All These Things Added James Allen

A,
'''
î.jL
These Things
Added
BY
JAMES ALLEN
Be
as afiower, content to be, to grow In sweetness day by day; content to know The hidden blessing in the seeming curse;
child of Love, unargumentative;
to be
Content
and know
as thou dost
liver
The simple
secret of the Universe.
QPl
NEW YORK DODGE PUBLISHING COMPANY

214-220
EAST
23d
STREET
THE LIBRARY _^ BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY PROVO, UTAH
FOREWORD
In seeking for
their hearts)
ness,
pleasures here
and
re-
wards hereafter men have destroyed

the
(in
Temple of Righteousand have wandered from the Kingceasing to seek for
dom of Heaven. By
earthly pleasures
and heavenly rewards,
Temple of Righteousness is restored and the Kingdom of Heaven is found.

the
This truth
receive
it;
is
for those
this
who
are ready to
is
and
book
also
for those
whose souls have been prepared for the

acceptance of
its
teaching.
James Allen.
CONTENTS
PART
I
Entering the Kingdom
The The
Need Competitive Laws and the Law of Love

Soul's Great
......
....
PAGE
11
15
The Finding of a Principle At Rest in the Kingdom and All

Things Added
50
81
PART
II
The Heavenly
Life
3 14
The Divine Center The Eternal Now The "Original Simplicity" The Unfailing Wisdom The Might of Meekness The Righteous Man
Perfect Love Perfect Freedom Greatness and Goodness Heaven in the Heart
......
.
22 30 40 52 57 65 71 82
Paet I
ENTERING THE KINGDOM
THE
I
SOUL'S
GREAT NEED
sought the world, but Peace was not there;
Truth was not revealed; I sojourned with philosophy, but my heart was
I courted learning, but
sore with vanity.
And I cried, Where is Peace And where is the hiding-place
to
be found!
Filius Lucis.
of Truth
Every human
viduals, but there
soul
is
in need.
The
ex-
pression of that need varies with indiis
not one soul that does

spiritual
not feel
it
in
some degree. It is a
and casual need which takes the form,
in
souls of a particular development, of a
deep and inexpressible hunger which the
outward things of hfe, however abundantly they

satisfy.
may
be possessed, can never
Yet the majority, imperfect in knowledge, and misled by appearances,

11
12
seek to satisfy this hunger by striving for

material possessions, believing that these
will satisfy their need,
and bring them

or
peace.
Every
sciously,
soul,
consciously
uncon-
hungers for righteousness, and
eyery soul seeks to gratify that hunger in

its
own
particular way,
and
in accordance
with
edge.
its
own particular state of knowlThe hunger is one, and the rightis
eousness
one,
but the pathways by

is
which righteousness
sought are many.
They who
and
seek consciously are blessed,
shall shortly find that final
and per-
manent
come
satisfaction of soul which right-
eousness alone can give, for they have

into a
knowledge of the true path.

seek unconsciously, although
They who
for a time they
may
bathe in a sea of
for they are
pleasure, are not blessed,
carving out for themselves pathways of
THE
SOUL'S
GREAT NEED
13
suffering over which they must walk with
torn and
wounded
feet,
and
their
hunger
will increase,
its lost
and the soul
heritage
will cry out for
^the
eternal heritage of
righteousness.
Not
in
any of the three worlds can the
soul find lasting satisfaction, apart
from
on
the realization of righteousness.
Bodied
or disembodied,
it is
ceaselessly driven
by the
in
discipline of suffering, until at last,

it flies
it
its
extremity,
to
its
only refuge
^the
refuge of righteousness
and
finds
that joy, satisfaction,
and peace which

the
had
so long
and so vainly sought.

the soul, then,
is
The great need of

need of
this
permanent
principle, called
it
righteousness, on which
may
stand se-
curely and restfuUy amid the tempest of

earthly existence,
no more bewildered, and

build the mansion of a
whereon
it
may
beautiful, peaceful,
and perfect
life.
14

It
is
in the realization of this principle
where the Kingdom of Heaven, the abiding home of the

is
soul, resides,
and which
found
the source and storehouse of every perblessing*

it,
manent
Finding it,
It
all is
not finding
all is lost.
is
an attitude
of mind, a state of consciousness, an ineffable knowledge, in which the struggle for
existence ceases,
and the soul
finds itself
its
at rest in the midst
of plenty, where
every need,
is
great need, yea,

fied,
its
satis-
without
strife
and without
earnestly
fear.
intel-
Blessed are they

ligently seek, for
who
it is
and
impossible that such
should seek in vain.
THE COMPETITIVE LAWS AND THE LAW OF LOVE

When
I
am
pure
I shall have solved the I shall be sure
mystery of
life,
(When
I I
from hatred, lust and strife) am in Truth, and Truth abides in me. shall be safe and sane and wholly free
I
am
free
When
am
pure.
It has been said that the laws of Nature

are cruel;
it
has likewise been said that

the
the
they are kind.

result
The one statement is of dwelling exclusively upon

;
fiercely competitive aspect
of Nature the
other results from viewing only the protective
and kindly
aspect.
In
reality,
natural laws are neither cruel nor kind;
they are absolutely just
are, in fact, the
outworking of the indestructible principle

of justice
itself.
15
16

The
cruelty,
is
and consequent suffering,

is
which
so prevalent in Nature,
not
life
inherent in the heart and substance of

it is
a passing phase of evolution, a pain-
ful experience, which will ultimately ripen

into the fruit of a
more perfect knowl-
edge; a dark night of ignorance and unrest,
leading to a glorious morning of joy
and peace.
When a helpless child is burnt to

we do not
child
death,
ascribe cruelty to the
working
of the natural law by virtue of which the
was consumed; we infer ignorance

on the part
crea-
in the child, or carelessness
of
its
guardians.
Even
so,
men and
tures are daily being

invisible flames
consumed
of
in the
of passion, succumbing to
interplay
those
fiery
the
ceaseless
psychic forces which, in their ignorance,
they do not understand, but which they

shall at last learn
how
to control
and use
COMPETITIVE LAWS; LAW OF LOVE

to their
17
own
protection,
and
not, as at
present, foolishly
employ them
to their
own
destruction.
To
soul
is
understand, control and harmoniits
ously adjust the invisible forces of
own
the ultimate destiny of every being
and
creature.
Some men,
this
in the past,
have accomplished
supreme and exdone,
alted purpose; some, in the present, have

likewise succeeded, and, until this
is
that place of rest wherein one receives all
that
is
necessary for one's well-being and
happiness,
without
striving,
and with
when, in
freedom from pain, cannot be entered.
In an age
strained to
like the present,
all
is
civilized countries, the string

its
of
life
highest pitch,
when men,
striving each with each in every depart-
ment of
life
for the vanities and material
possessions of this perishable existence,
have developed competition to the utmost
18

of endurance
limit
in such
an age the
are
sublimest heights of knowledge are scaled,

the
supremest
;
spiritual
conquests
when the soul is most tired, its need is greatest, and where the need is great, great will be the eif ort. Where,
achieved
for
also,
the temptations are powerful, the
greater and more enduring will be the victory.
Men
love the competitive strife

it
with their fellows, while
promises, and
seems to bring them gain and happiness;
but when the inevitable reaction comes,
and the cold

their
steel
of
selfish strife
which
own hands have forged

then,
enters their
own hearts,
mourn"
strife,
and not
till
then, do they
seek a better way.
"Blessed are they that
^that
have come to the end of
to
and have found the pain and sorrow which it leads for unto them, and unto
;
them
only, can
open the door which leads

Peace.
to the
Kingdom of

In searching for
this
I9
Kingdom,
it
is
necessary to fully understand the nature
and origin of that which prevents

realization
its
namely, the
strife
of nature,
the competitive laws operative in

affairs,
human
inse-
and the universal
unrest,
curity
and fear which accompany these

an understand-
factors; for without such
ing there can be no sound comprehension

as to
what constitutes the true and the
false in life,
itual
and therefore no
real spir-
advancement.
Before the true can
be apprehended and enjoyed, the false
must be unveiled; before the

distort
real can
be
perceived as the real, the illusions which

it
must be dispersed; and before

Truth can open
the limitless expanse of
out before us, the limited experience which

is
confined to the world of visible and
superficial effects
must be transcended.
Let, therefore, those of
my readers who
20

who
are
are thoughtful and earnest, and
diligently seeking, or are willing to seek,
for that basis of thought and conduct
which shall simplify and harmonize the

bewildering complexities and inequalities
of
life,
walk with me step by step as I

first
open up the way to the Kingdom;
descending into Hell (the world of strife
and
self-seeking)
its
in order that, having

intricate ways,
comprehended
we may
afterwards ascend into

of Peace and Love)
It
is
Heaven
(the world
the custom in
my
household, dur-
ing the hard frosts of winter, to put out
food for the
birds,
and
it is
a noticeable
are
fact that these creatures,
when they
really starving, live together

bly,
most amica-
huddling together to keep each other

all strife
;
warm, and refraining from

if a small quantity
and
of food be given them
they will eat
it
with comparative freedom

from contention; but
food which
is
21
let
a quantity of
more than
sufficient for all
be thrown to them, and fighting over the

coveted provender at once ensues.
sionally
Occaloaf of
we would put out a whole

fierce
bread,
and then the contention of the birds
became
there
^nd prolonged, although

Some, having
was more than they all could possibly
eat during several days.
gorged themselves until they could eat no

more, would stand upon the loaf and hover round
it,
pecking
fiercely at all
new-
comers, and endeavoring to prevent them
from obtaining any of

along with
noticeable
the food.
And
was
each
this fierce contention there
great
fear.
With
mouthful of food taken, the birds would

look round in nervous terror, apprehensive
of losing their food or their
lives. illus-
In
this simple incident
we have an
tration
crude, perhaps, but trueof the
22
basis
and outworking of the competitive laws in Nature and in human affairs. It

is
not scarcity that produces competition,
it is
abundance; so that the richer and more
luxurious a nation becomes, the keener and

fiercer
becomes the competition for securlife.
ing the necessaries and luxuries of
Let famine overtake a nation, and at once

compassion and sympathy take the place
of competitive strife; and, in the blessedness of giving and receiving,
men enjoy
bliss
a foretaste of that heavenly
which
the spiritually wise have found,

all shall
and which
scar-
ultimately reach.
The
fact that abundance,
and not
city, creates
competition, should be held
constantly in
mind by the reader during

it
the perusal of this book, as
throws a
searching light not only on the statements

herein contained, but
relating to social life
upon every problem

and himian conduct.

Moreover,
if it
23
be deeply and earnestly

its
it
meditated upon, and

to individual conduct,
lessons applied
will
the
Way
which leads to the
make plain Kingdom.

this
Let us now search out the cause of

fact, in order that the evils
it
connected with
may
be transcended.
in social
is
Every phenomenon
all
and naand
tional life (as in Nature)
an
effect,
these effects are embodied

is
is
by a cause
life
which
which
not remote and detached, but

the immediate soul
itself.
and
is
of
the effect
As
the seed
contained
in the flower,
and the flower
in the seed, so
is
the relation of cause and effect
inti-
mate and
vivified
inseparable.
An
effect, also, is
life
and propagated, not by any

itself,
inherent in
but by the
life
and
impulse existing in the cause.
Looking out upon the world, we behold

it
as
an arena of
strife in
which individ-
24

and nations are con-
uals, communities,
stantly
engaged
in struggle, striving with
each other for superiority, and for the

largest share of worldly possessions.
see, also, that
We
are
the weaker fall out defeated,
and
that
the
strong
those
And
who
equipped to pursue the combat with undiminished ardor
obtain
the victory,
and
enter into possession.

this struggle
is
along with
we
see the suffering

it
which
inevitably connected with
^men and
women, broken down with the weight of

their responsibilities, failing in their ef-
forts
nities
and losing
all
families
and commu-
broken up, and nations subdued and
subordinated.
We see seas
of
tears, tell-
ing of unspeakable anguish and grief;
we
of
see painful partings

;
and early and unthat this life

its
natural deaths and

strife,
we know
of
when stripped
is
surface
appearances,
largely a life of sorrow.

25
Such, briefly sketched, are the phenom-
ena connected with that aspect of human

life
with which
we
are
now
dealing; such
are the effects as
we
see
them; and they
have one
the
common cause which is found in human heart itself. As all the multivarieties
soil
form
of plant
life
have one comtheir suslive
mon
and
from which
to
draw
tenance,
and by virtue of which they

rooted
thrive, so all the varied activities

life are
in,
of
human
vitality
and draw
source
all
their
from, one
heart.
all
common
of
the
human
and of
The cause
suffering
happiness resides, not in the
outer activities of
human
life,
but in the
inner activities of the heart and mind;
and every external agency

the life which
duct.
it
is
sustained
by
derives
from human conin
The organized
life-principle
man
carves for itself outward channels along

it
which
can pour
its
pent-up energies,
makes for
itself vehicles
its
through which
its
it
can manifest
potency and reap
ex-
perience, and, as a result,

religious,
tions.
social,
we have our
and pohtical organiza-
All the visible manifestations of

life,
human
then, are eifects;
and
as such, al-
though they
may
possess a reflex action,
they can never be causes, but must remain

forever what they are
dead
effects^ gal-
vanized into
life
by an enduring and pro-
found
It
cause.
is
the custom of
this
men
to
wander
to mis-
about in
take
its
world of
for
effects,
and
illusions
realities,
eternally
transposing and readjusting these effects

in order to arrive at a solution of
problems, instead
human of reaching down to the

is
underlying cause which

ter of unification
at once the cen-
and the
basis
upon which

to build a peace-giving solution of
life.
27
human
forms,
The
strife
it
of the world in
all its
whether
be war, social or political quar-
reling, sectarian hatred, private disputes,
or commercial competition, has

in
its
origin
one
common
cause, namely, individual
selfishness.
And
I employ this term
selit
fishness in a far-reaching sense; in
include
all
forms of self-love and egotism

it
I mean by
and preserve
the desire to pander to,
at all costs, the personality.

is
This element of selfishness
the life
and soul of competition, and of the competitive laws.
Apart from
it
they have
no
existence.
But
in the life
of every
individual in whose heart selfishness in
any form
is
harbored,
these
laws are
is
brought into play, and the individual

subject to them.
Innumerable economic systems
have
28
failed,
strife

and must
fail,
to extirpate the
of the world.
They
are the outcome
of the delusion that outward systems of
government are the causes of that

whereas they are but the
strife,
visible
and
transient effect of the inward strife^ the
channels through which
it
must necessarily
manifest
is,
itself.
To
destroy the channel
and must ever

will
be, ineffectual, as the
inward energy
itself another,
immediately make for

still
and
another and an-
other. petitive
Strife cannot cease;
and the comAll

is ig-
laws must prevail so long a^
selfishness is fostered in the heart.
reforms will
fail
where
this
element
nored or unaccounted for;

succeed where
are taken for
it is
all
reforms
will
recognized,
and steps
its
removal.
is
Selfishness, then,
the root cause of

all
competition, the foundation on which
competitive systems rest, and the sustain-

ing source of the competitive laws.
will thus
29
It
be seen that
all
competitive sys-
tems,
all
the visible activities of the strugare as the leaves and
gle of
man with man,
branches of a tree which overspreads the
whole earth, the root of that tree being

individual
fruits
selfishnesSj
and the ripened

This
lop-
of which are pain and sorrow.
tree cannot be destroyed
by merely
ping off
ally, the
its
branches; to do this effectu-
root
must he destroyed.
To
in-
troduce measures in the form of changed

external conditions
is
merely lopping off
the branches; and as the cutting
away of
added
certain branches of a tree gives
vigor to those which remain, even so the
very means which are taken to curtail the

competitive
strife,
its
when those means

effects, will
deal
entirely with
outward
but
add strength and vigor to the
tree
whose
roots are all the time being fostered
and
so

The
is
encouraged in the human heart.
most that even
legislation
can do
to
prune the branches, and so prevent the

\
tree
from altogether running

efforts are
wild.
Great
now being put
for-
ward
shall
to found a
"Garden City/* which
be a veritable
Eden
planted in the
midst of orchards, and whose inhabitants

shall live in
comfort and comparative

beautiful and laudable are
reall
pose.
And
such efforts when they are prompted by

unselfish love.
exist,
But such
its its
a city cannot
or cannot long remain the

it
Eden
which
aims to be in
outward form,
unless the majority of
inhabitants have
selfish-
subdued and conquered the inward

ness.
Even one form of

self -indulgence^
if
selfishness,
namely,
fostered
by
its
inhabitants, will completely undercity,
mine that
leveling
its
orchards to
its
the ground, converting
many of
beau-

tiful
31
dwellings into competitive marts,
and obnoxious centers for the personal

gratification
of appetite, and some of
its
public buildings into institutions for the
maintenance of order; and upon

spaces will rise
jails,
its
public
asylums, and orspirit

its
phanages, for where the
of
self-in-
dulgence
is,
the
means for
gratifica-
tion will be immediately adopted, without
considering the good of others or of the
community
blind),
(for
selfishness
is
always
and the
fruits
of that gratifica-
tion will be rapidly reaped.
The building of
pleasant houses and the
planting of beautiful orchards and gar-
dens can never, of
itself,
its
constitute a
Garden City unless

self -protection,
inhabitants have
is
learned that self-sacrifice
better than
established
and have
first
in their
own
hearts the
Garden City of
a
suflSicient
unselfish
love.
And when
32
number of men and women have done this, the Garden City will appear, and it will
flourish
and prosper, and great
will
be
its
peace, for "out of the heart are the issues
of hfe."
Having found
root cause of
all
that selfishness
is
the
competition and strife,
the question naturally arises as to
how this
all
cause shall be dealt with, for
it
naturally
follows that a cause being destroyed,

its
eifects cease;
a cause being propa-
gated,
all its effects,
however they
may be
modified from without, must continue.
Every man who has thought at all deeply upon the problem of life, and has brooded
sympathetically
upon the
sufferings of
is
is
mankind, has seen that

the root of
all
selfishness
fact, this
at
sorrow
în
one
of the truths that
is first
apprehended by
along with
the thoughtful mind.
And
that perception there has been born within

him a longing
to formulate
33
some methods
by which that selfishness might be overcome. The first impulse of such a man is to endeavor to frame some outward law,
or introduce some
new
social
arrange-
ments or regulations, which
shall
put a
check on the selfishness of others.
The
second tendency of his mind will be to

feel his utter helplessness before the great
iron
waU of selfishness by which he

Both
these attitudes of
is
con-
fronted.
mind
this
are the result of an incomplete knowledge
of what constitutes
partial
selfishness.
And
knowledge dominates him because,
although he has overcome the grosser
forms of
selfishness in himself,
is
and
is
so
far noble, he
yet selfish in other and

subtle directions.
more remote and

to one of
either give
This
feeling of "helplessness"
two conditions
is
the prelude
^the
man
will
up
in despair,
and again sink
34
himself in the selfishness of the world, or
he will search and meditate until he finds

another
that
way way he
out of the
will find.
difficulty.
And
life;
Looking deeper
and ever deeper into the things of

reflecting, brooding,
examining, and ana-
lyzing; grappling with every difficulty
and problem with

love of Truth,
will
intensity of thought,
and developing day by day a profounder
^by
these
means
his heart
grow and
his
comprehension expand,
and
at last he will realize that the

is
way
to
destroy selfishness
not to try to destroy
one form of
destroy
himself.
it
it
in other people, but to
utterly, root
and branch, in
The perception of
is
this truth constitutes
spiritual illumination,
and when once
it
awakened
in the mind, the "straight

is
and
narrow way''
Gates of the
revealed,
and the shining
Kingdom already loom in the

distance.
self
35
Then
does a
man
apply to him-
(not to others) these words

the
"And
in thy
why beholdest thou

that
is
mote that
is
brother's eye, but considerest not the

in thine
own
eye?
let
beam Or how wilt
thou say to thy brother,
me pull out the

Thou hypothine
mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a
beam
is
in thine
own
eye?
crite, first cast
out the
beam out of
own
eye."
eye;
and then
shalt thou see clearly
to cast out the
mote out of thy brother's

act
When a man can apply these words

and
to himself
upon them, judging

but judging none
himself mercilessly,
other, then will he find his

hell
rise
way
out of the
of competitive
strife,
then will he
above and render of non-effect the
laws of competition, and will find the

higher
Law
of Love, subjecting himself
to which every evil thing will flee
from
him, and the joys and blessings which the
36
selfish

vainly seek will constantly wait
upon him.
his
And
not only
lift
this,
he
will,
having hfted himself,
the world.
By
example many
will see the
Way, and
will
will
walk
it;
and the powers of darkness
be the weaker for his having lived.
It will here be asked,
"But
will not a
man who
has risen above his selfishness,

strife,
and therefore above the competitive

suffer through the selfishness
tition
and compeWill he
not,
of those around him?
after all the trouble he has taken to purify
himself, suffer at the hands of the im-
pure?"
No, he
will not.
is
The
equity of
the Divine Order
perfect,
it is
and cannot
be subverted, so that
impossible for
one who has overcome selfishness to be

subject to those laws which are brought
into operation
by the action of
selfishness
in other words, each individual suffers
by
virtue of his
own
selfishness.
It
is
true

that the selfish all
37
come under the operaand suffer

less,
tion of the competitive laws,

collectively,
each acting, more or
as
the instrument
others
is
by which
the suffering of
it
brought about, which makes
appear, on the surface, as though
men
suffered for the sins of others rather than

their
own.
But
the truth
is
that in a
is
universe the very basis of which
har-
mony, and which can only be sustained by

the perfect adjustment of
all its parts,
each unit receives
its
own measure of
ad-
justment, and suffers by and of
itself.
Each man comes under the laws of his own being, never under those of another.
True, he will suffer like another, and even
through the instrumentality of another,

if
he
elects to live
under the same condi-
tions as that other.
But
if
he chooses to
to live
desert those conditions
and
under
another and higher set of conditions of
38

is
which that other

to
ignorant, he will cease

by, the
come under, or be affected
lower laws.
Let us now go back to the symbol of

the tree,
further.
and carry the analogy a
little
Just as the leaves and branches
are sustained
by the
roots, so the roots
derive their nourishment
from
the
soil,
groping blindly in the darkness for the

sustenance which the tree demands.
like
In
manner,
selfishness, the root
of the
its
tree of evil
and of suffering,
this
derives
nourishment from the dark

rance.
soil
of ignothis
it
In
it
thrives;
upon
stands and flourishes.
By
ignorance I
mean something vastly different from lack

of learning; and the sense in which I use
it
will be
made
plain as I proceed.
Selfishness always gropes in the dark.
It has no knowledge;
it is
by
its
very nature
cut off
from
the source of enlighten-

ment
and
;
39
it is
a blind impulse, knowing' noth-
ing, obeying
is
no law, for
it
knows none,
thereby forcibly bound to those
competitive laws by virtue of which suf-
fering
is inflicted
in order that
harmony
all
may
a
be maintained-
We live
with
is
in a world,
universe,
abounding
good
things.
So great
the abundance of
blessings
this
spiritual, mental,
and material
that every
man and woman on
globe
could not only be provided with every necessary good, but could live in the midst of
abounding plenty, and yet leave much to

spare.
tacle
Yet, in spite of
this,
what a spec-
of ignorance do we behold!
We see
on the one hand millions of men and
women
chained to
a ceaseless slavery,
interminably toiling in order to obtain a
poor and scanty meal and a garment to

cover their nakedness; and on the other
hand we
see thousands,
who
already have
40

well
more than they require and can

age, depriving themselves of
all
man-
the bless-
ings of a true life and of the vast opportunities
which
their
possessions
place
within their reach, in order to accumulate
more of those material things for which

they have no legitimate use.
Surely
men
and women have no more wisdom than the

beasts which fight over the possession of
that which
is
more than they can
all
well
dispose of, and which they could

in peace!
all
enjoy
Such a condition of things can only

obtain in a state of ignorance deep and
dark; so dark and dense as to be utterly
impenetrable save to the unselfish eye of
wisdom and
truth.
And
in the midst
of
all this striving
after place and food and
raiment, there works unseen, yet potent
and unerring, the Overruling

Justice,
Law
of
his
meting out to every individual
41
own quota of
impartial;
it
merit and demerit.
It
is
bestows no favors;
it inflicts
no unearned punishments:
"It
knows not wrath nor pardon;

It
utter-true
measures mete,
after
its
faultless balance weighs;

it
Times are as nought, to-morrow
will judge.
Or
many
days."
The rich and the poor alike suffer for their own selfishness; and none escapes. The rich have their particular sufferings
as well as the poor.
Moreover, the rich
are continually losing their riches; the
poor are continually acquiring them.

poor
The
of
tosta-
man
of to-day
is
the rich
man
is
morrow, and vice

bility,
versa.
hell,
There
no
no security in
and only brief

respite
other.
and occasional periods of

suffering in
also,
from
Fear,
some form or
follows
men
like a great
shadow, for
selfish
the
man who
obtains
and holds by
force will always be haunted
by a feeling
42

will continually fear its
is
of insecurity, and
loss; while the
poor man, who
selfishly
seeking or coveting material riches, will
be harassed by the fear of destitution.
And
one and
all
who
live in this
under-
world of
strife are
great fear
overshadowed by one
^the
fear of death.
Surrounded by the darkness of ignorance,
and having no knowledge of those

and
life-sustaining Principles out
eternal
of which
all
things proceed,
men
labor
under the delusion that the most important
and
essential things in life are
food
is
and
clothing,
and that
their first
duty
to strive to obtain these, believing that

these
outward things are the source and

all
cause of
comfort and happiness.
It
is
the blind animal instinct of self-preservation
(the preservation of the

,
body and
in order to
personality)
by virtue of which each man
opposes himself to other
men
43
"get a living" or "secure a competency/'

believing that if he does not keep an incessant watch on other men,
stantly
and conwill ulti-
renew the struggle, they

his
mately "take the bread out of

It
is
mouth/'
out of this
initial
delusion that
comes
all
the train of delusions, with their
attendant sufferings, which obtain in the
world around
us.
Food and
They
clothing are
not the essential things of

causes of happiness.
tials, effects,
life;
not the
are non-essen-
and, as such, proceed by a
process of natural law from the essentials, the
underlying
cause.
The
essential
things in life are the enduring elements

in character
integrity, faith, righteous-
ness, self-sacrifice, compassion, love;
and
out of these
all
good things proceed.

'
Food, clothing, and money are dead effects; there

is
in
them no
life,
no power
except that with which we invest them.
44

are without vice
They
which
and
virtue,
and can
neither bless nor harm.
Even
the
body
men
believe to be themselves, to
which they pander, and which they long to

keep,
must very
shortly be yielded
up
to
the dust.
But
the higher elements of
character are life itself; and to practice

these, to trust
them, and to live entirely

the
in
them,
constitutes
Kingdom of
first
Heaven.
The man who

sition in life,
says,
"I will
of
all
earn a competence and secure a good po-
and
will then give
my mind
to these higher things,'' does not under-
stand these higher things, does not believe
them
to be higher, for if he did,
it
would
not be possible for him to neglect them.
He
believes the material excrescences of
life to
be the higher, and therefore he seeks
them
first.
He
believes
money, clothing,
essential
and position to be of vast and
45
importance, righteousness and truth to be

at best secondary; for a
rifices
man
always sac-
that which he beheves to be lesser
to that which he believes to be greater.
Immediately a
eousness
is
man
realizes that right-
of more importance than the
getting of food and clothing, he ceases to

strive after the latter,
and begins
to live
for the former.

to
It
is
here where
we come
the
dividing line
between the two
Kingdoms Hell and Heaven. Once a man perceives the beauty and
enduring reality
of
righteousness,
his
whole attitude of mind toward himself
and others and the things within and

around him changes.
The
love of perits
sonal existence gradually loses
hold on
him; the instinct of self-preservation begins to die, and the practice of self-renunciation takes its place.
For
the sacrifice
of others, or of the happiness of others,

46

own good, he
others.
rises
for his
rifice
substitutes the sac-
of self and of
his
own
happiness for
thus,
the
good of
self,
And
rising
above
strife
he
above the competitive
which
is
the outcome of self,
and
above the competitive laws which operate

only in the region of
regulation of
like a
its
self,
and for the
blind impulses.
He
is
man who
has climbed a mountain,

all
and thereby
clouds pour
roll
risen above
the disturbing
currents in the valleys below him.
The
down
their rain, the thunders

flash,
and the lightnings
the fogs ob-
scure, stroy,
and the hurricanes uproot and debut they cannot reach him on the
calm heights where he stands, and where

he dwells in continual sunshine and peace.
In the
life
of such a
man
the lower
laws cease to operate, and he
now comes
under the protection of a higher

namely, the
Law
Law of Love
and, in accord-
47
ance with his faithfulness and obedience

to this
Law,
will all that
is
necessary for
at the time
his well-bein^
come
it.
to
him
when he
requires
The
idea of gaining
a position in the world cannot enter his
mind, and the external necessities of
life,
such as money, food and clothing, he

scarcely ever thinks about.
But, subject-
ing himself for the good of others, per-
forming
all his
duties scrupulously
and
without thinking of reward, and living
day by day
in the discipline
of righteous-
ness, all other things follow at the right
time and in the right order.

fering and strife inhere
in,
Just as suf-
and spring
so
from,
their
root-cause,
selfishness,
in,
blessedness
and peace inhere

root-cause,
and spring
from,
their
righteousness.
And it is
a full and all-embracing blessed-
ness, complete
and perfect
in every deis
partment of life, for that which
morally
48

spiritually right
is
and
physically
and ma-
terially right.
Such a man
all
is
free, for
he
is
freed from
anxiety, worry, fear, despondency, all
those mental disturbances which derive

their vitality
from
the elements of self,
and he and
lives in constant
joy and peace,

very midst of
Yet,
its
this while living in the
the competitive strife of the world.
though walking
in the midst
of Hell,
flames fall back before and around him,

so that not one hair of his head can be
singed.
Though he walks
of
selfish force,
in the midst
of the
lions
for him their

is
jaws are closed and

dued.
falling around
life,
their ferocity
subare
Though on every hand men

him
in the fierce battle
falls not, neither is
of
he
he dismayed,
for no deadly bullet can reach him, no
poisoned shaft can pierce the impenetrable
armor of
his righteousness.
Having

lost the little, personal, self-seeking life
49
of
suffering, anxiety, fear,
and want, he has

plenty.
found the
"Therefore
illimitable, glorious, self-per-
fecting life of joy
and peace and

no
thought,
take
saying,
shall
What
drink?
shall
or,
.
we
eat? or,
What
shall
we
be
Wherewithal
.
we
clothed?
For your heavenly Father

all
knoweth ye have need of
these things.
But
seek ye
first
the
Kingdom of God,
all
and His Righteousness; and

things shall be added unto you/'
these
THE FINDING OF A
PRINCIPLE
Be stilly my soul, and know that peace is Be steadfast, heart, and know that
divine
thine.
strength
Belongs to thee; cease from thy turmoil, mind.
And
thou the everlasting rest shalt
find.
How then shall a man reach the

dom?
ness ?
King-
By
what process
shall
he find the
light which alone can disperse his dark-
and in what way can he overcome the

selfishness
inward
which
is
strong,
and
deeply rooted?
A man will reach the Kingdom by purifying himself, and he can only do
this
by
pursuing a process of self-examination
and
self -analysis.
The
is
selfishness
must
it
be discovered and understood before be removed.

It
50
can
powerless to remove
THE FINDING OF A PRINCIPLE

itself,
51
neither will
Darkness ceases
away of only when light is

it
pass
itself.
intro-
duced; so ignorance can only be dispersed
by Knowledge;
no
stability,
selfishness
by Love.
is
See-
ing that in selfishness there
no
security,
no peace, the whole process
of seeking the
Kingdom
resolves itself
into a search for a Principle ; a divine
and
permanent Principle on which a man can

stand secure, freed from himself
that
is,
from the personal element, and from the tyranny and slavery which that personal
self exacts
first
and demands.
man must
(his
of
all
be willing to lose himself
self-seeking self) before he can find himself

(his divine self).
is
He
must
realize
to,
that selfishness that

it is
not worth clinging
a master altogether unworthy of
his service,
is
and that divine Goodness alone

his heart as
life.
worthy to be enthroned in
the supreme master of his
This
It^H52

faith, for with-
means that he must have

progress nor achievement.
lieve in the desirability
out this equipment there can be neither
He
must
be-
of purity, in the
sus-
supremacy of righteousness, in the
taining power of integrity; he must ever
hold before him the Ideal and Perfect
Goodness, and strive for
its
achievement
with ever-renewed effort and unflagging

zeal.
This faith must be nurtured and
its
it
development encouraged.
As
a lamp,
must be carefully trimmed and fed and

kept burning in the heart, for without
radiating flame no
its
way
will be seen in the
darkness; he will find no pathway out of

self.
And
and
as this flame increases

light,
and
burns with a steadier

lution,
aid,
energy, reso-
self-reliance will
come
to his
and with each
step, his progress will

last the
be accelerated until at
Light of
of
Knowledge
will begin to take the place

the
53
lamp of
faith,
and the darkness

its
will
commence
to disappear before
search-
ing splendor.
Into his spiritual ken will
come the Principles of the divine Life,

and
as he approaches them, their incom-
parable beauty and majestic symmetry

will astonish his vision,
and gladden
self-control
it
his
heart with a gladness hitherto
unknown.
and
every
Along
soul
this
pathway of
on
is
self-purification
(for such
its
is)
must
travel
way
to the
King-
dom.
So narrow
this
way, and so overis its
grown with
the weeds of selfishness

it is
entrance, that
difficult to find,
and,
being found, cannot be retained except by

daily meditation.
itual energies
Without
this the spir-
grow weaker, and
the
man
loses the strength necessary to continue.
As
the
body
is
sustained and invigorated

so the spirit
its
is
by material food,
strength-
ened and renewed by
own food
54
namely, meditation upon spiritual things.
He,
the
who earnestly resolves to find Kingdom will commence to meditate,

then,
his heart
and to rigidly examine
and mind
and
life in the light

is
of that Supreme Per-
fection which
the goal of his attainto that goal, he
ment.
On
his
way
first
must
pass through three Gateways of Surrender.
The
is is
is
the Surrender of
Desire; the second
the Surrender of
the Surrender of
will
Opinion; the third

Self.
Entering into meditation, he
commence to examine his desires, tracing them out in his mind, and following up their effects in his life and upon his character; and he will quickly perceive that,
without the renunciation of desire, a
man
remains a slave both to himself and to his

surroundings and circumstances.
discovered
this,
Having
Passing
the
first
is
Gate, that of the

entered.
Surrender of Desire,

through
this
55
Gate, he adopts a process of
self-discipline
which
is
the
first
step in the
purification of the soul.
Hitherto he has
lived as a slavish beast; eating, drinking,
sleeping,
and pursuing enjoyment

call
at the
beck and
of
his
lower impulses;
his in-
blindly following
and gratifying
clinations without method, not question-
ing his conduct, and having no fixed

center from which to regulate his character
and
live as
Now, however, he begins to a man; he curbs his inclinations,

life.
controls
his
passions,
and
steadies
his
mind
in the practice
of
virtue.
He ceases
his con-
to pursue enjoyment, but follows the dictates of his reason,
and regulates
duct in accordance with the demands of
an
ideal.
With
the introduction of this

life,
regulating factor in his
he at once
perceives that certain habits
doned.
He begins
to
must be abanselect his food, and
56
to have his meals at stated periods, no
longer eating at any time when the sight
of food tempts
duces the
also the
his inclination.
He
re-
number of meals per day and quantity of food eaten. He no
longer goes to bed, by day or night, to

indulge in pleasurable indolence, but to
give his body the rest
it
needs,
and he
ris-
therefore regulates his hours of sleep,
ing early, and never encouraging the

animal desire to indulge in dreamy indolence after waking.
All those foods and
drinks which are particularly associated
with gluttony, cruelty, and drunkenness
he will dispense with altogether, selecting

the mild
and refreshing sustenance which

in such rich profusion.
will
Nature provides
These preliminary steps
be at once
adopted; and as the path of self-govern-
ment and self-examination

clearer
is
pursued, a
and ever
clearer perception of the

nature, meaning,
will
57
and
effects
it
of
desire
be developed, until
will
be seen that
is
the mere regulation of one's desires
alto-
gether inadequate and insufficient,

that the desires themselves
and
must he abanfall
doned, must be allowed to
out of the
mind and
and
life.
to
have no part in the character

is
It
at this point
where the
soul of the seeker will enter the dark
Valley of Temptation, for these desires

will not die
without a struggle, and witha fierce effort to reassert the
out
many
power and authority with which they have

hitherto been
invested.
And
all
here
the
lamp of
faith
must be constantly fed and

the light that
assiduously trimmed, for

it
can throw out will be required to guide

traveler in the dense
and encourage the
gloom of
desires,
this
dark Valley.
At
first his
like
so
many
wild beasts, will
clamor loudly for gratification.
Failing

58

tempt him to struggreater
in that, they will then
gle with
them that they may overthrow

this last
him.
And
temptation
is
and more
first,
difficult to
overcome than the
for the desires will not he stilled until
they are utterly ignored; until they are

left unheeded, unconditionally
abandoned,
and allowed
to perish for
want of food.
Valley,
In
passing
through
this
the
searcher will develop certain powers which
are necessary to his further advancement,
and these powers are

reliance^ fearlessness^
self-control^ self-
and independence
have to
of thought.
Here
also he will
pass through ridicule and mockery and

false accusation; so
much
so,
that some
of his best friends, yea, even those
whom
all
he most unselfishly loves, will accuse him
of folly and inconsistency, and will do

they can to argue him back to the
life
of
animal indulgence, self-seeking, and petty

personal
strife.
59
Nearly everybody around
him
his
will
suddenly discover that they

it
know
life
duty better than he knows
himself,
and,
knowing no other and higher
than their
own of mingled excitement and

it,
suffering, they will take great pains to
win him back to

ignorance,
that
imagining, in their
is
he
losing
is
so
much
pleasure and happiness, and
gaining
attitude
nothing in return.
At
first this
of others toward him will arouse in him

acute suffering, but he will rapidly dis-
cover that this suffering
is
caused by his
is
own
vanity and selfishness, and
the
result of his
own
this
subtle desire to be appre-
ciated, admired,
and thought well of; and

knowledge
is
immediately
arrived
at,
he will
rise into
a higher state of con-
sciousness,
where these things can no

inflict pain.
longer reach him and
It
is
here where he will begin to stand firm, and
60

mind
to wield with effect the powers of
already mentioned.
Let him therefore
press on courageously, heeding neither the

revilings of his friends without nor the
clamorings of his enemies within; aspiring,
searching,
striving;
looking
ever
toward
his Ideal with eyes his
of holy love;
selfish
day by day ridding
mind of
motive, his heart of impure desire; stum-
bling sometimes, sometimes falling, but

ever traveling onward and rising higher;
and, recording each night in the silence
of his
let
own
heart the journey of the day,

if
him not despair

its
but each day, in
spite of all
failures
and
falls,
record
some holy battle fought, though

silent
lost,
some
un-
victory
attempted,
loss
though
will
achieved.
The
of to-day
add to
the gain of to-morrow for
him whose
self.
mind
is
set
on the conquest of
Passing along the Valley, he
will at

last
61
come
to the Fields of
Sorrow and
Loneliness.
at his
His
desires,
having received
hands neither encouragement nor
sustenance, have
grown weak, and

perishing.
are
is
now now
falling
away and
He
climbing out of the Valley, and the

is less
darkness
for the
like
dense but
;
now he
is
realizes,
first
time, that he
alone.
He
is
man
standing upon the lowest level

it is
of a great mountain, and
night.
Above him towers

distance below
the lofty peak, beyond
which shine the everlasting stars; a short
him
to
are the glaring lights
of the city which he has left, and

it
from
its
there
come up
him the
noises of
inhabitants
confused
mingling
of
shouts, screams, laughter, rumblings of

traffic,
and the
strains
all
of music. of
He
are in
thinks of his friends,
whom
the city, pursuing their

pleasures,
own
particular
and he
is
alone
upon the moun-
62

That
city
is
tain.
the City of Desire

is
and
Pleasure, the mountain
the
Mountain
of Renunciation, and the climber now
knows that he has

henceforth for him
left the world, that

its
excitements and
strifes are lifeless things,
and can tempt

this
him no more.
learn
Resting awhile in
lonely place, he will taste of sorrow

its
and
will
soft,
secret; harshness
and hatred
pass from him; his heart will
grow
and the
first
faint broodings of that divine
compassion, which shall afterwards absorb

his
whole being, will overshadow and

him.
in-
spire'
He
will
begin to feel with

its
every living thing in

sufferings,
is
strivings
and
and gradually, as
this lesson
learned, his
own sorrow and
loneliness
will be forgotten in his great
calm love
for others, and will pass away.
Here,
also,
he will begin to perceive and
understand the working of those hidden
63
laws which govern the destinies of individuals
and
nations.
Having
risen above
selfishness
the lower region of strife
and
within himself, he can
now
and
look calmly
in the world,
it,
down upon
will see
it
in others
and analyze and comprehend
and he
the root
how
selfish striving is at
of
all
the world's suffering.
His whole
attitude
toward others and the world

a complete change, and
now undergoes
compassion and love begin to take the

place of self-seeking and self -protection
in his
mind; and as a result of

alters in its attitude
this,
the
world
toward him.
At
this
juncture he perceives the folly of
competition, and, ceasing
from
striving to
overtop and get the better of others, he

begins to encourage them, both with unselfish
thoughts,
;
and,
when
necessary,
with loving acts

those
and
this
he does even to
who
selfishly
compete with him, no
64
longer defending himself against them.
As
a direct result of
this, his
worldly af-
fairs
begin to prosper as never before;

the friends
many of
who
at first
mocked
to love
him commence
that he
to respect,
and even
him, and he suddenly wakes

is
up
to the fact
coming
in contact with people
of a distinctly unworldly and noble type,

of whose existence he had no knowledge
while living in his lower selfish nature.
From many
minister to
parts and
tances these people will
from long discome to him to

and loving
beyond the
him and that he may minister
to them, spiritual fellowship
brotherhood will become potent factors in

his life,
and so he
will pass
Fields of Sorrow and Loneliness.
The
sults,
lower, competitive laws have

life,
now
ceased to operate in his
and
their re-
which are failure,
disaster, exposure,
and
destitution, can
no longer enter into

and form part of
his experience
;
65
and
this
not merely because he has risen above the
lower forms of selfishness in himself, but

because also, in so rising, he has developed
certain
power of mind by which he
is
en-
abled to direct and govern his affairs with
a more powerful and masterly hand.
He, however, has not yet traveled

and unless he
ness,
far,
exercise constant watchful-
may
its
at
any time
fall
back into the

strife, revivi-
lower world of darkness and
fying
empty pleasures, and galvanizing

life its
back to
dead
desires.
And
espe-
cially is there this
danger when he reaches

the temptation of
the
greatest
is
temptation through which
man
called to pass
doubt.
Before reaching, or even perceiv-
ing, the second Gate, that of Surrender of
Opinion^ the pilgrim will come upon a

great soul-desert, the Desert of Doubt.
And
here
for a time he will wander
66
around, and despondency, indecision, and

uncertainty, a melancholy brood, will sur-
round him Kke a cloud, hiding from
his
view the way immediately in front of him.
A new and strange fear, too, will possibly

overtake him, and he will begin to question the
wisdom of the course he
is
pur-
suing.
Again
most
the
allurements
of the
world will be presented to him, dressed

in
their
attractive
garb, and the
drowning din and stimulating excitement

of worldly battle
will once
more assume
all,
a desirable aspect.
right?"
''After
is
am
"What
gain
there in this?''
"Does not
these
life itself consist
of pleasure
in giving
and excitement and
battle,
and
up am I not giving up
all?''
"Am
it
I not sacrificing the very substance of

life
for a meaningless shadow?"

all,
"May
not be that, after

fool,
am
a poor deluded
and that
all
these around
me who

live the life
67
of the senses and stand upon
its solid, sure,
and
easily
I?''
procured enjoy-
ments are wiser than
By
such dark
doubtings and questionings will he here be
tempted and troubled, and these very

doubts will drive him to a deeper search-
ing into the intricacies of
life,
and arouse
within him the feeling of necessity for
some permanent Principle upon which to

stand and take refuge.
fore, while
He
will there-
wandering about
in this
dark
Desert, come into contact with the higher
and more
subtle
delusions
of
his
own
mind, the delusions of the
intellect; and,
by contrasting
these with his Ideal, will
learn to distinguish between the real and

the unreal, the shadow and the substance,
between effect and cause, between fleeting

appearances and permanent Principles.
In the Desert of Doubt a man

fronted with
all
is
con-
forms of illusion, not only
68
the illusions of the senses, but also those
of abstract thought and religious emotion.
It
is
in the testing of, grappling
with,
and ultimately destroying, these

he develops
still
illusions that
ers,
higher pow-
those of discrimination^ spiritual per-
ception,
steadfastness of purpose,
and
calmness of mind, by the exercise of which
he
is
enabled to unerringly distinguish the
from the false, both in the world of thought and that of material appearances.
true
Having
learned
acquired
these
powers,
and
how
to use them in his holy war-
fare as weapons against himself, he
now
emerges from the Desert of Doubt, the

mists and mirages of delusion vanish from
his
pathway, and there looms before him
the second Gate, the
Gateway of
the Sur-
render of Opinion.
As
fore
he approaches this Gate, he sees bethe whole
him
pathway along which

He
is
69
traveling, and, for a space, obtains

at-
a glimpse of the glorious heights of

tainment toward which he
sees the
is
moving; he
Temple of the Higher Life in all its majesty, and already he feels within him the strength and joy and peace of
conquest.
With
Sir
Galahad he can now
exclaim:
"I
.
saw the
.
Grail_,
The Holy
.
.
.
Grail
And
one will crown
me king
Far
in the spiritual city,"
for he knows that his ultimate victory

assured.
is
He now
conquest,
enters
upon a process of
is
self-
which
altogether
distinct
from
that which he has hitherto pursued.
Up
ing,
to the present he has been overcom-
transmuting,
and simplifying
his intellect.
his
animal desires;
now he commences
to
transmute and simplify
He
70

been adjusting
he
his feelings to
has, so far,
his Ideals;
now
begins to adjust his
thoughts to that Ideal, which also assumes

at this point larger
and more beautiful

first
proportions, and for the

ceives
time he per-
what
really constitutes a
permanent
sees that
and imperishable Principle.

searching
fixed
He
the righteousness for which he has been

is
and unvariable; that

and obey
line
it
cannot be accommodated to man, but that
man must
it
reach
up
all
to,
it;
that
consists
of an undeviating
of con-
duct, apart
from
considerations of loss
or gain, of reward or punishment; that,

in reality,
it
consists in
abandoning
self,
with
all
the sins of desire, opinion, and
self-interest
of which that self
is
comof
posed, and in living the blameless

perfect love toward
tures.
it is
life
all
men and
crea-
Such a
life is fixed
and perfect;
without turning, change, or qualifica-

tion,
71
and demands a
It
is,
sinless
and perfect
conduct.
tithesis
therefore, the direct anlife
of the worldly
this,
of
self.
Perceiving
the seeker sees that,
although he has freed himself from the

baser passions and desires which enslave
mankind, he
ters
is still
;
in
bondage to the
fet-
of opinion that although he has puri

with a purity to which few
fied himself
aspire,
and which the world cannot underis still
stand, he
defiled with a defilement
which
his
is difficult
to
wash away
all
he loves
own
opinions^
and has
along been
confounding them with Truth, with the

Principle for which he
is
seeking.
He
is
not yet free from
strife,
and
is still in-
volved in the competitive laws as they

obtain in the higher realm of thought.
He
is
still
believes that he (in his opinions)
right,
and that others are wrong; and,

low as
in his egotism, has even fallen so
72

mock
pity on those
to bestow a
opinions the reverse of his

realizing this
who hold own. But now,

selfish-
more
subtle
is
form of
ness with which he
enslaved,
and per-
ceiving
all
the train of sufferings which

it,
spring from
having also acquired the
priceless possession
of spiritual discernhis
ment, he reverently bends

passes
head and
through
the
second
Gateway
toward
his final peace.
And now,
orless
clothing his soul with the colall
Garment of Humility, he bends
his
energies to the uprooting of those
opinions which he has hitherto loved and

cherished.
He now
learns to distinguish
is
between Truth, which

changeable, and his
one and unothers' opin-
own and
ions about Truth, which are
many and
changeable.
He
sees that his opinions
about Goodness, Purity, Compassion, and
Love are very
distinct
from those
qualities

themselves,
73
and that he must stand upon
those divine Principles,

opinions.
and not upon
his
Hitherto he has regarded his
own
opinions as of great value, and the
opinions of others as worthless, but
now
he ceases to so elevate his
own
opinions
and
ers,
to
defend them against those of othto regard
and comes
them
as utterly
atti-
worthless.
As
a direct result of this
tude of mind, he takes refuge in the practice
of pure Goodness, unalloyed with
base desire and subtle self-love, and takes
upon the divine Principles of Purity, Wisdom, Compassion, and Love, incorporating them into his mind, and
his stand
manifesting them in his
life.
He
is
now
clothed with the Righteousness of Christ
(which
is
incomprehensible to the world)

divine.
and h rapidly becoming
He
has
not only realized the darkness of desire;
he has also perceived the vanity of specu-
74

and so he
rids his
lative philosophy,
mind
and
his
of
all
those metaphysical subtleties which

holiness,
have no relation to practical

which
have
hitherto
encumbered
progress,
and prevented him from seeing

life.
the enduring realities in
And now
he casts from him, one after
another, his opinions and speculations,
and
commences to
toward
all
live the life
of perfect love
opinion
beings.
With each
overcome and abandoned as a burden,

there
is
an increased lightness of
to realize the
spirit,
and he now begins

of being
"free.''
meaning
The
divine flowers of
Gladness, Joy, and Peace spring up spontaneously in his heart, and his life becomes
a blissful song.
And
as the
melody
in
his heart expands,
and grows more and

life
more
itself
perfect, his
outward
harmonizes All the

free
with the inward music.
effort he puts forth being
now
from

strife,
75
he obtains
all
that
is
necessary for
his well-being,
without pain, anxiety, or
He has almost entirely transcended the competitive laws, and the Law of Love
fear.
is
now
the governing factor in his

all his
life,
adjusting
ously,
worldly affairs harmonidifficulty
and without struggle or
on
his part.
Indeed, the competitive laws,
as they obtain in the commercial world,
have here been long
left behind,
and have
he enters
ceased to touch him at any point in his

material affairs.
into a wider
Here,
also,
and more comprehensive conand

of
altitudes
sciousness, and, viewing the universe
humanity from the higher
purity and knowledge to which he has

ascended, perceives the orderly sequence
of law in of of
this
still
all
human
affairs.
The
pursuit
Path brings about the development

higher powers of mind, and these
are divine
patience,
spiritual
powers
76
equanimity, non-resistance, and prophetic

insight.
By
prophetic insight I do not
mean
the foretelling of events, but direct
perception of those hidden causes which

operate in
life,
human
life,
and, indeed, in
all
and out of which spring the multiand universal

effects
farious
and
events.
The man
tive
here rises above the competi-
laws as they operate in the thought
world, so that their results, which are

violence,
ignominy,
grief,
humiliation,
and
distress
and anxiety
in all their forms,
no more obtain
in his life.
As he
fabric
pro-
ceeds, the imperishable Principles
which
form the foundation and
of the
universe loom before him, and assume
more and more symmetrical proportions. For him there is no more anguish; no
evil
can come near his dwelling; and there
breaks upon him the dawning of the abid-
ing Peace.

But he
is
77
not yet free.
He has not yet

rest here,
finished his journey.
He may
and that as long

effort,
as he chooses ; but sooner
or later he will rouse himself to the last
and
achievement
life.
still
will reach the final

^the selfless state,
goal of
the divine
self,
He
is
not yet free from
but
clings,
though with
less tenacity, to
the love of personal existence, and to the

idea of exclusive interest in his personal
possessions.
And when he
at last realizes
that these selfish elements
must
also
be
abandoned, there appears before him the

third
Gate
It
the
is
of Self.
Gateway of Surrender no dark portal which he
now
approaches, but one luminous with
divine glory, one radiant with a radiance
with which no earthly splendor can
vie,
and
he advances toward
step.
it
with no uncertain
The clouds of Doubt have long been
dispersed; the sounds of the voices of
78

lost in the valley
Temptation are
below;
and with firm
gait, erect carriage,
and a
heart filled with unspeakable joy, he nears

the Gate that guards the
God.
He
has
Kingdom of now given up all but selfwhich are

his
interest in those things
by
legal right, but he
now
perceives that he
must hold nothing
as his
own; and
as he
pauses at the Gate, he hears the com-
mand which
cannot be evaded or denied:
''Yet lackest thou one thing; sell all that
thou hast, and distribute unto the poor,
and thou
shalt have treasure in
Heaven/'
And
passing through the last great Gate,
he stands glorious, radiant, free, detached
from the tyranny of

self;
desire,
of opinion, of
patient,
divine
;
man
charmless,
tender, pure
he has found that for which
he has been searching
^the
Kingdom of
God and His
Righteousness.

The journey
to the
79
Kingdom may be a long and tedious one, or it may be short and rapid. It may occupy a minute, or Everything it may take a thousand ages.
depends on the faith and belief of the
searcher.
The majority cannot
"enter in
because of their unbelief"; for
how can
men
its
realize righteousness
it
when they do
necone's
not believe in
nor in the possibility of

Neither
is
accomplishment?
it
essary to leave the outer world,

duties therein.
and
Nay,
it
can only be found
through the unselfish

one's duty.
is
performance
of
so great
Some there are whose faith that, when this truth is preall
sented to them, they can let
the per-
sonal elements drop almost immediately
out of their minds, and enter into their

divine heritage.
But
all
who
believe
and
aspire to achieve will sooner or later arrive
80

if,
at victory
amid
all their
worldly duties,
they faint not, nor lose sight of the Ideal
Goodness, and continue, with unshaken

resolve, to ''press
on to Perfection/'
AT REST IN THE KINGDOM AND ALL THINGS ADDED

My
life is
glad
Nowise forgetting yet those other lives Painful and poor, wicked and miserable.
Whereon
the gods grant pity!
Sir
Edwin Arnold.
The
whole journey from the
Kingdom
Kingdom of Love resolves itself into a process which may be summed up in the following words: The regulation
of Strife to the
and
purification
of
conduct.
Such a
process must, if assiduously pursued, necessarily lead to perfection.
It will also
be seen that as the
man
obtains the mas-
tery over certain forces within himself, he

arrives at a
knowledge of
all
the laws
which operate in the realm of those forces,
and by watching the
ceaseless
working of
81
82
cause and effect within himself, until he
understands
its
it,
he then understands
it
in
universal adjustments in the
body of
all
humanity.
Moreover, seeing that
the
laws which govern

direct
human
aif airs are the
outcome of the
heart, he,
necessities
of the
human
having reformed and

necessities,
transmuted those
has brought
himself under the guidance of other laws
which operate in
altered condition,
accordance
with his
and
that,
having mas-
tered and overcome the selfish forces within himself, he can
no longer be subject
to the laws which exist for their gov-
ernance.
The
process
is
also one
of simplification
all
of the mindj a sifting
away of
but the
as the
essential gold in character.
And
mind is thus
simplified, the apparently un-
fathomable complexity of the universe

assumes simpler and simpler aspects, until
AT REST IN THE KINGDOM

the whole
is
83
seen to resolve itself into, and
to rest upon, a
few unalterable Principles

namely Love.
and these Principles are ultimately seen

to be contained in one,
The mind
to live.
life
thus simplified, the
man
ar-
rives at peace,
and he now
really begins
Looking back on the personal
which he has forever abandoned, he

it
sees
as a horrible nightmare out of which
he has awakened; but looking out and
down with
the eyes of the spirit, he sees

it.
that others continue to live
Pie sees
fighting,
is
men and women
struggling,
suffering and perishing for that which
abundantly given to them by the bountiful
hand of the Father,
if
they would only
cease
from
all
covetousness,
and take
it
without hurt or hindrance; and compassion

fills
his heart,
and
also gladness, for

will
he knows that humanity
wake
at last
from
its
long and painful dream.
In the
84
early part of his journey he seemed to be
leaving humanity far behind, and he sor-
rowed in
his loneliness.
But now, hav-
ing reached the highest, having attained

the goal, he finds himself nearer to hu-
manity than ever before

its
^yea,
living in
all its
very heart, sympathizing with

its
sorrows, rejoicing in all
joys; for, hav-
ing no longer any personal considerations

to defend, he lives entirely in the heart
of humanity.
He lives no longer for himand

so living, he
bliss,
self ; he lives for others;
enjoys the highest
the deepest peace.
For
a time he searched for Compassion,

Bliss,
Love,
Truth; but now he has verily

Bliss,
become Compassion, Love,
Truth;
and
it
may
literally
be said of him that

all
he has ceased to be a personality, for
the personal elements have been extinguished,

ities
and there remain only those qualprinciples
and
which are entirely

impersonal.
85
And
those qualities are

life,
now
manifested in the man's
and hence-
forth the man's character.
And
of
self,
having ceased from the protection
and
living constantly in
love, he
compas-
sion,
wisdom, and
comes under
the protection of the highest
Law, the
it;
Law
yea,
of Love; and he understands that

consciously co-operates with
Law, and
is
himself inseparately identified with
the
Law.
"Forgoing
self, the universe
grows I":
and he whose nature is compassion, wisdom, and love cannot possibly need any
protection;
for those Principles
them-
selves constitute the highest protection,
being the
all
real,
the divine, the immortal in
men, and constituting the indestructible

Neither does
reality in the cosmic order.
he need to seek enjoyment whose very na-

86

is
ture
Bliss,
Joy, Peace.
peting with others, with

with
As whom
for com-
should he
compete who has lovingly

self
all?
identified him-
With whom should he
who has sacrificed himself for all? Whose blind, misguided, and ineffectual competition should he fear who
struggle
has reached the source of
all
blessedness,
and who receives at the hands of the Father all necessary things ? Having lost
himself (his
selfish personality),
he has
found himself (his divine nature. Love) and Love and all the effects of Love now compose his life. He can now joyfully
exclaim
"I have njade the acquaintance of the Master of
I
I
Compassion have put on the Garment of the Perfect Law; have entered the realm of the Great Reality;
Wandering is ended^ for Rest is accomplished; Pain and sorrow have ceased, for Peace is entered into;
Confusion
is
dissolved, for Unity
is is
made manifest;
revealed!"
Error
is
vanquished, for Truth

The Harmonizing
all
87
Principle,
Right-
eousness, or Divine Love, being found,
things are seen as they are, and not

selfish-
through the illusory mediums of

ness
and opinion the universe

;
is
Onej and
all its
manifold operations are the mani-
festation of one
Law.
Hitherto in
to,
this
work laws have been referred

this
and
also
spoken of as being higher and lower^ and

distinction
was necessary; but now

reached,
we see that all the forces operative in human life are the varied manifestations of the One Supreme
the
is
Kingdom
Law of Love.
that
It
is
by
virtue of this
Law
in-
Humanity
its
suffers, that,
it
by the
tensity of
sufferings,
shall at last be-
come
ness.
purified
and
wise,
and
so relinquish
is
the source of suffering, which
selfish-
The Law and foundation of

verse being Love,
it
the uniall self-
follows that
88

is
seeking
opposed to that Law,
is
an
ef-
fort to overcome or ignore the
Law, and
and
as a result, every self-seeking act
thought
is
followed by the exact quota of

is
suffering which
effect,
required to annul
its
and
so maintain the universal haris,
mony.
All suffering
therefore,
the
restraint
which the
Law
puts upon igno-
rance and selfishness, and out of such

painful restraint
Wisdom
strife
is
at last emerges.
selfishness
There being no
in the
and no
Kingdom,
no
there
therefore no sufis
fering,
restraint; there
perfect har-
mony,
tered
equipoise, rest.
Those who have eninclinalive
it
do not follow any animal
tions (they
have none to follow), but

Love, and they
are
in accordance with the highest
Wisdom.
troubled
Their nature
is
live in love
toward
all.
They
never
about ''making a living," as they are Life

itself, living in
the very
Heart of Life;
89
and should any material or other need

arise, that
need
is
immediately supplied
without any anxiety or struggle on their

part.
Should they be called to undertake

friends needed
any work, the money and

to carry out that
work are immediately

ceased to violate
forthcoming.
Having
their principles, all their needs are sup-
plied through legitimate channels.
Any
good
ac-
money
through
or help
the
required
always comes
instrumentality
of
people who are either living in the King-
dom
themselves, or are working for
its
complishment.
Those who
live
in
the
Kingdom of Love have

supplied by the
all their
needs
all
Law
of Love, with
freedom from unrest, just as those who

live in the
kingdom of
strife
self only
meet
their
needs by
much
and suffering. Havthe effects in their
ing altered the root cause in their heart

they have altered
all
90

life.
inner and outer
As
self
is
the root
cause of
is
all strife
and
all
suffering, so
Love
the toot cause of
peace and
bliss.
Those who are at

possession.
sessions are
rest in the
Kingdom
do not look for happiness to any outward
They
see that all such pos-
mere transient
effects that
come when they are

their
required,
and after
purpose
is
served, pass away.
They
never think of these things (money, clothing, food, etc. ) except as
mere
accessories
and
effects of the true Life.
They
are
therefore freed
ble,
from
all
anxiety and trou-
and resting
in Love, they are the
em-
bodiment of happiness.
the
Standing upon
of Purity,
imperishable
Principles
Compassion, Wisdom, and Love, they are

immortal, and
know
they are immortal;
they are one with
God
(the
Supreme
Good), and know they are one with God.

Seeing the
realities
of things, they can

find
91
no room anywhere for condemnation.
All the operations that obtain upon the

earth they see as instruments of the
Law, even
essentially
those called
divine,
evil.
Good All men are

are are
though unaware of
their divine nature,

efforts,
and
all their acts
even though
many of them
realize
evil
is
dark and impotent, to

good.
some higher
seen to be
All so-called
rooted in ignorance, even those deeds that

are called deliberately wicked, so that con-
demnation
sion
ceases,
and Love and Compas-
become
let it
all in all.
But
not be supposed that the
chil-
dren of the
Kingdom
live in ease
and
in-
dolence (these two sins are the
first
that
have to be eradicated when the search for

the
Kingdom
live,
is
entered upon)
they live
in a peaceful activity; in fact, they only
truly
for the life of self with

is
its
train
of worries, griefs, and fears,
not real
92
life.

They perform
self,
all their
duties with
the most scrupulous diligence, apart
from
their
thoughts of
and employ
all
means, as well as powers and faculties,
which are greatly
intensified, in building
up
the
Kingdom of Righteousness
and
their
in the
hearts of others
in the
world around
them.
This
is
work
^first
by exsold all
ample, then by precept.
Having
that they have (renounced all self-interest

in their possessions)
,
they
now
give to the
poor (give of their rich store of wisdom,

love,
and peace to the needy
in spirit, the
weary and broken-hearted), and follow

the Christ whose
name
is
Love.
And they
sorrow no more, but
live
in perpetual
gladness, for though they see the suffer-
ing in the world, they also see the

Bliss
final
and the Eternal Refuge of Love, to

is
which whosoever
ready
may come noWj

at last.
and
to which all will
come
93
The children of the Kingdom are known by their life. They manifest the fruits of
the Spirit
ing,
"love, joy, peace, long-suffer-
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
meekness, temperance, self-control" der

all
ûn-
circumstances
and
vicissitudes.
They
grief.
are entirely free
from anger,
fear,
suspicion, jealousy, caprice, anxiety,
and
Living in the Righteousness of

qualities
God, they manifest
which are
the very reverse of those which obtain in
the world, and which are regarded
world as foolishness.
rights; they do not
by the They demand no

at-
defend themselves;
do not
retaliate ;
do good to those who
tempt to injure them; manifest the same
who oppose and attack them as toward those who agree with them; do not pass judgment on others; condemn no man and no system,
gentle spirit toward those
and
live at
peace with
all.

94

The Kingdom of Heaven
is
perfect
trust, perfect
knowledge, perfect peace.
All
is
music, sweetness, and tranquillity.
No
irritations,
no bad tempers, no harsh

lust,
words, no suspicions, no
and no
dis-
turbing elements can enter there.
Its
children live in perfect sweetness, forgiv-
ing and forgiven, ministering to others

with kindly thoughts, words, and deeds.
And that Kingdom is in the heart of every

man and woman;
heritage, their
it is
their
rightful
enter
own Kingdom; theirs to now. But no sin can enter therein

;
no
self -born
thought or deed can pass

;
its
Golden Gates no impure

its
desire can defile
radiant robes.
All
may
enter
it
who
will,
is
but
all
must pay the
price,
and that
that
the
unconditional
abandonment of
sell all
self.
"If thou wilt be perfect,
thou hast"; but at these words the world

turns
away "sorrowful, for
it
is
very

rich" ; rich in
rich in fears
95
money which
which
it
it
cannot keep
let
cannot
it
go; rich
in selfish loves to which
greedily clings
it
rich in grievous partings which
would
fain escape; rich in seeking enjoyment;

rich in pain
and sorrow;
rich in strife
and
suffering; rich in excitement
and woe;
rich in all things which are not riches, but
poor in riches themselves which are not to

be found outside the Kingdom; rich in
all
things that pertain to darkness and death,
but poor in those things which are Light
and Life. He,

dom,
then,
who would
realize the
KingIf
it
let
him pay the
price
and
enter.
he have a great and holy faith he can do
now, and, letting
fall
from him
like a gar-
ment
must
the self to which he has been cling-
ing, stand free.

rise
If he have
less faith,
he
above self more slowly, and find
96

Kingdom by
daily effort
the
and patient
work.
The Temple of Righteousness

and
its
is
built,
four walls are the four Principles
Purity,
Peace
its
Wisdom, Compassion, Love.

roof,
its
is its
floor its Steadfastis
ness, its entrance-door
Selfless
Duty,
its
atmosphere
is
is
Inspiration,
and
music
the
Joy of
is
the perfect.
It can-
not be shaken, and, being eternal and indestructible, there
no more need
thought
to seek
protection
in
taking
for
the
things of the morrow.
And the Kingdom
of Heaven being established in the heart,

the obtaining of the material necessities
of
life is
no more considered,
all
for,
having
found the Highest,

added as
eff'ect to
these things are
cause; the struggle for
existence has ceased,
and the
spiritual,
mental, and material needs are daily supplied
from the universal abundance:

Long
I sought thee_, Spirit holy.
Spirit,
97
Master
meek and lowly;

o'er
Sought thee with a silent sorrow, brooding the woes of men; Vainly sought thy yoke of meekness
'Neath the weight of woe and weakness;
Finding not, yet in

o'er again.
my
failing, seeking o'er
and
In unrest and doubt and sadness
Dwelt I, yet I knew thy Gladness Waited somewhere; somewhere greeted torn and
sorrowing hearts like mine;
somehow I should find thee. Leaving sin and woe behind me. And at last thy Love would bid me enter
that
Knew
into
Rest divine.
Hatred, mockery, and reviling
Scorched
my
seeking
soul,
defiling
That which should have been thy Temple, wherein thou should'st move and dwell;
Praying, striving, hoping, calling;
Suffering, sorrowing in
Still I
my
falling,
sought thee, groping blindly in the gloomy
depths of Hell.
9S

And And
I
sought thee
till
the dark Powers all
found thee; around me

brooding o*er
Fled^ and left
me
silent, peaceful,
thy holy themes;
From
within
me and
without
me
Fled they when I ceased to doubt thee;
And
found thee in thy Glory, mighty Master of my dreams!
Yea, I found thee. Spirit holy.

Beautiful and pure and lowly;
Found thy Joy and Peace and Gladness; found thee in thy House of Rest; Found thy strength in Love and Meekness, And my pain and woe and weakness Left me, and I walked the Pathway trodden only by the blest.
PaetII
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
THE DIVINE CENTER

The
with
its
secret
of
life,
of abundant
life,
strength,
is
its felicity,
and
its
un-
broken peace
to find the Divine Center
within oneself, and to live in and

that,
from
instead of in that
outer circum-
ference
cravings,
of
disturbances
the
clamors,
and argumentations which make and

intellectual
up
of
the animal
man. These
selfish
elements constitute the mere husks
life,
and must be thrown away by him

to the Central
who would penetrate

of things
Heart
to Life itself.
Not
is
to
know
that within
you that
is
changeless,
and defiant of time and death,

anything, but
is
not to
know
to play
vainly with unsubstantial reflections in the
Mirror of Time.
Not
s
to find within
you

THE HEAVENLY LIFE
those passionless Principles which are not
moved by
ities
the strifes
is
and shows and vanto find nothing but
of the world,
illusions
which vanish as they are grasped.

resolves that he will not rest
illu-
He
who
satisfied
with appearances, shadows,
sions shall,
by the piercing
light of that
resolve, disperse every fleeting phantasy,
and
shall enter into the substance
and
reality
He shall learn how to live, and he shall live. He shall be the slave of
of
life.
no passion, the servant of no opinion, the

votary of no fond error.
Finding the
Divine Center within his

will be
own
heart, he
pure and calm and strong and

will
wise,
and
ceaselessly
radiate
the
is
Heavenly Life
himself.
in
which he
lives
which
Having betaken himself to the Divine Refuge within, and remaining there, a man is free from sin. All his yesterdays
THE DIVINE CENTER

are as the tide-washed
and untrodden
sands; no sin shall rise

to
up against him torment and accuse him and destroy his

fires
sacred peace; the
of remorse cannot
scorch him, nor can the storms of regret
devastate
his
dwelling-place.
His
to-
morrows are
as seeds which shall germi-
nate, bursting into beauty

life,
and potency of
repose.
and no doubt
rob
his,
shall
shake his trust, no
uncertainty
him of
only
in
The
Present
is
the
immortal
Present does he live, and
it is
as the eternal
vault of blue above which looks

silently
down
and
and calmly, yet radiant with
purity and light,
upon
the upturned
tear-stained faces of the centuries.
Men
love their desires, for gratification

its
seems sweet to them, but

;
end
is
pain
and vacuity they love the argumentations

of the
intellect,
for egotism seems most
desirable to them, but the fruits thereof
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

and sorrow.
end of
bitter fruits
are humiliation
When
the
soul has reached the
gratification
it
and reaped the

is
of egotism,
ready to receive the Divine
Wisdom and
Only
the
to enter into the Divine Life.

crucified
can be transfigured; only by the
death of self can the Lord of the heart

rise
again into the Immortal Life, and
stand radiant upon the Olivet of Wisdom.
Thou
tion.
this,
hast thy trials?
Every outward
trial is the replica
of an inward imperfec-
Thou
and
shalt
grow wise by knowing

transmute
trial into
shalt thereby
active joy, finding the

trial
Kingdom where
wilt thou learn
!
cannot come.
When
thy lessons,
O child of earth
All thy soris
rows cry out against thee; every pain
thy just accuser, and thy griefs are but

the shadows of thy unworthy and perishable self.
thine;
The Kingdom of Heaven

wilt thou reject
it,
is
how long
pre-
THE DIVINE CENTER

ferring the lurid atmosphere of Hell
hell
the
of thy self-seeking self?

self
is
Where
the
not there
is
the
Garden of
Heavenly Life, and
''There spring the healing streams
Quenching
flowers
all thirst!
there bloom the immortal
Carpeting
all
the
way with joy!
there throng
Swiftest and sweetest hours!"
The redeemed
in
sons of God, the glorified

spirit,
body and
are "bought with a

is
price,"
and that price
the crucifixion of
the personality, the death
of
self;
is
and
the
having put away that within which

soiu'ce
of
all discord,
they have found the
universal Music, the abiding Joy.
Life
is
more than motion,

rest,
it
is
it is
Music;
more than
work,
it is
Peace; more than

labor,
it is it is
Duty; more than
Love; more than enjoyment,

edness;
Bless-
more than acquiring money and
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

and reputation,
it is
position
Knowledge,
Purpose, strong and high Resolve.
Let the impure turn

shall
to Purity,
and they
to
be pure;
let
the
weak
resort
Strength, and they shall be strong; let

the ignorant fly to Knowledge, and they
shall
be wise.
All things are man's, and
he chooses that which he will have.
To-
day he chooses
shall choose in
in ignorance,
to-morrow he
shall
Wisdom.
He
"work
out his
it
own
salvation" whether he believe
or not, for he cannot escape himself, nor
transfer to another the eternal responsibility
of his own
soul.
By
no theological
subterfuge shall he trick the
Law
of
his
being, which shall shatter all his selfish
makeshifts and excuses for right thinking
and right doing.
Nor
shall
God do
for
him that which

accomplish for
say of a
it is
destined his soul shall
itself.
What would you
man
who, wanting to possess a
THE DIVINE CENTER
mansion in which to dwell peacefully, purchased the

site
and then knelt down and
God to build the house for him? Would you not say that such a man was foolish? And of another man who, havasked
ing purchased the land, set the architects
and
builders
and carpenters
at
work
to
erect the edifice,
would you not say that

as
it is
he was wise?
And
in the building
it is
of a material house, even so
in the
building of a spiritual mansion.
Brick
by brick, pure thought upon pure thought, good deed upon good deed, must the habitation
of a blameless
life rise
it
from
its
sure foundation until at last

in all the
tions.
stands out
majesty of
its faultless
propor-
Not by
caprice, nor gift, nor favor
does a
man
obtain the spiritual realities,
but by diligence,
watchfulness,
energy,
and
effort.
10
"Strong
is
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

the
soul^,
and wise and beautiful; The seeds of God-like power are in us still; Gods are we^ bards, saints, heroes, if we will."
The spiritual Heart of man is Heart of the universe, and, finding

Heart,
the
that
man
finds the strength to accom-
plish all things.
He
finds there also the
Wisdom
to see things as they are.
He
At
finds there the
Peace that
is is
divine.
the center of man's being
the
Music
which orders the stars
the Eternal Harlet
mony.
let
He who
would find Blessedness,
him
find himself;
him abandon
every discordant desire, every inharmonious thought, every unlovely habit and
deed,
and he
will find that
Grace and
in-
Beauty and Harmony which form the

destructible essence of his
own
being.
Men fly from creed to

unrest; they travel in
discover
creed,
and
find
many
;
lands,
and
build
disappointment
they
THE DIVINE CENTER
11
themselves beautiful mansions, and plant

pleasant gardens, and reap
discomfort.
ennui
falls
and
back
Not
until a
man
upon
rest
the Truth within himself does he find

satisfaction; not until he builds
and
the inward
Mansion of Faultless Conduct
does he find the endless and incorruptible
Joy, and, having obtained that, he will

infuse
it
into all his
outward doings and
possessions.
If a
man would
have peace,
let
him
exercise the spirit of Peace; if he
would
find love, let
him dwell
in the spirit of
let
Love;
if
he would escape suffering,

inflict it
;
him cease to
if
he would do noble
things for humanity, let
him cease
to do
will
ignoble things for himself.
If he
but quarry the mine of
his
own
soul,
he
shall find there all the materials for build-
ing whatsoever he
will,
and he
shall fiind
12
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

Rock on which
to
there also the central
build in safety.
Howsoever a man works

world,
it
to right the
will never
be righted until he
has put himself right.

ten
This
may
be writ-
upon the heart as a mathematical axiom. It is not enough to preach Purity, men must cease from lust; to exhort to
love,
they must abandon hatred; to extol

they must yield up self; to
self-sacrifice,
adorn with mere words the Perfect Life,

they must be perfect.
When
weight of
man can no longer carry the his many sins, let him fly to
is
the Christ, whose throne

his
the center of
own
heart,
and he
shall
become
light-
hearted, entering the glad
company of
the Immortals.
When he can no longer bear the burden

of
his
accumulated learning,
let
man
leave his books, his science, his philosophy.
THE DIVINE CENTER

and come back
find
within,
13
to himself,
and he
shall
that
which he
sought and found not
outwardly
divinity.
^his
own
He
ceases to argue about

within.
God who
has
found God
Relying upon that

is
calm strength which
not the strength
of self, he lives God, manifesting in his

daily life the
Highest Goodness, which
is
Eternal Life.
THE ETERNAL NOW

Now is the reality in which time is contained.
it
It
is
more and greater than time

It
is
is
an ever-present reahty.
knows
neither past nor future,
and
eternally
potent and substantial.
Every minute,
a dream as soon
every day, every year

as
it
is
has passed, and exists only as an
imperfect and unsubstantial picture in the
memory,
reality.
if it
be not entirely obliterated.

is
Past and future are dreams; now

All things are now;
action
is
is
all
power,
all possibility, all
now.
Not
to
act
and accomplish now

all.
not to act and
accomplish at
To
live in
thoughts of
in
what you might have done, or

of what you mean to do,
to put
14
dreams
but
this is folly;
away regret, to anchor anticipation,
THE ETERNAL NOW

and
to do
15
and to work noWj

is
this is
wisdom.
While a man
or future he
is
dwelling upon the past

is
missing the present; he
forgetting to live now.

possible now,
All things are
and only now.
Without
wisdom
to guide him,
real,
and mistaking the
unreal for the
man
says, ''If I
had done so and so

or last year,
it
last
week, last month,
would have been better with
me
to-day"; or, "I
know what
it
is
best to
be done, and I will do

selfish
to-morrow." The
cannot comprehend the vast im-
portance and value of the present, and

fail to see it as the substantial reality
of
re-
which past and future are the empty

flections.
It
may
truly be said that past

exist except as
live in
selfish
and future do not

tive shadows,
negais,
and to
them
that
life.
in the regretful
and
contemplation
of them
is
to miss the reality in
16
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

''The Present, the Present
is all
thou hast
For thy sure possessing;

Like the patriarch's angel, hold
Till
it
fast.
it
gives
its
blessing.
'
"All which
is
real
now
remaineth.
And
fadeth never:
it
The hand which upholds The soul for ever.
now
sustaineth
"Then of what
is to
be,
and of what
is
done,
Why
The
queriest thou?
past and the time to be are one.
And
both are
NOW!"
Man
ing
has
all
power now; but not know-
this,
he says, "I will be perfect next
year, or in so
lives.''
many
years, or in so
in the
The dwellers God, who live only in
many Kingdom of
the now, say, "I
am
perfect now," and refraining
from
all sin
now, and ceaselessly guarding the portals

of the mind, not looking to the past nor
to the future, nor turning to the left or
THE ETERNAL NOW

right,
17
they remain eternally holy and
blessed,
is
"Now
is
the accepted time;
now
the day of salvation."
Say to
now; I
be
yourself,
''I
will live in
my Ideal
I will
will
manifest
;
my Ideal now;
all
my
Ideal
now and
that tempts
me
away from
Ideal."
my
Ideal I will not listen to;
I will listen only to the voice of
my
Thus
resolving and thus doing,
you
shall not depart
from the Highest,
and
shall eternally
manifest the True.

to the
"Afoot and light-hearted, I take

Henceforth
I
ask not good fortune: I
open road. myself am
good fortmie.
Henceforth
I
whimper no more, postpone no more,

complaints, libraries, querulous
need nothing;
Done with indoor

criticisms.
Strong and content,
take to the open road."
Cease to tread every byway of dependence, every
winding
side- way that
tempts
thy soul into the shadow-land of the past
18
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
and the future, and manifest thy native and divine strength now. Come out into
"the open road/'
That which you would

be,
be,
and hope
to
you may be now.

resides in
Non-accomplish-
ment
you
your perpetual postpone-
ment, and, having the power to postpone,

also
have the power to accomplish
to
perpetually accomplish: realize this truth,
and you
the ideal
shall
be to-day, and every day,
man
of
whom you
dreamed.
Virtue consists in fighting sin day after

day, but holiness consists in leaving
sin,
unnoticed and ignored, to die by the wayside;
and
this is done,
can only be done,

soul,
in the living
now.
Say not unto thy
"Thou
shalt be purer
to-morrow"; but
be pure now."
rather say,
"Thou
is
shalt
To-morrow
he
too late for anything, and
who
sees his help
and salvation
in to-
THE ETERNAL NOW

morrow
day.
shall continually fail
19
fall to-
and
Thus
it
didst fall yesterday?
Didst sin
grievously?
instantly
Having
realized this, leave
and forever, and watch that
thou sinnest not now.

art
The
while thou
bewailing
the
past
every gate
of
thy soul remains unguarded against the

entrance of sin now.
Thou
shall not rise
by grieving over the irremediable

but by remedying the present.
past,
The
firm
foolish
man, loving the boggy
side-
path of procrastination rather than the
Highway of Present
Effort, says,
"I will rise early to-morrow; I will get out of debt to-morrow; I will carry out
my
intentions to-morrow.'^
man, realizing the

the Eternal
But the wise momentous import of

keeps
Now,
rises early to-day;
out of debt to-day; carries out his intentions to-day;
and so never departs from
20
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
strength and peace and ripe accomplish-
ment.
That which
which
is
is
done now remains; that

to leave that which
to be
done to-morrow does not
appear.
It
is
wisdom
has not arrived, and to attend to that
which
is;
and to attend
to
it
with such
a consecration of soul and concentration
of effort as shall leave no possible loophole for regret to creep

in.
A man's
''I
spiritual
comprehension being
self,
clouded by the illusions of
he says,
was born on such a day,
so
many years
ago, and shall die at
my
allotted time.''
But he was not born, neither will he die, for how can that which is immortal, which
eternally
iSj,
be subject to birth and death?

his illusions,
Let a man throw off

the
and
then he will see that the birth and death of
body are the mere incidents of a jour-
ney,
and not
its
beginning and end.
THE ETERNAL NOW
21
Looking back to happy beginnings, and

forward to mournful endings, a man's
eyes are blinded, so that he beholds not
his
own
inmriortality; his ears are closed,
so that he hears not the ever-present har-
monies of Joy; and

so that
it
his heart is hardened,
pulsates not to the rhythmic
sounds of Peace,
The
is
universe, with all that
it
contains,
Put out thy hand, O man, and receive the fruits of Wisdom! Cease from
now.
thy greedy striving, thy
ing, thy foolish regretting,
selfish
sorrow-
and be content
to
live.
Act now, and,
lol all things are
done;
live
now, and, behold! thou art in
the midst of Plenty; be now,

that thou art perfect.
and know
THE "ORIGINAL SIMPLICITY"

Life
universe
is is
simple.
simple.
Being
is
simple.
The
Complexity
arises in
ignorance and self-delusion.
The "Origterm exas
inal Simplicity'' of Lao-tze is a
pressive of the universe as

it
it is,
and not
appears.
Looking through the woven

his
network of
own
and
illusions,
man
sees in-
terminable complication and unfathomable mystery,

so loses himself in the
labyrinths of his
own making. Let

its
man
put away egotism, and he

verse in
plicity.
all
will see the uni-
the beauty of
pristine sim-
Let him
annihilate the delusion
of the personal "I," and he will destroy

all
the illusions which spring
from
that
little
"I."
He
will
thus
22
"rebecome a

child,"
23
and
a
will ''revert to Original
Sim-
plicity."
When
man
succeeds in entirely forself,
getting (annihilating) his personal
he becomes a mirror in which the universal

Reality
is
faultlessly
reflected.
He
is
awakened, and henceforward he

in dreams, but realities.
lives,
not
Pythagoras saw the universe

numbers, but even
in the ten
this simplicity
may
be
further reduced, and the universe ulti-
mately be found to be contained in the
number
ditions
ONE,
for
all
the numerals
and
all their infinite
complications are but ad-
of the One.
life cease to
Let
perfect
be lived as a fraglet it
mentary thing, and
be lived as a
Whole
the simplicity of the Per-
fect will then be revealed.
How
shall the
fragment comprehend the Whole?
Yet
how simple that the Whole
should compre-
24
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
hend the fragment.

ceive Holiness?
How
shall sin per-
Yet how
plain that Holisin.
ness
should understand
He who
him abanthe circle
is
would become the Greater
let
don the
lesser.
In no form
contained, but in the circle all forms are
contained.
In no color
is
the radiant light

all
imprisoned, but in the radiant light

colors are embodied.
all
Let a man destroy
the forms of self, and he shall appre;
hend the Circle of Perfection

merge, in the
silent
let
him sub-
depths of his being,
the varying colors of his thoughts and

desires,
and he
shall
be illuminated with
the
White Light of Divine Knowledge.

single
In the perfect chord of music the

note,
though forgotten,
is
indispensably
contained,
and the drop of water becomes

itself in
of supreme usefulness by losing

the ocean.
in the heart
Sink thyself compassionately of humanity, and thou shalt
25
reproduce the harmonies of Heaven; lose

thyself in unlimited love toward
all,
and
thou shalt work enduring works and shalt
become one with the eternal Ocean of

-^
Bliss.
Man
ward
evolves outward to the periphery
of complexity, and then involves backto the Central Simplicity.
When
man
discovers that
it
is
mathematically
the universe
^starts
impossible for
him
to
know
before knowing himself, he then
upon the
within,
Way which leads to the Original Simplicity. He begins to unfold from

and
as he unfolds himself, he en-
folds the universe.
Cease to speculate about God, and find

the all-embracing
Good
within thee, then
shalt thou see the emptiness
and vanity of
speculation,
knowing thyself one with
God.
He who
will not give
up
his secret lust,
26
his
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

covetousness, his anger, his opinion
about this or that, can see nor
know
noth-
ing; he will remain a dullard in the school
of Wisdom,
though he be accounted
learned in the colleges.
If a
edge,
man would find the Key of Knowllet him find himself. Thy sins are
are diseases which thou hast
not thyself; they are not any part of thyself; they
come
them
as
to love.
Cease to cling to them, and
they will no longer cling to thee.

fall
Let
stand
away, and thy
self shall
revealed.
Thou
shalt then
know
thyself
Comprehensive Vision, Invincible Prin-
ciple,
Immortal Life, and eternal Good.

believes impurity to be
The impure man

knows himself
pure being.
as
his rightful condition,
but the pure
man
also,
pure being; he
all
penetrating the Veils, sees
others as
Purity
is
extremely simple,
to support
it;
and needs no argument
im-

purity
ever
is
27
is
interminably complex, and

in
involved
defensive
argument.
is
Truth
lives itself.
A blameless life
Men
the
see,
only witness of Truth.
cannot
and
find
will not accept the witness until they

it
it,
within themselves;
and having
before his
it
found
man becomes
is
silent
fellows.
Truth
so simple that
cannot
be found in the region of argument and

advertisement, and so silent that
it is
only
manifested in actions.
So extremely simple
plicity, that
is
Original Simhis hold

it.
man must let go
of
everything before he can perceive

great arch
is
The
be-
strong by virtue of the hol-
lowness underneath, and a wise
man
comes strong and invincible by emptying

himself.
Meekness,
sion,
Patience,
Love,
Compas-
and Wisdom
qualities
these
are the domi-
nant
of
Original
Simplicity;
28
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

imperfect cannot underonly can apprehend
therefore the
stand
it.
Wisdom
Wisdom,
therefore the fool says,
"No
man is wise/' The imperfect man says, "No man can be perfect,'' and he therefore remains where he
is.
Though he
live
with a perfect
man
all his life,
he shall
not behold his perfection.
Meekness he
Love, and
weakness; and
folly.
will call cowardice; Patience,
Compassion he
will see as
Wisdom
will
appear to him as
Faultless discrimination belongs to the
Perfect Whole, and resides not in any

part, therefore
men are exhorted to refrain
from judgment until they have themselves

manifested the Perfect Life.
Arriving at Original Simplicity, opacity disappears,
and the universal trans-
parency becomes apparent.
He who
his
has
found the indwelling Reality of
own
being has found the original and universal

Reality.
29
Heart within, all hearts are known, and the thoughts of all men become his who has become the master of his own thoughts; therefore the good man does not defend himself, but molds the minds of others to
the
Knowing
Divine
his
own likeness. As the problematical

so
transcends crud-
Pure Goodness transcends the problematical. All problems vanish when Pure Goodness is reached; therefore the good man is called ''The slayer of illuity, sions.''
is
What problem
can vex where sin

holy silence of
not?
thou who strivest loudly and

retire into the
restest not!
thine
own
being,
and
live
therefrom.
So
shalt thou, j&nding
in twain the
sion,
Pure Goodness, rend Veil of the Temple of Illu-
and
shalt enter into the Patience,
Peace, and transcendent Glory of the

Perfect, for
Pure Goodness and Original
Simplicity are one.
THE UNFAILING WISDOM A MAN should be superior to his possessions, his body, his circumstances
and
surroundings, and the opinions of others
and
this,
their attitude
toward him. Until he
is
he
is
not strong and steadfast.
He
not
should also rise superior to his
own
desires
is
and opinions and

;
until he
is this,
he
wise.
The man who
identifies
himself with his

all is lost
possessions will feel that
when
as
these are lost; he
who regards himself
the outcome and the tool of circumstances

will
his
weakly fluctuate with every change
in
outward condition; and great
will
be
his unrest
and pain who seeks
to stand
upon the approbation of others. To detach oneself from every outward

so
THE UNFAILING WISDOM

tiling,
31
and to
rest securely
is
upon the
in-
ward
dom.
Virtue, this
Having
this
UnfaiKng WisWisdom, a man will

the
to his strength, nor
serenity.
be the same whether in riches or poverty.
The one cannot add

the other rob
him of his
Neither
can riches
all
defile
him who has washed away

to de-
the inward defilement, nor the lack of
them degrade him who has ceased

grade the temple of
his soul.
To
refuse to be enslaved by any outall
ward thing or happening, regarding

use, for
such things and happenings as for your
your education,
this is
Wisdom.
To
the wise all occurrences are good, and,

evil,
having no eye for

every day.
thus put
all
they grow wiser
They
utilize all things,
and
things under their feet.
They
see all their mistakes as soon as
made, and
accept them as lessons of intrinsic value,
knowing that there are no mistakes
in the
32
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

They
thus rapidly ap-
Divine Order.
proach the Divine Perfection.
moved by none, yet learn crave love from none, yet
They are from all. They

give love to
all.
To
learn,
and not to be shaken; to love

is
where one
not loved; herein
lies
the
strength which shall never fail a man.
The man who

teach
all
says in his heart, "I will

will
men, and learn from none,"

is
neither teach nor learn while he
in that
his
frame of mind, but

foUy.
will
remain in
All strength and wisdom and power and
knowledge a man
self,
will find within

it
him-
but he will not find

it
in egotism;
he will only find

sion,
in obedience, submis-
and willingness
to learn.
He
must
obey the Higher, and not glorify himself

in the lower.
He who
stands
upon egoand
tism, rejecting reproof, instruction,
the lessons of experience, will surely fall;

yesiy
SS
he
is
already fallen.
his disciples,
Said a great
shall
Teacher to
"Those who
be a lamp unto themselves, relying upon

themselves only, and not relying
upon any
external help, but holding fast to the
Truth as
their lamp, and, seeking their
salvation in the
Truth
alone, shall not look
for assistance to any besides themselves,

it
is
they
among my
disciples
who
wise
shall
reach the very topmost height!
But they
must he
is
willing to learn/'
The
man
always anxious to learn, but never
anxious to teach, for he knows that the

true Teacher
is
in the heart
of every man,
and must ultimately be found there by

all.
The
foolish
man, being governed

is
largely
by vanity,
very anxious to teach,
but unwilling to learn, not having found

the
Holy Teacher
to the
within
who speaks
wis-
dom
humbly
listening soul.
Be
34
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

but
let
self-reliant,
thy self-reliance be
saintly
and not
selfish.
Folly
and
wisdom,
weakness
and
strength are within a man, and not in any

external thing, neither do they spring
from any external
cause.
A man cannot
be strong for another, he can only be

strong for himself; he cannot overcome
for another, he can only overcome of himself.
You may learn
of another, but you
must accomplish for yourself. Put away

all
external props, and rely
upon the
Truth within you.

a
A creed will not bear

A
speculative philoso-
man up
in the
hour of temptation; he
must possess the inward Knowledge which

sMys temptation.
phy will prove a shadowy thing in the time

of calamity; a
man must
is
have the inward

grief.
all re-
Wisdom
which puts an end to
Goodness, which
the aim of

ligions,
selves.
is
35
distinct
from
is
religions
them-
Wisdom, which
is
the
aim of every
all
philosophy,
phies.
distinct
from
philosois
The Unfailing Wisdom
found
only by constant practice in pure thinking and Mrell-doing; by harmonizing one's
mind and heart
to those things which are
beautiful, lovable,
and
true.
In whatever condition a man

self,
finds him-
he can always find the True ; and he

it
can find
only by so utilizing his present
condition as to become strong and wise.
The effeminate hankering

them be put away
formance of
self
after rewards,
let
and the craven fear of punishment,

forever,
and
let
man
joyfully bend himself to the faithful perall his duties,
forgetting him-
and his worthless
pleasures,
and living
strong and pure and self-contained; so

shall
he surely find the Unfailing Wis-
dom, the God-like Patience and strength.
S6
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

situation that has not
its
"The
Ideal,
.
.
.
Duty,
its
was never yet occupied by man.

Ideal.
Here or nowhere is thy

be free.
Work
it
out therefrom, and, working, believe,
live,
The
Ideal
is
in thyself, the
impediment, too,
dition
is
is
in thyself; thy con-
but the stuff thou art to shape

of.
that
same Ideal out
What
it
matters
whether such stuif be of

so the
this sort or that,
form thou give
be heroic, be
poetic?
Oh, thou that pinest in the imcriest bit-
prisonment of the Actual, and

terly to the
gods for a kingdom wherein

create,
to rule
and
know
is
this of a truth:
the thing thou seekest

thee, here
already within
and now, couldest thou only

beautiful
see!"
All that
thyself,
is
and blessed
is
in
not in thy neighbor's
wealth.
Thou
art poor?
Thou
art poor indeed if
thou art not stronger than thy poverty!

Thou
to it?
37
hast
suffered
calamities?
Well,
wilt thou cure calamity
by adding anxiety
Canst thou mend a broken vase by

it,
weeping over
or restore a lost delight
by thy lamentations?
but will vanish
if
There
is
no
evil
it.
thou wilt wisely meet
The God-like
soul does not grieve over

is,
that which has been,
or will be, but
perpetually finds the Divine Good, and
gains wisdom by every occurrence.
Fear
cannot
is
the shadow of selfishness,
and
is.
live
where loving
Wisdom
Doubt, anxiety, and worry are unsubstantial
shades in the underworld of self, and
shall
no more trouble him who
will climb
the serene altitudes of his soul.

also, will
Grief,
be forever dispelled by him
who
will
comprehend the
Law
of
his being.
He who
Supreme
that
it
so comprehends shall find the
Law
of Life, and he
it
is
shall find
is
Love, that
imperishable
38
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
Love.
He
all
shall
become one with that

all,
Love, and loving
with mind freed
from
hatred and folly, he shall receive
the invincible protection which

fords.
Love
af-
Claiming nothing, he
;
shall suffer
no
loss
seeking no pleasure, he shall find

all his
no grief; and employing
powers as
instruments of service, he shall evermore

live in the
bliss.
highest state of blessedness and
Know
this:
thou makest and unmakfallest
est thyself;
thou standest and
by
what thou
art.
Thou
art a slave if thou
preferrest to be; thou art a master if thou

wilt
make
thyself one.
Build upon thy
animal desires and intellectual opinions,
and thou buildest upon the sand; build
upon Virtue and Holiness, and no wind

nor tide shall shake thy strong abode.
shall the
So
thee
Unfailing
Wisdom uphold

in every emergency,
39
and the Everlasting
Arms
gather thee to thy peace.
*Xay up each year
Thy
harvest of well-doing, wealth that kings
Nor thieves can take away. When all the things Thou callest thine, goods, pleasures, honors fall. Thou in thy virtue shalt survive them all/'
THE MIGHT OF MEEKNESS

The
mountain bends not to the
it
fiercest
storm, but
shields the fledgling

all
and the
Iamb; and though

yet
it
men
tread
upon
so
is
it,
protects them,
its
and bears them up
upon
deathless bosom.
Even
it
with the meek
man
who, though shaken
and disturbed by none, yet compassionately bends to shield the lowliest creature,
and, though he
may
be despised,
lifts all
men up, and lovingly protects them. As glorious as the mountain in its silent might is the divine man in his silent Meekness; like
is
its
form, his loving compassion
expansive
and sublime.
Truly
is
his
body, like the mountain's base,
fixed in
the valleys and the mists ; but the

40
summit

of
his
41
being
is
eternally bathed
lives
Jn cloud-
less glory,
and
with the Silences.
He who has
sciousness,
found Meekness has found
divinity; he has realized the divine con-
and knows himself
as divine.
He also knows all others

they
as divine,
though
know
it
not themselves, being asleep
and dreaming.
quality,
Meekness
is
is
divine
and
as such
all-powerful.
The
meek man overcomes by not resisting, and by allowing himself to be defeated he attains to the Supreme Conquest. The man who conquers another by force is strong; the man who conquers himself by Meekness is mighty. He who conquers another by force will himself likewise be conquered; he who conquers himself by Meekness will never be overthrown, for the human cannot overcome the divine. The meek man is triumphant Socrates lives the more by in defeat.
42
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
being put to death; in the crucified Jesus

the risen Christ
is
revealed,
and Stephen
real canis
in receiving his stoning defies the hurting
power of
unreal.
stones.
That which
a
is
not be destroyed, but only that which
When
is
man
which
finds that within

is
him which
real,
constant, abid-
ing, changeless,
and
eternal,
he enters into
All the
that Reality,
and becomes meek.

will
powers of darkness
come against him,
but they will do him no hurt, and will at

last
depart from him.
The meek man is found in the time of trial when other men fall he stands. His
;
patience
is
not destroyed by the foolish
passions of others,
and when they come

cry.''
against him he does not "strive nor
He
evil,
knows the
utter powerlessness of all

it
having overcome
in himself,
and
lives in the
changeless strength and power
of divine Good.

Meekness
is
43
one aspect of the operation

is
of that changeless Love which
at the
Heart of
all things,
and
is
therefore an
lives in it
imperishable quality.
is
He who
without fear, knowing the Highest, and

his feet.
having the lowest under
The meek man
shines in darkness,
and
flourishes in obscurity.
Meekness cannot
nor thrive on
boast, nor advertise itself,
popularity.
It
is
practiced^
and
is
seen
it is
or not seen; being a spiritual quality
perceived only by the eye of the
spirit.
Those who are not

see
it
spiritually
awakened
it,
not,
nor do they love
being
enamored
of,
and blinded by, worldly
shows and appearances.

take note of the
that of strife
Nor
does history
Its glory
is
meek man.
and self-aggrandizement;
of peace and gentleness.
his is the glory
History chronicles the earthly, not the

heavenly
acts.
Yet though he
lives in ob-
44i
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

(how can
light
scurity he cannot be hidden
be hid?)
he continues to shine after he
has withdrawn himself from the world,
and
is
worshiped by the world which

not.
knew him
That the meek man should be neglected,

abused, or misunderstood
is
reckoned by
him
as of
no account, and therefore not
to be considered,
much
less resisted.
He
flim-
knows
siest
that all such
weapons are the
and most
ineffectual of
shadows.
evil
To
them, therefore,
who
give
him
he
gives good.
He
resists
none, and thereby
conquers
all.
He who
others,
imagines he can be injured by

to justify
and who seeks
and de-
fend himself against them, does not understand Meekness, does not comprehend
the essence
and meaning of
life.
''He
abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he
robbed me.
In
those
who harbor such

thoughts hatred will never cease
. .
.
45
for
hatred ceases not by hatred at any time;

hatred ceases by
love.''
What say est thou,

Can a
false
falsity hurt
false,
thy neighbor has spoken thee falsely?

Well, what of that?
thee? there
That which
is
is
it.
is
and
life,
an end of
It
is
without
and without power
to hurt
it.
any but him

is
who
thee
seeks to hurt
by
It
nothing to
that
thy
neighbor
it is
should
speak
falsely of thee, but
much
to thee that
thou shouldst
resist
him, and seek to jusso doing, thou givest
tify thyself, for,

life
by
and
vitality to
thy neighbor's falsedis-
ness, so that
thou art injured and

all evil
tressed.
Take
it
out of thine
own
re-
heart, then shalt thou see the folly

sisting
of
in another.
Thou
wilt be trod-
den on?
Thou
art trodden
on already
if
thou thinkest thus.

seest as
The injury that thou coming from another comes only
46
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

thyself.
from
The wrong thought,

it
or
word, or act of another has no power to

hurt thee unless thou galvanize
into life
re-
by thy passionate
ceivest
it
resistance,
and so
into thyself.
is
If any
man slander
I have
me, that
his concern,
not mine.
to do with
my own
Though
it is
soul,
all
not with
my
neighbor's.
the world mis-
judge me,
no business of mine; but
that I should possess
and Love, that

shall be
is all
my soul in my business.
Purity
There
cease
no end to
strife until
men
to justify themselves.
He who
would
have wars cease
let
him cease
to defend
any party
self.
let
him
cease to defend him-
Not by
strife
can peace come, but
by ceasing from
mies.
strife.
The glory of
fall.
Cassar resides in the resistance of his ene-
They
resist
and
Give to
Csesar that which Ceesar demands, and

Csesar's glory
and power
are gone.
Thus,
47
by submission does the meek man conquer

the strong
man
but
it is
not that outward

is
show of submission which

that
slavery,
it is
inward
is
and
spiritual
submission
which
freedom.
rights, the
Claiming no
meek man
and
is
not troubled with self-defense and selfjustification; he lives in love,
there-
fore comes under the immediate and vital

protection of the Great
Love which
is
the
Eternal
Law
of the universe.
He
all
neither
claims nor seeks his own; thus do
things
come
to him,
and
all
the universe shields
and protects him.
He who
and
ness.
it
says, "I
have tried Meekness,
has failed," has not tried MeekIt cannot be tried as
an experiment.
It
is
only arrived at by unreserved self-
sacrifice.
Meekness
does
not
;
consist
it
merely in non-resistance in action
con-
48
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

preeminently in non-resistance in
sists
thought, in ceasing to hold or to have
any
selfish,
condemnatory, or retaliatory
thoughts.
The meek man,

above hatred,
therefore, can-
not ''take offense" or have his "feelings

hurt,'' living
ity.
folly,
and van-
Meekness can never f aiL

thou who searchest for the Heavenly
Life! strive after Meekness; increase thy

patience and forbearance day
by day;
all
bid
thy tongue
cease
from
harsh
selfish
words; withdraw thy mind from
arguments, and refuse to brood upon thy
wrongs; so
living,
thou shalt carefully
tend and cultivate the pure and delicate

flower of Meekness in thy heart, until at
last, its
divine sweetness
and purity and
beauteous perfection shall be revealed to

thee,
and thou
shalt
become
gentle, joyful,
and strong.
Repine not that thou
art

surrounded by
irritable
49
and
selfish
people;
but rather rejoice that thou art so favored as to have thine
own
imperfections
revealed to thee, and that thou art so
placed as to necessitate within thee a constant struggle for self-mastery
and the
attainment
there
is
of
perfection.
The more
selfishness
of
harshness
is
and
around thee the greater
the need of thy
Meekness and
love.
If others seek to
is it
wrong
thee, all the
more
needful that
thou shouldst cease from

live in love; if others
all
wrong, and
preach Meekness,
humility,
and
love,
and do not practice

nor be annoyed; but
these, trouble not,
do thou, in the silence of thy heart, and

in thy contact with others, practice these
things,
and they
shall
preach themselves.
And
though thou utter no declamatory
word, and stand before no gathered audi-
50
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
ence, thou shalt teach the whole world.
As
ing
thou becomest meek, thou shalt learn
the deepest secrets of the universe.

is
Noth-
hidden from him who overcomes

Into the cause of causes shalt
himself.
thou penetrate,
and
lifting,
one after
another, every veil of illusion, shalt reach

at last the inmost
Heart of Being.
shalt
Thus
becoming one with Life, thou

all life,
know
and, seeing into causes, and know-
ing
realities,
thou shalt be no more anxious
about thyself, and others, and the world,
but shalt see that
all
things that are are
engines of the Great
Law.
Canopied
with gentleness, thou shalt bless where

others curse; love where others hate; for-
give where others condemn; yield where

others strive
lose
;
give
up where
others grasp
in
their
where others gain.
And
strength they shall be weak; and in thy
weakness thou shalt be strong; yea, thou

shalt mightily prevail.
51
He
that hath not
unbroken gentleness hath not Truth:

''Therefore
when Heaven would save a man^
it
enfolds him with gentleness/'
THE RIGHTEOUS MAN

The
righteous
man
is
invincible.
No
enemy can
that of his
possibly overcome or confound
him; and he needs no other protection than
own
integrity
and
holiness.
As
it is
impossible for evil to overcome
Good, so the righteous man can never be

brought low by the unrighteous.
Slander,
envy, hatred, malice can never reach him,
nor cause him any suffering, and those
who
try to injure
him only succeed
ulti-
mately in bringing ignominy upon themselves.
The
hide,
stealth,
righteous man, having nothing to
committing no acts which require
and harboring no thoughts and

which he would not
is
desires
like others to
know,
fearless
and unashamed.
5
His
THE RIGHTEOUS MAN

step
is
5S
his
firm, his
body upright, and
speech direct and without ambiguity.

looks everybody in the face.
He
he fear any who wrongs
How can none? How
can he be ashamed before any who deceives
none?
And ceasing from all wrong
he can never be wronged; ceasing from

all deceit
he can never be deceived.

all his liv-
The
righteous man, performing
duties with scrupulous diligence,
and
ing above
point.
sin,
is
invulnerable at every
He who
has slain the inward ene-
mies of virtue can never be brought low
by any outward enemy; neither does he

need to seek any protection against them,
righteousness being an all-sufficient protection.
The unrighteous man
is
vulnerable at
almost every point; living in his passions,

the slave of prejudices, impulses, and
ill-
formed
opinions, he
is
continually suffer-
S4
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

at the
ing (as he imagines)

others.
hands of
The
slanders, attacks,
and accusuffer-
sations of others cause
him great
ing because they have a basis of truth

in himself;
and not having the protection
of righteousness, he endeavors to justify
and protect himself by resorting

ation
to retali-
and specious argument, and even
to subterfuge
and
deceit.
The
partially righteous
man
is
vulnera-
ble at all those points
where he
falls short
of righteousness, and should the righteous

give
man
way
fall
from
his righteousness,
and
is
to one sin, his invincibility
gone, for he has thereby placed himself
where attack and accusation can justly

reach and injure him, because he has
first
injured himself.
If a
the
man
suffers or
is
injured through
others,
let
instrumentality
of
him
THE RIGHTEOUS MAN
55
look to himself, and, putting aside selfpity and self-defense, he will find in his
own
heart the source of

evil
all his
woe.
No
can happen to the righteous
man who
staining
has cut off the source of evil in
himself; living in the All-Good, and ab-
from
sin in thought,
word, and
is
deed, whatever happens to

neither can
him
good;
any person,
event, or circum-
stance cause
him
suffering, for the tyris
anny of circumstance
for him
utterly destroyed
who has broken

suffering,
the bonds of
sin.
The
the
sorrowing,
the
weary, and broken-hearted ever seek a

sorrowless refuge, a haven of perpetual
peace.
Let such
life;
fly to the
refuge of the
righteous
let
them come now and
enter the haven of the sinless state, for
sorrow cannot overtake the righteous;

suffering cannot reach
him who does not
56
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
waste in self-seeking his spiritual substance;
and he cannot be afflicted by weariis
ness
and unrest whose heart

all.
at peace
with
PERFECT LOVE
The
the
Children of Light,
who
abide in
Kingdom of Heaven,
all
see the universe,
and
tion
that
it
contains, as the manifesta-
of one
see
Lawthe Law
of Love.
They
ing,
Love
as the molding, sustain-
protecting,
and perfecting Power

animate and inaniis
immanent
mate.
in all things
To them Love
life, it is
not merely and
only a rule of
it is
the
Law
of Life,
order
Life
itself.
Knowing this, they
their
whole
life in
accordance with Love,
not regarding their
own
personality.
By
thus practicing obedience to the Highest,

to divine Love, they
become conscious parso ar-
takers of the
power of Love, and
rive at perfect
Freiedom as Masters of
Destiny.
57
58
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

The
universe
is
preserved because Love

it.
Love is preservative power. While there

is
at the
Heart of
the only
is
hatred
in the heart
of man, he imagines the
Law
to be cruel, but
when his
heart
is
mellowed
perceives
by Compassion and Love, he

that the
kind
is
Law is Infinite Kindness. So the Law that it protects man

own
ignorance.
against his
Man,
in his
puny efforts to subvert the Law by attaching undue importance to his own little personality, brings upon himself such
trains
of suffering that he
depth of
is
at last
com-
pelled, in the
his afflictions, to
seek for
Wisdom; and
finding
it
Wisdom,
he finds Love, and knows
as the
Law
of
his being, the
Law
;
of the universe.
Love does not punish man punishes himself by his own hatred; by striving to
preserve evil which has no life by which
to preserve
itself,
and by trying to sub-
PERFECT LOVE
59
vert Love, which can neither be overcome
nor destroyed, being of the substance of

Life.
When
man
burns himself, does

Therefore,
he accuse the
fire?
when a
man
suffers, let
him look for some igno-
rance or disobedience within himself.
Love
and
is
Perfect
Harmony, pure
Bliss,
contains, therefore,
no element of
suffering.
Let a man think no thought

is
and do no act which
not in accordance
with pure Love, and suffering shall no
more trouble him. If a man would know Love, and partake of its undying bliss,
he must practice
it
in his heart; he
must
of
become Love.
He who
Love
is
always acts from the

is
spirit
never deserted,
difficulty,
never left in a
Love (impersonal Love) is both Knowledge and Power. He who has learned how to Love has learned how to master every difficulty,
dilemma or
for
60
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

to transmute every failure into suc-
how
cess,
how
in
to clothe every event
and con-
dition
garments of blessedness and
beauty.
The way
himself
to
Love
is
by self-mastery,
and, traveling that way, a
man
builds
up
in
Knowledge
as he proceeds.
Arriving at Love, he enters into full possession of
body and mind, by right of the
Power which he has earned. "Perfect Love casteth out fear.'' To know Love is to know that there is no
divine
harmful power
in
the
whole universe.
Even
is
sin itself,
which the worldly and

is
unbelieving imagine
so unconquerable,
weak and perishable thing, that shrinks away and disappears before the compelling power of Good. Perfect Love is perfect Harmlessness.
as a very
known
And
he
who
has destroyed, in himself,

all desire
all
thoughts of harm, and
to harm,
PERFECT LOVE
receives
61
the
universal
protection,
and
knows himself
Perfect
to be invincible.
is
Love
perfect
Patience.
Anger and
it
irritability
it.
cannot dwell with

It sweetens every
nor come near
bitter occasion with the
perfmne of
trial
holi-
ness,
and transmutes
Complaint
is
into
divine
it.
strength.
foreign to
He
who
he
loves bewails nothing, but accepts all
things and conditions as heavenly guests;

is
therefore constantly blessed,
and
sorrow does not overtake him.

Perfect Love
is
perfect Trust.
He who
Loss
Stead-
has destroyed the desire to grasp can never
be troubled with the fear of
loss.
and gain are
alike foreign to him.
fastly maintaining a loving attitude of
mind toward
formance of
all,
and pursuing,
in the per-
his duties,
a constant and
loving activity.
Love
protects
him and
62
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
evermore supplies him in fullest measure

with
all
that he needs.
is
Perfect Love
perfect Power.
The
wisely loving heart
commands without
All things and
obeys the Highest.
exercising any authority.

all
men obey him who

thinks,
He
and
lol
he has already accom-
plished!
He
speaks,
and behold! a world
hangs upon
his simple utterances!
He
has harmonized his thoughts with the Imperishable
and Unconquerable Forces,
and for him weakness and uncertainty are

no more.
His every thought
is
a pur-
pose; his every act an accomplishment; he
moves with the Great Law, not setting
his
puny personal
vine
will against
it,
and he thus
di-
becomes a channel through which the
Power can
flow in unimpeded and
beneficent expression.
He
has thus be-
come Power
itself.
is
Perfect Love
perfect
Wisdom. The
PERFECT LOVE
63
man who
all.
loves all
is
the
man who knows

learned the les-
Having thoroughly
sons of his
own
heart, he
knows the
tasks
and
trials
of other hearts, and adapts
himself to them gently and without ostentation.
Love
it
illuminates
is
the intellect;
blind and cold
the inis
without
the intellect
and
lifeless.
Love succeeds where

sees
tellect
fails;
where the
intellect
blind;
rant.
knows where the

Reason
is
intellect is igno-
only completed in Love,

it.
and
the
is
ultimately absorbed in
Love
is
Supreme Reality
it
in the universe,
all
and
as such
contains
Truth.
Infinite
Tenderness enfolds and cherishes the universe ; therefore

childlike
is
the wise
man gentle and
and tender-hearted.
all
He sees that
is
the one thing which
creatures need
Love, and he gives unstintingly.
He
knows that
all
occasions require the ad-
64
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
justing power of Love, and he ceases
from
harshness.
To
fects,
ciples,
the eye of
Love
all
things are re-
vealed, not as
an
infinity
of complex efcauses
but in the light of Eternal Prinout of which spring

all
and
effects,
and back
into which they return.
''God
is
is
Love''; therefore than
Love
there
nothing more perfect.
He who
find pure
knowledge
is
it
let
would him find pure
Love.
Perfect Love
perfect Peace.
He
who
dwells with
in the
has completed his pil-
grimage
underworld of sorrow.
heart at
rest,
With mind calm and

the deathless Life.
he has
banished the shadows of grief, and knows
If
thou wouldst perfect thyself in

in Love.
Knowledge, perfect thyself

lessly cultivate a loving
If
thou wouldst reach the Highest, cease-
and compassionate
heart.
PERFECT FREEDOM
There
Life.
is its
is
no bondage
is
in the Heavenly-
There
Perfect Freedom.
This
great glory.
is
This Supreme Free-
dom
gained only by obedience.
He
who obeys
the Highest cooperates with
the Highest, and so masters every force
within himself and every condition without.
man may
choose the lower and
neglect the Higher, but the
Higher
is
never overcome by the lower; herein

the revelation of Freedom.
lies
Let a man
abandon
the
choose
the
Higher and
and
shall
lower; he shall then establish himself as an
Overcomer,
realize
Perfect
Freedom.
To
give the reins to inclination
is
is
the
the
only slavery; to conquer oneself

65
66
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

The
slave to self loves his
only freedom.
chains,
and
will
not have one of them
broken for fear he would be depriving

himself of some cherished delight.
clings to his gratifications
He
and
vanities,
regarding
freedom from them as an

condition.
empty and undesirable thus defeats and enslaves
He
himself.
is
By
dom
self-enlightenment
Perfect Freeig-
found.
While a man remains
norant of himself, of his desires, of his

emotions and thoughts, and of the inward
causes which
mold
his life
and
destiny,
having neither control nor understanding

of himself, he will remain in bondage to
passion, sorrow, suffering,
and fluctuating
fortune.
lies
The Land
of Perfect
Freedom
but
the
through the Gate of Knowledge.
All
outward
oppression
is
shadow and
within.
effect of the real oppression
For ages
the oppressed have cried
PERFECT FREEDOM
for liberty, and a thousand
statutes have failed to give
67
man-made
it
to them.
They can
shall find
give
it
it
only to themselves; they
only in obedience to the Divine
Statutes which are inscribed

hearts.
upon
their
Let them
resort to the
inward
Freedom, and the shadow of oppression

shall
no more darken the
earth.
Let men
cease to oppress themselves,

shall oppress his brother.
and no man
Men
legislate for
an outward freedom,
yet continue to render such freedom impossible of achievement
by fostering an
inward condition of enslavement.
They
thus pursue a shadow without, and ignore

the substance within.
Man
self.
will be free
when he
is
freed from
All outward
forms of bondage and oppression will

cease to be
when man
ceases to be the
willing bond-slave of passion, error,
and
ignorance.
Freedom
is
to the free.
68
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

While men cling
to weakness they can-
not have strength; while they love darkness they can receive no light and so long
;
as they prefer
liberty.
bondage they can enjoy no
Strength, light, and freedom are
ready now, and can be had by

love them,
who
aspire to them.
who Freedom
all
does not reside in cooperative aggression,

for this will always produce, reactively,
cooperative
defense
hence
warfare,
hatred, party strife,
and the destruction
Freedom resides in individual self-conquest. The emancipation of Humanity is frustrated and withheld by the self -enslavement of the unit. Thou who
of
liberty.
criest to
man and God
for liberty,
lib-
erate thyself!
The Heavenly Freedom is freedom from passion, from cravings, from opinions, from the tyranny of the flesh, and
the tyranny of the intellect
^this first,
and
PERFECT FREEDOM
then
cause.
all
69
outward freedom, as effect to

that begins within,
until
it
The Freedom
is
and extends outwardly

the whole man,
plete,
embraces
so
an emancipation
comto
all-embracing,
and perfect as
and thou
shalt
leave
no galling
fetter unbroken.
Free walk
of
thy soul from
all sin,
a freed and fearless
man
in the midst
a world of fearful slaves; and, seeing

thee,
many slaves shall take heart and shall

says,
join thee in thy glorious freedom.
He who
"My
worldly duties are
irksome to me; I will leave them and go

into solitude,
where I
shall
be as free as
thus,
the
air,''
and thinks to gain freedom

in
will find only a harder slavery.
The
tree
of
Freedom is rooted
its
Duty, and he who
would pluck
sweet fruits must discover
joy in Duty.
Glad-hearted, calm and ready for
tasks
is
all
he who
is
freed from
self.
Irk-
70
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

his
someness and weariness cannot enter

heart,
and
his
divine
its
strength lightens
every burden so that
weight
is
not
felt.
He
does not run
his chains
away from Duty with about him, but breaks them

free.
and stands
Make
thyself pure ;
make
thyself proof
;
against weakness, temptation, and sin for
only in thine
own
heart and
mind
shalt
thou find that Perfect Freedom for which

the whole world sighs and seeks in vain.
GREATNESS AND GOODNESS

Goodness, simplicity, greatnessthese
three are one,
and
this trinity
of perfec-
tion cannot be separated.
All greatness
all
springs
is
from goodness, and

no greatness.
goodness
profoundly simple.
is
Without goodness
there
Some men
pass
through the world as destructive forces,

like the
tornado or the avalanche, but they
are not great; they are to greatness as the
avalanche
is
to the mountain.
is
The work
of greatness
enduring and preservative,
and not
violent
and
destructive.
The
greatest souls are the most gentle.
Greatness
is
never obtrusive.
It works
in silence, seeking
is
no recognition.
This
why it is
not easily perceived and recogit
nizedo
Like the mountain,

71
towers up in
72
its
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

vastness, so that those in
its
immediate
vicinity,
who
see
receive
its
shelter
and shade,
is
do not
great
it.
Its sublime
grandeur
it.
only beheld as they recede from
The
only
is
man
by
is
not seen by his contempohis
raries; the
majesty of
its
form
is
outlined
recession in time.
This
the
awe and enchantment of
distance.
Men
occupy themselves with the small
things; their houses, trees, lands.
Few
contemplate the mountain at whose base

they
it.
live,
and fewer
still
essay to explore
But
in the distance these small things
disappear, and then the solitary beauty of
the mountain
is
perceived.
Popularity,
noisy obtrusiveness,
these
superficialities
and shallow show,

rapidly
disappear,
and leave behind no enduring mark;

whereas greatness slowly emerges from
obscurity,
and endures
forever.
Jewish Rabbi and rabble alike saw not

the divine beauty of Jesus; they
73
saw only
an unlettered carpenter.
tances,
To
his acquain-
Homer was
only a blind beggar,
but the centuries reveal him as

the immortal poet.
Homer
(and
all
Two
hundred years
after the farmer of Stratford
that
is
known of him)
is
is
has disappeared,
discerned.
the real Shakespeare
All
true genius
to the
it
impersonal.
It belongs not
man through whom it is manifested;

all.
belongs to
It
is
a diffusion of pure
Truth; the Light of Heaven descending
on
all
mankind.
genius, in whatsoever
Every work of
department of
art, is
a symbolic maniIt
is
festation of impersonal Truth.

versal,
uni-
and
finds a response in every heart
in every age
and
race.
is
Anything short
not greatness.
religion per-
of
this is
not genius,
That work which defends a
ishes; it is religion that lives.
Theories
74
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
about immortality fade away; immortal
man
come
endures; commentaries upon Truth

to the dust;
is
Truth alone remains.

great in
That only
true in art which represents

is
the True; that only

is
life
which
universally
and eternally
true-
And
is
the
True
is
the
Good; the Good
the
True.
Every immortal work springs from the Eternal Goodness in the human heart, and it is clothed with the sweet and unaffected
simplicity of goodness.
is,
The
It
greatest art
trick,
like nature, artless.
knows no
and he
no
pose,
no studied
effort.
There are no
is
is
stage-tricks in Shakespeare ;
the the
greatest of dramatists because he

simplest.
The
critics,
not understanding
the wise simplicity of greatness, always
condemn
childlike.
the loftiest work.
They cannot
discriminate between the childish and the
The True,
the Beautiful, the
; ;

Great,
is
75
always
childlike,
and
is
perenni-
ally fresh
and young.
is
The great man

he
is
always the good
man
always simple.
in,
He draws
from, nay,
lives
the
inexhaustible
fountain of
divine Goodness within; he inhabits the
Heavenly Places; communes with the

vanished great ones
ble:
;
lives
with the Invisiairs
he
is
inspired,
and breathes the
of Heaven.
He who
would be great
let
him learn
become
to be good.
He
man
will therefore
great by not seeking greatness.

at greatness a
Aiming
arrives at nothingness
aiming at nothingness he arrives at greatness.
The
desire to be great
is
an
indi-
cation of littleness, of personal vanity
and
obtrusiveness.
The
is
willingness
to
disappear from gaze, the utter absence of
self-aggrandizement
greatness.
the
witness
of
76
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

Littleness seeks
and loves authority.

it
Greatness
is
never authoritative, and
thereby becomes the authority to which the

after ages appeal.
He who
seeks, loses;
he who
is
willing to lose, wins all men.

self,
Be
thy simple
self,
thy better
lo!
self,
thy
impersonal
and
thou art great!
He who selfishly seeks
authority shall suc-
ceed only in becoming a trembling apologist courting protection behind the
back
of acknowledged greatness.
will
He who
men,
desirlive as
become the servant of
all
ing no personal authority, shall
man, and
shall
be called great.
"Abide in
life,
the simple
and noble regions of thy
obey thy heart, and thou shalt reproduce

the foreworld again."
little self,
Forget thine own

shalt reproduce, in
and
fall
back upon the Uni-
versal self, living
and thou
and enduring forms, a thousand

experiences;
beautiful
thou
shalt
find
77
within thyself that simple goodness which

is
greatness.
"It
says
is
as easy to be great as to be small,"
Emerson; and he
utters a
is
profound
the whole
truth.
Forgetfulness of self
it is
of greatness, as
the whole of good-
ness and happiness.
In a
fleeting
mo-
ment of
self-forgetfulness the smallest
soul becomes great; extend that

indefinitely,
moment
and there
is
a great soul, a
great
life.
Cast away thy personality
(thy petty cravings, vanities, and ambitions) as a worthless garment, in
and dwell
selfless
the
loving,
compassionate,
regions of thy soul, and thou art no longer

small
thou art great.

man
The
Claiming personal authority, a
descends into littleness; practicing goodness, a
man
ascends into greatness.
presumptuousness of the small may, for

a time, obscure the humility of the great.
78
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

it
but
is
at last swallowed
is
up by
it,
as
the noisy river
lost in the
calm ocean.
The
vulgarity of ignorance and the
pride of learning must disappear.

worthlessness
in
is
Their
equal.
They have no part

If
thou
be.
the
Soul
of
Goodness.
wouldst do, thou must
Thou
shalt not
mistake information for Knowledge; thou
must know thyself
as pure
Knowledge.
Thou
shalt
;
not confuse learning with
Wisdom
thou must apprehend thyself as
undefiled
Wisdom. Wouldst thou write a living book? Thou must first live; thou shalt draw
around thee the mystic garment of a

manifold experience, and shalt learn, in
enjoyment and suffering, gladness and

sorrow, conquest and defeat, that which
no book and no teacher can teach
thee.
Thou
shalt learn of life,
of thy soul; thou

shalt
shalt tread the
Lonely Road, and

become; thou shalt
write thy book, and
be.
it
79
Thou
shalt then
shall live; it shall
be more than a book.

live in thee,
Let thy book
first
then shalt thou live in thy
book,
Wouldst thou carve a

shall
statue that shall
captivate the ages, or paint a picture that
endure? Thou shalt acquaint thyself
with the divine Beauty within thee.

shalt
Thou
comprehend and adore the Invisible

shalt
Beauty; thou
which are the soul

perceive
the
know the Principles of Form; thou shalt

symmetry and
eter-
matchless
faultless proportions
of Life, of Being,
of the Universe; thus knowing the

nally
True thou
shalt carve or paint the
indescribably Beautiful.
Wouldst thou produce an imperishable poem? Thou shalt first live thy poem; thou shalt think and act rhythmically;
thou shalt find the never- failing source of
80
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

of thy
inspiration in the loving places

heart.
Then
shall
immortal
lines
flow
from thee without eff*ort, and, as the flowers of wood and field spontaneously spring, so shall beautiful thoughts grow
up
as
in thine heart and, enshrined in
words
molds to
their beauty, shall
subdue the
hearts of men.
Wouldst thou compose such music

shall
as
gladden and uplift the world?
Thou
shalt adjust thy soul to the Hteavenly
Harmonies,
self,
Thou
shalt
know
that thyis
that life
shalt shalt
and the universe

that
Music.
Thou Thou
touch the chords of Life.
know
it is
Music
is
every-
where; that
the
Heart of Being; then
shalt thou hear with thy spiritual ear the
Deathless Symphonies.
Wouldst thou preach
the living
Word?
thing
Thou shalt forego that Word. Thou
thyself,
shalt
and become
know one

81
that the human heart

thou shalt
live
is
good,
is
divine;
one thing
Love.
Thou
shalt love all, seeing

evil,
no
evil,
thinking no
believing no evil; then, though thou

little,
speak but
thy every act shall be a
power, thy every word a precept.

thy pure thought, thy
it
By
selfless
deed, though
appear hidden, thou shalt preach, down
the ages, to untold multitudes of aspiring

souls.
To him who
ficing
all, is
chooses Goodness, sacriis
given that which

alL
more than
and includes
He
becomes the pos-
sessor of the Best,
Highest, and enters

Great.
communes with the the company of the

is
The
It
is
greatness that
is
flawless,
rounded,
all art.
and complete
above and beyond
Perfect Goodness in manifestation;
therefore the greatest souls are always
Teachers.
HEAVEN
The
is
IN
the
THE HEART
when the heart mind is harmonized
the wheel of drudgall
toil
of
life ceases
pure.
When
with the Divine
Law
ery ceases to turn, and
work
is
trans-
muted
into joyful activity.

lilies
The purefield,
hearted are as the

toil not,
of the
which
yet are fed and clothed
from the
cease-
abundant storehouse of the All-Good.
But
the
lily is
not lethargic;
it is
lessly active,
drawing nourishment from
earth and air and sun.
By
it, it
the Divine
builds itself
Power immanent
up,
cell
within
by
cell,
opening
itself to the light,
growing and expanding toward the perfect flower.
So
is it
with those who, hav-
ing yielded up
self-will,
have learned to
cooperate with the Divine Will.

82
They
HEAVEN
grow
and
in
IN
THE HEART
83
grace,
goodness,
and beauty,
freed from anxiety and without friction

toil.
is
And
they never work in vain;

action.
there
act,
no waste
Every thought,
and thing done subserves the Divine
Purpose, and adds to the sum-total of the

world's happiness.
Heaven
for
it
is
in the heart.
They
will look
in vain
who look
elsewhere.
In no
outward place
until
it
will the soul find
Heaven
finds
it
within itself; for, wherever
the soul goes,
its
thoughts and desires will
go with
be
its
it;
and, howsoever beautiful
may
is
outward dwelUng-place,
if there
sin within,
there will be darkness

sin always casts a
and
dark
^the
gloom without, for

shadow of sorrow.
This world
is
shadow over the pathway of the soul
beautiful, transcendently
and wonderfully
beautiful.
Its beauties
and inspiring wonders cannot be num-
84
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

it
bered; yet, to the sin-sodden mind,
ap-
pears as a dark and joyless place.
Where
and
passion and self are, there

there are
all
is
hell,
the pains of hell ; where Holiare, there is
ness
and Love
Heaven, and
there are all the joys of
Heaven.
also everywhere.
Heaven
It
is
is
here.
It
is
is
wherever there
is
a pure heart.
The
whole universe
abounding with joy, but
the sin-bound heart can neither see, hear,
nor partake of
it.
No
Its
one
is,
or can be,
arbitrarily shut out
from Heaven; each

Golden Gates are
shuts himself out.
eternally ajar, but the selfish cannot find
them; they mourn, yet see not; they

but hear not.
cry,
Only
to those
who turn
their eyes to heavenly things, their ears
to heavenly sounds, are the
happy Portals
and they enter
the heart
of the
Kingdom
life is
revealed,
and are glad.

All
gladness
when
is

HEAVEN
right,
IN
is
THE HEART
85
when
it
attuned to the sweet
chords of holy Love.
Life
is
Religion,
Religion
Joy and GladThe jarring notes of creeds and ness. parties, the black shadows of sin, let them
is life,
and
all is
away forever; they cannot enter the Door of Life they form no part of Religion. Joy, Music, Beauty these belong to the True Order of things; they are of
pass
;
the texture of the universe; of these

the divine
is
Garment of Life woven. Pure

glad, not gloomy.
Religion
is
It
is
Light
without darkness or shadow.
Despondency, disappointment, grief

these are the reflex aspects of pleasurable
excitement, self-seeking, and desire. Give
up
the latter, and the former will forever
disappear; then there remains the perfect

Bliss of
Heaven.
Abounding and unalloyed Happiness

is
man's true
life;
perfect Blessedness
is
86
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

and when he
loses his
his rightful portion;
false life
and
finds the true he enters into
the full possession of his
Kingdom.
man's
in
The
Kingdom of Heaven
and
if
it is
is
here and now,

is
it is
Home: his own
heart,
and he
not left without Guides,

it.
he wills to find
All man's sorrows

result of his
and sufferings are the

self-elected
own
estrangement from the Divine
Source, the All-Good, the Father, the
Heart of Love.
Let him return to
his
Home
his
peace awaits him.
The Heavenly-hearted are without sorrow and suffering, because they are without
sin.
What
the worldly-minded call
troubles they regard as pleasant tasks of
Love and Wisdom.

hell;
Troubles belong to
This
is
they do not enter Heaven.

it
so simple
should not appear strange.

it is
If
you have a trouble

and nowhere
else;
in
your own mind,

it,
you make
it is
not
HEAVEN
made
for you;
IN
THE HEART
87
it is
not in your task;
it is
not in that outward thing.

creator,
You
are
its
and
it
derives
all
its life
from you
only.
Look upon
lo!
is
your
difficulties as
lessons to be learned, as aids to spiritual
growth, and
longer!
to
they are
difficulties
no
This
one of the Pathways up
Heaven.
To transmute
everything into Happiis
ness and Joy, this
supremely the work
and duty of the Heavenly-minded man.
To reduce everything to wretchedness and

deprivation
is
the
process
which
the
worldly-minded
unconsciously
is
pursue.
To
is
live in
Love
to
work
in Joy.
Love
the magic that transforms all things into It brings plenty out
power and beauty.
of poverty, power out of weakness, loveliness out
of deformity, sweetness out of
bitterness, light out
of darkness, and pro-
88
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

all blissful
duces
conditions out of
its
own
substantial but indefinable essence.
He who loves can never want.

verse belongs to Goodness, and
The uniit
there-
fore belongs to the good man.

possessed by
all
It can be
without stint or shrinking,
for
Goodness,
and the abundance of

spiritual
Goodness (material, mental, and

abundance),
is
inexhaustible.
Think
lov-
ingly, speak lovingly, act lovingly,
and
your every need

shall
shall
be supplied; you
not walk in desert places, and no

shall overtake you.
danger
Love
sees with faultless vision,
judges
true judgment, acts in wisdom.
Look
shall
through the eyes of Love, and you

see everywhere the Beautiful
and True;
judge with the mind of Love, and you

shall err not, shall
awake no wail of
sor-
row; act in the
spirit
of Love, and you
HEAVEN
shall strike
IN
THE HEART
89
undying harmonies upon the

with
Harp of Life. Make no compromise

swallowed up in Love.
always
self.
Cease
is
not to strive until your whole being
To
love all and
this is the
Heaven of
heavens.
is
"Let there be nothing within thee that
not very beautiful and very gentle, and

then will there be nothing without thee
that
spell
let it
is
not beautified and softened by the
of thy presence."
All that you do,
be done in calm wisdom, and not

desire, impulse, or opinion; this
is
from
the
Heavenly way of action.

left,
Purify your thought-world until no

stain
is
and you
will
ascend into
Heaven
will
while living in the body.
You
forms.
then see the things of the outward

clothed
in
all
world
beautiful
Having found
ourselves,
it
the Divine Beauty within
springs to life in every out-

90
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

thing.
is
ward
world
To
the beautified soul the
beautiful.
Undeveloped souls are merely unopened

flowers.
The
perfect Beauty
lies
con-
cealed within,
and
will
one day reveal
itself to the full-orbed light
of Heaven.
evil is
Seeing
not,
men
lies
thus,
we stand where
and where the eye beholds only good.

the peace and patience and
it
Herein
beauty of Love
sees
no
evil.
He who
loves thus becomes the protector of all
men.
Though
in their ignorance they
should hate him, he shields and loves
them.
What
demn
gardener
is
so foolish as to con-
his
flowers because they do not
develop in a day?
Learn
to love,
and you
shall see in all souls,
even those called
"degraded,''
shall
the
Divine
it
Beauty,
and
know
its
that
will not fail to
come
forth in
own
season.
This
is
one of
HEAVEN IN THE HEART

the
91
Heavenly Visions;
it
is
out of this
that Gladness comes.

Sin, sorrow, suffering
these
in.
are the
dark gropings of the unopened soul for

Light.
Open
the petals of your soul
and
let the glorious
Light stream
is
Every
mony.
sinful soul
an unresolved har-
It shall at last strike the Perfect
Chord, and swell the joyful melodies of
Heaven.
Hell
is
the preparation for Heaven;

debris of its ruined hovels
and out of the

perfected soul
are built pleasant mansions wherein the
may
dwell.
Night
is
only a fleeting shadow which
the world casts,

sient shade cast
and sorrow
is
but a tran-
by the
self.
"Come
out
into the Sunlight.*'
that
you are
divine.
Know this, O You are not

in
reader!
cut off
from the Divine except

belief.
your own un-
Rise up,
O Son of God! and shake
92
off the
THE HEAVENLY LIFE

nightmare of sin which binds you;
accept your heritage
^the
Kingdom of
Heaven
"a
to
Drug your
soul no longer with
the poisons of false beliefs.
You
are not
worm
make
of the dust" unless you choose
yourself one.
You
are a divine,
immortal, God-born being, and this you
may know
if
you
will to seek
and
find.
Cling no longer to your impure and groveling thoughts,
and you and

sin
shall
know
that
you are a radiant and

with
all
celestial spirit, filled
pure
lovable
thoughts.
Wretchedness and
and sorrow are not

they will be
your portion here unless you accept them

as such;
and
if
you do
this,
your portion hereafter, for these things

are not apart from your soul-condition;
they will go wherever you go; they are

only within you.
Heaven, not
hell, is
your portion here
and always.
It only requires
you to take
HEAVEN IN THE HEART

that which belongs to you.
93
master, and you choose

serve.
You are the whom you will

state,
You
are the
maker of your
and your choice determines your condition.
What you pray and

,
ask for (with

lips
your mind and heart, not with your

merely) this you receive.
as
You
are served
you
serve.
condition.
You are conditioned as you You garner in your own.

yours you have but to enter
;
;
Heaven
in
is
and take possession and Heaven means

leaves nothing to be desired noth;
Supreme Happiness, Perfect Blessedness ;

it
ing to be grieved over.

satisfaction
It
is
complete
It
is
now and
in this world.
within you; and if you do not

it
is
know
this,
because you persist in turning the

it.
back of your soul upon
Turn round
and you
shall
behold
it.
Come and live in the sunshine of your being. Come out of the shadows and the
94
THE HEAVENLY LIFE
dark places.
piness.
ity,
You
are
framed for HapPur-
You are a child of Heaven.
Wisdom, Love, Plenty, Joy, and
Peace
the
these are the eternal
Realities of
Kingdom, and they
are yours, but
you
cannot possess them in sin; they have no

part in the
Realm of Darkness.
They
belong to "the Light which lighteth every
man
that
cometh into the world," the

spotless Love.
Light of
heritage
come
to
They are the of the holy Christ-Child who shall birth in your soul when you are
all
ready to divest yourself of

purities.
your im-
They
are your real self.
But he whose soul has been safely delivered of the Wonderful Joy-Child does
not forget the travail of the world.
Date Due
All library items are subject to recall at any time.
JAfi I y /U05
JAN I y
Jf:Vi
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<<.^m
FEB
2 3 2010
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Brigham Young University
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1 1
97 00408 0609
(L

All These Things Added James Allen

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All These Things Added James Allen

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A,

secret of the Universe.

NEW YORK DODGE PUBLISHING COMPANY

THE LIBRARY _^ BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY PROVO, UTAH

wards hereafter men have destroyed

Temple of Righteousand have wandered from the Kingceasing to seek for

and heavenly rewards,

Temple of Righteousness is restored and the Kingdom of Heaven is found.

whose souls have been prepared for the

Entering the Kingdom

Need Competitive Laws and the Law of Love

The Finding of a Principle At Rest in the Kingdom and All

ENTERING THE KINGDOM

sought the world, but Peace was not there;

sore with vanity.

And I cried, Where is Peace And where is the hiding-place

pression of that need varies with indiis

not one soul that does

and casual need which takes the form,

souls of a particular development, of a

deep and inexpressible hunger which the

outward things of hfe, however abundantly they

be possessed, can never

Yet the majority, imperfect in knowledge, and misled by appearances,

ENTERING THE KINGDOM

seek to satisfy this hunger by striving for

and bring them

hungers for righteousness, and

eyery soul seeks to gratify that hunger in

own particular state of knowlThe hunger is one, and the rightis

but the pathways by

sought are many.

seek consciously are blessed,

shall shortly find that final

satisfaction of soul which right-

eousness alone can give, for they have

knowledge of the true path.

for a time they

pleasure, are not blessed,

carving out for themselves pathways of

suffering over which they must walk with

and the soul

will cry out for

any of the three worlds can the

soul find lasting satisfaction, apart

the realization of righteousness.

discipline of suffering, until at last,

that joy, satisfaction,

and peace which

and so vainly sought.

The great need of

curely and restfuUy amid the tempest of

no more bewildered, and

ENTERING THE KINGDOM

in the realization of this principle

where the Kingdom of Heaven, the abiding home of the

the source and storehouse of every perblessing*

of mind, a state of consciousness, an ineffable knowledge, in which the struggle for

and the soul

at rest in the midst

great need, yea,

Blessed are they

impossible that such