infiniti science

The Cultural Stream

As we have seen, gnosticism has been the fountain-head of many heretical movements and many unusual religious and sectarian practices.

Modern secret societies, no less than the medieval guilds, have their ‘mysteries’, many of which retain vestiges of what is clearly a gnostic endowment. The Dutch scholar Gilles Quispel discerns gnostic types of religiosity in the Rosicrucians and Freemasons (Yamauchi, 1973, p. 17). According to another writer, Kenneth Rexroth, ‘Alchemy was gnostic through and through’ (Mead, 1960, p. xx).

The history of magic and the occult is crowded with the names of exponents having a distinctively gnostic cast of thought. In contemporary terms this is perhaps best exemplified in the career of the English mage Aleister Crowley (Symonds, 1951). Under his aegis a number of occult organizations sprang up, whose membership made up a constellation of men and women distinguished in literature, the theatre and the arts.

But to return to the main current of the European cultural tradition. The names of the scholastics and other men of learning whose works were condemned as heretical during the middle ages would constitute a roll call of some of the most eminent figures in medieval thought. Later still, strong gnostic elements are found in the work of mystics like Jakob Boehme, himself accused of heresy, and George Fox, who suffered persecution and imprisonment for his teachings; in poets like John Milton, whose great sonnet beginning, ‘Avenge, O Lord! Thy slaughtered saints’, was written on the massacre of the Cathars (Vaudois) in 1655. His Paradise Lost is almost an apotheosis of Satan. According to Blake, Milton was a true poet of the Devil’s party without knowing it.

For his part, William Blake gave vivid and rapturous expression to opinions that are nothing if not gnostic. He spoke frankly of interpreting the Bible ‘in its infernal or diabolical sense.’ Other well-known poets, like Gerard de Nerval, Rainer Maria Rilke and W. B. Yeats, as well as several leading composers have been named in a similar context. Quispel called Mozart ‘a later gnostic.’

Among the novelists we have Novalis, Honore de Balzac, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Victor Hugo, Herman Melville, Leo Tolstoy and Franz Kafka. The German novelist Thomas Mann speaks of gnosticism as ‘Man’s truest knowledge of himself’. Many social, political, even psychological trends, like Puritanism, Marxism, Communism, Nihilism, Nazism and Psycho-analysis have been spoken of in conjunction with the gnostics (Layton, 1980, p. 38). Scientists like Wolfgang Pauli, and certain modern scientific theories, have likewise been drawn into the gnostic ambit.

Among the philosophers we have Blaise Pascal, G. W. F. Hegel, Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Invoking the perennial gnostic riddle, Kierkegaard questioned the purpose of ‘this thing called the world’, and asked why he had been created and thus compelled to participate in existence. Existentialism, of which he was one of the founding fathers, is rife with gnostic ideas, as more than one authority has pointed out.

C. G. Jung, whose intuitive mind ranged over a wide field covering many of the obscure cultural byways of European thought, perhaps best summed up the full extent of the gnostic involvement in all the problems that had for so long preoccupied him, when he wrote, ‘All my life I have been working and studying to find these things, and these people knew already’ (Layton, 1980, p. 23).

THE GNOSTIC PARADOX

The gnostic doctrine relating to sin, or spiritual evil, is the cornerstone of their theology.

Today the notion of sin tends to be dismissed as an offensive archaism. It is denounced as a sewer concept, a product of the salacious Puritan mind, breeding guilt and false contrition. Enlightened people prefer to believe in the essential goodness of man, despite his countless and continuing villainies.

Sin is not a Puritan invention. It is basic to every major religion. Perceptive individuals are aware of its constant presence in the human heart. The confessions of those we esteem saints, show that they did not regard themselves as saintly, and with good reason. In our own times, if we needed further evidence, the lewdness and violence lying dormant in our minds has been highlighted by psychoanalysis, and amply demonstrated by the Nazis.

Man is steeped in sin. This was the one tenet to which the gnostics adhered with fierce tenacity. They restored the doctrine of original sin to its original status. In this view even the new-born infant is contaminated with it. When Jesus said of little children, ‘Of such is the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt. 19:14), he was referring, according to the gnostics, to their androgynous state, and not to their innocence.

The taint of sin does not necessarily imply acts. It simply comes from being human. Man does not have to commit sin. He is sinful by nature. He is not just weak, but wicked in essence, evil in a Satanic sense, for he is Satan’s creature.

From this follows the conviction that the sin of man cannot be wiped out by man. Man’s good works do not expiate sin. In any event, man on his own can do no good works, for as the Bible states, without equivocation, ‘All our righteous deeds are as filthy rags’ (Isa. 64:6).

It is expedient for our own welfare to render ‘good works’ unto Caesar. Moral conduct is a social convenience, necessary in order to avoid a situation where the life of man would otherwise be ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’.

The moral qualities that make for a stable society, including the humanitarian and ethical traits we cherish as if they were religious principles, were recognized by the ancients for what they were, and classed by them as mere ‘political virtues’. God, said the gnostic Marcion, is not concerned with them.

Man may give a good or bad account of himself in the contest of life, depending on the stars above, the environment around, and the hormones within. And all these, the Valentinians would say, are counters that are ultimately dealt out by the Prince of Darkness.

The law of Caesar is devoid of spiritual overtones. In Caesar’s realm ‘sin’ can be legislated into or decreed out of existence. The gnostics saw with crystal clarity how easily the law of Caesar could be made to serve the ends of Satan.

In gnosticism the leading dramatis personae in the cosmic theatre are Christ and Lucifer. But in ultimate terms the gnostics were non-dualists, believing that God the Father is the Supreme Being, and is utterly transcendent to the world where the dualist conflict is taking place.

The material world is the preserve of Satan, and we might remain in bondage to him for all time – but for divine grace. St Augustine spoke of the happy fault (Lat.felix culpa), referring to the sin that caused the fall of our first parents, for it was because of this that the human race in time came to know Christ.

By himself, the human being is helpless, in a situation that is hopeless. His only hope lies in Christ. The second, and last, great Christian commandment – to love your neighbour – relates to Caesar’s realm. It only becomes spiritually relevant when the first – to love God – is brought into operation.

And one can only love the transcendent God through a knowledge (gnosis) of Christ. When this understanding is attained, one’s life assumes a new spiritual dimension, and the real virtues then begin to flow from a divine source.

In spite of their docetic views, most gnostics acknowledged the deeper significance of Christ’s death on the cross. It is probably to a gnostic source that we must look for the famous remark attributed to Tertullian concerning the resurrection: ‘It is certain, because it is impossible.’

The gnostics were aware that to the rational mind the incarnation was a fantasy, the crucifixion an offence, and the resurrection an absurdity (see I Cor. 1:23).

All this lies outside the realm of common sense. But those who wish to avoid the absurdities of the Christian faith, and build up an image of Jesus as just another one of a long line of prophets preaching ethics and morals, find they can give no reason why anyone should follow Jesus in preference to another teacher.

Gnostic truth is heterodox, and presents alternative values. It is an allegory, since it speaks in another way. It is a paradox, which means something contrary to received opinion. It is not logical, rational, or even thinkable.

The existentialists, paraphrasing the gnostics, affirmed that Christianity involves the choice of the absurd alternative.

Benjamin Walker – “Gnosticism – Its History and Influence”  1983  (Crucible Edn. pp 185-190)

One has to understand the nature of thought, that is, first desire, then pleasure, and then why thought interferes at all. If I find out the relationship among these three, then desire becomes a very small affair. I can see a beautiful house, and leave it; I see a beautiful woman, and not produce all the reactions. Thought has been built through time. Thought is time. If you do not think, there will be no tomorrow. And, we have to think; but if that thinking is based on pleasure, on desire, then thought becomes a problem, then thinking becomes a danger. So, is it possible to see a house, a woman, and not let thought interfere with it? Not deliberately, not say that thought must not interfere because it brings pain, sorrow, and all the rest of it, but actually see the fact not the explanation; see the actual fact that, when thought interferes with desire or when thought gives importance to desire, then it becomes pleasure, and where there is pleasure there is always pain. The two, pleasure and pain, are not separate: pleasure is pain. You can see that very obviously. Most of our values, concepts, ideals, relationships between man, woman, neighbor and yourself, all that is based on pleasure, and hence all our problems. We function with the principle of pleasure.Thought is time. Pleasure is pain.

– Krishnamurti, Collected Works, Vol. XVI,62

“I advise you, whoever you are, Oh you! who wish to explore the mysteries of nature, if you do not find within yourself that which you seek, neither shall you find it outside. Within you is hidden the treasure of treasures.
Oh, man, know yourself and you shall know the Universe and the Gods!”

The Oracle of Delphi

There are two necessities of Nature’s workings which seem always to intervene in the greater forms of human activity, whether these belong to our ordinary fields of movement or seek those exceptional spheres and fulfilments which appear to us high and divine. Every such form tends towards a harmonised complexity and totality which again breaks apart into various channels of special effort and tendency, only to unite once more in a larger and more puissant synthesis. Secondly, development into forms is an imperative rule of effective manifestation; yet all truth and practice too strictly formulated becomes old and loses much, if not all, of its virtue; it must be constantly renovated by fresh streams of the spirit revivifying the dead or dying vehicle and changing it, if it is to acquire a new life. To be perpetually reborn is the condition of a material immortality. We are in an age, full of the throes of travail, when all forms of thought and activity that have in themselves any strong power of utility or any secret virtue of persistence are being subjected to a supreme test and given their opportunity of rebirth. The world today presents the aspect of a huge cauldron of Medea in which all things are being cast, shredded into pieces, experimented on, combined and recombined either to perish and provide the scattered material of new forms or to emerge rejuvenated and changed for a fresh term of existence. Indian Yoga, in its essence a special action or formulation of certain great powers of Nature, itself specialised, divided and variously formulated, is potentially one of these dynamic elements of the future life of humanity. The child of immemorial ages, preserved by its vitality and truth into our modern times, it is now emerging from the secret schools and ascetic retreats in which it had taken refuge and is seeking its place in the future sum of living human powers and utilities. But it has first to rediscover itself, bring to the surface the profoundest reason of its being in that general truth and that unceasing aim of Nature which it represents, and find by virtue of this new self-knowledge and self-appreciation its own recovered and larger synthesis. Reorganising itself, it will enter more easily and powerfully into the reorganised life of the race which its processes claim to lead within into the most secret penetralia and upward to the highest altitudes of existence and personality.

In the right view both of life and of Yoga all life is either consciously or subconsciously a Yoga. For we mean by this term a methodised effort towards self-perfection by the expression of the secret potentialities latent in the being and — highest condition of victory in that effort — a union of the human individual with the universal and transcendent Existence we see partially expressed in man and in the Cosmos. But all life, when we look behind its appearances, is a vast Yoga of Nature who attempts in the conscious and the subconscious to realise her perfection in an ever-increasing expression of her yet unrealised potentialities and to unite herself with her own divine reality. In man, her thinker, she for the first time upon this Earth devises self-conscious means and willed arrangements of activity by which this great purpose may be more swiftly and puissantly attained. Yoga, as Swami Vivekananda has said, may be regarded as a means of compressing one’s evolution into a single life or a few years or even a few months of bodily existence. A given system of Yoga, then, can be no more than a selection or a compression, into narrower but more energetic forms of intensity, of the general methods which are already being used loosely, largely, in a leisurely movement, with a profuser apparent waste of material and energy but with a more complete combination by the great Mother in her vast upward labour. It is this view of Yoga that can alone form the basis for a sound and rational synthesis of Yogic methods. For then Yoga ceases to appear something mystic and abnormal which has no relation to the ordinary processes of the World-Energy or the purpose she keeps in view in her two great movements of subjective and objective self-fulfilment; it reveals itself rather as an intense and exceptional use of powers that she has already manifested or is progressively organising in her less exalted but more general operations.

Yogic methods have something of the same relation to the customary psychological workings of man as has the scientific handling of the force of electricity or of steam to their normal operations in Nature. And they, too, like the operations of Science, are formed upon a knowledge developed and confirmed by regular experiment, practical analysis and constant result. All Rajayoga, for instance, depends on this perception and experience that our inner elements, combinations, functions, forces, can be separated or dissolved, can be new-combined and set to novel and formerly impossible workings or can be transformed and resolved into a new general synthesis by fixed internal processes. Hathayoga similarly depends on this perception and experience that the vital forces and functions to which our life is normally subjected and whose ordinary operations seem set and indispensable, can be mastered and the operations changed or suspended with results that would otherwise be impossible and that seem miraculous to those who have not seized the rationale of their process. And if in some other of its forms this character of Yoga is less apparent, because they are more intuitive and less mechanical, nearer, like the Yoga of Devotion, to a supernal ecstasy or, like the Yoga of Knowledge, to a supernal infinity of consciousness and being, yet they too start from the use of some principal faculty in us by ways and for ends not contemplated in its everyday spontaneous workings. All methods grouped under the common name of Yoga are special psychological processes founded on a fixed truth of Nature and developing, out of normal functions, powers and results which were always latent but which her ordinary movements do not easily or do not often manifest.

But as in physical knowledge the multiplication of scientific processes has its disadvantages, as that tends, for instance, to develop a victorious artificiality which overwhelms our natural human life under a load of machinery and to purchase certain forms of freedom and mastery at the price of an increased servitude, so the preoccupation with Yogic processes and their exceptional results may have its disadvantages and losses. The Yogin tends to draw away from the common existence and lose his hold upon it; he tends to purchase wealth of spirit by an impoverishment of his human activities, the inner freedom by an outer death. If he gains God, he loses life, or if he turns his efforts outward to conquer life, he is in danger of losing God. Therefore we see in India that a sharp incompatibility has been created between life in the world and spiritual growth and perfection, and although the tradition and ideal of a victorious harmony between the inner attraction and the outer demand remains, it is little or else very imperfectly exemplified. In fact, when a man turns his vision and energy inward and enters on the path of Yoga, he is popularly supposed to be lost inevitably to the great stream of our collective existence and the secular effort of humanity. So strongly has the idea prevailed, so much has it been emphasised by prevalent philosophies and religions that to escape from life is now commonly considered as not only the necessary condition, but the general object of Yoga. No synthesis of Yoga can be satisfying which does not, in its aim, reunite God and Nature in a liberated and perfected human life or, in its method, not only permit but favour the harmony of our inner and outer activities and experiences in the divine consummation of both. For man is precisely that term and symbol of a higher Existence descended into the material world in which it is possible for the lower to transfigure itself and put on the nature of the higher and the higher to reveal itself in the forms of the lower. To avoid the life which is given him for the realisation of that possibility, can never be either the indispensable condition or the whole and ultimate object of his supreme endeavour or of his most powerful means of self-fulfilment. It can only be a temporary necessity under certain conditions or a specialised extreme effort imposed on the individual so as to prepare a greater general possibility for the race. The true and full object and utility of Yoga can only be accomplished when the conscious Yoga in man becomes, like the subconscious Yoga in Nature, outwardly conterminous with life itself and we can once more, looking out both on the path and the achievement, say in a more perfect and luminous sense: “All life is Yoga.”

Sri Aurobindo – “The Synthesis of Yoga” (c. 1914)

Allah will guard your camel,
but first tie it to a tree!

Qu’ran

What is religion? It is the investigation, with all one’s attention, with the summation of all one’s energy, to find that which is sacred, to come upon that which is holy. That can only take place when there is freedom from the noise of thought, the ending of thought and time, psychologically, inwardly, but not the ending of knowledge in the world where you have to function with knowledge. That which is holy, that which is sacred, which is truth, can only be when there is complete silence, when the brain itself has put thought in its right place. Out of that immense silence there is that which is sacred.

– Krishnamurti, The Wholeness of Life,145

There are various schools, in India and further East, where they teach methods of meditation – it is really most appalling. It means training the mind mechanically; it therefore ceases to be free and does not understand the problem. So when we use the word ‘meditation’ we do not mean something that is practiced. We have no method. Meditation means awareness: to be aware of what you are doing, what you are thinking, what you are feeling, aware without any choice, to observe, to learn. Meditation is to be aware of one’s conditioning, how one is conditioned by the society in which one lives, in which one has been brought up, by the religious propaganda – aware without any choice, without distortion, without wishing it were different. Out of this awareness comes attention, the capacity to be completely attentive. Then there is freedom to see things as they actually are, without distortion. The mind becomes unconfused, clear, sensitive. Such meditation brings about a quality of mind that is completely silent of which quality one can go on talking, but it will have no meaning unless it exists.

– Krishnamurti, Beyond Violence,80

Meditation implies a quality of mind that can completely attend, therefore, a mind that can be completely still. The mind is always chattering, always talking, either to itself, within itself or to somebody, always in movement. How can a mind which is everlastingly chattering perceive anything? Only a mind that is completely attentive has the total energy to observe, because you need tremendous energy to observe. The religious monks and others say that you cannot waste energy; therefore no sex, if you want to be a saint. And when you become a celibate and have taken vows of celibacy, there is havoc in you, because you are denying the whole biological system and there is a wastage of energy. You are battling, battling, battling. Or you go to the other extreme, indulge, which is another form of wasting energy. Whereas, if you are attentive, it is the greatest form of all summation of energy. It means intensity, passion, and you cannot be passionate if you are wasting. Without any effort the mind can become completely quiet and therefore full of energy without any distortion.

– Krishnamurti, Talks and Dialogues in Sydney 1970

During excavations in Mexico symbolic representations of God were found. They give apt and clear illustration of this truth and of these various forms of divine manifestation at the different levels of creation. At the base there is a serpent or sometimes a dragon, that is sexual energy: Kundalini. On it stands a man’s figure which symbolizes the body – sustaining, emotional, mental and intuitive manifestations, and at the very top, above the man, is a radiant face, the face of God, the symbol of pure spiritual, divine self-awareness: God! How could one have better depicted the truth of the various manifestation forms of one and the same deity?

Man alone is capable of attaining consciousness at all levels of creation and of embracing all the manifestation levels in a divine universal consciousness. This is because man alone has in his body the organs corresponding to the various forms of creative energy. These organs are able to bear, as the matching resistance, the different vibrations and frequencies of the various forms in which the universal, creative energy is manifested. Just as the organs are suited to receive these vibrations and frequencies from the universe, so, on the other hand, are they also capable of emitting these creating energies. These organs are the most important nerve and brain centers which transmit the vibrations of the various creative energy forms to the corresponding glands closely linked to the centers in which the transformation takes place. In the man who is at the lowest level of his humanity the majority of these nerve and brain centers are still in a dormant condition. His degree of consciousness is accordingly low and primitive. The path of his development lies in mastering and activating each succeeding centre until all the nerve and brain centers have been activated and man has made the whole scale of creation, including the Creator, conscious in himself.

The fuel with which man can heat and activate his latent nerve and brain centers, somewhat like a radio valve, is the sexual energy which he bears in his body. As long as man remains at a low level of consciousness he is not master of his sexual energy, but rather its servant. He is still completely its slave and at its mercy. Therefore he never even suspects that this energy embodies a secret, that his own sexual energy can open the door to spiritual power, that with the help of this energy he can attain consciousness in his divine Self and in God and thence acquire immortality, ascendancy over matter and over the whole of Nature. Through this he has found the secret key to the philosopher’s stone, he has become a white magician.

The medieval alchemists, the Rosicrucians, who were great initiates, repeatedly point out in their curious writings, in which the naked truth is always avoided, that the substance from which the philosopher’s stone can be made is very easily found and all human beings are in possession of it. They wished to protect their knowledge from the vulgar who even then would have turned everything to mischief and out of sheer ignorance abused the secret of sexual energy for depraved perversions. At the same time, however, they wished to pass on the key to this secret only to such people as were sufficiently mature not to abuse it. They wished to direct men of intelligence to the right path where they should look for the secret in the hope that some would find it. It is quite clear from their writings that the substance for the philosopher’s stone is to be found in man himself. Merely this harmless clue led to dreadful cruelties. We know from medieval court records that lords who wanted to make the philosopher’s stone regarded human blood as the secret substance, for they interpreted the Rosicrucian writings to mean that the stone was to be formed out of a human being. Thus with unbelievable cruelty they slaughtered their serfs wholesale in order to obtain the substance from their bodies. In their ignorance these lords, like the Apostle Paul’s ‘natural men’, the unaware, ignorant ‘dead’ people, never realized that the matter was much simpler than they thought. They should only have remembered that the source through which all earthly life is transmitted is sexual energy. The source of life, the famous elixir of the Rosicrucians, is therefore something we bear within us! From this source flows a current, life itself, ‘which is fire, but flows like water’. What better definition could they have found of the kind of energy that flows like electricity or water into our nervous system, yet is not water but fire; therefore as literally stated in the Rosicrucian writings, ‘a fiery water, the watery fire’ is ‘a current of fire, which flows like water’. The ignorant man uses this ‘individual source’, usually his sexual, vital energy, in the pursuit of erotic pleasures and without desire to procreate. He does not realize that if he were not to expend the vital current which flows from his ‘individual source’, but to preserve it for his own body and to use the life-source for himself, he could kindle and activate his higher energy centers, the chakras, and thereby obtain mastery over them. If he were to use the vital current for his own body, as the will demands, he could then endow his body with new life, regenerate it and even attain the immortality of the cells known to the Rosicrucians as transmutation. Through the higher spiritual centers he could creatively use sexual energy, converted into creative spiritual power, to serve himself and at the same time share in the labour of spiritualising our world. In order to possess himself of this secret, it is absolutely essential that a man has a superior morality and attitude to life! And since these are exceedingly rare, the ‘alchemists’, the Rosicrucians and other initiates spoke only in symbols or not at all.

Today, in contrast to that age, we have reached the stage where these things must be discussed in order to awaken man’s morality. And this not for reasons of sentimental religiosity, but rather for general, human ones, since God so created the spiritual constitution of man that if he resists the inner moral laws inherent in all men he will inevitably bring misery, despair and spiritual darkness upon himself. Men have misunderstood and misinterpreted certain truths discovered by great psychiatrists. And, what is worse, confused by the errors which semi-ignorant charlatans disseminate, they abuse their sexual energy by treating it more and more as a merely physical phenomenon and employing it almost exclusively for erotic pleasures. This attitude is fraught with such great danger that we wish to try and arouse the attention of those seekers and in particular of the young people led astray by the erroneous interpretation of ‘repression’, ‘liberation from spiritual and physical inhibitions’ and of ‘freedom from inhibition’. We do this even though we know for certain that many people will again use the secret of sexual energy for degenerate perversions. It must be said quite frankly that sexual energy can be used for much higher purposes than merely relieving with erotic experience the boredom arising from one’s own infinite emptiness. Sexual energy is divine creative power itself. It can be used for heaven or hell. But if it is used for hellish purposes it strikes back and plunges its abuser inexorably into hell.

Perhaps there will be some among the many misled young people and adults who will lend an ear and, perhaps at first out of sheer curiosity, risk an experiment for at least a certain time. In the course of these experiments they will garner such profound experiences that they will once and for all set foot on the path of truth and never again swerve from it. And there will certainly also be many people, indeed there are already, who will undertake this labour out of a true sense of longing for God. If only a few are thus led to the right path, this book will have fulfilled its purpose.

In order to conduct the experiments properly and to form any idea at all of what they are about, we must first make ourselves familiar with a few things and turn them over in our minds. For this book also sets out to show the way of tried and proven practice. Christ prophesies in the Bible that a time will come when the mysteries of truth will be proclaimed upon the housetops. There are a number of striking indications that this time has come. The point has been reached where the truth about sexual energy must be disclosed. What men make of it depends on their moral maturity. After all, nuclear energy can be used for better purposes than the making of weapons man plans to use for his own annihilation! In the same way it is possible to use sexual energy for heaven or hell since it is the divine creative power or logos, the essence of man himself. When man has taken hold of spiritual, magical power and thus attained supremacy, it rests with himself whether he becomes a black or a white magician!

Elisabeth Haich: Sexual Energy and Yoga – Ch3 The Creative Primal Serpent pp43-47 (Aurora Press 1982)

From “The Gospel of Truth” – Valentinus

Quoted and commented in “Gnosis” by Rafael Vargas, p68-69

« 21,3 But those who are to receive teaching are the living, who are inscribed in the book of the living. It is about themselves that they receive instruction, receiving it from the Father, turning again to him. Since the perfection of the totality is in the Father, it is necessary for the totality to ascend to him. Then, if one has knowledge, he receives what are his own, and draws them to himself. For he who is ignorant is in need, and what he lacks is great, since he lacks that which will make him perfect. Since the perfection of the totality is in the Father, and it is necessary for the totality to ascend to him, and for each one to receive what are his own, he enrolled them in advance, having prepared them to give to those who came forth from him. »

Those inscribed in the book of the living are the resurrected adepts and the ascended adepts, that is to say, the different grades of perfect adept. (Rafael Vargas)

« 21,26 Those whose name he knew in advance were called at the end, so that one who has knowledge is the one whose name the Father has uttered. For he whose name has not been spoken is ignorant. Indeed, how is one to hear, if his name has not been called? For he who is ignorant until the end is a creature of oblivion, and he will vanish along with it. If not, how is it that these miserable ones have no name, (that) they do not have the call? Therefore, if one has knowledge, his is from above. If he is called, he hears, he answers, and he turns to him who is calling him, and ascends to him. And he knows in what manner he is called. Having knowledge, he does the will of the one who called him, he wishes to be pleasing to him, he receives rest. »

He who has the Gnosis is the only one whose name the Father pronounces and is ultimately called to know him. The first impressions begin to arrive, only when we begin to be conscious of our ignorance before the wisdom of the Father. But it is one thing to admit our ignorance and another very different thing to look hopelessly for his Wisdom and Love, because if somebody has gnostic knowledge it is from above. If one is called from above one should respond by turning toward ones interior so that from there, one could do his holy will in this world. (Rafael Vargas)

“If He would not help us, we would surely fail, and if we fail, He also fails.”
Samael Aun Weor

« 22,13 Each one’s name comes to him. He who is to have knowledge in this manner knows where he comes from and where he is going. He knows as one who, having become drunk, has turned away from his drunkenness, (and) having returned to himself, has set right what are his own. »

The Gospel according to St John opens with following words:

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

How admirably do these few words elucidate the mystery of the creation!

But we could only properly understand and appreciate these words if we could read the Bible in the Greek original. The translation is, alas, not always a correct one. The English language lacks the words for an exact rendering of the Greek text. There is no word which means the same as the Greek word logos, and so Luther translated logos with ‘word’, which completely fails to render the meaning of logos. It would have been better to take ‘verb’ because it expresses more adequately the birth of the first motion, the first stirring of creation. In Greek, logos means the creative principle, the power of God, the instrument of God which executes his will and animates the creation, as, for instance, a man’s hand, which is at the same time himself and his instrument, which is active. When logos was still in its latent primal state, before anything, even before God’s very first revelation, the creation of vowels and letters, ‘the word’ which is composed of letters likewise could not have existed. That is an essentially later phase of creation. And apart from this there is an added difficulty in understanding this text correctly. Each individual has his own interpretation of many of the words according to his lower or higher level of consciousness. The word ‘God’ means something different to each person. It is true, and can be verified in the Greek original, that God created man ‘on’ the mould of his image just as the glove is drawn over the hand, and he continues to do so today; it is equally true that man reciprocates this by creating God in his own human image. Moreover, the words used in Luther’s time are no longer suitable to express certain things. If we then try to render the meaning of these sentences according to the Greek original with modern words, it would run something like this: In the beginning was logos, the will that brings forth the deed, the power that animates and realises creation, still with God in a latent condition, as God’s potency. God was and is this power himself. Essentially, God and his creative principle, his creative power, are one and the same thing. All things were created by God through logos. God is being, is life itself, and everything that exists can only do so because the creative principle, the creative aspect of God, namely, logos, creates, animates and sustains it. God, eternal being, life, moulded man too – according to the original text – on himself, on his own image. Therefore the true Self, the very essence of man is God himself. But man in his unconscious condition is still in darkness and does not comprehend God’s light within himself. He is unaware and has no inkling that God, that is, his quintessential Self, dwells in his unconscious.

Life is therefore the creative power, logos, and everything that was created was created by logos. Everything from the rarest spirit to matter was and is created, animated and sustained by logos. But at the seventh and very highest level is the spirit of God, God himself in a perfectly balanced state of repose. From here, God, as his own creative principle – for logos is God himself – creates the entire scale of creation. From infinite space, from every point of the universe, from everywhere, life flows. At first purely spiritual forms of energy of the highest frequencies arise and take effect, then the frequencies gradually slow down, the waves become longer, and the forms of manifestation continue acquiring density and substance till the lowest level is reached, that of the so-called ‘dead’ matter, which is, however, not dead, for we know that matter is simply another form of energy. In the atom of matter, just as in the solar and astronomical systems, God’s creative power circulates, life circulates. It is in every rung of Jacob’s ladder which reaches from heaven, from the kingdom of God, down to the material world, to earth.

We human beings bear all forms of creative energy within us. We are the microcosm in the macrocosm. Our spirit, our true Self, is God, as Paul has already stated. Then logos, the creative power of the Self, descends deeper into us as in the universe, forms our ideas, creates the emotional and spiritual levels and finally the necessary resistance to these, the bearer of all higher forms of energy, our physical body. Just as logos, beyond man, and at all levels of creation, manifests and creates itself as different forms of energy, so do we human beings bear the whole Jacob’s ladder of logos manifestations, that is, entire creation as the various aspects of our own Self. And as logos is active at each level of creation in the macrocosm, so man emits and manifests in his microcosm at each level of his being, through the organs corresponding to the various frequencies of the creative power, the outward forms of the same divine, creative energy, that is to say, of our own Self.

If we draw the human spine with the brain and its extension the spinal cord, we observe the form of a serpent. This serpent is by the same token the image of the manifestation form of the logos in the macrocosm, and in man, the microcosm. It is also the image of the resistance to the logos, of its locus in man: the spinal cord. This ‘spinal serpent’ created from the finest ethereal matter is the bearer of the divine creative power, of our own life. The power emanates with gradually increasing frequencies from seven spiritual centres, by way of suitable organs which sustain the creative power as resistance.

In Ancient Egypt the initiated wore a band of gold on their headdress, which symbolised a serpent with erect head. To be ‘initiated’ meant that a man had become conscious at all seven levels of self-revelation or self-awareness, and therefore in the logos-serpent as a whole. There was no longer an unconscious element and so he was a man who had attained universal consciousness.

The erect Aesculapian serpent drinking the elixir of life from a shallow goblet also represents the creative life-force serpent in the human spine. It is the absolute wholeness, therefore health, and consequently also has the power to heal all diseases – that is to say, all forms of degeneration.

We find the same ‘serpent’ in India, there known as ‘Kundalini’. As long as man remains unconscious with his higher nerve centres still in a latent condition, the serpent rests coiled up in the lowest centre of energy which has its seat in the terminal vertebra, the coccyx; that is, in the negative pole of vital tension! As man gradually becomes conscious and his energy centres are activated in the process, the Kundalini serpent slowly uncoils itself and stretches up and up, lays hold of and animates each succeeding nerve centre, and ascends to the very highest centre, which has its seat in the uppermost part of the head, in the skull. There it unites with the positive pole which lies in the seventh energy centre. Then it stands as erect as the Aesculapian serpent.

The philosophy of Yoga lays great stress on the difference between the vital current and the resistance, namely the physical organs and nerve centres by which the current is borne. Creative power, the vital current, forms seven energy centres in man’s being, and each energy centre, known in the terminology of Yoga as chakra, has the effect of a transformer which transforms the divine creative power to a lower tension corresponding to the next centre of manifestation. Thus, proceeding from the uppermost centre, creative power is transformed six times and there are as a result seven energy centres, seven chakras.

Since we human beings have become familiar with this energy from the earthly, material level, we start counting the energy focuses, which are at the same time the levels of manifestation, from the bottom upwards. The Yoga terms for these seven centres are Sanskrit words as follows:

The first and lowest chakra is called: Muladhara (Mula means ‘marrow’); its seat is in the negative pole, which rests in the coccyx in a latent condition.

Second chakra: Svadisthana; its seat is in the nerve plexus above the genital organs.

Third chakra: Manipura; its seat is in the solar plexus.

Fourth chakra: Anahata; its seat is in the nerve centre of the heart.

Fifth chakra: Vishuddha; its seat is in the nerve centre of the thyroid gland.

Sixth chakra: Adjna; its seat is in the centre of the forehead, between the eyebrows.

Seventh chakra: Sahasrara; its seat is in the uppermost part of the skull, which is also the seat of the positive pole. Through the activation of this brain centre man attains divine all-consciousness.

In the Bible, day or light means: consciousness. Night or darkness means: unconsciousness. According to this metaphor, as Moses the great initiate says in the Bible, God creates every ‘day’ at all levels of consciousness with the vibrations pertaining to the levels, but at the seventh level of consciousness, on the seventh ‘day’, he does not create, but rests in himself. In this state there is no tension from which a creation could be evolved, because the two poles, the positive one and the negative one, are resting reconciled in one another in perfect balance and absolute oneness. Man can only experience this in a state of ecstasy as pure consciousness, otherwise it would mean physical death.

In the works of some Western scholars we read that the Indian yogi in the ecstatic Samadhi is unconscious. That is a great error! The opposite is true: he is in the state of complete consciousness, therefore of universal consciousness. He appears to be unconscious from outside only because he has no physical consciousness. Whoever has himself experienced the Samadhi state will know that, during it, the yogi is completely conscious and fully awake.

From this we may observe that there is only one truth and that the core of every religion is this sole truth. St Francis of Assisi, St Theresa and other great saints experienced the divine presence in an ecstatic state just as the Indian yogis in Asia have experienced it as ‘Samadhi’ and are still doing so.

We human beings experience these various levels of the logos-manifestations and various frequencies as various states of consciousness. Accordingly, we give them various names.

The energy form of divine power, which links mind and matter at the first level in the lowest centre, we experience in our conscious mind as the instinct for the preservation of the species, as sexual, physical urge and desire, and in fulfilment as purely physical gratification. This we call sexual energy.

At the second level we experience it as the manifestation of the self-preservation instinct, as metabolism; in our conscious mind as hunger and thirst, and in fulfilment as repletion.

At the third level divine power emanates as will-power and we experience it in our conscious mind as the urge towards volition.

At the fourth level divine power prevails through the heart centre, the feelings and emotions. In our conscious mind we experience it as sensibility, as feelings; we experience the whole scale between hate and personal love which are mirror images.

At the fifth level divine power manifests itself as our concept of time and space. Its instrument is the thyroid gland which connects us with the finite world; it links us with time and provides our time rhythm. This centre determines the fast or slow tempo of our thoughts and movements, whether we find a period of time long or short, whether we are always in haste or take things at an easy pace. Consequently this centre exercises a decisive influence on the tempo of our life-rhythm, and thus on the temporal duration of our life.

At the sixth level the logos-energy manifests itself as intuition. It flashes into our conscious mind the lightning, as it were, of spiritual light, which provides us with new ideas and insights. As a state of consciousness we experience this intuition as all-pervading spiritual light, spiritual meditation and, identical with this, as all-embracing universal love. We feel a sense of oneness with the whole universe, we understand the language of Nature and the symbolic content of every line and form.

At the seventh and highest level, through the centre in the uppermost part of the skull, we experience divine creative power as a purely spiritual state of being; this appears in our conscious mind as the profoundest self-knowledge, as supreme ‘individual consciousness’ which we experience in ourselves as ‘I AM THAT I AM’. Here there are no longer unconscious feelings or thoughts, no longer outward-looking perceptions. I am no longer happy and content, because ‘I am’ these things, all feelings, all thoughts, the radiant light of consciousness – ‘I myself am’ happiness, ‘I myself am’ bliss and peace! I am a radiant, all-embracing, all-penetrating self-awareness.

Elisabeth Haich: Sexual Energy and Yoga – Ch3 The Creative Primal Serpent pp38-43 (Aurora Press 1982)

6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

9 But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?”. But we have the mind of Christ.

Paul the Apostle: 1 Corinthians 2: 6-16

Belief is so unnecessary, as are ideals. Both dissipate energy which is needed to follow the unfolding of the fact, the ‘what is.’ Beliefs, like ideals, are escapes from the fact and in escape there is no end to sorrow. The ending of sorrow is the understanding of the fact from moment to moment. There is no system or method which will give understanding but only a choiceless awareness of a fact. Meditation according to a system is the avoidance of the fact of what you are; it is far more important to understand yourself, the constant changing of the facts about yourself, than to meditate in order to find god, have visions, sensations, and other forms of entertainment.

– Krishnamurti, Krishnamurti Notebook,41,Meditations

The Tree of Life: The study of a lifetime.

(click on the pictures to zoom)

To suppose that the Creative Intelligence of the world would create man in bondage and leave him bound would be to dishonor that Creative Power which we call God. On the other hand, to suppose that God could make man as an individual, without leaving him to discover himself, would be to suppose an impossibility.

Individuality must be spontaneous and can never be automatic. The seed of freedom must be hid within the shell of the human. But, like the Prodigal of old, man must make the great discovery for himself. Although the journey may at times seem hard and the burden too great to bear, man still feels within a subtle sense, a mystical presence, a divine Reality.

Thus, the inherent nature of himself is forever seeking to express itself in terms of freedom. We will do well to listen to this inner voice, for it tells us of a life wonderful in its scope, of a love beyond our fondest dreams, of a freedom which the soul craves.

Ernest Holmes 1926

I now just wanted to live my life while it was happening.

Patricia Hart Clifford: Sitting Still 1994

IN THE LAST GREAT EPOCH in human history, people in the West forgot completely that it isn’t enough to know the secrets of physics, mathematics, and chemistry, and that on the contrary the very first object of man’s study, research and understanding should be man himself, the discoverer of all these secrets. While his attention was directed to things outside himself, he neglected to look inside and ask the question, Who am I? This omission had serious consequences: while technological developments became ever more perfect, man himself became more and more imperfect. At the very time that engineering and technology were enhancing man’s personal comfort, his soul was sinking deeper and deeper into dissatisfaction and misery. A person who has lost himself is plagued by burning unrest, and the result of inner dissatisfaction, tragedy within the man, is always war, destruction, cosmic catastrophe. Humanity plunges into misery for the same reason that people seek happiness outside themselves, instead of in the one and only place where it can be found, within! But the sufferings that often seem to grow and compound themselves finally force us to turn our attention away from things and toward the person who is suffering — ourself! Sooner or later we must learn that the true reason for our sufferings is our abysmal lack of self-understanding and self-control. Man simply does not know his own soul and the principles and forces at work deep within it. He does not know the source of his thoughts or the tree of his wishes, and chained down by this ignorance of his own being, cannot control either himself or his destiny. In the same blind way in which he follows his animal instincts and urges, fate buffets him to and fro like a rudderless ship in a storm. On the other hand, when one has learned to recognize the various levels at which life goes on within his self, and learn to control himself, he is also able to control his fate. The power which guides our fate did not create man for misery but for happiness. Only blindness pushes him into suffering.

—ELISABETH HAICH (1897 – 1994) Spiritual Teacher and Author
From Self Healing, Yoga & Destiny

My paradigm, simply stated, is:

“I admit the existence of possibilities.”

mfc

THERE exist moments in life, separated by long intervals of time, but linked together by their inner content and by a certain singular sensation peculiar to them. Several such moments always recur to my mind together, and I feel then that it is these that have determined the chief trend of my life.
The year 1890 or 1891. An evening preparation class in the Second Moscow ” Gymnasium “.1 A large class-room lit by kerosene lamps with large shades. Yellow cupboards along the walls. Boarders in holland blouses, stained with ink, are bending over their desks. Some are immersed in their lessons, some are reading under their desks a forbidden novel by Dumas or Gaboriau, some are whispering to their neighbours. But outwardly they all look alike. At the master’s desk sits the master on duty, a tall lanky German, ” Giant Stride “, in his uniform—a blue tailcoat with gold buttons. Through an open door, another such preparation class is seen in the adjoining class-room.
I am a schoolboy in the second or third ” class “. But instead of Zeifert’s Latin grammar, entirely consisting of exceptions which I sometimes see in my dreams to this day, or Evtushevsky’s ” Problems “, with the peasant who went to town to sell hay, and the cistern to which three pipes lead, I have before me Malinin and Bourenin’s ” Physics “. I have borrowed this book from one of the older boys and am reading it greedily and enthusiastically, overcome now by rapture, now by terror, at the mysteries which are opening before me. All round me walls are crumbling, and horizons infinitely remote and incredibly beautiful stand revealed. It is as though threads, previously unknown and unsuspected, begin to reach out and bind things together. For the first time in my life my world emerges from chaos. Everything becomes connected, forming an orderly and harmonious whole. I understand, I link together, a series of phenomena which were disconnected and appeared to have nothing in common.
But what am I reading?
I am reading the chapter on levers. And all at once a multitude of simple things, which I knew as independent and having nothing in common, become connected and united into a great whole. A stick pushed under a stone, a penknife, a shovel, a seesaw, all these things are one and the same, they are all ” levers “. In this idea there is something both terrifying and alluring. How is it that I did not know it? Why has nobody spoken to me about it? Why am I made to learn a thousand useless things and am not told about this? All that I am discovering is so wonderful and so miraculous that I become more and more enraptured, and am gripped by a certain presentiment of further revelations awaiting me. It is as though I already feel the unity of all and am overcome with awe at the sensation.
I can no longer keep to myself all the emotions which thrill me. I want to try to share them with my neighbour at the desk, a great friend of mine with whom I often have breathless talks. In a whisper I begin to tell him of my discoveries. But I feel that my words do not convey anything to him and that I cannot express what I feel. My friend listens to me absent-mindedly, evidently not hearing half of what I say. I see this and feel hurt and want to stop talking to him. But the tall German at the master’s desk has already noticed that we are ” talking ” and that I am showing something to my friend under the desk. He hurries over to us and the next moment my beloved ” Physics ” is in his stupid and unsympathetic hands.
” Who gave you this book? You can understand nothing in it anyway. And I am sure you have not prepared your lessons.”
My ” Physics ” is on the master’s desk.
I hear round me ironical whispers and comments that Ouspensky reads physics. But I don’t care. I shall have the ” Physics ” again to-morrow; and the tall German is all made up of large and small levers !
Year after year passes by.
It is the year 1906 or 1907. The editorial office of the Moscow daily paper The Morning. I have just received the foreign papers, and I have to write an article on the forthcoming Hague Conference. French, German, English, Italian papers. Phrases, phrases, sympathetic, critical, ironical, blatant, pompous, lying and, worst of all, utterly automatic, phrases which have been used a thousand times and will be used again on entirely different, perhaps contradictory, occasions. I have to make a survey of all these words and opinions, pretending to take them seriously, and then, just as seriously, to write something on my own account. But what can I say? It is all so tedious. Diplomats and all kinds of statesmen will gather together and talk, papers will approve or disapprove, sympathise or not sympathise. Then everything will be as it was, or even worse.
It is still early, I say to myself; perhaps something will come into my head later.
Pushing aside the papers I open a drawer in my desk. The whole desk is crammed with books with strange titles, The Occult World, Life after Death, Atlantis and Lemuria, Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, Le Temple de Satan, The Sincere Narrations of a Pilgrim, and the like. These books and I have been inseparable for a whole month, and the world of Hague Conferences and leading articles becomes more and more vague, foreign and unreal to me.
I open one of the books at random, feeling that my article will not be written to-day. Well, it can go to the devil ! Humanity will lose nothing if there is one article the less on the Hague Conference.
All these talks about a universal peace are only Maniloff’s dreams about building a bridge across the pond.1 Nothing can ever come out of it, first of all because the people who start conferences and those who are going to debate on peace will sooner or later start a war. Wars do not. begin by themselves, neither do ” peoples ” begin them, however much they are accused of it. It is just those men with their good intentions who are the obstacle to peace. But is it possible to expect that they will ever understand this? Has anybody ever understood his own worthlessness?
A great many wicked thoughts occur to me about the Hague Conference, but I realise that none of them are printable. The idea of the Hague Conference comes from very high sources; therefore if one is to write about it at all, one must write sympathetically, especially as even those of our papers which are generally the most suspicious and critical of all that comes from the government disapprove only of the attitude of Germany to the conference. The editor would therefore never pass what I might write, if I said all that I think. And if by some miracle he were to pass it, it would never be read by anybody. The paper would be seized in the streets by the police, and both the editor and I would have to make a very long journey. This prospect does not appeal to me in the least. What is the use of attempting to expose lies when people like them and live in them? It is their own affair; but I am tired of lying. There are enough lies without mine.
But here, in these books, there is a strange flavour of truth. I feel it particularly strongly now, because for so long I have held myself in, have kept myself within artificial ” materialistic ” bounds, have denied myself all dreams about things that could not be held within these bounds. I had been living in a desiccated and sterilised world, with an infinite number of taboos imposed on my thought. And suddenly these strange books broke down all the walls round me, and made me think and dream about things of which for a long time I had feared to think and dream. Suddenly I began to find a strange meaning in old fairy tales; woods, rivers, mountains, became living beings; mysterious life filled the night; with new interests and new expectations, I began to dream again of distant travels; and I remembered many extraordinary things that I had heard about old monasteries. Ideas and feelings which had long since ceased to interest me suddenly began to assume significance and interest. A deep meaning and many subtle allegories appeared in what only yesterday seemed to be naïve popular fantasy or crude superstition. And the greatest mystery and the greatest miracle was that the thought became possible that death may not exist, that those who have gone might not have vanished altogether, but exist somewhere and somehow, and that perhaps I might see them again. I have become so accustomed to think ” scientifically ” that I am afraid even to imagine that there may be something else beyond the outer covering of life. I feel like a man condemned to death, whose companions have been hanged and who has already become reconciled to the thought that the same fate awaits him; and suddenly he hears that his companions are alive, that they have escaped and that there is hope also for him. And he fears to believe this, because it would be so terrible if it proved to be false, and nothing would remain but prison and the expectation of execution.
Yes, I know that all these books about ” life after death ” are very naive. But they lead somewhere; there is something behind them, something I had approached before; but it frightened me then, and I fled from it to the bare and arid desert of ” materialism “.
The ” Fourth Dimension ” !
This is the reality which I dimly felt long ago, but which escaped me then. Now I see my way; I see my work, and I see where it may lead.
The Hague Conference, the newspapers, it is all so far from me. Why is it that people do not understand that they are only shadows, only silhouettes, of themselves, and that the whole of life is only a shadow, only a silhouette, of some other life?
Years go by.
Books, books, books. I read, I find, I lose, I find again, again I lose. At last a certain whole becomes formed in my mind. I see the unbroken line of thought and knowledge which passes from century to century, from age to age, from country to country, from one race to another,. a line deeply hidden beneath layers of religions and philosophies which are, in fact, only distortions and perversions of the ideas belonging to the line. I see an extensive literature full of significance which was quite unknown to me until recently, but which, as now becomes quite clear to me, feeds the philosophy we know, although it is scarcely mentioned in the text-books on the history of philosophy. And I am amazed now that I did not know it before, that there are so few who have even. heard about it. Who knows, for instance, that an ordinary pack of playing-cards contains a profound and harmonious philosophical system? This is so entirely forgotten that it seems almost new.
I decide to write, to tell of all I have found. And at the same time I see that it is perfectly possible to make the ideas of this hidden thought agree with the data of exact knowledge, and I realise that the ” fourth dimension ” is the bridge that can be thrown across between the old and the new knowledge. And I see and find ideas of the fourth dimension in ancient symbolism, in the Tarot cards, in the images of Indian gods, in the branches of a tree, and in the lines of the human body.
I collect material, select quotations, prepare summaries, with the idea of showing the peculiar inner connection which I now see between methods of thinking that ordinarily appear separate and independent. But in the midst of this work, when everything is made ready, everything takes shape, I suddenly begin to feel a chill of doubt and weariness creeping over me. Well, one more book will be written, but even now, when I am only beginning to write it, I know how it will end. I know the limit beyond which it is impossible to go. The work stands still. I cannot make myself write about the limitless possibilities of knowledge when for myself I already see the limit. The old methods are no good; some other methods are necessary. People who think that something can be attained by their own efforts are as blind as those who are utterly ignorant of the possibilities of the new knowledge.
Work on the book is abandoned.
Months go by, and I become completely absorbed in strange experiments which carry me far beyond the limits of the known and possible.
Frightening and fascinating sensations. Everything becomes alive! There is nothing dead or inanimate. I feel the beating of the pulse of life. I ” see ” Infinity. Then everything vanishes. But each time I say to myself afterwards that this has been and, therefore, things exist that are different from the ordinary. But so little remains; I remember so vaguely what I have experienced; I can tell myself only an infinitesimal part of what has been. And I can control nothing, direct nothing. Sometimes this comes, sometimes it does not. Sometimes only horror comes, sometimes a blinding light. Sometimes a little remains in the memory, sometimes nothing at all. Sometimes much is understood, new horizons are disclosed, but only for a moment. And these moments are so short that I can never be certain whether I have seen anything or not. Light flares up and dies before I have time to tell myself what I have seen. And each day, each time, it becomes more and more difficult to kindle this light. It often seems that the first experiment gave me everything, that afterwards there has been nothing but a repetition of the same things in my consciousness, only a reflection. I know that this is not true and that each time I receive something new. But it is difficult to get rid of this thought. And it increases the sensation of helplessness that I feel in the face of the wall behind which I can look for a moment, but never long enough to account to myself for what I see. Further experiments only emphasise my powerlessness to get hold of the mystery. Thought does not grasp, does not convey, what is at times clearly felt. Thought is too slow, too short. There are no words and no forms to convey what one sees and knows in such moments. And it is impossible to fix these moments, to arrest them, to make them longer, more obedient to the will. There is no possibility of remembering what has been found and understood, and later repeating it to oneself. It disappears as dreams disappear. Perhaps it is nothing but a dream.
Yet at the same time this is not so. I know it is not a dream. In these experiments and experiences there is a taste of reality which cannot be imitated and about which one cannot make a mistake. I know that all this is there. I have become convinced of it. Unity exists. And I know already that it is infinite, orderly, animated and conscious. But how to link ” what is above ” with ” what is below “?
I feel that a method is necessary. There is something which one must know before starting on experiments. And more and more often I begin to think that this method can be given only by those Eastern schools of Yogis and Sufis about which one reads and hears, if such schools exist and if they can be penetrated. My thought concentrates on this. The question of school and of a method acquires for me a predominant significance, though it is still not clear and is connected with too many fantasies and ideas based on very doubtful
theories. But one thing I see clearly, that alone, by myself, I can do nothing. And I decide to start on a long journey with the idea of searching for those schools or for the people who may show me the way to them.
1912.
* * *
My way lay to the East. My previous journeys had convinced me that there still remained much in the East that had long ceased to exist in Europe. At the same time I was not at all sure that I should find precisely what I wanted to find. And above all I could not say with certainty what exactly I should search for. The question of ” schools ” (I am speaking, of course, of ” esoteric ” or ” occult” schools) still contained much that was not clear. I did not doubt that schools existed. But I could not say whether it was necessary to assume the physical existence of such schools on earth. Sometimes it seemed to me that true schools could only exist on another plane and that we could approach them only when in special states of consciousness, without actual change of place or conditions. In that case, my journey became purposeless. Yet it seemed to me that there might be traditional methods of approach to esotericism still preserved in the East.
The question of schools coincided with the question of esoteric succession. Sometimes it seemed to me possible to admit an uninterrupted historical succession. At other times it seemed to me that only ” mystical” succession was possible, that is, that the line of succession on earth breaks, goes out of our field of vision. There remain only traces of it: works of art, literary memorials, myths, religions. Then, perhaps only after a long interval of time, the same causes which once created esoteric thought begin to work once more, and once more there begins the process of collecting knowledge, schools are created and the ancient teaching emerges from its hidden form. This would mean that during the intermediary period there could be no full or rightly organised schools, but only imitation schools or schools that preserve the letter of the old law petrified in fixed forms.
However, this did not deter me. I was ready to accept whatever the facts which I hoped to find should show me.
There was yet another question which occupied me before my journey and during the first part of it.
Should one and can one try to do something here and now with an obviously insufficient knowledge of methods, ways and possible results?
In asking this I had in mind various methods of breathing, dieting, fasting, exercises of the attention and imagination and, above all, of overcoming oneself at moments of passivity or lassitude.
In answering this question voices in me were divided:
“It does not matter what one does, only one has to do something,” said one voice; ” but one should not sit and wait for something to come to one of itself.”
” The whole point is precisely to do nothing,” said another voice, ” until one knows surely and definitely what should be done to attain a definite aim. If one begins to do something without knowing exactly what is necessary for what object, this knowledge will never come. The result will be the ‘work on oneself’ of various ‘ occult’ and ‘theosophical’ books, that is, make-believe.”
And listening to these two voices within me I was unable to decide which of them was right.
Ought I to try or ought I to wait? I understood that in many cases it was useless to try. How can one try to paint a picture? How can one try to read Chinese? One must first study and know, that is, be able to do it. At the same time I realised that in these last arguments there was much desire to evade difficulties or at least to postpone them. However, the fear of amateurish attempts at ” work on oneself ” outweighed the rest. I said to myself that in the direction I wanted to go it was impossible to go blindly, that one must see or know where one was going. Besides, I did not even wish for any changes in myself. I was going in search of something. If in the midst of this process of search I myself began to change, I should perhaps be satisfied with something quite different from what I wanted to search for. It seemed to me then that this is precisely what often happens to people on the road of ” occult ” search. They begin to try various methods on themselves and put so much expectation, so much labour and effort, into these attempts that in the end they take the subjective results of their efforts for the results of their search. I wanted to avoid this at all costs.
But a quite different and almost unexpected aim to my journey began to outline itself from the very first months of my travels.
In almost every place I came to, and even during the journey, I met people who were interested in the same ideas that interested me, who spoke the same language as I spoke, people between whom and
myself there was instantly set up an entirely distinctive understanding. How far this special understanding would lead, of course I was unable to say at that time, but in the conditions and with the material of ideas I then possessed, even such understanding seemed almost miraculous. Some of these people knew one another, others did not. And I felt that I was establishing a link between them, that I was, as it were, stretching out a thread which, according to the original plan of my journey, should go round the world. There was something which drew me and which was full of significance in these encounters. To every new man I met I spoke of others I had met earlier, and sometimes I knew beforehand people I was to meet later.
St. Petersburg, London, Paris, Genoa, Cairo, Colombo, Galle, Madras, Benares, Calcutta, were connected by invisible threads of common hopes and common expectation. And the more people I met, the more this side of my journey took hold of me. It was as though there grew out of it some secret society, having no name, no form, no conventional laws, but closely connected by community of ideas and language. I often thought of what I myself had written in Tertium Organum about people of a ” new race “. And it seemed to me that I had not been far from the. truth, and that there is actually carried on the process of the formation, if not of a new race, at least of some new category of men, for whom there exist different values than for other people.
In connection with these thoughts I again came to the necessity of putting in order and arranging systematically that which among the whole of our knowledge leads to ” new facts “. And I decided that after my return I would resume the abandoned work on my book, but with new aims and with new intentions.
At the same time I began to make certain connections in India and in Ceylon, and it seemed to me that in a short time I should be able to say that I had found concrete facts.
But there came one brilliant sunny morning when, on my way back from India, I stood on the deck of the steamer going from Madras to Colombo and rounding Ceylon from the south. This was the third time I had approached Ceylon, during this period, on every occasion from a different direction. The flat shore with blue hills in the distance revealed simultaneously what could never be seen when one was there on the spot. Through my glasses I could see the toy railway going south and all at once several toy stations, which appeared to be almost side by side. I even knew their names: Kollu-pitiya, Bambalapitiya, Wellawatta, and others.
The approach to Colombo stirred me. I was to know there:
first, whether I should again find the man I had met before my last trip to India and whether he would repeat the proposal he had made me regarding my meeting certain Yogis, and secondly where I should go next: should it be back to Russia, or further on to Burma, Siam, Japan and America.
But I was not expecting what actually met me.
The first word I heard on landing was: war.
There began then strange muddled days. Everything was thrown into confusion. But I already felt that my search in one sense was ended, and I understood then why I had all the time felt that it was necessary to hurry. A new cycle was beginning. And it was as yet impossible to say what it would be like and to what it would lead. One thing only was clear from the first, that what was possible yesterday became impossible to-day. All the mud was rising from the bottom of life. All the cards became mixed. All the threads were broken.
There remained only what I had established for myself. Nobody could take that from me. And I felt that it alone could lead me further.
1914-1930.
______________________________
1″ Gymnasiums ” were government ” classical ” schools containing eight classes, i.e., forms, for boys from ten to eighteen.
1 Maniloff, a sentimental landowner in Gogol’s Dead Souls.
______________________________

P. D. Ouspensky

All study, all thinking and investigation must have one aim, one purpose in view, and this aim must be attaining consciousness. It is useless to study oneself without this purpose. There are reasons to study oneself only if one has already realized that one does not have consciousness and one wishes to attain it. Otherwise it becomes just futile. Attaining consciousness is connected with the gradual liberation from mechanicalness, for man, as he is, is fully and completely under mechanical laws. The more a man attains consciousness, the more he leaves mechanicalness, which means he becomes more free from accidental mechanical laws.
The first step in acquiring consciousness is the realization that we are not conscious. But this illusion cannot be changed alone, for there are many others. As I said earlier, the worst of them is the illusion that we can ‘do’. All our life is based on this illusion. We always think that we are doing when, in reality, we are not doing anything— everything happens.
Another illusion is that we are awake. When we realize that we are asleep we will see that all history is made by people who are asleep. Sleeping people fight, make laws; sleeping people obey or disobey them. The worst of our illusions are the wrong ideas among which we live and which govern our lives. If we could change our attitude towards these wrong ideas and understand what they are, this in itself would be a great change and would immediately change other things.

P. D. Ouspensky

(Colour annotations – mfc)

The whole course of things goes to teach us faith. We need only obey. There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening, we shall hear the right word.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

When someone tells me that they are an atheist,
I cannot help but laugh.
Usually, I reply “But you don’t even understand what it is that you do not believe in.”

mfc

Understanding comes with the awareness of what is. There can be no understanding if there is condemnation of or identification with what is. If you condemn a child or identify yourself with him, then you cease to understand him. So, being aware of a thought or a feeling as it arises, without condemning it or identifying with it, you will find that it unfolds ever more widely and deeply, and thereby discover the whole content of what is. To understand the process of what is there must be choiceless awareness, a freedom from condemnation, justification, and identification. When you are vitally interested in fully understanding something, you give your mind and heart, withholding nothing. But unfortunately you are conditioned, educated, disciplined through religious and social environment to condemn or to identify, and not to understand. To condemn is stupid and easy, but to understand is arduous, requiring pliability and intelligence. Condemnation, as identification, is a form of self-protection. Condemnation or identification is a barrier to understanding. To understand the confusion, the misery in which one is, and so of the world, you must observe its total process. To be aware and pursue all its implications requires patience, to follow swiftly, and to be still.There is understanding only when there is stillness, when there is silent observation, passive awareness. Then only the problem yields its full significance. The awareness of which I speak is of what is from moment to moment, of the activities of thought and its subtle deceptions, fears, and hope. Choiceless awareness wholly dissolves our conflicts and miseries.

– Krishnamurti, Collected Works, Vol. IV,143,Choiceless Awareness

To live with effort is evil

As I was saying, if we do not understand the nature of effort, all action is limiting. Effort creates its own frontiers, its own objectives, its own limitations. Effort has the time-binding quality. You say, ‘I must meditate, I must make an effort to control my mind’. That very effort to control puts a limit on your mind. Do watch this, do think it out with me. To live with effort is evil; to me it is an abomination, if I may use a strong word. And if you observe, you will realize that from childhood on we are conditioned to make an effort. In our so-called education, in all the work we do, we struggle to improve ourselves, to become something. Everything we undertake is based on effort; and the more effort we make, the duller the mind becomes.Where there is effort, there is an objective; where there is effort, there is a limitation on attention and on action. To do good in the wrong direction is to do evil. Do you understand? For centuries we have done ‘good’ in the wrong direction by assuming that we must be this, we must not be that, and so on, which only creates further conflict.

– Krishnamurti, Collected Works, Vol. XI,229,Action

Tragic is the existence of they who die without having known the purpose of their life.

VM Samael Aun Weor

The work which has to be accomplished by the man who enters on the probationary Path is entirely mental and moral; he has to bring himself up to the point at which he will be fit to “meet his Master face to face”: but the very words “his Master” need explanation. There are certain great Beings belonging to our race who have completed Their human evolution, and to whom allusion has already been made as constituting a Brotherhood, and as guiding and forwarding the development of the race. These great Ones, the Masters, voluntarily incarnate in human bodies in order to form the connecting link between human and superhuman beings, and They permit those who fulfil certain conditions to become Their disciples, with the object of hastening their evolution and thus qualifying themselves to enter the great Brotherhood, and to assist in its glorious and beneficent work for man.

The Masters ever watch the race, and mark any who by the practice of virtue, by unselfish labor for human good, by intellectual effort turned to the service of man, by sincere devotion, piety, and purity, draw ahead of the mass of their fellows, and render themselves capable of receiving spiritual assistance beyond that shed down on mankind as a whole. If an individual is to receive special help he must show special receptivity. For the Masters are the distributors of the spiritual energies that help on human evolution, and the use of these for the swifter growth of a single soul is only permitted when that soul shows a capacity for rapid progress and can thus be quickly fitted to become a helper of the race, returning to it the aid that had been afforded to himself. When a man by his own efforts, utilizing to the full all the general help coming to him through religion and philosophy, has struggled onwards to the front of the advancing human wave, and when he shows a loving, selfless, helpful nature, then he becomes a special object of attention to the watchful Guardians of the race, and opportunities are put in his way to test his strength and call forth his intuition. In proportion as he successfully uses these, he is yet further helped, and glimpses are afforded to him of the true life, until the unsatisfactory and unreal nature of mundane existence presses more and more on the soul, with the result already mentioned — the weariness which makes him long for freedom and brings him to the gateway of the probationary Path.

Annie Besant – The Ancient Wisdom 1897

As a man’s intellectual, moral, and spiritual nature develops, he becomes more and more conscious of the purpose of human life, and more and more eager to accomplish that purpose in his own person. Repeated longings for earthly joys, followed by full possession and by subsequent weariness, have gradually taught him the transient and unsatisfactory nature of earth’s best gifts ; so often has he striven for, gained, enjoyed, been satiated, and finally nauseated, that he turns away discontented from all that earth can offer. ” What doth it profit?” sighs the wearied soul. ” All is vanity and vexation. Hundreds, yea, thousands of times have I possessed, and finally have found disappointment even in possession. These joys are illusions, as bubbles on the stream, fairy-colored, rainbow-hued, but bursting at a touch. I am athirst for realities ; I have had enough of shadows ; I pant for the eternal and the true, for freedom from the limitations that hem me in, that keep me a prisoner amid these changing shows.”

This first cry of the soul for liberation is the result of the realization that, were this earth all that poets have dreamed it, were every evil swept away, every sorrow put an end to, every joy intensified, every beauty enhanced, were everything raised to its point of perfection, he would still be aweary of it, would turn from it void of desire. It has become to him a prison, and, let it be decorated as it may, he pants for the free and limitless air beyond its inclosing walls. Nor is heaven more attractive to him than earth ; of that too he is aweary ; its joys have lost their attractiveness, even its intellectual and emotional delights no longer satisfy. They also “come and go, impermanent,” like the contacts of the senses; they are limited, transient, unsatisfying. He is tired of the changing; from very weariness he cries out for liberty.

Sometimes this realization of the worthlessness of earth and heaven is at first but as a flash in consciousness, and the external worlds reassert their empire and the glamour of their illusive joys again laps the soul into content. Some lives even may pass, full of noble work and unselfish achievement, of pure thoughts and lofty deeds, ere this realization of the emptiness of all that is phenomenal becomes the permanent attitude of the soul. But sooner or later the soul once and for ever breaks with earth and heaven as incompetent to satisfy his needs, and this definite turning away from the transitory, this definite will to reach the eternal, is the gateway to the probationary Path. The soul steps off the highway of evolution to breast the steeper climb up the mountain side, resolute to escape from the bondage of earthly and heavenly lives, and to reach the freedom of the upper air.

Annie Besant – The Ancient Wisdom 1897

All systems of esoteric thought, as well as all popular theologies, attribute the construction and presidency of the different parts of the manifested universe to the mediation of intelligent and purposive beings, working under the instruction of Deity. Modern thought has tried to escape from the implications of this concept by reducing manifestation to a matter of mechanics; it has not succeeded, and there are signs that it is not far from the point when it will perceive mind as being at the root of form.

The concepts of the Ancient Wisdom may be crude from the standpoint of modern philosophy, but we are forced to admit that the causative force behind manifestation is more akin in its nature to mind than to matter. To go a step further and personify the different types of force is a legitimate analogy, provided we realise that the entity which is the soul of the force may differ as much in kind and degree from our minds as our bodies differ in type and scale from the bodies of the planets. We shall be nearer an understanding of nature if we look for mind in the background than if we refuse to admit that the visible universe has an invisible framework. The ether of the physicists is closer akin to mind than to matter; time and space, as understood by the modern philosopher, are more like modes of consciousness than linear measures.

Dion Fortune – The Mystical Qabalah ch.9 para.17-18 (pub. 1935)

There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

WS

The mind can no more grasp transcendent philosophy than the eye can see music.

Dion Fortune: The Mystical Qabalah (p27 Weiser Books: Ch 5 Negative Existence para. 1)

Dion Fortune 6 December 1890 – 8 January 1946

“God’s place is the World, but the World is not God’s place.”

In this Kabbalistic saying is the clear statement that while God is present in Existence, God is quite separate from it. This mystery of Immanence and Transcendence is where God and the World meet in intimate and mutual knowledge. Such a miracle forms the basis of the Kabbalistic view of the Universe.

Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi (Warren Kenton)
A Kabbalistic Universe (1977) – Introduction (page xiiv)

It is not important whether or not you believe in magic. It is not important whether you believe in a Divine Light operating positively and actively throughout our universe. What is important in this world, as in all worlds, is that we each have the opportunity to expand our consciousness and our awareness – and in the process learn something new. What is important is being able to open our minds to the potential that can be utilised individually to impact upon our environment with an effect that is both positive and enlightening. What is important in this world is that we each realise that there is more to us than the flesh and bones that make up our physical being, that there is something within each of us worth loving. It is this love of self which begins the process of transformation in our lives. It is what creates the miracles – the magic – the wonder of life.

Magic has been defined as a process to become more than human, to unveil the potential that resides and operates within each of us.

It is not a retreat or escape from life and the turmoils of our daily participation in the life process. Through magic – through opening and expanding our consciousness – we find the means to transmute those turmoils, to change them. We become capable of seeing the turmoils as teachings and thus do what the ancient magicians attempted. We turn the dross of daily life into the gold of greater awareness. Magic is a way of initiating ourselves into a greater awareness that enables our daily life to take on increased radiance.

An occult aphorism states that “Nature unaided fails.” Simply, this implies that natural life (and its processes) if left to themselves, isolated and limited by no impact from a higher type of consciousness, will only result in a commonplace thing; or on a more personal level, a commonplace person. The soul by itself if left to itself will eventually seek out its source, but the process can be interminably slow and painstaking. There are means though by which the soul can seek help and assistance in moving along its growth at an accelerated pace. Through higher guidance and expanding awareness we can unfold our soul into another life, a life more filled with love and light. This and this alone is true magic.

Ted Andrews (1952-2009)
From: Introduction – “Simplified Magic” 1989 (Llewellyn)

“The Kingdom of God (Heaven) is within you.”

Jesus the Christ – Luke 17:21

Is there some part of that statement we cannot understand? How does the Church and its sacerdotal pretenders explain this statement to you? Have they? We are capable of understanding plain language. Let us read it and interpret it for ourselves. We do not need a priestly class to tell us the meaning of simple English. Jesus makes no reference to physical death being necessary to achieve our eternal reward. That already lies within you, now, in your physical existence as a human. That is what he said. Do you not accept his guidance? So, presumably, all you need is instruction on how to find it and to experience it where he says it is. That is the question one needs to ask – How do I go within myself and find it, now, here, as a human being, during this lifetime? There is nothing to believe. One finds out for one’s self and proves the truth of it by direct experience.
mc.

Now the question arises, as to how to “go within”? … The answer is quite simple. Try to find someone who knows the secret of the “house”, who has himself been inside it and can take you “within”. What do we do when we do not know the way to a place? We enquire from someone who knows the way. Likewise, before starting on our Spiritual Journey within, we have to seek the help of a Perfect Guide.

Sardar Bahadur Jagat Singh Ji Maharaj – 1884-1951, Sant Sat Guru, Radha Soami Satsang Beas

“I die daily.”
Apostle Paul – 1 Corinthians 15:31

Find out what he means by that statement. The Church will not explain it to you. The priests do not know its true meaning. Dedicate yourself to understanding the meaning of his statement. Look wherever the search takes you. Be relentless. This will lead you to the source of Truth and to the necessary path for its realisation. Nothing else is important – only this. We are not here for any other purpose.
mc.

The end of all religions is the realisation of God.

Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)

THE SPIRITUAL PLIGHT OF MANKIND

THERE is no wonder that men take to religion, even if they have to invent one. Voltaire has said that religion is the solace of the weak. Nietzsche has repeated it in substance. Be that as it may, the weak need some support, and I would not take their religion away from them, even if I knew well that it was only an illusionary product. Religion has been a haven of refuge for millions who mourned and suffered. It is undeniable that it has generally been the unhappy who sought surcease from sorrow in any religion which happened to be near them. And who can blame them? A drowning man will grasp at a straw.

The world is full of darkness, pain and grief. That fact could not be kept from the noble prince Siddhartha, secluded as he was in his father’s palace. And when he saw it in all its ghastly features staring him in the face, he went forth, filled with compassion to seek a remedy. Every individual in the world must seek the Path for himself, and walk upon it for himself.

Spiritual darkness broods over the world and all men are sick from it. Spiritually, and often physically, the whole of mankind are sick, blind, deaf and dumb and covered with sores. Cancers of moral corruption eat their way slowly into the vitals of the human race. Not a man escapes, entirely. Truly the world is in a “lost condition.” This is a theological term, but we may use it, because it is most applicable to the situation. Every man is not only sick, but he is lost in a dense wood, a tangled forest, without path or compass, no sun and no stars; because he is blind. Moreover, he is suffering from the worst case of amnesia ever known. He has no recollection of his original home or inheritance. In this deplorable condition, he wanders on from year to year. In addition to this mental and spiritual plight, many are suffering from physical ills, heart-sick, worn and weary. This is a picture of the great majority of the human race in some degree or other. Are they not lost? They stumble on, generally hopeless, pressing their weary way, they know not whither, and sometimes by the way they stop and pray. But there is no response from the rocks and the trees, and their gods are as silent as the cold, distant stars. Each night drags by and the day brings on increased weariness. They cry for bread and there is nothing but stones. We are not speaking of the favored few but of the masses of the poor and ignorant. Are they not lost? Even the majority of the rich and highly placed are not happy. Here and there an isolated individual laughs, while others seek relief in mad passion. This picture is not too dark. If you know the world as this writer has seen it during the last seventy years, you will agree. But why am I calling attention to the dark side of life? In order that I may point to the remedy. Nearly all men, in addition to their other troubles, are beset on all sides by the five enemies, the passions,—driven by them under the lash, sometimes almost to madness. This affects the rich as much as the poor. When they cry for appeasement, for a little comfort, a little moment of respite, they mock their victims with a tantalizing drop, a crust, sometimes a moment of deceptive pleasure, and then they drive them on through the long days and the maddening years. The young grow old in the vain search for a little light, an hour of peace. Every-where there is a constant fever of unrest, a never-ending search for what they never find. Most of them do not even know for what they are searching.

If some dear optimist feels inclined to blame me for telling this truth, for painting a dark picture, let her know, that I am diagnosing the case with one hand, •while I hold the remedy in the other. I am not a pessimist. Neither do I believe it wise to shut one’s eyes to plain facts. Where is the man who can say he is happy? If any one is a little less burdened to-day, “who can say but to-morrow may find him again deep in the shadows? Where is the man or woman who can claim immunity from sin and the passion? Moral strength is practically nil, except in the case of a few superior souls. Of spiritual light there is no more than a feeble glimmering, a flickering candle here and there in the universal darkness. The bulk of humanity has neither morality nor spirituality. The masses are really sick, groping their uneasy way toward an unknown destiny. There is no freedom, not even physical freedom. Who can say he is master of his own body? The entire race are but driven slaves. Truly the condition of mankind is deplorable. Men struggle up and down the world in a fever of unrest, all the while crying for something, they know not what. And then a few turn to religion for relief. If a man attains a little preeminence in some of the virtues, he is seized by one or more of the tormenting passions and again dragged down to the common level. If not that, he is always trembling on the verge of collapse. There is no rest. From youth to old age, cares and anxieties multiply, while the black angel stands always in the background awaiting his day and hour. There is no security. Wealth, health, power, momentary pleasures pass in a flash and are gone. Happiness? Where is it? Who can say that he has not a single heart-ache, or worry? Last of all, a man faces that dark unknown —at which he shudders and wonders. The great reaper mows him down and the night falls upon him mingled with his kindred dust.

At best life offers only a few pleasant sensations, a brief delirium of power, a mad moment of passion. Then comes the lonely silence, the long silence, out of which no voice of consolation reaches those who are left behind. Is it any wonder that in such a plight men turn to religion? Is it surprising that many desolate souls seeking peace of mind and spiritual light, rush away to some convent or to some jungle cave? That is better than suicide. Religion is a very good anesthetic for the dull pains of life. But who can say that it cures the disease?

Pressed by the common ills, the great majority seek one of three points of refuge; they either set up the mournful dirge of the pessimist, or rush into the mad whirl of the bacchanalian revel, or they take to religion. Of the three, the last is surely the best. No good to sit down and cry. No good to complain and indulge in self-pity or find fault with others. Still worse it is to commit suicide. It is always “Better to endure the ills we have than fly to others we know not of.” It is useless to preach pessimism to people with healthy liver and good stomach. They simply will not have it. A tor-pid liver and a constipated bowel have led many people to seek comfort in religion or to hate their neighbors.

If a man plunges into the whirl of passionate sensations, he emerges with bankruptcy staring him in the face Always he is met with the stern demand:— “Please remit.” Every kiss has its price. Every pleasure comes with the bill attached and sooner or later he is pressed to pay, pay, pay! We watch the passing show. We chase after the mirage. Finally the disillusioned soul goes out in search of Reality. He is so tired of the sham and the counterfeit. But where shall he find Reality? Frequently he turns, like Noah’s dove, homeward again, finding no resting place in the whole world. Nothing but a dreary waste and turbulent waves. At last the seeker comes to realize the aptness of the Master’s picture of the man, in mid-ocean in a small boat, tossed and drenched by gigantic waves with imminent death staring him in the face. This explains the situation confronting most of the human race. The more enlightened man feels much as Silenus did when asked by king Midas what was the best fate for man. He replied:

“Pitiful race of a day! Children of accidents and sorrows! Why do you force me to say what were better left unheard?— The best of all is unobtainable—not to be born at all. The next best is to die early.”

Many brave souls have quivered upon the brink of destiny with such an outlook. Many have gone voluntarily back into the darkness.

Dr. Julian Johnson- “The Path of the Masters” (pp 23-27, pub. 1939)

Truth itself exists independently of our knowledge or ignorance of it.

Mouni Sadhu (Mieczyslaw Demetriusz Sudowski) – “The Tarot”, p470 (pub. 1962)

The accomplishments of the mind, gigantic as they may now appear, are as the play of little children when compared to the possible triumph of the liberated soul. If every brain in the world were working at full capacity, even then the achievements of the intellect would be as nothing when compared to what may be done by mind and soul working together under the full light of spiritual illumination. When man has subjugated his passions, brought his mind under the control of spirit, when soul stands unfettered and undimmed, it is then and then only that he will begin to get some idea of his exalted birthright.

The world has always gazed with awe upon a miracle. But to the highly developed man, the Master, miracles are like the play of children, as when a child blows bubbles. The real Master can manipulate the forces of nature as a mechanic manipulates the levers of his machine. He is master of those forces. They must obey him. He is no longer a helpless drifter in nature’s vortex. But how fallen from his high estate is the average man! How pitiable his plight! Bent as a twig by every breeze that blows, a prey to every hostile creature that crosses his path, a victim of poverty, disease, pain, death, he doesn’t know that he is a god clothed in rags! He is master of the universe, going about begging a crust of bread. He is a king, prostrated before his own servants. He is a prisoner, walled in by his own ignorance. Would he be free? He has only to walk out of his self-constructed prison: “None holds ye, but yourself,” says the noble Buddha.

Dr. Julian Johnson – The Path of the Masters, p25-26

The Revelation of Saint John the Devine

1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.

2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.

2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

2:18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; 2:19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

2:24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

2:28 And I will give him the morning star.

2:29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

3:13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

4:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

4:9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

5:7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

5:14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

6:3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

6:4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

6:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

6:7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

7:5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

7:6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.

7:7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.

7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

8:6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

8:7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 8:9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

8:10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; 8:11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

9:7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

9:8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

9:9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

9:10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

9:12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

9:13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 9:14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

9:17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

9:18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

9:19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

10:1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: 10:2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 10:3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

10:4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

10:5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 10:6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

10:8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

10:9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

10:10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

11:11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

11:13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

11:14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.

13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

14:5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

14:16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

14:17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

15:5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

16:4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

16:8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

18:15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 18:16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 18:18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

18:20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

18:22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 19:2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

19:3 And again they said, Alleluia And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

19:4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.

19:5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

19:6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 21:11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 21:12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 21:13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

21:15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

21:16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs.

The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

21:18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

21:19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

21:20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

We testify to that which we have seen and we bear witness to that which we know.

Jesus the Christ
John 3:11

No problem of greater or of more moving import confronts man than that of possible awareness of his own consciousness, the deep significance of the place he occupies in the world as a whole, and of the purpose he should first discover and then pursue.

Dr. Pierre Schmidt (October 1939)

(in Preface to “The Path of the Masters” by Julian Johnson, MA. BD. MD.)

Dr. Julian Johnson

None is poor, O Bhikha;
Everyone hath got rubies in his bundle.
But how to open the knot he doth not know
And therefore is he a pauper!

Bhikha (Indian saint) 1480-1573

This is my favorite Einstein story.

Shortly before Einstein’s death, he realized he had very limited time left. He wrote to many of his former students, colleagues, and friends. He had decided to have a final audience with them in Princeton, New Jersey. He wanted to set up a situation wherein they could ask him any question about his work, his life, and his view of the future. He promised to answer any question, personal or scientific.

Around 300 people responded and, aware that Einstein’s energy was limited by his age and condition, they arranged to get together three days before the meeting. Their purpose was to sort out and prioritize their questions so that they would (1) not overtax this generous genius and (2) make sure the more important questions were answered first.

As the story goes, they rented a hotel in Princeton. For the first two and a half days, they did nothing but argue about which questions should be asked first. During the afternoon of the third day, a brilliant scientist from Europe proposed that, with no real prospect for agreement about which questions were the most important, they should ask the “old man himself” to designate the most important question they could ask.

That idea broke the stalemate and brought agreement to the group. Most of those attending suspected that Einstein would propose a question about his current interest, the Unified Field Theory.

The next morning, Einstein sat on the stage, in a rocking chair, before this audience representing many of the world’s most outstanding minds. The moderator asked for quiet and proposed the most agreed-on question: “Dr. Einstein, the first question we would like to ask you is: ‘What is the most important question we could ask today?'”

Without hesitation, Einstein replied, “The most important question you could ever ask is: ‘Is the Universe a friendly place?'” This was not the reply the audience anticipated, but it is the most important question we can ask.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.

Rumi (1207 – 1273) Persian Sufi poet

There is nothing in the universe but mathematical points of force.

Michael Faraday, 1791-1867, Scientist

c. 1861

The Platonic Dialogues are among the noblest productions of the human mind. They are not only an overflowing fountain of imperishable ideas, but they reveal to us the thoughts and reflections of a truly superior man. The heroic proportions of Plato’s intellect first commands our respect, later our admiration, and finally our affection. We come to know him as a venerable friend whose benevolent influence extends to us across the ages. He no longer belongs to Greece or the Periclean Age; he is a citizen of the world and of all time. It is a fair compliment to a man to say that he is good. True goodness is a grace of spirit and Plato was richly endowed with those qualities which most adorn the soul. He has been a great physician to the sickness of the soul, elevating the mind of man to the contemplation of those eternal laws and principles that sustain creation.

Henry L Drake, 1958 – The People’s Plato (Pub. Philosophical Library, NY)

The philosopher should be a man willing to listen to every suggestion but determined to judge for himself. He should not be biased by appearances; have no favourite hypothesis; be of no school; and in doctrine have no master. Truth should be his primary object. If to these qualities he adds industry, he may hope indeed to walk within the veil of the Temple of Nature.

Michael Faraday, 1791-1867, Scientist

c. 1861