THE GODDESS LEARNS THE STORY OF THE OUTER WORLD.
Her holiness was pleased to say how honored she was by receiving us.
Our advent in Atvatabar had created a profound impression upon the
people, and she was no less curious to see us and learn from our own
lips the story of the outer world. She was greatly interested in
comparing the stalwart figures of our sailors with the less vigorous
frames of the Atvatabarese. It could not be expected that men who
handled objects and carried themselves in a land where gravity was
reduced to a minimum could be so vigorous as men who belonged to a
land of enormous gravity, whose resistance to human activity developed
great strength of bone and muscle.
I informed her holiness regarding the geography, climate and peoples
of the outer sphere. I gave her an account of the chief nations of the
world from Japan to the United States. I spoke of Africa, Australia,
and the Pacific islands. I spoke of Adam and Eve, of the Deluge, of
Assyria and Egypt. Then I described the glory of Greece and the
grandeur of Rome. I spoke of Caesar and Hannibal, Cleopatra and
Antony. I spoke of Columbus, Galileo, Michael Angelo, Faraday, Dante,
and Shakespeare. I described how art reigned in one kingdom or country
and invention in another, and that the soul or spiritual nature was as
yet a rare development.
"You tell me," said the goddess, "that Greece could chisel a statue,
but could not invent a magnic engine, and that your own country, rich
in machinery, is barren in art. This tells me the outer world is yet
in a state of chaos and has not yet reached the development of
Atvatabar. We have passed through all those stages. At first we were
barbarous, then, as time produced order, art began to flourish. The
artist, in his desire to glorify the few, lost sight of the misery of
the many. Then came the reign of invention, of science, giving power
to the meanest citizen. As democracy triumphed art was despised, and
a ribald press jeered at the sacred names of poet and priest. By
degrees, as the pride and power of the wealthy few were curbed and the
condition of the masses raised to a more uniform and juster level,
universal prosperity, growing rapidly richer, produced a fusion of art
and progress. The physical man made powerful by science and the soul
developed by art naturally produced the result of spiritual freedom.
The enfranchised soul became free to explore the mysteries of nature
and obtain a mastery over the occult forces residing therein."
"In the outer sphere," I informed the goddess, "there has also existed
in all ages an ardent longing for spiritual power over matter. But
this power, which in many periods of history was really obtained, had
been purchased by putting in practice the severest austerities of the
body. Force of soul was the price of subjugation of passion and the
various appetites of the body. The fakirs, yogis, jugglers, and adepts
of India; the magicians, sorcerers and astrologers of Mesopotamia and
Egypt; the alchemists, cabalists, and wizards of the middle ages, and
the theosophists, spiritualists, clairvoyants, and mesmerists of the
present time, were members of the same fraternity who have obtained
their psychological powers from a study and practice of mystic
philosophy or magic."
"You say that the outer-world magicians derived their powers of soul
from abnegation of the body," said the goddess. "Now the soul priests
of Atvatabar can do quite as wonderful things, I dare say, as your
magicians, and they have never practised austerities, but, on the
contrary, have developed the body as well as the soul. In the worship
of the gods of science and invention, art and spirituality, both body,
mind, and soul are exercised to their utmost capability. In all stages
there is exultance, exercise, development. But I am deeply interested
in your remarks. Tell me just what the principles of the worshippers
of your Harikar are!"
"Spiritual culture in the outer world," I explained, "is obtained by a
variety of religious beliefs, but the belief that most nearly
resembles that of Atvatabar is that of the soul-worshippers, who deny
the existence of any power beyond the human soul, teaching that it is
only by our own inward light that we can rise to higher planes and
reach at last to Nirvana, or passive blessedness. This inward light
can only be truly followed by self-obliteration, fastings, penances,
and repression of desires and appetites of all kinds, carried on
through an endless series of reincarnations. The final blessedness is
a beatific absorption into the ocean of existence which pervades the
universe."
"That is a different creed to that of Harikar in Atvatabar," said the
goddess, "which is worship of body, mind, and soul. We believe with
your Greeks in perfection of body and also with your Hindoos in
perfection of soul. We re-enforce the powers of body and mind by
science and invention, and the soul powers by art and spiritual love.
We believe in magic and sorcery. Our religion is a state of ecstatic
joy, chiefly found in the cultured friendship of counterpart souls,
who form complete circles with each other. Enduring youth is the
consummate flower of civilization. With us it lasts one hundred years,
beginning with our twentieth birthday. There is no long and crucial
stage of bodily abstinence from the good things of life; there is only
abstinence from evil, from vice, selfishness, and unholy desire. Our
religion is the trinity of body, mind, and spirit, in their utmost
development. Such is the faith of Atvatabar."
"And such a faith," I replied, "with such a deity as your holiness,
must profoundly sway the hearts of your people."
The goddess was a woman of intuition. Almost before I was aware of it
myself she evidently discovered a sentiment underlying my words. She
paused a moment, and before I could question her further regarding the
peculiar creed of Atvatabar, said: "We will discuss these things more
fully hereafter."
At a signal from the goddess the trumpets rang a blast announcing the
audience at an end. With the summons music uttered a divine throbbing
throughout the chamber, while the singers marched and sang gloriously
in the cloisters.
As I sat, my soul swimming in a sea of ecstasy born of the blessed
environment, I felt possessed of splendors and powers hitherto unknown
and unfelt. A thrill of joy made hearts tremble beneath the crystal
dome. It was a new lesson in art's mysterious peace.