We have just returned from a visit to Philadelphia, spending two nights
there and speaking in two large churches. The weather proved unpleasant
and affected my health. The purpose in these movements here and there is a
single purpose--it is to spread the light of truth in this dark world. On
account of my age it is difficult to journey. Sometimes the difficulties
are arduous, but out of love for the friends of God and with desire to
sacrifice myself in the pathway of God, I bear them in gladness. The
purpose is the result which is accomplished--love and unity among mankind.
For the world is dark with discord and selfishness, hearts are negligent,
souls are bereft of God and His heavenly bestowals. Man is submerged in
the affairs of this world. His aims, objects and attainments are mortal,
whereas God desires for him immortal accomplishments. In his heart there
is no thought of God. He has sacrificed his portion and birthright of
divine spirituality. Desire and passion, like two unmanageable horses,
have wrested the reins of control from him and are galloping madly in the
wilderness. This is the cause of the degradation of the world of humanity.
This is the cause of its retrogression into the appetites and passions of
the animal kingdom. Instead of divine advancement we find sensual
captivity and debasement of heavenly virtues of the soul. By devotion to
the carnal, mortal world human susceptibilities sink to the level of
animalism.
What are the animals' propensities? To eat, drink, wander about and sleep.
The thoughts, the minds of the animals are confined to these. They are
captives in the bonds of these desires. Man becomes a prisoner and slave
to them when his ultimate desire is no higher than his welfare in this
world of the senses. Consider how difficult for man is the attainment of
pleasures and happiness in this mortal world. How easy it is for the
animal. Look upon the fields and flowers, prairies, streams, forests and
mountains. The grazing animals, the birds of the air, the fishes neither
toil nor undergo hardships; they sow not, nor are they concerned about the
reaping; they have no anxiety about business or politics--no trouble or
worry whatsoever. All the fields and grasses, all the meadows of fruits
and grains, all the mountain slopes and streams of salubrious water belong
to them. They do not labor for their livelihood and happiness because
everything is provided and made possible for them. If the life of man be
confined to this physical, material outlook, the animal's life is a
hundred times better, easier and more productive of comfort and
contentment. The animal is nobler, more serene and confident because each
hour is free from anxiety and worriment; but man, restless and
dissatisfied, runs from morn till eve, sailing the seas, diving beneath
them in submarines, flying aloft in airplanes, delving into the lowest
strata of the earth to obtain his livelihood--all with the greatest
difficulty, anxiety and unrest. Therefore, in this respect the animal is
nobler, more serene, poised and confident. Consider the birds in the
forest and jungle: how they build their nests high in the swaying
treetops, build them with the utmost skill and beauty--swinging, rocking in
the morning breezes, drinking the pure, sweet water, enjoying the most
enchanting views as they fly here and there high overhead, singing
joyously--all without labor, free from worry, care and forebodings. If
man's life be confined to the elemental, physical world of enjoyment, one
lark is nobler, more admirable than all humanity because its livelihood is
prepared, its condition complete, its accomplishment perfect and natural.
But the life of man is not so restricted; it is divine, eternal, not
mortal and sensual. For him a spiritual existence and livelihood is
prepared and ordained in the divine creative plan. His life is intended to
be a life of spiritual enjoyment to which the animal can never attain.
This enjoyment depends upon the acquisition of heavenly virtues. The
sublimity of man is his attainment of the knowledge of God. The bliss of
man is the acquiring of heavenly bestowals, which descend upon him in the
outflow of the bounty of God. The happiness of man is in the fragrance of
the love of God. This is the highest pinnacle of attainment in the human
world. How preferable to the animal and its hopeless kingdom!
Therefore, consider how base a nature it reveals in man that,
notwithstanding the favors showered upon him by God, he should lower
himself into the animal sphere, be wholly occupied with material needs,
attached to this mortal realm, imagining that the greatest happiness is to
attain wealth in this world. How purposeless! How debased is such a
nature! God has created man in order that he may be a dove of the Kingdom,
a heavenly candle, a recipient of eternal life. God has created man in
order that he may be resuscitated through the breaths of the Holy Spirit
and become the light of the world. How debased the soul which can find
enjoyment in this darkness, occupied with itself, the captive of self and
passion, wallowing in the mire of the material world! How degraded is such
a nature! What an ignorance this is! What a blindness! How glorious the
station of man who has partaken of the heavenly food and built the temple
of his everlasting residence in the world of heaven!
The Manifestations of God have come into the world to free man from these
bonds and chains of the world of nature. Although They walked upon the
earth, They lived in heaven. They were not concerned about material
sustenance and prosperity of this world. Their bodies were subjected to
inconceivable distress, but Their spirits ever soared in the highest
realms of ecstasy. The purpose of Their coming, Their teaching and
suffering was the freedom of man from himself. Shall we, therefore, follow
in Their footsteps, escape from this cage of the body or continue subject
to its tyranny? Shall we pursue the phantom of a mortal happiness which
does not exist or turn toward the tree of life and the joys of its eternal
fruits?
I have come to this country in the advanced years of my life, undergoing
difficulties of health and climate because of excessive love for the
friends of God. It is my wish that they may be assisted to become servants
of the heavenly Kingdom, captives in the service of the will of God. This
captivity is freedom; this sacrifice is glorification; this labor is
reward; this need is bestowal. For service in love for mankind is unity
with God. He who serves has already entered the Kingdom and is seated at
the right hand of his Lord.
11 June 1912
Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York