The Inner Life

LOVE, the greatest power known to us, obliterates hatred by its very presence. Men continue to be cruel and bitter and revengeful, because the Brotherhood of Love is not yet strong enough in the human race to become dominant. Hatred yields itself up to its opposite, when love is made manifest, because its aims and efforts are futile; it cannot hurt or injure that spirit which is above pain or loss, therefore it becomes inactive, and the force which causes this passion changes its nature.

So with good and evil; by using the supreme power of love, the force which rushes in upon men’s souls, causing outbursts of crime and cruelty, can be stayed in its course, and so overpowered by the love spirit that its nature is changed. It is necessary to remember that men are swayed and influenced by forces which sweep over the thought-world as winds sweep over the earth, or as currents of electricity flash through the ether. Practical scientists aim at controlling the forces of Nature, alchemists aim at changing the character of material substances. The practical occultist aims at controlling the forces of human nature and changing the character of thought-substance; that is the profession to which he is devoted; not his own development, nor the influencing of individuals, forms his chief work.

As he develops, he finds himself encountering the powers and forces which assail him in common with the rest of the race; strong in his position as a soul of love, he is unhurt by hatred or evil, and can unite with others, equally well equipped, to influence the thought-substance of the world. When the pairs of opposites are blended, under the dominion of the love spirit, a great wave of new life and strength breaks in upon men, because the struggle has ceased, and instead of men’s souls being torn in opposite directions, they are uplifted towards the infinite Good by a greatly increased impulse. It is as though two hands, which had been plucking man’s soul into two parts, were suddenly placed together and used to uplift him. This effect cannot continue, while man is under the law of the pairs of opposites, crucified, unless the effort which caused it is continuous. Conditions immediately relapse into their normal state of friction and struggle when the effort is relaxed. None can essay this effort but those who are purified by the spiritual fire, firm in the body of spiritual love, secured in the consciousness of the Supreme. It is because few are fitted for this work that the race remains a prey to conflict and sin and cruelty.

The Disciple is pledged now to live according to the law of love; the hardest life possible for the embodied spirit of man, for it means the entrance into the little army capable of accepting and transmuting evil. To fight this force is the task of the novice, in his own nature; he encounters it continually upon the battlefield of his being, from incarnation to incarnation. Being now self-restrained and enlightened, the disciple is able, in union with other disciples equally purified, to stand before the great and terrible force of evil, and lessen its baleful influence upon the race by influencing and changing its character. He enters, being now a part of the creative spirit of love, upon the task of the alchemist who transmutes and changes.

In the strengthening of this band of workers, in whom the Christos is developed, lies the hope of emancipation of the race. Mankind, as a whole, is too deeply submerged in matter, and too much under the influence of material thought, to be capable of development while the evil force is so powerful. It is for the leaders, the disciples, and the initiates who guide them from beyond the gateway of material life, to give to the race its great hope and opportunity. The disciple who has triumphed over the first pair of opposites (pleasure and pain) in his own nature, who has passed over the steps of human life in successive incarnations, and been utterly burned in the sacrificial fire, can henceforth stand without fear before the evil force. It cannot injure him. But he cannot change or alter its character, alone; therefore does the Feast of Union follow the Feast of Love.

When he is bidden to enter on this task, he finds himself in his own place, from which he cannot be cast down, save by his own fault. And so severely has he been tested, that fault in him is not looked for. But because fault or failure are always possible, each takes the vow not to swerve or falter though the one next him should be cast down or removed far from him.

In the splendour of the Love Feast all things in the Place of Learning, even when others see blood red and fire colour, have the whiteness of the white lily to the selfless one. It is only possible to be aware of this whiteness when the heart has opened itself, not only to those who give joy and pleasure, but also to the great sad outside world which but to think of causes pain and weariness. No one who has ever seen this whiteness can rest again in the sloth of indifference. It is seen only in the intensity of the Love Feast, when the man gives out from himself to the whole world without reservation or possibility of withdrawal.

At the Feast of Union, which follows immediately, the Hall looks glorious with colour. To those who have successfully passed through the ordeals of consecration and sacrifice, the whiteness, seen for a long awe-inspiring moment, yields to clouds of glorious colour. Flaming jewels flash on the walls, amethyst and sapphire; a carpet of growing pansies and violets appears upon the ground. And all the shapes of men, standing close together in that mystic space, breathe the litany together in a mere whisper, yet in perfect unison.

I — There is no more any parting of the ways.
II — All the different paths are become but the one path.
III — I am but a part.
IV — I am but one stone in the Great Temple.
V — I am a soldier in the army, and from the one who is next me I cannot swerve by ever so small a fraction; I remain, therefore, immovably associated with my fellow soldiers.

From When the Sun Moves Northward, by Mabel Collins.

THE 1938 Congress of the International New Thought Alliance will be held at the Hotel Raleigh, Twelfth and Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C., on October 23-27, 1938. Speakers of international note will take part including James A. Edgerton, Elizabeth Towne, Emmet Fox, Brown Landone, James B. Shafer. For full particulars write to Miss Leota Feathers, Secretary I. N. T. A., Room 700, American Building, 1317 F. Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.