Universal Brotherhood Path – July 1900

NATURE AND MAN — R. W.

Seated on a high bluff overlooking the sea and dreamily following the cliff-line until the solid wall of rock gradually merges into sand-dunes and beach, I become conscious of the relation of things. Out and beyond, the boundless deep, while o'er its panting bosom rush the rolling breakers, dashing themselves wildly against the projecting rocks, covering the ledges of rock with billows of foamy white bubbles. Strange handiwork of Nature! For some extent a floor of solid rock suddenly buried in a sandy beach. Looking about, pillars of granite of varying form and size projecting far out into the sea, form a bulwark to this land of the Gods. As they range themselves in tiers, sky, sun, sea and majestic bluffs show their relation to each other and to man.

Sky, sun, sea and earth. Four basic principles. The blue sky — the Higher Mind; the Sun — the spiritual and physical life; the Sea — the world of human thought and emotions, besieging us, wooing us with its illusions, and if we succumb — Ah, me! The white guards at the threshold of the soul are o'ershad-owed by the dark forces of the Lower Nature, the citadel to the heaven within besieged, and the demons of the lower nature allowed ascendancy, only to be followed in time by darkness and death.

This rock-bound coast! These ledges and cliffs! Symbolic are they of the guardian wall of human Souls about the sacred Temple of Humanity. Above, the blue firmament, with the adorable life-giving sun pouring at times upon the water a sun-burst of rays through a rift in the clouds, appearing to the weary pilgrim as a lighted path over the sea of human experiences. Solemn thoughts are interrupted by the whirr of a flock of pelicans, whose strong broad wings extended, hover like a benediction over one's head.

Ah! what joy, what peace, what bliss, to steal away from agitating emotions, to lay one's weary head in the lap of mother nature and let the great undertone of the Sea sing its harmony into one's inmost heart until responding in perfect harmony with the pulsations of eternal life all around! The joy of the in-pouring Life and Peace and Love! The ecstasy of the responsive soul within, as it breathes forth in rapturous strains its hopes, its aspirations, its love of God in man and all creatures! Truly it is the balm of Gilead upon the troubled nature within.

Yet one more glance at the rocks, symbolic of the steadfast soul. The first tier wooed by the sea as she winds herself about the feet of the bluffs like the arms of children about a dear old father's neck, tempting them in their hoary age to stoop and partake of her kisses, corresponds to the tired warrior who learns to stand and resist the illusory charms of human passions. The tiers of rock and cliffs, the living wall of defense to the stronghold of the Gods, altar-protecting shrine to Hellas Deities! And as I sat and thought of the countless ages of resistance offered by these Guardian Stones to the never ceasing allurements of the sea, protecting mankind from its merciless inundations, my troubled soul became filled with a great joy and peace, and resolution after resolution formed to live a pure and more selfless life. On my homeward way, the example set by Nature impressed itself deeply and for many days, to become passion proof, invulnerable as the rocks to the enchanting sea. Had the rocks stooped to partake of the sea's temptations, in that moment would they have been wrested from their thrones, built by myriads of little lives through the ages, and sent whirling with the ceaseless ebb and flow on its endless journey.

Never lose anchor!

To do so means to have to climb anew the cyclic stairs to perfectibility, to learn again the lessons of resistance, to recognize the true from the false. When the personal self offers entrance to the sea of deluding elementals, the stronghold of the gods becomes the seat and home of the Lower Nature instead of the Higher, and Humanity's heartrending woe a much longer drawn out agony, by succumbing to the allurements of the senses.



Theosophical University Press Online Edition