The pathway of the spirit ...

Front matter

THE

Pathway of the Spirit.

A GUIDE TO

Part I

IMMEDIATE INSPIRATION AND KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, THE SUPREME NECESSITY AND UNIVER- SAL POSSIBILITY OF MAN.

THE PATHWAY OF THE SPIRIT.

THE REVELATION OF GOD.

Necessity of God-Knowledge. — If God is absolute Being*, omniscient and omnipresent;, He is the supreme reality of the universe, and all being-s and things exist in, from and by Him. A correct interpretation of Nature, life, and the law of human destin^^ is, therefore, possible only throug'h a correct understanding* of the nature and character of God and His purpose in creation. If there is no Supreme Intellig'ence as the controlling* Power of the universe, there is still the supreme Energ*y, and some orig*inal cause or central impulse within and behind the processes of the world which determines the results we see.

Now whether we reg'ard the spring^ of causation and providence as a Supreme Being* of infinite intellig'ence, will and goodness, or a universal unconscious principle and spontaneous energ^y, our interpretation of Nature and life will correspond with the conception we hold in this respect; that is, our doctrines of cosmogony and philosophy and of our own being*, possibilities and destiny, will correspond with the character and qualities that we ascribe to Gocl^ or that which we mentall^^ put in the place of God. There can, therefore^, be no j)erfect science, philosophy" or true understanding of life, being* and destiny, without a correct conception and understanding of the character and attributes of God. This when attained is true Theosophy.

God Known Through Eevelation Only.— How can this practical knoAvledge of God be obtained ? Obvioush", only b^^ direct revelation of God to man. The stud}" of nature through the senses — the ''^scientific method''^ — does not, and as we shall show, cannot reveal God. Some of the strongest and clearest minds have been led b^" this study and method into utter materialistic agnosticism. ^^ Canst thou by searching find out God ? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?'^ Is such a revelation possible or probable ? If God, as such, be a living reality, yes ; if not, there being no supreme revealing intelligence, the problem, under the present limitation of the human faculties must remain an insoluble mysteiy ; a fruitful source of conjectural and undemonstrable speculation.

If, however, the processes of the visible world are the immediate manifestation of a transcendent, divine activity", under the direction of a supreme intelligence and will, holding a moral as well as a physical government and control, then man as a moral and spiritual being, is entitled to a direct intercourse with and instruction from his moral Governor. Without this he can have no certain knowledge of the divine will and purpose concerning himself j and only to the ex-

TIIK U'-:VELAT10N OP GOD. 3

tent of such knowledge is he responsible for nonconformity. Hence there must in the nature of the case be some condition under which such revelation of and from the divine is not only possible but certain, if in truth God be a supreme lawg-iver, and man is under His moral government.

What the Moral Nature of Man Invohes.— That man is a moral and accountable being*, no rational mind will dispute. But do w^e fully realize all that this fact involves ? Moral accountabilit}^ in man involves, of necessity, a moral law^ and government over him^; otherwise he could be accountable to no law above or beyond his own will and pleasure. But universal experience testifies to an innate sense of some necessary restraint upon the exercise of these, independent of such as contact with society imposes. This restraining sense is an unmistakable, inward and ineffaceable recognition of a supreme law of right or righteousness.

Divine Intelligence Necessary to a Moral Government. — A moral law^ based upon such deep and farreaching discriminations in the sphere of motive and conduct, cannot be the automatic operation of a blind principle like that of gravit^^, chemical affinity;, etc. Such a basis of necessity involves not only a supreme standard of integrity, but a supreme intelhgence as arbiter or judge of the relation of motive and conduct to the law. Without this the talk of a moral government would be meaningless. Man w^ould be left to learn only from expedience what is right and what wrong; or rather, what is b(\st foi* himself, and this would be expediency, not moral law or principle. With the subtle relations that exist between man and man, and between the daily habits of the individual and his own supreme nature, ag'es of experience would be necessary under the Umitations of his inteUig-ence, for him to arrive at a knowledge of the absolute right, admitting- right to be an absolute principle jper se. Bat if as we claim, this supreme law of his life relates to man personalh^, not to a principle of blind necessity, but to infinite wisdom, justice and goodness, he may receive immediate instruction and guidance from the Divine parental government.

This Reyelation of God's Will Must Be Sought by Man, — As a morall^^ accountable being it is left for man to seek a knowledge of his relations to the moral and spiritual life — the kingdom of God — as it was left for him as a rational being to learn his relation to the physical world, and b}^ the proper exercise of his powers to acquire a knowledge of that world. If he choose not to seek a better understanding of his relation to his physical, social and moral environments, he must suffer from the results of his indifference and ignorance, until awakened by experience and the better example of others to the wiser course.

The Moral Nature Necessitates the Recognition of God. — The moral nature which calls for righteousness, thus necessitates the recognition of a Divine Beingwhose economy and government are absolute perfection, whose will concerning man is the infinitely" perfect way of life for him, conformity to which will make him perfect as the Divine is perfect. Without

THE KEVELATION OF GOD. 5

this divine sanction, that is, the discriminative intelligence and judgment of absolute wisdom, justice and goodness, there would be no basis for a moral law and order. The very terms would be without significance. So too the reason and moral sense, without a divine intelligence and judgment to which they stand related, would be evanescent hghts "which lead but to bewilder, and dazzle but to blind/'

The reason and conscience, then, are the sure, though finite expression of the infinite wisdom and goodness come to this limitation in man. Yet because they are a ray of the Divine, focused in the misty envelope of materialitj^ and sense, they are capable of kindling from within by a divine inspiration, and thus to unfold and shine forth — the brightness and glory of the divine. If it were not so, there could be, as we have said, no absolute standard of right, truth or justice; and man would be left wholly to expediency as the only principle on which to base the law of his life and conduct. That which he thought would bring him the most pleasure — his only standard of good — would of necessity be the governing motive of action. Might, as brute force or superior cunning, would make right. The ruling law of the animal would be the law of humanity, and any high order of human societ^^ would be impossible. But man has a supreme sense of right and wrong, per se, even though he may not know absolutely what is right in a given case.

The Moral Sense Hooted in Divinity, not Expediency. — If we ask: Whence thisiuiiversal S(Miseof i-ight and wrong? Philosopher's tell us tliat it is a faculty

6 THE PATHWAY OF THK SPIKIT.

established through hereditary impressions from ages of experience in successive g-enerations, the ultimate root of which was expediency; and that the varyingstandards and ideas of right and wrong are wholly a matter of education. But is this an adequate explanation ? And of what value is this universal and deeply rooted moral sense, if there be no universal principle of right as such^ and no moral law and order which it involves and to which man is related by it ? It is clear then, that if there is no moral principle of right, per se, man is not a moral being and expediency is the only law of the personal life. The doctrine of righteousness — conformity with an absolute law of right — on which religion, Scripture, and all supposed inspired teaching are based, is a delusive superstition, and martyrdom for supposed righteousness^ sake an act of supremest foUj^ The blotting out of moral distinctions, and the idea of a divine sanction and condemnation which the denial of a moral principle involves, puts the highwayman, the bank defaulter, the petty thief, and every moral and social outlaw, on a level of merit with the moral hero and martyred saint. Why then should men, even rogues themselves, honor the one and despise the other ? But one answer meets the question; justice, mercy and goodness are strictly moral qualities, and are meaningless terms to an}' but moral beings. The fact that all men, even those who violate them, recognize the binding force of these principles, proves the moral nature of man, and thus his relation to a divine econom^^ and government, which through obedience links him to Divinity. As

THE KEVELATION OF GOD. 7

the inspiration of these principles has been strongenough in men and women to lead thousands to sehsacrificing- lives and even to martyrdom, their divine reality and orig-in find absolute demonstration in these examples. No such inspiration is possible from expediency.

Moral Qualities Attributes of Spiritual Being Only. — As these transcendent qualities that disting-uish humanity and differentiate man from the animal kingdom are the expression only of the attributes of a moral and therefore spiritual being", tl^ej^ relate him to a corresponding* moral and spiritual kingdom. But a transcendent moral and spiritual kingdom, as such, would in turn, be empty and meaning-less without the enthroned presence of a Divine Being-, the enthroned perfection of wisdom, goodness and x)ower on the plane of the universal, eternal and absolute.

Direct Intercourse with God. — This vital relation between the sphere of the human and the Divine, or man and God, renders free and unrestricted communion with the Divine not onl}^ possible, but necessary. Necessary for the realization of the ultimate possibilities of man, and for the fulfilment of the divine will and purpose in his being-. *^'The time is fulfilled and the king-dom of God is at hand/' said the Master. That is to sa^^, the time has come for man, as a moral and spiritual being-, to turn from his absorbing- attention to the mere thing-s of flesh and sense, that perish with the using-, and seek the higher and imperishable treasures of the Spirit. It is time for him to awake to the realization of his own spiritual nature, as a cliild of God, and enter upon an earnest studj of his relations to the spiritual kingdom, under the immediate inspiration and guidance of the Father, that he may ^^knovv the things freeh' given to us of God/'

This does not involve the utter ignoring of the things of the fleshl3^ life; for, said the Master, '' Your heavenly- Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you/' The things of the outward world and the sensuous life are as much the free gifts of God, as are the things of the Spirit, and are to be as gratefully accepted and honored in their legitimate use. Bat we dishonor God when our interest in them becomes paramount to the demands of the spiritual nature, which calls for divine communion and fellowship, that we may walk in spiritual supremac^^ and unit}^ with God in all things, which is the only rational and true life of a child of God. Through this realization of God, man rises to the higher plane of the spiritual life, and dwells in such unity with the Father that ever3^ function of the body as well as ever^^ activity" of the mind in its relation to the outward world, will be under the guidance of His wisdom and so biought to the full realization of His purpose in them.

Thus will man walk with God in the Spirit and under His inspiration, while in the full normal exercise of all the fleshly activities, and of the iiiental powers in the study of the outward world. Only thus will the development of science, art, government, invention and all the legitimate industries of life, be brought to perfection; because thus only can they be carried out in the spirit and to the end for which tiiey were ordained of Him. '"Use this world as not abusing- it/' is the counsel of inspired wisdom. It is the absorption in the things of the sensuous life and the perversion of its functions^ or the indulgence of the selfish spirit in them, that constitute "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the e^^es, and the pride of life."' To overcome temptation and avoid perversion, man needs the guidance of a higher wisdom than his own, and the inspiration of a higher motive than that which springs from the sensuous life of the natural man. There must be the complete transfer of the centre and spring of motive and inspiration, from the plane of the natural to that of the spiritual man, from the sensuous to the spiritual life and understanding. This is the first step in the process of regeneration, and the casting out of the selfish spirit, announced by the Christ as a universal necessity in human experience.

The Kingdom of Grod. — The kingdom of God is the kingdom of truth and righteousness, found b^^ man only through supreme loyalty to God in the life. This loyalty of the heart to God is possible onl^^ through that love wiiich is awakened b^^ the realization of His love and Fatherhood to us. " We love Him because He first loved us.'' Truth pertains to the knowledg^e of all things and of our relations to them, physical and spiritual; while righteousness pertains to the right use of this knowledge and of our po\v(*rs in its pursuit.

Perfect knowledge of all truth is impossible without divine illumination, and this is attained only through union of the soul with God. Conscious union with Gocl is a state of rig^hteousness^ and love is the only uniting" powei% because this alone secures the spontaneous yielding and alleg-iance of the heart. Since true wisdom is the right use of knowledge and of our powers in its pursuit, it can be attained only through righteousness in the life. Hence the importance of the right attitude of mind and heart from the firsts that all needless mistakes ma^^ be avoided and true progress hastened. All divinel^^ inspired teaching couples truth and righteousness together, and makes righteousness the basis of all divine realization, and this is impossible save throagli the recognition of and allegiance to God as the Father of human spirits.

The Throne of Power and Gorerument Within yet Above the Soul. — The principles of truth and righteousness — the essential elements of the kingdom of God — are imx^lanted within all men and belong to their moral nature, as the controlling principles and law of the spiritual life. The evidence of this is the fact that the binding force of the obligations of truth and right are acknowledged and felt by all. It is this which causes an eternal prompting from the spirit within to seek their realization in the outward life.

The blind impulses of the animal nature and sensuous life, ever tempt man to disregard these inner promptings of the spiritual nature, which thus graciousl}^ links him with the divine, and makes inspiration, illumination and divine realization possible to him. If he yield to these temptations against the protest of the Spirit, he will be led into the various

THE REVELATION OF GOJ). 11

excesses and perversions which liave to so great an extent characterized the hfe of man. He thus repeats the tragedy of " the fall/^ so fitly symbohzed in the story of Eden. But if he resolutely turn and follow the leading of the Spirit and obey its law, he will receive immediate power from the Divine to overcome the temptation and bring his life to the highest degree of perfection in all its relations with the inner and the outer world. In this he will follow the example of the Christ as a lo^^al child of God, and rise to fellowship with him in the realization of the perfect life.

This opportunity comes to all, and each must individually meet and overcome temptation and rise above its power in th(^ strength of the Divine, through the spirit of allegiance to and dependence upon the inspiration and help of the Father. There is no other door of entrance, or pathway to victory and attainment of the divine and perfect life. It is the strait gate and the narrow way that leadeth unto life, found by so few. Tlie transformation of ^' the natural man " into the *' spiritual man,'' lifting hhn from the plane of the sensuous life and its limitations to the higher level of tlie spii'itual lifc^ in the i-ealization of its freedom and powcM', constitutes regeneration.

Itepreseutative Types* — Adam and Christ are representative^. char*acters; and whether historic verities ()!• symbolic, repi'escMit the cei'tain possibilities of man. Adam rc^presents the natural man snbji^ct to the temptations of the sensuous life. In Eden — symbolic of innocence — he represents tlu^ childhood of all nuMi. Driven out of Eden — yielding to temptation and fall-

12 THE PATHWAY (»F THE SPIRIT.

ing' from innocence — he pepi'esents all wlio have thus yielded and fallen into sin, and who has not? *' The voice of the Lord God walking in the g'arden/'' pointing* out the rig'ht and warning' ag'ainst the wrong, is the intuition and prompting- of the Spirit^ which, in the period of innocence, is clearly heard by all. ** In the cool of the day/'" also, when the heat of desire and the fire of passion have spent their force in forbidden indulgence, ""'the voice of the Lord God " is heard in the accusing conscience, saying, '•'Adam, where art thou?"

The animal nature knowing no law but indulgence, Avhen lifted to the plane of human life and associated with the higher human powers as it is in man, becomes ^'more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made."' This is the tempter, symbolized by '"'^the serpent," which disputes and antagonizes the voice and law of the Spirit. Pleasure is the end and aim of the sensuous life and the highest reach of the anmial nature, and to the animal organism, unrestrained indulgence is legitimate. The human organism, however, was made for the higher and nobler activities of a rational and moral being, whose law is duty, not pleasure, j^er sej while the animal nature was given to serve not rule the body. In the x^erformance of duty, and the victory over tem^Dtation and the selfish spirit of indulgence, through allegiance to the law of righteousness, man rises to the divinest joy and beatitude of his being, because it lifts him into oneness and fellowship with the Divine.

The Christ, on the other hand, represents the spiritual man who through lovaltv to the leading of the

Spirit from the first;, and by the power of its inspiration held his innocence and unity witli tlie Father, until the work of regeneration and final victory was complete, and he attained the perfect life of permanent illumination and spiritual supremacy above the sphere of temptation and the possibility of sin and disease.

Possible to All. — What is thus represented in the story of Christ, represents the possibility of all through the power of an immediate inspiration and strength from the Father, which is promised to and secured b}^ all, through faith in, and allegiance to the leading of His Spirit in the life. The parable of the prodigal son, given by the Christ, represents again these two types of life. To the eldest, who remained with the father from the first and never violated one of his commands, he said : " Son, thou art ever with me and all that is mine is thine.^^ The prodigal took the gifts which that father had divided unto him, turned from the father's government and spent his substance in self-indulgence and riotous living, until dead and lost to the father. When, however, he had spent all, "he began to be in want/' and found that '^''no man gave unto hhn.'' "But when he came to himself,'' and remembered the father in his goodness and providence, and "arose and came to his father" in penitence^ faith, and the spirit of true allegiance, he received the immediate welcome and forgiveness of the father, who "said to his scn-vants, bring forth quickl}^ tlie best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet ; and bring the fatted calf, and kill it, ami l(^t> us eat, and be merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive

1-i THE PATHWAY OF THE SPIRIT.

again; he was lost and is found/^ He was restored at once to full communion and fellowship with the royal household, through no other expiation or atonement than a return through repentance and faith and the spirit of restitution, love, and loyalty to the father. Here, too, is symbolized the law and conditions of the forgiveness and restoration of every prodigal and sinner. These are the legitimate and necessaiy outcome and results of the being and moral government of God as the immediate Father of mankind.

And again, if God, as supreme Spirit, intelligence and power, is the animating life of nature, then His immediate Fatherhood of men, and all that this relation involves, is the legitimate and logical necessity; since man is the ultimate x)roduct of the life in nature, and thus the immediate offspring of God wlio is that life. As the immediate offspring of God, he necessarily partakes of and holds iDotentiallj^ within his being the essential nature and attributes of the Father. Tliis again implies and involves all that inspired teaching has clearly suggested and positivel3^ affirmed. Man as a spiritual being and child of God, cannot be true and loyal to the Father^s nature within him, onl^^ as he comes under the immediate inspiration and uplifting power of the Father's Spirit. Nor is it j)ossible for the unbroken continuance of this, without the unfolding of all the attributes of the Father^s nature, until they become embodied in the victorious, illuminated, and perfect life of His child.

Man's Necessity, God's Opportunity.— Enough has been said to show the supreme importance to all who have consciously violated the law of purity and truth, of seekin.^ reconciliation at once, and unity with God in the Spirit — the true centre of motive and inspiration — that they may henceforth walk with Him and He with them in the inspiration and g*uidance of His wisdom and g'oodness in all the relations of life. Man at his best needs this immediate inspiration and g-uidance of the Father's wisdom, as surely as childhood needs the better understanding* and g"uidance of earthl}^ parents. For while man as a moral being* has the implanted sense of right and wrong*, the actual knowledge of what is right or wrong, as with truth and error, is of necessity a matter of education. Shall he, tiien, in this higher education be left wholly to the blind impulses of the animal nature and the results of his experience from their indulgence ? Or shall he obey the inner promptings of the Spirit to seek the immediate help and guidance of Him who sees the end from the beginning, and from whom he derived his sense of right and the inner prompting* to do it ? Shall not the righteous One whose omniscient wisdom only knows the absolute right, give all needed guidance and help to the children of His love and providence ? ^' Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" He certainly will, but this does not absolve man from the necessity of personal co-operation, nor of desiring and seeking the needed revelation and help.

The innate demand of the soul for truth and right, is itself the divine promise of its com])l(^test satisfaction, when man in the exercise of his moral freedom turns to the true and direct source of his supply in

God. This divine promise of spiritual illumination and guidance, found faithful and assuring- utterance in the inspired words of the Hebrew Psalmist: ^*'I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go : I will guide thee with mine eye/^ Is not this the 13romise of direct guidance by the eye of omniscience ? And again, in the inspiration of Isaiah : ""And, therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you; for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. . . . He will be veiy gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. . . . And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, this is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left.^^

The divine promise and the supply are perfect, waiting only the true mental and moral attitude of man for him to enter into the divinest realization in personal experience. Hence divine inspiration and guidance should be, and in the nature of things must be, the first step in the higher education and realization of man as a moral and spiritual being under a divine g-o^'ernment.

Keason, Philosophy, Rev elation. —Men have unduly exalted reason and philosophy, and in their earnest protest and reaction against superstition, priestly assumption, and ecclesiastical despotism, have too often forgotten the grandeur of the moral law, and the revelation of God, which it makes possible to man. In so doing, they lose sight also of their own possible

THE KEYELATIOK OF GOD. 17

attainment in truth and rig-hteousness, or perfection of being' under such revelation and g'uidance.

Reyelation Open Equally to AIL— Let not the moral law and divine revelation here pleaded for, be confounded with any special Bible of the world. Our plea is for the law of God written in the soul of every man; and for the immediate revelation of God which this makes possible to each soul through the gateway of the spirit which is in man, and which connects all men with God. ^^ There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.^^ " In God we live, move, and have our being.^^ He is the inmost life and potency of all things and beings, as well as the overruling intelligence and providence. Hence all things and beings exist and subsist of necessity in, from, and by Him. God is therefore as universal in His presence, power and manifestation as nature; and as vitally active in the simplest processes of the physical world, as in the most exalted activities of the moral and spiritual realms.

" As full and perfect in vile man that mourns, As in the rapt seraph that adores and burns."

The revelation of God cannot be limited to any place, book, man, or class of men, but must of necessity be as universal as His presence and influence in the world, and specifically adapted to the actual necessities of each individual portion of His creation, from the worm to man, and from man to seraph. Man is distinguished from the rest of creation by a sc^lf-conscious personality, with a moral sense of liis relation to a

divine order and government; and it is^ therefore^ tlie privilege and the duty of each soul to seek and attain immediate communion with the Father through His own spirit. The doctrine of the necessit^^ of some intermediary between the individual soul and God, is a pagan sui3erstition, based upon igjiorance of God's Fatherhood.

The revelation of God to man, and to each soul is simpl}^ a matter of man's own individual recognition, attention, desire and faith. Seers and prophets have become such by this means alone. Some of these having come to the open vision or clear hearing of the '^ Word of God,'' have faithfully recorded their experience and delivered the message of the Spirit wiiich ma}^ bave been opened to them for a particular people or for the world; but this can be neither a revelation nor an authority to another until its truth is recognized b^^his own soul. This, it will be seen, is the final authority of the truth itself, and to the individual that perceives it, is vested in his own recognition of it, not in the medium through which it was presented, or brought to his attention. The experiences and revelations of others may awaken our attention and interest, and lead us to listen, but the truth that we perceive in their revelations and experiences, is the response of our own souls, which is the revelation of God within us of so much of the truth as we are thus able to receive. Hence, the object of all inspired appeals from one soul to another, is to awaken and call forth the revealing power of God, or the spirit of truth in every individual. But if we stop in the recognition of another's inspiration^, and it docs not bring- a corresponding* revelation in our own souls^ its mission to us is defeated.