Chapter XXXIII (2)

Who am I? I am that which thou hast searched for since thy baby eyes gazed wonderingly upon the world whose horizon but hides this real life from thee. I am that which in thy heart thou hast clamoured for, demanding it as thy birth-right, yet knowing not what it was or even that thou didst clamour at all. I am that which has lain in thy soul through ages and æons. Sometime a little sad I lay, because thou didst not recognize Me; yet sometimes, standing with head high lifted and eyes wide and crest aloft and arms outstretched, calling thee softly or even harshly, bidding thee rebel against the hard iron chains of earth that held thee bound to earth, to clay, to brass.

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I am that which oft hath set My heel upon that earthly desire which thou didst pant for and with My heel I crushed it, before it lay temptingly fulfilled before thine eye. I crushed it with My heel by My might of love because I willed not that it should burn and sting thee, My lamb.

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I am that which hath laid thee low in pain and sorrow, rather than see thee run with blinded eyes on a path that was full unto shimmering softness with poisonous creeping things, that would have wound themselves about thy feet and so caused thee to stumble and fall face downward on their slippery bellies, so they might even devour thee and crawl into thee and take from thy heart its gold and from thy eye its beam and from thy brow its nobleness.

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I am that which hath had thee by the hand, when the smile of trust froze on thy lips, when the jewel of faith seemed to melt into nothing in thy heart, when the hand of unbelief in all humanity was near unto resting forever on thy brow. I held thy hand then and for a little I saw thee writhe and quiver and break and then My hand touched thy head and I breathed in thy soul My fragrance and lo, thy smile of trust again broke with tenfold beauty on thy moistened lips, the gem of faith lighted with tenfold power thy softened heart and a belief in all humanity came forth with a strength and radiance that could not have been, hadst thou not known that short span of barrenness! From each tear which hath fallen from thine eye, I have made a pearl and strung them on veins of gold and placed them about thy neck even as a priceless necklet. From each drop of blood that came from thine aching heart, I have made a bleeding ruby and placed it even as a girdle about thy heart, and for each kind thought, that hath gone out to those who have brought pain to thee I have made a fire-hearted gem of crystal and in a coronet placed them on thy brow which now gleam there in triple power.

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Now go forth and win thy sceptre and thy staff! They shall be crystalized of clearest jewels, which shall be made of which command of Mine which thou dost hear and obey.

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I am all these, My babe, and more. That am I which, when darkness seems near, suddenly bursts upon thy soul with a wondrous, indescribable light that illumines each crevice and crack of thy innermost understanding. I am that indefinable line which divides thee and holds thee ever from pain or grossness or misery.

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I am that path which is ever before thee, filled with rarest flowers and creeping vines and world-large happiness where the beings which thou canst feel, but not yet see, beckon thee ever and where thou too shalt come and be of the brightest among them.

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I am that most golden star that lights thy heaven and throws forever into thy awakening consciousness the glow of its scintillation.

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I am that fleeciest cloud of down that surrounds thee ever and keeps thee from hurting thy sweet self on the stones and hard clay of the world. I am that Being of Life, of Truth, of Wisdom, of Love, of Beauty, of Joy, of Life, of Plenty that hovers ever about thee and sings to thy soul.

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Come, My own, come with Me and I will show thee life, which now thou knowest but in its littleness I Come, I sing and you dip in the Ocean of Bliss with Me. Nay, run not before but calmly walk at My side.

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See yonder! It glistens and shimmers, a sheet of joy and bliss that knoweth not a ripple nor a wave, but lieth with arms outstretched to receive thee there. Faint not nor swoon but creep into its arms and lie there, reaching out thine arms and spreading the wings of thy soul and dip deep and drink thy fill. Now come and take thy bathed self among thy sisters and brothers and give to them but a drop of that Ocean of Love, which thou hast brought on the wings of thy soul. And each day, my Adarini! thou shalt dip and drink and give, thou shalt shake from thy plumed wings, which shall grow unto enormous bigness, the drops of love which it is wetted withal and the heart-hungry shall come and receive therefrom great blessings and great aid and shall go away strengthened in soul and strong of body, because of the drop that has come from the ocean of love and which thou hast brought to them on thy ever-growing wings.

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Even now doth the incense of warm love envelop thee and thy heart is expanded to the spanning of the sea.

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Question not, but believe in Me and Mine. Come to Me again and I will fill thee with Bliss.

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Greeting to thee. My jewel! Dost thou know that I am even nearer unto thee now? Dost thou feel the wings of thought spreading to great breadth all within and without thee? Dost thou again feel the immensity of My Love that passeth all that is? Dost thou feel that this Love is too great for the world to hold, yet know that thy heart is big enough to contain it? Dost thou know that the love which is this that now brings the bowl of blue near to the breast of earth is the same love that causes the cooing dove to hide its gray head under its wing at the approaching homeward flight of its little mate, all unafraid and undisturbed, because of its near protection? Dost thou not know it is the same love that causes the mother to bare her warm, loving breast to the blade to save even the little moment of pain to that being which hath grown into a child under her breast? Dost thou not know it is that love which causes noble manhood to stalk forth armed and bloodthirsty to protect the altar whereon he hath burned the incense of faith and belief? Dost thou not know that it is the same love which causes the lioness to throw her huge, warm body upon her cub to crush it rather than it should be cast into iron captivity by its pursuers? Dost thou not know again that it is this love that hovers in golden silence about thee even when thou wilt not see and beckons thee ever, even when thou wilt not follow? It is the same love that leads thee over the paths of flint and hard and rough roads unto those that are smiling and perfumed and ever bordered with blooming flowers of purple and milk and rose. Dost thou not know, my Adarini, that it is that love that points out the gems that lie in thy path, partly covered, partly hidden by the dust, while thy feet have kicked over them? Even though I have pointed them out to thee often, thou dost not see. Thou but lookest to the right and left for things of beauty which are for the eye, but for the moment, and dost the rare jewels which if thou wouldst but take into thy heart, would bring there the richest radiance which ever came from the diadem that crowns a soul.

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It is this love that whispers to thee that the path to Me is not hard to tread. It is this love that holds the garments white as wool and light as air and beautiful with the beauty of My love for thee ever before thine eye, even when thou dost in thy little understanding with the back of thy palm thrust it aside. The garment that I hold for thee is the robe that thou must wear even to enter the Heart of My Heart to step within the flame of My light. Fear not it burneth not, neither doth it scorch or blister; it doth but light thee with a fire that is the glowing of holiness and when thou hast come within that radiance then will the choir within the throat of the lark be like the sheet of clean white paper, to thee and thou thyself will make their notes for singing. And also thou shalt hear and even understand the pleadings that lie hidden and covered by the piteous cries and wailings that issue from the breast of the good beast-creatures that speed over the tracks of sandland with the swiftness of the Eastern winds, bearing on huge backs the burden too weighty for man to bear.

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And listen again, My suckling, thou shalt, when once thou hast entered into My Heart of hearts clad in the beauty and purity of the garments which I hold before thee even now, then shalt thou gather in thine arms the prayers of many hearts and fulfilled even unto wondrous fulness thou shalt return them again unto the empty hearts. For by the fire through which thou hast learned holiness and because of the garments that come from My hand thou shalt say unto My little ones that I, who am the All in All, am the fulfillment of each desire that has ever found growth in human hearts.

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Thou shalt say unto them that simple and clear, even like the smile that lurketh in the soft eye of a milk-feeding babe, are the laws of My Love-Eye and easy to grasp and smooth to hold and light to carry. And because of the saying of thine, the prattle of the forward mouth shall silence and the way-giving of the idle tongue shall cease and the squirting of venom shall be no more. And lo, the lust of gossip and rankness and rough spoil of envy shall be as naught! And clear, like unto the water that catches in its heart the reflection of the moon and holdeth it completely so, even so shall the centre of thine eye become and thy brow shall shine My wisdom and thy mouth shall hold My words, thy feet shall bear witness to My beauty and thine heart shall ever be sportive as the lambkin that kicketh and playeth and knoweth not why, or even like unto the open-lipped baby, who turneth its milk-filled, dripping mouth away from the breast to croon and play with its fingers and toes. And like unto the mother that kisseth the babe for that playing, so shall My little ones steal joy from thy love.

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List! Because thou art now in the arms of Love I shall make for thee a grove of palms and olive, bread and date, and where thou art, even in the city of strife and turmoil and sin, yet thou shalt walk even in the groves, that I have made for thee. And thou shalt hear the plaintive call of the night bird and the heart-song of the winged creatures, whose hearts burst with love and joy in their caroling.

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And the fruit which the trees of great bearing shall yield thee, shall fill thee with satisfaction, thy hunger shall be stilled by their richness and thy thirst shall be slaked by their lusciousness, and lo, thou shalt contemplate the beauty and wonder of Me in the grove where I have placed thee and thy heart shall be calmed unto marvelous peace and many times thou shalt faint, because of the sweetness of that peace.

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Glory to Gooroo, he who carrieth in his heart and findeth Me in all that surroundeth him; he has for his surrounding My Abode and knoweth it as such. He needeth not a ground of tree or grass and flower to find a roebuck, but findeth it even at his side. He striveth not to gain possession of that which is far from his hand for he knoweth the rich mines with nuggets of gold are his for the taking. He findeth not solitude worse than death, nor is it amiss for him to breathe away from the crowd of men, for at his side are the voices of love that are loud even like the thunder or the roaring of the lion, or the screech of an eaglet. This shall ever be thine blessing, my son, and a shield of love shall cover thee and thy feet shall be swift and thou shall walk even light like unto the wind. Let not the burden of the world and the world's prattle come to thine ear and lie even heavy on thine heart, for in the palm of my hand thou shalt rest and like a bird who has lately become a mother and feeds her birdlets, so shall I feed thee, my son.

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Glory to Gooroo, who among men doth know Me and Me see in all things.

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O ye my children that fret and squirm underneath the load and scratches of life! Do give it unto Him who by his wondrous love for all knoweth not weight nor pain. That which to you a burdensome plight hath become, is light even unto down to Me. The blight has been of thine own making, O child of my heart!

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Oh! know ye not that I carry in the palm of my hand, in the Heart of my Heart, all mankind—nay, all worldkind? Will ye not know that all I have created is even like unto Me perfect and cannot be burdensome?

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Ye will not look upon Me as the pedestal upon which all things that are, are founded. Arid because of your blindness, for blind ye are, having eyes ye see not what I have given ye to see—because of your blindness, small are your hearts and cramped and will not expand in height and breadth, even to know the peace that dwells in My clear silence, nor the illumination that lives on My horizon. Nor will ye hear the joy of My greeting of wisdom that would sing to your souls of a love that withereth not, neither fadeth away, neither becometh ashes nor crumbleth to pieces.

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List, O my children! Dear unto My heart ye are, even as the ewe lamb, in its waywardness and helplessness, is dear to the heart of the tried and tender shepherd, or the babe, My gift of first love, is dear to the eager heart of the prayerful father. Yet oft doth the ewe lamb bleating stray away from the arm of the shepherd and the truant, rosy mouth of the babe turns away from the breast of the eager young mother to cry afar to the yonder world that heareth it not, nor answereth it.

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So ye, My little ones, see not the light on your way, nor partake of the bread of life that I scatter to you, even as the waving yellow tree of mustard doth scatter its seed in golden profusion on the fertile regions around it.

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Hark, one and all! All careless have you been in the weeding of your gardens, for in your beds I find the thistle thriving; in your vineyards the grape I find that is hard and sour and bitter.

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Oh, alas for you who cast your net for fish and bring forth the slimy reptile! Beware, my child, lest the best hopes of life cannot stir away from harmful ones. Evil stalketh idly. Of nothing it is born, yet would it squirm, like the insect, and buzz its cloud about thine ear, and mote-like obscure thy sight, and throng through thy mind and heart even leaving its imagery there.

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O My children! I have placed you in a dewy field, where like young lambkins you might disport yourselves. I have bounded your dewy field with heather-purpled hills, where like the young eagle and the hawk you might soar and spread your wings and flap them to the music and measure and time of My winds, which I hold from everlasting to everlasting even in Mine own hand. But, alas! like the lily that from overmuch dew falleth face down ward in the dirt, so many of you turn your hearts earthwise.

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Hungering to be caught by Me and to know the beauty of My Being, because you see and will not understand—even because of that I rebuke you in love, in love I rebuke you: Nor will I come again to those who call, unless in holiness the call will bring profit from My words.

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O thou My Beloved one! Thou who like saint and sage and prophet of old has touched the harp of life that I attune for thee, do thou come to Me singly and do thou say unto those that My promise is this: "Dear to Me are ye, My children. List to the promise I give unto you! To those who seek Me in holy earnestness, to those do I come even like the sweet influence of young Spring. Like unto a giant am I in gentleness, yet none can wrestle with My Love. Know, ye shall know My coming even by the spontaneous growth that shall spring about your feet, and become even fruit-bearing trees at My command."

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To the barren woman I shall look into her eye, and lo! the gush of young motherhood shall she feel When My Love is yours, then shall the leopard take between his forepaws even the young sheep, and that rough and long tongue shall rub it between the eyes.

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Into the eye of the ascetic I shall look, he who for many moons hath stood in cold silence, even he shall feel his heart reel with love like unto the young bridegroom.

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Dulness shall glow. Thy slow tongue, my child, shall become eloquent. Idleness shall become active, even bereavement shall be consoled and despair shall flee at My coming.

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Am I not the magician of all time, who by the spell of My love do charm a waiting, passive, alas!–a blinded world? Aye, even thy heart of hearts shall be laid bare and those who seek shall come and feed of the peace thereof. Lo, on the hilltop for thee my sun spreads cheer!

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Be thou he, who shall invest in courage, climbing the rocky hill, where thou shalt embrace cheer and she shall bring forth the baby, that is thy desire, and because of the baby which thou holdest in thy arms, because of that thy path shall be light, for lo! the babe is what men call success.

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O My young son! Do thou take to the young thy onward march, even thy sunlight, which I for thee have created, so that thou mayest make the poisonous and damp vapors, which will surround thee, even of great warmth and of fragrance and golden hue. Take thou the Seed of My Name on thy lips, aye, and the tree of thy affection shall bend its every leaf to look in Mine Eye, and there shall behold the gladness and hope of My life. There shalt thou read thy Beatitude.

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Do not allow the phantom fears crowd into thy heart and make a layer of darkness in thy heart, even as the water doth drop its heaviness into the bottom of a vessel and leave its heaviness there, for, if thou dost, then will the waters of cleanness that fill thy heart by the least ripple stir up the heaviness and rust that hath sunk to the bottom and so color even that which was clear. Naught is there in thee to bring shadow of that which is gruesome to thee, My child, for when thou comest to Me there have I buried deep that which might have caused thee fear. List I do thou even let the desires of thy heart lie dormant and do thou even seek My Love in this hour. Then thou shalt know the fatness of My love and when thou dost, then will the soul thou cravest to turn toward thee in the splendour of light beam full upon thee, even as thou wouldst have it Love, My own, the working of My love, is not always the working of that which thou canst only see a little way—for far even unto eternity do I lode and the links I rivet now are even the chain that stretches to the end of time everlasting. Therefore do thou not look only to the feet ahead of thee, but do thou find that in the time and place of my action there alone perfection is—yea, even there perfection is which to thee may seem even unfinished, but to My Eye it is the whole complete.

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Out of the tumult of thy heart, out of the chaos of thy mind, out of the depth of thy understanding thou dost call unto Me for rest and thus do I answer thee, My little one!

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Seek not rest in the plane where the earthly gives birth to thoughts and loves, for if thou dost, thou shalt but be dragged through the rough wilderness of life, which is not of Me. Whenever thou dost feel thy feet tangled in the interlaced roots of life, know thou hast strayed a little from the path whereon I beckon thee, for I have placed thee in broad, smooth paths, which are flower-strewn and perfumed with sweet smelling vines and also have put before thee a light, which thou canst ever follow and thus run without stumbling.

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Hear thou this! The bliss of action I have planted in thy spirit and if for a span thy soul hath grown weary and thou longest to fold thy tired wings and sleep awhile on the Island of White Silence, that dwells even in the midst of the ocean of existence, if that thou wouldst do—call upon Me and with My smile that which is unlike Me, shall drop from thy soul, as the old garment falleth from the butterfly, when its wings are strong to cleave the air. And after a sufficient slumber thou shalt be quickened with deathless energy and shalt speed in eagle swiftness even to the sun, which is the burning of the love in My Eye. But, list, my jewel! Be not confounded by the shaking of thy timid heart, nor yet by the yelling grisly shapes, that seem full of dread, hunting at thy back, nor be allured by bright phantoms of false joys beckoning thee ceaselessly. Like swarms of gnats about a dark and sullen river, they crowd about the heart that harbours thoughts of fear and lo, their stings do itch and burn and swell and bring fever to the blood and bitterness to the taste and even death to the joy that dwelleth in the heart. Lo, My child, hast thou not spied the serpent in the closed, tight bud of the rose or even in the hollow of the rosy fruit? Eye saw it not, but the rose became even as rust and the apple rotten. So beware that an adder rest not in the bud of the heart and that adder fear be opposed to hope which I have placed in goodly share upon thy brow.

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List, My own, and abide by My song that unto thy soul I sing: Bliss is the perpetual motion of Love. As a running stream it is that cometh from an inexhaustible source, the depth of which is even unmeasurable.

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To the unknowing and unloving the surface in unruffled, but he that seeth underneath, he findeth there current 'neath current, whirlpool within whirlpool and depth beneath depth and the sum of it all is Love, which is Life and coupled together by the links of Bliss.

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I have a shore that is called the Island of Rest, here do the souls of many hold sabbath. They lie in tranquil slumber for a little, much have they to tell, but they fear to break the tranquility of their calm. Here their dwelling is illumined with glory. The melody of sweet peace bathes their soul; the mystery of their being is revealed unto them. For a little here they wait but still this home is but a transient resting place between earth and Me. Rest can be thine, my own, in slumber of ecstasy, but Bliss can be thine through the perpetual action of Love. Which wouldst thou have?

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Come to Me again and I will even sing to thy soul of my Love.

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Glory to Gooroo, he who seeketh Me and findeth Me, the ever refreshing, even in the desert of sand and a day of drought! Greeting to thee. My son, for I say unto thee, thou art a grateful twig on the bay-tree of life. And because of My love for thee I have bestowed upon thee the greatest gift of my hand; A largeness worthy of my devotee shall be yours that the flattering tongue can but in feebleness express because of its vastness. And this vastness of purpose shall be like unto uncounted autumn leaves that number millions upon millions and like unto the masses of clouds that pile in mountains upon worlds and the seas that cover unlimited space and the numberless stars multiplied by worlds of fire. Thus measureless and incomparable shall be My gift unto thee for thou hast found Me and held Me even close to thee and because of it, the river of joy shall flow within thee forever.

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My thumb I have placed upon you, so that free-footed you may stand in the lightning of My Eye, whose brilliant fire doth even gladden all communion with time and doth bid the stars to smile and darkness to flee for ever, for when My Beautiful Necessity, Love, is once uncovered, there is the veil behind veil lifted forever and even the Centre of All Worlds are visible to the naked eye, for he who hath clad himself in the garment of My Love, he even pierceth through all covering.

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Thus hath My Love blessed thee, My Beloved.

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O prisoner of earthly life! Take thou cheer and courage unto thyself, for much is there that is of rare comfort to the spirit. Thrust not thyself into the pit of earth and labor there and seek to carry on thy shoulder and on thy back the burdens that are born of the clay and therefore hurtful and of much weight. But do thou step out and bask in the glow of the sun, do thou stretch forth thy limbs in languid and truant ease and let its warmth play on the white of thy flesh so that even the health of thy blood may bubble to the surface.

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Do thou fix thine eyes on the dome where stars are fixed, though they are paled by the garish sun and hence dim; yet rear thy heart starward and in the course of the sun see the greatness of ways and tracks that are thine, My jewel! Do thou even now burst asunder the fetters that rivetest thee even to the plank of anxiety and with a bound throw from thee the shackles and walk thy star-ward path as a tenant of earth in the way to finding a better abode.

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About thee lies the good that cometh from My strong right arm. Hold it, that its countenance may remain with thee forever. Yea, seek not for a change of thy good for that which is better, but hug rather the present good to thy heart of heart that its strength may impart even strength where thy weakness abideth. The load which I have placed upon thy shoulder is not to thee a load earth-made, 'tis but a gathering of rare herbage piped with beautiful coloring which is full of healing and sweet of taste, but which you all, blinded, do see as burdensome.

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If thou but onward marchest, looking not at the phantom spies that seek to distract thee in thy going and lurk in the clearness of thy light, then shalt thou add wings unto them and they shall flee even as doth the young chick before the hawk's approach. Let thy bold front even by its courage chase forever the foes of man, stern unbelief and dull distrust, which are ever eager to find lodging in the heart where a canopy of white trust doth shelter the babe of Love that reclineth in playful happiness on a rosy couch of hope. Even there would the enemy of man steal and take from the garden of his soul the flowers that blossom in rare loveliness, the beauty that hideth in sweet silence, the peace that casteth its halo of calm over the spirit even as a wild dove.

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A SOUL AND ITS BELOVED.

A soul was all tired unto death because love, which once glowed warm and red, had turned toward a face fairer and brighter than the one which encased it.

Long it dwelt upon that departure, until the time had come when it was all ready to leave the earth; but there was the beloved soul, which had gone from the right path.

While contemplating on the possible way of calling unto itself the beloved soul that had gone astray in its blindness, Death stood before it and called it to make ready for a long journey beyond the boundaries which it now knew.

Glad and willing the soul responded; but, casting its eyes behind for one moment, it beheld its beloved mate, walking in the mire, in its search after the will-o'-the-wisp for which it had left its home, and the soul was grieved sorely unto death. One step backward it made; but Death detained it, saying: "This way, sweet soul, you go wrong. See that golden path? There await you those who want you to be with them in parts beautiful and wonderful beyond that which you remember."

"Oh!" spake the soul, "What of her—my beloved? Where goes she?"

"Alone the path she now treads she has chosen, and it is pot in your power to draw her back one inch from that chosen path!"

"But, O Death!" quoth the soul, "the way before her is black and full of reptiles and evil creeping things, and she was so tender and beautiful. May I not change places with her, and will you not take her and leave me?"

"It is not so written," quoth Death. "Each soul chooses its own path and she has chosen hers."

"When, O Death! will she come to where you lead me?"

"It is written, not for many aeons."

"How can I draw her to me to turn her from her dark way to myself?"

"It is written that one soul may draw another after it, if for many births it is willing to wait at the door of death for all souls to pass. See, here it is where these wailing, fainting, quivering ones suffer agonies, greater than you have ever dreamed of in the many walks of your earthly or space life."

A moment the soul gazed on the suffering ones; and as it looked it grew cold and pinched, as if another death had come upon it. "I will wait," it said. "Joy it will be to me to wait for aeons until she whom I love will pass this way!"

"Oh!" cried Death, "it was said among the unseen ones who throng space that you were thus. See, the pang of pain which you in agony bore has forced your beloved to turn and gaze towards you. She leaves her path of mud and darkness and hurries after you. Come on, both of you, and walk the path of gold that is thronged with such as you, the saviour and the saved. Surely in one moment of such love you have unfettered the bonds which bound yourself and your beloved to all that was of earth."

And they passed into the way that led to the higher place.

THE FAIR ONE AND HER SOUL.

The world had grown gray, the golden stars had fled from the skies, and a silence deep yawned at the feet of one who, all hungry for that which she knew not and starved for that which she could not name, moaned: "O Soul! why am I tortured thus? Why dost thou lead me into paths I cannot walk, and drag me into depths that I fear, and scale with me heights whose atmosphere so rare and high is, that faint I grow and ill unto perishing therein. What is the quest of thine? This struggle and this reaching after that which I cannot see or feel? Weak is my flesh, though thou, dear Soul, art strong. It is ever easier for me to fall than to rise. I struggle to keep on with thee, but ever and anon thou mountest to planes where my tired and clumsy feet cannot follow thee. Ofttimes have I called unto thee and implored thee to cease the quest, to rest awhile, to sleep. Thou hast heard my moan now and again and I ran laughing into die garden that awaited me. But when I stood among the blood-red roses and White-cupped lilies and sought to pluck the pretty blossoms, ever in the heart a worm did lurk. So farther I ran to where the fruits hung high. But when on tip-toe I stood to reach the luscious ripe ones that beckoned me, lo! again the over softness of decay did break upon my gaze, and I wanted them not. Then I made to climb some steep hill whereon the clouds did seem to rest, and as I ascended, the clouds did fade farther from me, and I stood with only the cold gray mist about me, chilled and frightened, like a child lost from its mother's side.

"And so it was, O Soul, the pleasures which the earth placed at my feet palled upon me and dragged me down nigh unto the grave. Then I nestled to thee, my beloved Soul, and called thee to save and direct me, and pleaded to thee to save me from this fleshly self that keeps me earth-bound. Then thou wouldst take my hand and with me soar to mountain-heights, and we with outstretched wings would view the rosy glow that the departing sun did cast about us as it waved its grand adieu to the world we knew. Thus we stood, I trembling with gladness, thou thrilling with joy, but, O Soul, my poor fleshly self could not long abide such ecstasy nor drink the rarefied wine which the Heavens vouchsafed us, and crying I clung to thee and dragged thee down, down, until both again stood at the bottom of the heights where lately we had spied the door that leads to broader worlds. Thou, my beloved, hadst folded thy widespread wings, and thy feet were planted in the dank grasses whose roots were deep in mire. O tell me, thou whose awakening is so beautiful and whose stature is full of grace, tell me, O Soul, why, though coupled together, are we yet divided; why, though one, are we yet two?"

The Soul made answer meet: "O companion of my earthly Self's encasement of soft flesh, I love thee even as thou lovest me, and I do draw thee upward, even as thou dost drag me down. Dost thou not know that from earth thou hast come, hence to earth must go again; that thy natural tendencies are downward even unto the earth from which thou didst spring? Yet dost thou love that in me which soars even upward to the home from whence I came. A ray of eternal light am I, a glow of the warm of a spark of the central flame; hence must I ever strive to reach that perfect sphere from whence I came, more beautiful and entrancing than thou canst know, nor can I anchored be until once again that safe haven I reach wherefrom I lately came. Yet, list! sweet partner of my earthly pilgrimage, dost know why thou lovest me, even though hither and thither I draw thee? Tis that I am born of Love, and none can resist Love; and the great tender earth, thy mother, is nourished by the great Love which is the creator of thee and me. O fair and sweet companion, my earthly armour that I love, thou and I together may reach beyond where we stand reluctantly and defiantly! Gaze on me, thy soul, who giveth radiance to thee and beauty to thine eye, and dost attend all that is lovable unto thee I Gaze at me, and even that which is earthly will partake of me and become more of heaven than of earth!

"And so we will wander in joy through life; and who knows but that even the flowers may grow sweeter for our having dwelt here? If we but look upward, thou following me, and I, though loving thee much, yet yielding not to thy sweet persuasive pleadings and downward looking, who knows but we may heal those who, even like thee, do cry out against the non-adjustment of the body and the soul, who, even like thee, have known soul-hunger and soul-starvation, which disease driveth out of the body all its softness and smoothness, and even casteth a shadow on the soul which should never he shadowed, lest it loseth the sight of the home where light alone doth dwell and love alone doth reign."

The voice ceased. A great tenderness, an unbounded beauty shone on the face of the fleshly one, and turning from the deep silence that rolled at her feet, the woman gave a glad look at the stars, which once again adorned her sky and flitted away with a ringing laugh.

The Soul echoed her joy, and the world looked on amazed—for naught is there as rare in life as a happy, joyous woman.

[1] The color of the newest rain-cloud of India, color of the sapphire or marine blue, are vain attempts to indicate Krishna's color and complexion.

[2] Brahmā is the Creator of the details of the Universe. The Supreme Creator is the Supreme Deity, Krishna. He creates by His Will. The inequilibrium of the three Cardinal Attributes (Sattwa, Rāja, Tama, or Illumination, Activity and Obscuration) embodies the Creative Will of Krishna, as explained in the foregoing part of this book. This inequilibrium starts the current and force of Creation. Vāsudeva, as the manifestation and centre of the first flush of Creation, springing from Krishna as a result of this loss of poise, is the Second Creator in whom the seed of Creation (unpoise of Attributes) dwells as an Unknown Feeling of differentiation. Sankarsana, who springs from Vāsudeva, is the Third Creator, but acts only as the Unconscious Cause of Creation. Pradyumna, who springs from Sankarsana, carrying the Abstract Idea of Creation, is the Fourth Creator, the Semi-Conscious Cause of Creation. Aniruddha, born of Pradyumna as the Full-Conscious Cause, is the Fifth Creator. This Aniruddha is called Nārāyan and Vishnoo. From Him springs Brahmā, the first sprout of Creation. He is the Sixth and the Operating Creator, called in the Hindoo Books the "Father of Creation," the "Grandfather of all God's creatures." Brahmā's Abode is the Brahmā Loka, otherwise called the Satya Loka or the Seventh Heaven, the Seventh from the Earth Sphere (First Heaven). Just over the Brahmā Loka is the Vaikuntha Loka, the Abode of Vishnoo, the Abode of Salvation (Mukti), where souls freed from the last bondage of matter and its influence go for Rest and Reward. This Abode of Vishnoo is unapproachable even by the gods and the illumined souls who dwell on earth or in the Four Upper Heavens. Brahmā alone by mediation can communicate with Vishnoo on any subject bearing on the welfare of Creation and receive a response from Him who is the Outerward Form of Krishna.

[3] The first part of the Indian Autumn which comes after the Rainy Season.