I shall follow the straight path

Of Self Realization

Through the portals of the New Year.

Beholding the falling of the dead

And the dying around me,

I will forsake my intoxication and ignorance

And will frighten death away

By singing Thy song

Of immortality in meditation.

Through the gateway of meditation,

I shall enter Thy Temple

Of Peace everlasting.

Entering the Temple of Peace,

I shall worship Thee

On the altar of ever-new contentment.

I shall burn the faggots

Of my worries and fears

And kindle the fire of happiness

To illumine Thy Temple within.

Teach us,

Hindu, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, and Mohammedan,

All Thy own children,

To pray to God or Oneness

With the chorus of our hearts.

I will not take birth and death seriously.

I know they are but changing scenes

In the drama of my Immortal Soul.

I am the son of the Owner of the Universe,

Therefore I have everything that He has.

I demand my Divine Birthright

Because I intuitively realize

That all wisdom and power

Already exist in my soul.

I am constantly surrounded

By the immortal currents

Of His Omnipresence,

And no disease germs can harm me.

If they attack me, they will be electrocuted

By His overcoming power.

I am riding in the armored car

Of his protecting Presence.

I am free

From all fear of mishaps.

I am soaring in the aerial ark

Of His wisdom.

I am far above the guns

Of human ignorance.

I am the mighty flood of Peace

Which sweeps away

All embankments of human worries.

I am the avalanche of Love

Which sweeps away

All forests of hate.

I am God’s child.

I have nothing to fear

Except my own wrong actions

Instigated by my ignorance.

I shall hear His song

In the songs of the thrush

And the nightingale.

I shall hear His voice

In the voices

Of all saints

And I shall pray to Him

To give me His guidance

Through my silence.

I am flashing in the lightning,

Twinkling in the stars,

Crying in the sad,

And smiling in the happy

Along with my Father.

In the well of silence,

I will hold

The raindrops of His wisdom

To quench my soul-thirst

And that of others.

I will behold in my father

The incarnation of my Heavenly Father,

Because God created me

And protected me

In the form of my earthly father.

It was the Divine Mother

Who took the form of my mother

To hold me to her loving bosom

And to love me unconditionally.

My father, God created,

And he protected me,

But through my mother,

God loves me forever.

It is Thou, Oh, Father,

Who art born as countless friends

In order that,

In an unlimited way,

Without compulsion,

Thou mayest help

Thy needy children.

In my beloved wife,

Thou hast given me

The all-surrendering inner love.

In my husband, I shall behold

Thy unconditional Divine Love.

Now, tomorrow, and always

I shall place

The God of meditation-born peace

On the altars of my silence,

Of my activities,

Of my emotions,

And of all my spiritual perceptions.

I will eat,

Not to satisfy greed,

But for health.

I will sleep,

Not for sloth,

But for rest.

I will pursue material prosperity,

Not for fanning the fires

Of ceaseless desires,

For unnecessary necessities,

But for satisfying

The hunger of my real needs.

With the hands of my awakening,

I will open the doors

Of stars, space, flowers, life,

Thoughts, everything,

And enter into

Thy Omnipresent Mansion.

May the faggots of my devotion

Blaze with Thy burning Presence,

And may I be able to burn away

The darkness of all light-seeking souls,

That they may behold Thee in their hearts.

Even as Christ, during His greatest suffering,

Could say: "Father, forgive them,

For they know not what they do,"

So would I forgive those with love

Who crucify me with unkind words.

I will behold the perfect love

Of the Heavenly Father

Manifesting through everyone I meet,

Through my family members,

My friends, and my enemies alike.

I will contact God constantly

Through the peace of all hearts.

I will behold Him

On the Altar of my Silence.

I will merge in the Eternal One

Through the Bliss of Meditation.

My hand goes out to all those

Who are trying to teach man to think,

And to act on His thoughts.

I HAVE heard Him

Described in a thousand ways—

The God of my life and the Lord of the earth,

Under whose hand I hold this lease of Being,

This dream of worth.

He is white, black, or brown,

Harsh, indifferent, of gentle mien,

Arbitrary, meddlesome, considerate,

According to the eyes

With which the race has seen.

I do not know who is right,

Nor which God is best,

Nor what gauge I shall use

In the eliminating test.

I only know I am a creature

Of the God that is,

And I dare to trust the vast unknown.

Knowing myself, I must know Him.

And I will send my soul afar,

To all lands,

Beyond every star,

Beneath the sea,

And what I find—I find,

Some ...Truth seeing,

To some ...Truth blind.

But follow on

Till I worship the worshipful

In all men’s gods.

And worship Him who is greater

Than all men’s gods!

For I place the sacrifice of my praise

On the altar of the Unknown God.

MOVIE stars appear in the sky of Fame, twinkle awhile, and then vanish to return again perhaps to play only a few times more. After a few performances, after shedding the glow of entertainment for a short time, they join the shadows of the unknown. Lon Chaney, with his weird parts, Rudolph Valentino, with his touching, golden romances entertained the world many times, but now they are both gone from here forever to entertain the unknown forces of the mystic land.

The young, the old, the king, the slave, the most famous of all time, the renowned of each nation, the popular father, the much loved mother, the warm friends, the joyful lover, the sweetest, most faithful beloved, the dog, the whale, the bird, and the lily are all assembled to play new dramas on the screen of time. History, introspection, immortality, time, space, ether, reason, memory, God, and His gone-forever Saints, are the only audience in this Cosmic Movie House.

We are the players. Stars, rivers, oceans, spiral nebulae, sun furnaces, cataclysms, cloudbursts, lightning, yawning spaces, snow-white winters, flower-decked springs, leaf-carpeted summers, weeping rain, and sorrowful clouds, all stand ready to help us play the drama of life and death, of coming and going, of appearing and disappearing, and perhaps of reappearing.

Once in a while Reason lets us peep through the windows of history and look into the storehouse of the countless hidden reels of pictures of primeval, paleolithic, ancient, and modern times, We know that there is only a small permanent audience of those who have never died in the Cosmic Movie House. Millions of human actors came in the past, acted their parts in joy and sorrow, as we are now playing ours, and then disappeared behind the drop scene.

In each lifetime, man is given many chances to play comedy, tragedy, or the Joyous Drama of Life, according to the wishes of the Producer Karma, (past action) and then he has to go out of that particular picture forever. In spite of the phenomena of reincarnation, each person lives as the same individual but once, because he does not recall his previous lives. Shakespeare lived once as Shakespeare. John Milton, Napoleon, Ghengis Kahn—each lived but once. Even if Mussolini were the reincarnation of Caesar, he would not remember or know it.

Each life is one moving picture, with various parts and acts. When death overtakes that life, the picture must be shelved forever. Each life, with its dramas once played in this Cosmic Movie House, can never be played again. It looks as if God and Immortality, being tired of their lonesome changlessness, had organized this Cosmic Movie House for their enjoyment, and Father Time is showing the pictures of ceaseless change.

In the movies, a great actor may be put into the discard for a while, but it is possible that he may come back again. But in the Drama of Life, each man, when he has once stopped playing, has gone forever as that particular individual, but through reincarnation he may appear again to play another part, provided he has completely changed his clothes of flesh, brain, and memory, and even then he is not conscious of the fact that he has ever played before. Only a very few actors, like Christ, Buddha, Babaji, Shankara, and Elias knew the parts they had played in former lives, even though they had come in completely new apparels of flesh.

It is best that each actor should display completely new characteristics when he undertakes to play new roles. Memory and habit might hamper him. It is wonderful that each soul, although immortal and the same through many incarnations, is able to remember only his present life. It is good that he knows only that he is to play the Drama of Life once and is then to be called back to the place form whence he came. Many people would put off the effort to do their best if they knew that they were to have another chance, and many would not have the courage to try to play the drama well if they knew that they had played very poorly in their former lives.

A reborn murderer, who remembered his deed in a past life, might not make any attempt to reform himself, or he might even be tempted to murder again. If a man remembered in this life that he had been a failure, or that he had been chronically ill in his previous life, he would be too discouraged to try to overcome adversity or to try to get well when he was sick.

Therefore, it is best that people do not remember who they were or what positions they held in past lives. Besides, if we remembered all the people we had loved in past lives, we would long to have them with us again, and would exclude the present world. The family man dies with love in his heart for his own family. This attachment of love becomes impersonal love cultured in the soul, and in another incarnation this love tries to expand in a new and larger environment.

We think that if we could only know where our dear ones, who have been snatched from our arms, have gone we would be satisfied, but we would not. In the sorrow of separation lies the test of love. Death teaches us to be in love with Divine love only, and not to be attached to the caravanseri of flesh in which Divine love temporarily resides. If we love souls, we must not try to keep them near us for our pleasure and comfort. If we really love them, we will continue to love them, particularly when they are taken away from us to advance on their path of reincarnation, or when they are called to rest in the bosom of the Father.

In the sorrow of separation from their loved ones through death, fools cry for a while and then forget, but the wise find the impulse within themselves to seek their lost love in the heart of Infinity. What we lose in finite life, we must seek in the chamber of Infinity.

Disease, pain, and sorrow are the result of playing wrong parts ignorantly on the screen of consciousness. No matter who dies, or how sick we are, or how poor we are, we should say with understanding and serenity: "I must act my part well in order to make a good picture, with which to entertain my Father." After I know the art of playing well without becoming inwardly disturbed, the Father will say: "Now, you do not have to play any more. Come, sit with Us in the box-seat of Immortality and Changelessness, and watch with ever-new joy the constantly-changing motion pictures of Life in My Cosmic Movie House."

"Son, it is I, thy Infinite Father, who became human beings, animals, birds, and plants. It is you and I who are the screen, the light, the film, the actors, the audience, life, and death, and everything else that I made in order to enjoy Myself by playing the drama of finitude. I do not need this play. It is not necessary for my perfection, for I am already complete in Myself, but I am playing it because I know that I can never change my joyous mood, even when I see Myself shot in the body of Nelson, or born in the body of the Christ child.

I often think I have lost Myself in my many bodies, but then I laugh and say to Myself: ‘I never was dead, though I died; I never was lost, though I lost Myself; I never sorrowed, though I wept many times.’ Son, I enjoy everything, and whosoever can smile during his deepest sorrow will know that he and I are One."

THE HISTORICAL by-ways of the past often present side-trails that can be followed. Along these trails, here and there, one meets legends and traditions, mystic brotherhoods, and student bodies. The inquiring mind desires to know the reason for this steady recurrence of the mystic tradition in every age.

Legends, traditions, and symbols are land-marks pointing the way to the far-off sources whence come the Divine truths, wrought out by the Master pilgrims of old in "the living of a life to know the doctrine.’ These Divine truths, the result of concentration, meditation, and realization, are the precious heritage of the human race.

Truths appeal to some people as soon as they are heard, because they bring dim memories to the eternal pilgrim or Soul of man. They impel one to further thought and give the clue that guides the Soul to the inner chamber of that temple not made with hands.

This is the mystic quest of all the sages and all the saints, and leads directly to the hidden truth that all esoteric religions have tried to reach, but have only succeeded in transmitting in the form of dogmas without meaning and ceremonies that do not reveal.

A few disciples in each religion attain what in India is embraced in the saying: Om mani padma hum. (Hail to the Jewel in the lotus.) The thousand petal lotus is a symbol of the human mind, each petal of which is a memory tablet of the mind, and at its center is the Jewel, the higher Self of the individual.

When one travels the rough and rugged road in living this life, not being immersed in its distractions, he runs the risk of being called a mystic, a dreamer of vain dreams, and impractical. These mystics count the world as little compared to the treasures of the inner life.

As we trace the evidence, it can be clearly seen that Masonry is a link of the wondrous chain of mystic teaching, which goes far back into time immemorial. Such a statement must be properly vouched for, and its credentials shown to be worthy of consideration.

The inception of all religions is through an outstanding personality. Krishna and Buddha in India; Confucius and Lau-Tzu in China; Osiris and Temu in Egypt; Moses in Palestine, and Jesus, who, like all the others, developed the Christus principle and became another "Light of the world to lighteth every man." These are the Sons of God, to whom Jesus said: "The works that I do, ye shall do also, and greater works than these shall ye do." John 14:12. He also said: "Ye are God’s." John 10:3.

Wise teachers such as these do not force dogmas on the inquiring mind. It is ordinary mankind that builds molds for its faith, pouring in dogmas and bringing out creeds. Trace back these conflicting teachings to their founders, and at the source all observances, which are the well-spring of ceremonies, were subordinated to the inner life. To know the Truth, they became the Truth. Their teaching was to help another "To Become," and all forms and ceremonies were merely aids to turn the attention of man to the inner and spiritual life. This method of training is remarkably complete in the ancient code of Manu, the Hindu sage, dating from about the Fifth Century, B.C.

The laws of Manu inspired the doctrines of Plato, Philo, Zoroaster, Pythagoras, and the Kabala. Take this hint and follow through. The doctrines are like an Ariadne’s thread, which, you remember, was the golden thread by which she was able to traverse the labyrinth to find her lover Theseus, and these doctrines, if followed, will lead you through the mystic maze of writings to find that the esotericism of every religion may be solved by their aid.

In no country were the true esoteric doctrines trusted to be written. No one stamped, stained, or engraved them on anything movable or immovable whereby their meaning could be easily discerned. The teaching was passed from mouth to ear through an apostolic succession of living teachers; in India from Maha-Atma to the Chela; in Egypt from the Herseshita to the Neophyte. As we say in Masonry: "The Master is in the East to set the Craft to work and give them proper instruction."

One quotation from the Laws of Many is all that I should make at this time. Manu says: "This universe existed only in the first Divine idea, yet unexpanded, as if involved in darkness, imperceptible, indefinable, undiscoverable by reason, and undiscovered by revelation, as if it were wholly immersed in sleep. Then the Sole Self-Existing Power, himself undiscerned, appeared with undiminished glory, expanding his idea and dispelling the gloom." This is just another way of saying: "In the beginning, darkness rested on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters, and God said: ‘Let there by Light, and there was Light.’" The whole daily life of ancient India was directed toward realizing the spiritual, because life in India tended toward the religious.

The building of every form, even religious forms, is materializing in its tendency, and thus we see that in all the centuries the tendency of every "Reformation" has been to revert back, if possible, to the original standard erected by the Founder.

Careful consideration, for instance, shows that Jesus was responsible only for certain high and pure ideals, insistence being made upon a holy life leading to a Divine goal, and this is the message of all those Divine Instructors who have appeared on earth to teach truth and morality to men. The doctrines, elaborations, ceremonies, dogmas, and creeds were later introductions and followed the appearance of the Teacher. They arose in every case from the followers, who brought in their more worldly aims, and so transformed the purity and simplicity of the early ideal into an organized group with worldly passion and the striving for mundane power. Thus we find at present the Catholic Church on one side, and on the other side the Protestant Church. Between them there is a fluctuating and ever-increasing body of thinkers who are at variance with the Orthodox extremes.

Masonry, notwithstanding attempts by various groups of people to cripple or destroy it, has preserved its unity through a succession of ages by teaching morality as the fundamental ethical Truth in all religion. The remarkable suggestions for an understanding of man and his destiny by symbolic study, hidden in the ritual of Masonry, are clues to doctrines which have been handed down in regular succession from time immemorial.

The Creation hymn in India is as follows: "He who by his might looked over the face of the waters, which held power, and generated the Light, He alone is God of all Gods."

The Brahmin wears the sutra or triple cord, a cable tow, reminding him of the teaching in regard to the three divisions of the spinal cord: the right column, or pingala, the left one, or ida, and the central canal, sushumna. This inner cable tow is one the neophyte must learn how to use in developing his higher powers. It is also a symbol of the Hindu Trinity, the remembrance of which we preserve in the three principal officers of the Lodge. The Trinity is Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Brahma creates and sets the world to work. Siva closes the life of man, but as death is but the beginning of a new life, this God assists Brahma in opening and closing the life cycles of all created beings. Vishnu is the preserver. He adjusts the balance between birth and death, or what we call life. He calls mankind from labor to refreshment and refreshment to labor, without which life must cease. The Jacob’s Ladder referred to in our ritual is in India the Sapta-Loka, or the Seven Higher Regions. In Man it is the seven states of consciousness: Dreamy, psychic, mental, astral, spiritual, super-self and Cosmic.

The Lord Word is the imperishable word, which means the highest. He that knows that syllable, whatever he desires is his. In Egypt this is referred to as a "word of power." All the religious ideas of India have been and are centered around a sacred Word, so hallowed that its public utterance never reveals its double pronunciation and triple essence. It is never discussed in hostile or flippant company. One must grow into its meaning in order to use it reverently, and with good results.

Esoteric teachings in India, Egypt, Persia, and Greece were kept from the ears of cowans and eavesdroppers, because the multitude were not duly and truly prepared to understand the deeper truths about Nature and God. The teaching was very definite. It required actual living in order to realize Truth. By concentration, or quieting the mind, a daily practice at the same regular recurring hour, the mind was prepared for meditation, or continuous thinking, on any problem or proposition on which the individual student desired more light. In time, realization, or that feeling of truth unmistakable, brought the "Bliss of Being," or a state called: "The peace that passeth all understanding." It must be realized as a personal experience.

There are certain points of fellowship on which all of the various orders meet on level ground. When those points are explained, there appear, self-revealed, the same underlying teachings which form the basis of the Hidden tradition in Masonry or the Secret Doctrine of the Ancients.

Here I will stop with a quotation from that Oriental scholar, Max Muller, using reference to India, the Mother Country of our Candidate, upon whom Avon Lodge has conferred the three degrees of symbolic Masonry, and thus demonstrates its universality. What Max Muller said is this: "If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions of some of them, which well deserve the attention of even those who have studied Plato and Kant, I should point of India."

THIS is the record of John, when the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him: "Who art Thou?" He confessed, and denied not; but confessed: " I am not the Christ."

And they asked him: "What then? Art thou Elias?" And he saith: "I am not." "Art thou that prophet?" And he answered: "No." Then said they unto him: "Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?" He said: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

And they which were sent were of the Pharisees, and they asked him, and said unto him: "Why baptizeth thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?" John answered them, saying: "I baptize with water; but there standeth One among you whom ye know not; He it is who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose." These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan. where John was baptizing.

And John bare record, saying: "I saw the Spirit descending form heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. and I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me: ‘Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, and same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.’ And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."

Again, the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith: "Behold the Lamb of God!" And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and saith unto them: "What seek ye?"

The Priests and Levites, with only ordinary spiritual perceptions, were naturally skeptical about the qualities of a Christ. Wise men, meeting a Christ-like man, would not ask him if he were Christ, because the wise, by their own wisdom, can recognize the qualities of a Christ-like man. It was the ignorant priests who asked John if he were the expected Christ.

Human consciousness is circumscribed by the circumference of the body, but Christ Consciousness is unlimited, stretched over the entire tract of Eternity. Many people ignorantly worship the body of Jesus, and forget to recognize the consciousness of the Christ which could encompass the entire Cosmos with all the island universes, just as a cup can take up all the soup in a vessel.

John, being a good saint, in spite of his greatness, could not see that he had expressed Christ Consciousness in his consciousness. If souls can be made in the image of transcendental God, the Father, they are automatically also made after the pattern of the Christ Consciousness present in all Creation. My contention is that everyone is a potential Christ, and all those who can make their concentration deep enough and broad enough can receive Christ within their own consciousness. John was a potential Christ, still, due to his identification with ignorance, he could not feel that in essence he had reached the state of Christ Consciousness. Therefore, John spoke the truth and confessed that the potential Christ in him had not yet manifested in his outward human consciousness. That is why John confessed: "I am not the Christ."

John also denied that he was Elias, because, (as told before) he could not remember his previous incarnation as Elias. John, as Elias, was the Guru (preceptor) of Jesus. Teachers are many, but there can be but one Guru. He is the vehicle which God uses to bring a prodigal son back to His mansion of freedom. Elias had been spiritually advanced in the earlier incarnation, but had somewhat fallen from his high consciousness during his incarnation as John. It was Jesus, John’s disciple, who had advanced so greatly that he was able to remind his Guru of his forgotten incarnation.

Besides, John was humble because he had fallen somewhat spiritually, and he did not want to identify himself with the high state of his previous incarnation as Elias. He said: "I am not Elias;" i.e., I am not as highly developed in this incarnation as I was when Elias. He gave an evasive answer when he was asked; "Who art Thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest Thou of Thyself?" He said: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness; make straight the way of the Lord, as saith the prophet Esaias."

I am the voice, or Cosmic Sound crying or vibrating in the Wilderness of Silence. The "wilderness" signifies the consciousness of a saint where no green herbs of fresh material desires can grow. The saint makes his soul barren so that God may come in without resistance from the weeds and brambles of material desires. And as John heard the all-knowing cosmic Sound within him, in the Wilderness of Silence, he heard the intuitive wisdom command him silently: "Make straight the way of the Lord." Manifest the Lord, or the subjective Christ Consciousness in all Cosmic vibratory Creation, through the awakened intuitive feeling of a straight spine during the state of meditation.

Though John denied that he was as developed as Elias, still he spoke of his inner spiritual state as having attained the knowledge of expanding Omnipresent Cosmic Vibration. He also made it plain that he not only knew he had sustained the Cosmic Vibratory state, but that he was meditating with a straight spine, and trying to open up the spinal centers, so that the locked-out Christ Consciousness could descend into his body. The word "straight" signifies also following the straight path of Truth, through which alone the soul can reach God.

John told the priests in all spiritual subtleness that he was neither the body of Jesus nor Elias, but that he was the Omnipresent, Cosmic Vibration trying to feel Christ Consciousness in his body.

John also hinted to the ignorant mass of people that the only way by which a metaphysical, Omnipresent Christ Consciousness could be received is by means of a straight spine with awakened centers of consciousness.

The populace was looking for Christ in a physical body, so John subtly told how he was welcoming Christ through a straight spine, and said that anyone who wanted to know Christ must receive Him in meditation with a straight spine, and must follow the straight path of Truth.

Of course, the physical interpretation is that John cut down the bushes of peoples’ ignorance, and created a straight path of Truth so that others might follow that path to receive the teachings of Jesus in attaining Christ Consciousness.

John was also explaining that just worshipping the body of Jesus was not the right way to know Him. The Christ Consciousness embodied could be felt only in the Astrally-awakened straight spine. John was educating the people in order that they might know the straight way by which the metaphysical Christ Consciousness in the body of Jesus could be understood and intuitionally perceived.

The prophet Esaias also knew that the subjective Lord of Finite Vibratory Creation, or Christ Consciousness, could be welcomed only through the awakened straight spine in meditation. The flow of Life Force through the spine and nerves causes man to perceive and appreciate sense objects only, but when the searchlights of the senses are reversed and thrown back on the Spirit through the awakened spine, then Christ Consciousness is revealed.

All the Yogis (those who seek scientific union with God) of India lay the utmost importance on keeping the spine straight during meditation, and upon concentration on the point between the eyebrows. The idea is that when the attention is switched off from the senses it begins to withdraw the currents from the sense telephones, and to reverse them towards the Spiritual Eye, situated between the two physical eyes, and the medulla.

The Spiritual Eye is a reflection of the medulla. As one switch throws light into the two lights of an automobile, so the medulla throws the current into the two physical eyes, but by making the eye single; i.e., concentrating on the point between the two eyes, one can see the medually reflected as only one light.

The Pineal Eye and the Medulla Eye are one and the same, reflected through the two outer eyes. By making the eyes single again, the diffused light of the two physical eyes is seen as one Spiritual Eye. Jesus said: "If, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

Attention is the conductor of our life currents and consciousness. Those who greedily indulge too much in the pleasures of the senses of touch, smell, taste, sound, and sight find the searchlights of their consciousness and Life Force turned outward towards matter, but when, by self-control and meditation, the attention is focused on the point between the eyebrows in the spiritual sensorium, then the Life Force and consciousness steadily begin to throw a revealing light over the Christ Consciousness Omnipresent in all finite Creation.

Every spiritual aspirant should know that a bent spine during meditation offers real resistance to the process of reversing the life currents. A bent spine throws the vertebra out of alignment and pinches the nerves, making it impossible for the Life Force to reverse its direction and flow through towards the Spiritual Eye and the medulla.

John, Esaias, and Yogis say that to receive Christ Consciousness from Jesus, or from a real Yogi preceptor, more than a simple physical contact is necessary. One must know how to meditate with a straight spine, how to keep the attention switched off from the senses, and how to keep it fixed on the altar of the Spiritual Eye between the two eyes, where Christ Consciousness can be received in all its glory.

The people sent by the Pharisees, in their ignorance, not understanding the depth of John’s statement, asked again: "Why baptize if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?" This was a foolish question, because John had already told them that he had heard the Cosmic Voice, and that he had authority to baptize, but in his greatness he went on to say: "I baptize with water: but there standeth One among you, who ye know not; He it is, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoes’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose."

John still realized his matter-wardness, or attachment to the watery flesh. He was more conscious of the body than of the Spirit, and so he thought: "I have lots to overcome in order to purify my body before I can baptize my Spirit." Since John’s concentration was on purifying the body first, he taught the way of baptizing with water. It has been explained elsewhere that cleansing the body with water before a Spiritual Initiation is conducive to a receptive state of the mind, due to the calming and cooling effect of bathing.

After the body is clean, the soul should be baptized by wisdom, magnetism, spiritual radiation, or Holy Ghost, (or holy, silent, ghost-like vibratory emanations from the preceptor). John knew that he could bring a temporary spiritual influence into the body of his disciples, but that Jesus, with His Cosmic Aura, could baptize the souls of people with wisdom, and with Cosmic Vibratory Emanations.

John speaks of Jesus as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. A lamb is the symbol of innocence, humility, and loyalty. Jesus was innocent, pure, humble, and true to God in every way. His was not the arrogance or power of a tyrant trying to destroy evil. Evil never can be uprooted by evil. Murder can never be abolished by murder. Unless the desire to murder is torn from the heart, it will leave its roots in the hearts of men and go on growing. Evil can only be destroyed by good. Murderers should not be hanged, but should be reformed with wisdom. The thought of murder must be banished from all hearts before killing will leave the shores of this earth.

If God, powerful as He is, punished man by physical means, man could not live on earth and exercise his independence of judgment and thus learn by his own mistakes. Therefore, God uses love, and like a lamb lets Himself be butchered so that some day, by the example of the humble resignation of the lamb to the butcher, He may awaken the higher sympathy and kindness in man.

Therefore, Jesus came as the lamb of spirituality, humble, loyal to God, ready to offer Himself as a sacrifice before the Temple of Truth, so that by His supreme example of purity, humbleness, and meekness He might act as the greatest spiritual light to drive away the dark sins of the world. Darkness cannot be chased away by darkness. Sin cannot be dispelled by sin. Lying cannot be stopped by lying. Murder cannot be stopped by hanging. Revengefulness cannot be stopped by revengefulness.

Darkness can be dispelled only by light. Sin can be dispelled by righteousness. Lying can be stopped by examples of truthfulness. Murder will cease by example of forgiveness and love, for the murderer’s desire to commit murder can only be healed by forgiveness. Revengefulness can cease only by forgiveness. Jesus, Son of God, by His unique example of grand, humble, Almighty Godliness, has become the light of ages to show people the way out of darkness for all time.

John predicted that Jesus would come after him, destined by God to work out His plan of showing people the path of redemption. John at first did not know that Jesus had come, so he continued to baptize with water in the way that he knew best how to do good to mankind.

John spoke of The Christ Consciousness, immanent in all vibratory Cosmic energy, as symbolized in the dove-like Spiritual Eye, the star-marked opal-blue light encased in a ring of golden ray. This light is symbolized by a dove because it brings perennial peace. The star represents the mouth of the dove and is the secret passage to Cosmic Consciousness. The blue and golden lights are the two wings of the dove. The blue represents the Cosmic tunnel leading to the perception of the subjective Christ Intelligence in all Creation. The ring of light represents the objective Cosmic energy, Cosmic Vibration, or the Holy Ghost.

The Spiritual Eye is composed of the life-tron (like electron) or the finest ultimate unit of intelligence and energy. It is finer than electrons, of which all matter and consciousness are composed. Each microcosmic lifetron contains in miniature the essence of all the macrocosmic creation. The Cosmos is made of the transcendental God, the Father, the consciousness beyond all Creation; and God, the Son, (the consciousness of the Father reflected in the womb of Cosmic Energy as the Only Begotten, only reflected Christ Consciousness) and the Holy Ghost, or Cosmic Vibration. This Cosmic Vibration appears as the Cosmic Sound of all lifetrons and Cosmic Energy.

Microcosmically each lifetron, or the Spiritual Eye in man, is composed of the elements God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or of transcendental Cosmic Consciousness, of Christ Consciousness, and of Cosmic Energy. However, John said: "I saw the Spirit descending from His abode of Heavenly Bliss, in the form of a microcosmic Spiritual Eye, and rest upon Jesus. The spiritual telescopic eye of Jesus was opened through this, and he could perceive the macrocosmic manifestations of Cosmic Consciousness, Christ Consciousness, and Cosmic Energy. Ordinary man, through his physical eyes, sees only his body and a little portion of the earth at a time, but any man, like Jesus, can see the spiritual dove alight in him; i.e., behold through his telescopic Spiritual Eye the entire kingdom of Cosmic Energy and the consciousness existing in and beyond it.

Spirit, by Cosmic Vibration, had instructed John to baptize people with water, and then the same Spirit showed John the mystery of baptism by Spirit. "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."

Any man who can see his Spiritual Eye, not temporarily, but always, and who can see the Omnipresent Spirit through it, can baptize people with the Omnipresent, sacred, Cosmic magnetism (Holy Ghost). Simply seeing the light, or showing others the light of the Spiritual Eye, is not enough (as advanced students of Yogoda Kriya, the Highest Art of Realization, can). One must be able to perceive the Spirit through the Spiritual Eye. This is what is meant by the Spirit remaining on Om. When we can do that, we can summon the Almighty Spirit to envelop the disciple with the Cosmic Magnetism. Of course, the disciple must be advanced and deserving in order to be able to receive such a baptism in Omniscience by his advanced Guru (preceptor) who is saturated with Cosmic Consciousness.

Atra shura mahaswasha Bhimarjuna samajudhi yujudhana Biratascha Drupadascha maharatha—4th Stanza.

Dhristakutuschakitana Kashirajascha birjaban Purajit Kuntibhojascha Shaibascha narapungabah—5th Stanza.

Yudhamanyuscha bikranta Uttamaujascha Beerjaban Saubhadro Draupadaascha sarba aba maharatha—6th Stanza.

—Atra (here); shura (heroes); mahaswasha (great archers); Bheemarjuna sama (equally qualified like Bheema and Arjuna); yudi (in battle); Yujudhana, Biratascha (and Birat); Draupadascha (the son of Draupadi); maharatha (great warriors).

Dhristakutu, chakitana. Kashirajascha (and the King of Kashi); birjaban (the powerful); Purajit Kuntabhojascha—(and Kuntibhoja); Shaibya-scha—(and Shaibya); narapungaba (the flower of men).

Yudhamanyuscha (and Yudhamanyu); beerjaban (the powerful); Shaubhadro (the son of Shubhadra); Draupada-scha (and the sons of Draupadi); sarba aba (all of them); maharatha (great warriors).

Here are present mighty bowmen, as skillful in battle as Bheema and Arjuna—the veteran warriors, Yujudhana, Birata, Draupada; the powerful Dhristakatu, Chakitana, and the King of Kashi; the flower of men, Purajit, Kunti Bhoja, and Shabya; the strong Yudhamanyu, and the valiant Uttamaujas, the son of Subhadra, and the sons of Draupadi, owners of great chariots.

It is very interesting to find that the splitting of the root meaning of the Sanskrit names in the Gita yields us the names of the psychological warriors which we have been discussing. Not only do we find these psychological warriors spoken of in the Bhagavad Gita, but they are also mentioned by the sage Patanjali in his writings on Yoga. It is very encouraging to know that the same Truth is given in both of the foremost Scriptures of India.

Patanjali was one of the greatest of Hindu Yogis and his Sutras describe the scientific technique of uniting the individualized soul with undifferentiated Spirit. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali were compiled after the birth of Christ, but the Bhagavad Gita was given to the world long before the birth of Christ. It was Patanjali who understood that the Bhagavad Gita was the "Song Celestial," by which the Lord wanted to unite the souls of his ignorant and wandering children with His own Spirit. This was to be accomplished scientifically through spiritual law. Patanjali explains this very clearly in definite metaphysical terms, while the Gita gives it in allegory.

These metaphysical soldiers, mentioned above, must come to the aid of the devotee who wants to battle the evil soldiers of the senses. King Desire, Durjudhana) tells his preceptor, Drona, (past habit) about the spiritual, occult soldiers who were lined up in battle array in the spinal plexuses.

Almost every soul is a prisoner of the senses, which are entrenched on the surface of the body. The soul’s attention is lured away from its inner kingdom in the medulla, the Spiritual Eye, and the plexuses, to the outer region of the body, where greed, temptation, and attachment have their strongholds. The devotee, who wants to lead King Soul away from the misery-making slums of the senses, finds that he cannot do so without a severe clash between the soldiers of the senses and the Divine soldiers of the soul.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth stanzas of the Bhagavad Gita describe the metaphysical soldiers of the soul which are roused by meditation. The fifth, sixth, and seventh stanzas describe the soldiers of the senses which become excited and try to hold back the awakened soul and to resist his occult armies which struggle to rescue him.

The man rolling down hill finds no resistance, but as soon as he wants to climb up he meets great resistance, so it is with the man who is fast sliding into evil. He does not find resistance until he tries to reverse his direction and climb up the hill of virtue.

The man who wakes up and tries to become better finds his evil habits clashing with his desire for self-control. If the soul wins the first psychological battle through self-control, it finds that it has to go through another and more subtle metaphysical battle between the faculties of Self Realization and its own pre-natal and post-natal evil habits.

The first stanza of the Gita describes the initial psychological clash between discrimination and sense habits, through which every spiritual novice has to struggle. Also, the subtler metaphysical battle between the forces of Self-Realization and those of the innate sense habits has to be won before the soul can be enthroned again in its cerebral kingdom and reign with its Divine courtiers of intuitional qualities which reside in the spinal plexuses.

The great metaphysical generals, which lead the soldiers of spiritual thought to battle, along with their characteristics, will now be described, as the explanation is given of the fourth, fifth, and sixth stanzas. Following that will be given a description of the generals of the subtle senses which hold the Ego (the pseudo soul) as their prisoner.

The soul encounters the highest metaphysical battle after winning the moral and psychological struggle between good and evil thoughts. The deep introspection of the Yogi (spiritual aspirant) reveals that King Material Desire, before the inner battle was waged, began to survey the metaphysical warriors of the soul (stanzas 4, 5, and 6) and his own sense soldiers, as described in stanzas 6, 7, and 8. King Material Desire addresses his preceptor, Drona, (Material Habit) saying: "Behold, here are great metaphysical warriors. They are":

1. Divine Devotion vs. Irreverent Satanic Disbelief.

2. Vital Celibacy vs. Debauchery.

3. Spiritual Memory (the Soul’s memory that it is part of Spirit) vs. Material Delusion (that which makes man forget God).

4. Oneness with God in Samadhi (the state after deep meditation) vs. Delusion, which makes the Soul behold the diverse forms of matter and the pairs of opposite instead of One Spirit.

5. Discriminative Intelligence vs. Evil Reason.

6. Extreme Dispassion vs. Extreme Material Attachment.

7. Power to follow Spiritual Law vs. the desire to indulge in poisonous forbidden fruits of sense lures.

8. Wholesome, positive, discipline vs. misery-producing evil ways.

9. Proper bodily posture, (helpful in meditation) straight spine, etc., vs. improper bodily posture conducive to laziness and flesh attachment (bent spine and slouching attitude).

10. Inwardly controlled Life Force reversed on eternally satisfying God vs. outwardly flowing Life Force, revealing the lure of the senses.

11. The faculty of withdrawing consciousness from the senses (This power is attained after gaining control of the Life Force) vs. sudden scattering of the mind on matter, due to hidden pre-natal material habits.

12. Meditation after withdrawing the mind from matter vs. occasional distractions.

13. Dharma (Truth).

A BIG, tall Redwood tree, stretching its pride into the heart of the sky, said in contempt, "O, little creeper, are you not ashamed of your dwarfed existence? Look how I whistle into the ears of the zephyr, talk to the aurora, and shake my leafy hands with the grateful moonbeams!"

The little creeper looked up and thanked God for His blessings to all-life.

Before long, on one grim evening, God unloosened Pandora’s box. Violent winds began to sweep over man’s earth. Angry winds felled the proud tree to the dust of the somber forest.

The little creeper looked at the bleeding tree, wept tears of raindrops, and prayer in humble resignation.

Peeping through the loud thunders and swift lightning of the dark sky, Destiny laughed and laughed, saying, "O, earthly insolence, learn to be humble. By the unwritten law of the Creative Intelligence, pride, however tall, kisses the dust of the earth sooner or later. In humility lie godliness and life; in pride, death."

THE search for the Beyond is a natural instinct of the human heart. Colors that we see, music that we hear, sweets that we taste, fragrance that we smell, objects that we perceive with our senses—none of these can satisfy our aspirations. We long for something which is beyond them all. But why is there within us this ceaseless search? Because man is a reality of the Beyond. From the Beyond we came, to the Beyond we go. We search for the Beyond because we are ourselves above all limitations; because we are the infinite, conscious, eternal and blissful reality.

The search for the Beyond is the motive force of all progress, both material and spiritual. Saviors are born to introduce to the path of the Beyond those who have not yet set their feet upon it, and to guide and encourage those who have already become pilgrims on the way. Jesus Christ was a Savior. He was a mystic. One who reveals that which transcends sense perception is a mystic. All Saviors are mystics. Jesus wanted to initiate us into the Beyond, into the Infinite, into the state of absolute consciousness where Bliss reigns eternally.

With that object in view, among His first messages to mankind Jesus declared: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." In this context, "bread" is a symbolic term signifying matter and material things, or objects of sense perception. Man can never attain the goal of his life by living only in matter consciousness. There is something higher, greater, something sublime, divine, pure, eternal, universal and infinite in man. That infiniteness in man must be recognized and lived in. But why should we live in our infinitude? Why should we live in our universality? Why should we live in our divinity? Because in such a life alone there is peace, the objective of every human soul.

All suffering emanates from isolation. Every misfortune in the material world has resulted from the tendency in man towards isolation of wealth, power, and every human interest—personal, social, political, and religious. Today, in our broader political and religious isolations, we speak of ourselves as American, English, German, Indian and the like, or as Hindus, Christians, Jews, Mohammedans, or what not. The use of such designations is not wrong in itself, but in the diversity of our names we have forgotten our common unity. We have forgotten that we are all human beings, nay, that we are sons of the One God. And how horrible is the consequence! I do not altogether deny the necessity, importance and value of a certain degree of distinctiveness among mankind. There are, perhaps, as many degrees as there are human beings. But when in making our distinctions we forget our universal Oneness, our common origin and our identical goal, then the curse of suffering falls upon us.

Therefore, let our distinctiveness be built upon the bed-rock of our universal Oneness. Let us realize that we are materially, hence apparently, separated, yet we are spiritually and essentially united. Our life is not isolated within this little frame of bones and flesh. It extends to include the whole universe. Unless we realize this universal Oneness and live accordingly, we have yet to touch the depths of suffering. This idea of spiritual unity must be realized and applied in every phase and in every moment of our lives, if we wish to have our civilization survive. Otherwise, its destruction is inevitable.

Verily, "Man shall not live by bread alone." Humanity cannot exits solely in and through the material world and its finite relationships. Spiritual consciousness must be awakened and the realization of spiritual unity developed to the fullest extent in every human heart. Should we, then, ignore the material side of life? Unquestionably not! This point is emphasized by the use of the word "alone," which indicates the presence of more than one condition. Here it implies that both the spiritual and material phases of life demand full consideration. In fact, our spiritual ideal should set the course of material life.

Let us live our material life with the consciousness of spiritual unity here and now. Let us transcend matter and live in Spirit. Thus we shall be able to live a spiritualized material life. I could quote saying after saying from the lips of Jesus and give instance after instance from His holy life to show how His teaching demonstrated that one and only Truth. Live in Spirit, in the Infinite, while living in this world, and your life in Heaven (the state of infinite consciousness, immortality and bliss) is assured. Only by living the truth He preached will we be able to realize this universal Oneness which is the life of the Beyond.

1 full cup of Green Peppers.

1 cup Spanish Onions.

Slice and fry in butter until almost tender; then add one cup of canned or fresh tomatoes; 1 tablespoon Chili powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer about five minutes, then add one can La Sierra Garbanzos or any other brand. Cook slowly about ten minutes. Serve hot. Will serve approximately five persons.

DO YOU ever think seriously of salvaging your treasure of happiness which is sunk beneath the sea of your tumultuous life? Can you make your half-dead rose plant of life bloom again?

We are usually born rich with smiles, youth, strength, beauty, health, mystic aspirations, and swelling, thrilling hopes. As we live and grow, we begin to lose those riches, and the roses in us begin to fade. Why is this? Are we to grow warm with riches and then suddenly be frozen by the chill of poverty? The rose blooms only to die. Does our happiness come only in order to vanish?

No, the rose usually dies on the bed of beauty, yet some roses, worm eaten encounter a premature ugly death. We want to bloom with good actions, fragrant with happiness, and to rest forever with the memories of those who appreciate us. We do not have to die devoured by poverty, sickness, or sorrow.

To guard our rose plant, we must attend to it properly with much digging, watering, feeding, and guarding it from pests and chill. The rose plant of our happiness can grow only on the abundant fertile soil of our peace. It can never grow on hard, stony, unfeeling soil of human mentality. We have to constantly dig into peace with the spade of our good actions. We have to keep our happiness plant well watered with our spirit of love and service. We can only be happy by making others happy.

The real food for the happiness tree can be supplied only through meditation and actual contact with God in daily life. Without our contact with the Infinite source, from which all our human faculties and inspirations spring, we can never grow perfectly and completely.

The worst pests which attack our plant of happiness are lack of the desire to progress, self-satisfaction, and skepticism. The chill of inertia, or lack of definite, constant effort to know the Truth, is the greater ill from which our happiness plant suffers.

We can never be happy until we keep progressing and seeking satisfaction in doing so, and guarding that happiness from all the influences which destroy it.

MODERN representative historians, lacking knowledge of the cyclical law which governs the rise and fall of civilizations, and blinded by a fallacious theory that a primitive humanity emerged from a Paleolithic Age and entered a Neolithic or New Stone Age of rudimentary agriculture and the first faint beginnings of human culture about 15,000 B.C., are totally unable to trace the evidences of the glorious civilizations that were actually approaching the full flower of an Ascending Golden Age at that time. Even the more abundant evidence of the civilizations of the Golden and Silver Ages of the last Descending Arc, whose combined periods lasted from 11,502 to 3,102 B.C., has been either misinterpreted or ignored by modern scholars. To understand the folly of their hasty conclusions that the ancient world must have been in a comparatively "backward" stage, it is only necessary to remember that the science of modern Archaeology is still in its infancy.

"Until the beginning of the 19th century," writes Professor Morris Jastrow, "Egypt, Babylonia and Assyria were little more than names. The spirit of skepticism which accompanies the keen desire for investigation led scholars to question the tales found in classical writers about the great achievements of the Babylonians and Egyptians," and hence gave impetus to actual archaeological research. Egypt, so far, has received the lion’s share of archaeological attention, and has yielded, through the Tutankhamen, Gizeh Pyramid and other excavations, enough evidence of the splendor of the Egyptian past to warrant a radical change in modern historical attitude. But India, China, Mongolia, the American continents and other sites of ancient civilizations are still largely unknown and untouched archaeological gold-mines. Until they have been explored and excavated for the evidence of their bygone culture, the present dogmatic opinion of the modern historian concerning the role these lands have played in the story of mankind is not only premature but utterly worthless. Future archaeological research in these countries will reveal the unsoundness of the present-day historical views of the past.

"The Indian mind," writes Wells in his Outline of History, "was full of the idea of cyclic recurrence; everything was supposed to come round again. This is a very natural supposition for men to make; so things seem to be until we analyze them. Modern science has made it clear to us that there is no such exact recurrence as we are apt to suppose; every day is by an infinitesimal quantity a little longer than the day before; no generation repeats the previous generation precisely; history never repeats itself; change, we realize, is inexhaustible; all things are eternally new."

With such puerile argument, the historian complacently closes his eyes to the cyclical key which alone is fitted to unlock the door to a true interpretation of history, and to solve the many embarrassing problems, such as Atlantis, with which scholars are at present unable to cope. The law of cyclic recurrence, far from being the "natural supposition" which Wells would make it out, could only dawn in the minds of men with vast trenches of astronomical observation behind them as proof and guide-posts. "Modern science has made it clear to us that there is no such exact recurrence . . ."—the astronomical constants, like the invariable length of the Sidereal Year and of the absolute daily revolution of the earth on its axis, are apparently not recognized by Wells, especially since he goes on to say, "Every day is by an infinitesimal quantity a little longer than the day before." Evidently he is not aware that about half the days of a year are marked by an increasing shortness in length. Further, he can not even grasp the idea that such cyclic law in an astronomical sense is not from day to day, but from solar year to year, or, in an historical sense, not from "generation to generation," but from Equinoctial Age to Age. "History never repeats itself"—this statement of dogmatic finality is given out by one who admits that the really well-known periods of history start only with the founding of Rome in 753 B.C. but who nevertheless evidently believes himself capable of establishing dogmas on the history of mankind of the last million years.

Though archaeological research has just begun, and has only scraped the surface in a few places in the world, leaving the far greater portion untouched and unknown, and though the evidence of many towering civilizations lie almost inaccessibly hidden under the oceans of the world, yet there is no lack of written and traditional evidence of these ancient cultures. Here again, it is the fashion among present-day scholars to ridicule, misrepresent and misinterpret these venerable sources which, rightly understood, could illuminatingly present the life and knowledge of bygone ages to our modern gaze.

Thus, Plato’s account of Atlantis is treated as historically valueless, and a modern commentator, Jowett, has called it one of Plato’s "noble lies." Herodotus, the Greek "father of history" (born 484 B.C.) who visited Persia, Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt and Scythia to study the records of their pasts, wrote an extensive History which is accepted in certain of its parts as authentic fact by modern historians, but rejected as "absurd" and "incredible" wherever Herodotus relates accomplishments of the ancients which modern scholars consider "impossible" of achievement in such early days. Yet every fact given by Herodotus bearing on the high civilizations of ancient lands long past their prime even in his day are being fully confirmed by modern archaeological research. Wells writes: "A...wonderful Phoenician sea voyage, long doubted but now supported by some archaeological evidence, is related by Herodotus, who declares that the Pharaoh Necho of the 26th Dynasty commissioned some Phoenicians to attempt the circumnavigation of Africa," a trip successfully completed.

Champollion, the peerless French Egyptologist who was the first to decipher the hieroglyphic symbols, declared that the "extravagant" tales of Herodotus about the ancient grandeur of prehistorical Egypt were no fictions, but that "everything told us by Herodotus and the Egyptian priests is found to be exact, and is being corroborated by modern scientists."

Herodotus and other Greek historians record the dynastic chronology of the Egyptians as being divided into four periods—those under the influence of gods, demi-gods, heroes and mortal men. This four-fold division likens up clearly with Egyptian history during the 12,000 years of the last Descending Arc of the Equinoctial Cycle, and Egypt passed through her Golden, Silver, Bronze and Iron Ages from 11,502 B.C. to 498 A.D.

Similarly, the esoteric Jewish chronology assigns Shem, Ham and Hapheth, the three sons of Noah whose descendants were supposed to have peopled the world after the great Flood, to a Golden Age, when men lived for four or more centuries, and places the Babylonian Captivity in an Iron Age. The Captivity took place about 586 B.C. or perhaps earlier, but in any case, near the start (702 B.C.) of Kali Yuga of the Descending Arc.

"Though the origins of ancient Egypt are unknown, she is found to have been, at the most distant periods within the reach of historical research, in possession of her great laws, her established customs, her cities, her kings and gods; and behind, far behind, these same epochs we find ruins belonging to other still more distant and higher periods of civilization. At Thebes, portions of ruined buildings allow us to recognize remnants of still anterior structures, the materials of which had served for the erection of the very edifices which have now existed for thirty-six centuries!" So wrote Champollion-Figeac, famous archaeologist and brother of the Champollion before referred to. These illustrious French scholars did not, like the majority of our modern historians, despise the historical facts contained in such ancient compilations as the Books of Hermes, which "truly contain," wrote Champollion-Figeac in his Ancient Egypt, "a mass of Egyptian traditions which are constantly corroborated by the most authentic records and monuments of Egypt of the hoariest antiquity." He goes on to ask (referring to the initiated Egyptian priests who were the custodians of the sacred Hermetic books), "whether there ever was in the world another association or caste of men which could equal them in credit, power, learning and capability?"

Referring to Egyptian temple carvings, an article entitled What the Old Egyptians Knew, has the following to say: "Every one of these stones is covered with hieroglyphics, and the more ancient they are, the more beautifully we find them chiseled. Does not this furnish a new proof that history got its first glimpse of the ancients when the arts were already fast degenerating among them? . . . that all of these works, in which solidity rivals the beauty of their execution, were done before the days of the Exodus, there now remains no historical doubt whatever." Sir Gardner Wilkinson adds his testimony, that "he can trace no primitive mode of life, no barbarous customs, but a sort of stationary civilization from the most remote periods."

"The monuments," says Savary in his Letters on Egypt, "which there strike the traveller, fill his mind with great ideas. At the sight of the colossuses and superb obelisks, which seem to surpass the limits of human nature, he cannot help exclaiming, ‘This is the work of man,’ and this sentiment seems to ennoble his existence."

"Mechanism," writes Salverte, "was carried by the ancients to a point of perfection that has never been attained in modern times. . . . Have we not been assailed by numerous difficulties in striving to place on a pedestal one of those monoliths that the Egyptians, forty centuries ago, erected in such numbers?" Many of the hundreds of pyramids, those "stupendous and beautiful erections," as Professor Carpenter calls them, with a "vastness and beauty . . . still impressive after the lapse of thousands of years," will be proven eventually to have been built during the last Golden Age. Baron Bunsen, one of the best authorities, admits that "there is nothing improbable in itself in reminiscences and records of great events in Egypt 9000 years B.C." A certain pyramid is described in one of the Books of Hermes as facing the sea, "the waves of which dashed in powerless fury against its base." This passage implies "an origin antedating the upheaval of the Sahara desert."

These colossal structures, which "symbolized the creative principle of Nature, and illustrated also the principles of geometry, mathematics, astrology and astronomy," but which are uncomprehendingly referred to by H. G. Wells as "unmeaning sepulchral piles . . . erected in an age when engineering science had scarcely begun," nevertheless present numerous features of engineering skill and technical knowledge unapproached anywhere in our modern world. "The geometrical knowledge of the pyramid-builders," says Professor Smyth, "began where Euclid’s ended." Their methods of making imperishable cement and of transporting the huge monoliths from tremendous distances are only two of the many riddles which remain unsolved to this day.

G. R. Gliddon writes, "Philologists, astronomers, chemists, painters, architects, physicians, must return to Egypt to learn the origin of language and writing, of the calendar and solar motion, of the art of cutting granite with a copper chisel, and of giving elasticity to a copper sword, of making glass with the variegated hues of the rainbow, of moving single blocks of polished syenite, 900 tons in weight, for any distance, by land and water, of building arches with masonic precision unsurpassed at the present day, of sculpturing a Doric column 1000 years before the Dorians are known in history, of fresco painting in imperishable colors, of practical knowledge in anatomy, and of time-defying pyramid-building." They also made time-proof papyrus paper, as thin as and tougher than our foolscap paper.

These quotations, and numerous others of similar import, are to be found in Blavatsky’s Isis Unveiled, a work which abounds in unassailable evidence of the past glories and knowledge of the ancient world.

H. G. Wells, with his ridiculous assumption that the first civilization and the first known empire of history belong to a mysterious Sumerian people whose beginnings he traces about 6,000 B.C., sees fit to ignore the proven priority of Egyptian civilization, just as he ignores the fact that the almost total absence of archaeological research in India and elsewhere leaves him unfree to draw any sound conclusions or "outline of history" insofar as the story of ancient civilization is concerned. The point cannot be overstressed here, that no proper historical perspective can be gained without a knowledge of the cyclical law which links the Equinoctial Cycle to the periods of growth and decadence among mankind. Only thus can we understand how it is that the highest civilizations of Atlantis, Lemuria, India, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Phoenicia, China, the old Cretan culture of which Cnossus was the center, and the Mongoloid civilizations in ancient Mexico and Peru, so far anterior in time to our present era, were yet superior to any culture of a later growth—just as our own present stage of world development is superior to that which will prevail during the period of the next Kali Yuga of the Descending Arc, from 23, 298 to 24,498 A.D.

Present Stone-Age Men

The discovery of Neolithic remains which appear to date from the periods which our Equinoctial Cycle Age-Chart (see October, 1932 issue of East-West) would assign to the high ancient civilizations of the last Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages of the descending Arc, is no more indicative of the prevalence of a world-wide primitive stage of development during those periods than the presence of Stone-Age men, such as the Bushmen and Hottentots, the pygmies of the Congo and the natives of Dutch New Guinea and Paupa, in our own present era, can reasonably be said to be representative of world progress today. It is necessary here to repeat that before archaeologists can speak trustworthily on ancient "World-wide" conditions, they must undertake extensive excavations and research work in those lands of ancient culture which have at present received practically no attention. Even Egypt has yielded only a small part of her evidence, and even that belongs mostly to her later and inferior Bronze Age civilization.

Further, archaeologists manifest the most inexcusable reluctance to admit the true dates of their findings, and nearly every date they give for ancient kings and cultures is too close to modern times by several thousands of years. For example, when the Sumerian inscriptions of Sargon I (who founded the Akkadian empire and conquered the Sumerians during the last Silver Age of the world) were first deciphered, scholars would not grant them an antiquity of more than 1,600 years B.C. It is now generally admitted, by Hilprecht and other authorities, that Sargon I must be assigned of the period around 3,800 B.C., a date which agrees well with the one (3,750 B.C.) given by Nabonidus, last monarch of the Chaldean Empire who flourished about 545 B.C. and conducted antiquarian researches into the history of civilizations past their peak long before his own time.

THERE is something in every man that is the Master of his thinking apparatus, and this Master can paint upon the canvas of the mind any kind of picture he chooses.

Some men walk through life and accumulate only a bundle of more or less useful facts, while others wade through the wilderness of facts and gather a bouquet of the blossoms of life.

The man who has descended to that stage of self-love, in which he believes the lies he tells his own soul, has reached the depths of credulity.

We must sometimes read and study the things which we do not fully understand in order that we may have a better understanding of everything we read and study.

The person who tries to impress you with the fact that he can speak seven or eight languages, often is incapable of saying anything original in any one of them.

It is comparatively easy—all too easy—to persuade a man that the thing he likes is essential to his welfare and the progress of humanity.

It is advisable to distrust the judgment of those who shout from the housetops or who tell you in whispers that they have sounded the depths of consciousness, made a map of life, and psychoanalyzed the Almighty.

One of the best aids in the building of character, the attainment of which is true success, lies in a willingness to admire every person who does any constructive work to the best of his ability.

IN THIS book Mr. Young, who also talks over the radio, describes in an entertaining way his successful method of correcting undesirable traits of character and solving the problems of life:

"I am one of those lucky fellows who inherited a fortune. The man who bequeathed riches to me was my former Self. He died of selfishness, pessimism, fear, worry, vain regrets, and envy, but he wasn’t wholly bad, for he left me a great store of courage, contentment, patience, and freedom from harmful appetites.

As my former Self, I managed to make a living, but failed to make a life. One day this idea came into my mind: ‘You have a thought factory, but you have turned it into a junk factory. Take a look at your products. Fear, worry, impatience, anger, doubt.’

My next step was to make a list of qualities that are enduring—love, courage, cheerfulness, activity, compassion, friendliness, generosity, tolerance, justice. I decided to reflect these in my conduct. First, I decided I must do something to vanquish fear. There is no finer sensation in life than that which comes with victory over one’s self. I had to stop thinking about myself, forget the past, leave the future to care for itself, and concentrate on today. Every time a negative thought came, I thrust it out of my consciousness, and thought of something worth while. This is a habit any one can acquire. Try it. A great victory almost always makes subsequent victories easy.

A second battle was to get rid of self-centeredness. ‘When you are keenly conscious of your own needs, do something for someone else,’ I demanded, so, every Sunday for the next year, I went to a hospital on the East Side of New York and sang for the crippled children there. Before that year was over, I had money. By refusing to put money first, I had hit on a profitable program.

I still had a bad temper to lick. After working very late one night, I dived into the subway very tired, eager to be in bed. The guard of a waiting train slammed the door in my face. There would not be another train for fifteen minutes. I felt hot anger sweep over me. I started to yell at the guard, then I stopped. Why burn up what little energy I had left? Looking around, I saw a woman leaving the station with a baby and a suitcase. I asked if I could help her, took her suitcase, hailed a taxicab, and drove her to her destination. Then I started home, two hours after I had missed the subway train. My fatigue was gone, and I was very happy. I had put myself through a course of discipline by doing something for someone else.

No one has ever had a harder fight against fear than I had. There is not a doubt, nor a dread, nor a sick sensation that I have not suffered. Most people are afraid of something, but I was afraid of almost everything, including mice, thunder storms, teachers, and physical encounters. In my first days as a salesman, I have prayed—how I have prayed!—that my prospects would be out of the office when I got there. But one day I stopped and spoke to myself: ‘You miserable coward!’ I said, ‘you set out to do a job and you crawl out on it. Go and see those men!’ I did. I called on every one of the men I had dreaded to call on. I had delightful talks with some of them and went home happy.

When I was a boy, farmers used scarecrows in their fields. Timid birds, seeing the flapping of an old coat on crossed sticks, would fly away, but now and then a wiser bird would come down and enjoy a feast, using the scarecrow as a perch. The fears of life are nothing more than scarecrows.

This is what I think religion is: It is saying gratefully in the morning: ‘Thank You, God, for what I have,’ instead of: ‘Please give me a lot more.’ Religion to me is planning for the day more constructive work than I can possibly do. It is the exercise of constant dominion over harmful emotions and false appetites. It is telling other people of things they have done which merit praise. It is development of the ‘giving’ habit instead of the ‘getting’ habit.

Do not buck the stream of life. Seek to flow with it."

"We are in complete sympathy with India’s desire for freedom, and if the point be made that only a small percentage of the Indian people has manifested an articulate demand for liberty, we reply that the great reforms of history have always been achieved by minorities. The intellectual leadership of India is solidly united in opposing the continuance of British rule, and the demand for separation is rapidly increasing.

We regard Mahatma Gandhi’s method of non-violent, non-cooperation as the most effective and ethical form of political coercion available to the Indian people. The courage and suffering exhibited in a non-violent campaign will yield more constructive and permanent results than would be true of the sacrifices involved in a revolutionary war. Western civilization desperately needs to discover an alternative for war in the form of an effective non-violent means of social coercion.

We regard Mahatma Gandhi not only as the noblest personality now in public life in any country on earth, but we also consider him to be an extraordinarily sagacious statesman. He reveals the possibilities of idealism in politics. His unparalleled political influence rests upon the saintliness of his character. His religious faith in the invincibility of soul force and non-violence furnishes the vision and the dynamic which constitute the most serious of all threats to British domination in India."

As the face of a dearly beloved is the background for the pageant of my days, so shall be in my soul the face of God.

As the voice of one I love is the accompaniment to my solo of living, so shall be, in the orchestration of my life, the voice of God.

As the memory of one high moment lends a conscious glory to my lowliest act, so shall be with me the consciousness of the presence of God, until every cell of my body thrills with His glory and I hear each atom in the universe singing His Eminence.

Why fear to-morrow, timid heart?

Why tread the future’s way?

We only need to do our part

To-day, dear child, to-day.

The past is written. Close the book

On pages sad and gay;

Within the future do not look,

But live To-day—Today.

’Tis this one hour that god has given;

His NOW we must obey;

And it will make our earth His heaven

To live To-day—To-day.

LOST is a deep, dense forest, two men suddenly came face to face and began to converse. The name of one man was Faith, the name of the other was Doubt.

"Where are you going?" asked Doubt.

"I am seeking a way out of this dark forest, into the fields of light," replied Faith.

"How do you know there are fields of light beyond the forest?" asked Doubt.

"I am a child in wisdom and do not pretend to know anything," answered Faith. "However, my reason will not let me believe that all the world is a forest, and something within my Spirit whispers that if I continue to travel straight in one direction, I shall find a way out of this woodland."

"How did you get into this forest?" asked Doubt.

"I do not know," replied Faith.

"You have suffered in your wanderings through this wilderness, have you not?" asked Doubt.

"I have suffered much," admitted Faith.

"What Cosmic Injustice causes us to suffer thus?" asked Doubt.

"I do not believe in Cosmic Cruelty," said Faith. "I think it is my own fault that I am here. I believe that once I lived in the fields of light, but I allowed my curiosity about the forest to lure me away from my home of joy."

"What made this forest?" demanded Doubt. "What Diety created such a place for our temptation?"

"Each man is his own tempter," said Faith. "I do not believe this forest has any reality. I think it is a shadowy projection of our own minds. Even then, there is nothing bad about the forest. Our mistake was in losing ourselves in it."

"I think you are a fool," said Doubt, with a sneer.

"No one knows better than I how ignorant I am," answered Faith, with a smile. "However, the fact that I am ignorant makes it possible for me to learn. Because I realize that I am lost, there is a possibility that I shall find my blessed home again. At least, I can try. Will you join me in my journey?"

"I will not join you," said Doubt. "I see no way out of this miserable place, so I shall sit here and curse the Power that placed me here, until Death comes."

"I am sorry for you, brother," said Faith. "Your ill will toward any Power or Being which you think is outside of yourself, will return to you, not because I say it, but because that is the law."

So Faith walked away, leaving Doubt wrapped in his own gloom, to die at last with terror in his heart.

And Faith walked on and on, hungry and weary, and with bleeding feet, until he grew weak and weary and lay down to sleep. He could travel no further that day, but he knew there would be a tomorrow. Just before he closed his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the great sun shining on the fields of light only a short distance away, at the edge of the forest. And he went to sleep with a song in his heart and praise on his lips.

*Note—Maya Means Illusion.

I BOW to Thee

In the Silver Rays;

I drink to Thee

In the Sunbeams;

I stand in reverence

Before Thy Mountain Majesty;

I clasp Thy image

Reflected in the lake;

In the voice of the echo

I hear Thy voice;

I embrace Thee

In the calm caress of the breeze;

I bathe in Thy babbling fountain

Of my bosom.

The explosions of my passions

Have died away

And I hear Thy Whispers

In the pines

And in the gentle swish

Of the laughing waters of the lake.

I listened to Thy sermons

Through the voice of my reason

I beheld Thee

Ploughing the soil of my soul

With trial, and sowing the seeds

Of Thy wisdom therein.

Every day I watered the seeds

Sown by Thee,

But it was only

When the sunshine of Thy mercy came

That those seeds sprouted, grew,

And yielded the harvest of contentment.

Suddenly the waters,

Nature’s green carpets,

The blue vastness overhead,

The opaque stones,

And my body

Became transformed

Into a vast mirror

By the magic touch of my silence,

And I saw myself

Reflected in everything.

And when in concentration

I looked at myself

I became transparent—

And in my transparency

I could not find me—

but only Thee, only Thee.