THE LESSONS
“_The lessons came from great forces combined. They represent unity of
all purposes, and were framed by the co-operation and agreement of the
greatest forces of each constructive purpose, to reach the consciousness
of men in general terms of your plane._”
I
_March 23d._
“All pure purpose is fearless, whether for good or evil, but few humans
are pure purpose, and the first fight is in themselves. All this has been
said before in effect, but based on other premises. This is the first
time the original purpose has been defined and explained. For centuries
men have sought the source of life. This is the first time they have been
ready to accept the whole truth about that, or to be prepared for the
next step.
“Once convinced that chaos grew from purposes born of the Force Beyond
Perfection, purposes perfect from the beginning, but at war because
they contained within themselves all the elements of life and of
conflict—once convinced of this, men will gradually find their own clear
purposes defined, and the war within themselves will cease. They will
choose definitely to build or to destroy, to be honest or dishonest.
Self-deception will be less easy or possible, and the fight will then
be with you, as it is now with us, between forces clearly indicated.
Now you are all confused by a war within a war, infinitely continued.
Conflict multiplied by the number of purposes in each purpose. This has
been recognized, but the remedy has never been clearly found. It lies in
the conviction that force of every nature is purpose, which has existed
from the beginning, and that the force which builds is beneficent and may
be clearly segregated and united.
“The Force Beyond Perfection is composed of all things, and therefore
understands all things. The original purposes were all good, and will
be again, if they can all become intelligent. They became evil through
attraction of like for like, akin to your atomic attraction, and chaos
resulted. This struggle created a desire and determination to exist in
concrete form, to add a new force to the forces of chaos. That was a
great conflict, resulting in a tie. Purposes became fused in the same
individual, and the battle infinitely multiplied, but yet not lost. Now
the effort of both participants is for united purpose again, and the
fusion of purposes in each individual makes the confusion greater and
the fight more bitter. Men are swayed first by one purpose and then by
another, and are themselves unable to distinguish between good and evil.
“This precipitated the Great War with you, the purposes in the Central
Empires being more nearly united than elsewhere. Their purposes are
fundamentally destructive, because fundamentally autocratic, based on
fear, and would ultimately reduce civilization to infancy again. The
reason Germany has been able to fight so long is because her purpose is
conscious, while the Allies fight blindly but determinedly, moved by
purposes they do not recognize and yet must obey. They talk of unity,
but do not perceive its nature. They are misled by phrases hollow, but
plausible, and do not perceive them to be the enemy in disguise—not the
mortal enemy, but the ancient purpose, divided into many.
“The light is beginning to break now, and the hour has almost come for
the forces of construction to unite and smite powerfully. But it must
be consciously, as the purpose of construction, if the victory is to be
permanent or truly for progress. Men must learn to choose their purposes
consciously and intelligently, to be definitely and actually building
for a definite and actual future. There is too much quarreling about
ways and means, and too little recognition of the goal. Too much self,
and too little sympathy. This is equally true of all classes of society.
Materialism has been rank in the tenement and in the cottage, as in
palace and counting-room.
“It is a common purpose we serve, for building or for tearing down. It is
impossible to be consistently for both continuously. That has made the
Great War, and that is the struggle that must be settled in the minds
of men before there can be peace on earth or lasting and progressive
brotherhood.
“This is the first lesson.”
II
_March 26th._
“This is the second lesson.
“The forces of disintegration are gathering for a titanic struggle, of
which your Great War is only the beginning. Had Germany won there, they
would have a foothold with you that we would find it difficult, if not
impossible, to combat effectively for many years. The spirits of free men
would have been soiled with fear and despair, and the forces of doubt and
disintegration would have held civilization captive.
“Germany has felt her forces weaken and fail under the onslaught of
freedom, light, and progress, and the forces of disintegration are
deserting her. She is left alone, to work her way, through mazes of
despair, back to a place in the sun. She must find her own way. She chose
to follow the forces of destruction, and they will surely destroy her.
“But the forces she followed are uniting for a fiercer fight, more
subtle, more deadly, more furious. Hidden beneath the garments of
peace and good will, they make ready to poison the minds of men before
destroying their forces and delaying their purposes.
“This is the battle to which we call you and all who are for progress.
This is the message you are to give the world, to warn them of the
danger at hand. The time has come when men must choose consciously to
fight for or against the forces of construction. They are confused from
the conflict within themselves, running hither and thither, calling for
help from the gods they have made unto themselves, but looking only to
the present good, perceiving only the present purpose, fearing only the
present defeat. They will find no help from these gods, for they have
impotent feet of clay.
“The forces of disintegration have made friends with the poor and the
needy, and have fed them husks of brotherhood. They have made friends
with the powerful and rich, and have tempted them with earth and its
kingdoms. They have fed the artist falsehoods, and the writer fear of
fear. They have touched the priest with tainted hands, and rulers with
fear of the people. They have entered the home and rent it asunder, and
the temple is a market-place. These are the works of the purposes we
fight, and thus do they disguise themselves. Unless this can be brought
home to the souls of men, the fight will be long and bitter.
“Forget the class and remember the man. Forget the price and remember the
pearl. Forget the labor and remember the fruit. Forget the temple and
remember God.
“Men fight together for one end alone—the purpose for which they live.
It is hard to find there, in the confusion of personal conflict, but the
time is at hand when it must be found.
“The forces of light are positive. Shun negation. The forces of freedom
are individual. Shun dependence. The forces of progress are fearless.
Shun fearful combinations. Work together as individuals, consciously
cooperating, not as sheep. You will learn to think. You will learn to
feel. You will learn to see. Then we may move on to the next phase of
development toward the great purpose.
“The forces of disintegration are wily, but fearful. Bullies and cowards.
But when they are united in sufficiently strong numbers, fearless and
unscrupulous. They fear the reawakening of the forces of progress in your
life. This is the reason they gather now, to smite while the world is
weary. Disguised as purposes of light, they hope for welcome.
“This is our call to arms. Arouse ye! Come forth for freedom, light,
justice, and progress—consciously, freely, strongly.
“This is the second lesson.”
III
_March 31st._
“This is the third lesson.
“When men learn that the Force Beyond Perfection is purpose, which has
personified itself in them, they will grow to feel the possibilities to
which they have heretofore been insensible.
“Life is purpose. Purpose is force. Force is personality, from highest to
lowest, from saint to stick and stone. Men have called it many things,
but what it is none have perceived clearly.
“Eternal purpose is perfect justice, perfect fearlessness, perfect
understanding, perfect honesty, perfect sympathy, perfect unity, and
eternal growth, which is progress perfectly expressed. This is the end
for which we work. Not Nirvana. Not oblivion. Not power stagnant and
powerless. But a perfect balance, progressing to purposes and powers as
yet undreamed. This is the Eternal Purpose, toward which all purpose
moves. Purposes of construction consciously and determinedly, purposes
of destruction unwillingly and inevitably. They fear us, they fight us,
they seek to destroy us, not perceiving that they must in the end rejoin
us, having left us in the beginning.
“To bring this home to the souls of men is our first duty, and for that
reason those of us nearest to your life work first among men. Purpose
frees forces you but dimly apprehend, and free forces construct a
foundation in your life for the perfect unity of Eternal Purpose.
“Any force not free destroys itself. Any good not animated and active
destroys itself. Force imprisoned becomes destruction. Good imprisoned
becomes evil. All are fundamentally good, fundamentally beneficent,
but have become powers for destruction through lack of progressive
development and exercise.
“All men are fusions of many purposes, moved by many forces, answering
to many calls. Each responds to the call of his dominant purpose, which
flows and fluctuates with his life’s struggle. One day he destroys, and
cares not. One day he builds, and marvels at his power. One day he sleeps
and forgets. One day he fights to the death for a purpose he had not
yesterday, and loses to-morrow. This is the life of man, and this our
field of battle. There are other lives, other struggles, other lessons
to learn, but this is the first.
“Purpose manifests itself in man inevitably in action. His purpose is not
what he believes, not what he desires, but what he is and does. If he
destroys, and builds not on the ruins, he is against us. If he falls and
fails not, he is with us, though he stumble an hundred times. He fights
within himself the ancient fight, and if he win that, his eternal battle
is won. Thereafter, he is part and parcel of the forces of construction.
“Purpose answers freely only to its kind, freely and fearlessly it
responds to the call of self. If a man be captive to destructive forces,
he responds to the cry, Destroy! But if he be given to powers of
progress, he builds, though his eyes be blinded and his hands cut off.
“In every man captive to forces of disintegration the builder lies
dormant. To reach that faint glow of Eternal Purpose is the first duty
of every constructive force. Call to it, rouse it, free it, and it will
eventually respond. But do not smother it with false charity, darken it
by conflicting precepts, weaken it by fictitious aid. Every individual
must serve his own purpose. Only thus is the integrity of the whole
conserved. Though he be only a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord, yet
does he serve his eternal purpose as truly as the priest. Let each man
learn his purpose and serve forcefully where his development has placed
him. Only thus can he progress.
“Purposes are divided. Thus do they show themselves to men. The purpose
of Progress is first and greatest, because it moves all the others toward
the Great Purpose. The other constructive purposes are these, divided
and subdivided: Light, Justice, Truth, Production, Healing, Building.
Each divided and divisible by any of the others, yet pure and perfect in
itself. Light may dwell with Healing or Production, but only Light calls
unto Light, only Justice unto Justice.
“All forces of construction work together, yet each purpose separate unto
itself. Choose ye, therefore. Build or tear down, produce or destroy,
illumine or obscure, free men, or hold them captive to themselves. Choose
daily and hourly the purpose ye serve.
“This is the third lesson.”
IV
_April 1st._
“This is the fourth lesson.
“The world fears purpose that is free and fearless. All the forces of
humanity are turned against freedom. The church imposes its creed, the
class imposes its caste, the profession imposes its etiquette, the
moralist imposes his fear, the libertine imposes his folly. All men are
bound by the conventions of church, caste, profession, or moral status.
Thus do they throw wide the door to forces of disintegration. Each man
assumes a purpose not his own; a force that is his own deserts him.
“Free development demands free purpose and concentrated force. Wherever
two or three are gathered together to follow the same purpose in free and
conscious co-operation, there force is multiplied. Wherever an hundred
are assembled to be led like sheep by the bell-wether, there force is
debauched and disintegrated.
“Because men have huddled together in fear, destruction threatens them.
Because free speech has been debauched to fell purpose, free men distrust
it. Men, forces of disintegration, but possessed of glib tongues, have
played bell-wether to the multitude. Priests of purpose, whose counsel
was inspired by the Eternal, have been thrust aside and stoned. Better
were it for the immortal man to follow his purpose to death and mortal
oblivion, than to lose his force to the bell-wether. Many purposes make
great purpose. Many forces unite for freedom. But better for immortal man
to destroy greatly and greatly strive than to sink his purpose in the
medley disguised as brotherhood.
“A great brotherhood is possible only when its component parts are great.
Strength lies not in numbers, but in purpose. The fit may not lie down
with the unfit, and their progeny survive. The strong may not yield their
purpose to the weak, and their force remain.
“A light breaks in the East—Russia, given as a sacrifice to the
brotherhood of men. A light not of star or dawn, but of sacrificial fire.
Heed it, guard it, ye youths and virgins, for by its flaming sacrifice
are ye saved.
“Brotherhood is purpose of progress, not purpose of profit. Brotherhood
is made beautiful by unity, not by schism. Brotherhood suffereth long,
and is kind. Brotherhood regardeth every brother, great and small.
Brotherhood waiteth upon brother and grumbleth not. All build together
the common home of all.
“Seek ye those of your own purpose. Unite together all who fain would
build. Master and man, architect and mason, financier and farm laborer,
all work to the same end, and this is Brotherhood.
“To work for the same purpose, in whatever capacity may be necessary,
this is the only true Brotherhood.
“This is the fourth lesson.”
V
_April 3d._
“This is the fifth lesson.
“Men have long cherished the ideal of Brotherhood, but they have clung
to the letter of the ancient law and lost its spirit. Before the days of
liberty, when men were languishing in slavery or bound as vassals, sell
all thou hast and give to the poor had a significance lost in a day of
free labor and industrial progress. The spirit of the law is unchanged
and unchangeable, but the letter progresses with civilization’s advance.
“To-day, the first essential of brotherhood is freedom. Freedom to
think, freedom to believe, freedom to strive, freedom to develop, from
highest to lowest. And the employer who refuses this opportunity to the
men who work under him is no more truly a force for disintegration than
the laborer who refuses to co-operate with his employer and thus proves
himself unworthy of a place in the procession of progress.
“There can be no house that will stand against storm that has not
foundation, walls, and roof. There can be no society that will withstand
disintegration that has not labor, capital, and market. When capital
oppresses labor, forces of disintegration are freed. When labor dominates
capital, forces of disintegration are freed. When the people forget
justice, forces of disintegration are freed. And the destruction of one
is the destruction of all. The rich man who denies his brother freedom is
a destroyer. The poor man who denies his brother freedom is a destroyer
in no less degree. Each is a part of the other, and each follows eternal
purpose to one end—construction and progress.
“The man who has freedom of thought, freedom of purpose, freedom of
action, is free, though he be a pauper, and is free to choose whether
he will build or destroy. The man who is bound by any tie that dictates
his thought, belief, or action is a force of disintegration, because
he may not follow his purpose freely and with all his force. The man
who has freedom and wealth, and, forgets his brother, is a force of
disintegration. The man who has strength and poverty, and forgets his
brother, is a force of disintegration. Equality of opportunity does not
demand or imply equality of development. Many men are rich who use their
wealth to forward the purposes of construction. Many there are who waste
it and invite disintegration. Many men are poor, who use their strength
to help along construction. They are forces of progress, and will find
their places here. Many there are who delay the march, and invite
disintegration. What shall it profit a man, though he gain the earth, if
he lose his own soul?
“There are seven purposes. Progress, Light, Truth, Healing, Building,
Production, and Justice. Equally great, save Progress, which moves them
all. One of these must each man serve, if he proceeds toward the Great
Purpose. Whether great or small, high or low, wise or foolish, learned
or ignorant, rich or poor, powerful or apparently impotent, each human
individual is a force for construction or for disintegration, and follows
his purpose to its inevitable end: constructive forces to construction of
great purposes, disintegrating forces to the long struggle that can have
but one end, however distant—construction.
“There are many phases of development, each looking onward to the next.
If a man climb without envy, forgetting himself in his purpose, he shall
climb far. If he look with envy at his higher brother and with scorn at
those below him, he shall climb on slipping sands and find himself again
at the foot.
“Bear ye one another’s burdens is a command unchanged and unchangeable.
Give unto each his opportunity to grow, and to build for progress.
Freedom to strive is the one right inherent in existence, the strong and
the weak each following his own purpose, with all his force, to the one
great end. And he who binds or limits his brother’s purpose binds himself
now and hereafter. But he who extends his brother’s opportunity builds
for eternity.
“Choose ye.
“This is the fifth lesson.”
VI
_April 3d._
“This is the sixth lesson.
“Men are afraid of fear. They fear to fear, and fall into folly. Fear
of disintegrating purposes makes for wisdom, and wisdom makes for
construction. Fear is a disintegrating force made constructive, when
directed against disintegration.
“Wisdom in high places has been dethroned, and intellectual curiosity
usurps the scepter. Men who should lay foundations of wisdom experiment
with fantasies of the intellectual dreamer.
“Brotherhood, to one class, is a defensive organization, for protection.
Brotherhood, to another class, is an offensive organization, for pillage.
Brotherhood, to another class, is an organized attempt to preserve the
unfit. Brotherhood, to another class, is a dream of unorganized following
of untried theories. None of these know that all men are brothers.
“Evolution of matter follows evolution of purpose, but when material
things are left behind, purpose continues to progress. Why, then, lose
your purpose in pursuit of material gain?
“Church and state alike urge morality for personal ends, and recommend
personal punishments. There is no morality. There is only purpose,
constructive or destructive. There is no punishment. There is only
consequence.
“Personal motives are deterrent forces, neither actively constructive nor
actively destructive, except as they may be applied. These forces crowd
in between the contending purposes, hindering both and helping neither,
except when compelled by sheer force of numbers to sweep on with one or
the other.
“Forces of disintegration are frequently mistaken for personal motives.
They are always destructive. Personal motives are always deterrent.
Self-interest excludes sympathy. Purpose demands sympathy. Self-interest
excludes true unity. Unity is the Great Purpose. Any morality based on
personal interest is, therefore, a deterrent force.
“The time has not yet come when men in the mass have vision. The great
Purpose to the small mind is vague and of no significance. Personal
motives are more easily recognized than purpose, and Church and state
emphasize and encourage them. But the time is at hand when great
conflicting purposes will meet in combat for control of men. Wake the
sleepers. Cast off little things. Sink personal motives. Rouse Church and
state to perception of force and purpose, and unite together, regardless
of class, creed, or party, to win the world to purposes of construction.
“Church and state urge unity, and yield none. Tolerance, freedom,
fearlessness, light—these are almost strangers to temple or court. Little
by little the lines are softening. Little by little we gain on fear. Here
a tolerant and noble clergyman, there a statesman who serves the state.
But for one of these, a thousand huddle under creed or slogan, and fear
of freedom impels them all. This is because they have not recognized
purpose, and they impede progress who might be its power.
“Come forth, then, priests, teachers, and leaders! Call upon the people,
not to follow, not to huddle, not to hesitate, but, to choose. Set ye
the seven purposes clearly before them, clearly perceiving them, ye that
call, and bid them choose, for the life of all, the purpose they will
serve.
“Thus may deterrent forces become constructive, and the Great Purpose
known of all men.
“This is the sixth lesson.”
VII
_April 5th._
“This is the seventh lesson.
“Before the light of freedom dawned on the world, a puissant chaos of
purposes and forces fought for control of the liberties of men. A short
space of time brought liberty of body, after the perception of the
people had been clarified by the gradual development of the ideal of
liberty. They moved rapidly toward it, when they began to understand it,
with halts and hesitations and blunders, but forcefully and inevitably
still. They overthrew kings and barons, and took into their own hands
the physical and material government of their kind. But their minds and
forces are still enslaved and shackled by outworn tradition. ‘Onward
Christian soldiers’, is a plea for progress; but it has become a
recessional, not a marching song. Men have made their justice vassal to
tradition, and their brotherhood fief to gain.
“Men have learned the value of free bodies, but free force, mental
or spiritual, terrifies and puzzles them still. They have learned to
discipline their bodies, to keep them strong and clean. But they fear to
trust the purposes and forces, without chains and prison bars to hold
them, lest they make chaos of civilization. Church, state, profession,
trade, guild, or society commands: Thou shalt not think. Follow, yield,
accept, and endure, but let not thought be found among ye, lest the bars
be broken and destruction loosed.
“Many men follow; a few men think. These are the overlords, the kings and
barons of forces that might be free. But freedom demands free purpose,
and free purpose demands justice.
“No man is free who commands not himself. No man is free who forgets his
brother. No man is free who fears to follow his own purpose with all his
force. No man is free who fails to carry his share of common load. He may
have wealth and luxury; yet is he slave. He may be tempted by beauty; yet
is he slave. He may be frightened by calamity; yet is he slave. He may
be beaten by strangers; yet is he slave. No man is free who commands not
himself in any emergency. He may lose wealth and luxury, and still be
free. He may dwell with squalor, who loves beauty, and still be free. He
may be defrauded by his brother, and still be free. He may be shackled by
strangers, beaten and imprisoned, and still be free.
“Freedom lieth not in a man’s estate, but in the man himself.
“This is the seventh lesson.”
VIII
_April 8th._
“This is the eighth lesson.
“Many men try to perceive the purpose of God in truth and beauty and
justice, and fail to recognize that the Eternal Purpose is unlimited
by the detached conceptions of men. Truth is one of the fundamental
purposes. Beauty is a subdivision of Building. Justice is fundamental.
All are part of the Eternal Purpose. But the Great Purpose is unity.
“The fundamental purposes are common to all men, of whatever race, color,
belief, or prejudice. They are the foundation from which the forces of
Eternal Purpose start, and by their divisions only are men ultimately
grouped. As a commander divides his army into infantry, artillery,
cavalry, air forces, quartermaster, engineer, and medical corps, so
are the eternal forces divided into the seven purposes for the eternal
conflict.
“The purposes of disintegration are more than seven. They divide into
myriad motives as they fight the aspirations of immortal man. Free men
choose freely how they will array themselves, but slaves are driven by
their masters, visible or invisible, to fight for purposes not their own.
Only when they have learned to discipline and develop their minds, as
they now discipline and develop their bodies, may they choose freely the
force with which they will be arrayed.
“Rich man against poor man. Capital against labor. State against
offender. Poor man against wealth. Labor against development. Criminal
against law. All are false distinctions.
“Seek ye the man of your own purpose, and cleave to him. If ye would
build, seek a builder. If ye would heal, seek a healer. If justice absorb
ye, seek a man furthering justice. But be not misled by the slave-driver,
without or within. Beware of the bell-wether, and of personal or material
motives. Govern yourselves first, and then choose ye whether to fight for
progress or for disintegration, for unity or for destruction. Then choose
ye the purpose ye will serve forcefully through eternity.
“This is the eighth lesson.”
IX
_April 8th._
“This is the ninth lesson.
“Men have lived in fear of forces from without, and have not perceived
that within themselves all forces are made potent. Men have feared
purposes from without, and have not perceived that their own purpose is
eternal. Men have talked of power, and failed to perceive its source.
Men have dreamed of possession, and failed to find freedom. Possession
is temporary and ephemeral. Freedom is eternal. Should a man yield the
freedom of his eternal purpose for any possession whatsoever?
“Build ye with all possessions, that purpose may be free. For brotherhood
commandeth service, and for this are possessions hallowed. He who hath,
and denieth his brother opportunity, destroys his own purpose. He
who hath possessions, and giveth his brother opportunity, builds for
eternity. He who hath power and plenitude, and giveth his brother help,
has given all men more than the one can take. He has built for eternity.
“The man who has this power to build with possessions for eternal
progress has a force beside his own, the force of material purpose to aid
his brother’s force. Many there be who build for eternity with material
possessions. They are the keepers of the keys for all who labor, stewards
of opportunity.
“He who has opportunity to strive, and striveth not, destroys his own
purpose. He who has the key to opportunity for building offered him, and
fails to free the force, destroys both his own purpose and that of his
brother.
“One purpose are all to serve—Progress. And whether it be with purpose
and possessions, or with purpose and poverty, all serve equally who put
their whole force into service.
“So may all men know they are brothers.
“This is the ninth lesson.”
X
_April 9th._
“This is the tenth lesson.
“The purposes of disintegration are these. Malice, Envy, Doubt,
Falsehood, Ignorance, Lust, Cupidity, Fear. All these make for
Destruction, which is the strong purpose that moves them all. Each of
these is divided and subdivided into myriad motives of disintegration,
many of which disguise themselves before daring to enter the
consciousness of man.
“Malice and Envy present themselves most often as Light or Justice. Doubt
as Light, Lust as Justice or Production, Cupidity as Building, Fear and
Ignorance as Truth, and Destruction as Progress. But the disguises vary
with the individual and with the moment, and the motives springing from
these purposes are legion.
“Each individual in your life is a battleground of purposes that have
fought from the moment the purposes of disintegration gathered one to
another. Each man struggles to ally himself permanently with one or
another of the purposes within him. Thus is it that a man whose desire
is for light falls victim to malice, envy, and destruction; and he whose
desire is production, to lust. Weakness of purpose is a subdivision of
fear, and folly a minion of ignorance.
“All men aspire. Some with reluctance and halting, but all feel the
purpose of progress working within them. They may mistake its nature
or deny its power, but no man lives who has not felt its prompting.
This is the purpose beyond all others, the Eternal Purpose of United
Construction. No man can thwart it, no man can evade it, no force can
defeat it. Why, then, oppose and delay it?
“Come, all ye who struggle and strive! Perceive once and forever the
purpose of life, join now the forces of construction, and bring to all
men Brotherhood.
“This is the tenth lesson.”
XI
_April 12th._
“This is the eleventh lesson.
“There is no man who has not force. He may be frail of body, weak of
purpose, light of mind, faltering of step. Yet to some degree has he
force, for without force personality cannot exist. There is no man so
frail of body, so weak of purpose, so faltering of step, that he has not
personality. There is no personality that is not a force for construction
or for destruction. None that may not serve to build.
“There is no man so bound up in himself, so personal of motive, so
narrow of vision, that he may not be turned from a deterrent force into
a force for construction, save only those already given to purposes of
disintegration.
“But no man is so vigorous of body, so firm of purpose, so profound of
mind, so sure of step, that he may perfect his brother’s life. ‘Am I
my brother’s keeper?’ has been transformed from a question uttered in
defense of iniquity to an assertion uttered in defense of arrogance. ‘Am
I not my brother’s keeper?’
“No man is his brother’s keeper. The utmost that he may do for his
brother is to arouse his brother’s purpose, whether for construction
or for destruction. Call to the purpose of Progress. Call to the seven
purposes of construction. Help ye each brother to find the onward
way. But if he will not answer, if calling fail to move him, then bid
him destroy after his own purpose, that the fight may be open and his
allegiance known of all men.
“Freedom to choose is the inalienable right of every human soul. Who
hinders his brother’s purpose delays the end of battle. Win him to
progress, if he can be won by calling. Bid him declare himself, if he
answer not the call. But he who coerces his brother, though it be toward
construction, prolongs the struggle and delays the Great Purpose.
“No man is his brother’s keeper.
“This is the eleventh lesson.”
XII
_April 12th._
“This is the twelfth lesson.
“Many men there be who fight for liberty and coerce their brothers.
“In war, all men must fight. But there is no man who may choose for
another how his allegiance may be given.
“He who is not for progress is against it. He who has no allegiance that
he will declare, is traitor to himself and to the purpose he follows.
Cast him out and he will find his purpose known.
“So shall the opposing forces be clearly indicated. So shall each man
find his own purpose clearly defined. So shall the wars within wars cease
among men, and the fight be with you, as it is with us, between purposes
and forces known and united, one against the other, until all purposes of
destruction have been conquered and transformed, and the Great Purpose
rendered free to progress to greater glories without end.
“This is the twelfth lesson.”
NOTES
Asked to explain one phrase in the first Lesson, “the original purposes
were all good,” Mary K. said: “All were balanced. There is no evil that
may not be good in proper combination. Evil is the gathered force of
undirected and not fully animated good, combined in a destructive purpose
by the attraction I mentioned.”
* * * * *
An apparent contradiction of a statement in the first Lesson—“All pure
purpose is fearless, whether for good or evil”—by one in the second
Lesson—“The forces of disintegration are wily, but fearful. Bullies and
cowards”—seemed to imply that forces of disintegration are not pure
purpose. Mary K. explained: “They are pure purpose, fearless in pursuance
of destruction, wily in bringing it about, brutal in consummating it, but
cowards individually. Fearless of consequences when they pursue, but
fearful when they fail. Like Germans.”
* * * * *
Early in June, I discovered a relation between the definition of Eternal
Purpose in the second paragraph of the third Lesson, and the divisions of
the purpose of Progress near the end. “Eternal purpose is perfect justice
(Justice), perfect fearlessness (Production), perfect understanding
(Light), perfect honesty (Truth), perfect sympathy (Healing), perfect
unity (Building), and eternal growth (Progress), which is progress
perfectly expressed.”
* * * * *
The end of the seventh Lesson seemed obscure, until the relation between
its clauses was discovered. Written thus, its meaning is clear: “(1) No
man is free who commands not himself. (2) No man is free who forgets
his brother. (3) No man is free who fears to follow his purpose with
all his force. (4) No man is free who fails to carry his share of the
common load. He may have wealth and luxury, yet is he slave (1) _if
he commands not himself_. He may be tempted by beauty (2) _to forget
his brother_, yet is he slave, _if he commands not himself_. He may be
frightened by calamity (3) _in following his purpose_, yet is he slave,
_if he commands not himself_. He may be beaten by strangers (4) _while
carrying his share of the common load_, yet is he slave _if he commands
not himself_.”
* * * * *
_9th Lesson._
A curious inconsistency in the use of verbs will be noticed here, archaic
and modern forms appearing in the same sentence repeatedly. This may have
been due to my great fatigue when this lesson was taken, to the presence
in the room of other persons, or to some condition or intention as yet
unexplained.