Part 16 (1/2)
”The next that appeared before the lady was a great warrior.
”He said, 'Lovely lady, I am a great warrior. I have led to battle large armies, and have always been victorious. I have met hand to hand captains and generals, and have slain them with one blow from my sword'
(and here he drew it out of its sheath and showed it to her. It was a fine piece of skilled workmans.h.i.+p). 'Should you become my bride no harm shall ever befall you, no enemy shall come nigh you, and no serpent or wild beast shall hurt you; for I have killed all kinds of animals and reptiles. Most lovely one, if thou wilt become my bride, all my soldiers shall obey thy word, and I will be thy true protector.'
”With a smile she motioned him to a place on her left.
”The next that appeared as her suitor, said, 'Dear lady, I have a beautiful home and all it needs is thee, and shouldst thou see fit to become my bride, you will be a happy and a joyous mother, and in the love of each other, and in our home, and in our children, will our happiness be found. Dearest lady, become my bride and thou shalt be the head of the happiest home in the land.'
”She smiled and motioned him to a seat on her left.
”The next suitor that came forward was attired in rich cloth trimmed with lace and gold.
”He said, 'Most charming lady, I am a Prince, and if thou wilt become my bride, I will make thee a Princess. Thou shall have a lovely court, many servants, costly robes to wear, and millions of people to wors.h.i.+p thee, and do thee homage.'
”She smiled and motioned him to a seat on her left.
”Other suitors made offers to her. The last suitor that appeared before the sweet lady was different from all the rest. He was dressed plainly; he needed nothing to improve his natural appearance, for his majestic form, his n.o.ble countenance and l.u.s.trous eyes, surpa.s.sed in attractiveness all the other suitors. When you once saw him you felt as if you wished to take another look at him, for it seemed to do one's eyes good to feast them on so grand a man.
”He said, 'Thou pure, sweet one. When a youth I was wandering through a forest and saw a man sitting under a tree. He had a sweeter countenance than I had ever seen before. He said, ”My youthful friend, if thou wilt learn from me thou shalt become good, wise and very happy.”
”'I thought of my companions and myself in regard to what he said, and the more I thought about us all, I could not think of one that was becoming good and wise, or was truly happy. For we were all restless, going here, and going there, trying this and doing the other to find happiness. So I thanked him and said, I will be thy pupil, for I wish to become good, wise and truly happy. He said, ”Commence to-morrow morning, and as soon as you awake rise immediately; never lay after you are awake, for it is not good for one of your age. Then when you rise bathe in cold water. After you have dressed,” he said, ”read out of this book which I give you; read every morning for fifteen minutes or half an hour; then spend a little time in prayer and meditation.” And he gave me instructions in such and said, ”Live on plain food, eat no meat, avoid bad companions as you would a Bengal tiger, and before going to rest at night spend half an hour in prayer and meditation. Continue faithfully in the performance of these practices for three months, and then come here to me.” I did so, carrying them out to the letter, and at the end of three months I returned to him. He looked at me and said, ”I see by your countenance you have changed.” I replied, ”Yes, I feel changed altogether.” ”Tell me,” he said, ”in what way do you feel different?”
”'I said, ”When you saw me three months ago my mind was confused more or less, my imagination ran too much after vain and sensuous objects. I had too much personal sensitiveness, being attached to myself so much. I was easily irritated, and always restless, wanting something I did not have. But now my mind is calm and peaceful, my imagination dwells on the pure, the good and the beautiful. I no longer feel envious or jealous or greedy; for love seems to be taking the place of those feelings.”
”'Continuing, my teacher said, ”Let your prayer be for light and knowledge, and ask the Blessed Infinite One to help you to love all; let love rule; never mind what others may say about you, or how meanly they may treat you. Be in earnest to love all. Rise every morning with this thought: 'How beautiful my brother is; how precious is my sister.' You may not love a person's ways, but you should always love the person.
Separate the two in your mind and it will help you much. Start the day with this thought, 'I will live this day without discontent, without self-seeking, and without anxiety.' Say, 'Lord, deliver me from all selfish ambitions, and from pride and vanity, and may I become teachable as a little child.'”
”'I did so, for I was very desirous of advancing in the Divine life.
”'In six months' time I returned to him. He said, ”Why, brother, how happy you look; how clear and bright your eyes are; how sweet your expression has become.”
”'”Yes,” I said, ”I am becoming like you.” He said, ”G.o.d bless your efforts in living the Divine life. Let your prayer be: Do thou manifest thyself in me, thou Blessed Infinite One. See that I want Thee and nothing else.”
”'I did so, for the more I followed his instructions the more of the Divine life did I realize, and I knew that the angel was ruling the animal within me. After being his disciple for several years, he said, ”Thou art ready now to become a teacher like myself.”
”'I replied, ”Dear Guru, my prayer is that in becoming a teacher like thee, I may be able to lead others in the Divine life as thou hast led me.” I kissed the holy man and he gave me his blessing which has followed me ever since, and it is with pleasure that I can say in the spirit of thankfulness and humility, there have been those whose lives are all the sweeter and brighter through my life and instructions. Sweet lady, you know what I mean when I say, having obtained freedom through renunciation I realized illumination, and through the light which I have received I am in the possession of knowledge which the many know little about, and through the light and knowledge which I have received I came to know you long before seeing you to-day. I have seen you many, many times though you were hundreds of miles away from me, and I seem to have been in communication with you, though I never have spoken or written a word to you. Not only so, sweet lady, but it has been my happiness to receive from you many uplifting thoughts and I felt as if I was led by the Divine Spirit which is in us all to come here to-day and say to you: Thou sweet spirit, I have no houses nor lands, no money nor wealth, no name nor fame, but I have attained realization, and through that attainment I see the Divine in you; and its manifestation to such an eminent degree in you has attracted me towards you, and I say to you now, sweet one, that in your becoming my bride our lives will be expanded, and we will attain unfoldment that we could obtain in no other way. Thou bright one, what sweet communings of soul with soul, we will have; for having consecrated our bodies to the Eternal One, we will each day manifest a brighter light, and both of us s.h.i.+ne as one in our love for each other, and for all. And, dear one, in that beautiful light and life will our cup of bliss be filled, and many besides ourselves will drink therefrom.'
”The lady smiled very sweetly on him and bade him take a seat on her right. Then rising and facing her other suitors she said, 'Friends, I thank you for the interest and kindness you have shown towards me, but you all made one mistake, and that is in thinking I am merely just what this material form stands for, in thinking I am a woman and only a woman, and nothing but a woman. And in thinking so you come, one with gifts of silks, laces, gold, ivory, spices and many other things, as if that was all I needed. Another offers bravery and protection for me, thinking I was a weak woman and could not take care of myself; another wants to make me a Princess, so as to excite my pride and vanity, by causing so many to bow down to me, as if my joy consisted in having my pride and vanity fed, and in looking upon my fellow beings as my slaves, whose whole life is to contribute to my enjoyment. Then another offers me a home and to make me the mother of many children; as if that was the highest attainment for a spiritual being; while still another offers me money, good things to eat and drink and wear, only what this body of mine seems in his eyes. No, I will have to decline all your offers, because you are under the illusion that I am only a woman.'
”Turning to the one on her right she said, 'By a life of self-denial and discipline through prayer and meditation, and in cultivating the spirit of love for all, and in making your life a free will offering to humanity, you attained illumination. The angel now rules the animal and you have arrived now to the state of realization of the Divine within you. Not being in bondage to either the man or the woman, for you see that each is a spiritual being like the other, therefore you look upon me as a spiritual being manifested in the form of a woman. You have seen that my wants and desires are spiritual, not material. All that I need in the material world is very little and comes to me; for as Jesus has said, ”Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all these things (material) shall be added unto you.”
”'Dear friend, you have appealed to my self, my spiritual nature. I now respond, and, dear one, what I possess in the way of love shall be yours, for I love you so dearly it will be a joy for me to give you my love and live in your love, and we will both consecrate ourselves to each other and to the Lord, in His humanity.'”
Penloe, looking earnestly at his audience, said: ”That is the way, dear friends, I look on you all this day; not for what your material forms stand for, not for the environments each of you is placed in, but I look upon you all as spiritual beings. I look upon you as Divine, and it is this great, grand and glorious thought that each one of you is Divine. I want you to take it home with you; I want you to repeat it over and over again, '_I am Divine_'; I want you to think about it till it becomes part of your own mentality, till it becomes part of the cells of your brain, till it becomes a part of the life blood of your body, flowing through your arteries and veins; and all your actions shall have their source in the grand thought that you are Divine. When you reach to that plane, your whole course in life will change, and each one of you before me here will become so changed that you or your neighbors will hardly know yourselves. For you have been going about with this thought, 'I am a poor, weak human being.' That man over there says, 'All there is to me is this body with its appet.i.tes and desires. I drink, I swear, I live a life of l.u.s.t and that is what I am.' I say no! a thousand times no! All the qualities of the Divine are within you; but you have not realized them. Don't look upon yourself any longer as being that drinking, swearing, l.u.s.tful man. But look upon yourself as being Divine; that all the qualities of the universe are within you, and in you are all the powers of the universe. That poor woman over there whose life is one of hard, monotonous toil in the house; you are the mother of too many children. Your life is one round of work, care and anxiety, and when you look in the gla.s.s you see that work, worry and pa.s.sion have taken the bloom off your cheeks, the brightness out of your eyes; you are faded; and it seems as if the light and life of the world had left you, and you see no bright future. Hardly anything in it for you worth the having.
”It is to you I bring this grand message, my discouraged sister, wake up and get out of the illusion that you are what that poor worn-out body of yours stands for. No, dear sister, a thousand times no; for you are 'Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, and Bliss Absolute.'
”The reason that you and your s.e.x are where you are to-day, is because you are in bondage to your material forms, looking upon yourselves and wis.h.i.+ng men to look upon you also for what you are in body, instead of women looking upon themselves as spiritual beings and having men do the same. The reason that men are where they are to-day is because they are in bondage to their material forms, looking upon themselves as being men, and also expecting women to look upon them as such, instead of men looking upon themselves as pure spiritual beings possessing the qualities of the Divine, and looking upon women as being exactly the same spiritually as themselves.