I am exceedingly happy to meet you. Praise be to God! I see before me
souls who have unusual capability and the power of spiritual advancement.
In reality, the people of this continent possess great capacity; they are
the cause of my happiness, and I ever pray that God may confirm and assist
them to progress in all the degrees of existence. As they have advanced
along material lines, may they develop in idealistic degrees, for material
advancement is fruitless without spiritual progress and not productive of
everlasting results. For example, no matter how much the physical body of
man is trained and developed, there will be no real progression in the
human station unless the mind correspondingly advances. No matter how much
man may acquire material virtues, he will not be able to realize and
express the highest possibilities of life without spiritual graces. God
has created all earthly things under a law of progression in material
degrees, but He has created man and endowed him with powers of advancement
toward spiritual and transcendental kingdoms. He has not created material
phenomena after His own image and likeness, but He has created man after
that image and with potential power to attain that likeness. He has
distinguished man above all other created things. All created things
except man are captives of nature and the sense world, but in man there
has been created an ideal power by which he may perceive intellectual or
spiritual realities. He has brought forth everything necessary for the
life of this world, but man is a creation intended for the reflection of
divine virtues. Consider that the highest type of creation below man is
the animal, which is superior to all degrees of life except man.
Manifestly, the animal has been created for the life of this world. Its
highest virtue is to express excellence in the material plane of
existence. The animal is perfect when its body is healthy and its physical
senses are whole. When it is characterized by the attributes of physical
health, when its physical forces are in working order, when food and
surrounding conditions minister to its needs, it has attained the ultimate
perfection of its kingdom. But man does not depend upon these things for
his virtues. No matter how perfect his health and physical powers, if that
is all, he has not yet risen above the degree of a perfect animal. Beyond
and above this, God has opened the doors of ideal virtues and attainments
before the face of man. He has created in his being the mysteries of the
divine Kingdom. He has bestowed upon him the power of intellect so that
through the attribute of reason, when fortified by the Holy Spirit, he may
penetrate and discover ideal realities and become informed of the
mysteries of the world of significances. As this power to penetrate the
ideal knowledges is superhuman, supernatural, man becomes the collective
center of spiritual as well as material forces so that the divine spirit
may manifest itself in his being, the effulgences of the Kingdom shine
within the sanctuary of his heart, the signs of the attributes and
perfections of God reveal themselves in a newness of life, the everlasting
glory and eternal existence be attained, the knowledge of God illumine,
and the mysteries of the realm of might be unsealed.
Man is like unto this lamp, but the effulgences of the Kingdom are like
the rays of the lamp. Man is like unto the glass, but spiritual splendors
are like unto the light within the glass. No matter how translucent the
glass may be, as long as there is no light within, it remains dark.
Likewise, man, no matter how much he advances in material accomplishments,
will remain like the glass without light if he is deprived of the
spiritual virtues. Material virtues are like unto a perfect body, but this
body is in need of the spirit. No matter how handsome and perfect the body
may be, if it is deprived of the spirit and its animus, it is dead. But
when that same body is affiliated with the spirit and expressing life,
perfection and virtue become realized in it. Deprived of the Holy Spirit
and its bounties, man is spiritually dead.
Children, for instance, no matter how good and pure, no matter how healthy
their bodies, are, nevertheless, considered imperfect because the power of
intellect is not fully manifest in them. When the intellectual power fully
displays its influences and they attain to the age of maturity, they are
considered as perfect. Likewise, man, no matter how much he may advance in
worldly affairs and make progress in material civilization, is imperfect
unless he is quickened by the bounties of the Holy Spirit; for it is
evident that until he receives that divine impetus he is ignorant and
deprived. For this reason Jesus Christ said, "Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." By this
Christ meant that unless man is released from the material world, freed
from the captivity of materialism and receiving a portion of the bounties
of the spiritual world, he shall be deprived of the bestowals and favors
of the Kingdom of God, and the utmost we can say of him is that he is a
perfect animal. No one can rightly call him a man. In another place He
said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit." The meaning of this is that if man is a captive of
nature, he is like unto an animal because he is only a body physically
born--that is, he belongs to the world of matter and remains subject to the
law and control of nature. But if he is baptized with the Holy Spirit, if
he is freed from the bondage of nature, released from animalistic
tendencies and advanced in the human realm, he is fitted to enter into the
divine Kingdom. The world of the Kingdom is the realm of divine bestowals
and the bounties of God. It is attainment of the highest virtues of
humanity; it is nearness to God; it is capacity to receive the bounties of
the ancient Lord. When man advances to this station, he attains the second
birth. Before his first or physical birth man was in the world of the
matrix. He had no knowledge of this world; his eyes could not see; his
ears could not hear. When he was born from the world of the matrix, he
beheld another world. The sun was shining with its splendors, the moon
radiant in the heavens, the stars twinkling in the expansive firmament,
the seas surging, trees verdant and green, all kinds of creatures enjoying
life here, infinite bounties prepared for him. In the world of the matrix
none of these things existed. In that world he had no knowledge of this
vast range of existence; nay, rather, he would have denied the reality of
this world. But after his birth he began to open his eyes and behold the
wonders of this illimitable universe. Similarly, as long as man is in the
matrix of the human world, as long as he is the captive of nature, he is
out of touch and without knowledge of the universe of the Kingdom. If he
attains rebirth while in the world of nature, he will become informed of
the divine world. He will observe that another and a higher world exists.
Wonderful bounties descend; eternal life awaits; everlasting glory
surrounds him. All the signs of reality and greatness are there. He will
see the lights of God. All these experiences will be his when he is born
out of the world of nature into the divine world. Therefore, for the
perfect man there are two kinds of birth: the first, physical birth, is
from the matrix of the mother; the second, or spiritual birth, is from the
world of nature. In both he is without knowledge of the new world of
existence he is entering. Therefore, rebirth means his release from the
captivity of nature, freedom from attachment to this mortal and material
life. This is the second, or spiritual, birth of which Jesus Christ spoke
in the Gospels.
The majority of people are captives in the matrix of nature, submerged in
the sea of materiality. We must pray that they may be reborn, that they
may attain insight and spiritual hearing, that they may receive the gift
of another heart, a new transcendent power, and in the eternal world the
unending bestowal of divine bounties.
Today the world of humanity is walking in darkness because it is out of
touch with the world of God. That is why we do not see the signs of God in
the hearts of men. The power of the Holy Spirit has no influence. When a
divine spiritual illumination becomes manifest in the world of humanity,
when divine instruction and guidance appear, then enlightenment follows, a
new spirit is realized within, a new power descends, and a new life is
given. It is like the birth from the animal kingdom into the kingdom of
man. When man acquires these virtues, the oneness of the world of humanity
will be revealed, the banner of international peace will be upraised,
equality between all mankind will be realized, and the Orient and Occident
will become one. Then will the justice of God become manifest, all
humanity will appear as the members of one family, and every member of
that family will be consecrated to cooperation and mutual assistance. The
lights of the love of God will shine; eternal happiness will be unveiled;
everlasting joy and spiritual delight will be attained.
I will pray, and you must pray, likewise, that such heavenly bounty may be
realized; that strife and enmity may be banished, warfare and bloodshed
taken away; that hearts may attain ideal communication and that all people
may drink from the same fountain. May they receive their knowledge from
the same divine source. May all hearts become illumined with the rays of
the Sun of Reality; may all of them enter the university of God, acquire
spiritual virtues and seek for themselves heavenly bounties. Then this
material, phenomenal world will become the mirror of the world of God, and
within this pure mirror the divine virtues of the realm of might will be
reflected.
1 September 1912
Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. William Sutherland Maxwell
716 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Canada