The greatest power in the realm and range of human existence is
spirit,--the divine breath which animates and pervades all things. It is
manifested throughout creation in different degrees or kingdoms. In the
vegetable kingdom it is the spirit augmentative or power of growth, the
animus of life and development in plants, trees and organisms of the
floral world. In this degree of its manifestation, spirit is unconscious
of the powers which qualify the kingdom of the animal. The distinctive
virtue or plus of the animal is sense perception; it sees, hears, smells,
tastes and feels but is incapable in turn, of conscious ideation or
reflection which characterize and differentiate the human kingdom. The
animal neither exercises nor apprehends this distinctive human power and
gift. From the visible it cannot draw conclusions regarding the invisible
whereas the human mind from visible and known premises attains knowledge
of the unknown and invisible. For instance, Christopher Columbus from
information based upon known and provable facts drew conclusions which led
him unerringly across the vast ocean to the unknown continent of America.
Such power of accomplishment is beyond the range of animal intelligence.
Therefore this power is a distinctive attribute of the human spirit and
kingdom. The animal spirit cannot penetrate and discover the mysteries of
things. It is a captive of the senses. No amount of teaching, for
instance, would enable it to grasp the fact that the sun is stationary and
the earth moves around it. Likewise the human spirit has its limitations.
It cannot comprehend the phenomena of the kingdom transcending the human
station, for it is a captive of powers and life forces which have their
operation upon its own plane of existence and it cannot go beyond that
boundary.
There is however another spirit which may be termed the divine, to which
Jesus Christ refers when He declares that man must be born of its
quickening and baptized with its living fire. Souls deprived of that
spirit are accounted as dead, though they are possessed of the human
spirit. His Holiness Jesus Christ has pronounced them dead inasmuch as
they have no portion of the divine spirit. He says: "Let the dead bury
their dead." In another instance He declares: "That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit." By this
He means that souls though alive in the human kingdom are nevertheless
dead if devoid of this particular spirit of divine quickening. They have
not partaken of the divine life of the higher kingdom; for the soul which
partakes of the power of the divine spirit is verily living.
This quickening spirit has spontaneous emanation from the Sun of Truth,
from the reality of divinity and is not a revelation or a manifestation.
It is like the rays of the sun. The rays are emanations from the sun. This
does not mean that the sun has become divisible; that a part of the sun
has come out into space. This plant beside me has risen from the seed;
therefore it is a manifestation and unfoldment of the seed. The seed, as
you can see, has unfolded in manifestation and the result is this plant.
Every leaf of the plant is a part of the seed. But the reality of divinity
is indivisible and each individual of human kind cannot be a part of it as
is often claimed. Nay, rather, the individual realities of mankind when
spiritually born are emanations from the reality of divinity, just as the
flame, heat and light of the sun are the effulgence of the sun and not a
part of the sun itself. Therefore a spirit has emanated from the reality
of divinity, and its effulgences have become visible in human entities or
realities. This ray and this heat are permanent. There is no cessation in
the effulgence. As long as the sun exists the heat and light will exist,
and inasmuch as eternality is a property of divinity, this emanation is
everlasting. There is no cessation in its outpouring. The more the world
of humanity develops, the more the effulgences or emanations of divinity
will become revealed, just as the stone when it becomes polished and pure
as a mirror will reflect in fuller degree the glory and splendor of the
sun.
The mission of the prophets, the revelation of the holy books, the
manifestation of the heavenly teachers and the purpose of divine
philosophy all center in the training of the human realities so that they
may become clear and pure as mirrors and reflect the light and love of the
Sun of Reality. Therefore I hope that whether you be in the east or the
west you will strive with heart and soul in order that day by day the
world of humanity may become glorified, more spiritual, more sanctified;
and that the splendor of the Sun of Reality may be revealed fully in human
hearts as in a mirror. This is worthy of the world of mankind. This is the
true evolution and progress of humanity. This is the supreme bestowal.
Otherwise, by simple development along material lines man is not
perfected. At most, the physical aspect of man, his natural or material
conditions may become stabilized and improved but he will remain deprived
of the spiritual or divine bestowal. He is then like a body without a
spirit, a lamp without the light, an eye without the power of vision, an
ear that hears no sound, a mind incapable of perceiving, an intellect
minus the power of reason.
Man has two powers, and his development two aspects. One power is
connected with the material world and by it he is capable of material
advancement. The other power is spiritual and through its development his
inner, potential nature is awakened. These powers are like two wings. Both
must be developed, for flight is impossible with one wing. Praise be to
God! material advancement has been evident in the world but there is need
of spiritual advancement in like proportion. We must strive unceasingly
and without rest to accomplish the development of the spiritual nature in
man, and endeavor with tireless energy to advance humanity toward the
nobility of its true and intended station. For the body of man is
accidental; it is of no importance. The time of its disintegration will
inevitably come. But the spirit of man is essential and therefore eternal.
It is a divine bounty. It is the effulgence of the Sun of Reality and
therefore of greater importance than the physical body.