CHAPTER 1.

Palestine. Birth of Mary. Joa­chim’s feast. Mary is blest by the priests. His prophecy. Mary abides in the temple. Is betrothed to Joseph.

¹Augustus Cæsar reigned and Herod Antipas was ruler of Jerusalem.

²Three provinces comprised the land of Palestine: Judea, and Samaria, and Galilee.

³Joachim was a master of the Jewish law, a man of wealth; he lived in Nazareth of Galilee; and Anna, of the tribe of Judah, was his wife.

⁴To them was born a child, a goodly female child, and they were glad; and Mary was the name they gave the child.

⁵Joachim made a feast in honor of the child; but he invited not the rich, the honored and the great; he called the poor, the halt, the lame, the blind, and to each one he gave a gift of raiment, food, or other need­ful thing.

⁶He said, The Lord has given me this wealth; I am his steward by his grace, and if I give not to his children when in need, then he will make this wealth a curse.

⁷Now, when the child was three years old her parents took her to Jerusalem, and in the temple she received the blessings of the priests.

⁸The high priest was a prophet and a seer, and when he saw the child he said,

⁹Behold, this child will be the mother of an honored prophet and a master of the law; she shall abide within this holy temple of the Lord.

¹⁰And Mary did abide within the temple of the Lord; and Hillel, chief of the Sanhedrim, taught her all the precepts of the Jews, and she delighted in the law of God.

¹¹When Mary reached the age of womanhood she was betrothed to Joseph, son of Jacob, and a carpen­ter of Nazareth.

¹²And Joseph was an upright man, and a devoted Essenes.

CHAPTER 2.

Zacharias and Elizabeth. Prophetic messages of Gabriel to Zacharias, Elizabeth and Mary. Birth of John. Prophecy of Zacharias.

¹Near Hebron in the hills of Judah, Zacharias and Eliza­beth abode.

²They were devout and just, and every day they read the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms which told of one to come, strong to re­deem; and they were waiting for the king.

³Now, Zacharias was a priest, and in his turn he led the temple service in Jerusalem.

⁴It came to pass as Zacharias stood before the Lord and burned the incense in the Holy Place, that Gabriel came and stood before his face.

⁵And Zacharias was afraid; he thought that some great evil was about to come upon the Jews.

⁶But Gabriel said, O man of God, fear not; I bring to you, and all the world, a message of good will, and peace on earth.

⁷Behold, the Prince of Peace, the king you seek, will quickly come.

⁸Your wife will bear to you a son, a holy son, of whom the prophet wrote,

⁹Behold, I send Elijah unto you again before the coming of the Lord; and he will level down the hills and fill the valleys up, and pave the way for him who shall redeem.

¹⁰From the beginning of the age your son has borne the name of John, the mercy of the Lord; his name is John.

¹¹He will be honored in the sight of God, and he will drink no wine, and from his birth he will be filled with Holy Breath.

¹²And Gabriel stood before Elizabeth as she was in the silence in her home, and told her all the words that he had said to Zacharias in Jerusalem.

¹³When he had done the serv­ice of his course, the priest went home, and with Elizabeth rejoiced.

¹⁴Five months passed by and Gabriel came to Mary in her home in Nazareth and said,

¹⁵Hail Mary, hail! Once blessed in the name of God; twice blessed in the name of Holy Breath; thrice blessed in the name of Christ; for you are worthy, and will bear a son who shall be called Immanuel.

¹⁶His name is Jesus, for he saves his people from their sins.

¹⁷When Joseph’s daily task was done he came, and Mary told him all the words that Gabriel spoke to her, and they rejoiced; for they believed that he, the man of God, had spoken words of truth.

¹⁸And Mary went with haste to tell Elizabeth about the promises of Gabriel; together they rejoiced.

¹⁹And in the home of Zacha­rias and Elizabeth did Mary tarry ninety days; then she returned to Nazareth.

²⁰To Zacharias and Elizabeth a son was born, and Zacharias said,

²¹Most blessed be the name of God, for he has opened up the fount of blessings for his people, Israel.

²²His promises are verified; ²⁷for he has brought to pass the words which holy prophets spoke in olden times.

²³And Zacharias looked upon the infant John, and said,

²⁴You will be called the proph­et of the Holy One; and you will go before his face, and will prepare his way.

²⁵And you will give a knowl­edge of salvation unto Israel; and you will preach the gospel of re­pentance and the blotting out of sins.

²⁶Behold, for soon the Day Star from on high will visit us, to light the way for those who sit within the darkness of the shadow­land, and guide our feet unto the ways of peace.

CHAPTER 3.

Birth of Jesus. Masters honor the child. The shepherds rejoice. Zacharias and Elizabeth visit Mary. Jesus is circumcised.

¹The time was nearly due for Jesus to be born, and Mary longed to see Elizabeth, and she and Joseph turned their faces toward the Judean hills.

²And when upon their way they came to Bethlehem the day was done, and they must tarry for the night.

³But Bethlehem was thronged with people going to Jerusalem; the inns and homes were filled with guests, and Joseph and his wife could find no place to rest but in a cave where animals were kept; and there they slept.

⁴At midnight came a cry, A child is born in yonder cave among the beasts. And lo, the promised son of man was born.

⁵And strangers took the little one and wrapped him in the dainty robes that Mary had prepared and laid him in a trough from which the beasts of burden fed.

⁶Three persons clad in snow-­white robes came in and stood be­fore the child and said,

⁷All strength, all wisdom and all love be yours, Immanuel.

⁸Now, on the hills of Bethle­hem were many flocks of sheep with shepherds guarding them.

⁹The shepherds were devout, were men of prayer, and they were waiting for a strong deliverer to come.

¹⁰And when the child of prom­ise came a man in snow-white robe appeared to them, and they fell back in fear. The man stood forth and said,

¹¹Fear not! behold I bring you joyful news. At midnight in a cave in Bethlehem was born the prophet and the king that you have long been waiting for.

¹²And then the shepherds all were glad; they felt that all the hills were filled with messengers of light, who said,

¹³All glory be to God on high; peace, peace on earth, good will to men.

¹⁴And then the shepherds came with haste to Bethlehem and to the cave, that they might see and honor him whom men had called Im­manuel.

¹⁵Now, when the morning came, a shepherdess whose home was near, prepared a room for Mary, Joseph and the child; and here they tarried many days.

¹⁶And Joseph sent a messenger in haste to Zacharias and Elizabeth to say, The child is born in Bethle­hem.

¹⁷And Zacharias and Elizabeth took John and came to Bethlehem with words of cheer.

²⁸¹⁸And Mary and Elizabeth re­counted all the wondrous things that had transpired. The people joined with them in praising God.

¹⁹According to the custom of the Jews, the child was circumcised; and when they asked, What will you call the child? the mother said, His name is Jesus, as the man of God declared.

CHAPTER 4.

Consecration of Jesus. Mary offers sacrifices. Simeon and Anna prophesy. Anna is rebuked for worshipping the child. The family returns to Bethlehem.

¹Now, Mary took her son, when he was forty days of age, up to the temple in Jerusalem, and he was consecrated by the priest.

²And then she offered purifying sacrifices for herself, according to the custom of the Jews; a lamb and two young turtle doves.

³A pious Jew named Simeon was in the temple serving God.

⁴From early youth he had been looking for Immanuel to come, and he had prayed to God that he might not depart until his eyes had seen Messiah in the flesh.

⁵And when he saw the infant Jesus he rejoiced and said, I now am ready to depart in peace, for I have seen the king.

⁶And then he took the infant in his arms and said, Behold, this child will bring a sword upon my people, Israel, and all the world; but he will break the sword and then the nations will learn war no more.

⁷The master’s cross I see upon the forehead of this child, and he will conquer by this sign.

⁸And in the temple was a widow, four and eighty years of age, and she departed not, but night and day she worshipped God.

⁹And when she saw the infant Jesus she exclaimed, Behold Im­manuel! Behold the signet cross of the Messiah on his brow!

¹⁰And then the woman knelt to worship him, as God with us, Im­manuel; but one, a master clothed in white, appeared and said,

¹¹Good woman, stay; take heed to what you do; you may not worship man; this is idolatry.

¹²This child is man, the son of man, and worthy of all praise. You shall adore and worship God; him only shall you serve.

¹³The woman rose and bowed her head in thankfulness and wor­shipped God.

¹⁴And Mary took the infant Jesus and returned to Bethlehem.

CHAPTER 5.

Three magian priests honor Jesus. Herod is alarmed. Calls a council of the Jews. Is told that prophets had foretold the coming of a king. Herod resolves to kill the child. Mary and Joseph take Jesus and flee into Egypt.

¹Beyond the river Euphrates the magians lived; and they were wise, could read the language of the stars and they divined that one, a master soul, was born; they saw his star above Jerusalem.

²And there were three among the magian priests who longed to see the master of the coming age; and they took costly gifts and has­tened to the West in search of him, the new-born king, that they might honor him.

³And one took gold, the sym­bol of nobility; another myrrh, the symbol of dominion and of power; gum-thus the other took, the sym­²⁹bol of the wisdom of the sage.

⁴Now when the magians reached Jerusalem the people were amazed, and wondered who they were and why they came.

⁵And when they asked, Where is the child that has been born a king? the very throne of Herod seemed to shake.

⁶And Herod sent a courtier forth to bring the magians to his court.

⁷And when they came they asked again, Where is the new born king? And then they said, While yet beyond the Euphrates we saw his star arise, and we have come to honor him.

⁸And Herod blanched with fear. He thought, perhaps, the priests were plotting to restore the kingdom of the Jews, and so he said within himself, I will know more about this child that has been born a king.

⁹And so he told the magian priests to tarry in the city for a while and he would tell them all about the king.

¹⁰He called in council all the Jewish masters of the law and asked, What have the Jewish prophets said concerning such a one?

¹¹The Jewish masters answered him and said, The prophets long ago foretold that one would come to rule the tribes of Israel; that this Messiah would be born in Bethle­hem.

¹²They said, The prophet Mi­cah wrote, O Bethlehem Judea, a little place among the Judean hills, yet out of you will one come forth to rule my people, Israel; yea, one who lived in olden times, in very ancient days.

¹³Then Herod called the ma­gian priests again and told them what the masters of the Jewish law had said; and then he sent them on the way to Bethlehem.

¹⁴He said, Go search, and if you find the child that has been born a king, return and tell me all, that I may go and honor him.

¹⁵The magians went their way and found the child with Mary in the shepherd’s home.

¹⁶They honored him; bestowed upon him precious gifts and gave him gold, gum-thus and myrrh.

¹⁷These magian priests could read the hearts of men; they read the wickedness of Herod’s heart, and knew that he had sworn to kill the new born king.

¹⁸And so they told the secret to the parents of the child, and bid them flee beyond the reach of harm.

¹⁹And then the priests went on their homeward way; they went not through Jerusalem.

²⁰And Joseph took the infant Jesus and his mother in the night and fled to Egypt land, and with Elihu and Salome in ancient Zoan they abode.

CHAPTER 6.

Herod learns of the supposed mission of John. The infants of Bethle­hem are massacred by Herod’s or­der. Elizabeth escapes with John. Because Zacharias cannot tell where his son is hidden, he is mur­dered. Herod dies.

¹Now, when the magian priests did not return to tell him of the child that had been born a king, King Herod was enraged.

²And then his courtiers told him of another child in Bethlehem, one born to go before and to pre­pare the people to receive the king.

³This angered more and more ³⁰the king; he called his guards and bid them go to Bethlehem and slay the infant John, as well as Jesus who was born to be a king.

⁴He said, Let no mistake be made, and that you may be sure to slay these claimants to my throne, slay all male children in the town not yet two years of age.

⁵The guards went forth and did as Herod bade them do.

⁶Elizabeth knew not that Her­od sought to slay her son, and she and John were yet in Bethlehem; but when she knew, she took the infant John and hastened to the hills.

⁷The murderous guards were near; they pressed upon her hard; but then she knew the secret caves in all the hills, and into one she ran and hid herself and John until the guards were gone.

⁸Their cruel task was done; the guards returned and told the story to the king.

⁹They said, We know that we have slain the infant king; but John, his harbinger, we could not find.

¹⁰The king was angry with his guards because they failed to slay the infant John; he sent them to the tower in chains.

¹¹And other guards were sent to Zacharias, father of the harbin­ger, while he was serving in the Holy Place, to say, The king de­mands that you shall tell where is your son.

¹²But Zacharias did not know, and he replied, I am a minister of God, a servant in the Holy Place; how could I know where they have taken him?

¹³And when the guards re­turned and told the king what Zach­arias said, he was enraged and said,

¹⁴My guards, go back and tell that wily priest that he is in my hands; that if he does not tell the truth, does not reveal the hiding place of John, his son, then he shall die.

¹⁵The guards went back and told the priest just what the king had said.

¹⁶And Zacharias said, I can but give my life for truth; and if the king does shed my blood the Lord will save my soul.

¹⁷The guards again returned and told the king what Zacharias said.

¹⁸Now, Zacharias stood before the altar in the Holy Place en­gaged in prayer.

¹⁹A guard approached and with a dagger thrust him through; he fell and died before the curtain of the sanctuary of the Lord.

²⁰And when the hour of salu­tation came, for Zacharias daily blessed the priests, he did not come.

²¹And after waiting long the priests went to the Holy Place and found the body of the dead.

²²And there was grief, deep grief, in all the land.

²³Now Herod sat upon his throne; he did not seem to move; his courtiers came; the king was dead. His sons reigned in his stead.

CHAPTER 7.

Archelaus reigns. Mary and Eliz­abeth with their sons are in Zoan and are taught by Elihu and Sa­lome. Elihu’s introductory les­son. Tells of an interpreter.

¹The son of Herod, Archelaus, reigned in Jerusalem. He was a selfish, cruel king; he put to death all those who did not honor him.

²He called in council all the wisest men and asked about the infant claimant to his throne.

³The council said that John and Jesus both were dead; then he was satisfied.

⁴Now Joseph, Mary and their son were down in Egypt in Zoan, and John was with his mother in the Judean hills.

⁵Elihu and Salome sent mes­sengers in haste to find Elizabeth and John. They found them and they brought them to Zoan.

⁶Now, Mary and Elizabeth were marveling much because of their deliverance.

⁷Elihu said, It is not strange; there are no happenings; law gov­erns all events.

⁸From olden times it was or­dained that you should be with us, and in this sacred school be taught.

⁹Elihu and Salome took Mary and Elizabeth out to the sacred grove near by where they were wont to teach.

¹⁰Elihu said to Mary and Eliz­abeth, You may esteem yourselves thrice blest, for you are chosen mothers of long promised sons,

¹¹Who are ordained to lay in solid rock a sure foundation stone on which the temple of the perfect man shall rest—a temple that shall never be destroyed.

¹²We measure time by cycle ages, and the gate to every age we deem a mile stone in the journey of the race.

¹³An age has passed; the gate unto another age flies open at the touch of time. This is the prepara­tion age of soul, the kingdom of Im­manuel, of God in man;

¹⁴And these, your sons, will be the first to tell the news, and preach the gospel of good will to men, and peace on earth.

¹⁵A mighty work is theirs; for carnal men want not the light; they love the dark, and when the light shines in the dark they comprehend it not.

¹⁶We call these sons, Reveal­ers of the Light; but they must have the light before they can reveal the light.

¹⁷And you must teach your sons, and set their souls on fire with love and holy zeal, and make them conscious of their missions to the sons of men.

¹⁸Teach them that God and man were one; but that through carnal thoughts and words and deeds, man tore himself away from God; debased himself.

¹⁹Teach that the Holy Breath would make them one again, re­storing harmony and peace;

²⁰That naught can make them one but love; that God so loved the world that he has clothed his son in flesh that man may comprehend.

²¹The only Savior of the world is love, and Jesus, son of Mary, ³²comes to manifest that love to men.

²²Now, love cannot be mani­fest until its way has been prepared, and naught can rend the rocks and bring down lofty hills and fill the valleys up, and thus prepare the way, but purity.

²³But purity in life men do not comprehend; and so, it, too, must come in flesh.

²⁴And you, Elizabeth, are blest because your son is purity made flesh, and he shall pave the way for love.

²⁵This age will comprehend but little of the works of Purity and Love; but not a word is lost, for in the Book of God’s Remembrance a registry is made of every thought, and word, and deed;

²⁶And when the world is ready to receive, lo, God will send a mes­senger to open up the book and copy from its sacred pages all the messages of Purity and Love.

²⁷Then every man of earth will read the words of life in language of his native land, and men will see the light, walk in the light and be the light.

²⁸And man again will be at one with God.

CHAPTER 8.

Elihu’s lessons. The unity of life. The two selfs. The devil. Love the savior of men. The David of the light. Goliath of the dark.

¹Again Elihu met his pupils in the sacred grove and said,

²No man lives unto himself; for every living thing is bound by cords to every other living thing.

³Blest are the pure in heart; for they will love and not demand love in return.

⁴They will not do to other men what they would not have other men do unto them.

⁵There are two selfs; the higher and the lower self.

⁶The higher self is human spirit clothed with soul, made in the form of God.

⁷The lower self, the carnal self, the body of desires, is a reflexion of the higher self, distorted by the murky ethers of the flesh.

⁸The lower self is an illusion, and will pass away; the higher self is God in man, and will not pass away.

⁹The higher self is the embodi­ment of truth; the lower self is truth reversed, and so is falsehood manifest.

¹⁰The higher self is justice, mercy, love and right; the lower self is what the higher self is not.

¹¹The lower self breeds hatred, slander, lewdness, murders, theft, and everything that harms; the higher self is mother of the virtues and the harmonies of life.

¹²The lower self is rich in prom­ises, but poor in blessedness and peace; it offers pleasure, joy and sat­isfying gains; but gives unrest and misery and death.

¹³It gives men apples that are lovely to the eye and pleasant to the smell; their cores are full of bit­terness and gall.

¹⁴If you would ask me what to study I would say, yourselfs; and when you well had studied them, and then would ask me what to study next, I would reply, your­selfs.

¹⁵He who knows well his lower self, knows the illusions of the world, knows of the things that pass away; and he who knows his higher self, knows God; knows well the things that cannot pass away.

¹⁶Thrice blessed is the man who has made purity and love his ³³very own; he has been ransomed from the perils of the lower self and is himself his higher self.

¹⁷Men seek salvation from an evil that they deem a living mon­ster of the nether world; and they have gods that are but demons in disguise; all powerful, yet full of jealousy and hate and lust;

¹⁸Whose favors must be bought with costly sacrifice of fruits, and of the lives of birds, and animals, and human kind.

¹⁹And yet these gods possess no ears to hear, no eyes to see, no heart to sympathize, no power to save.

²⁰This evil is a myth; these gods are made of air, and clothed with shadows of a thought.

²¹The only devil from which men must be redeemed is self, the lower self. If man would find his devil he must look within; his name is self.

²²If man would find his savior he must look within; and when the demon self has been dethroned the savior, Love, will be exalted to the throne of power.

²³The David of the light is Purity, who slays the strong Goliath of the dark, and seats the savior, Love, upon the throne.

CHAPTER 9.

Salome’s lessons. The man and the woman. Philosophy of human moods. The triune God. The Septonate. The God Tao.

¹Salome taught the lesson of the day. She said, All times are not alike. Today the words of man may have the greatest power; tomorrow women teaches best.

²In all the ways of life the man and woman should walk hand in hand; the one without the other is but half; each has a work to do.

³But all things teach; each has a time and season for its own. The sun, the moon have lessons of their own for men; but each one teaches at the appointed time.

⁴The lessons of the sun fall down on human hearts like withered leaves upon a stream, if given in the season of the moon; and so with lessons of the moon and all the stars.

⁵Today one walks in gloom, downhearted and oppressed; to­morrow that same one is filled with joy.

⁶Today the heavens seem full of blessedness and hope; tomorrow hope has fled, and every plan and purpose comes to naught.

⁷Today one wants to curse the very ground on which he treads; to­morrow he is full of love and praise.

⁸Today one hates and scorns and envies and is jealous of the child he loves; tomorrow he has risen above his carnal self, and breathes forth gladness and good will.

⁹A thousand times men wonder why these heights and depths, these light hearts and these sad, are found in every life.

¹⁰They do not know that there are teachers everywhere, each busy with a God-appointed task, and driving home to human hearts the truth.

¹¹But this is true, and every one receives the lessons that he needs.

¹²And Mary said, Today I am in exaltation great; my thoughts and all my life seem lifted up; why am I thus inspired?

¹³Salome replied, This is a day of exaltation; day of worship and of praise; a day when, in a measure, we may comprehend our Father-­God.

³⁴¹⁴Then let us study God, the One, the Three, the Seven.

¹⁵Before the worlds were formed all things were One; just Spirit, Universal Breath.

¹⁶And Spirit breathed, and that which was not manifest became the Fire and Thought of heaven, the Father-God, the Mother-God.

¹⁷And when the Fire and Thought of heaven in union breathed, their son, their only son, was born. This son is Love whom men have called the Christ.

¹⁸Men call the Thought of heaven the Holy Breath.

¹⁹And when the Triune God breathed forth, lo, seven Spirits stood before the throne. These are the Elohim, creative spirits of the universe.

²⁰And these are they who said, Let us make man; and in their im­age man was made.

²¹In early ages of the world the dwellers in the farther East said, Tao is the name of Universal Breath; and in the ancient books we read,

²²No manifesting form has Tao Great, and yet he made and keeps the heavens and earth.

²³No passion has our Tao Great, and yet he causes sun and moon and all the stars to rise and set.

²⁴No name has Tao Great, and yet he makes all things to grow; he brings in season both the seed time and the harvest time.

²⁵And Tao Great was One; the One became the Two; the Two be­came the Three, the Three evolved the Seven, which filled the universe with manifests.

²⁶And Tao Great gives unto all, the evil and the good, the rain, the dew, the sunshine and the flow­ers; from his rich stores he feeds them all.

²⁷And in the same old book we read of man: He has a spirit knit to Tao Great; a soul which lives within the seven Breaths of Tao Great; a body of desires that springs up from the soil of flesh.

²⁸Now spirit loves the pure, the good, the true; the body of de­sires extols the selfish self; the soul becomes the battle ground between the two.

²⁹And blessed is the man whose spirit is triumphant and whose lower self is purified; whose soul is cleansed, becoming fit to be the council chamber of the mani­fests of Tao Great.

³⁰Thus closed the lesson of Salome.

CHAPTER 10.

Elihu’s lessons. The Brahmic re­ligion. Life of Abram. Jewish sacred books. The Persian re­ligion.

¹Elihu taught; he said, In an­cient times a people in the East were worshippers of God, the One, whom they called Brahm.

²Their laws were just; they lived in peace; they saw the light within; they walked in wisdom’s ways.

³But priests with carnal aims arose, who changed the laws to suit the carnal mind; bound heavy bur­dens on the poor, and scorned the rules of right; and so the Brahms became corrupt.

⁴But in the darkness of the age a few great masters stood unmoved; they loved the name of Brahm; they were great beacon lights be­fore the world.

⁵And they preserved inviolate the wisdom of their holy Brahm, ³⁵and you may read this wisdom in their sacred books.

⁶And in Chaldea, Brahm was known. A pious Brahm named Terah lived in Ur; his son was so devoted to the Brahmic faith that he was called A-Brahm; and he was set apart to be the father of the Hebrew race.

⁷Now, Terah took his wife and sons and all his flocks and herds to Haran in the West; here Terah died.

⁸And Abram took the flocks and herds, and with his kindred journeyed further west;

⁹And when he reached the Oaks of Morah in the land of Ca­naan, he pitched his tents and there abode.

¹⁰A famine swept the land and Abram took his kindred and his flocks and herds and came to Egypt, and in these fertile plains of Zoan pitched his tent, and here abode.

¹¹And men still mark the place where Abram lived—across the plain.

¹²You ask why Abram came to Egypt land? This is the cradle-­land of the initiate; all secret things belong to Egypt land; and this is why the masters come.

¹³In Zoan Abram taught his science of the stars, and in that sa­cred temple over there he learned the wisdom of the wise.

¹⁴And when his lessons all were learned, he took his kindred and his flocks and herds and journeyed back to Canaan, and in the plains of Mamre pitched his tent, and there he lived, and there he died.

¹⁵And records of his life and works and of his sons, and of the tribes of Israel, are well preserved in Jewish sacred books.

¹⁶In Persia Brahm was known, and feared. Men saw him as the One, the causeless Cause of all that is, and he was sacred unto them, as Tao to the dwellers of the farther East.

¹⁷The people lived in peace, and justice ruled.

¹⁸But, as in other lands, in Per­sia priests arose imbued with self and self desires, who outraged Force, Intelligence and Love;

¹⁹Religion grew corrupt, and birds and beasts and creeping things were set apart as gods.

²⁰In course of time a lofty soul, whom men called Zarathustra, came in flesh.

²¹He saw the causeless Spirit, high and lifted up; he saw the weak­ness of all man appointed gods.

²²He spoke and all of Persia heard; and when he said, One God, one people and one shrine, the altars of the idols fell, and Persia was re­deemed.

²³But men must see their God with human eyes, and Zarathustra said,

²⁴The greatest of the Spirits standing near the throne is the Ahura Mazda, who manifests in brightness of the sun.

²⁵And all the people saw Ahura Mazda in the sun, and they fell down and worshipped him in temples of the sun.

²⁶And Persia is the magian land where live the priests who saw the star arise to mark the place where Mary’s son was born, and were the first to greet him as the Prince of Peace.

²⁷The precepts and the laws of Zarathustra are preserved in the Avesta which you can read and make your own.

²⁸But you must know that words are naught till they are made alive; until the lessons they contain ³⁶become a part of head and heart.

²⁹Now truth is one; but no one knows the truth until he is the truth. It is recorded in an ancient book,

³⁰Truth is the leavening power of God; it can transmute the all of life into itself; and when the all of life is truth, then man is truth.

CHAPTER 11.

Elihu’s lessons. Buddhism and the precepts of Buddha. The mys­teries of Egypt.

¹Again Elihu taught; he said, The Indian priests became corrupt; Brahm was forgotten in the streets; the rights of men were trampled in the dust.

²And then a mighty master came, a Buddha of enlightenment, who turned away from wealth and all the honors of the world, and found the Silence in the quiet groves and caves; and he was blest.

³He preached a gospel of a higher life, and taught man how to honor man.

⁴He had no doctrine of the gods to teach; he just knew man, and so his creed was justice, love and right­eousness.

⁵I quote for you a few of many of the helpful words which Buddha spoke:

⁶Hate is a cruel word. If men hate you, regard it not; and you can turn the hate of men to love and mercy and good will, and mercy is as large as all the heavens.

⁷And there is good enough for all. With good destroy the bad; with generous deeds make avarice ashamed; with truth make straight the crooked lines that error draws, for error is but truth distorted, gone astray.

⁸And pain will follow him who speaks or acts with evil thoughts, as does the wheel the foot of him who draws the cart.

⁹He is a greater man who con­quers self than he who kills a thou­sand men in war.

¹⁰He is the noble man who is himself what he believes that other men should be.

¹¹Return to him who does you wrong your purest love, and he will cease from doing wrong; for love will purify the heart of him who is beloved as truly as it purifies the heart of him who loves.

¹²The words of Buddha are re­corded in the Indian sacred books; attend to them, for they are part of the instructions of the Holy Breath.

¹³The land of Egypt is the land of secret things.

¹⁴The mysteries of the ages lie lock-bound in our temples and our shrines.

¹⁵The masters of all times and climes come here to learn; and when your sons have grown to manhood they will finish all their studies in Egyptian schools.

¹⁶But I have said enough. Tomorrow at the rising of the sun we meet again.

CHAPTER 12.

Salome’s lessons. Prayer. Elihu’s concluding lessons. Sums up the three years’ course of study. The pupils return to their homes.

¹Now, when the morning sun arose the masters and their pupils all were in the sacred grove.

²Salome was the first to speak; she said, Behold the sun! It mani­fests the power of God who speaks to us through sun and moon and stars;

³Through mountain, hill and ³⁷vale; through flower, and plant and tree.

⁴God sings for us through bird, and harpsichord, and human voice; he speaks to us through wind and rain and thunder roll; why should we not bow down and worship at his feet?

⁵God speaks to hearts apart; and hearts apart must speak to him; and this is prayer.

⁶It is not prayer to shout at God, to stand, or sit, or kneel and tell him all about the sins of men.

⁷It is not prayer to tell the Holy One how great he is, how good he is, how strong and how com­passionate.

⁸God is not man to be bought up by praise of man.

⁹Prayer is the ardent wish that every way of life be light; that ev­ery act be crowned with good; that every living thing be prospered by our ministry.

¹⁰A noble deed, a helpful word is prayer; a fervent, an effectual prayer.

¹¹The fount of prayer is in the heart; by thought, not words, the heart is carried up to God, where it is blest. Then let us pray.

¹²They prayed, but not a word was said; but in that holy Silence every heart was blest.

¹³And then Elihu spoke. He said to Mary and Elizabeth, Our words are said; you need not tarry longer here; the call has come; the way is clear, you may return unto your native land.

¹⁴A mighty work is given you to do; you shall direct the minds that will direct the world.

¹⁵Your sons are set apart to lead men up to righteous thoughts, and words, and deeds;

¹⁶To make men know the sin­fulness of sin; to lead them from the adoration of the lower self, and all illusive things, and make them con­scious of the self that lives with Christ in God.

¹⁷In preparation for their work your sons must walk in many thorny paths.

¹⁸Fierce trials and tempta­tions they will meet, like other men; their loads will not be light, and they will weary be, and faint.

¹⁹And they will know the pangs of hunger and of thirst; and without cause they will be mocked, imprisoned, scourged.

²⁰To many countries they will go, and at the feet of many masters they will sit, for they must learn like other men.

²¹But we have said enough. The blessings of the Three and of the Seven, who stand before the throne, will surely rest upon you evermore.

²²Thus closed the lessons of Elihu and Salome. Three years they taught their pupils in the sa­cred grove, and if their lessons all were written in a book, lo, it would be a mighty book; of what they said we have the sum.

²³Now, Mary, Joseph and Eliz­abeth with Jesus and his harbinger, set forth upon their homeward way. They went not by Jerusalem, for Archelaus reigned.

²⁴They journeyed by the Bitter Sea, and when they reached Engedi hills they rested in the home of Joshua, a near of kin; and here Eliz­abeth and John abode.

²⁵But Joseph, Mary and their son went by the Jordan way, and after certain days they reached their home in Nazareth.

CHAPTER 13.

Elizabeth in Engedi. Teaches her son. John becomes the pupil of Matheno, who reveals to him the meaning of sin and the law of for­giveness.

¹Elizabeth was blest; she spent her time with John, and gave to him the lessons that Elihu and Salome had given her.

²And John delighted in the wildness of his home and in the les­sons that he learned.

³Now in the hills were many caves. The cave of David was a-near in which the Hermit of En­gedi lived.

⁴This hermit was Matheno, priest of Egypt, master from the temple of Sakara.

⁵When John was seven years of age Matheno took him to the wil­derness and in the cave of David they abode.

⁶Matheno taught, and John was thrilled with what the master said, and day by day Matheno opened up to him the mysteries of life.

⁷John loved the wilderness; he loved his master and his simple fare. Their food was fruits, and nuts, wild honey and the carob bread.

⁸Matheno was an Israelite, and he attended all the Jewish feasts.

⁹When John was nine years old Matheno took him to a great feast in Jerusalem.

¹⁰The wicked Archelaus had been deposed and exiled to a distant land because of selfishness and cru­elty, and John was not afraid.

¹¹John was delighted with his visit to Jerusalem. Matheno told him all about the service of the Jews; the meaning of their sacrifices and their rites.

¹²John could not understand how sin could be forgiven by killing animals and birds and burning them before the Lord.

¹³Matheno said, The God of heaven and earth does not require sacrifice. This custom with its cruel rites was borrowed from the idol worshippers of other lands.

¹⁴No sin was ever blotted out by sacrifice of animal, of bird, or man.

¹⁵Sin is the rushing forth of man into the fens of wickedness. If one would get away from sin he must retrace his steps, and find his way out of the fens of wickedness.

¹⁶Return and purify your hearts by love and righteousness and you shall be forgiven.

¹⁷This is the burden of the mes­sage that the harbinger shall bring to men.

¹⁸What is forgiveness? John inquired.

¹⁹Matheno said, It is the pay­ing up of debts. A man who wrongs another man can never be forgiven until he rights the wrong.

²⁰The Vedas says that none can right the wrong but him who does the wrong.

²¹John said, If this be true where is the power to forgive except the power that rests in man him­self? Can man forgive himself?

²²Matheno said, The door is wide ajar; you see the way of man’s ³⁹return to right, and the forgiveness of his sins.

CHAPTER 14.

Matheno’s lessons. The doctrine of universal law. The power of man to choose and to attain. The ben­efits of antagonisms. Ancient sa­cred books. The place of John and Jesus in the world’s history.

¹Matheno and his pupil, John, were talking of the sacred books of olden times, and of the golden precepts they contained, and John exclaimed,

²These golden precepts are sub­lime; what need have we of other sacred books?

³Matheno said, The Spirits of the Holy One cause every thing to come and go in proper time.

⁴The sun has his own time to set, the moon to rise, to wax and wane, the stars to come and go, the rain to fall, the winds to blow;

⁵The seed times and the har­vest times to come; man to be born and man to die.

⁶These mighty Spirits cause the nations to be born; they rock them in their cradles, nurture them to greatest power, and when their tasks are done they wrap them in their winding sheets and lay them in their tombs.

⁷Events are many in a nation’s life, and in the life of man, that are not pleasant for the time; but in the end the truth appears: whatever comes is for the best.

⁸Man was created for a noble part; but he could not be made a free man filled with wisdom, truth and might.

⁹If he were hedged about, con­fined in straits from which he could not pass, then he would be a toy, a mere machine.

¹⁰Creative spirits gave to man a will; and so he has the power to choose.

¹¹He may attain the greatest heights, or sink to deepest depths; for what he wills to gain he has the power to gain.

¹²If he desires strength he has the power to gain that strength; but he must overcome resistances to reach the goal; no strength is ever gained in idleness.

¹³So, in the whirl of many-­sided conflicts man is placed where he must strive to extricate himself.

¹⁴In every conflict man gains strength; with every conquest he attains to greater heights. With every day he finds new duties and new cares.

¹⁵Man is not carried over dan­gerous pits, nor helped to overcome his foes. He is himself his army, and his sword and shield; and he is captain of his hosts.

¹⁶The Holy Ones just light his way. Man never has been left with­out a beacon light to guide.

¹⁷And he has ever had a lighted lamp in hand that he may see the dangerous rocks, the turbid streams and treacherous pits.

¹⁸And so the Holy Ones have judged; when men have needed added light a master soul has come to earth to give that light.

¹⁹Before the Vedic days the world had many sacred books to light the way; and when man needed greater light the Vedas, the Avesta and the books of Tao Great ap­peared to show the way to greater heights.

²⁰And in the proper place the Hebrew Bible, with its Law, its Prophets and its Psalms, appeared for man’s enlightenment.

²¹But years have passed and men have need of greater light.

⁴⁰²²And now the Day Star from on high begins to shine; and Jesus is the flesh-made messenger to show that light to men.

²³And you, my pupil, you have been ordained to harbinger the com­ing day.

²⁴But you must keep that pur­ity of heart you now possess; and you must light your lamp directly from the coals that burn upon the altar of the Holy Ones.

²⁵And then your lamp will be transmuted to a boundless flame, and you will be a living torch whose light will shine wherever man abides.

²⁶But in the ages yet to come, man will attain to greater heights, and lights still more intense will come.

²⁷And then, at last, a mighty master soul will come to earth to light the way up to the throne of perfect man.

CHAPTER 15.

Death and burial of Elizabeth. Ma­theno’s lessons. The ministry of death. The mission of John. In­stitution of the rite of baptism. Matheno takes John to Egypt, and places him in the temple at Sakara, where he remains eighteen years.

¹When John was twelve years old his mother died, and neighbors laid her body in a tomb among her kindred in the Hebron burying ground, and near to Zach­arias’ tomb.

²And John was deeply grieved; he wept. Matheno said, It is not well to weep because of death.

³Death is no enemy of man; it is a friend who, when the work of life is done, just cuts the cord that binds the human boat to earth, that it may sail on smoother seas.

⁴No language can describe a mother’s worth, and yours was tried and true. But she was not called hence until her tasks were done.

⁵The calls of death are always for the best, for we are solving prob­lems there as well as here; and one is sure to find himself where he can solve his problems best.

⁶It is but selfishness that makes one wish to call again to earth departed souls.

⁷Then let your mother rest in peace. Just let her noble life be strength and inspiration unto you.

⁸A crisis in your life has come, and you must have a clear concep­tion of the work that you are called to do.

⁹The sages of the ages call you harbinger. The prophets look to you and say, He is Elijah come again.

¹⁰Your mission here is that of harbinger; for you will go before Messiah’s face to pave his way, and make the people ready to receive their king.

¹¹This readiness is purity of heart; none but the pure in heart can recognize the king.

¹²To teach men to be pure in heart you must yourself be pure in heart, and word, and deed.

¹³In infancy the vow for you was made and you became a Naza­rite. The razor shall not touch your face nor head, and you shall taste not wine nor fiery drinks.

¹⁴Men need a pattern for their lives; they love to follow, not to lead.

¹⁵The man who stands upon the corners of the paths and points the way, but does not go, is just a pointer; and a block of wood can do the same.

¹⁶The teacher treads the way; ⁴¹on every span of ground he leaves his footprints clearly cut, which all can see and be assured that he, their master, went that way.

¹⁷Men comprehend the inner life by what they see and do. They come to God through ceremonies and forms.

¹⁸And so when you would make men know that sins are washed away by purity in life, a rite symbolic may be introduced.

¹⁹In water wash the bodies of the people who would turn away from sin and strive for purity in life.

²⁰This rite of cleansing is a preparation rite and they who thus are cleansed comprise the Church of Purity.

²¹And you shall say, You men of Israel, hear; Reform and wash; become the sons of purity, and you shall be forgiven.

²²This rite of cleansing and this church are but symbolic of the cleansing of the soul by purity in life, and of the kingdom of the soul, which does not come with outward show, but is the church within.

²³Now, you may never point the way and tell the multitudes to do what you have never done; but you must go before and show the way.

²⁴You are to teach that men must wash; so you must lead the way, your body must be washed, symbolic of the cleansing of the soul.

²⁵John said, Why need I wait? May I not go at once and wash?

²⁶Matheno said, ’Tis well, and then they went down to the Jordan ford, and east of Jericho, just where the hosts of Israel crossed when first they entered Canaan, they tarried for a time.

²⁷Matheno taught the har­binger, and he explained to him the inner meaning of the cleansing rite and how to wash himself and how to wash the multitude.

²⁸And in the river Jordan John was washed; then they re­turned unto the wilderness.

²⁹Now in Engedi’s hills Ma­theno’s work was done and he and John went down to Egypt. They rested not until they reached the temple of Sakara in the valley of the Nile.

³⁰For many years Matheno was a master in this temple of the Brotherhood, and when he told about the life of John and of his mission to the sons of men, the hier­ophant with joy received the har­binger and he was called the Brother Nazarite.

³¹For eighteen years John lived and wrought within these tem­ple gates; and here he conquered self, became a master mind and learned the duties of the harbinger.

CHAPTER 16.

The home of Joseph. Mary teaches her son. Jesus’ grandparents give a feast in his honor. Jesus has a dream. His grandmother’s inter­pretation. His birthday gift.

¹The home of Joseph was on Marmion Way in Nazareth; here Mary taught her son the les­sons of Elihu and Salome.

²And Jesus greatly loved the Vedic hymns and the Avesta; but more than all he loved to read the Psalms of David and the pungent words of Solomon.

³The Jewish books of prophecy were his delight; and when he reached his seventh year he needed not the books to read, for he had fixed in memory every word.

⁴Joachim and his wife, grand­parents of child Jesus, made a feast in honor of the child, and all their near of kin were guests.

⁵And Jesus stood before the guests and said, I had a dream, and in my dream I stood before a sea, upon a sandy beach.

⁶The waves upon the sea were high; a storm was raging on the deep.

⁷Some one above gave me a wand. I took the wand and touched the sand, and every grain of sand became a living thing; the beach was all a mass of beauty and of song.

⁸I touched the waters at my feet, and they were changed to trees, and flowers, and singing birds, and every thing was praising God.

⁹And some one spoke, I did not see the one who spoke, I heard the voice, which said, There is no death.

¹⁰Grandmother Anna loved the child; she laid her hand on Jesus’ head and said, I saw you stand beside the sea; I saw you touch the sand and waves; I saw them turn to living things and then I knew the meaning of the dream.

¹¹The sea of life rolls high; the storms are great. The multitude of men are idle, listless, waiting, like dead sand upon the beach.

¹²Your wand is truth. With this you touch the multitudes, and every man becomes a messenger of holy light and life.

¹³You touch the waves upon the sea of life; their turmoils cease; the very winds become a song of praise.

¹⁴There is no death, because the wand of truth can change the dryest bones to living things, and bring the lovliest flowers from stag­nant ponds, and turn the most dis­cordant notes to harmony and praise.

¹⁵Joachim said, My son, to­day you pass the seventh milestone of your way of life, for you are seven years of age, and we will give to you, as a remembrance of this day, whatever you desire; choose that which will afford you most delight.

¹⁶And Jesus said, I do not want a gift, for I am satisfied. If I could make a multitude of chil­dren glad upon this day I would be greatly pleased.

¹⁷Now, there are many hungry boys and girls in Nazareth who would be pleased to eat with us this feast and share with us the pleas­ures of this day.

¹⁸The richest gift that you can ⁴³give to me is your permission to go out and find these needy ones and bring them here that they may feast with us.

¹⁹Joachim said, ’Tis well; go out and find the needy boys and girls and bring them here; we will prepare enough for all.

²⁰And Jesus did not wait; he ran; he entered every dingy hut and cabin of the town; he did not waste his words; he told his mission every­where.

²¹And in a little time one hun­dred and three-score of happy, rag­ged boys and girls were following him up Marmion Way.

²²The guests made way; the banquet hall was filled with Jesus’ guests, and Jesus and his mother helped to serve.

²³And there was food enough for all, and all were glad; and so the birthday gift of Jesus was a crown of righteousness.

CHAPTER 17.

Jesus talks with the rabbi of the syna­gogue of Nazareth. He criticises the narrowness of Jewish thought.

¹Now, Rabbi Barachia of the synagogue of Nazareth, was aid to Mary in the teaching of her son.

²One morning after service in the synagogue the rabbi said to Jesus as he sat in silent thought, Which is the greatest of the Ten Commands?

³And Jesus said, I do not see a greatest of the Ten Commands. I see a golden cord that runs through all the Ten Commands that binds them fast and makes them one.

⁴This cord is love, and it be­longs to every word of all the Ten Commands.

⁵If one is full of love he can do nothing else than worship God; for God is love.

⁶If one is full of love, he cannot kill; he cannot falsely testify; he cannot covet; can do naught but honor God and man.

⁷If one is full of love he does not need commands of any kind.

⁸And Rabbi Barachia said, Your words are seasoned with the salt of wisdom that is from above. Who is the teacher who has opened up this truth to you?

⁹And Jesus said, I do not know that any teacher opens up this truth for me. It seems to me that truth was never shut; that it was always opened up, for truth is one and it is everywhere.

¹⁰And if we open up the win­dows of our minds the truth will enter in and make herself at home; for truth can find her way through any crevice, any window, any open door.

¹¹The rabbi said, What hand is strong enough to open up the windows and the doors of mind so truth can enter in?

¹²And Jesus said, It seems to me that love, the golden cord that binds the Ten Commands in one, is strong enough to open any human door so that the truth can enter in and cause the heart to understand.

¹³Now, in the evening Jesus and his mother sat alone, and Jesus said,

¹⁴The rabbi seems to think that God is partial in his treatment of the sons of men; that Jews are favored and are blest above all other men.

¹⁵I do not see how God can have his favorites and be just.

¹⁶Are not Samaritans and Greeks and Romans just as much the children of the Holy One as are the Jews?

⁴⁴¹⁷I think the Jews have built a wall about themselves, and they see nothing on the other side of it.

¹⁸They do not know that flow­ers are blooming over there; that sowing times and reaping times belong to anybody but the Jews.

¹⁹It surely would be well if we could break these barriers down so that the Jews might see that God has other children that are just as greatly blest.

²⁰I want to go from Jewry land and meet my kin in other countries of my Fatherland.

CHAPTER 18.

Jesus at a feast in Jerusalem. Is grieved by the cruelties of the sacri­ficers. Appeals to Hillel, who sympathizes with him. He re­mains in the temple a year.

¹The great feast of the Jews was on, and Joseph, Mary and their son, and many of their kin, went to Jerusalem. The child was ten years old.

²And Jesus watched the butch­ers kill the lambs and birds and burn them on the altar in the name of God.

³His tender heart was shocked at this display of cruelty; he asked the serving priest, What is the pur­pose of this slaughter of the beasts and birds? Why do you burn their flesh before the Lord?

⁴The priest replied, This is our sacrifice for sin. God has com­manded us to do these things, and said that in these sacrifices all our sins are blotted out.

⁵And Jesus said, Will you be kind enough to tell when God pro­claimed that sins are blotted out by sacrifice of any kind?

⁶Did not David say that God requires not a sacrifice for sin? that it is sin itself to bring before his face burnt offerings, as offerings for sin? Did not Isaiah say the same?

⁷The priest replied, My child, you are beside yourself. Do you know more about the laws of God than all the priests of Israel? This is no place for boys to show their wit.

⁸But Jesus heeded not his taunts; he went to Hillel, chief of the Sanhedrim, and he said to him,

⁹Rabboni, I would like to talk with you; I am disturbed about this service of the pascal feast. I thought the temple was the house of God where love and kindness dwell.

¹⁰Do you not hear the bleating of those lambs, the pleading of those doves that men are killing over there? Do you not smell that awful stench that comes from burning flesh?

¹¹Can man be kind and just, and still be filled with cruelty?

¹²A God that takes delight in sacrifice, in blood and burning flesh, is not my Father-God.

¹³I want to find a God of love, and you, my master, you are wise, and surely you can tell me where to find the God of love.

¹⁴But Hillel could not give an answer to the child. His heart was stirred with sympathy. He called the child to him; he laid his hand upon his head and wept.

¹⁵He said, There is a God of love, and you shall come with me; and hand in hand we will go forth and find the God of love.

¹⁶And Jesus said, Why need we go? I thought that God is every­where. Can we not purify our hearts and drive out cruelty, and every wicked thought, and make within, a temple where the God of love can dwell?

⁴⁵¹⁷The master of the great San­hedrim felt as though he was him­self the child, and that before him stood Rabboni, master of the higher law.

¹⁸He said within himself, This child is surely prophet sent from God.

¹⁹Then Hillel sought the par­ents of the child, and asked that Jesus might abide with him, and learn the precepts of the law, and all the lessons of the temple priests.

²⁰His parents gave consent, and Jesus did abide within the holy temple in Jerusalem, and Hillel taught him every day.

²¹And every day the master learned from Jesus many lessons of the higher life.

²²The child remained with Hillel in the temple for a year, and then returned unto his home in Naz­areth; and there he wrought with Joseph as a carpenter.

CHAPTER 19.

Jesus at the age of twelve in the temple. Disputes with the doctors of the law. Reads from a book of prophecy. By request of Hillel he interprets the prophecies.

¹Again the great feast in Jerusa­lem was on, and Joseph, Mary and their son were there. The child was twelve years old.

²And there were Jews and proselytes from many countries in Jerusalem.

³And Jesus sat among the priests and doctors in the temple hall.

⁴And Jesus opened up a book of prophecy and read:

⁵Woe, woe, to Ariel, the town where David dwelt! I will disman­tle Ariel, and she shall groan and weep:

⁶And I will camp against her round about with hostile posts;

⁷And I will bring her low and she shall speak out of the earth; with muffled voice like a familiar spirit shall she speak; yea, she shall only whisper forth her speech;

⁸And foes unnumbered, like the grains of dust, shall come upon her suddenly.

⁹The Lord of hosts will visit her with thunder and with tempest, and with storm; with earthquake, and with devouring flames.

¹⁰Lo, all these people have de­serted me. They draw to me with speech, and with their lips they honor me; their hearts are far re­moved from me; their fear for me is that inspired by man.

¹¹And I will breathe an ad­verse breath upon my people, Is­rael; the wisdom of their wise men shall be lost; the understanding of their prudent men shall not be found.

¹²My people seek to hide their counsel from the Lord, so that their works may not be seen. They fain would cover up their works with darkness of the night, and say, Who sees us now? Who knows us now?

¹³Poor, foolish men! shall that which has been made say of its maker, He is naught, I made my­self?

¹⁴Or shall the pot speak out and say to him, who made the pot, You have no skill; you do not know?

¹⁵But this will not forever be; the time will come when Lebanon will be a fruitful field, and fruitful fields will be transformed to groves.

¹⁶And on that day the deaf will hear the words of God; the blind will read the Book of God’s Remembrance.

¹⁷And suffering ones will be re­lieved, and they will have abundant ⁴⁶joy; and every one that needs will be supplied; and it will come to pass that all the foolish will be wise.

¹⁸The people will return and sanctify the Holy One, and in their heart of hearts, lo, they will rever­ence him.

¹⁹When Jesus had thus read he put aside the book and said, You masters of the law, will you make plain for us the prophet’s words?

²⁰Now, Hillel sat among the masters of the law, and he stood forth and said, Perhaps our young rabboni who has read the word will be interpreter.

²¹And Jesus said, The Ariel of the prophet is our own Jerusalem.

²²By selfishness and cruelty this people has become a stench unto the Elohim.

²³The prophet saw these days from far, and of these times he wrote.

²⁴Our doctors, lawyers, priests and scribes oppress the poor, while they themselves in luxury live.

²⁵The sacrifices and the offer­ings of Israel are but abomination unto God. The only sacrifice that God requires is self.

²⁶Because of this injustice and this cruelty of man to man, the Holy One has spoken of this common­wealth:

²⁷Lo, I will overturn, yes, I will overturn, it shall be overturned, and it shall be no more until he comes whose right it is and I will give it unto him.

²⁸In all the world there is one law of right, and he who breaks that law will suffer grief; for God is just.

²⁹And Israel has gone far astray; has not regarded justice, nor the rights of man, and God de­mands that Israel shall reform, and turn again to ways of holiness.

³⁰And if our people will not hear the voice of God, lo, nations from afar will come and sack Jeru­salem, and tear our temple down, and take our people captive into foreign lands.

³¹But this will not forever be; though they be scattered far and wide, and wander here and there among the nations of the earth, like sheep that have no shepherd guide,

³²The time will come when God will bring again the captive hosts; for Israel shall return and dwell in peace.

³³And after many years our temple shall be built again, and one whom God will honor, one in whom the pure in heart delights will come and glorify the house of God, and reign in righteousness.

³⁴When Jesus had thus said, he stepped aside, and all the people were amazed and said, This surely is the Christ.

CHAPTER 20.

After the feast. The homeward jour­ney. The missing Jesus. The search for him. His parents find him in the temple. He goes with them to Nazareth. Symbolic mean­ing of carpenter’s tools.

¹The great feast of the pasch was ended and the Nazarenes were journeying toward their homes.

²And they were in Samaria, and Mary said, Where is my son? No one had seen the boy.

³And Joseph sought among their kindred who were on their way to Galilee; but they had seen him not.

⁴Then Joseph, Mary, and a son of Zebedee, returned and sought through all Jerusalem, but they could find him not.

⁴⁷⁵And then they went up to the temple courts and asked the guards, Have you seen Jesus, a fair-haired boy, with deep blue eyes, twelve years of age, about these courts?

⁶The guards replied, Yes, he is in the temple now disputing with the doctors of the law.

⁷And they went in, and found him as the guards had said.

⁸And Mary said, Why Jesus, why do you treat your parents thus? Lo, we have sought two days for you. We feared that some great harm had overtaken you.

⁹And Jesus said, Do you not know that I must be about my Father’s work?

¹⁰But he went round and pressed the hand of every doctor of the law and said, I trust that we may meet again.

¹¹And then he went forth with his parents on their way to Naza­reth; and when they reached their home he wrought with Joseph as a carpenter.

¹²One day as he was bringing forth the tools for work he said,

¹³These tools remind me of the ones we handle in the workshop of the mind where things are made of thought and where we build up character.

¹⁴We use the square to meas­ure all our lines, to straighten out the crooked places of the way, and make the corners of our conduct square.

¹⁵We use the compass to draw circles round our passions and de­sires to keep them in the bounds of righteousness.

¹⁶We use the ax to cut away the knotty, useless and ungainly parts and make the character sym­metrical.

¹⁷We use the hammer to drive home the truth, and pound it in until it is a part of every part.

¹⁸We use the plane to smooth the rough, uneven surfaces of joint, and block, and board that go to build the temple for the truth.

¹⁹The chisel, line, the plummet and the saw all have their uses in the workshop of the mind.

²⁰And then this ladder with its trinity of steps, faith, hope and love; on it we climb up to the dome of purity in life.

²¹And on the twelve-step lad­der we ascend until we reach the pinnacle of that which life is spent to build—the Temple of Perfected Man.

CHAPTER 21.

Ravanna sees Jesus in the temple and is captivated. Hillel tells him about the boy. Ravanna finds Jesus in Nazareth and gives a feast in his honor. Ravanna becomes patron of Jesus, and takes him to India to study the Brahmic religion.

¹A royal prince of India, Ra­vanna of Orissa in the south, was at the Jewish feast.

²Ravanna was a man of wealth; and he was just, and with a band of Brahmic priests sought wisdom in the West.

³When Jesus stood among the ⁴⁸Jewish priests and read and spoke, Ravanna heard and was amazed.

⁴And when he asked who Jesus was, from whence he came and what he was, chief Hillel said,

⁵We call this child the Day Star from on high, for he has come to bring to men a light, the light of life; to lighten up the way of men and to redeem his people, Israel.

⁶And Hillel told Ravanna all about the child; about the prophe­cies concerning him; about the won­ders of the night when he was born; about the visit of the magian priests;

⁷About the way in which he was protected from the wrath of evil men; about his flight to Egypt-­land, and how he then was serving with his father as a carpenter in Naz­areth.

⁸Ravanna was entranced, and asked to know the way to Nazareth, that he might go and honor such a one as son of God.

⁹And with his gorgeous train he journeyed on the way and came to Nazareth of Galilee.

¹⁰He found the object of his search engaged in building dwellings for the sons of men.

¹¹And when he first saw Jesus he was climbing up a twelve-step ladder, and he carried in his hands a compass, square and ax.

¹²Ravanna said, All hail, most favored son of heaven!

¹³And at the inn Ravanna made a feast for all the people of the town; and Jesus and his parents were the honored guests.

¹⁴For certain days Ravanna was a guest in Joseph’s home on Marmion Way; he sought to learn the secret of the wisdom of the son; but it was all too great for him.

¹⁵And then he asked that he might be the patron of the child; might take him to the East where he could learn the wisdom of the Brahms.

¹⁶And Jesus longed to go that he might learn: and after many days his parents gave consent.

¹⁷Then, with proud heart, Ravanna with his train, began the journey toward the rising sun; and after many days they crossed the Sind, and reached the province of Orissa, and the palace of the prince.

¹⁸The Brahmic priests were glad to welcome home the prince; with favor they received the Jewish boy.

¹⁹And Jesus was accepted as a pupil in the temple Jagannath; and here he learned the Vedas and the Manic laws.

²⁰The Brahmic masters won­dered at the clear conceptions of the child, and often were amazed when he explained to them the meaning of the laws.

CHAPTER 22.

The friendship of Jesus and Lamaas. Jesus explains to Lamaas the meaning of truth, man, power, understanding, wisdom, salvation and faith.

¹Among the priests of Jagannath was one who loved the Jewish boy. Lamaas Bramas was the name by which the priest was known.

²One day as Jesus and Lamaas walked alone in plaza Jagannath, Lamaas said, My Jewish master, what is truth?

³And Jesus said, Truth is the only thing that changes not.

⁴In all the world there are two things; the one is truth; the other falsehood is; and truth is that which is, and falsehood that which seems to be.

⁴⁹⁵Now truth is aught, and has no cause, and yet it is the cause of everything.

⁶Falsehood is naught, and yet it is the manifest of aught.

⁷Whatever has been made will be unmade; that which begins must end.

⁸All things that can be seen by human eyes are manifests of aught, are naught, and so must pass away.

⁹The things we see are but re­flexes just appearing, while the ethers vibrate so and so, and when conditions change they disappear.

¹⁰The Holy Breath is truth; is that which was, and is, and ever­more shall be; it cannot change nor pass away.

¹¹Lamaas said, You answer well; now, what is man?

¹²And Jesus said, Man is the truth and falsehood strangely mixed.

¹³Man is the Breath made flesh; so truth and falsehood are conjoined in him; and then they strive, and naught goes down and man as truth abides.

¹⁴Again Lamaas asked, What do you say of power?

¹⁵And Jesus said, It is a man­ifest; is the result of force; it is but naught; it is illusion, nothing more. Force changes not, but power changes as the ethers change.

¹⁶Force is the will of God and is omnipotent, and power is that will in manifest, directed by the Breath.

¹⁷There is a power in the winds, a power in the waves, a power in the lightning’s stroke, a power in the human arm, a power in the eye.

¹⁸The ethers cause these pow­ers to be, and thought of Elohim, of angel, man, or other thinking thing, directs the force; when it has done its work the power is no more.

¹⁹Again Lamaas asked, Of un­derstanding what have you to say?

²⁰And Jesus said, It is the rock on which man builds himself; it is the gnosis of the aught and of the naught, of falsehood and of truth.

²¹It is the knowledge of the lower self; the sensing of the powers of man himself.

²²Again Lamaas asked, Of wis­dom what have you to say?

²³And Jesus said, It is the con­sciousness that man is aught; that God and man are one;

²⁴That naught is naught; that power is but illusion; that heaven and earth and hell are not above, around, below, but in; which in the light of aught becomes the naught, and God is all.

²⁵Lamaas asked, Pray, what is faith?

²⁶And Jesus said, Faith is the surety of the omnipotence of God and man; the certainty that man will reach deific life.

²⁷Salvation is a ladder reach­ing from the heart of man to heart of God.

²⁸It has three steps; Belief is first, and this is what man thinks, perhaps, is truth.

²⁹And faith is next, and this is what man knows is truth.

³⁰Fruition is the last, and this is man himself, the truth.

³¹Belief is lost in faith; and in fruition faith is lost; and man is saved when he has reached deific life; when he and God are one.

CHAPTER 23.

Jesus and Lamaas among the su­dras and visyas. In Benares. Jesus becomes a pupil of Udraka. The lessons of Udraka.

¹Now, Jesus with his friend La­maas went through all the re­⁵⁰gions of Orissa, and the valley of the Ganges, seeking wisdom from the sudras and the visyas and the masters.

²Benares of the Ganges was a city rich in culture and in learning; here the two rabbonis tarried many days.

³And Jesus sought to learn the Hindu art of healing, and became the pupil of Udraka, greatest of the Hindu healers.

⁴Udraka taught the uses of the waters, plants and earths; of heat and cold; sunshine and shade; of light and dark.

⁵He said, The laws of nature are the laws of health, and he who lives according to these laws is never sick.

⁶Transgression of these laws is sin, and he who sins is sick.

⁷He who obeys the laws, main­tains an equilibrium in all his parts, and thus insures true harmony; and harmony is health, while discord is disease.

⁸That which produces har­mony in all the parts of man is med­icine, insuring health.

⁹The body is a harpsichord, and when its strings are too relaxed, or are too tense, the instrument is out of tune, the man is sick.

¹⁰Now, everything in nature has been made to meet the wants of man; so everything is found in medical arcanes.

¹¹And when the harpsichord of man is out of tune the vast ex­panse of nature may be searched for remedy; there is a cure for every ailment of the flesh.

¹²Of course the will of man is remedy supreme; and by the vigor­ous exercise of will, man may make tense a chord that is relaxed, or may relax one that is too tense, and thus may heal himself.

¹³When man has reached the place where he has faith in God, in nature and himself, he knows the Word of power; his word is balm for every wound, is cure for all the ills of life.

¹⁴The healer is the man who can inspire faith. The tongue may speak to human ears, but souls are reached by souls that speak to souls.

¹⁵He is the forceful man whose soul is large, and who can enter into souls, inspiring hope in those who have no hope, and faith in those who have no faith in God, in nature, nor in man.

¹⁶There is no universal balm for those who tread the common walks of life.

¹⁷A thousand things produce inharmony and make men sick; a thousand things may tune the harp­sichord, and make men well.

¹⁸That which is medicine for one is poison for another one; so one is healed by what would kill another one.

¹⁹An herb may heal the one; a drink of water may restore another one; a mountain breeze may bring to life one seeming past all help;

²⁰A coal of fire, or bit of earth, may cure another one; and one may wash in certain streams, or pools, and be made whole.

²¹The virtue from the hand or breath may heal a thousand more; but love is queen. Thought, rein­forced by love, is God’s great sov­ereign balm.

²²But many of the broken chords in life, and discords that so vex the soul, are caused by evil spirits of the air that men see not; that lead men on through ignorance to break the laws of nature and of God.

²³These powers act like de­⁵¹mons, and they speak; they rend the man; they drive him to despair.

²⁴But he who is a healer, true, is master of the soul, and can, by force of will, control these evil ones.

²⁵Some spirits of the air are master spirits and are strong, too strong for human power alone; but man has helpers in the higher realms that may be importuned, and they will help to drive the de­mons out.

²⁶Of what this great physician said, this is the sum. And Jesus bowed his head in recognition of the wisdom of this master soul, and went his way.

CHAPTER 24.

The Brahmic doctrine of castes. Jesus repudiates it and teaches hu­man equality. The priests are offended and drive him from the temple. He abides with the sudras and teaches them.

¹Four years the Jewish boy abode in temple Jagannath.

²One day he sat among the priests and said to them, Pray, tell me all about your views of castes; why do you say that all men are not equal in the sight of God?

³A master of their laws stood forth and said, The Holy One whom we call Brahm, made men to suit himself, and men should not com­plain.

⁴In the beginning days of hu­man life Brahm spoke, and four men stood before his face.

⁵Now, from the mouth of Par­abrahm the first man came; and he was white, was like the Brahm him­self; a brahman he was called.

⁶And he was high and lifted up; above all want he stood; he had no need of toil.

⁷And he was called the priest of Brahm, the holy one to act for Brahm in all affairs of earth.

⁸The second man was red, and from the hand of Parabrahm he came; and he was called shatriya.

⁹And he was made to be the king, the ruler and the warrior, whose highest ordained duty was, protection of the priest.

¹⁰And from the inner parts of Parabrahm the third man came; and he was called a visya.

¹¹He was a yellow man, and his it was to till the soil, and keep the flocks and herds.

¹²And from the feet of Par­abrahm the fourth man came; and he was black; and he was called the sudras, one of low estate.

¹³The sudras is the servant of the race of men; he has no rights that others need respect; he may not hear the Vedas read, and it means death to him to look into the face of priest, or king, and naught but death can free him from his state of servitude.

¹⁴And Jesus said, Then Par­abrahm is not a God of justice and of right; for with his own strong hand he has exalted one and brought another low.

¹⁵And Jesus said no more to them, but looking up to heaven he said,

¹⁶My Father-God, who was, and is, and ever more shall be; who holds within thy hands the scales of justice and of right;

¹⁷Who in the boundlessness of love has made all men to equal be. The white, the black, the yellow and the red can look up in thy face and say, Our Father-God.

¹⁸Thou Father of the human race, I praise thy name.

¹⁹And all the priests were an­gered by the words which Jesus spoke; they rushed upon him, ⁵²seized him, and would have done him harm.

²⁰But then Lamaas raised his hand and said, You priests of Brahm, beware! you know not what you do; wait till you know the God this youth adores.

²¹I have beheld this boy at prayer when light above the light of sun surrounded him, Beware! his God may be more powerful than Brahm.

²²If Jesus speaks the truth, if he is right, you cannot force him to desist; if he is wrong and you are right, his words will come to naught, for right is might, and in the end it will prevail.

²³And then the priests re­frained from doing Jesus harm; but one spoke out and said,

²⁴Within this holy place has not this reckless youth done violence to Parabrahm? The law is plain; it says, He who reviles the name of Brahm shall die.

²⁵Lamaas plead for Jesus’ life; and then the priests just seized a scourge of cords and drove him from the place.

²⁶And Jesus went his way and found a shelter with the black and yellow men, the servants and the tillers of the soil.

²⁷To them he first made known the gospel of equality; he told them of the Brotherhood of Man, the Fatherhood of God.

²⁸The common people heard him with delight, and learned to pray, Our Father-God who art in heaven.

CHAPTER 25.

Jesus teaches the sudras and farmers. Relates a parable of a nobleman and his unjust sons. Makes known the possibilities of all men.

¹When Jesus saw the sudras and the farmers in such multi­tudes draw near to hear his words, he spoke a parable to them; he said:

²A nobleman possessed a great estate; he had four sons, and he would have them all grow strong by standing forth and making use of all the talents they possessed.

³And so he gave to each a share of his great wealth, and bade them go their way.

⁴The eldest son was full of self; he was ambitious, shrewd and quick of thought.

⁵He said within himself, I am the oldest son, and these, my broth­ers, must be servants at my feet,

⁶And then he called his broth­ers forth; and one he made a puppet king; gave him a sword and charged him to defend the whole estate.

⁷To one he gave the use of lands and flowing wells, and flocks and herds, and bade him till the soil, and tend the flocks and herds and bring to him the choicest of his gains.

⁸And to the other one he said, You are the youngest son; the broad estate has been assigned; you have no part nor lot in anything that is.

⁹And then he took a chain and bound his brother to a naked rock upon a desert plain, and said to him,

¹⁰You have been born a slave; you have no rights, and you must be contented with your lot, for there is no release for you until you die and go from hence.

¹¹Now, after certain years the day of reckoning came; the noble­man called up his sons to render their accounts.

¹²And when he knew that one, his eldest son, had seized the whole estate and made his brothers slaves,

⁵³¹³He seized him, tore his priestly robes away and put him in a prison cell, where he was forced to stay until he had atoned for all the wrongs that he had done.

¹⁴And then, as though they were but toys, he threw in air the throne and armor of the puppet king; he broke his sword, and put him in a prison cell.

¹⁵And then he called his farmer son and asked him why he had not rescued from his galling chains his brother on the desert sands.

¹⁶And when the son made an­swer not, the father took unto him­self the flocks and herds, the fields and flowing wells,

¹⁷And sent his farmer son to live out on the desert sands, until he had atoned for all the wrongs that he had done.

¹⁸And then the father went and found his youngest son in cruel chains; with his own hands he broke the chains and bade his son to go in peace.

¹⁹Now, when the sons had all paid up their debts they came again and stood before the bar of right.

²⁰They all had learned their lessons, learned them well; and then the father once again divided the estate.

²¹He gave to each an equal share, and bade them recognize the law of equity and right, and live in peace.

²²And one, a sudras, spoke and said, May we who are but slaves, who are cut down like beasts to sat­isfy the whims of priests—may we have hope that one will come to break our chains and set us free?

²³And Jesus said, The Holy One has said, that all his children shall be free; and every soul is child of God

²⁴The sudras shall be free as priest; the farmer shall walk hand in hand with king; for all the world will own the brotherhood of man.

²⁵O men, arise! be conscious of your powers, for he who wills need not remain a slave.

²⁶Just live as you would have your brother live; unfold each day as does the flower; for earth is yours, and heaven is yours, and God will bring you to your own.

²⁷And all the people cried, Show us the way that like the flower we may unfold and come unto our own.

CHAPTER 26.

Jesus at Katak. The car of Jagan­nath. Jesus reveals to the people the emptiness of Brahmic rites, and how to see God in man. Teaches them the divine law of sac­rifice.

¹In all the cities of Orissa Jesus taught. At Katak, by the river side, he taught, and thousands of the people followed him.

²One day a car of Jagannath was hauled along by scores of fren­zied men, and Jesus said,

³Behold, a form without a spirit passes by; a body with no soul; a temple with no altar fires.

⁴This car of Krishna is an empty thing, for Krishna is not there.

⁵This car is but an idol of a people drunk on wine of carnal things.

⁶God lives not in the noise of tongues; there is no way to him from any idol shrine.

⁷God’s meeting place with man is in the heart, and in a still small voice he speaks; and he who hears is still.

⁸And all the people said, Teach us to know the Holy One who ⁵⁴speaks within the heart, God of the still small voice.

⁹And Jesus said, The Holy Breath cannot be seen with mortal eyes; nor can men see the Spirits of the Holy One;

¹⁰But in their image man was made, and he who looks into the face of man, looks at the image of the God who speaks within.

¹¹And when man honors man he honors God, and what man does for man, he does for God.

¹²And you must bear in mind that when man harms in thought, or word or deed another man, he does a wrong to God.

¹³If you would serve the God who speaks within the heart, just serve your near of kin, and those that are no kin, the stranger at your gates, the foe who seeks to do you harm;

¹⁴Assist the poor, and help the weak; do harm to none, and covet not what is not yours;

¹⁵Then, with your tongue the Holy One will speak; and he will smile behind your tears, will light your countenance with joy, and fill your hearts with peace.

¹⁶And then the people asked, To whom shall we bring gifts? Where shall we offer sacrifice?

¹⁷And Jesus said, Our Father-­God asks not for needless waste of plant, of grain, of dove, of lamb.

¹⁸That which you burn on any shrine you throw away. No bless­ings can attend the one who takes the food from hungry mouths to be destroyed by fire.

¹⁹When you would offer sacri­fice unto our God, just take your gift of grain, or meat and lay it on the table of the poor.

²⁰From it an incense will arise to heaven, which will return to you with blessedness.

²¹Tear down your idols; they can hear you not; turn all your sac­rificial altars into fuel for the flames.

²²Make human hearts your al­tars, and burn your sacrifices with the fire of love.

²³And all the people were en­tranced, and would have wor­shipped Jesus as a God; but Jesus said,

²⁴I am your brother man just come to show the way to God; you shall not worship man; praise God, the Holy One.

CHAPTER 27.

Jesus attends a feast in Behar. Preaches a revolutionary sermon on human equality. Relates the para­ble of the broken blades.

¹The fame of Jesus as a teacher spread through all the land, and people came from near and far to hear his words of truth.

²At Behar, on the sacred river of the Brahms, he taught for many days.

³And Ach, a wealthy man of Behar, made a feast in honor of his guest, and he invited every one to come.

⁴And many came; among them thieves, extortioners, and courte­sans. And Jesus sat with them and taught; but they who followed him were much aggrieved because he sat with thieves and courtesans.

⁵And they upbraided him; they said, Rabboni, master of the wise, this day will be an evil day for you.

⁶The news will spread that you consort with courtesans and thieves, and men will shun you as they shun an asp.

⁷And Jesus answered them and said, A master never screens him­⁵⁵self for sake of reputation or of fame.

⁸These are but worthless bau­bles of the day; they rise and sink, like empty bottles on a stream; they are illusions and will pass away;

⁹They are the indices to what the thoughtless think; they are the noise that people make; and shal­low men judge merit by the noise.

¹⁰God and all master men judge men by what they are and not by what they seem to be; not by their reputation and their fame.

¹¹These courtesans and thieves are children of my Father-God; their souls are just as precious in his sight as yours, or of the Brahmic priests.

¹²And they are working out the same life sums that you, who pride yourselves on your respect­ability and moral worth, are work­ing out.

¹³And some of them have solved much harder sums than you have solved, you men who look at them with scorn.

¹⁴Yes, they are sinners, and confess their guilt, while you are guilty, but are shrewd enough to have a polished coat to cover up your guilt.

¹⁵Suppose you men who scorn these courtesans, these drunkards and these thieves, who know that you are pure in heart and life, that you are better far than they, stand forth that men may know just who you are.

¹⁶The sin lies in the wish, in the desire, not in the act.

¹⁷You covet other people’s wealth; you look at charming forms, and deep within your hearts you lust for them.

¹⁸Deceit you practice every day, and wish for gold, for honor and for fame, just for your selfish selves.

¹⁹The man who covets is a thief, and she who lusts is courtesan. You who are none of these speak out.

²⁰Nobody spoke; the accusers held their peace.

²¹And Jesus said, The proof this day is all against those who have accused.

²²The pure in heart do not ac­cuse. The vile in heart who want to cover up their guilt with holy smoke of piety are ever loathing drunkard, thief and courtesan.

²³This loathing and this scorn is mockery, for if the tinseled coat of reputation could be torn away, the loud professor would be found to revel in his lust, deceit, and many forms of secret sin.

²⁴The man who spends his time in pulling other people’s weeds can have no time to pull his own, and all the choicest flowers of life will soon be choked and die, and nothing will remain but darnel, thistles, burs.

²⁵And Jesus spoke a parable: he said, Behold, a farmer had great fields of ripened grain, and when he looked he saw that blades of many stalks of wheat were bent and brok­en down.

²⁶And when he sent his reap­ers forth he said, We will not save the stalks of wheat that have the broken blades.

²⁷Go forth and cut and burn the stalks with broken blades.

²⁸And after many days he went to measure up his grain, but not a kernel could he find.

²⁹And then he called the har­vesters and said to them, Where is my grain?

³⁰They answered him and said, We did according to your word; we ⁵⁶gathered up and burned the stalks with broken blades, and not a stalk was left to carry to the barn.

³¹And Jesus said, If God saves only those who have no broken blades, who have been perfect in his sight, who will be saved?

³²And the accusers hung their heads in shame; and Jesus went his way.

CHAPTER 28.

Udraka gives a feast in Jesus’ honor. Jesus speaks on the unity of God and the brotherhood of life. Criti­cises the priesthood. Becomes the guest of a farmer.

¹Benares is the sacred city of the Brahms, and in Benares Jesus taught; Udraka was his host.

²Udraka made a feast in honor of his guest, and many high born Hindu priests and scribes were there.

³And Jesus said to them, With much delight I speak to you con­cerning life—the brotherhood of life.

⁴The universal God is one, yet he is more than one; all things are God; all things are one.

⁵By the sweet breaths of God all life is bound in one; so if you touch a fiber of a living thing you send a thrill from center to the outer bounds of life.

⁶And when you crush beneath your foot the meanest worm, you shake the throne of God, and cause the sword of right to tremble in its sheath.

⁷The bird sings out its song for men, and men vibrate in unison to help it sing.

⁸The ant constructs her home, the bee its sheltering comb, the spider weaves her web, and flowers breathe to them a spirit in their sweet perfumes that gives them strength to toil.

⁹Now, men and birds and beasts and creeping things are dei­ties, made flesh; and how dare men kill anything?

¹⁰’Tis cruelty that makes the world awry. When men have learned that when they harm a liv­ing thing they harm themselves, they surely will not kill, nor cause a thing that God has made to suffer pain.

¹¹A lawyer said, I pray you, Jesus, tell who is this God you speak about; where are his priests, his temples and his shrines?

¹²And Jesus said, The God I speak about is every where; he can­not be compassed with walls, nor hedged about with bounds of any kind.

¹³All people worship God, the One; but all the people see him not alike.

¹⁴This universal God is wis­dom, will and love.

¹⁵All men see not the Triune God. One sees him as the God of might; another as the God of thought; another as the God of love.

¹⁶A man’s ideal is his God, and so, as man unfolds, his God unfolds. Man’s God today, tomorrow is not God.

¹⁷The nations of the earth see God from different points of view, and so he does not seem the same to every one.

¹⁸Man names the part of God he sees, and this to him is all of God; and every nation sees a part of God, and every nation has a name for God.

¹⁹You Brahmans call him Par­abrahm; in Egypt he is Thoth; and Zeus is his name in Greece; Jehovah is his Hebrew name; but every­where he is the causeless Cause, the ⁵⁷rootless Root from which all things have grown.

²⁰When men become afraid of God, and take him for a foe, they dress up other men in fancy garbs and call them priests,

²¹And charge them to restrain the wrath of God by prayers; and when they fail to win his favor by their prayers, to buy him off with sacrifice of animal, or bird,

²²When man sees God as one with him, as Father-God, he needs no middle man, no priest to inter­cede;

²³He goes straight up to him and says, My Father-God! and then he lays his hand in God’s own hand, and all is well.

²⁴And this is God. You are, each one, a priest, just for yourself; and sacrifice of blood God does not want.

²⁵Just give your life in sacri­ficial service to the all of life, and God is pleased.

²⁶When Jesus had thus said he stood aside; the people were amazed, but strove among them­selves.

²⁷Some said, He is inspired by Holy Brahm; and others said, He is insane; and others said, He is ob­sessed; he speaks as devils speak.

²⁸But Jesus tarried not. Among the guests was one, a tiller of the soil, a generous soul, a seeker after truth, who loved the words that Jesus spoke; and Jesus went with him, and in his home abode.

CHAPTER 29.

Ajainin, a priest from Lahore, comes to Benares to see Jesus, and abides in the temple. Jesus refuses an in­vitation to visit the temple. Ajainin visits him at night in the farmer’s home, and accepts his philosophy.

¹Among Benares’ temple priests was one, a guest, Ajainin, from Lahore.

²By merchantmen Ajainin heard about the Jewish boy, about his words of wisdom, and he girt himself and journeyed from Lahore that he might see the boy, and hear him speak.

³The Brahmic priests did not accept the truth that Jesus brought, and they were angered much by what he said at the Udraka feast.

⁴But they had never seen the boy, and they desired much to hear him speak, and they invited him to be a temple guest.

⁵But Jesus said to them, The light is most abundant, and it shines for all; if you would see the light come to the light.

⁶If you would hear the mes­sage that the Holy One has given me to give to men, come unto me.

⁷Now, when the priests were told what Jesus said they were en­raged.

⁸Ajainin did not share their wrath, and he sent forth another messenger with costly gifts to Jesus at the farmer’s home; he sent this message with the gifts:

⁹I pray you, master, listen to my words; The Brahmic law forbids that any priest shall go into the home of any one of low estate; but you can come to us;

¹⁰And I am sure these priests will gladly hear you speak. I pray that you will come and dine with us this day.

¹¹And Jesus said, The Holy One regards all men alike; the dwelling of my host is good enough for any council of the sons of men.

¹²If pride of caste keeps you away, you are not worthy of the light. My Father-God does not re­gard the laws of man.

⁵⁸¹³Your presents I return; you cannot buy the knowledge of the Lord with gold, or precious gifts.

¹⁴These words of Jesus an­gered more and more the priests, and they began to plot and plan how they might drive him from the land.

¹⁵Ajainin did not join with them in plot and plan; he left the temple in the night, and sought the home where Jesus dwelt.

¹⁶And Jesus said, There is no night where shines the sun; I have no secret messages to give; in light all secrets are revealed.

¹⁷Ajainin said, I came from far-away Lahore, that I might learn about this ancient wisdom, and this kingdom of the Holy One of which you speak.

¹⁸Where is the kingdom? where the king? Who are the sub­jects? what its laws?

¹⁹And Jesus said, This king­dom is not far away, but man with mortal eyes can see it not; it is with­in the heart.

²⁰You need not seek the king in earth, or sea, or sky; he is not there, and yet is everywhere. He is the Christ of God; is universal love.

²¹The gate of this dominion is not high, and he who enters it must fall down on his knees. It is not wide, and none can carry carnal bundles through.

²²The lower self must be trans­muted into spirit-self; the body must be washed in living streams of purity.

²³Ajainin asked, Can I be­come a subject of this king?

²⁴And Jesus said, You are yourself a king, and you may enter through the gate and be a subject of the King of kings.

²⁵But you must lay aside your priestly robes; must cease to serve the Holy One for gold; must give your life, and all you have, in willing service to the sons of men.

²⁶And Jesus said no more; Ajainin went his way; and while he could not comprehend the truth that Jesus spoke, he saw what he had never seen before.

²⁷The realm of faith he never had explored; but in his heart the seeds of faith and universal brother­hood had found good soil.

²⁸And as he journeyed to his home he seemed to sleep, to pass through darkest night, and when he woke the Sun of Righteousness had arisen; he had found the king.

²⁹Now, in Benares Jesus tar­ried many days and taught.

CHAPTER 30.

Jesus receives news of the death of his father. He writes a letter to his mother. The letter. He sends it on its way by a merchant.

¹One day as Jesus stood beside the Ganges busy with his work, a caravan, returning from the West, drew near.

²And one, approaching Jesus, said, We come to you just from your native land and bring unwel­come news.

³Your father is no more on earth; your mother grieves; and none can comfort her. She won­ders whether you are still alive or not; she longs to see you once again.

⁴And Jesus bowed his head in silent thought; and then he wrote. Of what he wrote this is the sum:

⁵My mother, noblest of woman kind; A man just from my native land has brought me word that father is no more in flesh, and that you grieve, and are disconsolate.

⁶My mother, all is well; is well ⁵⁹for father and is well for you.

⁷His work in this earth-round is done, and it is nobly done.

⁸In all the walks of life men cannot charge him with deceit, dishonesty, nor wrong intent.

⁹Here in this round he finished many heavy tasks, and he has gone from hence prepared to solve the problems of the round of soul.

¹⁰Our Father-God is with him there, as he was with him here; and there his angel guards his footsteps lest he goes astray.

¹¹Why should you weep? Tears cannot conquer grief. There is no power in grief to mend a broken heart.

¹²The plane of grief is idleness; the busy soul can never grieve; it has no time for grief.

¹³When grief comes trooping through the heart, just lose your­self; plunge deep into the ministry of love, and grief is not.

¹⁴Yours is a ministry of love, and all the world is calling out for love.

¹⁵Then let the past go with the past; rise from the cares of carnal things and give your life for those who live.

¹⁶And if you lose your life in serving life you will be sure to find in it the morning sun, the evening dews, in song of bird, in flowers, and in the stars of night.

¹⁷In just a little while your problems of this earth-round will be solved; and when your sums are all worked out it will be pleasure unal­loyed for you to enter wider fields of usefulness, to solve the greater problems of the soul.

¹⁸Strive, then, to be content, and I will come to you some day and bring you richer gifts than gold or precious stones.

¹⁹I’m sure that John will care for you, supplying all your needs; and I am with you all the way, Je­hoshua.

²⁰And by the hand of one, a merchant, going to Jerusalem, he sent this letter on its way.

CHAPTER 31.

Brahmic priests are enraged because of Jesus’ teaching and resolve to drive him from India. Lamaas pleads for him. Priests employ a murderer to kill him. Lamaas warns him and he flees to Nepel.

¹The words and works of Jesus caused unrest through all the land.

²The common people were his friends, believed in him, and fol­lowed him in throngs.

³The priests and rulers were afraid of him; his very name sent terror to their hearts.

⁴He preached the brotherhood of life, the righteousness of equal rights, and taught the uselessness of priests, and sacrificial rites.

⁵He shook the very sand on which the Brahmic system stood; he made the Brahmic idols seem so small, and sacrifice so fraught with sin, that shrines and wheels of prayer were all forgot.

⁶The priests declared that if this Hebrew boy should tarry longer in the land a revolution would oc­cur; the common people would arise and kill the priests, and tear the temples down.

⁷And so they sent a call abroad, and priests from every province came. Benares was on fire with Brahmic zeal.

⁸Lamaas from the temple Ja­gannath, who knew the inner life of Jesus well, was in their midst, and heard the rantings of the priests,

⁹And he stood forth and said, ⁶⁰My brother priests, take heed, be careful what you do; this is a record-­making day.

¹⁰The world is looking on; the very life of Brahmic thought is now on trial.

¹¹If we are reason-blind; if prejudice be king today; if we re­sort to beastly force, and dye our hands in blood that may, in sight of Brahm, be innocent and pure,

¹²His vengeance may fall down on us; the very rock on which we stand may burst beneath our feet; and our beloved priesthood, and our laws and shrines will go into decay.

¹³But they would let him speak no more. The wrathful priests rushed up and beat him, spit upon him, called him traitor, threw him, bleeding, to the street.

¹⁴And then confusion reigned; the priests became a mob; the sight of human blood led on to fiendish acts, and called for more.

¹⁵The rulers, fearing war, sought Jesus, and they found him calmly teaching in the market-place.

¹⁶They urged him to depart, that he might save his life; but he refused to go.

¹⁷And then the priests sought cause for his arrest; but he had done no crime.

¹⁸And then false charges were preferred; but when the soldiers went to bring him to the judgment hall they were afraid, because the people stood in his defense.

¹⁹The priests were baffled, and they resolved to take his life by stealth.

²⁰They found a man who was a murderer by trade, and sent him out by night to slay the object of their wrath.

²¹Lamaas heard about their plotting and their plans, and sent a messenger to warn his friend; and Jesus hastened to depart.

²²By night he left Benares, and with haste he journeyed to the north; and everywhere, the farmers, merchants and the sudras helped him on his way.

²³And after many days he reached the mighty Himalayas, and in the city Kapivastu he abode.

²⁴The priests of Buddha opened wide their temple doors for him.

CHAPTER 32.

Jesus and Barata. Together they read the sacred books. Jesus takes exception to the Buddhist doctrine of evolution and reveals the true origin of man. Meets Vidyapati, who becomes his co-laborer.

¹Among the Buddhist priests was one who saw a lofty wisdom in the words that Jesus spoke. It was Barata Arabo.

²Together Jesus and Barata read the Jewish Psalms and Proph­ets; read the Vedas, the Avesta and the wisdom of Guatama.

³And as they read and talked about the possibilities of man, Bar­ata said,

⁴Man is the marvel of the uni­verse. He is a part of everything, for he has been a living thing on every plane of life.

⁵Time was when man was not; and then he was a bit of formless substance in the molds of time; and then a protoplast.

⁶By universal law all things tend upward to a state of perfect­ness. The protoplast evolved, be­coming worm, then reptile, bird and beast, and then at last it reached the form of man.

⁷Now, man himself is mind, and mind is here to gain perfection by experience; and mind is often manifest in fleshy form, and in the ⁶¹form best suited to its growth. So mind may manifest as worm, or bird, or beast, or man.

⁸The time will come when ev­erything of life will be evolved unto the state of perfect man.

⁹And after man is man in per­fectness, he will evolve to higher forms of life.

¹⁰And Jesus said, Barata Ara­bo, who taught you this, that mind, which is the man, may manifest in flesh of beast, or bird, or creeping thing?

¹¹Barata said, From times which man remembers not our priests have told us so, and so we know.

¹²And Jesus said, Enlightened Arabo, are you a master mind and do not know that man knows naught by being told?

¹³Man may believe what oth­ers say; but thus he never knows. If man would know, he must him­self be what he knows.

¹⁴Do you remember, Arabo, when you was ape, or bird, or worm?

¹⁵Now, if you have no better proving of your plea than that the priests have told you so, you do not know; you simply guess.

¹⁶Regard not, then, what any man has said; let us forget the flesh, and go with mind into the land of fleshless things; mind never does forget.

¹⁷And backward through the ages master minds can trace them­selves; and thus they know.

¹⁸Time never was when man was not.

¹⁹That which begins will have an end. If man was not, the time will come when he will not exist.

²⁰From God’s own Record Book we read: The Triune God breathed forth, and seven Spirits stood before his face. (The He­brews call these seven Spirits, Elo­him.)

²¹And these are they who, in their boundless power, created ev­erything that is, or was.

²²These Spirits of the Triune God moved on the face of boundless space and seven ethers were, and every ether had its form of life.

²³These forms of life were but the thoughts of God, clothed in the substance of their ether planes.

²⁴(Men call these ether planes the planes of protoplast, of earth, of plant, of beast, of man, of angel and of cherubim.)

²⁵These planes with all their teeming thoughts of God, are never seen by eyes of man in flesh; they are composed of substance far too fine for fleshly eyes to see, and still they constitute the soul of things;

²⁶And with the eyes of soul all creatures see these ether planes, and all the forms of life.

²⁷Because all forms of life on every plane are thoughts of God, all creatures think, and every crea­ture is possessed of will, and, in its measure, has the power to choose,

²⁸And in their native planes all creatures are supplied with nour­ishment from the ethers of their planes.

²⁹And so it was with every liv­ing thing until the will became a sluggish will, and then the ethers of the protoplast, the earth, the plant, the beast, the man, began to vibrate very slow.

³⁰The ethers all became more dense, and all the creatures of these planes were clothed with coarser garbs, the garbs of flesh, which men can see; and thus this coarser mani­fest, which men call physical, ap­peared.

³¹And this is what is called the ⁶²fall of man; but man fell not alone for protoplast, and earth, and plant and beast were all included in the fall.

³²The angels and the cherubim fell not; their wills were ever strong, and so they held the ethers of their planes in harmony with God.

³³Now, when the ethers reached the rate of atmosphere, and all the creatures of these planes must get their food from atmosphere, the con­flict came; and then that which the finite man has called, survival of the best, became a law,

³⁴The stronger ate the bodies of the weaker manifests; and here is where the carnal law of evolution had its rise.

³⁵And now man, in his utter shamelessness, strikes down and eats the beasts, the beast consumes the plant, the plant thrives on the earth, the earth absorbs the proto­plast.

³⁶In yonder kingdom of the soul this carnal evolution is not known, and the great work of mas­ter minds is to restore the heritage of man, to bring him back to his es­tate that he has lost, when he again will live upon the ethers of his na­tive plane.

³⁷The thoughts of God change not; the manifests of life on every plane unfold into perfection of their kind; and as the thoughts of God can never die, there is no death to any being of the seven ethers of the seven Spirits of the Triune God.

³⁸And so an earth is never plant; a beast, or bird, or creeping thing is never man, and man is not, and cannot be, a beast, or bird, or creeping thing.

³⁹The time will come when all these seven manifests will be ab­sorbed, and man, and beast, and plant, and earth and protoplast will be redeemed.

⁴⁰Barata was amazed; the wisdom of the Jewish sage was rev­elation unto him.

⁴¹Now, Vidyapati, wisest of the Indian sages, chief of temple Kapavistu, heard Barata speak to Jesus of the origin of man, and heard the answer of the Hebrew prophet, and he said,

⁴²You priests of Kapavistu, hear me speak: We stand today upon a crest of time. Six times ago a master soul was born who gave a glory light to man, and now a mas­ter sage stands here in temple Kap­avistu.

⁴³This Hebrew prophet is the rising star of wisdom, deified. He brings to us a knowledge of the se­cret things of God; and all the world will hear his words, will heed his words, and glorify his name.

⁴⁴You priests of temple Kap­avistu, stay! be still and listen when he speaks; he is the Living Oracle of God.

⁴⁵And all the priests gave thanks, and praised the Buddha of enlightenment.

CHAPTER 33.

Jesus teaches the common people at a spring. Tells them how to attain unto happiness. Relates the para­ble of the rocky field and the hidden treasure.

¹In silent meditation Jesus sat beside a flowing spring. It was a holy day, and many people of the servant caste were near the place.

²And Jesus saw the hard drawn lines of toil on every brow, in every hand. There was no look of joy in any face. Not one of all the group could think of anything but toil.

³And Jesus spoke to one and ⁶³said, Why are you all so sad? Have you no happiness in life?

⁴The man replied, We scarcely know the meaning of that word. We toil to live, and hope for nothing else but toil, and bless the day when we can cease our toil and lay us down to rest in Buddha’s city of the dead.

⁵And Jesus’ heart was stirred with pity and with love for these poor toilers, and he said,

⁶Toil should not make a per­son sad; men should be happiest when they toil. When hope and love are back of toil, then all of life is filled with joy and peace, and this is heaven. Do you not know that such a heaven is for you?

⁷The man replied, Of heaven we have heard; but then it is so far away, and we must live so many lives before we reach that place!

⁸And Jesus said, My brother, man, your thoughts are wrong; your heaven is not far away; and it is not a place of metes and bounds, is not a country to be reached; it is a state of mind.

⁹God never made a heaven for man; he never made a hell; we are creators and we make our own.

¹⁰Now, cease to seek for heav­en in the sky; just open up the windows of your hearts, and, like a flood of light, a heaven will come and bring a boundless joy; then toil will be no cruel task.

¹¹The people were amazed, and gathered close to hear this strange young master speak,

¹²Imploring him to tell them more about the Father-God; about the heaven that men can make on earth; about the boundless joy.

¹³And Jesus spoke a parable; he said, A certain man possessed a field; the soil was hard and poor.

¹⁴By constant toil he scarcely could provide enough of food to keep his family from want.

¹⁵One day a miner who could see beneath the soil, in passing on his way, saw this poor man and his unfruitful field.

¹⁶He called the weary toiler and he said, My brother, know you not that just below the surface of your barren field rich treasures lie concealed?

¹⁷You plow and sow and reap in scanty way, and day by day you tread upon a mine of gold and pre­cious stones.

¹⁸This wealth lies not upon the surface of the ground; but if you will but dig away the rocky soil, and delve down deep into the earth, you need no longer till the soil for naught.

¹⁹The man believed. The miner surely knows; he said, and I will find the treasures hidden in my field.

²⁰And then he dug away the rocky soil, and deep down in the earth he found a mine of gold.

²¹And Jesus said, The sons of men are toiling hard on desert plains, and burning sands and rocky soils; are doing what their fathers did, not dreaming they can do aught else.

²²Behold, a master comes, and tells them of a hidden wealth; that underneath the rocky soil of carnal things are treasures that no man can count;

²³That in the heart the richest gems abound; that he who wills may open up the door and find them all.

²⁴And then the people said, Make known to us the way that we may find the wealth that lies within the heart.

²⁵And Jesus opened up the way; the toilers saw another side of life, and toil became a joy.

⁶⁴CHAPTER 34.

The Jubilee in Kapavistu. Jesus teaches in the plaza and the people are astonished. He relates the par­able of the unkept vineyard and the vine dresser. The priests are an­gered by his words.

¹It was a gala day in sacred Kapa­vistu; a throng of Buddhist worshippers had met to celebrate a Jubilee.

²And priests and masters from all parts of India were there; they taught; but they embellished little truth with many words.

³And Jesus went into an an­cient plaza and he taught; he spoke of Father-Mother-God; he told about the brotherhood of life.

⁴The priests and all the people were astounded at his words and said, Is this not Buddha come again in flesh? No other one could speak with such simplicity and power.

⁵And Jesus spoke a parable; he said, There was a vineyard all unkept; the vines were high, the growth of leaves and branches great.

⁶The leaves were broad and shut the sunlight from the vines; the grapes were sour, and few, and small.

⁷The pruner came; with his sharp knife he cut off every branch, and not a leaf remained; just root and stalk, and nothing more.

⁸The busy neighbors came with one accord and were amazed, and said to him who pruned, You fool­ish man! the vineyard is despoiled.

⁹Such desolation! There is no beauty left, and when the har­vest time shall come the gatherers will find no fruit.

¹⁰The pruner said, Content yourselves with what you think, and come again at harvest time and see.

¹¹And when the harvest time came on the busy neighbors came again; they were surprised.

¹²The naked stalks had put forth branch and leaf, and heavy clusters of delicious grapes weighed every branch to earth.

¹³The gatherers rejoiced as, day by day, they carried the rich fruitage to the press.

¹⁴Behold, the vineyard of the Lord! the earth is spread with hu­man vines.

¹⁵The gorgeous forms and rites of men are branches, and their words are leaves; and these have grown so great that sunlight can no longer reach the heart; there is no fruit.

¹⁶Behold, the pruner comes, and with a two-edged knife he cuts away the branches and the leaves of words,

¹⁷And naught is left but un­clothed stalks of human life.

¹⁸The priests and they of pompous show, rebuke the pruner, and would stay him in his work.

¹⁹They see no beauty in the stalks of human life; no promises of fruit.

²⁰The harvest time will come and they who scorned the pruner will look on again and be amazed, for they will see the human stalks that seemed so lifeless, bending low with precious fruit.

²¹And they will hear the har­vesters rejoice, because the harvest is so great.

²²The priests were not well pleased with Jesus’ words; but they rebuked him not; they feared the multitude.

CHAPTER 35.

Jesus and Vidyapati consider the needs of the incoming age of the world.

⁶⁵¹The Indian sage and Jesus often met and talked about the needs of nations and of men; about the sacred doctrines, forms and rites best suited to the coming age.

²One day they sat together in a mountain pass, and Jesus said, The coming age will surely not re­quire priests, and shrines, and sac­rifice of life.

³There is no power in sacrifice of beast, or bird, to help a man to holy life.

⁴And Vidyapati said, All forms and rites are symbols of the things that men must do within the temple of the soul.

⁵The Holy One requires man to give his life in willing sacrifice for men, and all the so-called offerings on altars and on shrines that have been made since time began, were made to teach man how to give him­self to save his brother man; for man can never save himself except he lose his life in saving other men.

⁶The perfect age will not re­quire forms and rites and carnal sacrifice. The coming age is not the perfect age, and men will call for object lessons and symbolic rites.

⁷And in the great religion you shall introduce to men, some simple rites of washings and remembrances will be required; but cruel sacrifice of animals, and birds the gods re­quire not.

⁸And Jesus said, Our God must loathe the tinseled show of priests and priestly things.

⁹When men array themselves in showy garbs to indicate that they are servants of the gods, and strut about like gaudy birds to be ad­mired by men, because of piety or any other thing, the Holy One must surely turn away in sheer disgust.

¹⁰All people are alike the serv­ants of our Father-God, are kings and priests.

¹¹Will not the coming age de­mand complete destruction of the priestly caste, as well as every other caste and inequality among the sons of men?

¹²And Vidyapati said, The coming age is not the age of spirit life and men will pride themselves in wearing priestly robes, and chant­ing pious chants to advertise them­selves as saints.

¹³The simple rites that you will introduce will be extolled by those who follow you, until the sacred service of the age will far outshine in gorgeousness the priestly service of the Brahmic age.

¹⁴This is a problem men must solve.

¹⁵The perfect age will come when every man will be a priest and men will not array themselves in special garb to advertise their piety.

CHAPTER 36.

Jesus in Lassa. He meets Meng-ste who aids him in reading the ancient manuscripts. He goes to Ladak. Heals a child. Relates the parable of the king’s son.

¹In Lassa of Tibet there was a mas­ter’s temple, rich in manuscripts of ancient lore.

²The Indian sage had read these manuscripts, and he revealed to Jesus many of the secret lessons ⁶⁶they contained; but Jesus wished to read them for himself.

³Now, Meng-ste, greatest sage of all the farther East, was in this temple of Tibet.

⁴The path across Emodus heights was difficult; but Jesus started on his way, and Vidyapati sent with him a trusted guide.

⁵And Vidyapati sent a mes­sage to Meng-ste, in which he told about the Hebrew sage, and spoke for him a welcome by the temple priests.

⁶Now, after many days, and perils great, the guide and Jesus reached the Lassa temple in Tibet.

⁷And Meng-ste opened wide the temple doors, and all the priests and masters gave a welcome to the Hebrew sage.

⁸And Jesus had access to all the sacred manuscripts, and, with the help of Meng-ste, read them all.

⁹And Meng-ste often talked with Jesus of the coming age, and of the sacred service best adapted to the people of the age.

¹⁰In Lassa Jesus did not teach. When he had finished all his studies in the temple schools he journeyed toward the West. In many villages he tarried for a time and taught.

¹¹At last he reached the pass, and in the Ladak city, Leh, he was received with favor by the monks, the merchants, and the men of low estate.

¹²And in the monastery he abode, and taught; and then he sought the common people in the marts of trade; and there he taught.

¹³Not far away a woman lived, whose infant son was sick nigh unto death. The doctors had declared, There is no hope; the child must die.

¹⁴The woman heard that Jesus was a teacher sent from God, and she believed that he had power to heal her son.

¹⁵And so she clasped the dying infant in her arms and ran with haste and asked to see the man of God.

¹⁶When Jesus saw her faith he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,

¹⁷My Father-God, let power di­vine o’ershadow me, and let the Holy Breath fill full this child that it may live.

¹⁸And in the presence of the multitude he laid his hand upon the child and said,

¹⁹Good woman you are blest; your faith has saved your son. And then the child was well.

²⁰The people were astonished and they said, This surely is the Holy One made flesh, for man alone cannot rebuke a fever thus and save a child from death.

²¹Then many of the people brought their sick, and Jesus spoke the Word, and they were healed.

²²Among the Ladaks Jesus tarried many days; he taught them how to heal; how sins are blotted out, and how to make on earth a heaven of joy.

²³The people loved him for his words and works, and when he must depart they grieved as children grieve when mother goes away.

²⁴And on the morning when he started on his way the multitudes were there to press his hand.

²⁵To them he spoke a parable; he said, A certain king so loved the people of his land that he sent forth his only son with precious gifts for all.

²⁶The son went everywhere and scattered forth the gifts with lavish hand.

²⁷But there were priests who ministered at shrines of foreign gods, ⁶⁷who were not pleased because the king did not through them bestow the gifts.

²⁸And so they sought to cause the people all to hate the son. They said, These gifts are not of any worth; they are but counterfeits.

²⁹And so the people threw the precious gems, and gold and silver in the streets. They caught the son and beat him, spit upon him, drove him from their midst.

³⁰The son resented not their insults and their cruelties; but thus he prayed, My Father-God, forgive these creatures of thy hand; they are but slaves; they know not what they do.

³¹And while they yet were beating him he gave them food, and blest them with a boundless love.

³²In certain cities was the son received with joy, and he would gladly have remained to bless the homes; but he could tarry not, for he must carry gifts to every one in all the king’s domain.

³³And Jesus said, My Father-­God is king of all mankind, and he has sent me forth with all the boun­ties of his matchless love and boundless wealth.

³⁴To all the people of all lands, lo, I must bear these gifts—this water and this bread of life.

³⁵I go my way, but we will meet again; for in my Fatherland is room for all; I will prepare a place for you.

³⁶And Jesus raised his hand in silent benediction; then he went his way.

CHAPTER 37.

Jesus is presented with a camel. He goes to Lahore where he abides with Ajainin, whom he teaches. Lesson of the wandering musicians. Jesus resumes his journey.

¹A caravan of merchantmen were journeying through the Kashmar vale as Jesus passed that way, and they were going to La­hore, a city of the Hand, the five-­stream land.

²The merchantmen had heard the prophet speak, had seen his mighty works in Leh, and they were glad to see him once again.

³And when they knew that he was going to Lahore and then across the Sind, through Persia and the farther West, and that he had no beast on which to ride,

⁴They freely gave to him a no­ble bactrian beast, well saddled and equipped, and Jesus journeyed with the caravan.

⁵And when he reached Lahore, Ajainin and some other Brahmic priests, received him with delight.

⁶Ajainin was the priest who came to Jesus in the night time in Benares many months before, and heard his words of truth.

⁷And Jesus was Ajainin’s guest; he taught Ajainin many things; revealed to him the secrets of the healing art.

⁸He taught him how he could control the spirits of the air, the fire, the water and the earth; and he ex­plained to him the secret doctrine of forgiveness, and the blotting out of sins.

⁹One day Ajainin sat with Jesus in the temple porch; a band of wandering singers and musicians paused before the court to sing and play.

¹⁰Their music was most rich and delicate, and Jesus said, Among the high-bred people of the land we hear no sweeter music than that these uncouth children of the wil­derness bring here to us.

¹¹From whence this talent and this power? In one short life they ⁶⁸surely could not gain such grace of voice, such knowledge of the laws of harmony and tone.

¹²Men call them prodigies. There are no prodigies. All things result from natural law.

¹³These people are not young. A thousand years would not suffice to give them such divine expressive­ness, and such purity of voice and touch.

¹⁴Ten thousand years ago these people mastered harmony. In days of old they trod the busy thorough­fares of life, and caught the melody of birds, and played on harps of per­fect form.

¹⁵And they have come again to learn still other lessons from the varied notes of manifests.

¹⁶These wandering people form a part of heaven’s orchestra, and in the land of perfect things the very angels will delight to hear them play and sing.

¹⁷And Jesus taught the common people of Lahore; he healed their sick, and showed to them the way to rise to better things by help­fulness.

¹⁸He said, We are not rich by what we get and hold; the only things we keep are those we give away.

¹⁹If you would live the perfect life, give forth your life in service for your kind, and for the forms of life that men esteem the lower forms of life.

²⁰But Jesus could not tarry longer in Lahore; he bade the priests and other friends farewell; and then he took his camel and he went his way toward the Sind.

CHAPTER 38.

Jesus crosses Persia. Teaches and heals in many places. Three magian priests meet him as he nears Persepolis. Kaspar, and two other Persian masters, meet him in Persepolis. The seven mas­ters sit in silence seven days.

¹Four-and-twenty years of age was Jesus when he entered Persia on his homeward way.

²In many a hamlet, town and neighborhood he paused a while and taught and healed.

³The priests and ruling classes did not welcome him, because he censured them for cruelty to those of low estate.

⁴The common people followed him in throngs.

⁵At times the chiefs made bold to try to hinder him, forbidding him to teach or heal the sick. But he re­garded not their angry threats; he taught, and healed the sick.

⁶In time he reached Persepolis, the city where the kings of Persia were entombed; the city of the learned magi, Hor, and Lun, and Mer, the three wise men,

⁷Who, two-and-twenty years before, had seen the star of promise rise above Jerusalem, and who had journeyed to the West to find the new-born king;

⁸And were the first to honor Jesus as the master of the age, and gave him gifts of gold, gum-thus and myrrh.

⁹These magi knew, by ways that masters always know, when ⁶⁹Jesus neared Persepolis; and then they girt themselves, and went to meet him on the way.

¹⁰And when they met, a light much brighter than the light of day, surrounded them, and men who saw the four stand in the way de­clared they were transfigured; seem­ing more like gods than men.

¹¹Now, Hor and Lun were aged men, and Jesus placed them on his beast to ride into Persepolis; while he and Mer led on the way.

¹²And when they reached the magi’s home they all rejoiced. And Jesus told the thrilling story of his life, and Hor and Lun and Mer spoke not; they only looked to heaven, and in their hearts praised God.

¹³Three wise men from the North were in Persepolis; and they were Kaspar, Zara and Melzone; and Kaspar was the wisest master of the magian land. These three were at the home of Hor and Lun and Mer when Jesus came.

¹⁴For seven days these seven men spoke not; they sat in silence in the council hall in close commun­ion with the Silent Brotherhood.

¹⁵They sought for light, for revelation and for power. The laws and precepts of the coming age required all the wisdom of the mas­ters of the world.

CHAPTER 39.

Jesus attends a feast in Persepolis. Speaks to the people, reviewing the magian philosophy. Explains the origin of evil. Spends the night in prayer.

¹A feast in honor of the magian God was being held, and many men were gathered in Persepolis.

²And on the great day of the feast the ruling magian master said, Within these sacred walls is liberty; whoever wills to speak may speak.

³And Jesus standing in the midst of all the people, said, My brothers, sisters, children of our Fa­ther-God:

⁴Most blest are you among the sons of men today, because you have such just conceptions of the Holy One and man.

⁵Your purity in worship and in life is pleasing unto God; and to your master, Zarathustra, praise is due.

⁶Well say you all, There is one God from whose great being there came forth the seven Spirits that created heaven and earth; and man­ifest unto the sons of men are these great Spirits in the sun, and moon, and stars.

⁷But in your sacred books we read that two among these seven are of superior strength; that one of these created all the good; the other one created all that evil is.

⁸I pray you, honored masters, tell me how that evil can be born of that which is all good?

⁹A magus rose and said, If you will answer me, your problem will be solved.

¹⁰We all do recognize the fact that evil is. Whatever is, must have a cause. If God, the One, made not this evil, then, where is the God who did?

¹¹And Jesus said, Whatever God, the One, has made is good, and like the great first Cause, the seven Spirits all are good, and everything that comes from their creative hands is good,

¹²Now, all created things have colors, tones and forms their own; but certain tones, though good and pure themselves, when mixed, pro­duce inharmonies, discordant tones.

¹³And certain things, though ⁷⁰good and pure, when mixed, pro­duce discordant things, yea, poison­ous things, that men call evil things.

¹⁴So evil is the inharmonious blending of the colors, tones, or forms of good.

¹⁵Now, man is not all-wise, and yet has will his own. He has the power, and he uses it, to mix God’s good things in a multitude of ways, and every day he makes discordant sounds, and evil things.

¹⁶And every tone and form, be it of good, or ill, becomes a living thing, a demon, sprite, or spirit of a good or vicious kind.

¹⁷Man makes his devil thus; and then becomes afraid of him and flees; his devil is emboldened, fol­lows him away and casts him into torturing fires.

¹⁸The devil and the burning fires are both the works of man, and none can put the fires out and dissipate the evil one, but man who made them both.

¹⁹Then Jesus stood aside, and not a magus answered him.

²⁰And he departed from the throng and went into a secret place to pray.

CHAPTER 40.

Jesus teaches the magians. Explains the Silence and how to enter it. Kaspar extols the wisdom of Jesus. Jesus teaches in the groves of Cyrus.

¹Now, in the early morning Jesus came again to teach and heal. A light not comprehended shown about, as though some mighty spirit overshadowed him.

²A magus noted this and asked him privately to tell from whence his wisdom came, and what the meaning of the light.

³And Jesus said, There is a Si­lence where the soul may meet its God, and there the fount of wisdom is, and all who enter are immersed in light, and filled with wisdom, love and power.

⁴The magus said, Tell me about this Silence and this light, that I may go and there abide.

⁵And Jesus said, The Silence is not circumscribed; is not a place closed in with wall, or rocky steeps, nor guarded by the sword of man.

⁶Men carry with them all the time the secret place where they may meet their God.

⁷It matters not where men abide, on mountain top, in deepest vale, in marts of trade, or in the quiet home; they may at once, at any time, fling wide the door, and find the Silence, find the house of God; it is within the soul.

⁸One may not be so much dis­turbed by noise of business, and the words and thoughts of men if he goes all alone into the valley or the mountain pass.

⁹And when life’s heavy load is pressing hard, it is far better to go out and seek a quiet place to pray and meditate.

¹⁰The Silence is the kingdom of the soul which is not seen by hu­man eyes.

¹¹When in the Silence, phan­tom forms may flit before the mind; but they are all subservient to the will; the master soul may speak and they are gone.

¹²If you would find this Si­lence of the soul you must yourself prepare the way. None but the pure in heart may enter here.

¹³And you must lay aside all tenseness of the mind, all business cares, all fears, all doubts and trou­bled thoughts.

¹⁴Your human will must be ab­sorbed by the divine; then you will ⁷¹come into a consciousness of holi­ness.

¹⁵You are within the Holy Place, and you will see upon a living shrine the candle of the Lord aflame.

¹⁶And when you see it burning there, look deep within the temple of your brain, and you will see it all aglow.

¹⁷In every part, from head to foot, are candles all in place, just waiting to be lighted by the flam­ing torch of love.

¹⁸And when you see the can­dles all aflame, just look, and you will see, with eyes of soul, the wa­ters of the fount of wisdom rushing on; and you may drink, and there abide.

¹⁹And then the curtains part, and you are in the Holiest of All, where rests the Ark of God, whose covering is the Mercy Seat.

²⁰Fear not to lift the sacred board; the Tables of the Law are in the Ark concealed.

²¹Take them and read them well; for they contain all precepts and commands that men will ever need.

²²And in the Ark, the magic wand of prophecy lies waiting for your hand; it is the key to all the hidden meanings of the present, future, past.

²³And then, behold, the manna there, the hidden bread of life; and he who eats shall never die.

²⁴The cherubim have guarded well for every soul this treasure box, and whosoever will may enter in and find his own.

²⁵Now Kaspar heard the He­brew master speak and he ex­claimed, Behold, the wisdom of the gods has come to men!

²⁶And Jesus went his way, and in the sacred groves of Cyrus, where the multitudes were met, he taught and healed the sick.

CHAPTER 41.

Jesus stands by a healing fountain. Reveals the fact that faith is the po­tent factor in healing and many are healed by faith. A little child teaches a great lesson of faith.

¹A flowing spring that people called the Healing Fount, was near Persepolis.

²And all the people thought that at a certain time of year their deity came down and gave a virtue to the waters of the fount, and that the sick who then would plunge into the fount and wash would be made whole.

³About the fount a multitude of people were in waiting for the Holy One to come and potentize the waters of the fount.

⁴The blind, the lame, the deaf, the dumb, and those obsessed were there.

⁵And Jesus, standing in the midst of them, exclaimed, Behold the spring of life! These waters that will fail are honored as the spe­cial blessing of your God.

⁶From whence do healing vir­tues come? Why is your God so partial with his gifts? Why does he bless this spring today, and then tomorrow take his blessings all away?

⁷A deity of power could fill these waters full of healing virtue every day.

⁸Hear me, you sick, disconso­late: The virtue of this fount is not a special gift of God.

⁹Faith is the healing power of every drop of all the waters of this spring.

¹⁰He who believes with all his heart that he will be made whole by ⁷²washing in this fount will be made whole when he has washed; and he may wash at any time.

¹¹Let every one who has this faith in God and in himself plunge in these waters now and wash.

¹²And many of the people plunged into the crystal fount; and they were healed.

¹³And then there was a rush, for all the people were inspired with faith, and each one strove to be among the first to wash, lest all the virtue be absorbed.

¹⁴And Jesus saw a little child, weak, faint and helpless, sitting all alone beyond the surging crowd; and there was none to help her to the fount.

¹⁵And Jesus said, My little one, why do you sit and wait? Why not arise and hasten to the fount and wash, and be made well?

¹⁶The child replied, I need not haste; the blessings of my Father in the sky are measured not in tiny cups; they never fail; their virtues are the same forevermore.

¹⁷When these whose faith is weak must haste to wash for fear their faith will fail, have all been cured, these waters will be just as powerful for me.

¹⁸Then I can go and stay a long, long time within the blessed waters of the spring.

¹⁹And Jesus said, Behold a master soul! She came to earth to teach to men the power of faith.

²⁰And then he lifted up the child and said, Why wait for any­thing? The very air we breathe is filled with balm of life. Breathe in this balm of life in faith and be made whole.

²¹The child breathed in the balm of life in faith, and she was well.

²²The people marveled much at what they heard and saw; they said, This man must surely be the god of health made flesh.

²³And Jesus said, The fount of life is not a little pool; it is as wide as are the spaces of the heavens.

²⁴The waters of the fount are love; the potency is faith, and he who plunges deep into the living springs, in living faith, may wash away his guilt and be made whole, and freed from sin.

CHAPTER 42.

Jesus bids the magians farewell. Goes to Assyria. Teaches the peo­ple in Ur of Chaldea. Meets Ash­bina, with whom he visits many towns and cities, teaching and heal­ing the sick.

¹In Persia Jesus’ work was done and he resumed his journey towards his native land.

²The Persian sage went with him to the Euphrates; then with a pledge that they would meet again in Egypt land the masters said, Farewell.

³And Kaspar went his way un­to his home beside the Caspian Sea; and Jesus soon was in Chaldea, cra­dle land of Israel.

⁴In Ur, where Abraham was born, he tarried for a time; and when he told the people who he was, ⁷³and why he came, they came from near and far to speak to him.

⁵He said to them, We all are kin. Two thousand years and more ago, our Father Abraham lived here in Ur, and then he worshipped God the One, and taught the people in these sacred groves.

⁶And he was greatly blessed; becoming father of the mighty hosts of Israel.

⁷Although so many years have passed since Abraham and Sarah walked these ways, a remnant of their kindred still abide in Ur.

⁸And in their hearts the God of Abraham is still adored, and faith and justice are the rocks on which they build.

⁹Behold this land! It is no more the fruitful land that Abraham loved so well; the rains come not as in the former times; the vine is not productive now, and withered are the figs.

¹⁰But this shall not forever be; the time will come when all your deserts will rejoice; when flowers will bloom; when all your vines will bend their heads with luscious fruit; your shepherds will again be glad.

¹¹And Jesus preached to them the gospel of good will, and peace on earth. He told them of the broth­erhood of life, and of the inborn powers of man, and of the kingdom of the soul.

¹²And as he spoke, Ashbina, greatest sage of all Assyria, stood before his face.

¹³The people knew the sage, for he had often taught them in their sacred halls and groves, and they rejoiced to see his face.

¹⁴Ashbina said, My children of Chaldea, hear! Behold, for you are greatly blest today, because a prophet of the living God has come to you.

¹⁵Take heed to what this mas­ter says, for he gives forth the words that God has given him.

¹⁶And Jesus and the sage went through the towns and cities of Chaldea and of the lands between the Tigris and the Euphrates;

¹⁷And Jesus healed a multi­tude of people who were sick.

CHAPTER 43.

Jesus and Ashbina visit Babylon and remark its desolation. The two masters remain in company seven days; then Jesus resumes his home­ward journey. Arrives in Naza­reth. His mother gives a feast in his honor. His brothers are dis­pleased. Jesus tells his mother and aunt the story of his journeys.

¹The ruined Babylon was near, and Jesus and the sage went through her gates and walked among her fallen palaces.

²They trod the streets where Israel once was held in base captiv­ity.

³They saw where Judah’s sons and daughters hung their harps upon the willows, and refused to sing.

⁴They saw where Daniel and the Hebrew children stood as living witnesses of faith.

⁵And Jesus lifted up his hands and said, Behold the grandeur of the works of man!

⁶The king of Babylon de­stroyed the temple of the Lord in old Jerusalem; he burned the holy city, bound in chains my people and my kin, and brought them here as slaves.

⁷But retribution comes; for whatsoever men shall do to other men the righteous Judge will do to them.

⁸The sun of Babylon has gone ⁷⁴down; the songs of pleasure will be heard no more within her walls.

⁹And every kind of creeping thing and unclean bird will, in these ruins, find their homes.

¹⁰And in the temple Belus, Jesus and Ashbina stood in silent thought.

¹¹Then Jesus spoke and said, Behold this monument of folly and of shame.

¹²Man tried to shake the very throne of God, and he assayed to build a tower to reach to heaven, when, lo, his very speech was snatched away, because in lofty words he boasted of his power.

¹³And on these heights the heathen Baal stood—the god wrought out by hands of man.

¹⁴Upon yon altar, birds, and beasts, and men, yea children have been burned in awful sacrifice to Baal.

¹⁵But now the gory priests are dead; the very rocks have shud­dered and have fallen down; the place is desolate.

¹⁶Now, in the plains of Shinar Jesus tarried yet for seven days, and, with Ashbina, meditated long upon the needs of men, and how the sages could best serve the coming age.

¹⁷Then Jesus went his way, and after many days he crossed the Jordan to his native land. At once he sought his home in Nazareth.

¹⁸His mother’s heart was filled with joy; she made a feast for him, inviting all her kindred and her friends.

¹⁹But Jesus’ brothers were not pleased that such attention should be paid to one they deemed a sheer adventurer, and they went not in to the feast.

²⁰They laughed their brother’s claims to scorn; they called him in­dolent, ambitious, vain; a worthless fortune hunter; searcher of the world for fame, who, after many years returns to mother’s home with neither gold, nor any other wealth.

²¹And Jesus called aside his mother and her sister, Miriam, and told them of his journey to the East.

²²He told them of the lessons he had learned, and of the works that he had done. To others he told not the story of his life.

CHAPTER 44.

Jesus visits Greece and is welcomed by the Athenians. Meets Apollo. Addresses the Grecian masters in the Amphitheater. The address.

¹The Greek philosophy was full of pungent truth, and Jesus longed to study with the masters in the schools of Greece.

²And so he left his home in Naz­areth and crossed the Carmel hills, and at the port took ship, and soon was in the Grecian capital.

³Now, the Athenians had heard of him as teacher and philosopher, and they were glad to have him come to them that they might hear his words of truth.

⁴Among the masters of the Greeks was one, Apollo, who was called, Defender of the Oracle, and ⁷⁵recognized in many lands as Grecian sage.

⁵Apollo opened up for Jesus all the doors of Grecian lore, and in the Areopagus he heard the wisest masters speak.

⁶But Jesus brought to them a wisdom greater far than theirs; and so he taught.

⁷Once in the Amphitheater he stood, and when Apollo bade him speak he said,

⁸Athenian masters, hear! In ages long ago, men, wise in nature’s laws, sought out and found the place on which your city stands.

⁹Full well you know that there are parts of earth where its great beating heart throws heavenward etheric waves that meet the ethers from above;

¹⁰Where spirit-light and under­standing, like the stars of night, shine forth.

¹¹Of all the parts of earth there is no place more sensitized, more truly spirit-blest, than that where Athens stands.

¹²Yea, all of Greece is blest. No other land has been the home­land of such mighty men of thought as grace your scrolls of fame.

¹³A host of sturdy giants of philosophy, of poetry, of science, and of art, were born upon the soil of Greece, and rocked to manhood in your cradle of pure thought.

¹⁴I come not here to speak of science, of philosophy, or art; of these you are the world’s best mas­ters now.

¹⁵But all your high accom­plishments are but stepping stones to worlds beyond the realm of sense; are but illusive shadows flit­ting on the walls of time.

¹⁶But I would tell you of a life beyond, within; a real life that can not pass away.

¹⁷In science and philosophy there is no power strong enough to fit a soul to recognize itself, or to commune with God.

¹⁸I would not stay the flow of your great streams of thought; but I would turn them to the channels of the soul.

¹⁹Unaided by the Spirit-breath, the work of intellection tends to solve the problems of the things we see, and nothing more.

²⁰The senses were ordained to bring into the mind mere pictures of the things that pass away; they do not deal with real things; they do not comprehend eternal law.

²¹But man has something in his soul, a something that will tear the veil apart that he may see the world of real things.

²²We call this something, spirit consciousness; it sleeps in every soul, and cannot be awakened till the Holy Breath becomes a welcome guest.

²³This Holy Breath knocks at the door of every soul, but cannot enter in until the will of man throws wide the door.

²⁴There is no power in intel­lect to turn the key; philosophy and science both have toiled to get a glimpse behind the veil; but they have failed.

²⁵The secret spring that throws ajar the door of soul is touched by nothing else than purity in life, by prayer and holy thought.

²⁶Return, O mystic stream of Grecian thought, and mingle your clear waters with the flood of Spirit-­life; and then the spirit conscious­ness will sleep no more, and man will know, and God will bless.

²⁷When Jesus had thus said he stepped aside. The Grecian mas­ters were astonished at the wisdom of his words; they answered not.

⁷⁶CHAPTER 45.

Jesus teaches the Greek masters. Goes with Apollo to Delphi and hears the Oracle speak. It testifies for him. He abides with Apollo, and is recognized as the Living Oracle of God. Explains to Apollo the phenomenon of oracular speech.

¹For many days the Grecian masters listened to the clear incisive words that Jesus spoke, and while they could not fully compre­hend the things he said, they were delighted and accepted his philos­ophy.

²One day as Jesus and Apollo walked beside the sea, a Delphic courier came in haste and said, Apollo, master, come; the Oracle would speak with you.

³Apollo said to Jesus, Sir, if you would see the Delphic Oracle, and hear it speak, you may accom­pany me. And Jesus did accompany him.

⁴The masters went in haste; and when they came to Delphi, great excitement reigned.

⁵And when Apollo stood before the Oracle it spoke and said:

⁶Apollo, sage of Greece, the bell strikes twelve; the midnight of the ages now has come.

⁷Within the womb of nature ages are conceived; they gestate and are born in glory with the rising sun, and when the agic sun goes down the age disintegrates and dies.

⁸The Delphic age has been an age of glory and renown; the gods have spoken to the sons of men through oracles of wood, and gold, and precious stone.

⁹The Delphic sun has set; the Oracle will go into decline; the time is near when men will hear its voice no more.

¹⁰The gods will speak to man by man. The Living Oracle now stands within these sacred groves; the Logos from on high has come.

¹¹From henceforth will de­crease my wisdom and my power; from henceforth will increase the wisdom and the power of him, Im­manuel.

¹²Let all the masters stay; let every creature hear and honor him, Immanuel.

¹³And then the Oracle spoke not again for forty days, and priests and people were amazed. They came from near and far to hear the Living Oracle speak forth the wis­dom of the gods.

¹⁴And Jesus and the Grecian sage returned; and in Apollo’s home the Living Oracle spoke forth for forty days.

¹⁵One day Apollo said to Jesus as they sat alone, This sacred Del­phic Oracle has spoken many a help­ful word for Greece.

¹⁶Pray tell me what it is that speaks. Is it an angel, man, or liv­ing god?

¹⁷And Jesus said, It is not an­gel, man, nor god that speaks. It is the matchless wisdom of the master minds of Greece, united in a master mind.

¹⁸This giant mind has taken to itself the substances of soul, and thinks, and hears, and speaks.

¹⁹It will remain a living soul while master minds feed it with thought, with wisdom and with faith and hope.

²⁰But when the master minds of Greece shall perish from the land, this giant master mind will cease to be, and then the Delphic Oracle will speak no more.

⁷⁷CHAPTER 46.

A storm on the sea. Jesus rescues many drowning men. The Athe­nians pray to idols. Jesus rebukes their idolatry and tells how God helps. His last meeting with the Greeks. Sails on the vessel Mars.

¹It was a holy day and Jesus walked upon the Athens’ beach.

²A storm was on and ships were being tossed about like toys upon the bosom of the sea.

³The sailors and the fishermen were going down to watery graves; the shores were strewn with bodies of the dead.

⁴And Jesus halted not, but with a mighty power he rescued many a helpless one, oft bringing back to life the seeming dead.

⁵Now, on these shores were altars sacred to the gods supposed to rule the seas.

⁶And men and women, heed­less of the cries of drowning men, were crowding all about these altars, calling on their gods for help.

⁷At length the storm was done, and all the sea was calm, and men could think again; and Jesus said,

⁸You worshippers of wooden gods, how has the fury of this storm been lessened by your frantic pray­ers?

⁹Where is the strength of these poor, weather-beaten gods with painted swords and crowns?

¹⁰A god that could abide in such a little house could hardly hold a frantic fly, and who could hope that he could hold at bay the Lords of winds and waves?

¹¹The mighty powers of worlds unseen do not give forth their help till men have done their best; they only help when man can do no more.

¹²And you have agonized and prayed around these shrines, and let men sink to death who might have been, by your assistance, saved.

¹³The God that saves dwells in your souls, and manifests by mak­ing use of your own feet, and legs, and arms, and hands.

¹⁴Strength never comes through idleness; nor through a waiting for another one to bear your loads, or do the work that you are called to do.

¹⁵But when you do your best to bear your loads, and do your work, you offer unto God a sacrifice well-pleasing in his sight.

¹⁶And then the Holy One breathes deep upon your glowing sacrificial coals, and makes them blaze aloft to fill your souls with light, and strength and helpfulness.

¹⁷The most efficient prayer that men can offer to a god of any kind is helpfulness to those in need of help; for what you do for other men the Holy One will do for you.

¹⁸And thus God helps.

¹⁹His work in Greece was done, and Jesus must go on his way to Egypt in the South. Apollo, with the highest masters of the land and many people from the varied walks of life, stood on the shore to see the Hebrew sage depart; and Jesus said,

²⁰The son of man has been in many lands; has stood in temples of a multitude of foreign gods; has preached the gospel of good will and peace on earth to many people, tribes and tongues;

²¹Has been received with favor in a multitude of homes; but Greece is, of them all, the royal host.

²²The breadth of Grecian thought; the depth of her philoso­phy; the height of her unselfish as­pirations have well fitted her to be the champion of the cause of human liberty and right.

⁷⁸²³The fates of war have subju­gated Greece, because she trusted in the strength of flesh, and bone and intellect, forgetful of the spirit-­life that binds a nation to its source of power,

²⁴But Greece will not forever sit within the darkness of the shad­owland as vassal of a foreign king.

²⁵Lift up your heads, you men of Greece; the time will come when Greece will breathe the ethers of the Holy Breath, and be a main spring of the spirit power of earth.

²⁶But God must be your shield, your buckler, and your tower of strength.

²⁷And then he said, Farewell. Apollo raised his hand in silent benediction, and the people wept.

²⁸Upon the Cretan vessel, Mars, the Hebrew sage sailed from the Grecian port.

CHAPTER 47.

Jesus with Elihu and Salome in Egypt. Tells the story of his jour­neys. Elihu and Salome praise God. Jesus goes to the temple in Heliopolis and is received as a pupil.

¹And Jesus came to Egypt land, and all was well. He tarried not upon the coast; he went at once to Zoan, home of Elihu and Salome, who five and twenty years before had taught his mother in their sa­cred school.

²And there was joy when met these three. When last the son of Mary saw these sacred groves he was a babe;

³And now a man grown strong by buffetings of every kind; a teach­er who had stirred the multitudes in many lands.

⁴And Jesus told the aged teachers all about his life; about his journeyings in foreign lands; about the meetings with the masters and about his kind receptions by the multitudes.

⁵Elihu and Salome heard his story with delight; they lifted up their eyes to heaven and said,

⁶Our Father-God, let now thy servants go in peace, for we have seen the glory of the Lord;

⁷And we have talked with him, the messenger of love, and of the covenant of peace on earth, good will to men.

⁸Through him shall all the na­tions of the earth be blest; through him, Immanuel.

⁹And Jesus staid in Zoan many days; and then went forth unto the city of the sun, that men call Heli­opolis, and sought admission to the temple of the sacred brotherhood.

¹⁰The council of the brother­hood convened, and Jesus stood before the hierophant; he answered all the questions that were asked with clearness and with power.

¹¹The hierophant exclaimed, Rabboni of the rabbinate, why come you here? Your wisdom is the wisdom of the gods; why seek for wisdom in the halls of men?

¹²And Jesus said, In every way of earth-life I would walk; in every hall of learning I would sit; the heights that any man has gained, these I would gain;

¹³What any man has suffered I would meet, that I may know the ⁷⁹griefs, the disappointments and the sore temptations of my brother man; that I may know just how to succor those in need.

¹⁴I pray you, brothers, let me go into your dismal crypts; and I would pass the hardest of your tests.

¹⁵The master said, Take then the vow of secret broth­erhood And Jesus took the vow of secret brotherhood.

¹⁶Again the master spoke; he said, The greatest heights are gained by those who reach the greatest depths; and you shall reach the greatest depths.

¹⁷The guide then led the way and in the fountain Jesus bathed; and when he had been clothed in proper garb he stood again before the hierophant.

CHAPTER 48.

Jesus receives from the hierophant his mystic name and number. Passes the first brotherhood test, and receives his first degree, SIN­CERITY.

¹The master took down from the wall a scroll on which was written down the number and the name of every attribute and charac­ter. He said,

²The circle is the symbol of the perfect man, and seven is the num­ber of the perfect man;

³The Logos is the perfect word; that which creates; that which de­stroys, and that which saves.

⁴This Hebrew master is the Logos of the Holy One, the Circle of the human race, the Seven of time.

⁵And in the record book the scribe wrote down, The Logos-Cir­cle-Seven; and thus was Jesus known.

⁶The master said, The Logos will give heed to what I say: No man can enter into light till he has found himself. Go forth and search till you have found your soul and then return.

⁷The guide led Jesus to a room in which the light was faint and mellow, like the light of early dawn.

⁸The chamber walls were marked with mystic signs, with hieroglyphs and sacred texts; and in this chamber Jesus found him­self alone where he remained for many days.

⁹He read the sacred texts; thought out the meanings of the hieroglyphs and sought the import of the master’s charge to find himself.

¹⁰A revelation came; he got acquainted with his soul; he found himself; then he was not alone.

¹¹One night he slept and at the midnight hour, a door that he had not observed, was opened, and a priest in somber garb came in and said,

¹²My brother, pardon me for coming in at this unseemly hour; but I have come to save your life.

¹³You are the victim of a cruel plot. The priests of Heliopolis are jealous of your fame, and they have said that you shall never leave these gloomy crypts alive.

¹⁴The higher priests do not go forth to teach the world, and you are doomed to temple servitude.

¹⁵Now, if you would be free, you must deceive these priests; must tell them you are here to stay for life;

¹⁶And then, when you have gained all that you wish to gain, I will return, and by a secret way will lead you forth that you may go in peace.

¹⁷And Jesus said, My brother, man, would you come here to teach ⁸⁰deceit? Am I within these holy walls to learn the wiles of vile hy­pocrisy?

¹⁸Nay, man, my Father scorns deceit, and I am here to do his will.

¹⁹Deceive these priests! Not while the sun shall shine. What I have said, that I have said; I will be true to them, to God, and to myself.

²⁰And then the tempter left, and Jesus was again alone; but in a little time a white-robed priest ap­peared and said,

²¹Well done! the Logos has prevailed. This is the trial cham­ber of hypocrisy. And then he led the way, and Jesus stood before the judgment seat.

²²And all the brothers stood; the hierophant came forth and laid his hand on Jesus’ head, and placed within his hands a scroll, on which was written just one word, SIN­CERITY; and not a word was said.

²³The guide again appeared, and led the way, and in a spacious room replete with everything a student craves was Jesus bade to rest and wait.

CHAPTER 49.

Jesus passes the second brotherhood test, and receives the second degree, JUSTICE.

¹The Logos did not care to rest; he said, Why wait in this lux­urious room? I need not rest; my Father’s work upon me presses hard.

²I would go on and learn my lessons all. If there are trials, let them come, for every victory over self gives added strength.

³And then the guide led on, and in a chamber, dark as night, was Jesus placed and left alone; and days were spent in this deep solitude.

⁴And Jesus slept, and in the dead of night a secret door was op­ened, and, in priest’s attire, two men came in; each carried in his hand a little flickering lamp.

⁵Approaching Jesus, one spoke out and said, Young man, our hearts are grieved because of what you suffer in these fearful dens, and we have come as friends to bring you light, and show the way to lib­erty.

⁶We once, like you, were in these dens confined, and thought that through these wierd, uncanny ways we could attain to blessedness and power;

⁷But in a luckful moment we were undeceived, and, making use of all our strength, we broke our chains, and then we learned that all this service is corruption in dis­guise. These priests are criminals just hid away.

⁸They boast in sacrificial rites; they offer to their gods, and burn them while alive, poor birds, and beasts; yea, children, women, men.

⁹And now they keep you here, and, at a certain time, may offer you in sacrifice.

¹⁰We pray you, brother, break your chains; come, go with us; accept of freedom while you may.

¹¹And Jesus said, Your little tapers show the light you bring. Pray, who are you? The words of man are worth no more than is the man himself.

¹²These temple walls are strong and high; how gained you entrance to this place?

¹³The men replied, Beneath these walls are many hidden ways, and we who have been priests, spent months and years within these dens, know all of them.

⁸¹¹⁴Then you are traitors, Jesus said. A traitor is a fiend; he who betrays another man is never man to trust.

¹⁵If one has only reached the plane of treachery, he is a lover of deceit, and will betray a friend to serve his selfish self.

¹⁶Behold, you men, or what­soe’er you be, your words fall lightly on my ears,

¹⁷Could I prejudge these hun­dred priests, turn traitor to myself and them, because of what you say when you confess your treachery?

¹⁸No man can judge for me; and if I judge till testimony all is in I might not judge aright.

¹⁹Nay, men; by whatsoever way you came, return. My soul prefers the darkness of the grave to little flickering lights like these you bring.

²⁰My conscience rules; what these, my brothers, have to say I’ll hear, and when the testimony all is in I will decide. You cannot judge for me, nor I for you,

²¹Begone, you men, begone, and leave me to this charming light; for while the sun shines not, within my soul there is a light surpassing that of sun or moon.

²²Then, with an angry threat that they would do him harm, the wily tempters left, and Jesus was again alone.

²³Again the white-robed priest appeared, and led the way, and Jesus stood again before the hiero­phant;

²⁴And not a word was said, but in his hands the master placed a scroll on which the word sugges­tive, JUSTICE, was inscribed.

²⁵And Jesus was the master of the phantom forms of prejudice and of treachery.

CHAPTER 50.

Jesus passes the third brotherhood test, and receives the third degree, FAITH.

¹The Logos waited seven days, and then was taken to the Hall of Fame, a chamber rich in furnish­ings, and lighted up with gold and silver lamps.

²The colors of its ceilings, deco­rations, furnishings and walls were blue and gold.

³Its shelves were filled with books of master minds; the paint­ings and the statues were the works of highest art.

⁴And Jesus was entranced with all this elegance and these manifests of thought. He read the sacred books, and sought the meanings of the symbols and the hieroglyphs.

⁵And when he was absorbed in deepest thought, a priest approach­ed and said,

⁶Behold the glory of this place! my brother you are highly blest. Few men of earth, so young, have reached such heights of fame.

⁷Now, if you do not waste your life in search for hidden things that men can never comprehend, you may be founder of a school of thought that will insure you endless fame;

⁸For your philosophy is deeper far than that of Plato, and your teachings please the common people more than those of Socrates.

⁹Why seek for mystic light within these antiquated dens? Go forth and walk with men, and think with men, and they will honor you.

¹⁰And, after all, these weird initiations may be myths, and your Messiah hopes but base illusions of the hour.

¹¹I would advise you to re­nounce uncertain things and choose ⁸²the course that leads to certain fame.

¹²And thus the priest, a demon in disguise, sung syren songs of un­belief; and Jesus meditated long and well on what he said.

¹³The conflict was a bitter one, for king Ambition is a sturdy foe to fight.

¹⁴For forty days the higher wrestled with the lower self, and then the fight was won.

¹⁵Faith rose triumphant; un­belief was not. Ambition covered up his face and fled away, and Jesus said,

¹⁶The wealth, the honor, and the fame of earth are but the bau­bles of an hour.

¹⁷When this short span of earthly life has all been measured out, man’s bursting baubles will be buried with his bones.

¹⁸Yea, what a man does for his selfish self will make no mark­ings on the credit side of life.

¹⁹The good that men for other men shall do becomes a ladder strong on which the soul may climb to wealth, and power and fame of God’s own kind, that cannot pass away,

²⁰Give me the poverty of men, the consciousness of duty done in love, the approbation of my God, and I will be content.

²¹And then he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,

²²My Father-God, I thank thee for this hour. I ask not for the glory of thyself; I fain would be a keeper of thy temple gates, and serve my brother man.

²³Again was Jesus called to stand before the hierophant; again no word was said, but in his hands the master placed a scroll on which was written FAITH.

²⁴And Jesus bowed his head in humble thanks; then went his way.

CHAPTER 51.

Jesus passes the fourth brotherhood test, and receives the fourth degree, PHILANTHROPY.

¹When other certain days had passed, the guide led Jesus to the Hall of Mirth, a hall most richly furnished, and replete with every thing a carnal heart could wish.

²The choicest viands and the most delicious wines were on the boards; and maids, in gay attire, served all with grace and cheerful­ness.

³And men and women, richly clad, were there; and they were wild with joy; they sipped from every cup of mirth.

⁴And Jesus watched the happy throng in silence for a time, and then a man in garb of sage came up and said, Most happy is the man who, like the bee, can gather sweets from every flower.

⁵The wise man is the one who seeks for pleasure, and can find it everywhere,

⁶At best man’s span of life on earth is short, and then he dies and goes, he knows not where.

⁷Then let us eat, and drink, and dance, and sing, and get the joys of life, for death comes on apace.

⁸It is but foolishness to spend a life for other men. Behold, all die and lie together in the grave, where none can know and none can show forth gratitude.

⁹But Jesus answered not; upon the tinseled guests in all their rounds of mirth he gazed in silent thought.

¹⁰And then among the guests he saw a man whose clothes were coarse; who showed in face and hands the lines of toil and want.

⁸³¹¹The giddy throng found pleasure in abusing him; they jos­tled him against the wall, and laughed at his discomfiture.

¹²And then a poor, frail wo­man came, who carried in her face and form the marks of sin and shame; and without mercy she was spit upon, and jeered, and driven from the hall.

¹³And then a little child, with timid ways and hungry mien, came in and asked for just a morsel of their food.

¹⁴But she was driven out un­cared for and unloved; and still the merry dance went on.

¹⁵And when the pleasure seek­ers urged that Jesus join them in their mirth, he said,

¹⁶How could I seek for pleas­ure for myself while others are in want? How can you think that while the children cry for bread, while those in haunts of sin call out for sympathy and love that I can fill myself to full with the good things of life?

¹⁷I tell you, nay; we all are kin, each one a part of the great hu­man heart.

¹⁸I cannot see myself apart from that poor man that you so scorned, and crowded to the wall;

¹⁹Nor from the one in female garb who came up from the haunts of vice to ask for sympathy and love, who was by you so ruthlessly pushed back into her den of sin;

²⁰Nor from that little child that you drove from your midst to suffer in the cold, bleak winds of night.

²¹I tell you, men, what you have done to these, my kindred, you have done to me.

²²You have insulted me in your own home; I cannot stay. I will go forth and find that child, that woman and that man, and give them help until my life’s blood all has ebbed away.

²³I call it pleasure when I help the helpless, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and speak good words of cheer to those un­loved, discouraged and depressed.

²⁴And this that you call mirth is but a phantom of the night; but flashes of the fire of passion, paint­ing pictures on the walls of time.

²⁵And while the Logos spoke the white-robed priest came in and said to him, The council waits for you.

²⁶Then Jesus stood again be­fore the bar; again no word was said; the hierophant placed in his hands a scroll, on which was writ, PHILANTHROPY.

²⁷And Jesus was a victor over selfish self.

CHAPTER 52.

Jesus spends forty days in the temple groves. Passes the fifth brother­hood test and receives the fifth de­gree, HEROISM.

¹The sacred temple groves were rich in statues, monuments and shrines; here Jesus loved to walk and meditate.

²And after he had conquered self he talked with nature in these groves for forty days.

³And then the guide took chains and bound him hand and foot; and then cast him into a den of hungry beasts, of unclean birds, and creeping things.

⁴The den was dark as night; the wild beasts howled; the birds in fury screamed; the reptiles hissed.

⁵And Jesus said, Who was it that did bind me thus? Why did I meekly sit to be bound down with chains?

⁸⁴⁶I tell you, none has power to bind a human soul. Of what are fetters made?

⁷And in his might he rose, and what he thought were chains were only worthless cords that parted at his touch.

⁸And then he laughed and said, The chains that bind men to the car­casses of earth are forged in fancy’s shop; are made of air, and welded in illusion’s fires.

⁹If man will stand erect, and use the power of will, his chains will fall, like worthless rags; for will and faith are stronger than the stoutest chains that men have ever made.

¹⁰And Jesus stood erect among the hungry beasts, and birds, and said, What is this darkness that envelops me?

¹¹’Tis but the absence of the light. And what is light? ’Tis but the breath of God vibrating in the rythm of rapid thought.

¹²And then he said, Let there be light; and with a mighty will he stirred the ethers up, and their vi­brations reached the plane of light; and there was light.

¹³The darkness of that den of night became the brightness of a newborn day.

¹⁴And then he looked to see the beasts, and birds, and creeping things; lo, they were not.

¹⁵And Jesus said, Of what are souls afraid? Fear is the chariot in which man rides to death;

¹⁶And when he finds himself within the chamber of the dead, he learns that he has been deceived; his chariot was a myth, and death a fancy child.

¹⁷But some day all man’s les­sons will be learned, and from the den of unclean, beasts and birds, and creeping things he will arise to walk in light.

¹⁸And Jesus saw a ladder made of gold, on which he climbed, and at the top the white-robed priest awaited him.

¹⁹Again he stood before the council bar; again no word was said; again the hierophant reached forth his hand to bless.

²⁰He placed in Jesus’ hand an­other scroll, and on this one was written, HEROISM.

²¹The Logos had encountered fear and all his phantom host, and in the conflict he achieved the vic­tory.

CHAPTER 53.

Jesus passes the sixth brotherhood test and receives the sixth degree, LOVE DIVINE.

¹In all the land there was no place more grandly furnished than the Beauty Parlors of the temple of the sun.

²Few students ever entered these rich rooms; the priests re­garded them with awe, and called them Halls of Mysteries.

³When Jesus had attained the victory over fear, he gained the right to enter here.

⁴The guide led on the way, and after passing many richly furnished rooms they reached the Hall of Harmony; and here was Jesus left alone.

⁵Among the instruments of music was a harpsichord, and Jesus sat in thoughtful mood inspecting it, when, quietly, a maiden of en­trancing beauty came into the hall.

⁶She did not seem to notice Jesus as he sat and mused, so busy with his thoughts.

⁷She found her place beside the harpsichord; she touched the chords most gently, and she sung the songs of Israel.

⁸⁵⁸And Jesus was entranced; such beauty he had never seen; such music he had never heard.

⁹The maiden sung her songs; she did not seem to know that any one was near; she went her way

¹⁰And Jesus, talking with him­self, said out, What is the meaning of this incident? I did not know that such entrancing beauty and such queen-like loveliness were ever found among the sons of men.

¹¹I did not know that voice of angel ever graced a human form, or that seraphic music ever came from human lips.

¹²For days he sat entranced; the current of his thoughts was changed; he thought of nothing but the singer and her songs.

¹³He longed to see her once again; and after certain days she came; she spoke and laid her hand upon his head.

¹⁴Her touch thrilled all his soul, and for the time, forgotten was the work that he was sent to do.

¹⁵Few were the words the maiden said; she went her way; but then the heart of Jesus had been touched.

¹⁶A love-flame had been kin­dled in his soul, and he was brought to face the sorest trial of his life.

¹⁷He could not sleep nor eat. Thoughts of the maiden came; they would not go. His carnal nature called aloud for her companionship.

¹⁸And then he said, Lo, I have conquered every foe that I have met, and shall I now be conquered by this carnal love?

¹⁹My Father sent me here to show the power of love divine, that love that reaches every living thing.

²⁰Shall this pure, universal love be all absorbed by carnal love? Shall I forget all creatures else, and lose my life in this fair maiden, though she is the highest type of beauty, purity and love?

²¹Into its very depths his soul was stirred, and long he wrestled with this angel-idol of his heart.

²²But when the day was almost lost, his higher ego rose in might; he found himself again, and then he said,

²³Although my heart shall break I will not fail in this my hard­est task; I will be victor over carnal love.

²⁴And when again the maiden came, and offered him her hand and heart, he said,

²⁵Fair one, your very presence thrills me with delight; your voice is benediction to my soul; my human self would fly with you, and be con­tented in your love;

²⁶But all the world is craving for a love that I have come to mani­fest.

²⁷I must, then, bid you go; but we will meet again; our ways on earth will not be cast apart.

²⁸I see you in the hurrying throngs of earth as minister of love; I hear your voice in song, that wins the hearts of men to better things.

²⁹And then in sorrow and in tears the maiden went away, and Jesus was again alone.

³⁰And instantly the great bells of the temple rang; the singers sung a new, new song; the grotto blazed with light.

³¹The hierophant himself ap­peared, and said, All hail! tri­umphant Logos, hail! The con­queror of carnal love stands on the heights.

³²And then he placed in Jesus’ hands a scroll on which was written LOVE DIVINE.

³³Together they passed from ⁸⁶the grotto of the beautiful, and in the banquet hall a feast was served, and Jesus was the honored guest.

CHAPTER 54.

Jesus becomes a private pupil of the hierophant and is taught the mys­teries of Egypt. In passing the seventh test, he works in the Cham­ber of the Dead.

¹The senior course of study now was opened up and Jesus en­tered and became a pupil of the hierophant.

²He learned the secrets of the mystic lore of Egypt land; the mys­teries of life and death and of the worlds beyond the circle of the sun.

³When he had finished all the studies of the senior course, he went into the Chamber of the Dead, that he might learn the ancient methods of preserving from decay the bodies of the dead; and here he wrought.

⁴And carriers brought the body of a widow’s only son to be em­balmed; the weeping mother fol­lowed close; her grief was great.

⁵And Jesus said, Good woman, dry your tears; you follow but an empty house; your son is in it not.

⁶You weep because your son is dead. Death is a cruel word; your son can never die.

⁷He had a task assigned to do in garb of flesh; he came; he did his work, and then he laid the flesh aside; he did not need it more.

⁸Beyond your human sight he has another work to do, and he will do it well, and then pass on to other tasks, and, by and by, he will attain the crown of perfect life.

⁹And what your son has done, and what he yet must do, we all must do.

¹⁰Now, if you harbor grief, and give your sorrows vent they will grow greater every day. They will absorb your very life until at last you will be naught but grief, wet down with bitter tears.

¹¹Instead of helping him you grieve your son by your deep grief. He seeks your solace now as he has ever done; is glad when you are glad; is saddened when you grieve.

¹²Go bury deep your woes, and smile at grief, and lose yourself in helping others dry their tears.

¹³With duty done comes happi­ness and joy; and gladness cheers the hearts of those who have passed on.

¹⁴The weeping woman turned, and went her way to find a happi­ness in helpfulness; to bury deep her sorrows in a ministry of joy.

¹⁵Then other carriers came and brought the body of a mother to the Chamber of the Dead; and just one mourner followed; she a girl of tender years.

¹⁶And as the cortege neared the door, the child observed a wounded bird in sore distress; a cruel hun­ter’s dart had pierced its breast.

¹⁷And she left following the dead, and went to help the living bird.

¹⁸With tenderness and love she folded to her breast the wounded bird; then hurried to her place.

¹⁹And Jesus said to her, Why did you leave your dead to save a wounded bird?

²⁰The maiden said, This life­less body needs no help from me; but I can help while yet life is; my mother taught me this.

²¹My mother taught that grief and selfish love, and hopes and fears are but reflexes from the lower self;

²²That what we sense are but small waves upon the rolling bil­lows of a life.

⁸⁷²³These all will pass away; they are unreal.

²⁴Tears flow from hearts of flesh; the spirit never weeps; and I am longing for the day when I will walk in light, where tears are wiped away.

²⁵My mother taught that all emotions are the sprays that rise from human loves, and hopes, and fears; that perfect bliss cannot be ours till we have conquered these.

²⁶And in the presence of that child did Jesus bow his head in rev­erence. He said,

²⁷For days and months and years I’ve sought to learn this high­est truth that man can learn on earth, and here a child, fresh brought to earth, has told it all in one short breath.

²⁸No wonder David said, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

²⁹Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength.

³⁰And then he laid his hand upon the maiden’s head, and said, I’m sure the blessings of my Father-­God will rest upon you, child, for­evermore.

CHAPTER 55.

Jesus passes the seventh brotherhood test, and in the purple room of the temple receives the seventh, the highest degree, THE CHRIST. He leaves the temple a conqueror.

¹The work of Jesus in the Cham­ber of the Dead was done, and in the temple purple room he stood before the hierophant.

²And he was clothed in purple robes; and all the brothers stood. The hierophant arose and said,

³This is a royal day for all the hosts of Israel. In honor of their chosen son we celebrate the great Passover Feast.

⁴And then he said to Jesus, Brother, man, most excellent of men, in all the temple tests you have won out.

⁵Six times before the bar of right you have been judged; six times you have received the highest honors man can give; and now you stand prepared to take the last de­gree.

⁶Upon your brow I place this diadem, and in the Great Lodge of the heavens and earth you are THE CHRIST.

⁷This is your great Passover rite. You are a neophyte no more; but now a master mind.

⁸Now, man can do no more; but God himself will speak, and will confirm your title and degree.

⁹Go on your way, for you must preach the gospel of good will to men and peace on earth; must open up the prison doors and set the cap­tives free.

¹⁰And while the hierophant yet spoke the temple bells rang out; a pure white dove descended from above and sat on Jesus’ head.

¹¹And then a voice that shook the very temple said, THIS IS THE CHRIST; and every living creature said, AMEN.

¹²The great doors of the tem­ple swung ajar; the Logos jour­neyed on his way a conqueror.

CHAPTER 56.

The seven sages of the world meet in Alexandria. The purposes of the meeting. The opening addresses.

¹In every age since time began have seven sages lived.

²At first of every age these sages meet to note the course of nations, peoples, tribes and tongues;

³To note how far toward jus­tice, love and righteousness the race has gone;

⁴To formulate the code of laws, religious postulates and plans of rule best suited to the coming age.

⁵An age had passed, and, lo, another age had come; the sages must convene.

⁶Now, Alexandria was the cen­ter of the world’s best thought, and here in Philo’s home the sages met.

⁷From China came Meng-ste; from India Vidyapati came; from Persia Kaspar came; and from As­syria Ashbina came; from Greece Apollo came; Matheno was the Egyptian sage, and Philo was the chief of Hebrew thought.

⁸The time was due; the coun­cil met and sat in silence seven days.

⁹And then Meng-ste arose and said, The wheel of time has turned once more; the race is on a higher plane of thought.

¹⁰The garments that our fa­thers wove have given out; the cherubim have woven a celestial cloth; have placed it in our hands and we must make for men new garbs.

¹¹The sons of men are looking up for greater light. No longer do they care for gods hewn out of wood, or made of clay. They seek a God not made with hands.

¹²They see the beams of com­ing day, and yet they comprehend them not.

¹³The time is ripe, and we must fashion well these garments for the race.

¹⁴And let us make for men new garbs of justice, mercy, righteous­ness and love, that they may hide their nakedness when shines the light of coming day.

¹⁵And Vidyapati said, Our priests have all gone mad; they saw a demon in the wilds and at him cast their lamps and they are broken up, and not a gleam of light has any priest for men.

¹⁶The night is dark; the heart of India calls for light.

¹⁷The priesthood cannot be reformed; it is already dead; its greatest needs are graves and fu­neral chants.

¹⁸The new age calls for liberty; the kind that makes each man a priest, enables him to go alone, and lay his offerings on the shrine of God.

¹⁹And Kaspar said, In Persia people walk in fear; they do the good for fear to do the wrong.

²⁰The devil is the greatest power in our land, and though a myth, he dandles on his knee both youth and age.

²¹Our land is dark, and evil prospers in the dark.

²²Fear rides on every passing breeze, and lurks in every form of life.

²³The fear of evil is a myth, is an illusion and a snare; but it will ⁸⁹live until some mighty power shall come to raise the ethers to the plane of light.

²⁴When this shall come to pass the magian land will glory in the light. The soul of Persia calls for light.

CHAPTER 57.

Meeting of the sages, continued. Opening addresses. Jesus with the sages. Seven days’ silence.

¹Ashbina said, Assyria is the land of doubt; the chariot of my people, that in which they mostly ride, is labeled Doubt.

²Once Faith walked forth in Babylon; and she was bright and fair; but she was clothed in such white robes that men became afraid of her.

³And every wheel began to turn, and Doubt made war on her, and drove her from the land; and she came back no more.

⁴In form men worship God, the One; in heart they are not sure that God exists.

⁵Faith worships at the shrine of one not seen; but Doubt must see her God.

⁶The greatest need of all Assy­ria is faith—a faith that seasons every thing that is, with certainty.

⁷And then Apollo said, The greatest needs of Greece are true concepts of God.

⁸Theogony in Greece is rudder­less, for every thought may be a god, and worshipped as a god.

⁹The plane of thought is broad, and full of sharp antagonists; and so the circle of the gods is filled with enmity, with wars and base in­trigues.

¹⁰Greece needs a master mind to stand above the gods; to raise the thoughts of men away from many gods to God the One.

¹¹We know that light is com­ing o’er the hills. God speed the light.

¹²Matheno said, Behold this land of mystery! this Egypt of the dead!

¹³Our temples long have been the tombs of all the hidden things of time; our temples, crypts and caves are dark.

¹⁴In light there are no secret things. The sun reveals all hidden truth. There are no mysteries in God.

¹⁵Behold the rising sun! His beams are entering every door; yea, every crevice of the mystic crypts of Mizraim.

¹⁶We hail the light! All Egypt craves the light.

¹⁷And Philo said, The need of Hebrew thought and life is liberty.

¹⁸The Hebrew prophets, seers, and givers of the law, were men of power, men of holy thought, and they bequeathed to us a system of philosophy that was ideal; one strong enough and good enough to lead our people to the goal of per­fectness.

¹⁹But carnal minds repudiated holiness; a priesthood filled with selfishness arose, and purity in heart became a myth; the people were enslaved.

²⁰The priesthood is the curse of Israel; but when he comes, who is to come, he will proclaim emanci­pation for the slaves; my people will be free.

²¹Behold, for God has made incarnate wisdom, love and light, which he has called Immanuel.

²²To him is given the keys to open up the dawn; and here, as man, he walks with us.

²³And then the council cham­ber door was opened and the Logos ⁹⁰stood among the sages of the world.

²⁴Again the sages sat in silence seven days.

CHAPTER 58.

Meeting of the sages, continued. Presentation of the seven universal postulates.

¹Now, when the sages were re­freshed they opened up the Book of Life and read.

²They read the story of the life of man; of all his struggles, losses, gains; and in the light of past events and needs, they saw what would be best for him in com­ing years.

³They knew the kind of laws and precepts suited best to his es­tate; they saw the highest God-ideal that the race could comprehend.

⁴Upon the seven postulates these sages were to formulate, the great philosophy of life and wor­ship of the coming age must rest.

⁵Now Meng-ste was the oldest sage; he took the chair of chief, and said,

⁶Man is not far enough ad­vanced to live by faith; he cannot comprehend the things his eyes see not,

⁷He yet is child, and during all the coming age he must be taught by pictures, symbols, rites, and forms.

⁸His God must be a human God; he cannot see a God by faith.

⁹And then he cannot rule him­self; the king must rule; the man must serve.

¹⁰The age that follows this will be the age of man, the age of faith.

¹¹In that blest age the human race will see without the aid of car­nal eyes; will hear the soundless sound; will know the Spirit-God.

¹²The age we enter is the Pre­paration age, and all the schools, and governments and worship rites must be designed in simple way that men may comprehend.

¹³And man cannot originate; he builds by patterns that he sees; so in this council we must carve out pattern for the coming age.

¹⁴And we must formulate the gnosis of the Empire of the soul, which rests on seven postulates.

¹⁵Each sage in turn shall form a postulate; and these shall be the basis of the creeds of men until the perfect age shall come.

¹⁶Then Meng-ste wrote the first:

¹⁷All things are thought; all life is thought activity. The mul­titude of beings are but phases of the one great thought made mani­fest. Lo, God is Thought, and Thought is God.

¹⁸Then Vidyapati wrote the second postulate:

¹⁹Eternal Thought is one; in essence it is two—Intelligence and Force; and when they breathe a child is born; this child is Love.

²⁰And thus the Triune God stands forth, whom men call Fa­ther-Mother-Child.

²¹This Triune God is one; but like the one of light, in essence he is seven.

²²And when the Triune God breathes forth, lo, seven Spirits stand before his face; these are cre­ative attributes.

²³Men call them lesser gods, and in their image they made man.

²⁴And Kaspar wrote the third:

²⁵Man was a thought of God, formed in the image of the Sep­tonate, clothed in the substances of soul.

²⁶And his desires were strong; he sought to manifest on every plane of life, and for himself he made a ⁹¹body of the ethers of the earthy forms, and so descended to the plane of earth.

²⁷In this descent he lost his birthright; lost his harmony with God, and made discordant all the notes of life.

²⁸Inharmony and evil are the same; so evil is the handiwork of man.

²⁹Ashbina wrote the fourth:

³⁰Seeds do not germinate in light; they do not grow until they find the soil, and hide themselves away from light.

³¹Man was evolved a seed of everlasting life; but in the ethers of the Triune God the light was far too great for seeds to grow;

³²And so man sought the soil of carnal life, and in the darksome­ness of earth he found a place where he could germinate and grow.

³³The seed has taken root and grown full well.

³⁴The tree of human life is ris­ing from the soil of earthy things, and, under natural law, is reaching up to perfect form.

³⁵There are no supernatural acts of God to lift a man from carnal life to spirit blessedness; he grows as grows the plant, and in due time is perfected.

³⁶The quality of soul that makes it possible for man to rise to spirit life is purity.

CHAPTER 59.

Meeting of the sages, continued. The remaining postulates. The sages bless Jesus. Seven days’ silence.

¹Apollo wrote the fifth:

²The soul is drawn to per­fect light by four white steeds, and these are Will, and Faith, and Helpfulness and Love.

³That which one wills to do, he has the power to do.

⁴A knowledge of that power is faith; and when faith moves, the soul begins its flight.

⁵A selfish faith leads not to light. There is no lonely pilgrim on the way to light. Men only gain the heights by helping others gain the heights.

⁶The steed that leads the way to spirit life is Love; is pure unself­ish Love.

⁷Matheno wrote the sixth:

⁸The universal Love of which Apollo speaks is child of Wisdom and of Will divine, and God has sent it forth to earth in flesh that man may know.

⁹The universal Love of which the sages speak, is Christ.

¹⁰The greatest mystery of all times lies in the way that Christ lives in the heart.

¹¹Christ cannot live in clammy dens of carnal things. The seven battles must be fought, the seven victories won before the carnal things, like fear, and self, emotions and desire, are put away.

¹²When this is done the Christ will take possession of the soul; the work is done, and man and God are one.

¹³And Philo wrote the seventh:

¹⁴A perfect man! To bring before the Triune God a being such as this was nature made.

¹⁵This consummation is the highest revelation of the mystery of life.

¹⁶When all the essences of car­nal things have been transmuted into soul, and all the essences of soul have been returned to Holy Breath, and man is made a perfect God, the drama of Creation will conclude. And this is all.

¹⁷And all the sages said, Amen.

⁹²¹⁸Then Meng-ste said, The Holy One has sent to us a man il­lumined by the efforts of unnum­bered years, to lead the thoughts of men.

¹⁹This man, approved by all the master minds of heaven and earth, this man from Galilee, this Jesus, chief of all the sages of the world, we gladly recognize.

²⁰In recognition of this wis­dom that he brings to men, we crown him with the Lotus wreath.

²¹We send him forth with all the blessing of the seven sages of the world.

²²Then all the sages laid their hands on Jesus’ head, and said with one accord, Praise God!

²³For wisdom, honor, glory, power, riches, blessing, strength, are yours, O Christ, forever more.

²⁴And every living creature said, Amen.

²⁵And then the sages sat in silence seven days.

CHAPTER 60.

Jesus addresses the seven sages. The address. Jesus goes to Galilee.

¹The seven days of silence passed and Jesus, sitting with the sages said:

²The history of life is well con­densed in these immortal postulates. These are the seven hills on which the holy city shall be built.

³These are the seven sure foun­dation stones on which the Univer­sal Church shall stand.

⁴In taking up the work as­signed for me to do I am full con­scious of the perils of the way; the cup will be a bitter one to drink and human nature well might shrink.

⁵But I have lost my will in that of Holy Breath, and so I go my way to speak and act as I am moved to speak and act by Holy Breath.

⁶The words I speak are not my own; they are the words of him whose will I do.

⁷Man is not far enough ad­vanced in sacred thought to compre­hend the Universal Church, and so the work that God has given me to do is not the building of that Church.

⁸I am a model maker, sent to make a pattern of the Church that is to be—a pattern that the age may comprehend.

⁹My task as model builder lies within my native land, and there, upon the postulate that Love is son of God, that I am come to manifest that Love, the Model Church will stand.

¹⁰And from the men of low es­tate I will select twelve men, who represent the twelve immortal thoughts; and these will be the Model Church.

¹¹The house of Judah, my own kindred in the flesh, will compre­hend but little of my mission to the world.

¹²And they will spurn me, scorn my work, accuse me falsely, bind me, take me to the judgment seat of carnal men who will convict and slay me on the cross.

¹³But men can never slay the truth; though banished it will come again in greater power; for truth will subjugate the world.

¹⁴The Model Church will live. Though carnal man will prostitute its sacred laws, symbolic rites and forms, for selfish ends, and make it but an outward show, the few will find through it the kingdom of the soul.

¹⁵And when the better age shall come the Universal Church will stand upon the seven postu­lates, and will be built according to the pattern given.

⁹³¹⁶The time has come; I go my way unto Jerusalem, and by the power of living faith, and by the strength that you have given,

¹⁷And in the name of God, our Father-God, the kingdom of the soul shall be established on the seven hills,

¹⁸And all the peoples, tribes and tongues of earth shall enter in.

¹⁹The Prince of Peace will take his seat upon the throne of power; the Triune God will then be All in All.

²⁰And all the sages said, Amen.

²¹And Jesus went his way, and after many days, he reached Jeru­salem; and then he sought his home in Galilee.

CHAPTER 61.

John, the harbinger, returns to He­bron. Lives as a hermit in the wilds. Visits Jerusalem and speaks to the people.

¹It came to pass when John, the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, had finished all his studies in the Egyptian schools that he returned to Hebron, where he abode for cer­tain days.

²And then he sought the wil­derness and made his home in Da­vid’s cave where many years before, he was instructed by the Egyptian sage.

³Some people called him Her­mit of Engedi; and others said, He is the Wild Man of the hills.

⁴He clothed himself with skins of beasts; his food was carobs, honey, nuts and fruits.

⁵When John was thirty years of age he went into Jerusalem, and in the market place he sat in silence seven days.

⁶The common people and the priests, the scribes and Pharisees came out in multitudes to see the silent hermit of the hills; but none were bold enough to ask him who he was.

⁷But when his silent fast was done he stood forth in the midst of all and said,

⁸Behold, the king has come; the prophets told of him; the wise men long have looked for him.

⁹Prepare, O Israel, prepare to meet your king.

¹⁰And that was all he said, and then he disappeared, and no one knew where he had gone.

¹¹And there was great unrest through all Jerusalem. The rulers heard the story of the hermit of the hills,

¹²And they sent couriers forth to talk with him that they might know about the coming king; but they could find him not.

¹³And after certain days he came again into the market place, and all the city came to hear him speak; he said,

¹⁴Be not disturbed, you rulers of the state; the coming king is no antagonist; he seeks no place on any earthly throne.

¹⁵He comes the Prince of Peace, the king of righteousness and love; his kingdom is within the soul.

¹⁶The eyes of men shall see it ⁹⁴not and none can enter but the pure in heart.

¹⁷Prepare, O Israel, prepare to meet your king.

¹⁸Again the hermit disappear­ed; the people strove to follow him, but he had drawn a veil about his form and men could see him not.

¹⁹A Jewish feast day came; Jerusalem was filled with Jews and proselytes from every part of Pales­tine, and John stood in the temple court and said,

²⁰Prepare, O Israel, prepare to meet your king.

²¹Lo, you have lived in sin; the poor cry in your streets, and you regard them not.

²²Your neighbors, who are they? You have defrauded friend and foe alike.

²³You worship God with voice and lip; your hearts are far away, and set on gold.

²⁴Your priests have bound upon the people burdens far too great to bear; they live in ease upon the hard earned wages of the poor.

²⁵Your lawyers, doctors, scribes are useless cumberers of the ground; they are but tumors on the body of the state;

²⁶They toil not neither do they spin, yet they consume the profits of your marts of trade.

²⁷Your rulers are adulterers, extortioners and thieves, regarding not the rights of any man;

²⁸And robbers ply their calling in the sacred halls; the holy temple you have sold to thieves; their dens are in the sacred places set apart for prayer.

²⁹Hear! hear! you people of Jerusalem! Reform; turn from your evil ways or God will turn from you, and heathen from afar will come, and what is left of all your honor and your fame will pass in one short hour.

³⁰Prepare, Jerusalem, prepare to meet your king.

³¹He said no more; he left the court and no one saw him go.

³²The priests, the doctors and the scribes were all in rage. They sought for John intent to do him harm. They found him not.

³³The common people stood in his defense; they said, The hermit speaks the truth.

³⁴And then the priests, the doc­tors and the scribes were sore afraid; they said no more; they hid them­selves away.

CHAPTER 62.

John, the harbinger, again visits Jerusalem. Speaks to the people. Promises to meet them at Gilgal in seven days. Goes to Bethany and attends a feast.

¹Next day John went again into the temple courts and said,

²Prepare, O Israel, prepare to meet your king.

³The chief priests and the scribes would know the meaning of his words; they said,

⁴Bold man, what is the purport of this message that you bring to Israel? If you be seer and prophet, tell us plainly who has sent you here?

⁵And John replied, I am the voice of one who cries out in the wil­derness, Prepare the way, make straight the paths, for, lo, the Prince of Peace will come to rule in love.

⁶Your prophet Malachi wrote down the words of God:

⁷And I will send Elijah unto you before the retribution day shall come, to turn again the hearts of men to God and if they will not ⁹⁵turn, lo, I will smite them with a curse.

⁸You men of Israel; you know your sins. As I passed by I saw a wounded bird prone in your streets, and men of every class were beating it with clubs; and then I saw that Justice was its name.

⁹I looked again and saw that its companion had been killed; the pure white wings of Righteousness were trampled in the dust.

¹⁰I tell you men, your awful­ness of guilt has made a cesspool of iniquity that sends a fearful stench to heaven.

¹¹Reform, O Israel, reform; prepare to meet your king.

¹²And then John turned away and as he went he said,

¹³In seven days, lo, I will stand at Gilgal, by the Jordan ford, where Israel first crossed into the prom­ised land.

¹⁴And then he left the temple court to enter it no more; but many people followed him as far as Beth­any, and there he tarried at the home of Lazarus, his kin.

¹⁵The anxious people gathered all about the home and would not go; then John came forth and said,

¹⁶Reform, O Israel, reform; prepare to meet your king.

¹⁷The sins of Israel do not all lie at the door of priest and scribe. O think you not that all the sinners of Judea are found among the rulers and the men of wealth.

¹⁸It is no sign that man is good and pure because he lives in want.

¹⁹The listless, shiftless vaga­bonds of earth are mostly poor and have to beg for bread.

²⁰I saw the very men that cheered because I told the priests and scribes of their injustice unto man, throw stones and beat poor Justice in the streets.

²¹I saw them trample on the poor dead bird of Righteousness;

²²And you who follow after me, you commoners, are not one whit behind the scribes and priests in crime.

²³Reform, you men of Israel; the king has come; prepare to meet your king.

²⁴With Lazarus and his sisters, John remained for certain days.

²⁵In honor of the Nazarite a feast was spread, and all the people stood about the board.

²⁶And when the chief men of the town poured out the sparkling wine and offered John a cup, he took it, held it high in air, and said,

²⁷Wine makes glad the carnal heart, and it makes sad the human soul; it plunges deep in bitterness and gall the deathless spirit of the man.

²⁸I took the vow of Nazar when a child, and not a drop has ever passed my lips.

²⁹And if you would make glad the coming king, then shun the cup as you would shun a deadly thing.

³⁰And then he threw the sparkling wine out in the street.

CHAPTER 63.

John, the harbinger, visits Jericho. Meets the people at Gilgal. An­nounces his mission. Introduces the rite of baptism. Baptizes many people. Returns to Bethany and teaches. Returns to the Jordan.

¹And John went down to Jericho; there he abode with Alpheus.

²And when the people heard that he was there they came in throngs to hear him speak.

³He spoke to none; but when the time was due he went down to the Jordan ford, and to the multi­tudes he said,

⁹⁶⁴Reform and in the fount of purity wash all your sins away; the kingdom is at hand.

⁵Come unto me and in the wa­ters of this stream be washed, sym­bolic of the inner cleansing of the soul.

⁶And, lo, the multitudes came down and in the Jordan they were washed, and every man confessed his sins.

⁷For many months, in all the regions round about, John plead for purity and righteousness; and after many days he went again to Beth­any; and there he taught.

⁸At first few but the honest seekers came; but, by and by, the selfish and the vicious came with no contrition; came because the many came.

⁹And when John saw the unre­pentant Pharisees and Sadducees come unto him, he said,

¹⁰You children of the vipers, stay; are you disturbed by news of coming wrath?

¹¹Go to, and do the things that prove repentance genuine.

¹²Is it enough for you to say that you are heirs of Abraham? I tell you, no.

¹³The heirs of Abraham are just as wicked in the sight of God when they do wrong as any heathen man.

¹⁴Behold the ax! and every tree that bears not wholesome fruit is cut down at the roots and cast into the fire.

¹⁵And then the people asked, What must we do?

¹⁶And John replied, Accept the ministry of helpfulness for all man­kind; spend not upon your selfish selves all that you have.

¹⁷Let him who has two coats give one to him who has no coat; give part of all the food you have to those in need.

¹⁸And when the publicans came up and asked, What must we do? John answered them,

¹⁹Be honest in your work; do not increase for selfish gain the tribute you collect; take nothing more than what your king demands.

²⁰And when the soldiers came and asked, What must we do? The harbinger replied,

²¹Do violence to none; exact no wrongful thing, and be con­tented with the wages you receive.

²²Among the Jews were many who had been waiting for the Christ to come, and they regarded John as Christ.

²³But to their questions John replied, In water I do cleanse, sym­bolic of the cleansing of the soul; but when he comes who is to come, lo, he will cleanse in Holy Breath and purify in fire.

²⁴His fan is in his hand, and he will separate the wheat and chaff; will throw the chaff away, but gar­ner every grain of wheat. This is the Christ.

²⁵Behold he comes! and he will walk with you, and you will know him not.

²⁶He is the king; the latchet of his shoes I am not worthy to un­loose.

²⁷And John left Bethany and went again unto the Jordan ford.

CHAPTER 64.

Jesus comes from Galilee, and is bap­tized by John. The Holy Breath testifies of his messiahship.

¹The news reached Galilee, and Jesus with the multitude went down to where the harbinger was preaching at the ford.

²When Jesus saw the harbinger ⁹⁷he said, Behold the man of God! Behold the greatest of the seers! Behold, Elijah has returned!

³Behold the messenger whom God has sent to open up the way! The kingdom is at hand.

⁴When John saw Jesus standing with the throng he said, Behold the king who cometh in the name of God!

⁵And Jesus said to John, I would be washed in water as a sym­bol of the cleansing of the soul.

⁶And John replied, You do not need to wash, for you are pure in thought, and word, and deed. And if you need to wash I am not worthy to perform the rite.

⁷And Jesus said, I come to be a pattern for the sons of men, and what I bid them do, that I must do; and all men must be washed, sym­bolic of the cleansing of the soul.

⁸This washing we establish as a rite—baptism rite we call it now, and so it shall be called.

⁹Your work, prophetic har­binger, is to prepare the way, and to reveal the hidden things.

¹⁰The multitudes are ready for the words of life, and I have come to be made known by you to all the world, as prophet of the Triune God, and as the chosen one to man­ifest the Christ to men.

¹¹Then John led Jesus down into the river at the ford and he baptized him in the sacred name of him who sent him forth to manifest the Christ to men.

¹²And as they came out of the stream, the Holy Breath, in form of dove, came down and sat on Jesus’ head.

¹³A voice from heaven said, This is the well-beloved son of God, the Christ, the love of God made manifest.

¹⁴John heard the voice, and understood the message of the voice.

¹⁵Now Jesus went his way, and John preached to the multitude.

¹⁶As many as confessed their sins, and turned from evil ways to ways of right, the harbinger bap­tized, symbolic of the blotting out of sins by righteousness.

CHAPTER 65.

Jesus goes to the wilderness for self-­examination, where he remains forty days. Is subjected to three temptations. He overcomes. Re­turns to the camps of John and be­gins teaching.

¹The harbinger had paved the way; the Logos had been in­troduced to men as love made manifest, and he must now begin his Christine ministry.

²And he went forth into the wilderness to be alone with God that he might look into his inner heart, and note its strength and worthiness.

³And with himself he talked; he said, My lower self is strong; by many ties I am bound down to car­nal life.

⁴Have I the strength to over­come and give my life a willing sac­rifice for men?

⁵When I shall stand before the face of men, and they demand a ⁹⁸proof of my messiahship, what will I say?

⁶And then the tempter came and said, If you be son of God, command these stones to turn to bread.

⁷And Jesus said, Who is it that demands a test? It is no sign that one is son of God because he does a miracle; the devils can do mighty things.

⁸Did not the black magicians do great things before the Phar­aohs?

⁹My words and deeds in all the walks of life shall be the proof of my messiahship.

¹⁰And then the tempter said, If you will go into Jerusalem, and from the temple pinnacle cast down yourself to earth, the people will be­lieve that you are the Messiah sent from God.

¹¹This you can surely do; for did not David say, He gives his an­gels charge concerning you, and with their hands will they uphold lest you should fall?

¹²And Jesus said, I may not tempt the Lord, my God.

¹³And then the tempter said, Look forth upon the world; behold its honors and its fame! Behold its pleasures and its wealth!

¹⁴If you will give your life for these they shall be yours.

¹⁵But Jesus said, Away from me all tempting thoughts. My heart is fixed; I spurn this carnal self with all its vain ambition and its pride.

¹⁶For forty days did Jesus wrestle with his carnal self; his higher self prevailed. He then was hungry, but his friends had found him and they ministered to him.

¹⁷Then Jesus left the wilder­ness, and in the consciousness of Holy Breath, he came unto the camps of John and taught.

CHAPTER 66.

Six of John’s disciples follow Jesus and become his disciples. He teaches them. They sit in the Silence.

¹Among the followers of John were many men from Galilee. The most devout were Andrew, Simon, James, and John, with Philip and his brother of Bethsaida.

²One day as Andrew, Philip and a son of Zebedee, were talking with the harbinger, the Logos came, and John exclaimed, Behold the Christ!

³And then the three disciples followed Jesus, and he asked, What do you seek?

⁴And the disciples asked, Where do you live? And Jesus answered, Come and see.

⁵And Andrew called his brother Simon, saying, Come with me, for I have found the Christ.

⁶When Jesus looked in Simon’s face he said, Behold a rock! and Peter is your name.

⁷And Philip found Nathaniel sitting by a tree, and said, My brother, come with me, for I have found the Christ! In Nazareth he abides.

⁸Nathaniel said, Can anything of good come out of Nazareth? And Philip answered, Come and see.

⁹When Jesus saw Nathaniel come he said, Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile!

¹⁰Nathaniel said, How can you speak about me thus?

¹¹And Jesus said, I saw you as you sat beneath the fig tree over there, before your brother called.

¹²Nathaniel lifted up his hands and said, This surely is the Christ, ⁹⁹the king, for whom the harbinger has often testified.

¹³And John went forth and found his brother James, and brought him to the Christ.

¹⁴The six disciples went with Jesus to the place where he abode.

¹⁵And Peter said, We long have sought for Christ. We came from Galilee to John; we thought that he was Christ, but he confessed to us that he was not;

¹⁶That he was but the harbin­ger sent forth to clear the way, and make the pathway easy for the coming king; and when you came he said, Behold the Christ!

¹⁷And we would gladly follow where you go. Lord, tell us what to do.

¹⁸And Jesus said, The foxes of the earth have homes, the birds have nests; I have no place to lay my head.

¹⁹He who would follow me must give up all the cravings of the self and lose his life in saving life.

²⁰I come to save the lost, and man is saved when he is rescued from himself. But men are slow to comprehend this doctrine of the Christ.

²¹And Peter said, I cannot speak for any other man, but for myself I speak: I will leave all and follow where you lead.

²²And then the others spoke and said, You have the words of truth; you came from God, and if we follow in your footsteps we can­not miss the way.

²³Then Jesus and the six dis­ciples sat a long, long time in silent thought.

CHAPTER 67.

Jesus visits John at the Jordan. De­livers his first Christine address to the people. The address. He goes with his disciples to Bethany.

¹Now, on the morrow Jesus came again and stood with John beside the ford; and John prevailed on him to speak, and standing forth he said,

²You men of Israel, hear! The kingdom is at hand.

³Behold the great key-keeper of the age stands in your midst; and with the spirit of Elijah he has come.

⁴Behold, for he has turned the key; the mighty gates fly wide and all who will may greet the king.

⁵Behold these multitudes of women, children, men! they throng the avenues, they crowd the outer courts; each seems to be intent to be the first to meet the king.

⁶Behold, the censor comes and calls, Whoever will may come; but he who comes must will to prune himself of every evil thought;

⁷Must overcome desire to grat­ify the lower self; must give his life to save the lost.

⁸The nearer to the kingdom gate you come, more spacious is the room; the multitudes have gone.

⁹If men could come unto the kingdom with their carnal thoughts, their passions and desires, there scarcely would be room for all.

¹⁰But when they cannot take these through the narrow gate they turn away; the few are ready to go in and see the king.

¹¹Behold, John is a mighty fisher, fishing for the souls of men. He throws his great net out into the sea of human life; he draws it in and it is full.

¹²But what a medley catch! a catch of crabs, and lobsters, sharks and creeping things, with now and then a fish of better kind.

¹³Behold, the thousands come ¹⁰⁰to hear the Wild Man of the hills; they come in crowds that he may wash them in the crystal flood, and with their lips they do confess their sins.

¹⁴But when the morrow comes we find them in their haunts of vice again, reviling John, and cursing God, and heaping insults on the king.

¹⁵But blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see the king.

¹⁶And blessed are the strong in heart, for they shall not be cast about by every wind that blows;

¹⁷But while the fickle and the thoughtless have gone back to Egypt land for leeks and carnal herbs to satisfy their appetites, the pure in heart have found the king.

¹⁸But even those whose faith is weak, and who are naught but carnal manifests, will some day come again, and enter in with joy to see the king.

¹⁹O men of Israel, take heed to what this prophet has to say! Be strong in mind; be pure in heart; be vigilant in helpfulness; the king­dom is at hand.

²⁰When Jesus had thus said he went his way, and with his six disciples came to Bethany; and they abode with Lazarus many days.

CHAPTER 68.

Jesus speaks to the people in Bethany. Tells them how to become pure in heart. Goes to Jerusalem and in the temple reads from a prophetic book. Goes to Nazareth.

¹The news soon spread abroad that Jesus, king of Israel, had come to Bethany, and all the people of the town came forth to greet the king.

²And Jesus, standing in the midst of them, exclaimed, Behold, indeed, the king has come, but Jesus is not king.

³The kingdom truly is at hand; but men can see it not with carnal eyes; they cannot see the king upon the throne.

⁴This is the kingdom of the soul; its throne is not an earthly throne; its king is not a man.

⁵When human kings found kingdoms here, they conquer other kings by force of arms; one kingdom rises on the ruins of another one.

⁶But when our Father-God sets up the kingdom of the soul, he pours his blessings forth, like rain, upon the thrones of earthly kings who rule in righteousness.

⁷It is not rule that God would overthrow; his sword is raised against injustice, wantonness and crime.

⁸Now, while the kings of Rome do justice, and love mercy and walk humbly with their God, the bene­diction of the Triune God will rest upon them all.

⁹They need not fear a messen­ger whom God sends forth to earth.

¹⁰I am not sent to sit upon a throne to rule as Cæsar rules; and you may tell the ruler of the Jews that I am not a claimant for his throne.

¹¹Men call me Christ, and God has recognized the name; but Christ is not a man. The Christ is univer­sal love, and Love is king.

¹²This Jesus is but man who has been fitted by temptations over­come, by trials multiform, to be the temple through which Christ can manifest to men.

¹³Then hear, you men of Israel, hear! Look not upon the flesh; it is not king. Look to the Christ within, who shall be formed in every one of you, as he is formed in me.

¹⁰¹¹⁴When you have purified your hearts by faith, the king will enter in, and you will see his face.

¹⁵And then the people asked, What must we do that we may make our bodies fit abiding places for the king?

¹⁶And Jesus said, Whatever tends to purity in thought, and word, and deed will cleanse the temple of the flesh.

¹⁷There are no rules that can apply to all, for men are specialists in sin; each has his own besetting sin,

¹⁸And each must study for himself how he can best transmute his tendency to evil things to that of righteousness and love.

¹⁹Until men reach the higher plane, and get away from selfishness, this rule will give the best results:

²⁰Do unto other men what you would have them do to you.

²¹And many of the people said, We know that Jesus is the Christ, the king who was to come, and blessed be his name.

²²Now, Jesus and his six dis­ciples turned their faces toward Jerusalem, and many people fol­lowed them.

²³But Mathew, son of Alpheus, ran on before, and when he reached Jerusalem, he said, Behold the Christines come! The multitudes came forth to see the king.

²⁴But Jesus did not speak to any one until he reached the temple court, and then he opened up a book and read:

²⁵Behold, I send my messenger, and he will pave the way, and Christ, for whom you wait, will come unto his temple unannounced. Behold, for he will come, says God, the Lord of hosts.

²⁶And then he closed the book; he said no more; he left the temple halls, and with his six disciples, went his way to Nazareth,

²⁷And they abode with Mary, Jesus’ mother, and her sister, Mir­iam.

CHAPTER 69.

Jesus and the ruler of the synagogue of Nazareth. Jesus teaches not in public, and the people are amazed.

¹Next day as Peter walked about in Nazareth, he met the ruler of the synagogue who asked, Who is this Jesus lately come to Nazareth?

²And Peter said, This Jesus is the Christ of whom our prophets wrote; he is the king of Israel. His mother, Mary, lives on Marmion Way.

³The ruler said, Tell him to come up to the synagogue, for I would hear his plea.

⁴And Peter ran and told to Jesus what the ruler said; but Jesus answered not; he went not to the synagogue.

⁵Then in the evening time the ruler came up Marmion Way, and in the home of Mary found he Jesus and his mother all alone.

⁶And when the ruler asked for proof of his messiahship, and why he went not to the synagogue when he was bidden, Jesus said,

⁷I am not slave to any man; I am not called unto this ministry by priest. It is not mine to answer when men call. I come the Christ of God; I answer unto God alone.

⁸Who gave you right to ask for proof of my messiahship? My proof lies in my words and works, and so if you will follow me you will not lack for proof.

⁹And then the ruler went his way; he asked himself, What man­¹⁰²ner of a man is this to disregard the ruler of the synagogue?

¹⁰The people of the town came out in throngs to see the Christ, and hear him speak; but Jesus said,

¹¹A prophet has no honor in his native town, among his kin.

¹²I will not speak in Nazareth until the words I speak, and works I do in other towns have won the faith of men,

¹³Until men know that God has christed me to manifest eternal love.

¹⁴Good will to you, my kin; I bless you with a boundless love, and I bespeak for you abundant joy and happiness.

¹⁵He said no more, and all the people marveled much because he would not speak in Nazareth.

CHAPTER 70.

Jesus and his disciples at a marriage feast in Cana. Jesus speaks on marriage. He turns water into wine. The people are amazed.

¹In Cana, Galilee, there was a mar­riage feast, and Mary and her sister Miriam, and Jesus and his six disciples were among the guests.

²The ruler of the feast had heard that Jesus was a master sent from God, and he requested him to speak.

³And Jesus said, There is no tie more sacred than the marriage tie.

⁴The chain that binds two souls in love is made in heaven, and man can never sever it in twain,

⁵The lower passions of the twain may cause a union of the twain, a union as when oil and water meet.

⁶And then a priest may forge a chain, and bind the twain. This is not marriage genuine; it is a counterfeit.

⁷The twain are guilty of adul­tery; the priest is party to the crime. And that was all that Jesus said.

⁸As Jesus stood apart in silent thought his mother came and said to him, The wine has failed; what shall we do?

⁹And Jesus said, Pray what is wine? It is but water with the flavoring of grapes.

¹⁰And what are grapes? They are but certain kinds of thought made manifest, and I can manifest that thought, and water will be wine.

¹¹He called the servants, and he said to them, Bring in six water pots of stone, a pot for each of these, my followers, and fill them up with water to the brims,

¹²The servants brought the water pots, and filled them to their brims.

¹³And Jesus with a mighty thought stirred up the ethers till they reached the manifest, and, lo, the water blushed, and turned to wine.

¹⁴The servants took the wine and gave it to the ruler of the feast who called the bridegroom in and said to him,

¹⁵This wine is best of all; most people when they give a feast bring in the best wine at the first; but, lo, you have reserved the best until the last.

¹⁶And when the ruler and the guests were told that Jesus, by the power of thought, had turned the water into wine, they were amazed;

¹⁷They said, This man is more than man; he surely is the christed one who prophets of the olden times declared would come.

¹⁸And many of the guests be­lieved on him, and gladly would have followed him.

¹⁰³CHAPTER 71.

Jesus, his six disciples and his mother, go to Capernaum. Jesus teaches the people, revealing the difference between the kings of earth and the kings of heaven.

¹The city of Capernaum was by the sea of Galilee, and Peter’s home was there. The homes of Andrew, John and James were near,

²These men were fishermen, and must return to tend their nets, and they prevailed on Jesus and his mother to accompany them, and soon with Philip and Nathaniel they were resting by the sea in Peter’s home.

³The news spread through the city and along the shore that Ju­dah’s king had come, and multi­tudes drew near to press his hand.

⁴And Jesus said, I cannot show the king, unless you see with eyes of soul, because the kingdom of the king is in the soul.

⁵And every soul a kingdom is. There is a king for every man.

⁶This king is love, and when this love becomes the greatest power in life, it is the Christ; so Christ is king.

⁷And every one may have this Christ dwell in his soul, as Christ dwells in my soul.

⁸The body is the temple of the king, and men may call a holy man a king.

⁹He who will cleanse his mortal form and make it pure, so pure that love and righteousness may dwell unsullied side by side within its walls, is king.

¹⁰The kings of earth are clothed in royal robes, and sit in state that men may stand in awe of them.

¹¹A king of heaven may wear a fisher’s garb; may sit in mart of trade; may till the soil, or be a gleaner in the field; may be a slave in mortal chains;

¹²May be adjudged a criminal by men; may languish in a prison cell; may die upon a cross.

¹³Men seldom see what others truly are. The human senses sense what seems to be, and that which seems to be and that which is, may be diverse in every way.

¹⁴The carnal man beholds the outer man, which is the temple of the king, and worships at his shrine.

¹⁵The man of God is pure in heart; he sees the king; he sees with eyes of soul;

¹⁶And when he rises to the plane of Christine consciousness, he knows that he himself is king, is love, is Christ, and so is son of God.

¹⁷You men of Galilee, prepare to meet your king.

¹⁸And Jesus taught the people many lessons as he walked with them beside the sea.

CHAPTER 72.

Jesus in Jerusalem. Drives the mer­chants out of the temple. The priests resent, and he defends him­self from the standpoint of a loyal Jew. He speaks to the people.

¹The Jewish paschal feast time came and Jesus left his mother in Capernaum and journeyed to Jerusalem.

²And he abode with one a Sad­ducee, whose name was Jude.

³And when he reached the tem­ple courts the multitudes were there to see the prophet whom the people thought had come to break the yoke of Rome, restore the kingdom of the Jews, and rule on David’s throne.

⁴And when the people saw him come they said, All hail! behold the king!

⁵But Jesus answered not; he saw the money changers in the house of God, and he was grieved.

⁶The courts had been con­verted into marts of trade, and men were selling lambs and doves for offerings in sacrifice.

⁷And Jesus called the priests and said, Behold, for paltry gain you have sold out the temple of the Lord.

⁸This house ordained for prayer is now a den of thieves. Can good and evil dwell together in the courts of God? I tell you, no.

⁹And then he made a scourge of cords and drove the merchants out; he overturned their boards, and threw their money on the floor.

¹⁰He opened up the cages of the captive birds, and cut the cords that bound the lambs, and set them free.

¹¹The priests and scribes rushed out, and would have done him harm, but they were driven back; the common people stood in his defense.

¹²And then the rulers said, Who is this Jesus you call king?

¹³The people said, He is the Christ of whom our prophets wrote; he is the king who will deliver Israel.

¹⁴The rulers said to Jesus, Man, if you be king, or Christ, then show us signs. Who gave you right to drive these merchants out?

¹⁵And Jesus said, There is no loyal Jew who would not give his life to save this temple from dis­grace; in this I acted simply as a loyal Jew, and you yourselves will bear me witness to this truth.

¹⁶The signs of my messiahship will follow me in words and deeds.

¹⁷And you may tear the tem­ple down (and you will tear it down) and in three days it will be built again more glorious than before.

¹⁸Now Jesus meant that they might take his life; tear down his body, temple of the Holy Breath, and he would rise again.

¹⁹The Jews knew not the mean­ing of his words; they laughed his claims to scorn. They said,

²⁰A multitude of men were forty and six years in building up this house, and this young stranger claims that he will build it up in three score hours; his words are idle, and his claims are naught.

²¹And then they took the scourge with which he drove the ¹⁰⁵merchants out, and would have driven him away; but Philo, who had come from Egypt to attend the feast, stood forth and said,

²²You men of Israel, hear! This man is more than man; take heed to what you do. I have, my­self, heard Jesus speak, and all the winds were still.

²³And I have seen him touch the sick, and they were healed. He stands a sage above the sages of the world;

²⁴And you will see his star arise, and it will grow until it is the full-orbed Sun of Righteousness.

²⁵Do not be hasty, men; just wait and you will have the proofs of his messiahship.

²⁶And then the priests laid down the scourge, and Jesus said,

²⁷Prepare, O Israel, prepare to meet your king! But you can never see the king while you press sin as such a precious idol to your hearts.

²⁸The king is God; the pure in heart alone can see the face of God and live.

²⁹And then the priests cried out, This fellow claims to be the God. Is not this sacrilege! away with him!

³⁰But Jesus said, No man has ever heard me say, I am a king. Our Father-God is king. With ev­ery loyal Jew I worship God.

³¹I am the candle of the Lord aflame to light the way; and while you have the light walk in the light.

CHAPTER 73.

Jesus again visits the temple, and is favorably received by the people Tells the parable of a king and his sons. Defines messiahship.

¹Next day the multitudes were surging through the temple courts, intent on hearing Jesus speak.

²And when he came the people said, All hail! behold the king!

³And Jesus spoke a parable; he said, A king had vast domains; his people all were kin, and lived in peace.

⁴Now, after many years the king said to his people, Take these lands and all I have; enhance their values; rule yourselves, and live in peace.

⁵And then the people formed their states; selected governors and petty kings.

⁶But pride, ambition, selfish greed, and base ingratitude grew fast, and kings began to war.

⁷They wrote in all their stat­ute books that might is right; and then the strong destroyed the weak, and chaos reigned through all the vast domain.

⁸A long time passed, and then the king looked out on his domain. He saw his people in their cruel wars; he saw them sick and sore dis­tressed; he saw the strong enslave the weak,

⁹And then he said, What shall I do? Shall I send forth a scourge? shall I destroy my people all?

¹⁰And then his heart was stirred with pity and he said, I will not send a scourge; I will send forth my only son, heir to the throne, to teach the people love, and peace, and righteousness.

¹¹He sent his son; the people scorned him and maltreated him, and nailed him to a cross.

¹²He was entombed; but death was far too weak to hold the prince, and he arose.

¹³He took a form man could not kill; and then he went again to teach the people love, and peace and righteousness.

¹⁰⁶¹⁴And thus God deals with men.

¹⁵A lawyer came and asked, What does messiah mean? and who has right to make messiah of a man?

¹⁶And Jesus said, Messiah is one sent from God to seek and save the lost. Messiahs are not made by men.

¹⁷In first of every age Messiah comes to light the way; to heal up broken hearts; to set the prisoners free. Messiah and the Christ are one.

¹⁸Because a man claims to be Christ is not a sign that he is Christ

¹⁹A man may cause the streams to flow from flinty rocks; may bring on storms at will; may stay tempestuous winds; may heal the sick and raise the dead, and not be sent from God.

²⁰All nature is subservient to the will of man, and evil men, as well as good, have all the powers of mind, and may control the elements.

²¹The head gives not the proof of true messiahship, for man by means of intellect, can never know of God, nor bring himself to walk in light.

²²Messiah lives not in the head, but in the heart, the seat of mercy and of love.

²³Messiah never works for self­ish gains; he stands above the car­nal self; his words and deeds are for the universal good.

²⁴Messiah never tries to be a king, to wear a crown and sit upon an earthly throne.

²⁵The king is earthy, of the earth; Messiah is the man from heaven.

²⁶And then the lawyer asked, Why do you pose as king?

²⁷And Jesus said, No man has ever heard me say that I am king. I could not sit in Cæsar’s place and be the Christ.

²⁸Give unto Cæsar what be­longs to him; give unto God the treasures of your heart.

CHAPTER 74.

Jesus heals on the Sabbath, and is censured by the Pharisees. Re­stores a drowned child. Rescues a wounded dog. Cares for a home­less child. Speaks on the law of kindness.

¹It was the Sabbath day, and Jesus stood among the surging masses of the people in the temple courts and sacred halls.

²The blind, the deaf, the dumb, and those obsessed were there, and Jesus spoke the Word, and they were healed.

³On some he laid his hands, and they were healed; to others he just spoke the Word, and they were full restored to health; but others had to go and wash in certain pools; and others he anointed with a holy oil.

⁴A doctor asked him why he healed in divers ways, and he re­plied,

⁵Disease is discord in the hu­man form, and discords are pro­duced in many ways.

⁶The body is a harpsichord; sometimes the strings are too re­laxed, and then inharmony results.

⁷Sometimes we find the strings too tense, and then another form of discord is induced.

⁸Disease is many-formed, and there are many ways to cure, to tune anew the mystic harpsichord.

⁹Now when the Pharisees were told that Jesus healed the people on the Sabbath day they were enraged, and they commanded him to quit the place.

¹⁰But Jesus said, Was man de­¹⁰⁷signed to fit the Sabbath day, or was the Sabbath day designed to fit the man?

¹¹If you had fallen in a pit and, lo, the Sabbath day had come, and I should pass your way, would you cry out,

¹²Let me alone; it is a sin to help me on the Sabbath day; I’ll swelter in this filth until another day?

¹³You Pharisees, you hypo­crites! you know you would be glad to have my help upon the Sabbath day, or any other day.

¹⁴These people all have fallen into pits, and they are calling loud for me to help them out, and man and God would curse me should I pass along and heed them not.

¹⁵And then the Pharisees re­turned to say their prayers, and curse the man of God because he heeded not their words.

¹⁶Now, in the evening Jesus stood beside a pool; a playful child had fallen in, and it was drowned, and friends were bearing it away.

¹⁷But Jesus called the carriers to stop; and then he stretched him­self upon the lifeless form, and breathed into its mouth the breath of life.

¹⁸And then he called aloud unto the soul that had gone out, and it returned; the child revived and lived.

¹⁹And Jesus saw a wounded dog; it could not move; it lay be­side the way and groaned with pain. He took it in his arms and bore it to the home where he abode.

²⁰He poured the healing oil into the wounds; he cared for it as though it were a child till it was strong and well.

²¹And Jesus saw a little boy who had no home, and he was hun­gry; when he called for bread the people turned away.

²²And Jesus took the child and gave him bread; he wrapped him in his own warm coat, and found for him a home.

²³To those who followed him the master said, If man would gain again his lost estate he must respect the brotherhood of life.

²⁴Whoever is not kind to every form of life—to man, to beast, to bird, and creeping thing—cannot expect the blessings of the Holy One; for as we give, so God will give to us.

CHAPTER 75.

Nicodemus visits Jesus in the night. Jesus reveals to him the meaning of the new birth and the kingdom of heaven.

¹Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews, and he was earnest, learned and devout.

²He saw the master’s signet in the face of Jesus as he talked, but was not brave enough to publicly confess his faith in him;

³So in the night he went to talk with Jesus at the home of Jude.

⁴When Jesus saw him come he said, Full blessed are the pure in heart;

⁵Twice blessed are the fearless, pure in heart;

⁶Thrice blessed are the fearless, pure in heart who dare to make con­fession of their faith before the high­est courts.

⁷And Nicodemus said, Hail, master, hail! I know you are a teacher come from God, for man alone could never teach as you have taught; could never do the works that you have done.

⁸And Jesus said, Except a man be born again he cannot see the ¹⁰⁸king; he cannot comprehend the words I speak.

⁹And Nicodemus said, How can a man be born again? Can he go back into the womb and come again to life?

¹⁰And Jesus said, The birth of which I speak is not the birth of flesh.

¹¹Except a man be born of water and the Holy Breath, he can­not come into the kingdom of the Holy One.

¹²That which is born of flesh is child of man; that which is born of Holy Breath is child of God.

¹³The winds blow where they please; men hear their voices, and may note results; but they know not from whence they come, nor where they go; and so is every one that is born of Holy Breath.

¹⁴The ruler said, I do not un­derstand; pray tell me plainly what you mean.

¹⁵And Jesus said, The king­dom of the Holy One is in the soul; men cannot see it with their carnal eyes; with all their reasoning pow­ers they comprehend it not.

¹⁶It is a life deep hid in God; its recognition is the work of inner consciousness.

¹⁷The kingdoms of the world are kingdoms of the sight; the king­dom of the Holy One is that of faith; its king is love.

¹⁸Men cannot see the love of God unmanifest, and so our Father-­God has clothed this love with flesh—flesh of a son of man.

¹⁹And that the world may see and know this love made manifest, the son of man must needs be lifted up.

²⁰As Moses in the wilderness raised up the serpent for the healing of the flesh, the son of man must be raised up.

²¹That all men bitten by the serpent of the dust, the serpent of this carnal life, may live.

²²He who believes in him shall have eternal life.

²³For God so loved the world that he sent forth his only son to be raised up that men may see the love of God.

²⁴God did not send his son to judge the world; he sent him forth to save the world; to bring men to the light.

²⁵But men love not the light, for light reveals their wickedness; men love the dark.

²⁶Now, every one who loves the truth comes to the light; he does not fear to have his works made manifest.

²⁷The light had come, and Nic­odemus went his way; he knew the meaning of the birth of Holy Breath; he felt the presence of the Spirit in his soul.

²⁸And Jesus tarried in Jeru­salem for many days and taught and healed the sick.

²⁹The common people gladly listened to his words, and many left their all of carnal things and fol­lowed him.

CHAPTER 76.

Jesus in Bethlehem. Explains the Empire of Peace to the shepherds. An unusual light appears. The shepherds recognize Jesus as the Christ.

¹The Logos went to Bethlehem, and many people followed him.

²He found the shepherd’s home where he was cradled when a babe; here he abode.

³He went up to the hills where more than thirty years before the shepherds watch their flocks and ¹⁰⁹heard the messenger of peace ex­claim:

⁴At midnight in a cave in Bethlehem the Prince of Peace is born.

⁵And shepherds still were there, and sheep still fed upon the hills.

⁶And in the valley near great flocks of snow-white doves were flying to and fro.

⁷And when the shepherds knew that Jesus, whom the people called the king, had come, they came from near and far to speak to him.

⁸And Jesus said to them, Be­hold the life of innocence and peace!

⁹White is the symbol of the vir­tuous and pure! the lamb of inno­cence; the dove of peace;

¹⁰And it was meet that love should come in human form amid such scenes as these.

¹¹Our father Abraham walked through these vales, and on these very hills he watched his flocks and herds.

¹²And here it was that one, the Prince of Peace, the king of Salim, came; the Christ in human form; a greater far than Abraham was he.

¹³And here it was that Abra­ham gave to this king of Salim, tithes of all he had.

¹⁴This Prince of Peace went forth in battle everywhere. He had no sword; no armor of defence; no weapons of offence;

¹⁵And yet he conquered men, and nations trembled at his feet.

¹⁶The hosts of Egypt quailed before this sturdy king of right; the kings of Egypt placed their crowns upon his head,

¹⁷And gave into his hands the scepter of all Egypt land, and not a drop of blood was shed, and not a captive placed in chains;

¹⁸But everywhere the con­queror threw wide the prison doors and set the captives free.

¹⁹And, once again, the Prince of Peace has come, and from these blessed hills he goes again to fight.

²⁰And he is clothed in white; his sword is truth; his shield is faith; his helmet innocence; his breath is love; his watchword peace.

²¹But this is not a carnal war; it is not man at war with man; but it is right against the wrong.

²²And love is captain, love is warrior, love is armor, love is all, and love shall win.

²³And then again the hills of Bethlehem were clothed with light; again the messenger exclaimed,

²⁴Peace, peace on earth, good will to men.

²⁵And Jesus taught the peo­ple; healed the sick; revealed the mysteries of the kingdom of the Holy One.

²⁶And many said, He is the Christ; the king who was to come has come; Praise God.

CHAPTER 77.

Jesus in Hebron. Goes to Bethany. Advises Ruth regarding certain family troubles.

¹With three disciples Jesus went to Hebron where he tarried seven days and taught.

²And then he went to Bethany and in the home of Lazarus he taught.

³The evening came; the multi­tudes were gone, and Jesus, Laza­rus, and his sisters, Martha, Ruth and Mary, were alone.

⁴And Ruth was sore distressed. Her home was down in Jericho; her husband was the keeper of an inn; his name was Asher-ben.

⁵Now, Asher was a Pharisee of ¹¹⁰strictest mien and thought, and he regarded Jesus with disdain.

⁶And when his wife confessed her faith in Christ, he drove her from his home.

⁷But Ruth resisted not; she said, If Jesus is the Christ he knows the way, and I am sure he is the Christ,

⁸My husband may become en­raged and slay my human form; he cannot kill the soul, and in the many mansions of my Fatherland I have a dwelling-place.

⁹And Ruth told Jesus all; and then she said, What shall I do?

¹⁰And Jesus said, Your hus­band is not willingly at fault; he is devout; he prays to God, our Fa­ther-God.

¹¹His zeal for his religion is in­tense; in this he is sincere; but it has driven him insane, and he believes it right to keep his home unsullied by the heresy of Christ.

¹²He feels assured that he has done the will of God in driving you away.

¹³Intolerance is ignorance ma­tured.

¹⁴The light will come to him some day, and then he will repay for all your heartaches, griefs and tears.

¹⁵And Ruth, you must not think that you are free from blame.

¹⁶If you had walked in wis­dom’s ways, and been content to hold your peace, this grief would not have come to you.

¹⁷It takes a long, long time for light to break into the shell of prej­udice, and patience is the lesson you have need to learn.

¹⁸The constant dropping of the water wears away the hardest stone.

¹⁹The sweet and holy incense of a godly life will melt intolerance much quicker than the hottest flame, or hardest blow.

²⁰Just wait a little time, and then go home with sympathy and love. Talk not of Christ, nor of the kingdom of the Holy One.

²¹Just live a godly life; refrain from harshness in your speech, and you will lead your husband to the light.

²²And it was so.

CHAPTER 78.

Jesus in Jericho. Heals a servant of Asher. Goes to the Jordan and speaks to the people. Establishes baptism as a pledge of disciple­ship. Baptizes six disciples, who in turn baptize many people.

¹And Jesus went to Jericho, and at the inn of Asher he abode.

²A servant at the inn was sick, nigh unto death; the healers could not cure.

³And Jesus came and touched the dying girl, and said, Malone, arise! and in a moment pain was gone; the fever ceased; the maid was well.

⁴And then the people brought their sick, and they were healed.

⁵But Jesus did not tarry long in Jericho; he went down to the Jor­dan ford where John was wont to teach.

⁶The multitudes were there and Jesus said to them, Behold, the time has come; the kingdom is at hand.

⁷None but the pure in heart can come into the kingdom of the Holy One; but every son and daugh­ter of the human race is called upon to turn from evil and become the pure in heart.

⁸The resolution to attain and enter through the Christine gate into the kingdom of the Holy One ¹¹¹will constitute discipleship, and ev­ery one must make a public pledge of his discipleship.

⁹John washed your bodies in the stream, symbolic of the cleans­ing of the soul, in preparation for the coming of the king, the opening of the Christine gate into the king­dom of the Holy One.

¹⁰John did a mighty work; but now the Christine gate is opened up, and washing is established as the pledge of your discipleship.

¹¹Until this age shall close this pledge shall be a rite, and shall be called, Baptism rite; and it shall be a sign to men, and seal to God of men’s discipleship.

¹²You men of every nation, hear! Come unto me; the Christine gate is opened up; turn from your sins and be baptized, and you shall enter through the gate and see the king.

¹³The six disciples who had followed Jesus stood a-near, and Jesus led them forth and in the Jor­dan he baptized them in the name of Christ; and then he said to them,

¹⁴My friends, you are the first to enter through the Christine gate into the kingdom of the Holy One.

¹⁵As I baptized you in the name of Christ, so you shall, in that sacred name, baptize all men and women who will confess their faith in Christ, and shall renounce their sins.

¹⁶And, lo, the multitudes came down, renounced their sins, con­fessed their faith in Christ, and were baptized.

CHAPTER 79.

John, the harbinger, at Salim. A lawyer inquires about Jesus. John explains to the multitude the mis­sion of Jesus.

¹Now, John the harbinger, was at the Salim Springs where water was abundant, and there he preached and washed the bodies of the people who confessed their sins.

²A Jewish lawyer went to John and said, Has not this man from Gal­ilee, he whom you washed and called the Christ, become your foe?

³They say that he is at the Jor­dan ford; that he is building up a church, or something else, and that he washes people, just as you have done.

⁴And John replied, This Jesus is indeed the Christ whose way I came to pave. He is not foe of mine.

⁵The bridegroom hath the bride; his friends are near, and when they hear his voice they all rejoice.

⁶The kingdom of the Holy One is bride, and Christ the groom; and I, the harbinger, am full of joy be­cause they prosper so abundantly.

⁷I have performed the work that I was sent to do; the work of Jesus just begins.

⁸Then turning to the multi­tudes he said, Christ is the king of righteousness; Christ is the love of God; yea, he is God; one of the holy persons of the Triune God.

⁹Christ lives in every heart of purity.

¹⁰Now, Jesus who is preaching at the Jordan ford, has been sub­jected to the hardest tests of human life, and he has conquered all the ap­petites and passions of the carnal man.

¹¹And by the highest court of heaven, has been declared a man of such superior purity and holiness that he can demonstrate the pres­ence of the Christ on earth.

¹²Lo, love divine, which is the Christ, abides in him, and he is pat­tern for the race.

¹¹²¹³And every man can see in him what every man will be when he has conquered all the passions of the selfish self.

¹⁴In water I have washed the bodies of the people who have turned from sin, symbolic of the cleansing of the soul;

¹⁵But Jesus bathes forever in the living waters of the Holy Breath.

¹⁶And Jesus comes to bring the savior of the world to men; Love is the savior of the world.

¹⁷And all who put their trust in Christ, and follow Jesus as a pat­tern and a guide, have everlasting life.

¹⁸But they who do not trust the Christ, and will not purify their hearts so that the Christ can dwell within, can never enter life.

CHAPTER 80.

Lamaas comes from India to see Jesus. He listens to the teachings of John at Salim. John tells him of the divine mission of Jesus. Lamaas finds Jesus at the Jordan. The masters recognize each other.

¹Lamaas, priest of Brahm, who was a friend of Jesus when he was in the temple Jagannath, had heard of Jesus and his mighty works in many lands; and he had left his home and come to Palestine in search of him.

²And as he journeyed towards Jerusalem he heard of John, the harbinger, who was esteemed a prophet of the living God.

³Lamaas found the harbinger at Salim Springs; for many days he was a silent listener to the pungent truths he taught.

⁴And he was present when the Pharisee told John of Jesus and his mighty works.

⁵He heard the answer of the harbinger; he heard him bless the name of Jesus, whom he called the Christ.

⁶And then he spoke to John; he said, Pray, tell me more about this Jesus whom you call the Christ.

⁷And John replied, this Jesus is the love of God made manifest.

⁸Lo, men are living on the lower planes—the planes of greed and selfishness; for self they fight; they conquer with the sword.

⁹In every land the strong en­slave and kill the weak. All king­doms rise by force of arms; for force is king.

¹⁰This Jesus comes to over­throw this iron rule of force, and seat Love on the throne of power.

¹¹And Jesus fears no man. He preaches boldly in the courts of kings, and everywhere, that vic­tories won by force of arms are crimes;

¹²That every worthy end may be attained by gentleness and love, just as the Prince of Peace, Melchis­edec, the priest of God, won gallant victories in war without the shed­ding of a drop of blood.

¹³You ask where are the tem­ples of the Christ? He ministers at shrines not made with hands; his temples are the hearts of holy men who are prepared to see the king.

¹⁴The groves of nature are his synagogues; his forum is the world.

¹⁵He has no priests dressed up in puppet style to be admired by men; for every son of man is priest of Love.

¹⁶When man has purified his heart by faith, he needs no middle man to intercede.

¹⁷He is on friendly terms with God; is not afraid of him, and he is able, and is bold enough, to lay his body on the altar of the Lord.

¹¹³¹⁸Thus every man is priest, and is himself a living sacrifice.

¹⁹You need not seek the Christ, for when your heart is purified the Christ will come, and will abide with you forevermore.

²⁰And then Lamaas journeyed on; he came to Jesus as he taught beside the ford.

²¹And Jesus said, Behold the Star of India!

²²Lamaas said, Behold the Sun of Righteousness! And he con­fessed his faith in Christ, and fol­lowed him.

CHAPTER 81.

The Christines journey toward Gali­lee. They tarry for a time at Jacob’s well and Jesus teaches a woman of Samaria.

¹The Christine gate into the kingdom of the Holy One was opened up, and Jesus and the six dis­ciples and Lamaas left the Jordan ford and turned their faces toward Galilee.

²Their way lay through Sama­ria, and as they journeyed on they came to Sychar, which was near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to Joseph when a youth.

³And Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus sat beside the well in silent thought, and his disciples went into the town to purchase bread.

⁴A woman of the town came out to fill her pitcher from the well; and Jesus was athirst, and when he asked the woman for a drink she said,

⁵I am a woman of Samaria, and you a Jew; do you not know that there is enmity between Samar­itans and Jews? They traffic not; then why ask me the favor of a drink?

⁶And Jesus said Samaritans and Jews are all the children of one God, our Father-God, and they are kin.

⁷It is but prejudice born of the carnal mind that breeds this en­mity and hate.

⁸While I was born a Jew I recognize the brotherhood of life. Samaritans are just as dear to me as Jew or Greek.

⁹And then had you but known the blessings that our Father-God has sent to men by me, you would have asked me for a drink,

¹⁰And I would glad have given you a cup of water from the Fount of Life, and you would never thirst again.

¹¹The woman said, This well is deep, and you have naught with which to draw; how could you get the water that you speak about?

¹²And Jesus said, The water that I speak about comes not from Jacob’s well; it flows from springs that never fail.

¹³Lo, every one who drinks from Jacob’s well will thirst again; but they who drink the water that I give will never thirst again;

¹⁴For they themselves become a well, and from their inner parts the sparkling waters bubble up into eternal life.

¹⁵The woman said, Sir, I would drink from that rich well of life. Give me to drink, that I may thirst no more.

¹⁶And Jesus said, Go call your husband from the town that he may share with you this living cup.

¹⁷The woman said, I have no husband, sir.

¹⁸And Jesus answered her and said, You scarcely know what hus­band means; you seem to be a gilded butterfly that flits from flower to flower,

¹¹⁴¹⁹To you there is no sacredness in marriage ties, and you affinitize with any man.

²⁰And you have lived with five of them who were esteemed as hus­bands by your friends.

²¹The woman said, Do I not speak unto a prophet and a seer? Will you not condescend to tell me who you are?

²²And Jesus said, I need not tell you who I am for you have read the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms that tell of me,

²³I am one come to break away the wall that separates the sons of men. In Holy Breath there is no Greek, nor Jew, and no Samaritan; no bond, nor free; for all are one.

²⁴The woman asked, Why do you say that only in Jerusalem men ought to pray, and that they should not worship in our holy mount?

²⁵And Jesus said, What you have said, I do not say. One place is just as sacred as another place.

²⁶The hour has come when men must worship God within the tem­ple of the heart; for God is not with­in Jerusalem, nor in your holy mount in any way that he is not in every heart.

²⁷Our God is Spirit; they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

²⁸The woman said, We know that when Messiah comes that he will lead us in the ways of truth.

²⁹And Jesus said, Behold the Christ has come; Messiah speaks to you.

CHAPTER 82.

While Jesus is teaching, his disci­ples come and marvel because he speaks with a Samaritan. Many people from Sychar come to see Jesus. He speaks to them. With his disciples he goes to Sychar and remains for certain days.

¹While Jesus yet was talking to the woman at the well, the six disciples came from Sychar with the food.

²And when they saw him talk­ing to a woman of Samaria, and one they thought a courtesan, they were amazed; yet no one asked him why he spoke with her.

³The woman was so lost in thought and so intent on what the master said, that she forgot her errand to the well; she left her pitch­er and ran quickly to the town.

⁴She told the people all about the prophet she had met at Jacob’s well; she said, He told me every thing I ever did.

⁵And when the people would know more about the man, the woman said, Come out and see. And multitudes went out to Jacob’s well.

⁶When Jesus saw them come he said to those who followed him, You need not say, It is four months before the harvest time;

⁷Behold, the harvest time is now. Lift up your eyes and look; the fields are golden with the rip­ened grain.

⁸Lo, many sowers have gone forth to sow the seeds of life; the seed has grown; the plants have strengthened in the summer sun; the grain has ripened, and the mas­ter calls for men to reap.

⁹And you shall go out in the fields and reap what other men have sown; but when the reckoning day shall come the sowers and the reapers all together will rejoice.

¹⁰And Philip said to Jesus, Stay now your work a time and sit beneath this olive tree and eat a portion of this food; you must be ¹¹⁵faint for you have eaten naught since early day.

¹¹But Jesus said, I am not faint, for I have food to eat you know not of.

¹²Then the disciples said among themselves, Who could have brought him aught to eat?

¹³They did not know that he had power to turn the very ethers into bread.

¹⁴And Jesus said, The master of the harvest never sends his reap­ers forth and feeds them not.

¹⁵My Father who has sent me forth into the harvest field of human life will never suffer me to want; and when he calls for you to serve, lo, he will give you food, will clothe and shelter you.

¹⁶Then turning to the people of Samaria, he said, Think not it strange that I, a Jew, should speak to you, for I am one with you.

¹⁷The universal Christ who was, and is, and evermore shall be, is manifest in me; but Christ belongs to every man.

¹⁸God scatters forth his bless­ings with a lavish hand, and he is not more kind to one than to an­other one of all the creatures of his hand.

¹⁹I just came up from Judah’s hills, and God’s same sun was shin­ing and his flowers were blooming, and in the night his stars were just as bright as they are here.

²⁰God cannot cast a child away; the Jew, the Greek and the Samar­itan are equal in his sight.

²¹And why should men and women fret and quarrel, like chil­dren in their plays?

²²The lines that separate the sons of men are made of straw, and just a single breath of love would blow them all away.

²³The people were amazed at what the stranger said, and many said, The Christ that was to come has surely come.

²⁴And Jesus went with them into the town, and tarried certain days.

CHAPTER 83.

Jesus teaches the people of Sychar. Casts a wicked spirit out of one obsessed. Sends the spirit to its own place. Heals many people. The priests are disturbed by the presence of Jesus in Sychar, but he speaks to them and wins their favor.

¹In Sychar Jesus taught the people in the market place.

²A man obsessed was brought to him. The wicked spirit that possessed the man was full of vio­lence and lust, and often threw his victim to the ground.

³And Jesus spoke aloud and said, Base spirit, loose your hold upon the vitals of this man, and go back to your own.

⁴And then the spirit begged that he might go into the body of a dog that stood near by.

⁵But Jesus said, Why harm the helpless dog? Its life is just as dear to it as mine to me.

⁶It is not yours to throw the burden of your sin on any living thing.

⁷By your own deeds and evil thoughts you have brought all these perils on yourself. You have hard problems to be solved; but you must solve them for yourself.

⁸By thus obsessing man you make your own conditions doubly sad. Go back into your own do­main; refrain from harming any­thing, and, by and by, you will, yourself, be free.

⁹The wicked spirit left the man ¹¹⁶and went unto his own. The man looked up in thankfulness and said, Praise God.

¹⁰And many of the people brought their sick, and Jesus spoke the Word, and they were healed.

¹¹The ruler of the synagogue, and all the priests were much dis­turbed when told that Jesus from Jerusalem was preaching in the town.

¹²They thought that he had come to proselyte and stir up strife among Samaritans.

¹³And so they sent an officer to bring him to the synagogue that he might give a reason for his presence in the town.

¹⁴But Jesus said to him who came, Go back and tell the priests and ruler of the synagogue that I am not engaged in crime.

¹⁵I come to bind up broken hearts, to heal the sick, and cast the evil spirits out of those obsessed.

¹⁶Tell them, their prophets spoke of me; that I am come to break no law, but to fulfil the high­est law.

¹⁷The man returned and told the priests and ruler of the syna­gogue what Jesus said,

¹⁸The ruler was amazed, and with the priests went to the market place where Jesus was.

¹⁹And when he saw them, Jesus said, Behold the honored men of all Samaria! the men ordained to lead the people in the way of right.

²⁰And I am come to help, and not to hinder in their work.

²¹There are two classes of the sons of men; they who would build the human race upon the sure foundation stones of justice, truth, equality and right,

²²And they who would destroy the holy temple where the Spirit dwells and bring their fellows down to beggary and crime.

²³The holy brotherhood of right must stand united in the stir­ring conflicts of the hour.

²⁴No matter whether they be Jews, Samaritans, Assyrians or Greeks, they must tramp down beneath their feet all strife, all dis­cord, jealousy and hate, and demon­strate the brotherhood of man.

²⁵Then to the ruler of the syna­gogue he spoke: he said, United in the cause of right we stand; divided we will fall.

²⁶And then he took the ruler by the hand; a love light filled their souls; and all the people were amazed.

CHAPTER 84.

The Christines resume their journey. They tarry a while in the city of Samaria. Jesus speaks in the synagogue. Heals a woman by mental power. He disappears, but later joins his disciples as they journey toward Nazareth.

¹The Christines turned their faces toward the land of Galilee; but when they reached the city of Sa­maria, the multitudes pressed hard about them, begging them to tarry in their city for a while.

²And then they went up to the synagogue, and Jesus opened up the book of Moses, and he read:

³In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blest.

⁴And then he closed the book and said, These words were spoken by the Lord of hosts unto our father Abraham, and Israel has been bless­edness to all the world.

⁵We are his seed; but not a tithe of the great work that we were called to do has yet been done.

⁶The Lord of hosts has set ¹¹⁷apart the Israelites to teach the unity of God and man; but one can never teach that which he does not demonstrate in life.

⁷Our God is Spirit, and in him all wisdom, love and strength abide.

⁸In every man these sacred attributes are budding forth, and in due time they will unfold; the demonstration will completed be, and man will comprehend the fact of unity.

⁹And you, the ruler of the syna­gogue, and you, these priests, are honored servants of the Lord of hosts.

¹⁰All men are looking unto you for guidance in the ways of life; example is another name for priest; so what you would that people be, that you must be.

¹¹A simple godly life may win ten thousand souls to purity and right.

¹²And all the people said, Amen.

¹³Then Jesus left the syna­gogue, and at the hour of evening prayer he went up to the sacred grove, and all the people turned their faces toward their holy mount and prayed.

¹⁴And Jesus prayed.

¹⁵And as he sat in silent mood a voice of soul spoke to his soul im­ploring help.

¹⁶And Jesus saw a woman on a couch in sore distress; for she was sick nigh unto death.

¹⁷She could not speak, but she had heard that Jesus was a man of God, and in her heart she called on him for help.

¹⁸And Jesus helped; he did not speak; but like a flash of light, a mighty virtue from his soul filled full the body of the dying one, and she arose, and joined her kindred while they prayed.

¹⁹Her kindred were astonished and they said to her, How were you healed? And she replied,

²⁰I do not know; I simply asked the man of God in thought for healing power, and in a moment I was well.

²¹The people said, The gods have surely come to earth; for man has not the power to heal by thought.

²²But Jesus said, The greatest power in heaven and earth is thought.

²³God made the universe by thought; he paints the lily and the rose with thought.

²⁴Why think it strange that I should send a healing thought and change the ethers of disease and death to those of health and life?

²⁵Lo, you shall see far greater things than this, for by the power of holy thought, my body will be changed from carnal flesh to spirit form; and so will yours.

²⁶When Jesus had thus said he disappeared, and no one saw him go.

²⁷His own disciples did not comprehend the change; they knew not where their master went, and they went on their way.

²⁸But as they walked and talked about the strange event, lo, Jesus came and walked with them to Nazareth of Galilee.

CHAPTER 85.

John, the harbinger, censures Herod for his wickedness. Herod sends him to prison in Machaerus. Jesus tells why God permitted the im­prisonment of John.

¹Herod Antipas, the tet­rarch of Paraca and of Galilee ¹¹⁸was dissipated, selfish and tyran­nical.

²He drove his wife away from home that he might take as wife Herodias, the wife of one, a near of kin, a woman, like himself, immoral and unjust.

³The city of Tiberius, upon the shores of Galilee, was Herod’s home.

⁴Now John, the harbinger, had left the Salim Springs to teach the people by the sea of Galilee; and he rebuked the wicked ruler and his stolen wife for all their sins.

⁵Herodias was enraged be­cause the preacher dared accuse her and her husband of their crimes;

⁶And she prevailed on Herod to arrest the harbinger and cast him in a dungeon in the castle of Ma­chaerus that stood beside the Bitter Sea.

⁷And Herod did as she re­quired; then she lived in peace in all her sins, for none were bold enough to censure her again.

⁸The followers of John were warned to speak not of the trial and imprisonment of John.

⁹By order of the court, they were restrained from teaching in the public halls.

¹⁰They could not talk about this better life that Herod called, the Heresy of John.

¹¹When it was known that John had been imprisoned by the tetrarch court, the friends of Jesus thought it best that he should not remain in Galilee.

¹²But Jesus said, I have no need of fear; my time has not yet come; no man can stay me till my work is done.

¹³And when they asked why God permitted Herod to imprison John, he said,

¹⁴Behold yon stalk of wheat! When it has brought the grain to perfectness, it is of no more worth; it falls, becoming part of earth again from which it came.

¹⁵John is a stalk of golden wheat; he brought unto maturity the richest grain of all the earth; his work is done.

¹⁶If he had said another word it might have marred the symmetry of what is now a noble life.

¹⁷And when my work is done the rulers will do unto me what they have done to John, and more.

¹⁸All these events are part of God’s own plan. The innocent will suffer while the wicked are in power; but woe to them who cause the suffering of the innocents.

CHAPTER 86.

The Christines are in Nazareth. Jesus speaks in the synagogue. He offends the people and they at­tempt to kill him. He mysteriously disappears, and returns to the syn­agogue.

¹The Christines were in Naz­areth. It was the Sabbath day, and Jesus went up to the syn­agogue.

²The keeper of the books gave one to Jesus and he opened it and read:

³The Spirit of the Lord has overshadowed me; he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; to set the captives free; to open sightless eyes;

⁴To bring relief to those op­pressed and bruised, and to pro­claim, The year of jubilee has come.

⁵When he had read these words he closed the book and said, This scripture is fulfilled before your eyes this day. The year of jubilee has come; the time when Israel shall bless the world.

⁶And then he told them many ¹¹⁹things about the kingdom of the Holy One; about the hidden way of life; about forgiveness of sins.

⁷Now, many people knew not who the speaker was: And others said, Is not this Joseph’s son? Does not his mother live on Marmion Way?

⁸And one spoke out and said, This is the man who did such mighty works in Cana, in Capernaum and in Jerusalem.

⁹And then the people said, Physician heal yourself. Do here among your kindred all the mighty works that you have done in other towns.

¹⁰And Jesus said, No prophet is received with honor by the people of his native land; and prophets are not sent to every one.

¹¹Elijah was a man of God; he had the power and he closed the gates of heaven, and it did not rain for forty months; and when he spoke the Word, the rain came on, the earth brought forth again.

¹²And there were many wid­ows in the land; but this Elijah went to none but Zarephath, and she was blessed.

¹³And when Elisha lived, lo, many lepers were in Israel, but none were cleansed save one—the Syrian who had faith.

¹⁴You have no faith; you seek for signs to satisfy your curious whims; but you shall see not till you open up your eyes of faith.

¹⁵And then the people were en­raged; they rushed upon him, bound him down with cords, and took him to a precipice not far away, intent to cast him down to death;

¹⁶But when they thought they held him fast, he disappeared; un­seen he passed among the angry men, and went his way.

¹⁷The people were confounded and they said, What manner of a man is this?

¹⁸And when they came again to Nazareth, they found him teach­ing in the synagogue.

¹⁹They troubled him no more for they were sore afraid.

CHAPTER 87.

The Christines go to Cana. Jesus heals a nobleman’s child. The Christines go to Capernaum. Jesus provides a spacious home for his mother. He announces his inten­tion to choose twelve apostles.

¹In Nazareth Jesus taught no more; he went with his disciples up to Cana, where, at a marriage feast, he once turned water into wine.

²And here he met a man of no­ble birth whose home was in Ca­pernaum, whose son was sick.

³The man had faith in Jesus’ power to heal, and when he learned that he had come to Galilee he went in haste to meet him on the way.

⁴The man met Jesus at the sev­enth hour, and he entreated him to hasten to Capernaum to save his son.

⁵But Jesus did not go; he stood aside in silence for a time, and then he said, Your faith has proved a healing balm; your son is well.

⁶The man believed and went his way toward Capernaum and as he went he met a servant from his home who said,

⁷My lord, You need not haste; your son is well.

⁸The father asked, When did my son begin to mend?

⁹The servant said, On yester­day about the seventh hour the fever left.

¹⁰And then the father knew it ¹²⁰was the healing balm that Jesus sent that saved his son.

¹¹In Cana Jesus tarried not; he went his way with his dis­ciples to Capernaum, where he secured a spacious house where, with his mother, he could live; where his disciples might repair to hear the Word.

¹²He called the men who had confessed their faith in him to meet him in his home, which his disciples called, The school of Christ; and when they came he said to them,

¹³This gospel of the Christ must be proclaimed in all the world.

¹⁴This Christine vine will be a mighty vine whose branches will comprise the peoples, tribes and tongues of all the earth.

¹⁵I am the vine; twelve men shall be the branches of the stock, and these shall send forth branches everywhere;

¹⁶And from among the people who have followed me, the Holy Breath will call the twelve.

¹⁷Go now and do your work as you have done your work; but listen for the call.

¹⁸Then the disciples went unto their daily tasks, to do their work as they had done, and Jesus went alone into the Hammoth hills to pray.

¹⁹Three days and nights he spent communing with the Silent Brotherhood; then, in the power of Holy Breath he came to call the twelve.

CHAPTER 88.

Jesus walks by the sea. Stands in a fishing boat and speaks to the peo­ple. Under his direction the fisher­men secure a great catch of fish. He selects and calls his twelve apos­tles.

¹Beside the sea of Galilee the Christine master walked, and multitudes of people followed him.

²The fishing boats had just come in, and Peter and his brother waited in their boats; their helpers were ashore repairing broken nets.

³And Jesus went into a boat and Peter pushed it out a little ways from shore; and Jesus standing in the boat spoke to the multitude. He said,

⁴Isaiah, prophet of the Lord of hosts, looked forward and he saw this day; he saw the people standing by the sea, and he exclaimed,

⁵The land of Zebulon and Nap­thali, land beyond the Jordan and toward the sea, the Gentile Galilee,

⁶The people were in darkness, knowing not the way; but, lo, they saw the Day Star rise; a light streamed forth; they saw the way of life; they walked therein.

⁷And you are blest beyond all people of the earth today, because you first may see the light, and may become the children of the light.

⁸Then Jesus said to Peter, Bring your nets aboard, and put out in the deep,

⁹And Peter did as Jesus bade him do; but in a faithless way he said, This is a useless trip; there are no fish upon this shore of Galilee today; with Andrew I have toiled all night, and taken naught.

¹⁰But Jesus saw beneath the surface of the sea; he saw a multi­tude of fish. He said to Peter,

¹¹Cast out your net upon the right side of the boat.

¹²And Peter did as Jesus said, and, lo, the net was filled; it scarce was strong enough to hold the mul­titude of fish.

¹³And Peter called to John and James, who were near by, for help; and when the net was hauled to ¹²¹boat, both boats were well nigh filled with fish.

¹⁴When Peter saw the heavy catch, he was ashamed of what he said; ashamed because he had no faith, and he fell down at Jesus’ feet and said, Lord, I believe!

¹⁵And Jesus said, Behold the catch! from henceforth you shall fish no more for fish;

¹⁶You shall cast forth the Christine net into the sea of human life, upon the right side of the boat; you shall ensnare the multitudes to holiness and blessedness and peace.

¹⁷Now, when they reached the shore the Christine master called to Peter, Andrew, James and John and said,

¹⁸You fishermen of Galilee, the masters have a mighty work for us to do; I go, and you may follow me. And they left all and followed him.

¹⁹And Jesus walked along the shore, and seeing Philip and Nathan­iel walking on the beach he said to them,

²⁰You teachers of Bethsaida, who long have taught the people Greek philosophy, the masters have a higher work for you and me to do; I go and you may follow me; and then they followed him.

²¹A little farther on there stood a Roman tribute house, and Jesus saw the officer in charge; his name was Matthew, who once abode in Jericho;

²²The youth who once ran on before the Lord into Jerusalem and said, Behold the Christines come.

²³And Matthew was a man of wealth, and learned in wisdom of the Jews, the Syrians and the Greeks.

²⁴And Jesus said to him, Hail, Matthew, trusted servant of the Cæsars, hail! the masters call us to the tribute house of souls; I go and you may follow me. And Matthew followed him.

²⁵Ischariot and his son, whose name was Judas, were employed by Matthew and were at the tribute house.

²⁶And Jesus said to Judas, Stay your work; the masters call us to a duty in the savings bank of souls; I go and you may follow me. And Judas followed him.

²⁷And Jesus met a lawyer who had heard about the Christine mas­ter and had come from Antioch to study in the school of Christ.

²⁸This man was Thomas, man of doubt, and yet a Greek philoso­pher of culture and of power.

²⁹But Jesus saw in him the lines of faith, and said to him, The masters have a need of men who can interpret law; I go, and you may follow me. And Thomas fol­lowed him.

³⁰And when the evening came and Jesus was at home, behold, there came his kindred, James and Jude, the sons of Alpheus and Miriam.

³¹And these were men of faith, and they were carpenters of Naza­reth.

³²And Jesus said to them, Be­hold, for you have toiled with me, and with my father Joseph, building houses for the homes of men. The masters call us now to aid in build­ing homes for souls; homes built without the sound of hammer, ax, or saw;

³³I go, and you may follow me. And James and Jude exclaimed, Lord, we will follow you.

³⁴And on the morrow Jesus sent a message unto Simon, leader of the Zelotes, a strict exponent of the Jewish law.

³⁵And in the message Jesus said, The masters call for men to ¹²²demonstrate the faith of Abraham; I go, and you may follow me. And Simon followed him.

CHAPTER 89.

The twelve apostles are at Jesus’ home and are consecrated to their work. Jesus instructs them. He goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath and teaches. He casts an unclean spirit out of one obsessed. He heals Peter’s mother-in-law.

¹Now, on the day before the Sab­bath day, the twelve disciples who had received the call were met with one accord in Jesus’ home.

²And Jesus said to them, This is the day to consecrate yourselves unto the work of God; so let us pray.

³Turn from the outer to the inner self; close all the doors of car­nal self and wait.

⁴The Holy Breath will fill this place, and you will be baptized in Holy Breath.

⁵And then they prayed; a light more brilliant than the noonday sun filled all the room, and tongues of flame from every head rose high in air.

⁶The atmosphere of Galilee was set astir; a sound like distant thun­der rolled above Capernaum, and men heard songs, as though ten thousand angels joined in full ac­cord.

⁷And then the twelve disciples heard a voice, a still, small voice, and just one word was said, a word they dared not speak; it was the sacred name of God.

⁸And Jesus said to them, By this omnific Word you may control the elements, and all the powers of air.

⁹And when within your souls you speak this Word, you have the keys of life and death; of things that are; of things that were; of things that are to be.

¹⁰Behold you are the twelve great branches of the Christine vine; the twelve foundation stones; the twelve apostles of the Christ.

¹¹As lambs I send you forth among wild beasts; but the omnific Word will be your buckler and your shield.

¹²And then again the air was filled with song, and every living creature seemed to say, Praise God! Amen!

¹³The next day was the Sab­bath day; and Jesus went with his disciples to the synagogue, and there he taught.

¹⁴The people said, He teaches not as do the scribes and Pharisees; but as a man who knows, and has authority to speak.

¹⁵As Jesus spoke, a man ob­sessed came in; the evil spirits that obsessed the man were of the baser sort; they often threw their victim to the ground, or in the fire.

¹⁶And when the spirits saw the Christine master in the syna­gogue they knew him, and they said,

¹⁷You son of God, why are you here? would you destroy us by the Word before our time? we would have naught to do with you; let us alone.

¹⁸But Jesus said to them, By the omnific Word I speak; Come out; torment this man no more; go to your place.

¹⁹And then the unclean spirits threw the man upon the floor, and, with a fiendish cry, they went away.

²⁰And Jesus lifted up the man and said to him, If you will keep your mind full occupied with good, ¹²³the evil spirits cannot find a place to stay;

²¹They only come to empty heads and hearts. Go on your way and sin no more.

²²The people were astonished at the words that Jesus spoke, the work he did. They asked among themselves,

²³Who is this man? From whence comes all this power that even unclean spirits fear, and flee away?

²⁴The Christine master left the synagogue; with Peter, Andrew, James and John, he went to Peter’s house where one, a near of kin, was sick.

²⁵And Peter’s wife came in; it was her mother who was sick.

²⁶And Jesus touched the wom­an as she lay upon her couch; he spoke the Word; the fever ceased and she arose and ministered to them.

²⁷The neighbors heard what had occurred, and then they brought their sick, and those obsessed, and Jesus laid his hands on them, and they were healed.

CHAPTER 90.

Jesus goes alone to a mountain to pray. His disciples find him. He calls the twelve and they journey through Galilee teaching and heal­ing. At Tiberius Jesus heals a leper. The Christines return to Capernaum. In his own home Jesus heals a palsied man and makes known the philosophy of healing and the forgiveness of sins.

¹The Christine master disap­peared; no one saw him go, and Peter, James and John set forth to search for him; they found him at his trysting-place out on the Ham­moth hills.

²And Peter said, The city of Capernaum is wild; the people crowd the streets and every public place is filled.

³The men, the women and the children everywhere are asking for the man who heals by will.

⁴Your home and our homes are filled with people who are sick; they call for Jesus who is called the Christ. What will we say to them?

⁵And Jesus said, A score of other cities call, and we must take the bread of life to them. Go call the other men and let us go.

⁶And Jesus and the twelve went to Bethsaida where Philip and Nathaniel dwelt; and there they taught.

⁷The multitudes believed on Christ, confessed their sins and were baptized, and came into the king­dom of the Holy One.

⁸The Christine master and the twelve went everywhere through all the towns of Galilee, and taught, baptizing all who came in faith, and who confessed their sins.

⁹They opened blinded eyes, unstopped deaf ears, drove forth the evil ones from those obsessed, and healed disease of every kind.

¹⁰And they were in Tiberius by the sea, and as they taught a leper came a-near and said, Lord, I be­lieve, and if you will but speak the Word I will be clean.

¹¹And Jesus said to him, I will; be clean. And soon the leprosy was gone; the man was clean.

¹²And Jesus charged the man, Say naught to any one, but go and show yourself unto the priests and offer for your cleansing what the law demands.

¹³The man was wild with joy; but then he went not to the priests, but in the marts of trade, and every­where he told what had been done.

¹²⁴¹⁴And then the sick in throngs pressed hard upon the healer and the twelve, imploring to be healed.

¹⁵And they were so importu­nate that little could be done, and so the Christines left the crowded thoroughfares, and went to desert places where they taught the mul­titudes that followed them.

¹⁶Now, after many days the Christines came back to Caper­naum. When it was noised around that Jesus was at home, the people came; they filled the house till there was no more room, not even at the door.

¹⁷And there were present scribes and Pharisees and doctors of the law from every part of Galilee, and from Jerusalem, and Jesus opened up for them the way of life.

¹⁸Four men brought one, a palsied man upon a cot, and when they could not pass the door they took the sick man to the roof, and opened up a way, then let him down before the healer’s face.

¹⁹When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the palsied man, My son, be of good cheer; your sins are all forgiven.

²⁰And when the scribes and Pharisees heard what he said, they said, Why does this man speak thus? who can forgive the sins of men but God?

²¹And Jesus caught their thought; he knew they questioned thus among themselves; he said to them,

²²Why reason thus among yourselves? What matters it if I should say, Your sins are blotted out; or say, Arise, take up your bed and walk?

²³But just to prove that men may here forgive the sins of men, I say, (and then he spoke unto the palsied man),

²⁴Arise, take up your bed, and go your way.

²⁵And in the presence of them all the man arose, took up his bed, and went his way.

²⁶The people could not com­prehend the things they heard and saw. They said among themselves, This is a day we never can forget; we have seen wondrous things to­day.

²⁷And when the multitudes had gone the twelve remained, and Jesus said to them,

²⁸The Jewish festival draws near; next week we will go to Jeru­salem, that we may meet our brethren from afar, and open up to them the way that they may see the king.

²⁹The Christines sought the quiet of their homes, where they re­mained in prayer for certain days.

CHAPTER 91.

Jesus at the feast in Jerusalem. Heals an impotent man. Gives a practical lesson in healing. Af­firms that all men are the sons of God.

¹The feast time came and Jesus and the twelve went to Jeru­salem.

²Upon the day before the Sab­bath day they reached Mount Ol­ives and they tarried at an inn be­¹²⁵fore Mount Olives on the north.

³And in the early morning of the Sabbath day they went in through the sheep gate to Jerusalem.

⁴The healing fountain of Be­thesda, near the gate, was thronged about with people who were sick;

⁵For they believed that at a certain time an angel came and poured a healing virtue in the pool, and those who entered first and bathed, would be made whole.

⁶And Jesus and the twelve were standing near the pool.

⁷And Jesus saw a man near by who had been stricken eight and thirty years; without a hand to help he could not move.

⁸And Jesus said to him, My brother, man, would you be healed?

⁹The man replied, I earnestly desire to be healed; but I am help­less and when the angel comes and pours the healing virtues in the pool,

¹⁰Another who can walk, steps in the fountain first and I am left unhealed.

¹¹And Jesus said, Who sends an angel here to potentize this pool for just a favored few?

¹²I know it is not God, for he deals just the same with every one.

¹³One has no better chance in heaven’s healing fountain than an­other one.

¹⁴The fount of health is in your soul; it has a door locked fast; the key is faith;

¹⁵And every one can have this key and may unlock the door and plunge into the healing fount and be made whole.

¹⁶And then the man looked up in hopeful mood and said, Give me this key of faith.

¹⁷And Jesus said, Do you be­lieve what I have said? According to your faith it shall be done. Arise, take up your bed and walk.

¹⁸The man at once arose and walked away; he only said, Praise God.

¹⁹And when the people asked, Who made you whole? the man re­plied, I do not know. A stranger at the pool just spoke a word and I was well.

²⁰The many did not see when Jesus healed the man, and with the twelve he went his way up to the temple courts.

²¹And in the temple Jesus saw the man and said to him, Behold you are made whole; from hence­forth guard your life aright;

²²Go on your way and sin no more, or something worse may fall on you.

²³And now the man knew who it was who made him whole.

²⁴He told the story to the priests and they were much en­raged; they said, The law forbids a man to heal upon the Sabbath day.

²⁵But Jesus said, My Father works on Sabbath days and may not I?

²⁶He sends his rain, his sun­shine and his dew; he makes his grass to grow, his flowers to bloom; he speeds the harvests just the same on Sabbath days as on the other days.

²⁷If it is lawful for the grass to grow and flowers to bloom on Sab­bath days it surely is not wrong to succor stricken men.

²⁸And then the priests were angered more and more because he claimed to be a son of God.

²⁹A leading priest, Abihu, said, This fellow is a menace to our nation and our laws; he makes himself to be a son of God; it is not meet that he should live.

³⁰But Jesus said, Abihu, Sir, you are a learned man; you surely ¹²⁶know the law of life. Pray tell who were the sons of God we read about in Genesis, who took to wife the daughters of the sons of men?

³¹Our father Adam; who was he? From whence came he? Had he a father? or did he fall from heaven as a star?

³²We read that Moses said, He came from God. If Adam came from God, pray, was he offspring, was he son?

³³We are the children of this son of God; then tell me, learned priest, Who are we if not sons of God?

³⁴The priest had urgent busi­ness and he went his away.

³⁵And Jesus said, All men are sons of God and if they live a holy life they always are at home with God.

³⁶They see and understand the works of God, and in his sacred name they can perform these works.

³⁷The lightnings and the storms are messengers of God as well as are the sunshine, rain and dew.

³⁸The virtues of the heavens are in God’s hands, and every loyal son may use these virtues and these powers.

³⁹Man is the delegate of God to do his will on earth, and man can heal the sick, control the spirits of the air, and raise the dead.

⁴⁰Because I have the power to do these things is nothing strange. All men may gain the power to do these things; but they must conquer all the passions of the lower self; and they can conquer if they will.

⁴¹So man is God on earth, and he who honors God must honor man; for God and man are one, as father and the child are one.

⁴²Behold, I say, The hour has come; the dead will hear the voice of man, and live, because the son of man is son of God.

⁴³You men of Israel, hear! you live in death; you are locked up within the tomb.

⁴⁴(There is no deeper death than ignorance and unbelief.)

⁴⁵But all will some day hear the voice of God, made plain by voice of man, and live. You all will know that you are sons of God, and by the sacred Word, may do the works of God.

⁴⁶When you have come to life, that is, have come to realize that you are sons of God, you who have lived the life of right, will open up your eyes on fields of life.

⁴⁷But you who love the ways of sin will, in this resurrection, stand before a judgment bar, and be con­demned to pay the debts you owe to men and to yourselves.

⁴⁸For whatsoever you have done amiss must be performed again, and yet again, until you reach the stature of the perfect man.

⁴⁹But in due time the lowest and the highest will arise to walk in light.

⁵⁰Shall I accuse you unto God? No, for your prophet, Moses, has done that; and if you hear not Moses’ words you will not hearken unto me, for Moses wrote of me.

CHAPTER 92.

The Christines at a feast in Lazarus’ home. A fire rages in the town. Jesus rescues a child from the flames and stays the fire by the Word. He gives a practical les­son on how to redeem a drunken man.

¹Now, Lazarus was at the feast and Jesus and the twelve went with him to his home in Bethany.

¹²⁷²And Lazarus and his sisters made a feast for Jesus and the twelve; and Ruth and Asher came from Jericho; for Asher was no longer hostile to the Christ.

³And while the guests sat at the board behold a cry, The village is a-fire! and all rushed out into the streets, and, lo, the homes of many neighbors were in flames.

⁴And in an upper room an in­fant lay asleep, and none could pass the flames to save. The mother, wild with grief, was calling on the men to save her child.

⁵Then, with a voice that made the spirits of the fire pale and trem­ble, Jesus said, Peace, peace, be still!

⁶And then he walked through smoke and flame, climbed up the falling stair, and in a moment came again, and in his arms he brought the child. And not a trace of fire was on himself, his raiment, or the child.

⁷Then Jesus raised his hand, rebuked the spirits of the fire, com­manding them to cease their awful work, and be at rest.

⁸And then, as though the waters of the sea were all at once poured on the flames, the fire ceased to burn.

⁹And when the fury of the fire was spent the multitudes were wild to see the man who could control the fire, and Jesus said,

¹⁰Man was not made for fire, but fire was made for man.

¹¹When man comes to himself and comprehends the fact that he is son of God, and knows that in him­self lies all the powers of God, he is a master mind and all the elements will hear his voice and gladly do his will.

¹²Two sturdy asses bind the will of man; their names are Fear and Unbelief. When these are caught and turned aside, the will of man will know no bounds; then man has but to speak and it is done.

¹³And then the guests returned and sat about the board. A little child came in and stood by Jesus’ side.

¹⁴She laid her hand on Jesus’ arm and said, Please, Master Jesus, hear! my father is a drunken man; my mother toils from morn till night and when she brings her wages home my father snatches them away and squanders every cent for drink, and mother and us little ones are hungry all the night.

¹⁵Please, Master Jesus, come with me and touch my father’s heart. He is so good and kind when he is just himself; I know it is the wine that makes another man of him.

¹⁶And Jesus went out with the child; he found the wretched home; he spoke in kindness to the mother and the little ones, and then upon a bed of straw he found the drunken man.

¹⁷He took him by the hand and raised him up and said, My brother, man, made in the image of our Father-God, will you arise and come with me?

¹⁸Your neighbors are in sore distress; they have lost all they had in this fierce fire, and men must build their homes again and you and I must lead the way.

¹⁹And then the man arose; the two went arm in arm to view the wrecks.

²⁰They heard the mothers and the children crying in the streets; they saw their wretchedness.

²¹And Jesus said, My friend, here is a work for you to do. Just lead the way in helpfulness; I’m sure the men of Bethany will fur­nish you the means and help.

¹²⁸²²The spark of hope that had so long been smouldering in the man was fanned into a flame. He threw his ragged coat aside; he was him­self again.

²³And then he called for help; not for himself, but for the home­less ones; and everybody helped. The ruined homes were built again.

²⁴And then he saw his own poor den; his heart was stirred into its depths.

²⁵The pride of manhood filled his soul; he said, This wretched den shall be a home. He worked as he had never wrought before, and ev­erybody helped.

²⁶And in a little while the den became a home indeed; the flowers of love bloomed everywhere.

²⁷The mother and the little ones were filled with joy; the father never drank again.

²⁸A man was saved, and no one ever said a word about neglect or drunkenness, nor urged him to re­form.

CHAPTER 93.

The Christines go through a field of ripe wheat, and the disciples eat of the wheat. Jesus exonerates them. The Christines return to Caper­naum. Jesus heals a withered hand on the Sabbath, and defends his deed.

¹Another Sabbath day had come and Jesus and the twelve walked through a field of ripened wheat.

²And they were hungry and they took the heads of wheat and in their hands threshed out the grain and ate.

³Among the men who followed them were Pharisees of strictest sect, and when they saw the twelve thresh out the wheat and eat, they said to Jesus,

⁴Sir, why do the twelve do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?

⁵And Jesus said, Have you not heard what David did when he and those who followed him had need of food?

⁶How he went to the house of God and from the table in the Holy Place took of the presence bread and ate, and gave to those who fol­lowed him?

⁷I tell you, men, the needs of man are higher than the law of rites.

⁸And in our sacred books we read how priests profane the Sab­bath day in many ways while they are serving in the Holy Place, and still are free from guilt.

⁹The Sabbath day was made for man; man was not made to fit the Sabbath day.

¹⁰The man is son of God and under the eternal law of right, which is the highest law, he may annul the statute laws.

¹¹The law of sacrifice is but the law of man, and in our law we read that God desires mercy first; and mercy stands above all statute laws.

¹²The son of man is Lord of every law. Did not a prophet sum the duties of the man when in the book he wrote: In mercy follow jus­tice and walk humbly with your God?

¹³Then Jesus and the twelve returned to Galilee, and on the day before the Sabbath day they reached the home of Jesus in Capernaum.

¹⁴And on the Sabbath day they went up to the synagogue. The multitudes were there and Jesus taught.

¹²⁹¹⁵Among the worshippers was one, a man who had a withered hand. The scribes and Pharisees observed that Jesus saw the man, and then they said,

¹⁶What will he do? Will he attempt to heal upon the Sabbath day?

¹⁷And Jesus knew their thoughts and he called to the man who had the withered hand and said, Arise, stand forth before these men.

¹⁸And Jesus said, You scribes and Pharisees, speak out and answer me: Is it a crime to save a life upon the Sabbath day?

¹⁹If you had sheep and one of them fell in a pit upon the Sab­bath day would you do wrong to take it out?

²⁰Or would it please your God to let it suffer in the mire until an­other day?

²¹But his accusers held their peace.

²²And then he said to them, Are sheep of greater value than a man?

²³The law of God is written on the rock of Right; and Justice wrote the law, and Mercy was the pen.

²⁴And then he said, Man, raise your hand and stretch it forth. He raised his hand; it was restored.

²⁵The Pharisees were filled with rage. They called in secret council the Herodians, and they be­gan to plot and plan how they might bring about his death.

²⁶They were afraid to pub­licly accuse, because the multitudes stood forth in his defense.

²⁷And Jesus and the twelve went down and walked beside the sea, and many people followed them.

CHAPTER 94.

The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus re­veals to the twelve the secret of prayer. The model prayer. The law of forgiveness. The holy fast. The evil of deceit. Almsgiving.

¹Next morning e’er the sun had risen Jesus and the twelve went to a mountain near the sea to pray; and Jesus taught the twelve disciples how to pray. He said,

²Prayer is the deep commun­ion of the soul with God;

³So when you pray do not de­ceive yourselves as do the hypo­crites who love to stand upon the streets and in the synagogues and pour out many words to please the ears of men.

⁴And they adorn themselves with pious airs that they may have the praise of men. They seek the praise of men and their reward is sure.

⁵But when you pray, go to the closet of your soul; close all the doors, and in the holy silence, pray.

⁶You need not speak a multi­tude of words, nor yet repeat the words again and then again, as heathen do. Just say,

⁷Our Father-God who art in heaven; holy is thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.

⁸Give us this day our needed bread;

⁹Help us forget the debts that other people owe to us, that all our debts may be discharged.

¹⁰And shield us from the tempter’s snares that are too great for us to bear;

¹¹And when they come give us the strength to overcome.

¹²If you would be discharged from all the debts you owe to God and man, the debts you have in­¹³⁰curred by wilfully transgressing law,

¹³You must pass by the debts of every man; for as you deal with other men your God will deal with you.

¹⁴And when you fast you may not advertise the deed.

¹⁵When fast the hypocrites they paint their faces, look demure, assume a pious pose, that they may seem to men to fast.

¹⁶A fast is deed of soul, and like a prayer, it is a function of the silence of the soul.

¹⁷God never passes by unno­ticed any prayer, or fast. He walks within the silence, and his benedic­tions rest on every effort of the soul.

¹⁸Deception is hypocrisy, and you shall not assume to be what you are not.

¹⁹You may not clothe your­selves in special garb to advertise your piety, nor yet assume the tone of voice that men conceive to be a holy voice.

²⁰And when you give to aid the needy ones, blow not a trumpet in the street, nor synagogue to adver­tise your gift.

²¹He who does alms for praise of men has his reward from men; but God regardeth not.

²²In giving alms do not let the right hand know the secret of the left.

CHAPTER 95.

The Sermon on the Mount, continued. Jesus pronounces the eight beati­tudes and the eight woes. Speaks words of encouragement. Empha­sizes the exalted character of the apostolic work.

¹And Jesus and the twelve went to the mountain top, and Jesus said,

²Twelve pillars of the church, apostles of the Christ; light-bearers of the sun of life and ministers of God to men:

³In just a little while you must go forth alone, and preach the gos­pel of the king, first to the Jews and then to all the world.

⁴And you shall go, not with a scourge of cords to drive; you can­not drive men to the king;

⁵But you shall go in love and helpfulness and lead the way to right and light.

⁶Go forth and say, The king­dom is at hand.

⁷Worthy are the strong in spirit; theirs the kingdom is.

⁸Worthy are the meek; they shall possess the land.

⁹Worthy they who hunger and who thirst for right; they shall be satisfied.

¹⁰Worthy are the merciful; and mercy shall be shown to them.

¹¹Worthy they who gain the mastery of self; they have the key of power.

¹²Worthy are the pure in heart; and they shall see the king.

¹³Worthy they who are ma­ligned and wronged because they do the right; their persecutors they shall bless.

¹⁴Worthy is the trustful child of faith; he shall sit in the throne of power.

¹⁵Be not discouraged when the world shall persecute and call you curst; but rather be exceeding glad.

¹⁶The prophets and the seers, and all the good of earth, have been maligned.

¹⁷If you are worthy of the crown of life you will be slandered, vilified and curst on earth.

¹⁸Rejoice when evil men shall drive you from their ways and cause ¹³¹your name to be a hiss and by­word in the street.

¹⁹I say, rejoice; but deal in mercy with the doers of the wrong; they are but children at their play; they know not what they do.

²⁰Rejoice not over fallen foes. As you help men rise from the depth of sin, so God will help you on to greater heights.

²¹Woe to the rich is gold and lands; they have temptations multi­form.

²²Woe unto men who walk at will in pleasure’s paths; their ways are full of snares and dangerous pits.

²³Woe to the proud; they stand upon a precipice; destruction waits for them.

²⁴Woe to the man of greed; for what he has is not his own; and, lo, another comes; his wealth is gone.

²⁵Woe to the hypocrite; his form is fair to look upon; his heart is filled with carcasses and dead men’s bones.

²⁶Woe to the cruel and relent­less man; he is himself the victim of his deeds.

²⁷The evil he would do to other men rebounds; the scourger is the scourged.

²⁸Woe to the libertine who preys upon the virtues of the weak. The hour comes when he will be the weak, the victim of a libertine of greater power.

²⁹Woe unto you when all the world shall speak in praise of you. The world speaks not in praise of men who live within the Holy Breath; it speaks in praise of proph­ets false, and of illusions base.

³⁰You men who walk in Holy Breath are salt, the salt of earth; but if you lose your virtue you are salt in name alone, worth nothing more than dust.

³¹And you are light; are called to light the world.

³²A city on a hill cannot be hid; its lights are seen afar; and while you stand upon the hills of life men see your light and imitate your works and honor God.

³³Men do not light a lamp and hide it in a cask; they put it on a stand that it may light the house.

³⁴You are the lamps of God; must not stand in the shade of earth illusions, but in the open, high upon the stand.

³⁵I am not come to nullify the law, nor to destroy; but to fulfill.

³⁶The Law, the Prophets and the Psalms were written in the wis­dom of the Holy Breath and cannot fail.

³⁷The heavens and earth that are will change and pass away; the word of God is sure; it cannot pass until it shall accomplish that where­unto it hath been sent.

³⁸Whoever disregards the law of God and teaches men to do the same, becomes a debtor unto God and cannot see his face until he has returned and paid his debt by sacri­fice of life.

³⁹But he who hearkens unto God and keeps his law and does his will on earth, shall rule with Christ.

⁴⁰The scribes and Pharisees re­gard the letter of the law; they can­not comprehend the spirit of the law;

⁴¹And if your righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of scribe and Pharisee you cannot come into the kingdom of the soul.

⁴²It is not what man does that gives him right to enter through the gates; his pass word is his character and his desire is his character.

¹³²⁴³The letter of the law deals with the acts of man; the spirit of the law takes note of his desires.

CHAPTER 96.

The Sermon on the Mount, continued. Jesus considers the Ten Command­ments. The philosophy of Christ the spirit of the Commandments. Jesus unfolds the spiritual aspects of the first four Commandments.

¹God gave the Ten Command­ments unto men; upon the mountain Moses saw the words of God; he wrote them down on solid rock; they cannot be destroyed.

²These Ten Commandments show the justice side of God; but now the love of God made manifest brings mercy on the wings of Holy Breath.

³Upon the unity of God the law was built. In all the world there is one force; Jehovah is Almighty God.

⁴Jehovah wrote upon the heav­ens and Moses read,

⁵I am Almighty God and you shall have no God but me.

⁶There is one force, but many phases of that force; these phases men call powers.

⁷All powers are of God; and they are manifests of God; they are the Spirits of the God.

⁸If men could seem to find another force and worship at its shrine, they would but court illu­sion, vain,

⁹A shadow of the One, Jeho­vah, God, and they who worship shadows are but shadows on the wall; for men are what they court.

¹⁰And God would have all men to be the substance, and in mercy he commanded, You shall seek no God but me.

¹¹And finite man can never comprehend infinite things. Man cannot make an image of the In­finite in force.

¹²And when men make a God of stone or wood or clay they make an image of a shade; and they who worship at the shrine of shades are shades.

¹³So God in mercy said, You shall not carve out images of wood, or clay, or stone.

¹⁴Such idols are ideals, abased ideals, and men can gain no higher plane than their ideals.

¹⁵The God is Spirit, and in spirit men must worship if they would attain a consciousness of God.

¹⁶But man can never make a picture or an image of the Holy Breath.

¹⁷The name of God man may not speak with carnal lips; with Holy Breath alone can man pro­nounce the name.

¹⁸In vanity men think they know the name of God; they speak it lightly and irreverently, and thus they are accursed.

¹⁹If men did know the sacred name and spoke it with unholy lips, they would not live to speak it once again.

²⁰But God in mercy has not yet unveiled his name to those who cannot speak with Holy Breath.

²¹But they who speak the sub­stitute in idle way are guilty in the sight of God, who said,

²²You shall not take the name of God in vain.

²³The number of the Holy Breath is seven, and God holds in his hands the sevens of time.

²⁴In forming worlds he rested on the seventh day, and every sev­enth day is set apart as Sabbath day for men. God said,

²⁵The seventh is the Sabbath ¹³³of the Lord thy God; remember it and keep it wholly set apart for works of holiness; that is, for works not for the selfish self, but for the universal self.

²⁶Men may do work for self upon the six days of the week; but on the Sabbath of the Lord they must do naught for self.

²⁷This day is consecrated unto God; but man serves God by serving man.

CHAPTER 97.

The Sermon on the Mount, continued. Jesus unfolds to the twelve the spiritual aspects of the fifth and sixth Commandments.

¹God is not force alone; for wis­dom is his counterpart.

²When cherubim instructed man in wisdom’s ways they said that wisdom is the Mother of the race, as force is Father of the race.

³The man who honors the almighty and omniscient God is blessed, and in the tables of the law we read,

⁴Pay homage to your Father and your Mother of the race, that your days may be prolonged upon the land that they have given you.

⁵The letter of the law com­mands; You shall not kill; and he who kills must stand before the judgment seat,

⁶A person may desire to kill, yet if he does not kill he is not judged by law.

⁷The spirit of the law avers that he who shall desire to kill, or seeks revenge, is angry with a man without sufficient cause, must an­swer to the judge;

⁸And he who calls his brother soulless vagabond shall answer to the council of the just;

⁹And he who calls his brother a degenerate, a dog, fans into life the burning fires of hell within him­self.

¹⁰Now, in the higher law we read that if your brother is ag­grieved by something you have done, before you offer unto God your gifts, go forth and find your brother and be reconciled to him.

¹¹It is not well to let the sun go down upon your wrath.

¹²If he will not be reconciled when you have laid aside all selfish pleas, have waived all selfish rights, you will be guiltless in the sight of God; then go and offer unto God your gifts.

¹³If you owe aught to any man and cannot pay; or if a man shall claim a greater sum than is his due, it is not well that you dispute his claims.

¹⁴Resistance is the sire of anger; there is no mercy and no rea­son in a wrathful man.

¹⁵I tell you it is better far to suffer loss than go to law, or call upon the courts of men to judge of right and wrong.

¹⁶The law of carnal man would say, Eye for eye and tooth for tooth; resist encroachment on your rights.

¹⁷But this is not the law of God. The Holy Breath would say, Resist not him who would deprive you of your goods.

¹⁸He who would take your coat by force is still a brother man and you should gain his heart, which by resistance cannot be done;

¹⁹Give him your coat and offer him still more and more; in time the man will rise above the brute; you will have saved him from himself.

²⁰Refuse not him who calls for help and give to him who asks to borrow aught.

²¹And if a man shall strike you ¹³⁴in a fitful, or an angry way, it is not well to smite him in return.

²²Men call him coward who will not fight and thus defend his rights; but he is much the greater man who is assailed, is smitten and does not smite;

²³Who is maligned and answers not, than he who smites the smiter and reviles the one who slanders him.

²⁴It has been said in olden times that man shall love his friend and hate his foe; but, lo, I say,

²⁵Be merciful unto your foes; bless those who slander you; do good to those who do you harm and pray for those who trample on your rights.

²⁶Remember, you are children of the God who makes his sun to rise alike upon the evil and the good, who sends his rain upon the unjust and the just.

²⁷If you do unto other men as they do unto you, you are but slaves, but followers in the way to death.

²⁸But you, as children of the light, must lead the way.

²⁹Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

³⁰When you do good to those who have done good to you, you do no more than other men; the publi­cans do that.

³¹If you salute your friends and not your foes, you are like other men; the publicans have set the pace.

³²Be perfect as your Father-­God in heaven is.

CHAPTER 98.

The Sermon on the Mount, continued. Jesus reveals to the twelve the spiritual aspects of the seventh, eighth and tenth Commandments.

¹The law forbids adultery; but in the eyes of law adultery is an overt act, the satisfaction of the sensuous self outside the marriage bonds.

²Now, marriage in the sight of law is but a promise made by man and woman, by the sanction of a priest, to live for aye in harmony and love.

³No priest nor officer has power from God to bind two souls in wedded love.

⁴What is the marriage tie? Is it comprised in what a priest or offi­cer may say?

⁵Is it the scroll on which the officer or priest has written the per­mission for the two to live in mar­riage bonds?

⁶Is it the promise of the two that they will love each other until death?

⁷Is love a passion that is sub­ject to the will of man?

⁸Can man pick up his love, as he would pick up precious gems, and lay it down, or give it out to any one?

⁹Can love be bought and sold like sheep?

¹⁰Love is the power of God that binds two souls and makes them one; there is no power on earth that can dissolve the bond.

¹¹The bodies may be forced apart by man or death for just a little time; but they will meet again.

¹²Now, in this bond of God we find the marriage tie; all other unions are but bonds of straw, and they who live in them commit adul­tery,

¹³The same as they who satisfy their lust without the sanction of an officer or priest.

¹⁴But more than this; the man or woman who indulges lustful thoughts commits adultery.

¹³⁵¹⁵Whom God has joined to­gether man cannot part; whom man has joined together live in sin.

¹⁶Upon a table of the law, the great lawgiver wrote, Thou shalt not steal.

¹⁷Before the eyes of law a man to steal must take a thing that can be seen with eyes of flesh, without the knowledge or consent of him to whom the thing belongs.

¹⁸But, lo, I say that he who in his heart desires to possess that which is not his own, and would de­prive the owner of the thing with­out his knowledge or consent, is in the sight of God, a thief.

¹⁹The things that men see not with eyes of flesh are of more worth than are the things that man can see.

²⁰A man’s good name is worth a thousand mines of gold, and he who says a word or does a deed that injures or defames that name has taken what is not his own, and is a thief.

²¹Upon a table of the law we also read; Thou shalt not covet anything.

²²To covet is an all-consuming wish to have what is not right for one to have.

²³And such a wish, within the spirit of the law, is theft.

CHAPTER 99.

The Sermon on the Mount, continued. Jesus unfolds to the twelve the spiritual aspects of the ninth Com­mandment.

¹The law has said: Thou shalt not lie; but in the eyes of law a man to lie must tell in words what is not true.

²Now, in the light of spirit law, deceit in any form is nothing but a lie.

³A man may lie by look or act; yea, even by his silence may de­ceive, and thus be guilty in the eyes of Holy Breath.

⁴It has been said in olden times: Thou shalt not swear by thine own life.

⁵But, lo, I say, Swear not at all; not by the head, the heart, the eye, nor hand; not by the sun, the moon, nor stars;

⁶Not by the name of God, nor by the name of any spirit, good or bad.

⁷You shall not swear by any­thing; for in an oath there is no gain.

⁸A man whose word must be propped up by oath of any kind is not trustworthy in the sight of God or man.

⁹By oath you cannot make a leaf to fall, nor turn the color of a hair.

¹⁰The man of worth just speaks, and men know that he speaks the truth.

¹¹The man who pours out many words to make men think he speaks the truth, is simply making smoke to hide a lie.

¹²And there are many men with seeming double hearts; men who would serve two masters at a time—two masters quite adverse.

¹³Men feign to worship God upon the Sabbath day and then pay court to Beelzebul on every other day.

¹⁴No man can serve two mas­ters at a time no more than he can ride two asses at a time that go in different ways.

¹⁵The man who feigns to wor­ship God and Beelzebul is foe of God, a pious devil and a curse of men.

¹⁶And men cannot lay treas­ures up in heaven and earth at once.

¹⁷Then, lo, I say, Lift up your ¹³⁶eyes and see the safety vaults of heaven, and there deposit every gem,

¹⁸Where moth and rust cannot corrupt; where thieves cannot break in and steal.

¹⁹There are no safety vaults on earth; no place secure from moth, and rust and thieves.

²⁰The treasures of the earth are but illusive things that pass away.

²¹Be not deceived; your treas­ures are the anchor of the soul, and where your treasures are your heart will be.

²²Fix not your heart upon the things of earth; be anxious not about the things to eat, or drink, or wear.

²³God cares for those who trust in him and serve the race.

²⁴Behold the birds! They praise God in their songs; the earth is made more glorious by their min­istry of joy; God keeps them in the hollow of his hand,

²⁵And not a sparrow falls to earth without his care; and every one that falls shall rise again.

²⁶Behold the flowers of earth! they trust in God and grow; they make the earth resplendent with their beauty and perfume.

²⁷Look at the lilies of the field, the messengers of holy love. No son of man, not even Solomon in all his excellence, was ever clothed like one of these.

²⁸And yet they simply trust in God; they feed from out his hand; they lay their heads to rest upon his breast.

²⁹If God so clothes and feeds the flowers and birds that do his will, will he not feed and clothe his children when they trust in him?

³⁰Seek first the kingdom of the soul, the righteousness of God, the good of men, and murmur not; God will protect, and feed, and clothe.

CHAPTER 100.

The Sermon on the Mount, continued. Jesus formulates and presents to the twelve a practical code of spirit­ual ethics.

¹There is a rule that carnal man has made, and which he rigidly observes:

²Do unto other men as they do unto you. As others judge, they judge; as others give, they give.

³Now, while you walk with men as men, judge not, and you shall not be judged.

⁴For as you judge you shall be judged, and as you give it shall be given to you. If you condemn, you are condemned.

⁵When you show mercy, men are merciful to you, and if you love in such a way that carnal man can comprehend your love, you will be well beloved.

⁶And so the wise man of this world does unto other men as he would have them do to him.

⁷The carnal man does good to other men for selfish gain, for he ex­pects to have his blessings multi­plied and then returned; he does not stop to note the end.

⁸Man is himself the field; his deeds are seeds, and what he does to others grows apace; the harvest time is sure.

⁹Behold the yield! If he has sown the wind, he reaps the wind; if he has sown the noxious seeds of scandal, theft and hate; of sensual­ity and crime,

¹⁰The harvest is assured and he must reap what he has sown; ¹³⁷yea, more; the seeds produce an hundred fold.

¹¹The fruit of righteousness and peace and love and joy can never spring from noxious seeds; the fruit is like the seed.

¹²And when you sow, sow seeds of right, because it is the right, and not in way of trade, expecting rich rewards.

¹³The carnal man abhors the spirit law, because it takes away his liberty to live in sin; beneath its light he cannot satisfy his passions and desires.

¹⁴He is at enmity with him who walks in Holy Breath. The carnal man has killed the holy men of old, the prophets and the seers.

¹⁵And he will buffet you; will charge you falsely, scourge you and imprison you, and think he does the will of God to slay you in the streets.

¹⁶But you may not prejudge nor censure him who does you wrong.

¹⁷Each one has problems to be solved, and he must solve them for himself.

¹⁸The man who scourges you may have a load of sin to bear; but how about your own?

¹⁹A little sin in one who walks in Holy Breath is greater in the sight of God than monster sins in him who never knew the way.

²⁰How can you see the splinter in your brother’s eye while you have chunks within your own?

²¹First take the chunks from out your eye and then you may be­hold the splinter in your brother’s eye and help him take it out,

²²And while your eyes are full of foreign things you cannot see the way, for you are blind,

²³And when the blind lead forth the blind, both lose the way and fall into the slough.

²⁴If you would lead the way to God you must be clear in sight, as well as pure in heart.

CHAPTER 101.

The Sermon on the Mount, conclu­ded. The concluding part of the code of ethics. The Christines re­turn to Capernaum.

¹The fruitage of the tree of life is all too fine to feed the carnal mind.

²If you would throw a dia­mond to a hungry dog, lo, he would turn away, or else attack you in a rage.

³The incense that is sweet to God is quite offensive unto Beelze­bul; the bread of heaven is but chaff to men who cannot comprehend the spirit life.

⁴The master must be wise and feed the soul with what it can di­gest.

⁵If you have not the food for every man, just ask and you shall have; seek earnestly and you shall find.

⁶Just speak the Word and knock; the door will fly ajar.

⁷No one has ever asked in faith and did not have; none ever sought in vain; no one who ever knocked aright has failed to find an open door.

⁸When men shall ask you for the bread of heaven, turn not away, nor give to them the fruit of carnal trees.

⁹If one, a son, would ask you for a loaf, would you give him a stone? If he would ask you for a fish, would you give him a serpent of the dust?

¹⁰What you would have your God give unto you, give unto men. The measure of your worth lies in your service unto men.

¹³⁸¹¹There is a way that leads unto the perfect life; few find it at a time.

¹²It is a narrow way; it lies among the rocks and pitfalls of the carnal life; but in the way there are no pitfalls and no rocks.

¹³There is a way that leads to wretchedness and want. It is a spacious way and many walk there­in. It lies among the pleasure groves of carnal life.

¹⁴Beware, for many claim to walk the way of life who walk the way of death.

¹⁵But they are false in word and deed; false prophets they. They clothe themselves in skins of sheep, while they are vicious wolves.

¹⁶They cannot long conceal themselves; men know them by their fruits;

¹⁷You cannot gather grapes from thorns, nor from the thistles, figs.

¹⁸The fruit is daughter of the tree and, like the parent, so the child; and every tree that bears not wholesome fruit is plucked up by the roots and cast away,

¹⁹Because a man prays long and loud is not a sign that he is saint. The praying men are not all in the kingdom of the soul.

²⁰The man who lives the holy life, who does the will of God, abides within the kingdom of the soul.

²¹The good man from the treasures of his heart sends blessed­ness and peace to all the world.

²²The evil man sends thoughts that blight and wither hope and joy and fill the world with wretched­ness and woe.

²³Men think and act and speak out of the abundance of the heart.

²⁴And when the judgment hour shall come a host of men will enter pleadings for themselves and think to buy the favor of the judge with words.

²⁵And they will say, Lo, we have wrou