautiful rose before him he should admire its exquisite beauty, and as he gently moves it to and fro before him, repeat these words: "I am as beautiful as this rose; I am as beautiful as this rose." Such procedure has marked results upon the development of the "Higher Self." While the child would be unable to grasp the psychological mechanism of his performance, nevertheless glorious results would be sure to follow. The child does not understand the mechanism of the electric button, but even so, if he presses the electric button he gets results.

By way of proof of this method of procedure and its astounding results, may I say that I am intimately acquainted with an eminent educator and teacher who has been using this method of teaching adult groups numbering as high as two hundred and fifty in a group, with the most astounding results. As the imaginative factor in children is much more active than in the adult mind, this method could be developed among them much more readily.

Having noted slightly the influence of beauty upon child life, may we now give consideration to the influence of love. Someone may ask: "What is love?" Some people, such as Hegel and Locke, have discerned the essence of love in the intellect; some, such as Buddha, the mystic, and Kant, have discerned it in the emotions; still others, including Plato, Jesus, and Descartes, have discerned it in the will.

Educators of this age emphasize the fact that in every mental process the intellect, the emotions, and the will all participate, though one of the three predominates. On this basis Pfister defines love as "A feeling of attraction and a sense of self-surrender, arising out of a need, and directed toward an object that offers hope of gratification."

Recalling to mind the same psychological factors as those functioning in the beauty illustrations, namely, the imagination, concept, and creative activity, may they be utilized also in the application of love to child-life. Since love is in a large measure abstract, it might be well to attempt to develop it in the child’s life by telling or reading stories which exemplify a great deal of love; then pictures of various kinds, such as madonnas, children loving pets, etc., should be placed in the child’s room. Loving deeds performed for the child as well as by the child should help to build up a consciousness of LOVE.

By way of emphasizing this abstract phase of love and building it more deeply into the consciousness of the child, I would proceed in the same manner as in emphasizing an idea of beauty in the abstract. A group of children should be told a story in which love is the predominating element, then, as they sit in their little red chairs with their dollies in their arms, they might sing a song or two about loving their dollies, or loving little baby brother who is at home.

Thereafter, they could repeat in unison somewhat as follows: "I love mother, mother loves me; I love God and God loves me." To help further to intensify the consciousness of love, the children should each perform some act of love or kindness for someone not a family member. This entire procedure would have to be repeated regularly for a considerable length of time in order to formulate that consciousness as a part of the child’s life.

It is a well known fact that the greatest artists in music and other fields have worked out of a consciousness (abstraction) into the objective (concrete,) and those who proceeded in this manner are the true artists in their chosen fields.

Throughout the ages such philosophers and teachers as Plato, Jesus, Buddha, Tagore, Ghandi, and Kagawa have stressed the value of beauty and love in human relationships. Further emphasizing the power of love as a Divine attribute, Leila Castberg says that "Love is a force. To those who see on the inner plane of mind, it is as actual as is the fact that this world exists. It is positive where other forces are negative, and when one has organized it in his mind and in his physical body, it will overcome anything adverse that touches his life."

Taking the above statement into consideration, would it not be a project worth while to establish a consciousness of Divine Love? Considering the power of the imagination of a child, and knowing how readily it may be directed into proper channels, I am fully convinced that much can be done by way of creating a consciousness of abstract factors, such as truth, perfection, beauty, love, etc., which will function in life’s activities.

Personally, I should be delighted to conduct laboratory experiments with groups of children of different age levels, for the purpose of creating the consciousness of the above-named factors. It would be intensely interesting to note the results physically, socially, educationally, and spiritually.

By way of summing up the factors given consideration in this article, may we note the following outline, to be used in the establishment of any consciousness:

• The imagination.
• The concept.
• The consciousness.
• The activity.
• Objectivity or reality.

In a few words, the importance of this outline, which is the KEY TO SELF-MASTERY, cannot be overemphasized. That individual who has so trained himself in the power of thought placement, can proceed with rapid strides into the establishment of a consciousness. It is he who can properly control the thought world and direct the imagination to form such concepts as he may desire. The constant repetition of a concept formulates a consciousness which cannot fail to be expressed in reality, for that is the very nature of consciousness.

Since CONSCIOUSNESS is such a vital factor in one’s life, would it not be worth while to give it a bit of consideration each day, or each hour? The same principles involved in the development of these two factors—beauty and love—may be used with marked success for the development of any state of consciousness one may desire to realize if the proper time and consideration are devoted thereto.

Throughout this article I have endeavored to stress the influence of beauty and love as they function in child life, but it has been my chief purpose to stress the fact that various factors may be intensified into a creative consciousness which will activate in the affairs of one’s life. It would be impossible to present further the method of procedure in this article.

Obstacles to Meditation

Chapter I, Stanza 13

Tasya sanjan ayanaharsam Kurubridah pitamaha sinhanadam binodachai shankham dadhou protapaban.

Protapaban (the strong); Kurubridah (eldest of the Kurus); pitamaha (grandfather); tasya (his, i.e., Durjodhana’s); harsam (joy); sanjanayan (to create); uchai (loudly); sinhanadam (roared like a lion); binodya (having sounded) shankham (conchshell); dadou (blew).

The strong, eldest of the Kurus, Bhisma, the grandfather, in order to enliven Durjodhana, now roared aloud like a lion and blew his conchshell.

The entire family of the Kurus, and the Pandus of India, symbolizes the tree of human consciousness. God the Father, (Santanyu) through His first consort, primordial intelligence (Ganga) in Nature, gives birth to the human Ego Consciousness (Bhisma). Then, through His second consort (Satyabati), primordial matter, the offspring of the law of relativity, Divine primordial element and Divine ego, (Bada, Byasa, Chitrangad, Bithitrabirja) are born. On the other side the Divine Ego, through the first consort, Doubt, gave birth to the psychological child or blind mind (Dhritarashtra). This Blind Mind, through his first consort, Power of Desire, (Ghandhari) gave birth to King Desire and Durjodhana, children of a hundred mental tendencies (Kurus).

Then the Blind Mind, through his second consort, Baishya, the attachment to desires, gave birth to the child of "Desire to give battle to psychological tendencies," Gujutsu.

Then the Divine Ego through his second consort (Ambalika) the positive discriminating faculty, gave birth to the child of pure discriminating intelligence, Pandu. Then this discriminating intelligence, Pandu, by his first consort, the power of dispassion, (Kunti) gave birth to the children of the vibrating ether, vitality, and fire elements, (The Three Pandu Princes). Then this selfsame pure, discriminating intelligence, through his second consort, (Madri), the faculty of attachment to dispassion, gave birth to the two offsprings of vibrating water and earth elements, (Two Pandu Princes.)

King Material Desire had called upon the Preceptor Past Habit to protect General Ego with all the soldiers of the senses, but when the Preceptor Habit did not give inner support, General Ego himself roared with the vibration of pride.

Students of meditation will find that during deep meditation and identification with the Soul, the breath becomes still, but due to the lack of long-continued practice in meditation, the ego brings back the consciousness of the body, which revives the respiration, which begins to roar like a lion. This roaring sound is the vibratory conchshell of Ego, which revives the soldiers of the senses and cheers up King Material Desire to rally against the powers acquired by deep meditation.

The devotee must remember that during deep meditation, when the breath becomes calm, a very enjoyable state of peace is produced, but due to the Ego Consciousness, the thought of the body returns and the fickle, loud breath revives, rousing all material desires and sense distractions. The devotee should not be discouraged at this but should, by deeper concentration, learn to calm the breath and the senses. When King Material Desire does not get support from Past Bad Habits, the Ego comes to cheer and strengthen him.

Friends give flowers

To mark the hours

Of changing seasons

As they roll—

Thoughts we give,

By them we live,

And thoughts

Are blossoms of the soul.

"He rode upon a cherub, and did fly; and He was seen upon the WINGS of the WIND."—II Sam., 22:11.

"The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth; so is he that is born of the Spirit."—John, 3:8.

FROM the three primary sounds of the wind, as it sighs through the leaves of the forest, as it resounds in the waves on the seashore, and as it whistles around the crags on the mountain top, was derived the most ancient and potent Name of the Creator, E-O-I-H. The same sounds occur in G-O-D.

And so, when some extraordinary event is imminent, when a change, a culmination is near, we intuitively feel that SOMETHING IS IN THE WIND. The Gods are at work. To our highly sensitized meditation-disciplined Souls, the Wind Wings of intuition ever come, and we are moved in a mysterious way to speak, to write, to express.

At this great moment of cyclic change in our solar system new Light is penetrating the understanding of man. The spirit of investigation and inquiry is abroad, and there never was a time when more light and truth were readily available for our guidance and illumination than at this present day.

To seek to build up the Light into words so that it may be easily understood and comprehended by others to whom the purposes of human existence are obscure, should be our highest aspiration. It is one thing to know a truth intellectually. It is another thing to apply that truth to the living of our lives and REALIZE it, and it is quite another thing to be able to awaken others and communicate in a spirit of helpfulness the same inspiration and wisdom.

Knowledge only becomes power and power becomes wisdom when rightly applied and rightly used. Man, left to himself, without wise instruction, devolves to power in destruction for self’s sake. The highest evolutionary growth and greatest light is the practice of wisdom and virtue among men of their own accord, perceiving that righteousness, peace, and love toward one another are the foundations of God’s kingdom and the only passports which permit approach to Him, and through which atonement of Samadhi and Self Realization are attained.

At specific seasons, in harmony with great Cosmic changes, God raises up certain Vehicles as Light-Bearers, Guides, and Preceptors, upon whom He confers powers, and who bear great responsibilities, so that it is no light matter to creditably discharge those weighty responsibilities.

For instance, a Preceptor that spareth his pupil by doing for him that which he should achieve for himself, slays his charge. If he teach wrongly, he fails in his personal responsibility to God, and he who fails to teach his accepted charge is accessory to evil. But equally so is the pupil responsible if he hearken not to his accepted Preceptor, and to whom much is given, much shall be required. The more light we receive, the greater becomes our responsibility for the use we make of it. We have observed people who seem to think that the Great Work and the communication of the Lost Word of Instruction is child’s play. Such people should study the first eight verses of the sixth chapter of Hebrews.

Sweet indeed may be the taste of Truth revealed to the hungry Soul, but lo, it turns to bitterness during the process of digestion, or when the devotee follows the doctrine by practicing the techniques propounded by the Preceptor, but afterward, when he has conquered all obstacles and difficulties, it yeildeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness and becomes a constitutional growth.

Now is that time of which Isaiah spoke, saying: "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy Teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy Teachers: and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying: ‘This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.’ And in another place he said: ‘When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness (Right-Use-Ness).’"

We have learned that through wrong use of reason—through reason permitting feeling to overcome it—evil, with all its miseries, resulted. It is the same today as of yore, and every time we permit our appetites, passions, desires, emotions, impulses, or ambitions to rule our power of reason, we FALL, just as surely as any Adam ever did, and bring sorrow upon our Souls and sore travail upon our bodies, dying in that moment of transgression to the Divine Consciousness and binding the Soul down in the prison-house of matter the deeper each time. The remedy is, plainly, to retrace our steps, to learn the Right Use of Reason, and the Right exercise of Will in the Right application of knowledge and the Right Use of Power. This is wisdom.

Something is in the wind which portends great changes on earth. A new deliverance is at hand. "Yet once more, I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." The "principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places" are now being shaken. There is, according to the prophecy of John, in Revelation, "War in heaven." The self-gods are being overthrown: those who distorted the mission and teachings of Jesus and instituted the idolatrous worship of PERSONALITY instead of obedience to His precepts.

Since the third century, A.D., when Christianity was officially paganized and the great "masquerade" commenced, the true Light, which Jesus exemplified, has been maintained in secret, and only under great difficulty and against persecution, by a small band of the faithful, hidden away in the fastnesses of the mountains, living the life in caves and worshiping in prayer and meditation in rude, rocky temples, but ever under the Divine protection, guidance, and shadow of the Almighty, who looks not upon the massive grandeur of marble temples, but upon the sincerity of the Souls of His own people.

So universal both in the Unseen and the Seen has the hatred, opposition, and belligerence of the powers of darkness been, that those who remained faithful to the Testimony of Jesus and the Spirit of prophecy—who still continued to "earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints"—had a hard time, and were thus compelled, in order to avoid strife and bloodshed, as non-resistants of the evil of others but conquerors of their own, to flee to cover and "hid themselves a little while until the indignation be over-past."

This small minority of the chosen—chosen, forsooth, because THEY chose to follow the Voice within, the revelation of the Father to the Soul, rather than the idolatrous machinations of statecraft religion—have heard the "sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees," and know there IS something in the wind, and, like David of old, are bestirring themselves to action, for let us ever remember that all these things were written as examples for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come, for "Lo, the winter (time of evil) is past, the rain is over and gone, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle dove (Spirit) is heard in our land (body)."

This is the beginning of a new deliverance from evil, for which we have now prayed for nineteen centuries, which means the redemption of our body-temples, minds, and Souls from the ravages of sin, sickness, disease, weakness, fatigue, and COMPULSORY death, which is already an accomplished salvation to many, as witnessed by our beloved Swami Yogananda by word of mouth and by others’ written testimony. Our own Scriptures also testify to this "Great salvation" involving the transmutation of the body-temple, without tasting death, exemplifying the same in Enoch, the seventh from Adam, of whom it is written: "He walked with God and was not, for God took him, and before his TRANSLATION he had this testimony, that he PLEASED God." Then Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire, or fire-ship, without seeing corruption, even as the resurrected body of Jesus dematerialized before the eyes of the disciples as He ascended into the emancipated Heavens, the home of the immortals, fulfilling that saying: "He will not leave His soul in hell, nor suffer His Holy One to SEE CORRUPTION."

In the apocryphal book of Esdras we also read that He was, like Elijah, "taken up," that His body should not taste the "wages of sin." Moses also went up into the mountain, where God took him, nor was his body or burial place ever found, and it is interesting in this connection to note that it was these two Immortals, as differentiated from "Angels," who appeared with the Son of God upon the Mount of Transfiguration before the eyes of the disciples of Jesus many centuries afterward.

So, let us not form a wrong conception in our minds about this "Great Salvation" as being a bondage to the earth because it involves the preservation of the body-temple until the labor of the Soul in corpore is completed; that it is not to be sought because of a love of mortal life with its vanities and fleshly indulgences and pleasures. The very reverse is the truth, for it is only when we become DETACHED from MATTER in perfect self-abnegation that we gain our emancipation and Mastership over death.

DR. Robert A. Millikan, professor at the California Institute of Technology and one of America’s foremost scientists, recently told the New England Institute of International Relations that he regarded science as the most effective and deadly foe of war, and he thinks that it is rapidly rendering war obsolete.

Dr. Millikan said that he did not believe that disarmament necessarily meant peace, and cited the comparative unpreparedness of the United States at the beginning of its major conflicts. The significant fact is, he said, that as long as conduct is dictated solely by the emotions, "the law of the jungle must and will hold." The method of science, he said, is rational instead of emotional, and it is reason alone that sharply differentiates man from the brutes.

Asserting that science and its application has changed the nature of war, Dr. Millikan added: "It has rendered it more destructive and enormously more costly, so that, as the last war showed, the advantages which the victor formerly hoped to win from war have disappeared. Intelligent, rational beings cannot fail to read the handwriting on the wall, written there by science. The advance in science has sounded the death-knell of war."

THE old proverb says: "Clothes Makes the Man," but science says that to a large degree "Food Makes the Man." The human machine is not unlike an automobile or a steam engine. The efficiency and general behavior of mechanical engines is largely dependent upon the fuel supplied to them, and so, too, the human machine, including even the irritability, behavior, and general character of the individual is largely a matter of the food that person eats. Dr. Louis Berman, a distinguished New York physician and expert on the glands of the body, has explained all this in a new book: "Food and Character," recently published by Houghton, Mifflin & Company.

It is reasonable to hope that a more widespread knowledge that food does have much to do with character, ability, social habits, and so on, will enable many cases of ill health, unhappiness, and bad adjustment to be corrected or prevented by physicians who will study each individual patient from this point of view and design a set of dietary recommendations taking all individual peculiarities into account.

The one chemical element most likely to be lacking in the average American diet is believed by many experts to be calcium, the chemical element of lime. Calcium is needed for the making of bones, but the most serious effect of a lack of it is believed to be on the nervous system. Together with a certain chemical produced by the parathyroid gland in the neck and one of the vitamins called vitamin D, calcium is needed to keep the nervous system in proper balance.

Many scientific experts think that a lack of calcium is helping to cause many kinds of illness, as well as certain definite changes in American character. Americans are known all over the world for being excessively nervous and irritable. Both of these characteristics are common effects of too little calcium in the food. Dr. Berman even suggests that the frequency with which new religious beliefs and fads start in America, are pursued with violence for a while and then abandoned, is another symptom of the prevailing lack of calcium. Too little calcium usually makes people changeable, violent, and ill-balanced. Plenty of calcium makes them sober, temperate, and well-balanced.

The two great calcium foods are milk and cheese. Some vegetables also contain it, and extra calcium can be given by physicians, when necessary in the form of special chemical compounds. A reasonable amount of milk or cheese in the diet is recommended, however, as the best calcium insurance for the average person.

Variation exists in the abilities of different people to utilize fat. Some do this very well, so that diets containing much fat do not harm them. Other people have bodily machines which cannot burn up the fat completely, then acid poisons form in the body, not unlike the poisonous carbon monoxide gas formed in an automobile when the fuel in the cylinders does not burn up completely. One result of this is the series of disturbances of health and character called acidosis.

INSECTS smell with their legs. They can detect odor differences between substances which have no smell at all to human beings. These are some of the discoveries of Dr. N. E. McIndoo, entomologist of the Department of Agriculture, in an intensive study of the sense organs of various insects.

One of the chief means of controlling insects is by odor attraction. Tests were made by removing the antennae and the palpi of blow flies after the insects had been etherized. It has hitherto been thought that they "smelled" by means of tine hairlike organs attached to sensory cells on these organs. Dr. McIndoo found, however, that they smelled just about as well without them as with them.

The legs also have these tiny hair-like organs, which have been believed in the past to serve the sense of taste. The Department of Agriculture entomologist found, however, that it was not necessary for a substance actually to touch the hairs for the insect to perceive the difference. In fact, he found that when the hairs were immersed in a liquid they were protected by thin films of air, so that it is doubtful if they ever actually come in contact with the substance they discriminate. In the course of the investigation he piled up evidence that the sense of smell was located in these hairs and their sensory cells.

The flies could easily detect the difference between distilled water and sugar water when these were as much as three millimeters away from the sensory hairs. No odor perceptible to human beings can be found in these substances. The most attractive smell to blow flies was that of decaying meat, which is their natural food, although they were attracted to a wide variety of other substances and seemed to have a "sweet tooth." They are also fond of the odor of rotten eggs.

The study of the sense organs is being conducted with a large variety of insects. Upon precise knowledge of them depends methods of attracting the bugs into traps or repelling them from things which they ordinarily attract. The present study, Dr. McIndoo says, has shown for the first time that the olfactory pores actually are the organs with which the insects smell.

Mix together equal quantities of lemonade and tomato juice. Serve chilled, with a thin slice of orange in each glass.

To one-third cupful of mayonnaise add one teaspoonful of thick tomato juice, one teaspoonful of lemon juice, one-third teaspoonful of cinnamon, one-third teaspoonful of white sugar, and one-fourth teaspoonful of allspice. To this mixture add one cupful of quartered Chinese water chestnuts and one cupful of one-fourth inch diced cucumbers. Serve on crisp lettuce leaves to five persons.

To be served with salad for a cold lunch.

Combine one cupful of sliced okra with one cupful of sliced green peppers, one-half cupful of rice, one quart of water, one large bay leaf, one-half a cupful of fresh or solid canned tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Let come to the boiling point, then simmer for three-quarters of an hour. Remove from the fire and add one tablespoonful of butter and one tablespoonful of Savita. Place in teacups and leave on ice over night. This is service for five persons.

Make like the above recipe but use only one-fourth cupful of rice. This also will serve five persons.

Life never lends itself to death. Light is never the companion of darkness. The dead have never lived and never can awaken. The living were never dead and cannot die. That alone lives which has within it the qualities of everlasting life.—James M. Warnack.

IF YOU are a slave to the senses, you cannot be happy. If you are a master of your desires and appetites, you can be a really happy man. If you eat against your will; if you wish anything contrary to your conscience; if you act wrongly, forced by your senses, against the wish of your inner self, then you cannot be happy. People who are slaves to the senses find that their evil habits compel them to do things which will hurt them. Stubborn bad habits bludgeon your will power down every time it tries to take the lead and guide your thoughts to the kingdom of right action. The remedy lies in rescuing your will power from the imprisoning power of the senses.

Remember, one can lead a horse to a lake, but no one can make him drink unless he wants to. Try to develop "won’t" power if you haven’t enough will power. When you are at the dinner table and Mr. Greed lures you to eat more than you should, and tries to chloroform your self-control and cast you into the pit of indigestion—watch yourself. After partaking of the right quality and quantity of food, just say to yourself: "I won’t eat any more," and get up from your chair at the table and run. When somebody calls: "John, come back and eat some more. Don’t forget the delicious apple pie (or strawberry shortcake,)" just call back and say: "I won’t."

Remember, when thoughts of dishonesty, temptation, or revengefulness come to you, they are the soldiers of the dark misery-making senses. They want to conquer the kingdom of your happiness and keep you prisoner in the dungeon of unhappiness and misery. As soon as the soldiers of wrong thought rally together to attack your inner peace, wake up the Soul soldiers of light, honesty, self-control, and desire for good things, and wage a furious battle.

Remember, it rests with you whether you want greed, sense-slavery, anger, hatred, revengefulness, worries, or inharmonies to rule your life, or whether you will let the Divine soldiers of self-control, calmness, love, forgiveness, peace, and harmony rule your mental kingdom. Drive away the rebel sense habits which have brought misery to the empire of your peace. Be a King of Yourself, letting the soldiers of goodness and good habits rule the Kingdom of Your Mind. Then happiness will reign within you forever.

A study of the Equinoctial World-Age chart which appeared in the September, 1932, article of this series gives us the important information that a Kali Yuga, darkest and most degenerate of the four World Ages contained in each half of the Equinoctial Cycle, is also the shortest Age. Its period of 1200 years is only half that of our present Bronze Age or Dwapara Yuga, only one-third that of the Silver Age, and only one-fourth the duration of the great Golden Age. Of a complete 24,000 year Equinoctial Cycle, only one-tenth of that time is allotted to the two Iron Ages contained in that cycle.1 This is indeed an inspiring reflection. However, due to the fact that the two Kali Yugas, one of the Descending and one of the Ascending Arc, merge together by combining their two periods, their united span of 2400 years occurs at one time during the world’s history and leaves a longer and darker record of human ignorance and misery than would be the case if the two Kali Yugas were separated in time through the intervention of the period of one of the fairer Ages.

Many people express pessimistic doubts that mankind is now traversing any truly ascending arc of progress which will lead ultimately to a Golden Age of universal peace, wisdom and happiness. "All history is against such an assumption," these people say, "Human misery and oppression is a fundamental condition of earth life, and have never been absent from the records of the most distant ages up until the present."

Such a gloomy view of mankind’s possibilities is made possible and prevalent only because the world has but lately emerged from 2400 years of Kali Yuga domination. All our history is but Dark Age history, since the great civilizations of the world prior to the founding of Rome in 753 B.C. are known very little and misinterpreted very much. The minds of Kali Yuga men were not fit to understand the records of civilized men of higher Ages. indeed, until the dawn of our present Bronze Age in 1698 A.D., there were, generally speaking, no scientists nor archaeologists worth the name. What slight knowledge we now have of pre-roman and pre-Grecian world conditions has all come to light in the last 200 years, since Dwapara Yuga made its appearance. We shall uncover more knowledge of antiquity as time goes on, which shall ennoble our view of the past and prove that the majority of mankind has not always been in the wretched condition of the Kali Yuga epochs (702 B.C. to 1698 A.D.).

However, even a complete knowledge of the last Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages (11,502 to 702 B.C.) would not suffice to indicate, by analogy, to the modern world what great progress and enlightenment lie before it, because the last Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages belonged to the Descending Arc of the Equinoctial Cycle, and each year of the ancient world saw the closer arrival of a lesser Age and the loss of some part of a civilized heritage.

Whereas, the modern world, now on the Ascending Arc, has risen from the Iron Age into the greater freedom and power of the present Bronze Age, and can look forward to gradual and continual improvement and perfection for mankind for many thousands of years in the future—until the Autumnal Equinox reaches the culmination of its Ascending Arc in 12,498 A.D. At that time, no further progress will be made by the majority of mankind, and every subsequent year of that 12,000 year Arc will see the further decay of civilization.

However, Mankind shall never again fall to the depths of degradation witnessed by the last two Kali Yugas, for the next Dark Age (starting in 23,298 A.D.) will be on a higher spiral in the long, epoch-marking series of Equinoctial Cycles.

In man’s slow trek toward realization of his Divinity and his consequent escape form the "wheel of life" which Ezekiel saw in his vision,2 and which the Buddha described, time is one of the essential factors. On this ground we are justified in believing that the Equinoctial Cycles follow a spiral pattern, and that each cycle sees humanity advanced beyond the previous cycle. The ancient Greeks had this thought in mind when they assigned the rulership of a Golden Age to Cronus,3 Saturn, planetary god of Time, since Time brings all things to perfection.4

In a preceding article, it was shown that the true Age of the world at present (1933), as indicated by the position of the Autumnal Equinox on the zodiacal circle, is year 235 of Dwapara Yuga of the Ascending Arc. Of this span, the first 200 years constituted the transition or mutation period which still retained some of the qualities of the preceding dark Age of Iron. Only in 1898 did the true, unmodified Dwapara Yuga start.

Since that year, thirty-five years have elapsed, and this span has witnessed unparalleled conditions of world unrest: the first World War of known history, the wholesale fall of kings, and the rise of dictators. Signs are not wanting that the total collapse of the whole economic, financial and social structure of the world is approaching. Thoughtful observers of the trend of events in the world today know that another World War is near at hand which will wipe out entire nations and plunge the whole earth in a sea of tears and blood.

"The next war," says Guglielmo Ferrero, the famous Italian historian, "will plunge Europe into a chaos from which it will never extricate itself. The next war is the death knell of Europe . . . destruction of our western civilization." Biblical students claim that the World War which started in 1914 was the beginning of Armageddon, and that the next war will be a continuation and completion of that prophesied event.

Why is it that the opening years of our great Dwapara Yuga are thus red with blood and black with destruction? It is simply because we must break with the past. Kali Yuga institutions are unable to survive the vibrations of the new Age. The children of Dwapara Yuga cannot build the fairer structure of the future civilization on the crumbling and ill-laid foundations of the Dark Age now definitely past. The power of Kali Yuga was based on the sword, and by the sword must it perish.5

The handful of people who will survive the next World War, chastened and strengthened by their sufferings, will be the parent stock of those later generations who will bring the true Bronze Age civilization into being. In the words of Isaiah, "When Thy judgments are upon the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." "Remembering mine affliction and my misery, and wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope." Lamentations of Jeremiah 3:19-21.

The Bhagavad Gita gives us the following inspiring promise of Krishna, the Incarnation of God who lived at the end of the last Silver Age of the world:

When Righteousness

Declines, O Bharata! When Wickedness

Is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take

Visible shape, and move a man with men,

Succoring the good, thrusting the evil back,

And setting Virtue on her seat again.

The last Kali Yuga of the Descending Arc, darkest span of the whole 24,000 year Equinoctial Cycle, saw the coming of two World Saviours, Gautama the Buddha and Jesus the Christ. Jesus promised that He would come to earth again, and told his disciples of the Signs or world indications that would precede His second coming. Students of Biblical prophecy and of the prophetical measurements of the Great Pyramid (which is mentioned in Isaiah 19:19-21: "There shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. . . . And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day") are agreed that "the time of the end" is at hand, and that the Lord shall come "in power and great glory" during the time of the next World War.

The "time of the end," so frequently mentioned in the Bible, is not the end of the world, as so many people erroneously believe, but the end of the old dispensation or order of things. The word "world" is derived from "whorl," signifying a cycle or round.

Nicholas Roerich, the great Russian traveler, painter and mystic, tells in his book, Altai-Himalaya, how widespread are the legends and manuscripts relating to Issa (Jesus) throughout all Asia. There can be little doubt that the "missing years" of Jesus’ life, those years prior to the start of his ministry in Palestine, were spent in India, Tibet and other parts of Asia, and that He was known and beloved by the peoples of those countries.

Roerich has also pointed out how universal is the expectation in Asia of the near coming of a World Messiah. The Tibetans calculate the coming of "Someone of greatness" in 1936. The prophecies of Asia, Roerich says, relating to the arrival of the New Era, are: "First will begin an unprecedented war of all nations. Afterward brother shall rise against brother. Oceans of blood shall flow. . . . Only a few years shall elapse before every one shall hear the mighty steps of the Lord of the New Era. And one can already perceive unusual manifestations and encounter unusual people. Already they open the gates of knowledge and ripened fruits are falling from the trees. . . .

"The new era of enlightenment is awaited. Each reaches in his own way. One nearer, one further; one beautifully, one distortedly; but all are concerned with the same predestined. . . . It is so precious to hear and to repeat. The Motherland of Gerssar Kahn,6 Ladak (Tibet), knows that the time of the regeneration has come. Khotan remembers the Signs of Maitreya6 over the ancient stupa. The Kalmucks in Karashar are awaiting the coming manifestation of the Chalice of Buddha. On Altai the Oyrots renounce Shamanism and are singing new chants to the Awaited White Burkhan.6 The Messenger of the White Burkhan, Oirot, already rides throughout the world,. The Mongols await the appearance of the Ruler of the World and prepare the Dukang (temple) of Shambhala.7 On Chang-thang they extol Gessar Khan6 and whisper about the hallowed borders of Shambhala. On the Brahmaputra they know about the Ashrams of Mahatmas and remember the wonderful Azaras. The Jews await the Messiah at the Bridge. The Moslems await Muntazar.6 In Isfahan the White Horse is already saddled. The Christians of Saint Thomas await the great Advent and wear hidden signs. The Hindus know the Kalki Avatar.6 And the Chinese at New Year light the fires before the image of Gessar Khan,6 ruler of the World. Rigden Japo, the Ruler, is fleeting over the desert, achieving his predestined path. A blind one may ask, ‘Is it so? Is there no exaggeration in it? Perhaps some fragments of survivals are taken as beliefs of the future.’

"It means that he who questions has never been in the East. If you once were upon these sites; if you traversed many thousands of miles; if you yourself have spoken to many people, then you know the reality of what is related."

This subject of the Lord’s second coming, of Biblical prophecy and of the indications of the Great Pyramid cannot be dealt with in this article, but those who are interested will consult the works of Dr. Grattan Guinness, David Daivdson and Frederick Haberman. A very striking series of Prophecy Letters are now appearing in the magazine, "Knowing People."

It will suffice here to say that the Equinoctial World Age chart, which has been so fully dealt with in this long series of articles, is in harmony with Biblical and Pyramidal prophecies, and agrees with them in pointing out that all traces of Kali Yuga "civilization" shall soon be destroyed; that a world fairer and more righteous than our imagination can picture shall come into being as a fit symbol and manifestation of the Ascending Dwapara Yuga. "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Isaiah 2:4.

The enlightenment, the achievements and the aspirations of mankind shall rise with the ascending Autumnal Equinox, in conformance with God’s great plan for His children of earth. He has written His message in the stars, that all who will, may read. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice (influence) is not heard. Their line (vibration) is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." Psalms 19:1-4.

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1The words which Jesus used to describe the coming tribulation of the world are also applicable to the Dark Age: "Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened."

2When the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up." Ezekiel 1:19.

3From the Greek root of this word is derived our word "chronology".

4 In this connection, it is noteworthy that vases found in South America, and identical vases unearthed in troy by the eminent archaeologist, Schliemann, bore the inscription, "From the King Chronus of Atlantis." Colonel Churchward contends that the pre-historical Greeks were emigrants from Atlantis; this King may thus have been the actual Chronus which the Greeks associated with their Golden Age.

5Jesus said: "All they that take the sword must perish with the sword." Matthew 26:52.

6The coming Messiah, Who, under different names, is awaited by all peoples of the world.

7Shambhala is the name given to a place in Asia where the coming Messiah is expected to live. "Shambatyon", a somewhat similar word, is a river mentioned in the Kabala and the Old Testament, and endowed with mystic significance.

NOW alone is real. On one hand, the treasures of your past have been gathered into the Eternal NOW, as on the other hand, your future is also molding itself in it. NOW is the confluence where the surging waters of the past and the rising tides of the future meet. Every point in Time is an everlasting NOW. There is no Time but NOW.

NOW is the opportunity for every soul either to bloom under the gracious blue or to fade in utter gloom. If NOW is desecrated in idle parlance or sad reverie, perhaps a precious dream of your mighty Soul, which could be easily fructified, dies out of the sight of the conscious mind.

The more you court NOW, the more you add to your intellect. Your intellect illumines your worlds of matter and mind. However, where does intellect get its light to enlighten your senses?

NOW has the secret key to open the gate of Dawn. Dawn is the one everlasting season in the measurelessness of Soul. NOW opens the gate, and lo! the Soul surrenders its lamp at the hand of intellect. The light that shineth through the suns and moons, the stars and planets, Ego and intellect, is the borrowed light from the dawn-land of Soul. For this reason, worship NOW with the flowers of your thoughts, actions, and meditations.

Greatness is the child of NOW; so also is Joy. NOW nourishes them with the milk of the past, achievements of the present, and dreams of the future. They grow on the table-land of the human heart, radiating their smiles upon the shadows of the valley.

NOW comes to every door, rich or poor. Put into her begging bowl the trinity of the doer, the thinker, and the knower that is in you. Act, think, and know the Truth in the sacred presence of NOW. Disappoint your idiosyncrasies, habits, and complexes, if necessary, but standing before NOW, do not fail NOW.

You are a Singer of Eternity. You can make Eternity out of a moment, or a moment out of Eternity. NOW is dual in character. It is a moment as well as Eternity. NOW is a passerby at your door. Make your choice.

I WILL seek Thee in the golden glow of the sunrise of my life. In the freshness of this hour, I will lay the opening buds of my devotion at Thy feet.

I will seek Thee when the sun is at the zenith. I will make a garland, glistening with the dewdrops of my tears, of my daily toil, cares, hopes and aspirations, and lay it before Thee, upon the altar of my heart.

I will seek Thee every hour of every day and night, until my restless heart finds rest in Thee.

I will seek Thee when the sun is sinking in the West. Wayworn, I will kneel for Thy touch of blessing, and rising will go forth with more than the courage of youth, against the foes of ignorance, idleness, and forgetfulness of Thee.

I will seek Thee in the evening, when the last golden glow of the sun has died away. I will fix my eyes on the Polestar of my life, and will listen intently for Thy pipes of peace to pipe me Home.

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 the flesh holds dear, upon the burning pyre.

I will lift my heart daily to Babaji, Lahiri Mahasya, Swami Sri Yukreswarji, and my Guru, asking for guidance, and offering gratitude, devotion, and love, for their many jewelled gifts of Yogoda.

In the stillness of night, out of the depth of my heart, I will cry, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth."

When the call to disagreeable duty is sounded, I will answer, "here am I, Lord, send me."

Akbar, the Great, sometimes called "Guardian of Mankind," Mogul Emperor of India, was the greatest Asiatic monarch of modern times. His father, Humayun, who was deprived of the throne by usurpers, had to retire for refuge into Persia, and it was on the way thither, in the town of Amarkot, that Akbar was born in 1542.

After his father’s death, the young prince at first committed the administration to a regent minister, Beiram, but finding his authority degenerating into tyranny, the young prince shook it off at the age of 18 and took the power into his own hands.

In twelve years Akbar’s empire embraced the whole of India North of the Vindhya mountains. Although a great conqueror, he was a still greater ruler. The wisdom, vigor, and humanity with which he organized and administered his vast dominions are unexampled in the East. He promoted commerce by constructing roads, establishing a uniform system of weights and measures, and a vigorous police. He exercised the utmost vigilance over his viceroys of provinces and other officers to see that no extortion was practiced, and that justice was administered to all classes of his subjects. For the adjustment of taxation, the lands were accurately measured and the statistics taken, not only of the population, but of the resources of each province.

He won the title of "Guardian of Mankind" because of the benevolence of his rule and at the same time the devoted zeal in which he sought to regain lost sections of the once vast empire which had broken away under long periods of misrule before Akbar ascended the throne. He devoted himself to the development of commerce with the lost provinces until the ties of business interest were so great the further tie of political interests was easily accomplished.

During his reign, he fostered religious tolerance among the many conflicting religions of Mongolia, and he established and developed a school system which went far toward earning him his title of "Guardian." For many generations after his death he was held up as a model for rulers throughout India and other parts of Asia. After a memorable reign of nearly 50 years, Akbar died in 1605 and was buried in a noble mausoleum at Sikandra.

A FAR Eastern Doctor says that women will back movement for freedom. Dr. Muthulakahmi Reddi of India said recently that if the British government fails to grant a fully responsible government to India, the women there would join the men in the struggle for political freedom. She spoke before a meeting of the International Congress of Women.

"The government of India, she declared, "has said that the beginning of a movement among certain Indian women is a very encouraging sign of the nation’s progress. In every province women are fully enfranchised citizens, which right they were given for the asking."

TURKISH women are rapidly moving toward complete emancipation under the regime of Ghazi Mustafa Kemal, President of the Republic of Turkey. As soon as the Turkish Republic was firmly established, polygamy and the veil were abolished, and marriage and divorce laws, based on those of the most highly civilized countries, were adopted. Today women are admitted to the universities on an equal footing with men, and are eligible for practically all the professions. They vote at municipal elections, and it is expected that the Parliamentary franchise will shortly be extended to them. They mingle freely with men in the street, in restaurants, dancing halls, and cinemas. Many are employed in shops and offices. All this is a proof to the world that Turkey has shaken off the shackles which kept her so long from taking her place among civilized nations.

"Oh, distant spire upon a city street,

Of gothic beauty towering toward the clouds,

Dost thou bespeak a living vital faith,

Or art thou but an architectural shroud?

For many a corpse is decked to seem alive;

Many a dead faith outward life doth wear.

And outworn creeds

Long passed to their decay

Are housed in Temple Mausoleums rare.

About us is an Omnipresent Life

In God’s Cathedral of the great outdoors.

Bird choirs lift their tiny hearts in praise.

Tall calla lilies altar tapers are.

While flower incense permeates the air,

God-life and beauty pulsate everywhere.

Oh, Temple of the Living God, the world,

Whose shrine is deep within the heart of man,

Give us an Inner Faith that will not swerve:

A light to guide in serving Thy Great Plan."

"A gossamer veil,

An opaque screen,

A cloud of smoke

That hides the shore.

Then a friendly hand

And light again.

This thou art, Death,

And nothing more."

The best preacher is the heart;

The best teacher is time;

The best book is the world;

The best friend is God.

He that turneth from the road

To rescue another,

Turneth toward his goal:

He shall arrive in due time

By the footpath of mercy;

God will be his guide.

He that taketh up the burden

Of the fainting,

Lighteneth his own load:

The Almighty

Will put His arms underneath him,

He shall lean upon the Lord.

He that speaketh

Comforting words to mourners,

Healeth his own heart:

In times of grief

They will return to remembrance,

God will use them for balm.

He that careth for the sick and wounded,

Watcheth not alone:

There are three in the darkness together,

And the third is the Lord.

See not the great tomorrow,

For today is all we hold,

And our loved ones go before us

To prepare—so we are told.

The yesteryear of tomorrow

Cannot hear of sorrows past,

For the good that we but borrow

Will hold while futures last.

Hear not of years of sorrow,

For the tears that come today

Are but the sighs of tomorrow

Formed in gladness—so they say.

Simple lives of single purpose

Oft prepare us for the fray.

In the morning of tomorrow

Greet with gladness another day.

In the yesteryear of tomorrow,

In the sun that lights the day,

We can hear of someone coming.

It is the God that lights our way.

THY baby bud-flower

On the breast of Mother Earth,

Nursed by wind and shower,

Opens its lily lips, and in mirth

Sips Thy milk of sunny rays,

While the cradle of the breeze sways.

Then it opens its ruby lips,

Spread with the honey of light and dew,

And softly sobs and cries for You.

Then You sing your lullaby soft,

With the rustle of the leaves aloft.

Who but You

Could deck the flower

With color and pearly dew.

Then your dame nursemaid, Nature,

Grows the baby bud’s stature

Into a full-grown lady flower,

With costume of painted petals.

Then she learns

To dance in the hall of bowers,

And in joy drops from her silken tassels

The wealth of fragrance to all and You.

Such beauty and perfumed heart,

Who but You could start

In the flower with lips of pearly dew.