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The Heavenly Life By
James Allen Chapter 1.
The Divine Centre THE secret of life, of abundant life, with
its strength, its felicity, and its unbroken peace is to find the Divine Centre within
oneself, and to live in and from that, instead of in that outer circumference of disturbances
— the clamours, cravings, and argumentations which make up the animal and intellectual
man. These selfish elements constitute the mere husks of life, and must be thrown away
by him who would penetrate to the Central Heart of things — to Life itself. Not to
know that within you that is changeless, and defiant of time and death, is not to know
anything, but is to play vainly with the unsubstantial reflections in the Mirror of Time.
Not to find within you those passionless Principles which are not moved by the strifes and shows
and vanities of the world, is to find nothing but illusions which vanish as they are grasped.
He who resolves that he will not rest satisfied with appearances, shadows, illusions shall,
by the piercing light of that resolve, disperse every fleeting phantasy, and shall enter into
the substance and reality of life. He shall learn how to live, and he shall live. He shall
be the slave of no passion, the servant of no opinion, the votary of no fond error. Finding
the Divine Centre within his own heart, he will be pure and calm and strong and wise,
and will ceaselessly radiate the Heavenly Life in which he lives — which is himself.
Having betaken himself to the Divine Refuge within, and remaining there, a man is free
from sin. All his yesterdays are as the tide-washed and untrodden sands; no sin shall rise up
against him to torment and accuse him and destroy his sacred peace; the fires of remorse
cannot scorch him, nor can the storms of regret devastate his dwelling-place. His to-morrows
are as seeds which shall germinate, bursting into beauty and potency of life, and no doubt
shall shake his trust, no uncertainty rob him of repose. The Present is his, only in
the immortal Present does he live, and it is as the eternal vault of blue above which
looks down silently and calmly, yet radiant with purity and light, upon the upturned and
tear-stained faces of the centuries. Men love their desires, for gratification
seems sweet to them, but its end is pain and vacuity; they love the argumentations of the
intellect, for egotism seems most desirable to them, but the fruits thereof are humiliation
and sorrow. When the soul has reached the end of gratification and reaped the bitter
fruits of egotism, it is ready to receive the Divine Wisdom and to enter into the Divine
Life. Only the 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 hast thy trials? Every outward trial is the replica of an inward imperfection.
Thou shalt grow wise by knowing this, and shalt thereby transmute trial into active
joy, finding the Kingdom where trial cannot come. When wilt thou learn thy lessons, O
child of earth! All thy sorrows cry out against thee; every pain is thy just accuser, and
thy griefs are but the shadows of thy unworthy and perishable self. The Kingdom of Heaven
is thine; how long wilt thou reject it, preferring the lurid atmosphere of Hell — the hell
of thy self-seeking self? Where self is not there is the Garden of the Heavenly Life,
and "There spring the healing streams Quenching all thirst! there bloom the immortal flowers
Carpeting all the way with joy! there throng Swiftest and sweetest hours !"
The redeemed sons of God, the glorified in body and spirit, are "bought with a price,"
and that price is the crucifixion of the personality, the death of self; and having put away that
within which is the source of all discord, they have found the universal Music, the abiding
Joy. Life is more than motion, it is Music; more than rest, it is Peace; more than work,
it is Duty; more than labour, it is Love; more than enjoyment, it is Blessedness; more
than acquiring money and position and reputation, it is Knowledge, Purpose, strong and high
Resolve. Let the impure turn to Purity, and they shall be pure; let the weak resort to
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 in ignorance, to-morrow he shall choose in Wisdom. He shall
"work out his own salvation" whether he believe it 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 it is
destined his soul shall accomplish for itself. What would you say of a man who, wanting to
possess a mansion in which to dwell peacefully, purchased the site and then knelt down and
asked God to build the house for him? Would you not say that such a man was foolish? And
of another man who, having purchased the land, set the architects and builders and carpenters
at work to erect the edifice, would you not say that he was wise? And as it is in the
building of a material house, even so it is 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 from its sure foundation until at last it stands out in all the majesty
of its faultless proportions. Not by caprice, nor gift, nor favour does
a man obtain the spiritual realities, but by diligence, watchfulness, energy, and effort.
"Strong is 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 the Heart
of the universe, and, finding that Heart, man finds the strength to accomplish all things.
He finds there also the Wisdom to see things as they are. He finds there the Peace that
is divine. . At the center of man's being is the Music which orders the stars — the
Eternal Harmony. He who would find Blessedness, let him find himself;
let him abandon every discordant desire, every inharmonious thought, every unlovely habit
and deed, and he will find that Grace and Beauty and Harmony which form the indestructible
essence of his own being. Men fly from creed to creed, and find — unrest; they travel
in many lands, and discover — disappointment; they build themselves beautiful mansions,
and plant pleasant gardens, and reap — ennui and discomfort. Not until a man falls back
upon the Truth within himself does he find rest and satisfaction; not until he builds
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 Love; if he would escape suffering, let him cease to inflict
it; if he would do noble things for humanity, let him cease to do ignoble things for himself.
If he will but quarry the mine of his own soul, he shall find there all the materials
for building whatsoever he will, and he shall find there also the central Rock on which
to build in safety. Howsoever a man works to right the world, it will never be righted
until he has put himself right. This may be written upon the heart as a mathematical axiom.
It is not enough to preach Purity, men must cease from ***; to exhort to love, they must
abandon hatred; to extol self-sacrifice, they must yield up self; to adorn with mere words
the Perfect Life, they must be perfect. When a man can no longer carry the weight of his
many sins, let him fly to the Christ, whose throne is the centre of his 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 a man leave his books, his science,
his philosophy, and come back to himself, and he shall find within, that which he outwardly
sought and found not — his own divinity. He ceases to argue about God who has found
God within. Relying upon that calm strength which is not the strength of self, he lives
God, manifesting in his daily life the Highest Goodness, which is Eternal Life.
End of chapter one Chapter 2.
The Eternal Now NOW is thy reality in which time is contained.
It is more and greater than time; it is an ever-present reality. It knows neither past
nor future, and is eternally potent and substantial. Every minute, every day, every year is a dream
as soon as it has passed, and exists only as an imperfect and unsubstantial picture
in the memory, if it be not entirely obliterated. Past and future are dreams; now is a reality.
All things are now; all power, all possibility, all action is now. Not to act and accomplish
now is not to act and accomplish at all. To live in thoughts of what you might have
done, or in dreams of what you mean to do, this is folly: but to put away regret, to
anchor anticipation, and to do and to work now, this is wisdom. Whilst a man is dwelling
upon the past or future he is missing the present; he is forgetting to live now. All
things are possible now, and only now. Without wisdom to guide him, and mistaking the unreal
for the real, a man says, "If I had done so and so last week, last month, or last year,
it would have been better with me to-day"; or, "I know what is best to be done, and I
will do it to-morrow." The selfish cannot comprehend the vast importance
and value of the present, and fail to see it as the substantial reality of which past
and future are the empty reflections. It may truly be said that past and future do not
exist except as negative shadows, and to live in them — that is, in the regretful and
selfish contemplation of them— is to miss the reality in life. "The Present, the Present
is all thou hast For thy sure possessing; Like the patriarch's angel, hold it fast,
Till it gives its blessing. "All which is real now remained, And fadeth never: The hand
which upholds it now sustained The soul for ever. "Then of what is to be, and of what
is done, Why queriest thou? The past and the time to be are one, And both
are NOW !" Man has all power now; but not knowing this, he says, "I will be perfect
next year, or in so many years, or in so many lives." The dwellers in the Kingdom of God,
who live only in 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 right, they remain eternally holy and blessed." Now is the accepted
time; now is the day of salvation. "Say to yourself, "I will live in my Ideal now; I
will manifest my Ideal now; I will be my Ideal now; and all that tempts me away from my Ideal
I will not listen to; I will listen only to the voice of my Ideal."
Thus resolving, and thus doing, you shall not de-part from the Highest, and shall eternally
manifest the True. "Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road. Henceforth I ask
not good fortune: I myself am good fortune. Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no
more, need nothing; Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms. Strong and
content, I 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 and the future, and manifest thy
native and divine strength now. Come out into" the open road. "That which
you would be, and hope to be you may be now. Non-accomplishment resides in your perpetual
postponement, and, having the power to postpone, you also have the power to accomplish — to
perpetually accomplish: realize this truth, and you shall be to-day, and every day, the
ideal 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, in the living now. Say not unto thy soul, "Thou shall be purer to-morrow";
but rather say, "Thou shalt be pure now. To-morrow is too late for anything, and he
who sees his help and salvation in to-morrow shall continually fail and fall to-day. Thou
didst fall yesterday? Didst sin grievously? Having realized this, leave it. instantly-and
forever, and watch that thou sinnest not now. The while thou art bewailing the past, every
gate of thy soul remains unguarded against the entrance of sin now. Thou shalt not rise
by grieving over the irremediable past, but by remedying the present.
The foolish man, loving the boggy side-path of procrastination rather than the firm 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." But the wise man, realizing the momentous
import of the Eternal Now, rises early to-day; keeps out of debt to-day; carries out his
intentions to-day; and so never departs from strength and peace and ripe accomplishment.
That which is done now remains; that which is to be done to-morrow does not appear.
It is wisdom to leave that which 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 spiritual comprehension being clouded
by the illusions of self, he says, "I 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 is, be subject to birth and death? Let a man throw
off his illusions, and then he will see that the birth and death of the body are the mere
incidents of a journey, and not its beginning and end.
Looking back to happy beginnings, and forward to mournful endings, a man's eyes are blinded,
so that he beholds not his own immortality; his ears are closed, so that he hears not
the ever-present harmonies of Joy; and his heart is hardened, so that it pulsates not
to the rhythmic sounds of Peace. The universe, with all that it contains, is now. Put out
thy hand, O man, and receive the fruits of Wisdom! Cease from thy greedy striving, thy
selfish sorrowing, thy foolish regretting, and he content to live. Act now, and, lo!
all things are done; live now, and, behold! thou art in the midst of Plenty; be now, and
know that thou art perfect. End of chapter two
Chapter 3. The "Original Simplicity"
LIFE is simple. Being is simple. The universe is simple. Complexity arises in ignorance
and self-delusion. The "Original Simplicity" of Lao-tze is a term expressive of the universe
as it is, and not as it appears. Looking through the woven network of his own illusions, man
sees interminable complication and unfathomable mystery, and so loses himself in the labyrinths
of his own making. Let a man put away egotism, and he will see the universe in all the beauty
of its pristine simplicity. Let him annihilate the delusion of the personal "I," and he will
destroy all the illusions which spring from that "I."
He will thus "re-become a little child," and will "revert to Original Simplicity." When
a man succeeds in entirely forgetting (annihilating) his personal self, he be-comes a mirror in
which the universal Reality is faultlessly reflected. He is awakened, and henceforward
he lives, not in dreams, but realities. Pythagoras saw the universe in the ten numbers, but even
this simplicity may be further reduced, and the universe ultimately be found to be contained
in the number ONE, for all the numerals and all their infinite complications are but additions
of the One. Let life cease to be lived as a fragmentary
thing, and let it be lived as a perfect Whole; the simplicity of the Perfect will then be
revealed. How shall the fragment comprehend the Whole? Yet how simple that the Whole should
comprehend the fragment. How shall sin perceive Holiness? Yet how plain that Holiness should
understand sin. He who would become the Greater let him abandon the lesser. In no form is
the circle contained, but in the circle all forms are contained. In no color is the radiant
light imprisoned, but in the radiant light all colors are embodied, Let a man destroy
all the forms of self, and he shall apprehend the Circle of Perfection;
let him submerge, in the silent depths of his being, the varying colors of his thoughts
and desires, and he shall be illuminated with the White Light of Divine Knowledge. In the
perfect chord of music the single note, though forgotten, is indispensably contained, and
the drop of water becomes of supreme usefulness by losing itself in the ocean. Sink thyself
compassionately in the heart of humanity, and thou shalt 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 evolves outward to the periphery
of complexity, and then devolves backward to the Central Simplicity.
When a man discovers that it is mathematically impossible for him to know the universe before
knowing himself, he then starts upon the Way which leads to the Original Simplicity. He
begins to unfold from within, and as he Unfolds himself, he enfolds 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 ***, his covetousness, his anger, his opinion about this or that, can
see nor know nothing; he will remain a dullard in the school of Wisdom, though he be accounted
learned in the colleges. If a man would find the Key of Knowledge,
let him find himself. Thy sins are not thyself; they are not any part of thyself; they are
diseases which thou hast come to love. Cease to cling to them, and they will no longer
cling to thee. Let them fall away, and thy self shall stand revealed. Thou shalt then
know thyself as Comprehensive Vision, Invincible Principle, Immortal Life, and Eternal Good.
The impure man believes impurity to be his rightful condition, but the pure man knows
himself as pure being; he also, penetrating the Veils, sees all others as pure being.
Purity is extremely simple, and needs no argument to support it; impurity is interminably complex,
and is ever involved in defensive argument. Truth lives itself. A blameless life is the
only witness of Truth. Men cannot see, and will not accept the witness until they find
it within themselves; and having found it, a man becomes silent before his fellows. Truth
is so simple that it cannot be found in the region of argument and advertisement, and
so silent that it is only manifested in actions. So extremely simple is Original Simplicity,
that a man must let go his hold of everything before he can perceive it. The great arch
is strong by virtue of the hollowness underneath, and a wise man becomes strong and invincible
by emptying himself. Meekness, Patience, Love, Compassion, and
Wisdom — these are the dominant qualities of Original Simplicity; therefore the imperfect
cannot understand it. Wisdom only can apprehend 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 will call cowardice; Patience, Love, and Compassion he will see as weakness;
and Wisdom will appear to him as folly. 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 transparency becomes apparent. He who has found the indwelling
Reality of his own being has found the original and universal Reality. Knowing the Divine
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
moulds the minds of others to his own likeness. As the problematical transcends crudity, so
Pure Goodness transcends the problematical. All problems vanish when Pure Goodness is
reached; therefore the good man is called "The slayer of illusions." What problem can
vex where sin is not? O thou who strives loudly and restest not! retire into the holy silence
of thin own being, and live therefrom. So shalt thou, finding Pure Goodness, rend in
twain the Veil of the Temple of Illusion, and shalt enter into the Patience, Peace,
and transcendent Glory of the Perfect, for Pure Goodness and Original Simplicity are
one. End of chapter three
Chapter 4. The Unfailing Wisdom
A MAN should be superior to his possessions, his body, his circumstances and surroundings,
and the opinions of others, and their attitude towards him. Until he is this, he is not strong
and steadfast. He should also rise superior to his own desires and opinions; and until
he is this, he is not wise. The man who identifies himself with his possessions will feel that
all is lost when these are lost; he who regards himself as the outcome and the tool of circumstances
will weakly fluctuate with every change in his 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 thing, and to rest securely upon the inward Virtue,
this is the Unfailing Wisdom. Having this Wisdom, a man will be the same whether in
riches or poverty. The one cannot add to his strength, nor the other rob him of his serenity.
Neither can riches defile him who has washed away all the inward defilement, nor the lack
of them degrade him who has ceased to degrade the temple of his soul. To refuse to be enslaved
by any outward thing or happening, regarding all such things and happenings as for your
use, for your education, this is Wisdom. To the wise all occurrences are good, and,
having no eye for evil, they grow wiser every day. They utilize all things, and thus put
all things under their feet. They see all their mistakes as soon as made, and accept
them as lessons of intrinsic value, knowing that are no mistakes in the Divine Order.
They thus rapidly approach the Divine Perfection. They are moved by none, yet learn from all.
They crave love from none, yet give love to all. To learn, and not to be shaken; to love
where one is not Loved : herein lies the strength which shall never fail a man.
The man who says in his heart, "I will teach all men, and learn from none," will neither
teach nor learn whilst he is in that frame of mind, but will remain in his folly. All
strength and wisdom and power and knowledge a man will find within himself, but. he will
not find it in egotism; he will only find it in obedience, submission, and willingness
to learn. He must obey the Higher, and not glorify himself in the lower. He who stands
upon egotism, rejecting reproof, instruction, and the lessons of experience, will surely
fall; yea, he is already fallen. Said a great Teacher to his disciples, "Those
who shall be a lamp unto them-selves, 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 shall reach the very topmost height! But they must be willing to learn.
The wise man is 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 largely by
vanity, is very anxious to teach, but unwilling to learn, not having found the Holy Teacher
within who speaks wisdom to the humbly listening soul. Be self-reliant, but let 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 thy Truth within you. A creed
will not bear a man up in the hour of temptation; he must possess the inward Knowledge which
slays temptation. A speculative philosophy will prove a shadowy thing in the time of
calamity; a man must have the inward Wisdom which puts an end to grief. Goodness, which
is the aim of all religions, is distinct from religions themselves. Wisdom, which is the
aim of every philosophy, is distinct from all philosophies.
The Unfailing Wisdom is found only by constant practice in pure thinking and well-doing;
by harmonizing one's mind and heart to those things which are beautiful, lovable, and true.
In whatever condition a man finds himself, he can always find the True; and he can find
it only by so utilizing his present condition as to become strong and wise. The effeminate
hankering after rewards, and the craven fear of punishment, let them be put away forever,
and let a man joyfully bend himself to the faithful performance of all his duties, forgetting
himself and his worthless pleasures, and living strong and pure and self-contained;
so shall he surely find the Unfailing Wisdom, the God-like Patience and strength. "The situation
that has not its Duty, its Ideal, was never yet occupied by man. . . . Here or nowhere
is thy Ideal. Work it out therefrom, and, working, believe, live, be free. The Ideal
is in thyself, the impediment, too, is in thyself: thy condition is but the stuff thou
art to shape that same Ideal out of. What matters whether such stuff be of this sort
or that, so the form thou give it be heroic, be poetic? Oh, thou that pinest in the imprisonment
of the Actual, and criest bitterly to the gods for a kingdom wherein to rule and create,
know this of a truth: the thing thou seeks is already within thee,
here and now, coldest thou only see!" All that is beautiful and blessed is in thyself,
not in thy neighbour's wealth. Thou art poor? Thou art poor indeed if thou art not stronger
than thy poverty! Thou hast suffered calamities? Well, wilt thou cure calamity by adding anxiety
to it? Canst thou mend a broken vase by weeping over it. or restore a lost delight by thy
lamentations? There is no evil but will vanish if thou wilt wisely meet it. The God-like
soul does not. grieve over that which has been, is, or will be, hut perpetually finds
the Divine Good, and gains wisdom by every occurrence.
Fear is the shadow of selfishness, and cannot live where loving Wisdom is. 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. Grief, also, will be for ever dispelled
by him who will comprehend the Law of his being. He who so comprehends shall find the
Supreme Law of Life, and he shall find that it is Love, that it is imperishable Love.
He shall become one with that Love, and loving all, with mind freed from all hatred and folly,
he shall receive the invincible protection which Love affords.
Claiming nothing, he shall suffer no loss; seeking no pleasure, he shall find no grief;
and employing all his powers as instruments of service, he shall evermore live in the
highest state of blessedness and bliss. Know this: — thou make and unmake thyself; thou
stand and fall by what thou art. Thou art a slave if thou prefer-rest to be; thou art
a master if thou wilt make thyself one. Build upon thy animal desires and intellectual opinions,
and thou build upon the sand; build upon Virtue and Holiness, and no wind nor tide shall shake
thy strong abode. So shall the Unfailing Wisdom uphold thee in every emergency, and the Everlasting
Arms gather thee to thy peace. "Lay up each year Thy harvest of well-doing,
wealth that kings Nor thieves can take away. When all the things Thou callest thin, goods,
pleasures, honours fall, Thou in thy virtue shalt survive them all."
End of chapter four Chapter 5.
The Might Of Meekness THE mountain bends not to the fiercest storm,
but it shields the fledgling and the lamb; and though all men tread upon it, yet it protects
them, and bears them up upon its deathless ***. Even so is 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 is the divine man in his silent Meekness; like its form, his
loving comparison is expansive and sublime. Truly his body, like the mountain's base,
is fixed in the valleys and the mists; but the summit of his being is eternally bathed
in cloudless glory, and lives with the Silences. He who has found Meekness has found divinity;
he has realized the divine consciousness, and knows himself as divine. He also knows
all others as divine, though they know it not themselves, being asleep and dreaming.
Meekness is a divine quality, and as such is 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 in defeat. Socrates lives the more by being put to death; in the
crucified Jesus the risen Christ is revealed, and Stephen in receiving his stoning defies
the hurting power of stones. That which is real cannot be destroyed, but only that which
is unreal. When a man finds that within him which is
real, which is constant, abiding, changeless, and eternal, he enters into that Reality,
and becomes meek. All the powers of darkness will 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 against him he does not "strive nor cry," He knows the utter
powerlessness of all evil, having overcome it in himself, and lives in the changeless
strength and power of divine Good. Meekness is one aspect of the operation of
that changeless Love which is at the Heart of all things, and is therefore an imperishable
quality. He who lives in it is without fear, knowing the Highest, and having the lowest
under his feet. The meek man shines in darkness, and flourishes in obscurity. Meekness cannot
boast, nor advertise itself, nor thrive on popularity. It is practiced, and is seen or
not seen; being a spiritual quality it is perceived only by the eye of the spirit. Those
who are not spiritually awakened see it not, nor do they love it, being enamoured of, and
blinded by, worldly shows and appearances. Nor does history take note of the meek man.
Its glory is that of strife and self-aggrandizement; his is the glory of peace and gentleness.
History chronicles the earthly, not the heavenly acts. Yet though he lives in obscurity he
cannot be hidden (how can light be hid?) ; he continues to shine after he has withdrawn
himself from the world, and is worshipped by the world which knew him not. 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 knows that all such weapons are the flimsiest
and most ineffectual of shadows. To them, therefore, who give him evil he gives good.
He resists none, and thereby conquers all. He who imagines he can be injured by others,
and who seeks to justify and defend 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 harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease . . . for
hatred ceases not by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love.
What thou say, your neighbor has spoken thee falsely? Well, what of that? Can a falsity
hurt thee? That which is false is false, and there is an end of it. It is without life,
and without power to hurt any but him who seeks to hurt by it. It is nothing to thee
that thy neighbor should speak falsely of thee, but it is much to thee that thou should
resist him, and seek to justify thyself, for, by so doing, thou givest life and vitality
to thy neighbour's falseness, so that thou art injured and distressed. Take all evil
out of thin own heart, then shalt thou see the folly of resisting it in another.
Thou wilt be trodden on? Thou art trodden on already if thou thinkest thus. The injury
that thou see as coming from another comes only from thyself. The wrong thought, or word,
or act of another has no power to hurt thee unless thou galvanize it into life by thy
passionate resistance, and so receivest it into thyself. If any man slander me, that
is his concern, not mine. I have to do with my own soul, not with my neighbour's. Though
all the world misjudge me, it is no business of mine; but that I should possess my soul
in Purity and Love, that is all my business. There shall be no end to strife until men
cease to justify themselves. He who would have wars cease let him cease
to defend any party — let him cease to defend himself. Not by strife can peace come, but
by ceasing from strife. The glory of Cesar resides in the resistance of his enemies.
They resist and fall. Give to Cesar that which Cesar demands, and Cesar's glory and power
are gone. Thus, by submission does the meek man conquer the strong man : but it is not
that outward show of submission which is slavery, it is that inward and spiritual submission
which is freedom. Claiming no rights, the meek man is not troubled
with self-defense and self-justification; he lives in love, and therefore comes under
the immediate and vital protection of the Great Love which is the Eternal Law of the
universe. He neither claims nor seeks his own; thus do all things come to him, and all
the universe shields and protects him. He who says, "I have tried Meekness, and it has
failed," has not tried Meekness. It cannot be tried as an experiment. It is only arrived
at by unreserved self-sacrifice. Meekness does not consist merely in non-resistance
in action; it consists pre-eminently in non-resistance in thought, in ceasing to hold or to have
any selfish, condemnatory, or retaliatory thoughts. The meek man, therefore, cannot
"take offence" or have his "feelings hurt," living above hatred, folly, and vanity. Meekness
can never fail.O thou who searchest for the Heavenly Life! strive after Meekness; increase
thy patience and forbearance day by day; bid thy tongue cease from all harsh words; withdraw
thy mind from selfish 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 and selfish people; but rather rejoice that thou art so favored as to have
thin 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, of perfection. The more
there is of harshness and selfishness around thee the greater is the need of thy Meekness
and love. If others seek to wrong thee, all the more
is it needful that thou should cease from all wrong, and live in love; if others preach
Meekness, humility, and love, and do not practice these, trouble not. nor be annoyed; but 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 audience, thou shalt teach the whole world. As thou becomes meek, thou
shalt learn the deepest secrets of the universe. Nothing is hidden from him who overcomes himself.
Into the cause of causes shalt thou penetrate, and lifting, one after another, every veil
of illusion, shalt reach at last the inmost Heart of Being. Thus becoming one with Life,
thou shalt know till life, and, seeing into causes, and knowing 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; forgive where others condemn;
yield where others strive; give up where others grasp: lose where others gain, And in their
strength they shall be weak ; and in thy weakness thou shalt be strong; yea, thou shalt mightily
prevail. He that hath not unbroken gentleness hath not Truth: "Therefore when Heaven would
save a man, it enfolds him with gentleness." End of chapter five
Chapter 6. The Righteous Man
THE righteous man is invincible. No enemy can possibly overcome or confound him; and
he needs no other protection than that of his 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 ultimately in bringing ignominy upon themselves. The
righteous man, having nothing to hide, committing no acts which require stealth, and harboring
no thoughts and desires which he would not like others to know, is fearless and unashamed.
His step is firm, his body upright, and his speech direct and without ambiguity. He looks
everybody in the face. How can he fear any who wrongs 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. The righteous man, performing all his duties with scrupulous
diligence, and living above sin, is invulnerable at every point. He who has slain the inward
enemies 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 suffering (as he imagines)
at the hands of others. The slanders, attacks, and accusations of others cause him great
suffering because they have a basis of truth in himself; and not having the protection
of righteousness, he endeavours to justify and protect himself by resorting to retaliation
and specious argument, and even to subterfuge and deceit.
The partially righteous man is vulnerable at all those points where he falls short of
righteousness, and should the righteous man fall from his righteousness, and give way
to one sin, his invincibility is 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 man suffers or is injured through the instrumentality of others, let him look to
himself, and, putting aside self-pity and self-defense, he will find in his own heart
the source of all his woe. No evil can happen to the righteous man who
has cut off the source of evil in himself; living in the All-Good, and abstaining from
sin in thought, word and deed, whatever happens to him is good; neither can any person, event,
or circumstance cause him suffering, for the tyranny of circumstance is utterly destroyed
for him who has broken the bonds of sin. The suffering, the sorrowing, the weary, and broken-hearted
ever seek a sorrow less refuge, a haven of perpetual peace.
Let such fly to the refuge of the righteous life; 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 waste in self-seeking his spiritual substance; and he cannot be afflicted by weariness
and unrest whose heart is at peace with all. End of chapter six
Chapter 7. Perfect Love
THE Children of Light, who abide in the Kingdom of Heaven, see the universe, and all that
it contains, as the manifestation of one Law — the Law of Love. They see Love as the
molding, sustaining, protecting, and perfecting Power immanent in all things animate and inanimate.
To them Love is not merely and only a rule of life, it is the Law of Life, it is Life
itself. Knowing this, they order 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 partakers of the power of Love, and so arrive at perfect Freedom
as Masters of Destiny. The universe is preserved because Love is
at the Heart of it. Love is the only preservative power. Whilst there is hatred in the heart
of man, he imagines the Law to be cruel, but when his heart is mellowed by Compassion and
Love, he perceives that the Law is Infinite Kindness. So kind is the Law that it protects
man against his own ignorance, 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 is at last compelled, in the depth of his afflictions, to seek for Wisdom; and
finding Wisdom, he finds Love, and knows it 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 subvert Love, which
can neither be overcome nor destroyed, being of the substance of Life. When a man burns
himself, does he accuse the fire? Therefore, when a man suffers, let him look for some
ignorance or disobedience within himself. Love is Perfect Harmony, pure Bliss, and contains,
therefore, no element of suffering. Let a man think no thought and do no act which is
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 become Love. He who always acts from the spirit of Love is never deserted,
is never left in a dilemma or difficulty, for Love (impersonal Love) is both Knowledge
and Power. He who has learned how to Love has learned how to master every difficulty,
how to transmute every failure into success, how to clothe every event and condition in
garments of blessedness and beauty. The way to Love is by self-mastery, and, travelling
that way, a man builds himself up in Knowledge as he proceeds.
Arriving at Love, he enters into full possession of body and mind, by right of the divine Power.
"Perfect Love casteth out fear." To know Love is to know that there is no harmful power
in the whole Universe. Even sin itself, which the worldly and unbelieving imagine is so
unconquerable, is known as a very weak and perishable thing, that shrinks away and disappears
before the compelling power of Good. Perfect Love is perfect Harmlessness. And he who has
destroyed, in himself, all thoughts of harm, and all desire to harm, receives the universal
protection, and knows himself to be invincible. Perfect Love is perfect Patience. Anger and
irritability cannot dwell with it nor come near it. It sweetens every bitter occasion
with the perfume of holiness, and transmutes trial into divine strength. Complaint, is
foreign to it. He who loves bewails nothing, but accepts all things and conditions as heavenly
guests; he is therefore constantly blessed, and sorrow does not overtake him. Perfect
Love is perfect Trust. He who has destroyed the desire to grasp can never be troubled
with the fear of loss. Loss and gain are alike foreign to him.
Steadfastly maintaining a loving attitude of mind toward all, and pursuing, in the performance
of his duties, a constant and loving activity, Love protects him and evermore supplies him
in fullest measure with all that he needs. Perfect Love is perfect Power. The wisely
loving heart commands without exercising any authority. All things and all men obey him
who obeys the Highest. He thinks, and lo! he has already accomplished! 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 purpose; his every act an accomplishment; he moves with the Great
Law, not setting his puny personal will against it, and he thus becomes a channel through
which the Divine Power can flow in unimpeded and beneficent expression. He has thus become
Power itself. Perfect Love is perfect Wisdom. The man who loves all is the man who knows
all. Having thoroughly learned the lessons of his own heart, he knows the tasks and trials
of other hearts, and adapts himself to them gently and without ostentation. Love illuminates
the intellect; without it the intellect is blind and cold and lifeless.
Love succeeds where the intellect fails; sees where the intellect is blind ; knows where
the intellect is ignorant, Reason is only completed in Love, and is ultimately absorbed
in it. Love is the Supreme Reality in the universe, and as such it contains all Truth.
Infinite Tenderness enfolds and cherishes the universe; therefore is the wise man gentle
and childlike and tender-hearted. He sees that the one thing which all creatures need
is Love, and he gives unstintingly. He knows that all occasions require the adjusting power
of Love, and he ceases from harshness. To the eye of Love all things are revealed,
not as an infinity of complex effects, but in the light of Eternal Principles, out of
which spring all causes and effects, and back into which they return. "God is Love;" therefore
than Love there is nothing more perfect. He who would find pure Knowledge let him find
pure Love. Perfect Love is perfect Peace. He who dwells with it has completed his pilgrimage
in the underworld of sorrow. With mind calm and heart at rest, he has banished the shadows
of grief, and knows the deathless Life. If thou wouldst perfect thyself in Knowledge,
perfect thyself in Love. If thou wouldst reach the Highest, ceaselessly cultivate a loving
and compassionate heart. End of chapter seven
Chapter 8. Perfect Freedom
THERE is no bondage in the Heavenly Life. There is Perfect Freedom. This is its great
glory. This Supreme Freedom is gained only by obedience. He who obeys the Highest cooperates
with the Highest, and so masters every force within himself and every condition without.
A man may choose the lower and neglect the Higher, but the Higher is never overcome by
the lower: herein lies the revelation of Freedom. Let a man choose the Higher and abandon the
lower; he shall then establish himself as an Overcomer, and shall realize Perfect Freedom.
To give the reins to inclination is the only slavery; to conquer oneself is the only freedom.
The slave to self loves his chains, and will not have one of them broken for fear he would
be depriving himself of some cherished delight. He clings to his gratifications and vanities,
regarding freedom from them as an empty and undesirable condition. He thus defeats and
enslaves himself. By self-enlightenment is Perfect Freedom found. Whilst a man remains
ignorant 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.
The Land of Perfect Freedom lies through the Gate of Knowledge. All outward oppression
is but the shadow and effect of the real oppression within. For ages the oppressed have cried
for liberty, and a thousand man-made statutes have failed to give it to them. They can give
it only to themselves; they shall find it only in obedience to the Divine Statutes which
are inscribed upon their hearts. Let them resort to the inward Freedom, and the shadow
of oppression shall no more darken the earth. Let men cease to oppress themselves, and no
man shall oppress his brother. 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 will be free when he is freed from self. 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. Whilst men cling to weakness they cannot have strength;
whilst they love darkness they can receive no light; and so long as they prefer bondage
they can enjoy no liberty. Strength, light, and freedom are ready now,
and can be had by all who love them, who aspire to them. Freedom does not reside in cooperative
aggression, for this will always produce, reactively, coöperative defence — warfare,
hatred, party strife, and the destruction of liberty. Freedom resides in individual
self-conquest. The emancipation of Humanity is frustrated and withheld by the self-enslavement
of the unit. Thou who criest to man and God for liberty, liberate 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 then all outward freedom, as effect
to cause. The Freedom that begins within, and extends
outwardly until it embraces the whole man, is an emancipation so complete, all-embracing,
and perfect as to leave no galling fetter unbroken. Free thy soul from all sin, and
thou shalt walk a freed and fearless man in the midst of a world of fearful slaves; and,
seeing thee, many slaves shall take heart and shall join thee in thy glorious freedom.
He who says, "My worldly duties are irksome to me: I will leave them and go into solitude,
where I shall be as free as the air," and thinks to gain freedom thus, will find only
a harder slavery. The tree of Freedom is rooted in Duty, and he who would pluck its sweet
fruits must discover joy in Duty. Glad-hearted, calm, and ready for all tasks
is he who is freed from self. Irksomeness and weariness cannot enter his heart, and
his divine strength lightens every burden so that its weight is not felt. He does not
run away from Duty with his chains about him, but breaks them and stands free. 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. End of chapter eight
Chapter 9. Greatness And Goodness
GOODNESS, simplicity, greatness — these three are one, and this trinity of perfection
cannot be separated. All greatness springs from goodness, and all goodness is profoundly
simple, Without goodness there is no greatness. 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. The work of greatness is enduring and preservative,
and not violent and destructive. The greatest souls are the most gentle. Greatness is never
obtrusive. It works in silence, seeking no recognition. This is why it is not easily
perceived and recognized. Like the mountain, it towers up in its vastness,
so that those in its immediate vicinity, who receive its shelter and shade, do not see
it. Its sublime grandeur is only beheld as they recede from it. The great man is not
seen by his contemporaries; the majesty of his form is only outlined by its recession
in time. This is 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 live, and
fewer still essay to explore it. But in the distance these small thing disappear, and
then the solitary beauty of the mountain is perceived.
Popularity, noisy obtrusiveness, and shallow show, these superficialities rapidly disappear,
and leave behind no enduring mark: whereas greatness slowly emerges from obscurity, and
endures for ever. Jewish Rabbi and rabble alike saw not the divine beauty of Jesus;
they saw only an unlettered carpenter. All true genius is impersonal. It belongs not
to the man through whom it is manifested; it belongs to all.
It is a diffusion of pure Truth: the Light of Heaven descending on all mankind. Every
work of genius, in whatsoever department of art, is a symbolic manifestation of impersonal
Truth. It is universal, and finds a response in every heart in every age and race. Anything
short of this is not genius, is not greatness. That work which defends a religion perishes;
it is religion that lives. Theories about immortality fade away; immortal man endures;
commentaries upon Truth come to the dust; Truth alone remains.
That only is true in art which represents the True; that only is great in life which
is universally and eternally true. And the True is the Good; the Good is 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. The greatest art is, like nature, artless.
It knows no trick, no pose, no studied effort. There are no stage-tricks in Shakespeare;
and he is the greatest of dramatists because he is the simplest. The critics, not understanding
the wise simplicity of greatness, always condemn the loftiest work.
They cannot discriminate between the childish and the childlike. The True, the Beautiful,
the Great, is always childlike, and is perennially fresh and young. The great man is always the
good man; he is always simple. He draws from, nay, lives in, the inexhaustible fountain
of divine Goodness within; he inhabits the Heavenly Places; communes with the vanished
great ones; lives with the Invisible: he is inspired, and breathes the airs of Heaven.
He who would be great let him learn to be good. He will therefore become great by not
seeking greatness. Aiming at greatness a man arrives at nothingness;
aiming at nothingness he arrives at greatness. The desire to be great is an indication of
littleness, of personal vanity and obtrusiveness. The willingness to disappear from gaze, the
utter absence of self-aggrandizement is the witness of greatness. Littleness seeks and
loves authority. Greatness is never authoritative, and it thereby becomes the authority to which
the after ages appeal. He who seeks, loses; he who is willing to lose, wins all men.
Be thy simple self, thy better self, thy impersonal self, and lo! thou art great! He who selfishly
seeks authority shall succeed only in becoming a trembling apologist courting protection
behind the back of acknowledged greatness. He who will become the servant of all men,
desiring no personal authority, shall live as a man, and shall be called great. "Abide
in the simple and noble regions of thy life, obey thy heart, and thou shalt reproduce the
foreworld again." Forget thine own little self, and fall back upon the Universal self,
and thou shalt reproduce, in living and enduring forms, a thousand beautiful experiences; thou
shalt find within thyself that simple goodness which is greatness.
"It is as easy to be great as to be small," says Emerson; and he utters a profound truth.
Forgetfulness of self is the whole of greatness, as it is the whole of goodness and happiness.
In a fleeting moment of self-forgetfulness the smallest soul becomes great; extend that
moment indefinitely, and there is a great soul, a great life. Cast away thy personality
(thy petty cravings, vanities, and ambitions) as a worthless garment, and dwell in the loving,
compassionate, selfless regions of thy soul, and thou art no longer small—thou art great.
Claiming personal authority, a man descends into littleness; practicing goodness, a man
ascends into greatness. The presumptuousness of the small may, for
a time, obscure the humility of the great, but it is at last swallowed up by it, as the
noisy river is lost in the calm ocean. The vulgarity of ignorance and the pride of learning
must disappear. Their worthlessness is equal. They have no part in the Soul of Goodness.
If thou wouldst do, thou must be. 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
tread the Lonely Road, and shalt become; thou shalt be. Thou shalt then write thy book,
and it shall live; it shall be more than a book. Let thy book first live in thee, then
shalt thou live in thy book. Wouldst thou carve a statue that shall captivate the ages,
or paint a picture that shall endure? Thou shalt acquaint thyself with the divine Beauty
within thee. Thou shalt comprehend and adore the Invisible
Beauty ; thou shalt know the Principles which are the soul of Form; thou shalt perceive
the matchless symmetry and faultless proportions of Life, of Being, of the Universe; thus knowing
the eternally 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 inspiration in the loving places of thy heart.
Then shall immortal lines flow from thee without effort, and. as the flowers of wood and field
spontaneously spring, so shall beautiful thoughts grow up in thin heart and, enshrined in words
as molds to their beauty, shall subdue the hearts of men. Wouldst thou compose such music
as shall gladden and uplift the world? Thou shalt adjust thy soul to the Heavenly Harmonies.
Thou shalt know that thyself, that life and the universe is Music. Thou shalt touch the
chords of Life. Thou shalt know that Music is everywhere; that it is the Heart of Being;
then shalt thou hear with thy spiritual ear the Deathless Symphonies.
Would thou preach the living word? Thou shalt forego thyself, and become that Word. Thou
shalt know one thing—that the human heart is good, is divine; thou shalt live on one
thing—Love. Thou shalt love all, seeing no evil, thinking no evil, believing no evil;
then, though thou speak but little, thy every act shall be a power, thy every word a precept.
By thy pure thought, thy selfless deed, though it appear hidden, thou shalt preach, down
the ages, to untold multitudes of aspiring souls. To him who chooses Goodness, sacrificing
all, is given that which is more than and includes all. He becomes the possessor of
the Best, communes with the Highest, and enters the company of the Great.
The greatness that is flawless, rounded, and complete is above and beyond all art. It is
Perfect Goodness in manifestation; therefore the greatest souls are always Teachers.
End of chapter nine Chapter 10.
Heaven In The Heart THE toil of life ceases when the heart is
pure. When the mind is harmonized with the Divine Law the wheel of drudgery ceases to
turn, and all work is transmuted into joyful activity. The pure-hearted are as the lilies
of the field, which toil not, yet are fed and clothed from the abundant storehouse of
the All-Good. But the lily is not lethargic; it is ceaselessly active, drawing nourishment
from earth and air and sun. By the Divine Power immanent within it, it builds itself
up, cell by cell, opening itself to the light, growing and expanding towards the perfect
flower. So is it with those who, having yielded up
self-will, have learned to coöperate with the Divine Will. They grow in grace, goodness,
and beauty, freed from anxiety, and without friction and toil. And they never work in
vain; there is no waste action. Every thought, act, and thing done subserves the Divine Purpose,
and adds to the sum-total of the world's happiness. Heaven is in the heart. They will look for
it in vain who look elsewhere. In no outward place will the soul find Heaven until it finds
it within itself; for, wherever the soul goes, its thoughts
and desires will go with it; and, howsoever beautiful may be its outward dwelling-place,
if there is sin within, there will be darkness and gloom without, for sin always casts a
dark shadow over the pathway of the soul—the shadow of sorrow. This world is beautiful,
transcendently and wonderfully beautiful. Its beauties and inspiring wonders cannot
be numbered; yet, to the sin-sodden mind, it appears as a dark and joyless place. Where
passion and self are, there is hell, and there are all the pains of hell; where Holiness
and Love are, there is Heaven, and there are all the joys of Heaven.
Heaven is here. It is also everywhere. It is wherever there is a pure heart. The whole
universe is abounding with joy, but the sin-bound heart can neither see, hear, nor partake of
it. No one is, or can be, arbitrarily shut out from Heaven; each shuts himself out. Its
Golden Gates are eternally ajar, but the selfish cannot find them; they mourn, yet see not;
they cry, but hear not. Only to those who turn their eyes to heavenly things, their
cars to heavenly sounds, are the happy Portals of the Kingdom revealed, and they enter and
are glad. All life is gladness when the heart is right,
when it is attuned to the sweet chords of holy Love. Life is Religion, Religion is life
and all is Joy and Gladness. The jarring notes of creeds and parties, the black shadows of
sin, let them pass away for ever; 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 the
texture of the universe; of these is the divine Garment of Life woven. Pure Religion is glad,
not gloomy. 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 for ever disappear; then
there remains the perfect Bliss of Heaven. Abounding and unalloyed Happiness is man's
true life; perfect Blessedness is his rightful portion ; and when he loses his false life
and finds the true he enters into the full possession of his Kingdom. The Kingdom of
Heaven is man's Home; and it is here and now, it is in his own heart, and he is not left
without Guides, if he wills to find it. All man's sorrows and sufferings are the result
of his own self-elected 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. Troubles belong to hell;
they do not enter Heaven. This is so simple it should not appear strange. If you have
a trouble is in your own mind, and nowhere else; you make it, it is not made
for you; it is not in your task; it is not in that outward thing. You are its creator,
and it derives its life from you only. Look upon all your difficulties as lessons to be
learned, as' aids to spiritual growth, and lo! they are difficulties no longer! This
is one of the Pathways up to Heaven. To transmute everything into Happiness and Joy, this is
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 pursue.
To live in Love is to work in Joy. Love is the magic that transforms all things into
power and beauty. It brings plenty out of poverty, power out of weakness, loveliness
out of deformity, sweetness out of bitterness, light out of darkness, and produces all blissful
conditions out of its own substantial but indefinable essence. He who loves can never
want. The universe belongs to Goodness, and it therefore belongs to the good man. It can
be possessed by all without stint or shrinking, for Goodness, and the abundance of Goodness
(material, mental, and spiritual abundance), is inexhaustible.
Think lovingly, speak lovingly, act lovingly, and your every need shall be supplied; you
shall not walk in desert places, and no danger shall overtake you. Love sees with faultless
vision, judges true judgment, acts in wisdom. Look through the eyes of Love, and you shall
see everywhere the Beautiful and True; judge with the mind of Love, and you shall err not.
shall wake no wail of sorrow; act in the spirit of Love, and you shall strike undying harmonies
upon the Harp of Life. Make no compromise with self. Cease not to strive until your
whole being is swallowed up in Love. To love all and always—this is the Heaven
of heavens. "Let there be nothing within thee that is not very beautiful and very gentle,
and then will there be nothing without thee that is not beautified and softened by the
spell of thy presence." All that you do, let it be done in calm wisdom, and not from desire,
impulse, or opinion; this is the Heavenly way of action. Purify your thought-world until
no stain is left, and you will ascend into Heaven while living in the body. You will
then see the things of the outward world clothed in all beautiful forms. Having found the Divine
Beauty within ourselves, it springs to life in every outward thing.
To the beautified soul the world is beautiful. Undeveloped souls are merely unopened flowers.
The perfect Beauty lies concealed within, and will one day reveal itself to the full-orbed
light of Heaven. Seeing men thus, we stand where evil is not, and where the eye beholds
only good. Herein lies the peace and patience and beauty of Love—it 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 gardener is so foolish as to condemn his flowers because
they do not develop in a day? Learn to love, and you shall see in all souls,
even those called "degraded," the Divine Beauty, and shall know that it will not fail to come
forth in its own season. This is one of the Heavenly Visions; it is out of this that Gladness
comes. Sin, sorrow, suffering — these are the dark groping's of the unopened soul for
Light. Open the petals of your soul and let the glorious Light stream in. Every sinful
soul is an unresolved harmony. It shall at last strike the Perfect Chord, and swell the
joyful melodies of Heaven. Hell is the preparation for Heaven; and out of the debris of its ruined
hovels are built pleasant mansions wherein the perfected soul may dwell.
Night is only a fleeting shadow which the world casts, and sorrow is but a transient
shade cast by the self. "Come out into the Sunlight." Know this, O reader! that you are
divine. You are not cut off from the Divine except in your own unbelief. Rise up, O Son
of God! and shake off the nightmare of sin which binds you; accept your heritage—the
Kingdom of Heaven! Drug your soul no longer with the poisons of false beliefs. You are
not "a worm of the dust" unless you choose to make 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 grovelling thoughts, and you shall know that you are
a radiant and celestial spirit, filled with all pure and lovable thoughts. Wretchedness
and sin and sorrow are not your portion here unless you accept them as such; and if you
do this, they will be 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 that which belongs to you. You are the master,
and you choose whom you will serve. You are the maker of your state, and your
choice determines your condition. What you pray and ask for (with your mind and heart,
not with your lips merely), this you receive. You are served as you serve. You are conditioned
as you condition. You garner in your own. Heaven is yours; you have but to enter in
and take possession; and Heaven means Supreme Happiness, Perfect Blessedness; it leaves
nothing to be desired; nothing to be grieved over. It is complete satisfaction now and
in this world. It is within you ; and if you do not know this, it is because you persist
in turning the back of your soul upon it. Turn round and you shall behold it. Come and
live in the sunshine of your being. Come out of the shadows and the dark places. You are
framed for Happiness. You are a child of Heaven. Purity, Wisdom, Love, Plenty, Joy, and Peace—these
are the eternal Realities of the 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
lighted every man that cometh into the world," the Light of spotless Love.
They are the heritage of the holy Christ-Child who shall come to birth in your soul when
you are ready to divest yourself of all your impurities. 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. End of the heavenly life by James Allen