THE TRUE DESTINY OF MAN
There are two poles at the extremes of man's nature. (1) Man can live in the most perfect light, in complete certainty, and wholly according to the law of the spirit. It is also possible for him to make darkness his element, and to pass his earthly existence in complete obscurity. At each of these two poles he is, in a certain sense, perfect, forming there a complete unity in himself. Now when a person, either through impulse from within, or in consequence of some unusual chance, is violently taken out of the darkness into the light, it is inevitable that his entire nature should be thrown out of gear, as it were. In consequence, spiritual as well as physical conditions are brought about which the average psychologist can only account for by classifying them as maladies of some kind. If we could accompany the physicians into their sick-chambers we should be brought face to face with cases originating solely in such transitions, and which are not to be relieved except by bringing about an equilibrium between soul and body.
All that is violent causes an extreme agitation, and therefore such consequences attend the violent transition from night to the light of truth. There are, however, many childlike and gentle souls whom we know in ordinary life, and who possess only a calm faith, but if they are observed closely they will be found to perceive and value their higher life in its entire comprehensiveness. Everything in nature has its correspondence, and therefore we should not be frightened on encountering unusual phenomena.
Man has strayed from the Path and must retrace his steps in order to go aright. (2) That which he has amassed while upon the wrong road has united itself with his being, and may not be so easily expelled or rendered inactive. (3) Spiritual functions are uninterruptedly operative; they create and construct words, ideas, forms and figures which, as we see in dreams, torment, love, and follow us against our wills. If we withdraw from our outer life a part of its influence upon us, it can easily come to pass that the powers ever existing behind that influence may cause us to behold pictures and to hear words which lead us astray and, for a time, bring us into conflict with ourselves. (4) Whoever does not lose courage because of this trial, and steadfastly pursues his higher aim, will gain the mastery of these hostile powers and at last hear words of life and behold heavenly visions.
The path to the Life leads through labyrinths. Blessed be he who finds a thread laid by a loving hand to lead him more certainly to the exit; he advances with calm step, and in his loving trust in the thread that he follows he thereby gains the victory over all adversity.
A star of heaven guides us out of the darkness if our inner eye is awakened to life. Whoever may behold this star, let him follow it confidently (5) and not permit himself to be led astray by the theories of the day which ascribe such phenomena simply to the state of the blood, and often even to the weather. Man possesses within himself an infallible guide which conducts him safely through all mist, and it can be banished only by himself.
Reference to the Greek mythology affords us a significant example of how all the various powers of Nature interpenetrate and work in each other. We see, as with our eyes, how God excludes no creature from His heaven, if it takes the pains, in some degree, to seek and recognize Him. Attention is called to the three primeval powers of the universe, each of which exists independently only in the mind of the student, but in Nature these powers are never wholly separated from each other. The Earth (or matter) is a primeval and eternal power; Life likewise is; so also is God, who, as generator, stands over all things, containing them and reigning over them. Though our body may pass away, the divine element, which never separates itself either from life or from matter, will unite itself with other materials in order to lead us to eternal life. (6)
Matter, life and divinity, or, according to our conception, the power of mind, are essential to the perfected life. We may see how natural this union is, and we have therefore nothing more to do than to live according to the highest law, and subordinate thereto, body and soul (life) in the most complete agreement. Then we are in heaven, and we continually draw from the other two primeval powers new nourishment to maintain an eternal existence. (7)
Man must possess himself wholly; this is the end of all teaching. Not alone in the heart or in the head; but throughout the entire body man must learn to perceive and recognize. (8) Otherwise he mutilates himself and becomes worthless for a perfected life.
Herein lies the mistake of persons who ascribe more holiness to one part of the body than to another part, though their daily experience teaches them that no member is without use and that each must necessarily exist in order to fulfill the intention of the Creator. (9)
Seek to receive that which thou hast and consider where thy life most plainly manifests itself; there thou art nearest to God. But be not partisan with thy functions, and hold to the conviction that perfection must possess all powers. (10)
In the deepest tones of music the higher tones are contained. Therefore descend into the lowest chambers of the body and bear in mind that Christ also descended into hell in order to arouse all souls and powers into life.
Rest not until thou hast in all parts formed in thyself a lense through which thou canst look into eternity. Do not be led astray when the world takes only thy head into account and endeavors to fill it with all possible facts until it threatens to set up for itself and to secede from thy emotions. Remain steadfast and contain thyself wholly; else thou art like to one crucified, whose bones have been broken on the cross, and therefore may not be taken down. (11)
Trust to time and rule the moment! This lesson appears in these teachings very plainly; for years are demanded before man attains the ripeness which enables him to discover the kernel of his life and to use it as his guide.
Many will say that this teaching is not practical, because it demands retirement from the world, and even from business callings. Whoever, while in the world and attending to the demands of his calling, can gain his inner life, has no necessity for going into retirement; he who, however, in spite of his desire and his efforts, remains in darkness, must withdraw from the obstacles standing in his way, if he will not renounce the future and his own self.
But it is well for us that there are but few earthly circumstances that have a disturbing effect upon the development of our new life, and therefore we will stand by our calling with strict attention to duty, (12) giving our fellow men an example of fidelity and love, and regarding all that we do as done in God.
The conditions of life where our ambition, our acuteness — or rather slyness — are called into play, are those which are most difficult to unite with a striving towards spiritual truth, because they usually command the entire attention of the man, making idols of his personal traits, in the presence of which he stands in a glamour and to which alone he pays his devotions.
Those forms of business which can be carried on with earnest industry, with calm deliberation and thought, are not only not hindering in their effect, but often beneficial, because they counteract any violent revolutions of our nature, and draw all things into the silent way of our patience.
Therefore let no one lose heart because of any given example, but after his own way seek the good that is offered in these teachings. The inner and the outer life are always in the most exact accord with each other. A tender body will never long for the club of Hercules; neither will a giant ever desire to sport with violets, but with great tree-trunks and mighty cliffs. So it is in the realm of mind; ideas adjust themselves according to their possessor, and their representations change on their transference to another individual.
This is the aim of all life: Seek the spirit within thee; then thou art sure. But seek thine own spirit; not that of another. Herein lies a fundamental error of mankind; ever shaping their course according to other persons, and never paying sufficient attention to themselves. The spirit of another will never be mine; it can do no more than light the way to my temple for me. But no more than I can take the arm of another, set it in the place of my own, and use it, may the power of the spirit be enclosed in other forms. Glasses may with water be tuned into harmony; but pour the water into other glasses and then thou hast no harmony and, indeed, none of the former tones remaining. All that thou desirest must come forth from thyself; if thou canst not accomplish this, then thou must learn it; cut loose from all that belongs not to thee; seek thine own Self, never the Self of another. (13) Then only is it possible to attain the certainty of knowledge.
Harmony of tones, and mathematical forms, rest upon infallible principles and therefore cannot deceive us; even so clear must the harmony of life manifest itself unto thee. This harmony also is founded upon inalterable laws, and contains infallibility within itself. (14)
Infallibility is our aim; all men strive for infallibility, from the laborer in the field up to the highest scientist; each seeks to know his task completely.
Many succeed in accomplishing it; many others but partially; it is in nature, however, to endeavor. Well, then seek infallibility there where Life itself is concerned, where the prize is imperishable and in ever renewed beauty becomes thine own!
Exchange not thy life for the shimmer thereof! What wouldst thou say of a mathematician who only took pleasure in the peculiar geometrical figures, and troubled not himself about their inherent necessity and their truth? Wouldst thou not call such an one a fool? Is it not even like folly to revel in the phenomena of life, but not to seek the laws governing those phenomena, finding in these laws the true and highest joy?
Where we behold eternal Truth, there we shall thank God who has given us the faculty wherewith we may recognize it. It is not truth which should rejoice us, but the gift that enables us to receive it, by which we may lift ourselves to the eternal law, and through that to immortality.
God is the eternal Truth. He has given us of His light that we may depart out of the darkness and live in His glory.
God is everywhere, Truth is everywhere, and man is created to the knowledge of God and the recognition of Truth. Let us believe these principles and unite ourselves with the Everlasting and All-Powerful, that we may flourish under their protection and enter in upon immortality. (15)
FOOTNOTES:
1. "In man, taken individually or as a whole, there clearly exists a double constitution. Two great tides of emotion sweep through his nature, two great forces guide his life; the one makes him an animal, and the other makes him a god." — Through the Gates of Gold. (return to text)
2. "Turn round, and instead of standing against the forces, join them; become one with nature, and go easily upon her path. Do not resist or resent the circumstances of life any more than the plants resent the rain and the wind. Then suddenly, to your own amazement, you find you have time and to spare, to use in the great battle which it is inevitable every man must fight, that in himself, that which leads to his own conquest. — Gates of Gold. (return to text)
3. The Karma of the individual. To retrace one's steps is to live in the eternal; to become One with nature, and lift one's self "out of the region in which Karma operates." (return to text)
4. The activity of elementals. Their appearance generates fear, the Dweller on the Threshold. The effort to lift one's self above the plane of Karma concentrates karmic action. (return to text)
5. "Look for the warrior, and let him fight in thee." — Light on the Path. (return to text)
6. This passage is particularly significant. The Western Mystics, in their writings, have been reticent concerning the great teaching of reincarnation, probably because misconceptions concerning it so easily arise among the uninitiated. Kernning, however, frequently gives marked hints, and to whomsoever hath ears to hear, nothing could be plainer than these words referring to the conscious reincarnation of those who have united the lower self with their higher. (return to text)
7. Artificial reincarnation. "This state is possible to man while yet he lives in the physical: for men have attained it while living." — Gates of Gold. " He can learn also to hold within him the glory of that highest self, and yet to retain life upon this planet so long as it shall last, if need be." — Idyll of the White Lotus. (return to text)
8. "While his eyes and hands and feet are thus fulfilling their tasks, new eyes and hands and feet are being born within him." — Gates of Gold. (return to text)
9. "Courage to search the recesses of one's own nature without fear and without shame." — Gates of Gold. (return to text)
10. "The chief point of importance is to explore no more persistently on one line than another; else the result must be deformity." — Gates of Gold. (return to text)
11. "Forget no inch of your garden ground, no smallest plant that grows in it; make no foolish pretence nor fond mistake in the fancy that you are ready to forget it, and so subject it to the frightful consequences of half-measures." — Gates of Gold. The garden is the personality; the plants are the attributes that compose it, and whose potentialities must be developed. (return to text)
12. "He neglects no duty or office however homely or however difficult." — Gates of Gold. (return to text)
13. "Listen to the song of life. Look for it, and listen to it, first in your own heart." — Light on the Path. (return to text)
14. "Learn from it the lesson of harmony." Light on the Path. (return to text)
15. These notes show clearly the agreement of the teachings recently given out with those of earlier mystics, who may seem to be on a different line, but who receive their light from the identical source. Whoever may desire to learn is advised to consider these notes earnestly in the works from which they are quoted, together with their contexts as well as the above teachings. The one will help an understanding of the other, and throw light on meanings that have been obscure. Consider and reflect thereon earnestly and repeatedly. If this instruction be followed, some degree of illumination concerning their interior meanings will surely result. (return to text)