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THE DARKENED LIGHTS 69 |
From the time of the creation of Adam to this day there have
been two pathways in the world of humanity; one the natural
or materialistic, the other the religious or spiritual. The pathway
of nature is the pathway of the animal realm. The animal acts in
accordance with the requirements of nature, follows its own instincts
and desires. Whatever its impulses and proclivities may be it has the
liberty to gratify them; yet it is a captive of nature. It cannot deviate
in the least degree from the road nature has established. It is utterly
minus spiritual susceptibilities, ignorant of divine religion and without
knowledge of the Kingdom of God. The animal possesses no power of
ideation or conscious intelligence; it is a captive of the senses and
deprived of that which lies beyond them. It is subject to what the eye
sees, the ear hears, the nostrils sense, the taste detects and touch
reveals. These sensations are acceptable and sufficient for the animal.
But that which is beyond the range of the senses, that realm of
phenomena through which the conscious pathway to the Kingdom of
God leads, the world of spiritual susceptibilities and divine religion,—of these the animal is completely unaware, for in its highest station
it is a captive of nature.
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One of the strangest things witnessed is that the materialists of
today are proud of their natural instincts and bondage. They state
that nothing is entitled to belief and acceptance except that which is
sensible or tangible. By their own statements they are captives of
nature, unconscious of the spiritual world, uninformed of the divine
kingdom and unaware of heavenly bestowals. If this be a virtue the
animal has attained it to a superlative degree, for the animal is absolutely
ignorant of the realm of spirit and out of touch with the inner
world of conscious realization. The animal would agree with the
materialist in denying the existence of that which transcends the
senses. If we admit that being limited to the plane of the senses is a
virtue the animal is indeed more virtuous than man, for it is entirely
bereft of that which lies beyond, absolutely oblivious of the Kingdom
of God and its traces whereas God has deposited within the human
creature an illimitable power by which he can rule the world of nature.
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Consider how all other phenomenal existence and beings are
captives of nature. The sun, that colossal center of our solar system,
the giant stars and planets, the towering mountains, the earth itself
and its kingdoms of life lower than the human,—all are captives of
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nature except man. No other created thing can deviate in the slightest
degree from obedience to natural law. The sun in its glory and greatness
millions of miles away is held prisoner in its orbit of universal
revolution, captive of universal natural control. Man is the ruler of
nature. According to natural law and limitation he should remain
upon the earth, but behold how he violates this command and soars
above the mountains in aeroplanes. He sails in ships upon the surface
of the ocean and dives into its depths in submarines. Man makes
nature his servant; harnesses the mighty energy of electricity for
instance and imprisons it in a small lamp for his uses and conveniences.
He speaks from the East to the West through a wire. He is able to store
and preserve his voice in a phonograph. Though he is a dweller upon
earth he penetrates the mysteries of starry worlds inconceivably
distant. He discovers latent realities within the bosom of the earth,
uncovers treasures, penetrates secrets and mysteries of the phenomenal
world and brings to light that which according to nature’s jealous
laws should remain hidden, unknown and unfathomable. Through an
ideal inner power man brings these realities forth from the invisible
plane to the visible. This is contrary to nature’s law.
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It is evident therefore that man is ruler over nature’s sphere and
province. Nature is inert, man is progressive. Nature has no consciousness,
man is endowed with it. Nature is without volition and
acts perforce whereas man possesses a mighty will. Nature is incapable
of discovering mysteries or realities whereas man is especially fitted
to do so. Nature is not in touch with the realm of God, man is attuned
to its evidences. Nature is uninformed of God, man is conscious of
Him. Man acquires divine virtues, nature is denied them. Man can
voluntarily discontinue vices, nature has no power to modify the influence
of its instincts. Altogether it is evident that man is more
noble and superior; that in him there is an ideal power surpassing
nature. He has consciousness, volition, memory, intelligent power,
divine attributes and virtues of which nature is completely deprived,
bereft and minus; therefore man is higher and nobler by reason of the
ideal and heavenly force latent and manifest in him.
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How strange then it seems that man, notwithstanding his endowment
with this ideal power, will descend to a level beneath him
and declare himself no greater than that which is manifestly inferior
to his real station. God has created such a conscious spirit within him
that he is the most wonderful of all contingent beings. In ignoring these
virtues he descends to the material plane, considers matter the ruler
of existence and denies that which lies beyond. Is this virtue? In its
fullest sense this is animalistic, for the animal realizes nothing more.
In fact from this standpoint the animal is the greater philosopher because
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it is completely ignorant of the Kingdom of God, possesses no
spiritual susceptibilities and is uninformed of the heavenly world.
In brief, this is a view of the pathway of nature.
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The second pathway is that of religion, the road of the divine
Kingdom. It involves the acquisition of praiseworthy attributes,
heavenly illumination and righteous actions in the world of humanity.
This pathway is conducive to the progress and uplift of the world.
It is the source of human enlightenment, training and ethical improvement;
the magnet which attracts the love of God because of the
knowledge of God it bestows. This is the road of the holy Manifestations
of God for they are in reality the foundation of the divine religion
of oneness. There is no change or transformation in this pathway.
It is the cause of human betterment, the acquisition of heavenly
virtues and the illumination of mankind.
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Alas! that humanity is completely submerged in imitations and
unrealities notwithstanding the truth of divine religion has ever remained
the same. Superstitions have obscured the fundamental
reality, the world is darkened and the light of religion is not apparent.
This darkness is conducive to differences and dissensions; rites and
dogmas are many and various; therefore discord has arisen among the
religious systems whereas religion is for the unification of mankind.
True religion is the source of love and agreement amongst men, the
cause of the development of praiseworthy qualities; but the people are
holding to the counterfeit and imitation, negligent of the reality which
unifies; so they are bereft and deprived of the radiance of religion.
They follow superstitions inherited from their fathers and ancestors.
To such an extent has this prevailed that they have taken away the
heavenly light of divine truth and sit in the darkness of imitations and
imaginations. That which was meant to be conducive to life has become
the cause of death; that which should have been an evidence of
knowledge is now a proof of ignorance; that which was a factor in the
sublimity of human nature has proved to be its degradation. Therefore
the realm of the religionist has gradually narrowed and darkened and
the sphere of the materialist has widened and advanced; for the religionist
has held to imitation and counterfeit, neglecting and discarding
holiness and the sacred reality of religion. When the sun sets
it is the time for bats to fly. They come forth because they are creatures
of the night. When the lights of religion become darkened the materialists
appear. They are the bats of night. The decline of religion is their
time of activity; they seek the shadows when the world is darkened
and clouds have spread over it.
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