May 5th 1921

It has been a custom of old to give wisdom in the form of legend and myth, and there could be no better way of explaining truth to understanding souls.

This legend is interesting to all whether the inner meaning is understood or not, but for those who see, it is a thousand times more helpful.

When we think of the various ways in which wisdom has been given out in legend, in poetry, in symbolism, we find that in every stage of evolution the same story or legend, or poem or symbology holds a different meaning. By this, I do not mean to say that as a man looks he understands things differently at each stage of evolution, but I mean the sense of comprehension is developed and things seem clearer at every stage, the meaning has not changed, but man acquires a keener insight. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that there is no greater Scripture than nature, for nature is life itself. It is an ever living Scripture by which all Masters and Teachers have been inspired, and all so called scriptures are interpretations of this scripture.

There is so much to observe, so much to assimilate, and so much to give if one can only understand the language of nature.

There is a verse by the great Seer of Persia, who says, 'Every leaf of a tree becomes a page of the Holy Book before the soul that can read.' In the path of wisdom it is a constant reading, a constant learning, and every experience whether happy or unhappy, and in every impression, whether it brings comfort or discomfort, if we will only observe what each one teaches, then the whole of life becomes a vision that is man's constant guide.

In the story of Cupid and Psyche we are told that Venus sent Cupid on earth to teach the lesson of love, to the heart that knew not love, and so Cupid came and kindled love in the heart of Psyche, and Cupid and Psyche loved each other. But Cupid forgot the whole of the injunction that had been given to him, he remembered the beginning, but in his great love he forgot the end and the result was that Venus became jealous and separated them, until they could again be united on the day of perfection.

These are pictures of mystical ideas that in the ordinary forms of religion could not be exposed to all, because wisdom can only be learnt gradually and every soul is not ready to receive or to understand the complexity of the purpose of life.

In Venus is pictured love and beauty and the perfection of love and beauty is God, but both sides of divine perfection have again a different meaning and a different purpose.

It is the perfection of love, and the power of that perfection which is God, the Creator, but it is the perfection of beauty that draws every soul to it, that is the God of grace and glory, and it is that side of perfection, the perfection of beauty representing grace and glory, that is told in the myth of Venus; and the philosophy it suggests is that every soul which comes on earth has a spark of the divine essence, the perfection of which is called God or the 'All Love'.

The nature of life on earth is illusory and in the Sanskrit tongue it is called Maya or illusion, and every soul having the spark of the divine love, forgets the use and the purpose of that spark and begins to love itself most.

By a keen study of human life, man will find that as a rule, when he claims that he loves, in reality he loves himself, he loves his own benefit in life, he loves another for the help that other gives, for his goodness, for his kindness, for his service, but in all this he surely loves himself, and it is for himself all the while he thinks he loves another.

It is a very high stage in the path of love when man really learns to love another with a love that asks no return, when he does not seek love for the sake of love in return, then love becomes pure, the lover gives, and gives and gives, but even that is not the purpose of life, it is still greater. The Perfect One who is the source and origin of the whole creation, is the perfection of beauty and all beauty on earth or in heaven belongs to Him, and the purpose of the creation of every soul is to progress in the path of love until the soul arrives at a stage where it may find the perfection of beauty.

The injunction given to Cupid is the injunction given to every soul, especially to the soul that has the privilege of having a loving heart, the soul that can attract others, that soul is the more responsible for this divine charge.

Blinded by love, man often gets blinded to this charge, begins to own the one he loves and to think that the purpose of love is to give and take, he says, 'I will give that I may get back from my beloved', until the time comes when the crystal-like heart is knocked against a rock and broken, and after heart-break man often falls back into despair, a few chosen, blessed ones keep on clinging to the rope of love, they know there is still a message to come, the divine spark is still there, and a flame may still rise to illumine the path through life.

Human love is given to illuminate by its sincerity the heart of another, there is no greater power to inspire than the power of love.

The desire for service, gentleness, tolerance, kindness, forgiveness, all come from love. Love alone is a fountain from which all virtues fall as drops of sparkling water.

Love is given to inspire divine love in the heart of man, and all the beauty that man sees on earth is beauty created by the power of love, and by the power of love he learns to recognize it as a reflection of the beauty of heaven. Thus may earth become heaven, and heaven and earth one single vision of the glory of God.

From the metaphysical point of view we may explain it thus – place a large magnet on the ceiling and some small pieces of steel on the floor, the pieces of steel are attracted to the magnet, so will man never escape the pull of the Great Magnet, some day he must be pulled back by it.

Among millions of believers in God, there is hardly one who makes God a reality, to so many He is an imagination, to many He is in a mosque, a church, or a temple. Many wonder if God is really. Many others think God is goodness, He is a personality separate from us, He is most high, most pure, most beautiful, but He is separate and difficult to reach. Many think that as it takes so long to reach this planet or that, God must be further away still. The purpose of one's whole life is to make God a reality.

First, we must learn to see the beauty, it is not everyone who sees it, often the critical spirit is occupied in gazing at the object which lacks beauty, the more you look for beauty, the more you see it as a whole. It is seeing the vision in part that deludes, you look at the side of a man's nature that may not be attractive, but if you will seek for good in everything, you will always find it, for God is in all things, and still more He is in all beings.

Seek Him in all souls, good and bad, wise and foolish, attractive or unattractive, for in the depth of each there is God.

Man swimming in the sea, does not know the fish living in the sea, so we living in God do not recognize all souls living in God also. He is all around and about us at every moment, we are living His life, we are breathing His breath, and yet we are ignorant of the perfection of beauty which unites and inspires every soul.

checked 18-Oct-2005